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Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is holding off on commenting on President Donald Trump’s administration. At least, for now.

On Tuesday, the scientist told “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert that “lately people are just talking” about the government’s scientific policies and that he couldn’t “chase what people say because it flutters with the breeze.”

Tyson examined Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt’s claim that carbon dioxide emissions are not to blame for global warming ― a theory that goes against the vast majority of scientific thinking. Then he shared his future plan of action.

“I will act when they actually try to put legislation into place,” he told Colbert. ”If he puts down some legislation that requires that everyone think that, ooof, hold me back, oh, because then…”

Check out the full interview above.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

Actor Kal Penn has played a doctor on “House,” a therapist on “How I Met Your Mother” and a stoner craving tiny burgers on “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.” But based on roles offered to him early in his career, you’d think the only character in Penn’s acting range is Stereotypical Indian Guy.

Penn, who served in the White House under President Barack Obama’s administration, shared on Tuesday photos of audition scripts he received as a fledgling actor. 

The characters available to Penn were painstakingly stereotypical, including a “Gandhi lookalike,” a “quirky, Indian lab buddy” whose “language is peppered with Indian cultural references” and “Careem” with “a slight Hindi accent.”

“Found a bunch of old scripts from some of my first years trying to be an actor,” Penn wrote in a series of tweets.

“They were awful,” he added. “’Can you make this accent a little more AUTHENTIC?’ That usually meant they wanted Apu.”

Penn said he fought back against some of the typecasting, but he was apparently never successful.

When he auditioned for a TV pilot for the role of Parmesh, a “quirky Indian” in his early 20s, Penn tried to persuade casting to let him try the character without an accent. (His request apparently was denied.)

Penn even tried to reason with a very popular ABC show: “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.”

“We got INTO it about why he had to have an accent,” Penn said of the popular mid-1990s sitcom. “I’m laughing about it now but they were such dicks.”

He also admitted that the stereotyping ruined for him one of his favorite shows, CBS’ “The King of Queens.”

“There are too many in this stack to tweet,” Penn admitted after sharing 10 scripts.

Penn may have just been a budding actor when he was offered those cartoonish roles (new actors typically don’t have the privilege of cherry-picking their auditions), but his experience being typecast as an Indian-American actor sheds light on how Hollywood treats diversity.

As revealed by Penn’s scripts, Indian actors are usually placed in roles that perpetuate, usually negative, stereotypes about Indian people. (See: the sweaty “Pakistani computer geek” and Abdul with an accent and too much cologne.)

Aziz Ansari, comedian and creator of Netflix’s “Master of None,” explained in a New York Times essay that, despite all his success, he’s still offered roles that are “often defined by ethnicity and often require accents.”

“Even at a time when minorities account for almost 40 percent of the population, when Hollywood wants an ‘everyman,’ what it really wants is a straight white guy,” Ansari wrote. “But a straight white guy is not every man. The ‘everyman’ is everybody.”

But not all of the shows Penn auditioned for early in his career were like Disney’s “Smart Guy,” which put Penn up for the role of “foreign student” whose name was too long to bother with.

“There were also some wonderful 1st audition & work experiences!” Penn wrote.

He named shows that offered him roles with more depth, including a Steve Harvey show (though he doesn’t specify which one), “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” and “24.” 

And what happens when shows cast diverse characters outside of stereotypes? According to the ratings for Penn’s episodes of “House,” more viewers. 

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A Colorado couple has been charged in the deaths of their two infant children, who died two years apart sleeping in the same bed with the parents, authorities said.

Gregory Tyler Newton, 27, and Tierra Monet Collins, 28, of Aurora, were charged with two counts of second-degree child abuse in the deaths of 7-month-old Azian Newton and 3-month-old Nazairean Newton. They were scheduled to appear in court next month for a pre-trial conference. If convicted, they could face up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for each charge.

The couple had been drinking or taking drugs before both infants died, according to authorities. 

Azian died in July 2014, according to the couple’s arrest affidavit. The cause and manner of death were “undetermined,” but the autopsy noted the baby was in an “unsafe sleep environment” in a bed with his parents. The Aurora Police Department investigated, but filed no charges.

Two years later, in June 2016, police again were called to the apartment Newton and Collins shared, this time to investigate the death of their second child, Nazairean. The parents, according to the arrest affidavit, reeked of alcohol and didn’t appear upset.

