Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Biggest Loser' Trainer Settles The Diet-vs.-Exercise Debate Once And For All

It's not even a close match-up, says Bob Harper.

What's more important: diet or exercise?
You might expect a fitness expert to toe the line between the two, emphasizing the importance of balance rather than one over the other. But not Bob Harper -- not anymore, anyway.
Harper, a long-time trainer for "The Biggest Loser" and now the show's new host, says he is often approached by strangers seeking weight loss advice. As he tells "Oprah: Where Are They Now?", he used to avoid choosing sides, so to speak.
"I remember I would always just try to put a nice balance [to it]," Harper says.
Now, however, the 50-year-old fitness buff believes it's time for some real talk.
"It is all about your nutrition," he says. "It is 80 percent your nutrition; it is 20 percent fitness."
source:huffington post

28 Pieces From 2014 That Should Be Required Reading For Women

In the social media age, sometimes it feels like the relevance of a single story lasts about as long as it takes to tweet about it. It can feel like a sensory overload, a near-constant "on to the next!" But once in a while you read a piece that seeps into your core, and sticks with you even months down the road.
For the third year in a row, we've curated a list of pieces that stood out to us over the last calendar year. To make the list, an article had to be (1) published in 2014, (2) written by a woman and (3) be available online. (We also aimed to include a diversity of voices and publications, but we couldn't bring ourselves to cut any of the three Roxane Gay pieces we ended up including. All hail the year of the Bad Feminist.)
Of course an end-of-year list can't possibly encapsulate all of the incredible writing by and about women from 2014, but each piece we put on ours felt special in some way. The writing we ended up including moved us, informed us and made us think a little harder this year. We hope you'll read through, and be inspired to do the same.
"Jennifer Lawrence And The History Of Cool Girls"
Anne Helen Petersen, BuzzFeed
Gillian Flynn may have been the one to coin the term Cool Girl -- capital C, capital G -- but Petersen was the first to pull Flynn's meta-commentary out of Gone Girl's universe and (oh-so-eloquently) point out just how relevant it is to ours. "It’s the way our society implicitly instructs young women on how to be awesome," writes Petersen. "Be chill and don’t be a downer, act like a dude but look like a supermodel." Jennifer Lawrence's public persona may be the latest iteration of unattainable Cool Girl, but there has perhaps always been a Cool Girl looming large, reminding us just how narrow -- and treacherous -- the path is to becoming her.
"I Don't Care If You Like It"
Rebecca Traister, The New Republic
It might seem like a stretch to connect an absurd Esquire piece, a John Legend song, Amy Poehler, the story of South Carolina mother Debra Harrell's arrest and Hillary Clinton's bitchy resting face, but Traister does just that -- and does it damn well. The end product is a masterful analysis of why gender-based power inequalities still matter in the United States, despite the surface-level progress we've made. "I wish it were different," Traister writes. "I wish that every woman whose actions and worth are parsed and restricted, congratulated and condemned in this country might just once get to wheel around ... and go black in the eyes and say, 'I don’t fucking care if you like it.'"
"Our Stories"
Roxane Gay, The Toast
In an incredibly searing piece, Gay ruminates on rape and sexual assault narratives, and what women who talk about their past traumas open themselves up to. “I believe in the importance of sharing histories of violence. I am reticent to share my own history of violence,” she wrote -- and then shared that harrowing history anyway. Gay explicitly states in the essay that she doesn’t want “pity or appreciation or advice” for telling her story. What we can offer her in return for this testimony is respect.
"My Nude Photos Were Stolen, And I’m Fighting Back"
Gabrielle Union, Cosmopolitan
After Union’s private photographs were stolen in a hack targeting female celebrities, the actress wrote an essay for Cosmopolitan about how the hack changed her life -- and compelled her to speak out. She explained in no uncertain terms that the stolen images weren't a “career boost” or a publicity stunt, but a form of abuse: “When billions of people on the Internet can see you naked without your consent, it's a crime.”
"My Year As An Abortion Doula"
Alex Ronan, New York Magazine
Ronan, who supports women undergoing abortions through the Doula Project, shares some of her experiences from the past year. Her detailed account beautifully humanizes the fight for reproductive rights, and the women who exercise their right to choose. Namely, she writes, “The reality of abortion isn’t as tidy as the divide surrounding it.”
"My Feminist Awakening & The Influence Of Beyoncé’s Pop Culture Declaration"
Janet Mock, JanetMock.com
"On that VMAs Sunday, I watched Beyoncé journey from Destiny’s Child to solo star, from Single Lady to wife and mother, from Independent Woman to feminist cultural icon," Mock writes. If you don't think it matters when celebrities publicly embrace feminism, read this piece and allow yourself to reconsider.
