Facebook in Africa

An excerpt from OZY -

THE LAWYER BEHIND FACEBOOK'S TURN TO AFRICA
By Taylor Mayol

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Because Facebook is just starting to focus its energy across Africa — and she’s leading the charge.

When the Democratic Republic of Congo shut down the internet during political protests last year, Ebele Okobi flew to Kinshasa to persuade the authorities of the importance of internet access. Also, she showed them how to use Facebook.

Some describe Okobi, 42, as “the secretary of state of Facebook” for the African continent. (Her official title: public policy director for Africa.) Though based in London, Okobi spends most of her time on the road — meeting with the minister for information technology in Kigali, for instance, or showing Lesotho’s leader how to create a public Facebook page. Overall, the Nigerian-American is trying to advance her megalith company’s mission of connectedness while also, of course, gaining it more users and markets. She flies under the radar for the most part, but when Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Africa for the first time last year, it was Okobi, dressed in Nigerian-made fashion, who stood next to him and Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari.

http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/the-lawyer-behind-facebooks-turn-to-africa/74650

Pay For Play

From OZY -

THE DIRTIEST SECRET IN AMERICAN DIPLOMACY
By Taylor Mayol

Because what some call loyalty, others call “pay for play.”

For Donald Trump and his supporters, it’s payback time. The currency? Ambassadorships.

http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/the-dirtiest-secret-in-american-diplomacy/74193

For Us

https://beingu.me

LINGERIE DESIGNED WITH YOUR BODY IN MIND

Some Uber Driver Sacrifices

From Bloomberg -



https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-23/when-their-shifts-end-uber-drivers-set-up-camp-in-parking-lots-across-the-u-s?bcomANews=true

Taking a Stand

From Fortune via OZY -

The Corporation That’s Reconciling Its Racial Ledger

The books need balancing. Accounting giant PwC has taken an unusually direct approach to race relations — and it’s sparked the potential for corporate powers to play meaningful roles in addressing racial trauma. Following this summer’s wave of police brutality against Black Americans, PwC’s U.S. chairman Tim Ryan started a company-wide conversation that’s translated into policy. His firm’s made anti-bias training mandatory, loudly advocated for a greater awareness of race on social media, and begun to market lessons about racial inequality to other businesses ready to hold themselves to account.

http://fortune.com/pwc-diversity-tim-ryan/

http://www.ozy.com/presidential-daily-brief/pdb-75383/equity-audit-75399

The President is a Liar

An excerpt from the New York Times -

A Lie by Any Other Name
By Charles M. Blow

Donald Trump is a proven liar. He lies often and effortlessly. He lies about the profound and the trivial. He lies to avoid guilt and invite glory. He lies when his pride is injured and when his pomposity is challenged.

Indeed, one of the greatest threats Trump poses is that he corrupts and corrodes the absoluteness of truth, facts and science.

It is no coincidence that the rise of Trump is concurrent with the rise of “fake news.” It is no coincidence that his rise comes during an age of severely damaged faith in institutions.

And now that he has been elected, Trump wants absolute control over the flow of information, to dictate his own version of facts rather than live with the reality of accepted facts. Trump is in a battle to bend the truth to his benefit.

He hates members of the press because, when properly performing, they are truth seekers rather than ego-strokers. The press may sometimes get things wrong, but it most often gets them right. A truly independent press is not stocked with political acolytes but political adversaries.

This doesn’t sit well with an administration that wants to be perpetually patted on the back and never rapped on the knuckles.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/opinion/a-lie-by-any-other-name.html

Democrats won the most votes. Why aren’t they acting like it?

Vintage Charm

Spend the night at one of these throwback hotels.

From Orbitz -

10 retro motels that ooze vintage charm
Jason Heidemann

https://www.orbitz.com/blog/2017/01/10-retro-motels-ooze-vintage-charm/?EMLCID=ORBITZ-US.MR.RES.EDT-EDT.GENERIC&rfrr=AB.5037.1

Sign Up Today & Pass the Word

SWING LEFT AND THE POST-ELECTION SURGE OF PROGRESSIVE ACTIVISM
By Jia Tolentino  

The surge of sign-ups for Swing Left, a progressive organization aiming to identify competitive congressional districts, reflects an energy on the left in search of an outlet.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY

On January 18th, the Twitter account for a new political organization posted its first tweet: a link to swingleft.org—a neatly designed Web site where you can plug in your Zip Code to find the nearest U.S. House district whose seat was, in the most recent election, decided by a small margin—along with the message “Let’s get to work.” The Swing Left campaign, which aims to win the House for Democrats in 2018, quickly went viral. The comedian Sarah Silverman tweeted “Start thinking mid term elections now – this makes it CRAZY easy,” with a link to the site. As the roughly three million people who came out for the Women’s March on Saturday made colorfully evident, an enormous, amorphous bundle of progressive energy in the country is searching for an outlet or three. By January 22nd, a hundred thousand people had signed up to receive Swing Left updates. That number has since more than doubled. In addition, ten thousand people have filled out a form on the site to offer their skills in a volunteer capacity. The Web site has been shared on Facebook nearly three hundred thousand times.

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/swing-left-and-the-post-election-surge-of-progressive-activism

David Tennant Assures Us That Everything Will Be Alright - The Last Leg

Buyers Remorse

From the Guardian -

'When we broke up, it was painful to look at': the rise of tattoo removal
As more people get tattooed, more are regretting them. But will erasing a teenage mistake or an ex’s name change your life? 
By Candance Pires

Tattoo removal has never been so effective, or so popular. Improvements in technology are delivering better clearance faster, making it more attractive to people who regret their 90s tribal symbol, 00s sleeve or maybe the ultimate jinx, a lover’s name.

In the US, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (Asaps) reported a 39% increase in laser tattoo treatments, from 2014 to 2015. Set this against a booming US tattoo industry, predicted to hit $1bn in the next five years, and it’s hard to see how removal won’t keep increasing in popularity.

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/jan/28/tattoo-removal-regret?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1

Powerful, Thought Provoking Message

John Urschel-NFL Math Whiz: Real Sports Full Segment (HBO)

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America's Sources of Immigration (1850-Today)

Christmas Island's Red Crab Invasion | That's Amazing

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You Are The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me

Jet Lag

From Time -

Why Jet Lag Is Worse than You Think
By Amanda MacMillan

If you’re traveling cross-country to run a race or participate in a sporting event, you may want to prepare for the time change in advance. A new study of professional baseball players shows that jet lag doesn’t just affect mental performance—it can also affect physical performance, as well. The authors say their findings can have implications for all types of athletes, and they offer strategies for lessening the impact.

http://time.com/4648899/jet-lag-fitness-performance/

Stanford bioengineers develop a 20-cent, hand-powered centrifuge

https://www.thrillist.com/tech/nation/stanford-paperfuge-diagnoses-diseases-blood