From the Washington Post - (Bold is mine)
Personal irresponsibility: A concise history of Trump’s buck-passing
By Dana Milbank
“I inherited a mess!” President Trump complained at a news conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday afternoon.
For the second day in a row, he blamed the Obama administration for Tuesday’s chemical weapons attack by Syria’s Assad regime and, for good measure, he blamed his predecessor for “one of the worst deals I have ever witnessed,” with Iran. “Whether it’s the Middle East, whether it’s North Korea, whether it’s so many other things, whether it’s in our country, horrible trade deals — I inherited a mess,” he repeated.
No, Mr. President, we’re the ones who inherited a mess. Problems are piling up quickly, and Trump is pointing his finger everywhere but inward.
~~~~~~~~~
This was just the latest item on a long and growing list of Trump’s problems that he blames on others. Here is a partial compilation of his buck-passing since taking office:
He blamed the failure of the GOP health-care bill on Democrats, moderate Republicans, conservative Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus, the Heritage Foundation, the Club for Growth and, indirectly, Paul Ryan.
He blamed a Yemen counterterrorism raid that didn’t go according to plan both on his generals and on Obama.
~~~~~~~~~~
(The list is long. Follow the link below to see this shameful running record that is destined to grow even longer).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/personal-irresponsibility-a-concise-history-of-trumps-buck-passing/2017/04/05/b94fc804-1a31-11e7-9887-1a5314b56a08_story.html?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.85242261ece5
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Sifting Through Greatness to Find Kindness
An excerpt from the New York Times -
Check This Box if You’re a Good Person
By Rebecca Sabky
The problem is that in a deluge of promising candidates, many remarkable students become indistinguishable from one another, at least on paper. It is incredibly difficult to choose whom to admit. Yet in the chaos of SAT scores, extracurriculars and recommendations, one quality is always irresistible in a candidate: kindness. It’s a trait that would be hard to pinpoint on applications even if colleges asked the right questions. Every so often, though, it can’t help shining through.
The most surprising indication of kindness I’ve ever come across in my admissions career came from a student who went to a large public school in New England. He was clearly bright, as evidenced by his class rank and teachers’ praise. He had a supportive recommendation from his college counselor and an impressive list of extracurriculars. Even with these qualifications, he might not have stood out. But one letter of recommendation caught my eye. It was from a school custodian.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/opinion/check-this-box-if-youre-a-good-person.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed&_r=1
Check This Box if You’re a Good Person
By Rebecca Sabky
The problem is that in a deluge of promising candidates, many remarkable students become indistinguishable from one another, at least on paper. It is incredibly difficult to choose whom to admit. Yet in the chaos of SAT scores, extracurriculars and recommendations, one quality is always irresistible in a candidate: kindness. It’s a trait that would be hard to pinpoint on applications even if colleges asked the right questions. Every so often, though, it can’t help shining through.
The most surprising indication of kindness I’ve ever come across in my admissions career came from a student who went to a large public school in New England. He was clearly bright, as evidenced by his class rank and teachers’ praise. He had a supportive recommendation from his college counselor and an impressive list of extracurriculars. Even with these qualifications, he might not have stood out. But one letter of recommendation caught my eye. It was from a school custodian.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/opinion/check-this-box-if-youre-a-good-person.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed&_r=1
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Quads Earn Top Spots
From the Washington Post -
Accepted, 8 times over: Ohio quadruplets earn spots at Yale, Harvard
By Sarah Larimer
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/accepted-8-times-over-ohio-quadruplets-earn-spots-at-yale-harvard/2017/04/04/6b52f60c-1938-11e7-855e-4824bbb5d748_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_accepted-710a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a27d6bb04d8d
Accepted, 8 times over: Ohio quadruplets earn spots at Yale, Harvard
By Sarah Larimer
 |
| (Photo courtesy of Aaron Wade/The Wade brothers, left to right: Nigel, Zach, Aaron and Nick.) |
Facts Prevail Again!
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
These high school journalists investigated a new principal’s credentials. Days later, she resigned.
By Samantha Schmidt
The student journalists had begun researching Robertson, and quickly found some discrepancies in her education credentials. For one, when they researched Corllins University, the private university where Robertson said she got her master’s and doctorate degrees years ago, the website didn’t work. They found no evidence that it was an accredited university.
“There were some things that just didn’t quite add up,” Balthazor told The Washington Post.
The students began digging into a weeks-long investigation that would result in an article published Friday questioning the legitimacy of the principal’s degrees and of her work as an education consultant.
On Tuesday night, Robertson resigned.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/05/these-high-school-journalists-investigated-a-new-principals-credentials-days-later-she-resigned/?utm_term=.2345090a9c58&wpisrc=nl_most-draw7&wpmm=1
These high school journalists investigated a new principal’s credentials. Days later, she resigned.
