Month: September 2021

This month was the three-year anniversary of learning Donald Trump’s penis is apparently shaped like a “toadstool” and nothing has been the same since. The horrifying revelation was made in adult film star Stormy Daniels’ book, Full Disclosure, where she wrote, “He knows he has an unusual penis. It has a huge mushroom head. Like a toadstool… I lay there, annoyed that I was getting f*cked by a guy with Yeti pubes and a d*ck like the mushroom character in Mario Kart. It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had, but clearly, he didn’t share that opinion.”

That “mushroom” character” is named Toad, and please keep him out of this.

Anyway, Trump usually loves people talking about his penis (he defended the size of his junk during a debate), but not in this case. The Washington Post reports that in her tell-all-book, I’ll Take Your Questions Now, former-press secretary Stephanie Grisham discloses that Trump was, ahem, triggered by Daniels’ description of his manhood:

Trump behaved inappropriately with Grisham, too, she wrote — once calling her from Air Force One to assure her that his penis was not small or toadstool-shaped, as the porn star Stormy Daniels had alleged in an interview.

Grisham also alleges that “Trump became obsessed with a young, female press aide who isn’t named in the book. The president constantly asked where the aide was during press events, Grisham wrote, and allegedly once requested that she be brought to his cabin on Air Force One so he could ‘look at her [behind].’”

My reaction to all of this:

I’ll Take Your Questions Now comes out on October 5.

(Via the Washington Post)

The hills are alive… with the sound of abject failure. It’s been nearly a year since Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. And despite the fact that he was shown the door of the Oval Office and that another man has been sleeping in the White House residence since January, America’s 45th president cannot bring himself to admit defeat. And Jimmy Kimmel, for one, thinks it’s hilarious.

On Monday night, Kimmel spoke about Trump’s latest embarrassment: Siccing a company known as the Cyber Ninjas on Maricopa County, Arizona to recount the ballots—only to have them discover that Joe Biden actually won by a slightly larger margin than originally reported. As Kimmel explained:

“It turns out that not only did the Cyber Ninjas find no substantial differences between their tally and the official count, they actually found 99 more votes for Joe Biden and 261 fewer for Donald Trump. I would have loved to have been there when they broke that news to him!

Basically, Trump lost the election he thought was rigged against him, and then lost the audit of the election he thought was rigged for him. So now, in a desperate attempt to do as much damage to democracy as he possibly can, Trump is pushing for audits even in states he won! The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott—who never misses an opportunity to kiss that big orange ass of Trump’s—announced that they, too, will be conducting an audit to verify election results in a state Trump won by 600,000 votes. Which, wouldn’t it be hilarious if it turns out he lost Texas, too?”

Kimmel shared a clip of Trump speaking at a rally over the weekend in which the former president declared that the people who are against him are “evil and angry and destroying our country” and that they want to come after him because “I have, they think, a big mouth. I don’t have a big mouth. You know what I have? I have a mouth that tells the truth. I have a mouth that wants to save our country.”

Dubbing the rant Trump’s “I Have a Mouth speech,” Kimmel then joked that at the same event, “Mouth Rushmore also gave himself a pat on the back for one of his top 10 imaginary accomplishments… winning Fox News’ famous war on Christmas.” Which isn’t quite as impressive as winning the presidency, but at least it’s something.

You can watch the full clip above, beginning around the 2:00 mark.

Jay-Z and Kid Cudi, despite both being very popular rappers in the upper echelon of the genre’s best-known names, would seem to be diametrically opposed at first glance. Jay came up in the gritty ’90s and helped define the glitzy sound of the 2000s before settling into his elder statesman role in the last decade. Kid Cudi, however, was a part of the blog era movement to redefine rap, focusing on mental health rather than “Money, Cash, Hoes.”

But the two make for one awesome dynamic duo in the new trailer for the Netflix Western The Harder They Fall, where a new collaboration between them can be heard as Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors, and Regina King shoot at each other with old-timey revolvers. Fittingly, the song features a shootout theme, with Cudi’s chorus echoing the refrain “My guns go bang” and Jay’s verse describes a duel: “Bullets with your names, drew / Cock back, aim, shoot.”

Netflix has appeared to make an effort to reach out to both hip-hop generations in recent years; from the rap contest Rhythm + Flow to a new Kanye West documentary to a comedy special hosted by Saweetie, the streaming company has made sweeping overtures to capture a demographic with plenty of potential for all kinds of enjoyable content.

