Quantcast
Channel: Gawker
Viewing all 24829 articles
Browse latest View live

Behold: Kim Kardashian's Butt as a Giant Ass Snowblower

0
0

In the proud artistic tradition of Kim Kardashian shitting hot ass diarrhea from a Keurig machine, here is Kim Kardashian shitting cold ass snow from a snowblower.

This is a thing that occurred on national television.

[h/t Daily Dot]


No One Can Do The "OOH WAH AH AH AH" Part From That Disturbed Song

0
0

Even if you despise Disturbed and their chode-rock anthem "Down With the Sickness," you know what it is. And you know the part at the beginning when lead singer David Draiman hoarsely yells, "OOH WAH AH AH AH." After googling the phrase—initially looking for the five-minute "endurance test"—I found this compilation of people at karaoke, struggling hard. Whoever made this: thank you.

My favorite is the guy at 0:34 who just says "YOU AH AH AH AH." Just kidding; my favorite is all of them.

Forward or Delete: This Week's Fake Viral Photos

0
0

Forward or Delete: This Week's Fake Viral Photos

Occasionally, against all odds, you'll see an interesting or even enjoyable picture on the Internet. But is it worth sharing, or just another Photoshop job that belongs in the digital trash heap? Check in here and find out if that viral photo deserves an enthusiastic "forward" or a pitiless "delete."

Image via Facebook


FORWARD

Given the relative rarity of Imhotep sightings in the United States, it was easy to disbelieve this picture of Buffalo's recent lake effect snowstorm when it showed up on Reddit Wednesday. However, the above photo is totally real, just one of many documenting the astonishing icy death-cloud that enveloped Western New York this week.


DELETE

Forward or Delete: This Week's Fake Viral Photos

This widely-circulated photo, on the other hand, is somewhat less than totally real. Endorsed by no less an authority than Stella re-groover Taye Diggs, the picture quickly spread through social media as a striking illustration of the deep shit snow Buffalo is in.

In reality, the photo was first posted back in February by the Facebook page of Nassfeld, an Austrian ski resort.

Image via Facebook


DELETE

According to WD-40, this "genuine ad from 1964" is basically none of those things. The company told Gawker they were unable to verify the ad's existence through internal records and gave a number of reasons why they believed the image to be a fake:

First, the paper in the ad appears old and wrinkled, but the type on the ad does not, which indicates the text is probably something that was added to a digital background. Second, we would have likely used WD-40 with a hyphen, which does not appear in the ad. And third, it is highly unlikely that WD-40 Company would have authorized such an ad, even in the 60s when ad standards were less stringent than they are now.


FORWARD

Forward or Delete: This Week's Fake Viral Photos

This improbable retro photo, however, is the real deal. Showing the delivery of an Elliot 405 in 1957, the photo was originally scanned by the Record Office of Norfolk, England before making its way to Reddit last weekend.

According to an April 1957 New Scientist article, the Norwich City Council "anticipat[ed] a savings on staff alone of at least 20 per cent" thanks to the machine.

Image via Facebook


DELETE

Forward or Delete: This Week's Fake Viral Photos

On Friday, Russia's Channel 1 broadcast this supposed satellite image showing a (presumably Ukranian) fighter jet shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. In almost no time, however, bloggers showed the picture to be a sloppy fake, sourcing almost every element of the photocollage to Google Images or Russian map sites.

Once the trickery was revealed, social media users began offering their own shocking photos of MH17's final moments, incriminating everyone from Vladimir Putin to Putin's trusty riding eagle.

Image via Twitter

A new report finds that wages of manufacturing workers have fallen 4.4% in the past decade--"almost

0
0

A new report finds that wages of manufacturing workers have fallen 4.4% in the past decade—"almost three times faster than for workers as a whole." But hey, Detroit still has that art museum. Silver linings.

Gym Teacher Charged for Trying to Drag Teen Girl Into Swimming Pool

0
0

A gym teacher has been put on leave and charged with causing injury to a child after he tried to drag a 14-year-old girl into a swimming pool while she screamed and struggled to keep her swimsuit top from falling off. Another student caught everything on video.

The Stockton, Calif. high school student said she didn't want to swim because she'd had her hair done for an event later that day, News 10 reported, but 10-year veteran gym teacher Denny Peterson wouldn't take no for an answer.

In the 95-second video, Peterson can be seen dragging the girl across the pool deck and trying to force into the water as she screams for him to stop. Other students try to break it up. You can also hear the girl yelling "my shirt's falling down!" as he tries to pull her away from her friends.

