The report indicates Gruden “casually and frequently unleashed misogynistic and homophobic language over several years to denigrate people around the game and to mock some of the league’s momentous changes.” An example of that highly inappropriate and indefensible language was shared in reference to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and former Missouri Tigers star Michael Sam.
In the emails, Gruden called the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, a “f*****” and a “clueless anti football p*ssy” and said that Goodell should not have pressured Jeff Fisher, then the coach of the Rams, to draft “queers,” a reference to Michael Sam, a gay player chosen by the team in 2014.
The emails point to Gruden’s apparent regular use of homophobic slurs, which is particularly notable given he is currently coaching the NFL’s first active player to come out as gay in Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib. Gruden also reportedly indicated that Eric Reid should be fired following his demonstrations during the national anthem. His comments were also not limited to the NFL, as he reportedly shared inappropriate sentiment about former President Barack Obama and current President and then-vice president Joe Biden.
Gruden also criticized President Obama during his re-election campaign in 2012, as well as then-vice president Joe Biden, whom Gruden called a “nervous clueless p*ssy.” He used similar words to describe Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the N.F.L. Players Association.
At the very least, Gruden’s comments put his job in significant jeopardy, even with a massive contract to lead the Raiders organization on the field. While his words in these emails were uttered when he was an ESPN analyst and not a representative of the Raiders, the mounting evidence is impossible to ignore or excuse. Gruden’s previous apology certainly won’t cover the additional revelations here and, in addition, it is possible there is even more to parse as his emails continue to be investigated by the league and team.
Two days ago on Instagram, the brand new @calivibesfest account posted a cryptic video with a caption that said “Something is on the horizon.” It didn’t take long for us to find out what that “something” is, as the lineup and dates for Goldenvoice’s brand new California Vibrations Festival (Cali Vibes) has now been announced. Wu-Tang Clan and a very special Bob Marley Birthday Celebration with Ziggy, Damian, Julian, Stephen and Ky-Mani Marley are highlighting a loaded lineup of reggae, rock, roots and hip-hop. The Bob birthday celebration is especially intriguing with The Marley Brothers playing songs from their father’s timeless discography.
The festival takes place from February 2 — 4, 2022 at Marina Green Park in Long Beach and the lineup also includes Rebelution, Sean Paul, Stick Figure, Slightly Stoopid, Sublime With Rome, Dirty Heads, Atmosphere, Barrington Levy, Sean Paul, The Grouch & Eligh, Pepper, Long Beach Dub All-Stars, Koffee and more. Tickets go on-sale this Friday, October 15 and 3-day passes begin at $285 for GA, $420 for VIP and $999 for Beach Club Passes. Single day tickets are also available.
You can view all of the ticket options here. Which also includes single day tickets and payment plans. Visit the festival’s site for more info on everything and check out the full lineup poster for the 3-day festival below.
The GOP is for the most part ride or die against masks and vaccines, despite the best efforts of leaders like Mitch McConnell. (And every great now and then Trump, who is partly responsible for the latter.) Things are so bad even those who’ve actually caught COVID, and suffered, aren’t convinced. Such is the case with Allen West, the former congressman and possible future Texas governor, who tweeted out a deranged anti-vaxx screed…while in the hospital for the disease against which he’s not vaccinated.
West — who isn’t one of the most famous members of the Trump-era GOP but who has nonetheless been an unhinged firebrand since the Tea Party era — used his preventable stint in a Texas emergency room to encourage others to be like him and render hospitals even more clogged than they are. He wasn’t against treatment for the virus. He actually quite enjoyed the alternative, namely monoclonal antibody treatments, which is more time-consuming, costlier, and not as effective.
“I can attest that, after this experience, I am even more dedicated to fighting against vaccine mandates,” West tweeted. “Instead of enriching the pockets of Big Pharma and corrupt bureaucrats and politicians, we should be advocating the monoclonal antibody infusion therapy.” (Spoiler: Monoclonal antibody treatments are also supplied by “Big Pharma.”)
West also made sure to slip in a tenuous jab at non-Americans. “Instead of jabbing Americans, and not illegal immigrants, with a dangerous shot which injects them with these spike proteins . . . guess what? I now have natural immunity and double the antibodies, and that’s science,” he wrote. Although, is it?
He promised, if he replaces the also questionable Greg Abbott, he will “vehemently crush anyone forcing vaccine mandates in the Lone Star State.” He added, “Our bodies are our last sanctuary of liberty and freedom, I will defend that for everyone, even the progressive socialist jackasses who must be saved from themselves.”
West — who in the past has praised such unproven COVID remedies as invermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and anti-malarial medication — also thanked the hospital staff for making him grits.
