Hasta La Gadget!

As we approach President Trump’s 100th day in office, many pundits and commentators are reviewing what he has not accomplished – and rightfully so. Whether it was his promise to build the wall and have Mexico pay for it, tax reform, getting a repeal and replace health care bill to the floor and more, Trump outlined his own agenda for the first 100 days but has clearly failed to deliver.

What we have seen instead is his Justice Department withdraw from a lawsuit in Texas on voter ID, announce an end to moving forward on police reform and an undermining of consent decrees. We have also witnessed increased immigration raids, threats to cut funding to sanctuary cities and the spreading of fear within immigrant communities.

Trump outlined his own agenda for the first 100 days but has clearly failed to deliver.

We will develop our own plan of action to protect voting rights, civil rights, police reform and other issues of grave concernAnd we have observed gender inequality, Islamophobia, stereotyping, racial inferences and very clear ways of marginalizing certain groups of people. That is why civil rights and social justice leaders, elected officials and faith leaders are converging in New York City under the leadership of my organization, National Action Network (NAN), for the first national gathering of its kind during this new Administration.

On Wednesday, April 26, we will kick things off at NAN’s annual convention with none other than former Attorney General Eric Holder, followed by DNC Chair Tom Perez addressing delegates, activists, clergy, students and others from around the nation that will all convene with us over the course of the next few days.

From Bernie Sanders, Gov. Cuomo, Harry Belafonte, Spike Lee, MC Lyte and Hill Harper to Mary Frances Berry, Van Jones, Shaun King, Joy Reid, Angela Rye, Michael Eric Dyson and many more, we will hear from some of the greatest minds of our time and those leading by example. We are determined not to sit back and watch the erosion of things we have personally and actively fought for.

We will develop our own plan of action to protect voting rights, civil rights, police reform and other issues of grave concern, and we will hit the ground running with our own 100-day strategy to do so.

We will develop our own plan of action to protect voting rights, civil rights, police reform and other issues of grave concern.

Those generations that proceeded us paid a high price so that we could obtain certain rights and opportunities, and we must ensure the same – and more – for future generations. We must organize from the local community level all the way to Congressional races and for the Presidential election itself. We must have media campaigns, economic withdrawals and press our elected officials to do the right thing.

In short, we must use everything at our disposal to resist. While Trump is able to guide public attention away from some egregious things taking place that impact underprivileged black and latino communities, the details are clear from the actions of Attorney General Sessions, Education Secretary DeVos and others in his Administration. We must operate now.

This Administration has declared war on crime when violent crime continues to decline. Sessions ordered a review of consent decrees (that those police departments are actually in favor of), and his actions are halting reform that all sides agree is desperately needed in order to improve police and community relations. We have always been pro-police but anti-police brutality; the distinction is significant. The current Justice Department is also actively allowing laws to proceed that blatantly disenfranchise the votes of people of color, the poor and the elderly ― that is frightening at best. We can defeat Trump and his Administration’s attempts; we did it before with grassroots planning and mobilization as witnessed by the pushback against his Muslim travel ban and their attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It is up to us to remain vigilant.

We will mark the first 100 days by energizing ourselves.

Some will mark Trump’s 100 days by measuring it and what he has or has not accomplished. We will mark the first 100 days by energizing ourselves. This Administration has hidden our pain, but we must not stifle or mute our voices.

As we gather for NAN’s convention, people from all corners of the country, the young, the elderly and from diverse backgrounds will all collectively organize for our future. One filled with increased equality, justice and opportunity. While they may try to reverse progress and turn back the clock, we march forward. As we near the 100th day of Trump in office, we renew our commitment towards organizing and civil rights for all.

The next 100 belong to us.

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Between the late 1800s and early 1900s, artist Edvard Munch created four versions of his magnum opus “The Scream,” which depicts a man enduring extreme psychological anguish while alone on a bridge beneath a raging blood-red sky. One “Scream” artwork broke auction records in 2012 when it sold for nearly $120 million. 

