Rap Redemption?

An excerpt from the New Republic -

Hip-Hop Hymnals
Why are rappers like Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, and Kendrick Lamar finding religion?
BY FRANK GUAN

Often imitated, West now has actual disciples. Chance’s own mixtape, Coloring Book, is a match for Pablo in its holy righteousness; meanwhile the West Coast virtuoso Kendrick Lamar, who includes West among his myriad influences, explores sin and redemption on his recent albums. Listen to these three together and a striking trend emerges: Some of the most prominent and critically acclaimed artists in rap are finding religion. At first glance, this could be mistaken for a conservative shift, a retreat into otherworldly rectitude within an art form known for its realism and insolence. But these artists are also at the forefront of the ongoing revival of explicitly political hip hop—and in the context of Black Lives Matter, the religious themes in West, Chance, and Lamar take on a radical edge.

https://newrepublic.com/article/135723/hip-hop-hymnals?utm_source=New+Republic&utm_campaign=61279f778f-Daily_Newsletter_8_26_168_26_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c4ad0aba7e-61279f778f-59581889

Ben's Work

http://www.theicct.org/blogs/staff/big-win-win-on-big-trucks

Quote

From the Atlantic -

“Oh shit, I might’ve started a church.” 

—what Jodi Houge, a Lutheran pastor, said when people began attending her weekly services in a coffee shop

Why you shouldn’t drive slowly in the left lane

Floyd Norman: An Animated Life (2016)

