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One of the most amazing (and frightening) realizations one can have as a parent is that your child is always listening and they have incredible memories.

Alyssia, the mother of three-year-old Ayaan, was blown away when during their walk to school he began reciting positive affirmations she taught him a year earlier. When he was two she taught him to repeat “I am smart. I am blessed. I can do anything,” when he is stressed.

“Well he shocked me this morning. Out of no where he started repeating it, so I pulled out my phone,” Alyssia commented on her Instagram post. “He ended (with enthusiasm lol) once we made it to our destination. So proud of the little boy he is growing into.”

Alyssia shared the video on Instagram where it received nearly 100,000 likes.

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A year ago, Alyssia shared a video of herself teaching her son the affirmation, which made it extra special when he recalled the three powerful sentences all by himself.

“This morning we started Ayaan’s day with positive affirmations that he will repeat daily,” she wrote on the Instagram post. “Though he may not understand the words right now, he will grow to learn what they mean and how true they are. Positive vibes for our young King!”

Ayaan’s positive self-talk is a great reminder for all of us to be conscious of the power of our internal monologues. Research has repeatedly shown that the words we use when talking to ourselves can have a tremendous impact on our self-esteem and ability to achieve our goals.

A study in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience found that “a large body of literature” demonstrates that self-affirmations can decrease stress, increase well being, improve academic performance, and make people more open to behavior change.

Conversely, studies show that negative self talk, such as thinking phrases like, “I can’t do anything right” or “I’m a total failure” can limit our personal growth, lower our self-esteem and confidence.

The problem is that, according to Psychology Today, humans are much more prone to negative self-talk than positive, so many of us have to make a conscious effort to push back against debilitating internal monologues.

Researchers have found that one way to improve our self-talk is to include our name when pumping ourselves up. For example, Ayaan could make his affirmation even more powerful by saying, “Ayaan is smart. Ayaan is blessed. Ayaan can do anything.”

“In my experience, referring to yourself in the third person can have some powerful self-regulatory effects, such as stress reduction and anxiety regulation, as well as put distance between you and the situation,” female entrepreneurial coach, Teri Karjala, writes in Forbes.

It’s also very helpful to write down your goals on paper because it makes them more concrete. Karjala adds that it’s also important to practice visualizing achieving your goal and how you will achieve it. That is because our brains have a hard time distinguishing between reality and what’s imagined.

As the Buddha once said, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought,” so the question we should all ask ourselves is: Am I creating my best self though positive self-talk or limiting myself through negativity?

Guapdad 4000 has been enjoying his time in the spotlight. The Oakland rapper has released a slew of singles this year in addition to his Rona Raps series and his Platinum Falcon Tape, Vol. 1. With plenty of releases in store for the impending fourth quarter, Guapdad 4000 sat down with HipHopDX to reflect on a New Year’s party that may have led to what proved to be a phenomenal 2019.

Guapdad reminisced about a New Year’s party he attended with his dad and Drake, where he would also meet J. Cole at for the first time. “It was New Years and my dad flew out here and soon as he got out here, I said, ‘We about to do this Drake sh*t. C’mon,’” he recalled. “I don’t think he knew the extent of it but, I said, ‘F*ck it, I’ma bring my pops.”

After introducing his dad to Drake, Guapdad would wind up meeting another reveler, J. Cole, for the first time. “Cole was with two people from Drake team and Ib and some other dude and the other dude said, ‘Yo, you’re Guadpdad! You be funny!’” Guapdad remembered. “And Cole cut him off and said, ‘Nah, I just seen this n**** rapping. I seen a freestyle you did and you rapped hella good, bruh.’ And I said, ‘Sh*t! Thanks Cole!’”

That meeting preceded Cole’s involvement on the Revenge Of The Dreamers III project, which arrived six months later. Guapdad wound up contributing a total of four tracks on the standard issue of that album, and an additional two on the deluxe.

