Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said he is seeking “common ground” in talks this week with his Chinese counterpart on ending his country’s war with Russia. Kuleba met Wednesday with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Guangzhou, a major commercial and manufacturing center in southern China. It is the first visit to the country by a Ukrainian foreign minister since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has strained Ukraine’s relations with China. “I am convinced that a just peace...

MSNBC’s Joy Reid said Black people who vote for former President Trump over Vice President Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, are “going to look real crazy.” “Given just the stratospheric entrance of Vice President Kamala Harris into the presidential campaign, and she has now secured enough delegates to become the nominee, you’re going to look real crazy being on the other side of that line, particularly as a person of color, but really as anyone who claims to have any...

House Republicans visited Union Station late Wednesday night and replaced the American flags anti-Israel protesters had burned and replaced with Palestinian flags earlier in the day. House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke with the press as the American flags were being put back up. The anti-Israel protesters descended on the nation's capital as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an address before Congress. At Union Station, protesters removed all three American flags...

Rupert Murdoch is involved in a legal battle with his children over his plans to hand over his global media empire to son Lachlan, according to a report.  The fight for power between the 93-year-old mogul's four eldest children appeared to be decided when Lachlan emerged as the designated heir.   But Murdoch is now fighting to extend his eldest son's voting power in the Murdoch Family Trust, the New York Times reported.  The mogul, 93, is in a legal...

Rupert Murdoch is engaged in a legal fight with some of his children, as he tries to hand control of his media empire to his eldest son, Lachlan, a battle with major ramifications for the future of the mogul’s two companies. Murdoch, 93 years old, controls a trust that holds the family’s substantial stakes in News Corp NWSA 1.06%increase; green up pointing triangle, parent of The Wall Street Journal, and Fox News parent Fox Corp. Under its terms, when Murdoch dies,...

Rupert Murdoch is locked in a secret legal battle against three of his children over the future of the family’s media empire, as he moves to preserve it as a conservative political force after his death, according to a sealed court document obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Murdoch, 93, set the drama in motion late last year, when he made a surprise move to change the terms of the Murdochs’ irrevocable family trust to ensure that his eldest son and chosen successor, Lachlan, would remain...

