Mich. State Police Director Under Fire After Facebook Post Calling NFL Players Who Take a Knee During Anthem ‘Ungrateful, Anti-American Degenerates’

 The director of the Michigan State Police is catching heat after blasting NFL players who opt to take a knee to protest the continued racial injustice in this country with a strongly worded post on her Facebook page.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue shared the strongly worded message on her Facebook page Sunday, calling the athletes who are using their influence and platform to bring attention to an important issue “millionaire ingrates who hate America and disrespect our armed forces and veterans.”

The post reads in full:

Dear NFL: We will not support millionaire ingrates who hate America and disrespect our Armed Forces and Veterans. Who wins a football game as ZERO impact on our lives. Who fights for and defends our nation has EVERY impact on our lives. We stand with the Heroes, not a bunch of rich, entitled arrogant, ungrateful, anti-American degenerates. Signed, We the People.

Although the protest before NFL games is nothing new—having started in 2016 when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick acknowledged that he took a knee during the playing of the national anthem in protest of the oppression of people of color—it has now grown exponentially with white people trying to turn it into something that it inherently is not (i.e., a protest against the armed forces and veterans) and compounded by y’all’s president referring to the demonstrators as “sons of bitches” who should be fired.

 

At any rate, Etue’s “hot take” on the issue did not impress some of the black troopers who are working in a department that has been scrutinized for its lack of diversity, the Free Press notes.

The department is also being scrutinized and has been the target of protests in Detroit since the death of 15-year-old Damon Grimes, who died last month after a state trooper deployed a Taser at him through a police-vehicle window during a pursuit in violation of police protocol, the Free Press reports. Damon subsequently crashed the ATV he was driving. The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that he died of head trauma, according to Click on Detroit.

It was later uncovered that the trooper, who was suspended after using his Taser against Damon, had been previously accused of excessive force in two separate lawsuits, although both cases against him were ultimately dismissed, the Detroit News reports.

At any rate, this latest post by the state police director has only stoked the fire. As the Free Press reports:

Leonard Mungo, a Detroit attorney who has represented about a dozen black and white troopers in civil disputes with the department, said the posting demonstrates “kind of a dangerous mindset for someone in her powerful position.”

It’s “scary that they don’t understand that America is defined by its freedoms, and one of these freedoms is freedom of speech,” Mungo said. It also “has implications for why the state police ... don’t have representative numbers of African Americans in their ranks,” he said.

Of course, Etue is now looking for a cop-out (I guess it’s only cool when other people’s jobs are threatened), with her spokesperson, Shannon Banner, saying that the post was not about race (funny, because, you know, the NFL protest isn’t about the anthem or the military) and it was not posted publicly, but only so that Etue’s friends could see.

“As a public servant, Col. Etue has great respect for the armed forces and those who fight to protect our freedoms,” Banner said, adding that Etue did not create the post; rather, it was a meme seen elsewhere across the internet.

By Tuesday night, Etue was apologizing.

“It was a mistake to share this message on Facebook, and I sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended,” she said in a message released by the Michigan State Police. “I will continue my focus on the unity at the Michigan State Police and in communities across Michigan.”

Mo. Bar Decides That Using ‘Lynch’ and ‘Kaepernick’ Jerseys (in That Order) as Doormat Is a Great Idea

A Lake Ozark, Mo., bar owner is under scrutiny after a passerby called out his makeshift doormat as racist.

The doormat in question is made out of the jerseys of NFL players Marshawn Lynch and Colin Kaepernick and is taped down on the bar’s front step, where customers can take the pleasure of scrubbing their feet. Fair enough. However, it’s the order in which the jerseys are arranged that has raised some eyebrows.

Of course, the owner of the S.N.A.F.U. Bar, Jason Burle, swears that his choice of doormat is not about race but, instead, is about standing up for himself and his family, many of whom, he says, served in the military (and, which, once again, has nothing to do with the protest against racial injustice for which Kaepernick is known, but I digress).

“It’s not a race thing,” Burle told KOMU-TV. “A lot of people want to twist it around to be a race thing.

 

“We pulled them out of the box, taped them down. There was no ill intent,” he added. “If someone thinks that I mean personal harm to someone, they don’t know me.”

It was Taylor Sloan who saw the jerseys and started an online conversation about the matter.

“That’s not the Missouri I know,” Sloan told the news station. “It just kind of upset me really bad. Put a bad taste in my mouth.”

Sloan posted to the bar’s Facebook page, prompting a heated back-and-forth between him and Burle.

“You are also expressing hate, violence and continuing American racism under the faux guise of patriotism,” Sloan insisted.

