France won’t dine with Iran unless wine is served - The Washington Post

France won’t dine with Iran unless wine is served - The Washington Post:

Ahead of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s landmark European trip kicking off this weekend, French officials reportedly nixed plans for a formal meal in Paris with President François Hollande following a dispute over the menu. The Iranians, according to France’s RTL Radio, insisted on a wine-free meal with halal meat — a request based on Islamic codes that amounted to culinary sacrilege in France, a nation that puts the secular ideals of the Republic above all else.

The French, RTL said, counter offered with a presumably alcohol-free breakfast — which the Iranians promptly rejected because it appeared too “cheap.” The two leaders will now reportedly settle for a face-to-face chat next Tuesday.

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The White House 3.0 — Medium

The White House 3.0 — Medium: "In traveling the country extensively, I’m convinced that Americans are tired of those feelings of helplessness, something they feel hearing the cynical partisan narratives. They want to be a part of the solution, rather than the problem, even if in very small ways, say a $5 gift, or a teacher volunteering to help educate her friends on an issue. They want to be a part of the solution, rather than a part of the problem. Americans need to see that change on some of America’s biggest challenges — be it climate change, educational improvements, or veterans support and transitions home, etc."



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npinguy comments on This painting just sold for $24,890,000.

npinguy comments on This painting just sold for $24,890,000.: "One very important thing to keep in mind is that paintings look VERY different in person than they do on the internet.
" [continues with poor language but great writing]



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Netanyahu Continues To Divide D.C. During Visit Designed To Mend Ties - BuzzFeed News

Netanyahu Continues To Divide D.C. During Visit Designed To Mend Ties - BuzzFeed News: "“I do believe that dialogue is important,” Axelrod said. “I obviously don’t agree with [Netanyahu] on a number of things, but we’re never going to resolve issues if we can’t talk about them. I think it’s a preposterous notion that he shouldn’t have been invited. I applaud them for doing it.”
"



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Six Problems with GOP Debate on Financial Reform - Roosevelt Institute

Six Problems with GOP Debate on Financial Reform - Roosevelt Institute: "Capital, unless you are demanding 100 percent equity, won’t solve this. There is always a risk of failure, and thus panic and contagion. As a result we need a process in place. We shouldn’t remove the one we have, which conservatives want to do, unless we have a better replacement ready to go, which conservatives don’t. We certainly shouldn’t pretend that the issue will simply go away with a higher this-or-that ratio.

"



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The Man Who Won And Lost "American Ninja Warrior" | VICE Sports

The Man Who Won And Lost "American Ninja Warrior" | VICE Sports: "What the show's announcers seemed to suggest, what the fans echoed and what Britten, himself, believes—is that if he can do it, in spite of his 60-70 hour work weeks and walking his daughter to the school bus each morning and only really training during family outings to the gym, then anyone can do anything. This is at the core of "American Ninja Warrior," the idea that these superheroes of grip strength and persistence walk among us like mortals, not quite aware of the awesome things they can do.

"



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Missouri football players refuse to play until university president is fired

Missouri football players refuse to play until university president is fired: "Dozens of black football players at the University of Missouri have had enough. After months of protests by activists went nowhere, around 30 football players vowed to strike until university President Tim Wolfe steps down or is fired for his inability to deal with a series of racist incidents on campus, reports the Maneater. The players took to Twitter on Saturday night to announce they will not participate in team activities, posting a photograph of the athletes linking arms with Jonathan Butler, who is on his sixth day of a hunger strike to call attention to the issue.

"



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How American parenting is killing the American marriage - Quartz

How American parenting is killing the American marriage - Quartz: "When people choose to have children, they play a lottery. Children have the same range of positive and negative characteristics as adults, and the personalities of some children are poorly matched with those of their parents. Nature has protected children against such a circumstance by endowing them with irresistible cuteness early on, and by ensuring that parents bond with children sufficiently strongly that our cave-dwelling ancestors didn’t push their offspring out in a snowbank when they misbehaved. Much as parents love their children and have their best interests at heart, however, they don’t always like them. That guy at the office who everyone thinks is a jerk was a kid once upon a time, and there’s a pretty good chance that his parents also noticed that he could be a jerk. They just weren’t allowed to say so.
"



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Reading should not carry a health warning – Frank Furedi – Aeon

Reading should not carry a health warning – Frank Furedi – Aeon: "The representation of mass reading as an ‘insidious contagion’ was often coupled with sightings of irrational destructive behaviour. The most alarming manifestation of the reading epidemic was its potential for triggering acts of self-harm, including suicide among the impressionable young. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) – a story of unrequited love leading to the act of self-destruction – was widely condemned for triggering a wave of copy-cat suicides on both sides of the Atlantic.

"



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Startup Playbook

Startup Playbook: "Be optimistic. Although it’s possible that there is a great pessimistic CEO somewhere out in the world, I haven’t met him or her yet. A belief that the future will be better, and that the company will play an important role in making the future better, is important for the CEO to have and to infect the rest of the company with. This is easy in theory and hard in the practical reality of short-term challenges. Don’t lose sight of the long-term vision, and trust that the day-to-day challenges will someday be forgotten and replaced by memories of the year-to-year progress.

A quick word about competitors: competitors are a startup ghost story. First-time founders think they are what kill 99% of startups. But 99% of startups die from suicide, not murder. Worry instead about all of your internal problems. If you fail, it will very likely be because you failed to make a great product and/or failed to make a great company.
"



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The Lure of Luxury | Boston Review

The Lure of Luxury | Boston Review: "The debate over the psychology and politics of non-utilitarian goods isn’t just about the whims of millionaires, then. Everyone has an appetite for non-utilitarian things; most people own things that they don’t really need. It is worth thinking about why.

"



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Taylor Swift’s GQ Cover Interview: Bad Blood, Kanye West, and Wildest Dreams | GQ

Taylor Swift’s GQ Cover Interview: Bad Blood, Kanye West, and Wildest Dreams | GQ: "“I used to watch Behind the Music every day,” she says. (Her favorite episode was the one about the Bangles.) “When other kids were watching normal shows, I’d watch Behind the Music. And I would see these bands that were doing so well, and I’d wonder what went wrong. I thought about this a lot. And what I established in my brain was that a lack of self-awareness was always the downfall. That was always the catalyst for the loss of relevance and the loss of ambition and the loss of great art. So self-awareness has been such a huge part of what I try to achieve on a daily basis. "



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How to Revitalize Young Conservatives: Don’t Pal Around with Fools | Christ and Pop Culture

How to Revitalize Young Conservatives: Don’t Pal Around with Fools | Christ and Pop Culture: "Of course I believe the conservative movement should be a big tent, but we all know that there are some positions that cannot be let in the tent. White nationalists, libertarian anarchists, overt dominionists, fascists — we have no problem excluding these groups, but more self-criticism and purging is necessary. There’s no reason why figures like Barton, Beck, and Boykin should be treated as valuable allies by a leader like Senator Cruz. Conservative politics has much to offer our country, but judgement needs to begin in our house.

