Daily 30: Sat 11.29.2014

The Rap Monument 3mo

BTS: Atlanta Noisey Raps

A look behind the scenes at the Atlanta session for the Rap Monument feat: Pusha T, Young Thug, Killer Mike, Two-9, Cyhi Da Prynce, SL Jones, and more.
The Rap Monument 3mo

BTS: Los Angeles Noisey Raps

A look behind the scenes at the LA session for The Rap Monument feat: YG, Problem, Nipsey Hussle, Alexander Spit, and Aston Matthews.
The Rap Monument 3mo

BTS: New York City Noisey Raps

A look behind the scenes at the NYC session for the Rap Monument feat: Raekwon, Prodigy, Action Bronson, Bodega Bams, Flatbush Zombies, and more.
New Artist Alert 3mo

FWU Kehlani

Music video by Kehlani performing FWU.
4mo

The Road to Greatness Pt. 1 Vice Sports

What happens when you put an all-time great in the same room as an all-timer in the making? Find out in this VICE Sports exclusive, as two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant share their childhood dreams of stardom and how they developed the mentality that led them to greatness.
3mo

The Road To Greatness Pt. 2 Vice Sports

In the second part of Steve Nash's sit-down with Kevin Durant, the pair discuss making magic on the court, finding the confidence to take the big shot, and taking glee in hitting daggers on the road. Which crowds does Durant especially enjoy shutting up?
3mo
15 arrested as demonstrations return

16 15 arrested as demonstrations return Associated Press

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Disrupting commerce, transit and traffic became focal points for demonstrators across the country days after the announcement that a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri declined to indict the police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown.

As Small Business Saturday approached, numerous storefronts in the Ferguson area had their windows covered with plywood with messages painted across many of them letting neighbors know that the shops are still open. Demonstrators temporarily shut down three large malls in suburban St. Louis on Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, and then marched in front of the Ferguson police department to protest the grand jury's decision.

Several stores lowered their security doors or locked entrances as at least 200 protesters sprawled onto the floor while chanting, "Stop shopping and join the movement," at the Galleria mall in Richmond Heights a few miles south of Ferguson, Missouri, where Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown, who was unarmed, in August.

The action prompted authorities to close the mall for about an hour Friday afternoon, while a similar protest of about 50 people had the same effect at West County Mall in nearby Des Peres. And several dozen demonstrators led to a temporary closure of the Chesterfield Mall.

Later Friday night, a group of about 100 protesters marched down South Florissant Road in front of the city's police and fire departments chanting, blocking traffic and stopping in front of some businesses.

"I served my country. I spent four years in the Army, and I feel like that's not what I served my country for," said Ebonie Tyse, 26, of St. Louis as National Guard trucks and police cruisers roamed the street in front of her. "I served my country for justice for everyone. Not because of what color, what age, what gender or anything," she said.

Sixteen people were arrested, according to St. Louis County Police spokesman Shawn McGuire. Fifteen of those arrested were for misdemeanor peace disturbance. One man, Joygill Moriah of the Bronx, New York, was charged with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and peace disturbance. He did not have a listed attorney. Only one of those arrested was from the St. Louis area. Eight were from New York City.

Monday night's announcement that Wilson, who is white, wouldn't be indicted for fatally shooting Brown, who was black, prompted violent protests that resulted in about a dozen buildings and some cars being burned. Dozens of people were arrested.

The rallies have been ongoing but have grown more peaceful this week, as protesters turn their attention to disrupting commerce. Elsewhere on Friday, protests in Chicago, New York, Seattle and northern California — where protesters chained themselves to trains — were among the largest in the country on Black Friday.

In Oakland, more than a dozen people were arrested after about 125 protesters wearing T-shirts that read "Black Lives Matter" interrupted train service from Oakland to San Francisco, with some chaining themselves to trains. Later in San Francisco, a march by hundreds turned ugly as protesters smashed windows and hurled bottles and other objects at police, leaving two officers injured. Police responded by making arrests but have not said how many. Dozens of people in Seattle blocked streets, and police said some protesters also apparently chained doors shut at the nearby Pacific Place shopping center.

In Chicago, about 200 people gathered near the city's popular Magnificent Mile shopping district, where Kristiana Colon, 28, called Friday "a day of awareness and engagement." She's a member of the Let Us Breathe Collective, which has been taking supplies such as gas masks to protesters in Ferguson.