(via HipHopDX)

Guapdad 4000 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On Tuesday, after days of promising he would reveal his running mate, Joe Biden finally delivered, revealing that the other half of his ticket would be California senator Kamala Harris. The news was met with much joy; she’s both the first African-American and the first Asian-American to be chosen as a vice presidential hopeful on a major party ticket, to name two things. Many people, though, couldn’t help but think of something a touch less serious: What does Maya Rudolph, the SNL vet who’s memorably played her on her former program, think about the news?

Well, now we know. The actress and performer was on a group Zoom call for Entertainment Weekly, alongside Angela Bassett, Wanda Sykes, Dan Levy, Ramy Youssef, and Giancarlo Esposito, when she learned the news. And here was her initial response: “Oh s*it!”

Granted, she didn’t have much time to prepare for a response, much less fully wrap around her head that she may not only have to reprise the role but do so during a pandemic. Still, she was able to respond to that possibility.

“I love going to the show. Any excuse I can get, I love,” Rudolph told everyone. “I just didn’t really anticipate traveling during a pandemic, but if there’s anyone that can work it out I’m sure Lorne [Michaels] has some sort of invisible helicopter that can get me there.”

She continued:

“Ever since I was a kid, truly, I wanted to be on any kind of SCTV, Saturday Night Live, and I can’t believe that I got to work there, and I can’t believe that it’s my family still … I’m so thrilled to even be associated with the show and that I got to go back. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving. Honestly, it’s my favorite place to play.”

Still, she couldn’t hide how flabbergasted she was by the news. “I’m as surprised as you are, guys,” Rudolph said. “That’s spicy.”

You can watch the full video of the moment during the Zoom call when Rudolph heard the news over at EW.

For each of the last two summers, the NBA has taken a contingent down to Disney World in Orlando. That, of course, is happening this summer as well, with 22 NBA teams in the Disney Bubble to try and play out the end of the 2019-20 season.

But while that’s going on, the NBA’s usual August trip to Disney is going on remotely. The league announced last month that the Jr. NBA Global Championship — which features 16 boys and girls teams, eight from the United States and eight from around the world — will go all-virtual this year. On the court, this means competing in virtual basketball competitions in a bracket-style tournament to crown world champions. Off the court, this means virtual sessions designed to take the athletes away from basketball and educate them on issues off the court and much more.

“It’s looked different than it has in previous years, but we’ve been able to achieve a lot of the same goals, to deliver strong, memorable, and developmental experiences connected to the game of basketball for thousands of young people around the world, and we’ve been able to retain what we think of as the four pillars of the Jr. NBA Global Championship.” David Krichavsky, the NBA’s Head of Youth Basketball Development, told Dime over the phone. “First, the on-court competition, secondly, life skills and leadership development training, third, community service and community engagement, and then fourth, creating these enriching cross-cultural experiences for young people. And through various innovations, we’ve kept all four of those pillars, which we’re really proud about.”

The tournament came to an end on Tuesday, when the team from Asia-Pacific was crowned the boys’ champion and the Latin America squad came out on top among the girls. Thanks to their wins, the two sides the opportunity to celebrate with the previous two champions — the boys from the U.S. West region and the girls from the U.S. Central region, respectively — by virtually sitting courtside for a pair of games on Tuesday. The two girls teams (along with the 2019 runners-up from Canada) will get to check out Blazers-Mavericks at 6:30, while the boys will watch Pelicans-Kings at 9.

Getting to this point was, understandably, quite the undertaking. The ball got rolling back in March on a number of initiatives — including the Jr. NBA At Home program — with an eye on how virtual programming could make all of these normally in-person events happen. When it came to the Global Championship, Krichavsky says the league was steadfast in making sure something could happen, even in our current COVID-19 reality.

“I think we feel a responsibility to the Jr. NBA community, and particularly in our current context, we think it’s more important than ever to stay connected and to provide fun opportunities for those that love the game,” Krichavsky says. “And so knowing that we could have success virtually and knowing that young players really relied on us for best-in-class programming, we were committed to bringing this tournament to life.”