For centuries art historians and enthusiasts have understood the tempestuous weather conditions depicted in the work as a symbolic representation of existential dread, as experienced by one very pale, very bald man. 

But during a talk held Tuesday at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly in Vienna, the University of Olso’s Dr. Helene Muri posited that perhaps Munch wasn’t painting stomach-churning angst at all, but simply crazy clouds. 

Specifically, Dr. Muri suggested that Munch had witnessed the rare weather phenomenon known as nacreous clouds, mother-of-pearl clouds or “screaming clouds” ― quite appropriately. The unusual condition forms in extremely cold temperatures (minus 80 to 85 degrees Celsius) at very high altitudes (between nine and 12 miles), combined with a bit of humidity.

The resulting clouds, which only manifest at sunset or after dark, appear like thin, wriggling waves in pronounced colors. “You get these very distinct colorings,” Muri explained, “from the combination of scattering, diffraction and internal refraction of the sunlight on these tiny ice crystals.”

The clouds likely adopted their reddish hue thanks to the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, which occurred nine years before Munch painted his first “Scream” in 1893. Yet volcanic fallout remains in the air for years after a massive eruption, and can yield sunsets with palettes resembling fiery explosions. 

This explanation fits with how Munch described the shocking sky in his 1890 journal:

“The sky suddenly became bloodish red. I stopped, leant against the fence, tired to death ― watched over the flaming clouds as blood and sword the city ― the blue-black fjord and the city ― My friends went away ― I stood there shivering from dread ― and I felt this big, infinite scream through nature.”

“We do know that there were mother-of-pearl clouds in the Oslo area in the late 19th century,” Dr. Muri told The Telegraph. Although Muri has lived in the Oslo region for 25 years, she’s only seen the Mother of Pearl clouds once herself. The researcher imagines that if Munch saw the crimson display on a random evening, he would have understandably flipped out. 

“Today the general public has a lot more scientific information but you can imagine back in his day, he’d probably never seen these clouds before,” Dr. Muri told The BBC. “As an artist, they no doubt could have made quite an impression on him.”

Whether or not Munch was actually inspired by a rare meteorological event or some sort of internal panic attack ― or a little bit of both ― we’ll probably never know for sure. But it’s always fun to add another “Scream” hypothesis to the vault, especially one that involves something as weird and terrifying as “screaming clouds.”

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A hair stylist in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is getting a taste of fame after creating a look based on Starbuck’s Unicorn Frappuccino.

Kelly O’Leary-Woodford was working at her salon, the Sapphire Hair Lounge, last Wednesday when she heard about the limited-time drink.

“A radio station said it was giving them away, so I let them know I’d make someone’s hair look like a Unicorn Frappuccino,” O’Leary-Woodford told HuffPost. “Luckily, I had a blonde customer who just got a new job and was up for some fun colors.” 

In order to get the colors right, O’Leary-Woodford sent out for one of the freakish frapps ― and extra straws.

“It cost $10,” she said, adding that she couldn’t help by take a few sips. 

“It was better than I thought,” she said. “I thought it would be like a milkshake, but it was more like a sour candy.”

The Unicorn Frappuccino was criticized for being basically a sugar bomb, thanks to its mango syrup base, sour blue drizzle and vanilla whipped cream topping ― and, of course, sweet pink and sour blue powders.

O’Leary-Woodford promises her hair style won’t add nearly as many calories.

“My hair coloring is definitely healthier than the drink,” she said. “If you color hair nice and slow, it’s fine. Plus, the ingredients I use help condition the hair.”

O’Leary-Woodford’s hairstyle went viral, but no one else has asked for it. That’s a good thing, she said, since the Unicorn Frappuccino hairstyle isn’t for everyone.

“It depends on how you’ve colored your hair before,” she said. “Plus, it’s easier for people with blonde hair.”

The Unicorn Frappuccino was only served at Starbucks for five days, and O’Leary hopes her hair-raising interpretation has an equally short shelf life.

“I think its day is done and I’m moving on to the next thing,” she said, before pointing out another Instagram video in which she made the back of a customer’s head look like a slice of pizza.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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