HISTORY - Stark color photos of segregation-era U.S. thought lost, rediscovered in photographer’s storage

BY ABRAHAM  /  January 16, 2014

In 1956, photographer Gordon Parks was hired by Life Magazine to follow and document the everyday life of a southern Black family. Twenty of these photos were published in Life’s September issue that year with an article titled “The Restraints: Open and Hidden.”

Of course, Parks snapped many more photos than actually made it to print, but these were thought to be lost. However, in early 2012 the Gordon Parks Foundation was going through several storage boxes and came upon a taped-up paper package labeled, “Segregation Series.” In it they found 70 more color photographs from Parks’ 1956 work.

Here are just a few of the pics, both the published and the rediscovered…

To see more - http://twentytwowords.com/stark-color-photos-of-segregation-era-u-s-thought-lost-rediscovered-in-photographers-storage-10-pics/

CULTURE/SOCIETY - Everything You Know About St. Patrick's Day Is Wrong

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/brutally-honest-st-patricks-day-facts_n_4957861.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

By christine-dalton

St. Patrick's Day is almost upon us! Typically, we associate the holiday with drinking, drinking, and drinking. Oh, and being Irish.

But there's a lot more to St. Patrick's Day than most people know. Truthfully, you've probably been living a lie. When you learn all the facts, this holiday actually kind of... sucks.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but here are 10 brutally honest facts about St. Patrick's Day.

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  St. Patrick's Day was invented in America.
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  Really?! Catholic University's Irish American expert, Timothy Meagher, explains that St. Patrick's Day celebrations began in the 18th century in American cities with large Irish immigrant populations."It becomes a way to honor the saint but also to confirm ethnic identity and to create bonds of solidarity," Meagher explained. Really.
  • 4
    St. Patrick's Day used to be a dry holiday.
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    Today's booze-bags look to the holiday as a great excuse to start drinking Guinness at 9 AM. Until 1970, however, all pubs in Ireland were closed inobservance of the religious feast day.
    • 2
      There are more Irish people living in the U.S. than Ireland.
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      The population of Ireland is about 4.2. million. In contrast, there are around 34 MILLION people of Irish descent living in America.
      Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!
      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/brutally-honest-st-patricks-day-facts_n_4957861.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

HUMOR - Coping with the Iowa cold!

I found one way to cope when it gets really cold in Iowa. I have the coldest cities in America and the world listed on my weather app so I can see people who have it worse!

ENTERTAINMENT - Happy 4th Of July to my fellow Anericans!

POLITICS - Have to say good night to more than just the moon now!

CULTURE/SOCIETY - America's forgotten black cowboys

Like many people, Jim Austin - a college-educated, 45-year-old businessman - hadn't heard about the black presence in the Old West.

The discovery inspired him and his wife Gloria to set up the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. It pays tribute to some of the forgotten black cowboys - men like Bill Pickett, a champion rodeo rider who invented bulldogging, a technique where he would jump from a horse on to a steer and take the animal down by biting on its lip.

Vincent Jacobs, now 80, battled racism as a rodeo rider in the 1950s

"The kids who are learning history in our schools are not being told the truth about they way the West was," says Austin.

"I bet you nine out of 10 people in this country think that cowboys were all white - as I did.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21768669

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY: What Did People Use Before Toilet Paper?

Using the bathroom has come a long way from when ancient Greeks used stones and pieces of clay for personal hygiene. Toilet paper is one of those things that often gets taken for granted in modern times, except for places Charmin has yet to infiltrate. This is definitely one of those unavoidable things in life, so through many centuries and in many cultures, everyone had their own method of staying clean. Be warned: We’re going to get specific.

Read the full text here:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/48950/what-did-people-use-toilet-paper

HUMOR: Thanksgiving Comics And Memes

POLITICS: Ben Franklin’s Thoughts About the Constitution on the Day It Was Signed (225 Years Ago Today!)

On this date in 1787, members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final draft of the Constitution. The great Ben Franklin had a few things to say that day. The following excerpts are courtesy of the Library of Congress, from Max Farrand’s The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787:

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/142127

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Two Sikh Men, Two Lifetimes Of Looking Different

The tragic shooting at a Sikh house of worship in Wisconsin this month has turned the spotlight on the Sikh faith and the nation's Sikh community.

Earlier this year, Surinder Singh and his son Rupinder visited a StoryCorps booth in San Francisco, where they reflected on their own experiences standing out among their peers and neighbors.

http://m.npr.org/story/4516989?url=/series/4516989/storycorps

POLITICS: Bat Boy to be Romney's VP

“Bat Boy is from West Virginia and really understands the struggles that the middle class is going through,” said a Romney advisor. ”With Bat Boy on the ticket, the Republicans should be able to carry the south, the midwest and all the Hollywood who all love mutants.

http://weeklyworldnews.com/politics/47509/bat-boy-to-be-romneys-vp/

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY and POLITICS: The true size of Africa

SPIRITUALITY/RELIGION: 9 Great Nonbelievers In U.S. History

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-niose/great-nonbelievers-atheists-history_b_1677760.html

ENTERTAINMENT: Happy 4th of July comic book style!

HUMOR: What George III's problem *really* was on July 4, 1776!

http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=32560

ENTERTAINMENT: Super-Dreams of an Alternate World Order ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ and the Modern Comic Book Movies

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/movies/the-amazing-spider-man-and-the-modern-comic-book-movie.html#http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/movies/index.jsonp

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY: Gotta love Sagan!