Watch the Harder They Fall trailer above and stream the film itself on Netflix on 11/3.

We’re in the midst of a new wave of Britney Spears documentaries, as some high-profile ones were just released. Spears herself caught some of one of them and she’s not feeling it.

Taking to Instagram, she wrote, “It’s really crazy guys … I watched a little bit of the last documentary and I must say I scratched my head a couple of times [shrugging emoji] !!! I really try to disassociate myself from the drama !!! Number one … that’s the past !!!” Then, making use of sarcasm, Spears continued, “Number two … can the dialogue get any classier [shrugging emoji] [crying emoji] ??? Number three … wow they used the most beautiful footage of me in the world !!! What can I say .. the EFFORT on their part !!!”

It’s worth noting that, like with other recent posts, commenters are speculating that Spears is not currently in control of her Instagram account. Fans pointed out that Spears deleted and re-shared the post, with different captions, multiple times. According to Page Six, an earlier and more directly phrased version of the post read, “It’s really crazy guys … I watched a little bit of the last documentary and I hate to inform you but a lot of what you heard is not true !!!”

Spears doesn’t specify which documentary she’s talking about, as both Hulu and Netflix recently released their own. Page Six notes that according to “a source,” Spears was actually referring to CNN’s Toxic: Britney Spears’ Battle For Freedom, which aired on Sunday.

Over the weekend, Billie Eilish performed at the Governors Ball festival in New York City, where, during “Everything I Wanted,” she briefly interrupted the set to ask the security staff why they weren’t paying attention. As NME points out, Eilish may have noticed an incident go down in the crowd when she asked, “Security, why aren’t you paying attention? Like, for real,” then adding, “One job, please.” She asked the crowd, “Everybody good? Are you OK?” The nature of the incident itself is unclear.

Also over the weekend, Eilish and her brother Finneas joined Coldplay onstage at the Global Citizen Festival in New York, where they all performed “Fix You” from the band’s 2005 album X&Y.

Eilish, who is currently touring her sophomore album Happier Than Ever, was recently included on Time’s list of 100 most influential people. Megan Thee Stallion wrote about the singer for the issue and called her a “rare spirit who speaks from her heart with no pretenses” and a “woman who stands up for herself and advocates for women everywhere.”

Watch Billie Eilish call out GovBall security in the fan-shot video above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The WNBA announced a collection of awards for the 2021 season on Tuesday morning, and in addition to having the best record in the league during the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, the Connecticut Sun managed to take home a number of individual honors. At the forefront was Jonquel Jones capping off her magnificent season by being named WNBA MVP in near unanimous fashion.

Jones received 48 of a potential 49 first-place votes en route to earning league MVP honors for the first time in her career. All season long, Jones has served as the focal point for the Sun on their run to the top of the league, averaging 19.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 31.7 minutes per game while connecting on 51.5 percent of her shots from the field and 36.2 percent of her attempts from three. The only other player to get a first-place vote was Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury, who came in second place, while the rest of the top-5 vote getters consisted of Breanna Stewart, Sylvia Fowles, and Tina Charles.

It’s the latest bit of hardware in Jones’ increasingly full trophy case, as she adds an MVP to a Sixth Woman of the Year award in 2016 and a Most Improved Player award in 2017. That second honor returned to Connecticut this year, too, with Brionna Jones being named the league’s MIP. In a season that saw her named an All-Star for the first time in her WNBA career, Jones averaged 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 30.6 minutes per game while starting each of the 32 games the Sun played, all of which were career-best marks.

To round out the honors, Sun head coach Curt Miller was named the league’s Coach of the Year for the second time, having previously won it in 2017. The team will look to take all of its individual success and, as it has done so well this season, turn that into team success in its quest to win the first championship in franchise history when it kicks off its postseason on Tuesday night against Chicago.

Scientists in India have made a major medical breakthrough by producing the first “thermostable” variety of insulin that doesn’t need to be refrigerated. The research was led by two scientists from the Bose Institute and the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) and two others from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT).

This development is fantastic news for diabetics because it will make it a lot easier for them to store this life-saving medication. The product labels from all three of America’s insulin manufacturers state that insulin should be stored in a refrigerator at approximately 36°F to 46°F.

