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Friday, February 2, 2018

Paid in Full - Kaep's Million Dollar Pledge

An excerpt from CNN -

While you were arguing about the anthem, Colin Kaepernick just finished donating $1 million
By AJ Willingham, CNN

CNN)People like to talk about Colin Kaepernick. But while everyone was busy arguing over the on-field protests he spearheaded two years ago, the free agent NFL quarterback was putting his money where his mouth is.

On Wednesday, Kaepernick completed a pledge he made in September 2016: To donate $1 million to organizations working in, what he called, oppressed communities.
The donations spanned the country and touched on a wealth of social issues: Homelessness, at-risk families, education, community-police relations, prison reform, inmates' right, reproductive rights, hunger and more.

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/31/sport/colin-kaepernick-million-dollar-donation-pledge-anthem-nfl-trnd/index.html

The Blackest Season

An excerpt from the Huffington Post -

The Blackest Season In NFL History
By Jamil Smith, Columnist

In 1933, the National Football League suddenly became monochromatic. The “gentleman’s agreement” to ban black players was reportedly set in motion, poetically enough, by the owner of the Washington franchise that still uses a racial slur as its team name. Baseball, then the national pastime, was conspicuously a white-only affair. Professional football was still a niche sport at the time, and thus could practice its discrimination more discreetly. Even the breaking of its color line in 1946 ― with two signings each by the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns ― seems all but forgotten in the context of Jackie Robinson’s debut the following year.

Things are different now, and they are not. The NFL’s 32 franchises are still owned almost universally by white people, but the percentage of black players hovers just above 70 percent. Those athletes play mostly for the pleasure of a majority-white fan base. Still, it was tough to describe the NFL before this season as unmistakably black, despite the epidermal clarity. The league’s own mechanisms for generating fan interest have aided in the distillation of the players’ humanity to injury reports and fantasy points. The race of its players only seemed to come up in maudlin pre-game feature segments about the rough neighborhoods from which their NFL fortunes delivered them. African American life, through the lens of pro sports, has largely been something to escape, and the playing field or the court is both the means of deliverance and the promised land.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-smith-superbowl-kaepernick_us_5a711e2de4b0a6aa4874562c

Racial Profiling is Real

An excerpt from the AP -

Only on AP: For NFL players, racial profiling often personal
By ERRIN HAINES WHACK and FRED GOODALL

A son who saw a police officer hold a gun to his father’s head. A husband whose wife was pulled over driving a Bentley.

These unsettling scenes are among the stories from some of the NFL’s marquee players, multimillionaires sharing tales of racial profiling by law enforcement. It is a troubling concern for people of color that has been at the center of the protests begun in August 2016 by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

The protests have waned, but the ongoing issue for players — and the black communities they come from — has not.

The Associated Press surveyed 56 of the 59 black players at last weekend’s Pro Bowl game as part of its look at how African-American athletes have long used their sports platforms to effect social and political change. The AP asked the players whether they or someone they knew have ever experienced racial profiling.

All said yes.

https://apnews.com/986f72af56b44b9f9ec9efc824a33cbb

Rent Party Jazz read by Viola Davis

Forced Arbitration | January 31, 2018 Act 2 | Full Frontal on TBS

Prime Time Toe

Remembering Langston


Weasels and Liars

An excerpt from the Huffington Post -

James Comey Defends FBI, Says History Will Catch Up To ‘Weasels And Liars’
“Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy,” the ex-FBI director said.
By Lydia O’Connor

Former FBI Director James Comey broke his silence on the White House’s efforts to a release a secret Republican memo alleging FBI bias against President Donald Trump, tweeting Thursday that “weasels and liars” will reap what they sow.

“All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would,” Comey wrote in reference to the agency’s strong opposition to releasing the memo crafted by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.

