His very bad opinions have reached another level of idiocy as Sessions praised drug treatment program and alternative shirt manufacturers D.A.R.E. on Tuesday.
While speaking at the Drug Abuse Resistance Education training conference, Sessions told a room full of Darers how important D.A.R.E. is.
Sessions said,
“D.A.R.E. is, I think, as I indicated, the best remembered anti-drug program today. In recent years, people have not paid much attention to that message, but they are ready to hear it again.”
The Attorney General went on,
“We need you. We need D.A.R.E. to prevent them from finding new victims. I am proud of your work. It has played a key role in saving thousands of lives and futures.”
Hop in the official Kulture Hub Time Travel Machine™ with me back to a simpler time when 5th graders in D.A.R.E. programs were made to promise uniformed police officers that they would never smoke weed.
Started by former Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates, a man who said drug users should be “taken out and shot,” D.A.R.E. was designed to basically scare kids straight and keep them off drugs.
“Overall, evidence on the effects of the traditional D.A.R.E. curriculum, which is implemented in grades 5 and 6, shows that children who participate are as likely to use drugs as those who do not participate.”
Revelations over a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian official regarding potentially damaging information on the Hillary Clinton campaign have intensified suspicions of collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.
American intelligence has reached a consensus that the Russian government actively tried to thwart the Clinton campaign.
The question that many have sought to answer, including special counsel Robert Mueller, is whether the Trump campaign actively colluded with the Russian government to win the election.
Rob Goldstone, a publicist who has worked with Donald Trump’s Miss Universe pageant, coordinated the meeting and told Trump Jr. that Veselnitskaya had information that may incriminate Hillary Clinton.
Goldstone wrote in his email that Veselnitskaya had intelligence that,
“Would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father. This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
Initially, Trump Jr. told the Times that he and Veselnitskaya only discussed restoring adoption of Russian children by American families.
But as sources close to the situation have come forward and relayed information about the emails prior the the meeting, Trump Jr. has changed his story slightly in a series of tweets this morning.
Lil’ Don tweeted that his meeting was not out of the ordinary.
Obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent… went nowhere but had to listen. https://t.co/ccUjL1KDEa
And that he actually had not misled the Times with his previous statements.
No inconsistency in statements, meeting ended up being primarily about adoptions. In response to further Q's I simply provided more details. https://t.co/FdT1D4hfhz
The most interesting part of the exchange is obviously Goldstone’s assertion that a “Russian government attorney” would have information useful to the Trump campaign and Trump Jr.’s subsequent response,
“If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”
Again, it’s been established that the Russian government attempted to influence last year’s election, but the question at hand was whether that was a coordinated attempt between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin or if the Russian government was simply acting alone.
Goldstone’s claim that Veselnitskaya had “sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” would appear to confirm that the Trump campaign at least knew about the Russian government’s efforts.
The White House has remained steadfast in their denial of any collusion or coordination between Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin.
Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a room full of reporters,
“The president’s campaign did not collude in any way. Don Jr. did not collude with anybody to influence the election. No one within the Trump campaign colluded in order to influence the election.”
Sheesh.
As is the case with most things regarding the Trump White House, it’s hard to tell whether this is gross incompetence or active malice.
It would certainly appear that where there is smoke there is fire regarding links between the Russian government and Trump campaign.
As much as Trump wants this story to go away, the incessant links between the people within the president’s inner-circle and their Russian counterparts during the campaign are simply too hard to ignore.
Relying on a Republican-dominated congress to take any action on this is probably a waste of time, but at some point something simply has to give.
Keep it locked for further updates, this story ain’t going away.
A recent study by student loan marketplace, LendEDU, surveyed 1,217 millennials and found that 32.6 percent (nearly a third) claimed to have used Venmo for some type of drug.
Wait there’s more snitching. According to the survey, another 1,269 participants were asked: “Have you ever used Venmo for betting or gambling (ex, sports betting, fantasy football, poker, etc.)?”
Out of that 1,269, 21 percent of millennials surveyed actually use the money transfer app for gambling. I guess that’s good to know – we have more drug users and dealers than gamblers and loan sharks.
So, what’s really good with this information? Are you good to still flip that? Can you still place an illegal bet? Sort of.
