David Crow, Den Of Geek; The Gifted: X-Men TV Series is “About Bigotry” in 2017
"Of all the many, many creations in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s extensive oeuvre, few have ever proven as potent for allegory and transmutative topicality as the mutants themselves. In other words, no superhero creation has been as fertile for political commentary as the X-Men. This is something that The Gifted, a new Fox network series set in the X-Men universe, is going to expand on in new and challenging ways for 2017. And it’s something the cast is very proud about.
“Yeah, I’m going to say straight-up you guys, our show’s about bigotry,” actress Emma Dumont tells me during an interview for The Gifted after the series’ San Diego Comic-Con panel. “I’m sorry, but we see it in the first scene when Blink’s running for her life and a cop could easily kill her dead with zero consequences, because of prejudice, because of prejudging her for something people are uncomfortable with, that they don’t understand, because people are born with this thing, and that is literally where we live.”"
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
"Doctor Who" boss tells reporters to shut up about female lead backlash; CBS News, July 24, 2017
Andrea Park, CBS News; "Doctor Who" boss tells reporters to shut up about female lead backlash
"["Doctor Who" showrunner Steven] Moffat added that fans "are more excited by the fact that there's going to be a brilliant actress playing the part than the fact that she's a woman. It's been incredibly progressive and enlightened and that's what really happened. I wish every single journalist who is writing the alternative would shut the hell up."
There is at least one person, though, who wishes Doctor Who were still played by a man.
Peter Davison, who played Doctor Who in the 1980s, told the Press Association, "If I feel any doubts, it's the loss of a role model for boys, who I think Doctor Who is vitally important for. So I feel a bit sad about that, but I understand the argument that you need to open it up ... As a viewer, I kind of like the idea of the Doctor as a boy but then maybe I'm an old fashioned dinosaur – who knows?"
But another Doctor Who, Colin Baker, hit back and said, "They've had 50 years of having a role model. So, sorry Peter, you're talking rubbish there – absolute rubbish. You don't have to be of a gender of someone to be a role model. Can't you be a role model as people?""
"["Doctor Who" showrunner Steven] Moffat added that fans "are more excited by the fact that there's going to be a brilliant actress playing the part than the fact that she's a woman. It's been incredibly progressive and enlightened and that's what really happened. I wish every single journalist who is writing the alternative would shut the hell up."
There is at least one person, though, who wishes Doctor Who were still played by a man.
Peter Davison, who played Doctor Who in the 1980s, told the Press Association, "If I feel any doubts, it's the loss of a role model for boys, who I think Doctor Who is vitally important for. So I feel a bit sad about that, but I understand the argument that you need to open it up ... As a viewer, I kind of like the idea of the Doctor as a boy but then maybe I'm an old fashioned dinosaur – who knows?"
But another Doctor Who, Colin Baker, hit back and said, "They've had 50 years of having a role model. So, sorry Peter, you're talking rubbish there – absolute rubbish. You don't have to be of a gender of someone to be a role model. Can't you be a role model as people?""
Amazon takes on small WA retailer Live Clothing in 'Glamazon' trademark stoush; ABC, July 24, 2017
Frances Bell, ABC; Amazon takes on small WA retailer Live Clothing in 'Glamazon' trademark stoush
"Live Clothing has been the registered owner of the Glamazon trademark for clothing, footwear and headgear since 1999, but has recently applied to extend the trademark to a wider range of retail and wholesale services.
But documents lodged with IP Australia show the application has been opposed by Amazon Technologies, which owns the trademark for the name "Glamazon fashionweek".
Glamazon is also the name of an internal Amazon social group for LGBTIQ employees, promoting diversity in the workplace."
"Live Clothing has been the registered owner of the Glamazon trademark for clothing, footwear and headgear since 1999, but has recently applied to extend the trademark to a wider range of retail and wholesale services.
But documents lodged with IP Australia show the application has been opposed by Amazon Technologies, which owns the trademark for the name "Glamazon fashionweek".
Glamazon is also the name of an internal Amazon social group for LGBTIQ employees, promoting diversity in the workplace."
Monday, July 24, 2017
After Supreme Court Decision, People Race To Trademark Racially Offensive Words; NPR, July 21, 2017
Ailsa Chang, NPR; After Supreme Court Decision, People Race To Trademark Racially Offensive Words
"CHANG: I wondered about the intent, too, so I set off to find this other guy. And he turned out to be a patent lawyer in Alexandria, Va., Steve Maynard.