By Samantha Schmidt
The student journalists had begun researching Robertson, and quickly found some discrepancies in her education credentials. For one, when they researched Corllins University, the private university where Robertson said she got her master’s and doctorate degrees years ago, the website didn’t work. They found no evidence that it was an accredited university.
“There were some things that just didn’t quite add up,” Balthazor told The Washington Post.
The students began digging into a weeks-long investigation that would result in an article published Friday questioning the legitimacy of the principal’s degrees and of her work as an education consultant.
On Tuesday night, Robertson resigned.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/05/these-high-school-journalists-investigated-a-new-principals-credentials-days-later-she-resigned/?utm_term=.2345090a9c58&wpisrc=nl_most-draw7&wpmm=1
Slapping Back With Facts
From Salon -
ProPublica had the best response after Spicer called it a “left-wing blog”
Spicer made the mistake of mis-categorizing ProPublica. No one might ever come for ProPublica again
By RACHEL LEAH
http://www.salon.com/2017/04/04/propublica-had-the-best-response-after-spicer-called-them-a-left-wing-blog/?source=newsletter
ProPublica had the best response after Spicer called it a “left-wing blog”
Spicer made the mistake of mis-categorizing ProPublica. No one might ever come for ProPublica again
By RACHEL LEAH
http://www.salon.com/2017/04/04/propublica-had-the-best-response-after-spicer-called-them-a-left-wing-blog/?source=newsletter
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
KKK, Empowered by Trump
From Slate -
The Alt-Right of the Ozarks
What one town’s fight with the KKK says about the latest battle over white nationalism.
By Bret Schulte
In the Ozarks, the normalization of white supremacist ideology started decades ago. The credit goes largely to Thomas Robb, who in 1989 took control of David Duke’s Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The rebranding began with one of his first acts in charge. Instead of the creepy Grand Wizard moniker, Robb opted for the urbane: national director.
~~~~~~~~~~
Though Robb’s compound sits some 15 miles away from Harrison—up a hill from an unincorporated heap of marred trailers, dirt roads, and despair called Zinc, pop. 103—his Harrison address, and its history as a Sundown Town, has given the Boone County seat an unsavory reputation, even within Arkansas. In November, the U.K.’s Daily Mirror dubbed it “the most racist town in America.”
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/04/what_harrison_arkansas_fight_with_the_kkk_says_about_the_alt_right.html?wpsrc=newsletter_tis&sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d
The Alt-Right of the Ozarks
What one town’s fight with the KKK says about the latest battle over white nationalism.
By Bret Schulte
In the Ozarks, the normalization of white supremacist ideology started decades ago. The credit goes largely to Thomas Robb, who in 1989 took control of David Duke’s Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The rebranding began with one of his first acts in charge. Instead of the creepy Grand Wizard moniker, Robb opted for the urbane: national director.
~~~~~~~~~~
Though Robb’s compound sits some 15 miles away from Harrison—up a hill from an unincorporated heap of marred trailers, dirt roads, and despair called Zinc, pop. 103—his Harrison address, and its history as a Sundown Town, has given the Boone County seat an unsavory reputation, even within Arkansas. In November, the U.K.’s Daily Mirror dubbed it “the most racist town in America.”
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/04/what_harrison_arkansas_fight_with_the_kkk_says_about_the_alt_right.html?wpsrc=newsletter_tis&sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d
Female Mathletes
An excerpt from OZY -
BRAZIL'S STELLAR FEMALE MATHLETES
By Catherine Osborn
In April, the women will become Brazil’s first team to compete at the annual female math Olympics, the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO), in Switzerland. Brazil was invited to participate in the event, which was founded to increase women’s participation in math; later this year, Brazil will compete in the world’s biggest coed math Olympiad on its home turf with a team that may include some of these girls. Here, in the nation of 200 million, these women are converging conversations about gender and poor preparedness in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. Between 2012 and 2015, Brazil’s score fell 14 points in math and 4 points in science in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment.
But some corners of Brazil’s math system are thriving, like the Olympics program, which reaches outposts like the rural northern hometown of 14-year-old Rebouças. A cheery girl sporting red spectacles, Rebouças is known for hunting the internet for good math jokes. Wisecracking Carvalho, 17, signed up from Brazil’s southeast, as did Saltiel and 15-year-old Groff, who’s often spotted at extracurricular events in her military-school uniform. The women have repeatedly beaten tens of thousands of men in recent years to medal in Brazil’s math Olympic finals; at a January competition, they won travel to Switzerland sponsored by one of Brazil’s premier mathematical institutions, the National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA).
