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watching-pictures-move · 3 years ago

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Put On Your Raincoats #20 | Squalid Motels and Desperate Gals, courtesy of Kim Christy

This review contains mild spoilers.

When I first heard of Kim Christy, I knew I had to delve into her work. Here is someone who was involved in the drag scene in the '60s and went on to direct and produce pornography from the '80s onward. She's also a trans woman director (and occasional actress), which is not just unusual in golden age pornography but even mainstream cinema today. Unfortunately, figuring out where to start was a challenge. There's a very good interview with her on the Advocate but which doesn't really delve into her directing work. So I did the highly risky and ill-advised move of scanning through the titles in her filmography and trying to pick out ones with interesting sounding premises. Even this was a challenge, as a lot of her movies sounded like they didn't have a terrible amount of story. (A good many of them also had certain slurs in the title, which are unfortunately common in trans pornography.) So out of the crapshoot of movies I picked, I can't say I really got to the bottom of what makes her work interesting or even gelled to most of them, but hopefully I can convey what makes the ones I did take to interesting.

To start with the most slight, the two Divine Atrocities movies are basically a collection of sex scenes. There's a theme of dominant women running through them, but otherwise there isn't much tying together in terms of staging, aesthetics and the like. The segments have titles like "The Leather Lass Tamer", "Rubber Rampage" and "Ms. Degradation", but truth be told, nothing here is terribly shocking. So there isn't a lot to either of these movies, but if you're watching it for those reasons, they're enjoyable enough. A few of the segments feature trans performers, and I did find that Sulka had a nicely imposing screen presence in her scene, and while Sugar Nicole briefly threatens her partner with her "big black cock", I did like that for the most part the movies don't discern between these scenes and the ones with cisgender performers. In the eyes of Kim Christy, there's room for everyone in this great sexual melange. Also notable is the threesome scene with Janey Robbins, who (after likely reading Dan Savage's column) tells one of her partners, "If you don't find a different way to fuck me, you can forget it, I'll have to find somebody else", and in the first time in the history of civilization, gets mad at her male partner for not climaxing quickly enough. "You always say it'll only take a few minutes. Time is the only thing I can't replace, and it always takes too long."

A bit more substantive narratively but less interesting is Momma's Boy, with a premise that you can guess based on the title. Tantala Ray presides over a brothel set during an indeterminate period, where she presides over her girls and also her son, who mysteriously became a deaf-mute at a certain point of time. Why did her son become a deaf-mute? Will we ever find out? Spoiler: it's incest. Tantala Ray does have a weird enough screen presence to make her parts watchable, but this has none of the charge that, say, Taboo brings to the same material. (It's worth noting that Ray in this movie, looking like a debauched queen of Mardi Gras in one scene, is a camp villain while Kay Parker plays her role straight in the other movie.) As it's shot on video, the movie is not very nice to look at, and the dirt cheap production values make it unclear whether this is supposed to be a period piece. Some of the dialogue is amusing ("Oxford?" "Guess again." "Princeton?" "Try Biloxi Tech, my sweetie."), and there is some old timey music and one of the clients wears an ascot at one point, so it's not a totally squalid affair. (It's classy, see? He's wearing an ascot.) As the son, Jerry Butler does a cringe-inducing lisp, but I did chuckle at his last line.

A bit easier to recommend is True Crimes of Passion, where Janey Robbins plays a private detective (cheekily named B.J. Fondel) who invariably bungles her investigations and winds up in sex scenes with the people she's supposed to be investigating. "Out of the fog and into the smog" begins the overwrought voiceover, which truth be told doesn't compare to the likes of Chandler but I guess the effort is nice. The first case involves her investigating the wife of a minister whom her client suspects of infidelity. Surprise, surprise, it turns out the wife has a girlfriend with whom she has dominant sex. Thanks to Robbins' investigative prowess, she gets found out and forced to join the proceedings and ends up getting her client, a Dan Quayle looking motherfucker in a cowboy hat, captured as well, which leads to an incredible burn.

"The lord will punish you for this."

"The lord already has, he gave me you for a husband."

Also, when Robbins is forced into cunnilingus, she says over narration, "Oh Christ, I'm not even sure I've seen one of these things up close", and yeah, okay, Janey.

The second scene is probably the most notable as it features Christy as a performer. Robbins visits her friend to investigate a death threat against her friend's brother (also Robbins' ex), and the twist can be deduced when you start wondering why a seemingly minor character gets an unusually large amount of screentime. The scene features a trope that likely isn't terribly sensitive by modern standards, but I get the sense from that Advocate interview that Christy isn't too hung up about such things and one must concede that the film is a product of its time and genre (and within that context, there's a lot worse out there). The last scene has Robbins spying on her neighbour in hotel to get some industry secrets, which leads to some really awkward dialogue about champagne and then a threesome involving her client and mark. Like the work of Yasojiru Ozu, this scene breaks the 180-rule, but I guess if this is your thing, you might enjoy it. At the very end, the mark just gives up his secrets to the client. The secrets of male bonding sometimes elude me.

Easily the most accomplished and enjoyable film from Christy that I watched was Squalor Motel. It combines the sexual variety of the other films with a sense of camp and grounds it in a distinct, memorable location. There isn't much more "plot" than the other movies, as it's basically about a motel concierge doing her job over the course of a day, but as it follows her bumping into a variety of (usually horny) guests and finding herself in amusing (and unfailingly sexual) situations, there's enough of a narrative through line that it feels like a "real" movie where the other movies strained for similar effect, and the movie uses a soundtrack of icy synths and jazz that sounds like imitation Angelo Badalamenti to give it all an alluring vibe. I'm gonna make a wager that David Lynch would have liked this movie. Look, I have no idea what his viewing habits are or what sends his motor running, and the thought of him jacking it furiously to this or any movie is not something that brings me pleasure. But this shares some of the campy tone and surface qualities of his works, and I also wanted to leave you all with that image.

Why does the motel have its own house band (to whom people try to listen to while they engage in all kinds of sexual congress)? Why is Jamie Gillis made up like a vampire and trying to sell marital aids? Why does the one guest's blow-up doll turn into a real person (and prove, uh, extremely vocal during their scene)? Why is the owner wearing a pig mask and a tutu while he spies on his guests? Why is everyone laughing at the newlywed? Why is the one scientist with a Hitler mustache and his shrill-voiced assistant conducting experiments (read: having a threesome) with Tantala Ray? And how are most of these things taking place in the mysterious Reptile Room in the middle of the motel? With an extremely winning Colleen Brennan in the lead role (sporting a pair of thick glasses, a Lucille Ball updo, and a big, toothy smile), we'll have a pretty good time finding out. Like a lot of hardcore movies, this is pretty episodic in structure, but its distinct atmosphere gives it a nice sense of momentum as it drifts from scene to scene.

With its nice production design (and the fact that it seems to have actual sets, rather than being shot in what I assume are people's homes like in the other movies), Squalor Motel feels a bit more upscale and lavish than the average porno. While I don't have any budgetary information handy, I do know that the production had an assistant director, Ned Morehead. To what extent he contributed to the movie's DNA I can't say for certain, but the directorial effort of his I watched, also produced by Christy, had many of the same qualities. Desperate Women starts off feeling pretty stylish with its spraypaint style opening credits (although it loses a bit of style when it misspells star Taija Rae's name as "Taja Rea"). Taija Rae plays a reporter who ends up wrongfully convicted for a murder and thrown in brutal women's prison presided over by the sadistic Tantala Ray, who seems to get her jollies from spying on her prisoners as they get it on or abusing them with the help of her dimwitted guard. During such incidents, the guard frequently ends up ejaculating on her uniform as a source of comic relief. (One such scene ends with a shot of a photo of Ronald Reagan.) I must however disclose, without revealing too much about the shameful inner workings of my hopelessly degenerate mind, that the denouement of scene involving Ray, her guard and Sharon Mitchell did not leave me unmoved. Mitchell plays a prisoner who befriends Taija Rae, and it's worth noting that despite being one of the best actresses in classic porn, she's saddled here with an atrocious Hispanic accent and at one point sings a bit of "America" from West Side Story.

By porn standards, this is actually quite well produced and has a relatively sturdy narrative. (I must however note that one scene has a blatant ejaculation-related continuity error.) Women in prison movies tend to be pretty squalid affairs in general, at least in terms of production values, so this doesn't feel too far off from the real thing and offers more explicit versions of the same pleasures, while its sense of humour gives it a nice campy quality. Tantala Ray especially delivers in a pleasingly over the top performance as the teeth-gnashing villain (the camera often frames her severe face in wide angle close ups), and say what you will about Sharon Mitchell's accent, I did like seeing her pop up in here. With all the flamboyance and excitement around her, Taija Rae almost becomes a supporting character in her own movie, although I must confess that I found her character's hopeless naivety pretty cute. ("I didn't wear rubbers, it's sunny out".) With a fun cast, a firm handle on the genre's pleasures and a groovy soundtrack, this is a pretty good time.

#film #movie review #put on your raincoats #divine atrocities #divine atrocities 2 #momma's boy #true crimes of passion #squalor motel #desperate women #kim christy #ned morehead

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amandajoyce118 · 4 years ago

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Agents Of SHIELD S7E05 “A Trout In The Milk” Easter Eggs And References

The team heads to the 1970s where they discover that Hydra has received a hand up from the Chronicoms.

You know the drill. If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you’ve already seen the episode. Especially since I’m watching the episode four days after it aired. So, yes. There are spoilers.

Those Opening Credits

They are so very ‘70s. If you’ve ever watched a sitcom or a spy series from the era, you’ll see nods in the sequence.

Sousa Wonders About Ending Up In The Present

Perhaps Sousa’s questioning of Daisy and Coulson about ending up in their present time is a nod to the actor’s cameo in Avengers. Let’s hope the show actually ties those two together instead of just giving us an Easter egg or two.

Dooley’s Booth

Coulson talks about Dooley’s booth in the old bar that becomes a SHIELD meeting spot. Dooley was the chief of the New York office of the SSR, for those who didn’t watch Agent Carter.

Bendeery English Ale

Daisy drinks one of these in the SHIELD bar, and there’s also a poster for it in Malick’s office. It is the official unofficial beer of the show. It’s named for a friend of Nick Blood’s and first appeared back in season two.

You Always Bounce Back

Yeah, this is, what, the third time someone has referenced Elena’s first episode of the series and her powers. That feels like it’s not going to bode well for her, but not sure what to make of all the on the nose references just yet.

