From the New York Times -
Germany Grapples With Its African Genocide
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
WATERBERG, Namibia — In this faraway corner of southern Africa, scores of German soldiers lie in a military cemetery, their names, dates and details engraved on separate polished tombstones.
Easily missed is a single small plaque on the cemetery wall that gives a nod in German to the African “warriors” who died in the fighting as well. Nameless, they are among the tens of thousands of Africans killed in what historians have long considered — and what the German government is now close to recognizing — as the 20th century’s first genocide.
A century after losing its colonial possessions in Africa, Germany and its former colony, Namibia, are now engaged in intense negotiations to put an end to one of the ugliest chapters of Europe’s past in Africa.
During German rule in Namibia, called South-West Africa back then, colonial officers studying eugenics developed ideas on racial purity, and their forces tried to exterminate two rebellious ethnic groups, the Herero and Nama, some of them in concentration camps.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/world/africa/germany-genocide-namibia-holocaust.html
Friday, December 30, 2016
This Breathalyzer Can Do So Much More!
From LiveScience -
One Breath Into This Breathalyzer Can Diagnose 17 Diseases
By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer
A single breath into a newfangled breathalyzer is all doctors need to diagnose 17 different diseases, including lung cancer, irritable bowel syndrome and multiple sclerosis, a new study found.
Researchers invited about 1,400 people from five different countries to breathe into the device, which is still in its testing phases. The breathalyzer could identify each person's disease with 86 percent accuracy, the researchers said.
http://www.livescience.com/57345-breathalyzer-detects-17-different-diseases.html
One Breath Into This Breathalyzer Can Diagnose 17 Diseases
By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer
A single breath into a newfangled breathalyzer is all doctors need to diagnose 17 different diseases, including lung cancer, irritable bowel syndrome and multiple sclerosis, a new study found.
Researchers invited about 1,400 people from five different countries to breathe into the device, which is still in its testing phases. The breathalyzer could identify each person's disease with 86 percent accuracy, the researchers said.
http://www.livescience.com/57345-breathalyzer-detects-17-different-diseases.html
Shopping Trends
From Vox -
Check out the charts in this article. Really interesting.
At what age do people stop shopping at Ikea?
Updated by Zachary Crockett
http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/12/30/14114306/ikea-shopping
Check out the charts in this article. Really interesting.
At what age do people stop shopping at Ikea?
Updated by Zachary Crockett
http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/12/30/14114306/ikea-shopping
Prison Routines
An excerpt from the New Yorker -
Below is an introduction to the story that follows.
In February, Jennifer Lackey, a philosophy professor at Northwestern University, where I teach journalism, invited me to speak to a class she teaches at the Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison an hour outside of Chicago. Her students, fifteen men, are all serving long sentences, mostly for violent crimes. Some will be at Stateville until they die. I talked with the students about storytelling, and had them complete an exercise in which they described their cells.
I was so taken by what they wrote that I suggested that they develop these stories about the space, which, for some, had been home for twenty years. Over the past ten months, I have worked with them from draft to draft to draft. This process was not without obstacles. Sometimes, Jennifer couldn’t return my marked-up drafts because the prison was on lockdown. One student missed class for a month because, after surgery, he had to wear a knee brace, which the prison considered a potential weapon. Another student was transferred to a different prison. (I continued working with him by mail and phone.) One despaired at my comments and edits, writing to me that “this must be my last draft because clearly I’m incapable of doing it correctly.” But with encouragement and gentle nudging they kept going. Below is one of five of these stories that will appear on the site this week.
—Alex Kotlowitz
MY PRISON CELL: A PLACE KEPT COMPULSIVELY CLEAN
By Ramon Delgado
It’s not uncommon for me to receive a compliment from other inmates who take notice of how neat and organized I keep my cell. I love cleaning. Maybe a little too much.
