Thursday, April 27, 2017
Safest Seat
From the Huffington Post -
The Safest Seat On A Plane, According To Studies Of Crash Data
One block of seats has a better survival rate than others.
By Suzy Strutner
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/safest-seat-on-a-plane_us_58f7dbd8e4b091e58f382505?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
The Safest Seat On A Plane, According To Studies Of Crash Data
One block of seats has a better survival rate than others.
By Suzy Strutner
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/safest-seat-on-a-plane_us_58f7dbd8e4b091e58f382505?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Transportation Innovations
From Vox -
9 radical changes that are coming to transportation
By Timothy B. Lee
http://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/4/26/15363592/tesla-uber-google-waymo-spacex-innovation
9 radical changes that are coming to transportation
By Timothy B. Lee
http://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/4/26/15363592/tesla-uber-google-waymo-spacex-innovation
Our Time in Tulsa
Years ago, when Ben and Frankie were five and three respectively, we moved to Oklahoma so that Frank (ex-husband) could attend seminary in preparation for a career change from active duty military to an active church pastor. This was after ten years or so of our being in the Navy.
The year was 1986.
I was never especially keen on this idea because that meant I would have the role of the "preacher's wife." The problem was I was outspoken and cussed like a sailor. Not handy attributes for the church's first lady.
That didn't stop us from going down this path though. I'm sure Frank thought he'd be able to "pray away" my rough edges.
Long story short.
Frank finished school and just when we should have commenced the process of starting a church, he decided to pursue a job as a commercial pilot, in keeping with what he did in the military.
I was relieved.
No lie.
But this post is about our time in Tulsa.
Of course, one of the most important things we had to do while there was to find a church. There was a lot of buzz about one in particular that fit our criteria. It was Charismatic, with a preacher who taught the Word, and as a bonus, it was predominantly black.
The church was Higher Dimensions.
Now, this whole notion of a Charismatic Church was different for me. I was raised Catholic and used to being in service for 45 minutes. Max. These two-hour services were a hard sell for me, but I'd be OK if they were entertaining.
Boy oh boy.
Higher Dimensions was definitely that.
The pastor, Carlton Pearson, was a rock star preacher. He was in demand all over town, all over the country, and indeed, all over the world. He was single at the time, and the church would be filled with beautiful women, dressed to the nines, all vying for his attention. He's a good looking guy and watching these mating dances was too much fun.
And, he could sing.
He could sho' nuff bring the house down as he would break out in song and dance at any given time.
He could preach, too.
After our first visit, I was sold.
I loved this church and this preacher man.
Now, it's taken me a while to get to the point, but here it is.
Years after we left Tulsa, Carlton continued to rock the Chrisitan world, but he had an epiphany that changed his thinking, and ultimately his message, when he announced that there wasn't a hell and that all people, no matter who they were or what they believed, were heaven-bound. That was considered heresy and he was denounced. This way of thinking was scandalous.
Well, I loved his message (or maybe it was his delivery) then (pre-epiphany), but I especially love it now. This lands me square in the minority though. Church folks have denounced him far and wide.
You can hear a well-done segment of This American Life, produced in 2005, that describes, in detail, Carlton Pearson's rise and fall from grace.
Judge for yourself.
http://tal.fm/304
Side note - There's a movie being made now of Carlton's life entitled "Come Sunday" starring Chiwetel Ejiofor.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1690967/
The year was 1986.
I was never especially keen on this idea because that meant I would have the role of the "preacher's wife." The problem was I was outspoken and cussed like a sailor. Not handy attributes for the church's first lady.
That didn't stop us from going down this path though. I'm sure Frank thought he'd be able to "pray away" my rough edges.
Long story short.
Frank finished school and just when we should have commenced the process of starting a church, he decided to pursue a job as a commercial pilot, in keeping with what he did in the military.
I was relieved.
No lie.
But this post is about our time in Tulsa.
Of course, one of the most important things we had to do while there was to find a church. There was a lot of buzz about one in particular that fit our criteria. It was Charismatic, with a preacher who taught the Word, and as a bonus, it was predominantly black.
The church was Higher Dimensions.
