With millions of tourists visiting its theme parks around the world each year, it makes sense that Disney would want to track how visitors move about its attractions to help minimize lines and crowds and also to provide a unique experience for each guest. But does it have to sound so incredibly creepy?
Way back in 2012, Facebook was hit with a lawsuit over real-world currency children had spent playing games on the social network. The issue revolved around Facebook Credits, which gamers could buy using a credit card; the currency, then, would be used to buy virtual goods of one sort or another in Facebook games. This quickly became an issue as … Continue reading
The whole idea behind Nest’s smart thermostats is ease of use. And now in case you’d rather not fish your iPhone out of your pocket (or go on a hunt through the couch cushions for it), the smart home gadgets are controllable with an Apple Watch. The…
Victim blaming is bullsh*t, and comedian Alice Brine is calling bullsh*t on all that bullsh*t by explaining the illogical nature of it in one simple paragraph.
Brine, who lives in Auckland, New Zealand, took to Facebook Tuesday after posting about the rape trial of New Zealand cricket player Scott Kuggeleijn ― which has focused on whether the plaintiff “meant it” when she said “no” ― to enlighten those still confused on the subject.
The post, which has racked up over 100,000 likes on Facebook, has resulted in Brine getting messages from people around the world thanking her for speaking out.
The point is simple: “If you can get your head around not stealing a car parked outside your house, then you can get your head around not stealing a woman’s body just because she’s sitting on your bed,” she told BuzzFeed.
And there you have it.
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Hillary Clinton might very well be on her way to being the first female president of the United States, but when it comes to style, she’s been ruling the game for pretty much ever.
Sure, today she is known for her affection for the pantsuit, but there’s a way more complex wardrobe happening with Hill than you might think. Over the years there have been mini-skirts! Bold patterns! And an unshakable, undeniable, totally on-brand love of the color blue.
Her keen fashion sense shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. After all, this is a woman who has some of the biggest names in fashion on her team and who is reportedly getting presidential fashion advice from the HBIC herself, Anna Wintour.
Ahead of her speech at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night, join us in swooning over some of her best looks throughout the years.
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Parenting after divorce is challenging enough as it is― but it’s especially difficult if your ex acts and thinks like Donald Trump.
By his own admission, the 70-year-old Republican presidential nominee isn’t the kind of father who changes diapers ― or volunteers to do any heavy lifting as a parent, really, besides providing financial support.
“I like kids. I mean, I won’t do anything to take care of them,” the thrice-married real estate mogul told Howard Stern in 2005, adding, “I’ll supply funds and she’ll take care of the kids.”
His kids, too, have spoken of his hands-off style of parenting.
In a CNN interview earlier this month, eldest daughter Ivanka Trump had this to say of her dad’s parenting efforts: “You know, he wasn’t always physically present, but he was always available.”
So how do you co-parent with someone like The Donald? As Trump’s second wife Marla Maples has suggested, you don’t.
After her 1999 divorce, Maples left New York City and moved to Calabasas, California, with their daughter Tiffany.
“Her daddy is a good provider with education and such, but as far as time, it was just me,” Maples, 52, told People magazine of raising Tiffany, now 22, essentially as a single parent. “Her father wasn’t able to be there with day-to-day skills as a parent. He loves his kids. There’s no doubt. But everything was a bit of a negotiation.”
“Negotiating” with a mostly absentee parent, though, is not easy, especially if your ex is as drawn to conflict as Trump.
As a helpful guide to others struggling to co-parent with an ex who acts like Trump, we asked parenting experts to weigh in with some advice. See what they had to say below.
Uninvolved parents often try to buy their kids’ affection through extravagant gifts and costly trips, said Kate Scharff, a psychotherapist and divorce mediator in Washington, D.C. That may infuriate you if you’re the primary parent and money is tight on your end, but remember: money can’t buy love.
“Many AWOL parents try to compensate with splashy gifts, but that’s not a substitute for loving attention,” Scharff said. “Swallow your disdain, let your kids enjoy the gesture and understand that they’ll need you to be there when the excitement fades and the sadness sets in.”
