“The scope of our failure”: The real story of our decades-long foreign policy disaster that set the Middle East on fire
The brilliant Andrew Bacevich tells Salon why our massive march to folly in Middle East has to be seen as one war
https://www.salon.com/2016/05/15/the_scope_of_our_failure_the_real_story_of_our_decades_long_foreign_policy_disaster_that_set_the_middle_east_on_fire/?source=newsletter
Daring women in the Middle East and North Africa are leading the charge for progress
https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/daring-women-leading-charge-for-progress/
Where the Roads Are Paved With Coffee
http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/05/15/coffee-roads?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2016-05-16
Letting Kids Write and Be Weird in San Francisco’s Last Ungentrified Hood
Little Sweatshop of Horrors: Pop-up Store Puts Fast Fashion on Blast (hat tip Joanne)
The dressing room at The Mad Rush in Amsterdam gave customers more than they bargained for.
http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/05/17/sweatshop-horrors-pop-up-puts-fast-fashion-on-blast?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2015-05-17
The fortune cookie note that helped her heal after a friend was murdered.
http://www.upworthy.com/the-fortune-cookie-note-that-helped-her-heal-after-a-friend-was-murdered?c=upw1
Colombian government, rebels agree peace deal to be constitutionally binding
http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-colombia-rebels-idAFKCN0Y402B
Unemployment for young black grads is still worse than it was for young white grads in the aftermath of the recession
http://www.epi.org/publication/unemployment-for-young-black-grads-is-still-worse-than-it-was-for-young-white-grads-in-the-aftermath-of-the-recession/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=c4f6de470f-EPI_News_05_13_165_12_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-c4f6de470f-58013205
You better learn about this new technology before it transforms the world
Boom Town
What happened when Wall Street reform came to Congo’s frontier mining towns
https://medium.com/@EnoughProject/boom-town-afe0075ce163#.1v7r9f2rf
Successful Swiss Addiction Treatment Program Ignored by U.S. Congress (video)
Howard Wooldridge, an 18-year veteran police officer who has been advocating for adapting a similar program in the U.S., gets zero response from Washington lawmakers
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=16353
HuffPo: How to Make a Trump (brief video)
http://kpdailyfunnies.blogspot.com/2016/05/huffpo-how-to-make-trump.html#.VzW19hWDGko
7 Responses to “Thursday Tidbits May 19, 2016”
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Cross posted to Care2 at:
http://www.care2.com/news/member/663679641/3984873
Daring Women: I am glad to see that the women are united, and speaking up for harassment, and violence against them. I wish them well.
Where the Roads are Paved: What innovative ideas for diverting waste! I put my grounds on my compost pile, for later use in my garden. Also signed pledge.
Take Part: What a wonderful opportunity for these children! Novel way to get them interested in creative writing, tutoring, and also having a safe place to go to. Bravo!!
Sweatshop: This is an absolute horror for those folks who work in these sweatshops. I haven't bought new clothes for years. Signed pledge.
Upworthy: Such a tragedy, showing Love…"All of us are often unaware of the affect we have on others, and it shouldn’t take tragedy for us to let one another know that … to say 'thank you,' and 'I love you.'" Beautiful.
Unemployment for young black grads: This needs to change, for heaven's sake. Our job fair for HS grads the other night was successful, I thought, in that most students were there, (packed), and employers were there offering information, and questions were being answered. We had reps from universities, junior colleges, local businesses, military there, and the kids were excited. As we have two high schools here, the next one is next week. I just go to observe, and several of my 'old' students are graduating. Time sure does fly by.
TED: Will watch rest of video later. Gene drives! wow!! The opportunities are endless.
TRN: Why should I be surprised that America won't embrace this? Prisons and law enforcement would lose money!
HuffPo: o.m.g. Hilarious!!
Thank you, JL for this informative, great post. **H/T to Joanne also.
I wonder if the coffee grounds will have any odor left to them. I've enjoyed smell the cocoa bean hull mulch at the local nurseries. BUT friends have warned me that it's so lightweight that it has a tendency to blow all over the place.
Still, it does smell nice – and I would enjoy a coffee odor, too!
Amen!
Failure: OMG yes. This needs to become a part of our national story. How to accomplish that is, alas, another matter. Sigh.
Coffee – It's also good in gardens, was my first thought, and then I saw a sidebar to another article which is sort of about that. Several years ago we tested some roads which included dead car tires, and those were awesome, but either it was prohibitively expenseive or Big Paving didn't like it, because nothing more has been heard about them. But back to gardens, gardens may not be able to accomodate all the used grounds, but farming might.
Kids, Horrors – Yes. TakePart isn't always so upbeat, but this was a good week for it. Thankfully.
Fortune – Hanky alert.
Tech – Oh, dear God, here we go again.
Addiction – Alas, it has been amply demonstrated that lawmakers don't care about what works. They care about getting funds raised. Of course there are a few exceptions.
Bachevich new book: Excellent review of a book well worth reading and great interview of its author who was in the thick of it and knows what he's talking about. " It is the first book to explain the Middle Eastern wars we have lived with for 36 years now as one unbroken conflict with many theaters" and according to Bachevitch meant to make people think about it as " [he finds] deeply troubling the absence of any serious critical thinking about our war, or wars if you wish, in the foreign policy establishment." About Obama he says: " We routinely elect people to the presidency who know next to nothing about statecraft, but I think he’s learned a lot, and I found that to be very impressive." That doesn't bode well for America under Drumpf or Hillary, the latter who seems not very capable of learning from the past.
Daring women in the Middle East: Eventually it'll be up to women to bring about the changes that men have failed to deliver in past centuries.
Coffee in Australia: Coffee grounds as road construction material, now there's a innovative idea with a very high level of sustainability. Wonderful.
Last Ungentrified Hood: What a wonderful and inspiring place to learn how to write and tell stories and all that with the help of so many volunteers.
Pop-up Sweatshop: An excellent, hands-on way to educate the public about how their cheap clothes are produced and by whom.
Fortune Cookie: Touching.
Columbia: By involving everyone in the country through a referendum, these peace negotiations might finally concluded successfully and bring an end to this war that has lasted longer than most can remember and which had a traumatic impact on all Colombians.
Youth Unemployment: Sad to see it confirmed once more that black young people, even if they have had a good education, are at a disadvantage to their white peers, but sadly also not surprising.
Gene drives: Given how the likes of Monsanto have abused genetic modification to their advantage and profit, I'm very wary of any new technology that involves genetic manipulation. No matter how good the intentions of the first scientist who developed this technique were, in the end it'll find find its way to use in warfare, extermination of species as collateral damage and serious health risks for all.
Swiss addiction program: All sounds very familiar to this Dutch woman 😉 Believe me, it works. But then when has Congress ever accepted anything that wasn't "made in the USA" or wasn't lobbied for by their masters.
How to make a Trump: Funny, I liked it, but I doubt Drumpf will. He's probably going to sue the Huffington Post (again?) for making it.
Thanks for a very enjoyable post, JL.
Thanks JL. Hugs!!