This involved relying on the HomeCourt app as a way to foster competition between teams while they’re at home. In various skill competitions, the 500 or so 13 and 14 year olds compete in challenges like shooting, ball handling, and sprint speed with points accrued for speed and aptitude. Those points are added up across teams, which leads to winners advancing in a single-elimination tournament.

These games are only part of the championship. Off the court, conversations with current and former NBA and WNBA players have been a tentpole, and unsurprisingly, the conversations that have occurred this year have centered around the myriad of societal issues that everyone experiences.

“Here in the U.S. — or U.S. and Canada, we did together — we had Coby White of the Chicago Bulls and Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx last week do a session with young athletes about their experiences during COVID-19, how they’ve found their voices on issues of social justice, how young athletes can engage on broader social issues,” Krichavsky says. “And so it was a really rich and valuable conversation. And we saw the way that the kids really listened to these professional athletes. And we’ve done similar sessions around the world. In Africa, Dikembe Mutombo led a session. Greivis Vasquez in Latin America. Bruce Bowen, with more than a 1,000 players in our program in India. I believe Robert Horry in Asia-Pacific.”

It is not always easy to have these kinds of heavy conversations with children, and Krichavsky believes it helps for them to see that the issues impacting them also impact professional athletes. With White and Collier specifically, the conversation started with 60 children, but eventually got pared down to breakout groups with 10 young hoopers and one professional that involved “really candid conversations and some real sharing of personal information, of what people’s experiences have been in recent weeks and recent months.”

Community service and cross-cultural engagement are the final pillars of the experience. While the former isn’t a hands-on community service project this year, the players involved this year created pieces of art that exhibited what global unity and social change means to them. It was turned into a mural that will hang in the New Image Youth Center in Orlando. And on the latter, the Jr. NBA has taken a page out the league’s book and created a virtual campus for young athletes.

“It’s an interactive and immersive world where Jr. NBA players, represented digitally as avatars, have had a chance to go onto this virtual campus over the past several days and engage in all sorts of different, fun, engaging educational experiences with their peers from around the world,” Krichavsky says. “So it’s been really cool to see there’s well-known DJs performing. There’s guest appearances from NBA and WNBA player. There’s unique digital content, virtual instructional clinics.”

All of this has made for a unique experience. Like most things that have happened in 2020, the Jr. NBA Global Championship were interrupted, but those behind it figured out creative solutions to make something happen. The hope, of course, is that when the 2021 Championship rolls around, the August basketball taking place in Disney won’t be because the NBA season was altered by a global pandemic.

Still, this doesn’t mean there’s nothing to take away from this unique operation and apply it going forward.

“Regardless of what shape our events take going forward, the way that we’ve been able to engage young people through virtual programming, the way that we’ve been able to expand our reach in a global fashion, the way that we’ve been able to embrace technology, as I said before, we never anticipated having virtual basketball competitions,” Krichavsky says. “We never anticipated needing a virtual campus and creating an immersive virtual world as we’ve done for young people this year. These are experiences that have been extremely valuable in that we would look to recreate in future years, regardless of how robust our encore programming is.”

“There’s only one thing more dangerous than a bad virus, and that’s a bad vaccine,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies programme, said in March. “We have to be very, very, very careful in developing any product that we’re going to inject into potentially most of the world population.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, experts have said that developing a vaccine and getting it through the necessary safety and efficacy protocols would take, at minimum, 12 to 18 months. Yet here we are, 7 months in, and Vladimir Putin has just announced that Russia has already approved a vaccine for the coronavirus.

According to the BBC, there are more than 100 vaccines in various stages of development and testing. Six of those have reached phase 3 trials, involving more widespread testing in humans. Russia’s vaccine is not among those six.

Meanwhile, hundreds of U.S. doctors have signed a letter urging the FDA not to rush or politicize vaccine trials.

