Can't wait to watch The tunnel TV serie

I'm a fan of serie TV : Desperate Housewives, In treatment, Mad men, The wire, Six feet under, Homeland, Borgen....
The TV industry use to import its scripts upon countries ; In treatment was first broadcast in Israel with Israelian backgrounds, Desperate housewives have a new life in Argentina, in Texas and so on.
A new serie which will be release next year is appealing, it will be called The tunnel, it will be about resolving a murder  between Great Britain and France ; it will have cross cultural themes. The original script is from Sweden and Denmark, the TV serie name's is "Bron/Broen" (bridge in the 2 langages). The US will film their own, it will be between Mexico and the US.

A dream comes true : you can be a mermaid !

Where you crazy about mermaid like my daughter Eugenie when you where young? Would you, like to be Ariel, the Disney character? Have you $2,000 to spend?
If yes, to be a mermaid is possible. Actually a man, calling himself "the mertailor" , is crafting mermaid tails. You will be able to swim as a mermaid in the Weeki Wachee pool in Florida ; they organize summer camps. Lady Gaga has already one tail

.
So don't wait and visit the website : http://www.themertailor.com

I have a dream...The Lincoln Highway !

Next time we are in the US, why not a rent a car and drive from the east coast to the west coast, from New York Manhattan 42d street to San Francisco, two cherished cities in my heart?
The length is 3,389 miles or 5,454 kms. You drive through New Jersey, Pensylvannia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada andCalifornia.You will experience the wild West and you will be thrilled.

Lafayette and Rochambeau...

We live near a street called Lafayette.... The marquis de Lafayette was the first person granted a US citizenship in the beginning of the 18th century. He was a general in the American revolutionary war, he was under the commandment of G. Washington and he asked France several times to help the American people. He has fighted at the battle of Brandywine in Delaware state in 1777. He spoke in front of the American congress in Philadelphia. He went back and forth to the US. He is well-known here.

Fireworks on the emergency lane...

Yesterday it was the 4th of july, the day you celebrate the American independence. They were fireworks in Newark and Wilmington but as we were invited to a pool party, we have decided to skip this experience. Anyway we saw some on our way back and it was a little bit scary because cars stopped on the highway emergency lane (we were at the beginning driving at more than 100 kms per hour), some even were outside sitted in folding chairs... These Americans, strange fellows sometimes!

Treasures of the Academy of fine arts

Inside the Academy of fine arts in Philadelphia, you can see paintings and sculptures from ancient students. For instance, Cecilia Beaux have studied there at the end of the 19 century ; she was a daughter of french immigrants and she travelled in France to meet other painters ; guess who...

You can see also a Welch's painting very well known in the US reporting the 1st treaty signed between Indians and US citiizens, it was between the Lenape indians from Delaware, Quakers from Pensylvannia and merchants.

Dream of the Hamptons?

The Hamptons are a group of villages which are at the end of Long Island in New York state. The coast at the end has a fork's shape ; you have the South Fork, the most well known, and the North Fork. In the south fork, you have the most expensive houses in the US ; it's an hour and a half drive from Manhattan, NYC ; celebrities in this small "world" are everywhere. You have the Hamptons style or you don't have it...
It looks like a lot where the Great Gatsby takes place, the Fitzgerald's best seller even if the West and East villages depicted in the novel are nearer from Manhattan (they still are on Long Island).

Barbara Streisand's latest fad

Barbara Streisand, this great singer with a profound voice, lives in a big mansion in California. She has made a dream true : her basement is like a mall's street with a doll's store, an antique store, a dresses store where she can put all her collections and the fancy clothes she wears during concert.
It's a little bit scary, don't you think? It's not one of my dream if I was a millionaire.

Stories about Louisiana in the beginning of the 20th century in paintings

So vivid paintings by Clementine Hunter, an ousider artist revisited now :

Black and White in America don't live in the same world...

African-Americans are more likely to be arrested fro marijuana possession than whites, even though the two groups use the drug at similar rates. In some counties around the country, blacks are 10, 15 or even 30 times as likely to be arrested !
A research paper showed that police officers who are targeting black citizens and black neighborouds are turning a comparatively blind eye to the same conduct occuring at the same rates in many white communities. It brings disastrous consequences for black young people, as convictions can lead to fines, jail time, and loss of federal student financial aid.

