Student Travel Opportunities

The New York Times is launching an initiative called Student Journeys.  See the blurb below.

Small Group Journeys for High School Students

We are excited to announce New York Times Student Journeys, an educational travel program designed for motivated and curious high school students. These Journeys visit destinations The Times has covered, where students can benefit from our special understanding and insider’s view as they explore themes and topics associated with Times coverage of local issues. Each trip is joined by a New York Times expert who brings a perspective students cannot acquire elsewhere.  

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=10ed9615db1b66974cce5340c&id=26f6a704cf&e=657cb243fc

Not a Fan, But . . .

The following is an excerpt from the New York Magazine from a journal Lil' Wayne kept while he was in jail.  There's more to this kid than meets the eye.  The tats and grill are a complete turnoff, but his writing was reflective and thoughtful.  A surprise.

‘Damn, I Really Don’t Deserve This’
In 2010, Lil Wayne spent an eight-month jail sentence at Rikers Island, where he prayed, worked out, and kept a journal. Here’s an excerpt from Gone ’Til November, which is out this week.

As soon as I heard the cell door lock behind me, I just sat on the back wall and the tears began to flow as I took my first glimpse at my new digs: three buckets, one bed, one toilet that was surprisingly kind of clean (emphasis on kind of), a rusty-ass sink with a mirror the size of a small notepad, a desk, and a window. A clothesline was left hanging in the cell. I decided to leave it because I figured it would come in handy.

I got in just in time for chow, which is the overall term used for what they call breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I only ate the veggies because I wasn't too sure what the other stuff was.

I wasn't in the mood to do much socializing, so I kept the first-day meet and greet short. I guess not everybody on staff got the captain's memo because two C.O.’s were suspended for trying to come up and see me ... females of course. Maybe there will be some female groupies in the bitch after all.


Fuck ... one down!

http://www.vulture.com/2016/09/lil-wayne-rikers-island-journal.html

Trevor Noah Trashes Trump’s Plan to Fix Tax Laws: Criminals Only Catch C...

Chocolate-Covered Country

Police Accountability: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Liberal Redneck - Talkin Bout Drugs

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/02/is-the-dea-high-the-agencys-emergency-ban-on-kratom-has-to-make-you-wonder-what-theyre-smoking/?source=newsletter

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

From BlackAmericaWeb -

You’ll Never Guess Where Shawty Lo’s Casket Went After His Funeral
By Kiera A. Manison

We guarantee you’ve never been to a funeral procession quite like this before.

Hundreds of loved ones and fans gathered to pay their respects to rapper Carlos “Shawty Lo” Walker on Friday, September 30. Following the heartfelt ceremony, Shawty Lo’s hearse took a stop at the fallen rapper’s most frequented hangout – the strip club.

http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/10/03/youll-never-guess-where-shawty-los-casket-went-after-his-funeral/

Willie Velasquez Screening

Stanford?

An excerpt from 2 Paragraphs -

If you're from the Midwest and you don't mind returning there after securing your Stanford University MBA, then Stanford may just pay for your degree -- to the tune of $160,000. Students from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin are all eligible. Stanford groups these states together as an "underserved region." (Don't tell the University of Chicago, or Michigan, or Wisconsin, or....)

http://2paragraphs.com/2016/09/stanfords-160000-mba-fellowship-requires-just-400-word-essay/

Quote

From Sactown Magazine -

The ABCs of Merrin Dungey
by Jessica Rine

~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, switching gears, your Twitter bio says “no cuts, no buts, no coconuts.” Where does that come from?

That comes from my friend’s daughter. And I love that because it’s truly my life’s motto. There are no shortcuts, there are no excuses and there’s no insanity—you’ve just got to do it.

http://www.sactownmag.com/October-November-2016/The-ABCs-of-Merrin-Dungey/

The Wolf

An excerpt from the Washington Post -

When the Dallas Cowboys have a problem, this is the man who makes it go away
By Kent Babb

This David Wells isn’t famous, but he might be the most influential behind-the-scenes figure for the NFL’s most valuable franchise. Part crisis manager, part fixer, part therapist, he’s tasked with helping public figures, not becoming one. All teams have in-house security experts and problem-solvers, employees who untangle legal problems. But this extra layer of protection may be unique to the Cowboys. Wells brings a special set of skills, so when something or someone jeopardizes the image of pro football’s signature franchise, the Cowboys know whom to deploy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/when-the-dallas-cowboys-have-a-problem-this-is-the-man-who-makes-it-go-away/2016/09/30/a7bdeaf0-84e8-11e6-92c2-14b64f3d453f_story.html?wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1

13TH | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

A Barber Gets More Training Than a Cop

An excerpt from CNN -

States require more training time to become a barber than a police officer
Story by Holly Yan; Graphics by Alberto Mier, CNN

To earn a badge in California, you'll need at least 664 hours of academy training. (The state then requires at least 14 weeks of field training.) If you want to be a licensed cosmetologist, you'll need more than that: 1,600 hours.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/28/us/jobs-training-police-trnd/index.html

Truck Stop on Steroids

From Atlas Obscura -

WALCOTT, IOWA

Iowa 80 Truck Stop
The world’s largest truck stop includes a barber shop, chiropractor, and a huge museum with antique trucks.  

