Year: 2024

Anthony Edwards has not had his A-game in the Western Conference Finals, as the Wolves star struggled with his shot in the first two games and looked oddly lethargic as the Mavs took a 2-0 series lead in Minnesota.

With the series shifting to Dallas and the Wolves facing a virtual must-win situation in Game 3, Edwards proclaimed he would be more aggressive looking for his shot after his sluggish performances in the first two games. He certainly proved that to be true, taking 20 shots in the first three quarters of Game 3, but the shot wasn’t falling until the mid-third quarter when he woke himself up by throwing down what is probably his second-best dunk of the season on Daniel Gafford.

It’s not quite at the level of his poster on John Collins from earlier in the year, but it was the most lively he’s looked in the conference finals and seemed to be what he needed to feel like his normal self. Edwards would hit a pair of tough midrange jumpers immediately after that dunk, as the Wolves turned what had been a double-digit deficit into a brief third quarter lead thanks to their star’s sudden burst.

We’ll see if the rest of the Wolves can feed off of that energy and turn this into a series, but if nothing else, Edwards finally showed the guy that dominated the first two rounds in this third quarter flurry.

Go big or go home. For Drake, these two are mutually exclusive. The “Taylor Made Freestyle” rapper has amassed an enormous fortune throughout his career.

While he doesn’t mind splurging on flashy pieces of jewelry (most notably a few from Pharrell’s collection), that isn’t the only place he has spent big bucks. According to Texas Monthly, Drake is now a resident of The Lone Star State after purchasing a $15 million estate.

Drake has publicly declared his love for several major cities in the state, including Austin, Dallas, and of course Houston. However, the musician’s latest home is reportedly located on the outskirts of Brenham. The 313-acre will afford Drake an invaluable level of privacy due to its former purpose. Prior to becoming the home of the rap superstar, the estate served as a retreat, known publicly as The Inn at Dos Brisas.

Despite the recent listing of his Beverly Hills mansion , the publication claims his seven figure purchase in Texas closed last fall. Initially, the details surrounding the estate’s sell were anonymous.

The publication listed the amenities of the property as a bar-equipped lounge area, fireside dining room, large swimming pool, spa with an expansive sundeck, five haciendas, and four casitas. It is unclear if Drake plans on living in Texas full-time, but should he choose to, this home will surely fit his needs.

Dereck Lively II has been a godsend for the Dallas Mavericks, as the rookie center has given the Mavs exactly what they’ve needed out of the five spot on both ends of the floor.

Since the Daniel Gafford trade, the Mavs have been able to rotate Gafford and Lively in order to keep an elite shot-blocker on the floor at all times, while also providing Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving with a hard rolling lob threat. This postseason, Lively has been huge for Dallas, averaging 8.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game off the bench, but his impact goes beyond the boxscore, as Dallas has been a juggernaut on both ends in his minutes.

Lively continued his strong play early in Game 3 against Minnesota, scoring 6 points (on 3-of-3 from the field) with three rebounds, two assists, and one block in his first nine minutes of action. However, his night got cut suddenly short after a scary collision with Karl-Anthony Towns, as Lively fell to the floor going for a rebound and took a Towns knee to the back of his head.

Lively stayed down for a few minutes getting tended to and needed a teammate’s assistance as he walked back to the locker room looking very unsteady. We will await an official status update on Lively from the Mavericks, but for now Dallas will have to adjust their rotations with one of their key frontcourt contributors missing.

UPDATE: After halftime, the Mavs announced Lively was questionable to return with a neck sprain, indicating he had not exhibited concussion-like symptoms in the first half hour of evaluation. They would later announce he was out for the game with that neck sprain.

Jaylen Brown has been arguably the best player on the Boston Celtics during the 2024 NBA playoffs. While Jayson Tatum has been great in his own right, Brown has been incredibly efficient against the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Indiana Pacers, averaging 24.7 points per game on 54.5 percent shooting from the field and 35.3 percent shooting from three.

If there’s been a downside to all of this, it has meant that the discourse around Brown has gotten weird, because the Celtics are rolling through a bunch of super injured teams in the Eastern Conference and there’s not much else to talk about with them as a result. As such, on an episode of First Take this week, Stephen A. Smith read a text from someone that claimed Brown’s attitude isn’t very good, and as a result, he’s not especially “marketable.”