"



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it’s my job to take college students seriously | Fredrik deBoer

it’s my job to take college students seriously | Fredrik deBoer: "One part of my life, the part that engages with the broader political conversation, is filled with well-meaning liberal and left people who say “oh, there’s no illiberal attitudes among college students — that’s all a conspiracy by the conservative media.” These people, generally, are not on campus. Meanwhile, my extensive connections in the academy, and my continuing friendships with many people who are involved in the world of campus organizing, report that this tendency is true — and often justify it, arguing that this illiberalism is in fact a necessary aspect of achieving social justice. It’s disorienting and frustrating to get arguments of denial in one part of my life and arguments of justification in another.

"



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Friend found this in an unopened shoe box at work. Shoes were made in Ethiopia. : pics

Friend found this in an unopened shoe box at work. Shoes were made in Ethiopia. : pics:

I work for an international NGO as my non-writing day job. A colleague told me of a factory she visited in India. Our organisation was working to improve the safety & quality of life for the children in the local community, many of whom worked in the factory.

When asked what they would like to change, one of the local girls said "Please help us get rid of the tennis balls." My colleague was confused - what did tennis balls have to do with anything?

Turns out the factory owners made the kids hold tennis balls under their chins. That way they couldn't look up from their work or talk to one another without the ball falling down and them getting beaten.

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Emoticons and emojis as evidence in court.

Emoticons and emojis as evidence in court.: "Courts are evaluating emoticons as evidence—but nobody really knows what they mean.

"



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This Is Why NFL Star Greg Hardy Was Arrested For Assaulting His Ex-Girlfriend

This Is Why NFL Star Greg Hardy Was Arrested For Assaulting His Ex-Girlfriend: "Unlike Ray Rice, the former Baltimore Ravens star who was filmed knocking his future wife unconscious in an elevator, Hardy hasn’t become a pariah. That’s partly because he’s more valuable on the field, but also because of the perception that nobody knows what really happened that night. Hardy won’t talk about it; Holder has gone quiet ever since, prosecutors say, she received a settlement, which contributed to the criminal case against him falling apart. And, crucially, no photos or videos ever came out. Police and prosecutorial records that detail what happened that night have largely been kept from the public—though not from the NFL."



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The House Freedom Caucus wants looser party control on the floor. This is what would happen if they got it. - The Washington Post

The House Freedom Caucus wants looser party control on the floor. This is what would happen if they got it. - The Washington Post: "The authors show that, from the 109th to 111th Congress, or between 2005 and 2010, House members proposed 7,250 amendments for consideration under structured rules. Of these, only one-third (or 2,440 amendments) actually reached the floor.

That’s a lot of demand. Allowing House members to introduce amendments freely  — and to have lengthy debates and votes, as the Senate does — would likely bring the House to a halt."



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Elder Bush Says His Son Was Served Badly by Aides - The New York Times

Elder Bush Says His Son Was Served Badly by Aides - The New York Times: "He was even harsher about Mr. Rumsfeld, who had been a rival of his since the 1970s, when both served in Gerald R. Ford’s administration. “I think he served the president badly,” Mr. Bush said. “I don’t like what he did, and I think it hurt the president having his iron-ass view of everything. I’ve never been that close to him anyway. There’s a lack of humility, a lack of seeing what the other guy thinks. He’s more kick ass and take names, take numbers. I think he paid a price for that.” He added, “Rumsfeld was an arrogant fellow and self-assured, swagger.”

"



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an assumed admixture | Fredrik deBoer

an assumed admixture | Fredrik deBoer: "Again, it’s my observation that elite types tend to raise their own children to believe that they control their own academic fates; they don’t accept the notion that their children will succeed or fail thanks mostly to the performance of schools and teachers but because of what the children do themselves. They tend to demand excellence in a way that directly undercuts the assumption that it’s teachers, not students, that determine performance. In other words, I’m willing to bet that a lot of professional political and policy commentators out there write like the parents from 2010, in the comic above, but parent their own children like the ones from 1960."



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Declaration of Conscience - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Declaration of Conscience - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Surely these are sufficient reasons to make it clear to the American people that it is time for a change and that a Republican victory is necessary to the security of this country. Surely it is clear that this nation will continue to suffer as long as it is governed by the present ineffective Democratic Administration.



Yet to displace it with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation. The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny -- Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear."



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Freshman Senator To His Colleagues: 'The People Despise Us All' : NPR

Freshman Senator To His Colleagues: 'The People Despise Us All' : NPR: ""Socrates said it was dishonorable to make the lesser argument appear the greater — or to take someone else's argument and distort it so that you don't have to engage their strongest points. Yet here, on this floor, we regularly devolve into bizarre partisan-politician speech. We hear robotic recitations of talking points."

"



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Sorry, kids, the 1st Amendment does protect 'hate speech' - LA Times

Sorry, kids, the 1st Amendment does protect 'hate speech' - LA Times: "Outside those situations, hate speech is protected by the 1st Amendment against abridgment by the government, including a state university. (As a private institution, Williams College isn’t bound by the 1st Amendment in the way the University of California is. But its policies on speech have nothing to do with “legally recognized hate speech.”)





“Haters gotta hate," the saying goes. But if they do, their words are protected by the Constitution -- whatever college students think."



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Free Speech Not Always 'Unwelcome' on Campus | Jane Swift

Free Speech Not Always 'Unwelcome' on Campus | Jane Swift: "This February, for the ninth year in a row, I will serve as a Distinguished Lecturer in Leadership Studies at Williams, teaching a seminar course called Political Leadership. As a former Republican Governor, my mere presence at Williams should be controversial, at least according to common wisdom. However, not once have I ever felt unwelcome on campus and have found the faculty and administration to be warm, open-minded individuals.



 Even more controversial should be my course, which is non-partisan but has brought some high profile conservative political operatives and media to the college, including--gasp!--a prominent Fox News anchor. However, the college has consistently paid not only my salary but also the travel expenses for these conservative personalities to speak their minds to portions of the student body."



