Tragedy in San Antonio is Part of a Growing Crisis

Earlier this week, 46 migrants were found dead in a semi-truck in San Antonio, Texas. Sixteen people, including 12 adults and four children, were initially found alive and taken to medical facilities, according to San Antonio Chief Charles Hood. Twenty-two of the people who died were Mexican nationals, seven were from Guatemala, and two were from Honduras. Authorities have yet to confirm the nationalities of the remaining victims.  The deceased migrants who were sprinkled with steak seasoning and abandoned in a sweltering hot semi-truck in San Antonio, Texas, may not be identified for possibly weeks, The Washington Post reports. 

It is a heart-wrenching tragedy in an ever-growing crisis. Yet Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wasted no time turning it into anti-immigrant campaign fodder, immediately pinning the deaths on President Joe Biden and “open border” lies. If there were truly “open borders,” 53 people would not have paid smugglers to leave them to die in a container.

What is being called the deadliest “human smuggling” case in modern U.S. history and the largest migrant mass casualty event is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent fatal incidents deaths at the border. Immigration advocates say deterrent policies like “Remain in Mexico” and Title 42 have pushed migrants to seek dangerous forms of migration, and risk their lives in the process.

“Our hearts go out to all of those affected by this horrific tragedy. We mourn for those who lost their lives, and send well wishes to those in recovery,” said Bruna Sollod, the senior communications and political director for United We Dream, in a statement. “This is one of the deadliest incidents of attempted migration in recent history and it was completely preventable. People will always move, and our government has a responsibility to ensure that people are able to do so safely and with dignity.”

 

Activist Supreme Court Has Unleashed the Criminalization of Pregnancy

The reversal of Roe v. Wade by the activist Supreme Court allows states to ban or dramatically restrict abortion access for millions of Americans. Already, lawmakers have proposed bills that would not only make abortion illegal, but also subject those who have abortions to criminal prosecution and even the death penalty. But the scope of the Supreme Court’s decision has implications well beyond abortion. Many advocates have expressed concerns that the ruling will pave the way for more women to be prosecuted based on actions during their pregnancy, especially if they miscarry. 

The American College of Obstet­ri­cians and Gyneco­lo­gists defines the criminalization of pregnancy as “the punishing or penalizing of individuals for actions that are interpreted as harmful to their own pregnancies, including enforcement of laws that punish actions during pregnancy that would not otherwise be criminal or punishable.”

In January 2020, 19-year-old Brittney Poolaw suffered a miscarriage and went to Comanche County Memorial Hospital in Oklahoma for medical assistance. The teen was later arrested and charged with first-degree manslaughter because she disclosed to hospital staff that she had used marijuana and methamphetamine while pregnant. Unable to afford her $20,000 bail, Poolaw remained in jail for a year and a half and, after a one-day trial, was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison.

“An overzealous prosecutor blamed Brittney for the demise of her fetus without scientific backing,” Malik said, noting that the medical examiner’s report cited multiple factors contributed to the miscarriage ― including a congenital abnormality, placental abruption and chorioamnionitis. “What the state is doing in Oklahoma and elsewhere is they’re blaming, charging and jailing these women for their miscarriages and stillbirths,” Malik said. “We know of nine other open cases in Oklahoma where women are being criminalized in relation to their pregnancies or pregnancy outcomes. Instead of empathy or medical care, the state employs this punitive, harsh and honestly inhumane response to pregnancy loss.”

And it’s not just happening in red states. In 2018, Adora Perez of Hanford, California was charged with murder after delivering a stillborn baby. The prosecutor argued that her meth use caused the stillbirth, and she spent more than four years in prison before the charge was eventually dropped. Hanford resident Chelsea Becker similarly spent 16 months in prison after her 2019 stillbirth until a judge dismissed the case.

In 2019, Alabama resident Marshae Jones was charged with manslaughter because she suffered a pregnancy loss after being shot in the abdomen five times. A grand jury declined to indict her shooter based on the state’s “stand your ground” law ― but the same panel concluded that the expectant mother had “intentionally caused the death” of her unborn child by “initiating a fight knowing she was five months pregnant.”

At nine months pregnant, a Tennessee woman was reportedly arrested in 2014 after driving without a seatbelt. The warrant for her arrest stated that she had engaged “in conduct which placed her baby in eminent danger or death or serious bodily injury.”

Data from the National Advocates for Pregnant Women also includes instances of pregnant people being arrested or charged for things like falling down, being diagnosed with HIV or giving birth at home. Even in cases of healthy births, mothers have been prosecuted.

“People often end up in prisons for behaviors that would not lead to that if they weren’t pregnant, so when you’re pregnant, you’re held to a separate legal standard,” said Grace Howard, an assistant professor of justice studies at San Jose State University who is writing a book titled “The Pregnancy Police: Conceiving Crime, Arresting Personhood.” 

“In my research, I’ve found someone who had a reckless endangerment of a minor charge tacked onto a set of charges because in their attempt to evade police, they were running while they were pregnant,” she added. “Another person was reported to the department of family services after eating poppyseed cake while they were pregnant.”   Howard noted that people have been threatened with removal of their children for refusing to comply with “arguably unnecessary medical interventions” during their pregnancies as well.  “Adults with a sound mind are allowed to reject medical treatment ― I guess unless you’re pregnant,” she said. “And if you’re not pregnant and test positive for illegal drugs at the hospital, we don’t incarcerate you for that. But if you’re pregnant, we do.”

 

Political Activists on Supreme Court Further Religious Extremism

The six extremist justices on the Supreme Court furthered their assault on the Constitution, with another hatchet job on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Trump-packed majority ruled that it was perfectly fine for a public school employee to make a display of his religious beliefs while on the job, and further, to exhort the students in his charge to participate in his public prayers. In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Court sided 6-3 with a football coach who demanded the right to pray with his players after games at the 50-yard-line. There’s another wrecking ball to the wall separating church and state, after last week’s decision that public money should go to private religious schools in Carson v. Makin.

The majority, as it did in the anti-gun regulation and forced birth decisions, invoked a “reference to historical practices and understandings,” in determining that a very Christian display of religious belief on public school grounds during the coach’s working hours was absolutely fine. For one thing, they said, he “prayed during a period when school employees were free to speak with a friend, call for a reservation at a restaurant, check email, or attend to other personal matters. He offered his prayers quietly while his students were otherwise occupied.”

