Category: News

Chief Keef is known for many things, especially the popular line from the cult classic “Faneto,” where he references riding through New York and intending to shoot up New Jersey. However, the Chicago legend took to Twitter Wednesday to clarify that his alleged violent streak does not extend to schools after catching wind of a Fox News clip where Laura Ingraham links violence to marijuana use in the wake of the July 4 mass shooting in Illinois.

In a tweet, Keff posted a picture of the conservative television host with the caption “Somebody tell this TRAMP I don’t shoot schools up.” Back in early June, Ingraham was speaking about the unintended consequences of normalizing pot use and attempted to blame that on recent school shootings, as the suspects were known users. “Why aren’t people in general not talking more about the pot psychosis violent behavior connection?” she asks. She doubled down Tuesday and evidently, the 26-year-old had enough as her words literally hit close to home.

Chief Keef is a known user and advocate for marijuana, and like many who use it, he understandably did not take too kindly to such conclusions being drawn about the drug, especially in reference to the state he resides in. Though his choice of words in the tweet is quite humorous, the messaging is important. Besides, Ingraham provides zero evidence for her boisterous claim.

Check out Chief Keef’s tweet and Laura Ingraham’s diatribes above.

Is there anything that dogs can’t improve? They make us healthier, happier and even more attractive. That’s right. If you have a photo with your dog in a dating profile people are more likely to swipe right.

Now, a new study reported by Ohio State News shows that having more dogs in your neighborhood can make you safer by lowering the overall crime rate.

The study, conducted by sociologists at Ohio State, was recently published in the journal Social Forces.

According to researchers, dog-walking isn’t just about getting exercise—it makes us all security guards whether we know it or not.

“People walking their dogs are essentially patrolling their neighborhoods,” Nicolo Pinchak, lead author of the study, told Ohio State News. “They see when things are not right, and when there are suspect outsiders in the area. It can be a crime deterrent.”

The study reviewed 595 census block groups in the Columbus, Ohio, area. It also used data from the Adolescent Health and Development in Context study that rated the level of trust people have in their neighborhoods.

What’s unique about the study is that it compared neighborhoods that have high levels of trust, meaning the residents agree that people on the streets can be trusted. High-trust neighborhoods have lower levels of homicide, aggravated assaults and robberies. So it makes sense that people who live in these neighborhoods are probably more likely to say they trust the folks who live around them.

However, the study found that when comparing two high-trust neighborhoods, the ones with higher concentrations of dogs had “two-thirds the robbery rates” and about “half the homicides.” That’s a pretty substantial reduction in crime.

Pinchak says it’s all about having boots and paws on the ground.

“It’s not enough for residents to just be taking walks in their neighborhood—there has to be trust among residents to foster deterrence and intervention norms. It’s similarly not enough for residents to just trust one another—people have to actually be present to identify problems and intervene,” Pinchak told USA TODAY.

Further, regardless of a neighborhood’s trust level, the study found that a higher concentration of dogs is related to fewer property crimes, such as robberies.

Having a dog isn’t just good for your neighborhood’s safety but your home, too. Over the years, multiple publications have interviewed burglars about the things that deter them from entering homes and having a loud dog was a major one.

Even if a small dog doesn’t isn’t physically intimidating, they are incredibly effective at alerting people of an intruder.

The Guardian interviewed 12 burglars a few years ago and found that dogs, security cameras, heavy doors and a television being turned on made them less likely to invade a home.

Given the result of this study, realtors should take its results to heart and publish the concentration of dogs in a neighborhood in home listings. That way people will know that the neighborhood is safe and there are plenty of opportunities to give out belly rubs on the sidewalk.

There are a lot of things that people are socialized to look down on that aren’t all that bad when you take two minutes to think about them. But the problem is that people are hard-wired to make snap judgments about others when it’s none of their business.

According to The Learning Mind, Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy, Ph.D. says we make quick judgments about people for two reasons.

First, we want to make sure they are trustworthy. “If we don’t feel we can trust someone, we instinctively feel the need to protect ourselves and our interests. We respond to the warmth of a person, their openness and authenticity,” Francesca Forsythe writes at The Learning Mind.

Second, we want to know if someone is worthy of our respect. “This question revolves around how competent we deem a person to be. This comes from the qualifications or specific expertise and experience,” Forsythe continues.

