Posted in Uncategorized on November 24, 2016| 6 Comments »
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged boom, economy, growth, immigrant, refugee, sweden on November 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »
This year, I’ve been volunteering with refugee organizations — four altogether — and am always grateful for positive stories about this population. Here’s a story from Sweden.
Bridie Witton writes at the UK’s Independent, “Immigration has helped fuel Sweden’s biggest economic boom in five years, new figures have revealed.
“The Swedish government, whose policies saw the country take in more refugees per capita than any other in Europe last year, helped lower unemployment rates by increased spending on welfare for asylum seekers from war torn countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
“The move helped the Nordic region’s largest economy expand 4.5 percent on an annual basis in the fourth quarter of 2015, the most in almost five years and more than twice the growth of Germany, according to Bloomberg. Increased consumer spending and borrowing and high house prices also contributed to the boom which, although projected to fade, has consolidated Sweden as one of Europe’s success stories.
“National Institute of Economic and Social Research fellow Jonathan Portes said economies benefitted from more workers, but emphasised the difference between immigrants and refugees.
” ‘What the Swedish experience tells us is that even in the short term, even when you have a very large influx of refugees, there is a perception this is an impossible burden on the state,’ he told The Independent. ‘But in the short term it increases growth.’
“He said the Swedish government needed to have a long-term strategy to successfully integrate refugees and continue the growth.”
Careful planning is needed, for sure, but history shows that an influx of workers with needed skills helps countries grow.
More at the Independent, here.
Photo: Getty
Sweden took in more refugees per capita than any other country in Europe in 2015.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged award, canada, community involvement, halifax, library, nova scotia on November 22, 2016| 2 Comments »
Photo: Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan
Halifax firm Fowler Bauld & Mitchell won a Governor General’s Medal in Architecture for its work on the Halifax Central Library.
Sandy and Pat drove up to Nova Scotia from Rhode Island this year, a trip that had been on their bucket list for some time. I loved hearing their blow-by-blow account when they returned and, among other things, their enthusiasm for the Halifax Central Library, where returned books reshelve themselves with little-to-no human assistance.
I Googled around to see what I could find about the library.
CBCNews reported, “The team behind one of Halifax’s architectural diamonds has won a crown jewel of an award. Fowler Bauld & Mitchell, the Halifax-based firm that designed the Halifax Central Library, was one of 12 recipients announced Thursday of the Governor General’s Medals in Architecture. …
“Halifax’s library was lauded by jury members as an ‘inviting, light and playful public space.’
” ‘This outstanding new civic building is a community gathering place that responds to the diversity of its users, accommodating many more activities than the traditional library,’ the jury wrote.
” ‘The jury commends the process of early user engagement that led to the design, and the public’s embrace of the building is a testament to its value.’
“The library has been a resounding success since the day it opened, with visitor numbers far exceeding expectations. A big reason for its success was in the design process, which relied heavily on community consultation and inclusion, said [George Cotaras, the architect of record for the project]. …
“The proof that people’s opinions mattered and were considered showed on the day the library opened, said Cotaras.
” ‘They knew what it was going to be like but they had never been able to see inside and when they came in they went, “Wow,” and people were going around saying “Wow, that was my idea. I suggested that.” ‘ ” More.
Can’t help thinking that community involvement would be a good idea for every area of public life.
Photo: Anjuli Patil/CBC
A view from the second floor of the new library.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged books, children, elizabeth clark, nursery, peter rabbit, reissue, tales on November 21, 2016| 2 Comments »
Vanessa Thorpe wrote recently at the Guardian about some old nursery tales that are finding a new audience.
“Old-fashioned language and quaint illustrations are part of the ageless appeal of a classic children’s book, so stop modernising them: this is a growing plea from the parents of young readers – and it seems publishers are beginning to listen.
“[A September 2016] decision to turn back to the original look and vocabulary of the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton has opened the door for another classic children’s author, a forgotten star of storytelling, to be republished, as written, this autumn. Convinced that the best stories stand the test of time, editors at Pikku Books are to bring out original versions of stories by writer Elizabeth Clark, once a familiar sight on nursery bookshelves.
“ ‘There’s always going to be a market there for an elegant turn of phrase and a beautifully crafted story,’ said Elena Sapsford, founder of Pikku. ‘As a child, there are a few well-known classics you work your way through, but it is quite obvious there must have been more good writing going on, and often things are out of print just because copyright contracts have been lost.’
