Lars and the Real Girl, For Real

From the Washington Post -

What life is like living with a ‘love doll’ in Japan
By Kenneth Dickerman

In 2007, Ryan Gosling played a character who has trouble making friends or even socializing with people in a movie called “Lars and the Real Girl.” In the movie, to salve his social anxieties, he turns to the company of a silicone doll he names Bianca. His friends, family and community decide to support him. Eventually, Lars learns to get past his insecurities and begins a relationship with a real woman. Although this was fiction, it is not as far-fetched as it might seem. In fact, at least one man in Japan is playing out a somewhat similar story.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2017/01/30/what-life-is-like-living-with-a-love-doll-in-japan/?utm_term=.6131c7d563cd

Hmmmmm

From the Washington Post -

A fascinating theory from the world of sports about Donald Trump’s first 7 days
By Chris Cillizza

An old sports strategy: foul so much in the 1st 5 min of the game that the refs can't call them all. From then on, a more physical game. - Sally Jenkins

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/30/a-fascinating-theory-from-the-world-of-sports-about-donald-trumps-governing-style/?utm_term=.554595250e46

Protecting His Interest

From Slate - (Bold is mine)

Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Harmful and Haphazard—but Is It Also Kleptocratic?
By Josh Voorhees

Donald Trump’s immigration ban targeting Muslims is many things: alarming, un-American, inhumane, counterproductive, and likely unconstitutional for starters. But a closer look at the specific countries Trump chose to target raises a secondary concern as well: Did the president intentionally tailor the order to protect his and his family’s financial interests abroad?

Act As If Your Life Depended On It

An excerpt from Deadspin -

Resist.
By Albert Burneko

Yes, wear a shirt with a slogan on it. Yes, put a bumper sticker on your car. Yes, flood your social media feed with your outrage. Fine. All of those are fine, and necessary, and good.

But also: Call your senator. Call your congressperson. Call your governor. Call your alderperson, your city councilperson; your mayor; your sheriff’s office. Really call them. On the phone. Do it right now. Whether they are Democrats or Republicans. Ask them, live or by voicemail, not only to speak out against the Trump administration’s savagery, but to oppose it, officially, to vote against it and act against it and refuse to participate in implementing it. Tell them, explicitly, that you and your friends and loved ones will vote for literally anyone who runs against them in their next campaign if they do anything less than oppose, in word and deed, every single part of the Trump administration’s agenda. All his appointments. All his executive orders. Everything.

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/resist-1791774913

Mr. Clean is Back and He's Black

From the Root -

The New Mr. Clean Is a Black Man
By Yesha Callahan

Bald head? Check. Single gold hoop? Check. A smile that would put the most expensive veneers to shame? Check. A white dude? No check. Proctor & Gamble decided to give Mr. Clean a makeover, and his name is Mike Jackson. Jackson beat out thousands of would-be hopefuls who were vying to be the new face of P&G’s cartoon character that debuted almost 60 years ago.

http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/the-new-mr-clean-is-a-black-man-1791816272

Love His Response!

From the Root -

http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/kirk-franklin-has-jesus-and-his-heater-by-his-side-to-d-1791774826

Black Power Statue

From Atlas Obscura -

Olympic Black Power Statue
A statue commemorating Tommie Smith and John Carlos' brave protest at the 1968 Olympics, a watershed moment for civil rights. 

Perhaps no image from the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City is more recognizable than the silent protest of Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the Olympic medalist podium. During the award ceremony, Smith and Carlos, gold and bronze medalists in the 200-meter track event, raised their black-gloved fists in a black power salute, and removed their shoes to symbolize black poverty.

The statue is located on the San Jose State University campus, next to Clark Hall and Tower Hall in Washington Square, where South 6th Street and East San Antonio Street would intersect. The nearest parking is either the parking structure near the MLK Jr. Library, or in one of the parking garages at SJSU.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/olympic-black-power-statue

5 Unlikely (And Extraordinary!) Stories Behind Everyday Things

Dubai’s Unique Recipe for Hip-Hop

College Head Start

An excerpt from OZY -

Kentucky Gives High Schoolers a College Head Start

Watch for bluegrass brainiacs. Kentucky’s becoming a leader in dual-enrollment — where high school students get credits for college classes — with more than 42,400 students taking advantage last fall. More and more states are following the “early college” trend as the federal government starts to tailor Pell Grants to younger teens, with low-income students seeing particular gains. While there are concerns about equal access to the program and overworking adolescents, employers and parents are still chasing the prospect of better-prepared youngsters and shrinking tuition bills.

http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/the-future-of-college-enrollment-runs-through-kentucky/74725

Donald Trump's refugee ban, explained

Fair Warning

An excerpt from the Atlantic -

Advice for Those Weighing Jobs in the Trump Administration
Assessing the risks of service
Br David Frum

Some 40 people were indicted as a result of the Watergate scandal. Among those sentenced to prison: the attorney general of the United States, the White House counsel, and President Nixon’s two most senior White House aides. A dozen men were convicted or pled guilty to a range of charges after the Iran-Contra affair.

