NRU splash before crash

In the news roundup, there are far too often gloomy tales.  I am feeling under the weather, but the sun is shining for the first time in days (not complaining, just explaining), so I decided this should be the first article in NRU:
It is a great piece about a blog called Chinatown Pretty and an exhibit of its photos.  This was one of my favorite lines:

“Purple is really big in Chinatown,” Luu says. “Sometimes people wear four shades in one outfit. There’s a lot of cane fashion, too, like floral walking canes. Men usually wear monochromatic outfits. You see lots of baseball caps and sneakers — borderline hip hop fashion.”

A fairly balanced (read they did try to show both sides) read on Emeryville's raise in the minimum wage, but decidedly on the side of the workers.  It is The Nation after all.  But a good read, especially for those who will likely never read it, because it explains the reality of who is a minimum wage earner, and how even $15 is sometimes barely break even. 

Some *other* perspectives on Making of a Murderer -- there are lots of haters out there, and I wonder how much of the hateration is coming from lobbying in the law enforcement/prosecution bunch.  Lobbying is every where ... and this documentary, however flawed you may think it is, provides a view into our *justice* system that we just don't frequently get.  What I found most compelling was not whether Avery was a good guy/guilty/innocent, but rather his family's treatment by law enforcement.  I also fell hard for his parents who stalwartly stand by his side. 

I have had this one open in my browser for a while ... waiting to see if I had the emotional strength to read it. And, after reading it, all I can say is "wow." I think this doc has an interesting way of breaking things down, in a world where we want to be able to claim knowledge we don't have in order to prop up a position we know is simply our own ideas.  I like this line particularly because it reminds us of our ability to control (with our vote) the tiniest piece of this from a rational standpoint.

"People high in healthy narcissism (link is external) inspire without undermining. They lead with conviction not cruelty. They bring out the best (link is external), not the worst, in the people around them. That's who we need leading the nation."

In fact, I think this piece is rather complimentery to the voters, it says, you have what it takes to make reasoned decisions.