Black-Thought

HuffPost | Bacon Condoms Could Be The Best Thing To Happen To Your Hog, Ever (PHOTOS)

2013-03-28T20:51:00.001-07:00

Bacon condoms look, smell and taste like bacon.

Bacon Condoms Could Be The Best Thing To Happen To Your Hog, Ever (PHOTOS). Too funny to touch, with a pole of any length. Click on the link to learn more about the frisky pork.

Music | Passion Pit - 'Cry Like A Ghost' on Vimeo | + Extended uncut version | Grt song + vid

2013-03-27T20:47:00.001-07:00

Passion Pit - "Cry Like A Ghost on Vimeo. See extended uncut version below on munlimited.com/ghost.

Music | NNEKA - Valley

2013-03-27T20:24:00.001-07:00

NNEKA - Valley.

Music | NNEKA - Restless | A consistent fave

2013-03-27T20:16:00.001-07:00

NNEKA - Restless. A love song for broken lovers. From Nneka's album 'Soul Is Heavy.' Rlly well done + luvly song.

Muisc | inc. - the place

2013-03-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

inc. - the place. All those soulful cats, brown-eyed and blue-eyed boys of soul are burning in their seats right now, kicking themselves that they did not do this.

inc. is special becuz of how they do what they do, the whole unexpected nature of their coupling with the music and their imagery. It's pretty radical, the unpredictable nature of it all. A treat.

Who are inc.? Two bros hailing from L.A: Andrew Aged and Daniel Aged.

Music | Joint of the Day | inc. - Black Wings | F*ckin Ridonkulous - Quite the unholy mishmosh

2013-03-27T19:04:00.001-07:00

inc. - Black Wings. Sick. On evrry level. The approach, the arrangement, the vibe, the melody. The singing is so underground, below register, just creepin', suggestive and instructive. 'It was black, it was never white.' Frickin luvvv this!

Gettin snatches of Prince, Maxwell, some 90s sexy soul shish. Thing is, at the outset it is so different from the tracks by inc. that I highlighted a few days back ( 5 Days and the place) -- maybe a week ago. And then when the video begins, the whole arrangement, the darkness of the vid, the whole kinda goth, punk feel. And then you hear the undercurrent and it switches up on you, and you realize that whatever it's disguised as, it's still that sexy neo-soul ish.

The video itself is a whole other thing with some pretty wicked images, just contrast and conflict around the unexpected mix n' match of images. There are these images that have undertones of slavery and the black experience, kinda hostile, controlled images, and then there are these other images which summon up images of skinheads....maybe the one is an outgrowth of the other, and in a way it seems hostile to my existence but I'm simultaneously pulled to it. Maybe it's alienation that it speaks to. Maybe it's to us all being 'alien.' Or not. (and so belonging. all of us.) Either way, its wicked phresh.

Just totally in luvs wid it. Sick.

Scientists create Harry Potter-like invisibility cloak | Global Post

2013-03-27T18:26:00.001-07:00

The set of Harry Potter at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London

in Watford, England. (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Scientists create Harry Potter-like invisibility cloak. Excerpt: Scientists have created a miniature version of Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, although so far it only works in microwave light.

The physicists at the University of Texas who created the new cloak said it is one step closer to the real deal — a cloak that could hide a person in broad daylight.' Click on the link to read the story. We humans be advancing at an ultra fast pace.

Dirty Little Smart Phones | Ted Smith on the toxins in digital gadgets | GlobalPost

2013-03-27T18:11:00.001-07:00

Warning: this may not be good for you. (Leo Ramirez/AFP/Getty Images)

Ted Smith on the toxins in digital gadgets | GlobalPost. Excerpt: BOSTON — Sure, your phone might be smart. But is it clean? Is it safe to use? And were the workers who built it free from harm?

Maybe not, says Ted Smith, a longtime Silicon Valley activist. He contends that smart phones and other digital gadgets are among the most hazardous products known to consumers. Smith founded the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition in 1982, after contamination from tech manufacturing in San Jose threatened groundwater. He is coordinator of the International Campaign for Responsible Technology and co-editor of "Challenging the Chip: Labor Rights and Environmental Justice in the Global Electronics Industry."

In 2001, he was honored by the Dalai Lama for his environmental leadership.
(GlobalPost edited this interview for length and clarity.)

GlobalPost: You have said that our digital gadgets are among the world’s most hazardous products. Explain, please:

Ted Smith: You have to think about the whole life cycle of the product. The amount of materials that go into building a cell phone, a computer or a tablet is really astounding. They require huge amounts of metals, so you have all the mining issues. Everything from the conflict minerals in Congo, to gold mining — which is terribly destructive for the environment — to copper, to some of the very exotic rare earth metals. These are extremely hazardous to both human health and the environment.

