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Why sports teams and players shouldn't be obligated to meet the president.

The Golden State Warriors went through all of the celebratory traditions after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to become this year's league champions: They relished in falling confetti, took photos with their beaming families, promptly donned their new "NBA champions" hats, and raised their shiny new trophy into the air as one.

But there's a very big tradition the Warriors may not be partaking in this year: meeting the president.

According to some unconfirmed reports that surfaced in the hours after the game, the Golden State Warriors may not be visiting the White House to meet President Donald Trump.

Pro teams often get White House invites after bringing home the gold in their sport. But, according to an unsubstantiated tweet from CNBC analyst Josh Brown, the Golden State Warriors voted to opt out of the event just hours after beating the Cavaliers.

Brown's tweet quickly took off, with people both praising and critiquing the team's "unanimous" decision.

In response, the team released a statement on the matter, contradicting Brown's Tweet.

"Today is all about celebrating our championship," the statement read. "We have not received an invitation to the White House, but will make those decisions when and if necessary."

If the Warriors do end up deciding against a trip to D.C., though, it won't be all that surprising to many Golden State fans.

Many Warriors players have been critical of Trump over the past several months.

In February, star player Steph Curry was asked if he agreed with Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank's comments referring to Trump as a "real asset."

"I agree with that description — if you remove the 'et' [from 'asset']," Curry shot back.

Steph Curry. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr — whose father was killed by terrorism in Lebanon in 1984 — also slammed Trump's proposed travel ban targeting Muslims in January:

"As someone whose family member was a victim of terrorism, and having lost my father: If we’re trying to combat terrorism by banishing people from coming to this country, [we’re] really going against the principles of what our country is about, and creating fear. It’s the wrong way to go about it. If anything, we could be breeding anger and terror."

Coach Steve Kerr. Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images.

Golden State guard Shaun Livingston said months ago that, should his team win the championship, he "definitely wouldn't go" to the White House. After Trump's inauguration, player David West claimed Trump voters "responded to some of the most infantile, non-decent language that you could expect coming from a [presidential] candidate."

The Warriors' big NBA win comes after many New England Patriots skipped out on their White House visit following their Super Bowl victory. Defensive tackle Alan Branch was one of the players who sat on the sidelines for the event, citing the "disgusting" way Trump talks about women as the main reason he couldn't follow through.

The attitudes of many Warriors and Patriots illustrate why each team and every player should make their own decisions when it comes to a White House visit.

After all, very little about this presidency is normal.

In years past, pro sports teams and their players have put politics aside — regardless of who's in office — and accepted the honor. But an abnormal president calls for bucking normal traditions.

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Ocean Wise
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Planet

Easy (and free!) ways to save the ocean

The ocean is the heart of our planet. It needs our help to be healthy.

Ocean Wise

Volunteers at a local shoreline cleanup

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The ocean covers over 71% of the Earth’s surface and serves as our planet’s heart. Ocean currents circulate vital heat, moisture, and nutrients around the globe to influence and regulate our climate, similar to the human circulatory system. Cool, right?

Our ocean systems provide us with everything from fresh oxygen to fresh food. We need it to survive and thrive—and when the ocean struggles to function healthfully, the whole world is affected.

Pollution, overfishing, and climate change are the three biggest challenges preventing the ocean from doing its job, and it needs our help now more than ever. Humans created the problem; now humans are responsible for solving it.

#BeOceanWise is a global rallying cry to do what you can for the ocean, because we need the ocean and the ocean needs us. If you’re wondering how—or if—you can make a difference, the answer is a resounding YES. There are a myriad of ways you can help, even if you don’t live near a body of water. For example, you can focus on reducing the amount of plastic you purchase for yourself or your family.

Another easy way to help clean up our oceans is to be aware of what’s known as the “dirty dozen.” Every year, scientists release an updated list of the most-found litter scattered along shorelines. The biggest culprit? Single-use beverage and food items such as foam cups, straws, bottle caps, and cigarette butts. If you can’t cut single-use plastic out of your life completely, we understand. Just make sure to correctly recycle plastic when you are finished using it. A staggering 3 million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans annually. Imagine the difference we could make if everyone recycled!

The 2022 "Dirty Dozen" ListOcean Wise

If you live near a shoreline, help clean it up! Organize or join an effort to take action and make a positive impact in your community alongside your friends, family, or colleagues. You can also tag @oceanwise on social if you spot a beach that needs some love. The location will be added to Ocean Wise’s system so you can submit data on the litter found during future Shoreline Cleanups. This data helps Ocean Wise work with businesses and governments to stop plastic pollution at its source. In Canada, Ocean Wise data helped inform a federal ban on unnecessary single-use plastics. Small but important actions like these greatly help reduce the litter that ends up in our ocean.

