Month: November 2011

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Saying sorry … Condi’s regret … Hawthorne’s inspiring words … Latino birth rate drop … A sexy inventor.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Why Some People Say ‘Sorry’ Before Others
By Lauren F. Friedman | Scientific American | Nov. 28
“Certain character traits influence people’s willingness to apologize”

2. Rice regrets N.Y.C. vacation in wake of Katrina
Politico Live :: Politico | Nov. 27
“Reflecting on the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that as the administration’s highest-ranking African-American at that time, she regretted being on vacation in New York during the storm crisis.”

3. An implausible candidate’s implausible story
By Helen O’Neill | Associated Press | Nov. 26
“He’s a mathematician, a minister, a former radio talk show host and pizza magnate. But most of all, Herman Cain is a salesman. And how he sells.”

4. Waiting to die: Cervical cancer in America
By Amanda Robb | Al Jazeera | Nov. 22
“Geography largely determines whether US women will suffer from cervical cancer — and whether they will die from it.”

5. Hawthorne Feels Your Pain: Understanding Economic Crisis Through American Literature
By Daniel Honan | BigThink | Nov. 29
“According to Lisa New, professor of English at Harvard University, Americans ought to download Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of Seven Gables to their smartphones. Indeed, classic American literature abounds with examples of how Americans have responded to economic upheavals.”

6. Newt Gingrich, Crackpot Historian
By Tim Murphy | Mother Jones | Nov. 29
“The GOP presidential candidate has a new piece of historical fiction out. Emphasis on fiction.”

7. Latino birth rate drops during recession
By Sara Ines Calderon | NewsTaco | Nov. 29
“Since 2007, the number of Latino babies born in the U.S. has dropped by 11% — or below 1 million in 2010.”

8. Hedy Lamarr: World’s Sexiest Inventor
Life | Nov. 29
“Fascinated by science and eager to find a way to help the Allies during World War II, Lamarr came up with a way to make radio signals jump between frequencies, and thus prevent the signals from becoming jammed.”

9. Visualizing the World’s Food Consumption
Food Service Warehouse | Nov. 29
Guess which country consumed most of the world’s calories.

10. The Sex Addiction Epidemic
By Chris Lee | The Daily Beast | Nov. 25
“It wrecks marriages, destroys careers, and saps self-worth. Yet Americans are being diagnosed as sex addicts in record numbers. Inside an epidemic.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Occupy Wall Street’s defeat … Another Obama Doctrine … MRIs and depression … Narcissistic jerk-wads … Tweeting WWII

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. US fugitive’s 41-year life on lam
By Alan Clendenning and Barry Hatton | Associated Press | Nov. 20
“The tale of Wright’s life on the run spans 41 years and three continents. It starts in New Jersey with a prison break, moves to Algeria on the hijacked plane, to Paris where he lived underground, to Lisbon where he fell in love, to the tiny West African nation of Guinea-Bissau — and finally to an idyllic Portuguese seaside village, where he built a life as a respected family man.”

2. Longest serving Airman calls it a career
By Tech. Sgt. Richard Williams | U.S. Air Force | Nov. 21
“As the sun sets on the career of Maj. Gen. Alfred K. Flowers, he looks back with a sense of accomplishment.”

3. The World Isn’t Flat: The Well-Intentioned Lie That Led to Occupy Wall Street’s Downfall
By Alex Klein | The New Republic | Nov. 28
“Wall Street’s occupiers — and the mainstream left that supports them — have unintentionally propped up the arguments of their fiercest critics and helped hasten their own eviction.”

4. Civil War app takes on Virginia’s Chancellorsville
Associated Press | Nov. 21
“The application uses GPS technology and Apple’s iPhone platform to help visitors locate and learn more about the Chancellorsville battlefield.”

5. Obama’s Foreign Policy Doctrine Finally Emerges With ‘Offshore Balancing’
By Peter Beinart | The Daily Beast | Nov. 28
“The deadly NATO strike in Pakistan reveals that the president has decided to contain U.S. adversaries with an affordable strategy of maintaining our naval and air power while strengthening smaller nations.”

6. Using Search Engines for Higher Math
By J.D. Biersdorfer | Gadgetwise :: The New York Times | June 17
“The ability of search engines to calculate basic arithmetic right in the search box is well known, but some can handle higher math as well.”

7. Scan’t Evidence: Do MRIs Relieve Symptoms of Depression?
By Ferris Jabr | Scientific American | Nov. 28
“Researchers continue to explore whether magnetic fields produced by magnetic resonance imagers and other devices improve mood in those who suffer from depressive disorders.”

