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Sunday, May 20, 2018

Sick & Tired

An excerpt from the Huffington Post -

Houston Police Chief Says He’s Sick Of Inaction On Gun Control
“I’ve hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue,” he said.
headshot
By Sebastian Murdock

Acevedo said he has had enough inaction when it comes to protecting children.

“Today I spent the day dealing with another mass shooting of children and a responding police officer who is clinging to life,” the police chief wrote Friday. “I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve shed tears of sadness, pain and anger.”

~~~~~~~~~~
FACEBOOK POST -

Art Acevedo
May 18 at 7:43pm ·

To all my Facebook friends. Today I spent the day dealing with another mass shooting of children and a responding police officer who is clinging to life. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve shed tears of sadness, pain and anger.

I know some have strong feelings about gun rights but I want you to know I’ve hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue. Please do not post anything about guns aren’t the problem and there’s little we can do. My feelings won’t be hurt if you de-friend me and I hope yours won’t be if you decide to post about your views and I de-friend you.

I have never accepted the status-quo in anything I do and I’ve never accepted defeat. And I won’t do it now. I will continue to speak up and will stand up for what my heart and my God commands me to do, and I assure you he hasn’t instructed me to believe that gun-rights are bestowed by him.

The hatred being spewed in our country and the new norms we, so-called people of faith are accepting, is as much to blame for so much of the violence in our once pragmatic Nation.

This isn’t a time for prayers, and study and Inaction, it’s a time for prayers, action and the asking of God’s forgiveness for our inaction (especially the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing).

I close by saying, I wish those that move on from this page the best. May God Bless you and keep you.

https://www.facebook.com/ChiefArtAcevedo/posts/1676298439150998

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/houston-police-chief-says-he-is-sick-of-inaction-over-gun-control_us_5b003eefe4b0a046186c4346

Bigger Venue


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/05/19/the-royal-weddings-teenage-cello-player-skipped-his-u-s-debut-to-play-in-the-ceremony/?utm_term=.8c1bc098f199

Why white Americans don’t see themselves when they hear the word ‘race’

God Friended Me (CBS) Trailer HD - Brandon Micheal Hall, Violett Beane d...

Weekend Update: Bishop Michael Curry - SNL

Dog Works As A Batboy At Baseball Games

Misty (Solo Jazz Guitar)

Saturday, May 19, 2018

The Ancient Tradition of Camel Racing, as Seen From Above | National Geo...

Ice Cream Sandwiches | How It's Made

Why am I not at the Olympics?

‘I Found My Purpose’: Hip-Hop Violinist Damien Escobar Shares Inspiring ...

Good Advice

https://www.facebook.com/illdoctrine/videos/1668494939854006/

The Top 25 HBCU Athletes

From the Undefeated -

We rank ’em: The Top 25 HBCU athletes of all time
Althea Gibson, Jerry Rice and Earl the Pearl, Sweetness represent the best of HBCU athleticism
BY DONALD HUNT

https://theundefeated.com/features/best-hbcu-athletes-top-25/

Another One to Watch

An excerpt from the Undefeated -

How Harold Varner III signed with Jordan Brand, played TPC in Air Jordan 3
Golfer first caught the eye of Hornets executive Fred Whitfield
BY MARTENZIE JOHNSON

Harold Varner III finished at 12 under par at last weekend’s Players Championship, tying for seventh place. It was the 27-year-old’s first top-10 finish in nearly a year, and yet most of the attention from non-hard-core golf fans wasn’t on him winning $331,375.

The internet was raving about his shoes.

While sinking seven birdies during the final round at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Varner was rocking a pair of white Air Jordan 3s, catching the eye of sneakerheads across the country who probably don’t watch non-major championships or tune out when Tiger Woods isn’t on the course.


https://theundefeated.com/features/how-harold-varner-iii-signed-with-jordan-brand-played-tpc-in-air-jordan-3/

Mouthwash?

From AARP -

Get More Out of Mouthwash Than Just Fresh Breath 8 unusual ways to put your mouth rinse to work
by Cheryl Bond-Nelms

https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2018/household-uses-mouthwash-fd.html

Hair Braiders In New Jersey Are At Constant Risk Of Losing Their Jobs (HBO)

Exploring a Coal Mine Stuck in Time

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How Actors Fake Cry In Movies

One to Watch

https://www.imdb.com/videoplayer/vi2696723225

The White Side is the Most Colorful

An excerpt from VerySmartBrothas -

Is It Safe to Admit I’m Just Happy It’s the White Side of Meghan Markle’s Family Acting a Damn Fool?
By Damon Young

Basically, her (white) peoples appear to truly be some white people’s white peoples. And while it’s unfortunate that she has to go through this during what should be a joyous time for her, I have to admit to a perverse glee at seeing her white half show their whole, entire asses to the whole, entire world. While Markle’s blackness has been the story and the controversy, her black mom has stayed out of the limelight and will actually be at the wedding, while her white family seems committed to finishing their round of uncouth bingo.