In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor fact-checks the majority's claim that Coach Kennedy's prayers were private and quiet.  “The record reveals that Kennedy had a longstanding practice of conducting demonstrative prayers on the 50-yard line of the football field. Kennedy consistently invited others to join his prayers and for years led student-athletes in prayer at the same time and location. The Court ignores this history,” she writes after detailing Kennedy’s efforts to turn himself into a cause célèbre and create a media circus for the school and for himself. 

"Today, the Court once again weakens the backstop. It elevates one individual’s interest in personal religious exercise, in the exact time and place of that individual’s choosing, over society’s interest in protecting the separation between church and state, eroding the protections for religious liberty for all. Today’s decision is particularly misguided because it elevates the religious rights of a school official, who voluntarily accepted public employment and the limits that public employment entails, over those of his students, who are required to attend school and who this Court has long recognized are particularly vulnerable and deserving of protection. In doing so, the Court sets us further down a perilous path in forcing States to entangle themselves with religion, with all of our rights hanging in the balance. As much as the Court protests otherwise, today’s decision is no victory for religious liberty."

It is not a victory for religious liberty—it's a victory for white evangelicals and for the coach, Joe Kennedy, who purposefully set out to become a public spectacle, get on Fox News (which he did, repeatedly), and get in with the deep-pocketed far right in the furtherance of extremist white evangelical Christian religion and the further erosion of public secular education. 

 

The Cold Hard Truth

Your Rights Are Next

Privileged Catholic Cabal Takes Away the Constituional Rights of Women

Let me start by quoting Frederick Douglass from his October 22, 1883 speech on the occasion of the United States Supreme Court’s 7-1 infamous ruling that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court is the autocratic point in our National Government. No monarch in Europe has a power more absolute over the laws, lives, and liberties of his people, than that Court has over our laws, lives, and liberties . . . We cannot, however, overlook the fact that though not so intended, this decision has inflicted a heavy calamity upon seven millions of the people of this country, and left them naked and defenceless against the action of a malignant, vulgar, and pitiless prejudice. It presents the United States before the world as a Nation utterly destitute of power to protect the rights of its own citizens upon its own soil. It can claim service and allegiance, loyalty and life, of them, but it cannot protect them against the most palpable violation of the rights of human nature, rights to secure which, governments are established . . . In the name of common sense, I ask, what right have we to call ourselves a Nation, in view of this decision, and this utter destitution of power?

In a cruel and insular act that will almost certainly stain his dubious legacy on the court, Samuel Alito led the court's Catholic cabal in authoring the shameful ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that undoes 50 years of established law protecting the rights of women in our country.  (six of the justices were either raised Catholic or educated in Catholic schools).  It's widely recognized that these folks have a misguided philosophy on the role of the constitution in today's society.  But it's also fair to say that these privileged judges lack the empathy and worldview to be making such weighty and impactful decisions affecting everyday peoples' lives.

Today, Harvard University Law professor Laurence Tribe issued a statement saying that the conservative Supreme Court justices misleadingly quoted him to justify their decision to throw out Roe v. Wade.  “Don’t be fooled,” warned Tribe, an expert on the Constitution. “The writings from which the Court cherry-picked my quotes were totally supportive of the result in Roe,” he added.

Tribe also called out Alito for not bothering to fix inaccuracies in his “shoddy” ruling that had been pointed out by historians in his draft of the opinion released last month.  Alito was criticized at the time for justifying his decision by repeatedly quoting someone he characterized as a “great” and “eminent” legal authority: Sir Matthew Hale.  But Hale was hardly that-- the English judge, who lived from 1609 to 1676, sentenced “witches” to death, and wrote an infamous treatise warning authorities to distrust women who reported being raped. He also declared that in marriage, a woman placed her body under her husband’s “permanent dominion,” rendering any marital rape accusation illegitimate.  In the 21st century, this is the kind of jerk that Alito looks up to in his vision of a "Handmaid's Tale" America.

Yesterday's decision, a 6-3 ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, also does away with the optimistic mythology that Chief Justice John Roberts ever truly cared about the Supreme Court’s “legacy.” Roberts, like the majority of the Court, earned his lifetime appointment to make decisions affecting the majority of Americans’ lives by being nominated by a Republican President who did not receive the popular vote of the country. These minority rule-appointed justices also included Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett.  January 6 conspirator Ginni Thomas’ husband, Justice Clarence Thomas, added in his “concurring opinion” on the ruling that the Court should also reconsider the cases that established federal protections for contraception and same-sex relationships and marriage.

It isn’t over. It’s just beginning. The ruling triggers almost a dozen state anti-choice laws, with another dozen set to pass in the coming weeks and months. And they're coming for LGBTQ and bi-racial couples next.   People (I'm talking to women, especially) need to stop voting for assholes like Trump and stick with candidates who empower women (and minorities) and will work to re-establish women's constitutional right to control their bodies.  If Alito and his Catholic cronies have decided that the Supreme Court is no longer bound by precedent ("stare decisis") then we need to work to get 21st-century, right-minded judges back on the high court and reverse this tragic mistake.

Beyonce - Break My Soul

Warren Buffett on the Crypto Crash

"Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked."

Swimming Governing Body Bans Competitors from Women's Elite Events if They Went Through Male Puberty

FINA, swimming's world governing body, has voted to stop transgender athletes from competing in women's elite races if they have gone through any part of the process of male puberty.  The new policy requires transgender competitors to have completed their transition by the age of 12 in order to be able to compete in women's competitions.  Fina will also aim to establish an 'open' category at competitions for swimmers whose gender identity is different than their birth sex.

FINA's decision follows a move by the UCI cycling's govering body to double the period of time before a rider transitioning from male to female can compete in women's races.  Swimming's new policy, which was passed with 71% of the vote from 152 Fina members, was described as "only a first step towards full inclusion" for transgender athletes.  The decision was made during an extraordinary general congress at the ongoing World Championships in Budapest.

The conversation around the inclusion of transgender women in women's sport has divided opinion both inside and outside the sporting sphere.  Many argue transgender women should not compete in women's sport because of any advantages they may retain - but others argue sport should be more inclusive.  The heart of the debate on whether transgender women athletes should compete in women's sport involves the complex balance of inclusion, sporting fairness and safety - essentially, whether trans women can compete in female categories without giving them an unfair advantage or presenting a threat of injury to competitors.  Trans women have to adhere to a number of rules to compete in specific sports, including in many cases lowering their testosterone levels to a certain amount, for a set period of time, before competing.  There are concerns, however, as highlighted in Fina's decision, that athletes retain an advantage from going through male puberty that is not addressed by lowering testosterone.

