Think Bigg

Apparently the reason the CIA is having trouble recruiting is because people are under a variety of mis-impressions about exactly how the CIA works. Check out the redesigned CIA website:

Did you know, for example, that Myth #1, “You have to be superhuman in every way,” is actually not true?

Or perhaps you were confused by Myth #2: “Everyone drives a sportscar with machine guns in the tailpipes?” Turns out that’s not true either.

Here’s the fun part: As each preconceived myth magically falls away, you’re also invited to participate in a highly insightful personality quiz!

Would you rather shop on Rodeo Drive or read a bestselling novel? Would you rather drive an amphibious sportscar or fly in a hot air balloon? What superpower would you most like to have?

It turns out that I’m an “Impressive Mastermind,” but perhaps you are a “Thoughtful Observer.”

Either way, we could work for the CIA! Maybe after they address Myth #6: “High-level administration officials will probably leak your identity to the press in order to retaliate against your spouse’s high profile objections to administration policies.”

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Modern living can be an lonely experience for the elderly. Isolated in homes, apartments and hospitals, they can easily lose contact with the outside world, and especially with the joy that comes only in the presence of children.

The good news is that you can help your children make a difference! PBS Kids offers a step-by-step guide to show your children how to Adopt a Grandfriend!

1. Find an elderly person to adopt. Ask an adult to help you choose a person. You may already know of an elderly person in your neighborhood who would like a visitor. If not, you can call a local senior center or nursing home. Look in the Yellow Pages under “Nursing Homes” or “Senior Citizens’ Service Organizations” for places.

2. Ask an adult to help you contact the nursing home. Explain that you want to adopt a grandfriend to visit on a regular basis. Ask lots of questions, like: Are there any training sessions you need to attend before you volunteer? Who will you will be paired with? When is a good time to visit? How often you should come? How long should you stay? Is it OK to bring cookies, flowers, and other small things?

3. Plan your first visit. Think about what you want to talk about when you visit your grandfriend. You can talk about what grade you are in, what you do after school, and about your family. You can ask your new grandfriend questions, like: What did you like best about school? Do you have any grandchildren? How was the world different when you were my age?

4. Make a memory box. A memory box is a small collection of some of your favorite things. You can fill a shoebox with things like a favorite toy, an award you have won, or a card from a friend. Sharing your memory box with your grandfriend will give you things to talk about on your first visit. Ask what your grandfriend would put in a memory box, if he or she were to make one.

For more steps on Adopting a Grandfriend, read on!

Read the rest of this entry »

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In a world… where fences divide… where hearts are broken… where borders shut out, comes…

Cross-Border Volleyball.

(That whole set-up actually sounds better if you imagine it with the voice of that movie trailer guy from the GEICO commercials.)

Apparently, a couple of kooky guys that publish Wholpin, a new quarterly DVD magazine, decided to go down to the San Diego beach border and play a game of pick-up volleyball with the folks from the Other Side. The best part?

All this activity finally brings down the hammer of the border patrol, and a jeep shows up to separate us. The officer is friendly but firm. He’s just come on shift and has no idea we’ve been playing volleyball over the fence for the past hour.

“Really?�

He tells us that a daredevil launched himself across the border in a cannon a while back, but that ours was, in fact, the first-ever game of international border volleyball.

“And it worked over that tall fence?�

“Yup,� we say. “We’re up for one more round if you want to play.�

“No, man,� the officer says. “I’m on duty.�

You can read the details from LA Weekly or see the clip from Wholpin. All hail the power of the San Diego surfer dude!

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Imagine spending your entire day on the phone trying to arrange for private water delivery because no water comes out of your tap.

Or shopping for an apartment that advertises with the slogan, “Imagine never being thirsty for water.”

Or bathing and washing in a river that is “clinically dead,” absorbing more than 950 million gallons of sewage each day.

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These experiences are part of the daily lives of the residents in India’s growing urban centers. The New York Times reports today on the water distribution and sanitation crisis gripping the cities of India.

Roughly two-thirds of the population, or 700 million people, do not have access to adequate sanitation, 25 percent of New Delhi households had no access to piped water, and 27 percent get water for less than three hours a day. Nearly two million households, the report also found, had no toilet.

According to the United Nations, the lack of clean water leads to the deaths of 2.1 million children under the age of 5 every year.

“Unless dramatic changes are made — and made soon — in the way in which government manages water,� the World Bank report concluded, “India will have neither the cash to maintain and build new infrastructure, nor the water required for the economy and for people.�

To learn more about what the Dehli Human Development Report called an “unparalleled water crisis,” read the full text of the NYT article.

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How do you know if your state senators are working for you?

The Washington Post makes it easy to find out how your senator is voting with a full Senate member list, a complete voting record and the option to subscribe to an RSS feed on each and every vote.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get this kind of real-time information on your spouse too?

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