#Family Equality Council Awards 2014

[datshitrandom]

Darren Criss + Piano🎹

[emma-what-son]

The actress has formed a close relationship with the billionaire's son Brandon, say friends

She was pictured arriving at London Heliport, Battersea, with Brandon on a private helicopter on September 2

Emma quietly split from businessman Leo Robinton, 31, after two years together in the summer

Friends say that they are surprised that Emma, who is known for her woke views about gender equality, has grown close to Brandon

His dad Sir Philip, 69, was one of the UK's most controversial retailers for two decades

In 2018 Sir Philip denied claims against him of bullying and sexual harassment

Emma Watson has struck up a close friendship with the son of controversial tycoon Sir Philip Green, MailOnline can reveal.

The Harry Potter actress, who is well known for her 'woke' views about gender equality, has grown close to 28-year-old Brandon Green, say friends.

Emma was pictured with Brandon just earlier this month when they disembarked together from a helicopter in Battersea, west London.

She has grown close to Brandon after secretly splitting earlier this year from businessman Leo Robinton, 31, after two years together.

Friends say they are shocked by the blossoming relationship because the left-wing actress and Brandon make an unlikely pairing.

Brandon is the son of British billionaire Sir Philip, former owner of BHS and Topshop owner who for two decades was one of the UK's most controversial and colourful retailers. Brandon now runs one arm of his tycoon father's empire.

Sir Philip's fortunes have fallen in recent years with the collapse of his Arcadia group in November with the closure of 500 stores and 13,000 jobs.

The businessman, 69, has also faced allegations of bullying and sexual harassment in 2018, which he denied.

A friend told MailOnline how the actress, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, had become increasingly close to Brandon since May while keeping their relationship under wraps.

The friend said: 'Over the summer Brandon has been wooing Emma. She's into him, but has kept it secret as no one knows that things have cooled with Leo.

'She's been spending a lot of time with Brandon. He's really kind to her and she enjoys his company. We are surprised that no one has realised that they were together. Brandon and Leo look similar. She certainly has a type.'

Brandon has always had a lower profile than his sister Chloe, 30, who made headlines over her relationship with US model and convicted felon Jeremy Meeks - dubbed 'the hot felon' - who is the father of her child.

But the son of Sir Philip and his wife Tina has also enjoyed a billionaire lifestyle since his childhood, living for many years in the tax haven of Monaco with his parents and sister.

Brandon who is known for his muscular physique and his love of working out has regularly been photographed while relaxing on his family's £100m superyacht Lionheart.

Sir Philip reportedly spent £4m on a bar mitzvah party for his son in 2005 at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera with performances by Andrea Bocelli and Beyoncé.

A LinkedIn profile for Brandon describes him as having been an executive director overseeing Digital Transformation and Technology for his father's Arcadia fashion business since 2014.

Emma shot to fame as a child in 2001 playing Hermione in the film adaptation of J K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, alongside Daniel Radcliffe as the boy wizard and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley.

She was nominated for five awards for her performance in the highest grossing film of the year and won a Young Artist Award for being the world's Leading Young Actress.

The actress went on to star in seven more Harry Potter films, and other big screen roles including playing Belle in the 2017 live-action Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

But while making her fortune from acting, she has also devoted time to activism and fighting for the rights of women in recent years.

Emma was made a United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador in July 2014 and has taken part in initiatives to promote sustainable fashion and environmental living.

The UN stated on her appointment that she wanted to 'dedicate her efforts towards the empowerment of young women' and 'campaign in promoting gender equality'.

Emma has also helped launch new UK industry-wide guidelines on harassment and bullying with the British Film Institute, BAFTA, and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and other leading bodies.

She was even invited by French President Emmanuel Macron to sit on the G7's advisory Gender Equality Council in 2019.

But her feminist roles could be seen at being odds with the alleged behaviour of Sir Philip who has been accused of 'touching and repeatedly slapping women staff's bottoms' and 'grabbing thighs and touching legs'.

The claims were made under Parliamentary privilege by Lord Peter Hain during two debates in the House of Lords in 2018 and 2019 when he outed Sir Philip over his alleged behaviour.

Sir Philip had previously used a High Court injunction to prevent the Telegraph reporting allegations against him.

It was reported that five female employees had signed gagging orders to prevent them talking about being bullied or harassed.

Sir Philip was said to have paid one of them more than £1m to keep quiet after she accused him of kissing and groping her.

A black male executive also received £1m after Sir Philip said he was 'throwing spears in the jungle'.

Sir Philip insisted at the time that he 'categorically and wholly' denied any wrongdoing.

His lawyers put out a statement saying he had never committed 'any type of crime, or anything that would amount to gross misconduct, or a serious risk to health and safety.'

The statement described him as a 'passionate businessman, who can at times be over-exuberant and hot-headed' and only conceded that he could be 'perceived at times as aggressive with senior and trusted staff'.

[aion-rsa]

What We Do in the Shadows Season 3: Harvey Guillén Wants Buffy to Train Guillermo

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This article contains spoilers for What We Do in the Shadows season 3 episode 3.

Things have changed for the Staten Island vampires on What We Do in the Shadows season 3 as they step into positions of power. This may not make much of a difference for Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), whose new job as secretary of the Vampiric Council, is much like his fake job, at a cubicle in an office. But Laszlo (Matt Berry) may spend a little more in the potting shed. His love Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), is running the council, along with Nandor (Kayvan Novak), who’s familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), has been promoted to the position of bodyguard. It was easier than killing him.

Based on the 2014 feature film by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, What We Do in the Shadows follows four vampires, who have been roommates for longer than anyone cares to remember, as they cope with life in the modern world. Which is not held up on the shoulders of four horses.

Nandor the Relentless was a fierce and terrible Ottoman warrior, known for pillaging villages and turning the Euphrates red with blood. Guillermo worked at Panera Bread. The bond that ties vampire to familiar is a strange one. The pay isn’t great, the hours are daunting, and they don’t get employee-of-the-month plaques. The only real incentive is the promise of everlasting life as a ravenous bloodsucking fiend, and there is something of a hiring freeze at the moment.

British Iranian actor and voice artist Kayvan Novak co-created and starred in the British prank show, Fonejacker, and also can be seen alongside Matt Damon and George Clooney in Syriana, as well as the films Cuban Fury and the Walt Disney live action remake of Cruella. He plays three different characters in Men in Black: International. Harvey Guillén acted in the movies The Internship and in Netflix’s Truth or Dare, and his TV works include The Magicians, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. He earned a GLAAD Media Award his role in the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Me What to Do” episode of Raising Hope, and made LGBTQ+ Latinx history by becoming the first queer Latinx actor to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Critics’ Choice Award for his role as Guillermo de la Cruz. Starting Sept. 2, Guillén will also host After the Shadows, a new talk show following and discussing What We Do in the Shadows.

Novak and Guillén hovered over Den of Geek to speak about Nandor and Guillermo’s new job descriptions, as well as old habits, cloaks of many voices, and Van Helsing DNA.

Den of Geek: I wanted to congratulate you on your characters’ new duties. Is it more fun running vampires or running from them?

Kayvan Novak: Has Nandor run from a vampire? I guess I have. I think they’re equally as exhilarating and frightening.

Harvey Guillén: I would say fighting the vampires is exciting with all the combat when that opportunity comes up. Yeah.

Guillermo took out the entire local vampire command, but couldn’t stake a vampire council docent. Is Guillermo getting soft?

Guillén: I don’t think he’s getting soft. I think the only reason that he even put himself in that scenario is because he knew that his old housemates, because remember he moved out of the house, his old housemates were in danger. I think at the end of the day we forget that he had mostly only humans in the house. And you know, what separates us from everything else in the world is that humans are driven by emotion and have a conscience and have a heart. So he couldn’t live with himself, if he knew that they were set up by the Vampiric Council to be eliminated at this theater. That’s the only reason he goes and saves his chosen family. Even though they’re total assholes to him, he is still loyal at the end of the day. He’s still loyal to these four vampires, especially Nandor. I think that he’s not getting soft. He’s just starting to see what’s important to him and what’s worth fighting for.

Did the “Cloak of Duplication” episode come up because you were already doing the impressions?

Novak: I guess the writers had an idea. They had a sense that I was a bit of a mimic and I liked doing impersonations. And I think they decided to kind of craft an episode around that. I was slightly apprehensive of the number of impressions that they thought I could do considering I had to do all of my castmates who, although I could do impressions of some of them, I’d never done it to their faces. So it was a new challenge. Not only to learn very quickly how to impersonate them with their help, because they helped me along the way, and they told me how to deliver some of the lines. But then having to do that in front of them, it took some concentration.

Whose voice was the easiest?

Novak: I guess the easiest, or the one that I had done was Colin Robinson. Because he’s got a very specific [voice]. It’s kind of the closest to mine in a way. And the rhythms of it, very specific. Nadja’s voice and Kristen [Schaal]’s voice, I couldn’t actually do. I can only kind of do their physicality. So, the voices you hear are not my voice. They’re the voices of the actual actors. Guillermo’s voice, Guillermo’s delivery, that took a minute to kind of get into that groove. And then Matt Berry, Laszlo’s character, I’d never really tried an impression of him. And it was really more the physicality that I got into to deliver those lines in that rhythm, that really was the key in. Because you’re always trying to find the key in.

Harvey, what was it like hearing Guillermo come out of Novak’s throat?

Guillén: It was great. Because I’ve seen Kayvan do impersonations of everyone, he’s a master. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do me in a full scene. Like he would make a good joke or mimic me and say, “Yeah, yeah, now my friend,” and he does like a caricature of my voice, which is always fun, but yeah, “you’re my best buddy,” that’s like an ongoing joke on set that he always does. But to really kind of do it and kind of really capture Guillermo’s inflections and the volume where he placed him. I was like, oh my gosh, this is great. I was in awe. Like I was like, this is great. I had to do a double take, like that’s not me. That’s wait. That’s not me. Okay.

Blade, Buffy, the Frog brothers, and now Guillermo. Guillermo is the descendant of the greatest Slayer of all slayers. Is this nepotism?

Guillén: I don’t know if it’s nepotism because I don’t think he’s gotten anything handed to him. And he’s worked really hard for everything he has, and even now being the descendant of Van Helsing, it’s still not easy. Now, it comes with another wagon full of problems and choices to be made and predicaments that he now has with his housemates. But I would love to see some of those legendary slayers and chosen ones make an appearance and guide him, maybe help him out. Maybe Buffy pops in and says, I’ll show you how it’s done. That’d be great. Or Blade comes back, Wesley Snipes comes back. We’ve already had him. Who knows? But yeah, I would love to see someone show him the ropes or take them under their wing or, he’s learning by trial and error. And I think so far he’s doing okay. So maybe he’s a self-made Slayer in his own way.

When Nandor and Nadja were introducing themselves to the rogue vampires, you are each soloing, but hitting the beats at the same time. Can you just walk me through the rehearsal of the timing?

Novak: I think to really nail a scene like that, we’re both kind of focused on the direction of, I think Yana Gorskaya directed that scene. And that was just a case of us kind of working together, but also allowing her to kind of pull us through the scene to make sure that we hit those marks perfectly. It took some practice, took a few takes, took rehearsal, but you always know you’re going to get it. And you know that if you’ve got to get something that’s a bit of a challenge to get to, you want to be in the right company. And, and thankfully, we are because we’re in each other’s company.

Harvey, when you interject objections and you break and you look at the camera, they’re like hi-hat taps, are these scripted or are you doing it strictly on an intuitive basis?

Guillén: No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it scripted for Guillermo that he looks at the camera. I think we do, as we do a rehearsal and we have our DP and our director follow us through rehearsal and whatever feels organic in the moment, there has to be an organic beat. Right? So, if it’s, most of the time it is Guillermo, because he’s the only human in the room, aside from the camera crew. And so, when he looks at the camera crew, it’s like, oh God, you’re going to film this, aren’t you? And the camera catches that moment. And it zooms into it. It’s like, you’re not, oh no, it’s incriminating. And so, as you connect with another human. Did you hear what he said? Or did you, I can’t believe they’re talking like this because who are you going to connect with the vampires who live in their own world of lust and pleasure and feeding. They don’t care, they’re immortal, but the humans in the room are like, we can go to jail at any moment for a lot of these things. I can get in trouble myself.

So, most of the time, when Guillermo looks at the camera, it’s either out of fear or it’s either like I’m smarter than them and you see that, right? So it’s like you saw that, right? But he can never say it. So he can’t verbally say what he’s feeling. So, their face does it all for you to the camera.

Did Guillermo and Nandor meet at Panera Bread?

Guillén: We talked about this. I think the idea that, if he was working at Panera Bread, it must have been shortly after high school or something. And somewhere along the lines, he must’ve met Nandor, he must’ve come in when Panera was closing and maybe tried to feast on him? Maybe, I don’t know. The backstory I gave myself was, he convinced Nandor not to feast on him and kill him, but to service him in return to become a vampire. That’s the backstory I gave myself. But Kayvan, what do you think?

Novak: I think whatever happened there’s CCTV footage of it-

Guillén: Somewhere. Yeah.

Novak: And I think that would be the best way of revisiting that because, if they didn’t have a documentary crew following them, then they’re relying on kind of just, incidental cameras, capturing stuff. I think it would be cool.

Guillén: I think that’s cool. Yeah.

Nandor is 758 years old, and going through an eternal life crisis. Is he becoming too Americanized or does Nadja have a point about there not being anything more to existence than just slaughter?

Novak: It’s a funny one because he’s been around so long, you’re supposed to eventually just blend into your environment and be taken over by and become an American or become a Staten Islander. And for some reason they live in such an insular world that they resisted this. But now for some reason, whether it be an emotional light that’s gone off in his head, he’s decided that no, he wants to humanize himself more and, yeah, be more like the people that he kills, almost. The world that he feeds off. He wants to be part of that. And I think, Nadja, she’s the cynic she’s like, stop dreaming. Stop. You know, there’s always that person that’s like, yeah, you could do that. But there’s lots of people that want to do that too, you know? And you’re like, oh, you’re right. I better not waste my time chasing pipe dreams. There’s always that person in the room and that person, for Nandor, is Nadja.

What’s it like to act against Nadja’s doll?

Guillén: Such a diva. Yeah. Difficult. Late to set. She always has to be carried. I don’t know if it’s in her rider, but the doll has to be carried by two, like men-

Novak: Dressed in green.