Today's Best Quote

Excerpts from the AP -

Naked Donald Trump statues pop up in cities across the US

Life-size naked statues of the Republican presidential nominee greeted passers-by in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Cleveland on Thursday. They are the brainchild of an activist collective called INDECLINE, which has spoken out against Trump before.

~~~~~~~~~~

A statue in New York's Union Square quickly drew the attention of people, many of whom posed for photographs with it, before it was removed by the city's parks department.

"NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small," parks spokesman Sam Biederman joked.

Great Lesson

That parents need to learn, although some are not happy about it.

http://www.newser.com/story/229853/parents-are-fuming-over-schools-tough-love-policy.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=usatoday&utm_campaign=syn

Which is More Damaging?

An excerpt from the Huffington Post -

White Male Privilege Is Why We Laugh At Lochte And Vilify Douglas
Pay close attention to the words being used to describe them.  By Emma Gray

Gymnast Gabby Douglas “disrespected” her entire country by not putting her hand on her heart and smiling enough during the Olympics. Swimmer Ryan Lochte is a “kid” who deserves “a break” for allegedly destroying property and lying about a traumatic robbery.

If you were wondering what white, male privilege looks like, this is it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ryan-lochte-gabby-douglas-and-white-male-privilege-in-action_us_57b5e76de4b034dc73262f93?section=&

Donate Your Body

An excerpt from  the AP -

Body donations on the rise at US medical schools

By COLLIN BINKLEY

Many U.S. medical schools are seeing a surge in the number of people leaving their bodies to science, a trend attributed to rising funeral costs and growing acceptance of a practice long seen by some as ghoulish.

The increase has been a boon to medical students and researchers, who dissect cadavers in anatomy class or use them to practice surgical techniques or test new devices and procedures.

"Not too long ago, it was taboo. Now we have thousands of registered donors," said Mark Zavoyna, operations manager for Georgetown University's body donation program.

The University of Minnesota said it received more than 550 cadavers last year, up from 170 in 2002. The University at Buffalo got almost 600 last year, a doubling over the past decade. Others that reported increases include Duke University, the University of Arizona and state agencies in Maryland and Virginia. ScienceCare, a national tissue bank, now receives 5,000 cadavers a year, twice as many as in 2010.

http://bigstory.ap.org/f99bacafa4a04086bbe99de029aa710f

http://www.biogift.org/body-donation-process.php

Hidden Figures | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

Got a Pest Problem? Call the Quack Squad

Why It Matters

An excerpt from the Washington Post -

The significance of Simone Manuel’s swim is clear if you know Jim Crow

There is a reason why 70 percent of black teenagers, like those who died in Shreveport, and 60 percent of Hispanic teenagers can’t swim.

But it isn’t due to some genetic disorder, as some actually believe. It is because of abject irrational racism and Jim Crow and its vestiges.

It is rooted in complete ignorance that somehow the melanin from our skin could wash off, contaminate the water and infect any whites nearby. It is anchored to this country’s historical racial sexual hysteria, an unfounded fear of placing less-clad white women in too-close and contained proximity with black men considered innately lascivious, particularly when it comes to white women.

It can be heard in the scream of the segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in 1948: “I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there’s not enough troops in the army to force the southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigger race into our theatres into our swimming pools into our homes and into our churches.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/the-significance-of-simone-manuels-swim-is-clear-if-you-know-jim-crowe/2016/08/12/870e3bb6-60ad-11e6-af8e-54aa2e849447_story.html?wpisrc=nl_most-draw7&wpmm=1

Clinique Difference Maker: Gina Rodriguez

Quote

From the Huffington Post -

“I get banned for not liking Bush and now Trump can practically put a hit out on Hillary and he’s still all over country radio! Hypocrites!” - Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/natalie-maines-dixie-chicks-trump-hypocrisy_us_57ade625e4b071840410edb9?section=

Left-Handers Day - Aug 13th

From the Left-Handers Club News -

Celebrate the lefties in your world.

http://www.lefthandersday.com

He Doesn't Represent Us . . . Really!

An excerpt from the Washington Post -

Americans vacationing overseas find themselves on a Donald Trump apology tour

Yep, this summer, an overseas vacation has become a relentless apology tour, and just about every American with a passport is being interrogated by the rest of the world about our bizarre Republican presidential candidate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/americans-vacationing-overseas-find-themselves-on-a-donald-trump-apology-tour/2016/08/11/cb6b30ac-5fd1-11e6-af8e-54aa2e849447_story.html

A Better Way to End Panhandling

The Contrast is Striking

Excerpts from the New York Times - 

Olympians in Hijab and Bikini

By Roger Cohen

Doaa Elghobashy, left, of Egypt and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany
compete in the women’s preliminary beach volleyball during the Olympics in Rio.
Credit Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

No area is as sensitive as that of the treatment of women, women’s roles, women’s sexuality, dress and ambitions. The story is often presented as one of Western emancipation versus Islamic subjugation. That, however, is an inadequate characterization.

What follows are accounts by two women, an Egyptian and an American, of their experiences with the hijab. Chadiedja Buijs is a graduate student in Cairo. Norma Moore is a former actress living in Boulder, Colo., who recently visited Iran, where the rules obliged her to adopt Islamic dress codes.

(These accounts make for fascinating reading.  To me, the money quote is below).

My hair, the curves in my body, were given to me by God. To cover my head and wear shapeless clothes feels like I am pretending not to be a woman and that somehow I am responsible for keeping men’s sexuality within social bounds.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/12/opinion/olympians-in-hijab-and-bikini.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

Luke Cage | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

Check out this gorgeous chocolate chip!

Yes, I could be his grandma, but that doesn't prevent me for appreciating this young man even if comic book characters are normally not my thing.





You're welcome.

Poop or Get Off the Pot

Excerpts from the New York Times -

You Choose or You Lose 
By Gail Collins

Here’s the bottom line: There are only three things you can do when it comes time to elect a president. You can stay home and punt; you can choose between the two major party candidates; or you can cop out by doing something that looks like voting but has no effect whatsoever on the outcome of the race.

That includes strategies about writing in the name of a retired general, leaving the top line blank, or voting for a third-party candidate who has as much chance of winning as the YouTube Keyboard Cat.

~~~~~~~~~~

Right now we live in a world that’s been messed up by the bad decisions George W. Bush made about invading Iraq. He was elected president in 2000 thanks to a few hundred votes in Florida. A state where Green Party candidate Ralph Nader got 97,488 votes.

Most of the Green voters undoubtedly thought they were showing their disdain for both Bush and the deeply imperfect candidacy of Al Gore. And Nader is a man of fine principles. But look where those 97,488 votes got us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/opinion/you-choose-or-you-lose.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0