I’ve been cleaning practically all my life. My mother demanded it from us. I can remember the day my mother put a mop in my hands. I was just six years old. We were living on the second floor, in the back end of a four-unit apartment building. There were five of us in a two-bedroom apartment. While my mother was showing me how to hold the mop handle—one hand at the top of the mop stick and the other in the middle—and how to maneuver it across the floor, my older brother and younger sister were each busy with a small rag in their hands, wiping dust off the few pieces of furniture we owned. This is how we cleaned our house every Saturday morning. So I come by my compulsion honestly.
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/my-prison-cell-a-place-kept-compulsively-clean
Below is an introduction to the story that follows.
In February, Jennifer Lackey, a philosophy professor at Northwestern University, where I teach journalism, invited me to speak to a class she teaches at the Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison an hour outside of Chicago. Her students, fifteen men, are all serving long sentences, mostly for violent crimes. Some will be at Stateville until they die. I talked with the students about storytelling, and had them complete an exercise in which they described their cells.
I was so taken by what they wrote that I suggested that they develop these stories about the space, which, for some, had been home for twenty years. Over the past ten months, I have worked with them from draft to draft to draft. This process was not without obstacles. Sometimes, Jennifer couldn’t return my marked-up drafts because the prison was on lockdown. One student missed class for a month because, after surgery, he had to wear a knee brace, which the prison considered a potential weapon. Another student was transferred to a different prison. (I continued working with him by mail and phone.) One despaired at my comments and edits, writing to me that “this must be my last draft because clearly I’m incapable of doing it correctly.” But with encouragement and gentle nudging they kept going. Below is one of five of these stories that will appear on the site this week.
—Alex Kotlowitz
MY PRISON CELL: A PLACE KEPT COMPULSIVELY CLEAN
By Ramon Delgado
It’s not uncommon for me to receive a compliment from other inmates who take notice of how neat and organized I keep my cell. I love cleaning. Maybe a little too much.
I’ve been cleaning practically all my life. My mother demanded it from us. I can remember the day my mother put a mop in my hands. I was just six years old. We were living on the second floor, in the back end of a four-unit apartment building. There were five of us in a two-bedroom apartment. While my mother was showing me how to hold the mop handle—one hand at the top of the mop stick and the other in the middle—and how to maneuver it across the floor, my older brother and younger sister were each busy with a small rag in their hands, wiping dust off the few pieces of furniture we owned. This is how we cleaned our house every Saturday morning. So I come by my compulsion honestly.
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/my-prison-cell-a-place-kept-compulsively-clean
Thursday, December 29, 2016
A Surprising Benefit of DNA Testing
An excerpt from the Washinton Post -
To bring a divided country together, start with a little spit
By Susan Svrluga
Anita Foeman’s students had just gotten the results from their genetic tests, and they couldn’t wait to talk.
One said her dad cheered when she told him she has Zulu roots. A girl with curly red hair said her family always gathers around a Nativity scene on Christmas Eve and sings carols over the baby Jesus, and this year, after learning that she’s 1 percent Jewish, she said: “We’re going to sing the dreidel song!”
When a white student said that 1 percent of his ancestry was African, two black students sitting next to him gave him a fist bump and said: “Yes! Brother.”
“Some people have never had a happy conversation about race,” Foeman said. But in her class at West Chester University, there’s laughter. Eagerness. And easy connections where there might have been chasms. “Our differences are fascinating,” she said.
At a time when tensions over race and politics are so raw, the stakes, Foeman said, seem particularly high. Her students have been talking all fall about riots, building walls, terrorist attacks, immigration, the election. “You can feel it buzzing around the halls like electricity,” Foeman said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/12/24/to-bring-a-divided-country-together-start-with-a-little-spit/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_dnatesting-830pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.73ef2f745961
To bring a divided country together, start with a little spit
By Susan Svrluga
Anita Foeman’s students had just gotten the results from their genetic tests, and they couldn’t wait to talk.