Guillén: Dressed in green. Yeah.

Novak: I actually did have to do a couple of scenes where there’s a montage sequence with me and the doll and we actually got onto some really funny stuff. I was teaching her sword fighting, a bit of a spoiler, but it’s very quick. I don’t know if it made it in but I was teaching her sword fighting and then I was like, well, we might as well have a sword fight. And then she disarms me and then she chases after me and I run. But I don’t know if that made it in the cut. I just decided that would have been a funny thing to do. To be disarmed by this doll. I think Nandor has a soft spot for the doll. Obviously, it’s a cool bit of special effects that’s for sure. It’s awesome.

What will you be getting Colin Robinson for his hundredth birthday?

Novak: A new contract. You know, his management team has been slacking.

I was talking with Mark Proksch about the physical comedy and Harvey, yours is particularly perilous. What’s the choreography prep like and making those fight scenes hit their funny marks?

Guillén: Well, I think physical comedy is just as good as you know, anything we do, so I mean, a lot of us do physical comedy in the show, but you never see Guillermo really in motion to do physical comedy most of the time it’s because he’s always so put together. So even with the combat and fighting, the note that Jermaine gave me for the finale was, Harvey doesn’t know he’s been at this. All right. So he doesn’t know what’s happening. So it was more of an idea that his face is like “what’s happening?,” But his hands were coordinated and bad-ass, and that’s the way I’ve been playing him. And now that he’s coming into his own, now he’s more relaxed into his own power of Van Helsing. But it’s also funny. It’s just funny to see someone who’s like a baby duck, like learning to walk for the first time. It’s like he’s trying. And you know, so that physical comedy comes in hand.

Kayvan, can you tell me what it was like working against Aida Turturro and learning to love after, after 37 wives?

Novak: Aida was a riot, from day one. She was a fan of the show, which is always wonderful and incredibly flattering. She was so into the show, she was so into the world and into us as performers. And I think that just, she had so much fun when she was there and we had some intimate scenes. The first time you see us, she’s on her back and I’m on top of her. And that’s quite an introduction. But she just went with it, you know? And it was just a lot of fun, a lot of fun with her and yeah, we just spoke to her today actually, and she was singing the show’s praises again. And she’s genuinely so excited. She’s not keeping her cool or trying not to be a fangirl about it. She was just super enthusiastic to be there. And you feed off that. You love that.

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What We Do in the Shadows airs Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. on FX.

The post What We Do in the Shadows Season 3: Harvey Guillén Wants Buffy to Train Guillermo appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[pakistannews2021]

Imran Khan Biography

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FULL NAME Imran Khan Niazi

BORN October 5, 1952

HEIGHT 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)

NATIONALITY Pakistan

ROLE All-rounder, Right-arm fast Bowler, Right handed Batsman

RELATION(S) Bushra Manika (Spouse), Ikramullah Khan Niazi (Father), Shaukat Khanum (Mother), Sulaiman Isa Khan, Qasim Khan (Sons)

Imran Khan Biography

In addition to being a former first-class cricketer, Imran Khan Niazi is also the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Currently serving as a Member of the National Assembly, he was born on 5th October 1952 in Lahore, Punjab.

Pakistan’s national team used him as an all-rounder between 1971 and 1992.

Just behind Garry Sobers as the best all-rounder in the history of the sport is this right-handed batsman.

He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2010.

Background

In Lahore, imran Khan made his debut as a first-class cricketer at the age of sixteen. A few years before making it into the main team in 1970–71, he played for smaller teams based out of Lahore.

During 1973–1975, imran Khan played for the Blues Cricket team at Oxford.

In his county cricket career, he played medium-pace bowling for Worcestershire from 1971 to 1976.

Debut

On 3rd June 1971, he made his Test debut against England which ended in a stalemate as he failed to take a single wicket across both innings and scored just five runs.

Three years after making his debut in the ODI format, he played against the same opponents for the Prudential Trophy at Trent Bridge.

However, he finished his 10 overs with the third best economy of the match while failing to claim a single wicket.

Rise to Glory

The following year, he returned to Pakistan, where he has been an integral part of the national team since 1976–1977 after completing his education at Oxford and serving his tenure at Worcestershire. He played his initial Tests against the mighty teams of New Zealand and Australia.

Tony Greig subsequently signed him up for Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket after the West Indian Series.

With a speed of 139.7 km/h, he finished as the fastest bowler in that tournament, which was the third-fastest ball.

A bowler with at least 50 wickets in a year had an average of 13.29 while playing nine tests in 1982. He got 62 wickets at that average, the lowest in Test history.

It took the all-rounder only 75 Tests to achieve the all-rounder’s triple of 300 Test wickets and 3000 Test runs, second fastest behind Ian Botham who reached the milestone 3 matches earlier.

Club Career

From 1975–1976, he played for Dawood Industries and between 1980–1981, he played for Pakistan International Airlines.

His time as a student in England saw him represent Oxford University, Sussex, and Worcestershire. As a member of Australia’s New South Wales team during the 1984–85 season, he also represented the United States.

Captaincy

Javed Miandad appointed him captain at the age of 30. His side won 14 tests and lost eight matches while he was their captain.

Over the course of his 139 ODIs as a captain, he lead his team to victory 77 times and lost 57.

It is suspected that the injury caused him to miss more than two years of the 1982 international season.

In the 1984–1985 season, he returned to basketball. He retired from International Cricket after failing to reach the 1987 World Cup before returning to the team in 1988.

He provided significant contributions with both the bat and the ball throughout the 1992 Cricket World Cup, as he took Pakistan to victory at the age of 39.

Imran’s Record in Numbers

The Wisden Cricketer of the Year award was given to him in 1983.

A cricketer among fifty-five inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Cricket Council during its centennial celebration, he was one of fifty players.

Even in 1985, he was named Player of the Year by the Sussex Cricket Society.

Retirement

When Pakistan faced Sri Lanka in the series decider, he played his final test as a Pakistani.

After failing with the bat in his first two innings, he failed to bowl either innings. Pakistan eventually won the series by 3 wickets.

He is Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi (born October 5, 1952, Lahore, Pakistan), former cricketer, politician, and prime minister of Pakistan (2018 — ) for leading the Pakistani team to a Cricket World Cup victory in 1992 and then became interested in politics during the corruption scandal in Pakistan.

Early life and cricket career In addition to being educated at elite schools in Pakistan and the UK, Khan was born into an affluent Pashtun family in Lahore. In his family were several accomplished cricket players, including two elder cousins who served as Pakistani national team captains, Javed Burki and Majid Khan. He continued to play cricket at the University of Oxford even as he studied philosophy, politics, and economics. The first time Khalil Khan played for Pakistan’s national team was in 1971, but he did not become a regular member of the team until after he graduated from Oxford University in 1976.

imran Khan was named captain of Pakistan in 1982 due to his outstanding skills as a bowler and all-rounder in the early 1980s. Khan gained fame in Pakistan and England because of his athletic ability and good looks, and his appearances at London nightclubs provided entertainment for the British tabloid press. The 1992 World Cup was the greatest sporting accomplishment of Khan’s career, as he led Pakistan to its first World Cup championship. The year after he retired, he was regarded as one of the greatest cricket players in history.

imran Khan remained a prominent philanthropist after 1992. The young man had embraced Sufi mysticism and shed his playboy image after experiencing a religious awakening. Khan served as the primary fund-raiser for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, a specialized cancer hospital in Lahore that opened in 1994. Khan’s mother died of cancer in 1985, and the hospital was named after her.

Entry into politics imran khan became an outspoken critic of government mismanagement and corruption in Pakistan after retiring from cricket. In 1996, he founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Justice Movement; PTI). Khan won only one seat in the 2002 elections, a seat he filled with less than 1 percent of the vote in the following year’s national elections. His party had received less than 1 percent in the election the following year, and it lost no seats in the National Assembly. Khan attributed his party’s low vote total to vote rigging. Khan was among a group of politicians who resigned from the National Assembly in October 2007 in protest of President George W. Bush. Currently, Pervez Musharraf is running for president. Musharraf, who had declared a state of emergency, briefly imprisoned Khan last November. For its part, the PTI opposed the state of emergency, which ended in mid-December, and boycotted the 2008 election to express its opposition to Musharraf’s government.

Although imran Khan’s populist positions found support, especially among young people, in spite of the PTI’s electoral struggles. Pakistan’s participation in the fight against militants near the Afghan border belied a lack of economic equality and corruption, which he opposed. In addition, he attacked Pakistan’s political and economic elites, accusing them of being Westernized and out of touch with Pakistan’s religious and cultural norms.

A list of Khan’s published works includes Warrior Race: A Journey Through the Land of the Tribal Pathans (1993) and Pakistan: A Personal History (2011).

Political ascent imran Khan and his party drew large crowds at their rallies in the months leading up to the early 2013 legislative elections and attracted the support of several leading politicians from Pakistan’s established parties. A 2012 opinion poll found that Khan was the most popular political figure in Pakistan, which is further evidence of Khan’s political rise.

Days before the 2013 legislative election, imran Khan fell from a stage at a campaign rally, causing injuries to his head and back. From his hospital bed, he addressed the nation hours later. Although the PTI won its highest numbers ever, it won only half as many seats as the Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PMLN) led by Nawaz Sharif. PML-N leader Khan accused them of rigging the polls. The opposition leader, along with other opposition figures, led four months of protests in late 2014 in order to bring Sharif to justice.

When the Panama Papers linked Sharif’s family to offshore holdings, suspicions of corruption were heightened. Later that year, Khan organized new protests but canceled them in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to open an investigation. He was forced to resign from office after his candidacy was disqualified by an investigation. Khan, meanwhile, was also discovered to have offshore holdings, but in a separate case, the Supreme Court did not disqualify him.

The following year, in July 2018, elections were held. Despite being attacked for too cozy relationships with the military, Khan ran on a platform of fighting corruption and poverty. Following PTI’s majority in the National Assembly, Khan was able to form a coalition with independents. On August 18, he was sworn in as prime minister.

Premiership

As prime minister, imran Khan faced a mounting balance of payments crisis. A key reason for the growth in the economy, imports, and debt commitments is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).  CPEC News And Updates When the United States refused to provide Pakistan with $300 million in promised military aid just a few weeks after becoming prime minister, the crisis deteriorated rapidly. In a bid to use foreign assistance to help Pakistan’s macroeconomic situation, Khan eschewed a bailout by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A dozen previous packages from the IMF had failed to solve the country’s macroeconomic problems. In the absence of favorable terms for foreign assistance from other countries, Pakistan requested financing from the IMF. The United States, China, and Saudi Arabia offered him foreign aid in return for investment.

In addition to courting foreign aid, Khan presided over several significant developments in Pakistan’s foreign relations. Both the country and the United States achieved a mutually beneficial understanding through negotiations with the other. In February 2019, India launched its first air campaign against Pakistan in over five decades after a suicide attack on Indian security personnel killed 40 Indian soldiers in Kashmir. An attack by one country raised concerns about a possible conflict with the other.

Pakistan has downplayed the impact of the incident and appears to have avoided escalating the situation. India again entered Pakistani airspace, leading to Pakistan downing two fighter jets and capturing a pilot, who was later returned to India. As a result of this incident, Khan passed legislation to establish international standards in Pakistan’s laws, made arrests, and shut down multiple religious schools.

Early in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the economic situation of China. Khan was less eager to endorse a lockdown than some of his critics. In contrast, the opposition-controlled Sindh government imposed an immediate lockdown on the province in March. His government eventually instituted a nationwide lockdown in April and began limiting it to areas with high rates of infection in May.

Efforts by Khan to crack down on militants and keep close ties with the military continued to draw opposition. With a stated goal of increasing the independence of civilian governments from the military establishment, the major opposition parties formed a coalition in late 2020, called the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM). The PDM has called for Khan to “step down” in protests and rallies organized by it down.

Khan’s coalition partners narrowly survived a vote of confidence in his government in March 2021 after these parties boycotted it.

Quick Facts

Birthday: October 5, 1952

Age: 68 Years, 68 Year Old Males

Sun Sign: Libra

Also Known As: Imran Khan Niazi

Born In: Lahore, West Punjab, Dominion Of Pakistan

Famous As: 22nd PM Of Pakistan

Quotes By Imran Khan Cricketers

Political Ideology: Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf

Family:

Spouses/ex-: Bushra Maneka (M. 2018), Jemima Khan (M. 1995–2004), and Reham Khan (M. 2015–2015)

Father: Ikramullah Khan Niazi

Mother: Shaukat Khanum

Siblings: Aleema Khanum, Rani Khanum, Rubina Khanum, Uzma Khanum

Children: Qasim Khan, Sulaiman Kha

What is Imran Khan’s background?

The 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan is Imran Khan Niazi, a former cricketer. Young cricketers looked up to him as an inspiration. One of Pakistan’s finest cricketers, he rose to popularity with his incredible skills. From cricket’s biggest heartthrob to one of the most influential politicians, his journey is remarkable and inspiring. During his reign as Pakistani captain, he led the country to its first Cricket World Cup title in 1992 by beating England. This led him to be described as one of Pakistan’s most famous and accomplished captains. As he could bowl fast and was a good all-arounder, this outstanding cricketer made the game of cricket more popular in his country. Cricket and politics were not the only areas in which he excelled. His involvement in politics began in 1992 when he formed his own political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice). Following the death of his mother from cancer, he established Lahore’s first cancer hospital. By raising money for health and education projects, he is helping the underprivileged and deserving.

Childhood & Personal Life

Ikramullah Khan Niazi and Shaukat Khanam raised Imran Khan Niazi in a well-to-do Pashtun family in Lahore.

Following schools at Lahore’s English-medium Aitchison College, he went to Warwick, England, for higher studies at the Royal Grammar School.

The University of Oxford graduated him in philosophy, politics, and economics in 1975. Growing up in a family of cricketers, he played the game in Pakistan and in England.

Career

As a result of his not-so-good performance in the 1971 English series in Birmingham, he failed to make a mark in tests.

When he returned to Pakistan in 1974, he debuted for the first time in one-day international (ODI) matches through the Prudential Trophy.

In the 1980s, he became a prominent fast bowler in Pakistan after a stellar performance against New Zealand and Australia in 1976–77.

Pakistan chose him to be their captain in 1982. In a stunning performance, he led India to its first Test win over England after 28 years at Lord’s, as a fast bowler and all-rounder.

