Category: News

Everyone knows that fat animals are infinitely more visually appealing, much to veterinarians’ collective dismay. They may not be at their pinnacle of health, yet we love them anyway, especially when they’re babies. Bears, however, are supposed to get chunky so they get a pass. Before the winter when they hibernate, they’re all about feeding their faces and storing fat for the winter. Wildlife archivists Explore has put all these fat bears in one place so we can vote on who gets to be supreme Fat Bear. Fat Bear Week is an annual event that anyone with internet access can participate in.

The bears, unfortunately, don’t win any prizes for being named the fattest bear in Alaska, but America wins a prize by seeing big fuzzy bear bellies. Sure, the bears make you wish you could pet them and give them all the head scratches, and yes they’d probably try to eat you if you actually tried. That doesn’t stop this from being the cutest competition out there. The event is well run, with brackets to predict the winner. I don’t know what brackets are but it makes it sound so much more exciting.

When exactly is Fat Bear Week, you may be asking? It’s now, like right now, so go download your bracket thingy and enter your picks or whatever you do with brackets. Fat Bear Week runs from October 5 through October 11 and match-ups for voting start at 12 p.m. and end at 9 p.m. EST. This contest is ruthless because there are no second chances. If a bear’s extra fluff isn’t up to the internet’s standards then it’s eliminated. No take backs.

For every head-to-head match-up between chubby little cubbies, you get one vote to pick the bear that’s showing the most fat gained. The bear with the most votes gets to move to the next round and the bear with the least amounts of votes gets to no longer be judged by random strangers on the internet. Wait, I think we all would like the prize of not being judged by strangers on the internet.

This all may seem like a weird thing to have turned into a competition but it really isn’t. Fat Bear Week started in 2013 after someone took pictures of the same bear from the bear cam and commented on how fat the bear had gotten when preparing for hibernation. According to video journalist Mike Fritz, he noticed comments under the videos of the bears from the bear cam about how chubby all of the bears were getting, and an idea was born.

Can you blame the commenters? These fat bears are seriously cute and once I figure out what brackets are and how to use them, I’m going to vote in this unexpectedly wholesome contest. May the fattest bear win and come out of hibernation looking as if they haven’t skipped a meal and are well rested. Now, go vote! It’ll make you feel better.

Some things have scam written all over them and you can spot it a mile away. Like the random commenter on your social media post trying to sell you a love potion or get you to call a “love doctor.” Both of those things sound made up and besides, your profile clearly says you’re in a relationship. But there are some things that are so ingrained in society that we just accept them as normal, even when they’re really a scam. A Reddit user asked people to call them out. Truthfully, this thread will have you questioning everything because their points are valid.

It doesn’t take much thought to come up with a few things that are total scams. I have a beef with the hot dog industry, because why are there 10 hot dogs in a pack but only eight buns? It makes no sense. Is it a conspiracy with the bread companies to get us to buy more bread? It makes literally zero sense. Some people have much bigger and more interesting gripes than I, so let’s get into them.

One user brought up text book codes, and yeah what is that about? You spend approximately $7,000 on a text book only for it to come with a one-time code. Someone made the argument that college textbooks in general were a scam because sometimes you don’t even open them. I can personally attest to this. I once spent nearly $300 on a biology book that was “required” and it was never used because the professor only created test material from his lectures and his lectures were based off of his own personal notes (insert eye roll here).

Now this next one stings a little. A commenter pointed out annual raises that are almost always lower than the annual inflation, to which someone replied “you get annual raises?” Yikes. When thinking back on the jobs I’ve had, none of them provided adequate annual raises, even when they were called “cost of living increase.” I can’t help but wonder, whose cost of living only increased 0.5%? We should all move there.

Convenience fees are another one that people have pretty strong feelings about and yeah, same. If you pay any bill online, including your rent, you’re charged a convenience fee. Maybe in 1993 this fee would’ve made sense, but it’s 2022, everything is convenient. What, do you expect people to leave their houses and go to the electric company to pay with a check? There are probably plenty of people walking around today who have no earthly clue where their utility company is located or how to properly fill out a check.