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considerthesnail comments on This is how you deal with disrespectful students and gain their respect

considerthesnail comments on This is how you deal with disrespectful students and gain their respect: "This is a story about setting expectations. Goddammit, listen to me: If you treat someone like a dog, they will act like a dog. If you tell someone, outright or implicitly, that you think they're yet another ne'er-do-well young black gang-banging fool, they will be that. I refused to be anything but positive with Dante. It would be easy to say that he rose to my expectations, but I don't believe that. He rose to his own expectations; I just helped him realize what they were. I knew he could be better. Deep down, he knew he could be better. But he needed someone, for once, to say, "I see you. I see you in there. Come out."
"



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Microwave oven to blame for mystery signal that left astronomers stumped | Science | The Guardian

Microwave oven to blame for mystery signal that left astronomers stumped | Science | The Guardian: "The mystery behind radio signals that have baffled scientists at Australia’s most famous radio telescope for 17 years has finally been solved.

The signals’ source? A microwave oven in the kitchen at the Parkes observatory used by staff members to heat up their lunch."



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How Mergers Damage the Economy - The New York Times

How Mergers Damage the Economy - The New York Times: "The presence of a few dominant companies in an industry also makes it harder for entrepreneurs to start new businesses in that sector. The rate at which new businesses are created in the economy as a whole has been steadily falling since the 1970s, according to the Census Bureau. In 2013, the growth rate was 10.2 percent, down from 17.1 percent in 1977.

"



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Which romantic regime do you follow? – Polina Aronson – Aeon

Which romantic regime do you follow? – Polina Aronson – Aeon: "Having analysed discussions in various TV talk shows, conducted interviews and done content analysis of the Russian press, she established that, to Russians, love remains ‘a destiny, a moral act and a value; it is irresistible, it requires sacrifice and implies suffering and pain.’ Indeed, whereas the concept of maturity that lies at the heart of the Regime of Choice regards romantic pain as an aberration and a sign of poor decision-making, the Russians consider maturity to be the capacity to bear that very pain, sometimes to an absurd degree.

"



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How Friendships Change Over Time - The Atlantic

How Friendships Change Over Time - The Atlantic: "And some people do manage to stay friends for life, or at least for a sizable chunk of life. But what predicts who will last through the maelstrom of middle age and be there for the silver age of friendship?

"



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Mark Zuckerberg Signed the Wrong Document - Bloomberg View

Mark Zuckerberg Signed the Wrong Document - Bloomberg View: "I tend to think that these innovations are cool. Different companies might well want different financing and governance and liquidity structures, and voluntary experiments among consenting adults should be encouraged. If founders want dual-class stock and smart venture capitalists want to give it to them, go right ahead. But the public markets are for everyone, and not everyone is a consenting adult. The public markets are full of widows and orphans who expect the default structures of ownership. They are also full of plaintiffs' lawyers who enforce those structures. If you are a unicorn with your own ideas of how you should relate to your shareholders, the public markets may not be a welcoming place.

"



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The Republicans are right. We in the media do suck. - The Washington Post

The Republicans are right. We in the media do suck. - The Washington Post: "Lesson No. 1: Lie, but lie confidently.

"



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The CNBC Republican Debate Was A Total Trainwreck | ThinkProgress

The CNBC Republican Debate Was A Total Trainwreck | ThinkProgress: "That wasn’t really because of the candidates, though — it was because of the moderators. For the first hour, CNBC moderators Becky Quick, John Harwood, and Carl Quintanilla didn’t let candidates interact with each other, resulting in multiple moments of incomprehensible yelling. This may have been because of stricter time limits — this particular 10-candidate debate was only two hours, while the previous Republican debates have spanned three hours.
"



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Ask CFR Experts: Should the United States ratify the UN Law of the Sea? - Council on Foreign Relations

Ask CFR Experts: Should the United States ratify the UN Law of the Sea? - Council on Foreign Relations: "Yes, the Senate should approve, and the United States should join, the Law of the Sea Convention, to which 166 countries are already party.

"



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ISIS Captives Say They Faced Blade as Rescue Came - The New York Times

ISIS Captives Say They Faced Blade as Rescue Came - The New York Times: "As the interview came to an end, Mr. Jibouri asked if he could send a message to an American audience: He said he was grateful to the United States and to Joshua L. Wheeler, the Army Delta Force master sergeant who was killed in the rescue. “May God keep him in heaven,” he said.



 But the freedom Mr. Jibouri now enjoys is shrouded with sadness that his family remains in Hawija, which is firmly in the grip of the Islamic State, which is also known by the Arabic pejorative Daesh."



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Strong Community Management: Why We Canceled Two Panels For SXSW 2016 | South by Southwest 2016 Music, Film and Interactive Festivals - Austin Texas

Strong Community Management: Why We Canceled Two Panels For SXSW 2016 | South by Southwest 2016 Music, Film and Interactive Festivals - Austin Texas: "On Monday, October 26, SXSW Interactive made the call to cancel two sessions for the 2016 event: "SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community" and "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games." We had hoped that hosting these two discussions in March 2016 in Austin would lead to a valuable exchange of ideas on this very important topic.

"



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White House Disagrees With F.B.I. Chief on Scrutiny as a Cause of Crime - The New York Times

White House Disagrees With F.B.I. Chief on Scrutiny as a Cause of Crime - The New York Times: "WASHINGTON — The White House said Monday that it did not agree with the assertion last week by the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, that additional scrutiny of law enforcement in the past year may have made police officers less aggressive, leading to a rise in violent crime in some cities.

"



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Guatemala just elected a comedian with zero political experience to be president - Vox

Guatemala just elected a comedian with zero political experience to be president - Vox: "Morales's simple campaign slogan — "not corrupt, not a thief" — really cuts to the heart of his victory. The election was in large part a backlash to Guatemala's deeply entrenched corruption and crime problem, issues brought to the fore after President Otto Pérez Molina was indicted on corruption charges in early September. Morales represented, as one Guatemalan citizen put it, "the least worst option" in a country whose political class is terminally corrupted.

"



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VStarffin comments on Can someone explain why it tends to be young, white men who have libertarian beliefs.

VStarffin comments on Can someone explain why it tends to be young, white men who have libertarian beliefs.: "Libertarianism is bound to be attractive to those types of people who have enough power and clout in society that government really is their biggest obstacle. So, for example, it makes sense that people like the Koch Brothers, or people like Cliven Bundy, are libertarians. For the Koch Brothers, there's literally no entity in existence which has any real institutional control over them except for government. Same for Cliven Bundy, or other folks who live a very rural lifestyle - you are mostly left alone on your land, and the only people with any incentive to interfere with you is government.
"



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Review: ‘Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’ - The New York Times

Review: ‘Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’ - The New York Times: "There is much about Justice Ginsburg that remains enigmatic. The achievement of “Notorious RBG” is that the authors make this unassuming, most studious woman come pulsing to life. A colleague of the justice’s once said, “The anecdote that describes her best is that there are no anecdotes.” In this way, Justice Ginsburg is a bit like the Mona Lisa, whose likeness has also launched a thousand fanciful appropriations. To be a scrim for the world’s projections, it helps to be a little hard to read."



