March 8th, 2015....whoops, now it is March 15th

 Happy day-after-pi-day! 



This is now a bi-weekly update....I just never finished last week, so if you missed the Selma gatherings or the "women in the workplace versus men named John" you can see below for a belated update.

Time to make your bracket!  I'll send a link to ESPN's Weekly Update group.  Last year's winner was Tracy, who I believe used basic math to win (picking each team based only on their numerical rating), which my husband calls cheating!

Surprising?  No, but I suppose it would be irresponsible of those responsible for making Disney money for them to NOT make a Frozen 2--it is now official.

Forty-Seven Republican senators wrote a letter to Iran this week, undercutting negotiations that were underway by President Obama.   (The nuclear talks with Iran are explained here.)

Oklahoma University's frat boys made a scene of drunken racist chants caught on tape this week- which, honestly, makes me depressed about how many similar things may not have been caught on tape across the country.  (The university president acted swiftly, expelling the students and shutting down the frat, though apparently the fraternity may sue, citing free speech).

Hillary Clinton used her personal email for private use.  Apparently this is a big deal.  I hope she didn't spam any world leaders, or send them any forwards of cute pictures of cats.

Have you seen Putin?  He hasn't been seen in public for 10 days now, so everyone is wondering where he is.

No surprise here, but Colorado's legal weed sales have made loads of cash.

Turning (back) to Selma-- President Obama led marchers (last) Saturday at the memorial gathering for the 50th anniversary of the MLK march.  This comes just days after the justice department found no wrongdoing by Officer Darren Wilson in regards to the shooting of Michael Brown. (Updated 3/15 to add that Ferguson has been through more upheaval over the week, including the shooting of police officers during protests.)

This article in The Atlantic really eloquently summarizes the racially biased police department activity found to have taken place in Ferguson, outside of the shooting itself.  The findings here makes the fallout seem inevitable to me.

If you have time for a listen, This American Life did a two part special last month called Cops See It Differently, focusing on the varied perspectives on race related police violence.

On gender in the workplace- the article behind the graph below is here, but really I think that the graphic itself sums it up without words.

March 1st!!!

Welcome, March.  Very funny with the wet and sloppy snow all day!

With the whole country talking about the dress (seriously, it did change colors for me while I was staring at it), and with the week starting with the Oscars, I think I missed out on really noting newsy news this week.

Do you have any updates for me????

If not, I'll go ahead with a dinner party edition....have you heard about.....

The first vegan- no, sorry, that was "average" of me- plant based elementary school?

Did you hear that Lupita Nyong'o's pearl dress went missing, then reappeared in her hotel room?  I'm pretty sure that is exactly what happens to me with my phone three times a week- never thought to claim that theives were taking and returning it!

Did you hear about the two bright lights shining from this dwarf planet?  My theory:  headlights!

Do you know....the origins of football?  If you don't have time for the podcast: The Carlisle Indian School (a boarding school for Native American children to become "Americanized") took football out of just the Ivy and Army schools and made it a popular sport.

Have you checked out the 12 coolest American neighborhoods?  Agree?  Disagree?  Add on?  :)  I guess I should spend some time in Bushwick?

For your "I need to dispute incorrect curmudgeony politics" kind of dinner party"-- do you know the demographics behind who is getting food stamps?  White, young, working.

 Did you hear about that little school in Brownsville?  It got more press from the first picture of the 8th grader, Vidal, than I could imagine.

Should other cities follow Seattle's lead on income based transportation?  They are prorating the cost of public transportation.

This opinion piece by a former Marine and current NYU student about learning to kill is an interesting read.  

 

Some more optical illusions for you, here, if the dress was up  your alley!


 

Sunday, February 22nd

Happy Oscar's Day for those of you who are excited by these things!  I, sadly, only see movies once a year so the Oscars is a little more of a guessing game for me than it used to be-- if you need guidance on predictions for winners, here you are.

And, a reminder of the work still to do in this country...because...#OscarsSoWhite.

