Mapping the Syrian Refugee Crisis
Esri, a mapping and GIS company, has created an interactive map that tracks the Syrian refugee crisis. It shows where people have migrated to, how many people have been displaced, and where the most migrant deaths occur. It's eye-opening, especially when you look at the number of Syrian refugees today compared to 2014. [The Atlantic]
Viola Davis Is The First Black Woman to Win An Emmy for Best Actress In a Drama
Viola Davis made Emmys history and spoke truth to power in her speech http://t.co/B0FDivhsGc
— The Guardian (@guardian) September 22, 2015"How to Get Away With Murder" actress Viola Davis made history Sunday night with her Emmy win, and her incredibly moving, powerful speech is not to be missed. [WSJ]
Pack Your Passport
The TSA will not accept drivers licenses from New York, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and American Samoa as identification starting in 2016, "Travel + Leisure" reported recently.
Licenses from those states are considered “noncompliant” with the security standards outlined in the Real ID Act because acquiring a license "doesn’t require proof of citizenship or residency,” the magazine wrote.
But don’t panic just yet: there will be a three-month forgiveness period, when residents with those licenses will be warned that those IDs are no longer valid.
Travelers can also use passports, passport cards, permanent resident cards, U.S. military ID and traveler cards like Global Entry and NEXUS. Enhanced Driver’s Licenses, which are used to replace passports for traveling to and from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, may also be used. [Travel + Leisure]
John Lennon Appears to Mock the Disabled in Newly Surfaced Video
An old clip showing John Lennon ridiculing disabled people has recently surfaced, leaving fans in disbelief.
In the video, the singer can be seen pretending to be speaking with a speech impediment during a Beatles concert. He also claps awkwardly and stomps his feet, encouraging the audience to do the same.
The clip aired on a recent episode of British show “It Was Alright in the ‘60s.” [New York Daily News]
How Boston Feels About the Latest Boston Crime Drama
Bostonians aren't happy about the gangster pseudo-biopic "Black Mass," which tells a version of the tangled web between Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger and his crooked FBI handlers. Critics — including DNAinfo's own Noah Hurowitz — say the movie plays fast and loose with facts and timelines.
For a rundown of the real story, turn to an excellent review by journalist and Boston diehard Susan Zalkind, who manages to combine facts with the feelings of a city still shaken by Whitey Bulger’s reign of terror and the corruption that allowed it. [The Guardian]
The Least Understood Basketball Star of All Time
You don’t have to be a sports fan to enjoy this New York Times profile of one of basketball’s greatest players, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It’s an interesting look at Abdul-Jabbar through a somewhat awkward, day-long interview. The story delves into the complexities of Abdul-Jabbar's stardom as an African-American man thrust into the spotlight in the 1970s and 1980s. He still holds the title of all-time leading scorer in the NBA, but his coolness with the press has seemingly shaped his legacy, perhaps not in the way Abdul-Jabbar intended. [NYT]
Pro Hockey Players: They're Just Like Us
The New York Islanders are set to play their first game of the 2015-2016 NHL season at their new Barclays Center home on Oct. 9. That means a lot of adjustments, including figuring out how to get to Brooklyn instead of Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. To get to the team's first pre-season game Monday night, many players, coaches and members of support staff ditched their cars and caught a ride on packed Long Island Railroad trains. And, in case you're wondering, they're not getting preferential treatment. The New York Post reports that right winger Cal Cutterbuck stood for his 25-minute ride to the Atlantic Avenue terminal on Monday. [NY Post]
Ryan Adams Talks About Remaking the Taylor Swift Album '1989'
Musician Ryan Adams' newest record might sound familiar to a lot of music fans, given that it's made up entirely of covers from Taylor Swift's latest album/cultural juggernaut "1989." Adams talked to Grantland's Steven Hyden about making the album, noting that Swift was the first person to hear it and that both of them have what he calls an "F-to-A-minor" type of personality. [Grantland]
Would You Pay $18 for a Plate of Bread at This East Village Pizza Place?
It might sound like a hefty price to pay for a plate of mostly carbs, but Grub Street is wagering that the $18 homemade bread at Bruno Pizza, on East 13th Street near 3rd Avenue, may be worth the splurge.
Don't think too hard about ordering this $18 plate of bread. Just get it: http://t.co/KYZqKKQbGV pic.twitter.com/EGNYLqUtRF
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) September 22, 2015The food blog calls the concoction — which joins the eatery’s menu starting Oct. 1 — "the city's most impressive new bread course” and describes how the recipe took months to develop, and comes with fermented mozzarella and a bone marrow-based butter. [Grub Street]
