DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Kanye West has a disturbing history of admiring Hitler, sources tell CNN
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Chloe Melas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Several people who were once close to the artist formerly known as Kanye West told CNN that he has long been fascinated by Adolf Hitler — and once wanted to name an album after the Nazi leader. The executive told CNN that West spoke openly about reading “Mein Kampf,” Hitler’s 1925 autobiographical manifesto and expressed his “admiration” for the Nazis and Hitler for their use of propaganda. Four sources told CNN that West had originally suggested the title “Hitler” for his 2018 album that eventually released as “Ye.” They did not want to be named, citing concern for professional retribution. TMZOne of the sources who spoke to CNN and was at the TMZ interview said West had favorably referenced Hitler. The revelation of West’s alleged history of admiring Hitler comes amid a wave of inflammatory actions by West that began earlier this month.

☆ Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | Photographs Devin Oktar Yalkin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +53 min

Beyond Catastrophe A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View By David Wallace-WellsYou can never really see the future, only imagine it, then try to make sense of the new world when it arrives. (A United Nations report released this week ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, confirmed that range.) A little lower is possible, with much more concerted action; a little higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. There were climate-change skeptics in some very conspicuous positions of global power. New emissions peaks are expected both this year and next, which means that more damage is being done to the future climate of the planet right now than at any previous point in history.

☆ Fact Check-Fabricated Lauren Boebert quote about slavery and unemployment
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert did not say “the lowest black unemployment rate was during slavery,” as claimed on social media. “This is not a quote from the Congresswoman,” said Benjamin Stout, Deputy Chief & Communications Director for Boebert. The quote was posted by Twitter user @TheFungi669 on Oct. 25 and has since garnered at least 250 retweets (here). No such quote came up when doing a keyword search on Google (bit.ly/3D4v761) or on her verified Twitter handles (bit.ly/3spJrkR). Reuters found no evidence that Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert made this statement and a spokesman for her said she did not make the comment.

☆ Ye's ugly break-up with Adidas and Gap show the risks of celebrity partnerships
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The line also helped Adidas (ADDDF) get shelf space at major retailers and brought new customers into the stores who bought other Adidas (ADDDF) merchandise. Other fashion brands that bet on Ye, including Gap (GPS)and Balenciaga, have also ended their partnerships in recent weeks. The partnership with Ye and subsequent fallout highlights the risks of retail brands relying on celebrities to appeal to shoppers. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Advertising Research found that celebrity endorsements from athletes can increase a brand’s sales by 4%. Instead of pulling the plug on Ye immediately, Adidas’ slow response allowed anger and protests over the brand’s ties to him to grow online for more than a week.

"And I feel like us being mostly Hispanic, mostly African American students, mostly Caribbean students, we don't get to learn a lot about our cultures and the ways that we were thriving. Shannah Henderson speaks to a student during Brooklyn Preparatory High School's AP African American studies course in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Wednesday. Henderson said Trevor Packer, the senior vice president and the head of the AP Program and the instruction division, responded. She said that because she doesn't have a degree in African American studies, she was also required to take online courses at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. AP African American Studies is multidisciplinary, drawing from literature, the arts and humanities, political science, geography and science.

☆ US Midterms 2022: 5 States Are Voting to Ban Slavery in Prisons
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Voters in Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, and Vermont will be voting on changing this legislation. The landmark 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on December 6, 1865, officially abolished slavery but allowed it to continue as a punishment in prisons against convicted felons. For states in the former Confederacy, the loophole was a tool to maintain the dynamics of slavery, post-abolition, said AP. But in some states, including Alabama, inmates get paid nothing for their work. "For an entire generation, it put Black men and women back into slavery by incarcerating them and selling their labor to private corporations," said Chase.

