#jewish jeremy travers

[askjamessirius]

Jewish Jeremy Travers

Okay but hear me out,

Jeremy always ends late rehearsals by praying maariv

Wearing his yamaka to Saturday rehearsals

Refusing to move set pieces during Saturday rehearsals in respect of Shabbat

Jeremy stealing all leavened bread products from the cast during passover and introducing them all to matzah

Also, everyone knows not to fuck with him when he’s fasting cause Jeremy gets very hangry

The cast going christmas caroling together and Tracy making sure they sing Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah at some point

When all the teachers decorate their classrooms for Christmas, Lou puts a tiny plastic menorah on his desk so that Jeremy gets to celebrate too

Mr. Mazzu being all annoying at rehearsal like he does and Jeremy just rolling his eyes and muttering in slightly angry Hebrew

Jeremy missing some of the beginning rehearsals due to Yom Kippur and Sukkot

Jeremy teaching Michael and Maashous Israeli dance

During tech week, Mrs. Travers bringing in dinner and just drowning the cast in traditional jewish cuisine

“Look, this is hard for me, too. Okay, it’s not like I do this--” because Jeremy isn’t totally sure how to align his sexuality with his religion

But like, Jeremy’s parents being super supportive of him

And honestly just Jeremy having layers and dimensions and being happy and loved ugh

[risewhoboreme]

In this house we support a Jewish Jeremy Travers.

[newestbalance]

British PM May avoids London wipeout in local elections

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party avoided a wipeout in London local elections and eked out gains in Brexit-supporting regions elsewhere, results on Friday showed, denting the opposition Labour Party’s hopes of a big win.

Supporters of the British Conservative Party react during the count at Wandsworth Town Hall after local government elections in London, Britain, May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

The elections are a gauge of public support for May as she faces a possible revolt in parliament over her strategy for leaving the European Union.

With two-thirds of results declared, May had avoided the widespread losses that would have weakened her authority over Conservative lawmakers ahead of tests of her plans to take Britain out of the EU customs union as it quits the bloc.

“These results are as good as any government party after eight years in power could expect,” said Tony Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics Department of Government.

“They’ll be a relief for May and the Conservative Party as a whole because they’re suggestive that, despite the fact the Conservatives are in an on-and-off civil war over Brexit, the Labour Party’s problems are possibly worse.”

Against a backdrop of heightened expectations for Labour, Thursday’s ballot also hinted at the limitations of its recent resurgence under veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn.

CONSERVATIVE BASTION HOLDS

May’s party kept control of Wandsworth council – a low-tax Conservative stronghold since the time of late prime minister Margaret Thatcher that had been one of Labour’s main targets.

“Labour will have to do far, far better than this in local elections in future to suggest they are convincing the electorate more generally,” Travers said.

The makeup of 150 local government authorities, responsible for the day-to-day provision of public services, was at stake.

Supporters of the British Conservative Party react during the count at Wandsworth Town Hall after local government elections in London, Britain, May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

The Conservatives also held on to Westminster, London’s political district, indicating that their losses in the capital would come in at the lower end of the predicted range.

May, appearing relaxed and smiling, visited Wandsworth on Friday morning. “Labour thought they could take control, this was one of their top targets and they threw everything at it, but they failed,” she said.

Ruling parties typically suffer at local elections and surveys had predicted losses in London for the Conservatives after eight years in power. May is negotiating an exit from the EU that 60 percent of the capital rejected at the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Results elsewhere in London’s 32 boroughs showed only a small swing to Labour, unlikely to give May a serious headache.

Corbyn has endured fierce criticism over the handling of anti-Semitism within his party. Critics also say he misjudged his response to military action in Syria and a row with Moscow over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in southern England.

Despite intensive campaigning, Labour saw the Conservatives win back control of the London borough of Barnet, which has the largest Jewish population of any single council area.

Slideshow (13 Images)

DELIVERING BREXIT

Outside London, the Conservatives regained control of councils in the pro-Brexit regions of Peterborough and Basildon, largely at the expense of the anti-EU UK Independence Party.

UKIP has suffered leadership issues and struggled for new purpose since achieving its main aim at the 2016 referendum.

“The Conservative Party has been reminded tonight that the electorate that it now has is disproportionately a ‘Leave’ electorate,” polling expert John Curtice told the BBC.

“Therefore, above all, it seems to me that what the Conservative Party has to be able to do in the coming weeks and months is to deliver on Brexit in a way that will satisfy the aspirations of ‘Leave’ voters.”

May’s party did lose control of the highly prized council in the Trafford area of the northern city of Manchester – its only foothold in a important economic region, dominated by Labour, where the Conservatives have spent years trying to win support.

