Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho was a homeless man in São Paulo, Brazil who lived on the same street corner for nearly 35 years.
He was known locally for writing in his books every day. Then in April 2011 a young woman named Shalla Monteiro befriended him and tried to help him achieve his dream of publishing a book. She created a Facebook Page featuring his writing, but nobody could have predicted what would happen next.
Watch the full video below:
The company responsible for the Firefox browser was recently thrown into the midst of a controversy when their CEO made some anti-gay statements.
OkCupid shed more light on the matter when they began blocking Firefox users from accessing their services and now, the CEO of Mozilla is stepping down.
Here is part of the statement from Mozilla’s blog.
Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it. We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves.
We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry. We must do better.
Brendan Eich has chosen to step down from his role as CEO. He’s made this decision for Mozilla and our community.
George Bush once said that he looked into Putin’s eyes and saw his soul. This painting by the former president is probably what Putin’s soul looks like.
The 66 year old comedian began his Late Night career in 1982. On Thursday, 32 years later, he announced his retirement.
“I just want to reiterate my thanks for the support from the network, all of the people who have worked here, all of the people in the theater, all the people on the staff, everybody at home, thank you very much,” Letterman said. “What this means now, is that Paul and I can be married.”
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated Friday that the overall job situation improved somewhat during the past three months over what it had first reported. The BLS reported in its monthly job assessment that 192,000 new private jobs were created in March. Governments at all levels added no new jobs. The official unemployment rate—which BLS calls U3 and calculates in a separate survey—remained steady at 6.7 percent.
The nation’s first black president went on the Jimmy Kimmel show and spoke about his wife’s political future, Toronto’s mayir Rob Ford and among other things, being the nation’s first black president.
Bill Clinton:
“I loved being called the first black president, but Barack Obama really is,” Clinton told Kimmel, to laughs.
Let me say this. I consider it — I was incredibly fortunate that I was born in a little town in Arkansas and raised by my grandparents largely and my great-uncle and -aunt when my widowed mother went off to become a nurse. And my grandparents were poor white Southerners, who as a class were among the most racially prejudiced people in the South, and they weren’t. My granddad ran a country store and the vast majority of his customers were African-American.
So, I was raised in a different way — at home in the church, at home and the culture. And it was such a gift to me that I grew up free of that and I deserve no credit for it whatsoever, it was the way I was raised. And so, I love being called the first black president, but Barack Obama really is, he deserves it. And it’s been thrilling for me for doing what I could since Hillary lost the primary, we’ve done everything we could to support him and I was delighted we had over 7 million people sign up for the health exchange.
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Glenn Beck is mad. Mad I tells ya! He simply cannot understand why any American would fall for the lies Obama is selling them. Lies like, having affordable healthcare is a good thing. Why would anyone in their right minds want healthcare?
Glenn Beck is livid.
We’ve never had this before. This guy, you put him in a military uniform, I’m not kidding you, you put him on a balcony in a military uniform, this guy is a full-fledged dictator. There has never been any president who has ever done anything like this.
This is complete bogus. This is complete bogus fairytale. This is completely made up. This is nonsensical. The emperor has no clothes and everyone in the press, you “rat bastards.” Every single one of you. No, what he’s saying isn’t true. You know it. You know it.
He’s a sociopath! He’s sociopathic!
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Tchakamau Mahakoe is still not settled on which of the US universities she will attend. (OBSERVER FILE PHOTO)
TCHAKAMAU, the ambitious and brilliant schoolgirl the Jamaica Observer featured two years ago along with her brother for their academic achievements, has been accepted into 11 American universities, nine of which have offered her scholarships.
Her mother Kamau Mahakoe shared the news with the Observer yesterday, noting that she was proud of her daughter’s achievement.
“Clearly, l’m ecstatic. I feel really good for her because she has been focused from the start,” Kamau said of her 17-year-old daughter, who had been home-schooled before moving on to Immaculate Conception High School in St Andrew, and then the Hillel Academy on a scholarship.
“She has never lost sight of her goals… you don’t have to push her… she uses her initiative,” Kamau added. “I’m happy for her. Really happy.”
Among the 11 institutions in the US that have accepted the teen’s applications are Princeton, Duke, Yale, and Stanford universities and the University of Chicago.
The teen is still not clear on which she will be attending come August/September to pursue double majors in physics and biology. She wants to become an astronaut, her mother said.
h/t – jamaicaobserver
Being a first-generation American from Ghana also helps him stand out, Cohen says. “He’s not a typical African-American kid.”
