It’s not just “BBQ Becky”: Racist 911 calls are more common than you think - Vox

It’s not just “BBQ Becky”: Racist 911 calls are more common than you think - Vox:

“She’s black.”

My heart sped up as it did every day when I heard this kind of thing. This Northern California city was affluent and very white, bordering Oakland, much of which was neither. “Sir, I’m still not seeing the problem. Is she being loud? Is the noise of the cart disturbing your peace?”

His tone got harsher. “Where do you live?”

I was so startled by the question that I answered it. “Oakland,” I said.

“You wouldn’t understand, then. This isn’t Oakland. We don’t have people like her in this neighborhood. Just send someone out to get rid of her. I’m not talking to you anymore.” The click in my ear was his goodbye.

The worst thing about it? I had to send someone out. Dispatchers usually don’t get to choose which calls lead to the dispatching of emergency personnel and which don’t.

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Why Doesn't Anyone Answer the Phone Anymore? - The Atlantic

Why Doesn't Anyone Answer the Phone Anymore? - The Atlantic:

When you called someone, if the person was there, they would pick up, they would say hello. If someone called you, if you were there, you would pick up, you would say hello. That was just how phones worked. The expectation of pickup was what made phones a synchronous medium.

I attach no special value to it. There’s no need to return to the pure state of 1980s telephonic culture. It’s just something that happened, like lichen growing on rocks in the tundra, or bacteria breaking down a fallen peach. Life did its thing, on and in the inanimate substrate. But I want to dwell on the existence of this cultural layer, because it is disappearing.



No one picks up the phone anymore. 

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The End of ‘The Americans’: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys on the ‘Devastating’ Finale - The New York Times

The End of ‘The Americans’: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys on the ‘Devastating’ Finale - The New York Times: "Inevitably every season, there’s been a point at which I send an email to Joe and Joel and go, “Guys. Seriously. I actually want Elizabeth to die now. This is irredeemable.” And then in this season especially, there got to be a point where I was just like, “Guys. Come on. Are we teeing her up to be [so bad that when she is] killed in the most gruesome way possible, we feel good about it?” But they’re just like, “Just hang in there, hang in there. It’s going to work out.” And they’re always right. This was such a cool job. Because Elizabeth got to stay Elizabeth for so long. It’s so rare."



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Evangelist who wants $54M jet says "Jesus wouldn't be riding a donkey" - CBS News

Evangelist who wants $54M jet says "Jesus wouldn't be riding a donkey" - CBS News: ""I really believe that if the Lord Jesus Christ was physically on the Earth today, he wouldn't be riding a donkey," Duplantis said in the video. "He'd be in an airplane flying all over the world."

"



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The Equestrian Coach Who Minted Olympians, and Left a Trail of Child Molestation - The New York Times

The Equestrian Coach Who Minted Olympians, and Left a Trail of Child Molestation - The New York Times:

Interviews with 38 former students, trainers, grooms, equestrian officials and members of the Flintridge Riding Club reveal a rarefied social scene in which Mr. Williams groped and kissed young girls publicly and with impunity — though few knew the true extent of the abuse.

They describe a toxic brew of prestige and ambition that led parents, bent on their child’s success in the show ring, to ignore his near daily predations — and persuaded children who were afraid of losing beloved horses to stay silent. What emerged was a world where, for adults, entree to cocktail hour in the Spanish Colonial-style clubhouse and access to a man with movie-star good looks and a legendary way with horses seemed to eclipse whatever it was rumored to have happened back at the barn.

“The unspoken rule was of not saying anything, not divulging anything,” said Karen Herald, 58, who rode there from age 16 to 20, during which time she said Mr. Williams continually molested her. Mr. Williams wielded carrot and stick to ensure silence, she and others said: better horses to ride for those who were compliant, and threats they’d fail in the sport without him as coach.

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Jaron Lanier Interview on What Went Wrong With the Internet

Jaron Lanier Interview on What Went Wrong With the Internet: "And unfortunately there’s this asymmetry in human emotions where the negative emotions of fear and hatred and paranoia and resentment come up faster, more cheaply, and they’re harder to dispel than the positive emotions. So what happens is, every time there’s some positive motion in these networks, the negative reaction is actually more powerful."



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TrumpImpeachedAugust comments on After Gold Star widow breaks silence, Trump immediately calls her a liar on Twitter

From Reddit, a comment about: "the data suggest that "both sides" aren't the same in this regard."



