Young Chicago heart patient hopes ‘KiKi Challenge’ video gets Drake’s attention
An 10-year-old awaiting a heart transplant at Lurie Children’s Hospital has two birthday wishes: to get a new heart, and to meet Drake.
So Sophia Sanchez of Downers Grove made a video of the “KiKi Challenge” from the hospital in hopes of getting Drake’s attention.
She says Drake is her idol, and she’s trying to meet him while town in town this weekend. He’s performing Friday and Saturday at the United Center.
And maybe for Sophia, he’ll be stopping by Lurie Children’s Hospital.
Sophia’s 11th birthday is Saturday, Aug. 18.
Article via: Young Chicago heart patient hopes ‘KiKi Challenge’ video gets Drake’s attention
Elfen’s TBT Music Video of the week Aretha Franklin freeway of love
Here is another one of her hits back in the 1980s for the rest of the week I’m going to show you videos that you probably have never really heard of or seen. You’ve heard the classics from the 60s and the 70s but in the 80s and 90s she was still making hits.
Elfen’s TBT R&B Album of the week Aretha Franklin A Rose is Still a Rose
Today we must lift our roses and say goodbye to the queen of soul Aretha Franklin. She has died today at age 76. If you think today’s R&B “Artist” are truly ORGINAL and who can call themselves a LEGEND you are so sadly mistaken. Upon learning of Aretha Franklyns illness and spending her time in hospice care at her home surrounded by family and friends. I got to thinking about how my mama would pull out her Aretha Franklin albums from the 1960s. I heard Aretha singing about RESPECT and When a Man loves a woman.
When the 1980s and 90s hit Aretha was still writing and sangin’ new songs for my generation. One of her best albums of 1998 was A Rose is Still a Rose. The album talks of heartache, breakups, makeups and letting us woman know life goes on after a breakup. You don’t need a man to validate your life. Aretha was is unique. Her music is the kind you can play in front of your grandma without getting the side eye. Let’s all raise our vutral roses to the sky and give Aretha the all the love and prayers and thank her for sharing her soulful beautiful voice. RIP Aretha Franklin ! Give A Rose is Still A Rose a listen below!
Aretha Franklin music’s ‘Queen of Soul dies at 76
Aretha Franklin, whose exceptionally expressive singing about joy and pain and faith and liberation earned the Detroit diva a permanent and undisputed title — the “Queen of Soul” — died Aug. 16 at her home in Detroit. She was 76.
Her representative Gwendolyn Quinn confirmed the death to the Associated Press and said the cause was pancreatic cancer.
One of the most celebrated and influential singers in the history of American vernacular song, Ms. Franklin reserved her place on music’s Mount Rushmore in the late 1960s and early 1970s by exploring the secular sweet spot between sultry rhythm-and-blues and the explosive gospel music she’d grown up singing in her father’s Baptist church.
The result was potent and wildly popular, with defining soul anthems that turned Ms. Franklin into a symbol of black pride and women’s liberation.
Her calling card: “Respect,” the Otis Redding hit that became a crossover smash in 1967 after Ms. Franklin tweaked it just so (a “sock it to me” here, some sisterly vocal support there), transforming the tune into a fervent feminist anthem.
“Whenever women heard the record, it was like a tidal wave of sororal unity,” the song’s producer, Jerry Wexler, said two decades after Ms. Franklin first declared, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.”
Twenty of her singles topped Billboard’s R&B chart and more than 50 reached the R&B Top 10 over a six-decade recording career during which she earned volumes of praise for her innovative and emotive vocal performances, even when the material didn’t quite measure up to her talents.
A graceful mezzo-soprano stylist, Ms. Franklin had remarkable range, power and command, along with the innate ability to burrow into a lyric until she’d found the exact coordinates of its emotional core.
“She just bared her soul, she exposed herself, she did everything but get on the floor and scream and cry,” singer Natalie Cole told VH1. “She just had that special something that people respond to.”
“I don’t know anybody that can sing a song like Aretha Franklin,” Ray Charles once declared. “Nobody. Period.”
She was at once a brilliant technician and a master emoter, a devastating combination that was unleashed on hits ranging from the swaggering “Chain of Fools” and the cooing “Baby, I Love You” to the pleading “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and the fiery, finger-wagging, “Freedom!”-chanting “Think,” another of Ms. Franklin’s feminist anthems that gave unprecedented voice to black women in particular.