News 10 reports Peterson was placed on leave for a month after the late August incident, but he later returned to another school in the Stockton Unified District. After misdemeanor child injury charges were filed against him this week, the district placed the teacher on paid leave again.

"SUSD has taken appropriate action in this case. The teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave per district policy," the school district said in a statement.

The girl's family has hired a lawyer, who told News 10 that anyone watching the video should be disgusted by "the way this man put his hands on a 14-year-old girl." They're considering a lawsuit.

[ h/t Daily Mail]

Disturbing Video Shows NYPD Officer Smashing Fare-Beater's Face

0
0

Yesterday evening, Donovan Lawson allegedly tried to fare-beat at the Myrtle Avenue-Broadway JMZ station. An NYPD officer at the station responded by smashing Lawson's face in with a nightstick, causing blood to gush down the 20-year-old's face.

According to Gothamist, Lawson refused to show the officer his ID. The officer then attempted to arrest Lawson. At this point the camera begins recording, capturing Lawson allegedly resisting arrest. The video shows the officer swinging his nightstick at Lawson's legs and then, for some reason, his face, opening a large wound on the side of the unarmed man's face.

Lawson, somewhat understandably, flees before the officer catches up with him and pulls him from the station. Before finally being taken away, Lawson—his face now covered with blood—stands outside surrounded by cops as a friend hugs him.

Lawson was treated at Woodhull Hospital for cuts on his head. He was later charged with fare beating, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and obstructing government administration. The cop was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and treated for injuries to his hand and arm, and is reportedly under investigation by the NYPD's Internal Affairs department.

[h/t Daily Intel]

Fab May Sell for a Pittance While Ex-Founder Abandons Fab-Like Startup

0
0

Fab May Sell for a Pittance While Ex-Founder Abandons Fab-Like Startup

For years, venture capitalists exuberantly assumed Fab, the online furniture store, could be worth $1 billion, despite mounting evidence that it was difficult to make money off of flash sales. Now TechCrunch reports that Fab may soon be sold to PCH International, an Irish supply chain company, for $15 million "and possibly as much as $50 million."

That's not only a fraction of Fab's former valuation, but a pittance compared to the $336 million that blustering CEO Jason Goldberg raised between 2011 and 2013. If PCH deal doesn't close, TechCrunch says some assets will be rolled into Goldberg's new Berlin-based furniture design company called Hem.

A source told Valleywag that despite his second well-funded flop, Goldberg has continued to be temperamental with the remaining Fab employees who did not get behind his vision for Hem. He offered them a severance to leave and many accepted, according to the source, who has some knowledge of the situation.

Goldberg, who lost his aggressive head of PR in April, strongly denied that in a response to my questions:

Your email got forwarded to me.

The situation you describe in Fab Europe is entirely false. I'm not sure who is spreading such a rumor but it is not true.

Another source close to the company says it was more routine. At a recent meeting, 13 employees accepted an offer to opt-out in 2015. Last month, Goldberg told TechCrunch that Fab was burning through $14 million a month before layoffs and restructuring dwindled the company down to 25 employees. The source close to the company said that roughly 150 people are working for Hem:

We have about 150 people working for Hem. 50 of the 150 are in Berlin. There are also teams in Stockholm, Warsaw, Helsinki, New York, and Pune working on full-time Hem. We decided 3 weeks ago at a management offsite in Helsinki to do a year-end calibration to make sure that everyone on the team wants to be part of our Hem plan for 2015 to 2016. Hem was formed by a merging of parts of Fab, One Nordic, and MassivKonzept and we want to make sure we are one Hem team in 2015 and beyond, with everyone signed up to the Hem plan. 13 people in the Berlin office took a voluntary leave package this past week. It's just normal business.

In April, Goldberg wrote a memorable "It's a fucking startup" diatribe before deleting it, where he argued this was the best time to work at Fab for true entrepreneurial spirits:

Have you ever been clinging onto a rocket ship, then cut the engines at full speed, and then tried to fly again?

Meanwhile, Goldberg's fellow cofounder Bradford Shellhammer appears to have rebounded with panache since he quit Fab a year ago to "explore other outlets for his boundless curiosity."

Shellhammer's curiosity initially led him back to the same well of inspiration. A source told Valleywag that he is launching a company called Design Scout. About a week ago, Shellhammer got a Design Scout trademark approved for publication and the description sounds an awful lot like Fab itself.