Want to know how Neil Patrick Harris gets ready for the big night?  (Question- does anyone else still hear the Doogie theme song whenever you picture him?)

On education for a few minutes....interesting to see New York City private schools spending time exploring privilege and whiteness. I wonder if any homogenous public schools also engage in this?

I have decided that I am stumped in terms of education reform and testing and my own personal opinions...and perhaps I'll write my version of my op ed once I have gathered my opinions a bit more clearly one day.  In the meantime, you can look at Cuomo's approach towards standardized testing as equivalent to curing disease with leaches,  or, you can focus on the gains that have come about in education over the past decade (yes, yes, gains at what cost- I'm sure I could link to opinions within opinions if I was motivated to do so!). 

In the meantime, the first ever same-sex marriage was performed in Texas due to a special order-- "My little one was worried about missing her history class. I said we'll be making history." 

Not enough progress to convince me to shop at Wal-Mart- BUT, they did finally raise wages-- now entry wages are up to $9 an hour--"a small step in the right direction".  Not to name drop, but I believe a weekly update reader is featured in many a story about this-- ahem, Tsedye?  You reading this?  Because I learned about this from reading the news, not from anyone telling me this information!

What do you think about this question:  SHOULD Hillary Clinton be able to dominate the field for 2016?  Is healthy competition important to our election process?  Something to talk about at your next dinner party, maybe?

A federal judge has halted Obama's immigrant protection goals.

Now for some truly good news-- next weekend is March!  Because, really, does anybody like February?

Valentine's Update

Happy Valentine's Day Weekend!

Starting off with some newsy news:

In Denmark, an attack on a free speech event left one person killed, though police say that they've now killed two related suspects. 
 
There is currently a ceasefire in the Ukraine, where more than 5000 people have died since fighting began.

The Houthi militiamen who have taken over Yemen are finding themselves more isolated as the US and other Western nations are closing their embassies.

The real blizzards really have struck New England, and Boston is covered in snow.

And in less newsy but more "did you hear about this-y" news....

Do you remember the story of the girl who tweeted a racist and ignorant tweet right before her 11 hour flight to South Africa? She went to sleep with 170 followers and woke up as a sensation- but NOT in a good way.  It is interesting to read her story of how this one tweet devastated her life, and of others in similar situations. What do you think?  Does the punishment fit the crime in these cases?

 

In very bad news for my news, you probably heard Jon Stewart will be leaving the Daily Show.  I'm hoping that someone worth watching will carry on, but I will miss Jon, who has been my trusted source over the years.

This is somewhat long, but worth reading-- a black judge in Mississippi gave this speech (a combination sentencing and history lesson) to three white murderers. 

Uber has launched a form of a political campaign designed to change the image of the company to one less like "the man". 

And for those of us that like a good homage to New York, check out the "New York After Paris" article regarding the hundred year old article....I liked to see what portions haven't changed with time.

And for Valentine's Day....the story of the first doctor to perform heart surgery.

Starting February

Hi there!  Well, the sidewalks of NYC were cleared by Tuesday morning, so apparently the blizzard anticipation was a bit more than enough hype.
(Some pundits refused to acknowledge this, however.  Amazing.)

 

The current superbowl (superbowl beers by state shown above)  is going to make this a quick update!   Do you watch the superbowl?  For the commercials?  The halftime show? The commentary?
 

In education news- charter schools actually retain students with special needs better than their traditional district counterparts in NYC.  This is much different from what has been reported. 

More on how technology can learn all about you-- apparently "anonymous" data may not really be protected-- it is easier than you might want to think to be identified through anonymous data.
 
And have you heard of "that French guy" who VINE made into a celebrity?

Does anyone want to buy a castle in Italy with me?

In case you've been wondering- Mitt Romney is not running for president.

Listen, lots of other stuff happened this week....my fault, I couldn't get to it!