In Ms. Franklin’s music, the politics were mostly personal, even when she sang about being “Young, Gifted and Black.” But through the profundity and ubiquity of her songs, she became the multi-octave voice of the civil rights movement, performing at rallies staged by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a family friend — and, later, at King’s funeral.
As one measure of her influence, comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory observed of Ms. Franklin’s radio presence: “You’d hear Aretha three or four times an hour. You’d only hear King on the news.”
She sang gospel truths that resonated across age groups, but it was grown-up music, reflecting an adult sense of self-awareness and sexual maturity and full of hard realities to which she seemed to relate.
“If a song’s about something I’ve experienced or that could’ve happened to me, it’s good,” she told biographer Mark Bego. “But if it’s alien to me, I couldn’t lend anything to it. . . . I look for something meaningful. When I go into the studio, I put everything into it. Even the kitchen sink.”
In 1968, at the apogee of her career when she was in her mid-20s and recording soul classic after soul classic on Atlantic Records, Ms. Franklin explained: “Soul to me is a feeling, a lot of depth and being able to bring to the surface that which is happening inside, to make the picture clear. Many people can have soul. It’s just the emotion and the way it affects people.”
Long before she abruptly and mysteriously canceled a half-year’s worth of performances and appearances in November 2010 (doctor’s orders were cited, but no details about her ailments were offered), Ms. Franklin’s health had been a source of concern, mostly because of the considerable weight she was carrying.
When she resurfaced in 2011 for a brief concert tour, just months after announcing that she was undergoing an unspecified surgical procedure, Ms. Franklin told AARP magazine that she’d shed 85 pounds. She attributed the change to diet and exercise but steadfastly denied that she’d had gastric-bypass surgery — and also that she’d had pancreatic cancer. Ms. Franklin did not divulge additional details.
If she was concerned with body image before the weight loss, it didn’t show. Sometimes, she’d wear tube tops and leotards onstage, as if to flaunt her girth. In her later years, she favored strapless gowns and was known to slap her ample backside during her infrequent concerts.
READ MORE AT THE WASHINGTON POST
Teen suffocated nephew after he asked to play video games
A Colorado teen girl faces murder charges after she allegedly suffocated her nephew then hid his body inside a closet, according to authorities.
Jennie Bunsom, 16, was identified as the suspect in the death of 7-year-old Jordan Vong, who was reported missing Aug. 6 before his body was found at his Denver home, according to the Denver Post.
Bunsom allegedly killed the boy, who asked her to play video games with him, wrapped his body in a blanket and stuffed it in her bedroom closet.
Police obtained a warrant the next day to enter the family’s home and discovered the boy’s body hidden, according to officials.
“[Bunsom] didn’t tell any of her family what she had done to Jordan because she was afraid,” a probable cause statement obtained by the Denver Post said. “Nor did she tell any of her family where she had hid Jordan.”
The teen girl appeared in court Tuesday morning where it was ruled that she will face first-degree murder charges as an adult.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/08/14/teen-suffocated-nephew-after-he-asked-to-play-video-games-da/
Woman denied job for ‘ghetto’ name, but company blames hacker
A Missouri woman said she’s hurt and distraught after being denied a job because her name was considered too “ghetto” — but company officials insist a hacker sent the racist message.
Hermeisha Robinson, of Bellefontaine Neighbors, shared her experience with Mantality Health in Chesterfield in a Facebook post on Monday, saying she was discriminated against due to her name — even though she had what it takes to fill the job post.
“I have a public service announcement,” Robinson wrote in an all-caps post. “I am very upset because today I received an email about this job that I applied for as a customer service representative at Mantality Health … I know I’m well qualified for the position as they seen on my resume!”
Robinson’s post continued: “They discriminated against me because of my name which they considered it to be ‘ghetto’ for their company! My feelings are very hurt and they even got me second guessing my name trying to figure out if my name is really that ‘ghetto.’”
Robinson asked friends to share her post, saying the “discrimination has to stop,” but company officials contend the message isn’t authentic, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Kevin Meuret, the CEO of the clinic that treats men with low testosterone, told the newspaper on Tuesday that someone from outside Missouri hacked into its email system, most likely a disgruntled former employee.
