Rap Gems Uncut

It's happened, the president has been impeached. In a 229 to 198 vote, the house of representatives approved the first article of impeachment on abuse of power.  Soon they are expected to similarly approve the second article of obstruction of Congress. Months and months of hearings have led up to a day-long debate that ended in one long day. Some perspective. The last time this happened to a president, I was watching Spongebob Squarepants with my mom before I went to preschool for the day. I was more focused on what was going to happen on the playground and whether or not the girls would give me cooties. Prior to that, I wasn't even born when my parents went through something similar. Back then, they were high school sweethearts on the east side of Cleveland. Their old high school doesn't even exist anymore, neither does my dad's childhood home. It's just a vacant lot with gravel occupying where brick and mortar once stood. Rubble. This is not the e...

This whole impeachment deal is like a messy divorce. First, you had Ma and Pa fighting behind closed doors that eventually dragged out into the public. Then you had the lawyers fighting over the rules of the divorce. Now, the children in the middle of it are getting involved. Over the weekend, it was reported by several news outlets that Representative Jeff Van Drew (D) of New Jersey would be switching parties sometime this week. The move comes as house representatives get ready to vote on articles of impeachment. Of course, backlash soon followed. Today, according to The New York Times , seven staff members of Drew's office in Washington have announced their resignation. In a letter published by the Times, signed by five of the seven members, concerns were raised over putting the interests of the presidents before the safety of the country. "Congressman Van Drew's decision to join the ranks of the Republican Party led by Donald Trump does not alig...

There’s a common saying that’s passed around the internet when you find yourself watching weird avant- grade videos on YouTube: I fell in a hole. It happens a lot to me. One second I’m watching a Kid Cudi music video, the next I’m watching Russian dashcam footage of two men dressed as rabbits flinging trash at each other until 4 a.m. Falling into a hole at my internship for Cleveland Magazine is how I found Petscop , an online horror. It became my secret year long obsession in between making cold calls and fact checking.  With a sporadic release schedule, I would check monthly to see if any new episodes were released. I was hooked and I needed a fix of that sweet sweet creepy pasta to get me through the night.  The game is based around an old PlayStation video game that was never finished. Paul, the person playing the game slowly uncovers a dark twisted story after discover a glitch in the game’s level design. Honestly that’s the best synopsis I c...

Photo by David Gomes For most of us, getting gifts for someone you care about is a nightmare. What if they don't like it?  What's going to happen if they don't? Will they ghost me, vanish into thin air and never speak with me again? Will they turn into Smaug from the Hobbit and bite my head off, burn the city down and take the Lonely Mountain and all its gold tucked away within it? Because of that, you put it off to the very last second and then feel crappy that you still haven't gotten anything for the one you love. With Black Friday come and gone, it may feel like there’s nothing good for you to buy. Well, buck up buckaroo's, just because you put off your Christmas shopping till the very last second doesn't mean you can't get something special for the one who matters most in your life. Here are five things below $100 you can get your significant other: 1) Zak! Tumblers You ever notice how everyone in the summer aggres...

When was the last time you read/watched the news? I'm not talking about reading a headline or posts on Twitter either. I mean when did you really sit down and read a story about something going on in the world? For a lot of you, the answer is never or not too often. I don't blame you, it's easy now to keep your heads down and to shift focus on social media, video games or other mediums. A lot of people I talk to about what's happening in the news couldn't care less about it and would rather spend time on other less tedious things. I understand why too. Honestly, at times there is just way to much shit going on. It's hard to keep up on what's important. Every 24 hours, a different scandal breaks or something new develops with something that broke months ago etc. etc. etc. It's a long winding maze that really does not have an end in sight. Here's the thing. If we turn our backs to whats going on in the world we detach ourselves from every...