‘70s SHIELD Uniforms

Those blue and white jumpsuits are straight out of the comics of the same era. Yep.

Project Insight

We all saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier, right? Project Insight is the big project created by Hydra that targets “threats” to the world in the form of Stephen Strange and Tony Stark. In other words, it calculates the probability that people will go against Hydra and advises on whether or not they should be eliminated.

The Episode Title

The phrase is, as Sousa points out, an “old timey one,” and it’s fun that it gets used repeatedly in the episode.

Coulson Is From Processing

When Malick asks Coulson where he’s from at the bar, Coulson says he’s from processing. That’s a callback to season five when the team ended up in the future. It’s what Deke told them to say when anyone asked where they were from so they wouldn’t give away that they were time travelers.

Come With Me If You Want To Continue To Exist

This show loves to nod to its sci-fi and action movies, right? While Elena talks about Bond movies early in the episode, this line is a nod to the Terminator franchise.

The Launch Hangar

Where the Insight rocket/satellite combo launches from in the middle of the lake is where the zephyr usually launches from in the future.

The Episode Tag

Nathaniel Malick isn’t even supposed to exist anymore, but he’s sure working on living up to the family name, huh? His wanting to talk to Daniel Whitehall about surgically transferring abilities should sound familiar. Whitehall lives for so long by surgically transferring Jiaying (Daisy’s mom, remember her?) to himself.

The List Of SHIELD Assets/Hydra Threats

I saved this one for last because this is where the majority of the episode Easter eggs come from. When Daisy and Sousa get the list of “threats” for Project Insight in the ‘70s, the computer has a nice “Level 7 only” at the top of the screen. That’s a nod to how the show began, with Coulson as a Level 7 agent, welcoming Ward to his new status on the team.

Sousa and Daisy mention that Bruce Banner, Peggy Carter, and Nick Fury all show up on the list. The long list features some other names that should be familiar. There are actually two sets of lists, but it’s really hard to make out the first one, so help a girl out if I miss some names.

Roberto Gonzalez and Victoria Hand both show up. You might remember them from earlier seasons of the show. Vic is killed by Ward when he breaks Garrett out of SHIELD custody and Gonzalez is killed by Jiaying when he tries to have a meeting with her. I believe Isabel Hartley is also on the first page of the list, but not positive because her name is blurry. In the comics, she dated Vic, but she was killed in the first episode of season two.

Also on the list? Jim Morita and Gabe Jones. They’re both Howling Commandos. Gabe also happens to be Trip’s grandfather while Jim is grandfather to Peter Parker’s school principal.

Some more familiar names that appear are Nicole Amador, Susan Morse, and Nathan Bowen. The first is likely a relative of Akela Amador from season one, while Susan Morse is mother to Bobbi Morse in the comics. Nathan Bowen is the father of Tandy (from Cloak And Dagger) and a scientist who works for Roxxon.

Still with me? Good. Because there are even more.

Conrad Murphy is the father of Sandra Murphy in the comics. Sandra is one of the “Caterpillars” or Secret Warriors in the comics, though she’s not on Daisy’s team. She actually is on the team sent to spy on the Russian organization Leviathan (which was in Agent Carter) and her entire team ends up dead.

Andrew and Margaret Nelson appear - though on separate halves. I’m curious if they’re meant to be relatives of Foggy Nelson from Daredevil, though their names don’t ring any bells for me. It’s worth noting that the show has connected to Daredevil in the past with other Easter eggs and Skye and Matt both having a connection to St. Agnes.

There’s a Susan Parker on the list, who could be related to Peter Parker, or she could be a really random reference to a character that appeared in one comic book in the ‘40s? Likewise, Michael Phillips is a name that is connected to a mercenary who worked with the Punisher in the comics who used to be a CIA agent, but that feels like too common of a name. (There’s also an assistant director with the name who works on the show, so he could just be a nod to him.)

Betty Wright is a famous singer who actually rose to fame in the ‘70s. She died this year. She wrote the original “Where Is The Love” and has been sampled on tons of R&B tracks. Likewise, Mark Roberts might be another pop culture nod since he was an actor who started working in the ‘30s, though that was just his stage name, so who knows?

I’ve got nothing on Ben Taylor, Ben Harris, James Cook (unless they’re talking about the British explorer who would have already been dead), Ronald Collins, Roger Stewart, Leonard Torres, Robert Moore (though I did think initially that it said Morse and wondered if Bobbi was named after her dad), and David Robinson. I also didn’t catch the last name for the entry that starts with Theresa. But that’s - a lot. So, some of the names are presumably filler names, entered just because they were ones the team could use, and they could also be nods to people the VFX team knows in real life.

Edited to add:

Chastity McBride

I completely forgot to note that May’s alias in this episode is a real SHIELD agent in the comics. She’s only appeared in a handful of comics and her main mission was stopping John Garrett and Elektra from an assassination plot.

I think this is the longest list I’ve done in a while, so no speculation this time. Until next week. Or, I guess, later this week!

#agents of shield #aos season 7 #aos easter eggs #aos spoilers #mcu

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r-nicole07092004 · 3 years ago

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THE SATANIC CULT TERRORIST ALSO BROUGHT ME AGAINST MY WILL TO THE BACK OF BUILDINGS, I SEEN A GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE, A LAD WAS STANDING NEAR BY,THE SAME LAD COULD OF BEEN ON THE GROUND, WE WERE SURROUNDED BY CHILD MOLESTERS, BABY KILLERS, BOTH SEAN AND THE MALE SON(DAD PRETEND TO BE MY BROTHER)ARE ATTRACTED TO LADS PRIVATE ANANTOMY!! MY FACULTIES AND EYESIGHT WERE BOTH IMPAIRED, IT WAS NIGHT AND THE AREA WAS DARK! I HAVE KNOW IDEA THE LOCATION!

I DON'T KNOW WHAT LIES, DAY, MONTH, YEAR, THE STAGED SCENE FULFILLS!! WHEN THE USGOV AND THEIR TERRORIST PLAN ON GOING INTO COURT!! THE SAME RULE APPLIES, I POSITION TO MURK, I AM LOOKING FORWARD!! WILL BUSH THE FORMER PRESIDENT CONSIDER ME A THUG!!? WILL HE BE UPSET, HIS FAVORITE TERRORISTS ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO OPERATE THE BABY RING, OR WILL THE CULT DECIDE TO USE THE REPRODUCTION OF THEIR CULT CHILDREN, LEAVE OUT THE OUTSIDERS, MY CHILDREN AND ALL MY DNA,

THE FORMER AND CURRENT PRESIDENTS, RECEIVE THE SAME MONEY, LESS HASSLE,NO CIA, CIA INTELLIGENCE INVOLVEMENT, I JUST HELPED BUSH, I COULDN'T AT MY EXPENSE, WHAT ABOUT TERRORISTS DEPLOYS, THIS WILL BRING WORLD CIA, CIA MILITARY, I HAVE TWEETED REAL SECURITY MEASURES TO PUT IN PLACE, DEFINITELY WILL NOT SATISFY TERRORISTS DEPLOYS!!

THE USGOV AND THEIR TERRORISTS, ARE A WALKING BREECH OF SECURITY, PAEDOPHILES AND TERRORISTS!!

I PRAYED ALL OF MY SIRNIKS AND YOUNGER FACES BECAME THUG TO THE THUGGED OUT! SHOOT RONALD JEWELL&FAMILY, VERIZON&FAMILY, LEFRAK CITY, MY PARENTS RELATIVES&FAMILY, ETC....CONTINUED TURNING PAGES IN A BOOK, EXERCISE, STAY AWAY FROM DRUGS, ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTES!!

THE RED FACE CHILD MOLESTER, POSTED ON A BUS WITH ALFRED BROWN JR, THE SON OF SERIAL RAPISTS, CHILD PREDATOR, REGISTERED AS A SEX-OFFENDER, THE RELATIVE OF SEAN&ANDREA MITCHELL, CARL AND KEVIN FLEETWOOD, THOMAS PARKER, ETC...

THOMAS PARKER(CRACKHEAD) DAUGHTER TAWANA, SEAN MITCHELL, HALF SISTER, RAPED EVERY MCGRIFF, SANDERS, DAVIDSON, MILLER FO R REPRODUCTION, I HAVE KNOW IDEA WHY THE CHILD MOLESTERS, RAPISTS WERE NEAR MY CHILDREN , MY SIRNIKS AND ME, (VIRGINIA BEACH)

RED WHITZ RAPISTS TRASH, KITED AND KIDNAPPED ME FROM MY BED, THE IDIOTS ALSO KITED AND K8DNAPPED THE FACE OF DEION SANDERS, OR DISGUISE, SAT DEION NEXT TO ME, KISSED ME ON THE CHEEK, CHANGED TO THE PAEDOPHILE ALFRED BROWN SON, I TWEETED MY HYPNOSIS(I WORKED AT VERIZON 19 YEARS)IF I HAD A GUN AND FACULTIES, I WOULD OF SH9T WHITZ IN THE FACE,

WHITZ ARE YOU AN INVESTIGATOR, WHAT ARE YOU INVESTIGATING!!? H8S WIFE IS A PROFESSOR AT OUR LADY OF THE ELMS COLLEGE,

WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE STAGED SCENE, X ALL NORMAL PEOPLE, THE SATANIC CULT TERRORIST CRIMINALLY INSANE, MENTAL REJECTS, STAGE SCENES TO IRRITATE US, ANGER US, IN HOPES OF US HAVING A MENTAL BREAKDOWN, I HAVE HYPNOSIS AND CAN'T LAY HANDS OF MURK DOWN,

I PRAYED I LIVE, I NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE MY SIRNIKS, IBHELD TOGETHER, IN HOPES OF GETTING BACK AT THE RAPISTS, CHILD MOLESTERS, BREAK AND ENTER,ETC. . PREMEDITATED CRIMES, 52 YEARS OF THIS, I HAD ENOUGH!! THE USGOV IS WITH HOLDING MY MONEY, MY STOLEN SSDI31K, I DIDN'T NEED A PAYEE! I SHOWED MY BILLS ON TWITTER, WHERE IS MY STOLEN SSDI31K SOCIAL SECURITY TERRORIST CHILD MOLESTERS!!

