When Texas’ draconian abortion law went in to effect last week, the federal government didn’t step in to shoot it down. Quite the opposite. The conservative-leaning Supreme Court declared the law — which bans abortions after six weeks and even allows those who help women get the procedure to get sued — to be just fine. But all is not lost. There’s been push-back, from young people finding creative means of dissent. And now even companies are stepping up where lawmakers have failed.

As per NPR, the ride-sharing services Lyft and Uber have both declared that, should any of their drivers find themselves in trouble for driving someone to an abortion clinic, their legal fees will be covered 100%.

“Drivers are never responsible for monitoring where their riders go or why. Imagine being a driver and not knowing if you are breaking the law by giving someone a ride,” Lyft said in a statement. “Similarly, riders never have to justify, or even share, where they are going and why. Imagine being a pregnant woman trying to get to a healthcare appointment and not knowing if your driver will cancel on you for fear of breaking a law. Both are completely unacceptable.”

Lyft CEO Logan Green went one step further, saying the company would donate $1 million to Planned Parenthood.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi followed Lyft’s lead, thanking Green for leading the charge.

The companies’ moves were met with praise on social media.

Lyft and Uber weren’t the only companies help combat a heavily restrictive new law. GoDaddy, the internet domain service, announced on Friday that they were giving prolifewhistleblower.com — the online hotline set up by an anti-abortion group to snitch on Texas women getting abortions — 24 hours before they pull the plug. They, too, were singled out for praise.

Of course, Lyft isn’t perfect, as we were reminded this past hellish week.

(Via NPR)

When a spotlight is shone on a tragedy, it’s natural for people of goodwill to respond. Images and individual stories in the media are powerful reminders that our humanity connects us all, prompting our desire to save our fellow human beings from suffering to well up within us.

That impulse has led to a widespread outcry to help Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban after U.S. forces started pulling out of the country. The sudden wave of proactive compassion is heartening. The calls to raise the refugee ceiling, the people offering to open their homes, the donations to support evacuation and resettlement efforts—all of it is great, truly.

It’s also what we should have been doing for the millions of refugees already awaiting resettlement before two weeks ago.

Refugees needing a safe haven isn’t new. It’s not even new for Afghanistan. As Chiara Trincia, Associate Director of Public Affairs at the International Rescue Mission says, “The scenes from Kabul in recent days have shocked the world, and rightly so. But even before the latest dramatic developments in Afghanistan, Afghan refugees constitute the second-largest and one of the most protracted refugee populations in the world, with millions more internally-displaced.”

Trincia says that half the population of Afghanistan is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance due to forty years of conflict, natural disasters, poverty, and now COVID-19. However, she adds, “While recent efforts to evacuate Afghans affiliated with the US mission are both laudable and necessary, these will benefit less than 1% of Afghans.”

Afghan refugees need help. So do millions of other refugees. And if you think the U.S. is already doing a lot, we’re not. At least, not compared to what we can and should be doing. If Turkey—a country with 1/27th of our GDP—can host 4 million refugees in the past 10 years (by far the most of any country) we can definitely offer more here.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), there are currently more than 20 million refugees in the world. Some are languishing in refugee camps. Some are stuck in limbo in stopover countries, waiting for the opportunity to be resettled. Nearly 90 percent are being hosted in developing nations that were already overstretched before their arrival. More than half of them are younger than 18.

The pandemic, of course, has made resettlement more complicated. Last year, fewer than 35,000 refugees out of 20.7 million were resettled as countries shut down.

But even prior to the pandemic, the U.S. was sadly failing on this front, as our refugee resettlement numbers were drastically slashed to historic lows during the Trump administration and our resettlement infrastructure was nearly demolished.

Obviously, we can’t resettle all 20 million of the world’s refugees. But we can certainly do a lot more than we have been doing, and we should—not just because it’s the right thing to do from a humanitarian standpoint, but because welcoming refugees is good for our country.

Let me say that again, loud and clear. Refugees are good for our country. That’s not an opinion, but a fact based on the evidence.

“When given the rare opportunity to resettle somewhere like the United States, refugees thrive and contribute to the fabric of our communities—as they have for decades,” says Trincia. Study after study has shown this. Those of us who know refugees firsthand know this. And it’s simply common sense when you stop to think about it for five seconds.

Imagine you’re someone fleeing oppression in a war-torn country and a nation opens its doors to you. How are you going to feel? Grateful, of course—but also loyal to the country that offered you safety and opportunity.