Parents like Trump tend to underestimate the importance of daily interaction with their kids. In an interview with New York magazine in December 2004, Trump admitted that “finding time” for his children was the hardest part of parenting ― though he still raved about his parenting skills.
“I know friends who leave their business so they can spend more time with their children, and I say, ‘Gimme a break!’ My children could not love me more if I spent fifteen times more time with them,” he told the mag.
The truth is, fifteen minutes at the park or attending an after-school basketball game means everything to a kid, said Randall Kessler, a divorce attorney in Atlanta, Georgia,
“Certainly for people like Trump, working hard has provided amazing opportunities for their children, but there is no way to put a dollar value on quality time spent with your kids.”
Communicating with an ex who’s prone to conflict is no easy feat: If a discussion about who’s paying for summer camp results in your ex hurling insults and belittling you, don’t allow yourself to engage, said Morghan Richardson, a divorce attorney based in Astoria, New York.
“In the words of First Lady Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention, ‘when they go low, we go high,’’’ Richardson advised. “Set firm boundaries about communications and expectations. Always limit communications to text or email and then do not engage in fighting.”
When your ex tries to push your buttons, don’t take the bait.
“Keep your responses to nasty comments on topic (for instance, say, ‘Let’s keep these texts to issues about visitation’),” she said. “Being the better person is hard but at the end of the parenting road, it will pay off.”
According to Vanity Fair, Ivanka, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric were often cared for by their maternal grandparents before their parents decided to send them to boarding school. In an interview with New York magazine in 2004, Donald Jr. opened up about his grandfather stepping up to the plate.
“My father is a very hardworking guy, and that’s his focus in life, so I got a lot of the paternal attention that a boy wants and needs from my grandfather,” he said.
If your ex is similarly out of the picture, remind yourself that a surrogate dad or mom is better than no one, said Lisa Helfend Meyer, a divorce attorney in Los Angeles, California
“If one or both parents are busy working, sometimes it does take a village,” she told HuffPost. “There’s value in long-term nannies or grandparents.”
Sure, it drives you up the wall when your ex prioritizes an out-of-town golf junket over their custodial weekend, but avoid making your feelings known to your kids, said Scharff.
“Being critical of your ex puts your kids in the middle (they need permission to love both of you) and suggests you’ve forgotten who really loses out in this scenario — them.”
If your ex is prone to name calling and creating conflict whenever they come around, their distance may be for the best, said Alison Patton, a lawyer and mediator who wrote a blog about parenting with a high-conflict ex inspired by Trump.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say that co-parenting with a high-conflict or narcisstic ex can be a living hell,” she said. “Having a combatitve ex step out of the parenting arena, the way Trump did (while still providing financial support), would be a huge relief to parents I know who share custody with a narcissistic ex!”
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.
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Hillary Clinton made history this week by officially becoming the first woman to become the presidential nominee of a major political party, which means we’ve officially reached gender quality and sexism is totally over. Lol JK.
A data analysis from Google Trends shows that the top trending question about Clinton on Thursday, the last day of the Democratic National Convention, is “What will Hillary wear tonight?”
On the night Clinton formally accepts her nomination, you would think what she says ― which could possibly sway undecided voters and affect the fate of our country ― would matter more. But this trending search proves that because Clinton is a woman, her appearance will always be something to be focused on.
Men in politics rarely see news about their appearances making headlines ― their words and their promises are front and center. Women, however, are noted for their purses or their “political bobs.” The internet pointed out this double standard following Bill Clinton’s speech, with one Quartz headline nailing it quite beautifully: Hillary Clinton’s husband wore a fetching pantsuit to honor her nomination for US president.
Other trending questions about Clinton didn’t mention her fashion sense and included “What was in Hillary’s email?” and “Is Hillary Clinton a billionaire?”
Also, guys, it’s safe to say she’ll wear a pantsuit.