Why swastikas?
STEVE MAYNARD: Because the term has an incendiary meaning behind it.
CHANG: Yeah.
MAYNARD: And it's currently used as a symbol of hate. And if we can own the brand, we will be able to control the sale of the brand and the use of the brand as well.
CHANG: Oh, so you're trying to basically grab the swastika so real, actual racists and haters can't grab the swastika as a...
MAYNARD: Correct.
CHANG: ...Registered trademark.
MAYNARD: Correct.
CHANG: But there's a catch. Maynard can't just get the trademark, put it in a drawer and make sure nobody else uses it. To keep a trademark, he actually needs to sell a swastika product. So he will - blankets, shirts, flags. But he plans to make these products so expensive he's hoping no one will ever buy them."
"CHANG: I wondered about the intent, too, so I set off to find this other guy. And he turned out to be a patent lawyer in Alexandria, Va., Steve Maynard.
Why swastikas?
STEVE MAYNARD: Because the term has an incendiary meaning behind it.
CHANG: Yeah.
MAYNARD: And it's currently used as a symbol of hate. And if we can own the brand, we will be able to control the sale of the brand and the use of the brand as well.
CHANG: Oh, so you're trying to basically grab the swastika so real, actual racists and haters can't grab the swastika as a...
MAYNARD: Correct.
CHANG: ...Registered trademark.
MAYNARD: Correct.
CHANG: But there's a catch. Maynard can't just get the trademark, put it in a drawer and make sure nobody else uses it. To keep a trademark, he actually needs to sell a swastika product. So he will - blankets, shirts, flags. But he plans to make these products so expensive he's hoping no one will ever buy them."
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Ramzan Kadyrov says there are no gay men in Chechnya — and if there are any, they should move to Canada; Washington Post, July 15, 2017
Adam Taylor, Washington Post; Ramzan Kadyrov says there are no gay men in Chechnya — and if there are any, they should move to Canada
[Kip Currier: Kudos to brave and principled journalists around the world for raising awareness of untold examples of barbarism and ignorance, giving voice to those who suffer and are often silenced and unrecognized. Humankind is indebted to you for your important work.]
"“This is nonsense,” Kadyrov said when asked about the allegations. “We don't have those kinds of people here. We don't have any gays. If there are any, take them to Canada.”
“Praise be to god,” the Chechen leader adds. “Take them far from us so we don't have them at home. To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them.”
Kadyrov's comments came during an interview with HBO reporter David Scott for the show “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.” The interview is just one part of a broader package that will air at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday about how Kadyrov is using mixed martial arts (MMA) to spread a political message overseas...
In his interview with Scott, Kadyrov initially laughs dismissively at questions about the allegations. “Why did he come here?” he says to someone off camera. “What's the point of these questions?” But as Scott presses him, Kadyrov talks angrily about the reporters and activists who write about LGBT rights in Chechnya.
“They are devils. They are for sale. They are not people,” he says. “God damn them for what they are accusing us of. They will have to answer to the almighty for this.”
Elena Milashina, one of the two Novaya Gazeta reporters who broke the story, told WorldViews in April that she had gone into hiding after threats against her newspaper's staff from religious leaders in Chechnya. “It reminds us of the situation with Charlie Hebdo,” Milashina said, referring to the satirical French newspaper that was attacked by Islamist militant gunmen in 2015, resulting in the deaths of 12."
[Kip Currier: Kudos to brave and principled journalists around the world for raising awareness of untold examples of barbarism and ignorance, giving voice to those who suffer and are often silenced and unrecognized. Humankind is indebted to you for your important work.]
"“This is nonsense,” Kadyrov said when asked about the allegations. “We don't have those kinds of people here. We don't have any gays. If there are any, take them to Canada.”
“Praise be to god,” the Chechen leader adds. “Take them far from us so we don't have them at home. To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them.”
Kadyrov's comments came during an interview with HBO reporter David Scott for the show “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.” The interview is just one part of a broader package that will air at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday about how Kadyrov is using mixed martial arts (MMA) to spread a political message overseas...