"Why I Spoke Out About One Rape And Stayed Silent About Another"
Susan J. Brison, Time
“One was the best kind of rape, as far as my credibility as a victim was concerned. The other was the worst.” Brison’s incredible essay on why she reported being beaten and raped by a stranger, but stayed silent when someone she knew raped her, explains why it’s so hard for many women to come forward after they have been attacked. “Those who have been raped know that if they speak out, they will be blamed for not doing whatever it is people imagine would have prevented they from being raped,” Brison writes. Her essay is a reminder that the best thing we can do for survivors of sexual assault is believe them.
"Nobody Wants To Be The Girl On A Diet"
Lauren Bans, New York Magazine
Bans outlines a deeply uncomfortable truth: We want women to be conventionally beautiful and thin, but there are few labels more undesirable than "the girl who watches what she eats." And unless you are a Kate Upton-in-a-Carl's-Jr-commercial unicorn, Bans points out that it's impossible to win. "Rather, we choose," she writes. "If dropping 15 pounds means canceling all future dinner dates, developing fake sudden-onset allergies to alcohol and gluten, and buying a food scale, I choose 15 pounds."
"Why Women Aren't Welcome On The Internet"
Amanda Hess, Pacific Standard
Facing the constant threat of online harassment is something that any woman who writes words on the Internet understands all too well. But no one articulated quite how complicated it is to define, contain and police those threats until Hess did.
"While Writing For 'Orange Is The New Black' I Realized I Am Gay"
Lauren Morelli, Mic
While millions of viewers connected to the characters on Netflix's hit "Orange Is The New Black," for Morelli, making them come alive on paper created a shift in her own self-understanding. "In Piper and Alex, I'd found a mouthpiece for my own desires and a glimmer of what my future could look like," she writes. Her honest reflection on the messiness of female sexuality -- and the possibility of rediscovering yourself even when you're sure you've settled down -- is both touching and deeply important.
"What Ferguson Means For Black Women"
Chaedria Labouvier, Elle
"It is these facts and this history that black women have to face when rearing our boys," writes Labouvier. "They can be killed, at any time and we are not to expect justice." Read those two sentences again. Then read Labouvier's entire gut-wrenching essay. Then get off your couch and do something about it.
"Why Didn’t You Just Leave?"
Melissa Jeltsen, HuffPost Women
"Why didn't you just leave?" is an ignorant question that gets thrown at many survivors of intimate partner violence. Jeltsen helped six women use their own voices to explain exactly why it's never that simple. We recommend reading (and listening) to all six stories. Each stands on its own, but together, they paint an even more powerful picture.
"The Power Of 29: An Ode To Being Almost 30"
Ann Friedman, New York Magazine
"It was around age 29 that the number of fucks I gave about other people’s opinions dipped to critically low levels." Friedman's words are sure to help women of any age give a few less fucks.
"I'm Having An Abortion This Weekend"
Jenny Kutner, Salon
We had read stories from women reflecting on their abortions weeks, months and years later. But Kutner articulates the mish-mash of emotions that a woman might face before undergoing the procedure, even when she is beyond sure of her decision. "I don’t know what comes next, how or if this will change who I am," Kutner writes. "Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. I can’t know that now. It isn’t Saturday yet."
"The Marriage Plot"
Roxane Gay, New York Times
Leave it to Gay to take a topic as seemingly unimportant as "The Bachelor" franchise, and make a point so beautiful and compelling that we had to include this essay on our list. She perfectly underscores why so many women (and men) find themselves tuning into the dating reality series week after week despite their better judgment: We are ultimately hopeful creatures who want to find love. "The real shame of 'The Bachelor' and 'The Bachelorette,' of the absurd theater of romantic comedies, of the sweeping passion of romance novels, is that they know where we are most tender, and they aim right for that place," writes Gay. Amen.
"I'm 41, Single And Pregnant. Welcome To The New Normal"
Rachel Sklar, The Li.st on Medium
"I know how it looks: at 41, single and pregnant, I’m a sad, lonely outlier," writes Sklar. "But it’s 2014. I’m not." Sklar perfectly reminds us that the old adage "first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage" has never been more obsolete.
"Find Your Beach"
Zadie Smith, The New York Review Of Books
If you've ever lived in Manhattan, been to Manhattan or dreamed of Manhattan, Smith's gorgeous essay is a must-read. Taylor Swift may have welcomed us all to New York this year, but Smith manages to distill the true beauty and pain of the city that never sleeps.
"Bill Cosby Drugged Me. This Is My Story."
Beverly Johnson, Vanity Fair
