Saturday, July 8, 2017
FM Texas and AM Texas
An excerpt from the New Yorker -
America’s Future Is Texas
With right-wing zealots taking over the legislature even as the state’s demographics shift leftward, Texas has become the nation’s bellwether.
By Lawrence Wright
I’ve lived in Texas for most of my life, and I’ve come to appreciate what the state symbolizes, both to people who live here and to those who view it from afar. Texans see themselves as a distillation of the best qualities of America: friendly, confident, hardworking, patriotic, neurosis-free. Outsiders see us as the nation’s id, a place where rambunctious and disavowed impulses run wild. Texans, it is thought, mindlessly celebrate individualism, and view government as a kind of kryptonite that weakens the entrepreneurial muscles. We’re reputed to be braggarts; careless with money and our personal lives; a little gullible, but dangerous if crossed; insecure, but obsessed with power and prestige.
Texans, however, are hardly monolithic. The state is as politically divided as the rest of the nation. One can drive across it and be in two different states at the same time: FM Texas and AM Texas. FM Texas is the silky voice of city dwellers, the kingdom of NPR. It is progressive, blue, reasonable, secular, and smug—almost like California. AM Texas speaks to the suburbs and the rural areas: Trumpland. It’s endless bluster and endless ads. Paranoia and piety are the main items on the menu.
America’s Future Is Texas
With right-wing zealots taking over the legislature even as the state’s demographics shift leftward, Texas has become the nation’s bellwether.
By Lawrence Wright
I’ve lived in Texas for most of my life, and I’ve come to appreciate what the state symbolizes, both to people who live here and to those who view it from afar. Texans see themselves as a distillation of the best qualities of America: friendly, confident, hardworking, patriotic, neurosis-free. Outsiders see us as the nation’s id, a place where rambunctious and disavowed impulses run wild. Texans, it is thought, mindlessly celebrate individualism, and view government as a kind of kryptonite that weakens the entrepreneurial muscles. We’re reputed to be braggarts; careless with money and our personal lives; a little gullible, but dangerous if crossed; insecure, but obsessed with power and prestige.
Texans, however, are hardly monolithic. The state is as politically divided as the rest of the nation. One can drive across it and be in two different states at the same time: FM Texas and AM Texas. FM Texas is the silky voice of city dwellers, the kingdom of NPR. It is progressive, blue, reasonable, secular, and smug—almost like California. AM Texas speaks to the suburbs and the rural areas: Trumpland. It’s endless bluster and endless ads. Paranoia and piety are the main items on the menu.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future-is-texas
Hiking While Black
An excerpt from Outside Online -
Going It Alone
What happens when an African American woman decides to solo-hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine during a summer of bitter political upheaval? Everything you can imagine, from scary moments of racism to new friendships to soaring epiphanies about the timeless value of America’s most storied trekking route.
By: Rahawa Haile
It's the spring of 2016, and I’m ten miles south of Damascus, Virginia, where an annual celebration called Trail Days has just wrapped up. Last night, temperatures plummeted into the thirties. Today, long-distance Appalachian Trail hikers who’d slept in hammocks and mailed their underquilts home too soon were groaning into their morning coffee. A few small fires shot woodsmoke at the sun as thousands of tent stakes were dislodged. Over the next 24 hours, most of the hikers in attendance would pack up and hit the 554-mile stretch of the AT that runs north through Virginia.
I’ve used the Trail Days layover as an opportunity to stash most of my belongings with friends and complete a short section of the AT I’d missed, near the Tennessee-Virginia border. As I’m moving along, a day hiker heading in the opposite direction stops me for a chat. He’s affable and inquisitive. He asks what many have asked before: “Where are you from?” I tell him Miami.
He laughs and says, “No, but really. Where are you from from?” He mentions something about my features, my thin nose, and then trails off. I tell him my family is from Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa, next to Ethiopia. He looks relieved.
“I knew it,” he says. “You’re not black.”
I say that of course I am. “None more black,” I weakly joke.
“Not really,” he says. “You’re African, not black-black. Blacks don’t hike.”