☆ Creaking chains a reminder of slavery in New York art exhibit
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A new art installation that visitors can walk through on New York's Governors Island features giant chain links grinding overhead, pointing to the legacy of slavery in the United States. Artist Charles Gaines says he wanted to create a piece - which faces the Statue of Liberty and is roughly 100 feet (30.5 meters) long that reflected the sounds and history of the Mississippi River. "The Mississippi River - which is the place that you talk about the history of American commerce, but also we can talk about the history of slavery," said Gaines. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Shannon Stapleton and Maria Alejandra CardonaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The US is at a 'greater risk' of civil conflict now than during the Great Depression, according to a presidential historian
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Lauren Frias | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Historian Jon Meacham said the US may soon experience a period of civil chaos. While he doesn't believe there will be armies, he does think "we are going to see it with violence." The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, who has an upcoming book about Abraham Lincoln, spoke about how Lincoln set an example by putting democracy ahead of politics. "I do not believe we're going to see the massing of great armies in the way we did in the 19th century. "The work we are about is more important than the will and the whim of a single man, or a single party or a single interest.'"

Attorneys for George Floyd's daughter and her mother have sent rapper Kanye West a cease-and-desist letter, demanding that he refrain from commenting publicly about Floyd's death as he did recently. Chauvin also pleaded guilty to a federal charge of violating Floyd's civil rights. regarding" Floyd, his estate, his family and the circumstances surrounding his death, including, but not limited to, his manner of death. Video of Floyd's death recorded by bystanders spurred global protests against racism and police brutality. He was sentenced in July 2022 to just more than 20 years for violating Floyd's civil rights.

George Floyd's family is considering suing Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, for making false claims about Floyd's death, a prominent civil rights lawyer said. Merritt said Monday that he had been contacted Sunday by Floyd's brother, Philonise, about whether legal action can be taken to prevent Ye from repeating debunked claims about Floyd's death. He pleaded guilty last year to a federal charge of violating Floyd's civil rights by using excessive force under color of law and was sentenced to just more than 20 years in July. The medical examiner who ruled Floyd's death a homicide testified during Chauvin's state trial that Floyd's heart disease and drug use contributed to his death, but that police officers' restraint of his body and compression of his neck were the primary causes. In July, Kueng was sentenced in federal court to three years and Thao to three and a half years.

I no longer miss the “old” Kanye West, now known as Ye. I’m tired of hearing about the new Ye, and I wish we could stop talking about him altogether. Days before that, he appeared with far-right pundit Candace Owens flaunting “White Lives Matter” T-shirts during Paris Fashion Week. This includes to stopping asking for the “old Kanye” back. Chop up the soul Kanye, set on his goals Kanye.” At first, I sang the lyrics with hope that the “old Kanye” who once had such a hopeful swagger would return, that he would get past his ego and be born again as the creative powerhouse whose every move we followed with anticipation instead of dread.

☆ How the filmmakers behind ‘Till’ depicted Black trauma without showing violence
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Harmeet Kaur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The problem with ‘Black trauma porn’“Black trauma porn” – much like “disaster porn” or “poverty porn” – generally refers to graphic depictions of violence against Black people that are intended to elicit strong emotional responses. The implication is that these images can be needlessly traumatizing to Black viewers for whom violence is an inescapable fact of life. “There’s a difference between telling a story of Black trauma and telling a story that is ‘Black trauma porn.’”How Till avoids the trap of ‘trauma porn’What, then, is the line between a story of Black trauma and “Black trauma porn?”For Young, the distinguishing factor is context. Put bluntly, is that depiction of Black trauma intended to appeal to the sympathies of White people? It’s notable that many of the recent projects deemed to be “Black trauma porn” have been the work of Black creatives – an obvious reminder that Black people are not a monolith.

☆ Kanye West canceled? Here’s why it probably won’t happen
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Kanye West has had so many controversies you may have forgotten a few. The latest calls to cancel West, who legally changed his name to Ye, may be the most intense yet. for America founder Brigitte Gabriel tweeted her support for West, one of her followers responded, “I used to judge him quite harshly. There were calls to boycott West in 2018 after comments he made about the history of slavery in the United States. There have been several other controversies since that have not stopped West from achieving mass success with his fashion and sneaker lines.