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“We are experts in virology, epidemiology, vaccinology, infectious disease, clinical care and public health,” the letter opens, before declaring the “urgent” need for a COVID-19 vaccine. “We are committed to promoting the broad uptake of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. The need is urgent but all vaccines must be rigorously studied to determine whether their benefits exceed their risks.”

The letter expresses concern that public confidence in a vaccine will be greatly undermined by rushing the process, and that thorough safety trials must be followed through in order for doctors themselves to confidently recommend and administer one.

For those reasons, the doctors urged transparency in the process of trialing and documenting any potential vaccines:

“The foundation of public confidence in vaccine safety has long been, and must remain, the well-established and trusted FDA approval procedures. The public is typically and rightly able to comment on vaccine approval. It is important that investigators share Phase 3 trial design details. For example, Data Safety Monitoring Boards apply predetermined ‘stopping rules’ to decide whether a study should be terminated early based on the detection of early benefits, the likelihood of no benefit, or the emergence of serious safety problems. These stopping rules should be publicly available. There must also be continuous monitoring for unexpected severe side effects that might only become apparent after large numbers of people are vaccinated.”

Finally, they drove home the point that doctors can only recommend a vaccine if they believe it is safe, and that evaluating safety can only be done with a transparent process unmarred by politics.

“We can only perform as advocates if we ourselves are persuaded that the vaccine(s) truly is safe and effective. We must be able to explain to the public what we know and what we don’t know about these vaccines. For that to happen, we must be able to witness a transparent and rigorous FDA approval process that is devoid of political considerations.”

Russia’s announcement could very well push vaccine makers and the government to rush the development and trialing process, which would be a mistake. Vaccine development usually takes years, not months, and skipping safety steps in the name of competition or expediency could make public health problems worse, not better.

As always, government needs to listen to the health experts on this front. We need a vaccine as soon as possible, but we also need to make sure we utilize the knowledge and processes that will ensure any vaccine will be safe to administer, no matter which company or country gets there first.

Harassment on public transportation in New York is a disturbing part of everyday reality for women in the city. A study published by Gothamist found that 75% had experienced harassment and/or theft on public transportation, versus 47% of male participants.

This type of harassment can put women in physical danger but it also leads them to take alternative forms of transportation that are more expensive, resulting in an annual “pink tax” that average $1,200 more than what a man pays for the same services.

A video posted by “Caitlin,” an art student from New York City, showed the power of standing up to those who harass women on public transportation and she hopes that it will inspire others to do the same.

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Caitlin saw a man harassing a woman, grabbing his genitals, saying he “didn’t really care that she had a boyfriend” and explicitly talking about how he was going to have sex with her.

“I started looking around to see who else was on the cart, and we appeared to be the only two women on the train,” Caitlin told Buzzfeed.

“There were three other men sitting somewhat near the situation,” she added. “Nobody else on the train seemed bothered by what was happening. The man then stood up and began walking towards her, grabbing his dick and blatantly staring at her.”

So Caitlin spoke up to the man and filmed the interaction on TikTok.

In the video, the man accuses Caitlin of being “all up in his business” for calling him out, but she refuses to back down.

“What am I supposed to do when you’re yelling at a random woman about your dick,” she retorted, “you’re sexually harassing someone and I’m not gonna let you do it when it’s not right.”

“I started looking around to see who else was on the cart, and we appeared to be the only two women on the train,” she continued. “There were three other men sitting somewhat near the situation. Nobody else on the train seemed bothered by what was happening. The man then stood up and began walking towards her, grabbing his dick and blatantly staring at her.”

According to Buzzfeed, Caitlin didn’t let up. She argued with him for another 20 to 30 minutes, even after the woman that was being harassed got off the train.

After she posted the video she created a follow-up where she discussed why she didn’t talk to the woman who was being harassed.

Caitlin hopes her video will inspire others to speak up when they see someone being harassed.

“In order to break the cycle, people have to be willing to call it out when they see it, and hopefully correct the behavior, or else these people will continue to think it’s acceptable,” she told Buzzfeed.