A draw was achieved in 8 of the 48 matches Pakistan played under his captaincy. A total of 139 ODI matches were played, with 77 victories, 57 losses, and one tie.

For two years, he was sidelined by a stress fracture in his shin. Following a win over India in 1987, he also won in England to give Pakistan its first-ever Test series win.

General Zia-ul-Haq invited him back to Pakistan after he retired in 1987. With 23 wickets in three tests, he was named ‘Man of the Series’ against West Indies.

Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust was established in 1991 as a charity organization for cancer research and development that honors his mother.

A test and ODI record of 3807 runs and 362 wickets, and a ODI record of 3709 runs and 182 wickets, prompted him to retire in 1992.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was founded by him in 1997 as a means to eliminate corruption and mismanagement in Pakistan.

Mianwali was the seat he won at the October 2002 elections.

Besides founding Namal College, a campus of the University of Bradford, he also set up the Institute of Imran Khan Foundation.

In 2013, he launched ‘Naya Pakistan Resolution’, which threatened the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) rejected his proposal to collaborate.

When he fell off a stage during a campaign rally, four days before elections, he injured his head and back and had to be hospitalized. However, he maintained his campaign appeal through the hospital and his party lost.

Imran Khan’s party finished first in Pakistan’s general elections, defeating the ruling party. In August 2018, he became Pakistan’s 22nd Prime Minister.

A number of British and Asian newspapers as well as Indian publications have published his views on cricket, including Outlook, Guardian, Independent, and Telegraph.

As an active cricket commentator, he has worked for Star TV, BBC Urdu, and TEN Sports.

Records & Achievements

In 1992, despite suffering from a ruptured shoulder cartilage, he became the hero of Pakistan by winning the first-ever ODI Cricket World Cup for Pakistan, defeating England in the finals at Melbourne.

Three thousand runs and three hundred wickets made by an all-rounder in 75 tests are second only to Ian Botham’s 72 wickets in test cricket.

Aside from most wickets, best strikes and best averages, he also had best figures (8 wickets for 60 runs) when he was captain.

Awards

The Cricket Society Wetherall Award was given to him in 1976 and 1980 for being the best all around player in England’s first-class cricket.

1985 was the year he was named Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year.

Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the second highest civilian award given by the Pakistani Government to him, was the highest civilian honor he received.

As a result of his support for various charitable programs, he received the Asian Jewels Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in London in 2004.

On April 28, 2007, in Kuala Lumpur, he received the Humanitarian Award for setting up Pakistan’s first cancer hospital.

As one of many cricket legends present at the AICC (Asian Cricket Council) Awards in Karachi in 2009, he was presented the special silver jubilee award.

During the centennial celebration of the International Cricket Council (ICC), he was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2009.

Towards his activities in Pakistan treating cancer in 2012, he was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Globa lPost recently ranked him #3 in its list of the top nine world leaders of 2012.

Personal Life & Legacy

It was in Paris, in May 1995, that he married socialite Jemima Goldsmith, a convert to Islam, in a traditional Islamic ceremony. After a month, they remarried in Richmond in a civil ceremony. Both sons are born to them — Sulaiman Isa (1996) and Kasim (1999). Jemima cited difficulties adjusting to Pakistani life as the reason for the couple’s separation in June 2004.

Jemima’s father was Jewish, making Jemima’s decision to enter politics a source of attacks by his opponents.

In January 2015, despite objections from his own family, he married British-Pakistani divorcee Reham Khan, a former BBC weather girl, in a secret ceremony at his home in Islamabad. In October 2015, the couple divorced after being married just a year.

Bushra Manika, his spiritual advisor, married him in February 2018

He belongs to a cricketing family that has produced successful cricketers, including Javed Burki and Majid Khan, both of whom graduated from Oxford and served as captains of the Pakistan national team.

Vote for Your Favourite Pakistani Leaders

Famous As: 22nd PM of Pakistan

Birthdate: October 5, 1952

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Lahore, West Punjab, Dominion of Pakistan

The current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan is also the founder and chairman of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Before making an entry into politics, Imran Khan was an extremely popular international cricketer who led Pakistan to its first ever Cricket World Cup title in 1992. As a philanthropist, he established Pakistan’s first cancer hospital in Lahore.

[spaceasianmillennial]

NOTE: Flipping the Texas House and four of the State Supreme Court seats this November can potentially protect Texas from Republican gerrymandering as the 2021 redistricting year comes up. If the TX legislative and State Supreme Court remain in GOP control, Texas will be redmapped in GOP favor in the next decade and beyond and shut out progressive candidates.

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Of the nine members of the Texas Supreme Court, all but two initially gained their seats through appointment, and all nine list their party affiliation as Republican. But an impressive array of Democratic opponents will be before voters in November, and they are worth your vote. Among them are:

• Amy Clark Meachum, candidate for the state Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, is a judge in Texas’ 201st District Court, where she has served since 2011. A. graduate of SMU and the UT-Austin law school, she serves as Civil Presiding Judge for all civil and family law cases in Travis County and is judicial liaison for the Administrative and Public Law Council for the state Bar of Texas. She was the recipient of the Travis County Women Lawyers Association Pathfinder award in 2015, among many other awards, and is a frequent speaker for the State Bar of Texas, Austin Bar Association and Texas Center for Legal Ethics.

• Kathy Cheng operates her own law firm in Houston where she also volunteers with the League of Women Voters and other non-profits. A native of Taiwan, she immigrated with her parents and three siblings at the age of 9 due to political uncertainty in her native land. She has degrees from LSU-Shreveport and South Texas College of Law. An advocate for her clients for nearly two decades, she understands that to achieve equality and fairness one must have a voice. She notes that there is a dire need for diversity on the state’s highest court, which for more than two decades has been comprised solely of Republicans.

• Staci Williams is a judge in Texas’ 101st District Court where she has served since 2014. She has a B.A. from Smith College and a J.D. from Georgetown University. With a wide variety of corporate and retail legal work under her belt, she has served as trial attorney and administrative judge for the EEOC, counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and a municipal judge in Dallas. Williams has also been on arbiter panels for the USPS, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

• Gisela Triana serves in Place 6 of the Texas Third District Court of Appeals, a position she has held since last year. She holds a B.A. from the University of Texas-San Antonio and a J.D. from UT-Austin. Triana has worked as Trial Division director with the Travis County Attorney’s Office and as staff attorney with the Texas Secretary of State’s Election Division. Triana has more than 24 years of experience on the judicial bench. Before serving on the Appellate Court, Triana served on every level of the Texas trial courts. Her experience makes her highly qualified to serve.

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Many Texans will also likely have minor judicial elections on their ballot. 

Check out the nonpartisan Vote411 which directly sources the profile and campaign pages from the candidates when elections are close.

However, sometimes Vote 411 misses some local candidates and races. So you’ll have to check out your County Election office and ask for a sample ballot and then Google your potential choices from there. You can also pay attention to local news to dig out obscure candidates.

[lastsonlost]

'Education, not indoctrination': Muslim parents lead group of 300 in protest outside school gates against equality lessons on homosexuality and gender

Parents protested against lessons on homosexuality and gender at Parkfield Community School, Birmingham

More than 300 people stood outside yesterday and parents took children out of class to join the protests

They're campaigning against lessons on equality at the school including issues of homosexuality and gender

Assistant head Andrew Moffat created 'No Outsiders' to teach children about Equality Act and British values

More than 300 parents and children gathered outside of a primary school yesterday to protest against lessons on homosexuality and gender.

Some Muslim demonstrators said they would rather leave the UK than allow their children to continue attending Parkfield Community School in Birmingham.

Pupils were kept out of lessons for the first hour of the day. Some joined in with the chants and held placards reading: 'Education not indoctrination.' One child carried a handwritten sign which said: 'Let kids be kids.'

The protest comes amid a campaign against lessons on equality at the school, with parents in the predominantly Muslim area saying they promote homosexuality. 

Christian evangelists joined them to protest yesterday in a show of solidarity.

Parents' anger is aimed at the school's assistant head Andrew Moffat, who is behind the 'No Outsiders' lessons. He created the scheme to teach children about the Equality Act and British values.

Pupils at the school – rated outstanding by Ofsted – have five of these lessons a year, covering areas outlined in the Act: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

The programme was first piloted at the school in 2014 and is now also taught at dozens of other schools in the country.

Mr Moffat, who is in a civil partnership, was made an MBE for services to equality and diversity in education in 2017. He is currently shortlisted for a 'world's best teacher' award.

He resigned from a previous teaching post at another school after a row with Christian parents over lessons challenging homophobia – and is now facing even more vocal complaints from parents at Parkfield, where 98 per cent of the 750 pupils are said to be from an Islamic background.

Protester Mariam Ahmed, whose four-year-old daughter attends the school, has organised a petition against the No Outsiders project.

She said yesterday: 'What they are teaching is not right, they are too young. There are nine parts of the Act and they only seem to be focusing on one, homosexuality, and that is wrong. They need to have an ethos which reflects the area.

'It's not just because we are Muslims, there are Christians here too. We don't have a vendetta against homosexuals and we respect the Act. We respect that Mr Moffat is gay and we are happy for him to teach.'

She said she would consider taking her daughter out of school full-time if the lessons continued, claiming children were being affected 'emotionally and psychologically'.

One father, whose six-year-old daughter attends the school, said his wife wanted to leave the country rather than let her daughter attend the lessons.

The man, who did not want to be named, said: 'My daughter has been asking questions my wife did not know how to answer.

'She is too young for this. A family who live near me have already returned to Pakistan because of it.'

Some of the protesters said Islam did not accept homosexuality, while others said they were not against it but accused the teacher of promoting 'personal beliefs'.

Mr Moffat said he tried to meet parents but stopped when they became 'personal and aggressive'. He has described receiving threats from parents online. He told the BBC: 'I have felt very threatened ... it's been a challenging couple of weeks.

However, what keeps me going is the support from the school which is absolutely brilliant, Ofsted [and] the city council.'

Currently, Year Five children, aged nine and ten, are taught about puberty and reproduction. Many under-11s currently learn about relationships in Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) classes but this is not mandatory.

The Government is, however, bringing in new compulsory 'relationships' education which will include teaching tolerance of same sex couples and transgender people.

Parkfield Community School has said it wants pupils to be 'accepting and to welcome anybody'.

In a statement it said it was 'disappointed' by the protest but had 'no plans' to drop the 'successful' No Outsiders programme.

[blackkudos]

Wendy Williams

Wendy Williams Hunter (born Wendy Joan Williams; July 18, 1964) is an American television host, actress, author, fashion designer, and former radio personality. She has hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show, The Wendy Williams Show, since 2008.

Prior to television, Williams was a radio DJ and host and quickly became known in New York as a "shock jockette". She gained notoriety for her on-air spats with celebrities and was the subject of the 2006 VH1 reality TV series, The Wendy Williams Experience, which broadcast events surrounding her radio show. She was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.

She has written a New York Times best-selling autobiography and six other books, and has created various product lines including a fashion line, a jewelry collection and a wig line. On her 50th birthday, the council of Asbury Park renamed the street she grew up on, to Wendy Williams Way.

Early life

Williams was born on July 18, 1964, in Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, a suburb of Asbury Park. She is the second of three children born to parents Thomas and Shirley Williams, She grew up in the Wayside section of Ocean Township. Williams graduated from Ocean Township High School, and from 1982 to 1986, she attended Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, where she graduated with a B.A. in communications and was a DJ for the college radio station WRBB.

Personal life

In her biography, Wendy's Got the Heat, she uses the pseudonym Robert Morris III to refer to her first husband and describes him as a salesperson. Williams and her first husband have since divorced. On November 30, 1997, Williams married her second husband Kevin Hunter. Williams gave birth to their son, Kevin Hunter Jr., on August 18, 2000. Wendy is Christian.

Radio career

Williams began her career working for WVIS in the United States Virgin Islands. Less than a year later, she obtained an afternoon position at Washington DC-based station WOL. Williams commuted between DC and Queens, New York, to work an overnight weekend shift at WQHT.

In 1989, Williams began at urban contemporary WRKS (now WEPN-FM) in New York City as a substitute disc jockey. WRKS hired her full-time for its morning show. A year later, Williams moved to an afternoon drive-time shift, eventually winning the Billboard Award for "Best On-Air Radio Personality" in 1993. In December 1994, Emmis Broadcasting purchased WRKS and switched Williams to the company's other New York property, hip-hop formatted WQHT ("Hot 97"), as WRKS was reformatted into an urban adult contemporary outlet. She was fired from Hot 97 in 1998.

Williams was hired by a Philadelphia urban station, WUSL ("Power 99FM"). Her husband, Kevin Hunter, became her agent. She was very open about her personal life on air, discussing her miscarriages, breast enhancement surgery, and former drug addiction, and helped the station move from 14th place in the ratings to 2nd.

In 2001, Williams returned to the New York airwaves when WBLS hired her full-time for a syndicated 2–6 p.m. time slot. Williams' friend, MC Spice of Boston, offered his voiceover services to the show, often adding short rap verses tailored specifically for Williams' show. The New York Times stated that her "show works best when its elements – confessional paired with snarkiness – are conflated," and cited a 2003 interview with Whitney Houston as an example. During the highly publicized interview that "went haywire" and included "a lot of bleeped language", Williams "asked [Houston], insistently, about her drug and spending habits".

By 2008, she was syndicated in Redondo Beach, California; Shreveport, Louisiana; Wilmington, Delaware; Toledo, Ohio; Columbia, South Carolina; Emporia, Virginia; Lake Charles, Louisiana; Tyler, Texas; and Alexandria, Louisiana, among other markets.

Williams left her radio show in 2009 to focus on her television program and spend more time with her family. She was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Lawsuit

In 2008, Nicole Spence, talent booker for The Wendy Williams Experience, filed papers with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suing Williams. Spence claimed Williams' husband, Kevin Hunter, demanded sex from Spence on many occasions and created a hostile work environment by threatening and assaulting his wife on company premises. On June 11, 2008, Spence filed a sexual-harassment lawsuit against Williams, Hunter, and Inner City Broadcasting Corporation in federal court in Manhattan. Both Williams and Hunter deny the charges.

Television

The Wendy Williams Show

In 2008, Debmar-Mercury offered Williams do to a six-week television trial of her own talk show. On July 14, 2008, Williams debuted her daytime talk show, The Wendy Williams Show, in four cities during the summer of 2008. During the tryout, The New York Times snarkily remarked that the show created a "breakthrough in daytime" by introducing the genre of the "backtalk show.".

