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'The Walking Dead' midseason premiere finds Rick making visits, arming against the Saviors: recap
By Dan Gunderman
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Ross Marquand as Aaron. (Gene Page/AMC)
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
"Tick-tock, chop-chop!"
AMC's "The Walking Dead" returned to the air Sunday night in a careful midseason premiere.
In it, Rick is forced to be a diplomat in the various communities near Alexandria. His intention: a unified resistance against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his oppressive tactics.
Episode 9, entitled "Rock in the Road," is the showrunners' attempt at watching Rick amass an army. It doesn't come about in a standard sort of way, either. But by the end, the seeds have been sewn, the bricks laid — it will no doubt be an all-out war against Mr. Negan.
The extended episode covers every corner of the show's recent geographic ends — roving from the Hilltop, to the Kingdom, to a strange boathouse/compound in the episode's waning moments. And the very last frame is oh, so perfect.
Let's revisit, in depth, what went down in "Rock in the Road:"
The show begins as Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) steals food and weapons from the town's supply stash. He hops in an old car and drives off, although someone else appears in the passenger seat.
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Danai Gurira as Michonne, Ross Marquand as Aaron, Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler. (Gene Page/AMC)
Then, director Greg Nicotero cuts to Gregory (Xander Berkeley), as the Hilltop "leader" talks about the group's failure to annihilate Negan.
"We aren't trade partners, aren't friends, and we never met," Gregory says almost sardonically. In an appeal to Rick, he adds, "Sometimes we don't get to choose what our life looks like."
In the process of his cowardly act, Gregory calls Rick "Ricky" and Maggie "Margaret."
"I wanna thank all of you for not being here today," he concludes.
The tight-knit group then leaves Gregory's mansion and finds a crowd awaiting them. These Hilltoppers want to join in on the fight against the top Savior. Slightly encouraged, Jesus (Tom Payne) says that he holds a long-range radio from the Sanctuary, to track Negan's movements. He says there's time enough for the group to meet the all-powerful King Ezekiel (Khary Payton).
Next, near the Kingdom, Ezekiel's paladins recognize Jesus and allow the visitors to discuss their predicament. Richard (Karl Makinen) is among the subjects there talking to Rick (who promptly asks for an audience with His Majesty).
It's clear Richard wants to deal with the real problem, the Saviors. Inside the Kingdom, the group finds Morgan (Lennie James), and Rick tells those around them that the two "go back to the start."
Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler, Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa. (Gene Page/AMC)
Morgan informs Rick about his fight against the lone Savior, a man who shot Carol (Melissa McBride). "I killed him, I had to," he says.
Then, speaking with Ezekiel, Rick states how in his initial war against Negan, he only took out one outpost.
Ezekiel soon becomes mad at Jesus for telling the Alexandrians about the Kingdom's arrangement with the Saviors.
In a poignant moment, Rosita then tells Morgan about who Negan killed on the gravel-laden street with Lucille, and back in Alexandria.
"I'm just real sorry they're gone," Morgan says.
Then, from Jesus: "Let's change the world, Your Majesty."
Richard adds to the plea, saying, "We have people, and weapons. If we strike first, together, we can beat them... The time is now."
Danai Gurira as Michonne. (Gene Page/AMC)
Ezekiel then defers to Morgan on the matter. The known pacifist says, "People will die, a lot of people, and not just the Saviors. If we can find another way, we have to. Maybe it's just about Negan, about capturing him, holding him. Maybe…"
Rick then attempts to persuade Ezekiel with a fairytale-like anecdote about a kingdom and a rock in the road that winds up being filled with gold. Essentially: a moral call to arms.
Ezekiel, however, returns with: "I shall deliver my decree in the morn."
Next, viewers find Carol as she runs into the young paladin Morgan trained, Benjamin (Logan Miller).
The young apprentice tells her: "(There's) not a lot of us left. We have to help each other."
The next day, Ezekiel talks about needlessly sending people into battle: "All of this came at a cost," he says. He decides to continue his peace with the Saviors, although he offers asylum to Daryl, the Sanctuary runaway.
The final scene inside the Kingdom shows Daryl reluctantly staying behind.
Danai Gurira as Michonne, Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes. (Gene Page/AMC)
On the long-range radio, Jesus picks up Negan talking about the tough loss of "Fat Joey."
Encountering a roadblock, the gang discovers that it's a fixed explosive used to deter walkers. They decide to steal whatever they can from the cache— in their battle against Negan.
Rosita helps disarm the explosives, while Negan sends out a party for Daryl. With zombies approaching, Sasha's sent out to the Hilltop.
Rick then rigs a neat, zombie-killing weapon in the wire that held the explosives. Fixed between two cars, Rick and Michonne barrel down the highway, decapitating at least a hundred zombies.
Back at Alexandria, Rick witnesses the Saviors arriving with their fleet of old trucks. Negan's number two, Simon (Steven Ogg), has come to claim Daryl.
"(I) need ya'll to see him die," he says, as the Saviors ransack the place. With no Daryl in sight, the Saviors leave, but Simon warns Rick that the next supply pick-up is nearing. "Tick-tock, chop-chop!" he reminds Rick.
As for the elusive Gabriel, the group investigates his departure, only to find that it's likely he simply vanished. But Rick zeroes in on the bible the cleric left behind. In a nearby notebook, he discovers the word "Boat" written in haste.
The group sets out for the boathouse, in what originally seemed like the same place Rick and Aaron (Ross Marquand) visited near the end of Season 7A.
They're quickly overwhelmed by a huge group of fighters emerging from this compound.
In a strangely awesome moment, Rick smiles, knowing he may now have his soldiers.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Freddy Sanchez Officially Retires
By Zach Links | December 22, 2015 at 5:51pm CDT
Former National League batting champion Freddy Sanchez officially retired from baseball on Monday, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com writes. Sanchez has been out of the game for a while but he was considering a comeback in recent years. Today's news is probably more of a formality than anything; Sanchez's name, after all, has not popped up on this site since February of 2013.
"I'm so thankful for what baseball [has] given me," Sanchez told Crasnick through his agents. "I appreciate the opportunity the Red Sox, Pirates, and Giants gave me."
Sanchez last played in 2011 with the Giants and played a little bit in their minor league system in 2012. Unfortunately, however, injuries to his shoulder and back ultimately led him to hang 'em up. Now, Sanchez has decided to retire for good and move on to other pursuits.
Sanchez, 38, made three All-Star teams over the course of his career. His crowning personal achievement came in 2006 with the Pirates when he hit .344 and narrowly edged out Marlins slugger Miguel Cabrera for the NL batting crown. In 2010, Sanchez captured a World Series ring with the Giants. In parts of 10 big league seasons, Sanchez slashed .297/.335/.413. According to Baseball-Reference, Sanchez earned upwards of $32MM over the course of his career.
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Freddy Sanchez Retirement Transactions
Indians Sign Ross Detwiler To Minor League Deal
AL East Notes: Boggs, Yankees, Orioles, Anthopoulos, Jays
Wolf Chan
I was at his last game, where he dislocated his shoulder – he was a good giant and will be missed – maybe we can see him around the park and clubhouse
Freddy was a huge part of the 2010 WS! Glad to have him as a Giant.
Enjoy retirement Freddy!
TJECK109
I fondly remember the days of Jack Wilson and Sanchez up the middle for the Pirates. If I remember correctly he was acquired from the Red Sox in a deal for Jeff Suppan
Michael Macaulay-Birks
That's right and Suppan was injured almost immediately after that trade, for the season, only to leave that off-season for the Cardinals I think
woodhead1986
this guy was born with a club-foot, overcame and won a MLB batting title, that is freaking awesome!
I stand corrected he was 3-4 with a mid 5.00 ERA
dstuart
Freddy Sanchez was my favorite for over 5 years. Glad he's at peace with his decision. Still hope to meet him some day though!
markmc1235
Really good ball player. Enjoyed watching him play.
Freddy was my favorite Pirate during his time with the team!
leefieux
I sure wish we had prime Freddy and Jack Flash Wilson. It was a shame to waste those row on those losing teams.
Those 'two' not 'row'


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East Garden City
Memorial Honoring Opioid Crisis Victims On Display At LI MallEvery 24 minutes, the machine carves a new face because every 24 minutes, another American dies from a prescription overdose.
Woman Took $13,000 Worth Of Perfume From Roosevelt Field Mall KioskNassau County Police are trying to sniff out a thief who stole thousands of dollars worth of perfume.
Collision Sends Garbage Truck Into Nassau County Public Works BuildingA garbage truck and mini van collided, sending the sanitation truck into an office building on Long Island.
Police: L.I. Woman Arrested After Son, 7, Left In Lego Store Unattended For Nearly 90 MinutesA Hempstead mother has been arrested, accused of leaving her child unsupervised at a store while she shopped at the mall.
L.I. Man Accused Of Targeting East Garden City Building With 'Powdery Substance' A Long Island man has been arrested for sending a suspicious powdery substance to an office building.
L.I. Hit-And-Run Accident Victim Calls On Driver To 'Man Up To What He Did'Police said the driver of the pickup got out to put a blanket over Steven Acquaviva and then drove off.