Now, this whole notion of a Charismatic Church was different for me. I was raised Catholic and used to being in service for 45 minutes. Max. These two-hour services were a hard sell for me, but I'd be OK if they were entertaining.
Boy oh boy.
Higher Dimensions was definitely that.
The pastor, Carlton Pearson, was a rock star preacher. He was in demand all over town, all over the country, and indeed, all over the world. He was single at the time, and the church would be filled with beautiful women, dressed to the nines, all vying for his attention. He's a good looking guy and watching these mating dances was too much fun.
And, he could sing.
He could sho' nuff bring the house down as he would break out in song and dance at any given time.
He could preach, too.
After our first visit, I was sold.
I loved this church and this preacher man.
Now, it's taken me a while to get to the point, but here it is.
Years after we left Tulsa, Carlton continued to rock the Chrisitan world, but he had an epiphany that changed his thinking, and ultimately his message, when he announced that there wasn't a hell and that all people, no matter who they were or what they believed, were heaven-bound. That was considered heresy and he was denounced. This way of thinking was scandalous.
Well, I loved his message (or maybe it was his delivery) then (pre-epiphany), but I especially love it now. This lands me square in the minority though. Church folks have denounced him far and wide.
You can hear a well-done segment of This American Life, produced in 2005, that describes, in detail, Carlton Pearson's rise and fall from grace.
Judge for yourself.
http://tal.fm/304
Side note - There's a movie being made now of Carlton's life entitled "Come Sunday" starring Chiwetel Ejiofor.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1690967/
Black & White in the NFL
From the Undefeated -
The NFL’s racial divide
Teams don’t consciously build rosters based on race, it just ends up that way
BY JASON REID AND JANE MCMANUS
On the field, the modern NFL, for the most part, is a meritocracy. But the individual positions on a roster can resemble the ordered black-and-white squares of a chessboard. The story of the enduring blackness of the running back position is part of a much bigger narrative about race and football that dates to a period when African-Americans were unofficially banned from playing in the NFL. And even today, the racial composition of NFL lineups is shaped as much by societal factors as the inclination of decision-makers to stick with what has worked so well for so long.
In the past few decades, critics have decried the way black players historically were blocked from playing quarterback in the NFL – an insulting and economically disenfranchising move. However, statistics show that times are changing – albeit still way too slowly. And although the league’s percentage of African-American signal-callers increased from 18 percent to only 19 percent during a 14-year span analyzed by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida, the emergence of young superstars such as Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Dak Prescott and others have proved over and over again that those anachronistic ideas about leadership and intellect are no longer applicable. Warren Moon could write a book on it. Actually, he did.
https://theundefeated.com/features/the-nfls-racial-divide/
The NFL’s racial divide
Teams don’t consciously build rosters based on race, it just ends up that way
BY JASON REID AND JANE MCMANUS
On the field, the modern NFL, for the most part, is a meritocracy. But the individual positions on a roster can resemble the ordered black-and-white squares of a chessboard. The story of the enduring blackness of the running back position is part of a much bigger narrative about race and football that dates to a period when African-Americans were unofficially banned from playing in the NFL. And even today, the racial composition of NFL lineups is shaped as much by societal factors as the inclination of decision-makers to stick with what has worked so well for so long.
In the past few decades, critics have decried the way black players historically were blocked from playing quarterback in the NFL – an insulting and economically disenfranchising move. However, statistics show that times are changing – albeit still way too slowly. And although the league’s percentage of African-American signal-callers increased from 18 percent to only 19 percent during a 14-year span analyzed by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida, the emergence of young superstars such as Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Dak Prescott and others have proved over and over again that those anachronistic ideas about leadership and intellect are no longer applicable. Warren Moon could write a book on it. Actually, he did.
https://theundefeated.com/features/the-nfls-racial-divide/
HBCUs on Display
From Essence -
Photos From The HBCU Springcoming 2017
The rain didn't stop these HBCU grads from having a good time during the third annual HBCU Springcoming in New York City.
By Mariya Moseley
http://www.essence.com/culture/photos-hbcu-graduates-springcoming-nyc-2017?xid=nl_essence_daily_am_042617
Photos From The HBCU Springcoming 2017
The rain didn't stop these HBCU grads from having a good time during the third annual HBCU Springcoming in New York City.
