Bees and middle-aged white people: Endangered?

Several news outlets carried this story earlier this week (and thanks, Leftover, for the links), that said (from the Washington Post): A large segment of white middle-aged Americans has suffered a startling rise in its death rate since 1999, according to a review of statistics published Monday that shows a sharp reversal in decades of progress toward longer …

Upon your election today, good luck, Canada

And thanks, Glenda, for letting me steal this from you on Facebook. And here’s more on Canada’s election.

Why all the social unrest?

Because we, through very bad public policy and a slavish devotion to create low-resource neighborhoods, made it so. Read this from Paul A. Jawgorsky, professor of public policy at Rutgers University. Boiled down The number of people living in high-poverty ghettos, barrios, and slums has nearly doubled since 2000, rising from 7.2 million to 13.8 …

Drop what you’re doing and read this now.

The fabulous Ta-Nehisi Coates takes down the folks who took umbrage at Pres. Obama’s  speech at last week’s National Prayer Breakfast last week, in which he had the gall to quote history. And thanks, Jenipher, for the link.

And another thing on the battle of the freedoms

(In this case, the tension between freedom of the press, and freedom of religion): The Pew Research Center for Journalism & Media just released a new poll that says 60 percent of people who were at least a little familiar with the deadly attacks on the French satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” think it’s acceptable to …

It is hypocrisy? Or is it corporations trying to do good?

Alyssa Figeueroa has a list of Top Five Most Hypocritical Corporate Sponsors (like foreclosure giant Wells Fargo sponsoring Habitat for Humanity, or bad food giant McDonald’s sponsoring the Olympics). Not to get all judge-y or anything (ha), but I do cringe when I see McDonald’s at the Olympics. How many of those world-class athletes eat …

Jumbo shrimp!

Or: A code of conduct for drone-makers! You can read more here.

And a good time was had by all

Our brand-new non-profit, Hartford 2020, along with Charter Oak Cultural Center and Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, hosted a showing of the documentary, “Hot Coffee,” with a talk-back by the film’s producer/director, Susan Saladoff last night. (That’s her talking before the film.) If you came, you know what the night was like — a thought-provoking documentary, …

Will we see you at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Charter Oak Cultural Center?

I sure hope so. Hartford 2020 is co-hosting a showing of the documentary, “Hot Coffee,” with a talk-back afterward with the film’s director, Susan Saladoff. (And thanks, Charter Oak, and Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, for doing the heavy lifting on this event.) Just to give you a taste, here‘s a review of the documentary from …

So we started a non-profit…

…”we” being my husband, Frank Schiavone, and I. In the last few months, we’ve organized Hartford2020 to help get community conversations going. We intend to host or co-host documentaries, art shows, and other events that explore issues of the day. In September, Frank will produce a play that looks at immigration, and was written by …