text stringlengths 237 126k | date_download stringdate 2022-01-01 00:32:20 2023-01-01 00:02:37 ⌀ | source_domain stringclasses 60
values | title stringlengths 4 31.5k ⌀ | url stringlengths 24 617 ⌀ | id stringlengths 24 617 ⌀ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
To find great female novelists, stop looking in Jane Austen’s shadow
When we try to find writers in the archives who are just like our favorite novelists, we end up asking the wrong questions — and miss out on some real gems
Review by Devoney Looser
A staggering number of early female writers had been unearthed by second-wave feminist literary critics. If none of them read like Jane Austen, that may not be a problem. (Illustration by Dongyun Lee for The Washington Post. Reference image from Library of Congress)
For almost a century, sleuthing critics have been taking a trowel to the literary past in search of forgotten female novelists. How many undiscovered Jane Austens or Charlotte Brontës, they wondered, had been buried by sexist beliefs about the limits of women’s genius? Quests to find lost figures crystallized after Virginia Woolf’s stirring 1929 “A Room of One’s Own,” and by the 1980s a staggering number of early female writers had been unearthed by second-wave feminist literary critics who enjoined us to read and evaluate them.
Some of these early novelists wrote for themselves or private audiences, but a surprisingly large number turned out to have published their work to a wider readership, only to have it forgotten. The task of recovering them is telegraphed in the title of Dale Spender’s “Mothers of the Novel: 100 Good Women Writers Before Jane Austen” (1986). Austen’s genius remained a given, but the reality that many “good” predecessors had been sidelined by sexism was laid bare. Nevertheless, no other early works of fiction by women have yet been bumped up from “good” to “great.” Why?
Shouldn’t we have discovered more Austens and Brontës — or even another writer as singular as Mary Shelley — among these pioneering hundreds by now? A cynic might answer that we haven’t because there aren’t any others. To this way of thinking, three female geniuses (or five, maybe six, if we include every Brontë and George Eliot) survived because a meritocracy of authorship worked out perfectly.
Five myths about Jane Austen
A more optimistically patient person might answer that, even after all these years of feminist archaeology, we still haven’t looked hard enough. It may be that finding female fiction writers who’ve been absent from history for more than a century requires another century for collective recognition and rediscovery.
But perhaps it’s time to acknowledge that the ways we’ve been looking are part of the problem. When we go in search of new Austens or Brontës, we’re imagining we’ll find novels that remind us positively of theirs. We claim we’re searching for something new, and equally original, but in effect we’re seeking out literary echoes, not wholly distinct virtuoso performances.
It’s the same way of reading that often leads today’s audiences of Austen-inspired film and television adaptations to experience deep frustration. The widespread critical contempt that greeted the recent Netflix “Persuasion” adaptation is a case in point, with many complaining that the film got the heroine wrong, instead of watching it on its own revised comic terms. The film disappointed Austen-aware viewers because it was deemed a bad copy — a mode of interpretation by no means limited to screen adaptations.
In fact, this turns out to be a very old problem. The dangers of copying Austen, and reading with Austen in mind, date back to the first years after she died in 1817. It’s a little-known fact, even among experts, that many other novelists began to imitate her almost immediately. One reviewer complained in 1828, in an essay in the Atlas titled “Novels: Plagiarisms From Miss Austen,” that fiction of the day was rife with unacknowledged pilfering from her “admirable mine for prudent plagiarism.” Not that you had to be all that clever back then to spot Austen copyists. Susan Ferrier’s novel “The Inheritance” (1824) begins, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that there is no passion so deeply rooted in human nature as that of pride.” (This audacious sampling of “Pride and Prejudice” [1813] notwithstanding, Ferrier’s little-known novels rise to the level of good.)
Jane Austen-inspired books keep coming out. Some work better than others.
Some of Austen’s copyists were male. Another early imitator was American James Fenimore Cooper, of “The Last of the Mohicans” (1826) fame. His first novel, “Precaution” (1820), combined Austen’s “Persuasion” (1818) with “Pride and Prejudice” to craft the derivative story of a retrenching baronet’s three daughters and his prejudiced but well-meaning matchmaker wife, who lacks reasoning powers. After “Precaution” failed, Cooper wrote a novel in the style of Sir Walter Scott, which proved a commercial success.
If it’s easy to see these parallels, though, it’s partly because we’re so used to looking for Austen-ness or Brontë-ness. I’ve often been asked whether any of the other 18th- and 19th-century female writers I’ve read or taught were “as good as Jane Austen.” Reader, I have gotten so tired of this question. It has no good answers.
Whenever I replied “No,” I worried that I’d wronged a female writer who’d already been wrongly disregarded. Could this question ever be answered in the affirmative? Surely no author could out-Austen Jane Austen, any more than a contemporary writer could, say, out-Joyce James Joyce. For too long, we’ve used the few women who made the cut into the canon as our sole guides to seek out lost or undervalued voices. It’s time to try new methods and modes of reading.
One useful standard might be to look to the novelists who were imitated in their own days. We should, in other words, stop searching for undiscovered Austens and start looking for the women who shaped our literary present in their own ways, even if their contributions have been forgotten or suppressed.
Frances Burney’s best-selling “Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance Into the World” (1778), for example, is a comic coming-of-age story, told in letters, about the teen title character’s modesty and innocence under threat, thanks to her uncertain parentage. Some of its humor doesn’t hold up, including a cruel bet over a footrace between elderly women. But much of it does, especially its satiric sendups of consumerism and society manners. It prompted imitators who borrowed the names of her characters and reused her title words.
Maria Edgeworth’s “Belinda” (1801), too, is ripe for reevaluation, with its story of a young woman’s entrance onto the marriage market. It has gripping scenes and unusual dramas, including the prospect of a female duel. At the time, it attracted controversy for depicting the marriage of a working-class Black man and a White farmer’s daughter. Edgeworth, caving in to the criticism, edited out the Black character in subsequent editions. Readers today know it’s challenging to find past novels that share present sensibilities, but that’s partially because some novelists at the time struggled to write stories that mattered for resistant audiences. Edgeworth went on to become one of the most highly paid fiction writers of her generation and inspired copycats, especially of her Irish stories and moral tales.
Gothic-sensation novelist Ann Radcliffe, whose suspense-filled bestsellers of the 1790s launched the “explained supernatural,” in which everything that goes bump in the night is later debunked, deserves reconsideration. We may get bogged down by her long descriptions of the natural world, but these sections once functioned like fictionalized travel writing, meant to prompt a reader’s reverie. Her work was so often copied that she was said to have spawned a “Radcliffe School” of writers, pioneering a fictional formula that may now seem pat but was once groundbreaking — and deserves to be acknowledged as such.
My students, however, might vote to bring back early novelist Eliza Haywood, whose raucous, fascinating amatory fictions include “Fantomina” (1725), a novella about a young woman who disguises herself to repeatedly seduce the same unsuspecting man, and “Love in Excess” (1719-20), a bestseller about female desire and a reformed rake. Haywood’s work was widely reprinted and imitated, but she fared poorly with critics who believed that her books were dangerously corrupting. Her novels, written at a time when the genre was more episodic and less psychological, deserve a fresh read on their own terms.
Jane Porter, too, deserves a long look. Her best-selling sensation, “Thaddeus of Warsaw” (1803), describes the economic and romantic hardships and bigotry faced by a refugee-hero escaping war-torn Poland for England. Then “The Scottish Chiefs” (1810), a tale of William Wallace, secured her place as a major author of global fame. Her books were once widely acknowledged as having created a new species of writing, until the credit for inventing the modern historical novel was yanked away and given to Sir Walter Scott. His best-selling “Waverley” (1814) came to be called the first of its kind.
Scott never publicly credited Porter with having inspired him, although they were childhood friends. Jane and her sister, Anna Maria Porter (also a historical novelist), waited 15 years to publicly call out Scott for failing to give credit where it was due. It didn’t go well for them, with powerful supporters lining up behind Scott. Porter’s prose is sometimes dense and her moralizing sharp, but she deserves to be celebrated as the figure who made “Waverley” possible, as I argue in my new biography — the first book devoted to their lives and writings — “Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës.” The Porters effectively made a path for a whole lineage of historical novelists, up to and including the late Hilary Mantel.
Revisiting heavily imitated authors of centuries past absolutely won’t catch every deserving lost work or writer. It could, however, get us closer to a more expansive notion of what the category “classic” might have been — or could yet be. What’s evident is that Austen’s and the Brontës’ deserved literary triumphs have come at a cost. Our enduring love of them and their works may have inadvertently prevented other worthy female novelists from coming into better focus. We must look beyond these long-acknowledged greats if we ever hope to count more of them as brilliant.
Devoney Looser, foundation professor of English at Arizona State University, is the author of “The Making of Jane Austen” and “Sister Novelists.” | 2022-11-25T14:40:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | To find great female novelists, stop looking in Jane Austen’s shadow - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/11/25/austen-bronte-great-female-novelists/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/11/25/austen-bronte-great-female-novelists/ |
ZooLights returns as an in-person event this weekend at the National Zoo after a two-year absence. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)
ZooLights at the National Zoo: ZooLights returns in person for the first time since 2019, with over 500,000 LED lights that illuminate trees and walkways and form animated animal shapes. Animals will not be on display during ZooLights hours, but there will be musical performances from local groups on most nights (check the zoo’s website for the performance schedule). Entry pass reservations are required this year; they’re released on a rolling basis two weeks, one week, the day before and the day of the event. 5 to 9 p.m., Friday through Sunday between Nov. 25 and Dec. 11, then daily Dec. 16-23 and Dec. 26-30. Free entry; $30 parking pass.
Gingerbread House Contest at Darnall’s Chance: For most of the year, Darnall’s Chance is a living history museum, showing visitors what life was like for people who lived and worked there in the 19th century. In December, however, the Upper Marlboro house museum takes a modern twist. For more than two decades, it has hosted a gingerbread house contest, inviting cooks of all ages to submit whimsical and completely edible creations. Previous winners have crafted castles, cottages and, last year, a large reproduction of the Globe Theatre. Visit Darnall’s Chance to see dozens of entries, cast a vote in the viewer’s choice competition and explore the historic house. Beyond the gingerbread houses, Darnall’s Chance offers a Hansel & Gretel Tea for kids on Dec. 17, with story time, crafts, and desserts paired with tea or hot chocolate. Noon to 5 p.m., Friday to Sunday through Dec. 11. 14800 Governor Oden Bowie Dr., Upper Marlboro, Md. $2 (cash only); children 4 and younger free.
Holiday markets: Still trying to figure out what to pick up for that special someone? This weekend offers multiple opportunities to peruse wares from local makers. District Motherhued’s Shop and Play brings more than 25 Black-owned businesses to Metrobar, plus a Black Santa, warm cocktails and family activities. Port City Brewing features more than 30 Alexandria-based makers as part of the Holiday Makers’ Market in the brewery’s parking lot. Compass Rose has both makers and food vendors indoors and outside as part of its Shop Small Saturday Market. In Takoma Park, Market at the Bank kicks off a series of markets just across the Maryland line, with a different selection of artists, jewelers and creators each weekend.
20th anniversary of Right Round at the Black Cat: For two decades, DJ Lil’e has been hosting a different kind of ’80s night: the kind where Joy Division, the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Dead or Alive are the bands luring crowds to the dance floor. That’s not to say you won’t be singing along to familiar new wave hits — they’re just more likely to be by the Smiths or New Order than MTV hitmakers. Celebrate 20 years of alternative sounds with Lil’e on the Black Cat’s main stage. 9 p.m. $10-$15.
Barks and Brews Festival at Shipgarten: Shipgarten’s dog-friendly festival returns with three competitions: smallest/biggest dog, best trick and hold-for-treat contests. Bring four-legged friends to the Tysons beer garden to test their skills, let them loose in Shipgarten’s dog park or give them a taste from the dog menu. Kids are also welcome — a live “Encanto” character performance starts at 3:30 p.m., and yard games, face painting and a crafts corner will be open all day. 1 to 6 p.m. Free.
CityCenterDC Holiday Tree Lighting: A 75-foot-tall tree decorated with 150,000 lights is the centerpiece of CityCenterDC’s holiday decorations, and it’s officially lit during a party featuring pop covers by the Revels, face painting, balloon art and snacks from CityCenter restaurants. 6 p.m. Free.
All Black Affair at the Grand Hyatt: Ultrasmooth R&B singer Eric Benet headlines the 18th annual All Black Affair, which is taking over multiple ballrooms at the Grand Hyatt downtown. WHUR’s Autumn Joi hosts, and the soundtrack is a mix of go-go, jazz and hip-hop from the Vybe Band, Secret Society, Blacc Print and Jeff Bradshaw, as well as DJs. An optional open bar is $95 for four hours. As you can probably guess from the name, all-black attire is “mandatory,” per organizers. 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. $60.
Mary Prankster at the Birchmere: At the end of the last millennium, Mary Prankster was a local hero in the Baltimore scene: a singer-songwriter who performed behind a moniker inspired by Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters, with a punkish streak to her music and a puckish attitude toward lyrics. Mary retired the gimmick in 2005 and went on her merry way, but returned to the stage for a one-off in 2017 and unveiled a new album two years later. Across songs that span rollicking glam rockers to jazzy ballads, “Thickly Settled” picked up where Mary left off, older and wiser but with the same attitude. “I’m the best defense, I’m a real good time,” she sang on mission statement opener “Rock N Roll Degenerate,” “and I ain’t too pressed that I’m past my prime.” 7:30 p.m. $29.50
The Eric Byrd Trio’s ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ at the Hamilton: Over the last two decades, the Eric Byrd Trio has performed on numerous continents as official jazz ambassadors for the U.S. State Department. The trio performs regularly around D.C., too, with regular gigs at clubs and jazz festivals, and it picked up a Washington Area Music Award earlier this year for its latest album, “Twenty.” But at this time of year, the focus shifts to one thing: “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Over the course of a few weeks, the Eric Byrd Trio will perform Vince Guaraldi’s familiar, transportive jazz interpretations of holiday songs at churches and performing arts centers throughout the Mid-Atlantic, including two gigs Sunday at the Hamilton. 3 and 6:30 p.m. $15-$40.
Festive Families Walk-Through at Merriweather Symphony of Lights: On most nights, families touring the Symphony of Lights at Merriweather Post Pavilion drive along the one-mile course in their cars, listening to holiday music on the radio while gazing at animated light displays. But on three special nights, visitors can explore the lights on foot. Kids in strollers, wagons and backpacks are welcome at the Festive Families event, which is first on the schedule, with children ages 3 and younger entering the park free. The dog-friendly Tail Lights (Dec. 6) and Lit at the Lights, featuring beer and cocktail tastings (Dec. 8), are next up. 5:30 p.m. $12; children 3 and younger free.
The Queen’s Cartoonists’ Holiday Hurrah at George Mason University: This six-piece band is known for its performances of music from cartoons and animations. Now it’s bringing a festive spin to its act at the George Mason University Center for the Arts with a live soundtrack of holiday tunes played in front of a screen. Guests can expect jazz arrangements, scenes from festive films and a holiday-themed game show. 3 to 6 p.m. $19.
‘Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song’ at the Kennedy Center: When Leonard Cohen originally recorded “Hallelujah,” it was for an album that his record label didn’t want to release. Almost four decades later, that elegiac and mysterious song is Cohen’s best-known work, covered by Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley and featured across the pop culture spectrum from “Shrek” to “Watchmen.” The documentary “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song,” released earlier this year, explores the song’s long, strange rise to popularity with input from Cohen and other musicians, but also tells the larger story of Cohen’s career and rebirth. It screens in the Justice Forum at the Reach. 3 p.m. Free.
D.C. Cocktail Week: D.C. Cocktail Week is the merry and bright counterpart to D.C. Restaurant Week. Instead of multicourse dinners, more than 50 bars and restaurants offer special cocktail-and-small-bite pairings. At the new surfing-themed Vagabond in Dupont Circle, the Nazaré (tequila, passion fruit and orange liqueurs, habanero agave syrup) arrives alongside roasted red beet hummus and grilled pita ($18). On upper 14th Street, Little Coco’s serves a Negroni with fennel-infused gin coupled with bruschetta topped with eggplant caponata, pine nuts and golden raisins ($17). Andy’s Pizza in NoMa keeps things simple: Pick any signature cocktail and a slice of its New York-style pie for $10. Check the cocktail week website for a list of specials, happy hours and events. Through Dec. 4. Prices vary.
Norwegian Christmas Tree Lighting at Union Station: This holiday display in Union Station’s Main Hall is Norway’s annual present to the people of D.C.: A 32-foot tree that remembers America’s contribution to the country’s liberation in 1945. The musical program at its dedication includes singer Rayshun LaMarr and the East of the River Steelband. 6 to 9 p.m. Free.
‘NPR Music Celebrates 15 Years’ at 9:30 Club: It’s been 15 years since NPR Music launched, and what better way to celebrate than with two nights of performances at 9:30 Club? The music journalists at NPR Music are known for introducing listeners to new artists, and for this shindig, Cimafunk, Leikeli47, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Amber Mark, Yendry and Cory Henry are booked to play the shows, which are being live-streamed through NPR’s YouTube channel. Both Monday and Tuesday will feature a special surprise guest, in addition to a DJ set from Tiny Desk producer Bobby Carter, also known as DJ Cuzzin B. Monday and Tuesday at 7 p.m. $45.
Lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree: The Capitol Christmas Tree, a 78-foot red spruce that has been dubbed Ruby, arrived in D.C. after a 13-hour tour from North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest this month. The tree, lit this year by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and known as the People’s Tree, will be on display from nightfall until 11 p.m. through New Year’s Day. 5 p.m. Nov. 29 through Jan. 1. Free.
‘Elf’ Movie Parties at Alamo Drafthouse: The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear — or going to one of Alamo Drafthouse’s interactive screenings of “Elf,” where the audience dons elf hats, jingles bells and recites favorite lines with the characters — and joins in a chorus of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” Screenings take place at both the Bryant Street NE and Crystal City locations. 7:30 p.m. $16.
‘Dirty Dancing’ in Concert at Capital One Hall: Belt out the lyrics to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” along with a packed house and a live band during this screening of the film “Dirty Dancing” at Capital One Hall in Tysons. While you watch Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey on the big screen, musicians will perform the hit songs from the ’80s flick onstage in perfect sync with the movie. The music keeps going with an after-party, so the audience of “Dirty Dancing” super fans can sing and dance along. 7:30 p.m. $50-$80.
Amber Mark at 9:30 Club: On her debut album, “Three Dimensions Deep,” Amber Mark tackled contemporary R&B’s love-and-life themes with an ear for songs that move and groove with the times, from the shuffling, disco-ready “FOMO” to the shifty, Afrobeats-inspired “Bubbles.” But the main attraction is Mark’s deep and rich voice, which keeps things grounded even when she aims for intergalactic heights on space-themed songs like “Cosmic” and “Event Horizon.” At this show, Mark will help NPR Music celebrate its 15th anniversary alongside indie mainstay Hurray for the Riff Raff, up-and-comer Yendry and DJ Cuzzin B. 7 p.m. $45.
GALA Film Fest: Latin American Innovation at GALA Hispanic Theatre: Tickets for this year’s GALA Film Fest are a bargain compared with a usual night at the movies: Each showing is only $10, and more than half the screenings include chats with the films’ directors. Choose among seven flicks from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panama, or snag a pass for $35 to see them all. Selections include an interwoven series of four tales about soccer in “90 Minutes” from Honduras and a documentary about Costa Rican bureaucracy titled “Moving So Slowly.” All films are shown in Spanish with English subtitles. Through Dec. 4. $10 per screening or $35 for a film fest pass.
Blu DeTiger at 9:30 Club: When she started posting on TikTok, Blu DeTiger already had 15 years of performing experience — and sincerity. It was hard for viewers to look away from her buttery bass covers of Prince and Megan Thee Stallion. Now DeTiger has 1.3 million followers, and nearly 300,000 TikTok videos feature her song “Figure It Out.” Her newest single, “Elevator,” is a tune that combines her indie-pop influences with her club kid roots, and prominently features her distinctive bass skills. The lyrics, she says, are a reminder that she’s in control of her own destiny, and that she knows where she’s headed: In fuzzed out, half-spoken vocals, she sings, “Load me up in a slingshot, send me over the moon / Baby, I can be a big shot, too.” 7 p.m. (doors open). $20.
Profs & Pints: Let’s Talk About Kanye at Metrobar: Joshua K. Wright, the host of NPR’s “Woke History” podcast and author of “‘Wake Up, Mr. West’: Kanye West and the Double Consciousness of Black Celebrity,” presents a scholarly look at the recent downfall of Ye, the artist previously known as Kanye West. This event at Metrobar takes a deep dive into the political and social conditions that created the divisive rapper and cultural icon. 6 to 8:30 p.m. $12-$15. | 2022-11-25T14:40:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Holiday concerts, tree lightings, holiday markets and events - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/25/best-things-do-dc-area-week-nov-25-30/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/25/best-things-do-dc-area-week-nov-25-30/ |
Cracking open ‘The Nutcracker’s’ dark Russian past
Behind the holiday classic lies an unsavory history that may change the way you think about it
Perspective by Sarah L. Kaufman
Dance critic
An illustration fuses the Russian bear symbol and the character of the Prince in "The Nutcracker." (Javier Muñoz for The Washington Post)
Cute kids, antic elders, a dessert buffet that springs to life, all swirling to those gorgeous Tchaikovsky melodies — is it any wonder that “The Nutcracker” is one of the most popular ballets in the country, if not the world?
Yet when you dig into the Russian roots of this holiday classic, there’s a dark history that may change the way you think about it.
The fruits of a violent imperial system lie behind the work’s bright, bouncy “Chinese” dance, with its pleated fans and parasols, and its slow, seductive “Arabian” scene, with ballerinas in gossamer harem pants. At “The Nutcracker’s” premiere on Dec. 18, 1892, in St. Petersburg, the ballet paid homage to the czar and his empire, and within its affectionate tale of family celebration and childhood fantasy are the footsteps of a more brutal narrative. If you look at some of the forces giving rise to it, and that still live within it, “The Nutcracker” isn’t all that sweet.
“It was reflecting a czarist culture,” says Jennifer Fisher, author of “Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas Tradition in the New World.” “What it is to have a master when you’re a servant and you’re supported by the czar, and royalty always has to be celebrated. The choreographers do know who’s paying the bills.”
To be clear, this isn’t about canceling “Nutcracker.” It’s about understanding the lived experiences from which the ballet sprang. They’re not entirely unique to Russia (consider America’s colonial past). But they prompt reflection on why they were carried into the ballet. Their traces circle back to an authoritarian system that foreshadowed expansionist events today.
“The history of Russia is a history of violence,” says Princeton music professor Simon Morrison, author of “Bolshoi Confidential: Secrets of the Russian Ballet from the Rule of the Tsars to Today.” “The reason Moscow became its head was through acts of incredible aggression. And a lot of the culture was imported, including ballet. Music came in via Ukraine and Poland — in some cases musicians and singers were kidnapped from Kyiv and hauled up to Moscow. There are horror stories all the way to the Far East.”
The Russian empire ballooned in the 19th century, swallowing up the Caucasus and Central Asia on its march into the Far East. One can only imagine the sorrow and worse produced by these occupations. Czarist control also bound “The Nutcracker’s” creators, of course. Tchaikovsky, for instance, was a favorite of Alexander III, and composed music for his coronation. Coronation rituals were deeply ingrained, and included a lavish banquet and a parade of foreign ambassadors paying homage. These rituals are transformed into child-friendly fun in “The Nutcracker,” where the second act brims with human depictions of imported delicacies from Russia’s trade routes. Chinese tea, Arabian coffee, chocolate from Spain and so on: They’re all served forth on the stage.
“This ballet is essentially a trading post, with a battle in the middle and then an imperial banquet,” says Morrison.
Indeed, all these years later, in just about any version of “The Nutcracker” that you might see today, Act II follows the coronation-banquet ceremony quite neatly. In an atmosphere of lavish pomp and royal luxury, the queenly Sugar Plum Fairy presides over choreographed tributes by different groups of leaping, frolicking, food-bearing “ambassadors.” Of course, part of “The Nutcracker’s” durability into the modern age is that it’s endlessly adaptable to different locales and time periods, giving rise to fresh decor and even new names for some of the original dances. The Washington Ballet’s production, for example, takes place in tony Georgetown by the Potomac River. But in most cases, this second-act parade of goodies and other key elements of the story haven’t changed in 130 years.
Here’s the basic plot: At her parents’ Christmas Eve party, young Clara (or Marie, in some versions) receives a wooden nutcracker doll, and after the household goes to bed, she helps the doll fend off an invasion of rats and mice. The grateful nutcracker becomes a living prince and leads Clara through a spinning snowstorm of ballerinas to a sugary kingdom where flamenco-style dancers spin with twisting torsos and entwining arms as fleshly embodiments of Spanish chocolate. French “Mirlitons” — the name describes a kind of flute and a flute-shaped pastry — evoke the origins of Russian ballet in the courts of France. There’s also energizing tea and rich coffee: hot drinks from afar.
United Ukrainian Ballet to make U.S. debut at Kennedy Center in February
Of course, these lands are made up of people and customs and cultures, but in the czarist view — necessarily, that is also “The Nutcracker’s” view — the people are secondary to what they produce. That is, goods on the empire’s shopping list.
“The Nutcracker” was dreamed up after the smashing success of “The Sleeping Beauty,” which also featured music by Tchaikovsky and dances by Russia’s prized French-born choreographer Marius Petipa. Both ballets were hatched by a man named Ivan Vsevolozhsky, whom Alexander III installed as director of the imperial theaters. So Petipa, working for the man with a direct line to the czar, was under a little pressure.
According to Morrison, this meant honoring Alexander by recapping his coronation feast — a big deal in a czar’s life — and promoting the splendors of the empire, particularly foods from distant lands carried back to Russian kitchens.
McCarthyism silenced this Black icon. Now dancers are making noise.
And so the ballet’s Act II Kingdom of Sweets, Morrison says, “is a childlike version” of the banquet, “without the wanton drunkenness. There’s no dances of vodka and wine, but tea and coffee.”
These, along with the dancing chocolates and pastries, represent “what you can take from the land, all in service to the crown. And it includes the commodification of peoples. It’s about what these places are worth to us, not in terms of the people but in terms of spices and goods.”
And the French pastry? It performs double duty here, as a delicious symbol of the brand-new military pact between Russia and France. Efforts to flatter the French are also clear in photos from the 1892 original, Morrison points out, with hints of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia — disastrous for both nations, each suffering hundreds of thousands of dead. Yet “The Nutcracker” gives it a friendly spin.
“The Franco-Russian alliance was depicted in the original costuming,” Morrison says. “Initially the nutcracker is fighting the mice on his own, then he has to summon the toy soldiers. And they’re in Napoleonic garb — reserves from the past. And some guests in the party scene are costumed from the Napoleonic era. It’s celebrating an alliance in the making.”
“It’s all distilled into something that delights children but is full of references to the nation that produced it,” he continues. “It’s not like you can say there’s a coherent geopolitical story told here, but here and there are echoes of history.”
Tchaikovsky filled out the ballet with imported melodies. The “Arabian” music is a Georgian lullaby. The bravura “Russian” dance — with its deep squats and high leaps — is based on a Ukrainian folk dance. The “Grandfather Dance” in the Act I Christmas party is a 17th-century German folk tune. The airy tinkling sound that gives the Sugar Plum Fairy’s solo an aspect of the supernatural was produced by a celesta, a French keyboard instrument that Tchaikovsky asked his publisher to order from Paris, in secret.
“I am afraid Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov might hear of it,” the composer wrote, “and make use of the new effect before I could.”
“The Nutcracker” is, basically, a mosaic of musical, historical and cultural influences, right down to its literary inspiration: a German short story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, titled “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” And the art form itself — classical ballet — was transplanted from France, as was Petipa, the choreographer. In all of this, Morrison sees a metaphor for the patchwork nature of the Russian empire.
“It is all borrowed sounds. That’s what Russian culture was, a lot of borrowing,” he says. “This is a beautiful, childlike, quaint illusion of empire. But it’s fantasy of empire because the empire is a fantasy. It was very fragile, and then a couple of wars took it down. End of the empire, and the Bolsheviks took over.”
Inside the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, where “The Nutcracker” was being created, things were also in a fragile state. Petipa’s 15-year-old daughter had recently died and, possibly weakened by grief, the choreographer fell gravely ill while working on the ballet. His assistant, Lev Ivanov, finished it. Tchaikovsky was also reeling from loss. His beloved younger sister had died the previous year, and he composed “The Nutcracker’s” second act in her memory. This undoubtedly accounts for some of the mournful notes in an otherwise romanticized, nostalgic view of youth.
And audience reaction?
“It seemed to me that the public did not like it,” Tchaikovsky wrote. “They were bored.” He died less than a year later, believing his ballet had flopped, never dreaming it would achieve great fame.
It took decades for this to happen. Even in the 1930s, the cliched depictions of national dances in the second act came under fire. Dance historian Cyril Beaumont panned a 1934 revival of “The Nutcracker” in London, which he assumed was based on Ivanov’s original choreography. “It passes the understanding,” Beaumont wrote in his “Complete Book of Ballets,” “that ‘Coffee’ should be conveyed by a Stomach Dance … and that ‘Tea’ should be suggested by a couple of ridiculous Chinese whose ‘number’ seems to have been borrowed from a pantomime version of Aladdin.”
Yet he praised the duet for the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, as well as their solo variations, and indeed these remain some of the loveliest expressions of tenderness and grace in the ballet canon.
In this country, “Nutcracker” versions by Willam Christensen for the San Francisco Ballet in 1944 and, a decade later, George Balanchine for the New York City Ballet caught the public’s imagination and ignited a holiday tradition. Yet in many productions, much of the stereotyping that pervaded the 1892 original remains.
The ballet “immigrated, so it’s now reflecting not only the stereotypes the Russians had, but an anti-Asian bias here in the U.S. is baked into ‘The Nutcracker’ stereotypes,” says Fisher. “The Fu Manchu mustache, the peaked worker’s hat. Even if there are authentic elements, they’re put together in a mishmash.”
Gradually, the ballet world has begun rethinking some of the cultural insensitivities in works based on European fantasies of “exotic” locales — and “The Nutcracker” is only one of these. For example, depictions of Hindu rites in the Indian fantasy “La Bayadere” and the enslavement of women in the pirate-themed “Le Corsaire” have raised criticisms.
“Is ballet a multiracial art form that includes everyone, or is it just a folk dance done by kings and queens?” asks Phil Chan, an advocate for ending Asian stereotyping and author of “Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing between Intention and Impact.” “Is it just a regurgitation of the past, or is ballet an art form that is urgent and alive? We have to choose.”
He’s taken particular aim at the “Chinese” dance in the “The Nutcracker.” Chan points with pride to a new version, unveiled last season, by Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet, which performs Balanchine’s choreography but has renamed (and re-costumed) the male lead in its celebration of tea as the Green Tea Cricket.
“Crickets are a potent Chinese symbol of hope and good luck and spring,” Chan says. “To Chinese people they’re a beautiful symbol that fits what is happening in ‘The Nutcracker’ but it’s not cliche. It’s not another dragon dance with a fan and kung fu kicks.”
This is exactly the kind of informed, imaginative and artistically sound update that ballet needs, says Fisher.
“Ballet is a beautiful technique, with a beautiful, illustrious history,” she says. “There is so much to save of it. But not the attitude toward groups of people.
“We should focus on new ways,” she continues, “that don’t depend on the authoritarianism of the czar’s ballet.” | 2022-11-25T15:15:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sweet holiday staple 'The Nutcracker' may be darker than you think - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/11/25/nutcracker-history-russian-imperialism/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/11/25/nutcracker-history-russian-imperialism/ |
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with mothers of Russia's servicemen participating in the special military operation in Ukraine, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, Friday. (Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin Pool/Sputnik/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
As anger over the drawn-out invasion simmers in Russia, President Vladimir Putin on Friday held his first public meeting of the nine-month-long war with mothers of soldiers who had been fighting in Ukraine, a move likely aimed at quelling discontent.
In a clip broadcast by Russian state media, Putin is seen sitting down with a group of women around a table adorned with ornate tea cups and fresh berries for a talk coinciding with Russian Mother’s Day.
“I want you to know that I personally, the entire leadership of the country, we share your pain,” Putin said, pausing and clearing his throat. “We understand that nothing can replace the loss of a son, a child, especially for the mother, to whom we all owe the birth.”
“I want you to know that we share this pain with you and, of course, we will do everything so that you do not feel forgotten,” Putin added.
The meeting comes as grievances of ordinary Russians, especially those who have been recently mobilized to replenish depleted ranks, are starting to enter the public space, despite the grave legal consequences for those critical of the war.
In recent months, dozens of videos recorded by soldiers or their relatives have emerged online, decrying the recent mobilization and abysmal conditions some soldiers find themselves in on the front line, with low morale, poor equipment and lack of clear strategy on the battlefield.
The soldiers spoke of being abandoned by commanders and forced to wander in the woods without food or reinforcement. Some contract soldiers called up earlier in the campaign as part of regular forces complained they were exhausted and hadn’t been rotated out for months on end.
The mobilization effort, which officially lasted for about a month and a half, saw a reported 318,000 reinforcements thrown into battle as Russia tries to hold ground against a two-pronged Ukrainian counteroffensive ahead of the cold winter that will further complicate combat.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon’s top general, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, said that over 100,000 Russian troops were believed to have been killed or injured since the Feb. 24 invasion. Tens of thousands of men have left the country to avoid being drafted. The Russian Defense Ministry officially claimed it lost around 6,000 soldiers as of September this year and hasn’t updated the numbers since.
Even before the Friday meeting, Russian activists cast doubt on whether the Kremlin would allow a frank conversation with exasperated mothers and wives whose loved ones are missing or dead.
Groups like the Council of Mothers and Wives, which has pleaded with officials to end mobilization and bring the men back home, and the veteran advocacy group the Soldiers’ Mothers Committee, which processes thousands of complaints from soldiers and their family members, were not invited. The Kremlin only published parts of the meeting and there was no live broadcast.
“We are not at all interested in this,” Valentina Melnikova, the secretary of the Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia, said when asked if her group would’ve sent a representative if the Kremlin had extended the invitation.
“It’s crazy that the conversation is still not public, even with the mothers who were cleared to see Putin,” the Council of Mothers and Wives said in the group’s Telegram blog. “Are they scared that some mothers will still blurt something out?”
The makeup of attendees indeed suggested the meeting was orchestrated to avoid any outbursts of public anger in Putin’s presence, as women in the room were primarily functionaries from pro-government movements, mid-level officials, and members of the ruling United Russia party set up by Putin himself. | 2022-11-25T15:54:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Russia's Putin comforts mothers of soldiers fighting in Ukraine - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/25/putin-russia-ukraine-mothers-soldiers/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/25/putin-russia-ukraine-mothers-soldiers/ |
Writer E. Jean Carroll sues Trump under new N.Y. sexual assault law
E. Jean Carroll listen as she meets with reporters outside a courthouse in New York on March 4, 2020. (Seth Wenig/AP)
Writer and columnist E. Jean Carroll is suing former president Donald Trump over an alleged sexual assault in the 1990s, under a New York law that lets sexual assault victims file suit years later.
Carroll’s attorneys filed the lawsuit Thursday, minutes after the Adult Survivors Act took effect. The law, which was signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in late May, gives adult sexual assault survivors up to one year to file a lawsuit, regardless of when the alleged violation happened.
Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, says Trump raped her inside a dressing room of a luxury Manhattan department store during the mid-1990s — an allegation Trump has denied.
The court filing Thursday said Carroll filed the lawsuit to “obtain redress for her injuries and to demonstrate that even a man as powerful as Trump can be held accountable under the law.”
She is suing Trump for battery and defamation and seeking compensatory and punitive damages, saying that the alleged sexual assault caused “significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological harms, loss of dignity and invasion of her privacy.”
The lawsuit was expected. Carroll said in court records filed in September, as part of her ongoing, separate defamation case against Trump, that she would file a lawsuit against the former president under the Adult Survivors Act “as soon as that statute authorizes us to do so.”
Carroll first recounted the alleged assault in a book in 2019. She was not able to press charges at the time because the statute of limitations had passed.
Trump, who has been accused of sexual assault by a slew of other women, responded to the allegations by saying Carroll was “totally lying” and that the journalist was “not my type.” Carroll then sued Trump for defamation.
After Weinstein’s fall, Trump accusers wonder: Why not him?
In the court documents filed Thursday, Carroll claims Trump “forced her up against a dressing room wall, pinned her in place with his shoulder, and raped her.” The suit notes that, out of fear, Carroll had kept quiet about the incident for more than 20 years, before deciding it was time to speak out after the #MeToo movement galvanized survivors of sexual assault around the world to share their stories.
In a statement on the new lawsuit, Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said the writer “intends to hold Donald Trump accountable not only for defaming her, but also for sexually assaulting her, which he did years ago in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman.”
“Thanksgiving Day was the very first day Ms. Carroll could file under New York law so our complaint was filed with the court shortly after midnight.”
Trump says latest accuser, E. Jean Carroll, is ‘totally lying’ and ‘not my type’
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, dismissed the claims Thursday.
“While I respect and admire individuals that come forward, this case is unfortunately an abuse of the purpose of this Act which creates a terrible precedent and runs the risk of delegitimizing the credibility of actual victims,” Habba told the Associated Press.
Representatives for Carroll have sought to merge the defamation suit with Thursday’s new lawsuit under the Adult Survivors Act, though Trump’s legal team has argued the move would be prejudicial.
The Adult Survivors Act is modeled on New York’s Child Victims Act, which was signed in 2019 and offered a similar opportunity for survivors of child sexual abuse to file suits against their alleged abusers.
An avalanche of lawsuits are expected to be filed under the new law, which supporters say offers a chance for survivors to hold their attackers accountable — even if a significant period of time has lapsed since the alleged incident,
Shayna Jacobs contributed to this report. | 2022-11-25T16:07:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | E. Jean Carroll sues Trump under New York Adult Survivors Act - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/25/e-jean-carroll-sues-donald-trump-rape/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/25/e-jean-carroll-sues-donald-trump-rape/ |
Analysis by Katia Dmitrieva | Bloomberg
At the most basic level, inflation is an increase in overall prices in an economy over a period of time — monthly or annually, typically — and an accompanying decrease in purchasing power. One common way to measure it is by tracking the change in the cost of a basket of goods purchased by a typical household, including food, housing and basic services. Leading economists surveyed by the World Economic Forum in September warned that today’s rising prices will likely cause social unrest in low-income countries. The French Revolution was triggered, in part, by the rising price of bread.
No. In a growing economy, some inflation is to be expected as wages rise and demand for goods and services increases. (A general decline in prices, or deflation, is a sign of a weak economy.) The key issue is the rate of inflation. If the pace of price growth surges above that of wages, the average person’s purchasing power is reduced, and households and the broader economy suffer. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found that from mid-2021 to mid-2022, American workers faced the biggest decline in real wages in about 25 years — roughly 8.5% with inflation factored in. Independent central banks consider it their most important mission to keep inflation in check. They set interest rates and use other policy tools to try to keep inflation at what’s seen as a healthy rate. In much of the developed world, including the US and the European Union, that ideal rate is seen as 2%.
Broad inflationary pressure can come from three channels: supply, demand and expectations. Disruptions in the supply of goods and services have a direct impact on their prices. Demand-side pressure can come when the government increases the supply of money by spending more or taxing less, or when the central bank cuts interest rates. If demand exceeds the economy’s production capacity, inflation is the likely result. As for expectations, the big concern among central bankers is that once inflation becomes entrenched, it becomes self-reinforcing. That’s what happened in the US in the 1970s and early 1980s, until the Fed under Paul Volcker raised interest rates as high as 20%, triggering two recessions, to finally wrestle prices lower.
If business owners expect inflation to remain higher than normal, they raise prices. Facing higher prices, workers demand higher wages. That fuels further inflation. In extreme cases, it can trigger what’s known as a wage-price spiral, in which higher pay and higher costs become a loop unmoored from what’s happening in the larger economy. That’s seen as unlikely this time, since inflation is being driven by food and energy prices, not labor costs.
The primary way that central banks tackle inflation is by increasing the interest rate at which banks lend to each other. The idea is that when borrowing becomes more expensive for banks, they’ll pass that on to companies and consumers, who will borrow and spend less, thereby cooling the economy. But interest rates are often called a blunt tool, meaning it’s hard to use them with precision against whatever is ailing the economy. Raising rates may douse inflation, but it also weakens overall economic growth, and there’s always the risk of overshooting. | 2022-11-25T16:25:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why Inflation Heats Up and Is So Hard to Cool Down - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-inflation-heats-up-and-is-so-hard-to-cool-down/2022/11/25/4ebf474e-6cd3-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-inflation-heats-up-and-is-so-hard-to-cool-down/2022/11/25/4ebf474e-6cd3-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud will lead the No. 2 Buckeyes against No. 3 Michigan on Saturday. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
Even from a football field away, the little boy’s arm caught the eye of youth football coach Willie Munford, so he walked over for a closer look. He’d never seen a child that young, surely no more than 8, fling a football with such abandon.
But after Munford started coaching C.J. Stroud, other beyond-his-years qualities jumped out to the point that he started calling him “Little Man.”
At 10, Stroud led the Alta Loma Warriors in prayer before kickoff. Whenever games started getting a little crazy, Munford recalled, he’d tell his teammates in the huddle, “Everybody calm down.”
“C.J. was always mature,” Munford said in a telephone interview. “Even when he was just a kid and did kid stuff, he knew what he wanted. He wanted to be the best quarterback there was.”
Flash-forward a decade, and Stroud, 21, is a 6-3, 218-pound Heisman Trophy favorite who’ll play the leading role in college football’s biggest game of the season Saturday when his No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes host No. 3 Michigan.
It’s the first time since 2006 that both teams are undefeated (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) heading into their annual clash.
Saturday’s victor will clinch a spot in the Big Ten Championship game and, almost certainly, the College Football Playoff.
For Stroud, it’s a chance to bolster his already impressive Heisman case (35 touchdowns, four interceptions). It’s also a chance for him and Ohio State to avenge last season’s 42-27 loss at Ann Arbor.
“We’ve been thinking about that game for 365 days, so we’re excited,” Stroud said during a radio interview on 97.1 The Fan after the Buckeyes’ tougher than expected victory over Maryland last week.
Stroud wasn’t his dazzling self against the Terrapins, managing just one touchdown on 18-of-30 passing, yet he managed his composure and the game’s critical moments.
The Buckeyes offense can expect a tougher slog against Michigan’s top-ranked defense, which promises to make the 118th edition of the storied rivalry a telling gauge of Stroud’s progression as NFL scouts evaluate the second-year starter’s merits as a potential No. 1 draft pick.
“His leadership and his consistency have got to be on display for 60 minutes for Ohio State to beat Michigan,” said ESPN analyst and former Buckeyes quarterback Kirk Herbstreit during a conference call with reporters this week. “There are going to be moments in that game where he’s going to play really well; there may be moments in that game where Michigan’s defense comes up with a turnover or whatever it might be. But there’s going to be an ebb and flow to the game. How he maintains his poise, how he maintains his leadership, and pushing this team to try to find a way to win — this is the culmination of all that growth.”