If you apply for services without having to change out of pajama pants, then you should be able to pay your bill without the added convenience fee. Why are we still pretending we are inconveniencing someone in order to pay online? Let’s just stop this madness or the millennials will revolt. We already can’t afford avocado toast anymore, the least you can do is let us keep that extra $3.

Health insurance. I feel like if you’re reading this from America I really don’t even have to explain further. But let’s get into it for the grins and giggles of it all, because health insurance is probably our nation’s biggest scam. The first problem with this monstrosity of a system is that it’s essentially tied to your place of business, so if you lose your job, surprise, try not to get sick because you no longer have health insurance. The second issue that another commenter pointed out is that it costs an ungodly amount of money every single month, even though your employer is also paying a portion.

While you’re paying your monthly premium you still have to pay co-pays, co-insurance and meet your deductible for things to be fully covered. I’m sure whoever came up with health insurance died an extremely wealthy person because according to the Reddit thread under this comment, health insurance is a joke and is bankrupting Americans.

Last on the list is bank hours and I have to agree because there’s no doctor’s excuse for going to the bank, so why are their hours so inconvenient? Hmm, I wonder if we can charge banks a convenience fee as most people have to leave their jobs to get to the bank before it closes. Fair is fair, right?

If you’re looking for a deep sense of being duped, go check out the thread on Reddit. There are more than 11,000 comments exposing unsuspecting people to all of the societal scams we have fallen for with absolutely no instruction on how to fix them. I guess the joke is that we eventually buy into the scam or pretend we don’t know it exists.

Ahead of former Migos members Quavo and Takeoff releasing a new album together (under the name Unc & Phew) this Friday, the duo appeared on DJ Scream’s Big Facts podcast. There, they opened up about why Migos might not return. Migos were originally a rap group trio, prior to Offset’s departure. According to The Fader, he also filed a lawsuit against Migos’ longtime label Quality Control over owning his solo material in August.

Still, the piece notes that it isn’t why Quavo and Takeoff have distanced themselves from Offset. “I just feel like we want to see our career as a duo because we just came from a loyal family,” Quavo said. “Sometimes, when shit don’t work out, it ain’t meant to be. So that’s what I think.”

“We don’t know all answers,” Takeoff said. “God know. So we pray a lot. And we tell him, whatever, whatever ain’t right, however you supposed to see it fit, you put it back together or however you do it. Only time will tell. We always family, now. Ain’t nothing gon’ change.”

Their last album as a trio dropped in 2021, but since then, things have been relatively quiet about what exactly happened between Offset and the other Migos members.

Watch the full clip above.

Only Built For Infinity Links is out 10/07 via Motown Records. Pre-order/save it here.

GloRilla is having a hell of a year. This past summer, her kiss-off anthem “FNF (Let’s Go)” became a viral hit, and her latest single, the Cardi B-assisted “Tomorrow 2,” has already proven to be a killer follow-up. Yesterday, she announced her major-label debut project, Anyways, Life’s Great….

This is a totally appropriate title, considering the fact that this year has brought Glo into superstardom. On top of releasing viral hits, she also signed to Yo Gotti’s Label, Collective Music Group, along with Interscope.

Last night, Glo won the Best Breakthrough Artist award at the BET Hip-Hop Awards.

“I don’t want to cry my makeup off,” She said during her acceptance speech. “Yall, I’m crying. I want to thank God. I want to thank my team, my mama, Yo Gotti, the biggest CEO. Y’all I don’t know what to say! Let’s go!”

While many of her songs have become viral hits, Glo does not want to be labeled a “TikTok rapper.” In an interview with Refinery29, she said she enjoys the fact that she’s able to reach an eclectic group of fans.

