Santa Claus can deliver presents this year (video)

 

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

Adopt a Christmas letter

 

For more than a century, it was a simple way of making a child’s dreams come true during Christmas. Volunteers could go to the post office, sift through piles of letters that children had sent to Santa Claus and pick one — or more — that tugged at their heartstrings. Gifts were then acquired, wrapped and shipped to families whose space beneath the tree might otherwise be bare.

With the coronavirus pandemic still raging, however, the U.S. Postal Service is taking its annual “Operation Santa” campaign nationwide and letters to Santa are uploaded to the Operation Santa website.  Postal customers can read them and choose to send gifts with their responses, with a signature saying it’s from Santa (or St. Nick, Kris Kringle or any of Santa’s many names).

“Covid-19 has caused undue hardships, both financial and emotional, to so many Americans this year,” Kimberly Frum, a spokeswoman for the Postal Service, said in an email. “The program provides kids and families with an opportunity to receive gifts during the holidays from anonymous, generous postal customers.”

Operation Santa expects to receive a record surge in letters this year — and not just because it's the first time in the program's 108 year history that the Postal Service has expanded it nationwide.

As of Friday morning, more than 23,000 of the letters had been adopted, and USPS continues to refresh its site with new letters each day.

Erlanger Turner, a clinical psychologist who specializes in parenting and child behavior, says letters to Santa can be a beneficial exercise for kids' mental health.

"Narrative therapy approaches, where we write out our feelings and emotions and experiences, is really helpful," said Turner. "You could definitely see in the letters that kids are witnessing stress that their parents are feeling, in terms of financial concerns."

The letters to Santa, he added, can provide a starting point for families to begin talking about some of these difficult subjects.

"Sometimes parents don't even mention those things or have conversations with them about their financial struggles, but kids see things," said Turner.

To this day, Damion DiGrazia is driven by the thoughtfulness behind a gift he received through Operation Santa.

DiGrazia had been living in low-income housing with his two siblings and his single mother when she told him he should write a letter asking Santa for two things — "just in case Santa can't get one or the other," he recalled.

He wanted an alarm clock — to help him "be more independent" — and a radio for entertainment. When Christmas arrived, he got something he couldn't even imagine he wanted: a two-in-one alarm clock radio.

"It was the best thing ever," said DiGrazia.

About five years ago, he started his own Operation Santa spinoff program, eventually leaving his career on Wall Street. He founded Santa's Knights, a nonprofit in New York City's Harlem neighborhood that runs its own holiday letter adoption effort.

Earlier this month, a letter with a distressing request landed in his inbox.

Eight-year-old Morgan wrote, "This year has been hard for my family. We had to leave our house. Could you help Santa?"

Morgan's mother, Jeanine Campbell, was searching for charities that might help give her young daughters a merrier holiday when she discovered DiGrazia's site. That's when she helped her two girls, London, 3, and Morgan, write a letter to Santa. The family is asking for warm clothes, diapers and Barbies.

In March, Morgan’s mother, a teacher from St. Petersburg, Fla., lost her second job — helping kids at an after-school learning program — when classes went virtual. Then, over the summer, the 33-year-old said she emptied her savings. But a reply from Santa's Knights was a bright spot amid the stress.

"I was very blessed when I got an email that said that they would do whatever they can to help the kids," Campbell said. "I was overjoyed."

"They keep asking me, 'Mommy, did Santa get our letters?' " she said. "Before this happened, I wasn't sure that they would have anything. It's really moved me to be able to be so happy that, yeah, Santa's going to get them — he'll do what he can. I'm so grateful because I didn't know, I really didn't know that this was going to happen."

From NPR News (edited)

Why did NYC oldest bookstore website crush? (video)

 

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

'Daddy Dressed Me' founder (audio)

 

You can also listen to this audio file by clicking on the Play Button

A 4-day workweek for 5 days’ pay

Unilever New Zealand will begin a one-year experiment to allow all 81 of its employees to earn their full salaries while working one day fewer per week, a move the company said might actually boost productivity and improve employees’ work-life balance.