Biggest TD pass of the season
Both teams head into Saturday’s game with questions.
Michigan’s Heisman-contending running back Blake Corum injured his left knee in the Wolverines’ 19-17 victory over Illinois, sealed by a 35-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining.
Ohio State’s explosive passing game hasn’t dazzled of late. Stroud was held to just one touchdown against Maryland. It was the third game in the last four in which he managed just one or zero strikes.
In Week 6 against Michigan State, Stroud’s arm was golden as he tied a school record with six touchdown passes.
But no touchdown throw meant more to him than the eight-yard strike he threw to Kamryn Babb, his first and best friend on the squad, in the waning minutes of the Buckeyes’ Nov. 12 romp over Indiana.
Two days after Stroud arrived on campus as an 18-year-old freshman 2,000 miles from his Southern California home, Babb, an upperclassman on the team, introduced himself and asked Stroud if he had found a church yet.
Stroud had been reared in the church but drifted from his faith after his father, his staunchest ally and adviser, was incarcerated for charges including carjacking, kidnapping and robbery while Stroud was in middle school. Still, he accepted Babb’s invitation to join him that Sunday.
The experience saved his life, Stroud recounted at the outset of this season on The Pivot Podcast, hosted by former NFL standouts Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor.
“When my pops left, I didn’t want to do anything with God. I was bitter, I didn’t want to go to church,” Stroud said.
But when he stepped into Babb’s church his second weekend in Columbus, Stroud said, he fell on his knees and wept, overcome with emotion and the conviction he drew from being in a holy place. He is no longer estranged from his father, who introduced him to football and reads every word written about his youngest child.
“When I talk to him, it’s nothing but love,” Stroud said on the podcast. “It’s not about money. It’s not about fame. It’s not about football. He loves me because I’m his son … There’s no ill will to my dad. I love you, dad. But I love my mama, too. Without her, I wouldn’t be here.”
The faith Stroud and Babb share is just part of what made that touchdown throw so meaningful. The other part is their shared drive to persevere through adversity in all its forms.
In Babb’s case, it has been successive knee injuries that sidelined him for three of his five playing seasons and, until Nov. 12, held the former coveted recruit without a college catch.
Late in the fourth quarter against Indiana, Stroud later recalled, he read the coverage, saw an opportunity for his brother, prayed he “wouldn’t mess it up,” and fired.
Babb stuck out his arms, grabbed it for the score, and fell to his knees in prayer before disappearing in a sea of teammates’ hugs.
“I don’t care if I threw eight picks in that game,” Stroud said after the 56-14 victory, explaining his determination to get the ball to Babb. Expanding on the bond among all Buckeyes’ this season, he added: “I’m willing to fight for my brother if it means I got to play with one hand, one foot … Everybody on this team is hungry and has each other’s back.”
When Munford watches Stroud on TV, he sees that same seriousness of purpose that set him apart as a youngster.
The Little Man never acted out; he never sulked or stormed off in frustration.
“I don’t think C.J. wanted to disappoint people,” Munford said. “He was grounded. I don’t even think there was anybody who disliked him. He never complained; his mom never complained. It was, ‘Okay, coach!’”
If Stroud gave his youth coach reason to worry, it was because he was too hard on himself after a bad game or a bad throw.
“I’d tell him, ‘C.J., Thanksgiving and Christmas are still going to come! You’re 12!’” Munford said.
‘It’s his team’
Rancho Cucamonga High wasn’t the football powerhouse of Southern California’s Mater Dei. It didn’t draw the crowds of Texas teams. Still, it taught Stroud perseverance, forcing him to wait until his junior year for the starting job.
It was Stroud’s strong showing at the 2019 Elite 11 camp that turned recruiters’ heads. His mother, Kimberly, wept when his first scholarship offer arrived, from Mel Tucker, then Colorado’s coach, his junior year. Overtures continued to pour in.
Stroud invited Munford to the Ohio State signing party, where the youth coach reminded him what he told him before every Warriors game: “No matter what happens, hold your head up.”
Stroud has done just that, forging new resolve from last season’s loss at Michigan and shouldering the alpha role heading into this season.
“In the offseason, he became the guy that really asserted himself as far as getting guys to show up on seven-on-seven [workouts], getting guys to push themselves in June, July and August when it’s hot out,” Herbstreit said. “He was that guy, and he wasn’t the year before. And so it’s his team.”
The Buckeyes couldn’t be in better hands, in Babb’s view.
“He’s a great quarterback,” Babb said after the Indiana victory. “I wouldn’t want anybody but him as our leader. He rallies our team together. And who he is a person — I’m just honored to be his brother and be alongside of him.” | 2022-11-25T16:26:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud: From ‘Little Man’ to Heisman Trophy favorite - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/25/cj-stroud-ohio-state-michigan/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/25/cj-stroud-ohio-state-michigan/ |
A woman shows a soccer shirt in memory of Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody in Iran at the age of 22, before the World Cup match between Wales and Iran, at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Friday. (Frank Augstein/AP)
The looming backdrop to Iran’s World Cup campaign is a nationwide protest movement back home targeting its clerical leadership and the tensions, inescapable and persistent, are spilling onto the field.
So far, in Iran’s first two matches, fans have held signs or waved banners in support of the protests. Arguments have broken out between pro and anti-government supporters in the stadium and its surrounds. The displays have laid bare the depth of Iran’s malaise and alarmed the Qatari hosts, who said before the tournament that one of their biggest fears was that the political conflicts in the region could play out during the tournament.
The protests started in September after the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. A crackdown by the authorities has killed hundreds of people, human rights groups say.
Members of Iran’s national team are in a vise, called upon by the protest movement to speak out against a government that brooks no dissent. On Thursday, authorities arrested a former national team player, Voria Ghafouri, in Iran, in what was widely seen as a warning to member of the World Cup squad to keep their mouths shut.
They had done just that ahead of their first match in Qatar against England, declining to sing the national anthem in what was widely seen as a show of support for the protest movement. On Friday though, team members elected to sing, as whistles and boos echoed around the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.
Before the match against Wales, a few Iran supporters said that while they were happy at the team’s earlier refusal to sing, they worried the players were facing an inordinate amount of pressure to comment on politics.
“It’s a very delicate time,” said a 28-year-old Iranian who lives in Britain and attended Friday’s match with his brother, who lives in the United States. “I don’t think we should be throwing hate and shame at the players,” added the man, who like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relatives inside Iran.
“They are young guys, here to play football,” his brother said.
There were signs Friday of a more determined effort to silence political protest, such as the removal of the woman wearing the t-shirt. A witness said that police approached another Iranian supporter who had put black tape on the Iranian flag, as well as her mouth, and made her remove them.
Photos showed a police officer confronting another woman who held an Amini t-shirt and wore makeup that approximated blood, streaming from her eyes.
It was not clear whether there was a directive from FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, to tamp down political displays, or from Qatari authorities, but the policy appeared unevenly enforced. Allen Shahipour, who wore a homemade “Woman, Life, Freedom,” t-shirt, said he was allowed inside. So was a 34-year-old named Peari, from Isfahan, who wore a button-down shirt silk-screened with an artistic tribute to Amini.
“We are so happy” with Iran’s win Friday, she said. But it had little to do with the protest movement. “I don’t think this will affect anything,” she said.
Another man, named Ajmal, disagreed. “I think this is good for the revolution,” he said, about Friday’s game, including the whistling during the anthem. “The government doesn’t hear us.”
The presence of Iranian officials at the match was widely suspected by attendees. “They are inside. They are outside. They look like spectators. They look like you. They look like me,” said a 43-year-old man from Tehran wearing an Iran jersey as he left the stadium with a childhood friend.
For the two of them, whatever was going on back home, the victory and the accompanying euphoria, was a welcome distraction. “We needed this win,” said the man with the jersey. His friend said the win was “complicated,” but he agreed.
After the England match, which Iran lost 6-2, the friend had chain-smoked cigarettes — not because of the loss, but because of all the tension in the air. “It’s getting better,” he said.
The loss prompted Iran’s coach, Carlos Queiroz, to chide the fans for criticizing the team, for the pressure they had placed on his players. He “asked people to support Iran,” said Mac Taba, 33. At the stadium Friday, through all the noise, the fans had done just that, he said.
Besides, “we needed to get a win.”
Live updates: The World Cup continues in Qatar on Friday, when teams began playing their second games of the group stage. Follow our live coverage for the latest news, updates and highlights. | 2022-11-25T17:17:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Iranian fans celebrate World Cup win against Wales but keep up protests - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/25/iran-wales-world-cup-victory-protests/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/25/iran-wales-world-cup-victory-protests/ |
This combination of images shows promotional art for “Riches,” a series premiering Dec. 2 on Amazon, left, and “Sr.,” a documentary premiering on Netflix on Dec. 2. (Amazon via AP, left, and Netflix via AP) (Uncredited/Amazon/Netflix)
— Joanna Hogg, the British filmmaker of the stunning two-part memory piece “The Souvenir," reteams with longtime collaborator Tilda Swinton in “The Eternal Daughter.” The film, which opens in theaters and on video on demand Friday, Dec. 2, is a ghost story. Swinton plays a middle-aged filmmaker on a cozy and quiet holiday with her elderly mother, who is also played by Swinton. “The Eternal Daughter,” which premiered earlier this fall at the Venice Film Festival, hauntingly digs into the joy and guilt that can come from mining one’s family for fiction. | 2022-11-25T17:56:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | New this week: 'Riches,' Robert Downey Sr. and BTS’ RM - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/new-this-week-riches-robert-downey-sr-and-bts-rm/2022/11/25/145b8e82-6cdd-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/new-this-week-riches-robert-downey-sr-and-bts-rm/2022/11/25/145b8e82-6cdd-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
A post-Thanksgiving storm could make for messy travel in the Eastern U.S.
Heavy snow is falling in Texas, with a slug of moderate rainfall across the South.
Cars drive slowly on Interstate 66 during evening rush hour on Nov. 15 in Dulles, Va. (Maansi Srivastava for The Washington Post)
An unwelcome slop of heavy rain and thunderstorms is working across the country, set to bring flooding to some, the chance of severe weather to others and even a dose of plowable snowfall to residents in west Texas and eastern New Mexico. It’s the second of at least three back-to-back storm systems traipsing through the Lower 48, part of an active weather pattern that looks to linger into early December.
Most heavily-impacted will be a broad swath of the Deep South and southern Plains, where a general 2 to 4 inches of rain could bring localized flooding. Some of the heaviest could fall in the greater Houston metro, where flood watches are in effect through Saturday.
The storm isn’t terribly intense, as strong winds and tornadoes won’t be an issue, but it comes during arguably the worst possible time of year as people travel home after the Thanksgiving holiday. During this peak of post-Thanksgiving travel, 55 million Americans are expected to drive 50 miles or more. Millions more will take to the skies or rails. Any time travel is involved, the weather becomes crucial.
The storm now
The storm is intensifying over the Texas Trans-Pecos and northern Chihuahua, Mexico, where a pronounced counterclockwise swirl can be seen on water vapor satellite imagery. Ahead of the system, comparatively mild, more humid air is swirling north, with chillier Canadian air crashing south in its wake.
Where the moisture and cold air are overlapping, plowable snows are falling. That’s the case in southeast New Mexico, western parts of Texas Hill Country and the Big Bend of Texas. Winter storm warnings are in effect in Marfa, Tex., and Carlsbad, N.M., with a winter weather advisory for Lubbock. The Interstate 10 corridor could be heavily impacted.
Farther to the east, rain was falling on the warm side of the system between Abilene and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Additional downpours and a few thunderstorms were lurking offshore of Houston.
Texas flood potential
Drizzle & a few showers this AM. Rainfall to increase in coverage this afternoon, becoming widespread by late aftn/evening.
✔️Locally heavy rainfall likely
✔️A few strong storms possible
✔️#FloodWatch in effect
✔️ Hazardous winds & seas offshore likely#HOUwx #GLSwx #BCSwx pic.twitter.com/uLAgi1hMdj
As the system intensifies, it will draw a tongue of Gulf of Mexico moisture northward. That would lead to a conveyor belt of downpours repeatedly targeting Houston. The National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center has drawn a level 3 out of 4 moderate risk of excessive rainfall and flash flooding around the city.
The local National Weather Service office warns that “rainfall rates up to 2 inches per hour are expected with higher rates up to 4 inches per hour in the stronger and slower moving storms.” That could rapidly lead to serious accumulations that would overwhelm the ground’s ability to absorb runoff, especially in cityscapes and more densely populated areas.
Farther north and west, Austin, Dallas and Longview could see an inch or more, with some slight delays likely along Interstates 10, 20, 30 and 35.
In the Houston to Galveston corridor, also a major hub for air travel, the heaviest rain will come down Friday evening into the first half of Saturday. Anywhere from 2 to 5 inches or more are possible, with the greatest totals coming from downpours that train, or move repeatedly over the same areas.
A level 1 out of 5 marginal risk of severe weather also covers parts of the South Texas coastline, including the Matagorda Peninsula, where a brief, fleeting tornado can’t be ruled out.
Heavy rain across the South and Midwest
By Saturday morning, the strengthening low will shift toward Central Texas, spreading the main axis of moderate to locally heavy rain into Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and East Texas. A six- to ten-hour window of moderate rains will cross through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee during the second half of Saturday into the overnight or early Sunday, while a lighter region of “wraparound” rains pinwheels back west around the low pressure center.
A general 1 to 2 inches of rain is likely across most of the South, with a half-inch to an inch in Tennessee. Parts of the Midwest might see some decent rainfall too, with a bit more than an inch in most of central and southern Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. Amounts taper off east of the Appalachians.
Sunday rain along the Eastern Seaboard
The Interstate 95 corridor in the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic will see its rain, about a half-inch to three quarters of an inch, arrive centered around noontime Sunday, give or take a few hours. It won’t be a washout, but some moderate to heavy downpours can be expected. Lighter rains may reach all the way back to Chicago during the first half of the day Sunday; by Sunday night into Monday, the system will have withdrawn into New England.
This could make for some slow travel in between cities such as Charlotte, Raleigh, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Boston, Providence and Hartford will be most affected after dark. | 2022-11-25T17:56:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Storm after Thanksgiving could make messy travel in Eastern U.S. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/11/25/thanksgiving-travel-rain-snow/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/11/25/thanksgiving-travel-rain-snow/ |
Donna Davis-Doneghy, who is battling symptoms from long covid, displays a mask she uses to help her fall asleep at her home in London, Ky., on Nov. 21. (Luke Sharrett/for the Washington Post)
For the burgeoning population of covid long-haulers, there is an abundance of new treatment options: Specially formulated nutraceuticals imported from India that promise to “get you life back from covid.” Pure oxygen delivered in a pressurized chamber. And, if time and money are no obstacle, a process known as “blood washing” that’s available in Cyprus, or $25,000 stem cell treatments in the Cayman Islands.
Months-long waits at long-covid clinics combined with the sluggish pace of research have left vulnerable patients clamoring for immediate care as manufacturers bring novel remedies to market, often with little data behind them.
“I have tried, I would say, as many different things as anyone could do in my situation,” said Donna Davis-Doneghy, a 62-year-old accountant with Hearthside Food Solutions in London, Ky., who has been tormented by headaches since coming down with covid in November 2020.
“People will say to me, ‘Here’s a phone number,’ and off I go chasing something different,” said Davis-Doneghy, whose treatment regimen has ranged from acupuncture and Botox to nerve-block injections and vitamin infusions.
Long covid has taken to new heights a medical conflict that shows up with cancer and other dire diagnoses: the tension between the desire for evidence and the pressing needs of patients who are suffering. In their rush for relief, patients are turning to unproven treatments, putting them at risk of potentially harmful health effects as well as having their hopes dashed and their wallets emptied. Doctors often follow the practice of prescribing drugs off-label, not for the purpose the Food and Drug Administration originally approved them for.
“You want to protect people from charlatans,” said Harlan Krumholz, a professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. “We need to resist the temptation to adopt tests and treatments without sufficient evidence to justify their use.”
But until researchers discover the mechanism — or, more likely, mechanisms — that cause long covid, clinicians are having to rely on their experience treating other illnesses.
“We’re kind of stuck,” said Michelle Haddad, a neuropsychologist who runs a long-covid clinic at Emory Rehabilitation Hospital in Atlanta. “I can define areas where you have impairments and how impaired you are. I can tell you what works in other, similar conditions. But I don’t have a magic pill.”
The scale of the problem — and opportunities for profiteering — are increasing as the number of Americans reporting long-lasting symptoms ramps up to as many as 15 million adults. Data released this summer by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that almost 15 percent of the population has had long covid, or symptoms that lasted three months or longer after the acute infection.
Many long-haulers describe being devastated by disabilities that range from fatigue to brain fog and body-wracking tremors. Facing disbelief from their families and physicians, and frustrated by the slow pace of science, they are turning to social media to share ideas for relief.
While some patients report getting insurance coverage for the treatment of some symptoms, such as migraines, many end up spending thousands of dollars, out of pocket. Robert Harris, a 48-year-old veteran in Texas, estimates he has paid $25,000 for treatments, from over-the-counter supplements to the horse dewormer ivermectin and hyperbaric oxygen. “I can’t figure out what research is being done, what treatments have been approved,” he said.
The $1.15 billion Recover program, awarded nearly two years ago to the National Institutes of Health, is aimed at understanding the biological basis of long covid. Establishing the safety and efficacy of potential treatments involves a further step — setting up randomized controlled trials. Although NIH recently announced its intent to investigate the potential impact of the antiviral Paxlovid, results are not expected until 2024, reinforcing some scientists’ argument for a more agile research model to match the urgency of the moment.
“Government-sponsored and government-funded mechanisms are designed for incremental innovation — for steady and safe discoveries,” said David Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation for Mount Sinai Health System in New York.
Under the swiftly changing circumstances of the pandemic, smaller research teams, advocacy groups and private companies with a variety of standards have stepped in — often without robust scientific evidence that the products actually work.
“We are the ETSY of long covid — DIY but giving you something the establishment can’t,” tweeted Ram Yogendra, an anesthesiologist with the California company IncellDx, referring to the company’s do-it-yourself approach, modeled on the online craftsmanship marketplace. IncellDx purports to have developed a diagnostic blood test for long covid.
Using machine learning to identify what is unusual in long-haulers’ blood, IncellDx claims to have found an immune signature or “cytokine profile” for the condition. The company, which has received a patent for using the HIV drug maraviroc to treat coronaviruses, has published three studies, enrolling more than 700 patients.
‘We are in trouble’: Study raises alarm about impacts of long covid
Krumholz said immune signatures are likely to become important for diagnosis and treatment. But after reviewing the data on the IncellDx website, he warned about the dangers of researchers rushing to adopt tests before the evidence is sufficient. “The evidentiary standards need to be much higher and the transparency about the science much greater than we have today to justify widespread use,” he said.
The $415 diagnostic test has been used by about 10,000 people, creating a “tremendous database,” according to Bruce Patterson, the former Stanford virologist who leads the company. The results, Patterson said, can be used to inform personalized treatment protocols typically administered by the patients’ primary care providers. A company spokeswoman said many long-haulers pay an additional $250 for a follow-up consultation and buy additional tests to check how the therapy is working. She said the company recognizes that the data need to “evolve” and said that IncellDX is helping people in the meantime.
Patterson, who said he is working on contracts for clinical trials of a “drug combination that we think works,” said it is up to patients and their doctors to decide how to proceed with treatment. “We do what clinical pathologists should do: ‘Here is a test report, you treat accordingly,’” he said. Company doctors are available to offer guidance, Patterson said.
But Alba Azola, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said she has treated patients who report having spent hundreds of dollars for the tests and then don’t know what to make of the results.
“They bring it to me, like, ‘Look at this,’” Azola said. “And I’m, ‘I don’t know what to do with that.’”
Other long-haulers, including Harris, have paid for treatments promoted by groups linked to vaccine hesitancy and anti-science messaging.
Among them is the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes the anti-parasitic ivermectin not only for the prevention and treatment of acute covid but also as part of its long-covid protocol. The alliance publishes a list of pharmacies that will supply ivermectin, approved by the FDA to treat some parasitic worms, head lice and skin conditions like rosacea in humans. But the drug has not been shown to be effective in the treatment of acute covid illness. The American Medical Association and other professional groups oppose using the drug for covid outside of clinical trials because of its potential toxicity.
How long covid is accelerating a revolution in medical research
The alliance was co-founded by Pierre Kory, a critical-care physician who touted ivermectin as a “miracle drug” in Senate testimony and also runs a private telemedicine practice where he treats long-haulers. Kory, who charges $1,650 for an initial video consultation, follow-ups and check-in calls according to patients’ needs, said the drugs he prescribes, including ivermectin, steroids and anti-inflammatories, are safe.
In an interview, Kory said he does not follow the AMA’s position on ivermectin because the association provides general guidance but does not treat people. Other researchers say that the risks of the drug are known and that its benefits have not been shown.
“Based on the lack of effectiveness in acute covid, combined with what we know about long covid, it is extremely unlikely that ivermectin would be beneficial for someone suffering from long covid,” said Francesca Beaudoin, head of the Brown University School of Public Health’s Long Covid Initiative.
Kory also criticized the research community for being too slow to keep up with patient needs.
“We’re stuck right now trying to help patients with trial and error until the science evolves,” he said. “All of my patients get better to some extent.”
How long covid could change the way we think about disability
Among the most common online offerings are dietary supplements, which do not have to meet the same regulatory standards as pharmaceuticals. While drugs must be shown to be safe and effective before they reach the consumer, there are no such provisions for the FDA to regulate vitamins, herbs and amino acids.
One of the most widely touted supplements among long-haulers is Vedicinals-9, a new herbal suspension that purports to support “the human organism in the recovery phase from viral infections.”
The nutraceutical is made in India, where it is regulated as a food for special medical purpose, or FSMP, and then shipped around the world. A 42-day supply costs $95, according to the product website.
Harris said he bought several boxes but that the solution didn’t reduce the muscle spasms and pain he has suffered since testing positive 10 months ago. Other patients have reported benefits.
The company’s founder, retired German businessman Joachim Gerlach, said he had long been interested in finding natural remedies for chronic illness, which he has witnessed among family members. He turned his attention to acute covid in early 2020, Gerlach said, hoping, as long covid emerged, to find a common approach that would help large numbers of people. He believes that many symptoms stem from an imbalance of the gut bacteria that can help combat disease.
Gerlach, who has reached out to prominent long-covid researchers around the world to plan research next year, said his progress on long covid was “lacking a little bit on the side of publishing.” But by financing Vedicinals out of his own pocket, he said, he can “act fully in the patient’s interest” without pressure from shareholders.
New tests and products keep cropping up.
Earlier this month, QMC Health, a diagnostic testing technology company, announced its intention to produce a long-covid rapid test, based on blood biomarkers.
MDHyperbaric, a company in New York, offers oxygen therapy for a variety of conditions, from healing bones to slowing aging and improving long-covid symptoms, saying it plans to measure long-hauler outcomes.
And in October, Norman B. Gaylis, a Miami-based rheumatologist, collaborated with Tel Aviv researchers to release an “all-natural, patented formula RESTORE,” described on the company’s website as “proven by clinical study” to improve symptoms of covid long-haulers.
That study, published in Frontiers in Nutrition, involved 51 patients with positive coronavirus tests who reported lingering symptoms three to 11 months after infection. On average, the participants reported that their symptoms were milder after two weeks and better still after four, according to the study.
The study is small and lacked a control group to assess whether the patients’ symptoms would have improved anyway over time or whether their self-reported improvements resulted from a placebo effect.
“Obviously, a double-blind control is more valuable,” Gaylis said in a telephone interview. “Between time and cost and urgency, these things take so long, we felt it was sufficient.” The biggest endorsement of the product, he said, was that so many people who took part in the study asked to buy it.
Without solid data about treatments, some primary care physicians have fallen into a “kitchen-sink approach,” according to Haddad, the rehabilitation specialist at Emory.
Haddad saw one patient who had been prescribed Benadryl and several other sedating drugs in addition to an antidepressant that she was already taking. When the patient complained of brain fog, her doctor added Adderal, a stimulant — a little like chasing shots of hard liquor with double espressos.
“They kept throwing things at the post-covid,” Haddad said. “They didn’t step back and ask, ‘Could medications be part of the culprit?’”
Meanwhile, clinicians who are running long-covid clinics at major medical centers are drawing on their experience treating conditions with similar symptoms, such as ME/CFS, or chronic fatigue syndrome; POTS, a blood circulation disorder that causes a rapid heartbeat; and what’s known as post-ICU syndrome.
“We’re using a lot of experience, anecdotal evidence and related evidence with other conditions,” said Benjamin Abramoff, director of the Post-COVID Assessment and Recovery Clinic at Penn Medicine. “A lot of the things we do have not gone through trials.”
Mexico City gave ivermectin to thousands of covid patients. Officials face an ethics backlash.
Many rehab experts have been meeting at CDC-funded monthly webinars to pool the expertise they are gaining and come up with guidance published by the American Academy of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine.
There are likely to be therapeutic benefits to some of the treatments long-haulers are trying. A few small studies have suggested hyperbaric oxygen may provide relief. The spice turmeric, or curcumin — an ingredient found in Vedicinals and the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance’s protocols — has anti-inflammatory properties. The key, clinicians say, is to evaluate the risk/benefit ratio for every therapy, including potentially detrimental interactions with other medications.
“For things patients are interested in trying, I won’t dissuade them if the risk of harm is low,” said Jeffrey Fine, director of rehabilitation medicine at NYU Langone Hospital, who said he tries “to meet patients where they are.”
In the meantime, patients continue their own research, through online resources such as Twitter.
“It’s my social life, my family, my research library,” said Molly Gordon, a 69-year-old executive coach in Washington state who gradually pieced together a self-diagnosis of mast cell activation syndrome — a condition akin to allergic reactions — that she believes came from long covid. Gordon said she is putting about $500 a month of her retirement savings toward supplements and cannabis.
Those networks have turned long-covid care into an international free-for-all, as patients search for therapies overseas, often with little idea of the regulatory oversight — or lack thereof.
Laura Wright, 45, a reflexologist in England, joined Twitter to glean information from fellow sufferers around the world about how to combat the fatigue that has plagued her since she came down with covid a year ago. She tried hyperbaric oxygen and began taking “every supplement under the sun and adding new ones every month,” Wright said, including garlic, hawthorn, B-12 and magnesium, until she began wondering whether they were doing her more harm than good.
She went cold turkey. With one exception: Boluoke.
Wright has pinned her hopes on the earthworm extract that is thought to promote circulatory health. A bottle of 30 capsules, which she imports from Canada, costs about $55.
“If I can get back to working again, then it will be worth it,” Wright said.
The latest advice on masks and covid
Women said coronavirus shots affect periods. New study shows they’re right. | 2022-11-25T17:56:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Covid long-haulers turn to unproven treatments in desperation - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11/25/long-covid-treatments-unproven-brain-fog/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11/25/long-covid-treatments-unproven-brain-fog/ |
Skywatch: Mars brightens in early December, and Geminids peak mid-month
By Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.
December’s heavens offer casual sky gazers planetary joy and shooting-star delights.
Earth’s neighboring planet Mars becomes bright because of proximity, but the planet reaches opposition Dec. 8.
Our reddish neighbor gets within about 50 million miles of Earth on Dec. 1, according to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and a week later, on Dec. 8, Mars will be opposite the sun from our earthly perspective, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. Think of opposition as a “full Mars.” Essentially, this means Mars will be bright and gorgeous at about -1.9 magnitude early in December.
Mars rises in the east, as the sun is setting in the west — and you can find it loitering near the horns of the constellation Taurus the bull.
While Mars’s opposition officially occurs Dec. 8, you’ll see the Red Planet quite close to the moon on the evening of Dec. 7. The western United States will see the full moon occulting (blocking) Mars. The D.C. area will see Mars seeming to cling close to the moon.
Later in December, our favorite Red Planet loses a little brightness, dimming to -1.4 magnitude (bright) by the end of the month, according to the observatory.
On Dec. 1, find the first-quarter moon huddled near Jupiter, which appears to hang out in the constellation Pisces in the southeastern sky after dusk. The large, gaseous planet is -2.6 magnitude, very bright. Catch Jupiter all month. The fattening moon also approaches Jupiter on Dec. 28, passing the planet by Dec. 29.
As the sky darkens after dusk, find Saturn in the south-southwest preparing to set. The ringed planet stands at the constellation Capricornus at +0.7 magnitude, a little faint under urban conditions.
By the middle of December, catch the playful pals Mercury and Venus in the southwestern sky as dusk turns to night. They are very low on the horizon. The fleet Mercury will be harder to see at -0.6 magnitude (bright), but Venus will be brilliant at -3.9 magnitude (exceptionally bright). Venus has been hiding near the sun since October and will climb the evening heavens in January.
The Geminid meteor shower peaks Dec. 13-14, and astronomers estimate 150 an hour late into the evening, according to the American Meteor Society (amsmeteors.org). You won’t see all of them, but if the skies are clear and you avoid streetlights, you can catch several. A waning gibbous moon rises before 10 p.m., and it may wash out some meteors.
Autumn yields to winter, as the December solstice ushers the change of season on Dec. 21, according to the observatory. On that date, Washington officially gets 9 hours 26 minutes of daylight, according to the observatory, creating what is called the shortest day of the year. We’ll see a smidgen more sunlight the following day.
Down-to-Earth Events:
* Dec. 2 — “The Latest on the Great Dinosaur Extinction,” a lecture by Sean Gulick, a research professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Catch up on how an asteroid impact killed off dinosaurs. Hosted by PSW Science. 8 p.m., Powell Auditorium at the Cosmos Club, 2121 Massachusetts Ave. NW in D.C. Information: pswscience.org.
* Dec. 4 — See late autumn’s starry skies through telescopes provided by members of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC). At the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Va. (GPS: 14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway.) Meet at the museum’s bus parking lot, 5-7 p.m. Information: airandspace.si.edu.
* Dec. 10 — The latest discoveries by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (Chile) and the James Webb Space Telescope, a talk by astrophysicist Joe Pesce of the National Science Foundation. At the regular meeting (online only) of the National Capital Astronomers. 7:30 p.m. For access, visit: capitalastronomers.org.
* Dec. 11 — “Tick, Tick, Tick: Pulsating Star, How We Wonder What You Are,” a lecture by the astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who discovered the first radio pulsar in 1967. While Burnell will lecture virtually, members and guests are welcome in person at the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club meeting, Room 3301, Exploratory Hall, George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. 1:30-3:30 p.m. Info: novac.com.
* Dec. 16 — “Back to the Moon to Stay: Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium,” a lecture by the planetary geologist Brett Denevi and the physicist Wesley Fuhrman, both from the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. Hosted by PSW Science. 8 p.m., Powell Auditorium at the Cosmos Club, 2121 Massachusetts Ave. NW in D.C. Information: pswscience.org.
* Dec. 17 — “Astronomy for Everyone” at Sky Meadows State Park in Fauquier County, Va., with members of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club guiding you through the sky. 4:30-7:30 p.m. GPS: 11012 Edmonds Lane, Delaplane, Va., 20144. Info: Novac.com. Park fee: $10. | 2022-11-25T17:56:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Skywatch: Mars brightens in early December, and Geminids peak mid-month - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/11/25/skywatch-mars-brightens-early-december-geminids-peak-mid-month/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/11/25/skywatch-mars-brightens-early-december-geminids-peak-mid-month/ |
From left: "To Fall in Love, Drink This," by Alice Feiring; "Drinking With the Valkyries," by Andrew Jefford; "The Wine Bible," by Karen MacNeil; "The Life and Wines of Hugh Johnson," by Hugh Johnson. (Peggy Cormary for The Washington Post)
This was the year of wine writer memoirs. Who knew we live such interesting lives?
My favorite wine books to recommend for holiday gifts this year include memoirs from two writers who are as different as can be while still focused on a mutual love of wine, a valedictory collection of columns from a celebrated writer’s long career, and a new edition of what may be the indispensable guide to wine for our time.
The Life and Wines of Hugh Johnson
By Hugh Johnson (Académie du Vin Library, 252 pages, $45)
The venerable British writer has helped ignite many a reader’s love of wine (including mine) with books such as “Vintage: The Story of Wine” and “The World Atlas of Wine,” now in its eighth edition (and co-authored by Jancis Robinson). "The Life and Wines of Hugh Johnson” is an updated revision of his 2005 work, “Wine: A Life Uncorked.” (Nice to have a mulligan in life.) It’s a memoir arranged more like a traditional wine primer or atlas. Rather than loading us with statistics of vineyard acreage and soil types, Johnson takes us along as he recounts his own journeys exploring the world of wine. He’s been all around that world, and he seems to have been present at or near the beginning of every fashion or trend, even if he disapproved of them.
This is a don’t-miss book for people who plan their travels around vineyards. Johnson is at his best when he unspools history from ancient times to the present with wine as the constant, common thread. In a typical passage, he recounts a trip he took with fellow wine lovers retracing the routes of ancient Greeks to Lipari, a small island north of Sicily where Agamemnon sought obsidian, the “black shattered lava” that “made the keenest edge then known” for weapons. The island also made wine, of course.
“On Lipari, sitting in the balmy evening air under a vine, looking out at the wine-dark sea, I had no trouble dreaming myself back to the creak and smash of galleys, triremes with three banks of oars slicing the gray rollers south of Italy,” he writes. “This wine seemed right for the fighters of the Trojan wars: amber, nut-flavored, dense and strong.”
To Fall in Love, Drink This
By Alice Feiring (Scribner, 269 pages, $17)
While Johnson is a traditionalist, Alice Feiring is a firebrand. This country’s leading proponent of natural wine, Feiring burst onto the wine scene in 2008 with “The Battle for Wine and Love: Or How I Saved the World from Parkerization.” The book is a memoir as well as a battle cry against a not entirely imaginary world in which most wine conformed to the preferences of one all-powerful critic. “To Fall in Love, Drink This,” her latest (Scribner), is more personal.
Feiring walks a fine line between vanity and vulnerability as wine becomes her portal to a life beyond the confines of her traditional New York City Jewish upbringing, where wine meant Manischewitz with the sabbath meal. For Feiring, wine is about connections — to nature, to the world, and most of all to other people: would-be lovers, even a chatty plumber who shares his own vulnerabilities while taking too long to fix her toilet. She once used her artist skills to draw kosher markings on the label of a wine she wanted her mother to try. And when her brother, with whom she had a lifelong emotional and spiritual bond, was dying of cancer, she poured him a Georgian wine “the color of rattlesnake venom,” not to revive him so much as to cling to him. “Drinking that wine was the closest I was going to get to sharing life with him, a last attempt,” she writes.
Along the way, Feiring introduces us to some of her favorite natural wine producers, including a husband-and-wife team she describes as “hospitable vegans.” These sections seem perfunctory and suggest that Feiring’s single-minded and often ideological focus on natural wine may have closed her off — or perhaps shielded her — from potential connections with a much broader world.
Drinking with the Valkyries
By Andrew Jefford (Académie du Vin Library, 224 pages, $35)
Andrew Jefford is of the British school, a generation younger than Johnson, having begun his wine writing career in 1988. “Drinking with the Valkyries” is a collection of Jefford’s columns, mostly for Decanter magazine. In such short doses he employs several moods, from the giddy delight of drinking young vintage port (the column that lends its title to the book) to somber reflection during the quiet of coronavirus pandemic lockdown in France, where he lives, when the arrival of nightingales on their spring migration from Africa reminded him that underneath the stillness, the world still moved.
“Wine has never seemed more superfluous as an edifice, a vast palace of fussiness; yet its essence, as not just a physical but a psychological or spiritual restorative, has never been more useful,” he writes. “Much and sometimes all of the customary texture of life has been stripped away, so we treasure that which fortifies resolve — like a glass of wine at day’s end. Wine, for the time being, has gone elemental.”
Jefford’s essays are like that glass of wine at day’s end — restorative, uplifting and enlightening. You may want to read another before putting down the bottle — I mean, the book.
The Wine Bible
By Karen MacNeil (Workman, 736 pages, $40 for paperback)
New wine lovers beginning to explore the horizons beyond the glass or anyone needing a one-stop reference book should look no further than the third edition of “The Wine Bible.” MacNeil has updated this third edition with color photos (finally) and new sections on ancient wine history and climate change. I enjoy opening the book at random. I’m always certain to see something new through MacNeil’s authoritative, whimsical and ever-joyful perspective. | 2022-11-25T18:31:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The best wine books of 2022 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/11/25/best-wine-books-of-2022/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/11/25/best-wine-books-of-2022/ |
A JetBlue plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in March 2017. (Seth Wenig/AP)
Merrill Darrell Fackrell, 41, of Syracuse, Utah, was charged with assault and carrying a weapon on an aircraft after the Monday flight from New York City to Salt Lake City, the U.S. attorney’s office in Utah said.
A few days before Thanksgiving, during one of the country’s busiest periods of air travel, Fackrell boarded the JetBlue flight and settled into seat 6A with a one- to two-inch blade concealed on him, authorities said in an affidavit filed Tuesday in federal court in Utah.
TSA errors allowed disruptive passenger to bring box cutters onto flight
It wasn’t the first flight this month disrupted by a passenger wielding a weapon. A Frontier Airlines flight on Nov. 11 landed early after a passenger brought a box cutter onto the plane, something TSA later said happened because agents made errors during the security screening.
And as the airline industry recovers from the effects of the pandemic’s peak — this year’s Thanksgiving travel numbers were higher than last and probably will match 2019’s — the incident added to the tally of allegedly unruly or threatening passengers, a phenomenon that worsened during the pandemic.
As they chatted in a “long and varied” conversation, Fackrell allegedly had several alcoholic drinks. When the woman, who was not identified by federal authorities, put on headphones and started a movie, Fackrell allegedly continued talking to himself.
There's an unruly passenger on your flight. Should you confront them?
She looked up to realize he was holding a blade — what appeared to her to be a knife — next to her throat, “inches” from her skin, authorities said.
Fackrell stood up and shouted, “She’s going to be okay” and “No one needs to worry,” according to the affidavit, and told her husband to leave.
The woman’s husband ran for help. She made a lunge for the aisle as Fackrell allegedly tried to stop her. She fought him off and ran to the front of the plane, according to the affidavit.
The man sat next to Fackrell for the rest of the flight. The plane’s crew members notified authorities, and law enforcement officers met the flight in Salt Lake City, JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski said in an email.
“The safety of our customers and crew members is JetBlue’s first priority, and we will support law enforcement during their investigation,” Dombrowski said. | 2022-11-25T18:44:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Man charged with bringing razor blade on plane, threatening seatmate - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/11/25/razor-blade-plane-flight-arrest/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/11/25/razor-blade-plane-flight-arrest/ |
How DJ D-Nice’s endlessly spinning journey grew to legendary status
He got us through the pandemic, got the stars dancing after the Oscar slap, and is now getting his due from live audiences and fans who have been with him all the way
DJ D-Nice performs at the American Music Awards. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
“Ballet this way and D-Nice this way,” announces an usher herding the tuxedos and ball gowns crowding the Kennedy Center’s red carpet.
No shade to the folks heading right, but the place to be on a recent Saturday night was to the left, where DJ D-Nice, the turntablist who’s made a new name for himself in every decade since the 1980s, turned the historic theater into a swag-surfing dance party accompanied by a twerking orchestra.
“My name is D-Nice,” rapped the 52-year-old as he strutted onto the stage of the Opera House (the first hip-hop artist to do so) as the sold-out crowd got up from their velvet seats and rarely sat down again. This is “Club Quarantine Live” — part karaoke night and part comeback.
To understand how far Derrick “DJ D-Nice” Jones has come since 2020 (or 1990 or 2000), just scroll through his call log two weeks before the most infamous Academy Awards ceremony in recent memory.
“Oscar night 2022 was life-changing for me,” said Jones, 52, whose pandemic-era Instagram dance party, affectionately dubbed Club Quarantine, catapulted the hip-hop pioneer from celebrity DJ to celebrity (no qualifier).
Sure, he’d played at the Obama White House and velvet rope parties across the globe, “but they weren’t coming to see me,” he explained. Then, as covid-19 spread, the world stopped, the music stopped, and Jones managed to do that thing DJs are supposed to be famous for — saving lives, one song at a time.
So, the Oscars.
The first call came from Christine Simmons, then the chief operating officer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Simmons, the first African American and first woman to hold her title, wanted Jones to play the Governors Ball. “The Oscars after-party? The official? Done deal!” said Jones.
Two days later, Will Packer, the Hollywood heavyweight who was producing the ceremony, called Jones from his car.
“Yo, you’re playing the Oscars,” announced Packer.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, I know, I’m playing the Governors Ball.’”
“Governors Ball? No, I want you to play the Oscars. There’s no DJ that matters to the world right now like you,” said Packer. For the first hour of the live telecast, Jones commanded the ones and twos in a bedazzled tuxedo. But his night was far from over.
Jones had also gotten a call from Guy Oseary, the legendary talent manager, who co-hosts an annual VVIP after-set referred to as only “the party” with his client Madonna. Oseary wanted DJ D-Nice to spin for the A-listers at his Beverly Hills mansion, which he assured Jones would fit into his busy schedule because “our party is late.”
With three gigs on his plate, it’s not surprising that he’d get yet another call. This time from Vanity Fair. He was the one who played “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” when Oscar winner Will Smith, hours after the infamous slap, walked into the magazine’s storied after-party with his entourage.
“That was next level,” said Jones of his work that night. “And the thing about it that was so beautiful is I didn’t have to change. I was able to just be myself and play the same exact music that I love.”
Just two years before, Derrick Jones was done with DJing. Well, almost. The Year of Our Lord 2020 was supposed to be the hip-hop head’s last hurrah at the turntables. He’d spent years trying to prove that mix-masters like him — Black, with eclectic tastes that range from hip-hop to rock-and-roll — deserved to be on the same global stages as the one-name EDM DJs. He was getting somewhere (hello, White House) but not where he wanted to be.
“I felt exhausted,” said Jones. Approaching 50, with 30 years in the game under his belt (having started as a member of the legendary hip-hop group, Boogie Down Productions in 1986), he was ready for a shift. So Jones moved to Los Angeles to try his hand at producing television and film projects. Then the pandemic hit, and another “life-changing moment happened.”
At first on Instagram Live, he wasn’t even DJing in the traditional sense. He was just telling stories — the man has been a rapper, a producer, and photographer — and playing records in between. Then a thousand folks showed up, then 10,000, then 100,000. When the world opened up again, Jones brought the vibe offline. His first Club Quarantine Live was the Hollywood Bowl in August 2021. The event sold out in less than two weeks, which was a relief to Jones, who’d been worried that his moment had passed.
During the height of his online party, Jones was scrolling through the comments, mostly virtual high-fives from his famous pals, when one comment almost stopped the music.
“There was one person that was like, ‘Yo, you think you’re hot now, but when the world opens up, no one is going to care about you,’” he recalled, word for word. That affected him. Sent him back to a moment in 1994 on the streets of New York when a fan didn’t recognize him because his fade wasn’t sharp enough. And again in 2000 when he couldn’t get into Manhattan clubs despite the bouncers knowing who he was. Was Club Quarantine just a blip? The question remained. Do I matter?