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talkcarol17-blog · 6 years ago

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MLB Transaction Watch special edition: Non-Tendered players

Transaction watch will make another appearance this week and I’ll have a lot to say about trades around the league, including the blockbuster deal between the Mets and the Mariners. However, today I wanted to take a special look at the players who were non-tendered last week. It was particularly unusual because of both the quantity and quality of players who were not offered contracts and while it’s not as flashy as sending Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano to the Mets, it’s going to have a much larger impact across the league.

The state of free agency

There were already 201 MLB free agents on the 2018 market. And while the markets for some players are stronger than others, the fact remains that there are a lot of very talented players who were already seeking new deals for the 2019 season. The sheer magnitude of the market has led many to speculate that aside from a couple of mega deals that could still materialize for young superstars like Manny Machado and Bryce Harper this really is a buyer’s market. There were simply too many similar players available and in all likelihood they are going to drive down contract values for each other, both in terms of years and dollars.

Well, that market gained 41 more players who were non-tendered by their clubs on Friday. Including some players who had pretty solid 2018 campaigns and others who have put together quality seasons recently. Below are some notable names and statistics for these new free agents:

Notable non-tendered players

Player Team Position Age 2018 Contract 2018 fWAR

Billy Hamilton Reds CF 28 4,600,000 1.3 Jonathan Schoop Brewers 2B 27 8,500,000 0.5 Avisail Garcia White Sox OF 28 6,700,000 0.0 Matt Davidson White Sox 1B/DH 28 570,000 0.8 Wilmer Flores Mets 1B/3B/SS 27 3,400,000 0.5 Shelby Miller Diamondbacks RHP 28 4,900,000 -0.2 Yangervis Solarte Blue Jays 3B 32 4,000,000 -1.3 Brad Boxberger Diamondbacks RHRP 31 1,800,000 -0.1 James McCann Tigers CF 29 2,400,000 -0.1 Robbie Grossman Twins OF 29 2,000,000 0.7 Mike Fiers Athletics RHP 34 6,000,000 1.4 Justin Bour Phillies 1B 31 3,400,000 0.5 Hunter Strickland Giants RHRP 30 1,600,000 -0.2 Matt Bush Rangers RHRP 33 555,950 -0.1 Tim Beckham Orioles SS 29 3,400,000 -0.5 Blake Parker Angels RHRP 34 1,800,000 0 Matt Shoemaker Angels RHP 32 4,100,000 0.6 Kendall Graveman Athletics RHP 28 2,400,000 -0.4 Luis Avilan Phillies LH 30 2,400,000 0.9 Ronald Torreyes Cubs 2B/3B/SS 26 615,500 0.4

Select stats, age, positions and contracts Compiles from Fangraphs and Spotrac by Sara Sanchez

To put this in perspective: In 2017 20 players were non-tendered by their clubs and the biggest name on the list was Drew Smyly, who was coming off Tommy John surgery (you might remember him from rehab starts like this one). Non-tendering players like Justin Bour, James McCann and yes, even Ronald Torreyes, over relatively small contract increases in arbitration is new and it has potentially troubling implications.

Last year’s cold stove

One thing that jumps out about this list is that it makes the free agent market a lot younger than it was last Thursday. Prior to the non-tender deadline 26 of the 201 available free agents would be under 30 for the 2019 season. That was 12.9 percent of the total market and would have represented real value for those players as they negotiated their 2019 contracts. However, just with the list of notables above the number of free agents under 30 has grown to 37 out of 222 free agents, or 16.7 percent of the market. That’s a meaningful shift and presents some much cheaper options for teams looking to add position players, in other words younger free agents in 2018 probably just lost a decent amount of money just by the virtue of competing with additional, cheaper options.

This is all happening on the backdrop of the remarkably slow 2017 offseason where the free agent market seemed to drag to a halt before players like Jake Arrieta and J.D. Martinez ultimately signed deals well below what many expected them to earn. In early January Ken Rosenthal reported in the Athletic that only 31 of 166 free agents had signed, making 2017 a “historically slow” market. By mid-January Jeff Passan raised the alarm that baseball’s economic system might be broken. And while MLB wanted to place the blame squarely in the camp of agents asking for outlandish contracts for weaker players (oh hello there, Scott Boras) the player’s union was seething at management. As January turned to February more writers began speculating about collusion and other factors that might have frozen the free agent market.

I have no evidence that there is collusion in the current labor market, but it appears that the same factors that Passan identified last January are already evident in the early decisions teams are making relative to their players on the bubble. Specifically, analytics departments and their calculations of player value that are considered shrewd for each team in isolation, just unleashed a flood of new, cheap, talent into a free agent market that hasn’t really caught fire yet. I mean, the most notable deals so far include Clayton Kershaw negotiating an additional year, Josh Donaldson getting a $23 million contract, but only for one year, and Jesse Chavez signing a two-year deal for $8 million.

The fact that a generational talent in Kershaw and a former MVP in Donaldson are only looking at an additional year should raise the same alarms Passan set off last January. I have no reason to doubt Al’s analysis of how the Cubs likely evaluated Torreyes’ potential $300,000 raise in arbitration. However, the cost to owners in terms of their good faith with the players is likely to be a lot more expensive if this offseason results in the second year in a row of depressed contracts across the board.

The 2021 CBA

All of this will continue to develop at Winter Meetings next week in Las Vegas. And who knows? Maybe the hot stove will catch fire, Harper and Machado will sign their mega deals and other highly valuable players like Craig Kimbrel, Marwin Gonzalez, and Brian Dozier will quickly follow. But if the non-tender deadline is any indication, teams don’t appear to be willing to pay what players and their agents think their skills are worth and we could be looking at another stalemate.

Last year that stalemate initiated some discussion of a player boycott of spring training and inspired the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) to bring on sports litigation expert Bruce Meyer as their Senior Director of Collective Bargaining and Legal. Those were warning shots to MLB’s owners to tread carefully in terms of how they treat players. If those warning shots aren’t heeded in 2018, I’d look for the MLBPA to fire some similar shots in early 2019.

The owners currently have the upper hand, particularly since the next time the MLBPA can truly flex its muscles on this issue is 2021 when the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is renegotiated. However, while analytics departments are trained to squeeze the maximum value out of every player contract, the owners are making a strategic error doing this en masse in a way that could cause ongoing damage to their broader relationships with players. Allowing this to continue to simmer and boil every offseason between now and 2021 will ensure the most contentious renegotiation of the CBA since the 1994-95 players strike.

Source: https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2018/12/3/18124121/mlb-transaction-watch-special-edition-non-tendered-players

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chainmeter8-blog · 6 years ago

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Eagles vs. Cowboys Final Injury Report: 3 players out, 2 questionable

The Philadelphia Eagles released their third and final official injury report in advance of their Week 10 game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.

As expected, the Eagles ruled out the following three players: Darren Sproles, Jalen Mills, and Sidney Jones.

Sproles was expected to play this week until he aggravated his hamstring in practice on Wednesday. On Friday, Doug Pederson said he still expects Sproles to be able to return before the season is over. We’ll see.

With Sproles out, the Eagles will split touches among Wendell Smallwood, Josh Adams, and Corey Clement (who missed Thurdsay’s practice with an illness but is fine). Adams actually received the most carries in Week 8 so it’ll be interesting to see if that happens again this week. Smallwood still figures to play the most snaps of any back since he can contribute in the passing game. It would be great to see Clement rebound in the second half; maybe he’s healthy coming out of the bye. Hard to count on it until he gives people reason to believe, though.

Based on what Pederson had to say, it sounds like Mills may miss more than just one start. Ronald Darby figures to start in his place on the left side of the defense with Rasul Douglas coming in to take Darby’s usual spot on the right side. This is a big opportunity for Douglas to prove he deserves to stay in the starting lineup.

Pederson made it sound like Jones had a chance to play this week but clearly that’s not the case. That relative optimism might bode well for Jones’ chances of returning next week against the Saints, however. In the meantime, it might be the newly acquired Cre’Von LeBlanc manning the nickel position. He’ll be tasked with trying to stop Cole Beasley. It’s also possible the Eagles move Avonte Maddox back to the slot and have Corey Graham — who’s expected to suit up for the first time since Week 5 — play at safety but I don’t think that’s as likely.

Starting right tackle Lane Johnson is listed as questionable after being limited in practice all week. He’s expected to play despite the fact he’s dealing with a high ankle sprain and Grade 2 MCL sprain. There’s no questioning Johnson’s toughness.

Josh Sweat is a new addition to the injury report; he’s also listed as questionable to play. Sweat did not practice on Friday due to a hip issue. The Eagles are already down to only four defensive ends with Sweat out for the season. They’d be down to just three on Sunday if the rookie pass rush can’t suit up.

Timmy Jernigan participated in practice this week but he remains on the reserve/non-football injury list. In other words, he won’t be playing this week. The Eagles have 17 days left to activate him to the 53-man roster at any point. If he’s not activated by then, he’ll be shut down for the season.

In bottom of the roster news, Chandon Sullivan was limited in Friday’s practice due to illness but he’s not listed on the final injury report. Joshua Perkins returned as a full participant after being limited due to illness on Thursday.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES INJURY REPORT (FRIDAY)

OUT

CB Sidney Jones (hamstring) CB Jalen Mills (foot) RB Darren Sproles (hamstring)

QUESTIONABLE

OT Lane Johnson (knee) DE Josh Sweat (hip)

...

RESERVE/PHYSICALLY UNABLE TO PERFORM

S Chris Maragos

RESERVE/NON-FOOTBALL INJURY

DT Timmy Jernigan

RESERVE/INJURED

RB Jay Ajayi DE Derek Barnett CB Elie Bouka WR Mack Hollins S Rodney McLeod TE Richard Rodgers WR Mike Wallace LB Paul Worrilow

DALLAS COWBOYS INJURY REPORT (FRIDAY)

The Cowboys ruled six players out for Sunday’s game: starting defensive end Taco Charlton, starting linebacker Sean Lee, starting left guard Connor Williams, key pass rusher David Irving, backup slot receiver Tavon Austin, and reserve linebacker Joe Thomas.

Missing both Charlton and Irving hurts the Cowboys’ defensive line. Charlton, the Cowboys’ 2017 first-round pick, ranks tied for second on the Cowboys with three tackles for loss. Irving is one of the best pass rushers on the Dallas roster.

Williams’ absence means the Cowboys will be starting backups at both left guard and center due to Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick also being out. The Eagles’ defensive line must take advantage.

