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Tag Archives: UKIP
The Imagined and Actual Geography of Brexit: Topologies of Social Anxiety
What sort of precedent did the Brexit vote sent for the validity of the demonization of immigration, and the growth of a firmly anti-globalist impulse? The combination of a growing state security apparatus and economic insecurity on European boarders has created a fear of hordes and the arrival of migrants moving on foot that has created the now-dismantled migrant camp known as the "Jungle" near the port of Calais, not far from the Ferry Terminal for ships leaving for England. This settlement became a site emblematic of the proximity of migrants to Britain in the summer of 2016, and helped to embody the fears of immigration close to the shores of England, giving a concreteness to the fears of immigration that deeply divided Britain on the need to protect its borders, and the dangers of doing so. It was a debate about what being British meant, and where we draw our borders, which the Calais encampment, as the posters of refugees from Eastern Europe and Syria, illustrated with increased proximity.
Crossing to Calais on the Eurostar this summer, I looked out intently out of the rapidly moving train window for migrant camps who had been so central to the "Brexit" referendum by which England recently left the European Union, that has held up to 6-8,000 refugees hoping to move to England–and some suggest the number reached as high as 10,000. Indeed, as "Leave" seemed so successfully cast as an imperative, and "Remain" as the honest commitment to "Remain" seemed to have decidedly less media presence and staying power, the haunting residents of the camps, filled with refugees and migrants from Syria, Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan, if often left out of most maps of the election, provided a compelling if faceless specter for many.
The haphazard and improvised constellation of lean-tos, make-shift huts, and tents were ordered in streets beside orderly rows of fenced-off white metal shipping containers relocated to Calais to provide temporary forms of housing after their arrival. Although there were not any migrant camps in evidence from my position in the train, the camps were in the past few weeks increasingly in the news, as the UKIP party that predicted an England inundated by refugee influx that social services and health could not accommodate, all because of England's membership in the European Union, on the eve of Britain's vote on the European Union Referendum–as "Leave" parties conjured fears of what belonging in the European Union would mean for the everyday Englishman in an age of increasing global displacement of refugees and cross-border traffic of men and women seeking work, education, and safety. When the rapid train suddenly paused for unforeseen difficulties due to people on the tracks, one couldn't but wonder how the halt related to those risking lives to enter the tunnel running beneath the Channel, whom local police quarantined in semi-permanent "homes" of converted shipping containers.
While the Eurostar connected two railway stations, and half of London and Paris was glued to the European Cup, the "Brexit" vote revealed a hiving off of about a third of Britain similarly eager to separate itself from the European Union–as voters voted, probably unaware of the consequences, in a plebiscite that trumped parliamentary politics in anti-democratic ways. For Brexit became a performative mapping of a severance from Europe, in ways to manufacture an imaginary boundary between England and a refugee crisis. The precarity of living in shipping containers now seems to be about as great as that of the European Union. What was Jungle is largely destroyed, rendered uninhabitable save for the 1,200 unaccompanied minors who reside in the complex of huts, tents, and containers, as 4,403 migrants bussed to refugee centers across the country, to seek asylum, the settlement provided an effective threat of migration and effective specter of fear in the EU Referendum. Indeed, it helped to ensure the surprising and unexpected success of a referendum designed to keep refugees at bay and finally withdraw the country –at significant national monetary cost–from the European Union for the foreseeable future. As multiple fires began to burn in the Jungle after workers moved in to begin dismantling the camp, while some pointed the finger to refugees seeking to dismantle and erase the structures where they lived others pointed to British anarchists, even with the clearance began, so strong was the fear of migrants that the fate of 1,000 children seeking entrance to the UK is unknown, suspended by the post-BREXIT government of Theresa May.
English voters on the Referendum were presented with almost dizzying fears of immigration and declining social services that were impossible to visualize adequately. In an onslaught that dominated the news and challenged voters' attention spans and moral compass, "Leave" flyers used fear to mobilize against remaining in the European Union. In a canny onslaught and bid for attention, reminiscent of right-wing politicians, flyers of "Leave" raised the specter of fears of immigration policies out of control and wrested away by a European Union whose member states stood only to escalate. The eventuality of remaining in the EU was seen as an abdication of responsibilities, and a misplaced trust in Brussels to control the entry of refugees and Eastern Europeans seeking jobs into the UK: if migration to the UK had grown to above a quarter of a million–"the equivalent of a city the size of Newcastle"–the arrival of two million over the coming decade mandated by "free movement of people" conjured a suitably dystopian future. Voting to Remain in the European Union was to accept this lack of control, and the subordination of British law to an over-reaching European Court; expanding the myth of foreign oversight of Britain, Leave claimed to offer the opportunity to check the flow of migrants to restore control to British hands. The argument of empowerment may have been deluded. But the powerful promise to return £350 million in taxes flowing to Brussels, and the prospect of immigration growth once such "candidate countries" as Turkey, Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro joined Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia, to the tune of a cost of nearly £1.8 billion, provided a compelling rationale to vote "Leave" and to identify interests with the possibility of controlling the fair of the expanded borders of globalization alone, and rather than in the European Union. As a movement of "faux populism," carefully orchestrated to be effective at the ballot, the Brexit supporters stirred up fear into a central role in the election that attracted a growing range of supporters to the ballot.
The dizzying expansion of a region without frontiers was joined by a cry "to take back control" of England's future. The Referendum was presented as "our last chance to take back control," a virtual mantra of the Leave campaign, and control "our borders" and international "influence" lest the nation be filled with immigrants against who one can draw no clear border. With the Turkey, Serbia, and Macedonia joining the EU, ran the implicit message, Syrian refugees were bound to be waiting at the gates as well, without a compelling way to turn them back.
Such a compelling framing of the debate about the nation's compromised future in a landscape of expanding "rights" fostered fears of an end of public futures, "without handing our permanent control to people we cannot vote out"–as if the vote presented the last attempt at independence, ignoring the special relation of the UK had long insisted to the EU. To be sure, the Leave campaign also increased regulations that the EU introduced, without suggesting other financial benefits.
The mapping of the response to the Referendum released a new plethora of maps in hopes better to explain the final vote of the plebiscite that precipitated the break from the EU. Can these maps–and the mapping of social divides in England's complicated tapestry of islands which integrate immigrants and regions where they still remain unknown, provide any insight in the difficulty to create consensus about the growing population flows that globalization has produced? The question is important, because it suggests a new problem of political consensus not only in Britain and the European Union, but also in the United States. For the unprecedented misinformed plebiscite gave voice to a deep unease with parliamentary deals that brokered the terms of England's membership in the European Union, and with globalization, that dangerously undermined the responsibilities that the EU has gained to respond to the global threats of refugee crises–a role that has been foisted upon it by the economic promise Europe continues to offer as a zone without apparent national frontiers. While we've been told by informed voices that the EU "had it coming," whatever that means, or that the current European Union compromised British demands, or warned that the creation of social and political affinities could ever follow from enforced economic union, or give rise to public confidence, rejection by plebiscite of membership in the European Union subverted democracy, by a campaign bred from xenophobic fears and assertions the EU "has failed Britain" as a whole.
The recourse to demographic polling, hex bin maps sought to go beyond easy dichotomies, and unpack what seem deep-running fault lines within the country, and the difficulty of reconciling the nation given the increased political fault-lines attempted to process and reconcile divides in political parties that plagued the land. But rather than suggest the complex lines of fracturing between the political mosaic of Conservatives, Liberals, Labourites, UKIP and Greens in England's new political landscape, the Leave/Stay dichotomy revealed new divides in the body politic.
Despite the many tired dichotomies that have been extracted ad nauseam from data visualizations of the EU Referendum–from old v. young, north v. south, working class v. metropolitan elites; educated v. non-graduates; identifying as "English" v. cosmopolites–the complexion that has redefined the country reflects a growing retrograde tendency of rejecting the status quo and belief in the benefits of hiving off that was undemocratic and displayed a perverse nostalgia of deeply conservative roots.
The referendum that former Prime Minister David Cameron presented as a panacea or safety valve to staunch opposition to the EU in Great Britain encouraged one of the most badly informed electorates in memory to protest the entrance of eastern Europeans into the country, and the perception of economic malaise and overburdened public services, and erase the benefit of free trade accords and that led to considerable economic growth. The economic amnesia Brexit provoked led to a massive rejection of the national government and indeed political elites, even when undermining their economic interests, producing the increasing likelihood that many wish to leave Britain even among working class groups in England and Wales, and many voters more angry about the EU government than aware of the actual impact on trade relations to Europe or manufacturing and health standards. Although turnout was in general quite high, with 30 million expressing their opinion at the ballot box, or some 72%, the vote was predicted to be determined by turn-out, and the distribution of votes varied. If most in Scotland turned out, many in London and in northern Ireland voting less, and many of the regions who voted to "Leave" turned out to vote intensely–and turnout markedly lower in areas with greater numbers of younger voters–who tended to vote to Remain in reflection of their economic futures, especially in areas with greater student populations in relative to their size. But the appeal to the nation and national independence deeply obscured the issues on the table.
What was Cameron thinking in opening up this question to a plebiscite that gave greater voice to those with stronger opinions, and indeed in opening up a question of particular complexity to a public yea or nay vote that hinged on turn-out? Democratic "consent" to membership in the EU was long been "wafer thin" in much of Britain, and low turnout among the young gave a greater share of the vote to Brexit. But the opportunity that the vote offered many the chance to decamp from the EU in ways few intended. For during a refugee crisis, the cards were steeply stacked the party reduced to take "Remain" as its slogan, although the very passivity of whose construction suggested an absence of cogent arguments to respond to false promises of helping England's shaky economy, persistent low wages, growing waiting times at National Health Service, and rising rents–all of which were represented as stretched thin by serving migrant workers and their families, and rising rents.
Partisans of "Leave" tapped such concerns so effectively that despite the value of data visualizations in anatomizing and describing the broad distribution of adherents mobilized behind a "Leave" mandate, the vote seems little understood or analyzed for its appeal as in its ramifications, and has created an ongoing puzzle about what place of England will now occupy in relation to the EU–or how the EU will look.
The New Xenophobia
One of the scarier consequences of the Paris Terror Attacks are the waves of renewed xenophobia that have swept Europe's already seething right wing, and somewhat surprisingly travelled across the Atlantic. The suicide bombings by jihadis were widely mapped in Paris at first, in attempts to comprehend the coordinated suicide bombings and sites at which terrorists struck with AK47's and Kalshnikovs in quite shocking near-simultaneity. (Coordination of the attacks, which claimed 130 lives, and left 368 wounded, undoubtedly increased their terror, and eerily echoed the parallel hijacking of planes on September 11, 2001, in suggesting vulnerability and geographic reach of an unseen network.)
The transformation of reflexive spontaneous public displays mourning the victims or in solidarity with migrants have all too rapidly been replaced in many European cities, as if leading us through a looking glass, into nationalist protests of anti-migrant sentiment, channeling fears that have grown with threats of another attack into neo-nationalist sentiments–as if governments had failed to defend public safety, following on the immediate declaration of a state of emergency, closing of borders, and multiplication of police raids. The initial reflexive show of widespread solidarity of mourning and commemoration at the unprecedented attacks appeared to heal profound shock and disbelief at the murders at outdoor restaurants and night clubs in Paris and attempted assassinations at a soccer stadium attended by the President of the Republic outside the city. Those public displays of sentiment contrasted sharply to how the deadly attacks have fed a new xenophobia in Europe and America, and a deep suspicion of the "other" of the refugee–now increasingly suspected of disguising their own ties to terrorist cells. If these protests appears–inadequately–to orient and focus fears of further terror attacks of such terrifying scale, they suggest the disorientation before the shock of the Paris attacks, if not outright cynical deception. After ISIS claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks, President Hollande's immediate declaration that 'France is at war' prepared the stage for a rhetoric of opposition evoking George W. Bush's declaration of a clash of civilizations, giving broader circulation to a misguided concept first theorized by Samuel P. Huntington, but that gained startling currency to justify the so-called war on terror: it returned as a master-narrative of global oppositions reduced to the easiest alterity of us v. them and cast less in terms of law than religion; if it was readily reclaimed by ISIS news releases to magnify the actions of a group of attackers resident in Belgium who were second-and third-generation immigrants, the group of plotters was not based in Syria.
Despite clearly harmful over-simplifications in so faulty an opposition, the narrative have mobilized unjustified fears of infiltration removed from evidence: mapping ties between ISIS and the perpetrators of the attacks shifted nefariously to mapping terror onto Syrian refugees. Only three days after shock and outpouring of global sympathy to shootings that left 129 dead in six simultaneously timed attacks in the city's center, fears of infiltration of displaced Syrian refugees by ISIS terrorist cells have gained unprecedented currency based on only the flimsiest of circumstantial proofs. It is as if this responds to the relative inadequacy and failure of efforts to comprehend the plight or the scope of needs of Syrian refugees, and shock at the use of military-grade weapons in civil spaces. Many of the multiple attackers in fact held French or Belgian nationality, and for disaffected underemployed Europeans living in the Brussels' district of Molenbeek and other poor urban neighborhoods, the Islamic State appears to have exercised a particular appeal. And although the attacks were coordinated by the Belgian ISIS Lieutenant Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who sought to impress higher ups with a devastating attack in France, the group of terrorists and gunmen, if many were trained in Syria, are poorly mapped onto Syrians writ large, even if they were adept in evading security forces at airports and in cars. For despite his presence in every available database of terror, Abaaoud evaded suspicion, as did other Paris plotters and Belgian jihadists, who had sequestered large amounts of triacetonea triperoxide explosives and automatic explosives. The danger of terrorist threats and operations is profoundly mis-mapped and poorly apprehended as originating abroad, even if Abaaoud was indeed eager to "do jihad": ISIS propaganda has lavished praise on the "eight knights" for having "brought Paris down to its knees" but increasing evidence points to local coordination of the attacks, most probably planned and executed by a contingent of Europeans. Yet rather than being coordinated at a remove from secretive locations in Pakistan, Syria, or Yemen, as Al Quaeda, European residents who joined ISIS have apparently hatched plots of their own–as firing automatics at close range in a concert hall or stadium–that reflect ISIS' increased exploitation of social media and crowd funding to attract jihadis eager to pose beside the black ISIS flag.
From ISIS' online recruiting magazine, Dabiq
The topography of the Paris attacks is increasingly reveled to have unfolded in the changing urban sociology of European cities in France and Belgium, and neighborhoods plagued by high unemployment rates and disaffected youth as St. Denis and Molenbeek; although some suspects have indeed traveled to Syria, they are removed from a central command, and seem to have enacted their own fantasies of violence in crowded public spaces (a rock arena and soccer stadium), rather than being orchestrated from abroad as the French President Hollande has asserted: indeed, despite the target of ISIS's Syrian de facto capital, many of the ISIS higher ups have left the city long ago, and bombs are focussed, it is argued, on empty lots. The perpetrators are among thee roughly one thousand French citizens and six hundred Germans who have travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State; over 3,000 Europeans committed to jihad, attracted in part by IS's increasingly effective use of the internet as a recruitment and fundraising tool, as well as for diffusing a call to jihad.
1. It is striking how public spectacles of collective mourning have rapidly mutated into frustration to contain deep fears of where terrorists might strike, and desperation at the unexpected attacks–even as parallel protests have occurred sympathetic to the plight of refugees.
The government's official denunciation of attacks as "planned in Syria" have justified airstrikes against the Syrian capital of the Islamic State, led to over 600 raids and numerous house arrests across France, and increased visible military presence in much of the nation. French President François Hollande's involvement of the army across the country "confirms we are at war"–as is, by extension, suddenly, much of the world. The absence of the face of the "enemy" has led concern to be projected upon the next potentially scary suspect, in an attempt to contain fears of repeat attacks, with the whereabouts of their actual coordinator unknown. We assume that it must be contained in fixed border, and arrive from a place that lies far outside the boundaries of the European Union.
Yet if France is at war, where's the enemy? Molenbeek? The problem of mapping the threat has provided substantiation of deeper fears of the arrival of terror cells in the European Union's borders whose provenance was limited to the Middle East is no longer tenable, and the bombing of unidentified targets in Syria may not even be an adequate response to a network of men in their late twenties or early thirties, mostly petty criminals, who are presumed to have recently traveled to Syria. Even if their radicalization occurred in Syria, they are not refugees.
The lack of clear compass to where the enemy exists has made the apparent insinuation of terrorism into the European Union so startling that a finger has been quite deceptively pointed toward refugees. A similar lack of knowledge and growing fears of further attacks have come to justify an unprecedented public expansion of xenophobic protests calling for a rethinking of the European Union's previous decision to admit refugees. These protests, stoked by threats of continued terror attacks, mirror a broad attack on outside, external forces as if they have indeed coordinated the vicious jihadi attacks, and the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqa constitutes an odd localization of the the terrorist threat. Bombings have been unleashed against northern Syria, announced to be in retaliation, concentrated in the operational capital of the Islamic State, have been concentrated on its outskirts. Even in the face of evidence locating coordination of attacks in Paris among local jihadis, the unprecedented intensification of anti-migrant rhetoric across Europe mismaps and exploits the danger of further jihadi attacks in irresponsible ways, largely because of the discovery of a Syrian passport near the corpse of one suicide bomber in the Paris attacks at the Stade de Paris.
Marion Ruszniewski/Agence France Presse
The Syrian refugee crisis has already provoked severe human rights violations, from sequestrations and confinements to arrests and strip-searches, and numbering, dehumanizing displaced refugees who try to enter Europe in search of residence and work. The renewed currency of ties between terror and migrants have also led American politicians eager to find common ground to condemn Barack Obama's offers of asylum within the United States to those displaced–as if it constituted a heedless abetting of the spread of terror attacks, mirroring inflated anti-refugee rhetoric throughout the European Union. The wholesale borrowing of such groundless charges from right wing European parties is a particularly toxic manifestation of anti-Islamic xenophobia, transported by means of tweets and social media, and giving rise to a melding of anti-immigrant xenophobia and nationalism that attract an inverse demographic than protests welcoming immigrants in recent months, demanding their repatriation and literally cloaking themselves in regional nationalisms.
The protest of Germans anointing themselves as "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident" hearken back to visions of oppositional political history framed by Karl Schmitt in the Nazi period. The pressure they have put on Germany's continued promises to resettle refugees has forced its Minster of Justice, Heiko Maas, to caution against equating refugees with terrorists, and affirm the absence of any actual ties between Syrian migrants and the perpetrators of the Paris attacks, and the EU to tighten security on the boundaries on the Schengen region.
The actual geography on the ground hasn't at all changed. But the links already insinuated between hidden terrorist cells and Syrian refugees have materialized as a rationale for collectively turning our backs on the growing refugee crisis as if our actual well being and survival depended on it–and the acceptance of refugees has provided an entry point of sleeper cells who may execute similar attacks. As the manhunt for the terrorists who committed the atrocities has expanded, waves of panic have spread, stoked by accusations that resemble a witch craze, as the association of migrants and terrorists has virally mutated not only in Europe, but migrated across the Atlantic to the United States, in ways that stand to infect political discourse and debate. The recent reassessment of how open America's doors would remain to refugees–and absurd request for assurances that none would engage in "terroristic activity," as Greg Abbot of Texas put it, or, as Senator John McCain glibly demanded, while defending migrant asylum, that "there's a process that prohibits any kind of infiltration like we've just seen in Paris," entirely misses the point. And they stand to expand the waiting-time to process Syrian refugees in the United States beyond the 18 to 24 months now required, and hamstring plans to grant 10,000 refugees asylum in 2016–by requiring the heads of the FBI and Secretary of Homeland Security to personally approve each refugee for entrance, radically reworking practices of processing Syrian and Iraqi refugees at a crucial and sensitive time.
The discovery of a passport of the Syrian Ahmad Almohammad, who entered Europe from the island of Leros in Greece and the traversed the Balkans, near one site of terrorist attack offered circumstantial evidence but needed grist to identify refugees who have arrived in Europe with feared terrorist groups. Links between ISIS terrorists and Syrians refugees in Europe acquired the sort of substantiation which politicians believed to exist, even if they were not searching for them. Although no previous proofs of actual connections exist that could have prevented the Paris attacks, the fingerprints of one of the suicide bombers on a Syrian passport has suddenly substantiated fears of terrorist infiltration of groups of millions of undocumented refugees. Such identifying signs, no doubt since they provide the archetypical clues for how the police have apprehended and identified criminals, offer the needed grist for inflammatory ties between national security and displaced Syrian migrants and substantiating long latent xenophobic fears. The documented passage of the holder of the passport through the Greek island of Leros tied to the cluster of deadly attacks under the name Ahmad Almohammad suddenly offered possible grounds to fear potential infiltration by Islamic State operatives among the 1.5 millions displaced entering Europe from Turkey–even though the other perpetrators were of longstanding European residence, including a French national and Belgian resident. The poor sense of the geography of terror is to blame. For even the discovery of the even crudest hand-drawn map of a route from Turkey through Greece and Hungary to Germany provokes speculation about terrorist plots. Suspicions of the presence 4,000 "covert gunmen" in Europe have been stoked by ISIS videos promising further attacks, and led refugees to be stopped on suspicion in Turkish port cities.
Ahmad was clearly not the ringleader of the operations–local police finger the Belgian-born jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud–but the apparent presence of a Syrian refugee at a site of terror has provided the needed catalyst for expanding increasingly inflammatory rhetoric linking jihadi terrorism to Syrian refugees, despite the unfounded nature of these links. The potential links of terrorist threats and the arrival of Syrian refugees in Europe has been often cited by countries than had already built barbed wire fences in order to discourage the arrival and block the progress of Syrian refugees across the Balkans in the Schengen region. The border barriers built in Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria and Croatia served as physical barriers to transit points of entrance to the Schengen area of passport-free travel–
But the identification of the fingerprints–regarded as a clue that conceals the illogical association of guilt with all refugees from the region to seek a home in Europe–has become grounds to criticize whatever agreement existed for resettling refugees within the European Union.
And so, three days after outbursts of sympathy and horror at the Paris shootings, panic has been fostered about the fear for admitting terrorists disguised as refugees and displaced. European nations from Poland to Czechoslovakia, a nation already eager to turn away refugees from its borders, and a rousing chorus of tweets from others to close their borders in the light of terror attacks for which ISIS claimed responsibility,–by linking the danger of the further attacks that ISIS has promised to the presence of refugees within their borders, as if accepting refugees constituted surefire vulnerability to further attacks. But even closing borders won't help stave off the attacks that ISIS promises would be repeated, though the reflexive agenda of far-right politicians in Europe–and, shortly after, in the U.S.–has been surprisingly swift. Poland provided one of the easiest cases for accepting this policy, its new right-wing government having been elected on a platform of anti-migrant platform. Such right-wing opponents of accepting refugees have even found recognition and previously implausible legitimacy as defenders of the common good: they obscure the fact that such home-grown jihadis originate in districts of European cities with unemployment rates exceeds 30%.
The Paris attacks may have broken a delicately negotiated managed solution to a growing crisis, despite the reluctance of Austria, Hungary, and other nations. Only shortly after the President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, instituted an emergency quota system to spread the admittance of an expanding number of refugees who entered the Schengen region among EU member states and their neighbors–requiring almost all of the member states to welcome a total of 160,000 people–the Paris attacks that claimed 129 victims have provided a pretext for Europeans as the incoming Polish president or Slovakia's government to bend to popular protests against the acceptance of immigrants from Syria and the Middle East. (None other than the now-cranky Lech Walesa has reared his head again as a nationalist spokesperson, asking the world "to remember that Poland has been transitioning from communism for only 25 years.") Yet the market has little to do with the rampant xenophobia nourished in anti-migrant marches in Polish cities, which have prominently included emblems of explicit nationalist protectionism.
But the Euroscepticism of several incoming conservative governments has relished in having found new fodder for their claims. Just after an equably distribution of refugees among Europeans seemed reached, the shock of processing the terrible deaths of innocent civilians in Paris seems to have helped redraw the map again, giving far-right European politicians from Marine Le Pen–tweeting an "immediate halt to all intake of migrants in France"–and Poland's European Affairs Minister Konrad Symanskic, with Viktor Orbán not far behind, occasion to tweet about the need to close borders to prevent unsubstantiated fears of terrorist infiltration. Even in France, where President Hollande had recently if only grudgingly decided to accept 24,000 displaced refugees over two years, the readiness to evoke fears of admitting unwanted terror cells give expression and justification to longstanding deeply-seated anti-migrant and -immigrant attitudes that have been suddenly given a new boost by conservative social media.
While Facebook unveiled the Safety Check app to alert friends 'I'm Safe' just after the Paris shootings, post-shooting tweets have disseminated particularly dangerous rallying cries from the right on social media. The rage of tweets from members of the radical right from Filip Dewinter of the Flemish secessionist Vlaams Belsang party to Nigel Farage of England's UKIP echoed the decision another Eurosceptic, Poland's Foreign Minister, to use the events to revise his nation's policy toward migrants. The tragedy has sadly provoked the weirder, post-tragedy tragedy of making it even harder for refugees to be accepted in Europe who are fleeing ongoing civil war, even as that war seems to have visited Europe. The New Xenophobia is of the most dangerous sort–a xenophobia prominently rooted in the fear of enemy agents potentially destabilizing the nation, based on linking the displaced to the most nightmarish event visited on a nation for several years. The new xenophobia stigmatizes the humane acceptance of displaced migrants based on the paranoid fear that displaced migrants, rather than seeking asylum, seek to attack our security and our cities and our homes.
The stoking of all this barely logical fear has, back in our own country, somehow swiftly set the stage for the weirdly unpredicted closing of ranks that Presidential candidate Donald Trump couldn't have possibly foreseen himself. But it stands to add an element of distinct charm to the presidential race: for in the face of President Obama's humane decision to multiply the number of accepted refugees accepted by the United States from Syria five-fold, a strikingly cynical consensus has emerged among American republicans in the wake of the Paris tragedy that state governors must act as federalist sheriffs to protect the country, and refuse the entry to displaced Syrian refugees which Obama had earlier promised. If Donald Trump has taken the opportunity to impugn the President' sanity as much as his foreign policy choices–
–other candidates have not hesitated to broadcast their own readiness, unlike the President, by implication, to protect similar tragedies in the United States, and rather put at risk the hopes of entry of the 30,000 refugees that the United States government promised it would soon increase from 70,000. Indeed, the strike in Paris, claimed to be the proportional equivalent of the Twin Towers' destruction in New York City back in 2001, and "France's 9/11," has led Republicans to direct renewed attacks on President Obama's offer to resettle a small share of the refugee crisis to be equated with putting Americans at risk.
And so, just three days after the terror attack in Paris, Texas' Governor, Greg Abbott, took it upon himself to write a letter informing President Obama that, given his experience in dealing with the dangers of migrant crises and immigrant threats, and the foiling of an ISIS-related terrorist attack, and by extension his greater familiarity with terrorist threats, he would refuse to allow Syrians to be placed in the state he represented, and called on the President to "halt your plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States," given the possible danger that they pose to the country. The chorus of Republican governors, from Bobby Jindal's advice of prudence to Charlie Barker of Massachusetts, to Chris Christie of New Jersey, seemed an attempt to drown out the airwaves after shock over the terror attack. The bizarre move imitated far-right European parties again evoked the degree of "unacceptable peril" Republicans have long liked to Obama's presidency, rather than any material threat. But within a few days, sympathy was overwhelmed by isolationism, as the television news network CNN trumpeted in banner headlines that governors of over half of the states in the union–twenty-seven states–have unilaterally refused to accept Syrian refugees, although the position has limited if any legal ground, in ways that have been imitated by a spate of Republican presidential candidates eager to prove their executive abilities. All have been magically transformed, including Jindal, into foreign policy experts.
The map of those still honoring their commitments to accept displaced refugees struggling to find homes appear to be in the vast minority–five states that seem almost foolhardy embraces of national vulnerability, from Vermont to Pennsylvania to Colorado and Washington, against the dominating common sense of declaring closed doors to the displaced. When placed in context of nearly five million Syrian refugees displaced truth, of course, regions of the United States have hardly absorbed their share–and those states whose governors were so quick to condemn the possibly plausible terrorist ties of refugees from Syria or Iraq had admitted far fewer than 300 or 250 refugees since 2011 at most: their governors seem to be showing their own ignorance by taking such a broad stance.
The map of those local Republicans who took it upon themselves to retract any offer of resettlement to all displaced Syrians–by far the greatest majority of refugees who left homes with hopes to resettle in Europe–seems not only an eager posing as patriots, or launch grenades at the existing foreign policy of the Obama White House yet again, but reveals an unforeseen opportunism as well as little familiarity with the workings of the federal government: those most quick to reject entry to refugees as if this were within their competence responded to the fears of their own constituents, or so it looks in the below visualization printed by the New York Times–the graphic may not map clearly onto where displaced Syrians have been relocated or placed, but to the demographics that local politicians seek to reach. The declaration spread like a meme, at any rate, over the airwaves of the United States, alerting constituents that their immediate governors would not place them at risk–as, by implication, the folly of the President had, and Hillary Clinton and the Democrats had been uniformly duped to advocate. And it is not a surprise, to enter the world of the archeology of data visualizations, that they mirror those states that reject the federal government's expansion of Health Reform.
And so, the entire party has been associated with irresponsibility, and the other accepted xenophobia as the cry of the day. Quickly, not only Donald Trump but Marco Rubio and Chris Christie and Ted Cruz have joined in calling for shutting the borders to the displaced, and Bobby Jindal can appear a model of executive authority–whose deeply felt opinions illustrate little familiarity with constitutional law or Geneva Conventions.
The opportune nature of such a quick in-step realignment of the debate about immigration took up its lines went without much comment. But it unsurprisingly seems to replicate opportune lines of political pandering at its worst: if it was the ultimate insult to most refugees, and the perhaps poorest forms of protection mirrored political opportunism below the historical 48th in the United States parallel that so sadly seems to continue to divide north and south, and have little correspondence to the areas where most of Syrian extraction live–or Syrian refugees have been placed by the US Government since 2012, and mirror the red/blue divide, as configured in these cartograms reflecting the electoral results of Presidential elections of 2004 (state by state) and 2012 (county by county).
What do they have in mind? Out-Trumping Trump? Winning, more likely, or hoping to do so by stoking fears and bringing them to the surface again.
For the close-minded knee-jerk refusal stokes the most unfounded fears in the wake of the tragic terrorist attacks that we are all vulnerable: and to pretend we are living in the shadow of 9/11, when Republicans once unbelievably came to be improperly equated with protecting our nation's safety and common good, and to wallow in complete amnesia by bandying about the word "terrorism," ISIS, and "terror attack" with undue frequency to suggest the benefits of responsibly closing our frontiers. The good old days.
Filed under Clash of Civilizations, ISIS, Paris Terror Attacks, refugee crisis, refugees, social media, Syrian refugees
Tagged as European Union, Francois Hollande, Geneva Conventions, Greg Abott, Marine Le Pen, UKIP, xenophobia


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Barcelona, 26th of July 2012 – ADELTE, the world leading designer and manufacturer of sophisticated Passenger Boarding Bridges (PBBs) for cruise and ferry terminals, will design, manufacture and install two PBBs to replace the existing Passenger Boarding Bridges at Cape May and Lewes. With the aim of significantly improving their installations, Delaware River and Bay Authority will modify the two main berths in both terminals. JPC has been contracted to carry out the overall work on the berths where ADELTE's Passenger Boarding Bridges will be operating.
ADELTE's specific challenge in this project is to ensure that a ship can be docked in both sides of the berths. The uniqueness of this double docking fits perfectly with ADELTE's philosophy about designing tailor-made solutions for every port.
This challenge, proposed by the two easternmost ports of Delaware Bay, has led to ADELTE designing two THALASSA PBBs, each with a single tunnel and two cabins facing in opposite directions, so that docking on both sides of the berth is completely possible.
Aesthetics has also been taken into consideration, making the PBBs fit in with the environment and the architecture of the terminal building, so that they form part of the building itself, with the same finish on both ceiling and glazing.
The innovative design will improve logistic operations at the terminal, ensuring continuous passenger flow and the necessary space at the berth for feeding and mooring the ships. The two units will enable the comfortable and safe embarking and disembarking of passengers and will automatically follow the ships' movements. All the elements are designed to ensure that passengers start their trip with a safe and comfortable embarkation.
The two boarding bridges will be manufactured at ADELTE's facilities in Monzón, Spain. They will be transported in different subassemblies from the port of Barcelona to Willmington. The assembly will be carried out by JPC Group Inc. of Blackwood, New Jersey and ADELTE.
These are the first two units that ADELTE will install in the States, exclusively for ferry use. With this project, the Barcelona-based company reinforces its presence on the East Coast, with PBBs in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Baltimore, Norfolk, Port Canaveral and Miami.


Problems with the windows on Mini Coopers are not uncommon. Several issues have been reported with the motors on the window burning out and leaving the window stranded in whatever position it was last in. There are a number of solutions to the problem which you can try yourself before taking the car to the dealer which may be useful, particularly if it is not under warranty. You can recognize a problem when the window stops dipping when you open the door.
Put in the key and turn the ignition on but leave the engine off.
Hold the window button in the up position for 10 or more seconds.
Open the door to make sure the window closes correctly and test the window for normal operations. Dipping of the window is the small drop down when you open the door and the small jump up when you close it again. If the window still does not work then move on to check the fuse.
Open the fuse box. You can find it using the Mini's owner's manual.
Remove the fuse for the windows.
Check the fuse and replace if needed.
Test the windows for proper operation. If they are still not working then check the motor connection.
Turn the engine off and remove the key.
Close the door while sitting in the driver's seat.
Tap on the door firmly with a closed fist just above the speaker.
Test the windows for proper operation. If this does not work then take the Mini to a repair shop to have the motor replaced or replace the motor yourself.
Sometimes the problem will occur when the temperature is high and disappear when the temperature drops again.
Be careful when removing the fuse, fuses are fragile and you don't want to break a good one while checking it.


← Systemic racism is the main reason why we tolerate statistics regarding our criminal justice system.
Fifty Shades of Fundamentalism: So who is a Fundamentalist?
Rick Warren – A more mainstream Fundamentalist.
So far I have described the basic contours of Christian Fundamentalism and described how the main problem I see with it is that it creates a worldview in which it is impossible to recognize its most fundamental flaw: its widespread reliance upon unassailable ignorance to continue.
The next and final aspect of Fundamentalism I would like to examine is who is actually a Fundamentalist.
As I have said previously, Christian Fundamentalism is not just a belief in the Five Points of Fundamentalism (which most Christian groups would affirm), but many other attitudes and behaviors beyond that, especially a defensive posture against some imagined hostile secularizing threat.
Because Fundamentalism is more about holding to other attitudes and this defensive posture than a specific set of doctrinal beliefs, estimating who is a Fundamentalist goes far beyond the scope of people who would overtly declare themselves to be Fundamentalist Christians and are direct heirs of the Niagara conference.
From all of this, I would suggest that Fundamentalism is best understood as a spectrum rather than a concrete label.
On one end there are certain groups who embody these values to the extremes and ones who self-identify as Christian Fundamentalist. However, there are not the only people I would consider Fundamentalists.
Scaling back from this extremes and going towards the other end there are many shades of Fundamentalism. There are many more Christians who, to varying degrees (or shades – see what I did there), approach life and faith from within the Fundamentalist worldview. The degree to which they exhibit Fundamentalist beliefs, behaviors and attitudes in their life and faith is the degree that I would consider them Fundamentalist.
What I am suggesting is contradictory to contemporary practice, especially among American Protestants.
When it comes labeling/admitting Fundamentalism, most Christian communities practice a form a self-righteous labeling. What I mean by that is that just about every church, denomination or theological stream within Christianity does not want to be seen as Fundamentalist. They know there is a stigma attached to this label for good reason, and they may even recognize some of the errors I have seen or the problematic use of unassailable ignorance. Few groups would adopt the label of "Fundamentalist" and they always tend to label other Christian groups that they think are more extreme as Fundamentalists while they themselves are not.
This is done to avoid the stigma of being labeled as a Fundamentalist and also to avoid having to deal with the shades of Fundamentalism that often exist within the community, especially the problematic parts.
This is also inaccurate and deceitful.
In my experience and perception, American Protestantism in general is rife with Fundamentalism, to one degree or another.
There are many Christians who believe in some variation of the "culture war" narrative and believe that Christianity is under attack by non-Christian forces. There are many Christians that take a defensive posture against anything not of their brand of Christianity. There are many Christians who see the world with a black and white worldview. There are many Christians who desire to be unchallenged leaders or to have an autocratic leader that will just tell them what to do and believe. There are many Christians who retreat to unassailable ignorance and refuse to engage with or examine anything that will challenge their present worldview.
The people who make up the various shades of Fundamentalism are a diverse bunch. They come from all different Christian groups, ethnic groups and socio-economic positions. While they function as Fundamentalists in many ways, they seek to avoid the label of Fundamentalist, and self-identify in other ways. Many "Main-line churches," "Mainstream Christians" and "Conservative Evangelicals" in my experience are moderately to highly Fundamentalist in their practice, culture and thought.
To me the people who operate as Fundamentalists in many ways but do not claim the label of Fundamentalism are more dangerous.
What I mean is that the extremists are rather easily recognized, they are in the minority, and they are usually safely ignored by most of society. While they do damage the image of Jesus Christ and Christianity in general, and often garner headlines for their antics, they are at least mercifully small in number.
However, people who are slightly more moderate and avoid the label of Fundamentalist people who slip by the stigma and the association with Fundamentalism, while many of their behaviors and practices remain the same, are far more numerous. The defensive posture towards the rest of culture persists. The theological arrogance persists. The black and white worldview persists. The autocratic leadership persists. The widespread use of unassailable ignorance persists.
And they escape being called to account because they squirm away from the label of Fundamentalism and are at least a couple of steps away from the extreme.
For my Christian readers I encourage you to ask yourself if you are you a Fundamentalist?
Do not just look at your church documents or the name of your brand/sect of Christianity. Do not just consider the stigma that may be associated with Fundamentalism? Look at the attitudes, practices and beliefs that exist and are fostered in the community's culture and exemplified in its leadership. Practice some introspection and look at some of your own life and faith.
Do you believe America was a once great Christian nation and need to come back to its Christian roots?
Does your church espouse one model of gender relations and consider all others to be "unbiblical?" (and therefore inappropriate).
Have you wanted to question a teaching of the church or a leader but not spoken up because you knew you would be shunned or shamed? Have you seen anyone share a dissenting opinion, criticism or question be "shut down" by church leadership?
Do you believe that there are human groups out there actively plotting and attempting to erode Christian morality and teaching in the U.S. and elsewhere?
Does your community tend to judge outsiders? Harshly? Fairly? Softly? Depending on their level of repentance?
Does your community believe all other Christian sects are wrong?
Are there a number of unspoken rules in your community that people implicitly know they must obey?
Do you feel that it is your job to defend Christian values in the U.S.A. and elsewhere?
Does your community foster critical thinking or rather uncritical obedience and belief?
Does your community have a leader who is clearly the head/face of the church?
Are you a Creationist? If so, have you seriously examined the evidence for and arguments for Evolution? Have you considered a Theistic Evolution stance?
How seriously do you consider alternative interpretations of the Bible offered by other Christian groups? Do you seek to study and understand them, or dismiss them as false automatically out of hand?
Have people been kicked out of your church for disagreeing with leadership?
Does your community support schools like Talbot, Biola, Liberty, and Dallas Theological Seminary?
Does your community believe all other types of Christians are going to Hell and only your group is really saved?
Does your community believe only men should be in leadership?
Is your community Dispensationalist at all?
Does your church talk a lot about the actual contemporary nation-state of Israel and believe our treatment of Israel has some control over when Jesus will return?
Does your leadership have any sort of accountability?
How literally do you take the Bible? How do you explain the fact that everyone takes some of the Bible literally and other parts of it not literally? How do you explain your own practice of this?
Is talk about issues within the community discouraged or disallowed completely, often by labeling it as "gossip"?
Does your church beliefs about the end of this world in any way resemble the "Left Behind" series?
Does your church have (on paper, or in the culture) a number of beliefs that one simply must believe or one is not a Christian? I am referring to here to things beyond basic fundamental Christian doctrines and more thinking of specific stances towards immigration, homosexuality, abortion, politics, etc?
Does your community reach out to other religions or vilify them?
Is your community Calvinistic in its leanings?
Is your leadership and community ethnically, demographically, politically and in other ways diverse or are you all conformed to a rather specific mold?
Does your community mock those who think we "Came from monkeys"?
Does your community value of education, both theological and non-theological in nature?
Are shame and guilt used as controls commonly within your community?
Are there clear groups of people who would not be welcome at your church? Are there people who you would identify as "The Enemy" of your church and the Christian faith?
Do you tend to go along with the general current in your community or is your faith and beliefs the result of intense prayer, study, engagement with alternative viewpoints and digging into hermeneutics and Greek and Hebrew?
Do you or anyone else in your community have a fairly nuanced understanding of the beliefs of other religions and other sects of Christianity?
Compare yourself to what I have said previously about Fundamentalism. Consider your answer to these questions. Take a moment and do some soul-searching.
You might be more Fundamentalist than you realize.
This entry was posted in Christianity and tagged Christian Fundamentalism, conservative evangelicalism, Fundamentalism, Rick Warren, Spectrum of Fundamentalism. Bookmark the permalink.
2 Responses to Fifty Shades of Fundamentalism: So who is a Fundamentalist?
You really should consider publishing a book on this (self-published, if necessary) – This is very eye-opening, thanks!
Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. I still have one more post to go.


Being arrested and held in police custody is unpleasant. This guide will assist you with supporting arrestees once they leave the police station, and will help us to continue supporting them during a police investigation.
Being arrested and held in police custody is unpleasant, and people often appreciate being met by a friendly face when they are released from custody. If people have been arrested – be they friends of yours, people from your demo or people you have read about and support – consider going to meet them from the police station to offer support. The information you record outside the police station will help us support the arrestee, and can make the difference between a conviction and an aquittal.
This is a guide for doing good police station support. It's best to read in advance of heading to a police station, but do take a copy of it with you.
Before heading to a police station, check in with the GBC back office to see where cover is needed.


Comparison table of Limited Time Specials.
APY = Annual Percentage Yield. Minimum Deposit: $1,000 for all CD terms. Interest rate is fixed for the entire term. Depositor insured by FDIC limits. Penalty will or may be imposed for early withdrawal. Fees may reduce earnings. An active additional Bank First relationship is required in order to receive our Relationship Specials.


If there is one peaceful method of getting the poisons out of your body, it is the most up to date development in the detox processes. We now have detox foot spa to assist us in detoxifying with the soles of the feet. This is done through a machine. Water is the medium to cleanse, for this reason it was also called detox foot bath. This Foot clean is carried out in a spa or at home. Having a device for your very own usage will certainly allow you to undergo foot detox at home or anywhere. Without a maker, you can have you foot detoxification in one spa.
This detoxification procedure demands soaking the feet in water for half an hour. Turning the maker on, the water will have electric costs which can be passed on to your entire body with the soles of the feet. With these electric charges going to your whole body system, all body parts will certainly go through a total body clean. The outcome of the procedure is a far better microcirculation of the blood. The technique will help remove the toxins by sweating them out via the soles of the feet. This kind of foot spa benefits a much healthier problem of the individual undertaking it. The improved procedure of foot clean is currently called ionic cleanse. The improved cleansing results to the production of favorable and negative ions. The lions are after that the methods to invigorate and revitalize a person. As the individual undergoes the procedure, launch of the positive ions take place. The wastes and poisonous substances will certainly after that be pulled in the direction of the soles of the feet and they're as a result flushed out Some of the benefits derived from this clean procedure can be summarized below. This is one sure means of removing the toxins and waste products out of the body. Filthy particles and steels will be discovered in the soaking water. These are the wastes and the toxins.
The process will create a boost of oxygen in your body thus allowing you to also boost your manner of breathing. This will certainly be a cure for a variety of medical conditions, among which are beri beri, rheumatism, frustration and pain. Excellent advantages of the Best foot bath process are boosted energy level and system metabolic process. As the procedure demands a removal of metals, this can accelerate healing from ailments. The previous problem of getting sleep and remainder will be greater than. You have a stronger immune system. You will certainly notice that sleep can easily come over; this is the result of the ions that entered your body. The ions will make the body energized, revitalized and stronger. The most effective thing with this cleanse process is your opportunity of duplicating the procedure with no negative effects. You can have a detoxing foot spa session anytime of the day, in your house or anyplace you can bring the equipment – despite the variety of sessions.


text:
EDWARD BUCHSBAUM, M.D.
JOYCE SCHOETTLER, M.D.
Julia Lee, M.D.
Emily Liang, M.D.
CHRISTINE AHN, M.S.N., F.N.P.
Allergy Skin Testing
Metal allergy testing
Patch Testing for Contact Allergies
Penicillin Allergy Testing
Eye Allergy
Sinus Problems
Food Allergies & Sensitivity
Insect Sting Allergy
Nasal Allergy & Post Nasal Drip
Recurrent Infections
El Segundo Office
Dr. Buchsbaum, a native of New York, moved to California to complete his medical residency and fellowship training in allergy following graduation from medical school. He and his wife have raised three daughters on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The family has enjoyed extensive travel within the United States and Europe. In addition to his enjoyment of reading, theater, music, and gardening, Dr. Buchsbaum and his wife are avid road cyclists, runners, and skiers.
Dr. Buchsbaum is named one of US News and World Report's Top Doctors! Click Here
Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital & UCLA hospitals UCLA School of Medicine
Subspecialty Fellowship in Adult & Pediatric Allergy/Immunology
Wadsworth Veterans Hospital, West Los Angeles UCLA School of Medicine
Internal Medicine Internship and Residency
Doctor of Medicine (M.D.)
Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with minor in Classical Literature
American Board of Allergy & Immunology
American Board of Internal Medicine
Professional Societies and Teaching Appointments
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine
Full-time Clinical and Research Faculty member at Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital & UCLA Hospital (1983 – 1984)
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Clinical Instructor in the Division of Allergy & Immunology (1990 – 2000)
Fellow, American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI)
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology (AAAAI)
Los Angeles Society of Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology (LASAACI)
Joint Council of Allergy & Immunology
Lectures, Research, and Publications
Authored original research publications on allergic triggers in asthma and diagnostic tools in the evaluation of asthma (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology).
Book chapter on "Drug Allergies" (Practical Allergy and Immunology)
Hospital-based, community-oriented, and school-based lecture series: asthma, nasal allergies, recurrent sinus infections, food allergies, drug sensitivities, managing asthma in the home.
Find out more about the other members of our medical team:
About Dr. Joyce Schoettler, M.D.
About Dr. Julia Lee, M.D.
About Dr. Emily Liang, M.D.
About Christine Ahn, F.N.P.
Allergy Shot Hours
20911 Earl Street, Suite 301 Torrance, CA 90503
390 N. Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 1060 El Segundo, CA 90245

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Prince Club - What is House?
So Prince Club is at it again with another amazing track titled "What is House?" and its a very playful and enlightening track. The synth emerges as a bouncy and playful tune, and features sample discussing what is house music. A classic 4 to the floor beat, and smooth bassline synth make this a classic house track for the arsenal. This track almost didn't come out either. Glad Prince Club decided to release it.


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Cloak & Dagger Season 2's Ending May Tease Runaways Crossover
by Cooper Hood
Cloak & Dagger season 2's ending sets the stage for Marvel TV to pull off a Runaways crossover. After Marvel Studios took the world by storm with the culmination of Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2012's The Avengers, Marvel TV wanted to capitalize on the popularity however they could. They resurrected Phil Coulson to star in ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the first TV show set within the MCU and then brought Hayley Atwell back to star in the short-lived Agent Carter. It wasn't long after that Netflix and Marvel TV teamed up to create four new series' that would then crossover in The Defenders.
ABC and Netflix weren't the only ones who wanted to get in on the Marvel action though, as Hulu then moved forward with Runaways and Freeform got involved with Cloak & Dagger. Throughout it all, Marvel TV's motto has been #ItsAllConnected, whether that pertains to the shows connecting to the MCU movies or even to each other. There have been small instances of this happening, such as Cloak & Dagger's reference to Luke Cage, but with so many different networks or streaming services involved, there has yet to be a real crossover beyond the Netflix-verse and small crossover between the ABC properties.
Related: Cloak & Dagger Completely Ignores Avengers: Endgame (But In An Interesting Way)
One crossover that gets teased the most though is for Tandy Bowen (Olivia Holt) and Tyrone Johnson (Aubrey Joseph) from Cloak & Dagger and the ensemble from Runaways to meet up. The characters have a past together in the comics, and with both of them being teen-centric shows, it feels like a natural progression. Fans aren't the only ones hoping for this, as it has been teased by Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb and stars of both shows. And, thanks to Cloak & Dagger's season 2 finale, it may now be possible.
What Happened In Cloak & Dagger Season 2 Finale
The main story of Cloak & Dagger season 2 revolved around Tandy and Ty trying to stop a sex trafficking ring in their hometown of New Orleans. They learn that a man known as D'Spayre is the one responsible for taking the girls and make it their mission to stop him. This proves to be more difficult than they imagined thanks to his abilities to feed on the despair of anyone he comes into contact with. It takes some time, but the Divine Pairing eventually can defeat him after breaking free of the trances they were put in. D'Spayre's defeat cleanses New Orleans from him but also marks an end for this part of Tandy and Ty's journey. The city is as safe as they can make it, and after saving local girls, the young heroes want to go someplace new to try and save more.
Tandy and Ty decide that now is the time to move on from New Orleans and get a fresh start somewhere else, together. They receive intel from Brigid O'Reilly (Emma Lahana) on a case from another part of the country where girls have been found dead on the beach. Cloak & Dagger doesn't directly say what their destination is, only that Tandy has never been anywhere other than New Orleans before, while Ty has said he's never been where they are going. The vagueness of where Tandy and Ty are going could be because they are still finalizing plans for season 3 and want to leave some wiggle room to change the location on the fly, but it is just as easy to interpret this as set up for a crossover with Runaways.
Related: What To Expect From Marvel's Runaways Season 3
How Cloak & Dagger Season 2's Finale Sets Up A Runaways Crossover
Of all the possible Marvel TV crossover combinations, one between Cloak & Dagger and Runaways has consistently been the one to be brought up as a real possibility. Given all of this prior talk, the Cloak & Dagger season 2 finale not confirming their destination feels intentional, and at the very least leaves the door open for a crossover to happen. The Runaways are based out of Los Angeles, California, which has plenty of beaches nearby that Tandy and Ty could soon visit.
Additionally, the mention of girls found dead on the beach could be a further clue of a Cloak & Dagger and Runaways crossover, as part of the plot for Runaways season 1 was about Destiny Gonzalez washing up on the beach after Jonah killed her. With the Gibborim now in control of the bodies of several parents, it is possible that they are responsible for killing the girls who Tandy and Ty are investigating. If this is the case, then the Runaways could be searching for the same answers.
Will A Cloak & Dagger/Runaways Crossover Happen?
With a few different seeds planted in the Cloak & Dagger season 2 finale for a crossover with Runaways, the big question is if it will actually. That is far from clear at this point, as there are a variety of factors that would need to be sorted out before a crossover could go down. While Marvel TV is involved with both shows, they air on entirely different channels, at different times, and in various methods. Getting Freeform and Hulu to work together on a crossover may be easier now that Disney has full control over both, but the other complications are more challenging to work out.
If a Cloak & Dagger crossover with Runaways is wanted, the logical approach would be for the upcoming seasons of both to each get an episode with added star power. Should Marvel work this out with Freeform and Hulu, the difficulty could come with how it is presented. Hulu moved Runaways to the binging release strategy for season 2, but Freeform releases new Cloak & Dagger episodes weekly - and both of the shows have premiered at different times in the year. Ideally, a crossover would be structured so the crossover episodes can be seen in the same timeframe - similar to the Arrowverse's events - giving Marvel the chance to do cross-promotion. These problems would be avoidable if it is just a single episode crossover for one of the shows, but then it would be up to Marvel to determine which one gets the increased viewership and attention.
At this point, it is impossible to tell whether or not a Cloak & Dagger and Runaways crossover will happen, but this tease will undoubtedly leave fans of both shows hoping that it does. Should it happen, then this could open the door for more synergy between the various arms of Marvel TV.
MORE: Every MCU TV Show Ranked From Worst to Best
Tags: runaways, cloak and dagger


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ACLU files new lawsuit seeking recognition of Wis. same-sex marriages
MADISON, Wis. -- The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking recognition of Wisconsin gay couples who married in June after a judge temporarily blocked the state's ban on same-sex marriage. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit in February challenging the ban. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb found the ban was unconstitutional in June ...
By TODD RICHMOND | Associated Press Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Kem Highfill, left, and Richard Rehm fill out their marriage license at the county clerk's office Saturday, June 7, 2014, in Madison, Wis. after a federal judge struck down the state's gay marriage ban.
Andy Manis, AP
MADISON, Wis. — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking recognition of Wisconsin gay couples who married in June after a judge temporarily blocked the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit in February challenging the ban. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb found the ban was unconstitutional in June and more than 500 gay couples rushed to get married. But a week later, Crabb put the ruling on hold pending appeal, and put the ban back into effect.
Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has said Crabb's ruling didn't give county clerks the authority to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and the status of their unions is legally uncertain. He also said prosecutors could choose to charge county clerks who issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Crabb's decision earlier this month. State attorneys now have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case.
ACLU attorneys on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit in Madison on behalf of four gay Wisconsin couples who married during the week between Crabb's ruling and her decision to put it on hold. The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the weddings were valid. Such a ruling would guarantee the couples a host of legal rights and benefits, including the ability to file joint tax returns and make medical decisions for one another.
"Our clients have married in Wisconsin and that isn't something the State can take away from them or refuse to recognize," ACLU attorney Larry Dupuis said. "The State of Wisconsin has placed hundreds of same-sex couples, including our clients, in an untenable position of not knowing if their marriages will be respected and recognized or simply ignored."
Van Hollen spokeswoman Dana Brueck had no immediate comment.
Kiersten and Angie Bloechl-Karlsen, who got married three months ago, joined two other married gay couples at a Milwaukee news conference, where they said they're not sure whether the state will respect their parental rights regarding Angie's nearly 3-year-old daughter, Maiken.
"I've been (Maiken's) mother from day one," Kiersten Bloechl-Karlsen said. "But if something were to happen to Angie I would be left without any rights beyond that of a baby-sitter."
Associated Press writer Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
© 2014, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved.
ACLU of Wisconsin, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Marriage Equality, Wisconsin
Federal appeals court stays Wisconsin same-sex marriage ruling
Attorney's letter draws rebuke in Mo. fire department's same-sex benefits debate


Maintenance of establishment affairs of all the officers employed in the Ministry.
Continuation with all the maintenance work of the Ministry.
Accomplishment of procurement affairs of the Ministry.
All administrative affairs carried out with the intervention of the Ministry and allied institutions to the Ministry.
Activities connected to the staff of the Ministry.
Provision of necessary facilities for all the divisions of the Ministry.
Update of the website of the Ministry.
Supply of transportation facilities for the tasks of the Ministry.
Holding training sessions for the officials of the Ministry.
"It becomes involved in giving assistance to take approval from the Ministry of Finance for project proposals made by institutions having identified development needs of the housing and construction field".
Coordinating matters related to the arrangement of the action plan of the Ministry and institutions affiliated to the Ministry correlated with the vision and objectives of the Ministry.
Assessment of the progress of the development programmes of the institutions under the Ministry in pursuance of the monthly and annual action plan.
Presentation of the Performance Report of the Ministry to the Parliament in the event of the committee stage debate of the budget.
Compilation of and reporting information on development programmes.
Submission of project proposals of the institutions allied to the Ministry to the National Planning Department and coordination.
Compilation of necessary policies for the advancement of the housing field.
Implementation of the policies related to the housing field with other government institutions.
Development of underserved settlements and the community.
Establishment of district, divisional and rural housing committees.
Implementation of programmes connected with housing construction coincide with the world habitat day and commemoration of world habitat day.
Matters regarding the acquisition and transfer of lands for the purposes of housing developments.
Disposition of legal rights of lands/houses to the people under Section 8(1) of National Housing Development Authority Act.
In terms of the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers, regularization of residents who have resided in illegally constructed houses in lands owned by National Housing Development Authority.
Execution of housing construction programmes and housing projects suitable for the country's need.
Presenting cabinet memorandums accompanying the housing schemes.
Effectuation of Integrated Housing Programmes with other government institutions.
Coordinating housing projects with local and foreign investors.
Development of underserved settlements and uplifting the community.
Providing approvals of standing technical committees on construction of government institutions.
Appointing procurement committees for the institutions under the Ministry.
Offering the approval of the Ministry for contract variations.
Giving procurement committee decisions of the Ministry.
Maintenance of data bases linked with the construction field on contractors and data bases on prices corresponding to the construction field.
Manipulating the institutions that provide construction and engineering services affiliated to the construction division for the advancement of the construction field.
Preparation of the needful labour force for the construction field.
Directing the institutions affiliated to the Ministry to nurture the professionals and construction workers with the competency and the knowledge and to build up qualitative construction.
Supervision of urban settlement development projects and review of progress.
This Division accomplishes the authority and functions assigned under Ceiling on Housing Property Law No.01 of 1973 and the functions entrusted under the Rent Act No.7 of 1972.
Issuing and disbursing money to meet the objectives of the Ministry.
Reporting the cost and progress of the finance to relevant parties on due dates or prior to it.
Having participated in finance administration and management activities of the Ministry and the institutions allied to the Ministry, support the management in directing and giving necessary instructions to perform such work more regularly and efficiently.


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The hardest thing about watching TV is finding the remote after a long, slovenly lounge on the couch. Cube26 aims to improve on that situation by turning your TV, phone, or tablet into a face-detecting powerhouse. What does that mean? Basically, your TV or other device will know when you're looking at it, who is in the room with you, and, more importantly, it will pause the program, call, or game when you leave the room.
Founded by Cornell grads Saurav Kumar and Aakash Jain, Cube26 is still in beta, but from what I saw it works quite well on multiple platforms. For example, in addition to the aforementioned "bathroom pause," the system can tell when you're talking on the phone and put other devices on hold. You can also use the system for parental control as it can recognize people in the room and plan content accordingly.
The company is bootstrapping now and expects to have some traction in OEM hardware over the next few months. They haven't named any hardware partners, but they were at CES to look for distributors for the technology.
The project aims to take a holistic approach to system interaction.
In other words, the system works best with passive, instinctual commands. Unlike the Kinect and similar motion controllers, the system is always watching the room for changes, allowing for a more integrated experience.
The founders came together at a startup weekend organized by Microsoft. They got together for six months of development and focused from making eye-tracking systems for marketers onto "natural control" of devices.
Again, much of this tech is fairly pie-in-the-sky right now, but as the speed of embedded systems improves I don't see why this couldn't be embedded right into a TV or phone, thereby adding real smart features to otherwise dumb devices.


Kelly Ripa adds fresh blueberries and pistachios to her favorite Fage Greek yogurt for a quick and healthy treat that's good any time of the day—and always in her fridge. "I also like to make my own lavender honey. Just get dried lavender, put it in honey and let it sit. It becomes lavender infused. So you get salty, sweet, and a little tang. It's very good. It's my dessert, my breakfast, everything!"
Kelly Ripa always keeps a box of the adorable and delicious Pepperidge Farm crackers in her pantry. "It's a wonderful snack that I'm addicted to," she says.
What's one thing Kelly Ripa just can't live without? "I will never give up cheese! I gave it up a couple of years ago for Lent and it was really hard," she says. "I realized that cheese is the foundation of what I eat when I gave it up and went, 'I can't eat any of this! Who wants a turkey sandwich without cheese?' "
As a busy mom of three, Kelly Ripa says getting her kids to eat healthy isn't difficult because it's simply a part of their family lifestyle. "We've always fed our kids that way. They don't have a choice. We don't keep a lot of junk in the house so they eat what's there, which is a big bowl of fresh fruit."
Although she doesn't tend to overindulge, Ripa admits she—and her family—just can't say no to yummy Girl Scout cookies. "Samoas are everyone's favorite. They're gone in three days!"
Elevating the flavors in healthy, no-fuss meals with simple, fresh ingredients is how she keeps her taste buds intrigued. "If I'm having a sliced chicken breast, I'd put it on a bed of simple sautéed spinach with a little bit of lemon and olive oil. I'm not too big on sauces. I just want the taste of the food."
Kelly Ripa may be best known as the host of Live With Regis and Kelly, but she also loves to play hostess. Ripa puts her party-planning expertise to use this summer, teaming up with Electrolux to help raise money and awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. For more helpful party tips to help dial down the drama of last-minute entertaining, check out her website Kelly Confidential.


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Bahamas Articles | Telegraph Travel
Bahamas: Out and about on the islands
Generally, if a British expatriate doesn't have an address in the UK, it is almost impossible to open a bank account with a UK-based bank
Judith Baker, travel writer
10 September 2012 • 12:00am
There are more than 700 islands in the Bahamian archipelago, ranging from tiny and uninhabited cays in the 14 Out Islands to New Providence, home to the capital Nassau, and its glitzy neighbour Paradise Island. Here are half a dozen of my favourites.
Loved of old by royalty and the jet set, in recent times Nassau has become known as a "Vegas of the Tropics". But look beyond the casinos and the cruise ships and Nassau proves to be a charming and surprisingly historic colonial town: in front of Government House is a jaunty statue of Christopher Columbus and other reminders of the city's history are visible at Fort Charlotte, built in 1788, which has spectacular views out to Paradise Island.
Nassau is also experiencing a return to some of its former glamour with the revival of such events as the Bahamas Speed Week Revival: last year £70m-worth of cars sped around its coast for the first time in 45 years. VIPs and celebrities gathered on the terrace of Government House to drink champagne, just as they used to in the days when the Duke and Duchess of Windsor resided here after the abdication.
Across the road from Government House is the luxurious Graycliff Hotel. Its Italian owners Enrico and Anna Maria Garzaroli have turned this 18th-century house and former home of Lord and Lady Dudley, Third Earl of Staffordshire, into an elegant hotel with 20 rooms, each beautifully furnished with antiques, two restaurants, a gym and two swimming pools. It is not on the beach, but the lovely beaches at Goodman's Bay are just a short taxi-ride away.
Graycliff has one of the world's finest wine cellars and activities on offer include cigar rolling and gourmet experiences (001 242 302 9150; graycliff.com; deluxe rooms from £236).
THE OUT ISLANDS
Abaco was settled by English colonists who remained loyal to the crown after the American Revolution, which is why the settlements such as Hope Town on Elbow Cay and New Plymouth on Green Turtle Cay have the look of New England fishing towns, complete with picket fences and fine gingerbread trim.
Hope Town is home to a candy-striped lighthouse, now a favourite postcard subject and wedding venue, but quite controversial when it was under construction back in 1863 because until then the island's residents had been making a comfortable living by salvaging ships wrecked on the offshore reefs. The many shipwrecks still attract divers today but Abaco and its lovely cays are more famous for their superb fishing.
Home-from-home comfort is on offer at The Delphi Club, a delightful British country house-style hotel owned by a former Financial Times journalist Peter Mantle. Furnished with antiques, some of them from Ireland where Mantle also owns a property, the hotel looks out over deserted beaches and is popular with fishing enthusiasts (366 2222; delphi-bahamas.com; doubles from £300 per night or you can take the whole property from £1,900 a night, including chef and staff).
Some say the fabled lost city of Atlantis is located on Bimini while others claim it is the big-game fishing capital of the world, with catches such as marlin, sailfish and wahoo.
For such a small island it is laden with heavyweight literary connections. Ernest Hemingway came here in the Thirties to fish and write Islands in the Stream. Martin Luther King also found relaxation on these peaceful shores. Locals will tell you it was here that he found the inspiration for his "I have a dream" speech and photographs of him adorn the walls of bars and cafés around the island.
Lionfish nuggets are the local delicacy at the Bimini Big Game Club (242 347 3391; biggameclubbimini.com), which is also stuffed with Hemingway memorabilia. Founded as a dinner club in 1936 in Alice Town by the Nassau entrepreneur and bon-vivant, Neville Stuart, the Big Game Club has hosted world-class fishermen, major tournaments and international celebrities, including Judy Garland.
The best way to get around Bimini is on foot or by golf cart, which enables you to traverse the island, from the slightly ramshackle museum and the eccentric Dolphin House, created by local author and historian Ashley Saunders, to a number of lively beach-front bars.
Bimini's newest and most luxurious resort is The Bimini Beach Club, a combination of 374 Caribbean-inspired rooms and villas each with oversized sofas and rattan furniture, some with fully equipped kitchens. The resort has a marina and infinity pool and dining options include the Sabor waterfront restaurant and a family friendly pizzeria, Amiccis (347 2900; biminibayresort.com; one-bedroom garden view suites from £240 per night).
HARBOUR ISLAND
Approximately three and a half miles long and only one and a half miles wide, Harbour Island is located just off the tip of Eleuthera, separated from it by a narrow channel. Its pink-sand beaches of Harbour Island are world famous (Elle McPherson and India Hicks both own properties here) but its main town, Dunmore, is important, too.
One of the oldest settlements in the Bahamas, and the islands' former capital, the town was once the summer home of the Royal Governor, Earl of Dunmore. Its colourfully painted, New England-style architecture is set against lush palm trees, while its flower-dotted streets are lined with pretty shops, along with art galleries and cafés, notably Arthur's Bakery on Dunmore Street, a delightful place to stop for a cappuccino or a lobster sandwich (Robert Arthur's website at myharbourisland.com is packed with useful local information).
Harbour Island is also the place for conch (pronounced conk). The tasty mollusc is eaten in salads and soups all over the islands and conch shacks are found throughout the Bahamas. Harbour Island, though, has some of the most colourful, including Queen Conch located near the harbour alongside the traditional straw vendors' distinctive blue and yellow stalls.
Pink Sands Resort is a collection of 25 stylish cottages designed by the Biba founder, Barbara Hulanicki. The fashionable hotel has two restaurants, tennis courts and a freshwater pool (333 2030; pinksandsresort.com; one-bedroom garden cottage from £378 per night, including airport transfers and daily continental breakfast).
British adventurers in search of religious freedom settled on Eleuthera 300 years ago and gave the island its name, which means freedom in Greek.
With sweet pineapple farms dotting the landscape, Eleuthera also has miles of secluded beaches and waves just made for surf-lovers. The Glass Window Bridge – from where you can see the deep blue of the Atlantic on one side and the calm turquoise of the Caribbean on the other – is a spectacular stop-off on the drive to pretty seaside Governors Town. Although it looks sleepy, the latter jumps into life every Friday with its Fish Fry on the beach at Cupid's Cay.
Pineapple Fields has 32 one and two-bedroom self-catering units with fully equipped kitchens and spacious bedrooms with king-size beds. Both front and back verandas have teak furniture with some spectacular views.
Hotel amenities include an oversized pool, acres of lush tropical landscape, a gourmet deli, boutique and one of the hottest restaurants in the Out Islands, Tippy's, a bistro that sits right on the beach with live music every weekend (332 2221; pineapplefields.com; one-bedroom villas from £160 per night).
GREAT EXUMA
The Exumas are a 120-mile-long island chain-within-a-chain of the Out Islands, with the Exuma Cays scattered in a long line extending north toward New Providence from Great Exuma.
The reefs and island environments are so pristine here that the Bahamian government set aside a 176-square-mile section as the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, one of the world's most successful marine parks. Many of the Exuma Cays are private; some operate as exclusive private-island resorts and others are the homes of such illustrious names as Johnny Depp.
The anchor of the Exumas archipelago is Great Exuma. Here, you'll find the laid-back capital Georgetown and a great selection of casual Bahamian restaurants.
A short boat ride from Great Exuma is a barrier cay that protects the main island from the Atlantic. Stocking Island features spectacular views from atop its high bluff and a series of idyllic beaches separated by limestone promontories.
The Peace and Plenty is a charming, historical colonial-style 32-room inn on Elizabeth Harbour near the middle of Georgetown. The property has a fisherman's club-type atmosphere, and is a favourite local hang-out. Guests enjoy complimentary access to the beautiful Stocking Island just a short ferry ride away (336 2552; peaceandplenty.com; waterfront rooms from £135 per night).
Restaurants in Atlantis on Paradise Island are expensive but portions tend to be large so save money by not over-ordering.
At sunset, sandflies get busy on the beach. Use repellent, cover your legs and don't go barefoot.
All wines are imported so can be pricey. To avoid burning a hole in your budget, consider cooling down with one of the local beers, such as Sands, Kalik or Strong Back.
Avoid having nothing but notes in your wallet. You'll need small change for the Jitney buses on Nassau and Grand Bahama Island – exact fare only in US or Bahamian dollars.
British Airways (0844 493 0787; ba.com) flies five times weekly to Nassau from Heathrow. Bahamas Air (001 242 702 4140; bahamasair.com) flies between the islands. Nassau to Abaco is £100 return and to Eleuthera is around £60. Western Air (001 242 329 4000; westernairbahamas.com) flies the Bimini route from £95 return.
Bahamas Flavour (0870 066 9975; bahamasflavour.co.uk) offers seven nights' b & b at Pink Sands Hotel, Harbour Island, from £1,999 per person, based on two sharing, including direct flights from Heathrow to Nassau, connections to Harbour Island and airport transfers. Seven nights at Pineapple Fields Hotel, Eleuthera, cost from £1,299 per person, including direct flights from Heathrow to Nassau and connections to Governor's Harbour.
Nassau-based Majestic Holidays (323 1410; majesticholidays.com) can arrange island-hopping packages taking in a number of Bahamian islands, such as a nine-night, three-island safari covering Exuma, Long Island and Cat Island, staying at small characterful hotels, including Club Peace & Plenty Exuma, Stella Maris Resort Long Island and Fernandez Bay Village, Cat Island. The cost is from £1,018 per person, including internal flights but excluding international flights from the UK. Tailor-made packages are also available
THE BEST RESTAURANTS
Sip Sip, Harbour Island ££
Overlooking the sea Sip Sip (it means gossip in local parlance) is the perfect place to sit and people-watch and enjoy delicious home-made food such as octopus salad, cooked by the owner Julie Lightbourn. Don't miss the distinctive cocktails such as Ginger Margarita (242 333 3316).
Chat 'N' Chill, Stocking Island ££
On the lee side of Stocking Island, the Chat 'N' Chill is a classic beach bar with great food that seems to attract every boater in the area. The hog roast served at Sunday lunchtime is famous throughout the islands (336 2700; chatnchill.com).
Luciano's of Chicago, Nassau £££
With views out to Paradise Island and lovely ocean-side seating, Luciano's is one of Nassau's top restaurants, serving fine Tuscan cuisine with a Bahamian twist. Signature dishes include a fine Tuscan fish soup and calamari (East Bay Street; 323 7770; lucianosnassau.com).
Catch the ferry. Known affectionately by locals as the Bo Hengy, Bahamas Ferries operates services between the islands, including a two-hour trip from Nassau to Harbour Island (322 8185; bahamasferries.com).
Although famous for pink sand and blue sea, the Bahamas doesn't only offer water-based activities. Abaco, for example, has more than 65 species of birds and is one of the few places where you can spot the green Abaco, or Bahama parrot. Nature tours take visitors into the beautiful Abaco National Park to see the endangered parrots as well as other colourful bird life (abaconature.com).
Thrill-seekers should head for the shark dive at Stuart Cove's just outside Nassau. The proprietor's claim to fame is that he taught Sir Sean Connery to dive for 007's underwater scenes in films such as Thunderball, and now his shark handlers take brave visitors down to encounter sharks and watch them feed from a pole spear (362 4171; stuartcove.com).
Junkanoo is the Bahamas' annual festival, with major celebrations between Boxing Day and New Year's Day throughout the islands. The best time and place to watch the fun is on New Year's Day in Nassau, where throngs of cavorting costumed figures dance through the streets. A good viewing point is the capital's main shopping area on Bay Street.
For further information on Speed Week, visit bahamasspeedweekrevival.com. Further information on the Bahamas at bahamas.co.uk.
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