In a saga that reads like a script for a thriller, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal troubles have taken yet another dramatic turn. Federal prosecutors are doubling down on their claims against the music mogul, accusing him of a “relentless” campaign of witness tampering and blackmail—all orchestrated from within the confines of his jail cell. The Allegations Mount Since his arrest in September, Combs has faced a litany of charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. But the storm hasn’t stopped there. Prosecutors allege that Combs has been furiously working his influence behind bars, contacting potential witnesses and victims using fellow inmates’ phone access codes and a third-party communication service called ContactMeASAP. The allegations paint a picture of Combs as a man who will go to great lengths to manipulate those who could testify against him. One particularly damning claim involves a redacted call with one of his sons, where Combs allegedly hinted at blackmailing victims into silence or swaying them to offer testimony favorable to his case. Behind Bars, Yet Pulling Strings? Prosecutors draw attention to Combs’ alleged efforts to sway public perception via social media. In a peculiar twist, they cite an Instagram post by Combs’ son, featuring the family singing “Happy Birthday” to the incarcerated star—a move prosecutors say was designed to influence potential jurors by portraying Combs as a devoted family man. The mogul’s legal team is fighting back, decrying what they call “outrageous” conduct by federal prosecutors for obtaining personal notes from Combs’ jail cell. These notes, they claim, hold sensitive information about defense strategies and witnesses. Combs’ attorneys have urged the judge to hold an evidentiary hearing, arguing that the seizure of such materials violates his constitutional rights. A Growing List of Accusers The accusations against Combs are staggering, with a new lawsuit seeming to emerge every week. Just last year, Cassie Ventura, Combs’ former partner, filed a $30 million lawsuit accusing him of rape and abuse, which was settled out of court. The list doesn’t stop there. Accusations from Joie Dickerson, claiming she was drugged and assaulted in 1991, and multiple others alleging everything from sexual assault to gang rape paint a grim picture of Combs’ past. A Trial on the Horizon With a trial scheduled for May 2025, Combs faces a grueling legal battle. The prosecution’s evidence, including alleged tapes of non-consensual acts and claims of manipulated witnesses, adds weight to the charges. Cumulatively, these allegations have cast a long shadow over his career and reputation—a stark transition from music industry titan to a central figure in one of the entertainment industry’s most disturbing cases. The Waiting Game For now, Combs remains behind bars, with his legal team striving to secure his release on bail. Meanwhile, the list of accusers grows, and the claims become increasingly serious and sordid. The calls for justice echo louder as federal prosecutors continue to build their case, painting a picture of a powerful figure who allegedly used his influence to exploit and intimidate. The court of public opinion is already in session, but the question remains—what will the court of law decide? Only time will tell if Combs can shake off these allegations or if they’ll define the legacy of one of hip-hop’s most influential figures.The post Sean Combs Accused of Witness Tampering from Prison first appeared on Worth it or Woke.

Software developer Angie Jones' recent girls trip revealed that America still has a long way to go when it comes to race. To most, that's not surprising. But what's unique is how the specific experience Jones and her friends went through revealed the pervasive way systemic racism still runs through our culture.Jones is the Senior Director of Developer Relations at Applitools, holds 26 patented inventions in the United States of America and Japan, and is an IBM Master Inventor.On July 27, she tweeted about a flight she took with nine other Black women and they all sat in first class. "People literally could not process how it was possible," she wrote. "Staff tried to send us to regular lines. Passengers made snide remarks. One guy even yelled 'are they a higher class of people than I am?!'" — (@) Jones and her friends were the targets of racism that ranged from the seemingly unconscious — people who assumed that Black people don't sit in first class — to the blatant — those who were seriously bothered that Black people were being treated as having a higher status.It's interesting that she didn't mention anyone saying "good for you" for succeeding in a world that often holds people of color back. Instead, she was greeted with incredulity and jealous rage.There are a lot of white people who can't stand the idea of a Black person being elevated above them. It's disturbing that in there are still some who will admit it publicly.Jones' tweets inspired a lot of people to share their stories about the racism they've experienced while flying first class. — (@) — (@) — (@) — (@) Jones' tweets also angered some people to the point that they denied her story. To which she responded, "To those saying I'm lying, you're a huge part of the problem," she wrote. "You tell yourself a notable person is lying (for what reason, I cannot figure out) before you believe there are actual racists in...America." — (@) One Twitter user came up with the perfect retort to the person who asked, "Are they a higher class of people than I am?!" — (@) This article originally appeared three years ago.