Two Cowboys players have been ruled questionable: pass rusher Randy Gregory and starting tight end Geoff Swaim. Gregory has been limited in practice all week but it seems like he’ll play. Swaim missed practiced on Wednesday before being limited on Thursday and Friday. Sounds like the Cowboys’ blocking tight end will try to give it a go.

In other news, the Cowboys made some roster moves on Friday afternoon. Dallas waived wide receiver Deonte Thompson (33.7% snaps played this season) and backup cornerback Treston Decoud. The Cowboys filled those vacancies by activating 2017 seventh-round pick Noah Brown from injured reserve and promoting wide receiver Lance Lenoir from the practice squad.

OUT

WR Tavon Austin (groin) DE Taco Charlton (shoulder) DL David Irving (ankle) LB Sean Lee (hamstring) LB Joe Thomas (foot) OG Connor Williams (knee)

QUESTIONABLE

TE Geoff Swaim (knee) DE Randy Gregory (knee)

...

RESERVE/NON-FOOTBALL ILLNESS

C Travis Frederick

RESERVE/INJURED

OG Parker Ehinger DE Datone Jones OG Marcus Martin S Jameill Showers WR Terrance Williams WR Cedrick Wilson

Source: https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2018/11/9/18079760/eagles-vs-cowboys-final-injury-report-lane-johnson-jalen-mills-sidney-jones-darren-sproles-sweat-nfl

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newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on News Twitter

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Ny Times: Study Finds Only Modest Gains by Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards

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Starbucks said last month that it intended to increase diversity on its corporate board by adding three minority directors. Credit Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Women and minorities occupy nearly 31 percent of the board seats of Fortune 500 companies, a small increase over the last four years, a new study has found.

While that is the highest level in the six years of the study, white men continue to hold more than two-thirds of the positions.

The data for 2016 — from the Alliance for Board Diversity, an association of groups promoting inclusion of women and minorities in boardrooms, and Deloitte, a professional services firm — underscores that companies have made only incremental progress in promoting diversity in boardrooms.

Corporate boardrooms with directors of varied backgrounds are still relatively unusual. Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffee behemoth, drew public notice last month when it announced that it would add three minority directors. If approved by shareholders, the expanded 14-person board will be 29 percent women and 36 percent minorities.

Those percentages are seldom matched by other large companies, according to the new study, “Missing Pieces Report: The 2016 Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards.”

Continue reading the main story

“With the current rate of progress, we aren’t likely to see the number of minorities and women increase to our target of 40 percent representation until the year 2026,” said Ronald C. Parker, the chairman of the Alliance for Board Diversity. “This is not acceptable. Corporations need to do more to keep pace with the country’s changing demographics.”

Many companies, however, continue to turn to people who have had chief executive experience, and these tend to be men. In addition, only a small number of board seats turn over in any given year — about 350 around the country — which makes it difficult to quickly increase the numbers of women and minorities. The total number of Fortune 500 board seats last year was 5,440, down slightly from 5,463 in 2010.

Most boards range from nine to 11 people — which some companies argue is a reason for the lack of board directors with more diverse skills than those conventionally accepted for board candidates. The relatively low turnover — the average tenure is eight to 10 years — and the small number of companies that have term limits also make the move to broader inclusion less rapid than advocates would like.

A possible bright spot for increasing diversity is that many board members are in their 70s, meaning they are likely to step down in the coming years.

African-American men increased their presence in Fortune 500 boardrooms by 2 percent. Their female counterparts increased their portion of seats by 18.4 percent. But the report also found that African-Americans had the highest rate of serving on multiple boards.

This indicates, Mr. Parker said, “that companies are going to the same individuals rather than expanding the pool of African-American candidates for board membership.”

Hispanic men made a small gain of eight board seats, for a total of 188 seats, or 3.5 percent of the total — compared with the 17 percent they represent in the United States population. Asians, including Asian-Americans, or Pacific Islanders occupied 167 seats, or 3.1 percent of the total.

The numbers at Fortune 100 companies are higher in terms of diversity, Mr. Parker noted, with 35.9 percent of women and minorities, outpacing the nearly 31 percent for Fortune 500 companies. Even so, the gains for women and minorities have been meager since the Alliance began collecting data for Fortune 100 companies in 2004. Thirteen years ago, the diversity figure was 28.8 percent. The study verified each company’s total number of directors and board composition against Securities and Exchange Commission annual filings.

The report mentioned several companies as being among the most diverse, including Prudential Financial, PepsiCo, Aramark and Nordstrom. Those companies had at least one female director and a director who was African-American, Asian, Hispanic or Latino.

More women are being recruited with technology skills as companies adjust to the current economy, said Deborah DeHaas, the chief inclusion officer at Deloitte, who worked on the report.

Continue reading the main story

Even so, women and minorities claimed few of the most powerful board seats, which include leading committees on corporate audit, compensation or governance, Ms. DeHaas said.

Continue reading the main story

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topworldhistory · 5 years ago

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The Civil War hero left the White House under a cloud, but he also had substantial achievements—like passing the 15th Amendment.

For decades after his death in 1885, Ulysses S. Grant suffered a reputation as one of the nation’s worst presidents, consistently ranking in the bottom 10 in polls of historians. But in more recent years, historians have taken another look at the Civil War hero. Popular biographies, such as Ronald C. White’s American Ulysses (2016) and Ron Chernow’s Grant (2017), have made compelling cases that Grant's presidency merits reexamination, and that his contributions while in office were more substantial than he's been given credit for in previous decades. At a time when the nation was still recovering from the trauma of civil war, he worked to knit together the frayed Union, lift up formerly enslaved people and advocate a humane, if not enlightened, policy regarding Native Americans.

No one might be more surprised by this reputational revival than Grant himself. His autobiography, published in two volumes in 1885, covers some 1,200 pages, beginning with a discussion of his ancestors and ending with his Civil War years. His presidency is hardly mentioned.

Grant’s farewell message to Congress in 1876 shows he sensed that history might judge him harshly. “Mistakes have been made, as all can see and I admit,” he wrote. “But I leave comparisons to history, claiming only that I have acted in every instance from a conscientious desire to do what was right, constitutional, within the law, and for the very best interests of the whole people. Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent.”

Two years later, the New York Sun put it another way, calling Grant “the most corrupt President who ever sat in the chair of Washington.”

So how good (or bad) president was he? Here is some of the historical evidence.

READ MORE: 10 Things You May Not Know About Ulysses S. Grant

A swirl of scandals

There’s no denying that Grant left office under a very large cloud. From beginning to end, his Administration produced a swirl of scandals. While none rose to the notoriety of a Watergate or Teapot Dome, their sheer numbers must have been dizzying to Americans at the time.

Grant dressed as a trapeze performer holds up corrupt members of his administration in this 1880 political cartoon.

Grant’s attorney general, secretary of war, secretary of the navy and secretary of the interior were all accused of taking bribes. His private secretary was implicated in a conspiracy to cheat the government out of tax revenue from the production of whiskey. The robber barons Jim Fisk and Jay Gould tricked Grant into aiding their scheme to manipulate the gold market, leading to a national financial panic known as Black Friday. Grant’s own brother Orvil, one of many relatives he put on the government payroll, was exposed in a kickback scheme that made the military overpay for provisions.

And that’s just a sampling.

READ MORE: The Whiskey Ring and America's First Special Prosecutor

A victim of his time?

Grant’s defenders, then and now, noted that he hadn’t personally benefitted from any of these crimes and maintained that he was an honest man surrounded by scoundrels—a line of argument that would be revived on behalf of Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal a century later.

The ex-general had taken office with little political experience, Hamlin Garland noted in an 1898 biography, and found himself “pitted against the keen, shrewd, practiced manipulators of public affairs.”

“It was a time of speculation, of cupidity, and of corruption,” Garland added. “The war being over, the people had turned their attention to making money, and the corruption that was in private life had...rotted official life. The administration shared the characteristics of the times.”

Chernow, writing from a 21st-century perspective, makes much the same case, also pointing out that Grant “never stopped prosecutions of guilty parties and was often insistent about having them prosecuted.”

Still, Grant might bear some responsibility for the people he chose and the haphazard way he went about it. “He wrongly assumed that the skills that had made him successful in one sphere of life would translate intact into another,” Chernow acknowledges. “He entered into no consultative process, engaged in no methodical vetting of people and sent up no trial balloons to test candidates.”

Grant’s reputation as president would pay the price for many years to come.

WATCH: Grant's Troubled Presidency

Overshadowed achievements

With his election in 1868, Grant inherited from President Andrew Johnson a nation in turmoil. Johnson, who had been impeached by Congress but avoided conviction by a single vote, impeded the Reconstruction of the defeated South and fought attempts to extend the full rights of citizenship to formerly enslaved African Americans. As the first president after the Civil War, writes Elizabeth R. Varon, professor of American history at the University of Virginia, “Johnson did more to extend the period of national strife than he did to heal the wounds of war.”

That job would fall to U.S. Grant. His record would be far from perfect but, according to recent biographers, he deserves credit for several major achievements:

Grant held the Union together.

Cabinet of President Ulysses S. Grant in session. Depicted (L-R) are: Jacob D. Cox; Hamilton Fish; John A. Rawlins; John A.J. Cresswell; President Grant; George S. Boutwell; Adolph E. Borle.

Preserving the Union and preventing a second Civil War were high on Grant’s agenda, and that outcome was by no means assured when he took office. While not as accommodating to Southern interests as Andrew Johnson, Grant oversaw the readmission of the Confederate states into the Union and took a far less punitive approach to the defeated Confederacy than other presidents might have.

In 1869, just months into his presidency, Grant invited his Confederate counterpart, Robert E. Lee, to meet in the White House. By the middle of 1870, all of the former Confederate states had made the required concessions and been readmitted to the Union. In 1872, Grant signed the Amnesty Act, which restored the voting rights and right to hold office of all but a few hundred former Confederates.

Did you know? In March 1872, Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, making Yellowstone the nation’s—and reputedly the world’s—first national park.

Grant fought to protect freed slaves.

While the 13th amendment to the Constitution had granted freedom to the former slaves, and the 14th amendment had recognized them as citizens, roughly 4 million African Americans throughout the South still had little political power or representation when Grant took office. In his inaugural address and from that day forward, Grant pushed for a 15th amendment, which would guarantee federal and state voting rights to all male citizens regardless of “race, color or previous condition of servitude.”

