Daily Archives: October 28, 2019

Something Good

1. Irresistible Book: Prince’s memoir The Beautiful Ones. “In Prince’s cosmology, there are really only three reasons to pen a book that purports to flirt with autobiography: further demystification, education or deconstruction. While we will never know which of those goals Prince would have come down on, the book we have is somehow, and thankfully, all three.”

2. A Collection Of Zora Neale Hurston’s Lost Writings Will Be Released In 2020.

3. ‘I had to buy it and finish it’: Why 1,000 people offered to crowd-stitch the quilt of a dead woman none of them knew.

4. Is ‘Modern Love’ Only for White Women? “The omission of women of color as love interests in the new Amazon series is more than an oversight.”

5. The cost of leaving an abusive relationship.

6. Us Too on Lion’s Roar. “Sexual misconduct and abuse by Buddhist teachers — some high profile, others under the radar — are hurting women, splitting communities, destroying people’s faith in Buddhist practice, and damaging Buddhism’s reputation. Buddhist teacher Trudy Goodman looks at the history, the harm, and what we can do to stop it.”

7. How to Give People Advice They’ll Be Delighted to Take on The New York Times.

8. Pages from a finished diary from Austin Kleon.

9. Panic in Pakistani City After 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. on The New York Times. “Health workers say the reuse of syringes drove the outbreak in the city of Ratodero.”

10. How To Leave Toxic Diet Culture Behind And Pursue Actual Health. “The real data behind weight loss research points to a radically different approach to healthy living.” This article is a year old now, but it’s worth a reshare. In related news, and also now four years old but still relevant: Scientists now think that being overweight can protect your health.

11. A police officer has been sacked after he allegedly branded parents of trans kids “lunatics” and suggested they should be shot.

12. “A man of noble and good heart”: Read Barack Obama’s eulogy for Elijah Cummings.

13. Someone Sick Of Hearing Anti-Vaxxers’ Stupid Arguments Creates 31 Scientific Posters That Completely Destroy Their Logic.

14. Why Water Aerobics Should Be Part Of Your Fitness Routine.

15. Lynchings, 1921 Tulsa massacre, and 8 other things school didn’t teach you about race in America.

16. Tally of children split at border tops 5,400 in new count. In related news, More Than 700 Women Have Disappeared From A Texas ICE Detention Center And Their Lawyers Don’t Know Where They Are.

17. Impeachment Inquiry Catch-Up: Bombshell Testimony And Revelations From The East.

18. Muslim Student Athlete Disqualified From Race for Wearing Hijab on The New York Times. Compare that to this: After a soccer player’s hijab slipped off during a game, her opponents paused mid-play to huddle around her.

19. How to Be an Antiracist: A Conversation With Ibram X. Kendi. “In his new book, the professor challenges traditional definitions of racism, and who can be racist.”

20. Toxic Parents And Absent Parents Produce The Same Kind Of People. “…when children are raised with negative feedback, constant criticism and devaluation, they not only fail to develop a positive sense of self but learn to maintain the negative one.” *sigh*

21. How I got revenge on a plantation tour.

22. Summer Walker went from housekeeper to R&B it girl — and she’s still a mystery.

23. Ex Dallas Cop Amber Guyger Is Set to Appeal Her Murder Conviction in the Shooting Death of Botham Jean.

24. Fired for Repeating Racist Slur, School Guard Will Get Job Back, Union Says. “A student directed the slur at Marlon Anderson, who then repeated it as he was trying to explain why it was offensive.”

25. This came up in my Facebook memories this morning. (video) “This American Life asked Sara Bareilles to imagine what President Obama might be thinking about the 2016 election and Donald Trump, but can’t say publicly. Leslie Odom Jr. performs the song.” This seems like a million years ago, and 1000 times more heartbreaking than the first time I heard it.

26. A Critique of Byron Katie’s The Work. “Is Byron Katie’s method known as The Work harmful? Some believe so. There are numerous instances of Katie on stage blaming sexual abuse victims, denying racism, stifling efforts for social change, denying the reality of abuse and accusing people of things they didn’t do. It’s all done under the guise of spiritual growth. Katie claims to haven’t had a thought in 26 years and says she could walk into a gas chamber knowing it’s an ‘amazing day.'”

27. Two of the best Halloween costumes, ever: Dog dressed as ambulance complete with his own siren and this baby dressed as Elton John.