☆ MacArthur fellow P. Gabrielle Foreman wants to make sure 'unremembered' Black history gets taught
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

That history, Foreman argues, has been largely erased from academic discussions and mainstream conversations. P. Gabrielle Foreman and Jim Casey, back row, and Denise Burgher, second from right, with their colleagues at Pennsylvania State University. “The Colored Conventions movement helps us to understand a history full of possibilities,” he said. Now, it has a massive interactive online archive and was the inspiration behind “The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century,” which was published last year. Amid widespread efforts to suppress teaching about race and racism in the U.S., Burgher said a greater and more accurate understanding of Black history is more important now than ever before.

☆ Graham Norton says ‘cancel culture’ is really just accountability
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The phrase “cancel culture” has become a ubiquitous catchall that celebrities may cling to after they make a controversial or offensive statement. But Graham Norton doesn’t think that’s the correct description for what really happens when fans criticize “canceled” people. Speaking to interviewer Mariella Frostrup, Norton decried the concept of “canceling” anyone who still has a sizable platform from which to speak. “You read a lot of articles in papers by people complaining about ‘cancel culture,’” he told Frostrup. I’m reading your name in a newspaper, or you’re doing an interview about how terrible it is to be canceled.”“I think [‘cancel culture’] is the wrong word,” he continued.

Some may want to see the explosive, racist diatribes of a handful of prominent Los Angeles City Council members as an unfortunate incident that will eventually fade away. But the reality is that such prejudice from Latino to Latino and Latino to other racial groups is not so uncommon. That was on stark display in the conversation among former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez, council members Kevin De León and Gil Cedillo and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, who resigned Monday. "If you’re going to talk about Latino districts, what kind of districts are you trying to create?” she asks her colleagues in frustration. Zapotecs, or Indigenous people of Oaxacan descent, number about 200,000 in Los Angeles County, one of the largest Oaxacan communities outside Mexico.

☆ After Biden’s announcement on cannabis and racial equity, what's next?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Beau Kilmer | Beau Kilmer Is The Mccauley Chair In Drug Policy Innovation | Co-Director Of The Drug Policy Research Center At The Nonprofit | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

President Joe Biden’s announcement about cannabis policy reform last week underscored how keeping it illegal disproportionately harms people of color. Biden’s move is an important step in changing the federal approach to cannabis. Some jurisdictions are considering how cannabis tax revenues could be used to address racial disparities. For example, Evanston, Illinois., is using some of its cannabis tax revenues to support slavery reparations. Cannabis legalization isn’t just a yes-or-no choice.

☆ NAACP denounces 'flat out racist' remarks by GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville at Trump rally
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Leaders of major civil rights organizations on Monday condemned Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., for suggesting at a Trump rally over the weekend that descendants of Black slaves are criminals in remarks about reparations. "Senator Tuberville’s comments are flat out racist, ignorant and utterly sickening," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. As a speaker at former President Donald Trump's rally Saturday in Minden, Nevada, Tuberville called Democrats "soft on crime" and "pro-crime." National Urban League President Marc H. Morial on Monday called Tuberville's comments "bigoted" and "stunning." A request for comment was not immediately returned by Tuberville’s Senate office.

☆ Trump support for Jan. 6 rioters is bad. But another former president was worse.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Steven Lubet | Steven Lubet Is The Williams Memorial Professor At The Northwestern University Pritzker School Of Law. His Most Recent Book Is | The Trials Of Rasmea Odeh | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

He likely has encouraged future insurrections by vowing to pardon the rioters who sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. During Tyler’s presidency, the Whigs actually expelled him from the party when he violated Whig principles. Tyler, like Trump, was a somewhat unexpected president who didn’t originally belong to the party that elected him. But Harrison died one month after his inauguration, making Tyler the first vice president to succeed to the presidency. Like Trump, Tyler had little respect for the party establishment that put him in power.