Most dramatically, Grant used both federal troops and the newly established Justice Department to fight terrorism against Southern blacks, particularly by the Ku Klux Klan, which had grown into a large and formidable force in the years after the Civil War. “By 1872, under Grant’s leadership,” Chernow writes, “the Ku Klux Klan had been smashed in the South,” although another group of the same name would emerge in 1915.

“To him, more than to any other man, the Negro owes his enfranchisement,” Frederick Douglass remarked after Grant’s death. “When red-handed violence ran rampant through the South, and freedmen were being hunted down like wild beasts in the night, the moral courage and fidelity of Gen. Grant transcended that of his party.” Chernow concludes that, “Grant deserves an honored place in American history, second only to Lincoln, for what he did for the freed slaves.”

READ MORE: When Did African Americans Get the Right to Vote?

Grant advocated for humane treatment for Native Americans.

Red Cloud, chief of the Oglala Sioux, pays a peace visit to President Grant to accept the capitulation of the US authorities to his demands and to recommend peace between the Sioux and the settlers.

When Frederick Douglass praised Grant’s efforts on behalf of African Americans, he added that “the Indian is indebted [to Grant] for the humane policy adopted toward him.” By the time of Grant’s inauguration, wars between Native Americans, white settlers and the U.S. Army had been going on for decades, particularly in the expanding western U.S. Some prominent politicians and military leaders made no secret of their desire to rid the country of certain tribes by any means necessary. General William Tecumseh Sherman spoke favorably of exterminating the “men, women, children” of the Sioux, and Nevada Congressman Thomas Fitch, in a House floor debate, called for the “extinction” of Apaches.

In an address to Congress in 1869, Grant argued that “a system which looks to the extinction of a race is too horrible for a nation to adopt without entailing upon itself the wrath of all Christendom.” While his proposed solution—“placing all the Indians on large reservations, as rapidly as it can be done”—hardly seems enlightened today, he also insisted on “giving them absolute protection there.”

Grant appointed a Native American, General Ely S. Parker, as his commissioner of Indian Affairs. He also set about to reform the notoriously corrupt system that licensed traders to do business with—and often cheat—the tribes, asking respected religious groups, starting with the Quakers, to nominate worthy candidates for those positions.

As a long-term goal, Grant favored extending full citizenship to Native Americans, an injustice that wouldn’t be addressed until 1924. “Grant saw absorption and assimilation as a benign, peaceful process, not one robbing Indians of their rightful culture,” Chernow writes. “Whatever its shortcomings, Grant’s approach seemed to signal a remarkable advance over the ruthless methods adopted by some earlier administrations.”

Grant helped professionalize government.

Ironically, for a man whose administration was marked by nepotism, cronyism and graft, Grant became a leading voice for reforming the political patronage system. At the time, elected officials could dole out government jobs, regardless of the person’s qualifications, to reward supporters or in return for kickbacks. In 1871, Grant pushed for civil service legislation, and the following year appointed the first Civil Service Commission. Its aim was to replace patronage with competitive exams and other initiatives to ensure that the people who won federal jobs were actually qualified to do them.

Unfortunately, the experiment in good government would last only two years. Many legislators resented having to give up one of their most lucrative perks, so in 1874 Congress failed to fund the commission, ending its work. Some historians now question whether Grant gave up the fight too easily, but George William Curtis, a respected reformer who had chaired the commission, argued that Grant’s capitulation was “the surrender of a champion who had honestly mistaken both the nature and the strength of the adversary and his own power of endurance.”

Grant’s presidential legacy

Grant left the presidency in March 1877. Urged on by his wife, among others, he considered a third term, which would have been unprecedented—but still legal. “Painfully aware of his mistakes as president,” Chernow writes, “Grant fantasized about reentering the White House to correct those errors and redeem his reputation.” However, that was not to be. At the Republican nominating convention in June 1880, Grant narrowly lost to James A. Garfield, who went on to win the presidency.

from Stories - HISTORY https://ift.tt/2ztPDQw April 25, 2020 at 04:35AM

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actutrends · 5 years ago

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Opinion | Actually, the Primaries Kind of Work

The critiques of the primary system focus on both process and outcome; on both counts, the system is nowhere near as weak, or as predictably flawed, as the critics would have it. Turn to process first. The sins of the Iowa caucuses are many; I’ve made a quadrennial habit of denouncing them, as I did here four years ago. But their actual influence over the campaign is hugely overstated. Some years it has been significant; others, irrelevant.

Jimmy Carter turned the Iowa caucuses into a key staging ground by coming in first among candidates in 1976 (he finished behind “uncommitted”) after an effort that drew the attention of New York Times correspondent R.W. Apple, Jr. in the fall of 1975. Since then two Democrats—John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008—gained significant power by winning the caucuses. (There’s an irony to Obama’s win: Iowa is roundly denounced—most recently by Julian Castro—as a mega-unrepresentative ultra-white state, but Obama’s win there totally reshaped the battle for African-American votes; what had been a close contest between Obama and Hillary Clinton became an overwhelming, decisive advantage for Obama when he proved he could win there.)

In other races, however, Iowa has meant nothing to the Democratic battle. Walter Mondale won in a landslide in 1984, but eight days later, Gary Hart beat him in New Hampshire, altering the state of the race. Michael Dukakis finished third in Iowa in 1988 before going on to capture the nomination; Bill Clinton and other Democrats ceded the caucuses to native son Tom Harkin in 1992; Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders effectively tied there in 2016.

For Republicans, Iowa has meant even less: Except for 2008, when Mike Huckabee’s win derailed Mitt Romney’s attempt to wrap up the nomination early, Iowa has had almost no impact on the outcome. Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, John McCain and Donald Trump all lost Iowa on their way to the nomination.

For New Hampshire—technically, the nation’s first primary—the importance is equally erratic. A few decades ago, a popular political axiom had it that “the road to the White House runs through Manchester.” That was before three presidents in a row won the White House after losing New Hampshire. (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama.) In these and other cases, what happened in New Hampshire triggered a lengthy nominating contest in which later, bigger, more diverse states were crucial.

In 1972, George McGovern lost New Hampshire, but Ed Muskie’s win wasn’t big enough to carry him to the Democratic nomination; when he faltered, the battle extended all through the primary calendar. McGovern’s victory in winner-take-all California—a win that had to survive a convention rules challenge—was the key. In the next election cycle, on the Republican side, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford effectively tied in New Hampshire—amounting to a defeat for the favored Reagan. His campaign was a step away from extinction, but a win in North Carolina led to victories in later states, and to the last genuinely contested convention battle.

In 1980, Jimmy Carter’s decisive New Hampshire win and a string of subsequent victories had challenger Ted Kennedy on the brink of ending his campaign. But Kennedy’s surprising landslide win in New York turned the contest competitive enough to produce a deeply divided (if not fully contested) nomination fight at the Democratic convention. In 1992, Bill Clinton’s nomination was secured not by the early states, but by primary victories in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania.

In 2008, John McCain’s financially strapped campaign got critical energy from a New Hampshire win, but it was a string of victories in South Carolina, Florida, California, and New York—many of which were winner-take-all primaries—that secured his victory. That same year, Obama and Hillary Clinton also competed all the way to the end of the primary calendar. Though Clinton won most of the big state primaries, the delegate allocation rules gave her a relatively modest advantage; Obama’s lopsided wins in smaller states wound up giving him the edge.

If you’re looking for a pattern here, good luck. For every wire-to-wire leader, there’s a fight to the finish. For every frontrunner who wins unscathed, there’s frontrunner who suffers serious setbacks before prevailing, and another whose campaign ends in early defeat (Ed Muskie, Rudy Giuliani, Scoop Jackson).

For every campaign where one of the early states wields disproportionate clout, there are others—many others—where the bigger states are the ones that carry the decisive weight.

Now what about the quality of the candidates delivered by the primary process? Critics will point to the weighty presidents produced by the “smoke-filled rooms” and “back room deals”—FDR, Truman, Ike. (Not so often cited is the fact that those rooms also gave us presidents like Warren Harding, or even lesser nominees like Alton B. Parker and John Davis.)

And the primaries? Over the last 48 years, the primaries have crowned a string of highly credentialed candidates: two sitting vice-presidents, a three-term senator and decorated veteran, a successful businessman turned successful governor, a former secretary of State, and a two-term governor of the most populous state in the nation.

As candidates, and as presidents, these nominees reflect a wide range of success and failure. But in the most basic sense, these successful navigators of the primary process were, in every case, fully credentialed candidates. The party insiders might have preferred others, but none of them would have been disqualified by a more “insider” process as unfit for the job of President.

That leaves us, of course, with the current occupant of the White House, who snatched the Republican nomination by almost running against the party itself, jetting from rally to rally, waging Twitter war on his rivals, appalling pundits and insiders but then cleaning up with the party’s actual voters. It’s a fair judgment that in the case of Donald Trump, the Republican Party failed in the one task left to a party apparatus in a time when rank-and-file voters are the principal deciders, and that is the “in-case-of-emergency-break-glass” role of determining that a candidate is simply unacceptable as a potential President. As today’s headlines make clear, we are still living with the consequence of that failure.

But even here, there is a case to be made that the primary offered a voice to millions of voters—14 million of them—who were sufficiently fed up with traditional political choices to reach far outside the political system for a nominee. (It’s also the case that if the Republican Party had adopted the Democratic Party’s rules—no winner-take-all contests, proportional location of votes at the state and Congressional District levels—a determined party establishment might have denied Trump the nomination.) More fundamentally, the election of Donald Trump does not demonstrate that the process itself is fatally flawed, any more than a single plane crash undermines the safety of air travel.

Does this mean there’s no room for improvement? Of course there is: Iowa and New Hampshire need to be removed from their privileged positions on the simple ground of parity. It’s time for other (less frigid? more diverse?) places to receive the attention, the pandering, and the economic benefits of an overhyped contest.

But the saving grace of the system we have is that there really is no way to chart how the contest will take shape. Sure, it could be over by New Hampshire, but it could just be beginning on Super Tuesday. Maybe it’s fatal for a candidate to skip the early dates; maybe a big name with $50 billion to spend can override that. Maybe four or five candidates with ample war chests will produce that contested, multi-ballot convention that two generations of politics junkies have dreamed of. The point is, the current process can and had led to all sorts of contests; and that may be its principal virtue.

The post Opinion | Actually, the Primaries Kind of Work appeared first on Actu Trends.