“The only reason I was able to stand up to that man was because I’ve been inspired in the past by other women doing the same thing,” she added. “Watching a woman find their voice and having the power to be who they want to be, unapologetically, is what inspires me daily. So, I just want this video to do the same to those who need inspiration.”

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Rob Schneider: Asian Momma, Mexican Kids (Netflix stand-up special) — After all these years (and Adam Sandler movies), Rob Schneider’s first Netflix special has arrived to take on adulthood. Did you know that his daughter is Elle King? She shows up for an ending diet with dad.

Stargirl (CW, 8:00 p.m.) — The season finale has arrived with a surprise visitor as Courtney’s new generation of superheroes clashes anew with the Injustice Society of America.

Tell Me a Story (CW, 9:00 p.m.) — A secret relationship and a jealous third party might derail this show’s careful balance while Jordan’s still pushing back at at that pesky police investigation.

Netflix has also dropped many other comedy specials over the past few months, and here are the highlights:

Eric Andre: Legalize Everything — This New Orleans-filmed special shows Eric Andre once again busting through comedic boundaries while taking on the wars on sex, drugs, and… fart jokes? Alright. Seriously though, It’s the best comedy special of the year and highly relevant to the U.S. police-related discussion today.

Jim Jefferies: Intolerant — The Aussie comedian (who remains notorious for his gun-control opinion) pulls a 180 from where he was five years ago. He’s less focused on issues these days and grows incredibly banal at times, but he’s still uproariously funny. While reflecting upon the state of comedy today, he manages to dole out some hefty insight on life while telling an epic tale of the pursuit of lactose at all costs.

Pete Davidson: Alive From New York — From SNL to a ton of upcoming movies, Pete Davidson’s doing everything, and now, he’s got his very first Netflix original comedy special. Yes, he’s dropping all kinds of unfiltered anecdotes on everything from his SNL-related discomfort to his Louis C.K. beef and Ariana Grande relationship.

Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything — The Emmy and Grammy winning comedian brings his newest comedy special to the streaming giant. Look forward to anecdotes involving a full-scale Millennium Falcon replica and how home buying gets tied to the term “suicide squad.” Stick around for the post-credits bonus, in which Patton introduces another one-hour comedy special, Bob Rubin: Oddities & Rarities.

Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours To Kill — The legendary Jerry Seinfeld has dropped his second Netflix special. Expect him to keep mining everyday life to unveil comedy in the commonplace. Although the title of this special feels Bond-esque, Seinfeld doesn’t disappoint those expecting his trademarked sharp perceptions about everyday life.

Sam Jay: 3 In The Morning (Netflix standup special) — For her first hour-long comedy special with the streaming giant, SNL writer Sam Jay headed to Atlanta, Georgia to get witty, candid, and raw at The Masquerade club.

Marc Maron: End Times Fun — The long-time standup comic, GLOW star, and prolific podcaster unleashes his latest comedy special. Expect Maron’s thoughts on cell phones, vaccinations, and Tumeric. Oh, and he’s definitely talking about his ongoing beef with Marvel movie fans.

George Lopez: We’ll Do It For Half (Netflix stand-up special, Tuesday) — Somehow, this is Lopez’s first Netflix comedy special despite his storied stand-up roots. In one hour, Lopez dives into lessons that he’s learned from the Latino community, along with issues related to emotional support animals, gender reveal parties, and elevator etiquette.

Hannah Gadsby: Douglas (Netflix stand-up special) — The newest Netflix comedy special arrives today with Hannah Gadsby following up on Nanette with a second turn named after one of her dogs. Gadsby’s hope was that Douglas would “inspire comedy disobedience,” according to Netflix, and this LA-filmed special promises to upend all expectations.

After a dismal 2019 campaign, the Atlanta Dream entered the 2020 season with some optimism, focused chiefly on their young core and hopefulness that No. 4 overall pick Chennedy Carter could inject some life into an offense that struggled mightily without Angel McCoughtry.