In his interview with Scott, Kadyrov initially laughs dismissively at questions about the allegations. “Why did he come here?” he says to someone off camera. “What's the point of these questions?” But as Scott presses him, Kadyrov talks angrily about the reporters and activists who write about LGBT rights in Chechnya.
“They are devils. They are for sale. They are not people,” he says. “God damn them for what they are accusing us of. They will have to answer to the almighty for this.”
Elena Milashina, one of the two Novaya Gazeta reporters who broke the story, told WorldViews in April that she had gone into hiding after threats against her newspaper's staff from religious leaders in Chechnya. “It reminds us of the situation with Charlie Hebdo,” Milashina said, referring to the satirical French newspaper that was attacked by Islamist militant gunmen in 2015, resulting in the deaths of 12."
Friday, July 14, 2017
'Game Of Thrones' Finds Fans Among Disability Rights Activists, Too; NPR, July 10, 2017
Neda Ulaby, NPR; 'Game Of Thrones' Finds Fans Among Disability Rights Activists, Too
""You don't want to learn to fly," [David Perry, writer and activist for disability rights] says dryly. "You want a ramp built into your castle."
Still, Perry admires how the series explores such a wide range of characters with different sorts of bodies and minds. Cokley admires that too; she's especially effusive about the books' author, George R. R. Martin.
"He obviously hangs out with a rabble-rousing group of disabled people," she says. "I know it. I sense it."
This fantasy universe is far more realistic than lots of other television shows, Cokley says, when it comes to representing people with disabilities on screen."
""You don't want to learn to fly," [David Perry, writer and activist for disability rights] says dryly. "You want a ramp built into your castle."
Still, Perry admires how the series explores such a wide range of characters with different sorts of bodies and minds. Cokley admires that too; she's especially effusive about the books' author, George R. R. Martin.
"He obviously hangs out with a rabble-rousing group of disabled people," she says. "I know it. I sense it."
This fantasy universe is far more realistic than lots of other television shows, Cokley says, when it comes to representing people with disabilities on screen."
Distinguished African-American Alumni Honored for Service, Achievements; Pittwire, July 12, 2017
Pittwire, Distinguished African-American Alumni Honored for Service, Achievements
"Trailblazers, role models and inspirations are just a few words to describe five Pitt alumni who were recognized in June for their accomplishments and community outreach.
"Trailblazers, role models and inspirations are just a few words to describe five Pitt alumni who were recognized in June for their accomplishments and community outreach.
The alumni, Elayne Arrington (ENG ’61), Martha Richards Conley (LAW ’71), Robert Grier (BUS ’57), Dame Vivian Hewitt (SIS ’44) and Cecile Springer (GSPIA ’71) were each honored by the African American Alumni Council with its Distinguished Alumnus Award.
More about the honorees:..
Dame Vivian Hewitt
Hewitt received her library science degree from Pitt’s School of Library and Information Sciences. She began her career as the first black librarian for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Later, she became the first black chief librarian at The Rockefeller Foundation, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Council on Foreign Relations. Hewitt and her husband began buying works of Haitian and African-American art while still a young couple, and now the Hewitt Collection is considered to be one of the finest collections of its type in the world. It was purchased by Bank of America and gifted to the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Art + Culture in Charlotte, North Carolina. The collection recently was on display at Pittsburgh’s August Wilson Center."
Monday, July 10, 2017
EXCLUSIVE: She Makes Comics Documentary Celebrates the Women of X-Men; Comic Book Resources, July 7, 2017
Albert Ching, Comic Book Resources; EXCLUSIVE: She Makes Comics Documentary Celebrates the Women of X-Men
"New documentary She Makes Comics aims to chronicle the vast contributions of women in the comic book industry, and in a CBR-exclusive clip from the film, the impact of women on the X-Men get the spotlight...
Speaking of the male-dominated climate in comics at the time, Claremont comments in the clip that Nocenti and Simonson “provided a perspective that was rarely available elsewhere.”
That perspective had a lasting effect, as not only are the X-Men known for featuring multiple female characters at a time — as opposed to one token woman on a super-team — the X-Men have also historically counted more women as fans than many other long-running superhero franchises...
Directed by Marisa Stotter and funded via Kickstarter in 2014, She Makes Comics will be available on VOD and iTunes on July 11 from XLrator Media, and also includes interviews with major comics names including Trina Robbins, Karen Berger, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Becky Cloonan and Jenette Kahn."