Nassau County Police Investigating Hit-And-Run AccidentDetectives ask anyone with information regarding this crime to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
Officials: Body Of L.I. Shooting Suspect Sang Ho Kim Found In Hudson RiverKim's body was found just a few miles from Cold Spring, where the manhunt for him had been under way after a deadly shooting on Long Island last week.
Visitation Held For Man Killed In Garden City Business ShootingA wake was held Sunday night for a 25-year-old man who was killed in a workplace shooting on Long Island last week.
L.I. Shooting Suspect Still At Large As Manhunt In Putnam County ContinuesDozens of police officers, including state and federal authorities, have been scouring the woods in Cold Spring in an intense manhunt for 63-year-old Sang Ho Kim.
Police Find Getaway Car Of East Garden City Shooting Suspect; Manhunt ContinuesDozens of police departments as well as state and federal authorities have been hunting for 63-year-old Sang Ho Kim of Queens.
So-Called 'Hot Dog Hooker' In Trouble Again Following Alleged Prostitution BustScalia, 47, was arrested after she allegedly performed a massage, without a license, on an undercover detective at a hotel in Garden City, police said. She is also accused of offering to engage in a sexual act in exchange for money.
Tri-State Area Fires Have Red Cross Workers Working OvertimeThe Red Cross volunteers who help out victims of fires have had their hands full in the Tri-State Area lately.
Apartment Complex Burns In East Garden CityFirefighters are battling a fire at an apartment complex in East Garden City, Long Island.
Queens Man Arrested For DWI With Child, 2, In CarPolice arrested a Jamaica, Queens man for driving drunk with a child passenger in East Garden City Friday night.


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The PS4 Promises to be Indie-Friendly. Also, They Clobber the Xbox One.
The Xbone pre-E3 presentation yesterday was, based on most media reports, something of a dud. Maybe it just got reported that way because that's what many people were expecting, but… based upon what I saw / read, the response was likewarm at best. Many of the Xbone's "features" were, IMO, not consumer-friendly. They have restrictive built-in DRM capabilities where they touted convoluted exceptions – and admitting no plan yet in place for handling things like game rentals. For indies, they had some token celebrity developers, but simply putting the mega-hit Minecraft on the machine doesn't make it "indie" any more than putting Doom on the Nintendo 64 made it "indie." And social media connectivity? I personally have too many ways to connect to Facebook that I just don't want to use as it is. Most of what I heard was stuff that might appeal to big-name developers looking to enforce policy or push player behavior in a particular direction, but not very much that is of value to a consumer.
(Incidentally, when I hear "cloud-based" these days, I think, "DRM." While it can mean a little bit more than that – a DRM with benefits – I think it's another one of those things that's almost exclusively in the interest of content providers, not their customers).
What made the presentation all the worse was Sony's presentation. Delving through reports, I didn't see anything that REALLY excited me about the upcoming PS4, except the significantly better attitude towards indies, with a confirmation that indies will be able to "self-publish" on the platform. What that means remains to be seen, but that's a far cry from what Microsoft was offering – which seemed at odds against it's previous approach with the Xbox 360.
Really, it sounds to me that all Sony did was not screw up. In response to convoluted schemes for used game handling for the Xbone, Sony offered this helpful instruction video:
What it came down to was summarized by John Teti in an excellent article called, "Who Do You Think You Are Talking To?" – Microsoft seemed to be addressing "a demographic caricature who was born in a marketeer's binder," whereas Sony (guilty of the same thing many times in the past), "changed the playbook. Its executives went ahead and talked about used games, assuring players that buying, trading, and lending software on the PS4 would be as simple as ever. They showcased a wide variety of games, refusing to pigeonhole their concept of the modern-day player (or the modern-day developer, for that matter). They promised not to make your console "phone home" to a nanny server. And they priced their new machine $100 lower than Microsoft's."
But in the end, I'm not hearing much that's "revolutionary." Which is probably just as well. All Sony did, from what I can tell, was not make any bad mistakes. Which I guess was all it took.
Until I know more (much more), I'm not planning on making games for the PS4. Although having started my career doing Playstation games, it'd be kinda fun to go back there… 🙂 Maybe Microsoft will be vindicated in the end. Either way, both console makers have a few months to tweak their message and change direction in a few ways, and it's still too early to count Nintendo out. Ultimately, it'll be an interesting year for gamers.
Like most indies, I'll be keeping my head down, stay out of the way while the titans are duking it out, and then try and do the best I can to thrive no matter which way things go, before and after the dust clears.
Filed Under: Biz, Mainstream Games - Comments: 6 Comments to Read
Xian said,
I thought the press conference went well. They pretty much outgunned the Xbone in every respect – hardware, developer friendly, and price. I really liked the look of Dark Sorcerer and Elder Scrolls Online, but would probably play the latter on the PC, if at all. Watchdogs looked like it would be fun.
The one thing I was disappointed was what was unsaid – they said that single player games would be free, implying that multiplayer would require a PS+ membership. That has always been a problem with the Xbox. There are 4 gamers in my family, and each one requires a separate Live account to play online – that adds up fast.
Robert Basler said,
I was surprised that Sony showed up at the Indie Games Summit here in Vancouver a couple months ago, and the Sony guy came across as seriously interested in smaller developers.
It's kind of a weird relationship between indies and the big publishers / studios now. I guess it varies from studio to publisher. Two generations ago, we were ignored. Then you had the last gen, where – if we were acknowledged at all – it was often to mock us or to crush us (EA claiming that they'd put us out of business because the cost of producing games was now so high…) To… well, now, where they kinda like us, and want a piece of the action. That's WEIRD, man. But I guess it suggests that we're getting the beginnings of a healthy ecosystem.
Re: the video. I notice it still requires a subscription and account for online multiplayer, but that seems more fair to me, if it's not per-game. But I still lol'd. 😛
Anon said,
@Jay:
What you say is not really true: Sony not only did no mistakes at the E3 – they punctuated Microsofts shining armor with features that people wanted to hear and then nearly decapitated Microsoft with the launch price axe. While the lower price wasn't to be expected (and nobody predicted it!) it isn't too surprising, either!
You see, the exact same thing happened in console history before!
When Sony launched the PS1 in the US in 1995 (yes, it's that long ago! ;-)) they announced a price of $100 less than their closest competitor – Sega Saturn – that got introduced a week earlier.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Saturn
This was an incredible blow for Sega and when they has to drop the price in the following months, they made lots of first adopters unhappy. It really was the beginning of the end for Sega as a string of management and marketing mistakes happened after that (one is always smarter after the fact, of course).
Back to Microsoft:
They had an immense success with the X360 but they've become cocky and arrogant (see their remark about backward compatibility) which made them vulnerable.
Don't expect Sony to not exploit this! – they have experience in dooming competing consoles. They not only buried the Saturn but killed the Dreamcast with overblown specs on the PS2: "75 million polygons" – a number that was both exaggerated for realistic situations and totally unimportant for the gamer (the Dreamcast was a great console and could fight the more modern but much more complex to program PS2). When EA announced that they will support the PS2 but not Dreamcast the latter was finished as a mainstream console.
So it's now important how Microsoft will react in the following months. They were once aggressive to please gamers with their Xbox1 and got more professional with the X360 but now they are aggressive against gamers. Sony on the other hand is more desperate to survive and will throw in features to turn the PS4 into a success.
Take PSN+ for example: It's a good package for the free games alone but Sony wouldn't have done that if the PS3 was more successful from the beginning! In my opinion the moment they relaunched PSN+ they found their way back into form. Microsoft is now clearly trailing Sony and I say that as somebody who has consoles from both manufacturers at home.
However, Sony wants to make money in the mainstream business and they will only cater for indies as long as they make money from it (perhaps simply by luring more people onto the platform). They had big successes with some indie games in the past like Flower, Journey etc. but make no mistake: Sony does *not* make indie consoles. They never will – it's just a nice, cozy corner in the "department store" they opened up for platform customers.
poopypoo said,
all that AND $100 cheaper!? it truly is armageddon. i call the hot tub


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PRS For Music's Andrea C Martin on the 'tough year ahead' as collections slump
by Andre Paine
April 26th 2021 at 12:01AM
First the good news: PRS For Music distributed a record £699.4m to its members in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 2% (£13.4m).
In recent years, the UK collection society – which represents 155,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers – has bolstered its data processing to pay out royalties as quickly as possible. Last year it also reduced net costs by £12.1m (13.8%).
While that all helps PRS For Music to deal with the impact of the pandemic, there's no getting away from the slump in revenues. Although distributions in 2020 were positive overall, many of the royalties paid out last year were collected before the first lockdown. So the decline in income will be felt by music creators through 2021 and beyond, with distributions expected to fall by at least 10% this year.
"It was a hard year, a hard year for all of us," PRS CEO Andrea C Martin told Music Week. "We had a record distribution, despite having public performance [income] being down 61% and live being down almost 80%. As a company, we focus on the livelihood of our members."
Overall, revenues collected from music being played in the UK and worldwide in 2020 fell by 19.7% year-on-year to £650.5m, eradicating years of record growth.