On-line retail consignment stores featuring household goods, furniture, and household furnishings; On-line retail gift shops featuring household goods, furniture, and household furnishings

In the past two week, Shellhammer has posted 15 photos on Instagram from Lerer Hippeau Ventures office in New York. But Shellhamer told Valleywag he merely owns the domain, is not launching Design Scout, and is not being funded by Lerer Ventures:

I'm not launching a company called design scout though I do own the domain. I have been working out of lerer's shared office space. But the space I am in is an open space where many companies rent desks and many are not associated with lerer. I will happily chat with you about what I'm doing next. But not ready to yet as still working on it.

When I pointed out the trademark, he said he had filed it, but was not working on the concept:

I did. Not working on design scout as a business now. I hope that's helpful. :)

Fab May Sell for a Pittance While Ex-Founder Abandons Fab-Like Startup

Fab May Sell for a Pittance While Ex-Founder Abandons Fab-Like Startup

As we noted when he quit, Shellhammer is known for the love of the finer things and his great taste in design, which helped catapult Fab's initial fast growth. He was also a big supporter of the flash sales model popularized by the French company Vente-Privée, which abruptly shut down its U.S. operations last month, and Gilt Groupe, which had layoffs this summer and has held off on its long-rumored IPO.

Shellhammer recent spoke at a conference about the supply side of the "on-demand economy"—a more accurate name for startups like Uber and Airbnb, which were once described as pillars of the "sharing economy." His affiliation was listed was "Design Scout/Fab.com - Co-Founder." ( Josh Mohrer, the general manager who is being investigated by Uber for violating the reporter's privacy, was also a speaker.)

Fab May Sell for a Pittance While Ex-Founder Abandons Fab-Like Startup

Here's a brief sampling of the Lerer Ventures photos that Shellhammer posted on his @YoungBradford Instagram account.

?modal=true

?modal=true

The friendliness between Shellhammer and the firm might explain this vehement critique from Lerer partner Jordan Cooper about the "dopamine squirt" onlookers get from watching Fab's demise.

Next time you find yourself judging someone else's attempt at creation from your arm chair, rather than lust in the savory details, get off your fucking ass and create something instead.

You heard the man. Cut off your dopamine drip and hop to it.

To contact the author of this post, please email nitasha@gawker.com.

[Top image via Getty]

What the Hell Did Dianna Agron Do to Deserve This Life

0
0

What the Hell Did Dianna Agron Do to Deserve This Life

Fair-haired, symmetrical actress Dianna Agron recently redesigned the backyard of her Hollywood Hills mansion to have a dinner party with her girlfriends. Said dinner party was photographed by the home design site Domaine and catered by Agron's chef friend Megan Mitchell.

Agron, whose latest project appears to be running a "music inspiration website" that was maybe hacked, has somehow unlocked life.

I mean, what? How? Where the fuck do you get a range like that when you've been off Glee since like, 2011?

Answers to these questions are not revealed in the short interview that accompanies Domaine's photo spread, but Agron does say this: "I knew I wanted the color story to be blue." She continues,

I knew I wanted many plants and mirrors, and for it to not be disjointed from the interior. I wanted there to be many options. A place to lounge in the sun, a dinning table for eating, painting, whatever we needed.

Whatever we needed.

Tonight, I light three candles, float them into the vomit puddle outside my apartment, and delete my Pinterest account.

[Photo via Domaine]


Deadspin The Moment Chicago Radio Hosts Found Out On The Air That They Were Fired | Gizmodo The Best

​Your Guide to This Weekend's Best Television

0
0

You can tell by all the Christmas movies and special reruns that it's nearly time for Thanksgiving—check out our streaming guide, if you haven't already—but that just means you're allowed to screw around at work for the next week and a half. Enjoy your televisual weekend! Here's what's on tap:

FRIDAY

At 7/6c. Syfy's Haven is only three episodes away from its fall finale. At 8/7c., that number drops to two. When the show returns next year, there will be thirteen more. I have done the math on this one!

AT 87/c.

  • The Amazing Race introduces us to the "Hot, Sexy Knights" of Malta and Girl Meets "Friendship" when she runs for class president,
  • And after an episode of Last Man Standing literally called "Changing Light Bulbs," Cristela teaches us the horrors of letting your young sons enjoy musical theater.
  • Meanwhile, TNT helps some youngster get On the Menu at his favorite Australia-themed Steakhouse, the Outback one. (Australian for "steakhouse.")

AT 9/8c.

  • A guy moves like Elvis on the CW's America's Next Top Model, in an episode called "The Guy With Moves Like Elvis," in which the five models who have not bottomed out do a Korean soap opera, then engage with "demons from their past" before dressing up like Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. By the end of the hour, they'll have you wondering: What the fuck is going on with America's Next Top Model?
  • H2's Ancient Aliens fills you in on the "Genius Factor," Kendra on Top does the same, and over on PBS it's Great Performances: Cats! (Don't get your hopes up: Felines will not actually be performing, even to mediocre standards. This will be about the popular play where cats go to space when they die.)
  • And on the drama tip, Grimm faces off against a Menendez-themed Hawaii Five-0.