Comey’s mention of “the FBI speaking up” is a reference to a statement the bureau issued on Wednesday that effectively said the GOP-authored memo was nonsense. The statement said he bureau had “grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/comey-nunes-fbi-memo_us_5a739ba3e4b06ee97af107ac

Climb Inside Thailand’s Three-Headed Elephant

Sanitized History

An excerpt from the Huffington Post -

American Students Aren’t Learning The Full Truth About Slavery
Students often get only a superficial view of the atrocity that built the country, a new study finds.
By Rebecca Klein

American students are being taught an inadequate and often sanitized version of history when it comes to slavery, according to a new report.

The report, from the Southern Poverty Law Center, looks at how slavery is  presented in K-12 classrooms and found that students are often taught a deeply incomplete version of events. Students learn inspirational stories ― about figures like Harriet Tubman and good Samaritans who helped slaves reach freedom in the underground railroad ― before they learn about the horrors of enslavement. When they learn about slavery, it is often presented as an isolated, albeit unfortunate phenomenon, disconnected from white supremacist ideologies that abetted it and the racism that continues as a pervasive part of American life today.

Only 8 percent of high school seniors surveyed by an independent polling firm for the study identified slavery as the primary reason for the Civil War. Almost half identified tax protests as the main cause.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/schools-teaching-slavery_us_5a7243cbe4b03699143f144f

Gringo Trailer #1 (2018) | Moveiclips Trailers

Black Vegans Rejoice

An excerpt from Essence -

This Black-Owned Vegan Restaurant is Helping Brooklyn Become Greener, One Meal and Juice at a Time 
By SIRAAD DIRSHE

In many inner-city communities, particularly low-income ones, access to healthy food options is still very limited. It's oftentimes easier and much cheaper to find a fast food hamburger, then say a salad. Twenty-one-year-old Francesca “Sol” Chaney noticed this inequality and thought it unfair.

"The wellness community can be really classist," Chaney tells ESSENCE. "Our intention [with Sol Sips] is to make organic plant-based beverage and bites available to everyone," she says.

As a full-time student, who worked three jobs, Chaney found herself constantly on the hunt for nutrient dense food that she could consume quickly. "At the time, I had just moved out on my own and began brewing teas and making juices and smoothies. I saw that they were working and I was feeling more energized and lighter," she says. So she began making her newly minted recipes for friends and family.

https://www.essence.com/beauty/black-owned-vegan-restaurant-brooklyn-sol-sips

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Ed Sheeran - Bibia Be Ye Ye

Santana - While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Ex-husband gets the house in the divorce, but ends up having a smelly su...

Obama: Dad was gone, I used to get high

Show 'Em What's Underneath: Michaela DePrince

I'm Not The Only One - Sam Smith (DSharp - Violin Cover)

Am I Wrong - Nico & Vinz | Damien Escobar Cover

Violinist Kills Closer ��

How Backflipping Black Figure Skater Surya Bonaly Changed Sports Forever

Between the Scenes - How Woke Is Too Woke?: The Daily Show

Peyton Manning: Vacation Quarterback | Super Bowl Spot

Alexa Loses Her Voice – Amazon Super Bowl LII Commercial

Damn!

From the Huffington Post -

Donald Trump Jr. Fails Miserably In Twitter War With Joy Reid
Junior brought a slingshot. Reid had brought an arsenal.
By David Moye

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-jr-joy-reid-twitter-war_us_5a722c1ce4b03699143ef9ae?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009


A Shameful History

From Atlas Obscura -

How Photographers Captured the Incarceration of Japanese Americans During WWII
A new exhibition examines a dark history.
BY ANIKA BURGESS

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-photographer-captured-incarceration-japanese-americans-wwii-miyatake-lange-adams-albers

Monday, January 29, 2018

Hillary Clinton, Cardi B & More Audition for "Fire & Fury" - 2018 GRAMMYs

Spreading Joy

From the Huffington Post -

I Just Had The Most Surreal — And Profound — Flight Attendant Experience In My Life
By Noah Michelson

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jetblue-flight-attendant-surreal-zach_us_5a6dc1f1e4b0ddb658c744c0?section=us_huffpost-personal

Fake Book Covers on the Subway PART TWO

There are Only 4 Passport Colors in the World, and This is the Reason Why

How a Steel Box Changed the World: A Brief History of Shipping

The problem with online charter schools

The Power of Positivity | Brain Games

Inside the Mind of a Dog

Camila Cabello's Heartfelt Dreamer Speech (Grammy's)

Petra

As beautiful as these photos are, they don't capture the absolute splendor of this place.  It is truly spectacular.