Ocean Wise, a conservation organization on a mission to restore and protect our oceans, is focused on empowering and educating everyone from individuals to governments on how to protect our waters. They are making conservation happen through five big initiatives: monitoring and protecting whales, fighting climate change and restoring biodiversity, innovating for a plastic-free ocean, protecting and restoring fish stocks, and finally, educating and empowering youth. The non-profit believes that in order to rebuild a resilient and vibrant ocean within the next ten years, everyone needs to take action.

Become an Ocean Wise ally and share your knowledge with others. The more people who know how badly the ocean needs our help, the better! Now is a great time to commit to being a part of something bigger and get our oceans healthy again.

Joy

Teen with a fishing magnet found a safe full of cash. And then he returned it all to its owner.

The safe was stolen 22 years ago.

via Wikimedia Commons

It's incredible what a double-sided magnet can do.


A new trend in treasure hunting called magnet fishing has blown up over the past two years, evidenced by an explosion of YouTube channels covering the hobby. Magnet fishing is a pretty simple activity. Hobbyists attach high-powered magnets to strong ropes, drop them into waterways and see what they attract.

The hobby has caught the attention of law enforcement and government agencies because urban waterways are a popular place for criminals to drop weapons and stolen items after committing a crime. In 2019, a magnet fisherman in Michigan pulled up an antique World War I mortar grenade and the bomb squad had to be called out to investigate.


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The fascinating reasons why anger and irritability may be disguising your depression

Sometimes anger is hiding something bigger than a fleeting emotion.

Therapy in a Nutshell|YouTube

How anger and irritability can disguise depression

Anger is such a weird emotion and it's totally not anger's fault. It's just existing for valid reasons but shows up when we feel like it shouldn't. The thing with anger is that in many cases it acts as a coat for an underlying emotion hiding that for some reason or another isn't ready to be revealed.

But sometimes anger is hiding something bigger than a fleeting emotion. Emma McAdam, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and host of the YouTube channel, Therapy in a Nutshell, posted a video explaining how anger and irritability can actually be a symptom of depression.

The video really breaks down how the media portrays depression versus some of the lesser known symptoms of depression. When people think of depression, they often imagine someone that's extremely sad all the time and struggling to do basic skills. But depression can show up hidden behind other symptoms like irritability, insomnia, loss of appetite, and lack of focus.

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Researchers dumped tons of coffee waste into a forest. This is what it looks like now.

30 dump truck loads and two years later, the forest looks totally different.

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One of the biggest problems with coffee production is that it generates an incredible amount of waste. Once coffee beans are separated from cherries, about 45% of the entire biomass is discarded.

So for every pound of roasted coffee we enjoy, an equivalent amount of coffee pulp is discarded into massive landfills across the globe. That means that approximately 10 million tons of coffee pulp is discarded into the environment every year.

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How to end hunger, according to the people who face it daily

Here’s what people facing food insecurity want you to know about solving the hunger problem in America

Even though America is the world’s wealthiest nation, about 1 in 6 of our neighbors turned to food banks and community programs in order to feed themselves and their families last year. Think about it: More than 9 million children faced hunger in 2021 (1 in 8 children).

In order to solve a problem, we must first understand it. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, released its second annual Elevating Voices: Insights Report and turned to the experts—people experiencing hunger—to find out how this issue can be solved once and for all.

Here are the four most important things people facing hunger want you to know.

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Americans share the top 13 things foreigners should avoid when visiting the U.S.

Sorry, but you can't drive from New York to LA.

via RDNE Stock project/Pexels, Neal Wellons/Flickr and Karolina Wv/Pexels

An ambulance, a Waffle House and an angry bison.

While the United States is undeniably one of the most culturally dominant countries in the world, its depth and complexity go far beyond what most people understand before seeing it for themselves.

The U.S. is a melting pot of diverse cultures, histories and landscapes, creating a rich and complex national tapestry that takes time and travel to truly comprehend. Heck, even Americans ourselves have a hard time understanding each other from time to time.

It's a place where every state can feel like its own little world, each with its own traditions, accents and cuisines. So, it’s understandable that when many people from around the world visit for the first time, there are some things they probably wished they had known ahead of time.

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Service dog flunks out of training school in spectacular fashion

The other dogs can't believe what they are seeing.

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