Month: January 2011

by Zoe Pollock

 Rachel Botsman explains how technology is enabling trust between strangers.

by Conor Friedersdorf

"Nobody wonders how Minnesota parents raise such stereotypically stereotypical kids," Edie Larson writes, which isn't true – I've wondered. "They never wonder what these parents do to produce so many nice children or what it's like inside a nice family. Well, I can tell them anyway, because I've done it."

If it's not too much trouble and you have a minute, here are some things my daughters, Jenny and Cristi, were never allowed to do:

• Skip doing their homework
• Put their elbows on the table while eating supper
• Miss church (except for the day after prom, during deer hunting season, and on Super Bowl Sunday)
• Go to school in April without a jacket
• Get into a van with a strange man
• Use swear words in the house
• Forget to call grandma on her birthday

I'm using the term "Minnesota mother" loosely. I know some Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowan and Minneapolis parents who qualify too. Conversely, I know some mothers of Minnesota heritage, almost always born out of state, or Catholic, who are not Minnesota mothers, by choice or otherwise. All the same, even when other parents think they're being nice, they usually don't come close to being Minnesota mothers.

Probably this ends in a tie with trophies for everyone.

by Zoe Pollock

Nick Asbury salutes the BBC's retiring weatherman Rob McElwee for his linguistic ingenuity:

Note how Rob's last words thank us for ‘listening', not for ‘watching'. It's a deliberate choice of word, aimed at those people who tried to meet him halfway. And it's an implied critique of the way forecasting has become an increasingly visual medium – full of whizzy graphics and camera-friendly presenters. Rob knows that, in the end, it's all about the words.

Asbury includes a list of McElwee's best phrases. Money quote:

This coming month will prove the point as we bring back very cold air and then sit in it.

by Zoe Pollock

A Brooklyn vegetarian, Dave Kim, learns a variety of lessons from the old burger establisment. This one's filed under How White Castle Explains Legacy:

The liveliest time to visit White Castle #100034 is after midnight, when the runoff from two nearby bars come staggering in. The late-night clientele are nothing like the baggy-jeans-and-chains crowd one sees at dinner or the small families and traffic cops who drop by at lunchtime. At 1 a.m., when I stop by for some cheese sticks, the place is crowded with tattooed twentysomethings in cutoffs and Ray-Bans, discussing music video shoots and Adrien Brody sightings. One man orders a cardboard suitcase filled with 30 cheeseburgers and rechristens it “the Bolaño” because the price works out to be $26.66.

I notice the four killers in the last booth, all ladies who have to be at least 70. They sport knit sweaters and polyester pants and wear their hair in finespun bouffants. The oldest has on a black wig that’s not fooling anyone. From their accents I can tell they’re the real locals, the descendants of Italians and Eastern Europeans who’ve lived in this neighborhood since World War I. The women eat their miniature apple turnovers ($0.85) and watch the action.

“What are these kids doing here so late?” one of them asks, and I’m tempted to pose the same question to them. We’re pissing away our youth in bars and burger joints, ladies. What are you doing here? Except White Castle has been around since 1921 and these women have probably been eating WC sliders since before we were born.

 

by Zoe Pollock

by Chris Bodenner

One of countless emails asking the question:

In the last update he mentioned that discussing his health was probably "TMI" given that we are "total strangers," but that's not how it is; I'm a total stranger to him, but he is rather dear to me.  I'm not bothered by the assymetry, but at the same time, I'm a bit worried about him and would like to know a little about how he is doing.  I don't want to hear *from* him during this time, since he should totally be staying away from the keyboard, but surely you can offer us a little info along the lines of, is he getting better day by day?  Or should we be concerned about him?

I spoke with Andrew for a while yesterday and he is very much on the mend. He will most likely return to blogging on Monday.

by Chris Bodenner

Al Jazeera:

10:42pm [local time] Gunfire has been heard coming from the direction of the interior ministry in Cairo during a confrontation between guards and protesters, and the NDP headquarters is once again on fire.

Guardian:

8.25pm: Reuters reports that protesters have set fire to the Tax Authority office tower near Cairo's interior ministry

EA:

2053 GMT: A first-hand report from the Bulaq section of Cairo, "Police Station a ball of flames. Heavy gunfire."

2100 GMT: Al Jazeera reports that fire has engulfed the Supreme Council of Journalism and surrounding buildings in central Cairo with no firefighters to be seen.

(Photo: An Egyptian man looks out onto a burning government building from a bridge in central Cairo January 29, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. By Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

by Chris Bodenner

EA:

2010 GMT: Egyptian officials say 62 people have been killed and 2000 injured in the last two days. Al Jazeera, from medical sources, reports 99 dead in the cities of Alexandria, Suez, and Cairo alone

Is there a Dish reader who can translate the above video for us? Update: one delivers:

Shot Boy: The Army entered and shot us.  They said we were being disruptive, but we were not; we were quiet.  They shot at us with live bullets and rubber bullets.  They were a lot of dead people and hurt people.  I feel for them.

Voice behind Cam: All in the last few hours?

Shot Boy: Yes, all in the last few hours.

Voice: But we saw people happy and dancing on Army vehicles.

Shot Boy: They were, and when they went inside the shooting started.  They’d go in and out and shoot at us.

Then they say goodbye and the interview ends.

by Chris Bodenner

The latest from the Guardian:

Peter Bouckaert from Human Rights Watch is blogging from Alexandria, and has some updates on looting and the formation of neighbourhood committees:

Every street has men armed with sticks and knives to protect their shops and homes. They told us to stay out of poorer neighborhoods because security is very bad, lots of looting. Egyptians keep telling us they want to determine their own future, not one imposed by other countries, very much like Tunisia.

Reports that large numbers of criminals escaped or were released in Alexandria during unrest, adding to looting and criminality.

Just got a call from a Popular Committee member in Sidi Basr neighborhood of Alexandria to say looting is going down because of Popular Committee members defending neighborhoods.

EA:

2045 GMT: Reports come in from various sources of mosques urging area youth to help secure neighbourhoods. One mosque has announced the emergency phone number 0104888848 for assistance.

by Patrick Appel

Chris Beam explains:

Withholding the Internet in Egypt is relatively easy, compared with other more democratic countries. For one thing, there are only four major ISPs, each of which has relatively few routers connecting them to the outside world. By comparison, anyone who wanted to shut down the Internet in the United States would have to deal with many different companies. And whileEgypt can legally disable telecom companies by executive decree, American companies might fall under various regulatory umbrellas that limit the government's power to disrupt communication channels. Members of Congress have proposed creating a "kill switch" that would shut down the Internet at the push of a button in the case of a "cybersecurity emergency," but erecting such a blockade would be logistically difficult.