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/brazils-stellar-female-mathletes/76323
BRAZIL'S STELLAR FEMALE MATHLETES
By Catherine Osborn
In April, the women will become Brazil’s first team to compete at the annual female math Olympics, the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO), in Switzerland. Brazil was invited to participate in the event, which was founded to increase women’s participation in math; later this year, Brazil will compete in the world’s biggest coed math Olympiad on its home turf with a team that may include some of these girls. Here, in the nation of 200 million, these women are converging conversations about gender and poor preparedness in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. Between 2012 and 2015, Brazil’s score fell 14 points in math and 4 points in science in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment.
But some corners of Brazil’s math system are thriving, like the Olympics program, which reaches outposts like the rural northern hometown of 14-year-old Rebouças. A cheery girl sporting red spectacles, Rebouças is known for hunting the internet for good math jokes. Wisecracking Carvalho, 17, signed up from Brazil’s southeast, as did Saltiel and 15-year-old Groff, who’s often spotted at extracurricular events in her military-school uniform. The women have repeatedly beaten tens of thousands of men in recent years to medal in Brazil’s math Olympic finals; at a January competition, they won travel to Switzerland sponsored by one of Brazil’s premier mathematical institutions, the National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA).
http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/brazils-stellar-female-mathletes/76323
Stanford Agreed
From the Root -
Muslim Teen Writes #BlackLivesMatter 100 Times for His Stanford Application Statement, Gets Accepted
By Monique Judge
Is your activism performative or substantive? One New Jersey teen knew exactly how to show his answer to that question when filling out his application to Stanford University. Asked “What matters to you, and why?” the teen could think of only one thing: #BlackLivesMatter.
Ziad Ahmed wrote the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter 100 times, and that one act of activism paid off. According to a Mic profile of Ahmed, he received his letter of acceptance from Stanford on Friday.
http://www.theroot.com/muslim-teen-writes-blacklivesmatter-100-times-for-his-1793975181
Muslim Teen Writes #BlackLivesMatter 100 Times for His Stanford Application Statement, Gets Accepted
By Monique Judge
Is your activism performative or substantive? One New Jersey teen knew exactly how to show his answer to that question when filling out his application to Stanford University. Asked “What matters to you, and why?” the teen could think of only one thing: #BlackLivesMatter.
Ziad Ahmed wrote the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter 100 times, and that one act of activism paid off. According to a Mic profile of Ahmed, he received his letter of acceptance from Stanford on Friday.
http://www.theroot.com/muslim-teen-writes-blacklivesmatter-100-times-for-his-1793975181
His Only Qualification . . . He Married Well
From the New Republic -
Speaking on CNN last night, Daniel Drezner, a political scientist at the Fletcher School and Washington Post contributor, became exasperated as he listed off Kushner’s absurdly long to-do list. “I’m just assuming that Jared Kushner stayed at the best Holiday Inn Express imaginable last night,” Drezner quipped on CNN, referring to the famous ad campaign. “Because that’s the only explanation I have for why anyone would have the kind of hubris to think that you can solve U.S. relations with Mexico, U.S. relations with Canada, U.S relations with China, bring peace to the Middle East, solve the opioid crisis, solve the V.A. problem and, by the way, I believe reform all of the federal government...His one qualification is that he married well.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/141835/scary-power-nepotism-trumps-white-house
Speaking on CNN last night, Daniel Drezner, a political scientist at the Fletcher School and Washington Post contributor, became exasperated as he listed off Kushner’s absurdly long to-do list. “I’m just assuming that Jared Kushner stayed at the best Holiday Inn Express imaginable last night,” Drezner quipped on CNN, referring to the famous ad campaign. “Because that’s the only explanation I have for why anyone would have the kind of hubris to think that you can solve U.S. relations with Mexico, U.S. relations with Canada, U.S relations with China, bring peace to the Middle East, solve the opioid crisis, solve the V.A. problem and, by the way, I believe reform all of the federal government...His one qualification is that he married well.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/141835/scary-power-nepotism-trumps-white-house
Great Answer!
From the Washington Post -
Would Neil deGrasse Tyson ever take SpaceX to Mars? Only if Elon Musk’s mom does it first.
By Amy B Wang
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/04/03/would-neil-degrasse-tyson-ever-take-spacex-to-mars-only-if-elon-musks-mom-does-it-first/?utm_term=.8925d4514a9f&wpisrc=nl_most-draw7&wpmm=1
Would Neil deGrasse Tyson ever take SpaceX to Mars? Only if Elon Musk’s mom does it first.
By Amy B Wang
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/04/03/would-neil-degrasse-tyson-ever-take-spacex-to-mars-only-if-elon-musks-mom-does-it-first/?utm_term=.8925d4514a9f&wpisrc=nl_most-draw7&wpmm=1
Monday, April 3, 2017
A Book That Celebrates Girls
From the Huffington Post - The link to order the book is below.
