Month: August 2023

Matthieu Ricard, often called “the happiest man in the world,” says that the way for all of us to live sustainably on this planet is to adopt a culture of thinking about each other. And not just the others who are here right now, but also people we’ll never meet.

He tells us some stuff that you’re probably tired of hearing. We’re exhausting our planets resources. Humanity has completely screwed everything up on this planet.

But stick around because he’s going to get crazy surprising.

This is not a speech about recycling.

He points out that our situation is even more serious than you might have known. We’re rapidly exceeding the planetary boundaries that make Earth habitable.

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And, let’s be honest, it’s easy not to feel crazy urgent about this, right?

• The glaciers are melting, but I didn’t see them back when they were all there.
• There’s a flotilla of plastic out in the Pacific, but it’s pretty far from my home.
• And we’ve lost half of the world’s species since 1970, but how many of them were cute ones? (Kidding — lots of them were.)

When we consider how we treat our planet, when we’re talking about big action, we’re doing it because we’d like our kids and grandkids to not live in a post-apocalyptic hellscape.

But then he offers a solution.

And it’s not about buying a Prius.

So, his big revolutionary advice is just to look out for each other but in a tremendous way. Look out for your neighbor. Look out for your friend. Look out for your enemy and their great-great-great-grandkid.

But is that possible? And can we be happy if we think about others that much?

In fact, it happens all the time. So often that it’s not newsworthy. This ordinary goodness is what helps communities and families grow.

An international survey found that the very most perfect predictor of happiness is the quality of human relationships.

But what is altruism? Is it a choice? Is it something we do for ourselves so that we will feel good about ourselves?

But how do we encourage that impulse to grow within ourselves, our communities, and our children?

For that, you’ll have to watch the video.

With Donald Trump’s mugshot out in the wild, social media has had a field day reacting to the photo even though this is technically Trump’s fourth arrest. (He’s had a busy summer.)

While most of the reactions have been jokes dunking on the former president, Marjorie Taylor Greene took things to a strange and incoherent level by making up a fake mugshot of herself. However, in a surprise twist, Greene did not corner the market on the most sycophantic reaction to Trump’s arrest. That honor goes to the conservatives filling up Twitter by comparing Trump to, we kid you not, Tupac Shakur. Never in a million years would anyone equate Trump with Tupac, and yet here we are.

“In the urban black community, a mug shot can be an iconic symbol, both of victimization and of greatness,” Dinesh D’Douza tweeted. “It’s a defiant UP YOURS to ‘the man.’ Think Tupac Shakur. Trump is now the ultimate gangsta in our culture.”

“I support Tupac Trump and I’m blocked by Elon Musk. I think I’m becoming a gangster,” noted conservative pundit Catturd tweeted before creating the hasthag #TupacTrump.

Naturally, it didn’t take long for right-wingers to run with the Tupac theme, and quickly get dunked on for what has to be their most out-of-touch comparison yet. Donald Trump and Tupac. What even is reality anymore?

But don’t take our word for it, here’s the actual Tupac sharing his thoughts on Trump:

You can see some of the reactions to #TupacTrump below:

(Via Dinesh D’Souza on Twitter)

Bridgerton was a great way for people to be introduced to London high society, but have you ever wondered what it would be like if there were a bunch of Americans thrown into the equation? Well, wonder no longer! Apple TV+’s The Buccaneers is the next period drama to bring back corsets and curly updos for the modern woman. And probably some sex.

Based on the novel by Edith Wharton, The Buccaneers was first brought to the screen in 1995 with a BBC miniseries starring Carla Gugino, Mia Sorvino, and Alison Elliot. The novel was published in 1993, nearly 50 years after Wharton died, and now Apple TV+ is bringing it back for another go with a whole new set of young women looking to find a man. This is the type of history Barbie was trying to warn us about. Here’s everything you need to know.

Plot

Similar to Bridgerton, The Buccaneers will follow a group of young American women who head to London in order to find the perfect husband. What makes a husband perfect? Money!!! This is the 1870s, by the way, so it’s fine. Women weren’t allowed to make their own money anyway. Here is the official AppleTV+ synopsis:

The Buccaneers are the daughters of America’s new rich — beautiful and untameable, despite the best efforts of England’s finest governesses, they are on their way to London to snare themselves an aristocrat, low in funds but high in class, to make a perfect match.

Cast

The cast includes Looking for Alaska’s Kristine Froseth, 13 Reasons Why’s Alisha Boe, Josie Totah, Mia Threapleton (daughter of Kate Winslet), and Christina Hendricks.