“I really got bars, you know I don’t really make TikTok music,” said Glo. “But sometimes, it be so hard that it just goes viral on there because of how good it is. Then even with ‘Tomorrow,’ I would have never thought that it would be a song on TikTok that people are going crazy about. I think they like my music all the way around.”

Check out the Anyways, Life’s Great… cover art below.

Anyways, Life’s Great… is out 11/11 via CMG and Interscope. Pre-save it here.

Last month, Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Davies kicked off a swarm of controversy by proposing a rule change that could see contestants walk away with a cash bonus if they answer an entire column of clues a.k.a. “run a category.” It used to be an exciting moment for Jeopardy! fans to watch, but the practice has gone away as more contestants have adapted a strategy of “DD-hunting,” randomly picking clues to score a Daily Double.

In an effort to restore the excitement of category running to the game, Davies revealed that he’s been toying with the cash bonus incentive. “It’s a moment in the studio; it’s a great thing,” Davies told former champ Buzzy Cohen during a September episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast.

Since then, there’s been a sizable amount of feedback from fans who are worried that the rule change could affect the show’s gameplay. It got to the point where Davies felt the need to respond to the backlash in the latest podcast episode. Via TVInsider:

While the new rule is something Davies is seriously mulling over, he stated that it hadn’t yet been implemented, so people don’t need to be worried.

“A lot of response, we should say, to my, let’s say, positing the not yet reined-in idea that I floated. It doesn’t need to be reined-in yet because it hasn’t been enacted in any way,” Davies said.

Despite not implementing the rule change yet, it appears to be in the mix, which is why Davies repeated his initial explanation that the category run bonus would not affect the contestant’s actual scores.

“It would not add to that game total; it would not be there [on players’ scores]. It would be a separate thing,” Davies said.

However, when Davies first shared the rule change, he did note that it could cause contestants to switch up their strategies. “It might also give incentive to people who are trailing to try and go into a category and get something from the game beyond their second or third place prize,” Davies told Buzzy Cohen back in September.

If contestants are chasing ancillary bonuses, that could affect gameplay even if that bonus isn’t added to their total, so it’ll be interesting to see if the category run rule change comes into play or if it stays on the drawing board.

(Via TVInsider)

If there’s a topic that continues to linger in between BTS‘ music and schedules, it’s the conversation on the super group’s mandatory military enlistment. Questions whether the septet are exempted from serving the South Korean military or will be enlisting have been a hot topic since last year.

As BTS’ eldest member Jin (29) approaches his 30s (the age to which compulsory military service can be extended, according to the 2020 amendment of the Military Service Act), The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) announced they would be making a decision on the group’s military service by December, according to a report from Naver and Soompi today (October 5).

“Member Jin’s enlistment is set to be sorted out by December, but the MCST will finalize our stance as soon as possible before then,” Minister Park Bo Kyun of the MCST said at the National Assembly’s parliamentary inspection of the administration in Soompi’s report. “We are comprehensively reviewing the issue by looking at various aspects including the points that national defense is a sacred duty, military service is a symbol of fairness, BTS has made Korea known as the vanguard of K-culture and created a huge economic ripple effect, there are equity issues between popular artists including BTS and those who practice fine arts, this will affect the group when one of the BTS members joins the army, there are [results of] public opinion analysis and opinions of men in their 20s, and so on.”

With that being said, the possibility of BTS being exempted from military service is still present. It’s just a matter if the new pending amendment to the Military Service Act will be passed. If passed, the group is freed from military obligation. If their exemption does not apply then members must enlist starting early 2023.

Let’s be honest: ESPN’s studio shows don’t always care about diving into the nitty gritty of a given sport. This is, of course, a decision that was made based on plenty of analysis that showed it is better business to lean into stuff like debate shows instead of intricate breakdowns of how little things in a sport make a huge different. While it does not mean that you never see big, Xs and Os breakdowns or anything like that, it does mean that they can be drowned out by the latest debate about whether Carmelo Anthony or Bob Sura is a better NBA player or whatever.