☆ Gavin Newsom says Ron DeSantis broke state laws by flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard: 'It's sick'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gavin Newsom said Ron DeSantis broke state laws "by every definition" when he flew migrants to Martha's Vineyard. DeSantis transported the migrants in a political stunt to protest President Joe Biden's border policies. Ron DeSantis broke state laws "by every definition" when he flew migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard as part of a political stunt to protest President Joe Biden's border policies. Newsom, who has a long-running feud with DeSantis, said the Florida Republican broke laws relating to the use of state dollars for that purpose. Newsom asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate whether the transport of migrants to Martha's Vineyard "under false pretenses" broke federal laws.

For the first time in history, Black veterans are getting a monument to acknowledge their service and contributions in the U.S. military. The African American Veterans Monument (AAVM) was unveiled Saturday in Buffalo, New York, to honor Black veterans and active-duty military service members both past and present. The monument serves as a permanent marker recognizing the contributions of African Americans who served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. “The African American Veterans Monument will enhance visitors’ understanding of the diversity in the armed forces throughout American history,” Hodges said. She said she hopes the monument will shed light on their service and contributions.

☆ Opinion: The British Empire: A legacy of violence?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

A related question is also surfacing now: What is the legacy of the British Empire writ large? Bergen: This reassessment of British Empire: You are leading the charge. Bergen: So, are the British in high school as they learn about British history being told a bunch of fairy tales? Are there similarities between the 1619 Project and what you and other colleagues are doing in your reassessment of the British Empire? And I think that’s what we’re seeing in different kinds of ways with the history of the British Empire.

☆ Analysis: 'Abbott Elementary' is back in session
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Three things to watch‘Abbott Elementary’ Season 2(From left) Quinta Brunson, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Tyler James Williams, Chris Perfetti and Sheryl Lee Ralph in a scene from "Abbott Elementary." Gilles Mingasson/ABCNot enough great things can be said about “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson. “Abbott Elementary” airs Wednesday nights on ABC; episodes will also be available to stream the following day on Hulu. ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’Evan Peters stars as Jeffrey Dahmer in "Dahmer -- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story." ‘The Kardashians’ Season 2Kim Kardashian in a scene from the second season of Hulu's "The Kardashians."

☆ Jared Kushner criticized Ron DeSantis flying migrants to Martha's Vineyard: 'You have to remember these are human beings'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jared Kushner took aim at Ron DeSantis while discussing the flight of migrants to Martha's Vineyard. Using migrants "as political pawns" is "very troubling," he told Fox News on Tuesday. "Many of them are exploited, put in human trafficking and modern slavery in a lot of ways," Kushner said of the migrants. On September 15, Ron DeSantis flew 48 migrants from Texas to ritzy Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, in a stunt aimed at bringing border and migration issues to a liberal enclave. "It's only when 50 get put into Martha's Vineyard," that outrage follows, DeSantis said in the clip, which host Emily Compagno agreed with.

☆ University of Cambridge says it gained from slave trade
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Cambridge said an investigation it commissioned had found no evidence that the university itself ever owned slaves or plantations directly. Those came from university benefactors who had made their money from the slave trade, the university’s investments in companies that participated in it, and fees from plantation-owning families, according to the investigation’s report. Researchers found that fellows from Cambridge colleges were involved with the East India Company, while investors in the Royal African Company also had links to Cambridge — two companies both active in the slave trade. “Such financial involvement both helped to facilitate the slave trade and brought very significant financial benefits to Cambridge,” the Legacies of Enslavement report said. The university said it had also received a donation to commission a Black British artist to memorialize Black Cambridge scholars, and will install explanatory plaques to contextualize older statues of those associated with the slave trade.

Search resuls for: "Slavery"

25 mentions found