In Navajo Nation, a Basketball Elder Earns Respect; New York Times, 1/1/17

Michael Powell, New York Times; In Navajo Nation, a Basketball Elder Earns Respect:

"Mendoza took a battery of tests and aced math. He applied to a college and was awarded grants. He met his wife, Marjorie, a Navajo, in college. She got pregnant, and they dropped out. Mendoza worked in a factory, making $30,000 a year.

It was good money, yet again he felt an ache: He wanted to coach and teach children to navigate new worlds. When he quit his factory job, his friends hooted: “You’re crazy! You won’t make any money teaching!

He paused, laughing.

“Sure enough, my first job at Window Rock, I made $9,500 a year.”

Mendoza has worked ever since as a guidance counselor and coach in the Navajo Nation and the Apache Nation in the White Mountains. His wife teaches on the reservation.

These nations are bounded by mountains and forests and buttes, with embracing clans, leaders and spiritualism woven deep. Each is poor, plagued by alcoholism and drug abuse and fractured families...

The Apache reservation suffered an epidemic of teenage suicide. Mendoza is a master at infusing the rez ball whirlwind with offensive and defensive discipline. His proudest accomplishment, however, was this: None of his teenagers took their own lives.

“I told the kids, ‘I understand, I knew fear,’” he said. “I learned how anger can affect you.”"

Donald Trump’s speech introducing Mike Pence showed why he shouldn’t be president; Vox, 7/16/16

Ezra Klein, Vox; Donald Trump’s speech introducing Mike Pence showed why he shouldn’t be president:

"On Friday night, as the attempted coup in Turkey progressed, Matt Yglesias wrote about his efforts to imagine Trump in the Oval Office as the crisis unfolded. "Picture Donald Trump on a series of calls with advisors and heads of government from around the region, and inside the NATO alliance, devising a constructive response to a coup attempt in Turkey," he wrote. "Good luck."

On Saturday morning, as Trump prepared to brag about his hotel business before introducing Pence, he briefly turned to the issue. Keep in mind he had the whole night to prepare.

"So many friends in Turkey," Trump said. "Great people, amazing people. We wish them well. A lot of anguish last night, but hopefully it will all work out." Ladies and gentleman, the next President of the United States, Donald Trump!

I know many who want to support Donald Trump, who fear Clinton ideologically or simply dislike her personally, and so they are hoping, hoping, hoping that Trump will reveal a new side to himself, that he will prove himself equal to the responsibilities he seeks to absorb. But he’s been given that opportunity again and again, and he keeps failing it.

This was a fun speech to watch, and insofar as the presidential campaign is one of America’s favorite reality television series, Donald Trump is an outstanding participant. But this was also a scary speech to watch, and insofar as the presidential campaign is a test to see who has the character, the discipline, and the seriousness to be President of the United States, Trump is failing it. We need to stay shocked."

Is Music the Key to Success?; New York Times, 10/12/13

Joanne Lipman, New York Times; Is Music the Key to Success? : "Mr. Todd, now 41, recounted in detail the solo audition at age 17 when he got the second-highest mark rather than the highest mark — though he still was principal horn in Florida’s All-State Orchestra. “I’ve always believed the reason I’ve gotten ahead is by outworking other people,” he says. It’s a skill learned by “playing that solo one more time, working on that one little section one more time,” and it translates into “working on something over and over again, or double-checking or triple-checking.” He adds, “There’s nothing like music to teach you that eventually if you work hard enough, it does get better. You see the results.” That’s an observation worth remembering at a time when music as a serious pursuit — and music education — is in decline in this country. Consider the qualities these high achievers say music has sharpened: collaboration, creativity, discipline and the capacity to reconcile conflicting ideas. All are qualities notably absent from public life. Music may not make you a genius, or rich, or even a better person. But it helps train you to think differently, to process different points of view — and most important, to take pleasure in listening."