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Because this time she put her shameful falsehoods in a tweet, not in an employment application to Harvard or UPenn law school. Hard to deep-six a tweet, especially one as perniciously false as the one she sent out last month about the Covington Catholic High School students who was accosted first by a group of Black He... |
But it’s the fake Indian, so what else is new? |
This presidential campaign is not going well for the fake Indian. She’s lagging in the polls — even in the cheese shops of Harvard Square, even among her fellow swells in Cambridge who live in $2.3-million wigwams they bought with no-interest loans from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, I mean Harvard University. |
Of course the fake Indian despises the students of Covington Catholic whom she slurred — MAGA hat-wearing white heterosexual Roman Catholics from tax-paying intact families. Deplorables. |
Despite her total fraudulence as a human being, the fake Indian has enjoyed a free ride through her almost 70 years on the planet, or at least since she started a) checking the box, and b) re-registered at City Hall as a Democrat. |
Being a Democrat means never having to say you’re sorry. Just ask Ralph Northam and Justin Fairfax. |
But now the lawyers for those pro-life irredeemable bitter clingers from the Cincinnati suburbs are threatening to sue all the purveyors of Fake News — the NYT, the WaPo, CNN, NPR, etc. — as well as the Beautiful People in LaLaLand who defamed the high school kids. |
The way things have been going for Warren, this letter from the lawyers for the American high school students may be the high-water mark, or high-firewater mark, of her campaign — her battle of the Little Big Horn, even though it will soon become Horseshoe Bend, or Wounded Knee. Tippecanoe and Warren, too — guilty guil... |
In receiving a legal notice demanding that she preserve her communications, she finds herself lumped in with a bunch of Hollywood reprobates, not to mention the pederast-infested Roman Catholic dioceses of Covington, Lexington, Louisville and Baltimore, all of whom went after the heterosexual teenagers much more quickl... |
Then there’s Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-ISIS — who advocated for a lighter sentence for nine would-be jihadi recruits in Minnesota — wants to raise the top tax rate to 90 percent and denies allegations that she married her brother in an immigration fraud. |
Then there are the icons of fake-news NBC: the ancient battle-ax Andrea Mitchell, tax-deadbeat homophobe Joy Reid, dim bulb Savannah Guthrie and Chuck Todd, Democrat operative and former flack for another stolen-valor Democrat hack named Tom Harkin. |
Come to think of it, the fake Indian is probably honored to be in such esteemed company. At least until the libel trials begin in Kentucky. And when that trial ends, I can think of one word that the fake Indian will be uttering, not from a real Native American tongue, but from a Republic Pictures B western. |
And when the jury returns the verdict, she’ll be asking her lawyers another question from an old Western movie about Indians. |
Six years after his account of Hardy's Jude the Obscure, director Michael Winterbottom has returned to the 19th-century master of tragic gloom with an elegant and, in some ways, inspired transposition of The Mayor of Casterbridge to the wilds of 1860s California. It is set at the height of the Gold Rush, where fortunes... |
Twenty years previously, Daniel Dillon, played with haggard severity by Peter Mullan, had sold his wife and baby daughter in return for a small claim. He has now built that up into his own personal boom-town suzerainty, but his latent feelings of grief, guilt and horror are reawakened at the arrival of his now grown-up... |
Winterbottom and his cinematographer Alwin Kuchler (director of photography on Ratcatcher) demonstrate an intelligent and deeply felt response to the snow-blanketed landscape and its cold, clean light. They conjure startling images from this canvas, including a surreal burning horse, reeling across the horizon after a ... |
But the supporting roles are more uncertain: Wes Bentley is Dalglish, the railroad surveyor, one moment coolly refusing Dillon's offer of gambling chips to show his incorruptibility - the next cheerfully accepting preferential, two-gals-at-once treatment at the brothel. He's the nice guy who seems sweet on Hope; but he... |
This is a film of bracing high seriousness and amplitude, with a literate sense of history and place. But there is something lugubrious and unvarying about Winterbottom's pacing, which obscures the urgency of the storytelling itself. It's a film with very big territorial ambitions - but it doesn't quite stake its claim... |
The A9F is a great TV with a great picture and sound, but cheaper and worthy competitors abound. |
Sony’s top-of-the-line 65-inch XBR65A9F Master Series OLED smart TV showed up at our lab just as LG’s absolutely outstanding 55-inch E8PUA was exiting. The A9F shines with clever design, excellent sound, and of course that luxurious, rich picture inherent to OLED. I immediately set to wondering: Could Sony’s set reach ... |
The A9F’s most outstanding feature is, of course, its 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) OLED panel. There’s nothing in the LED-backlit LCD universe that can match the blacks and overall rich image of OLED, though there are those who prefer the brightness that can enable a good LED TV to make high dynamic range (HDR) material really... |