2014 was the year when Bill Cosby stopped being able to ignore the many women who claim he drugged and assaulted them. There were more than 15 brave women who came forward to share their stories in the last few months, but Johnson's first-person account in Vanity Fair was particularly chilling. She describes an encounter with Cosby where she claims to have been drugged by the comedian in the 1980s, narrowly escaping assault by yelling, "You are a motherfucker aren’t you?,” at him. She also outlines why she stayed silent for years (his power, the fact that he was a well-respected man of color in a world that rarely respects men of color), and why she finally decided to speak up: "I couldn’t sit back and watch the other women be vilified and shamed for something I knew was true."
"No, I Will Not Take the Men's Rights Movement Seriously"
Lindy West, Jezebel
Engaging with those who disagree with you can be an incredibly productive endeavor, but when those people are often intellectually dishonest and hateful, sometimes it's best to just say "no." West's clear-headed rebuttal to MRA bullshit is exactly what we needed this year. "We still have a long way to go, especially in the widespread thinking about masculinity and gender roles (again, a feminist issue!)," writes West, "but drenching this conversation in misogynist hate is nothing but a hindrance and a masturbatory distraction." Preach.
"Thick. Fat. Good."
Nichole Perkins, The Toast
We can easily spend our lives yearning to be thicker or thinner or better, shutting our best qualities away from the world for fear of rejection. Perkins' heart-wrenching piece explores the feeling of being constantly at war with your body -- and what happens when you decide to declare a détente. "Now I look at myself in the mirror, hoping that if I had three wishes, I would use them to keep the voices out of my head that tell me I’m not enough," writes Perkins.
"Marriage Is an Abduction"
Elif Batuman, The New Yorker
There were many excellent thinkpieces written about Gillian Flynn's gripping thriller Gone Girl and David Fincher's film adaptation, but Batuman's is the smartest we've seen. Batuman reads Flynn's story as dark cultural commentary on the deeply flawed institution of heterosexual marriage, one that casts wives as "people who disappear," and creates expectations that hurt both the men and women who cannot live up to them.
"Abortion: Not Easy, Not Sorry"
Laurie Abraham, Elle
"I want to tell a different story, the more common yet strangely hidden one, which is that I don't feel guilty and tortured about my abortion," writes Abraham. "Or rather, my abortions. There, I said it." This one's a long read, but well worth it.
"What Happened When We Gave Our Daughter My Last Name"
Molly Caro May, The Hairpin
When May and her husband decided that their daughter would take her last name instead of his, they didn't expect the "shockwave" of reactions they would receive from their supposedly open-minded communities. This confirmed to May that, "Surnames are one of the unseen limbs of the old world. Giving a child the father’s last name is still a given. And that given preserves the man’s place of power, from the Supreme Court on down to the everyday Joe."
"If, Like Renee Zellweger, You’re Female And Have A Face And Body, Listen Up"
Jennifer Weiner, New York Times
"What would happen if more women -- famous and unfamous -- eschewed liposuction, shunned tanning beds and swapped the occasional run on the treadmill for a march on City Hall?," asks Weiner, hitting back at those people who ridicule women just for existing in bodies that age. "The world might split open even more deeply -- and that could be a beautiful thing."
"Extra Straight Talk For Single Ladies On Valentine’s Day"
Alexandra Petri, Washington Post
Single women of America, this is the real, cold, hard truth you've been needing to hear all these years. Eat your heart out, Susan Patton.
"I Have Feared White Men And I Have Loved Them"
Roxane Gay, New Statesman
"I have known white men." With this definitive statement, Gay opens one of the most powerful essays about race, love and the intersection between the two, that we've ever read. A deep understanding of the danger that institutional racism poses to people of color does not preclude Gay's ability to love white men, and fear them, and love them some more. Reflecting on her most recent love, Gay writes: "He would show me how he loved my skin, how he loved me as more than my skin. He showed me how to love him as more than his skin."
"Getting To No"
Susan Dominus, New York Times
Consent should not be complicated. But as Dominus outlines, using her own story of sexual assault during college, some women (and men) struggle to find the right words to articulate their discomfort with a sexual situation. Dominus' story is one of textbook sexual assault -- she said no, he didn't listen -- but she still makes a compelling case that we need to expand our vocabulary for the benefit of everyone. "I never felt I was a victim," she writes. "Looking back, I was an English major for whom language failed at a moment when I needed it most."
"Sisters, Ranked"
Jazmine Hughes, The Hairpin
"I'll admit it: 2014 is the first year I ever truly loved my sisters," writes Hughes. There are few relationships more complicated, fraught and beautiful than those between siblings. It is not always easy to love, or even like your siblings, but when you do, it's like nothing else.