Beyond the raw materials, the production of components involves a huge number of chemicals — very exotic chemicals. There’s unfortunately a pretty serious track record of the people making those components getting very sick. There are cancer clusters in several parts of the world where electronics are made. Right now the most well defined one is in Korea. Over 100 young workers have gotten cancer after working in the factories making various Samsung products.' Click on the link at top to read the entire story.

Music | Brittany Howard & Ruby Amanfu When My Man Comes Home

2013-03-26T21:03:00.001-07:00

Brittany Howard & Ruby Amanfu When My Man Comes Home. How we all want our lovers to feel and speak. Talk that talk baby, talk that talk.

Video Exclusive: David Floyd on Why He Sued NYPD - COLORLINES

2013-03-26T21:00:00.001-07:00

Video Exclusive: David Floyd on Why He Sued NYPD - COLORLINES. By Seth Freed Wessler and Jay Smooth. Click on the link to read the Colorlines story. Excerpt: 'In the last 11 years, the New York City Police Department has conducted a staggering 5 million stop-and-frisks. Of those who were stopped and patted down for “seeming suspicious,” 86 percent were black or Latino, according to an NYCLU report. In 2012 alone, police made 533,042 of these stops with 89 percent resulting in no arrest or ticket.

The city insists that the policy keeps guns off the streets. But young black and Latino men describe scenes of fear and toxic stress, of always wondering if the cops are going to throw them up against a wall, strike them, and arrest them.'

Music | 4X4 - Moko Ni (Official Video) | Luv this in every way

2013-03-26T20:37:00.001-07:00

4X4 - Moko Ni (Official Video). Rich in every way, just luscious and delightful, like biting into a juicy Caribbean mango that's bursting with flavors. That rootsical, dextrous, multi-textural sound so full of rhythms and sensations that one feels as though they can touch and taste it. Call it a mini-vacay without leaving your space you can travel to a much more desirable temperature and musical experience. Find that my shoulder can't stop jumping. Delightful in all ways.

Music | Laura Mvula | She

2013-03-26T20:26:00.001-07:00

Laura Mvula - She.

Music | Grace Sewell 'Do It Like A Dude' | Features | DropoutUK.com

2013-03-26T20:06:00.001-07:00

Dropout Live (VIDEO): Grace Sewell 'Do It Like A Dude' | Features | DropoutUK.com. Australian teen sensation Grace Sewell. Charm and potent potential in evidentia.

Cover shoot with Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn |Scandal

2013-03-26T19:57:00.001-07:00

Cover shoot with Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn! Scandal! Okay, so this is a shameless plug for a show. Ordinarily I don't like ads, rather, I hate being sold or pitched at all times, but I like the show and the characters and if this shoot aims to give us insight into their characters...hmm, what the hey? I like the photos of the two together and I like the characters' coupledom as a whole. So, Scandal photo shoot, here we go. Show airs Thursdays at 10pm on the East Coast.

(Btw, one day soon I might list the top ten reasons why I am a Scandalista and why I'm glad Deception exists. Two beautiful women of color/black women, who are flawed but smart, talented and the central characters in their shows (television dramas). That's pretty darn major. It's been a long time since that.....late 60s-early 70s Julia (with Dianne Caroll perhaps.)

There have been black female leads before but typically they've been in half-hour sitcoms or comedies (The Cosby Show, A Different World, Living Single, Girlfriends). Rarely have they been a dramatic character around whom the action pivots, the central objects/subjects of love and desire. So I continue to give writer/creator Shonda Rhimes and creator/executive producer Liz Heldens big props.

Nice to see the black girl lied to, deceived, sexualized and pedastaled in equal measure. Can I get a witness? No?  Well, we'll settle for you checking out both shows. Scandal airs Thursdays at 10pm Eastern Standard time on ABC and Deception airs on NBC. The season just ended, so am not sure exactly when they'll be on again, but a simple search should answer that question.)

Dianne Caroll and Marc Copage as Julie and son Corey (lookin' like a mini-Drake).

Music | Audio | Labrinth ft. Emile Sande - Beneath Your Beautiful

2013-03-26T19:07:00.001-07:00

Labrinth ft. Emile Sande - Beneath Your Beautiful. (Elements of early 90s Lloyd Cole, and believe or not sections of Emile Sande's hint of Rihanna; don't be offended Em, we all know you are a sanger, not a studio-embellished personality driven pop star.)

HufPost | Drones Visualization: Every U.S. Drone Strike In Pakistan Since 2004 (GRAPHIC)

2013-03-26T18:40:00.001-07:00

Drones Visualization: Every U.S. Drone Strike In Pakistan Since 2004 (GRAPHIC).