According to Paypal CEO Dan Schulman in an interview with Fortune last October, Venmo is on track to process $20 billion in payments per year.
It’s nearly impossible for engineers at Venmo to monitor $50 million worth of transactions daily just for suspicious activity. Paypal would have to invest into some serious snitching.
On the other side of the fence, Venmo users who do hotboy shit on the app run the risk of leaving a paper trail.
Hotboy shit might include adding a snowflake, leaf, a gust of the wind, needle, or racehorse emoji to the description of your transactions.
If you’re putting a needle in your description you have joined the ranks of the most hotboy people on the planet.
Be wise OG and keep your ear to the streets. According to a Fortune article in relation to the snitch study, Venmo emailed:
“As clearly outlined in the Venmo User Agreement, people are prohibited from using Venmo for gambling or payments that involve drugs. If there is ever a situation where evidence of gambling or other illegal activity is brought to our attention, Venmo works quickly to take appropriate action.”
Can you imagine getting bagged because you were dropping $100 on snowflakes every week? There isn’t any snow in July dawg.
It goes without saying that you never know what you’re going to see when you get on the train. And trust me, most of it, you don’t wanna see.
Depending on the day, hour, and stop you’re at, you could be Gucci.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BT9_slcFsQw/
But in that same breath, you could also witness some of the braziest, most vile, and disgusting shit NYC has to offer.
Or you might see a woman chopping some onions for dinner. Like I said you never know what you’re gonna see!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUNoHB9lfgV/
At the end of the day, it’s the wild people that inhabit this city that make taking the subways so wild.
They could either just be in a terrible mood or truly on the salts.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUxfWTwFotq/
The MTA has been fucking up at alarming rates lately (while simultaneously not giving a fuck) and as if delays weren’t enough to deal with, you have to also go through even more stress like this.
You need to stay strapped (mentally) to be able to use your intuition to avoid all hotboy situations just to get to your destination.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BV4-iQrl0eo/
Once again shout out the Instagram page Subway Creatures for curating some of the wildest footage and flicks on the web.
So without any further ado, here is Part 2 to the 10 people you’ll see on the New York City subway above.
The 2017 G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany this weekend has put the problems of the modern political landscape in clear view.
Between massive protests that turned violent, clear tensions between leaders of countries that are supposed to be close allies, and the President of the United States being mostly ignored by other presidents and prime ministers, the degradation of political norms was on full display.
Every year, the political and financial leaders of the biggest and most powerful countries in the world meet at the G20 to discuss a variety of issues from the climate, financial and trade deals, education, and pretty much all the other stuff that matters.
In the past, the G20 was basically a check-up between the most powerful and wealthiest people in the world. Now, the myriad of issues in the world, and the attitudes of the very leaders that are in place to solve them, have changed the context of the summit itself.
Obviously Donald Trump’s presence and behavior at the summit was one of the talking points at the G20.
Trump ran on a largely populist platform, and much of his “America First” campaign was designed on an anti-globalist agenda.
The G20 summit, where leaders of twenty of the most prominent countries in the world come together, is exactly the type of thing Trump has been so critical of in the past.
On Saturday, Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka took her father’s place during a meeting.
The decision to have Ivanka Trump sit in on a meeting of world leaders was roundly criticized by many of Trump’s detractors.
Based on Ivanka Trump example, I'm going to ask Speaker Ryan if my son can sit in for me at the next House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing https://t.co/ZbApdkYixL
“This is a group of the 20 most powerful leaders in the world in the 20 most powerful countries in the world. It conveys that impression and we are a democracy and that’s also important here… Authority is not conferred upon family members because of the president’s position.”
A Trump official claimed there was nothing unusual about Ivanka’s presence,
“Ivanka was sitting in the back and then briefly joined the main table when the president had to step out. When other leaders stepped out, their seats were also briefly filled by others.”
The subject of the meeting, promoting women entrepreneurship in Africa, was also supposedly a reason for Ivanka sitting in on the meeting.
Perhaps Ivanka had some invaluable insight to offer in the meeting, and the president’s daughter probably knows more about this subject than the president himself, but having your own kid stand in during a meeting of global leaders and politicians just shows a lack of regard for the occasion.