Of course, respectability politics—the idea that if we (black people) alter our behavior to attempt to appease some arbitrary standard of mainstream decorum, our humanity will command more respect—is a fucking fraud. I know this. You (probably) know this. And if you didn’t know, you just learned today.

That said, I’m still tickled when white people display the sort of behavior we’re expected to. Which means I’m tickled quite a bit. I’m tickled all of the fucking time. I exist in a perpetual state of tickle. And I thank the Markle clan for making that whole “superior race” thing even funnier.

https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/is-it-safe-to-admit-im-just-happy-its-the-white-half-of-1826105027

History in the Making

Thursday, May 17, 2018

The Jacksons - Blame It On the Boogie

She Cooks for 100 People! (in Timor-Leste)

The Robots Roaming the High Seas

What Happened to Japanese-American Farmers? |AJ+

New Migraine Meds

An excerpt from the NY Times -

New Drug Offers Hope to Millions With Severe Migraines
By Gina Kolata

The first medicine designed to prevent migraines was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, ushering in what many experts believe will be a new era in treatment for people who suffer the most severe form of these headaches.


The drug, Aimovig, made by Amgen and Novartis, is a monthly injection with a device similar to an insulin pen. The list price will be $6,900 a year, and Amgen said the drug will be available to patients within a week.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/health/migraines-prevention-drug-aimovig.html?emc=edit_na_20180517&nl=breaking-news&nlid=38867499ing-news&ref=cta

Celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month With Us

Trevor’s Solution to Unnecessary 9-1-1 Calls - Between the Scenes | The ...

Fancy Some Chicken Pudding for Dessert?

Meet the Arbor Video Doorbell - Approved by the Big Bad Wolf

Monday, May 14, 2018

How This Holocaust Survivor Became A Tailor For US Presidents And Celebr...

The Volcano That Burns Blue

Prelude from Bach Cello Suite No.1 - Kevin "K.O." Olusola

Hidden Meanings Behind Childish Gambino's 'This Is America' Video Explained

Switzerland Has A 24/7 Cheese Vending Machine

Why Stradivarius violins are worth millions

The Swamp

From the New Yorker -


"The Swamp" by John Cuneo.

Against the Odds

An excerpt from the AP -

Against the odds: 3 black doctors detail journey to success
By CHEVEL JOHNSON


NEW ORLEANS (AP) — One used to deal drugs on the streets of New Orleans. Another grew up in Chicago with two drug-addicted parents. A third survived the tough streets of New York and Washington, D.C., where he once stared down the barrel of a gun.

All three young black men became board-certified doctors.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Pierre Johnson, Maxime Madhere and Joe Semien Jr. said they knew the odds were stacked against them when they entered Xavier University of Louisiana in 1998 with hopes of becoming doctors. Black men make up a small percentage of doctors in America, and they knew getting through college and medical school wouldn’t be easy.

Their early lives, college struggles, and victories are chronicled in “Pulse of Perseverance: Three Black Doctors on Their Journey to Success.” They said they wrote the book to show African-American boys that athletes and entertainers aren’t the only examples of black achievement and success.

https://apnews.com/d28276d9a22048c88861bb637a557c02

Sunday, May 13, 2018

How Bricks Are Made

This Man Turned a Car Into a Motorbike to Escape the Desert

Building A Bike That Looks Like A Car

One-on-One with Dr. Terence Keel: AOTA Ep. 2 Extra

Why are some people left-handed? - Daniel M. Abrams

Log Cabin TIMELAPSE Built By ONE MAN In The Forest

Plate like a pro with these quick and easy dinner party plating tricks |...

Celebrate Mother’s Day With These 5 Incredible Stories

Responding to Racism

An excerpt from the Root -

Black Oakland Electric Slides on Racism by Throwing Big Ass Cookout in Park Where White Lady Called Cops
By Angela Helm

What’s the best way to deal with pervasive, persistent and blood-pressure rising racism on the daily, as well as give a big fat fuck you to gentrification and the criminalization of black folks? Why throw a cookout, of course!

In a pointed response to a recent incident where a white woman thought it her civic duty to call the police on a few black couples using a grill in a public park, the melanated masses of Oakland threw their own party at that very same site, Lake Merritt Park.

Check out the video at the link below.

https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/black-oakland-electric-slides-on-racism-by-throwing-big-1825981027

Police Called on Sleeping Black Student & Trump Meets Hostages from Nort...

Saturday, May 12, 2018

L. Young - Luther Vandross Tribute

Black in America

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10212262518343741&set=a.1153550404558.2023283.1401614751&type=3

Getting some air, Atlas?

HBCU Love

An excerpt form the Huffington Post -

What If We Loved Real HBCUs As Much As We Love Beyoncé’s?
By Taryn Finley

After one semester at my beloved HBCU, I recognized what I was missing when looking at my identity. Pre-Howard, I was conditioned to always juxtapose my blackness against the concept of whiteness, not fully understanding how powerful it is to appreciate my background outside the context of oppression. That limited me to a very narrow and monolithic view of what blackness can be.