Having lived in small towns and large cities in the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and Midwest, and after spending a year traveling around the U.S. with my family, I've seen first-hand that Americans have much more in common than not. I've also gotten to experience some of the cultural differences, subtle and not-so-subtle, real and not-so-real, that exist in various parts of the country.Some of those differences are being discussed in a viral thread on Twitter. Self-described "West coaster" Jordan Green kicked it off with an observation about East coasters being kind and West coasters being nice, which then prompted people to share their own social experiences in various regions around the country.Green wrote:"When I describe East Coast vs West Coast culture to my friends I often say 'The East Coast is kind but not nice, the West Coast is nice but not kind,' and East Coasters immediately get it. West Coasters get mad.Niceness is saying 'I'm so sorry you're cold,' while kindness may be 'Ugh, you've said that five times, here's a sweater!' Kindness is addressing the need, regardless of tone.I'm a West Coaster through and through—born and raised in San Francisco, moved to Portland for college, and now live in Seattle. We're nice, but we're not kind. We'll listen to your rant politely, smile, and then never speak to you again. We hit mute in real life. ALOT.So often, we West Coasters think that showing *sympathy* or feeling *empathy* is an act of kindness. Sadly, it's really just a nice act. Kindness is making sure the baby has a hat. (s/o to breenewsome and BlackAmazon)When you translate this to institutions or policy, you'll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at *sounding* nice. But I've seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk. \u201cWhen you translate this to institutions or policy, you'll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at *sounding* nice. But I've seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk.\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 Nothing happens after the pronoun check-ins and the icebreakers. It's rare we make sure that people's immediate needs are addressed. There's no kindness. You have people show up to meetings hungry, or needing rides home, and watching those with means freeze when asked to help.As we begin to 'get back a sense of normalcy' or 're-calibrate' to what people in Blue States™ think is Right™ and Just™, I want us to keep in mind the difference between Niceness and Kindness. If something sounds nice, doesn't mean that it's kind."Of course, there are genuinely kind and surface nice people everywhere you go, so no one should take these observations as a personal affront to them individually. Generalizations that lead to stereotypes are inherently problematic, and broad strokes like "East coast" and "West coast" are also somewhat meaningless, so they should taken with a grain of salt as well.In reality, a small town in South Carolina is probably more culturally similar to a small town in Eastern Oregon than it is to New York City, and there are some strong differences between various subregions as well. A more specific cultural comparison, such as "big cities on the West coast vs. big cities in the Northeast" might be more accurate as far as generalizations go, but regardless, many people related to Green's observations based on their own experiences.To kick things off, a slew of responses poured in from people describing how New Yorkers can be cold on the surface while simultaneously reaching out their hand to help you. \u201c@SikePiazza @jordonaut Stand at a flight of stairs in the NYC subway with a stroller. Someone will grab the other end, help you carry the stroller, and then walk away without saying a word.\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 Several people explained that the hustle required to afford the expense of living in New York explains why people skip the niceties. It's about valuing people's time; wasting it with nice words is ruder than just quickly helping out and then moving on. \u201c@mcgowankat @MikeDeAngelo @SikePiazza @jordonaut Yeah, this is the kind of thing people who have't spent time in NYC don't really grasp. Someone will be like, "Hey, you fucking yo-yo! You're money's falling out. Why the fuck is it in your back pocket? Get your shit together," and saved you all the cash in your pocket.\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 \u201c@jordonaut In the South, politeness takes the form of "I will talk to you and inquire as to your day; I will give my time to you"; but in New York that CAN NOT WORK. In New York, politeness is "I will not waste your time"\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 Many people chimed in with agreement with the original post (even some Canadians confirming that their East/West differences aligned with ours). \u201c@candaceforpdx @jordonaut I used to travel to the West Coast a lot for work. Everyone was \u201cnice,\u201d but they had no sense of urgency and didn\u2019t give one fuck about inconveniencing everyone around them. I\u2019m from the DMV. We get shit done. Smiling!\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 "No sense of urgency" is definitely a West coast vibe, but is generally viewed a positive out here. And "inconveniencing everyone around them" might be a subjective observation. Maybe.Plenty of people with bicoastal experience weighed in with their stories of how their experiences lined up with the basic premise of the thread, though. \u201c@jordonaut I am blunt, I cuss, I call shit like I see it, and if you need it I'll give you the shirt off my back, and that's East Coast culture.\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 \u201c@KLDoorC @jordonaut This. I\u2019m from Pgh and talking to my friend in Seattle.. She lives by herself and needed some help moving something. I said why don\u2019t you ask your neighbors? She quickly replied we don\u2019t do that around here. It\u2019s frowned upon. I just couldn\u2019t live like that\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 Though certainly not universally true, the tendency for West coasters to be more hands-off might extend back to the frontier days. The pioneer and gold rush mindset was necessarily individualistic and self-sufficient. In my experience, West coasters assume you don't need help unless you directly ask for it. But people don't ask because of the individualistic and self-sufficient thing, so automatic helpfulness just hasn't become part of the dominant culture.Things got even more interesting once the South and Midwest entered the chat. \u201c@jamieleefinch @jordonaut @yumcoconutmilk Moving from the Midwest to the south my experience tells me this is true. If you drive your car into a ditch a Southerner will offer to call someone for you. The Midwesterner will jump into the ditch to help push you out.\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 But the takes on warm/nice/kind thing varied quite a bit. \u201c@jamieleefinch @jordonaut @yumcoconutmilk Midwest is warm/kind of you are or LOOK like you\u2019re \u201cfrom around here.\u201d\n\nThe other difference is that East/West coasts will never think of you again, while the South & Midwest will gossip about you til the end of time.\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 \u201c@alexschiff @zsr5 @jordonaut I moved to Michigan after spending my whole life on the East Coast. It took me MONTHS to make friends. People were nice but already had friends from their old neighborhood, high school, college, church, kids' playgroups...they didn't need any more friends and didn't reach out.\u201d — Jordan K. Green (@Jordan K. Green) 1611263478 One thing that seems quite clear if you read through the various responses to the thread is that specific states and cities seem to have their own cultures that don't break down as simply as East/West/Midwest/South. There's an entire book about how the U.S. can actually be subdivided into 11 different regions that are almost like nations unto themselves. Even this map from 1940 included 34 different cultural regions in the U.S. \u201cCultural Regions in the United States, 1940. https://t.co/RGGBgP5OzO\u201d — OnlMaps (@OnlMaps) 1601417553 And don't even get a Californian started on the differences between Northern CA, Southern CA, and the Central Valley. "Culture" can even be narrowed down even to specific neighborhoods, and people's experiences and perceptions vary for all kinds of reasons, so once again, generalizations only go so far before they fall flat.If you're curious about what the data says about all of this, a cursory search of surveys about which states are the kindest brings up a fairly mixed bag, but people seem to find Minnesota quite friendly. A Wallethub ranking of charitability by state based on 19 factors including volunteerism also placed Minnesota at number one, followed by Utah, Maryland, Oregon, and Ohio. Pretty hard to make a regional generalization with those states.Then again, there's the whole "Minnesota nice" thing, which brings us full circle back to the original thread. \u201c@SejalShahWrites I'm from Minnesota, where we have a whole theme of how "Minnesota Nice" means only on the surface.\u201d — Sejal Shah (@Sejal Shah) 1611281404 So many elements go into the culture of a place, from population density to the history of settlement to the individual personalities of the people who make someplace their home. And nothing is set in stone—the atmosphere of a place can change over time, as anyone who's visited a city a decade or two apart can attest.One thing that's true, no matter where we live, is that we play a role in molding the culture of our immediate surroundings. If we want where we live to be friendlier, we can be friendlier ourselves. If we want to see people help one another, we can serve as that example. We might stand out, but we also might inspire others who yearn for the same thing."Be the change" might seem a bit cliche, but it truly is the key to shifting or world in the way we want it to go, no matter what part of the country—or the world—we live in.This article originally appeared on 01.22.21