8. Narcissistic Jerk-Wads Make the Best Leaders, Study Says
By Nick Greene | The Village Voice | Nov. 19
“Frederick Allen, leadership editor of Forbes, writes that the study found ‘narcissism and hunger for attention lead to innovation and daring decision-making.’ In addition, 80% of narcissistic leaders believe that Carly Simon has written a song about them.”

9. The Tweets of War: What’s Past Is Postable
By Jennifer Schuessler | The New York Times | Nov. 27
“Volunteers have started translating the RealTimeWWII feed into Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Chinese and Turkish, with talks under way for versions in French, Dutch and German.”

10. About Those Maps …
By Ross Ramsey | Inside Intelligence :: The Texas Tribune | Nov. 28
“Our insiders don’t have much desire to see lawmakers redo the maps after the elections, but there’s a contingent — 40 percent — who think the Legislature and not the courts should have the final say.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Texas congressional district maps … Less retirements … Airpower diplomacy … Iran’s drug problem … Hoover myths.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Whales in the desert: Fossil bonanza poses mystery
By Eva Vergara and Ian James | Associated Press | Nov. 20
“Experts say other groups of prehistoric whales have been found together in Peru and Egypt, but the Chilean fossils stand out for their staggering number and beautifully preserved bones. More than 75 whales have been discovered so far – including more than 20 perfectly intact skeletons.”

2. Goodbye, Golden Years
By Edward L. Glaeser | The New York Times | Nov. 19
“But lately, labor patterns haven’t conformed to historical precedent: recent increases in unemployment haven’t encouraged many older Americans into retirement. Why not?”

3. Why U.S. Needs Airpower Diplomacy
By Adam B. Lowther | The Diplomat | Nov. 22
“Better use of the U.S. Air Force is the most cost-effective and flexible approach to boosting the American presence in the Asia-Pacific.”

4. Chasing the Dragon in Tehran
By Roland Elliott Brown | Foreign Policy | Nov. 18
“Behind its façade of Muslim piety, Iran is one of the most drug-addled countries in the world.”

5. Court ends Doggett-Castro fight
By Tim Eaton | Postcards :: Austin American Statesman | Nov. 23
“When a panel of three federal judges in San Antonio released its redrawn congressional map today, it put an end to the anticipated race between U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and state Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, who have been battling each other in an acrimonious fight for a proposed congressional district that would have extended from Austin to San Antonio.”

6. World’s Lightest Material Takes Hits Like a Champ
By Kevin Lee | GeekTech :: PC World | Nov. 21
“The material’s lightness comes from its extremely low density of 0.9 milligrams per cubic centimeter (mg/cc), which makes carbon nanotubes seem heavyset at 1.3-mg/cc.”

7. How to Decide When to Turn Down a Job Offer
Lifehacker | Nov. 21
“Even if you’ve been interested enough in a company to apply and go on an interview, when it comes time to sign on the dotted line, you should take time to consider whether or not this job is actually right for you. Here are some warning signs to look out for.”

8. American Zoetrope: In a galaxy not from Hollywood …
By John Patterson | The Guardian | Nov. 17
“If there had been no Zoetrope, the film studio founded by Francis Coppola and George Lucas in San Francisco in 1969, there would be no Star Wars, argues John Patterson”

9. Five myths about J. Edgar Hoover
By Kenneth D. Ackerman | Five Myths :: The Washington Post | Nov. 7
“Hoover served as director of the FBI for 48 years, holding the job under eight presidents from Calvin Coolidge to Richard M. Nixon. But ask most people about J. Edgar Hoover, and the subject turns to sex.”

10. Civil War women: Lucy Webb Hayes
Civil War Women Blog | Oct. 6
“Among her children, relatives and friends, Lucy Hayes was known as a warm, charitable woman of humility. She played the piano and the guitar, and also used the newly installed telephone in the mansion. On numerous occasions, the First Lady invited African American musical groups to perform in the White House.”

Waiting for ‘Mad Men’: A dictator and a cookbook

An interview with the guy who play Lee Garner Sr., a great blogger, and a new ‘Mad Men’ cookbook.

As I wait for the new season of “Mad Men” to begin, I’ll share a few of the more interesting links I’ve found. Read past entries in this series here.

1. Madman boss? AMCtv recently interviewed John Cullum, who plays Lucky Strike’s Lee Garner Sr. When asked what kind of boss he’d be, Cullum joked, “I would be a benign dictator.”