"Fina's approach in drafting [the new] policy was comprehensive, science-based and inclusive, and, importantly, Fina's approach emphasized competitive fairness," said Brent Nowicki, the governing body's executive director.  Fina president Husain Al-Musallam said the organization was trying to "protect the rights of our athletes to compete" but also "protect competitive fairness".  He added, "Fina will always welcome every athlete. The creation of an open category will mean that everybody has the opportunity to compete at an elite level. This has not been done before, so Fina will need to lead the way. I want all athletes to feel included in being able to develop ideas during this process."

Former Great Britain swimmer Sharron Davies said, "Sport by definition is exclusionary - we don't have 15-year-old boys racing in the under-12s, we don't have heavyweight boxers in with the bantamweights, the whole reason we have lots of different classes in the Paralympics is so that we can create fair opportunities for everybody.  So that is the whole point of having classifications in sports and the only people who were going to be losing out were females - they were losing their right to fair sport."

However, 'Athlete Ally' - an LGBT advocacy group which organized a letter of support for transgender American swimmer Lia Thomas in February, called the new policy "discriminatory, harmful, unscientific" and not in line with the 2021 IOC principles.  "If we truly want to protect women's sports, we must include all women," it said in a tweet.

The issue in swimming has been catapulted into the spotlight by the experiences of Lia Thomas.  In March, Thomas became the first known transgender swimmer to win the highest U.S. national college title with victory in the women's 500-yard freestyle.  Thomas swam for the Pennsylvanian men's team for three seasons before starting hormone replacement therapy in spring 2019.  She has since broken records for her university swimming team.  Some of Thomas' team-mates and their parents wrote anonymous letters supporting her right to transition, but added it was unfair for her to compete as a woman.

 

Mystery Deaths of Elephants in Botswana Raises Concerns

Just north of Botswana’s world-famous Okavango Delta, it was lush and green as the summer rains tapered off and the air began to cool, but something wasn’t right. Savanna elephants, weighing as much as seven tons each, stumbled and staggered and walked in circles. Their heavy legs weakened as they struggled to take another step. One by one, they collapsed, many falling chest-first.

The first cluster of 44 elephants died in March 2020. By mid-June, conservationists had counted more than 350 carcasses scattered across the remote, roughly 3,000-square-mile region. By the following January, the number of mysterious deaths surpassed 450.

“There was a very foul smell,” says Davango Martin, the former manager of Kadizora Camp, a tourist lodge in the area. He was driving through the grounds in early May when he first noticed the stench and came across an elephant carcass splayed in a thicket of bush. “It was all rotten and nothing had actually eaten it—only maggots.”

Any loss of African elephants is alarming. Their numbers have plunged from an estimated million in 1979 to approximately 415,000, driven down by decades of ivory poaching, shrinking habitat, and confrontations with humans. Botswana, with some 130,000 elephants, is considered one of their last strongholds, so the mysterious deaths of hundreds made international news. 

In September 2020, under intense international pressure from concerned conservationists, Botswana authorities announced that they’d identified the culprit: cyanobacteria neurotoxins. Poisons released by blue-green algae that bloom in stagnant, nutrient-rich water, cyanobacteria neurotoxins attack the nervous system if ingested. 

However, a 14-month review of documents and interviews with investigators by National Geographic has found that much of the evidence leading to that diagnosis was unreliable—and that the Botswana government missed crucial opportunities to complete a timely and thorough investigation. 

Several outside experts, as well officials at labs that conducted analyses for the government, say tests for various possible causes of death—including cyanobacteria—were inconclusive and the evidence was degraded and mishandled, raising concerns that whatever killed the elephants could emerge as a threat again.

Mystery has shrouded the deaths from the very start . . .  

GOP Megadonor Larry Ellison Destroying the Hawaiian Way of Life on Lanai

Ten years ago, Larry Ellison, the eccentric co-founder of Oracle Corp. and the 11th-richest person in the world, bought Lanai—the Hawaiian island, that is. The $300 million purchase came with 98% of Lanai’s 90,000 acres, plus the two Four Seasons resorts that provide most of its jobs, a significant chunk of its homes, and practically all its commercial properties. Overnight, Ellison became almost everyone’s boss, landlord, or both.

One of the first things Ellison did was build Nobu, an ultra-high-end restaurant chain.  Local woodworker Chris Andrus was invited to the opening because his company, Lanai Woodworkers, had helped build the place. He met Ellison on his way to the bathroom and introduced himself by way of his handiwork, pointing to the hostess stand and wooden walls. Ellison shook his hand and told him, “We’re gonna do great work together.” That was the last time they spoke. Two weeks later, Andrus was out of a job.

The space the woodworkers were renting came with Ellison’s purchase of the island, and the billionaire’s agents told Peter Franklin, Andrus’s friend and the owner of Lanai Woodworkers, he would have to either clear out or sell the company to Ellison. Franklin decided to sell so the shop would at least survive in some form, and the deal came with a job for him. But there wasn’t one for Andrus, so at age 64, Andrus became Lanai’s paperboy instead. Shortly after he took over the paper route, Ellison’s hotels canceled the 150 newspapers they’d been having delivered each morning, cutting Andrus’s business in half. The hotels were getting iPads for their guests and didn’t need hard copies anymore. With his business continuing to suffer, he fell behind on his utility bills, and Ellison’s holding company, Pulama Lanai, terminated his rental agreement. Eventually, he turned to Catholic Charities to help him stay in his home.

And so it goes on Lanai, where Ellison is a modern American king—incomprehensibly wealthy and powerful. Many residents both rent from him and work for him, and a provision in his residential leases states that if you’re terminated from a job with any of his companies, you can be kicked out of your home, too. Under Ellison, month-to-month leases are now standard for Lanai’s small businesses, as opposed to the five-year terms some were used to before.

Gabe Johnson, who represents Lanai on the regional Maui County Council, points out that the government controls little public infrastructure on Lanai. He’s been left mostly to haggle with Ellison's representatives over sidewalks and sewage lines.

