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'Death by Panda' song parodies nature's doofiest creature and the comments are comedy gold

"Pretty sure all pandas are part Chris Farley."

Photo credit: Canva

Pandas are some of the silliest creatures on Earth.

At first glance, giant pandas can be intimidating. Their large size and sharp teeth and claws might evoke the kind of instinctual fear any bear would.

You definitely don't want to mess with their babies, make them feel threatened or assume they're as cuddly as they look, as they actually can be dangerous. But compared to other bears, giant pandas are pretty chill. This is especially true for pandas in captivity, who aren't just generally docile but downright doofy.

Watching a panda play is like watching a toddler that doesn't quite have their bearings yet. They tumble and stumble and get themselves into conundrums and appear to be having a grand old time doing it, which is what makes the song "Death by Panda" so perfect.

The song, shared by Some Guy Named Robb (Robb McCormick), paints pandas to be terrifying, vicious creatures in a fun, parodying kind of way. Check out these lyrics:

Pandas will melt your face

Turn your bones to paste

Destroy the human race

It's on their 'things to do' list

With a driving beat and intense electric guitar, "Death by Panda" makes a hilarious soundtrack for videos of pandas…well, being pandas. Just watching them walk around is entertaining, but give them some outdoor equipment to play on and OMG the delight

Watch:

The song can be found on Spotify, where you can listen to it in its entirety. And the panda behavior in the video prompted a wave of funny comments highlighting how absurd these creatures really are.

"Kung fu panda makes so much sense now🤣"

"There’s a reason they’ve been on the endangered species list."

"Never before realized that I have the agility of a panda."

"Panda: the drunken uncle of the bear species."

"Pretty sure all Pandas are part Chris Farley."

"Look... they're here for a good time....not a long time unless we bubble wrap their entire habitat and give em little helmets.😂❤️"

"I totally get why Jack Black was Kung Fu Panda."

"The instinctive ability to fall & roll in a controlled way, is their funny survival tactic.😆"

"Based on my lack of balance and clumsiness, I may have been a panda in a past life...."

People can be so funny.

But seriously, how do these guys survive in the wild?

In case you're actually wondering about that, pandas used to be on the endangered species list, but have been downgraded to "vulnerable" status. The World Wildlife Fund celebrate giant pandas as living proof of conservation efforts working, as the number of pandas in the wild has grown with protections in place for them and their habitat.

Panda habitats are among the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, so protecting them helps not only the giant panda but also other threatened and endangered species such as golden snub-nosed monkeys, takins, red pandas and snow leopards.

Climate change, tourism, overharvesting of bamboo and other threats pose challenges giant pandas' future. But we can take inspiration from the fact that conservation has worked for these majestically goofy creatures and keep those efforts going.

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Riz Ahmed performed a moving spoken-word song in response to Charlottesville.

The powerful performance of 'Sour Times' drew a roaring applause.

"It seems that we’re living in really, really divided times, and it really hurts," said rapper, actor, and activist Riz Ahmed on "The Tonight Show."

Just days after a white supremacist killed a protester at a Charlottesville, Virginia, march, the "Rogue One" star found himself seated next to Jimmy Fallon discussing his latest TV, film, and music projects. After a few minutes of standard talk show banter, the conversation turned serious, and Ahmed brought up a song he wrote a while ago, that he hoped would never be relevant.

[rebelmouse-image 19532426 dam="1" original_size="450x253" caption="GIFs from "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon"/YouTube." expand=1]GIFs from "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon"/YouTube.

"I wrote this piece 10 years ago. Every year, I keep hoping it’ll become irrelevant, but it seems to become more and more relevant, sadly," he told Fallon. "It’s my attempt to try and get behind the headlines and work out where all this extremism is coming from."

Then he asked for a microphone and walked to the middle of the stage.

Ahmed performed a phenomenal, heartfelt, powerful spoken-word rendition of "Sour Times" for the audience.

If there's a message we need to hear right now, this is it. If you have a spare four minutes, do yourself a favor and watch the video. If not, the lyrics are printed in full at the bottom of this story.

"So listen, terrorism isn’t caused by religion or an old school vision of Islam / It’s against the Quran, it’s a new innovation caused by mash-up situations / That’s what makes them turn to arms / The problem is modern and it’s all local factors / Dictatorships, injustices and wars cause fatwas."

Our goal, like Ahmed says, should be to better understand where extremism comes from. Islamophobia, bigotry, and xenophobia aren't the answer, and if anything, they might actually just make things worse. To root out extremism, we need to understand its cause, "what makes them turn to arms," as Ahmed says. Placing blanket blame on Muslims is a cop-out.

The situation is a lot more complex than that, and until we can respond to it in a smart, thoughtful, and nuanced way, things will only get worse.