“Tyler and Tierra were both calm,” the affidavit says.

Authorities said the apartment was “filthy,” with trash, cigarette butts and “empty alcoholic beverage bottles strewn all over.”

Newton told investigators he and Collins had been drinking and smoking marijuana the night before, according to the affidavit. He acknowledged the child slept in the bed with the couple, and said he “was not comfortable” with the arrangement, the affidavit says. Newton added that Collins is a “heavy sleeper,” police said.

Newton’s sister, Jennifer, told police Collins is a heavy drinker and had seen her consume alcohol during at least one of her pregnancies.

Collins, interviewed by investigators in September, said she was a light sleeper and had been comfortable co-sleeping with her children. She acknowledged she had been warned about the dangers of co-sleeping, police said.

“Tierra said she was told by the nurse that mothers can smother their babies by co-sleeping, but Tierra felt that co-sleeping had benefits,” an investigator said, according to the affidavit.

During the investigation, detectives revisited the file in the 2014 death of Azian. The documents included a two-year-old interview with Collins’ brother, Jeffrey, who admitted smoking marijuana with his sister the day Azian died, police said.

Arapahoe County Coroner Dr.  Kelly C. Lear-Kaul was unable to determine an exact cause of death for either baby. As in the first death, the autopsy for Nazairean noted an “unsafe sleep environment.” 

Lear-Kaul said in an interview with KDVR News that both children likely died from suffocation.

“I believe that’s the most likely cause, [but] I can’t prove that,” Lear-Kaul said. “Asphyxial deaths don’t leave any marks in most cases, so there’s nothing for me to see at autopsy.”

The district attorney’s office “will have no comment until after sentencing,” said spokeswoman Vikki Migoya.

Newton and Collins were unavailable for comment. They spoke briefly with KDVR News in December, after Collins showed up at the courthouse to attend a hearing on a DUI charge from September.

“I love my kids and I was doing the best that I thought I could do for my kids,” Collins said. “I did not do anything criminally wrong.”

“I didn’t blame myself,” Newton told the station. “It’s an unfortunate act. You know we … we’re young, but no, I never blamed myself.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics, in guidelines issued last year to reduce sudden infant deaths, recommended that parents sleep in the same room with their babies, but not in the same bed. “This arrangement is most likely to prevent suffocation, strangulation, and entrapment that may occur when the infant is sleeping in the adult bed,” the academy said in a policy statement published in the journal Pediatrics.

David Lohr covers crime and missing persons. Tips? Feedback? Send an email  or follow him on Twitter.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

A Latina recently shut down one woman’s xenophobic rant on the New York City subway and schooled her on the importance of solidarity.

The self-described Chinese and Peruvian woman defended two passengers on the E train from another woman’s verbal attacks in a viral video. The altercation was posted on YouTube by Mañanero TV earlier this month, but started going viral after Mic and other pages recently posted it on Facebook. 

At the beginning of the video, the aggressor is heard asking a man, “Why are you here? Why are you in this country if you’re not with us?” His response is barely audible. Another woman also chimes in, asking her to stop with a slight accent. The woman ranting responds angrily, “No, you don’t understand. You’re not even from here.”

That’s when the Latina steps in and asks the woman ranting where she’s from. When the woman responds that she’s Puerto Rican, the Latina begins to try to talk some sense into her in Spanish. 

“I think you’re being unfair, we have to be united,” the Latina tells the woman. “This is absolutely ridiculous and disrespectful.” 

The two go back and forth as the woman inaudibly says why she’s upset. Near the end of the video, the Latina asks if she’s upset because another woman, who is off-camera, is with a man that “looks Indian/Muslim.” The woman responds, “Yes.” 

The Latina defends the two passengers, saying it’s none of her business if the woman is or isn’t with the man she presumes to be Muslim. 

“I’m not telling you to be quiet, I’m asking you to please respect her in Spanish, in English, in Chinese, in French ― whatever language you want me to tell you in. I will say it to you,” the Latina says in English while raising her voice. “Whether you’re born here, Puerto Rico or wherever you are from. Because I am born here and I don’t like the way you’re treating her. It’s rude. We’re here in it together, OK? We’re all in this together, whether we like what’s going on in the government or not. F**k it, we have to deal with it. You’re a grown woman, you suck it up and you defend your brothers and sisters because that’s what you are. If you’re a part of this country, you’re brothers and sisters.”