“Clark was a Winchester vicar’s eldest daughter, born in 1875. She found her vocation telling stories to the children in her village and began to teach others, moving to London and becoming a lecturer at teachers’ training colleges as well as the author of a series of successful children’s books, often illustrated by the acclaimed Nina Brisley.
“Clark’s stories, including ‘Dobbin and the Silver Shoes’ and ‘The Cat that Climbed the Christmas Tree,’ were often drawn from foreign folklore and legend and many were broadcast on the BBC’s Children’s Hour radio show in the 1920s. Sapsford came across the writer when secondhand editions were given to her family, and she then set about tracking down the Clark literary estate.
“ ”You have to become a detective because there was a lot of poor record-keeping in many publishing companies and I had to dig quite deep,’ she said. ‘I really don’t think they need any change of vocabulary.
People are looking for something fresh but we tend to forget that for young children everything is new.
More.
Children do seem to like the flowery language. My three-year-old granddaughter, for example, is a fan of the way Beatrix Potter tells the story of Peter Rabbit and can fill in the blanks when an adult reads the book to her. I myself like that explaining a word can lead to an interesting discussion or tangent.
Reprint from the Talkative Sparrow & Other Stories, by Elizabeth Clark
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged africa, agriculture, equality, farmer, tanzania, tv, women on November 20, 2016| 2 Comments »
In Tanzania, women farmers appearing on a TV show called in English “Female Food Heroes” are bringing attention to the importance of their work and the barriers to expansion.
Oxfam America reporter Coco McCabe writes about contestant Edna Kiogwe, “She grew up in a farming family and knows well the hurdles they face, especially women farmers who, in her country, own only a small fraction of the land. …
“It’s that inequality — and the lost opportunities buried beneath it — to which Kiogwe and 14 other women farmers helped to bring attention this year as contestants in the fifth season of a highly popular reality TV show shot in Tanzania and aired across East Africa. Called Mama ‘Shujaa wa Chakula ,’ or ‘Female Food Heroes,’ the Oxfam-sponsored show celebrates the vital contributions women farmers make in feeding the planet, and highlights the challenges many encounter on a daily basis, including limited access to land, credit, and training opportunities. …
“In the village of Kisanga, where ‘Mama Shujaa wa Chakula’ was filmed [in 2015], the 15 contestants learned a great deal about the struggles local farmers face in feeding their families. Each of the women stayed with a village family for the duration of the three-week shoot, and daily contests included designing tools that could be useful to Kisanga farmers, interviewing them about their agricultural challenges, and putting together skits to help bring attention to those hurdles. …
“Kiogwe [now] spends most of her time in Dar es Salaam, a coastal city about a two-and-a-half hour drive away, where she lives and works as a civil servant. But her city life belies her village roots — and her keen interest in farming. Unlike most women in Tanzania, Kiogwe owns her own land, given to her by her forward-thinking father on her wedding day. She harvests corn, cassava, rice, and sugar cane, carefully aligning her 28 days of annual leave from her city job with peak work times on her small farm in the Morogoro region. …
“ ‘I want to make agriculture like a business,’ says Kiogwe. … With a little effort, greater value can be added to the fruits farmers grow, for instance.
“ ‘Change it from fruit to juice, we can sell it … We can add value to maize — maize flour for porridge — and you can have a good label and good packaging and compete with international businesses. That is my dream.’ ” More here.
According to OXFAMCloseup, the nonprofit’s quarterly magazine, the episodes shot in Kisanga, Tanzania, aired in five countries and had 14 million people tune in. The magazine adds, “Versions of the program are now being produced in Ethiopia and Nigeria, and some finalists have become involved in local, national, and even global farmer advocacy.”
Photo: Coco McCabe / Oxfam America
Edna Kiogwe helps her host family with the morning chores in Kisanga, where the TV show “Female Food Heroes” was filmed in 2015.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged cove, ecology, environment, harbor, pollution, styrofoam, watershed on November 19, 2016| 4 Comments »
I know I’m a broken record talking about what one determined person can accomplish, but I want share another example.
At ecoRI News, Sonya Gurwitt writes about a retired Massachusetts harbormaster who made up his mind to put an end to what was polluting a cove near his home.
Horace Field, says Gurwitt, “has lived only meters from Brandt Island Cove for nearly two decades. The water’s edge is connected to Field’s backyard by a short, grassy path. …
“Field wanders through the grasses along the shoreline, untangling the occasional piece of plastic or bit of Styrofoam from vegetation. … Field pinches a a small piece of dirty Styrofoam between his fingers, examining it. This, he said, is a small reminder of the pollution that used to cover the salt marsh — Styrofoam everywhere. …
“It was during his tenure as harbormaster that he noticed more and more pieces of Styrofoam cropping up on his property and along the rest of the Mattapoisett shoreline, from small beads to large chunks.
