Category Archives: Something Good

Something Good

Eric posted this picture collage on Facebook last night and captioned it, “Pie Chart.” It was delicious.

1. Me And White Supremacy – The Workbook. “Part education, part activation, the Me And White Supremacy Workbook is a first-of-its-kind personal anti-racism tool for people holding white privilege to begin to examine and dismantle their complicity in the oppressive system of white supremacy.” Seriously, just download it.

2. 4 Ways to Find More Peace Around Difficult People.

3. Are you being gaslit? Here are some things people do when they are gaslighting you.

4. The Art of Activism: Hard Conversations Book Club 2019. A reading list worth considering.

5. 16 Signs You’re An INFJ, The World’s Rarest Personality Type. In related news, 6 Things You May Not Know About Introverts, Illustrated, and You’re Not Crazy, You’re A Highly Sensitive Person.

6. 100 questions to spark conversation & connection. I’ve shared this before, but it’s so good it’s worth sharing again and again.

7. When, if ever, is it okay for a Buddhist to euthanize a pet? on Lion’s Roar.

8. How to Be an Artist. “33 rules to take you from clueless amateur to generational talent (or at least help you live life a little more creatively).”

9. Worst Holiday Diet Tips Ever from Dances with Fat.

10. Good Reads: Small Space Style from SF Girl. My dream is enough property to have this in my backyard. Actually, what would be the best is a converted barn: ground floor yoga studio, upstairs private office, practice space, potential spare bedroom, and a bathroom.

11. ‘I’m Broke and Mostly Friendless, and I’ve Wasted My Whole Life’ on Ask Polly.

12. Please stop telling me to leave my comfort zone. “Our comfort zones are there to protect us, even if productivity specialists say otherwise.”

13. Sacred Bow: An Intentional Way to Close Out the Year & Start the New Year on Zen Habits.

14. First The Why, Now The How: 25 Ways To Keep Making Stuff from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

15. Taking Pics Of Fat People On Planes on Dances with Fat. In related news, To the newspaper that encouraged “discreetly” photographing fat airline passengers, “USA Today Travel released a video instructing passengers to post photographs to social media if they felt their space was invaded. One fat passenger responds.”

16. An Intentional System for Working with Goals on Zen Habits.

17. Winter Joy Retreat 2018: “Threads.” “Remember what makes you come alive to start 2019 filled with new energy and focused on creating what matters. (A two-week online writing group for women, Dec. 3-16, 2018).”

18. Gifts For Writers 2018 from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

19. Black Boy Fly: 53 Children’s Books Centering and Celebrating the Humanity of Black Boys.

20. Stunning images of pagan costumes worn at winter celebrations around the world.

21. N.K. Jemisin Is Trying to Keep the World From Ending. “The most critically acclaimed author in contemporary science fiction and fantasy made history this year. Now she’s trying to make the future.”

22. Full Interview: Michelle Obama Talks To Stephen Colbert. (video)

23. For these female prisoners, dance is an emotional outlet and a means of expression. (video)

24. A garbage man saved 25,000 books and turned them into a library. The pictures are amazing.

25. Researchers Find That Losing A Dog Can Be As Hard As Losing A Loved One. I could have saved them a lot of work. All they had to do is ask me.

26. The way Gina Yashere handled this case of everyday racism is brilliant. (video)

27. Meet entrepreneur and farmer Suzan, who uses her allotment of land to grow products that contribute to the local economy in Uganda. (video)

28. This 9-year-old pro skater is traveling the globe to help underprivileged kids. (video)

29. He can’t go to sleep without cuddling his favourite toy. (video)

30. This Indian village has found a unique way to protect newborn girls from infanticide. (video)

31. Jameela Jamil says cultural pressures to look a certain way led to an eating disorder in her teens. (video)

32. This guy has the funniest relationship with his dog. (video)

33. Remembering the Howard University Librarian Who Decolonized the Way Books Were Catalogued. “Dorothy Porter challenged the racial bias in the Dewey Decimal System, putting black scholars alongside white colleagues.”

34. Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake Shakes Alaska, Damaging Roads, Buildings. Yikes!

35. Everybody Dance Now! (video)

36. It’s Not Just Grain-Free: An Update on Diet-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

37. NRA Reports $55 Million Loss With Membership Declines.

38. How dealing with past trauma may be the key to breaking addiction.

39. Black women are 243% more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications than white women — this father brought his heartbreaking story to Congress to change that. (video)

40. A pod of beluga whales has adopted a lost narwhal. (video)

41. This Video of a Guy Accidentally Hang Gliding Without a Harness Is Pure Terror. Reason #43 why I will never hanglide, bungie jump, or skydive.