The overall tally, not due until 1900 GMT, will offer the most complete snapshot of public opinion since an election last year in which the Conservatives suffered unexpected losses, leaving May weakened and her party arguing openly about Brexit.

May will remain under pressure from rival Conservative factions: those who want to keep close ties with the EU by staying in the customs union, and others who say anything short of a clean break is a betrayal of the Brexit referendum result.

Reporting by William James; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Guy Faulconbridge

The post British PM May avoids London wipeout in local elections appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2IgnSNY via Everyday News

[dragnews]

British PM May avoids London wipeout in local elections

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party avoided a wipeout in London local elections and eked out gains in Brexit-supporting regions elsewhere, results on Friday showed, denting the opposition Labour Party’s hopes of a big win.

Supporters of the British Conservative Party react during the count at Wandsworth Town Hall after local government elections in London, Britain, May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

The elections are a gauge of public support for May as she faces a possible revolt in parliament over her strategy for leaving the European Union.

With two-thirds of results declared, May had avoided the widespread losses that would have weakened her authority over Conservative lawmakers ahead of tests of her plans to take Britain out of the EU customs union as it quits the bloc.

“These results are as good as any government party after eight years in power could expect,” said Tony Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics Department of Government.

“They’ll be a relief for May and the Conservative Party as a whole because they’re suggestive that, despite the fact the Conservatives are in an on-and-off civil war over Brexit, the Labour Party’s problems are possibly worse.”

Against a backdrop of heightened expectations for Labour, Thursday’s ballot also hinted at the limitations of its recent resurgence under veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn.

CONSERVATIVE BASTION HOLDS

May’s party kept control of Wandsworth council – a low-tax Conservative stronghold since the time of late prime minister Margaret Thatcher that had been one of Labour’s main targets.

“Labour will have to do far, far better than this in local elections in future to suggest they are convincing the electorate more generally,” Travers said.

The makeup of 150 local government authorities, responsible for the day-to-day provision of public services, was at stake.

Supporters of the British Conservative Party react during the count at Wandsworth Town Hall after local government elections in London, Britain, May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

The Conservatives also held on to Westminster, London’s political district, indicating that their losses in the capital would come in at the lower end of the predicted range.

May, appearing relaxed and smiling, visited Wandsworth on Friday morning. “Labour thought they could take control, this was one of their top targets and they threw everything at it, but they failed,” she said.

Ruling parties typically suffer at local elections and surveys had predicted losses in London for the Conservatives after eight years in power. May is negotiating an exit from the EU that 60 percent of the capital rejected at the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Results elsewhere in London’s 32 boroughs showed only a small swing to Labour, unlikely to give May a serious headache.

Corbyn has endured fierce criticism over the handling of anti-Semitism within his party. Critics also say he misjudged his response to military action in Syria and a row with Moscow over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in southern England.

Despite intensive campaigning, Labour saw the Conservatives win back control of the London borough of Barnet, which has the largest Jewish population of any single council area.

Slideshow (13 Images)

DELIVERING BREXIT

Outside London, the Conservatives regained control of councils in the pro-Brexit regions of Peterborough and Basildon, largely at the expense of the anti-EU UK Independence Party.

UKIP has suffered leadership issues and struggled for new purpose since achieving its main aim at the 2016 referendum.

“The Conservative Party has been reminded tonight that the electorate that it now has is disproportionately a ‘Leave’ electorate,” polling expert John Curtice told the BBC.

“Therefore, above all, it seems to me that what the Conservative Party has to be able to do in the coming weeks and months is to deliver on Brexit in a way that will satisfy the aspirations of ‘Leave’ voters.”

May’s party did lose control of the highly prized council in the Trafford area of the northern city of Manchester – its only foothold in a important economic region, dominated by Labour, where the Conservatives have spent years trying to win support.

The overall tally, not due until 1900 GMT, will offer the most complete snapshot of public opinion since an election last year in which the Conservatives suffered unexpected losses, leaving May weakened and her party arguing openly about Brexit.

May will remain under pressure from rival Conservative factions: those who want to keep close ties with the EU by staying in the customs union, and others who say anything short of a clean break is a betrayal of the Brexit referendum result.

Reporting by William James; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Guy Faulconbridge

The post British PM May avoids London wipeout in local elections appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2IgnSNY via Today News

[party-hard-or-die]

British PM May avoids London wipeout in local elections

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party avoided a wipeout in London local elections and eked out gains in Brexit-supporting regions elsewhere, results on Friday showed, denting the opposition Labour Party’s hopes of a big win.

Supporters of the British Conservative Party react during the count at Wandsworth Town Hall after local government elections in London, Britain, May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

The elections are a gauge of public support for May as she faces a possible revolt in parliament over her strategy for leaving the European Union.