source:huffington post

This Marine Wants To Tell The Stories Of America's Veterans. But He Needs Your Help.

Thomas Brennan, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is launching an ambitious new military magazine.

Christopher Mathias National Reporter, The Huffington Post

REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly

U.S. Marine Sgt. Thomas Brennan shouts to his comrades to keep out of the line of fire from Taliban insurgents during a firefight in Afghanistan, Nov. 1, 2010.

You could say The War Horse -- an ambitious new digital magazine currently raising funds on Kickstarter -- all started with a rocket-propelled grenade.
On Nov. 1, 2010, U.S. Marine Sgt. Thomas Brennan, then 25, was in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when that grenade exploded feet away from him.
He wrote about it later in The New York Times:

Looking up from the ground, it felt surreal. My ears were ringing. The sun was blinding. It felt as if I had been asleep for hours. Looking to my right I saw a silhouette begin to cut through a thinning cloud of smoke. He appeared to be moving in slow motion. Soon, he was standing above me, helping me to my feet. We took turns running back to cover.
Moments earlier, I had been sprinting to an alleyway as my squad of Marines engaged a team of insurgents in Nabu Agha, Afghanistan. A rocket-propelled grenade struck a telephone pole next to me and knocked me unconscious.

Sgt. Ysidro Gonzalez calls for a medic for Brennan after the explosion of a rocket-propelled grenade.

Brennan, a Massachusetts native who joined the Marines in 2003, suffered a traumatic brain injury that day -- his third. When he got back to the U.S., he found that his brain injuries, compounded by severe post-traumatic stress disorder from over a year serving as an infantry assaultman in Iraq and Afghanistan, were creating for him a constant struggle with paranoia, insomnia, anxiety and panic attacks.
In late 2012, after more than 18 months of trying to cope with these conditions, Brennan attempted suicide, like so many veterans have. He swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills, but made himself throw them up when, he later wrote, he imagined his daughter "crying at my flag-draped coffin."

Who the hell are you to say no to The New York Times? Especially when you perceive yourself as some dumb grunt who got blowed up in Afghanistan.” Thomas Brennan

His brain injuries had also caused him to develop aphasia, a communicative disorder that Brennan describes as always having the word on the tip of his tongue, but “not being able to get it out.” The military sent him to a therapist.
“He handed me a notebook and was like, 'Just write -- write so we have something to go off of,'” Brennan told The Huffington Post. “And I just started writing.”

A 2010 portrait of Brennan in Musa Qala, Afghanistan, by Finnbarr O'Reilly.

One of the first things Brennan wrote was a letter to the war photographer and journalist Finbarr O’Reilly. O’Reilly, who was then with Reuters, had been embedded with Brennan’s platoon, and photographed the moments right after Brennan was injured. Those photos would later appear in The New York Times.
“The pictures he took, the story that he wrote, helped me fill in a lot of the blanks, sparked memories I have now, or things I perceive as memories,” Brennan said. “So I wrote a thank-you letter to him.”
But Brennan says he “didn’t want to send some crappy-ass letter” to an accomplished journalist like O’Reilly without an edit, so he sent a first draft to David Dunlap, an editor at the Times who had worked with O'Reilly before. When Dunlap read Brennan's letter, he asked if he could print it in the paper.
“And who the hell are you to say no to The New York Times?” Brennan remembers thinking. “Especially when you perceive yourself as some dumb grunt who got blowed up in Afghanistan.”
Brennan went on to write more than a dozen pieces for the Times. His work has also appeared in the newspaper Stars and Stripes, and on The Huffington Post.
After Brennan was medically retired from the military, his passion for journalism grew. He worked for two years at a North Carolina newspaper and earned a master’s degree at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He found the act of writing and reporting “therapeutic,” he said.