In a letter to top U.S. officials and the United Nations, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster expressed concern that orphans left in Afghanistan are vulnerable to radicalization by the Taliban, posing a potential national security threat.

“We are extremely concerned that a lack of action on this matter could result in a new generation of individuals committed to waging war against the United States,” they wrote, pointing out that there are families in the U.S., Canada, and Europe who are eager to adopt these kids, potentially saving both them and the U.S. from extremist conflict.

Do we bring them here, or leave them in the hands of extremists, either to be targets of violence or radicalized themselves? It’s not a hard choice.

What about the cost, though? Not an issue in the long term, as analysts have found that refugees actually have a net positive impact on the economy. Refugees are more likely to start businesses than native-born citizens or even other immigrants, so even though there’s an initial upfront cost to resettle them, it’s an investment that gets repaid and then some.

What about safety? Also not an issue. The vetting process for refugees (which you can see here) is the most stringent of any category of people to enter the United States. Tourists pose a greater threat than refugees. Refugees are the people fleeing terrorism and violence, not bringing it.

And again, by not resettling as many people as we can, we leave many suffering people vulnerable to extremists who would use our stinginess as a tool for anti-American radicalization. That’s especially true in nations where we have inserted ourselves into conflict, helping to create some of the mess people are running from.

As far as I can see, there’s no measurable downside to resettling as many refugees as we can get through the system. It’s both the humanitarian and American thing to do. As a nation of immigrants founded by people fleeing persecution, it’s in our DNA to open our doors to those needing refuge.

“Resettlement is both life-saving and life-changing,” says Trincia. “Now more than ever, countries like the United States and its allies must up their resettlement commitments—to provide safe haven not just to Afghan refugees in urgent need, but also to the millions displaced around the world.”

Click here to sign the IRC petition imploring the Biden administration to increase refugee admissions into the U.S. To learn more about the refugee situation around the world and see how else you can help, visit the IRC at rescue.org or the UN Refugee Agency at unhcr.org.

Veteran center Deandre Jordan already has his next home picked out.

Jordan, who was traded by the Nets on Friday to the Pistons and will soon be bought out, plans to sign with the Lakers upon clearing waivers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jordan, 33, spent some of the best years of his career with the Clippers and has since played for the Mavericks, Knicks, and Nets. With the Lakers, he joins an already crowded center rotation that includes Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and presumably Marc Gasol.

However, Jordan joining the Lakers would seem to indicate that Gasol’s time with the team is coming to an end. Marc Stein reported in August that Gasol was “not a lock” to return to Los Angeles for next season. That’s despite Gasol having a $2.7 million in guaranteed salary for next year unless he retires.

The Lakers, meanwhile, would seem to be adding another center to do what Howard does: run the floor and play physical defense. It’s a formula that, alongside minutes where Davis plays the five, worked for them when they won the title in 2020. But can that same formula work this time around when spacing is going to be tighter and, presumably, the team needs to play Davis at the five more? It seems like the Lakers think so.

All funny Family Feud clips tend to have a similar cadence when you really break it down. Steve Harvey asks a leading question, a contestant panics and gives a suggestive or outright bad answer, and Harvey sells it with exaggerated body language or comments about that answer. It’s all pretty great.

The show is designed to get people saying silly things, but it can admittedly be very hard when you’re searching for a single answer on the board. And it’s even harder during a pandemic when huddling up is more difficult and your teammate straight up doesn’t listen to your very good suggestion and basically gives up. Which is why Joe Buck’s family is probably not very happy with him.

The broadcaster and once-Jeopardy! guest host had his family square off against the Hudson family, of which the actress Kate Hudson is a member. Actor Oliver Hudson was there, but Kate was not, though she was mentioned during a category about which members of the family are smarter. This is where Buck made his big gaffe. After the Hudsons failed to clear the board and take the win, the Bucks were given a chance to steal and keep the game alive. Here’s the board.

Again, the question is “We talked to 100 men. Name a woman in your life that’s smarter than you.” And Buck, for some reason, started congratulating the other team on their victory instead of listening to the smart women in his life.

“I’d like to congratulate the Hudson family on its win. From the bottom of my heart I could not be more proud of all five of you. You just met, you came in here and you kicked all of our asses.”

He then sheepishly guessed “best friend,” which caused the other members of his team to do this.

“What? That’s not what we’re going with,” said Michelle. Apparently, Buck didn’t listen to everyone else, who wanted to say “boss.” That set up a tense scene that was suddenly more about just whether the Bucks or Hudsons would win the game. Would Joe Buck be right, or, even worse, would he be wrong and the answer he neglected to say actually be the right answer?

