1. Start Here Now: An Introduction to Meditation. “Establish a Consistent Practice at Home with Susan Piver.” August 8 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm ET | $20.00 Susan says, “In this 3-hour program, I will share the actions you can take right now to begin your own practice and the three factors that create consistency.” They are taping the workshop, so you can do it even if you can’t attend “live.” Susan has been my primary meditation teacher for 10 years and I very much recommend this workshop, her Open Heart Project, and all her books.

2. Wild Writing 5-Day Free Series with another long time teacher of mine, Laurie Wagner. The practice she shares is essential to me, for my writing and my life.

3. Love & Rage: Lama Rod Owens, a recent CTZN podcast. “Lama Rod Owens, author of the newly released Love & Rage and Radical Dharma, which he co-authored with Rev angel Kyodo williams and Dr. Jasmine Syedullah. Lama Rod Owens is a Buddhist minister, author, activist, yoga instructor, and generational leader who is showing us a path to liberation through anger. In our conversation he says: ‘So many of us have been led into believing that the spiritual practice is something that’s supposed to be about happiness, and having fun, and going to beautiful spas, and looking beautiful, and having the right clothes, and really the spiritual path is really about the work’.”

4. Why Introverts Frequently Appear Tired.

5. 7 Things You Can Do With Far-Away Friends That Don’t Involve Screens.

6. Rep. John Lewis, A Force In The Civil Rights Movement, Dead At 80. He was a beacon of sanity and compassion, and will be greatly missed. In related news, John Lewis Risked His Life for Justice on The New York Times, and Meet the Women Behind the New Film, ‘John Lewis: Good Trouble’, and a good trouble revolution on Chookooloonks from Karen Walrond.

7. How To Talk To Parents About Racism: 7 Recommendations From Therapists. Not sure exactly why they limited this article to “Parents,” as it seems more widely applicable than that.

8. Thank You For The Symbolic Gestures But Black People Need Reparations. In related news, A teenager created an anti-racism calendar to make it easier for everyone to become an ally.

9. Your ‘Doomscrolling’ Breeds Anxiety. Here’s How To Stop The Cycle. In related news, Doom scrolling.

10. Navy Veteran Speaks Out After Being Attacked by Secret Police in Portland. In related news, Federal Agents Unleash Militarized Crackdown on Portland on The New York Times, and Oregon Attorney General Sues Against Shady Federal Arrests in Portland, Trump Administration Says More to Come, and 50 Nights of Unrest in Portland on The New York Times, and Oregon will sue federal police agencies, open criminal investigation into use of force.

11. Delicate Illustrations by Lee Me Kyeoung Detail the Small Convenience Stores Throughout South Korea.

12. Maxine Waters Saw A Black Man Being Stopped By LAPD And Got Out Of Her Car To Check On Him.

13. 10 Awesome Things You Might Not Know About Dr. Fauci. “In short, Dr. Fauci is the bright light in these uncertain, scary times, the voice of reason we turn to when we need a dose of truth, common sense, and hope.”

14. A 20 Foot-Wide Tapestry by Vanessa Barragão Recreates the World in Textural Yarn.

15. Two men charged in assault on Black man at Indiana lake.

16. COVID-19 related news: Trump Administration Strips C.D.C. of Control of Coronavirus Data on The New York Times, and New COVID-19 Data From The CDC’s Website Vanishes After White House Seizes Control, and How a small birthday lunch in Tacoma became a coronavirus cluster, and CDC director: We can control virus in 4 to 8 weeks if everyone in the US wears a mask, and What happens when two surfer dudes try to hand out free coronavirus masks in Huntington Beach? In this case, hilarity (video).

17. Why White supremacy is actually killing White people.

18. Colorado Bans Gay and Trans “Panic” Defense in Historic Move.

19. Court Halts Dakota Access Pipeline Shutdown As Legal Fight Goes Forward.

20. Big Truck + Low Bridge = Satisfying Schadenfreude from Great Big Story.

21. History Shows That Sustained, Disruptive Protests Work.

22. Mary Trump Describes Abusive Trump Family Home, Says She Will Vote For Biden.

23. In the deliciously creepy new novel Mexican Gothic, the true evil is colonialism.

24. Viola Davis Said She “Betrayed” Herself by Starring in ‘The Help’. “She said the movie was ‘created in the filter and the cesspool of systemic racism.'” In related news, Mo’Nique’s Netflix Discrimination Case Moves Forward, and Employees from The Ellen DeGeneres Show reveal toxic workplace environment of racism, fear and intimidation.

25. Celebrated Hoop Dancer Nakotah LaRance Dies. “LaRance, 30, won nine world champion titles for hoop dance and taught classes at a nonprofit.” He was such a powerful force, moved so beautifully through the world.

26. 10 ways to step up as an ally to non-binary people.

27. Fatal Encounters: One man is tracking every officer-involved killing in the U.S. “‘The number of people killed by police is microscopically small,’ D. Brian Burghart said, but those deaths ‘symbolize systematic racism.'”

28. The 100 Most Popular Sci-Fi Books on Goodreads.

29. People are planting tiny urban forests to boost biodiversity and fight climate change.

30. Holiday Phillips, “a sociologist, coach, writer and speaker on the topics of philosophy, spirituality, culture and personal transformation… All my work is in service of this question: ‘What will it take to build a wiser, kinder world?’ To that end, I’m interested in exploring a wide range of topics that touch on soul and society – personal healing, non-violent communication, integral solutions to racial inequality, new economic models, and the practical application of ancient wisdoms to name a few! Three things guide all my work – deep compassion for others, a strong belief in our personal power to change things and the commitment to be a great ancestor to my children and future generations.”

