Misc. Reading: Engaging Your Kids With Their Disabled Peers, Abortion Facts, TransCanWork, Pot Monopoly, And Thai Restaurants

1.  Thoughtful advice on how you and your children can engage a disabled child you run into by a father.

From  Daniel T. Willingham in the LA Times:

"Embarrassed parents will try to distract their child, or drag him away, probably delivering a “don’t stare” lecture once out of sight. But you can’t blame a 4-year-old for staring at a child who looks different. His curiosity is natural.
Staring at people feels wrong because it’s how we respond to an object — a skyscraper, or a waterfall. When we look at people, we usually send a social signal — a smile, for example — that acknowledges their humanity. Staring isn’t staring if you’re smiling. Or waving. Or if you say hi. That turns staring into a bid for interaction. So don’t try to stop your little one from looking at Esprit. It probably won’t work anyway, and it may be interpreted as indicating there’s something dreadful or forbidden about her. Just tell your child to wave. And don’t worry if he asks an awkward question, like, “Can’t she talk?” That’s a welcome chance for us to introduce Esprit."

2.  Do you need numbers when you're discussing abortion?  Abortion Study by National Academies Of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Offer Data on Abortion In The US


3.  As Anchorage defeated Prop 1 at the April 3 election, I thought this LA Times article was a good one today.  (Prop 1 would have reversed existing protections for transgender folks.)  It's about Michaela Mendelsohn who owns the Pollo Loco franchise in LA and transitioned to a woman 11 years ago and was thrilled to learn that one of his managers had hired another transgender woman.

"This prompted Mendelsohn to found TransCanWork, a nonprofit organization that trains businesses in best practices for hiring transgender workers and helps transgender people have equal access to employment.
“Trans people of color are over three times more likely to be unemployed and over seven times more likely to be living in poverty, under $10,000 a year, because of difficulty in getting employment,” Mendelsohn said. 'And so when I heard her story, I realized how fortunate I was to have transitioned as the boss of my own company.'”

4.  Is BioTech Institute LLC getting a patent that will allow it to take a cut of all cannabis sold?  Here's from a long CQ story by Amanda Chicago Lewis:

"According to Holmes, a secretive company called BioTech Institute LLC had begun registering patents on the cannabis plant. Three have already been granted, and several more are in the pipeline, both in the U.S. and internationally. And these are not narrow patents on individual strains like Sour Diesel. These are utility patents, the strongest intellectual-property protection available for crops. Utility patents are so strict that almost everyone who comes in contact with the plant could be hit with a licensing fee: growers and shops, of course, but also anyone looking to breed new varieties or conduct research. Even after someone pays a royalty, they can’t use the seeds produced by the plants they grow. They can only buy more patented seeds.
“Utility patents are big. Scary,” Holmes said. 'All of cannabis could be locked up. They could sue people for growing in their own backyards.'”

5.  The Surprising Reason that There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America

This article credits the number of Thai restaurants in the US (and the world) to a Thai government agency that promotes them as part of a tourism campaign that began in 2000.  I would just note that when I got back to LA after my Peace Corps service in Thailand in 1970, there were NO Thai restaurants in LA.  But soon there would be one, then two, the three, then things just exploded.  It was only much later that I learned about the  Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (H.R. 2580; Pub.L. 89–236, 79 Stat. 911, enacted June 30, 1968, also known as the Hart–Celler Act.  From Wikipedia:

"The Hart–Celler Act abolished the quota system based on national origins that had been American immigration policy since the 1920s. The 1965 Act marked a change from past U.S. policy which had discriminated against non-northern Europeans.[2] In removing racial and national barriers the Act would significantly, and unintentionally, alter the demographic mix in the U.S.[2]"

The US' doors were then opened to Thais and others.  Thai immigrants began opening restaurants, and because their food and hospitality are so good, the soon spread to all parts of the US.  That was 30 years before the Thai government started promoting Thai restaurants and helping their owners.