Now Brennan is focusing his efforts on The War Horse, an online magazine that bills itself as “the authority” on America’s post-9/11 conflicts and wars, and as the “ONLY digital magazine profiling all men, women, interpreters, and dogs killed since 9/11.”
The War Horse plans to devote significant investigative resources into looking at the Department of Defense, the U.S. armed forces and the scandal-plagued Department of Veterans Affairs. But the main goal of the site, Brennan says, will be to humanize the men and women who serve overseas.
While he acknowledges that there are already some writers and publications doing a good job of covering the military, Brennan says his experience as a soldier and veteran will make The War Horse an invaluable resource.
"I think the one common thread that I bring to the table is I know the fear that exists [among troops] when it comes to approaching journalists," he recently told Military.com. "Having people who are personally involved in these different worlds is going to open up the possibilities."
Some of the first stories on the site, according to Brennan, will include an article about intimacy after genital mutilation from war and a profile of a recent Medal of Honor recipient. The site will also create a database to keep track of suicides among veterans.
One section of The War Horse, called The Echoes Project, seeks to create multimedia profiles for every soldier, interpreter and dog killed in Afghanistan and Iraq -- the two longest-running conflicts in American history.
The idea, Brennan said, came to him after watching journalists scramble to interview the few living veterans of World Wars I and II. His hope is that thanks to The War Horse, “journalists of the future, and average people of the future, [won't] have to scramble to get stories from my generation before we die,” he said in a recent radio interview.

Brennan -- with his daughter, Madison, and his therapy dog, Mr. Luke -- are seen at Brennan's 2015 graduation from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

The Echoes Project will include profiles of military dogs, Brennan says, because “those working dogs were out there on every single patrol."
"They come back with blisters, or bleeding... or they overheat on patrol, get shot, get blown up, just like we did," he said. "I think they’re as much of a team as any of the service members or the interpreters who were killed as well. Everyone involved helps accomplish the mission.”
Brennan has a dog of his own, Mr. Luke, that goes everywhere with him and helps him cope with his PTSD. Re-integrating into civilian life, he said, was “very stressful and very scary, especially when you haven’t known it for 10 years.”
“Anybody who tells you they weren’t scared in combat is completely full of crap,” he went on. “My guys made it OK for me to go out there and address how scary and real everything was [in Iraq and Afghanistan], and Mr. Luke did the exact same thing for me here.”
The War Horse boasts an impressive board of advisers. Besides O’Reilly, there is Bruce Shapiro, director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University, whose bio on the site says he will ensure The War Horse's "adherence to ethical journalism practices"; Kevin Cullen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Boston Globe whose "extensive newsroom experience," per the site, "will guide The War Horse in creating thoroughly and responsibly reported works of investigative journalism"; and military veterans and journalists Brigette McCoy and Tahlia Burton, who specialize respectively in coverage of female veterans and coverage of human rights issues.
The War Horse has gotten an assist from the real estate business CRI Properties, which donated an office space in North Carolina, where Brennan lives. The Institute for Non-Profit News has also been a major help, and various donors have contributed furniture, computers, Web hosting and more.

But now Brennan needs an infusion of $50,000 to fund the site’s first series of long-form stories, to start profiling the people and animals killed in action in post-9/11 conflicts, and to assist with grant-writing and further fundraising to help the site grow. With less than 48 hours left on its Kickstarter, as of Monday afternoon The War Horse is still some $16,000 short of its goal.
Brennan says the site will officially launch on Sept. 11, 2016, the 15th anniversary of the terror attacks that sent him to war overseas.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said that the Institute for Non-Profit News played a role in helping Brennan secure an office space. In fact, that space was donated by CRI Properties.
source:huffingtonpost

