FOREIGN AFFAIRS – Page 24 – Stillness of Heart

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.”

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

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.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Cooking a steak … Ending the Cuban embargo … An asteroid flyby … Texas Democrats win … Voyager 2’s second wind.

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. Voyager 2 to Switch to Backup Thruster Set
NASA | Nov. 5
“The change will allow the 34-year-old spacecraft to reduce the amount of power it requires to operate and use previously unused thrusters as it continues its journey toward interstellar space, beyond our solar system.”

2. Day After Day, Her Voice Takes Listeners to the Stars
By Sonia Smith | Texas Monthly and the New York Times | Oct. 29
“On a clear, cool night in the early 1960s, a father drove his young, pajama-clad daughter to one of the T-head piers on Corpus Christi Bay to marvel at an object in the sky. The girl who peered up at the sky was Sandy Wood, and this year marked her 20th anniversary as the voice of the nationally syndicated radio program ‘StarDate.’ ”

3. Texas Democrats Win Redistricting Battle
By Jessica Taylor | Hotline On Call :: National Journal | Nov. 8
“A Washington, D.C. federal court blocked the Republican-drawn Texas redistricting maps in a ruling, clearing the path for a three-judge panel to draw new congressional lines expected to benefit Democrats.”

4. Big asteroid has close encounter with Earth
By Irene Klotz | Reuters | Nov. 8
“With a diameter estimated at 400 meters, or about a quarter of a mile, Asteroid 2005 YU 55 is the biggest asteroid to make a close pass by Earth since 1976.”

5. Madness marches on
By Peter Brookes | The New York Post | Nov. 6
“With Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki and Moammar Khadafy swept into the dustbin of history and the full US withdrawal from Iraq in the works, there’s a prevailing sense that, for us, all’s reasonably right with the world. Pity, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

6. 10 More Stubborn Food Myths That Just Won’t Die, Debunked by Science
Lifehacker | Nov. 7
“We asked our nutritionists back to debunk some more common misconceptions about food, health, and nutrition that are still widely believed, even though there’s overwhelming evidence to the contrary. We also asked them some of your questions. Here’s what they said.”

7. Commando-Style DEA Squads Fight Cartels Abroad
By Evann Gastaldo | Newser | Nov. 7
“Squads train local authorities, but sometimes things get ugly”

8. Why the U.S. Should Drop the Embargo and Prop Up Cuban Homeowners
By Tim Padgett | Global Spin :: Time | Nov. 5
“It may not lead to a Caribbean Spring in Cuba – but then, neither has five wasted decades of embargo. The bottom line is that Washington needs to conjure the common sense to engage alternatives when Castro himself provides them.”

9. How to pan fry steak
BBC Food | June 2009
“Chef Barney Desmazery runs through the best way to cook Sirloin Steak medium rare.”

10. Turkish students bond over earthquake experiences
By Victoria Garten | The Oklahoma Daily | Nov. 7
“Oklahoma’s recent earthquakes have not fazed Turkish exchange student Mehmet Ali Nerse because he’s been there before.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

An appraisal of Joe Frazier … Corruption in Africa … Magic Johnson’s HIV announcement … Herman Cain’s insurgency … The Pentagon’s most powerful woman.

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. A revolution for all seasons
Empire :: Al Jazeera English | Nov. 5
“The winds of change have swept the Arab world, with uneven results. Progress in places like Tunisia and Egypt, repression in Syria, bloody stalemate in Yemen, and unfinished business in Libya: the Arab Spring is at a crucial stage.”

2. Michele Flournoy, Pentagon’s highest-ranking woman, is making her mark on foreign policy
By Emily Wax | The Washington Post | Nov. 6
“Today, she holds the title of undersecretary of defense for policy. Like her father, she avoids boasting about her accomplishments, although she’s navigating some of the most vexing foreign policy challenges in the history of the Pentagon. And she’s something of a mystery to outsiders.”