At 10/9c., Constantine introduces an old character from the comics, Detective Jim "The Spectre" Corrigan, as well as voodoo frenemy Papa Midnite, which I guess they're going with, and Bill Maher's set to have a Real Time of it when he invites scrappers John Cleese, Chris Matthews and Seth Rogen for his season finale on HBO.

At 11/10c., it's that damned Foo Fighters show on HBO or, if you're even angrier with yourself, Joe Rogan is still around, and he's doing a Comedy Central special.

SATURDAY

At 8/7c. you have your pick of premature holiday TV-movies (Lifetime's En Vogue Christmas versus Hallmark's A Royal Christmas) or, if you are in the mood for danger, My Cat From Hell's season finale is about a cat called "Chloe the Bully"!

AT 9/8c.

LMN's hottest show about wayward spirits whose unfinished business involves the bodies of children, The Ghost Inside My Child, hits you with "The Child of F. Scott and a Toddler Distraught." Which you would be too if there were a ghost inside you, I'd wager.

And while The Missing is only gearing up on Starz, both Hell on Wheels and Transporter: The Series are ending their seasons tonight.

At 10/9c. nobody would blame you for watching HBO's Hello Ladies: The Movie if it hasn't destroyed your goodwill for Stephen Merchant by now, but there's also Black Dynamite on Adult Swim and a special Sex Sent Me To The ER called "Body Building Blunder" that are probably at least equally worth your time.

And at 11:29 EST on NBC it's SNL, hosted by Cameron Diaz, with musical guests Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.

SUNDAY

Starting at 7:30/6:30c. on Fox: Mulaney's season (not series?) ending is about attempting to be patriotic, there's a musical Simpsons, Ed Helm's entire face guest stars on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Bob's Burgers takes its Thanksgiving to the First Annual Fischoeder Turk-tacular Turkey Town Festival.

At 8/7c. the State Department goes on lockdown on Madam Secretary, ABC presents three hours and change of the 2014 American Music Awards, Hallmark doubles down with The Christmas Shepherd, and The Real Housewives of Atlanta enjoy some gossip, as is Atlanta fashion.

AT 9/8c.

  • 90 Day Fiancé faces the four F's: "Fears, Family, Future" and a fourth F TBD, while
  • Oprah checks in on Meredith Baxter, Downtown Julie Brown, and uh, Janice Dickinson.
  • The Walking Dead airs opposite The Newsroom's trip to the White House Correspondents' Dinner, "There's Something Else Going On" on Homeland, and Cary finally goes to trial on The Good Wife.

AT 10/9c.

  • Showtime's Affair enters the homestretch, "Valerie Is Brought To Her Knees" on The Comeback, and all the computers crash on Getting On.
  • Otherwise it's CSI, House of DVF, My Five Wives, or a PBS Special on Richard Pryor. Not a bad way to end things, all told.

Have a great weekend and a fun, hopefully short week next week, and we'll see you back here on Monday.

Morning After is an experiment in compromise brought to you by Gawker. What are you watching this weekend? What are we missing out on? Recommendations and discussions down below.

Horse Genitals Taste of Hay and More Curious Delights from a Horsefucker

0
0

Horse Genitals Taste of Hay and More Curious Delights from a Horsefucker

New York magazine's Science of Us blog published an interview today with a 42-year-old Canadian man who identifies as a zoophile. He is attracted to female horses and is currently in a monogamous relationship with a mare named Ms. C (but he calls her Sexy Knickers). Everything about the interview is incredible.

To begin, he explains that he's had an interest in horses since the age of seven, and became sexually attracted to them around the age of ten or eleven. "Everybody else was stealing their dads' Playboy magazines," he says, "but I had a book called The Big Book of the Horse." He continues:

It was a very interesting book — everything you ever wanted to know about horses. At the time I didn't really think of myself as different or unusual; it was just what I was interested in. I wasn't going to go broadcast what I was doing, but I also wasn't thinking to hide. I feel like my sexual development was bang on — I just had a different affection.

On losing your virginity to a horse:

Yes, the pressure builds and builds and builds. And losing your virginity is important to becoming a "real" zoophile because you're joining a very select group of people, and if you haven't actually "done it," people wonder if that's your real sexuality. So there's some hazing that goes on. I'd wanted to have the sexual experience as well as the street credit among my peers — the zoophiles I'd met online — because they were my closest friends, really.