After a successful run, Fox signed a deal with Debmar-Mercury to broadcast the show nationally on their stations beginning in July 2009. In addition, BET picked up cable rights to broadcast the show at night. In 2010, BET started airing the show internationally in 54 countries through BET International.

Williams has received multiple nominations at the Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host and the show itself was for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment. The show attracts 2.4 million daily viewers on average, with Williams trading off daily with Ellen DeGeneres as the number one female host on daytime television.

“The Wendy Williams Show” has been renewed through the 2019-20 television season on the Fox Television Stations.The renewal will keep “Wendy” on air through its 11th season. During the November 2015 sweeps period, the talk show finished either No. 1 or 2 in the key demo of women 25-54 in 55% of the U.S. and 20 of the top-25 markets.

Other television appearances

Williams has made appearances in the television series Martin (1992) and in the soap opera One Life to Live (2011).

Williams filled in for Jodi Applegate on WNYW's morning television show, Good Day New York (2007), and hosted a game show for GSN called Love Triangle (2011) for which she and her husband Kevin Hunter served as executive producers.

Williams played a judge on the Lifetime network show Drop Dead Diva (2011) and served as a guest judge on The Face (2013). She was also a contestant, paired with pro Tony Dovolani on season 12 of Dancing with the Stars (2011); she was eliminated second.

In February 2013, it was announced that Williams and her husband and manager, Kevin, were launching a reality television production company, Wendy Williams Productions. that will produce unscripted content, including reality television and game shows. Williams was an executive producer on the show Celebrities Undercover (2014).

Williams also executive produced the Lifetime biopic Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B, which premiered on November 15, 2014. In September 2015, the documentary series Death By Gossip with Wendy Williams premiered on the Investigation Discovery channel, both hosted and produced by Williams.

Film

Williams appeared in the film adaptation of Steve Harvey's book, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, titled Think Like a Man (2012) and its sequel, Think Like a Man Too (2014).

In 2012, it was announced Williams would enter into a "production alliance" with producers Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones to create movies and television shows aimed at multicultural audiences. These projects will appear under the heading "Wendy Williams presents" and their first project will be VH1 adaptation of a Star Jones novel.

FilmographyFilmTelevision

Theater

In 2013, Williams announced she was going to play the role of Matron "Mama" Morton on the Broadway musical Chicago. Williams officially began her tenure on July 2 and finished her 7-week run on August 11, 2013. Her preparations for the musical were documented in the TV Guide docuseries, "Wendy Williams: How You Doin', Broadway?!", which was produced by her own production company, Wendy Williams Productions.

Business

ProductsHSN Clothing Line

By partnering with the Home Shopping Network (HSN), Williams debuted a line of dresses, pants, sweaters and skirts fit for the everyday woman.The household name media mogul debuted her HSN Clothing line on March 28, 2015. The debut was a "sell-out success" and Williams even told viewers on her talk show that according to HSN, the debut was their most watched premiere since the onset of the program. The Wendy Williams line is sold exclusively at HSN.

Adorn

Williams sells a line of jewelry products on the home shopping network, QVC, called "Adorn by Wendy Williams".

Williams and her husband, Kevin Hunter, commissioned the Chinese-based manufacturing firm, Max Harvest International Holdings, to make 12,140 pairs of shoes bearing the logo of her brand, Adorn. The owners of Max Harvest International Holdings were said to have gone into hiding after the owner of the shoe factory who made the shoes kidnapped one of their managers and held the man prisoner for two weeks before releasing him, and Williams' failure to pay was cited the reason, reported by the New York Daily News. The manager and his wife retained lawyer Staci Riordan of Los Angeles. Their representative says they've been in negotiations for several months in order to reach a settlement. Williams declined to comment on the matter.

Endorsements

Williams was previously a spokesperson for Georges Veselle champagne. She posed for PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur", ad campaign in 2012.

Books

Williams is a seven-time New York Times best-seller and has published several books, including:

Non-fiction

Wendy's Got the Heat (2003), coauthored with Karen Hunter Atria; 1 edition (August 5, 2003)

The Wendy Williams Experience (2005)

Ask Wendy: Straight-Up Advice for All the Drama in Your Life (2013) ISBN 9780062268389

Fiction

Drama Is Her Middle Name: The Ritz Harper Chronicles, Vol. 1 (2006), coauthored with Karen Hunter

Is the Bitch Dead, Or What?: The Ritz Harper Chronicles, Book 2 (2007), coauthored with Karen Hunter

Ritz Harper Goes to Hollywood! (Ritz Harper Chronicles) (2009), coauthored with Zondra Hughes

Hold Me in Contempt: A Romance (2014) ISBN 978-0062268419

Awards

Radio Personality of the Year awards from Billboard, Black Radio Exclusive, and Radio & Records industry magazines

2009: named to the National Radio Hall of Fame

Hosted the 2013 Soul Train Awards Red Carpet

Hosted the 2014 Soul Train Awards in Las Vegas, which aired on November 30, 2014.

Nominated for The 42nd & 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment and Outstanding Talk Show Host.

Stand-up comedy

Before Wendy turned 50, stand-up comedy was on her bucket list

In 2014, Lipshtick called Williams to participate in their first all-female-based comedy series at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

Williams made her sold-out comedy debut on July 11, 2014

Williams comedy tour was called "The Sit-down Comedy Tour."

Williams returned to Lipshtick on October 31, 2014 and November 1, 2014 after she made a sold-out debut in July.

Williams hosted her "How You Laughin'" Comedy Series at NJPAC on November 15, 2014 featuring Luenell, Jonathan Martin, Pat Brown, Hadiyah Robinson, and Meme Simpson.

In 2015, Williams announced a 12-city comedy tour called, The Wendy Williams Sit Down Tour: Too Real For Stand-Up.

Wikipedia

[sstroke007]

38 electric boats create floating cinema on the Seine

A floating cinema of 38 Ruban Bleu electric boats from the fleet of Paris e-boat constitution corporation Marin d’eau douce could be making records this Saturday whilst they invent a floating social distancing cinema at the banks of the Seine in Paris.  2 stroke vs 4 stroke The “Cinéma sur l’Eau” (cinema at the water) will launch the town’s ‘Paris Plages’ (Paris seashores) occasion wherein transient city beaches are installed each summer time along the Seine and the close by Bassin de la Villette synthetic lake. 

Floating cinema celebrates reopenings submit-COVID

The floating cinema night time is also an creative and whimsical manner to rejoice the reopening of normal cinemas after the shutdown necessitated by way of COVID-19. Sponsors are the metropolis of Paris, Häagen-Dazs, and mk2, France’s chain of artwork-residence movie theatres. the primary event for the night on the water is the 2018 French comedy “Le Grand Bain” (known as ‘Sink or Swim 'in English), nominated within the Caesars, France’s national movie awards. it's miles a form of ‘complete Monty’ kind movie approximately a collection of fellows who begin a synchronized swimming group. also at the price tag is a short movie approximately COVID-19:  ��A Corona story’ the winner of a movie competition backed via mk2. here at Plugboats, of path, we’re much less involved approximately what's at the display than we're approximately what's at the water. two of France’s electric powered boat leaders Paris is joining Amsterdam and different cities in trying to stimulate and inspire extra electric powered boats on its river and waterways. The hydrofoiling water taxi SeaBubbles finished an ordeal on the Seine closing fall and turned into authorized via the council to carry commuter visitors in spring of 2020. probably this has been behind schedule because of the coronavirus effect. Automaker Renault is working with inexperienced-vision of France on different e-boat tasks. For the floating cinema the electric boats are supplied by the Paris charter outfit   Marin d’eau douce (freshwater sailor), whose fleet is synthetic by Ruban Bleu, Europe’s main producer of licence-unfastened electric boats. Ruban Bleu has a wide range of boats for each private and commercial use, able to deliver everywhere from five to as many as 30 passengers. At one quit The Ace is three.85m / 12.6ft with a 650w pod motor powered by way of a 12V battery. At the opposite stop is the eight.5m / 28ft Navette with its dual 5kW / 48V cars. in the middle is the news, able to carry 7 passengers and ideally suited for boat rent agencies like Marin D’eau Douce. Marin d’eau douce was created in 2014 by  Parisian youth pals – commercial enterprise adviser Nicolas Couderc and chef Olivier Doin – who have been disenchanted that the simplest way to tour the waterways in their native metropolis changed into on large boats built for mass tourism, a few sporting loads of passengers. electric boats: ideal for safe social distancing They researched their commercial enterprise by way of renting electric powered boats themselves in Amsterdam, and France’s Gorges du Verdon and Canal du Midi. this is in which they determined the Ruban Bleu line-up, and selected the company as their suppliers. They made their presentation to the town and Marin d’eau douce was granted permission to start rentals along the Canal de l’Ourcq, on the a hundred thirty km (eighty one mi) Parisian canal community. Their 2nd area changed into opened in Bassin de los angeles Villette, the location of the floating cinema and they now have stores in other components of France with bases in Meaux, Lille and Strasbourg. The fleet of Ruban Bleu boats are perfect for a special night at the films that also calls for secure social distancing. as long as the moviegoers are from the equal own family, they could sit in organizations of , 4, or six within the boats. And due to the fact no licence is needed to operate the boats, each person can attend. The only capture is the range of tickets to be had. there may be no charge, but the businesses could be selected via a lottery. Even better, they may additionally be served unfastened Häagen-Dazs ice cream before boarding.  2 stroke vs 4 stroke

[worldlywomenworkingwonders]

Michelle Obama

- Michelle is a lawyer and writer who was previously First Lady of the United States, married to Barack Obama

- She was the first African-American First Lady in US history

- She was raised on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois

- Her father suffered from multiple sclerosis

- Michelle joined a gifted class at Bryn Mawr Elementary School by the sixth grade

- She attended Whitney Young High School, Chicago's first magnet high school, established as a selective enrollment school, where she used her fear of how others would perceive her as motivation to succeed

- She experienced gender discrimination growing up despite her achievements

- Michelle was on the honor roll for four years, took advanced placement classes, was a member of the National Honor Society, and served as student council treasurer; she graduated in 1981 as the salutatorian of her class

- She is a graduate of both Princeton University and Harvard Law School

- At Princeton, her white roommate’s mother (unsuccessfully) tried to have her daughter moved because of Michelle’s race; she said that it was during this time that she became more aware of ethnicity, class, and racial divisions

- She also got involved with Princeton’s Third World Center, an academic and cultural group that supported minority students, running their day care center, which  included after school tutoring as well; she challenged the teaching methodology for French because she felt that it should be more conversational; she wrote a thesis titled Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community as part of her graduation requirements

- In July 2008, she accepted the invitation to become an honorary member of the 100-year-old black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which had no active undergraduate chapter at Princeton when she attended

- At Harvard, Michelle participated in demonstrations advocating the hiring of professors who were minorities, and worked for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, assisting low-income tenants with housing cases

- She is the third First Lady with a postgraduate degree

- Following law school, she was an associate at the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley & Austin, working on marketing and intellectual property; she continues to hold her law license, but as she no longer needs it for her work, it has been on a voluntary inactive status since 1993

- In 1991, she held public sector positions in the Chicago city government as an Assistant to the Mayor, and as Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development

- She became Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a non-profit organization encouraging young people to work on social issues in nonprofit groups and government agencies, in 1993; she worked there nearly four years and set fundraising records for the organization that still stood 12 years after she left

- Michelle also worked as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago, where she developed its Community Service Center, and as the Vice President for Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center

- She campaigned actively during her husband’s presidential runs, delivering speeches at the 2008 and 2012 Democratic National Conventions; she returned again to the DNC in 2016 to speak on behalf of presidential candidate and fellow First Lady Hillary Clinton

- During his campaigns, she also spoke openly about race, education, and motherhood

- As First Lady, Michelle became a role model for women, in addition to an advocate for poverty awareness and nutrition

- She also became a fashion icon

- During her early months as First Lady, she visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens, in addition to sending representatives to schools and advocating public service

- She hosted a White House reception for women's rights advocates in celebration of the enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 Pay equity law

- In 2006, Essence listed her among "25 of the World's Most Inspiring Women”

- Vanity Fair listed her among "10 of the World's Best Dressed People” in 2007

- In 2009, Michelle was named Barbara Walters's Most Fascinating Person of the year

- She advocated on behalf of military families, helped working women balance career and family, encouraged national service, and promoted the arts and arts education

- She was an honorary guest at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball as a "young'un" paying tribute to the “Legends” who helped pave the way for African-American women

- In 2010, she took her first solo visit to a nation and traveled to Mexico to speak to young students, encouraging them to take responsibility for their futures; she is a believer in success coming from unlikely places, and not discrediting underprivileged people 

- She was actively involved in community events in foreign countries, and it was said that she advanced her husband’s foreign policy and relations

- Among many things, she has been known for wearing clothes by African designers such as Mimi Plange, Duro Olowu, Maki Oh, and Osei Duro, and styles such as the Adire fabric

- In 2012, Michelle and her husband were awarded the Jerald Washington Memorial Founders' Award by the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), which is the highest honor given to homeless veteran advocates; she was awarded it again alongside Jill Biden in 2015

- She joined the campaign to bring back school girls who had been kidnapped in Nigeria in 2014, utilizing the campaign hashtag #bringbackourgirls

- She extended organic efforts in the White House by planting the White House Kitchen Garden, the first White House vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt served as First Lady; she also installed bee hives on the South Lawn of the White House; the garden supplied organic produce and honey to the First Family and for state dinners and other official gatherings

- She created and took charge of the administration-wide initiative Let’s Move! to reverse progress in the child obesity trend

- Michelle has consistently been an open advocate for LGBT rights, opposing constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and promoting equality for everyone

- In 2017, during an appearance at the Partnership for a Healthier America conference, she rebuked the Trump administration for its delay of a federal requirement designed to increase the nutritional standards for school lunches

- Also this year, she called for tech companies to add women for the diversifying of their ranks while attending the WWDC in Silicon Valley, California; she honored Eunice Shriver at the 2017 ESPY Awards; she delivered an address at the tech conference in Utah charging the Trump administration with having a fearful White House; she appeared in a video for the Global Citizens Festival advocating more attention to giving young girls an education; she attended the Inbound 2017 conference in Boston; she cited a lack of diversity in politics with contributing to lawmakers being distrusted by other groups at the Philadelphia Conference for Women; she discussed gender disparity in attitudes with Elizabeth Alexander while at the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago; and she spoke at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.22

