domingo, 27 de dezembro de 2015

These 12 men believe nothing is manlier than being a good dad.


NOVEMBER 23, 2015
Doyin Richards By Doyin Richards

Quick, what are the first thoughts that come to mind when you think about dads?
Lazy?



For starters, many modern dads are loving, nurturing, attentive, and intrinsically motivated to be helpful.

When our babies decide to, you know, empty themselves on themselves, we jump on top of those dirty diapers faster than a linebacker jumps on a fumble in the end zone.

Why? It's not because we want to be fair to our spouses. It's simply because we want to.

So is that a big deal? Not really.

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The beauty of fatherhood today is we (modern dads) have zero interest in winning awards for doing what we're supposed to do as parents, but we definitely want the world to know that we exist.

Dads do care. See how these 12 men demonstrate how they embrace the role of "dad."

1. We have the tools to get the job done.

All photos are used from the Daddy Doin' Work Instagram feed with permission.

2. We're always up for a game of peekaboo.



3. We handle the grocery shopping.


4. We believe in love at first sight.


5. We speak the truth.



6. We know that blood isn't as strong as love.



7. We follow directions.



8. We know that the lines between work and play are often blurred.


9. We know that saying goodbye to our kids is never easy.



10. We're creative.



11. We know that our bodies serve as excellent pillows.



12. We cherish every moment. Especially the quiet ones.


The way we do things may not be “mom's way" or even the “right way," but it's our way.
No matter how you slice it, the world is a better place because of the dads who strive to do the best they can for the tiny humans in their lives.

Depois dos votos do Natal... vem as 365 oportunidades de fazer um 2016 diferente...

Happy Sabbath

quarta-feira, 16 de dezembro de 2015

Saving the earth is, well, a big job.

This is a part of a special Upworthy series about the issue of drilling in the Arctic made possible by the League of Conservation Voters.


Thinking about the sheer scale of the problem can be overwhelming.

And while there are some major steps we need to take collectively on a global scale to solve climate change, there are a few things each of us can do to make a personal impact.

Because you gotta start somewhere, right?

So start right here, and let these charming animated animals, the stars of a series of videos from Animal Planet, give you a few pointers on how to do your part.

Because it's their home too, you know.

1. Go easy on the showers.



You don't have to convince me that long, hot showers are totally awesome. But they also are one of the biggest chunks of our residential water use. In the U.S. alone, we use almost 1.2 trillion gallons of water just for showering. That's enough to supply New York and New Jersey with all of their water for the whole year! Clipping just two minutes off your shower can personally save 10 gallons of water each day.

But if cutting down on shower time just isn't gonna happen (again, I totally get it) consider replacing your showerhead with a more water-efficient model. It costs between $10 and $20 and requires minimal handyman skills.

2. Unplug those devices.


Even when you're not using them, phone chargers, coffee makers, cable boxes, and other electronics draw power. They're known as energy vampires, for the way they drain electricity and money. A typical household has 25 electronic devices plugged in at any given time, so it's no surprise that energy vampires can account for around 20% of the average electric bill. Ouch!

3. Recycle your plastic bags the right way.

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According to the Clean Air Council, an estimated 102.1 billion plastic bags are used in the U.S. each year, and fewer than 1% of those are recycled. Instead, much of the waste winds up in landfills or worse, our rivers and oceans. Birds, turtles, and other marine animals are dying from intestinal blockages, choking, and starvation.

What can you do? Recycle your bags whenever you can, and call on plastic producers to create more eco-friendly and recyclable solutions.

Or better yet, BYOB: Bring your own bag.


You can avoid plastic altogether, and many stores give shoppers a discount for bringing their own bag.

4. Get your home winter-ready.


Pumping up the heat is one way to stay warm this winter, but it also a way to burn lots of natural gas and money. If your health allows, consider setting your thermostat to 68 or lower. In the 60-degree-to-70-degree range, you can save 5% on your your energy costs for every degree you lower your heat.

You can also winterize your house or apartment, checking for leaks around windows and doors and making sure your furnace filters are fresh and clean. These simple steps can save natural gas and potentially lower your bills this winter.

5. Pick up after yourself.

As this angry cartoon leopard, or this very real disfigured turtle will tell you, litter is THE WORST. Litter harms animals both directly, by choking, strangling, or poisoning them, and indirectly. These indirect incidents occur when animals eat trash or food thrown to the side of the road and risk running into traffic.

But tragedies like this are 100% preventable. And properly disposing your trash is one of the easiest things you can do to make a difference right this second.

And while you're at it, recycle too.


6. Consider swapping out a few lightbulbs.


Traditional incandescent bulbs use more energy and burn out faster than compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. While CFL bulbs are a little more expensive upfront, they last six times as long and provide a quick return on investment. In fact if every home in the U.S. replaced one incandescent bulb with an Energy Star-qualified CFL, it could prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to over 800,000 cars each year.

Speaking of which...

7. Give your car a break.


In an effort to reduce congestion downtown during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, car travel restrictions were put in place. During the games, traffic declined an estimated 23%. In that time, ozone concentrations dropped about 28% and acute care visits for children with asthma fell 41%. More recently, check out what happened to the sky when Beijing put driving restrictions in place for two weeks.

While limiting traffic citywide is likely a no-go, making the personal commitment to drive less is something each of us can do. Replacing short automobile trips with walking, biking, or public transit is a simple way to cut down on our personal CO2 emissions and perhaps improve our air quality in the process.

You don't need to be Captain Planet to do right by the earth.

Small acts can make a big difference. You can do your part by making even just one or two of these changes. You can also point and click your way to a better world by signing this petition to support America's Clean Power Plan.