This is not news: America does pretty badly when it goes up against other countries academically. This is true even if we take it one state at a time—no single state, no matter how wealthy or small, matches the top scoring countries. And yet, the U.S. spends more per student than many other countries in the world.In the image at the top, each state is mapped to a country that had similar scores on the Program for International Student Assessment, an international test of mathematical reasoning given to 15-year-olds. The top 15 countries are in purple. No, there isn't any purple on this map.Reporter Amanda Ripley wanted to figure out why U.S. education outcomes are so mediocre.She started asking random people what they thought and she followed up on their ideas. The same theories came up over and over: People blamed poverty and diversity for the difference between U.S. students and students everywhere else. But when Ripley dug into the numbers, she discovered that, while those are factors, they don't fully explain the difference.No adult could give her a satisfactory answer, so she went to the experts: kids.Kids spend more time in school than anyone. They've got strong opinions about school. They have opinions on what is working.She talked to the only students who could have firsthand knowledge of the differences between schools in top-performing countries and those in the U.S.: American kids who were exchange students in those countries.She surveyed hundreds of exchange students and found three major points that they all agreed on.The students all said that in their host countries:School is harder. There's less homework but the material is more rigorous. People take education more seriously, from selecting the content to selecting the teachers.Sports are just a hobby. In the U.S., sports are a huge distraction from the business of school, but that's not the case in other countries.Kids believe there's something in it for them. The students in other countries deeply believe that what they are doing in school affects how interesting their lives were going to be. Even if they don't like a class, they see their education as a stepping stone to their future.To hear more from these amazing kids (and a great story about how an education reporter managed to take an international standardized test), check out the video from PopTech below:This article originally appeared nine years ago.

In preparation for an upcoming neo-Nazi march in the small Bavarian town of Wunsiedel, local residents decided to fight back in a hilariously perfect way: by sponsoring each of the 250 fascist participants. According to Heeb Magazine, "For every metre they walked, €10 went to a programme called EXIT Deutschland, which helps people escape extremist groups."The anti-semitic walkers didn't figure out the town's scheme until they had already started their march, and by that time, it was too late to turn back. The end result? The neo-Nazis raised more than $12,000 to fund programs to put an end to neo-Nazis.Watch the YouTube video below:This article originally appeared seven years ago.

Teachers are supposed to foster a nurturing environment that encourages learning and growth. It is not an easy feat being a teacher, you're not only charged with teaching a classroom full of children but managing classroom behaviors while also ensuring students are comfortable enough to confide in you when needed. The role of an educator carries a lot of weight with one of the biggest ones being shaping future leaders, but not all teachers are created equal.Some teachers either don't realize the impact they have on students or entered into the profession for reasons outside of desire to help students succeed. When this happens, a child's spirit can be crushed beyond repair if they don't have others around them to reinforce positive things about them. One mom found herself aghast at the note her elementary school child received on a graded assignment.There isn't much context to the photo other than a short description that reads, "My 11 year old daughters teacher wrote this comment on her homework. I'm absolutely flabbergasted and angry. This after my daughter just competed in gymnastics nationals a month ago." girl in orange long sleeve shirt writing on white paper Photo by Jason Sung on Unsplash The photo contains a snippet of the graded homework assignment where the little girl answered the prompt "my hopes and dreams" with her aspirations of becoming an Olympic gymnast. The girl also included that she wanted to be a "perfect gymnast," which could be what the teacher was responding to but there's no way to make that determination from the feedback on the assignment, which only reads, "will never happen sorry." But there does appear to be a line of some sort drawn from the sentence about becoming a perfect gymnast so maybe there was a misunderstanding. Things aren't always conveyed correctly in short written text but that didn't stop people from jumping to the girl's defense and sharing their own stories of being told they couldn't do something only to excel at it later. from mildlyinfuriating One person writes in part, "When I was in first grade, my teacher told me multiple times that I was bad at math. I believed her because I was six. I believed that until the last part of college, when I finally HAD to take calculus for my major and I had put it off until my senior year. Professor for Calculus 2 asked me to be a math major… turns out I have a mind for math. I hope the girl in the post wins Olympic gold."A woman pleads with the mom to take the issue up with the principal, "Please do this for me - back in the 80's a teacher told me I couldn't take a certain programming class because "girls don't need to take programming classes" - he wanted to keep his little boys club intact - no girls allowed! I'm a Database Manager (going on 20 years) now for a large company. My father just signed me up at the local community college to take the programming class." cady heron math GIF Giphy Someone else shares their triumph story, "When I was in high school a teacher told me I should drop mathematics in favour of mathematical literacy (the easier math) because I wasn't good at math and I'd never be able to become an engineer or any other related field that needed math. Another math teacher told me to ignore that advice and that if I worked hard and put my mind to it I'd be able to overcome what I find difficult and eventually it will just click. It would take hard work and I'd probably hate it, but I'd get there.If I had listened to the first teacher I wouldn't be where I am today..literally lecturing complex mathematical concepts to university students. Those 2 years teaching kids I did everything possible to be like the teacher that encouraged me to go further, so that hopefully some of the kids I taught will realise[sic] their full potential like I did." Calculate Figure It Out GIF Giphy Another person says, "I broke my arm in high school and was getting my strength back. My max for bench at 1 point was 115 because my arm couldn’t support the weight. I told my weights coach my goal was 250 by my Jr year. I was a freshmen at the time. He said ya you’ll never get there. I hit 280 on my PR and ended up finishing my Jr year in the 1000lbs club for Squats, Cleans, and Bench. After every rep I’d say 'F**k you Mr. McKenna.'"While some commenters question the validity of the note written on the homework assignment, people overwhelmingly support the girl by showing comments like these from educators far more common than people would like to think. Hopefully the child gets a chance to read all the triumphant notes left by others and goes on to win a gold medal at the Olympics one day.