Starting her WNBA career off in the first weeks of the Wubble, Carter looked the part, averaging 22.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.7 steals per game, bringing a swagger and confidence to the Atlanta offense that had been missing. Carter’s productivity has thrust her to the top of the Rookie of the Year race in the WNBA with top pick Sabrina Ionescu is out at least a month with an ankle injury, but unfortunately for Carter and the Dream, she too will now miss time with an ankle injury of her own.

Carter had to leave the Dream’s 92-83 loss to the Sun after just three minutes on Monday after hurting her ankle and Tuesday the Dream announced she will miss at least two weeks of play.

Injuries have been an unfortunate storyline of the Wubble, as some top players have been knocked out of action with various ailments, and for Carter and Ionescu it’s especially tough to have to miss time in what is already a shortened rookie season. Time to develop on the floor and gain experience at the pro level as a lead guard is critical, and both will lose out on that. Carter was sensational for the Dream and as a team they will have a tough time replacing her productivity and energy.

Hopefully moving forward she can make her return on the shorter end of the timeline and continue growing into her role as a leader on the court for Atlanta.

I’ll say this up front so that there’s zero confusion: Child sex trafficking is real, it’s heinous, and it’s been going on for a long time. Everyone who buys or sells a child or partakes in harming a child in any way should be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law. There is no place in civil society for people who sexually abuse children or who profit off of the abuse of children. Full stop. No question.

But we have careened into some twisted waters in our social discourse around child sex trafficking, to the point where the real issue of is being conflated with outrageous conspiracy theories that deflect from the real work being done to save children, put innocent people in harm’s way, and interfere with the integrity of our elections.

I wrote about this issue recently and was met with accusations of being paid off by powerful pedophiles (ugh, seriously?), a flood of people saying “No, you’re wrong!” while offering zero evidence, and a bunch of YouTube and Facebook videos that people seem to think are credible sources. I got fake screenshots of supposed Wikileaks emails that aren’t actually on Wikileaks when you search for them. I got people who only listen to fringe outlets that have no oversight or accountability claiming that my well-cited, real news sources were a part of the whole conspiracy. All of that stuff I could ignore. Whackadoodles are gonna whackadoodle no matter how many facts you throw at them.

But I also got a few people sharing a list of nearly 100 politicians and other powerful people who have been convicted of child sex crimes. That was different, because it was factual.

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There have been dozens of politicians who have been convicted of sex crimes involving children, and the list itself was accurate. (One particularly viral version of the list linked the people with Ghislaine Maxwell—that part is false, but the crimes are real.) Politifact, in a fact-check of the Facebook post, even put together a Google doc with a news story corroborating each one on the list.

However, that list is not evidence of some sort of global cabal of evil, pedophilic overlords who are engaged in coordinated rituals of child sacrifice and child sex trafficking.

When you see a list of name after name and crime after crime, it’s easy to think “Wow, this is insane! So any politicians and powerful people are involved in this stuff!” It looks like a huge number. You have to scroll and scroll to get through all of those names and headlines. But let’s put our ability to reason to good use here.

That list —which includes around 60 politicians and 30 people adjacent to politics—includes elected officials at the local level all the way up to the federal government. And as far as I can see, based on the news stories, the convictions take place as far back as 1983. So we’re talking about 60 politicians over a span of 35+ years.

Do you know how many elected officials serve in the United States at any given time? Around 520,000. And over 35+ years, the total number individuals serving in those positions would actually be double or triple that number (or more) due to turnover (different people get elected, people retire, terms run out, etc.) But let’s just go with a nice, round, safely conservative 520,000.

60 out of 520,000 is 0.012%. That’s twelve-thousandths of a percent.

Of course, there are people who never get caught, much less convicted. So let’s say there were twice as many politician pedophile abusers as actually get caught. That would still only be 0.024%.

But let’s say it’s way bigger than that. Let’s say that there are actually ten times more pedophile politicians than the number who have been caught. Even then, that would be 0.12% at most. Twelve-hundredths of a percent.