“Thank you for your interest in careers at Mantality Health,” read the response to Robinson. “Unfortunately we do not consider candidates that have suggestive ‘ghetto’ names. We wish you the best in your career search.”
Meuret said about 20 potential employees got emails from the hacker. Reports have since been filed with police in both Chesterfield and St. Louis County, he said.
“I’m a father of three daughters, and that young lady getting that [response] is horrible,” Meuret told the newspaper. “That young lady opened something that must have felt like a freight train, and that’s unacceptable.”
Meuret promised to “pursue this even if it becomes a federal matter,” he told the Post-Dispatch.
In a statement to The Post, Meuret said the password for an independent job board site used by the company was compromised Monday.
“We are currently working with law enforcement to identify the perpetrator and consider appropriate legal action,” the statement read. “We share the anger and frustration of those who received these bogus emails.”
Robinson, meanwhile, told The Post Wednesday that she’s still reeling from the pure hatred exposed in the hacked message.
“The first thing that went through my mind is how could someone just outright say something so mean like that,” Robinson said. “I wasn’t expecting that from a job. I didn’t name myself, I didn’t give myself this name. How can people be so mean, and so horrible?”
It was the first time Robinson applied to the company and she had not been contacted by anyone investigating the matter as of Wednesday, she said.
“It just makes me not want to do anything,” she said of the entire ordeal. “I don’t want to do anything anymore: go outside, say my name to people, anything.”
Robinson’s job hunt is still ongoing. She wouldn’t accept a job at the testosterone clinic even if one were offered to her at this point, she said.
“I wouldn’t feel safe,” she told The Post. “If some hacker got my email to reach me, they have my Social Security number, my birthday, they have everything. It just wouldn’t be a good working environment.”
Robinson’s cousin, Miltina Burnett, posted a screenshot of a message she received Monday from company officials indicating that a former employee hacked into the company’s system.
But regardless of the authenticity of the messages, the damage for Robinson has been very real, she said.
Hospital employee fired for calling doughnut shop worker the N-word in video
A Mississippi Baptist Medical Center employee has been fired after video of him calling a doughnut shop worker a racial slur multiple times went viral.
Kyle Thomas worked in the radiology department at the medical center in Flowood, Miss.
On Saturday, he visited the local Donut Palace in his full scrubs and he got into an altercation with shop employee Keaundrea Wardlaw.
According to Wardlaw, Thomas was upset about the service and the two began to argue.
In the video Wardlaw recorded, Thomas is heard telling Wardlaw, a black woman, to “shut her f–king mouth,” and then proceeds to call her the N-word multiple times.
Wardlaw responds by calling Thomas a “b—h“ and later follows Thomas out to his car, where she records his license plate number.
The video has since gone viral, pulling in thousands of negative reactions demanding Thomas be let go from his job.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, Thomas tried to defend his actions, writing, “I am so sorry, there is nothing I can say that will change what I said. I drove back up there and tried to apologize and she had gone. I regret every word that I said there is no excuse to ever say these horrible things. I only hope that by me sharing a public apology in this incident you could show me some grace. I was upset about another issue and it spilled over into this and I can’t apologize enough,” Yahoo Lifestyle reported.
Wardlaw confirmed to WJTV that Thomas came back to apologize to her boss for causing a scene, but did not apologize to her. According to WJTV, Wardlaw said she would have accepted an apology from Thomas.
However, Twitter users did not believe the apology.
Ayoka Pond, a spokesperson for the hospital, said in a statement to Fox News that Thomas’ actions do not represent the hospital and confirmed that he had been fired.
“We are aware of the confrontation captured on video involving one of our off-duty employees at a local donut shop. We take this situation very seriously. This employee’s language and behavior does not represent our organization’s values and his employment has been terminated.
“We want our patients, employees, physicians and our community to know that we find the language used in the video to be completely unacceptable and inconsistent with what we expect from employees or anyone associated with our organization. We are committed to a work environment that is inclusive and where everyone is respected and valued.”
The Donut Shop also released a statement announcing its zero-tolerance policy for racist behavior.