On one hand, Ellison’s wealth means he can invest more in the community than the previous owner did.  He’s renovated the pool and the movie theater, and he kept much of the island on payroll for months during the pandemic. On the other hand, his control has steadily tightened. Since the purchase, he’s bought up dozens more homes and businesses, including the island’s main grocery store and its lone gas station, community newspaper, and the only non-Four Seasons hotel. Ellison keeps his plans a complete secret.  Most locals have only heard that he intends to make the island “sustainable,” with little explanation of what that might mean.

Because there are no real alternatives to Ellison’s control, his decisions carry the force of law, with a minimum of discussion, very little due process or community input. Lanai’s small businesses are sputtering, and even by U.S. standards, the island’s housing shortage is extreme. There’s only one home for sale as of early June: a beachfront estate for $7.9 million. The median household income is $59,000, but it appears to be climbing as richer residents move in. Locals whose families have lived on the island for generations, often sharing homes with parents and grandparents, are leaving as Ellison’s construction workers and Four Seasons employees fill practically every available bed.

Our Newest Holiday

Russia Pulling Off a Massive Art Heist in Ukraine

The looting of art at times of war dates back millennia, with the Greeks and Romans among the worst perpetrators. Museums and private collections around the world are filled with looted art that changed hands during conflicts. During World War II, a secret Allied army known as the “Monuments Men” worked to protect European treasures from being pilfered by invading armies—with mixed success. Hitler’s stolen treasures are still being discovered across Germany. Millions of stolen pieces may never be found.

So far there are no specially trained armies in Ukraine to protect treasures from the precision Russian art thieves working under the cover of war to empty museums and destroy important pieces of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. There are just brave museum curators in regions where the Russians have seized control doing everything they can to hide and fortify their art and antiquities, using supplies smuggled in from the West to help them crate up paintings and sandbag statues.

Since Russia began its invasion in February, 250 cultural institutions have been targeted by Russian munitions. Thousands of important museums pieces have been destroyed during the bombing of Mariupol and elsewhere. In Melitopol, Scythian gold artifacts worth millions that date back to the fourth century B.C. were stolen from crates the museum had hidden them in.

Brian Daniels, an anthropologist in Virginia, is heading a project that monitors the destruction of cultural heritage in Ukraine. “There is now very strong evidence this is a [purposeful] Russian move, with specific paintings and ornaments targeted and taken out to Russia,” he said.. His team saw surveillance video supplied by Ukraine in which a Russian art expert in a white lab coat removed the gold with the precision of a surgeon, careful not to destroy them. “There is a possibility it is all part of undermining the identity of Ukraine as a separate country by implying legitimate Russian ownership of all their exhibits.”

Art historians are extremely concerned that Russia is stealing the country’s soul by destroying these items. “We have museum buildings destroyed, with all collections turned into ashes—it's quite a barbaric situation,” curator and art historian Konstantin Akinsha, who is an expert in Ukrainian art, told The Roundtable program on Australia’s ABC. “[The] other side of the problem is that in little towns which are occupied by Russians, we have the first cases of random looting of museums.”

In many cases across Ukraine, museum directors have refused to evacuate without their art so they are huddling in fortified museums. “Directors cannot leave the building because [they will need to] return at night in case something happens,” Akinsha, who is in touch with many of them, said. “So they became kind of cellar hermits… all around the country.”

Among the destroyed art are 25 pieces by Ukrainian artist Maria Prymachenko which were in the Ivankiv museum near Kyiv. Ukrainian officials say the art was taken by Russian troops before they destroyed the museum in a missile attack.

 The ALIPH Foundation, which has worked tirelessly in conflict zones including Syria and Afghanistan—where untold treasures were destroyed in recent decades—said they are sending supplies like crates, fireproof blankets and packing materials, to Ukrainian museums to help them fortify works in case bombing continues.

 

BTS - Proof

Indian Couple Mauled By Rabid Bear

A sloth bear mauled a couple to death in a forest in central India's Madhya Pradesh state and then spent hours playing with their remains. 

The attack occurred when a man and his wife were returning home from a temple visit early in the morning. The sloth bear first attacked the woman as the couple walked through the Panna National Park forest, killing her. Her husband was killed when he tried to rescue his wife.

The Times of India quoted eyewitnesses from the crowd of villagers who gathered at the spot, saying some tried to scare the bear away by firing gunshots in the air, but it wouldn't budge. The paper said the witnesses saw the bear eating the victims for several hours until forestry workers arrived.

While sloth bear encounters with people are relatively common, fatal attacks are not.  A medical examination confirmed earlier reports that it was rabid, but it was not found to have ingested human remains.

Pakistani Government: Stop Drinking Tea!

People in Pakistan have been asked to reduce the amount of tea they drink to keep the country's economy afloat.  Sipping fewer cups a day would cut Pakistan's high import bills, senior minister Ahsan Iqbal said.

The country's low foreign currency reserves - currently enough for fewer than two months of all imports - have left it in urgent need of funds.  Pakistan is the world's largest importer of tea, buying in more than $600m (£501m) worth last year.  "I appeal to the nation to cut down the consumption of tea by one to two cups because we import tea on loan," Mr Iqbal said, according to Pakistani media.

The plea came as Pakistan's foreign currency reserves continue to fall rapidly - putting pressure on the government to cut high import costs and keep funds in the country.  The request to reduce tea drinking has gone viral on social media, with many doubting the country's serious financial problems can be addressed by cutting out the caffeinated beverage.

Last month officials in Karachi restricted the import of dozens of non-essential luxury items as part of their bid to protect funds.  The economic crisis is a major test for the government of Shehbaz Sharif, who replaced Imran Khan as Pakistan's prime minister in a parliamentary vote in April. Shortly after being sworn in, Sharif accused Imran Khan's outgoing government of mismanaging the economy and said putting it back on track would be a huge challenge. 

An Unsettling Look at New Music

I just stumbled on a piece from Ted Gioia at the Atlantic, and the news is unsettling for music fans like me.  Old songs now represent 70 percent of the U.S. music market, according to the latest numbers from MRC Data, a music-analytics firm. And the news gets worse: The new-music market is actually shrinking. All the growth in the market is coming from old songs.

The 200 most popular new tracks now regularly account for less than 5 percent of total streams. That rate was twice as high just three years ago. The mix of songs actually purchased by consumers is even more tilted toward older music. The current list of most-downloaded tracks on iTunes is filled with the names of bands from the previous century, such as Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Police.

