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On my mind: I took a break from the news this week. Time with my wife and friends, fantastic Portuguese seafood in Newark’s Ironbound, sunny fall days on the waterfront.
Events:
- Brigham Young University announces new amnesty policy for sexual assault victims. How charitable.
- On brink of sale, family shop in Chinatown stays in family.
- Pre-Trump: over 190 countries adopt plan to offset air travel emissions.
Ideas:
- A foul-mouthed take: how half of America lost its f**king mind. The urbanization city vs rural divide is more openly wrestled with in many other countries.
- Mark Zuckerberg should spend $45 billion on undoing Facebook’s damage to democracies. Article from December 2015.
- What is a nation? The politics is hyperbolic, for me the powerful section is about America as a county, a nation and a state:
I’m not an Irish-American, I’m not a German-American, I’m not an Italian-American, I’m not even an Anglo-American. My whole life, I’ve only ever been an American.
Until I went to Russia. In Russia, “America” is a state (государство), but not a nationality (нация)….
In my youth, I could simply never understand what was a “country,” what was a “nation,” and what was a “state.” That’s because in my mind America was all three: a country (purple mountains majesty, sea to shining sea, etc.), a state (government, Constitution), and a nation (all of us Americans).
Travels:
- OTA Hijinks: A fare too good to be true. I have seen this kiwi.com appearing in my recent searches, glad I did not mess with them for my recent Indonesia trip where it was incredible that everything worked out despite some close calls. Only solace in a flight delay in Indonesia is that you generally don’t need to worry that your onward connection will be on time.
- Is Uber Killing Hertz?
- TSA PreCheck abruptly shutters expansion effort.
Hacks:
- 4 things you need to be successful at manufactured spending. I am not buying a car solely to get a Walmart!
- A taxonomy of travel hackers. For people with others things to prioritize I still see credit card sign-ups as more lucrative than MS unless you are situation in a geography and lifestyle that fits current MS opportunities.
- How Can I Help You? A tribute to Darren Booth and the origin of the Spirit of BoardingArea award.
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Can you get over anti-Trump mood and stop being so angry? The election is over. Have you ever thought readers might also want to get back normal life? How are going to help with so many anti -Trump links?
@Mark – I opened with saying I took a break from the news, I had one interesting post from a comedy site, one from a travel hacker that I liked his statement on the concept of America if not all his political views, and an article on Facebook that seems relevant a year after it is written. Whether it is Trump or Clinton we as citizens need to grapple with a new presidency for more than a few days. I am highlighting plenty of other news but it is hard to ignore something so consequential for the country and world… Read more »
I’ve long put a lot of the blame on social media and its ability to connect niche communities (and their bespoke media) for the rise of post-fact politics. Who needs facts when you can incubate your own?
I hadn’t really stopped to consider the situation of such communities where there is no reliable media. We talk about such media giving voice to the oppressed…but there are some real downsides too.