Family is in town so we are playing tourist

Went to Meiji Jingu, got a goshuin for it.

Then, while dragging husband and SIL to a smol detour so I could check out some anime goods (bought a set of Hakuoki charms for SSL), we found a popup that included rings for JKK

Husband asked which one I wanted, and when I couldn’t decide on the spot, he made the right cal by pulling me away. But I think I want Suguru’s rig? But Satoru’s is sparklier…..

Heartland 14x03 - Making Amends

We get to see Lily, with flashbacks of her saying of what a good place she’s in... but we know thats not likely to last so, here we gooo

Ps. I love Megan Follows

So far i’m really loving the introduction with Amy just standing there with Lyndy watching the horses. So simple, yet this is something I can see Amber doing with the Spencer twins at her own farm. It’s like they told Amber to just hang out with Lyndy in between scenes and happened to be there to film it. Love the simplicity of it all, with Spartan and the newly and aptly named Shadow. 

As a total side note, i love Amy’s hair in a braid. It’s such a nice change from her hair being loosely down.

Anyways, Lily is here - or rather, Nana! And Amy does not look impressed. Lily was not there for any of the major events, even the funeral and Amy feels abandoned after Lily and Wade flat out ignored Amy’s attempts to reach out. Frankly, I don’t blame Amy - not attending your only child’s funeral and ignoring your daughter in law when they could have used their support. However I don’t doubt that Lily had a valid reason - perhaps a relapse - that she’s hiding and once Amy calms down she might be amenable to listening. The good news is, Lily wants to talk, and Amy wants to listen... she just needs to get over her anger first.

Jack goes to confront Lily and Lily confesses that she fell off the wagon... and hard when Jack told her about Ty’s death. And that’s understandable - if she can’t even help herself how can she be there for other people? She even ended up in the hospital. She’s sorry, and Amy is sorry but will it be enough? Just when it seems like things are slowly getting better, Lily mis-steps. 

Should she have offered the money? No. 

Should she have listened to Amy and not let Howler race? Also no.

HOWEVER, is she right that Amy should consider seeing professional therapy? Also yes. Sometimes an outside sounding board or someone you can yell at with no stake in it helps or gives perspective.

Despite Lily’s insistence that she did not come just for Amy to work with the new race horse Howler (Amy is not believing her), Amy agrees to work with the horse. Hey, even we even get a Cass mention. We may not see Cass but we hear that she’s busy being a new mom... so that’s uh something. I know Kaitlyn Leeb wasn’t on set at all this season so it’s still nice to know that Heartland is acknowledging her existence. 

After some research, Amy learns that Howler is spooked because he witnessed a fellow race horse crash into the barrier and he’s traumatized to be around any railings. Hey, doesn’t this ring a bell about the current theme of the season? Everyone has traumas, everyone has demons and everyone is still dealing with Ty’s death in their own way. Everyone is coping and dealing with it in a different way as they all had different relationship with Ty.

Chad, a big travel blogger, according to Lou, wants to interview her in part of Lou’s mission to make Hudson the new tourist city - but something tells me that this won’t good as smoothly as she anticipates. She convinces Jen to work the weekend to get the dude ranch in shape and look who else is here... PETER! When Chad also arrives, Lou conveniently gets a last minute meeting and pushes Jen into showing Chad around and Jen isn’t happy. I also don’t blame her - she already had to change her plans twice because of Lou. 

Lou gets her amazing blog post by Chad, but the townspeople (unfairly) criticize her for fulfilling her one election promise - to put Hudson on the map - because of course she wants to increase tourism - her family has business in Hudson and it shows she’s not fully committed to the town. Is the criticism fair? No, not entirely, but at a certain point if you’re in politics you gotta just shut out the noise right? You will never be able to make everyone happy.

Side note: Jen and Peter broke up? GG Jen, it was nice knowing you. I hope the writers don’t put Lou and Peter back together they are so much better as co-parents!

This leads to an argument between Amy and Lou that while Lou the mayor is evident, Lou the sister is not. Amy needs her sister and Lou, while being busy with town with the positive of avoiding facing her feelings about Ty’s death, has just not been around. Lou lost a friend and a brother in law and Lou is dealing with her grief by refusing to think about it - denial. I hope to see more of how Lou deals with her grief.

We saw how Amy tried to talk to Lou while working with Howler, only for Lou to be pulled away, so I see where Amy is coming from. Likely, as Jack says, Amy’s anger is that she feels like other people are avoiding what she feels everyday and she feels it’s unfair and people are making excuses. Fact is though, everyone is grieving the loss of a loved one the only way they know how - and while they may not completely understand how the other is grieving, I do think a little understanding would go a long way (without feeling sorry for the other person).

Meanwhile Parker is running around turning off lights trying to save their eco footprint, to Jack’s annoyance. She suggests the idea of solar panels (my uncle has solar panels and it does save a lot of money!) and while Jack doesn’t love the idea, Lisa is into it. However, eventually Parker coaxes Jack to buy solar panels and i’m beginning to love their relationship! 

By the end of the episode, Jack is fed up with Parker when she gives him the wrong measurements and tells Parker that people on the ranch are dealing with much bigger things that solar panels. Harsh, i mean but... not false. Parker was just there in the wrong place at the wrong time and I don’t think Jack really meant to lash out at Parker that badly. 

It ends with a giant explosion. Is Lily going to be okay? My gut says yes. Imagine if Lily dies and the guilt Amy will have on top of it since she told Lily to go away. That won’t be pretty.

However, I do believe Lily will be okay and the next episode is the explosion where they work together to save the horses, so I am looking forward to seeing how the explosion works to make amends between the family.

I also hope that all the horse cases for the rest of the season don’t have to do with grief and maybe allow Amy to have some fun and learn new skills. I’d hate it every horse had a trauma related to death - I know its supposed to relate back to Ty’s death but we can have an episode where Amy has fun one time right?

Kung mas lalo kang humirap ngayon, sino ang sisisihin mo?

I’m not a fan of Filipino noon shows, but this episode really stuck with me. Vice Ganda here, rebukes Anne Curtis’ and a contestant’s argument that the poor remain poor because they are lazy. For him, especially as someone with the rags to riches narrative, his success does not discredit the hard work of farmers who are cheated by unfair pricing and monopoly in agribusiness. He also shared that in the past, he used to think the same way as well. However, he now realized that it is the people with leverage who are constraining others. Injustice and inequity is still prevalent as one can observe in the school setting, for example. The rich are typically labeled the brightest minds for they can afford private tutors and have access to the internet and academics materials. Although there is a right to education, many are still at a disadvantage due to the high cost of education.

WHAT. A. DRAG. I know, but I wanted to use this as an example in order for us to better understand the habitus of two different sides of the same coin. What has led me to my current disposition? What has led the Women of Buklod to theirs? 

May naibinhi nga ba ang Binhi sa akin?

When I first signed up for LB01, I did not expect that I would be able to learn more than I already knew. Being a female, I have always thought that I’ve had a clear picture of the plight of women. I was, of course, proven wrong. One’s mere similarity with another does not immediately entail a clear understanding of another’s situation.

The women of Buklod ng Kababaihan were former sex workers in Olongapo. Sex tourism was prominent in their city, especially during the time of the U.S. military in the Subic Bay Naval Base. Its closure after the American Occupation, however, did not abolish the bars and clubs that have made their niche. Instead, only the clientele of the so-called Sin City changed.

Ate Jen (not real name), Ate Apple (not real name), to name a few, were strong women. Behind their smiles, however, are lingering stories of pain and abuse. Belonging mostly from the marginalized sectors, these women were the breadwinner in the family. Some of them were even sold by Mothers to the sex trafficking ring or were molested by their family members. Most of them, due to the violence and harassment experienced in their families, ran away. This is where the women were unfortunately reeled into sex work. Ate Apple, one of the oldest in the group, gave birth to a half-American who will never get to know his father. Ate Jen, the Buklod member I got to talk a lot with, shared that she made a round with all the abuses one could ever think about. Due to lacking educational attainment, Ate Jen and many others were unable to land on jobs that could satisfy the needs of everyone in the family. For Ate Jen, specifically, it meant going home and not being able to feed the mouths of her 6 children, her relatives, and her husband. Thus, she was pushed into the world of an “entertainer”. For some, however, sex work was a choice. It was a chance to explore their sexuality whilst earning income. Unfortunately, this entailed contracting sexually transmitted diseases, unfair treatment in the workplace, and abuse.

Raised by Catholic parents, Ate Jen was a devout Catholic. Thus, when she was finally able to liberate herself from the horrors of the growing sex industry, she vowed to give back to society. Along with many others, Ate Jen volunteers in the programs of Buklod ng Kababaihan in order to support sex workers and to help their families as well. Buklod ng Kababihan wants to highlight that there are other opportunities for women to earn money. At the same time, they understand the reasons for many to continue sex work. Thus, they want to protect the rights of sex workers as well. Roughly translated, I remember Ate Joy telling us that before she was aided by others, she lived a life in submission. Now, although barely scraping by, Ate Jen says she is the happiest she can ever be now that she spends her time with her children, works an honest job as a janitress, and helps other women through rallying and working for Buklod.

Pushed by their harsh environment to be tough and independent, these women are the epitome of true grit. They have learned their ways in order to survive. Cunning, bold, fearless – such words barely justify the strength of the women of Buklod. Seeing them laugh and stand proud, it makes one forget that once upon a time, these women felt that at a point in their lives, they were hopeless. With no authority figure to guide them and barely any support felt as a child, these women were forced into maturity at such a young age. This makes me ponder about the great class disparity here in the Philippines. Every night for nineteen years, I came home to loving parents and a hearty meal. Unknowingly, on the other side of the wall, there were families of a dozen sharing a cup of noodles to warm themselves as they slept at streets, with lampposts as their only light.

I have always labeled myself as belonging to the middle class or the comfortable living standard. I never appreciated what we had because I always thought that it was not enough. We weren’t rich. We just had enough to feed our mouths and pay our tuition. My parents grew up in poor families. My mom used to sell ice candy and banana cue when she was twelve. My father was a caretaker of houses every summer during his childhood to help his parents. Thus, I was shaped to think that I needed to work hard so that I may be able to repay my parents. Although my parents did a good job of alleviating our standard of living, some of my relatives weren’t fortunate enough. Thus, I was encouraged to study hard. Even my drive as a Management Engineering student is stirred by my hopes of a better future not only for my children but for my relatives as well. Although my parents grew up with parents of the working-class, perhaps the reason they have never raised a hand on my sister and I, or that they value education and hard worker, no matter what the cost, is attributed to their upbringing. Although I never got the chance to be close with my grandparents before their passing, I heard of their stories. They might be tough at times, but they worked hard for the future of my parents. Thus, I believe that my profound interest in socioeconomic issues or politics, in academics, and my self-direction and autonomy is a product of the structured and structuring structure of my habitus.  

Although at some point, some women of Buklod shared the same story as my parents, my parents had different social capital. They were influenced by scholars in the family. My granddads were engineers and my grandma was a teacher. They were low in economic capital, yes, but the similarity in their demand and resource was offset by the great force backed by the environment. For my parents, they valued education and they wanted to be part of the corporate world or at least to move up from being blue-collared workers. Ate Jen and Ate Apple didn’t have that kind of support. In their respective fields, actors such as their families and friends played a role in their transformation, in the context of my parents, or preservation, in the situation of the sex workers, of their social hierarchy. Thus, my current disposition is brought about by the earned privilege I have as bestowed by my parents. For many others, however, the life they live today as a combination of the life they were born to and of the oppressive system of our society.

In the end, it all boils down to us as members of our society. Do we live for ourselves, or do we live for the greater good? If we all take our time to reflect and see the consequences of our actions, we will soon be able to realize that we are often clouded by notions of greed and thirst for greatness. When we soon stop ourselves from clinging to be the best among the rest, that is when we soon see that there need not be the best. What we need as a society is to be able to cater to each and every one. Perhaps, if we are open to such concept, then maybe the term marginalized will be nonexistent as well. In a documentary I have watched entitled “Walang Rape sa Bontoc”, I realized that if we are able to strengthen our ideals of equity and respect, then concepts such as the poor, violence, rape, abuse, discrimination, and many more, would never have been created or would have no use for at all. It is a long journey to such dream. Too idealistic would be a phrase for many. However, I do believe that no matter what the cost or no matter how long it takes, if we all see through our materialistic desires, we may be able to find ourselves as one with everybody else. This is what Binhi has made me see. I never thought that I’d ever quote Vice Ganda or use his philosophy for any circumstance at all, but truth be told, it is in our hands as people of privilege to help others to stand and grow as well. 

KEY WEST PLATO'S ATLANTIS?

Plato’s Atlantis sank because of an earthquake. Key West will not die a similar death. If anything, it will be because of an overload of people.

Two recent Citizens’ Voice comments and the cruise ship referendums reflect the thinking of the Key West citizenry.

One comment: “The mayor of Maui is pleading with airlines to stop ��over tourism.’ There needs to be a balance between the tourist economy and the locals. Seems applicable here too.”

The other comment: “The town is already overrun by too many tourists from the pent-up demands from the pandemic. Now there are some who want to add thousands more daily from the cruise ships? Insane.”

In November, the people of Key West spoke re the cruise ship problem. The three referendums clearly revealed the feelings of the people: Limit the size of the cruise ships and number of passengers.

The vote meant nothing to the Governor, State Legislature, and certain monied persons. The State passed a bill and the Governor happily signed it into law prohibiting local ballot initiatives or referendums from limiting size, number of passengers, etc.

The people of Key West lost! The result of political shenanigans. The Governor and State slapped Key West in the face. More accurately, spit in Key West’s eye.

Fortunately, whoever drafted the new law withdrawing the power of a municipality to control its own waters may have erred in the drafting of the law. There may be a drafting screw up whereby the City Commission could take a different route whereby the people can be heard.

A meeting is scheduled for monday night where the Mayor and City Commission will review the matter and hopefully arrive at a decision consistent with what the people of Key West want.

Esteemed and respected Key West citizen Joseph Lyles called the other night. Joseph and I have been friends for many years.

The last time we were together was at a monday night Dueling Bartenders. Some time before the pandemic became a problem. Which means Joseph and I have not communicated in more than 2 years.

It was a joy hearing from him.

Joseph for years was a waiter at The Hot Tin Roof. Then manager for an additional number of years. Following which he was the concierge at the Reach. He presently is involved with the sale of legal marijuana at a Dual Street location.

Sounds like Joseph jumped from one job to another. Not correct. He is on in his years and been around long enough to have had several occupations. In addition to which he has spent many years involved with St. Paul’s Church.

Joseph reached the cane stage earlier than I. I recall when he graduated from a cane to a staff. A rough pole about 5 feet tall.  He reminded me of John the Baptist.

We agreed it had been too long since last we were together. We will be meeting for lunch at Louie’s Backyard.

Mosquitoes are a bit earlier and a bit more this year. The increase in rain thought to be the cause.

Mosquitoes are always a Keys concern. Some years can be extremely bad.

Last summer, there were 67 reported cases of dengue fever in Key Largo. Unusual.

Two nights ago, I had difficulty sleeping. At 3 in the morning, I turned on the TV set. Saw an enjoyable war movie. A submarine one. Starred Matthew McConaughey.

The movie was titled U-571.

In the Citizen’s Historical Section yesterday, mention was made of a vessel whose last name was Cueno. On July 9, 1942, it was sunk 66 miles southwest of Key West. Sunk by the German submarine U-571.

Any relationship between the movie and submarine that sank the Cueno?

There was a German submarine U-571 that worked the waters off the Keys. Actually several other submarines also. I did some further digging. Could not however find any relationship between the sinking of Cueno and U-571.

Joe Biden has a heavy plate. So far, so good. However, he has to move swiftly on a couple of matters. Certain things can only be permitted to sit too long.

The cyberattacks are one. Biden spoke with Putin for one hour in a telephone call this week. Drew the line in the sand. Time now for action. One more ransom situation and he must move. He has the capacity to destroy one of the cyber attacking facilities. Or maybe blow up one of Russia’s pipelines. The pipeline a step too far? I don’t know.

One thing is certain. Putin does not want a war. He is aware he is not the leader of the Soviet Republic. He heads the tiny entity called Russia. Except for his nuclear arsenal left over from World War II, he is no threat to the U.S.

Putin has major unrest in Russia. He is not the power person he was even 5 years ago. Russia cannot afford a war. It is hurting financially. Ergo, he can be pushed.

Biden’s other problem is getting legislation through Congress. The bottom line remains the same since he took office. Get rid of the filibuster. If he could and did, by the time of the 2022 elections he will have achieved great success. He could easily pass infrastructure as he wants it, get new voting laws in place, and whatever else he desires.

Manchin and Sinema are his problems. Their bipartisanship efforts have proved naught. They are being played by the Republicans and seem blind to it. They are glorying however in their 15 minutes in the sun.

Biden has to get them on board or get two Republicans to vote for ending the filibuster and supporting some Democratic programs. May not be as difficult as it sounds.

Failure to get sufficient legislation passed wills result in Republicans taking over the Senate and House in 2022. I have to believe Biden is not lacking in awareness of this fact. He has to move and do so this summer.

Remember the Scopes trial. Also known as the Monkey Trial. The trial began this day in 1925 in Rhea County, Tennessee.

The issue evolution in violation of a Tennessee criminal law. Scopes was a high school teacher who taught evolution in violation of the law.

The trial a big deal! Clarence Darrow represented Scopes. William Jennings Brian the prosecution.

Scopes was convicted. Tennessee’s Supreme Court ultimately overturned the conviction.

The trial turned out to have been a fraud. A joke. Not for real.

The Rhea County merchants wanted to bring business to their area. They concluded a big time trial would place their area on the map.  They rigged the whole thing. Everyone bought it at the time. Except the merchants and Scopes who were in on the phoniness.

I doubt the judge and counsel were aware.

It is amazing how people to this day believe the trial was for real.

The house without air conditioning for 3 hours plus yesterday was difficult to handle. I decided on a leisurely lunch at Geiger Key. Most enjoyable. By the time I got home, the air was running and the house cool.

Enjoy your day!

    KEY WEST PLATO’S ATLANTIS? was originally published on Key West Lou

Bangkok to Host Second Asia Destination Film Forum on 30 January 2020

Bangkok will host the second Asia Destination Film Forum on 30 January 2020. The event, co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Itthipol Khunpluem, Thailand’s Minister of Culture, and Dr. Sorajak Kasemsuwan, Secretary General of the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Association, will take place at Quaint Bangkok. First launched at the 2018 Mekong Tourism Forum in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, by the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), the forum is designed to showcase and recognize films that promote destinations and sustainability, through the power of visual storytelling. The forum will consist of sessions held by Nick Ray from Hanuman Films, Joe Cummings, editor at large of Bangkok 101, Fah Daengdej, Host of The Passion on Nation TV 22, and others, exploring how consumers are inspired to visit destinations by visual storytelling from movies to user-generated videos, how tourism boards can leverage films, how businesses can benefit from visual storytelling, and how it can drive sustainability.

In addition to sessions and case studies by Tom Waller, producer of “The Cave” (Thailand), and by Ekachai Uekrongtham, executive producer of the Netflix series “The Stranded” (Thailand), there will be case studies by the Singapore Tourism Board, Busan City Tourism Organization, as well as the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Winner of Best Feature Film at the 2019 San Diego International Film Festival “The Steed” (Mongolia), as well as Hanuman Films’ award-winning “The Last Reel” (Cambodia) will screen during the event. In addition, films submitted to the Thailand Film Festival, in collaboration with the Thailand Film Office of the Department of Tourism, and the Mekong Mini Movie Festival, in partnership with MTCO, will be shown during the forum. In the evening, the 2020 Asia Destination Film Awards, as well as the Mekong Mini Movie Festival Awards, will be presented, followed by a Mongolia BBQ Film Festival night with a Mongolian celebrity BBQ chef and traditional cultural performances hosted by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Mongolia. Jens Thraenhart, Executive Director of MTCO and founder of the Destination Film Forum and Awards, said, “Today, video is one of the most powerful mediums when promoting a destination. It has the chance to awaken the wanderlust in the viewer by showing the essence and uniqueness of a place in just a few short moments. However, the power of inspiring people via film goes beyond promoting destinations; it can also drive change and responsible travel behavior, striving to emphasize tourism that is sustainable, responsible, environmentally conscious, and bringing benefits to local communities. In partnership with WWF and Khiri Travel, the Mekong Mini Movie Festival is creating awareness of sustainable tourism and conservation, focusing on the festival’s mascot, the endangered Mekong Dolphin.” A Destination Film Forum networking happy hour with film previews will take place at the popular Spectrum Lounge & Bar at the Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit at 17:30 on 29 January. See latest Travel News, Interviews, Podcasts and other news regarding: Bangkok, Video, MTCO. 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Just a Visual Argument Analysis

The comic strip below was drawn by Jen Sorensen and depicts North Carolina’s House Bill 2 (also known as the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act) enacted. As a bit of background information, the bill required transgender people to use the bathrooms that corresponded to their biological sex. Jen’s comic strip plays out a potential (exaggerated) situation that could result from this ideology and via cleverly switching roles of the oppressor and the oppressed shows hypocrisy and the damage bigotry can do. This shapes a clever argument as to why transgender people should be allowed to use the washrooms that correspond to their gender identity.

The argument put forwards by the by the people whose legislative actions that caused this comic to by drawn in the first place has flaws. Namely as it will be shown within the comic, they make the assumption that transgender women are men. This is a post hoc logical fallacy and faulty deduction. The assumption that because of x (transwomen having predominantly ‘male’ genitalia), there is y (men in the women’s washroom) and because of y there is z (Men should be evicted from the women’s washroom) is false because the leap from having ‘male’ genitalia to inherently being male does not exist.

In the first frame, context is provided with the white text in black, and below it a man bearing an uncanny resemblance to Jeff Sessions in traditional (or stereotypical) southern garb is seen fretting over (as shown by his sweating) the idea of having a man in the woman’s washroom. This man is visibly old (notice the liver spots above his left eye, his wrinkles on his neck and his receded hairline) and as a result is likely to be metaphorically old fashioned and conservative. It goes to show how major policy decisions are made by older people who are behind the times.  Moving over to the second frame, a woman (as illustrated by the dress, lipstick, long hair, and presence of breasts) is depicted entering the men’s washroom with the caption ‘totally not a dangerous situation’. Upon closer examination, the line under her eye shows her to be scared- probably because two men (presumably at the urinals) are staring at her menacingly. One has a Trump hat, and another is armed with a pistol stuck snugly in his back pocket. The artist uses this to imply danger. Trump supporters (especially southern ones) are notorious (but not unanimous) for being against the ‘trans agenda’ and many if not most have historically opposed civil right advancements for LGBT individuals (due in large part to the strong evangelical base that helped trump to carry the southern states). The gun harkens back to the startlingly high transgender murder rate and serves to show the [trans]woman is entering hostile environment.

The third frame proposes a ‘solution’ where the roles of exclusion are reversed, this time blocking north Carolina republicans from using public restrooms in other states. A concerned man (his emotional state denoted with the position of his eyebrows) says, ‘I just don’t feel safe using a bathroom with someone that bigoted’. The artist uses this to pose an argument by comparing something seemingly absurd (the exclusion of north Carolina republicans) with something equally absurd but based in reality (the exclusion of transgender people from bathrooms). Upon seeing the comparison, the reader understands the foolishness of exclusion and the rabbit hole it can summarily lead to.  

The final frame shows some travelers driving past the ‘welcome to north Carolina’ sign and saying that the state gives them the creeps. Its captioned, ‘Its funny how people scared of irrational things become scary themselves.’ This is the final piece of the reverse Uno card argument. Via a cleverly placed slippery slope, the fear mongering of North Carolinians made them look discriminatory and therefore scary to society. The fact that this argument is a slippery slope logical fallacy means that this would never happen in real life, but it serves to show the consequences of bigotry and how society approaches prejudice at this point in time. No state has the voting base nor politicians in office to exclude North Carolinians from washrooms. No voting body would ratify this as it qualifies as vindictive policy and would make it so the end result is more people being discriminated against not less. The point of a slippery slope fallacy is to show what could happen if things were the worst they could be. It’s a way of letting people know how good they have it and the kind of things they should do in order to preserve what good they’ve been given. For example, if you don’t want your rights taken away, don’t take them from someone else otherwise it opens a box of accusations and fear that the Pandora of the situation ultimately won’t be able to control.

             In terms of audience, this comic could be directed at a number of groups and individuals. If we assume it is being directed at North Carolinians, then it serves as a wake up call and warning. It first shows them that their legislature was in the wrong, and then goes to show what could happen to their state should they continue to exclude people from public facilities. This comic came out in March, 2016 while this controversy was still pressing and According to an article published by Forbes in December of the same year, the slippery slope illustrated in this comic partially came to fruition. The state of North Carolina for passing this law lost 630 million dollars in lost business during the fiscal year including 38 million in lost tourism, 255 million in research opportunities passed up by out of state companies, and 197 million in sports competitions whose locations were changed to avoid controversy (Journey, 2016).This lesson is also applicable to conservatives in and out of the state who considered or are currently considering similar bills in their respective legislatures.

             If the audience is people out of North Carolina, then it could be construed as a call to action. This comic in this case is a how-to manual on boycotting the State and the civil action required to stand up for oppressed peoples rights. Now it isn’t literally telling people to exclude more North Carolinians from bathrooms, but in its own way its saying to be aware of whats happening and to take appropriate steps to limit the damage. In this case, in the final frame when it shows people at the border of the state deciding whether or not to enter it, with one expressing their discomfort. It encourages other people not from the state to do the same and to question if its okay to give their time and money to a place and institution with such exclusionary values.

In conclusion, this is a politically relevant comic with a clear argument bolstered by its visuals. Trans exclusion from bathrooms was and still is a hot topic in politics and this comic effectively illustrates potential consequences that could arise from such a public policy. Through clever placement and select illustrative details such as the MAGA hat and gun, the artist conveys both danger and urgency. Stylistic aspects like the garb worn by the old man in the first frame show what is happening is old fashioned and finally the presence of four frames successfully creates a sense of time, and therefore cause-and-effect. By accepting people for who they are and not hindering them for their life decisions, we can have a happier, more productive, and more profitable society.

Bibliography

 Jurney, Corinne. “North Carolina's Bathroom Bill Flushes Away $630 Million In Lost Business.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 Dec. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/corinnejurney/2016/11/03/north-carolinas-bathroom-bill-flushes-away-750-million-in-lost-business/#4576b5a44b59.

Sorensen, Jen. North Carolina's Anti-Trans Bathroom Law Stinks. 29 Mar. 2016, jensorensen.com/2016/03/28/north-carolina-lgbt-trans-bathroom-law-cartoon/.

Memo Mayor Mullet: Being Seen Through Is Not Transparency. The TCC Culture Of Secrecy Continues Apace.

Meetings behind closed doors to commit an undisclosed amount of ratepayer money to a vague notion of (yet again) attracting an international airline, and just what is the deal with that City Deal now, has it all been scuttled? The scurrying and squeaking behind the political skirting boards is getting more frantic. Think were being taken for a ride at the ballot box? youd be right, with the system revamped to hoodwink the majority of voters. But The Pie to the rescue with an explainer. The Pie spots some glib sayings during the week, which are simply wrong, wrong and wrong. Also, an unexpected moment of clarity from our council, .while off-shore, our regular weekly visit to the Trumpistan gallery. But first The Campaign Caravanserai Grinds On Across The Landscape, Stirring Up Apathy all Around There has been enough said elsewhere about the triviality of the weeks campaigning, and the totally unedifying leaders debates, which have offered about as much probative value as that smugly orchestrated outrage on Q&A. Candidates from both sides are dropping like flies, all caught out by some ancient un-PC social media posts, giving the finger waggers a field day. Makes you wonder who does the background checks for the parties and what it says about their social media competence to begin with. Our resident toonist Bentley is still sceptical of many issues from both sides, but one in particular he thinks is utter tosh.

Why is this even an issue in this election? Actually, come to think of it, its not, just a wish list distraction. But our bright spark wannabee PM has the right power connections, when it comes to other sensitive issues, like his franking credits swoop on super funds. The very best advice is on hand for him, 24/7.

This is a campaign is search of a universal issue, a cross-generational punch-up starter. As it stands at the moment, the rampant glad-handing emptiness underlines the rampant disenchantment with big party politics The Pie is tipping a balance-of-power parliament. Fear And Loathing At The Ballot Box So youve listened to the pleadings, wheedlings and horror stories until your ears bleed, made what sense you can of it all (or simply believed whichever fairy tale you want), and now you stand in the pre-polling booth, wanting to get your duty over and done with, clutching two ballot papers roughly the length of War And Peace (more characters, but less plot). Youre ready to make your mark for your choice of who you want to lead this country. Or are you? The House of Reps seems to be a doddle

Hmmm, seems relatively straightforward. Licking the pencil with a tentative tongue, you number the boxes, starting with 1 for your first choice, and then number on down in gradients of disgust until all boxes are filled, from most wanted to least wanted. Whew, not so hard after all. Now lets just knock off the Senate vote and head to the pub. As you unfold the Senate ballot paper, you think back to the puzzling advice from the polling officer Please watch your language sir, there are children around. Then you open it.

WHOAAAA!!! WTF, YOU MUST BE FKING KIDDING!! But wait, theres more

Welcome to our loopy democracy at work. But hang on, it seems simple enough, if you vote above the line you just number at least 6 boxes, your first choice being number 1). But if you vote below the line, you must number at least 12 boxes, with the same priority of choice. Note the at least, as though that 12 isnt enough. But no, you can spend a merry hour or two and number the whole lot if you want, you old academic, you. But Heres The Thing A Trap For The Unwary HOWEVER, what you do not do with your senate vote is replicate the voting preferences as you did with the Lower House, where your enter your descending order of disdain. In the Senate, you vote 1 to 6 above the line, or 1 to 12 if below the line,for the candidates you most want to see in the Senate. Its like naming a team you want to take the field for you. Because if you vote further down for a candidates you least want, YOU ARE ACTUALLY CASTING A VOTE FOR THEM. So wonder no more why we end up with fruit loops like Malcolm Roberts and Fraser Anning et al having the power to block laws decided by the peoples place, the House of Reps. Researching all this, The Pie was particularly taken with the practice sample provided on line by the AEC: he wonders if the imaginary names given arent actually pretty good description of the real parties in this election. You choose whos who.

In Passing Couple of polar opposites in names way down the list in the Senate paper caught The Magpies eye.

Bravehearts founder and champion of child protection Hetty Johnston is having another tilt at public office, numerous previous attempts being unsuccessful. The Pie has met Ms Johnston on several occasions when he was taking Ruperts shilling, and was impressed with her sincerity, compassion and commitment to her cause. And oh what might have been Hettys most recent foray into the political arena was in 2015, when she ran for mayor of Logan City, but had to withdraw to care for her elderly mother. Oh, just think what heartache and public expense might have been avoided had she won. But then (sigh) as they say, if my aunty had balls, she wouldve been my uncle. And at the other end of the zealots stable we find one Kim Vuga, of the Love Australia Or Leave Party. On all evidence, Ms Vuga, a simplistic vulgarian which, as her party name suggests, campaigns on issues based on racism, packaged up as bogan-style patriotism, but is actually an attack on free speech; she is from the Malcolm Roberts School of foam flecked shouty single issue nuisances. But accidents happen and Roberts undeservedly actually did fall into a Senate spot before being turfed out on grounds of nationality he was found to be a Martian. But you can bet a vote for Ms Vuga will be a vote for an old BBF of hers.

All of which is just one small example of the fruit salad of candidates from which we can choose to govern us. A T-Shirt For The Times

Our mates at the wonderful piss-taking publication the Betoota Advocate reckon the ladies of their local CWA have created the ideal T-shirt for this election campaign and no argument from The Pie about that.

And one Magpie reader has come up with a re-cycling idea which is sure to make hasten the associated activity.

WRONG WRONG WRONG Adani continues to be an on-again-off-again issue in the Federal election, and the heat generated could a handy power source in itself. It also had a variety of people trotting out some banal and incorrect analogies. And the first to get it wrong was this bloke in the Astonisher story. Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane urged the Government to get on with approving the $60 billion in resources projects in the approvals pipeline.Its great to celebrate the investment secured over the last four years, but no one won a race running backwards, he said. Well, Ian, matey, thats just plain wrong, and will come as a big surprise to this bloke.

Then the Adani issue grew from a thorn to a big rusty nail in the side of The Tool, who has been ducking and weaving on the Carmichael Mine issue because of the confusion in the Short Uns camp about the correct line. From the Astonisher again. Ms OToole re-affirmed Labor had no plans to review Adanis approvals but said the mine needed to go through due regulatory process. That is really important you cant just throw sticks to the ground, put a roof on it and call it a house, she said. Well, in this country, you can actually, dearie. And some are still forced to do so.

Theyre called gunyahs. The Hermit Kingdom Of Jen Kim-un

The closed door culture was at its best with the Townsville City Council this week, when last Tuesdays meeting went into closed session to discuss that item we mentioned last week the ominous sounding International Flight Attraction Incentives Contribution. After the secret session, which decided to proceed with the recommendations of a confidential report, we learned that the council will be in cahoots with Townsville Airport to lobby for direct flights from Singapores Changi airport to Townsville. But things werent too clear in the Astonishers report, when Mayor Mullet was quoted We wont be offering incentives per se to the company. Its really more about what well contribute to a marketing campaign. That of course means paying in part for advertising, which aint cheap. Several questions spring forth like startled gazelles. For a start, which company is being referred to, the QAL-owned Townsville Airport, or the targeted airline (which wasnt named)? And Tony Raggatt neglected to ask what one would think was an obvious question how much are the ratepayers stumping up for this, this time? It may well be justified but we are entitled to know, arent we? And who did the confidential report on which the decision was based , how much did it cost, and when did council vote to commission it, its the first weve heard of it? And heres the biggy on a running issue why is the council doing this, and not Townsville Enterprise, which is laughingly billed as Townsvilles peak marketing and tourism body? (Again we must ask, just what the bloody hell do TEL do, except claim credit for the work of others?) There was some talk that TEL would be involved, which is interesting since the mayor is the vice-chair of the TEL Board to chairman Kevin Rhymes With Gill who is also the head of Townsville Airport. All using public money for this venture. Gotta love this town. And Wither The Much Vaunted City Deal? As The Pie understands it, to get City Deal money, a council development corporation had to be created, which would also hold council land that is deemed suitable to develop in partnership with private enterprise. Why this insistence on yet another layer of bureaucracy which in the wrong hands, is an invitation to corruption, a la Ipswich is anybodys guess, but as it stands as of now, thats all out the window. It would be reasonable to assume that there was no activity, no appointment of new directors, no returns, no report since incorporation. Maybe they just realised is was a dud idea that they were never going to be able to manage. Company Name: TOWNSVILLE EA2 PTY LTD Company Type: Australian Proprietary Company Registered Office: 103 WALKER STREET, TOWNSVILLE, 4810, QLD No. of Current Company Directors: 3 Directors: Name: THOMSON MATTHEW ALLAN Appointed 23/11/2017 Name: YOUNG ADELE CATHERINE MARIE Appointed 23/11/2017 Name: HILL JENNIFER LORRAINE Appointed 23/11/2017 Company Secretary: FINLAYSON GRAEME ROBERT Appointed 23/11/2017 No annual returns or financial reports were recorded by ASIC for this company. And it will be wound up in a matter of weeks. So this company dies from neglect. But there is no explanation as to why all this has happened, especially as it is pivotal to the City Deal worth tens of millions. This May Come As a Surprise, But

The Magpie was impressed with the new TCC CEO Mike Chiodos forthright, plain English statements in todays paper regarding the great news for Townsville that the second stage pipeline looks like being built concurrently with stage one, which is already underway. Compare this with the usual patronising political duck and weave: Mr Chiodo said the council could not wait any longer to ensure the appropriate design was in place for stage 1 but that they would still be in a position to use the design, with some alteration and by moving the pumps to Clare, if a funding announcement was made by late May or early June. The fact that we are proceeding with design shouldnt be construed as anything other than we as an organisation wanting to meet our original commitment and being in a position to facilitate stage 2 should that come through after the election, Mr Chiodo said. The Pie just hopes theres more where that came from doesnt have to be stuff with which we agree, but just so long as we are respectfully informed in plain language. Mayor Mullet, take note. Chewbaccas Last Flight To The Stars Actor Peter Mayhew, best known as the man behind the Star Wars cuddly cult hero Chewbacca, departed our planet during the week. By all reports, one of the good guys in life, Mayhew was lauded from all sides as a funny and likeable bloke. And the man who brought to life one of the most memorable movie characters. But he may be encountering a problem on his final mission, according to the New Yorkers Avi Steinberg.

The Week In Trumpistan Attorney General Barrs toady antics is attempting to shield President Agent Orange from the damning details of the Mueller report has been the focus of attention during the week, along with a shameful milestone for the president.

And

Dessert? The Statue of Limitations

.. Thats yer lot for today, folks, please keep up the erudite, high intellectual tone of the political comments on the blog, heh heh heh and, hey, if youre pretty financially flush just now, a helping hand with a donation would be most gratefully received, the how to donate button is below. http://www.townsvillemagpie.com.au/memo-mayor-mullet-being-seen-through-is-not-transparency-the-tcc-culture-of-secrecy-continues-apace/

Final poster for Interim Crit and various other works shown.

Feedback from guest staff member Stu Foster, Jen and the rest of the manaakitanga cluster group are as follows;

Narratives!

Read between the lines of Kupe’s narrative?

Does welcoming / manaakitanga need to be done by a person?

Kupe to be brought back to site / space

taonga = life force - give this manaakitanga

How to connect with something ‘far away’

build upon the existing!

Places connected to Kupe

His landing spots / various other areas he has had an impact on

Extended to people

consider how the landings of cruise ships relates to Kupe

landscape sets a framework for spatial intervention

harbour is Aotea? uncertain what this means..

Test alternate sites in regards to Kupe narrative - not just red rocks

Criteria setting of what is welcoming?

psychological or physical? What am I welcoming / showing?

Extension of the existing

form

narrative

materials

spatial sequencing?

atmospheric qualities

event of liquid - solid

physical transition

landscape = narrative

treat the rock more than an entity - Give life

Material / strategy approach

Spatial narrative

landscape story

kupe story

Strategy of time

structure for the narrative to sit within

literal structure - e.g. tent frame and skin

what is the ‘skin’ made of?

Relationships between site, materials, people

Reflection post crit.

After my critique I had mixed emotions. I hadn’t anticipated my feedback to lead me down the narrative track as to an extent I had already explored this on a smaller scale (looking at the red rocks history). I felt Stu’s feedback was very constructive, he helped me to realise more in to the Kupe aspect that I had touched on but also how through narrative I could deeper the manaakitanga connection. However although I hadn’t anticipated this feedback I acknowledge how this could open up my options. Over the break I will be looking in to spatial narratives with a particular focus on cultural ones within a space. I will also be looking in to how to visually represent a historical narrative without being blunt? about it.

How can a spatial narrative welcome you to a location? A look in to short term accommodation in some of NZ’s key discovery points. Making us once again become voyagers and discoverers, a new take on tourism at home. Rather than a ‘home away from home’ - switch to ‘rediscovering the home’? An extension on the existing narrative and adding on to this.

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 1/28/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Monday 28th January 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

MIA ON A HIGH – Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley says she feels validated by Government’s decision to support the Barbados Cricket Association’s (BCA) bid to host international cricket matches between West Indies and England at Kensington Oval. Given projections that Barbados stood to gain $80 million in foreign exchange, and following West Indies’ massive victory in the first Test that featured outstanding performances from four local boys, Mottley also pledged Government’s commitment to any sporting activity that would redound to the benefit of the country. In an interview with THE NATION after West Indies crushed England by 381 runs on Saturday on the back of sterling contributions from captain Jason Holder and fellow Barbadians Shane Dowrich, Kemar Roach and Roston Chase, Mottley expressed delight at the turn of events. “I am on top of the world. This is even more special for me. One of the first decisions I made after being sworn in as Prime Minister was to agree to host this match and the One-Day Internationals. To have this kind of validation with this kind of victory, it doesn’t get better than this – a  Bajan double century, a Bajan century, a ‘barriffle’ of Bajan wickets in the first and second innings, and then to have a Bajan sub as wicketkeeper when the chips were down,” she said. (DN)

PM MOTTLEY TO ATTEND CARICOM-UN TALKS ON VENEZUELA – Prime Minister Mia Mottley will join two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) colleagues in New York on Monday for talks with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss the crisis in Venezuela. According to a statement from the CARICOM Secretariat, issued on Sunday evening, the regional delegation will be led by CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris of St Kitts and Nevis, and will also include Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Grenada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter David, and CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque will also attend the talks at UN Headquarters. The meeting is a follow up to the decision of CARICOM Heads of Government at their Special Emergency Meeting on Thursday which discussed the ongoing conflict in Venezuela. The CARICOM Leaders agreed to request a meeting with the UN Secretary-General which he accepted. (BT)

CRIME QUERY – Months before the spike in crime at the start of the year, Barbadians had expressed concern, fearing for their lives and the safety of communities in the wake of an increase in gun and gang-related activities. They made their feelings known in a study on the public perceptions of crime and violence conducted by Dr Dwayne Devonish, a senior lecturer in management studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus late last year. In his survey, which polled about 1 000 people, more than 70 per cent described the crime situation as “bad” or “very bad” and all agreed crime had worsened compared to 2017. They laid the root cause of this increase squarely on unemployment, especially among high-risk youth, drugs and the state of the economy. Respondents believed that some of the crime was being perpetrated by “outsiders” of a given community, who were seeking revenge, or by rival gangs who were looking for “justice” or “possessions”. The police also came under fire in the survey. Some respondents stated their reluctance to report crimes they witnessed to police because of their lack of trust in the Force and perceived tardiness in responding to a report. They also feared being labelled or targeted as informants. (DN)

WOMEN’S TEARS – Amidst complaints that clerks at the maintenance courts were driving some women to tears, the Registrar of the Supreme Court has said staff will continue undergoing customer service training. Registrar Barbara Cooke-Alleyne made the comment as a guest on Starcom Network’s Brass Tacks Sunday. Cooke-Alleyne, along with Chief Magistrate Christopher Birch, were fielding questions from mainly female callers about the service and treatment they received when they journeyed to court offices to collect child maintenance. The Registrar apologised to several women who related their experiences on air. Two of the women spoke of being reduced to tears and of feeling humiliated after their interaction with the clerks who, they said, made them feel as if they were begging for money.  (DN)

CONSTABLES NOT FEELING SO SPECIAL – An old police mobile unit parked along St Lawrence Gap, Christ Church, for many years is the “home” for Special Constables (S. C.) attached to the Southern Division’s  Tourism Patrol Unit. It has no running water; no bathroom facilities and no air conditioning. Instead, Special Constables have to use an old fan borrowed from a business in the area over a year ago. The only furniture the mobile unit contains is an old desk, a bench whose leather bottom is torn and tattered and an old chair.  When the Special Constables want to use the bathroom, they either have to telephone the nearby Worthing Police Station and wait for a vehicle to arrive to take them there or go to a hotel or other business place in the area.  “This is another example of how we are not special to the Royal Barbados Police Force,” said a disgruntled Special Constable who has long complained about their conditions of service. The Special Constables who are deployed to patrol the tourist belt pointed out that given the high level of gun crimes they are now required to work shifts around the clock to ensure that the visitors are safe; but noted their working  conditions are both unsanitary and unacceptable. (DN)

BADNESS MOVIE CLIP SPARKS PROBE – The Royal Barbados Police Force has launched an investigation to find out how a local film crew was able to drive into Central Police Station and film a scene for a movie. The NATION was reliably informed that police hierarchy was caught off-guard when Episode 10 of the popular movie series Badness aired in December showing a scene filmed on the compound of the station. In that scene, two men acting as police officers casually drive into the station located at Coleridge Street, The City, and proceed to drive around the entire compound as they discuss killing some men on the block. In the film, no real police officers are seen at the station and no sentry appeared to be at the gate. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Erwin Boyce said there was a protocol to be followed. “You can’t do that. You can’t just come in and do what you want to do. There is a certain protocol involved. You [have] to report to the station officer or an officer at the gate. “Obviously, it is something that we would investigate. I would assume that there is some effort to find out what happened.”  (DN)

17 DOGS TAKEN FROM HOME – Seventeen dogs, including 13 puppies, were removed from a house in Vauxhall, Christ Church, last week after concerns were raised about their welfare. The severely malnourished adult dogs, and flea- and worm-riddled puppies, which were kept chained to cement blocks, are now being treated at the RSPCA’s Cheltenham Lodge vet clinic on Spring Garden, St Michael. Chief Inspector Wayne Norville responded to the house after calls for assistance were made to the RSPCA. He told THE NATION the dogs appeared to be caught in the middle of a family dispute. (DN)

TREVOR BAYLISS WANTS ENGLAND TO SHOW MORE GUTS – Trevor Bayliss has questioned the “guts and determination” of his England side after their chastening defeat in the first Test in Barbados. Bayliss, the England coach, described himself as “speechless” after the team’s second batting collapse of the game and suggested some frank words would be exchanged within the squad after a performance that lacked “mental discipline”. While he defended England’s preparations and selection, arguing that several players had simply not performed and that the batting errors gave the spinners little chance to bowl on a worn surface, he did acknowledge that Sam Curran had endured the “first bad game” of his career and that Keaton Jennings’ struggles had him worried. “I think it gets down to a bit of guts and determination to get through those tough periods,” Bayliss said. “It’s not the first time that we’ve succumbed in a short space of time. The boys are in the dressing room hurting and I’d be worried if they weren’t. “Do they lack mental discipline? Personally I think so. You don’t have to have perfect technique to be able to score runs or take wickets: it’s how you go about using it. On this occasion we’ve certainly been lacking in that department. I’m not sure I can repeat what has been said [in the dressing room].” Bayliss did acknowledge West Indies’ fine bowling – especially in the first innings when Kemar Roach claimed a five-wicket haul – but felt England should have coped better throughout, especially when Roston Chase was on his way to an eight-wicket haul in the second innings. “They did bowl well, but every time a team does that we shouldn’t be expecting to get knocked over for 77,” he said. “In the second innings, the guys looked like they were trying, we made good starts but at this level you have to be able to bat longer than that. “Chase bowled a good line and a good length. He didn’t give us any easy runs to get off strike. He built that pressure up, broke down our techniques on a couple of occasions and there were some poor shots on some occasions. That adds up to eight wickets. “It’s not the first time this has happened. Every time we lose a wicket it’s the beginning of a collapse. And to be honest, I don’t know how to explain it. There’s nothing that stands out in your preparation or the lead up to the game that is any different to when we win. We have to work out what’s the difference between when we put on a partnership after losing a wicket and losing eight or nine quick ones.” The decision to omit Stuart Broad and play two spinners has been widely criticised in recent days, but Bayliss believes it was not so much the decisions that were wrong as the performances. He did suggest, however, that Broad had been missed and that his inclusion would be considered ahead of the second Test. “We made a decision in the belief that the five guys we picked would go out and bowl as well as they can do,” he said. “Unfortunately, on this occasion, they didn’t. “When we saw the wicket we were going to go with two spinners. Unfortunately, we didn’t bat well enough in the first innings to get through to the fourth or fifth day, where the two spinners could take advantage. And I think they would be disappointed [with their performance]. Chase bowled very few short balls, but we let them off with easy singles so you can’t put pressure on the batsmen. “It was down to Curran and Broad [for the final seamer]. Our gut feel was Curran as he has done well for us over the last six or seven games. It didn’t work out like that, the young bloke has had his first bad Test in his career. It won’t be his last but he’s a good young player who will learn from it. “One of his advantages of playing someone like Stuart is that he doesn’t go for too many runs, hopefully picks up some wickets, but gives us control. That stood out in this match, with only [James] Anderson and [Ben] Stokes being able to provide that line-and-length bowling and a bit of pressure on the opposition. We’ll have to revisit that in the next match.” While Bayliss celebrated the performance of Rory Burns, who made a career-best 84 in the second innings, he accepted Jennings’ struggles against seam bowling were a worry and also suggested that, in a perfect world, he would prefer to see at least one four-day, first-class games ahead of a Test series. “Burns has shown enough,” he said. “He looks like he’s been here for 20 or 30 Tests, not four. He’s still learning and will still get better. “Keaton is struggling a little bit. I’d be lying if I said we’re not worried about it and I’d be lying if I said he hadn’t been thinking about it. He’s one of the hardest workers we’ve got and he’s going to leave no stone unturned in making it better. “We prepared the same way as we did in Sri Lanka. Two two-day games. But we knew what we were going to get in Sri Lanka. Here we were a bit unsure. We were expecting it to be not as dry and go in with four seamers and one spinner. “Personally I would like to play some first-class games before the series, but you’ve only got four days scheduled, and if you want to give everyone a go, it is difficult. It’s the way of the world these days.” England fly to Antigua on Monday with the second Test starting there on Thursday. (BT)

GRAVE CALLS FOR MORE RESPECT TO BE SHOWN TO WINDIES – Chief executive officer of Cricket West Indies Johnny Grave wants more respect to be given to West Indies players. His comments have come in the wake of the regional team’s commanding win over England on Saturday, which saw them take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The Windies, the eighth ranked Test nation destroyed the number three rated English outfit by 381 runs inside four days at Kensington Oval on Saturday. Before the start of the opening Test match, former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott described the West Indies as “very ordinary, average cricketers”, while another former player in Andrew Flintoff said the “world’s gone mad” after West Indies captain Jason Holder made 202 not out in the second innings. However, Grave described those comments as being “borderline disrespectful” and “completely unwarranted”. “Criticism of our players and suggestions that they’re not world class is unfair. They are so dedicated. We’ve got 11 cricketers here and many more in the region who want to play Test cricket,” the CEO said. “I saw Andrew Flintoff say he can’t believe Jason Holder got a double hundred, yet I think Jason Holder is a fantastic cricketer and has been performing so fantastically over the last 18 months – a brilliant captain.” The 41-year-old Flintoff averaged 31.77 with the bat and 32.78 with the ball in his 79-Test career, while Holder is currently averaging 33.86 with the bat and 28.29 with the ball in 36 matches. (DN)

CHASE WANTED SOME GLORY – Roston Chase didn’t have to look too far for inspiration to produce a career-best eight-wicket haul that helped West Indies complete a crushing victory by 381 runs over England in the first Test yesterday at Kensington Oval. The stimulus was the outstanding performances of his teammates on the previous two days.  “Yesterday, after watching those guys perform like that, I was happy for them but I was a bit jealous that it wasn’t me. So I guess that I really took my opportunity to get the spotlight on me as well in the second innings,” Chase cheekily told the media as he flashed a smile. “It was a great feeling to get career-best figures and I will just look to keep on pushing from here,” he said. “The pitch didn’t really assist me that much. I was really focusing on putting the ball where I want to put it in my area, despite what the batsmen were doing and that really paid off for me, with a little bit of variation in my speed.” (DN)

NSC OPENING LATE ON MONDAY – The National Sports Council (NSC) and all of its facilities, including the National and Netball stadia, will open at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, January 28. An official at the NSC explained that the late opening is to facilitate a staff meeting. Persons are therefore asked to conduct their business accordingly. The National Sports Council apologizes for any inconvenience this late opening may cause. (BGIS)

STATUE FOR SIR WES - Sir Garry Sobers is about to get some company outside Kensington Oval. Windies fast bowling great Sir Wes Hall seems set to be honoured yet again, as plans are in place to erect a statue bearing his likeness near to Sir Garry’s iconic monument outside the Oval by November. Former chairman of World Cup Barbados, Chris de Caires, confirmed the news yesterday as part of his initiative with Cricket Legends of Barbados to pay tribute to all of the country’s great cricketers. “If you travel the world you would see that statues are used to promote images of nation-building, and someone like Sir Wes definitely fits that profile as not just a great cricketer, but a former West Indies manager, West Indies board president, Cabinet minister and priest,” said de Caires. (DN)

BALANCING MOTHERHOOD AND BUSINESS 101 – If you told Zoë Allamby six years ago that today she would be a mum to a bouncing, adventurous and beautiful baby girl while managing a booming make-up line, she wouldn’t have believed you.  But today she’s doing it and she’s doing it well.  Zoë is mother to Nala, a bubbly nine-month-old baby girl. She has also now started her make-up line CaribBeauty. Known to many as a model and as YouTuber, Zoe, who now lives in Delaware, said her life as it is now came as a quite a shock, especially becoming a mum. “Nala was one big surprise to us all. My husband Alan and I had plans for a child maybe around 30 or so or when we were more settled because we just moved up to Delaware for one of his jobs. Life happened; it was very unexpected but we just rolled with it and embraced it as it went on,” the 26-year-old said. The make-up line started just before Nala came into the picture but began booming when it was time to raise her new daughter. “CaribBeauty started out as a single highlighter ZoGlow, and when I was developing that Nala wasn’t in the picture. After the highlighter launched and did well, the lipsticks came, then I had Nala so I had to take a break. But I’m now back full force and distributing in the United States as well as Barbados,” she said. Zoë said since getting back into the game, her line has been doing well. (DN)

CHEERS FOR NEW BISHOP - A fanfare and loud cheers heralded the ordination and consecration yesterday of the new Anglican Bishop of Barbados. But the man of the moment, Reverend Michael Maxwell, shook his head in what appeared to be disbelief as hundreds of Anglicans rejoiced and welcomed their new leader after a lengthy and acrimonious election process that threatened to divide the church. It was just after 5:30 p.m. that visiting regional bishops removed the raiments of Maxwell’s former position and garbed him in the robes of the office as the 14th Bishop of Barbados. In a ceremony in the Gymnasium of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, attended by Governor-General Dame Sandra Mason, Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson, members of the Cabinet, former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and current senators, including the Barbados Workers’ Union general secretary Senator Toni Moore, the visiting bishops anointed his head; gave him the staff with which to lead the flock; slid the ring on his finger and placed the mitre on his head. (DN)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 337 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

March Madness

The month of March was a whirlwind of conferences, research and field expeditions. The month kicked off with the 2017 Mid-year Enrichment Conference for US Fulbrighters, which featured the work of 44 Fulbright scholars conducting research in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Timor Leste. 

The Philippine-American Educational Foundation hosted the conference here in Manila, and organized panels for Fulbrighters to share their research. We met the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, Ambassador Sung Kim, toured the Ayala Museum and enjoyed the beautiful voices of the Central Luzon State University Maestro Singers. 

After the conference I hopped on a plane to the island of Busuanga for a research trip solely for 3D modeling, with researcher Princess Mordeno. I met up with Princess in Coron where she had been staying with a college friend, and experienced the famous Filipino hospitality and a delicious lunch with Gen and her family.

Princess and I stayed in Concepcion, a small town an hour west of Coron. Unlike its neighbor, Concepcion is a very quiet neighborhood mostly untouched by tourism. We spent three days diving at the nearby islands of Calumbuyan, Rat Island and Tangtangan, and photographed over 10 new coral species, including several vulnerable species. 

In addition to looking for vulnerable coral species, Princess and I were also looking for a particular subset of corals called “Nemenzo species.” These are coral species that were first described by Francisco Nemenzo, the first Filipino scientist to identify and categorize coral species using corals from the Philippines. The coral species identified by Nemenzo have both scientific and cultural significance, and we found several while diving in Busuanga.

Nemenzo Species by yasmeensmalley on Sketchfab

After wrapping up our diving in Concepcion, we returned to Coron to ship our gear, and I tried eating a street-food favorite: balut, a hard-boiled duck embryo. Balut is sold according to age; the chick hatches at approximately 21 days, and it’s usually sold and eaten between 16 and 21 days old. This Filipino delicacy is eaten hot and with a splash of vinegar, and I have to say, it’s not my favorite. While in Concepcion I also tried “dirty ice cream,” which is a delicious sorbet sold by street hawkers. That was much more up my alley!

After returning from Busuanga I had four days in Manila to process my 3D models before returning back to the field, this time to Romblon, the Marble Capital of the Philippines. I joined my advisor, Dr. Al Licuanan, and researchers Alexis Principe and Jen Deauna in Batangas, where they were doing research alongside the California Academy of Sciences Coral Team. The CAS team included scientists Terry Gosliner, Meg Burke, Gary Williams, Rebecca Albright, Rich Mooi, Allison Fritts-Penniman, Kelly Larkin, and Kent Carpenter from Old Dominion University. 

Dr. Al, Alexis, Jen and I took a ferry from Batangas Port to Romblon, where we then disembarked with a dozen large bags. The mode of local transportation in Romblon and many other provinces in the Philippines is by trike, a motorcycle with an attached sidecar. We loaded up three trikes with our gear, and then made our way to the Three P Dive Resort.

It was wonderful working with and learning from the CAS scientists. At the end of each day we all shared our findings: sometimes a particularly thriving coral reef at a recommended dive site, other times new soft coral and nudibranch (sea slug) species. I was fascinated to learn about predatory nudibranchs that eat certain species of hard coral, including some that I’d photographed and 3D modeled. As Allison explained, some predatory nudibranchs are only found on specific species of corals, which they eat. If their coral food source is a vulnerable or endangered species, then they too are at risk of becoming threatened. 

While we did see several beautiful coral reefs, many of which were dominated by Porites coral, we saw plenty of coral predation by Crown-of-Thorns starfish, or COTs. These were prevalent both in Romblon and in Busuanga, where I had seen them on my previous trip. COTs eat coral, and in some dive sites we saw dozens at a time, some piled on top of each other.

I took a break from diving near the end of the trip to assist Meg with an outreach event at a local school, which the CAS team does frequently while working abroad. Meg, Allison and I went to Montfort Academy, where Meg presented on the importance of coral reefs, why they’re at risk, and some of the ways that we can all help protect and conserve them. I also briefly explained my research and showed an excellent video explaining the biology of coral reefs. The video was produced by Project Turokuro, a social media experiment that aims to promote the work of Filipino scientists to increase the science literacy of Filipinos.

After six days of diving and 24 photographed corals, we said our goodbye to the CAS team and made our separate ways back to Manila. I haven’t yet visited the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, so I’m hoping to visit and see the Steinhart Aquarium, where I’ll be able to relive my time here with the Philippine Coral Reef exhibit.

I’m headed out to my final research trip this week, this time to the east side of the Philippines in Guiuan, Samar. I’m curious to note the differences between coral reefs there and ones I’ve seen so far, as I’ve heard that corals in Samar are smaller and more encrusting due to stronger wave action in the Pacific. Guiuan was also heavily damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, which devastated coral reefs around the Philippines and killed over 6,000 people. It will be a somber and important place to conclude my photographic research.

This blog is not an official Department of State publication, and the views and information presented here are those of Yasmeen Smalley-Norman and do not represent the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the Department of State, the Philippine-American Educational Foundation or De La Salle University.

Written by Jen Yamato

Compare his embellishments of the source material to the novel itself and the first film to be adapted from it, by Double Suicide filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda, five years after the book’s release. Co-written by Endō, 1971’s Chinmoku (Silence) ends with a controversial bang that leaves little ambiguity to Shinoda’s harsh view of the outsider Rodrigues, and the metaphorical consequences missionaries brought to Japan in the guise of spreading salvation. Endō, who passed away in 1996, reportedly hated the director’s ending, which hammers home its point by holding a gruesome freeze-frame on Rodrigues’s gnarled face. (For those interested, the 1971 film is available on the streaming platform FilmStruck.)

By comparison, Silence treats Endō’s protagonist with kid gloves as it ignores the cultural exploration that accompanies the religious one in Endō’s book—and in doing so embraces the white male perspective Scorsese brings with him. He spares Rodrigues the ignominy of Chinmoku’s ending, prizing the priest’s spiritual purity over all else, and in doing so turns Garfield’s earnestness into tedious, endless self-absorption. He also takes the liberty of giving Rodrigues a final act of grace that Endo never wrote. Is Scorsese playing God with Endō’s material, gifting Rodrigues with this last bit of ham-fisted redemption? At best it’s an indulgent affirmation that, like the whole of Silence, serves only the faithful and the questioning. At worst it’s an emotionally manipulative flourish that sends Silence off as a requiem for Rodrigues, true believer, noble victim of the cruel Japanese.

It’s no coincidence that Endō wrote his novel in 1966 inspired by his country’s own history and the life of the Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Chiara, a generation removed from the sharp and forced end to Japan’s own imperialist efforts. He’d converted to Catholicism at age 10 for his mother and during WWII found himself a lonely practitioner of the religion of Japan’s enemies—an outsider in his own country. Later he moved to France seeking something closer to acceptance, only to find himself the target of European racism. His book, from this thornily conflicted Japanese Catholic perspective, reflects a much richer, and much more complicated interrogation into the collision of forces that converged upon and within Japan, yielding universal questions from such a specific life.

By filtering Endō’s complex moral conflict into a work of spiritual tourism Scorsese selfishly works out his own questions of faith, using Endō’s text to do it—while ignoring the cultural context that makes his Japanese-ness matter. That’s far too fine a line between self-serving cinema and cinema that serves the complex crises of religion and clashing cultures that Endō wrote of. In Silence, the padre Rodrigues agonizes over the silence of a God that won’t reply to him and by extension, validate his faith and suffering. Scorsese does more than enough of that for the both of them.

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Stores Catch Holiday Tourists Before They Even Leave the Hotel

If you’re looking for merchandise from some of New York City’s top department stores this holiday season, you may find it in surprising places: the lobbies of major Manhattan hotels. Bloomingdale’s will be selling Baccarat crystal, French chocolates and more at the Loews Regency New York. For the second year, Nordstrom will have a pop-up presence at the JW Marriott Essex House New York on Central Park South, where it will offer men’s and women’s clothes. And for the third time, Macy’s is selling souvenirs, holiday ornaments and other merchandise in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt New York, near Grand Central Terminal. And then there are the more elaborate partnerships. F.A.O. Schwarz is collaborating with the nearby Conrad New York Midtown to create a high-end suite whose rate starts at $3,000 per night. Guests can play with and buy merchandise such as a dance-on piano and giant stuffed animals. The Benjamin, which since 2013 has offered guests amenities to improve their sleep, will have a new pop-up in its lobby that sells slumber-friendly products like sleep-detox kits by Kaia Naturals and pajamas by Dagsmejan. And, working with the Well Traveled Trunk, a New York vintage luggage specialist, the Sofitel New York has created a 15-foot-tall Christmas tree for its lobby; it consists of 15 pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage dating from the 1880s to the 1930s that sell from $10,000 to $16,000 each.“It’s about convenience, bringing the store to the customer,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst for Atmosphere Research. “And after seeing the pop-up, the guest can go to the retailer’s website in his or her hotel room, or to the store itself.” Mr. Harteveldt noted that hotels and retailers worldwide frequently worked together, with the latter offering the former’s guests benefits like a personal shopper, gift cards, and free meals or alterations. But the lobby presence is designed to make even more of an impression on travelers, potentially valuable customers.“If you catch someone on vacation, there’s a good chance you can catch her as a customer,” said Mortimer Singer, the chief executive of Traub, a retail consultancy. “They can afford to travel, they’re at ease, and they have a wish to spend.”The total number of visitors to New York City this year is expected to reach 66.9 million, according to NYC & Company, the city’s tourism marketing agency. That would be an increase of 2.9 percent from last year and include an estimated seven million travelers between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. Last year, visitors spent $8.9 billion on retail, almost one-fifth of all their expenditures.All of the hotels offering holiday retail experiences are members of NYC & Company, as are Macy’s, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s. The organization maintains a visitor center in Macy’s Herald Square flagship store.New York appears to be the primary city for these kind of retail-hotel mash-ups, though examples can also be found in places like Washington. The fashion jewelry company Alexis Bittar rents a display case at the St. Regis in Washington and plans to offer a pop-up shopping experience there on Sunday to kick off the hotel’s holiday Champagne brunch. At the Conrad in Washington, guests in the most expensive suites are being offered personalized, in-room shopping with Moncler, the Italian puffer coat specialist; the local store delivers items to try on.Andrew Lipsman, principal retail and e-commerce analyst for eMarketer, is forecasting that retail sales in the United States will rise 3.8 percent this holiday season, while the National Retail Federation is forecasting a climb of 3.8 to 4.2 percent. Mr. Lipsman said he was not surprised that the retail-hotel holiday collaboration concept was primarily centered on New York so far.“New York is the epicenter of retail,” he said. “New York is the epicenter of holiday travel.” He added that stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s had a “fair amount of exposure in malls, where there is declining foot traffic.” “They’re trying to remain relevant,” Mr. Lipsman said. “They are leaning into the experiential and doing it by experimenting. More than anything, they’re trying to recapture and maintain some brand cachet, create a halo effect for the brand.” Bloomingdale’s aim in collaborating with the Loews Regency New York is “ultimately to drive traffic, visit the flagship,” said Frank Berman, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Bloomingdale’s. “Our goal is to extend the reach for the brand in an aspirational setting.”The holiday collaborations do not call for a major investment from retailers, said Jen Redding, consumer retail analyst for Wedbush Securities. The New York hotels said they were not charging rent for the pop-ups or getting a percentage of sales.The luggage tree at the Sofitel New York — which also displayed vintage trunks from the Well Traveled Trunk last spring and frequently exhibits art in its lobby — is part of Sofitel’s worldwide effort to promote “Christmas couture,” said the hotel’s general manager, Simon Antoine.“For us, it’s about creating something unique and different,” he said. “These days, if it’s not Instagrammable, does it even exist?” Source link Read the full article

If you want to understand “retail death” — and I’m using quotes here because the concept of buying and selling things is very much alive — all you have to do is look at one very specific street.

In the ’90s, the stretch of Bleecker Street that snakes north through New York City’s Greenwich Village was home to dozens of independently owned bookshops, sex shops, antique stores, and framing galleries. But the death knell rang when the luxury fashion house Marc Jacobs decided to settle there in 2001, the year after the nearby Magnolia Bakery was featured in an episode of Sex and the City.

Within the next 10 years, 44 of those original neighborhood businesses would close to make space for the chains and luxury boutiques that followed. By now, the big brands have moved on, leaving nearly a quarter of storefronts sitting vacant for months on end and asking sky-high rents that small businesses can’t afford. The only ones that can are major developers.

Last month, the real estate behemoth Brookfield Properties announced that it would take over several storefronts on Bleecker to create an “incubator” for brands that have already proven their success online and are dipping their toes into brick and mortar. And, of course, there will be pop-ups and installations that one can pretty confidently assume will be optimized for Instagram.

Short-term leases arbitrated and approved by huge real estate monoliths is increasingly becoming the reality of retail. And throughout New York City’s transition from a place where a middle-class person could maybe make a living opening and running a business to a place where, well, good luck with that, there’s been one person chronicling it all: Jeremiah Moss.

Moss is the author of the blog Vanishing New York, where since 2007 he’s been lamenting the death of mom-and-pop stores all over the city and engaging in activism to try to save them. Moss (a pseudonym; he revealed in a 2017 New Yorker profile that his real name is Griffin Hansbury and works primarily as a psychoanalyst) has been a staunch critic of this trend, which is certainly not limited to New York City. In fact, it’s become an inevitability in nearly all major US cities.

The loudest message we seem to get in response, from politicians, from community leaders, and from each other is to “shop local.” Support independent businesses with your dollars rather than going to Walmart or Amazon, and your favorite record store or dive bar will never have to close.

Jeremiah Moss, founder of the blog Vanishing New York. Christopher Schulz

Moss’s latest blog post, published Monday, takes aim at this idea. “The Trouble with ‘Shop Local’” doesn’t blame the act of shopping locally, which he stresses is important — it’s the way politicians use the phrase to deflect blame from the system and onto individual consumers.

To be clear, we can and should be spending our dollars at independent businesses as much as possible, both to support our local communities and to avoid contributing to the massive wealth and terrible labor practices of retail megaliths. But buying a couple of extra items from the bookstore around the corner likely won’t save it — even if everyone in town does the same.

I spoke with Moss over the phone about his piece, in which he criticizes the neoliberalism — the free-market, capitalist approach to governance — that permeated in New York in response to the city’s financial crisis in the late ’70s and ultimately spread globally. He argues that it’s because we’ve come to take the free market (which he says isn’t really “free” at all because of the tax breaks that cities give big businesses and developers) so much for granted that we don’t demand meaningful change where it really counts: in state and city policy. The following interview has been edited and condensed.

Rebecca Jennings

What was happening in the ’70s that led cities to neoliberalism?

Jeremiah Moss

In the early part of the 20th century, [we had] racist housing policies, redlining in particular, and then in the 1960s we had attempts to correct the inequality of racist policies. And then there was a white backlash against those attempts to correct. So what was happening leading up through the ’70s is that New York City was becoming a social democracy. It was becoming a city that was geared towards taking care of its people, putting money into public resources, public parks, libraries, public housing.

Neoliberal ideas around privatization or regulation — running the government like a corporation, austerity for the working classes — those ideas had been floating around, but they didn’t have any success until the fiscal crisis in New York City of the 1970s.

“This is very neoliberal orientation: Citizens are no longer citizens; we are consumers.”

Naomi Klein writes a lot about neoliberalism as a shock policy. It comes in [and] takes advantage of crises. The fiscal crisis in New York was perfect timing to introduce these concepts and to have the bankers take over the government. Undergirding that, which doesn’t get talked a lot about, is that neoliberalism worked in large part because of the underlying racism that was going on. This idea was sold that “you white people, your taxes are going to welfare for lazy black people.”

What had previously been a government for the people became a government that was catering to big business, big real estate developers like Donald Trump, and tourism. They took that public money that was going to the poor and they gave it to the wealthy in the form of different types of tax breaks or other incentives for developers.

Rebecca Jennings

What happens to a city when you run it like a business?

Jeremiah Moss

[Michael] Bloomberg really perfected this. Bloomberg saw the city as a corporation. He saw himself as the CEO of that corporation. This is very neoliberal orientation: Citizens are no longer citizens; we are consumers. That really gets into your head, right? Because citizens engage with democracy. They resist, and consumers don’t. Consumers consume and buy stuff.

Rebecca Jennings

How did this spread outside New York?

Jeremiah Moss

It started in New York City under Mayor [Ed] Koch, and Reagan took it and ran with it. It became Reaganomics, [which then spread to] Margaret Thatcher in the UK and then across the Western world and beyond. When we talk about what I call hyper-gentrification in New York, it’s really a global problem. It looks exactly the same in city after city after city. You see the same ideas getting recycled over and over and over again.

For a decade, Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn was one of the most controversial real estate projects in the country. In 2009, the state of New York used eminent domain to seize 22 acres of private property to build the Barclays Center stadium and a slew of luxury apartment buildings. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Rebecca Jennings

So if running cities like corporations is contributing to the demise of small businesses and turning citizens into consumers, why are these ideas still so popular?

Jeremiah Moss

For one, a lot of this is deep in the DNA of America; it appeals to the individual. This might be going too far afield, but the loss of religion as an organizing force of a sort of hopeful benevolence or as an authority — you see what I’m saying? The people need authority, and so the new authority is the CEO. This is how Bloomberg became mayor after 9/11. This is how we end up with President Trump.

Rebecca Jennings

You talk in your piece about how the biggest threat to small businesses isn’t people not shopping there; it’s the landlords who are quadrupling the rents. Who are these landlords, and how do they decide to just suddenly raise the rents by so much?

Jeremiah Moss

Well, they can do it because it’s the free market. [But] I would say that there’s no such thing as a free market. The idea of the free market is that the government does not interfere whatsoever, but [it does]. When the government is using eminent domain to seize people’s private property and hand it over to developers, that is interfering with [the] market. That’s corporate welfare.

“As a culture, we’re constantly policing each other’s hunger in terms of eating food, consuming alcohol, drugs, sex. But when it comes to money, sky’s the limit.”

What I’ve observed is that a lot of landlords who are throwing out small businesses are a new generation and a new class. The mega-landlord, these are the landlords like the Kushners, these are hedge funds that are getting into landlording. They come in and they buy up whole portfolios of properties with the intention of pushing out the residents and the commercial tenants.

I see this generational thing where a lot of the older landlords will say things like, “I’ve got enough money. How rich can I be?” These are people who were born before the advent of neoliberalism. Now the idea is, “How dare you try to regulate greed!” As a culture, we’re constantly policing each other’s hunger in terms of eating food, consuming alcohol, drugs, sex. But when it comes to money, sky’s the limit.

Rebecca Jennings

The crux of your piece is how politicians use the phrase “shop local” in order to shift blame onto their constituents for the demise of local businesses, when really they’re the ones with the power to change policies that are contributing to that. When did we see the rise of that?

Jeremiah Moss

Certainly in the past 10 years, I’ve seen it more. I want to be clear that I think we all should be encouraged shop locally more than we than we do. The problem is when the people who are empowered in the system are using it to distract us and shift the blame onto the individual because they don’t want us to join together. They don’t want us to become a collective and go after the source.

Rebecca Jennings

You also talk about how this attitude permeates the way we think about other problems — climate change, sexual violence. How does neoliberalism encourage that?

Jeremiah Moss

One of Margaret Thatcher’s famous slogans was there is no such thing as society, that we are all just individuals. Once you take that message into your cells, what happens is you become purely competitive. It’s every man and woman for him or herself, and that also has a relationship to consuming. If I’m going to be selfish, then I’m going to consume more and I’m going to be first in line for the next iPhone. It feeds the consumer machine.

We can’t get organized if we’re just individuals because they know that if we organize, we can defeat the power structure. For those of us who care about things like the environment and women’s rights and shopping, we’re [also] more likely to feel guilty: “I’m not a good enough person if I didn’t bring my canvas bag to the grocery store, because I have been imbued as an individual with so much power.” Of course, we have not been imbued with any power. We’ve been imbued with the illusion of power.

New York has devoted at least $4.5 billion in spending and tax breaks to build Hudson Yards, a multi-tower metal behemoth and the largest private real estate development in the US in square footage. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Rebecca Jennings

And, of course, even if you did bring your canvas bag, it still wouldn’t save the environment.

Jeremiah Moss

Right, those little choices that we make are not going to solve the underlying problems. It’s people in power making those choices. But they can also trick us into thinking we’re doing something, so they can kind of lull us into passivity.

Rebecca Jennings

Do you think it’s a myth that the internet is killing retail?

Jeremiah Moss

I think it is definitely doing damage. I think the myth is when people say it’s the internet alone, because it really goes back to the rents. I really believe that a lot of these shops, if they had their original rents before all this blew up, they could weather Amazon, because if you don’t need to make $40,000 a month in rent, you can survive the internet.

Rebecca Jennings

What do you think the biggest problem is with the rise of these mega-developer-owned spaces that are designed for short-term leases and pop-up spaces?

Jeremiah Moss

They’re curated by these developers, but there’s nothing organic. There’s nothing truly urban or diverse about them. You can’t start a business with a one-year lease. In the first year, you don’t make any profit. If we are a society, we need each other, and we need those small-business people to maintain the social network of our neighborhoods, and they’re being destroyed. Pop-ups are not going to replace that.

Rebecca Jennings

Often the death of department stores and malls is discussed in the same breath as small businesses closing, that it’s all related to the larger trend of “retail death.” How do you think about those things?

“We have not been imbued with any power. We’ve been imbued with the illusion of power.”

Jeremiah Moss

People, particularly younger people and retired people, it seems, want to be in the city. I think part of that is a desire for the downtown experience. When you look at a suburb like Maplewood, New Jersey, there’s enough there. They have this really lovely downtown, and you can walk and you can get ice cream, dinner, buy a book, do a little shopping. If we had suburbs that functioned like that, I think that many people would be content to stay there.

The mall can be very alienating. I’m not going to miss the mall. They replace the vibrant small town, town squares, and downtowns across America. Walmart is famous for killing downtown. A Walmart opens up and the little hardware store and the pharmacy, they close right away.

Rebecca Jennings

You walk around in any city these days and you’ll see a million vacant storefronts. What do cities need to do to fight this?

Jeremiah Moss

The first thing we need to do is become collective again. We need to get connected with each other, and we need to fight the psychological war that’s been going on. When you hear Mayor [Bill] de Blasio say, “Hey guys, shop local. It’s on you.” We have to push back against that. Critical thinking is really the first step, but then we need to demand that our elected officials take action.

What’s very difficult is that most of our elected officials are neoliberals, whether they’re Republican or Democrat. They take money from big real estate. Are they going to go against big real estate? Hopefully some of them will be brave enough to stand up, but we have to have campaign finance reform to get big lobby money out of government.

Until that happens, we need to insist on new policies, because the New York that we see, the empty storefronts, all of that, they are all the creation of policy. Gentrification is public policy. The government uses it as public policy; it’s not natural. It’s not accidental.

The city and the state collude to use eminent domain in ways that really are unconstitutional. With eminent domain, the government can take your property for public use, so [for] a public hospital or an on-ramp or a public highway. But what they do now is they take your private property, then they give it to private developers so that they can build luxury condos and things like that.

The Small Business Jobs Survival Act is coming up, and that’s hopefully number one. We need a vacancy tax. We’ve been pushing that for a few years to tax landlords who leave commercial spaces vacant for too long.

Rebecca Jennings

Obviously your job is sometimes very depressing. How do you stay hopeful — or do you?

Jeremiah Moss

I’m angry more than hopeful. I think I’m fueled by the anger. I’m fueled by the injustice in that sense of “this is wrong.” I really don’t like the gaslighting that goes on. Neoliberalism relies a lot on gaslighting. “What you see is not happening, it’s something else.” That kind of switcheroo, that kind of mindfucking — I’m a psychoanalyst; that’s how I make my living, so I don’t like seeing that get done to people. It’s very damaging.

Original Source -> Shopping local won’t save small businesses from closing. Here’s what will.

via The Conservative Brief

Budget 2019 Wishlist: Here’s What Millennials Expect From The New Government

Pakatan Harapan is set to table its first ever budget; having won the historic elections back in May 2018. Malaysians are currently consumed with anticipation of what the national budget under a new government will hold, and how different it will be from all the previous budgets. Having said that, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has already warned the people not to get their hopes up as this will be a ‘belt-tightening’ budget, aimed at addressing the national debt that currently stands at RM1 trillion. The minister has made it clear that there will be no handouts or freebies this time around. We are just as curious to know what people really want from the impending budget announcement. So, we have come up with a Budget 2019 wishlist series where we speak to different groups of people in the weeks leading up to the budget announcement. This week, we speak to millennials in the Klang Valley to find out what their main concerns are. It comes as little surprise as most of their answers revolve around allocations for affordable housing, public transport, and education. [block type="content-reverse" title="Sukesh, 28, Blogger"] I'm not very financially literate, but here’s my take on the 2019 national budget under Pakatan Harapan. I would like to see more initiatives and affordable schemes for housing to help bring the prices down. As a non-smoker who is health conscious, I would also like to see a higher tax on cigarettes or some other measures to reduce smoking in Malaysia. Aside from that, tax exemption for those earning below RM5,000 would be very helpful, especially with the rising cost of living. I would also like to see more support and initiatives to ease the burden of the lower income groups (the B40). Definitely more funding on health care and education. Finally, more allocations to develop grassroots sports program for young and aspiring athletes. [/block] [block type="content" title="Farooq, 27, sales executive"] For the 2019 national budget, I would definitely like to see cheaper homes to rent or buy that are closer to the city centre (Kuala Lumpur). For those of us who need to constantly travel, perhaps some fuel vouchers to ease our burden. Malaysians pay a lot for petrol and toll. As someone who uses the computer a lot for both work and personal reasons, I’d like to see wider and faster internet access with areas obligated to have at least three different Internet Service Providers. Also, higher tax exemption for electronic products, including internet and mobile subscriptions - because I’m also a tech junkie. [/block] [block type="content-reverse" title="Darren Teh, musician, age withheld"] As a musician, my answers are leaning towards the performing arts scene in Malaysia. I would like to see more grants for international travel. Perhaps the government can allocate at least RM30,000 to RM40,000 to cover flights, accommodation, food and ground travel, so it will be easier for local musicians to perform overseas. Aside from that, a grant of RM10,000 for music video productions and RM15,000 for album productions will be great. I think this will help push the music scene forward. It will also be nice to have a more central venue where shows happen all the time. We also need enhancement programmes to educate musicians to improve and equip themselves with the necessary skills - not only for performances, but also for the business side of things. [/block] [block type="content" title="Thani, diving instructor, age withheld"] My wishlist for the Budget 2019 is simple. I would like to see more home ownership regulations and I hope the government can control increasing property prices. I think there should also be more budget allocation for training in the service industry to encourage more tourism in Malaysia. I’m also all about talent retention. I think we should control the influx of foreign talent coming in and focus on developing our youth who are just as skilled and capable. In addition to that, young adults who are starting out and struggling should also be given tax breaks. [/block] [block type="content-reverse" title="Sandy, 29, dentist"] My wish for the 2019 national budget is reduction in individual income tax rates. Apart from that, I’d also like to see the government channel more funding into improving our public transportation system - increase the number of shuttle buses, build more routes for LRT/MRT/KTM so more people can have access to public transport. More vocational training institutes for Malaysians should be set up with an increase in allowance for the differently abled. [/block] [block type="content" title="Jen, writer, age withheld"] For the Budget 2019, I would actually like the BR1M subsidies to remain. I know that Lim Guan Eng said we should do away with cash handouts, but I think they can be helpful if allocated only to lower income groups. I’d also like to hear something about more affordable housing schemes. Aside from that, I would like the government to tighten pro-environmental law on corporations to reduce waste and pollution. [/block] [block type="content-reverse" title="Amy, PR executive, age withheld"] I know it’s a long stretch, but I would like to see the government come up with a ‘one family one home’ policy - meaning everyone gets to own a house. The houses will be priced according to their means and annual income. A lot of young adults want to buy a house, but the prices are crazy. Channel funds into training young adults to carry themselves well during job interviews. I think there are a lot of jobs available in the market, but young graduates just don’t know how to sell themselves. They don’t appear confident, and they don’t say the right things. I would also like the new government to go towards a car-free nation. Traffic in KL is crazy and that wastes a lot of time and causes a lot of stress. Instead of building more highways, increase train routes so EVERYONE has access to public transport and can stop saying things like “There’s no train or bus near my place”. [/block] [block type="content" title="Yvette, 28, journalist"] My biggest wish for the 2019 budget is increased funding for healthcare, because the state of government hospitals is abysmal. Also, more funding for better welfare and easier access to welfare for the impoverished. I also want to see more funding in education for kids with special needs, especially those from low income families. As for wishful thinking, I wish more funding could go towards performing arts centres, so they don’t have to rely on donors and sponsors to keep going. For example, the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center (KLPAC), Penang PAC, Georgetown Festival and so on. Right now, it looks like they’re fighting just to stay afloat. [/block] [block type="content-reverse" title="Bala Ganapathi William, 28, TV presenter, actor, film director"] Wishlist for budget 2019? Personally, I want to see more support for young artists and filmmakers. I know that the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) has some grants for filmmakers, but right now there’s too much bureaucracy involved which makes the process difficult. I would like to see some incentives given out to young filmmakers to encourage them to pursue their craft - especially for filmmakers below 30. That way, we can also get more young people involved and see filmmaking as a viable career path, rather than just a hobby. Filmmakers below 30 are new to the game and they need all the help they can get. I firmly believe there should be increased opportunities for local artistes as well as local production companies. The youth are the future of the country, and the government should prioritise and invest in them. [/block] Are you a millennial in Malaysia? Does your 2019 budget wishlist echo the sentiments of young Malaysians above? Share your thoughts in the comments below. The 2019 national budget announcement will take place on November 2 2018.

The post Budget 2019 Wishlist: Here’s What Millennials Expect From The New Government appeared first on iMoney Malaysia.

Carnival Corporation Named One of America’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens

 Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world’s largest leisure travel company, was today named one of the top 100 Best Corporate Citizens for 2018 by Corporate Responsibility Magazine (CR Magazine). The company ranked No. 35 in CR Magazine’s 19th annual survey that recognizes exceptional environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of U.S. public companies.

This marks the third consecutive year and sixth time in the past eight years that Carnival Corporation has been recognized with the 100 Best Corporate Citizens distinction. Carnival Corporation achieved the highest rank in corporate responsibility among firms in the travel and tourism sector and was the only cruise-specific company to make the list, which uses the Russell 1000 Index of U.S. public companies as its base.

Of all the companies evaluated for the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, Carnival Corporation ranked in the top half in two categories: environmental (at No. 11) and corporate governance (at No. 32).

“As the world’s leading cruise company with nine global brands, we are committed to consistently exceeding the expectations our nearly 12 million annual guests – which is made possible by our 120,000 passionate employees who are also dedicated to building on our distinguished legacy as a responsible corporate citizen,” said John Haeflinger, senior vice president of maritime policy and analysis for Carnival Corporation. “We are proud to be recognized by CR Magazine for our ongoing commitment to operating with transparency, responsibility and accountability. We share this recognition with each of our employees for helping us earn such an impressive distinction.”

To arrive at its 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, CR Magazine engaged third-party accreditor ISS Corporate Solutions to analyze 260 ESG data points of disclosure and performance measures from every Russell 1000 company in seven categories: environment, climate change, employee relations, human rights, governance, finance and philanthropy and community support.

The 100 Best Corporate Citizens list is the only ESG ranking list that does not rely on self-reporting from companies. Instead, companies are evaluated using publicly available records from their websites, annual reports, shareholder calls, media interviews, NGOs and government documents.

“Whether you are an employee, an investor or a consumer, people are actively looking to ensure the companies they interact with are operating as responsible corporate citizens,” said Jen Boynton, editor of CR Magazine. “We commend Carnival Corporation for once again achieving a prominent position on this list, as it shows the company’s thorough commitment to operating with a strong focus on transparency.”

The full 2018 Best Corporate Citizen's list can be viewed at 3blassociation.com. Information on Carnival Corporation’s sustainability initiatives can be found at carnivalsustainability.com.

About the 100 Best Corporate Citizens List The 100 Best Corporate Citizens List was first published in 1999 in Business Ethics Magazine, and has been managed by CR Magazine since 2007. To compile the list, every company in the Russell 1000, which represents the highest ranked stocks in the Russell 3000 Index of publicly held U.S. companies -- is ranked according to 260 data points.

About Corporate Responsibility Magazine 3BL Media is the publisher of CR Magazine (www.thecro.com), the leading voice of the corporate responsibility profession and the publisher of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranking. Together with the Corporate Responsible Association, CR Magazine presents COMMIT!Forum, Oct. 23-25, 2018, at MGM National Harbor, just outside Washington, D.C. The theme is Brands Taking Stands – The Long View.

About Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is the world’s largest leisure travel company and among the most profitable and financially strong in the cruise and vacation industries, with a portfolio of 10 dynamic brands that include nine of the world’s leading cruise lines. With operations in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard, as well as Fathom, the corporation’s immersion and enrichment experience brand.

Together, the corporation’s cruise lines operate 103 ships with 234,000 lower berths visiting over 700 ports around the world, with 18 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2018 and 2023. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.

In 2017, Fast Company recognized Carnival Corporation as being among the “Top 10 Most Innovative Companies” in both the design and travel categories. Fast Company specifically recognized Carnival Corporation for its work in developing Ocean Medallion™, a high-tech wearable device that enables the world’s first interactive guest experience platform capable of transforming vacation travel into a highly personalized and elevated level of customized service.

Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com, www.princess.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.seabourn.com, www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com, www.aida.de, www.pocruises.com, www.cunard.com, and www.fathom.org.

  Media Contacts: Roger Frizzell, Carnival Corporation, [email protected], (305) 406-7862 Mike Flanagan, LDWW, [email protected], (727) 452-4538

source: http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/41015--Carnival-Corporation-Named-One-of-America-s-100-Best-Corporate-Citizens?tracking_source=rss

The Storms Moved On. The Caribbean Islands Fear the Tourists Might, Too.

By Julie Bosman, NY Times, Sept. 23, 2017

First the hurricanes came, bringing rain, winds and ruin to St. Martin, a tiny island in the Caribbean. Then, said Corby George, a 41-year-old taxi driver there, there was a rush of residents leaving the island, possibly never to return.

“Their jobs are no more,” he said.

Two ferocious hurricanes in less than two weeks caused widespread devastation in the Caribbean this month, leaving dozens dead, millions without power or drinking water and countless homes destroyed.

The storms also ripped through the tourism industry in a region unusually dependent on well-heeled visitors, where a thriving network of hotels, souvenir shops, taxis, charter fishing boats and restaurants powers local economies.

In the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, cruise ports and airports throughout the Caribbean are closed, beachside bars are flooded and, on many islands, tourists are absent. And the risk of a far longer term ripple effect looms, threatening the region’s ability to rebuild: Without a steady influx of cash from tourists, businesses suffer, employers cut back and local residents lose jobs; workers on especially hurricane-stricken islands could move elsewhere for opportunity, denting the local economy further.

“Right now, the livelihood of tourism on a whole is in a coma,” said Jen Liebsack, 45, an events and sales manager at Zemi Beach House, a luxury hotel in Anguilla, a British overseas territory where about 90 percent of the electricity infrastructure was damaged and the hotel has canceled its bookings through the end of October.

Hillary Bonner, 36, a bartender on St. John on the United States Virgin Islands, said that most of her friends worked in boating or hospitality, and that nearly everything else was staked on the fates of those fields, too. “Without tourism, you don’t need 10 policemen, you need two,” said Ms. Bonner, who has been staying in New York, waiting to be allowed to return to the heavily battered island. “You don’t need three banks, you need one.”

In the Caribbean region, travel and tourism account for a higher share of the gross domestic product than they do in any other region of the world, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, and officials say it is far too soon to know when the industry will fully recover.

At stake are some of the more than 2.3 million travel and tourism-related jobs in the region. According to the Caribbean Tourism Organization, almost 30 million tourists visited the area in 2016 and spent more than $35 billion. But as officials race to restore power and begin rebuilding basic services, the precise fallout to the tourism industry is uncertain.

Some islands, like St. Kitts, appeared to be barely touched; others, like Barbuda, part of the two-island state of Antigua and Barbuda, were nearly destroyed.

Maria Blackman, a spokeswoman for the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, said that many hotels were closed during the off-season in September anyway, a common time for annual renovations. The cruise ports and airport remain open.

“On Antigua, we opened back up pretty much the next day,” she said.

But in the United States Virgin Islands, the damage was so widespread that visitors were told to cancel any planned trips, Beverly Nicholson-Doty, the commissioner of tourism, said.

For most British Virgin Islands, tourism workers--many of them expatriates from the Caribbean or other parts of the world--the only certainty now is uncertainty.

Trisha Paul, who works as a waitress at Treasure Isle Hotel in the capital of Road Town, said she was unsure what she would do to make a living until tourists return.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Just waiting to get word from the boss as to what is going to happen now. But right now we don’t have any work for waitresses.”

A native of Grenada, she said she fell into the profession largely by chance when she moved to the B.V.I. last year after studying psychology in Cuba. Now she is considering returning home.

“But I’m kind of confused right now between two minds, waiting and watching,” she said. “The hurricane season is still on. I leave here and I go back home, the next hurricane could--bam!”

Robertico Croes, associate director of the Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies at the University of Central Florida, said he did not expect that the Caribbean, over all, would lose tourists. Visitors will simply visit those islands that were untouched by the hurricanes and steer clear of those that were damaged, he said.

“I don’t imagine St. John for the next couple of years would be able to do anything with regard to tourism,” he said, noting that the damage was particularly crippling there. “For Puerto Rico, it’s less severe.”

It does not appear that way to residents there, though. Before the hurricanes, which severely damaged the power grid across the entire island, Puerto Rico was already in deep financial distress, impoverished and debt-laden. The island carries $74 billion in debt and declared a form of bankruptcy in May. Its finances are being overseen by a federal control board.

Alfredo Gómez, 42, the longtime owner of El Farol, a food kiosk in the popular beachside area just east of San Juan’s airport, said he had seen slumps over the last 20 years. But he had not seen the roof of his place blow off. That, he said, had left him wondering this time whether it was even worth giving it another go.

“I was tempted to not even come back here to make repairs,” Mr. Gómez said from the rooftop of his restaurant. “What if nobody comes?”

The restaurant was open on Friday making fritters, mostly feeding the employees who had come to clean up. “Tell the people, the tourists, to keep supporting us like they always have,” he said. “All of this area--Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico--lives off tourism. We can try to survive with business from the locals, but it’s with tourists that we live.”