Release Date

The series is set to premiere on November 8th 2023.

Trailer

Apple TV has yet to release the teaser trailer, but here are some of the first-look images:

With each release of singer SZA’s music videos, the Grammy Award-winner finds a way to hide Easter eggs of what she has lined up. The notable guest cameos within her new video for smash single “Snooze,” off her sophomore album, SOS, has fans speculating what the future holds.

The NSFW behind-the-scenes teaser for the mini-film, shared on August 13, didn’t do the final product justice. Power Book II star Woody McClain, Beef‘s Young Mazino, entertainer Benny Blanco, and pop star Justin Bieber all make on-screen appearances at different points of the visual. However, Bieber’s spot has sparked rumors that he and SZA have something in the works.

According to Variety, that something more is an extended official remix to “Snooze.” Bieber and his wife Hailey (Baldwin) Bieber were spotted in March enjoying SZA’s SOS Tour stop in Los Angeles. So, the idea that Bieber and SZA are working on music together isn’t as farfetched as it may seem.

SZA’s sophomore album, SOS, was released in December 2022 and quickly rose to the top of the charts. Should a “Snooze” remix be shared with Justin Bieber, it could appear on the deluxe version of the project that has long since been teased.

Ahsoka, so far, feels like a missed opportunity.

I have many friends who are huge fans of the animated series, Rebels. I, too, am familiar with the series. I watched the entire first season. Then kind of decided it wasn’t really my thing and moved on, catching a handful of other episodes here and there. But I certainly understand why people like it. But it’s hard to explain to fans of Rebels that Rebels doesn’t hold a grip on the zeitgeist like they think it does. Fans of Rebels are, trust me, really into that show. But if you walk down the street and ask 100 random people if they know who Ezra Bridger is, how many people get that right? One? I suspect you’d get a lot of answers like, “Isn’t that the guy who used to run that deli?” Now ask if they know who Luke Skywalker is. I bet it’s a lot more.

A lot of people who like Star Wars just don’t watch the animated series. That’s just a fact. And I know a lot of their fans will say, “Well, you’re missing out.” Maybe! But that’s not the point here. The point is, a lot of people who do watch the live-action just don’t watch them. And Ahsoka really could have been a great introduction of this character to people who only know her from a couple of guest appearances on The Mandalorian. But, unfortunately, Ahsoka not only assumes you know everything about her from the animated Clone Wars series, it also assumes you know everything from Rebels. Which is probably wonderful if you’ve watched those shows, but to everyone else it’s so far been a huge bore. And if you are a fan of the Rebels animated show, you should want more people to be interested in these characters. And this series probably isn’t doing that. (Not to mention, I remember these characters being much more interesting in the animated series. For whatever reason, in Ahsoka, the dialogue flows like toothpaste. A character will say something, then the other character will stare off into space for five seconds before responding. For the life of me I can’t figure out why anyone would choose to do this.)

One of Ahsoka‘s biggest problems is the whole story, once again, revolves around “a map to a guy.” What’s weird is the first six Star Wars movies all successfully avoided maps in general. The first Star Wars had plans to the Death Star, which is sort of a map, but it’s not the same thing. The Empire Strikes Back is kind of opposite of a map, as everyone is sort of scrambling to get anywhere. Though, it just hit me, if Empire came out today, Ben Kenobi would appear to Luke on Hoth telling him to find the map to Yoda and the whole movie would be about that. It’s funny, now, Ben just says, “You will go to Dagobah,” and Luke is like, “Okay, sure, I know where that is.”

In The Force Awakens, the “map to a guy” – in this case Luke Skywalker – felt somewhat fresh, at least for Star Wars. By The Rise of Skywalker, a movie seemingly made to just repeat and erase everything from the prior movies, the “map to a guy,” this time Palpatine, already felt tired. Actually, in this case, it was the map to another map to the “map to the guy.” Which was basically the plot of Justice League. (I assume it’s a coincidence both The Rise of Skywalker and Justice League had the same screenwriter.)

