Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

How can I learn this power?

图书馆

China is an extremely complex country, while many question why Chinese are okay with censorship and high government regulation, others understand that there are positive and negatives of why they operate and how. I do not extend this to the current situation in Hong Kong, where the people re adamant about wanting to remain separate from China as promised but with the pros and cons of any decision and particularly the decisions and lifestyle in the mainland.

While in some ways more advanced, early last year China’s public libraries were ordered to have a major overall with a standardization of access to all. This included set open hours of operation even during holidays and on weekends, open public spaces, service programs and easy access to information. (1) Additional focus was put on protecting individual’s research and information protected from hackers, special services and safety access for the elderly and disabled and educational activities focused on children. These activities are also multicultural, physical and conversational with centers including family reading campaigns, foreign language training, art and culture exhibitions including books and other community activities available in various foreign languages. (2)

Multi-layered, China has successfully educated and increased their residents access to certain aspects of information and has promoted the access and diversity of information that does not hold the mirror close

 (1)    https://news.cgtn.com/news/7859544d35637a6333566d54/share_p.html

(2)    https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/librarians/management/viewpoints/china.htm?part=5

It’s not just today it’s through random occurrences everyday 

When you’re taking a walk around the neighbourhood, or see an old movie with a very different skyline. It’s not always prominent, but it’s always with us. 

8:46

9:03

9:37

9:59

10:03

10:28

Public Charge

“It’s hard not to feel like we are turning our backs’ on our own history

If these people are willing to risk their lives

to travel 3,000 miles

and apply for asylum at our borders, we owe it to them to at least look over their application

because at some point

someone

was willing to look at ours.”

That was Hasan Minhaj’s closing of his Netflix show “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” Sunday’s episode ”Immigration Enforcement”.  This past Thursday’s holiday of Thanksgiving Day is split by US citizens (natural-born and otherwise) as while it is important to be thankful, it’s also important to note how people came to be in the US and what they did once they arrived. Christopher Columbus’s arrival and the first Thanksgiving is not how it is portrayed to and by children, every year and many have grown to understand the importance for not pretending atrocities of generations past did not occur. Until next week, Tuesday, December 4th, you may make your thoughts, comments, appeals, data contributions and anything else about the amendments to public charge established in May 1999.  The two main parts of the changes are (1) that new immigrants (temporary or permanent) must prove that they will not become a public charge while residing in the US, and (2) any immigrants currently in the US who want or need to change their status or duration of stay will need to show similar proof in order to stay in the US.

My question is why, currently there are programs that immigrants may and may not use and regulations about when certain services may become available to them. Making them stricter or creating a fear as illustrated in the second part of the change doesn’t create a larger problem for current immigrants that already go without, but it will create a problem for the rest of the US population. Lessening the services of food stamps and healthcare access when they are already vulnerable will allow any small issue to become a greater threat. Health and wealth are compounding issues, primary care is preventive care and a few extra dollars to start up and get you settled after a traumatic escape, journey and experience can make all the difference for decades to come. Following the events of this weekend with the beginning of asylum seekers from Honduras, running from the gangs and violence this country stands against makes this even more important and defining. Please understand, they just want what we want. To live, for their children to live and have the best chance of a happy life.

Earlier this year, the Miami Herald spoke to a woman who resides in Florida but whose mother lives in Cuba. Her mother, a 70-year-old woman, doesn’t want to live in the US but uses the Visa to visit her daughter and grandchildren. As her Visa was set to expire she reapplied—but was denied, not only unable to get a new Visa but the six months she had to remain on her current Visa before it expired were then cancelled. There is no reason for this, people who speak, act, look, eat and just are different from you are not out to get you. I know it’s long and a lot to read, but please read thru what you can and share your opinion with our Department of Homeland Security (per a few specific instructions) about the changes overall or to amendments that you believe is what is best.

Public Charge Comment Section and Amendment Changes 

Lovely, lively then lament

It’s National Book Month, but while I have been given and introduced to books through school, from friends and family, following reviews online, many of the books I have been able to read because of my local library.

More than ‘just’ books many local libraries also have classes, are a meeting space, have activities for children or other community specific events with some being hosts of local political events or debates. In addition, local public libraries have become a symbol of the shared public space that is not only central to the community but a place you can go that is FREE (separate from taxes of course). Even as the world turns more digital there are certain databases, and historical texts that aren’t being added online or would be difficult to absorb separate from the understanding that staring at a screen 24/7 is bad for you.

Libraries are glorious and should be as much of a necessity as a post office or grocery store for a community but they’re not always appreciated and people commonly undervalue the benefits a good library can bring allowing them to slowly disappear for things that will make a bigger profit.

Time isn’t real.

A Ravenclaw who is somewhere between Christmas and New Years and keeps forgetting what day it is (via ravenclawravings)

Parts Unknown

Only 7 days remain to watch the some of the still streaming Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain episodes before they are removed from Netflix (in the US--December 26th). 