451 – The Chalcedonian Creed, regarding the divine and human nature of Jesus, is adopted by the Council of Chalcedon, an ecumenical council. 794 – Emperor Kanmu relocates the Japanese capital to Heian-kyō (now Kyoto). 906 – Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh leads a raid against the Byzantine Empire, taking 4,000–5,000 captives. 1383 – The male line of the Portuguese House of Burgundy becomes extinct with the death of King Fernando, leaving only his daughter Beatrice. Rival claimants begin a period of civil war and disorder. 1633 – The Ming dynasty defeats the Dutch East India Company. 1707 – Four British naval vessels run aground on the Isles of Scilly because of faulty navigation. In response, the first Longitude Act is enacted in 1714. 1721 – Russian Empire is proclaimed by Tsar Peter I after the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War. 1730 – Construction of the Ladoga Canal is completed. 1746 – The College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) receives its charter. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: American defenders of Fort Mercer on the Delaware River repulse repeated Hessian attacks in the Battle of Red Bank. 1784 – Russia founds a colony on Kodiak Island, Alaska. 1790 – Northwest Indian War: Native American forces defeat the United States, ending the Harmar Campaign. 1797 – André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first recorded parachute jump, from one thousand meters (3,200 feet) above Paris. 1836 – Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas. 1844 – Millerites, followers of Baptist preacher William Miller anticipate the end of the world in conjunction with the Second Advent of Christ. The following day became known as the Great Disappointment. 1859 – Spain declares war on Morocco. 1866 – A plebiscite ratifies the annexion of Veneto and Mantua to Italy, which had occurred three days before, on October 19. 1875 – First telegraphic connection in Argentina. 1877 – The Blantyre mining disaster in Scotland kills 207 miners. 1878 – The Bramall Lane stadium sees the first rugby match played under floodlights. 1879 – Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasts 13​1⁄2 hours before burning out). 1883 – The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opens with a performance of Gounod's Faust. 1884 – The International Meridian Conference designates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich as the world's prime meridian. 1895 – In Paris an express train derails after overrunning the buffer stop, crossing almost 30 metres (100 ft) of concourse before crashing through a wall and falling 10 metres (33 ft) to the road below. 1907 – A run on the stock of the Knickerbocker Trust Company sets events in motion that will spark the Panic of 1907. 1910 – Hawley Harvey Crippen (the first felon to be arrested with the help of radio) is convicted of poisoning his wife. 1923 – The royalist Leonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup d'état attempt fails in Greece, discrediting the monarchy and paving the way for the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic. 1934 – In East Liverpool, Ohio, FBI agents shoot and kill notorious bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd. 1941 – World War II: French resistance member Guy Môquet and 29 other hostages are executed by the Germans in retaliation for the death of a German officer. 1943 – World War II: In the second firestorm raid on Germany, the RAF conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless. 1946 – Over twenty-two hundred engineers and technicians from eastern Germany are forced to relocate to the Soviet Union, along with their families and equipment. 1947 – The Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan begins, having started just after the partition of India. 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: President Kennedy, after internal counsel from Dwight D. Eisenhower, announces that American reconnaissance planes have discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, and that he has ordered a naval "quarantine" of the Communist nation. 1963 – A BAC One-Eleven prototype airliner crashes in UK with the loss of all on board. 1964 – Jean-Paul Sartre is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, but turns down the honor. 1964 – An all-party Parliamentary Committee selects the design which will become the new official flag of Canada. 1975 – The Soviet unmanned space mission Venera 9 lands on Venus. 1976 – Red Dye No. 4 is banned by the US Food and Drug Administration after it is discovered that it causes tumors in the bladders of dogs. 1981 – The United States Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) for its strike the previous August. 1983 – Two correctional officers are killed by inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. The incident inspires the Supermax model of prisons. 1999 – Maurice Papon, an official in the Vichy France government during World War II, is jailed for crimes against humanity. 2001 – Grand Theft Auto III is released, popularizing a genre of open-world, action-adventure video games, as well as spurring controversy around violence in video games. 2005 – Tropical Storm Alpha forms in the Atlantic Basin, making the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season the most active Atlantic hurricane season until surpassed by the 2020 season. 2005 – Bellview Airlines Flight 210 crashes in Nigeria, killing all 117 people on board. 2006 – A Panama Canal expansion proposal is approved by 77.8% of voters in a National referendum. 2007 – A raid on Anuradhapura Air Force Base is carried out by 21 Tamil Tiger commandos. All except one die in this attack. Eight Sri Lanka Air Force planes are destroyed and 10 damaged. 2008 – India launches its first unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1. 2013 – The Australian Capital Territory becomes the first Australian jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage with the Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013. 2014 – Michael Zehaf-Bibeau attacks the Parliament of Canada, killing a soldier and injuring three other people. 2019 – Same-sex marriage is legalised, and abortion is decriminalised in Northern Ireland as a result of the Northern Ireland Assembly not being restored.

[shirlleycoyle]

Postmaster DeJoy’s First Company Was Plagued By Claims of Racism, Harassment, and Abuse

The swastikas started to appear in 2006, according to the lawsuit, soon after the man’s co-worker called him a “nigger” and “mayate,” a Spanish slang term for the same word. First, a swastika made out of magnets near his work station; then, one burned into a tool he used every day.

By 2009, Sterling Davis was suing the employer where he’d been, he claimed, subjected to racialized harassment and intimidation: New Breed Logistics, a supply chain and distribution company with warehouses across the United States, and its headquarters in North Carolina. Its CEO was Louis DeJoy, currently the Postmaster General.

While DeJoy has touted his 30 years at New Breed as a business success story, employment lawsuits brought by Davis and a multitude of other workers at New Breed paint a troubling picture of the workplace culture there. Davis, who is Black and worked at New Breed as a repair technician, said in court filings that he was subjected to relentless abuse from a co-worker, while their joint supervisor did nothing.

“I’m not your babysitter,” Davis alleged the supervisor said to him and the man who was harassing him, after seeing the magnet swastika. “You need to work your problems out.” At a shop meeting, both men and their coworkers were told to “shape up,” and that the workplace “was not the place for that kind of thing.” The two men were jointly admonished to “get along.”

In April, Davis said in the filing, the two men were both suspended while an investigation was conducted. On April 22, Davis learned that management couldn’t decide who was at fault, and that both men were fired. Davis’ lawsuit was resolved in 2009; his attorney said it was a confidential matter that he could not discuss.

Do you know anything about New Breed or Louis DeJoy we should know? Contact the reporters at anna.merlan@vice.com, laura.wagner@vice.com, or tim.marchman@vice.com.

These details come from one of more than a dozen employment-related lawsuits filed against New Breed Logistics by former employees and contractors over the years, including one brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, or EEOC. The Daily Beast reported on the EEOC complaint in May, and the treatment of workers at XPO Logistics, the company that bought New Breed and where DeJoy was CEO of its supply line business, was covered in a 2018 story by the New York Times. But an examination of the civil lawsuits against New Breed adds another layer to the portrait of how workers have said they were treated under DeJoy.

The complaints in these cases describe extreme racial and sexual harassment, claims that workers were fired after being injured or becoming ill, and management that seemed indifferent where it wasn't actively malicious. In one case, a jury awarded $1.5 million to several women the EEOC said were subjected to “unwelcome sexual touching and lewd, obscene and vulgar sexual remarks” by a Memphis warehouse supervisor and to a man who was fired after objecting to the harassment. According to the lawsuit, New Breed supervisor James Calhoun told one woman he wanted to “eat her pussy,” told another that he was “gone fuck you good” before warning her that if anyone went to HR they would be fired, and told a third that he wanted her to “suck his dick.”

Many of the lawsuits were settled privately, on terms covered by confidentiality agreements. In some instances, those agreements prevented anyone involved from even acknowledging that there had been a settlement, according to sources with direct knowledge of the cases. In normal circumstances they would remain obscure and forgotten, especially because New Breed itself no longer exists, having been sold to another distribution company, XPO, in 2014. They are newly relevant, though, because Louis DeJoy, the longtime CEO of New Breed, has gone on to bigger things. The major Republican donor was appointed Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service in May of this year. He has, famously, wasted no time in radically reorganizing its business.

DeJoy’s critics, including Democrats in Congress, claim he’s weakening the Postal Service, throwing it into chaos designed to make voting by mail impossible in time for the presidential election. Donald Trump has openly said that he’s intentionally withholding money from the USPS to make it more difficult for them to execute mail-in voting in November.

“They need that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said on Fox Business recently, explaining why he was starving the USPS of funds. “But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.” By August 18, faced with a massive national backlash, DeJoy said any new changes to the USPS would be postponed until after the election. 

DeJoy’s defenders—and the man himself—say he has the business acumen needed to save the post office. “DeJoy’s vast and relevant expertise presents a fresh opportunity to reform and transform the USPS,” exulted a pro-business advocacy group, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. “He brings 35 years of private sector know-how, having built New Breed Logistics from a 10-employee family-owned business to a sophisticated and technology-oriented logistics company with 9,000 employees.”

New Breed, in other words, is an integral part of Louis DeJoy’s success story, trotted out to show his business acumen and the bona fides he possesses that will enable him to turn the post office around. In glowing profiles, DeJoy has touted his success after taking over New Breed, which his father founded in Long Island in 1968 as a trucking company. DeJoy began working for the company in 1982, and became CEO the following year, according to a bio on the website for his family foundation.

“That attitude that you are the most important person is self-destructive,” DeJoy told the News and Record, a North Carolina newspaper, in 2015, referring to the then-hit TV show The Apprentice and its star, Donald Trump. If he were on the show, DeJoy said at the time, “I’d be fired.” His business, the Record reported, “relies on a team of people, many of whom have been with him for a decade.”

Allegations in court filings, though, reflect part of what his vaunted private sector know-how consists of. In their totality, the claims contend that New Breed, in various times and at various places, fostered environments where harassment, discrimination, and deeply inappropriate work behavior were accepted. Workers in these cases made allegations about everything from wage theft to being fired for filing a false workers compensation claim after a paper cut sustained on the job led to an amputation.

XPO Logistics declined to comment after being provided a detailed list of questions by Motherboard. DeJoy did not respond to a request for comment submitted through the USPS.

New Breed's issues with labor were deeply rooted. In 1997, the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, found that the company had engaged in unfair labor practices at the Compton Army Terminal in Compton, California, where it was a subcontractor. The NLRB found that in 1994, when New Breed won a bid to take over the Army Terminal from the then-current contractor, Maersk, it went out of its way to avoid re-hiring the unionized workforce then employed at the facility. The company employed extreme secrecy to make sure that unionized Maersk employees weren’t even aware of the hiring process:

It is uncontested that New Breed recruited new employees by placing anonymous advertisements in local newspapers. Responses were then screened, and promising applicants were interviewed at a local hotel. New Breed did not post notices of job openings at the army terminal;  did not tell Maersk employees of the interview process; and did not inform the Unions of the hiring process. As a result, no Maersk employees filed employment applications with New Breed, or requested interviews

In 1995, an administrative law judge recommended to the NLRB that New Breed be ordered to “reinstate the Maersk employees to their former positions, recognize and bargain with the Unions, and restore the status quo ante with respect to wages and terms and conditions of employment.” The NLRB also found that the company had specifically acted with “anti-union animus.” As the Daily Beast reported in May, testimony from New Breed employees indicated that DeJoy was personally involved in the hiring process and its end-run around the union. New Breed unsuccessfully appealed the decision in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal.

The anti-union sentiments identified by the NLRB are significant for DeJoy’s current job. The USPS is a highly unionized workforce, with workers represented through the American Postal Workers Union (for facility employees) and the National Association of Letter Carriers. (The APWU didn’t respond to a request for comment from Motherboard; it publicly opposed the policies DeJoy attempted to implement.)

The NLRB case wasn’t New Breed’s last run-in with a federal agency. In September 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued New Breed on behalf of four former employees, saying that a supervisor at the company's facility in Memphis, Tennessee sexually harassed three women and that the company fired them for complaining about it. The lawsuit also said that New Breed fired a male employee because he tried to oppose the sexual harassment. (The plaintiffs in the case could not be reached for comment.)

A temp agency called Select Staffing placed Tiffany Pete at the facility in April 2008. There, she worked under superviser James Calhoun, who could not be reached for comment, in the receiving department. The lawsuit said that Calhoun “talked about Ms. Pete’s ‘big butt’ and how good it looked in her jeans. He licked his lips and said that he wanted ‘to eat her pussy.’ He told her daily that he ‘wanted to fuck her.’” Pete, according to the lawsuit, was warned by other women that she would be fired if she complained.

After about a month, the lawsuit said, Pete called New Breed's anonymous hotline to report that Calhoun was harassing female workers, and then followed up. In the second call, she revealed her identity. The lawsuit said that not only did New Breed not investigate Pete’s claims or interview any women who worked with Calhoun, it terminated her without notice or explanation, a mere four days after her first call to the hotline. After she was fired, Pete provided a written statement to the temp agency reporting what had happened and describing Calhoun’s sexual harassment, the lawsuit said. The temp agency sent it to New Breed; only then did the company investigate and fire Calhoun.

Capricious Pearson was also placed by Select Staffing at the New Breed's Memphis facility in April 2008, and also worked in the receiving department under Calhoun, the lawsuit said. According to the filing, Calhoun “told her she owed him because he got her hired. She also heard on that day that [he] fired people who did not give him what he wanted. Within her first week, Calhoun said to her and another young lady, ‘I want to fuck, I want to fuck.’” The lawsuit said that he became more explicit, saying, ““I’m gone fuck you good,” and asking her when they were going to “hook up” and on one occasion, when Pearson was feeling sick, grabbing his crotch and saying, “I got something to knock that out.” Calhoun also touched Pearson inappropriately, “rubbing her thigh and her butt, and blowing air down her neck,” per the filing.  Pearson complained directly to Calhoun and asked him to stop; he responded by telling her that “If anyone goes to [the HR Director] on me, they will be fired.” Pearson was fired on the same date as Pete, the lawsuit said. Pearson also submitted a written complaint to Select Staffing, which sent it to New Breed Logistics.

Jacqueline Hines also worked under Calhoun in the receiving department. The lawsuit said that “on a daily basis” Calhoun told Hines how “he would ‘love to eat her pussy,’ ‘fuck her,’ ‘give her money,’ and he wanted her to ‘suck his dick.’” Hines complained to Calhoun and told him to stop; within a week, the lawsuit said, she was fired.

