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Good Ideas

A Response to Hate Groups

A reader kindly pointed me to a tweet describing a successful method to respond to Nazi sympathizers. It’s true that money for programs to rehabilitate racists is needed now more than ever, as the current administration recently cut funding for a vital program, Life After Hate, that works to counter violent extremism. Here’s the tweet, describing…

Studio 84 in Whitewater

Studio 84, located in downtown Whitewater, is a non-profit art studio that offers “experiences in the visual arts and theater for the community …working with all people including those with Autism, physical disabilities, cognitive limitations and mental illness.” Milwaukee television channel 58 WDJT recently visited and reported on the studio’s work — CBS 58

More on the Right Social Conditions in a Small Town

I posted yesterday that Gentrification Requires the Right Social Conditions, contending in part that a small city like Whitewater remains divided (and by consequence limits its own attractiveness to newcomers) because it remains divided by town and gown (and divided within the town, itself, too). Whitewater’s problem is not that different factions do not have a…

The World’s Largest Model Railroad 

If model trains are built for kids, then it’s safe to say Bruce Zaccagnino is an incredibly large child. He’s the mastermind behind Northlandz, the self-proclaimed largest model railroad in the world. And according to filmmaker Andrew Wilcox, it’s one of the most under-appreciated attractions he’s ever seen. So he decided to capture it on…

Asking About a Student’s Day

Post 15 in a series. Every parent wants to know how a child’s day went at school – what he or she learned, experienced, and thought about the day.  Sometimes, however, the obvious question (“how was school today?”) doesn’t elicit more than a brief, unspecific answer. An NBC news story online, offers suggestions from a parent on…

Skiing Washington, D.C.

Resourceful resident makes the best of it – #Snowzilla is here and people are skiing in #Washington #DC… On the streets!! #jonas #blizzard pic.twitter.com/ZOVndL4C47 — Bricio Segovia (@briciosegovia) January 23, 2016

Making Wood Without Trees

Ecovative Design has made a mission of replacing synthetic plastic polymers with natural mushroom based polymers. After disrupting the packaging industry with a line of fully biodegradable mushroom packaging, they are now setting their sights on replacing manufactured wood products. (Video by Brandon Lisy, Justin Beach) (Music by Andy Clausen) Via Bloomberg Business.

NASA Adds Dream Chaser to Transportation Roster

For those hoping that America would re-introduce a space plane to her roster of civilian transportation options, there’s good news: The Dream Chaser space plane that lands on a runway like an aeroplane and launches with the help of a rocket will join the duo of privately operated space capsules – SpaceX’s reusable Dragon and…

Caffeinated Pastry’s Only a Matter of Time

Embed from Getty Images Alternative title : Biophysicist-Inventor Possibly One of the Greatest Americans Ever. Thanks to a biophysicist, caffeinated muffins could be coming soon to a coffee shop near you — and they’ll also be loaded with antioxidants. Professor Daniel Perlman of Boston-area Brandeis University has invented a coffee flour milled from par-baked green…

The Hon. Alex Kozinski on Good Science

The Hon. Alex Kozinski is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  The Ninth Circuit has jurisdiction over most federal appellate matters in the western continental United States.  Judge Kozinski is nationally know among members of the bench, and served as chief judge of the Ninth Circuit for many…

A Coffee Shop with a Spot for Stray Dogs

A photo has been making the rounds on social media showing a group of stray dogs napping comfortably on a bench of cushions as a result of one business’s act of kindness. The image was reportedly snapped at a café in Greece, where management sees fit to offer refuge to homeless pups after closing up…