When the Hollywood Bowl sold out, Jones relaxed. “Wow, this is actually real.”
Back at the Opera House, nothing could be realer than blasting Atlanta rap group Crime Mob’s “Knuck If You Buck” with a live orchestra and 2,000 fans throwing bows.
This is what he’d been trying to do before the pandemic, prove that his style and musical tastes translate. It just took the world shrinking for him to blow up. To think, he almost quit the turntables. “Three years later. And what I am now? I’m still a DJ,” he said. But the stages are a lot bigger.
“The venue changes the experience that everyone will have,” said Jones, but not who he is. “Because I play the same music — hip-hop, R&B, funk, rock-and-roll and jazz. But there’s something about when you’ve never had an experience in a certain room that just makes it magical.”
Jones got his first taste of that kind of magic at the White House — and how not to let the weight of a room affect what songs he chooses.
As Barack Obama’s second term was winding down, Jones played one of the president’s farewell parties at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The DJ walked into the East Room and the “energy” of the place had him a bit shook. He took in the portraits of Very Important People on the walls and it almost felt disrespectful to play anything other than Michael Jackson and Madonna. Everyone was dancing, but it wasn’t popping.
It was Naomi Campbell who got him all the way together.
“You’re not being yourself,” said the supermodel, who instructed Jones to play what he’d played the week before, when they were both in Ohio hanging with comedian Dave Chappelle.
“She was right, though” he said. “You shouldn’t allow that room to intimidate you. It shouldn’t change who you are. You’re just in a different building but really, the music shouldn’t change.”
For his next record, Jones took his pal’s advice and proceeded to throw on one of the hardest hip-hop songs in the genre’s arsenal: “Ante Up” by MOP.
And the room went crazy. | 2022-11-25T19:28:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How DJ D-Nice’s endlessly spinning journey grew to legendary status - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/11/25/dj-d-nice-spinning-journey-quarantine-live/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/11/25/dj-d-nice-spinning-journey-quarantine-live/ |
Should failing to pay child support bar a person from having a gun?
Maryland’s highest court has agreed to weigh the constitutionality of state laws that bar gun possession by a person sentenced to more than two years in prison for a nonviolent crime — in this case, a man whose failure to make child-support payments set off a series of legal events that left him ineligible to carry a firearm.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t just Robert L. Fooks’s adjudicated financial neglect as a parent that made it illegal for him to have a gun. The problem was, according to court records, his child-support delinquency so angered a judge on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 2016 that Fooks, now 53, was sentenced to four years behind bars for “constructive criminal contempt of court.”
A Maryland law specifies that “a person may not possess a regulated firearm if the person … has been convicted of a violation classified as a common law crime and received a term of imprisonment of more than 2 years.” Another statute makes it clear that the rule applies to all types of firearms — handguns, shotguns and rifles.
It could not be determined from online court records how much of that four-year sentence Fooks actually served. But he was free by the fall of 2018, according to judicial filings. Between November that year and July 2020, authorities said, he stole more than a dozen firearms from a relative and sold them at a pawnshop, which led to his arrest on charges of theft and 13 counts of illegal gun possession, given his earlier prison sentence of more than two years.
Then, in April 2021, in Wicomico County Circuit Court on the Eastern Shore, he pleaded guilty to two of the firearms-possession charges and received two five-year suspended sentences in a deal with prosecutors in which he retained his right to appeal. Through his attorney, Fooks argues that Maryland’s law barring gun possession by someone who got more than 2 years in prison for a nonviolent crime — a child-support scofflaw, in this instance — violates the U.S. Supreme Court’s most recent interpretation of the Second Amendment.
Supreme Court finds N.Y. law violates right to carry guns outside home
Maryland’s Court of Appeals this month agreed to hear the case after Fooks’s lawyer, Peter F. Rose, cited a June 23 ruling by the Supreme Court that makes it harder to restrict the carrying of pistols outside the home. Writing for the court’s 6-to-3 conservative majority in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen, Justice Clarence Thomas said that to ban concealed handguns in a particular place, “the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
Rose, who declined to be interviewed about Fooks’s case but issued a brief statement via email, argued in his appellate petition that there is no historical precedent in Maryland for prohibiting people with Fooks’s nonviolent criminal history from possessing a gun.
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental right and, this past summer, once again struck down a State law infringing on that right,” Rose, a Maryland public defender, said in the email. “The way that Maryland criminalizes gun possession tramples all over our fundamental Second Amendment right. Mr. Fooks’ appeal is a first step to ensuring that this fundamental right is as respected for my client as it should be for everyone.”
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office, which is opposing the appeal, did not respond to an email seeking comment on the case, and Fooks could not be located for comment.
Fooks first challenged the constitutionality of the Maryland laws shortly after his arrest — long before the Supreme Court ruling in the New York case — but a Circuit Court judge in Wicomico Court rejected his argument. Fooks’s “failure to pay child support is every bit a serious as” other crimes, the judge concluded. “Those who fail to make support payments deprive the very people they should be protecting most, their own children, from receiving basic necessities. … By all accounts, this is a serious offense.”
This past summer, Maryland’s intermediate appellate court, the Court of Special Appeals, also upheld the gun-possession charges against Fooks.
“By its plain language, the [Maryland] legislature intended for individuals convicted of violent crimes to be disqualified from possessing a firearm,” the Court of Special Appeals said in its ruling. But the court noted “the legislature also prohibits a ‘fugitive from justice’ from possessing a firearm” even though there is no “indication that fugitives from justice are dangerous or violent.”
“The same rationale applies to individuals convicted of common law offenses who receive a term of imprisonment of more than two years,” the intermediate court added. “Mr. Fooks is not, for these purposes, a law-abiding citizen. It’s not just that he failed to pay child support, but his failure rose to the level of criminal contempt.”
Yet now Fooks has the weight of the Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling potentially on his side.
“The state has failed to show that those who have been convicted of a violation classified as a common law crime and received a term of imprisonment of more than two years — which broadly captures misdemeanors and nonviolent offenders/offenses — were historically within the reach of such [gun-possession] prohibitions,” Rose wrote to the Court of Appeals. The state cannot “fulfill its obligation under Bruen of showing that there is a historical tradition of barring firearms possession by individuals in Mr. Fooks’ position.”
The Supreme Court ruling in June already has impacted Maryland gun laws in other ways.
In July, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) ordered his administration to ease the state’s licensing rules for carrying a concealed handgun, saying the Bruen decision makes it unconstitutional to require applicants to show “a good and substantial reason” for seeking such a permit.
Responding to the high court’s ruling two weeks before, Hogan ordered Maryland State Police to immediately suspend the “substantial reason” provision in the rules for obtaining a concealed-carry permit in Maryland. Absent that rule, applicants would be able to obtain concealed-carry licenses without citing personal circumstances that create a heightened need for armed self-defense. | 2022-11-25T19:28:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Should failing to pay child support bar a person from having a gun? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/25/maryland-child-support-gun-ban/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/25/maryland-child-support-gun-ban/ |
Former detective Roger Golbuski is charged with raping Black women two decades ago. Residents are asking how far did the corruption go?
Violet Martin, center, and activists pray outside the Wyandotte County Courthouse in Kansas City, Kan., on Oct. 24 before her brother Brian Betts’s hearing. Betts and Celester McKinney have spent two decades in prison for murder but have been granted a new evidentiary hearing after making credible claims that former Kansas City Police Department detective Roger Golubski was involved in their case and tainted evidence. (Christopher Smith for The Washington Post)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A dozen years after his retirement, Roger Golubski returned to the Wyandotte County Courthouse in late October to testify in a hearing for two Black prison inmates who claim the White former police detective framed them for murder long ago.
Golubski, 69, took the witness chair slowly. He was still burly, but his once-intimidating presence had been punctured by ailing health, including renal failure, diabetes and quintuple bypass surgery in April.
“Did you have a history of pressuring witnesses?” said Kevin Shepherd, a lawyer for Brian Betts and Celester McKinney. The two inmates, who were convicted in the 1997 case, sat next to Shepherd in striped prison jumpsuits.
“Never,” Golubski replied.
Golubski is the key figure in alleged corruption stemming from his 35 years in the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department that has raised troubling questions about justice and accountability at a time when many predominantly Black or Brown communities and other disenfranchised groups are vocally demanding both. He is accused of preying on impoverished Black residents by exploiting a network of female informants for sex and for coerced testimony, which he allegedly used to close cases; charges he has denied.
The tale that emerges from court testimony, documents and interviews reveals a world in which Golubski, at minimum, appears to have played a significantly influential role in dramatically determining what darkness happened in the lives of scores of Kansas City residents. It also provides a sense of the changes in power and justice occurring in the city, including the nuance, frustration and hope that has come as new leadership reckons with racial wounds.
In recent weeks, the U.S. Justice Department has taken steps to address some of the allegations, announcing two indictments of Golubski on eight counts, including civil rights violations, conspiracy and forcing women into involuntary servitude.
Advocates for alleged victims want accountability from local officials, as well. They are seeking an examination not just of Golubski’s actions, but of the police department and what they see as a local power structure that helped cover up what residents say happened.
Community leaders are demanding to know how Golubski was seemingly able to operate with impunity for decades and seeking reassurances that behavior such as his alleged misconduct could not happen again in the city’s 330-officer police force — now overseen by Kansas City’s first Black mayor, a former police officer who rose to the rank of deputy chief.
Golubski’s former police department partner, Terry Zeigler, who served as police chief from 2015 to 2019, denied knowledge of the alleged misconduct.
Nikki Richardson, who in 2020 founded an advocacy group called Wyandotte for Justice after the county that includes Kansas City, is among those who believe many people share responsibility for any abuse.
“The entire police department knew what he was doing,” Richardson said. “They love to point to Roger Golubski as this individual boogeyman. That’s what the police department wants — take care of him, problem solved. But it was an entire system.”
In 2017, Lamonte McIntyre, a Black man who spent 23 years in prison on a double murder conviction, was exonerated after his lawyers presented evidence that Golubski had set him up.
That case prompted federal authorities to launch a criminal investigation into his conduct on the force and, in September, the Justice Department charged Golubski, who retired as a police captain in 2010, with allegedly raping two Black women in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In November, a federal grand jury indicted Golubski on separate charges that he conspired with drug dealers and raped Black girls, ages 13-17, who were forced to work as prostitutes.
Golubski, who faces life in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. In an email, his attorney, Christopher Joseph, said Golubski “looks forward to clearing his name from these decades-old and uncorroborated allegations.” Joseph did not respond to other requests for comment for this story.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Rachel E. Schwartz, citing Golubski’s need for regular medical treatment, released him to house arrest pending trial.
Police Chief Karl Oakman, who was hired in 2021, said in an interview that his department is assisting federal authorities in their criminal investigation. He disputed the notion that there is a broader cultural problem in the police force.
“I think it’s a personal accountability issue that I hope he’s gonna have to deal with for his actions,” Oakman said. “Do we have, in 2022 or 2021, a pattern of people doing this? Do we have a pattern in 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017? You won’t find it.”
One key question is how far city leaders are willing to look in examining accusations that stretch back decades. Authorities face the daunting prospect of reviewing dozens of convictions, opening unsolved murder cases, and sorting through mounting allegations of abuse.
In a lawsuit against the county government this year, McIntyre’s legal team included the initials of 73 women they said Golubski victimized, based on interviews and other evidence they said they collected. The Midwest Innocence Project is weighing requests for legal help from 40 inmates in Wyandotte County, many whose cases are tied to Golubski, said the group’s executive director, Tricia Rojo Bushnell.
Last week, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark A. Dupree Sr. (D) announced a $1.7 million plan to review 150 of Golubski’s cases, a process he said could take up to 18 months.
“The scale of this is mind-boggling,” said Cheryl Pilate, McIntyre’s lawyer, who has worked on the case since 2009. “Every time I think I have my arms around this, it gets bigger and more distressing. They can’t sweep this under the rug. There are gaping wounds out there.”
With a population of 155,000, Kansas City, Kan., is far smaller and, residents say, more insular than its more than 500,000-person namesake a few miles east on the other side of the Missouri River. The municipal building, county courthouse and police department headquarters are clustered in a downtown strip that includes a Native American-run casino and a handful of Latin American restaurants.
As a detective, Golubski worked cases in low-income, majority-Black neighborhoods in the northeast, cultivating a network of female informants.
His accusers say he targeted the city’s most vulnerable — drug addicts, prostitutes and the homeless. Prosecutors said Golubski protected a local drug dealer, Cecil A. Brooks, who has served 13 years of an 18-year federal prison sentence for cocaine trafficking, in exchange for money and sex with underage girls. Brooks and two other men were also charged in the November indictment.
Ophelia Williams, 60, who said she is one of the two women identified by their initials in the federal indictment in September, once lived in this area of town. On a recent afternoon, she returned to her old residence, a white-paneled, split-level house on a quiet, tree-lined block.
“That’s where he raped me,” said Williams, who has four children and nine grandchildren.
She recounted the night in August 1999 when police arrested her twin sons, then 14, on charges that they had stolen a gun and fatally shot an elderly couple while stealing items from their house.
At that moment, Williams didn’t yet know the name of the White detective who complimented her legs and her nightgown. The detective, who she eventually found out was Golubski, returned a few days later, offering to help her sons avoid punishment. When she let him in, she says, he assaulted her.
Federal prosecutors allege that Golubski raped Williams several times over the next few years, including in his police vehicle. When she threatened to report him, he implied he would harm her and “she would never be found,” according to federal prosecutors. He never helped her sons, Ronnell and Donnell, who pleaded guilty and remain in jail.
Williams speaks in a hoarse whisper, the consequence of a massive heart attack in 2017. But her voice carries loudly. Having told her story in a private deposition in the McIntyre case, Williams went public in June, speaking out at a rally organized by the activist group More2 outside the federal courthouse.
Williams has accused Zeigler, Golubski’s former partner, of being outside her house in their police vehicle on one occasion when Golubski assaulted her.
In a phone interview, Zeigler adamantly denied the accusation, saying he investigated the case involving her sons with a different detective because Golubski was an acting captain at the time.
“I didn’t take Roger by her house,” said Zeigler, who has not been criminally charged.
The other woman in the September indictment, identified only by her initials S.K., has not spoken publicly. McIntyre’s lawyer said the woman remains frightened of Golubski.
S.K. was in middle school when Golubski contacted her in the late 1990s to falsely claim she was a witness in a case, prosecutors said. Once she agreed to meet him, Golubski threatened to harm her grandmother. Then, he sexually assaulted the girl, according to federal prosecutors.
Golubski raped S.K. at least 10 times over three years, according to prosecutors. On one occasion, he took her to a cemetery and “instructed her to find an area to dig her own grave.” On another, he forced her to crawl along a riverbank on a dog leash, prosecutors said.
“This has taken such a toll on her life,” Lora McDonald, executive director of More2, said of S.K., now in her late 30s. “She was a middle school girl when this happened. She has no understanding of what lawfulness looks like, what legitimacy looks like.”
In the interview, Zeigler said Golubski operated largely on his own in developing contacts in the community and did not share information about his informants over concerns that doing so could compromise their safety. Their superiors did not demand to know where Golubski got his tips, Zeigler said, because keeping tabs on all of the police department’s informants would be nearly impossible.
“The more that mounts up, you just shake your head,” Zeigler, who testified to the federal grand jury that indicted Golubski, said in the phone interview. “If it turns out to be true, a lot of people, including me, will be feeling pretty stupid and saying, ‘Okay, why didn’t I see this, or should I have seen this?’”
A step toward legitimacy for Golubski’s alleged victims came in 2017 when Dupree, the Wyandotte County district attorney, agreed to reopen McIntyre’s case.
McIntyre was 17 when he was arrested and charged in the killings of Doniel Quinn and Donald Ewing in April 1994.
His lawyers contend that Golubski, who investigated the case, may have targeted McIntyre because his mother, Rose, had refused the detective’s sexual demands. The teenager was arrested just six hours after the killings on the basis of 19½ minutes of taped interviews, according to his lawyers.
Prosecutors presented no search warrants, offered no forensic evidence and did not recover the murder weapon, according to testimony in the case.
McIntyre, in a phone interview, recalled being transported, in handcuffs, to Dupree’s office for a meeting. “I’m not here to beg for my life,” McIntyre said he told him. “Just look at evidence that is presented to you. Judge me on the evidence.”
Dupree, Kansas’s first Black district attorney, grew up locally with parents who were pastors, and he quotes scripture from Micah 6:8 as a guiding principle: “To do justice and have mercy.”
He conducted his own investigation and the blowback was intense. Zeigler and other police officials “didn’t like the fact that I was looking at cases they investigated,” Dupree said. “I remember calling my wife and having her pray with me. To do justice, I have to tick some folks off.”
McIntyre was scheduled for a six-day hearing to determine whether he would be granted a new trial. Two days in, the district attorney declared a “manifest injustice” had occurred in McIntyre’s trial 23 years earlier. Dupree asked the court to vacate his convictions and drop all charges, saying the new evidence would have created reasonable doubt about his guilt.
Five years later, Ziegler, the former police chief who had been Golubski’s partner, said he still objected to Dupree’s decision not to retry McIntyre and let a new jury consider the totality of the evidence. He accused the district attorney of acting to fulfill a political agenda in a case that received considerable media attention.
“The whole hearing was about Golubski, but where are the facts when you’re talking about the homicide? They didn’t get into it,” Zeigler said. “Mark says it was a great injustice what happened to McIntyre. What he did was a great injustice.”
After the exoneration, Dupree announced plans to launch a “conviction integrity unit,” joining a growing number of jurisdictions that have moved to reopen cases. The number of exonerations in the United States has risen steadily in recent years, already reaching a record high of 217 this year, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
Dupree also raised concerns about Golubski with Stephen R. McAllister, who at the time was the chief federal prosecutor in Kansas. In 2019, McAllister asked the FBI to open a criminal investigation.
Golubski “was notorious in the community,” McAllister said in the interview. “When I met early on with agents and they talked about interviews and people they had encountered, the stories were atrocious.”
McIntyre won a certificate of innocence from the state of Kansas, which awarded him $1.5 million in 2020. He struggled to adjust to his new life and, in 2019, moved to Phoenix, where he took up meditation. He breeds exotic dogs and founded the nonprofit Miracle of Innocence to advocate for the wrongly incarcerated.
Last spring, McIntyre and his mother won a $12.5 million civil settlement from the Wyandotte County government. He said he won’t consider justice served until Golubski is behind bars and the state reviews all of the cases he was involved in.
“Had no one investigated my case, I would still be in prison,” McIntyre said. “Every case that came through that time should be looked at.”
Zeigler retired as chief in the fall of 2019. County officials replaced him last year with Oakman, who served 29 years in the Kansas City, Mo., police department.
A few months later, Tyrone Garner (D), a former deputy police chief under Zeigler, was elected as the city’s first Black mayor.
The historic leadership change offered renewed hope for community activists who had garnered national attention in demanding that the Justice Department open a broader civil investigation in to the police department’s policies, training and discipline. Team Roc, entertainment mogul Jay-Z’s social justice group, has amplified their demands and sent its own investigators to Kansas City to gather evidence, said managing director Dania Diaz.
With Trump gone, advocates flood Justice Dept. with requests to investigate police
Garner, the mayor, and Oakman, the police chief, have resisted a federal investigation of the Kansas City police, which Oakman said would be costly and serve as a distraction as he pursues changes in the department.
Since taking over, Oakman arranged for FBI officials to train supervisors and commanders on “color of law” violations that deprive suspects of their civil rights. He asked an outside jurisdiction — his former department in Missouri — to review officer-involved shootings and established a cold case unit to reopen unsolved murders. And he has sought to improve public relations, organizing a community peace walk and rebranding police vehicles with a refreshed color scheme and logo.
“When I go out to talk with the community, I say, ‘This is not your grandfather’s police department,’” said Oakman, who grew up in Kansas City, Kan.
He suggested that Golubski’s alleged misconduct was a relic of a bygone era. Police officials said nine current officers were on staff in 1994, the year McIntyre was charged, and 58 officers remain from the early 2000s, during the period Golubski is accused of assaulting Williams and S.K.
“I’ve done a top-to-bottom review of this current police department. The stuff with Golubski and some others, I don’t see that,” Oakman said.
Garner, who served in the police department’s internal affairs division, said he knew nothing of Golubski’s alleged misconduct. He has distanced himself from Zeigler, with whom he says he clashed after publicly supporting Dupree’s efforts to review questionable convictions.
Garner said in an interview that the Justice Department’s criminal probe of Golubski should be completed, and its findings made public, before officials determine whether an investigation of the police department is warranted. He took umbrage at criticism from activists, saying he, Oakman and Dupree have been supportive of efforts to hold Golubski accountable.
“You’ve got three African American males sitting here that are saying, ‘We are going to make sure that we get to the bottom of the allegations, and we’re going to help [the Justice Department],’” Garner said. “But to hold us to a higher standard, to me, is somewhat unfair.”
Oakman has pledged support for Dupree’s plan to review Golubski’s cases, but activists remain skeptical that police officials will be willing to hold themselves accountable. The effort represents a massive undertaking whose challenges were illustrated on the recent day when Golubski testified in the Betts-McKinney hearing.
The two men were sent to prison in 1997 for the killing of Gregory Miller during a botched drug deal. Their attorneys say Golubski, who had been married to Miller’s aunt, arranged to be transferred onto the case and coerced incriminating testimony from the men’s uncle, who later recanted.
On the witness stand in October, Golubski matter-of-factly denied any involvement. “It wasn’t my case,” he said.
Two dozen community activists watched from the courtroom gallery.
Dupree’s office is standing by the conviction, and his prosecutors argued that Betts and McKinney should remain in prison. Judge Gunnar A. Sundby has not ruled in the case.
“Not every case is a McIntyre case,” Dupree said. “There are cases that maybe raise an eyebrow, but according to the law, the evidence is not there to substantiate anything further.”
Completing his testimony, Golubski conferred with his attorney and walked out of the courthouse by himself.
Betts and McKinney, in handcuffs and leg irons, were escorted back to the county jail. | 2022-11-25T19:28:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Kansas town weighs racial justice after cop accused of decades-old abuses - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/25/kansas-city-cop-golubski/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/25/kansas-city-cop-golubski/ |
Bike lanes are necessary and make everyone safer
In his Nov. 21 letter, “Old Georgetown Road doesn’t need two bike lanes,” Julian Klazkin opposed bike lanes on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. But his letter contained most of the needed information to refute his argument.
He cited two cyclists killed when they left the sidewalk to avoid obstructions. If the sidewalk is so near to high-speed traffic that two people in two years were killed in the same way, the sidewalk is too dangerous to cycle on. He asserted that the highway administration doesn’t know how many cyclists use the route. If two people in two years were killed riding what probably looks like a dangerous route, many more would have been on a safer one to the same destinations. Finally, he asserted an unspecified host of other traffic problems stemming from the loss of two lanes of traffic. A real example of this is Seminary Road in Alexandria, which has seen a 41 percent reduction in crashes since it lost two of its four lanes to bike lanes and a center left-turn lane and a 75 percent increase in cycle traffic at peak hours — and has seen no material reduction in auto throughput, according to a recent report from the city.
Larry D. Huffman, Alexandria | 2022-11-25T19:29:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Bike lanes are necessary and make everyone safer - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/bike-lanes-are-necessary-make-everyone-safer/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/bike-lanes-are-necessary-make-everyone-safer/ |
The Earth can’t sustain continued growth
A Chinese flag flies in front of residential buildings in Shanghai on Oct. 17. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg News)
The Nov. 20 editorial “8 billion and rising” essentially said, “More Amazon customers; less Amazon rainforest. Yay!”
As long as the goal is “economic growth” rather than sustaining life as we know it on the planet in some reasonable facsimile of harmony with nature, we will continue down the path of self-destruction.
The editorial’s praise of China’s economic boom ignored the reality that it rides on the back of Chinese citizens essentially being treated like chattel, penned up in high-rise apartment buildings and factories in the major urban areas, which the editorial also seemed to believe is a good model. An aging population is not a bad thing we must overcome with more young people; it is an indication that our socioeconomic model is failing and needs to be reimagined sooner rather than later.
Bill Marriott, Springfield
The argument that population growth is a good thing is flawed. The suggestion that innovation can rectify resource scarcity typifies the mistaken assumption that man’s brilliance will inevitably solve our problems. There is abundant scientific evidence that the planet’s limited natural resources cannot sustain more people, especially now, when available living space is shrinking because of climate change. The point that living standards around the world have generally improved as population has increased must be of little comfort to the estimated 828 million people affected by hunger in 2021.
The editorial claimed we should not worry about population growth because it’s inevitable. That attitude is prevalent regarding the climate crisis, and look where that has gotten us.
Finally, sustaining economic growth, which is measured by increasing gross domestic product, does not, as the editorial implied, equate to better quality of life. Just look around.
Richard Wildermann, Seabrook Island, S.C.
The celebratory tone of calling global population at 8 billion and rising “a good thing” made light of vast inequities in a demographically divided world. In many places, the often cited “demographic transition,” whereby growing populations shift from high birth and death rates to low ones, is stalled. For example, in Africa’s Sahel region, the population is set to double in a generation, worsening regional poverty, climate risk, food insecurity and civil conflict. There’s little reason to suppose “innovation” from higher numbers will compensate.
Though the 8 billion milestone attests to remarkable public health advances that extended people’s lives, we should hold off on celebrating until we’re doing a better job of expanding family planning services, education, and greater empowerment to women and girls worldwide. That would lower fertility rates and population growth and uphold equity and human rights.
The United States was once a global leader in foreign assistance for reproductive health and family planning, but its support stagnated over the past decade. With the largest generation in history entering its childbearing years, these investments are more vital than ever. Recommitting to them would be reason to celebrate.
Kathleen Mogelgaard, Washington
The writer is president and chief executive of the Population Institute. | 2022-11-25T19:29:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The Earth can’t sustain continued growth - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/earth-cant-sustain-continued-growth/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/earth-cant-sustain-continued-growth/ |
Maj. Gen. Wins is dedicated to the mission
Virginia Military Institute Superintendent Cedric T. Wins on May 14, 2021, at the school in Lexington, Va. (Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post)
I read with sadness the Nov. 21 front-page article “VMI’s Black leader is under attack by alumni.” I worked as a contractor for the Army Futures Command (AFC) while Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins was its commander. The AFC is a unique organization because its goal is to ensure that the United States retains its military supremacy well into the future. To lead such an organization requires a thorough understanding of science and technology and how to convert that knowledge into concrete action. No one was more capable than Maj. Gen. Wins in that regard. At the AFC’s core is a civilian workforce that consists of some of the United States’ best minds. Maj. Gen. Wins was able to lead that organization not by imposing his will, which would have been a disaster, but by understanding the ethos of science and by being the natural leader he is. He was respected by everyone who worked under his lead.
What speaks to his character is that he could have walked into any defense contractor’s boardroom and found employment at twice his current salary. Rather, he decided to return to his alma mater and accept the challenge of ending its racist and misogynistic culture. He knew this would be a tough challenge. He undertook it with confidence and, importantly, respect for all parties. It is a shame that those alumni cannot return the favor.
Samuel Judd, Silver Spring | 2022-11-25T19:29:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Maj. Gen. Wins is dedicated to the mission - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/maj-gen-wins-is-dedicated-mission/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/maj-gen-wins-is-dedicated-mission/ |
Experience the joy of believing that ‘football is life’
Wales's Gareth Bale scores a goal on a penalty kick during the World Cup match against the United States at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Nov. 21. (Darko Vojinovic/AP)
Millions of Americans will spend this Thanksgiving weekend watching football. If they instead tune into the soccer World Cup, they’ll discover something infinitely more enthralling.
Many Americans think they would not like soccer. They complain about the low scores and seemingly pointless activity in most games. But they wouldn’t judge football by a 6-3 snoozer with plenty of punts or the 1-0 baseball shutout. Soccer’s intrinsic beauty might be an acquired taste — but once you have it, you never look back.
American interest will probably increase as the U.S. team improves. Christian Pulisic, Giovanni Reyna and other stars play with some of the best teams in Europe, giving them the experience that makes champions. This year’s men’s national team is also the second youngest in the tournament — so the athletes will spend years playing together after this World Cup to improve as individuals and as a squad.
That experience will come in handy at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is to be played in North America. The United States, Canada and Mexico will jointly host an expanded 48-nation extravaganza, with 11 U.S. cities staging most of the games. Teams that host the cup typically do better than expected; even tiny South Korea finished fourth when it played co-host in 2002.
There’s also the national pathos inevitably on display. I was in London during the 2018 World Cup when England, the game’s inventor, put on a stirring run to the quarterfinals. Watching that match in a pub with hundreds of fans desperately rooting for it to “come home” but accustomed to heart-wrenching defeats was an experience, as once again England found a way to lose a game it should have won. Rooting for the Three Lions is like being a Boston Red Sox fan during the 86 years they went without a World Series title. If England does win, the long-repressed hope unleashed will make the celebrations alone worth watching.
The Liverpool great Bill Shankly famously remarked that, to him, soccer wasn’t a matter of life and death: It was more important. Most fans would instead agree with Dani Rojas, the Mexican striker for the fictional Richmond Greyhounds on the TV show “Ted Lasso”: “Football is life.”
Opinions on sports
Opinion|Kyrie Irving’s ‘apology’ doesn’t cut it. He needs to go.
Opinion|Want to help the Iran protests? Let its soccer team play in the World Cup. | 2022-11-25T19:29:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Experience the fun of soccer and believing that 'football is life' - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/soccer-world-cup-united-states-2022-games-football/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/soccer-world-cup-united-states-2022-games-football/ |
Yale should work harder on mental health
Students gather on the Yale University campus on Aug. 22, 2021, in New Haven, Conn. (Ted Shaffrey/Associated Press)
As a Yale alumna who has personally experienced the way Yale treats mentally ill students, I was appalled by Director of Yale Mental Health & Counseling Paul Hoffman and Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis’s Nov. 16 letter to the editor, “Yale takes health seriously.”
By stating they were “disappointed” to read The Post’s reporting on this issue, they implied they were disappointed that mentally ill students’ voices are being given space in one of the nation’s preeminent newspapers.
They suggested that this reporting is “dangerous” because it calls attention to the harmfulness of the university’s mental health policies. In doing so, they came dangerously close to blaming students who have courageously spoken out about their own mental health challenges for any potential self-harm committed by, or mental health crises experienced by, other Yale students in the future. This is sickening, and Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Lewis should apologize.
That the university would think it advisable to have its representatives respond to The Post’s reporting, which was sourced from conversations with students struggling with mental health issues, by mansplaining that “addressing students’ mental health is a complex and nuanced endeavor” is baffling and laughable. In addition to overhauling its medical withdrawal policies, Yale should fire its PR team.
Before Mr. Hoffman, Mr. Lewis or other Yale administrators decide to again smear responsible reporting that shines a light on the experiences of some of Yale’s most vulnerable students, they should remember Yale’s motto: “Lux et Veritas” — light and truth.
Rachel Brooke Williams, Washington | 2022-11-25T19:29:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Yale should work harder on mental health - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/yale-should-work-harder-mental-health/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/yale-should-work-harder-mental-health/ |
Stopping D.C. gun crime starts with helping our children
The D.C. police block traffic near the site of a midday shooting on 23rd Street, S.E., in March. (Fredrick Kunkle/The Washington Post)
District Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) struck many of the right chords in her Thanksgiving message. Her notes of gratitude for having the chance to lead a city as dynamic and inclusive as D.C. were in harmony with her support of the new hospital breaking ground east of the river and the covid-19 centers opened across the city. Her condemnation of antisemitism, racism, anti-LGBTQ hate and attacks on women’s rights had the right tone, too.
Bowser, however, hit a sour note when she sounded off on ending “the gun violence that is terrorizing our country and stealing the lives of our young people.” The root of that problem is not the gun. It is the dismaying number of violent people picking up guns and using them.
And, oh, how they have.
The number of violent crimes committed with a gun — homicides, sex abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery — has jumped by 847 over the past two years compared with the previous two years.
In response, Bowser has plowed millions into the city’s violence-prone areas through a wide variety of activities aimed toward diverting people — both potential victims and perpetrators — away from criminal activity. Her initiatives fall under the realm of a program dubbed Building Blocks DC.
In February, Bowser’s deputy mayor for public safety and justice, Christopher Geldart, explained just what Building Blocks DC all is about. Speaking at a D.C. Council hearing, Geldart described the program as a “framework” and a “strategy,” adding, “It’s not a place. It’s not a people. It’s a way to do business.” Whatever that means.
Geldart, a violence-prevention expert, handed in his resignation last month after a personal trainer in Virginia alleged in a criminal complaint that Geldart had assaulted him, and after questions emerged over whether Geldart was violating the requirement that high-level city officials reside within city limits. Bowser accepted his resignation, describing it as a “mutual” decision. (A court hearing has been set for Dec. 8 for his assault and battery charge.)
As that sinks in, consider, too, that there aren’t any publicly available performance metrics to show how the city’s multimillion-dollar violence-prevention efforts are faring — or failing.
“We’ve literally thrown everything at the problem” Bowser said this month.
The picture remains grim.
Homicides, while down 8 percent thus far in 2022 compared with last, are still up from two years ago at this time.
Carjackings continue climbing: 434 compared with 374 at this time last year. Carjackings involving guns have skyrocketed 71 percent.
Of the 118 carjacking arrests year to date, 70 percent were juveniles. Most range in age from 13 to 17.
Not to speak of bloodshed.
Ninety children have been hit by bullets so far this year. Fourteen didn’t survive. Stack that against 47 who were shot last year, with six dying.
Try getting your heads around this: A 15-year-old boy charged in the shooting of Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. is also charged in the October fatal shooting of a 15-year-old, Andre Robertson Jr., struck as he sat on a porch. That 15-year-old was 14 at the time he allegedly shot Robinson and Robertson. He’s not alone.
A 13-year-old is also charged in connection with young Robertson’s murder. And a 17-year-old is also charged in connection with Robinson’s shooting and wounding.
Police, prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges and criminal-justice reform advocates go back and forth over how to hold these youths accountable. They will quarrel over probation vs. incarceration vs. community diversion programs, etc. It gets sorted out, for sure, but to no one’s complete satisfaction.
What’s more, authorities are grappling with the problem at the back end.
At the front end, Bowser and her violence-prevention team pore over data. They design and revise schemes to stem violence and keep young people alive.
There must be more to think about when it comes to these children — and that, for goodness’ sake, is what they are.
Those youths aren’t born to carjack — to rob, to pull out guns, to shoot and kill— including each other.
Why are some of our children are turning out this way?
Look inward. They are being shaped by their environments and their relationships growing up. Something is missing in their young lives. Something needs shoring up.
This isn’t a segue into the wonderfulness of an intact family.
Neither is this the start of a blaming-and-shaming game about unstable families in our community, though family relationship dynamics have changed dramatically in my lifetime.
We may be in a new world. Nonetheless — and however its structured — family matters. So, too, fathers. That’s where work needs doing by community elders and leaders, seasoned parents and teachers, including — and I’m not proselytizing — our churches.
The community should come together and strike a chord, if for no other reason than to lift up and help nurture those 13-, 15-, 17-year-olds — before they cross the line.
Opinion|Stopping D.C. gun crime starts with helping our children
Opinion|Why I won’t take the Silver Line to Dulles | 2022-11-25T22:05:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Stopping D.C. gun crime starts with reaching our children - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/washignton-dc-district-gun-crime-juveniles-bowser/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/25/washignton-dc-district-gun-crime-juveniles-bowser/ |
Family members place a cross on the grave of 2-day-old Serhii Podlianov at the family’s village cemetery in Novosolone in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine on Nov. 24. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
NOVOSOLONE, Ukraine — On the morning she gave birth, Maria Kamianetska sent a photo of the infant to the baby’s father, back in their home village. The boy’s eyes were closed, his tiny head covered in a white hat, his body swaddled in a cloth.
“You have a son,” she wrote from her hospital bed. The maternity ward where she’d given birth was in Vilnyansk, a town in Zaporizhzhia, one of four Ukrainian regions that Vladimir Putin claims to have annexed.
For the entire nine months she had carried the baby, her country had been under attack, her life — and her son’s — constantly at risk.
But here he was, just under six pounds and healthy. The parents named him Serhii. He was their fourth child, the little brother their 7-year-old son had been waiting for.
But the baby’s father would never have the chance to meet him.
At about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, as Kamianetska had just finished nursing the child and laid him down to sleep in the crib beside her, a rocket crashed into the hospital’s maternity ward. The hospital walls came crumbling down, trapping Kamianetska and her infant in the rubble.
They were the only patients in the ward that night. Rescuers pulled the mother out of the rubble alive, her legs scraped and bloodied. The only person killed was baby Serhii.
One of the youngest casualties of the war, 2-day-old Serhii was among the more than 440 Ukrainian children killed and hundreds more wounded so far as a result of Russia’s invasion, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office. The boy did not live long enough to be given a birth certificate.
As rescue workers searched through what remained of the maternity ward, they told Kamianetska they couldn’t find a baby.
They found only a doll, they said, lying face down on the ground.
“That’s my son!” she shouted.
In the midst of war, a new baby brother
Kamianetska had always wanted to have a fourth child — a boy, she hoped. Her 7-year-old son, who had grown up with only sisters, was already collecting his toy toolbox to show his new little brother. He yearned to be a tractor driver like his father and couldn’t wait to share his child-size tractor with the boy.
The parents, who spoke to The Washington Post this week, had everything ready for Serhii: The crib, the stroller, the clothes. Kamianetska and the children’s father, Vitalii Podlianov, were preparing to move across the street in their small rural village to a bigger house in the spring, to have more room for their growing family.
The couple had learned they were expecting a baby in late February, just as Russian troops were beginning their assault on Ukraine. As millions of Ukrainians, many women and children, fled the country, Kamianetska and her family stayed in their village, Novosolone, in the Zaporizhzhia region. This was their home, the place where they had raised their three other children and where the rest of their family lived.
But it was also a region with a name now recognized around the world, Zaporizhzhia, the site of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and a likely location for a new Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Missile strikes had become increasingly frequent in the area near the hospital. Before November, the town had experienced no strikes, its mayor said; this month it’s been struck on three different days. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday blamed the maternity ward strike on “the terrorist state.” Russia’s ministry of defense did not respond to a request for comment.
Kamianetska lived just about an hour’s drive from the front line, yet somehow the war felt far enough away. “The explosions in the distance didn’t worry me,” she said. But as she prepared for Serhii’s arrival, they inched closer and closer to her town.
She had seen the images of bloodied pregnant women on stretchers outside a Mariupol maternity hospital — photographs that shocked the world early on in the war.
But on the night before her baby was born, her only concern was making sure she could get to the hospital safely. Podlianov had driven her to stay in the home of a relative in the town where she planned to give birth, which was closer to the hospital than her home. He then returned to their village, to work and care for their other children.
Early Monday morning, Kamianetska called an ambulance to rush her to the hospital.
The baby came after only two contractions. He was born at 8:20 a.m., less than 20 inches long.
A maternity ward crumbles
It was past 1 a.m. when she heard the first loud crash — a strike in a different part of town. Then came the blast.
The rocket crushed the brick walls of the second-floor maternity ward, sending it tumbling onto the clinic beneath it, where a trapped doctor cried for help, she recalled.
A piece of the concrete ceiling landed on top of Kamianetska, who was lying in bed in only a nightgown. But she remained fixated on reaching for Serhii’s crib.
She screamed for help, as she tried desperately to lift off the pieces of concrete to reach the baby. She recalled her lungs filled with smoke and dust.
She managed to lift herself off the bed and lunge toward the crib. The mother was horrified to see it was empty. The baby had been launched from his bed in the blast.
Kamianetska grabbed her phone, using its light to search for the infant as she walked through the debris in her bare feet.
The moments that followed are all a bit of a blur: The rescue workers pulling her out of the rubble through a window; nurses pulling the shrapnel off her legs; the phone call to her mother, telling her the maternity ward had been hit by a rocket.
What she remembers, vividly, was her own screaming, her pleas for her son.
A tiny coffin
About 15 people gathered in the cold cemetery Thursday as the priest approached the white lace-trimmed box in front of them. He said a prayer and placed a cross inside the tiny coffin — less than three feet long — where Serhii lay, covered in a blue blanket. The baby’s eyes were closed, his face still covered with small scrapes.
The funeral had come together quickly, just a day after he died. The parents didn’t want to bring the coffin into their home, where their other children would see it, so they needed to bury the baby as soon as they could.
Serhii’s older siblings all stayed home, playing in the front yard, as their family members rushed to the cemetery. The children knew their youngest brother would not be coming home after all, but the parents had not yet explained why.
Wearing thick coats in near-freezing temperatures, relatives arrived carrying flowers and toys — a stuffed tiger and red lady bug and a brand new toddler-size car. Kamianetska wore a black winter jacket. On the back were the words: “Everything will be fine. It will be even better every day.”
Kamianetska stared longingly into the box, lurching toward it as she wailed. Her mother and sister-in-law grabbed her by the arms, helping her remain standing. She leaned over into the coffin and gently kissed the baby.
Then, after the priest had sprinkled water on the coffin, two men carefully lowered it into the ground. The sound of shelling rumbled in the distance as the family members sprinkled dirt in the grave.
As men covered the casket, the mother recounted what happened that night.
“My room was completely destroyed,” she said. “I was looking for the child in the rubble. … The child was just in the crib. I was thinking of changing him, and then this happened.”
Each of the relatives hugged her, urging her to be strong. As most of them left, her mother gave Kamianetska advice on what to do with her breast milk, now that she would not be nursing.
That night, Kamianetska dreamed of her son. In the dream, he was hungry, and wanted breakfast. So the following morning, she returned to the cemetery to bring him cookies and chocolate.
This time, she brought the children along to the grave, to meet their baby brother for the first time. | 2022-11-25T22:34:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The short life of baby Serhii, killed in a Ukraine maternity ward - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/25/ukraine-maternity-ward-strike-serhii/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/25/ukraine-maternity-ward-strike-serhii/ |
A supporter wears a mask patterned with the Taiwan national flag and slogan reading “Taiwan is awesome” during an election campaign in Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022. Taiwan will hold local elections on November 26. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying) (ChiangYing-ying/AP)
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Voters headed to the polls across Taiwan in a closely watched local election Saturday that will determine the strength of the island’s major political parties ahead of the 2024 presidential election. | 2022-11-26T01:34:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Taiwan votes on lower voting age, mayors, city councils - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/taiwan-to-vote-on-lower-voting-age-mayors-city-councils/2022/11/25/677cd0d6-6d22-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/taiwan-to-vote-on-lower-voting-age-mayors-city-councils/2022/11/25/677cd0d6-6d22-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Maryland's Julian Reese drives for two of his career-high 24 points Friday in a win over Coppin State. (Terrance Williams/AP)
Before Maryland’s season began, Coach Kevin Willard predicted that budding big man Julian Reese would shine as a sophomore. Frontcourt players can transform once they’ve spent a year with their college program, and as Reese inherited an expanded role, Willard saw the growth in Reese during practices and expected it to translate into games.