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On Jeffrey Tambor, Second Chances, and Forgiveness - Erick on the Radio

On Jeffrey Tambor, Second Chances, and Forgiveness - Erick on the Radio:

The mob mentality of social media is one of its worst aspects. Any person or business may have the mob summoned against it. If the social media mob disagrees with a business owner’s views, it will harass the business and try to ruin its reputation until the business owner conforms. Disagree with a person’s politics, religion, views, votes, or even clothing choices and watch the mob pick up digital pitchforks to demand apology and conformity.

Just as dangerous, political and polite disagreements can be magnified, amplified, and weaponized. Say something provocative or disagreeable and watch as others attempt to harm you with it. There are, to this day, things I have done and said that others think I should apologize for. As much as I have learned that I must apologize when I have done something wrong, the equally valuable corollary has been to hunker down and weather the storm of social media scorn and mob demands for conformity when I believe I am right and Legion thinks I am wrong.

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Jaron Lanier Interview on What Went Wrong With the Internet

Jaron Lanier Interview on What Went Wrong With the Internet:

I think the fundamental mistake we made is that we set up the wrong financial incentives, and that’s caused us to turn into jerks and screw around with people too much. Way back in the ’80s, we wanted everything to be free because we were hippie socialists. But we also loved entrepreneurs because we loved Steve Jobs. So you wanna be both a socialist and a libertarian at the same time, and it’s absurd. But that’s the kind of absurdity that Silicon Valley culture has to grapple with.

And there’s only one way to merge the two things, which is what we call the advertising model, where everything’s free but you pay for it by selling ads. But then because the technology gets better and better, the computers get bigger and cheaper, there’s more and more data — what started out as advertising morphed into continuous behavior modification on a mass basis, with everyone under surveillance by their devices and receiving calculated stimulus to modify them

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New chapter: Senior prepared for life after high school

New chapter: Senior prepared for life after high school: "Editor’s note: In August 2005, Lydia Seabol Avant covered Jessica Dill’s first day of kindergarten at Buhl Elementary for The Tuscaloosa News. Now, she follows up with Jessica on her last day of high school Wednesday.
"



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Convincing You That Nothing Better Is Possible | Current Affairs

Convincing You That Nothing Better Is Possible | Current Affairs: "Albert Hirschman, in his book The Rhetoric of Reaction, looked at conservative arguments throughout history to show that they consistently make appeals to the same notions: perversity, futility, and jeopardy, i.e., Proposed Reform X is against God/nature, it won’t work, and it will threaten existing progress. The arguments are made consistently regardless of whether there is any evidence that they are true. This is how a “war on the imagination” is waged, and people become convinced that it isn’t worth dreaming of anything radically different than the status quo. So when teachers are being paid so little that they leave the profession, we are told that the only options are to let unqualified people teach or import teachers from overseas. And when our public schools are underfunded and dysfunctional, we have a debate over how best to turn the schools into effective job-training programs.

"



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Curb Cuts - 99% Invisible

Curb Cuts - 99% Invisible:



If you live in an American city and you don’t personally use a wheelchair, it’s easy to overlook the small ramp at most intersections, between the sidewalk and the street. Today, these curb cuts are everywhere, but fifty years ago — when an activist named Ed Roberts was young — most urban corners featured a sharp drop-off, making it difficult for him and other wheelchair users to get between blocks without assistance.



 Roberts was central to a movement that demanded society see disabled people in a new way.



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Dathouen comments on As Mexican, whites are smarter than me

Dathouen comments on As Mexican, whites are smarter than me: "When your parents are working 2 jobs each just to keep the lights on, the child has less academic support, which means they can learn less. Learning things in school is an important tool for refining and strengthening your thinking abilities. You don't study algebra to learn algebra, you learn algebra to learn deductive reasoning. You don't study history to learn about the deeds of people, you learn about history to learn what mistakes not to make. You don't study philosophy so you can quote great thinkers, you study philosophy to become a great thinker.

"



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Text of President Obama’s Speech in Hiroshima, Japan - The New York Times

Text of President Obama’s Speech in Hiroshima, Japan - The New York Times: "Yet in the image of a mushroom cloud that rose into these skies, we are most starkly reminded of humanity’s core contradiction. How the very spark that marks us as a species, our thoughts, our imagination, our language, our toolmaking, our ability to set ourselves apart from nature and bend it to our will — those very things also give us the capacity for unmatched destruction.