The company, which imports and distributes Lipton tea, Dove soap, Vaseline and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, is the latest to experiment with the long-discussed four-day workweek.

Nick Bangs, managing director of Unilever New Zealand, said the four-day-week experiment is a fundamental shift in how the company views its work force.

“Our goal is to measure performance on output, not time,” Mr. Bangs said. “We believe the old ways of working are outdated and no longer fit for purpose. The goal is to get the same amount of work done in fewer hours for the same pay.”

The move to a four-day workweek has been around for decades. Anyway, in a work-centric culture, people simply are not wired to unplug from the office, particularly in industries like finance, medicine and consulting.

Social changes, like the push to work remotely, might lead to a reformulation of what success actually requires.

Chris Bailey, the author of the books “The Productivity Project” and “Hyperfocus” says that producing 40 hours of work in 32 hours takes more than a firm deadline.. The other ingredients are energy and attention.

As for Mr. Bangs in New Zealand, he is leading by example.

“Yes, I will be working a four-day week,” he said. “I have three young children, so I’m looking forward to spending more time with them, as well as using the extra time to learn new skills.”

 

From The New York Times (edited)

Fights over politics and relationships (video)

You can also watch the video by clicking on the Play Button

Hawaii and remote workers

CNN - What better way to survive a pandemic than to do it on a beach in Hawaii?

For anyone who finds the idea dreamy, Hawaii is offering free round trip tickets to Oahu to out-of-state remote workers who want to live and work there while contributing to the state's economy.

The state launched the temporary residency program, known as "Movers and Shakas," in collaboration with schools and businesses. It's accepting its first group of applicants until December 22.

"Movers and Shakas is a small step towards economic recovery and diversifying our economy," Jason Higa, the group's founder, told CNN.

"The pandemic," he said, "has normalized remote work for the foreseeable future, so we believe this situation presents an opportunity for local residents to return home, and for out of state professionals to experience Hawaii, not as tourists, but as contributing members of our community."

Fifty people will be chosen for the first cohort. To apply, you must be a remote worker and at least 18 years old.

Participants will have to move to Hawai'e within one month of being selected and must spend at least 30 consecutive days in Hawaii.

"Hawai'i currently has the lowest rate per capita of Covid infections in the country, also making it one of the safest places to live and work," according to the program's news release.

"Movers and Shakas" is specifically looking for individuals who want to contribute to Hawaii's local communities.

Those accepted into the program are required to commit a few hours every week to a nonprofit where they can use their knowledge and skills.

Though the program will accept remote workers from across the United States, it's also geared towards former Hawaii residents who want to return.

Among those people is Richard Matsui, a Movers and Shakas founder who recently returned to Hawaii from San Francisco.  He told CNN

"I was born and raised in Hawaii and my dream was to move back home. The pandemic normalized remote work and I took the opportunity to relocate home."

Matsui also pointed to one of the program's central goals: to help diversify the economy.

"Beyond bringing in valuable dollars into our local businesses, the real value of the program is bringing talented knowledge workers who will help to build our communities through volunteer work and to make our economy more resilient," Matsui said. "On the one hand, the pandemic is an enormous crisis, but on the other it presents Hawaii with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to diversify our economy."

 From CNN (edited)

Celebrity chef Vikas Khanna (audio)

 

You can also listen to this audio file by clicking on the Play Button

Managers and the pandemic

Businesses are still struggling to understand which of the pandemic’s effects will be temporary and which will turn out to be permanent. 

Three new reports attempt to analyze these longer-term trends. One is from Glassdoor, a website that allows workers to rank their employers. Another is from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a management consultancy. The third is from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), a British professional body. Read together, they imply that firms stand to benefit—but that managers’ lives are about to get more difficult.

One change that is all but certain to last is employees spending more of their time working at home. The Glassdoor report finds that less commuting has improved employee health and morale. Splitting the week between the home and the office is also overwhelmingly popular with workers: 70% of those surveyed wanted such a combination, 26% wanted to stay at home and just 4% desired a full-time return to the office. Perhaps as a consequence, remote work has not dented productivity—and indeed improved it in some areas. Flexible work schedules can be a cheap way to retain employees who have child-care and other home responsibilities.