He explains that his first sexual experience with a mare was set up by a friend who had access to a Shetland-cross pony:

My friend was there at the time, and he was holding her head. He didn't have to do that — it's not like we were doing things that she wasn't enjoying — but he was there to protect me. He had his back to me, and he was holding the lead rope to make sure that she was okay and also to prove that I'd actually done it. The sexual experience itself was incredible. To this day it was the best sex I've ever had.

"But how does he do it?" you might wonder. "Because of the height difference, I mean." Well, here's a tip on getting around that horse/human height difference:

Now, one of the things that's a problem with horses is the height difference. So, here's a little tip: Use a water bucket to stand on. In the case of the first time with my current mare friend I was sitting with my back to the wall, and she had actually pressed into my face hard enough that I was pinned there performing oral sex.

On how his relationship with Sexy Knickers is based on more than just sex:

Five years. I picked her up for $100 because she was going on a meat truck. She's an Arabian. I've never had a relationship with a horse that was as in-depth as the one I have with her. I much enjoy her company; it's really not just about sex. That's something that a lot of people don't understand.

On the idea that having sex with animals is animal abuse:

Each time I have a conversation about this I see other people's darkness projected onto what I do. Yes, anyone could tie up a horse to make sure it couldn't hurt you and then do whatever they want to it. And, of course, that does happen. But I've met maybe 150 to 200 zoophiles, and I've never seen that. There are some people whom I would never want to associate with because they are not good people, but there are bad people in life in general.

Sex with animals is just so poorly studied. We are a varied community: city folk, country folk. The popular image of that person on the farm who goes and abuses animals because there's no other outlet, that's not the case. That's just not always what happens.

Here he is on how he can tell a mare is having an orgasm:

She tenses up a lot and "winks" her clitoris repeatedly. She makes noises and grunts.

On oral:

I mostly have oral sex with mares. When I first gave a horse oral sex I was in my early 20s, and one of the things I had to overcome was the thought that it's disgusting to go down on a horse, much like the way some men feel about women. So it was at the back of my head at the time, and it's kind of strange because there's nothing about horses that's disgusting to me. And, as I discovered, mares taste very, very nice, like mown grass or fresh hay, and they really enjoy oral stimulation.

It is an incredible, very descriptive and enlightening interview about a man in a monogamous sexual relationship with a horse. Please go and read the entire thing.

[image credit: Shutterstock]

GOP Committee Agrees: Obama Didn’t Fuck Up Benghazi

0
0

GOP Committee Agrees: Obama Didn’t Fuck Up Benghazi

For the past two years, the GOP-controlled House Committee on Intelligence has investigated the Obama administration’s role in the security and intelligence failures which preceded the September 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya—a perpetual source of bizarre right-wing conspiracies. Today the results are in: Obama officials did nothing wrong.

Via the Associated Press:

A two-year investigation by the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee has found that the CIA and the military acted properly in responding to the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, and asserted no wrongdoing by Obama administration appointees. Debunking a series of persistent allegations hinting at dark conspiracies, the investigation of the politically charged incident determined that there was no intelligence failure, no delay in sending a CIA rescue team, no missed opportunity for a military rescue, and no evidence the CIA was covertly shipping arms from Libya to Syria.

Which is another way of saying: There was no Benghazi scandal. There was no conspiracy. Nobody was hiding anything. Nobody told anyone to “stand down.”

Now, this might be news to a certain segment of the population, but as the AP’s Ken Dilanian notes, the investigation largely replicated the findings of six prior investigations carried out by Congress:

Many of its findings echo those of six previous investigations by various congressional committees and a State Department panel. The eighth Benghazi investigation is being carried out by a House Select Committee appointed in May.

Here’s hoping the eighth, or the ninth, or tenth investigation will finally uncover the truth.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Airbnb Thinks It Should Win the Nobel Peace Prize

0
0

Airbnb Thinks It Should Win the Nobel Peace Prize

Airbnb, a company that operates as a vacation home middleman, thinks it's under appreciated. In fact, their "hospitality guru" believes the company should win the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to Fortune, Airbnb executive Chip Conley wants the $10 billion dollar corporation to be recognized for advancing world peace:

With his job, Conley aspires for the loftiest of goals. At the startup's annual executive retreat in Sonoma earlier this year, Chesky asked him where he wants to see Airbnb in 10 years. Conley's response? I'd love to see us win the Nobel Peace Prize. (Yes, seriously.)