One said her dad cheered when she told him she has Zulu roots. A girl with curly red hair said her family always gathers around a Nativity scene on Christmas Eve and sings carols over the baby Jesus, and this year, after learning that she’s 1 percent Jewish, she said: “We’re going to sing the dreidel song!”
When a white student said that 1 percent of his ancestry was African, two black students sitting next to him gave him a fist bump and said: “Yes! Brother.”
“Some people have never had a happy conversation about race,” Foeman said. But in her class at West Chester University, there’s laughter. Eagerness. And easy connections where there might have been chasms. “Our differences are fascinating,” she said.
At a time when tensions over race and politics are so raw, the stakes, Foeman said, seem particularly high. Her students have been talking all fall about riots, building walls, terrorist attacks, immigration, the election. “You can feel it buzzing around the halls like electricity,” Foeman said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/12/24/to-bring-a-divided-country-together-start-with-a-little-spit/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_dnatesting-830pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.73ef2f745961
My Kinda Momma
From Buzzfeed -
A Mom Put A Message For Her Teen Son On A Vodka Bottle If He Ever Tried To Drink It
People are applauding Cheryl’s “extra” parenting methods.
By Tanya Chen
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/drink-this-n-cheryl-will-whoop-ya-ass?utm_term=.didLLgzWK#.pg800YKjz
A Mom Put A Message For Her Teen Son On A Vodka Bottle If He Ever Tried To Drink It
People are applauding Cheryl’s “extra” parenting methods.
By Tanya Chen
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/drink-this-n-cheryl-will-whoop-ya-ass?utm_term=.didLLgzWK#.pg800YKjz
Priceless Tips
From the New York Times -
11 Ways to Be a Better Person in 2017
By ANYA STRZEMIEN
My favorite - #3
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/28/style/ways-to-be-a-better-person-in-2017.html?action=click&contentCollection=fashion®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=sectionfront
11 Ways to Be a Better Person in 2017
By ANYA STRZEMIEN
My favorite - #3
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/28/style/ways-to-be-a-better-person-in-2017.html?action=click&contentCollection=fashion®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=sectionfront
Very Black Things
From Vulture -
29 Very Black Things That Happened on TV in 2016
By Dee Lockett
http://www.vulture.com/2016/12/29-very-black-things-that-happened-on-tv-in-2016.html
29 Very Black Things That Happened on TV in 2016
By Dee Lockett
http://www.vulture.com/2016/12/29-very-black-things-that-happened-on-tv-in-2016.html
Patterns Galore
An excerpt from Phys.org -
Love of sewing patterns leads to world-class collection
by Jennifer Mcdermott
If a costume designer wanted to recreate a World War I era wraparound dress, a 1940s zoot suit or even a bodice from 1875, the sewing patterns are in Rhode Island.
The University of Rhode Island has the largest known collection of sewing patterns in the world, according to the collection's curator, Joy Spanabel Emery, and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.
About 50,000 are on paper and 62,000 are in an electronic database. They're at the university because of Emery's love of patterns.
Emery donated her personal collection of patterns and periodicals to the university years ago and has painstakingly sorted through the donations sent there as word spread about the growing repository. Three more boxes full just arrived to be added to the overflowing filing cabinets.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-12-patterns-world-class.html#jCp
Love of sewing patterns leads to world-class collection
by Jennifer Mcdermott
If a costume designer wanted to recreate a World War I era wraparound dress, a 1940s zoot suit or even a bodice from 1875, the sewing patterns are in Rhode Island.
The University of Rhode Island has the largest known collection of sewing patterns in the world, according to the collection's curator, Joy Spanabel Emery, and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.
About 50,000 are on paper and 62,000 are in an electronic database. They're at the university because of Emery's love of patterns.
Emery donated her personal collection of patterns and periodicals to the university years ago and has painstakingly sorted through the donations sent there as word spread about the growing repository. Three more boxes full just arrived to be added to the overflowing filing cabinets.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-12-patterns-world-class.html#jCp
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Black on Ice
An excerpt from the Undefeated -
FLYERS’ WAYNE SIMMONDS IS TRYING TO ADD SOME COLOR TO HOCKEY
He’s having his best season ever, and he wants more than NHL fans to know that
BY DARYL BELL
Philadelphia Flyers right winger Wayne Simmonds is on a mission to change hockey’s appearance.