When West’s thread went viral, some didn’t agree 100% with his police work.
What if there was another, much cheaper way to get antibodies into lots of peoples’ bloodstreams ? https://t.co/tigEOdclef
The New Orleans Pelicans enter the 2021-22 NBA season with a sense of urgency. There were some positive signs from New Orleans a season ago but, after the season, the Pelicans moved on from Stan Van Gundy, flipped Lonzo Ball and Steven Adams, and remade the roster around Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. However, Pelicans president of basketball operations David Griffin shared a curveball at the team’s Media Day in September, revealing that Williamson suffered a fracture in his right foot that required surgery in the offseason.
At the time, Griffin indicated that Williamson was on track to be ready for the regular season, but with the Pelicans beginning their 82-game journey in fewer than 10 days, it seems as if the team’s franchise player isn’t quite game-ready.
Willie Green says Zion Williamson will “get some scans” in the next day or two on his right foot and they’ll proceed from there on what’s next.
Williamson has not started running yet, they are waiting on scans for that.
In addition to indicating that Williamson has been relegated to only some light shooting and dribbling, head coach Willie Green shared that his status won’t change, at least when it comes to running, until his scan results are in. “We’re holding him back on running until we know further from his tests coming up,” Green said, via Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
It isn’t impossible that Williamson could function in a regular season setting in the near term, but New Orleans plays their opener on Oct. 20. That leaves a very short timetable for Williamson if he isn’t running at this stage, and that is before taking into account any extra caution the Pelicans might exercise with their centerpiece. New Orleans does have other weapons, headlined by Ingram, but the Pelicans are clearly built around Williamson, and this is a situation that is worth closely monitoring as the season looms.
“I don’t remember your face… And I definitely would have remembered his face,’” Megan said. “I just remember this tall, blond, ghostly creature and I looked up and I was like, ‘You smell like weed.’ He looked down at me and he was like, ‘I am weed.’ Then, I swear to God, he disappeared like a ninja in a smoke bomb.”
Megan shared more of her thoughts about that night: “I think we weren’t allowed to see each other yet,” she continued. “We weren’t supposed to run into each other that night, so our souls, our spirit guides, were luring us away from each other, because you literally had no face, like that thing from Spirited Away. It is hard to see his face in general, but really he had no face that night.” To MGK: “Thank God, [because] what torture had I known you were there and I couldn’t get to you. It was better that I didn’t know.”
If that doesn’t make you want to read the whole feature, I don’t know what will! Check out the full cover story here.
Though recent months have been filled with controversy and drama for Jeopardy! it was the run of Matt Amodio that brought new life to the syndicated game show. As fans and critics spoke out about its hosting crisis, Amodio cruised to victories reminiscent of James Holzhauer, putting up big numbers on his way to more than $1 million in earnings.
But Amodio’s historic run on Jeopardy! came to an end on Monday when the Ph. D student from New England lost to a newcomer after struggling in the Double Jeopardy round. Amodio’s 38-game winning streak has featured many of the same qualities that past mega-champions have replicated: getting out to big leads early, hitting on Daily Doubles to expand that lead and making Final Jeopardy an afterthought because they simply couldn’t be caught.
But on Monday’s episode, newcomers Jonathan and Jessica made life on stage much tougher for Amodio than he’d seen in recent weeks. Though he had his usual lead after the Jeopardy round, Jonathan found both Daily Doubles back-to-back (getting all three on the day). And though he got the first one wrong and lost $2,000, he took the lead with the third Daily Double and didn’t look back.
Headed into Final Jeopardy, Amodio was trailing ($10,600) compared to Jonathan’s $14,600 and Jessica’s $14,400. Needing both contestants to ultimately get the question wrong, Jonathan actually wagered everything and got it right, doubling his total and dethroning Matt as the new Jeopardy! champion.
Amodio’s run finishes with $1,518,601 in winnings, good for third all-time. His 38 day win total is second in the show’s history behind Ken Jennings.
He’s been stealing movies since he was 14. Starting with Son of Rambow, English actor Will Poulter has been an always welcome presence on the big screen, enriching everything from comedies like We’re the Millers and intense fare, like The Revenant, Detroit, and Midsommar. (Sadly, he had to pull out of the Lord of the Rings series, but with good reason.) Now he’s set to bring life to one of Marvel’s most enigmatic characters.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Poulter has been cast as Adam Warlock in James Gunn’s third volume of Guardians of the Galaxy. Who’s Adam Warlock? Initially called simply “Him,” he’s an artificial being created in a lab who winds up lighting out into the cosmos on his own, getting into adventures. He’s pretty powerful, too: He’s been known to alter his own timeline to get rid of people he doesn’t like. In one timeline, he helps the Avengers and Captain Marvel defeat Thanos.