“The source of the pollution was no mystery — Field knew that the Leisure Shores Marina used uncovered Styrofoam blocks to keep its docks afloat. These were beginning to break down, allowing pieces of foam to float away. …
“In 2005, Field wrote a letter to the Board of Selectmen. He didn’t receive a response or even an acknowledgement of its receipt. Undeterred, Field kept at it — attending town meetings and talking to various committees and boards. …
“It wasn’t until early 2013, after Field retired from the position of harbormaster, that he began to make progress. Fed up with the lack of response from the town and other government agencies, Field contacted the Buzzards Bay Coalition (BBC), a nonprofit ‘dedicated to the restoration, protection, and sustainable use and enjoyment’ of Buzzards Bay and its watershed.
“Field said the BBC took action immediately, sending a team to examine the problem. …
“With the help of the Harvard Law School’s Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, [Korrin Petersen, senior attorney for the coalition] began to research which laws the pollution might violate. Petersen said they discovered that the saltwater marsh is a protected resource under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. This meant that the Styrofoam debris altering the salt marsh was a violation of that law. …
“Field said the process taught him some important lessons.
Be persistent, and be honest. Have a cause that is bulletproof, and don’t let up on it until you get satisfactory results.
More here.
Photo: Joanna Detz/ecoRI News photos
Horace Field took it upon himself to get Brandt Island Cove in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, cleaned up. 
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged archaeologists, discovery, egypt, hieroglyphs, nile, pharaoh, sarcophagus on November 18, 2016| 6 Comments »
There is still so much to be discovered about the cosmos, medicine, psychology, nature … and human history.
Claire Voon’s story at Hyperallergic about a “new” 2,800-year-old painted sarcophagus is a case in point. The colorful hieroglyphs promise to add to our knowledge.
Voon reports, “Archaeologists in Luxor have found an exquisitely decorated, millennia-old sarcophagus near the pharaonic temple of Thutmose III that still contains the remains of its ancient owner. The discovery is the most recent to emerge from the Spanish Thutmosis III Temple Project excavation, which since 2008 has explored the 18th Dynasty pharaoh’s funerary complex, situated along the west bank of the Nile. …
“Archaeologists are now starting to piece together the history of the coffin’s permanent resident. Although termites had eaten away at parts of the slim, wooden container, as the team’s head, Myriam Seco Alvarez, told El Mundo, the surface still retains a rich array of hieroglyphs that offer clues. Sarcophagi are much more than simple containers for the departed, and the pictorial script on this one records that it belonged to a man named Amenrenef, who once served as a royal court advisor.
“The images, whose bright pigments have been preserved after all this time, also depict religious figures such as the ancient goddesses Isis and Nephtys and the four sons of Horus.
“The archeologists have since removed the sarcophagus from its tomb and brought it to a lab, where it will undergo restoration. The team also plans to carry out X-ray examinations to determine the exact state of the remains inside.” More here.
Photo: Thutmosis III Temple Project
A decorated sarcophagus recently found by Spanish archaeologists near Luxor.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anthem, concord, gardner museum, leonard cohen, photo, providence on November 17, 2016| 6 Comments »
Photos with meaning. Well, maybe not all these photos have meaning. Some exist for their own sakes.
The first, from my backyard, captures two things I love — fall colors and shadows. The second shows the Concord River flowing through Minuteman Park; the third, shadows on the monument at the North Bridge.
The restaurant with the kitchen facing the street is a delightful new entrant to the celebrated Providence restaurant scene. It’s on Westminster Street and is called Bao Bao.
The winged creature on a Boston building looks like a gryphon to me. Do correct me if I’m wrong. Next is a rhino outside the Museum of Fine Arts museum school. That’s followed by the amazing cloister of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and an illuminated manuscript from a current exhibit in the new wing.
Finally, I couldn’t capture the whole Leonard Cohen lyric on the sidewalk in Wayland Square — would have had to stand in a busy street at rush hour. But it’s from his song “Anthem” —
“Ring the bells that still can ring / Forget your perfect offering / There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in.”
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged barber, black men, children, free haircut, iowa, reading on November 16, 2016| 2 Comments »
Just saw this 2015 article on Facebook. Originally reported in the Telegraph Herald, the story is about a remarkably wise barber in Iowa.
