Dear Daughter,
Tomorrow you leave for overnight camp, the first time you will be away from home for more than a night and/or not under the supervision of a loving Jewish grandparent.
Overnight camp is one of the true gifts of your young life – a reward, if you will, for all of the hardwork you put into school and dance and following (most) of the rules the rest of the year. I wanted to give you some fatherly advice as you head out for what I'm sure will be the most fun you've ever had.
Use bug spray like it's going out of style. Your bites balloon up nicely so don't be bashful. Trust me, you'll be glad you lathered it on.
Initiate new friendships. All your existing friends will be here when you get back. Learn about people from other places, what they like and what they do....
Lifestyle
Dear Mr. Buffett:
I hope this letter will please you. For one thing, this is the first open letter addressed to you in, gosh, nearly a month. What's more, I won't ask you for money, investment advice, or a tax-deductible contribution. I simply hope to point out the possibility of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse, and thereby to do good by doing well.
2014-12-28-WarrenBuffett.jpg
(Original image: Aaron Freedman, lic. Creative Commons)
As you surely know, dozens of coal-fired power plants, representing over 40 gigawatts of electrical power, are due to be shut down in the next few decades. Among them are a couple of generators near Sioux City that you own via your holdings in MidAmerican Energy. To settle a lawsuit, MidAmerican agreed in 2013 to shut down two of its...
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Dear JPMorgan Chase Directors,
I own some JPMorgan Chase (JPM) shares through mutual funds in my retirement account. I have read Mr. Dimon's recent letter to Shareholders and some of his public comments. I write to urge you to reconsider JPM's actions related to capital regulation. For the overall economy as well as for JPM, these actions are misguided.
Why I am writing
The economic pain from the financial crisis was substantial and is still being felt. A major cause of the crisis was the excessive leverage used and the risky investments made by many financial entities. The resulting distress of large institutions was extremely costly and disruptive to the economy.
Bank debt involves legally-binding promises. Shareholders, by contrast, do not have fixed claims but are entitled...
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This is a criticism of our generation. Not generation as in "the millennials" overall, but specifically millennials that of Chinese decent, including myself.
I realized today that we are hypocrites. We spend time laughing and criticizing others for their faults and failures, yet we don't recognize our own. The privileged flaunt our wealth recklessly and the under-privileged spend our days green with envy and call the privileged names like "prince-lings" and "富二代".
To the privileged: do we forget the struggles made by our parents? Our families and our childhood raised us with quotes like "Ask not what your country could do for you, ask what you can do for your country" (John F. Kennedy) and "With great power comes great responsibility" (Stan Lee/Issac Asimov), yet we are the first...
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Picture this: You've had the worst day at work are physically and emotionally drained, and you open the door to your gorgeous woman smiling at you, wearing only stilettos and fishnet thigh-highs and holding your favorite cold beverage ...
Want this life? Read on ...
When you need to use the restroom, close the door. Every single time. See, we used to think it was cute you felt so comfortable around us, but, eventually, we're going to think it's nas-tay. If we ask you why you started closing the door, let us know that you're just trying to save our marriage. Also, make sure you tell us the same thing. Don't be rude about it, though. We are highly sensitive. Say something like, "Hey, baby, you know I love all of your body and hotness, but, if your body wants to kick something...
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Dear Suzy Lee Weiss,
My name is YingYing Shang, and I am also a current high school senior. To be specific, an Asian-American female from a relatively wealthy suburb of Philadelphia.
Going into the college admissions process, I was just as nervous as we all were. Just like you, I weighed my stats. I realized that if we were strictly talking profiles, I was perhaps even more disadvantaged than you were. Asian-Americans are an "overrepresented minority" at top colleges and need an SAT score of 140 points higher than average to be accepted to the same places.
My parents are not "tiger parents," despite being immigrants, and like you, I've also never picked up a violin in my life. For three years, I was the slowest person on my school track team.
Coming from an Asian-American...
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Dear Mr. Marlow,
The Human Rights Foundation recently became aware of the sale of merchandise at Urban Outfitters emblazoned with the image of communist leader Che Guevara, at times accompanied by the word "revolución." As a nonprofit organization dedicated to the defense of human rights, we would like to bring your attention to Guevara's bloody and anti-democratic legacy.
Although Guevara's image has appeared on countless items for consumption over the last few decades as a symbol of change for the better, Guevara's actual record is that of a brutal tyrant who suppressed individual freedom in Cuba and murdered those who challenged his worldview.
Guevara undoubtedly played a key role in the overthrow of the dictatorial Batista regime in January of 1959. However, despite promises...
2,354
Dear Facebook,
I'm quite certain that when you set out to create the "On This Day" feature for your users, you had only the best intentions in mind.
I imagine you thought it would be fun for people to see what they were up to a year ago and perhaps even insightful to have the chance to reflect on how they have grown or changed over the past year. However, I fear that in the development of this feature you neglected to think about its impact on one particular group of people – those who have experienced significant loss in their lives.
Allow me to elaborate. It was an easy-going Sunday morning; I was perusing my Facebook mobile app while sipping my latte and then, suddenly, something on my newsfeed brought my sunny morning to a screeching halt: A picture of me and my mother from...
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Dear Gov. Nixon,
For the last several months, the nation's eyes have been on Ferguson, Missouri. Few had heard of this small St. Louis suburb until Michael Brown was shot and killed by a member of the city's police department – whose mission is supposedly to serve and protect. Now this community is an infamous global symbol of the nation's continued struggle for racial equality and the troubling trend of police militarization.
Jesus proclaimed, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, "True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice." These are not idealistic thoughts or nice sentiments to be dismissed when tensions and conflict arise. Rather, they are...
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Dear Jay Z and Beyoncé,
Did you expect that around the world, vegans would be tweeting and chatting, writing and talking about your bold decision to go vegan for 22 days? I'll bet you did -- maybe your friends Marco and Gwyneth clued you into the fact that for vegans, the prospect of two of the world's biggest celebrities joining our ranks -- even if only for 22 days -- is a big deal. Maybe that's even part of the reason why you decided to try out the lifestyle -- to put the heft of your fame and influence behind something that matters so much to people you care about.
I think it's fair to say that lots of us vegans care as much about our cause as you do about the vital work of The Shawn Carter Foundation. I'll even go a step farther -- some of us make little distinction between...
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