By Mariya Moseley
http://www.essence.com/culture/photos-hbcu-graduates-springcoming-nyc-2017?xid=nl_essence_daily_am_042617
Connecting Kids
From the New York Times -
Lifting Kids to College
By Frank Bruni
LOS ANGELES — If you go by the odds, Sierra Williams shouldn’t be in college, let alone at a highly selective school like the University of Southern California.
Many kids in her low-income neighborhood here don’t get to or through the 12th grade. Her single mother isn’t college-educated. Neither are Sierra’s two brothers, one of whom is in prison. Her sister has only a two-year associate degree.
But when Sierra was in the sixth grade, teachers spotted her potential and enrolled her in the Neighborhood Academic Initiative, or N.A.I., a program through which U.S.C. prepares underprivileged kids who live relatively near its South Los Angeles campus for higher education. She repeatedly visited U.S.C., so she could envision herself in such an environment and reach for it. She took advanced classes. Her mother, like the parents or guardians of all students in the N.A.I., got counseling on turning college into a reality for her child.
Sierra, 20, just finished her junior year at U.S.C. An engineering major, she’s already enrolled in a master’s program. “My end goal is to get my Ph.D.,” she told me when I met her recently. She wants to be a professor and, through her example as a black woman in engineering, correct the paucity of minorities in the field.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/opinion/usc-neighborhood-academic-initiative-lifting-kids-to-college.html?emc=edit_ca_20170426&nl=california-today&nlid=38867499&te=1&_r=0
Lifting Kids to College
By Frank Bruni
LOS ANGELES — If you go by the odds, Sierra Williams shouldn’t be in college, let alone at a highly selective school like the University of Southern California.
Many kids in her low-income neighborhood here don’t get to or through the 12th grade. Her single mother isn’t college-educated. Neither are Sierra’s two brothers, one of whom is in prison. Her sister has only a two-year associate degree.
But when Sierra was in the sixth grade, teachers spotted her potential and enrolled her in the Neighborhood Academic Initiative, or N.A.I., a program through which U.S.C. prepares underprivileged kids who live relatively near its South Los Angeles campus for higher education. She repeatedly visited U.S.C., so she could envision herself in such an environment and reach for it. She took advanced classes. Her mother, like the parents or guardians of all students in the N.A.I., got counseling on turning college into a reality for her child.
Sierra, 20, just finished her junior year at U.S.C. An engineering major, she’s already enrolled in a master’s program. “My end goal is to get my Ph.D.,” she told me when I met her recently. She wants to be a professor and, through her example as a black woman in engineering, correct the paucity of minorities in the field.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/opinion/usc-neighborhood-academic-initiative-lifting-kids-to-college.html?emc=edit_ca_20170426&nl=california-today&nlid=38867499&te=1&_r=0
No Ink Please
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
A Japanese artist takes on a country that despises tattoos
By Anna Fifield
OSAKA, Japan — Visitors to Japan who have tattoos bigger than a Band-Aid can forget about going to hot springs or swimming in a public pool. They also can rule out some beaches and gyms, certain restaurants and karaoke rooms, and even some convenience stores.
This is because tattoos are strongly associated with organized crime here — specifically the yakuza, or Japanese mafia — and are therefore almost universally viewed with repugnance. Case in point: When Disney released the animated movie “Moana” here recently, the advertising featured only the young girl in the title, and not the heavily tattooed Maui, who was shown on posters elsewhere (although the company says it was simply a marketing decision).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japanese-tattoo-artist-goes-to-court-to-challenge-a-national-revulsion-to-body-art/2017/04/24/d3bfbdee-25f2-11e7-928e-3624539060e8_story.html?utm_term=.6c89d0917632&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
This is NUTS!
From the Huffington Post -
Nordstrom Sells $425 Jeans That Are Covered In Fake Mud
They’re the opposite of dirt cheap.
By Jamie Feldman
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nordstrom-mud-jeans_us_58ff7777e4b0c46f07829179
Nordstrom Sells $425 Jeans That Are Covered In Fake Mud
They’re the opposite of dirt cheap.
By Jamie Feldman
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nordstrom-mud-jeans_us_58ff7777e4b0c46f07829179
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