Telecommuting offers other potential cost savings, and not just the reduced need for office space. Remote workers do not need to live in big cities where property is expensive. If they live in cheaper towns and suburbs, companies don't need to pay them as much. Glassdoor estimates that software engineers and developers who leave San Francisco could eventually face salary cuts of 21-25%; those quitting New York could expect reductions of 10-12%. As the report points out, remote employees are, in essence, competing with a global workforce and are thus in a much weaker bargaining position.

Despite its advantages, a remote workforce brings challenges for managers, as the third report demonstrates. The CMI surveyed 2,300 managers and employees. The survey shows that the experience of remote working has not been uniform. Of those working virtually, 69% of women with children want to work at least one day from home when the pandemic ends, compared with 56% of men with kids.

The results highlight just how important effective communication is to good management. They also unearthed an interesting difference of perspective: nearly half of senior executives thought they were engaging employees more in decision-making since the pandemic, but only 27% of employees agreed.

Ironically, though managers may have feared that remote working would allow employees to slack, it may be that managers have not been up to the challenge. Bosses may have spent too much time videoconferencing and not enough speaking directly with subordinates.

In a world of remote working, employees stress how the employer communicates with them. Not so much “management by walking around” as management by phoning—or Zooming—around. It is time to get dialing.

 

From The Economist (edited)

A car sale with a twist (audio)

 You can also listen to the audio file by clicking on the Play Button

Tourism in 2021

 

Travel in 2021 will be easier than in 2020. More flights will take off and land. A greater number of countries will welcome visitors. There will be fewer restrictions. But those gains will come, as statisticians like to say, from a very low base. After a year in which flights came to a near-complete standstill, many countries closed their borders and those that still allowed visitors imposed restrictions, even the slightest loosening will be a welcome improvement.

The signs are encouraging. By September 2020, 115 of the 217 destinations tracked by the UN World Tourism Organisation had loosened their travel restrictions. Global hotel-occupancy rates more than doubled from a low of 22% in April to 47% in August. And travellers are willing to get going. According to Skyscanner, a price-comparison website, there is plenty of pent-up demand

  Three big changes will define travel in 2021. The first is frequency and length. Short breaks  across  borders will remain difficult. As they open, most countries will impose two-week  quarantines on incoming and returning travellers, turning a three-day holiday into a 31-day ordeal.  As a result, trips will be fewer and longer. Thailand, which depended on tourism for more  than 20% of its GDP in 2019, is will admit tourists. But the condition is that they stay for at least 90 days. More countries will follow suit.

A second change is distance. Domestic tourism will boom in 2021. Big destination countries are trying to make up for the shortfall in international visitors by encouraging citizens to holiday at home. In America, airlines are betting on Hawaii. Singapore is giving its citizens $75 US dollars to spend on local ­attractions. Even Airbnb’s home page encourages its customers to “go near”. Holidaymakers will not be difficult to persuade. Going abroad, although possible, will remain a hassle: countless forms, the need for covid-19 tests and the risk of being stranded will all discourage foreign travel.

The third change will be in the nature of the holiday. As trips get fewer and longer, those who can work from home will find an attractive alternative in working from somewhere-a-lot-nicer-than-home, and with fewer restrictions on movements.

  Many of these changes will persist long after a vaccine has been widely         deployed. Travellers will get used to longer trips, more flexibility and combining      work with leisure. International tourism will eventually recover to its 2019     levels. But, starting in 2021, it will look rather different.

 

From The Economist (edited)

Filmmaker remembers Diego Maradona (audio)

You can also listen to this audio file by clicking on the Play Button

Amazon under fire in France

PARIS - Amazon is under fire in France, where a number of elected officials, union leaders and NGOs want to boycott the U.S. company for Christmas. Critics accuse the technology giant of taking advantage of COVID lockdowns and of engaging in unfair competition with small shop owners. The company says it is generating many jobs in France.