"



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A New Look Inside Theranos’ Dysfunctional Corporate Culture | WIRED

A New Look Inside Theranos’ Dysfunctional Corporate Culture | WIRED: "Theranos was on the cusp of becoming a tech darling. Founded by the charismatic Stanford dropout in 2003, its promises to revolutionize blood-testing—and by extension, the vast industry of medical diagnostics—would be swallowed whole by most of the technology press, which would lavish Holmes with glowing coverage. (WIRED was not exempt). Only later—in October 2015—would the truth come out: Theranos was a fraud built on secrecy, deliberate fabrication, and hype. After I revealed that fraud, the company would begin an implosion that continues to this day.



 Beam had no way of knowing any of this when he accepted Theranos’ job offer in August 2012...."



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Levees Make Mississippi River Floods Worse, But We Keep Building Them : NPR

Levees Make Mississippi River Floods Worse, But We Keep Building Them : NPR: "Floods on the Mississippi River are getting more frequent and more severe. But scientists warn that the infrastructure meant to protect towns and farms against flood waters is making the problem worse.

"



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Meghan Markle On Her Biracial Identity - Actress Meghan Markle Discusses Being Half Black Half White

Meghan Markle On Her Biracial Identity - Actress Meghan Markle Discusses Being Half Black Half White: "Navigating closed-mindedness to the tune of a dorm mate I met my first week at university who asked if my parents were still together. 'You said your mom is black and your dad is white, right?' she said. I smiled meekly, waiting for what could possibly come out of her pursed lips next. 'And they're divorced?' I nodded. 'Oh, well that makes sense.' To this day, I still don't fully understand what she meant by that, but I understood the implication. And I drew back: I was scared to open this Pandora's box of discrimination, so I sat stifled, swallowing my voice."



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Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom Murdered

Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom Murdered:

About her mother, her opinion seems to waver. “The doctors thought that she was so devoted and caring,” Gypsy said. “I think she would have been the perfect mom for someone that actually was sick. But I’m not sick. There’s that big, big difference.”

Gypsy still doesn’t feel she actively deceived anyone. “I feel like I was just as used as everybody else,” she said. “She used me as a pawn. I was in the dark about it. The only thing I knew was that I could walk, and that I could eat. As for everything else… Well, she’d shave my hair off. And she’d say, ‘It’s gonna fall out anyway, so let’s keep it nice and neat!’” Gypsy said her mother told her she had cancer, too, and would tell her that her medication was cancer medication. She just accepted it.

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Cashgate – Latterly – Medium

Cashgate – Latterly – Medium: "In his confession, Kalonga described how a broad conspiracy across ranks worked around the checks put in place specifically to stop government theft. Even with a watchdog accounting system, and treasury checks requiring multiple signatures from people in different agencies, the theft was only discovered when a maid ran off with a small stack of bills.

"



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Steven Pinker’s Ideas About Progress Are Fatally Flawed. These Eight Graphs Show Why. - Resilience

Steven Pinker’s Ideas About Progress Are Fatally Flawed. These Eight Graphs Show Why. - Resilience: "Taken together, these graphs illustrate ecological overshoot: the fact that, in the pursuit of material progress, our civilization is consuming the earth’s resources faster than they can be replenished. Overshoot is particularly dangerous because of its relatively slow feedback loops: if your checking account balance approaches zero, you know that if you keep writing checks they will bounce. In overshoot, however, it’s as though our civilization keeps taking out bigger and bigger overdrafts to replenish the account, and then we pretend these funds are income and celebrate our continuing “progress.” In the end, of course, the money runs dry and it’s game over.

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borkthegee comments on Jordan Peterson, Custodian of the Patriarchy

borkthegee comments on Jordan Peterson, Custodian of the Patriarchy:

I find it fascinating that he and his cult will latch onto nonsensical buzzwords like "postmodern marxism", all while the core philosophy of Jordan Peterson is quite literally Sexual Marxism.

Think about it.

Jordan Peterson's views on feminism and sexual liberation boil down to the idea that the free market of sex has failed and the bourgeoisie of men, the Sexual Capitalists, have monopolized the means of reproduction.

Jordan Peterson is a voice to the sexual proletariat, the "half of men who fail to reproduce", and he says: The Sexual Capitalists, the bourgeoisie Chads, they have stolen from the hard working proletariat men for too long! We must rise up and seize the means of reproduction!

