Friday List!

Sarah's List:

You suck at PowerPoint. A good argument that PowerPoint itself does not suck, but rather the PowerPointer. As told in the form of...PowerPoint.

Step 1. Ban these guys.

  by  lumaxart 

The Snaxis of Evil. What's the best way to conquer our enemies? Learn their snacks. Noticeably missing, my personal favorite: the McArabia. Always Halal, always delicious.

  by  Ariaski 

Relatedly, Conflict Kitchen, only serves cuisine from countries with which the US is currently in conflict. Currently serving up Cuban food. Sounds great to me!

  by  Rinaldo W. 

So charter schools want young, short-term teachers. But do parents make better teachers? Discuss.



26 Issues the United States Are Not Totally United On. Can't get enough of this stuff.



Want an easy way to sift through all the Syria information? Here's a Translation Guide to Foreign Policy Gibberish.

"We're evaluating the situation" = 

We still haven't done anything.

Mom Lets 4-Year-Old Finish Drawings. (Or really, mom and daughter draw together.) But still pretty awesome.

So far my three-year-old's artwork consists of worried faces only. If Charlotte didn't tell us on a daily basis, "I love Congo," I would think she's trying to tell us something.

Jill's List:

Reading this monster of a NY Times piece was a bit like - (in the words of Johan) - stepping into the magical realism of Marquez or the absurdity of Vonnegut.  But it's about real-life Rwanda.

  by  Commonwealth Secretariat 

I read the original, disturbing, version of this open letter to girls and have been following it's zoom to viral-dom.  Huff Post talks about all the various commentary here.  If anything, it's a great lesson in how to get a whole bunch of blog hits...

Celebrities when they were young.  (Holy beautiful lips, Michael Stipe.  And Steven Colbert?  I'm still trying to see it.)

Spent this week talking about peace with middle schoolers.  And justice. And conflict transformation.  And leadership.  You know, the basics.  Again, professing my love to the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance program.

My 6th Graders work it out, Community Circle-style.

And, speaking of peace, yesterday was Jane Addams' birthday.  Know her?  (Google did.)

Library reminds people...

“All our shit, totally free,” said David Kemper, board president of the local library since 2001. “No fooling. If you want a book—and we've got a shit ton—just swing on by and check one out. Hell, check out 10. All you need is a library card.” 

Maps that you haven't seen before but help to explain the world. (Thanks, Heidi!) I like how Congo is often just left blank.

And, the rush of nostalgia is overpowering every time I put one of those old-school plastic hair barrettes in Lou's hair.  Don't you remember?  The duck, the bear, the kissing birds, the bumpy rectangle...