2012 Books: Slate Staff Picks

Illustration by Lilli Carr?.

Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update & Show Your Home Some Love, by John and Sherry Petersik
Recommended by Holly Allen, designer
I have trotted off to bed every night for the past two weeks with Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update & Show Your Home Some Love under my arm. It is so much more than just a pretty do-it-yourself resource book. It?s filled with charming personal narrative (I feel like I know John and Sherry Petersik?hooray for new fun friends!), easy-to-understand instructions for every level of project, and clever ways to improve your home and your life. In this age of tightened belt straps where it?s not always possible to buy new, John and Sherry make you feel good about using what you?ve got in a way you never knew you could.

How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough
Recommended by Emily Bazelon, senior editor
As an education writer, Paul Tough goes deeper than anyone I know. Some of the ideas he has brought to light?that preschool is a great government investment given the payoff later in life, that building character matters as much for success as academics?are so deeply ingrained in my own thinking that it?s hard to remember I had to learn them somewhere. Reading Tough?s new book, How Children Succeed, reminded me just why he?s so good. The book is a synthesis of all the latest research on learning, told in well-packaged chapters like ?How to Think? and ?How to Fail (and How Not To).? I learned so much reading this book and I came away full of hope about how we can make life better for all kinds of kids.

The Man Without a Face, by Masha Gessen
Recommended by Andy Bowers, executive producer Slate podcasts
This portrait of the inscrutable Vladimir Putin, is fascinating, illuminating, and above all brave?as you read about the price countless Russians have paid for crossing Putin, you can?t help but marvel at the courage it takes to tell his story so critically. Gessen (an occasional Slate contributor) chronicles Putin?s journey from KGB agent to St. Petersburg political operative to Boris Yeltsin?s surprise choice as acting president, and on to 13 years (and counting) as Russia?s undisputed top dog, regardless of the title he holds at any given moment. What emerges is a man whose greatest political strength is his willingness to be seen primarily not as a statesman, but as a world class thug.

The Half-Blood Blues, by Esi Edugyan
Recommended by Tracey Coronado, director of human resources
A different vantage point of Nazi Europe in the 1940s?seen through the eyes of a group of African-American jazz musicians who find their rhythm just as the world is trying to snuff out their musical genius. Not only did the narrator, Sid, capture me with his internal struggles and unique voice, but it made me think about how the war impacted music and all races in ways that I don't always associate with the Third Reich. I felt pulled into the story by their passion for music despite the threats they faced daily. But what ultimately makes this story so memorable is Sid dealing with his demons long after his musical heyday has passed.

Lionel Asbo: State of England, by Martin Amis
Recommended by Simon Doonan, columnist
Martin Amis' latest chuckle-fest Lionel Asbo: State of England is a fabulous and much-needed antidote to the twee Downton Abbey view of England. Here is the unvarnished truth about us Brits: We are lower and trashier than any Kardashian or Jersey Shore habitu?.

Zona, by Geoff Dyer
Recommended by Daniel Engber, columnist
I'll endorse Geoff Dyer?s rambling, peculiar memoir of watching the 1979 Soviet art film Stalker, and then rewatching it again and again. The memoir?s subtitle is ?A book about a film about a journey to a room,? but it might have been ?A boring book about a dreary film about a seemingly-endless journey to a nondescript room.? I say that in praise: Both book and film scale the heights of monotony at a thrilling, breakneck pace, and once they?ve reached the summit wallow in a weirdly gripping self-indulgence. What makes these feats of tedium so fabulous? Dyer tries to figure it out.

The Way the World Works, by Nicholson Baker
Recommended by David Haglund, Brow Beat editor
Nicholson Baker writing on Wikipedia is like John Updike on Ted Williams or James Baldwin on going to church in Harlem: such a perfect match of writer and subject, mind and matter, that the no-doubt hard-won wonderfulness of the resulting essay seems predestined, inevitable. ?The Pop-Tarts page is often aflutter,? Baker writes, about the Wikipedia page for Pop-Tarts. ?Once last fall the whole page was replaced with ?NIPPLES AND BROCCOLI!!!!!!??The Way the World Works, the somewhat grandly titled essay collection in which ?The Charms of Wikipedia? appears, is itself aflutter with sentences as good and better than that one, a large number of them about life?s little details. The book makes you think that perhaps attending to little things, and writing fine, fun sentences about those little things, might help one think about the big things, and how they have been broken.

On a Farther Shore, by William Souder
Recommended by Laura Helmuth, science and health editor
You may think you really ought to know more about the origins of the environmental movement and the life of its patron saint. Sure, of course you ought to. You like clean air and water and birds, right? But On a Farther Shore, William Souder?s biography of Rachel Carson, is not a chore or a lesson. It?s a delightful, fascinating, engrossing read about some of the most important insights of modern science. You?ll find yourself thinking about Carson whenever you take a walk in the woods or get trapped in an argument about how environmentalists are killing kids in Africa.