Big brother is in Utah

Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, is he a traitor or an hero? He escaped to Hong Kong after having leaked some classified documents and is acting, he says, as a whistleblower to warn US citizens about activities from the NSA, an agency which is a pqart of the CIA.
In Bluffdale, a little city of Utah State, several miles from Salt Lake City, in the middle of "nowhere",  the Utah Data Center will open this fall. Its goal is to store extremely large amounts of data ; those data could be contents of private mails, cell phone calls, internet searches as well as all sorts of personal data trails (parking receipts, bookstore purchases...). Verizon and Comcast, the providers of telecommunications in the US, signed a, no more secret now, phone program to deliver to the center all sorts of informations about their clients. So, watch out...

Foundations instead of a state to help people in need

What's impressive here, is the power of foundations compare to state's policies. For instance, in education, you have a lot of foundations which will help children with some characteristics.
The Ben Carson Fund rewards young students from low income families who had good scores during their elementary schoolyears to open a saving account, the money will be used during their college years (some 7-8 years after). Ben Carson is an African American who struggled to achieve a medical degree and is now a pediatrician in a renowned hospital in Baltimore.
You have a fund which will help children of deceased veterans.
It's a way to achieve meritocrarcy for those who are particularly hard working.

.

Dover Air Force base in Delaware

Dover, capital of Delaware, is known for its Air force base since World War 2. It receives all American soldiers who died in operation and a team organizes their burial and dress them with their uniform and ribbons. They already received 6,700 dead soldiers from Irak and Afghanistan wars.

Economics competition for 3th graders

This weeks I have assisted a professor in education economics to implement a competition for elementary school students. 9 years old students gathered in a same room from 15 schools in the district. After  taking a test in economics, they had to imagine a new idea for peeps candy. Those candies are selling for halloween, christmas and easter. The goal was to infuse to them innovative spirit. They had to play a commercial with their ideai in front of a jury of bankers. The event was sponsored by Bank of America.

Julie Delpy is in the New York Times

Julie Delpy follows her original road. After Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the third movie of this trilogy is released now : Before midnight.

The tornado in Moore, suburb of Oklahoma City

Weather conditions in a large part of the US are so impressive... Hurricanes, tornadoes and so on. Some states like Oklahoma are situated in the tornado alley ; where the collision between cool, dry air down from Canada and warm, moist air up from the Gulf of Mexico are likely to happen. It produces a tornado when thunderstom clouds are at the same time in the sky. The wind's speed in this violent rotating column of air was estimated up to 300 mph, could you imagine it....
It is a good idea to have shelters not only in houses but also in public buildings like schools.
Accounts from survivors were so frightening.

Festivals here and there...

Summer time, festivals time... I wish I could fly above the Colorado River in Utah State to hear chamber music in a grotto. It remembers me the Messian festival at La Grave, La Meije in the Alps. Both are music performed in a wonderful wild side. Close your eyes, here you are !

Hamburger's etymology

With the summer, comes the hamburgers BBQ parties. The more common is the beef burger but you can try also the veggie burger, the tofu burger, the crab burger, the tuna burger and so on. Our friends from South Carolina claim that Charleston's hamburgers are the best, it's good that's true.
The word "hamburger" derives from Hamburg, Germany's second largest city, from which many immigrants came from in the 19th century.
The Library of Congress has officially declared that Louis lassen of Louis Lunch, a small lunch wagon in New Haven, Connecticut, sold the first hamburger in 1900. But other persons claim for the invention all around the US.

Employers use credit report before hiring

Half of the employers in the US use credit checks when making a hiring decision. They ask a company specialised on it to edit a credit report on an applicant, it's relatively inexpensive, between $20 et $50. Anyway some jobs as teachers, police officers, firefighters, require a credit check by law.
But why, even if it's not required by law, employers look for it ? It is suppose to give an indication about the integrity and the sense of responsability of the applicant. For some unemployed people, they are facing a vicious circle, they found no job because of it and money is so scarce, they have to take more loans... That's why some states ban this practice of credit screening.
Nonetheless psychology research papers found no link between a person's credit score and a "deviant" behavior like workplace theft.

How works the Food Stamps program

It's a program provided by the Federal government since 1943 and administrated by the US department of agriculture. It's a financial aid for purchasing food to low income households. 47 millions of Americans receive an average of $134 per month ; this money is now in a card, before it was in printed coupons. In some states, more than 20 % of the population is right now on food stamps.