I’m tired of this man. His from-froms and black-blacks. He wishes me good luck and leaves. He means it, too; he isn’t malicious. To him there’s nothing abnormal about our conversation. He has categorized me, and the world makes sense again. Not black-black. I hike the remaining miles back to my tent and don’t emerge for hours.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2170266/solo-hiking-appalachian-trail-queer-black-woman
Going It Alone
What happens when an African American woman decides to solo-hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine during a summer of bitter political upheaval? Everything you can imagine, from scary moments of racism to new friendships to soaring epiphanies about the timeless value of America’s most storied trekking route.
By: Rahawa Haile
It's the spring of 2016, and I’m ten miles south of Damascus, Virginia, where an annual celebration called Trail Days has just wrapped up. Last night, temperatures plummeted into the thirties. Today, long-distance Appalachian Trail hikers who’d slept in hammocks and mailed their underquilts home too soon were groaning into their morning coffee. A few small fires shot woodsmoke at the sun as thousands of tent stakes were dislodged. Over the next 24 hours, most of the hikers in attendance would pack up and hit the 554-mile stretch of the AT that runs north through Virginia.
I’ve used the Trail Days layover as an opportunity to stash most of my belongings with friends and complete a short section of the AT I’d missed, near the Tennessee-Virginia border. As I’m moving along, a day hiker heading in the opposite direction stops me for a chat. He’s affable and inquisitive. He asks what many have asked before: “Where are you from?” I tell him Miami.
He laughs and says, “No, but really. Where are you from from?” He mentions something about my features, my thin nose, and then trails off. I tell him my family is from Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa, next to Ethiopia. He looks relieved.
“I knew it,” he says. “You’re not black.”
I say that of course I am. “None more black,” I weakly joke.
“Not really,” he says. “You’re African, not black-black. Blacks don’t hike.”
I’m tired of this man. His from-froms and black-blacks. He wishes me good luck and leaves. He means it, too; he isn’t malicious. To him there’s nothing abnormal about our conversation. He has categorized me, and the world makes sense again. Not black-black. I hike the remaining miles back to my tent and don’t emerge for hours.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2170266/solo-hiking-appalachian-trail-queer-black-woman
Friday, July 7, 2017
Thursday, July 6, 2017
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Volvo Goes All-Electric
From the Wall Street Journal -
Volvo Plans to Go Electric, to Abandon Conventional Car Engine by 2019
CEO reiterates target of selling one million electric cars and hybrids by 2025
By William Boston
https://www.wsj.com/articles/volvo-to-phase-out-conventional-car-engine-1499227202?mod=trending_now_1
Volvo Plans to Go Electric, to Abandon Conventional Car Engine by 2019
CEO reiterates target of selling one million electric cars and hybrids by 2025
By William Boston
https://www.wsj.com/articles/volvo-to-phase-out-conventional-car-engine-1499227202?mod=trending_now_1
He Has a Sacramento Connection
An excerpt from the Bleacher Report -
HUNTER GREENE IS NOT THE LEBRON OF BASEBALL. HE WANTS TO BE SOMETHING MORE.
Inside the unreal celebrity life of a 17-year-old prodigy who’s already expected to save America’s pastime from itself—part one of Make Baseball Cool Again, a B/R Mag special issue
By Joon Lee
Russell watches the games by himself. Occasionally, he'll cheer on Hunter and his teammates. ("Atta boy, bud!" "Good swing, kid!") Every once in a while, he'll shout out a coaching tip to his son. ("Keep your backside straight at the plate!" "Stop trying too hard!") Other parents will congratulate him on his son's success, but he keeps the conversations short. Between innings, he searches Hunter's name on Twitter. He wants to know everything. With all they've gone through, Russell needs to know everything.
When Russell became a parent at 25 years old ("He came out of this nut—the right one" he says, pointing to his groin), he promised to never miss one of his son's games. In the 17 years since, he has missed only two, and they were in Japan. "I made sure Hunter never experienced what I experienced," he says.
Russell's parents got divorced when he was two. He grew up with his father, a veteran of the Green Berets, in Sacramento, where they lived until Russell was in fifth grade. When Hunter's grandfather started dating his soon-to-be second wife, he stopped regularly attending Russell's football and baseball games. And then he stopped going to them at all. Feeling left behind, Russell decided to run away.