Enemies: A History of the FBI, by Tim Weiner
Recommended by Fred Kaplan, ?War Stories? columnist
This is an astonishing book, jammed with revelations (at least one per page), gleaned from tens of thousands of pages of newly declassified files. The focus is on the FBI as a secret foreign-intelligence service (which apparently it was designed to be from the outset) and J. Edgar Hoover as an ?American Machiavelli.? Weiner tells the epic tale with captivating elegance. It?s even better, I think, than Legacy of Ashes, his previous, award-winning book about the CIA.

The Defining Decade, by Meg Jay
Recommended by Chris Kirk, interactives editor
In?The Defining Decade, clinical psychologist Meg Jay explains how to optimize the crucial years of your 20s, citing?stories from her practice.?Any recent college grad mired in a quarter-life crisis or merely dazed by the freedom of post-collegiate existence should consider it required reading.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=864d8b109319af2a1b0d27f60e685276

Darla Moore newsweek Tony Scott UFC 151 empire state building prince harry Hurricane

U.K.?s First 4G Network, EE, Increases Data Limits By ~60% On Some Price-Plans; Still No Unlimited Data Tariffs

The U.K.'s first -- and currently only -- 4G network, run by carrier EE, has announced it is increasing the size of the data caps on some of its mobile broadband tariffs by around 60 percent, while keeping its pricing structure the same. The network has faced criticism for offering relatively small monthly data caps for a high speed network.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/9ZGQXxMJZX4/

Prince Harry Vegas pictures Avril Lavigne Microsoft Tropical Storm Isaac amber portwood Phyllis Diller Darla Moore

November consumer confidence hits more than four-year high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer confidence rose to a four-and-a-half-year high in November as consumers became more optimistic about the outlook for the economy, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 73.7 up from an upwardly revised 73.1 the month before, its highest since February 2008. Economists had expected a reading of 73.0, according to a Reuters poll.

October was originally reported as 72.2.

"Over the past few months, consumers have grown increasingly more upbeat about the current and expected state of the job market, and this turnaround in sentiment is helping to boost confidence," Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in a statement.

The expectations index rose to 85.1 from 84.0, while the present situation index edged slightly lower to 56.6 from 56.7.

Consumers' labor market assessment was little changed in November. The "jobs hard to get" index was flat at 38.8 percent, while the "jobs plentiful" rose to 11.2 percent from 10.4 percent.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/november-consumer-confidence-hits-more-four-high-150403941--business.html

billy crystal oscars 2012 angelina jolie oscars chardon high school christopher plummer viola davis school shooting in ohio shooting at chardon high school

Who Was the Most Searched-For Celebrity on Bing in 2012?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/11/who-was-the-most-searched-for-celebrity-on-bing-in-2012/

linsanity the alamo anencephaly tesla model x lou gehrig toby mac blue ivy carter photos

US Justice launches probe into Albuquerque police

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? The U.S. Justice Department plans a thorough investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department after a string of officer-involved shootings and a number of high-profile abuse cases alleging the use of excessive and deadly force.

Tuesday's announcement, first reported by the Albuquerque Journal, comes months after the police department in New Mexico's biggest city was the target of protests, lawsuits and demands for wide-scale agency overhaul from civil rights advocates amid 25 officer-involved shootings ? 17 of them fatal ? since 2010.

In addition, the Albuquerque Police Department has been plagued in recent months by a number of high-profile cases alleging excessive force by officers, including some cases caught on video.

One video showed officers giving each other celebratory "belly bumps" after beating a suspected car thief in a parking garage. Another clip showed an officer illegally entering an apartment and using a stun gun on one suspect, then punching another suspect after he had surrendered.

The department also was forced to change its social media policy involving officers after a detective shot and killed a man last year and listed his occupation as "human waste disposal" on his Facebook page. The detective was later suspended and transferred out of the department's gang unit to field services.

"Police officers are entrusted with extraordinary power, including the power to use deadly force, and police departments have a responsibility to ensure that officers exercise that power within the law," Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, said at a news conference in Albuquerque.

"Our investigation will include a thorough review of APD's policies and practices, as well as outreach to the community and other stakeholders, to identify root causes of misconduct if we discover that there have been systemic violations of the law."

Until Tuesday's confirmation, Justice Department officials had said they were reviewing potential civil rights abuses but had not said when they would make a decision on whether to launch a full-scale investigation.

Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said the city pledged its full cooperation.

For months, Berry and Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz have sought to stave off a possible federal probe into the department by instituting a number of reforms and raising hiring requirements for incoming cadets.

A report from an outside group last year called for changes in training and other procedures, including requiring officers to undergo more training on how to calm potentially violent situations and changing hiring criteria to focus on individuals with good problem-solving and communications skills. The report also made several recommendations on helping police deal with the mentally ill.

In September, the Albuquerque Police Department released information that compared new policies with other cities, saying they were stricter than those required under federal consent decrees in New Orleans and Seattle.