Just since this was a frivolous and lacking in news update, here you go in case it describes you or a friend of yours:

Blizzardasnowmagedon 2015 Special Update

Because tomorrow is a snow day.... because my husband decided a trip to the art studio was needed in the hours before full forced blizzard.....because, why not, I bring you the first ever Weekly Update Weather Update!  ***Really for the East Coast readers today***

**Reader Challenge** Post any great related links or articles you read tomorrow in the comments!

Ready for this blizzard?  The city has been preparing all day for what is apparently quite a costly situation. 

I chose my outfit around my snowboots today- glad I didn't live in 1888, I suppose.

7 Essential Blizzard survival tips, for NYC, which cause me to wonder-- is there ever a time in the city where you can NOT depend on a bodega?  (more tips here and a suggestion to "park on the left")

Food delivery, or no?  A good idea?  A total necessity?  The epitome of evil?  The Mayor has said only emergency vehicles on the road after 11, and delivery bikes don't count (leading to lots of #onlynewyorkersneedthisclarified)!  This guy disagrees-- and, I will admit, I find his article nonsense....but, I love this line: 

January 26: The Night the Mega-Blizzard Came, and Also the Night Some Nervous New Yorkers Boiled Eggs for the First Time and Felt Pretty Great Afterward.

So, if you do order takeout, you know you are feeling jerky about it-- so here are some guidelines about how much you should tip (hint- a lot). (And, fyi, some New Yorkers do shop-- apparently Trader Joes was mayhem.)

I guess not everyone is thinking about food today-- check out the mass scrambling on craigslist to find a "blizzard boy/girlfriend".  Maybe I'm old fashioned, but, really???

Need help disputing the cold weather means global warning is a myth argument?  Here, courtesy of mic.com and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Warning: #Snowmageddon2015 could dump 2 feet of snow on New York City, so prepare for traffic to be moving at the same speed as usual.

Oh, internet- the blizzard isn't even here yet and everybody's already hilarious about it.

Stay safe, warm, and ethically fed!  


 

News: January 25th

Some newsy news for this week's update!

Starting with world news-- did you hear about Yemen this week?  In short, government collapse and loss of a US ally against Al Qaida.  Here are the cliff's notes version of all you need to know, and a slightly more in depth version of the same information.

And in the Ukraine, war again, sparked by rocket attacks from rebels this week.

Speaking of war....The Nation magazine reports on the secret wars the US is engaged in around the world.

Closer to (my) home-- in New York, the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, was arrested on corruption charges on Thursday.  This situation is not good news for Governor Cuomo. 
(I know, I shouldn't link to the post, it was just really concise!)

I know we've all heard a bit here and there about vaccines and anti-vaccination parents-- this article explains, concretely, how measles can be back in action.  Rather terrifying.  Below is a graph of US cases of measles per year.



In lighter news- this is both amusing and embarrassing for the US-- France's version of The Daily Show has had a field day mocking Fox News after some absurd reporting.  

Some sports news-- first, a real life Waterboy story-- U of I's team manager is suiting up to play basketball because so many players have been injured this year! And in football-- perhaps the Patriots cheated?  By underinflating their footballs?  Lamest sportsmanship ever!

In politics, varied reactions to the State of the Union address-- and I'm sure we all saw Obama's "I won both of them" badassness in some for or another. 
Want to hear more-- let's be honest, if you didn't watch it yourself or read the NYTimes afterwards, you need more of a buzzfeed pictures included summary, right?


(This leading to a "rhymes with" alternative to lame duck to describe the last year of his presidency.)

Jon Stewart and I both can't decide whether or not to root for this for comedic reasons, but we'll be on the lookout for more regarding Sarah Palin and her "serious consideration" of the 2016 race.
On the Democrats side, apparently everybody who is anybody already works for Hillary.

Kinda fascinating-- some big names make some big predictions regarding what will change in the world by 2030.

And to close, a few things related to children and parenting.  A college friend of mine shares this heartbreaking account of the challenges she faces as a black mother, words that are both difficult to read and important to share.  And (whether to shape or respond to my spirited daughter, I don't know) because I love me a strong female protagonist that doesn't conform to gender roles in a children's book, I'm passing on this "best of" in case you find it handy.