TikTok, the popular video creation app, apologized for a controversy over the weekend involving the Black Lives Matter movement and those who aim to spread awareness about the senseless murder of George Floyd.
Storage space almost always feels like it’s at a premium, no matter how expansive your home is. Furniture that doubles as storage is a great option for creating more space for your precious things—and if they’re very precious things, concealing and locking them away may also be something you want to do. These pieces…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wes Unseld, the workmanlike Hall of Fame center who led Washington to its only NBA championship and was chosen one of the 50 greatest players in league history, died Tuesday after a series of health issues, most recently pneumonia. He was 74.
Unseld’s family announced his death via a statement released by the Washington Wizards, the franchise he played for throughout his entire 13-season career.
A five-time All-Star and, along with Wilt Chamberlain, one of only two players to win NBA Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in the same season, Unseld instantly made the team then known as the Baltimore Bullets into a winning franchise after it selected him No. 2 overall in the 1968 draft.
A decade later, he was the MVP of the NBA Finals as the Washington Bullets beat the Seattle SuperSonics in a seven-game series best known for coach Dick Motta’s proclamation: “The opera ain’t over until the fat lady sings.”
Listed at 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds, Unseld overcame taller players and bad knees with a strong work ethic and lots of grunt work in the paint. He was a tenacious rebounder and strong passer.
Statement from the family of Wes Unseld.
Rest easy, Wes ♥️ pic.twitter.com/NwEtuofgG9
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) June 2, 2020
Unseld was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988, his first year of eligibility.
“I never played pretty,” Unseld said on the day he was elected. “I wasn’t flashy. My contributions were in the things most people don’t notice. They weren’t in high scoring or dunking or behind-the-back passes.”
Wesley Sissel Unseld was born March 14, 1946, in Louisville, Kentucky, where he won two state championship at Seneca High School and then stayed home for college, attending the University of Louisville.
He averaged 20.6 points and 18.9 rebounds over his four years with the Cardinals, earning him the prime draft spot right behind No. 1 selection — and future Bullets teammate — Elvin Hayes.
In the NBA, Unseld averaged 10.8 points and 14 rebounds for his career.
His aching knees finally forced Unseld to stop playing in 1981, but he remained with the franchise that would eventually retire his No. 41 jersey.
Unseld initially worked in Washington’s front office, then was head coach for nearly seven seasons from 1987-94, compiling a 202-345 record with one playoff appearance. He also had a seven-year stint as general manager from 1996-03, when the team made one other trip to the playoffs.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
“He was the rock of our family — an extremely devoted patriarch who reveled in being with his wife, children, friends and teammates,” the family’s statement Tuesday said. “He was our hero and loved playing and working around the game of basketball for the cities of Baltimore and Washington D.C., cities he proudly wore on his chest for so many years.”
The post Wes Unseld, NBA Rookie of Year and MVP in 1969, dies at 74 appeared first on TheGrio.
It is unclear to most what President Donald Trump was trying to say when he turned tear gas on protesters outside of the White House, and then, with the assistance of the Secret Service walked across a park to St. John’s Church to hold a Bible in the air.
The gesture was another dramatic attempt to distract from the failures of his presidency and his feckless leadership. Twitter users immediately responded.
READ MORE: Trump declares he’s president of law, order amid protests
One poster compared it to The Triumph of the Will, a 1935 Nazi propaganda film. The theme of the film was to show Germany as a great power. It was also supposed to show the nation, Adolf Hitler, as their leader, would bring glory to the nation.
What in the Triumph of Will is this. https://t.co/wDSFwzhes1
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) June 2, 2020
Spoiler alert: He didn’t.
Other comparisons to Hitler were shared including a split-screen of Trump holding the Bible in the air, juxtaposed to the Nazi leader doing the same, however, the image of Hitler holding a bible is actually photoshopped.
Was trump waving a #Bible today ? pic.twitter.com/4gkjz889QE
— AltBlueOhio (@StickerDeep) June 2, 2020
Social media users seemed to be in consensus that the sacred text should not have been used as a prop. They also were confused by officials firing rubber bullets and tear gas on peaceful protesters for the president’s impromptu photo-op.
Religion should not be used as a political tool. The bible should not be used as a prop.#Trump pic.twitter.com/ciS8E9qOiS
— It’s ‘Anderona’ (@_Its_AColeWorld) June 2, 2020
St. John’s Church had recently suffered a fire in the basement where a Sunday School daycare was previously housed. Yet he did not address meeting the needs of that sacred space. In fact, no one associated with the church knew that he was coming or understood why the visit was made.
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, seemed perplexed when interviewed on MSNBC, “If he had come to offer words of solace, healing, and resolve … that would have been an appropriate use of the sacred symbol of walking across the park to the church. But, he did none of those things.”
Bishop Budde on President Trump’s visit: “If he had come to offer words of solace and healing and resolve, to bind the wounds of our nation, that would have been an appropriate use of the sacred symbol of walking across the park to the church. But he did none of those things” pic.twitter.com/Szh9VCxaj1
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 2, 2020
On CNN’s New Day with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman, when asked if “the president is a frequent visitor to St. John?” Bishop Budde answered swiftly.
“No. He is not a man of prayer on Sunday morning,” she revealed. “And he has not gone to worship at St. John or regularly at any of the churches in our diocese.”
“Let me be clear. He did not come to pray,” the bishop noted.
Bishop Budde serves as the spiritual leader for 88 Episcopal congregations and ten Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties and the first woman elected to this position. She also serves as the chair and president of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, overseeing the ministries of the Washington National Cathedral and Cathedral schools.
Earlier on Monday, Trump said, “I will fight to protect you. I am your President of law and order and an ally of peaceful protesters.”
Bishop Budde disputes that.
She says, “He did nothing to say to them [the protesters] that your future is before you and I will protect you and do all that we can to make this country worthy of you.”
“[He did not do] all the things that we need and deserve from anyone who is leadership, spiritual or political at this time.”
READ MORE: Trump slams governors as ‘weak,’ urges crackdown on protests
ABC News reporter Terry Moran took to Twitter to match the presidential Bible-thumping, with some actual scripture, quoting the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6.
Posing with a Bible.
Matthew 6:5-6
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others…When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” pic.twitter.com/NGp1ff06kU
— Terry Moran (@TerryMoran) June 1, 2020
Standing in front of St. John’s Church, Trump held the sacred text aloft in a moment that was so inflammatory that CNN called it “gaslighting.”
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The post Twitter rips Trump’s Bible photo-op in front of church after protest remarks appeared first on TheGrio.
Protests have erupted all around the country in response to the recent death of George Floyd and others at the hands of law enforcement officials. The public outcry has forced many brands to make a call to action and speak out against the recent wave of racial injustice and demand justice for the victim’s families. Now tech giant Facebook has come forward standing with protesters by committing to help end racial injustice within the U.S.
In a post on Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook, the company announced it would be donating $10 million to different efforts to end racial injustice in light of the recent protests. The Hollywood Reporter reported that CEO Mark Zuckerberg followed with a statement on Facebook saying that the company was “working with our civil rights advisors and our employees to identify organizations locally and nationally that could most effectively use [the funding] right now.”
The move comes after President Donald Trump took to the platforms to engage in a series of inflammatory posts threatening looters with violence after Twitter began censoring and fact-checking all of his posts. Many employees went on Twitter to express their disappointment with their CEO’s silence on the harmful posts. After intense public pressure, Zuckerberg eventually responded to the claims saying although he was disturbed by the posts that he would not be removing them from either platform.