With two-thirds of results declared, May had avoided the widespread losses that would have weakened her authority over Conservative lawmakers ahead of tests of her plans to take Britain out of the EU customs union as it quits the bloc.

“These results are as good as any government party after eight years in power could expect,” said Tony Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics Department of Government.

“They’ll be a relief for May and the Conservative Party as a whole because they’re suggestive that, despite the fact the Conservatives are in an on-and-off civil war over Brexit, the Labour Party’s problems are possibly worse.”

Against a backdrop of heightened expectations for Labour, Thursday’s ballot also hinted at the limitations of its recent resurgence under veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn.

CONSERVATIVE BASTION HOLDS

May’s party kept control of Wandsworth council – a low-tax Conservative stronghold since the time of late prime minister Margaret Thatcher that had been one of Labour’s main targets.

“Labour will have to do far, far better than this in local elections in future to suggest they are convincing the electorate more generally,” Travers said.

The makeup of 150 local government authorities, responsible for the day-to-day provision of public services, was at stake.

Supporters of the British Conservative Party react during the count at Wandsworth Town Hall after local government elections in London, Britain, May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

The Conservatives also held on to Westminster, London’s political district, indicating that their losses in the capital would come in at the lower end of the predicted range.

May, appearing relaxed and smiling, visited Wandsworth on Friday morning. “Labour thought they could take control, this was one of their top targets and they threw everything at it, but they failed,” she said.

Ruling parties typically suffer at local elections and surveys had predicted losses in London for the Conservatives after eight years in power. May is negotiating an exit from the EU that 60 percent of the capital rejected at the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Results elsewhere in London’s 32 boroughs showed only a small swing to Labour, unlikely to give May a serious headache.

Corbyn has endured fierce criticism over the handling of anti-Semitism within his party. Critics also say he misjudged his response to military action in Syria and a row with Moscow over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in southern England.

Despite intensive campaigning, Labour saw the Conservatives win back control of the London borough of Barnet, which has the largest Jewish population of any single council area.

Slideshow (13 Images)

DELIVERING BREXIT

Outside London, the Conservatives regained control of councils in the pro-Brexit regions of Peterborough and Basildon, largely at the expense of the anti-EU UK Independence Party.

UKIP has suffered leadership issues and struggled for new purpose since achieving its main aim at the 2016 referendum.

“The Conservative Party has been reminded tonight that the electorate that it now has is disproportionately a ‘Leave’ electorate,” polling expert John Curtice told the BBC.

“Therefore, above all, it seems to me that what the Conservative Party has to be able to do in the coming weeks and months is to deliver on Brexit in a way that will satisfy the aspirations of ‘Leave’ voters.”

May’s party did lose control of the highly prized council in the Trafford area of the northern city of Manchester – its only foothold in a important economic region, dominated by Labour, where the Conservatives have spent years trying to win support.

The overall tally, not due until 1900 GMT, will offer the most complete snapshot of public opinion since an election last year in which the Conservatives suffered unexpected losses, leaving May weakened and her party arguing openly about Brexit.

May will remain under pressure from rival Conservative factions: those who want to keep close ties with the EU by staying in the customs union, and others who say anything short of a clean break is a betrayal of the Brexit referendum result.

Reporting by William James; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Guy Faulconbridge

The post British PM May avoids London wipeout in local elections appeared first on World The News.

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[cleopatrarps]

London elections set to leave British PM May down, but not out

LONDON (Reuters) – Voters in London are expected to punish Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party at local government elections this week which could embolden critics of her Brexit strategy, but are not expected to trigger her downfall.

FILE PHOTO: A pigeon flies ahead of British Prime Minister Theresa May as she arrives for an event in London, April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

London and some other regions will on Thursday elect the local officials in charge of day-to-day public spending – a vote as much about issues like refuse collection and road repairs as it is about the national debate on immigration and May’s plan to take Britain out of the European Union after a 2016 referendum.

The elections are seen as a bellwether of public sentiment and polls show voters are ready to deliver a critical verdict on both May’s leadership and her party’s eight years spent pursuing a policy of public spending cuts to shore up Britain’s finances.

“A government that’s been in power for eight years with an austerity program is naturally going to suffer at elections,” said Robert Hayward, a former Conservative lawmaker who now sits in parliament’s upper house and specializes in polling analysis.

A YouGov survey published on April 26 gave the opposition Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, a 22 percentage point lead over the Conservatives in London, putting it on course for its best performance in the capital for 40 years.

Thursday’s vote will come less than a year after a snap parliamentary election splintered the previously rock-solid foundations of May’s position, stripping her party of its majority in a vote she had expected to win easily.