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PHILADELPHIA ― After addressing the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, former President Bill Clinton appeared on another, more private stage at the Reading Terminal Market just before 1 a.m. Clinton thanked the crowd for supporting his wife and the Democratic presidential nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He said he was glad that everyone could hear him “tell the story of the person that I know best.”
Hillary Action Fund, one of two joint fundraising committees raising money for Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, provided the funding for this official Clinton post-convention party. Inside, Clinton campaign officials milled with Democratic Party bigwigs, lawmakers, donors, celebrities and activists.
This was by no means the only event this week that linked party insiders with donors, big money or even corporate interests. In fact, corporations, their trade associations and billionaire mega-donors have been omnipresent around the city and especially in the Wells Fargo Center.
Comcast, easily the most visible corporate sponsor of the convention, has its logo emblazoned on every lanyard for convention-goers, and has giant welcome signs on the side of the convention arena and inside 30th Street Station. Facebook hosts a bar for select guests inside the hall. There’s even an official Uber drop-off zone, with a cool-off tent featuring free water and Kind bars.
Washington lobbyists were also in on the act, with events in Philadelphia throughout the week.
Heather Podesta and her ex-husband Tony, both registered lobbyists, threw competing brunches on Monday and Tuesday. The law firm Dentons hosted a happy hour at the Kimmel Center’s rooftop garden on Wednesday. Squire Patton Boggs, another law firm, hosted former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), now a registered lobbyist, at 30th Street Station. And Akin Gump, the most well-compensated lobbying firm of 2016, held a celebration of the career of longtime Clinton friend Vernon Jordan.
After eight years of being banned by the Obama administration and campaigns, lobbyists are finally able to give to the Democratic presidential ticket and the Democratic National Committee. There appeared to be laws in place governing events where registered lobbyists and federal candidates or officials mingled.
One clear example was at the Hillary Action Fund celebration, where the food provided by dozens of Reading Market vendors came in single servings ― modest portions constrained by official regulations. You could sample the breaded eggplant with sweet and sour sauce and arugula served on napkins, or the chicken dumplings served in small Chinese takeout containers.
Super PACs funded by mega-donors, meanwhile, were even more visible at the convention hall than they were in 2012. NextGen California, a super PAC funded by the billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, hosted a bar for select VIPs and delegates on the ground floor. On the suite level, House Majority PAC and Senate Majority PAC, the two main Democratic Party super PACs working to elect congressional candidates, provided a curtained-off private space for VIPs to relax, eat, watch the convention and even play video games. Why video games? The private space was sponsored by the Entertainment Software Alliance, the lobbying arm of the gaming industry.
Both House Majority PAC and Senate Majority PAC have also joined together with Priorities USA Action, the main pro-Clinton super PAC, to host the final party of the convention week, featuring a performance from Snoop Dogg. Two of the few disclosed donors for the festivities include the lobbying arm of the pharmaceutical industry and Anthem, Inc., a major health insurer.
All of this stood in stark contrast to the refrain from inside the convention hall, where calls rang out from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and President Barack Obama to overturn Citizens United and fight back against the influence of lobbyists.
There were other outside events throughout the week sponsored by corporations and trade associations. Railroad companies CSX and BNSF, Professional Aviation Specialists and the lobbying firm McGuireWoods Consulting sponsored a transportation industry event. NextGen Climate, Anheuser Busch, Geico and Southwest Airlines sponsored a Latino Leaders Lunch.
A long list of corporations sponsored the popular Distilled Spirits Council party. (Who doesn’t like free alcohol?) The majority of the sponsors were not from the alcohol industry. They included the Entertainment Software Association, Ford, McGuireWoods Consulting, Boeing, Quicken Loans and Monsanto. The Wall Street Journal was also a sponsor.
This was not the only overlap of the media and corporate influence.
Twitter treated reporters to an entire bar of free food, booze, coffee and Wi-Fi for the duration of the convention. (The social media company did the same in Cleveland last week for the Republican National Convention.)
Both Politico and The Atlantic hosted roundtable discussions sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute, the main oil industry lobby. Those speaking at some of these discussions explicitly endorsed the policies advocated by the oil industry.