“It’s funny to me that someone would look that far deeply into it just to find a racist link,” Burle responded.

Burle, who served six years in the Air Force, said that seeing NFL players kneel during the playing of the national anthem did not sit well with him.

“A lot of us military folks take that personal to heart,” he said, pointing out that he started the bar to honor veterans.

“It was kind of our way to give back, I guess,” he said. “We give discounts to veterans, we have a hall of heroes inside. We have flags that have flown overseas mounted inside.”

Burle said that if Sloan had come inside and told him or the bar’s manager, the issue would have been rectified immediately. And Burle actually did take the time to rearrange his makeshift doormat, which now reads “Kaepernick Lynch.”

“I commend them for what they’re doing, as far as the right goes. I fought for that right,” Burle said of the protesting athletes. “The same thing that gives them that right gives me the right to place these out here.”

Most Colorado Thing Ever: $40 And Half A Blunt Left In Apologies For Scratch On Car

What do you do if you’ve inadvertently scratched someone’s rear bumper when they aren’t around? In New York City, you, uh, do nothing. In Denver, I guess, you leave a half-smoked joint.

Or at least that’s what Mandi Shepard got after she found her rear bumper scratched after getting off work on Sunday, according to 9NEWS. The weed came with $40 in cash and a note, charmingly misspelled.

“Hey I am very sorry truley. I am such a dumbass. Please forgive me. Sorry 4 the scratch man,” the note read.

Shepard told 9NEWS that she’s not a smoker though, since she’s a runner.

I’m just going to suggest here that you can be both.

Cooking with Garlic and Onions for the Best Blood Benefits

As we age, our arteries stiffen. “As the aorta stiffens it leads to a range of linked pathphysiological changes,” such as exposing our brain and kidneys to greater pressure fluctuations, which may increase the risk of stroke and impairment of kidney function.

However, those who consume garlic—less than a quarter teaspoon of garlic powder a day—appear to have less stiffness in their aortas. We think this is because garlic seems to improve the function of the inner lining of our arteries, which helps our arteries relax. But the protective mechanisms of garlic against cardiovascular diseases are multiple, and include a combination of anti-clotting, clot-busting, antioxidant, and blood pressure- and cholesterol-lowering effects. The latest review suggests that long-term garlic intake may drop bad cholesterol levels about 10 percent, but the blood-thinning effects are such that the American Society of Anesthesiology recommends garlic intake be stopped a week before elective surgery.

Or, presumably, you could just cook it to death. Unlike the anticlotting components concentrated in the yellow fluid around tomato seeds, which are heat stable, the antiplatelet activity in garlic and onions is lost with cooking. When comparing the platelet inhibition of raw garlic and boiled garlic, which is similar to the platelet inhibition of raw onion, garlic appears about 13 times more potent than onion, and eating garlic raw appears to be better than cooked. This suggests that “garlic and onion could be more potent inhibitors of blood [clotting] if consumed in raw than in cooked or boiled form.” So, it might be good to cook garlic right before surgery, but what about the rest of the time when we’re trying to suppress platelet over-activity to decrease the risk of heart attacks and stroke? “As garlic and onion are normally consumed in cooked food, their efficacy as preventive herbs in cardiovascular disease may be doubtful.” But, we can put some raw onion on salads and raw garlic in salsa, dressings, dips, or pesto. 

Or, we can crush or chop it, wait ten minutes, and then cook it. Researchers demonstrated the platelet-inhibiting power of raw garlic. If you cook it for just a few minutes, it does fine; but after cooking for about five minutes, the benefit is abolished. If, however, you pre-crush the garlic and wait, some of the antiplatelet activity is retained a bit longer. That’s because the enzyme that makes the antiplatelet compounds is activated by crushing but destroyed by heat faster than it creates the compounds. So, by crushing first and letting the enzyme work its magic before cooking, one can delay the loss of function.

Even better, though, is that, just like we can add broccoli enzymes in the form of raw radish or mustard powder to boost the benefits of broccoli, the addition of a little raw garlic juice to cooked garlic can restore the “full complement of antiplatelet activity that was completely lost without the [raw] garlic addition.”

When onions are cooked, the antiplatelet activity is similarly abolished within ten minutes, but then something strange happens. After 20 or 30 minutes of cooking, the effect on platelets is reversed and appears to make matters worse. Significant pro-platelet activation effects are seen, “suggesting that extensively cooked onions may stimulate rather than inhibit” platelets. That was in a test tube, though. Thankfully, when tested in people, even when onions are dropped in boiling water, fried for 10 minutes, and then left to simmer for 30 minutes, platelet activation drops within one to three hours after eating onion soup.

