I took the family to Auschwitz today (we’re in Poland) and it cast a shadow over the day. As it should. It’s such a reminder of the human capacity for calculated evil. I had a great aunt, a member of the Polish resistance, who died here in 1943. I try to fend of the grimness by thinking of the courage of Aunt Izabela and so many others (including my late friend Elie Wiesel) whose humanity shone so brightly here. RIP all those who died in Auschwitz and Birkenau.
I was in Mississippi reporting on a project about the state’s progress in education—and what do I stumble across in a second grade classroom but this poster telling kids about opinion writing. I wanted to take it back to the @nytopinion columnists’ row! I was seriously impressed by how much progress Mississippi has made in early grade education. For children in poverty, it now ties for first in the nation in fourth-grade reading and is second in math. Who would have thought this possible in Mississippi? And that means no other state has an excuse for failing to get kids to read! Check out my column on it!
I was in Mississippi reporting on a project about the state’s progress in education—and what do I stumble across in a second grade classroom but this poster telling kids about opinion writing. I wanted to take it back to the @nytopinion columnists’ row! I was seriously impressed by how much progress Mississippi has made in early grade education. For children in poverty, it now ties for first in the nation in fourth-grade reading and is second in math. Who would have thought this possible in Mississippi? And that means no other state has an excuse for failing to get kids to read! Check out my column on it!
I was in Mississippi reporting on a project about the state’s progress in education—and what do I stumble across in a second grade classroom but this poster telling kids about opinion writing. I wanted to take it back to the @nytopinion columnists’ row! I was seriously impressed by how much progress Mississippi has made in early grade education. For children in poverty, it now ties for first in the nation in fourth-grade reading and is second in math. Who would have thought this possible in Mississippi? And that means no other state has an excuse for failing to get kids to read! Check out my column on it!
I was in Mississippi reporting on a project about the state’s progress in education—and what do I stumble across in a second grade classroom but this poster telling kids about opinion writing. I wanted to take it back to the @nytopinion columnists’ row! I was seriously impressed by how much progress Mississippi has made in early grade education. For children in poverty, it now ties for first in the nation in fourth-grade reading and is second in math. Who would have thought this possible in Mississippi? And that means no other state has an excuse for failing to get kids to read! Check out my column on it!
I was in Mississippi reporting on a project about the state’s progress in education—and what do I stumble across in a second grade classroom but this poster telling kids about opinion writing. I wanted to take it back to the @nytopinion columnists’ row! I was seriously impressed by how much progress Mississippi has made in early grade education. For children in poverty, it now ties for first in the nation in fourth-grade reading and is second in math. Who would have thought this possible in Mississippi? And that means no other state has an excuse for failing to get kids to read! Check out my column on it!
This article from 34 years ago today may be the one that I was saddest to write. You never forget witnessing a modern army turn weapons of war on unarmed civilians. But I also try to remember not only the brutality of the government and troops that night — or their lies today as they attempt to suppress that history—but also the courage of ordinary citizens who stood up to the army and tried to protect the protesting students. RIP, brave souls.
This article from 34 years ago today may be the one that I was saddest to write. You never forget witnessing a modern army turn weapons of war on unarmed civilians. But I also try to remember not only the brutality of the government and troops that night — or their lies today as they attempt to suppress that history—but also the courage of ordinary citizens who stood up to the army and tried to protect the protesting students. RIP, brave souls.
Much more interesting than my Tom McCall Lecture at @oregonstate University were these food delivery robots. You order food and a robot delivers it; you open it with your code to get your sandwich and coffee. Engineering students rock!
Sheryl @wudunn and I were dressing for a black tie dinner when I discovered that I’d left my cufflinks back home in Oregon. No problem: Sheryl fashioned cufflinks out of dental floss! A great life hack. I’m so glad I married up.
Any tropical disease experts out there? I met this man in northern Sierra Leone, and he told me he had had this unexplained open sore on his leg for more than six months. The doctors had no explanation (it wasn’t from trauma) and offered no treatment, and it wasn’t getting better. I think it might be Buruli Ulcer, and I wrote the words down for him and told him to show the hospital (where his wife works as an assistant nurse). But of course I have no idea, and one senior doctor in Sierra Leone I asked wasn’t even sure that Buruli Ulcer existed in the country. Still, I saw dozens of similar cases of Buruli Ulcer at a hospital in the neighboring country of Liberia, where it was likewise thought that Buruli Ulcer was exceedingly rare — and then once the hospital offered treatment, large numbers of impoverished farmers turned out to be affected. Most of the patients, like this man, were farmers who lived near swamps and were exposed to the stagnant water. This man was very stoical, because it must be excruciatingly painful. If it is Buruli Ulcer it can be treated with a cheap antibiotic like Rifampin. I can get a message to him and his wife through someone else in the city (Makeni) who has a phone and is on Whatsapp, so is you have suggestions, let me know.