The clip came across the desk of Isiah Thomas, who tweeted on Sunday morning that he’s close with Brown, finds this report ridiculous, and wants the source to be named.

Eventually, Brown saw the clip and decided to respond, simply telling Smith that he wants to know who said this about him.

If you’d like to watch Brown play basketball, the Celtics will look to wrap up a sweep of the Pacers and earn a spot in the NBA Finals on Monday night.

The demise of Diddy is far from over. Following the release of a graphic video in which he is seen violently assaulting his ex-girlfriend and former Bad Boy Records singer Cassie, public support continues to plummet.

Many organizations have already cut ties with Diddy including his own company, Revolt. Now, people are demanding that he be stripped of his professional accolades. Yesterday (May 25), it was revealed that talks about removing his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame had begun. However, according to TMZ, the governing committee will not take out the physical landmark.

In the outlet’s report, despite public support for its removal, a Hollywood Chamber of Commerce spokesperson claims that “the committee is unable to make the changes.”

The source took a moment to explain the powers of the committee. “[The committee can] nominate star recipients, manufacture and install stars upon city approval and conduct the Walk of Fame installation ceremony,” they said. “[However,] it lacks the authority to remove them.”

This isn’t the only accolade of Diddy to come up in public discourse. During an appearance on PIX11, New York City’s mayor Eric Adams revealed that he is “considering” revoking Diddy’s Key To The City, which was awarded in September 2023.

GloRilla is racking in big bucks as the opening act for Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer Tour. But with money, comes increased problems. On Friday, May 24, an accusation surrounding the “Yeah Glo!” rapper’s business practices resurfaced.

During an appearance on The Morning Hustle, Aristotle Varner Jr. (publicly known as Aristotle) of Aristotle Investments, claimed to have taken a huge financial loss after GloRilla allegedly “ran off with six figures of his money.” Initially, viewers doubted his statements, until a previously filed lawsuit against the entertainer surfaced.

Spade TV shared a portion of the filing to their official Instagram page. In the court document, Varner claimed to have paid GloRilla $150,000 in 2022 to upload a collaborative post on Instagram, to attend an in-person meet-and-greet, and film a 30-minute interview on Instagram Live with his wife, Asia.

Although, GloRilla did post to her Instagram page, Varner alleges the other items have not been met. Prior to his appearance on The Morning Hustle, Varner took to his Instagram page to discuss the situation with his followers.

“Whatever Sexyy Red do, we must support,” he said. “We can not let GloRilla win ‘Queen Ratchet.’ She took my money… I paid [her] $150 racks for something to happen. All that stupid ass, ghetto ass, two hit wonder ass b*tch had to do was show up for 5 minutes on a Zoom and do a 30-minute live with my wife… This b*tch ditched up and took our money.”

Watch Varner’s broadcast below.

GloRilla doesn’t seem to have issued a public response to Varner’s accusation.

One of the most important parental goals is raising a child who can achieve their dreams. But no matter how smart or talented someone may be, a big part of achieving our goals is knowing how to put them into action.

Far too many people have lofty dreams but fall short because they get discouraged or don’t know how to create a map to achieving them. As the famously prolific author Stephen King once said, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

So, how do parents prepare their children for success? According to research, it’s essential to paint a realistic picture and to prepare them for setbacks.

A 2018 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says, “Rather than acting as cheerleaders giving facile encouragement, leaders … might serve (others) better by providing a more sobering description of the challenges.”

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If your child’s goal is to make $100 with a lemonade stand, you should cheer them on and be as supportive as possible. But you should also let them know there may be some pitfalls along the way. There may be days when business is slow because no one is driving up the block. Some people who stop by the stand may not buy anything because they don’t have cash. Others may visit the stand and say they will come back but never do.

That way, when the child runs into difficulty, they don’t feel like giving up. Instead, they know that it is all part of the process of earning $100.

Simply put, when you think something will be easy and then discover it’s not, it’s normal to feel like giving up. But if you anticipate challenges from the start, it’s much easier to find the determination to work through them.

The Boys and Girls Club of America has similar advice for parents. Children know that adults often set goals and achieve them. However, because they are removed from the process, they may not know that achieving those goals often involves setbacks and unforeseen challenges.

So, when you set a goal for yourself, bring your child along on the journey so they can experience it first-hand. It will give them more confidence to pursue their own goals.

