Disgusting: KKK Uses Candy to Recruit New Members

If candy is all it takes to get people to join a hate group, we are in very deep, America.

(REUTERS)

This week, a South Carolina subdivision of the Ku Klux Klan left candy and fliers in driveways at the end of their national night ride. In the effort to not be "racist" by trying to discern which homes held white families, many goodie bags were left at the homes of minorities by Klan members.
Fliers read "SAVE OUR LAND, JOIN THE KLAN" and listed a phone number to a voicemail that reinforced, "if it aint white, it aint right. White power"
 

#KKK uses candy to recruit in South Carolina http://t.co/Q9NmrzbXLF pic.twitter.com/rhdlOV0Fg8
— KRON 4 News (@kron4news) July 16, 2014

Oh, ok.

This recent stunt is an effort to gain momentum and possible voting power against recent immigration reform. Surprise, surprise.

The fact that this is still happening is a true shame.
Stay 'woke, America. 

(Source)

Woman Conquers American Ninja Warrior Finals Round

NBC's American Ninja Warrior is an obstacle course style strength and agility competition that gives regular people the chance to showcase their unusual fitness skills. Throughout the competition, viewers watch many fail (mostly by falling into the water underneath each obstacle stage) and very few succeed. Usually the victors range in size, but very rarely in gender.

Not only did Kacy Catanzaro made show history by completing a city finals round, but she also made it look incredibly easy.
Watch her beast below:
Maybe this performance will inspire more women to try out for the show. While it was entertaining to hear the announcers' shock and awe as she blazed through the course, it would be nice for a woman advancing to be something other than a Herculean feat.

Small, mighty, and feminine. Get it, girl!
Kacy Catanzaro, #doingmoor.

5 Things We (Still) Know About Organic Foods

Recent studies have added to the discussion surrounding the nutritional benefits of organic produce over those grown non-organically. When you hear the work organic you think "healthy"! So what did these recent findings (re)affirm for those who hear the echo of healthiness when they pass organic fruits and veggies in the grocery aisle?

1. Substantially higher levels of antioxidants and lower evidence of pesticides are found in organically grown produce.
No surprise here, folks. At the same calorie level between "regular" produce and its organic counterpart, the organic variety will have a greater amount of antioxidants.

Evidence of HIV Detected in Baby Said to Be Cured

In unfortunate news, the Mississippi baby doctors thought was functionally cured of HIV now has detectable levels of the virus in her system. A little more than two years after being taken off of an antiretroviral medication regimen, the child was tested during a routine checkup when the virus was detected and signs of a compromised immune system confirmed.

8th Grade Metal Band Scores Sony Record Deal

via Facebook

Unlocking the Truth, a young metal band from Brooklyn, has been signed to a two-album recording contract with Sony.

The band, comprised of guitarist Malcolm Brickhouse, drummer Jared Dawkins, and bassist Alec Atkins, writes their own music and lyrics. The record deal involves a $60,000 upfront advance and an option for four additional LPs.

Thanks to the Apollo Theater's amateur night competition and subsequent performances at Times Square and festivals such as AfroPunk, Unlocking the Truth has garnered significant buzz, piquing the interest of music enthusiasts.

Hobby Lobby Invests in Abortion Companies

(HuffPost)-- The owners of Hobby Lobby, a Christian-owned craft supply chain, were so offended by the idea of having to include emergency contraceptives and intrauterine devices in their health insurance plans that they sued the Obama administration and took the case all the way up to the Supreme Court. But Mother Jones reported on Tuesday that the company's retirement plan has invested millions of dollars in the manufacturers of emergency contraception and drugs used to induce abortions.

Hobby Lobby's 401(k) employee retirement plan holds $73 million in mutual funds that invest in multiple pharmaceutical companies that produce emergency contraceptive pills, intrauterine devices, and abortion-inducing medications.

The companies Hobby Lobby invests in include Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, which makes the Plan B morning-after pill and ParaGard, a copper IUD, as well as Pfizer, the maker of the abortion-inducing drugs Cytotec and Prostin E2. Hobby Lobby's mutual funds also invest in two health insurance companies that cover surgical abortions, abortion drugs, and emergency contraception in their health care policies.

Hobby Lobby's attorneys argue that the provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires most employers to cover contraception in their health plans infringes on the company's right to exercise religious freedom because the company's owners believe that emergency contraception and IUDs are actually forms of abortion. Medical studies have debunked this claim.

Mother Jones reported that all nine of the mutual funds Hobby Lobby's retirement plan holds include investments that clash with the owners' religious beliefs about abortion.
(Source)

C'mon, everyone! This story almost could not get any worse. So often, religion and other moral conflicts of interest are used to disguise greed and outright discrimination. There is no excuse here. 

Get into Justice Ruth Ginsberg's dissent of the Supreme Court ruling: here.
This is not the end of this healthcare coverage saga. Hopefully, the discussion will continue and this story will not simply fade with the next breaking news.

LA Barbers To Start Testing Blood Pressure

Jeff Robinson, AP

(NPR)- Barbershops are a traditional gathering place for African-American men — a place to talk politics, sports and gossip. Now, some doctors in Los Angeles are hoping to make the barbershop a place for combating high blood pressure among black men.

President Obama Encouraging Family-Friendly Work Policies

Manuel Balce Ceneta, Yahoo! files

(AP)- President Barack Obama says many American women can't even get a day off to give birth.
The president tells a working families summit that it's an issue this country isn't handling very well.
The United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn't mandate paid leave for mothers of newborns.
Obama says that's not a list he wants to be on — and it's time to change it.
But he hasn't thrown his support to legislation that would raise payroll taxes to cover the costs of paid family leave. His aides say that he wants instead to explore the issue further.
Read more: here


Finally! This male-centered work bias has gone on far too long, America. We are long overdue for some major change. Hopefully this country can pull it together-- for real.

Two Cleveland Nonprofits Win Fed Grants Aimed at Making Ex-offenders More Employable

(Plain Dealer) - Towards Employment has received a $2 million federal grant to create a comprehensive program aimed at helping those recently released from prison successfully complete job training, get hired and keep jobs.

Harlem Teen Opens World's First Pawn Shop for High-end Sneakers

Talk about knowing your market and making business models work in your community.

Meet Chase "Sneakers" Reed (age 16), entrepreneur, and owner of the world's first high-end sneaker pawn shop.

(Photo: Angel Chevrestt)