Contrary to popular belief, HBCUs do prepare students for the real world, and they do a damn good job at it.

But black colleges show their students the beauty and expansiveness that blackness already is on its own. For me and others who shared this mindset, Howard, Spelman, Morehouse, NCAT, Hampton, Fisk and any of the more than 100 other HBCUs are pivotal. Not only do they center blackness in academia (even my math classes would turn into black history lessons at times), but they also provide spaces for their students to be fully embraced by faculty and their peers alike, fostering a sense of community and mentorship.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-finley-hbcu-beyonce_us_5ae0d38de4b04aa23f1eb5e3

Deja Vu

An excerpt from Slate -

The Privilege of 911
White people should call the police less. Minorities should be able to call them more.
By HENRY GRABAR and MARK JOSEPH STERN

On Tuesday, a white graduate student at Yale called the police to report that one of her black classmates was napping in a dorm common area. The ensuing encounter between the police and the student, Lolade Siyonbola, who is getting a master’s degree in African studies, was captured in a video that has drawn national attention to the case.

It’s the latest in a string of recent incidents in which white Americans have called the police on their black neighbors for nothing at all: In Philadelphia, it was Starbucks while black. In Rialto, California, Airbnb while black. And in New Haven, Connecticut, trying to pull an all-nighter while black.

At the core of each incident is white Americans’ deep suspicion and mistrust of their black neighbors. The most infamous example of this dynamic occurred in Sanford, Florida, in February 2012, when neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman called the police on 17-year-old Trayvon Martin before stalking him, confronting him, and killing him. (The Sanford Police Department told Zimmerman not to follow Martin; Zimmerman was ultimately acquitted on charges of second-degree murder.) But more mundane displays of this regularly play out on forums like NextDoor, a website for neighborhood news and activism where interest gravitates, tabloid-style, towards perceived disorder and its perpetrators.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/05/in-america-calling-911-is-still-a-privilege-of-being-white.html

The Final Year - Official Trailer

"Why Not You?"

An excerpt from People -

Melissa McCarthy Says These 3 Words from Her Parents Changed the Course of Her Life
By ALE RUSSIAN

The Life of the Party actress, 47, admits in PEOPLE’s latest cover story that her mother Sandy and her father Mike’s honesty when it came to their support shaped the way she looks at life. In fact, a three-word phrase they would repeat still rings true to her.

“‘Why not you?’ is an unbelievably great sentiment to give to a kid,” McCarthy tells PEOPLE in the new issue out Friday. “Not entitlement but instead: Work your butt off, and you have a decent chance at this. ‘Why not you?’ is an undervalued way of thinking.”

http://people.com/movies/melissa-mccarthy-says-these-3-words-from-her-parents-changed-the-course-of-her-life/

We're Stuck With This

An excerpt from the Huffington Post -

Der Spiegel Cover Portrays Trump As A Finger Flipping Off Europe
Time to join the resistance, German newsmagazine says, “against America.”
By Mary Papenfuss


Germany’s respected weekly news publication Der Spiegel doesn’t much care for Donald Trump. But after the U.S. president announced the nation is withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, the magazine pulled out all the stops, portraying Trump on its cover as a blond-mopped middle finger flipping off all of Europe. “Goodbye, Europe!” says the digit.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/editorial-trump-deals-painful-blow-to-trans-atlantic-ties-a-1207260.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#ref=rss

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/der-spiegel-trump-flipping-off-europe_us_5af65ba3e4b00d7e4c1ac5f5

New Rule: Married to the Mob | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Pat Davis: "F*ck the NRA"

200 dropped wallets- the 20 MOST and LEAST HONEST cities

Thursday, May 10, 2018

When Trees Go Nuts

Get a Taste of Canada’s Japanese-Style Hot Dogs

Michael K. Williams ‘Typecast’ | Question Your Answers | HBO x The Atlantic

The Civil Rights Era Roots of Roller Skating

Does It Matter?

An excerpt from VerySmartBrothas -

Black Life, White Wife and the Art Caught in the Middle
By Panama Jackson


But there is a question that nags at me when it comes to dating and marrying outside your race (I’m not opposed to this, by the way; I’m the product of one of those unions): How much influence and impact does your spouse have on your work, especially when it’s couched in extreme racial observation and display?

Glover (and we can even throw Jordan Peele in here for now) work in a space that is heavily inspired by the world around him. It’s not a bird’s-eye view or navel-gazing; he’s doing very nuanced, informed and intentionally complex work about black culture. His show Atlanta, for instance, takes the black experience and shows it for all it can be.

