Author Archives: Daisy49F7358

A Heartstopping Reminder Of Why We Have Asylum Policies

by Daisy49F7358 Posted on January 27, 2017

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order dramatically reducing the number of refugees the United States admits as early as today—a stark choice of timing, as it is also International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In 1939, American officials turned away a ship bearing more than 900 refugees, almost all of them German Jews. The St. Louis was forced to turn back, and 254 of its passengers died in the Holocaust. Today, the St. Louis Manifest account is tweeting the names of the victims.

See the US Holocaust Memorial Museum for more on the history of the St. Louis.

See the original article here:  

A Heartstopping Reminder Of Why We Have Asylum Policies

Posted in FF, GE, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Heartstopping Reminder Of Why We Have Asylum Policies

How Are You Supposed to Win a Gold Medal If You Can’t Get A Cup of Coffee?

by Daisy49F7358 Posted on August 5, 2016

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Brazil has been the globe’s most prolific coffee-producing nation for 150 years; and coffee culture has long permeated Rio de Janeiro, where you can find everything from a cheap cafezinho (little cup of coffee) at a corner cafe to super fancy brews extracted from the nation’s best coffee beans. But if you’re an athlete holed up in Olympic Village for the games, things are apparently a bit different. Here’s NPR:

BLOCK: This will be the second Olympics for Egyptian archer Ahmed El-Nemr. He’s mostly happy, but there is a problem.
AHMED EL-NEMR: Actually, yes, I have some complains about coffee (laughter).
BLOCK: He’s been shocked to find there is no coffee for athletes in the village apartment buildings or at the sports venues.
NEMR: I asked. They said we are only limited to Coca-Cola products. So…
BLOCK: You’re kidding me.
NEMR: No. Yeah, that’s what they told us in the venue.

What? No coffee for Olympic athletes in the globe’s coffee epicenter, because…Coca-Cola? According to the Daily News, “A Coca-Cola spokeswoman denied the archer’s claim and said there is coffee in the Olympic Village but it isn’t being supplied by the company.” But apparently, it’s not very easy to find. This must not stand. If I were an athlete in Rio, I’d organize a revolt. And I would not be mollified by some crap like this—I’d want a fresh cup of coffee. In solidarity with my coffee-loving brothers and sisters in the Village, I’ve done a Google dive into catering and sponsorships at the Games to try and figure out what’s going on.

I found a Rio 2016 “Taste of the Games” document that lists the sugary beverage behemoth as the “exclusive” provider of non-alcoholic beverages for the 2016 event, including for its 17,500 athletes. (McDonald’s is listed as the exclusive provider of retail food services, and Skol—a Brazilian brand owned by global beer giant AB InBev, maker of Budweiser—is the exclusive beer provider.)

What does “exclusive” mean? “What this means to caterers is that if menus include products from a sponsor product category, the products of that sponsor must be used unless Rio 2016 approves otherwise in writing.” However, “this does not mean that all food and beverage products must be sourced from these organisations alone,” the document continues. Drinks not offered by the sponsor—in the case of Coca-Cola, say, a fresh cup of joe—can be provided, with the stipulation that it be unbranded. Easy enough for a damn cup of coffee.

So, under the terms of the sponsorship, the Olympic village can provide fresh coffee. But is there a right to coffee? Here the document is muddy. It contains this line about services to be provided to the athletes: “Supply of snacks, fruit, isotonic sports, ugh drinks, soft drinks, mineral water, tea and coffee, biscuits, cereal bars and other items at Athletes’ lounges in competition and training venues.”

Note that this clause mentions “Athletes’ lounges in competition and training venues,” but doesn’t mention the living quarters, where El-Nemr tells NPR he’s being denied coffee—and where athletes wake up in the morning. Coffee time, in other words. Here’s what the document says about that region:

• 24/7 catering service at the Main Dining Hall in the Olympic Village
• High-quality menu with wide range of options, in line with different cultural and nutritional needs in every location serving Athletes.

Not to play Olympic Village lawyer, but that last bit to me sounds like a right to coffee—morning coffee fuels many cultures across the globe. If I were an athlete in Rio, I’d print out that doc, put a big circle around that clause, and take it directly to a Rio 16 official, preferably trailed by a band of annoyed and imposingly athletic fellow coffee fiends.