The result of that general election has been a weakened leadership, open dissent among Conservative lawmakers over exiting the EU and a nagging fear for some investors that her government could fall and be replaced by socialist-led Labour.

Thursday will not directly affect May’s practical ability to govern: the vote does not cause seats in parliament to change hands and the slim working majority she has thanks to a deal with a smaller party will be unaffected.

But a below-par performance will embolden critics in her party and could then complicate the already-difficult task of executing her Brexit plan without making concessions to pro-EU factions, such as agreeing to stay in the EU customs union.

“Politicians always look at the last set of election results and by definition they’re going to look at what happens on May 3 and make a judgment on that,” Hayward said.

“It will have an impact on what has to happen in the budget, ‘Do I take a more militant view in relation to the Customs Union, or Brexit, or nurses, or numbers of policemen?’”

The key results in London will be Wandsworth and Westminster, both boroughs with a strong Conservative tradition that are now within reach of Labour.

However, anything short of a total Conservative wipeout is not expected to generate renewed calls for her to quit.

Although her party is deeply divided over Brexit, neither the faction that seeks a clean break from the EU nor those who favor a closer relationship have shown an appetite for a leadership contest before Britain has left the bloc.

LOW EXPECTATIONS

Fortunately for May, expectations are low.

London has in recent decades voted more towards Labour, favoring its more liberal policies on immigration and social issues. The Conservatives currently control only eight of 32 boroughs outright. 

Labour’s surprise surge in popularity under Corbyn, a crucial factor in May 2017’s election flop, was also strongly felt in London. The party won 54.5 percent of votes in London last year – more than any other party for at least 70 years.

Factor in deep spending cuts overseen by May and her predecessor David Cameron, and the unpopularity of Brexit in a city that voted 60-40 against it – compared with a 52-48 percent margin in favor nationally, and some of the remaining Conservative strongholds are expected to be under threat.

But the grim outlook leaves room for May to outperform. Polling suggests her handling of a nerve agent attack against a former Russian double agent in England in March and the decision to take military action in Syria has improved her public image.

Conversely, Labour could gain seats and control of boroughs in London but still fail to live up to the huge expectations generated by last summer’s stronger-than-forecast general election result.

“It’s more difficult for Labour to come out of this doing really well than the Tories given how low the expectations are,” said Tony Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics Department of Government.

While May has gained from recent national and international crises, Corbyn has been criticized by opponents and some in his own party for misjudging the public mood in his responses.

The party has also recently found itself bogged down in a high-profile dispute with the Jewish community over what they say is its failure to stamp out anti-Semitism within the party.

That could affect its ability to get control of winnable boroughs like Barnet, which has the highest proportion of Jewish residents in England at 15.5 percent according to the latest census data.

Nevertheless, polls show Labour will still make gains.

Labour activists say that is continuing evidence of the potency of “the Corbyn Project”, and even if headline gains from the Conservatives do not materialize, they have their eyes on a bigger prize.

“We’ve been treating the whole thing as a bit of a general election dry run, really… refining campaigning techniques and trying to come up with new ones,” said Joseph Todd, a spokesman for the influential pro-Corbyn grassroots campaign group Momentum. “This is the next step for the Corbyn Project.”

Reporting by William James; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Mark Heinrich

The post London elections set to leave British PM May down, but not out appeared first on World The News.

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[gossipnetwork-blog]

Travers: Chadwick Boseman Electrifies as Icon in 'Marshall'

New Post has been published on http://gossip.network/travers-chadwick-boseman-electrifies-as-icon-in-marshall/

Travers: Chadwick Boseman Electrifies as Icon in 'Marshall'

Before you start yawning and think you’d rather die than sit through a dutiful, drowsy, ever-so-virtuous biopic about Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to hold a seat on the Supreme Court, get a grip. Marshall, directed with spiky humor and propulsive drive by Reginald Hudlin, is nothing like that. Drawn from a first-time script by Connecticut lawyer Michael Koskoff and his son Jacob, the film shows us a Marshall that the elder Koskoff insists was “a kick-ass, party-loving, courageous and brilliant lawyer.” And as played by a livewire Chadwick Boseman, who has already starred in screen bios of Jackie Robinson and James Brown, the screen Marshall is a sharp-tongued, elbows-out dynamo.

The Koskoffs have made the risky (and smart) move to not to base their screenplay on the 1954 case that made Marshall’s name, the Brown v. Board of Education decision in which the court declared that racially segregated public schools were unconstitutional. Instead, the film swings back to 1941, when the 32-year-old, Howard University graduate and civil-rights lawyer was looking to stir up some righteous NAACP action if he found any upcoming trial that might be corrupted by racism. And Marshall, who died in 1993, found a lulu in the case of Mrs. Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson), a wealthy, Greenwich, Connecticut socialite who accused her black chauffeur and butler, Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown), of raping her and then driving to a bridge and attempting murder by throwing her off it. The white community, led by Strubing’s husband (Jeremy Bobb), was outraged. The police questioned Spell until they got a confession. Sound familiar? That we’re still living with this kind of coercion is one of the things that spikes Hudlin’s crowd-pleasing courtroom drama with this-just-in relevance.