Revenue generated from live performances of music represented the greatest percentage decline in 2020, falling by 79.1% from £54m in 2019, to just £11.3m in 2020.
The majority of live music events were either cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Of the £11.3m collected, most related to live music events staged towards the end of 2019 and in the first quarter of 2020, including concerts from The 1975, Stereophonics, Mabel and Madonna's UK tour, where PRS members' repertoire featured prominently.
While the loss of live has a huge impact on touring artists and musicians, it also means a loss of income for the writers of repertoire performed at concerts and festivals.
"Writers are being affected," Martin told Music Week. "And let's be frank and transparent, there are going to be tough times ahead – 2021 will be a tough year. But I believe that the power of music will prevail. I look back at 2020, and even this year, and think, 'What are the songs that helped me get through all this?'"
"And it will rebound, we saw a 30% increase in 2020 of works that have been registered. We got 8,000 new members; we have 155,000 members of PRS. So we look forward, we're working with UK music to work with the government to get a roadmap for live venues being open, and also the touring post-Brexit. But we will feel the decline, it will impact our distributions in 2021."
Public performance revenue overall – along with live concerts (see above), it includes music used in business premises, shops, cinemas, pubs, clubs, hotels and restaurants – saw a 61.2% downturn in revenue collected year-on-year, to £86.2m in 2020, due to business closures. Through their joint venture, PPL and PRS paused payments for businesses licensed to play music during the pandemic when they were unable to operate as normal.
But Andrea Martin expects income from licensed businesses to bounce back in the second half.
"Revenues will come back, because pubs and restaurants are now opening up and hopefully, with the fantastic work the government's doing with vaccines, that will get going and venues can get back on track too," she said. "So our joint venture, PPL PRS, is working really hard, even though we were quite generous – we gave payment holidays and also delayed invoicing. Now we're catching up on that."
Revenues from hospitality and nightlife industries were amongst the worst affected. Negative impact on revenue collected from retail was slightly eased by essential elements of the sector permitted to remain open by the government, such as supermarkets. And a rise in demand for online shopping and click-and-collect services led to increased demand for warehouse and storage facilities, many of which are licensed to play music for employees.
International royalty income continues to be the largest revenue stream for PRS for Music members, but still saw a 10.7% (£29.7m) decline compared to 2019 on a constant currency basis. A total of £248.6m was collected through reciprocal agreements with societies around the world.
However, Martin said the full impact of Covid on international collections will emerge later than other revenue sources.
"For a lot of societies, the time lag [for payments] is more than six months," she explained.
One factor in this decline in international revenue, was the closure of the tourism industry. With cruise ships not operating last year, royalty collections in this market reduced by 75%, from £7.2m to £1.8m in 2020.
The team is super-motivated to make sure that we protect the livelihood of our members, that is our number one focus
Andrea C Martin
With the exception of commercial radio, overall revenue from UK broadcasters remained stable over the 12-month period, seeing a 2.6% decline to £127.4m in 2020. A reduction in commercial radio advertising meant radio royalties fell by 9.2% year-on-year to £45.2m, only partially offset by a small increase (1.5%) in income from TV, which totalled £82.2m.
Revenue generated from music played online was the only area to see growth in 2020, rising to £188.3m, a 5.1% increase compared to 2019. As well as increased revenues collected, distributions from online also saw the biggest uplift at 63.2% versus 2019.
Underlying streaming revenue growth excluding significant one-offs was 8%. Martin is unconcerned by the small growth in audio streaming revenue of 2.1% year-on-year to £158.3m.
"We're already sitting on a big base," she said. "I think we have to look at the growth in the last five years, the UK has always – not just in music – been quite the pioneer in online. So when you bring in £188m, that's a high base. Plus we were one of the first; we were very quick in licensing streaming. When you're a mature market, it doesn't increase so much."
Revenue from music used across TV and film on-demand platforms, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, saw the most notable uplift at 29.4% year-on-year. This was primarily due to a rise in subscriptions and film rentals taking place during national lockdowns.
Revenue from online video games was flat (£3.5m) but Martin sees opportunities for growth.
"We brought in a new chief commercial officer, Dan Gopal, who has a lot of experience in video games and in broadcast," she said. "He started in March, and we're focusing on what we can do on video games."
Last year, PRS for Music licensed over 30 new online platforms including TikTok and Triller, with royalties expected to start flowing through to music creators for the first time next year.
Martin said the recent TikTok deal "helped last year's income and will help this year's distribution – there are a lot of things happening that will help compensate for the downfall".
While the level of TikTok income is commercially sensitive, Martin commented: "I think it's pretty good and moving forward it's a platform that will grow."
A sharp rise in livestreamed concerts and growth in online gaming platforms will also create new revenue streams in 2021. For now, livestreams have yet to show up on collections.
PRS For Music had to revise plans for its livestream tariff for small-scale events and is currently drawing up its proposed licensing system for bigger livestream events.
"We'll be announcing quite shortly our proposal for the online live concert [tariff]," said Martin. "As you know, we announced the very low cost licence. Before that we've had many dialogues and many healthy debates! We've had three roundtables for the bigger licence of online live concerts, and we did also a call on views – we got almost 2,000 people giving us feedback on that licence. And, shortly, we'll be publishing what we're going to be charging on that."
Streaming growth also means more data – PRS processed 22.4 trillion 'performances' of music in 2020, a 796% increase since 2015.
Supporting PRS members
However, the increase in online royalties' income and distributions will not offset the loss of income for many music creators. Distributions to members from public performance already fell by 35.1% (£50.4m) in 2020.
To support members, PRS for Music, in collaboration with its charity partners PRS Members' Fund and PRS Foundation, launched the PRS Emergency Relief Fund, and has since paid out over £2.2m across 5,500 grants to songwriters and composers facing severe financial hardship because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In her Music Week interview, Martin reassured members about PRS' robust approach to collections and costs, including a plan to move out of its King's Cross offices to smaller premises.
"You can see that in the 2020 results, we did everything we could to still have a record year," she told Music Week. "We're doing everything we can to minimise the impact. We're innovating, we challenge on things. Last year, the international team did audits to make sure there's [more] money we can pick up. The team is super-motivated to make sure that we protect the livelihood of our members, that is our number one focus."
Once the worst is over, Martin is confident of further record results and, ultimately, a 10-figure annual distribution.
"We have set a very rapid growth [target] for PRS," she said. "We are targeting a payout of £1 billion in the next five to seven years. We will be leveraging our joint ventures and being more innovative to get there."
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2023: Pity Tinubu, He Is A Comedian- Atiku
By: Ahmed Usman
The presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, mocked his counterpart in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, as a clown, who was only fit to contest the post of "Grand Comedian of the Federal Republic".
Atiku advised APC to immediately replace Tinubu following his unceasing helpless gaffes, to avoid further embarrassments.
Atiku spoke in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu.
The PDP candidate alleged that Tinubu was only suitable for the position of comic chief, and never president of Nigeria, going by his error-ridden utterances, which signify failing health.
Relatedly, in Kaduna State, director-general of the PDP campaign council, Haruna Sa'eed, dismissed Governor Nasir El-Rufai's recent apology to the people of the state as "meaningless", because it would not "reverse the hardship and pain he had inflicted on the people".
Atiku said in the statement that it was common knowledge that Tinubu goofed every time he came out in public to speak.
The statement said, "If he is not saying that voter's card has expiration date; he is saying that young Nigerians are Tweeting on WhatsApp or that 50 million youths should be recruited into the Nigerian Army and be fed with cassava in the morning, and Agbado in the night. How can you say Nigerians are Tweeting on WhatsApp?
"Common, is that the kind of person we want to hand 21st Century Nigeria over to? In his latest gaffe at the Lagos rally, he asked Nigerians to get their APV in order to vote for APC, when even primary school children know that the PVC is the only item that admits a voter into a polling unit.
"Without mincing words Tinubu's gaffes already supply comedians, skit makers, meme-makers, and TikTokers with content. He is a self-writing joke and will make Nigeria a bye-word for scorn among the comity of nations, which is why he shouldn't get close to power.
"Truth be told, lack of mental depth complicated by dementia occasioned by old age is the most mis-recommending criterion against a Tinubu presidency. And examples abound to buttress this point. Just listen to any of his extempore speeches and what you find is lack of coherence, logic and verve.
"It is for the purpose of unmasking the real Tinubu and exposing him for who he really is, that we have challenged the APC standard bearer to an hour-long television interview."
The statement added that APC's seven and a half years reign was a sad reminder of Nigeria's arrested development since 2015, when they came to power.
It said Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu's claim at the Lagos rally that Tinubu would lift Nigerians out of hardship and hunger was an indictment on the APC, an admission that, indeed, over 133 million Nigerians now live in abject poverty, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Atiku stated further regarding Tinubu and his party, "Now they are selling a message of a renewed hope. It is common knowledge that darkness cannot cure darkness and sickness cannot cure sickness. How can the APC be promising to fix problems exacerbated by the APC? This is balderdash."
According to the statement, the most compelling reason for APC to be de-registered is the fact that it has driven millions of Nigerians deeper into poverty since 2015, when it came to power, and spent trillions of naira procuring hunger, darkness, and insecurity.
