Daily 30: Mon 01.12.2015

Beyond The Headlines! 6mo
January 12, 2015

2 January 12, 2015 Vice News

Today: Syrian rebels launch attack in northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Afghan and Pakistani Taliban fighters pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, tens of thousands rally against racism in eastern Germany as anti-Islamic movement grows, and an oil deal with the U.S. could help boost Mexico's ailing economy.
6mo
Shooting During Chris Brown Club Event

3 Shooting During Chris Brown Club Event TMZ

Five people were shot and injured during Chris Brown's latest club appearance in San Jose, CA. According to Vibe, the shooting happened at Fiesta Nightclub around 1:20 a.m. while Chris was on stage entertaining the crowd by performing his hit single "Loyal." Shots rang out in the club, leaving the Breezy's security to escort him off the stage. Four people were wounded while another wounded patron was found at a local hospital. Several people were detained by the police, but no arrests have been made. Chris sent fans his status over Twitter before deleting it. Karrueche was also in attendance, but was not hurt during the shooting
6mo
Boombot Rex Goes Next Level

12 Boombot Rex Goes Next Level Forbes

Forbes meets up with RZA in Las Vegas to hear his insight on the latest product launch from partner Boombotix, putting music back in the hands of consumers and why Wu-Tang Clan has endured across three decades.
Blast This!!! 6mo
Hotel

13 Hotel Kid Ink ft. Chris Brown

Kid Ink and Chris Brown team up again for another banger "Hotel". soundcloud.com/kidinkofficial/kid-ink-hotel-ft-chris-brown
6mo
Kissin'

14 Kissin' Chelsea

The ATL native sings about young love on this catchy mid-tempo record "Kissin". soundcloud.com/theyknowchelsea/kissin
6mo
West Coast (CoCo Remix)

15 West Coast (CoCo Remix) TeeFlii

TeeFlii pays homage to Cali on this remix of CoCo on "West Coast". soundcloud.com/yngca/youngcalifornia-exclusive-west-coast-by-teeflii
6mo
Common's Powerful Speech

16 Common's Powerful Speech Huffington Post

The Golden Globe  for  Best Original Song was awarded to John Legend and Common for their song "Glory" from the film "Selma." In an exclusive video shared on NME, Common and John Legend discussed how the two decided to collaborate together, explaining that the song is meant to capture the spirit of fighting for change that is demonstrated in the film and the inequality that "still exists."   "The first day I stepped on the set of 'Selma' I began to feel like this was bigger than a movie," Common said during his acceptance speech. "As I got to know the people of the Civil Rights Movement, I realized I am the hopeful black woman who was denied her right to vote. I am the caring white supporter killed on the front lines of freedom. I am the unarmed black kid who maybe needed a hand, but instead was given a bullet. I am the two fallen police officers murdered in the line of duty. 'Selma' has awakened my humanity."   This is Common and John Legend's first nomination and win, beating out Lorde's "Yellow Flicker Beat" (from "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1"), Lana Del Rey's "Big Eyes" (from "Big Eyes"), Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye's "Mercy Is" (from "Noah") and Sia and Greg Kurstin's "Opportunity" (from "Annie").   U2 and Danger Mouse's "Ordinary Love" was crowned Best Original Song at the 2014 Golden Globe Awards, from the soundtrack to the film "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom."
6mo
Nigeria's Horror in Paris's Shadow

