Recently, Bryan Koon, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, tried to discuss climate change at a Senate budget meeting. However, there was one stipulation he had to follow: He could not use the term “climate change.”
The music streaming business got another competitor Monday with the launch of Tidal, a high-fidelity music-streaming platform, launched by none other than the talented, collaborative rapper Jay Z.
Film and television representation for anyone who isn’t straight, white and cisgender has been largely nonexistent until very recently. People of color have been condemned to stereotyped roles, often playing domestic workers or exaggerated caricatures of their cultures. The painful truth is women, people of color and transgender people do not see themselves reflected back in the media they consume.
It’s been about a month and a half since Jon Stewart announced his retirement from “The Daily Show.” The time between then and now was spent frantically wondering who was going to replace the beloved comedian’s seat at Comedy Central’s World News Headquarters in New York. Fans mourned the end of Stewart’s 16-year tenure as the show’s host, and some offered up their own opinions as to who should succeed the comedian who has become one of the most trusted men in America. Some hoped “Daily Show” correspondent Jessica Williams would replace Stewart, but she dispelled the rumors in a tweet saying she was “extremely under-qualified” for the position. That was Feb. 15; since then, most of us decided to sit tight and try to ignore the inevitable.
Ellen Pao, the woman who accused a powerful venture capital firm of gender discrimination, lost her case last week. Pao claimed that Kleiner Perkins Byers & Caufield refused to promote her — and ultimately fired her — because of her gender.
Last week, I found myself counting out exactly $2.43 in an embarrassingly obvious way for a small cup of coffee from a local coffee shop. Why? First, because I really wanted that coffee. I’ve come to temporarily accept the fact that I’m addicted to coffee, or at least the crazed sugar-caffeine high that coffee graciously gives me. More importantly, however, I counted out the cents of my bill because I was down to about only $10 to my name, and I didn’t want to waste a single penny.
Did you get to see T-Pain and comedian John Mulaney at the Big Orange Fest? Did you also get to see the hilarious yaks, tweets and status updates throughout the shows? Odds are, you weren’t able to keep up with it all, and you may have been suffering from FOMO because of it. FOMO, or the fear of missing out, is the feeling of anxiety people get when they worry about an exciting event that might be happening elsewhere. It’s a cocktail of emotions that includes regret, helplessness and guilt that can be triggered by social media. Something as simple as seeing a Facebook status, Snapchat story, Instagram post or a tweet can cause FOMO, leading someone to think that they’re missing out on a great party, wedding, football game or conversation. Similarly, not seeing a friend’s status, story, post or tweet can cause FOMO because it leads to uncertainty about what events could be taking place off social media. FOMO is more pervasive than ever, but with a tweak in the way we think, it’s completely preventable.
Netflix, Hulu and similar streaming services are the ways many people watch television in this day and age. “House of Cards,” a Netflix exclusive, is the first-ever online-only television show to be nominated for major awards at the Emmys. “Orange is the New Black,” a show that is also a Netflix exclusive, has been similarly successful with fans and critics. Hulu has recently been increasing its emphasis on original programming as well.
Late last semester, I wrote a column for this paper titled “After sweeping the midterm elections, Republicans must prove themselves.” I am sad to report they have not lived up to their promises. Republicans now have control over both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and they have the ability to start passing legislation to heal America’s wounds that have only been getting worse over the past decade.
In the news this week: pop stars, duck hunters and FratPACs — and, no, that’s not a new form of booze. Here’s your weekly Friday
I picked up my first cigarette between my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college. Despite the fact my two best friends had already been smoking for a solid year at that point, I’d always hesitated. After all, it’d been drilled into my head pretty thoroughly that cigarettes provide zero benefits. They’re addictive. They’re expensive. They don’t provide the intoxicating effects of alcohol or other popular drugs of choice. And, of course, they exponentially increase one’s chances of contracting cancer. My first cigarette was a spur-of-the-moment “Why not?” decision, not one built on excitement or anticipation. I threw up immediately after finishing it.
It’s unsettling to wake up to a red Rorschach test on your sheets. Why am I covered in blood? Who did I stab last night? Why do I want to cry and eat macaroni and cheese?
Facebook was perhaps the pioneer social networking site, surpassing early failures and moderate successes like Myspace. Today, though, it’s often seen as a congested social hellscape, overrun with posts from your pregnant high school classmates, vaguely racist rants and OMG this adorable little girl asked her brother where babies come from and YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.
On Monday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for president of the U.S. With the simple tweet “I’m running for President and I hope to earn your support!” the 2016 election season began. The checks will be written. There will be stump speeches. Babies will be kissed. Ronald Reagan will be invoked. Flag pins will be worn.
We’ve been devoting a lot of coverage to Ted Cruz, Iran, anti-homelessness ordinances and regressive legislation concerning who can use what bathroom. Today, let’s direct our attention locally to Santa Fe College.
If you were to open your wallet right now and pull out a genuine U.S. bill printed within the last century, there is a 100 percent chance there will be a man’s portrait on it. To put this a different way: There is a 100 percent chance that there will not be a woman on it. The last time a woman’s portrait was printed on U.S. paper currency was in the late 1800s, when first lady Martha Washington, President George Washington’s wife, was on the 1886 and 1891 $1 silver certificate. It isn’t just paper currency where women have not been recognized, however. Only three women have been on U.S. coins: Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea on $1 coins and Helen Keller on the back of the 2003 Alabama quarter. There has always been a need to recognize more accomplished women, and now it might actually be addressed.
In the span of one short week, Starbucks rolled out and ended a campaign called “Race Together,” with a hashtag and sticker set to match. Starbucks allowed its partners to write “Race Together” on customers’ cups, hoping to generate dialogue. By the way, “partner” is just what Starbucks calls its employees as a gesture of goodwill and to show that employees are valued.
If there’s one thing Americans don’t like talking about, it’s death.
Ariana Miyamoto was born May 12, 1994, in Sasebo, Japan. She is a Japanese citizen. She speaks Japanese fluently. She spent her childhood years in Japan. She identifies as Japanese. Miyamoto’s beauty, talent and strong sense of patriotism enabled her to win the 2015 Miss Japan Pageant. With this victory, Miyamoto will represent Japan in the Miss Universe Pageant. Despite her qualifications and talent, Miyamoto has faced criticism, and people have questioned her ability to represent Japan.
Solutions by The State News