42. 12 Things to Look Forward to If You Ever Appear on ‘House Hunters.’ I know it’s fake, but I’m still gonna watch it.

43. Japan has so many empty homes, they’re just giving ’em away for free. (video)

44. A 60-year-old woman sent a rap about her dog to this guy to be performed, and it’s got me right in the feels. (video) Consider yourself warned.

45. It’s Time To Unpack White Fragility. (video) “Dr. Robin DiAngelo has spent 20 years running diversity trainings within companies in the US. She’s heard every excuse from white people: that they’re ‘color blind’ or that their ‘best friend is black.’ Surely they aren’t racists. Why are white people so bad at talking about race?”

46. Slowly but surely, the Amazon Prime backlash is coming.

47. Whoever made Baby Shark into a slow jam needs to be arrested. (video)

48. This is “the yoga school for big people.” (video)

49. In this week’s edition of People Behaving Badly: Boston Police Has a Secret Point System That Turns Normal Teenage Behavior Into Gang Membership, and A Famous Alpha Wolf’s Daughter, Spitfire, Is Killed by a Hunter, and Utah Man Allegedly Shouted ‘I Hate Mexicans’ Before Attacking Latino Father And Son, and Black Man Handcuffed While Police Searched His Bags After Being Falsely Accused Of Stealing From Finish Line, and Security Called on Black VCU Professor Eating Breakfast In Her Classroom, and St. Louis Cops Giddily Planned to Beat Protesters but Unwittingly Beat an Undercover Cop. Now They’re Indicted, and Amber Guyger has been indicted for murder after the Botham Jean shooting, and Black Panthers mural in Los Angeles defaced with swastikas, and Chick-fil-A Still Hates Gay People, But Doesn’t Want To Be Labeled ‘Anti-Gay’ Anymore, and Kevin Hart Lashes Out At Critics of His Son’s ‘Cowboys And Indians’ Birthday Party, and Jewish professor finds swastikas spray-painted on her office walls at Columbia’s Teachers College, and Outrageous Gold Rush-Style Grab of Public Lands to Begin Friday, and Trans Woman Was Beaten in ICE Custody Before Death, Autopsy Finds, and White Nationalist Accused of Driving His Car Into a Crowd and Killing Heather Heyer Claims It Was Self-Defense, and Former Florida Police Chief Who Framed Black Teen and Multiple Black Men Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison, and Nooses Hung At Mississippi State Capitol Just Before Runoff Election.

Something Good (NaBloPoMo Day 26)

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1. Me And White Supremacy – The Workbook from Layla Saad. I was lucky enough to do this as a challenge on Instagram led by Layla the first time she offered it, and highly recommend it. “Part education, part activation, the Me And White Supremacy Workbook is a first-of-its-kind personal anti-racism tool for people holding white privilege to begin to examine and dismantle their complicity in the oppressive system of white supremacy.”

2. CONSOLATIONS: A Year-Long Exploration of Everyday Words from Jena Schwartz. This looks SO GOOD! “Spend 2019 exploring the meaning of everyday words, based on David Whyte’s work…one work per week.”

3. Yes, We Can Have Hope on Lion’s Roar. “In this commentary from the Fall 2018 issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, Roshi Joan Halifax reflects on the idea of ‘wise hope’ and why we should open ourselves to it.”

4. How to Simplify the Holidays from Zen Habits. Who doesn’t want a simpler holiday season?

5. The 100 Best Pens, As Tested by Strategist Editors. “Gels, ballpoints, rollerballs, felt-tips, and fountain pens — we tried them all.” My favorite Pentel Clarius was discontinued and I only have a few ink refills left because they also discontinued those, so I’m reading this with great interest.

6. Small bookstores are booming after nearly being wiped out.

7. Brandon Farris on YouTube. He makes videos that make me laugh, and until recently, he’d been living in his car (for TWO years!).

8. 40 Tweets That Sum Up Life With 4-Year-Olds.

9. The Master Quilters of Gee’s Bend, Ala. on The New York Times.

10. Health Science is Bullshit, a video I shared last year that’s just as funny-true now as it was then.

11. No Bed Of Roses, No Pleasure Cruise: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’

12. ‘Green Book’ Is ‘Full of Lies’: Dr. Don Shirley’s Family Speaks Out. In related news, ‘Green Book’ Is A Poorly Titled White Savior Film.

13. The Bun Also Rises: Why We Love ‘The Great British Baking Show.’ In related news, Meet the Guy Who Draws Every Great British Baking Show Recipe Illustration.