This iteration of Adam Warlock is obviously too late for that, but surely Gunn has something nifty in store for him, especially considering the pandemic gave him a lot more time than expected to plan the threequel. Luckily, Gunn probably won’t give Warlock the same treatment he gave several characters in The Suicide Squad. Then again, not even Gunn could grant Poulter a fate worse than the one he received in Midsommar.
There are plenty of kids with great talent out there, but sometimes a child comes along that blows your mind with what they can do.
Miles Bonham is 5-years-old. As in he’s only been on this planet for five years. At least one or two of those years were spent not walking or really talking much, so what he can do with musical instruments and music mixing software at age 5 is…hmmm, how shall I put this…friggin’ mind-blowing.
Let me just add here that my daughter is a music composition major, and music software has been the thing that’s been hardest thing for her to learn. Maybe you have to start when you’re 3 or 4 like Miles? Maybe. I just showed her this video and her exact words were “WHAT IN HECK.?!?”
Behold, Miles the Music Kid doing his thing:
Coldest vid I’ve seen today! #ReturnOfTheMack 🙌🏽 https://t.co/JS0b3UYgUp
Yeah, so that happened. The real winning moment here was the zoom-in on the sippy cup, followed closely by the question of how to spell “harmony.” He can do it, he just can’t spell it.
Also this:
Miles plays guitar, bass guitar, drums, and goodness knows what else. But it’s the putting-it-all-together that wows the most.
Miles’ parents run the Instagram account where videos of his musical prodigiousness are shared. This one shows more of the mixing process, complete with 5-year-old dancing for joy and more lessons on spelling. (And pronouncing as well—it’s “harpsichord,” not “harpsicle,” son.)
He really is quite delightful to watch, and he’s begun to catch the eye of big-name musicians. Lenny Kravitz commented on his most recent video, saying “Love everything about this.”
Oh hey, wanna see him figure out “Stairway to Heaven”? Just, like, figure it out. At 5 years old.
Keep on rockin’, Miles. And keep on sharing your kiddo’s awesomeness, Miles’ parents. Can’t wait to see what this kid can do with another five years on Earth.
Whether as a way to bring power to more marginalized voices, or to lessen the “white-washing” of American history…or maybe just as a simple F-U to the patriarchy, many are trading in Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples Day.
There are several wins for Native Americans that might make Indigenous Peoples Day more celebratory this year. Things like:
More recognition for the new holiday
President Joe Biden made history last Friday (Oct 8th) after issuing a proclamation calling upon the country to honor Native Americans, and incorporate more “appropriate ceremonies and activities.” He recognized the inherent sovereignty and resilience of Indigenous cultures, and marked their contributions to society as invaluable.
Biden’s proclamation marks a more formal reflection of what many states have already been doing. According to CNN, 21 of our 50 states have begun incorporating Indigenous Peoples Day, whether in official or unofficial observation. And that list is growing. Though it doesn’t include the state of Massachusetts (yet), cities like Boston observed the holiday for the first time, and held a ceremony in a town just outside of where the Boston Marathon was held.
Indigenous art and humor is being celebrated in the mainstream
I’ll start with my hero, Taika Waititi, who’s script “Jo Jo Rabbit” won the Oscar in 2020 for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also gets my personal MVP award for somehow making Hitler quirky and fun. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with Waititi’s magical blend of irreverence and a bizarre sense of humor, you can get a taste of it in his acceptance speech here:
Taika Waititi’s Hilarious Acceptance Speech for Jojo Rabbit’s Adapted Screenplay Win | EE BAFTA Film
Speaking of Taika, his other project, “Reservation Dogs”, debuted on Hulu this year and is already receiving ample critical praise. This dark comedy, which centers around a group of 4 indigenous teenagers seeking to escape their Oklahoma reservation, or rez for short, depicts the native community as three dimensional, nuanced, and endearing, rather than victimized or supporting characters. No reductive cliches here. Okay, well maybe there are for the white supporting characters. But to be fair… it’s pretty hilarious.
Humor that truly reflected indigenous culture was a major priority for the show’s creators. In an interview with Vogue, Steven Harjo, Taika’s co-writer on the project, stated, “There hasn’t been any Native humor onscreen, and I’ve always wanted to bring it to a mainstream audience. Native humor is very sophisticated.” With a goofy Native American ghost warrior, some fresh native slang, and a few hella-funny rap battles, I’d say they did just that.