Trump’s general attitude at the G20 summit was criticized by commentators from around the world.
Australian journalist and television presenter Chris Uhlmann’s scathing summation of Trump’s time at the G20 went viral.
Yeah, probably shouldn’t hold up an Australian reporter who thinks persecuted Jews fleeing Nazi Germany “transmitted the intellectual virus” of communism into the US.
Not sure why ABC even employs this dude, but that’s besides the point.
Regardless, it has become clear that Donald Trump wants the United States to be much less involved on the global geopolitical landscape and thus making the country less of a world power.
In fact, I go further, someday people may see this G20 as a bright line in history–when Trump began an American retreat from leadership.
Are you trying to Netflix and chill but can’t find anything good to watch?
Do you find yourself shuffling through flicks you’ve already seen? Are you boring your friends with lame ass selections? Are you dumb smacked?
Well bore no more. We’ve got the documentaries that’ll put you on the edge of your seat. You no longer have to reach in the dark hoping to grasp something poppin’.
The only thing you’ll need to grab is some roll up and piff.
Here’s your one stop shop for some of the best documentaries on Netflix.
Saving Banksy
Take a step into the world of graffiti. Saving Banksy follows Brian Greif as he struggles to save one of Banksy’s most popular pieces – The Socialist Rat. Watch him as he struggles to safely extract the street art from the side of a building, haggle with bidders who offer hundreds of thousands of dollars for him to sell out, and find a place for the artwork to call home.
Directed by Colin Day, Saving Banksy sheds light on the people who respect Banksy’s vandal-like style, those who want to take monetary advantage of his anonymity, and those looking to eradicate his art off of the streets completely.
Saving Banksy features some of the world’s top street artists and takes us to Miami’s Art Basel where Banksy’s pieces are taken out of context and put on display without his permission.
Fuck you Stephan Keszler.
T-Rex
Clarissa Shields is a 17-year-old boxer from Flint, MI who has had it hard her entire life. She now has the opportunity to get to the Olympics and get the gold and change her and family’s life completely.
Watch as Shields trains her ass off to become the first woman in history to win a gold medal in Olympic boxing (2012 was the first Olympics with women’s boxing).
Directed by Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari, T-Rex is an American sports nonpareil.
Bodyguards: The Secret Lives from the Watchtower
Directed by Jaren Hayman, this doc takes you into the secret lives of celebrity bodyguards working in private security profiles.
Get an inside look of those who have protected rapper 50 Cent, mega pop star Justin Beiber, Bostonian gangster/snitch Whitey Bulger, and South African apartheid activist turned prime minister Nelson Mandela.
This shit is straight fire. Peep top secret military tactics, the cost of being someone’s human shield, and the sacrifices made by those who serve and protect the famous and powerful.
CT Fletcher: My Magnificent Obsession
CT Fletcher is basically black Lazarus. Watch as Vlad Yudin captures the magnificent story of a bodybuilder who looked death right in the eyes and said, fuck you.
This flick will definitely give you the motivation to keep going no matter what the cost.
Fletcher is a man who was told he would never lift again after having hypertension issues from a fast food diet and a mechanical heart placed into his chest.
He is now over 50 and brolic AF.
CounterPunch
Counter Punch is a Netflix original documentary directed by golden glove boxer Jay Bulger. Bulger takes you into the lives of three boxers at different stages in their careers.
Watch as Peter Quillin, Cam F. Awesome, and Lil B-Hop contest to make it to the top of their division.
The doc gives insight to the declining popularity of boxing and discusses the waging between money and glory. CounterPunch features wisdom from legendary boxers Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Bernard Hopkins.
What would you choose the money or the honor?
Hip-Hop Evolution
Hip-Hop Evolution is a four-part Canadian music documentary series.
Directed by Darby Wheeler, Sam Dunn, and Scot McFadyen, Hip-Hop Evolution delves into a rich history of the urban music genre.
The series gives rap fans insight on what is it was like coming up during the birth of hip-hop. Hear epic tales from legends like Russell Simmons, DJ Kool Herc, and Grandmaster Flash.
Get Me Roger Stone, written and directed by Dylan Bank, Daniel DiMauro, and Morgan Pehme, gives us a look into the dark and demented mind of a man described as someone “who has no soul.”