14. 9 tricks advertisers use to make food look delicious! (video)

15. Elizabeth Gilbert on the Unexpected Friend Who Helped Her Survive Loss.

16. ‘Thank You, America’: A Crowdsourced Holiday Poem That’s A Blessing To Read. In related news, The Thanksgiving Tale We Tell Is a Harmful Lie. As a Native American, I’ve Found a Better Way to Celebrate the Holiday, and How Do Native Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving? U.S. Holiday A Day of Mourning for Indigenous Peoples.

17. 100 Ways to Support—Not Appropriate From—Native People.

18. White Supremacy, Colonialism and Fatphobia are Inherently Tied to Each Other.

19. Eating Disorders and Body Love in Marginalized Communities Panel.

20. Doctor and runner reunite after he saved her while she had a heart attack during marathon. (video)

21. With Her New Foundation, Taraji P. Henson Wants To Change The Stigma Of Black Mental Health.

22. Keep trying, (video). So cute.

23. Liberals use “unity” to systematically silence women of color. It’s time to be divisive.

24. Couple Becomes First-Time Dog Parents To A Baby Pittie. (video) I had the same anxieties with our first dog, a Rottweiler mix named Obi.

25. Watch this sad, little polka-dot bulldog transform into the happiest adventure dog ever. (video)

26. How My Brother Survived The Camp Fire. “My brother lives in Paradise, California. For five hours on November 8, while wildfire devoured the town, I had no idea if he was alive or dead.”

27. Don’t Be Naive: Avoiding Calling Trump Supporters Racist Won’t Convince Them to Vote for Democrats.

28. Michelle Obama and Tracee Ellis Ross on the Power of Women’s Stories on The New York Times. “The former first lady and a star of ABC’s ‘black-ish’ talk about Mrs. Obama’s memoir, feeling ‘good enough’ and what it really means to ‘go high.'”

29. 100 Notable Books of 2018 on The New York Times.

30. Snoop Dogg Looks Back; Talks Tupac, Mentor Dr. Dre, Speaking Up for the ‘Voiceless.’ The last few minutes of his speech are epic, pure Snoop Dogg. “I want to thank me for believing in me, I want to thank me for doing all this hard work… Snoop Dogg you a bad motherf—er”

31. This Creative Woman Excels at Baking Art Pies with Avant-Garde Crust Designs.

32. Seriously do yourself a favor and watch for a good laugh! (video)

33. Someone Says “Depression Is A Choice”, And Andy Richter’s Response Is Brilliant.

34. These Are The 19 Most Stressful Experiences An Introvert Can Have.

35. Manifesting 2019 with Andrea Scher. A mini-manifesting online workshop for only $20! This seems like a great gift idea.

36. ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Changes the Rules for Who Gets to Eat on TV.

37. This week’s edition of People Behaving Badly: A Not-Guilty Verdict Absolves Border Patrol Of Cross-Border Killing, and Alabama Cops Kill 21-Year-Old After They Say He Opened Fire in a Mall. Now They Say He Didn’t, and Girl, 13, Who Wrote Essay on Gun Violence Is Killed by Stray Bullet, and White Man Allegedly Pulls Gun on Black Muslim Teens in Minnesota McDonald’s, Manager Handles It Terribly, and Isolated Tribe Kills American With Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island (just to be clear, it’s the Christian invader who was behaving badly in this situation), and New video shows two white school officers brutally assaulting a black middle-schooler in an unprovoked attack (video), and Administration Admits Border Deployment Was a $200 Million Election Stunt, and This veteran was working in a yogurt shop when employees got ‘scared’ and called the cops, and How a Liberal Couple Became Two of N.Y.’s Biggest Trump Supporters on The New York Times, and US agents fire tear gas as some migrants try to breach fence.

Something Good (NaBloPoMo Day 19)

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The birthday cake Eric made me yesterday. He even made the chocolate covered pretzels and graham crackers himself. And yes, we have been binge watching the new season of Great British Baking Show.

1. The *new* Black Friday. “This Black Friday, go with the new black: Spend at least part of the day making a Love List as a holiday gift for someone you love.”

2. I’m Just Happy to Be Here: A Memoir of Renegade Mothering Kindle Edition, on Amazon for $1.99! Such a good book from such an amazing writer.

3. New report finds Cadbury has destroyed over 25,000 hectares of Orangutan habitat.

4. Serving Time, And Fighting California Wildfires For $2 A Day. This isn’t new news, but it needs to continue to be news until we wise up.

5. 70 Books Written by Black Women You Need on Your Bookshelf.

