Finally-an-update-update

So, I've been very off schedule while traveling, but I wanted to stop in and do a quick update because I realized that I have a moral obligation to ensure that Christina has things to talk about.  What if she's made new friends since the birth of the Weekly Update, and they are wondering what has happened lately to make her so dull?

So- Christina, here are some things to talk about this weekend:

You should have heard about this-- Did you hear about Scotland's vote regarding independence on  last Thursday?  Ultimately, the vote ended in a "no"-- meaning, nobody has to figure out what currency they'll use.  Here is the backstory, explained in a way that is informative, interesting, AND less than five minutes long!

And- Obama addressed the United Nations regarding Islamic extremism, the US airstrikes, and even going rogue to talk about the failure of negotiations in the region.   

More on Finland and education, since that's been a bit of a theme- an American teacher teaching in Finland reflects on the gains provided by allowing 15 minutes of free time each hour.  As someone who supports creating our class schedule, this gave me pause-- should we try it?  If only our classrooms all had a door to the playground the way they do in the suburbs!  Perhaps it would help with this-- teachers who leave the classroom overwhelmingly state they are happier at their new jobs.  Ugh. 

What is up with the New York Times trying to get me to leave Brooklyn?  Seriously, it is like they have a campaign going.  Here is the newest attempt- in "life after Brooklyn"....find out how Brooklyn is now aspirational to Manhattanites, and no longer affordable for Brooklynites (neighborhood dependent).  

Okay, and the NFL? Let's just defer to the Daily Show for all updates-- "The Fault in Our Star Players" focuses on the lack of clear consequences for rampant domestic abuse charges for players.  And the newest segment, "What's in a Name", focusing on the Washington Redskins has gotten a ton of press- check it out!

On a more serious note, I thought this article in the Nation about gun control-- the fact that change was supposed to happen after Newtown-- and the fact that actually, it hasn't, was an interesting read.

Did you know- India just sent an orbiter to Mars for less money than it cost to film the movie Gravity.  Don't you sometimes wonder what we could do with a little bit of reallocating of funds here?  

I'm wondering- what are your thoughts on the nude celebrity pics that have been hacked and leaked?  (Note: the link goes to an article, not to nude celebrity pics, sorry) Do you agree with Gabrielle Union and think it should be called a hate crime? Or do you agree with me, and think that if this does indeed make the third time this has happened to Vanessa Hudgens....well....perhaps she could give the naked phone photo taking a rest for a while???

Did you see the People's Climate March last weekend?  Attend?  Hear about it?  Everyone on my twitter feed was tweeting about it (I have about 8 folks on my twitter feed and they are all liberal media- not sure how to use that little birdy yet!).

 

 

 

And THIS RIGHT HERE is by far the most important thing to click on this week.  Don't you wish you were the principal mentioned? Don't you want to take a school picture with an animal and lasers for a yearbook as a grown up?

Week of 9/7

Ok- I was very close to not making this update, but I was peer pressured into it-- so, here is some stuff from this week!

Also- did anyone besides Marni notice the accidental hard news I inserted last week in the Brangelina link?  Was that on purpose to lift your reading level, readers?  Hmmm.

And, just to let you know, I'll be away the next few weeks so I promise an update or two, but possibly on at random.

I was all ready to let Christina know about celebrity deaths this week- Joan Rivers, who had a star studded funeral today, and Betty White, who---whoops  This is why you should not get news from people's facebook status updates.  From the newspaper articles they post, of course.  From the blogs they post-- on occasion, with some discretion.  But not from their status updates.   Noted

Perhaps deer hunters would feel differently, but I was a fan of hearing about the traffic support of the two deer who crossed the Golden Gate Bridge the other day.

Did you hear about the teachers who wore NYPD shirts to show support for the police/ frustration with the union?  I have LOTS to say about all of this (on both sides!), so if you are interested we should probably meet for a coffee.  But what I want to direct you to right now is journalism.  Check out the first line from the article in the NY Post-- "refused to be bullied by the union" sounds a little loaded, wouldn't you say?

And continuing with teachers-- did you hear that TFA teachers are 50% people of color this year-- matching the "more than half" non-white student statistic for 2014's public schools.  

Next segway-- from racism to racism in sports....well, sports owners, anyways-- this time it is the Hawks owner who is now going to sell his team because not only is he just a little bit racist, but he wrote it down in an email.  It is getting harder and harder to be racist with social media so out of control, right?

And speaking of social media, and a much more sensitive subject-- I've talked a bit with friends about the way in which the tragic killings of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff gave a ton of attention to the killers, and the fact that linking the news story to the video itself was horrific.  This piece speaks to that issue, and how complicit we all are in giving that attention to the perpetrators. 

I am including this article only because I thought the title was hilarious.  Very literal.  Not sure that it needed to be New York Times News.  You heard it here first:  "some-chinese-tourists-visit-new-york-but-sleep-in-new-jersey."

Can you believe it?  Shocker.

August is over- Labor Day Update

Can you believe August is over?  Happy almost-fall-time to you all.  As we transition to fall, I'll let you consult with Bill Cunningham regarding the transition in style (although, today in particular is summery hot, so this may be a little early!).

SO, important news first-- did you catch that Brad and Angelina got married?  I may have pulled a Christina here, because I'll admit I thought they already were.  My bad- apparently they *had* been waiting for gay marriage to be legalized...but they changed their minds.  This news is really, really important to all of you, right?

And also important-- here are all 50 states, ranked by beer.  I am pretty proud of my homestate, number 4, Michigan.

This is an interesting case for the need for real, concrete numbers and analysis in order to determine the true extent to which police officers are racist.  The author is suggesting that research will need to be done to get some hard numbers to confirm (or deny) this common assertion.

Karen Gillibrand's (NY Senator's) memoir apparently tells of the many inappropriate comments she has faced from fellow senators or other members of the workforce-- interesting, yes.  Surprising?  Not so much.

And this was sent in for the update, in particular, because Christina likes swearing.  And, apparently, that is a trend these days.  My mom has always sworn, a bit-- the s*** word, mostly-- and yet, it still always surprises me when I hear it.  Is that fair to her?  So, here are 5 surprising things about swearing- really wish I knew about number 3 on a baby-having night a few weeks ago!

I did not include last week's times article about how expensive it is to live in Brooklyn-- because, let's face it, we know this already-- no disrespect, Times.  But here we have the story of a young guy who won the housing lottery-- luxury high line apartment style. 

This sex therapist talks about how men and women of any age want meaning behind their sexual experiences- and she is 100 years old!   Meanwhile, I thought it was interesting how she says that iphones have caused less actual touching (i.e. hand holding).  I think I need to back off of my phone....you? (silly frivolous quiz here)

Finally- you remember the women arrested for leaving her 9 year old on the playground?  Did you hear about this week's 9 year old, who accidentally killed her shooting instructor with an uzi?  This opinion piece in Time Magazine points out the irony in comparing these two in terms of what Americans value.  The comparison may be a bit of a stretch- or, at least, rather convenient for an editorial, but it is worth thinking about. (Here is the NRA's reaction-- I was thinking this situation really puts a hole in the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" argument?  But they didn't mention that...)