“Be open with them throughout the process, share what steps you’re taking to achieve your goal and be candid about setbacks and changes,” the Boys and Girls Club writes on its blog. “These conversations can be casual, but they show how much work you’re putting in that your teen may not realize you’re doing, helping your teen understand how something is earned with time and effort.

Ultimately, one of the biggest parts of achieving goals is managing expectations. It’s much better to know that there will be hardship along the way than to be surprised by it.

The emotional journey of creating anything great requires crossing the dark swamp of despair..

Outsiders almost never see the crazy belief and persistence required to cross that chasm.. pic.twitter.com/iyZBKw5zE8

— Bill Gross (@Bill_Gross) May 26, 2018

The emotional ups and downs in achieving a goal are perfectly explained in a viral meme called “The Emotional Journey of Creating Anything Great.” It shows how all great ideas sound exciting at first but can begin to feel impossible when the hard work kicks in. But once we make it through the “Swamp of Dispair,” things magically get easier.

The key is knowing that there is a swamp and pushing through it.

Some people just haven’t gotten the memo: You really don’t want to heckle comedian Steve Hofstetter. He’s become one of my favorite stand-up acts both because he’s just funny but also because of his brilliant ways of shutting down hecklers and other rude patrons who show up for his live act.

In this case, Hofstetter was in the middle of a bit where he quipped, “I don’t like people.” It was part of a larger joke recalling how he’d had a bad interaction with a police officer but that he was “still alive” because he was a white male.

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Hofstetter was talking about how most cops like the joke but others get offended. His point was that if you get offended by a joke about cops killing innocent people, you’re probably not a good cop. Just as he was finishing up the joke, a person in the front of the audience got up. When Hofstetter politely asked the guy to stop talking so loudly, the man said, “I’m going.”

He then followed up, telling Hofstetter, “You disrespected me, so I’ll disrespect you.”

The man then went on a tirade, stealing a drink from another customer and getting into an argument with the club’s bouncers. He also got into a shouting match with another patron before finally stepping outside.

Hofstetter tried to lighten the mood, joking, “I think he’s mad that the Meghan Trainor concert was canceled last night. Maybe he’s all about the bass, I don’t know.”

He then disclosed to the audience that the heckler had actually approached him before the show, asking Hofstetter to roast some of the friends the man had shown up with, which he refused to do.

That’s when one of the heckler’s companions told the comedian that the heckler was actually himself a cop. And that the man the heckler was shouting down was actually another cop who was embarrassed by his bad behavior.

“I know to drive slowly when I leave,” Hofstetter joked.

But just to make it clear that he wasn’t out to give all cops a hard time, the comedian noted that he actually thinks most cops are good people; he just wants them to speak up more when a bad cop does something wrong, comparing it to how comedians call out each other all the time when one of them crosses the line. And that’s something we should all be able to get behind without the need for a hilarious punchline.

This article originally appeared on 12.12.16

The early 1900s were a time of great social upheaval in our country. During the years leading up to the Ludlow Massacre, miners all around the country looking to make a better life for themselves and their families set up picket lines, organized massive parades and rallies, and even took up arms. Some died.

It’s always worth considering why history like this was never taught in school before. Could it be that the powers that be would rather keep this kind of thing under wraps?

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Here is Woody Guthrie’s tribute to the good people who fought in the battles of Ludlow to help make a better tomorrow for everyone — you can just start the video and then start reading, if you wish:

Coal Country, Colorado

100 years ago, the Rocky Mountains were the source of a vast supply of coal. At its peak, it employed 16,000 people and accounted for 10% of all employed workers in the state of Colorado. It was dangerous work; in just 1913 alone, the mines claimed the lives of over 100 people. There were laws in place that were supposed to protect workers, but largely, management ignored those, which led to Colorado having double the on-the-job fatality rate of any other mining state.

It was a time of company towns, when all real estate, housing, doctors, and grocery stores were owned by the coal companies themselves, which led to the suppression of dissent as well as overinflated prices and an extreme dependence on the coal companies for everything that made life livable. In some of these, workers couldn’t even leave town, and armed guards made sure they didn’t. Also, if any miner or his family began to air grievances, they might find themselves evicted and run out of town.

The Union

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) had been organizing for many years in the area, and this particular company, Colorado Fuel and Iron, was one of the biggest in the West — and was owned by the Rockefeller family, notoriously anti-union.

Put all this together, and it was a powder keg.

Strike!