6. Cab Drivers Refuse To Pick Up Racists After Philly Rally With Proud Boys. In related news (as in “how regular people can be a part of the resistance”), White women saunter around in hoodies to prove Tennessee mall’s policy targets black people.

7. 11 Signs Of Gaslighting In Your Relationship, Beware!

8. In this week’s “People Behaving Badly,” Woman’s T-Shirt Made Someone Feel So “Unsafe” They Had To Call The Cops, and North Dakota Motel Won’t Rent Rooms to Native Americans, and A White College Professor Reportedly Called 911 Because A Black Student Put Her Feet On A Chair, and Man who called Pittsburgh synagogue massacre a “dry run” arrested days after brother’s suicide, and Hate crimes in America spiked 17 percent last year, FBI says, and Dunkin’ Donuts Owner Calls Cops on Black Woman During Dispute Over Free WiFi, and This man pulled over to berate a couple who was protesting a Confederate monument (video), and Indigenous women kept from seeing their newborn babies until agreeing to sterilization, says lawyer, and The Police Call Was Supposed to Be a Wellness Check on a Friend. So How Did Travis Jordan End Up Dead?, and What this “Nazi salute” prom photo says about the adults in the room.

9. This man left New York’s nightlife scene behind to bring clean water to over 8 million people worldwide (video). One of my favorite charities.

10. Joe Biden Adopts a Rescue Dog Named Major.

11. Trying to make balloon animals. (video) This guy’s videos where he tries to learn to make stuff are hilarious.

12. Neo-Nazis Have No First Amendment Right to Harassment, Judge Rules on The New York Times.

13. When White Ladies Act Like They Want That Action, Give It to Them. In related news, Why Do White Women Keep Voting for the GOP and Against Their Own Interests?, and Most White Women Are Very Happy With White Supremacy.

14. Georgia’s Stacey Abrams Admits Defeat, Says Kemp Used ‘Deliberate’ Suppression To Win. In related news, Georgia Lawmaker Arrested Amid Protest To Count Every Vote In Governor Race, and Federal judge finds Georgia county violated Civil Rights Act by rejecting ballots.

15. This Bread-Baking, Ex-Con Entrepreneur Is Creating Jobs For Others With Criminal Pasts. They also make amazing bread.

16. Judge Orders White House To Reinstate Jim Acosta’s Press Credentials.

17. Enjoy this video of a girl who used to be paralyzed surprising her nurse.

18. Ever wondered how sounds in movies are made? (video)

19. What Is More Important Than Weight Loss? “F*ck you and your ‘Wellness Committee.'”

20. This immigrant-owned restaurant in DC always has its doors open for those in need. (video)

21. Generous but useless donations flood wildfire evacuation centers. Here’s what to send.

22. For Our White Friends Desiring to Be Allies.

23. 80 years apart and the best of friends. (video)

24. New Dallas district attorney wants to charge officer with murder for killing Botham Jean. In related news, White Man Who Shot at Lost Black Boy in Michigan Will Serve at Least 4 Years on The New York Times.

25. Doctors who support gun reform are showing the gruesome reality they deal with each day, after the NRA told them to ‘stay in their lane’. (video)

26. Russian Fisherman Posts Terrifying Creatures Of The Deep Sea, And People Want Him To Stop. Equal parts creepy and cool.

27. Freddie Mercury and the Erasure of Queerness in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’

28. Dogs working sheep…Impressive video!

29. Meditation Is a Powerful Mental Tool—and For Some People It Goes Terribly Wrong.

30. Creativity is Messy: Questions to Explore When You’re Being Harsh with Yourself from Jena Schwartz.

31. 25 Reasons To Keep Making Stuff from Chuck Wendig.

32. 100 Easy Ways to Make the World Better for Trans People.

33. Seattle high-school teacher shares ‘the wonder of books’ with students on a different kind of field trip.

34. Speaking of my husband, Hal Isaacson; 7/1/74 – 10/27/18 – Forever.

35. 9 Things I Wish People Knew About Me As A Highly Sensitive Introvert.

Something Good (NaBloPoMo Day Twelve)

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1. This Melissa McCarthy Story Just Might (Maybe? Possibly?) Cheer You Up from The New York Times Magazine. “The dynamic star is trying to keep comedy alive at a moment when Hollywood — and its audience — can’t seem to crack a smile.”

2. 4 Curious Traits Of The Enigmatic INFJ Personality.

3. Why your desk job is so damn exhausting.

4. On grief.

5. Yogi Jessamyn Stanley is So Over Wellness Shaming.

6. The Connection Between Mass Shooters and Malignant Narcissism, According to Psychologists. In related news, Deaths From Gun Violence: How The U.S. Compares With The Rest Of The World.