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/iowa-80-truck-stop

Housing Solutions

From the Huffington Post -

Sleek Apartments Made Of Shipping Containers To House Homeless Vets
Potter’s Lane will be California’s first shipping-container apartment building.
By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sleek-apartments-made-of-shipping-containers-to-house-homeless-vets_us_57eace20e4b024a52d2b2edf

Paralyzed teen inspires at-risk youth

Black Indiana Farmers

You Say Vote

Fences Teaser Trailer (2016) - Paramount Pictures

Beauty School Redemption

An excerpt from the Daily Good -

Wash, Rinse, Redeem: A Look Inside A Beauty School—In A Men’s Prison
A cosmetology program exclusively for inmates may give prison education a much needed makeover
by Stacey Leasca

“Out there cutting hair, nobody asks what your record is as long as you have a good rapport, good communication skills, and good people skills,” Jones says, his voice nearly drowned out by the whirring of hair dryers and salon chatter. All around him are his fellow inmates, many of whom are defined as “sensitive needs,” which includes convicted murderers, sex offenders, ex-gang members, as well as repeat career criminals like Jones. The individuals here are either studying to become licensed beauticians—a rigorous training process of six hours a day, five days a week—or are there to enjoy the salon’s range of services as the beauty school's practice clients.

The certificate and license that inmates receive at the end of the curriculum are the same ones given to matriculating cosmetology students on the outside. Hairdressers often rent chairs in salons as independent contractors, which means even a hairstylist with a prison record has an increased opportunity for entrepreneurship. With that comes a legitimate chance at having a career and earning a decent, middle-class living upon release.

https://www.good.is/features/prison-reform-education-cosmetology?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood

Superblocks: How Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

No Room For Error

From Vox - Another article too good to cherry pick.

The hardest part about growing up poor was knowing I couldn’t mess up. Not even once.
Updated by David Tran

http://www.vox.com/first-person/2016/9/27/13062230/poor-college-scholarship-opportunity

A Message from Grandma & Grandpa: We've Seen This Before

Built Fast

I hope this video is attached.  If not, you can find it at 

https://www.wired.com/video/how-boeing-builds-a-737-in-just-nine-days

Choose to See the Best Version

This is a tribute to a man's AA sponsor who passed away.  If time permits, read the whole thing.  It's worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~

An excerpt from Jon Carroll Prose (Blog) - "Dark Shadows"