"We want them to think twice before spending that dollar today," she said of shoppers. "As long as black lives are put second to materialism, there will be no peace."

Malcolm London, a leader in the Black Youth Project 100, which has been organizing Chicago protests, said the group was also trying to rally support for other issues, such as more transparency from Chicago police.

"We are not indicting a man. We are indicting a system," London told the crowd.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday announced that he will call a special session of the General Assembly to provide funding for public safety efforts related to protests. A news release from his office said that due to the increased presence of the State Highway Patrol and the Missouri National Guard in the region, the state's financial obligations for emergency duties are on track to exceed what had been appropriated.

Do You Agree? 3mo
Ray Rice Wins Appeal

17 Ray Rice Wins Appeal Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Ray Rice has won the appeal of his indefinite suspension by the NFL. An arbitrator ruled Friday that his suspension for punching his fiancee, now his wife, should be vacated immediately. The NFL said Rice, a free agent, is "eligible to play upon signing a new contract." Former U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones said Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision in September to change Rice's original suspension from two games to indefinite was "arbitrary" and an "abuse of discretion." Jones was deciding whether the NFL overstepped its authority in modifying Rice's two-game suspension after video of the Baltimore Ravens running back punching Janay became public. Rice was released by the Ravens when the video went public. Rice and the union contended he was essentially sentenced twice, and Jones agreed. She noted in her decision that after Goodell increased the punishment for a first offense under the personal conduct policy from two to six games, "the commissioner called Rice to assure him that the new policy would not affect him — that it was forward-looking and his penalty would not be increased." In her decision, Jones also wrote: "Because Rice did not mislead the commissioner and because there were no new facts on which the commissioner could base his increased suspension, I find that the imposition of the indefinite suspension was arbitrary. I therefore vacate the second penalty imposed on Rice. "The provisions of the first discipline — those regarding making continued use of counseling and other professional services, having no further involvement with law enforcement, and not committing any additional violations of league policies — still stand." The NFL said it accepted the decision. "We respect Judge Jones's decision to reinstate Ray Rice from his indefinite suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy in an incident of domestic violence," spokesman Greg Aiello said in an email to The Associated Press. "Ray Rice is a free agent and has been eligible to be signed by an NFL team since he was released by the Ravens. Based on Judge Jones' decision, he will be eligible to play upon signing a new contract." Goodell and the Rices testified at the hearing, as did NFL security chief Jeffrey Miller and Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome. During his appearance, Goodell told Jones: "I do accept that I have to be consistent with consistent circumstances, and ... I think that's about fairness, and fairness would be, you should be as consistent as possible in your discipline." The NFL Players Association claimed a "victory for a disciplinary process that is fair and transparent" in a statement. The union called again for collective bargaining to produce a new personal conduct policy.
Ranked Above Lebron & Carmelo! 5mo
Lenny Cooke

20 Lenny Cooke Shop Korn Productions

Professional sports is known as a true meritocracy, a field in which the cream really does rise to the top, as there's simply too much money at stake to operate in any other fashion. In uncommon instances, however, inefficiencies can occur and gifted players may fall through the cracks. Such is the story of Lenny Cooke. In 2001, Cooke was the number-one ranked high school basketball player in America, with future NBA greats LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony listed beneath him. Yet after declaring himself eligible for the 2002 NBA draft, Cooke, shockingly, ended up going undrafted, and became a journeyman playing in little-known leagues across the world. Today he lives in southern Virginia, a should-have-been-great who simply did not quite make it. The first documentary feature from American independent film scene fixtures Josh & Benny Safdie (Daddy Longlegs, The Pleasure of Being Robbed), LENNY COOKE explores the fascinating question of how, exactly, Cooke's seemingly assured future could go so awry.
KEN BLOCK'S GYMKHANA SEVEN 4mo

WILD IN THE STREETS OF L.A. WTF

Hoonigan, Ford, and Need For Speed proudly present Ken Block’s Gymkhana SEVEN; Wild in the Streets: Los Angeles.
3mo
How low can it go? Gas Prices Fall.