It’s no surprise that Marshall is eager to defend Spell. The problems arise when Judge Colin Foster (James Cromwell), in league with prosecutor Loren Willis (Dan Stevens), rules that while Marshall can sit at the defense table, he will not be permitted to speak in the courtroom. So a desperate, scrambling Marshall brings on Samuel Friedman (a sensational Josh Gad), a civil-case attorney with no experience in criminal law. That leaves a black man and his Jewish mouthpiece to go up against a brick wall of entrenched northern bigotry.

Boseman and Gad make a terrific team of sometimes comic opposites. But the commitment to justice shown by Marshall and Friedman is as genuine as the prejudice that opens them up to threats and bodily harm. While a few of the supporting actors lean into caricature, Brown – fresh from back-to-back Emmy wins in 2016 and 2017 for The People v O.J. Simpson and This Is Us  – brings nuance and powerful conviction to the role of the defendant, a man slow to reveal the truth that could save him. Marshall is a fiercely entertaining film, but not a great one. Hudlin’s sitcom work (Modern Family, New Girl) has led him to put momentum ahead of a deeper resonance. No matter. Charged by Boseman’s dramatic lightning, Marshall gives us an electrifying glimpse of a great man in the making.

Source link

[newstfionline]

London’s first Muslim mayor stays cool, calm and collected amid terrorist attacks

By William Booth, Washington Post, June 7, 2017

LONDON--It’s not an easy job, being mayor of London--and Sadiq Khan is not only mayor but also probably the most prominent Muslim politician in the West, in a city attacked not once but twice by Islamist extremists during his first year in office.

And then, of course, there’s President Trump, who in his tweets, just hours after the London Bridge attack, criticized Khan, alleging he was downplaying the terrorist threat.

But on the streets of multicultural London, Khan is getting good marks for how he has handled the aftermath of the attacks.

The son of a Pakistani immigrant who worked as a bus driver, from the Tooting borough of London, Khan has been a steady fixture on television screens and social media since the attack, channeling the city’s anger, sorrow and defiance.

Under dark clouds at a vigil at Potters Fields Park on Monday, Khan directly addressed who he is and where he comes from.

“As a proud and patriotic British Muslim, I say this--you cannot commit these disgusting acts in my name. Your perverse ideology has nothing to do with true values of Islam, and you will never succeed in dividing our city.”

The line got the loudest applause.

In interviews, tweets and remarks, Khan called the Saturday night vehicular and knife attacks at London Bridge and the nearby Borough Market by turns evil, sick, hideous and barbaric. Eight people were killed and dozens wounded. The three attackers, all Muslims who lived in east London at least recently, were shot dead by police during their assault.

At the vigil beside City Hall, Khan warned terrorists, “We will defeat you. You will not win.”

Tony Travers, an expert on local government at the London School of Economics, said of Khan, “He was popular before the attacks, and he’s probably more popular now.”

Khan prays often and does not drink alcohol.

“He is devout in a religious sense. He doesn’t wear it on his sleeve. Rather, he uses it to understand other people and to respect their religions or those who have no religion. Plus, he’s a social liberal. So he’s a perfect fit for London, with its large numbers of Polish Catholics, its Jewish population and Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Anglicans and on and on,” Travers said.

During his election campaign last year, Khan described himself to the New Statesman this way: “I’m a Londoner, I’m British, I’m English, I’m of Asian origin, of Pakistani heritage, I’m a dad, I’m a husband, I’m a long-suffering Liverpool fan, I’m Labour, I’m Fabian, and I’m Muslim.”

Travers said Khan performed in recent days as Londoners expected--repeating a steady reprise of “keep calm and carry on,” the line used in 1939 motivational posters distributed by the British government on the eve of World War II.

“He’s shown good, inclusive leadership. He is the mayor for all who happen to be Muslim, and I think he has, more than some Western leaders, shown that he is, in fact, for all the people,” said Ashfaq Siddique, secretary of the al-Madina Mosque in Barking, near where at least one of the London attackers lived.

Siddique said Khan has impressed him as someone who is reassuring, “a leader with balance and common sense.”

Kenny Norcross, a vendor in Barking, agreed. “No complaints. He’s done us proud.”

Khan’s statements after the attack mirrored those by Prime Minister Theresa May, the Conservative Party leader in the midst of a suddenly competitive election campaign.