She was a difficult woman. She was a kind, smart woman. She was the whole messy package of humanity rolled into one explosive bundle. I loved her. I didn’t speak to her for years.

~~~~~~~~~~

My reasons for writing this are twofold. One, I wanted to tell you about Dunn Miller, because there will be no obituaries, no tributes on television. I have this tiny forum to encourage others to mourn with me.

And the second thing I have to say is: Are there people in your life from whom you’ve become estranged? Is there some argument, some outrage, some unforgivable exchange? Forgive anyway. Go to whomever and tell them how important they were, how much you appreciated what they did.  Talk to the best version of that person. Offer grace.

https://joncarrollprose.com/2016/09/24/dark-shadows/

Must See Items

From the Washington Post -

The top 36 must-see items at the African American museum
By Philip Kennicott and Peggy McGlone

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/lifestyle/national-museum-of-african-american-history-and-culture/must-see-exhibit-items/

the daily show / Trevor Noah

Did You Know?

Sacramento Public Library offers a Library of Things for checkout that include sewing machines and musical instruments?

Check it out (pun intended) at the link below.

http://www.saclibrary.org/Services/Library-of-Things

A History of Lies & Deceit

An excerpt from the Associated Press - (Bold is mine)

As Trump appeals to black voters, Gary recalls casino deal
By SOPHIA TAREEN and MICHAEL BIESECKER

GARY, Ind. (AP) — Donald Trump swooped into Gary, Indiana, on his private jet and pledged to make the down-on-its-luck city great again.

It was 1993, and the New York mogul was wooing officials in the mostly black city to support his bid to dock a showboat casino along a Lake Michigan shoreline littered with shuttered factories. Trump and his representatives later told state gaming officials he would leverage his "incomparable experience" to build a floating Shangri-La, with enough slot machines and blackjack tables to fill city coffers and local charities with tens of millions each year, while creating scores of well-paid jobs for minority residents.

"We are looking to make this a real peach here, a real success," Trump said of the project.

Today, as the Republican presidential nominee pursues black voters with vows to fix inner-city troubles, many Gary residents say his pitch to solve the problems of crime and poverty is disturbingly familiar. Like others who have done business with Trump, they say their experience offers a cautionary tale.

Little more than a decade after investing in Gary, Trump's casino company declared bankruptcy and cashed out his stake in the boat — leaving behind lawsuits and hard feelings in a city where more than one-third of residents live in poverty. Trump's lawyers later argued in court that his pledges to the city were never legally binding. Trump told The Associated Press that his venture was good for Gary.

Local civic leaders disagree.

"What you had was a slick business dealer coming in," said Roy Pratt, a Democratic former Gary city councilman. "He got as much as he could and then he pulled up and left."

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3ab9b80ebe364b2ca5ae619492a096a2/years-after-casino-went-bust-gary-still-skeptical-trump

Their Silence is Deafening

An excerpt from USA Today -

The silence is deafening.

Trent Dilfer, Kate Upton, Tony La Russa, Drew Brees, Rodney Harrison — they and many, many others were quick to criticize Colin Kaepernick and other athletes for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and inequality. It was disrespectful to the country. Or the flag. Or the military. Or law enforcement and first responders. Or … something.

Besides, Kaepernick and Co. are ungrateful, self-absorbed millionaires. What could they possibly know? If they were that concerned, they should be doing something in the community rather than making spectacles of themselves when the country really just wants to watch football.

So where are they now, the Dilfers, the Uptons, the La Russas and all the other Kaepernick critics? Where is the outrage and the indignation for Terence Crutcher, the unarmed black man who was killed by Tulsa police late last week after he was gunned down and lay bleeding in the street for almost two minutes before anyone went to help him?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2016/09/20/colin-kaepernick-tulsa-police-shooting-jerry-rice/90752254/

An Epic Throw-down!

A Great Experience

A few days ago I purchased a car using an excellent car buying service in the Bay Area called Roadster.  For a fee of $295, they find the car you want at the price you want and deliver it to you.  No need to visit a dealership at all.  (Delivery qualifier - they don't come all the way to Sacramento, so I took a train to Fairfield and met a Roadster Rep at a Starbucks, signed the papers and voila! I was on 80 West in my new car).

I had driven the model I bought, a Nissan Rogue, for a week when I rented one when I first returned to the US.  I loved it.  It sits high off the ground and has most of the features found in larger SUVs, but in a smaller package.  It was good on gas, too.

So, I knew what I wanted.  Searched online and found the options I wanted, and from those searches had a pretty good idea of what it should cost.

I purchased my last car online as well and absolutely loved the experience.  This was in 2004.  I kept that car until 2011 when I left the country.  I sold it to CarMax and that was a painless process, too.

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, I should be in sales because when I find something I like, I want the world to know about it.

So . . .

If you or someone you know is in the market for a new car and you're in the Bay Area, I highly recommend Roadster.

Showing Gratitude

A random guy bought some Starbucks goodies for the first responders of the NY bombing.

There are good people everywhere.

https://www.facebook.com/knightnews/videos/10157392671575527/

A Million Pairs of Socks

1 Million Pairs of Bombas Socks Donated from Bombas on Vimeo.

THE AMAZING TRIPLE SPIRAL (15,000 DOMINOES)

Too Much Work?

Pentatonix & Dolly Parton - Jolene

History Supports Him

From  the New Yorker -

COLIN KAEPERNICK AND A LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASE
By Jeffrey Toobin

Fascinating article!

Too good to cherry pick.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/colin-kaepernick-and-a-landmark-supreme-court-case

DAMN!

Trevor Noah slams Trump!

https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/776187201751134208/pl/bdIQas9PBNVgLrI1.m3u8

Products that promise “detox” are a sham. Yes, all of them.

Truth Be Told

I love that Colin Kaepernick has taken a stand against the injustices of people of color.

It takes courage to do what he has chosen to do.

It takes courage to take a stand that you know will be unpopular but is right nonetheless.

As much as I believe in what he's doing and applaud him for it, I wonder if I'd feel the same way if it was Ben or Frankie.

Would I be as supportive of them?

Or, would I remind them of the cost of standing up, even when you are right?

The answer is . . .

I would have tried to stop them, wrong though that would have been.

Here's why.

Growing up in the segregated South, my brothers and I were taught to "go along to get along."  My parents knew the real danger of pushing back in any way.

We lived with terrorism long before 9/11.

To push back against the status quo meant repercussions.

Folks losing their jobs, their livelihoods, and too often, their lives was the threat we lived under every day.  It was the fear we learned to live with.

Of course, we recognized the gains we made because of those brave folks who took a stand on our behalf, but it wasn't enough to nudge us from the sidelines.

So, I thank God for the people who had the courage to do what we wouldn't do, then and now.

A Courageous Act

An excerpt from The Intercept - H/T Ben

Barbara Lee’s Lone Vote on Sept. 14, 2001, Was as Prescient as It Was Brave and Heroic
By Glenn Greenwald


In an op-ed she published in the San Francisco Chronicle nine days later, she explained her vote by pointing out that the resolution “was a blank check to the president to attack anyone involved in the Sept. 11 events — anywhere, in any country, without regard to our nation’s long-term foreign policy, economic and national security interests, and without time limit.” She added: “A rush to launch precipitous military counterattacks runs too great a risk that more innocent men, women, children will be killed.”

For her lone stance, Lee was deluged with rancid insults and death threats to the point where she needed around-the-clock bodyguards. She was vilified as “anti-American” by numerous outlets including the Wall Street Journal. The Washington Times editorialized on September 18 that “Ms. Lee is a long-practicing supporter of America’s enemies — from Fidel Castro on down” and that “while most of the left-wing Democrats spent the week praising President Bush and trying to sound as moderate as possible, Barbara Lee continued to sail under her true colors.” Since then, she has been repeatedly rejected in her bids to join the House Democratic leadership, typically losing to candidates close to Wall Street and in support of militarism. I documented numerous other ugly attacks when I wrote about her for The Guardian in 2013.