In 2013, Zerlina Maxwell ignited a firestorm of controversy when she strongly recommended we stop telling women how to not get raped. Here are her words, from the transcript of her appearance on Sean Hannity's show:"I don't think that we should be telling women anything. I think we should be telling men not to rape women and start the conversation there with prevention."So essentially — instead of teaching women how to avoid rape, let's raise boys specifically not to rape.There was a lot of ire raised from that idea. Maxwell was on the receiving end of a deluge of online harassment and scary threats because of her ideas, which is sadly common for outspoken women on the Internet.People assumed it meant she was labeling all boys as potential rapists or that every man has a rape-monster he carries inside him unless we quell it from the beginning.But the truth is most of the rapes women experience are perpetrated by people they know and trust. So fully educating boys during their formative years about what constitutes consent and why it's important to practice explicitly asking for consent could potentially eradicate a large swath of acquaintance rape. It's not a condemnation on their character or gender, but an extra set of tools to help young men approach sex without damaging themselves or anyone else.But what does teaching boys about consent really look like in action?Well, there's the viral letter I wrote to my teen titled "Son, It's Okay If You Don't Get Laid Tonight" explaining his responsibility in the matter. I wanted to show by example that Maxwell's words weren't about shaming or blaming boys who'd done nothing wrong yet, but about giving them a road map to navigate their sexual encounters ahead.There are also rape prevention campaigns on many college campuses, aiming to reach young men right at the heart of where acquaintance rape is so prevalent. Many men are welcoming these efforts.And then there are creative endeavors to find the right metaphors and combination of words to get people to shake off their acceptance of cultural norms and see rape culture clearly.This is brilliant:There you have it. Seven comparisons that anyone can use to show how simple and logical the idea of consent really is. Consent culture is on its way because more and more people are sharing these ideas and getting people to think critically. How can we not share an idea whose time has come?This article originally appeared on 06.27.15

When someone you know gets seriously ill, it's not always easy to come up with the right words to say or to find the right card to give. Emily McDowell — a former ad agency creative director and the woman behind the Los Angeles-based greeting card and textile company Emily McDowell Studio — knew all too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of uncomfortable sentiments. At the age of 24, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin's lymphoma. She went into remission after nine months of chemo and has remained cancer-free since, but she received her fair share of misplaced, but well-meaning, wishes before that. On her webpage introducing the awesome cards you're about to see, she shared, "The most difficult part of my illness wasn't losing my hair, or being erroneously called 'sir' by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo. It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn't know what to say or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it." Her experience inspired Empathy Cards — not quite "get well soon" and not quite "sympathy," they were created so "the recipients of these cards [can] feel seen, understood, and loved." Scroll down to read these sincere, from-the-heart, and incredibly realistic sentiments.Emily McDowell StudioEmily McDowell StudioEmily McDowell StudioEmily McDowell StudioEmily McDowell StudioEmily McDowell StudioEmily McDowell StudioEmily McDowell StudioPretty great, right? If you know someone who's in the less-than-ideal position of dealing with a serious illness, you can purchase any of these eight cards to share with them.Visit Emily McDowell Studio's shop to select the card(s) you need. They're $5.00 each.(We're not being paid to share these, nor were we asked to do so. We came across the cards and I loved them, so I reached out to Emily McDowell Studio and asked if I could share them with you. Unfortunately, a lot of us know someone who could use a card like one of these.)This article originally appeared on 05.06.15

"That's what rock and roll records are all about..." The post The Rolling Stones song Keith Richards called true rock and roll: “It comes so naturally” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.