Enjoying arguably his greatest season ever, Simmonds wants to be revered as more than a player. He wants to be thought of as a role model, and he believes he’s on his way to becoming one.
An African-Canadian, Simmonds is an oddity. According to the National Hockey League, only 16 players of African descent have played in a game this season.
“I’m playing the game I love,” he said. “For me, I’m just trying to set an example for kids who are like me, who have been in my situation. They can look up to me as an example. If I can make it, they can make it, too. When I was a young kid, I looked up at people as inspiration. Willie O’Ree was the first African [-Canadian] to play. He was my goal.”
Simmonds knows his history and is aware that he’s earning a lofty place in NHL lore. He’s playing well enough to earn an All-Star team berth. His quiet but confident play and demeanor stands out on the rink. It also stands out away from the arena.
A bachelor millionaire, Simmonds can arguably walk through any black neighborhood with his uniform on and not be recognized. By contrast, because of his hockey notoriety, he would need a police escort to trek through a white enclave dressed in a suit.
http://theundefeated.com/features/flyers-wayne-simmonds-is-trying-to-add-some-color-to-hockey/
FLYERS’ WAYNE SIMMONDS IS TRYING TO ADD SOME COLOR TO HOCKEY
He’s having his best season ever, and he wants more than NHL fans to know that
BY DARYL BELL
Philadelphia Flyers right winger Wayne Simmonds is on a mission to change hockey’s appearance.
Enjoying arguably his greatest season ever, Simmonds wants to be revered as more than a player. He wants to be thought of as a role model, and he believes he’s on his way to becoming one.
An African-Canadian, Simmonds is an oddity. According to the National Hockey League, only 16 players of African descent have played in a game this season.
“I’m playing the game I love,” he said. “For me, I’m just trying to set an example for kids who are like me, who have been in my situation. They can look up to me as an example. If I can make it, they can make it, too. When I was a young kid, I looked up at people as inspiration. Willie O’Ree was the first African [-Canadian] to play. He was my goal.”
Simmonds knows his history and is aware that he’s earning a lofty place in NHL lore. He’s playing well enough to earn an All-Star team berth. His quiet but confident play and demeanor stands out on the rink. It also stands out away from the arena.
A bachelor millionaire, Simmonds can arguably walk through any black neighborhood with his uniform on and not be recognized. By contrast, because of his hockey notoriety, he would need a police escort to trek through a white enclave dressed in a suit.
http://theundefeated.com/features/flyers-wayne-simmonds-is-trying-to-add-some-color-to-hockey/
Keratin
As a black woman who wears her hair straight, I was used to using products geared for women of color. However, when I lived in the Middle East, I was forced to try something different. When I went to my local salon and asked about a perm, they had no idea what I was talking about, and recommended I get a Keratin Hair Treatment instead.
I've always been game to try new things, so I thought, "What the heck."
Long story short, I got the Keratin and have been using this for the past five years.
When I first started out getting the treatment, the formula was really strong, resulting in face masks for everyone in the place.
Thankfully, they have steadily improved on it and now there is very little odor. I still made sure the room was well ventilated, but it wasn't a big deal at all.
The reason I'm writing about this is two-fold.
First, to introduce folks to it who might not have considered this as an alternative to straightening their hair.
And second, to let you know this is something you can do at home.
Truth be told, now that I'm back in the US, I knew the local black salons wouldn't provide the service, and I wasn't interested in searching to find someplace else. Nor was I interested in paying the enormous fees that are usually charged for the service. I've always been comfortable taking care of my hair, including giving myself perms and regularly coloring it, so I researched and found the product on Amazon and did it myself for the first time three week ago.