But beyond the obvious bravery needed to take the stand she took, she has been completely vindicated on the merits.

https://theintercept.com/2016/09/11/barbara-lees-lone-vote-on-sept-14-2001-was-as-prescient-as-it-was-brave-and-heroic/

Barbra Streisand’s Brilliant Reworking Of ‘Send In The Clowns’ Into Trum...

Official Trailer | Season 1 | PITCH

Great Question

H/T Forrest

Happy Birthday Frankie!

It's hard to believe you're 33 today!

Where does the time go?

It was 33 years ago on a Saturday morning, like today, that I started to bleed and my doctor decided that you would be born that day.

It was a tough pregnancy.

By this time I'd been in the hospital for over a month, as this pregnancy was considered high risk.  This was long before the quickie drive-by hospital stays that are the norm today.

The previous year I had Lydia, who had a litany of health issues and only lived for two weeks.  After two pregnancies in two years, we were advised to wait a while before trying for another child.  I knew that waiting wasn't an option because of fear and sadness that gripped me after losing her.  So, mere months after her death, I was pregnant with you.

With Ben, I had issues.

With Lydia, she had problems.

With you, it was my turn again.

I had placenta previa, a condition that was potentially life threatening, but I felt fine. So good in fact, I was lifting things and moving furniture, as we were setting up our new home, getting everything ready for your birth.

Well, therein was the problem.

I exasperated an already tenuous situation, and in my third trimester, I started to bleed and was hospitalized.  After a week or so, I begged to be released to go home because Ben needed me.  He was just shy of two years old.

My doctor complied.  I went home and foolishly went back to moving furniture. Again.

Color me stupid.

I had already lost one child.  You'd think I'd have the presence of mind to do everything in my power to prevent that from happening again.

What was I thinking?

I don't know where my head was.

Anyway . . .

Of course, I started to bleed again, and this time I was hospitalized for over a month, waiting for you to grow bigger and stronger to increase your chance of survival outside the womb.

So, early that Saturday morning, when I notified the staff of the bleeding, surgery was prepped and you were born.  It happened fast.  So fast in fact, that your dad didn't make it as he had to find someone to watch Ben.  By the time he arrived, you were born.

You looked so much like Lydia, it was hard at first.

The resemblance was remarkable.

You were both born a month early, weighing within an ounce of each other.

After you passed the two week mark, you started to fill out and come into your own person.  Or maybe, I started to see you as you, and not so much in her image.

One of my favorite memories of your birth was Ben's reaction to you.  He was tickled pink.  So excited to have a little brother.  That excitement didn't wane until you were five months old and started to smile.  Then he was done.

It took a while, but he came around again, and now I'm thrilled that you're best buds.

We've had some wonderful times, and some tough times, but through it all, I've been so proud of you.

Here's some advice, unsolicited though it may be.

That is . . . be happy.

Find your happy place and drop anchor there.

Do what makes you happy.

Be with people who make you happy,

But . . .

Understand that your happiness should never be dependent on someone else.

You have to be happy with you, and for you.

Other people are responsible for their own happiness.

I realize this seems like a contradiction, but I promise, it's not.

It took me twenty years to figure that out.

Ok.

No more advice . . . today.

Just love.

Happy birthday Frankie!

Allen Iverson’s Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech

Richard Pryor's Daughter: What People Don’t Know About My Dad | Where Ar...

Scholarship App

Scholly // Jesse Williams (2016) from Brandon E. Kamin | Filmmaker on Vimeo.

I Love This!

http://www.upworthy.com/one-man-turned-nursing-home-design-on-its-head-when-he-created-this-stunning-facility?c=upw1&u=6861cbea6edfdfe5a709ee39ad3c14b64135e61f

Even in Death

An excerpt from Atlas Obscura -

The Persistent Racism of America's Cemeteries
Not only is segregation still an issue but also America risks losing important history in its forgotten graveyards.
By Jennifer Young

Earlier this summer, the city of Waco, Texas issued an order to remove a fence in the city’s public burial ground, Greenwood Cemetery. But it wasn’t just a cosmetic change: Using a forklift and power tools, City of Waco Parks & Recreation staff cut apart the chain-link fence that had been used to divide the white section of the cemetery from the black section.

The cemetery had been racially segregated since it opened in the late 1800s. It was operated by two sets of caretakers, white and black, until the city took over the cemetery about 10 years ago.

Waco is not the only Texas community to struggle with the surprisingly robust ghost of Jim Crow: This spring, the cemetery association of Normanna, Texas, about an hour outside Corpus Christi, was sued by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund for barring a white woman from burying the ashes of her Hispanic husband there. Although the cemetery association later relented, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating. No Hispanic people are buried within the Normanna cemetery—there is one sole tombstone with a Spanish surname, located just outside the cemetery’s chain link fence.

Until the 1950s, about 90 percent of all public cemeteries in the U.S. employed a variety of racial restrictions. Until recently, to enter a cemetery was to experience, as a University of Pennsylvania geography professor put it, the “spatial segregation of the American dead.” Even when a religious cemetery was not entirely race restricted, different races were buried in separate parts of the cemetery, with whites usually getting the more attractive plots.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-persistent-racism-of-americas-cemeteries

Fun Apps For Kids

Get Hidden Pictures by Highlights Magazine - Ages 6-8

Get BrainPOP Featured Movie - Ages 9-11

I Want This Guy to Wait on Me

From Stumble Upon - I was going to cherry pick the article, but I think it needs to read in its entirety to appreciate.  Enjoy!

Guy Documents His First Week Of Work At Target, And It Couldn’t Get More Hilarious

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1TyQra/:W5WO3Mhu:qUZGdJog/www.boredpanda.com/first-work-week-target-cashier-kimpossibooty

A Creative Brotha

Nationalism vs. Patriotism

Excerpts from The Undefeated -

THE COURAGE OF COLIN KAEPERNICK
Given all that’s going on in America, he got it right
By Michael Eric Dyson

Nationalism is a harmful belief that can lead a country down a dangerous spiral of arrogance, or off the precipice of political narcissism. Nationalism harbors the belief that no matter what one’s country does, it must be supported. If a nation practices racism, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia or the like, it must be celebrated and accepted at all costs. Patriotism is a bigger, more uplifting virtue. Patriotism is the belief in the best values of one’s country, and the pursuit of the best means to realize those values. If the nation strays, then it must be corrected. The patriot is the person who, spotting the need for change, says so clearly and loudly, without hate or rancor. The nationalist is the person who spurns such correction and would rather take refuge in bigotry than fight it. It is the nationalists who wrap themselves in a flag and loudly proclaim themselves as patriots. That is dangerous, as glimpsed in Trump’s amplification of the worst racist and xenophobic sentiments in a generation. In the end, Trump is a nationalist, and Kaepernick is a patriot.
~~~~~~~~~~
What the controversy has also revealed is that, for the most part, the world of sports, especially football, despite all of the black bodies that make it go, is still a deeply and profoundly white enterprise that cherishes its own viewpoints and recoils at true difference. That’s why only the gridiron is integrated, with nearly 70 percent of the players black. The league’s front offices teem with white men whose outdated viewpoints, and narrow understandings of race – and sometimes, whether intending to be or not, their bigoted perspectives – hamper true progress. The players in football and basketball may be overwhelmingly black – and in the case of baseball, increasingly Latino – but the front offices of major sports are a white man’s game.