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thisdaynews · 5 years ago

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Opinion | Actually, the Primaries Kind of Work

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/opinion-actually-the-primaries-kind-of-work/

Opinion | Actually, the Primaries Kind of Work

For New Hampshire—technically, the nation’s first primary—the importance is equally erratic. A few decades ago, a popular political axiom had it that “the road to the White House runs through Manchester.” That was before three presidents in a row won the White House afterlosingNew Hampshire. (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama.) In these and other cases, what happened in New Hampshire triggered a lengthy nominating contest in which later, bigger, more diverse states were crucial.

In 1980, Jimmy Carter’s decisive New Hampshire win and a string of subsequent victories had challenger Ted Kennedy on the brink of ending his campaign. But Kennedy’s surprising landslide winin New York turned the contest competitive enough to produce a deeply divided (if not fully contested) nomination fight at the Democratic convention. In 1992, Bill Clinton’s nomination was secured not by the early states, but by primary victories in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania.

For every campaign where one of the early states wields disproportionate clout, there are others—many others—where the bigger states are the ones that carry the decisive weight.

And the primaries? Over the last 48 years, the primaries have crowned a string of highly credentialed candidates: two sitting vice-presidents, a three-term senator and decorated veteran,a successful businessman turned successful governor, a former secretary of State, and a two-term governor of the most populous state in the nation.

#actually #Foreign #Politics #primaries

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kansascityhappenings · 5 years ago

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The history behind Kansas City-style barbecue and its star burnt ends

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Several regions throughout the United States have fanatics devoted to their local brand of barbecue, and Missouri is no exception. Kansas City is the birthplace of dry-rubbed barbecue drizzled in tomato-molasses sauce. Kansas City is also known for adding the sticky, finger-licking condiment onto a range of meats, veggies, and fruits.

Origins of barbecuing in Kansas City

Globally, people know Kansas City for its barbecue. Jazz, the Chiefs, the Royals, fountains, speakeasies, and President Harry S. Truman also top the list for what puts the metro in the international limelight. Even still, barbecue is often the first item tourists ask about when they hear about our city.

Smack-dab in the center of the first edition of The Kansas City Star (then called The Kansas City Evening Star), published on Sept. 18, 1880, appeared a story with the prophetic headline “The Grand Barbecue.”

On that day, Kansas Citians held a parade following the completion of a long-delayed railroad connection. The parade ended with an old fashioned barbecue attended by more than 3,000 hungry locals.

On July 3, 1869, Kansas Citians celebrated the historic opening of the Hannibal Bridge — the first permanent railroad bridge to cross the Missouri River. It also followed with a celebration parade and a large barbecue party. Before widespread modernization and cooking gadgets became mainstream, barbecuing food was one of the easiest ways to feed a large group of people.

It’s not surprising that barbecue took off in late 19th century Kansas City. Meat was relatively cheap and plentiful thanks to the city’s stockyards. After the Civil War, many freed slaves left the deep south for new destinations: Kansas City was often picked as a new home for its thriving river and rail hub and dominate meatpacking industry. These jobs promised a new life. The new residents brought with them their culinary traditions, and the city’s love of barbecue created a demand bound for profit.

Barbecuing in the modern times

Henry Perry is considered the Barbecue King and credited with starting and spreading the Kansas City barbecue trend on a wide-scale. Today the Kansas City metro has more than 100 barbecue dining options with a variety of sauces and dishes.

Kansas City-style barbecue makes use of different types of meat including: pulled pork, pork ribs, burnt ends, smoked sausage, beef brisket, beef ribs, smoked or grilled chicken, smoked turkey, lamb ribs, and sometimes fish. Occasionally, Kansas City-style barbecue includes vegetables or fruits.

The barbecue is often rubbed with spices, slow-smoked over a variety of woods and served with a thick tomato-based sauce. There are several different takes on the sauce, but the staple flavor people are familiar with blends both sweet and spicy.

Burnt ends are the crusty, fatty, and flavorful pieces of meat cut from the ends of a smoked beef or pork brisket — these are popular in several different restaurants in Kansas City from Q39, Char Bar, and sometimes Chicken N Pickle. Burnt ends used to be seen as the throwaway part of a brisket, but not anymore. It’s now a shining star of Kansas City-style barbecue.

Staple side dishes include: baked beans, fries, coleslaw, potato salad, cornbread, and vegetables.

Henry Perry brings a new style of barbecue to Kansas City

Henry Perry, the Barbecue King

Henry Perry famously cooked and sold his meats out of an old trolley barn at 19th & Highland in the historic African-American neighborhood around 18th & Vine. He served slow-cooked ribs on newspaper pages for 25 cents a slab. Perry came to the Kansas City area from Shelby County, Tennessee near Memphis. He started serving barbecue in 1908.

Before moving here, Perry spent the past 15 years earning his way in the world as a cook on riverboats tugging along the Mississippi River. He began cooking for Kansas Citians in an alley at the corner of 8th and Banks in the Garment District. He sold the meat from a stand. He also operated Perry’s Barbecue at 17th and Lydia Avenue before moving to his most well known site.

Compared to Memphis-stye barbecue, the Kansas City kind tends to use more sauce and more meats. Customers said Perry’s sauce was somewhat harsh with a noticeable peppery flavor. His sauce had more vinegar and was spicier than what people are familiar with today. He pit-smoked his meats, which included pork ribs and beef along with wild game — like opossum, woodchuck, and raccoon.

Perry preferred tradition over creative nuances or innovation. He was quoted in an article in The Call as saying, “There is only one way to cook barbecue, and that is the way I am doing it, over a wood fire, with a properly constructed oven and pit.”

The Call reported in Perry’s heyday that there were more than a thousand barbecue stands in operation throughout the city.

Perry’s restaurant became an icon during the city’s Jazz renaissance and during the “wide-open” days of the Pendergast Era in the 1920s and 1930s. Jazz pianists Count Basie and Mary Lou Williams along with saxophonist Charlie Parker all loved the smoked meats Perry served at his eatery. Kansas City was known then as the Paris of the Plains.

Charlie Bryant worked for the Barbecue King. He brought his brother Arthur Bryant into the business. Charlie took over the Perry restaurant in 1940 after the legend died.

Arthur then took over the business in 1946, renaming the restaurant Arthur Bryant’s.

The Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque Era

Arthur Bryant’s BBQ | Wikipedia

Arthur Bryant’s moved to 1727 Brooklyn Avenue. In the new neighborhood, it became the rendezvous for baseball fans and players in the 1950s and 1960s — it was close to the Municipal Stadium, where the Kansas City A’s played their home games. The team moved to Oakland, California in 1968.

In 1972, journalist, food writer, and author Calvin Trillin wrote an article for Playboy designating Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque as the best restaurant in the world.

The restaurant today serves smoked meets with Wonder bread and fries in plain self-service digs. Some of its top items are smoked ribs, brisket, and burnt ends.

Presidents Harry S. Truman, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan all stopped by to eat some grub there. Count Basie reportedly spat on his ribs to keep his bandmates from eating his food while he performed. Actors Jack Nicholson and Robert Redford also have stopped by for a meal.

In Trillin’s widely read Playboy essay, he wrote about Bryant’s legendary burnt ends, the crispy caramelized edges of smoked brisket:

“The main course at Bryant’s, as far as I’m concerned, is something that is given away free — the burned edges of the brisket. The counter-man just pushes them over to the side, and anyone who wants them helps himself. I dream of those burned edges. Sometimes, when I’m in some awful, overpriced restaurant in some strange town, trying to choke down some three-dollar hamburger that tastes like a burned sponge, a blank look comes over me: I have just realized that at that very moment, someone in Kansas City is being given those burned edges… for free.”

Shortly after Christmas in 1982, Bryant died of a heart attack in a bed that he kept at the restaurant.

His niece, Doretha Bryant, sold the restaurant to Bill Rauschelbach and Gary Berbiglia.

Gates & Sons

Gates BBQ Headquarters on Brush Creek in Kansas City | Wikipedia

In 1946, Arthur Pinkard, who also worked for the legendary Perry, joined with George Gates to form Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q. The first restaurant was in the same neighborhood as Perry’s famous eatery. When visiting baseball teams and sportscasters came to Kansas City, they fell in love with the barbecue scene, and they would go home to preach about the food they devoured. They had a huge hand in spreading the word about Kansas City cuisine to the rest of the country.

George Gates initially bought the restaurant for its liquor license, intending to turn it into a pub. His wife didn’t agree with this — she was a devout Methodist and disapproved of whiskey, so barbecue became the venue’s main focus.

Ollie Gates was in high school when his father bought the restaurant. He grew up working alongside his father. After college and a stint in the U.S. Army, Ollie actively worked at the restaurant. He now owns it. Three of his five children now preside over the small empire.

Gates barbecue sauce doesn’t contain molasses. The ingredients include tomatoes, vinegar, salt, sugar, celery, garlic, spices, and pepper. 1/10th of 1% potassium sorbate preservative is added into the mix. The additive is a white salt that is highly soluble in water. The sauce is available in several different varieties.

Gates expanded in the metro with restaurants all displaying certain trademarks — the red roofed buildings and a recognizable logo — a strutting man donning a tuxedo and a top hat.

The chain consists of six area Gates Bar-B-Q restaurants: four in Missouri and two in Kansas.

The American Royal

Kansas City is home to the American Royal, a nonprofit that debuted in 1899. It featured 541 registered head of Hereford cattle, the event was held in Kansas City’s flourishing stockyards. Around 55,000 people visited the show tent that year. The annual event grew to include goats, hogs, horses, and sheep. The annual event inspired the name for the Major League Baseball team the Kansas City Royals.

The American Royal in the present helps create scholarships, educational programs, and community outreach programs. It is the world’s largest barbecue competition.

Joe’s Kansas City

Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que traces back to barbecue competitions in the 1990s and the Kansas City Barbecue Society.

Jeff Steheny accompanied some friends to the American Royal and The Great BBQ Battle and this inspired him to start cooking his own meats. The first smoker he purchased was an Oklahoma Joe’s 24” smoker, christened in April 1991.

By 1993, Jeff, his wife and business partner Joy, and Jim “Thurston” Howell had made noticeable traction in the KCBS competition circuit. Their competition team, Slaughterhouse Five, ended up winning eight Grand Championships, including the prestigious American Royal BBQ, three Reserve Grand Championships, and the KCBS’s Grand Champion “Team of the Year.”

Jeff and Joy opened Oklahoma Joe’s Bar-B-Que in a gas station in Kansas City, Kansas in 1996. It was later renamed to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. There are also locations in Olathe and Leawood.

Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain listed Joe’s original Kansas City, Kansas location as one of “13 Places You Must Eat Before You Die.”

It’s probably the best gas station barbecue one could ever hope to find. Slaughterhouse Five continues to compete at the American Royal. They continue to take home awards too.

KC Masterpiece

In 1977, Rich Davis capitalized on the growing reputation of Kansas City-style barbecue sauce. He created the KC Masterpiece, which evolved from his “K.C. Soul Style Barbecue Sauce.”

He sold KC Masterpiece to the Kingsford division of Clorox in 1986. It now claims to be the number one premium barbecue brand in the United States. The KC Masterpiece brand tastes sweeter than the classic Bryant’s or Gates sauces.

Davis held KC Masterpiece barbecues on the White House lawn for President George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

The History Channel stated Dr. Davis bucked the trend of KC BBQ restaurants by developing his sauce first, then creating a restaurant. The History Channel also found that KC is the crossroads of the BBQ community, in part due to the influence of the early railroad system.

When Davis sold the rights to his sauce, he announced plans to build a barbecue franchise. New restaurants popped up around the country, but all KC Masterpiece restaurants have closed. The Overland Park location was the last to close in 2009.

Jones Bar-B-Q

Jones Bar-B-Q is an independent barbecue joint on Kaw Drive in Kansas City, Kansas owned by sisters Deborah and Mary Jones.

In 2001, Doug Worgul featured Jones Bar-B-Q in the afterword of his book The Grand Barbecue: A Celebration of the History, Places, Personalities and Techniques of Kansas City Barbecue.

The sister pitmasters do not participate in the barbecue competition circuit.

In 2018, they appeared on an episode of Steve Harvey’s Steve in a segment titled “The Queens of Barbecue.”

In March 2019, the sisters and their famed barbecue appeared on the third season of American television series Queer Eye. The television celebrities gave the restaurant a makeover, and the sisters started bottling their famous sauce. They had to put in a second barbecue pit to handle the new demand.

Innovations in the present

Competition over who serves the best barbecue is fierce in the present. Even President Barack Obama, when visiting Kansas City in 2014, refused to comment on which restaurant served the best grub.

Recently, restaurants have gotten really creative with barbecue. Q39 is known for its salivate-inducing sauce. The restaurant is owned and operated by Rob Magee, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Magee captained Munchin’ Hogs, one of the most successful competitive barbecue teams in history. They’ve won more than 50 Grand Champion titles at dozens of contests across the United States.

Magee and his team elevated barbecue as a cuisine with unique sides and genius flavor combinations like jalapeño-cilantro slaw, bacon-onion marmalade, Béarnaise butter, to drop donuts with chocolate and raspberry sauce.

At the restaurant Rye, they have created a burnt ends hash. For those that want a meatless option, Char Bar has an option worth trying. The JackKnife sandwich contains smoked jackfruit with a taste and texture close to pulled pork.

Kansas City Barbecue Society

The Kansas City Barbecue Society has more than 10,000 members worldwide. It is the largest organization of barbecue and grilling enthusiasts around the globe. KCBS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “promoting barbecue as America’s cuisine and having fun while doing so.”

KCBS sanctions nearly 300 barbecue contests across the country each year. It offers assistance to civic and charitable groups through the contests.

KCBS also offers educational programs, consultation services, and civic organization presentations to help spread the word about tasty and perfected barbecue.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/11/23/the-history-behind-kansas-city-style-barbecue-and-its-star-burnt-ends/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/11/23/the-history-behind-kansas-city-style-barbecue-and-its-star-burnt-ends/

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dashfire2-blog · 6 years ago

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MLB Transaction Watch special edition: Non-Tendered players

The state of free agency

Notable non-tendered players

Player Team Position Age 2018 Contract 2018 fWAR

Select stats, age, positions and contracts Compiles from Fangraphs and Spotrac by Sara Sanchez

Last year’s cold stove

The 2021 CBA

Source: https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2018/12/3/18124121/mlb-transaction-watch-special-edition-non-tendered-players

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pilotsforchrist · 6 years ago

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Denver “Bubbie” Blake Shuttlesworth, age 19, passed on Thursday, September 6, 2018 in Memphis, Tennessee. Denver was a native and life-long resident of the Atmore, AL area. He was a member of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and Friendly Holiness Church. He was a 2017 graduate of the Victory Performing Arts Academy of Pace, FL, member of the Poarch Creek Indians 4-H Club, and the Poarch Creek Indians Summer Youth Program. He was the 2016 Joy of Life Mardi Gras King, played football and baseball at J U Blacksher School, participated in the Native American Youth Organization (NAYO), and was a member of the Skyhigh for St. Jude. He is preceded in death by his maternal grandfathers, William G. Fretwell and Jerry Bailey, paternal grandparents, Worthy James Shuttlesworth and D.D. Darnell. He is survived by his mother and step-father, Sandy and Darrell Hollinger of Uriah, AL; father, Randal Shuttlesworth of Perdido, AL; brother, Austin Shuttlesworth of Perdido, AL; sister, Anna Grace “Tootie” Hollinger of Uriah, AL; maternal grandmother, Ruth Bailey of Poarch, AL; paternal grandmother, Gladys Darnell of Tuscaloosa, AL; grandparents, Alex “Buster” and Yvonne “Pug” Hollinger of Uriah, AL; special uncle, Randy Fretwell of Poarch, AL; numerous uncles, aunts, other relatives and many friends. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, September 11, 2018 at 11:00 AM at the McCullough Christian Center with Pastor Ray Ward, Bishop Darryl North, Pastor Trevor Daughtry and Pastor Todd Bailey officiating. Burial will follow at the New Home Cemetery. Visitation will be held Monday, September 10, 2018 from 6:00 PM until service time at 11:00 AM at the McCullough Christian Center. Pallbearers will be Austin Shuttlesworth, Randy Fretwell, Jr., Dalton Tolbert, Logan Peaden, Cody Rolin, Hunter Tuberville, Joseph Parker and Thornton Sells. The family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers throughout their journey. A very special thank you is extended to St. Jude’s Hospital, Pilots for Christ, Ronald McDonald House, North Baldwin Infirmary, Atmore Community Hospital, and The Poarch Creek Indians Health Department. Flowers will be accepted or memorials can be made to th https://www.instagram.com/p/BngjWCXAzWE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1573qvo2e9ijg

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365footballorg-blog · 7 years ago

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Fantasy: Week 13 positional rankings

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May 23, 20182:46PM EDT

Reid, Mike and Blayne sit down just hours after the end of Round 12 to review the unexpected results and meh DGW performances. A random question from Mike leads to a surprise conversation about Columbus before the guys touch on the fantasy impact of the upcoming U.S. Open Cup Round 4 and the World Cup. Everything wraps up with their preview of Round 13 which includes Blayne asking the fantasy community to change his nind about a player selection.

Week 13 of MLS Fantasy features several matchups worth targeting for fantasy points. Let’s take a look at the top players at each position.

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Goalkeepers

Ryan Meara filled in admirably for usual New York Red Bulls starter Luis Robles in Week 12, coming up with some highlight-reel saves against Atlanta’s high-octane attack and picking up six fantasy points in the process. If Robles remains out through injury, Meara is one of the best values at the position in a home game on Saturday vs. a Philadelphia attack (7 pm ET; TV & streaming info) that has been shut out in four of five road games this season.

Rank Player Team Opponent Price 1 Ryan Meara RBNY vs. PHI $ 4.9 2 Tim Melia SKC vs. CLB $ 8.3 3 Clint Irwin TOR vs. DAL $ 5.0 4 Tyler Miller LAFC vs. DC $ 8.1 5 Stefan Frei SEA vs. RSL $ 7.2 6 David Bingham LA vs. SJ $ 6.5 7 Joe Bendik ORL vs. CHI $ 5.4 8 Tim Howard COL vs. POR $ 5.6 9 Bobby Shuttleworth MIN vs. MTL $ 6.5 10 Brian Rowe VAN vs. NE $ 4.2

Defenders

Ike Opara has scored at least five points in each of his last seven games | USA Today Sports Images

Graham Zusi’s price continues to rise, but considering only Miguel Almiron, Carlos Vela and Maxi Moralez have more points than Zusi, his $ 5 million increase since the start of the season is justified.

Rank Playe Team Opponent Price 1 Graham Zusi SKC vs. CLB $ 11.0 2 Ike Opara SKC vs. CLB $ 8.6 3 Laurent Ciman LAFC vs. DC $ 10.3 4 Michael Murillo RBNY vs. PHI $ 7.7 5 Auro TOR vs. DAL $ 5.5 6 Steven Beitashour LAFC vs. DC $ 9.0 7 Aaron Long RBNY vs. PHI $ 7.9 8 Eriq Zavaleta TOR vs. DAL $ 6.2 9 Francisco Calvo MIN vs. MTL $ 7.3 10 Kendall Waston VAN vs. NE $ 5.6 11 Matt Besler SKC vs. CLB $ 9.2 12 Gregory van der Wiel TOR vs. DAL $ 6.6 13 Tim Parker RBNY vs. PHI $ 6.9 14 Chad Marshall SEA vs. RSL $ 5.7 15 Mohamed El-Munir ORL vs. CHI $ 6.8 16 Kelvin Leerdam SEA vs. RSL $ 4.8 17 Lamine Sane ORL vs. CHI $ 6.7 18 Ronald Matarrita NYC at HOU $ 5.1 19 Harrison Afful CLB at SKC $ 7.3 20 Edgar Castillo COL vs. POR $ 5.6

Midfielders

Kaku has come alive with two goals and seven assists over his last four games, averaging 12.5 fantasy points per game in that span. Last year he was an MLS Fantasy darling, but Romain Alessandrini’s production has seen a significant dropoff this season. He did deliver 13 fantasy points in his last home outing and at $ 8.2 million he’ll be hard to pass on in the Cali Clasico on Friday (11 pm ET; UniMás — Full TV & streaming info).