Yes, yes it would.

“God, please don’t be up there,” Buck said leaning against the podium as his family explains how he betrayed them. And then, of course “boss” is revealed and everyone lost it.

What followed is the typical Steve Harvey reaction, magnified by Buck’s family absolutely roasting him for switching things up after the huddle where they all agreed on “boss.” It was a pretty funny moment when you remember that the game doesn’t really matter.

Either way, it’s very unlikely Buck gets any praise for his performance from frenemy James Holzhauer. But hopefully his family got over him waving the white flag here instead of just listening to them.

LaMarcus Aldridge is in fact returning to the NBA.

As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Aldridge is signing a one-year deal with the Nets for next season. The 36-year-old Aldridge signed with Brooklyn last season, but retired in April due to an irregular heartbeat. He was reportedly considered a comeback a few months ago and, per Woj, has now been cleared by a “number of doctors” in order to another season.

Aldridge, it would seem, is making one last go at winning an NBA title. And who better to do it with than the Nets, who are likely the favorites to win it all next season. Even if he plays a bit bench role and only plays 12-15 minutes a night, it would all be worth it if he could win a title. Aldridge is now part of a frontcourt that includes Paul Millsap, Blake Griffin, and Nic Claxton.

From a Nets perspective, there’s a question of if Aldridge can absolutely give the team more in center minutes then, say, Claxton or their handful of small ball options. He’s certainly a more polished post player and veteran proven presence for head coach Steve Nash to go to. But Claxton can switch, run the floor with more energy, and offer a different dimension compared to the former Blazers and Spurs All-Star.

New video games are always welcome on modern consoles, and while Nintendo’s first party titles maybe a slow trickle to the Switch the console has a glut of titles thanks to a sprawling indie games scene. But according to a report those with the

Eurogamer reported on Friday that Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles are coming to the console’s online gaming platform. The Nintendo Switch Online subscription service already has more than 100 games from the NES and SNES era, and reports indicate that Game Boy titles are coming to the service soon as well.

Word that Nintendo will bulk up its Switch Online back catalogue first broke earlier this week via the Nate the Hate podcast, which discussed various possible handheld games Nintendo could bring to the Switch subscription offering. Nintendo Life sources then offered their own confirmation.

Now, Eurogamer has been able to separately corroborate these reports – and we have heard that other retro platforms are also on the cards.

As the Eurogamer report noted, datamining and swirling rumors have predicted expansions of the program’s library in the past, so though there’s been no official word from Nintendo the odds are good that we’ll hear something more substantial soon. In the mean time, it’s a good chance to look back at your cartridge library and decide which games you’d like to see on the Switch in the coming months.

[via Eurogamer]

Female auto mechanics are few and far between. According to Data USA, 97.7% of automotive service technicians and mechanics are male.

Jessica E. Cardoso, an Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) qualified automotive technician from Florida, is changing perceptions of women in the mechanic world by posting videos on TikTok that prove they definitely belong.

She exposed the challenges she faces with male colleagues by posting a video where one has no problem telling her she shouldn’t be working in a garage.

“You’re gonna be famous, go ahead, say it,” she tells him.

“You don’t belong here,” he replies.

“I don’t belong where?” Cardoso responds.

“You don’t belong here…in the mechanic world,” he says.

To prove her worth as a mechanic, Jessica then cut together a series of clips showing that she’s more than comfortable beneath the hood of a car.

After the video went viral receiving over 8 million views, she posted a follow-up video to show that the comments from her male coworker weren’t edited. In the video, the coworker says she should be “out doing something you like, like going to a college.”

He also admits that she should be working as a mechanic “Because this is a man’s world,” he replies.

The best new hip-hop this week includes albums, videos, and songs from Drake, Little Simz, and more.

In addition to the headliners of the week, Memphis rapper Big30 came through with a mid-week release of his debut project, King Of KillBranch, led by the single “Free Shiest Life.” The Bluff City native has been building a buzz with his high-profile collabs and co-signs from big names like Gucci Mane, Moneybagg Yo, and Yo Gotti. Here, he earns the buzz, proving he can carry a full-length as charismatic as his features.

While Friday was light on new music in light of Drake’s week-long takeover, we did get Rico Nasty’s rocking Tiny Desk debut, along with entertaining videos for Drake’s “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug and Little Simz’s “Point And Kill” featuring Obongjayar, as well as a slew of amusing reactions to Drake’s album, its features, and one questionable line from its standout song “Girls Want Girls.” Oh, and Bobby’s back!

Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending September 3, 2021.

Albums/EPs/Mixtapes

Asher Roth — The Greenhouse Effect Vol. 3

Hey, remember this guy? Way back in 2009, the so-called “frat rap” movement was bubbling up, earning its moniker largely on the back of Asher’s breakout single “I Love College.” Incidentally, much like “frat rap” as an institution, this phase of his career fizzled out pretty quickly, considering how limiting such a label wound up being (it similarly hamstrung early career development for both Mac Miller and Lil Dicky, who both far surpassed its bounds). While his peers either faded away or expanded their palettes, though, Asher burrowed deeper and deeper into hip-hop’s underground, becoming something of a degree-bearing disciple of MF DOOM. That tradition more or less continues here, with heady, intricate wordplay and a dizzying overall concept constructed of contributions from Roth’s loyal base of fans via Discord server.

Big30 — King Of KillBranch

Big30 has been one of the most entertaining characters fizzing up from Memphis’ burgeoning trap scene, rising side-by-side with fellow standout and close friend Pooh Shiesty. While Shiesty awaits trial for a litany of aggravated battery charges thanks to his itchy trigger finger, 30 keeps the flag waving high, putting his buddy on several of the debut mixtape’s tracks. However, while there’s plenty of room for guest stars like Lil Durk, Quavo, and Offest to do what they do, 30 steers the ship adeptly, staking his own well-deserved claim on some territory in rap’s ever-sprawling landscape.

Drake — Certified Lover Boy

After months of delays, Drake’s latest arrived in a flurry of activity seemingly motivated (at least in part) by his on-again-off-again rival Kanye. From its troll-ish, emoji-laden cover, to its hijacking of Right Said Fred samples — and the accompanying, fittingly goofy music video for “Way 2 Sexy” — Drake’s sense of humor has been evident throughout the well-executed rollout. However, judging from early fan reactions, it’s also a musical course correction after letting his competition set the tone for Scorpion; it seems the lesson he learned from that debacle was to play his own game on the music while dancing around direct confrontation in the rollout stage. For what it’s worth, it looks like it’s working — Kanye must be tearing his hair out (or giggling with his frenemy on the group chat — rap is as real as wrestling, friends, and never forget it).

Little Simz — Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

While Drake may vacuum up all the attention for his big-name release, Simz’s own long-awaited comeback shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s personal and poetic and political and powerful in equal measure, while Simz sets about clearing her mental hard drive of all the thoughts that have crowded it since quarantine. “It’s me being this introverted person that has all these crazy thoughts and ideas and theories in my head and not always feeling like I’m able to express it if it’s not through my art,” she told The Guardian. Fortunately for her — and us — her art capably handles the challenge of wrangling the clutter and making it incredibly compelling.

Singles/Videos

DijahSB — “Here to Dance” Feat. Mick Jenkins

Hip-hop and house have gone hand-in-hand for almost their entire parallel existences and the combination never gets stale. Here the Torontonian rapper/singer employs the Chicago-based rap philosopher Mick Jenkins for a smooth, surprisingly heady meditation on the problems of the world and the things we do to escape them.

Ray Vaughn — “Tap”

Okay, yes, technically, we did break out this video in its own standalone post. But Ray Vaughn, Top Dawg Entertainment’s Long Beach-bred new signee, deserves the attention. Rarely has an artist been so polished, cutting, and open in his earliest works, but as an artist who’s still technically developing, that’s a truly exciting prospect for this young man’s future.

Saweetie & NIKI — “Swan Song”

Say what you want about Saweetie’s nigh-ubiquity at this point but she’s been very good at positioning herself at the forefront of pop culture. Case in point, here she leverages her heritage and Bay Area upbringing to land a placement on 88rising’s groundbreaking soundtrack for Marvel’s newest superhero film, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings that perfectly fits the theme and setting of one of the hottest properties on Earth this weekend.

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

The COVID-19 era was officially dubbed the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” by CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD last July and she wasn’t kidding.

Unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized than those who got the jab and studies show they now account for 99% of deaths from the virus.

It’s terrible that people are dying of symptoms that are nearly 100% preventable. But it’s also fair to criticize those who are unvaccinated because for nearly all of them it’s a selfish decision. There are of course exceptions, primarily those who cannot get vaccinated because of overriding medical conditions. But those are relatively few and far between. Unvaccinated people are three times more likely to spread COVID-19 and on rare occasions, they can infect someone who did the right thing and got the shot.

The virus just keeps dragging on so it’s understandable that some on the front lines are fed up with those who keep it going.