Viral Video | Forward - The Wrong Way Around Directed by Messe Kopp | esreveR nI syalP oediV sihT | Watch it in reverse, then watch it forward

2013-03-24T21:19:00.001-07:00

Forward. esreveR nI syalP oediV sihT. By filmmaker Messe Kopp.

Want to watch it not in reverse? See below.

LOL - Brent and Johnson - Equality Street - Official Music Video | Chuckles + Good Sounds

2013-03-24T21:07:00.001-07:00

Brent and Johnson - Equality Street - Official Music Video. Pretty on point. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Got quite a few chuckles and smiles in the bargain, plus head nods re its street spun truths.

All courtesy of comic Ricky Gervais. According to HuffPost, 'Ricky is playing the character David Brent from the Brit version of the Office. He's now taken to mentoring an up and coming rapper.' Sh*ts n' giggles, giggles n' sh*ts! Enjoy!

The official Ricky Gervais website @ http://www.RickyGervais.com.

HuffPost | Dr. R. Keith Sawyer: The Creative Power of Memory

2013-03-24T20:52:00.001-07:00

Dr. R. Keith Sawyer: The Creative Power of Memory. Excerpt: 'Creative insights always come from combinations of existing mental material. New ideas don't just appear out of thin air; they build on existing ideas, concepts, and perceptions, that you've stored in your mind over the years. Researchers have discovered that major creative insights tend to happen only after you work many years in an area -- because it takes years to absorb the many small bits of mental material that will feed your creative process. If you don't remember all of this material, then it won't be available as raw material to your mind's insight generating combination machine.'

Fascinating stuff. Click on the above link to read on.

HuffPost | Joshua Foer: WATCH: The Secret to Superpower Memory

2013-03-24T20:48:00.001-07:00

Joshua Foer: WATCH: The Secret to Superpower Memory. Excerpt: 'To make a name memorable, try creating a visual association in your imagination between the person's name and face. If it's a woman named Abby, imagine a bee stinging her eye. If it's a guy called Bill, imagine him with a duckbill for a mouth. If it's someone named Barbara, picture a crown of barbed wire around her head. Create these images in your mind's eye with as much color, action, and meaning as possible. For example, don't just picture a bee stinging Abby's eye. Hear the bee buzzing, imagine her eye swelling, and try to feel how painful it would be. The more senses you can use, the better.'

What we can't ignore| Iraq War Anniversary: Birth Defects And Cancer Rates At Devastating High In Basra And Fallujah (VIDEO) | HuffPost

2013-03-23T22:38:00.001-07:00

Iraq War Anniversary: Birth Defects And Cancer Rates At Devastating High In Basra And Fallujah (VIDEO). Excerpt: 'Ten years after the start of the U.S. invasion in Iraq, doctors in some of the Middle Eastern nation's cities are witnessing an abnormally high number of cases of cancer and birth defects. Scientists suspect the rise is tied to the use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus in military assaults.
On the war's ten-year anniversary, Democracy Now! spoke with Dahr Jamail, an Al Jazeera reporter who recently returned from Iraq. Jamail recounts meeting Dr. Samira Alani, a doctor in the city of Fallujah focusing on the issue of birth defects.

She said it's common now in Fallujah for newborns to come out with massive multiple systemic defects, immune problems, massive central nervous system problems, massive heart problems, skeletal disorders, babies being born with two heads, babies being born with half of their internal organs outside of their bodies, cyclops babies literally with one eye -- really, really, really horrific nightmarish types of birth defects.'

Commentary: Never again happens again and again. After WWII we said 'Never again,' to the atrocities committed against a people in the name of war as were committed against the Jews by the Nazis and the Japanese (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) by the Americans. Then came Bosnia and Rwanda, Uganda and Somalia, Chile and Uzbekistan and Syria and too many other nation states unknown and irrelevant to the many of us whose nations often play a role in the bruality and misery caused.

Here then is a window into Iraq, and quite probably Afghanistan. What do we do now? What can we do? Take a look at the video and read the HuffPost story and let us ask ourselves, ask yourself, 'Do we hold our government accountable? Do we hold ourselves accountable? How can we not?'

If we do nothing, if we say nothing, won't there be a special place in hell with our names inscribed on it? Perhaps if we begin by writing to our president and our legislators and demanding that the chemical weapons used in the bombardment of Baghdad never be used again; that chemical weapons never be used against a people.

And what about the babies and families left to deal with the horrific outtakes from these wars? How do they handle a baby born with organs outside its body? A child with four legs or a cyclops eye? What kind of pain must these infants experience throughout the entirety of their innocent lives? When being born in an indescribable hell on earth does any parent want its child to be born?