Thus when we hear statements by anonymous NFL executives that they don’t want Kaepernick near their teams because he’s a traitor, that he has no respect for our country, and “[expletive] that guy,” and that “I have never seen a guy so hated by front office guys as Kaepernick,” they betray the tolerance for fatally narrow views of black life. As long as black athletes keep their mouths shut and play the game, they’re fine. Once they range beyond deference and obedience, they’re out of bounds, and huge penalty flags are thrown.

Kaepernick’s courage has also thrown a harsh light on just how painfully inadequate are the memories, historical consciousness, and learning of some of our leading, black former football players, who now offer commentary in the media. They clearly don’t understand that without some brave soul in the past like Jim Brown within their guild speaking up at the “wrong” time, they wouldn’t today enjoy the perks of fame and wealth. Without protest and social pressure, the major sports leagues would not have been integrated. Rodney Harrison, Hines Ward and Jerry Rice were incredible athletes who offer insightful commentary about football. However, criticism of Kaepernick reveals their atrocious ignorance. Harrison argued that Kaepernick’s heart is in the right place, but that he’s “going about it in the wrong way.”

http://theundefeated.com/features/the-courage-of-colin-kaepernick/

Upstanders—Scholarships for Every Student

Bodybuilding with One Arm and No Legs

Spot On!

I ran into technical difficulties trying to embed this video, so here's the link instead.  It's Trevor Noah on Comedy Central discussing Trump's effort to get the black vote.

Hilarious!

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/4vdhn2/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-donald-trump-tries-to-woo-black-voters

In This Class You Eat Ice Cream

Sign me up!

Unlimited Greatness ft. Serena Williams

How Instant Ramen Became an Overnight Success

Apologies if this is a repeat.

