Welcome to Twitter, Edward Snowden.
Snowden has become a household name after revealing top secret documents from the U.S. government to the public, ousting them for spying on millions of U.S. citizens.
Can you hear me now?
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 29, 2015
Though the whistleblower is currently in exile in Russia (he was granted asylum in Moscow), he has continued to lead public conversation about privacy, surveillance and the NSA through video interviews and streaming speeches. According to The Intercept, the handle @snowden was taken by someone who hadn’t used Twitter in three years, so Twitter agreed to give the handle to Snowden.
Snowden’s only follow? @NSAGov.
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The Infamous Borgia Family Is Still Around And More Important Than You May Think
By Nate Nkumbu
Popes by natures are supposed to be holy men, ordained by God and the church to lead the Catholic faith.
Not every pope however follows those church rules.
One pope that was infamous for breaking rules was Pope Alexander VI.
Born Roderic Borgia, Pope Alexander VI was the leader of the papacy from 1492 to his death in 1503.
A controversial pope who had fathered children with many mistresses, Alexander VI’s name is now a stand in for all of the vice and nepotism that was once associated with the Catholic church.
He embraced the temporal role of the church and his family wielded real power in the affairs of war and politics.
Not exactly a Pope Peter lookalike.
One of Rome’s few memorials of the first Borgia pope, Calixtus III, from the tail end of the fifteenth century. Photo Credit: Anthony Majanlahti/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
According to Lawrence Cunningham, a Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, while Alexander VI might have been a bad Pope to the Catholic Church, he was beloved and respected by people during his time.
“He was great patronage of the arts during the renaissance and commissioned the likes of Michelangelo and Raphael to work for the vatican and for him,” Cunningham said in an interview with RISE NEWS. “He was important to the new world as he corresponded with the Spanish crown about confirming the discovery.”
Interestingly enough, while often thought as a family only found in a history book, the Borgia’s are still around today.
Borgia’s children that he sired with his mistresses left a legacy of their own.
One of his children’s descendants, Rodrigo Borja Cevallos became president of Ecuador in 1988 at a time when Ecuador was suffering one it’s worst economic crisis.
There was not much Cevallos could do to fix the situation and he was ousted within four years.
But still. How cool is that?
The Borgia family legacy isn’t just held to a descendant becoming president of Ecuador.
Cunningham said that his direct line had influenced The Renaissance and the rise of political realism in a major way.
“Pope Alexander’s daughter Lucrezia would become source for Machiavelli’s The Prince,” Cunningham said. “The Borgia family would have people become dukes, lords and so on. So Pope Alexander VI’s influence still exists to this day.”
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Sharat Ganapati/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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BREAKING: Tom Brady Wins Deflategate Appeal, Will Play Start Of Season
10:38 AM- According to court documents released today, NFL spent $3 million on investigation of Brady and the New England Patriots. Only to have the star quarterback face no loss of play.
10:33 AM- Click here to read U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman decision on Deflategate.
10:27 AM- Tom Brady will not miss the first four games of the NFL season according to multiple media reports after a district court judge overturned his league imposed suspension.
This is a developing story and we will update this post frequently.
Cover Photo Credit: Keith Allison/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
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Why Star Wars Proves There Is Success In Diversity In The Movie Industry
By Kelsey D’Auben
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens has become one of the most successful films in modern movie history.
It had the most successful opening weekend in history, grossing over $200 million in box office sales worldwide. This past week the highly anticipated Star Wars sequel broke yet another box office record, passing both Jurassic World and Titanic to become the second most grossing film of all time. And with this after only 19 days of being in theaters, Star Wars is also expected to pass James Cameron’s Avatar and claim the number one spot shortly.
A new trilogy means one sure thing in the Star Wars world- a new trio set to save the galaxy from the dark side.
First came Luke, Leia, and Han Solo in episodes IIV, X, and XI, then Obi Wan, Anakin, and Padame in episodes I, II, and III.
In The Force Awakens we are introduced to the new team- Rey, Finn, and Poe.
This new group of leading characters is much different than the ones before them. They are made up of a Black man, a Hispanic man, and a woman. This is a significantly more diverse cast than the saga’s previous films that had casts that were nearly all white.
Not to say that this film doesn’t have a largely white cast as well. Rey, the female lead of the film, is white and so are Leia and Han Solo, previous lead characters brought back from the original saga.
Star Wars has always been sure to include strong, kick ass, fighter women in their films.
But this time the role wasn’t of the girl who fell for the Jedi, or the princess who needed saving.
Rey isn’t either of those tropes. Rey is (spoiler alert) the young Jedi discovering her powers – a role traditionally only given to the white male characters.
This kind of representation is a crucial aspect of film and television that often is ignored, especially in big budget blockbuster movies. Nearly every other film on the most-grossing films list alongside Star Wars have all-white, mostly male casts.
Titanic, Jurassic World, and Avengers to name a few. For films that are meant to make money and sell a lot of tickets, they seem to only be marketing towards a select few.
That is one reason why Star Wars is gaining more success over it’s competitors. A wider and more diverse cast is more attractive to wider and more diverse audiences.
More people will be willing to go to the movies and spend $15 dollars on a ticket because they see there is a character there for them, someone they can watch and relate to.
This representation is even more important to younger audiences. Seeing a hero who looks like you, up on the big screen, can mean the world to a child. It gives them someone they can look up to.
Star Wars is the first in what will hopefully become a new wave of representation in television and film, opening doors for new actors and audiences of all genders and colors and creating an industry where everyone is represented and welcome.
Cover Photo Credit: DAVID HOLT/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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