7. In this week’s edition of “People Behaving Badly”: White Man Chases Black Servicewoman Yelling At Her, ‘Take Off That Uniform, N*gger!’, and ‘What a stupid question’: Trump demeans three black female reporters in three days, and GOP Mississippi Senator Jokes About ‘Public Hanging’ and If You’re Offended, Well Tough On You, and Black Man Precludes Casualties in Bar Shootout—Only to be Shot and Killed by Police, and Hospital worker fired after wearing Confederate shirt with noose to polls, and A Black Teen Was Arrested For Wearing A Hoodie In A Memphis Mall And So Was The Person Defending Him, and Election Judge Tells Black Texas Voter to Get Out, Threatens to Call Cops Because Voter Had Questions.

8. Is ‘wokeness’ robbing us of compassion and replacing it with moral superiority? (video)

9. “Girl, Wash Your Face” Is A Massive Best-Seller With A Dark Message. “In her hugely popular book, Rachel Hollis asks women to interrogate the lies they’ve believed about themselves. But what about the ones she’s telling?”

10. Judge Blocks Disputed Keystone XL Pipeline in Setback for Trump on The New York Times.

11. How The Great British Baking Show helps me cope with Trump depression.

12. 19 things you can do to help California wildfire victims right now. In related news, Paradise Fire Victims in Need, a direct fundraiser by Janelle Hanchett.

13. People Are Posting Their Most Embarrassing Childhood Photos, And It’s Impossible Not To Laugh.

14. ‘Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism’ — Watch Emmanuel Macron rebuke Trump’s tough talk right to his face. (video) This kind of push back should be happening to him on the regular, from every direction.

15. 6 Things to Do If You’re Feeling Overwhelmed by All the Tragedy in the News.

16. Stacey Abrams Calls For A Count Of ‘Every Vote’ As Brian Kemp Declares Victory. I’m so glad she hasn’t given up. In related news, this is what she is up against, Georgia’s Kemp Purged 340,134 Voters, Falsely Asserting They Had Moved.

17. Thousand Oaks Massacre: Remembering The Victims.

18. NRA Tweets Warning To Anti-Gun Doctors: ‘Stay In Your Lane’. “Treating bullet wounds, telling parents their children have been fatally shot actually IS their lane, angry physicians respond.” In related news, The 18 most satisfying clapbacks at gun nuts in internet history, and America’s easy access to guns is enabling all these mass shootings, and Thousand Oaks and Our Peculiarly American Affliction.

19. Colorado Just Abolished Slavery … Huh!

20. This guy is trying to legally change his age to date younger women on Tinder. (video) In related news, White ‘Born-Again African’ Wins Grant Meant For Artists of Color.

21. Press Corps Backs CNN’s Jim Acosta, Calling Out Sarah Huckabee Sanders For ‘Complete Lie.’

21. 10 Ways to Be an Ally to Indigenous People.

22. Standing Rock sees record voter turnout in spite of voter ID confusion.

23. LGBTQ Candidates Record Historic Midterm Wins In Rainbow Wave. In related news, A List Of Firsts For Women In This Year’s Midterm Elections, and 19 Black Women Just Became Judges In Texas After Winning In The Midterm Elections.

24. Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis: How to Help from The New York Times.

25. CNN’s Jim Acosta Denied Access To The White House. In related news, Press Corps Backs CNN’s Jim Acosta, Calling Out Sarah Huckabee Sanders For ‘Complete Lie.’

26. 2-year-old creates spooky popcorn.

Something Good (Day Five: NaBloPoMo)

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From our walk this morning

1. What’s All This About Journaling? on The New York Times. “One of the more effective acts of self-care is also, happily, one of the cheapest.”

2. She Who Hears the Cries of the World. “In Buddhist iconography, compassion is embodied in the bodhisattva Kuan Yin, who is said to manifest wherever beings need help. Engendering such compassion is not only good for others, says Christina Feldman, it is also good for us. By putting others first, we loosen the bonds of our self-fixation, and in doing so, inch closer to our own liberation.”