Atiku stated further in the statement by Shaibu, "If the APC are not keen on replacing this disaster of a candidate, they should in the alternative apologise to all Nigerians for bringing them nothing but suffering of unquantifiable proportion since 2015, and proceed to make a solemn pledge not to have anything to do with governance, especially, with the February 25 election fast approaching.
"I must confess that I consider the remarks credited to the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Saturday, November 26th, 2022, where he laboured, albeit unsuccessfully, to paint the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate as ungrateful and overambitious as not only offensive but reckless.
"Instead of attacking Atiku, he should have dissipated that energy on telling Nigerians about himself, especially, at this time, when it is said at various fora that the only thing that is real about Tinubu is his person and that every other ascription on him is a borrowed robe.
"To be sure, Nigerians believe that Tinubu should come in the open to effectively disclaim the allegation that his name, as it appears on public documents, is not his name; that the parents he claimed were not his; that the certificates he claimed to be his are not and that the schools he claimed to have attended didn't know him.
"The issue of which schools he attended is already in the public domain, as only few months ago, he told the Independent National electoral commission (INEC) that he didn't attend primary and secondary schools. The former Lagos governor, however, claimed he had two degrees from two American universities, which he further stated had been stolen by unknown soldiers during the military junta of the 1990s."
He stated further, "Lagos is used as evidence of his leadership, but Lagos is the major reason he should never be president and the leader of the country and party. He will become an immutable sole administrator in Nigeria as he is in Lagos.
"If Tinubu's ambition were about good governance, we dare to ask why he forced former Governor Ambode out? This self-appointed 'maker' of President Buhari and 'emilokan' exponent, wants to be the Groom in every wedding and the corpse in every funeral. The centre of the political universe.
"In Lagos, he is the State. No one can be anything without his approval. Governors are his little errand boys and can only disagree with him at their risk. He keeps them guessing about getting second term so he can have absolute control over them. Only Fashola showed some independent streak. The rest are like cyborgs. The current one is acting like a victim of a brain transplant
"Since emerging as the presidential candidate of the party in early June, Tinubu has not shared a stage with any of the candidates. Tinubu has continued to avoid public scrutiny or elaborate media interviews where he can answer questions about his source of wealth and his background. Now that he is seeking the highest office in the land, Tinubu has made it clear that he will not attend media interviews or debates. In other words, he wants automatic job employment without an interview.
But the issue of his involvement in drugs needs to be settled once and for all so that Nigerians would know whether Ahmed Bola Tinubu is an innocent man getting a bad whack from the opposition, or whether he is a danger to Nigeria and its democracy, because Nigeria cannot afford to elect a drug lord.
"The question is, did Bola Tinubu ever have something to do with heroin trafficking and money laundering leading to the forfeiture of $460,000? If the answer is in the affirmative, then the APC should do the most honourable thing by apologising to Nigerians and withdrawing him from the race because he presents a major national security risk and places Nigeria in the rank of pariah narco-nations."
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STING ENJOYING HIMSELF IN LOCAL HOTEL
16 September, 2009 admin News 0
While Sting and entourage are currently residing in a Durham City hotel, apparently Sting and a dozen musicians did a small private gig in a pub in Wallsend last Sunday night, playing a selection of songs from the new album. All was apparently also recorded for a future dvd release. In fact, the guests at the Durham hotel where the band is staying have been treated to some impromptu world-class entertainment over the past few days. According to renowned Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell, the 40-or-so assembled cast of players are channelling their winding-down energies towards some pretty special jamming sessions in the hotel bar, the location of which has become a closely-guarded secret. "Last night we managed to have a bit of a music tour of the world," said the band member and recent recipient of the Queen's Medal for Music. "There were rhythms and tunes from Morocco, Senegal, Scotland… all sorts of stuff was going on. It was great fun. The music we're playing (for the concerts) is very quiet. It's not big rock out stuff, so everybody is really listening to each other during rehearsals, so quite often at the night-time, we have a bit of a play. The musicians are so incredibly wonderful – and without ego. It's a really nice feeling to be working with them." Joining Kathryn on the representing-the-North-East register are her brother Peter Tickell on fiddle, melodeon player Julian Sutton and Sting's former bandmate, Gerry Richardson.
Kathryn also said that "Normally, when I do a Sting-thing, most of the parts are already down, and it's a case of going down to play a bit, and that's the end of it. This one has been very different because I have been involved (in making the album) from the very beginning. It's been a really exciting because I was asked to find a couple of more folkey musicians to add that sound to the album. I suggested a couple of people to play… and they've all been brilliant, so I was relieved! And also, we have managed to slip in a few traditional songs on to the album. One from Newcastle called The Snow it Melts the Soonest which was collected from a street singer a couple of hundred years ago. It's such a fantastic song, and I'm so pleased we have got a local tune on there." She added "We're rehearsing all the way up until Thursday. We get a rehearsal schedule every night, and that's what we'll be doing the next day. One of the French musicians is absolutely desperate to see an English cricket match, but I'm not sure he's going to get the time."
On a related note, Sting did some filming in and around the cathedral during last weekend as well.
Source: StingUs and Journallive.co.uk
STING AND ASHES HERO HARMISON TO BE HONORARY STARTERS OF THE BUPA GREAT NORTH RUN
REVIVING NEWCASTLE WITH STING


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Who owns the marine resources? How should Norway regulate bioprospecting ?
Photo: neurobite/adobestock.com
Marine bioprospecting offers possibilities for sustainable innovation based on marine genetic resources. How to regulate the use of such marine genetic resources entails several challenges. The rationale for the introduction of legislation on access and benefit sharing (ABS) from the use of genetic resources is elaborated using Norway as a case. Similarities and differences from other initiatives are presented with Australia as the comparative case. Several lessons are transferable to the Norwegian situation, and may also be of high relevance to other countries introducing ABS legislation. In both Norway and Australia, there is an expressed need for an ABS system that can include a model that is based on access permissions rather than mere registration. There are difficulties involved in monitoring the genetic material from access to actual commercial product, and in distinguishing between bioprospecting for scientific and commercial use, which complicates a determination of when benefit sharing should be triggered. We suggest that the idea of benefit-sharing could be supported by the principle of cost-sharing.
G. Kristin Rosendal, Anne Ingeborg Myhr and Morten Walløe Tvedt (2016) Access and Benefit Sharing Legislation for Marine Bioprospecting: Lessons From Australia for the Role of Marbank in Norway, The Journal of World Intellectual Property, vol 19, issue 1-2. Version of Record online: 6 JUN 2016 | DOI: 10.1111/jwip.12058


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Margot Harley
Margot Harley co-founded The Acting Company with the late John Houseman in 1972. She co-produced the Broadway productions of The Robber Bridegroom and The Curse of an Aching Heart with Faye Dunaway. She produced John Houseman's celebrated revival of Marc Blitzstein's musical play The Cradle Will Rock in New York and at the Old Vic Theatre in London. Off-Broadway, she produced Ten by Tennessee, a two evening retrospective of Tennessee Williams' one-act plays directed by Michael Kahn at The Lucille Lortel Theater, and the New York premiere of Eric Overmyer's On the Verge, directed by Garland Wright at The John Houseman Theater. She was Administrator of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School for its first twelve years, from 1968 to 1980. Prior to that she appeared in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions as an actress and dancer. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she attended LAMDA on a Fulbright Scholarship.
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Without the leadership of Margot Harley and John Houseman, The Acting Company wouldn't be existing up to these days. That's why we have to commend the both of them because their contribution was a huge thing in theater industry! Though Mr. Houseman is living eternally already, his legacy and contribution will forever be acknowledged. It's about time we introduce theater to a larger audience so that people would be aware that there are still plays worth watching!
CELEBRATING AND PRESERVING THE WISDOM OF OUR MEMBERS
Arthur Bartow
Benny Sato Ambush
David Fuller
Donald Rosenberg
Jeni Mahoney
Michael Hood
Rhona Justice-Malloy
Scott Parker
Sherry Eaker
Ted Herstand
Woodie King Jr.


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Geotrichum bryndzae sp. nov., a novel asexual arthroconidial yeast species related to the genus Galactomyces
Pavol Sulo1, Michal Laurenčík1, Silvia Poláková1,2, Gabriel Minárik3, Elena Sláviková4
Affiliations: 1 1Comenius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Biochemistry, Mlynská Dolina, Bratislava 842 15, Slovakia 2 2Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Soelvegatan 35, Lund 22362, Sweden 3 3Comenius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Molecular Biology, Mlynská Dolina, Bratislava 842 15, Slovakia 4 4Culture Collection of Yeasts, Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, Bratislava 842 38, Slovakia
CorrespondencePavol Sulo
[email protected]
First Published: 01 September 2009 https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.008938-0
Figures and Tables
Ten strains of an asexual arthroconidial yeast species were isolated from Bryndza, a traditional Slovak artisanal sheep cheese, which was manufactured from raw milk during a 4-month summer production period at two Slovakian sites (the northern Ružomberok and the central-southern Tisovec areas). Sequence comparison of the D1/D2 domains of the large-subunit rRNA gene revealed that this yeast represents a novel species of the genus Geotrichum, which contains anamorphs of the ascogenous genus Galactomyces, for which the name Geotrichum bryndzae sp. nov. is proposed (type culture CCY 16-2-1T =NRRL Y-48450T =CBS 11176T). The novel species is most closely related to Geotrichum silvicola NRRL Y-27641T, although yeasts with identical or very similar sequences have been found throughout the world.
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Barnett, J. A., Payne, R. W. & Yarrow, D. ( 2000; ). In Yeasts: Characteristics and Identification, 3rd edn, pp. 388–394. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boutrou, R. & Guéguen, M. ( 2005; ). Interests in Geotrichum candidum for cheese technology. Int J Food Microbiol 102, 1–20.[CrossRef]
Defontaine, A., Lecocq, F. M. & Hallet, J. N. ( 1991; ). A rapid miniprep method for the preparation of yeast mitochondrial DNA. Nucleic Acids Res 19, 185 [CrossRef]
de Hoog, G. S. & Smith, M. T. ( 2004; ). Ribosomal gene phylogeny and species delimitation in Geotrichum and its teleomorphs. Stud Mycol 50, 489–515.
de Hoog, G. S., Smith, M. T. & Guého, E. ( 1986; ). A revision of the genus Geotrichum and its teleomorphs. Stud Mycol 29, 1–131.
de Hoog, G. S., Smith, M. T. & Guého, E. ( 1998a; ). Dipodascus de Lagerheim. In The Yeasts, a Taxonomic Study, 4th edn, pp. 181–193. Edited by C. P. Kurtzman & J. W. Fell. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
de Hoog, G. S., Smith, M. T. & Guého, E. ( 1998b; ). Galactomyces Readhead & Malloch. In The Yeasts, a Taxonomic Study, 4th edn, pp. 209–213. Edited by C. P. Kurtzman & J. W. Fell. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Desmasures, N., Bazin, F. & Guéguen, M. ( 1997; ). Microbiological composition of raw milk from selected farms in the Camembert region of Normandy. J Appl Microbiol 83, 53–58.[CrossRef]
Fell, J. W., Boekhout, T., Fonseca, A., Scorzetti, G. & Statzell-Tallman, A. ( 2000; ). Biodiversity and systematics of basidiomycetous yeasts as determined by large-subunit rDNA D1/D2 domain sequence analysis. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 50, 1351–1371.[CrossRef]
Felsenstein, J. ( 1988; ). Phylogenies from molecular sequences: inference and reliability. Annu Rev Genet 22, 521–565.[CrossRef]
Kurtzman, C. P. ( 2006; ). Yeast species recognition from gene sequence analyses and other molecular methods. Mycoscience 47, 65–71.[CrossRef]
Kurtzman, C. P. & Fell, J. W. (editors) ( 1998; ). The Yeasts: a Taxonomic Study, 4th edn. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Kurtzman, C. P. & Robnett, C. J. ( 1998; ). Identification and phylogeny of ascomycetous yeasts from analysis of nuclear large subunit (26S) ribosomal DNA partial sequences. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 73, 331–371.[CrossRef]
Lachance, M. A., Daniel, H. M., Meyer, W., Prasad, G. S., Gautam, S. P. & Boundy-Mills, K. ( 2003; ). The D1/D2 domain of the large subunit rDNA of the yeast species Clavispora lusitaniae is unusually polymorphic. FEMS Yeast Res 4, 253–258.[CrossRef]
Laurenčík, M., Sulo, P., Sláviková, E., Piecková, E., Seman, M. & Ebringer, L. ( 2008; ). The diversity of eukaryotic microbiota in the traditional Slovak sheep cheese – Bryndza. Int J Food Microbiol 127, 176–179.[CrossRef]
Marinoni, G., Manuel, M., Petersen, R. F., Hvidtfeldt, J., Sulo, P. & Piškur, J. ( 1999; ). Horizontal transfer of genetic material among Saccharomyces yeasts. J Bacteriol 181, 6488–6496.
Naumova, E. S., Smith, M. Th., Boekhout, T., de Hoog, G. S. & Naumov, G. I. ( 2001; ). Molecular differentiation of sibling species in the Galactomyces geotrichum complex. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 80, 263–273.[CrossRef]
Pimenta, R. S., Alves, P. D. D., Corrêa, A., Jr, Lachance, M. A., Prasad, G. S., Rajaram, Sinha, B. R. & Rosa, C. A. ( 2005; ). Geotrichum silvicola sp. nov., a novel asexual arthroconidial yeast species related to the genus Galactomyces. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 55, 497–501.[CrossRef]
Smith, M. Th. & Poot, G. A. ( 2003; ). Genome comparisons in the genus Dipodascus de Lagerheim. FEMS Yeast Res 3, 301–311.[CrossRef]
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Ueda-Nishimura, K. & Mikata, K. ( 2000; ). Two distinct 18S rRNA secondary structures in Dipodascus (Hemiascomycetes). Microbiology 146, 1045–1051.
Wuczkowski, M., Bond, C. & Prillinger, H. ( 2006; ). Geotrichum vulgare sp. nov., a novel asexual arthroconidial yeast. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 56, 301–303.[CrossRef]
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http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijs.0.008938-0
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 59, 2370 (2009); https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.008938-0
10.1099/ijs.0.008938-0


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MSC Pilgrimage to Fatima 2019
News, News & Media
The final days of May saw MSCs Fr Michael O'Connell and Fr Des Farren join 30 pilgrims from Ireland and the UK on our annual MSC pilgrimage to Fatima. With blue skies and sunshine as a backdrop to prayer, reflection, and conversation, this year's five-day trip was a resounding success for all involved.
Our pilgrimage group paused to pray at a number of hallowed stops along the way, including the Basilica of the Rosary, the Basilica of the Holy Trinity, the Way of the Cross, and Valinhos, where Our Lady appeared to the Children of Fatima.
The Basilica of the Holy Trinity was a place of special interest for our pilgrims, as they visited the spectacular sculpture of Christ on the Cross by Irish artist Catherine Greene. The figure is cast in bronze and is five metres tall, suspended in the air on a seven-metre cross behind the altar. Catherine Greene is originally from Galway, but now works from her studio in Co. Kildare. In the creation of this statue, she has embraced all of mankind, incorporating different features from different races in the Christ figure. It is a magnificent sight to behold in the Basilica, which can seat 9,000 people, with space for another 2,000 standing.
Fr Michael O'Connell MSC outside the Basilica of the Rosary, Fatima.
Christ on the Cross, by Irish artist Catherine Greene, at the Basilica of the Holy Trinity, Fatima.
Some of our MSC pilgrims around the font at which the Children of Fatima were baptised.
Our group also spent some time in Valinhos, where Our Lady appeared to the Children of Fatima on August 19th, 1917. Here, they also paused to pray at the beautiful shrine which represents the apparition of the Angel of Peace.
Fr Des Farren MSC, talking to our pilgrim group at Valinhos, where Our Lady appeared to the Children of Fatima in August 1917.
A beautiful shrine representing apparition of the Angel of Peace to the Children of Fatima.
The Way of the Cross in Fatima is a special journey indeed, with the path taken along the Stations of the Cross following the pathway that the Children of Fatima would have followed from their homes, down to the grazing grounds where they would have cared for their family's sheep. The stations were donated to Fatima by the people of Hungary, and the final station, the Crucifixion scene, is positioned on top of the Church of St Stephen of Hungary.
The Way of the Cross, Fatima.
MSC pilgrims pause on the Way of the Cross, Fatima.
The Church of St Stephen of Hungary on the Way of the Cross, Fatima.
"The devotion of the people is perhaps what touched me most about our pilgrimage."
Fr Michael and Fr Des celebrated Sunday Mass during the pilgrimage, along with approximately 60 other priests from around the world. Sunday Mass is a wonderful celebration overlooking the Capelinha, or the Chapel of the Apparitions, which marks the spot where Our Lady appeared. Every Sunday, a statue of Our Lady is carried from the Capelinha to the open-air altar, often by representatives from the fire brigade or the army, dressed in their best with shining uniforms and helmets.
Our Lady's path is lined with pilgrims, singing and waving white handkerchiefs. It is an extremely emotional moment, with many people shedding tears because they won't return to see Our Lady of Fatima again for at least another year. "The devotion of these people is perhaps what touched me most about our pilgrimage," says Fr Michael. "Their tears are just amazing – there are literally tears running down their faces, they are crying their hearts out. They won't be back again for at least another year, if at all, and they are crying. Our Lady is going away, and they're going away. It was so emotional that it made me cry, too."
MSCs Fr Michael O'Connell and Fr Des Farren concelebrated Sunday Mass at the open-air altar of the Basilica of the Rosary, Fatima.
Our Lady of Fatima is carried to the altar for Sunday Mass at the open-air altar of the Basilica of the Rosary.
Our pilgrims also stopped to light a candle for their intentions – so many candles are lit here, however, that the heat is overwhelming and the candles all melt into one big flame. The group pilgrimage candle was carried along the journey and returned home to the Sacred Heart Parish in Cork with Fr Michael, who will continue to light it daily for the prayers and intentions of the pilgrimage group until it has burned down completely.
Lighting candles during our MSC pilgrimage to Fatima 2019.
The 2019 MSC Fatima Pilgrimage candle, which returned to the Sacred Heart Parish in Cork and is lit daily for the intentions of our pilgrims.
The group also ventured to some of the outlying prayer spots in the area. Fr Michael speaks of a special fondness for the statue of the Children of Fatima looking out towards the Chapel of the Apparitions. "That's my favourite spot in Fatima," he says. "That's where I like to be the most, because you're away from the crowd, looking from a distance. I like to step out of the crowds, to stand back and see the bigger picture."
Our great family of faith offers warmth and encouragement from all over the world, and this became especially clear when Fr Michael bumped into MSCs from Indonesia over breakfast in the group's hotel! Fr Nicholaus Adi Seputra MSC, Archbishop of Merauke, Indonesia, and Fr Cayetanus Tarong MSC were travelling with two other MSCs from the Philippines to celebrate 30 years of ordination. It was a fortuitous meeting indeed, as they were leaving Fatima for Rome later that day, continuing their pilgrimage to the Holy Places.
Fr Michael also bumped into an Irish couple, Pat and Mary Leahy from Macroom, Co. Cork, who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary while on pilgrimage. Pat and Mary renewed their love for each other before the Our Lady of Fatima statue at the Capelinha, in a wonderful celebration of true and enduring love.
Our group returned home on June 3rd, replenished in body and soul after a truly wonderful trip where new friendships were made, and old and enduring bonds were strengthened. Sincere thanks to all involved for a joyous pilgrimage journey!
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Trump's travel ban is a gift to Iran's rulers
Marian Vayghan reacts after her uncle is released from a detention center for deportation back to Iran as people protest President Trump's travel ban from Muslim-majority countries at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 28. (Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters)
Opinion by Hadi Ghaemi
Hadi Ghaemi is the founder and executive director of the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
President Trump's travel ban on Iranians is a gift to the Islamic republic and its hard-line rulers. It will not deter terrorism on U.S. soil. Not a single terrorist involved in the 9/11 attacks or other fatal terrorist attacks in the United States since then has been of Iranian origin.
Instead, Trump's policy is a collective punishment of a diverse and changing nationality, and will ironically serve the purposes of Iran's hard-line rulers.
Who are the Iranians who will be harmed by this policy?
I have been helping Iranian refugees reach safety for more than a decade. A recent case is that of Reza, his wife and their 3-year-old daughter. Reza, whose full name I cannot use for security reasons, is a victim of torture at the hands of Iranian Revolutionary Guards at Tehran's notorious Kahrizak prison.
Reza fled to Turkey in 2013, and after years waiting, he and his family were recently approved for resettlement in the United States. He hoped to arrive sometime this year, once security vetting by U.S. agencies was complete.
His hopes are shattered. He and his family are suddenly rendered effectively stateless and homeless, with nowhere to turn. Instead of welcoming a regime opponent to the United States, we are effectively throwing Reza and his family back into the treacherous hands of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The Iranian refugees who have settled in the United States over the past decade are chiefly victims of the regime's harsh crackdowns, including students, journalists, women's rights activists and lawyers. These are the Iranians who have vocally and ferociously opposed the Islamic republic.
Another Iranian who was on her way to the United States — but now will likely never reach here — is a young women's rights activist. For years she has led a movement to change Iran's discriminatory practices toward women, anonymously through social media.
Her dream is to strengthen her activism and knowledge base by attending a U.S. human rights program, and she has just been accepted to an Ivy League university. Without the travel ban, she would be on her way to fulfilling her dream and upon return to Iran would bring back valuable experience and knowledge for her fight against gender discrimination.
But now the door has been slammed in her face. She and her generation of women's rights activists in Iran will continue their work, make no mistake, but they will have to struggle harder to break out of their isolation and confront their oppressive rulers.
Indeed, the people who are most likely to travel between Iran and the United States — the people most affected by any ban — are Iranians who hold Western values of moderation and tolerance and believe in open political and economic systems. It's in the interest of the United States to strengthen these values in Iran however it can.
Isolating Iran from engagement with the West is not the way to fortify the forces of moderation in Iran — and it is exactly the opposite of strategy adopted by previous presidents, such as Ronald Reagan, who conscientiously encouraged nongovernmental and cultural interaction between citizens of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries and the United States, even at the height of the Cold War.
The Iranian government thrives on isolating its population and choking off criticism. But Iran's young population has been striving to break free of this isolation. In Iran, public opinion of the United States is much more favorable than in any other country in the Middle East and North Africa.
By excluding all Iranians, Trump is only making it harder for the most promising elements of Iranian society to stand up to their repressive system and change their country for the better.
This policy will extend the Islamic republic's longevity, disrupt the lives of 1.5 million Iranian Americans and fan the flames of anti-Americanism in the region. None of these developments will help secure our country from terrorism.
The Post's View: President Trump's refugee ban is an affront to American values
Matt Zeller: Trump shuts the door on men and women who have sacrificed for America
Daoud Kuttab: When America was great
Ruth Marcus: Trump's erratic first week was among the most alarming in history
Adam Jentleson: Senate Democrats have the power to stop Trump. All they have to do is use it.


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"Blue Alert" Emergency on Your Phone? Here's What it's About
It is unclear if this alert was meant for the Fargo-Moorhead region
Ulises Villalobos
REGIONAL — Many people in the region received a "Blue Alert" on their cell phones just after 1:30 this afternoon.
"Blue Alerts" warn the public when there may be a violent suspect in the area who has made a threat to law enforcement or tried to carry out an act of violence on an officer.
The FCC put "Blue Alerts" into action on the Emergency Alert System.
They were designed so state and local agencies can send warnings to the public about potential threats against law enforcement.
It is unclear if this alert was meant for the Fargo-Moorhead region.
It may be in reference to a situation that happened earlier this morning in Bismarck.
Authorities in Bismarck say a man attempted to run down an officer while police were assisting with checking on parolees or people on probation.
Police say 22-year-old Ulises Villalobos fled the scene and police say an officer fired his weapon at the vehicle after Villalobos tried to run him over.
They say Villalobos sped away in a 2013 black Chevy Equinox with North Dakota license plates 111-ANF.
Authorities say the vehicle has a broken driver side window and damage in the rear.
The alert may have sounded in the region as the Villalobos is still at large.
He is described as 5'9, 170 lbs, with brown hair and brown eyes.
We will bring you more information as it becomes available.
Categories: Business, Community, Crime, Local News, News Landing Page, North Dakota News
Tags: alert, bismarck, BLUE, law enforcement, north dakota, SUSPECT, threat, violent
Snowstorm closes portions of I-29 & causes no travel advisories


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2 Friends, 1 Cafe, Countless Conversations
Every other month, they meet at the same place for the same luscious dessert. Sound like a promising recipe for a lifelong friendship? According to Lisa Kogan, it is.
By Lisa Kogan
Brenda Abrams had an orange shag carpet and a thing for Elton John. My room was hot pink and my heart belonged to Cat Stevens. We both believed in Herbal Essence, Frye boots, and boys named Brad. We got our periods, our ears pierced, and our learner's permits—in exactly that order. All we knew of drugs was what we'd read in Go Ask Alice. All we knew of sex was what we saw in The Way We Were. We gorged on Twinkies and Fritos and red pop, never dreaming that cellulite could someday come between us and our Calvins. We were good girls. We were best friends.
Thirty years have come and gone. She's Brenda Jacobs now, living with her husband, three kids, and nanny in a big suburban house outside Manhattan. I'm still me, living alone in a small prewar co-op inside Manhattan. She's on the board of trustees at her children's school, practicing law in her spare time. I'm on the computer writing this article, and my spare time is spent wondering how people find spare time. Most days I don't want her life. Most days she doesn't want mine—but we each have the occasional pang. We are still best friends.
There's an unspoken understanding that in case of an emergency we will always come early and stay late for each other, but our days of sharing a locker and nights of marathon phone sessions are behind us. We're down to meeting for lunch—it is an act of faith in faithless times.
On the first Monday of every other month, we take our latest assortment of absurdities, insights, outrages, and ironies to the little café on the fifth floor of Bergdorf Goodman and meet for the same meal we've been having forever. Brenda orders her standard, tuna salad on pumpernickel. She's a straightforward, no-nonsense eater. Her mother's desperate attempt to instill culinary diversity is still referred to as "the turkey tetrazzini incident of '74." I go with my usual open-faced-sandwich combo—three little toast discs topped with lobster in lemon mayonnaise, shrimp in brandy-chive dressing, and gravlax with dill. Though Brenda insists I've got a Lipton monkey on my back, I always order iced tea. Though I insist she's got a death wish, she always opts for New York City tap water. Between bites we catch up on Jan, Sue, Gina, Jacqui, and Alison—friends now scattered across the Midwest. Sometimes we find ourselves aching for a past-we couldn't wait to finish. Sometimes we study the very chic shoppers for signs of facelift. Sometimes we study each other. Brenda wears a simple black twinset and a silver chain around her neck. I wear burgundy lipstick and my heart on my sleeve. "I want a baby," I tell my friend, who has heard it all before.
"I know you do—I'm saving Lily's crib for when you have one," my friend answers in a voice that never fails to soothe.
"Can I have one of yours?" I ask.
"Then can I have your pickle?"
"No problem."
When the waitress offers us dessert, we simultaneously answer, "Just the check, please," then quickly reverse our decision and request one raspberry crème brûlée with two spoons. I crack through the burnt-sugar lid to the satiny custard below and complain that Brenda's half has all the berries. She wonders whether it's possible to actually feel one's arteries clogging, but I assure her that the egg yolks cancel out the heavy cream. "You'll see," I promise, "it'll be the raspberries that do us in."
The two women at the next table begin arguing over whose turn it is to pick up the check. They're 80 years old if they're a day. "Oh, for God's sake, Rosalie, I'm not calling you next time I'm in the city," says one as she grabs for the bill. "Joanne, your money's no good here," says the other as she snatches it right back.
And in a flash we taste our future memories.
More on Food and Relationships
A tale of one husband's culinary takeover
How chocolate cake can help you win over the men in your life
The spice that spiced up one woman's marriage
From the August 2001 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
More Food
11 of the Most Outrageous Chocolate Desserts Ever
Irresistible Cupcakes That Take the Cake
6 Gorgeous, Vintage-Inspired Foods That Will Impress Anyone
These Hand-Painted Cookies Are Like Nothing You've Ever Seen
What My Grandmother Taught Me About Baking—and Life
You're Invited to Dinner with Dr. Oz
My Husband's Culinary Takeover
5 Gorgeous DIY Food Gifts No One Will Believe You Made


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THE SEDUCTION OF SCANDAL
It's never wise
to blackmail a highwayman…
Lady Corinne, rebellious daughter of the duke
of Banfield, refuses to marry Lord Freddie Sherwin.
Yes, he's the catch of the Season and the man her father
chose for her. He's also the most despicable male of her acquaintance.
With her wedding only weeks away, she flees and finds herself a prisoner
of the notorious Thorn!
Who says the devil isn't a woman?
The rich and powerful tremble at the highwayman's
name, while England's villagers rejoice in his bold exploits.
name, while England's villagers rejoice in his bold exploits. His identity is a secret; his life a mystery—
until Lady Corinne tumbles into his arms. If the
Thorn wants her silence, he must hide her until her
wedding day passes. It's a devil's bargain and one that
can only lead to a hangman's noose.
Corinne believes it the perfect plan—until her
highwayman reveals a passionate lover's heart, and she
realizes that in the seduction of scandal, she may have
found the hero she's been waiting for her whole life.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of
this book and others (up to $25,000) will be
donated to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.
About Cathy Maxwell
New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell has lived a full
and adventurous life. Her resume includes years as a naval officer
working with Security Group, to time spent managing a watch factory,
with a stint as a news broadcaster and work designing costumes for
theater productions thrown in for good measure. Today, Cathy spends
hours in front of her computer pondering the question, "Why do people
fall in love?" It remains for her the great mystery of life and the
secret to happiness. She lives in the Richmond, Virginia, area
surrounded by kids, dogs, cats, and horses.
"Maxwell charms and delights with each book. Here she brings a
delectable highwayman, pulse-pounding adventure and plenty of suspense
to this Robin Hood-themed tale that will sweep readers away."—RT Book Reviews
Cathy Maxwell wraps up her fabulous Scandals and Seductions series with
this buoyant fifth installment… wonderful protagonists… Ms. Maxwell had
my undivided attention… [she] also managed to have me on the edge of my
seat… a heck of a climax…I've come to love this charming series."—Joyfully Reviewed
"The Seduction of Scandal has a promising start, and the delightful heroine drew me in
to the story… Cathy Maxwell managed to surprise me with a neat twist…
something I didn't see coming… enjoyable."—The Romance Review
"Maxwell's latest is more than a captivating romance."—Library Journal


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You are here: Home › Blog › Fun › General › Gov › Past Posts › Alabama Hills National Scenic Area becomes law
Alabama Hills National Scenic Area becomes law
By News Staff on March 12, 2019 in Fun, General, Gov, Past Posts
Alabama Hills Stewardship Group press release
Lone Pine, CA (March 12, 2019) – The Alabama Hills Stewardship Group, along with dozens of area stakeholders and the community of Lone Pine are celebrating the passage of a congressional measure that will create the first ever "Alabama Hills National Scenic Area"!
Photo courtesy Jim Purdum
"All these years of community input has helped improve and strengthen both our stewardship efforts and this important legislation; as well as our coalition of support" stated Kevin Mazzu, board member of the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group (AHSG). "The heavy lifting was done early in the process; with several final enhancements – based on stakeholder feedback – helping the legislation reach the perfect balance between conservation and access".
The Inyo County Board of Supervisors have also been enthusiastic in their support behind the bill, voting unanimously to endorse the legislation and traveling repeatedly to Washington DC to lobby for its passage. "We are excited to see the cooperation and hard work of local stakeholders finally coming to fruition." Matt Kingsley, 5th District – Inyo County Supervisor said.
The legislation states: "The purpose of the National Scenic Area is to conserve, protect, and enhance for the benefit, use, and enjoyment of present and futures generations the nationally significant scenic, cultural, geological, educational, biological, historical, recreational, cinematographic, and scientific resources"…With current recreational activities in the Alabama Hills allowed to continue: "including hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, sightseeing, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and appropriate authorized motorized vehicle use".
Friends of the Inyo, a local public lands advocacy group, has been a critical partner in this legislative journey, beginning with AHSG founding board member and current secretary for the FOI, Mike Prather. Mike wrote the initial legislation before handing it off to federal legislators, with most of his initial draft making it into the final legislation.
"Friends of the Inyo worked closely with our local community [Alabama Hills Stewardship Group] to bring protection to the geologic wonder of the Alabama Hills", said Mike Prather with Friends of the Inyo, "We saw that the future required more effective management in order to head off a slow decline in the area's beauty."
The Alabama Hills are the birthplace of the American Western film genre and the Act will also allow the continuation of commercial filming and still photography, as well as grazing on two BLM allotments; and recreational prospecting/rock hounding in the historic mining area. These were all "must haves" expressed by key stakeholders in the designation study process.
In addition, as a part of this Act there will be a corresponding land transfer between the Inyo National Forest, BLM and the local Lone Pine Paiute – Shoshone Reservation of 132 acres of culturally sensitive land, a portion of which will be within the NSA.: "After years of discussions with all interested parties, we are confident that a National Scenic Area is the best way to protect the Alabama Hills. Our Tribe is very excited about the landmark land transfer included in the legislation." said Kathy Bancroft, AHSG President and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Lone Pine Paiute – Shoshone Reservation. "This is the first time since 1939 that the Tribe has acquired any land, and we will finally take ownership of our own cemetery."
Mike Johnston, President of the Eastern Sierra 4WD Club who have participated in several restoration projects in the Alabama Hills, adds: "It is important that the public has access to the many beautiful areas that Mother Nature provides us, such as the Alabama Hills. And it is just as important, that the public knows how to protect the land, as they enjoy it. This new designation should help provide a means to move in that direction, and we look forward to the implementation of this National Scenic Area."
Finally, the development of a comprehensive plan for the long-term management of the National Scenic Area shall be in consultation "with appropriate State, tribal, and local governmental entities, and members of the public" including all our key stakeholders.
The current bill is the culmination of a collaborative 10-year process led by the Alabama Hills Stewardship Group that gathered input from over 30 stakeholder and 40 different user groups. Feedback was received from a diversity of groups ranging from local government, conservation, chambers of commerce, local cattle ranchers, rock climbers and ATV riders.
This input helped direct the effort to explore a federally legislated designation and led to a final recommendation to designate 18,610 acres in the Alabama Hills, a National Scenic Area under the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS), which will be the first-of-its-kind designation managed by the Bureau of Land Management. National Conservation Lands are the nation's newest class of protected lands, established in 2000 to "conserve, protect, and restore…nationally significant landscapes that have outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values for the benefit of the public". The BLM has been a supportive partner with the AHSG, the local Tribe and the Lone Pine community throughout their 12-year relationship. This designation will protect both the spectacular landscape and the various user groups' access to the Alabama Hills.
Chris Langley, past president of the AHSG and current Inyo County Film Commissioner states "The Alabama Hills Stewardship Group appreciates Congressman Cook's passion and commitment to serving his constituency in Inyo County. He has proven he can listen, learn and lead on issues that are important to conservation and our local economy. In addition, we are thankful that Senator Dianne Feinstein, has been an ardent sponsor of our legislation, since the beginning of our grassroots effort."
The Alabama Hills Stewardship Group, Inc. (AHSG) is a local group of Owens Valley community leaders whose goal is to aid, advise, monitor, inform and protect the Alabama Hills by assisting the BLM in their ongoing management of the area. The group was recognized in 2008 with a "Cooperative Conservation Award" from the US Department of the Interior and in 2011 with a "Vision Award" by the Sierra Business Council.
The Alabama Hills rise from the desert and provide a scenic backdrop for the community of Lone Pine, California. For thousands of years, the area has been continually used for subsistence, habitation and ceremonial purposes by the indigenous people known today as the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. The Alabama Hills have inspired legendary landscape photographers Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and David Muench. Nearly 100 years of film history exists in the Alabama Hills from silent movies to state-of-the-art motion pictures such as Gunga Din, How the West Was Won and more recently Ironman and Django Unchained. The Museum of Western Film History located in Lone Pine, CA, and visited by thousands of people each year, contains extensive film history displays featuring the Alabama Hills.
The AHSG, Inc. is committed to protecting the jaw-dropping beauty of this semi-primitive landscape with continued access for hikers, motorists, photographers, rock climbers and campers as well as allowing important economic activities like commercial filming, cattle grazing, hunting/fishing and recreation to continue. Balancing all these needs is what makes the Alabama Hills so special to so many people and necessitates its protection.
From Rep. Paul Cook's office
WASHINGTON- Today, President Donald Trump signed into law S. 47, the Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, which overwhelmingly passed in the Senate and House last month. Rep. Paul Cook (R-Apple Valley) attended the signing ceremony at the White House this afternoon.
The Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act is a package of bipartisan public lands-related bills that passed the House or Senate in the previous Congress. It includes critical lands legislation Rep. Cook introduced in the last Congress, including the Santa Ana Wash Land Exchange Act and the California Desert Protection and Recreation Act (previously known as the California Off-road Recreation and Conservation Act).
The Santa Ana Land Wash and Exchange Act authorizes a land exchange in San Bernardino County, which will boost the economy, provide increased water storage, and protect critical habitat for threatened and endangered species.
The California Desert Protection and Recreation Act is the culmination of over five years of work in Congress by Rep. Cook, as well as over a decade of work by supporters on the ground. This landmark legislation creates the first national system of Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation areas and designates or expands six Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Areas in the California desert. These are Johnson Valley, Spangler Hills, El Mirage, Rasor, Dumont Dunes, and Stoddard Valley. This bill creates additional protections for OHV users and ensures that these areas cannot be closed by a future administration. The established or expanded OHV areas would total approximately 200,580 acres. Combined with the nearly 100,000 acres that make up the existing Johnson Valley OHV Recreation Area, this bill will ensure that over 300,000 acres are open permanently for OHV use in the California Desert.
This legislation also designates approximately 18,000 acres of existing federal land as the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area. This restricts large-scale projects such as renewable energy generation, while preserving all existing recreational and commercial uses of the Alabama Hills. Activities such as filming, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, hunting, fishing, and authorized motorized vehicle use are unaffected.
The California Desert Protection and Recreation Act adds approximately 39,000 acres of land to the National Park System, including significant acreage at both Joshua Tree National Park and Death Valley National Park. For Joshua Tree, it adds approximately 4,500 acres of land to the north of Joshua Tree National Park to the park and authorizes the park to acquire the Joshua Tree Visitor Center near the main entrance, while Death Valley National Park will expand by approximately 35,000 acres.
It also creates permanent wilderness areas on 375,500 acres of federal land in the California Desert, most of which are currently designated as "wilderness study areas," while releasing approximately 124,000 acres of other wilderness study areas back to general use in the Cady Mountains and Soda Mountains regions.
This bill designates or expands approximately 77 miles of wild, scenic, and recreational rivers in the San Bernardino Mountains and near Death Valley. It prohibits the development of renewable energy generation facilities on approximately 28,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land near "Juniper Flats" outside of Lucerne Valley and conveys 934 acres of BLM land to the State of California to be included in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It also directs the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with the California State Lands Commission on land swaps involving state school lands within the California Desert Conservation Area and establishes a Desert Tortoise Conservation Center along the California-Nevada border.
Rep. Cook said, "It's been a long process to get to this point, but this is truly a model for how grassroots legislating should work. This bill had widespread support from local governments, recreational groups, and conservation groups, as well as significant bipartisan support. It was a great honor to see President Trump recognize all of this hard work by signing S.47 into law today. I thank President Trump, my colleagues in the House and Senate, and most importantly all of those people on the ground who worked tirelessly to get a compromise bill that we could all be proud of. This is a huge legislative victory."
A member of the House Natural Resources and Armed Services Committees, Cook served as an infantry officer and retired after 26 years as a Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps. During his time in combat, he was awarded the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.
About News Staff
We work to provide daily news to all of the Eastern Sierra, in the tradition of Eastern Sierra News Service and the Sierra Wave. We bring you daily happenings, local politics, crime, government dealings and fun stuff. Please contact us.
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Alabama Hills National Scenic Area, Alabama Hills Stewardship Group
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'Mamma Mia' tickets go on sale Saturday
2 Responses to Alabama Hills National Scenic Area becomes law
IJMO Today March 13, 2019 at 11:13 am #
Yay! I don't get it. Trump wants to destroy some national landmarks. he creates others. My head is spinning
Tinner March 13, 2019 at 3:42 pm #
IJMO, you're kidding, right? You think Trump had anything to do with this, other than the final signature? What the heck is wrong with you?
How do you allow one person to negatively impact your entire life to the degree Trump has on your life?
Good lord, if Obama had signed this bill into law how would you feel about this?
I feel sorry for you, man, truly, I do, you sound as if you still haven't accepted the fact Trump won the election 2+ years ago.
Trump had very little to do with this, more likely than not he signed it because it passed the house and senate overwhelmingly.
You poor sob.


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Direct Rule by Wall Street Begins with Detroit
By Glen Ford
Black Agenda Report 22 October 2013
Theme: Global Economy, Law and Justice
The United States has never been much of a democracy. Money has always wielded decisive power, despite the formal trappings of the electoral franchise. However, finance capital can no longer tolerate even the U.S.'s weak version of democracy – certainly, not when exercised by Black people. Detroit is the model for direct rule by the Lords of Capital.
Two items in the news this week put in graphic relief the overarching reality of our times: Wall Street is every day tightening its dictatorial grip on the political and economic life of the United States. The American state and economy are being relentlessly restructured in order to further consolidate the rule of finance capital. In the largely Black urban centers of the nation, the oligarchy intends to rule directly, without the inconvenience of meaningful elections and the other trappings of democracy.
Detroit proves the point. This week, a judge begins a bankruptcy court trial that will decide if local corporate dictator Kevyn Orr, the emergency financial manager imposed by the state to protect the interests of Wall Street, will essentially be allowed to sell Detroit's assets to a British bank in order to pay off the city's debts to American banks. The pensions of city workers may also be gutted in the process.
The city council of Detroit this week voted unanimously against the deal, but that is probably irrelevant, since the emergency manager law has stripped all power from Detroit's elected officials. Democracy is dead in Detroit, as it is in all of Michigan's largely Black cities, every single one of which is now run by a corporate dictator. The majority of Michigan's African American citizens have no more electoral rights than did Blacks in South Africa under apartheid.
This new political regime has been carefully crafted to the specifications of Wall Street. City revenues from Detroit's casino and income taxes will go directly through accounts of Barclays Bank. And if, for some reason, the emergency manager loses legal control of the city, then Barclays would be allowed to declare Detroit in default and begin seizing its assets, for liquidation – that is, the bankers would be empowered to exercise outright ownership of the city. Detroit will then serve as a model for the rest of urban America.
Also this week, the U.S. Justice Department reached an agreement with JP Morgan Chase, the country's biggest bank in terms of assets, whose chairman and chief executive, Jamie Dimon, is a good friend of President Obama. The settlement calls for $9 billion in fines and sets aside $4 billion in relief to homeowners that were victimized by the banks' mortgage securities practices. Nobody, of course, will go jail or even face criminal charges for the multitude of felonies committed by high JP Morgan executives – crimes that would be categorized as racketeering offenses were the perpetrators not part of a ruling class that is immune from prosecution. Jamie Dimon, the Godfather of JP Morgan's criminal enterprise, has the privilege of bargaining with the U.S. Attorney General over the size of the fine his bank will pay. Dimon himself, of course, won't pay a cent, despite his role in throwing millions out of work and costing the world economy many trillions of dollars. His class has emerged from the crisis they created stronger than ever: too big to fail, too big to jail, more than big enough to gobble up Detroit, bigger than the voting rights of U.S. citizens – especially Black citizens – which can be cancelled when democracy gets in the way of Wall Street. All Power to the Bankers!
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at [email protected]
The original source of this article is Black Agenda Report
Copyright © Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report, 2013
Articles by: Glen Ford


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Don't You Know?
Don't You Know? (Now That's A Girl!)
Well you know I've tried to find some peace of mind
But don't you know, now that's a girl
And it seems like just the thing - if I could bring into my world, now that's a girl!
And she Is cute, but the point is mute, until I know, now that's a girl!
Now I just don't want to try to deny what's begun, now that's a girl!
'Cause you know we're telling lies that I can't buy, what's become, now that's a girl!
Well she is cute, and if it's love to boot, then I'll know, now that's a girl!
And when it comes all down to foes trading blows, don't you go, now that's a girl!
Seems big blue eyes beget lies, and don't you know, now that's a girl!