Never before in history have new tracks attained hit status while generating so little cultural impact. In fact, the audience seems to be embracing the hits of decades past instead. Success was always short-lived in the music business, but now even new songs that become bona fide hits can pass unnoticed by much of the population.

Some would like to believe that this trend is just a short-term blip, perhaps caused by the pandemic.  But a  series of unfortunate events are conspiring to marginalize new music.

The leading area of investment in the music business is old songs. Investment firms are getting into bidding wars to buy publishing catalogs from aging rock and pop stars-- the song catalogs in most demand are by musicians who are in their 70s or 80s (Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen) or already dead (David Bowie, James Brown).   Even major record labels are participating in the rush to old music: Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, and others are buying up publishing catalogs and investing huge sums in old tunes. In a previous time, that money would have been used to launch new artists.

The best-selling physical format in music is the vinyl LP, which is more than 70 years old. I’ve seen no signs that the record labels are investing in a newer, better alternative—because, here too, old is viewed as superior to new.  In fact, record labels—once a source of innovation in consumer products—don’t spend any money on research and development to revitalize their business, although every other industry looks to innovation for growth and consumer excitement.  Record stores are caught up in the same time warp. In an earlier era, they aggressively marketed new music, but now they make more money from vinyl reissues and used LPs.

Radio stations are contributing to the stagnation, putting fewer new songs into their rotation, or—judging by the offerings on my satellite-radio lineup—completely ignoring new music in favor of old hits.

When a new song overcomes these obstacles and actually becomes a hit, the risk of copyright lawsuits is greater than ever before. The risks have increased enormously since the “Blurred Lines” jury decision of 2015, and the result is that additional cash gets transferred from today’s musicians to old (or deceased) artists.  Adding to the nightmare, dead musicians are now coming back to life in virtual form—via holograms and “deepfake” music—making it all the harder for young, living artists to compete in the marketplace.

As record labels lose interest in new music, emerging performers desperately search for other ways to get exposure. They hope to place their self-produced tracks on a curated streaming playlist, or license their songs for use in advertising or the closing credits of a TV show. Those options might generate some royalty income, but they do little to build name recognition. Folks might hear a cool song on a  commercial or TV show, but the listener likely won't even know the name of the artist.

Music-industry bigwigs have plenty of excuses for their inability to discover and adequately promote great new artists. The fear of copyright lawsuits has made many in the industry deathly afraid of listening to unsolicited demo recordings. Anyone mailing a demo to a label or producer will likely see it return unopened.

Radio stations will play only songs that fit the dominant formulas, which haven’t changed much in decades. The algorithms curating so much of our new music are even worse. Music algorithms are designed to be feedback loops, ensuring that the promoted new songs are virtually identical to your favorite old songs. Anything that genuinely breaks the mold is excluded from consideration almost as a rule. 

Nevertheless, if music fans don’t find something new from a major record label or algorithm-driven playlist, they will find it somewhere else. Songs can go viral nowadays without the entertainment industry even noticing until it has already happened. That will be how this story ends: not with the marginalization of new music, but with something radical emerging from an unexpected place.

It's Official: DeSantis Administration Botched Its COVID Data

Florida COVID-19 data reported by the DeSantis administration was so inaccurate, incomplete and delayed during the first months of the pandemic that government officials and the public may not have had necessary information to determine the effectiveness of the state’s COVID-19 precautions and the best plan to fight the virus, according to an official audit report released by the state Auditor General. 

Covering the state’s pandemic response from March to October 2020, the yearlong analysis by the Florida Auditor General found missing case and death data, unreported ethnic and racial details, and incomplete contact tracing as the coronavirus spread across the state. In addition, the report concluded that state health officials did not perform routine checks on the data to ensure accuracy and did not follow up on discrepancies.

The results of the audit validated widespread criticism that the DeSantis administration continually misrepresented COVID-19 data during the pandemic-- many believing that it did so to align COVID-19 data with DeSantis' goal to prematurely ease lockdown measures and reopen the state.

A spokesman for the state of Florida tried to call into question the conclusions of the report, but the Department of Health has already admitted to wrongdoing, saying in an email to the Auditor General that it concurs with the report’s recommendations and says that it will improve the accuracy of future data collection. The department said it will investigate discrepancies and review data policies by the end of the year.

State-Sponsored Transphobia Taking Hold

Ohio House Republicans have passed a bill that bans all transgender students from playing high school and college sports, and requires genital exams in any disputes.  Representatives voted on House Bill 151 on the first day of Pride Month. The measure next goes to the Senate after lawmakers return from summer recess. If the bill becomes law, it would take precedence over all current policies by high school and college sports associations.

The existing association policies, which aim to protect medical privacy and stress inclusion, take into account testosterone levels or the length of time an athlete has been transitioning, Cleveland.com reported. The new bill calls for an outright ban on transgender athletes.  Under the measure, if a player’s sex is disputed, he or she will have to present a physician’s statement about “internal and external reproductive anatomy” and testosterone levels. Students would also have to show an analysis of genetic makeup.

During a hearing on the bill, Rep. Beth Liston, a Columbus-area Democrat and physician, called the amendment state-sanctioned bullying.  “This is truly bizarre medically and nonsensical, but looking at it practically, this bill means that if anyone decides to question a child’s true gender, that child must undergo a sensitive exam,” Liston said. “I struggle to understand why we keep discussing bills focusing on children’s genitals,” Liston added.

 

 

This Week in Ukraine - 6/11/22

The week started with a number of explosions that shook parts of Kyiv in the first assault on Ukraine's capital for weeks.  Russia claims it targeted a site storing tanks supplied by Europe, but Ukraine says rockets hit a train repair plant where no tanks were held.  Columns of black smoke could be seen above the city after the attack and at least one person was hurt.  Kyiv has been largely spared in recent months as Russian forces concentrate attacks on Donbas in eastern Ukraine.  The capital has felt like it is returning to some sort of normality; bars and cafes are open and people are back on the streets.  But columns of black smoke rising over Kyiv in the early morning hours shattered that illusion. 

And now Ukraine is starting to get long-range missile systems.  The UK is sending its first long-range missiles to Ukraine despite a threat from Russia to the West.  Ben Wallace said the M270 multiple-launch rocket system will help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.  The government has not confirmed how many weapons will be sent, but the BBC reports that it will be three initially.  The decision comes after the U.S./ announced last week it was also supplying a rocket system.  The decision by Biden to send the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) has already angered Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to expand the list of targets Russia will attack in Ukraine in response.