3. The problem with people is that they outnumber you from Seth Godin.

4. Love And Light: On Insta-Bullies + The “High Road.”

5. In this week’s “People Behaving Badly”: Middleton Heights staff placed on administrative leave over controversial Halloween outfits, and Michael Cohen Says Trump Repeatedly Used Racist Language Before His Presidency, and White Student at HBCU Law School Antagonizes Her Black Classmates With Racist Comments, and Texas hunters who accidentally shot each other blamed undocumented immigrants, and Republican lawmaker admits writing ‘death to gays’ manifesto, and Trump picks a curious adjective to describe Georgia’s Stacey Abrams, and Signs Of Desperation: Trump’s Racist, Inflammatory Ad, and White Woman Calls the Cops on Black Woman for Canvassing In Wealthy Neighborhood, and Indiana Woman Arrested After Leaving Racist Note On Neighbor’s Door: ‘Some People Find N****rs Stressful’, and #CrosswalkCathy Calls Police on Black Man Because She Didn’t Like The Way He Parked, and Missouri Nurse Fired for Blackface ‘Beyoncé’ Costume.

6. This Girl Bringing Her Mom To Sesame Street For The First Time Is The Purest Thing On The Internet Today.

7. Watch John Lewis Dance To ‘Happy’ At Stacey Abrams Campaign Event. In related news, Michael B. Jordan Knocks On Doors In Georgia To Tell Black Voters To Go To Polls, and Jimmy Carter Calls For Georgia Secretary Of State’s Resignation In Personal Plea.

8. Navajo Artist Creates ‘Make America Native Again’ Hats to Critique Donald Trump’s Campaign Slogan.

9. The Hate U Give Isn’t a Very Good Movie and It’s Very Hard to Say That Out Loud.

10. A Call For A Cease-Fire In Yemen Makes News. Its Catastrophe Doesn’t.

11. Cavalli speaks with his terminally ill grandpa. (video)

12. These two groovy grooms had “the time of their lives” during their wedding dance. (video)

13. Meet the black women doing justice differently in Georgia.

14. 11-year-old trans girl, Poppy, chats with 70-year-old trans woman, Josie, comparing their experiences of growing up trans. (video)

15. America Suddenly Discovers White Supremacy.

16. Trump is lying to scare voters. Migrant caravan families are desperate, not terrorists. In related news, Children of the caravan (a photo essay), and Meet the human beings of the refugee caravan (video).

17. North Dakota tribe’s challenge to voter ID law rejected by judge.

18. Scientist Whose Male Boss Won Nobel For Her Work Is Giving New $3 Million Prize Away. “Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is creating a scholarship for women, refugees and minorities to study physics.”

19. ‘Are You Actually an M.D.?’: A Black Doctor Is Questioned as She Intervenes on a Delta Flight on The New York Times.

20. Black N.C. Mother Charged With Drowning Death of Her Toddler During Hurricane Florence Gets Support From NAACP.

21. Why Ugliness Is Vital in the Age of Social Media. “ALOK talks with writer and disability justice organizer Mia Mingus about beauty, body positivity, and ableism.”

22. In a low-income neighborhood, this man is growing his own organic produce, “and giving extras away for free to neighbors who can’t afford fresh ingredients from the store.” (video)

23. Don Lemon Doubles Down On Comments That White Men Are Biggest Domestic Terror Threat. In related news, Tallahassee Yoga Shooter Was A Far-Right Misogynist Who Railed Against Women And Minorities Online, and 72 hours in America: Three hate-filled crimes. Three hate-filled suspects.

24. Butterfly Preserve On The Border Threatened By Trump’s Wall.

25. The kingdom Choir spreading love on their British Airways flight back from Australia. (video)

26. Doctors and Fat Patients cartoon. I wish this weren’t so accurate…

27. A Prince Documentary Is in the Works at Netflix—with Ava DuVernay at the Helm.

28. Random Cat Crashes Fashion Show, Fights Models.

29. Thousands of Indigenous women and girls in Canada have gone missing or been murdered. And the police are doing nothing about it. (video)

30. Existing While Black: What does it feel like when every move you make is policed?

31. There’s Nothing Virtuous About Finding Common Ground.

32. “Once we told Jude it’s time to go bye bye, he gave every stranger a hug.” (video) Free hugs!

33. The Greensboro Massacre of 1979, Explained.

34. At Trump Rallies, Women See a Hero Protecting a Way of Life on The New York Times.

35. 5 Bad Habits “Woke” People Need to Break.

36. The 97-Year-Old Park Ranger Who Doesn’t Have Time for Foolishness. “As the oldest career National Park Service ranger, Betty Soskin is unabashed about revealing all of America’s history—and her optimism about our future.”

37. Ballet Black help create shoes for non-white dancers.

Something Good

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Sunrise at Lory State Park, by Eric

1. Wisdom from David Whyte: “Anger is the deepest form of compassion, for another, for the world, for the self, for a life, for the body, for a family, and for all our ideals, all vulnerable and all, possibly about to be hurt. Stripped of physical imprisonment and violent reaction, anger is the purest form of care, the internal living flame of anger always illuminates what we belong to, what we wish to protect and what we are willing to hazard ourselves for.”