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Hillary Clinton, Trey Gowdy, and the True Victims of Playing Politics With War - The Daily Beast

Hillary Clinton, Trey Gowdy, and the True Victims of Playing Politics With War - The Daily Beast: "By the time Trey Gowdy and Hillary Clinton finished their opening remarks at Thursday’s congressional inquiry on Benghazi, Joshua Wheeler was dead in Iraq half a world away from Washington where policy is set that sends men just like him to the fight. Sgt. Wheeler was a 39 year old, highly decorated Army veteran of 14 deployments to the long wars waged in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

"



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Dark times for diners | Crain's New York Business

Dark times for diners | Crain's New York Business: "But these breakfast conveniences, lunch go-tos, dinners of last resort and midnight hangouts are closing at a rapid rate. Between economic pressures, changes in eating habits and a next-generation not as interested as their parents in spending 16 hours a day manning a cash register, the city's diner scene may soon no longer exist.

"



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Lucius_Veratius comments on 12 worthwhile films from this year that you (actually) may have missed

Lucius_Veratius comments on 12 worthwhile films from this year that you (actually) may have missed: "I used to write content for reddit and other sites. A common thing to do is put in one item that will make the internet want to comment and tell you why that item is wrong. More comments = longer visibility and more views.
"



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The Life and Death of an Amazon Warehouse Temp - The Huffington Post

The Life and Death of an Amazon Warehouse Temp - The Huffington Post: "What the future of low-wage work really looks like.
"



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The Life and Death of an Amazon Warehouse Temp - The Huffington Post

The Life and Death of an Amazon Warehouse Temp - The Huffington Post: "What the future of low-wage work really looks like.
"



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Pope Francis scolds Catholic bishops over their attitudes towards gays and the divorced

Pope Francis scolds Catholic bishops over their attitudes towards gays and the divorced:

And -- apart from dogmatic questions clearly defined by the church’s Magisterium -- we have also seen that what seems normal for a bishop on one continent, is considered strange and almost scandalous for a bishop from another; what is considered a violation of a right in one society is an evident and inviolable rule in another; what for some is freedom of conscience is for others simply confusion.

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How to Have 106 Babies (and Counting) | GQ

How to Have 106 Babies (and Counting) | GQ: "Ed Houben is Europe’s most virile man. And after years of donating sperm the “normal” way (sterile room, cup, cash), he and some women looking to get pregnant for free began cutting out the middlemen and getting it done as nature prefers it (sex!). Today, Houben has over a hundred children—and Ed the Babymaker is in greater demand than ever. We imagine you have some questions

"



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Trey Gowdy Just Elected Hillary Clinton President | Rolling Stone

Trey Gowdy Just Elected Hillary Clinton President | Rolling Stone:

On a deeper level the Republican committee members were accusing her of not caring about martyred American lives, because, well, "liberals" only care about the victims of torture or police brutality or other special interest groups they can exploit for political gain. In conservative legend, they don't care about "regular" Americans.

Having to face down that absurd accusation will humanize Hillary anew with a Democratic electorate that had begun to wonder what she really stood for. Now she's not an aristocrat who takes money from Goldman and Citi, she's a symbol of a majority demographic that is officially tired of being told it isn't American enough. You can't put a price on the ad the Republicans gave Hillary Thursday. I think they won her the White House.

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For D.C.’s desperate, a refuge from homelessness is about to disappear - The Washington Post

For D.C.’s desperate, a refuge from homelessness is about to disappear - The Washington Post: "If you go to Capital Self Storage in the morning, you’ll see dozens of doors open a bit, jackets hung up and chairs pulled out as the morning routine begins. There is shaving, pants being ironed, deodorant smeared on armpits.

“I’ve got a job this afternoon and something tomorrow,” said Ralph White, 47, who works as a freelance auto mechanic and keeps his gear, his tools, his bike and his clothes in a topside unit."



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Inside Swiss Banks’ Tax-Cheating Machinery - WSJ

Inside Swiss Banks’ Tax-Cheating Machinery - WSJ: "“Banks large and small are naming individuals and firms that helped U.S. taxpayers hide foreign accounts and evade taxes,” said acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline Ciraolo. “It is now clear that asset-management firms, investment-advisory groups, insurance companies and corporate service providers—not just banks—facilitated this criminal conduct.”

"



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The Definitive History Of The West Wing

The Definitive History Of The West Wing: "if any of them had any idea that Breaking Bad was going to be as successful as it was they would've destroyed it. The same is true of The Sopranos. If they thought it was going to be successful, they never would've met Gandolfini. And if Aaron had allowed his show to have the conventional network interference it would've been a disaster. They read the pilot and, if you remember, the Cuban refugees were on boats and Sam and I are trying to figure out whether we let them land in Florida or send them back. The note from NBC was, "We need to get Sam and Josh in the water.""



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I watch child pornography to prosecute sex crimes. The kids’ silence is deafening. - The Washington Post

I watch child pornography to prosecute sex crimes. The kids’ silence is deafening. - The Washington Post: "We think silence can’t indicate that something hurts. Without an expression of pain, we assume there’s no injury. The pain scale at the doctor’s office displays a smiling face over a zero to represent no pain, while the worst pain, a “10,” is represented by a face crumpled in agony and tears falling. Too often, our society implicitly uses this scale to judge abused children’s emotional pain. If they’re not crying, if their faces are expressionless, we assume they must not be hurting. We refuse to hear silence as anything but a vacuum of feeling, a void in experience.

"



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Daniel Craig Tells Us What He Really Thinks of Bond

Daniel Craig Tells Us What He Really Thinks of Bond:

And this time you’ve gone one better, showing 007 succumbing to the charms of an older woman.

I think you mean the charms of a woman his own age. We’re talking about Monica Bellucci, for heaven’s sake. When someone like that wants to be a Bond girl, you just count yourself lucky!

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How to Make a Virtuoso Violinist | The New Republic

How to Make a Virtuoso Violinist | The New Republic: "“For every ten students, one will attempt suicide, one will become mentally ill, two will become alcoholics, two will slam doors and jettison the violin out the window, three will work as violinists, and perhaps one will become a soloist.” For aspiring violinists and their parents—including Wagner herself—those are not good chances. Why would anyone choose that kind of life?"