His progress, evident already this season, was never more apparent than during a dominant first-half outing Friday against Coppin State before 10,902 at Xfinity Center. Reese, a 6-foot-9 forward, capitalized on a size advantage and was unrelenting in leading the No. 23 Terrapins to a 95-79 victory over the Eagles, piling up a career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds.
The chippy contest featured six technical fouls, which were split evenly between the teams, and a pair of Maryland assistants were ejected. But the Terps (6-0) surged ahead in the second half to dampen the homecoming of Coppin State Coach Juan Dixon, an all-American on Maryland’s 2002 national title team and the program’s all-time leading scorer. Dixon said afterward that it “felt great” to return to College Park, but “it wasn’t about me today.”
Maryland had three players score at least 20 points — Reese, Hakim Hart (22) and Jahmir Young (21) — the first time the program has done so since 2002 in the final game at Cole Field House. Dixon was one of the players who hit the mark that night.
Reese shot 10 of 12 from the field, improving his season shooting clip to 80.4 percent, among the best marks in Division I. His power in the paint helped compensate for Maryland’s poor shooting (4 of 21) from three-point range.
Maryland’s 18 offensive rebounds, including seven from Reese, and its ability to draw fouls (27 total, seven by Reese) wore down the Eagles (3-5), and the Terps held a double-digit lead through the final 12 minutes.
“His size is a problem,” Dixon said of Reese. “The kid got better. He got stronger. He got bigger.”
Reese, who came off the bench as a freshman, was responsible for the surge that helped Maryland take control. With the Terps trailing by three points midway through the first half, Reese scored 18 of the team’s next 22 points over a stretch of about seven minutes.
When Reese checked out of the game late in the first half, the crowd roared with approval. His 22 points and eight rebounds before the break would have been impressive over 40 minutes. After the break, Reese’s production quieted as he ran into foul trouble and only played eight minutes, scoring just two points before fouling out.
After picking up a pair of notable wins against Miami and Saint Louis last weekend, the Terps returned to the court as a ranked squad Friday and continued their strong run of form — albeit against a Coppin State team that entered ranked 298th out of 363 Division I teams in Ken Pomeroy’s analytics-based ratings.
“I feel like a lot of teams would have played down to that type of team coming off those wins,” Hart said.
Dixon’s squad, in the midst of a stretch of nine straight road games, was powered by 28 points from Sam Sessoms, a transfer from Penn State.
Here’s what else to know from Friday’s victory:
Flurry of technicals
As Coppin State threatened Maryland’s lead early in the second half, Reese and the Eagles’ Isaiah Gross got tangled going for a loose ball. A skirmish ensued, and Maryland assistants Tony Skinn and Grant Billmeier left the bench and headed toward the swarm of players, which led to their ejections with 14:28 to go.
“I'm not going to tell my assistants not to go on the floor to stop a fight or stop something because they might get kicked out of the game,” Willard said, adding that he wasn’t aware of that rule. “That's the stupidest rule.”
After a lengthy video review, Reese and Gross also picked up offsetting technical fouls. Soon after, Reese was called for his fourth foul, sending him to the bench for the next 10 minutes.
At the time of the scuffle, the Eagles trailed by just six, but Maryland responded with a 4-0 burst and Coppin State never drew closer.
Three additional technical fouls — on Hart as he directed his celebration of a three-pointer toward the visiting bench and one apiece for Coppin State’s Sessoms and Alex Rojas — were also issued.
“They were trying to get in our heads from the start,” Hart said.
Short rotation
Patrick Emilien, a 6-foot-7 reserve forward who was averaging 18 minutes entering Friday, was sidelined because of a sprained ankle. His absence led to freshman wing Noah Batchelor becoming the first player called off the bench against the Eagles, logging nine minutes.
Only two other bench players — Jahari Long (five points in 15 minutes) and Ian Martinez (seven points in 16 minutes) — delivered significant contributions.
Elton John rings in the holidays with surprise NYC performance | 2022-11-26T01:34:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Terps are too much for Coppin State as Julian Reese dominates - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/25/maryland-coppin-state-julian-reese/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/25/maryland-coppin-state-julian-reese/ |
Man found slain in apartment, D.C. police say
Man was found after shots were reported, police say.
A man was found fatally shot Friday in an apartment on South Capitol Street SW, D.C. police said.
Sherif Akande, 44, of Southwest, was found with an apparent gunshot wound about 2:50 a.m. in the 4000 block of the street, the police said. He died at the scene, they said.
Officers went to the site after the sound of gunshots was reported, police said. | 2022-11-26T03:05:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Man is found fatally shot on South Capitol Street, D.C. police say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/25/man-found-fatally-shot-dc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/25/man-found-fatally-shot-dc/ |
After scaling up in their home market, Chinese factories are starting to supply EVs to the rest of the world
By Jeanne Whalen
When Shannon Harrison bought an electric vehicle from a Dallas-area dealership in the summer, she didn’t know it was made in China.
She wasn’t even necessarily looking for an electric car. She just wanted a hybrid, or something fuel-efficient to lower her gas bill, but dealers had limited supply amid widespread auto shortages. That’s when a salesman mentioned an electric brand that she’d never heard of before: Polestar.
The car, which is designed in Sweden, doesn’t widely advertise that it is manufactured in China. But its arrival on the U.S. market is a sign of China’s ambitions to become a major exporter in an industry it has never previously conquered — automobiles.
For all its success dominating other businesses, China took a back seat to foreign automakers in the gasoline era. Chinese consumers bought a lot of domestically manufactured cars, but often favored foreign brands such as Volkswagen, General Motors and Toyota over homegrown models. And while China became a big exporter of car parts, it didn’t manage to do the same with finished vehicles.
The arrival of the electric era is giving China another chance, because EVs have fewer parts and are easier to produce, at a time when component shortages are limiting EV supplies and creating an opening for companies that can deliver quickly. Chinese manufacturers have poured billions of dollars into developing an electric-vehicle industry, with heavy financial support from the state. Domestic EV brands have captured the lion’s share of electric sales inside China, and some, including BYD, Nio and Great Wall Motor, are starting to surface in overseas markets, posing new competition to traditional automakers.
Chinese manufacturers began ramping up EV production before most Western rivals did, giving them a “significant advantage” in manufacturing efficiency, said Matthias Schmidt, founder of Schmidt Automotive Research in Berlin. China’s central and regional governments accelerated this push by heavily subsidizing domestic EV factories, charging infrastructure and consumer EV purchases, and by protecting Chinese battery makers from foreign competition.
“Now that they have reached scale, the Chinese are looking to export to Western markets,” Schmidt said. “They built up a lot of skills and competencies in their own market while Western [manufacturers] have been relative laggards.”
This Midwestern factory was dead. Electric vehicles revived it.
But as trade tensions between China and Western nations rise, Beijing’s export ambitions are facing obstacles, including the 25 percent import tariff slapped on Chinese vehicles by the Trump administration, and new U.S. tax credits designed to incentivize purchases of EVs and batteries made in North America. Analysts say negative consumer sentiment about China might also undermine sales, although some buyers may not know or care much where their vehicles are manufactured.
“I didn’t know it was made in China,” Harrison said of her $65,000 Polestar. “As far as I’m concerned, as long as the car itself is a well-made car that gets me where I need to go … its place of origin doesn’t play too much into my decision.”
Polestar is controlled by Chinese billionaire Li Shufu, founder and majority shareholder of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, a big auto manufacturer in China that expanded overseas in 2010 by buying Volvo Cars of Sweden. Volvo and Geely then founded Polestar as a separate company in 2017, placing its headquarters in Volvo’s hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Polestar’s top managers and car designers work in Sweden. The company’s main vehicle, the Polestar 2, is manufactured at a plant in Luqiao, China, that also produces an electric Volvo model. The company says it is on track to deliver 50,000 Polestars to customers in 27 countries this year, about double its deliveries in 2021, its first full year in production.
“Unlike most of our peers, our global ambitions, they are a reality, not an aspiration,” Polestar chief executive Thomas Ingenlath, a longtime car designer and executive at Volvo and Volkswagen, told investors on a Nov. 11 call.
The automaker bills itself as a Swedish brand competing for well-heeled buyers. It barnstormed the United States this year with a Super Bowl ad throwing shade on rivals, promising viewers that it had no plans for “conquering Mars” a la Tesla founder Elon Musk, or to get bogged down in a VW-style “dieselgate.”
Polestar is still a relatively small player in the United States, having sold about 6,900 vehicles in the first nine months of this year. By comparison, Ford sold about 28,000 Mustang Mach-E electric cars over the same period, while Tesla sold roughly 140,000 each of its models 3 and Y, according to data provider Wards Intelligence.
Harrison encountered the car in the summer while shopping at a dealer that sells Volvo and Infiniti cars. She liked it after a test drive — “it had a ton of pickup,” she said — and bought it on the spot. Not long afterward, a strut mount in the car’s suspension broke, a problem she sensed when “the steering wheel started going weird.” The dealer fixed it after a roughly six-week wait for parts, and “other than that, the car has been wonderful,” Harrison said.
The car’s price ranges from $50,000 to $75,000 depending on options, according to Arya Farahmand, finance manager at the dealership. Most customers pay $60,000 to $70,000, he said.
Several U.S. buyers said they chose Polestar because the car was available amid a recent car shortage caused by a global scarcity of semiconductors.
In Detroit, the chip shortage has left the city eerily short of cars
Sunil Paul, a San Francisco tech entrepreneur whose company sells access to EVs through subscriptions, bought a Polestar about a year ago after a test drive. “It’s got great handling and style. It checks a lot of boxes like adequate range and great performance,” he said. “When you’re taking a turn it stays exactly where you want it.”
At the time he bought it, the fact that the car was made in China wasn’t a major consideration for him. He felt it was even important to support a variety of EV manufacturers, to “encourage diversity of EV supply.” Over the past year, though, growing tensions with China “have caused me to think more carefully about it,” he said.
“The U.S. also needs its own supply chain that it can rely on,” Paul said. And mounting concern over China’s authoritarian bent “does make me wonder what should be the support level for Chinese cars,” he said.
Buyers of Polestar 2 and other made-in-China EVs aren’t eligible for federal subsidies adopted under the recent Inflation Reduction Act, which provides tax credits up to $7,500 for purchases of EVs assembled in North America. Over time, qualifying vehicles must also have increasing levels of battery content originating in North America or allied nations, a rule aimed at reducing China’s control of global battery production.
Dennis Nobelius, Polestar’s chief operating officer, said he doesn’t believe the company has suffered much by being shut out of the U.S. tax credit. “We are a premium car ... and we can deliver on the attributes that the customer is searching for. So there is still nice demand,” he said in an interview.
Consumers may be surprised to learn that even some familiar Western brands are manufacturing their EVs in China before selling them in Western markets. BMW is building its iX3, an electric SUV, in China for export to Europe and other countries, and plans to do the same with some electric Mini models. And Tesla has been exporting thousands of vehicles from its Shanghai factory to Europe, though its new Berlin factory is expected to take over most European production.
For now, perhaps because of the barriers to entering the U.S. market, some Chinese EV manufacturers are targeting Europe and other regions more aggressively than the United States. Nio, based in Shanghai, is selling its ET7 sedan in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and has said it aims to enter the U.S. market in 2025.
The next China trade battle could be over electric cars
China’s largest automaker, the state-owned SAIC, which bought the British MG brand in the early 2000s, is selling several electric MG models in Europe, including a budget hatchback that starts at about 26,000 pounds (about $31,500). And Shenzhen-based BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, last month launched three EVs for sale in Europe at the Paris Motor Show, including the compact Atto 3 SUV.
Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motor, which is launching a new budget EV in Europe called the Ora Funky Cat, said the company is still learning how to cater to different tastes and demands in overseas markets. In a recent interview with China Business Journal, Wei cited brand image as a major hurdle, especially in Europe and the United States.
“It’s probably not just Great Wall Motor that is facing such a plight: it is a common pain point for most Chinese car brands,” Wei said. “Cars are different from other products because it takes longer to promote and involves a lot of challenges. We cannot make a judgment based on a year or two; we have to make a development strategy for at least 10 years ahead.”
In an emailed statement, BYD said it is selling electric cars and buses in dozens of countries and is leaning on local employees for a “solid understanding of the local markets.”
“In the future, BYD’s [electric] cars will enter more markets and will be manufactured as well as sold globally,” the company added.
The arrival of Chinese brands in Europe — combined with U.S. moves to protect North American EV producers — is causing some tension among European politicians. In a newspaper interview on the eve of the Paris auto show, French President Emmanuel Macron urged European consumers to buy cars made in the European Union.
And during the auto show, Macron walked past the BYD display without “taking the briefest of glances at the Chinese stand,” according to Schmidt, who attended the show and interpreted Macron’s walk-by as a snub — and a sign that protectionist measures could increase in the E.U., where import tariffs on Chinese vehicles are currently 10 percent.
Carlos Tavares, chief executive of Jeep and Peugeot manufacturer Stellantis, has repeatedly urged Europe to do more to protect local automakers. “Conditions here are easier for Chinese carmakers to compete than for Western carmakers in China,” he said in October. “The E.U. is wide open and it is not acceptable.”
To get around some U.S. protectionism, Polestar has said that starting in 2024, it will begin manufacturing the new Polestar 3 — a luxury SUV starting at $80,000 — at a Volvo-owned factory in South Carolina.
Mitchell Forst of Charlottesville said that the company’s pledge to make the Polestar 3 in the United States made him feel “a little better” about buying a Polestar 2 last year, which he did in part because the car was available more quickly than a Tesla was at the time.
“Obviously, I would have loved a car made in the U.S., but that wasn’t in my options,” he said.
Andrew Van Dam, Christian Shepherd and Lyric Li contributed to this report. | 2022-11-26T11:22:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Polestar, a Chinese-made EV, hits U.S. market in sign of China's global ambitions - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/26/polestar-china-ev/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/26/polestar-china-ev/ |
D.C. firefighters sue over policy banning beards for employees
The suit is not the first time the D.C. fire department has been entangled over facial hair policy
D.C. firefighters have asked a judge to hold the District in contempt of court for a policy that bans beards, resurrecting a battle fought over facial hair decades ago.
In a motion filed this month in federal court in Washington, firefighters say they were removed from field duty and reassigned to lesser roles and received less compensation because they refused to shave after the D.C. Fire and EMS Department (D.C. FEMS) issued a policy in 2020 prohibiting most kinds of facial hair.
Steven Chasin, Calvert Potter, Jasper Sterling and Hassan Umrani each wear a beard “in accordance with the tenets of his Muslim or Jewish faith,” which was protected by a permanent injunction the men won against the District about 15 years ago under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), filings from their attorneys state. The department’s latest policy unlawfully ignored the court order that allows them to keep their facial hair as an expression of religious beliefs, the firefighters argue.
“There really is no excuse,” Jordan Pratt, senior counsel with First Liberty Institute, said in an interview. “They [D.C. FEMS] decided to be their own federal judge and violate the federal court order. That violation caused our clients harm for a year and a half.”
In a Battle Over D.C. Policy, Muslim Firefighter Fought For the Rights of the Devout
A D.C. FEMS spokesperson directed all inquiries to the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, which did not respond to requests for comment.
Many fire departments that ban facial hair for employees argue beards prevent masks from creating a proper seal and reduce their effectiveness.
In 2007, the District worked to keep its grooming policy in support of shaving, saying it was in the interest of safety, according to court documents filed by the D.C. attorney general’s office.
“The District maintains that it is unsafe to wear a tight-fitting face-piece with facial hair at the point of seal regardless of whether the face-piece is used in a positive or negative configuration,” the District argued in a motion.
But in 2007, U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson sided with firefighters and concluded that, outside of a “catastrophic scenario,” “evidence shows that a beard has never interfered with the ability of a FEMS worker to do his duty,” according to a court memorandum.
In the department’s newest policy, issued in February 2020, employees were prohibited from having “facial hair that comes between the sealing surface of the face piece and the face,” “facial hair that interferes with the valve function,” or “any condition that interferes with the face-to-face piece seal or valve function,” according to the court motion. The language of the policy mirrors the policy that D.C. FEMS was permanently ordered not to apply, using the same safety interests as before, Pratt said.
The policy “intends to protect and enhance the safety of all members and thereby support our ability to provide efficient fire and emergency medical services to the residents and visitors of the District of Columbia,” according to a general order from D.C. FEMS cited in the motion.
Each plaintiff informed their supervisor of the policy violating the federal court order, but was still reassigned from field duty in March 2020, Pratt said.
The enforcement was initially scheduled for April 2020 but was moved up through a special order issued by the department, which said that the spread of covid-19 would increase the use of “N-95 masks and air-purifying respirators” and that “the presence of facial hair interferes with the mask’s seal,” according to the motion. The policy in D.C. came in the earlier months of the coronavirus pandemic, but the firefighters argue that the District had planned to reinstate the beard ban before the covid emergency.
Firefighters File Suit Over Hair Policy
The reassignments to logistical positions resulted in the firefighters losing opportunities to earn overtime and holiday pay, which was less total pay than they would have received had they remained on field duty, the plaintiffs asserted.
Potter and his family “experienced increased psychological stress and frustration” because of the lesser income, and Umrani was “unable to participate in specific job training activities” and “was not allowed to apply for a promotion” at his firehouse because he was not in the field, their court filings said. Sterling said he was forced to “use leave time to attend medical appointments” and could no longer take his son to school on off days because the new assignment changed his schedule. Chasin also had to use leave time for medical appointments, according to the motion.
Potter and Sterling were restored to field duty in October 2021, and Umrani was in December 2021. Chasin transferred to an administrative position in March 2021 at his choosing, according to the motion.
The latest fight over the department’s grooming policies, earlier reported by WTOP, mirrors legal wrangling that goes back decades. In 2001, firefighters brought suit against D.C. FEMS for violating their religious freedoms by forcing them to cut their hair or shave their beards, and won. The department had argued the policy was enforced “to increase discipline, uniformity, safety and esprit de corps throughout this Department,” according to a Washington Post report at the time.
The District has the opportunity to respond to the motion as to why they should not be held in contempt of court. Attorneys are requesting compensatory relief for the plaintiffs.
After years of back and forth over beard policy, the plaintiffs again are seeking that the permanent court order is being followed under RFRA, and that firefighters practicing religious beliefs are protected, Pratt said.
“In a world without RFRA, it’s the minority religions that would suffer the most,” Pratt said. | 2022-11-26T11:48:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | DC firefighters sue DC over policy banning beards - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/dc-firefighters-beard-policy-ban/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/dc-firefighters-beard-policy-ban/ |
Scientists ‘re-discover’ lost pigeon species in Papua New Guinea
The odds were stacked against getting a photo of a black-naped pheasant pigeon, said Jordan Boersma, a postdoctoral researcher. (Abcbirds.org)
It has been 140 years since scientists identified the black-naped pheasant pigeon in the mountainous tropical forests of Papua New Guinea’s Fergusson Island. Since then, the chicken-sized bird has been so elusive that ornithologists began comparing it to Bigfoot.
Now, they’ve finally re-sighted it — and captured it on camera for the first time ever — with just hours to spare on a scientific expedition aimed at finding the long-lost bird.
Researchers are hailing the sighting as a “re-discovery” of a bird that is likely New Guinea’s most endangered, and they say they never could have accomplished it without the help of Indigenous communities.
The bird was caught on camera in late September. Scientists identified it on an expedition funded by the Search for Lost Birds, a quest to identify lost bird species worldwide sponsored by the American Bird Conservancy, BirdLife International, eBird and Re:wild. The organizations want to help science rediscover 150 bird species that have not yet been marked extinct, but that have not been observed in the past decade.
The black-naped pheasant pigeon may have been lost to science, but its continued existence on Fergusson Island was confirmed by local hunters and Indigenous people, who helped researchers identify potential locations. The scientists placed 20 camera traps around the 555-square-mile island at spots where locals said they’d seen and heard the bird. The camera that finally captured an image and video of the pheasant pigeon was on a steep, heavily jungled slope of Mt. Kilkerran.
“I figured there was less than a one-percent chance of getting a photo of the Black-naped Pheasant-Pigeon,” Jordan Boersma, postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University and co-leader of the expedition team, said in a release. “Then as I was scrolling through the photos, I was stunned by this photo of this bird walking right past our camera.”
Despite the sighting, the scientists believe the birds are few in number and critically endangered. They say they’ll cooperate with local communities on Fergusson Island to use the first-ever photo and video sightings of the ground-dwelling bird to help conserve the species.
The bird was previously known to science from just two specimens first collected by naturalist Andrew Goldie and named and described by British ornithologists Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin in 1883. | 2022-11-26T13:46:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Scientists ‘re-discover’ lost pigeon species in Papua New Guinea - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/11/26/scientists-re-discover-lost-pigeon-species-papua-new-guinea/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/11/26/scientists-re-discover-lost-pigeon-species-papua-new-guinea/ |
Live updates:World Cup live updates: Australia beats Tunisia, 1-0, to start day in Qatar
Sergiño Dest and the U.S. men meet Iran on Tuesday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
The last time the United States was in such a World Cup predicament was 2010 in South Africa. That campaign also began with a pair of draws, including one against England. Needing three points in the group finale against Algeria, the Americans were on the precipice of elimination when Landon Donovan scored one of the most famous goals in U.S. soccer history — a desperate, full-field team surge in stoppage time that sparking wild celebrations on the Pretoria pitch and back home.
On a 2022 squad packed with players in their late teens and early twenties, that moment was the one cited most frequently when they’ve been asked to recount their first or best World Cup memory. Donovan is now part of the Fox Sports announcing team in Qatar.
“Hopefully not as dramatic as that goal,” captain Tyler Adams, 23, said of Tuesday’s prospects. “I don’t want to leave it till the end.”
They’ve left it to the last game, with not a sliver of room for error, because they’re not scoring goals. Defensively, they’ve been terrific, conceding only a penalty kick. But the scoring drought that haunted them through much of the nervy World Cup qualifying campaign has festered since the summer.
The latest: The United States draws with England, 0-0, in its second World Cup game Friday to set up a must-win group finale against Iran. Read the highlights from the Group B matchup. | 2022-11-26T13:46:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | USMNT draw vs. England sets up must-win Iran game at World Cup - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/usmnt-england-draw-iran-world-cup/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/usmnt-england-draw-iran-world-cup/ |
(Justin Paget/Getty Images)
Retired running coach Bob Sevene, 79, struggled after his 2019 Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. The longtime runner suddenly began leaning to the right and was unable to straighten up. He started wearing a back brace and using a walker.
A year ago, Sevene began twice-weekly exercise classes designed for Parkinson’s patients that include high-intensity bouts of noncontact boxing. He also started daily 25-minute speed sessions on a stationary bike and running brief sprints in the hallway outside his apartment.
Today he stands upright and has ditched the back brace and walker. “My doctors have run strength, balance and gait tests, and everything has improved,” he says. “They decided to not up my medicine. I’m convinced exercise is the reason.”
This would not surprise Parkinson’s experts who point to a longtime and growing body of evidence that supports the positive impact of exercise on the disease. In a new surge of research, scientists are now studying which exercises at what level of intensity provide the greatest gains. The goal is to design an exercise prescription — one that will probably include a mix of high-intensity aerobics and balance, strengthening and stretching exercises — that delay the disease’s onset or, ideally, prevent it altogether. They also want to better understand what exercise does to the brain of a person with Parkinson’s, as well as its effects on nonmotor functions such as mood and cognition. To be sure, exercise can’t cure Parkinson’s — there is no cure — but most researchers believe it can make a positive difference for most patients.
“We have long known exercise is good for Parkinson’s patients,” says Giselle Petzinger, associate professor of neurology at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and an early proponent of exercise for Parkinson’s. “What we are trying to do now is further refine what we already know into practical applications for patients.”
Caroline Tanner, a neurology professor at the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at the University of California at San Francisco, predicted in a recent study that new Parkinson’s cases could drop by nearly half by 2030 if all undiagnosed adults regularly pushed themselves to 80 percent of their physical activity capacity. “This could have amazing public health consequences,” Tanner says.
Parkinson’s results from the death of key neurons in the substantia nigra region of the brain that produce the chemical messenger dopamine. Over time, the loss of these nerve cells disrupts movement and diminishes cognition; it can also cause slurred speech and depression. Outward signs can include tremors, muscle rigidity, slowed motion, poor posture and balance, and the inability to perform unconscious actions, for example, blinking, smiling or arm-swinging while walking.
Every 2,000 steps a day could help keep premature death at bay
Scientists regard it as a disease of aging, as most patients are older than 60 when diagnosed, although a small percentage occurs among those younger than 50. Nearly 1 million Americans are living with Parkinson’s, and about 60,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. Certain medications and other treatments can ease the symptoms.
Experts, who now regard exercise as chief among those treatments, say it can help at any stage of the disease.
“Typically, when a person starts a new exercise program, the goal is to improve,” says Maria Bellumori, associate professor of kinesiology at California State University at Monterey Bay and clinical director of Power Over Parkinson’s, or POP, the program Sevene attends. “Our goal is also improvement but, at the very least, maintenance. Because Parkinson’s is progressive, if you can maintain physical and cognitive function, that actually is an improvement.”
Ryan Cotton, acting president and CEO of Rock Steady Boxing, an international boxing program for people with Parkinson’s, says he has seen the value of intense workouts and cites several studies in recent years that show the positive impact of boxing. The curriculum is designed specifically for Parkinson’s.
“A boxer who is trying to be defensive would be hunched over, but Parkinson’s itself puts you in that position,” Cotton says. “We want you chin up and tall. Parkinson’s is a lonely disease, and many people don’t go out socially. But when you put on those gloves and start hitting the bag, that apprehension goes away and an ‘I’m kind of a badass’ swagger takes its place.”
He describes the impact on a retired military officer who began boxing six years ago. Dependent on a walker, the man would show up early for classes so he had time to hide the walker before anyone could see it. “He took out all his frustrations on the bag,” Cotton recalls. “Six months later, he was walking independently and later ran a half-marathon. Today someone seeing him on the street wouldn’t even notice he had Parkinson’s.”
Laughing and fighting back
S. Elizabeth Zauber, associate professor of clinical neurology at the Indiana University school of medicine, says the boxing sessions also contribute to a sense of community by creating “a support group that isn’t really a support group.” Zauber, who serves on Rock Steady’s board of directors and its medical advisory committee, says “It’s ‘Hey, let’s laugh at Parkinson’s and fight back.’ … It’s empowering when you see your symptoms improve, and that leads to more confidence.”
Daniel M. Corcos, professor of physical therapy and human movement sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, is leading a multisite clinical study among those with early Parkinson’s, that is, people diagnosed less than three years ago and who are not yet taking medications, comparing two levels of exercise.
The trial, which is recruiting participants, will study two groups. Members of one group will walk on a treadmill at a speed equal to 60 to 65 percent of their peak heart rate, while the second will work at 80 to 85 percent capacity. Maximal heart rate — the peak rate at which an individual’s heart beats — varies from person to person and is age-dependent. Younger people typically have a higher capacity.
A new algorithm could spot Parkinson’s early. Will it help?
Researchers will determine each participant’s peak rate through tests, then calculate that individual’s walking speed for their assigned capacity — either 60 to 65 percent or 80 to 85 percent. The participants will wear heart rate monitors and walk for 30 minutes, four times a week, for two years.
Earlier studies confirmed the safety and feasibility of both routines and suggested anecdotally that the higher-intensity walks produce more benefits.
Jay Alberts, a neuroscientist and vice chair of innovations of the Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute, has been studying the effects of cycling on Parkinson’s for nearly 20 years. His interest began in 2003 during a multiday group bicycle ride across Iowa. After pedaling a tandem bike with a Parkinson’s patient for several days, he noticed a dramatic improvement in her handwriting when she signed a greeting card.
“It was a real ‘aha’ moment,” Alberts says. “It got me thinking that maybe something was changing in the brain.”
Scientists still don’t know exactly what that is but have a few ideas suggesting that there probably are multiple mechanisms at work.
All exercise helps
Alberts believes exercise increases neurotrophic factors, small molecules, usually proteins, that promote the growth and survival of brain cells. “They don’t produce dopamine, but they may reduce the effects of whatever is causing the loss of dopamine,” he says.
The higher the exercise intensity, the greater the levels of neurotrophic factors, Alberts adds. However, “while high intensity may be optimal, whatever intensity someone can achieve is better than zero intensity,” he says.
A recent study in mice also found that irisin, a hormone secreted into the blood during endurance exercise, reduces the levels of alpha-synuclein, a protein abundant in the brain that has been linked to the development of Parkinson’s.
Tanner thinks exercise also might help tamp down chronic inflammation, which occurs when the immune system activates an inflammatory response that never shuts off, often a hallmark of neurologic disorders, she says.
And a recent study Alberts co-authored with Parkinson’s patients, for example, found that high-intensity aerobic exercise improved their information-processing ability.
In the study, 50 Parkinson’s patients engaged in high-intensity cycling on stationary bicycles three times a week for eight weeks. The researchers measured their ability to react to a timed task before starting the exercise program, and then again after it ended. Collectively, the participants showed faster reaction times compared with their earlier performances, indicating that “exercise enhances cognitive function,” Alberts says. Such improvement “could aid in the performance of activities of daily living,” he adds.
POP, the Monterey, Calif., program, includes mental exercises alongside physical ones to keep participants sharp. “While members are hitting the bags, we challenge them cognitively with spelling words, answering questions or doing math problems,” Bellumori says.
Exercise also eases other physical and emotional symptoms that afflict Parkinson’s patients, such as sleep disruption, mood changes and depression, apathy, low energy and constipation, experts say.
The Parkinson’s Foundation already recommends a combination of workouts, and experts say patients shouldn’t wait until scientists come up with research-based specifics to start exercising. “There already is enough excellent evidence to suggest this is a very good thing to do if you are a person with Parkinson’s,” Tanner says. | 2022-11-26T13:46:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Can exercise keep Parkinson's disease at bay? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/11/26/parkinsons-exercise-prescription/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/11/26/parkinsons-exercise-prescription/ |
In this picture released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of Basij paramilitary force in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Iran’s supreme leader praised paramilitary volunteers tasked with quashing dissent on Saturday in a televised address as dozens of eye doctors warned that a rising number of demonstrators have been blinded by security forces during anti-government protests. The Basij have taken a leading role in clamping down on demonstrations that began Sept. 17, ignited by the death of a young woman while in the custody of Iran’s morality police. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) (Uncredited/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader) | 2022-11-26T13:46:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Iran leader praises force tasked with quashing protests - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iran-leader-praises-force-tasked-with-quashing-protests/2022/11/26/77b6c47a-6d86-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iran-leader-praises-force-tasked-with-quashing-protests/2022/11/26/77b6c47a-6d86-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Irene Cara and Keith Forsey (center), best original song winners at the 56th Annual Academy Awards show for "Flashdance... What a Feeling," backstage with presenters Jennifer Beals and Matthew Broderick on April 9, 1984 in Los Angeles, California. (Bob Riha Jr./Getty Images)
Cara died at her home in Florida, her publicist said in a statement on her website, adding that the cause of death was currently unknown. “She was a beautifully gifted soul whose legacy will live forever through her music and films,” she added.
Cara won an Oscar for best original song and two Grammys, for best female pop vocal performance and original score for a motion picture, for the song “Flashdance… What a Feeling.” | 2022-11-26T14:47:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 'Fame' and 'Flashdance' singer Irene Cara dies at 63 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/26/irene-cara-death-fame-flashdance/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/26/irene-cara-death-fame-flashdance/ |
America’s gun violence and the incalculable toll of empty seats
After the Walmart shooting, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said it’s not time to talk about gun control. But too many families know it’s past time.
Empty chairs are seen on the street after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)
I teach a class at a local university, and one of the first lessons I give is one I wish I had received as a journalism student: how to interview people who have experienced trauma.
When you’re in college and considering reporting as a profession, it’s natural to focus on where you hope your career ends up. Maybe you want to investigate the misdeeds of government agencies, or write features about high-profile figures, or cover a national beat that addresses technology, health or politics. And maybe one day you will get there.
But first, you will probably find yourself sitting across from, or on the phone with, a person who has lost someone suddenly to gun violence.
You will probably find yourself at least once, if not repeatedly, I tell my students, talking with a person about the newly empty seat at their table.
The empty seat. It seems almost a cliche image. But if you talk to people who have experienced an unexpected loss, they will tell you about the very real pain of looking at that tangible reminder of once-occupied space.
In a column this past spring, I shared with you the trauma my middle-school classmates and I carried after gang members (who had the wrong address) barged into a teenage birthday party and started spraying bullets from handguns and shotguns. They injured several students from my school and killed my 14-year-old classmate Blanca Garcia.
I was a kid when a classmate was shot and killed. That trauma lasts.
I have forgotten many details from that time in my life; I can’t even tell you which posters hung on my bedroom walls. But the sight of her empty desk in our classroom remains a seared-in memory. At the time, it hurt to look at it, and it hurt to ignore it. And I wasn’t alone in feeling that way. After the Uvalde shooting, when I spoke to a former classmate of mine who had become an educator, he described his empathy turning to numbness: “It went away when we came to school on Monday morning and saw her empty desk. That’s when the innocence of my childhood left.”
Empty desk. Empty office cubicle. Empty chair. Between domestic shootings, street shootings and mass shootings, we are a country filled with empty seats.
Each year, journalists write stories that tabulate annual homicides regionally and nationally. You will start seeing some of those pieces published soon. Many of those numbers come from counts by local and federal law enforcement agencies. But since trauma seeps in messy, wide-reaching ways, affecting not only victims but everyone who cared about them, there is no way to know how many people have actually been affected by gun violence. In that way, the true toll of empty seats is incalculable.
What we do know is those numbers are rising at concerning rates across the country, including in horrific ways in two mass shootings this month in Virginia.
On Nov. 13, a student gunman opened fire on a bus returning to Charlottesville from a D.C. field trip, where he and other University of Virginia students had watched a play about Emmett Till and eaten Ethiopian food. Three student-athletes — Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry — were killed, and two other students were injured.
Then, on Tuesday, an employee at a Walmart in Chesapeake shot and killed six co-workers before turning the gun on himself. In his rampage, he took the lives of Kellie Pyle, Lorenzo Gamble, Brian Pendleton, Randall Blevins, Tyneka Johnson and Fernando Chavez-Barron. Chavez-Barron, whose name was not released initially because of his age, was just 16.
On Friday, authorities released a note found on the phone of the gunman, whose name I’m not including here to minimize the attention he receives. It was labeled “Death note” and ended with the line: “God forgive me for what I’m going to do.”
Authorities also revealed on Friday that he had bought the 9mm handgun he used in the shooting that same morning. It was that easy for him. He was able to walk into a place carrying whatever thoughts would drive him to want to kill his co-workers and walk out with the ability to carry out that destruction.
After that shooting, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) was asked whether he was open to legislative solutions to prevent gun violence, and he put off giving an answer. He told reporters now was not the time to discuss it.
“We’ll talk about it,” Youngkin said, according to reports. “We will talk about this. Today is not the day. It’s not the day. But it will be. And we will talk about it.”
Now is exactly when we need to talk about implementing more gun-control measures. Too many families know it is far past time we talk about it. Putting off those conversations means delaying action, which means more shootings, more death, more empty seats.
When I decided to become a journalist, I never expected to write about shooting deaths. But in the span of my career, I have written about the subject again and again — and again. I can’t tell you how many times, because I can’t bring myself to count all those pieces.
I interviewed college students on the Virginia Tech campus after the mass shooting there, knowing that even as they spoke about bright futures, they would carry some of the darkness of that day with them.
I sat across from a mom as she talked about why she wanted lawmakers to see the post-shooting autopsy photos of her 16-year-old daughter, a girl who used to text her “I looovvvvve you Mommy.”
This mother wants you to see a disturbing photo of her fatally shot daughter. Maybe it’s time we look.
I listened as a woman described going on a date with her husband, a Peace Corps worker, and then telling him repeatedly, “We love you” as he lay dying after being struck by a stray bullet.
I have had parents collapse on me and sob as they’ve talked about the children they have lost to gun violence, and I have watched children try to look brave and unaffected as they’ve talked about losing adults in their lives to gun violence. I’m tired of writing those pieces. I also feel driven to keep writing those pieces.
As journalists, all we can do is tell you these stories. We can’t put in place the legislation that will help make it more difficult for people intent on killing to get guns, or enforce the laws that already exist to protect people from gun violence.
We can just talk to people about the empty seats at their table — and, until things change, prepare future journalists to do the same. | 2022-11-26T14:47:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Confronting the grief of empty seats as 2022 mass shootings mount - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/gun-violence-mass-shootings-2022/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/gun-violence-mass-shootings-2022/ |
Pedestrian fatally struck on Northern Virginia road, police say
A pedestrian was struck and killed Friday in Manassas on Prince William Parkway, according to police in Prince William County, Va.
Prince William police said Saturday that officers received reports of a crash just after 6 p.m. Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, in an area where the parkway meets Crooked Knoll Way. At the scene, officers found an injured pedestrian, Sarah Jane Williams, 35, of Dumfries, Va. Williams was taken to a hospital, where she died of her injuries, authorities said.
Police said the driver of the vehicle remained on the scene.
The police crash investigation team concluded that the driver, who was in a 2005 Toyota Sienna, was westbound on Prince William Parkway when he struck Williams, “who was wearing dark clothing and walking within the middle of the roadway,” authorities said.
Police said that “speed or impairment” did not appear to be “factors in the collision on the part of the driver.” Authorities continue to investigate the crash. | 2022-11-26T17:11:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Pedestrian fatally struck on Northern Virginia road, police say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/pedestrian-prince-william-parkway-killed/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/pedestrian-prince-william-parkway-killed/ |
D.C. police investigate shooting as possible road rage
The gunfire took place in the southbound portion of the Third Street Tunnel on Friday evening
D.C. police said a woman was shot Friday in the southbound portion of the Third Street Tunnel. (iStock)
D.C. police are investigating whether a shooting in the Third Street Tunnel on Friday night was connected to road rage.
According to authorities, D.C. police were dispatched to the 600 block of E Street SW around 8:56 p.m. Friday in response to a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they found a woman who had been shot in one leg. The woman, who was conscious and breathing, was taken to a hospital, police said.
They said that the shooting occurred in the southbound portion of the tunnel, which is part of Interstate 395, but that the victim was able to drive to the address to which police were sent.
Road rage incidents are on the rise. Here is how you can protect yourself.
Police said the specifics of what led to the shooting are being investigated, but they said preliminary information indicated that it may have been part of a road rage incident. Authorities are looking for a black Honda Accord that may have been involved. | 2022-11-26T18:03:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | D.C. police investigate possible road rage incident in 3rd Street Tunnel - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/shooting-third-street-tunnel-dc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/shooting-third-street-tunnel-dc/ |
Matt Rhule is set to be introduced as Nebraska's next football coach on Monday after most recently serving as coach of the Carolina Panthers. (Michael Conroy/AP)
Matt Rhule has been named the next football coach at Nebraska, the school announced Saturday morning, after directing turnarounds at several other college programs.
A news conference is scheduled for Monday in Lincoln, Neb., where Athletic Director Trev Alberts will formally introduce Rhule, whose résumé includes becoming the first coach to take a Power Five school from 11 losses to 11 wins within three seasons.
Rhule’s contract is for eight years, with additional details to be announced Monday.
“It is a tremendous honor to be chosen to lead the Nebraska football program,” Rhule, 47, said in a statement. “When you think of great, tradition-rich programs in college football Nebraska is right there at the top of the list. I consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to coach at Memorial Stadium on Tom Osborne Field.”
Rhule takes over a program that has not won more than five games in each of the last six years and posted one winning season since 2015. The Cornhuskers went through three coaches during that time, most recently Mickey Joseph on an interim basis when Scott Frost was fired this season after a 1-2 start.
The Cornhuskers have not reached double-digit wins since 2012, the program’s second year in the Big Ten after leaving the Big 12. Their last bowl appearance came in 2016 under former coach Mike Riley.
Rhule’s track record for rebuilding programs was most compelling for Nebraska. In 2019, Rhule guided Baylor to an 11-3 record, an appearance in the Big 12 championship game and a Sugar Bowl berth. The Bears went 1-11 during Rhule’s first season in 2017.
Before Baylor, Rhule led Temple to 28 wins over four years, including consecutive 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016, when the Owls won the AAC championship. Temple had not won 10 games in a season since 1979 before Rhule’s arrival.
“Coach Rhule has created a winning culture throughout his coaching career, and he will provide great leadership for the young men in our football program,” Alberts said in a statement. “Matt is detail-oriented, his teams are disciplined and play a physical brand of football.”
Rhule spent the previous three seasons as coach of the Carolina Panthers, who fired him Oct. 10 less than three full years into a seven-year contract worth $62 million. He went 5-11 in his first season and 5-12 last year while failing to develop a franchise quarterback. | 2022-11-26T18:21:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Nebraska names Matt Rhule as its next football coach - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/matt-rhule-nebraska-football-coach/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/matt-rhule-nebraska-football-coach/ |
Pedestrian fatally struck in Loudoun County, sheriff’s office says
A pedestrian was struck and killed in Lovettsville on Friday, according to authorities in Loudoun County.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday that the crash took place shortly before midnight at the intersection of N. Berline Turnpike and Bavarian Way. The pedestrian struck was Kenneth Burdette Henderson, 73, of Lovettsville.
Authorities said that Henderson was not in the crosswalk at the time of the crash, and that there was no indication “driver impairment or speed” were factors in the accident. They said that the driver, whose name they have not released, remained on the scene.
The Loudoun sheriff’s office is continuing to investigate the crash. | 2022-11-26T20:14:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Pedestrian fatally struck in Lovettsville, Loudoun County authorities say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/pedestrian-struck-lovettsville-loudoun/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/26/pedestrian-struck-lovettsville-loudoun/ |
Terrapins 37, Scarlet Knights 0
Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa (3) celebrated with linebacker Caleb Wheatland (44) after leading the Terrapins to a 37-0 win over Rutgers on Saturday. (Nick Wass/AP)
Maryland’s football program hasn’t had many reasons to celebrate lately, but toward the end of this home finale against a hapless Rutgers squad, joy had already begun radiating from the sideline.
The Terps offense returned to the benches after one of many successful drives, and veteran wide receiver Jeshaun Jones urged his quarterback to stand. The video board recognized Taulia Tagovailoa for breaking yet another program record, this time for career passing touchdowns, and the crowd cheered. Jones grabbed Tagovailoa’s hand and raised his arm in acknowledgment while pointing to the player who has elevated this program in three years as the starter.
The Terps dominated in a 37-0 victory, in large part thanks to Tagovailoa, despite the quarterback hobbling through the matchup at times because of a knee injury that has given him trouble this season.
Maryland (7-5, 4-5 Big Ten) had suffered three straight losses, including a pair of lopsided blowouts that tarnished the final month of the regular season that began with plenty of promise. But as seniors played their final games in College Park, the Terps rediscovered their groove. Maryland’s defense stifled the Scarlet Knights Rutgers (4-8, 1-8) and delivered the program’s first shutout in conference play since 2008.