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An Open Letter About Female Coaches | by Pau Gasol

An Open Letter About Female Coaches | by Pau Gasol:

I’ve been in the NBA for 17 years. I’ve won two championships … I’ve played with some of the best players of this generation … and I’ve played under two of the sharpest minds in the history of sports, in Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. And I’m telling you: Becky Hammon can coach. I’m not saying she can coach pretty well. I’m not saying she can coach enough to get by. I’m not saying she can coach almost at the level of the NBA’s male coaches. I’m saying: Becky Hammon can coach NBA basketball. Period.



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The Laura Perrins interview: The referendum was held to save the Tory Party, not the nation, says Peter Hitchens | The Conservative Woman | The philosophy not the party

The Laura Perrins interview: The referendum was held to save the Tory Party, not the nation, says Peter Hitchens | The Conservative Woman | The philosophy not the party: "Half the problem we face now is that there are so many different ideas of what departure involves, and nobody thought much about them when they voted, not least because the Leave side did not expect to win, and many of those who joined it did not much want to win, let alone take responsibility for implementing a vote to leave."



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John Byrd's answer to What is the most sophisticated piece of software/code ever written? - Quora

John Byrd's answer to What is the most sophisticated piece of software/code ever written? - Quora: "The most sophisticated software in history was written by a team of people whose names we do not know.

"



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“I Killed Them All.” The Life Of One Of America’s Bloodiest Hitmen

“I Killed Them All.” The Life Of One Of America’s Bloodiest Hitmen:

Police in the Central Valley say they failed to catch Martinez because he is a smart and remorseless sociopath, expertly dispatching victims he had little connection to and leaving behind little in the way of witnesses or evidence. Kavin Brewer, a homicide detective in Kern County, California, calls him “the best I ever heard of, in my 35 years of law enforcement.”

Some in the small California towns where Martinez lived and committed so many of his murders offered an additional explanation: Life is cheap here, and the people Martinez murdered and the communities where they came from, with their transient populations of impoverished, often undocumented farmworkers, didn’t count. Drugs and money pound through this part of California in ceaseless, violent streams, but many towns don’t even have police stations. Patrols, when they do come through, don’t tend to develop deep ties to communities.

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His Doctors Were Stumped. Then He Took Over. - The New York Times

His Doctors Were Stumped. Then He Took Over. - The New York Times:

The more Dr. Fajgenbaum learned, he said, the more he realized how much the field that studied Castleman was in disarray. Researchers focusing on the disease used different terminology to describe the condition, making it difficult to compare published work. Leading experts weren’t in regular communication, and studies were being done over again, even though previous ones had failed.

“It became just abundantly clear that just because you have smart people thinking about a problem doesn’t mean that it’s coordinated at all,” he said.

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The Entire Economy Is MoviePass Now. Enjoy It While You Can. - The New York Times

The Entire Economy Is MoviePass Now. Enjoy It While You Can. - The New York Times: "MoviePass’s business model — which Slate described as “creatively lighting money aflame in order to subsidize the movie-going habits of some 3 million customers” — has turbocharged its growth. And the company maintains that it can make money by striking revenue-sharing deals with theater chains, or charging movie studios to advertise inside its app.

"



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On Airline Mapping | somethingaboutmaps

On Airline Mapping | somethingaboutmaps: "This is not the final product that I ended up creating for the client, but it’s my favorite iteration, and the one that I want to talk about today. I just want to break down a few elements of how and why this came together the way it did: a little behind-the-scenes of my work and thought processes.

"



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Opinion | What Really Happens in China’s ‘Re-education’ Camps - The New York Times

Opinion | What Really Happens in China’s ‘Re-education’ Camps - The New York Times: "A new study by Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the European School of Culture and Theology, in Korntal, Germany, analyzed government ads inviting tenders for various contracts concerning re-education facilities in more than 40 localities across Xinjiang, offering a glimpse of the vast bureaucratic, human and financial resources the state dedicates to this detention network. The report reveals the state’s push to build camps in every corner of the region since 2016, at a cost so far of more than 680 million yuan (over $107 million).

"



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Cumberland, Wisconsin senior prank praised by police as one of the "best senior pranks" they've seen - CBS News

Cumberland, Wisconsin senior prank praised by police as one of the "best senior pranks" they've seen - CBS News: "When grown-ups arrived at the scene, they discovered a what looked like a car crash right through the front of the high school, leaving the back of a car sticking out of a gaping hole in the building. Photos that the school and police department shared are jarring at first — but the accident is completely fake.