5 Unexpected Ways the Fall Weather Benefits Your Health

In many people’s minds, fall doesn’t exactly strike them as being one of the “healthiest” seasons.

Once the shorter days and cooler weather are in full swing, all those fun summer activities tend to get replaced with work, school and lots of TV shows premiering for the new season. Likewise, our healthy balanced diets start getting invaded by candy, mashed potatoes and cookies thanks to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the start of the Christmas season—not to mention the pumpkin lattes, pumpkin Oreos and pumpkin-everything-else.

Diet and exercise sure can be difficult to control in the fall, but there are lots of other ways you can actually take advantage of the fall season to improve your health. In fact, you may be reaping some of the benefits already without even knowing it!

Here are just five unexpected health benefits the fall season has to offer. 

1. Cracking a window open to let the cool air in at night can help supercharge your sleep.

It sure can be miserable to try getting to sleep in a hot and humid room without any A/C during the summer, so the colder weather is often welcomed by many who lose sleep over it. And it just so turns out that when it comes to getting adequate sleep, your brain loves colder temperatures.

According to a study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, healthy men who slept in a room set at a temperature of 66 degrees ended up increasing their stores of “brown fat”—a metabolically active type of good fat that helps the body get rid of excess blood sugar and burn calories. But if 66 proves to be a little chilly for your liking, you can try adjusting your thermostat down just a little so you’re more comfortable. Even small adjustments to a cooler temperature can provide benefits while you sleep.

2. Simply looking at the changing colors of the fall leaves may improve your mood and make you feel more relaxed.

Fall is perhaps the best season to get out in a park or wooded area just to simply enjoy the scenery. Regina Zopf, MD suggests that when you experience beauty—like the changing fall colors, for example—the medial orbitofrontal cortex part of your brain is activated, which is the same area that contains your strongest thinking functions and your relaxation response center. 

3. Catching the scent of certain fall foods and spices can benefit your brain.

While you may need to be mindful of how many calories you end up consuming during the fall, you at least have a good excuse to enjoy the aromas of some of the ingredients you plan to use for cooking and baking. The scent of cinnamon, for instance, has been shown to sharpen people’s minds. And peppermint, while perhaps more appropriate to use as the holidays draw nearer, is another powerful scent that may help boost energy and help you concentrate.

And according to a study conducted with a group of male participants, the scent of pumpkin may stimulate arousal—at least for men.

4. Your hormonal responses to the change of season may lead to an enhanced sex life.

Speaking of aphrodisiacs, there’s some evidence that when fall arrives, the brain responds in a way that ramps up feelings for love and intimacy. In a study that tracked the testosterone levels year-round in both men and women, fall ended up being the season when this sex hormone was at its highest (peaking in October and November).

While testosterone is generally more associated with men’s libidos, the hormone certainly plays somewhat of a role in women’s libidos as well. Men also tend to find women more attractive starting in the fall and peaking in the winter according to some research, possibly due to the mix of higher testosterone levels.

Couple these hormonal effects with warm blankets, hot beverages, and maybe a movie on a cold night, and you’ve got yourself the perfect situation for some romance!

5. Cold and cloudy weather clears your mind and boosts your memory.

The brisk, fresh air doesn’t just feel good on your skin and in your lungs — the benefits extend right to your mental state too.

In a way, the gloomy fall weather actually wakes your mind up. A study involving two groups of shoppers who were exposed to a combination of 10 impulse buyer items on different days was conducted to see if the weather would make a difference in their ability to remember the items later on. The group that was tested on a sunny, pleasant day was less able to recall what the 10 items were compared to the group that was tested on a cloudy and rainy day, which showed better memorization results.

7 Foods To Avoid If You Suffer From Anxiety

Regular exercise and healthy eating can be immensely helpful for some people who suffer from anxiety. If these lifestyle tweaks are not enough, consider how often you eat the following foods. Try reducing or cutting them out completely for a more calm and grounded mind.

If you suffer from regular anxiety that is affecting everyday activities, be sure to consult with your doctor.

Sugar

It can be easy to reach for the donut or dessert when stress or anxiety set in, but do not give in. Even though sugar momentarily makes the body energized, after a few minutes, blood sugar levels drop.

When blood sugar levels drop, feelings of anxiety kick in. If you crave something sweet when you’re anxious, eat healthy sweet foods like bananas and strawberries. Avoid table sugar and foods with added sugar.

Caffeine

Caffeine doesn’t just worsen anxiety, it can cause anxiety for folks who don’t suffer from it. In fact, it took me a long time to realize that coffee was the cause of my anxiety. As soon as I reduced my caffeine intake, my anxiety disappeared. Caffeine isn’t in coffee alone. It’s found in tea, energy drinks, chocolate, soft drinks and so on. 