Fathers on all sides of the political spectrum share at least one thing in common: We're protective of our little girls. Yes, the 'shotgun-wielding dad' who intimidates gentlemen callers is an old cliche, but even though his methods may be a little outdated, his heart is usually in the right place.We know that, fair or not, the world is more dangerous for daughters than it is for our sons. And it's not just dads! Uncles, big brothers, family friends. They all make sure to keep an extra watchful eye on the young girls of the family.What we need to talk about more out loud is what, exactly, we're so afraid of.To that end, a recent viral post on X brilliantly pointed out the truth."One time years ago I said 'men are trash' and my dad got really annoyed by it. my mum had to stop and ask him 'when you're warning her not to be out late, to be careful, telling her that it's not safe etc who are you warning her about? not women'"Holy cow, what a mic drop. — (@) There's been a growing sentiment online that wonders if we've been 'too mean' to men.First, there was the #MeToo movement, which gained steam in around 2017. It was a time when staggering numbers of women felt empowered to come forward with stories of sexual assault, harassment, and more.Quickly, "good guys" spoke up to reassure the world that "Not all men are bad!"#NotAllMen, almost instantly, became a hashtag used to mock people who were dismissive of women's concerns about the state of, well, men.In 2024, conversations about the male loneliness epidemic have taken centerstage. Ideas that men have been disenfranchised to the point of radicalization. That they've been forgotten about in a society that pushes for progress for every other group but them.In short, "Stop being so mean to men!'The post from user mariaalcoptia beautifully illustrates the hypocrisy at play: Even men know that men are dangerous!Maria's reply was in response to another post that explained the phenomenon even further:"I don’t think men have heard what fathers tell their daughters about men. Nobody hates men more, nobody is a bigger misandrist than fathers who actually love their daughters. All they do is slander their fellow men to their daughters from morning to night," wrote user sugabelly. "Girl Dads hate men." — (@) As a progressive-minded and, at least I'd like to think, solid guy, even I get bummed out about the bombardment of "men are terrible" messaging I see anytime I'm online.It's hard not to get defensive, and to resist the urge to shout "Not all of us!"But deep down we know it's true. There are huge problems with men and masculinity in our country that are making it a worse place for everyone else.It's why we interrogate potential boyfriends and teach our daughters crotch kicks and how to throw a punch, and why we want to know where they're going and who they're with and when they'll be back.(And it's why we aren't nearly as protective of our boys.)It's not because of the bogeyman. It's because of other men.The sooner we can put our feelings aside and all admit that, the sooner we can get to work on making things better.Being as thoughtful about how we raise our sons as we are about protecting daughters would be a good place to start!

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