"



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Billerica comments on [Unresolved Disappearance] MH370 crash was deliberate, experts say

Billerica comments on [Unresolved Disappearance] MH370 crash was deliberate, experts say: "Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. Most nights I dream of him. I have moments where I feel like I’m there again. I could go on and on about my story and what that one night did to me. But the point I want to make is that you’re right, it does affect so many people in serious ways when someone decides to take their life.

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mc_md comments on A Major Medical Crisis: Doctor Burnout

mc_md comments on A Major Medical Crisis: Doctor Burnout:

It's called "burnout" because "depression" means the medical boards might deny you a license to practice the profession you've sacrificed years of your life for.

It's called "burnout" because that novel terminology allows novel "solutions" like wellness seminars. If it were called something else it might require some kind of actual intervention.

It's called "burnout" because house staff are a renewable resource. Use up the fuel, graduate them, and take on a new batch.

It's called "burnout" because we are living up to the ideal of the medical ubermensch and there's a twisted nobility in over-exerting yourself to the point of psychological damage. See, I worked so hard I burned out. No puny human limitations for me!

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Longtime Decatur band director retiring at year’s end

Longtime Decatur band director retiring at year’s end: "On May 17 David Williams’ eighth grade band and jazz ensemble delivers a typically eclectic mix of themes from, among others, “Star Wars” and “West Side Story,” along with John Coltrane’s effusive “Blue Train.” Williams says he won’t make much of a fuss, but most already know this is his coda after 34 years as band instructor at Decatur’s Renfroe Middle School.

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Ihaveanotheridentity comments on I was Goofy at Walt Disney World for over 20 years! AMA! (This post is not for those who wish to preserve the Disney Magic)

Ihaveanotheridentity comments on I was Goofy at Walt Disney World for over 20 years! AMA! (This post is not for those who wish to preserve the Disney Magic): "I have one moment that stands out above all the rest. I was waiting for someone to ask me this question. It's the reason I left a good job as a VIP Tourguide and moved to the Character Department.

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From George Washington to Joshua Holmes, 2 December 1783

From George Washington to Joshua Holmes, 2 December 1783: "The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent & respectable Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions; whom we shall wellcome to a participation of all our rights & previleges, if by decency & propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.

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Five Top ISIS Officials Captured in U.S.-Iraqi Sting - The New York Times

Five Top ISIS Officials Captured in U.S.-Iraqi Sting - The New York Times: "The three-month operation, which tracked a group of senior Islamic State leaders who had been hiding in Syria and Turkey, represents a significant intelligence victory for the American-led coalition fighting the extremist group and underscores the strengthening relationship between Washington and Baghdad.

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Indictment: Upstate man wanted to hire killer to hang neighbor, - FOX Carolina 21

Indictment: Upstate man wanted to hire killer to hang neighbor, - FOX Carolina 21: "He is also accused of requesting a "flaming cross" be put in the front yard and to hang his neighbor from a tree, the indictment states."



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Eric Schneiderman makes me think: Why do we go back to the men who've hit us? - The Washington Post

Eric Schneiderman makes me think: Why do we go back to the men who've hit us? - The Washington Post: "We want people who hurt women to be singular creatures, monsters, not men. But often they will be our brothers, fathers, husbands and friends; they will make great art, or fight for good causes, or have other qualities and do other things we value.

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Being a Teacher Really Sucked – Rhi Hates Everything

Being a Teacher Really Sucked – Rhi Hates Everything:

It’s truly horrifying to see it happening at the very beginning. To children. Children told everyday that their worth is measured in their willingness to stay silent, walk on the right tile, and fold their hands neatly on their desk. Who are denied the time to access the history of themselves and their country just to make room for more testing – even with extended day programs in place! Who hate coming to school because they are constantly being told they are inadequate, yet have to come to school because it is where they get their food.

Good teachers – and every teacher I knew was a goodhearted teacher – know that every child has an innate love of learning. Every child has things they wonder about. Just take them somewhere new, or even the grocery store, and listen to the questions fly out of their mouths. It is a broken system that insists learning is sitting still, shutting up, and listening to a set list of information. Ask any teacher what makes their job so difficult, and the answer will in some way be “I am told how to teach by people who don’t even know what teaching is -” whether that’s administrators who have never been in a classroom, politicians, or idiots on social media. 