Jones, a fifth-year player who has torn his ACL twice, notched a career-high 152 receiving yards on senior day. He scored with a 27-yard grab during the fourth quarter, the final highlight in his excellent outing that handed Tagovailoa his 50th career passing touchdown, more than any Terp in the school’s history.
Tagovailoa limped off the field just before halftime, but he returned after the break, continuing to lead the offense and break a record while jogging gingerly between plays. Tagovailoa finished with 342 yards on 25-of-37 passing before Eric Najarian relived him late in the game. Billy Edwards Jr., the Terps’ backup quarterback, was not available because of an ankle injury. The Terps were also without leading receiver Rakim Jarrett, who missed the game with a knee injury.
Though Maryland leaned heavily on Tagovailoa’s arm, redshirt freshman running back Roman Hemby found the end zone three times. He finished with 70 rushing yards and propelled Maryland to its comfortable lead early with two first-half scores from the 1-yard line and another in the third quarter from the 8.
Maryland notched seven regular season wins for the first time since 2014, and if the Terps win their bowl game, they will finish with eight total wins for the first time since 2010. Maryland’s seventh regular season win triggered a one-year contract extension for Locksley, with his deal now running through 2027.
After Maryland honored its seniors during a pregame ceremony, Dontay Demus Jr., in his fifth season with the Terps, became the seventh player in program history to amass at least 2,000 career receiving yards. He had a quiet outing with just 13 yards but managed to reach that key milestone. Kicker Chad Ryland, another fifth-year player who transferred from Eastern Michigan, had a standout senior day by making all three of his field goal attempts.
The Rutgers offense had a dreadful showing with just 135 yards and gave Maryland’s defense the opportunity to shine. The Scarlet Knights finished the first half with 59 yards, two first downs, an 0-for-7 clip on third down and no points. Six of their drives before the break ended with punts, including five that failed to pick up a first down. Rutgers’s most successful series went 22 yards before it ended with a failed attempt to convert a fourth down.
The Terps needed time before they capitalized, despite having a much more efficient offense from the start. During the first quarter, Maryland had two drives into Rutgers territory that were derailed by fumbles. Finally, the Terps turned their next methodical series into Hemby’s first touchdown and cruised from there. | 2022-11-26T21:24:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Maryland football shuts out Rutgers to wrap regular season - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/maryland-football-shuts-out-rutgers/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/maryland-football-shuts-out-rutgers/ |
Maryland guard Abby Meyers (10) helped the Terps bounce back from a loss with an 81-70 win over Towson in the Fort Myers Tip-Off. (Chris Tilley/Intersport)
FORT MYERS, Fla. — After Diamond Miller air balled a floater and committed her fifth foul in the process during Friday’s upset loss to DePaul, the senior was hungry to bounce back.
Miller didn’t disappoint, scoring 10 points in the first half and finishing with a game-high 20 in an 81-70 win over Towson on Saturday during the second day of the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
No. 14 Maryland played fast early and held the lead for the majority of the contest. The Terps (5-2) led for just under 33 minutes over the Tigers (3-2).
“We had a great opportunity today, so I just knew I can’t go back in time,” Miller said. “All I could do was focus on what I had to do today.”
Last time out: Maryland women fall behind early and struggle all game in loss to DePaul
Faith Masonius continued having success in Fort Myers, posting 14 points. She also had six rebounds and three assists, two of which where she found a driving Abby Meyers, who finished with 11 points. Masonius has finished in double figures in four of the previous five games.
“Faith is a glue player,” Miller said. “She does the things that nobody wants to do. She does it consistently, and that’s why she has to stay on the court. It’s cool to see her have this role, because last year she got hurt, and she wasn’t able to do that. The fact that she’s bounced back the way she has, I’m so happy and proud of her.”
In the losing effort for Towson, Skye Williams paced the team with 19 points. The Tigers’ leading scorer, Kylie Kornegay-Lucas, had 16 points on 6-of-24 shooting. India Johnston had 17 points off the bench.
Maryland will take on Pittsburgh on Sunday in hopes of finishing 2-1 in the Sunshine State before entering December with a pair of premier matchups against No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 3 Connecticut.
From the start, Maryland opted to play fast and match Towson’s pressure offensively, with Shyanne Sellers running the point for some of those runs early on.
Sellers, who made her second start of the season after coming off the bench Friday, closed with 14 points, four rebounds, and five assists on 5-for-9 shooting. She also had a pair of steals and was the linchpin in Maryland’s press defense early in the game.
“I kind of just wanted to do the same thing I usually do,” Sellers said. “Bring defensive energy, redirect plays, and just be there for my team and help them push the pace.”
Maryland Coach Brenda Frese liked what she got from her decision to change lineups, with Sellers in and Lavender Briggs out.
“I thought Shy did a phenomenal job as the head of that press for us defensively,” Frese said. “She brought the motor, and she does every time. She’s super aggressive, and it gives us some great energy on top of the press. She’s quite honestly been our third guard that has continued to show up every night to be able to produce on both ends of the floor.”
Familiar faces reunite
Towson Coach Laura Harper played for Frese at Maryland from 2004-08. The two shared a moment before and after the game, meeting with a hug at midcourt during the postgame handshake line.
“It was an honor to play against Brenda Frese,” Harper said. “Everything I am pretty much is because of her, and my experiences at Maryland. I truly believe the championship culture and quality of person I am, I owe it to her. It’s just a blessing to be able to sit on the other side and share the floor with her.”
Added Frese: “It’s always a special time when you get to go against one of your former players with Laura Harper. We have Joe Glowacki who worked with us and is there just doing a tremendous job at Towson. I love what they’re building. They’re going to do some pretty incredible things. I thought they had a terrific game plan.”
Cooke closes strong
Freshman guard Gia Cooke took advantage of her minutes, which mostly came in the second half. Cooke led the Terps with 6 points in the fourth quarter, matching Sellers’s point total in the final frame.
Elisa Pinzan, whom Cooke replaced, logged 16 minutes in the first half while finishing the game with 19 minutes total. Cooke had 14 minutes across the final 20 minutes, adding three assists and a pair of rebounds. Pinzan ended with 5 points.
“I didn’t think she was necessarily hurting us,” Frese said of Pinzan. “I thought with Gigi’s speed, we needed some of that. You’re seeing Faith, and the box outs that are taking place, and she’s able to fly in there, and get some of those loose-ball rebounds. She’s really, really fast, and I thought Gigi played a phenomenal floor general game. That’s what we need. She was poised, she was patient, she pushed when she needed to, that’s huge for us as our freshmen continue to gain experience.” | 2022-11-26T21:24:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Maryland women's basketball bounces back with win over Towson - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/maryland-women-basketball-beat-towson/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/maryland-women-basketball-beat-towson/ |
The army is back at the center of Pakistan’s politics
Pakistani President Arif Alvi, left, meets with Lt. Gen. Asim Munir, the new army chief, in Islamabad on Thursday. (Press Information Department handout via Reuters)
After months of intrigue, Pakistan finally has a new army chief. The job is going to Lt. Gen. Asim Munir, a former head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the powerful military intelligence agency. Many Pakistanis breathed a sigh of relief at the news, which has — at least for the moment — warded off fears of a fresh political crisis. The reason: In recent months, ex-prime minister Imran Khan has been pushing for a confrontation with the senior army leadership that some feared might lead to the army announcing martial law. For the moment, at least, that threat appears to have been averted.
The current situation would have been hard to predict back in 2018, when Khan became prime minister in an election that has been described as one of the dirtiest in the country’s history, marked by intimidation, corruption and extensive vote-rigging. It is widely assumed that Khan — who was toppled from power by a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April — benefited from the army’s support at the time. Khan’s main political opponent, Nawaz Sharif, blamed then-army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa for toppling his government. (Khan tried to turn the tables by accusing Sharif of exploiting the army’s support.)
During his first months in office, Khan enjoyed close ties with the military. His good relationship with the generals raised his credibility in India’s eyes, which helped him launch many initiatives to normalize relations with Delhi, including a cease-fire achieved last year.
But differences soon began to emerge. Gen. Bajwa wanted to move fast in improving relations with India, but Khan was more cautious. In the fall of 2021, Khan became involved in a conflict with the army over the fate of Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, whom Khan wanted to retain as the head of the ISI despite the army’s plans to transfer him to another position. Khan’s opponents began to suspect that he was planning to appoint Hameed as the new army chief to achieve his own political objectives. (The current chief of the ISI, Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum, recently accused Khan of demanding unspecified “illegal” favors from the military.) When the opposition realized that Khan no longer enjoyed the army’s support, they seized advantage of his vulnerability by removing him through a vote of no confidence.
That is the source of Khan’s current grudge against the military: He believes that his former allies betrayed him politically, and he’s been trying to get revenge by doing everything he can in the past few weeks to block the appointment of a new army chief. It’s important to remember that Khan isn’t just an ordinary Pakistani opposition leader — he’s a major power player. His party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), controls two big provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as two smaller regions, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. The president of Pakistan, Arif Alvi, is a former member of the PTI; he serves as the supreme commander of the armed forces, meaning that the prime minister is supposed to consult him, at least formally, on the appointment of any new army chief. Khan tried to enlist Alvi’s help to block a new appointment; in the end, though, the president took a more cautious stance, advising Khan not to alienate the new head of the army.
Khan’s resentment of the military has led him to extremes. Lately he’s been accusing the army of trying to kill him, blaming a serving general (as well as the government) for involvement in the recent shooting that left Khan wounded. Yet there is zero evidence for the claim. (The shooter, who was arrested, cited religious reasons for the attack, though his motives are not entirely clear.) In recent days, Khan tried to add fuel to his feud with the military by staging a major rally in the garrison town of Rawalpindi. In the end, though, he decided to call off a planned march on nearby Islamabad, the capital, to avoid causing “havoc,” he said.
Khan’s attempts to foment instability by stirring up conflict with the army probably serve his larger goal of pushing for fresh elections this winter. Many politicians think that Khan is intentionally trying to provoke a state of martial law because he wants to become a political martyr to avoid disqualification under corruption charges. Khan himself said in a recent interview: “Let there be martial law, I am not scared.”
Bajwa, the outgoing head of the army, just gave a speech in which he affirmed that the military will stay out of politics in the future. Yet the fact remains that no issue is generating more public discussion and concern now than the role of the army. Ironically, it’s all thanks to Khan’s maneuverings.
If Khan, as he claims, truly supports an apolitical role for the military, he has my support. Remaining neutral will be the biggest challenge for the new army chief. He must prove that he is not taking sides and that he is not more powerful than the parliament, which should be allowed to shape the country’s foreign policy — especially regarding Afghanistan and relations with India — without interference. The new army chief should focus his efforts on the deteriorating law-and-order situation in the areas bordering Afghanistan, where his soldiers are coming under attack every day.
But Pakistan’s state of political uncertainty doesn’t end there. Now that his bid to block the army chief appointment has failed, Khan has shocked everyone with a new move: He has announced that the PTI will pull out of the provincial assemblies it controls. He has played his final card. Pakistanis are bracing for what happens next.
Opinion|India needs to jump-start manufacturing. Here’s how to do it. | 2022-11-26T21:54:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The army is back at the center of Pakistan’s politics - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/26/pakistan-army-chief-imran-khan/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/26/pakistan-army-chief-imran-khan/ |
Dub Crochet with his family on Nov. 9, when he was discharged from the hospital after 453 days. (Photos courtesy of Rachel Crochet)
The Bellaire, Tex., man had contracted a bad case of the coronavirus disease in August 2021 before being confined to a hospital for months — and keeping him from enjoying milestones and holidays.
McKenzie Beard contributed to this report. | 2022-11-26T22:38:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Texas man home for the holidays after 453 days in hospital recovering covid - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11/26/texas-man-with-covid-home-for-holidays/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11/26/texas-man-with-covid-home-for-holidays/ |
Sanctions were eased following a government-opposition agreement on humanitarian aid and further discussions on elections.
The move came as the government of Nicolás Maduro held its first formal talks with Venezuela’s opposition coalition in more than a year. Meeting in Mexico City on Saturday, the two sides agreed to ask the United Nations to manage several billion dollars in government funds held in foreign banks that will be unfrozen to help assuage a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
The official dismissed reports that the administration was acting to ease an oil shortage and high energy prices exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Allowing Chevron to begin to lift oil from Venezuela is not something that is going to impact international oil prices. This is really about Venezuela and the Venezuelan process,” the official said, where the United States is “supporting a peaceful, negotiated outcome to the political, humanitarian and economic crisis.”
China sentences Canadian pop star Kris Wu to prison for rape | 2022-11-26T22:42:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | U.S. grants Chevron license to pump oil in Venezuela - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/26/us-grants-chevron-license-pump-oil-venezuela/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/26/us-grants-chevron-license-pump-oil-venezuela/ |
She brought Sinatra, then a singing waiter, to the attention of her husband, bandleader Harry James
By Adam Bernstein
Benny Goodman and Louise Tobin in 1939. (The Louise Tobin and Peanuts Hucko Jazz Collection/Texas A&M University at Commerce)
Louise Tobin, a big-band singer of the 1930s and ’40s who urged her then-husband, trumpet player and orchestra leader Harry James, to hire a promising young man she heard on the radio, a New Jersey singing waiter named Frank Sinatra, died Nov. 26 at a granddaughter’s home in Carrollton, Tex. She was 104.
Her biographer Kevin Mooney confirmed the death but did not know the immediate cause.
Ms. Tobin was a husky-throated Texan who began singing professionally in her teens and had a modestly successful career as a “girl singer,” performing with bands fronted by Benny Goodman, Will Bradley and Bobby Hackett.
She recorded hits with Goodman, including the standards “There’ll Be Some Changes Made” and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” but quit the group to raise two sons she had with James. “We were more trying to establish Harry than we were trying to establish me,” she recalled to the Dallas Morning News.
James had recently left the Goodman band to start his own outfit and needed a male singer. One day in June 1939, Tobin was in a Manhattan hotel room, listening to a radio hookup from an Englewood Cliffs, N.J., roadhouse called the Rustic Cabin. She roused her husband from his nap.
“I heard this boy singing, and I thought, ‘There’s a fair singer!’ ” she recounted to jazz historian Will Friedwald. “So I woke Harry and said, ‘Honey, you might want to hear this kid on the radio. The boy singer on this show sounds pretty good.’ That was the end of it, as far as I was concerned.”
James caught the broadcast the next night and went to the club looking for the vocalist with the creamy voice. “We don’t have a singer,” the manager told him quizzically. “But we have an emcee who sings a little bit.”
James offered Sinatra, who also was waiting tables, a year-long contract at $75 a week. Within months, they were recording “All or Nothing At All” and other ballads that established Sinatra not only as a commercial force — he would soon be lured to Tommy Dorsey’s far more popular band — but also as the preeminent singer of his generation.
Ms. Tobin’s marriage disintegrated rapidly, a casualty of what she described as James’s wandering eye and swelling ego. James, lured to Hollywood to appear in films, began squiring noted pinup and star of movie musicals Betty Grable, who became his second wife. As Ms. Tobin’s career ebbed, she returned to North Texas and raised her children.
Producers gradually enticed her back into the festival circuit, including a 1962 appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, where New Yorker jazz critic Whitney Balliett praised her for singing “with warmth and a total lack of calculation.” She married jazz clarinetist Michael “Peanuts” Hucko in 1967 and performed with him for three decades.
Mary Louise Tobin was born in Aubrey, Tex., on Nov. 11, 1918, and grew up in nearby Denton, where she was one of 11 siblings raised by her widowed mother. Her father died because of injuries suffered in a car accident.
Louise sang for local community groups and, at 14, won a talent contest on a CBS radio station in Dallas, having to stand on a carton to reach the microphone. She was soon singing at dance functions across the state, chaperoned by an older sister. “I was thrilled,” she told the Morning News. “My fulfillment was not to have to wash dishes.”
Within a few years, she joined a regional band led by Art Hicks that also featured James as lead trumpeter and that toured movie theaters and hotel ballrooms. She and James married in 1935; she was 16, and he was 19.
Survivors include two sons, Harry James Jr. and Jerin Timothyray “Tim” James; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
With Hucko, who died in 2003, she co-owned the Navarre supper club in Denver and toured Europe, Australia and Japan as an apostle for the big-band sound. As she told the Morning News, “Jazz, it’s freedom.” | 2022-11-26T22:55:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Louise Tobin, big-band singer who helped discover Frank Sinatra, dies at 104 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/26/louise-tobin-singer-harry-james-frank-sinatra-dies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/26/louise-tobin-singer-harry-james-frank-sinatra-dies/ |
Arundel extends season to furthest point, where it will meet North Point
Teams will meet in the Maryland 4A/3A final Friday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis
The North Point Eagles, pictured after a quarterfinal win over Sherwood, area headed to the Maryland 4A/3A title game. (Michael Errigo/The Washington Post)
Every Thursday night, the Arundel Wildcats prepare for the end. In each of the past three weeks, as the team has practiced ahead of playoff games, they have wrapped up the week by packing and cleaning as if the season is over. Practice gear is organized, sleds slid away.
For the coaches, this saves a few hours should the playoff run actually end the next night. For the players, the custom sends a message that is simple and clear: All of this could be over soon.
“Everything goes away,” senior running back Ahmad Taylor said. “It’s a strong reminder of the stakes of the game, and it keeps us on track.”
Week after week, Arundel has had to pull the equipment back out to prepare for the next game. On Friday night, the Wildcats ensured this season would last as long as possible; they defeated Dundalk, 6-0, in the Maryland 4A/3A semifinals. Arundel will face North Point on Friday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.
“That is a gritty win,” Wildcats Coach Jack Walsh said. “Super proud of this team after that. Not just that, I’m super impressed by them. This is a group that just loves playing football. If people tell us we’re not supposed to win games like these, [the players] say ‘Then beat us.’ ”
Arundel last reached the state championship game in 2007 and last won a title in 1975. To make it back to the game’s biggest stage, the Wildcats knew they would have to win a defensive battle against the Owls. The team also knew it would have to adapt on offense. Arundel is a program that has long employed a spread offense, and this season junior quarterback Gavin Kamachi helmed a dynamic group.
But Kamachi broke his collarbone late in the team’s quarterfinal win over Seneca Valley, and the program was already down its backup quarterback. Unable to mount its usual aerial attack, it relied on Taylor to take a portion of the snaps and set the tone for the running game. He scored the team’s lone touchdown in the third quarter.
“We were trying to grind the game out and kill clock, which is something that Arundel doesn’t normally do,” Taylor said. “But our defense doesn’t surprise me anymore; they’ve bailed us out of so many games and balled out for us so many times. I’m just glad other people really get to see how good they are now.”
Dundalk threatened to tie or win the game with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, bringing the ball inside the 10. But junior Pat Connolly ended the game with an interception, sending his sideline into hysterics and punching Arundel’s ticket to Friday’s final.
Waiting for them in Annapolis will be North Point, which defeated Urbana, 17-0, on Friday. The Eagles, one of several strong teams in Southern Maryland this fall, have set themselves apart in the postseason behind stellar defensive play. North Point has outscored opponents 133-0 in the postseason thus far.
This will be North Point’s second trip to a state championship, their previous appearance coming in 2018. Facing a five-time state champion in Urbana, the Eagles had a strong week of practice as they aimed to prove they belonged in Maryland’s top hierarchies.
“I think we’re still considered outsiders in the state,” interim coach Bill Condo said. “We’ve won some games and made some noise, but we’re not part of that small fraternity of historic programs around the state. Slowly, we’re trying to work for that, and last night we got the opportunity to face one of those programs in Urbana.”
The team aimed to score 24 points Friday, as it felt confident its defense could hold the Hawks under that number. Instead, it came through with another shutout to earn one of the biggest wins in program history.
“We had about 25 [alumni] at our practice on Thanksgiving morning,” Condo said. “I thought it was important for our guys to see that they’re part of something greater than themselves. There’s kids that have played before them and kids that will come after them, but this is their moment.” | 2022-11-26T22:55:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Arundel extends season to furthest point, where it will meet North Point - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/arundel-extends-season-furthest-point-where-it-will-meet-north-point/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/arundel-extends-season-furthest-point-where-it-will-meet-north-point/ |
Loudoun County’s gamble backfires, breakout season ends in playoffs
Loudoun County's season ended with a 35-34 loss to Kettle Run on Saturday in Leesburg. (Spencer Nusbaum)
It was, by all accounts, the most important play in the history of the county’s oldest football program. Trailing by one with a minute remaining and an extra-point attempt awaiting in Saturday afternoon’s Class 4 Region C final against Kettle Run, Loudoun County players urged Coach Matt Reidenbaugh to go for the win.
He obliged. The rushing attack, successful all afternoon, bolted to the right, trying to find a seam in the offensive line. For one of the few times all season, and certainly in this game, it wasn’t there. Loudoun County was stuffed and eliminated from the playoffs, 35-34, in Leesburg. Instead, Kettle Run (13-0) advanced to the state semifinal.
“We played a great team today,” Reidenbaugh said. “Our kids battled hard, we almost had it figured out there, but it came down to the end and we just couldn’t get it done.”
Players stayed for almost 30 minutes after the game to share hugs, tears and words of encouragement as Kettle Run celebrated on the Captains’ home turf.
This year, Loudoun County players said, meant more than most. After the Captains (12-1) won the Dulles District title, senior Thomas Tyler held up the trophy with his father, a member of one of the team’s four district-winning squads.
From September: Loudoun County credits 4-0 start to ‘IHOP season’
Throughout the playoffs, players from previous decades filled the stands. After Saturday’s game, hundreds of fans stayed late to applaud the Captains as they headed for the exits.
Success so often proved elusive for Loudoun County over recent years, and this season was different. At the end of 2021, Reidenbaugh told the Captains they would play after Thanksgiving in 2022. This season was the second time they did so. By all accounts, Reidenbaugh said, it was the best season in the school’s 68-year history.
“[My teammates] are my family,” senior tight end Joey Fitzpatrick said. “Every single one of them. People will remember this team for years to come.”
Their success, players said, was predicated on a selfless approach. The offensive line, which helped lead team yoga sessions on top of a punishing rushing attack, sported the nickname “IHOP season.” Senior Jackson Snyder, the emotional and physical anchor of the Captains’ defense, earned the title of “team dad.”
The Captains also figured they matched up equally with Kettle Run. Neither team committed a penalty or turnover in the first half, and each used clock-draining runs and short-yardage success to make the game 14-14 at the half. Twenty minutes passed with each side scoring two touchdowns apiece, tying the score again at 28-28.
For all of Loudoun County’s heroics, the region title would remain out of grasp as a 31-yard touchdown pass from Kettle Run receiver Jordan Tapscott on an end-around gave the Cougars a 35-28 lead with three minutes remaining. Fitzpatrick’s 26-yard touchdown reception two minutes later, punctuated by a stiff-arm at the 1-yard line, gave the Leesburg faithful hope. But after the two-point conversion attempt, it wasn’t enough.
“The more upset you are, the more invested you are,” Reidenbaugh said after the game. “We should be proud of ourselves today.” | 2022-11-26T22:55:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Loudoun County’s gamble backfires, breakout season ends in playoffs - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/loudoun-countys-gamble-backfires-breakout-season-ends-playoffs/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/loudoun-countys-gamble-backfires-breakout-season-ends-playoffs/ |
Metrobus struck by gunfire in D.C. in an apparent road rage incident
No injuries were reported in the incident, which happened Saturday afternoon in Southeast Washington
A person in a private vehicle shot at a Metrobus traveling in Southeast Washington on Saturday afternoon, officials said, the second suspected case of road rage in D.C. in less than 24 hours.
About 1 p.m., Metro Transit Police responded to a report of gunfire striking a Metrobus operating on the M6 route near Southern Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue SE, according to Ian Janetta, a Metro spokesman.
Janetta said it appears that a person riding in a private vehicle shot at the bus, hitting it in the front and rear, in an apparent road rage incident. Five people were aboard the bus at the time, but none were injured, he said.
The bus operator has been offered assistance to cope with the incident, Janetta added.
Metro Transit Police, D.C. police and Prince George’s County police are working to find the suspect or suspects, Janetta said. He added that Metrobus service continues in the area but that there may be delays because of the investigation.
The suspected road rage incident is the second possible one in less than 24 hours in the District. D.C. police are investigating a shooting that took place in the Third Street Tunnel just before 9 p.m. Friday. In that incident, a woman was shot in the leg and later hospitalized, police said. D.C. police are searching for a black Honda Accord that may have been involved. | 2022-11-26T22:59:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Metrobus struck by gunfire in SE D.C. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/11/26/shots-fired-metrobus-southeast-dc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/11/26/shots-fired-metrobus-southeast-dc/ |
Best Song Academy Award winners for 'Flashdance' Irene Cara, second from right, and Keith Forsey with presenters Mathew Broderick and the film's star, Jennifer Beals, backstage at the Academy Awards in 1984 in Los Angeles. (Bob Riha Jr/Getty Images)
A statement from her publicist, Judith A. Moose, said the cause of Ms. Cara’s death was not immediately known. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it responded to a call to an address in Largo, which is listed in public records as Ms. Cara’s residence. The District Six Medical Examiner’s Office, which serves Pinellas County, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ms. Cara’s imprint on pop culture has lived on through the decades as “Fame” (1980) and “Flashdance” (1983) became touchstones for the 1980s with their music and style, including the urban chic of New York teens in “Fame” and the free-form moves, leg warmers (and, of course, the famous wet-and-wild shower scene) of “Flashdance.”
Ms. Cara’s “Flashdance … What a Feeling” still ranks No. 38 on Billboard’s All-Time Hot 100 Songs nearly 40 years later. And it seems to keep finding new audiences through reboots, social media retro clips and spoofs.
Ms. Cara then won her own Oscar for “Flashdance … What a Feeling,” which she co-wrote in an afternoon session after being asked to sing some of the tracks on the film starring Jennifer Beals as a welder by day and erotic dancer by night who dreams of the ballet stage.
Ms. Cara never regained such heights, however. In 1985, she opened a legal action seeking $10 million from a record company executive, Al Coury, claiming he took advantage of her trust with “unjust and oppressive” contracts for movie and recording deals that cut her out of significant royalty income.
Ms. Cara originally signed a six-year recording deal in 1980 with RSO Records Inc. when Coury was its president. He left in early 1981 to form his own company, Network Records Inc., and persuaded Ms. Cara to give him exclusive control over her career. What happened next became a combination of flawed management, bad choices and Ms. Cara’s inability to recapture the magic of her two hit projects.
An album, “Carasmatic,” was originally shelved and finally released in 1987. By the early 1990s, she was a celebrity footnote and a trivia question. “Remember Irene Cara?” wrote syndicated gossip columnist Liz Smith in a 1993 column that claimed Ms. Cara earned just $183 in royalties in her four years under Coury.
“It took me eight years to get through the whole good ol’ boy network in the music industry,” she said in a 2018 interview with the music site Songwriter Universe, “because it seemed that I sued one man and it just kind of spiraled into the entire industry turning against me because of it. So it turned me off to the music business entirely.”
After years of playing supporting roles in various films — but with no breakthrough successes with critics or at the box office — Ms. Cara returned to music in 2011 with an all-female band Hot Caramel. One of its songs, “Life in the Fast Lane,” appears to offer some of Ms. Cara’s reflections on her own stardom and struggles — with a “steel” line taken right from “Flashdance.”
“All alone I have cried/silent tears of pride,” she sang. “In a world made of steel.”
Musical family
Irene Escalera was born March 18, 1959, in the Bronx as the youngest in a family with a growing musical portfolio. Her father, Gaspar Escalera, was a saxophone player in a popular mambo band. Her stepbrother was involved in opera and her sister played piano, she recalled.
When she was 7 years old, Ms. Cara sang with her father’s band at nightclubs and landed a part in an off-Broadway show based on “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” — while also rearranging parts of her last name into a shortened version, Cara. From there, her resume was moving in various directions by the time she was 12.
She had an album of Spanish songs, was part of a tribute to Duke Ellington at Madison Square Garden, a small role in the 1968 Broadway musical “Maggie Flynn” starring Shirley Jones, and a part on the original cast of the groundbreaking PBS children’s show “The Electric Company” with co-stars including Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman and Bill Cosby. (She called Cosby “lovely to all of us kids” with no hint of inappropriate behavior.)
In 1976, Ms. Cara had star billing as Sparkle Williams in the musical film “Sparkle” about a rising “girl group” in Harlem. The film was not a major hit, but gained a strong following among Black audiences and inspired a 2012 remake starring Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston.
In “Fame,” Ms. Cara was cast as Coco Hernandez, a New York girl with a quick wit and sharp tongue to go with it.
“So, you like art movies, huh, Coco?” a student asks.
“Oh, Antonioni and those people?” Coco replies. “Sure. I mean it beats watching ‘Laverne and Shirley,’ right?”
Besides the title song, she performed the musical’s other big hit, “Out Here on My Own.” She said that some critics claimed she was trying too hard to sound like the disco queen Donna Summer. She found it a compliment.
“Honestly,” she said later, “I made a decision as a young actress to emulate Donna. First of all, we shot some of the ‘Fame’ scenes to her song, ‘Hot Stuff.’ ”
When Paramount Studios contacted her for “Flashdance,” the lyrics of the potential signature song were still a work in progress. Over a few hours one afternoon, she worked with drummer and songwriter Keith Forsey to finish the song, which including the lines “now I’m dancing for my life.” The song still didn’t have a name, though.
“We left Paramount after seeing the clips and got in the car,” she told the Associated Press in 1984. “I remember saying to [Forsey], ‘Let’s talk about the feeling of the dance.’ Out of those words and ‘dancing for my life’ came the song, ‘Flashdance … What a Feeling.’ ”
The song led a number of hits from the film, including “Maniac” and “Lady, Lady, Lady.” It became for Ms. Cara “a metaphor about a dancer, how she’s in control of her body when she dances and how she can be in control of her life.” (The song also earned her two Grammy Awards.)
Ms. Cara married stuntman Conrad Palmisano in 1986 and divorced in 1991. She is survived by a sister. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.
After “Flashdance,” Ms. Cara was hailed by music magazines and other outlets as the year’s top female singer amid predictions about what would come next. At the Academy Awards ceremony in 1984, Ms. Cara was beaming and looked confident.
“I was putting on a face of being on top of the world and being a success, and on the inside I was trying to figure out how to sue my label,” she said in the 2018 interview. “So it was hard … I put up that everything was fine when everything was falling apart.”
Thomas Floyd contributed to this report. | 2022-11-27T00:18:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Irene Cara, singer of 'Fame' and 'Flashdance' title songs, dies at 63 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/26/irene-cara-flashdance-fame-dies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/26/irene-cara-flashdance-fame-dies/ |
Francesca Ebel
From left, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk on Saturday. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service.) (Handout/AFP/Getty Images)
KYIV, Ukraine — As Ukrainians lit candles and observed a moment of silence on Saturday to remember millions of their countrymen who died in a 1930s famine, European leaders gathered in the Ukrainian capital accused Moscow of using “hunger as a weapon of war against Ukraine.”
The prime ministers of Belgium, Poland and Lithuania, and the Hungarian president, met with Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, for an “international summit on food security.” The gathering was brought about by Moscow’s continuing squeeze on Ukrainian grain exports, which has created food shortages across the globe. The German and French presidents and the head of the European Commission also spoke video, news reports said.
Saturday was also the day that Ukrainians remembered the “Holodomor” — or “death by hunger” — a Soviet-orchestrated famine in 1932-33, which Ukrainians commemorate annually on the fourth Saturday in November.
At 4 p.m., local time, Ukrainians paused to remember those who died in the mass starvation, which stretched across the Soviet Union but hit the Ukrainian portion of the USSR particularly hard.
Ukrainian farmers were forced into collective farms. Those who resisted had their food and possessions, including farming tools, seized. As many as 4 million may have starved to death in Ukraine alone.
Cut off from food, Ukrainians recall famine under Stalin, which killed 4 million of them
The summit in Kyiv also took place amid Russia’s weeks-old campaign targeting Ukraine’s electrical grid and other critical infrastructure. On Wednesday, dozens of Russian cruise missiles and self-destructing drones pummeled the country, killing and wounding scores and plunging most of the country temporarily into darkness.
As the missile barrages continue on almost a weekly basis, Ukrainians could face a major humanitarian crisis this winter, as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to force Kyiv to the negotiating table.
The parallels between Moscow’s war against the Ukrainian population 90 years ago, and the one unfolding now was not lost on Ukrainian officials and some of participants in the conference.
“The Soviet Union’s horrendous Holodomor killed millions of Ukrainians,” said Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“Today, Russia is using hunger as a weapon of war against Ukraine, and to create division and further instability among the rest of the world.”
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets demonstrated that Russia was moving “from imperial war to imperial terror.”
“If we allow Putin to continue, he will become the Stalin of the 21st century,” he said. “And all our countries know too well what ‘Stalin’ means.”
President Zelensky, in a statement posted on his Telegram channel, emphasized the similarities between the Soviet era and now, without directly referring to Moscow or Russian officials.
“Ukrainians went through very terrible things,” he wrote “And despite everything, they retained the ability not to submit and their love of freedom.”
“Once they wanted to destroy us with hunger, now — with darkness and cold,” he said, adding that “we will conquer death again.”
On Saturday, Zelensky and the visiting leaders told a news conference that their meeting produced a “Grain from Ukraine” initiative, whereby Ukraine will send 60 ships with its agricultural products in the first half of next year to some of the world’s poorest countries, including Ethiopia, Yemen and Somalia. Each ship should provide food for about 90,000 people, Zelensky said.
Zelensky originally proposed the grain initiative to a meeting of the Group of 20 industrial nations two weeks ago, and invited them to contribute financially. On Saturday, he said Kyiv had raised around $150 million from 20 countries and the European Union.
The plan, the Ukrainian leader said, showed that global food security was “not just empty words” for Ukraine.
As the leaders met in Kyiv, fighting continued in Ukraine’s south and east. The head of the Ukrainian national police Ihor Klymenko said in a Facebook post that around 30 civilians had been killed by Russian shelling in the Kherson region since the Russian withdrawal on Nov. 9 to the eastern bank of the Dnieper River.
Russian forces are still shelling the city of Kherson, the regional capital, forcing a number of hospitals to evacuate their patients, authorities said on Friday. At the same time, electricity had been restored to the city, officials said.
Britain’s Defense Ministry also said in its daily update on Saturday that it is possible that Russia is using older cruise missiles stripped of their nuclear warheads, in an attempt to divert Ukraine’s air defenses.
Meanwhile, Belarusians received unexpected news that the country’s foreign minister, Vladimir Makei, 64, who had held his post since 2012, died “suddenly” on Saturday, according to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Facebook page, which did not provide any further details.
Makei was once seen as a more pro-Western voice within the circle of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. However, his position shifted sharply to the anti-Western camp after mass protests broke out in Belarus in 2020, following Lukashenko’s victory in 2020 presidential elections, condemned in the West as fraudulent.
Lukashenko’s government became more closely aligned with the Kremlin following the elections, and Belarus played a key role in Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, serving as a base for Russian troops who crossed from Belarus into Ukraine and for missiles fired on Ukraine’s infrastructure, according to western and Ukrainian officials.
In September Makei blamed NATO and the West for inciting the invasion, saying that they had “overlooked the legitimate security interests of Russia and Belarus.”
Lukashenko and some Russian officials expressed their condolences in short statements. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel that she was “shocked” by the news.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Belarus’ exiled opposition leader, said that Makei had betrayed the Belarusian people and supported tyranny — “this is how he will be remembered by Belarusians,” she wrote in a tweet, adding that the Belarusian opposition would continue to fight “despite changes in Lukashenko’s apparatus.” | 2022-11-27T00:18:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | ukraine-holodmyr - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/26/ukrainians-remember-suffering-inflicted-by-stalin-putin-90-years-apart/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/26/ukrainians-remember-suffering-inflicted-by-stalin-putin-90-years-apart/ |
Are Ohio State’s playoff hopes done? (college football winners and losers)
Michigan linebacker Jaylen Harrell (rear) broke up a pass intended for Ohio State tight end Cade Stover and helped put a dent in the Buckeyes' playoff hopes. (Jay LaPrete/AP)
Michigan (winner)
Georgia (winner)
South Carolina (winner)
Clemson (loser)
James Madison (winner)
Mike Norvell (winner)
Iowa (loser)
Tulane (winner)
Arizona (winner)
Ohio (winner)
Are the Buckeyes done as a playoff possibility? No, not even after a 45-23 loss to Michigan at home Saturday. Get Georgia to win the SEC title game (knocking out LSU) and someone to dispatch Southern California, and No. 2 Ohio State (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) basically becomes a default selection.
Still, it was hard to like much about the Buckeyes’ second half — or the savvy displayed for much of the day. A couple turnovers, nine penalties, a pass defense that surrendered 21.4 yards a reception … and that doesn’t even factor in a worn-down defense getting popped twice for long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter.
Michigan has perfected the formula for beating the Buckeyes; they’ve dealt Ohio State its only two losses in a 23-game span. The rest of the Big Ten isn’t good enough to replicate it, but a playoff team — Georgia, perhaps? — probably could. No, the Buckeyes aren’t done yet, but it’s hard to imagine a potential playoff stay lasting too long even if they catch some breaks in the next week.
The No. 3 Wolverines (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) are East Division champions yet again after their thrashing of Ohio State. It was their first victory in Columbus since 2000, and it puts Jim Harbaugh’s team in fine shape to earn a second consecutive playoff berth.
Much like last season, Michigan manhandled Ohio State’s defensive front. A year ago, the Wolverines averaged 7.2 yards a carry behind Hassan Haskins’s 169 yards and five touchdowns. This time around, with star back Blake Corum limited to two carries, Donovan Edwards capped a 216-yard day with touchdown runs of 75 and 85 yards in the fourth quarter to ice it.
To review: The Wolverines have overwhelmed Ohio State on the ground in back-to-back seasons. It stands to reason they’ll keep the same approach in future years until the Buckeyes show any competence in stopping their rushing attack.
Book the Bulldogs for the playoff. It took a half for Kirby Smart’s team to get going, but Georgia eventually pulled away from Georgia Tech for a 37-14 victory.
After a 12-0 regular season, it’s hard to envision the Bulldogs getting excluded from the national semifinals even if they lose to LSU in next week’s SEC title game. Perhaps they could tumble to fourth behind a Big Ten champion Michigan, an undefeated TCU and maybe even LSU. But it sure looks like fourth is the floor for Georgia entering championship weekend.
The Gamecocks (8-4) won’t make the playoff, but they certainly had an impact on it. South Carolina ended the playoff hopes of Tennessee and Clemson in back-to-back weekends, following up a rout of the Volunteers with a 31-30 defeat of their in-state rivals to snap a seven-game skid to the Tigers — and did it in Death Valley, no less.
There were some uneven moments early in the season for the Gamecocks, and they’re only two weeks removed from getting drubbed at Florida. But with Spencer Rattler (360 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) outplaying Clemson counterpart DJ Uiagalelei, South Carolina should feel as good about this regular season as any since a string of three consecutive 11-win showings from 2011-13.
Whatever slim playoff hopes the No. 8 Tigers still possessed ended with their loss to South Carolina.
Granted, this was not a vintage Tigers team, something that was established long before the program’s 40-game home winning streak was halted. But a second November loss — dropping Clemson to 10-2 — simply hammers home the message before the playoff committee renders its verdict.
It also removes most of any national interest in next week’s ACC title game between the Tigers and North Carolina (9-3). The winner earns a trophy and an Orange Bowl berth, but the league will not produce a playoff team for the second consecutive season.
The Dukes are in the clubhouse for the season, and what a debut season it was in the Football Bowl Subdivision. James Madison thrashed Coastal Carolina, 47-7, to claim the Sun Belt’s East Division and finish 8-3.
Todd Centeio threw for 287 yards and four touchdowns Saturday for the Dukes, who are ineligible for the postseason as part of their transition from the Football Championship Subdivision. But they wasted little time demonstrating they could hang at a higher level, right down to the final weekend of the season.
The task facing the Florida State coach when he arrived in Tallahassee after the 2019 season was a two-parter. First, reverse the spiral that began at the tail end of Jimbo Fisher’s tenure and later consumed Willie Taggart’s brief run with the Seminoles. Second, reestablish Florida State as the national power it’s been for much of the last 40 years.
Friday’s 45-38 defeat of Florida — capped by Trey Benson’s touchdown run with 4:06 to go — signaled the first part had been accomplished as the No. 16 Seminoles wrapped up a 9-3 regular season.
To be clear, this is not a declaration of how “Florida State is back.” The Seminoles’ five-game winning streak since their open date had come against a motley collection of ACC teams with various problems (Georgia Tech, Miami and Syracuse) plus Louisiana-Lafayette before Friday’s takedown of the Gators (6-6).
But the last month has provided validation for both Norvell’s methodical work and the value of a veteran quarterback like Jordan Travis. Florida State might not begin next year as an ACC favorite, but it won’t be overlooked or, worse, a punchline. That fate will be left to Miami.
The Big Ten West defied comprehension all season. Two coaches were fired by early October. One team (Northwestern) hasn’t won a game in North America all year. Illinois — Illinois! — had firm control of the division until November.
So it seemed almost too good to be true that a semblance of normality had set in heading into the regular season’s final week. Iowa, that most anachronistic of programs and a participant in games that ended with scores of 7-3, 10-7 and 9-6 this season, needed only a victory at home against Nebraska on Friday to seal a Big Ten title game berth.
And what did the Hawkeyes do? Find a way to lose a one-possession game to the Cornhuskers, who were 6-24 in one-score games over the last five seasons. Nebraska survived, 24-17, to end a seven-game slide against Iowa.
Truth is, the Hawkeyes (7-5, 5-4) were fortunate it was that close. Nebraska converted a pair of first-half fumble recoveries and an Iowa muffed punt early in the third quarter into 17 points en route to a 24-0 lead. The Hawkeyes scored on three of their next four possessions — including one of their patented four-play, zero-yard field goal drives before a turnover on downs and an interception in the final 2:06.
And at least for one more day, the Big Ten West was left in the state of flux it has existed in pretty much all season.
The road to the American Athletic Conference title now runs through New Orleans thanks to the Green Wave’s 27-24 victory at Cincinnati on Friday. No. 19 Tulane (10-2, 7-1 American) clinched the regular season title and will play host to next week’s championship game.
The Green Wave snapped No. 19 Cincinnati’s 32-game home winning streak, a parting gift to last year’s playoff semifinalist in its final game as a member of the American (the Bearcats head to the Big 12 next season).
Tulane secured only the fourth 10-win season in program history and the first since a 12-0 run in 1998. The Green Wave now probably stands one victory away — on its home field, no less — from securing a berth to the Cotton Bowl as the Group of Five’s representative in the New Year’s Six structure.
Not every sub-.500 season is made equally, and the Wildcats have every reason to feel like they made progress while going 5-7 this year.
They won the Territorial Cup on Friday against Arizona State, earning a 38-35 victory to end a five-game skid in the in-state series. Michael Wiley rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns, the second-most yardage ever for a Wildcat against the Sun Devils (Trung Canidate had 288 yards in 1998).
That alone was a welcome development. But for a team that had gone 1-16 over the last two years and had dropped 20 of its last 21 conference games before this season, Arizona narrowed the gap between itself and the rest of the Pac-12.