With 8 episodes per season and 5 seasons listed (seasons 7-11) it is possible to binge in the last remaining days. However, to get at the soul of Anthony Bourdain and his series of using food to show off the different parts of the world I would recommend these seven

1. The Greek Islands (Season 7 episode 3)

2. Houston (Season 8, episode 5)

3. Minas Gerias, Brazil (Season 8, episode 7)

4. Laos (Season 9, episode 3)

5. Antartica (Season 9, episode 5)

While I haven’t seen it yet, given that we are now living in seven months of Chinese unrest with the Hong Kong protests

6. Sichuan with Eric Ripert (Season 8, episode 3) 

7. Hong Kong (Season 11, episode 5)

**As previously mentioned, Buenos Aires (Season 7, episode 8) he shared a lot about his opinions and story about mental health**

Mr. Ollivander

Today is Mr. Ollivander’s birthday, the wandmaker who sells Harry his wand on his 11th birthday, measures the wand’s of all the Champions in the Tri-wizard Tournament and is held prisoner during the Second War at Malfoy Manor. According to Pottermore he was influential to the wizarding world as he completely transformed wand making when he took over his family’s business. While I would have also liked the previous method of bringing something personal to have a wand made out of, Mr. Ollivander’s method of creating wands from selective materials and selling them to the wizard who had a connection with the wand is both a more logical approach and produced a noticeable change in strength and beauty for the wand holder. 

But there is more to his story....

As with the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Mr. Ollivander was Harry Potter’s, and our’s, first taste of magic. In his wandshop is where Harry first gets to perform just a bit of magic and, as he repeats throughout his years, how much he loves it. While Harry Potter might have been a special case, I believe that Mr. Ollivander was passionate and caring about each new (or older) wizard who came in for a companion in their wand and enjoyed being with them as they started their journey and full embracing the beauty that is magic. So thank you Mr. Ollivander for your passion, compassion, brilliance and heart. 

5 Flights Up

I saw this movie at home, privately probably within a year after it came out. I loved it instantly for all three stories that it told. The first story, about the older couple (played by Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton) showed an accurate couple that I enjoyed. As a couple, they were overall happy and healthy and dealing with walking up a few flights as you get older in New York is a pretty realistic problem that people often don’t think about. Also, they individually and not just as a couple were likeable people. Second, is the issue with their dog (Dorothy) who they will need to pay $10,000 for a surgery for her that *may* work. Ugh, is that not something that happens all the time, especially at that cost. A famous story of my youth is when we paid close to two hundred dollars (at a major discount) to go to an emergency clinic for my hamster/guinea pig where the veterinarian didn’t even notice one eye was reed and close to 3x the size of the other.

While both of these stories were accurate, the one that really blew this out of the water for my family was the third, albeit random, story about the truck driver and its accuracy in our world. It starts just with a truck abandoned (in grid-lock traffic at first) on a bridge. They discover that it was driven by someone who is not a white guy and reports come out before anything actually happens that they think there is a bomb (even thou rush hour has passed and there has been no explosion) and his name and face are all over the news, followed I believe by his home being investigated by the police (who the fuck signed that warrant).

As this story progress I watch, with complete real-world experience, my guess is that he might have just ran out of gas and gone to get some—because they were stuck on a bridge for hours. But then why didn’t he come back…I don’t know, maybe because within a short time he was plastered all over the news as a terrorist (white upbringing v. non-white upbringing) he’s petrified now with no ACTUAL reason or understanding he’s been labelled a terrorist and NYCs #1 to look out for. In the end, I don’t think we get the story of what actually happened from reports, but come to know that he wasn’t a terrorist—typical.

Now all of these things are random, but they are also realistic to happen in a random weekend, look at the news today, so much happens before 6am let alone over a weekend and that’s what this is, just a snapshot of their lives over a few days. Maybe more dramatic than their average weekend, but not completely out of bounds and in contrast to stories that cover years or longer events, that are also good, a story that just covers a couple of days and isn’t focused on the “big events” of getting married, or losing someone— I really loved it.

Youth Climate Strike

Similar to the March for Our Lives a year ago, students will leave their classrooms again today across the US, joining students from over 100 countries around the world who have already marched, begging their elders, to work to leave some of the world behind for them to thrive with.

Image: Climate Change: Youth climate strikes to take place in more than 100 countries. The Guardian.   https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/mar/14/youth-climate-strikes-to-take-place-in-almost-100-countries-greta-thunberg

While there are many issues that plague every generation, this generation sees themselves shook with the idea that they might not even have a chance to survive as more data shows that the deadline to save the human races’ existence on the planet is just getting closer, and closer. While the declining health of the planet has been an issue for decades, and the ignorance of facts behind it are baffling, the students and youth really are doing everything they can to keep it on individuals minds and are seeing growing victories from lawsuits against their governments, the growing vegan and vegetarian movements, and bans on single-use plastic. Looking at the map above this is a growing movement and my only hope, the only hope is that others get out of their way: in political office, in corporations, and the ridiculous online bullying older people think will impact the younger generation. 

PS--if none of the 16 marches planned in New Zealand occurred, you have our deepest sympathies and understanding. Whether blocked by the lockdowns or just needing to be at home with those you love, stay safe.