From USA Today -

https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/destinations/2018/01/26/petra-jordan-beautiful-photos-of-the-rose-city/109802270/

Having Fun With Architecture

From CNN -

Mimetic architecture: Why does this building look like a fish?
By Cathy Adams

http://www.cnn.com/style/article/mimetic-architecture-osm/index.html

King Louie



https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/animalkind/2018/01/28/cat-so-popular-he-has-over-10-owners/1070343001/

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Come Sunday - Sundance 2018

go hard or go home

Your face is the punchline. In a nice way.

Bruno Mars | Finesse (Remix) [feat. Cardi B] | Jeremy Green | Cover

Rise Up - Syncopated Ladies - Music Andra Day

Stanford Viennese Ball 2013 - Opening Committee Waltz

Why should you listen to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"? - Betsy Schwarm

Lukas Graham - 7 Years / Lean On (Violin & Viola Mashup)

"I Am A Slave" - The Roots Meet Schoolhouse Rock - black-ish

And Still I Rise

Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Foamcore House!

Friday, January 26, 2018

When the Lifesaving Gadget Puts You In Jail

An excerpt from Gizmodo -

What Happens When the Computer That Keeps You Alive Can Also Put You In Jail?
By Kristen V. Brown

When Ross Compton’s Ohio home caught fire last September, the story he told police was that he grabbed a few things and rushed out of the house, hurling essentials out a bedroom window he broke open with his cane before scrambling out himself.

Police, though, were suspicious. Compton’s few things had included a computer, a suitcase packed with clothes and the charger for the external heart pump that he needed to survive. It seemed unlikely that a 59-year-old man with a pacemaker and a heart pump would have been able to gather all those things and make it out of a burning house alive. But police were stumped on how exactly to make arson charges stick.

In the end, it was his pacemaker that did him in.

After obtaining a search warrant for all the electronic data stored in Compton’s pacemaker, police determined that his device did not corroborate his story. His heart rate, pacer demand and cardiac rhythms all suggested that Compton had not in fact quickly bundled up all his most prized possessions and left in a hurry as his house went up in flames. Last month, with the help of the pacemaker data, he was indicted on charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud.

Privacy issues are moving under our skin—now the devices that keep us alive and healthy can also be used against us in the court of law.

https://gizmodo.com/what-happens-when-the-computer-that-keeps-you-alive-can-1792236550

"Miracle on 42nd Street" Trailer — Exclusive

Why danger symbols can’t last forever

Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges & Universities Offi...

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Magnesium-infused deodorant helps you smell & feel great.

Run, Don't Walk

From Business Insider -

Relationship experts say these are the 8 red flags to look out for when you start dating someone — and some are surprisingly common
 By Lindsay Dodgson

http://www.businessinsider.com/relationship-red-flags-you-should-look-out-for-2018-1/#1-you-justify-their-bad-behaviour-1

Did They Survive?

Racing For Many

An excerpt from the Washington Post -

From Ghana to Virginia to PyeongChang: Maame Biney’s long journey on short track
By Rick Maese

Biney, 17, is the first African American woman to ever qualify for an American Olympic speedskating team, and at the PyeongChang Games she promises to be one of the most charismatic members of the U.S. Olympic team. Her journey to the Winter Games is like few others. Her father often jokes that in Ghana, ice is used solely to keep beer cold, so his daughter's chosen pursuit might draw some confused looks back in the country of her birth. Even in the United States, short-track speedskating is a niche sport that pokes its head into the mainstream every four years.