Watch the video of the altercation above. 

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“Get Out” is one of 2017’s biggest blockbusters and its success has officially earned the film its rightful place in movie history.

As of Tuesday, “Get Out,” a psychological thriller about racism, has earned $110 million in box-office sales, making Jordan Peele the first black writer-director to break the coveted $100 million threshold with a feature debut.

Peele humbly acknowledged his accomplishment Tuesday:

There have been several black directors who have had their feature debut pass that mark, as noted by BlackFilm.com, however, none have earned that status with their own screenplay. “Get Out” is also the fastest film from production company Blumhouse to reach the $100 million mark, earning that status in just 16 days, according to Deadline.

Peele, a comedian widely known for his Comedy Central show “Key & Peele,” made his directorial debut with “Get Out.” The film was made on just a $4.5 million budget and has since become a real standout in Hollywood. 

“Get Out” follows the experiences of a young black man who heads to a rural town to visit his white girlfriend’s family for the first time. The weekend away turns out to be a puzzling and suspense-filled trip where the young man realizes that the white people who live in and visit the home don’t have the best intentions. 

The movie has earned much acclaim among moviegoers and critics alike, who have praised the film’s brilliant and mind-bending take on race. Some film reviewers have called it a “watershed feat,” while others credit Peele for directing a clever thriller that explores various aspects of being black in America. The film even earned a 100 percent score on the film review site Rotten Tomatoes in its first 40 reviews, and the good news doesn’t stop there. 

Peele said he plans on releasing an entire series of “social thrillers” that fuse horror with daily human experiences. He plans to unveil four more films that follow this theme within the next decade.

“There’s several other ideas that have been germinating for the past eight years, and I’d like to do all of them,” Peele told The Verge in a recent interview. “As far as I’m concerned, my next decade or so — along with helping other untapped artists, or untapped identities, find their own platforms as a producer — I want to write and direct these four other social thrillers.”

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It’s Snowmageddon 2017! And that means you may be unprepared for the hardships that these types of storms bring. Well, we here at HuffPost Meteorology And Comedy have a few tips to make your storm experience more bearable.

• Don’t panic. Panicking wastes necessary energy that will be needed to outrun the roving packs of wolves.
• Plan your upcoming schedule as though any upcoming flights will be canceled. In fact, try to approach life like there is no escape.
• Layers are very important. Bury your feelings two to three levels deep at all times. Don’t let strangers into your home, but more importantly, don’t let them into here …

• Stock up on bottled water and batteries. A hard, thrown battery to the face will stop most intruders from stealing your water.
• Candles are a must-have in any type of storm. If you want this storm to go away, it’s going to require a proper ceremonial offering to the dark sky spirits who you’ve offended in some way. And that requires candles.
• Make sure elderly neighbors are OK. They’ll probably want someone to talk to, so wear earmuffs and you can pretend not to hear them.
• Minimize your travel. Travel only if absolutely necessary. And in such a case, it’s always best to ask everyone what type of liquor they prefer.

• Avoid overexerting yourself when shoveling. Instead, focus on overacting. Pretend to be overexerted, so that friends or family will do the work for you.
• Wear gloves outside. And generally at all times. Fingerprints can make the next 5 to 10 years of your life a real bummer.
• Salt your driveways and sidewalks to melt any ice. Sprinkle a little on your significant other if your relationship isn’t going well. And when they ask what you’re doing, say, “Oh, sorry, your heart must be made of stone, not ice.”
• Sand on driveways and sidewalks can improve traction. Ask relatives from warm weather climates to send you sand. If they jokingly ask you to send them some snow in return, politely tell them to f**k off.

• Board games can keep a group occupied while stuck inside. Games are also the best way to determine the strongest and weakest of the group. This makes things much easier when food runs out and someone must be eaten.
• If someone must be eaten, why not make that a game, too?! A lack of humanity doesn’t mean a lack of fun!
• Books are a great way to pass the time. Print out some of your “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette” TV fan fiction for your friends and family to read. With nowhere to turn and claustrophobia setting in, this is an ideal opportunity to get brutally honest feedback on your work.
• You may not have internet, so write out a list of people you will miss trolling today so that you can troll them at a later date.
• Flashlights are a necessary item for any home during bad weather. If you don’t have a flashlight, a quick internet search will  show you some of the best and most affordable options. Pro tip: It’s spelled F-L-A-S-H-L-I-G-H-T. Very important. 