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Benghazi Biopsy: A Comprehensive Guide to One of America’s Worst Political Outrages

Benghazi Biopsy: A Comprehensive Guide to One of America’s Worst Political Outrages: "The historical significance of this moment can hardly be overstated, and it seems many Republicans, Democrats and members of the media don’t fully understand the magnitude of what is taking place. The awesome power of government—one that allows officials to pore through almost anything they demand and compel anyone to talk or suffer the shame of taking the Fifth Amendment—has been unleashed for purely political purposes. It is impossible to review what the Benghazi committee has done as anything other than taxpayer-funded political research of the opposing party’s leading candidate for president. "



'via Blog this'

Teacher: I’ve loved my ‘very difficult’ job. But now Ohio has made it ‘impossible.’ - The Washington Post

Teacher: I’ve loved my ‘very difficult’ job. But now Ohio has made it ‘impossible.’ - The Washington Post:\With this in mind, I would like to extend an invitation to all of you. This is an opportunity to start helping kids in Ohio instead of hurting them. I invite you to please obtain a teaching license and get a teaching job in an Ohio public school. I invite you to do what you ask of us. I invite you to work 12 hours per day. Teach without any quality training in dealing with the behaviors present in kids today. Teach to all of the standards with a laughable lack of resources. Look into the eyes of your students as you tell them that they need to take yet another test that you know isn’t doing anyone any good. Clean your room every evening because of the lack of funds to pay enough custodians. Give up every Sunday so that you can do data analysis, Ohio Teacher Evaluation System nonsense and other assorted garbage. Try to explain to your own kids that this is just part of your job.

'via Blog this'

'Mythbusters' to end with final season | EW.com

'Mythbusters' to end with final season | EW.com: "We’ve seen thousands of people across the country and abroad. The kind of appreciation that’s been expressed by people all over the place for what we’ve done, for encouraging them or their family or kids to be interested in science, is absolutely wonderful. I can’t think of anything that would be more important than that. I think there’s something in the playful experimentation that we do that seems to appeal to the way people’s minds work, young people in particular, by doing things that are destructive and creative and challenging, all at the same time. Science is a deeply creative enterprise. The public doesn’t often associate science with being deeply creative. We have pointed out how fun and creative and thought-provoking science and experimentation can be. The rest is all fluff."



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Haunted by hackers: A suburban family’s digital ghost story | Fusion

Haunted by hackers: A suburban family’s digital ghost story | Fusion:

So, yes, Blair has a rap sheet for hacking and a deep familiarity with some of the darker parts of the internet. And yes, he may have angered the wrong hackers in that IRC chat room, or done something that made him a target for retribution. His parents are not randomly-chosen targets.

But they are innocent ones—drive-by victims in what appears to be a hacker grudge battle.

'via Blog this'

How Computers Are Changing the Way We Think - The Atlantic

How Computers Are Changing the Way We Think - The Atlantic:

The idea of "concept of book" is taught in most good Ed. School classes about reading. If you don't know to read from right to left, top to bottom, and whether to start front or back, you can't work the damn thing. You and I got the training from parental exposure. There are many children who do not have "reading parents" to stack their environment with cues.

A child seeing Mom work a Kindle does not get the same cues as when Mom is reading a book or magazine.

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Oprah’s new ‘Belief’ series shows how dramatically the nature of faith is shifting - The Washington Post

Oprah’s new ‘Belief’ series shows how dramatically the nature of faith is shifting - The Washington Post: "“Belief” narrates this often-ignored but startling story: The age of top-down religion is over. That age is being replaced by an age in which even people who faithfully maintain distinctive religious identities are engaging in do-it-yourself spiritual journeys that often lead in remarkably similar directions of love, healing and justice toward a God (or gods) close at hand.

"



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She's 10. She has HIV. This is the moment she learns the truth. | The Washington Post

She's 10. She has HIV. This is the moment she learns the truth. | The Washington Post:

Back then, Washington was still struggling to control the disease’s spread. Revolutionary drugs had reduced the risk of mother-to-child infections to less than 2 percent if the virus was discovered before delivery. And yet, dozens of babies continued to be born with HIV in the nation’s capital, where, at the time of JJ’s birth and diagnosis, epidemic rates compared to those in parts of West Africa.

But the disease didn’t frighten Lee. Her oldest son had contracted HIV as an adult, and an AIDS-related illness had killed her ex-husband, whom she cared for as his body failed.

Yes, she told the agency. I’ll take the infant.

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In Deep South, poor students are caught in a cycle of poverty | The Washington Post

In Deep South, poor students are caught in a cycle of poverty | The Washington Post: "The Deep South’s paralyzing intergenerational poverty is the devastating sum of problems both historical and emergent — ones that, in the life of a young man, can build in childhood and then erupt in early adulthood. Students such as Davis deal with traumas at home and dysfunction at school — only to find themselves, as graduates, searching for low-paying jobs in states that have been reluctant to fund programs that help the poor. That cycle carries implications not only for the current generation, but also for the ones to come, and holds back a region that has fallen further behind the rest of the nation.

"



'via Blog this'

People are criticizing my dad, Jim Webb, for killing a man. Here’s what they’re missing. - The Washington Post

People are criticizing my dad, Jim Webb, for killing a man. Here’s what they’re missing. - The Washington Post: "This country has been at war for almost 15 years, and as I think about the ridicule leveled at my father in the past 24 hours, I can’t help but imagine what these same people must think about the service of my own generation. In their eyes, did we simply spend some kind of twisted ‘semester abroad’ in a place with plenty of sand, but no ocean? Or conversely, do they ignorantly dismiss our experiences, as they have my father, as those of cold callous killers?

"



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Bernie Sanders' economics destroyed by Bill Maher | RedState

Bernie Sanders' economics destroyed by Bill Maher | RedState: "Sanders asked Maher—Maher?!—to explain why he feels his universal healthcare plan wouldn’t work. And Maher obliged him.





“Because they control both ends of it,” said Maher. “If you’re saying that the government is going to pick up the tab but not make the insurance companies, the hospitals, and the doctors not gouge people, then we are going to break the budget. It has to work both ways. So you’re going to make the hospitals do that? Because that is socialism.”"



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President Obama & Marilynne Robinson: A Conversation in Iowa by Barack Obama and Marilynne Robinson | The New York Review of Books

President Obama & Marilynne Robinson: A Conversation in Iowa by Barack Obama and Marilynne Robinson | The New York Review of Books: "That’s the logical conclusion if, in fact, you think that government is the enemy. And that, too, is a running strain in our democracy. That’s sort of in our DNA. We’re suspicious of government as a tool of oppression. And that skepticism is healthy, but it can also be paralyzing when we’re trying to do big things together.

"



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Larry Lessig Isn't Giving Up On His Presidential Campaign - The Atlantic

Larry Lessig Isn't Giving Up On His Presidential Campaign - The Atlantic: "If the Democrats won’t take seriously a candidate with a viable, credible, and professionally managed campaign just because it includes a promise to step aside once the work is done, then fine. You win. I drop that promise.