1. Wisdom from Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel: “The fact that nothing is certain, and we therefore can’t hold on to anything, can evoke fear and depression in the mind. But it can also evoke a sense of wonder, curiosity, and freedom.”

2. What To Do About the Pointless Practice of Worrying by Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

3. Padgett Powell’s rules on “What Writing Should Do,” printed in the back of The Interrogative Mood. “Brave wild failure is applauded.”

4. #DoTheWork from Rachel Elizabeth Cargle, a 30 day course “designed to be an eye-opener and a call to action for those who seek to be allies to Black women.” In related news, USM offers two free online classes on social reform, racism in America.

5. On Being with Krista Tippett: Robin DiAngelo and Resmaa Menakem in Conversation. “The show we released with Minneapolis-based trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem in the weeks after George Floyd’s killing has become one of our most popular episodes, and has touched listeners and galvanized personal searching. So we said yes when Resmaa proposed that he join On Being again, this time together with Robin DiAngelo, the author of White Fragility. Hearing the two of them together is electric — the deepest of dives into the calling of our lifetimes.”

6. Meet the Supporters Trump Has Lost on The New York Times. In related news, New Anti-Trump Group Launches Ad On Fox. I still want to stay mad at them (petty) but I’ll take the change of heart.

7. Your Love for Dogs May Be in Your DNA. If this is true, I definitely got it from my dad.

8. For HSPs, Compassion Fatigue Is All Too Real. “Signs of compassion fatigue include chronic exhaustion, isolation, trouble sleeping, and more.”

9. People Behaving Badly: Oregon Senator blasts Trump over Portland protestor shot in head by federal DHS troops, and Lawyer for Michigan Couple Who Pulled Gun on Black Family Says They Were Victims of ‘Ethnic Intimidation’, and Blues Singer Lady A: ‘I Should Not Have to Bend to Band’s Will Because They’ve Got Money’, and Indiana Woman Arrested For Hitting Protesters And Speeding Off With Them Still Clinging On To Her Car, and Authorities execute search warrant on St. Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters, and Video shows white woman harassing Black pedestrian: “F**ckhead!”, and Drunk Man Has a Racist Meltdown Over Asian Family at California Restaurant, and Californians Who Allegedly Defaced Black Lives Matter Mural Face Hate Crime Charge, and J.K. Rowling Compares Transitioning to “Conversion Therapy”, and Turns Out Florida Man Who Waved Gun At Black Homeowner During Racist Rant Has Been Faking Being A Navy SEAL For Years, and ‘Get The Noose’: Video Shows Black Man Nearly Lynched On The Fourth Of July, and Tucker Carlson’s racist and extreme descriptions of the Black Lives Matter movement.

10. COVID-19 related news (which includes some people behaving badly): Man, 30, Dies After Attending a ‘Covid Party,’ Texas Hospital Says (“I thought this was a hoax,” the man told his nurse) on The New York Times, and Man Dies Of COVID-19 After Posting On Facebook That Masks Are All Hype, and From Camping To Dining Out: Here’s How Experts Rate The Risks Of 14 Summer Activities, and Fauci: I Haven’t Briefed President Trump in Two Months, and Which drugs and therapies are proven to work for COVID-19—and which ones aren’t, and Trump Sets Date To End WHO Membership Over Its Handling Of Virus, and Florida Man Screams “I Feel Threatened” At Elderly Woman Who Asked Him To Wear A Mask In Costco, and Anti-mask shoppers at Costco and Target throw tantrums and tear down mask displays, revealing a growing crisis for retail workers, and Nurses Who Battled Virus in New York Confront Friends Back Home Who Say It’s a Hoax on The New York Times, and Florida teen dies after conspiracy theorist mom takes her to church ‘covid party’ and tries to treat her with Trump-approved drug, and Hell No To The Hybrid Model, and 239 experts want WHO to declare coronavirus airborne. Here’s why it’s hesitating.

11. The Goya Foods free speech controversy, explained. “Goya Foods’ CEO says his speech is being suppressed by a boycott. It’s not.”

12. Black Rain Frogs Look Like Angry Avocados.

13. Denver School Principal On How Black Students Led Swift Changes To History Curriculum.

14. Person Shares ‘Decade Review’ Vs. ‘Unedited Decade Review’ And People Adore The Honesty.

15. Betty White Blooper Reel from Hot in Cleveland. (video)

16. The Acrobatic Immigrant Who Invented Pilates in a Prisoner of War Camp. “Interned during WWI, circus entertainer Joseph Pilates used found materials and his fellow prisoners as his test lab, and imagined an exercise system that would captivate millions.”

17. The Inside Story of Why Mary Trump Wrote a Tell-All Memoir on The New York Times. “President Trump’s niece was a family outcast. Her new book casts a cold light on the relatives she describes as dysfunctional.”

18. What the police really believe. “Inside the distinctive, largely unknown ideology of American policing — and how it justifies racist violence.”

19. Dakota Access and Atlantic Coast Pipelines to Shut Down. May the Water Protectors who have done so much for all of us get a moment to pause, to celebrate, to rest, and may they feel the immeasurable love and gratitude of the rest of us.

20. A Pit-Stop in Japan’s Time Capsule Post Towns.

21. People Are Comforting Each Other With Uplifting Facts, And Here Are 30 Of The Best Ones.

22. Take a Tour Through the History of Black Science Fiction.

23. Black Lives Matter at 7 Years and the Meaning of this Movement-Moment. “For the last seven years, Black Lives Matter has worked to end state-sanctioned violence against Black people and struggle forward, in the Black radical tradition, to transform systems that were deliberately and intentionally designed to produce oppressive and deadly outcomes.”

24. ‘Tax us. Tax us. Tax us.’ 83 millionaires signed letter asking for higher taxes on the super-rich to pay for COVID-19 recoveries.