After Trump’s tweets, May came out in support of Khan, saying she believed the London mayor was doing an “excellent job.” May said politics should be put to the side to deal with the terrorist threat.

Still, Khan is a star in the Labour Party--and though he is not a big booster of May’s main challenger, Jeremy Corbyn, Khan has played off the London Bridge attack to warn that if the Conservative Party wins the election Thursday, they would likely slash budgets for front-line police officers.

“Cuts on this scale would make it harder to foil future terrorist attacks on our city--and as the mayor of London, I’m simply not willing to stand by and let that happen,” Khan said.

In the hours after the rampage, Trump wrote in a tweet, “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’?”

After news reports stressed that Khan’s comments were an advisory to citizens not to be alarmed by the heightened presence of police on London streets, Trump followed with another tweet: “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement. MSM is working hard to sell it!”

“I think Donald Trump was wrong in the things he has said about Sadiq Khan,” May said.

Trump and Khan have a history. When Trump was running for president, Khan predicted that Trump’s populist rhetoric would fail.

Since Trump’s win, Khan has argued against inviting the American president for a state visit to Britain, calling it “inappropriate” because of Trump’s proposed travel ban for visitors from several Muslim-majority nations.

Khan told the Associated Press this week that there are “literally millions and millions of Muslims around the world who love America.”

“They love Britain, they want to come here to study, to be a tourist, to start up a business, to work, to learn. Why would you want to stop them coming?” Khan said.

Khan has mostly declined to reply to Trump. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but I really don’t care,” the mayor told the AP.

[party-hard-or-die]

London elections set to leave British PM May down, but not out

LONDON (Reuters) – Voters in London are expected to punish Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party at local government elections this week which could embolden critics of her Brexit strategy, but are not expected to trigger her downfall.

FILE PHOTO: A pigeon flies ahead of British Prime Minister Theresa May as she arrives for an event in London, April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

London and some other regions will on Thursday elect the local officials in charge of day-to-day public spending – a vote as much about issues like refuse collection and road repairs as it is about the national debate on immigration and May’s plan to take Britain out of the European Union after a 2016 referendum.

The elections are seen as a bellwether of public sentiment and polls show voters are ready to deliver a critical verdict on both May’s leadership and her party’s eight years spent pursuing a policy of public spending cuts to shore up Britain’s finances.

“A government that’s been in power for eight years with an austerity program is naturally going to suffer at elections,” said Robert Hayward, a former Conservative lawmaker who now sits in parliament’s upper house and specializes in polling analysis.

A YouGov survey published on April 26 gave the opposition Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, a 22 percentage point lead over the Conservatives in London, putting it on course for its best performance in the capital for 40 years.

Thursday’s vote will come less than a year after a snap parliamentary election splintered the previously rock-solid foundations of May’s position, stripping her party of its majority in a vote she had expected to win easily.

The result of that general election has been a weakened leadership, open dissent among Conservative lawmakers over exiting the EU and a nagging fear for some investors that her government could fall and be replaced by socialist-led Labour.

Thursday will not directly affect May’s practical ability to govern: the vote does not cause seats in parliament to change hands and the slim working majority she has thanks to a deal with a smaller party will be unaffected.

But a below-par performance will embolden critics in her party and could then complicate the already-difficult task of executing her Brexit plan without making concessions to pro-EU factions, such as agreeing to stay in the EU customs union.

“Politicians always look at the last set of election results and by definition they’re going to look at what happens on May 3 and make a judgment on that,” Hayward said.

“It will have an impact on what has to happen in the budget, ‘Do I take a more militant view in relation to the Customs Union, or Brexit, or nurses, or numbers of policemen?’”

The key results in London will be Wandsworth and Westminster, both boroughs with a strong Conservative tradition that are now within reach of Labour.

However, anything short of a total Conservative wipeout is not expected to generate renewed calls for her to quit.

Although her party is deeply divided over Brexit, neither the faction that seeks a clean break from the EU nor those who favor a closer relationship have shown an appetite for a leadership contest before Britain has left the bloc.

LOW EXPECTATIONS

Fortunately for May, expectations are low.

London has in recent decades voted more towards Labour, favoring its more liberal policies on immigration and social issues. The Conservatives currently control only eight of 32 boroughs outright. 

Labour’s surprise surge in popularity under Corbyn, a crucial factor in May 2017’s election flop, was also strongly felt in London. The party won 54.5 percent of votes in London last year – more than any other party for at least 70 years.

Factor in deep spending cuts overseen by May and her predecessor David Cameron, and the unpopularity of Brexit in a city that voted 60-40 against it – compared with a 52-48 percent margin in favor nationally, and some of the remaining Conservative strongholds are expected to be under threat.

