Harvard Student Submits Rap Album As A Thesis And Receives Honors

Harvard student Obasi Shaw channeled the consciousness of Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper into a thesis that is pretty legendary. 

Shaw, an English major, has become the first Harvard student to create a rap album as a senior thesis. His album is dedicated to the plight of black Americans and takes inspiration from both classic literature like Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and sociopolitical commentary from Chance and Kendrick.

“Some people don’t consider rap a high art form,” Shaw said. “But poetry and rap are very similar. Rhyming poems were very common in old English poetry.”

As a devout Christian, Shaw enjoyed Christian rap for most of his youth. The Georgia native told the Gazette that he grew to favor Chance and Kendrick a couple of years ago. And it wasn’t just the rappers’ social conscience that he respected ― they both have publicly spoken about their own Christian faith. 

Shaw said he began experimenting with bars of his own at a Tennessee Bible camp one summer. When the time for Shaw to submit his thesis proposal began creeping up on him in that special way deadlines do, he found himself absent of a standout idea. His mother suggested he consider integrating rap into his thesis.

He named his 10-track album “Liminal Minds” as a play on the title of the CBS show “Criminal Minds” and a statement on the changing manifestations of racial oppression. 

“Black people in America are kind of caught between freedom and slavery,” Shaw told the Gazette. “They’re free, but the effects of slavery still exist in society and in people’s subconscious. Each song is an exploration of black liminality, that state between slavery and freedom.”

Some of the subjects Shaw tackles in the album include the Black Lives Matter movement, Barack Obama (swoon) and mass incarceration

According to The Independent, Shaw didn’t even think the school would accept his thesis. But the project received a summa cum laude minus, the second highest grade that can be attained in the department. 

You can stream “Liminal Minds” here

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Trump Administration Tells Thousands Of Haitians To Prepare To Leave

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WASHINGTON ― Tens of thousands of Haitians who had already been granted temporary reprieve to stay in the U.S. will be allowed to remain for an additional six months, but they should use that time to “get their affairs in order,” a Trump administration official said Monday.

The Department of Homeland Security had until Tuesday to decide whether to extend temporary protected status, or TPS, for roughly 58,700 Haitians, who have been approved to remain in the U.S. following a devastating 2010 earthquake in their native country.

Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly chose to extend TPS for six months ― until early next year. When that deadline draws closer, he could extend it again based on conditions in Haiti, but officials suggested he wouldn’t.

“We are strongly encouraging current TPS recipients to take advantage of this six-month period to resolve their affairs, to include obtaining travel documentation,” a DHS official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters on a press call. “Congress designated the program … by the name ‘temporary protected status.’ It’s not supposed to be permanent.”

Human rights groups and lawmakers had urged the administration to extend TPS for Haitians based on ongoing problems in that country in the wake of the 2010 earthquake, which killed up to 316,000 people and displaced 1.5 million. A cholera epidemic struck the country soon after and killed thousands more. Seven years later, the country is still suffering: Some 55,000 people remain in camps and nearly 60 percent of the population lives in poverty.

TPS is currently open to Haitians who were in the U.S. on Jan. 12, 2011, the one-year anniversary of the earthquake. It allows individuals who could otherwise be deported to stay and work legally, but as the official said, it’s temporary. The program for Haitians has been extended several times already, for six to 18 months on each occasion. The current extension is effective July 23 and will last until Jan. 22, 2018. Individuals with TPS will have to leave at that point if the program is not extended or they cannot obtain other authorization to stay, such as asylum. 

Kelly said in a public statement that conditions in Haiti are improving and that this may be the final extension.

“I believe there are indications that Haiti ― if its recovery from the 2010 earthquake continues at pace ― may not warrant further TPS extension past January 2018,” he said. “TPS as enacted in law is inherently temporary in nature, and beneficiaries should plan accordingly that this status may finally end after the extension announced today.” 

Before Monday’s announcement, DHS officials had sought data on how many TPS recipients from Haiti have committed crimes in the U.S. ― an unusual move because the decision on whether to maintain protections is based on conditions outside the U.S., not the actions of people taking shelter here.

At the time that story broke in May and again on Monday, DHS officials insisted they were trying to collect data on criminality, employment and other factors for their information and not to malign any nationality. They also said the data would not be part of the TPS decision-making process.

Haiti is one of 13 countries whose citizens are currently eligible to receive TPS. Four nations on the list ― Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen ― were singled out by President Donald Trump in his blocked executive orders banning travelers from certain Muslim-majority countries. Trump has also spoken disparagingly about border-crossers from other countries on the list, such as El Salvador and Honduras.