2. The 4 Most Stressful Work Situations For Introverts, Illustrated.

3. Stubborn Woman Finally Seeks Help, and fundraiser by the brilliant Alexis Morgan.

4. If The Doctor Says A Health Issue is Caused By Being Fat from Dances with Fat.

5. Grief Needs a Minute from Jena Schwartz.

6. Dan Rather: I Do Not Think President Trump Is Redeemable.

7. People Are Posting Examples Of How Media Can Manipulate The Truth.

8. In this week’s “People Behaving Badly”: Iowa Man Who Burned Library’s LGBTQ Books Because They Offended His Religion Should Face The Law, and Ryanair racism suspect David Mesher insists ‘I’m not a racist’ before [NOT] apologising to passenger he abused, (So tired of the “sorry, not sorry” non-apologies where the primary concern of the perpetrator is “I’m not a bad person.” Own what you did, take responsibility, actually apologize and do better – it’s so simple), and Accused Kroger shooter has history of mental illness and racist comments, and Police In Ohio Under Scrutiny After Video Shows Officers Punching Face-Down Man, and 2 Texas Judges Sent 20 Percent of All Juveniles to State Prisons Last Year, and White Nationalist Richard Spencer’s Wife Says In Divorce Filings That He Physically And Emotionally Abused Her, and Video: Librarian Calls Cops on Student for Brazen Attempt at #StudyingWhileBlack [Updated], and Asked about conspiracies, Trump admits, ‘There’s no proof of anything,’ and Random-Ass White Woman Rolls Up on Spanish Speaking Family and Demands to See Their Passports, and The Alt-Right is Killing People, and White Woman Fired After Video Shows Her Harassing Black Sisters In Their Apartment Building.

9. Some Texans say voting machines are flipping selections to the other party. In related news, Black Voters in Georgia Say Something Funny Is Going on With Their Voting Machines and In leaked audio, Brian Kemp expresses “concern” over Georgians exercising their voting rights. It’s terrifying how easily people can cheat, steal, lie and get away with it, (because if this is happening, it is intentional). But don’t worry, Georgia Candidate Brian Kemp Claims Voter Suppression Is A ‘Farce,’ Blames Obama.

10. Not a Costume! (video) “Please remember this when dressing for Halloween. Native Regalia is particular and very personal to each person. Please educate yourself and respect each Human’s culture.” In related news, When Is It OK To Wear The Clothing Of Another Culture? and Kentucky Dad Apologizes For Father-Son Nazi Halloween Costumes, (clearly another case of “sorry, not sorry”).

11. It’s a Wrap: NBC Officially Cancels Megyn Kelly Today; Fox Passes on Her Return. In related news, Today Addresses Megyn Kelly’s Blackface Comments; Kelly Tearfully Apologizes and ‘Late Night’ Writer Expertly Dissects Megyn Kelly’s Racist Blackface Comments.

12. #NotRacists Be Like: The Top 10 Phrases Used by People Who Claim They Are Not Racist.

13. Transgender Boy Tells Mom ‘It Shouldn’t Be Scary To Be Who You Are.’ In related news, Gender Variance Around the World Over Time: It’s nothing new and Dear Mr. Trump: I’m Transgender And I Have A Few Things I Want You To Know and All References to Transgender Americans Scrubbed From Government Websites. As I said on Facebook earlier this week, just try to be someone you are not for a whole day. I dare you. Go ahead, try it. You will very quickly realize what you should have already known: things like gender and sexuality are central, core, foundational things, and once you know who you are, you can’t possibly be anyone else. And guess what happens if we just let people be who they are? What happens if we protect their right to live their life as who they are? It’s not going to hurt you one damn bit. In fact, those people, suddenly free to be themselves will be able to finally give the good they have to offer the world instead of spending all of their energy just trying to survive. (Obviously I’m not talking about people whose sexual actions cause real harm to others — don’t be an idiot).

14. Trump is doing all he can to stoke fear about the caravan of migrants journeying to the U.S. — but this journalist is calling bullsh*t. (video)

15. Finally! Black Poll Worker Calls Cops on Suspicious Caucasians for #LurkingWhileWhite.

16. Trump’s lies and fear-mongering have reached a new, terrifying level ahead of the midterms. (video) I can only watch this with the sound off.

17. How Narcissists Play the Victim and Twist the Story.

18. Niecy Nash made this funny (and sort of not funny because it’s true) video for whyte people about calling 911 on POC.