“Dubuque, Iowa, barber Courtney Holmes is a member of the Dubuque Black Men Coalition (DBMC,) an organization that works to improve the quality of life within their community by providing support and leadership to programs that seek to make a difference in the lives of African-American youth.
“As a father of two, he understands the importance of encouraging kids to read, but also realizes that not all parents share this sense of encouragement, so he decided to take matters into his own hands by rewarding children with a free haircut, if they read books to him while he works.
“The concept began at a back to school event in Comiskey Park, where non-profit organizations gather to support kids in getting ready to go back to school. Holmes started with a few kids, and before he knew it there was a line of over 20 kids getting ready to read a story in exchange for a new look. At the end of the event there were still kids in line so he decided to give out vouchers for them to come back to the salon to read to him and receive their hair cut. …
“Holmes hopes to continue his good work through a monthly event at the salon. He’s also been receiving books from people who want to help keep the movement alive.
‘There’s a lot going on in the world. But it only takes one person to change something. I am just trying to make a difference.’
Check out the rest of the story at Earthables.
Photo: Telegraph Herald
Courtney Holmes, a barber and member of the Dubuque Black Men Coalition, offers free haircuts for children who read to him.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged black dormouse, britain, endangered species, natural futures, uk, united kingdom on November 15, 2016| 5 Comments »
I’ve been a fan of the English dormouse since performing in Alice in Wonderland at age 10. My friend Carole played the Dormouse.
Or maybe my first exposure was the A.A. Milne poem about the dormouse and the doctor. In any case, I greet news stories like this one as a matter of great interest.
Steven Morris writes, “The first black dormouse ever recorded in the UK has taken up residence in a nest box in the Blackdown Hills of Somerset. Britain has only one native species of dormouse, the hazel dormouse. The one discovered in Somerset is a hazel dormouse but instead of having the normal golden-brown fur it is black. …
“The discovery was made when staff, trainees and volunteers from the Blackdown Hills Natural Futures project were checking dormouse nest boxes as part of the national dormouse monitoring programme.
“This year, the project provided 300 nest boxes and more than 60 volunteers have installed and regularly checked them. One was found to have the black specimen inside.
“Conrad Barrowclough, the project officer, said: ‘Learning about and protecting our natural heritage is what we’re all about so finding such a rare dormouse on our doorstep is fantastic, especially at a time when Britain’s dormouse population is under threat.’
“Ian White, the PTES dormouse officer said: ‘The national monitoring programme has been running for more than 25 years, with volunteers collecting data on thousands of dormice at nearly 400 sites. Not once has anyone come across a black dormouse.’ ”
Goodness, what delightful jobs these men have! Who wouldn’t want to be a “dormouse officer”? As the New Yorker used to say, “There’ll always be an England.”
More at the Guardian, here.
Photo: Natural Futures
The first black dormouse ever recorded in the United Kingdom. What a cutie!
Posted in Uncategorized on November 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I’m reposting this from the Hortographical blog. It’s about a little tree recovering from a setback thanks to someone who’s alert to its needs. I loved that Kay B figured out, for example, that the tree likes having a few other plants around — even weeds — to keep it company.
Last week, I put the carob trees, planted in the spring of last year, back into their cold frame for the winter.
Carob trees at 18 months
Of the seven pips that germinated, all have survived (hooray!). Two are definitely thriving; two are doing ok; and two have suffered quite severe knock backs.
Of the two that have suffered the most, one was badly affected by tortrix moth caterpillars (the main and only noteworthy pest I’ve noticed with these trees). The other one was badly damaged by sun scorch – yes, even here in north Wales!
Through the summer, the little trees have been out against a south facing fence with a little bit of shade from various shrubs. Early on in the summer, we had some unseasonably hot and very sunny days. And on one of those days, the tree which had been growing the best was scorched…
View original post 191 more words
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged brewer, edible, endangered, ocean, sea turtle, six-pack ring on November 14, 2016| 8 Comments »
Photo: We Believers
Here’s some good news from Elyse Wanshel at the Huffington Post. It seems that there is an alternative to the plastic six-pack rings that endanger sea turtles and other marine life when trash gets into the ocean.
“Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, Florida, has created edible six-pack rings that feed, rather than kill, marine life if the rings end up in the ocean and an animal happens to eat it. The rings are created from beer by-products during the brewing process such as barley and wheat and are completely safe for humans and fish to eat. The rings are also 100 percent biodegradable and compostable, which just ups the product’s sustainability game. …
“The only drawback is that edible six-pack rings are more expensive to produce. But the company hopes that customers will be willing to pay a little more in order to help the environment and animal life. …
“The Ocean Conservancy’s 2015 Ocean Trash Index — which enlisted 561,895 volunteers to pick up 16,186,759 pounds of garbage — also offers a few staggering facts. It cites plastic as among the most common trash item ingested by sea turtles in 2015. Volunteers found 57 marine mammals, 440 fish and 22 sharks, skates and sting rays entangled in plastic. The index also explains that littering isn’t the sole culprit for plastic in the ocean. Plastic can also be blown by the wind from a trashcan or dump, end up in a storm drain and then travel through pipes into the ocean. Facts like these makes a concept like edible six-pack rings seem vital.
“ ‘We hope to influence the big guys,’ Chris Goves, Saltwater Brewery’s president, said. ‘And hopefully inspire them to get on board.’ ” More here.
If more breweries join up, the cost to create the rings would go down. Sounds like a worthy idea for a little consumer pressure.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged film, girl scout, homelessness, movie, south carolina, video on November 13, 2016| 10 Comments »
One of the many reasons I’m grateful to WordPress is that, as the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world, it gives me some visibility among other bloggers.
One day recently I garnered a “like” from the Girl Scouts of South Carolina Mountains to Midlands. I decided to check out their blog, and I found a good story to share.
Michelle Taylor writes, “Zainab Bhagat has always reached out to the hurting, even when she didn’t realize she was practicing philanthropy. As a child in elementary school, she noticed one of her friends often went without. Her friend never seemed to have school supplies or a complete lunch. Without a second thought, Zainab shared everything she had to offer. …
“When Zainab had the opportunity to earn the Gold Award in high school, she never questioned if she should pursue it or not. She felt it a moral obligation to share her time, talent, and treasure with the world. …
“She knew the project would take her full devotion. She would have to spend at least 80 hours researching, planning, and working her project. She would have to present her concept before a committee, and her project would have to address a real issue in her community. But anything worth doing is rarely easy.
“Zainab created a documentary about homelessness in her hometown of Irmo, South Carolina. She interviewed and became fast friends with a local teen who had endured incredible hardship. Watch her hard-hitting and inspirational documentary [here].”
More at the Girl Scouts of South Carolina blog, here. How reassuring it is to see young people like this readying to enter the world of adulthood. They will make that world better.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged america, freedom, justice for all, liberty, veterans on November 12, 2016| 4 Comments »
Kristina and I set out for a walk yesterday morning, taking a leaf-covered bike trail and then an offshoot that goes through the cemetery. A loud boom when we were yet a great way off failed to alert me to what might be going on in the cemetery on Veterans Day. But as we got closer we could see cannon, and then it dawned us that we had stumbled onto Concord’s annual flag-retirement ceremony.
After getting a bit of history from costumed representatives of the Concord Independent Battery, we walked over to where retired flags were being burned. Kristina’s church choir led the assembled veterans and supporters in “God Bless America.” The song seemed to take on added weight this Veterans Day, as many of us held in our hearts an America built on the Bill of Rights and the wish to see justice for all.
May our military continue to be asked to defend the bedrock of the American experiment as they always have.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged homeless, housing, rhode island, veteran, vets for tomorrow on November 11, 2016| 2 Comments »
Sam Lubbers, a veteran, was homeless off and on for many years. Today he is living in an efficiency apartment in a renovated mill and enjoying the stability and hope that comes with housing. I interviewed him for the 2015 Rhode Island Housing annual report. (Check out the pdf. I was the first writer on most of the other interviews, too.)
When Sam moved into his new quarters, G. Wayne Miller at the Providence Journal filed this report on Rhode Island’s long-term goal.
“Since Rhode Island was selected a year ago as one of just five states to participate in the Zero: 2016 program — a national initiative spearheaded by the New York-based non-profit Community Solutions — 163 homeless veterans have been housed, according to the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless. …
” ‘It’s really all about the collaboration, communication and advocacy for these men and women,’ said David Gendreau, a veterans’ case manager for The Providence Center, a partner in Zero: 2016 and operator of a comprehensive housing program for veterans.”
The goal unfortunately remains elusive. Sam told me how his heart hurts because whenever he walks into the city, he sees homeless people he recognizes as former military through their boots, hats or other identification. He always speaks to them, maybe buying a sandwich or suggesting where to get help or temporary housing. “I have a hole in my heart for the homeless,” he told me.
Fortunately, in Rhode Island at least, the passage this week of Question 7, means more funding for housing for veterans and low- and moderate-income families in the state. So three cheers for a state that is being both practical and caring.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 