It beat Colorado like it was supposed to. It ended UCLA’s playoff hopes earlier this month. And it was a genuine nuisance to Southern Cal and Washington into the fourth quarter. It might not be good enough, but things are trending upward in Tucson.
The Bobcats didn’t have starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke — dubbed the “Maple Missile” — with a shot at the Mid-American Conference title game on the line Tuesday. Ultimately, CJ Harris made sure it didn’t matter.
The backup rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another in Ohio’s 38-14 rout of Bowling Green. The Bobcats (9-3, 7-1) advanced to next weekend’s title game against Toledo (7-5, 5-3).
Amazingly, Ohio will play for its first conference title since 1968. It’s sort of hard to believe, given how consistently Frank Solich cranked out bowl teams in Athens. The Bobcats made four MAC title games under Solich but lost them all — hardly a serious blemish for a tenure that included 11 bowl berths in 16 seasons.
Now Tim Albin, Solich’s successor, has a chance to end the streak. And with a seven-game winning streak, Ohio is well-positioned to do exactly that. | 2022-11-27T00:27:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | College football winners and losers: Who's clinched playoff spots? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/college-football-winners-losers-week-12/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/college-football-winners-losers-week-12/ |
Saudi Arabia fans cheer for their team during Saturday's match vs. Poland. (Themba Hadebe/AP)
ABU SAMRA, Qatar — Stand at the last roundabout on the southwest edge of Qatar, get yourself a sliver of shade from a kindly road sign in the blinding 88 degrees, notice the Persian Gulf over there, stare out at the vast sands dotted with some rare and rugged vegetation.
It’s one of the world’s most silent places — and it’s sort of a mirage.
The only land border Qatar has, a stretch just 54 miles long, has seen ample activity of late, even as the activity has been orderly. There’s a convoy of buses on one side (Saudi Arabia) coming to meet an armada of buses on the other (Qatar). There’s a system in place wherein droves of Saudi soccer fans arrive and go to a big lot down yonder, whereupon the Qatari buses come from a big lot and through the roundabout to collect them.
They head about an hour or an hour-and-change away around the capital and World Cup hub of Doha.
Nayef al-Juhani, a 34-year-old biomedical engineer, left Riyadh, the Saudi capital, at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, on a bus filled with Saudi fans but also some foreigners who lived in the kingdom, he said. Another bus took them on the 45-minute trip from the border to the site of the match, arriving at Education City Stadium about an hour before kickoff.
“I’m stressed,” he said Saturday before Saudi Arabia’s second match, a 2-0 loss to Poland. “Now all the fans have high expectations. It will put the players under pressure.”
Fans from Saudi Arabia, population about 35 million in an area slightly more than one-fifth the size of the United States, long had plans to come to Qatar, population about 2.9 million in an area slightly smaller than Connecticut. The Saudi team long since lost just once in 18 matches of Asian qualifying to reach the World Cup for the sixth time since debuting at United States 1994. The Qatari interior ministry knew it had to stave off excessive congestion at this most compact of the 22 World Cups to date, so it gouged a charge of 5,000 Qatari riyals ($1,373 U.S.) for bringing one’s car.
That’s a doozy of a parking meter, so the Saudis one encounters here at the grocery store or the apartment complex speak of two ways of arriving: bus and plane.
The latter was the method for a man on a bus with his two young sons Tuesday midday. With Doha and Riyadh only 300 miles apart, his flight took about the same amount of time as it did for maneuvering on land than for the rest of it, he said. He rode a bus from a stadium parking lot to Lusail Stadium, and some of the Saudis on the bus seemed eager to support their national team, yes, but also to see the global citizen Lionel Messi of Argentina in presumably his final World Cup.
Then Tuesday afternoon hit. Then instead of getting the 1-0 or 2-0 loss Saudi fans and all others might have found respectable, they got arguably the greatest upset in World Cup history, a 2-1 win over Argentina. It changed forever the meaning of their World Cup, and gave Saudi fans an unmistakable joy as they walked through downtown with their green flag, even if it didn’t change necessarily change the tenor at the border, with the desert silence and the buses going through.
There’s not much bustle at the border that has helped define this World Cup. There’s the Persian Gulf with small, sleek fish darting around its shallow portions, with Saudi Arabia visible on the other side and a scruffy shoreline up to a major Qatari resort a few miles inland. There’s a gas station — Petrol Station #20 — which is fitting given it embodies the means through which the World Cup got here (alongside natural gas). There’s a pretty little mosque beside the gas station, then mini-mini-mall with a coffee place, an immaculate little pharmacy and a small restaurant called Golden Spoon.
In the Golden Spoon, about a dozen men either eat, wait for food or serve it, with chatter ongoing in Hindi, Arabic and the occasional Malayalam. A man gives his seat to a foreign traveler as people often do around this region. There are the foodstuffs familiar in the region — fruits for making juices, shelves with Nescafe and Lipton and cans of evaporated milk. Two men behind the counter, both from India as are about 700,000 residents here (next to about 300,000 Qatari citizens), serve rice and chicken to guest workers whose faces show the morning’s work in the sun.
There’s not any feel of the World Cup, but through this quiet corner the Saudis came, past the signs for gate-pass issuing and agriculture and veterinary quarantine. They passed the large replicas of soccer balls in the highway median painted with the colors of the 32 countries. They passed the glam billboards advertising credit cards and sandy fields of camels. They reached the Education City complex, and they helped give a match that might have gone unnoticed in some corners of Earth — Saudi Arabia vs. Poland — a buzz unique to this World Cup.
Paths to the stadiums filled with Saudi green, including women in black abayas carrying the green national flags. Saudi fans stared or leaned from car windows. A bus trying to get two miles to the stadium might have taken an hour to do so, wedged for a while between the Range Rovers and Land Cruisers.
The Saudi government, Adel Zahrani said, had given out 5,000 tickets to the supporters of the various clubs in the Saudi soccer league. Zahrani, 27, who supports dynastic Al Hilal and studies children’s ADHD in Riyadh, said the passage had gone smoothly. “It’s an amazing system from beginning to end,” he said. “Everything, they care about us.”
Things had gone giddy back home. After the Argentina match, which al-Juhani watched at a fan festival in Riyadh, he lost his voice from all the screaming. Since then, all the talk in the capital seemed to be about soccer, even among those who did not watch the sport. Many of the conversations were fanciful. “People are talking about winning the World Cup,” he said.
Then they saw Saudi Arabia fall to Poland as Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny double-stopped a penalty and a rebound, after which Zahrani noted how the Saudis play better against South American teams than against Europeans because they have more South Americans in their domestic league.
“They had too much confidence,” Saleh bin Omayr, 36, said afterward. “We all did. People, they think they will win the World Cup.” He had flown to Qatar from Riyadh after watching the first match on television. “It was crazy,” he said. “It was the best match. It encouraged all the smaller teams,” and he mentioned Japan, which also scored an upset win, over Germany.
And in that, they all had one powerful memory.
“I can’t explain,” Zahrani said. “It’s like a miracle, you know? So we win from not of the top five teams in the world, and against Lionel Messi. It’s like a miracle, because our team, it’s not very strong, but it’s also not weak.”
Mohamed al-Saygh, a 28-year-old coffee-shop owner, flew with friends to Saturday’s match from the coastal Saudi city of Jidda. He had planned to attend the Saudi team’s matches even before the win over Argentina, or as he referred to it, “the best game I have ever seen in my life.”
Ibrahim Habadi, a 42-year-old airport ground support equipment manager from Jidda, showed a video of the moment Saudi Arabia finally defeated Argentina. It looked like a whole airport hangar went nuts, and Habadi pointed out planes in the background. “Ohhh,” he said. “It was, the feeling, I cannot express it.”
The closing minute, said Tariq al-Shafloot from Khobar in Eastern Province, had been “the longest minute of my entire life.”
Now that minute could carry on for good, all the way back across the quiet and loud border. | 2022-11-27T00:27:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | For Saudi fans at the World Cup, calm gives way to giddy excitement - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/saudi-fans-world-cup-qatar/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/26/saudi-fans-world-cup-qatar/ |
People are seen in line to vote on the first day of early voting in Cobb County on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022, in Marietta, Ga. (Elijah Nouvelage/For The Washington Post)
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — Georgia voters flocked to the polls Saturday to cast their ballots in the Senate runoff, taking advantage of an extra day of voting brought about by a lawsuit filed by Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D), who is defending his seat against Republican Herschel Walker.
At more than two dozen counties across the state, thousands of voters from both parties came out to vote, some waiting for hours in lines stretching around the block for the chance to cast their ballot early for the Dec. 6 runoff.
By midday Saturday, more than 30,000 Georgians voted by 1:30 p.m., according to the secretary of state’s office. That includes more than 11,000 voters in Fulton County, and more than 7,000 in Gwinnett County — both Democratic strongholds.
Although Warnock received about 35,000 more votes than Walker in the Nov. 8 general election, he did not meet the 50 percent threshold for an outright win, triggering a runoff and prolonging one of the most expensive Senate races in the midterms. A poll released last week by AARP had Warnock ahead of Walker, 51 percent to 47 percent, within the margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
Democrats, led by Warnock’s campaign, sued the state, arguing that the policies in question didn’t apply to runoff elections. A judge in Fulton county sided with Warnock, the state Democratic Party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the case. The state’s Republican attorney general, as well as the state and national Republican parties, lost their appeals in state courts.
In a fundraising email, Walker’s campaign told supporters that the decision to allow Saturday voting “is like coming out after halftime and learning the referees have changed the rules for the rest of the game.”
“They didn’t think it was worth the money to do it and that there would not a very good turnout, but I think we’re gonna prove them wrong,” said Brown, as a steady line of voters — both Republicans and Democrats — circled through the polling location at the municipal building.
The additional day of voting cost $1,100, said Brown, and the board was uncertain at first whether they’d have enough workers, given holiday travel and people hosting guests from out of town.
All counties in Georgia are required by the state’s 2021 election law to hold early voting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the weekdays before a runoff election. Several counties, including many of the state’s most populous, had planned on holding Sunday voting on the weekend before required early voting begins and passed trigger policies to fund Saturday voting if it was found to be legal.
The public debate and litigation over Saturday voting is the latest clash over the state’s election laws, which were overhauled by a controversial 2021 voting law that had a significant effect on policies concerning absentee ballots, runoff elections, early voting and election administrative policy. The 2022 midterms are the first test of the Election Integrity Act, also known as SB 202. How the law interacts with other parts of Georgia’s election code have led to confusion as the law was put into practice.
Some voters said they didn’t want to take any chances by waiting until Election Day to cast their ballot.
“If there are any glitches or anything like that on that day, then you’re kind of, you know, screwed,” said Douglas Edwards, a dentist from Cartersville supporting Warnock. “Today if there’s something we could always come back on Tuesday.”
“I am currently doing an internship out of state, and I didn’t receive my absentee ballot in time to vote for the midterms, which I was quite upset about,” said Katie Poe, a masters student. “I’m in town for the holidays, and voting this Saturday is my only chance to actually vote in person, and maybe vote at all reliably.”
“I’ve had a lot of trouble in the past with absentee voting. It’s kind of disheartening to only be able to vote when I’m here, because it’s so important to me, ” she added.
“I’m a college student in school in Boston, and this is pretty much my only opportunity to vote in person. So I had to get out and vote, it’s a long line, but we’re waiting as best we can,” said Catherine McBride, a senior in college from Cobb County visiting home for Thanksgiving.
McBride said she voted absentee earlier in the month in the general election but had to wait two or three weeks for her ballot and was concerned it wouldn’t make it to her in time for the general. So she decided to vote in person Saturday at the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration polling location in Marietta.
“I’m going back to college tomorrow,” Kar said of her decision to vote on Saturday. “For the last election, a lot of my friends didn’t receive their ballots from Cobb County on time.”
“It’s hard to get off during the week when you’re moving dirt,” said Kevin Tomlin, a Republican and heavy equipment operator from Bartow County.
“With my worth schedule, we always vote early,” said Bill Stahl, a police officer from Taylorsville supporting Walker. “It gives everybody a chance to get out. It’s not going to help one particular party.”
“I work for an ambulance company and I do 12 hour days, and this election was really important,” said Delores Flanagan, a Warnock supporter. “So I knew that I wanted to vote at the first opportunity.”
“I normally do absentee voting. But the last time I attempted to do that, it took forever to actually get the ballot, and I was concerned that I might not be able to vote,” Flanagan said of her willingness to wait in the two hour long line to vote in Cobb County.
Sandi Griffin, a Walker supporter from Aragon, noted it was “kind of strange” that each county got to decide if it would do early voting. wAnd so it was kind of hard to keep track of when ours was gonna open up,” she said.
Griffin said she and her husband had made travel plans before the runoff was called, so they welcomed the ability to vote on Saturday. “We’re leaving town, we needed to vote on early voting today and I’m glad they opened it up finally.”
“I’m afraid it will. It is a fear, and Sunday also, because then they can bus the church people,” she said.
Voters who spoke with The Washington Post said they’re used to the long lines, and having to return to the polls for a runoff — with Saturday voting just another chance to participate in the seemingly never-ending election season.
“We’ll do it again and again and again,” said Robert Schofer, a Warnock supporter from Kennesaw. "And again.”
Matt Brown contributed to this report. | 2022-11-27T01:58:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Georgia voters headed to the polls Saturday for Senate runoff - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/26/georgia-senate-runoff-saturday-voting/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/26/georgia-senate-runoff-saturday-voting/ |
This undated photo provided on Nov. 27, 2022, by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, and his daughter, center left, pose with soldiers for a photo, in front of what it says a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, at unidentified location in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) (Uncredited/KCNA via KNS) | 2022-11-27T05:01:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Kim's daughter called 'most beloved' child in 2nd appearance - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kims-daughter-called-most-beloved-child-in-2nd-appearance/2022/11/26/fc35b1bc-6e0c-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kims-daughter-called-most-beloved-child-in-2nd-appearance/2022/11/26/fc35b1bc-6e0c-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
PHOENIX — Deandre Ayton notched season highs with 29 points and 21 rebounds, Devin Booker added 27 points and Phoenix held on for a hard-fought win over Utah.
TORONTO — O.G. Anunoby scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Fred VanVleet also had 26, and Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak against Dallas.
HOUSTON — Jalen Green had 28 points and a career-high nine assists, Alperen Sengun added 21 points, a career-best 18 rebounds and seven assists, and Houston beat Oklahoma City. | 2022-11-27T05:03:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | James has 7 3s, season-high 39 points as Lakers beat Spurs - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/james-has-7-3s-season-high-39-points-as-lakers-beat-spurs/2022/11/26/9929939a-6e07-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/james-has-7-3s-season-high-39-points-as-lakers-beat-spurs/2022/11/26/9929939a-6e07-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Crypto company stunt brings giant Musk ‘Goat’ statue to Tesla factory
Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive of Tesla. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg News)
But not the real person. Instead, they may have seen a sculpture of Musk’s head atop the body of a goat riding a rocket, all attached to a trailer.
Complete with what appear to be flames that shoot from the rocket, the statue was commissioned by the cryptocurrency company Elon GOAT Token. The company was delivering it to Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin on Saturday, during what it dubbed “Goatsgiving.” The Elon GOAT Token ($EGT) sculpture was created to honor Musk’s “many accomplishments and commitment to Cryptocurrency,” the company said on its website. Musk is the owner of electric car manufacturer Tesla.
Over the past year, $EGT hasn’t seen much growth, according to data from tracker CoinMarketCap, but its founders hoped the Musk statue would inspire the entrepreneur to tweet about the company and bring new exposure to the token.
Elon GOAT Token’s efforts to deliver the statue landed the company on Twitter’s U.S. trending page. Musk purchased the social network last month, causing an upheaval with mass layoffs, departed advertisers and potential changes to the process of obtaining a Twitter Blue check mark.
Costing a total of $600,000, according to Elon GOAT Token, the Musk sculpture is a nod to the billionaire’s fame — a rocket representing SpaceX, the spacecraft company Musk founded; and the literal goat, a word that is also used as an acronym for the phrase “Greatest Of All Time.”
Despite exponential growth in recent years, cryptocurrency has had a rough 2022. FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that was estimated to be worth $32 billion in January, collapsed this month. Its CEO resigned, and the company filed for bankruptcy, prompting an investigation into how the business came undone.
In the past year, millions of dollars in cryptocurrency have been stolen in scams targeting users of exchange operator Coinbase.
Although for Elon GOAT Token “times have not been good,” co-founder Ashley Sansalone said Saturday in a Twitter audio stream, the company had earmarked enough money to complete the statue project.
“We believe that Elon’s potential acceptance of this biblical sized gift could catapult $EGT into the limelight and accelerate its various initiatives,” the company said on its website.
Elon GOAT Token did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment Saturday.
After months of construction and travel across the country, the statue arrived at the Austin building, Elon GOAT Token confirmed in a tweet Saturday after live-streaming the event. Musk, who has 119 million followers on Twitter, had not publicly acknowledged the project as of Saturday evening. Tesla did not respond to The Post’s request for comment Saturday.
Kevin Stone, a sculptor based in Canada, said he received a call about the project last year from its designer, Danny Wang, who didn’t disclose the identity of whoever had commissioned the statue until after the contract was signed.
Crypto scam victims seek to hold Coinbase responsible for losses
The sculptor began work on the head of the piece in January and finished it nearly six months later, after about 600 hours of work. The sculpture of Musk’s head itself ended up six feet tall and four feet wide, weighing 250 pounds.
For Stone, who is known for his sculptures of birds and dragons, the project was the chance to do something he’d never done.
“It was so crazy I couldn’t turn it down,” he said. “I just wanted to be a part of it just because it was such a unique opportunity to do something that was really, really different.”
Spectacle, a U.S. design and fabrication company, designed the goat and rockets on the statue.
On Saturday evening, Sansalone started a Twitter audio stream, saying he and those who had accompanied him for the journey were sitting about 150 feet away from the Gigafactory, where security had asked them to relocate for safety reasons.
Sansalone said that the Elon GOAT Token statue was always “supposed to be fun,” intended to make Musk laugh, and that the crypto company was trying to do the same thing as the Tesla CEO, despite being “small in comparison.”
As the sun began to set in Austin on Saturday, it was unclear whether Musk would allow the statue to stay.
“We’re not leaving,” Sansalone said near the end of the stream. “We’re going to see how this goes. We’re going to wait here.”
In the background of the Twitter audio stream, people could be heard yelling: “Elon Musk, let’s go! Elon Musk, let’s go!” | 2022-11-27T05:04:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Elon GOAT Token brings giant Musk statue to Tesla factory in Austin - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/26/elon-musk-cryptocurrency-goat-statue/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/26/elon-musk-cryptocurrency-goat-statue/ |
Ukraine live briefing: Kyiv makes deal to distribute food; ground freeze could speed pace of fighting, analysts say
Kendra Nichols
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska and President Volodymyr Zelensky take part in a commemoration ceremony in Kyiv on Nov. 26, at a monument for victims of the Soviet-caused Holodomor famine of 1932-33. (Handout/AFP/Getty Images)
Ukraine announced that it would send produce to some of the world’s poorest countries. The Grain from Ukraine program will send 60 ships of food in the first half of next year, Zelensky said at a news conference with the visiting leaders after their meeting. The countries receiving aid may include Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and others, he said on Telegram, with each ship providing food for about 90,000 people.
The effort comes in addition to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, through which shipments have gone to various countries. Other countries, including the United States, have agreed to help with the new program, sending Ukraine about $150 million, Zelensky said in his daily address.
The leaders of Belgium, Poland, Hungary and Lithuania were in Kyiv on Saturday, offering a show of support as Ukraine commemorated those who died in the 1932-1933 famine, known as Holodomor. The famine, which was caused by the edicts of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, killed 4 million people and has been recognized by the European Parliament as a “crime against humanity.”
Weather is slowing front line operations in Ukraine, according to the Washington D.C. think tank Institute for the Study of War, but a consistent ground freeze expected in early December would allow Russian and Ukrainian forces to pick up where they left off. “It is unclear if either side is actively planning or preparing to resume major offensive or counteroffensive operations at that time,” ISW wrote, “but the meteorological factors that have been hindering such operations will begin lifting.”
Millions of Ukrainians who had been without power in the past few days had electricity restored, but about 3 million remain disconnected from the power grid, Zelensky said Saturday in his daily address. About 12 million Ukrainians lost power Wednesday, with power restored for 6 million by Friday and another 3 million Saturday, according to Zelensky. The outages could increase as energy consumption spikes, he said, urging residents to conserve power. Snow was expected Sunday, with temperatures to dip below freezing overnight.
People were fleeing Kherson in a kilometer-long line of vehicles on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. They told the news outlet that they were trying to escape intense shelling in the area a few weeks after Ukraine retook the regional capital. Yaroslav Yanushevych, governor of the Kherson region, on Saturday urged area businesses with bomb shelters or basements to keep them open for remaining residents.
Russia is probably using older cruise missiles stripped of their nuclear warheads, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Saturday, in an attempt to divert Ukraine’s air defenses. “Whatever Russia’s intent, this improvisation highlights the level of depletion in Russia’s stock of long-range missiles,” the ministry said in its daily update.
Belgium’s prime minister signed a declaration of support for Ukraine’s full membership in NATO. Meeting with Zelensky, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo signed the declaration, which also supports Ukraine’s joining the European Union. “This is an important signal,” Zelensky said in his Saturday address. The Lithuanian and Polish leaders signed a similar agreement, the Ukrainian government said Saturday.
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei has died, state media reported Saturday. The cause, location and other details of the death were not immediately known. Throughout the war, Belarus has remained a close ally to the Kremlin, with President Alexander Lukashenko hosting Russian troops and equipment, allowing Russia to use his nation as a launchpad for hundreds of airstrikes against Ukrainian targets and detaining hundreds of antiwar demonstrators.
European talks on a potential price cap for Russian oil have been delayed after nations did not reach an agreement on measures to put further pressure on Moscow’s ability to fund the war in Ukraine. European Union member states have been divided over a proposed limit, which is due to come into effect on Dec. 5, with plans of $65 to $70 per barrel seen as too high by some and too low by others. | 2022-11-27T05:49:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Russia-Ukraine war latest updates - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/russia-ukraine-war-latest-updates/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/russia-ukraine-war-latest-updates/ |
Dear Amy: I work for a small spa. Over the past eight years, my family and the owners’ family have become friends. We have young children who play together.
This has been happening for several years, and I am legally owed $9,000 to $10,000 of back pay. Although the owners made everything legit, they have made no mention of paying me this owed money.
The other employees are not aware that they are also owed money. I spoke with a lawyer and although by law the money is owed to me, I will have to take the business to court — or try to settle.
I am so torn. I feel betrayed by my boss/ friend but sort of obligated to tell my co-workers. They are owed money, too. I’m not sure I can even remain friends or work for this company anymore.
I have caught them lying to other employees. Should I ask my bosses/friends for the cash? Should I inform the other employees?
Wrong: You should pursue the back pay owed to you, following your lawyer’s advice (a letter from the lawyer might inspire the business owners to avoid court and offer you a fair settlement).
I’m experiencing guilt about holding this secret and feel my adult nieces and nephews have a basic right to know their truth. Her fear of being disowned by her children once they know the truth keeps her quiet. Plus, she sees no reason to upset so many families.
Is it her secret to keep from her five adult children? The letters I read in your column make it clear that eventually, with the prevalence of DNA testing, it’s only a matter of time until this is revealed.
Not: Knowing a secret doesn’t make it “yours.” So this secret is not yours to share.
Yes, your sister’s adult children do have the right to know their DNA heritage. Your sister is the person who should tell them. She can either tell them herself and have a hope of controlling the narrative, or she can wait until the inevitable DNA search reveals the truth.
Dear Amy: “To Tell or Not” wondered whether to tell her future husband about her previous sexual abuse history. I did not work through my abuse history until after the death of my abuser, several years into my marriage and after the birth of my child.
Learned: I’m so sorry. Thank you for offering your perspective. | 2022-11-27T05:58:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ask Amy: My boss and friend owes me thousands in back pay - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/11/27/ask-amy-boss-back-pay/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/11/27/ask-amy-boss-back-pay/ |
16-year-old is fatally shot in Southeast, D.C. police say
Victim found near Fort Stanton Park Saturday, according to police
A teenager was shot fatally on Saturday in Southeast Washington, the D.C. police said.
The 16-year-old was found near 18th and Erie streets SE, said Brianna Burch, a D.C. police spokeswoman.
It appeared that he may have been found in a vehicle, she said.
There were initial indications that police may have located someone designated as a “person of interest” in connection with the shooting, but that could not be confirmed.
The site was in the Fort Stanton area, just south of Fort Stanton Park.
Few other details were available immediately. | 2022-11-27T06:33:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Teenager slain in District, police say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/27/teenager-killed-southeast-shot-erie/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/27/teenager-killed-southeast-shot-erie/ |
The consultant was fired after refusing to take part in activities he called ‘humiliating and intrusive,’ according to court filing
Corporate drinking culture has been criticized in court cases in multiple countries. (iStock)
France’s highest court has ruled that a man fired by a Paris-based consulting firm for allegedly failing to be “fun” enough at work was wrongfully dismissed.
The man, referred to in court documents as Mr. T, was fired from Cubik Partners in 2015 after refusing to take part in seminars and weekend social events that his lawyers argued, according to court documents, included “excessive alcoholism” and “promiscuity.”
Mr. T had argued that the “fun” culture in the company involved “humiliating and intrusive practices” including mock sexual acts, crude nicknames and obliging him to share his bed with another employee during work functions.
In its judgment this month, the Court of Cassation ruled that the man was entitled to “freedom of expression” and that refusing to participate in social activities was a “fundamental freedom” under labor and human rights laws, and not grounds for his dismissal.
According to the court documents, the man was hired by Cubik Partners as a senior consultant in February 2011 and promoted to director in February 2014. He was fired for “professional incompetence” in March 2015 for allegedly failing to adhere to the firm’s convivial values.
The company also criticized his sometimes “brittle and demotivating tone” toward subordinates, and alleged inability to accept feedback and differing points of view.
PwC’s boozy U.K. event ends with coma and lawsuit
It is not the first time a company’s drinking culture has come under the microscope in court proceedings. A number of recent incidents have highlighted the entrenchment of alcohol in white-collar professional culture, even after the #MeToo movement shone a spotlight on workplace misconduct globally. Some firms have introduced “booze chaperones” at company events in hopes of avoiding such issues.
An auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers in England sued the company over severe injuries he sustained at a work event that “made a competitive virtue” of “excessive” drinking, in a lawsuit filed in London’s High Court this year. Michael Brockie went into a coma and had part of his skull removed after participating in the company event, The Post reported.
In March, insurance marketplace Lloyd’s of London fined member firm Atrium Underwriters a record 1 million pounds (about $1.2 million) for “serious failures,” including a “boys’ night out” where employees, including two senior executives, “took part in inappropriate initiation games and heavy drinking, and made sexual comments about female colleagues,” the Guardian reported at the time.
France is among the world’s most liberal countries in terms of alcohol consumption. The legal minimum age for consuming alcohol in public is 18, but there is no regulation of alcohol consumption in private. | 2022-11-27T06:46:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | French man wins right to not be ‘fun’ at work in wrongful termination case - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/france-man-fired-company-drinking-culture/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/france-man-fired-company-drinking-culture/ |
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei gestures while speaking during his annual news conference in February. (AP)
Makei had for years been in the orbit of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, becoming foreign minister in 2012. Previously, Makei served as an assistant and later as chief of staff to Lukashenko, according to a biography on the ministry’s website, which says he is married and has three children.
Lukashenko has expressed condolences to Makei’s family, Belta reported.
Makei was set to meet this week in Minsk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign ministry said last week.
“We are shocked by the reports of the death” of Makei, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a post on Telegram, adding that official condolences from the ministry were forthcoming.
Throughout the war in Ukraine, Belarus has remained a close ally to the Kremlin, with Lukashenko hosting Russian troops and equipment, allowing Russia to use his nation as a launchpad for hundreds of airstrikes against Ukrainian targets and detaining hundreds of antiwar demonstrators.
In September, Makei said in remarks at the United Nations General Assembly that “it is the collective West that should fully bear the responsibility for the ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine,” and that the West had “made this conflict inevitable.” | 2022-11-27T08:00:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei dies 'suddenly,' state says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/belarus-vladimir-makei-death/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/belarus-vladimir-makei-death/ |
Douglas, Prairie View A&M Panthers to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys
Prairie View A&M Panthers (4-2) at Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-2)
Stillwater, Oklahoma; Sunday, 3 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Oklahoma State -20; over/under is 141.5
BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma State hosts Prairie View A&M in a matchup of Division 1 Division teams.
The Cowboys are 2-1 on their home court. Oklahoma State ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 35.0 points per game in the paint led by Moussa Cisse averaging 7.7.
The Panthers have gone 1-2 away from home. Prairie View A&M ranks third in the SWAC with 10.8 offensive rebounds per game led by Nikkei Rutty averaging 2.3.
TOP PERFORMERS: Avery Anderson III is scoring 12.2 points per game and averaging 4.2 rebounds for the Cowboys. Bryce Thompson is averaging 10.7 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 36.8% for Oklahoma State. | 2022-11-27T08:06:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Douglas, Prairie View A&M Panthers to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/douglas-prairie-view-aandm-panthers-to-face-the-oklahoma-state-cowboys/2022/11/27/868909e4-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/douglas-prairie-view-aandm-panthers-to-face-the-oklahoma-state-cowboys/2022/11/27/868909e4-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Evansville Purple Aces play the Fairfield Stags
Fairfield Stags (1-5) vs. Evansville Purple Aces (2-5)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Evansville -4.5; over/under is 130.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Evansville Purple Aces square off against the Fairfield Stags in Savannah, Georgia.
The Purple Aces are 2-5 in non-conference play. Evansville is 1-0 in one-possession games.
The Stags have a 1-5 record in non-conference play. Fairfield has a 0-4 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Blaise Beauchamp averages 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Purple Aces, scoring 10.3 points while shooting 36.1% from beyond the arc. Kenny Strawbridge is shooting 38.5% and averaging 16.1 points for Evansville.
Caleb Fields is shooting 38.9% from beyond the arc with 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Stags, while averaging 13.5 points. Supreme Cook is averaging 12.8 points and 5.7 rebounds for Fairfield. | 2022-11-27T08:06:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Evansville Purple Aces play the Fairfield Stags - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/evansville-purple-aces-play-the-fairfield-stags/2022/11/27/0ba7cdea-6e28-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/evansville-purple-aces-play-the-fairfield-stags/2022/11/27/0ba7cdea-6e28-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Fairleigh Dickinson visits Saint Peter's on 4-game road slide
Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (3-4) at Saint Peter’s Peacocks (3-2)
Jersey City, New Jersey; Sunday, 2 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Fairleigh Dickinson visits Saint Peter’s looking to break its four-game road slide.
The Peacocks are 3-0 in home games. Saint Peter’s averages 71.0 points and has outscored opponents by 6.6 points per game.
The Knights are 0-3 on the road. Fairleigh Dickinson is fifth in the NEC with 21.0 defensive rebounds per game led by Sebastien Lamaute averaging 4.7.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jaylen Murray is shooting 43.3% and averaging 14.4 points for the Peacocks. Kyle Cardaci is averaging 1.6 made 3-pointers for Saint Peter’s.
Demetre Roberts is scoring 17.3 points per game and averaging 3.4 rebounds for the Knights. Grant Singleton is averaging 15.0 points for Fairleigh Dickinson. | 2022-11-27T08:06:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Fairleigh Dickinson visits Saint Peter's on 4-game road slide - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/fairleigh-dickinson-visits-saint-peters-on-4-game-road-slide/2022/11/27/8d7d0980-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/fairleigh-dickinson-visits-saint-peters-on-4-game-road-slide/2022/11/27/8d7d0980-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Canisius Golden Griffins (2-3) at Buffalo Bulls (2-4)
Buffalo, New York; Sunday, 2:30 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Buffalo -6.5; over/under is 148.5
BOTTOM LINE: Canisius takes on the Buffalo Bulls after Jordan Henderson scored 24 points in Canisius’ 79-70 loss to the Cornell Big Red.
The Bulls are 1-1 in home games. Buffalo is 1-0 in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Golden Griffins are 0-1 on the road. Canisius is 0-1 in one-possession games.
TOP PERFORMERS: Curtis Jones is shooting 44.8% and averaging 13.7 points for the Bulls. Isaiah Adams is averaging 1.2 made 3-pointers for Buffalo.
Tahj Staveskie is shooting 41.3% and averaging 14.8 points for the Golden Griffins. Henderson is averaging 12.8 points for Canisius. | 2022-11-27T08:06:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Henderson leads Canisius against Buffalo after 24-point game - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/henderson-leads-canisius-against-buffalo-after-24-point-game/2022/11/27/699e4768-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/henderson-leads-canisius-against-buffalo-after-24-point-game/2022/11/27/699e4768-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Juozapaitis and Maine host Brown
Maine Black Bears (4-1) at Brown Bears (1-4)
Providence, Rhode Island; Sunday, 2 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Maine plays the Brown Bears after Gedi Juozapaitis scored 24 points in Maine’s 66-58 victory over the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils.
The Bears are 1-2 on their home court. Brown allows 71.6 points and has been outscored by 5.8 points per game.
The Black Bears have gone 2-1 away from home. Maine is second in the America East giving up 63.2 points while holding opponents to 41.3% shooting.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kino Lilly Jr. is scoring 14.2 points per game and averaging 2.6 rebounds for the Bears. Paxson Wojcik is averaging 12.2 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 42.9% for Brown.
Kellen Tynes is averaging 16.6 points, four assists, 3.8 steals and 1.6 blocks for the Black Bears. Juozapaitis is averaging 15.8 points for Maine. | 2022-11-27T08:07:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Juozapaitis and Maine host Brown - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/juozapaitis-and-maine-host-brown/2022/11/27/f9da5826-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/juozapaitis-and-maine-host-brown/2022/11/27/f9da5826-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Northern Colorado Bears (3-4) at New Mexico Lobos (5-0)
Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sunday, 7:30 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: New Mexico -10.5; over/under is 157.5
BOTTOM LINE: Northern Colorado takes on the New Mexico Lobos after Daylen Kountz scored 23 points in Northern Colorado’s 86-82 overtime victory over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
The Lobos are 4-0 on their home court. New Mexico is second in the MWC scoring 81.6 points while shooting 47.0% from the field.
The Bears are 0-2 in road games. Northern Colorado has a 1-1 record in one-possession games.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jamal Mashburn Jr. is scoring 17.4 points per game and averaging 4.6 rebounds for the Lobos. Morris Udeze is averaging 16.8 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 61.4% for New Mexico.
Matt Johnson averages 3.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Bears, scoring 14.0 points while shooting 40.4% from beyond the arc. Kountz is averaging 16.7 points and 3.3 assists for Northern Colorado. | 2022-11-27T08:07:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Kountz and Northern Colorado host New Mexico - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/kountz-and-northern-colorado-host-new-mexico/2022/11/27/16cbb4de-6e28-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/kountz-and-northern-colorado-host-new-mexico/2022/11/27/16cbb4de-6e28-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Long Beach State Beach square off against the Vermont Catamounts
Vermont Catamounts (2-6) vs. Long Beach State Beach (3-3)
BOTTOM LINE: The Vermont Catamounts and the Long Beach State Beach meet at Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas.
The Beach are 3-3 in non-conference play. Long Beach State ranks eighth in the Big West with 23.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Aboubacar Traore averaging 4.8.
The Catamounts are 2-6 in non-conference play. Vermont is seventh in the America East with 11.8 assists per game led by Finn Sullivan averaging 2.4.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jadon Jones averages 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Beach, scoring 9.7 points while shooting 35.3% from beyond the arc. Joel Murray is shooting 39.2% and averaging 12.7 points for Long Beach State.
Dylan Penn is scoring 13.8 points per game and averaging 2.8 rebounds for the Catamounts. Aaron Deloney is averaging 12.0 points and 2.9 rebounds for Vermont. | 2022-11-27T08:07:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Long Beach State Beach square off against the Vermont Catamounts - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/long-beach-state-beach-square-off-against-the-vermont-catamounts/2022/11/27/9b4728b6-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/long-beach-state-beach-square-off-against-the-vermont-catamounts/2022/11/27/9b4728b6-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Monmouth Hawks (0-6) at Lehigh Mountain Hawks (3-2)
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Sunday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Monmouth comes into the matchup with Lehigh after losing six games in a row.
The Mountain Hawks are 2-0 in home games. Lehigh scores 73.4 points while outscoring opponents by 2.2 points per game.
The Hawks have gone 0-4 away from home. Monmouth is 0-5 in games decided by at least 10 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Evan Taylor is scoring 12.6 points per game and averaging 5.6 rebounds for the Mountain Hawks. Keith Higgins Jr. is averaging 11.8 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 42.3% for Lehigh.
Myles Foster is shooting 41.9% and averaging 11.2 points for the Hawks. Jack Collins is averaging 9.5 points for Monmouth. | 2022-11-27T08:07:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Monmouth takes on Lehigh on 6-game losing streak - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/monmouth-takes-on-lehigh-on-6-game-losing-streak/2022/11/27/74dbe54a-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/monmouth-takes-on-lehigh-on-6-game-losing-streak/2022/11/27/74dbe54a-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Nebraska squares off against Florida State
Florida State Seminoles (1-6) vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-3)
BOTTOM LINE: The Florida State Seminoles and the Nebraska Cornhuskers square off at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
The Cornhuskers have a 3-3 record in non-conference play. Nebraska is 1-3 against opponents over .500.
The Seminoles are 1-6 in non-conference play. Florida State allows 75.4 points to opponents and has been outscored by 8.1 points per game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Derrick Walker is shooting 63.6% and averaging 15.0 points for the Cornhuskers. Keisei Tominaga is averaging 9.7 points for Nebraska.
Caleb Mills is averaging 13.1 points and 2.4 steals for the Seminoles. Cam’Ron Fletcher is averaging 12.4 points for Florida State. | 2022-11-27T08:07:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Nebraska squares off against Florida State - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/nebraska-squares-off-against-florida-state/2022/11/27/a658c778-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/nebraska-squares-off-against-florida-state/2022/11/27/a658c778-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (3-3) vs. Northwestern State Demons (4-2)
Conway, Arkansas; Sunday, 2 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Northwestern State Demons face the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats at Farris Center in Conway, Arkansas.
The Demons have a 4-2 record against non-conference oppponents. Northwestern State is seventh in the Southland in rebounding with 30.0 rebounds. Jalen Hampton leads the Demons with 6.0 boards.
The Wildcats have a 3-3 record in non-conference games. Bethune-Cookman ranks second in the SWAC shooting 37.3% from 3-point range.
TOP PERFORMERS: Isaac Haney is shooting 38.6% and averaging 13.5 points for the Demons. Ja’Monta Black is averaging 3.0 made 3-pointers for Northwestern State.
Zion Harmon is averaging 12.3 points and 4.2 assists for the Wildcats. Marcus Garrett is averaging 11.3 points for Bethune-Cookman. | 2022-11-27T08:09:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Northwestern State Demons square off against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/northwestern-state-demons-square-off-against-the-bethune-cookman-wildcats/2022/11/27/f2d13ce8-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/northwestern-state-demons-square-off-against-the-bethune-cookman-wildcats/2022/11/27/f2d13ce8-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Oregon State Beavers (3-3) vs. Portland State Vikings (2-4)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Portland State -2.5; over/under is 142.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Portland State Vikings take on the Oregon State Beavers in Portland, Oregon.
The Vikings have a 2-4 record against non-conference oppponents. Portland State averages 83.8 points while outscoring opponents by 4.1 points per game.
The Beavers have a 3-3 record in non-conference games. Oregon State averages 66.8 points while outscoring opponents by 1.3 points per game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jorell Saterfield is scoring 16.5 points per game and averaging 4.7 rebounds for the Vikings. Hunter Woods is averaging 2.2 made 3-pointers for Portland State.
Jordan Pope averages 1.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Beavers, scoring 14.7 points while shooting 36.7% from beyond the arc. Glenn Taylor Jr. is averaging 13.3 points for Oregon State. | 2022-11-27T08:10:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Portland State Vikings and the Oregon State Beavers play in Portland, Oregon - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/portland-state-vikings-and-the-oregon-state-beavers-play-in-portland-oregon/2022/11/27/6907f038-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/portland-state-vikings-and-the-oregon-state-beavers-play-in-portland-oregon/2022/11/27/6907f038-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Quinnipiac takes on Hofstra
Hofstra Pride (5-2) vs. Quinnipiac Bobcats (7-0)
Laval, Quebec; Sunday, 4 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Quinnipiac -4; over/under is 152.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Hofstra Pride and the Quinnipiac Bobcats meet at Place Bell Arena in Laval, Quebec.
The Bobcats are 7-0 in non-conference play. Quinnipiac is second in the MAAC with 11.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Paul Otieno averaging 3.1.
The Pride have a 5-2 record against non-conference oppponents. Hofstra is 5-2 against opponents over .500.
TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Balanc is shooting 46.7% and averaging 13.7 points for the Bobcats. Dezi Jones is averaging 9.6 points for Quinnipiac.
Aaron Estrada is averaging 19.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, four assists and 1.6 steals for the Pride. Tyler Thomas is averaging 12.6 points for Hofstra. | 2022-11-27T08:10:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Quinnipiac takes on Hofstra - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/quinnipiac-takes-on-hofstra/2022/11/27/e1295322-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/quinnipiac-takes-on-hofstra/2022/11/27/e1295322-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
South Alabama Jaguars (2-4) vs. Robert Morris Colonials (2-4)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Robert Morris -6.5; over/under is 138
BOTTOM LINE: The South Alabama Jaguars and the Robert Morris Colonials square off in Savannah, Georgia.
The Colonials are 2-4 in non-conference play. Robert Morris is seventh in the Horizon scoring 69.7 points while shooting 43.9% from the field.
The Jaguars have a 2-4 record against non-conference oppponents. South Alabama scores 70.7 points and has outscored opponents by 4.5 points per game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Enoch Cheeks is scoring 16.8 points per game with 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Colonials. Josh Corbin is averaging 12.3 points and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 40.3% for Robert Morris.
Owen White is shooting 33.3% from beyond the arc with 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Jaguars, while averaging 8.2 points. Isaiah Moore is averaging 19.5 points and six assists for South Alabama. | 2022-11-27T08:10:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Robert Morris Colonials and the South Alabama Jaguars play in Savannah, Georgia - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/robert-morris-colonials-and-the-south-alabama-jaguars-play-in-savannah-georgia/2022/11/27/b0aa8856-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/robert-morris-colonials-and-the-south-alabama-jaguars-play-in-savannah-georgia/2022/11/27/b0aa8856-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Sam Houston visits Nevada after Baker's 20-point outing
BOTTOM LINE: Nevada hosts the Sam Houston Bearkats after Will Baker scored 20 points in Nevada’s 62-58 win against the Akron Zips.
The Wolf Pack have gone 3-0 in home games. Nevada is fourth in the MWC in team defense, allowing 62.0 points while holding opponents to 36.4% shooting.