Salt

There’s so much salt in processed foods that we end up consuming more salt than our bodies need. Eating salty foods raises blood pressure and makes the heart work harder. This causes a frequent release of adrenaline, a stress hormone.

Limit your salt consumption to the recommended 3.7g per day.

Alcohol

If you always grab a glass of wine whenever you’re anxious, you could be making things worse. Alcohol hinders the production a serotonin, which is responsible for regulating mood.

Drinking alcohol also causes dehydration, which can cause anxiety. Instead of drinking alcohol to deal with stress, try other options like deep breathing or meditation.

Trans fats

Most of the trans fats we consume are found in junk and processed foods. Researchshows that these fats increase the risk of depression and make the brain more prone to anxiety.

Avoid cooking with trans fats.  

Gluten

Some people who are intolerant to gluten experience anxiety when they consume gluten-rich foods. Many of these people walk around with an undiagnosed gluten intolerance. Here are 10 signs of gluten intolerance to watch out for.

If you’re gluten intolerant, cutting down on wheat products can reduce anxiety.

Fast food

Fast food contains additives, chemicals, preservatives and many other ingredients that cause inflammation. Consequently, inflammation causes the mental state to decline and makes it hard for the brain to manage anxiety.

Try avoiding these foods if you suffer from stress and anxiety. Food won’t fix everything, but it often has a huge impact on mental health. Try pairing a healthy diet with exercise and meditation to stay calm when eating the right foods just isn’t enough.

12 foods to eat when you're stressed

Too often we find ourselves reaching for comfort food as an emotional drug, but this quick fix usually leaves us feeling even more sluggish and pressured – with extra kilos to boot.
 
We know the pressure is on to lose those extra winter kilos, but the stress of achieving that summer body can become quite stressful.

An article in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry explains that not many people are aware of the connection between nutrition and conditions like stress and depression.

Science Direct also reports that stress can influence human eating behaviour. We have therefore put together twelve superfoods to help you combat your stress levels.

Bust your stress with these twelve foods: 


Almonds

Rich in vitamins B2 and E almonds help your body to relieve stress. This crunchy snack comes in handy when you feel you can’t cope. It’s good for the immune system and also a healthy snack when eaten in moderation.

Asparagus

Add some folic acid to your diet. Depression and stress are linked to low folic acid levels. Fight these conditions by increasing or including this mood booster in your diet.

Avocado

This winter favourite is not just a delicious fruit; it’s also rich B-vitamins, beneficial for the functioning of our nerves and brain cells. A deficiency of B-vitamins can lead to feelings of anxiety. Not only are avos juicy and wholesome, their monounsaturated fat and potassium act as stress relievers.

Blueberries

Bursting with vitamins and antioxidants, our bodies benefit from blueberries when we need to repair and protect our cells from stress.

Cashew nuts

Salted or raw, this popular nut is a good source of zinc. Low levels of zinc are linked to anxiety and depression.

Oatmeal

Start your morning with this fibre-packed breakfast option. Fibre comes with great advantages that will leave you feeling fuller for longer – the higher the fibre content the longer it takes to digest. Fibre also increases the flow of serotonin.

Oysters

Not only is this bivalve an aphrodisiac, the high content of zinc found in oysters can make you feel good and bursting with energy.

Salmon

One of the best sources of omega-3 fatty-acids. Consuming omega-3 fatty acids is associated with improved mood and cognition. It also prevents cortisol and adrenaline spikes when you're feeling tense.

Spinach

Is packed with magnesium. This mineral can increase your energy levels, reduce insomnia and calm your nerves in stressful situations. Just a cup of spinach can fill 40% of your daily magnesium quota.

Sweet potato

Sweet and deliciously packed with various B vitamins, vitamin C, dietary fibre and potassium. The fibre and magnesium make for easy digestion. Bioactive compounds found in this vegetable play a pivotal role in reducing oxidative stress and reducing cardiovascular disease risk, among other things.

Turkey

Is full of tryptophan, which is a feel-good amino acid. It's good for promoting calmness. The presence of zinc is good for fighting depression and anxiety. The niacin and vitamin B found in this festive treat are essential for the body’s energy production.


Walnuts

These contain alpha-linolenic acid, an essential omega-3 fatty acid, which, along with other polyphenols, helps with memory loss. The Indian Journal of Psychiatry reports that diets lacking omega-3 may lead to considerable disturbance in neural function. Various studies suggest that nuts may have beneficial effects on depression and the development cognitive decline because of their high levels of antioxidants and vitamins.