#folks who read it years ago citing specific events

[unforth]

.

[whitehotharlots]

“Literal violence” and the death of the heterodox

I teach college students. This means I assign young people things to read. If the students don’t do the reading--if they consider it too boring or uninteresting or difficult--they don’t do well in the class. I update my reading lists every semester, because what was interesting to students a few years or even months ago might not click with the students of today. Sometimes students love what they’re assigned. Sometimes they hate it. And it’s very hard to tell if a piece is or isn’t going to work until I’ve assigned it and gotten feedback. 

As I’ve gotten older it has become more difficult to relate to young people. This is a completely normal part of life--nothing to be ashamed of or panic about, and I think almost everyone agrees that it’s more dignified to age gracefully than to try too hard to seem hip or with it. And so, over the past few years, as I’ve found it nearly impossible to find good, engaging writing with a broad appeal, I figured it was just because I, naturally, don’t relate to young people as much as I used to.

But lately--certainly since Trump’s ascendance, but perhaps going back as far as the early twenty-teens--mainstream writing has become incredibly predictable. Name any event and I can tell you almost word-for-word how it will be discussed in Jezebel vs. Teen Vogue vs. The Root vs The Intercept. And, increasingly, there’s been very little analytical divergence even between different publications. Everyone to the left of Fox News seems to agree upon just about everything, and all analysis has been boiled down to the repetition of one of a half-dozen or so aphorisms about privilege or validity. There is, in short, a proper and improper way to describe and understand anything that happens, and a writer is simply not going to get published if they have an improper understanding of the world. 

This, I think, is the result of our normalizing hyperbolic overstatements of harm and the danger posed by anything short of absolute fealty to orthodox liberalism. If it’s “literal violence” to express mild criticism and incredulity, people aren’t going to do so. Editors don’t want to risk accusations of “platforming fascists,” and so there’s been very little pushback against fascism being recently re-defined as “anything that displeases upper middle class Democrats.” 

Not long ago, it was commonplace on the left to celebrate the internet’s ability to allow writers to bypass the gatekeeping functions of old media. With mainstream liberalism needing a scapegoat to explain away the failures of the post-2008 Democratic party, however, the tone has shifted. 

Case in point, Clio Chang’s rather chilling piece from the Columbia Journalism Review that seeks to problematize an open platform called Substack.. Substack allows writers to publish almost whatever they want, outside of editorial control, and then charge a subscription to readers. As more and more websites and print media are being hollowed out and sacrificed to the gods of speculative capital, a large number of big-name writers have embraced this new platform. It has also allowed writers to report on stories that are objectively true but inconvenient to the Democratic establishment, such as Matt Taibbi’s admirable work debunking Russiagate bullshit. 

Chang begins with a lengthy description of Substack’s creation. She stresses that no one—not even the site’s founders and most successful writers—consider it an ideal replacement for the well-funded journalism of old. Chang focuses on one particular Substack newsletter called “Coronavirus News For Black Folks” which appears to be moderately successful (the piece cites 2000+ subscribers, and its founder is earning enough to have hired an assistant editor). Even after describing how the platform has given large grants and stipends to other newsletter run by women and people of color, the fact that this one particular newsletter isn’t as successful as others is held up as proof of the platform’s malignancy.

​“Coronavirus News For Black Folks” may be somewhat successful, but Chang implies that it rightfully should be even more successful, and that something evil must be afoot. Simple arithmetic tells us that a specialized newsletter—one pitched specifically to a minority audience and only covering one particular issue—is going to have a smaller readership than a more general interest piece. Rather than accept this simple explanation, Chang instead embraces the liberal tendency to blame a lack of desired outcomes upon the presence of evil forces.

While Chang provides a thorough overview of the current, fucked state of media and journalism, at no point does she grapple with the role that mainstream liberalism has played in abetting the industry’s collapse. This is surprising, as a quick google search suggests she generally has solid, left-wing politics. This omission reveals a problematic gap in left analysis, and bodes poorly for any hope of leftism accomplishing any material goals while the movement remains aligned with more mainstream identity politics. Even as she cogently explains the destruction of media and the hellish future that lay before writers, Chang still embraces the mystical fatalism that liberals have been leaning on since 2010 or so, when it became clear that Obama wasn’t going to make good on any promises of hope or change. She blames our nation’s horrors not elite leadership, but on the presence of people and ideas she doesn’t like. In this case, Substack is problematic because many of its writers are white and male, and some are even conservative:

When [Andrew] Sullivan joined Substack, over the summer, he put the company’s positioning to the test: infamous for publishing excerpts from The Bell Curve, a book that promotes bigoted race “science,” Sullivan would now produce the Weekly Dish, a political newsletter. (Substack’s content guidelines draw a line at hate speech.) Sullivan’s Substack quickly rose to become the fifth-most-read among paid subscriptions—he claimed that his income had risen from less than $200,000 at New York magazine to $500,000. When I asked the founders if they thought his presence might discourage other writers from joining, they gave me a pat reply. “We’re not a media company,” Best said. “If somebody joins the company and expects us to have an editorial position and be rigorously enforcing some ideological line, this is probably not the company they wanted to join in the first place.”

I’m no fan of Andrew Sullivan, but the man has spent decades building and maintaining his audience. Of course he’s going to have a larger readership than someone who is just starting out. This isn’t a sign of anything nefarious. It’s basic commonsense. But there’s no other conclusions that can be reached: things are bad because people haven’t done enough to root out badness. Things are bad because evil exists. The only way we can attempt reform is to make the evil people go away. Anyone who says anything I don’t like is evil and their words are evil and they shouldn’t be published.

Chang doesn’t make any direct suggestions for remediating Substack, but her implications are clear: equity requires censorship and ideological conformity. Providing any platform for people who are disliked by the liberal mainstream, be they too far left or too indelicate with their conservative cruelty, equates to harming vulnerable people—even when those vulnerable people freely admit to making money off the same platform. There is no room for dissent. There is no possibility of reform. The boundaries of acceptable discourse must grow narrower and narrower. Only when we free our world from the presence of the bad ones will change magically arrive.

NOTE: I wrote a follow-up to this piece that I think does a better job of articulating the points I was trying to make.

[elizllport-blog]

those Big Questions central to philosophical concepts that surround life

the universe and everything, the realms of theology and religions and the nature of deities continue to fascinate. Opinions proliferate in books, articles, videos, conversations in bars and pubs, and in fact anywhere and everywhere two or more humans are in proximity. There's the pro side; there's the anti-side. There aren't too many fence-sitters. I'm still in the anti-theist camp as the following bits and pieces illustrate.

Regarding Religion

*Even if America was founded as a Christian nation - a myth [#] perpetuated by the extreme religious Right, threesome fun especially Right-wing pseudo-'historian' David Barton who insists that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were founded on the Bible even though neither mention Christianity, God, Jesus or the Bible - that would still not of necessity mean that Christianity is the be-all-and-end-all of religious truth.

The founding fathers were deists, not theists.

*The biggest threat to any religion is its own doctrine. (via Dark Matter 2525)

*There are two types of gods, or God. There are the religious gods (or God) which collectively have numbered in the thousands each with their own specific set of traits. Zeus is but one example. Then there is the philosophical concept of a god or God. 1000 theological philosophers would come up with 1000 variations on the theme of what a deity should be like. No matter which way you slice and dice things, you can find a deity to match your philosophical or theological worldview. What we need is for god, God or the gods to actually show their damn faces and settle these ever ongoing theological and philosophical issues once and for all.

Of course maybe there are no gods, god or God.

Then too the gods, god or God would have been just E.T. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic if you aren't in possession of that technology or don't understand that it even is technology. A flashlight to a human being who lived 50,000 years ago would be something supernatural.

Regarding Religion vs. Science

*The good thing about science is that it remains true regardless of whether or not you believe it.

*Another illustration of the double standards that religion adopts is that if science should support their beliefs, then it is a thumb's up and science rules, OK? Of course if that exact same science refutes their beliefs, then it is an absolute thumb's down. For example, if one finds a piece of wood that might have some connection to Noah's Ark and carbon dating dates that wood to the time frame associated with Noah's Ark, well that's a thumb's up. Of course when carbon dating doesn't support a suitable age for the Shroud of Turin, well of course carbon dating is totally unreliable and lacks credibility so it's a thumb's down. Sorry True Believers, you can't have it both ways.

Regarding Faith & Belief

*Say you walk into a bar and tell all and sundry loud and clear that you believe in the actual existence of the following: the Creature from the Black Lagoon; the Cyclops; dragons; the Easter Bunny; fairies at the bottom of your garden; human-alien hybrids; an invisible magic man in the sky; phantom trains; Santa Claus; spectral hounds; talking snakes; Thor; the Tooth Fairy; unicorns and the walking dead (zombies). In nearly all cases, you'd be given rather strange looks and avoided like the plague as a nut case. I said "nearly" all cases. What's the exception to the above, the one example where nobody would think you odd at all? If you answered "an invisible magic man in the sky" you'd be correct! [Actually you might also get brownie points for dragons, talking snakes, unicorns and zombies since they are all cited in the Bible.]

*It is much easier to be told what to think than to actually think for yourself. That's the whole beauty of religion. (via Dark Matter 2525)

Regarding Murder

*Why is murder wrong? Either murder is wrong because it is independently, fundamentally, intrinsically wrong, or else is murder is wrong just because God says it is wrong. Let's examine the latter first.

God Says Murder Is Wrong 1: If God says murder is wrong, then God is a total hypocrite since God Himself murders. God's philosophy with respect to murder is do as I say, not as I do. That's God of the double standard. If it's not murder when God does it, then isn't this a case of special pleading? In any event, this theological paradox then suggests that if murder is wrong just because God says it is wrong, even though God murders, then all that just means is that morality is arbitrary on the grounds that it is different strokes for different folks (and deities).

God Says Murder Is Wrong 2: Many argue that if God created you then God has the right to uncreate you (i.e. - murder you). Of course God may have started the human race off by creating Adam and Eve, but God didn't create any other human and certainly didn't create me and so therefore has no moral right to kill them or me.

God Says Murder Is Wrong 3: Most theists would say that murder is against God's nature (in which case these theists haven't read the Bible), but then what gives these theists the authority to decide what God's nature should be? In any event, if murder is against God's nature, was it God Himself who determined what His nature would be or was it determined by circumstances beyond God's control?

God Says Murder Is Wrong 4: If God murders, then that murder / those murders are all done according to God's Master Plan and God's Master Plan is ultimately good. Of course theists are just inventing things here, like a Master Plan and further that any Master Plan of God must by definition be good. That logic doesn't follow. Hitler had a Master Plan and look how that turned out!

Murder Is Really Wrong 1: If murder is wrong because it's really wrong, and wrong whether or not God exists or whether in fact God says murder is wrong, then morality doesn't require God which would mean God isn't a requisite of or for morality.

Murder Is Really Wrong 2: On the other hand, if there really is no God then murder is unjustifiable (because there is no God setting us a bad example) and thus highly consequential.

Murder Is Really Wrong 3: Well the non-believer doesn't believe in an afterlife which means their current life is all they get. So, a) if they murder someone then their only shot at life is ruined by spending time in prison or being executed; b) by taking someone's life they would believe that they had shortened that person's life forever - the ultimate violation. Empathy, whether for self or for the victim, would make that act of murder therefore a highly untenable proposition.

[go-redgirl]

Catholic Bishop: Planned Parenthood ‘Evil Organization’, ‘Founded by a Racist’

The Catholic Bishop of Knoxville has decried the hypocrisy of those who condemn the use of blackface years ago yet still support Planned Parenthood, founded to purge the world of “inferior races.”

“I just don’t understand in this world of political correctness and so many attacking others because of blackface in the past,” tweeted Bishop Rick Stika Friday. “The folks like the Democratic Party support Planned Parenthood. It was founded by a racists [sic] who who wanted to eliminate people of color and the poor.”

Bishop Stika, who has been unafraid to weigh on various sides of a number of social issues, eluding easy pigeonholing, said that he was appalled that Hillary Clinton accepted the Margaret Sanger award, given Sanger’s well-known racism.

“This evil organization gives an award named for is racists [sic] founder that Hillary received and she said she was proud to receive it,” the bishop said.

In March 2018, a Planned Parenthood student group at the University of Florida hosted an event to discuss the racist roots of the organization as well as the eugenics of founder Margaret Sanger.

“Come join Planned Parenthood Generation Action for a panel discussion on the racist roots of Planned Parenthood during Black History Month,” read the Facebook announcement of the event bearing the title “Decolonizing Sexual Health.”

“Our subject is addressing the racist roots of the birth control movement, specifically pertaining to the influence of eugenics,” the post continued. “Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood’s founder, is a controversial figure in this conversation because despite her devotion to reproductive rights, she also had beliefs, practices, and associations with eugenics that we acknowledge and denounce, and work to rectify today.”

Organizers said that the event was meant “to open a conversation about the decolonization of sexual health and how resources are disproportionally [sic] inaccessible to folks based on demographics.”

According to a number of Planned Parenthood critics, however, the problem is not the inaccessibility of abortion services to minority communities, but rather its opposite: the targeting of minority communities — which seems to fit with the original racist aims of the organization.

The racist practices of Planned Parenthood continue to this day, since the abortion giant continues to target black and Hispanic babies for abortion by the placement of their abortion clinics overwhelmingly in minority neighborhoods.