“Not a typical African-American kid” is being read as an allusion to the lazy black American stereotype. The tension comes from the fact that some African immigrants buy into that stereotype, which gets turned into “Africans don’t like black people.” This has almost nothing to do with Enin, who is obviously a remarkable young man, and everything to do with how America perceives and portrays black Americans and African immigrants.
h/t – thewire
If you love donuts, do not watch the video above.
The Health Department shut down a Manhattan Dunkin’ Donuts following an inspection it conducted after a patron’s video showing rats crawling all over baked goods in the display case went viral.
The 15-second video published April 1 by YouTube user Pjayone shows the live rodents scurrying around donuts and bagels and through open food bins at the shop on 37th Street and Eighth Avenue in the Garment District. Another video shows a clip of a rat seemingly stuck in a store window.
While some may have thought it to be an April Fools’ prank, the Health Department apparently found evidence it was not. A sign bearing the message “CLOSED by order of the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene” hung in the store’s window Thursday morning.
In a statement to Gothamist, the Health Department said, “Dunkin’ Donuts was closed by the Health Department yesterday because of a public health hazard that could not be corrected at the time of the inspection. In this case, the restaurant had a severe pest infestation that will require professional pest control services. They were also cited for other critical violations, including inadequate hand washing facilities and food not being protected from contamination.”
Before the store was shuttered, Dunkin’ Donuts told Gothamist in a statement that food safety is a top priority, as is maintaining a clean and safe restaurant.
“We have stringent food safety and quality standards, and we take great pride in the food and beverages we serve to our guests every day,” the company said.
h/t NBC New York
Hello everybody. I just got off the phone with the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Sandy Winnefeld, to get the latest report on the situation at Fort Hood.
Obviously, we’re following it closely. The situation is fluid right now, but my national security team is in close contact with not just the Defense Department but the FBI.
They are working with folks on the ground to determine exactly what happened to make sure that everybody is secure. And I want to just assure all of us we are going to get to bottom of exactly what happened.
Any shooting is troubling. Obviously this reopens the pain of what happened at Fort Hood 5 years ago.
We know these families, we know their incredible service to our country and the sacrifices that they make. Obviously our thoughts and prayers were — are with the entire community and we are going to do everything we can to make sure the community at Fort Hood has what it needs to deal with the current situation but also any potential aftermath.
We’re heartbroken that something like this might have happened again.
And I don’t what to comment on the facts until I know exactly what has happened. But just for now I would hope that everyone across the country is keeping the families and the community of Fort Hood in our thoughts and our prayers.
The folks there have sacrificed so much on behalf of our freedom. Many of the people there have been through multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, they serve with valor and they serve with distinction.
And when they’re at their home base they need to feel safe. We don’t yet know what happened tonight but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again. And we’re going to have to find out exactly what happened. The Pentagon will undoubtedly have further briefings as we get more details about what happened. Alright. Thanks everybody.
Despite the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973, anti-abortion groups have stopped at nothing–not even the law–to enact high legal hurdles that inhibit the right of every women to control their reproductive lives and health choices. In one of the presidential debates in 2004, George W. Bush even invoked Dred Scott as a guiding principle for his judicial choices. Abortion equals slavery. Welcome to the Abortion Freeport Doctrine.
Three states have taken this tactic to new extremes. Texas passed an onerous law that will result in the closing of more than half of the remaining clinics in the state. Arizona passed a law, now under judicial review, that would restrict medication abortions. And Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant said today that he will sign a law that will prohibit abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and with no exception for rape or incest This is all on top of restrictive laws that have been passed, and have passed judicial muster, over the 41 years that Roe has been the law of the land. The Supreme Court is now weighing whether the Affordable Care Act can require all employers to cover contraception for all of its employees, because those companies consider some contraception to mimic abortions.
This is an emotional issue and the debate over abortion does not yield any middle ground. But we can find a way to make abortions less likely, provide contraception and sex education, and allow women and their doctors to make decisions that are in the best interests of the patient. That’s called freedom of choice and it’s something I hear a great deal about from those on the political right who want the government out of our lives, except in the bedroom. Or kitchen. Or back seat. Or…you get the point.
My solace comes from the belief that the conservative tide has crested and that we’re seeing the worst of the restrictions now. Many will stay in the most conservative states, but the idea that a women’s body is her own is pretty much a settled social idea that the court overturns at the country’s peril. It’s worth remembering that the Freeport Doctrine went nowhere. It’s also worth remembering that it took another hundred years for African-Americans to gain their full legal rights. I hope we’re not still debating the choice issue 60 years from now.
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