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Culture Tag

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 27, 2017 43 Comments
Tennis legend John McEnroe caused quite a stir during his NPR interview when he said Serena Williams would only be ranked 700 if she played on the men's circuit. Williams hit back, but McEnroe refuses to apologize for his statement. From The Los Angeles Times:
McEnroe said he had been asked why he called Williams the best women’s tennis player of all time rather than simply the best tennis player of all time. “And so then I felt the need, however unfortunately probably, to defend myself,” McEnroe said Tuesday. “I don't know, just say what I really felt, which is about what I think she would be."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 23, 2017 22 Comments

Among the trending news items this week is the tale of a freak accident that took the life of a French model and aspiring social media star.

From the Daily Mail:
A French fitness blogger has been killed by an exploding whipped cream dispenser which hit her in the chest, giving her a heart attack. Rebecca Burger's family announced her death on social media, where she has amassed a following of more than 200,000 with her fitness focused posts.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 20, 2017 27 Comments
Music star Moby has decided to showcase his hatred of President Donald Trump, becoming the latest celebrity to jump on the anti-Trump bandwagon. Moby chose to depict Trump as a Nazi leader in the video for "In This Cold Place," who eventually meets his death as a Swastika/dollar sign in an explosion.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 19, 2017 16 Comments
Lipslut, a soon to be launched lipstick brand offers an entire line one whole color of "mid-tone nude pink" lip gloss for the woman looking to change the world. Called "F*ck Trump" (OMG SO EDGY), Lipslut was designed by a college student to "fight the patriarchy" and "empower women everywhere". This is the only credit I'll give them -- 50% of the purchase price goes to charity. Which charity, you ask? Whichever charity the Lipslut democracy votes for!

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 19, 2017 23 Comments
The Supreme Court has ruled 8-0 that it is unconstitutional for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to not register offensive names under the federal trademark law's disparagement clause. The Asian-American band The Slants did not receive a trademark due to this clause, which the justices found violated free speech. From CNN:
"Holding that the registration of a trademark converts the mark into government speech would constitute a huge and dangerous extension of the government-speech doctrine, for other systems of government registration (such as copyright) could easily be characterized in the same way," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 19, 2017 6 Comments
I first blogged about Juneteenth last year. As I noted then, the day's significance is almost criminally under appreciated. This year though, I'm thrilled to see more national publications commemorating the 19th of June. Juneteenth even received the Heavy treatment.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 17, 2017 135 Comments
Shakespeare in the Park's horrific and offensive rendition of Julius Caesar with Caesar as President Trump being killed has created a lot of controversy, and some advertisers have pulled their sponsorship as a result. Last night, Laura Loomer of The Rebel media, opted not to stand outside and protest but instead entered the venue and rushed the stage to decry the "normalization" of violence against the right. Jack Posobiec, also of Rebel Media, was in the audience screaming about Goebbels and the "blood of Steve Scalise" being on their hands.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 16, 2017 23 Comments
Amazon has purchased Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, which will allow the online giant to step into the grocery store sector. Amazon officials have stated in the past they want to expand into groceries. From Bloomberg:
Amazon agreed to pay $42 a share in cash for the organic-food chain, including debt, a roughly 27 percent premium to the stock price at Thursday’s close. John Mackey, Whole Foods’ outspoken co-founder, will continue to run the business -- a victory after a fight with activist investor Jana Partners that threatened to drive him from power.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 15, 2017 47 Comments
Wednesday's baseball shooting left several injured and one dead. In things I never thought I'd say, I must agree with both President Trump and Sen. McCaskill -- unity, not division should be the goal at this day's end. It's impossible to ignore the toxic political polarization or that as Professor Jacobson discussed last night, yesterday's events were the unavoidable outcome of years of incitement. This much is pure fact. Did the rhetoric and general political climate play a factor in Hodgkinson's assassination attempt? We don't know. But regardless of all mitigating factors, the only person responsible for Hodgkinson's actions is Hodgkinson.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 14, 2017 31 Comments
The progressive concept of cultural appropriation has gone international. A group of advocates for indigenous peoples wants the United Nations to make the practice a crime. What could go wrong? The CBC reports via Yahoo News:
Cultural appropriation: Make it illegal worldwide, Indigenous advocates say Indigenous advocates from around the world are calling on a UN committee to ban the appropriation of Indigenous cultures — and to do it quickly. Delegates from 189 countries, including Canada, are in Geneva this week as part of a specialized international committee within the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 13, 2017 41 Comments
I recently noted there was a bizarre rendition of Shakespeare's classic tragedy, Julius Caesar, in which the title character resembled President Donald Trump. What I did not report at the time is that I called my banking institution of 19 years, Bank of America, and warned them that their continued sponsorship of this travesty would cost them my long-term business. Clearly, I wasn't the only one either, as the corporation and another sponsor have cut ties to the New York City theater that produced the play.
Delta Airlines and Bank of America pulled out of their sponsorship of New York’s Public Theater on Sunday over a production of “Julius Caesar” that reimagines the main character as President Trump.
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