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Awkward. Black. Women. Unite.

Issa Rae announced Tuesday afternoon on Twitter that season two of her series “Insecure” will be making a return to HBO on July 23. 

When the show took a hiatus from last November, fans were left with a ton of questions:

Will I still be forced to declare #TeamLawrence or #TeamIssa? Was Lawrence just trying to get his groove back with the chick from the bank or will she be more than a jump-off? Is Molly going to get her life?

Issa didn’t answer any of these questions in the video, but she did confirm the return date (and that co-star Jay Ellis continues to look good).

“It’s about get hot this summer…hot,” she said. “July 23 tell your friends, tell your family, tell your enemies to watch ‘Insecure’ on HBO. We’re coming back happier, stronger, better than ever.”

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Actor Daniel Kaluuya doesn’t think he should have to prove his blackness.

In a new interview with GQ magazine, the “Get Out” star shared his thoughts on Samuel L. Jackson’s recent critique that black British actors may not be able to relate to black Americans. For Kaluuya, Jackson’s comments reflect his personal experiences of being ostracized in different settings for being dark-skinned. 

“When I’m around black people I’m made to feel ‘other’ because I’m dark-skinned,” he said. “I’ve had to wrestle with that, with people going ‘You’re too black.’ Then I come to America and they say, ‘You’re not black enough.’ I go to Uganda, I can’t speak the language. In India, I’m black. In the black community, I’m dark-skinned. In America, I’m British.”

The actor went on to add that similar to black Americans’ vast range of social issues, the London’s black community has confronted oppression, prejudice, and police brutality.

Since Jackson’s much-discussed statements ― which drew criticism from British actor John Boyega ― made headlines last week, Jackson later told the Associated Press that his comments were not necessarily  a “slam” towards the performers, but rather an assessment about how “Hollywood works in an interesting sort of way sometimes.”

Despite Jackson’s commentary, Kaluuya says it’s not his intent to be a “culture vulture “ of the black American experience, but rather focus on telling black stories.

“This is the frustrating thing, in order to prove that I can play this role, I have to open up about the trauma that I’ve experienced as a black person,” he said. “I have to show off my struggle so that people accept that I’m black. No matter that every single room I go to I’m usually the darkest person there…I kind of resent that mentality. I’m just an individual.”

Read more of Daniel Kaluuya’s GQ magazine interview here.

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You can practically see the stress written all over your wife’s face. Struggling to figure out what’s really bothering her? 

Below, couples therapists share the most common issues wives say they’re frustrated about in their marriages.

1. She’s tired from doing it all.

You lovingly call her superwoman but even superheroes have a breaking point. Far too many women with full-time careers and kids are married to spouses who fail to fully recognize how exhausting that balancing act can be, said Ryan Howes, a psychologist in Pasadena, California

“The conflict and stressors from these competing roles are evident on a daily basis and it usually appears in a pair of arguments: Either a mother works hard and feels guilty for not spending more time with her children or she doesn’t work and suffers the scrutiny of her peers for not doing enough. In either case, there is stress and plenty of it.” 

In other words, there’s a 100 percent chance that your wife could use your sympathy and support ― even if it just means finishing off a bottle of wine and listening to her rant about her coworkers or the catty clique on the playground. 

2. She needs time to herself. 

“Me time” becomes non-existent once you have kids. That’s why you both have to carve out time for yourselves. The kids will benefit from well-rested, emotionally and physically restored parents.

“Making time to take care of ourselves is extremely important,” said Talia Wagner, a marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles, California. “Because there is so much on most modern women’s plates, many chose to forgo this time, not realizing how essential it is to their well being and that of their family.”

3. You aren’t doing your share of the childcare.

Who does the lion share of childcare in your house? Who picks the kids up from soccer practice? Who makes sure A Wrinkle In Time is read and reported on by the deadline? If the answer is “my wife,” it’s high time you stepped up, said Laurel Steinberg, a New York-based relationship therapist and adjunct professor of psychology at Columbia University

“Consider what you can do to help make her life easier, whether it’s helping to coordinate carpools, bulk-cooking on Sunday evenings or proactively caring for her and the kids on the weekends,” she said. “Take an active interest in what they are learning in school. Anything helps.”

