culture

  • Michelle Obama Says, ‘Turnip for What?’

    Michelle Obama proved that she is much cooler than your average first lady while participating in a Twitter Q&A about her healthy-lifestyle initiative. In a #AskTheFirstLady Twitter chat, Barack Obama impersonator Iman Crosson posed this question: “How many calories do you burn every time you ‘turn up’?” https://twitter.com/Alphacat/status/522072769325182976 Making a play on the popular DJ…

  • Sierra Leonean Student Denied Housing Twice in UK City Over Ebola Fears

    Amara Bangura arrived in Norwich, England, two weeks ago from Sierra Leone. He was excited to be in the city and looked forward to attending college there—except, he claims, he couldn’t find a place to stay because people were worried that he might have Ebola. He shows no signs of the deadly disease and says…

  • 10 Random Thoughts About Last Night’s Very Entertaining BET Hip Hop Awards

    Lions and tigers and flex zones. Oh my. The BET Hip Hop Awards, aka “the one with the cyphers,” aired Tuesday night in all their budgeted glory. And for the unimaginative among us, this was that coveted time of the year to hop on the Innanets to self-importantly side-eye BET’s shortcomings. But I do it for…

  • Watch: Texas Cop Pepper-Sprays Student Who Was Recording Him

    One Waller, Texas, police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into his seemingly unprovoked use of pepper spray on a student, KTRK reports. Officer Adolphus Cannon is being investigated by the Waller Police Department regarding the incident, which took place Oct. 6. According to the report, officers were responding to…

  • 2nd Dallas Health Care Worker Tests Positive for Ebola 

    Ebola has been diagnosed in a third victim in Texas, and it’s another health care worker who cared for now-deceased patient Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, health officials confirmed Wednesday, according to CNN. The worker, identified as Amber Vinson by Reuters, reported having a fever on Tuesday and was promptly isolated. A state…

  • Supreme Court Ruling Will Keep Several Texas Abortion Clinics Up and Running

    The U.S. Supreme Court knocked down a law in Texas that would have made it difficult for several abortion clinics to stay up and running. According to an Al-Jazeera report, the law would have required Texas abortion clinics to spend millions of dollars on “hospital-level upgrades” so that the facilities would presumably be in top-notch shape…

  • CDC to Dispatch Response Team to Any US Hospital With an Ebola Diagnosis 

    That a Dallas nurse contracted the Ebola virus as she was caring for the Liberian man who was diagnosed and later died from an Ebola infection is a safety mishap that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not taking lightly. That’s why on Tuesday, the CDC announced new protocols that it would take…

  • Police: St. Louis Teen Shot by Off-Duty Officer Had Gunshot Residue on Hand

    Vonderrit Myers Jr., the St. Louis teen shot and killed during a stop by an off-duty police officer moonlighting as a security guard, had gun residue on his shooting hand, according to police, confirming earlier police statements that the teen was armed during the incident that ended with the officer firing his weapon some 17…

  • Ferguson Has Awakened a Larger Struggle for Racial and Economic Justice in America

    There’s a social-justice movement taking hold across the nation. Michael Brown’s death, which turned Ferguson, Mo., into a battleground this past summer, has helped catalyze a larger struggle for racial and economic justice in America. And St. Louis, where 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers Jr. was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer, has witnessed roiling…

  • Malia and Sasha Obama: Our Favorite Photos

    Sasha and Malia Obama share one of the top spots on Time magazine’s list of “The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014.” At the ages of 13 and 16 respectively, the Obama sisters have grown up in front of our eyes. Malia is a budding filmmaker and is rumored to be interested in attending Stanford. She…