DHS officials indicated some changes might be coming for those other countries as Kelly looks at TPS with “a fresh set of eyes” to ensure that the program is operating as Congress requires.

“It’s at many times easier for one to kick the can down the road with some of these extensions or redesignations than it is to make the hard decisions that Congress has asked us to do,” an official said. “That is the way that the secretary is approaching TPS designations in this administration.”

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Watch Katy Perry's Head Terrify Innocent Museumgoers In NYC

Over the weekend, visitors at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art were asked if they’d like to participate in a video art installation. Interested parties were led into a dark room featuring a long dinner table covered with a blue checkered picnic tablecloth, a smattering of fruits and flowers and ― surprise! ― Katy Perry’s actual head. 

The art stunt was the latest edition of Derek Blasberg’s video series “Derek Does Stuff with a Friend,” a partnership with Vanity Fair. The point, it seems, is to horrify random museumgoers by placing them face-to-face with a pop star’s floating head assembled to look like some unlucky visitor’s main course. 

“The artist is called Katheryn Hudson,” Blasberg tells a group of innocents while introducing them to the faux art installation. (Hudson is Perry’s birth name.) “It’s a kind of rumination on the feast of life and everything we have to eat. And the two-faced capitalist system we are currently living in.” 

“Hi guys!” Katy Perry then says like a possessed cheerleader as various crowd members slowly realize what’s happening. She adds: “Buy my new single!” The whole thing is very, very awkward and seems to go on for quite a long time. 

The whole “I’m a sexy food” thing seems to riff off Perry’s recent music video for “Bon Appétit” ― which features Perry being kneaded, breaded and boiled in a nude-colored body suit, though she never seems to die or suffer from whatever torment is thrust upon her. Eventually, it is revealed that Perry has been in cahoots with the chefs the whole time, and ends up rebelling against the rich diners poised to cannibalize her, feasting on them instead. Bon Appétit! 

As Benjamin Sutton wrote in Hyperallergic, Perry’s attempt to combine the fields of fine dining and performance art is painfully weak, especially given the long history of fruitful hybrids exploring similar subjects. He cites artists like Marina Abramović, Carolee Schneemann and Jennifer Rubell as having created visceral, absurd and knotty imagery commenting on the relationships between bodies and meat, sex and food, sustenance and pleasure. 

Perry’s piece on the other hand plugged her album, and that’s about it. We’re reminded of the astute commentary of one particular Whitney-visitor-turned-art-critic who said, upon first encountering Perry’s decapitated head, “What the f**k?” 

Pretty much. 

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Fox News Hit With Fresh Sexual Harassment And Discrimination Lawsuits

May 22 (Reuters) – Fox News was hit with new sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits on Monday, adding to the catalog of complaints that has rattled the U.S. cable news network and its corporate parent 21st Century Fox Inc.

New York City lawyer Douglas Wigdor filed lawsuits in federal court in Manhattan on behalf of Kathleen Lee, a Fox News Radio shift editor who says she was sexually harassed and subjected to “unceasing retaliation” for complaining, and Naima Farrow, who maintains she was fired from her job as an accounts payable coordinator after telling supervisors she was pregnant.

In a third case in the same court, Vidya Mann, a Fox News accounts receivable specialist, said she was taken on as a temporary employee but passed over for permanent jobs in favor of white coworkers.

A spokeswoman at Fox News said the company believes the suits are without merit, noting that the company took prompt action and takes all complaints of discrimination seriously.

The new legal claims come as Fox News is already battling a series of lawsuits that led to the resignations of former chief executive Roger Ailes, who died last week, star anchor Bill O’Reilly and network co-president Bill Shine.

Wigdor said he was also representing an unidentified black information technology employee who was subjected to racially insensitive remarks by Bob Beckel, an on-air host who was fired last week, days after the worker complained.

“Despite public relations efforts to the contrary, business at 21st Century Fox continues to operate more akin to 18th Century Fox,” Wigdor said in a statement.

Wigdor represents at least 23 current and former Fox News employees with legal claims against the company. Earlier this month, he met officials from the Office of Communications, a British regulatory agency that is currently considering whether to approve 21st Century Fox’s proposed takeover of satellite broadcaster Sky.

On Monday, Wigdor sent a letter to the regulator, known as Ofcom, outlining the new legal claims against Fox and claiming the company refused his request to waive confidentiality agreements signed by its employees so they could speak directly to the agency.