His rationale is that Airbnb is helping with cross-cultural understanding. By staying in someone's home rather than the local Holiday Inn, guests are being thrust into a different world.

This year's Nobel Peace Prize winners were Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai, two individuals who have faced violence for their brave struggles to advance the rights of children. Airbnb is a company that rents homes for profit.

Photo: Airbnb

Can You Spot Blue's Cameo in Her Mom's Freak-Nasty Sex Vid That I Love

0
0

Like the God of the Old Testament, Beyoncé's terrifying wrath is matched in severity only by her devastating creative prowess. That is why on Friday night she released a video for 7/11, a track from her upcoming album that was released on Friday morning.

The video depicts Kwane Bae executing very dorky choreographed dances around what seem to be the interior, balcony, and elevator area of a decent-but-not-amazing hotel suite*. She appears alone, with dancers from her world tour, and only very, very occasionally wearing pants. She pops out of a big box in front of a Christmas tree. She dials her foot like it's a phone and screams at it. It's a great video! There's a lot to take in. Let's all learn the dance.

Smack it. Smack it. Smack it.

UPDATE

8:51 p.m.: A previous version of this post was titled "Beyoncé's Surprise New 7/11' Video Is A Sexy Dork Orgy" until I realized you can see Blue Ivy at 0:58, lying on the bed Beyoncé jumps off of. Take your daughter to WERK day. I love it!

9:06 p.m.: There is also a rumored Jay Z-doing-a-somersault cameo that I will let you find yourself because it will be more rewarding that way.

Have a Restful Weekend!

0
0

Have a Restful Weekend!

Hey there, Upper East Siders. Gawker here. Before you traipse off to slumber or a sex club tonight, please take a moment to appreciate this photo, submitted by tipster @AnimalFarmNYC, which allegedly depicts former NYU student and successful author Dan Humphrey "sleeping and/or meditating" at a Manhattan coffee shop earlier this evening.

Has D been kicked out of Rufus' loft for good? Remember "Charlie" from latter seasons, and how she sucked? Chuck and Blair limo sex. Where there's smoke, there's fire at the Empire Hotel, etc.

ZzZz,

Gossip Girl


Bill Cosby: "People Should Fact Check"

0
0

Bill Cosby: "People Should Fact Check"

As more and more accusers come forward, Bill Cosby has remained silent—officially silent—about the allegation that he drugged and raped several women throughout his career. Last night, before a sold out show at a college campus in Florida, he spoke to Florida Today, saying, "I know people are tired of me not saying anything."

The show—which reportedly began and ended with standing ovations—was under threat of hecklers put up by a local radio station. The New York Times reports the station offered money to those willing to stand and "demand an explanation from him about the women's accusations."

The theater reportedly made an announcement regarding the possible hecklers before Cosby took the stage, saying: "If a disruption occurs, please keep calm and do not confront the person making the disruption." It turned out to be unnecessary, however—the show, somehow, went off without a hitch.

Cosby spoke to Florida Today about the radio station's call for hecklers and the public's desire for answers in advance of the show:

The thing is, these people are prodding and pushing people and asking people to have a frat house mentality. Now suppose someone brings a weapon or decided to do more foolishness. There will be announcements made and the stations made some disclaimers, but what if people don't listen to what they said and they entice violence. That's not good for anyone.

When you go to a civil rights march or something like that, at least there are meetings and some organization to it and people understand how to behave. There may be people coming to the show that don't know exactly what to do; there is no organization to it all.

"I know people are tired of me not saying anything," he added. "But a guy doesn't have to answer to innuendos. People should fact check. People shouldn't have to go through that and shouldn't answer to innuendos."

[image via AP]

Somali Terror Org Kills Dozens in Bus Attack Targeting Non-Muslims

0
0

Somali Terror Org Kills Dozens in Bus Attack Targeting Non-Muslims

Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for a bus attack that killed 28 people in Northern Kenya this morning, CNN reports. According to Reuters, gunmen separated passengers into groups of Muslims and suspected non-Muslims, sparing those who could recite the Koran.

"The Mujahideen successfully carried out an operation near Mandera early this morning," said an Al-Shabaab spokesperson in a statement,"which resulted in the perishing of 28 crusaders, as a revenge for the crimes committed by the Kenyan crusaders against our Muslim brethren in Mombasa."

Since 2011, forces from Kenya—a Christian majority country—have battled Al-Shabaab insurgents in Somalia. Last September, the Al Qaeda-affiliated group retaliated by killing 67 at Nairobi's Westgate mall.