Saroo Brierley: Homeward Bound

Code of Conduct

An excerpt from the Root -

White America’s Definitive Code of Conduct for Black Athletes
And if you don’t follow these rules, you’ll get Kaepernicked.
BY: MICHAEL HARRIOT

Recently, black athletes have faced an enormous amount of scrutiny for their untoward behavior. They have continually sullied the regard and expectations of the virtuous masses of the noble, patriotic public by showing contempt for the spectators, fans and America itself. As such, we have assembled one of the whitest teams since (insert hockey team name here) to create this definitive code of conduct as both an instruction guide and a manual for how black professional athletes should represent themselves, their individual sports and their country.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/09/white-americas-definitive-code-of-conduct-for-black-athletes/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=theroot&utm_campaign=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content%26

Just in Case You're Interested

An excerpt from Vox -

Donald Trump volunteers are signing a lifelong contract never to criticize him
By Jeff Stein

Sign up to volunteer for Donald Trump’s campaign, and you might be giving up more than you bargained for.

Earlier this week, reporters began poring over the 2,271-word nondisclosure agreement that Trump’s campaign requires its volunteers sign. The forms are extraordinarily broad, virtually prohibiting any volunteers from criticizing Trump or his family for the rest of their lifetimes, according to Rachel Sklar, a lawyer and CNN contributor.

http://www.vox.com/2016/9/2/12769084/donald-trump-volunteers

Race for Gold: Cullen Jones and the Make a Splash Initiative

Digital #Ham4Ham 1/17/16 -- "Martin Luther King", words & music by Barb...

From a drug conviction to a life sentence to freedom

Carolina Chocolate Drops "Cornbread and Butterbeans"

You don't see this everyday.

Honey Lemon Ginger Jar | Natural Cold & Flu Remedy

Game Day Matter

From Rolling Stone - (Bold is mine)

Racism is much more complex than we like to imagine. It's more than a word; it's a system that is backed up money, politics and the criminal justice system. We live in a country where when media pundits called U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte, a 32-year-old man, a "kid," for lying about his brotastic experience at the Rio Olympics, but a Cleveland police officer can kill Tamir Race for doing just that – being a kid. A country where Kaepernick is deemed as being unpatriotic, for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of speech, but Dylann Roof can burn the American flag and walk into an A.M.E. church and murder people. A country where a presidential candidate whose slogan is "Make America Great Again," wants to criticize a black man who just wants justice is the epitome of not just hypocrisy, but it's also downright fucking absurd. Black lives seem to matter on game day when America needs to be entertained. The rest of the week, not so much.

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/what-white-fans-dont-understand-about-black-athletes-w437292?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=083116_12

How Americans got stuck with endless drug commercials

Hidden Valley Ranch Is a Real Place

The Backlash Begins

An excerpt from Rolling Stone - (bold is mine)

What Colin Kaepernick's National Anthem Protest Tells Us About America
When black athletes choose to point their aggression towards larger, systematic inequalities, there's always backlash  By Morgan Jerkins

While black men only make up six percent of the American population, they comprise a staggering seventy percent of NFL rosters. However, their power is mainly found on the field, since there are currently no African-Americans who are a majority owner of any team and no African-American CEOs or Presidents. The majority of NFL players are black, while the NFL fan base is 83 percent white and 64 percent male. These are people who pay staggering amounts of money to watch black men who have their bodies battered on the field. As long as they run and tackle, keep their helmets on, and their mouths shut, then they are acceptable to the white mainstream public. However, when black athletes choose to point their aggression not towards each other but to larger, systematic inequalities, that's when the backlash begins.

White 49ers fans posted videos burning Kaepernick's jersey and actor Chris Meloni took to Twitter to criticize Kaepernick’s method of political protest, because, as the Law & Order: SVU star saw it, the quarterback was disrespecting the American flag (Meloni later deleted the tweet). People swarmed social media, calling Kaepernick a disgrace, that he was a privileged rich athlete, that he was equally arrogant and ignorant to the sacrifices of American soldiers. And it all had a familiar ring to it.

This outcry is reminiscent of Muhammad Ali's political activism when he refused to enlist in the Vietnam War in 1967. David Susskind, an American television host, said, "I find nothing amusing or interesting or tolerable about this man. He's a disgrace to his country, his race, and what he laughingly describes as his profession." The man that today we call "The Greatest" was ridiculed all across the country and media. "My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America," he said. "And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. … Shoot them for what?" What Kaepernick and Ali as black athletes unleash through their political activism is a rupture in what is expected of them and how their allegiance to this country has never been rightfully earned.

Toni Morrison once said, "In this country, American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate." Kaepernick's protest, just as Ali's refusal to participate in the Vietnam War, tapped into an entrenched, historical fear of race in this country, that blackness is by default anti-American.

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/colin-kaepernicks-national-anthem-protest-w436704?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=082916_12

Standing Up By Sitting Down

An excerpt from the Intercept - H/T Ben

Colin Kaepernick Is Righter Than You Know: The National Anthem Is a Celebration of Slavery  By Jon Schwarz

BEFORE A PRESEASON GAME on Friday, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” When he explained why, he only spoke about the present: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. … There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

Twitter then went predictably nuts, with at least one 49ers fan burning Kaepernick’s jersey.

Almost no one seems to be aware that even if the U.S. were a perfect country today, it would be bizarre to expect African-American players to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Why? Because it literally celebrates the murder of African-Americans.