Christopher Partee worked in the Memphis facility, also under Calhoun, from October 2007 through May 2008, first as a temp worker and then as a permanent employee, per the filing. The lawsuit said that Partee witnessed Calhoun make sexual comments to the female employees, and that he said as much when interviewed by New Breed's regional human resources manager. After Partee spoke to HR, the suit said, Calhoun falsely accused him of stealing company time, and Partee was fired without an investigation.

According to a 2017 Associated Press article, “New Breed claimed that Partee was suspended for clocking in overtime hours without authorization. It tried to argue that the human resources official who suspended him did not know he had agreed to back up Pete’s complaint. In the end, EEOC provided evidence the official knew Pete had named Partee as a witness.”

In 2013, a jury, after a seven-day trial, found in favor of the EEOC on both the sexual harassment and retaliation charges and awarded the plaintiffs $1.5 million. New Breed appealed the verdict and mounted vigorous defenses, including the arguments that New Breed had no knowledge of the complaints before the workers were fired and that Hines was fired for attendance reasons, not for complaining about Calhoun’s harassment. In April 2015, a federal appeals court affirmed the $1.5 million settlement.

The EEOC case was not the only one in which a New Breed worker claimed they were fired after reporting harassment to human resources.

In 2010, a woman named Sulema Garza, who worked as a battery charger at a New Breed facility in Texas and could not be reached for comment, filed suit against the company and a coworker who, according to court filings, "drew and circulated drawings of Sulema with a penis and with a vagina and pinched Sulema causing Sulema to bruise." Three people, the filings said, "would pretend to strip and grab each other's breasts, groins, and buttocks in front of Sulema and would tease her. Sulema reported the harassment to her supervisor," the filings said, but it did not stop; one of the offending coworkers "would cause to be placed on Sulema's backside paper 'stickies' with the words 'Sexy' and 'Baby' written on them."

According to the filing, Garza's supervisor, who could not be reached for comment, said "'they are not listening' or words to that effect" and asked Garza to take the complaint to HR; after she did so, she was first suspended without pay and subsequently fired. An HR employee named Denise Buntaine, asked in a deposition about Garza's firing, said: "Everything was pretty much blessed out of headquarters. You did nothing without headquarters knowing about it."

“You did nothing without headquarters knowing about it."

In December 2011, according to court filings, the parties reached a settlement. Garza's lawyer, reached by Motherboard, said he would need to research the case to comment on it and would call when he had done so; he had not done so by press time.

One consistent theme in suits against New Breed involved workers claiming they were fired after being injured on the job or becoming sick.

In a 2010 case, a woman named Jeanette Pierson sued for retaliatory discharge. According to Pierson’s complaint, she sustained a paper cut at work, which she showed to her supervisor; the cut soon became infected, and in early April, she went to the emergency room and was hospitalized into May, with the infection becoming so severe that part of her ring finger had to be amputated.

In mid-May, per the lawsuit, she received a letter from New Breed stating that she was being terminated “due to violation of company policy.” When she called to ask what policy she had violated, the suit said, the company alleged that she’d made a worker’s compensation claim for a “non-work related” injury. Pierson countered that she’d gotten permission to file her first doctor’s visit under a workers compensation claim, that New Breed placed her on medical leave themselves, and that her firing was clearly retaliation for filing a workers compensation claim.

The parties agreed to dismiss the case, having resolved the dispute. Jonathan Bobbitt, who represented Pierson, told Motherboard that he could not comment on the case, but that the record showed what the record showed, and that if the outcome was vague, that was purposeful.

In 2012, alleged a 2016 suit, a man named Julian Perez was injured on the job moving a rolling cart to an elevated pallet. Perez worked for New Breed at its location at the Corpus Christi Army Depot, where the company was a subcontractor for another company, Patricio Enterprises. (Many of New Breed’s locations worked this way, as a nesting doll of contracts and subcontracts; that’s not unusual for shipping and logistics firms.)

According to court documents, Perez’s doctor said he would have been able to continue working with some restrictions. Perez returned to work on August 15, 2012, with a letter of employment from New Breed in hand laying out those restrictions.  After only a few hours, he was escorted off the premises and told his employment was terminated; he later learned, according to the documents, that New Breed and Patricio Enterprises had falsely told the military contractor who ran the Army Depot that he’d shown up to the site of his own accord, not because his employment had been reinstated. Perez first filed a complaint with the Texas Workforce Commission and then the EEOC. According to his complaint in civil court, New Breed cooperated with the EEOC on a possible settlement until the company “unexpectedly withdrew its cooperation” because it felt the penalties the EEOC was demanding were “too harsh compared to the severity of its violation.” The case was settled out of court in 2018, on terms that are not part of the public record. Perez and his attorney could not be reached for comment.

In 2013, a man named Fort Wiseman filed suit against New Breed in Mississippi. He had worked for the company for about three and a half years, according to his suit, with his main job being to move trailers into a bay for unloading. In April 2012, per the suit, he took a week of medical leave to deal with an artery issue, and a white contractor—Wiseman is Black—was brought in, making more money than Wiseman. After his return from leave, Wiseman accidentally destroyed a door—a common occurrence, he told Motherboard—and was subsequently fired. The suit claimed that this could not have been the reason for his firing because the contractor who had filled in for him had destroyed two doors without being fired, and was fired only after destroying a third door. The real issue, the suit claimed, was that when Wisemen "took medical leave, he incurred an approximately $2,000.00 in medical bill. Defendant did not pay the bill, and apparently regarded recurring medical expenses as a detriment." The suit asked for actual damages for lost income, liquidated damages because of violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act, damages for lost income, mental anxiety, medical expenses, and race discrimination.

"There was a NDA in the case," Wiseman's lawyer, Jim Waide, told Motherboard. "The way I read it, even the fact of the settlement, I can't even say it was settled. It's a strict confidentiality agreement, is all I can say."

"The work was alright when I worked there," said Wiseman, "but I think they were wrong for firing me for knocking a door off.

Wiseman's wasn't the only case where allegations of different kinds of discrimination intersected.

A worker named Ana Ramos sued in 2013. Ramos, a Spanish-speaking legal resident from Mexico who began working at the Memphis warehouse facility in 2007, was fired in 2012 when she asked for translation assistance before signing a workers compensation form written in English, the lawsuit said. She had injured her shoulder on the job and the HR manager who was handling her workers compensation claim, the suit said, refused to provide a translation or allow Ramos to consult her brother about the workers comp form; the HR manager then took her badge and subsequently issued a separation notice that Ramos had abandoned her job. “When Ms. Ramos refused to allow the Defendant to take advantage of her lack of knowledge of employment practices, it terminated her,” the lawsuit said. “Defendant would not have attempted to exploit an English-speaking, native-born American employee by asking him to sign a document that he didn’t understand or terminating him for refusing to sign.”

The parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal in 2014.

In 2012, a former New Breed employee, a shipping supervisor named Reginald Franklin, filed an EEOC complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of race and age, and then sued the company after receiving a “right to sue” notification from the EEOC. The lawsuit said he was unfairly fired and replaced with a younger white man, despite receiving satisfactory and favorable work evaluations since he began at the company in 2007. The lawsuit alleged that New Breed failed to pay Franklin the minimum overtime rate, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The two parties reached a settlement in 2014, the terms of which were not disclosed.

"I cannot discuss the settlement because we got a nondisclosure agreement," said his lawyer, Forrest Craig. "It was a mutual settlement."

"I cannot discuss the settlement."

Franklin wasn’t the only employee to sue New Breed for wage theft. In 2012, a Texas woman named Blanca Sanchez filed a lawsuit saying that she’d been hired at New Breed as a “planner/scheduler” in 2007, and paid an hourly rate plus extra for overtime above 40 years a week. In 2008, Sanchez alleged, she was “reclassified” and paid only a salary, even though she regularly worked in excess of 40 hours a week. Just as abruptly, she said in court filings, she was made “unexempt” in 2012 and given overtime again. Court records show that Sanchez’s lawyer, Brett Myers, allowed New Breed to have seven time extensions to answer her complaint; the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal in August 2013. Myers, who didn't recall how the case was settled, told Motherboard it was a fairly straightforward case, based on his memories; Sanchez, he said, was a "very nice lady who believed she was owed money."

In a 2010 employment discrimination suit a Memphis woman brought herself after receiving a right to sue notice from the EEOC, and which was ultimately dismissed years later, she listed "Race, religion, retaliation, age" as the circumstances under which she was discriminated against. On a form asking what she wanted to court to direct the defendant to do, she wrote, "That discrimination acts ends, that intimidation end."

The end of New Breed did not represent an end to claims from workers against companies where DeJoy held a high position. In 2018, the New York Times covered the story of how multiple pregnant workers at a warehouse in Memphis run by XPO suffered miscarriages after, they said, supervisors disregarded doctor’s notes recommending they not lift heavy boxes. The problems spanned companies: Four women miscarried when the warehouse was owned by New Breed, according to the Times, and two more after XPO acquired the company.

“It was the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life,” one of those women, Erica Hayes, told the Times.

DeJoy has made it clear that he views “significant” changes as central to his goals at the USPS. In a public statement issued on August 18, after he promised to pause some of his more drastic changes until after the election, DeJoy said, “I came to the Postal Service to make changes to secure the success of this organization and its long-term sustainability. I believe significant reforms are essential to that objective, and work toward those reforms will commence after the election.” (As Motherboard has reported, that’s probably not going to happen.)

But the track record of alleged abuse, sexism, racialized harassment, wage theft, and other offenses against ordinary workers is disturbing. And as the USPS grapples with an uncertain future, the most urgent question, perhaps, is whether DeJoy’s vision will match what workers have said is lurking in his company’s past.

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Postmaster DeJoy’s First Company Was Plagued By Claims of Racism, Harassment, and Abuse syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[spaceasianmillennial]

TEXAS VOTERS: While we mourn for RBG, there are four women to elect to the Texas Supreme Court

NOTE: Flipping the Texas House and four of the State Supreme Court seats this November can potentially protect Texas from Republican gerrymandering as the 2021 redistricting year comes up. If the TX legislative and State Supreme Court remain in GOP control, Texas will be redmapped in GOP favor in the next decade and beyond and shut out progressive candidates.

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Read more

Texas Supreme Court elections, 2020 info on Ballotpedia

• Amy Clark Meachum, candidate for the state Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, is a judge in Texas’ 201st District Court, where she has served since 2011. A. graduate of SMU and the UT-Austin law school, she serves as Civil Presiding Judge for all civil and family law cases in Travis County and is judicial liaison for the Administrative and Public Law Council for the state Bar of Texas. She was the recipient of the Travis County Women Lawyers Association Pathfinder award in 2015, among many other awards, and is a frequent speaker for the State Bar of Texas, Austin Bar Association and Texas Center for Legal Ethics.

• Kathy Cheng operates her own law firm in Houston where she also volunteers with the League of Women Voters and other non-profits. A native of Taiwan, she immigrated with her parents and three siblings at the age of 9 due to political uncertainty in her native land. She has degrees from LSU-Shreveport and South Texas College of Law. An advocate for her clients for nearly two decades, she understands that to achieve equality and fairness one must have a voice. She notes that there is a dire need for diversity on the state’s highest court, which for more than two decades has been comprised solely of Republicans.

• Staci Williams is a judge in Texas’ 101st District Court where she has served since 2014. She has a B.A. from Smith College and a J.D. from Georgetown University. With a wide variety of corporate and retail legal work under her belt, she has served as trial attorney and administrative judge for the EEOC, counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and a municipal judge in Dallas. Williams has also been on arbiter panels for the USPS, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

• Gisela Triana serves in Place 6 of the Texas Third District Court of Appeals, a position she has held since last year. She holds a B.A. from the University of Texas-San Antonio and a J.D. from UT-Austin. Triana has worked as Trial Division director with the Travis County Attorney’s Office and as staff attorney with the Texas Secretary of State’s Election Division. Triana has more than 24 years of experience on the judicial bench. Before serving on the Appellate Court, Triana served on every level of the Texas trial courts. Her experience makes her highly qualified to serve.

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Many Texans will also likely have minor judicial elections on their ballot. 

Check out the nonpartisan Vote411 which directly sources the profile and campaign pages from the candidates when elections are close.

However, sometimes Vote 411 misses some local candidates and races. So you’ll have to check out your County Election office and ask for a sample ballot and then Google your potential choices from there. You can also pay attention to local news to dig out obscure candidates.

[newscheckz]

Francis Atwoli: An important voice of a trade unionist

New Post has been published on https://newscheckz.com/francis-atwoli-important-voice-trade-unionist/

Francis Atwoli: An important voice of a trade unionist

To a stranger, EBS, MBS Francis Atwoli’s style can be scary as he swings on his swivel chair at the comfort of his office, amid bangs on the table, punctuated with shrieks of “Yes! Yes! Yes!” and “Shenzi!”.

Francis Atwoli, first born; was born in 6 June 1949. He is a vocal Kenyan Trade Unionist who is currently serving as the Secretary General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (Kenya) (COTU).

EBS, MBS Francis Atwoli, the Secretary General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (Kenya) (COTU).FRANCIS

He has served in that capacity, since he was first elected in 2001. Mr. Atwoli is married to three wives, Jenifer Khainza, Roselinder Simiyu and Mary Kilobi.

Unconfirmed talk claims he has about seventeen children.

In his role as a representative of the Kenyan workers, Atwoli has expressed criticism of politicians on issues such as their refusal to pay taxes on their allowances, and dabbling in corruption.

Francis-Atwoli-Secretary-General-COTU-Kenya

He has also been critical of non-governmental bodies and global institutions including the World Bank, interfering with labour disputes.

He openly supported police officers when they advocated for the creation of a police officers’ union.

Though many knows him as just the COTU Secretary General, Atwoli has won heart of many over the time, locally and internationally due to his voice of a trade unionist in a national discourse and firm decision makings when it comes to matter of workers’ he represents.

Out of his hard work and determination, Francis Atwoli has raised over different roles and ranks across the country including but not limited: 2001 to date, Secretary General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions Kenya.

1994 to date: General Secretary of the Kenya Plantation & Agricultural Workers Union, 1986 to 1994 hold the post of Director of the Central Organization of Trade Unions, Kenya.