"



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The Lonely Death of George Bell - The New York Times

The Lonely Death of George Bell - The New York Times: "Each year around 50,000 people die in New York, some alone and
unseen. Yet death even in such forlorn form can cause a surprising
amount of activity. Sometimes, along the way, a life’s secrets are revealed."



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Fear by Marilynne Robinson | The New York Review of Books

Fear by Marilynne Robinson | The New York Review of Books: "first, contemporary America is full of fear. And second, fear is not a Christian habit of mind."



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Star Simpson at Freedom to Innovate | … My heart’s in Accra

Star Simpson at Freedom to Innovate | … My heart’s in Accra: "Star notes that, at the time she was arrested, you could legally have 11 pounds of ammunition in your luggage at baggage claim. “I had 13 LEDs.” The police restrained her and questioned her on the traffic island outside the airport, quickly determining that she was harmless. But she explained that the police were concerned about wrongful arrest laws – if she had been arrested wrongfully, she could sue. So they went ahead and pressed charges, even though it was clear that she posed no threat.

"



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MH17 Crash - Russian subtitles - YouTube

MH17 Crash - Russian subtitles - YouTube:



The anatomy of a war crime.



'via Blog this'

MH17 Crash - Russian subtitles - YouTube

MH17 Crash - Russian subtitles - YouTube:



The anatomy of a war crime.



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Latest Unease on Right: Ryan Is Too Far Left - The New York Times

Latest Unease on Right: Ryan Is Too Far Left - The New York Times: "“Anyone who attacks Paul Ryan as being insufficiently conservative is either woefully misinformed or maliciously destructive,” said Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma. “Paul Ryan has played a major role in advancing the conservative cause and creating the Republican House majority. His critics are not true conservatives. They are radical populists who neither understand nor accept the institutions, procedures and traditions that are the basis of constitutional governance.”"



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Dr. King spoke out against the genocide of Native Americans » peoplesworld

Dr. King spoke out against the genocide of Native Americans » peoplesworld: ""Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles of racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its Indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it."  

"



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Night and the City • Eurogamer.net

Night and the City • Eurogamer.net: "We drove about for another hour or two after that, and by this point dad was hooked. Not hooked on L.A. Noire's narrative, perhaps, or caught up in the complex chains of missions, but hooked on the city, on the fascinating, insightful job that Rockstar had done in stitching the past together. Even though I can't actually drive, and the car we were in wasn't a real car anyway, I had a strong sense that I was in the front seat, turning the wheel beneath my hands, and he was riding low in the back, face pressed to the glass. Role reversal. It happens to all fathers and sons eventually, I guess. Why shouldn't it happen because of games?

"



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If everyone’s an idiot, guess who’s a jerk? – Eric Schwitzgebel – Aeon

If everyone’s an idiot, guess who’s a jerk? – Eric Schwitzgebel – Aeon: "All normal jerks distribute their jerkishness mostly down the social hierarchy, and to anonymous strangers. Waitresses, students, clerks, strangers on the road – these are the unfortunates who bear the brunt of it. With a modicum of self-control, the jerk, though he implicitly or explicitly regards himself as more important than most of the people around him, recognises that the perspectives of those above him in the hierarchy also deserve some consideration."



'via Blog this'

What Exxon knew about the Earth's melting Arctic - Los Angeles Times

What Exxon knew about the Earth's melting Arctic - Los Angeles Times: "The board’s response: Exxon had studied the science of global warming and concluded it was too murky to warrant action. The company’s “examination of the issue supports the conclusions that the facts today and the projection of future effects are very unclear.”



Yet in the far northern regions of Canada’s Arctic frontier, researchers and engineers at Exxon and Imperial Oil were quietly incorporating climate change projections into the company’s planning and closely studying how to adapt the company’s Arctic operations to a warming planet."



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Cal lecturer's email to students goes viral: "Why I am not canceling class tomorrow" | California Magazine

Cal lecturer's email to students goes viral: "Why I am not canceling class tomorrow" | California Magazine: "If I’ve learned one thing about politics since I was your age, it is this: Politics, like most things in life worth thinking about, including mathematics, is very big, very complicated, and very interconnected. I’ve lived and worked in four countries on four continents, all with societies set up differently both politically and socially. I’ve discovered that there is no unique or obviously best way of setting up society. For every decision and judgement you reach, there are people who benefit and people who lose out. It’s the same with the way I teach my classes. I know that for every decision I make about how to teach you there are some of you who benefit and there are others who would do better if I did things differently. There is no way of getting around that. Every judgement you make in life is a question of balancing different interests and ideals. Reasonable good people can disagree on political questions like whether to strike or not, and they can disagree about far more contentious topics also.

"



'via Blog this'

A Prescription for More Black Doctors - The New York Times

A Prescription for More Black Doctors - The New York Times:

 The average black family has managed to accumulate about $7,000 in wealth, compared with $111,000 for the average white household, making it difficult for historically black colleges to find parents and grandparents affluent enough to write big checks for buildings, programs and scholarships. Alumni do give, Francis said, but the donations are often small.

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The endowments at the nation’s black colleges reflect this stark reality. Howard University in Washington has the largest endowment of all the colleges by far, at $586 million. (The largest endowment among historically white institutions is Harvard’s $32 billion.) Over all, the gap between the endowments of historically black colleges and others has doubled in the last two decades.

Without big endowments, the colleges rely heavily on tuition, making them extremely vulnerable to stagnating or declining enrollments. Because they are designed to serve students with little wealth, they cannot make up the shortfall by raising tuition. The average tuition of private historically black colleges is half that of private predominantly white colleges. This means they are often not in a position to pay competitive faculty salaries and build the fancy buildings and other facilities that college students shop for.

'via Blog this'

Republicans Join to Democrats to Force Vote on Export Bank - The Atlantic

Republicans Join to Democrats to Force Vote on Export Bank - The Atlantic: "A group of more than 50 GOP lawmakers joined nearly the entire Democratic caucus to force a vote on legislation reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, the 80-year-old federal lending agency that shuttered when Republican leaders refused to renew its charter. The bipartisan coalition on Friday introduced the bill through a discharge petition, a rarely-used procedural mechanism that allows lawmakers to bypass both committees and the leadership to call up legislation signed by a majority of the House. It’s a maneuver that was last executed 13 years ago and only five times in the last eight decades, lawmakers said.