17 Nigeria's Horror in Paris's Shadow The Atlantic

As many as a million people, joined by 40 world leaders, filled the streets of Paris on Sunday in solidarity after two separate terrorist attacks claimed 17 innocent lives last week. The day before, more than 3,000 miles to the south, a girl believed to be around 10 approached the entrance to a crowded market in Maiduguri, a city of some 1 million in Nigeria's Borno State. As a security guard inspected her, the girl  detonated explosives strapped to her body, killing herself and at least 19 others. Dozens more were injured. Saturday's suicide bombing elicited little coverage compared to the events in Paris, which have dominated headlines since last Wednesday's attack on Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper. Why the slaughter of 17 innocents in France receives more attention than the death of roughly the same number of Nigerians is the kind of question that can result in accusations of indifference, racism, and media bias. But the contrast between the attacks in Paris and the suicide bombing in Maiduguri actually reveals something far more sinister: the ravages of state failure. The main difference between France and Nigeria isn't that the public and the media care about one and not the other. It is, rather, that one country has an effective government and the other does not. Boko Haram is waging a ruthless war throughout northeast Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. On Wednesday, Boko Haram militants laid siege to Baga, a city that has resisted them, setting fire to buildings and killing residents indiscriminately. Hundreds of people fled into Lake Chad and attempted to swim to a nearby island. Many drowned along the way. Those who didn't are now marooned without food and shelter and have no defense against the island's swarm of malarial mosquitos. The death toll in Baga reportedly exceeds 2,000. Some 20,000 others are now displaced. The New York Times story on this deadly siege appeared on page A6 of Saturday's print edition, while the paper's story of the suicide bombing landed on page A8. How did the attacks in France so thoroughly bury the atrocities in Nigeria? One explanation is the difficulty of covering dangerous, remote parts of the world, such as Nigeria's northeastern Borno State, where Boko Haram holds sway over much of the territory. A similar dynamic exists in Syria, where a civil war has claimed nearly 200,000 lives since erupting in 2011, and where relatively few journalists are there  to witness it. In addition, it's likely that the Paris attack's focus on a publication touched a nerve with members of the media worldwide. But it's not that the media doesn't cover Nigeria, or that Westerners don't care about Africans. After all, when Boko Haram fighters kidnapped nearly 200 girls from a school in Chibok in April of last year, a public campaign to bring them back attracted widespread publicity, with even First Lady Michelle Obama contributing a photograph. Two years before that, a video from the now-defunct NGO Invisible Children that highlighted Joseph Kony, the Ugandan warlord who leads the Lord's Resistance Army, was viewed over 100 million times in its first six days. These campaigns, whatever their shortcomings, did at least show that people in the West aren't totally indifferent to African suffering. The main difference between France and Nigeria isn't that the public and the media care about one and not the other. It is, rather, that one country has an effective government and the other does not. The French may not be too fond of President Francois Hollande—his approval ratings last November had plunged to 12 percent—but he responded to his country's twin terror attacks with decisiveness. Not so Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan. Since assuming the presidency in 2010, Jonathan has done little to contain Boko Haram. The group emerged in 2002 and has consolidated control over an area larger than West Virginia. And it's gaining ground. Perversely, the seemingly routine nature of Nigeria's violence may have diminished the perception of its newsworthiness. Jonathan's failure to confront Boko Haram, of course, is nothing new. Nigeria has long been cursed with a corrupt, ineffective government, one perennially unable to translate the country's vast oil wealth into broad-based prosperity. During his campaign for re-election—Nigerians go to the polls on February 14—Jonathan has vowed to tackle his country's problem with graft. At a campaign rally on Thursday, the president exhorted his followers to support him. "You must vote for your liberation, you must vote for your development, you must vote to take Nigeria to the moon," he said. "You cannot vote to take Nigeria backward." Boko Haram wasn't mentioned once.
6mo
The Pinkprint Movie

18 The Pinkprint Movie Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj has shared a short film that serves as a visual companion piece to her new album The Pinkprint. The Pinkprint Movie is a 16-minute film directed by Taylor Cohen and Francesco Carrozzini. It follows a narrative across three tracks: "The Crying Game", "Grand Piano", and "I Lied". The film stars Minaj, Willy Monfret, and Boris Kodjoe. One of the executive producers is music video guru Nabil.
9mo
The Grand Finale

19 The Grand Finale Steve Harvey

As the old adage goes, “all things must come to an end,” and for comedian Steve Harvey this week marks an end to a fraction of his 27 year comedy career.  The original “King Of Comedy” will headlines his final stand-up show, "Steve Harvey’s Grand Stand-Up Finale," at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Math Hoffa to Dizaster 6mo
$500k and You're Still Scared to Fight Me?

24 $500k and You're Still Scared to Fi… Vlad TV

Math Hoffa and Dizaster were recently offered upwards of $500,000 by Celebrity Boxing Promoter Damon Feldman to throw hands in the ring, and Math has his sights set on pocketing that money while simultaneously getting even for what happened at KOTD's BOLA 5 event. Math views this potential business venture as a "no brainer" type of situation, since rumbling isn't something new to him so it only makes sense for him to accept a payment to do something that he'd be willing to do for free. Also, the fact that the boxing match is also being used to promote the "Hands Up Don't Shoot" project to thwart street violence, is also a beneficial factor added to the entire package. Despite his willingness to fight, and the fact that Dizaster already expressed his agreement to the match on Twitter, Hoffa still believes that he is scared to get in the ring with him. Check out what Math had to say about the boxing match above.
6mo
Supreme Court rejects challenge to Obamacare law

25 Supreme Court rejects challenge to … Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up another broad challenge to President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.

The court rejected an appeal filed by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and the Alliance for Natural Health USA. The groups had challenged various aspects of the law known as Obamacare including the so-called individual mandate that requires people to obtain health insurance or pay a tax.

In March 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the Obama administration. In 2012, a district court judge also ruled against the challengers.

The 2010 healthcare law has been subjected to numerous legal challenges, including a key 2012 case in which the Supreme Court upheld the bulk of the law on a 5-4 vote.

The court is now hearing a separate challenge to a key part of the law which, if successful, would deprive millions of Americans of tax-credit subsidies to help them afford health insurance.

Oral arguments in that challenge are scheduled for March 4.