Originally posted here: 

How Are You Supposed to Win a Gold Medal If You Can’t Get A Cup of Coffee?

Posted in alo, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Prepara, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How Are You Supposed to Win a Gold Medal If You Can’t Get A Cup of Coffee?

Use an Old Sweater To Make Two New Wardrobe Pieces

by Daisy49F7358 Posted on January 30, 2016

Ugly sweaters are not a waste: Theyre an opportunity.

Consider this lowly knit mock turtleneck. It was buried in an old clothes bag in my closet, about to be sent off to the local thrift store, when I saw one of its dark green sleeve cuffs peeking over the top of the bag. For a split second I thought it was the edge of a boot sock, but when I found out that it wasnt, I decided to turn it into one. Except that it turned out to be more than a boot sockin a couple of hours, Id stitched that unloved sweater into a pair of boot socks and a cozy casual sweater skirt, too.

And I promise, it took very little stitching skills. The biggest challenge for me was being able to stitch in a straight line around the top hem of the skirt and around the edges of the boot socks to keep them from unraveling. Apart from that, if you can sew on a button, youre good to go!

Step 1: Cut off the arms

It really doesnt matter if you cut on one side of the hem or around the sweater shoulder. Since youll be cutting this part off anyway, just cut a clean line alongside it.

Step 2: Cut off the excess

Youll see that the top of the sweater arm is wider and curves outward a bit. All you need to do here is cut that curved bit off so that its even.

You can actually stop here, if you want to. For a simple boot cuff to wear on the inside of your boot, or a leg warmer to wear slouched over your short boots, this is really all you need.

Because this was so easy, though, I decided to take it a step further and add a little bit of embellishment a la turn-of-the-century Victorian boot fashion: buttons!

Step 3: Cut along the sleeve hem

Again, it doesnt matter if you cut on one side of the hem or the other; just make sure you keep it consistent.

Step 4: Hem the cut edges

This is where that awesome stitch-in-a-straight-line skill comes in. Find the two edges of the sleeve that have been cutand could potentially unraveland fold them in about half an inch and use a straight stitch to hold it in place. You could even iron the hem down beforehand to make it easier to stitch straight.

Step 5: Stitch on the buttons

I used six buttons on this one, but I have another boot sock that used 10it just depends on your style, and frankly, how many matching buttons you can find to evenly spread between both socks.

Step 6: Cut the button holes

To do this, I pinned the top and bottom of the sock together so that they wouldnt move, and then placed the button-free side over the buttons, cutting a very, very small hole above each and then working the button through it. It doesnt take much to make a button hole! Also, if youre worried about fraying at this point, you can add a dab of fabric glue to the edges of the buttonholesthis should keep it from unraveling any more and will give the buttonhole a better hold and shape.

Youre done! Show off your fashionable boot glory now or, like me, put them on with some slippers and whip yourself up a cozy sweater with the excess materials.

Step 1: Using the instructions above, cut off the sleeves and make boot socks!


Step 2: Trim the trunk

Again, I lay no claims to being any kind of a seamstress. To get the shape I wanted, I just turned the sweater trunk inside out, placed my favorite sweater skirt over the top of it and trimmed around the edges until it was the same shape, making sure the bottom hem of the sweater was the bottom hem of the skirt.

Step 3: Sew

Next, I stitched the edges where Id cut it all the way to the top, then folded over the top about an inch and a half. Inside this fold, I ran a length of elastic band, stitching one end to one of the side hem edges to keep it in place and then just stitched beneath the band all the way around. By not actually stitching through the elastic band, it allows the band to pull the skirt in around your waist without cinching up awkwardly.

And now, really, thats it! Boot socks, simple or buttoned, and a cozy sweater skirt from an outdated sweater. I think I need to dig through my husbands closet a little more and see if there are any other sweaters hes not using! Of course, Ill ask first

Kristin Hackler writes about the intersection of fashion, home and sustainability for eBay, one of her favoriteplaces tobuy or sell lightly worn clothing. Follow Kristin’s adventures on hereBay profile, oron her blog,Cardboard and Cloth.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Source article:  

Use an Old Sweater To Make Two New Wardrobe Pieces

Posted in alo, Everyone, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, PUR, Radius, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Use an Old Sweater To Make Two New Wardrobe Pieces