The Bearkats are 2-0 on the road. Sam Houston ranks eighth in college basketball scoring 44.0 points per game in the paint led by Qua Grant averaging 8.7.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jarod Lucas averages 3.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Wolf Pack, scoring 17.3 points while shooting 38.9% from beyond the arc. Kenan Blackshear is shooting 46.3% and averaging 12.3 points for Nevada.
Grant is averaging 12.8 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals for the Bearkats. Lamar Wilkerson is averaging nine points and 1.8 steals for Sam Houston. | 2022-11-27T08:10:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sam Houston visits Nevada after Baker's 20-point outing - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/sam-houston-visits-nevada-after-bakers-20-point-outing/2022/11/27/e8090570-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/sam-houston-visits-nevada-after-bakers-20-point-outing/2022/11/27/e8090570-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Ball State Cardinals (4-2) vs. San Jose State Spartans (5-2)
BOTTOM LINE: The Ball State Cardinals and the San Jose State Spartans play at Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas.
The Spartans have a 5-2 record in non-conference play. San Jose State ranks fourth in the MWC with 15.4 assists per game led by Omari Moore averaging 4.3.
The Cardinals have a 4-2 record in non-conference play. Ball State is second in the MAC scoring 79.5 points per game and is shooting 50.3%.
TOP PERFORMERS: Moore is shooting 40.9% and averaging 13.1 points for the Spartans. Tibet Gorener is averaging 7.3 points for San Jose State.
Payton Sparks is averaging 15.7 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Cardinals. Jarron Coleman is averaging 13.5 points for Ball State. | 2022-11-27T08:10:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | San Jose State Spartans and the Ball State Cardinals meet in Nassau, Bahamas - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/san-jose-state-spartans-and-the-ball-state-cardinals-meet-in-nassau-bahamas/2022/11/27/82f55cec-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/san-jose-state-spartans-and-the-ball-state-cardinals-meet-in-nassau-bahamas/2022/11/27/82f55cec-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Seton Hall Pirates and the Siena Saints play in Orlando, Florida
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Seton Hall -14.5; over/under is 136.5
The Pirates have a 4-2 record in non-conference play. Seton Hall is fifth in the Big East with 25.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Tyrese Samuel averaging 3.5.
The Saints have a 3-3 record against non-conference oppponents. Siena is third in the MAAC with 15.0 assists per game led by Javian McCollum averaging 5.7.
TOP PERFORMERS: Al-Amir Dawes is shooting 53.3% from beyond the arc with 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Pirates, while averaging 11.3 points. Samuel is shooting 52.4% and averaging 10.3 points for Seton Hall.
Andrew Platek averages 3.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Saints, scoring 13.7 points while shooting 52.9% from beyond the arc. McCollum is averaging 17.5 points and 5.7 assists for Siena. | 2022-11-27T08:10:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Seton Hall Pirates and the Siena Saints play in Orlando, Florida - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/seton-hall-pirates-and-the-siena-saints-play-in-orlando-florida/2022/11/27/a9caff2a-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/seton-hall-pirates-and-the-siena-saints-play-in-orlando-florida/2022/11/27/a9caff2a-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Campbell went 16-13 overall last season while going 9-4 at home. The Fighting Camels gave up 62.0 points per game while committing 13.9 fouls last season.
Stetson went 11-19 overall last season while going 4-11 on the road. The Hatters averaged 69.7 points per game while shooting 43.0% from the field and 35.0% from behind the arc last season. | 2022-11-27T08:11:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Stetson Hatters to square off against the Campbell Fighting Camels on the road - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/stetson-hatters-to-square-off-against-the-campbell-fighting-camels-on-the-road/2022/11/27/1dc3b6d8-6e28-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/stetson-hatters-to-square-off-against-the-campbell-fighting-camels-on-the-road/2022/11/27/1dc3b6d8-6e28-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
UC Davis plays Southeast Missouri State
Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (5-1) vs. UC Davis Aggies (4-2)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: UC Davis -3.5; over/under is 145
BOTTOM LINE: The UC Davis Aggies take on the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Aggies are 4-2 in non-conference play. UC Davis is 4-1 against opponents with a winning record.
The Redhawks have a 5-1 record in non-conference play. Southeast Missouri State is seventh in the OVC scoring 70.7 points per game and is shooting 41.1%.
TOP PERFORMERS: Elijah Pepper is scoring 20.2 points per game and averaging 6.0 rebounds for the Aggies. Ty Johnson is averaging 1.3 made 3-pointers for UC Davis.
Phillip Russell is scoring 15.0 points per game and averaging 3.8 rebounds for the Redhawks. Chris Harris is averaging 11.8 points and 5.0 rebounds for Southeast Missouri State. | 2022-11-27T08:11:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | UC Davis plays Southeast Missouri State - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/uc-davis-plays-southeast-missouri-state/2022/11/27/a22bc010-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/uc-davis-plays-southeast-missouri-state/2022/11/27/a22bc010-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
UT Martin faces McNeese, aims for 4th straight home win
BOTTOM LINE: UT Martin will try to keep its three-game home win streak alive when the Skyhawks face McNeese.
The Skyhawks have gone 3-0 in home games. UT Martin has a 1-0 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Cowboys are 0-2 on the road. McNeese is seventh in the Southland with 12.7 assists per game led by Trae English averaging 3.3.
TOP PERFORMERS: K.J. Simon is scoring 14.3 points per game with 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists for the Skyhawks. Parker Stewart is averaging 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 37.2% for UT Martin.
Christian Shumate is averaging 12.2 points and 10.5 rebounds for the Cowboys. Johnathan Massie is averaging 10.5 points for McNeese. | 2022-11-27T08:11:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | UT Martin faces McNeese, aims for 4th straight home win - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/ut-martin-faces-mcneese-aims-for-4th-straight-home-win/2022/11/27/eb756b36-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/ut-martin-faces-mcneese-aims-for-4th-straight-home-win/2022/11/27/eb756b36-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
BOTTOM LINE: Virginia Tech will try to keep its six-game home win streak alive when the Hokies play Minnesota.
The Hokies are 4-0 in home games. Virginia Tech has a 5-1 record against opponents over .500.
The Golden Gophers are 0-0 on the road. Minnesota ranks ninth in the Big Ten shooting 32.8% from 3-point range.
TOP PERFORMERS: Sean Pedulla is shooting 49.5% and averaging 17.1 points for the Hokies. Grant Basile is averaging 14.9 points for Virginia Tech.
Dawson Garcia is averaging 15.8 points and 6.7 rebounds for the Golden Gophers. Ta’Lon Cooper is averaging 10.0 points for Minnesota. | 2022-11-27T08:11:55Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Virginia Tech plays Minnesota, aims for 7th straight home win - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/virginia-tech-plays-minnesota-aims-for-7th-straight-home-win/2022/11/27/1d3abae0-6e28-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/virginia-tech-plays-minnesota-aims-for-7th-straight-home-win/2022/11/27/1d3abae0-6e28-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (3-3) at Northern Kentucky Norse (2-4)
Highland Heights, Kentucky; Sunday, 2 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Northern Kentucky -11.5; over/under is 132
BOTTOM LINE: Northern Kentucky hosts the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles after LJ Wells scored 20 points in Northern Kentucky’s 82-69 loss to the Toledo Rockets.
The Norse have gone 2-1 at home. Northern Kentucky allows 67.2 points and has been outscored by 1.2 points per game.
The Golden Eagles have gone 0-2 away from home. Tennessee Tech averages 71.3 points and has outscored opponents by 2.3 points per game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Marques Warrick is shooting 42.7% and averaging 17.7 points for the Norse. Hubertas Pivorius is averaging 5.2 points for Northern Kentucky.
Jaylen Sebree is averaging 12 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Golden Eagles. Erik Oliver is averaging 11.7 points for Tennessee Tech. | 2022-11-27T08:12:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Wells and Northern Kentucky host Tennessee Tech - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/wells-and-northern-kentucky-host-tennessee-tech/2022/11/27/5f07126c-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/wells-and-northern-kentucky-host-tennessee-tech/2022/11/27/5f07126c-6e27-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
DOHA, Qatar — The U.S. men’s soccer team has begun displaying Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic as nationwide protests challenging Tehran’s theocratic government continue.
The Twitter account of the U.S. men's team on Sunday displayed a banner with the squad’s matches in the group stage, with the Iranian flag only bearing its green, white and red colors. The same could be seen in a post on its Facebook and Instagram accounts laying out the point totals so far in its group. | 2022-11-27T08:12:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | US soccer displays Iran flag minus Islamic Republic emblem - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/soccer/us-soccer-displays-iran-flag-minus-islamic-republic-emblem/2022/11/27/0f261920-6e20-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/soccer/us-soccer-displays-iran-flag-minus-islamic-republic-emblem/2022/11/27/0f261920-6e20-11ed-8619-0b92f0565592_story.html |
A screengrab from eyewitness video footage shows demonstrators shouting slogans as police hold their positions in Shanghai early Sunday. (AFP/Getty Images)
Protests erupted in cities and on campuses across China as frustrated and outraged citizens took to the streets in a rare wave of demonstrations against the government’s “zero covid” policy, as well as the ruling Communist Party’s enforcement of it.
Residents in Shanghai, China’s most populous city, gathered Saturday night and early Sunday, calling for the end of pandemic lockdowns and chanting “We want freedom” and “Unlock Xinjiang, unlock all of China,” according to videos posted on social media. In even more extraordinary scenes of public anger aimed at the government’s top leader, a group of protesters in Shanghai chanted, “Xi Jinping, step down!” and “Communist Party, step down!”
“There were people everywhere,” said Chen, a 29-year-old Shanghai resident who arrived at the vigil around 2 a.m. Sunday. “At first people were yelling to lift the lockdown in Xinjiang, and then it became ‘Xi Jinping, step down, Communist Party step down!'” he said, giving only his surname because of security concerns.
Chen said he saw about a dozen people get arrested as police clashed with protesters, pushing them into cars before dispersing the crowd around 5 a.m.
Eva Rammeloo, a Shanghai-based Dutch journalist, confirmed to The Washington Post that photos and videos she posted on her verified Twitter account were her own. They depicted protesters both holding up blank sheets of paper — a protest symbol against the country’s pervasive censorship — and laying down flowers for victims as the police look on.
The immediate trigger for the demonstrations, which were also seen at universities in Beijing, Xi’an and Nanjing on Saturday, was a deadly fire in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in China’s far northwest on Thursday. Ten people, including three children, died after emergency fire services could not get close enough to an apartment building engulfed in flames, prompting accusations from residents that lockdown-related measures had hampered rescue efforts.
Officials on Friday denied that covid restrictions were to blame and said some residents’ “ability to rescue themselves was too weak,” fueling more ridicule and anger that swept across Chinese social media platforms. Residents in Urumqi, one of the most tightly controlled cities in China as a result of a broader security crackdown, turned out to protest Friday. Many waved China’s national flag and called for lockdowns to be lifted.
That unrest spread. On Saturday, Shanghai residents gathered for a candlelight vigil on Wulumiqi Middle Road, where flowers were laid for the victims of the fire. The memorial then turned into a demonstration.
Videos posted on social media show crowds also gathered at universities in Nanjing and Xi’an, holding up their phones as part of a vigil for those killed. In one, a young man who said he was from Xinjiang tells a crowd at Communication University of China in Nanjing, “I am here, I represent myself, I speak for my own hometown. In the fire, the deceased also speak out for all their compatriots who have died.”
Videos posted on social media on Sunday show a crowd of students at Tsinghua University in Beijing holding up blank paper and changing, “Democracy, rule of law, freedom of expression!” Through a loudspeaker, a young woman shouts, “If because we are afraid of being arrested, we don’t speak, I believe our people will be disappointed in us. As a Tsinghua student, I will regret this my whole life.”
In the name of China’s “zero covid” policy, citizens have lived through almost three years of unrelenting controls that have left many sealed in their homes, sent to quarantine centers or barred from traveling. Residents must submit to repeated coronavirus tests and surveillance of their movement and health status.
Health authorities say this strategy of cutting off covid transmission as soon as possible and quarantining all positive cases is the only way to prevent a surge in severe cases and deaths, which would overwhelm the health-care system. As a result of its low infection rate, China’s population of 1.4 billion has a low level of natural immunity. Those who have been immunized have received domestically made vaccines that have proven less effective against the more infectious omicron variant.
Videos posted Sunday show crowds near the site of the Shanghai vigil shouting, “Let them go,” an apparent reference to those arrested. In one video, police are seen dragging and carrying a protester from the scene.
Chen said, “I’m not the kind of person that is a leader, but if there’s a chance to speak out or do something to help, I want to.”
Pei-Lin Wu and Vic Chiang in Taipei contributed to this report. | 2022-11-27T09:36:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Protests against China's covid lockdowns erupt after Xinjiang fire - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/china-covid-lockdown-protest-xinjiang/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/china-covid-lockdown-protest-xinjiang/ |
Just when you thought the musician’s year couldn’t get any better, the White House called
Jon Batiste, who won Album of the Year at the Grammys, will entertain at President Biden's first state dinner. (Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images)
Batiste’s boundless energy and raucous performances are fitting for a White House that is back into social activities after two years of battling covid, rising inflation and economic woes in a midterm election year — a background against which a glamorous dinner honoring a visiting head of state would have looked particularly gauche. Biden continues to face some criticism, however, for declaring in September that the “pandemic is over” even though hundreds continue to die each day and the public is growing weary of being vigilant against covid.
The couple is coming off hosting the pre-Thanksgiving wedding of their granddaughter, Naomi Biden and fielding consternation from the White House press corps, which was excluded from covering it while Vogue was given an exclusive article and photo shoot.
During flusher times, former president Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton hosted 12 state dinners during his first term, and 29 overall, with musical guests such as Whitney Houston, Elton John and Stevie Wonder, Liza Minnelli and Earth, Wind & Fire. The Bushes followed with four in his first term (including one for Mexican President Vicente Fox just days before Sept. 11, 2001), and 13 overall, with acts such as country singer Kenny Chesney, violinist Itzhak Perlman and the cast of “The Lion King.”
Former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, undoubtedly, had the hippest, most current musical guests over their 13 state dinners (six in that first year): Beyoncé, Janelle Monae, Mumford and Sons, John Legend, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ne-Yo, Demi Lovato, Gwen Stefani and more. Their first state dinner, for Indian President Manmohan Singh, had Jennifer Hudson performing, but was marred with stories of gate crashers.
Batiste, at 36, is arguably the most acclaimed musician in the country right now. In April, he was nominated for 11 Grammys across seven categories — a first in Grammys history — and won five of them, including Album of the Year for “We Are.” Batiste has been known to hold second line parades, with brass bands dancing in the streets, everywhere from New Orleans to New York.
Two years ago, he won the Oscar for Best Original Score for Pixar’s “Soul,” which he wrote with fellow composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. He’s just the third Black composer in history, after jazz legend Herbie Hancock and pop star Prince, to win an Academy Award for composition.
Race in America: Giving Voice with Jon Batiste
Now he’s halfway to an EGOT — the term for winning all four major American entertainment awards (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) — a coveted title that only 17 other people have won.
Batiste will be the first New Orleans act to play the White House since former president George W. Bush had the famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band play for Singh in 2005. Batiste left his gig as bandleader of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in August to focus on his other work.
There are many reasons for the Bidens to choose Batiste, a native son of New Orleans who’s from a family of musicians and grew up steeped in jazz, the one true American art form. But there’s also his connection to cancer, a disease that has affected the Bidens deeply, and that their administration is working to eradicate.
In February of this year, Batiste married his partner of eight years, Suleika Jaouad, a day before her bone marrow transplant for her second bout with leukemia. Jaouad, 33, who is going through chemotherapy and is the author of the best-selling cancer memoir, “Between Two Worlds,” met Batiste when they were teenagers in band camp.
They reconnected when, during her first bout with cancer, he showed up at the hospital with his entire band. “Every inch of the 25-room floor was filled with music,” Jaouad wrote then in a column for a New York Times blog. “Timidly at first, and then with jubilation, patients, nurses and other hospital workers began to dance and clap.”
They were married in the new home they had been designing for three years. The couple used bread ties around their fingers because they hadn’t had time to get rings. They did prank calls to make it through the first 72 hours after her transplant. The couple has two new dogs, one of whom harmonizes with Batiste as he plays piano.
She wore a pink wig to celebrate Batiste’s birthday in November, which turned into an “impromptu jam that went into the wee hours,” she wrote on her Instagram.
Batiste has called their marriage “an act of defiance” and said the cancer is not interrupting the plans they have for their lives.
“That’s life,” Batiste told CBS News in April of the struggles that have come as he’s hit career highs. “That’s it. Strap in.”
Prepare for a second line at the White House. | 2022-11-27T10:11:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Jon Batiste chosen to headline Biden’s first state dinner on Dec. 1 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/27/biden-state-dinner-jon-batiste/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/27/biden-state-dinner-jon-batiste/ |
The job market — although still hot — is slowing, and many Americans who had been working from home are being called back into the office
Demand for remote jobs remains near all-time highs, even as companies roll back telework positions. (Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg News)
“It’s been very trying, I keep putting the résumé out and, sometimes, I just feel so discouraged,” said Black, 56, who lives near York, Pa. “Now that companies are saying ‘You need to return to work,’ the job market for work-from-home positions has gotten very competitive.”
“It’s the ‘great remote work mismatch,’ ” said Rand Ghayad, head of economics and global labor markets at LinkedIn, who wrote the recent report. “In the past, labor mismatches have been about skills. Now we’re seeing a different kind of mismatch, where workers are looking for jobs that offer certain attributes — like the ability to work remotely — that employers aren’t willing to offer.”
The remote work revolution is already reshaping America
There are signs that it’s becoming harder to land a job. Applicants on LinkedIn are, on average, applying to 22 percent more jobs than they were a year ago, according to a November report from the company.
“I do think it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle on this one,” she said. “Once you hire a remote employee who lives elsewhere — as many companies have — it’s very hard to insist that people who live near the office come in all the time. In many industries, the kind of longer-term shifts to remote work, accompanied by investments in technology and disinvestments in commercial real estate, are still very much underway.”
More workers are back in offices. It’s still nothing like before.
“They keep saying there are all these jobs out there,” she said. “But if you want something you can do from home, there aren’t that many options.”
A growing number of businesses in tech, banking and sales have been summoning workers back to the office in recent weeks. Elon Musk promptly ordered all Twitter employees to report in-person after taking over the social media platform in late October. (He has since backtracked, saying “exceptional” employees can continue working remotely.)
“Although performance is still strong, we’re seeing other things erode — like collaboration, engagement and how we demonstrate our culture as One U.S. Bank,” Chief Executive Andy Cecere wrote in a memo to employees. “Being in the office won’t solve this at once, but it can and will help.”
Remote work changed their lives. They’re not going back to the office.
“We’re seeing pretty significant growth,” he said. “People want to work on their own terms. They want flexibility.”
With remote jobs becoming less available, those who have them say they’re inclined to hold onto them. In St. Louis, Ian Schrauth makes about 30 cents per minute fielding calls from home for a health-care company. He took on the remote position as an independent contractor in April 2020, shortly after losing his in-person sales job at Sprint.
Schrauth hasn’t gotten a raise since he took the job nearly three years ago, but said he’s saving gas money by not having to commute.
“Now that I’ve started working remotely, it’s definitely what I prefer,” said Schrauth, 25, who also works part-time at a Walmart store. “If I want to work in pajamas, I can. If I have a doctor’s appointment, I can work around that. There’s a lot more flexibility.” | 2022-11-27T11:07:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Remote jobs are in high demand, but positions are drying up - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/11/27/remote-jobs-economy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/11/27/remote-jobs-economy/ |
UC-Berkeley can’t use race in admissions. Is it a model for the country?
Lessons from the UC system are informing arguments at the Supreme Court as justices consider race-conscious admissions. California voters banned schools from considering the race of applicants in 1996. Above, Sproul Plaza at UC-Berkeley. (Marlena Sloss for The Washington Post)
BERKELEY, Calif. — The University of California at Berkeley has labored to enroll more Black and Latino students in the quarter century since the state barred the consideration of race or ethnicity in its admissions.
Still, those groups remain underrepresented at the renowned public university here on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay. The gap is huge for Latino students. They account for 55 percent of California’s public school students, state data show, but 19 percent of UC-Berkeley undergraduates.
UC-Berkeley is undeniably diverse. Just 20 percent of its undergraduates are White. But is it diverse enough?
The university’s demographics, and its arduous efforts to shape them, illuminate the stakes as the Supreme Court weighs a potential ban nationwide on affirmative action in admissions. Voters in California banned schools from considering the race of applicants in 1996, so UC-Berkeley represents a massive, ongoing experiment in race-neutral admissions at a highly competitive university.
Some celebrate UC-Berkeley as an exemplar of racial diversity. Others say it shows the enormous, perhaps insurmountable, challenges ahead for selective colleges and universities seeking to reflect the populations of their home states and the nation.
Jennifer Silva, 18, a first-year student of Mexican descent, who is exploring biology, said she was drawn here after visiting the University of Notre Dame. On that campus in Indiana she saw few students who looked like her. Silva said she felt there “like a brown spot on a white tablecloth.” UC-Berkeley felt more like her nearby hometown of Hayward, Calif. But Silva also wishes the Latino community had a stronger presence at UC-Berkeley.
“I am here,” she said, “but I wonder if I am seen.”
Diversity-promoting initiatives abound at UC-Berkeley, UCLA and their sister campuses around the state. They give no preference to the children of donors or alumni — in contrast to fundraising and “legacy” policies elsewhere that often boost those who are White and wealthy. The UC system recently decided to ignore SAT and ACT admission test scores, eliminating another perceived barrier for disadvantaged students. It offers significant financial aid to students in need and a special geographic-focused program to facilitate admission for the top 9 percent of students at California high schools. And it admits tens of thousands of transfers every year from community colleges — many from low-income families.
UC-Berkeley even added recruiters in Southern California to hunt for talent from an array of racial backgrounds. The admissions team here revamped how it reads applications in an effort to pay more attention to individual circumstances, including personal or financial hardships. It also launched a web page for Spanish-speaking communities called Berkeley en Español and opened a campus resource center for Latinx students to help them feel more at home.
Yet results fall far short of ambitions. The Latino share of undergraduates here, 15 percent in 2018, has grown about a point a year. The share systemwide is about 25 percent, and it exceeds 50 percent at UC-Merced.
Olufemi Ogundele, UC-Berkeley’s dean of admissions, said he wishes the university could do more to represent the breadth of the nation’s most populous state. “There is no replacement for being able to consider race,” he said. “It just does not exist. And we’re trying to do some dynamic things here. I’m digging into context and all of these details. But there’s no alternative there.”
UC policy calls for each campus to encompass “the broad diversity of cultural, racial, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds characteristic of California.” Here at UC-Berkeley, the admissions team does not entirely ignore racial identity if applicants bring it up in an essay. Whatever they choose to write about, Ogundele said, “we should hear them out for who they are.” But the law known as Proposition 209 bars admissions officers from putting a thumb on the scale for race or ethnicity.
Race in college admissions
The Supreme Court, again, is taking up the contentious question whether race may be a factor in college admissions.
On Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and UNC-Chapel Hill. Conservative Supreme Court justices seemed open to ending the use of affirmative action in admission decisions, repeatedly expressing doubt that the institutions would ever concede an “endpoint” in their use of race to build diverse student bodies.
In the past, the high court has addressed race and higher education in landmark decisions.
A coalition of higher education groups have argued in the Supreme Court that race in admissions is a First Amendment issue.
Public universities in California, Florida and several other states are not allowed to consider race.
Lessons from UC are looming at the Supreme Court as justices consider a challenge to race-conscious admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. California is one of nine states that ban race-based affirmative action in public university admissions. Among the others are Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Washington.
“It’s incumbent on every college and university around the nation to study from and learn from those examples,” Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar told the court on Oct. 31 during oral arguments in which she represented the Biden administration. She acknowledged that many colleges and universities in the nine states with bans have been able to maintain diverse student bodies. But Prelogar urged the court to preserve precedents allowing limited use of race in admissions, citing “dramatic declines” in racial diversity that occurred at UC-Berkeley and UCLA after passage of Proposition 209.
As Supreme Court test looms, UNC defends use of race in admissions
UC leaders said in an amicus brief filed in support of UNC and Harvard that the Black share of the freshman class at UC-Berkeley fell by half, to 3 percent, when the state ban took effect in 1998. The Latino share suffered a similar plunge, to 7 percent. Subsequent growth on those measures has failed to keep pace with population trends, the UC leaders said. The Black share of undergraduates here in Berkeley is now slightly less than 4 percent, while the Black share of public school students statewide is about 5 percent.
“UC’s experience demonstrates that the race-neutral measures which it has diligently pursued for 25 years have been inadequate to meaningfully increase student-body diversity, and that the problem is most acute at its most selective campuses,” the brief said.
Nevertheless, the court’s conservative majority seemed skeptical about affirmative action in admissions, and analysts predict whatever ruling emerges next year will end it. Several justices were attentive to the sunnier view from the plaintiff, Students for Fair Admissions. One of the group’s attorneys noted in the court hearing that UC-Berkeley is highly ranked and boasts about its diversity. Another, Patrick Strawbridge, rattled off statistics showing that Hispanic enrollment is about as large as non-Hispanic White enrollment, and that there are sizable shares of students of Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean descent at the university.
“And we are told that the students there are somehow being deprived of the educational benefits of diversity, or being deprived of diverse environment,” Strawbridge told the justices. “I don’t think that’s correct.”
On the campus here that rises on a slope facing west to the Golden Gate, diversity seems honored and evident in multiple ways. Core buildings are named for civil rights leaders — the Cesar E. Chavez Student Center, the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union. Signs also point out Woo Hon Fai Hall, named for the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the International House and another location dubbed a “Safe Space for Undocumented Students.”
Students of color, from the United States or overseas, predominate in the crowds that flow through Sather Gate and Sproul Plaza on foot, bicycle, skateboard or electric scooter. With 45,000 students, UC-Berkeley is far less White in enrollment than many other prestigious universities.
That attracted Kenyon Jolley, 18, a first-year student from Las Vegas, who is White. “I’m interested in politics,” Jolley said. “And politics is increasingly about race blocs and different ethnic groups today in the country. And so I think UC-Berkeley, because of its diversity, kind of provides that extra level of analysis when it comes to studying political topics.”
Jolley was skeptical, though, about the use of race in admissions.
“Race-blind admissions is the right step forward for diversity in academia,” Jolley said. He said he is more sympathetic to helping applicants who come from impoverished neighborhoods or would be the first in their families to go to college.
Jason Lee, 18, a sophomore from San Jose of Chinese descent, is among the 40 percent of undergraduates here who identify as Asian American. Lee, who is studying computer science, said he applied to many UC campuses and colleges elsewhere. He believes race plays a strong role in admissions to many top schools outside of California, and he worries about that.
“If you want to put it bluntly,” Lee said, “as an Asian male, it’s pretty hard to stand out from other Asian males.” But he stopped short of asserting that race should be banned entirely from admissions. “I can’t say a hard no.”
Two years ago, UC-Berkeley was a hub of political activism in a drive to repeal Proposition 209. State voters resoundingly rejected the repeal. But Chaka Tellem, who rallied classmates to back the repeal, said he does not regret the effort.
Tellem, 21, a senior from Los Angeles whose mother is from Gambia, is majoring in political economy. He is also the student body president. “The argument that affirmative action gives people an unfair advantage, or affirmative action takes seats away from hard-working and well-deserved students, I think is a misconception and harmful,” Tellem said.
He does not want the university’s record to be held up as a “a pretext” for the Supreme Court to end consideration of race in admissions nationwide. While UC-Berkeley has made some progress in recruiting underrepresented students, Tellem said, it has far to go. “This is not a time where we can be complacent.”
Ogundele, the admissions dean, is pushing on as many fronts as possible. He wants more disadvantaged applicants of all races. A little more than a quarter of undergraduates have enough financial need to qualify for Pell Grants. He hopes to raise American Indian enrollment, now about 0.4 percent, as well as Black and Latino enrollment.
It is crucial, he said, to reach out to communities that don’t know much about UC-Berkeley and woo students aggressively once they are offered admission, through events such as campus visit days with targeted cultural themes. “We can no longer sit on our laurels and say, ‘You got into Berkeley, congratulations,’” Ogundele said. “I think we need to really go out there and say, ‘You got into Berkeley. We would be lucky to have you.’”
The Supreme Court has long banned college admission systems that set aside seats to fill racial quotas. But that does not mean universities cannot pursue diversity goals.
Carol T. Christ, the university chancellor, who is White, has pushed several years for UC-Berkeley to secure a federal designation as a Hispanic-serving institution. That would help the university qualify for certain federal funding, but it would also mark a demographic milestone.
To accomplish that, one key benchmark would be for 25 percent of its students to identify as Latino or Hispanic. “We think we’re going to make it,” Christ said. “If you’re a public university, I believe you should represent the population of the state.” Several other UC campuses already have the Hispanic-serving designation.
Some faculty lament the incremental pace of Latino enrollment growth. “Change is never fast enough for those who want it,” said G. Cristina Mora, an associate professor of sociology, who earned her bachelor’s degree here in 2003. Mora is Latina. “The scale of our underrepresentation is huge.” Mora said the university also must diversify its faculty. About 6 percent of its full-time faculty is Latino, federal data show. Mora said students often tell her she’s the first Latino professor they’ve had.
Others fear the university is too preoccupied with racial and ethnic head counts. “The value of achieving diversity, to some people at this university, and certainly other universities, is more important, I think, than, say, winning Nobel Prizes or graduating classes with fine, highly educated students who are prepared for leading the state,” said John Yoo, a UC-Berkeley law professor.
Yoo, of Korean descent, is a trustee of the Pacific Legal Foundation, a group that supports the Students for Fair Admissions lawsuits. He is also a former clerk of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Yoo said the university is a demographic success story even if the shares of enrollment of some racial groups do not match their shares of California residents or schoolchildren. “It’s not clear to me why it should be a mirror of the population of the state,” he said.
Paradoxically, Yoo said, the enactment of Proposition 209 kept the goal of racial diversity on the university’s front burner. “In a way it became culturally more deeply rooted now at the university than it was back in 1996,” he said.
For many students, racial identity is an inescapable fact. They appreciate the diversity of the campus, as far as it goes, but they also want to feel more of a sense of belonging. Giancarlo Fernandez, 23, of Torrance, Calif., is a senior majoring in political science and the son of Mexican and Peruvian immigrants. He transferred here from a community college and is a leader in student government. He loves the university but often feels isolated in class, one of the few Latino students in a room. Sometimes, he said, that means he will raise his hand less in a discussion than he otherwise might if he didn’t feel quite so outnumbered.
Fernandez doesn’t think it should be that way.
“It’s a number one public university, a leading university in the nation,” Fernandez said. “They should be a leader in everything.” In comparison to other universities, he said, UC-Berkeley “does a really great job. But it’s not done yet.” | 2022-11-27T11:08:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | UC-Berkeley can’t use race in admissions. What can we learn from its experience? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/11/27/uc-berkeley-admissions-race-diversity/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/11/27/uc-berkeley-admissions-race-diversity/ |
These are nine stories from America’s homicide crisis.
Jaylon was on his front porch.
Jody was at the park.
Juanita was sitting in her car.
Violence found them all.
During the last three years, homicides nationwide have reached their highest levels in decades.
The deadly spike coincided with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic: The rate of killings rose nearly 30 percent in 2020 and remained high through the following year, according to a Washington Post database created to track the toll. Even now, as the bloodshed has slowed, the homicide rate outpaces pre-pandemic levels.
This gun violence tends to grab headlines when it occurs in horrific public spasms: at a Walmart in Virginia, a nightclub in Colorado, an elementary school in rural Texas. But the focus on mass shootings obscures the totality of the American ailment: people killed on city streets and inside their homes, deaths that seldom attract national attention and cases that rarely involve high-profile prosecutions. In many, an arrest has yet to be made.
The slayings have left a trail of grieving families, neighborhoods in mourning and an untold number of people dealing with the trauma of sudden, brutal loss. And the toll is not equally borne.
Gun crime disproportionately impacts people of color, especially Black men. Victim data collected from each city profiled here show Black people made up more than 80 percent of the total homicide victims in 2020 and 2021. And while data show gun deaths have surged around the country, a number of cities lead the way.
The Post visited nine of these places, which have seen some of the nation’s highest recent murder rates. They are spread mostly across the South and Midwest. Some have long been in the spotlight for their homicide numbers, others have not.
In each place, monuments have sprung up to commemorate those lost, some informal and fleeting, others lasting — some public, some private. They mark a death, but just as important, they remind everyone who sees them of the lives lived: the aspiring aerospace engineer, the retired chef who cooked for the hungry, the teen so funny he was granted five minutes at the end of class to joke around, the 4-year-old who laid flowers on her dad’s grave last Father’s Day.
Here are some of those memorials, and the stories of the people who inspired them.
Jackson, Miss.
Lawrence Morgan, 17
‘He was my person.’
Bethany Rohrer, left, and a friend of her late son Lawrence Morgan comfort Allison Radulov during a vigil held in memory of Lawrence in Parma, Ohio.
Story by Joanna Connors, Photos by Dustin Franz
A couple of years before he was killed, 17-year-old Lawrence Morgan posted a sign on his bedroom door: “Guns Forbidden.”
“He was always talking about how he hated how people carried guns,” said Joey Kline, Lawrence’s best friend since fourth grade. “He was just so against guns.”
He had other passions too. His mother Bethany Rohrer said her son loved basketball and making people laugh. He was goofy and endearing — one of his teachers even offered him five minutes at the end of every class to joke around, as long as he cut it out during lessons.
“Every memory I have of him is of us laughing and smiling,” Kline said.
Lawrence’s uncle Bob Schnable puts together a picture board before a celebration of life ceremony.
Friends were always popping over to Lawrence’s house in Parma, a Cleveland suburb; his mother wanted it that way. The boys would sometimes wander to a nearby park or drive around the neighborhood. That is what they were doing the afternoon of June 21, when someone started firing.
At least 170 people were killed in Cleveland in 2021
Lawrence was shot seven times in the chest and died on the scene. Police later arrested Gunnar Glaszewski, 16, and charged him with murder and felonious assault. Gunnar and Lawrence lived a couple of blocks from each other and went to the same high school. “There was a six-month period where Gunnar was at our house every day,” Rohrer said. “Then they had a falling out, and they weren’t friends anymore.”
The day after Lawrence was killed, two of his friends created a memorial at the corner where he was shot. They wrapped a telephone pole in strips of crepe paper — red and purple, his favorite colors — and attached star-shaped balloons. At the base, they pinned a large piece of poster board with #LLL — Long Live Law.
Rohrer at her son’s burial service at Woodvale Cemetery in Middleburg Heights, Ohio.
Friends and family place flowers on Lawrence’s casket.
LEFT: Rohrer at her son’s burial service at Woodvale Cemetery in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. RIGHT: Friends and family place flowers on Lawrence’s casket.
That evening, they held a vigil. A small crowd of friends and family lit candles; Beyonce’s “Heaven” played in the background.
“He was my person, really the only person I could ever talk to,” said a sobbing Allison Radulov, a friend from middle school. “He’s just a genuine person, never out to hurt anyone.”
“Lawrence was such a good kid,” said Tashondra Forster. “He tried to direct my son on the right path. He was just a positive role model for him.”
Damion Baker, 25
He helped a woman to her car. Then the shooting started.
Family members of Damion Baker mourn near his casket during the memorial and celebration of life services at Lighthouse Baptist Church.
Story by Kathy Gilsinan, Photos by Joe Martinez
Damion Baker was in elementary school when he picked up the phrase he’d use for the rest of his life: “Well, technically …”
It tickled his mom An’namarie Baker to hear her son carefully explain some finer point. The expression captured Baker’s essence, she said. He was witty and diligent, a leader in school and a Division I college football player who went on to run his own construction business.
262 people were killed in St. Louis in 2020
Baker was “cooler than a Cadillac with AC in hundred-degree weather,” his friend Kevin Spraggins Jr. said at his funeral. He had great taste in sweatshirts, An’namarie said, and gave “the best hugs,” according to his aunt Carlotta Baker.
That kindness was on full display on July 3 when Baker escorted a woman to her car in downtown St. Louis. The pair were shot in an attempted carjacking. She survived; Baker died at the age of 25. The case remains unsolved.
An’namarie Baker mourns during the memorial and celebration of life services of her son.
A loved one reacts to the eulogy during the service for Baker.
LEFT: An’namarie Baker mourns during the memorial and celebration of life services of her son. RIGHT: A loved one reacts to the eulogy during the service for Baker.
At a service in Baker’s honor, images flashed across the auditorium screen ahead of the ceremony. In one photo, Baker is a skinny kid with big ears. In another, he is a grinning teenager in a #17 jersey at Christian Brothers College High School. In one video clip, he is teaching his beloved niece De’Sanyi, now 5, how to brush her teeth. (“Don’t eat” the toothpaste, he advises her on the video.)
Baker dreamed of playing for the NFL, making enough money so his mother would not have to work. But when he realized that was not going to happen, he adjusted. “One thing D-Bake told me was, ‘if we’re stand-up men, that’s all our mama want,’ ” his cousin Abryon Givens said at the service.
Baker’s older brother Devon said their mother called the two of them her “Double Ds.” At an early age, they had decided that meant “dedication and determination.” The boys saw things through to the end, An’namarie said, “whether they liked it or not.”
An’namarie is focused now on ending the gun violence that has taken so many other children from their mothers. “Damion cannot just be some random number of homicide, and we move on to the next number,” she said. “It’s gotta look different.”
Glenn Clark III, 50
‘He was a proud daddy.’
The family of Glenn Clark III gather in Grove City, Ohio, to commemorate his death.
Story by Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Photos by Maddie McGarvey
As a high-schooler in the late 1980s, Glenn Clark III would get out of the shower and head straight outside. The only way to get his hair just right was to speed down the road past his family’s farm on his motorcycle, his family said.
He soon found joy working with his hands while tilling the sod fields at his home outside Columbus, Ohio. That passion led to a career as a mechanic working in factories in Ohio and Kentucky, where he moved with his then-wife, Deana Burke, and his two children.
“He was a proud daddy and a simple guy,” said Desere Adams, 54, his older sister. “He wore T-shirts with holes in them and loved riding his motorcycle. If I needed him, if they needed him, he was there.”
After Clark was killed, his parents named their cat Happy, Clark’s nickname.
After he and Burke divorced 20 years ago, he moved back to work in Grove City, Ohio, to live with his parents.
Then, almost seven years ago, he met Rochelle Rice, now 53. On their first date, they spent five hours talking about Vikings — Clark knew everything about the Scandinavian seafarers’ history — and laughing. Two months later, they bought a house near Columbus.
Clark’s sister got a tattoo in honor of her brother.
Clark’s daughter Abby holds a photo of her father in Grove City, Ohio.
LEFT: Clark’s sister got a tattoo in honor of her brother. RIGHT: Clark’s daughter Abby holds a photo of her father in Grove City, Ohio.
In August, Clark received a promotion. That night, he went to a bar with members of his motorcycle club, the Avengers, to toast his new job. At the bar, a fight broke out. Five people were shot, and at least one bullet hit and killed Clark, one of two Avengers who died.
At least 100 people have been killed so far in Columbus in 2022
Nearly three months later, the police investigation is ongoing.
On what would have been his 51st birthday last month, Adams, Rice and the rest of the family gathered at Clark’s parents’ home to celebrate his life. They all wore their new urn jewelry — necklaces with his photo or Viking symbols and a small place for his ashes — and Adams, Rice and Shadow, now 28, showed the tattoos they had gotten to memorialize Clark.
“He was bigger than Everest in my mind,” Shadow said. “He was my hero.”
Shane Brown, 20
‘He was my little brilliant mind.’
Shane Brown, 20, was murdered in March. His body was found in a canal near this intersection in New Orleans East.
Story by Ashley Cusick, Photos by Kathleen Flynn
At St. Anna’s Episcopal Church in the Treme neighborhood, the Rev. Bill Terry and his team have maintained a somber project. On large boards hung across the church’s facade, they handwrite particulars about each New Orleanian killed by violence. Date. Name. Age. Method.
Among this year’s names: Shane Brown. 20. Shot.
“He was my little brilliant mind,” his mother, Gloria Brown, 56, said.
At least 205 people were killed in the first eight months of 2022 in New Orleans
Nicknamed “the brain” by his family, Shane Brown was an avid reader and honor roll student who enjoyed programming and robotics. He was also socially aware, said E’jaaz Mason, 31, Brown’s digital media teacher at New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School.
“You can tell he internalized a lot of what is going on in this country when it comes to Black boys,” Mason said. “He cared about the state of his people, and I always really respected that about him.”
Gloria Brown holds her phone showing a photo she made of an “S” she saw in the clouds recently. She said since he passed she has seen the shape in the clouds or in water and can feel his presence.
Handwritten names, ages and method of death of New Orleanians killed are kept on a memorial on the facade of St. Anna’s Episcopal Church in the Treme neighborhood, including Brown, who was fatally shot.
The program from Shane Brown’s funeral sits next to the Louisiana Film Prize he received for his 11-minute short, “Like a Ship Without a Sail,” when he was in high school. Brown, 20, was an avid reader and honor roll student.
Gloria Brown holds her phone showing a photo she made of an “S” she saw in the clouds recently. She said since he passed she has seen the shape in the clouds or in water and can feel his presence. Handwritten names, ages and method of death of New Orleanians killed are kept on a memorial on the facade of St. Anna’s Episcopal Church in the Treme neighborhood, including Brown, who was fatally shot. The program from Shane Brown’s funeral sits next to the Louisiana Film Prize he received for his 11-minute short, “Like a Ship Without a Sail,” when he was in high school. Brown, 20, was an avid reader and honor roll student.
As a junior, Brown approached Mason with an idea: He wanted to make a film about what Black boys experience in New Orleans.
“Kids used to come to me 10 times a day talking about wanting to make a movie,” Mason said. “But literally the very next day, Shane came with a double-sided sheet of loose-leaf paper, with a skeletal structure of a story.”
The two assembled a small team to bring Brown’s vision to life. The resulting 11-minute short, “Like a Ship Without a Sail,” swept the student awards at the Louisiana Film Prize the following spring.
Gloria Brown sits at her kitchen table in Slidell.
A year later, as the covid-19 pandemic ravaged New Orleans, Brown graduated in a drive-through ceremony held at a local park. He turned down offers at engineering programs across the country to instead begin his undergraduate education at a local community college. Brown hoped to someday transfer to one of his dream schools, like Massachusetts Institute of Technology or Georgia Tech, with the ultimate goal of becoming an aerospace engineer.
By 2022, Brown was balancing his courses with a job at the port and getting around in his first car. Then this March, less than two weeks after his 20th birthday, Brown did not come home from work one day.
Five grueling days would pass before Brown’s body was discovered floating in a New Orleans East canal. Coroners later determined he died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Police made an arrest in the case, but Brown’s loved ones said they still do not know why he was killed. Gloria Brown instead tries to focus on appreciating the 20 years she had with her only child. “He was the person that I had asked for when I became a late mom,” she said.