Being that just about everyone we encounter is constantly making judgments, it’s our jobs to seriously consider which ones we all allow to affect us. Conversely, it’s also our responsibility to be conscious enough to avoid being reflexively judgmental of others.

Both are very difficult tasks.

A Reddit user by the name fren-z703 asked the online forum a question that plays perfectly into the problem of snap judgments outlined by Cuddy. The Redditor asked, “What things are frowned upon for no obvious reason?”

The post received a ton of great responses and a lot of them dealt with social behaviors that others may deem untrustworthy such as being quiet or going places alone. But what’s so bad about keeping to one’s self?

There were also a lot of responses where people are judged because they make decisions that show a disregard for status. Some people think that people who are unconcerned with status aren’t worthy of their respect. When, in reality, it may be the height of enlightenment.

Here are 19 of the best responses to the question, “What things are frowned upon for no obvious reason?”

1. 

“Spending time by yourself that is intentionally ‘non-productive.'” — myaskredditalt21

2. 

“Getting the cheapest bottle of wine on the menu.” — fizzytangerines

3. 

“Getting help for anything.” — gliitch0xFF

4. 

“Going out alone. Anywhere. Park, cinema, restaurants. All my friends and relatives think I’m weird, but I just want to have some good time with nobody I know around.” — North_15

5. 

“Confidently being quiet/silent.” — Celq124

6. 

“Certain jobs. If you tell someone you’ve been a janitor for 6 years there’s a good chance their response will be a frown.” — Jabber-Wookie

7. 

“Calling out sick when you’re actually sick. Especially when it’s more than one day.” — Snoo-6071

8. 

“Not having an opinion on a subject.” — flacocaradeperro

9. 

“Off-brand clothing. Who cares if I’m wearing Bobos, I don’t have $300 to spend on Jordan’s and even if I did I wouldn’t. My daughter is entering middle school this year and is so nervous about her clothing not being in style. We do the best we can getting her name-brand things bc kids are fucking mean. Luckily my triplets don’t give AF.” — Fun-Oraganization8742

10. 

“Going to a movie by yourself. You literally sit there quietly watching a screen for hours. I usually catch them by myself, but people act like I’m disposing of a body when I do that.” — yankstraveler

11. 

“As a dude, ordering a sweet and fruity alcoholic drink. Sorry I don’t like to drink isopropyl, give me my ‘Bahama Mama,’ and shut up.” — gummby8

12. 

“Talking about your salary. Frowned upon and people think you aren’t supposed to do it but that’s just the man trying to keep your pay as low as possible!” — Mister_JayB

13. 

“Having a slightly different sleep schedule/ability than others. My god, the number of times I’ve harassed by Boomers for “staying up late/all night” when I stayed up 1-2 hours later than them, slept in the same amount, and maybe didn’t have breakfast with them. They act as if I’ve murdered a child.” — ephemere66

14.

“Being a recovered addict. There’s so much stigma towards the disease of addiction and people see you as a monster when in reality you’re just trying to be a better person dealing with a mental illness that overpowers you if you don’t learn how to control it.” — csrlmnv

15. 

“Men watching their own children. We usually get the ‘Oh babysitting today are we?’ No Karen, I’m doing what a parent is supposed to do and taking care of my kids, maybe if you’d pay a bit more attention to your demon spawn it wouldn’t be trying to choke that goose to death over there.” — Rare-Outside-8105

16. 

“Being a male in the early years education sector. When I was an ECE teacher (Early childhood educator) I had a male collègue. Parents etc were always worried about him with their kids—but he was a better teacher than most. He used a rough and tumble play approach and kids loved him. He also taught them boundaries and consent at a young age because a lot of kids weren’t listening to ‘keep your hands to yourself.'” — Apprehnsive_Oven924

17. 

“Taking care of your mental health.” — ABAxStorm

18. 

“Wearing your pajamas all day when you aren’t going anywhere. like bruh do you want me to step into a suit and tie for literally nobody, if im gonna be in my house sleeping all day then im gonna look like it.” — SeaShark14

19. 

