Earlier today, it was reported that tonight, winter's solstice 2014, would be not only the longest night of the year, but the longest night ever, in the history of the Earth. This was later corrected. Due to geological factors, the rate of the Earth's rotation has been speeding up in recent decades; according to the corrected text, the longest night in history probably occurred a little over a century ago, in 1912.
Although it won't hold the longest night, 2014 has contained plenty of darkness. Ebola has killed thousands, orphaned children, and decimated entire economies. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has destabilized the entire region.
Just in the past couple months, the cause of improving accountability for sexual assault on college campuses was set back decades by Rolling Stone's handling of the story of a UVA student's allegations against a group of fellow students. By failing to comply with journalistic standards in its original reporting of the story, then blaming the student in its retraction, Rolling Stone left the impression that the story had been "proven untrue," a sentiment later reinforced by Camille Cosby in her statement supporting her husband Bill Cosby, who has been accused of drugging and/or assaulting more than twenty women in another of the most depressing pieces of news of the year.
A string of deaths of young black men at the hands of police officers (Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, John Crawford, Akai Gurley to name but a few of the many) made us wonder if we have moved backwards in race relations since Rodney King was beaten by white police officers in 1991. Those officers were tried and riots broke out when they were acquitted. The officers involved in the deaths of Brown, Garner, Rice and Crawford (all unarmed) will not even stand trial (the case of the officer who shot Akai Gurley in the chest as he walked down a stairwell in a public housing unit with his girlfriend will be considered by a Brooklyn grand jury).
Robin Williams.
A number of lone-wolf style terrorist attacks, and attacks by mentally ill and/or megalomaniac killers that are being categorized as terrorist attacks, have dotted the year. These have included the murder of a Canadian soldier and the shooting at Parliament (and the running down of Canadian soldiers in an unconnected incident a few days before). In Australia, authorities broke up a mass beheading plot in September. A week later, a lunatic beheaded a coworker in Oklahoma. A criminal turned self-styled cleric took hostages at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney last week, in a siege that claimed the lives of two innocent people and so far has born no connection to known terrorist groups.
Last week, North Korea hacked Sony, engaging in what is being taken as an act of international cyber-terrorism over (of all things), The Interview, a movie which, judging by its trailer, would have been attended by, at most, teenage boys, stoners, and stoned teenage boys. The stolen emails released by the hackers revealed disturbing veins of racial and gender discrimination that still pulse through Hollywood (including shocking pay gap stats). The hackers issued a threat that if the company went ahead with its planned Christmas day release of the film, a 9/11 style attack would ensue (though what that means in the context of movie theaters spread all over the country, I have no idea). The bad part is coming up. Then, all the major American theater chains refused to show the film and Sony pulled its release, (here's the truly awful part) creating in every true-blooded American to wrap ourselves in the flag and watch The Interview in Time's Square, middle fingers extended in the general direction of North Korea.
Oh, and this week marked the end of The Colbert Report.
So it was a pretty rough year, in many respects. I have had a tough time myself, to be honest (this year marked the first Thanksgiving, and will mark the first Christmas my Grandma will not be with us to celebrate).
But there were a number of bright spots as well. The justice sought by the victims of Nisour square, evaded for seven years, was handed down at last, to American shooters by an American jury, restoring some faith that we can provide a measure of accountability when our own citizens commit crimes abroad. Immigrant families have new hope that arbitrary law enforcement will not dedicate resources to sending law abiding parents away from their children. Democratic resistance reared its fearsome head in Ukraine and Hong Kong. These, and other highlights made the news and were well-known. But what about the other stars? The tiny, far off flickers that might have gone unnoticed? I'll swing the telescope in their direction for a moment so we can appreciate the many dedicated and creative folks confronting the problems of our world and coming up with innovative, unexpected solutions; keeping the forces of darkness on their toes.
In June, a Canadian New York University master's student named Leanne Brown posted a cookbook on her website. Thousands of people post recipes online all the time, but this wasn't just any self-published book of recipes. Brown realized that part of the reason that people on food stamp budgets have a hard time eating nourishing food is a lack of quality recipes tailored to their needs and resources. She created Good and Cheap, a cookbook of gorgeously photographed recipes that can be made on a budget of $4 a day, the average SNAP allowance. She made the book free for download on her website and started a successful Kickstarter campaign the next month to provide print copies for people without Internet access. Brown's book includes not just recipes, but ideas, for alternatives that might be on sale, and pantry items like spices to save up for and buy in flush months that can go a long way in dressing up budget ingredients. The project reflects a deep compassion and respect for SNAP shoppers and cooks that government publications haven't approached.
Apopo, a Tanzania-based NGO is training rats. Not just any rats, HERO rats. These intelligent, social animals learn to sniff out tuberculosis and land-mines and, being too light to trigger the mines, they can help clear mine fields with a much lower risk of casualties (in fact, the organization's website reports no rat deaths in mine clearance to date). Rats are freaking FAST too. One little highly-trained land mine sniffing dude can clear 200 square feet of mine field per hour. It would take a human 50 hours to clear the same space. A TB sniffing rat can motor through 50 samples in 8 minutes which would take a lab tech nearly a day (and years of education to boot!). For an annual donation of just $84 you can adopt your own Hero Rat and save thousands of lives this year. I am buying myself a Hero Rat sponsorship in 2015, even though I do not have a job, because just one of these little guys seems to be able to do more human rights and development work than dozens, if not hundreds, of out of work lawyers [insert your favorite rat/lawyer joke here, it's late and I'm tired].