"



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Islamic State Hostages: How We’ve Rescued 2,150 Yazidis From the Islamic State - POLITICO Magazine

Islamic State Hostages: How We’ve Rescued 2,150 Yazidis From the Islamic State - POLITICO Magazine: "For that brief time in August 2014, the United States launched airstrikes to halt the advance of ISIL after its troops took over a third of Iraq, saving the Yazidi people from total massacre by ISIL troops. But since then, we’ve been abandoned and forgotten by Washington and the rest of the international community. For every story of a girl who has been rescued, there’s another one about a girl who is still in captivity, where she is starved, raped, beaten and sold—often to “fellow” Iraqis. And 500,000 Yazidis, a full 90 percent of the indigenous Yazidi population, are in displaced persons’ camps, living in abject misery and isolation with less than minimal sustenance. We languish in these camps, live without income, and without food, medicine or even shelter durable enough to keep the rain out. As long as ISIL remains intent on wiping my people off the map; and as long as the Iraqi and Kurdish Regional governments continue to see Yazidis as less than second-class citizens, unworthy of significant aid and attention, these horrors will continue.

"



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Why Clinton’s TPP opposition unnerves me - Vox

Why Clinton’s TPP opposition unnerves me - Vox: "I don't truly know what's in Clinton's heart — perhaps I'm wrong, and despite all evidence to the contrary, she holds all these positions deeply — but as a close reader of her record, I'm not convinced that Clinton, in office, wouldn't support policies like the Cadillac tax or negotiate trade deals like the TPP. And as someone trying to understand Clinton's likely governing philosophy, it's unnerving.

"



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Has Obama Done Enough for African-Americans? -- NYMag

Has Obama Done Enough for African-Americans? -- NYMag: "In a country whose basic genetic blueprint includes the same crooked mutations that made slavery and Jim Crow possible, it is not possible to have a black president surrounded by black aides on Marine One without paying a price. And the price that Obama has had to pay — and, more important, that African-Americans have had to pay — is one of caution, moderation, and at times compromised policies: The first black president could do only so much, and say only so much, on behalf of other African-Americans. That is the bittersweet irony of the first black presidency."



'via Blog this'

The Trouble With Granting Anonymity to U.S. Officials - The Atlantic

The Trouble With Granting Anonymity to U.S. Officials - The Atlantic: "What’s more, government sources have a powerful incentive to tell a story like that, whether or not it is true: intentionally targeting a hospital would likely be a war crime, and would, at the very least, be considered a shameful public relations disaster.



 The very weakest case for withholding a source’s name is when 1) powerful officials 2) with a clear incentive to lie 3) use anonymity to spread a self-serving narrative 4) without accountability 5) on a matter of great consequence. All those conditions are met here. The anonymous officials in this particular case may have tried to be truthful; and even self-serving narratives are sometimes accurate.



But this one was false."



'via Blog this'

American Says She Was Hounded Out Of Moldova By Pro-Russian Politician - BuzzFeed News

American Says She Was Hounded Out Of Moldova By Pro-Russian Politician - BuzzFeed News:

WASHINGTON — An American consultant working for a pro-Western politician in Moldova has been harassed by a rival pro-Russian politician to the point of having to leave the country, she told BuzzFeed News.

Molly McKew, a consultant who owns the firm Fianna Strategies, told BuzzFeed News this week that she has left Moldova because Renato Usatii, a pro-Russian mayor, has made videos suggesting that she is a murderer, published her passport information on his website, and stalked her in public.

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When public officials can’t be bothered with innocence - The Washington Post

When public officials can’t be bothered with innocence - The Washington Post: "I’ve made the argument before that convicting an innocent person of murder ought to be treated like a doctor who amputates the wrong limb. If it wasn’t intentional, perhaps it shouldn’t be a criminal offense. But it should end that person’s career. Yet to actively work to preserve bad convictions, and to work to keep information about those cases from becoming public, is another matter entirely. Both Hood and Alvarez have done it throughout their careers. That they have yet to be sanctioned or disciplined by a court or state bar speaks volumes about the legal profession’s ability to police itself. That they continue to be reelected is more evidence that the criminal justice reform movement should get more directly involved in electoral politics.

"



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Area Man Pickets MFA Because He Hates French Impressionist Paintings Of Renoir | ARTery

Area Man Pickets MFA Because He Hates French Impressionist Paintings Of Renoir | ARTery: "“Rosy cheeks are for clowns, do your job take them down,” they chanted as they stood at the end of the museum’s horseshoe driveway on Huntington Avenue for about an hour. Signs they held read: “Treacle harms society! Remove all Renoir Now,” “God hates Renoir,” “Renoir sucks!”

"



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The Greatest Moments in Aviation History

The Greatest Moments in Aviation History: "Runner up would be the debut of the Douglas DC-3. Rolled out in 1935, the DC-3 wasn’t really the first of anything, but it perfected the evolution of the all-metal passenger transport to become the first truly profitable and mass-produced airliner. So many thousands of DC-3s were built, in civilian and military versions, both in the U.S. and under license abroad, that nobody knows for sure the actual count. As late as the 1960s more than a thousand were still in airline service. Today every passenger plane, from a ten-seater to the 777, bears a debt to this old piston twin.

"



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CptnLarsMcGillicutty comments on Still one of my favorite interviews from Marilyn Manson, in the documentary "Bowling For Columbine". He's spot-on with his answers, especially the final one. It's chilling how accurate he is.

CptnLarsMcGillicutty comments on Still one of my favorite interviews from Marilyn Manson, in the documentary "Bowling For Columbine". He's spot-on with his answers, especially the final one. It's chilling how accurate he is.:

the average person isn't going to understand what can bring people to doing what they did.

its a combination of growing up introverted, being criticized and potentially abused by the people who are supposed to care about you, having difficulty making friends or connecting with people, being bullied and no one cares or tries to help.

'via Blog this'

Israel’s Netanyahu Vows ‘Harsh Offensive’ in Response to Wave of Violence - The New York Times

Israel’s Netanyahu Vows ‘Harsh Offensive’ in Response to Wave of Violence - The New York Times:

In a rare crackdown, the Israeli authorities took the unusual measure of barring most of Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents from entering the Old City for two days. Only Israeli citizens, tourists and Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship or live, work or study in the Old City were given access, along with Palestinians going to worship at Al-Aqsa Mosque. But men under 50 were temporarily banned from praying there.

The latest violence comes after weeks of escalating tensions and confrontations around the contested Old City compound that houses Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Palestinian leaders, including Mr. Abbas, have accused Israel of plotting to divide the site, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

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Mass Murderers Fit Profile, as Do Many Others Who Don’t Kill - The New York Times

Mass Murderers Fit Profile, as Do Many Others Who Don’t Kill - The New York Times: "
Jeffrey Swanson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, said these individuals often feel they do not belong, yet frequently live in “smaller town settings where belonging really matters.”



 Mr. Harper-Mercer showed signs of such isolation and despair. Like others, he appeared smitten by past mass killers. “They see them as heroes,” Dr. Fox said. “Someone who wins one for the little guy.”"