What are we doing to help the children and families who have been affected? What do we do? How can we help? For we must help. Is it not the case that we who have sat by, feeling helpless, apathetic maybe -- that we were unable to affect change and so we did nothing but watch and wait, hoping that if we were good liberals, if we were pacifists who mouthed daily prayers or asked God to help to end the war it would end -- is it not the case that we are at fault?

The pacifist solution, the progressive's solution can never be silent. And yet I have been silent, even while considering that I had the best wishes, the best desires, the best intentions at heart. But I did nothing....why? Because I did not know what to do other than observe and hope. Because I hoped a miraculous solution would materialize out of the ether. Because I hoped those leading the war would come to their senses.

So, yes, I abdicated my responsibility in the favor of the much less taxing practice of wishing on a star and praying to God to end the war.

HuffPost | Gayatri Devi, M.D.: Your Diabolically Lazy Brain

2013-03-22T21:03:00.002-07:00

Gayatri Devi, M.D.: Your Diabolically Lazy Brain. Excerpt: 'Your brain is pretty darn incredible. It grasps quantum physics and converts cow manure into biofuel with the same alacrity that it overeats, skips out on spin class, and hits the snooze button on the alarm, particularly, especially, when it knows it shouldn't. Joshua Foer finds himself the winner of a memory contest without any prior claims to an exceptional memory. He found that all he had to do was train the brain.

In other words, what your grandma told you was true: Habits are first cobwebs, then cables. If we keep doing something, the involved brain circuits become very strong. Which is why it is best not to take up midnight ice cream raids in the first place. The night call of the refrigerator siren is irresistible once the neurologic cables that heed her call are laid.' Fascinating stuff. Gives us all hope about our untapped capabilities. Click on the above link to read the rest.

Dispatch From Brooklyn: Fraying Patience With NYPD’s Protection - COLORLINES

2013-03-21T21:10:00.001-07:00

Protestors gathered for three nights in East Flatbush last week, following the NYPD shooting of 16-year-old Kimani Gray. NYPD mobilized in response and dozens were arrested. Allison Joyce/Getty Images

That, Squillacote says, is what is so profoundly troubling about a program that the NYPD has touted as central to its plan to reduce crime. “The right to travel freely is a constitutional right,” she says. “To limit that is to violate someone’s fundamental rights, and it means that you’re also punishing an entire community so that people in that community won’t trust the police.”
Distrust of the police is certainly nothing new in black and Latino communities, and it’s the stark historical parallels that put many on edge.

“During the era of Jim and Jane Crow, you had explicit policies that legislative bodies passed to make sure black folks were ‘in their place,’” says Phillip Atiba Goff, a UCLA professor who works as the executive director of research for the Consortium of Police Leadership in Equity. “We fought hard to get rid of that, so now law enforcement’s job is not to protect one class of people. Instead, we’re seeing them as an occupying force.”

This occupation was on stark display in East Flatbush last week. In a city that has often promoted itself as a model for combating gun violence, here were the living, breathing examples of the dangerous trade off it purports to make: allow organized harassment of specific kinds of people in specific kinds of communities in order to feel like Bloomberg’s New York is a safer, shinier place than its past. But as witnessed in Flatbush last week, those people and communities are i/ncreasingly refusing to play along.'

Music | Tully On Tully - Naked | Just as good

2013-03-21T19:56:00.001-07:00

Tully On Tully - Naked.

Music |Tully On Tully - Stay | Delightful, Delicious - 'I miss myself so much it hurts'

2013-03-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

Tully On Tully - Stay. A new track from Australian band Tully on Tully, with lead vocals by Natalie Foster and featuring Hayden Calnin. Swexy bad. Full of verve and infectiousness. The lead singer is a pleasing , mash-up of yester year beauts -- model Margraux Hemingway and singer Deborah Harry, of punk rock New Wave band 'Blondie.' Emphasis on the physical and the gap. Brings to mind French films, the French countryside.... a Norwegian milk maid in the French countryside. 60s icon Bardot maybe. Something so alluring, accessible and desirable about her. Both the raw, unfettered Milk maidenness (with a capital M) combined with the buttoned-up, anti-sex outfit.

There's a chemical connection between Foster and Calnin that's electric eel-like--it reaches out and snaps at you, and that captures the whole mood of the song. If there weren't a band called 'My Chemical Romance,' I'd say that's the feeling this song engenders: combustible electricty.

But enuf about that, everything about the beat, melody, composition and the dap of Future Islands sound by Calnin makes this a bit of a Dora Darling. Translation? We likey, likey, like, like, like. Yum.