Rank Player Team Opponent Price 1 Kaku RBNY vs. PHI $ 10.8 2 Romain Alessandrini LA vs. SJ $ 8.2 3 Johnny Russell SKC vs. CLB $ 10.4 4 Sacha Kljestan ORL vs. CHI $ 10.5 5 Ignacio Piatti MTL at MIN $ 12.8 6 Victor Vazquez TOR vs. DAL $ 9.4 7 Diego Valeri POR at COL $ 11.5 8 Daniel Royer RBNY vs. PHI $ 7.9 9 Justin Meram ORL vs. CHI $ 5.9 10 Federico Higuain CLB at SKC $ 10.2 11 Maxi Moralez NYC at HOU $ 10.6 12 Daniel Salloi SKC vs. CLB $ 9.5 13 Magnus Wolff Eikrem SEA vs. RSL $ 4.2 14 Jonathan Osorio TOR vs. DAL $ 8.4 15 Albert Rusnak RSL at SEA $ 11.0 16 Mauro Diaz DAL at TOR $ 10.9 17 Felipe VAN vs. NE $ 7.7 18 Saphir Taider MTL at MIN $ 7.8 19 Yordy Reyna VAN vs. NE $ 5.0 20 Benny Feilhaber LAFC vs. DC $ 9.3 21 Sean Davis RBNY vs. PHI $ 8.4 22 Alexander Ring NYC at HOU $ 10.2 23 Jonathan dos Santos LA vs. SJ $ 7.5 24 Cristian Roldan SEA vs. RSL $ 8.6 25 Danny Hoesen SJ at LA $ 8.4 26 Josue Colman ORL vs. CHI $ 5.5 27 Sebastian Blanco POR at COL $ 9.0 28 Tomas Martinez HOU vs. NYC $ 8.6 29 Chris Mueller ORL vs. CHI $ 7.0 30 Florian Valot RBNY vs. PHI $ 8.5

Forwards

Only Miguel Almiron has scored more fantasy points than Carlos Vela in 2018 | USA Today Sports Images

Carlos Vela continues to deliver the fantasy goods, with seven or more points in four straight weeks. A home game vs. D.C. United on Saturday (10 pm ET; TV & streaming info) presents another good chance to collect points before Vela departs for the World Cup.

Rank Player Team Opponent Price 1 Carlos Vela LAFC vs. DC $ 13.2 2 Sebastian Giovinco TOR vs. DAL $ 10.0 3 Bradley Wright-Phillips RBNY vs. PHI $ 12.4 4 David Villa NYC at HOU $ 10.8 5 Ola Kamara LA vs. SJ $ 8.3 6 Alberth Elis HOU vs. NYC $ 10.9 7 Darwin Quintero MIN vs. MTL $ 10.0 8 Kei Kamara VAN vs. NE $ 8.7 9 Diego Rossi LAFC vs. DC $ 11.0 10 Clint Dempsey SEA vs. RSL $ 7.0 11 Nemanja Nikolic CHI at ORL $ 7.9 12 Romell Quioto HOU vs. NYC $ 8.5 13 Maxi Urruti DAL at TOR $ 8.6 14 Khiry Shelton SKC vs. CLB $ 4.8 15 Latif Blessing LAFC vs. DC $ 6.6 16 Mauro Manotas HOU vs. NYC $ 8.4 17 Christian Ramirez MIN vs. MTL $ 8.4 18 Dominique Badji COL vs. POR $ 8.4 19 Gyasi Zardes CLB at SKC $ 8.8 20 Cristian Penilla NE at VAN $ 9.6

Stay Connected: To get all the latest Fantasy news and advice, download the MLS app and sign up for MLS Fantasy notifications. To sign up for notifications, select the main menu, choose settings. Within the settings menu, select News & Videos notifications and turn on notifications for “Fantasy Soccer.”

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Fantasy: Week 13 positional rankings was originally published on 365 Football

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newstwitter-blog · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on News Twitter

New Post has been published on http://www.news-twitter.com/2017/02/06/ny-times-study-finds-only-modest-gains-by-women-and-minorities-on-fortune-500-boards-10/

Ny Times: Study Finds Only Modest Gains by Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards

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Starbucks said last month that it intended to increase diversity on its corporate board by adding three minority directors. Credit Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Women and minorities occupy nearly 31 percent of the board seats of Fortune 500 companies, a small increase over the last four years, a new study has found.

While that is the highest level in the six years of the study, white men continue to hold more than two-thirds of the positions.

Those percentages are seldom matched by other large companies, according to the new study, “Missing Pieces Report: The 2016 Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards.”

Continue reading the main story

A possible bright spot for increasing diversity is that many board members are in their 70s, meaning they are likely to step down in the coming years.

This indicates, Mr. Parker said, “that companies are going to the same individuals rather than expanding the pool of African-American candidates for board membership.”

More women are being recruited with technology skills as companies adjust to the current economy, said Deborah DeHaas, the chief inclusion officer at Deloitte, who worked on the report.

Continue reading the main story

Even so, women and minorities claimed few of the most powerful board seats, which include leading committees on corporate audit, compensation or governance, Ms. DeHaas said.

Continue reading the main story

This post has been harvested from the source link, and News-Twitter has no responsibility on its content. Source link

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jesusvasser · 7 years ago

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A Palm Springs Weekend in a Dodge Challenger T/A

How’s the weather? Chances are things are probably a bit frosty if you aren’t stationed in the southeast or southwest tips of the U.S. After freezing our posteriors asunder in Detroit during this year’s Detroit auto show, I’m reminiscing back to a sweltering July weekend in Palm Springs, when I explored the mid-century modern California city in a Go Green Dodge Challenger T/A.

Almost ten years on from its introduction, the modern Dodge Challenger remains an impossibly ostentatious car. It’s a slab-sided brute often adorned with loud exhausts, bright paint, and big wheels, offered as a rolling tribute to the thunder-filled machismo summer days of the 1960s and 1970s. More so than Chevrolet or Ford, Dodge embraces this exuberance, offering enthusiasts an unprecedented lineup of vintage-inspired packages for every palate and penchant.

For the majority of the Challenger’s time on the market, those who couldn’t afford to cross the sizable price gulch between the R/T and the SRT models were left behind. The Scat Pack arrived in 2015, bringing the big-honkin’ 6.4-liter SRT engine to the masses, but didn’t offer much in the way of style aside from bigger wheels and a few badges.

In 2016, the Woodward Dream Cruise was the chosen venue for the debut of the Challenger T/A, showcasing a host of new aesthetic affects pulled straight from a then two-year-old SEMA concept. Where the slightly more expensive Scat Pack plays its 485-hp cards close to its chest, the T/A pulls no visual punches, wearing sweet retro T/A graphics on the sides. The hood, roof, and trunklid are satin black, darkening the exterior along with unique 20-inch Mopar wheels. Up front, a set of optional factory-installed hoodpins are a useless but very welcome piece of flair, while the rear decklid spoiler wears “Challenger” badging in classic cursive script.

While you can order the T/A package with the mighty “392” engine, my tester found motivation through the R/T’s 5.7-liter V-8, the smallest and least potent V-8 of the lineup. It didn’t get much more exciting inside thanks to the eight-speed automatic transmission’s T-handle shifter sticking up through the center tunnel.

At this point, I’d driven ‘em all–SRT 392s, Scat Packs, GTs, and Hellcats. Going through the “cool car” motions wouldn’t pass muster as wheeling an automatic R/T around tight canyon roads would reveal nothing new, nor would a relaxed cruise up the coast. In Go Green, the T/A is effortlessly American, blending modern proportions with classic Americana aesthetic. Here, style is the substance, so I needed to take the Challenger somewhere it would fit in. So, on a very, very hot mid-July Saturday morning, I packed up and fueled the T/A for a sprint over to Palm Springs to meet contributor Ronald Ahrens for a tour of the fascinating city.

Located roughly 120 miles east of Los Angeles, Palm Springs remains one of U.S.’ most enigmatic cities. It’s drenched in 1950s and 1960s aesthetic, from the rows of perfect straight-edged mid-century homes to an almost sculptural Chase bank wearing architecture penned by local legend E. Stewart Williams—driving through the picturesque neighborhoods is like taking a swim in David Hockney’s “A Bigger Splash.”

This is a place that worships style and color, so the T/A was right at home burbling up and down the rock-lined roads that connected some of the most architecturally significant houses in America. Ahrens is an exceptionally knowledgeable tour guide, so our drive takes us from celebrity houses like Sinatra’s Twin Palms hideout and Elvis’ honeymoon home, onto the wonderfully stylistic Parker hotel.

We didn’t spend much time outside the Challenger thanks to a heat index reaching up to 120 degrees. When we did venture out into the desert sun, the remote start feature kept the A/C working hard to maintain its (and our) cool.

After capturing the green T/A out in front of the city’s eccentric homebrew sculpture garden known as “RoboLights” and exploring some of the more significant houses in the rocky hills, we pointed the satin black hood north to Joshua Tree, where burgers and entertainment awaited us at Pioneertown.

Out on open desert roads, the T/A came to life. With the eight-speed automatic transmission, the 5.7-liter spins out 372 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque, enough for a 0-60 sprint that falls somewhere in the low-to-mid five-second range. It isn’t oppressively quick like the Hellcat, but the 5.7-liter sounds excellent and provides more than enough grunt to get in some serious trouble. When you do turn off the arrow-straight freeway, the T/A benefits from a stiffer struts and “heavy duty” brake lines, changes that manage the bulk noticeably better than a pedestrian R/T.

It’s not just the name that’s a bit weird–the entirety of Pioneertown is disconcerting. The mostly uninhabited town began life as a set for Western films in the 1940s, eventually settling in as a tourist oddity for looky-loos and tourists passing to-and-from Palm Springs. Standing out from amongst the dirt-covered buildings is Pappy and Harriet’s, a relatively hidden watering hole and musical venue that has played host to a varied roster that includes Paul McCartney and Vampire Weekend.

One burger and history lesson later, we roared back to Palm Springs to drop Ahrens off before rumbling home to Los Angeles. The thunderous T/A might seem as an odd choice for such a calm diversion, but for what the retro package represents, it was perfect. It’s stylish, striking, and classic, a perfect getaway vehicle when the desert calls.

2018 Dodge Challenger T/A Specifications

ON SALE Now PRICE $38,950 (base) ENGINE 5.7L OHV 16-valve V-8/372 hp @ 5,200 rpm, 400 lb-ft @ 4,400 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 2-door, 4-passenger, front-engine, RWD coupe EPA MILEAGE 16/25 mpg (city/hwy) L x W x H 179.9 x 75.7 x 57.5 in WHEELBASE 116.2 in WEIGHT 4,147 lb 0-60 MPH 5.1 sec TOP SPEED N/A

The post A Palm Springs Weekend in a Dodge Challenger T/A appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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