And in 1971 to 1986 he was the Branch Secretary, Union of Posts and Telecommunication Employees as well as in 1967 to 1986, Senior Technician at Kenya Posts & Telecommunication Corporation.

In addition to his responsibilities at COTU, Francis Atwoli has the following additional elective responsibilities: The President of the Pan African Labour movement, the Organization of African Trade Union Unity, OATUU from 2014, a position he still maintains up to now.

Other positions that he currently holds are: Elected Member of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization, (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland from 2008, Elected Board Member of Training Centre of the International Labour Organization in Turin, Italy from 2011, Member, Board of Trustees at the National Social Security Fund (Kenya) (NSSF) from 2001;

Council Member of National Industrial Training Authority of Kenya (NITA) from 2001, Elected every year as Independent Non-Executive Director of the embattled National Bank of Kenya from 2003, Member of National Labour Board of Kenya from 2004, Elected Deputy President of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) based in Accra Ghana from 2005:

Elected President of Trade Union Federation of Eastern Africa (TUFEA) based in Khartoum, Sudan from 2005, Elected Executive Board Member and now serving Vice President of International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC, based in Brussels, Belgium from 2005 and Elected Chairman of East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) based in Arusha, Tanzania from 2005.

Other elective posts he held in the past consists of: Member of National Aids Control Council of Kenya (NACC) between 2001 and 2010, Elected Vice President of the former ICFTU-AFRO in Nairobi, Kenya from 2001 to 2007 and finally, Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) from 2003 to 2009.

He has also won several awards in pack of his work delivery legacy. He is a recipient of both the Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS) and the Moran of the Burning Spear, (MBS) awards in recognition of his role in Championing for Social Justice. .

As well, Masinde Muliro of University of Science and Technology awarded Atwoli with an honorary Doctorate of humane letter D. Litt.

Despite his wide celebrated success as a unionist, he has also received both praise and criticism in equal measures especially when he began openly to take wings politically.

Some see him as a foul-mouthed liability while others look at him as a straight-shooting realist. Nevertheless, both judgement will depend highly on which side of his opinion you agree or disagree with.

the Secretary General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (Kenya) (COTU), during a media briefing

Just as an African elder in the traditional setting who he is supposed to be the leader and bulwarks of the society, dispensing wisdom in measured tones and reticent dignity, Man Atwoli is already administering his elderly role in the society.

The trade unionist has lately in months made headlines by counselling political leaders, installing some as Mulembe kingpins and anoints the selected few for future State positions while at the same time predicting political doom for others.

He is also known of using punch in his messaging. For example, one time he said at a rally in Lamu County, “Wewe ni kijana mdogo, na lazima uheshimu wazee kama mimi, Maina Kamanda na Raila Odinga. Kama tungetangulia kukutana na mama yako hapa barabarani labda sisi ndio tungekuwa baba yako (You are fairly young and must therefore respect nominated MP Maina Kamanda, Opposition leader Raila Odinga and myself. If anyone among us had encountered your mother first, perhaps one of us would be your father),” at the time he was referring to DP Rutto.

Atwoli is well known to be DP Rutto’s highest critic despite him being in record saying that his, was never personal.

Though his critics call him “the fortune-teller” He has, over the years, demonstrated a rare knack of breaking and mending relations, including bonding well with one-time sworn enemies, with much ease. Only those close to him, can tell better how he manages to do so.

In relation to his mend and sored relationship; of late, Atwoli is well known to be DP Rutto’s highest critic despite him being in record saying that his, was never personal.

He is in records seven years ago on October 15, 2013, when he paid Mr. Rutto a surprise visit at The Hague in a show of solidarity with the DP, who was facing crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the 2007/2008 post-election violence.

Describing the ICC as a political court of disrepute that should not be allowed to try a sitting president (Uhuru Kenyatta) and his deputy. Surprisingly, Mr Atwoli gifted Ruto a Bible and a rosary.

A master of building bridges, Mr. Atwoli has reached out to Mulembe leaders for a couple of times to mend blockades which will enabled them to speak in one voice, gain more power by putting all their votes in one basket as well ensuring they win a presidential seat during coming general election.

Indeed, not every person will love or hate you…some politician from western Kenya who are well known to have differ with him, have been rubbed the wrong way.

These include former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa, whom he supposedly “cursed” and was eventually sacked.

, EBS, MBS Francis Atwoli, the Secretary General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (Kenya) (COTU).

Once upon a time also, he begged the Almighty to give first term MPs the wisdom to stop being misused by senior politicians “who offer them handouts so they can sing their praise songs”. An important voice of a trade unionist in a national dialogue.

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001373219/atwoli-oparanya-wamalwa-coronated-as-luhya-spokesmen#

The ordained defender of the people, as a young man, wanted to become a Catholic priest but was not successful because as the firstborn, tradition at the time demanded that he must marry and have children.

Failure, he would have been cursed not to bring bad omen to their family. A risk, Mr. Atwoli was not ready to dare.

[humanistauno]

The Woman Of Conciousness: Oprah and Her

Expedition Towards The Success

by: Jihad Lumagan

The Agony of Her Childhood

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey on an isolated farmland in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her name was supposed to be Orpah, from the Bible, but due to difficulty of spelling and pronunciation, she was known as Oprah almost from birth. Oprah Winfrey's unmarried parents separated paths soon after she was born and left her in the care of her maternal grandmother Hattie Mae Lee on the farm.

As a child, Winfrey entertained herself by blissfully "play acting" in front of an audience of their farm animals , according to her she do it everyday to boost her self-esteem, confidence and to at least forget her loneliness for the negligence of her both parents. Oprah's grandmother encouraged her love of books by teaching her how to read at the age of 2. She started by reading the Bible and soon began speaking at her church. Later, she would recite memorized verses to her grandmother's friends and she addressed and had a talk to her church congregation about "when Jesus rose on Easter Day” when she was two years old. Under the strict guidance of her grandmother, she learned to read at two and a half years old. Then Winfrey skipped pre-school after writing a note to her teacher on the first day of school saying she belonged in to the first grade. She was promoted to third grade after that year. To be with her mother when Winfrey turned six years old she was sent north to accompany her mother and two half-brothers in a Milwaukee ghetto, an extremely poor and dangerous neighborhood. Then at twelve years old she was then sent to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee due to poverty and her mother couldn’t sustain for a living. Feeling secure and satisfied for a short period she began making speeches at social gatherings and churches, and one time earned five hundred dollars for a speech. She knew then that she wanted to be "paid to talk."

Winfrey, again, was asked back by her mother, and she had to leave the safety of her father's home. The poor, urban lifestyle had its negative effect on Winfrey as a young teenager, and her problems were compounded by repeated sexual abuse, starting at age nine, by men that others in her family trusted. While babysitting Vernita's children, Oprah's 19-year-old cousin raped her, took her out for ice cream, and told her to keep it a secret. She did, but this would not be the end.

Within the next few years, she would face more abuse from a family friend as well as an uncle. She kept silent about all of it for years. Her mother worked odd jobs and did not have much time for supervision.

A turning point

In her early teens she was sent to Nashville to live with her father, who proved to be a positive influence in her life. According to Winfrey her father saved her life. He was very strict and provided her with guidance, structure, rules, and books. He required Winfrey to complete weekly book reports, and she went punished without dinner until she learned five new vocabulary words each day.

Winfrey became an excellent student, known in her school, participating as well in the drama club, debate club, and student council. In an Elks Club speaking contest, she was granted a full scholarship to Tennessee State University. The following year she was invited to a White House Conference on Youth. Winfrey was crowned Miss Fire Prevention by WVOL, a local Nashville radio station, and was hired by the station to read afternoon newscasts.

Winfrey became Miss Black Nashville and Miss Tennessee during her freshman year at Tennessee State. At age 19 Winfrey became a news anchor for the local CBS television station. Following her graduation from Tennessee State University in 1976, she was made a reporter and coanchor for the ABC news affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland. She found herself constrained by the objectivity required of news reporting, and in 1977 she became cohost of the Baltimore morning show People Are Talking. The Nashville Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) affiliate offered her a job; Winfrey turned it down twice, but finally took the advice of a speech teacher, who reminded her that job offers from CBS were "the reason people go to college." The show was seen each evening on WTVF-TV, and Winfrey was Nashville's first African American female coanchor of the evening news. She was nineteen years old and still a sophomore in college.

The Track She’s All About

After Winfrey graduated, WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, scheduled her to do the local news updates, called cut-ins, during Good Morning, America, and soon she was moved to the morning talk show Baltimore Is Talking with cohost Richard Sher. After seven years on the show, the general manager of WLS-TV, American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) Chicago affiliate, saw Winfrey in an audition tape sent in by her producer, Debra DiMaio. At the time her ratings in Baltimore were better than Phil Donahue's, a national talk-show host, and she and DiMaio were hired. Winfrey moved to Chicago, Illinois, in January 1984 and took over as anchor on A.M. Chicago, a morning talk show that was consistently last in the ratings. She changed the emphasis of the show from traditional women's issues to current and controversial (debatable) topics, and after one month the show was even with Donahue's program. Winfrey excelled in the casual and personal talk-show format, and in 1984 she moved to Chicago to host the faltering talk show AM Chicago. Winfrey’s honest and engaging personality quickly turned the program into a success, and in 1985 it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. Syndicated nationally in 1986, the program became the highest-rated television talk show in the United States and earned several Emmy Awards.

Three months later it had inched ahead. In September 1985 the program, renamed the Oprah Winfrey Show, was expanded to one hour. As a result, Donahue moved to New York City.

In 1985 Winfrey appeared in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel The Color Purple. The History of Black Women Through Drama and Song, which she performed during an African American theater festival in 1978.

Her critically acclaimed performance led to other roles, including a performance in the television miniseries The Women of Brewster Place (1989). Winfrey formed her own television production company, Harpo Productions, Inc., in 1986, and a film production company, Harpo Films, in 1990. The companies began buying film rights to literary works, including Connie May Fowler’s Before Women Had Wings, which appeared in 1997 with Winfrey as both star and producer, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved, which appeared in 1998, also with Winfrey in a starring role.

Winfrey later lent her voice to several animated films, including Charlotte’s Web (2006) and The Princess and the Frog (2009), and appeared in Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013). Selma (2014), a film about Martin Luther King, Jr., that Winfrey produced and also appeared in, was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture. She subsequently starred in the HBO TV movie The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017), portraying the daughter of a woman whose cancerous cells were, unbeknownst to her and her family, used in research that led to numerous scientific advances. Winfrey then appeared as Mrs. Which in the 2018 film adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s acclaimed 1962 sci-fi novel, A Wrinkle in Time.

Winfrey broke new ground in 1996 by starting an on-air book club. She announced selections two to four weeks in advance and then discussed the book on her show with a select group of people. Each book chosen quickly rose to the top of the best-seller charts, and Winfrey’s effect on the publishing industry was significant. Winfrey further expanded her presence in the publishing industry with the highly successful launch of O, the Oprah Magazine in 2000 and O at Home in 2004; the latter folded in 2008.

In 1998 Winfrey expanded her media entertainment empire when she cofounded Oxygen Media, which launched a cable television network for women. In 2006 the Oprah & Friends channel debuted on satellite radio. She brokered a partnership with Discovery Communications in 2008, through which the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) replaced the Discovery Health Channel in January 2011. In 2009 Winfrey announced that her television talk show would end in 2011; it was speculated that she would focus on OWN. The last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired in May 2011, and Oprah’s Next Chapter, a weekly prime-time interview program on OWN, debuted in January 2012. In 2017 it was announced that Discovery was acquiring a majority share in OWN, though Winfrey would remain involved in the channel. That year she also became a special correspondent for the newsmagazine 60 Minutes, which aired on CBS.

Winfrey engaged in numerous philanthropic activities, including the creation of Oprah’s Angel Network, which sponsors charitable initiatives worldwide. In 2007 she opened a $40 million school for disadvantaged girls in South Africa. She became an outspoken crusader against child abuse and received many honours and awards from civic, philanthropic, and entertainment organizations. In 2010 she was named a Kennedy Center honoree, and the following year she received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2013 Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She won the Cecil B. DeMille Award (a Golden Globe for lifetime achievement) in 2018, and her impassioned speech—in which she called for racial and gender equality—was widely seen as one of the ceremony’s most memorable moments.

The Limelight of Oprah

The popularity of Winfrey's show skyrocketed after the success of The Color Purple, and in September 1985 the distributor King World bought the syndication rights (the rights to distribute a television program) to air the program in one hundred thirty-eight cities, a record for first-time syndication. That year, although Donahue was being aired on two hundred stations, Winfrey won her time slot by 31 percent, drew twice the Chicago audience as Donahue, and carried the top ten markets in the United States.

In 1986 Winfrey received a special award from the Chicago Academy for the Arts for unique contributions to the city's artistic community and was named Woman of Achievement by the National Organization of Women. The Oprah Winfrey Show won several Emmys for Best Talk Show, and Winfrey was honored as Best Talk Show Host.

Production

Winfrey formed her own production company, Harpo, Inc., in August 1986 to produce the topics that she wanted to see produced, including the television drama miniseries based on Gloria Naylor's The Women of Brewster Place, in which Winfrey was featured along with Cicely Tyson, Robin Givens, Olivia Cole, Jackee, Paula Kelly, and Lynn Whitfield. The miniseries aired in March 1989 and a regular series called Brewster Place, also starring Winfrey, debuted on ABC in May 1990. Winfrey also owned the screen rights to Kaffir Boy, Mark Mathabane's autobiographical (having to do with a story about oneself) book about growing up under apartheid in South Africa, as well as Toni Morrison's (1931–) novel Beloved.

In September 1996 Winfrey started an on-air reading club. On September 17 Winfrey stood up and announced she wanted "to get the country reading." She told her adoring fans to hasten to the stores to buy the book she had chosen. They would then discuss it together on the air the following month.

The initial reaction was astonishing. The Deep End of the Ocean had generated significant sales for a first novel; sixty-eight thousand copies had gone into the stores since June. But between the last week in August, when Winfrey told her plans to the publisher, and the September on-air announcement, Viking printed ninety thousand more. By the time the discussion was broadcast on October 18, there were printed before February 1997.

The club ensured Winfrey as the most powerful book marketer in the United States. She sent more people to bookstores than morning news programs, other daytime shows, evening magazines, radio shows, print reviews, and feature articles combined. But after a six-year run with her book club, Winfrey decided to cut back in the spring of 2002 and no longer have the book club as a monthly feature.