With Ahsoka, right off the bat we learn the series is about, you guessed it, a “map to a guy.” The first two maps to guys were maps to household name characters. So which guy is it this time? Han Solo? Lando Calrissian? No, it’s a map to Grand Admiral Thrawn – a character who people think is a lot more popular than he really is. Thrawn, if you don’t know, is the “big bad“ of Timothy Zahn’s 1991 book Heir to the Empire, which was the first story to take place after Return of the Jedi and is no longer canon. At the time, the consensus was, “Yeah, he’s fine,” because how do you top Vader and Palpatine. You don’t, hence, “good enough.” When Thrawn was reintroduced in Rebels it was kind of a fun, “hey, the guy from the books!” moment. Now he’s apparently important enough to be a “map to a guy” guy, even though most people really don’t know who he is, but the series sure thinks you know who he is. There’s a lot of talk of him being banished to another galaxy. Even I have absolutely no clue what that’s about and the series doesn’t even think explaining that would be a good idea because obviousl we have all watched the animated series. (Again, we certainly have not.) But all I know is there’s a map, Thrawn is a guy, and all the characters are going to follow the map to the guy.

As I said, this seems like a missed opportunity to introduce, you know, the title character of this show to a wider audience. Instead, it’s all about the Rebels characters, which is a mistake. A show actually about Ahsoka, on her own, going on weekly adventures (like the early episodes of The Mandalorian would have been preferable. Instead, there are just all these characters that Dave Filoni seems to think everyone is already in love with. And in a weird way I get it? Have you ever been to Star Wars Celebration? I’ve been to a few and it’s literally a fantasy world. If you are a creator of anything to do with Star Wars you are royalty at these things. This is a place where the guy who plays Dack (John Morton, I met him, very nice guy) can get a standing ovation. When Filoni walks around Celebration, it’s a sight to be seen. He is Mister King Shit. So if I’m him, yeah I probably am under the impression everyone on earth is extremely familiar with all these characters. I mean, just look around! Everyone is dressed as them! But, unfortunately, Ahsoka isn’t streaming exclusively at Star Wars Celebration. It’s on Disney+, a place that exists to make money in a current environment where streaming services are losing subscribers. Like it or not, Ahsoka absolutely needs the casual Star Wars fan. Remember, even Obi-Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett had series that didn’t light the world on fire, and those are very popular characters that have been around for over 40 years. (Though, the former did get an Emmy nomination.) And after watching the first two episodes of Ahsoka, I can’t imagine the casual fan will be coming back for more.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Heading into Donald Trump‘s arrest in Georgia, behind-the-scenes report claimed that the former president was particularly “nervous” about the numerous defendants in the indictment turning on him. Well, at least three of them already have.

Georgia Republicans David Shafer, Shawn Still, and Cathleen Latham have told prosecutors that they acted as fake electors for Trump because he was the “incumbent president” and ordered them to do so.

Via Politico:

In a series of court filings this week, those false electors, who became part of Trump’s last-ditch bid to subvert the 2020 election, said it was Trump and his campaign lawyers who urged them to sign the false documents, claiming they were necessary to preserve Trump’s flailing court efforts to reverse his defeat to Joe Biden. That exhortation from Trump’s campaign lawyers, they said, amounted to federal government permission to take the actions they did.

Still’s attorney threw Trump under the bus during a court appearance on Thursday.

“Mr. Still, as a presidential elector, was also acting at the direction of the incumbent president of the United States,” his attorney said. “The president’s attorneys instructed Mr. Still and the other contingent electors that they had to meet and cast their ballots on Dec. 14, 2020.”

According to inside sources, Trump has been extremely concerned about defendants flipping on him and his public bravado doesn’t match his demeanor behind closed doors.

“He’s not so confident anymore,” an insider told Page Six. “He’s not acting so cocky anymore. He’s not lashing out so much. The arrogance is gone.”

(Via Politico)

In January, Cardi B finally teased her first album in five years. Her last full-length was 2018’s Invasion Of Privacy, and fans have been eager for more ever since. Now, she has a long-awaited update about the project.

“I’m not going to release any more collaborations, I’m going to publish my next solo single,” she told Vogue Mexico. “Now I’m working on the cover and ideas for the next album because it’s definitely coming. Everyone always tells me that I should release the album now, they did it when I launched ‘WAP’ and ‘Up,’ but I always let them know that I’m not going to wait long to release it after all these singles. So stay tuned because it’s going to come out very soon.”

She continued, “Everyone always tells me I should put the record out now, they did when I released ‘WAP’ and when I released ‘Up,’ but I always let them know I’m not going to wait long after all these singles. So stay tuned because it’s coming out very soon. I also have plans in the world of cinema. In fact I have plans to do everything I can: fashion, branding, I want to do it all, honey.”