White Houses can be dangerous places under leadership that does not respect the law. When friends ask me, “Should I accept a job under President Trump?” it’s not merely a philosophical question. Answer the question wrong, and they may find themselves two or three years later facing a congressional investigation or possibly even a grand jury. Even those who never face charges—let alone conviction—can see their lives up-ended: As the saying goes, in Washington, the process is the punishment.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/trump-administration-jobs/514805/

A Love Letter to America

I love this guy and miss his daily blog.  This article is long, but so worth the read.

From NY Magazine -

America Is Still the Future
A love letter to my new country.
By Andrew Sullivan

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/andrew-sullivan-becoming-american-in-age-of-trump.html

Discarded Treasures

From the New York Times -

Love and Black Lives, in Pictures Found on a Brooklyn Street
A discarded photo album reveals a rich history of black lives, from the
segregated South to Harlem dance halls to a pretty block in Crown Heights.
By ANNIE CORREAL

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/nyregion/love-and-black-lives-in-pictures-found-on-a-brooklyn-street.html

50 Best Jobs in the US

From Thrillist -

HERE ARE THE 50 BEST JOBS IN AMERICA FOR 2017
By TONY MEREVICK

https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/the-50-best-jobs-in-america-for-2017-according-to-glassdoor

Gross Food People Love

From Thrillist -

EVERY STATE'S GROSSEST FOOD (THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY LOVE)
By WIL FULTON

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/worst-foods-to-eat-states

This jet fighter is a disaster, but Congress keeps buying it

Bessie Coleman

From the Huffington Post -

Google Honors Bessie Coleman, America’s First Black Female Pilot
January 26th marked what would have been her 125th birthday.

Yes, Literally

An excerpt from Slate -

OK, Now Can We Start Taking Donald Trump Literally?
Trump’s campaign was not an act. He was making promises that he’s now planning to keep.
By Jamelle Bouie

“His supporters take him seriously,” the refrain went, “but not literally.” This was the savvy line on Trump from the election: that his rhetoric—his outlandish and conspiratorial claims, his breathless attacks on racial and religious minorities—was an act. Journalists might take him literally, but his supporters (and the people who understood them) knew better. Trump wouldn’t literally ban Muslims from entering the United States. He didn’t actually believe that unemployment was 40 percent or that America was rife with voter fraud. Those were symbolic beliefs. We should take them seriously as statements of concern but not literally as guides to action.

But this was nonsense, a cynical take based off of folk wisdom about politicians: They rarely tell the truth about their intentions. That folk wisdom is wrong. The fact is that politicians are often forthright about what they plan to do in office. And indeed, the best guide to a new president’s actions is simply his campaign. What did he promise; what did he say? Presidents, in other words, keep their promises.

Above everything else, Trump promised to bring the power of the federal state to bear against the domestic enemies of the people, defined in explicitly racial terms. From his perch in the Oval Office, Trump would “protect” the American people from Muslim refugees, “dangerous” Hispanic immigrants, and groups like Black Lives Matter. On this, Trump was consistent. This wasn’t mere rhetoric; this was a set of serious promises to deal with literal threats. And this week, the newly minted president has begun tackling them, one by one, in rapid succession.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/01/now_can_we_start_taking_donald_trump_literally.html

Prison Life

From the Marshall Project -

My Best Friends in Prison are Frogs, Turtles, and Raccoons
Sharing space with open-minded visitors from beyond the walls.
By JOSEPH DOLE

This article was published in collaboration with Vice.

I used to have a pet turtle in prison.

I began my bid at Menard Correctional Center in southern Illinois, where I lived from 2000 to 2002. The entire yard abuts a rocky bluff, and deer would occasionally emerge from the surrounding woods to peer down at us. In the summer, I could always find myself a pet; garter snakes, frogs, and turtles would often break onto the grounds. At night, I could look out my window and see more than a dozen raccoons hanging out on the roof of the storage building, planning their assault on the chow hall dumpsters.

Once, I smuggled a baby turtle the size of a quarter to my cell. Its shell was so dark, it was nearly black. I built a small aquarium out of Styrofoam trays and cellophane, and when guards would walk by, I would push the aquarium out of sight under the bunk. During shakedowns, I’d cuff my turtle in my hand. The confused guards would destroy the empty aquarium, and I’d have to build another.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/01/12/my-best-friends-in-prison-are-frogs-turtles-and-raccoons#.kMc1Dxkhq