[Image via AP Images]

Hmm: Blink-182 Member Says Streaming Music Is Like Killing Elephants

0
0

Hmm: Blink-182 Member Says Streaming Music Is Like Killing Elephants

Tom DeLonge, guitarist of Blink-182, a band whose full catalog is currently available on Spotify, said in a recent interview with Faster Louder that streaming music is like "killing elephants for their tusks and carving ivory statues."

In a spectacular demonstration of false equivalence (the fallacy of our time), DeLonge continued:

"I tell people condoning streaming is like condoning the Chinese that are killing elephants for their tusks and carving ivory statues. It's cool to put on your shelf but if you really think about what you're doing it sucks. Streaming music is doing the same thing to artists – might not be killing 'em but it's killing the industry. It might be cool for you as somebody that likes music but you're not really thinking about the effect it has. We've got to value our art, you know?"

A fearless plea to at least consider buying your elephant tusks on iTunes.

[image via Getty, h/t Stereogum]

What Does It Take to Find the Lost?

0
0

What Does It Take to Find the Lost?

The ugly truth is that none of us had had much hope for Carlesha Freeland-Gaither.

Abductions rarely end well in the media. Heroic endings have been somewhat of an anomaly. There, caught on camera and uploaded to countless media outlets and blogs, we could all experience her kidnapping, where she struggled against her attacker, crying and swiping—and I admit that some terrible part of me assumed she was dead and that was unfortunately that.

A recent FBI study showed that 40 percent of all missing persons cases are people of color and African Americans held 33.8 percent of that 40, and women more so than men. Cases involving minorities are put on the backburner, assumed to be drug-related or somehow otherwise the victim's fault, hardly ever put into media circulation. Statistically, Carlesha's abduction fit a pattern, suggesting she would have never been found or found alive. If I were to go missing, I'd fit her pattern, the brown-face pattern, and my country would not weep for my loss.

When I was a young child, California was rocked by the abduction of Polly Klaas. In 1993, Richard Allen Davis snatched Klass from her own home in the middle of her own slumber party. Her name made national headlines. I had friends whose parents joined the search in Petaluma. In school, a teacher assigned us to write letters to her parents. We scribbled with pencils onto ruler paper, phrases we'd heard our parents repeat: "Sorry for your loss", "Such a nice girl, undeserving of this", "In my prayers every day". We ran out of time. Our teacher clapped her hands—finish up! I scribbled at the bottom, "I'm going to help find her!" Then stuck my letter in an envelope and placed it on the growing stack.

That night, I kept my promise. I crept past my parents' room, found my daddy's heavy flashlight in his study, and went outside to look for Polly Klaas. I didn't make it past the next block. And as I slipped back in my house, I remember thinking that I was doing something Polly Klaas could not. I crawled into my parents' bed that night. Slithering over my mother's belly until I was in between their warm bodies and we slept. Police found Polly's twelve-year-old body some time later. Strangled, legs splayed, clothes hiked above the waist. Davis was sent to prison in 1996.

My sophomore year of college at Penn State University, in 2001, I attended a candlelight vigil for Cindy Song on the anniversary of her disappearance. An international student from South Korea, she'd gone missing after a Halloween party and wasn't reported as so until November 4. Blogs were not as ubiquitous they are today when Cindy Song went missing. Twitter and Facebook didn't exist. There was only the Cindy Song Coalition, made up of thirty students—not even a sizeable percentage of our massive student body. I never saw Song's name on the national news cycle. Never saw her "missing" poster further than the telephone poles of Happy Valley. No body was found. No suspect fingered. Her case was deemed cold by the time I graduated.

Every now and again I type "Cindy Song" into the search-bar, hoping for a surprise. I recently came across this picture. It's of three people. Song's mother, Ban Soon Song, clutching Cindy's reward poster, the very one I used to see around campus. She's studying it, disconnected from the mayhem around her. Next to her is her attorney, Jin Han, hands up and mouth captured mid-sentence, and next to him is David Davis, secretary of the Black Caucus, hands folded over his mouth as he listens. The caption read that they were speaking against the police's lack of interest in Song's search.

There was no media cycle on Song, no large effort by community leaders, just a light buzz that came and went on the anniversary of her disappearance. People had long given up—and Ban Soon Song, the way she looked at her daughter's poster, I imagine she's trying to recall Cindy's voice. For so many who have lost, that's the first memory that erodes, something as simple as your loved one's voice. Gone in days.

