Weekly Web Roundup (12/10/16)

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

Here are some interesting items that I saw across the web over this past week:

Reimagining Racial Bridge Building in the Age of Social Media by Judy Wu Dominick

"I had indeed allowed my social media feed to become an interloper and provocateur in our marriage.  It makes me wonder about the extent to which the health and stability of all our face-to-face interactions, especially with people who are different from us, are being threatened by the endless electronic stream of quips, memes, rants, demands, news (both real and fake, trivial and earth-shattering), entertainment, propaganda, and sensationalism.  If the best-selling book EAT THIS, NOT THAT! helps people make healthier food choices that benefit their bodies, we need a similar guide for healthier internet consumption that benefits our souls, psyches, and bridge-building work.  A good start would be to choose the meaty over the bitty, the considered over the cutting, and reason over emotionalism."

Dakota Access Pipeline to be Rerouted by Caroline Kenny, Gregory Krieg, Sara Sidner and Max Blau (CNN)

"Celebrations, tears of joy, chanting and drumming rang out among thousands of protesters at the Standing Rock site after the Army Corp of Engineers announced it will look for an alternate route for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. For months, members of the Sioux tribe and their supporters have camped out, fighting the pipeline they say could be hazardous and damage the water supply of their reservation nearby. "People have said that this is a make it or a break it, and I guess we made it," Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe, announced to a cheering crowd of protesters."

Looking back at what really happened between Alabama and Rich Rodriguez 10 years ago by Paul Talty (AL.com)

"Ten years ago today, possibly the most important moment in Alabama football history took place in West Virginia. No, it wasn't the day Nick Saban, a West Virginia native, said yes to replacing Mike Shula. It was the day West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said no."

5 Powerful Ways Becoming A Morning Person Unlocks Your Leadership by Carey Nieuwhof

"Work patterns are a lot like traffic patterns: at 5 a.m. you have the road to yourself. At 8 a.m., it could take you three times as long to travel the same distance. These days I do everything I can to beat traffic, not just on the road, but in life. I do most of my shopping at off hours.  My wife and I have even begun to do off-season travel. Why? Because we end up having more time to do what matters most. Ditto with work."

6 Reasons to Get Better at Leading Meetings by Paul Axtell (Harvard Business Review)

"The ability to manage conversations so that they are productive, inclusive, and focused on getting work done is an organizational skill that transcends expertise. Being really good at a core discipline (say, marketing, business development, or social media) is important, but being an expert only gets you so far. If you can add to your repertoire of skills the ability to facilitate conversations, you’ll add more value to your organization, and be recognized for doing so."

Jimmy and Dwayne Johnson Surprise 'Tonight Show' Staffer with Military Homecoming

Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson recently surprised one of Jimmy's staffers. Watch the video. You won't regret it.

Weekly Web Roundup (9/3/16)

Photo Credit: bmward_2000

Here are some interesting stories from around the web that I've seen during this past week:

Colin Kaepernick's Protest is Part of Long Sports Tradition by Adam Howard (NBC News)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has received a substantial amount of flack for his recent refusal to stand while the pledge of allegiance is played before games. Personally, I appreciate Kaepernick's desire to bring attention to injustice but am concerned about what his approach communicates to our military. Be that as it may, it might surprise some that he's not the first to do this.

Hello Goodbye: The author of a best-selling abstinence manifesto is reconsidering the lessons he taught to millions by Ruth Graham (Slate)

Joshua Harris's book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" was a best-seller among evangelicals during the late '90s and early '00s. Now, nearly twenty years after it was published, Harris has regrets about how the book has impacted some people.

Even in a Multiethnic Church, Race Can Be a Minefield (Christianity Today)

"But here’s the beauty of a multiethnic church—the beauty and the mess: I’ve got these multi-ethnic faces there, which is wonderful, but the problem is, they all have different perspectives. Literally, after that message, I had an African American man come up to me and say, “I wish you would’ve pushed a little harder.” I had a white woman come up to me all offended because I’d pushed too hard. That’s the beauty and the mess."

Sin Of Talking Too Much by Paul Tautges (via Tim Challies)

"Years ago, my men’s small group discussed the discipline of the tongue. After reading a chapter in Disciplines of a Godly Man by Kent Hughes, and verses from Proverbs that address the issue, some of us were tempted to stop talking all together! However, we quickly realized this was not the answer. That would be too easy. The right response is the hard road of self-discipline. The hard road is the application of wisdom in the restraint of the most powerful muscle in our body. That got me thinking about the dangers of talking too much."

The Mania of Michigan Football by Robin Wright (The New Yorker)

"When Michigan makes a big play, and a hundred thousand people stand up spontaneously, without being told, and ‘Hail to the Victors’ kicks in, it’s the biggest choir in America. It’s not a business, it’s a religion—and one where everyone is welcome,” John U. Bacon, the author of “Endzone: The Rise, Fall, and Return of Michigan Football,” told me. “The Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa have both noted that the great disease of Western civilization is loneliness. Yes, it’s possible to be lonely in a crowd—but not this one."

Say Thanks to a Soldier

Thousands of American servicemen and women are currently overseas and are unable to spend the holidays with their families. Xerox is helping you to send a little piece of encouragement from home. Let's Say Thanks is a program where you can visit a website, choose a greeting card and Xerox will print and send it to a solider currently deployed overseas.

It only takes a minute and can be a small way to let a solider know that they are not forgotten and that their bravery is valued. Here's one thank you for a solider that benefited from the program:

"I wanted to contact you to say thanks for this outstanding effort to make our Military personnel feel a touch of home wherever they are. I have been deployed several times to various parts of the world. No matter what is going on around us, when we get encouraging words from home it seems to make a difference that is beyond description. Something as simple as words. Something as common as a crayon drawing. Something as appreciative as Let's Say Thanks. These things can mean the world when you are a world away."

- A Soldier

Please take a moment to visit http://www.letssaythanks.com/ today.