"New documentary She Makes Comics aims to chronicle the vast contributions of women in the comic book industry, and in a CBR-exclusive clip from the film, the impact of women on the X-Men get the spotlight...
Speaking of the male-dominated climate in comics at the time, Claremont comments in the clip that Nocenti and Simonson “provided a perspective that was rarely available elsewhere.”
That perspective had a lasting effect, as not only are the X-Men known for featuring multiple female characters at a time — as opposed to one token woman on a super-team — the X-Men have also historically counted more women as fans than many other long-running superhero franchises...
Directed by Marisa Stotter and funded via Kickstarter in 2014, She Makes Comics will be available on VOD and iTunes on July 11 from XLrator Media, and also includes interviews with major comics names including Trina Robbins, Karen Berger, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Becky Cloonan and Jenette Kahn."
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Spider-Man: Homecoming Cast and Crew Address Film’s Diversity; Comic Book Resources, June 26, 2017
Lisa Granshaw, Comic Book Resources; Spider-Man: Homecoming Cast and Crew Address Film’s Diversity
"Everything that’s been released so far about Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios’ upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming film has shown an impressive range of diversity among the cast. Its level of inclusion and representation is something not seen often enough in superhero films — or movies in general — and has not gone unnoticed before its July release...
Actor Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel), who plays Flash Thompson in the film, discussed how it felt to represent the Latino community in the well-known comic book franchise.
“It’s wonderful,” Revolori, who is American of Guatemala descent, told reporters including CBR. “I think the fact that when you see the film, there’s not a single line of exposition as to explain why I look the way I look and I think that’s wonderful that I just am in the movie. It’s not about being a certain race, it’s not about doing anything. I think that’s the kind of diversity we need in Hollywood now."
"Everything that’s been released so far about Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios’ upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming film has shown an impressive range of diversity among the cast. Its level of inclusion and representation is something not seen often enough in superhero films — or movies in general — and has not gone unnoticed before its July release...
Actor Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel), who plays Flash Thompson in the film, discussed how it felt to represent the Latino community in the well-known comic book franchise.
“It’s wonderful,” Revolori, who is American of Guatemala descent, told reporters including CBR. “I think the fact that when you see the film, there’s not a single line of exposition as to explain why I look the way I look and I think that’s wonderful that I just am in the movie. It’s not about being a certain race, it’s not about doing anything. I think that’s the kind of diversity we need in Hollywood now."
Some white ‘Star Trek’ fans are unhappy about remake’s diversity; Washington Post, June 23, 2017
Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post; Some white ‘Star Trek’ fans are unhappy about remake’s diversity
"Indeed, the ‘Star Trek’ series, as Manu Saadia put it in the New Yorker, has always been about inclusion, diversity and breaking down human-made social barriers. Saadia wrote:
"Indeed, the ‘Star Trek’ series, as Manu Saadia put it in the New Yorker, has always been about inclusion, diversity and breaking down human-made social barriers. Saadia wrote:
Each successive “Star Trek” cast has been like a model United Nations. Nichols’s black communications specialist worked alongside George Takei’s Japanese helmsman and Walter Koenig’s (admittedly campy) Russian navigator. Leonard Nimoy’s Spock was half-human, half-Vulcan, and he bore traces of the actor’s own upbringing in a poor Jewish neighborhood in Boston. The Vulcan hand greeting, for instance, which Nimoy invented, is the Hebrew letter shin, the symbol for the Shekhinah, a feminine aspect of the divine. The original series aired only a few years after the Cuban missile crisis, at the height of the Vietnam War and the space race, and its vision of a reconciled humanity was bold. Nichols, who considered leaving the show after the first season, has said that she was persuaded to stay on by Martin Luther King, Jr., who told her that he watched “Star Trek” with his wife and daughters.
This isn’t the first time an entry in the “Star Trek” series has come under fire for including ever more diverse characters. Just last year, the film “Star Trek Beyond” portrayed Sulu as a gay man. It was the first time the series featured an openly gay character, and some fans were furious."
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
The big problem for Uber now: Attracting talent; Washington Post, June 14, 2017
Elizabeth Dwoskin and Todd C. Frankel, Washington Post; The big problem for Uber now: Attracting talent
[Kip Currier: Uber's ongoing travails provide an illustrative case study for the critical importance of organizational culture and core values. For an upstart start-up company betting the corporate house on developing paradigm-shifting self-driving technology, there's an ironic sense that the leadership and Board were asleep at the steering wheel (or revved up on too many Red Bulls!) for a very long time. Whether Uber can now shift out of "off-roading" bro-culture mode, institute tangible "cultural guardrails", and make lasting transformational change is anyone's guess.]
"Last year, software engineer Elizabeth Ford got what many young engineers in Silicon Valley once considered the dream job pitch: Would she be interested in working at Uber?
Ford was blunt with the Uber recruiter, telling her the company was immoral and asking not to be contacted again. “As an engineer in the Bay Area, I feel we’ve pretty much turned on Uber,” Ford, 27, who works at restaurant start-up Eatsa, said.
On Tuesday, Uber said it would be taking 47 wide-reaching steps to address a recent string of controversies about its anything-goes, cutthroat corporate culture, including allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior — accusations that have made Ford and many other tech workers, particularly women, skeptical of joining the company.
Ford said Tuesday’s actions did not change her views.
“The company still has so much toxicity,” Ford said by e-mail Tuesday evening. “They would need to change everything about their culture and how they operate to make me want to work there."
[Kip Currier: Uber's ongoing travails provide an illustrative case study for the critical importance of organizational culture and core values. For an upstart start-up company betting the corporate house on developing paradigm-shifting self-driving technology, there's an ironic sense that the leadership and Board were asleep at the steering wheel (or revved up on too many Red Bulls!) for a very long time. Whether Uber can now shift out of "off-roading" bro-culture mode, institute tangible "cultural guardrails", and make lasting transformational change is anyone's guess.]
"Last year, software engineer Elizabeth Ford got what many young engineers in Silicon Valley once considered the dream job pitch: Would she be interested in working at Uber?
Ford was blunt with the Uber recruiter, telling her the company was immoral and asking not to be contacted again. “As an engineer in the Bay Area, I feel we’ve pretty much turned on Uber,” Ford, 27, who works at restaurant start-up Eatsa, said.
On Tuesday, Uber said it would be taking 47 wide-reaching steps to address a recent string of controversies about its anything-goes, cutthroat corporate culture, including allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior — accusations that have made Ford and many other tech workers, particularly women, skeptical of joining the company.
Ford said Tuesday’s actions did not change her views.
“The company still has so much toxicity,” Ford said by e-mail Tuesday evening. “They would need to change everything about their culture and how they operate to make me want to work there."
Uber board member resigns after making a joke about women at a company meeting on sexism; Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2017
Tracy Lien, Los Angeles Times; Uber board member resigns after making a joke about women at a company meeting on sexism
"Biillionaire businessman David Bonderman resigned from Uber’s board of directors Tuesday evening after making a joke about women at a companywide meeting aimed at addressing the harassment of women and unprofessional conduct at the company...
Bonderman’s remarks came earlier in the day when Uber held a staff meeting to discuss recommendations from a months-long investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and employee misconduct."
"Biillionaire businessman David Bonderman resigned from Uber’s board of directors Tuesday evening after making a joke about women at a companywide meeting aimed at addressing the harassment of women and unprofessional conduct at the company...
Bonderman’s remarks came earlier in the day when Uber held a staff meeting to discuss recommendations from a months-long investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and employee misconduct."
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
John McCain: Why We Must Support Human Rights; New York Times, May 8, 2017
John McCain, New York Times;
John McCain: Why We Must Support Human Rights
"In a recent address to State Department employees, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said conditioning our foreign policy too heavily on values creates obstacles to advance our national interests. With those words, Secretary Tillerson sent a message to oppressed people everywhere: Don’t look to the United States for hope. Our values make us sympathetic to your plight, and, when it’s convenient, we might officially express that sympathy. But we make policy to serve our interests, which are not related to our values. So, if you happen to be in the way of our forging relationships with your oppressors that could serve our security and economic interests, good luck to you. You’re on your own...
In the real world, as lived and experienced by real people, the demand for human rights and dignity, the longing for liberty and justice and opportunity, the hatred of oppression and corruption and cruelty is reality. By denying this experience, we deny the aspirations of billions of people, and invite their enduring resentment...
We are a country with a conscience. We have long believed moral concerns must be an essential part of our foreign policy, not a departure from it. We are the chief architect and defender of an international order governed by rules derived from our political and economic values. We have grown vastly wealthier and more powerful under those rules. More of humanity than ever before lives in freedom and out of poverty because of those rules.
Our values are our strength and greatest treasure. We are distinguished from other countries because we are not made from a land or tribe or particular race or creed, but from an ideal that liberty is the inalienable right of mankind and in accord with nature and nature’s Creator."
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Diversity is Key to Star Trek: Discovery’s Mission, Fuller Promises; Comic Book Resources, May 4, 2017
Kristy Puchko, Comic Book Resources; Diversity is Key to Star Trek: Discovery’s Mission, Fuller Promises
"“We were very adamant early on about that cast, not just in terms of race but also in terms of gender,” Fuller explained. “Janeway (of “Star Trek: Voyager”) carved a nice path as did Majel Barrett (Nurse Christine Chapel in the original “Star Trek” series) in 1966, in the original pilot. So it was important for ethnic inclusivity and gender inclusivity (to be upheld in casting). I was very excited to cast Michelle Yeoh before I left. I was pushing very hard for Sonequa Martin-Green to be cast before I left. So I feel like there’s a lot of wonderful diversity represented in the show, and I’m excited to see how it turns out.”
Best-known for her stunning performance in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Yeoh will portray Captain Georgiou, Starfleet Captain aboard the Starship Shenzhou. “Harry Potter” baddie Jason Isaacs will star as Captain Lorca, of the USS Discovery. Joining them will be “The Walking Dead”s Sonequa Martin-Green, “Penny Dreadful”s Shazad Latif, “30 Rock”s Maulik Pancholy, “Basttlestar Galatica”s Rekha Sharma, “Longmire”s Mary Wiseman, “The Office”s Rain Wilson, and famed creature-feature performer Doug Jones, whose appeared in films like “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Hellboy,” “Crimson Peak,” and “Hocus Pocus.”"
"“We were very adamant early on about that cast, not just in terms of race but also in terms of gender,” Fuller explained. “Janeway (of “Star Trek: Voyager”) carved a nice path as did Majel Barrett (Nurse Christine Chapel in the original “Star Trek” series) in 1966, in the original pilot. So it was important for ethnic inclusivity and gender inclusivity (to be upheld in casting). I was very excited to cast Michelle Yeoh before I left. I was pushing very hard for Sonequa Martin-Green to be cast before I left. So I feel like there’s a lot of wonderful diversity represented in the show, and I’m excited to see how it turns out.”
Best-known for her stunning performance in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Yeoh will portray Captain Georgiou, Starfleet Captain aboard the Starship Shenzhou. “Harry Potter” baddie Jason Isaacs will star as Captain Lorca, of the USS Discovery. Joining them will be “The Walking Dead”s Sonequa Martin-Green, “Penny Dreadful”s Shazad Latif, “30 Rock”s Maulik Pancholy, “Basttlestar Galatica”s Rekha Sharma, “Longmire”s Mary Wiseman, “The Office”s Rain Wilson, and famed creature-feature performer Doug Jones, whose appeared in films like “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Hellboy,” “Crimson Peak,” and “Hocus Pocus.”"
Parents are told – ‘Kill your gay children or we’ll do it for you’: Terrifying threats made by Chechen police are revealed by victims of country’s ‘concentration camps’ for homosexuals; Daily Mail, May 3, 2017
Dave Burke, Daily Mail;
"Reports from the Chechen republic claim that homosexuals are being rounded up and killed on the orders of leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
And last week the British Parliament heard Kadyrov intends to eliminate the gay community by the end of this month.
Parents are told – ‘Kill your gay children or we’ll do it for you’: Terrifying threats made by Chechen police are revealed by victims of country’s ‘concentration camps’ for homosexuals
"Reports from the Chechen republic claim that homosexuals are being rounded up and killed on the orders of leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
And last week the British Parliament heard Kadyrov intends to eliminate the gay community by the end of this month.
Horrifying testimony from survivors from Chechen concentration camps say victims are being tortured and their family summoned to kill them.
A survivor told France24: 'They tell the parents to kill their child. They say, "Either you do it, or we will". They call it "cleaning your honour with blood".
'They tortured a man for two weeks [then] they summoned his parents and brothers who all came.
'The authorities said to them: "Your son is a homosexual – sort it out or we'll do it ourselves.""
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Chechnya’s Anti-Gay Pogrom; New York Times, May 3, 2017
Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, New York Times;
"According to the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, more than 100 gay men were rounded up by the police and brutalized in secret prisons, and at least three of them were killed. Many remain in detention.
In fear and desperation, 75 people called in to the Russian LGBT Network’s Chechnya hotline. Of these, 52 said they had been victims of the recent violence, and 30 fled to Moscow where they received help from L.G.B.T. activists...
“Some think they are sadists and we are simply another social group that they are terrorizing,” a Chechen gay man told me, “but in fact, it is part of their new ideology of a ‘pure nation.’ ”
By promoting nationalism and traditionalism, Mr. Kadyrov tries to prove to Chechens that their republic now has more autonomy than separatist leaders ever dreamed of; and this justifies his strong pro-Putin position. But his appeal to tradition is self-serving and spurious. Until now, Chechnya never had any record of organized violence against gays."
Chechnya’s Anti-Gay Pogrom
"According to the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, more than 100 gay men were rounded up by the police and brutalized in secret prisons, and at least three of them were killed. Many remain in detention.
In fear and desperation, 75 people called in to the Russian LGBT Network’s Chechnya hotline. Of these, 52 said they had been victims of the recent violence, and 30 fled to Moscow where they received help from L.G.B.T. activists...
“Some think they are sadists and we are simply another social group that they are terrorizing,” a Chechen gay man told me, “but in fact, it is part of their new ideology of a ‘pure nation.’ ”
By promoting nationalism and traditionalism, Mr. Kadyrov tries to prove to Chechens that their republic now has more autonomy than separatist leaders ever dreamed of; and this justifies his strong pro-Putin position. But his appeal to tradition is self-serving and spurious. Until now, Chechnya never had any record of organized violence against gays."
Sunday, April 30, 2017
The Chainsmokers' 'Don't Let Me Down' Turns Tearjerker in New State Farm Commercial: Watch; Billboard, March 14, 2017
Kat Bein, Billboard;
"If you thought that Humane Society commercial with the Sarah Mclachlan song was tough, wait 'til you get a load of this new State Farm commercial.
The Chainsmokers' hit “Don't Let Me Down” gets the ultra-ballad treatment as a musical means to motivate you to do some good. State Farm captures that guilty feeling we all get throughout the day as we're constantly and rightly reminded how hard life is for others. We could all do more to help our veterans, our troubled youth, our elderly, our homeless, even the neglected animals of the world.
You may often say to yourself, “I don't have the cash to spare to charity right now,” but what's even better to give is time. State Farm wants to make donating your time easier than ever. Just head over to neighborhoodofgood.com, enter your zip code, and see what organizations can benefit from your energies whenever works for your schedule."
The Chainsmokers' 'Don't Let Me Down' Turns Tearjerker in New State Farm Commercial: Watch
[Kip Currier: Usually, I assiduously avoid watching ads. (No ads are marketed on my blogs either.) But the first 2-3 seconds of this ad caught my attention and snared me (darn you--cute little scruffy white dog!).
A very effective mix of imagery and music to deliver State Farm's message about "doing some good".]
"If you thought that Humane Society commercial with the Sarah Mclachlan song was tough, wait 'til you get a load of this new State Farm commercial.
The Chainsmokers' hit “Don't Let Me Down” gets the ultra-ballad treatment as a musical means to motivate you to do some good. State Farm captures that guilty feeling we all get throughout the day as we're constantly and rightly reminded how hard life is for others. We could all do more to help our veterans, our troubled youth, our elderly, our homeless, even the neglected animals of the world.
You may often say to yourself, “I don't have the cash to spare to charity right now,” but what's even better to give is time. State Farm wants to make donating your time easier than ever. Just head over to neighborhoodofgood.com, enter your zip code, and see what organizations can benefit from your energies whenever works for your schedule."
Asian-American Rock Band Denied Trademark For ‘Disparaging’ Name; KDKA.com, April 27, 2017
Julie Grant, KDKA.com;
Asian-American Rock Band Denied Trademark For ‘Disparaging’ Name
"The government’s position is that the trademark registration program and trademarks generally have not historically served as vehicles for expression; they are meant to identify the source. The law is set forth in the Lanham Act which states that registration can be refused if a trademark is disparaging. Dr. Rooksby believes the provision is too arbitrary and will be invalidated by the court.
According to Rooksby, “I think Simon Tam should win the case. They’ve made a compelling argument that this provision of the trademark law is unconstitutional and this is because it’s too arbitrary. How do you apply it? What is something that’s disparaging?”
While the court weighs the arguments, the band has released an EP titled “The Band Who Must Not Be Named.” A decision is expected by the end of June."
Episode 76: X-Men – “The Dream”; ComicsVerse, June 10, 2016
Justin Gilbert Alba, ComicsVerse;
"Joined by my friend, ComicsVerse X-Men writer and podcast co-host Marius Thienenkamp, Episode 76 of the ComicsVerse Podcast, “X-Men: The Dream,” explored the significance of the metaphor of the X-Men both in and outside of comics through discussions of race, sexuality, inequality, and “othering” in western civilization. Podcast panelists Jamie Rice, Kay Honda, Nolan Bensen, and Corey Spanner weighed in on parallels between historical activists like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Gandhi which lead to conversations about dominant cultural hierarchies and the nature of humanity itself.
X-Men comics and characters are rife with meaning and serve as a mirror of how society treats anyone who is, and feels, different and how those same people cope in a world that hates and fears them. The concept of the X-Men served as a perfect platform during this podcast to embark on an analysis of American culture as a microcosm of human nature and what it ultimately means to be American."
Episode 76: X-Men – “The Dream”
"Joined by my friend, ComicsVerse X-Men writer and podcast co-host Marius Thienenkamp, Episode 76 of the ComicsVerse Podcast, “X-Men: The Dream,” explored the significance of the metaphor of the X-Men both in and outside of comics through discussions of race, sexuality, inequality, and “othering” in western civilization. Podcast panelists Jamie Rice, Kay Honda, Nolan Bensen, and Corey Spanner weighed in on parallels between historical activists like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Gandhi which lead to conversations about dominant cultural hierarchies and the nature of humanity itself.
X-Men comics and characters are rife with meaning and serve as a mirror of how society treats anyone who is, and feels, different and how those same people cope in a world that hates and fears them. The concept of the X-Men served as a perfect platform during this podcast to embark on an analysis of American culture as a microcosm of human nature and what it ultimately means to be American."
Friday, April 28, 2017
X-MEN GOLD IS LIKE ’80S CLAREMONT BINGO (AND THAT’S JUST FINE, BUB); Comic Book Resources, April 28, 2017
Kevin Melrose, Comic Book Resources; X-MEN GOLD IS LIKE ’80S CLAREMONT BINGO (AND THAT’S JUST FINE, BUB)
"The concept at the core of the X-Men, that they’re devoted to protecting a world that hates and fears them, is borderline brilliant...
In March’s “X-Men Prime” #1, Kitty Pryde moved the X-Mansion to Central Park, the very heart of Manhattan, where the newly minted Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach is literally surrounded by millions who hate and fear mutants, emotions fanned by the recent war with the Inhumans. Guggenheim gives voice to that sentiment with Lydia Nance, the media-savvy director of the Heritage Initiative think tank, who seems cut from the same cloth as William Stryker and Sen. Robert Kelly. However, he adds a new wrinkle with the added threat of mutant deportation, demonstrating that the themes of fear and prejudice in the X-Men titles are, sadly, once again as timely as ever."
"The concept at the core of the X-Men, that they’re devoted to protecting a world that hates and fears them, is borderline brilliant...
In March’s “X-Men Prime” #1, Kitty Pryde moved the X-Mansion to Central Park, the very heart of Manhattan, where the newly minted Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach is literally surrounded by millions who hate and fear mutants, emotions fanned by the recent war with the Inhumans. Guggenheim gives voice to that sentiment with Lydia Nance, the media-savvy director of the Heritage Initiative think tank, who seems cut from the same cloth as William Stryker and Sen. Robert Kelly. However, he adds a new wrinkle with the added threat of mutant deportation, demonstrating that the themes of fear and prejudice in the X-Men titles are, sadly, once again as timely as ever."
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