(Reporting By Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Tom Brown)

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The Absolute Worst Song Ever Is More Terrible Than You Ever Imagined

Here’s yet another reason to hate the media: We’re making you listen to the worst song ever recorded.

This past weekend, a HuffPost writer found a ditty called “Fast Food Song,” which rose to No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in 2003 for a group called the Fast Food Rockers.

Music is a subjective thing, but we’re pretty certain that no one can listen to this and not realize it’s a recording so terrible that playing it to others without warning might constitute a violation of the Geneva Convention.

The song’s chorus is annoyingly catchy ―“Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut/ Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut/ Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut/ Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut/ McDonald’s, McDonald’s/ Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut.” 

We guarantee that anyone who hears it is going to have this earworm stuck in their noggin for the next 24 hours.

Although this song was a pretty big hit in jolly old England, the Fast Food Rockers were never foisted on Americans ― yet another reason to appreciate our British allies.

The British trio (four people if you count “Hot Dog,” a non-singing person in a giant blue dog suit who joins in the video romp) freely admitted to the BBC its music was cheesy. So much so, that the follow-up single was called “Say Cheese!” 

We haven’t listened to that one yet. We don’t have the guts. If you’re more daring, here’s the link.

Please forgive us. “Fast Food Song” is the musical equivalent of the Mealbreakers gallery below.

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Teen Says Cop Offered To Fix Traffic Tickets For Nude Photos

A veteran police officer offered to fix a Texas teen’s traffic tickets if she gave him nude photographs of herself, according to court documents.

Officer Michael Coppock, 33, a nine-year veteran of the Baytown Police Department, has been pulled off patrol while an internal investigation and criminal probe are underway for his alleged proposition to the 18-year-old woman, according to The Houston Chronicle.

The officer recently ticketed the teen for speeding and having an expired registration, Houston’s KHOU News reported. Roughly one hour after the traffic stop, the officer allegedly contacted the teen through social media and text messages and offered to change the tickets to warnings.

In exchange, the officer asked the teen to “send him nude photographs of herself,” according to court documents. The teen reportedly sent photos to the officer. Police began investigating after she reported what happened. 

KHOU News reports:

Police say they viewed screenshots of the conversations and characterized the messages as “clearly coercive in nature,” and “putting pressure” on the teen.

Authorities have since obtained search warrants for Coppock’s cell phone and Snapchat account.

Baytown police officials, citing the ongoing investigations, declined to comment.

David Lohr covers crime and missing persons. Tips? Feedback? Send an email or follow him on Twitter.

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Copyright troll lawyer is finally disbarred for fraud

While it is illegal to download copyrighted files from file-sharing sites, it is also against the law to extort downloaders. John L. Steele, a Chicago lawyer who pled guilty to perjury, fraud and money laundering resulting from alleged “honeypot” sch…

'Far Cry' is coming to America

Up until today, all of the Far Cry games have been set in far off locations. A tropical island, Africa, another tropical island, the Himalayas and prehistoric times have all played witness to the franchise’s often morally ambiguous open-world first-p…

U.S. Was The Top VR Market In Q1 2017


According to a new report by market research firm Canalys, the United States was the top virtual reality market in the world this past quarter. The report shows that 40 percent of all virtual reality headsets shipped globally were shipped in the United States. This goes to show that the United States is a world leader in the adoption of virtual reality technologies.

The report from Canalys indicates that in the January-March quarter of 2017, the United States accounted for 40 percent of all virtual reality headsets shipped across the globe. Sony’s PlayStation VR dominated VR shipments in the United States as it accounted for 60 percent of the market share in Q1 2017.

Japan came in second place with 14 percent. The report mentions an interesting fact, 9 out of 10 VR headsets shipped in Japan were accounted for by the PlayStation VR. Sony is experiencing strong demand for its headset in its home market and it’s having to try and fill demand gaps across the country.

China came in third place with 11 percent of all VR shipments in the first quarter of this year. HTC leads the VR market in China as it shipped 15,000 units of the Vive VR headset in the People’s Republic.

Analysts at the firm say that the key drivers for virtual reality are gaming and entertainment. They also see an opportunity for companies working in this space to promote virtual reality technologies in the education sector.

U.S. Was The Top VR Market In Q1 2017 , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Nest 4K security camera tipped with ‘smart features’ like auto-zoom

Nest is working on a new security camera product, at least according to a newly surfaced source, that features 4K resolution able to facilitate high-resolution zooming within a 1080p Full HD video. According to the leak, this camera product will be intended for home security and feature ‘advanced smart features’ like automatic zooming in on a region when the camera … Continue reading