Just prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a group of prominent black Christian clergy and intellectuals wrote an “open letter” to Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, denouncing her complicity in America’s abortion crisis, which they said has had a “catastrophic impact” on the black community.

“Black babies are dying at terrifying rates,” stated the 26 black leaders, including eight bishops. “Don’t black lives matter?”

In their letter, the leaders noted that the rate of abortion among blacks is far higher than among whites, with “365 black babies aborted for every 1,000 that are born.”

“Blacks account for roughly 38% of all abortions in the country though we represent only 13% of the population,” they said, citing statistics that have led black Christian leaders to speak of a “black genocide” occurring at the hands of abortionists.

Abortion “is the deliberate destruction of a human life in its most vulnerable state,” they said, contrary to both natural law and biblical principle, held by the “vast majority of black churches.”

Among white women in America, there are 138 abortions for every 1000 live births; among blacks, there are 501 abortions for every 1000 births. This means that blacks are aborted at 3.6 times the rate of whites in the United States.

For these reasons, the Rev. Clenard Childress, pastor of the New Calvary Baptist Church in Montclair, N.J, has fought to have the NAACP reverse its 2004 decision to endorse abortion.

Childress has stated that “the most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.”

Calling abortion in America “racist genocide,” Childress said that since 1973, after the Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand, 13 million African-American babies have been put to death through abortion.

While abortion is the leading cause of death for all Americans, it is even more so for the black community, and accounts for more deaths than any disease or homicide.

READ MORE STORIES ABOUT:

Faith Health Politics Abortion Bishop Rick Stika black face Catholic Church Hillary Clinton Margaret Sanger Planned Parenthood racism

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION:  The awful news is, Elizabeth Warren fought to keep the funding for Planned Parenthood open.  So, she is just as responsible for contributing to supporting Planned Parenthood in an awful manner.  

Just check out some of the proposal that she’s made in the past all the way up until recent.  

In fact you can check some of her proposals out on C-Span trying to defend all the money/funds that were going to ‘Planned Parenthood’ to the extent that it was absolutely embarrassing.  

[junker-town]

MLB is not the authority on a black player’s ownership of the N-word

The league had two potential motives for suspending Anderson, and neither are a good look.

On April 19th, Major League Baseball suspended Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson for one game, following his emphatic bat flip against Kansas City Royals pitcher Brad Keller two days earlier. Keller had retaliated by hitting Anderson with a pitch in his next at bat and both benches cleared, and although Anderson was not involved in any pushing or shoving, he was ejected.

At first it seemed that MLB had suspended Anderson for violating silly, unwritten rules of the game with his bat flip. But in reality, the subsequent reasoning was even more ludicrous. Anderson, who is black, was suspended for using the N-word towards a white player:

During the benches-clearing incident, White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson called Royals pitcher Brad Keller a "weak-ass f---ing n-word," sources tell ESPN. Anderson, who was hit by a Keller pitch one at-bat after he hit a home run and flipped his bat, was suspended for one game.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 19, 2019

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has been suspended for one game because of language used during the benches-clearing incident with Kansas City, sources familiar with situation tell ESPN. Brad Keller, who hit Anderson with a pitch, has been suspended for five games, per sources.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 19, 2019

When asked about the situation, Anderson took the high road — which black folks are asked to do at a ridiculous clip — and kept things moving. Ultimately, there were two potential motives for MLB to apply a suspension, and neither are good for the league as a whole.

The first is the possibility that MLB used Anderson’s words to suspend him because they felt using his bat flip would be a bad look. The league has made a specific push to #LetTheKidsPlay and “rewrite the rules” in an effort to make the game more fun. Major League Baseball ran this ad last October, which was a breath of fresh air at the time:

Baseball isn’t some respectable, Please-Remain-Quiet-While-The-Game-Is-In-Play event like tennis or golf. Yet for whatever reason, many years ago it was decided that everybody’s feelings in baseball were so fragile that one couldn’t celebrate success without expecting a fastball on the body in return. If Gordon Hayward can get dunked on in his hometown on Easter Sunday while Myles Turner yells in his face and not swing on him, these pitchers don’t need to be pegging hitters for sending their shit into outer space and celebrating it.

The second motive for a suspension is simply that MLB — a league that has a dark history in its treatment of black players, and a glaring lack of current ones — believed for some reason they could be the authority on a black person’s ownership of the N-word.

MLB isn’t the first league to punish black players using the word. NFL officials can hand out 15-yard penalties if they hear it in games, with the two most notable cases being Colin Kaepernick and Louis Murphy in 2014. In 2013, the NBA fined Matt Barnes for an in-game tweet that read, “I love my teammates like family, but I’m DONE standing up for these n---as! All this s--- does is cost me money.” The league also cited “inappropriate language” in its reasoning for the fine. Andre Iguodala was also fined for using the word with the media in 2017.

The rules of who can and cannot say the N-word are a pretty cut-and-dry thing. Many try to reduce the argument into the simplest terms of “if it’s a bad word, nobody should be able to say it.” And that sounds great — it really does. If the world were a simple place, then yeah, nobody would use bad words, especially ones that are “racially charged.”

However, there are hundreds of years of black history to take into account that create levels in how the word can be used today.

It’s been turned into a term of endearment when used by black folks; repurposed to create affection where there once was pain. (Though not everybody within the black community agrees with that particular usage.) But for white people, their relationship with the word should be clear: It’s not for them to say, and it’s not for them to dictate how black people use it, even if they feel left out because they can’t say it too.

The great Ta-Nehisi Coates has one of the easiest ways for even the most stubborn to understand this concept. In November of 2017 he explained it as a basic law of how human beings interact while speaking at an event at Evanston Township High School in Illinois.

Coates explained how his wife calls him “honey” because of their relationship. But if a random woman on the street walked by and called him that, it would be a problem.

In another example, mirroring the N-word more closely, Coates says, “My wife, with her girl friend, will use the word ‘bitch’. I do not join in. You know what I’m saying? I don’t do that. I don’t do that. And perhaps more importantly, I don’t have a desire to do it.”

Professional sports leagues shouldn’t be the arbiters on how black athletes use the word. Leagues are made up of mostly white owners, front offices, and coaching staffs, and they aren’t representative of the black players who play the game. In Anderson’s situation, MLB could have left him alone and moved on from the incident entirely. Instead they suspended Anderson, who just so happened to deliver one of the most defiant bat flips ever (in April, too). They incorrectly chose to be an authority on a black player’s language.

No matter what you believe to be the ultimate motive for the suspension, Major League Baseball needs to do better. That’s especially the case if they want to improve their longstanding strained relations with black players in the league.

The issues brought to light by Tim Anderson’s suspension can and should be fixed. On the issue of “letting the kids play,” it’s clear that the concept is still not truly accepted and embraced. It will be an issue that will take multiple generations to tackle, and will require work from the league itself on down to the coaches and players.

But how the MLB chooses to handle use of the N-word can be fixed immediately, by understanding that they can’t tell a black player how and when to use a word that has been yielded as a weapon against his race for centuries.

In a league that’s still mostly white, in the same week as Jackie Robinson Day, Major League Baseball played themselves.

[davidmann95]

The Current Superman History

So Superman: that guy’s had a wonky time of things in the last few years. He was rebooted, he was rebooted within the reboot by a five-dimensional bureaucrat with a grudge, he died, he was replaced by his own past continuity self, they merged...dude lives a hectic life. And now he’s got a whole new one, as outlined in Action Comics #977 and the new #978.

I’m putting this under a spoiler cut, since some will want to just read the books; I know my dad for instance doesn’t want to know anything until he can get his hands on the comics themselves. But Twitter-pal Kyle Pinion mentioned he was hoping someone would put together a timeline/overview, and I figure that could be useful, especially since there’ve been some important details only shared so far in interviews and minor online statements, or in other Superman Family titles rather than Action or Superman. If you’re perhaps not reading the Superman books right now, but you’re curious what the background of this new-ish version of the character is for whenever you hop back in, here’s the newest edition of Superman 101.

(Ultimately pretty minor) SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

(Note: I’ll be keeping this up-to-date with relevant information post-Reborn via flashback stories and such.)

The New History

* Krypton is still where he comes from - no bold new revelations on that front. Aesthetically it’s a blend of the Silver Age, New 52 and Byrne takes, with maybe a touch of Birthright thrown in; several Silver Age elements like the Vrang occupation of the planet, green comets as bad omens, and the Day of Truth have been restored, and Zod and Xa-Du are known to have been prisoners of the Phantom Zone (the former may or may not have been Jor-El's friend this time around, given in the flashback Jor-El didn’t seem to react to the news of his imprisonment). Bar-El and Lilo went off-planet ala All-Star Superman, but spaceflight was generally forbidden; Jor-El attempted to convince the Science Council to build arks to escape Krypton's destruction, but as "they'd rather count their riches" they ignored his warnings both out of disbelief and the thought that even if it was true they had years to spare. Kal-El and Kara Zor-El were launched into space right before Krypton blew up, as it’s wont to do; Argo City lived on in space for awhile before succumbing to Red Kryptonite poisoning. In all this, Rogol Zaar, who claims to have been responsible for Krypton’s destruction, seems to have been involved to some extent along with the group of powerful galactic figures known as The Circle, and it seems Jor-El survived to become ‘Mr. Oz”.

* Additionally, as far as Superman’s pre-birth background goes, the existence of Superman in the current continuum is also owed to Ahl, the God of Superheroes. Descending from Final Heaven, he touched down on Earth in prehistoric times (in the spot that would eventually become Mount Justice) and imprinted the Earth with the concept of justice, and the platonic concepts that would become Batman, Wonder Woman, and most directly descended from himself, Superman, who would then go on to give rise to all other superheroes. On an additional metaphysical note, Doomsday Clock specifies that the current Superman is indeed the Kal-El of the Golden Age, old-school Earth One, and post-Crisis, who has simply shifted over the years in response to cosmic upheaval rather than being a full-fledged new individual.

* The Kents found Clark in the field, and like in Byrne’s Man of Steel, they decided to pass him off as their own biological child to avoid legal complications. He pretty much lived the childhood we saw in Secret Origin; there are panels from that homaged showing him hanging out with Pete Ross and Lana Lang (Pete’s arm broken from the one time Clark tried playing football), and a red-haired Lex Luthor living there back then with a jar full of Kryptonite he was studying. Also as in Secret Origin he first realized he could fly when saving Lana Lang from a tornado. His life takes a turn though when his parents die the night of his senior prom, same as they did in Grant Morrison’s Action Comics.

* After travelling the world for awhile he settled down in Metropolis, where after revealing himself to the world in the classic costume, Lois named him Superman. His debut essentially went like this:

There’s a couple differences bringing it closer to how it happened in Secret Origin, but overall this is closer to the movie than that, at least in tone. And while he did not appear in this comic, presumably that dude was still yelling that that was a bad out-fit just off-panel.

* He met Batman at some point, and together they met with Wonder Woman shortly after her public debut (oddly in his Reborn suit, but that can be checked up to some timeline discrepancies given the current history shifts for both him and Diana, or more likely a simple continuity error). All prior to the formation of the Justice League, meaning that however that went, it was probably pretty different from Johns and Lee’s Justice League: Origins given he already knew at least a couple people there.

* He had a whole dang bunch of adventures. It’s clear vast swaths of Silver and Bronze Age continuity are back in play (though many must have happened in radically different forms, such as those involving Supergirl or his own now-nonexistent time as Superboy): the Supermobile - yes, that Supermobile, the flying Superman car with fists he used to fight Amazo that one time - made a cameo in Supergirl #8, a Superman Robot that looked exactly like him drove him, Nightwing, and Batman to the latter’s bachelor party, numerous Kryptonians native to Earth-One with very specific adventures attached to them were citizens of Kandor, and assorted Silver/Bronze Age Superman-associated folks are members of the space team Superwatch. It’s made clear he went through pretty much all the major 80s/90s stories, culminating in him getting engaged to Lois, telling her who he is (though he figures she already knew), his death by Doomsday and return (which is where Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, and apparently Steel showed up), and him getting married to Lois.  We also got a look at the Justice League trophy room in the second chapter of The Button, which include artifacts such as the Worlogog and Prometheus’ suit indicating a lot of Grant Morrison’s years on JLA are canon (as emphasized by the appearance of White Martians in the current Justice League), as well as the armor he wore as Darkseid’s brainwashed servant in the finale of Superman: The Animated Series, and elements from DC One Million have been repeatedly referenced. All three major Crisis events have been referenced as occurring in some form. Additionally, it has been confirmed that at some point Luthor served as President of the United States.

* At some point, he switched over to the New 52 armor costume, presumably going through many of those adventures with the caveat of being married to Lois rather than single or dating Wonder Woman (though he changed costumes prior to those adventures, as he was wearing that suit by the time of Batman: Hush). Lois learned she was pregnant and managed to surprise him with the news; nine months into the pregnancy their apartment was bombed by arms smugglers Lois had pissed off, and it was decided it would be safest to conduct the delivery at the Fortress with Batman and Wonder Woman on-hand to insure there would be no intrusions. While Batman waited grumpily standing guard outside, Diana ended up helping with the delivery since she was close with both Lois and Clark by this point (though she and Clark were never a couple).

*  Afterwards Lois and Clark took a sabbatical to California, living under the Lois and Clark comics’ status quo for a little while to keep Jon safe, with Superman ducking out of the public eye and League membership, working quietly in the black costume with the beard from that series; he also established a secondary Fortress in the Himalayas, while Lois wrote several famous books exposing corruption as "Author X". Once things calmed down after something like a few months to a year-ish, Lois and Clark returned to work (though they apparently didn’t move back to Metropolis, raising Jon somewhere else before recently moving to Hamilton, commuting by bullet train) and Superman to active duty, where he went through more New 52 adventures; Perry White was named Jon’s godfather. At some point after this, the current post-Reborn suit was permanently adopted until recently returning to his classic look (he also apparently wore the original Rebirth suit, since a version of Bizarro is still wearing it).

* No more than a year or two ago, Kara arrived on Earth. The events of her New 52 series are still to be read as canon, including for instance her time as a Red Lantern, with the exception of her involvement in the events of Final Days since there’s only been one Superman.

* While it’s not spelled out yet (assuming it ever will be), many of the events of the last year of the New 52 seem to have happened to him in some form, with both Truth and Final Days of Superman being cited editorially in New Super-Man in an issue featuring him post-Reborn; he has the Super-Flare, Supergirl says in her book that he was gone for a time, he mentions having power troubles to New Super-Man and fought a villain from Truth during the encounter, Dick Grayson recalls teaming up with him in his t-shirt and jeans look to fight Blockbuster, solar energy was extracted from him to create New Super-Man, Superwoman existed in some form, and Mxyzptlk pretended to be Clark Kent.

* From the “pre-Flashpoint Superman in the New 52 universe” period: most of the events from Dan Jurgens' Action Comics are canon; Doomsday was still a prisoner of Mr. Oz, and Luthor until recently continued to act as the Superman of Metropolis under a truce with his counterpart. Virtually all of the events of Tomasi/Gleason's Superman are canon, specifically the fight with the Eradicator, the excursion to Dinosaur Island on Earth 21, the run-in with Frankenstein and Bride, and the events of Multiplicity. His guest appearance in Deathstroke, his roles in Justice League and Trinity, and Zod’s role in Suicide Squad remain intact. The events of Reborn still happened, though his memory of it is blurred; as of Supergirl #8, he’s aware he was split into two Supermen for an extended period and was recently reformed.

Fine, Great, So What’s Actually His Deal Now?

In spirit, we’re back to the Pre-Flashpoint Superman, specifically I’d say the one before that but after Infinite Crisis: Secret Origin is clearly dominant (though not exclusive) as the narrative of his childhood and early days as Superman, a lot of Silver/Bronze ideas are back in play, and while most of Byrne and Triangle Years happened, he probably didn’t kill anybody in a pocket universe, and he didn’t come out of a birthing matrix. The change - along with Ma and Pa passing earlier - is that after a certain point (apparently before the period equivalent to his mid-2000s adventures) he changed his costume and eventually had some New 52-inspired adventures, and he and Lois ended up having a son who’s now ten and setting out on his own adventures as Superboy. He and the family have moved from a farm in Hamilton County back into Metropolis. Over the years, he’s fought Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid, Metallo, Parasite, Bizarro, Mxyzptlk, Zod, Toyman, Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, Manchester Black, Mongul, Conduit, Imperiex, Blanque, Silver Banshee, Ulysses, and Xa-Du, among others, so pretty much all the greatest hits. The Fortress is back to having a lot of fun tchotchkes in it again too; the Supermobile’s there, crystal computers that let him Matrix-jack into hologram archives of his life and Krypton’s, Kelex is there, according to a recent Batman arc he’s using the dwarf star key from All-Star, there’s even a full-size train he and the family sometimes have dinner in. In the present though, Lois is currently in Chicago pursuing a story on her own (though she and Clark continue their relationship as normal given his ability to divide his time) and Jon has aged several years due to a time travel mishap on a space trip with Jor-El, and as the original Fortress was destroyed by Rogol Zaar, Superman moved everything to a new location in the Bermuda Triangle.

In terms of the larger world, Supergirl landed on Earth about a year ago, and for awhile lived a teen version of her TV show status quo, but is now in space with Krypto attempting to ascertain the truth of Rogol Zaar’s claims. Lex Luthor, recently semi-reformed though rapidly backsliding, went through events on a recent adventure with the Justice League that convinced him that his more savage and selfish instincts are in fact in accordance with a higher order and destiny for humanity over the supposed folly of Superman’s altruism, forming the Legion of Doom to realize this philosophical ‘breakthrough’ and destroy the League. The New Super-Man of China, Kenan Kong, remains in operation. And Conner Kent has returned with a new incarnation of Young Justice, though even he is unaware at this time how he fits into the current history of Prime Earth.

Which Stories Count?

Stories that definitely happened, whether near-identically to the original telling, or in very different forms to fit the new continuity framework

Secret Origin, And Then There Were Three... in Wonder Woman, The Case of the Second Superman, The Power-Boy from Earth, Superman’s Big Brother!, some of the old Silver Age Superman Robot stories given their presence, The Kents’ Second Super-Son!, The War Between Jimmy Olsen and Superman!, The Super-Family of Steel!, The Lois Lane Doll!, The Superman from Outer Space!, The Second Supergirl!/The Supergirl of Two Worlds!, The Conquest of Superman!, Supergirl’s Secret Enemy!, The Mystery of the Alien Super-Boy, Superman’s Super-Courtship!, The Super-Suitor of Soomar!, Duel of the Super-Duo!, Superboy’s Lost Identity!, Have I Ever Told You the Story About When I Saved Superman? in Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye, Mystery Mission To Metropolis!, It’s A Bird...It’s A Plane...It’s A Supermobile!, For The Man Who Has Everything, Crisis on Infinite Earths, To Laugh and Die in Metropolis, Exile, The Day of the Krypton Man, Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, The Death of Superman, Reign of the Supermen, The Death of Clark Kent, The Wedding Album, Strange Visitor (from Cursed Comics Cavalcade), Superman Red/Superman Blue, Grant Morrison’s JLA, DC One Million, Legacy (of Superman: The Animated Series), Driver’s Seat and Suprema Est Lex from Action Comics Special, Luthor’s time as President, Our Worlds At War, Batman: Hush, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, The Return of Bruce Wayne, The Curse of Superman, The Ghost in the Fortress of Solitude, Lois and Clark, the New 52 Supergirl series, Men of Tomorrow, Justice League of America: Power and Glory, Truth, Darkseid War, Final Days of Superman, DC Comics: Rebirth, most if not all Rebirth-era appearances and Superman-family titles, Superman Reborn and forward.

Stories that while maybe not directly referenced are implied or are exceedingly likely to be canon

The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk!, The Name Game, and the covers of Superman Unchained (images from these are used to illustrate stories Clark told Jon, and given Jon still refers to Mxyzptlk as ‘Ruppletat’ in accordance with that, these would seem to still be canon by implication), Dominus Effect (Sharon Vance, aka Strange Visitor, is back in canon, her origin beginning here), Of Thee I Sing and JLA/Hitman (Hacken exists and is missing a hand in accordance with Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium), What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way? (while Manchester Black had other stories and a New 52 revamp, this is of course his most significant story), Superman at the End of Days (the death of Ma and Pa Kent is identical to how Vyndktvx organized it in this arc, and as lead-in stories The Curse of Superman and The Ghost In The Fortress of Solitude are both some degree of canon, as is the native Earth 45 of major villain Superdoomsday, it’s likely this happened), H’El on Earth and Krypton Returns (Shay Veritas’s presence, the confirmed existence of the Oracle, and the assured canonicity of Supergirl’s New 52 run imply H’El was likely around).

Stories that definitely didn’t happen any way we would recognize them

Last Son (the current version of Lor-Zod bears no resemblance to Christopher Kent and was never adopted by Lois and Clark), all Conner Kent Superboy stories for now (his debut in Reign of the Supermen has been omitted), Superman and the Men of Steel/The Boy Who Stole Superman’s Cape (of all modern origins, this take is most explicitly no longer any form of canon), Byrne’s Man of Steel (numerous details contradicting the major elements of this between Krypton, Luthor, Superman’s debut, etc.), New Krypton (Zor-El was still recently alive and a version of Cyborg Superman, with the fate of Argo City being significantly different), all Legion of Superheroes stories, Return To Krypton and any stories of a similar concept (Superman’s holographic ‘trip’ to Krypton in The New World is clearly framed as the first time he has seen his homeworld or biological parents), Identity Crisis (this has been repeatedly clarified as having not happened), Superman/Wonder Woman.

[whitejamesweb-blog]

Role of Music in Human Life

Music is one of the greatest creations of humankind in the course of history. It is creativity in a pure and undiluted form and format. Music plays a vital role in our daily life. It is a way of expressing our feelings and emotions. Music is a way to escape life, which gives us relief in pain and helps us to reduce the stress of the daily routine. It helps us to calm down, an even excites us in the moment of joy. Moreover, it enriches the mind and gives us self confidence.

Music surrounds our lives at different moments of lives, whether we hear it on the radio, on television, from our car and home stereos. Different kinds of music are appropriate for different occasions. We come across it in the mellifluous tunes of a classical concert or in the devotional strains of a bhajan, the wedding band, or the reaper in the fields breaking into song to express the joys of life. Even warbling in the bathroom gives us a happy start to the day. Music has a very powerful therapeutic effect on the human psyche. It has always been part of our association with specific emotions, and those emotions themselves have given rise to great music.

The origins of Indian music can be traced back to the chanting of the Sama Veda nearly 4,000 years ago. The primacy of the voice, and the association of musical sound with prayer were thus established early in the history of Indian music. Today, music is available for us in different forms and the choice for music varies from person to person just as the reading choices vary from one another. There is folk music, classical music, devotional music, instrumental, jazz, rock music, pop music, Hindi movie songs and many more.

In the modern world, Music has gained an honorable designation of 'HEALING WITHOUT MEDICINE'. Doctors feel that music therapy has been helping them in treating many people with problems like dementia, dyslexia depression and trauma." Many children with learning disability and poor coordination have been able to learn, and respond to set pieces of music. Many people with genetic disability have found new light in the form of music.

Dance critic Ashish Khokar cites an experiment as proof: "Music is produced from sound, and sound affects our sense perception in many ways. Even fish in an aquarium were once made to listen to different kinds of music and it was found that their movements corresponded with the beat of the music. Mind you, fish do not hear, they only felt the vibrations of the sound through water. So you can imagine what a profound effect sound and music might have on the human mind."

Anand Avinash, founder of the Neuro Linguistic Consciousness workshop who has researched music therapy says,"the mystics and saints from ancient to modern times have shown how music can kindle the higher centers of the mind and enhance quality of life." Mantras, or chants used in the West, repeated monotonously, help the mind to achieve a sense of balance. A combination of the sounds in Sanskrit mantras produce certain positive vibrations and elevate the mind to a higher lever of consciousness.

We all know that meditation cleanses the system of its negative energies and vibrations. And music is a powerful aid to meditation. In many meditation workshops, music is used to make people more aware of their moods and feelings. People are made to lie down and empty their minds and then listen to the music which is systematically changed so that they can fit through different emotions and state of consciousness.

Many people also believe that any music you respond to positively will work for you, regardless of its content. Thus, even pop music might work wonders for you.

Music affects all of us in some way or the other. It also is the most common interest of many people. People who love music, listen to it while traveling, reading, meditation, walking, some even have soft music while working in their busy routine. It helps them to relax and escape from the stress of our day-to-day lives. It can transport us to another time or place and it is a great feeling of seeing or doing or experiencing something different. People have special music corner for themselves and some people give importance to listening in silence and some people love to read with light music and even some people love listening to music before sleeping. Many people love listening to music in the bathroom because they feel it is one of the few rooms in the home where privacy is routinely respected. Some people also love to sing in the bathroom and are called 'bathroom singers'. Music has now become a part of our life as it serves different purposes for each one of us.

It serves as an entertainment tool. For instance, on an occasion or event, music plays a vital role that makes the event to be lively for the people. Similarly, it creates a cordial relationship among the people.

Moreover, it serves as a tool for corrective measure. Music tells the people on the habit that is uncultured so that such behavior can be for better. Furthermore, it is an agent that is used to educate people. Music can easily convey a message to the friends and enemies.

It serves as a tool for settling a dispute between two or more people. It often helps to put an end to disagreements after listening to related meaningful songs. Music is played for the group to show harmony among them.

Music also serves as a source of income to human life. It is a profession of particular classes of people like lyricist, playback singers, music directors, musicians, musical instrument players, djs etc.

Lastly, music serves as a message or symbol that indicates the occurrence that is going on in a particular place or event. For instance, If bad occurrence happen in a particular place the type of music played their will show the audience or listens what happened in that event. The type of music played will justify to the listeners what actually going on there.

White James Born and bred from the Westside of Chicago, Blanco | White is one of the hottest and most sought after music artists and music producers in the Midwest. Find out best music by clicking on Blanco White James.

[squatchdetective]

Hoax-Spotting

Get your reading glasses out folks!!!

Something I study is criminology and psychology behind crimes. In this, I have observed a number of hoaxing characteristics and psychology behind them are very similar. Hoaxing is not necessarily a crime but the reason why it shares many common traits with certain criminal activities is that it relies heavily upon deception, concealment, misdirection and the air of trying to get away with something.

A great article came out a few years ago, “5 telltale signs of an online hoax”.

The article has some “real world” examples which I will provide if you wish in the future involving the Bigfoot Community. However, I would like to go into some detail on those points covered in the article.

1. Timelines don’t add up

“People perpetrating a hoax often have to construct a backstory in order to build credibility. This may involve creating a history for a company, person, or other entity. The farther back they go to establish credibility, the more likely they are to make mistakes.”

That is provided you are given a timeline. Many hoaxes lack a timeline which in of itself is dubious. I always say, “A picture, video and audio is only as good as the story behind it.

2. Names and people are problematic

“The names and people cited in hoaxes often have gaps in their history, and offer a very thin profile. This is because most of the time they simply don’t exist.”

The lack of any source material, lack of names and places aside from scene preservation should be suspect.

3. It appeals to a specific group or ideology or is too perfect

“Humans love to hear things that we already believe. It is immensely comforting for us to be told information that conforms to our existing beliefs and knowledge.”

As I have stated previously, there is always a target group. Whether it be particular organization or the community as a whole.

4. It has the trappings of authenticity

“A hoax has to find ways to convey a sense of credibility. Fake news articles often cite other media reports to back up their claims, but they will not link to these (non-existent) articles or they’ll simply inset links that go to the homepage of the website they mention. "

The term “con” is an abbreviated slang for confidence. Always remember that. A person’s charm, sincerity should be discounted in these situations because to sell a story, you have to be a salesman (or woman). 

5. It falls apart when you focus on the details

“Click all of the links, Google all of the names, reverse image search all of the images, run a Whois on the domains mentioned. This is how you’ll find the loose thread that untangles the whole thing. Every piece of information offered is a detail to be examined. Something that reads as real will quickly fall apart in the face of a few clicks and searches.”

Con-artists rely on our natural human nature to be trusting and on laziness to count on you taking their word, rather than doing your homework.

Motive

Now I would like to move on to motive. For every audience targeted there is a motivation behind the hoax. As the internet progressed it is difficult sometimes to get to the real motivation.

Let’s look at some of the motivational factors for hoaxing (From the Squatch-D Hall of Shame):

The Psychologically Needy Hoaxer 

  One who hoaxes due to a recent psychological event in their life such as divorce, being widowed, or general loneliness and do it for company and or attention. They need to feel special or have special abilities to a particular class of people and have to fell superior within that class. These are the folks we see constantly on Facebook live espousing their special abilities to communicate,  detect or otherwise be “in the know.” This type of hoaxing overtook the field over the Prankster or Jokester with the advent of Facebook live and YouTube. Often when facing critics they use the term “jealousy,” often because it questions their superiority.

    -Subclass:  The Unintentional Hoaxer 

 One who has a legitimate sighting and due to psychological effect of the sighting, every bump in the night becomes a Bigfoot. Often confused with misidentification, however differs due to frequency of misidentifications by the subject. The reason why this is a sub-class because it’s root cause is a psychological effect of a sighting on them.

The Prankster or Jokester

One who hoaxes for humor and enjoyment. There is a psychological need , however in some instances. While there is obvious parody, which should not be misconstrued as hoaxing, the person, as a prank, tries to hoax,  is trying to belittle others in some manner either privately or publicly. The hoaxer at times wants to feel superiority over a particular group. It should be noted that some parody can be utilized for the same purpose. This motivation can be muddled at this point, due to monetization of YouTube Channels however. But the main motivation is usually the former.

 The Profiteer

One who hoaxes in an attempt to garner financial gain either directly or indirectly. These are the folks which associate most with criminal traits. Narcissism, sociopathic tendencies among others can be at play. Remember a person who hoaxes for profit, is the same type of personality which others take with more defined “shortcuts” in life. They often espouse their position with overconfidence and power plays.

Hoaxing will always continue to plague the community. The more aware we are of how to research and understand some of the psychological factors and behaviors associated with hoaxing, the quicker we can put the garbage to the back of the line and focus on more genuine material being presented.

Be sure to catch Chris Bennett and I on Squatch-D TV Sundays 9PM Eastern, the “not clickbait” show where we present the truth…the good, the bad and the ugly!

See you Sunday!!!

Till next time,

Squatch-D

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[thisdaynews]

‘Everyone’s going to come for Pete’: Buttigieg faces debate spotlight

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/everyones-going-to-come-for-pete-buttigieg-faces-debate-spotlight/

‘Everyone’s going to come for Pete’: Buttigieg faces debate spotlight

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, likened it to his own experience at about this time 16 years ago.

“I remember being in the lead,” Dean said. And “the other candidates are going to come after you, try to knock you off your perch.”

“He’s going to feel like Elizabeth Warren did at the [October debate], like a pin cushion,” Dean added, noting that it was Buttigieg’s turn through the gauntlet, after Warren “acquitted herself well” in October, as her poll numbers were on the rise.

Though the campaign has heated up recently, many candidates are still reluctant to go on the attack and risk alienating a rival’s supporters. But Buttigieg’s strong polling out of Iowa has already come with fresh criticism over several campaign missteps related to one of the mayor’s biggest weaknesses: his lack of support among African American voters, which has contributed to his lower numbers in polls of Democrats in South Carolina and nationally.

Last week, the Buttigieg campaign faced pushback from activists, Democratic officials and voters for using a stock image of a Kenyan woman and a young boy in his website’s promotional material for the Douglass Plan, a policy proposal aimed at lifting up African Americans through criminal justice, education and housing reforms. He also faced blowback on the rollout of the plan itself.

Sen. Kamala Harris, when asked about the use of the stock image, said, “I’m sure someone agrees that was a big mistake. He’s going to have to answer for that.”

“This is not ok or necessary,” tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who has endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Stock imagery is common in campaign literature, but the Buttigieg campaign apologized for the “confusion” the photo caused, adding in a statement that it “was removed from the page on our website promoting the Douglass Plan months ago.” The campaign also said that the photo was “initially selected while a contractor was running our site, and the website it was pulled from did not indicate the photo was taken in Kenya.”

Buttigieg also took heat for the rollout of his Douglass Plan, when the campaign cited support from 400 South Carolinians in an op-ed released last month. Some of those listed said it gave the false impression that they were also endorsing Buttigieg the candidate for president, while others complained that they hadn’t actually endorsed the plan at all, The Intercept reported on Friday. The publication also found that not all the endorsers of the plan were African Americans, to which the campaign said it was “clear that not every supporter of the plan is Black, and have never claimed otherwise in any public communication.”

At a Monday event at Morehouse College, a historically black college in Georgia, Buttigieg said it “was a learning experience for the campaign staff and one that I’ll own up to, because I’m in charge of the campaign.”

“We have a lot of people who are supporting it, but a few people who didn’t believe that the message reflected their support, so, we’re clearing that up,” Buttigieg said.

Tameika Isaac Devine, a Columbia, S.C., city councilwoman — and one of the people who sought clarification that she had endorsed Buttigieg’s policy plan but not his candidacy — said Buttigieg’s “biggest issue is that people don’t know him” in South Carolina.

But the dust-up over the op-ed would be “ripe for [candidates] to go after him for” on the debate stage, she said, because “when someone becomes a frontrunner in any poll, the other candidates are going to go after them.”

Earlier this week, Harris previewed a possible line of attack for one of Buttigieg’s opponents: “Let’s be clear that the Democratic nominee has got to be someone who has the experience of connecting with all of who we are as the diversity of the American people,” Harris said in Nevada, when asked about Buttigieg’s low levels of support among voters of color.

“You can’t unify folks if you don’t understand who they are and their specific needs and the right that they have to be represented, based not on a stock photograph, but who they actually are,” Harris continued.

Democratic opponents could also link Buttigieg’s failure to gain traction with African-American voters to his electability, said Rebecca Katz, a Democratic consultant who’s worked with progressive candidates but is unaffiliated in the presidential primary.

“No one’s yet talked about electability as it relates to Buttigieg, but Pete hasn’t ever won a big race, winning a college town with a few thousand votes … and he’s shown himself to be tone deaf with communities of color, so all of that matters here,” Katz said. “Can he hold his own in the big leagues?”

Even President Donald Trump’s campaign found an opening in Buttigieg’s misstep, releasing a statement saying that Buttigieg’s “inability to get real support from blacks in South Carolina shows how out of touch he is.”

On Monday, a new Quinnipiac University poll found that among African-American Democrats in South Carolina, Buttigieg had 0 percent support.

These recent missteps amplify previous mistakes by the campaign, some Democrats said. Last month, the Buttigieg campaign removed Steven Patton — a former Chicago city attorney who tried to block the release of the video of the Laquan McDonald shooting — as a co-host for a fundraiser in Chicago. And last summer, Buttigieg came under harsh criticism for his record with policing in South Bend, after a white police officer fatally shot Eric Logan, a black man. Buttigieg conceded in the Democratic debate in June that he had failed to increase diversity on the police force.

“When African American voters have other credible options to choose from, you have to do everything you can to minimize mistakes and not repeat them,” said Antjuan Seawright, a South Carolina-based Democratic consultant. “One mistake is one thing, but being a repeat offender is problematic in a competitive Democratic primary when African Americans know their net-worth.”

When asked about his poor performance with those voters Monday night, Buttigieg pointed to the 60 percent of black voters who said they weren’t familiar with him.

“There’s a strong majority of black voters in South Carolina [who] still say that they have not formed an opinion or haven’t heard enough to form an opinion at all about my candidacy,” Buttigieg said, which is “all the more indication that it’s so important for us to do this engagement.”

Francesca Bentley and Kennedy Malveaux, juniors at Spelman College who attended the mayor’s event at Morehouse College Monday night, said they didn’t know much about Buttigieg before they heard him speak. But they “valued his specificity” on the Douglass Plan, Malveaux said.

“If he were to talk about that on national TV” at the debate, “that’d be really powerful,” Bentley said.

Read More

[lauramalchowblog]

Is Keto Insomnia a Common Problem?

When I did my first earnest attempt at a keto diet a few years ago, one of the benefits I quickly noticed was improved wakefulness and energy during the day. I chalked this up to sleeping better on keto.

It turns out that I might have been one of the lucky ones. While plenty of people report improved sleep, a fair number also complain of insomnia, sleep disruptions (waking frequently during the night), and generally poor sleep once they go keto.

Can a keto diet really impact sleep quality? What might be the mechanism behind a correlation? And how does one work around any potential effect?

I’ve written a lot about sleep over the years, and I don’t intend to rehash what I’ve already written. Rather, I want to explore why a very-low-carb ketogenic diet specifically might impact sleep. I’ll link to some of my past posts at the bottom for those interested in improving overall sleep hygiene.

What is “Keto Insomnia?”

Insomnia disorder, as defined in the DSM-5, involves the following:

Difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, and/or waking too early without being able to fall back to sleep

Symptoms occur at least three nights per week for at least three months

Sleep problems are not explained by other illness, medication, and so on

Distress and/or impaired ability to function in daily life

Acute insomnia is similar, but it’s short-term and might be attributable to a specific trigger, such as a stressful event, major life change, or travel.

People who complain about “keto insomnia” seem to mean one of two things:

Sleep disruptions that occur during the transition phase—the days or weeks immediately after starting keto (acute)

Sleep issues that start after being keto for a few months or longer (might be acute or chronic)

It can be hard to know whether the latter are actually related to keto at all. However, if diet is the only obvious change these folks have made, keto seemingly takes the rap.

Why Might Keto Mess with Your Sleep?

On possible clue is this oft-cited study in which participants experienced decreased REM and increased slow-wave sleep when following a keto diet. Decreased REM sleep can contribute to the subjective experience of insomnia. However, total sleep was not impacted. This study was also small, involving 14 participants who followed a keto diet for just two days.

Other than that, however, there’s not much to go on. A couple studies found no change in sleep quality among healthy adults following a keto diet, and a handful of others reported improved sleep quality (in epileptic children and obese adolescents).

Moreover, the team at Virta Health recently released their findings after one year of treating diabetic and prediabetic patients with keto diet interventions. Their patients enjoyed significant improvements in sleep quality and daily functioning compared to baseline and compared to individuals who didn’t go keto.

All together, the research so far suggests that when it comes to sleep, keto is neutral-to-positive for healthy adults and beneficial for individuals struggling with certain health conditions. Of course, the data are still quite sparse.

A somewhat larger, but still limited, body of research has looked more generally at how the macronutrient composition of one’s diet affects sleep. To be blunt, the results of these studies are all over the map. There’s tremendous variation from study to study in terms of how diets were constructed or measured, food timing, other relevant dietary factors such as total calorie intake and fiber content, as well as what aspects of sleep were assessed and how. Depending on which study you’re reading, consuming fat, protein, or carbohydrates might seem to help, hurt, or have no effect on sleep.

In short, there’s no compelling scientific explanation for when or why keto would harm your sleep. I know this is no comfort to those of you who are experiencing sleep disruptions now, however. Let’s turn to some things you can try if you’re not in the camp of good sleep while keto.

Possible Solutions

Despite the dearth of research, it’s possible to make some reasonable guesses about what might be causing your sleep issues. Of course, before trying any of the supplement suggestions below, consult your doctor. Likewise, get help if your sleep is so poor that you are having trouble functioning.

First, the obvious: basic sleep hygiene. These are the things I harp on all the time, like avoiding blue light at night and honoring a consistent bedtime. Sure, you probably didn’t change any of these when you went keto. However, it might be that something about keto eating—like getting less tryptophan to your brain (I’ll explain in a minute)—is making you more sensitive to poor sleep habits. Refer to my other sleep posts linked below for more details.

Check your electrolytes. Especially if you’re new to keto, electrolytes are the most likely culprit for sleep issues. You want to aim for the following daily:

3-5 grams of sodium on top of what you get from food

3-5 grams of potassium

500 mg of magnesium

Most keto newbies drastically underestimate how important electrolytes are, not just for sleep but for energy, workout performance, and avoiding the keto flu. Check out this post for more details.

For sleep issues, start with magnesium. Make sure you’re including plenty of magnesium-rich foods such as leafy greens, dark chocolate, and hemp seeds in your diet.  You can also supplement with magnesium—the glycinate form is preferred for sleep—starting with 100-400 mg as needed.

Also consider adding a mug of warm bone broth to your evening routine. Besides being soothing, it’s a great way to get sodium and the amino acid glycine. Glycine is the most abundant amino acid in collagen. Supplementing with 3 grams of glycine before bed has been shown to improve sleep.

You can also supplement collagen for its many benefits. Aim for at least 10 grams at night. Maybe whip up a batch of Chocolate Collagen Pudding (sweetened with stevia or monk fruit for keto).

Make sure you’re neither too hungry nor too full at bedtime. As you adjust to your new way of eating, try to avoid extremes of hunger in the evening. If you’re practicing intermittent fasting, make sure your fasting window isn’t leaving you stuffed or famished at when it’s time to hit the hay.

Dial back the caffeine. Is it possible you’ve been a little too enthusiastic about fatty coffee since going keto?

Get your stress in check. We all know that stress is a sleep killer, and I see stress running high in the keto community. Micromanaging macros, worrying about which foods are and are not “allowed,” trying to do too much too soon—keto folks can really get themselves worked up. If this sounds familiar, you need to take a step back and work on stress reduction.

Try adding a small amount of high-glycemic carbs to your dinner. Wait, what? Am I really telling you to eat more carbs on keto? Yes, for a good reason.

As you probably know, melatonin is the hormone primarily responsible for regulating your sleep-wake cycle. The amino acid tryptophan is a precursor of melatonin. In the brain, tryptophan converts to 5-HTP, then serotonin, then melatonin. To get into the brain, tryptophan relies on protein transporters, which also carry other amino acids across the blood-brain barrier. When there is too much traffic—that is, too many other amino acids trying to use the protein transporters—not enough tryptophan can get across.

Insulin shuttles those competing amino acids into muscles, leaving the roads clear for tryptophan so to speak. By adding some high-GI carbs to your last meal of the day, you bump up insulin and facilitate this process.

Now, I wouldn’t recommend this as your first option if you are brand new to keto. However, if you’re one of those people who is suddenly struggling with sleep after being keto for a while, this is worth trying. Michael Rutherford, NTP, Primal Health Coach, and moderator of our Keto Reset Facebook group says his clients have had good results adding ~20 grams of carbs to their last meal of the day. Potatoes or sweet potatoes are good choices.

If you just can’t bring yourself to eat more carbs, you can also supplement with tryptophan. A dose of 250-500 mg is a good place to start, increasing as needed. Chris Masterjohn recommends taking tryptophan on an empty stomach and as far as possible from other sources of protein.

Another possible workaround is to supplement with 5-HTP, which is a common ingredient in sleep aids. Rutherford advises his clients to start with 100 mg of 5-HTP taken 30-60 minutes before bed. Be cautious with this supplement if you have depression or anxiety.

Skip the middlemen and supplement melatonin. Melatonin supplementation is somewhat controversial. It’s not my first choice—I’d rather you start by addressing sleep hygiene and tweaking your diet—but I’m not opposed to supplementing as needed.

Doses as low as 0.5 mg can be effective, although as much as 5 mg is generally regarded as safe. I recommend starting at the bottom end, since lower doses are closer to normal physiological levels. Take melatonin at least an hour after eating your last food of the day.

Get your thyroid and cortisol levels checked. If none of your self-experimentation works, or if you’re having other signs of thyroid imbalance, get your thyroid function and cortisol levels checked. While I don’t believe keto is inherently bad for thyroid or adrenal health, it’s certainly worth a trip to your doc.

What’s your experience? Are you sleeping like a baby on low-carb/keto—or not? Have you found any solutions other than those suggested here? Comment below, and have a great week, everyone.

______________

More sleep tips from Mark’s Daily Apple

7 Ways You Might Be Inadvertently Sabotaging a Good Night’s Sleep

10 Natural Sleep Aids: What Works and Why

Does “Sleep Hacking” Work?

How to Manufacture the Best Night of Sleep in Your Life

The Definitive Guide to Sleep

______________

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window.onload=function(){ga('send', { hitType: 'event', eventCategory: 'Ad Impression', eventAction: '66572' });}

References

Herrera CP, Smith K, Atkinson F, Ruell P, Chow CM, O’Connor H, Brand-Miller J. High-glycaemic index and -glycaemic load meals increase the availability of tryptophan in healthy volunteers. Br J Nutr. 2011 Jun;105(11):1601-6.

Levenson JC, Kay DB, Buysse DJ. The pathophysiology of insomnia. Chest. 2015;147(4):1179–1192.

Peuhkuri K, Sihvola N, Korpela R. Diet promotes sleep duration and quality. Nutr Res. 2012 May;32(5):309-19.

Riemann D, Spiegelhalder K, Nissen C, Hirscher V, Baglioni C, Feige B. REM sleep instability–a new pathway for insomnia? Pharmacopsychiatry. 2012 Jul;45(5):167-76.

Silber BY, Schmitt JA. Effects of tryptophan loading on human cognition, mood, and sleep. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2010 Mar;34(3):387-407.

St-Onge MP, Mikic A, Pietrolungo CE. Effects of Diet on Sleep Quality. Adv Nutr. 2016 Sep 15;7(5):938-49.

The post Is Keto Insomnia a Common Problem? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Is Keto Insomnia a Common Problem? published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com

[jesseneufeld]

Is Keto Insomnia a Common Problem?

When I did my first earnest attempt at a keto diet a few years ago, one of the benefits I quickly noticed was improved wakefulness and energy during the day. I chalked this up to sleeping better on keto.

It turns out that I might have been one of the lucky ones. While plenty of people report improved sleep, a fair number also complain of insomnia, sleep disruptions (waking frequently during the night), and generally poor sleep once they go keto.

Can a keto diet really impact sleep quality? What might be the mechanism behind a correlation? And how does one work around any potential effect?

I’ve written a lot about sleep over the years, and I don’t intend to rehash what I’ve already written. Rather, I want to explore why a very-low-carb ketogenic diet specifically might impact sleep. I’ll link to some of my past posts at the bottom for those interested in improving overall sleep hygiene.

What is “Keto Insomnia?”

Insomnia disorder, as defined in the DSM-5, involves the following:

Difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, and/or waking too early without being able to fall back to sleep

Symptoms occur at least three nights per week for at least three months

Sleep problems are not explained by other illness, medication, and so on

Distress and/or impaired ability to function in daily life

Acute insomnia is similar, but it’s short-term and might be attributable to a specific trigger, such as a stressful event, major life change, or travel.

People who complain about “keto insomnia” seem to mean one of two things:

Sleep disruptions that occur during the transition phase—the days or weeks immediately after starting keto (acute)

Sleep issues that start after being keto for a few months or longer (might be acute or chronic)

It can be hard to know whether the latter are actually related to keto at all. However, if diet is the only obvious change these folks have made, keto seemingly takes the rap.

Why Might Keto Mess with Your Sleep?

On possible clue is this oft-cited study in which participants experienced decreased REM and increased slow-wave sleep when following a keto diet. Decreased REM sleep can contribute to the subjective experience of insomnia. However, total sleep was not impacted. This study was also small, involving 14 participants who followed a keto diet for just two days.

Other than that, however, there’s not much to go on. A couple studies found no change in sleep quality among healthy adults following a keto diet, and a handful of others reported improved sleep quality (in epileptic children and obese adolescents).

Moreover, the team at Virta Health recently released their findings after one year of treating diabetic and prediabetic patients with keto diet interventions. Their patients enjoyed significant improvements in sleep quality and daily functioning compared to baseline and compared to individuals who didn’t go keto.

All together, the research so far suggests that when it comes to sleep, keto is neutral-to-positive for healthy adults and beneficial for individuals struggling with certain health conditions. Of course, the data are still quite sparse.

A somewhat larger, but still limited, body of research has looked more generally at how the macronutrient composition of one’s diet affects sleep. To be blunt, the results of these studies are all over the map. There’s tremendous variation from study to study in terms of how diets were constructed or measured, food timing, other relevant dietary factors such as total calorie intake and fiber content, as well as what aspects of sleep were assessed and how. Depending on which study you’re reading, consuming fat, protein, or carbohydrates might seem to help, hurt, or have no effect on sleep.

In short, there’s no compelling scientific explanation for when or why keto would harm your sleep. I know this is no comfort to those of you who are experiencing sleep disruptions now, however. Let’s turn to some things you can try if you’re not in the camp of good sleep while keto.

Possible Solutions

Despite the dearth of research, it’s possible to make some reasonable guesses about what might be causing your sleep issues. Of course, before trying any of the supplement suggestions below, consult your doctor. Likewise, get help if your sleep is so poor that you are having trouble functioning.

First, the obvious: basic sleep hygiene. These are the things I harp on all the time, like avoiding blue light at night and honoring a consistent bedtime. Sure, you probably didn’t change any of these when you went keto. However, it might be that something about keto eating—like getting less tryptophan to your brain (I’ll explain in a minute)—is making you more sensitive to poor sleep habits. Refer to my other sleep posts linked below for more details.

Check your electrolytes. Especially if you’re new to keto, electrolytes are the most likely culprit for sleep issues. You want to aim for the following daily:

3-5 grams of sodium on top of what you get from food

3-5 grams of potassium

500 mg of magnesium

Most keto newbies drastically underestimate how important electrolytes are, not just for sleep but for energy, workout performance, and avoiding the keto flu. Check out this post for more details.

For sleep issues, start with magnesium. Make sure you’re including plenty of magnesium-rich foods such as leafy greens, dark chocolate, and hemp seeds in your diet.  You can also supplement with magnesium—the glycinate form is preferred for sleep—starting with 100-400 mg as needed.

Also consider adding a mug of warm bone broth to your evening routine. Besides being soothing, it’s a great way to get sodium and the amino acid glycine. Glycine is the most abundant amino acid in collagen. Supplementing with 3 grams of glycine before bed has been shown to improve sleep.

You can also supplement collagen for its many benefits. Aim for at least 10 grams at night. Maybe whip up a batch of Chocolate Collagen Pudding (sweetened with stevia or monk fruit for keto).

Make sure you’re neither too hungry nor too full at bedtime. As you adjust to your new way of eating, try to avoid extremes of hunger in the evening. If you’re practicing intermittent fasting, make sure your fasting window isn’t leaving you stuffed or famished at when it’s time to hit the hay.

Dial back the caffeine. Is it possible you’ve been a little too enthusiastic about fatty coffee since going keto?

Get your stress in check. We all know that stress is a sleep killer, and I see stress running high in the keto community. Micromanaging macros, worrying about which foods are and are not “allowed,” trying to do too much too soon—keto folks can really get themselves worked up. If this sounds familiar, you need to take a step back and work on stress reduction.

Try adding a small amount of high-glycemic carbs to your dinner. Wait, what? Am I really telling you to eat more carbs on keto? Yes, for a good reason.

As you probably know, melatonin is the hormone primarily responsible for regulating your sleep-wake cycle. The amino acid tryptophan is a precursor of melatonin. In the brain, tryptophan converts to 5-HTP, then serotonin, then melatonin. To get into the brain, tryptophan relies on protein transporters, which also carry other amino acids across the blood-brain barrier. When there is too much traffic—that is, too many other amino acids trying to use the protein transporters—not enough tryptophan can get across.

Insulin shuttles those competing amino acids into muscles, leaving the roads clear for tryptophan so to speak. By adding some high-GI carbs to your last meal of the day, you bump up insulin and facilitate this process.

Now, I wouldn’t recommend this as your first option if you are brand new to keto. However, if you’re one of those people who is suddenly struggling with sleep after being keto for a while, this is worth trying. Michael Rutherford, NTP, Primal Health Coach, and moderator of our Keto Reset Facebook group says his clients have had good results adding ~20 grams of carbs to their last meal of the day. Potatoes or sweet potatoes are good choices.

If you just can’t bring yourself to eat more carbs, you can also supplement with tryptophan. A dose of 250-500 mg is a good place to start, increasing as needed. Chris Masterjohn recommends taking tryptophan on an empty stomach and as far as possible from other sources of protein.

Another possible workaround is to supplement with 5-HTP, which is a common ingredient in sleep aids. Rutherford advises his clients to start with 100 mg of 5-HTP taken 30-60 minutes before bed. Be cautious with this supplement if you have depression or anxiety.

Skip the middlemen and supplement melatonin. Melatonin supplementation is somewhat controversial. It’s not my first choice—I’d rather you start by addressing sleep hygiene and tweaking your diet—but I’m not opposed to supplementing as needed.

Doses as low as 0.5 mg can be effective, although as much as 5 mg is generally regarded as safe. I recommend starting at the bottom end, since lower doses are closer to normal physiological levels. Take melatonin at least an hour after eating your last food of the day.

Get your thyroid and cortisol levels checked. If none of your self-experimentation works, or if you’re having other signs of thyroid imbalance, get your thyroid function and cortisol levels checked. While I don’t believe keto is inherently bad for thyroid or adrenal health, it’s certainly worth a trip to your doc.

What’s your experience? Are you sleeping like a baby on low-carb/keto—or not? Have you found any solutions other than those suggested here? Comment below, and have a great week, everyone.

______________

More sleep tips from Mark’s Daily Apple

7 Ways You Might Be Inadvertently Sabotaging a Good Night’s Sleep

10 Natural Sleep Aids: What Works and Why

Does “Sleep Hacking” Work?

How to Manufacture the Best Night of Sleep in Your Life

The Definitive Guide to Sleep

______________

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window.onload=function(){ga('send', { hitType: 'event', eventCategory: 'Ad Impression', eventAction: '74578' });}

References

Herrera CP, Smith K, Atkinson F, Ruell P, Chow CM, O’Connor H, Brand-Miller J. High-glycaemic index and -glycaemic load meals increase the availability of tryptophan in healthy volunteers. Br J Nutr. 2011 Jun;105(11):1601-6.

Levenson JC, Kay DB, Buysse DJ. The pathophysiology of insomnia. Chest. 2015;147(4):1179–1192.

Peuhkuri K, Sihvola N, Korpela R. Diet promotes sleep duration and quality. Nutr Res. 2012 May;32(5):309-19.

Riemann D, Spiegelhalder K, Nissen C, Hirscher V, Baglioni C, Feige B. REM sleep instability–a new pathway for insomnia? Pharmacopsychiatry. 2012 Jul;45(5):167-76.

Silber BY, Schmitt JA. Effects of tryptophan loading on human cognition, mood, and sleep. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2010 Mar;34(3):387-407.

St-Onge MP, Mikic A, Pietrolungo CE. Effects of Diet on Sleep Quality. Adv Nutr. 2016 Sep 15;7(5):938-49.

The post Is Keto Insomnia a Common Problem? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Is Keto Insomnia a Common Problem? published first on https://drugaddictionsrehab.tumblr.com/

[davidslepkow]

Your primary goal in Providence Family Court should be to avoid your divorce turning into a train wreck similar to the cases set forth in this article.  The RI divorce cases described below were so out of control, costly and contentious that they can only be described as a “train wreck.” Thankfully, I was not involved in any way with any of these cases! If you are in need of a RI divorce attorney contact a Rhode Island divorce lawyer.

RI divorce war

Divorce in RI and Custody Nuclear Wars- the top 3

Before you go to war in Rhode Island Family Court- Consider these Cases!  After reading these cases, a divorce settlement does not seem that bad? After learning of the RI divorce wars,  divorce mediation does not sound too bad? Below you will find actual quotes from the Rhode Island Supreme Court from the following Cases:

Cardinale v. Cardinale

Fossa v Fossa

Bergquist v. Cesario

Divorce in RI mess #1 – Cardinale v. Cardinale

This unfortunate and ridiculous RI divorce trial is notable and infamous for four primary reasons:

The animosity, lack of civility and rancor between the divorce attorneys involved in the cause of action.

6 separate appeals to the Rhode Island Supreme Court during the course of the case.

35 court orders by the RI Supre Court during the lower court divorce proceeding!

The Rhode Island Supreme Court  actually decided the  divorce trial rather than the trial justice.

The highest court in RI discharged the trial justice from handling the case. This may be unprecedented.

Bitterly contested, procedurally defective, bifurcated divorce proceeding

“The plaintiff, Joanne T. (DiCarlo) Cardinale (Joanne), and the defendant, Norman A. Cardinale (Norman), are no strangers to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.   During the last four years, the Cardinales repeatedly have come before us seeking emergency relief and filing petitions for writs of certiorari in connection with their bitterly contested, procedurally defective, bifurcated divorce proceeding.   During that time, this Court has issued no fewer than thirty-five separate orders and granted six writs of certiorari.   Indeed, if we administered a frequent flyer program, the Cardinales undoubtedly would be platinum members.” Supreme Court of Rhode Island. Joanne T. CARDINALE v. Norman A. CARDINALE. No. 2004-58-Appeal. Decided: January 9, 2006 Present:  WILLIAMS, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, and ROBINSON, JJ. Maureen Gemma, Esq., Cranston, for Plaintiff. James A. Bigos, Esq., for Defendant. OPINION http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ri-supreme-court/1090682.html “Thus, on January 2, 2003, the divorce proceeding was bifurcated, and the parties embarked upon this long, painful, bitter dispute over the remnants of the marital estate.” Id.

Trial justice refuses to decide case forthwith

“Once the case returned to Family Court, the trial justice issued another order declining to recuse from the proceeding.   Unfortunately, the trial justice, speaking as “an officer of the court,” chose to provide commentary about his view of this Court’s lack of appreciation of his caseload and the day-to-day workings of the Family Court.   Specifically, he took issue with our directive to decide this case “forthwith” and declared, “I agree with [Norman’s counsel] that I don’t think the [the Supreme Court], the folks sitting up on the hill, understand fully what goes on here, of the caseloads involved.”  The trial justice did not comply with our directive that the case be decided forthwith.” Id.

Acrimonious proceeding and rancor between those involved is the reason RI top Court decides the case

“The level of rancor between the parties and counsel and the unfortunate posture taken by the trial justice have prompted us to direct the remedy in this case. Although we seldom deem it necessary to resort to our inherent supervisory powers to fashion remedies, we have done so on occasion to end seemingly interminable litigation. This case presents us with such a controversy.” …”As we have observed, the pool of marital assets remaining after four years of litigation has been diminished substantially by this acrimonious proceeding and Norman’s slipshod and evasive business practices.”

Trial Justice failed to keep control of the divorce proceeding

“In her brief to this Court Joanne has alleged that the conduct and comments of the trial justice suggest bias that would lead a reasonable person to question his impartiality. This was not a simple case, and its difficulty was greatly compounded by the fact that counsel were antagonistic and caustic toward each other and the parties. Although we do not undertake this discussion lightly, the level of acrimony contained in this record requires our review. The lack of civility between counsel in this case is regrettable and inappropriate.  It was the responsibility of the trial justice to control the proceedings and counsel.   He failed to do so.” Id. Moreover, the trial justice’s comments about the numerous orders issued by this Court were inappropriate, if not petulant.The plaintiff has alleged that “[h]er decision to seek instructions from this Court had an immediate impact on the trial judge’s attitude, much like throwing gas on a fire.”Id.

Trial Justice benched because of improper commentary

This commentary by a judicial officer is improper and suggests a preconceived or settled opinion against a litigant, such that the trial justice should be excused from further responsibilities in this case. Cavanagh v. Cavanagh, 118 R.I. 608, 621, 375 A.2d 911, 917 (1977) (citing State v. Buckley, 104 R.I. 317, 322, 244 A.2d 254, 257 (1968)).”Id. “While we are of the opinion that the trial justice did not conduct himself with the demeanor that we expect from a judicial officer, our correction of his rulings pursuant to our inherent power to craft a remedy, means that the parties were not ultimately deprived of their due process.”Id.

Divorce war #2 : Fossa v Fossa | RI divorce at Rhode Island Supreme Court

unnecessary and unseemly contentiousness

disconcerting case

divorce battle – divorce war

Divorce in RI

“Apparent unnecessary and unseemly contentiousness and perhaps “gamesmanship”

“This case has been pending in the Family Court since October of 2000, and numerous lawyers and judicial officers have been involved with it at one time or another.   The degree of apparent unnecessary and unseemly contentiousness (and perhaps “gamesmanship” as well) reflected by the record is disconcerting. Quite frankly, the travel of this case reminds us of the mythical case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, which Dickens so devastatingly satirized over 150 years ago in Bleak House.   He describes that case in pertinent part as follows:“ [Jarndyce v. Jarndyce ] drones on.   This scarecrow of a suit has, in course of time, become so complicated, that no man alive knows what it means.   The parties to it understand it least; but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes, without coming to a total disagreement as to all the premises.”   Charles Dickens, Bleak House 7-8 (George Ford & Sylvère Monod eds., W.W. Norton & Co.1985) (1853). We wish to emphasize, however, that the Rhode Island court system is not the Court of Chancery of the Victorian era, and we are determined to see to it that our cherished system never descends to anything approaching that ignominious level.” Supreme Court No. 2004-89-Appeal. (W00-576) Kerri D. Fossa  v.  Richard D. Fossa : Present: Williams, C.J., Goldberg, Flaherty, Suttell, and Robinson, JJ. O P I N I O N PER CURIAM.  https://www.courts.ri.gov/Courts/SupremeCourt/OpinionsOrders/pdf-files/04-89.pdf

Plaintiff’s counsel lacks candor to the RI Supreme Court

“The defendant’s allegations in his written and oral submissions to this Court relative to perceived misconduct on the part of attorneys or judicial officers should be directed, if he chooses, to the appropriate agencies and not to this Court in the first instance. We feel obliged to add that we were dismayed to note the apparent lack of candor on the part of plaintiff’s counsel at oral argument when certain questions pertaining to defendant’s allegations were posed to him by the Court.” Id.

Worst divorce in RI #3: Bergquist v. Cesario

Love triangle

Like a soap opera

Contentious and acrimonious

relentless rancor

“A Puccini  opera, or at least a midafternoon soap opera. It might be described not so much as a love triangle, as a romantic rectangle.”

” The background of this case, as gleaned from the record and from representations made by the parties in various pleadings and memoranda, is worthy of a Puccini  opera, or at least a midafternoon soap opera. It might be described not so much as a love triangle, as a romantic rectangle. Before the controversy began, Cesario was involved in a relationship with Amanda Assante, who was a neighbor of Bergquist and his wife, Carol. Although the precise sequence of events is not clear, at some point Bergquist began a relationship with Ms. Assante; and Mrs.Bergquist, perhaps understandably, filed for divorce. Thereafter, Cesario began dating Mrs.Bergquist. Not surprisingly, the divorce was acrimonious and a source of much conflict and confrontation, particularly in light of the close proximity of the Bergquist and Assante homes. Sadly, the Bergquist minor children did not entirely escape the rancor that relentlessly engulfed the adults.” Supreme Court of Rhode Island. Stephen C. BERGQUIST v. John CESARIO. Nos. 2002–614–M.P., 2003–66–Appeal. Decided: February 9, 2004 Present:  FLANDERS   GOLDBERG, and SUTTELL, JJ. Stephen C. Bergquist, pro se, for plaintiff. John Cesario, pro se, for defendant. OPINION http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ri-supreme-court/1163627.html

Legal Notice per Rules of Professional Responsibility: The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers and attorneys in the general practice of law. The Rhode Island Supreme Court does not license or certify any lawyer / attorney as an expert or specialist in any field of practice.

keywords: horrific divorce, nasty divorce, foul, awful, horrendous, bitterness, rancour, rancor, thorniness, acrimony,  bitter, resentment, acerbity,

filed under:

rhode island divorce attorney

[theconservativebrief]

There’s a growing push to have celebrities who have ever made dark jokes about pedophilia face major consequences for their past humor. Since Disney’s firing of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn over tweets Gunn wrote several years ago, the right-wing internet mob that brought about his dismissal has moved on to other figures.

Most notably, Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon deleted his Twitter account entirely after Daryl, a short parody pilot he made almost a decade ago, was seized upon as further evidence of many people in the entertainment industry using comedy to mask their underground support of pedophilia.

Harmon made Daryl in 2009 as a pilot for Channel 101, an “untelevised TV network” he co-founded with his former writing partner Rob Schrab in 2002. The “network” takes the form of a monthly screening event in Los Angeles where five-minute TV pilots are shown to a live audience, and viewers vote on whether they want to see more episodes at the next month’s event.

The shows that are “picked up” produce additional episodes, as you can see by observing one of Channel 101’s longer-running titles, Harmon’s own Laser Fart. The project’s programming typically skews toward comedy — and often dark comedy — but isn’t always comedic in nature.

Which brings us back to Daryl. Harmon removed the pilot from the Channel 101 website a long time ago, perhaps realizing it wasn’t his finest hour, but you can still see the page for it. It’s a spoof of TV shows about vigilante justice, most notably Dexter, the Showtime series about a serial killer who kills serial killers that ran from 2006 to 2013 and was at the height of its popularity in 2009, when Daryl was made. Where Dexter’s title character killed killers, Daryl’s raped children to prevent them from becoming murderers.

It’s not really funny (Harmon — who’s stated before that he disliked these sorts of “murder reconfigured as entertainment” shows — would later parody them in more fruitful fashion in an episode of his 2009-2015 sitcom Community). But regardless of whether you think Daryl (which you can still watch on the surely reputable site “BitChute”) is brilliantly hilarious or stomach-churning and horrifying, it’s hard to imagine interpreting it as being in support of horrific sexual abuse of children.

Yet this is exactly the argument being advanced against Daryl in 2018. against Gunn’s tweets, against comments from so many other comedians with long, successful careers. (A tweet currently being used to pillory Patton Oswalt is one the comedian deliberately constructed to seem as if he was supportive of pedophiles, but only if taken completely out of context, which makes the head spin.) It’s a bad-faith argument, spun up by people who manipulate other people’s words and conjure some of the darkest behaviors humans are capable of to score cheap political points against those who criticize Donald Trump.

Perhaps the most ironic thing about it is that you can draw a direct line between the shock humor culture that produced Daryl and other edgy jokes, and the rise of the alt-right itself. But let’s start somewhere else: How did this strategy of trying to take down celebrities by weaponizing jokes they made a very long time ago come to be?

What has happened to Gunn, Harmon, and other public figures of late reflects a convergence of old-school trolling and organized attacks. The right-wing folks going after them are working from a scattered set of ambivalent and contradictory goals and motivations — but they’re using highly organized, systematic, and well-oiled tactics to carry out their disruptive work.

It’s crucial to understand that for many of the people involved in the quest to “take down” and delegitimize public figures like Gunn and Harmon, the whole endeavor is a giant joke. That’s because there’s rarely a singular motivation behind any given right-wing crusade, including this one, and why people seem to be angry isn’t the point. The point is to manufacture outrage, both to score victory points against the opposition and to sweep other bystanders into the fray.

This approach is essentially built atop a foundation of old-school trolling — the kind that originated in the forums of Something Awful in the early 2000s, spread to 4chan users, and ultimately made the leap, mainly through the Gamergate movement, to modern social media platforms.

Old-school trolling is absurdist artifice at heart, but it also covers a broad spectrum of sincerity and irony. The result is that no matter the topic at hand, some members of the modern internet mob will be arguing seriously and straightforwardly because they believe the argument.

Some will be making the argument as a total joke, because they think the argument itself is funny.

Some will be making the argument ironically, such that their performative outrage becomes the joke, regardless of what the actual argument is.

Some will say they are making the argument ironically, even though they secretly or not-so-secretly believe the argument is true.

And some will start out making the argument ironically, only to eventually start to believe it.

What’s more, many of the people making the argument for any of the reasons listed above also sincerely want other people to take them seriously — either so those people will join in the outrage ironically, thus contributing to the lulz, or so they’ll join in the outrage sincerely, thus creating the appearance that this socially constructed performance is authentic. In both cases, the result is that very real messages begin to spread with or without the “irony” still attached. This can lead to extreme harassment of whoever’s being targeted, often with serious, harmful, and even deadly consequences.

The most famous example of a modern post-trolling internet mob is probably the Gamergate movement, as its “success” gave many on the extreme right a template for how to attack their perceived enemies. Gamergate began in 2014 as a backlash against feminist game developer Zoe Quinn and a Kotaku journalist with whom she had a personal relationship. It then evolved into a widespread movement aimed at targeting feminist gamers and progressive gaming journalism at large.

Members of Gamergate worked under the guise of restoring “ethics in journalism” — but really, they used that so-called mission as an excuse to intensely harass individual feminists and journalists. They also used it to appeal to companies that advertised on websites that wrote critically about their behavior, in occasionally successful attempts to get the advertisers to withdraw their financial support.

The spark that lit the powder keg of Gamergate involved a blog post written by Quinn’s ex-boyfriend — and it deployed a tactic that would ultimately become a standard form of trolling used by the alt-right. He basically publicized a litany of private details about their lives in an attempt to paint Quinn as a manipulative abuser, citing “evidence” culled from private chats, texts, and emails. Context was stripped away from the exchanges, twisting their meaning to build a specific narrative around Quinn.

This shaming of Quinn was soon labeled “Gamergate,” and rapidly coalesced into a much bigger movement that started among the gamers who initially rallied around Quinn’s ex. They used the private details shared in his blog post as an excuse to harass Quinn, her supporters, and the aforementioned Kotaku writer — because simply being connected to Quinn, in the eyes of Gamergate, made the writer an unethical journalist whose bias toward Quinn and feminists like her was indicative of the broader corruption of games journalism at large.

The actual content of the so-called “damning evidence” against Quinn didn’t matter; what mattered was that it gave the mob a reason to harass her. They saw her as a “social justice warrior” who advocated for progressive politics, feminism, and diversity in gaming; by crying corruption and trying to ruin her career, their intent was to stop what they perceived as a threat to game culture.

The methods deployed in this ground-zero Gamergate event have since become standard practice for internet mobs wishing to attack seemingly anyone they believe to be a foe. We saw then with Quinn, as we’re seeing with Gunn and Harmon and other figures now, that the larger context of whatever “incendiary” material is on offer — be it a private text message or an old tweet — has been stripped away. And in the minds of the mob, it’s irrelevant anyway, because the outrage is performative rather than sincere.

Essentially, Gamergate systematized a form of online harassment that involved close-reading ancient chats and private messages, as well as public content and social media activity, in search of anything that could be used as fodder for righteous indignation.

Since 2014, this “manufactured outrage” approach has led to the firing of multiple game developers and staffers at game companies (with the latest example happening just a few weeks ago). It’s simultaneously diabolical and simple: Greatly exaggerate your enemies’ behavior while removing, distorting, or ignoring the context surrounding it.

And there’s an ironic twist to the way this tactic is being used today against the alt-right’s chosen enemies. The thing the group is now being performatively outraged about — shock humor — is arguably the foundation of its entire culture.

In 2017, as the Comedy Central series South Park turned 20 years old, writer Sean O’Neal pondered whether the show had inadvertently created a generation of trolls. Wrote O’Neal at the A.V. Club:

To these acolytes, Parker and Stone have spent two decades preaching a philosophy of pragmatic self-reliance, a distrust of elitism, in all its compartmentalized forms, and a virulent dislike of anything that smacks of dogma, be it organized religion, the way society polices itself, or whatever George Clooney is on his high horse about. Theirs can be a tricky ideology to pin down: “I hate conservatives, but I really fucking hate liberals,” Stone said once, a quote that has reverberated across the scores of articles, books, and message-board forums spent trying to parse the duo’s politics, arguing over which side can rightfully claim South Park as its own. Nominally, Parker and Stone are libertarians, professing a straight-down-the-middle empathy for the little guy who just wants to be left alone by meddling political and cultural forces. But their only true allegiance is to whatever is funniest; their only tenet is that everything and everyone has the potential to suck equally. More than anything, they’ve taught their most devoted followers that taking anything too seriously is hella lame.

O’Neal was careful to distinguish between what South Park does — which at least has a comedic ethos behind it — and the rise of online, meme-driven alt-right humor, which mostly seems designed to shock people as much as possible. He was also careful (as he should have been) not to claim that South Park somehow created the alt-right, which arose from a wide variety of influences and took its humor style from 4chan and similar forums, where eliciting a shocked reaction is often the best thing you can possibly do.

But it’s not hard to draw parallels anyway, and to do so requires evaluating South Park as one of a whole bunch of jokesters who set out to lampoon American society by poking it in the eye, and then smiling. Most of these jokesters were late baby boomers and Gen X-ers, people who were raised by television and pop culture and could see all the seams.

Therefore, they often engaged in irony-drenched deconstruction of the tropes of that pop culture — via programs that seem tame now but were shocking then (like The Simpsons, which pulled apart the myths of the perfect sitcom family), or programs that pointed to the very artificiality of television (like David Letterman’s early talk show or Garry Shandling’s ’80s sitcom It’s Garry Shandling’s Show), or programs that traded in crude, politically incorrect humor intended to provoke a reaction (this is where South Park comes in).

Many of these programs and comedians are still around, still making jokes today. Some, like Sarah Silverman — whose earliest work was steeped in ironic racism — have mostly abandoned that sort of humor. Some, like Bill Maher — who built a whole career out of seeming to tell things like they were — now seem like relics. And some, like South Park and Family Guy, manage to evade much notice of just how out of time their comedy can feel because their animated trappings allow for some degree of detachment and distance.

But when it was more in vogue, this style of “Who can shock whom more?” humor became well established online, and the late 2000s and early 2010s saw plenty of it permeate Twitter and YouTube — two sites that are still around, still easily searchable, and still just sitting there waiting to sabotage the career of any famous person who doesn’t go back and do a hasty purge. (Someone like Gunn, who seemed to have left his own bad tweets intact as evidence of his later personal growth, apparently learned the wrong lesson from our age of weaponized social media histories.)

The act of dredging up and passing judgment on someone’s past social media posts is not new. You can look back as recently as 2015 to witness something similar happen to Trevor Noah before he took over The Daily Show — even if that particular instance of outrage was spurred much more by those on the left, who took issue with lazy, hacky jokes the comedian had made based on several awful stereotypes.

Still, Noah’s experience reflects a subtle but notable shift that occurred in the short period of time between Harmon’s Daryl (made in 2009) and most of Noah’s tweets (which were made just a few years later, in 2011 and 2012): At a certain point, ironic, shock-driven humor stopped being a cool way to get noticed, as more people realized it was an easy way to smuggle actual racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice into the discourse.

That’s because shock humor didn’t only reside on Twitter and YouTube. It also resided on 4chan and the other forums that gave rise to the alt-right, and it was too often expressed as, essentially, a kind of racist or sexist or [take your pick of any prejudice you like, really] gag that still said what everybody really thought. The key difference was that a great comedian could find a way to twist ironic racism so that the punchline was aimed at the ironic racist — an approach that had its pitfalls but was miles more nuanced than the slew of genuinely anti-Semitic images and other horrible “jokes” that spew out of various alt-right depositories.

And such “jokes” are the defining element of chan culture, where if you care, then you’ve lost and everybody can laugh at you. The idea is provocation for its own sake, but when you stew in that provocation long enough, it becomes extremely easy to forget where the jokes end, as described in this recent BuzzFeed article about an alt-right rising star who murdered his own father after accusing him of being a leftist pedophile.

The thing about Daryl or South Park or even James Gunn’s tweets is that even if you don’t think the jokes work, even if you believe they’re couching truly terrible things in irony while failing to consider the potential irresponsibility of those tactics, they’re all, on some level, coming from a place of thought and craft. They’re all trying to say something — about modern society, or about how ingrained horrible ideas are in our culture, or just about the TV show Dexter.

The great irony of this bad-faith war on comedians and other Hollywood figures by right-wing internet mobs is that the right-wing internet mobs are ultimately just as steeped in shock comedy culture as anybody else. But they’ve never understood what that culture intended, what its context was, or why some people found it funny. They only heard the racism and never the irony, and maybe that’s as perfect a parable for how we got to now as anything else.

Original Source -> Alt-right internet mobs are attacking celebrities with their own jokes. The irony is stark.

via The Conservative Brief

[mariepierreleroux]

Blog August 2017

Unpicking the installation submitted at the end of year show, August 2017

Installation submitted for this show title: Gauging: rowing against the tide

The installation includes a blue plaque, a book and a rowing deckchair.

1. The commemorative blue plaque

The plaque announces the passage from the Holocene (roughly 11,700 years prior to C21) to the Anthropocene in which humanity (the occident) and (his) technology “has the capacity to disrupt but cannot control nature [‘s]” large scale processes (Solnick, 2016). Both the concept of the Anthropocene and its date of birth are controversial. The debate has widened so that it is no longer centered on the environmental sciences and geology (stratigraphy). As teacher and poet Robert Macfarlane explains:

There are also good reasons to be sceptical of the Anthropocene’s absolutism, the political presumptions it encodes, and the specific histories of power and violence that it masks. But the Anthropocene is a massively forceful concept, and as such it bears detailed thinking through. Though it has its origin in the Earth sciences and advanced computational technologies, its consequences have rippled across global culture during the last 15 years. Conservationists, environmentalists, policymakers, artists, activists, writers, historians, political and cultural theorists, as well as scientists and social scientists in many specialisms, are all responding to its implications. (Macfarlane, 2016)

The plaque attempts to respond to these ongoing controversies in an informal and vernacular way: the last words on the plaque say – and that’s all. This builds on the catchphrase on the banner shown at the end of the American Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoons, and that’s all folks, a development of the cartoon’s earlier line So long, folks! On the plaque, and that’s all, could be read by visitors as an epitaph – perhaps one of the best-known of all epitaphs for Occidentals born in the “technological consumerist paradise” of the post-war years (Bonneuil and Fressoz, 2013: 163) – one of the suggested decades for the birth date for the Anthropocene (International Commission on Stratigraphy, the International Chronostratigraphic Chart (v2016/04)).

But the plaque’s “folksy” tone (Here we commemorate the passage from the Holocene – 11,700 years ago – to the Anthropocene. And that’s all) can also be understood as an attempt to resist ongoing controversies about the Anthropocene. It is inspired by the poet Jeremy Prynne’s nod in The Glacial Question, Unsolved (Jeremy Prynne, The White Stones, 1969). The word Unsolved in Prynne’s title can be interpreted as an invitation for the “readers to resist […] the division of intellectual labour by which powerful practices of knowledge are made to serve sectional interests” (Simon Jarvis, in Roebuck and Sperling, 2010).

This project resists the division of knowledge (with the implication of the deficit model used by the ‘knowledgeable’) raised by Prynne‘s title (…Question, Unsolved). In the installation, made of three elements, the plaque gives visitors a space to speak from the more familiar “historical standpoint”, about the unsolved question – that of peaking destruction (Bonneuil and Fressoz, 2013:171). Yet, the deficit model raises its ugly head again as the words Anthropocene and Holocene may seem obscure to the layperson because they carry a connotation of scientific jargon or high culture. But so do many plaques to, say, a Lord Byron or Napoleon III. However, visitors are intelligent agents capable of tracing historical dates and names. This plaque provides space to reflect on the cultural significance of the environmental changes undeniably taking place globally – and at home. The later strand is explored in the book through the situated knowledge of my local constituency in Herefordshire.

As a commemorative sign, the blue plaque makes visible the invisible. It shows the disappeared or disappearing Holocene and what its end might mean for the future of humanity. The feminist philosopher Donna Haraway in the article, Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making Kin (2015), cites Anna Tsing “[who] in a recent paper called ‘Feral Biologies’ suggests that the inflection point between the Holocene and the Anthropocene might be the wiping out of most of the refugia from which diverse species assemblages (with or without people) can be reconstituted after major events (like desertification, or clear cutting, or, or, …)”.

[thisdaynews]

2020 Dems love the progressive fire but fear the flame

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/2020-dems-love-the-progressive-fire-but-fear-the-flame/

2020 Dems love the progressive fire but fear the flame

Netroots Nation 2019 didn’t attract any of the leading 2020 Democratic contenders to Philadelphia this year except Sen. Elizabeth Warren. | Charles Krupa/AP Photo

2020 Elections

Most top candidates decided to skip this year’s Netroots Nation, avoiding aggressive tactics from the activist left.

PHILADELPHIA — More progressives gathered here over the weekend for the annual Netroots Nation convention than at any time in the event’s 13-year history.

Yet all but one of the top-tier candidates running for president, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, were nowhere to be found.

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While it might have seemed like a missed opportunity, given the state of the roiling progressive grass roots — with the movement’s confrontational tactics and insistence on down-the-line, issue-by-issue adherence to liberal orthodoxy — the campaigns concluded that the safer play was to send their regrets.

It’s a calculation they frequently have to make this year as candidates intent on controlling their own message — and avoiding bad viral moments — run up against a battalion of trained leftist activists bird-dogging them, demanding specific, on-the-record answers.

But it’s also a notable contradiction. Democrats running in the 2020 primary incessantly boast of their progressive bona fides to appeal to the party’s most fiery faction. When given the opportunity to engage with those progressives at a key moment in the primary cycle, however, most of the top-polling candidates declined to get too close to the flame.

“It’s definitely fear, what else? They’ve known since March that this conference is happening, so don’t give me shit about scheduling,” said Markos Moulitsas, founder of the progressive website Daily Kos, which sponsored the Netroots candidate forum. “It’s stupid. … If they want to cede the ground to Warren, then great.”

The most conspicuous no-show at Netroots Nation was Sen. Bernie Sanders. Even though the Vermont independent’s policy platforms, including Medicare for All, are gospel to the left flank of the party, Sanders in 2015 learned the hard way how quickly a candidate can get burned.

At that Netroots event, both Sanders and another candidate, former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, were disruptedor shouted downby Black Lives Matters protesters at the convention in Phoenix. O’Malley’s awkward response that “black lives matter, white lives matter, all lives matter,” proved devastating to his candidacy. But Sanders’ exchange — including telling protesters he wasn’t going to try to outshout them and “if you don’t want me to be here, that’s OK” — has not only haunted him but also helped create a lasting narrative of a tenuous relationship with African Americans.

This year, a rift between Sanders and Moulitsas also played a role.

Sanders’ team raised questions about Moulitsas’ objectivity, given his past public embrace of Warren. And in recent days, sniping ensued by both sides. Moulitsas ribbed Sanders for having participated in a Fox News town hall but skipping the progressive event.

It was also a testament to Sanders’ tendency not to put himself into uncontrolled situations; he sticks to rallies and his standard stump speech, and rarely takes questions from reporters.

Still, one of Sanders’ top surrogates scoffed at the notion that his absence had to do with anything other than scheduling.

“I think his inflated ego needs to dial it back a little bit, that he thinks that the world revolves around him, that Senator Sanders is not here because of him. Who the hell is he?” Sanders campaign co-chairwoman Nina Turner said of Moulitsas. “The senator is running for president, trying to galvanize people all over this country. I wonder, does he feel that same way about Vice President Biden? Or Senator Harris or Mayor Pete Buttigieg or some of the other 99 candidates running for president on the Democratic side?

“I’m exaggerating, but why just pull out Senator Sanders? He had an engagement that could not be changed, and he’s fulfilling his obligation to that engagement.”

Sanders was one of many candidates to cite a scheduling conflict. But he was to be in Philadelphia on Monday, and Kamala Harris, who also cited a calendar issue, was just two hours away in Atlantic City on the same day as the Netroots forum. Harris spoke at last year’s gathering.

The squeamishness in showing up is a testament to the confrontational nature of questions that can lead to embarrassment on hot-button issues. It was the recent impromptu questioning by an ACLU activist of Biden’s opposition to the federal funding of abortion, caught on camera, that led to a swift reversal of his position.

That type of so called bird-dogging, which tries to pin down a politician’s position from the rope line or as an interruption to public remarks, is on the rise.

“That’s part of the game, and we oughta be able to move through it and I believe that we can,” said Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, who participated in Saturday’s candidate forum. “So I’m not daunted by that — you gotta learn how to roll with the punches.”

Referring to the co-captain of the championship U.S. women’s soccer team, he said: “I was just thinking about the moment that would happen, I think I would quote Megan Rapinoe saying: ‘We need to listen to each other more and hate less.’ Maybe that can get us back to listening to one another.”

It happened at Netroots with Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, on Friday, when activistschallenged his position on the death penalty.

“It makes for a really good social media video because it’s confrontational,” said Scott Roberts, senior director of criminal justice campaigns for Color of Change, which was behind the public challenge to Shapiro. “It puts politicians on the spot in a way that I think resonates with a lot of people who are sick of hearing stump speeches and talking points, and they want to hear someone respond to the real questions that people have.”

Roberts acknowledged that while he agreed with the tactic, it might have factored into most 2020 candidates skipping the largest gathering of progressives in the country.

“Campaigns want to be able to control their image, their message,” he said. “If you come into a situation where you feel like someone’s going to interrupt you, put you on the spot, it takes a lot of courage, frankly, to show up in those situations. So I would definitely applaud the candidates who are showing up here.”

The tactic has become so popular among progressives thatactivists have taken part in bird-dogging training sessionsto hone their skills.

Even Warren, long a darling at Netroots, got a taste of it over the weekend, when activists tried to disrupt her remarks about immigration. Still, Warren, whose team has exposed her to thousands of reporter questions and hundreds more at forums she’s held across the country, was able to power through and sidestep any hint of controversy.

That other top-tier candidates failed to show up only ceded ground to Warren. At the same time she’s rising in the polls, she solidified her positioning before the massive gathering — numbering a record 4,000 this year. That allowed herto press her messagealmost unfettered before dozens and dozens of the party’s most active, who tend to help organize and knock on doors.

Aside from Warren and Inslee, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro also attended.

Biden, the polling frontrunner, stayed away, even though his campaign headquarters is in Philadelphia. That was expected, given the former vice president’s past clashes with the left flank of the party, including his recent criticisms of Medicare for All. Indeed, the event featured a pop-up panel that argued why Biden was the “least electable.”

Some top progressive lawmakers who addressed the event were scratching their heads over the absence of 2020 candidates.

“If I were running for president, I would come speak here,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington said. “It is one of the largest progressive gatherings, it’s important.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said it was the same gathering of progressives years ago that helped propel his Senate run.

“They should all be here,” Merkley said of the 2020 candidates. “When I first ran for Senate and people thought I had no chance against the incumbent Republican, I went to the Netroots down in Austin, Texas, and it gave me so much energy to take on a powerful sitting senator, to have grass roots hear what I was saying.”

“I would think that every candidate would want to be right here, speaking directly to the progressive forces. … I mean, these are the folks who organize communities to get things done.”

Alex Thompson contributed to this report.

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New Post has been published on Attendantdesign

New Post has been published on https://attendantdesign.com/missing-mcgill-music-professor-found-dead-in-montreal/

Missing McGill music professor found dead in Montreal

The dean of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music says professor Eleanor Stubley, whose body becomes discovered after she were lacking for about one week, turned into wholly dedicated to her college students.

Prof. Stubley, 57, changed into ultimate seen on Aug. 7 in southwestern Montreal and police showed her body become located in the same neighborhood Sunday night time.

Police stated her disappearance and dying aren’t connected to a crook act however they refused to provide further information.

Music faculty dean Brenda Ravenscroft said Prof. Stubley “become widely known and pretty reputable by means of a spread of human beings inside the musical community.”

Prof. Stubley suffered from a couple of sclerosis, however, Dr. Ravenscroft said it become her tune that turned into front and center in her life things to do in montreal in augus.

“She became one of these big contributors to her work,” Dr. Ravenscroft said. “Utterly committed to students and such a terrific conductor and any troubles with bodily challenges had been simply inside the background.

“It’s a massive loss for us.”

McGill University important Suzanne Fortier stated in a statement Monday that Prof. Stubley’s MS informed her work.

“Prof. Stubley changed into severely acclaimed as both a scholar and an artist, undertaking ensembles in Canada, England, Finland and the U.S,” Dr. Fortier said.

“She lived with more than one sclerosis, and much of her work explored the physicality of a track.”

Prof. Stubley becomes the companion dean inside the graduate research department at Schulich. She taught tune training, musicology, and overall performance.

She becomes additionally the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, in a reputation of her “a long time of notable contribution to the arts,” McGill major Suzanne Fortier said.

Music is one of the greatest creations of human kind in the course of history. It is creativity in a pure and undiluted form and format. Music plays a vital role in our daily life. It is a way of expressing our feelings and emotions. Music is a way to escape life, which gives us relief in pain and helps us to reduce the stress of the daily routine. It helps us to calm down and even excites us in the moment of joy. Moreover, it enriches the mind and gives us self-confidence.

Music surrounds our lives at different moments of lives, Missing  whether  professor  we hear it on the radio, Montreal on television,

from our car and home stereos. Different kinds of music are appropriate for different occasions. We come across it in the mellifluous tunes of a classical concert or in the devotional strains of a bhajan, the wedding band, or the reaper in the fields breaking into song to express the joys of life. Even warbling in the bathroom gives us a happy start to the day. Music has a very powerful therapeutic effect on the human psyche. It has always been part of our association with specific emotions, and those emotions themselves have given rise to great music.

The origins of Indian music can be traced back to the chanting of the Sama Veda nearly 4,000 years ago. The primacy of the voice and the association of musical sound with prayer were thus established early in the history of Indian music. Today, music is available to us in different forms and the choice of music varies from person to person just as the reading choices vary from one another. There is folk music, classical music, devotional music, instrumental, jazz, rock music, pop music, Hindi movie songs and much more.

In the modern world, Music has gained an honorable designation of ‘HEALING WITHOUT MEDICINE’. Doctors feel that music therapy has been helping them in treating many people with problems like dementia, dyslexia depression, and trauma.” Many children with learning disability and poor coordination have been able to learn, and respond to set pieces of music. Many people with genetic disability have found a new light in the form of music.

Dance critic Ashish Khokar cites an experiment as proof: “Music is produced from sound, and sound affects our sense perception in many ways. Even fish in an aquarium was once made to listen to different kinds of music and it was found that their movements corresponded with the beat of the music. Mind you, fish do not hear, they only felt the vibrations of the sound through water. So you can imagine what a profound effect sound and music might have on the human mind.”

Anand Avinash, founder of the Neuro Linguistic Consciousness workshop who has researched music therapy says,”the mystics and saints from ancient to modern times have shown how music can kindle the higher centers of the mind and enhance a quality of life.” Mantras, or chants used in the West, repeated monotonously, help the mind to achieve a sense of balance. A combination of the sounds in Sanskrit mantras produce certain positive vibrations and elevate the mind to a higher level of consciousness.

We all know that meditation cleanses the system of its negative energies and vibrations. And music is a powerful aid to meditation. In many meditation workshops, music is used to make people more aware of their moods and feelings. People are made to lie down and empty their minds and then listen to the music which is systematically changed so that they can fit through different emotions and state of consciousness.

Many people also believe that any music you respond to positively will work for you, regardless of its content.

Thus, even pop music might work wonders for you.

Music affects all of us in some way or the other. It also is the most common interest of many people. People who love music, listen to it while traveling, reading, meditation, walking, some even have soft music while working in their busy routine. It helps them to relax and escape from the stress of our day-to-day lives. It can transport us to another time or place and it is a great feeling of seeing or doing or experiencing something different. People have special music corner for themselves and some people give importance to listening in silence and some people love to read with light music and even some people love listening to music before sleeping. Many people love listening to music in a bathroom because they feel it is one of the few rooms in the home where privacy is routinely respected. Some people also love to sing in the bathroom and are called ‘bathroom singers’. Music has now become a part of our life as it serves different purposes for each one of us.

It serves as an entertainment tool. For instance, in an occasion or event, music plays a vital role that makes the event to be lively for the people. Similarly, it creates cordial relationship among the people.

Moreover, it serves as a tool for corrective measure. Music tells the people on the habit that is uncultured so that such behavior can be for better. Furthermore, it is an agent that is used to educate people. Music can easily convey the message to the friends and enemies.

It serves as the tool for settling the dispute between two or more people. It often helps to put an end to disagreements after listening to related meaningful songs. Music is played for the group to show harmony among them.

Music also serves as a source of income to human life. It is a profession of particular classes of people like lyricist, playback singers, music directors, musicians, musical instrument players, DJs etc.

Lastly, music serves as a message or symbol that indicates the occurrence that is going on in a particular place or event. For instance, If bad occurrence happens in a particular place the type of music played there will show the audience or listens what happened in that event. The type of music played will justify to the listeners what actually going on there.