Dwayne Fletcher was present when Freeland-Gaither was attacked. He heard her screams, but could not successfully intervene against the kidnapper's 12-inch knife. He was quoted by multiple sources as saying he cried and cried, but felt it was too late.

letcher stayed at the scene long after the car holding a thrashing and window-breaking Freeland-Gaither drove away. He called 9-1-1, retrieved her cell phone, and handed it over to the police. Her face hit the social-media-sphere immediately after. Cycled through circles by the revered "Black twitter" and personal social-media circles on Facebook. That's how I learned about Freeland-Gaither. Not by CNN, FOX, or ABC, but by a friend who shared a "missing person's report" on Facebook. Post or tweet if you see her!

Two years out of college, I was working in Washington, DC. My friend and I were walking home from a Killswitch Engage concert, along U Street NW, when we passed by an alleyway. From it, we could hear grunts and a woman's voice, crying, "Stop! Stop!" We peeked in and saw two bodies, the larger one holding the other in a bear hug, jabbing her in the stomach over and over as she tried to wriggle free. Fear threatened to chase me away—that man could have easily turned his rage on us—but my friend began to scream, "Stop beating that woman! Stop beating that woman!"

He wasn't deterred.

I called the police.

My friend yelled at a group of men approaching us to help. They chose to cross the street. We noticed a police car passing us. My friend leaped into the street and flung herself in their path, causing the car to buck to a stop. They'd barely rolled down their window when another car cut into the alleyway and shined its headlights on the commotion (whether the driver had seen the altercation or just happened to turn left, I still don't know). The perpetrator fled, leaving his victim wet-faced and panting, her arms wrapped guardedly around the part of her torso where she'd been struck.

The car door swung open, and out stepped Barack Obama. Well, not actually Barrack Obama, but a man who bore a freakish resemblance to Barack Obama, wearing an Obama 2008 sweatshirt as if to drive the point home. He approached the girl and asked her, "Are you OK?"

It took her a long time to figure out if she was. It'd turned out that she was pregnant, and the perpetrator, her ex, did not want to be a father. After the police took our statements and carted the girl off to the hospital, Obama-Man offered us all rides home.

"Just think if we hadn't been there," he said in the car.

"I could hardly get the police to stop," my friend told him.

"She had to jump in front of their car!" I added in.

Obama-Man just shook his head. "Vigilantes," Obama-man said. "We really don't have anyone but each other."

Some time before November 2 this year, Delvin Barnes went to buy a Ford Taurus and unbeknownst to him, the dealer placed a GPS device in the car because of Barnes' "poor credit." Was it discriminatory or a breech of privacy? Or was it precautionary, considering Barnes' terrible history with women, including rape, burglary, and assault? Possibly heroic, considering their decision to bug Barnes' car would ultimately be the key to authorities finding Freeland-Gaither three days later in Maryland, battered but alive.

This isn't a happy ending, but maybe a happy outcome in a storm of tragic ones. For a moment, however brief, the usual idleness against the machine left our hearts and we were all connected, equally triumphant in Freeland-Gaither's safe return. Maybe it's not our country, per se, that would weep for our disappearance but the people in it—and as long as we are willing to take our self-worth into our own hands, we can become the heroes and the miracles that we so often ask for.

Polly Klaas Foundation http://www.pollyklaas.org/

Black and Missing http://www.blackandmissinginc.com/cdad/

Anyone with information regarding Cindy Song can contact Ferguson Township Police at (814) 237-1172.

Carol Hood is a native of Oakland, California and holds a MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Her novel in progress, The Misadventures of Tip & J.B. Turner, was nominated for the Pat Kavanagh Award for Best Manuscript; her short story "White Alien" was short-listed for Glimmer Train's Short Story Award for New Writers; and she won SAIC's small grant award for her upcoming graphic novel, American Witch. She hopes to one day appease the gods enough to make her Wonder Woman.

[Illustration by Tara Jacoby]

Doctors Find Wiggly Tapeworm in Headache Sufferer's Brain

0
0

Doctors Find Wiggly Tapeworm in Headache Sufferer's Brain

While treating a 50-year-old patient suffering from headaches, British doctors say they found a years-old tapeworm living in the man's brain. Additionally, added everyone, UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH.

For four years—YEARS!—doctors tracked the progress of the mysterious coil-like creature as it wriggled from one side of the man's head to the other, only discovering its wormy nature after a biopsy of his brain.

Doctors Find Wiggly Tapeworm in Headache Sufferer's Brain

Believed to have been infected in China, the patient exhibited symptoms ranging from headaches and seizures to memory flashbacks and "strange smells."

According to The Guardian, "Only 300 cases of infection by this parasite in humans have been reported since 1953," making infestation of your own brain pretty unlikely, but hey, you never know!

[Images via Shutterstock/Genome Biology//h/t Huffington Post]

Viewing all 24829 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images