Category Archives: Blog

Thanks to Alison Ettel, aka #PermitPatty, we can add selling bottled water without a permit to the list of things black people can’t do in America without having the cops called on them. 

Ettel became the subject of viral outrage Saturday when she appeared to call the police to report an 8-year-old black girl “illegally” selling water on a San Francisco street. The girl’s mom posted video of that apparent phone call to Instagram, and Ettel later told HuffPost she “pretended” to report the incident to the police. 

More about Social Good, Racism, White Supremacy, Permit Patty, and Social Good

The Washington Post has jumped to the defense of Sarah Sanders a day after the press secretary was refused service at a restaurant.

The piece, titled “Let the Trump team eat in peace,” was written by the paper’s editorial board. In it they argue that Sanders, Kirstjen Nielsen, and Stephen Miller — all public faces of the administrations widely condemned immigration policy — should be left alone and “allowed to eat dinner in peace.” It’s an odd stance for this moment in history, and naturally it has a lot of people really riled up. 

While the Post‘s board acknowledges that readers “will get no argument from us regarding Mr. Trump’s border policy,” they do argue against what they see as the incivility of interrupting someone’s meal. Read more…

More about Washington Post, Trump Administration, Sarah Sanders, Culture, and Politics

Pride parades are the best kind of public spectacle: They uplift, unite, and give people a great reason to have a lot of fun. 

As Pride Month comes to an end, spend a moment taking in scenes from parades that took place around the world over the past few weeks. They spread messages of hope, love, and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. 

You’ll see a near-naked roller skater in New York, drag queens in Lisbon, a daring activist in Ukraine, and massive crowds in countries like Brazil, Greece, Chile, and Italy.  Read more…

More about Photos, Social Good, Pride Parade, Pride Month, and Social Good

If you haven’t yet landed on who to root for during the World Cup, you should seriously consider getting behind Senegal. 

Sure, the men of the Senegalese team have made headlines for their incredible performances during round one of the tournament. But more importantly, if their pre-game warmup dances tell us anything, they seem to be having the most fun. 

A video of the team singing and dancing in unison on the soccer pitch before Sunday’s game against Japan went viral. It’s a short clip but it has already racked up over 2 million views — and it is easy to see why.  Read more…

More about Dance, World Cup, Senegal, Culture, and Web Culture

It’s been five long years since The Office finale, but thankfully its supporters have ensured that the show will live on forever.

Twitter user @The_life_of_ACE is the latest fan to continue the show’s legacy in the best way possible: by splicing up 26 clips from the show’s 9 seasons to create a beautiful rendition of the alphabet. 

“Someone did this with vines and I like The Office so here ya go,” @The_life_of_ACE tweeted, referring to the museum worthy viral video that is the ABC’s of Vine. 

Most fans of the show were thrilled with the video, and some even offered up their own suggestions for different letters.  Read more…

More about The Office, Culture, and Web Culture

Another month, another phone-wielding woman from Oakland gone viral.

In May, the world was introduced to “BBQ Becky,” an Oakland woman who called the police on two black men grilling without a permit. Now, we’ve found her successor in “Permit Patty.” 

A video circulated online on Saturday showing an angry woman on the phone, allegedly with the police, because an 8-year-old girl was selling water on a sidewalk.

The internet quickly dubbed the woman, whose real name is apparently Alison Ettel, “Permit Patty” — and since the video was uploaded, a lot more has happened. Here’s everything you need to know about the events that transpired. Read more…

More about Permit Patty, Culture, and Web Culture

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was a half-billion dollar moneymaker before its U.S. release on Friday. It has an outside chance of hitting the $1 billion milestone by the end of next weekend.

Not bad for a movie series about a Disney-style theme park built around resurrected-from-extinction dinosaurs.

The latest Jurassic adventure adds an estimated $150 million in U.S. ticket sales to its overall total this weekend, bringing Fallen Kingdom‘s cumulative global box office up to $711.5 million. The movie opened outside the U.S. as far back as June 6, so we’re technically now in its third weekend since release. Read more…

More about Entertainment, Film, Box Office, Universal Pictures, and Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom

All dogs are good dogs. But all dogs are not beautiful dogs (on the outside, at least).

The World’s Ugliest Dog competition brought its annual show to the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in California on Saturday night. And the precious angel you see pictured above, a 9-year-old English bulldog named Zsa Zsa, was chosen by a panel of judges as the contest’s latest winner.

Zsa Zsa and her owner, Megan Brainard of Anoka, Minnesota, get to take home a $1,500 prize. Here’s what our winning pup’s profile had to say about her life before World’s Ugliest Dog stardom. Read more…

More about Dogs, Animals, Culture, World S Ugliest Dog, and Culture

They both got kicked out of different Washington, D.C. area restaurants on Friday. But only one suffered unjust treatment.

While White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders used her government Twitter account on Saturday to criticize a private business that politely asked her to leave, Charlotte Clymer shared a story of her own. Both women were ejected from a restaurant on Friday, but the similarities end there.

“Last night, I was told by the manager of @CubaLibreDC that I couldn’t use the women’s restroom, and after challenging his discrimination with D.C. law and responding to his threat of calling the police w/ “please do so”, I was forcibly removed from the restaurant.”  Read more…

More about Twitter, Viral, Social Good, Activism, and Transgender Rights

*Beyoncé voice*: Have you ever seen the crowd…of Beyoncé stans draped in white sheets and dancing to their idol’s latest single? 

No? Let us introduce you to the #APESHITCHALLENGE.

Per Twitter Moments, it’s a meme inspired by the first single from Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s joint album EVERYTHING IS LOVE. In the stylish new music video for “APESHIT” (filmed at the Louvre in Paris,) Bey dances at the top of a massive staircase, dressed in an enormous white gown. 

We’ve timestamped the moment for you, below:

The scene’s inspired fans to try the look at home, swapping couture for sheets. And thus, the #APESHITCHALLENGE was born. Read more…

More about Music, Memes, Beyonce, Culture, and Culture