Switching From Biblical End Times To The Doomsday Scenarios of Climate Science

The early Republican Presidential caucuses and primaries have put a spotlight on evangelical religious voters, reminding the secular (scientifically literate) community of the differences between their worldview and the one held by the Religious Right.
Judging from the statements of candidates like Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ben Carson, these evangelical voters display a lack of scientific literacy and rely on a literal reading of the Bible to interpret events occurring in the natural world.
This supports the findings of surveys estimating the number of Americans relying on a Biblical interpretation of climate. CNN reported that 6 in 10 Americans believe extreme weather events are related to climate change, but "more than a third of Americans see recent extreme weather as a sign that the world is in biblical end times," and that "Thirty-six percent of Americans say that the severity of recent natural disasters indicate that we are at the precipice of Jesus' second coming and the end of the world. The survey found that 15 percent of Americans believe the world will end, as predicated in the book of Revelation, in their lifetime."
If this 36 percent of Americans is located in midwestern and southern states, increasing scientific literacy and reducing the amount of Biblical literalism becomes an important part of the strategy in the battle against climate denialism in the U.S. Congress.
Realistically, Bernie Sanders is not going to convince Ted Cruz about climate change with a few well-reasoned arguments. However, a first step may be to highlight places where scientific and religious understandings of the world can co-exist side by side. For example, the movie Noah directed by Darren Aronofsky had a nice scene which blended the traditional Biblical narrative of the seven days of creation with visuals that invoke geological and biological evolution. This mixing of religious and scientific understanding could sidestep the zero-sum game ("we're right and you're wrong") and allow both parties to begin a dialogue. Still, the movie was heavily criticized by Christian groups that are offended by anything other than a literal approach to the Bible.
Is there any common ground to found between Biblical End Times and science-based climate doomsday scenarios? For instance, would a mashup of the mystical imagery of the Book of Revelation with the findings of climate scientists help motivate Evangelicals to reduce carbon emissions to avert the end of the world? Could Revelation's dramatic Apocalyptic battle between good and evil with its enigmatic "number of the beast" and seven Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls, be reinterpreted to warn us of the perils of methane clathrates and deep ocean anoxia? No, probably not.
Even if the Lamb refers to this, and the Bowl refers to that, scientific knowledge and religious faith are still different ways of knowing about the world. Science is a process, based on evidence. Faith is premised on acceptance without evidence. Even if such cross-paradigm communication were possible, there remains the Book of Revelation's problematic motivation for God to want the world to end so He can smite the wicked and send the righteous up to eternal heaven. And secular humanists probably won't make the cut. "The Rapture" and End Times theology does not seem to support acting on the latest climate science, let alone putting a price on carbon.
Creation myths and doomsday scenarios aside, climate change is utterly intertwined with ethics. For humans to survive, anthropocentrism is incompatible with the Anthropocene. We are all in this together. In that sense, the Paris Climate Agreement was a big step in the right direction. Many religious organizations already play a positive role in promoting climate solutions. Maybe Evangelicals could come on board by focusing on the social justice component of a carbon pricing system that returns funds back to people as a climate dividend. A basic income seems like something Jesus could have supported.
In order to really understand what is happening to the planet, and to reverse their climate denial, they may need to step back from the Biblical version of the End Times. This may involve making the transition from viewing the Bible as literal truth to viewing it as an allegory. Readers of a metaphorical Bible may more easily accept scientific explanations for climate change, and then go on to support ethical solutions such as a universal basic income featuring climate dividends. That may be heresy, but perhaps the only way for this segment of the population to stop blocking climate solutions is to begin adhering to doomsday scenarios backed up by the scientific method.
Voters will have a choice in 2016 between candidates whose policy is based on literalism from the Bible, and those based on literalism in the latest IPCC reports. Choose wisely.
source:huffpost

Summer Michelle Hansen, Special Ed Teacher, Charged With Sex Crimes Involving 5 Boys

Summer Michelle Hansen, a former special education teacher, has been charged with sex crimes involving five underage boys, all students at the Southern California high school where she once taught.
Hansen, arrested in June, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on 16 felony counts, including unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, unlawful oral copulation with a minor, and sending harmful matter to a minor. If convicted, she could face up to 13 years in state prison.
In a statement released Tuesday, the Riverside District Attorney's Office said the alleged crimes took place between May 2012 and May 2013, and occurred "in her classroom, in a utility room at the school, in her vehicle while parked near one victim’s home, and at another victim’s home." None of the victims were students that Hansen taught.
Hansen's attorney has maintained her innocence, and claims that the former teacher had her phone hacked, according to the Press-Enterprise. Court documents obtained by the newspaper tell a different story.
According to a Corona police declaration, one of Hansen's victims told a detective that the teacher had sent him "inappropriate text messages suggesting sexual contact" that culminated in the teacher offering him sex as a prize for doing well in a baseball game.
An investigation of Hansen was launched in June after a former student at Centennial High School came forward and told officials that he had a sexual relationship with the teacher.
According to the Press-Enterprise, that student "told police that while he was 18 and after he graduated, Hansen would send him sexual text messages and cellphone photos that showed her in her underwear. The former student also said two underage boys told him that they had had sex with Hansen."
During the course of their investigation, the police identified multiple victims under the age of 18.
More from the Press-Enterprise:

Summer Michelle Hansen Mugshot:

Photo: Corona Police Department
source:huffpost

Man Celebrating 22nd Birthday Vanishes Outside Boston Bar, Family Says

Zachary Marr was last seen around 1:40 a.m. Saturday, according to police.

Boston Police Department

Zachary Marr, 22, of Harvard, Massachusetts, went missing in Boston on Saturday morning.

Authorities in Boston are asking the public to help them find a 22-year-old man who has been missing since early Saturday morning.
Zachary Marr was visiting the city from Harvard, Massachusetts, when he vanished outside a bar around 1:40 a.m., police said in a release.
Marr was last seen outside the Bell in Hand bar, where he was celebrating his birthday with his cousins, his family told CBS Boston. He apparently left his jacket inside when he went outside for a smoke, then texted one of his relatives to say he wasn't allowed back in because the bar was closing.
Amanda Marr, his cousin, said he was gone when she went outside about 10 minutes later.
Two calls to Marr's phone went unanswered, she said, before they began going straight to voicemail.
"I knew in my gut something wasn't right," she told the local TV station.

Marr's family reported him missing. Amanda said she visited local businesses later on Saturday to ask if they could share any video surveillance footage. One video, which was taken across the street from the bar around the time Marr went missing, appears to show him standing outside.
Marr is described as 5-foot-8, 175 pounds with short brown hair, blue eyes and a beard. He was last seen wearing dark jeans, a blue sweatshirt, and black sneakers.
Anyone with information regarding his disappearance is advised to contact District A-1 detectives at (617) 343-4571 or Harvard, Massachusetts, Police Sergeant Coates at (978) 456-1212.
could share any video surveillance footage. One video, which was taken across the street from the bar around the time Marr went missing, appears to show him standing outside.
Marr is described as 5-foot-8, 175 pounds with short brown hair, blue eyes and a beard. He was last seen wearing dark jeans, a blue sweatshirt, and black sneakers.
Anyone with information regarding his disappearance is advised to contact District A-1 detectives at (617) 343-4571 or Harvard, Massachusetts, Police Sergeant Coates at (978) 456-1212.
source:huffingtonpost

Taylor Swift Sends Kanye West A Message During Grammys Album Of The Year Speech Kanye had this coming.

Taylor Swift Sends Kanye West A Message During Grammys Album Of The Year Speech

Kanye had this coming.

Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

Taylor Swift (unsurprisingly) picked up the award for Album of the Year at the 2016 Grammys on Monday and she used her moment onstage to send a clear message to frenemy Kanye West.
As you might recall, last week the rapper stirred up controversy with a graphic lyric about Swift in his song "Famous" off his new album, "The Life Of Pablo." It read: "I think me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that bitch famous."
After the Swifties of the world called out Ye for the offensive lyric, the rapper hit back, claiming that Swift knew about it and even gave him the green light. Then, Swift's rep responded to Ye's claim, saying the singer "cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message."
Well, during her Grammys speech, Swift made her thoughts on the whole situation very clear:

"As the first woman to win album of the year at the Grammys twice, I want to say to all the young women out there: There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame. But if you just focus on the work and don't let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you're going, you'll look around and you'll know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world."

