culture
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A Murder Mystery in Ferguson
The day after the Darren Wilson grand jury announcement, a burned body was found in Ferguson, Mo., near the apartment complex where Wilson shot and killed unarmed teen Michael Brown. That body has been identified as Deandre Joshua, 20, reports the Huffington Post. Joshua had been shot in the head, and his burned body was found in…
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Janay Rice and Her Mom Are Living in Denial
On the heels of a tell-all interview with ESPN published Friday, in which Janay Rice spoke for the first time about the night her then-fiance, Ray Rice, knocked her unconscious in an elevator, Janay and her mother, Candy Palmer, sat for a two-part interview with the Today show’s Matt Lauer yesterday morning and today. (Ray…
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Michael Brown’s Stepfather Under Investigation in Ferguson Riots
Louis Head, the stepfather of Michael Brown, is now the subject of investigation as law enforcement tries to determine whether he intentionally meant to incite the civil unrest that Ferguson, Mo., experienced after a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the teen’s shooting death, CNN reports. According to CNN, Head’s impassioned…
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Man Who Killed and Burned Teen Wanted Community Service
When 22-year-old Christian Ferdinand confessed to the grisly murder of 14-year-old Shaniesha Forbes in January 2013, he reportedly asked investigators if he could get “some kind of community service,” the New York Post reports. According to the Post, Ferdinand suffocated Shaniesha because he believed that she was pregnant, then burned her body before stuffing her into…
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Soccer Star ‘Super’ Mario Balotelli Could Be Suspended for Racist, Anti-Semitic Post
Soccer star Mario Balotelli, who has endured numerous racial taunts as a striker for Liverpool, England, is now being accused of throwing his own racist and anti-Semitic jabs on social media. According to the Associated Press, Balotelli took to his Instagram page and “posted a photo of the video game character Super Mario with whom…
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St. Louis Rams ‘Did Not Apologize’ for Players’ ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ Gesture
St. Louis Rams spokesman Artis Twyman has told CNN that the team “did not apologize” to local law enforcement for players making the “Hands up, don’t shoot” gesture, despite St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar announcing that the organization had done just that on Monday, following the fallout over the weekend. Rams executive Kevin Demoff…
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Supreme Court Hears Case to Decide if Rap Lyrics Were Really Facebook Threats
The Supreme Court is hearing a case this week about Anthony Elonis, a Pennsylvania man who was sentenced to four years in prison for posting “explicit rap lyrics” to his Facebook page that expressed his desire to kill his wife, shoot up an elementary school, and “slit the throat” of the FBI agent who was…
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Did the Boycott Matter to Black Friday Retail Sales?
Getting in the black got a bit harder for some retailers this holiday season, thanks to everyone from the retailers themselves to nationwide protests related to Ferguson, Mo. In figures released Sunday by the National Retail Federation, sales were down 11 percent this past Thanksgiving weekend. That’s a nearly $7 billion drop in revenue since…
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The Ferguson Movement Has Too Much to Do—Don’t Let It Fizzle Out Like Occupy Wall Street
When we heard last week that Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo., police officer who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown, wouldn’t be indicted, there was a collective gasp of despair that soon gave way to protests, tear gas and, in some cases, riots and looting. Ferguson’s outrage has inspired kindred, mostly peaceful demonstrations across the nation—with young…
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GOP Congressional Staffer, Who Was Reportedly Arrested as a Teen, Quits After Slamming Obama Girls
It’s a timeless adage: If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. But Republican congressional staffer Elizabeth Lauten apparently never got that memo. She formally resigned on Monday after her comments about Malia and Sasha Obama went viral. Lauten, previously the communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), came under fire this weekend…