This money can be used to purchase any prepackaged edible foods, the program does not have nutritional standards. Items in fast food restaurants are ineligible but candies, cookies, sodas are eiligible items...
An average of $72 billion is spent per year on food stamps. Food processing industries benefit from this program ; think of Cargill, Krogger, Pepsi, Kraftfood and others. Walmart is a big beneficiary.

The american way of fishing

Last week-end we were in the Delaware bay, in Cape Henlopen state park. Around us, in the campground, were a lot of fishermen with their big SUV cars. To be the perfect fisherman, your fishing rods have a special emplacment in front of your SUV and in the back you have a platform to put your cooler plenty of beers.
The must is to drive onto the beach for surf fisching. When you arrive on the beach, you see a row of SUV facing the sea. They are so funny those Americans.
SUV share the beach wirh horseshoecrabs.

Highschool proms', part of your highschool experience

Tonight the Newark Highschool hosts the Highschool prom of 2013. What is it? It's an iconic tradition at the end of your highschool years. It's a dance party. It's very formal,you have a lot of rules surrounding the event. Boys will be in tuxedos, girls in gowns ; boys invite a date, you'll have often pictures before. The Prom Queen and the Prom King of the year will be revealed ; (a Barbie and a Ken). Unbelievable, but yes.
You have to pay for it and it's not cheap at all. Have fun highschool students of Newark !
Perhaps, as a girl, you keep your prom's dress as you will sherish your wedding dress.

In a rural county in Georgia they will have this year their first integrated prom. Although they went to school together you had before the prom for white students and the prom for black students. Where do you go if you are mixed? Easy answer, if you have one drop of black blood you are considered as black.

Educational tests in the US

The SAT exists for a long time, it was introduced in 1926 by a non profit organization The College Board. Its goal was to measure literacy and writing skills that are needed to succeed for college. You need it to enter most of the colleges, although some now don't require it because of its suppose failures. You have three parts : maths, critical reading and writing ; you can take it seven times a year, it costs you $50 and it lasts less than 4 hours.
Highschool students take this test whenever they want but other people, younger or older, can take the test. SAT preparations is a highly lucrative field where you find a lot of companies.

A lot of states recently add state tests on a lot of subjects ; some are for all grades, others are only for highschool grades. Students in Delaware take in grades 2 to 12 the DCAS, its provided by the state and graded also by him. At the end of highschool you have to take an Economic literacy test. For instance, here are some of the questions :
1. Suppose that the price of grapes increases by a large amount. What will happen in the short term to the quantity of grapes demanded? Explain why.

2. Which of the following best describes an opportunity cost for a student who chooses to quit a full-time job to go to college?
A) Paying state and federal income tax
B) Having a higher level of education
C) Giving up current wages and benefits
D) Paying for housing and meals

3. Which of the following changes is most likely to cause an increase in employment?
A) An increase in consumer spending
B) An increase in interest rates
C) A decrease in business investment
D) A decrease in income

New York state has also institute a test for highschool and some New York state's community colleges now ask for your score.

Poetry is so alive in the USA !

Poetry is a lively art in the US.
The black people used  after the emancipation this art to express their soul. Phillis Wheatley wrote her poems during slavery.

The writer Toni Morrisson said "The grace of black people is how they DO language".
Hear to Langston Hughes' poet when he is telling us "The Negro speaks of rivers" : http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15722#

I was delighted to hear Maya Angelou, 85 years old, recits some of her poems in the University of Delaware ; she was telling us again and again the hope that you see everytimes "a rainbow in the clouds".

Yesterday Rita Dove was talking about her last book Sonata mulattica, it's about the encounter between Mr Bridgetower, a Black violonist prodige with Beethoven at the end  of the 18th century ; she red a lot of poems that are inside.

Let the poem's magic spread !

They are crazy... but sometimes this craziness is so great !

Take for instance an elective course you could take in an Oregon High school this year : what are the diffrent pieces of a pig, a cow ? How to cut it? How to cook it? Students went in a farm to choose a pig, came with the pig into the slaughter house, bring the dead pig into the classroom, cut it and cooked it. Hum, tasty.
This skill is so important in a country where you can't find easily a butcher store and you don't see often farms as the agriculture is much more industrialized than in France.

So now in some part of the US, where farms are easy to find, with the Portland Meat Collective you can collectively, with neighbours and friends, buy a cow or a pig and do all the work on the animals to eat it at the end.