I was thrilled with the result.
In a nutshell, here's how it works.
1) Wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo that strips your hair of any product. Your hair will feel rough.
2) Blow dry it thoroughly.
3) Apply the Keratin Hair Treatment to tiny sections of your hair, using a small-tooth comb to make sure it's on every strand. Leave on for about 30 minutes.
4) Do Not Wash Out.
5) Blow dry it thoroughly.
6) Flat iron hair.
7) Wait until the next day to wash it. I use a Keratin Shampoo and Conditioner that helps to prolong the treatment.
That's it.
If you're still a little queasy about doing this, check out this video.
I've always been game to try new things, so I thought, "What the heck."
Long story short, I got the Keratin and have been using this for the past five years.
When I first started out getting the treatment, the formula was really strong, resulting in face masks for everyone in the place.
Thankfully, they have steadily improved on it and now there is very little odor. I still made sure the room was well ventilated, but it wasn't a big deal at all.
The reason I'm writing about this is two-fold.
First, to introduce folks to it who might not have considered this as an alternative to straightening their hair.
And second, to let you know this is something you can do at home.
Truth be told, now that I'm back in the US, I knew the local black salons wouldn't provide the service, and I wasn't interested in searching to find someplace else. Nor was I interested in paying the enormous fees that are usually charged for the service. I've always been comfortable taking care of my hair, including giving myself perms and regularly coloring it, so I researched and found the product on Amazon and did it myself for the first time three week ago.
I was thrilled with the result.
In a nutshell, here's how it works.
1) Wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo that strips your hair of any product. Your hair will feel rough.
2) Blow dry it thoroughly.
3) Apply the Keratin Hair Treatment to tiny sections of your hair, using a small-tooth comb to make sure it's on every strand. Leave on for about 30 minutes.
4) Do Not Wash Out.
5) Blow dry it thoroughly.
6) Flat iron hair.
7) Wait until the next day to wash it. I use a Keratin Shampoo and Conditioner that helps to prolong the treatment.
That's it.
If you're still a little queasy about doing this, check out this video.
Here are the products I used:
Once the application is complete, it lasts about six months. I can walk in the rain, fog, and other damp weather conditions without my hair curling up. My hair feels healthy and strong.
I wash it; blow dry it and flat iron it and I'm able to wake up with my hair ready to go until it's time to wash it again.
As I've said many times before, I should have been in sales because when I find something that I like, I want the world to know about it.
Here's hoping you find this useful.
 |
| This is the shampoo I used, along with the Keratin Hair Treatment and comb. A regular small-tooth comb works just as well. |
 |
| This is the shampoo & conditioner I use. |
Once the application is complete, it lasts about six months. I can walk in the rain, fog, and other damp weather conditions without my hair curling up. My hair feels healthy and strong.
I wash it; blow dry it and flat iron it and I'm able to wake up with my hair ready to go until it's time to wash it again.
As I've said many times before, I should have been in sales because when I find something that I like, I want the world to know about it.
Here's hoping you find this useful.
These Maps Tell the Story
From the New York Times -
‘Duck Dynasty’ vs. ‘Modern Family’:
50 Maps of the U.S. Cultural Divide
By JOSH KATZ
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/26/upshot/duck-dynasty-vs-modern-family-television-maps.html?_r=0
‘Duck Dynasty’ vs. ‘Modern Family’:
50 Maps of the U.S. Cultural Divide
By JOSH KATZ
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/26/upshot/duck-dynasty-vs-modern-family-television-maps.html?_r=0
I'm Making an Exception
I don't usually post anything about Trump, but today I'm making an exception.
From CNN -
A giant rooster figure, sporting a Donald Trump hairstyle, has popped up outside a shopping mall in downtown Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/28/asia/donald-trump-rooster/index.html
From CNN -
A giant rooster figure, sporting a Donald Trump hairstyle, has popped up outside a shopping mall in downtown Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/28/asia/donald-trump-rooster/index.html
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
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