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If the insulin gets too warm or too cold for an extended period of time, it begins to break down and become ineffective. When insulin has broken down, it doesn’t show any signs of being ruined. But when it’s injected by the user it can be ineffective at managing their blood sugar levels. This can lead to serious health problems.

This means that insulin users have to take extra caution when traveling, so they’re sure their medication stays at the correct temperature. It can also be a major problem during natural disasters when refrigerators go out and insulin users can’t keep the temperature of their medicine low enough.

The researchers claim this new version of insulin will be able to withstand temperatures up to 149 °F.

via Unsplash

They created a thermostable version of the drug by introducing a matrix of four amino acid peptide molecules. These molecules prevent the solidification of the insulin molecules when not refrigerated.

“You will be able to keep it outside the refrigerator for as long as you want, something that will help diabetes patients across the world because carrying insulin along with them was considered impossible all this while,” said Subhrangsu Chatterjee, a faculty member at Bose Institute.

“Though for the moment we are calling it ‘insulock’, we are in the process of appealing to the department of science and technology (DST) to name it after Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose,” he added.

The scientists hope that their research will lure investors to help them mass-produce the new medication.

Cost to manufacture 1 vial of insulin: Around $6
Cost of 1 vial of insulin for consumers:
🇫🇷: $9
🇩🇪: $11
🇯🇵: $14
🇦🇺… https://t.co/ffXQ3tepc0

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders)
1618587240.0

There’s no telling when or if the new drug will be approved for safe use by the FDA and made available in America. But there’s a compelling reason to bring it stateside. The researchers say that it will make the drug more affordable. In the U.S. that’s big news because the price of insulin has been steadily increasing for the past 15 years.

A report in Health found that the price of Eli Lilly’s Humalog insulin has increased 1,200% since it was first produced. In 1996, a one-month supply cost $21; by 2019 it had risen to $275. The ever-rising price of insulin in the United States is unprecedented given its cost throughout the rest of the developed world.

According to a 2020 study by RAND Health Care, the average gross manufacturer price for a standard unit of insulin in the United States in 2018 was more than 10 times the price of a unit in 32 foreign countries.

When Benny Mendez asked his middle school P.E. students why they wanted to participate in STOKED—his new after school program where kids can learn to skateboard, snowboard, and surf—their answers surprised him.

I want to be able to finally see the beach, students wrote. I want to finally be able to see the snow.

Never having seen snow is understandable for Mendez’s students, most who live in Inglewood, CA, just outside of Los Angeles. But never having been to the beach is surprising, since most of them only live 15-20 minutes from the ocean. Mendez discovered many of them don’t even know how to swim.

“A lot of the kids shared that they just want to go on adventures,” says Mendez. “They love nature, but…they just see it in pictures. They want to be out there.”

Mendez is in his third year of teaching physical education at View Park K-8 school, one of seven Inner City Foundation Education schools in the Los Angeles area. While many of his students are athletically gifted, Mendez says, they often face challenges outside of school that limit their opportunities. Some of them live in neighborhoods where it’s unsafe to leave their houses at certain times of day due to gang activity, and many students come to his P.E. class with no understanding of why learning about physical health is important.

“There’s a lot going on at home [with my students],” says Mendez. “They’re coming from either a single parent home, or foster care. There’s a lot of trauma behind what’s going on at home…that is out of our control.”

Photo courtesy of Yoplait

What Mendez can control is what he gives his students when they’re in his care, which is understanding, some structure, and the chance to try new things. Mendez wakes up at 4:00 a.m. most days and often doesn’t get home until 9:00 p.m. as he works tirelessly to help kids thrive. Not only does he run after school programs, but he coaches youth soccer on the weekends as well. He also works closely with other teachers and guidance counselors at the school to build strong relationships with students, and even serves as a mentor to his former students who are now in high school.

Now Mendez is earning accolades far and wide for his efforts both in and out of the classroom, including a surprise award from Yoplait and Box Tops for Education.

Yoplait and Box Tops are partnering this school year to help students reach their fullest potential, which includes celebrating teachers and programs that support that mission. Yoplait is committed to providing experiences for kids and families to connect through play, so teaming up with Box Tops provided an opportunity to support programs like STOKED.