At one, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat who has worked for natural gas companies since leaving office, defended fracking by saying that wind energy has its downsides because it kills birds. At another, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) compared a ban on fracking to life in the Soviet Union.
Even though the Obama team has banned lobbyist contributions at the presidential level for eight years, one government affairs representative for a Fortune 500 company told The Huffington Post he saw no real difference in terms of corporate or lobbyist activity between this week’s event and the last two conventions, which both nominated Obama.
The continuity between the Clinton, Obama and corporate worlds was on display at events thrown by Airbnb and Uber. The two Silicon Valley companies released new presidential polling data and hosted an event to celebrate the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Speaking at the press briefing were Airbnb’s Chris Lehane, a former Clinton aide, and Uber’s David Plouffe, the former political director for Obama.
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As you contemplate US leadership in this election process, it is essential to check in with the bard: in play after play he asks, what makes for a solid, dependable ruler? Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a towering character, shows more flaws and foibles than any tyrant in the public eye; fear and paranoia abound in his psyche. As performed by Ty Jones in the current Classical Theater of Harlem production at Marcus Garvey Park, under Carl Cofield’s superb direction, he is also physical, sexually charged, an adept swordsman. And as his Lady Macbeth, Roslyn Ruff, gives as good as she gets, as this iconic political schemer. This is a great night of choreographed magic, betrayal and violence under the night sky.
For a recent steamy performance, the park was packed with a diverse crowd. A hip hop riff for openers offered a sly nod to Hamilton on Broadway. Even though this is one of Shakespeare’s most well known tragedies, it is not without a comic voice professing to make the kingdom great again. The principals, clad in military garb, evoke visions of African warlords. Especially in a scene when MacDuff’s wife and child are murdered, the child, with Kaden Kennedy Jones in the role, is a precocious boy in vivid red socks who playfully turns cartwheels, making the killing all the more heartless.
Leave it to CTH to tease out the contemporary in Shakespeare without sacrificing his poetry. This version of Macbeth epitomizes what CTH does to perfection, under Ty Jones, Producing Artistic Director and David Roberts as Managing Director, and in association with City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage Festival. With just a few performances left, don’t miss it.
A version of this post also appears on Gossip Central.
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President Barack Obama has had a hard time hiding his disdain for Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, this election season.
In a remarkable speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, Obama questioned Trump’s ability to lead the free world, saying the candidate has spent “70 years on this earth showing no regard for working people.” Obama also emphatically stated that “homegrown demagogues” would never succeed in the United States.
Obama’s contempt for people like Trump may be rooted in the values he learned as a teenager in Hawaii. It’s hard not to think of Trump when reading Obama’s 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father, in which he writes about the lessons he learned from older men on the basketball courts.
Obama writes (emphasis added):
By the time I reached high school, I was playing on Punahou’s teams, and could take my game to the university courts, where a handful of black men, mostly gym rats and has-beens, would teach me an attitude that didn’t just have to do with the sport. That respect came from what you did and not who your daddy was. That you could talk stuff to rattle an opponent, but that you should shut the hell up if you couldn’t back it up. That you didn’t let anyone sneak up behind you to see emotions ― like hurt or fear ― you didn’t want them to see.
Trump has built an entire career and presidential campaign around claims he can’t support. He has insisted that he is fabulously wealthy, but has had an astounding number of business flops and won’t release his tax returns. He has insisted that Mexico is sending rapists to the U.S., as well as that Obama was born in Africa and is secretly a Muslim. He claims to have seen thousands of Muslims cheering as the World Trade Center fell on 9/11 ― another lie.
He insists he is a self-made man, but his father’s wealth helped him significantly.
As Trump’s popularity has risen, Obama has continued to allude to the lessons he learned on the basketball court.
“We can’t meet the world with a sense of entitlement,” Obama said in his commencement address at Howard University in May.
“That’s a pet peeve of mine, people who’ve been successful and don’t realize they’ve been lucky, that God may have blessed them,” he added. “It wasn’t nothing you did, so don’t have an attitude.”
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.
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