Cardi also showed off the contents of her bag in an accompanying video, so check that out below. (It’s primarily in Spanish, but English subtitles can be enabled in the YouTube settings.)

Stan Lee will almost certainly go down as the most influential figure in comic book history.

A World War II veteran, comic innovator and someone who truly pushed the needle forward on social progress, here are some of the legendary quotes and deep thoughts that helped define his life:

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His timeless quote made famous through the pages and films of Spider-Man:

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

On coming to terms with his art:

“I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic-book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers. And then I began to realize: entertainment is one of the most important things in people’s lives. Without it they might go off the deep end. I feel that if you’re able to entertain people, you’re doing a good thing.”

Lee’s X-Men characters were defined by the post World War II legacy. Even series villain Magneto, a survivor of the Holocaust in the original comic storyline, used the hatred of others to define his worldview:

“Your humans slaughter each other because of the color of your skin, or your faith or your politics — or for no reason at all — too many of you hate as easily as you draw breath.”

Lee was still a creative force in the 60’s and 70’s when the Free Love movement was taking hold. He wasn’t above sharing a bit of New Age wisdom of his own:

“There is only one who is all powerful, and his greatest weapon is love.”

Despite creating some of the most iconic superhero characters ever, Lee was deeply humble about his own life:

“Someone wants to do a movie of my life now and he’s writing a script, and I said to him, ‘What the hell could you do? I’ve never been arrested, I haven’t taken drugs, I’ve had the same wife for 54 years… where’s anything of interest to people?’”

And he had a lot of perspective about his own mortality:

“You know, my motto is ‘Excelsior.’ That’s an old word that means ‘upward and onward to greater glory.’ It’s on the seal of the state of New York. Keep moving forward, and if it’s time to go, it’s time. Nothing lasts forever.”

This article originally appeared on 11.12.18

As a parent, it sometimes feels like you’re supposed to be fueled entirely by selfless love and a “spiritual connection” to your children.

But you know what? You matter, too! And there’s nothing wrong with needing a little soul-nourishment that doesn’t end with you on your knees scrubbing barf out of the carpet.

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Yes, it’s possible to love your kids deeply but also be a little overwhelmed by what your life has become. It’s totally normal to need a little more than just love to keep yourself going.

With that in mind, here are 10 things all parents can agree on about the tiny, but hardly insignificant, pleasures of the daily parent-grind.

1. You’ve determined that one and a half is the perfect number of drinks.

Perfection.

Drinking alcohol is fun! It’s also a brief reminder of what it used to be like when you were allowed to have adult fun. But each drink also increases the amount it will suck if and when the kids wake up early or in the middle of the night.

The magic number usually tends to be around two drinks, less the half beer left sitting on your night stand after you’ve just given up and passed out, netting a perfect 1.5.

2. You hate washing dishes, but you love that warm dishwater.

Washing dishes while holding baby? Parenting level: expert.

Children are basically mystical fairies that fill your home with dirty dishes while you aren’t looking.

Washing those dishes is an endless, thankless chore, but at least soaking your hands in the hot, frothy water feels kind of nice.

3. You know that silence really is golden.

…

No, no, don’t ruin it. Just listen.

Ahhh…

4. You don’t drive just to get places.

Most people think cars are just motorized hunks of metal that take you from Point A to Point B.

Parents know that they are, in fact, complex machines designed to make children fall asleep while you pick up dinner at the drive-through, or even just drive aimlessly through an area without a lot of stoplights.

5. You cherish the days where nothing happens.

Getting up, going to work, eating dinner, and going to bed. That’s all we really want.

Any day where no one gets sick, injured, or inexplicably, inconsolably cranky is a success.

6. You also love Mondays. (Really.)

Having a young child is kind of like making a bomb out of household items and carrying it around with you. Even if you’re really careful, there’s a chance it might explode.

Monday (for many of us) means dropping the kids at school or daycare where, short of severe injury or illness, anything that happens after that is their problem.

7. You have a new appreciation for waking up naturally.

I barely remember what this feels like..

Being kissed awake by the sun’s heavenly rays is so rare that when it does happen, you assume your child must have died in their sleep. But once you confirm that all’s well and melt back into a peaceful slumber, there’s no better feeling in the world.

8. You know that hot showers are everything.

See: Warm dishwater, silence.

9. You hang out with other parents to put everything into perspective.

Hanging around a bunch of parents is amazing. Everyone’s wearing sweats, no one’s in shape, and showering is totally optional. Everyone’s just trying to get by, OK?