Few people know this because we only ever sing the first verse. But read the end of the third verse and you’ll see why “The Star-Spangled Banner” is not just a musical atrocity, it’s an intellectual and moral one, too:

No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

~~~~~~~~~~

So when Key penned “No refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,” he was taking great satisfaction in the death of slaves who’d freed themselves. His perspective may have been affected by the fact he owned several slaves himself.

~~~~~~~~~~

https://theintercept.com/2016/08/28/colin-kaepernick-is-righter-than-you-know-the-national-anthem-is-a-celebration-of-slavery/

Applying for Housing

Barbra Streisand with Jamie Foxx - Climb Ev'ry Mountain

The "natural" label on your food is baloney

Salary Needed

From the Huffington Post -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/income-to-buy-home_us_57bca543e4b03d51368b32d0?section=

Blistering Critique

From the Root -

Mr. Church: Just Another Film About a Black Man Being a White Woman’s Servant
This country has a fetish for black male subservience that translates into beloved, subservient characters on-screen.   BY: KIRSTEN WEST SAVALI




And just like The Help—in which the white woman, who is firmly centered even as the black person drives the story, ends up writing a book and profiting from the labor of black people—in Mr. Church, the white woman is dependent, emotionally and financially, upon that black labor for her survival.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with black people being cooks, chauffeurs, doormen and maids. Black people are experts at finding a way or making one. And this is not about respectability politics and needing to see ourselves fully assimilated into a white supremacist capitalist power structure that forces people to value themselves by how many zeros are on their paychecks.


This is about liberal white fantasies of saving black people from themselves even as white people are served and saved by those very same black people. It is also in keeping with the constant barrage of imagery that reinforces the power dynamic that black people are a perpetual servant class with conditional access to society. Rule No. 1: Appear as nonthreatening as possible. This is what springs from the minds of white creatives far too often—the idea of black men as invisible men used for protection, under no assumptions or expectations of equity.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/08/eddie-murphy-mr-church/

Welcome to the 4th Grade - Dwayne Reed

Rap Redemption?

An excerpt from the New Republic -

Hip-Hop Hymnals
Why are rappers like Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, and Kendrick Lamar finding religion?
BY FRANK GUAN

Often imitated, West now has actual disciples. Chance’s own mixtape, Coloring Book, is a match for Pablo in its holy righteousness; meanwhile the West Coast virtuoso Kendrick Lamar, who includes West among his myriad influences, explores sin and redemption on his recent albums. Listen to these three together and a striking trend emerges: Some of the most prominent and critically acclaimed artists in rap are finding religion. At first glance, this could be mistaken for a conservative shift, a retreat into otherworldly rectitude within an art form known for its realism and insolence. But these artists are also at the forefront of the ongoing revival of explicitly political hip hop—and in the context of Black Lives Matter, the religious themes in West, Chance, and Lamar take on a radical edge.

https://newrepublic.com/article/135723/hip-hop-hymnals?utm_source=New+Republic&utm_campaign=61279f778f-Daily_Newsletter_8_26_168_26_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c4ad0aba7e-61279f778f-59581889

Ben's Work

http://www.theicct.org/blogs/staff/big-win-win-on-big-trucks

Quote

From the Atlantic -

“Oh shit, I might’ve started a church.” 

—what Jodi Houge, a Lutheran pastor, said when people began attending her weekly services in a coffee shop

Why you shouldn’t drive slowly in the left lane

Floyd Norman: An Animated Life (2016)

