culture
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Fits the Description: How Checking a Parking Meter Led to a Charge of Bank Robbery
It was the walk to the car to check the meter and to make sure he didn’t get a ticket that ultimately led to film and TV producer Charles Belk’s six-hour ordeal with police in Beverly Hills, Calif., which included being treated as a suspect in a bank robbery. According to Belk, who took to…
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USC Football Captain Jumps From 2nd Floor to Save Drowning Nephew
Football captain Josh Shaw of the University of Southern California Trojans will be unable to play for a while after he sprained both his ankles while rescuing his drowning nephew, AL.com reports. Shaw, who is a defensive back, was at a family event over the weekend in California when he saw his 7-year-old nephew, Carter,…
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Report: Audio Reveals Pause Between Gunshots When Michael Brown Was Shot
A new piece of audio has emerged that allegedly is a recording of the exact moment when Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot unarmed teen Michael Brown on Aug. 9. Six shots can be heard in rapid succession, followed by a brief pause before four more shots are fired. According to the New York Daily News,…
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Infected American Linked to 4 Cases of Ebola in Nigeria
As the Ebola virus continues to wreak havoc in West Africa, and concern for foreigners who have visited the region spreads, it turns out that Patrick Sawyer, one of the three American citizens who contracted Ebola, may have infected four people while he was in Nigeria. The Washington Post, culling notes from a World Health…
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17-Year-Old in Georgia Arrested in Fatal Shooting of Sleeping 13-Year-Old
A Georgia 17-year-old is the main suspect in the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy as he slept, WXIA-TV reports. Along with burglary and firearm-possession charges, Malik Davis is being charged with murder after police said he turned himself in at his mother’s encouragement, the news station reports. According to the report, investigators initially believed…
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Ferguson Opened the Door to a Discussion of Black Equality
Suddenly the nation is talking about black equality. It took Molotov cocktails in Ferguson, Mo., to forcefully penetrate our slumbering racial consciousness. Ferguson has become a metaphor for race relations in the 21st century; a signifier for the convergence of poverty, segregation, police brutality, and federal and civic neglect. Most importantly, the Ferguson crisis has…
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Why the 50 Cent-Floyd Mayweather Beef Is No Laughing Matter
For the last several days, rapper 50 Cent and boxer Floyd Mayweather have engaged in the favorite pastime of any 21st-century celebrity with a Twitter account and an ego: feuding. While in the old days you might have had to stand on a street corner and shout insults at a nemesis face-to-face, with a few…
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Texas Mom and 4 Children Held at Gunpoint by Police
Kametra Barbour and her young children were the subjects of a horrifying police stop. Barbour says that she was pulled over at gunpoint by a police officer in Forney, Texas, according to ABC 7 Chicago. With her four children—all under the age of 10—in tow, Barbour was told to exit the vehicle with her hands…
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9-Year-Old Chicago Boy Fatally Shot Blocks From Home
The family of 9-year-old Antonio Smith is searching for answers after the child was shot down last Wednesday, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Antonio became upset after he called his mother to ask for a snack and she told him no, according to the Sun-Times. Afterward, he left his house, followed closely by his 12-year-old brother.…
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Michael Brown’s Funeral Draws Thousands of Mourners
As Michael Brown’s life was celebrated Monday during a packed ceremony at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis, the audience and speakers never lost sight of the reason they were there: justice. The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered an emotional eulogy, bringing out cheers and applause from the crowd who came to lay…