GOOD

Watch Patriots Explain Why They Didn’t Visit The Trump White House Today

Nearly half the team didn’t show up

 Jeremy Repanich
04.19.17

On August 30, 1865, Andrew Johnson, the first president to be impeached, made a different first: When he hosted the Brooklyn Atlantics and Washington Nationals amateur baseball clubs at the White House, he originated the custom of sports teams visiting the president. Today, President Donald Trump (insert impeachment joke here) continued the tradition by hosting the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. But the festivities had some notable absences.

Tom Brady cryptically announced this morning that he would skip for “family reasons,”​ but the other Pats not attending have been more than open about why they didn’t want to head to Trump’​s White House for a photo op. Running back LeGarrette Blount said on a radio show that “​I just don’t feel welcome in that house.”​ Tight end Martellus Bennett, who announced immediately after the Pats beat the Falcons that he would not visit Trump, will be in Los Angeles to appear on Chelsea Handler’​s talk show instead. And Alan Branch told The Boston Globe he wouldn’t go because he was horrified by the Trump Access Hollywood tape, where he joked about sexual assault.

A couple of Patriots, Devin McCourty and Chris Long, recently filmed a video to further explain why they would protest the tradition of visiting the president. In the video, the players, along with lifelong Pats fans, discuss what the team means to them, the emotions of the Super Bowl comeback win, and about not supporting Trump.

“Right away I knew I wasn’t going, because it was something I had thought about before we had even won the game,” McCourty says in the video. “​For me it was simple, I don’​t want to exclude other people.”

Long, who gained attention earlier this season when he became a vocal supporter of Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest, said, “My son grows up, and I believe the legacy of our president is going to be what it is, I didn’​t want him to say, ‘​Hey, dad, why did you go when you knew the right thing was to not go?’”​

While seven Patriots announced ahead of time that they would not visit, nearly half the team didn’t make the trip to D.C. One player who did attend was loveable lummox Rob Gronkowski, who wandered into Sean Spicer’​s press briefing earlier today to ask if he could help. Spicer should have taken him up on the offer.

Sports

The EPA announced it will begin to phase out animal testing

It will be cruelty-free by 2035.

Ottawa Humane Society / Flickr

The Trump Administration won't be remembered for being kind to animals.

In 2018, it launched a new effort to reinstate cruel hunting practices in Alaska that had been outlawed under Obama. Hunters will be able to shoot hibernating bear cubs, murder wolf and coyote cubs while in their dens, and use dogs to hunt black bears.

Efforts to end animal cruelty by the USDA have been curtailed as well. In 2016, under the Obama Administration, the USDA issued 4,944 animal welfare citations, in two years the numbers dropped to just 1,716.

Keep Reading Show less
enviornmental protection agency humane society andrew wheeler Humane Society PETA epa to end animal testing
Science

Woman dreams she swallowed her engagement ring and wakes up with it missing

Dreams can have a powerful effect on us.

via I love butter / Flickr

We often dismiss our dreams as nonsensical dispatches from the mind while we're deep asleep. But recent research proves that our dreams can definitely affect our waking lives.

People often dream about their significant others and studies show it actually affects how we behave towads them the next day.

"A lot of people don't pay attention to their dreams and are unaware of the impact they have on their state of mind," said Dylan Selterman, psychology lecturer at the University of Maryland, says according to The Huffington Post. "Now we have evidence that there is this association."

Keep Reading Show less
enagement rings san diego california dreams woman swallows wedding ring CNN MSNBC Fox News woman swallows engagement ring
Health

BIll Maher started a debate about fat-shaming and James Corden finished it beautifully

Who do you think is right?

via Real Time with Bill Maher / YouTube and The Late Late Show with James Corden / YouTube

A controversial editorial on America's obesity epidemic and healthcare by comedian Bill Maher on his HBO show "Real Time" inspired a thoughtful, and funny, response by James Cordon. It also made for a great debate about healthcare that Americans are avoiding.

At the end of the September 6th episode of "Real Time, " Maher turned to the camera for his usual editorial and discussed how obesity is a huge part of the healthcare debate that no one is having.

"At Next Thursday's debate, one of the candidates has to say, 'The problem with our healthcare system is Americans eat shit and too much of it.' All the candidates will mention their health plans but no one will bring up the key factor: the citizens don't lift a finger to help," Maher said sternly.

Keep Reading Show less
fat-shaming obesity and health care bosy positivity Bill Maher james corden bill maher fat-shaming
Politics

Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is calling for a "Green Amendment" to the Constitution

assets.rebelmouse.io

There is no shortage of proposals from the, um, what's the word for it… huge, group of Democratic presidential candidates this year. But one may stand out from the pack as being not just bold but also necessary; during a CNN town hall about climate change Andrew Yang proposed a "green amendment" to the constitution.

Keep Reading Show less
politics presidential race green new deal
test

‘Me Too’ at-home rape kit draws criticism: ‘There is absolutely no benefit here for victims’

Me Too Kit

The creator of the Me Too kit — an at home rape kit that has yet to hit the market — has come under fire as sexual assault advocates argue the kit is dangerous and misleading for women.

The kit is marketed as "the first ever at home kit for commercial use," according to the company's website. "Your experience. Your kit. Your story. Your life. Your choice. Every survivor has a story, every survivor has a voice." Customers will soon be able order one of the DIY kits in order to collect evidence "within the confines of the survivor's chosen place of safety" after an assault.

"With MeToo Kit, we are able to collect DNA samples and other tissues, which upon testing can provide the necessary time-sensitive evidence required in a court of law to identify a sexual predator's involvement with sexual assault," according to the website.

Keep Reading Show less
sexual assault me too rape kit
Health