2. Blog beauty: I’ve been a long-time fan of Natasha Vargas-Cooper and her Mad Men Unbuttoned blog. There’s a sad beauty in her view of the Draper world and how history is about to ravage it. I can’t wait for her return as the new season dawns. “Every brush with adult behavior,” she wrote last year, “anything from smoking, to sneaking out, to driving, to fucking — is wrapped in a gauzy, loving haze. … What’s alarming, then, is when grown-ups act like teenagers: denying themselves nothing, cherishing their transgressions like merit badges, constantly chasing the beginning of something, unable to parse the sensations of joys from despair.”

3. Don an apron: For those of you who must absolutely live like Jane, Don, Sterling or Peggy, there’s a new cookbook on the way to further complement your crazed-fan efforts. Recipes for the characters’ favorite dishes will also note when the dishes appeared in the series.

(Photo from the soundtrack album)

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Latinos ready to ‘teach’ … GOP candidate spouses … New approach to sex ed … The GOP debate … Rivers that go nowhere.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. 11 ways to skip weight gain this Thanksgiving
The Dallas Morning News | Nov. 15
“Thanksgiving kicks off a season of plentiful food, parties and stress. Staying healthy, both mentally and physically, can be a challenge. Avoid common pitfalls with these healthy strategies, adapted from a story by health reporter Nancy Churnin.”

2. Couple forced to exchange Facebook passwords during divorce
By Michael Gartland | New York Post | Nov. 20
“The legal precedent, in the midst of a nasty custody battle between Stephen and Courtney Gallion, could mean more battling couples will be forced to give up their social-networking secrets.”

3. Aging in place: A little help can go a long way
By David Crary | Associated Press | Nov. 20
“According to surveys, aging in place is the overwhelming preference of Americans over 50. But doing it successfully requires both good fortune and support services. …”

4. Taking First-Class Coddling Above and Beyond
By Jad Mouawad | The New York Times | Nov. 20
“Carriers on international flights are offering private suites for first-class passengers, three-star meals and personal service once found only on corporate jets. They provide massages before takeoff, whisk passengers through special customs lanes and drive them in a private limousine right to the plane. … The amenities in the back of the cabin? Sparse.”

5. Not All Rivers Reach the Sea
By Rachel Nuwer | Gadgetwise :: The New York Times | Nov. 17
“For six million years, the Colorado River ran its course from its soaring origins in the Rockies to a once-teeming two-million-acre delta, finally emptying 14 million acre-feet of fresh water into the Sea of Cortez. But now, a multitude of straws are drinking from the river. …”

6. GOP debate: Newt Gingrich beats back immigration critique
By Alexander Burns | Politico | Nov. 22
“Ascendant Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich delivered an unapologetic defense of his views on immigration Tuesday night, declaring in a foreign policy debate that the GOP should not adopt a platform on immigration that ‘destroys families that have been here a quarter-century.’

7. The meaning of 9/11’s most controversial photo
By Jonathan Jones | The Guardian | Sept. 2
“Thomas Hoepker’s photo of New Yorkers apparently relaxing as the twin towers smoulder says much about history and memory”

8. Teaching Good Sex
By Laurie Abraham | The New York Times Magazine | Nov. 16
“Across the country, the approach ranges from abstinence until marriage is the only acceptable choice, contraceptives don’t work and premarital sex is physically and emotionally harmful, to abstinence is usually best, but if you must have sex, here are some ways to protect yourself from pregnancy and disease.”

9. GOP candidate spouses — secret weapons or dangerous millstones?
By Chris McGreal | The Guardian | Nov. 18
“Gloria Cain helped dent harassment accusations against her husband but Anita Perry’s defence of Rick made things worse”

10. Latino men are always the most critical of me
NewsTaco | Nov. 18
“Latino men are the ones who have most insulted my intellect and tried to ‘teach me’ how I should navigate the world.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Latino voters for Obama … Drought exposes secrets … Perry’s past politics … Tech gift ideas … Turkey facts.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Saving Bletchley Park
By Marco Werman | The World | Nov. 18
“The British site was the location of an important message decoding center during World War II, and also played an important role in the development of modern computers.”

