Living Your Best Life

I am tired of negative stuff. Tired. Some things have not changed much since I was a child, 5 decades ago. What is the solution to this problem?

WCW 6/3/23

A question: why do whites often make black children into adults?

Journalist Monique Judge spoke to the mother of the young Black man who was just trying to ride his Citibike. Man calls police on 9-year-old Black girl spraying bugs “There’s a little Black woman walking and spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence,” said former Caldwell Borough Council member and leader of the town’s Republican party, in his call to police. “I don’t know what the hell she’s doing. Scares me though.” Bobbi, a petite 9-year-old child who wears pink-framed glasses, was doing her bit to comply with the state’s Stomp it Out! campaign, which urges New Jersey residents to help eradicate the spotted lanternfly infestation. (more)

Building on its groundbreaking 2017 Girlhood Interrupted study showing that adults view black girls as more adult-like and less innocent than white girls, Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality (on May 15, 2019) released a follow-up study that finds black girls routinely experience adultification bias.

Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old teen who was shot by a homeowner after he accidentally arrived at the wrong address to pick up his siblings – may be a victim of “adultification,” according to researchers.

The “man” below is a 17-year-old high school student.

Sarah Jane Comrie Is A 2023 Version Of Carolyn Bryant

Eleven people are responsible for 60% of book bans. “Each of these people brought 10 or more challenges against books in their school district; one man filed 92 challenges. Together, these serial filers constituted 6 percent of all book challengers — but were responsible for 60 percent of all filings,” wrote Hannah Natanson.

At Davis School District, located north of Salt Lake City, the collection of Christian scripture has been shelved for students until they enter high school. The district has removed the Bible from their elementary and middle school libraries after receiving a petition to ban the holy book due to its descriptions of sex and violence. (more)

My best life includes travel. Getting to know other places, foods, music, and people has a way of making us better. Travel opens the mind and heart – if you let it. Getting the suitcases out… New jazz posts.

Kintsugi 6/2/23

61 TRAVEL TIPS TO MAKE YOU THE WORLD’S SAVVIEST TRAVELER (and mine, too)

Planning to travel out of the USA this year? Want to rent a car, scooter, or moped? Here’s Everything You Need to Know About International Driver’s Licenses. Make travel easier with Global Entry and TSA PreCheck. Now, on to the important stuff.

  • take the smallest suitcase you can (and carry it on)
  • pack a capsule wardrobe
  • add extra socks
  • make sure to use no-fee bank cards for foreign countries
  • copy your credit and debit cards and keep the information in the cloud, just in case
  • also, copy your passport and driver’s license (for the same reason)
  • don’t use public Wi-Fi without a VPN
  • keep emergency cash
  • get travel insurance (this can be a life saver)
  • get vaccinated
  • More

7 Great Islands to Cruise to in the Caribbean

  • Aruba
  • Antigua
  • Guadeloupe
  • St. Vincent
  • Virgin Islands
  • Dominican Republic
  • St Barts

7 of the Best Northern Lights Cruises

If seeing the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, is on your travel list, you’ve probably already looked into the best places to see them: northern destinations like Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Scandinavia among them. But have you ever considered visiting those destinations by sea rather than land? 

Here are a few cruises that can get you there.

Where else can you go?

No Passport? (really! get one now!)

If You’re African American?

If You’re LGBT?

Gettin’ busy.

WCW 5/28/23

In other words, faith without works is dead. (James 2:17-26)

They are four sentences we learn to say, and mean. Gamache held up his hand as a fist and raised a finger with each point. “I don’t know. I need help. I’m sorry. I was wrong.

Still Life by Louise Penny

The Wisdom of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache

I write mysteries, and I read them. Lots of them. One of my favorite authors is Louise Penny, whose central character is Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete de Quebec, the provincial police force of Quebec.

Gamache is in his mid-50s, happily married to Reine Marie. They have two children and a grandchild. The head of homicide, Gamache abhors violence, places principle over politics, and has iron-clad ethics that get him into serious trouble with his often less-than-ethical superiors. He is also, as you can tell from the above quote, very wise.

More mass shootings (Gun Violence Archive). Political confusion (read Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles MacKay). Culture wars. History never moves backwards, although it sometimes moves sideways. Once people have freedom, they don’t want to return to tyranny. I am old enough to remember free TV. Three channels: ABC, CBS and NBC, plus WGN, and then VHF channels.

Wild Cooking Woman 5/22/23

WNBA 2023 Schedule

Have you ever tried to get a live person on the phone when you needed customer service? It seems almost impossible. Here is a list of numbers for cable, tech, retail, and wireless companies.

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