Weekend Digest: The ALS Ice Bucket Edition

For our weekend business and political readers:

THE ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE
You’ve no doubt seen the videos where a slew of celebrities, politicians, and regular folks have poured an icy bucket of water over their heads to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the lethal neurodegenerative disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Forbes writer Matthew Herper says despite the critics who are tiring of the publicity stunt for a good cause, there are several reasons why the challenge is having a huge impact.

The original idea was that when the gauntlet was thrown down in the ice bucket challenge, you either need to give $100 to ALS or dump ice water on your head. Most people seem to be opting to both donate and get soaked, posting the videos on social media.

A big Internet meme like this naturally brings out the contrarians. But they’re wrong. The Ice Bucket Challenge is awesome. Here are three reasons why.

Click on this link from Forbes to read his rationale and how he’s combatting critics who’ve argued to the contrary.

SPENDING A YEAR BY NOT SPENDING
That’s what two Calgary, Canada roommates – Geoffrey Szuszkiewicz and Julie Phillips – did after analyzing their spending and realizing they had a good case of “lifestyle creep.”

Over their first bottle of wine as roommates, they questioned their need for the objects that had drained their bank accounts, and, on a whim, decided to spend a year not buying anything. The domain name and Twitter handle for the obvious designation, Buy Nothing Year, were available.

Julie recalls, “I said to this guy, ‘I can’t believe the name was available,’ and he said, ‘I can! You guys are crazy! Who would do that?’”

Within a week, they became a national news sensation. They suddenly realized that with the country watching, they had to follow through.

So what happened? Go to this link from Forbes for the shocking results, plus “their top tips on having a Buy Nothing Year of your own.”

MENUS DESIGNED FOR AN INSTAGRAM AGE
Fast Company reports “the humble menu has not caught up in terms of variety and inventiveness,” but one restaurant has been experimenting with great success.

And then there is Trick Dog, a relative newcomer to San Francisco’s dense and varied bar scene, which has become a local darling thanks in part to its menus. Not what’s on the menus (though that rightfully gets many excited), but the menus themselves.

The bar’s seasonal menu updates have inspired a social-media gold mine of posts, tweets, and pins.

“The group just won the 2014 Spirited Award for Best Bar Team in America at the annual Tales of the Cocktail conference; its work was nominated in three other categories, including best American cocktail bar and world’s best cocktail menu.”

So what have these imaginative bar owners at Trick Dog been up to? Follow this link to take a look and learn more.

A SMOKE-FREE OLYMPICS
Bloomberg says that Tokyo governor Yoichi Masuzoe is looking to restrict smoking before the 2020 Summer Games in a move that shows how much times have changed since the last time the Japanese capital city hosted an Olympic forum.

Tokyo earned $1 million from an official Olympics-branded cigarette the last time it hosted the competition. That was half a century ago.

“I want to do this,” Masuzoe said on a Fuji TV show this week when asked about the possibility of introducing stricter curbs. “If I get cooperation from the Tokyo Assembly, we can pass an ordinance.”

How have efforts to curb smoking worked in other Olympic host-countries and what major resistance could Japan face in its efforts for a smoke-free Olympics? Click on this link for the full story.

THE PRESIDENT’S PARADOX
He is the first black president to sit in the Oval Office, and that’s his paradox reports POLITICO.

The first African-American to run the country finds himself in the tensest racial confrontation of his tenure but is constrained from addressing the nation’s original sin in anything but the loftiest, most dispassionate terms.

“We’ve made extraordinary progress” in race relations, Obama said on Monday, addressing the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, over the police shooting of Michael Brown, “but we have not made enough progress.”

That observation is so obvious as to be anodyne, but Obama has good reason to confine himself to Joe Friday generalities in the face of the discordant street demonstrations, belligerent police tactics and unfinished official investigation in Ferguson.

Read more analysis of this dilemma from the Ferguson events that have divided the country.

TEACHERS IN SOUTH CAROLINA
The Washington Post reports South Carolina has a “teacher problem.”

The state has about 4,000 teacher vacancies every year from retirements and people either moving out of state or quitting the profession, while only 2,000 of its college graduates go into education annually. It also has an especially hard time finding teachers for rural areas and specific subjects.

It’s gotten so bad, “Lawmakers are looking for ways to attract and retain teachers, meeting this week with representatives from teacher organizations in the state in hopes of drafting legislation come the beginning of their next legislative session in January.”

What measures may the South Carolina legislature pursue? Read the full story is at this link.

HILLARY EMBRACES HER MIDWEST ROOTS
The Wall Street Journal calls the Midwest region critical for Hillary Clinton’s success in a potential presidential run.

When Hillary Clinton lived in the White House, her home state was Arkansas. Then she was a senator from New York. As secretary of state, she traveled the world and lived in Washington.

Now, mulling a 2016 presidential bid, Mrs. Clinton is emphasizing her roots in the Midwest, a region critical to electoral success and a calling card for any politician looking to hone an image of no-nonsense practicality.

The mythic ideal of the Midwesterner “is that you’re solid, authentic,” says Burdett Loomis, professor of political science at the University of Kansas. Ward Just, the Indiana-born writer whose fiction has helped define the image of the Midwestern politician, sums it up as “no baloney.”

Hillary, a Chicago native, said in a recent speech, “Chicago is at the real core of my family, who we are, where we came from.”

But in politics, The Journal says the Midwest can be “tricky terrain.” For the complete story and analysis, follow this link.

A NEW KIND OF REGISTRATION PROPOSED IN NYC
It’s for Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Elmo, The Mario Brothers, Sheriff Woody Pride, and many other costumed characters who pose with customers for tips in Times Square. The city of New York wants to regulate them.

If passed, the bill would require anyone who alters their appearance with costumes, makeup, wigs, or other methods and seeks money to go through a registration process, complete a background check, and wear identification visible on their person while in character.

“We want to make sure we can identify everyone,” said Council member Andy King (D), who’s working on the bill.

And Elmo is the cause of all this. What happened and what other characters, well… shall we say, came out of character, in the past leading to possible ID’s for the whole lot?

What do some of the characters think about the proposal and how does terrorism play in all of this? Go to this link from The Washington Post for the complete story.

ICONIC ALBUM COVERS
In a extremely entertaining post, All Day finds out juicy details about the stories behind 20 iconic album covers like “Abbey Road”, Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous”, and the Sex Pistols’ “Never Mind the Bollocks”.

Rock on at this link.

POWERFUL IMAGES
Hi Likes has posted what it considers the “10 Most Powerful Images Ever.”

There is no commentary, except for the titles. None is needed.

To see them, go to this link.