“Choosing to not have children.” — ParfaitOrganic3597

Trevor Noah’s scripted comedy is great, but his off-the-cuff commentary during commercial breaks is often where he truly shines. The comedian has a way of sensibly framing hot topics and getting to the heart of important issues. For someone who didn’t grow up in the U.S., he also seems to have his finger directly on the pulse of American culture and is able to accurately describe us to ourselves.

In a “Between the Scenes” segment, Noah expressed his bafflement at how America is the land of the possible when it comes to everything except stopping gun violence.

“One of the strangest things about conversations involving guns in America,” he said, “is how quickly America goes from being the most hopeful and almost impossible-chasing nation to a nation that just believes nothing is possible all of a sudden.”

Send a man to the moon? Let’s do it. Go to Mars? Totally possible. Cure for cancer? Always working on it, and actually making some decent strides.

But mass shootings happening at an astronomical rate compared to other developed nations? Nope. Can’t do anything about those.

He’s right. It’s a weird reaction for a people who are so “can do” about everything else. But as Noah points out, it’s actually a small group of people who resist action on this issue and have convinced us that the situation is hopeless. Most Americans, including many gun owners, believe there should be more regulations on gun ownership.

Noah also pointed out that there’s not one big solution that will solve all of our gun violence issues.

“What really frustrates me is how people try and make it a game of whack-a-mole when it comes to solving problems,” he said. “You propose any type of solution and they go, ‘Well that wouldn’t have solved this one. This wouldn’t have stopped that.’ But that’s not how solutions work. There is no problem that is going to be solved by one solution. A lot of the time big problems require a multitude of solutions, and what you do is you try to fix it incrementally, step by step.”

He pointed out that people will pull the “slippery slope” argument and ask which guns to ban.

“Just start with the ones people seem to be using over and over again to go into schools to kill a bunch of children at one time,” he said. (Then, if people start using other kinds of guns regularly for the same purpose, we can deal with those at that time.)

“It’s a lot harder to commit these mass shootings when you don’t have certain types of weapons,” he said. “Nothing fixes everything, but you’ve got to start somewhere.”

And, as he points out, we have to maintain hope that change is possible, just as agents of change have always done. So much good stuff here. Worth a watch:

The Fourth of July weekend ended on a tragic note. There were a number of mass shootings across the country on Monday alone, including the deadliest: the 21-year-old who ambushed a parade in Highland Park, Illinois, killing seven and wounding 30. Much as what happened after the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, the incidents have — once again — prompted talk of ramping up gun control. And as usual, the GOP are doing their best to get in the way of progress. But one lawmaker took her objections in an even stranger direction than Marjorie Taylor Greene did.

Arizona representative Debbie Lesko — who in the past has tried to go the Greene/Lauren Boebert route of making wacko, incoherent claims — took the floor of the House this week, where she railed against, as she argued, punishing law-abiding gun owners, therefore making them less safe from others who have guns.

“I have five grandchildren,” Lesko said. “I would do anything—anything—to protect my five grandchildren. Including, as a last resort, shooting them, if I had to, to protect the lives of my grandchildren.” She accused Democrats of trying to “take away my right to protect my grandchildren” and “the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect their own children.” (Or, again, shooting them themselves.)

Lesko’s comments found themselves making the way through social media, earning her a mix of condemnation and confusion. She eventually responded to the backlash, but not by denying that she would, you know, shoot her grandkids. Instead she went after her critics.

“It never ceases to amaze me the lengths gun control zealots will go!” she tweeted. “They turned my speech about protecting Second Amendment rights and my right to protect my grandchildren from violent criminals into a claim I would harm my own grandchildren. Absolutely ridiculous!”

You can watch Lesko talk about shooting her grandkids in the video embedded above.

To the surprise of no one, Lesko has railed against things like vaccines, even metal detectors on Capitol Hill after the Jan. 6 riot. She’s up for re-election this fall, and she has Trump’s endorsement.

(Via The Daily Beast)

The ever-evolving music industry will see its latest shift come this fall in Fort Mifflin, a National Historic Landmark and the oldest fort in military use in the United States. It is the only base in use that predates the Declaration of Independence and, now, a brand new music festival named Making Time, focused on the electronic genre, will make its way to the area on September 24 and 25.