25 How low can it go? Gas Prices Fall. CNBC

OPEC may be trying to cause pain for the U.S. shale drillers, but it's providing a holiday gift for consumers, with another 25-cent drop in gasoline prices possible by Christmas. Oil plunged Friday, with West Texas Intermediate down 10 percent to $66.15 per barrel, after OPEC refrained from cutting back production at its Thursday meeting. Gasoline at the pump, meanwhile, was at $2.79 per gallon nationally, its lowest Thanksgiving holiday price since 2009. "I think the national average will drop to between $2.55 and $2.60 a gallon by Christmas," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. The national average was $2.79 per gallon of unleaded on Friday, down 4 cents from last week, according to AAA. OPEC members Thursday followed the lead of Saudi Arabia, which has said it did not want to cut production and has made it clear it will defend its market share against other producers. Those producers include the U.S. shale industry, which has helped boost U.S. production by a million barrels a day in just a year. OPEC member Venezuela sees the world oversupplied by 2 million barrels a day. Lipow said one surprise might be that U.S. oil production will continue to increase. "I expect oil production is going to continue to increase in the U.S. over the next three to four months as shale oil and Gulf of Mexico projects that are underway get completed," he said. Drilling in the Rocky Mountains, Utah and Ohio will be the first to be impacted, he said. U.S. oil production has averaged about 9 million barrels a day over the last several weeks, the first time it has been at that level since 1986. Oil prices are expected to continue to be under pressure. "It's still expected that Gulf of Mexico production will increase by 500,000 barrels a day over the next two years, and that's very likely to happen because most of the investment has been spent," Lipow said. Oil stocks were hit hard Friday, with the S&P energy sector down more than 6 percent. "Eighty percent of the production coming on stream from tight oil has an economic return between $50 and $69. At this price level, tight oil will be tested. People have committed for rigs in the short term, but every management is going to go back and review their budgets and we'll see spending reined in further," said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS. They'll focus on the most productive wells ... spending will be concentrated in the most productive plays." He noted that many of the quarterly reports from oil companies indicated that they were going ahead with drilling plans but that will change. "No matter what OPEC does in the months ahead, this has changed the psychology of investing in the world oil industry," Yergin said. Lipow said the U.S. industry would cut back on existing wells, even though it will continue to see production growth over the next couple of months even with low prices. "Is the break even $70 or is it $50? There's no doubt the E and P companies will be cutting their budgets dramatically," Lipow said.
3mo
Best Cyber Monday deals

26 Best Cyber Monday deals Yahoo News

With Black Friday over, savvy holiday shoppers are already looking ahead to CyberMonday when online retailers offer discounts that are often even better than the ones offered by the brick-and-mortar stores. Mobile shopping app ShopSavvy, which lets its users track major sales at different retailers across multiple brands, has given us some data about which retailers are offering the biggest average discounts on Cyber Monday and it looks like gadget lovers should check out Newegg, Best Buy, and ThinkGeek first. According to ShopSavvy, Newegg is offering a stunning average 71% discount on electronics on Cyber Monday, followed by Best Buy with an average 37% discount and ThinkGeek with an average 29% discount. Best Buy has by far the biggest arsenal of products on sale for Cyber Monday, however, as ShopSavvy found it is offering sales on 638 electronics products while Target is offering the second-most discounts of a comparatively paltry 409 products. Anyone specifically looking to buy a new TV should check out Amazon, Best Buy and Target first, as all three retailers are offering an average discount of 24% of higher for television sets. For computers and computer-related products, meanwhile, Walmart (38% average discount), Amazon (22% average discount) and NewEgg (19% average discount) are all offering the best deals.
Powerful! 4mo

Selma Paramount

Martin Luther King, Lyndon Baines Johnson and the civil rights marches that changed America.
4mo
Avengers: Age of Ultron

28 Avengers: Age of Ultron Marvel Studios

When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and it is up to The Avengers to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.
Mad Max Is Back! 7mo
Mad Max: Fury Road

29 Mad Max: Fury Road Village Roadshow Pictures

A apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.
Based On The Best Seller! 7mo
Fifty Shades Of Grey

30 Fifty Shades Of Grey Universal Pictures

Fifty Shades of Grey is the hotly anticipated film adaptation of the bestselling book that has become a global phenomenon. Since its release, the “Fifty Shades” trilogy has been translated into 51 languages worldwide and sold more than 100 million copies in e-book and print—making it one of the biggest and fastest-selling book series ever.