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She added, "that is why 'Eclipsed' and even 'Queen of Katwe' are so important, to change the narrative, offer a new lens on African identity." |
Nyong'o also recounted being taunted about her dark skin color when growing up. "I came home from college in the early two-thousands and saw ads on TV with a girl who can't get a job. She uses this product. She gets her skin lighter. She gets the job," she said. "The lording of lighter skin is a common thing growing up... |
Earlier this month Nyong'o spoke out on Oscar diversity. The actress won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 2013 for her role as Patsey in "12 Years a Slave". |
As an Academy member she is trying to be more involved she told CNN at the Toronto International Film Festival. "We have to be conscious of the dearth [of black actors] and work consciously to change that," she said. "It's about baby steps," she told CNN, "it's about everybody playing their part." |
A secret US Army investigative report has revealed a breakdown of discipline in the 5th Stryker Brigade, home to the "kill team" that allegedly murdered Afghan civilians. According to the report, which has been obtained by SPIEGEL, the commander helped to create an environment where misconduct could occur. |
Colonel Harry Tunnell (left) is seen with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. A secret US Army report paints a damning picture of Tunnell's command in Afghanistan. |
The case of the so-called "kill team," a group of US soldiers who allegedly murdered innocent civilians in Afghanistan, has made headlines around the world. So far, the focus has been on the individual troops and the question of how they could have committed such brutal acts, which have been compared to the abuses perp... |
That could now change, however. SPIEGEL has obtained a secret US Army investigation report that puts at least part of the blame on the commander of the kill team's brigade, Colonel Harry Tunnell, whose only reprimand so far has been a letter of admonition. |
Tunnell was put in charge of the 5th Stryker Brigade, with its 3,800 troops, in 2007. The brigade was deployed to Kandahar, a particularly dangerous province of Afghanistan, in 2009. |
may have helped create an environment in which misconduct could occur," the report reads. |
The US Army spent one month investigating the circumstances surrounding the kill team incidents. The report was compiled by General Stephen Twitty, who interviewed 80 Army personnel of various ranks. The 532-page report paints a damning picture of the military culture in the Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), which wa... |
The five kill team soldiers, who are currently facing a military tribunal, are accused of killing innocent civilians out of pure bloodlust. They allegedly carried out the crimes between January and May 2010 by using guns and grenades to make it appear they were under attack in order to justify killing civilians. |
The soldiers took photos of themselves grinning while standing over their victims as if posing with hunting trophies, and also collected gruesome mementos including bones and severed fingers. SPIEGEL obtained a significant number of photos and videos taken by the troops, some of which it published in its March 21 issue... |
On March 23, a military judge in a court martial proceeding sentenced one of the men, 22-year-old Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock, to 24 years in prison after he pled guilty to murdering innocent civilians in Afghanistan. He was the first soldier to be held responsible for the crimes. In addition to the five soldiers ac... |
The report documents how the clash of two military strategies created an atmosphere in which atrocities against Afghan civilians were regarded as normal, and provides evidence of a lack of control on the part of the leadership. The report details numerous examples of misconduct, such as soldiers smoking hashish in thei... |
The report reveals that Tunnell's approach and choice of words were incompatible with the COIN (counterinsurgency) strategy that General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan at the time, had introduced in 2007 in a bid to win over the trust of the local population. |
Under COIN, the troops' primary aim became to protect the civilian population, deliver aid packages, talk with locals and live with them in the villages. The COIN approach had worked in Iraq, and the US Army hoped it could be transferred to Afghanistan. |
and operational practices," Tunnell told General Twitty in a sworn statement. |
According to a statement by one witness, Tunnell himself had spoken about "small kill teams," who were supposed to ruthlessly hunt down the Taliban. He gave speeches where he outlined his preferred "counterguerrilla" strategy, which was based on creating "targets of opportunity" and carrying out missions to "search and... |
According to one witness, Tunnell was pursuing his own personal crusade in Afghanistan. "He stated in his office that he was after revenge for being shot in the leg while serving in Iraq," Colonel William Clark recalled in a statement, adding that the commander kept the metal rod from his leg on his desk and would use ... |
The report also points to a lack of discipline in the brigade and contempt for the normal Army rules. Soldiers referred to officers by their first names, were often unshaven and wore their shirt sleeves rolled up, something which is officially not allowed. |
The deficits on the leadership level were not limited to Colonel Tunnell. The report also reveals that the kill team troops were not alone when they committed their first murder on Jan. 15, 2010. On that day, the soldiers killed the 15-year-old Afghani Gul Mudin, on the pretext that the boy had thrown a grenade at them... |
When Captain Patrick Mitchell and Staff Sergeant Kris Sprague heard the shots, they approached the scene and saw, from a distance, the victim lying on the ground. "Make sure he is dead before you start searching him," Mitchell apparently told Sprague, while the two men were still around 50 meters (165 feet) away. Accor... |
Tunnell had in the past been regarded as an intellectual who had great potential in the Army, and had even met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. But the classified US Army report delivers a damning verdict on the commander's time in Afghanistan. |
"Colonel Tunnell is no longer in command," Twitty writes in his conclusion. "If still in command, I would recommend that Colonel Tunnell be relieved of his responsibilities as a brigade commander." |
Colonel William Clark, who served under Tunnell for three years, is similarly critical in his statement. He said he "would not work with or for him" in the future: "I view Colonel Harry Tunnell as the most difficult senior leader I have worked alongside in my 26-plus years of military service." |
We are trialling Google Consumer Surveys on Hartlepool Mail. We are always looking at different ways to help fund our commitment to quality local news. These surveys generate revenue for us, which in turn helps fund our local editorial team and keep our online content free of charge. |
The modern Portland shopper faces a crisis of near-infinite hams. With dozens of local, national and international hams available at one's fingertips, how is the savvy consumer to determine what to serve as the centerpiece of their non-denominational holiday dinner, or what to use as their go-to ham for everyday sandwi... |
Luckily for you, WW gathered 18 Portland-made hams for a blind taste test. Accompanied by nothing more than a simple loaf of country bread and a bottle of Italian Amaro Montenegro, we tested the finest ham Portland had to offer. After rating every ham on a scale of 1 to 100 and dropping the lowest score, we collated th... |
A Creole delicacy traditionally used to flavor soups, gumbos and jambalaya, tasso is made from the shoulder of the hog, which in some schools disqualifies it as being a true ham. Well, it's 2015: traditionalism be damned. |
Each bite of Old Salt's tasso was a wafer-thin satin sheet of fat and smoke that melted in the mouth, dissolving from a blast of porky richness into a nuanced warmth of smoked paprika, cayenne and garlic that didn't overstay its welcome. |
Old Salt chef Ben Meyer, who has been visiting New Orleans with his mother since he was a high-school sophomore, revealed some of the secrets behind his best-in-show ham. "For a couple of decades I went there every year, and this has always been food that is near and dear to my heart," he says. "Tasso is an ingredient ... |
Flavored with "a blend of secret hobo herbs and spices," Meyer's recipe is a break from tasso tradition. "When it's usually made, we would take the whole shoulder roast and slice it into pucks about an inch thick, and then cure those in the same cure," he says. "Because of the way we use it in the restaurant, we just c... |
Old Salt's tasso is in limited supply. "If you are looking for tasso specifically, you should ask us, even if it is not in the case," Meyer says. "We only really merchandise it into the case when we have enough extra that we aren't worried about brunch. But as long as someone is willing to wait a little bit, we can mak... |
Tasting notes: "Fatty, fatty, fatty—and so good for it." "This is the bacon of ham." |
Perfect for: Any egg dish, jambalaya, étouffée, eating with your bare hands until you pass out. |
Buy it: Old Salt Marketplace, 5027 NE 42nd Ave., 971-255-0167, oldsaltpdx.com, $18 per pound. |
Most of the smoked ham we sampled tasted at best "smoky" and at worst "chemical fiery." Northeast Portland's hazelnut-finished pork merchants Tails & Trotters had noticeable levels of both smoke and finesse. |
Tails & Trotters' ham started with a robust mouthful of applewood smoke flavor, which relaxed into a spiced melange of botanicals defined by a healthy burst of juniper and green herbs, finishing with a clean, traditional ham flavor. Much like a good pair of chinos, this versatile ham dresses up and down very nicely. T&... |
Tasting notes: "Moist, yummy, eat-it-anywhere ham." "This is the most subtle, tender smoked ham I've ever had." |
Perfect for: Pairing with a ton of Gruyere and heady mustard in a croque monsieur, the centerpiece of a meat-and-cheese board. |
Buy it: Tails & Trotters, 525 NE 24th Ave., 503-477-8682, tails-trotters.myshopify.com. $16 per pound. |
Sometimes the good guys win. Sometimes the scrappy underdogs take home the 101st annual Summer Camp Classic Kickball Trophy. Sometimes the house brand from Portland's girl-next-door grocery store is the best sandwich ham in the city. |
New Seasons' ham tastes like…ham. It is the platonic ham. It is the ham that they eat in Norman Rockwell paintings. Clean, moist and savory with a satisfying bite, this is the ham to have on deck when your kids bring over friends, or for a wholesome lunch you can whip up in three minutes. New Seasons makes the best no-... |
Tasting notes: "Terrific sandwich ham—moist, salty, briny." |
Perfect for: A week's worth of sandwiches, an enormous pot of pea-and-ham soup. |
Buy it: New Seasons Market, various locations, newseasonsmarket.com. $9.99 per pound. |
The Pacific Northwest's best salumeria also has an exceptional ham? Shocking. Elias Cairo's meat market and restaurant is something of a one-stop shop for cured meats in Portland, and you can pick up a mini-football-sized dinner along with a pack of saucissons for the road while you prepare for your in-law's impending ... |
Weighing roughly 2½ pounds and sold in increments of "half" and "whole," OP's Sweetheart ham is a lean and gently juniper-spiced meat that is made to be a lifesaver when you need to whip up a nice dinner at the last minute. Pro tip: If you only need a piece or two for the road, New Seasons sells OP Sweetheart by the sl... |
Tasting notes: "Tastes like chicken soup." "Yum! Delightful, robust juniper, excellent, sweet finish." |
Perfect for: A foolproof, last-minute dinner alongside a mountain of mashed potatoes; part of a charcuterie board. |
Buy it: Olympia Provisions, 1632 NW Thurman St., 894-8136; 107 SE Washington St., 954-3663, olympiaprovisions.com. $16 per pound. New Seasons Market, various locations, newseasonsmarket.com. $16.99 per pound. |
Where most of the black-pepper hams we sampled tasted like an indistinct, briny whimper limping out of the aftermath of a harsh shotgun blast of black pepper, Edelweiss' expertise in the Teutonic art of peppered-pork preservation paid off. |
At this German food shop, second-generation deli masters Tom and Tony Baier craft an assertively piquant coarse-black-pepper crust that complements their lean, alder-smoked barbecued ham without accosting it. The result is a delightfully rustic pepper ham that is perfect to scarf down in large quantities alongside othe... |
Tasting notes: "This is what pepper cure should be." "Delightfully peppery, turkeylike." |
Perfect for: Serving as a main course alongside a hearty chunk of imported country German rye bread, caraway-spiced sauerkraut, beer mustard and a growler of Upright's Engelberg Pilsner. |
Buy it: Edelweiss Sausage & Delicatessen, 3119 SE 12th Ave., 238-4411, edelweissdeli.com. $10.99 per pound. |
Willamette Week's ham task force tasted these Portland-made hams, with unmarked prosciutto di Parma as a control: Chop deli ham, Gartner's classic ham, Otto's dry-cured ham, New Seasons Market ham, Gartner's pepper ham, Edelweiss Black Forest ham, Otto's Black Forest ham, Olympia Provisions Sweetheart ham, Laurelhurst ... |
If you're hankering for a hunk of Fable 2 news, you will want to carve out some internet time for yourself next week, as the official Lionhead Studios blog teases some big-like news. "A lot is happening" writes the official Lionhead dev blog, "if you are anxious to find out something new about Fable 2, I suggest you ma... |
Big-ish, eh? We know it's not the only big-ish thing happening next week, as we expect a respectable number of pre-E3 announcements throughout the week, but we have to wonder what Fable 2 secrets await us. Perhaps we'll see that ballyhooed acorn or learn more about in-game pregnancy! Who wants to make a guess? There's ... |
Is this a good time to start systematic investment plans (SIPs) in mutual funds (MFs)? I want to invest for 5-10 years. I have SIPs of ₹ 2,000 each in HDFC Top 200 and DSP BlackRock Top 100. Should I start new SIPs or top up existing ones? |
As we have often said in this space, no time is a bad time to start investing systematically. This is especially true if the time horizon for your investments is above five years. Over such long periods, the markets will go up and down and your systematic investments will take advantage of the low prices during dips an... |
I am 28 years old and I want to invest in equity. I have a saving of ₹ 3-4 lakh. Should I make a lump sum investment or start investing systematically in MFs? |
Systematic investments offer the potential of lower cost of investment than lump sum investments. For example, if you spread out your investments into 12 instalments of ₹ 30,000 each, it is likely that some of the investment will be made when markets are high and some when markets are low. Thus, on average, your overal... |
Ensure that your investments are diversified across market segments within the equity asset class. Please use the Mint50 list of select MFs to choose funds from different market segments to build a well-diversified portfolio. |
I am 25 years old and want to invest ₹ 20,000 in tax-saving MFs. Please suggest a suitable fund. |
Equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) are ideal vehicles for saving tax for young investors. These funds have a lock-in period of three years, but is fully allocated to equity providing for maximum growth potential. Given the long time frame of investing that young investors have, they should consider this option for sav... |
This is the gold edition of Settlers II. This demo includes the winter scenario, a whole new set of graphics, and a map editor. However, the map editor does not let you save in the demo and is limited to 15 minutes of play. This is a simulation game in which you are shipwrecked on an island during the Roman Empire. Tak... |
BEAUTIFUL PREMIERE .58 ACRE LARGE CORNER LOT IN OYSTER HARBOUR. You have approximately 132 feet frontage on Eagle Crest and close to 226 feet fronting on Healing Water Ln giving you lots of great options for a house placement! This lot is close to the Kayaking Pier and the Fishing Gazebo on the natural lake. Oyster Har... |
The two leaders also stressed on the need to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific while agreeing there had been a substantial enhancement in the defence ties. |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the US defence industry to set up manufacturing facilities in the country and make India a hub for exports during his meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence in Singapore on Wednesday. |
At his meeting with Pence on the sidelines of East Asia Summit and ASEAN summit, Modi “stressed that there was a great opportunity for the United States in India in making defence equipment and setting up defence industry in India”, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale told reporters. “Not only that India is a substantial m... |
The two leaders also stressed need for maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific while agreeing that there had been a substantial enhancement in the defence relationship and “our imports of equipment from the United States”, Gokhale said. |
The prime minister expressed hope that the Donald Trump administration would recognise defence as a new economic opportunity, he said. “There were some discussions on how we should enhance this sort of trade. In addition, of course there was appreciation of the outcomes of the recently held Ministerial 2+2 and on the f... |
The discussions touched upon bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues. Modi also conveyed great appreciation that President Trump had organised a meeting in the White House on Tuesday to celebrate Diwali, the foreign secretary said. |
Pence specifically acknowledged that India has made substantial progress economically as well as diplomatically in regional and international affairs, and said the US looks forward to working with India on various issues both on political and economic side to ensure “a fair-rules based international order”. Prime Minis... |
Pence also spoke of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and said India’s contribution in ensuring this would be important. |
“Prime Minister referred to his speech here in Singapore in June at the Shangri-La Dialogue in which he had outlined India’s vision of the Indo-Pacific,” Gokhale said. Modi also conveyed to Pence that this vision was gaining acceptability and that “we should utilize the upcoming East Asia Summit to further build up on ... |
The two leaders discussed how both sides can strengthen cooperation to ensure Indo-Pacific is “an area of growth, of prosperity, of development and of benefit for the countries of the region in the future”, Gokhale said. |
The two leaders also had a brief discussion on trade-related matters. “We agreed that in a new relationship that we are building with the United States where trade is expanding, we need to find ways in which we can help that process to take place,” Gokhale said. |
Modi pointed out that in the last two years, since Trump assumed office, US exports to India have grown by 50%, making India perhaps the only big country with which the US has managed to reduce its trade deficit significantly. The trade gap is on course to further reduce this year. |
“We have begun importing oil and gas from United States. It is expected to be valued about $4 billion this year and we expressed our readiness to import more oil and more gas from the United States as a way of expanding our trade,” Gokhale said. |
There was also some discussion on the issue of terrorism and Pence referred to the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, known as 26/11, later this month. He also appreciated the cooperation between the US and India on counter-terrorism. |
“In response, the prime minister, while thanking him for these words, also reminded him that in one way or another all the traces or all the leads in global terror attacks ultimately lead to a single source, a single place of origin, and in that context, he did point out that the mainstreaming of the people involved in... |
“So there was some good understanding on the area of how we move forward in building cooperation on counter-terrorism and both countries recognised that this is a challenge which we will have to fight together and to fight along with the rest of the international community,” he said. |
NYT: After wringing concessions from all but one of The Boston Globe‘s labor unions, The New York Times Company on Monday postponed its threat to start the process of closing The Globe, leaving the newspaper’s immediate future resting on talks with the largest union, the Boston Newspaper Guild. |
And WaPo’s Howard Kurtz weighs in here. |
More on the NYT from Reuters: Unionized employees at the New York Times newspaper on Monday ratified a 5 percent pay cut. New York Times newspaper employees who are members of the New York Newspaper Guild voted 377 to 36 to approve the pay cut agreement. |
“I don’t know what, in all honesty, government can do about it,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in the briefing yesterday regarding a bailout for newspapers. |
Not all bad news- newspapers essential strengths in a NYT piece here. |
LAT: Meet the Press, the king of Sunday morning TV news talk shows, could soon lose its throne. While NBC’s Meet the Press with David Gregory still holds the lead as of the Nielsen April 20 numbers, the ratings battle, which has been heating up for months, rages on. |
NBC’s Richard Engel is today’s guest on the Morning Media Menu. Listen in here at 9am. |
Do members of the White House press corps stand for President Obama, but previously stay seated for President Bush? The question follows President Obama’s unexpected visit to the briefing room last week, and reporters rose from their seats at his arrival. Politico’s Patrick Gavin put together this video. |
This week in WaPo‘s Voices of Power online series- Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. |
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s former aides are not happy about a particular Pulitzer awarded this year. Read more at Washington Whispers. |
HuffPost announced this morning Derek Murphy has been named Senior Vice President, Business Development, overseeing new and existing business partnerships and “focusing on distributing HuffPost content across a wide-range of media platforms, creating video partnerships and developing business partnerships for the site’... |
If you care about Puerto Viejo and want to see it kept clean or become even cleaner, please make a donation to ReciCaribe, our recycling association, today. ReciCaribe is struggling to reorganize and stay afloat. |
Imagine Puerto Viejo without it! We cannot allow this nonprofit organization to fail. Please reach into your pockets and give something to Mauricio, one of the new board members, at Café Viejo. |
This has been one of the best recycling programs in the country (TT, Oct. 24, 2008) and can be an example to other communities once again. If litter and trash bother you, then give something to make a difference. The price of recycled commodities has dropped, so we must all fill the gap for now. There has not been enou... |
For more information about ReciCaribe, visit www.recicaribe.org. |
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