2. You can still keep it local when giving the gift of technology
By Omar L. Gallaga | Austin American-Statesman | Nov. 19
“A few ideas for technology gifts that appeal to Central Texans”

3. 10 things you might not know about turkey
By Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer | Chicago Trubune | Nov. 20
“As we approach Thanksgiving, you’re welcome to 10 helpings of these turkey facts”

4. As Texas grew more Republican and conservative, Perry’s politics evolved
By Wayne Slater | The Dallas Morning News | Nov. 20
“As a Democrat in the Texas House in the 1980s, Perry was a moderate conservative — supporting agriculture and business but also voting to triple legislators’ pay and to raise taxes by $5.7 billion — the biggest increase in state history — to balance the budget.”

5. Depleted Texas lakes expose ghost towns, graves
By Michael Graczyk and Angela K. Brown | Associated Press | Nov. 20
“Across the state, receding lakes have revealed a prehistoric skull, ancient tools, fossils and a small cemetery that appears to contain the graves of freed slaves. Some of the discoveries have attracted interest from local historians, and looters also have scavenged for pieces of history. More than two dozen looters have been arrested at one site.”

6. What If It Had Been a Girl in the Shower?
Good Men Project | Nov. 20
“Tom Matlack wonders if the Penn State incident remained hidden for so long because what happened was beyond the scope of men inside football to even comprehend.”

7. Trying Out the World’s First In-Car Music-Streaming System
By Sam Grobart | Gadgetwise :: The New York Times | Nov. 15
“Third-party apps that are integrated into car systems are not entirely new. Pandora, the popular radiolike streaming service, has been available in many new cars. But Pandora is more like a radio station: You pick an artist, and the service plays songs from people like that artist. MOG does more than that.”

8. Von Sternberg and Dietrich | Beauty Stilled
By David D. Robbins | The Fade Out | Nov. 18
“Sternberg lit Dietrich’s face in some scenes, then would cover it in luxurious veils and fashionable hats with dangling decor. It was more than sensuality and rolling the camera. It’s obvious he loved Dietrich in some way, because there isn’t one frame in the seven films that couldn’t be screen-captured and turned into a marvelous still photo.”

9. Democrats Consolidating Hispanic Vote Early
By Benjy Sarlin | Talking Points Memo | Nov. 21
“An extensive survey of Latino voters by Univision this week showed Obama racking up similarly high margins against Mitt Romney (67-24), Rick Perry (68-21), and Herman Cain (65-22). The 2-1 ratio is roughly in line with Obama’s margin against John McCain in 2008.”

10. Oddly, Texas can teach the UK a thing or two on criminal justice
By Ian Birrell | The Guardian | Nov. 20
“Conservative Texas prides itself on being tough, but it has learned that locking people up is a costly failure”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Extreme weather coming … American exceptionalism … Invisible commandos … The Mediterranean diet … The new Mass.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Science panel: Get ready for extreme weather
By Seth Borenstein | Associated Press | Nov. 19
“Think of the Texas drought, floods in Thailand and Russia’s devastating heat waves as coming attractions in a warming world. That’s the warning from top international climate scientists and disaster experts after meeting in Africa.”

2. NASA Mars mission to test planet for ability to sustain life
By Marc Kaufman | The Washington Post | Nov. 18
“If the unmanned Mars Science Laboratory lifts off and travels a 354 million-mile path to Mars, it will lower to the surface a sedan-size rover called Curiosity, which has the potential to change our understanding of the cosmos.”

3. Decline of American Exceptionalism
By Charles M. Blow | The New York Times | Nov. 18
“Is America exceptional among nations? Are we, as a country and a people and a culture, set apart and better than others? Are we, indeed, the “shining city upon a hill” that Ronald Reagan described? Are we “chosen by God and commissioned by history to be a model to the world” as George W. Bush said?”

4. Special Ops Wants Commandos to Have Invisible Faces
By Katie Drummond | Danger Room :: Wired | Nov. 18
“In 2008, the Army Military Research Office boasted that they were a mere two or three years away from developing metamaterials that could deflect light to conceal a given object. Since then, experts at various institutions have made impressive progress.”

5. A different view of Washington
The Washington Post | Nov. 17
“D.C. would have a very different look if these alternative designs and proposed buildings had came to fruition.”

6. Eat like a Mediterranean — but how?
By Karen Ravn | The Los Angeles Times | Nov. 20
“Here’s what the research says — and doesn’t say — about the Mediterranean diet.”

7. U.S. births dip for the third straight year
Associated Press | Nov. 19
“A federal report released Thursday showed declines in the birth rate for all races and most age groups. Teens and women in their early 20s had the most dramatic dip, to the lowest rates since record-keeping began in the 1940s. Also, the rate of cesarean sections stopped going up for the first time since 1996.”