19. Second Black Officer Dies in Aftermath of Deadly South Carolina Mass Shooting.

20. Recipe I want to try: Salvadoran Pupusas As Made By Curly And His Abuelita.

21. Photos of the Central American Immigrant Caravan. In related news, What we know about the latest migrant caravan traveling through Mexico.

22. Cesar Sayoc Jr., Florida man, arrested in pipe bomb case; van with ‘right wing paraphernalia’ seized. In related news, Political Commentator Says She Contacted Twitter About Package Bomber Weeks Ago, and The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Is the Inevitable Result of Trump’s Vile Nationalism, and Jewish Leaders In Pittsburgh Say Trump Not Welcome There in a letter that ends with, “you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you commit yourself to compassionate, democratic policies that recognize the dignity of all of us.” Amen.

23. San Diego Zoo’s newest elephant calf! (video)

24. Raven’s Fractured Leg. Remember the two boys who drove all night in their family’s only car, got lost and showed up late for a tour of CSU? They wanted to go to school here and instead they were racially profiled by a whyte mom who called campus police on them because they were quiet and shy (and brown)? One of their dogs got hurt and they need help paying for vet bills.

25. She tries so hard to get Alexa to play her jam. (video)

26. This dog wins Halloween forever. (video)

Something Good

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1. Just 16 Damn Funny Tweets About Being A Writer.

2. Wisdom from Audre Lorde, “I speak out of direct and particular anger at an academic conference, and a white woman says, ‘Tell me how you feel but don’t say it too harshly or I cannot hear you.’ But is it my manner that keeps her from hearing, or the threat of a message that her life may change?”

3. 5 Truths About White Privilege for White People. John Pavlovitz posted this a year ago, but clearly some of you need to hear it again.

4. Paul Jarvis’s new book Company of One is available for pre-order. “Company of One is your official guide to building around the idea that staying small and avoiding growth can be more durable and even more enjoyable than business as usual…The real key to richer and more fulfilling work could be to not create and scale something into a massive corporation, but rather, to work for yourself, determine your own hours, and become a (highly profitable) and sustainable company of one. This book explains how to do just that.”

5. Real Talk Isn’t Easy from Jena Schwartz. “The less insistent I am about being right and the more intent on moral courage and righteousness — individually and collectively — the clearer the task becomes: To keep doing the work that none of us alone can or will complete. To keep widening the circles while tending to the ones closest to us. To keep asking hard questions and not looking away, not backing away from the moments that make us most confused or agitated or fired up.” In related news, this podcast episode: Talking self care for activists with Jena Schwartz.

6. Yoga for Creating Space, a 28 minute practice video from Yoga with Adriene. In her latest newsletter, where she shared this video, she posed a really important set of questions: “What is it that you would like to do but that you are afraid of? What do you need to make space for?”

7. Write Anyway : January 2019, A workshop with Janelle Hanchett. “Learn to write without giving a shit what people think.”

8. How We Can Address Patriarchy. “Lama Rod Owens on why Buddhist community members — especially male-identified teachers, monks, staff, authorities, and lay practitioners — must confront and deal with ethical misconduct, and how to do it.”

9. Emmett Till’s Father Was Also Hanged: A New Book Tells His Story.

10. Trump Considers Terrifying New Policy to Eliminate Transgender Rights. In related news, Anti-Gay Activists Sue Houston Public Library Over Drag Queen Story Hour.

11. More bad behavior: Mrs. Gayle was called a “black bastard” by a passenger who refused to sit next to her, and Police ‘Activists’ Protest Black Woman Who Made Comments About Police Implicit Bias, and 3 White Women Harassed a Black Gardener for More than a Year. He Got Hit With Stalking Charges, and Three Florida Police Officers Are Sent to Prison for False Arrests on The New York Times, and San Diego Elementary School Principal Apologizes for Warning Parents About Black Man in Hoodie at Starbucks, and “This is voter suppression”: black seniors in Georgia ordered off of bus taking them to vote, and White Woman Who Blocked Black Neighbor From Entering Apartment Building Speaks Out, and White Woman Calls 911 On Black Anti-Violence Activists At South Carolina Gas Station, and White Woman Calls Cops On Black Man For Yelling Instructions At His Son During Soccer Game, and Morehouse Grad Who Died After Being Arrested, Tased by California Police Officers, Was Unarmed, Had Mental Health Issues, and New York Man [NON]Apologizes After Viral Video Of Him Berating Black Lyft Driver Leaves Him Unemployed, and #SayHerName: Florida Police Viciously Beat 14-Year-Old Black Girl for ‘Resisting Arrest.’