~~~~~~~~~~

I wonder how those conversations about the execution of art that centers blackness and interacts with whiteness as, at times, a goofy, ignorant and uninformed barrier happen in Glover’s household. From personal experience with my white mother, I’ve had to defend blackness. I’ve had to point out things that I feel shouldn’t have to be pointed out. I indulged those conversations because it’s my mother. I imagine that a life partner would have to be indulged as well. And I know nothing of his partner at all (I haven’t so much as looked up her name), but I imagine that being with a creative means lots of conversations about art and the implications of it.

Am I to believe that he never uses her as a sounding board or asks her for her opinion? And if he does, how does that opinion seep into the art? Does it? I struggle with the idea that it doesn’t; that a person who works in such a racially rich context manages to create in a silo where the person he loves has no bearing on his creative decisions. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but your worldview is your worldview, and when you see something that is the opposite of your own, you are likely to question and offer an alternative view.

https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/black-life-white-wife-and-the-art-caught-in-the-middle-1825854549?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-05-09

If I had a Dime . . .

For every time this happens, I'd be rich.

A black Yale graduate student took a nap in her dorm's common room. So a white student called police
By Brandon Griggs,

A white person voices suspicions about an innocuous person of color. Police are summoned. And the encounter is posted on social media, sparking outrage about racial profiling.

In what is becoming an all-too familiar episode, a black Yale University graduate student was interrogated by campus police officers early Tuesday morning after a white student found her sleeping in a common room of their dorm and called police.

The black student, Lolade Siyonbola, posted two videos of the encounter to Facebook, where they have been widely viewed and drawn thousands of comments.

"I deserve to be here. I pay tuition like everybody else," an annoyed Siyonbola told responding officers in one video after they asked for her ID. "I'm not going to justify my existence here."

The incident is one of several in recent weeks in which police have been called on people of color for seemingly harmless acts. In one of the most recent, three black women were detained while leaving their California Airbnb after a neighbor called police, thinking they were burglars. Last month two black men were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia after a manager called 911 on them because they didn't order anything.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/09/us/yale-student-napping-black-trnd/index.html

Meet Marylove Edwards, Nigeria’s 13 year-old tennis sensation - BBC Spor...

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Hap and Leonard || 99 Problems

Thank a Teacher | TakePart

How This Invention Could Save Natural Disaster Victims

The 'duck curve' is solar energy's greatest challenge

Again. Yep.

An excerpt from the Washington Post -

A woman called 911 about burglars at her neighbor’s house. They were black Airbnb guests.
By Marwa Eltagouri

They checked out of their Airbnb rental. They loaded their suitcases into the car. Then they found themselves surrounded by police.

Moments before, a neighbor had watched the three black women carry their luggage out of the Rialto, Calif., house. She didn’t recognize the guests as homeowners, so she called the police about a possible residential burglary in progress, police said. Police responded as they typically would to a report of an in-progress burglary, sending six police officers and a helicopter to the scene with the goal of surrounding the house’s perimeter, making it difficult for the criminals to escape, Rialto Police Lt. Dean Hardin told The Washington Post.

The April 30 incident is the latest example of law enforcement summoned by a business or individual to deal with minorities who had simply been going about their day. Last month, two black men were arrested for trespassing in Philadelphia after a Starbucks employee called police because they hadn’t purchased anything. Last week, two Native American brothers were pulled from a Colorado State University tour after a parent told a 911 dispatcher that their behavior was “odd” and that their dark clothing had “weird symbolism or wording on it.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/05/08/a-woman-called-911-about-burglars-at-her-neighhors-house-they-were-black-airbnb-guests/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.201649378347

Guam: Why America's Most Isolated Territory Exists

The Man Teaching Math Lessons in the Sky

Tour Sweden’s Luxury Treehouses