"Sour Times" by Riz Ahmed, as performed on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon":

In these sour times
Please allow me to vouch for mine
Bitter taste in my mouth, spit it out with a rhyme
I'm losing my religion to tomorrow's headlines
Guantanamo — sorry bro?
Nah, nothing, it's fine.

And now it's post 7/7
Why they calling it that?
They're trying to link it to New York
Like we’re all under attack from the same big bad guy
But it's taking a piss
'Cause the truth is terrorism ain’t what you think it is
There ain’t no super villain planning these attacks from some base
The truth is so much scarier and harder to face
See, there's thousands of angry young men that are lost
Sidelined in the economy, a marginal cost
They think there's no point in putting ballots up in the box
They got no place in this system, and no faith in its cogs
They're easy targets, that be getting brainwashed by these knobs
Who say that spilling innocent blood is pleasing a god
Well, it sounds good when you don’t see no justice or jobs
The gas bills are piling up, but all the oil's getting robbed
So David's taking out Goliath, and his wife and his dog
Segregated, castrated, now we see who’s on top!
So see, it ain’t religious faith that’s causing these crimes
It’s losing faith in democratic free market designs
It’s no coincidence that bombers came from ghettos up north
And the way that Trump talks gives a lost boy a cause
Then double standards get 'em angered, both at home and abroad
There's a monopoly on pens that's why they forge their own swords
They're misguided, turned violent, strapped themselves up with bombs
But they're still cowards, 'cause they ain’t here when the backlash is on

In these sour times
Please allow me to vouch for mine
Bitter taste in my mouth, spit it out with a rhyme
I'm losing my religion to tomorrow's headlines
Abu Ghraib — sorry mate?
Nah, nothing, it's fine

So all the mans that want to say that my religion has to change
That we’re stuck in a bygone age
It's time to set the vinyl straight
Don’t you think it’s kind of strange that all this terror outrage
These last gasp castaways
These bastards that will blast away
Turned up in the last decade
When Islam has been the way for millions
From back in the day
Instead of thinking that we’re crazed
Investigate just what it says
Fast, help the poor, and pray
Go Mecca, feast, fast, and faith
That’s the basics, that the base
So how did we get here today?
Well, interpretations always change
Today, they're read with rage
Been jihad-ened up
Desperation's kinda f—
Makes you use a book of peace as weapons in Iraq
So listen, terrorism isn’t caused by religion or an old school vision of Islam
It’s against the Quran, it’s a new innovation caused by mash-up situations
That’s what makes them turn to arms
The problem is modern and it’s all local factors
Dictatorships, injustices, and wars cause fatwas

In these sour times
Please allow me to vouch for mine
Bitter taste in my mouth, spit it out with a rhyme
I'm losing my religion to tomorrow's headlines
But it's fine






































































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An unforgettable spoken word piece explores the struggles facing refugees.

In her spoken word piece, "How Many More?" Lula Saleh shines a light on the treacherous journeys refugees endure and their uncertain futures if they survive the trip.

‌Throughout her stirring piece, equal parts poem and song, Saleh questions not just governments turning away refugees at their borders, but everyone who turns a blind eye to human suffering. ‌‌‌‌

All GIFs from Infiniti Pictures/Vimeo.

Saleh is the  daughter of immigrants and an immigrant herself, so this message is deeply personal.

Saleh is an Ethiopian-Eritrean American and spent her childhood on four different continents, so her global perspective and life as a third-culture kid informs much of her work.

Whether or not you're an immigrant, her words are poignant, thought-provoking, and more relevant than ever.

The powerful images accompanying Saleh's words also highlight an often overlooked refugee population — displaced people from sub-Saharan Africa.

With continuing crises in South Sudan, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic, and recent conflicts in Burundi and Yemen, sub-Saharan Africa now hosts more than 18 million refugees. That's more than 26% of the world's refugee population.

Additionally, millions of people throughout the continent are also displaced within their own countries due to natural disasters, ongoing violence, and conflicts. In 2015, an estimated 12 million people in 21 African countries experienced ongoing displacement. In Nigeria alone, the figure reached 1.8 million people displaced at the end of 2016.

‌Refugee children from South Sudan in Bidibidi resettlement camp in the Northern District of Yumbe, Uganda. Photo by Isaa Kasamani/AFP/Getty Images. ‌

While much of the world's attention has gone to the refugee population fleeing war-torn Syria and Libya, journeying to western Europe, it's important to remember and support organizations providing emergency shelters, supplies, education, and medical care to refugees and displaced people across Africa as well.

This is a global problem that will require thoughtful, compassionate solutions. There's enough passion, energy, and heart to go around.

‌A woman carries a flour sack during food distribution by the Catholic Church to refugees and displaced people in Juba, South Sudan. Photo by Samir Bol/AFP/Getty Images. ‌

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