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Ellen Page Goes Off-Script - The New York Times

Ellen Page Goes Off-Script - The New York Times: "This is what most impressed me about Page: her radical empathy. Radical because it didn’t extend only to her allies. (I was struck, even when she told me about the heartbreak of losing her final soccer game in a late comeback, that she took a moment to acknowledge the joy of the other team: ‘‘It was dope for them,’’ she said.) Page seems to believe that the ultimate good, and the strongest possible argument for tolerance, is genuine human connection. At the end of our final conversation, a nearly three-hour talk about gender fluidity, queer theory, Halifax, Kim Davis and the ripple effects of intolerance, Page summed it all up with: ‘‘Let’s all just, like, love and be chill. Right?’’

"



'via Blog this'

In Mecca I saw little of Islam’s compassion, but a lot of Saudi Arabia’s neglect | Sabreena Razaq Hussain | Comment is free | The Guardian

In Mecca I saw little of Islam’s compassion, but a lot of Saudi Arabia’s neglect | Sabreena Razaq Hussain | Comment is free | The Guardian:

In Mecca I saw Muslims, but I saw little Islam. I did not see compassion from our hosts, I did not see their concern for our welfare. I urge all Muslims, pilgrims or otherwise, not to just accept the above as part of the challenge or experience of hajj, but to raise their voices. Write to your local MP, write to the Muslim Council of Britain and utilise your local community groups to express your outrage, and add to the clamour already building in the international arena.

Pilgrimage is supposed to enlighten and change lives, not endanger or end them. It is time to reclaim it.

'via Blog this'

The Mozilla Manifesto

The Mozilla Manifesto:

1. The Internet is an integral part of modern life—a key component in education, communication, collaboration, business, entertainment and society as a whole.
2. The Internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.
3. The Internet must enrich the lives of individual human beings.
4. Individuals’ security and privacy on the Internet are fundamental and must not be treated as optional.
5. Individuals must have the ability to shape the Internet and their own experiences on the Internet.
6. The effectiveness of the Internet as a public resource depends upon interoperability (protocols, data formats, content), innovation and decentralized participation worldwide.
7. Free and open source software promotes the development of the Internet as a public resource.
8. Transparent community-based processes promote participation, accountability and trust.
9. Commercial involvement in the development of the Internet brings many benefits; a balance between commercial profit and public benefit is critical.
10. Magnifying the public benefit aspects of the Internet is an important goal, worthy of time, attention and commitment.

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Don’t become a programmer like me — Startup Magazine Collection — Medium

Don’t become a programmer like me — Startup Magazine Collection — Medium:

Gender bias isn’t going anywhere fast, but the prominent public discussion about it makes now an exciting time for women to enter tech.

We’re already seeing the beginning of a movement where men and women are encouraging one another to confront gender discrimination head on. I’m excited to see organizations like Girls Develop It, Women Who Code, #ILookLikeAnEngineer and others working together to bring more women into technology. I’m excited to see men recognizing this as an issue and standing up to address it through movements like HeForShe.

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Why are students now cheering about the massacre at Charlie Hebdo? - Spectator Blogs

Why are students now cheering about the massacre at Charlie Hebdo? - Spectator Blogs: "During my speech, students had hollered ‘Shame! Shame!’ when I suggested that Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ should not be banned on campuses. And yet they listened intently, with soft, understanding, patronising liberal smiles on their faces, as Bukhari implied that Charlie Hebdo brought its massacre on itself. This is how screwed-up the culture on Western campuses has become: I was jeered for suggesting we shouldn’t ban pop songs; Bukhari was cheered for suggesting journalists who mock Muhammad cannot be surprised if someone later blows their heads off.

"



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Matt Damon Shines in Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' - The Atlantic

Matt Damon Shines in Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' - The Atlantic: "And though Watney may be alone, he’s no longer abandoned. Back on Earth, NASA employees (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Benedict Wong, Mackenzie Davis, and Donald Glover) are scrambling frantically to come up with a feasible rescue plan. So, too, are his former shipmates (Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, and Aksel Hennie). Indeed, one of the most refreshing elements of The Martian is that it has no villain, no foil—apart from the inconceivable hardships of Mars, of course. There’s no craven crewmember on the Hermes who’d rather leave Watney behind, no penny-pinching bureaucrat back on Earth who says there’s not enough money for a rescue mission.

"



'via Blog this'

Matt Damon Shines in Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' - The Atlantic

Matt Damon Shines in Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' - The Atlantic: "The Martian succeeds because everyone involved does his or her job, and does it superbly. There are no tedious backstories, no leaps of rampant illogic, no poorly cast performances, no tacked-on romantic subplots, no extended narrative lulls. The film is a profound testament to the rare—and underrated—virtue of simply not screwing anything up.

"



'via Blog this'

I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972 - m4w

I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972 - m4w: "
You see, in these intervening forty-two years I've lived a good life. I've loved a good woman. I've raised a good man. I've seen the world. And I've forgiven myself. And you were the source of all of it. You breathed your spirit into my lungs one rainy afternoon, and you can't possibly imagine my gratitude.



 I have hard days, too. My wife passed four years ago. My son, the year after. I cry a lot. Sometimes from the loneliness, sometimes I don't know why. Sometimes I can still smell the smoke over Hanoi. And then, a few dozen times a year, I'll receive a gift. The sky will glower, and the clouds will hide the sun, and the rain will begin to fall. And I'll remember.



 So wherever you've been, wherever you are, and wherever you're going, know this: you're with me still."



'via Blog this'

She was a conservative pundit. He was a liberal activist. At home, none of that mattered. - The Washington Post

She was a conservative pundit. He was a liberal activist. At home, none of that mattered. - The Washington Post: "“Karass”? One of his co-workers looked up the word. It came from Kurt Vonnegut’s novel “Cat’s Cradle.” In it, a karass is described as a team of people on a mission from God that they’re not even aware of, who share a cosmic linkage that’s not obvious on the surface.

"



'via Blog this'

There’s been no calendar week without a mass shooting during President Obama’s second term - The Washington Post

There’s been no calendar week without a mass shooting during President Obama’s second term - The Washington Post: "Only once have seven days passed without a mass shooting and only once have eight days passed. Those are the longest spans -- the latter happening in April of this year. Several times, six days have passed.

"



'via Blog this'

Elizabeth Warren exposed a shocking instance of how money corrupts DC think tanks - Vox

Elizabeth Warren exposed a shocking instance of how money corrupts DC think tanks - Vox: "Litan, for his part, has expressed frustration that the scandal over his funding eclipsed the work itself, telling the Washington Post's Tom Hamburger, "I think it’s unfortunate that, even when I disclosed the funding, people spent their time discussing who funded my work rather than discussing the merits of it."

"



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