3. Cat’s eye irises don’t need brain to adapt to the dark
New Scientist | Nov. 7
“Mammals were thought to rely on signalling between the eye and brain to resize the pupil and control the amount of light reaching the retina, but [researchers] discovered that eyeballs isolated from animals that are active at night or at dusk and dawn … continued to respond to light”

4. The Ironic Populist
By Michael Signer | The New Republic | Nov. 7
“How Herman Cain’s Insurgency Marks the Beginning of a New Political Era”

5. Magic Johnson looks back on HIV announcement 20 years later
By Matt Brooks | The Early Lead :: The Washington Post | Nov. 7
“On that difficult day in 1991, Johnson made a conscious decision to become the face of HIV — a choice that has helped raise awareness worldwide and continues to resonate with the work of the Magic Johnson Foundation.”

6. ‘Carlos the Jackal’ on trial for 1980s bombings in France
CNN.com | Nov. 7
“The 62-year-old, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, was once among the world’s most wanted fugitives. He is on trial for his alleged role in the attacks on two trains, a train station and a newspaper office in France in 1982 and 1983. The bombings killed 11 and injured more than 100.”

7. A Champion Who Won Inside the Ring and Out
By Dave Anderson | The New York Times | Nov. 7
“Some people mean more together than they do apart, whatever the stage. Churchill and Hitler. Bogart and Bacall. Ali and Frazier. And for all the deserved accolades for Muhammad Ali, I’ve always believed that each at his best, Joe Frazier, who died Monday night at age 67, was the better fighter. And the better man.”

8. 49th Anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt’s Death
In Roosevelt History | Nov. 7
The famed and controversial first lady died in New York City in 1962.

9. It is four o’clock in the morning …
By Ron McCullagh | Al Jazeera English | Nov. 6
“Exposing the real hurdles stunting development in much of Africa: corruption, cronyism and the politics of fear.”

10. Attack at Lod Airport
Witness :: BBC News | May 31
“It is almost 40 years since an attack at the airport outside Tel Aviv – more than 20 people were killed.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Black holes … Differences among the GOP presidential candidates … Mummies in the house … Beating winter blues … Running the right way

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. What’s that strange disk around that black hole?
By Nicole Gugliucci | Discovery News | Nov. 5
“Recently, using the Hubble Space Telescope, the light from the accretion disk around a black hole has been measured for the first time.”

2. Excavating key differences among GOP candidates
By Calvin Woodward | Associated Press | Nov. 7
“The Republican presidential candidates sound much alike in their zeal to shrink government, cut taxes and replace President Barack Obama’s big health care law with, well, something entirely different. It takes some digging to see the distinctions.”

3. Report: Ames Jones to Challenge Wentworth
By Ross Ramsey | Texas Tribune | Nov. 7
“Elizabeth Ames Jones, who left the Legislature for a spot on the Texas Railroad Commission, will reportedly get out of the U.S. Senate race to run instead for the Texas Senate against incumbent Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio.”

4. Kay Bailey Hutchison says Rick Perry ‘was very brutal’ to her two years ago
By Richard Dunham | PerryPresidential | Nov. 6
“Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison may have forgiven Rick Perry for the things he said during their bitter 2010 primary battle for governor, but she surely hasn’t forgotten.”

5. Russia: Mummified Bodies Found At Historian’s Home
Associated Press | Nov. 7
“Ministry spokesman Valery Gribakin said Monday that the suspect from the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod dug up the bodies at several cemeteries in the region. The man, whose identity was withheld, dressed them in clothes dug up from the graves.”

6. 8 Ways to Beat the Winter Blues
By Maia Szalavitz | Healthland :: Time | Nov. 4
“As the days get shorter and winter closes in, many people feel like hibernating. We start sleeping more, eating more, avoiding social contact. The effects can be particularly oppressive for people with depression. …”

7. The Once and Future Way to Run
By Christopher McDougall | The New York Times Magazine | Nov. 2
“Left, right, repeat; that’s all running really is, a movement so natural that babies learn it the first time they rise to their feet. Yet sometime between childhood and adulthood — and between the dawn of our species and today — most of us lose the knack.”

8. Polls: Ortega likely to win 3rd term in Nicaragua
By Samantha Lugo | CNN.com | Nov. 7
“He was first elected as president in 1985, and ran unsuccessfully in 1990, 1996 and 2001 before being elected again in 2006.”