The war has become a WWI-style artillery slugfest, with Russia enjoying a massive advantage in guns and ammo. With its Soviet-caliber ammunition running out, Ukraine and its partners have worked feverishly to transition to NATO standard guns.  With 18 new Polish Krabs, Ukraine now has over 150 155mm guns, and 60 more Krabs will be arriving over the coming months, hot off the factory line. Meanwhile, new American M777s were photographed being loaded on transport planes headed to Ukraine, so the total number will soon be over 200.  Ukraine has 10% more 155 mm artillery shells than its entire stockpile the day Russia invaded. And given the increased accuracy of Western systems, they don’t need to use as much to accomplish any given mission. Their burn rate is slower. Donor countries include Australia, Canada, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom.

Another Russia general is now worm food, as Russian state media have confirmed the death of one of Moscow's top generals during heavy fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.  Maj Gen Roman Kutuzov was killed leading an assault on a Ukrainian settlement in the region.  Alexander Sladkov said Gen Kutuzov had been commanding troops from the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.  "The general had led soldiers into attack, as if there are not enough colonels," Mr Sladkov wrote on the Telegram social media app. "On the other hand, Roman was the same commander as everyone else, albeit a higher rank."  Ukraine's military also confirmed the killing of Gen Kutuzov, without offering further details about the circumstances. 

Currently, Ukrainian forces have currently launched a major assault on Lyptsi, north of Kharkiv. This location has been the continued source of pain and destruction for the city as Russia has used it to randomly fling artillery into schools, stores, and homes for weeks.

South of Izyum. Dovhenke was one of those places where Ukrainian forces planted themselves and fought off wave after wave of Russian advances. It’s such a small, unfortified, unprepared place that Russia was often very open about listing it as an immediate target. They even announced it had been captured, multiple times, only to discover that whatever force they sent into the village had been destroyed or driven out. How many Russian soldiers died trying to take Dovhenke is unknown, as is how many Ukrainians gave their lives in its defense.  Yesterday, Russia finally captured Dovhenke.

 

Demi Lovato - Skin of My Teeth

Non-Flushable Turd

Ron DeSantis Seems to Enjoy Bullying Handicapped and Trans Kids

Florida's rotund governor marked the beginning of summer by bullying handicapped and trans kids-- what a guy.  

DeSantis directed the Florida Health Department to ask the board that regulates physicians in the state to ban gender-affirming health care for trans people under the age of 18. The DeSantis administration is also seeking to ban Medicaid coverage for trans folks of any age—including adults—who need gender-affirming care like puberty blockers, surgeries, and hormonal therapy.  Trans folks of all ages (and all incomes) deserve safe, age-appropriate, gender-affirming health care from trusted medical professionals when they are comfortable receiving it. If the Medicaid change goes into effect, it would negatively impact the lives of at least 9,000 trans folks in the state, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

None of this is surprising coming from the DeSantis administration—DeSantis has already signed into law the infamous Don’t Say Gay bill, as well as anti-trans sports legislation. (DeSantis actually signed that discriminatory sports legislation into law on the first day of Pride Month 2021, so it appears he gets a special kick out of it.)

The next day came reports that Florida threatened the Special Olympics with $27.5 million worth of fines due to a COVID-19 vaccine requirement it had in place for participants of its games scheduled last weekend. As a result, the Special Olympics lifted its vaccine mandate.  ABC News reporter Jay O’Brien was the first to break the news of the state’s intention to fine the organization via Twitter Friday.

It follows legislation DeSantis signed in November that banned vaccine mandates for the state's governmental, educational, and private entities. Instead of moving its games elsewhere, most likely due to lack of time, the organization succumbed to Florida’s threats and announced that it would be lifting its vaccine requirement.  “We don’t want to fight. We want to play,” the Special Olympics said on Twitter.

DeSantis went public with his bullying at a Friday news conference, claiming it would benefit the athletes participating. He failed to note that many early COVID-19 deaths were connected to those with Down syndrome. Studies last year found that adults with Down syndrome are three times more likely to die of coronavirus.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the move to fine the Special Olympics comes the same week DeSantis vetoed $35 million in funding for a spring training facility for the Tampa Bay Rays. Many are connecting the rejection to the organization recently speaking out against gun violence following an increase in mass shootings across the country, including tragic incidents in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas

 

 

Iowa Teacher Forced to Resign Over Sexual Orientation

Matthew Gerhold, an openly gay music teacher based in Iowa, told the Iowa Capitol Dispatch he was forced to resign from his job at a private Christian school after he was blackmailed over his sexual orientation. 

Gerhold told the school he was gay when he was hired the previous summer and the school simply suggested he stay closeted and “not pursue a relationship” while employed. He also says he was instructed not to come out to students. 

In January of this year, Gerhold contacted his superiors to report that his phone had been hacked and someone was attempting to blackmail him by threatening to share information about his sexuality with his friends, family and employer.  Shortly after Gerhold reported the blackmail attempt, photos from his phone were posted to the school’s Facebook page.  Gerhold was then summoned to the administration offices and placed on administrative leave.  Gerhold tried to report the blackmail to the police, but was told they didn’t have enough resources to investigate.

The same day his information was leaked against his will, the school pastor (who also serves as a member of the school board) suggested he resign instead of being fired at the next meeting. Gerhold took the pastor’s advice and resigned the same day—only to later have the school fight him on unemployment benefits.  The state eventually ruled that Gerhold was eligible for benefits because he had committed no workplace misconduct that would disqualify him from eligibility.

In speaking to the Dispatch, Gerhold said the school and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as a whole see “homosexuals as a problem that must be swept under the rug quietly and discreetly. They simply don’t see sexual orientation as involuntary attraction to one sex or another, they see sexuality as choices, whether they admit that or not. I wasn’t the first gay man the church has done this to, and I won’t be the last because the church doesn’t want to listen to understand my story or background. They are only listening and waiting to respond to it with pick-and-choose theology.”

Gerhold said he loves teaching and introducing to others the joy of music.  “My sexual identity has absolutely nothing to do with my career in music and my love for music,” he said. “If the church as a whole doesn’t want to use me for whatever they are striving to achieve, then I shall go somewhere else that would love to have me to live out my vocation for others.”

 

Cannes Film Festival a Continued Source of Racism

Despite the progress that has been made in the U.S. in representation of minorities in the film industry, it seems that it's still the same old elitist "old boys club" at the Cannes film festival (the supposed center of world cinema, but that's for another day).

African-American film critic Valerie Complex from Deadline Hollywood recently wrote about the mistreament she experienced while reporting from the recent edition of the (in)famous French film festival:

"On May 16, the first day I got there, I made my way to the American Pavilion when I was again “randomly” stopped by security. Their reasoning: I had a large bag with me. But everyone else had large bags as well. You would think Interpol was searching my bag as security dumped its entire contents onto the table so they could examine the items and check every crevice of my bag. Even passersby were shocked by what they saw.

The scrutiny of my credentials was constant, especially at screenings in the Palais. Guards and personnel would put my ID up to my face to ensure it was me, even before scanning it. I didn’t see anyone around me treated this way. Once when I attended a premiere screening at the Debussy theater, I headed toward the reserved seated section as those seats were what was printed on my ticket. Every seat usher requested to see my seat number the closer I walked to the front of the orchestra.

I saw plenty of white moviegoers who came in with me, walking toward the same area without anyone checking their tickets. When I finally got to my seat, I looked around me and didn’t see any folks of color in or around the rows directly near me. Maybe this is why? At another premiere screening, I sat down in a reserved row, and three different seat ushers came over to my seat to check my ticket to make sure I was in the proper place. They weren’t checking anyone else’s tickets, just mine.

These types of things happened to me daily. I tried not to let it get to me, but it was taking place so often that I became depressed. When you review a film, you want your focus to be on what is on the screen and nothing else. It was hard to dismiss the emotions of being singled out like this.

I understand the dynamics. Marginalized groups, specifically Black people, are excluded from these “elite” environments. Those in power refuse to accept that the media landscape is changing. The higher one climbs, the more egregious the microaggressions become. It is attributable to gatekeeping, where there remains a misunderstanding of what being established looks like. It’s hard for some to believe that I could be sitting in the reserved section of a premiere at the Grand Auditorium Louis Lumière, which is usually occupied by people who don’t look like me. That in itself becomes an unflattering reflection of the festival."

Chinese Students Keep Memory of Tiananman Massacre Alive

Students at a Hong Kong university hid tiny figurines of a "democracy goddess" around campus in the lead-up to yesterday's anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.  The anonymous acts defy the authorities' increasing crackdown on public recognition of the highly sensitive incident.

The figurines created by students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) are a copy of the "Goddess of Democracy" statue which was pulled down by university officials last December.  The statue had been a fixture on the campus for 11 years, and was modeled after the original democracy symbol paraded by students at Tiananmen Square in 1989 before they were killed by soldiers.  It was removed last year as other universities tore down Tiananmen Square tributes including the "Pillar of Shame" memorial at Hong Kong University.

"This is a kind of a rebellion. The university 'stole' the statue from its students so we've decided to make our own versions on it and put it back," one of the protest organizers told Hong Kong Free Press, a local outlet.  Protesters printed tiny 3D replicas of the statue, and concealed them on campus for other students to find. Attached are notes urging the finder to "bring her home, and do not forget the meaning behind it!  Manneoi was born to remember the Chinese martyrs so we picked the days before June 4,"  using the Cantonese name for the "Goddess of Democracy".

They said they were told by other students to "be careful" but they felt "OK" regarding their treasure hunt: "It's not a public assembly or protest.  It is sad for us to consider the risks as assembly should be our basic human right."

The organizer said they wanted people who found the statues to "guard our memories" and "don't be so depressed because there are still people who haven't given up".  But in the end, organizers ended the activity as they were "afraid the university would interrupt our event".  They said they had received word that university staff were monitoring students taking part in the hunt.

Until recently, Hong Kong was one of the few Chinese territories which commemorated the June 4 1989 event.  Public vigils were held each year. However Beijing has now effectively banned the city's annual gathering and shut down Hong Kong's Tiananmen museum.

Police in Hong Kong closed off large parts of Victoria Park, which in the past was the site of large candlelit vigils marking the anniversary of the massacre.  Officials warned that any unauthorized assembly could see demonstrators facing prison sentences.

These actions were seen by activists as part of China's broader agenda to snuff out political dissent in Hong Kong.  The United States called the ban on gatherings "an attempt to suppress the memories of that day".  "To the people of China and to those who continue to stand against injustice and seek freedom, we will not forget June 4," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. 

The Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing became the focus for national demonstrations calling for greater political freedoms in 1989. Thousands of people - mainly students - camped for weeks in the square before the military moved in on June 4 and opened fire.  It is estimated that has many as 10,000 may have r estimates have ranged from hundreds to as many as 10,000.

China's erasure of public displays of June Fourth - as the Tiananmen anniversary is popularly known in Chinese - has become near total in Hong Kong since Beijing enacted a national security law on the island in 2020.  In the past year, local police prosecuted at least 26 pro-democracy activists for trying to commemorate June Fourth. They include Joshua Wong, media baron Jimmy Lai and former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Cyd Ho, and Andrew Wan.  They were all found guilty for attending or "inciting" others to participate in a vigil honouring the massacre victims in 2020, with some facing jail terms of up to 14 months.

In January this year, a Hong Kong court also sentenced activist Chow Hang-tung to 15 months in prison for her role leading to the banned 2021 vigil.  Chow had already been served a 12-month sentence for her role in the previous year's vigil.

 

This Week in Ukraine - 6/4/22

In an interview this week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is, “losing 60 to 100 soldiers every day and something like 500 wounded in combat.” If these numbers are accurate, that’s a fearsome rate of loss—between 1,800 and 3,000 killed in a month. Ukraine estimates that 30,000 Russians have been killed since the war began, which would put Russia’s rate of loss over 300 a day. But what Ukraine is reportedly suffering is a tremendous loss.

Early in the week, a Ukrainian refugee in the United Kingdom said she recognized items looted from her house sitting on top of a Russian tank in a photo published on the BBC website.  Alina Koreniuk said the box in the photo contained a new boiler she planned to install before the war started.  She and her children left Ukraine on April 8 and are staying with a British couple in Nottinghamshire.  The picture, taken in late May, showed the tank moving past bombed residential buildings in the town of Popasna.  Russian forces have been in control of the town, in the Luhansk region, since May 8.  Koreniuk said the photo was taken on a street just five minutes away from her house.  Apart from the boiler, other items on the tank include a tablecloth from the family's summer house, new Disney bedsheets for her children and a red blanket, she said.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials in the area reported that Russia now occupies roughly 80% of the city of Severodonetsk as an intense block by block, house by house fight continues.  Up to 15,000 people may still be trapped there, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said.  Both sides are suffering heavy casualties and the Ukrainian command may decide a tactical retreat would better serve their medium-term interests.  There are also reports that Russia has bombed a chemical plant, raising clouds of nitric acid above the streets.  Ukrainian forces are now isolated in a small area of the city and may be forced to soon retreat across the river to the much more defensible and supportable city of Lysychansk.

The list of NATO equipment headed into Ukraine continues to grow.  At the beginning of the week, it was reported that Poland is dispatching 18 AHS Krab self-propelled howitzers, which followed reports on Saturday that—though not an official part of any announced assistance package—the U.S. was sending an unknown number of self-propelled 155mm M109 howitzers.  The last two weeks have seen a flurry of new announcements including armored transports, multi-launch rocket systems, anti-aircraft systems, and anti-ship missiles.

In addition to defensive system, offensive weapons, supplies, and ammunition, there are a growing number of Ukrainian troops being trained to operate and maintain the new systems. Poland has reportedly already trained 100 Ukrainian soldiers to operate those AHS Krab, which are capable of firing a standard round 30km and an extended range round 40km, making them one of the longest ranged artilleries.

There are also reports fro Russian-occupied Mariupol that kangaroo courts are imprisoning Ukrainian citizens. Vadim Boychenko, Mariupol's mayor when it fell to Moscow, said that Russian forces had begun handing out prison sentences as long as 10 years to those who refused to work with occupying forces.   The same is apparently occurring in areas in eastern Donetsk, with special prisons already housing thousands of Ukrainians - some with up to 15 inmates crammed into two-by-three meter cells.

John Williams - Obi-Wan Kenobi Theme

Thinking of Vacation in Central America? Cross Nicaragua Off Your List!

As Americans began to return to travel, flights to Central American and Caribbean destinations are starting to pick up.  But one country continues to lag behind the others-- becoming even more of a pain-in-the-ass vacation destination, as compared to how travel existed there pre-COVID.

American Airlines has still not resumed flights to Managua-- even though it has resumed flying to many other destinations across Central America.  Avianca is the only airline flying to Nicaragua and results from PCR tests taken no more than 72 hours prior must be sent to the airline as a PDF format no less than 36 hours prior to arriving in the country.  Vacationers have discovered the hard way that they must also carrying original copies with them as well.   In addition, travelers have reported that the PCR test results will not be approved to board the flight to Managua if the submitted rest results do not contain a signature and seal (stamp) and an official logo on the document. Test providers are understandably confused by the requests for original signatures and seals/stamps of approval-- but travelers are doing whatever they can to get into the country any way they can.  Airlines are also apparently being fined by the Nicaraguan government if they allow any passengers to board that have detectable COVID infections upon arrival.   This has resulted in many airlines not resuming flights to Nicaragua-- holding back from doing so simply to avoid the hassle and risk of screwing up with the Nicaragua government rules and dealing with all the passengers who are denied boarding.  

The Nicaraguan government also requires travelers complete/submit an online form on the country's website 7 days prior to arrival-- separate from whatever paperwork is required by the airline.  By trial and error, people are discovering there's less bureaucracy to flying to Costa Rica and entering Nicaragua on a bus and crossing at a land border, rather than dealing with Avianca and bureaucrats in Managua trying to process visas for all the incoming flights. Due to the uptick in border crossings from Costa Rica, there are now local Nicaraguan scammers hanging out near immigration office (such as Penas Blancas) asking tourists to pay a "local city tax" of $1 or $2 (which many visitors gladly pay if that will help ensure entry into the country).

To make matters worse, in the last month reports started seeping out of the country that officials are searching the bags of all arriving airline passengers (not just a random sample).  They are apparently looking for multiples of items and will accuse the travelers of bringing them into the country for resale.  One visitor had duffle bags of random items such as clothes and shoes and books and kitchen items and was accused of wanting to resell them (even though many of the items were already used). The officials then ask the traveler to pay up to three times the value of each item or be detained. According to the observations of this traveler, there is no rhythm or reason to the searches, and the officials usually don't know what their looking for.

Getting PCR tests in Managua to return to the U.S. are problematic as well.  There are only 2 or 3 testing centers in the country-- and they are all in the capital, which means that travelers have to waste spending their last night (or two) in Managua to get an appointment for a $100-150 PCR test and receive their results at least 24 hours prior to departure.  To avoid this, people have been bringing in PCR test kits with them from the States (that require monitoring by a proctor over the internet), but there are now reports that border officials have been confiscating the self test kits when entering the country.

And if all of that didn't discourage you-- another recent traveler reported that Nicaraguan immigration officials are checking vacationers' social media.   An American  woman was apparently denied entry into the country due to a 2018 Facebook share of a meeting of the Organization of American States.  Nicaragua abruptly withdrew from the OAS in April due to criticism of its recent elections.  Nicaragua’s decision came after the OAS General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that Nicaragua’s most recent presidential election was “not free, fair or transparent and [has] no democratic legitimacy” — undermining President Daniel Ortega’s claim to the office.
 

Big Win For Johnny Depp

In a post last month, I hinted at a potential win for Johnny Depp-- and he has prevailed as many insiders predicted.  The media, who had a clear-cut bias against Depp before the trial even started, engaged in their own kind of defaming-- trying to spin Depp’s victory today in court. “Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Each Defamed Each Other, Jury Rules,” so states Variety.

But clearly the jury saw it like most regular folks who took the time to read all the facts. The pre-trial narrative was that Depp abused Heard and that she was a #MeToo survivor, but things have clearly swung in the opposite direction. It’s not like anyone ever bought that Heard was the victim of this relationship-- there were clear signs and red flags regarding her credibility.  

Heard’s claims of abuse in the hands of Depp seemed sketchy from the get-go. Her WaPo op-ed, which kick-started the firestorm, read as inauthentic as her own acting abilities.  No one is saying that Depp is an angel, but the trial made Heard look like Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction.”

Meanwhile . . . at Work