Hasta La Gadget!

Hi there,

If you’re a conservative person who was intrigued into reading this, bless you. I think respectful dialogue between people of opposing views is paramount to social change and that curiosity is where it all begins.. All that said, however you feel about it — justified or not — the death of an unarmed, black teen is a big issue, and the loss of a hard-working person’s place of business due to rioting is incredibly unfortunate… But can we be clear about something? Riots are not just about the current issue at hand (Mr. Brown’s death.)

In my humble opinion, when something like this happens, it awakens a sleeping giant in people. Yes, surely people are sad and angry about the death of this young man, but I believe it’s much deeper than that. I believe when something like this happens, people are reminded of some pretty incredible circumstances in our country not discussed often enough. For instance, that it’s been proven for the same crime, black people are routinely punished more harshly than white people, that a substantial percentage of the black, male population is behind bars, that widely speaking, as far as civil rights have come in the past hundred years, black people are — historically and presently — more frequently in poverty and lacking opportunities than white people.

All of these factors (and many more) making it more easy for black lives to be taken more frequently through questionable circumstances. (By the way, even if you don’t agree that the police officer who killed Mr. Brown — or the issues surrounding police brutality — were/are questionable, a nice chunk of the country would beg to differ, which at the very least, means it’s not clear cut.) In my opinion, all these factors — which surely contributed to Mr. Brown’s death — make it a very complex issue, make the word “injustice” come to my mind and the minds of many others, and why I believe people riot… They feel unheard, and in many respects they are.

I believe that could be different. I believe people in Ferguson — like in any other community — can organize, rally and elect people who will represent them and make fair laws in their name… But that is no easy feat, especially when you lack formal education — which, by the way is hard to attain when you’ve been poor all your life, and your mother and grandmother have been poor all their lives — and opportunities seem few. Do you see what I mean when I say it’s a complex issue?

In closing, I beg of you, please keep being curious. Please keep reaching across your mind, across the aisle — and perhaps tomorrow at Thanksgiving — across the table, and start those hard conversations. As of now, I’m in the large camp of people who believe the system is broken as well as the small camp who bust it every day trying to fix it. Apathy has a big enough following, please consider being a person of action.

When this big rescue dog joined a new home, she probably didn’t expect to find a furever friend in a pooch half her size.

Douglas Pittsley, 27, of San Diego, served in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years and was deployed a few times over the course of his military career. In 2010, Pittsley, who dealt with anger and depression after his deployments, adopted a large German shepherd mix whom he named Dixie to help him with his stress.

While Dixie found a best friend in Pittsley, he wasn’t the only one she had a connection with. The pooch ended up having an special bond with another dog, Minka, that Pittsley and his family adopted earlier this year. As a team, the two have been a great source of comfort for the veteran.

“They know when he’s had a rough day at work and a rougher night of sleep from terrors, they will barrel into the room and lay by his side and play with him,” Pittsley’s wife, Mindy, told The Huffington Post in an email. “Minka will cuddle with him and nibble at his nose while Dixie will sit on one side with a paw on his shoulder like she’s hugging him.”

Pittsley and his wife were surprised at the friendship that formed between the two dogs, as they were different breeds. However, Dixie gravitated toward Minka the day she was brought home.

“Dixie and Minka have an odd relationship seeing that there is a size difference,” Mindy said. “Minka cannot be without Dixie and wherever Dixie goes Minka is sure to follow. They constantly cuddle and snuggle with each other and Dixie is super gentle with Minka.”

While the canines may look like an odd pair, Mindy says they both exhibit incredibly compassionate qualities, and were both able to provide loving support to her husband after his deployment. Dixie gave Pittsley “the opportunity to focus on something other than the stresses of life after deployments.”

Minka, on the other hand, was immediately attentive to the former Marine the moment she entered the household.

“When we arrived at home that night Minka curled up into Doug’s neck and slept with him the whole night through,” Mindy said.

While the doggy duo spends a lot of their time being great comforts to Pittsley, they also enjoy many silly moments together.

“Dixie and Minka like to run around the backyard and chase the birds that fly above, thinking they may catch one,” Mindy said.

As the pair continue to be support systems for the veteran, their owners hope that they’ll continue to look out for one another as well.

“Minka enjoys sneaking underneath Dixie at breakfast time to eat together even though they have separate bowls,” Mindy told HuffPost. “They are inseparable.”

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Like mother, like daughter.

Selena Gomez shared a side-by-side photo on Instagram on Saturday that made us do a double take. On the left side of the collage is a throwback shot of Gomez’s mother, Mandy Teefey, striking a pose in a lacy red tank. On the right side, Gomez strikes a similar pose in a bodysuit with a keyhole cutout. “Werk momma #igetitfrommymomma,” the 22-year-old singer captioned the photo:

Werk momma ☺️ #igetitfrommymomma

A photo posted by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Nov 11, 2014 at 7:30pm PST

Good genes aren’t the only thing the two ladies have in common, either. Teefey occassionally performed in plays in Dallas, Texas, which inspired her daughter to become a child actor.

Rand Paul, you’re going to want to call your office.

Conservative pundit Bill Kristol said that Paul is “totally overrated” as a potential 2016 candidate.

“I predict Rand Paul will get fewer votes than his father got in 2012,” he said. “He’s more dovish than President Obama on foreign policy. Republican voters aren’t.”

Watch more of his appearance in the video above.

Though Kristol has never been a big Rand Paul fan, he is considered to be a likely frontrunner in the next presidential election. A recent Bloomberg poll showed that Paul had the highest approval rating in New Hampshire among rumored 2016 candidates, with 65 percent of likely primary voters in the state had positive views of the Kentucky senator. Even soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that Paul would have his support should he choose to run.

Earlier this month, Paul said that he won’t make a decision on 2016 until the spring.

The CinniBird lets you spice up food literally and figuratively. The battery-powered pen lets you draw using spices and powdered substances such as cinnamon, paprika and cocoa. Just fill its removable container and start doodling.

According to its maker OLIARTS Studio, CinniBird is already a finished product, which makes me wonder why they bothered to setup a Kickstarter fundraiser. On the other hand, if it’s already in production then it’s a safer bet compared to most crowdfunded items.

Pledge at least $45 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a CinniBird pen as a reward. It will retail for $60.