Today's Best Quote

Excerpts from the AP -

Naked Donald Trump statues pop up in cities across the US

Life-size naked statues of the Republican presidential nominee greeted passers-by in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Cleveland on Thursday. They are the brainchild of an activist collective called INDECLINE, which has spoken out against Trump before.

~~~~~~~~~~

A statue in New York's Union Square quickly drew the attention of people, many of whom posed for photographs with it, before it was removed by the city's parks department.

"NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small," parks spokesman Sam Biederman joked.

Great Lesson

That parents need to learn, although some are not happy about it.

http://www.newser.com/story/229853/parents-are-fuming-over-schools-tough-love-policy.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=usatoday&utm_campaign=syn

Which is More Damaging?

An excerpt from the Huffington Post -

White Male Privilege Is Why We Laugh At Lochte And Vilify Douglas
Pay close attention to the words being used to describe them.  By Emma Gray

Gymnast Gabby Douglas “disrespected” her entire country by not putting her hand on her heart and smiling enough during the Olympics. Swimmer Ryan Lochte is a “kid” who deserves “a break” for allegedly destroying property and lying about a traumatic robbery.

If you were wondering what white, male privilege looks like, this is it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ryan-lochte-gabby-douglas-and-white-male-privilege-in-action_us_57b5e76de4b034dc73262f93?section=&

Donate Your Body

An excerpt from  the AP -

Body donations on the rise at US medical schools

By COLLIN BINKLEY

Many U.S. medical schools are seeing a surge in the number of people leaving their bodies to science, a trend attributed to rising funeral costs and growing acceptance of a practice long seen by some as ghoulish.

The increase has been a boon to medical students and researchers, who dissect cadavers in anatomy class or use them to practice surgical techniques or test new devices and procedures.

"Not too long ago, it was taboo. Now we have thousands of registered donors," said Mark Zavoyna, operations manager for Georgetown University's body donation program.

The University of Minnesota said it received more than 550 cadavers last year, up from 170 in 2002. The University at Buffalo got almost 600 last year, a doubling over the past decade. Others that reported increases include Duke University, the University of Arizona and state agencies in Maryland and Virginia. ScienceCare, a national tissue bank, now receives 5,000 cadavers a year, twice as many as in 2010.

http://bigstory.ap.org/f99bacafa4a04086bbe99de029aa710f

http://www.biogift.org/body-donation-process.php

Hidden Figures | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

Got a Pest Problem? Call the Quack Squad

Why It Matters

An excerpt from the Washington Post -

The significance of Simone Manuel’s swim is clear if you know Jim Crow

There is a reason why 70 percent of black teenagers, like those who died in Shreveport, and 60 percent of Hispanic teenagers can’t swim.

But it isn’t due to some genetic disorder, as some actually believe. It is because of abject irrational racism and Jim Crow and its vestiges.

It is rooted in complete ignorance that somehow the melanin from our skin could wash off, contaminate the water and infect any whites nearby. It is anchored to this country’s historical racial sexual hysteria, an unfounded fear of placing less-clad white women in too-close and contained proximity with black men considered innately lascivious, particularly when it comes to white women.

It can be heard in the scream of the segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in 1948: “I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there’s not enough troops in the army to force the southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigger race into our theatres into our swimming pools into our homes and into our churches.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/the-significance-of-simone-manuels-swim-is-clear-if-you-know-jim-crowe/2016/08/12/870e3bb6-60ad-11e6-af8e-54aa2e849447_story.html?wpisrc=nl_most-draw7&wpmm=1

Clinique Difference Maker: Gina Rodriguez

Quote

From the Huffington Post -

“I get banned for not liking Bush and now Trump can practically put a hit out on Hillary and he’s still all over country radio! Hypocrites!” - Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/natalie-maines-dixie-chicks-trump-hypocrisy_us_57ade625e4b071840410edb9?section=

Left-Handers Day - Aug 13th

From the Left-Handers Club News -

Celebrate the lefties in your world.

http://www.lefthandersday.com

He Doesn't Represent Us . . . Really!

An excerpt from the Washington Post -

Americans vacationing overseas find themselves on a Donald Trump apology tour

Yep, this summer, an overseas vacation has become a relentless apology tour, and just about every American with a passport is being interrogated by the rest of the world about our bizarre Republican presidential candidate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/americans-vacationing-overseas-find-themselves-on-a-donald-trump-apology-tour/2016/08/11/cb6b30ac-5fd1-11e6-af8e-54aa2e849447_story.html

A Better Way to End Panhandling

The Contrast is Striking

Excerpts from the New York Times - 

Olympians in Hijab and Bikini

By Roger Cohen

Doaa Elghobashy, left, of Egypt and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany
compete in the women’s preliminary beach volleyball during the Olympics in Rio.
Credit Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

No area is as sensitive as that of the treatment of women, women’s roles, women’s sexuality, dress and ambitions. The story is often presented as one of Western emancipation versus Islamic subjugation. That, however, is an inadequate characterization.

What follows are accounts by two women, an Egyptian and an American, of their experiences with the hijab. Chadiedja Buijs is a graduate student in Cairo. Norma Moore is a former actress living in Boulder, Colo., who recently visited Iran, where the rules obliged her to adopt Islamic dress codes.

(These accounts make for fascinating reading.  To me, the money quote is below).

My hair, the curves in my body, were given to me by God. To cover my head and wear shapeless clothes feels like I am pretending not to be a woman and that somehow I am responsible for keeping men’s sexuality within social bounds.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/12/opinion/olympians-in-hijab-and-bikini.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

Luke Cage | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

Check out this gorgeous chocolate chip!

Yes, I could be his grandma, but that doesn't prevent me for appreciating this young man even if comic book characters are normally not my thing.





You're welcome.

Poop or Get Off the Pot

Excerpts from the New York Times -

You Choose or You Lose 
By Gail Collins

Here’s the bottom line: There are only three things you can do when it comes time to elect a president. You can stay home and punt; you can choose between the two major party candidates; or you can cop out by doing something that looks like voting but has no effect whatsoever on the outcome of the race.

That includes strategies about writing in the name of a retired general, leaving the top line blank, or voting for a third-party candidate who has as much chance of winning as the YouTube Keyboard Cat.

~~~~~~~~~~

Right now we live in a world that’s been messed up by the bad decisions George W. Bush made about invading Iraq. He was elected president in 2000 thanks to a few hundred votes in Florida. A state where Green Party candidate Ralph Nader got 97,488 votes.

Most of the Green voters undoubtedly thought they were showing their disdain for both Bush and the deeply imperfect candidacy of Al Gore. And Nader is a man of fine principles. But look where those 97,488 votes got us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/opinion/you-choose-or-you-lose.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0