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Kate Hudson isn’t one to play favorites when it comes to fashion. When Nylon asked the actress which Italian label gets her top pick, she was hard-pressed to choose: “Oh, that’s hard. I mean Valentino’s Valentino, you know? He’s an icon. But I love Giambattista Valli,” she says, before adding, “But honestly, I love all clothes so much. It’s the best part of the morning, getting dressed.” Her enthusiasm also extends to iconic American designer Bob Mackie, who outfitted her mom, Goldie Hawn, and recalls times spent in his studio surrounded by “all these beads and sequins,” and says, “It was amazing to watch him build clothing around my mother. A great designer knows how to make a woman’s body look great, not hide it.” Hudson also acknowledges her penchant for feminine frills (“I love, like, a big ruffle here and there,”) but refuses to limit herself to any one look: “I just put on what I feel like. Some days I feel really girly, but sometimes I feel masculine. Today I just woke up and was like ‘I want to wear a suit.’ It’s Bottega Venetta, by the way.” For more of Kate’s fashion commentary go to nylonmag.com. –Emily Hsieh

George Washington said in 1783 that our borders were open for the wealthy and educated and oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions, who were free to participate in all our rights and privileges – if these newcomers followed American standards of decency and proper conduct. He wanted them to assimilate to their new country’s values. And most of them did. Most of these European immigrants considered themselves Americans and never saw their homelands or families again. This was mainly because travel to Europe was difficult, not because the new country insisted on it, although it made assimilation easier to accomplish.
The goal used to be for all immigrants of different backgrounds to “melt” into a new race of people. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, this ideal was challenged when we were encouraged to celebrate diversity and move beyond this melting pot. Assimilation was changed to multi-culturalism.

Multi-culturalism is promoted by many, but it doesn’t give the people a common goal, belief or even language anymore. Many of the immigrants here now have no knowledge of the history of this country and no interest in learning it. They have no loyalty to any common idea or belief, and often don’t consider themselves Americans. A large number never learn English and never learn their rights or responsibilities and never become a part of this country. What can we do to help them become Americans?

The task of assimilating into a new culture doesn’t rest with the people already there, it is the responsibility of the immigrants to take advantage of the opportunities that are offered to them in their new home. They must try to adapt to life in this country. It doesn’t mean they should forget their own customs, it doesn’t mean they should change entirely, but it does mean they should do their best to learn the language and the rules.

When Americans look back at their history of immigration, they assume that assimilation is a relatively easy process, since their parents and grandparents did it. But it is very hard for immigrants to give up old languages, customs and practices so they can be absorbed into their new society. Most people possess a strong, passionate attachment to their own culture and way of life and in most cases, they are emigrating because of poverty in their own country. If their country offered them a good life for their families, most of them would stay home.

We need the immigrants who are here and will need more all the time. We should find a way to combine the assimilation we used to strive for and the multi-culturalism that so many want now. We have to convince these new people to become Americans without giving up all of the customs from their former homes.
We need more Americans, not just citizens (or non-citizens) living here who never fit in.

original from: Donna Poisl

souce from : c h r i s s a l i b a . b l o g s p o t . c o m

John Szwed, who is a professor at Yale University, writes well enough. And he is thorough in all the information he gives you about the recordings of Miles Davis, peppering the text with lots of fascinating bits and pieces of information. Yet the way it is all presented is rather lacklustre. Why not allow yourself some enthusiasm for what you write about?

Interspersed between the academic mini-biographies of Davis’s albums, there are biographical details of Davis’s actual life: the women, drugs, health problems etc. Indeed, half way through the book there’s an unnumbered chapter (between chapters five and six) simply called Interlude where the author writes about Miles Davis’s personality, with no musical references whatsoever.

This is the odd thing about So What, and why I guess you walk away feeling that the book is lacking some human essence. So What for the greater part examines the discography of Miles Davis, but does it in a kind of quarantine from Miles Davis the man. To me it had always seemed that the biographer has the job of trying to explain the music by the life, and vice versa. Usually both intermingle in a pleasant way that provides meaning for the reader.

It’s not all bad though. Running to 400 pages, there has to be quite a bit of biographical detail, and for Davis nuts, you’re going to find lots of details that you probably didn’t know of. There are also some fascinating quotes from friends and colleagues of Davis, who do their bit to psychoanalyse him.

Needless to say, Miles Davis was an extraordinarily complex man. Someone who was very, very enigmatic and mysterious, even, I would dare venture, to himself. He was full of paradoxes and contradictions. Painfully shy, yet extroverted. Someone who abused women, but needed them to mother him. You get to the end of this biography and realise that you have to be satisfied with not knowing what really drove Miles Davis to make the music he did. Perhaps the only answer is to listen to the music to try and find the answer there.

This book was not so bad, it’s just that I would expect a book on Miles Davis, a major twentieth century artist, to be a page turner. Could you imagine Picasso or Hitchcock getting such a prim and rigid biography of their life and achievements?

There’s a very useful website called JiWire. They have a database of almost all the public Wi-Fi hotspots in the United States and various countries. With with the economy in the drains these days who has money to pay for Wi-Fi. Well you’re still in luck, many of the

All you have to do is select your country, select a state/province, and tell them your city and zipcode. A list of hotels, bars and coffee shops in your area that provide Wi-Fi

What kind of experiences have you had when using free Wi-Fi?