Comedian Louis CK, took to Twitter earlier this week, complaining (and rightfully so) about how overwhelmed he and his daughters were over Common Core and the emphasis on standardized tests.
Common Core is a recently developed set of standards that dictates what children should have accomplished and learned by the end of each grade level. Though these standards have not be adopted nationally, they have been adopted in New York.
Louis CK is well-known for his matter-of-fact comedy, criticizing daily life often using his two daughters as material. Even though CK is not an avid tweeter, it’s not surprising to see him candidly express his anger towards this new, often controversial, educational system. You can read his tweets below.
The comedian received a lot of criticism from Common Core supporters, but CK stuck to his guns. He responded yesterday with these tweets.
Last night’s Season 6 finale was Councilman Jammed (see what I did there) with guest star appearances. We’ve made a list of the top 7 cameos in case you missed it.
1) Ginuwine
via rebloggy.com
Singer of “Pony” and “In those Jeans,” Ginuwine makes an appearance as Donna Meagle’s cousin. He performs at the Pawnee/Eagleton Unity Concert, dedicating his performance to Lil’ Sebastian. He’s 5,000 candles in the wind.
The Workaholics’ star works as a snarky employee at a San Francisco start-up. Ben Wyatt challenges him to a game of The Cones of Dunshire in exchange for free Wifi for Pawnee.
Don Draper himself makes an appearance of the Season 6 finale of Parks and Rec. He’s not nearly as smooth though. Hamm plays an incompetent parks employee that gets fired by Leslie. Evidently, he’s less competent than Larry/Jerry. Ouch!
Fans of the Netflix series Orange is the New Black can put down their shivs- Laura Prepon will be returning as a full-time cast member for Season 3.
Prepon plays Alex Vause, the lesbian love interest of the show’s protagonist and indisputable girl crush of every viewer. She won over fans for her portrayal of Alex- the tattooed, drug-peddling bookworm who brought out the best in the show’s lead character Piper (Taylor Schilling).
When news broke that Laura Prepon would not be returning as a full-time cast member for the show’s second season, ONITB fans-including myself- took to social media, expressing their disappointment and furiously demanding her return.
Initially, Prepon was only scheduled to appear in the first season, but due to pressure from the audience, Prepon (and the producers) decided to have Alex return for 4 more episodes in Season 2, which will be premiering Summer 2014.
“Basically, I wasn’t a series regular and wasn’t under contract, and then had a scheduling conflict that came up during Season 2,” Prepon told the Daily Beast. “But I love the show and I love my character.”
Due to continued overwhelming fan response, she will make an appearance in every Season 3 episode- if Orange is the New Black gets picked up for a third season. Way to be social media!
You can watch the trailer for Season 2 of Orange is the New Black below:
SkinniePix, an app for iPhones and Androids, lets users take 5 to 15lbs off their selfies for the one-time cost of $0.99. The app was created in March 2014 and is specially designed for iPhone5’s, though it’s also compatible for iPad users and those with i0S7.
According to the creators PrettySmartWomen, users can alter their images with two easy clicks making, “your photos look good and help you feel good. It’s not complicated. No one needs to know. It’s our little secret.”
Blogs from the Huffington Post, The Guardian and the Young Turks all have spoken out against this app for putting more pressure on women and the constant need to alter their appearance- now even in selfies, a practice some claim is narcissistic. Selfies were recently labeled a mental health disorder by the American Psychiatric Association.
One of the apps creators Susan Green justified the app to the Huffington Post.
“You’ve always heard about the camera adding 15 pounds,” Green says. “We just wanted to level the playing field.”
Green further defends SkinniePix as motivation for overweight users to add a visual for their dieting goals.
“We’re hearing now people are using it to motivate themselves to get healthy,” Green tells the Huffington Post. “That’s how I’m using that now, because I can see something that’s attainable.”
Another SkinniePix creator, Robin J. Phillips, responded to negative criticism by the Guardian by saying that the app is designed mainly for overweight users, and that the creators, “are in no way trying to minimize the serious issues related to body image.”
The Guardian had posted pictures on their website of non-overweight reporters using SkinniePix. They both looked arguably sickly.
“You totally missed the point that the app can actually help people visualize a more healthy life,” Phillips responded in their comment section.
However, the app’s website does feature a healthy-looking woman as an example- rather than an overweight user.
You can take a look at the iTunes preview for more information about SkinniePix.