The lineup includes some major names, such as Four Tet, Bicep, LSDXOXO, Floating Points and Sherelle. TSHA, named one of EDM.com’s Best Music Producers of 2021, will also make an appearance. Making Time’s first event will be produced in collaboration with Klip Collective, a well-known Philadelphia-based studio specializing in storytelling through lighting, animation, and sound design.

Other names on the lineup include Omar S, Interstellar Funk, Infinity Machine, Moon Rabbit In The Powder Magazine, Phil Yeah, Zillas on Acid, and many more. The Philadelphia area already hosts major festivals such as Made In America, Roots Picnic, and Philadelphia Folk Festival so the City of Brotherly Love is surely excited to add yet another spectacle, especially one focused specifically on electronic music.

Check out the full Making Time festival lineup and purchase tickets here.

On a 2019 episode of British comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats, Sean Lock (RIP to a real legend) and Jon Richardson faced off in the first-ever game of Carrot in a Box. The game is a simple bluffing game, just like the one Vizzini and Wesley play in The Princess Bride, only someone gets a carrot instead of being poisoned. Unless Jimmy Carr put poison in the carrot.

It seems easy enough. One person gets to look into their box and then, somehow, the other person has to figure out if they want to switch or not. Fortunately for everyone on the entire planet, Locke got to look into his box first.

The clip went viral thanks to a Reddit post calling it the “Best bluff I’ve ever seen in my life.” Accurate title! Watch it before you read further, otherwise it’s just me explaining how jokes work, which is profoundly anti-funny.

Okay, yeah? Good? Good.

The absolute best thing about Locke’s phenomenal bluff is that he’s still selling it even after Richardson has made his choice. Immediately after he decides to switch, Locke tries to goofily stroll off with the box and then doubles down by asking if there will come a time where he gets his box back. Obviously, he wins from the outset by pretending not to understand the game, but his last bit is like icing on an already-iced cake. Meanwhile, you can tell Carr is genuinely losing it because he’s laughing silently instead of his trademark showy “Ha HA!” and Roisin Conaty (obligatory Taskmaster shout-out) gets bonus points for trolling Carr at exactly the right time.

Oh, and if you want to get really nerdy about the game theory in The Princess Bride, Cornell University has you covered. Just pretend you’re reading about who gets a carrot.

UPDATE: There was a rematch.

In writing up Emily the Criminal as one of his favorites from Sundance 2022, Vince Mancini described the plot of John Patton Ford’s tense feature debut as a “student-loan debt-saddled Uncut Gems.” The trailer looks excellent, showcasing star Aubrey Plaza‘s dark intensity. The quiet, obsessive powder keg of rage she’s displayed in Ingrid Goes West and Black Bear are on full view here, solidifying her even further as a black comic indie star.

Plaza plays Emily, a former art student weighed down by loan debt and trapped in a series of crappy jobs because of a criminal record. Out of desperation and a quarter life crisis, she gets in on a credit card scam, but her initial amuse bouche of outlaw life drags her into an all-you-can-eat Los Angeles underworld where bad people and people forced to do bad things fight over their cut.

The movie also stars Megalyn Echikunwoke (aka Megalyn E.K.), Theo Rossi (Sons of Anarchy), and Gina Gershon (no stranger to taut crime thrillers herself).

Emily the Criminal was a major breakout at Sundance, boasting a bit of hyper-topical social commentary in a gritty heist flick. It hits theaters August 12th, which is also hopefully the day people stop being surprised at how good Plaza can be.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Sixteen-year-old Corion Evans was passing by the river when he saw a car drive off the road and into the river with three girls inside, and without hesitation, the teen stripped down to his shorts and jumped in to save them. Amber Spradley at WLOX in Mississippi originally reported on the story.

Evans said the car sunk so quickly that he could only see the top of the vehicle sticking out of the water when he went to rescue the other teens. He wasn’t alone—his friend Karon “KJ” Bradley jumped in as well to help the girls get to safety. Recalling the brave rescue, Evans told WLOX, “I was just like, ‘I can’t let none of these folks die. They need to get out the water.’ So, I just started getting them. I wasn’t even thinking about nothing else.”

u201cHeroic 16 Year Old Mississippi Student Corion Evans saves 3 teenage girls and an officer after the girls drove their car into the River. Corion we salute your efforts and sacrifice! May your compassion & bravery serve as an example to others!u201d

— Black With No Chaser (@Black With No Chaser)
1657004517

The fast-acting teen not only saved all three girls but in the chaos of the event, he heard someone else calling for help. It turned out to be a police officer who had swam out in response to the scene. After realizing the officer was now in trouble, Evans swam out to bring the officer to shore. How this teen had the stamina to rescue not one, but four people in the dark murky water of the Pascagoula River is beyond comprehension.