8. Catholics priests prepare to usher in Mass changes
By Kate Shellnutt | Houston Chronicle | Nov. 19
“At the start of Advent on Nov. 27, Catholics will adopt changes that make the words spoken during Mass in English closer to the church’s official Latin, adding dozens of small substitutions to the liturgy many Catholics pray instinctively. It’s the biggest shift in the Mass since Vatican II.”

9. Seven Tips for Better Group Portraits
By Roy Furchgott | Gadgetwise :: The New York Times | Nov. 17
“Andrew Boyd, a photojournalist and educator, has written extensively about group shots on his blog, The Discerning Photographer. Here’s his recipe for getting it right.”

10. Does America need Wall Street?
By Jeff Madrick | The Washington Post | Nov. 18
“Wall Street jet-fuels capitalism and innovation, we are told, and that’s what makes America prosperous; Wall Street is full of job-creators. But Alfred Chandler, the respected business historian, argued persuasively that most investment during the nation’s industrialization came from corporate profits, not money raised by Wall Street bankers.”

********************

TUNES

My soundtrack for today included:
1. ME AND BOBBY McGEE Janis Joplin
2. 4 + 20 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3. ROSIE (Live) Jackson Browne
4. SOMEBODY SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT Elton John
5. I’M ON FIRE Bruce Springsteen
6. ANGEL Rod Stewart
7. WILD HORSES The Sundays
8. RADIATION RULING THE NATION Massive Attack & Mad Professor
9. FEEL SO GOOD Lovespirals
10. FORBIDDEN LOVE Madonna

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Santa Anna’s papers … Wandering females … Defending soldiers at home … Suicides in literature … Mine tragedy’s open wounds.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Santa Anna papers sell for $183,500
By Scott Huddleston | San Antonio Express-News | Nov. 19
“Santa Anna’s field commands were among the artifacts in a weeklong, online auction”

2. Saif al-Islam goes from fugitive to facing the Libyan people
By Peter Beaumont | The Guardian | Nov. 19
“Wherever Muammar Gaddafi’s son stands trial, he will be defending not just himself but his whole family”

3. BMW’s electric vision of the future
CNN Money | Nov. 10
“The German automaker unveils its i-Series proyotypes featuring ‘premium’ cars for the electric market.”

4. Our Male Ancestors Stayed Close to Home, While Females Wandered About
By Marlene Cimons | LiveScience | Nov. 18
“It turns out that the males of two bipedal hominid species that roamed the South African savannah more than a million years ago were the stay-at-home types, compared to the wandering females, who went off on their own, leaving the men behind.”

5. What the 99 percent can give American soldiers
By Alexandra Grey | Salon.com | Nov. 18
“I’m proud to put my life on the line to defend your freedoms. Please don’t take them for granted”

6. Natalie Wood detectives face conflicting accounts
By Anthony McCartney | Associated Press | Nov. 19
“Two sheriff’s detectives are now diving into the mysterious events on the yacht Splendour, although whether they reach any different conclusions than their predecessors remains to be seen.”

7. Year later, New Zealand mine still holds 29 bodies
By Nick Perry | Associated Press | Nov. 19
“Some families say they are unable to finish grieving because the men’s bodies have not been recovered from the Pike River mine near Greymouth, and they are frustrated that more has not been done to try to reach them.”

8. Thus With a Kiss: 10 Spectacular Suicides in Literature
By Emily Temple | Flavorwire | Aug. 14
“For us, of all deaths in literature, suicides are often the most affecting, whether there is precise internal monologue or abject mystery surrounding the character’s intentions.”

9. The 31-Year-Old Meeting the Parents of Her Insecure Boyfriend
Daily Intel :: New York Magazine | May 16
“Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the 31-Year-Old Meeting the Parents of Her Insecure Boyfriend: Female, administrative assistant, midtown, 31, “straight with bisexual tendencies,” in a relationship.”

10. Assassination of Trujillo
Witness :: BBC News | May 30
“It is 50 years since the assassination of Rafael Trujillo – Dominican Republic dictator.”

********************

TUNES

My soundtrack for today included:
1. BRING IT ON HOME TO ME Sam Cooke
2. I’D RATHER GO BLIND Etta James
3. CONGRATULATIONS HONEY Baby Washington & The Plants
4. FA-FA-FA-FA-FA Otis Redding
5. CORINNA Taj Mahal
6. EVIL GAL BLUES Dinah Washington
7. VIETNAM BLUES Cassandra Wilson
8. THAT’S HOW STRONG MY LOVE IS Otis Redding
9. AIN’T NO SUNSHINE Bill Withers
10. LEAVING TRUNK Taj Mahal

How will ‘Mad Men’ end?