9. Brazilian Au Pair Enjoying Nameless Men, Her First Multiple Orgasm
Daily Intel :: New York Magazine | April 4
“Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the Brazilian Au Pair Enjoying Nameless Men and Her First Multiple Orgasm: Female, au pair, 26, Manhattan, ‘happily single ever after,’ straight.”

10. The Horny Suburban Mom on a Field Trip to the Big City
Daily Intel :: New York Magazine | Jan. 3
“Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the Horny Suburban Mom on a Field Trip to the Big City: female, freelance copywriter, 44, suburban Philadelphia/NYC, ‘sexual libertine,’ single.”

Relaxing

Stillness of Heart is taking some time off to fully enjoy the last few weeks of summer.

Stillness of Heart is taking some time off to fully enjoy the last few weeks of summer.

Stay in touch. You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

See you in the fall.

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

A world failure in Haiti … Alien destruction … 2012 election rhetoric … Pre-bed drinks … What would President Hillary Clinton have done?

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. How the World Failed Haiti
By Janet Reitman | Rolling Stone | August 2011
“A year and a half after the island was reduced to rubble by an earthquake, the world’s unprecedented effort to rebuild it has turned into a disaster of good intentions.”

2. Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilisations, say scientists
By Ian Sample | The Guardian | The Guardian
“Rising greenhouse emissions may tip off aliens that we are a rapidly expanding threat, warns a report for NASA”

3. Archaeologists comb newly-found Civil War POW camp
By Russ Bynum | Associated Press | Aug. 18
“Archaeologists are still discovering unusual, and sometimes stunningly personal, artifacts a year after state officials revealed that a graduate student had pinpointed the location of the massive but short-lived Civil War camp in southeast Georgia.”

4. The rhetoric of the 2012 election will be about race
By Joseph P.A. Villescas | NewsTaco | Aug. 18
“In this racially charged election, previous and future representatives will be judged according to their influence on regional Latino issues related to education, healthcare and job creation as well as their dedication to improving the quality of life for residents in Austin, Kyle, Lockhart, Maxwell, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Seguín and San Antonio.”

5. What a Rick Perry Presidency Would Look Like for Women
MeanRachel :: Huffington Post | Aug. 17
“With a governor who has a women’s health record that’s a bumpy country mile long possibly becoming our next President, what would it mean for women across America? Allow me.”

6. Pre-Bed Booze May Bust Rest
By Katherine Harmon | 60-Second Health :: Scientific American | August 2011
“A nightcap may force the body to work harder at repair during sleep, making for a less restful night”

7. What Would Hillary Clinton Have Done?
By Rebecca Traister | The New York Times Magazine | Aug. 17
“[I]n a period of liberal disillusionment, some on the left are engaging in an inverse fantasy. Almost unbelievably, they are now daydreaming of how much better a Hillary Clinton administration might have represented them. ”

8. Dimming the Red Lights in Turkey
By Anna Louie Sussman | The New York Times | Aug. 19
“Since the 1870s, prostitution has thrived in Istanbul’s Beyoglu district, which houses Kadem and its sister street, Zurafa.”

9. When Looking for Love, Women Spurn Science
By Jennifer Welsh | LiveScience | Aug. 18
“Finding romantic love can be a distracting goal for anyone, but for women thoughts of romantic goals are particularly distracting from science, technology, engineering and math, new research suggests.”

10. Economic Myths: We Separate Fact From Fiction
By Michael Grabell | ProPublica | Aug. 18
“1. Taxes have been going up and are high compared to levels in other countries. 2. The stimulus failed./The stimulus rescued the economy. 3. The stimulus should have been bigger.”

TUNES

My soundtrack for today included:
1. I’M LIFE The Fixx
2. ANGELINA FLASHBACK Jan Hammer
3. LOMBARD TRIAL Jan Hammer
4. POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME Def Leppard
5. TURNING POINT Jan Hammer
6. WHO ARE YOU John Murphy
7. DESIRE U2
8. WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE Bon Jovi
9. I WISH SOMEONE WOULD CARE Irma Thomas
10. NIGHTTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME Ray Charles

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