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He searched for his Japanese birth mother. He found her — and the restaurant she had named after him. - The Washington Post

He searched for his Japanese birth mother. He found her — and the restaurant she had named after him. - The Washington Post:

His mother told him the story he never knew about his birth and adoption. The American military man who was his birth father had started the paperwork required to marry Nobue but was shipped home to South Carolina before the paperwork was finished. He had said he would call right away, but didn’t. When he telephoned many months later, she refused to talk to him, believing he could not be trusted. He did not know she was pregnant.

Nobue’s father, a fisherman, offered to support her and the baby, but she knew it would be difficult for a mixed-race child in Japan, so she gave him up for adoption to Edward and Eleanor Hollywood, who were stationed in Japan with the U.S. Air Force.

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Russian hackers posed as IS to threaten military wives

Russian hackers posed as IS to threaten military wives:

Ricketts was one of five military wives who received death threats from the self-styled CyberCaliphate on the morning of Feb. 10, 2015. The warnings led to days of anguished media coverage of Islamic State militants’ online reach.

Except it wasn’t IS.

The Associated Press has found evidence that the women were targeted not by jihadists but by the same Russian hacking group that intervened in the American election and exposed the emails of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta.

The false flag is a case study in the difficulty of assigning blame in a world where hackers routinely borrow one another’s identities to throw investigators off track. The operation also parallels the online disinformation campaign by Russian trolls in the months leading up to the U.S. election in 2016.

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He Was a Protester. Now, Nikol Pashinyan Is Armenia’s Prime Minister. - The New York Times

He Was a Protester. Now, Nikol Pashinyan Is Armenia’s Prime Minister. - The New York Times:

On Tuesday, Mr. Pashinyan became Armenia’s interim prime minister, when a Parliament dominated by his political foes elected him by a 59-to-42 vote.

After vowing to remake the country’s political and economic systems, Mr. Pashinyan told a cheering throng in the central Republic Square in Yerevan, the capital, that, “Your victory is not that I was elected as prime minister of Armenia; your victory is that you decided who should be prime minister of Armenia.”

Tens of thousands had gathered in the square, cheering wildly and waving the country’s red, blue and orange flag as the vote was broadcast live on giant monitors.

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Ta-Nehisi Coates: Kanye West in the Age of Donald Trump - The Atlantic

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Kanye West in the Age of Donald Trump - The Atlantic: "The incentives toward a grand ego were ever present. I was asked to speak on matters which my work evidenced no knowledge of. I was invited to do a speaking tour via private jet. I was asked to direct a music video. I began to understand how and why famous writers falter, because writing is hard and there are “writers” who only do that work because they have to. But it was now clear there was another way—a life of lectures, visiting-writer gigs, galas, prize committees. There were dark expectations."



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96-Year-Old Secretary Quietly Amasses Fortune, Then Donates $8.2 Million - The New York Times

96-Year-Old Secretary Quietly Amasses Fortune, Then Donates $8.2 Million - The New York Times:

Even by the dizzying standards of New York City philanthropy, a recent $6.24 million donation to the Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side was a whopper — the largest single gift from an individual to the social service group in its 125-year history.

It was not donated by some billionaire benefactor, but by a frugal legal secretary from Brooklyn who toiled for the same law firm for 67 years until she retired at age 96 and died not long afterward in 2016.

Her name was Sylvia Bloom and even her closest friends and relatives had no idea she had amassed a fortune over the decades. She did this by shrewdly observing the investments made by the lawyers she served.

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The epic mistake about manufacturing that's cost Americans millions of jobs — Quartz

The epic mistake about manufacturing that's cost Americans millions of jobs — Quartz:

“A lot of policymakers, not everyone, but most, just missed the boat,” says Houseman. “We didn’t have the intelligent debates about what was going on with trade, etc., because a lot of people were just denying there was any problem, period.”

The problem is that manufacturing plays a significant role in the US economy. Manufacturing jobs tend to pay better, and create opportunities for learning skills that are particularly important to workers with less formal education. Factories also encourage innovation by attracting research and development (R&D) facilities, which need access to production lines to translate design into real products and to work out the kinks in prototypes. This is why when plants shutter and are moved overseas, R&D centers almost always go with them, says Houseman. Detached from the innovative feedback loop formed with R&D, US factories struggle to compete.