But when the PyeongChang Games begin next month in South Korea, the spotlight will find Biney. NBC will make her a focal point in the Olympics' opening week, certain her story will connect with American viewers: the youngest woman on the U.S. short-track team, a possible medal contender who can connect with youth, with African Americans, with sports fans of all backgrounds.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/classic-apps/from-ghana-to-virginia-to-pyeongchang-maame-bineys-long-journey-on-short-track/2018/01/23/206aa13a-fa29-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.abb48b5f99a9

Sharing Kindness

From Buzzfeed -

People Are Sharing The Kindest Things Strangers Have Ever Done For Them And The Stories Will Warm Your Heart
You never know what a big difference a little kindness can make.
By Julie Gerstein

https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliegerstein/people-are-sharing-the-kindest-things-strangers-have-ever?utm_term=.xgZN2Eyx3#.byZNb7ZqB

The awkward debate around Trump's mental fitness

No Sh*t Sherlock

An excerpt from the Slatest -

Report: Tourism to the U.S. Down 4 Percent Since Trump Took Office
By MOLLY OLMSTEAD

Travel to the U.S. has been declining since Donald Trump took office, leading to a cost of $4.6 billion in spending and 40,000 jobs, according to NBC News.

A report by the National Travel and Tourism Office found that last year saw 4 percent less travel into the U.S., translating into 3.3 percent less spending, NBC reported. As a result, Spain has overtaken the U.S. as the second-most visited country in the world after France.

This “Trump Slump” in part stems from the president’s anti-immigration language. More intense security and a weaker dollar likely also played a role.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/donald-trump-hurting-us-tourism-according-to-report.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=traffic&utm_source=TheSlatest_newsletter&sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d

New Oral HIV Test

An excerpt from 2Paragraphs -

Stanford Scientists Develop New Oral HIV Test for Early Detection
by 2Paragraphs in Daily Edition

Oraquick, an oral HIV test on the market today (photo by Marcello Casal JR/ABr via Wikimedia Commons)


Getting blood from a potentially infected person is not as easy as getting saliva. Let’s start there. Many people and cultures resist syringes — and drawing blood, even for those who don’t resist on principle, is a more cumbersome process than collecting spit in a cup. Problem is: it’s a lot easier to detect early stage HIV in blood than in saliva. While the antibodies that develop to fight the virus are hard to miss in a blood sample, in a saliva sample it’s less easy to detect HIV antibodies. (Fewer HIV antibodies are present in saliva, especially near the beginning of the infection.) Enter Stanford University chemists, working with the Alameda County Public Health Laboratory. The chemists, led by Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi, developed a way to get those HIV antibodies in saliva to act in a way that made them detectable.

https://2paragraphs.com/2018/01/stanford-scientists-develop-new-oral-hiv-test-for-early-detection/

Fetch

Why Puerto Rico is not a US state

Gerrymandering: Because America Can Hack Its Own Elections: The Daily Show

Sunday, January 21, 2018

5 Reasons Why The Japanese Are So Polite

TEN FOLD ENGINEERING

COMMENTARY: WFAA anchor, daughter of Haitian immigrants responds to Trum...

Say au revoir to toilet paper.

Magnificent Rocks

From National Geographic -

Magnificent Ancient Buildings Hewn From Living Rock
From towering temples to artistic tombs, humans have been carving structures from cliff faces and mountainsides for thousands of years.
By Kristin Romey

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2018/01/structures-carved-from-rock/

Then Came the Sun

Tammy Duckworth SLAMS President Trump as a Draft Dodger, Nicknames Him C...

An Aussie Winner


https://www.essence.com/celebrity/tennis-haitian-japanese-naomi-osaka

Trump Doctor Press Conference Cold Open - SNL

Hamilton – “Wrote My Way Out” (Nas, Dave East, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Aloe...

15 Things That Come to the Rescue In Case of Emergency

Immigration, Ethical Dining, Comedy vs. News | Overtime with Bill Maher ...

Trevor Noah Turns Donald Trump's Words into a Bad Reggae Song

Ford Has Created A Trucker Hat To Wake Sleepy Drivers

You Are the Sunshine of My Life (Stevie Wonder) - Solo Jazz Guitar

Saturday, January 20, 2018