The integrated kickstand makes it a breeze to set up the A9F on piece of furniture, but it folds in tight for wall mounting. Despite its extremely thin profile, the A9F delivers amazing sound for a flat-panel TV. |
Like its forerunners, the A1E and A8F, the A9F benefits from a clever design that includes a built-in kickstand to house all its I/O ports and electronics. A detachable counterweight is provided that can be affixed to the bottom of the kickstand (the thicker part in the image above), to keep the TV stable on a stand. W... |
Sony’s A9F OLED TV has all the modern connectors. |
The A9F’s port selection is what you’d expect from a modern TV: four HDMI 2.0 ports, with one facing to the side for quick hook-ups. There’s also coax for antennas or set-top boxes, as well as two USB ports on the back and one on the side. A single 3.5mm jack will accept composite/stereo audio via an adapter cable (not... |
Audio output is via both eARC (more on that in a bit) and optical S/PDIF. There’s a 3.5mm stereo headphone output as well. The users’ guide doesn’t say whether this can double as a line-level output. If you try that, start with the volume control all the way down and increase it very slowly. |
Internet connectivity is provided by way of ethernet and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. There’s also support for Bluetooth 4.2. |
Alas, while I rate Sony TVs as some of the best in the business, that’s because of their high-quality physical design and picture—not because of the interface and remote. |
The Android TV interface is constantly improving and certainly is better than it was two years ago, but it still lags a bit in efficiency and Sony’s action menus require more clicks than I consider ideal. But Android doesn’t crash anymore, and for the very first time—the video app actually enumerated all the test files... |
Part of the problem is on Sony for leaving the home screen so busy—I much prefer Hisense’s cleaner Android TV implementation. But many users will be more than willing to live with any navigational shortcomings simply because of Android’s veritable ocean of apps, many of which are excellent. One more Android TV iteratio... |
The A9F’s remote isn’t bad, it’s just not great or particularly attractive. I like the dedicated transport controls, but the control rocker and ring of function buttons are too small. It simply seems a bit old-school for a $4,500 OLED TV. |
The real issue for me is Sony’s remote control: Mostly because of the ring of only-somewhat-related functions around the too-small cursor controls. I also dislike the Netflix and Google Play advertising buttons dead center, where they draw the eye. There’s also nothing ergonomic about the profile, which is a fancy way ... |
The redeeming features are that it’s universal, and there’s a dedicated transport control section at the bottom. While Sony’s system is workable, Samsung, Roku, and especially LG with its Magic Remote and free-moving cursor all offer better overall ease of use. |
The big exception to that rant is the channel/programming guide, which is absolutely top notch. All too many vendors don’t provide that handy tool. |
Starting with the bottom line—the A9F is an excellent TV and the picture is fantastic: color and brightness (about 780 nits in the peak areas of HDR) are excellent, as are blacks. The viewing angles are very wide, there are no lighting artifacts, and screen uniformity is nigh on perfect. This is OLED we’re talking abou... |
Based on the outstanding processing found in the company’s LED-backlit LCD TVs, and the price of the A9F, I was fully expecting it to achieve the picture perfection that narrowly escapes the LG E8-series. After all, both manufacturers are essentially using the same panel. Sony comes relatively close, but it’s no cigar.... |
In most ways, Sony’s A9F is the equal of LG’s E8. To our surprise, however, Sony’s video processing with highly detailed pans and motion isn’t quite a match for the LG’s. |
Specifically, the processing of detailed areas in motion, such as a cityscape being panned or a forest with moving leaves suffered from more moiré and shimmer than I saw on the LG E8, which exhibits almost none. I could eliminate judder (jumpy/shuddery pans) by upping the motion smoothness to max, and the moiré was min... |
These issues are surprising, because Sony touts its new X1 Ultimate processor and Pixel Contrast Booster. The contrast booster did seem to work, but it exacerbated the issues I’ve already mentioned. The algorithms being employed may be improved over time and delivered to the TV in an update, but still, “ultimate” doesn... |
The A9F supports HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG HDR, and it delivers them all to good effect. Sony also offers a Netflix-calibrated mode, which is touted to show Netflix content as it was intended to be seen. |
I rarely discuss a TV’s sound with anything approaching enthusiasm, as the vast majority sound pretty awful by the standards of anything other than flat-panel TVs. The A9F is an exception that truly sounds good enough that you should wait on buying a soundbar or other outboard audio system until unboxed this TV and lis... |
Like the other Sony OLEDs before it, the A9F uses the actual display as a planar speaker, and its onboard amplifier produces plenty of volume including bass. The A9F has six actuators vibrating the glass, plus two standalone woofers. There are two inputs that allow you to use the TV as your center speaker in a surround... |
The A9F supports most of the surround-sound formats with the exception of Dolby Atmos (a feature LG’s E8 offers). On the other hand, the A9F is the first OLED to support eARC, or enhanced Audio Return Channel, with its ability to transmit eight channels at 192kHz. Whether 192kHz sampling rates provides any genuine bene... |
Does it justify its premium price tag? |
The A9F is an excellent TV—one of the best out there. You could buy it and never suffer a minute of buyer’s remorse; unless of course, you looked around at the significantly cheaper competition, which includes a couple of TVs from Sony. |
While there are some refinements, I personally didn’t find the A9F that much of an improvement over the A1E or A8F, at least not a $1,300 improvement. If you have deep pockets, you might appreciate the A9F’s superior audio performance and its slight uptick in video quality compared to those models. |
And then there’s the LG E8. Do you want the superior sound and huge app selection of the Sony, or the LG’s better picture processing, above-average sound, and superior user interface and remote control. If you find yourself needing a tie-breaker, look at the price tags? As of press time, LG E8 was going for about $1,20... |
KUALA LUMPUR • Two financial publications suspended over their reporting of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) may be back on the shelves sooner than thought, after the High Court upheld a ruling against the temporary ban. |
The Edge Financial Daily and The Edge Weekly may resume printing after the court yesterday dismissed the government's application to stay a ruling last month, which had allowed the publisher to resume printing ahead of the end of a three-month printing ban, the Malay Mail Online news site reported. |
The Home Ministry on July 27 slapped the three-month ban on the two publications, both owned by The Edge Communications, accusing them of carrying damning reports about 1MDB, which the loss-making state-owned investment agency alleged were detrimental to public order, security and national interest. |
But the High Court on Sept 21 ordered the suspension to be lifted and told the ministry to pay RM15,000 (S$5,000) in costs to the publisher. |
"She (The High Court justice) said there were no reasons shown as to the harm that would be caused by the continued publication for a stay to be granted," Senior Federal Counsel Alice Loke Yee Ching, who appeared for the Home Minister, told reporters. |
The court yesterday also ordered the minister and the Home Ministry's secretary-general, who are the respondents, to pay RM4,000 in costs. |
A woman and two children were fatally shot this morning inside a Gentilly home. |
NEW ORLEANS – A police dispatcher took to the air before dawn Friday with a report of a shooting on a quiet street in Gentilly. |
When officers arrived at the home in the 4200 block of Touro Street just after 4 a.m., they found what Superintendent Michael Harrison described as a “horrific” scene. |
Dead inside from gunshot wounds were Monique Smith, 30; Justin Simms, 10; and JuMyrin Smith, 6. |
The fourth victim, 12-year-old A'Miya Smith, remained in the hospital Friday afternoon, a relative told The New Orleans Advocate. Police earlier said she was in serious condition. |
Monique Smith listed Justin Simms and JuMyrin Smith as her sons and A'Miya as her daughter on her Facebook page. |
"She was a hardworking young mom, and when she got with her family and friends she liked to have a good time," Chrisey Smith, Monique Smith's cousin, told The Advocate. "She loved all her children -- her children were everything to her. She worked and spent time with her kids, that was it." |
Officials at Samuel J. Green School, where the children were enrolled, described them as idea students. |
Police have not yet released a motive or suspect in the case. |
"To find that children were involved … we're working to get the answers to all of that, but what we can say, it really rattles everybody," a shaken Harrison said. "That's why you see us all out here." |
Sources told Eyewitness News that all three victims who died had gunshot wounds to their heads and were found in bedrooms. |
The 6-year-old victim was shot in the face, sources said. |
Monique Smith worked at Ted’s Frostop Diner on South Claiborne Avenue and Calhoun Street. |
A handwritten sign on the door read: "Closed due to family emergency." |
The Uptown burger joint shut down at 10:30 a.m. after employees heard about her killing. |
The owner said he couldn’t handle being open today after the news. |
People who worked with Smith, who was the head cook for four years, said she was beloved at the diner and loved her work and her children. |
A spokeswoman for Samuel J. Green Charter School said they each began attending the Uptown school in kindergarten. |
Justin was in fifth grade, and A’Miya was in seventh grade. Both were expected to receive perfect-attendance awards Friday during a school assembly. A'Miya was also to receive an award for self-determination. |
"Green School Director Ava Lee noted their absence at school today was odd, especially since they were receving awards for perfect attendance," a statement from the school read. |
Another award for A'Miya was for exemplifying the school's values. |
"It doesn’t matter how many times she is asked to do, redo or revise “MYA” is willing to work, work, work, work! (sing the Rhianna song for this part). We are so lucky to have such a gracious model of PRIDE IN THE STRUGGLE. One day, the struggle will pay off," the citation read. |
After the award ceremony, though, grief counselors were being lined up to talk to faculty and students trying to cope with the sudden loss. |
WWL-TV reporters Lauren Bale, Meg Farris, Caresse Jackman and Karen Swensen contributed to this report. |
It's that time of year again - the long Baltic winter. As the darkness settles in outside and the snow dirfts whistle away at your window, why not spend the next few months in hybernation with a stack of good books. TBT has chosen a list of local picks to get you started. |
"Lacplesis," or the "Bearslayer," was the third attempt by a Latvian to create a national epic, as the previous ones failed to catch on in the late 1800s. Andrejs Pumpurs finally put the epic to paper, and answered the German's long-held assertion that Latvians were not a people because they lacked a national legend. T... |
The "Bearslayer" is hard to find in English. One translation, completed by Rita Berzins in the late 1980s, is no longer in print. But this year, Australian professor Arthur Cropley has both translated and reworked the epic poem. It's quite an admirable feat, as Cropley only learned Latvian a few years ago. |
The story recounts the brave tales of Bearslayer - half man, half bear warrior - who was given the name for ripping a bear in half. An image of this has been carved in stone at the base of the country's Freedom monument. |
In heroic glory, the Bearslayer fights the Christian German invaders, spirits, and local traitors. Eventually the Germans send for a black knight, and the two end up in a dangerous face-off, good against evil, on Latvia's Staburags cliffs. In the end, both tumble into the Daugava below. As the story goes, the Latvian w... |
This is the typical 'expat returns to Latvia' story with all the essential themes: unravelling past mysteries, finding one's roots, self-identity, and the whole can of Baltic sardines. Yet 'Puppet Maker' weaves its storyline around these cliches in a quirky and at times humorous way. |
It's a book you'd find among grocery-store novels - easy reading with a touch of cheese, sappy drama and a quickly developing plot. Once you get into it, the novel's quite an escapade of lost friends, painful memories, secrets revealed and relationships rekindled. And you actually might learn something about Latvian hi... |
Arnis, a Latvian-born doctor burnt out with his occupation, decides at age 57 to leave his London home and begin a practice in Riga. But there's another motive - a deeper one. Arnis never knew his father, who disappeared when invading Russians tore their family apart in WWII. The only trace to his father's identity is ... |
As this family mystery unravels, character after character is introduced. Although each personality brings along a new question mark - and some sweet laughs - the relationships become somewhat clumsy. This is the book's one weakness. Characters aren't portrayed with enough depth to sympathize with their emotions. Altho... |
"Contemporary Lithuanian Artists: Jurate Mykolaityte" |
The Lithuanian Artists' Association has released a new entry to its series on Contemporary Lithuanian Artists, which introduces the Vilnius-based painter Jurate Mykolaityte. |
An essay by art critic Ugne Dalinkeviciute precedes the fine collection of contemporary work. The critic vividly describes the settings in which the artist worked, the main themes of her work, and Uzupis, a unique bohemian-like neighborhood in Vilnius. |
Although many refer to Mykolaityte as a surrealist, it's not quite right to impose mystical meanings on the objects she paints. In fact, everything in her art is more down to earth, down to actual memories from Uzupis. |
Raised and based in this captivating neighborhood across the Vilnele River, the painter says her inclination to use monochromic canvases was largely determined by the murky light in her basement studio. Mykola-ityte paints Uzupis, though it's probably better not to capitalize 'Uzupis' because 'uzupis,' as locals say, i... |
Local art lovers who still recall Uzupis a decade ago, cannot but marvel at how precisely Mykolaityte has captured its spirit. Ghostly quarters emerge in her paintings. She paints an Uzupis that's separated from the Old Town not only by a river, but also by its "otherness" - a place governed entirely by its own laws. H... |
The book is lushly illustrated: altogether there are nearly 60 works by Mykolaityte. |
She portrays the town as a living organism, not just a collection of architectural cliches. The artist is not after innovations through theme or technique, but instead, she avoids energetic brushwork and vibrant colors as they would ruin the dreamy or reminiscent impression. Every detail matters, starting from the shap... |
"Estonian Folktales: The Heavenly Wedding" |
This collection is a must-have. It is essential as much as funny, weird, practical and 'complete.' Despite being a small selection of this nation's available folk repertoire, the collection extemporizes 's in a very structured form - the Estonian way of being. |
Estonian life has changed through the influx of media, economic necessities, and globalization, but the nation's core is vividly exposed and preserved for reference in these drops of narrative. |
As Piret Paar argues, folktales need two processes to survive: to listen and to tell. Indeed, the best way to reflect on the core is to know, share and recount. For the past decade or so, Paar and others have been busy traveling through Estonia and organizing events in tandem with this aim. They try to be objectively t... |
In these three-dozen stories or so, there is a pattern. Not only in the way the story is constructed (it is no secret that folk tales have a structural necessity and, no matter how much you change it, if these essential elements are there, the story still maintains folk-relevance) but also the way the book is tacticall... |
"The Practice of Everyday Life" |
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