When a strike was called in 1913, the coal company evicted all the miners from their company homes, and they moved to tent villages on leased land set up by the UMWA. Company-hired guards (aka “goons”) and members of the Colorado National Guard would drive by the tent villages and randomly shoot into the tents, leading the strikers to dig holes under their tents and the wooden beams that supported them.

Why did the union call for a strike? The workers wanted:

1. (equivalent to a 10% wage increase),
2. Enforcement of the eight-hour work day,
3. Payment for “dead work” that usually wasn’t compensated, such as laying coal car tracks,
4. The job known as “Weight-checkmen” to be elected by workers. This was to keep company weightmen honest so the workers got paid for their true work,
5. The right to use any store rather than just the company store, and choose their own houses and doctors,
6. Strict enforcement of Colorado’s laws, especially mine safety laws.

The Powder Keg Explodes

The attacks from the goons continued, as did the battles between scabs (strikebreakers) and the miners. It culminated in an attack on April 20, 1914, by company goons and Colorado National Guard soldiers who kidnapped and later killed the main camp leader and some of his fellow miners, and then set the tents in the main camp ablaze with kerosene. As they were engulfed, people inside the tents tried to flee the inferno; many were shot down as they tried to escape. Some also died in the dugouts below the burning tents. In the first photograph below, two women and 11 children died in the fire directly above them. A day that started off with Orthodox Easter celebrations for the families became known as the Ludlow Massacre.

The 10-Day War

The miners, fresh off the murders of their friends and family members, tried to get President Woodrow Wilson to put a stop to the madness, but he deferred to the governor, who was pretty much in the pocket of the mine companies.

So the miners and those at other tent colonies quickly armed themselves, knowing that many other confrontations were coming. And they went to the mines that were being operated by scabs and forced many of them to close, sometimes setting fire to the buildings. After 10 days of pitched battle and at least 50 dead, the president finally sent in the National Guard, which promptly disarmed both sides.

Union Victory

While close to 200 people died over the course of about 18 months before and after the battles at Ludlow and the union ultimately lost the election, the Ludlow Massacre brought a congressional investigation that led to the beginnings of child-labor laws and an eight-hour workday, among other things.

But it also brought national attention to the plight of these miners and their families, and it showed the resilience and strength that union people could display when they remained united, even in the face of extreme corporate and government violence. Historian Howard Zinn called it “the culminating act of perhaps the most violent struggle between corporate power and laboring men in American history.” And the primary mine owner, John D. Rockefeller Jr., received a lot of negative attention and blame for what happened here.

This article was written by Brandon Weber and originally appeared on 08.14.14

Norine Dworkin-McDaniel’s son came home from school one day talking about Newton’s first law of motion.

He had just learned it at school, her son explained as they sat around the dinner table one night. It was the idea that “an object at rest will remain at rest until acted on by an external force.”

“It struck me that it sounded an awful lot like him and his video games,” she joked.

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A writer by trade and always quick to turn a phrase, Norine grabbed a pen and scribbled some words:

“Newton’s First Law of Parenting: A child at rest will remain at rest … until you need your iPad back.”

And just like that, she started creating “The Science of Parenthood,” a series that names and identifies hilarious, universal parenting struggles. She put in a quick call to her friend Jessica Ziegler, a visual and graphics expert, and together the two set out to bring the project to life.

Here are some of their discoveries:

1. Newton’s first law of parenting

2. The sleep geometry theorem

3. The baby fluids effusion rule

4. The carnival arc

5. The Archimedes bath-time principle

6. Schrödinger’s backpack

7. The naptime disruption theorem

8. Calculation disintegration

9. Chuck e-conomics

10. Plate tectonics

11. Silicaphobia

12. Delusions of launder

13. The Costco contradiction

Norine and Jessica’s work struck a nerve with parents everywhere.

Norine said almost every parent who sees the cartoons has a similar reaction: a quiet moment of recognition, followed by a huge laugh as they recognize their own families in the illustrations.

But is there more to it than just getting a few chuckles? You bet, Norine and Jessica said.

“Even, at the worst possible moments, you’re standing there, your child has just vomited all over you, or you’ve opened up the diaper and your kid is sitting waist deep in liquid ****. Even at that moment, it’s not really that bad,” Norine said. “You will be able to laugh at this at some point.”

“It gets better. You’re not alone in this parenting thing.”

This article originally appeared on 11.30.16