Now that all of that is out of the way, NFL Live gave us an outstanding, nearly 9-minute segment in which its panel — hosted by Laura Rutledge, comprised of Ryan Clark, Mina Kimes (who came in on a day off), Dan Orlovsky, and Marcus Spears — discussed how a quarterback lining up in shotgun is different from when he lines up under center. That description does not do it justice, as they go into the weeds on things like how play action is something a defense has to consider when a QB is under center on early downs. It is excellent.

This sort of thing makes sports fans smarter and gives them a glimpse into how former athletes view particular situations in their sports, while Kimes chimes in with data and insight that elevates the conversation and gives context to how it is relevant right now for a team like the Cincinnati Bengals. It rocks, more of this, please.

For years, one of the most pernicious and prevalent narratives running through hip-hop for the past two decades has been that Diddy withheld royalties from his Bad Boy artists, especially Mase, who has repeatedly gone on record with complaints about his former label boss. However, Diddy decided to defend himself on The Breakfast Club, winding up not only challenging his longtime frenemy to “bring your receipts” but also calling him a “fake pastor” who “conned people.”

“I did one album with Mase,” he noted. One album. How much money do you think I owe this guy? And then he became a fake pastor and went and conned people. And y’all gon’ let him throw dirt on the god’s name. Anybody can come and step up. Bring your receipts. But I’m not playing. I’m back outside and I’m fighting back for us. And I’m also doing some fighting back for me.”

In fact, he says, the debtor situation between them is actually vice versa from how it’s been pitched over the years. “Mas owes me $3 million,” Diddy asserted. “That’s facts, I got the receipts. And I’m not gon’ go back-and-forth with Ma$e. I’m not going back and forth with nobody. I’m just gonna speak up for myself now. Anybody that thinks I owe them something, show me the receipt and you’ll get paid within 24 hours.”

Diddy isn’t the first or only music impresario to be accused of shady business practices but for what it’s worth, most of the time it seems these disagreements stem from young artists not understanding how their record contracts work. It could also be argued that the industry standard for contracts is what was shady from the start but at least there’s some semi-solid (albeit risk averse) reasoning behind it. Mase should have at least a little experience with this; he recently defended himself from Fivio Foreign’s claim that he only gave him a minuscule advance.

As far as Diddy’s assertion that he only did one album with Mase goes, that could be slightly inaccurate, considering Bad Boy put out three Mase albums, Harlem World, Double Up, and Welcome Back, all of which have gone at least Gold. Depending on Mase’s advance and the marketing budgets, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle between both men’s personal stories.

This article originally appeared on 01.31.20

As the nation helplessly watches our highest halls of government toss justice to the wind, a 2nd grader has given us someplace to channel our frustrations. In a hilarious video rant, a youngster named Taylor shared a story that has folks ready to go to the mat for her and her beloved, pink, perfect attendance pencil.

Instagrammer @tabgeezy shared a video of her daughter telling the story of how she put her perfect attendance pencil—the pink one that she had legitimately earned—in the classroom box of pencils to be sharpened. But when she went to retrieve it from the sharpened pencils box, all she found were plain yellow pencils. That’s because Lizzie—who, by the way, had not earned a perfect attendance pencil because she had gone to CANADA—was using it. And not only that, but Canada Lizzie then lost Taylor’s pencil in her desk, and her teacher was no help.

You have to hear Taylor tell it to understand why this travesty of justice has gone viral.

See on Instagram

If you think this pencil battle is of no consequence whatsoever, think again. People on Twitter got hold of the video, and folks are rallying behind Taylor as if that pink pencil is our democracy and Taylor and Lizzie are the House and Senate.

If somebody ever takes my childu2019s perfect attendance pencil which SHE earned cuz she didnu2019t even go to Canada, the entire school getting shut down.

