WAR – Page 34 – Stillness of Heart

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Overpopulation myths … Obama’s reality … Sexy health benefits … Float the park … Canine PTSD

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. The origins of Peru’s mysterious Nasca Lines
By Suemedha Sood | Travelwise :: BBC Travel | Dec. 2
“Preserved by the hot sun and a dry climate, the Nasca Lines have been embedded with mystery ever since the Nasca civilization collapsed, around 600 AD.”

2. After Duty, Dogs Suffer Like Soldiers
By James Dao | The New York Times | Dec. 1
“If anyone needed evidence of the frontline role played by dogs in war these days, here is the latest: the four-legged, wet-nosed troops used to sniff out mines, track down enemy fighters and clear buildings are struggling with the mental strains of combat nearly as much as their human counterparts.”

3. The city that floats
By Will Doig | Salon | Nov. 29
“Want more waterfront? Need room for garages or playgrounds? In the future, they’ll float — and the future is now.”

4. Sexual Healing
By Christie Aschwanden | Medical Examiner :: Slate | Dec. 1
“Does making love make you well?”

5. When ‘getting it done’ becomes impossible
By Danny Schechter | Al Jazeera | Nov. 30
“Obama started out with the idealistic ‘Yes We Can’, but now focuses on re-election and being the lesser of two evils.”

6. Q&A: Finding Other Ways to Record TV Shows
By J.D. Biersdorfer | Gadgetwise :: The New York Times | June 22
“Q: Can I digitally record TV shows without having to pay extra for the DVR equipment and service from the cable company?”

7. Obama 101
By Victor Davis Hanson | National Review | Nov. 30
“Few presidents have dashed so many illusions as Obama.”

8. 5 Things Afghan History Can Teach Us
By Suleiman Wali | The Hiuffington Post | Nov. 29
“[F]ive key points emerge that could help the country lay a better foundation for itself once American and NATO forces reduce their presence or leave altogether.”

9. Five myths about the world’s population
By Nicholas Eberstadt | Five Myths :: The Washington Post | Nov. 4
“The world’s population hit 7 billion people this past week, according to United Nations estimates, launching another round of debates about ‘overpopulation,’ the environment and whether more people means more poverty. …”

10. Civil War women: Annie Haggerty Shaw
Civil War Women Blog | Sept. 28
“Annie Shaw died without ever seeing the Shaw Memorial on Boston Common. What many consider to be the greatest public sculpture in the United States, the high-relief bronze monument honors Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the African American soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. It took sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens almost 14 years to complete.”

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TUNES

Tonight I’m spending some time with the blues, specifically with the Texas Blues Café. Check out the line-up and then listen here.

1. Big Head Todd & The Monsters — House Burn Down
2. Big Head Todd & The Monsters — Sweet Home Alabama
3. Little Big Town — Boondocks
4. Hill Country Review — Let Me Love You
5. The Geoff Everett Band — On the Road Again
6. Robert Earl Keen — 10,000 Chinese Walk Into a Bar
7. Garry Moore — King of the Blues
8. The Mark Knoll Band — Lay It On the Line
9. Chris Rea — Truck Stop
10. Kenny Wayne Shepard — Was
11. Wes Jeans — Stratus
12. Clay McClinton — One of those Guys
13. Cactus — The Groover
14. The Pride and Joy Band — Evil Thoughts

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

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.”

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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.”

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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

Enduring machismo … Obama’s route to 2012 … Women’s sex lives … Special forces in Afghanistan … Understanding female veterans.

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. Female veterans carry special war baggage
By Paula J. Caplan | WeNews | Nov. 10
“Female veterans’ homecoming can be complicated by their experience of the hyper-masculinity of the military, Paula J. Caplan writes in this excerpt from ‘When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us Can Help Veterans.’ ”

2. In Afghanistan, special units do the dirty work
By Carmen Gentile | USA Today | Nov. 10
“In Afghanistan, military officers and analysts say Special Forces have boosted security in areas once held by the Taliban. They are getting increased cooperation from locals to repel insurgents in what former U.S. commander David Petraeus calls a potential ‘game changer’ for the country.”

3. 25% of Mammals at Risk of Extinction, IUCN Reports
LiveScience | Nov. 10
“About one in four mammal species are at risk of extinction, and the Western black rhino has officially been declared extinct, according to a new assessment of biodiversity by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and partners.”

4. Why Cain’s problems don’t help Obama
By Sam Youngman | Ballot Box :: The Hill | Nov. 9
“If you’re a Democrat, what’s not to love about the saga of Herman Cain and his allegedly busy hands? For Democrats working to get President Obama reelected, the answer is a lot: Herman Cain could be hurting the president’s shot at four more years.”

5. My love-hate relationship with machismo
By Sara Ines Calderon | NewsTaco | Nov. 10
“I love a strong, hairy, burly, well-fed, commanding, in-control, macho. It’s true. I don’t like men trying to control what I say, how I say it, how I dress, where I go, with whom I speak and just generally being insecure jerks trying to empower themselves by taking my power away. Therein lies the dilemma.”

6. Batman and ‘Bitches’
By G. Christopher Williams | PopMatters | Nov. 9
“In noir, men do bad things to women, women do bad things to men, people do bad things to each other. One of the central conceits of noir is very simple: people are creeps.”

7. BP Oil Spill Cleanup: Coast Guard Approves Plan To End Operation
By Cain Burdeau and Dina Cappiello | The Huffington Post | Nov. 8
“According to the document … the Coast Guard spells out protocol for ending the cleanup. It has been going on since April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon exploded off the Louisiana coast.”

8. WomenTALK 2011 Survey on Sex: What We Want Isn’t What We Get
By Emma Gray | The Huffington Post | Nov. 8
“There’s a lot wrong with the way this survey is presented, but one valuable piece of information it offers is that only 42 percent of the women surveyed rated sexual health as ‘very or extremely important’ to their overall health.”

9. Democrats More Liberal, Less White Than in 2008
By Frank Newport, Jeffrey M. Jones, and Lydia Saad | Gallup.com | Nov. 7
“Party generally looks demographically similar to 2008.”

10. On electoral map, Obama still has routes to victory in 2012
By Chris Cillizza | The Fix :: The Washington Post | Nov. 6
“The grim economic state of the country has created a toxic political environment for Obama. But the ground on which the 2012 election will be fought still favors him and should give Democrats some hope that he can claim a second term in a year’s time.”

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.”

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North River Notes

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 copyright Daniel Katzive unless otherwise attributed. For more frequent updates, please follow northriverblog on Facebook or Instagram.