culture

LAPD Violates One of Their Own A 25-year veteran of the LAPD is in the midst of appealing a lawsuit against his employer, the LA Times reports. Randolph Franklin, wants to know why a SWAT unit came to his home and searched it nearly three years ago. The LAPD claims it was an honest mistake…

Gone are the days when a sneeze elicits a simple “God Bless You.” Even as swine flu hysteria dies down, germ-spreading sneezes and coughs are more likely to provoke muttered curses and an exodus toward the door than a polite nod for the Lord to watch over you.  Media hype and confused public health directives…

It’s easy to forget how the products we use are tied to stories of the hands that made them. The buttons on our jackets, sewn on by a teenage girl from China’s Sichuan Province who works 16 hours a day to pay for her younger brother’s school fees. The bananas in our cereal, harvested by…

No matter what you think of Mike Tyson, it’s impossible not to grieve for him after the death of his daughter, Exodus, this week. The 4-year-old was taken off life support on Tuesday, a day after catching her neck in a treadmill cable at her home in Phoenix, Ariz. The accident was all the more…

Roland Burris: ‘I Ain’t Do It!’ The Washington Post reports that Sen. Roland Burris has responded to recordings of he and Rob Blagojevich discussing campaign funds and the Illinois Senate seat. His claim? That the tapes and transcripts prove he was not involved in any pay-for-play collusion and that the accusations of such are a…

It was clear from the moment Ricki Lake was introduced as the host of this season’s Charm School on VH1 that there was going to be ‘90s talk-show-type drama on the set. Lake, who always managed to bridge the high-low divide on her syndicated gabfest, is the perfect headmistress for a racially mixed cast of…

This year, as we commemorate four decades of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, it is interesting to see how far children’s publishing has come in featuring books by African-American writers and artists. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards were established in 1969 to provide recognition for African-American authors and later illustrators of exceptional books…

On May 13, more than 200 protesters gathered outside the Detroit offices of House Judiciary Chairman and longtime Michigan representative John Conyers, who sponsored the controversial Performance Rights Act (HR 848). Known as the “performance tax,” the bill would require that radio stations pay yearly license fees for the right to play music on the…

California, Home of Sunshine and Progressive Thought, Upholds Prop 8 In keeping with voter sentiments from last year, the California Supreme Court has voted to uphold the state’s ban on gay marriage the New York Times reports. The Court cited a desire to honor the will of the people in making their 6-1 decision, a desire they apparently…

Thought there weren’t anymore ways to make being broke seem hilarious? Guess again. Funny or Die and rapper Common team up to tell the story of a super bad brotha out to get the bankers who did him wrong. Don’t mess with Dow Jones: He’ll put you in debt.