— riley wuz here (@riley wuz here)
1580451908

IS THERE NO JUSTICE IN THE WORLD

— Charlotte Clymer ud83cudff3ufe0fu200du26a7ufe0fud83cuddfaud83cudde6 (@Charlotte Clymer ud83cudff3ufe0fu200du26a7ufe0fud83cuddfaud83cudde6)
1580482234

“Lizzie” was trending on Twitter as people called out the little girl who went to CANADA and then dared to take Taylor’s perfect attendance pencil.

Me and the crew showing up to school the next day looking for Lizzie and getting to ride out for Tayloru2019s Perfect Attendance Pencil https://twitter.com/_FemGod/status/1223105472393121793u00a0u2026pic.twitter.com/3Hw7ASVmpX

— Matthew A. Cherry (@Matthew A. Cherry)
1580483395

All I am saying is that if Lizzy wanted a pink Perfect Attendance pencil then she shouldn’t have gone to CANADA.nn#JusticeForThePencil

— Gail Simone ud83dudc99ud83dudc9b (@Gail Simone ud83dudc99ud83dudc9b)
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There were some shout-outs to Taylor’s classmate who understood what that pencil meant to her.

shout out to reece who was the only one who understood the gravity of the situation. don’t let me see lizzie in the streets! https://twitter.com/_FemGod/status/1223105472393121793u00a0u2026

— in charge of the girls (@in charge of the girls)
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But Taylor’s teacher certainly wasn’t getting any love.

Me writing an email to my babyu2019s teacher saying that messy ass Lizzie better come up with a perfect attendance pencil or sheu2019s going to be going back to Canadapic.twitter.com/ZbcjpwBvUr

— u2728La Bruja Buenau2728 (@u2728La Bruja Buenau2728)
1580474199

Twitter’s collective reaction even started getting its own GIFs.

All of Twitter getting ready to go ask Lizzie, who was in Canada, about a certain pink perfect attendance pencilpic.twitter.com/xwIBRzYFF5

— Lana Del Gay (@Lana Del Gay)
1580485811

Twitter uniting to get her perfect attendance pencil back from Lizzie because she went to Canada and DID NOT earn it:pic.twitter.com/4U9qFgB6Jm

— Sarah Guy (@Sarah Guy)
1580477370

People had so. many. feelings. about baby girl getting back her pencil, about the way her mom and teacher dismissed it as “just a pencil,” and about poor little Lizzie who probably still doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about.

Why do we care so much? Adorableness aside, we’re all a little burned out on politics and the methodical dismantling of our country’s checks and balances, so maybe getting charged up over an adorable little girl’s pencil injustice somehow feels cathartic.

John Delaney dropped out of the race… Meh!nnThereu2019s a Presidential impeachment… Yawn. nnSomeone stole a little girlu2019s perfect attendance pencil. nnMe:pic.twitter.com/aXBot4y58G

— AL (@AL)
1580478694

Hope you get your pencil back soon, Taylor. We all need a little glimmer of hope that justice can, indeed, prevail.

This article originally appeared on 03.25.20

As the U.S. slogs through the second week of widespread social distancing, many of us are feeling the impact of cabin fever and near-constant family togetherness. For many families, the past 10 days have felt like a combo of “Yay, more quality family time!” and “OMG, more social distance in this house, please.”

We’re also all looking for bright lights of joy in the midst of all the pandemic uneasiness and uncertainty and the Starkey family in Denver, Colorado has provided some of that joy this week.

Chris Starkey posted a video to Facebook on Monday of himself and his daughter Brooklyn doing a dance-off to Flo Rida’s “Low”—and it’s unexpectedly awesome. Starkey wrote, “My daughter challenged me to a dance off and said I don’t have it anymore. See that closet in the back she is still crying in it!!!” So much silly shade thrown around in this family, it’s delightful.

When you see their fun banter and Starkey’s middle-aged-man moves, you’ll see why the video has been shared more than 280,000 times in two days. Starkey wrote in a comment that the reaction has brought tears to his eyes and encourages everyone to “Give back to your community” right now. He also says another video will be coming on Monday.

Excellent. We need this kind of levity right now more than ever.

Chris Starkey