- College is all about learning, but sometimes the methodology
of learning becomes the story above all else. Such as a professor at a Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) school allegedly holding a mock slave
auction in class. Welcome to the tale of a white professor at Howard University
who was apparently teaching a lesson on Frederick Douglass' slave narrative
when he made the regrettable choice to single out one of the two black men in
the class. At that point, ignoring the warning bells that had to be going off
in his head, he then apparently
discussed how slaves were examined before they were sold and asked the black student to stand up because he
looked "healthy" and "like the type of slave buyers would look
for." That would have been offensive enough had he stopped there and there
still would have been a sh*t storm of controversy, but this old white dude
decided to up the ante by asking the student to “turn around so we can see your
buttocks” so the class could get a better sense of how much he was worth. When
that happened, it definitely became a learning moment for that student, because
his class voiced its disgust at what the professor was doing and proved that at
least some people in that room understood that a line had been crossed. The
student later said he initially participated in the exchange because he never
expected the professor to take things where he ultimately did and for its part,
the university would only say that it was “ aware of the incident and is
investigating the matter." Sounds like someone is headed for a sabbatical
for the rest of the semester while someone with at least a shred of racial sensitivity
takes over his class……..
- Yes, they’re still making Mission: Impossible movies and
no, Tom Cruise hasn’t decided that he’s banked enough dough to fund Scientology
and ceded the franchise’s leading role to someone else. What he will do is
welcome a major new face to the series, namely current Superman place-holder
Henry Cavill, who will join Cruise in “Mission: Impossible 6,” due for release
next July. Cavill will reprise his role as Superman in DC’s Justice League film
later this year, was welcomed to the fold by director Christopher McQuarrie via
Instagram. “Say, @henrycavill. Had a thought. Curious if you’re interested in a
role in the 6th installment of Mission: Impossible. No pressure,” he wrote. Cavill
returned serve via the ‘Gram, writing, “How can I say no to a man with such perfect
hair.” The two went back and forth and the director explained that the role
would involve “extreme heights, high speeds … practical stunts, firearms and
sporadic explosions.” Having said all of that, details about Cavill’s role are still
scarce, but word on the street is that will be a right-hand man to Cruise’s
Ethan Hunt and not a bad guy, though there’s always an opening for more bad
guys in any Mission: Impossible movie, so Cavill and his amazing hair could end
up on either side of the ledger here. What isn’t a mystery is that there will
be massive effects, insanely over the top and implausible stunts and a plot
with loads of holes in it, but people will go to see it in droves because so
many of us love seeing sh*t blow up………
- It’s a dicey, age-old question governments have grappled
with and been perplexed by: What do you do with a landfill where 113 people
were killed in a garbage collapse? Sure, you could keep piling garbage there
and attempt to cover the memories of the deceased with mountains of filth, but
that would be insensitive and could also leave the door open for similar
tragedies in the future. So Ethiopia is taking a different tact, turning the
property into a park and green space. Government spokesman Negeri Lencho said
survivors of the disaster will no longer live there even though hundreds of
people had been thought to be living or working at the Koshe landfill where the
collapse occurred March 11 on the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa. The
incident was especially devastating because most of the victims were women and
children and any time those two groups die in large numbers, folks feel that
some of society’s weakest were harmed and not adequately protected. According
to city officials, people who had been living at the landfill have been
relocated into temporary housing and Negeri said that because the government's
focus has been on search and rescue work, it is not yet known what caused the
deadly collapse. In Third World nations such as Ethiopia, such tragedies happen
all too often and at this point, it’s hard to have confidence in the government’s
ability to prevent more of them………
- The clock is ticking and the ladies aren't budging. USA
Hockey and the women's national team are squaring off in a dispute that defines
all that sports have become in our world today - i.e. it’s all about the money.
The players want more money, the federation doesn’t want to give them what they
think they’re worth and both sides are trying to wage a public relations battle
alongside negotiating with each other. Thus, mere hours after the federation
issued a detailed statement disputing the lower compensation figures the team had
presented, players and their attorney blasted those new characterizations
"patently false." Among the many maneuvers in this back and forth
were the team threatening to boycott the March 31-April 7 IIHF World
Championship. USA Hockey executive director Dave Ogrean was adamant that his
organization remains committed to having the national team it selected play in
the tournament and since the United States is the defending champion and has
won six of the past eight world championships, the American team boycotting the
tournament would be a big deal. John B. Langel, the players' lead attorney, made
it clear that his side has made an offer and it’s now on USA Hockey to respond.
Players are scheduled to report to Plymouth, Michigan, on March 21 for
pre-tournament training, but that’s very much in doubt after USA Hockey claimed
that the 23-member national team's demands would exceed $8 million total in an
Olympic year and $5.7 million in a non-Olympic year, at a rate of $237,000 per
player for winning gold at the Olympics and $149,000 in non-Olympic years, and
the players quickly shot down those claims as outright false. It’s reassuring
to know that regardless of sport or gender, at the end of the day, modern
sports are, at their heart, always about the dollar sign……..
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