But the grim outlook leaves room for May to outperform. Polling suggests her handling of a nerve agent attack against a former Russian double agent in England in March and the decision to take military action in Syria has improved her public image.

Conversely, Labour could gain seats and control of boroughs in London but still fail to live up to the huge expectations generated by last summer’s stronger-than-forecast general election result.

“It’s more difficult for Labour to come out of this doing really well than the Tories given how low the expectations are,” said Tony Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics Department of Government.

While May has gained from recent national and international crises, Corbyn has been criticized by opponents and some in his own party for misjudging the public mood in his responses.

The party has also recently found itself bogged down in a high-profile dispute with the Jewish community over what they say is its failure to stamp out anti-Semitism within the party.

That could affect its ability to get control of winnable boroughs like Barnet, which has the highest proportion of Jewish residents in England at 15.5 percent according to the latest census data.

Nevertheless, polls show Labour will still make gains.

Labour activists say that is continuing evidence of the potency of “the Corbyn Project”, and even if headline gains from the Conservatives do not materialize, they have their eyes on a bigger prize.

“We’ve been treating the whole thing as a bit of a general election dry run, really… refining campaigning techniques and trying to come up with new ones,” said Joseph Todd, a spokesman for the influential pro-Corbyn grassroots campaign group Momentum. “This is the next step for the Corbyn Project.”

Reporting by William James; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Mark Heinrich

The post London elections set to leave British PM May down, but not out appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2r931S8 via Breaking News

[dragnews]

London elections set to leave British PM May down, but not out

LONDON (Reuters) – Voters in London are expected to punish Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party at local government elections this week which could embolden critics of her Brexit strategy, but are not expected to trigger her downfall.

FILE PHOTO: A pigeon flies ahead of British Prime Minister Theresa May as she arrives for an event in London, April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

London and some other regions will on Thursday elect the local officials in charge of day-to-day public spending – a vote as much about issues like refuse collection and road repairs as it is about the national debate on immigration and May’s plan to take Britain out of the European Union after a 2016 referendum.

The elections are seen as a bellwether of public sentiment and polls show voters are ready to deliver a critical verdict on both May’s leadership and her party’s eight years spent pursuing a policy of public spending cuts to shore up Britain’s finances.

“A government that’s been in power for eight years with an austerity program is naturally going to suffer at elections,” said Robert Hayward, a former Conservative lawmaker who now sits in parliament’s upper house and specializes in polling analysis.

A YouGov survey published on April 26 gave the opposition Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, a 22 percentage point lead over the Conservatives in London, putting it on course for its best performance in the capital for 40 years.

Thursday’s vote will come less than a year after a snap parliamentary election splintered the previously rock-solid foundations of May’s position, stripping her party of its majority in a vote she had expected to win easily.

The result of that general election has been a weakened leadership, open dissent among Conservative lawmakers over exiting the EU and a nagging fear for some investors that her government could fall and be replaced by socialist-led Labour.

Thursday will not directly affect May’s practical ability to govern: the vote does not cause seats in parliament to change hands and the slim working majority she has thanks to a deal with a smaller party will be unaffected.

But a below-par performance will embolden critics in her party and could then complicate the already-difficult task of executing her Brexit plan without making concessions to pro-EU factions, such as agreeing to stay in the EU customs union.

“Politicians always look at the last set of election results and by definition they’re going to look at what happens on May 3 and make a judgment on that,” Hayward said.

“It will have an impact on what has to happen in the budget, ‘Do I take a more militant view in relation to the Customs Union, or Brexit, or nurses, or numbers of policemen?’”

The key results in London will be Wandsworth and Westminster, both boroughs with a strong Conservative tradition that are now within reach of Labour.

However, anything short of a total Conservative wipeout is not expected to generate renewed calls for her to quit.

Although her party is deeply divided over Brexit, neither the faction that seeks a clean break from the EU nor those who favor a closer relationship have shown an appetite for a leadership contest before Britain has left the bloc.

LOW EXPECTATIONS

Fortunately for May, expectations are low.

London has in recent decades voted more towards Labour, favoring its more liberal policies on immigration and social issues. The Conservatives currently control only eight of 32 boroughs outright. 

Labour’s surprise surge in popularity under Corbyn, a crucial factor in May 2017’s election flop, was also strongly felt in London. The party won 54.5 percent of votes in London last year – more than any other party for at least 70 years.

Factor in deep spending cuts overseen by May and her predecessor David Cameron, and the unpopularity of Brexit in a city that voted 60-40 against it – compared with a 52-48 percent margin in favor nationally, and some of the remaining Conservative strongholds are expected to be under threat.

