#i need to see paul stewart's tweets

[chemicalarospec]

i managed to access a twitter page without an account for the first time in months by opening it on a mobile browser (fuck elon) and what do you mean Blueboy played to 10,000 in Jakarta Indonesia!!!

[travelonlinetipsofficial]

Travel industry relief mixed with fury after government eases rules

New Post has been published on https://www.travelonlinetips.com/travel-industry-relief-mixed-with-fury-after-government-eases-rules/

Travel industry relief mixed with fury after government eases rules

The travel industry has responded with relief to the easing of the UK’s government rules on international journeys.

But there is fury about the delay in the announcement by the the transport secretary, Grant Shapps – partly because many feel travel abroad should have been liberalised months ago, and partly due to the manner of communicating the government’s decision.

In a tweet just before 5pm on Friday, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announced that the testing regime for returning British travellers would be eased – with the “test to fly” ditched for people who are fully vaccinated.

In addition, the key eastern Mediterranean nations of Egypt and Turkey have finally been taken off the red list, along with winter favourites Kenya, the Maldives, Oman and Sri Lanka.

With mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals set to end, travel firms will once again be able to sell trips to those destinations.

In addition, Pakistan and Bangladesh have been moved off the red list – which will enable many families to reconnect.

But South African tourism officials are incandescent about being overlooked in the easing of the red list. The nation has been on the high-risk register for almost all of 2021.

David Frost, chief executive of Satsa, representing Southern Africa’s inbound tourism industry,  said: “This is a kick in the teeth for 1.5 million South African tourism workers who were relying on UK visitors this spring.

“There isn’t a shred of scientific evidence to support keeping South Africa on the red list and the only conclusion left is that the UK government has an irrational fear of South Africa which is prejudicing decision-making.

“Turkey’s case rate is triple South Africa’s and rising fast, while Pakistan’s testing and sequencing rates are a fraction of ours, there is no consistency.

“The UK government needs to urgently reconsider this classification to avoid irreparable harm to a relationship with a key ally and trading partner.”

Shai Weiss, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said: “The red list should focus purely on variants of concern, in order to protect public health, therefore it’s imperative to rapidly and continuously remove countries that don’t pose a threat, in order to open travel back up to countries like South Africa.”

Paul Goldstein, co-owner of Kicheche Safari Camps in Kenya, said: “Finally it seems Kenya can be taken off the breadline.

“Mr Shapp’s policy of traffic lights has been wantonly destructive all over the world, but in Kenya I fail to see why it is any different now to when the ludicrous red light was imposed in March.

“Travel cannot just be turned on and off like a gas tap and I am astonished his appalling decisions were not recognised and prosecuted in the recent reshuffle.”

Andrew Flintham, managing director of Tui, said: “We still believe the red list could be reduced further given no variants of concern have been identified and it remains significantly more restrictive than other countries in Europe.”

The boss of Britain’s biggest budget airline called the changes “a welcome step forward for our customers – and a move that will make it significantly easier for the fully vaccinated to travel to Europe”.

But Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, added: “Vaccinated travellers and those from low risk countries will still have to do an unnecessary test after arriving in the UK, making travel less affordable for all.

“Since 1 July there has been no testing at all for vaccinated travellers within the rest of Europe, and this is why the UK will continue to fall further behind the rest of Europe if this remains.“

The chief executive of Britain’s biggest airport, Heathrow, said the UK was out of step with the European Union. John Holland-Kaye said: “The decision to require fully vaccinated passengers to take more costly private lateral flow tests is an unnecessary barrier to travel, which.

“Ministers must continue to work towards friction-free travel for vaccinated passengers.”

His counterpart at Gatwick, Stewart Wingate, said: “Fully vaccinated passengers now have a larger choice of destinations and can book with more confidence in the months before Christmas and beyond – free from the need to arrange pre-departure tests before coming back into the UK.

“We know there is significant pent-up demand for travel and our staff, restaurants, cafes and bars are ready to welcome back passengers over the coming months.”

But Wille Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), said the package of measures was too little too late: “Across the entire pandemic, the UK’s travel rules have been two steps behind the rest of Europe.

“This has devastated the UK’s travel industry with countless job losses.”

As Friday progressed, airlines, holiday companies and travel agents were increasingly desperate to know – for example – whether and when they could reinstate sales of trips to Turkey.

With rumours that two Caribbean islands, Grenada and Jamaica, could be placed on the red list, there is astonishment at the vacuum of information that ministers have created.

A 1pm tweet from the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, that he would be bringing news later was ridiculed by Derek Jones – one of the most senior figures in the travel industry. The chief executive of Der Touristik, parent company of Kuoni, Carrier, Kirker and Journey Latin America, tweeted an image purporting to be from the transport secretary.

It read: “This is an announcement to announce that later today I will be making an announcement.”

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[your-dietician]

NHL officiating in the playoffs has been nothing short of haphazard

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nhl/nhl-officiating-in-the-playoffs-has-been-nothing-short-of-haphazard/

NHL officiating in the playoffs has been nothing short of haphazard

You may be thinking of several more incidents left unmentioned. Maybe something from the Bruins’ playoff run?

Rage against the referees has been a part of hockey since the puck was a chunk of wood and the sticks were fashioned from saplings. There used to be a few cameras in the building, and now there’s a few hundred, and we can clearly see what the officials a few feet away miss, as the players skate by in a blur. Maybe we should accept that they’re going to miss some bad ones.

Judging by the numbers, nothing should change. On average, officials call more penalties in the playoffs than in the regular season. According to the NHL, playoff games in the last two seasons have averaged 8.33 penalty calls, compared with 7.05 during the regular season.

But that doesn’t sound right, does it? When the prize is greater, players battle harder, empty their tanks completely, finish checks more violently. Why aren’t there more penalties called?

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, through a league spokesperson, told the Globe that players, not officials, determine the calls.

“Officials are directed and encouraged to call the same standard as in the regular season,” Daly said. “That’s always been the case, but it’s been an even greater point of emphasis in recent years. What changes in the playoffs is the way the game is played on the ice, and that changes how officiating is perceived.”

Not everyone buys that.

“It’s different from regular season to playoffs. The refs are letting a little bit more stuff go,” Vegas winger Jonathan Marchessault said, calling it “adversity that teams need to face in the playoffs. Good teams will find a way to go through it. Just have to battle through it. Find a way.”

More bluntly, NBC analyst Brian Boucher tweeted he was “tired of people crying about officiating. Deal with it!”

Sure … but … why? Do we want what amounts to a different rulebook for the postseason?

Does it make sense that Connor McDavid can go eight games over the last two playoffs without drawing a penalty, despite numerous clear-cut infractions against him? Analyst Rachel Doerrie said she watched every McDavid shift from the Oilers-Jets series and counted 30 non-calls. McDavid, as you’d expect from the league’s premier talent, had the most offensive-zone puck possession time of any player during the regular season, according to Sportlogiq. He earned 53 penalty calls in 120 games, ranking sixth in the NHL. Not one penalty call in the postseason?

Longtime NHL official Kerry Fraser, who retired in 2010, said the missed calls this year have been “troublesome,” pointing to a “regression” in the performance of veterans in stripes.

“This is painful to say, and to watch, because I know all these guys, and worked with some of them,” Fraser said on TSN 1050 in Toronto. “They’re good people. They don’t deserve the kind of work that they’re putting forth.

“That’s not fair. That’s not right. As a player, you would look at yourself first. But you would also look at the kind of direction you’re getting … you’ve got to look at the game plan.”

Paul Stewart, the longtime former NHL ref from Dorchester, noted in a phone conversation that officials don’t have regular pregame meetings during the season, but they do in the playoffs. That’s where all kinds of bugs can be put in their ears — like “No. 11 is cheating on faceoffs,” he said, conjuring an example that would perk the ears of Bruce Cassidy.

Though the league has denied it, “letting the players play” is a long-accepted practice. A few seasons ago (2017), the NHL told its men in stripes to focus on slashes to the hands. That’s how we get what happened in Game 4 of Vegas-Montreal: Joel Edmundson retaliated by cross-checking William Carrier into the boards (no call), Suzuki hooked Alec Martinez on the hands (penalty).

“This is an annual event,” Fraser said. “We have one set of rules in the regular season, and then a whole different standard in the playoffs.

“Yes, we like to let them play, but when you let the players decide the outcome of a game, which I never subscribed to, then you’re actually as a referee letting things go that could affect the outcome of the game.

“Draw the line. Players will play within it. They’re smart. But if you let the inmates run the prison, the warden might as well take his skates off and watch it on TV.”

Canada’s best

Canadiens an unlikely finalist, or are they?

Few expected to see the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final, but the Habs are four wins away from lifting their first Cup since 1993.Vaughn Ridley/Getty

This is as deep as the Canadiens have been in a generation. They have not been to the Stanley Cup Final since 1993, when they won the most recent Cup in their (and Canada’s) history.

And they got there on an overtime goal. The last time they went to the Final on an OT winner was … for the sake of anyone who remembers 1979, let’s not go there. Already too much discussion of penalties here.

But give the Habs their props. They took it to a Vegas team that rolled over the West Division, and now we have to question whether the West, not the North, was the weakest division in hockey. The Knights went a combined 33-6-1 against the Ducks, Coyotes, Kings, Sharks and Blues, two of which (Arizona and St. Louis) made the playoffs last year. They split with Colorado (4-4-0) and went 3-4-1 against surprising Minnesota.

Entering the postseason, the commonly held belief was that Colorado, Vegas and Tampa were the three best teams, and that an eventual Avalanche-Knights series would be a de-facto Cup Final. But the Avs flunked out, and the Habs shut down that raucous party in the scorching desert summer.

This, from a team that fired Claude Julien and finished 18th in the regular-season standings. Montreal was supposed to be blown out by Toronto in the first round. But after offing the Maple Leafs in seven (coming back from a 3-1 deficit) and sweeping the Jets, here they are.

Not enough offense? Young talent too unreliable? Carey Price is washed up? Oublie ça. Forget it.

A major key, to this eye: after Julien was fired in February, interim coach Dominique Ducharme — who last week gave way to assistant Luke Richardson because of a positive COVID-19 test — asked his team to play more passively in the neutral zone. Similar to the Islanders, the Canadiens play patient and reliable defense, work as a unit, and strike off turnovers. They don’t dominate the puck or own the offensive zone. It doesn’t matter. They had 14 different goal scorers, a dozen among the forwards.

Nick Suzuki is making plays all over the ice, showing why Julien liked to compare him with a Patrice Bergeron-in-training. Shutdown center Phillip Danault neutralized Mark Stone (0-0—0, seven shots) to a degree rarely seen, after having a similar effect on the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews. Brendan Gallagher, after missing the last six weeks of the regular season with a broken thumb, is back in his heart-and-soul role, irritating Vegas stalwart Alex Pietrangelo enough to draw consistent attention away from the play. Corey Perry is still an on-ice jerk, albeit one with some gas left in his tank.

Montreal leans heavily on four big defenders (Ben Chiarot, Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson), all of whom play 23-25 minutes a night. Jon Merrill (13) and Erik Gustafsson (sub-10) don’t see much action, the latter used mostly for power plays. Montreal is 11-0 this postseason when scoring twice. While Price has been stellar, he isn’t making a slew of spectacular stops. He’s seeing pucks.

It’s a team that blends age (Perry and Eric Staal, both 36; Weber, 35; Price, 33) with youth (Suzuki, 21; Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Cole Caufield, 20) and had enough grit to withstand whatever Vegas threw its way.

Caufield, the Habs’ version of Alex DeBrincat, scored four times in the series, including a Game 6 goal that showed his touch, acceleration, shot and verve. After Vegas netminder Robin Lehner shut him down on a Game 4 breakaway and cracked how five-hole or high glove were Caufield’s two moves, the rookie roasted him upstairs.

After sitting Caufield for the first two games against the Leafs (and Kotkaniemi for Game 1), Ducharme found one of the breakout stars of the playoffs. Game 6 was the ex-Wisconsinite’s 24th career game, his 14th in the playoffs. Caufield won the Hobey Baker some 10 weeks ago. He can still win the Calder Trophy next year.

If Tampa is next, Montreal won’t shrink. They enter the final having killed 30 consecutive power plays — a league-record 13 straight games without a PPG allowed — so why would the Lightning’s man-advantage scare them?

Abuse allegations

Ex-Blackhawks video coach accused of sexual assault

Think of the Chicago Blackhawks of the 2010s and what comes to mind? Probably the names of star players — Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith — and the three Cups they won.

The legacy of that team might be shifting.

TSN recently uncovered stunning claims of sexual assault on the watch of the Blackhawks’ management. The Canadian outlet reported that two former Blackhawks reported to then-skills coach Paul Vincent in May 2010 that they had been abused by video coach Brad Aldrich, who went on to abuse others at subsequent career stops.

Vincent, of Beverly, told TSN recently his plea to Hawks management to take the allegations to Chicago police was rejected. He says he is willing to testify on behalf of the plaintiffs in court.

In May, two unnamed players filed lawsuits against the franchise, alleging the team covered up alleged abuses by Aldrich.

According to multiple reports, Aldrich was convicted of abusing a 17-year-old player in Houghton, Mich., in 2013. He resigned from his position as Miami University hockey operations months before, under suspicion of “unwanted touching of a male adult,” according to police records obtained by TSN.

A former Blackhawks marketing official told TSN that Alrdich would “routinely befriend young interns” and invite them to hang out at his Chicago apartment. The official said he was told to “steer clear” of Aldrich because he had “tried something” with a few players, and that “the entire training staff, a lot of people knew” about Aldrich’s behavior — it was “open secret,” the official said.

It is a situation the Blackhawks and the NHL must address. Neither entity has commented.

Raising awareness

Ex-Stars defenseman roller-blading for mental health

Former Stars defenseman Stephen Johns is roller-blading and road-tripping across the US to raise awareness for mental health.Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

Got big summer plans? Stephen Johns didn’t, until a couple weeks ago.

The former Dallas defenseman, who did not play last season because of post-concussion syndrome, retired June 13 and announced a new adventure: he’s roller-blading and road-tripping across the US to raise awareness for mental health.

Johns, from Wampum, Pa., reports he traveled from Pittsburgh to Wisconsin in his first week, logging roughly 40 miles a day. He’s on three wheels, with a helmet, elbow pads and wrist guards, and has a friend, Jeff Toates, driving alongside him, documenting the trip and carrying necessities. There has been lace bite and leg burn. In Chicago, the former Notre Dame standout skated to Lake Michigan and did a front flip into the water.

The genesis of the trip was Johns’s battle with depression, which sank him during a 2018-19 season in which he suffered a head injury during training camp in Boise, Idaho. He did not play the entire season. After 22 months away from the game, he returned to play 17 games in 2020, earning a finalist nod for the Masterton Trophy.

Johns recently wrote on Instagram that he was “tired of letting depression destroy my life,” and wanted to provide the same kind of inspiration to those facing their own battles.

“What I miss most about the game of hockey is providing inspiration,” he wrote. “If I can inspire one person to climb out of their hole, then that’s a successful trip.”

Loose pucks

Former Flyers coach Dave Hakstol is taking over the expansion Seattle Kraken ahead of their first season.Ken Lambert/Associated Press

Swerve in Seattle: Dave Hakstol, who coached the Flyers (and made a pair of first-round exits) from 2015-19 and was a Maple Leafs assistant the last two years, is the expansion Kraken’s first head coach. Hakstol did good work with Toronto’s defense (in two years, 26th to seventh in goals against). Bruce Cassidy and Mike Sullivan, among many others, would tell you that all you need is a second chance … Gerard Gallant, the Rangers’ replacement for David Quinn, wants to coach the “hardest-working team in the league,” which is a thing often said during introductory press conferences. Will GM Chris Drury add a few gritty types to fill out the roster? Are the Rangers a playoff team next season? We say yes, and no … Expecting some team to overpay for Vegas’ Alec Martinez, the defense-first, top-four defender with two Stanley Cup rings from Los Angeles. Same feeling about Tampa’s David Savard and Blake Coleman, and whichever UFAs the Islanders don’t re-sign on their fourth line … The Sedin twins are back in Vancouver, Canucks GM Jim Benning hiring them as special advisers to learn the management side. “We care about this team,” Henrik said, noting that he and brother Daniel have a lot to learn. Any fresh ideas on how to sign RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, with $15 million in cap space and a roster that currently includes 15 skaters? … The NWHL’s Toronto Six made a splashy move, hiring Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James as an assistant coach … Who’s going to be a more interesting TV analyst: Wayne Gretzky on Turner or Mark Messier on ESPN? Not expecting spicy takes from either … RIP to René Robert, a member of the Sabres’ famed French Connection line, who died at 72. Robert gave Buffalo its first win in a Stanley Cup Final game by finishing Game 3 against the Flyers in 1975 with an OT strike in a foggy Buffalo Auditorium … Podcast recommendation: Bernie Corbett’s “Games People Play,” featuring lengthy interviews with a range of sports figures (including the Globe’s Bob Ryan and John Powers). Hockey subjects include Keith Tkachuk, Theo Fleury, Bryan Trottier and Eddie Johnston … Draft trivia: forward Cole Sillinger, a first-round prospect, is the son of well-traveled Mike Sillinger, who made an NHL-record 12 stops during his 18-year career. Cole was born during his father’s two-year stay in Columbus … The aluminum bottles and cans were likely empty — why would anyone waste a drop? — when Islanders fans celebrated a Game 6 win by giving the Nassau Coliseum sheet a silver shower. Throwing objects is normally a protest, not a celebration, but that’s life at the old barn in Uniondale. “That building coming into overtime was smelling like cigarettes,” mused winning goal-scorer Anthony Beauvillier. “Now it smells like beers.”

Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.

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[perfectirishgifts]

5 ‘Star Trek’ Actors Are Out LGBTQ, But How Many Are Nerds? This Guy!

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/5-star-trek-actors-are-out-lgbtq-but-how-many-are-nerds-this-guy/

5 ‘Star Trek’ Actors Are Out LGBTQ, But How Many Are Nerds? This Guy!

Actor Anthony Rapp plays Paul Stamets in the Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 episode Terra Firma, Part … [] 1

Note: For fans who have not yet seen this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery, there are spoilers ahead.

“I don’t think it’s a secret, I’ve been a nerd,” said actor Anthony Rapp. “I’ve been very outspoken about that.”

He has. but don’t just take his word for it. Check out the Star Trek: Discovery star’s Twitter feed: Rapp tweets ratings for science fiction and fantasy novels, and most recently: Dungeons and Dragons games with stars of the show and their friends.

That’s of course in addition to Rapp’s tweets promoting social justice, LGBTQ equality and his pro-mask pandemic posts. The Illinois native engages with his fans on a daily basis, and interacts with them about everything from civil rights to politics and theater, and when appropriate, he gets personal.

But when it comes right down to it, Rapp is a nerd. And he’s not alone:

Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Paul Stamets and Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber of the CBS All Access … [] series, Star Trek: Discovery.

That’s a parody of perhaps the most well-known song from Rent. Rapp starred in the original production on Broadway in 1996 as Mark Cohen, alongside his current co-star Wilson Cruz, who played the part of Angel in the touring production. Together, they play the science fiction franchise’s first regularly appearing gay couple aboard the U.S.S. Discovery, serving aboard a 23rd century starship that in this third season has flown 930 years into the future.

In our present day, the veteran actor of stage and screen — known also for roles in the films A Beautiful Mind and Adventures in Babysitting — is in Toronto, Canada, where he is filming season four of the CBS All Access streamed series. He took a break Wednesday evening to talk about being a nerd, his castmates, his thoughts on acting and LGBTQ representation in Star Trek.

This interview was edited for clarity and space limitations. Scroll down to watch the video of the full interview. Note: if you have not yet viewed this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Terra Firma Part 1, there are spoilers aplenty ahead!

Dawn Ennis: The mirror universe is back!

Anthony Rapp: Yes!

Ennis: How long ago was it you filmed this?

Rapp: Oh, my goodness. Sometime, maybe about a year ago? I want to say, -ish, give or take.

Ennis: The wonders of Hollywood. Your character, Stamets, in the alternate universe, in the Mirror Universe, has a devious plot. Do you remember anything about the idea that you would have what every actor lives for, a glorious death scene?

Michelle Yeoh stars as Empress Georgiou in the Star Trek: Discovery episode, Terra Firma, Part 1

Rapp: Well, it’s not just a glorious death scene, but it’s a glorious death scene at the hands of Michelle Yeoh. You know, when I was first cast in this show, about three and a half, four years ago, one of the first things that was shared with me was that Michelle Yeoh was going to be a part of it. And my jaw just dropped because, I mean, she’s a legend. And you always hear that you shouldn’t meet your heroes because they’ll so often disappoint you. And it’s the exact opposite with Michelle. She is a consummate human being, in every way.

I didn’t get a lot of chances to work opposite her with her directly as part of the show, but we hung out and our cast is very close. We do social things together. And she was always fantastic to talk to and be with.

But to finally get to play opposite her a couple of times over the last season and a half, and then to get killed by her, that’s the sort of “pinch-me” moment that if you’d asked me, when I first saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I would have looked at you like you were speaking in tongues, because it would have seemed so unlikely that anything like that would ever come my way.

I don’t remember exactly how many times we did the shot. There were a couple of different shots, but one of the main shots was me creeping up behind her, and then she quickly turns and stabs me in the throat. She did that perfectly every time; the knife was incredibly, perfectly situated exactly at the right angle to my throat.

She has an otherworldly gift at such things. We are so lucky to be graced by her.

Ennis: You have a theatrical background which plays into this particular episode in which you are the the narrator of a big production. And I imagine that you must weekly call upon your theatrical skills, because acting on the small screen is not small.

Rapp: I think other actors have said something like this, that acting on a show like Star Trek is in some ways at times like acting in Shakespeare or a period piece, where the language can be really heightened. Like when you’re in Hamlet, you’re talking to a ghost; When you’re in Star Trek, you’re talking to an alien.

Some of our training comes from inhabiting any kind of fantastical realm or world, or you’re doing Midsummer Night’s Dream, or the Scottish play, and then also having the heavy lift of of technical language, or language that I would never utter in my normal life.

I think a lot of actors who grow up only doing film and television sometimes can feel a little nervous about taking big risks, because there’s this notion that when you’re on film, things have to be small, quiet. I think in Trek, people like Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, they had tremendous theatrical backgrounds. Brent Spiner, too, and that that absolutely served them incredibly well.

Left to right: Brent Spiner, William Shatner and Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy with William … [] Shatner.

Ennis: You stand on the shoulders of giants, that’s for sure. Now, you and Wilson Cruz, you play partners on the show, and now you each have a death scene that you can compare notes. And of course, they’ll be fans who say, ‘”Oh, they’re killing off the gays again!” Any thoughts on those two things?

Rapp: Well, I think A., in the Mirror Universe, who knows what anyone is? I think everyone’s a little bit pansexual, probably. And B., Yeah, not to give any more spoilers away, but you know this version of the Mirror Universe we’re seeing is also in some ways a mirror of the mirror.

So it’s not canon in quite the same way as what we saw in season one. It’s another peeling back of the curtain, and the layers of of these mirrors. But back in season one, Stamets was a part of the plot to overthrow Georgiou. So this is just the natural extension of that.

Blu del Barrio plays Adira on Star Trek: Discovery

Ennis: Those you follow you and Wilson on social media have seen that people are starting to call Wilson the Space Papi and you the Space Dad to Blu del Barrio’s character, to Adira. Not being a parent yourself, is that a stretch?

Rapp: Well, I’ve been a parent to pets and animals my whole life. I’m not equating Blu with a pet or an animal. But, you know, from the first day of meeting Blu, I was there for their very first day that they ever set foot on a professional film or television set. Jonathan Frakes was directing the episode, their first scene on camera, when I confront them at the foot of the ladder: “What are you doing up there?”

Ennis: No pressure or anything.

Rapp: And, you know, but Jonathan and I would be watching them work. They’re so incredible, already and with no experience in this arena, in training and acting experience.

Having been on a set for the first time when I was 15: It’s a little weird. And then there’s all kinds of strange things happening. It’s easily intimidating and strange and bizarre, and you have to absorb a lot. They just hit it right out of the park right away. and came at it with such incredible grounded and human energy. So I fell in love with Blu right then and there. Then I just naturally gravitated toward being a kind of, I don’t know, mentor, protective big older brother, dad, kind of thing. That felt very natural to me, personally. That was something that was very easy to “live into,” because I felt that so naturally anyway.

Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Paul Stamets and Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber of the CBS All Access … [] series, Star Trek: Discovery.

Ennis: As a pioneer in Star Trek, in terms of being an out gay man, playing a gay character, in a relationship with another man, do you see that the unfolding of having non-binary characters like Adira and a trans character, even in a ghostly version, how does that make you feel in terms of the craft and and our community?

Rapp: I think it’s long overdue. I’ve said things like this with you before, probably as we’ve talked over the years: There were times when people within the world of creating Trek were agitating for these kinds of characters to be a part of the fabric, off screen and on screen, but there was resistance from networks or whatever. So, it just took too long, frankly.

Blu del Barrio, left, with Ian Alexander in the Star Trek: Discovery episode, “Forget Me Not”

But the fact that it has come about makes it feel earned. I just feel incredibly lucky and proud that Wilson and I first were entrusted with carrying that mantle. Then, Tig Notaro coming on board, now, of course, Blu and Ian [Alexander].

Blu and Ian are quintessential Gen Z kids, and I am going to say “kids” with total affection and respect. They’re really young, but they’re so much a part of this younger generation which truly is willing to break down all kinds of barriers, and just shake things up in the most grounded way.

Recognizing that all of these different facets of identity and expression and being deserved to be seen, and all light needs to be shining everywhere, at all times. I’m sure that there are aspects of it that sometimes might be a little overwhelming or intimidating, but they are so up for it, and so ready to to carry that that mantle.

Ennis: When I spoke to Tig, they reminded me that her character had lost her wife in the battle of the binary stars. And she addressed a question from a fan about whether the knocking of heads between your characters was carried through into real life. And she said, “I certainly hope not!” She said, “I think that we get along just great.”

Rapp: Yes, I love Tig. I was first was introduced to her with the piece that she’d done when she was first diagnosed with cancer.

Commander Jett Reno, played by actor, podcaster and comedian Tig Notaro, left, with Lt. Commander … [] Paul Stamets, portrayed by actor Anthony Rapp, appearing in the ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ third season episode, ‘Die Trying’ on CBS All Access.

I wasn’t warned what it was about. And my mom passed away from cancer, but just like immediately, I was just so taken by it. And some of the things I was so taken by was her honesty, authenticity, and also humor in the face of it, but just her willingness to be totally authentically herself, and share every aspect of it.

That’s something that I really strive to do with my life. So when I heard that she would be part of the show, I crossed my fingers, this is one of my heroes: “I hope she’s as cool as she seems!” And she absolutely was. We’ve had we’ve got a complete blast. And I really love when she’s on set, and I wish she could be on set more often.

Ennis: What’s next for you? I know you’re so busy shooting the next season of Discovery, but what other projects do you have going on? Anything on the horizon?

Rapp: There’s a sort of small scale thing. I got invited by Swapna Krishna, who’s a writer. She’s written for my SyFy Wire, I believe, and other outlets. She invited me to contribute a story to an anthology that she’s editing called Sword Stone Table, in which writers are taking the Arthurian legends and doing spins on them. That would make them multicultural, LGBTQ, finding ways to adapt some aspect of the legend. Any aspect. That was the only brief: the Arthurian legends, find some way to adapt it to a story you want to tell. I’m incredibly honored to do that and I worked really hard on a story that I’m proud of. It turned out pretty well, I think. And so that’s going to be coming out sometime in the spring or summer.

But not now. We’re very much in the thick of season four production right now in Toronto.

Ennis: Thank you for taking time away from that. Please extend to everybody in the Star Trek: Discovery family, our eternal thanks. I know this seems like I’m blowing gas up your tailpipe, but y’all have brought back Star Trek, real Star Trek, and made us all excited again.

Rapp: Thank you. It’s an honor.

Watch a video of the full interview with Anthony Rapp, in which he discusses playing Dungeons and Dragons, the real Paul Stamets, more thoughts on acting and advice for beginners as well as those hoping to do so professionally.

12/11 Wilson Cruz was inaccurately listed as starring in the original production of Rent on Broadway, but first appeared in a touring company production. Wilson Jermaine Heredia originated the role of Angel and won a Tony Award for his portrayal.

From Diversity & Inclusion in Perfectirishgifts

[blogsmog]

Enough, America.

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. But you already know that. America and the majority of the entire globe know this because the entire 8 minutes and 46 seconds was filmed by bystanders’ phones. And within hours the video trended all across media platforms. And was deleted. And was re-posted. And so on.

Since this date- America has seen numerous rises of protests and riots. But again, you know that. You’ve seen the coverage.

Over the last seven days, I’ve been lost in my own thoughts and simply have not been able to form words about the spread of events that have taken place. I’ve seen many supporters for Black Lives Matter on social media. I’ve also seen numerous of non-supporters’ posts. I’ve refrained from saying anything publicly on social media during this time because of a few reasons. One being the question of, “Do my words or sharing a graphic on Black Lives Matter- actually make a difference? Does it actually help this long standing issue?” Then the other part of me recognizes that my generation has grown up on social media. Social Media is a way of communication. It’s a way of expressing your support. And if you’re silent than you’re just as part of the problem.

After conducting my own research and thoughts, here is how I’m showing my support and love towards the Black Lives Matter movement.

Recognizing my White Male Privilege. I’m from a small town in East Tennessee known as the City of Clinton. Growing up in Clinton means you are familiar with the story of the Clinton 12.  The story goes back to 1956. Twelve African-American students became the first black students to ever attend Clinton High School. Making CHS the first desegregated high school in the South. My grandmother was a senior at Clinton High School during this time. Growing up, she shared with me many stories about what she witnessed happen to these 12 high school students, about the town riots that occurred from white supremacist groups, and about how eventually the school was bombed. I have known from a very early age what racism is and that it is wrong.

    I say all of this, yet I don’t know what it’s like. I don’t know what it’s like to be stopped by police for simply taking an evening walk down the street. I don’t know what it’s like to continuously apply for jobs and interviews and get turned down due to race.  I don’t know what it’s like to be paid less money simply because of my skin color. I don’t know what it’s like to be automatically stereotyped as a thug or dangerous. I don’t know what it’s like to be pulled over for something minor and worry about getting shot. And I most certainly don’t know what it’s like to leave my house for something as simple as going to the grocery store and having to wonder if that will be the last time I ever see my family again. I don’t know because I am a white male. And I recognize that.

2. I’m educating myself. It’s easier now, more than ever, to automatically form an opinion on an issue. But I’m diving a little deeper into this than just sharing a post or a tweet on social media. I’m no longer believing someone’s personal opinion is the only truth. I’ve learned over the course of the last few years that it’s more beneficial to do your own research to form your own thoughts and opinions. I am currently reading the following books: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo and Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism,  Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad. Additionally, I am listening to NPR’s Podcast, Code Switch.

In addition to my readings and listenings, I am taking the time to learn more about people of color who have been killed over the last decade by police. Between 2013 and 2019, 7,666 people of color have been killed police in the United States. In Tennessee, the total is 41. You can view more of this information and see where your state stands here. 

Eric Garner, John Crawford III, Michael Brown, Ezell Ford, Dante Parker, Michelle Cusseaux, Laquan McDonald, George Mann, Tanisha Anderson, Akai Gurley, Tamir Rice, Rumain Brisbon, Jerame Reid, Matthew Ajibade, Frank Smart, Natasha McKenna, Tony Robinson, Anthony Hill, Mya Hall, Phillip White, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, William Chapman II, Alexia Christian, Brendon Glenn, Victor Manuel Larosa, Jonathan Sanders, Freddie Blue, Joseph Mann, Salvado Ellswood, Sandra Bland, Albert Joseph Davis, Darrius Stewart, Billy Ray Davis, Samuel Dubose, Michael Sabbie, Brian Keith Day, Christian Taylor, Troy Robinson, Asshams Pharaoah Manley, Felix Kumi, Keith Harrison McLeod, Junior Prosper, Lamontez Jones, Patterson Brown, Dominic Hutchinson, Anthony Ashford, Alonzo Smith, Tyree Crawford, India Kager, La’Vante Biggs, Michael Lee Marshall, Jamar Clark, Richard Perkins, Nathaniel Harris Pickett, Benni Lee Tignor, Miguel Espinal, Michael Noel, Kevin Matthews, Bettie Jones, Quintonio Legrier, Keith Childress Jr., Janet Wilson, Randy Nelson, Antronie Scott, Wendell Celestine, David Joseph, Calin Roquemore, Dyzhawn Perkins, Christopher Davis, Marco Loud, Peter Gaines, Torrey Robinson, Darius Robinson, Kevin Hicks, Mary Truxillo, Demarcus Semer, Willie Tillman, Terrill Thomas, Sylville Smith, Alton Sterling, Rhilando Castile, Terence Crutcher, Paul O’Neal, Alteria Woods, Jordan Edwards, Aaron Bailey, Ronell Foster, Stephon Clark, Antwon Rose II, Botham Jean, Pamela Turner, Dominique Clayton, Atatiana Jefferson, Christopher Whitfield, Christopher McCorvey, Eric Reason, Michael Lorenzo Dean, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd

These are the names of black Americans who have been killed by police since Eric Garner’s Death in 2014. I’m taking the time to read on each and everyone of these names. To learn their story and to help say their name. Because the second we stop saying their name- we go back to acting like none of it ever happened at all.

3. I plan to make a donation to the following organizations: The Loveland Foundation; a nonprofit that provides financial help to Black women in need of mental health support. As well as the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund; an organization that advocates protecting voting rights, improving equal education, and many other civil rights causes. With this organization, you have the option of deciding which cause you would like your donation to go towards. I recognize that many people may not have the opportunity to make monetary donations. Which is also why I have also signed the Justice for George Floyd petition.You too can sign it here. 

4. I’m supporting the protests: I admire every single person who has over the last couple of days marched through their city and peacefully protested. I also recognize that the extremists are also participating and are the ones who are destroying buildings and burning down cities. And yes- the majority of the people doing these actions are white. People will argue that this not what Martin Luther King Jr. would have wanted. And to an extent I agree, yet at what point do we have to go to get everyone’s attention? How many more people are going to have to die until we finally recognize this is an issue? How many videos are going to be tweeted of an innocent black man or woman being killed?

5. I’m Voting on Tuesday, November 3, 2020:  As always, you will find me at the polls on Election Day 2020. If we want change in America, it starts with you and me…. and just five minutes at the voting booth. Seriously, voting does not take long at all. And if you early vote, it’s even easier. If you are not registered to vote, the deadline for Tennesseans to register is October 5, 2020. You can even do it here.

6. I’m continuing to choose love over hate: I’m not really a big deal. And although my family will continue to support me and say I’m special- I appreciate the words of affirmation, but I’m not any better than any other person on this earth. I’m not superior over anyone. I will continue to love everyone, even when there are trying times like right now. I will continue to learn and listen. And I will one day teach my future children to choose love over hate. As I get older, I continue to believe in supporting the future generation. They are the ones who will read about this history in text books. And they are the ones who will truly see no color.

I understand that I will never understand. However, I stand with you.

-Taylor 

[womenofcolor15]

RAGING PROTESTS SPREAD: ATL Under State Of Emergency + LA Protestors Clash With Police + Hundreds Arrested In Houston + Mayor Bottoms Slams Trump!

Tensions boiled over in over 30 cities last night as protesters hit the streets to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd. Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston and several other cities were met with people who are sick and tired of cops killing black people. Here’s what went down last night….

  Protests calling for #JusticeForGeorge in Minneapolis, LA, NYC, Houston, Atlanta, Milwaukee, DC, Chicago, Louisville, Denver, Phoenix, Detroit, Seattle, San Jose, Dallas, & more. This is a multiracial uprising against systemic racism and police brutality. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/CGZlHEE868

— Engin Polar (@elturko_13) May 30, 2020

  Tensions boiled over in over 30 cities as people hit the streets to demand justice for the killing of George Floyd. Former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, was charged Friday (May 29th) with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. His bail was set at $500,000. That’s not enough. The Floyd family wants a capital murder charge and the arrest of the other three officers - Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng.

As protests continued and buildings burned in Minneapolis, it’s reported a US Customs and Border Protection drone flew over the city to provide live video for police on the ground. Once the drone was discovered, civil rights and government oversight groups began to ring the alarm.

"The government seems to want to be able to be monitoring the crowds and monitoring what people are doing," said Jake Laperruque, senior counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan government watchdog group. He said this kind of surveillance raises concerns about potential retribution and the chilling effect on protests.

The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul now has over 1,700 National Guard soldiers on the grounds.

  The Minneapolis Fire Department just showed up at the fifth precinct with a National Guard escort. pic.twitter.com/iIhTpGfCTp

— Nick Woltman (@nickwoltman) May 30, 2020

    Rioters open, climb in & throw boxes out of UPS truck trying to avoid protest in #Minneapolis

pic.twitter.com/GiW0gVuhRj

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 30, 2020

  Minneapolis is under a state of emergency and Governor Tim Walz issued an 8pm curfew.

The Minnesota National Guard, State Patrol, and local police are on the ground responding to incidents in Mpls-St. Paul. I urge residents to comply with 8pm curfew and go home immediately. Law enforcement needs to respond to emergencies, restore order, and keep Minnesotans safe.

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) May 30, 2020

However, protestors ignored the curfew and continued to protest at 8pm last night:

    "There is no police presence whatsoever at this time."

- CNN's Sara Sidner is in Minneapolis as protests over the death of George Floyd continue despite a curfew. https://t.co/DSH00myu7m pic.twitter.com/B7Jq2f2JVL

— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) May 30, 2020

    A Minneapolis standoff ends in teargas pic.twitter.com/epXhxOL6e9

— John Hendren (@johnhendren) May 30, 2020

    The post office is burning at 31st Street and 1st Avenue in Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/6dRmJvrSm7

— Nick Woltman (@nickwoltman) May 30, 2020

    While there are some violent protests, there have been some peaceful ones:

  Wow.

Will this massive peaceful protest on the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis today be shown on US corporate media?#JusticeForGeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/1AVKFGTtT9

— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) May 30, 2020

  The Amish even came out to protest in Minneapolis:

  The Amish came out yesterday in Minneapolis to join the George Floyd protests. pic.twitter.com/8L4g94l86l

— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) May 30, 2020

  In Atlanta…

  Glass getting broken outside the main entrance to CNN's Atlanta headquarters; protesters cheer pic.twitter.com/EToiEj5Pom

— Fernando Alfonso III (@fernalfonso) May 29, 2020

  Demonstrators in Atlanta stopped traffic and stormed CNN’s headquarters as protests erupted. Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency and deployed 500 National Guard members to protect the city of Atlanta.

  At the request of Mayor @KeishaBottoms & in consultation with public safety & emergency preparedness officials, I have issued a State of Emergency for Fulton County to activate as many as 500 @GeorgiaGuard troops to protect people & property in Atlanta. (1/2)

— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) May 30, 2020

  More video of protests in ATL below:

  for everyone saying it was a terrible riot in atlanta, it was a peaceful protest until cops showed up screaming with lights and sirens. STOP ANTAGONIZING THE PROTESTORS‼️ pic.twitter.com/G4AxL84RUQ

— Oh Sehun (@sehunavenue) May 30, 2020

    Not all of us were aggressive in our approach. There were many peaceful protestors. The media needs to be fair and equal on both sides. Atlanta is a gem that should be cherished & nurtured as such. We must be concise in our mission. We can’t afford to lose focus. #atlantaprotest pic.twitter.com/FHNieP5p3R

— Adam Leon Jenkins III (@adamleonjenkins) May 30, 2020

    Phipps Plaza in Atlanta rn pic.twitter.com/1Ap16mhAy3

— VON (@_914von) May 30, 2020

            View this post on Instagram

                  #Atlanta is protesting today in solidarity with #minneapolis. The widespread rage is understandable. Stay safe everyone!

A post shared by TheYBF (@theybf_daily) on May 29, 2020 at 5:49pm PDT

    Atlanta Protest May 29th, 2020 pic.twitter.com/wcjpSSeZ8w

— TOMMY4K (@Txmmy4k) May 30, 2020

    atlanta is home of black culture #atlantaprotest pic.twitter.com/QyjbZmVezp

— mar (@godislaIisa) May 30, 2020

    The rodeo drive of Atlanta - the streets of Buckhead. Dior, Christian Louboutin, Moncler, Jimmy Choo, Barry's, Tod's, Attom destroyed and looted...shoe boxes and hangars all over the streets. (Repst) #riots2020

Video courtesy:Christy davoudpour) pic.twitter.com/lhdIF4Poxa

— World Updates (@Rntk____) May 30, 2020

  Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields was on the grounds speaking to protesters. Witnesses say she removed a white officer that people were complaining about.

  The chief of police in Atlanta is talking to everyone in the crowd at the protest She says she wants to see a change too and is disgusted by everything that happened. She’s listening to every person that wants to talk.#BlacklivesMaters #BlackLivesMatter #JusticeForGeorgeFlyod pic.twitter.com/ARfgbNWJqM

— European Union Club (@EuropeanUnionC) May 30, 2020

  Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms held a press conference to address the violent protests.

“This is not a protest,” she said during a press conference. “This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. This is chaos. A protest has purpose. When Dr. King was assassinated, we didn’t do this to our city. If you care about this city, then go home.”

  “This is not a protest. A protest has purpose...If you love this city...where more than 50% of the business owners in metro Atlanta are minority business owners. If you care about this city, then go home," Mayor @KeishaBottoms said at a press conference to address #protests. pic.twitter.com/tDDPLy0dcn

— AJC (@ajc) May 30, 2020

  In Los Angeles, it’s reported two police officers were injured during protests. In Detroit, a 19-year-old was reportedly shot after an SUV allegedly pulled up on a protest and shot in the crowd.

          View this post on Instagram

                  Scenes from #Houston and #Beaumont #Texas today. #GeorgeFloyd via @isiahcareyfox26 Anthony Barker

A post shared by TheYBF (@theybf_daily) on May 29, 2020 at 10:03pm PDT

  In Houston, crowds chanted “I can’t breathe” and “No justice, no peace” as they marched to City Hall.

Nearly 200 people were arrested in Houston after being tear gassed by police. They will be charged for obstructing a roadway. 

        View this post on Instagram

                  #NYC kicked off protests in downtown Manhattan today with protests also going down in Brooklyn. Via @mhsexpert

A post shared by TheYBF (@theybf_daily) on May 29, 2020 at 6:02pm PDT

  People also assembled in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn to protest George Floyd’s killing.

  "Tensions rise in New York City during protests over George Floyd's death" https://t.co/BEjTmwLJOi

— Jamil Jones (@JamilJo06399514) May 30, 2020

  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot totally slammed Trump’s tweets that incited violence where he said, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts” in response to the rebellions in Minneapolis.

In a press conference, Mayor Lightfoot ripped him to shreds for the comment.

“He wants to show failures on the part of Democratic local leaders, to throw red meat to his base,” she said. “His goal is to polarize, to destabilize local government and inflame racist urges.”

”We can absolutely not let him prevail. And I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump. It’s two words. It begins with F and it ends with U,” she continued.

Peep the news conference above.

Everyone, please stay safe.

Photos: AP Photo/Mike Stewart/ Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/05/30/raging-protests-spread-atl-under-state-of-emergency-la-protestors-clash-with-police-hundr

[tipsoctopus]

"That must hurt", "If he is saying it" - Many NUFC fans react to Martin Samuel's takeover update

Newcastle United’s takeover by a Saudi-backed consortium is edging closer and closer by the day and Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail has fueled further encouragement over the weekend with his comments on the Sunday Supplement.

And it has left many fans at St James’ Park going nuts as a result.

He said: “I don’t see any official objection to [the takeover] whatsoever” before adding: “I began in a sceptical position, but I think this one is genuine. This one goes through. It works as a business proposition.”

Sky Sports believe the deal to take the reigns from Mike Ashley is nearing completion after PCP Capital Partners paid a £17m deposit and exchanged contracts last week.

Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

The Magpies chief has often used Samuel as a mouthpiece to push information out and that is exactly why some supporters are seeing their hopes increase tenfold.

They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts to the latest update after NUFC360 relayed the information.

Here’s what has been said…

Great news! #NUFCTakeoverover

— Evgeny Kolobrodov (@Jason_Mag) April 26, 2020

A tweet so naughty it should come with a parental guidance sticker

— Shane Kearley (@srkearley) April 26, 2020

One of the richest countries in the world wants to invest in the UK. The gov. would be mental to try and block it.

— Oli Ashman (@OliAshman) April 26, 2020

I’ve had cans for the lastfew weeks. I need a day off man

— Mr Kelly (@AndrewSuperDad) April 26, 2020

CANSSSSSSSS

—

Scott

(@scxttnufc) April 26, 2020

It’s the PL! and eveyhthing that’s been highlighted by ppl opposed to this deal still doesn’t deter from the fact that this is the PL’s chance to cement the economic monopoly in European football. PIF would only buy abroad and heighten ESL chances. This could extend PL lifeline.

— Chris Armin (@chris_armin) April 26, 2020

Quite a refreshing take & a good take on FFP and what it’ll mean not only for potential new owners, but the elite too (Liverpool, City, Man U etc).

— Cal Nixon (@Nxn10) April 26, 2020

Anyone been tracking any potential flights from Riyadh to newcastle Tommorow??? There must be at least one!!

— stewart stephenson (@stupotstevo) April 26, 2020

That must hurt for him to say

— Daniel (@DanielEliassen1) April 26, 2020

Never thought I’d hear Samuel’s say that, they should keep the human rights and politics out of this

— Dan colledge (@ColledgeDan) April 26, 2020

That’s it then, as long as Samuel ,has said it we all better stock up you wouldn’t want to run out !

— Paul McCarthy (@PaulKieramax) April 26, 2020

If he is saying it. That’s all I need

— David_nufc (@david_nufc95) April 26, 2020

With him being Ashley’s mouth piece it must be a given then

— Paul (@Paul14boss) April 26, 2020

AND in other news, this ex-PL manager could be the perfect BRUCE REPLACEMENT…

from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/3bGvvc0 via IFTTT from Blogger https://ift.tt/2VIuE54 via IFTTT

[nerdcorp]

ComicCorp News: Major Changes to Green Lantern Book Coming? Controversial Artist Stands By Work.  Black Lighting Cast and More!

Due to last night’s tardiness, I’m loading up on today’s post.  If you missed last night’s ComicCorp, that’ll be up here on tumblr in a few minutes, as soon as I’m done with this update.  So members of the Space Monkey Mafia, lets talk about things that’ll undoubtedly piss off people.

Green Lantern Shake Up - While some fans have enjoyed “Green Lanterns”, the book is lacking an impactful character that isn’t constantly dealing with social issues like racism or personalty disorders.  The double dose has turned off some readers but brought in others.  Both Green Lanterns and “Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corp” have made questionable moves but are both largely well received.  In order to shake things up, DC has started hinting at a massive shake up that could see either Jessica Cruz or Simon Baz leave Earth and join up with the Corp.  This is because all Green Lanterns will feature a Yellow Lantern as their partner.  This has started ramping up rumors that long time Yellow Ring bearer, Guy Garnder will trade in his green for a yellow, to help even out the yellow corp.  This would probably see him move titles as well.  DC is hinting at this by putting him back in his classic 1980-1990′s blue jacket that he used after he took Sinestro’s ring.

You can also see a “Warrior” shirt on underneath, paying homage to his former identity.  Will this happen, will Gardner take up another Yellow Lantern Ring and go to Earth to serve as that sector’s protector?  We’ll see.

Vampirella Artist Responds - Vampirella artist Jimmy Broxton has responded to the seeming controversy, which he is underplaying, by standing by his work.  He posted a message saying;

...there is no bigotry on display, it lampoons all of those outdated notions, with humour, it in no way condones or legitimises abhorrent views. Anyone who thinks it does is wrong. I created the cover, I know what my intentions were and I make absolutely no apology for it what so ever. If a few people are offended, so what? Also, for the record the woman is not trans, she is female. The trolls who kicked off this nonsense got that wrong as well.

Broxton and writer Paul Cornell are now engaging in a war of words.  Cornell has said he’ll never work with Broxton again publicly, which is really to save face at this point.  I don’t think either man did the wrong thing.  Apologizing is something you do because you believe you wronged someone.  Just because someone is offended doesn’t inherently mean their opinion on said offensive material is justified.  People, ESPECIALLY ON THE INTERNET, tend to overreact and blow small things out of proportion by comparing a small issue with a major one.  So apologizing should be up to the individual.  I support Cornell’s desire to apologize to those who felt offended.  He felt he needed to.  I support Broxton not apologizing, as he doesn’t feel he needs to.  What I don’t like is the constant need to vilify people for their opinions.  There’s a point in which your outrage is just that, outrage.  I read the tweets of two of the offended, and they continued demanding more and more even after the apology.  Do you want an apology, or do you want a pound of flesh?  Because if you’re just looking for a pound of flesh, then an apology will never be enough, so why bother? 

This became a messier situation than necessary with Broxton and Cornell both getting into it publicly.   If I was the comic company, I’d fire both for stoking the flames to something that was, at best, a minor story.

CW Finally Casts Black Lighting - For a little while, we’ve been waiting in anticipation as to who would play Black Lighting in the upcoming CW Pilot.  Now we finally have an answer.   CW has tapped Cress Williams, formerly of Heart of Dixie, to take the lead role of the pilot.  I think the series has a lot to prove before it gets green lit for a full on series, like if Cress Williams can pull off being Black Lighting.  I’m excited to see the pilot, but we’ve seen good actors like Justin Hartley (Aquaman) and Adrianne Palicki (Wonder Woman) fail with bigger properties tied to them. 

Marvel Introducing New Combo-Character? - Call him Hulkerine, or Wolverhulk.  Or Bruce Logan!  Whatever you do, just don’t call him late to dinner...HAHAAHAH....I’m sorry....that was lame.  Axel Alonso, Marvel artist has teased an image of new character that combines Hulk and Wolverine into one, horrific, monster.   Not sure how I see this going...

Quick Hitters: X-Men Film’s EP Simon Kinberg has revealed that Channing Tatum has “Ryan Reynolds levels of commitment” for the upcoming Gambit film which has been delayed for the moment.  “Logan” director James Mangold doesn’t think Wolverine should be re-cast at all.  Hugh Jackman would ocme out of Wolverine-Retirement if able to join the Avengers cast as Wolverine.  Patrick Stewart wants his version of Professor X to meet Deadpool.  Nicholas Hoult believes he’ll be in X-Men: Supernova.  James Gunn wanted to make a Rated-R “Hitman” film.  Ben Affleck seemingly squashes rumors of leaving Batman by publicly endorsing new “The Batman” director, Matt Reeves. 

[paul-doyle]

Program Foundation Geno And CD Laid At UConn In 1985 Is Holding Up Just Fine

By Paul Doyle/The Hartford Courant

April 9, 2016

The practices began with the basics. Passing and shooting, layup drills, running from one end of the court to the other.

There was individual and team work on defense and offense, the voices of a 31-year-old Geno Auriemma and his assistant Chris Dailey, just eight years out of high school, filling a tiny gym.

It was 1985 and Geno and CD were laying the foundation for their program. The UConn Huskies were coming off a losing season and the new coaches were attempting to overhaul the culture in Storrs.

What's a practice like in 2016? Cut and paste the above. Add more individual work before and after practice. Transport the session into a multimillion-dollar practice facility adorned with championship banners.

Otherwise, not much has changed.

"You're not reinventing the wheel," Dailey recently said. "The demands of practice are the same. The demands that we put on them physically and, really, the mental challenges of getting it right, that's remained the same."

And they have gotten it right — Auriemma is in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, he has won more titles than any Division I coach in history, the 11th coming Tuesday night in an 82-51 victory over Syracuse. Dailey made the Huskies of Honor wall this season, a surprise from Auriemma in March on Senior Day.

In three decades, Auriemma and Dailey have always sent a consistent message, one that works in 2016 as well as it did 30 years ago.

"Then and now, we're never accepting of lack of effort," Dailey said. "You want to know the constant in this program? Lack of effort is not acceptable."

Adapt And Thrive

Auriemma was six years into his tenure when UConn took a step onto the national stage. With nearly 8,000 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, UConn fell to Virginia in a national semifinal game in 1991.

It was the first hint of what was ahead. But even the brash young coach could not have conceived what has transpired in the past quarter century.

"It never, ever crossed my mind that what has happened since then was even remotely possible," Auriemma said. "That would have been like you telling me back then, 'You know what, in 2016 you're going to have a phone in your hand and it's going to make you drive into other cars because you're going to be on it all the time.'

"I would have said you're out of your mind, right? That's how improbable it would have been to tell me we would be where we are."

About those phones that seemed so implausible in 1991? For the most successful generation of UConn players, smartphones and social media are a way of life.

The kids who have won four titles in a row and 75 consecutive games have grown up on social media.

"It's a totally different world," Sue Bird said.

Different from when Bird was at UConn 15 years ago. Go back to when UConn won its first title in 1995 and compare how much the world has changed for college kids.

"That's two decades of culture, of 18-years-olds, of fashion, of music, of different styles of basketball," Diana Taurasi said. "If you look back on it, the teams and the programs that struggle can't evolve. They're stuck in some era that they can't get past. Coach and CD, they've evolved into whatever needed to be at that time."

Taurasi was standing in the gym after USA Basketball practice in February as she scanned the floor for ex-Huskies. She rattled off names: Jennifer Rizzotti, Bird and herself, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart.

They spanned 20 years and were each part of title teams.

"That's four completely different generations of technology, of pretty much everything in life," Taurasi said. "And [Auriemma's] been able to take what he learned through all those years and make it better."

Taurasi jokes that Auriemma has learned to embrace his smartphone and now communicates best with his ex-players via text. In fact, the divide in technology between the college-age players and the 62-year-old coach isn't as wide as one might think.

Are his players glued to their iPhones? He gets it.

"Look, there's nobody who's on his phone more than Geno Auriemma," Dailey said. "Checking, reading information. He's on overload most of the time. It's not mindless. It could be CNN, it could be world news, it could be sports news or whatever. … But he uses the technology. I think we've all evolved. We've had to."

To Dailey, the need for texting and Snapchatting and tweeting and retweeting is not necessarily a problem. Kids love to stay connected to one another.

But the selfie generation does pose its unique challenges.

"We're in a world now where everything is about me, me, me, me, me," Dailey said. "Kids are all about them. Their parents are all about them. Their texting is all about them. They retweet things about themselves. That boggles my mind. Who does that? Why don't you let other people say nice things about you. You don't have to retweet it. It's already been out there. … It's not even their own fault. It's the world they live in."

So how does UConn weed out the me-first players? Auriemma said that when he brings recruits into Gampel Pavilion, he makes note of how they view the title banners.

"The world's changed so much," Auriemma said. "Kids come in. They're not impressed with stuff anymore."

He recently brought a recruit into the building and pointed at the banners.

"See all this?" Auriemma said. "She said yeah. I said, you're probably not that impressed. You can probably get this anywhere. And I just left it at that."

Said Dailey, "For us, it's trying to get them from the 'me, me, me, me' over there, which is part of their world, to over here, which is 'we, we, we, we,' which is about us. It sometimes takes some kids longer than others. It's definitely a transition."

Family Time

What is the defining characteristic of the UConn women's basketball program under Auriemma?

"Commitment, passion, attention to detail, family, work ethic, competitiveness," Moore said.

From Bird: "It's like a demand for consistency and for excellence. The bar is really high and he expects you to hit it every time. There are no excuses."

From 1985 through 2016, the standards have been the same. Auriemma can be demanding in practice. He'll prod players with his unique brand of humor.

"Sarcastic," said Carla Berube, a captain in the 1990s.

But the practices, while demanding, are consistent. Bird will drop into Storrs and work out with the team during the season. She is astonished by how things are the same, from the drills to the terminology.

She's not alone.

"I feel like I can go put practice gear on and I can go through every drill, I can go through practice with my eyes closed," Taurasi said. "And you know what? There are certain things that work."

On the court, it's about effort. Every day, whether it's at practice or in a game.

Off the court, it's about blending into a team concept. But Dailey said Auriemma's coaching staffs have always had the ability to adapt to the personality of the players, pushing buttons based on what each individual needs.

"I am nothing if not consistent," Dailey said. "We as a staff are consistent in terms of our demands. We're consistent in that we set the bar high. Who doesn't want the bar to be set high?"

So what does the 1985 version of Geno Auriemma have in common with the Geno Auriemma of 2016, a grandfather who has 955 wins and only 134 losses? They're both smart, curious, ambitious, demand excellence — and always witty.

He joked during the NCAA Tournament that he couldn't recite anything on John Wooden's pyramid of success, but he believes his pyramid of success is the same as the man he passed for most titles in Division I history.

"His was [Lew] Alcindor, [Bill] Walton and Gail Goodrich, and you name them down the line," Auriemma said. "Mine is Diana [Taurasi], Maya [Moore], Stewie. That's my pyramid of success. And I think that's every great coach's pyramid of success."

Yet perhaps most important: Geno, at his core, was and is a people person.

"Geno hasn't changed," said longtime friend Doug Bruno, the DePaul coach and Auriemma's assistant with the USA National team. "He's always been the same guy. He's always been a great person. That's maybe what people don't understand, how good he is to people. They see his quick-witted shtick, which is all a function of great intelligence. But what they don't understand is that more than anything, he cares about people."

Bruno has known Auriemma since the mid-1980s and he respects Auriemma's deep knowledge of the game. But there are lots of coaches who have mastered the X's and O's. What separates Auriemma — what has always separated Auriemma, Bruno said — is his ability to deal with various personalities..

"He knows how to extract and administer tough love and get these guys to be the best they can be, and getting them to understand what they need to do, and to like it," Bruno said. "He did that when he started and he's still doing that. That's the genius of Geno. It's all about his people skills. Doesn't matter what generation you're in. The people skills are the same."

That might explain why there were more than 30 former players celebrating UConn's 11th national title Tuesday night in Indianapolis. The former players were on the court, posing for pictures together and mingling with current players.

"They're not being pulled back by the alumni director," Bruno said. "They want to be back. There's a culture there of wanting to be here."

After three decades, there are no surprises. Recruits know what to expect. They've seen Auriemma on ESPN and know his humor, his personality, his expectations. They've heard the stories.

"I definitely remember a lot of yelling, a lot of chirping and molding in his style," Moore said. "Tina [Charles], myself, we were probably the two that got yelled at the most. … He's always looking to get his players better and teach the game in a way that he hopes will stick with them."

Moore and Charles, of course, were the two best players on the team.

No matter the era it does not change.

"He does a lot of different things from benching you to giving you the silent treatment … to pushing you in practice," Stewart said. "But he has a lot of different ways to push buttons, and we're all different people, but he still knows how to light a fire under someone."

Said Dailey: "We've been here with so many generations that you have to adapt. Not the entire generation, per se, but who's on your team. How do they learn? How can you challenge them? What is their boredom level? How do they respond to certain things."

The great ones respond by getting even better.

"Part of his ability to win here and his ability to be so consistent is the personality that he has in terms of demanding the best, every single game, every single practice, every single possession," Bird said. "When you're with him for seven, eight months, that stuff really starts to click and you really take on his identity. Which is, perfection.”

[hellofastestnewsfan]

Amid a nationwide reckoning over police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, ESPN sought out, for its ESPYs award show, a voice in sports to capture this singular moment in our culture. New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, who’s spent the last few years lobbying national and state lawmakers for criminal justice reform, and whose tearful reaction to teammate Drew Brees’ comments equating kneeling during the national anthem to “disrespecting the flag” and “our country” captured the raw feelings of millions of Americans, immediately came to mind.

“We asked ourselves, whose voice might resonate most in a show set to air at such a crucial moment in our national discourse on racial equality and police brutality,” says Rob King, Senior Vice President and editor at large, ESPN Content.

Jenkins, who runs his own production company, Listen Up Media, jumped at the opportunity to serve as the creative force behind a powerful piece. After the 2016 deaths of two unarmed Black men at the hands of police, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Jenkins started wondering what more he could do to stop such incidents. Then a 2016 ESPYs segment, which featured LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade speaking out against police violence, inspired him to act.

“Just to kind of see that unexpectedly, it let me know that the things I was thinking about, they weren’t far-fetched,” Jenkins tells TIME in an exclusive interview about his ESPYs piece. “There were other guys who shared those sentiments. The social media, the hashtags and the T-shirts and all that stuff, is cool, but not enough. Their speeches in particular just sparked me enough to say, ‘I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do, but I’m going to go figure it out. It was that galvanizing moment for me.'” About a week later, Jenkins—then with the Philadelphia Eagles—and several teammates met with then-Philadelphia police commissioner Richard Ross to push for reform.

Jenkins hopes his piece, that aired Sunday night during the ESPYs, similarly galvanized athletes to act. A viewer discretion advisory opens up the segment. “The following presentation contains images that may not be appropriate for all audience,” it reads. The powerful clip starts with 12-year-old gospel singer Keedron Bryant singing his heart-wrenching hit, “I Just Wanna Live.” Pictures of Black men and woman killed, in many cases by police — including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Floyd — flash across the screen. Jenkins appears, calling on athletes to take stands in the mold of Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Arthur Ashe, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Colin Kaepernick. We see the painful image of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd as he calls out for his mother, as the viewer hears the voice of singer Mumu Fresh.

Athletes like Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim American woman to win a medal at the Olympics, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, whose public pressure compelled NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its races, and NBA star Donovan Mitchell speak. Muhammad talks in the piece about the pain of seeing Floyd’s death unfold on video. “It’s always really hard for me to see the faces of people who have died as a result of police violence,” Muhammad, a co-founder of Athletes For Impact—an organization that works closely with athletes on activism—tells TIME. “They conjure up memories of just those moments in time where we’ve all seen the videos, or had to hear about these unfortunate ways they’ve passed. And to know that nothing has changed is difficult.”

A montage of police violence against Black women follows. Mitchell makes a direct appeal for white athletes and sports figures to step up. Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Zach Ertz, Julie Ertz, Lindsey Vonn, Steve Kerr, Kyle Shanahan, Chris Long and Mark Cuban make calls for action. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka lays out calls for justice, in spoken word: “And we need it now, we need it now, we need it now,” he says.

“This is the tipping point,” Jenkins says in closing. “There is no going back, there is no inching forward.” The video ends noting that “as of June 21, none of the three police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor have been arrested.”

To Jenkins, the piece is a call to action for athletes. “I want this to be one of those moments where, if there are any more people left on the fence, that they get off of it,” Jenkins tells TIME. “Right now is probably the safest moment to get involved. It’s also a very vulnerable time in my mind. Because, it is now sexy to protest and to stand up using your voice. And so I want to make sure everyone who gets involved is doing it from a place of real understanding and power, not just out of guilt or public pressure.”

Jenkins hopes more white athletes engage. “It shouldn’t be the responsibility of Black people to tell white people what to do,” says Jenkins. “They should take it upon themselves to learn, research what’s going on, understand our system, just like we had to do.” Why are white allies so important? “If we take the context of sports out of it, and just talk about us as a country, these issues that we’re dealing with were put in by a white majority,” says Jenkins. “And the reason we can’t just eradicate these things is because the victims of these system, the minorities, don’t have enough votes or voices to just flip this on our own. Otherwise we would have. So this whole movement, really, is going to be taken across the finish line on the backs of white people.”

“When you allow people to stay silent, they are no longer responsible for that happens,” says Jenkins. “My challenge is for them to get involved not just by statement or by tweet, but by real action. We have this moment right now, that is driven by guilt. But guilt runs off eventually. So I think the time right now, while we have everyone sitting still, is a great time to really deal with the truth and reconciliation. We’ve never dealt with the truth of where we are. We’re in that moment now. And so I’m challenging my white peers to not only, hey, denounce racism. That’s the easy part. How do you learn about the actual oppression that we’re talking about? How do you learn about how you may be even participating in it, or perpetuating it? Are you going to figure out how you’re going to participate in tearing this stuff down?”

In May, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr added his name to a letter put forward by the Players’ Coalition, the social justice organization co-founded by Jenkins and former NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin, calling for a federal investigation into the death of Arbery. Given his respect for Jenkins, he was happy to participate in the production—in the clip, Kerr warns against conflating kneeling with disrespect for flag and country. “Athletes and entertainers, people with a platform can help spread awareness,” Kerr tells TIME. “But ultimately, to me, it’s white people in places of economic and political and corporate power who are gong to be the ones to really create change. People can demand that of them. And that’s what’s going to happen.”

  Jenkins’ own work offers a blueprint for how all athletes can fight for change. In Philadelphia, he kneeled with protestors in the street after Floyd’s killing, wrote on op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer calling for a deescalation of police violence, and on June 6, addressed a crowd at the African-American Museum in Philadelphia, calling for a divestment from police and investment into Black business, education, housing and wellness. Fourteen members of the Philadelphia City Council, days later, sent a letter to the mayor objecting to a $14 million increase in the police budget. On June 17, the City Council gave preliminary approval to a budget that could reduce police funding by $33 million. “As athletes, we have the ability to not only raise awareness for an issue, but when it comes to policy, being able to talk to legislators, talk to elected officials, being able to put pressure on them because we are who we are, we bring cameras,” Jenkins says. “We oftentimes come from these same neighborhoods and communities that need help, so we can articulate the pain sometimes better than these politicians do.”

He wholeheartedly supports calls, heard around the country, to defund police. “Most people support defunding the police,” Jenkins says. “A lot of people struggle with the phrasing more than they struggle with the concept. Most of us, including leadership in law enforcement, believe that we ask police officers to do too much. They’re not trained to deal with mental health issues, they’re not trained to deal with homelessness, they’re not trained to deal with domestic disputes, they’re not trained to deal with kids in school, they’re not trained to deal with a number of things we ask them to respond to. We talk about deescalation, deescalation, deescalation. It’s impossible to deescalate a situation when you have someone who brings a firearm into it. So that becomes intimidation. And that’s what we see. If you don’t submit to that intimidation, ultimately somebody will get killed.”

“Defunding is just taking away the excess money that goes to our police departments, that push them to do a job that they don’t want to do, and we don’t want them doing,” says Jenkins. “And making sure we push them to be highly trained, to have all of the accountability they need. We need to redefine the role of policing in our community.” A world where the current policing blueprint isn’t necessary, Jenkins says, is worth striving for. “The end goal is, yeah, to live in a society where we don’t need the police,” Jenkins says. “I don’t think anybody wants to just literally with a swipe of a pen in 2020 eliminate all policing without creating some kind of other model, or transitioning into some other model of safety. But I think we all want to get to point where we don’t need armed people responding to our citizens. That we create a society that is equitable, that does not have extreme poverty, that does not have people living in these traumatic places. Crime drops because there is more opportunity.”

Jenkins, whom CNN just hired as a contributor to comment on social justice issues, is still training for the upcoming NFL season while producing videos, making TV appearances, talking to athletes about pushing their platforms for change—he recently did a Zoom call, for example, with members of the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics—and continuing his activism work. While Jenkins appreciated NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s recent video supporting Black Lives Matter and a players’ right to protest, he needs to see more. “I think the first step is acknowledging what Colin Kaepernick stood for,” says Jenkins. “Him in particular. Not players in general. What he stood for and what he put on the line. And now, where we are as a country, give him his ‘I told you so’ moment. That’s the first thing. And then secondly, we all want to see him have an opportunity to play. What that looks like I don’t think anybody knows. I think a workout or a tryout is a very simple thing to do. There are two sides to that relationship, so we’ll see.“

Jenkins acknowledges the NFL’s work in giving money to social justice causes, and creating awareness campaigns. “But we can’t take you serious because of the Colin Kaepernick situation,” Jenkins says. “We don’t know where your heart is. If they want to really help, and not be a voice in this fight that is confusing or muddies the water, the first thing they need to do is take on this Coin Kaepernick issue head on, and start there.”

Mostly, Jenkins believes America has an opportunity to break the cycle of injustice, outrage, and a return to injustice. “Right now, more than any other time in my lifetime, it feels like we have the ability to literally to turn away from the systems that we’ve had for centuries, and actually start over,” says Jenkins. “Everybody is starting to pay attention. This is a moment where we can reimagine how our society functions. All of our systems were birthed out of white supremacy. And so reform doesn’t change the origins of the system. They just kind of tailor it. But it’s still heading in the same direction. Until we turn our backs on those systems and restart America, until we understand the truth of where, how we got there, and what our roles are, then we can get to that place of reconciliation.”

from TIME https://ift.tt/2NeMS9g

[newstechreviews]

Amid a nationwide reckoning over police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, ESPN sought out, for its ESPYs award show, a voice in sports to capture this singular moment in our culture. New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, who’s spent the last few years lobbying national and state lawmakers for criminal justice reform, and whose tearful reaction to teammate Drew Brees’ comments equating kneeling during the national anthem to “disrespecting the flag” and “our country” captured the raw feelings of millions of Americans, immediately came to mind.

“We asked ourselves, whose voice might resonate most in a show set to air at such a crucial moment in our national discourse on racial equality and police brutality,” says Rob King, Senior Vice President and editor at large, ESPN Content.

Jenkins, who runs his own production company, Listen Up Media, jumped at the opportunity to serve as the creative force behind a powerful piece. After the 2016 deaths of two unarmed Black men at the hands of police, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Jenkins started wondering what more he could do to stop such incidents. Then a 2016 ESPYs segment, which featured LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade speaking out against police violence, inspired him to act.

“Just to kind of see that unexpectedly, it let me know that the things I was thinking about, they weren’t far-fetched,” Jenkins tells TIME in an exclusive interview about his ESPYs piece. “There were other guys who shared those sentiments. The social media, the hashtags and the T-shirts and all that stuff, is cool, but not enough. Their speeches in particular just sparked me enough to say, ‘I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do, but I’m going to go figure it out. It was that galvanizing moment for me.'” About a week later, Jenkins—then with the Philadelphia Eagles—and several teammates met with then-Philadelphia police commissioner Richard Ross to push for reform.

Jenkins hopes his piece, that aired Sunday night during the ESPYs, similarly galvanized athletes to act. A viewer discretion advisory opens up the segment. “The following presentation contains images that may not be appropriate for all audience,” it reads. The powerful clip starts with 12-year-old gospel singer Keedron Bryant singing his heart-wrenching hit, “I Just Wanna Live.” Pictures of Black men and woman killed, in many cases by police — including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Floyd — flash across the screen. Jenkins appears, calling on athletes to take stands in the mold of Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Arthur Ashe, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Colin Kaepernick. We see the painful image of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd as he calls out for his mother, as the viewer hears the voice of singer Mumu Fresh.

Athletes like Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim American woman to win a medal at the Olympics, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, whose public pressure compelled NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its races, and NBA star Donovan Mitchell speak. Muhammad talks in the piece about the pain of seeing Floyd’s death unfold on video. “It’s always really hard for me to see the faces of people who have died as a result of police violence,” Muhammad, a co-founder of Athletes For Impact—an organization that works closely with athletes on activism—tells TIME. “They conjure up memories of just those moments in time where we’ve all seen the videos, or had to hear about these unfortunate ways they’ve passed. And to know that nothing has changed is difficult.”

A montage of police violence against Black women follows. Mitchell makes a direct appeal for white athletes and sports figures to step up. Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Zach Ertz, Julie Ertz, Lindsey Vonn, Steve Kerr, Kyle Shanahan, Chris Long and Mark Cuban make calls for action. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka lays out calls for justice, in spoken word: “And we need it now, we need it now, we need it now,” he says.

“This is the tipping point,” Jenkins says in closing. “There is no going back, there is no inching forward.” The video ends noting that “as of June 21, none of the three police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor have been arrested.”

To Jenkins, the piece is a call to action for athletes. “I want this to be one of those moments where, if there are any more people left on the fence, that they get off of it,” Jenkins tells TIME. “Right now is probably the safest moment to get involved. It’s also a very vulnerable time in my mind. Because, it is now sexy to protest and to stand up using your voice. And so I want to make sure everyone who gets involved is doing it from a place of real understanding and power, not just out of guilt or public pressure.”

Jenkins hopes more white athletes engage. “It shouldn’t be the responsibility of Black people to tell white people what to do,” says Jenkins. “They should take it upon themselves to learn, research what’s going on, understand our system, just like we had to do.” Why are white allies so important? “If we take the context of sports out of it, and just talk about us as a country, these issues that we’re dealing with were put in by a white majority,” says Jenkins. “And the reason we can’t just eradicate these things is because the victims of these system, the minorities, don’t have enough votes or voices to just flip this on our own. Otherwise we would have. So this whole movement, really, is going to be taken across the finish line on the backs of white people.”

“When you allow people to stay silent, they are no longer responsible for that happens,” says Jenkins. “My challenge is for them to get involved not just by statement or by tweet, but by real action. We have this moment right now, that is driven by guilt. But guilt runs off eventually. So I think the time right now, while we have everyone sitting still, is a great time to really deal with the truth and reconciliation. We’ve never dealt with the truth of where we are. We’re in that moment now. And so I’m challenging my white peers to not only, hey, denounce racism. That’s the easy part. How do you learn about the actual oppression that we’re talking about? How do you learn about how you may be even participating in it, or perpetuating it? Are you going to figure out how you’re going to participate in tearing this stuff down?”

In May, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr added his name to a letter put forward by the Players’ Coalition, the social justice organization co-founded by Jenkins and former NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin, calling for a federal investigation into the death of Arbery. Given his respect for Jenkins, he was happy to participate in the production—in the clip, Kerr warns against conflating kneeling with disrespect for flag and country. “Athletes and entertainers, people with a platform can help spread awareness,” Kerr tells TIME. “But ultimately, to me, it’s white people in places of economic and political and corporate power who are gong to be the ones to really create change. People can demand that of them. And that’s what’s going to happen.”

  Jenkins’ own work offers a blueprint for how all athletes can fight for change. In Philadelphia, he kneeled with protestors in the street after Floyd’s killing, wrote on op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer calling for a deescalation of police violence, and on June 6, addressed a crowd at the African-American Museum in Philadelphia, calling for a divestment from police and investment into Black business, education, housing and wellness. Fourteen members of the Philadelphia City Council, days later, sent a letter to the mayor objecting to a $14 million increase in the police budget. On June 17, the City Council gave preliminary approval to a budget that could reduce police funding by $33 million. “As athletes, we have the ability to not only raise awareness for an issue, but when it comes to policy, being able to talk to legislators, talk to elected officials, being able to put pressure on them because we are who we are, we bring cameras,” Jenkins says. “We oftentimes come from these same neighborhoods and communities that need help, so we can articulate the pain sometimes better than these politicians do.”

He wholeheartedly supports calls, heard around the country, to defund police. “Most people support defunding the police,” Jenkins says. “A lot of people struggle with the phrasing more than they struggle with the concept. Most of us, including leadership in law enforcement, believe that we ask police officers to do too much. They’re not trained to deal with mental health issues, they’re not trained to deal with homelessness, they’re not trained to deal with domestic disputes, they’re not trained to deal with kids in school, they’re not trained to deal with a number of things we ask them to respond to. We talk about deescalation, deescalation, deescalation. It’s impossible to deescalate a situation when you have someone who brings a firearm into it. So that becomes intimidation. And that’s what we see. If you don’t submit to that intimidation, ultimately somebody will get killed.”

“Defunding is just taking away the excess money that goes to our police departments, that push them to do a job that they don’t want to do, and we don’t want them doing,” says Jenkins. “And making sure we push them to be highly trained, to have all of the accountability they need. We need to redefine the role of policing in our community.” A world where the current policing blueprint isn’t necessary, Jenkins says, is worth striving for. “The end goal is, yeah, to live in a society where we don’t need the police,” Jenkins says. “I don’t think anybody wants to just literally with a swipe of a pen in 2020 eliminate all policing without creating some kind of other model, or transitioning into some other model of safety. But I think we all want to get to point where we don’t need armed people responding to our citizens. That we create a society that is equitable, that does not have extreme poverty, that does not have people living in these traumatic places. Crime drops because there is more opportunity.”

Jenkins, whom CNN just hired as a contributor to comment on social justice issues, is still training for the upcoming NFL season while producing videos, making TV appearances, talking to athletes about pushing their platforms for change—he recently did a Zoom call, for example, with members of the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics—and continuing his activism work. While Jenkins appreciated NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s recent video supporting Black Lives Matter and a players’ right to protest, he needs to see more. “I think the first step is acknowledging what Colin Kaepernick stood for,” says Jenkins. “Him in particular. Not players in general. What he stood for and what he put on the line. And now, where we are as a country, give him his ‘I told you so’ moment. That’s the first thing. And then secondly, we all want to see him have an opportunity to play. What that looks like I don’t think anybody knows. I think a workout or a tryout is a very simple thing to do. There are two sides to that relationship, so we’ll see.“

Jenkins acknowledges the NFL’s work in giving money to social justice causes, and creating awareness campaigns. “But we can’t take you serious because of the Colin Kaepernick situation,” Jenkins says. “We don’t know where your heart is. If they want to really help, and not be a voice in this fight that is confusing or muddies the water, the first thing they need to do is take on this Coin Kaepernick issue head on, and start there.”

Mostly, Jenkins believes America has an opportunity to break the cycle of injustice, outrage, and a return to injustice. “Right now, more than any other time in my lifetime, it feels like we have the ability to literally to turn away from the systems that we’ve had for centuries, and actually start over,” says Jenkins. “Everybody is starting to pay attention. This is a moment where we can reimagine how our society functions. All of our systems were birthed out of white supremacy. And so reform doesn’t change the origins of the system. They just kind of tailor it. But it’s still heading in the same direction. Until we turn our backs on those systems and restart America, until we understand the truth of where, how we got there, and what our roles are, then we can get to that place of reconciliation.”

[phooll123]

New top story from Time: How Malcolm Jenkins Put Together That Powerful Black Lives Matter ESPYs Video

Amid a nationwide reckoning over police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, ESPN sought out, for its ESPYs award show, a voice in sports to capture this singular moment in our culture. New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, who’s spent the last few years lobbying national and state lawmakers for criminal justice reform, and whose tearful reaction to teammate Drew Brees’ comments equating kneeling during the national anthem to “disrespecting the flag” and “our country” captured the raw feelings of millions of Americans, immediately came to mind.

“We asked ourselves, whose voice might resonate most in a show set to air at such a crucial moment in our national discourse on racial equality and police brutality,” says Rob King, Senior Vice President and editor at large, ESPN Content.

Jenkins, who runs his own production company, Listen Up Media, jumped at the opportunity to serve as the creative force behind a powerful piece. After the 2016 deaths of two unarmed Black men at the hands of police, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Jenkins started wondering what more he could do to stop such incidents. Then a 2016 ESPYs segment, which featured LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade speaking out against police violence, inspired him to act.

“Just to kind of see that unexpectedly, it let me know that the things I was thinking about, they weren’t far-fetched,” Jenkins tells TIME in an exclusive interview about his ESPYs piece. “There were other guys who shared those sentiments. The social media, the hashtags and the T-shirts and all that stuff, is cool, but not enough. Their speeches in particular just sparked me enough to say, ‘I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do, but I’m going to go figure it out. It was that galvanizing moment for me.'” About a week later, Jenkins—then with the Philadelphia Eagles—and several teammates met with then-Philadelphia police commissioner Richard Ross to push for reform.

Jenkins hopes his piece, that aired Sunday night during the ESPYs, similarly galvanized athletes to act. A viewer discretion advisory opens up the segment. “The following presentation contains images that may not be appropriate for all audience,” it reads. The powerful clip starts with 12-year-old gospel singer Keedron Bryant singing his heart-wrenching hit, “I Just Wanna Live.” Pictures of Black men and woman killed, in many cases by police — including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Floyd — flash across the screen. Jenkins appears, calling on athletes to take stands in the mold of Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Arthur Ashe, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Colin Kaepernick. We see the painful image of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd as he calls out for his mother, as the viewer hears the voice of singer Mumu Fresh.

Athletes like Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim American woman to win a medal at the Olympics, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, whose public pressure compelled NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its races, and NBA star Donovan Mitchell speak. Muhammad talks in the piece about the pain of seeing Floyd’s death unfold on video. “It’s always really hard for me to see the faces of people who have died as a result of police violence,” Muhammad, a co-founder of Athletes For Impact—an organization that works closely with athletes on activism—tells TIME. “They conjure up memories of just those moments in time where we’ve all seen the videos, or had to hear about these unfortunate ways they’ve passed. And to know that nothing has changed is difficult.”

A montage of police violence against Black women follows. Mitchell makes a direct appeal for white athletes and sports figures to step up. Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Zach Ertz, Julie Ertz, Lindsey Vonn, Steve Kerr, Kyle Shanahan, Chris Long and Mark Cuban make calls for action. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka lays out calls for justice, in spoken word: “And we need it now, we need it now, we need it now,” he says.

“This is the tipping point,” Jenkins says in closing. “There is no going back, there is no inching forward.” The video ends noting that “as of June 21, none of the three police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor have been arrested.”

To Jenkins, the piece is a call to action for athletes. “I want this to be one of those moments where, if there are any more people left on the fence, that they get off of it,” Jenkins tells TIME. “Right now is probably the safest moment to get involved. It’s also a very vulnerable time in my mind. Because, it is now sexy to protest and to stand up using your voice. And so I want to make sure everyone who gets involved is doing it from a place of real understanding and power, not just out of guilt or public pressure.”

Jenkins hopes more white athletes engage. “It shouldn’t be the responsibility of Black people to tell white people what to do,” says Jenkins. “They should take it upon themselves to learn, research what’s going on, understand our system, just like we had to do.” Why are white allies so important? “If we take the context of sports out of it, and just talk about us as a country, these issues that we’re dealing with were put in by a white majority,” says Jenkins. “And the reason we can’t just eradicate these things is because the victims of these system, the minorities, don’t have enough votes or voices to just flip this on our own. Otherwise we would have. So this whole movement, really, is going to be taken across the finish line on the backs of white people.”

“When you allow people to stay silent, they are no longer responsible for that happens,” says Jenkins. “My challenge is for them to get involved not just by statement or by tweet, but by real action. We have this moment right now, that is driven by guilt. But guilt runs off eventually. So I think the time right now, while we have everyone sitting still, is a great time to really deal with the truth and reconciliation. We’ve never dealt with the truth of where we are. We’re in that moment now. And so I’m challenging my white peers to not only, hey, denounce racism. That’s the easy part. How do you learn about the actual oppression that we’re talking about? How do you learn about how you may be even participating in it, or perpetuating it? Are you going to figure out how you’re going to participate in tearing this stuff down?”

In May, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr added his name to a letter put forward by the Players’ Coalition, the social justice organization co-founded by Jenkins and former NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin, calling for a federal investigation into the death of Arbery. Given his respect for Jenkins, he was happy to participate in the production—in the clip, Kerr warns against conflating kneeling with disrespect for flag and country. “Athletes and entertainers, people with a platform can help spread awareness,” Kerr tells TIME. “But ultimately, to me, it’s white people in places of economic and political and corporate power who are gong to be the ones to really create change. People can demand that of them. And that’s what’s going to happen.”

  Jenkins’ own work offers a blueprint for how all athletes can fight for change. In Philadelphia, he kneeled with protestors in the street after Floyd’s killing, wrote on op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer calling for a deescalation of police violence, and on June 6, addressed a crowd at the African-American Museum in Philadelphia, calling for a divestment from police and investment into Black business, education, housing and wellness. Fourteen members of the Philadelphia City Council, days later, sent a letter to the mayor objecting to a $14 million increase in the police budget. On June 17, the City Council gave preliminary approval to a budget that could reduce police funding by $33 million. “As athletes, we have the ability to not only raise awareness for an issue, but when it comes to policy, being able to talk to legislators, talk to elected officials, being able to put pressure on them because we are who we are, we bring cameras,” Jenkins says. “We oftentimes come from these same neighborhoods and communities that need help, so we can articulate the pain sometimes better than these politicians do.”

He wholeheartedly supports calls, heard around the country, to defund police. “Most people support defunding the police,” Jenkins says. “A lot of people struggle with the phrasing more than they struggle with the concept. Most of us, including leadership in law enforcement, believe that we ask police officers to do too much. They’re not trained to deal with mental health issues, they’re not trained to deal with homelessness, they’re not trained to deal with domestic disputes, they’re not trained to deal with kids in school, they’re not trained to deal with a number of things we ask them to respond to. We talk about deescalation, deescalation, deescalation. It’s impossible to deescalate a situation when you have someone who brings a firearm into it. So that becomes intimidation. And that’s what we see. If you don’t submit to that intimidation, ultimately somebody will get killed.”

“Defunding is just taking away the excess money that goes to our police departments, that push them to do a job that they don’t want to do, and we don’t want them doing,” says Jenkins. “And making sure we push them to be highly trained, to have all of the accountability they need. We need to redefine the role of policing in our community.” A world where the current policing blueprint isn’t necessary, Jenkins says, is worth striving for. “The end goal is, yeah, to live in a society where we don’t need the police,” Jenkins says. “I don’t think anybody wants to just literally with a swipe of a pen in 2020 eliminate all policing without creating some kind of other model, or transitioning into some other model of safety. But I think we all want to get to point where we don’t need armed people responding to our citizens. That we create a society that is equitable, that does not have extreme poverty, that does not have people living in these traumatic places. Crime drops because there is more opportunity.”

Jenkins, whom CNN just hired as a contributor to comment on social justice issues, is still training for the upcoming NFL season while producing videos, making TV appearances, talking to athletes about pushing their platforms for change—he recently did a Zoom call, for example, with members of the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics—and continuing his activism work. While Jenkins appreciated NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s recent video supporting Black Lives Matter and a players’ right to protest, he needs to see more. “I think the first step is acknowledging what Colin Kaepernick stood for,” says Jenkins. “Him in particular. Not players in general. What he stood for and what he put on the line. And now, where we are as a country, give him his ‘I told you so’ moment. That’s the first thing. And then secondly, we all want to see him have an opportunity to play. What that looks like I don’t think anybody knows. I think a workout or a tryout is a very simple thing to do. There are two sides to that relationship, so we’ll see.“

Jenkins acknowledges the NFL’s work in giving money to social justice causes, and creating awareness campaigns. “But we can’t take you serious because of the Colin Kaepernick situation,” Jenkins says. “We don’t know where your heart is. If they want to really help, and not be a voice in this fight that is confusing or muddies the water, the first thing they need to do is take on this Coin Kaepernick issue head on, and start there.”

Mostly, Jenkins believes America has an opportunity to break the cycle of injustice, outrage, and a return to injustice. “Right now, more than any other time in my lifetime, it feels like we have the ability to literally to turn away from the systems that we’ve had for centuries, and actually start over,” says Jenkins. “Everybody is starting to pay attention. This is a moment where we can reimagine how our society functions. All of our systems were birthed out of white supremacy. And so reform doesn’t change the origins of the system. They just kind of tailor it. But it’s still heading in the same direction. Until we turn our backs on those systems and restart America, until we understand the truth of where, how we got there, and what our roles are, then we can get to that place of reconciliation.”

via Blogger https://ift.tt/2YmNaBt

[fullspectrum-cbd-oil]

‘Really Disgusting’: Rand Paul Hits Back at Jon Stewart for ‘BS’ Amid Feud over 9/11 Victims Fund Bill

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is swiping back at Jon Stewart after the former late-night comedian slammed the lawmaker over his decision to block a motion for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund.

After Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced the bill on Wednesday for unanimous consent, Paul blocked the motion due to the cost of it, citing his concerns over the national debt.

“It has long been my feeling that we need to address our massive debt in this country,” Paul previously said. “We have a 22 trillion dollar debt, we’re adding debt at about a trillion dollars a year, and therefore any new spending […] should be offset by cutting spending that’s less valuable.”

However, Stewart previously blasted Paul for his “absolutely outrageous” motion to block it, as IJR Blue reported.

“At some point, we have to stand up for the people who have always stood up for us,” he added. “And at this moment in time, maybe cannot stand up for themselves due to their illnesses and injuries. And what Rand Paul did today on the Senate was outrageous.”

Paul tweeted on Wednesday, “Not blocking the 9/11 bill – simply asking for a vote on an amendment to offset the cost.”

The Republican senator, however, doubled down in defense on Thursday as he told Fox News that Stewart’s portrayal of it all is “really disgusting.”

“I know Jon Stewart. Jon Stewart is sometimes funny, sometimes informed. In this case, he’s neither funny nor informed,” the senator responded to Stewart.

“He pretended for years when he was on his comedy show to be somebody that could be both sides and see through the BS,” Paul said. “Now he is the B.S. The B.S. meter is through the roof when you see him calling people names and calling people an abomination, when I’m asking for something reasonable.”

As for the bill, if it were to pass it would provide funding for the 9/11 first responders until 2092. The senator noted that the bill would cost roughly $2 billion per year until 2092.

Watch Paul’s interview below:

“People need to wake up and not be so, sort of overwhelmed by celebrity that they take out-and-out falsehoods and ad hominem attacks from — really a guttersnipe like Jon Stewart,” the Republican senator said.

Paul declared that the U.S. isn’t a “stingy” country and is one that “will continue to do more” for 9/11 first responders.

from IJR https://ift.tt/2JG99vW via IFTTT

[prideguynews]

by Michael Musto 2h ago

With a new documentary upon us about the legendary 1970s disco Studio 54, it’s time to remove the cobwebs from the corners of my mind and relay some misty, water-colored memories about the whole dizzying experience.   First of all, the place was everything it was cracked up to be. At a time when the country was disillusioned with our shady government and New York City was in shambles, it rose up like a miracle, a glitzy hedonism haven for escapism and glamour, filled with people of all races and sexualities. Here are some things you might not know about the TV studio turned dance palace, which attracted a conga line of glitterati starting in 1977:

*It consisted of three levels (plus a bathroom landing slash lounge). The main dance floor was a thrilling wonderland, with blinking panels descending and rising, and a quarter moon with a faux coke spoon coming down at key moments. Downstairs was where the celebrities did real coke. A lot. And the balcony was where…well, let’s just say I once sat there to relax for a minute, only to have some man reach from the row behind me to grab for my business. Why, I never!

*To get in, you had to be famous, beautiful, a media person, or know someone. I was press, so frisky co-owner Steve Rubell would always pull me in, but when he didn’t happen to be at the door, the regular door guy, Marc Benecke, would shoot me withering looks and refuse me entry, correctly sensing that I was not Bianca Jagger. The longer you stood there hoping for admission, the smaller your chances got, so I had to cook up some better schemes. I became pals with an Oscar nominated actress, and she always got us in free, but then came the problem of how to ditch her inside the club and have some fun with my gay male friends! Ah, the problems of the ‘70s.

Zeitgeist Films

*Gays were not only welcomed, they were worshiped. This was after Stonewall and before AIDS, so it was a time of liberation, pride, and tons of fun, when nocturnal NYC gays romped freely and straights wanted to be near them at any cost.

*The array of celebs was extraordinary, and right up in your face. Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Andy Warhol, Halston…everyone. And there wasn’t the kind of security celebs have now, so they were mixing with the rest of the crowd and even photographers were roaming free, with grins on their faces. One night, Rubell snuggled up to me and cooed, “Elton John and Rod Stewart are coming together later. Don’t tell anyone.” I told everyone—and that’s what he wanted! And sure enough, Elton and Rod came in and electrified the place. Another night, I was dancing with a friend, but noticed that your dancing partner could change as the crowd swirled round, and no one minded, since everyone was equal under the great glitter ball. (We’d all gotten in, after all.) So I found myself eventually dancing with world-famous model-actor-scion Margaux Hemingway, who didn’t mind! I was verklempt.

*The place also created its own celebrities, like Rollerena, a drag queen on roller skates, with a magic wand in tow, and Disco Sally, a 70-something retired lawyer and widow who loved to boogie, especially with younger guys (one of whom she married in a much publicized ceremony).

*The music pumped all night, with great songs that were heavy on the black female vocals, plus wonderful orchestrations. The yin and yang of disco hits were Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (a thump-thump anthem celebrating a defiant refusal to care about the schmo that got away) and Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way” (the flip side of that, about desperately trying to hold onto your man at any cost). Both were incredibly fun to act out on the dance floor, with lots of arm gestures and facial expressions (some of which people could even see through the strobe effects). Speaking of “leaving this way,” when you heard disco queen Donna Summer’s “The Last Dance” emerge from the DJ booth, you knew it was—duh—the last dance of the night, and you had to pull yourself together and try to sneak into a cab (or, in my case, subway) home. Depressing! But there was always tomorrow night.

Zeitgeist Films

*I once went to Halloween at Studio 54 and it was kind of bad! The crowd always dressed so remarkably that being forced to do so on this night of rituals simply didn’t inspire them, and the dance floor was mostly filled with bridge and tunnel types in lame ensembles. Every night was Halloween for the core 54 crowd.

*The party ended when Rubell and partner Ian Schrager went to jail for tax evasion, and in 1980, the new owner, Mark Fleischman, took over. We all tried to pretend that nothing had changed, but eventually we had to face the fact that the magic was gone. In 1998, the main space became a Broadway theater and then the basement was repurposed as the cabaret room Feinstein’s/54 Below. I’ve occasionally spotted customers there trying to sniff the floor.

    Googoo for Gaga

Moving on to a retread of Liza’s mother’s greatest triumph: Lady Gaga can act! She and Bradley Cooper (who directed and costars) have cooked up a fab A Star Is Born, full of great offhand moments, wonderful singing and acting, and fancy drag queens. (In an early scene, Cooper autographs Willam Belli’s fake tits, and you’ll never forget it.)

What I liked about this version of the oft-told tale is that Jackson Maine, Cooper’s superstar singer character, isn’t really jealous of his wife’s rising success, but of the fact that she’s sold out and gone cheesy. I also appreciated the realistic way Ally (Gaga’s character) approaches Jackson’s alcohol problem, first with dismay and tough love (threatening him to shape up) and then with a more compassionate take, realizing that he’s suffering from a disease and it needs to be treated. Early on, there are some jokes about Ally’s nose getting in the way of her success, and it makes sense that at that point she wouldn’t go for surgery, wanting to just be herself (until she becomes a sort of glorified Britney Spears).

Just two complaints: They should have gone for broke and had her say “I’m Mrs. Ally Maine” in the big finale scene (shades of the Judy Garland version). Putting in the “Mrs.” would have resonated in light of a previous scene where she irritably calls Jackson her boyfriend. Secondly, Cooper should have directed Gaga to cry harder during a certain pivotal dramatic moment; it would have clinched her an Oscar. Otherwise, this Star is both raw and dazzling—and though Gaga sings the intro to Judy’s “Over The Rainbow,” it’s closer to the Barbra Streisand version, but way better.

In Other Movie News…

Leave No Trace is Debra Granik’s thoughtful film about a troubled veteran (Ben Foster) and his daughter (Thomasin McKenzie) trying to find solace in a Portland nature reserve. After a special screening, Cooper urged the crowd to take a walk and touch a tree to restore communication with nature. (When he said this, I quickly turned off my phone! I won’t be owned by technology anymore.)

At a luncheon afterwards, Foster told me he’s tempted to undo certain news apps on his phone because the news is so disheartening these days. I agreed, saying I can’t bear reading Trump’s horrifying tweets, though I feel I need to stay in touch with what’s happening just to be plugged in. In another life-changing development, Foster told me that he’s moving to Brooklyn with his wife (Laura Prepon) and their kid because the East Village has changed and there’s a Target there now, for starters. I told him I’m from Brooklyn and didn’t really want to go back there that much, alas. I also confessed that The Village Voice and Theater Talk had both recently folded, but I was handling it okay, knowing that life brings more than one bad thing—or good thing—at a time. “I wish you ease,” he replied, sincerely. Nice!   At a screening of The Great Buster, Peter Bogdanovich’s doc about the slapstick comedy legend, Bogdanovich extolled the glories of black and white silent films. He said Hitchcock told him that movies had become just people talking, while Orson Welles advised him that “black and white is an actor’s best friend.” Still, Bogdanovich decided to have people talk in his doc, including Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts, who says that since Spidey has an expressionless (i.e., covered) face, Watts researched how to do blank-faced comedy by looking at Keaton’s work!

  Eliciting a bevy of emotions, Tamara Jenkins’ Private Life is a seriocomic look at a married couple’s repeated attempts to have a baby, from in vitro to adoption and beyond. After the movie, Paul Giamatti was asked how he researched playing a guy with one testicle. He joked that in real life, he has three of them, so he had to scale it down, then he added, “I feel like a lot of the characters I play have one testicle.” That’s one more than our President. I wish him unease.

Michael Musto is the long running, award-winning entertainment journalist and TV commentator.

@mikeymusto

The post Looking Back at the Notorious Disco Studio 54: Sex, Drugs, and Thump Thump appeared first on PrideGuy - Gay News, LGBT News, Politics & Entertainment.

[democratsunited-blog]

How Corey Stewart Could Endanger Other Virginia Republicans

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=3636

How Corey Stewart Could Endanger Other Virginia Republicans

MANASSAS, Va. — He once stood proudly before a Confederate flag, declaring it was not a symbol of hatred, but “about our heritage.”

After the march of torch-carrying white supremacists in Charlottesville last year, which led to the death of a counterprotester, he criticized “weak Republicans” who “couldn’t apologize fast enough.”

As officials around Virginia have grappled with whether to remove Confederate statues, he has compared those politicians to leaders of the Islamic State.

Now Corey Stewart, a county official who for years has played to the hard-right fringe, captured the Republican nomination for Senate in Virginia.

[Read more about Corey Stewart, Republicans and the fringe right.]

He did so in a low-turnout primary on Tuesday when many centrist Republicans apparently stayed home, unhappy with a three-way race among candidates all professing strong loyalty to President Trump and given to fiery culture war pronouncements.

Mr. Stewart, the chairman of a county board of supervisors who briefly led Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign in Virginia, received a congratulatory overnight tweet from the president, who called Mr. Stewart’s Democratic opponent, Senator Tim Kaine, “a total stiff.”

Tellingly, though, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the party’s campaign arm, said it would not support Mr. Stewart, who lags far behind Mr. Kaine in fund-raising and has a history of cozying up to white supremacists and anti-Semites that threatens to make him an albatross for down-ballot Republicans.

White House officials said the president was unlikely to cross the Potomac River to campaign personally for Mr. Stewart unless there were signs that his race against Mr. Kaine had become competitive.

The real worry for national Republicans — and the hope for Democrats — is that Mr. Stewart’s nomination may cost some incumbent Republicans in Virginia their seats in Congress.

“For the G.O.P. candidates in the down-ballot House races in Virginia, having Stewart on the ticket is going to be a very tough challenge,” said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. “Somehow they will need to separate themselves from the more extreme elements of his message, while at the same time not alienating the Trump Republicans whose votes will be needed.”

[Mark Sanford’s political career fades in the age of Donald Trump.]

Virginia Democrats quickly moved to join Mr. Stewart at the hip to other Republicans in competitive House races.

“There is no place to hide — you are either running with Corey Stewart and you condone his vile politics, or you don’t,” said Susan Swecker, the state Democratic chairwoman.

Mr. Stewart could especially hurt Representative Barbara Comstock, a Republican defending a seat in affluent Northern Virginia that is emblematic of how the state has been shifted from its once-fixed Republican moorings by an influx of immigrants and college-educated professionals. Hillary Clinton won in Ms. Comstock’s district, the 10th, by double digits in 2016.

Ms. Comstock, who has generally supported Mr. Trump, held off a primary challenge from her right on Tuesday.

“The good news is that Congresswoman Barbara Comstock won her challenge,” said David Ramadan, a Republican former state legislator in Virginia. “And the bad news is, my good friend who has lost his mind, Corey Stewart, has become the nominee for the Senate.”

Virginia has been moving steadily from being a solid Republican state to one that is reliably Democratic in statewide elections. The populous counties outside Washington and around Richmond are now filled with highly educated voters, immigrants with white-collar jobs in the technology industry, and suburban women, groups that tend to have more moderate views than the Trump-led national Republican Party.

The center of gravity for the Republican Party in the state has shifted “from the country club to the country,” as one Republican strategist, Tom Davis, put it.

“Every candidate will be asked if they support Stewart,” said Mr. Davis, a former congressman from Virginia. “This is more nuanced than the media would have you believe, but in high-education areas, it is a killer.”

The establishment wing that once dominated the party did not even field a candidate in the Senate primary on Tuesday. Instead, Mr. Stewart faced a little-known state lawmaker, Nick Freitas, and a Christian minister given to divisive outbursts, E.W. Jackson.

[Here are three key takeaways from Tuesday night’s primaries.]

Turnout in the race was noticeably low. Mr. Stewart’s 136,500 votes on Tuesday were about 20,000 fewer than he received in the Republican primary for governor last year, a race he lost.

If the turnout pattern repeats in November, at least two other Republican House members besides Ms. Comstock could also be in trouble: Dave Brat and Scott Taylor.

“Stewart’s fearmongering and division-sowing campaign will turn many Virginians to the Democratic ticket,” said Schuyler VanValkenburg, a Democratic state legislator who lives in Mr. Brat’s district, the Seventh.

Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee challenging Mr. Brat, is a former C.I.A. officer who won more votes on Tuesday than any other House candidate in the state.

Katey Price, Mr. Brat’s campaign manager, said on Wednesday, “I see this as a very winnable district and very winnable race, and we’re going to run a smart campaign focused on the issues.”

Mr. Taylor, a former Navy SEAL who represents the Second District, centered on Virginia Beach, will face Elaine Luria, a former Navy commander.

“My opponent will either embrace Corey Stewart, be silent or distance himself from him,” Ms. Luria said in an interview. “Virginia favors equality, diversity and economic opportunity for all. Corey Stewart’s race-baiting rhetoric is offensive to everybody in Virginia.”

Mr. Taylor angrily responded to a Twitter taunt from the state Democratic Party that asked him if he thought Mr. Stewart was a racist and whether the two men would campaign together.

“Let’s see you jokers bring your weak identity politics campaign, trying to make it about race in #VA02, see how it works out for you,” Mr. Taylor tweeted back. “Not gonna happen.”

Mr. Stewart, 49, has spent years courting voters on the rightward fringes of his party, often by playing to anti-immigration sentiment. He made the defense of Confederate monuments the focus of his unsuccessful 2017 primary campaign for governor. “Nothing is worse than a Yankee telling a Southerner that his monuments don’t matter,” he said on Twitter, though he was born in Minnesota.

In January 2017, Mr. Stewart met with and praised Paul Nehlen, an outspoken anti-Semite who is now making his second run for Congress in Wisconsin.

Mr. Stewart was also endorsed last year by the white nationalist Jason Kessler, who later helped organize the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

Mr. Stewart has since distanced himself from both Mr. Nehlen and Mr. Kessler.

As chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Stewart promoted a policy in 2007 to deny county services to immigrants without legal status. The rule, which was updated to require police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they arrested, drew intense opposition and brought Mr. Stewart to national attention.

Elizabeth Guzman, a Democratic state lawmaker representing the district where Mr. Stewart lives, said Mr. Stewart was able to win his county office largely because many Democrats did not vote in local elections. That trend was dramatically reversed in November, when Democratic candidates took 15 Republican-held seats in the statehouse.

“Now that we are engaging everybody in the process, he is not winning in November,” Ms. Guzman said of Mr. Stewart. “When you are going to vote on the Republican ticket, he is going to be the head of that line, and as soon as people see that name, it will turn off people.”

Mike Tackett reported from Manassas, Va., and Trip Gabriel from New York. Maggie Astor contributed reporting from New York, and Jonathan Martin and Nicholas Fandos from Washington.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: Republican’s Big Day May Become Problem For G.O.P. in Virginia. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read full story here

[theconservativebrief]

The June 12 primary elections in Virginia, Nevada, Maine, and South Carolina kept many of 2018’s narratives alive and well, with women scoring important wins in Democratic primaries and Trump critics facing the wrath of their Republican base and losing at the ballot box.

Democrats nominated strong candidates for House races in Virginia, where they have a chance to pick up as many as four seats in their bid to retake the chamber, and saw their preferred candidate overwhelmingly approved in the important Nevada Senate race against vulnerable GOP incumbent Dean Heller. Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) lost his primary election after President Trump came out against him on election day.

Oh, and Democrats secured another special election win in Wisconsin, having successfully stopped Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s efforts to block the elections from happening at all and then coming out on top in one of the contests on Tuesday.

So without further ado, your four winners and three losers from the June 12 primaries.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin. Scott Olson/Getty Images

After two Republican state lawmakers stepped down to take spots in Walker’s administration, the Wisconsin governor decided to just not call special elections as state law seemed to clearly demand. His lawyers cooked up a farcical literal reading of state law to justify the decision, but Democrats — led by former Attorney General Eric Holder — intervened, the state courts laughed off Walker’s case as absurd, and so the elections were called.

That was the first part of the liberal win, and the second part came on Tuesday, when Democrats prevailed in one of those special legislative elections. Caleb Frostman won in Senate District 1, where Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 17 points in 2016.

That followed the January special Wisconsin Senate election of Democrat Patty Schachtner, who came out on top in a district that Trump had also won by 17 points. Walker said at the time it should be a “wake-up call” for Wisconsin Republicans.

But Tuesday didn’t look much better for Scott or his party in the Badger State. Wisconsin is an important battleground in 2018, after Trump’s unexpected victory there in 2016. Walker is back on the ballot, with Democrats gunning to finally topple him, and Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is seeking her first reelection.

You don’t want to speculate too confidently off special elections, but Democrats in Wisconsin have to feel good about what they’ve seen at the ballot box lately.

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

If there’s one thing you don’t want to see on election day, it’s a tweet from the president of the United States endorsing your primary challenger. But that’s precisely what happened to Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) at 4:12 pm.

Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble. He is better off in Argentina. I fully endorse Katie Arrington for Congress in SC, a state I love. She is tough on crime and will continue our fight to lower taxes. VOTE Katie!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2018

State Rep. Katie Arrington ran ads attacking Sanford as a “Washington insider” and heavily hinted at Sanford’s sordid history. He resigned from the governor’s office after coming forward about an affair he had with a woman in Argentina in 2009, all while his staff was telling reporters he was “hiking the Appalachian trail.” The saying became something of a euphemism afterward.

But Sanford came back to voters in 2012, saying he was reformed, and won a House seat in the state. Perhaps emboldened by his ability to get voters on his side, he became sharply critical of Trump — even telling him to “just shut up” about his critics during the 2016 campaign. It seems he was a little too confident, and now he’s lost outright to Arrington in Tuesday’s GOP primary.

It seems Trump, who has something of a history with alleged affairs of his own, got his revenge.

Jennifer Wexton won the Democratic primary in the Virginia 10th District. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Virginia is quietly one of the most important states in the race for the House — at least four seats should be competitive in November — and Democrats have now nominated a woman as their candidate in every one of those important elections.

In the Virginia Second, they nominated veteran Elaine Luria to challenge Rep. Scott Taylor, In the Seventh, Abigail Spanberger got the nod and is now tasked with toppling Dave Brat, one of the most conservative members of the House. And Jennifer Wexton emerged from a crowded primary and will now face Rep. Barbara Comstock, long considered to be one of the most vulnerable House Republicans in the country, in the 10th.

And prior to primary day, in a local Democratic convention, the party picked Leslie Cockburn in the campaign to replace outgoing and scandal-plagued Republican Rep. Tom Garrett. Each of this races is pegged by election forecasters to be either a toss-up or to lean slightly toward the Republicans. These seats would absolutely be in play in a wave year, especially in a state that is consistently trending bluer all the time.

We’ve seen again and again this year that Democratic primary voters want women to be their candidates. Virginia is maybe the starkest evidence yet.

On the heels of Virginia becoming the first state to expand Medicaid under the Trump administration, Wexton won the Democratic primary in the Virginia 10th and is expected to tout her vote in the state Senate to expand the program in her general election campaign against Comstock. How far we’ve come, when Obamacare and Medicaid can be electoral advantages for Democrats.

In Maine, while we can’t be certain just yet, state Attorney General Janet Mills looks to be in a strong position to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination — she, too, ran on a strong pro-Medicaid expansion message. While Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage has blocked it for the better part of a year after voters approved a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid, a Mills win in November would probably finish the job, if the courts don’t sooner.

One other bit of good news for Medicaid, even if it wasn’t on the ballot: Nebraska organizers said this week they were optimistic they would secure the signatures they need to put up expansion in a ballot referendum in November. That would make three states — in addition to Idaho and Utah, where Medicaid expansion will definitely be on the ballot — that might take a big step toward extending health coverage to poor residents this year.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

I mean, technically, Heller won his Republican primary, but only after getting embarrassed by Trump last year, then cozying up to the president, who finally urged a credible conservative challenger to drop a primary bid against Heller.

Heller might feel good about that, but the overwhelming victory for Rep. Jacky Rosen, a freshman in Congress with very little statewide name recognition, in the Democratic primary probably doesn’t bode well for what was already going to be a very tough race for Heller. They were already polling neck and neck before Rosen won her primary.

Heller, first appointed in 2011, has a lot of reasons to be worried. He is the only incumbent Republican senator up for reelection in a state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016. Even in a pretty dismal national environment, the Harry Reid-powered Nevada Democratic machine helped push Catherine Cortez Masto to a win in the 2016 Senate election.

Heller hasn’t covered himself in glory on Capitol Hill either, initially throwing in his lot with popular Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval on Obamacare repeal (refusing to support anything that the good governor didn’t support, like the first Senate bill) but then shifting gears and putting his name on a plan that would lead to millions fewer Americans having health insurance.

Now he’s officially got Rosen, in the year of the Democratic women, as a challenger. It’s probably not going to get any easier from here.

Honestly, ranked-choice voting seems like a pretty good idea — read the full explainer from Vox’s Ella Nilsen — because it actually creates more consensus than a winner-take-all election.

But we have to rate it a loser after Maine Gov. LePage bluntly stated he probably wouldn’t certify the results of his state’s primary election because he thinks ranked voting is “the most horrific thing in the world.” Now state officials are scrambling on a workaround to get the results certified without LePage. Maine is so far the first state to attempt to institute ranked-choice voting for statewide elections.

From the looks of it, the ranked system will be needed in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, where Mills leads but doesn’t have a majority among primary voters. But first, we might have to wait for a court battle to end LePage’s stunt.

Ranked-choice voting could very well win in the end. But for tonight, it’s a loss.

Republican Eric Brakey almost certainly isn’t going to beat Sen. Angus King (I-ME) in November, but he did win the GOP primary, and that was occasion enough for his previous life as a viral video star to resurface on Twitter.

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On a more serious note — but with an equally slim chance of changing the expected outcome in November — Corey Stewart won the Republican Senate nomination in Virginia, and he will challenge Sen. Tim Kaine in November. Corey Stewart, who has had to repeatedly disavowed his prior friendliness with white supremacists. Corey Stewart, who doesn’t think black people really want Confederate monuments taken down. That Corey Stewart.

This is what a former Republican lieutenant governor had to say about Stewart’s nomination.

I am extremely disappointed that a candidate like Corey Stewart could win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. This is clearly not the Republican Party I once knew, loved and proudly served. Every time I think things can’t get worse they do, and there is no end in sight.

— Bill Bolling (@lgbillbolling) June 13, 2018

Yikes.

Original Source -> 4 winners and 3 losers from the June 12 primary elections

via The Conservative Brief