culture

With new gun control legislation derailed, Marian Wright Edelman writes at the Huffington Post why Americans must stay focused on changing the status quo.  The fight to protect children, not guns is not over because:  Ninety percent of Americans want a universal background check. This includes 94 percent of North Dakota voters, 89 percent of…

In the New York Times, Ross Douthat looks at some of the ethical, philosophical and political issues exposed by the trial of abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who is on trial for murder in Philadelphia. In a society more comprehensively pro-abortion than our own, there would presumably be more doctors willing to perform late-term abortions and…

The horrific stories continue to pour out in the murder trial of abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia, reports CBS News. Prosecutors chose 28-year-old Kareema Cross as their final witness before resting their case against Dr. Kermit Gosnell. Cross said she saw more than 10 babies breathe, with their chests moving up and down. “I…

Some athletes can balance talent, fame, money and their personal demons, but for Allen Iverson, it has become a losing battle, according to the Washington Post. For the past three years, as Iverson chased an NBA comeback, his marriage fell apart and much of his fortune – he earned more than $150 million in salary…

It’s tough to find a job in America right now, especially if you’re looking for full-time employment, writes Gawker. These part-time jobs have fueled the 30-month economic recovery, leading to an unstable economy built on an increasingly uneven labor force. If you factor in these part-timers, as well as people who want to work but…

Bossy black women stereotypes are plentiful in America, and on In These Times, Tamara Winfrey Harris asks if women of color can use Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s advice with success. According to Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of the self-described feminist manifesto Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, this disparity in power…

The New Yorker‘s David Remnick looks at what we have learned about the Boston bombing suspects and describes Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Twitter feed as a “bewildering combination of banality and disaffection.” Anzor Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen who lived much of his life in Kyrgyzstan, emigrated a decade ago to the Boston area with his wife, two…

For five years, Massachusetts native Alyssa Lindley Kilzer received facials from Zubeidat Tsarnaev, the mother of the alleged Boston bombers, Dzhokar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. On her Tumblr page, Fides, she reveals a look inside the family’s home. Between 2008 and 2012 I got to know her pretty well. During those 2-3 hours I spent a…

On Friday, TMZ reported that one of the alleged Boston bomber suspects was “heavy into hip hop,” which angered a number of people in hip-hop’s community, including Twitter user @dopegirlfresh, who created the hashtag #tmzreports. This hashtag grew into a trending topic, in which users added sarcastic and fictitious lines to the #tmzreports conversation. Buzzfeed…

Sunday marks the first impact of the government’s sequester on the Federal Aviation Administration, reports NBC News, and it probably will mean big hassles for travelers. In fact, come Sunday, fliers may get a firsthand look at the impacts of the automatic budget cuts put in place by Congress last year. As part of the…