4. The thrill is gone. 

Don’t think that just because you’re married you can short shrift romance. If you’ve put date night on the back burner, your wife has no doubt noticed, Wagner said.

“When women remember the courting phase of their relationship and how different their S.O. was then, it usually brings about disappointment and longing,” she said. “Many feel like their mate has stopped investing in this very important part of their intimacy.”

That’s your cue to call a babysitter and tell your wife about the super exciting plans you arranged for Friday night. 

5. She wants you to practice work-life balance. 

You both are concerned with your work-life balance  ― but there’s a high chance your wife wishes you’d put more thought into the life part of that equation, Howes said. 

“The men in my practice talk a lot about work, but their focus is typically on the deals, the strategy and the financial benefits ― not how it affects their relationships,” he told us. “The women tend to focus on the relational dynamics of their job and home life.”

To put it simply, “men need to understand that work choices aren’t just about the outcome, it’s about how it impacts relationships at home,” Howes explained. 

6. She feels like a project manager. 

Your home is a well-oiled machine and chances are, it’s due to your wife’s efforts. It may look perfect from the outside, but take a closer look and you’ll find a wife who’s fed up with being the unofficial project manager of her home, Wagner said. 

“The wife is frequently the one handing out instructions regarding the many moving parts of their joint life together: She knows where to find missing clothing, remembers the bills due today, and that next Wednesday it is pajama day at school,” Wagner explained. “Essentially, she is managing and troubleshooting the internal workings of their lives. Unsurprisingly, many wives feel burdened by this massive responsibility and wish their husbands would take some responsibility.”

7. Communication is lacking. 

Sorry, but “what do you want for dinner?” and “did you pick up Avery from gymnastics?” does not qualify as quality communication. Technology makes it easier to connect, but a few hastily sent texts throughout the day can’t stand in for quality conversation at the end of the night, Howes said. 

“Women are generally more collaborative and verbal than men, and texts don’t do a good enough job of allowing a woman to vent and feel heard while she problem solves,” he said. “Technology is good in a pinch, but it doesn’t take the place (yet) of face to face conversation, especially with your spouse!”

There you have it: Put down your smartphone and be a better spouse. Your de-stressed wife will thank you. 

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This month, someone made a donation to Planned Parenthood in Republican State Senator Steve Fitzgerald’s name ― and the Kansas lawmaker was not happy about it. 

On March 10, Planned Parenthood’s Great Plains clinic tweeted out a photo of a letter Sen. Fitzgerald wrote to the women’s health organization. “It is with great dismay that I received your letter that a donation was made in my ‘honor’ to your heinous organization,” Sen. Fitzgerald wrote.

The state senator went on to liken Planned Parenthood ― an international nonprofit organization that provides healthcare to millions of women and men ― to a Nazi concentration camp. 

“This is as bad ― or worse ― as having one’s name associated with Dachau,” Sen. Fitzgerald wrote, referring to the first Nazi concentration camp created in 1933. “Shame on your organization and shame on anyone that would attempt to blacken my name in this manner.”

In an interview with The Kansas City Star on Monday, Sen. Fitzgerald stood by his original comments.

“It was either send them that or ignore it,” Sen. Fitzgerald told The Star. “I figured, I don’t want my name associated as a donation to Planned Parenthood, in my name, to go on un-denounced by me.”

When asked if Sen. Fitzgerald was implying that Planned Parenthood is actually worse than the Nazis, the state senator replied: “Oh, yeah,” adding that the Nazis “ought to be incensed by the comparison.” 

Many Twitter users were understandably very upset with Sen. Fitzgerald’s comments. 

Spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Great Plains told The Star that they’ve see an uptick in donations in Sen. Fitzgerald’s name since they tweeted his letter. 

“It’s this kind of inflammatory language that adds to the shame and stigma of safe legal abortion,” Lee-Gilmore said. “The state of Kansas has much bigger issues to be dealing with, and this is just an unacceptable attack on women’s right to choose.”

Head over to The Kansas City Star to read the rest of Sen. Fitzgerald’s comments. 

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices