Recommended reading / viewing / listening

How should we sleep? / Are cruise ships stable? / Obama’s long-term strategy / Dating Latinos only / Huntsman campaign, RIP

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. Obama Faces Challenging Re-Election Climate
By Lydia Saad | Gallup | Jan. 16
“January indicators mostly align with losing incumbents, but there is still time for improvement”

2. Huntsman quits GOP race
By Kasie Hunt and Philip Elliott | Associated Press | Jan. 16
“Huntsman’s resume had suggested he could be a major contender for the Republican presidential nomination: businessman, diplomat, governor, veteran of four presidential administrations, an expert on China and foreign trade.”

3. The Embarrassment of Riches
By Pamela Haag | The American Scholar | Summer 2006
“Do not pity me for having more money than anyone I know. Still, wealth does have its mild difficulties”

4. He Told the Truth About China’s Tyranny
By Simon Leys | The New York Review of Books | Feb. 9
“The Communist authorities unwittingly vouched for the uncompromising accuracy of his comments. They kept arresting him for his views — four times since the Tiananmen massacre in June 1989.”

5. Am I a racist because I want to date Latino guys?
By Sara Ines Calderon | Pocho | Jan. 15
“Part of this is totally my fault and the result of my whining and chiflazón. There’s a misunderstanding about what motivates me and other people like me, who are interested primarily in dating other Latinos.”

6. How Obama’s Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics
By Andrew Sullivan | Newsweek | Jan. 16
“The right calls him a socialist, the left says he sucks up to Wall Street, and independents think he’s a wimp.”

7. Cocaine: The New Front Lines
By John Lyons | The Saturday Essay :: The Wall Street Journal | Jan. 14
“Colombia’s success in curbing the drug trade has created more opportunities for countries hostile to the United States. What happens when coca farmers and their allies are in charge?”

8. How stable are cruise ships like the Costa Concordia?
By Paul Marks | New Scientist | Jan. 16
“Why was this massive ship so close to shallow rock outcrops? Why might the Costa Concordia’s depth-sounding sonar have been ignored? Why was the evacuation, so close to land, seemingly so chaotic?”

9. This much I know: David Remnick
By William Skidelsky | The Observer | July 2010
“The author and editor of the New Yorker, 51, on his memories of the Kennedy assassination, meeting Bob Dylan, and the last time he cried”

10. Of Heart and Guts
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | February 2011
“Is it better for digestion to sleep on the left side and better for the heart to sleep on the right?”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Huntsman’s moment / Childish norms / The Literary King / Digital archives / Self-deception

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. Huntsman: ‘Sane Republican’ ready for his moment
By Steve People and Holly Ramer | Associated Press | Jan. 7
“After sitting out the Iowa caucuses and investing all his hopes in this state, [Jon] Huntsman has struggled to find a voice that resonates with voters. The former Utah governor is proud to announce that he’s no longer ‘the margin-of-error candidate’ — in New Hampshire, at least. But he’ll need to do far better than that for his campaign to continue after Tuesday’s primary.”

2. Beyond Pink vs. Blue
By Dana Goldstein | The Nation | December 2011
“Parents of young children often marvel that, despite their own egalitarian intentions, their kids are the ones who police traditional gender norms.”

3. You Can’t Always Get What You Want: On Stephen King
By Charles Taylor | The Nation | December 2011
“Thirty-seven years after the publication of his first novel, Carrie, King still seems not just underrated but uncomprehended.”

4. The gift of tongues
The Economist | December 2011
“What makes some people learn language after language?”

5. Fire in the Library
By Matt Schwartz and Eva Talmadge | Technology Review | January/February 2012
“Once, we stored our photos and other mementos in shoeboxes in the attic; now we keep them online. That puts our stuff at the mercy of companies that could decide to throw it away—unless Jason Scott and the Archive Team can get there first.”

6. The secret life of J Edgar Hoover
By Anthony Summers | The Observer | December 2011
“For half a century, the FBI director waged war on homosexuals, black people and communists. Now, a controversial film by Clint Eastwood [opening in England] is set to reveal some of the explosive truth about him. Here, his biographer Anthony Summers tells all.”

7. How to Mobilise a Million
Activate :: Al Jazeera | November 2011
“Thousands of young Sudanese are demanding an end to the violent rule of Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan.”

8. What Are the Limits to Human Self-Deception?
By Stanton Peele | Psychology Today | November 2011
“People have no limits to their ability to reconstruct reality self-servingly”

9. Control Yourself!
By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | March 2011
“Is there evidence that Kegel exercises really strengthen bladder control?”

10. The Delicious Mr. Ed
By Brian Palmer | Explainer :: Slate | October 2011
“Why don’t Americans eat horse meat?”

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

TUNES

My soundtrack for today included:
1. PLAYER’S ANTHEM Junior M.A.F.I.A., Lil’ Cease, Lil’ Kim & Notorious B.I.G.
2. REBIRTH OF SLICK Digable Planets
3. THIS D.J. Warren G
4. STILL DRE Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre
5. HANDS UP Lloyd Banks
6. SPELL CHECK Lil’ Kim
7. SHADOWBOXIN’ GZA
8. PASSIN’ ME BY Pharcyde
9. TIPSY J-Kwon
10. ROCK THE PARTY Benzino

Rebecca Aguilar

#CallingAllJournalists Initiative | Reporter | Media Watchdog | Mentor | Latinas in Journalism

Anna Fonte's Paper Planes

Words, images & collages tossed from a window.

Postcards from Barton Springs

Gayle Brennan Spencer - sending random thoughts to and from South Austin

The Flask Half Full

Irreverent travelogues, good drinks, and the cultural stories they tell.

Government Book Talk

Talking about some of the best publications from the Federal Government, past and present.

Cadillac Society

Cadillac News, Forums, Rumors, Reviews

Ob360media

Real News That Matters

Mealtime Joy

bringing joy to family meals

Øl, Mad og Folk

Bloggen Øl, Mad og Folk

a joyous kitchen

fun, delicious food for everyone

A Perfect Feast

Modern Comfort Food

donnablackwrites

Art is a gift we give ourselves

Fridgelore

low waste living drawn from food lore through the ages

BeckiesKitchen.com

MUSINGS : CRITICISM : HISTORY : NEWS

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.

Flavorite

Where your favorite flavors come together