The department also this year began requiring all officers to wear lapel cameras when interacting with the public. Schultz said the lapel cameras and the release of videos involving alleged abuse show that his department was being transparent and responding to community concerns about Albuquerque police.

___

Follow Russell Contreras at http://twitter.com/russcontreras

.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-11-27-Albuquerque%20Police%20Probe/id-d31fa82091f5448c9634221d56bb22b5

jeremy lin Sage Stallone Mermaid Body Found Celeste Holm Stephen Covey klimt bastille day

WINNER! Old Louisville Holiday Home Tour tickets!

More Pages

WINNER! Old Louisville Holiday Home Tour tickets!

There's a lucky reader that will be headed on an Old Louisville Holiday Home Tour with a friend! ?

The winner is: DIANA MORRIS-HARMON

Congrats Diana! ? ?Email info@louisvillefamilyfun.net to claim your prize

Source: http://www.louisvillefamilyfun.net/2012/11/winner-old-louisville-holiday-home-tour.html

colbert report legionnaires disease underwear bomber unclaimed money godspell media matters hana

OHS inductions for the city cousins? | The Milk Maid Marian

?City cousin season? is fast approaching for many farmers. It?s a time we look forward to here but we do have to be extra careful. With new safety laws emphasising the need to include volunteers and visitors to the farm in safety systems, I asked Kevin Jones, OHS consultant, freelance writer and editor of the award-winning SafetyAtWorkBlog.com what it all means.

Kevin Jones

Some media has been reporting anger and outrage about the Government imposing new work health and safety duties on small business, volunteers, farmers and many others. There are new safety laws in many States but largely these reflect the moral and safety responsibilities that have always existed. If farms have been doing the right thing in the past, they are likely to be doing the right thing in the future.

OHS laws are always going to be seen as an imposition from the city when things were pretty good the way they were. Things may have seemed to be pretty good but plenty of families lost relatives in farm accidents, many lost limbs or struggle to cope with economic stress. There is plenty of statistical evidence to show that things in the country weren?t as good as many thought and the Government felt obliged to act. Perhaps the original work health and safety laws, developed in the cities in the 1980s, were not suited to the country or the application of these laws needed a different approach from that in the city. But the intention of these laws is always to reduce harm, injury, death and the related impacts on farming families.

These occupational health and safety (OHS) laws may also require paperwork but so does public liability insurance, Business Activity Statements, and a range of other paperwork all businesses are obliged to provide. Paperwork has always felt to be a major distraction to why we set up our businesses in the first place.

Over the last twenty years OHS laws have broadened from the physically-defined workplace to include the impact of work on others such as visitors, neighbours and customers. But the workplace has also changed to an extent where it is hard to know where a workplace starts and a workplace ends. Many in the city struggle with these laws but farming communities have always worked with an almost invisible delineation between a workplace and a home. Where others went outside for a smoke, farmers often went for a smoke and checked on the animals. Farmers are hardly ever not working, and this means that farms are almost always workplaces, so when visitors come to the farm for a weekend break, they are visiting a workplace and so OHS laws will apply.

This unreal demarcation is a major reason why the new laws focus on Work and not the workplace. Dealing primarily with the work activity focuses on the reduction of harm to the worker rather than making a workplace safe. Often the best, most tidy, most organised workplaces still had unsafe work being done.

Do the new laws mean that all visitors require a safety induction before entering the farm and to sign a document saying they understand the rules? Usually, no, but if they come to undertake farming activities (ie. work), maybe there should be an introduction to the farm ? where to go, where not to go, what to touch, what not, what to drive, what to keep away from. Maybe the signs in the milking shed need to be written for visitors instead of in family shorthand. Maybe pits should be covered instead of assuming the pit will be in the same state next morning.

If WorkSafe is called to a farm, for whatever reason, showing the inspectors that you know about your OHS obligations and apply basic safety procedures to equipment, tractors, quad bikes, and industrial and agricultural chemicals is going to reassure them that you know what you?re on about and that you are active about managing the safety of your workers, visitors and family. Will you be found to be in compliance with the OHS laws? Probably not, but neither are most of the small businesses in the cities either.

OHS is often dismissed as only common sense. But OHS is almost always common sense, after an incident. Why didn?t we cover that pit? Why did I leave the keys in the quad bike? Why didn?t I chain up the dog when I knew kids were coming over? These and many other daily questions are all made safer through the common sense of covering or fencing the pit, hanging up the keys, chaining the dog. If safety is only common sense why then don?t we apply it?

The new Work Health and Safety laws are not yet active in all States and Safe Work Australia, or your local OHS regulators, are a good place to watch and see if and when these laws apply to specific circumstances and industries.

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

Source: http://milkmaidmarian.com/2012/11/26/ohs-inductions-for-the-city-cousins/

rashard lewis curacao curacao home run derby kourtney kardashian kourtney kardashian DNS Changer