This is the only Earth we've got. And since it's the only place humans (and claymation animals) can call home, every positive step, even a small one, is a step worth taking.

segunda-feira, 14 de dezembro de 2015

We are only one Race: THE HUMAN RACE.

domingo, 13 de dezembro de 2015

É preciso seguir em frente, apesar das trincas e remendos...

Quando os japoneses reparam objetos quebrados, eles enaltecem a área danificada preenchendo as fissuras com o ouro.
Eles acreditam que, quando algo sofre um dano e tem uma história, torna-se mais bonito.
A arte tradicional japonesa de reparação de cerâmica quebrada com um adesivo forte e spray, imediatamente após a cola, com pó de ouro, chama-se Kintsugi.
O resultado é que as cerâmicas não são apenas reparadas mas tornam-se ainda mais fortes do que seu estado original. Em vez de tentar esconder as falhas e fissuras, estas são acentuadas e celebradas como as que se tornaram, agora, as partes mais fortes da peça.
Kintsukuroi é o termo japonês para a arte de reparar com laca de ouro ou prata, o que significa que o objeto é mais bonito por ter sido quebrado.
Levemos essa imagem para o terreno do humano, ao mundo do contato com as pessoas que amamos e que, às vezes, ferimos ou nos ferem.
Quão importante resulta a reparação!
Como é importante também entender que os vínculos fissurados ou quebrados e nossos corações machucados, podem ser reparados com os fios dourados do amor e se tornarem mais fortes.
A idéia é que quando algo valioso se quebra, um bom caminho a seguir é não esconder sua fragilidade nem sua imperfeição, e repará-lo com algo que toma o lugar do ouro - vigor, virtude...
Isso mostra as imperfeições e fragilidades, mas também é uma prova de resiliência: a capacidade de recuperarse, e são dignos de muita consideração.

Joyce Zanardi - Minha Missão

terça-feira, 8 de dezembro de 2015

OMG. I really would love have something like this happening on my front door. Merry christmas!!!

A boy told his teacher she can't understand him because she's white. Her response is on point. DECEMBER 07, 2015

"Be the teacher America's children of color deserve, because we, the teachers, are responsible for instilling empathy and understanding in the hearts of all kids. We are responsible for the future of this country."

She founded The Hive Society — a classroom that's all about inspiring children to learn more about their world ... and themselves — by interacting with literature and current events. Students watch TED talks, read Rolling Stone, and analyze infographics. She even has a long-distance running club to encourage students to take care of their minds and bodies.


Smith is such an awesome teacher, in fact, that she recently received the 2015 Donald H. Graves Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing.
It had always been her dream to work with children in urban areas, so when Smith started teaching, she hit the ground running. She had her students making podcasts, and they had in-depth discussions about their readings on a cozy carpet.



But in her acceptance speech for her award, she made it clear that it took a turning point in her career before she really got it:
"Things changed for me the day when, during a classroom discussion, one of my kids bluntly told me I "couldn't understand because I was a white lady." I had to agree with him. I sat there and tried to speak openly about how I could never fully understand and went home and cried, because my children knew about white privilege before I did. The closest I could ever come was empathy."
Smith knew that just acknowledging her white privilege wasn't enough.

She wanted to move beyond just empathy and find a way
to take some real action that would make a difference for her students.
She kept the same innovative and engaging teaching methods, but she totally revamped her curriculum to include works by people who looked like her students. She also carved out more time to discuss issues that her students were facing, such as xenophobia and racism.

And that effort? Absolutely worth it.
As she said in her acceptance speech:

"We studied the works of Sandra Cisneros, Pam Munoz Ryan, and Gary Soto, with the intertwined Spanish language and Latino culture — so fluent and deep in the memories of my kids that I saw light in their eyes I had never seen before."



The changes Smith made in her classroom make a whole lot of sense. And they're easy enough for teachers everywhere to make:
— They studied the work of historical Latino figures, with some of the original Spanish language included. Many children of color are growing up in bilingual households. In 2007, 55.4 million Americans 5 years of age and older spoke a language other than English at home.

— They analyzed the vision of America that great writers of color sought to create. And her students realized that our country still isn't quite living up to its ideals. Despite progress toward racial equality with the end of laws that enforced slavery or segregation, we still have a long way to go. Black people still fare worse than white people when it comes to things like wealth, unfair arrests, and health.

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— They read excepts from contemporary writers of color, like Ta-Nehisi Coates who writes about race. Her students are reading and learning from a diverse group of writers. No small thing when they live in a society that overwhelmingly gives more attention to white male writers (and where the number of employees of color in the newspaper industry stagnates at a paltry 12%).


— They read about the Syrian crisis, and many students wrote about journeys across the border in their family history for class. The opportunity particularly struck one student; the assignment touched him so much that he cried. He never had a teacher honor the journey his family made. And he was proud of his heritage for the first time ever. "One child cried," Smith shared, "and told me he never had a teacher who honored the journey his family took to the United States. He told me he was not ashamed anymore, but instead proud of the sacrifice his parents made for him."



Opportunities like this will only increase as the number of children from immigrant families is steadily increasing. As of 2013, almost 17.4 million children under 18 have at least one immigrant parent.

Smith now identifies not just as an English teacher, but as a social justice teacher.


Smith's successful shift in her teaching is an example for teachers everywhere, especially as our schools become increasingly ethnically and racially diverse. About 80% of American teachers are white. But as of last year, the majority of K-12 students in public schools are now children of color.

As America's demographics change, we need to work on creating work that reflects the experiences that our students relate to. And a more diverse curriculum isn't just important for students of color. It's vital for everyone.

As Smith put it, "We, the teachers, are responsible for instilling empathy and understanding in the hearts of all kids. We are responsible for the future of this country."
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