6mo
Policy shift yields decline in school suspensions

26 Policy shift yields decline in scho… Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the last three years, Marcquees Banks has been taken out of class twice and sent to another school for getting into fights. The third time he got into a scuffle, something different happened: A counselor at Augustus Hawkins High School in South Los Angeles pulled Banks and the other teen aside and told them they needed to talk. Seated face to face, Joseph Luciani asked them to explain why they'd fought and how they felt — part of the school's new approach to discipline that is catching on in urban districts and focuses more on students working out their differences with counselors than suspensions. "I realized we had a lot of similarities," said Banks, 17, who said his father is involved in a gang and his mother jobless. At Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest, the shift has been tectonic. Five years ago, students were scolded with 74,765 days of suspension; last year, they received 8,351, an 89 percent decrease. The decline comes on the heels of a nationwide push to rollback zero-tolerance policies instituted after the deadly Columbine High School shootings that emphasize harsh discipline for even minor misbehavior in favor of support-focused alternatives. In a letter to school districts last year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urged administrators to move away from punishing students by removing them from class. In Los Angeles, the school board mandated that by 2020 every school use restorative justice — a practice first used in criminal cases and now being implemented at a number of large districts like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. The idea: Cultivate communication between teachers and students by gathering in weekly circles to discuss concerns and form one-on-one "harm circles" between students, parents and counselors when conflicts arise. Los Angeles, in particular, will be a case study showing how well it can be scaled up. Suspension rates are one measure, but one of the biggest debates in restorative justice is over how to measure success. Howard Zehr, a criminologist who began studying restorative justice in the 1970s, said the other, perhaps more profound markers are much less tangible — things like how well children understand each other. Skeptics fear mandates to reduce suspensions will have a troubling ripple effect, with teachers afraid to suspend anyone. "I worry about it going to the other extreme," said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington education think tank. "A situation in which there's very few or zero suspension and expulsions and schools become unruly places." Augustus Hawkins High School was opened in 2012 as part of the district's $19.2 billion school construction and renovation project. The modern white, blue and brick buildings stand in contrast to the small homes with burglar bar windows nearby. The school also stands in the crosshairs of rivaling gangs. Claudia Rojas, one of three principals at the school, said she took the job determined to increase achievement levels in one of LA's most disadvantaged neighborhoods. She had little experience in school discipline. "I didn't even know how to suspend a kid," she said. Nevertheless, Rojas and the other principals issued a lot of suspensions that year. Then they began looking for alternatives. The proposed solution came by way of Europe. The California Conference for Equality and Justice hired Joseph Luciani, who is from Belgium and an Eastern Mennonite University graduate who studied conflict and peacebuilding, to work at Augustus Hawkins as a full-time restorative justice specialist. Luciani trained the school's teachers over the next summer. Teachers were instructed to first work on building trust by gathering students weekly and asking questions about their lives. Students talked about relatives that had been killed by gun violence or deported. When a student acted out, teachers would try to handle the situation in class, and if that didn't work, send the student to a counselor. Repeated offenses worked their way up to the principals and if warranted, suspension. At the program Rojas runs, suspensions dropped 44 percent the next year. Those numbers parallel declines seen in schools across the district. At a recent school board meeting, officials proudly shared suspension data for several charter schools up for renewal. One had just one suspension since 2012. Another, zero since 2010. But some also wonder: If students aren't being suspended, how are they being held accountable? Zehr said the accountability comes in students having to take responsibility for their actions and the people they harmed by speaking with them directly. In some cases, however, students are still being sent home, but without any documented suspension, said Ruth Cusik, an education rights attorney. The district was unable to provide data showing how many students are disciplined but do not receive suspension. "Students are still losing valuable class time," she said. Others point out that while schools like Augustus Hawkins have a full-time restorative justice counselor on site, most do not. "They feel they're just being told not to suspend or not expel," Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles said. "There's not a support network around them to get help for students or get help for themselves." Now a junior, Banks said, he's begun thinking differently about his future. He said he always thought he would end up in jail, because that's what others seemed to expect of him. Now, he wants to be a counselor.
7mo
Unfinished Business

27 Unfinished Business Regency

A hard-working small business owner (Vince Vaughn) and his two associates (Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco) travel to Europe to close the most important deal of their lives. But what began as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every imaginable – and unimaginable – way, including unplanned stops at a massive sex fetish event and a global economic summit.
8mo
Kingsman: The Secret Service

28 Kingsman: The Secret Service Marv Films

Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.
6mo
Get Hard

29 Get Hard Warner Bros.

When millionaire hedge fund manager James (Will Ferrell) is nailed for fraud and bound for a stretch in San Quentin, the judge gives him 30 days to get his affairs in order. Desperate, he turns to Darnell (Kevin Hart) to prep him for a life behind bars. But despite James’ one-percenter assumptions, Darnell is a hard-working small business owner who has never received a parking ticket, let alone been to prison. Together, the two men do whatever it takes for James to “get hard” and, in the process, discover how wrong they were about a lot of things – including each other.
8mo
Chappie

30 Chappie Sony Pictures

After being kidnapped by two criminals during birth, Chappie becomes the adopted son in a strange and dysfunctional family. Chappie is preternaturally gifted, one of a kind, a prodigy. He also happens to be a robot.