Considering the estimates for pedophilia (depending on what ages are included) range from 1% to 5%, it doesn’t appear that politicians are any more likely than anyone in the general population to be pedophiles.

And how about those 30 who were not elected officials at all, but activists, donors, celebrities, and more? The list included people like Harvey Weinstein (who was a slimy sexual predator, but no evidence of being a pedophile), director Roman Polanski, Jared Fogle the Subway guy, radio host Ben Ward, some anti-abortion activists, a few political aides, a campaign chairman, a Christian Coalition leader, a pastor, and others.

If you take the categories those other people belong to—political aides and activists, celebrities, Christian leaders, etc. who are politically active—and add up all of the well-known people who fit those categories, what percent are these 30 people do you suppose? My guess is a tiny fraction, similar to the politicians.

There is no doubt that there are powerful people who abuse children. There is no doubt that there are famous people who abuse children. There is no doubt that there are people at every strata of society who abuse children. And though most sexual abuse is perpetrated by friends and family of the abused, there are definitely organized child trafficking operations. There are also legitimate questions about the extent to which individuals in Jeffrey Epstein’s social sphere were involved with his own well-documented sexual escapades with young teenage girls.

But none of that equals a secret Satanic child sex trafficking ring involving ritual child sacrifice among America’s most powerful politicians and celebrities using “pizza” as a code word for children. (And yes, I’ve searched the Wikileaks emails and read the pizza references. It’s literally just people talking about eating pizza, like all of us do.) The idea that high-profile people with full-time jobs who live their lives with a spotlight shined on them are spending their limited spare time running underground child abuse rings and using official email channels to secretly discuss pedophilic torture is just ludicrous on its face.

Yet the conspiracy theorists say, “Connect the dots!” But that’s exactly the problem. Anyone can connect disconnected dots to create whatever picture they want. That’s how we ended up with constellations named after animals and mythical gods, despite not really looking anything like the things they are named after. Conspiracy theories are like constellations—loosely constructed connections, blanks filled in with imaginary lines, and shapes that require you to ignore everything that interferes with the picture you’re trying to paint.

For instance, the sheer number of people who would have to be “in on” something like the Pizzagate theory makes it mind-bogglingly impossible. Let’s start just with the media element. I know that the QAnon people have convinced their followers that “the media” can’t be trusted, but the media is not one monolithic thing. “All mainstream media outlets are owned by four giant corporations!” I’ve been told. Well, no, that’s not actually true. But lets pretend that it is. The nature of corporations in a capitalist system is competition, right? So those media corporations would be in competition with each other, each one vying to break big news first. If there truly were news legs to something like Pizzagate, don’t you think one of them would have picked it up by now?

How about the politicians who pay investigators good money for opposition research so they can smear each other all the time over every little thing? Wouldn’t those in opposition to those who are supposedly part of this Satanic child sex trafficking cult be turning them in to the authorities if there were truth to it? Why, after four years, is all the Pizzagate “evidence” still confined to internet chatrooms and random YouTube videos and Twitter posts?

And how about law enforcement? Surely after four years, and with all the evidence people claim exists, law enforcement would be taking action against these people. And yet the Washington DC Metro Police Department has called Pizzagate “a fictitious online conspiracy theory.” Are they in on it too?

So people actually believe that huge numbers of politicians, celebrities, the media, corporations that own the media, and law enforcement are all part of some big web of conspiracy to traffick and hurt children? This, despite the fact that the many organizations that have been battling actual child sex trafficking for years and years have yet to endorse any of these outrageous theories?

This post by a woman who founded an organization that specializes in child welfare within the entertainment industry thoroughly addresses the vast majority of the false info floating around out there, differentiating between the nuggets of truth (which area always present in a conspiracy theory) and the many falsehoods. Politically-motivated individuals and groups are working overtime to get people sharing this garbage, so we have to counter it by spreading real, verified information far and wide as much as possible.