“Dear Santa Claus, this year, we want to celebrate Christmas without Amazon” - that is the beginning of a petition that signed by almost 25,000 people in France as of Thursday. 

The mayor of Paris, Greenpeace, and some famous French writers have all added their names to the petition. 

Critics accuse the U.S. company of tax evasion, social dumping and not being environmentally friendly. Among their biggest complaints is that Amazon continues to operate and make huge profits amid the pandemic while local shop owners remain closed due to the health restrictions in France.

Matthieu Orphelin is the French lawmaker who initiated the call to boycott Amazon for Christmas.

“We invite people to purchase their Christmas gifts from local merchants," Orphelin said. "All around the world, Amazon is killing the local economy thanks to their aggressive business model. We do not fight against innovation, but we want to protect our welfare state, our planet, our local economy from predators like Amazon.”

Labeled as non-essential, gift shops and many others are in distress. Small businesses fear they might not recover from the second lockdown and blame what they say is unfair competition from Amazon.

Francis Palombi is the head of the French federation of small retailers.  He says Amazon has been accumulating sales over the past months in France while small shops remain closed for a second time due to the pandemic.

The online retail giant has seen a sales boost in the range of 40 to 50 percent according to Fredric Duval, director of Amazon in France. Duval went on French public radio and said he is sorry that opponents describe Amazon as the villain while the American company has developed business in France and has invested roughly $11 billion dollars  in the country since 2010. Duval also says that Amazon creates direct and indirect jobs and 130,000 people in France work thanks to Amazon.

Under COVID guidelines, small shops will soon reopen according to tentative, unconfirmed plans by the French government.  President Emmanuel Macron will speak in the coming days to confirm whether the government plans to lift the lockdown.

From VOA (edited)

How do you charge this car? (audio)

 

You can also listen to this audio by clicking on the Play Button

New book on Joe Biden

 Born: November 20, 1942 in  Pennsylvania, USA

Education:    College of Law - Syracuse University (1968),  University of Delaware (1965),  Archmere Academy (1961)

Spouses:  Neilia Hunter (1966–1972) Jill Biden (m. 1977), 

Children:  He had his three eldest kids—*Hunter, Beau, and **Naomi Biden—with his late wife, Neilia Hunter.

                  He had his youngest daughter, Ashley Biden, with his second wife

* Hunter passed away in 2015 after battling brain cancer.

**Naomi was 1 year old when she died in a car crash in 1972. Her mother, Neilia, also passed in the same accident.

New Yorker writer Evan Osnos, who writes about the Democratic presidential candidate in his new book, Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now, notes that the 2020 election represents Biden's third bid for the presidency.

In 1987, during Biden's first run, "he was regarded as a bit of an arrogant guy," Osnos says.

That campaign ended abruptly after Biden was accused of plagiarizing a speech by British politician Neil Kinnock.  The joke became that Joe Biden was not an authentic person. It took him a while to acknowledge that it was his own arrogance that cost him that race.

Within a few months of dropping out of the race, Biden nearly died from two brain aneurysms. He was rushed to the hospital, where the doctors called in a priest to deliver last rites. Biden survived brain surgery but spent months in recovery.

More than 30 years later, Osnos sees a candidate who has come to terms with the tragedies and mistakes that have shaped his life.

"If you talk to the 77-year-old Joe Biden now, he's a man who is at peace," Osnos says. "He's at peace from a series of hard-won scars. And it's a very different mindset than he had back then."

 

Highlights of interview with writer Evan Osnos

• On how Biden was defined by the tragic death of his wife, Neilia, and baby daughter, Naomi, in a car accident in 1972

When it happened, the reality is that Joe Biden did not expect to take his seat in the Senate. He thought that period of his life was over. He didn't see practically or spiritually how he could go on. The reality was he considered suicide. Some older members of the Senate said to him, "You need to do this not only because it's the right thing to do for your voters, but it's also the right thing to do for you personally, because if you don't do something, you will cave in." His sister Valerie told me that one of the ways that they were able to get him off the floor, in effect, was by telling him, "You have two boys at home now who have no mother. And if you collapse, then they have nobody."