“I am extremely disappointed and disgusted at what took place this past Saturday. It was shocking and painful to watch this footage and imagine what Ms. Wardlaw must have felt at the time. Regardless of the grievances people have or anything that may have happened prior to this incident, no one deserves to be treated this way. We have zero tolerance for this type of behavior, and we will support Ms. Wardlaw in whatever action she chooses to take as a result,” the Donut Shop wrote on Facebook.
Wardlaw claims she did not want the man to be fired but felt Thomas should be held accountable for using the N-word, she told WJTV.
Cop fired for allegedly filming office sex with police body camera
A former Arizona cop was fired earlier this year for allegedly using a department body camera to film himself having sex and storing pornography on an office computer, the Arizona Republic reported, citing court records.
Officer Anthony Doran became the subject of an administrative probe by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in March, the report said. The contents of that investigation became public this month after a Superior, Arizona, resident filed a civil complaint alleging that Doran had been among several officers who beat and falsely arrested him during a 2016 search of his home.
According to the report, Doran had stored a video on a flash drive of him having sex with a woman in his office. The report said the woman was not a police employee.
The flash drive was discovered by an office secretary connected to Doran’s computer, which allegedly contained a folder titled “fun times.” A deputy subsequently discovered 36 gigabytes worth of photos on the folder, including pornography and a naked girl around the age of 5, the report said.
Doran told the Republic that he had stored both the video and the pornography on a flash drive that “had nothing to do with work,” and denied being on duty when he filmed himself. Doran said the naked girl was his daughter and was not photographed in a sexual manner, the paper said. Superior’s town manager fired Doran following the investigation.
Superior is a small mining town, with a population of about 3,000, located about 65 miles east of Phoenix. The civil complaint that was filed this month accused Superior of hiring officers with checkered histories in order to cut costs, naming Doran among several officers who allegedly beat and falsely arrested a resident on trumped-up charges.
“The town hires substandard officers with extensive misconduct records to save money,” the complaint alleged. “Once the town hires these substandard, ‘second-chance’ officers, it fails to appropriately train/retrain them.”
According to the Arizona Republic, most of Superior’s nine police officers were at one point fired or disciplined by other police departments. Doran was previously terminated in 2013 from the Pima County Sheriff’s Office for sexual misconduct, records showed.
Superior Mayor Mila Besich-Lira said the town is pursuing reforms “so we don’t continue this poor behavior.”
via: https://nypost.com/2018/08/15/cop-fired-for-allegedly-filming-office-sex-with-police-body-camera/
Photo Credit: Pinal County Sheriff’s Office
Advocating for Community Inclusion Stories from the Spectrum
I had the great pleasure of meeting this young lady the other day and will be working with her in the near future ! As a person with intellectual developmental disabilities I understand her. I know where she’s coming from. We all have a voice. And some voices are not heard. This young lady is her own self advocate and not only has a voice for herself and is an advocate for people just like her just check out her story below.
Stories from the Spectrum
Advocating for Community Inclusion
by Ivanova Smith
My passion is for the inclusion of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD). For a long time, I was isolated from my community. I was not included during the first five-and-a-half years of my life. I was born in Latvia, a country that was suffering under Soviet occupation. I was born premature and unwanted. These realities around my birth and orphanhood have had a great impact on my passion! I feel we all should be wanted. We should all be included in the community!
During the time when I was raised in an institutional orphanage, I did not know what family meant. I did not understand the concept of private property. I remember looking forward to just going outside in the orphanage. I remember been happy to see pieces of colorful glass on the ground. I had no friends there. I remember always being alone. I remember not getting much to eat but watery vegetable soup. I could not communicate verbally. I remember just making noises. I remember the day that all changed, the day I was included in a family! I was adopted and become part of the Anderson family. I remember being scared at first of this new world that was ahead of me. But over time, I started to love it. When my family kept feeding me and not denying me food, I was so happy to get to eat! My family now loves telling the story of how much I would eat after we left the orphanage, and how I had breakfast and only stopped to have lunch.
I was so happy to be free. I want that for all people with intellectual/developmental disabilities. I know that as an autistic person, I was at risk of being put in a mental institution if my family had not been able to adopt me. It happens not just in other countries. I moved to Washington State in 1994 where people with I/DD were just starting to be included in their communities.
I was happy to be brought to the USA and be raised in a Christian home! But the United States was not perfect. During school it was hard. Lots of people did not understand me. Lots of people I did relate with were segregated from other students. As a kid in special education, it was very confusing. I heard of how people like me were put in institutions. I heard justifications for that which made me scared of ever having to return to an institutional environment.