The received wisdom that the US was simply becoming a service-driven economy also lulled leaders into complacency about the long-term economic and social cost of lost manufacturing jobs. The establishment assumed that the apparent increase in the sector’s output and productivity would eventually solve the problem; where there was wealth, there would be new job openings to replace lost factory work. But, as a growing heap of research shows, workers hit by mass layoffs suffer unusually big wage losses throughout their careers, and many exit the workforce entirely.

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Christian group conducts study on abortion, finds that Christians have the most abortions – DeadState

Christian group conducts study on abortion, finds that Christians have the most abortions – DeadState:

In the wake of the November 27, 2015 Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs, the findings of a survey released by LifeWay, a Christian research group, reveal some interesting facts about a seemingly hidden culture within the Christian community.

The survey explored the true relationship of religion and abortion and was co-sponsored by the pregnancy support organization Care Net. These are some of their findings.

• 70 percent of the women they surveyed considered themselves Christians.
• Over 50 percent of the surveyed women who attend church regularly have kept their abortions secret from their church community.
• 40 percent of women surveyed feel that churches are not equipped to help them make decisions about unwanted pregnancies.

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[Infinity War Spoilers] The Real Theme of Infinity War : marvelstudios

[Infinity War Spoilers] The Real Theme of Infinity War : marvelstudios: "Dr. Strange sees 14 million futures, and what he finds out is that in the only future where they win, they first have to fail. Sometimes pain and loss is inevitable, and when it is you have no choice but to allow it to happen because it's the only way to move forward. The characters are repeatedly put in situations where they have to make painful sacrifices in order to keep going; where they have to accept that pain and failure and compromise are necessary to keep moving forward and that the thing they want to happen is not the thing that will. But even then when they succeed in having the will to make these sacrifices, they still fail regardless. Sometimes there is no other option, sometimes you have to lose.

"



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Grim Economic Realities

Grim Economic Realities: "In actuality, their chief error lay in misreading the will of the American people. When the American giant awoke, it did not lapse into despair as a result of the defeats that Japan had inflicted upon it. Rather, it awoke in a rage, and applied every ounce of its tremendous strength with a cold, methodical fury against its foe. The grim price Japan paid -- 1.8 million military casualties, the complete annihilation of its military, a half million or so civilians killed, and the utter destruction of practically every major urban area within the Home Islands -- bears mute testimony to the folly of its militarist leaders."



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Interpine comments on Is frequency and realism of exercises a good measure of a military's tactical competence? Where can one find this information and how closely is it guarded?

Interpine comments on Is frequency and realism of exercises a good measure of a military's tactical competence? Where can one find this information and how closely is it guarded?:

In short, almost all military victory or defeat can be explained not by numbers or equipment, but simply by which side had more experience and practice.

Stephen Biddle sums it up very well in Explaining Victory and Defeat - in a short modern war, the side with the greater readiness will win 100% of the time, regardless of the other variables. In a long war, the incompetent army can "learn the hard way" until they negate this advantage.

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An Observation on Failing at Life – Medium

An Observation on Failing at Life – Medium: "You see the guy succeeding where you failed and it must be that the audience is too stupid to appreciate you or the guy who beat you is a fraud. Failing at life and not owning it means you have to make someone else own it. In fact, one vocal critic of mine failed repeatedly and came away concluding it must be the stupid listeners, the format, the stations, etc. Bitterness led to an inability to accept his own failures.

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California teenagers: Statistics on Millennials and Generation Z | The Sacramento Bee

California teenagers: Statistics on Millennials and Generation Z | The Sacramento Bee: "We now live in a state where fewer under-20 than 50-59-year-olds are getting arrested for criminal offenses (including “dumb crimes” like low-level thefts, drunken and drugged misbehaviors, and assaults). That’s unheard-of.

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Kanarkly comments on California net neutrality bill that AT&T hates is coming to New York, too | Ars Technica

Kanarkly comments on California net neutrality bill that AT&T hates is coming to New York, too | Ars Technica: "The Party of Principles:

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Jordan Peterson Talks Political Correctness, the Radical Left, PC Culture and 12 Rules for Life

Jordan Peterson Talks Political Correctness, the Radical Left, PC Culture and 12 Rules for Life: "Is this middle-aged Canadian college professor the philosopher our times need—or a dangerous anti-PC provocateur in tweed clothing?

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