Biden struggled in that period with what it meant to become this kind of public symbol of grieving. widower and father. He didn’t like that. His image of himself was that he was the college football player who'd been elected to the Senate and in his 20s, and that's what he had the idea that he could become a great foreign policy statesman. That's what he wanted to be. He didn't want to become a symbol of human vulnerability. But it was thrust upon him and he had to decide whether to embrace it or rebel against it or something else. ...

It was only later in his life, after the death of his son Beau in 2015 when Biden came to accept more fully that that's something that people wanted from him as a political person. They wanted actually somebody in politics to talk to them about something like suffering and like vulnerability. And he embraced it, but he didn't come to it quickly. It took a long time for him to acknowledge that.

• On what Biden stood for in his early years in the Senate

In his very early years as a senator, he was a moving target politically. I mean, to be blunt about it, he was more concerned about being reelected than he was about specific policy items.

• On Biden's work on domestic issues

On the domestic front, one of the things that he defined himself by was being active on issues of law enforcement and crime and punishment. He was one of the authors of the Violence against Women Act, and he was active very much in the crime bill of 1994. So these became some of the issues that he was best known for. He was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which is a very powerful position. And all of those began to give him more stature as a kind of technician in the ways of Congress. He was somebody who knew how to get things accomplished. 

From NPR (edited)

Outdoor gyms (captions)

 

You can also watch the video by clicking on the Play Button

Digital nomads and Bali

 

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

Beethoven’s letter auction record

Dallas (AP) – A letter from composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was auctioned in the United States for $ 275,000.

Auction house Heritage Auctions announced Friday that it ia one of the highest prices achieved in recent years for a piece of writing by the Bonn-born composer. In the pre-auction phase, a price of $ 60,000 was expected.

“It was a complete surprise because it goes beyond what his letters normally carry,” said Sandra Palomino, head of Rare Manuscripts at Heritage Auctions. “Beethoven rarely hits the market, but this has excited people because he talks to us about his music.”

In the handwritten letter on one page, Beethoven asks a Mr. von Baumann to return the scores for a piano trio and promises to return them along with a violin sonata within a few days. According to the auction house, the document was a little crumpled and yellowed, but overall in good condition.

According to Heritage Auctions, the new owner of the letter is a pianist who initially wanted to remain anonymous and who two years ago bought a lock of Beethoven’s hair.

 

The letter means a lot to her. “Beethoven was my refuge in my childhood,” the auction house said, citing the successful bidder. She is planning to donate the document to the New York music college where she studied.

From Associated Press

 

Luxembourg and Brexit (audio)

 

You can also listen to this audio file by clicking on the Play Button

When your last name is Frankenstein

People who have the last name Frankenstein face a life of perpetual bad jokes and surprised expressions. Sharing a name with the iconic monster of fiction means constantly explaining yourself.

In real life, many Frankensteins are good humored about it.

Forrest Frankenstein, 49, of Harrison, Ohiowho used to work in the construction industry. He says his name has been a reliable source of amusement — like the time when he was pulled over and the police officer looked at his driver’s license and asked: “Forrest Frankenstein? How the hell did you get a name like that?”

He replied: “Look at the ID; I’m junior. I got it from my father.”

Frankenstein’s two daughters — Desarae, 21; and Tristen, 23 — hated their name when they were younger.

Kids can be brutal when picking on other kids, but they don’t dare make fun of their teacher, at least to their face, said Jeff Frankenstein of Beaver, Pa. He is a music teacher and band director at New Brighton Middle School, where he said kids are surprised at first, but then they get used to having Mr. Frankenstein as their teacher.

As an introduction to the class, he simply says with a straight face, “Hi, I’m Mr. Frankenstein.” No explanation or elaboration.

“I try to be as normal with it as possible because I want to set a good tone for the year,” said Jeff Frankenstein, 37.

When he was a kid, Jeff Frankenstein got teased a lot by kids who called him a monster. But he soon grew to adore his name.