The Talks Ahead

Although one of the wealthiest women in America and the highest paid entertainer in the world, Winfrey has made generous contributions to philanthropic organizations and institutions such as Morehouse College, the Harold Washington Library, the United Negro College Fund, and Tennessee State University.

[iasshikshalove]

Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019

Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019 GS-1 Classical language status : Why in News? A proposal for granting Classical status to Marathi Language was received from Marathi Language Department, Government of Maharashtra. The said proposal was placed before the Committee of Linguistic Experts for its consideration. What is a Classical language?  In 2004, the Government of India declared that languages that met certain requirements could be accorded the status of a "Classical Language in India".  Over the next few years, several languages were granted the Classical status, and demands have been made for other languages, including Marathi. Languages thus far declared to be Classical:  Tamil (in 2004),  Sanskrit (in 2005),  Kannada (in 2008),  Telugu (in 2008)  Malayalam (in 2013),  Odia (in 2014). Criterion for inclusion in List:  High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500–2000 years;  a body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers;  the literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community;  the classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019 Benefits As per Government of India's Resolution No. 2-16/2004-US(Akademies) dated 1 November 2004, the benefits that will accrue to a language declared as a "Classical Language" are: 1. Two major international awards for scholars of eminence in Classical Indian Languages are awarded annually. 2. A Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Languages is set up. 3. The University Grants Commission will be requested to create, to start with at least in the Central Universities, a certain number of Professional Chairs for Classical Languages for scholars of eminence in Classical Indian Languages. GS-2 Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDS) In India: A Report: According to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) report entitled “India: Health of the Nation’s States”, Contribution of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) to total death in the Country was 61.8% in 2016, as compared to 37.9% in 1990. Tuberculosis is a Communicable Disease. Causes:  Risk factors for NCDs inter alia include ageing, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, high blood pressure, , high blood sugar, high cholesterol and overweight. Steps taken by Govt. Though public health is a State subject, Central Government supplements the efforts of the State Governments.  National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) is being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM). Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019  The objectives of the programme include health promotion activities and opportunistic screening for common Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) including cancer.  Population based screening of common NCDs, i.e. diabetes, hypertension and cancers (Oral, Breast and Cervical cancer) has also been initiated under National Health Mission (NHM).  To enhance the facilities for tertiary care of cancer, the Central Government is implementing Strengthening of Tertiary Care Cancer facilities scheme to support setting up of State Cancer Institutes (SCI) and Tertiary Care Centres (TCCC) in different parts of the country.  Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) Deendayal outlets have been opened at 159 Institutions/Hospitals with an objective to make available Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases drugs and implants at discounted prices to the patients.  Jan Aushadhi stores are set up by Department of Pharmaceuticals to provide generic medicines at affordable prices. GS-3 BAN on GM CROPS Context: Bt. cotton is the only Genetically Modified (GM) crop approved in 2002 by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for commercial cultivation in the Country and, therefore, cultivation of other unapproved GM crops are banned in India. Few incidences of suspected open cultivation of Bt. brinjal and HT cotton were reported in Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. How are GM crops Controlled?  There is a well established regulatory framework for approval of GM Crops under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 in the Country.  Evaluation of each application of GM crop is done on a case-to-case basis after a thorough examination of health, environment, food and feed safety assessment studies as per prescribed guidelines, manuals and standard operating procedures stipulated by various regulatory agencies under the Rules, 1989 from time to time.  The data generated by the applicants is reviewed at every step in the development process of GM crops by various Statutory Committees under the Rules, 1989 such as Institutional Biosafety Committee, Review Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019 Committee on Genetic Manipulation and Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee. A series of guidelines and protocols have been issued by Department of Biotechnology and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change relating to Genetically Modified Organisms and product thereof as under: i. Recombinant DNA Safety Guidelines, 1990 ii. Revised Guidelines for Research in Transgenic Plants, 1998 iii. Guidelines for the Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Genetically Engineered Plants, 2008 iv. Guidelines for the monitoring of Confined Field Trials of Regulated, Genetically Engineered (GE) Plants, 2008 v. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Confined Field Trials of Regulated, Genetically Engineered (GE) Plants, 2008 vi. Protocol for Food and Feed Safety Assessment of GE crops, 2008 vii. Guidelines and Handbook for Institutional Bio-safety Committees (IBSCs), 2011 viii. Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Plants: A Guide for Stakeholders, 2016 ix. Guidelines for the Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Plants, 2016. x Risk Analysis Framework, 2016. What are GM crops?  Genetically modified crops (GM crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods.  In most cases, the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species.  Examples in food crops include resistance to certain pests, diseases, environmental conditions, reduction of spoilage, resistance to chemical treatments (e.g. resistance to a herbicide), or improving the nutrient profile of the crop.  Examples in non-food crops include production of pharmaceutical agents, biofuels, and other industrially useful goods, as well as for bioremediation. Advantages:  GM crops grown today, or under development, have been modified with various traits. These traits include improved shelf life, disease resistance, stress resistance, herbicide resistance, pest resistance, production of useful goods such as biofuel or drugs, and ability to absorb toxins and for use in bioremediation of pollution. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019  Recently, research and development has been targeted to enhancement of crops that are locally important in developing countries, such as insect-resistant cowpea for Africa and insect-resistant brinjal Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Why in News? India has ratified the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI),alongwith representatives of more than 65 countries. What is It?  The Multilateral Convention/MLI is an outcome of the OECD / G20 Project to tackle Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the “BEPS Project”) BEPS: It is a tax planning strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax locations where there is little or no economic activity, resulting in little or no overall corporate tax being paid.  India was part of the Ad Hoc Group of more than 100 countries and jurisdictions from G20, OECD, BEPS associates and other interested countries, which worked on an equal footing on the finalization of the text of the Multilateral Convention. Effect of treaty:  The MLI will modify India’s tax treaties to curb revenue loss through treaty abuse and base erosion and profit shifting strategies by ensuring that profits are taxed where substantive economic activities generating the profits are carried out.  The MLI will be applied alongside existing tax treaties, modifying their application in order to implement the BEPS measures. When will it come in effect?  The date of entry into force of the MLI for India is 1st day of October, 2019. In respect of the 22 treaty partners of India who have deposited the Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019 Instrument of Ratification on or before 30th June, 2019, entry into effect for India under MLI with respect to the DTAA shall be from financial year 2020-21 onwards. National Food Security Act: Context: The stock of foodgrains in the Central Pool as on 1st June, 2019 was 741.41 lakh tons consisting of 275.81 lakh tons of rice and 465.60 lakh tons of wheat. About NFSA:  Government of India enacted National Food Security Act (NFSA) in July, 2013 which gives legal entitlement to 67% of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas) to receive highly subsidized foodgrains.  Under the Act, foodgrain is allocated @ 5 kg per person per month for priority households category and @ 35 kg per family per month for AAY families at a highly subsidized prices of Rs. 1/-, Rs. 2/- and Rs. 3/- per kg for nutri-cereals, wheat and rice respectively.  Coverage under the Act is based on the population figures of Census, 2011.  The Act is now being implemented in all 36 States/UTs and covers about 81.35 crore persons. The annual allocation of foodgrain under National Food Security Act and Other Welfare Schemes is about 610 Lakh Metric Tons. Additional Coverage:  The coverage of the sugar subsidy scheme introduced with effect from June, 2013, after de-regulation of sugar sector, targeted Below Poverty Line (BPL) population (inclusive of poorest of poor person in the country i.e. AAY families) and all the population of North Eastern States/ Special Category States/ Hilly States and Island Territories.  Now, the NFSA is being universally implemented in the country.  There is no identified category of BPL under the NFSA. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019  However, the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) beneficiaries are clearly identified. Other Info: In order to liquidate the excess stock of foodgrain in the Central Pool, Government of India avails the available options of disposal of the excess stock of foodgrain through Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) and Export on Government-to-Government basis, as export from public stockholding is not compliant to WTO norms.” Linking of Organic Farming With Processing Why in News? Government of India has been promoting traditional farming in the States through dedicated Schemes, namely, Mission Organic Value Chain Development North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) since 2015-16. Salient features of the Scheme: Under these schemes assistance is provided to the farmers for on-farm and off-farm input production/ procurement, creation of post harvest infrastructure and connecting it through production to processing by the following ways : (i) Market linkage of producer clusters with some major agri-business, phytochemical and online grocery stores have been established under MOVCDNER. (ii) Providing incentives for infrastructure creation, storage, grading, packaging, branding, publicity, transportation, value addition, development of integrated value chain and organic fairs. (iii) Promoting formation of Farmer Producers Companies (FPCs)/ Organizations (FPOs)/ Clusters, thereby assisting member farmers to receive remunerative prices for their organic produce due to improved economies of scale, value addition and access to market for their organic produce. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019 (iv) Government has launched a www.jaivikkheti.in portal acting both as a knowledge as well as marketing platform. What is Organic Farming?  Organic farming is an alternative agricultural system which originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices.  It is defined by the use of fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting.  Biological pest control, mixed cropping and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Agricultural Landholdings Of India: Salient Observation: The number of small and marginal agricultural land holdings in the country (known as operational holdings) has registered a marginal increase in 2015-16 compared to 2010-11, according to the the tenth agricultural census. This means that there are more people who now own smaller parcels of agricultural land.  In a positive development, the percentage of land holders who are women has increased from 12.79% in 2010-11 to 13.87% in 2015-16, with a corresponding increase of 1.2 percentage points in the operated area. This shows that more and more females are participating in the management and operation of agricultural lands,” according to a press release from the Agriculture Ministry. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 03 rd and 04th July 2019  Small and marginal holdings (Below two hectares) constituted 86.21% of the total land holdings, an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to 2010-11.  However, the operated area (which includes any agricultural land, provided a part of it used for production) has shown a decline of 1.5%.  It is noteworthy that marginal, small and medium land holdings constitute the lion’s share of operated area – large land holdings account for only 9% of the total operational area.  The average size of operational holdings is highest in Nagaland (5 hectares) and lowest in Kerala (0.18 hectares). Here's a breakdown of operational land holdings and area: Classification Range (ha)2010-11 (mn.)2015-16 (mn.)% change Small <1 117.25 125.86 7.34% Medium 1-4 19.72 19.3 -2.13% Large 4-10 0.98 0.83 -15.31% The above table shows that the number of small land holdings has registered an increase compared to the previous census, while the number of large land holdings has decreased. Other Observations;  The total number of land units used for agricultural production has shown a 5% increase in 2015-16 compared to 2010-11.  The total number of operational holdings in the country has increased from 138 million in 2010-11 to 146 million in 2015-16.  Uttar Pradesh is home to the largest number of land holders, constituting 16% of the total number.

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/saudi-arabia-puts-womens-rights-activists-on-trial/

Saudi Arabia puts women's rights activists on trial

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption Amnesty International activists called for the release of activists at the Saudi embassy in Paris last week

Ten women’s rights activists have gone on trial in Saudi Arabia in a case that has raised questions about the kingdom’s human rights record.

Those who appeared included Loujain al-Hathloul, a prominent figure in the campaign to win Saudi women the right to drive. She was detained last May.

A UK-based Saudi rights organisation, ALQST, said they were charged under the country’s cyber-crimes law.

Demands for the women’s release have come from around the world.

Last week more than 30 countries at the UN Human Rights Council criticised Saudi Arabia for detaining the women.

Scrutiny of human rights in the kingdom has intensified since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October.

What happened in court?

Prominent rights activists Aziza al-Yousef, Eman al-Nafjan and Hatoon al-Fassi joined Ms Hathloul and six others in the criminal court in Riyadh on Wednesday, the court’s president confirmed.

According to ALQST, the women were charged in three separate sessions with crimes under the country’s cyber-crimes law, which can carry a sentence of up to five years in jail.

Skip Twitter post by @ALQST_ORG

The prosecution charged them with crimes under the country’s cybercrime law, based on a string of alleged confessions that the women had been in contact with human rights organisations. None of the women had access to a lawyer.

— القسط ALQST (@ALQST_ORG) March 13, 2019

End of Twitter post by @ALQST_ORG

The rights body said none of the women were granted access to lawyers, and the charges were based on “a string of alleged confessions that the women had been in contact with human rights organisations”.

Foreign journalists and diplomats were barred from attending the closed session, though family members were allowed in.

Activists’ relatives said they were told last minute that the trial had been switched to the criminal court from the Specialized Criminal Court, which was set up to try terrorism cases. The reason for the decision was not clear.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights has warned that the women might not get a fair trial and said it was “deeply concerned” about their wellbeing.

Four of the women have alleged they were tortured whilst in detention, including with electric shocks and whippings, and were sexually harassed and assaulted. The Saudi deputy public prosecutor has said the allegations are false.

Decades of human rights issues

Analysis by BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner

Saudi Arabia has an enduring problem with human rights and, sadly, the case of the detained women activists is only the tip of the iceberg.

In practices that have been going on for decades, citizens detained by the authorities can be held incommunicado, denied access to lawyers, kept in the dark about the charges against them and, most worryingly, abused during interrogation and coerced into signing confessions.

The Saudi government’s reaction is almost invariably the same – it denies all allegations of torture, it fails to punish those who carry it out, and it rejects all international criticism as “unjustified interference in its internal affairs”.

Saudi Arabia does have, more broadly, some legitimate security concerns. But putting on trial women who campaigned for the right to drive or win equal rights to men is doing it no favours in world opinion.

How did this begin?

The detentions of more than a dozen activists, including several men, began last May, shortly before the driving ban was lifted.

At the time, the public prosecutor’s office said they were suspected of harming national interests and “offering support to hostile elements abroad”. Some of the activists were later released.

Image copyright AFP

Image caption The ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom was lifted last year

Saudi officials have accused critics of interfering in the Gulf kingdom’s domestic affairs “under the guise of defending human rights”.

Last August, Saudi Arabia froze trade ties with Canada and expelled its ambassador in response to calls to release the detained activists.

At the time, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said at least 15 human rights defenders and women’s rights activists critical of the Saudi government had been arrested or detained arbitrarily since 15 May.

Also among the detained women is the Saudi-American human rights campaigner Samar Badawi, sister of jailed blogger Raif Badawi.

Ms Badawi, who was given the US International Women of Courage Award in 2012, is known for challenging Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system.

Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam” online in 2014. His wife, Ensaf Haidar, lives in Canada and has become a Canadian citizen.