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“We know that Box Tops believes that a child’s education is the foundation to achieving their fullest potential,” says Rachel Letsche, assistant manager of Brand Experience at Yoplait, “so we thought that by coming together, we could help schools and parents both teach and raise ‘good little humans’.”

Photo courtesy of Yoplait

In recognition of his extraordinary dedication, Yoplait and Box Tops recently surprised Mendez by paying for every item on his Amazon teacher wishlist, including a tent, chairs, two portable basketball hoops as well as colorful bands, balls and cones.They also presented Mendez with $10,000 in Box Tops for his school to develop and support more programs like STOKED, along with a note praising his efforts:

Dear Mr. Mendez,

Your passion for physical fitness has inspired hundreds of View Park students to lead healthier lives! You’ve used your own story to relate to and mentor students who need it most. You’ve used your passion to help bring new and interesting sports like Skateboarding, Surfing and Snowboarding to your school.

Your dedication to your work leaves little free time, yet you still spend your weekends coaching youth soccer. Your influence will continue to change the world and lives for years to come.

As a thank you for being a role model in the classroom, Box Tops for Education has purchased every item on your wishlist and is giving ICEF View Park Middle School $10,000 that can be used toward bringing even more incredible programs to your students.

Thank you, Mr. Mendez!

Sincerely,
Yoplait & The Box Tops for Education Team

The award is particularly meaningful for Mendez as securing funding at a Title 1 school can be difficult.

“In order to provide these opportunities for students at no cost, the athletic director and I work on the funding, getting grants, and making sure that the students don’t have to put any of their own money,” Mendez explains.

“Funding has continued to be a challenge just in order for me to have the equipment here at the school. Writing the grants is very time consuming. Applying for certain scholarships has been a challenge.”

Over the past 25 years, nearly $1 billion in Box Tops has gone to K-8 schools in the US. As part of General Mills’ commitment to advance equity in education, Box Tops now has a renewed focus to help the students in schools where support is most needed.

Within the Box Tops app, shoppers can now use the search feature to find and select Schools in Need to receive funding from purchases of Box Top products. This back-to-school season, in addition to Mendez’s school, Box Tops and Yoplait also donated $10,000 in Box Tops to another School in Need, Jefferson Elementary in Lennox, California.

Mendez is no stranger to the financial realities his students face, having grown up in a poor family himself. His own middle class P.E. teacher would waive his fees for cross country running competitions, which enabled him to participate in a sport he loved. Mendez credits that teacher with helping him come out of his shell and build confidence, something that Mendez now tries to do with his own students. The key, he’s learned, is opening up to them about his own life and his own challenges, which helps them relate to him and feel comfortable opening up to him.

All of these accomplishments are quite extraordinary for a man who didn’t even intend to become a teacher. When Mendez started college, his goal was to become an athletic trainer for professional athletes. But as he advanced in his studies, he realized that his true passion was working with student athletes, helping them develop their skills and talents, and trying to make a positive impact in their lives.

Mission accomplished, Mr. Mendez. Thank you for being a shining example, not only for your students, but for the rest of us as well.

For more information on how to help schools in need, download the Box Tops app today.

Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert thinks that she’s separating god and government, but people are letting her know that she has no idea. Yep, the Republican representative can’t quit Twitter after recently being dragged after a particularly hysterical tweet about the U.S.-Mexico border situation. This followed closely after a disastrous toilet joke, and interestingly enough, she recently let everyone know that it’s basically God’s fault that she’s sitting in Congress.

Where does that leave Boebert this week? She’s changed her mind, as you can see below with this tweet: “Government is not God.”

Yep, it’s another doozy, a day after Boebert decided to use an Office Space reference to suggest that Covid is comparable to a headache, and that Tylenol makes for a great metaphor, and so on. It also must be mentioned that Boebert, a U.S. representative, did not graduate high school and has discussed passing the GED in recent years. This hasn’t excused her from not understanding the fundamentals of U.S. civics.

So, people aren’t letting her slide when it comes to never really caring about the separation of church and state, unless it fits with her argument, and people are calling her out for hypocrisy, especially trying to push religious beliefs into government when it comes to the abortion issue and more.

Another relevant question: did Boebert take too much Tylenol?

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

This week’s edition is highlighted by British singer Nao’s gracious return with her third album, And Then Life Was Beautiful. It’s a powerful body of work that arrives nearly three years after her excellent sophomore effort, Saturn. On the singles side of things, Giveon and Lucky Daye kick off what appears to be new eras in their careers with “For Tonight” and “Over,” respectively.