Child sex trafficking is an important issue, but it’s not new and it’s not what the Pizzagate and other theories describe. Getting attention on the issue is important, but not at the expense of truth. Kooky conspiracy theories pull vital resources and energy away from the real work being done to battle it and do real harm to people whose names get caught up in the web of it all. (Read this account by the man who owns Comet Ping Pong, the basementless pizza parlor where the Pizzagate sex trafficking ring was supposedly being run out of its basement.) This stuff is not harmless and it needs to be called out for the garbage it is.

Forrest Galante will never forget the first time he ever saw a shark in person. “I was 7 or 8 years old and was snorkeling with my grandfather,” the outdoor adventure TV personality told Upworthy. “We were in Mozambique where I grew up and I was holding my grandfather’s hand underwater as he guided me. It was a small reef shark. What seemed like this huge animal appeared out of nowhere, racing through the darkness and suddenly I was looking into its beautiful eyes. I was in awe but I also think I grabbed my granddad’s hand just a little bit tighter.”

25 years later, Galante, is a world-renowned conversation activist who hosts the Extinct or Alive program on Animal Planet. He has interacted with some of the planet’s most intriguing and intimidating creatures but it’s hard to think of a living creature that has more powerfully captured our collective imagination than sharks.

This year, Galante is hosting his schedule special as part of the legendary Shark Week series. In tonight’s episode, Galante travels to the northeast coast of South Africa, the “Land of the Lost Sharks,” where he looks to find the Pondicherry, a species of shark believed to have gone extinct decades ago.

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Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

On exploring the remove Maldives beach, where it’s believed most wildlife there has never interacted with humans:

“It’s phenomenal. It’s like getting into a time capsule. Must as I love Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, the sharks there see divers 10 times a day. Here, you’re seeing what the ocean was like hundreds of years ago. Before there was plastic floating on it. You really experience this feeling that anything can happen.”

On being part of the Shark Week legacy:

“It’s fantastic. The series is literally the same age as I am, 32. I have grown up with Shark Week. It’s something I’ve tuned in for literally my entire life. It’s kind of the Super Bowl of wildlife shows on television. Although I’d argue it’s much bigger than the Super Bowl because we’re talking about creatures who are literally older than trees themselves and are now being pushed to the brink of extinction.”

With most people stuck at home and looking for content that transports their imaginations out of the living room, what’s different about Shark Week this year?

“This style of entertainment is arguably more important than ever. It allows people who are stuck on their couch to participate in and promote conservation. It’s also harder than ever. I was supposed to be in 14 counties this year and instead, I’ve been to 2. I think a common misconception is that the coronavirus has been entirely beneficial for wildlife. In reality, it’s a double-edged sword. In some cases, wildlife is thriving. On the flip side, with governments being shut down and nobody able to enforce anti-poaching, we’re seeing a massive uptick. In Peru, you can go to a wet market to buy a yellow-footed tortoise to “cure” coronavirus. So, I think part of what’s important about Shark Week this year, beyond entertainment, is reminding people of how precious this environment is.”

What’s different to you about sharks vs. other wildlife you’ve interacted with?

“Life is incredible. Whether it’s a snail under a rock or a tiger shark swimming at you. We’re bipedal creatures meant to be on land. You have a lot of control there, you’re in a comfort zone. When you’re in the water, you’re living in an alien world. You’re in their habitat. It’s a three-dimensional space where we don’t belong. Sharks always bring a thrill to working with them. They’re an apex predator, they’ve been around a long time. At the same time, they’re disappearing. They’ve been targeted at an incredibly alarming rate.”

Everyone talks about the negative impact “Jaws” had on people’s attitudes toward sharks. With things like Shark Week, have you seen any positive changes in people’s perception of sharks?

“20 years ago, the perception was if you got in the water with a shark the thought was you’re going to die. Now, there’s a cool factor. On places like Instagram, there are bragging rights to working with the animals, going in the water with them. The common understanding has completely shifted. All these people having beautiful, stunning interactions with these creatures. Fear will only lead to destruction. Sharks aren’t meant to be feared, they’re just to be respected.”