New Children’s Book Teaches Black Boys To Treat Black Girls With Respect
“We have to change the narrative that the more melanin you have means you’re uglier.”
By Zahara Hill
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-childrens-book-teaches-black-boys-to-treat-black-girls-with-respect_us_58dec1a3e4b0b3918c837947?d3t3fub2ovoeu680k9&
http://lawrencelindellstudios.bigcartel.com/product/from-black-boy-with-love
New Children’s Book Teaches Black Boys To Treat Black Girls With Respect
“We have to change the narrative that the more melanin you have means you’re uglier.”
By Zahara Hill
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-childrens-book-teaches-black-boys-to-treat-black-girls-with-respect_us_58dec1a3e4b0b3918c837947?d3t3fub2ovoeu680k9&
http://lawrencelindellstudios.bigcartel.com/product/from-black-boy-with-love
1400 Days To Go
An excerpt from the LA Times -
Our Dishonest President
PART I
By THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD
Still, nothing prepared us for the magnitude of this train wreck. Like millions of other Americans, we clung to a slim hope that the new president would turn out to be all noise and bluster, or that the people around him in the White House would act as a check on his worst instincts, or that he would be sobered and transformed by the awesome responsibilities of office.
Instead, seventy-some days in — and with about 1,400 to go before his term is completed — it is increasingly clear that those hopes were misplaced.
In a matter of weeks, President Trump has taken dozens of real-life steps that, if they are not reversed, will rip families apart, foul rivers and pollute the air, intensify the calamitous effects of climate change and profoundly weaken the system of American public education for all.
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/
Our Dishonest President
PART I
By THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD
Still, nothing prepared us for the magnitude of this train wreck. Like millions of other Americans, we clung to a slim hope that the new president would turn out to be all noise and bluster, or that the people around him in the White House would act as a check on his worst instincts, or that he would be sobered and transformed by the awesome responsibilities of office.
Instead, seventy-some days in — and with about 1,400 to go before his term is completed — it is increasingly clear that those hopes were misplaced.
In a matter of weeks, President Trump has taken dozens of real-life steps that, if they are not reversed, will rip families apart, foul rivers and pollute the air, intensify the calamitous effects of climate change and profoundly weaken the system of American public education for all.
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
An excerpt from the Associated Press -
Cuban uses condoms, tropical fruit to make own brand of wine
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Today, Estevez, his wife, son and an assistant tend to 300 jugs containing five gallons (20 liters) of wine apiece. The main ingredient is Cuban grapes, but added flavors include tropical fruits and vegetables of virtually every variety.
The winery has become a neighborhood attraction, with residents of the El Cerro neighborhood sitting on the curb at all hours sipping Estevez's wine from green glasses.
The most remarkable sight, however, are hundreds of bottles capped with condoms that slowly inflate as the fruity mix ferments and produces gases. When the fermentation is over and there are no more gases, the condom stops inflating and falls, and the wine is ready for bottling.
"Putting a condom on a bottle is just like with a man," Estevez said. "It stands up, the wine is ready, and then the process is completed."
http://bigstory.ap.org/2174698b2f7c47f5bc49eedfd25a2457
Cuban uses condoms, tropical fruit to make own brand of wine
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
 |
| In this March 30, 2017 photo, winemaker Orestes Estevez poses among dozens condom topped wine jugs |
Today, Estevez, his wife, son and an assistant tend to 300 jugs containing five gallons (20 liters) of wine apiece. The main ingredient is Cuban grapes, but added flavors include tropical fruits and vegetables of virtually every variety.
The winery has become a neighborhood attraction, with residents of the El Cerro neighborhood sitting on the curb at all hours sipping Estevez's wine from green glasses.
The most remarkable sight, however, are hundreds of bottles capped with condoms that slowly inflate as the fruity mix ferments and produces gases. When the fermentation is over and there are no more gases, the condom stops inflating and falls, and the wine is ready for bottling.
"Putting a condom on a bottle is just like with a man," Estevez said. "It stands up, the wine is ready, and then the process is completed."
http://bigstory.ap.org/2174698b2f7c47f5bc49eedfd25a2457
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Quote
From the New York Times' Roger Cohen - (bold is mine)
Audacious ignorance is hard at work in the White House. The only solace is that, with Trump, it’s accompanied by paralyzing incompetence.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/opinion/donald-trumps-parrot.html?hpw&rref=opinion&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0
Audacious ignorance is hard at work in the White House. The only solace is that, with Trump, it’s accompanied by paralyzing incompetence.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/opinion/donald-trumps-parrot.html?hpw&rref=opinion&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0
Saturday, April 1, 2017
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