Conservative pundit Candace Owens has been very vocal about her opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine and mask-wearing. She often tweets that she’s proud to be unvaccinated, even saying that no one in her family will “ever touch the COVID-19 vaccine.”

If that decision only affected her, then this wouldn’t be much of a problem. But, unfortunately, there are many people who cherish her opinion.

Owens needed to get a COVID-19 test earlier this week but was denied by Suzanna Lee, co-founder of Aspen COVID Testing because she’s actively encouraged the spread of the virus.

“I’ve just learned of this testing request and as the owner of this business am going to refuse this booking and deny service,” Lee wrote.

“We cannot support anyone who has proactively worked to make this pandemic worse by spreading misinformation, politicizing and DISCOURAGING the wearing of masks and actively dissuading people from receiving life-saving vaccinations,” the email continued. Lee then directed her to a free testing facility at city hall.

Owens shared the letter on Twitter calling Lee a “danger to the Aspen community.”

Just finished my live on Instagram here: https://t.co/lPjhqVYaGO

As promised— here is the email from the rabid act… https://t.co/3RvHH86akA

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO)
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Owens responded to Lee by saying it was the most “hilarious email” she’s ever received in her life and criticized her for politicizing the virus. This is pretty hypocritical from someone who has repeatedly politicized the virus.

It’s debatable whether it’s ethical for a healthcare provider to deny Owens a test but there were no real consequences for her actions because there are other places to get tested.

But what about doctors who are the last line of care and only have a limited number of beds. Is it fair for them to prioritize someone who got the vaccine over someone who didn’t? All things being equal, doesn’t the person who got the shot to protect themself and others deserve care more than the person who did not?

A doctor in Alabama recently said he would no longer treat unvaccinated patients.

“We do not yet have any great treatments for severe disease, but we do have great prevention with vaccines. Unfortunately, many have declined to take the vaccine, and some end up severely ill or dead. I cannot and will not force anyone to take the vaccine, but I also cannot continue to watch my patients suffer and die from an eminently preventable disease,” Dr. Jason Valentine, a physician at Diagnostic and Medical Clinic Infirmary Health in Mobile, wrote in an open letter.

Doctors Feel Compassion Fatigue About Vaccine Refusers – The Atlantic

To many medical providers working today, the… https://t.co/n5UFLf8M4q

— NancyNoCo 🌊 (@NancyNoCo24)
1628884375.0

Last month, Dr. Chavi Eve Karkowsky wrote a piece in The Atlantic saying that unvaccinated people are beginning to run up against “compassion fatigue” in America’s hospitals.

“To many medical providers working today, the rejection of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines feels like a giant ‘Fuck you’ from 29 percent of American adults. We will keep providing the best care possible, but they are making our job much harder,” she wrote.

“Doing the work of curing human bodies is harder when some of one’s faith in humanity is lost,” she added.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an awful time to live through because millions of people have suffered and our lives have been completely upended.

Even if the virus does go away there will be one thing that will never change. It’s left many of us with a diminished view of humanity. It’s disheartening to realize that at a time when lives were on the line there were opportunists who knowingly promoted the spread of the deadly disease through misinformation.

We’ll also never forget that at a time when a virus was raging, millions of people had the opportunity to do what they can to stop the spread and did nothing.

What are the consequences? For Owens, the annoyance of having to find another testing place. But for many others, their lives.

The Brooklyn Nets are continuing their busy offseason by moving veteran big man DeAndre Jordan. Acquired in the same offseason that the team managed to secure the signing of Kyrie Irving and the sign-and-trade of Kevin Durant, Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Nets have decided to send Jordan to the Detroit Pistons in a move that will save the team a ton of money.

Jordan will be joined by a major chunk of change and a number of future second-round picks, but he may be headed for the buyout market. In exchange, Brooklyn will bring in big man Jahlil Okafor, young forward Sekou Doumbouya, and $47 million in savings between the salary cap and the luxury tax.

According to Wojnarowski, the Lakers are high on the list of favorites to acquire Jordan’s services.

Whether or not they keep Okafor and Doumbouya around remains to be seen, but considering how much wheeling and dealing Brooklyn has done this offseason in an attempt to position itself as the favorites to win an NBA championship this year, moving Jordan’s deal likely isn’t a surprise, especially considering he did not play in the postseason as the team decided to embrace small ball. At the very least, Okafor is a reliable offensive big man option off the bench, while Doumbouya is 20 and has shown flashes in each of his first two NBA campaigns.