But the grim outlook leaves room for May to outperform. Polling suggests her handling of a nerve agent attack against a former Russian double agent in England in March and the decision to take military action in Syria has improved her public image.

Conversely, Labour could gain seats and control of boroughs in London but still fail to live up to the huge expectations generated by last summer’s stronger-than-forecast general election result.

“It’s more difficult for Labour to come out of this doing really well than the Tories given how low the expectations are,” said Tony Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics Department of Government.

While May has gained from recent national and international crises, Corbyn has been criticized by opponents and some in his own party for misjudging the public mood in his responses.

The party has also recently found itself bogged down in a high-profile dispute with the Jewish community over what they say is its failure to stamp out anti-Semitism within the party.

That could affect its ability to get control of winnable boroughs like Barnet, which has the highest proportion of Jewish residents in England at 15.5 percent according to the latest census data.

Nevertheless, polls show Labour will still make gains.

Labour activists say that is continuing evidence of the potency of “the Corbyn Project”, and even if headline gains from the Conservatives do not materialize, they have their eyes on a bigger prize.

“We’ve been treating the whole thing as a bit of a general election dry run, really… refining campaigning techniques and trying to come up with new ones,” said Joseph Todd, a spokesman for the influential pro-Corbyn grassroots campaign group Momentum. “This is the next step for the Corbyn Project.”

Reporting by William James; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Mark Heinrich

The post London elections set to leave British PM May down, but not out appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2r931S8 via Today News

[gossipnetwork-blog]

Peter Travers: 'It' Will Give You Killer-Clown Nightmares

New Post has been published on http://gossip.network/peter-travers-it-will-give-you-killer-clown-nightmares/

Peter Travers: 'It' Will Give You Killer-Clown Nightmares

Expect all the bleak summer chatter about the dying box office to fade with the opening of It, a crowdpleasing frightfest bound for box-office paydirt. For weeks now, the trailers for the film version of Stephen King’s terror classic have been cranking us up to lose our shit. That evil clown Pennywise, a spectacularly scary Bill Skarsgard (Alexander’s brother), is the stuff of nightmares. The full-length movie, however, can’t match the trailers for sustained terror – it runs a punishing two hours and 15 minutes (and it’s only half of the novel). But It works enough of the time to deliver on the promise of bad dreams. 

Directed by Andy Muschietti (Mama), from a script by Chase Palmer, Gary Dauberman and Cary Fukunaga (True Detective: Season One – the good season) the film is based on King’s 1986 novel which became a highly rated ABC miniseries in 1990 and featured Tim Curry as the nasty piece of business known as Pennywise. An R-rated movie, with its spray of gore and f-bombs, usually beats the pants off a safe network series anytime. And when Pennywise bites off a kid’s arm, it’s a cruncher. You’ll scream bloody murder.

Which brings us to the plot. Children are disappearing in the town of Derry, Maine, courtesy of Pennywise, who shows up in Derry every 27 years and scares kids to death by transforming himself into their worst fears. The time is the late 1980s – King set the first part of the book in the 1950s when he was growing up – but the update suits Muschietti. Our heroes are still seven high school kids who call themselves “The Losers’ Club,” misfits who find their strength in sticking together. Jaeden Lieberher (Midnight Special) excels as Bill, the leader of the Club. It’s the disappearance of his little cutie brother – the one Pennywise sucks into a sewer in the middle of a rain storm – that starts a panic. Finn Wolfhard plays Richie, the funny one; Jack Dylan Grazer is Eddie, the germaphobic one; Wyatt Oleff is Stanley, the Jewish one; Jeremy Ray Taylor is Ben, the chubby one; and Chosen Jacobs is Mike, the African-American one. The stereotypes are completed by the spirited Sophia Lillis as Beverly, the female one. 

Yes, the boys – especially Bill and Ben – compete for her attention. And, yes, each is coping with a serious issue at home, from neglect to sexual abuse and violence. The parents are mostly absent; when they do appear, they’re pretty monstrous themselves. All seven losers also must cope with bullying at the hands of the Bowers gang, led by a brutish bully named Henry (Nicholas Hamilton). But Pennywise is all their fears rolled up into one creepy, dancing clown with yellow teeth, a high-pitched squeak of a voice and a thing for the way fear induces kids to sweat. It makes them taste better, he says. All together now: Eww!

So that’s It in a nutshell. If you want to see the losers grow up in 27 years and tackle Pennywise in his next appearance, sorry – you’ll have to wait for Part 2. It’s a bit of cheat, to be sure. But watching kids form a bond to rain down hell on a psycho clown really does play into our communal instinct to gather at the multiplex and watch things go bump in the night. This is no modern classic, like The Babadook. But It will creep you out big time. 

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