And if you have to go home because your kid’s having a meltdown, they’re all too busy cutting food into small pieces or monitoring timeout to give you the side-eye.

10. You drink coffee like it is the source of all life.

Drinking coffee doesn’t really have the same effect as getting more sleep, but it’s possible to convince yourself otherwise. Sometimes, though, you’ll drink coffee too late in the day and have trouble sleeping.

The only solution to that? Yep. More coffee.

Being a parent is hard. It’s OK to admit it.

It doesn’t matter if you’re tired. It doesn’t matter if you’re sick. It doesn’t matter if it’s your birthday. It doesn’t even matter if you’re tired and sick ON your birthday. (And you will be.)

At least, that’s how it can feel.

But psychiatrist Gail Saltz told TODAY Parents, “You have to put your oxygen mask on first,” so to speak. “If you go to pieces, everyone is going down with you.”

That’s why we’re all so desperate for that spa day or for a beer with friends. But it might be a while before we can get one on the books.

In the meantime, it pays to look for the little moments in between that give us the juice we need to keep going.

This article originally appeared on 03.15.16

A teacher’s message has gone viral after he let his student sleep in class — for the kindest reason.

Teachers spend time preparing lesson plans and trying to engage students in learning. The least a kid can do is stay awake in class, right?

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But high school English teacher Monte Syrie sees things differently. In a Twitter thread, he explained why he didn’t take it personally when his student Meg fell asleep — and why he didn’t wake her up.

Screenshots via MonteSyrie/Twitter.

Meg’s nap meant she missed an in-class essay, but she turned it in that night. “I didn’t beat her up about it. Didn’t have to,” he wrote. “In a different room, Meg may have been written up for sleeping in class and given a zero for missing and essay, but she wasn’t in a different room; she was in my room.”

Syrie pointed out that sometimes we have to “trust our instincts, even if it goes against the grain.”

Meg is a good student with a lot on her plate. She takes a zero-hour class before the normal school day and does farm chores before that. She runs track. And she’s a teenager, with all of the social, academic, and life pressures that go along with it.

Syrie teaches sophomore English in Cheney, Washington. Photo via Monte Syrie.

And she’s not alone. During the school year, teens report higher levels of stress than adults, and many students report feeling exhausted trying to keep up with it all.

“I think too often the biggest thing that people forget about high school students is that they are kids,” Syrie says. “They’re kids — kids who are having to grow up way too fast and are having way too much pressure put on them, in and out of school … even for our best and brightest, that pressure gets to be too much.”

Syrie’s compassionate story resonated with people because we’ve all been in a position of needing a little grace.

Syrie’s tweets continued, exemplifying how teachers can show kindness and understanding to students. He pointed out, “I can’t offer Meg a math class later in the day. I cannot feed her horses … I cannot run 6 race-pace 300s for her. I cannot spirit away her teen trouble. But I can give her a break.”

Syrie says he tries to be that responsive to all of his students. “Because I firmly believe that one size fits all is madness, I adjust to each student, trusting my instincts, trusting what I know,” he says. “Regardless of our responsibilities, life is hard, and we all need some grace now and then.”

Syrie says he’s had a few negative comments, but overwhelmingly the response has been positive from both students and teachers.

[rebelmouse-image 19397573 dam=”1″ original_size=”665×141″ caption=”Screenshot via Alexa Shaw/Twitter.” expand=1]Screenshot via Alexa Shaw/Twitter.

[rebelmouse-image 19397574 dam=”1″ original_size=”648×96″ caption=”Screenshot via Maria Riverso/Twitter.” expand=1]Screenshot via Maria Riverso/Twitter.

[rebelmouse-image 19397575 dam=”1″ original_size=”661×119″ caption=”Screenshot via Mrs. Chow/Twitter.” expand=1]Screenshot via Mrs. Chow/Twitter.

Syrie has words for those who say that allowing a student to sleep in class doesn’t prepare them for the “real world.”

Some may question whether letting a student sleep in class without consequence is a good idea. Syrie has a response:

“We are not working in factories, stamping out standardized products,” he says. “We are helping young humans — unique individuals — learn about themselves and their worlds. As such, when our young humans face the inevitable pressures of growing up, we need to respond with empathy.”

“And if that does not prepare them for the ‘real world’ as some may suggest, then maybe the world needs to change. I want to live in a world where there’s empathy. That’s the world I want to live in.”

You can read more about the way Syrie is rethinking education on his website.

This article originally appeared on 06.01.18