“What I hope that ‘Reservation Dogs’ does is open the world up to telling different types of Native stories” – Sterlin Harjohttps://t.co/13GiPlbbQK — Reservation Dogs (@RezDogsFXonHulu) September 28, 2021
Taika isn’t the only one making huge leaps for the native art community. The new Cahokia Socialtech + Artspace in Phoenix, AZ celebrated its grand opening today. According to az.central.com, the space was established by co-founders and partners Eunique Yazzie (Navajo) and Melody Lewis (Hopi, Tewa and Mojave). The two were “inspired by the original Cahokia, the largest pre-Columbian city in North America.” Like the original city, the Cahokia Artspace is intended to “bring together the knowledge and creativity of Indigenous people in a central gathering place.” The article added that since it’s soft opening in September, the space has been host to “youth events, art markets, virtual conferences, art exhibits, even the Hopi tribal leadership debate in advance of tribal elections.”
Since good stories can often do the most for social change, lifting up the stories of Native Americans is a simple, yet profound way to bring about real transformation.
Indigenous Culture is even being represented in a digital space
The Native Land App is an entirely new way to pay respects to indigenous culture. You can type in your address, and then see which native groups once occupied the land. I decided to test it out:
Native Land App
In his About page, the app’s inventor Victor Trempano said that Native Land “seeks to encourage people — Native and non-Native — to remember that these were once a vast land of autonomous Native peoples, who called the land by many different names according to their languages and geography.” He added, “The hope is that it instills pride in the descendants of these People, brings an awareness of Indigenous history and remembers the Nations that fought and continue to fight valiantly to preserve their way of life.”
Just taking a bird’s eye view at all the Indigenous nations that once did occupy the land does instill a sense of utmost respect.
More ancestral land is returning back to natives
Though one glance at the Native Land app might present a bleak outlook on the topic, the good news is: from sacred mountains to to nearly 1 million acres, many Native lands have been restored to their rightful owners.
Cultural Survival reported that in the last two years alone, 8 ancestral lands have been recovered. This included the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline in Canada, as well as native land being restored in Oklahoma, Cambodia, Peru, Panama, Australia, and Belize.
More education about Indigenous Culture
Perhaps the egregious aspect of colonization is the obliteration of an entire culture from history. Minus that ONE Native American diorama that third graders make each year, we simply aren’t educated about our real “forefathers.” What’s worse, we raise monuments and tell romanticized stories to honor them, while downplaying those who have been devastated by their actions.
Mount Rushmore was built on land that belonged to the Lakota tribe and sculpted by a man who had strong bonds with… https://t.co/Yp53RGPYNG
Indigenous Peoples Day was originally created in 1990, as a means to shift the narrative away from Christopher Columbus as a “hero discoverer” and bring back the forgotten voice and sovereignty to those most victimized by him: Native Americans. That’s why big changes, like completely rebranding a holiday, are necessary. It brings awareness, empathy, and, as noted above, real progress. It might feel like anti-patriotism to some, but to others, it’s finally restoring some sense of balance.
It also might feel like a linguistic “splitting of hairs.” However, the last few years have really shown us that language should evolve to include all of society. For the Native American community, it’s more to it than simply taking out Christopher Columbus’ name. It’s about giving a name to their collective story. It’s about saying “we have been here, and we continue to be here.”
To everyone- Native or not- I wish you all a happy Indigenous Peoples Day.
“The more love you have for a person, the stronger you do it.” ❤️
With exceptions (e.g., Richard Marx punching bag Scott Baio), Hollywood has never been exactly pro-Trump. You can find any number of earnest denouncements of the former president, who now lives in resorts, ranting at strangers and yet still lording over a major political party. But you don’t often find lighthearted takedowns that double as dead-on assessments of perhaps the most discussed person in the modern age. So thank you, George Clooney, for supplying exactly that.
Kentuckian George Clooney discussing Trump on BBC.
In a recent interview on the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show, the Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker (and Killer Tomatoes franchise alum) was asked to talk politics. He could have mourned our post-truth age. He could have denounced Trump as one of history’s most destructive figures. Instead he painted a more measured portrait of the man: as just some doofus who’s really into tail.
“He’s going to be a factor for a while. It’s so funny because, you know, he was just this knucklehead,” Clooney said. “I knew him before he was a president. He was just a guy who was chasing girls. Every time you went out, he’d come over and be like, ‘What’s the name of that girl?’ That’s all he was.”
That’s not how Trump’s biggest supporters see him. To them, he’s a messiah, a savior, an antidote to corrupt Washington, there to drain the swamp. That’s all nonsense. He’s always exclusively followed his most decadent desires, be it sex or power, nothing more. And though the damage he’s done in the last several years is incalculable — and let’s not even think about what he could do if re-elected — perhaps it’s somewhat therapeutic to think of him not as a fascistic mastermind but as simply some dingleberry who keeps getting lucky, even when he loses bigly. Thanks again, Clooney.
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Boo is My Beat
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