He called his mom, who lived in Los Angeles, and she came to pick him up. He lost contact with his dad. He smoked and transported weed. He drank. He was a good athlete, playing Division II football at Humboldt State, but he had no aspirations to play sports professionally. It's why he has no regrets about Hunter's abnormal high school experience. "What he's missed out on is stuff he doesn't need to be a part of," Russell says.
For 15 years, Russell worked for Johnnie Cochran, starting at the end of the O.J. Simpson murder trial, before opening a private practice, in which he specialized in violent crimes, often homicides and sexual assaults. His work with celebrities, Russell says, helped prepare his son for what, to him, was near-certain fame: "Everything you hear about Justin Bieber, Hunter knows about. Everything about the Kardashians, he knows about it because I use them as an example, whether they are good or bad."
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2718635-hunter-greene-is-not-the-lebron-of-baseball-marcus-stroman-mlb
HUNTER GREENE IS NOT THE LEBRON OF BASEBALL. HE WANTS TO BE SOMETHING MORE.
Inside the unreal celebrity life of a 17-year-old prodigy who’s already expected to save America’s pastime from itself—part one of Make Baseball Cool Again, a B/R Mag special issue
By Joon Lee
Russell watches the games by himself. Occasionally, he'll cheer on Hunter and his teammates. ("Atta boy, bud!" "Good swing, kid!") Every once in a while, he'll shout out a coaching tip to his son. ("Keep your backside straight at the plate!" "Stop trying too hard!") Other parents will congratulate him on his son's success, but he keeps the conversations short. Between innings, he searches Hunter's name on Twitter. He wants to know everything. With all they've gone through, Russell needs to know everything.
When Russell became a parent at 25 years old ("He came out of this nut—the right one" he says, pointing to his groin), he promised to never miss one of his son's games. In the 17 years since, he has missed only two, and they were in Japan. "I made sure Hunter never experienced what I experienced," he says.
Russell's parents got divorced when he was two. He grew up with his father, a veteran of the Green Berets, in Sacramento, where they lived until Russell was in fifth grade. When Hunter's grandfather started dating his soon-to-be second wife, he stopped regularly attending Russell's football and baseball games. And then he stopped going to them at all. Feeling left behind, Russell decided to run away.
He called his mom, who lived in Los Angeles, and she came to pick him up. He lost contact with his dad. He smoked and transported weed. He drank. He was a good athlete, playing Division II football at Humboldt State, but he had no aspirations to play sports professionally. It's why he has no regrets about Hunter's abnormal high school experience. "What he's missed out on is stuff he doesn't need to be a part of," Russell says.
For 15 years, Russell worked for Johnnie Cochran, starting at the end of the O.J. Simpson murder trial, before opening a private practice, in which he specialized in violent crimes, often homicides and sexual assaults. His work with celebrities, Russell says, helped prepare his son for what, to him, was near-certain fame: "Everything you hear about Justin Bieber, Hunter knows about. Everything about the Kardashians, he knows about it because I use them as an example, whether they are good or bad."
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2718635-hunter-greene-is-not-the-lebron-of-baseball-marcus-stroman-mlb
Telling Descriptors
From the Washington Post -
Bizarre. Absurd. Ridiculous. Embarrassing. Trump.
By Kathleen Parker
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bizarre-absurd-ridiculous-embarrassing-trump/2017/07/04/f004b6dc-6033-11e7-a4f7-af34fc1d9d39_story.html?utm_term=.57da8346a099&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Bizarre. Absurd. Ridiculous. Embarrassing. Trump.
By Kathleen Parker
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bizarre-absurd-ridiculous-embarrassing-trump/2017/07/04/f004b6dc-6033-11e7-a4f7-af34fc1d9d39_story.html?utm_term=.57da8346a099&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Robocops
From the Washington Post -
Meet the newest recruits of Dubai’s police force: Robo-cars with facial-recognition tech
By Hamza Shaban
Mini autonomous police cars paired with companion drones and facial-recognition technology will begin patrolling the streets of Dubai by the end of the year to help identify and track suspects.