3-D printing generally scares the hell out of me. It seems to be too much power to be in the hands of...well, the kinds of people who typically own printers...which is to say, all people. But, I digress. Some people are using their 3D printers to literally manufacture their own superheros, both of the two-legged and 4-legged varieties. E-Nable is a "global network of philanthropic volunteers using 3D printing technology to give the world a 'Helping Hand'." It was started when an American prop maker and a carpenter in South Africa made a prosthetic hand device for a child in South Africa and then gave away the plans. Kids can get help designing and making their own super hero hands, which are not as sensitive as actual prosthetic devices but function as helper tools at a fraction of the cost, opening up incredible possibilities for these little guys. They then need a lot of physical therapy and occupational therapy to learn how to use their new tools and many of those medical professionals are getting caught up in the wave of volunteerism as well. Check out this story about Rayden, his Iron Man Hand, and his progress with Therapeutic Associates of Maui, which is working with him for free. 3D printing also gave Derby the Dog, born with under-developed front legs, his first run in his life this year. Now he's up to a couple miles a day on his prosthetic legs!
And speaking of dogs, Hope for Paws, an LA dog rescue organization run by Eldad and Audrey Hagar, received some well-deserved attention and praise this year when one of their many YouTube dog rescue videos went viral and another was featured in the FOX Thanksgiving special Cause for Paws. Seriously, if you are ever like "I haven't cried enough happy tears today (or this week, or this month," you can pull up one of these videos and just bawl. And good luck not watching the next one, and the next. These guys are doing the phenomenal work, not only of saving dogs, but of soothing the tired souls of sad, sad unemployed people, one damp-tissued YouTube video at a time.
Finally, someone came up with the brilliant idea of integrating yak meat into the American diet. No, really, it is a brilliant idea. Yak are more disease resistant than cattle, breed more easily, and more efficient to raise ("a rancher can keep four yak on the acreage needed to raise one beef cow"). So yak meat is more sustainable. Too bad it is still called yak.
So yes, it is a dark world out there, darker seeming even still on this longest of all possible nights (in 112 years anyway). But we are blessed indeed to have the way ahead lit so brightly by these innovative minds and compassionate hearts. For those of us not quite so gifted, we should try at least, when we can, to seek out these sorts, shake their hands, and have their backs.
Although it won't hold the longest night, 2014 has contained plenty of darkness. Ebola has killed thousands, orphaned children, and decimated entire economies. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has destabilized the entire region.
Just in the past couple months, the cause of improving accountability for sexual assault on college campuses was set back decades by Rolling Stone's handling of the story of a UVA student's allegations against a group of fellow students. By failing to comply with journalistic standards in its original reporting of the story, then blaming the student in its retraction, Rolling Stone left the impression that the story had been "proven untrue," a sentiment later reinforced by Camille Cosby in her statement supporting her husband Bill Cosby, who has been accused of drugging and/or assaulting more than twenty women in another of the most depressing pieces of news of the year.
A string of deaths of young black men at the hands of police officers (Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, John Crawford, Akai Gurley to name but a few of the many) made us wonder if we have moved backwards in race relations since Rodney King was beaten by white police officers in 1991. Those officers were tried and riots broke out when they were acquitted. The officers involved in the deaths of Brown, Garner, Rice and Crawford (all unarmed) will not even stand trial (the case of the officer who shot Akai Gurley in the chest as he walked down a stairwell in a public housing unit with his girlfriend will be considered by a Brooklyn grand jury).
Robin Williams.
A number of lone-wolf style terrorist attacks, and attacks by mentally ill and/or megalomaniac killers that are being categorized as terrorist attacks, have dotted the year. These have included the murder of a Canadian soldier and the shooting at Parliament (and the running down of Canadian soldiers in an unconnected incident a few days before). In Australia, authorities broke up a mass beheading plot in September. A week later, a lunatic beheaded a coworker in Oklahoma. A criminal turned self-styled cleric took hostages at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney last week, in a siege that claimed the lives of two innocent people and so far has born no connection to known terrorist groups.
Last week, North Korea hacked Sony, engaging in what is being taken as an act of international cyber-terrorism over (of all things), The Interview, a movie which, judging by its trailer, would have been attended by, at most, teenage boys, stoners, and stoned teenage boys. The stolen emails released by the hackers revealed disturbing veins of racial and gender discrimination that still pulse through Hollywood (including shocking pay gap stats). The hackers issued a threat that if the company went ahead with its planned Christmas day release of the film, a 9/11 style attack would ensue (though what that means in the context of movie theaters spread all over the country, I have no idea). The bad part is coming up. Then, all the major American theater chains refused to show the film and Sony pulled its release, (here's the truly awful part) creating in every true-blooded American to wrap ourselves in the flag and watch The Interview in Time's Square, middle fingers extended in the general direction of North Korea.