Happy Fathers Day! This is my dad and me in the 1980s on a visit back to the Valsetz logging camp where he worked and learned English after arriving in Oregon as a refugee in 1952. He was an extraordinary man who shaped me in a thousand ways.
That’s me at 11 with my goats on our family farm. I dug up the photo because I wrote this weekend about a girl in California who raised a goat for 4-H, fell in love with it — and then was told by her county fair to give it up for slaughter. I think the little girl knew something many don’t: There’s no bright line between the pets we pamper in our homes and the “beasts” abused by factory farming systems in our barns.
One of the best things about having an apple orchard is…the blossoms! @kristoffarms
Happy World Cider Day, from our cider apple orchard! The bees did their pollination very well, and it looks as if we’ll have a good harvest this fall. We also are going to launch three of our 2022 ciders next weekend at a party in Portland, so if you’re in the area do swing by (RSVP first on kristoffarms.com). One of the new ciders is a Pinot Noir co-ferment, and it’s delicious!! More info on the @kristoffarms website. People sometimes wonder why I mess with farming and cider, and I think there are two reasons. First, I don’t paint or do music, so creating great cider is my artistic outlet. Second, I love my column but it’s sometimes like shouting in the wind. On the other hand, if an apple tree is leaning precariously, I can stabilize it and the problem is solved in an instant. Very satisfying!!
Happy World Cider Day, from our cider apple orchard! The bees did their pollination very well, and it looks as if we’ll have a good harvest this fall. We also are going to launch three of our 2022 ciders next weekend at a party in Portland, so if you’re in the area do swing by (RSVP first on kristoffarms.com). One of the new ciders is a Pinot Noir co-ferment, and it’s delicious!! More info on the @kristoffarms website. People sometimes wonder why I mess with farming and cider, and I think there are two reasons. First, I don’t paint or do music, so creating great cider is my artistic outlet. Second, I love my column but it’s sometimes like shouting in the wind. On the other hand, if an apple tree is leaning precariously, I can stabilize it and the problem is solved in an instant. Very satisfying!!
Happy World Cider Day, from our cider apple orchard! The bees did their pollination very well, and it looks as if we’ll have a good harvest this fall. We also are going to launch three of our 2022 ciders next weekend at a party in Portland, so if you’re in the area do swing by (RSVP first on kristoffarms.com). One of the new ciders is a Pinot Noir co-ferment, and it’s delicious!! More info on the @kristoffarms website. People sometimes wonder why I mess with farming and cider, and I think there are two reasons. First, I don’t paint or do music, so creating great cider is my artistic outlet. Second, I love my column but it’s sometimes like shouting in the wind. On the other hand, if an apple tree is leaning precariously, I can stabilize it and the problem is solved in an instant. Very satisfying!!
Hard to beat Magdalen College, Oxford! Back with Sheryl for the Rhodes Scholarship 120th anniversary celebration. So many warm memories.
A couple of glimpses from my visit to Sierra Leone — which, as I write today, is very poor but also progressing in a way that fills me with hope. These are two sisters I met in a village in northern Sierra Leone, and the video clip is of kids serenading me with a farewell when I finished interviews at their village school. Hope!
A couple of glimpses from my visit to Sierra Leone — which, as I write today, is very poor but also progressing in a way that fills me with hope. These are two sisters I met in a village in northern Sierra Leone, and the video clip is of kids serenading me with a farewell when I finished interviews at their village school. Hope!
So many firsts: The first president to be federally indicted, the first president to be impeached twice, the first president to be indicted twice — and perhaps still more indictments to come along with the possible title of first president to be imprisoned.
The launch of our 2022 @kristoffarms cider! More than 100 cider lovers turned out for the event at @the_place_pdx, a cider bar in Portland. Here I’m with Sheryl @wudunn and @ckristof97 and @yadng_ — and assistant security officer @tux.talk. Chief Security Officer Connie was on the farm, keeping the bears and gophers off. We had been sold out of cider but now have the new ciders in stock at KristofFarms.com and are shipping to most of the country. We’re enjoying this. With the crucial help of @baumanscider, making a great cider is like cooking a delicious meal for thousands of your friends!
The launch of our 2022 @kristoffarms cider! More than 100 cider lovers turned out for the event at @the_place_pdx, a cider bar in Portland. Here I’m with Sheryl @wudunn and @ckristof97 and @yadng_ — and assistant security officer @tux.talk. Chief Security Officer Connie was on the farm, keeping the bears and gophers off. We had been sold out of cider but now have the new ciders in stock at KristofFarms.com and are shipping to most of the country. We’re enjoying this. With the crucial help of @baumanscider, making a great cider is like cooking a delicious meal for thousands of your friends!
My new column argues that we’re on a collision course with China, creating a risk of a global catastrophe. Time for both sides to take a deep breath. Here’s the column: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/12/opinion/china-usa-war-avoid.html Read and share your thoughts!