“I’m very thick-skinned; it really takes a lot to bother me,” he says.

He and his wife — Hillary, also a music teacher — have always embraced the humor of their name. At their 2008 wedding reception, the new Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein made their grand entrance to the song “Frankenstein” by the Edgar Winter Group.

After the wedding, they got T-shirts that said “Frankenstein” and “Bride of Frankenstein.”

The couple met in college at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, where most of Jeff Frankenstein’s friends called him Frankie; his girlfriend, though, just called him Jeff. She happily dropped her maiden name of Williams and changed her last name when they got married.

Hillary and Jeff Frankenstein — who have two kids, Hannah, 7, and Isaac, 4 — have Frankenstein paraphernalia around the house, including a sign in the kitchen with a picture of the monster and even a personalized Frankenstein doormat.

Daniel Frankenstein of New York City enjoys joking around with people about his name. The co-founder and partner of the venture fund Janvest Capital Partners introduces himself as “Daniel Frankenstein, like the monster.” He ran for student government in college at the University of California at Berkeley with the slogan “Vote Frankenstein. He’s not a monster.” It turned out to be a winning slogan.

When he was a kid, his family got a lot of “Is this the house of Frankenstein?” calls around Halloween.

Before his first day of kindergarten, his father sat him down and said, “Listen, tomorrow starts the rest of your life when people are going to give you crap for your name. Never let anybody laugh at you; laugh with them.” George Frankenstein gave young Daniel some lines he could use as comebacks. If someone said he had a funny name, he could reply with, “What’s wrong with Daniel?”

Now his name is a business asset because nobody ever forgets Daniel Frankenstein, even months after meeting him — though it can be awkward because he doesn’t always remember everyone who remembers him.

But not all Frankensteins have a lifelong appreciation for their name. Childhood was rough for Guy Frankenstein, 54, who got bullied for both his first and last name. Kids would imitate the stiff Frankenstein walk and asked if the bolts in his head needed tightening.

“You’re looking rather green today,” kids used to say.

“When I was younger, it was a pain,” said Guy Frankenstein, who met Forrest Frankenstein two years ago through their daughters on Facebook and thinks they might be distant cousins.

But these days Guy Frankenstein’s kids — Jacob, 26; Johanna, 25; Makenna, 21; Tristen, 19; and Alivia, 13 — don’t get teased about their name, he thinks probably because Frankenstein as a character isn’t as popular as it once was.

Shelley’s book introduced him in 1818, and the movie “Frankenstein” starring Boris Karloff came out in 1931. The TV show “The Munsters,” featuring Herman Munster as a Frankenstein-like character, ran in the 1960s, and the comedy “Young Frankenstein” — a favorite of the real Frankensteins — came out in 1974.

Hillary and Jeff Frankenstein's personalized doormat at their Pennsylvania home

From The Washington Post (edited)

San Francisco Chinese food legend dies at 100 (audio and video)

You can also access the audio and video files by clicking on the Play Buttons below

London's air quality improvement (captions)

 

You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button

Funny signs

 

“Toilet out of order.  Please use floor below.”

In a Laundromat:  “Automatic Washing Machines:  Please remove all your clothes when the light goes out.”

In an office:  “Would the person who took the stepladder yesterday please bring it back or further steps will be taken?”

In an office:  “After tea break, staff should empty the teapot and stand upside down on the draining board.”

Outside a second-hand shop:  “We exchange anything – bicycles, washing machines, etc. Why not bring your wife along and get a wonderful bargain?”

Notice in health food shop window:  “Closed due to illness”

Spotted in a safari park:  “Elephants, please stay in your car.”

Seen during a conference:  “For anyone who has children and doesn’t know it, there is a day care on the 1st floor.”

Notice in a farmer’s field:  “The farmer allows walkers to cross the field for free, but the bull charges.”

Message on a leaflet:  “If you cannot read, this leaflet will tell you how to get lessons.”

On a repair shop door:  “We can repair anything. (Please knock hard on the door – the bell doesn’t work.)”