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru
Watch as Tony Robbins touches the soul of patrons from every corner of the globe at his six-day seminar “Date With Destiny.”
Cameramen go behind the scenes as Robbins prepares to preach to over 2,500 people in Boca Raton, Florida and get some insight on Robbins mission – looking for what’s real finding it, and taking that bait all the way to the soul.
Not going to front, I got teary eyed when watching a couple of scenes.
SneakerHeadz
Are you a sole collector?
“A sneakerhead to me, is when your wife comes home with groceries and she can’t find room on the floor in the kitchen to put the groceries down because it’s full of shoes and boxes, that’s when you know you have a problem, and that problem is being a sneaker head.”
Sneakerheadz, will make your head spin as it goes into the closets of sneaker collectors all across the globe.
Viewers get an inside look into the heads of DC sneaker designer and pro skater Rob Dyrdek, rapper Wale, MLB pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, designer of the Pigeon Dunk Jeff Staple, and much more.
Sneakerheadz takes kick fanatics to the corners of the earth. Peep the illest stores in Tokyo, Boston, Los Angeles, and London. Also, see what it was like for collectors before the internet.
The Hurt Business
From Vlad Yudin, the producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, The Hurt Business is another fighting doc that hits hard. Get a behind the scenes look to see the history of the brutal sport.
Watch as The Hurt Business covers the rich history of the sport from its beginning stages in the Colosseum to making its debut at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
This flick features legendary MMA fighters like Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones, and Georges St-Pierre. It also features up-and-coming fighters who are struggling to make it to the top balancing a life in and outside of the ring.
Retired fighters also shed light on their perspective of the sport and the damaging effects it has had on their mental health.
13th
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V66F3WU2CKk
Become awoken.
13th, directed by Ava DuVernay, takes an in-depth look at the 13th Amendment to the Constitution,
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”
Are prisoners the new slaves?
Watch as scholars, activist, and politicians deconstruct the prison system and dig up the truth behind what the prison industry really is.
World leaders are gathering at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, amidst massive protests dubbed “Welcome to Hell.”
A mix of anti-Trump and anti-capitalist protestors took to the streets in Hamburg and the heated protests soon turned violent, with both protestors and law enforcement reporting injuries.
While chaos descended on the north German port city, the world’s most powerful politicians met to discuss a variety of topics from climate change to education.
Perhaps the most intriguing meeting (in a reality TV type of way) was between United States President Donald Trump (still weird to type) and Vladimir Putin of Russia.
With a consensus in the American intelligence community that the Russians actively attempted to influence the 2016 American election, Democratic members of congress had been calling on Trump to push Putin on the question of election meddling.
But after the meeting, signals appeared to be crossed over whether Trump indeed talked to Putin about election interference and to what extent.
“President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it’s going very well. We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia and for the United States, and for everyone concerned.”
Nothing really to parse through there! But United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was more straight forward, claiming Russian election meddling was the first topic Trump raised in his meeting with Putin.
NEWS: Sec. Tillerson says President Trump *opened* his lengthy meeting with Putin by discussing Russian meddling in the 2016 election
“The president opened the meeting raising the concerns of the American people about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. They had a very lengthy and robust conversation on this.”
The Secretary of State even claimed the two leaders reached a common understanding that interfering in another country’s election is very bad,
“The two leaders agreed this is of substantial hindrance. They agreed to exchange further work regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the U.S. and our democratic process as well as other countries.”
Ok, fair enough. According to Tillerson, Trump followed through on pressing Putin.
Then Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, claimed that Trump “accepted” Putin’s statements that there was no foul play from the Russian government.
Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times Moscow bureau chief, reported Lavrov’s comments.
Hallie Jackson, Chief White House Correspondent for NBC, reported that a Trump official claimed Lavrov’s comments about Trump’s acceptance was “not accurate.”
Pushback already from Trump administration: one official tells @NBCNews Lavrov's "not accurate" w/this comment –> https://t.co/URIsFPQYWT
Hard to choose who to believe in this situation, Trump’s White House or Putin’s Kremlin, both administrations have a massive history of lying to, and disdaining, the press.