She may not have named names, but that's not Swift's style. Everyone and their mother knew who she was talking about. And let's be real, Kanye had it coming.
source:huffingtonpost

"How To Get Away With Murder" Star, Aja Naomi King, On Sexism In Hollywood

source:huffington post

These questions originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answers by Aja Naomi King, Actress, How to Get Away with Murder, The Birth of a Nation, on Quora.
Q: Is the problem of sexism in Hollywood getting better or worse for female actors? How does sexism manifest in the industry impact female actors?
A: The problem of sexism is getting better, but I don't know if it's getting better fast enough. We see more roles for women that don't entirely revolve around the way in which they function in a man's life, but typically those women are almost always white, and even then, there are only a few of them.
I think the number of conversations that occur between women in a film or tv show still largely revolve around the men in their lives, so we aren't doing too well in terms of passing the Bechdel Test, but I think there is more of an awareness of the problem, and more of an attempt to make a difference.
...
Q: In what ways has learning to act developed you as a person?
A: Studying acting has been personally enriching because it has taught me to take the time to imagine what someone else's life experience might be like. To look deeply at how our pasts and the circumstances of our early childhoods mold us as people. It has also taught me to nurture my inner child, to allow myself the freedom to play on stage as well as in front of the camera.
It has also taught me that if I can look deeply at a a character to figure out their motivations and needs, I can do the same with people. I can use this as a tool to better understand where someone else is coming from, which has made me a more compassionate person. Sometimes people just need to feel heard and being an actor has taught me to really listen.
...
Q: Which episode of #HTGAWM is your favorite?
A: My favorite episode, this is hard, so I'm going to pick two. The first episode, the pilot, the rush of that episode was nothing that I have ever felt before. We were out there in the dark shooting in Philadelphia and I was out there acting my heart out. I felt alive and different and it was so real and raw and I felt like after that night we were bonded as a cast in this show. It was lighting in a bottle and a feeling I won't ever forget.
My second favorite is the episode with the amazing Cicely Tyson. The scenes with her and Viola are so real and raw. Its such a slow pouring of emotions it almost leaves you breathless. I remember melting as I watched that and its that same intensity and raw talent that Viola brings to set everyday. Its such a contagious feeling and as the lead of this show she makes us all believe and strive to be better actor, take bigger risks.
These questions originally appeared on Quora. - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions:

Monday, February 15, 2016

Revealed: The Secret To Winning 30 Million Shillings On Sportpesa

source:mpasho

Sportpesa is getting even bigger. Just last week, Arsenal chose the brand as its official betting partner in Kenya. Moving fast forward, Sportpesa is offering Kshs.30,046,161 for grabs! Imagine what you could do with that amount of money! Life changing isn’t it?
You can start your own company, build residential apartments, move into a new home or even pay for your children’s full campus fees.
All you need to do is to go to the Sportpesa website, register and start betting. You can always bet online or via SMS. If you do not know how to get started, go through this introduction and you’ll be good to go!

All the best in your betting. See you in the newspapers!
sportpesa

Exclusive Interview ‘Teen Mom’ Shocker: Amber Portwood’s Fiancé Has At Least 8 Children! Matt Baier's ex tells Radar he's a 'con man' and 'pathological liar.'

Exclusive Interview

‘Teen Mom’ Shocker: Amber Portwood’s Fiancé Has At Least 8 Children!

Matt Baier's ex tells Radar he's a 'con man' and 'pathological liar.'

teen-mom-amber-portwood-fiance-seven-children-scandal

Teen Mom OG star Amber Portwood‘s fiancé Matt Baier doesn’t have seven kids— he has at least eight!
Last week, RadarOnline.com confirmed Gary Shirley’s accusations that the 44-year-old has at least seven children with five baby mamas, all of whom have banded together to demand unpaid child support in Indiana court.
But now, in an exclusive interview, Baier’s former fiancée, Kelli Maguire Nunn, reveals to Radar that she has an 8-year-old daughter with the mysterious MTV star.

The feud isn't over! Kenya Moore Exposes Gay Rumors About Kim Fields’ Husband Christopher Morgan Kenya Moore and Kim Fields face more trouble in Jamaica!

The feud isn't over!

Kenya Moore Exposes Gay Rumors About Kim Fields’ Husband Christopher Morgan

Kenya Moore and Kim Fields face more trouble in Jamaica!

Kenya Moore took her feud with Kim Fields to a new level when she shared a rumor about her husband Christopher Morgan while chatting with her castmates in Jamaica during Sunday night’s episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta!

Moore brought up the new gossip while chilling poolside with the RHOA ladies after NeNe Leakes asked why Fields wasn’t spending the night with them!

“Maybe she went to spend the night with her man,” Porsha Williams guessed, prompting the other girls to toss out their own opinions on where the RHOA newbie may be.

“What’s his name?,” Williams said, “Chris?”