Creator Matthew Weiner may have given us a hint. It’s an image of Don Draper he can’t get out of his mind.

As I wait for the new season of “Mad Men” to begin, I’ll share a few of the more interesting links I’ve found. Read past entries in this series here.

1. What would Don Draper do? That’s the question Vanity Fair blogger Alyssa Bereznak applies to her weekly recaps of Pan Am. In general, Don’s response to most situations would be to drink, seduce or calmly walk away.

2. Punch out your lights. The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook Blog found a holiday punch sure to lay waste to those interminable holiday office parties looming on the horizon. “Since Canadian Club is Don Draper’s preferred brand of whiskey,” they write, “we thought it was a natural for the Sterling Cooper holiday party, and we loved it too: a delicious blend of fruit juice, Canadian Club and brandy.”

3. The end forseen. Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner tangled a hint of what he imagines the final scene of the series will be: an 84-year-old Don Draper. Maybe. Maybe not. His comments were reported on the blog Grantland.

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Texas cities low on water … What generals shouldn’t say … China in Africa … Stem cells in breast milk … Occupying campuses

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Occupy Wall Street Protesters Shifting to College Campuses
By Malia Wollan and Elizabeth A. Harris | The New York Times | Nov. 13
“As city officials around the country move to disband Occupy Wall Street encampments amid growing concerns over health and public safety, protesters have begun to erect more tents on college campuses.”

2. Turkey: Van a ‘ghost city’ after quakes
By Kyle Kim | GlobalPost | Nov. 14
“The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimate 50,000 people have been affected by the earthquake in Van province and as much as 3,700 buildings that survived the quakes could be unfit for habitation.”

3. Breast milk stem cells may bypass ethical dilemmas
By Linda Geddes | New Scientist | Nov. 14
“Embryonic-like stem cells have been isolated from breast milk in large numbers. The discovery raises the possibility of sourcing stem cells for regenerative medicine, without the need to destroy embryos.”

4. China in Africa
By David Cohen | China Power :: The Diplomat | Nov. 15
“He Wenping has argued that the end of the Cold War gave China a window of opportunity in Africa: ‘The continent is being marginalized in the diplomatic strategies of major Western countries. However, China is as always committed to developing relations with Africa.’ However, China has also run into unfamiliar problems with its Africa plans, pushing it toward international institutions and norms.”

5. 19 true things generals can’t say in public about the Afghan war: A helpful primer
By Tom Ricks | The Best Defense :: Foreign Policy | Nov. 9
“So, general, read this now and believe it later-but keep your lip zipped. Maybe even keep a printout in your wallet and review before interviews.”

6. The pollinator crisis: What’s best for bees
By Sharon Levy | Nature | Nov. 9
“Pollinating insects are in crisis. Understanding bees’ relationships with introduced species could help.”

7. Texas Cities at Risk of Running Out of Water
By Ryan Murphy | The Texas Tribune | Nov. 13
“Eighteen communities … are on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s ‘high priority’ water list, which covers cities and towns that either could run out of water within six months if nothing changes (like rainfall or a new pipeline connection) or do not know how much water they have remaining.”

8. US soldier retraces Afghan steps of dead brother
By David Goldman | Associated Press | Nov. 10
“Andrew Ferrara has come a long way to take this path. His immediate mission, as he leads his U.S. Army platoon up the mountain, is to find a trigger point from which insurgents set off the bombs. … But the 24-year-old 2nd lieutenant from California has a broader goal in being here. Here is where he can forge a bond with his older brother Matthew, who was killed in the same rugged mountains of Afghanistan’s Kunar province while leading a platoon of his own four years ago.”

9. Harry Pachon dies at 66; Latino scholar and activist
By Elaine Woo | Los Angeles Times | Nov. 9
“Under his leadership, the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC expanded and sharpened its mission of researching Latino issues.”

10. Aliens don’t need a moon like ours
By David Shiga | New Scientist | Nov. 13
“It seems planets don’t need a big satellite like Earth’s in order to support life, increasing the number on which life could exist.”

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North River Notes

Daily observations on the Hudson River as it passes through New York City. The section of the Hudson which passes through New York is historically known as the North River, called this by the Dutch to distinguish it from the Delaware River, which they knew as the South River. This stretch of the Hudson is still often referred to as the North River by local mariners today. All photos by Daniel Katzive unless otherwise attributed. Twitter @dannykatman

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