So let me get this straight: 1. Trump raised election meddling. 2. Putin denied. 3. They moved on to agreement areas. Am I the only person?!
Shortly after capturing his second title, Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson took off for China to promote his Anta sneakers.
Clearly the kicks are trash, but Thompson is after the bread. He recently inked a 10 year, $80 million dollar deal with the China-based sneaker company.
Klay is beloved in China as the face of Anta Sports. Thompson doesn’t have an especially strong brand in the United States, mostly because he’s been in fellow Splash Brother Steph Curry’s shadow since he arrived in the league.
But it isn’t all bad for Klay. He plays on the league’s best team that has been to three straight NBA Finals and has performed well on the biggest stage.
For those who follow Thompson closely, he has always been a sarcastic character who doesn’t appear to take anything too seriously. Last year on Bill Simmons’ podcast former teammate Andrew Bogut said that everyone on the team calls Thompson “Smokey”.
Hmmm.
Bogut quickly tried to walk back from the comment, claiming it was an Australian term of endearment. But Thompson does looked smacked quite often.
Maybe this tour is just what the sharpshooter from The Bay needed. Some time away from his high profile teammates and some room for Klay to soak up the limelight.
The two-time champ appears to be enjoying his trip though. Klaytheists stand up.
Cuomo also pledged $1 billion in order to fix the MTA and appointed a new head of the MTA, Joe Lhota, who held the position from 2011-2012 before an unsuccessful run for mayor.
As the subway system becomes worse and worse and NYC residents continue to see their morning commutes become increasingly long and confusing journeys of misery, Cuomo and Lhota are trying to figure out a way to halt the decay of public transit in the city.
Last week, two days after an A train derailed, Joe Lhota signaled his intention to reevaluate the entire subway system,
“We are going to do a top-to-bottom analysis of the entire system. We are going to come up with a long-term plan, a detailed long-term plan, to overhaul the organizational structure and modernize the entire subway system. No idea is too crazy, no idea is too ambitious.”
“A Daily News analysis found that two transit honchos swiped their free MTA-issued MetroCards only once between Jan. 1, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2016. Another used it only twice during that two-year window.”
Daily News got the receipts,
“Nine used their cards between 12 and 85 times during that period… Five others swiped their cards an average of once per week during that time frame — far less than a commuting straphanger who typically uses the subway at least 10 times a week.”
While it may not be the biggest political scandal of all-time that MTA officials don’t actually use the subway, it is pretty revealing.
How can an institution function at its fullest capabilities and provide a decent service if the powers that be therein don’t USE THAT SERVICE?
New Yorkers are getting stuck in tunnels for hours, trains are literally going off the rails, fare prices are rising, and people in the upper echelons of the MTA don’t even take the damn train.
I’ve abandoned all hope that the subway will ever get any better, let alone function on a day to day basis.
The $1 billion stimulus package Cuomo just threw at the MTA to feign some sort of action will not suddenly just fix the MTA.
Cuomo said himself this problem has literally been generations in the making, “It happens all of a sudden and the temptation is to say, ‘Well, something must have caused it.’ No. A lifetime caused it. Bad habits caused it.”
If the top brass of the MTA actually, you know, took the subway, maybe we’d be headed in the right direction. Alas, shout out the bus.
While you were at work, sweating out some Tito’s from July 4th weekend, LeBron James spent his day at a beach-side bar smoking cigars and playing some of his favorite tunes.
The King broadcasted his day on Instagram, knowing the whole world would be sick.
But it doesn’t seem as though the other Banana Boat members tagged along with him this year. The King is known for taking extravagant vacations during the offseason.
Last year, after coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Warriors, LeBron toured the Mediterranean on a yacht with all his pals and the wifeys. The Cavs star is known to be a wine connoisseur, so I’m sure he was hype about this trip.
So far this offseason, LeBron has thrown his son an incredible birthday party, made Tee Grizzley a lot of money by working out to his hit song “First Day Out,” and flexed on Instagram a whole lot.
It seems as though Akron’s breadiest man isn’t as worried about the Warriors as much as the rest of the NBA. LeBron has learned to reward himself for his hard work and take time to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Smart man.
Even though we aren’t quite sure where you are right now, thanks for keeping us updated on your summer activities Mr. James, we all appreciate it.