Nao — And Then Life Was Beautiful

Nearly three years after she impressed with her sophomore album Saturn, British singer Nao is back in action with her third album And Then Life Was Beautiful. The 13-track album is supported by guest appearances from Adekunle Gold, Lucky Daye, Lianne La Havas, and Serpentwithfeet. Altogether, it’s an excellent project that offers hope to those who have grown immensely skeptical about life.

Giveon — “For Tonight”

Long Beach’s Giveon was, without a doubt, one of the best gifts the music world received in 2020 thanks to his two EPs, Take Time and When It’s All Said And Done. With just a few months left in the year, Giveon is back to make his mark on 2021 with his latest single, “For Tonight.”

Lucky Daye — “Over”

While Giveon was 2020’s best R&B gift, Lucky Daye was 2019’s. The singer, who is in the midst of an impressive guest feature run, returns with “Over.” The track sees Daye attempt to navigate an on-and-off-again relationship with quite the indecisive partner. It’s a solid follow-up to Table For Two, a project he released earlier this year.

Hitmaka & Queen Naija — “Quickie” Feat. Ty Dolla Sign

After standing beside Eric Bellinger for their solid 2021 project, 1-800-HIT-EAZY, producer Hitmaka takes control of things as a lead artist once again. He’s back to work with Ty Dolla Sign and Queen Naija with him for their new single, “Quickie.” The bouncy track promotes and a brief moment of love as Ty and Queen search around for someone who can fulfill their need for a “quickie.”

Amber Mark — “What It Is”

It’s with great happiness that I inform you that singer Amber Mark has finally unveiled plans for a future album. While it’s not slated to arrive until 2022, it’s awesome to hear that the singer will deliver a full body of work after more than three years of ear-grabbing singles. Three Dimensions Deep drops January 28, and to build up anticipation for its arrival, she delivered her latest single, “What It Is.”

Alina Baraz — Sunbeam

Last year, Alina Baraz blessed the world with her strong sophomore album It Was Divine. Fast-forward to the present and she’s returned to do the same with her new EP, Sunbeam. Equipped with just four songs, the project provides more evidence that supports Baraz’s appealing artistry.

JoJo — JoJo

More than 15 years after its release, JoJo’s beloved self-titled debut album is finally on streaming services. It comes thanks to a new distribution deal between Empire and her former label, Blackground Records. The imprint was also home to the likes of Aaliyah and Tank, artists who also saw their past works added to DSPs in the past few weeks. While it may be a celebratory moment to some fans, JoJo was dismayed by the move as she would not receive profits from the upload.

Anthony Hamilton — Love Is The New Black

Five years removed from his last full-length project, Anthony Hamilton returns with Love Is The New Black. Complete with 14 tracks and features from Rick Ross, Lil Jon, and Jennifer Hudson, Hamilton’s latest body of work is the singer’s attempt to “lessen the heavy load and allow everyone to celebrate again.” He added in a press release, “I wanted this album to feel like what was missing throughout the pandemic. This is the restoration. We’re making this thing called life, sexy, beautiful, and powerful again.”

Asiahn — “Fall Back”

Leave it to Asiahn to beautifully share a story about falling in love too fast. That’s what the singer-songwriter provides on her latest single, “Fall Back.” In regards to how much she relates to the song, well, Asiahn kept it straightforward in a press release. “The story behind the song is, well, true,” she says while laughing before adding later, “It’s a song telling that person to ‘fall back, you doing too much.’ Let’s just get to know each other and see if getting serious is even something we want to do.”

Kirby — “Can We Be Friends?”

Following “Coconut Oil” and “Break Her Heart For Me,” Kirby extends her streak of quality 2021 releases with “Can We Be Friends?” On this record, the singer lets her vocals shine while seeking peace between her and a past lover who have spent far too much time on bad terms. Here, she places her hand out for a potential truce that will hopefully calm the high tensions.

Sakura — “I Can’t Call You Baby

Towards the end of June, Atlanta’s Sakura delivered her debut project, Don’t Overthink It. In her continued effort to promote it, she returns with a visual for the project’s closer, “I Can’t Call You Baby.” The video flaunts the singer’s innocence while she sings about letting go and closing the door on a past love that’s caused her too much pain.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.