defund the police

Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, Jan 30-Feb 5, 2022

/ Melanie Marttila

Another week, another opportunity to get your mental corn popping.

Alisha Ebrahimji, Holly Yan, and Paul P. Murphy: “I’m just tired of being terrorized like my grandparents were.” More than a dozen HBCUs got bomb threats on the first day of Black History Month. CNN

Omar Jimenez: former officer who shot Laquan McDonald leaves prison. CNN

Julie Hollar: NYT twists stats to insist we need more policing. Fair

Lexi McMenamin: fast-food workers are getting shot on the job. Teen Vogue

Paul Solotaroff introduces us to the man who spent 25 years infiltrating Nazis, the Klan, and biker gangs. Here’s what he learned about far-right extremists in America. Rolling Stone

Terry Trembath reports that puppeteer born in Tsuut’ina Nation says work on Fraggle Rock reboot a dream come true. CBC

The brain trick that makes video possible. Be Smart

Raimund Muscheler explains how ancient ice reveals mysterious solar storm. Lund University

A supermassive black hole forming new stars. Dr. Becky

Katie Hunt introduces us to the man who can explain the first 3 billion years of life on our planet. CNN

Katie Hunt reports that 99-million-year-old flowers found perfectly preserved in amber once bloomed at the feet of dinosaurs. CNN

How you could survive (and prosper) in the Middle Ages. melievalists.net

Ann Powers presents this tiny desk (home) concert by Tori Amos. NPR

True facts about the proboscis monkey. Ze Frank

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you took away something to inspire a future creative project, or that you were educated or entertained by this round up. Maybe both?

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, Sept 5-11, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time, once again, to get your mental corn popping 🙂

Mariama Sojourner Eversley explains how the US Department of Justice can defund the police. The Forge

Chante Davis: Sunrise Movement’s Gulf Coast Trek highlights need for civilian climate corps. Teen Vogue

Mexico statue of Columbus to be replaced with one honoring Indigenous women. Associated Press

Meredith Deliso and Emily Shapiro report that Virginia removes 12-ton Robert E. Lee statue from Richmond’s monument avenue. NBC News

Sarah Roach explains how older workers are sidelined in tech. Protocol

Matthew Wills: what makes vaccine mandates legal? JSTOR Daily

Eleanor Beardsley: the Paris trial for the 2015 attacks began September 8, 2021. NPR

Trilateral path to university in Sudbury. CTV News

How much of you is alive? It’s okay to be smart

Brandon Specktor: strange, repeating radio signal near the center of the Milky Way has scientists stumped. Space.com

Matthew S. Williams explains why we should keep going to space instead of fixing Earth first. Interesting Engineering

World’s biggest machine capturing carbon from air (and mineralizing it and injecting it deep in the ground) turned on in Iceland. The Guardian

Jason Gregg: can birds help us avoid natural disasters? Hakai Magazine

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you took away something to inspire a future creative project.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 23-29, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

Thoughty Thursday has arrived to get your mental corn popping! Enjoy 🙂

On the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, some consideration of the progress that’s been made since. Baby steps, yes. But steps, nonetheless.

Farnoush Amiri, Colleen Slevin, and Camille Fassett report that the Floyd killing prompts some states to limit or ban choke holds. Associated Press

Fadel Allassan: “Defund the Police” lives on as a local movement. Axios

Then again … 967 people have been shot and killed by police in the last year. The Washington Post

Two officers charged with Manuel Ellis’ murder. USA Today

Lisa Theodore-Vachon says, interracial couple representation in pop culture isn’t as progressive as we think. The Undefeated

Justin Dunnavant, Delande Justinvil, and Chip Colwell want to craft an African American graves protection and repatriation act. Nature

Grace Hauck: Jewish groups sound the alarm on the rise of anti-Semitic hate crimes amid tensions between Israel and Hamas. USA Today

The overlap of autoimmune disorders and mental health conditions. SciShow Psych

Can you be awake and asleep at the same time? Masako Tamaki. Ted-ed

Matt Egan and Alexis Benveniste report that activist investor ousts at least two ExxonMobil directors in historic win for pro-climate campaign. CNN

Related: Dutch court rules oil giant Shell must cut carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 in landmark case. Chloe Taylor for NBC.

Rupert Neate reports that airships for city hops could cut flying’s CO2 emissions by 90%. The Guardian

Matthew Wills says that solar housing is actually kind of retro! JSTOR Daily

Christi Carras announces that a new rainbow set of Lego arrives just in time for Pride Month (everything is awesome!). The Los Angeles Times

The Curiosity rover captures shining clouds on Mars. “Viewed just after sunset, their ice crystals catch the fading light, causing them to appear to glow against the darkening sky.” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Chelea Gohd wants to teach you (yes, it says your kids, but why exclude adults?) about the Super Flower Blood Moon. And, of course, it was overcast here … Space.com

Jess Romeo introduces us to Chien-Shiung Wu, the first lady of physics. JSTOR Daily

5 beautifully complex ways to fly. SciShow

Graeme Green: “huge surprise” as giant river otter feared extinct in Argentina appears. The Guardian

Charlie Campbell says that covid-19 has slashed Asia’s appetite for wild animals. Time

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you took away something to inspire a future creative project.

This weekend, I should be putting together my next chapter update for May 2021. Until then, be well and stay safe, my writerly friends!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Dec 6-12, 2020

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s thoughty Thursday, your opportunity to get your mental corn popping!

Brakkton Booker: federal investigators join probe into Casey Goodson shooting death. NPR

N’dea Yancey-Bragg reports that the Seattle police who fired pepper spray and blast balls at BLM protestors violated order, according to judge. USA Today

Liz Navratil reveals how a divided Minnesota city council votes to cut 8 million from police budget. Star Tribune

Emmanuel Acho talks to the police. Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.

Hailey Fuchs: Brandon Bernard’s planned execution stirs debate over punishment for your offenders. The New York Times

Karen Hao read the AI ethics paper that forced Timnit Gebru out of Google. Here’s what it says. MIT Technology Review

Luis Martinez reports that 14 senior army leaders at Fort Hood suspended or fired after broad review of sexual harassment and abuse allegations. ABC News

Colin Dwyer: Canada authorizes Pfizer vaccine. NPR

Joe takes us inside the lab that developed the covid-19 vaccine. It’s okay to be smart

Margot Sanger-Katz, Claire Cain Miller and Quoctrung Bui compiled this article on how 700 epidemiologists are living now, and what they think is next. The New York Times

Jackie Wattles explain how the Starship explosion was still a success. Spoilers: we learn from our failures. CNN

Nadia Drake introduces us to the astronauts of the Artemis Mission, eight of whom are women (!). National Geographic

Jim Daley says Earth’s orbital shifts may have triggered ancient global warming. (From Sept 2019, but still interesting.) Scientific American

Marco Hernandez and Cassandra Garrison report that the world’s biggest iceberg heads for disaster. Climate change is still happening. Reuters

Grace Eber explains how precisely arranged stones coil and surge across the land in Jon Foreman’s mesmeric works. This is Colossal

Fun, and so much better than the original. Walk Off the Earth and Harm & Ease cover Toxic.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you found something to inspire a future creative project.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories.