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She once called Obrador a "misogynist" because he referred to her as "Felipe Calderon's wife."
Clinton faced similar challenges last year and she said recently the misogyny was a factor in her loss to Trump.
Zavala, a longtime women's right's activist like Clinton, has run in some of the same circles as the former Democratic presidential candidate, including when they both attended the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing, where Clinton gave her famous "women's rights are human rights" speech.
But Zavala isn't interested in the comparison to Clinton.
"Of course, those issues have brought us together at various times, but really my interest is in Mexico," she said. "There are some similarities, but the two countries are very different."
Zavala had a closer relationship with Michelle Obama, who was first lady at the same time as Zavala.
"I had a personal relationship with Michelle. I think she's a great leader and a great person," Zavala said.
Barack Obama came into office as an anti-petroleum crusader. He made no bones about the fact that he wanted gas prices to rise; likewise, his Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, explained that he wanted U.S. gas prices to rise to European levels. In those days, global warming alarmists were riding high, and the Obama administration accepted the idea that to prevent climate change, it should suppress production of domestic oil and gas, thereby raising the price of fossil fuel energy (gasoline, jet fuel, heating oil, coal-fired electricity, etc.) so that Americans would not be able to afford as much of it. This was, of course, a strategy for impoverishing the American people, but in those heady times, the administration considered that a minor inconvenience if not a positive virtue.
“I can’t look at motivations. I have to look at results. And under this administration the price of gasoline has doubled,” [Congressman Alan] Nunnelee told Chu.
“But is the overall goal to get our price” of gasoline down, asked Nunnelee.
Obama hasn’t changed his mind any more than Chu has, as you can see from his administration’s actions. For the president, expensive energy that depresses all Americans’ standards of living isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.
It may be an opera, but Edmonton Opera’s new production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Cinderella), which opened at the Jubilee on Saturday, deserves to be the hottest theatrical ticket in town.
For the production by director Robert Herriot — who directed the impressive production of Puccini’s Turandot earlier in the season — sizzles over with comic inventiveness and sheer fun. It’s augmented by Deanna Finnman’s vivid costumes, and brought to life by a fine cast that doesn’t have a weak link in it. I have rarely heard so much delighted laughter from an opera audience.
The production has the hallmarks of Herriot’s comic approach: meticulous comic acting detail, an insistence that everyone on stage, even if not in the spotlight, contributes their comic elements, and just the right amount of surprises.
He’s willing to gently push the boundaries — here, for example, tenor John Tessier as the Prince has to do a full costume change on stage — but above all he can create moments that elevate comedy to the next theatrical level.
One such moment was the magical appearance of slow motion. The main characters are complaining about how they are confused, and Herriot shows us that confusion in an extended scene of people milling around, falling over, bumping into each other, all at less than half speed. It was not only a brilliant idea, but it was executed by the cast as if they had been moving at such a pace all their lives.
Herriot always has a respect for the music — there is virtually no gratuitous comic effect in this production — and usually some deeper underlying theme to his comic vision. Here that was achieved by setting it in the 1950s, in an haute-couture world.
This changed setting stays entirely faithful to the spirit of an opera that is about the vanity and shallowness of appearance. That’s where Finnman’s costumes come in, and she has clearly revelled in the opportunities. This be Thisbe (Sylvia Szadovszki), the younger of the two ‘ugly’ sisters, appears in a leopard-spotted suit that could have come from Christian Dior, topped by a hairstyle made famous by Vidal Sassoon. Her sister Clorinda (Caitlin Wood) is contrasted in Dior’s frilly petticoat look, and indeed those petticoats, layers of poppy and white, are eventually revealed.
The men are not forgotten: Dandini (Michael Nyby), disguised as a dandy of a Prince, is resplendent in a wonderful white coat, and Finnman is not afraid to show the exact opposite in the unflattering, unwashed costume she has created for the first entrance of Don Magnifico (Peter McGillivray).
But this theme is more than just visual delight. For the character of Aldoro (Stephen Hegedus), the philosopher who is the equivalent of the fairy godmother in the opera, is presented as Karl Lagerfeld, the Chanel fashion designer, silver pony-tailed hair, dark sunglasses, and all.
Gradually one realizes that he is probably manipulating the whole proceedings (he indeed is the last person on stage). Questions, too, remain about how much — or how little — Cenerentola herself (Krisztina Szabó) is seduced by all this, for all her protestations at the end about forgiveness and goodness.
She is neat and dapper when she is the Cinders servant, but she appears at the ball in a classic Audrey Hepburn look, scarf and sunglasses, and in the final scene her wedding dress seemed inspired by the Givenchy bridal gown which Hepburn wore in Funny Face. The clothes do indeed seem to make the person.
The cast is splendid, both in their acting and their singing. Their sense of ensemble is so strong that it is invidious to single out any one performance.
Nyby is consistently engaging as Dandini, with just the right touch of exaggeration when disguised as the Prince, and what a fine baritone he is.
Szadovszki pouted and flirted as Thisbe as if to the manner born, and she and Wood, as sometimes the only two female voices in a large male ensemble, more than held their own.
McGillivray as the boorish stepfather always threatened to go over the top without actually doing so, in a very comic performance.
Tessier’s effortlessly light tenor is just right as the Prince, suggesting an underlying innocence that makes perfect sense when he falls for the servant girl.
Szabó, as Cenerentola herself, encompassed both innocent charm and later more sophistication. When Rossini finally allows her to really let go vocally, with bel canto decoration at the end of the opera, she showed why she will be making her Covent Garden debut in a new George Benjamin opera next year.
Melissa Cuerrier’s sets are simple, but well suited to the stage action. The orchestra, conducted with good pacing by Peter Dala, are behind the stage. This foregrounds the singers, and contributes to the clarity of individual voices in the many ensembles in the opera.
There were, perhaps inevitably given the hectic pace of so much of the music, a few moments when singers and orchestra were not entirely in accord, and I did miss the thrust and detail of the orchestral writing, rather lost at the back of the stage.
That was perhaps inevitable, given the style of the presentation. For this production is bubbling comedic acting, infectious singing, and a mirror held up to the vanities of our age.
Israel's Central Elections Committee is to convene Saturday night to discuss the decision of the committee chairman to cut off the nationwide radio and TV broadcast of a news conference by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Thursday night. Mr. Sharon says the action prevented him from refuting allegations of financial improprieties, but the opposition charges the Israeli leader was electioneering, in violation of the law.
The chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Mishael Cheshin, ordered a halt to media coverage of the Sharon news conference soon after it began.
He said Mr. Sharon's attack on chief rival Amram Mitzna was a violation of the broadcasting law preventing the airing of "election propaganda" in the month leading up to a vote. Mr. Sharon's Likud party countered that the black out interfered with the prime minister's ability to properly answer corruption allegations leveled against him.
Mr. Mitzna's Labor party called on the election committee to look into what it said was the blatant manner in which Mr. Sharon used the media for election propaganda.
In his Thursday night remarks, Mr. Sharon accused the Labor Party of trying to bring down the government through lies and by attempting to portray him and his party as "the Mafia."
He is accused of improperly accepting a $1.5-million loan from a South African businessman to repay campaign contributions from the 1999 election that had been determined by the elections committee to be improper. Labor Party Chairman Amram Mitzna described Mr. Sharon as a man under pressure trying to save himself.
Israel's Army Radio reported that the Labor Party will ask the Central Elections Committee to fine both the Likud and Mr. Sharon for violating the broadcasting laws.
The head of the Likud's election campaign, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, criticized the move to cut off the press conference saying the prime minister was prevented from defending himself.
Mr. Sharon has dismissed the allegations as a "despicable political plot" designed to topple him.
The scandal has cost the Likud party dearly in public opinion polls. Several surveys published Thursday show Likud likely to win only 27 or 28 parliamentary seats in the January 28 election. Just four weeks ago Likud was projected to win 41 seats.
However, Likud is still ahead of Labor, as Likud voters appear to be switching to smaller parties. Mr. Sharon is still projected to win the election, but he will need to create a complex coalition to form a government.
ALTON – It took the Alton Redbirds just 17 seconds and one offensive play to hit Pekin coach Doug Nutter with a harsh reality.
“Our kids,” Nutter said, “weren’t ready for the speed.
Josh Lovings took a quick pass to the sideline 60 yards for a touchdown on the Redbirds’ first play to spark a 44-12 victory over the Dragons on Friday night at Public School Stadium.
The season-opening triumph was Alton’s first since 2008. The Dragons, who beat the Redbirds 37-14 in last season’s opener in Pekin, never mustered much of a threat. Alton led 17-0 after one quarter and 24-0 by halftime when the Redbirds had racked up 297 yards offense to 77 for Pekin.
Alton’s offense broke free for four plays covering more than 50 yards – all from different players – and added a 50-yard punt return by Lovings. “We have that capability, we’ve got explosive kids,” Alton coach Jeff Alderman said.
But on a night full of good news for the Redbirds, Alderman was quick to address an obvious flaw.
Along with Lovings’ 60-yard catch and dash for the game’s first TD, the Redbirds had a 52-yard run by Larry Calvin, a 92-yard TD catch by Demonte Wigfall and a 77-yard TD run by Kareem Hamilton.
Hamilton, a senior transfer from Marquette Catholic making his Redbirds debut, finished with 106 rushing yards on six carries. Alton finished with 247 yards on the ground on 31 rushes.
Senior quarterback Lavonte Hobbs completed 5 of 9 passes for 176 yards and two TDs. He hit Wigfall on a perfectly thrown fade for a 22-yard gain on a third-and-15 play and later scrambled to loft a pass into the hands of Wigfall, who adjusted his route and broke open for the 92-yard score on first down when Alton was pinned back on its own 8.
Alton finished with 423 yards offense to 252 for Pekin. The Dragons ran 62 offensive plays to 41 for Alton. But keeping pace with the Redbirds was a futile chase for Pekin.
The 32-point margin of victory is the largest for Alton since thumping Collinsville 41-7 in Week 9 of 2006. That was also the season the Redbirds last made the postseason.
The Redbirds defense, which got big nights from senior linebacker Ricco Gipson and junior defensive end Asa Collins, forced five Pekin turnovers. Calvin, Simeon Brown and Lovings had interceptions for the Redbirds, who were turnover-free.
Backup running back Harrison Henderson broke off a 28-yard TD run late to cap the scoring for the Redbirds, who also got a 25-yard field goal in the first quarter from Bradley Leonard.
RUSHING-Pekin: Fuller 24-128, Vignassi 10-40, Jess 8-(minus 1), Morton 3-(minus 3), Dickey 2-3. Alton: Pedrero 9-23, Hobbs 6-28, Hamilton 6-106, Calvin 5-57, Williams 1-3, Alexander 2-2, Henderson 2-28.
PASSING-Pekin: Jess 9-14-85-2, Morton 0-1-0-1. Alton: Hobbs 5-9-176-0, Hamberg 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING-Pekin: Morton 3-12, Duley 5-53, Henson 1-20. Alton: Lovings 1-60, Wigfall 3-114, Calvin 1-2.
You can count on one thing every time Republican candidates for president get close to a caucus or a primary or a debate: The name of Ronald Reagan will be invoked.
On Sunday, GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul appeared on Al Punto, a Spanish-language TV news show, saying he doesn’t need a different message for Hispanic voters.
Once again, Republican candidates are clamoring to be more like Ronald Reagan. There may be no higher compliment on the right than to be considered Reaganesque. Of course, once you drill down, Reagan's actual positions on taxes, spending and immigration may well fit in better in the Democratic Party than in the current GOP.
All eyes focused on Texas Gov. Rick Perry as he made his debate debut Wednesday evening at the fourth GOP showdown, this one hosted by Politico and NBC.
A Carey Park man has been fined following the search of a property earlier this year.
Cameron James Lloyd was due to appear in Bunbury Magistrates Court on Thursday, March 14.
Lloyd was not able to appear in court, but managed to submit endorsed pleas of guilty to one count of possessing a prohibited drug (cannabis) and one of possessing drug paraphernalia containing a prohibited drug/plant.
Police prosecutor sergeant Greg Ward told the court police visited Lloyd's Carey Park residence at 7.40pm on Thursday, February 7, 2019.
Police, suspecting Lloyd of aggravated burglary, then searched his residence.
During their search of the premises, officers uncovered 1 gram of cannabis in a bedroom drawer.
Drug paraphernalia was also uncovered during the operation.
Magistrate David Maclean handed down a $1000 fine.
PARIS: Paris 2012, the organization formed to lure the 2012 Summer and Paralympic Games to Paris, has hired Weber Shandwick to implement an international communications strategy.
WS has helped bring the Games to three other cities: Sydney, Australia (2000 Summer Games), Turin, Italy (2006 Winter Games), and Beijing (2008 Summer Games). The firm will run the account out of its Paris office with support from other outposts around the world and said in a release that it will "adhere to and respect the International Olympic Committee (IOC) bidding rules on the use of international PR."
In the past, controversies surrounding unsavory courting of IOC members have damaged some host cities' reputations.
The firm also said that its hiring demonstrates Paris 2012's "intent to promote its bid beyond France's borders." The team will focus on its relationship with the IOC, monitor IOC protocol, and maintain ethics in media relations as related to Paris' Olympic candidacy.
"We're taking a new approach to communications for Paris 2012, one that's evolved from an analysis of previous bids," said Philippe Caudillon, Paris 2012 director general, in a statement.
WS will work alongside French agency Publicis, which was hired in late 2003 to handle communications within France.
Alation, a startup that helps crawl a company’s databases in order to build a data search catalog, announced a $50 million Series C investment today.
The round was led by Sapphire Ventures and Salesforce Ventures. Existing investors Costanoa Ventures, DCVC (Data Collective), Harmony Partners and Icon Ventures also participated. Today’s investment brings the total raised to $82 million, according to Crunchbase data.
The participation of Sapphire Ventures, originally launched by SAP, and Salesforce Ventures, the venture arm of Salesforce, is particularly telling. One of the issues these enterprise software companies face when they go inside large enterprises is helping customer’s access and understand data wherever it lives. It’s one of the reasons that Salesforce bought MuleSoft for $6.5 billion last year.
This is a problem that employees face, as well. It’s simply inefficient to query multiple databases manually, or to even know what databases exist inside a large organization. Alation uses out-of-the-box connectors to connect to common data sources like Oracle, Redshift, Teradata, Spark and Tableau to create a centralized data catalog.
With that catalog in place, employees can search just as they would with any enterprise search engine, with the notable difference that this tool is focused strictly on structured data inside of supported data sources.
The company goes beyond pure matching to find the data an employee is searching for. Company CEO and co-founder Satyen Sangani says they also use a method to analyze usage to display the most likely result. “What differentiates us in particular is that we look at the logs of how people are using that information,” he explained. This is analogous to how Google uses the PageRank algorithm to measure the popularity of a page based on the number of times people link to a page.
It is certainly not alone in the space, with competitors like Alteryx and Informatica, but Alation’s approach seems to be resonating. Sangani reports triple-digit growth four years running. The company has soared from 89 employees at the end of last year to around 200 today. It boasts 100 large enterprise customers in production, including names like BMW, Hilton, American Express and Salesforce (whose investment arm, Salesforce Ventures also helped lead today’s round).
As the company grows rapidly, Sangani says he wants the capital in place to help fuel the increasing interest. The size and scope of his customers means that he will need to hire not just engineers to keep developing the product and building new connectors, but customer support and sales and marketing. In all, he expects to add between 100 and 200 employees in the next year.
He also wants to continue building out partnerships. As an example, Teradata is an authorized reseller, and has helped sell the product in global markets where a startup like Alation might lack the resources to enter.
Based in Redwood City, Calif., the company launched in 2012 and released the first version of the product in 2014. Its most recent round prior to today was a $23 million Series B in 2017.
A few years ago, just as many West Virginians were becoming aware of the substance abuse epidemic that was tightening its grip on the state, First Choice Services in Charleston partnered with the state Department of Health and Human Resources to develop the West Virginia Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Helpline. The folks answering those phones have now answered 30,000 calls.
Perhaps one of the reasons the helpline has gained a reputation for success is that it does not squander the sometimes brief window during which an addict makes the decision to seek help.
“Once they call us, they really don’t have to do much else. We kind of take over from there. We call around for them and find them treatment options,” Heather McDaniel, director of Helpline Services, told another media outlet.
Anyone, from all 55 counties, can take advantage of the helpline, which is connected to more than 1,000 recovery resources in the state.
“Whether that is short term, long term, medication-assisted treatment, outpatient counseling, detox services, or working with one of our recovery coaches. We get them connected right then when we are on the phone. We don’t give them just another phone number to call unless they specifically request that. Once we get that set up, we can also help with transportation to treatment,” McDaniel said.
It is a model many other help centers have been working to follow, but not an easy one.
Kudos to those at working the helpline who have made such a difference.
And to those who are ready to seek that help, the number is 1-844-435-7498. Let us hope 30,000 is just the beginning.
Dylan O'Donnell took this wonderful image, and shared it on our Boing Boing Flickr Pool.
I think this is the best photo of the moon I've ever captured. It's a layering of 2 separate stacks, both of 20 exposures each for a total of 40 exposures. This was done to reveal the faint and delicate crater details as well as the dull blue glow of the earth itself, reflecting back from the dark side of the moon.
I really like how the 20% moon's character as a 3 dimensional object hanging in space, illuminated both by the earth and the sun, is revealed in this image, unlike any of my other lunar photos.
Taken from my backyard in Byron Bay NSW, Australia with a Celestron 9.25" SCT w/ Focal Reducer (6.3) and Canon 70D. Backyard EOS, AutoStakkert & PS6 used for capture and post processing.
This photo (like most of mine) is now public domain.
More of my work on deography.com.

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