It happens here in the USA. We live in a world that says it is ok to put people with intellectual/developmental disabilities in institutions. This is not justice; this is segregation. When I started my journey as a disability-rights advocate, it was after I overcame a lot of challenges. I testified to legislators of Washington State for the first time in 2015. It was during my first Advocacy Day. (Advocacy Days are held during each legislative session to involve self-advocates and families in the legislative process, giving them opportunities to make their voices heard by legislators and to have an impact on policy and budget legislation that affects the services and supports available to them.)
When I heard about what Washingtonians who live in four different institutions had to deal with, it made me want to advocate more. When I heard how people with I/DD are not being given an equal education, it pushed me to advocate more. When I was told it was okay for people with developmental disabilities to be paid below minimum wage, I knew that people like me were not being treated equally in the workforce. Segregation is what hurts us. It why I work with self-advocacy organizations like Self Advocates in Leadership (SAIL), People First of Washington and Allies in Advocacy. Members in each of these groups each have a passion to advocate for rights of people with disabilities.
I also love living in the community! My family worked hard to make sure I was included! My mother was determined for me to go to college and eventually to a university. She believed in me when I did not even believe in myself. I want to help families see the abilities in their I/DD children. I want our youth to not feel ashamed for having a disability. I want people with I/DD to feel comfortable advocating for support. I have been given many opportunities, thanks to networking skills I learned through Central Washington University and Arc of King County. I am honored to work as a Faculty Mentor for the University of Washington’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (UW LEND) Advocacy program. I hope my work helps to bring more people with I/DD into positions of leadership. Our work is valuable and I want that to show.
When I get on the stage to give a speech, I put all my passion into it. I want people who watch me to know that people like me are human just like they are. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are equal in the eyes of God. We should not be institutionalized! We should not be segregated. I love public speaking, It has been a gift that I cherish. I hope my voice can help people see the value and skill people with Intellectual/developmental disabilities bring. Being Autistic, I am proud and happy to get to live in a country where I can speak freely about the issues that matter most to me. I realize in this time more than ever, we need to advocate more. Lots of changes are going to happen in our country and I want make sure my people are included and not forgotten about.
Because of my passion and advocacy experience, I was invited to speak on October 25th, 2016 at the Legislative Candidates Forum on Disabilities in Clark County, Washington. This was a great honor. I was so happy to see so many people, including advocates and legislative candidates, wanting true inclusion for all people with I/DD. The evening showed me how allies and DD advocates can work together on these issues and make the world a more inclusive place. It reminded me that I was not only one fighting for this! Even the legislative candidates heard the policies I was advocating for in my speech. My hosts were truly kind to invite me to show what self-advocates really need from their government!
I support policies that help people like me live a full meaningful life in the community! I support policies that allow all I/DD people to be included in meaningful integrated employment. Big companies like Microsoft have already seen the potential of autistic programmers! We need more businesses to follow suit. So many people’s talents are ignored because of their disabilities. There are so many media stories talking about how bad it is to be developmentally disabled. It makes me think that our youth don’t see their value…
I am excited to enter this legislative session with the goal that more people are included! I am here to change minds about what my community is! We are not burdens! We are epic people that seek to be included and that is what I fight for.
READ Spectrum magazine
Trailer Filled With Nearly $100,000 Worth of Ramen Noodles Stolen From Georgia Gas Station
A trailer filled with nearly $100,000 worth of ramen noodles was recently stolen from a gas station 30 miles south of Atlanta, authorities said.
The 53-foot trailer was parked at a Chevron in Fayetteville, Georgia, when someone hauled it away, including a load of $98,000 worth of noodles, according to Atlanta television station WAGA.
Officials believe someone stole the trailer between July 25 and Aug. 1.
Deputies with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office are looking for the culprit in five car break-ins, a stolen motorcycle, and the nabbed noodle trailer.
Sheriff Barry Babb said the owner of the trailer had permission to park the noodle trailer at the gas station and it was “secured” when it was stolen.
No other information was provided.
via: https://ktla.com/2018/08/15/trailer-filled-with-98000-worth-of-ramen-noodles-stolen-in-georgia/