The announcement by city officials this week comes as Dubai races to reshape the future of its law enforcement.
But don’t expect a high-speed chase out of the little cars. In demonstrations, the robot never appears to move beyond a stroll’s pace. But the four-wheeled security vehicle comes with a built-in aerial drone that can be deployed to surveil areas and people that the robot can’t reach.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/06/30/meet-the-newest-recruits-of-dubais-police-force-robo-cars-with-facial-recognition-tech/?utm_term=.741f575a100a&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Meet the newest recruits of Dubai’s police force: Robo-cars with facial-recognition tech
By Hamza Shaban
 |
| The model O-R3 autonomous security robot manufactured by Singapore-based Otsaw Digital. (Otsaw Digital) |
Mini autonomous police cars paired with companion drones and facial-recognition technology will begin patrolling the streets of Dubai by the end of the year to help identify and track suspects.
The announcement by city officials this week comes as Dubai races to reshape the future of its law enforcement.
But don’t expect a high-speed chase out of the little cars. In demonstrations, the robot never appears to move beyond a stroll’s pace. But the four-wheeled security vehicle comes with a built-in aerial drone that can be deployed to surveil areas and people that the robot can’t reach.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/06/30/meet-the-newest-recruits-of-dubais-police-force-robo-cars-with-facial-recognition-tech/?utm_term=.741f575a100a&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Searching for the Truth
How can we truly celebrate independence on a day that intentionally robbed our ancestors of theirs? To find my independence I went home. pic.twitter.com/hniYGJeLxG— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 4, 2017
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Do They Know This?
An excerpt from the Undefeated -
Locker Room Talk: First day of NBA free agency should be called Big O Day
Oscar Robertson is the reason today’s players can choose where to play and make megamillions
BY WILLIAM C. RHODEN
Henceforth and forever, the NBA should designate July 1 as Big O Day, in honor of Oscar Robertson, namesake of the rule that put NBA players on the road to free agency.
That road has been paved with gold ever since.
Robertson, 78, said he is open to the idea. “I like it,” he told me last week. “I don’t think a lot of players know anything about the Oscar Robertson Rule and what it really means.”
The rule has a number of ins and out, but what the players need to grasp is simple. “They should understand why they are making 15 and 20 million dollars a year playing basketball,” Robertson said.
Robertson v. National Basketball Association was a class-action lawsuit filed in 1970. Robertson at the time was president of the National Basketball Players Association. The NBA was represented by the firm Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn, whose lead attorney was future NBA commissioner David Stern.
https://theundefeated.com/features/locker-room-talk-first-day-of-nba-free-agency-should-be-called-big-o-day/
Locker Room Talk: First day of NBA free agency should be called Big O Day
Oscar Robertson is the reason today’s players can choose where to play and make megamillions
BY WILLIAM C. RHODEN
Henceforth and forever, the NBA should designate July 1 as Big O Day, in honor of Oscar Robertson, namesake of the rule that put NBA players on the road to free agency.
That road has been paved with gold ever since.
Robertson, 78, said he is open to the idea. “I like it,” he told me last week. “I don’t think a lot of players know anything about the Oscar Robertson Rule and what it really means.”
The rule has a number of ins and out, but what the players need to grasp is simple. “They should understand why they are making 15 and 20 million dollars a year playing basketball,” Robertson said.
Robertson v. National Basketball Association was a class-action lawsuit filed in 1970. Robertson at the time was president of the National Basketball Players Association. The NBA was represented by the firm Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn, whose lead attorney was future NBA commissioner David Stern.
https://theundefeated.com/features/locker-room-talk-first-day-of-nba-free-agency-should-be-called-big-o-day/
The Fourth of July
“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”
By Frederick Douglass
July 5, 1852
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.
~~~~~~~~~~
Fellow-citizens! I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie.
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
By Frederick Douglass
July 5, 1852
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.
~~~~~~~~~~
Fellow-citizens! I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie.
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
Not a Fan, But . . .
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. delivered the ninth-grade commencement address a Cardigan Mountain School, a boarding school for boys in New Hampshire. (Cardigan Mountain School)
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