If you’re from Mississippi then you know that some bodies of water in the state have some grumpy residents that don’t take kindly to being disturbed. You’re taking your chances on bumping into anything from a jumping carp to an alligator depending on what water you’re in, but Evans didn’t take the time to consider that he could wind up someone’s snack. He was in full hero mode, and the rescued swimmers are thankful.

In his interview with WLOX, Evans explains that he has been swimming since the age of 3 but that early morning he had to put his skills to the test. He told the news station, “I was behind them trying to keep them above water and swim with them at the same time.” Later in the interview the teen went on to say, “25 yards out, so it was a lot of swimming. My legs were so tired after. Anything could’ve been in that water, though. But I wasn’t thinking about it.”

Thanks to the teens’ swimming skills and quick thinking, all four people rescued survived. They were taken to a local hospital and treated. Chief Brandon Ashley of Moss Point Police Department released a statement to WLOX saying, “The police department and I commend Mr. Evans’s bravery and selflessness he displayed by risking his own safety to help people in danger. If Mr. Evans had not assisted, it could have possibly turned out tragically instead of all occupants rescued safely.”

This kid deserves all of the summer snacks. Heck, he deserves a car and a full scholarship! Pulling four people to safety couldn’t have been an easy feat. A summer job as a lifeguard should certainly be in order. It’s in his blood. If you’re wondering, yes, Evans’ mom is extremely proud and the city of Moss Point honored him with a Certificate of Commendation for his actions.

Chet Holmgren’s Summer League debut put all of his incredible talents on full display, as the No. 2 overall pick dominated on both ends of the court in his first pro game, earning high praise from none other than Kevin Durant in the process.

On Wednesday afternoon in Salt Lake City, Holmgren was on the floor once again, but this time he faced a unique challenge from the Grizzlies, who trotted out Kenneth Lofton Jr., who they signed to a two-way after the Louisiana Tech star went undrafted. Lofton and Holmgren played together on the U19 Team USA squad that won the World Cup in 2021, and it appeared that Lofton remembered a thing or two about how to bother Holmgren from those practices.

At 6’7, 280, Lofton was giving up six inches to Holmgren, but had a sizable weight advantage and he put that to good use, moving Chet wherever he wanted to in the post with that low center of gravity, carving out space to finish at the rim despite the long arms of Holmgren.

Lofton wasn’t just using straight bully ball to do work against Holmgren, as he also showed off his terrific footwork, a quick first step, and a hot hand from deep on Wednesday night, as the full repertoire was on display as he went off for 19 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

For Holmgren doubters, Lofton’s ability to get where he wanted in the post provides some confirmation bias on how Holmgren might struggle against stronger bigs that get into his body on that end in the NBA. But while Chet wasn’t able to get as hot as Tuesday night, he still put forth a solid 11-point, 11-rebound, two-block effort, as he showed that, even when guys try to bully ball him, he’ll come back and attack them too.

The initial reaction to Holmgren’s debut was to rightfully be wowed at his immense talents, because when he’s hot from deep he’s unstoppable offensively. He also can pile up the blocks, and isn’t deterred by guys going at him physically, as any though he’s soft is quickly dispelled by watching him. However, a big, strong guy who is decisive and assertive can get buckets on him, as Lofton showed, and there will be nights like this for Holmgren. The good news is he still was a positive impact on the Thunder while out there, but every time this happens, given all the talk about his frame, it’ll create some buzz.

For me, though, this is more about Lofton showing that he’s got legit NBA skills. The big fella certainly isn’t all the way there as an NBA player, but he has a ton of offensive skill and is an intriguing player. I also am holding out hope that as we get more long, skilled bigs in the league (like Chet and Victor Wembanyama), one potential counter is the sturdier, skilled post player who can use a low-center of gravity to offset the length of the opposition. We’ll see if that becomes an actual trend, but for one night in Salt Lake, bully ball made a return to glory.