Oh, and this week marked the end of The Colbert Report.
So it was a pretty rough year, in many respects. I have had a tough time myself, to be honest (this year marked the first Thanksgiving, and will mark the first Christmas my Grandma will not be with us to celebrate).
But there were a number of bright spots as well. The justice sought by the victims of Nisour square, evaded for seven years, was handed down at last, to American shooters by an American jury, restoring some faith that we can provide a measure of accountability when our own citizens commit crimes abroad. Immigrant families have new hope that arbitrary law enforcement will not dedicate resources to sending law abiding parents away from their children. Democratic resistance reared its fearsome head in Ukraine and Hong Kong. These, and other highlights made the news and were well-known. But what about the other stars? The tiny, far off flickers that might have gone unnoticed? I'll swing the telescope in their direction for a moment so we can appreciate the many dedicated and creative folks confronting the problems of our world and coming up with innovative, unexpected solutions; keeping the forces of darkness on their toes.
In June, a Canadian New York University master's student named Leanne Brown posted a cookbook on her website. Thousands of people post recipes online all the time, but this wasn't just any self-published book of recipes. Brown realized that part of the reason that people on food stamp budgets have a hard time eating nourishing food is a lack of quality recipes tailored to their needs and resources. She created Good and Cheap, a cookbook of gorgeously photographed recipes that can be made on a budget of $4 a day, the average SNAP allowance. She made the book free for download on her website and started a successful Kickstarter campaign the next month to provide print copies for people without Internet access. Brown's book includes not just recipes, but ideas, for alternatives that might be on sale, and pantry items like spices to save up for and buy in flush months that can go a long way in dressing up budget ingredients. The project reflects a deep compassion and respect for SNAP shoppers and cooks that government publications haven't approached.
Apopo, a Tanzania-based NGO is training rats. Not just any rats, HERO rats. These intelligent, social animals learn to sniff out tuberculosis and land-mines and, being too light to trigger the mines, they can help clear mine fields with a much lower risk of casualties (in fact, the organization's website reports no rat deaths in mine clearance to date). Rats are freaking FAST too. One little highly-trained land mine sniffing dude can clear 200 square feet of mine field per hour. It would take a human 50 hours to clear the same space. A TB sniffing rat can motor through 50 samples in 8 minutes which would take a lab tech nearly a day (and years of education to boot!). For an annual donation of just $84 you can adopt your own Hero Rat and save thousands of lives this year. I am buying myself a Hero Rat sponsorship in 2015, even though I do not have a job, because just one of these little guys seems to be able to do more human rights and development work than dozens, if not hundreds, of out of work lawyers [insert your favorite rat/lawyer joke here, it's late and I'm tired].
3-D printing generally scares the hell out of me. It seems to be too much power to be in the hands of...well, the kinds of people who typically own printers...which is to say, all people. But, I digress. Some people are using their 3D printers to literally manufacture their own superheros, both of the two-legged and 4-legged varieties. E-Nable is a "global network of philanthropic volunteers using 3D printing technology to give the world a 'Helping Hand'." It was started when an American prop maker and a carpenter in South Africa made a prosthetic hand device for a child in South Africa and then gave away the plans. Kids can get help designing and making their own super hero hands, which are not as sensitive as actual prosthetic devices but function as helper tools at a fraction of the cost, opening up incredible possibilities for these little guys. They then need a lot of physical therapy and occupational therapy to learn how to use their new tools and many of those medical professionals are getting caught up in the wave of volunteerism as well. Check out this story about Rayden, his Iron Man Hand, and his progress with Therapeutic Associates of Maui, which is working with him for free. 3D printing also gave Derby the Dog, born with under-developed front legs, his first run in his life this year. Now he's up to a couple miles a day on his prosthetic legs!
And speaking of dogs, Hope for Paws, an LA dog rescue organization run by Eldad and Audrey Hagar, received some well-deserved attention and praise this year when one of their many YouTube dog rescue videos went viral and another was featured in the FOX Thanksgiving special Cause for Paws. Seriously, if you are ever like "I haven't cried enough happy tears today (or this week, or this month," you can pull up one of these videos and just bawl. And good luck not watching the next one, and the next. These guys are doing the phenomenal work, not only of saving dogs, but of soothing the tired souls of sad, sad unemployed people, one damp-tissued YouTube video at a time.
Finally, someone came up with the brilliant idea of integrating yak meat into the American diet. No, really, it is a brilliant idea. Yak are more disease resistant than cattle, breed more easily, and more efficient to raise ("a rancher can keep four yak on the acreage needed to raise one beef cow"). So yak meat is more sustainable. Too bad it is still called yak.
So yes, it is a dark world out there, darker seeming even still on this longest of all possible nights (in 112 years anyway). But we are blessed indeed to have the way ahead lit so brightly by these innovative minds and compassionate hearts. For those of us not quite so gifted, we should try at least, when we can, to seek out these sorts, shake their hands, and have their backs.