Mason said Brown’s death signifies a loss of potential.
“You never know what that person would have done to improve and perfect our world,” he said. “And now we’ll never know.”
Juanita Washington, 60
The beloved dance studio employee was ‘our sergeant-at-arms.’
A memorial honoring Juanita Washington stands outside L.Y.E. Academy dance studio in Memphis.
Story by Danny Freedman, Photos by Brandon Dill
Juanita Washington’s photo sits outside the dance studio she loved.
“I just want to feel her presence,” said Ladia Yates, 32, owner of the Memphis dance studio where Washington worked as an administrator. “I don’t want anyone to forget her.”
Washington, 60, was fatally shot around lunchtime on Dec. 29, 2021, while sitting in her car in a Walgreens parking lot. A suspect was arrested in Las Vegas in March.
Homicides hit a record high in 2020 — and 2021 in Memphis
Yates had known Washington for nearly two decades. She and Yates’s grandmother Yvonne Paschal, who also works at the dance studio, had become particularly close.
“She was like our sergeant-at-arms,” said Paschal, 77. It was Washington who made sure everyone paid admission at events. She was loving but firm with the kids, and known for her honesty. “She was very open — you didn’t have to guess where she was coming from,” Paschal said.
“I just really didn’t have a friend like I had with Juanita,” she added. “I don’t have anyone that I can talk to and share things like she and I did.”
Washington was considered family by many employees of the studio where she worked for years before she was shot and killed.
Yates, center, with some of her youth dancers, pose for a photo while wearing hoodies honoring the memory of Washington.
Yates poses with some of her dancers around a memorial honoring Washington.
Washington was considered family by many employees of the studio where she worked for years before she was shot and killed. Yates, center, with some of her youth dancers, pose for a photo while wearing hoodies honoring the memory of Washington. Yates poses with some of her dancers around a memorial honoring Washington.
Washington’s spot at the front desk, beside Paschal, remains off limits. Yates held a candlelight vigil there in the days after the shooting, and has dedicated performances in Washington’s memory, tributes her studio has carried into performances this year.
The first of those came the day of Washington’s funeral — but took place 1,800 miles away in Los Angeles. Yates had committed to a competition there and did not want to back out. The specially choreographed opener, a swirling portrait of fury and grace set to gospel star Kirk Franklin’s “Don’t Cry,” was devoted to Washington.
Earlier that day in a Facebook post, Yates had written: “These folks don’t understand the beast that’s about to come out of me on this dance floor.”
Jaylon Palmore, 13
He told his family he was going to be famous.
Kim Woody-Walker, the mother of Jaylon Palmore, stands next to the overgrown garden she and her son kept together. Since Jaylon was killed by a stray bullet on March 5, Woody-Walker has not been able to bring herself to clear and replant the garden.
Story by Reis Thebault, Photos by Rob Culpepper
The quiet 13-year-old stood before his parents in their east Birmingham home and made a bold declaration: “Y’all just watch, I’m gonna be famous.
A keepsake card from the funeral of Jaylon, who was killed at his home in east Birmingham by a stray bullet on March 5. Jaylon was an avid gamer and hoped to go pro when he became an adult.
It was the kind of thing kids always say, and Jaylon Palmore had said it before. Like the time he told his mother, Kim Woody-Walker, and her husband, Gregory Walker, that he would be a star football player. “You’re going to have to beef up, son,” they replied, smiling at the lanky teen.
But Jaylon’s real passion was gaming. So when he said it again, and told his parents to remember his gamertag — “You’ll be looking for Jaypop27!”— they were inclined to believe him.
After all, they watched the way he set his mind to something and followed through, like when his grades began to slip and they told him he’d lose the PlayStation if he did not shape up. The report cards that followed made his parents proud.
At least 100 people have been killed since the start of 2022 in Birmingham
Jaylon’s stepdad liked to rib him about all the time he spent in his room, controller in hand, headset on: “Don’t you have a girl you can speak to?” Walker would ask, joking with the son he had helped raise for a decade. But really, his parents did not mind the hobby. He was soft-spoken and introverted, and gaming kept him inside, safe and out of trouble.
“My baby said he was going to be famous,” Woody-Walker said. “But I did not know and I did not want it to be this way.”
On the afternoon of March 5, Jaylon was on the porch with some of his older sister’s friends when two cars drove past the house, and gunmen opened fire. The first bullet hit Jaylon in the back and tore through his internal organs. Another hit an older man in the arm; he would survive, but Jaylon did not. In September, more than six months after the shooting, police arrested a suspect in the case. They believe someone else on the porch that day was the intended target.
Woody-Walker holds a painting of her son. The painting was an anonymous gift from someone at Jaylon’s school.
Jaylon parents stand in the room in which they plan to celebrate Jaylon’s life. “It’s not a memorial,” said his mother Woody-Walker. “It’s the Jaylon Party Room.”
LEFT: Woody-Walker holds a painting of her son. The painting was an anonymous gift from someone at Jaylon’s school. RIGHT: Jaylon parents stand in the room in which they plan to celebrate Jaylon’s life. “It’s not a memorial,” said his mother Woody-Walker. “It’s the Jaylon Party Room.”
Jaylon was killed just weeks before his 14th birthday, just months before the end of eighth grade. At school, his teachers and classmates painted a banner with his name in bright blue script and released a raft of balloons in his honor. The sign at the building’s entrance read “We love you Jaylon.” At graduation, the school held a seat open in his honor, adorned with his photo and a rose.
Woody-Walker is waiting to set up her own space to celebrate Jaylon. The couple decided to sell their house, which was full of reminders of their son.
The family did not take many pictures, but they have a reel of memories: Jaylon stroking his mother’s face and asking, “Momma, why you so soft?”; and the time his dad took him fishing, and Jaylon showed him up, catching bream after bream.
The sound of Jaylon’s music, oldies like Frankie Beverly and Maze and Earth, Wind and Fire. And his eclectic sense of style, an outfit never complete without a colorful pair of sneakers.
On May 27, Woody-Walker visited her son’s grave with a big Happy Birthday sign. She cleaned up around the site, sat down and talked to him. She told him she loved him, she’d never forget him and that she would see him again one day.
“Just rest, baby,” she said. “Just rest.”
Leslie Joseph Riley Jr., 66
He said he would die under the tree he loved. He was killed there.
From left, Larry Mack, Mike Walker and Charles Russell hang out at a lot that has been a gathering place for longtime friends in the neighborhood in Baton Rouge. Their friend Leslie Joseph “Jody” Riley Jr. was killed there in the afternoon of July 24th.
Story by Holly Bailey, Photos by Kathleen Flynn
His name was Leslie Joseph Riley Jr. But almost everyone knew him as “Jody,” a gregarious man with a teasing smile who could often be found lingering in the shade of the towering oak trees at the corner of Tennessee and East Polk streets in South Baton Rouge.
Riley is pictured in a family photo with his grandchildren Jaden Brown, right, Kyson Brown, bottom left, and Kensley Brown of Durham North Carolina.
A small vacant lot, it had for decades been an unofficial park for the locals. There were chairs and a grill, which Riley, a retired chef, often used to cook meals for neighbors who could not afford anything to eat. At 66, he had spent his life in the shadow of those trees, growing from a boy into an old man — recently joking with his family that he’d probably spend his last hours on earth in that very spot.
No one ever imagined that would be true. But on July 24, just after 3 p.m., a crackle of gunfire interrupted a sunny Sunday afternoon. Someone in a passing car had opened fire, spraying a volley of bullets toward the trees. Riley, who is not believed to have been the target, died at the scene. A second man, 20, was also shot but survived.
Gunfire has been the soundtrack of a violent stretch here in a neighborhood known as the Bottom — a nickname tied to its hilly terrain but which to some has also come to define the decline of what used to be the vibrant center of the Black community. Riley had been there through it all here, choosing to stay and raise a family even as businesses shuttered and homes fell into disrepair.
A memorial plant was planted near where Riley was killed.
Leslie Brown, second from right, and his daughters Jasmin Brown, left, Tonniesha Johnson, and Jada Brown, right, pose for a portrait in Leslie’s neighborhood in Baton Rouge.
LEFT: A memorial plant was planted near where Riley was killed. RIGHT: Leslie Brown, second from right, and his daughters Jasmin Brown, left, Tonniesha Johnson, and Jada Brown, right, pose for a portrait in Leslie’s neighborhood in Baton Rouge.
Riley dreamed of becoming a chef and got his culinary arts degree. For years, he worked at Louisiana State University, cooking at a fraternity house and then at the student union. But at night, he returned to the Bottom to cook for his family, friends and neighbors.
149 people killed in Baton Rouge in 2021, nearly double the number killed in 2019
“He was always passionate about cooking, and that’s how he gave back to the community that he loved,” said Jasmin Brown, Riley’s granddaughter. “He cooked under that tree, all the time. For people he knew, for total strangers. That’s who he was. A man with a heart of gold.”
Riley was angry to see the neighborhood falling into decline, even as other areas of Baton Rouge were being revitalized. His oldest son, also named Leslie, had recently started a nonprofit aimed at drawing city resources and jobs into the community. Riley had recently played in a charity baseball game to raise money for the group. Now, a photo of him from that game is pasted to one of those towering oaks so central to his life.
In the days after the shooting, the spot sat eerily empty. Police have made no arrests. Nearby a sign waved from one of the trees: “Long live Jody,” it read.
Mariyah Lacy, 4
She buried her dad. Then the violence came for her.
Treasha Lacy, 55, holds a tribute blanket alongside photos memorializing her deceased son and granddaughter at her home in Carrollton, Miss.
Story by Sarah Fowler, Photos by Rory Doyle
Mariyah Lacy slips in and out of the video frame. The 4-year-old is in a pink tank top and ponytail, blue balloons around her. As the camera shifts toward the ground, Mariyah’s tiny gold sandals fill the screen. She lays flowers on her father’s grave.
The clip is from Father’s Day 2021. Mariyah had told her aunt she wanted to “go see Daddy.”
Memorial signs remain outside the home of Treasha Lacy in honor of her deceased son and granddaughter.
A year later, her family would bury Mariyah beside him, both victims of Mississippi’s gun violence epidemic. Mariyah was shot sitting in the back of her mother’s truck on June 12. Her mother’s ex-boyfriend has been charged in the killing.
Jackson had the highest homicide rate per capita in 2021, with 153 killings
The family’s “ball of sunshine,” Mariyah was always telling jokes. She loved to be around people and gave everyone she encountered a hug. She liked to stay up late and watch cartoons; Treasha would often make a pallet on the floor for Mariyah and her older sister to spend the night. She loved Ramen noodles and seafood; when her father Cornelius Lacy was alive, he would feed her crab legs.
Treasha wanted to honor her granddaughter’s “princess” spirit at her funeral. Mariyah’s casket was covered in images of mermaids, unicorns and butterflies. The toddler was buried in a blue-and-pink fluffy dress; Treasha knew she would have liked it.
Treasha Lacy in her home.
A tribute blanket memorializing Cornelius Lacy and his daughter, Mariyah remains in Treasha Lacy’s living room.
LEFT: Treasha Lacy in her home. RIGHT: A tribute blanket memorializing Cornelius Lacy and his daughter, Mariyah remains in Treasha Lacy’s living room.
Treasha doesn’t like to think about the moments after Mariyah was shot. Was she in pain? Barely 4 feet tall, Treasha’s afraid she knows the answer. “I try not to think she suffered but I’m pretty sure she did,” she said.
Treasha has suffered too. There are days when she is angry. Days when the house is quiet, and it is all just too much to bear. In those moments, she swears she can hear Mariyah running through the house, pulling on her pants leg, saying, “Nana, Nana, Nana.”
Family photos line every wall in Treasha’s home; Mariyah’s face is in half a dozen. A wall in the living room is dedicated to pictures of Cornelius. After Mariyah’s death, Treasha added three more photos of Mariyah, now hung underneath a portrait of her father.
They had the same eyes. Walking down the hall from her bedroom, Cornelius’s photos would greet Treasha each morning. She used to say “Good morning, Cornelius” aloud. Now she silently says good morning to them both.
“What helps me out so much is I know Mariyah is an angel watching over us,” she said. “She’s an angel, and she’s with her dad in his arms.”
Jesika Tetlow, 18
She always wanted to help.
Susannah Ford gathers with friends and family two months after her daughter Jesika Tetlow’s death.
Story by Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Photos by Andrew Magnum
She stood up for her intellectually disabled older sister, classmates who were bullied and any animal she could find. She convinced her family to rescue five stray kittens during two hurricanes. While walking into a Walmart with her mom near her home outside Baltimore, Jesika Tetlow, then 8, called the police because she saw a dog left by itself in a shopper’s car.
“She had this big huge heart for people and for animals,” said Susannah Tetlow, her mother. “She made people feel special and made them each feel like her best friend.”
In Baltimore, at least 200 people have been killed so far in 2022
In middle school, her friend who was having suicidal thoughts had been in the bathroom for longer than usual, so Tetlow volunteered to go look for her.
She found her friend trying to drown herself in the toilet of the school bathroom. Tetlow called 911 and helped save her friend, but the incident made going into school too painful. So Tetlow was home-schooled instead, her family said.
Ford pets one of the cats that her daughter Jesika Tetlow rescued. She had gathered with friends and family to memorialize Tetlow two months after her death.
Ford and her son Josh Tetlow decorate a poster with pictures of Jesika.
Tetlow was murdered inside a friend's home during a home invasion.
Ford pets one of the cats that her daughter Jesika Tetlow rescued. She had gathered with friends and family to memorialize Tetlow two months after her death. Ford and her son Josh Tetlow decorate a poster with pictures of Jesika. Tetlow was murdered inside a friend's home during a home invasion.
But when the pandemic hit, forcing classes online, Tetlow thrived, her mother said. She developed an interest in medicine and decided she would either be a veterinarian or a doctor — or maybe both.
On Aug. 30, Tetlow, now 18, went to her friend’s house to take her online classes — she had continued to take classes online even when in-person learning resumed. That night, five masked people dressed in black raided the house. At least one of them had a gun, and shot Tetlow twice through the head and killed her.
Tetlow’s family found out the next morning. “My brain and my heart just shattered,” Susannah Tetlow said of the moment she found out.
Tetlow was killed in a home on this block in Baltimore.
The police investigation is ongoing as the family figures out how to memorialize their daughter. A photo of Tetlow and her sister dressed up for homecoming has taken on a new meaning. Tetlow hated being alone and in the dark, so they all got necklaces with space for her ashes so she will always be with them. The family is also wearing turquoise bracelets that say, “Justice for Jesika,” and is hoping to start a foundation in her name.
Susannah Tetlow has also started attending a Thursday night meeting of grieving families at Roberta’s House in Baltimore. “It’s the kind of camaraderie you would not wish on your worst enemy,” Tetlow said of the group, which includes others who have also lost children.
But still, she has struggled to make sense of what happened.
“This is not normal. This is not normal for a city and a country to have so many shootings every day,” Susannah Tetlow said. “This is a human. This is my child. And now she’s gone.”
Fowler reported from Jackson, Miss.; Gilsinan reported from St. Louis; Cusick reported from New Orleans; Freedman reported from Memphis; Bailey reported from Baton Rouge; Connors reported from Cleveland; and Rosenzweig-Ziff reported from Washington, D.C.
Topper photos by Kathleen Flynn, Dustin Franz, Maddie McGarvey and Joe Martinez.
Photo editing by Natalia Jimenez. Copy editing by Dorine Bethea. Story editing by Amanda Erickson. Design and development by Stephanie Hays. Data analysis by John D. Harden. Design editing by Madison Walls. | 2022-11-27T11:08:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The stories of America’s homicide crisis, from cities across the U.S. - Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2022/america-homicide-victim-stories/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2022/america-homicide-victim-stories/ |
Michelle Ye Hee Lee
An official North Korean government photo released Sunday shows Kim Jong Un and his daughter posing with soldiers at an unknown location. (Str/AFP/Getty Images)
The daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a second public appearance with her father days after her first, suggesting an expansion of the child’s public-facing role and fueling speculation over Kim’s succession plans.
A new set of photographs released by state media Sunday shows Kim’s daughter posing affectionately beside her father during an event with North Korean soldiers at an unnamed location. During the visit, Kim congratulated soldiers who took part in the test-firing of a intercontinental ballistic missile earlier this month, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
In one image, the father-daughter pair can be seen posing alongside uniformed soldiers before a truck loaded with a large missile, which state media said is the Hwasong-17 ICBM. In others, the young child can be seen holding her father’s arm and clapping her hands while smiling.
The photos are the second set of such images to appear in just over a week. The girl’s first appearance in public took place on Nov. 18, when she was pictured with her father at a missile test launch site in Pyongyang, after years of secrecy surrounding her existence.
While the child was not named, observers believe she is called Kim Ju Ae. Her name was first revealed in 2013 by retired NBA star Dennis Rodman, who said after visiting North Korea that he had met the leader’s “baby” daughter.
The Associated Press, citing a South Korean lawmaker briefed on the assessment, reported that Seoul’s National Intelligence Service concluded that last week’s photos showed Ju Ae, the North Korean leader’s second child, and that she was about 10 years old.
North Korean state media said Sunday that Kim and his daughter had attended an event “of historic significance” with military scientists and factory workers credited with developing the Hwasong-17, the regime’s most powerful ICBM to date. The weapon is being designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads and has the capability of reaching the East Coast of the United States.
“When General Secretary Kim Jong Un appeared at the photo session venue together with his beloved daughter, all the participants broke into stormy cheers of ‘Hurrah!’” the Korean Central News Agency reported, in a news release that accompanied photographs.
Few confirmed details exist about Kim Jong Un’s private life. South Korean intelligence officials say Kim has two other children. The older, a boy, was born around 2010. Even less is known about the other child, who was born around 2017.
His young daughter’s public appearance is a break from the precedent established by his father and grandfather, whose children had not previously made such appearances until after after they were designated as successors, noted Rachel Minyoung Lee, an expert in North Korean propaganda.
Although the photographs have added to speculation over a potential successor to 38-year-old Kim, who was rumored to be in “grave” health in 2020, Lee suggests Kim’s decision to reveal his daughter could also be part of a propaganda effort to make the leader seem more relatable, exposing a more human, family-oriented side.
It is not the first time the North Korean leader has set aside some of the conventions established by his predecessors. Earlier this year Kim spoke with relative candor in a documentary about the significant challenges facing North Korea, including a food crisis, striking a forthcoming tone never expressed by either his father or grandfather.
Kim has also appeared in public with close family members more frequently than either of his predecessors. Unlike his father — who did not reveal his wife and only appeared in public with his sister later in life — Kim Jong Un’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, was shown in state media six months after the leader ascended to power, and his sister, Kim Yo Jong, a top aide, has also played a significant role in public life.
Victoria Bisset contributed to this report. | 2022-11-27T12:00:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Kim Jong Un's daughter appears again, fueling succession speculation - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/north-korea-kim-jong-un-daugher/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/27/north-korea-kim-jong-un-daugher/ |
Trisha Mathews, a nurse and Chesapeake, Va., resident, signs a personal message on a cross Friday for one of the victims of the Walmart shooting in Chesapeake, Va. (Mike Caudill for The Washington Post)
The mass shootings that plague this nation are a uniquely American jumble of contradictions. Each new one horrifies, and yet fits into a depressingly familiar pattern. Communities count the dead — nearly 50 so far in November — and tally the gruesome details. The country vows to honor the lives cut short. And then it all fades from the headlines and people move on, leaving behind thoughts and prayers but no concrete policies to stop the next bloodbath.
Opinion | Our dysfunctional relationship with guns rears its ugly head in Virginia
The United States has averaged nearly two mass shootings a day this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks when four or more people are shot. To put that another way, it’s now unusual to have a day without a mass shooting. “We aren’t numb - we’re traumatized,” tweeted Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, which has been urging action to stop gun violence in America since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six staff a decade ago.
It can happen anywhere, to anyone. Fourteen Americans mowed down this month at the University of Virginia, Club Q in Colorado Springs and a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., were doing normal activities of daily life — going to school, enjoying a performance, working. They leave behind grieving loved ones, who ask: Why?
In each case, as usually happens, there were warning signs missed — or ignored. The chilling note the Walmart shooter left in his phone railing against his co-workers and claiming his phone was hacked suggests he was a deeply disturbed 31-year-old. And yet, he was able to buy a pistol just hours before he massacred six fellow employees in a break room. In Colorado Springs, a 22-year-old suspect who had been arrested last year for an alleged bomb threat but never prosecuted, was not prevented from obtaining an AR-15-style weapon and a handgun. It’s eerily similar in the University of Virginia shooting: The 22-year-old suspect had multiple prior run-ins with the law, including a 2021 conviction for possessing a concealed firearm without a license.
Too often these tragedies are written off to individual cases of mental illness. That does not explain why the United States has had more than 600 mass shootings every year since 2020 and why no other country has anything close to this level of gun violence. We must confront the truth about guns in America and why it is so easy for practically anyone to get one — including some that are weapons of war.
The fact that no single action will stop all mass shootings is no excuse not to do things that could prevent some of them, or lower the toll when they happen. President Biden is right to call for another nationwide assault weapons ban, which he helped enact for 10 years when he was a senator in 1994. Poll after poll show wide support for stricter gun laws. The House passed the ban in July, but the Senate has yet to act.
The Post's View: Again, Americans are killed by a weapon of war. A ban must be on the table.
Earlier this year, Democrats and some Republicans worked together to pass a gun safety bill as the nation mourned the 19 elementary school students and two teachers who died from a horrific mass shooting in Uvalde, Tex. The new law included more funding for mental health services and school safety, expanded background checks on 18- to 21-year olds trying to buy guns, and more funding for programs that help seize guns from troubled individuals. It was a start, but lawmakers cannot stop there.
But the U.S. Congress is not the only place where action is needed. When Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) was asked whether he would support tighter restrictions on guns after two mass shootings occurred in his state this month, he replied: “Today’s not the time.” So when is the right time?
In 2020 and 2021, with Democrats controlling both the legislature and the governorship, Virginia passed modestly enhanced gun control laws. The changes included sensible reforms: Universal background checks, a three-year ban on firearm possession for people convicted of assaulting a family member and a red-flag law that gives authorities the ability to seize weapons from people considered a threat. Clearly, it wasn’t enough.
The Post's View: The Senate’s bipartisan gun deal is an encouraging first step
The spate of gun violence has erupted even as the Supreme Court has limited the tools that government at all levels can use to address the problem. The court’s June ruling, striking down a New York state law that limited concealed carry permits, instructed lower courts to find gun laws unconstitutional unless proponents could point to a historical analogue — in other words, show that regulations are based on or similar to ones that existed in the past. This is an unnecessary and unworkable standard that is making its way through the lower courts, with predictably dreary results. The court should make clear that its focus on history does not need to be applied with monomaniacal precision.
Army veteran Richard M. Fierro is rightly being called a hero for tackling the gunman at Club Q in Colorado Springs and preventing the death count from climbing even higher. But it’s chilling to hear him describe how events that night looked similar to what he saw in Iraq and Afghanistan. How his combat training kicked in after he saw the shooter’s weapon and body armor. His daughter’s boyfriend was one of the victims. “Everybody in that building experienced combat that night,” Fierro said. It took only three days for another war-zone scene to arise, this time at a Walmart. | 2022-11-27T12:39:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | From Colorado Springs to Chesapeake, shootings demand honesty on guns - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/colorado-springs-chesapeake-shootings-gun-laws/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/colorado-springs-chesapeake-shootings-gun-laws/ |
By Masih Alinejad
Protesters take part in a "Woman, Life, Freedom" rally for Iranian women in Sydney on Nov. 5. (Steven Saphore/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Masih Alinejad is an Iranian journalist, author and women’s rights campaigner. A member of the Human Rights Foundation’s International Council, she hosts “Tablet,” a talk show on Voice of America’s Persian service.
That the unrest continues is itself a remarkable tribute to those overwhelmingly young Iranians who refuse to back down in the face of brutal violence from the regime. Western leaders have been slow to acknowledge the full significance and depth of what has been happening inside Iran — not least because of their fixation on persuading the regime to agree to a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program. But now, at last, there are welcome signs of change.
Earlier this month, I had a chance to persuade French President Emmanuel Macron to back what many of us are calling the “revolution” in Iran. At first, as a uniformed guard escorted me through the gilded corridors of the Élysée Palace, I had to keep my anger in check. Just two months earlier, Macron had shaken hands with IranianPresident Ebrahim Raisi, who earlier in his career ordered the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the 1980s.
Yet, Macron was sending a huge message to the clerics in Tehran by meeting me. The Islamic republic regards me as an “enemy of the state” and has launched plots to kidnap me and assassinate me at my home in Brooklyn over the past two years. I was grateful for the French president’s signal of support — but even more I wanted to see him register his appreciation for the Iranian protesters.
Macron is very intelligent and curious. He is charming and asks pointed questions. But he shrugged off the Raisi handshake. For Macron, diplomacy means that you sometimes have to meet people you don’t agree with.
Fair enough, I said. But France, I responded, also has a history of respecting revolutionary thoughts and deeds. It was long overdue, I argued, for the world to recognize that the events in Iran fall into precisely this category.
But what truly moved Macron was the delegation of Iranian women who accompanied me: Roya Piraei, a young girl who became a symbol of the protests after her mother was recently shot and killed by the regime; Ladan Boroumand, a veteran human rights activist and researcher; and Shima Babaei, an activist opposed to compulsory hijab who recently fled Iran. Piraei, clutching a picture of her mother, had a simple request for Macron: She asked him not to shake hands with the killers of her mother.
For Macron, this was an eye-opening experience. It was the first time he had come face-to-face with Iranian civil society, embodied by women who had all lost members of their own families. It was reassuring to hear that the French president agreed that compulsory hijab was forced on Iranian women and that it was time to abolish it.
Support for this revolution is not limited to Macron. Within the past few weeks, both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have expressed support for the protesters and condemned the brutality and harsh tactics used against them by the regime. The European Union and Canada have imposed additional sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran for its brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters.
Even before the protests began, negotiations between Europe and Iran on Tehran’s nuclear program had stalled. Now the talks are widely regarded as dead — and rightly so. Democratic leaders need to rethink their relationship with a barbaric regime that has no compunction about killing its own citizens. For too long, rather than placing the emphasis on Iranians’ human rights, the West has naively prioritized short-term goals of containing the Islamic republic’s nuclear ambitions through diplomacy. (The United States, sadly, remains something of a laggard in this regard: President Biden still hasn’t made a strong and decisive public statement in favor of the protesters.)
At every available opportunity, leaders in Iran have benefited from this naivete. They have used it to spread their tentacles of terror across the region and impose a strict form of religious dictatorship. The West looked away from the horrors of the Tehran regime in the hopes that the system would reform slowly. Not only did that evolution not happen, but the Islamic Republic of Iran has become an even greater security threat for the world — just look at the Iranian drones blowing up Ukrainian infrastructure in support of Putin’s invaders. Iran’s reckless support for Moscow — which has outraged the international community — is potentially bringing the Islamic republic closer to conflict with NATO.
Macron expressed his admiration for the protesting Iranian women and men who are fighting for freedom from the regime in Tehran. We need more world leaders to recognize the new Iranian revolution.
Opinion|Iran’s streets are ablaze as it foments more trouble abroad
Opinion|Biden rewards Saudi leader’s impunity with legal immunity
Opinion|Netanyahu’s Israeli victory shows how not to stop Trump | 2022-11-27T12:39:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The West is finally waking up to the real problem in Iran - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/masih-alinejad-iran-human-rights-macron-west/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/masih-alinejad-iran-human-rights-macron-west/ |
Divided government demands creativity. Here are 3 ways to get things done.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas on Nov. 19. (David Becker for The Washington Post)
1Make progress without legislation.
2Announce a campaign for America’s families.
3Create an agenda for the next generation.
This requires Democrats (and Republicans seeking ways to break with their investigation-infatuated leadership) to be creative in thinking simultaneously about what’s possible over the next two years and how to lay the groundwork for change later. Here are three suggestions that I hope others build on.
Make progress without legislation.
Presidents can do a lot through executive orders, and Biden will certainly try. But there are other avenues available to change-makers, as my Brookings Institution colleague Thomas E. Mann suggests.
First, much of the legislation enacted in the past two years — on infrastructure and investments in technology and green energy for starters — will involve substantial spending between now and the end of Biden’s first term. Democrats should be aggressive in claiming credit for what’s being built. But the Biden administration should also be very public about all it’s doing to make sure the money is spent wisely. “When a bill is finally passed and signed into law,” Mann told me, channeling Churchill, “that’s not the end, but the end of the beginning.”
Progressives propose to do a lot of good things through government. They need to make clear they will be in the forefront of reforming how it works.
The Internal Revenue Service should do its part with highly visible help to make tax filing as easy as possible and to speed refunds. It would be a way of showing that the employees added to the IRS to prevent cheating at the top are also there to improve service to everyone.
Mann also urges Democrats, from the president on down, to go into the 11 states that have not accepted the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act and stump for its enactment. This would keep up the pressure at both the state and federal levels to get health insurance to everyone. Expansion, which would extend health insurance to more than 3 million Americans, is popular and the right thing to do.
Announce a campaign for America’s families.
Are you tired of people who speak of their devotion to “family values” yet do nothing to help struggling families? Me, too.
Three measures would make a big difference for families, and especially for women, who typically assume the largest responsibility for child-rearing. Progressives and moderates should come together behind a family package that includes the child tax credit, expanded child-care assistance and universal pre-K.
The child tax credit cut child poverty by 40 percent and should never have been allowed to expire. Like my Post colleague Catherine Rampell, I hope its supporters condition the extension of corporate tax breaks in the lame-duck session on enactment of the credit. No help for kids, no corporate tax breaks.
Republicans who tout themselves as “populist” and “pro-family” should be challenged to put deeds behind their slogans. In the short term, something good might happen. And if the GOP balks, the way would be prepared for a future Democratic-led Congress to move decisively.
Create an agenda for the next generation.
Young voters, the most diverse generation in our history, are changing the country for the better. They were also central to holding back that red wave.
This new generation has come of age in a complicated time, starting with the stock and housing market collapses of 2008 and continuing through the pandemic. Biden made a good start with student loan forgiveness, but policymakers should be working on a larger collection of policies that deal with problems younger Americans face across class and educational lines — in the housing and health-care markets, small business loans and job training.
Family policies such as the child tax credit would be part of the push to help younger Americans. The biological fact is that people tend to have kids when they’re younger. The economic fact is that their incomes are typically higher when they’re older. Ironing out this mismatch is a social and economic imperative.
Think of these initiatives as a starting point, not the final word. They are aimed at sparking other efforts to move our political debate away from demagogic culture wars and toward problem solving. If progressives and moderates do their job right, conservatives might even be shamed into offering some ideas of their own. | 2022-11-27T12:39:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Divided government demands creativity. Here are 3 ways to get things done. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/progressive-biden-agenda-gop-house/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/progressive-biden-agenda-gop-house/ |
Stanford's David Shaw resigned after the team's 3-9 finish with a loss Saturday night to BYU. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Associated Press) (Godofredo A. V�squez/AP)
David Shaw resigned Saturday, effective immediately, after 12 seasons as Stanford’s head coach following the team’s 36-25 loss to BYU in its season finale.
“I prayed about it, I thought about it,” Shaw said. “With every hour it seemed, it was more cemented in my head. The phrase that kept coming to me is: ‘It’s time.’”
Shaw, 50, said that he began to consider stepping down at his alma mater only last week and added that he is not interested in coaching any team at this point.
Shaw, one of the most widely respected college football coaches in the country, is the winningest head coach in Stanford history with 96 victories against 54 losses. He led Stanford to five double-digit winning seasons, with three Pac-12 titles and three Rose Bowl appearances — with two wins in that game — in his first six years as head coach.
But his teams have finished 3-9 in each of the last two seasons. Since 2019, the Cardinal has gone 14-28.
“A week ago, 10 days ago, I was gung-ho to be the person to lead us there, and over the last few days I realized it was time,” Shaw said after a late arrival to his postgame news conference. “It was time for me to step aside, time for the next group to come in, and hopefully whoever they hire next wins more games than I do. That would be awesome.”
The Cardinal is 3-16 in the Pac-12 the last two seasons, with consecutive losses to rival California.
“There are a lot of people that think this program is down. That’s what our record says,” Shaw said, “but I look at the components. I look at the people here, the support that I’m hearing coming from our athletic director, from our university president, the people that are behind the scenes. We’re not that far away.”
A wide receiver for Stanford in the early 1990s, Shaw served as Jim Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator from 2007-10 and replaced Harbaugh as head coach in 2011. Shaw was an NFL assistant for nine seasons before joining Harbaugh, first at the University of San Diego and then at Stanford. Together, they turned the program around and Shaw continued that success when he succeeded Harbaugh, instituting a physical style nicknamed “Intellectual Brutality.”
Athletic director Bernard Muir thanked Shaw in statement, saying he “represented Stanford football, as both a player and a coach, with unwavering grace, humility and integrity. He has cared tremendously for each and every student-athlete in his program while helping them pursue their full academic and athletic potential. David will forever remain a valued member of the Stanford football family and an integral part of the storied history of the program. I hope Cardinal fans everywhere will join me in thanking David and his family for their extraordinary years of service and wishing them all the best in their next chapter.” | 2022-11-27T13:27:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Stanford coach David Shaw resigns, effective immediately - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/27/stanford-david-shaw-resigns/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/27/stanford-david-shaw-resigns/ |
By Shannon Marvel McNaught, The News Journal | AP
DOVER, Del. — Forty-five-year-old twins Shannon Dasch and Shawna Wanner were wary when they received Facebook messages from Samantha Riddle in early 2021.
“She asked if our father’s name was Paul Riddle, who passed away in December ’96,” Dasch said. “She knew we were twins. She said, ‘I think you may be our half-sisters.’”
Samantha Riddle, 29, grew up with her sister Tara Riddle, 43, and their mother in the Dover area. The twins grew up with their own mother in Pennsylvania. The parents’ relationships were strained, preventing the sisters from ever really knowing each other.
It wasn’t an amicable breakup, and the twins saw their father only twice between their parents’ separation and his death. The last time was at their high school graduation in 1996, a few months before Paul Riddle’s death.
After making contact with Samantha and Tara Riddle, the twins learned about another connection they didn’t know. Samantha and Tara had a sister who died in infancy, and their parents named her Nicole Marie.
“I think they wanted to show we will always be part of their family,” Shannon said. “Had she survived, there would be some way for us to know, even if we never met, that there would always be a connection.”
Shannon recently flew from her home in Texas to Shawna’s home in Connecticut and the two drove down to Delaware. They waited anxiously to meet their half-sisters in the parking lot of La Tonalteca in Dover, watching the road with flowers in hand.
“We all just very quickly fell into a very easy, very comfortable place,” Shannon said.
“It’s very surreal,” Shawna said.
“I definitely feel like my life has changed hugely,” Shannon said. “I didn’t realize what I was missing until now.” | 2022-11-27T14:11:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 2 pairs of sisters meet for the first time - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2-pairs-of-sisters-meet-for-the-first-time/2022/11/27/056a0090-6e5c-11ed-867c-8ec695e4afcd_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2-pairs-of-sisters-meet-for-the-first-time/2022/11/27/056a0090-6e5c-11ed-867c-8ec695e4afcd_story.html |
Where Abortion Will Be on the Ballot in 2024
The abortion-rights issue was a political lifesaver for Democrats this year. Whether it will be again in 2024 depends in part on efforts to put the question of reproductive rights on the ballot — not just through the candidates’ positions, but literally.
Another way is for citizens to petition to get measures on the ballot. That’s an option in 22 states plus the District of Columbia; of those, only in 17 can a ballot measure modify the state’s constitution. That’s what happened in the purple state of Michigan, when voters this year established abortion rights as part of the state’s constitution, re-elected Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and put Democrats in control of the state legislature for the first time since 1984.
In Ohio, the stakes are high for three-term Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who is up for re-election in 2024. The state is solidly red, but nearly 60% of registered voters would support codifying abortion rights in the state’s constitution. On the ground, abortion access is mired in litigation.
Abortion proponents and foes are also eyeing Missouri, where there is a complete ban on abortion. In two years, there will be races for governor and secretary of state. Republican Senator Josh Hawley, a Trump ally who won with 51.4% in 2018, is also up for re-election.
• The Pro-Life Movement Needs to Be More Realistic: Ramesh Ponnuru
• Voters Welcome an Abortion Compromise. Will the Parties?: Sarah Green Carmichael | 2022-11-27T15:42:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Where Abortion Will Be on the Ballot in 2024 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/where-abortion-will-be-on-the-ballot-in-2024/2022/11/27/9e6a7388-6e5c-11ed-867c-8ec695e4afcd_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/where-abortion-will-be-on-the-ballot-in-2024/2022/11/27/9e6a7388-6e5c-11ed-867c-8ec695e4afcd_story.html |
Man shot and killed in Southeast Washington
A man was was fatally shot early Sunday in Southeast Washington.
Police responded to a report of shots fired at around 12:45 a.m. in the 4300 block of Wheeler Road Southeast, D.C police spokeswoman Brianna Burch said, where they found a man fatally shot outside.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, Burch said. There have been no arrests made in the shooting. Police are withholding the name of the victim until his family is notified. | 2022-11-27T16:56:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Man shot and killed in Southeast Washington - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/27/man-shot-killed-district/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/27/man-shot-killed-district/ |
Judge denies Missouri teenager’s plea to witness father’s execution
Corionsa Ramey and her father Kevin Johnson in an undated handout image released by the American Civil Liberties Union. (ACLU)
A 19-year-old woman’s petition to attend the imminent execution of her father in Missouri has been denied by a federal judge because she is under 21 years old, the minimum legal age to witness an execution in the state.
Corionsa “Khorry” Ramey, whose father, Kevin Johnson, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Nov. 29, filed an emergency challenge against the Missouri law barring her from witnessing his execution, arguing that the age threshold was arbitrary and violated her rights under the U.S. Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on Ramey’s behalf.
“It is excruciating to know that I am about to lose my father all over again when the State kills him, yet I cannot be present for his death simply because of my age,” Ramey said in the court filing, shared by the ACLU which is representing her case.
In an order denying the motion, also shared by the ACLU, U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes acknowledged the age bar could cause Ramey emotional harm, but did not find that it violated her First and 14th Amendment rights, as her lawyers argued.
Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder after being found guilty of killing Kirkwood, Mo., police officer William McEntee in 2005. He is scheduled to be executed at a state prison in Bonne Terre, Mo., at 6.p.m local time on Nov. 29. His lawyers have multiple ongoing legal appeals seeking to halt his execution, according to the ACLU.
In her request to attend her father’s execution, Ramey said that Johnson has been her sole living parent since her mother’s death, a killing she said she witnessed when she was four. Despite his incarceration for the last 17 years, Ramey said she had a close relationship with her father, with whom she speaks weekly and was last month able to introduce to her newborn son, she said. Johnson had also requested his daughter be one of five people permitted to attend his execution, according to the complaint.
“I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to be with my dad in his last moments,” Ramey said in a statement shared by the ACLU after her motion was denied. “My dad is the most important person in my life. He has been there for me my whole life, even though he’s been incarcerated. He is a good father, the only parent I have left. He has worked very hard to rehabilitate himself in prison.” She added, “I pray that Governor Parson will give my dad clemency,” referring to Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R).
In separate court filings, Johnson’s legal team and a special prosecutor requested that judges intervene to halt the execution for a number of reasons, including Johnson’s history of mental illness, his age — he was 19 when the crime took place — and evidence of racial bias in both conviction and sentencing.
According to the Missouri Supreme Court, on July 5, 2005, Kirkwood police officers were investigating a vehicle believed to belong to Johnson — who had an outstanding warrant for a probation violation from a previous misdemeanor — at his home when his younger brother suffered a seizure in the house next door. The brother, Joseph “Bam Bam” Long was 12, the Associated Press reported.
Several police officers, including McEntee, responded to the medical emergency but Long died shortly afterward in hospital from a preexisting heart condition, the court said. Johnson accused McEntee of not doing enough to save his brother, and fatally shot him after encountering him later that evening, the court said in the 2009 decision.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that reports on issues concerning capital punishment, Johnson’s execution — if it goes ahead — is scheduled to be the 17th death sentence carried out in the United States this year. Missouri has executed 92 prisoners since 1976, the Center reported, the fifth-most of any state. | 2022-11-27T17:14:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Judge in Missouri bars Kevin Johnson's daughter witnessing lethal injection - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/27/missouri-lethal-injection-kevin-johnson/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/27/missouri-lethal-injection-kevin-johnson/ |
Police investigating road rage shooting on I-395
D.C. police are investigating a shooting on Interstate 395 that left a driver injured, the third shooting in the area in less than 48 hours that police say may have stemmed from road rage.
D.C. police spokeswoman Brianna Burch said the driver pulled off the freeway shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday and found a police officer at 12th Street NW and Pennsylvania Street NW. The driver had a gunshot wound to the leg, Burch said, and described being shot on I-395 while approaching the District.
Police later pulled over a driver in a vehicle that matched the description of the one involved in the shooting on 1-395 South in Arlington, Burch said. The driver was cited for unrelated charges by Arlington police, and police are investigating a possible connection to the road rage incident.
On Friday night, a woman was shot in the southbound section of the Third Street Tunnel, which is part of I-395. Police are investigating whether the shooting was connected to road rage.
Saturday afternoon, someone in a car shot at a Metrobus in Southeast Washington in what authorities described as “an apparent road rage incident.” No one was injured. | 2022-11-27T17:35:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Police suspect road rage in three recent shootings - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/27/road-rage-dc-shooting/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/27/road-rage-dc-shooting/ |
D.C.’s Revised Criminal Code is flawed
The D.C. flag hangs in July 2019 at the John Wilson Building in D.C. (Marlena Sloss/The Washington Post)
The Revised Criminal Code Act passed unanimously by the D.C. Council won’t make residents safer. It hurts rape victims by creating a new right for rapists: the right to petition for early release.
I emailed D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) asking her to veto the bill because of the rape provision. I’ve been a member of the sexual assault community for more than 30 years. It’s a community that none of us joined willingly, and it’s one none of us can leave. Rape is an irreversible crime, and we don’t get to rewind the clock.
I shared my concerns with the D.C. Council when its members were drafting the bill, but no one listened to me. I was told that the new right was proportionate and just. Yet none of them told me why it is just to support the early release of a rapist.
The D.C. Council’s refusal to justify the early release of rapists is perplexing given how its members all stated support for the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement. One would have thought that support for the 2017 movement would have spurred them to support the opposite of what happened with the Revised Criminal Code. Sadly, it didn’t, so I support mayoral veto of the flawed bill.
K. Denise Rucker Krepp, Washington
The writer is an advisory neighborhood commissioner.
Opinion|D.C.’s Revised Criminal Code is flawed | 2022-11-27T18:41:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | D.C.’s Revised Criminal Code is flawed - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/dcs-revised-criminal-code-is-flawed/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/dcs-revised-criminal-code-is-flawed/ |
A few questions before the debt ceiling is lifted
The Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing building on Aug. 11 in D.C. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
Before the debt ceiling is lifted, which it must be, Congress must dare to at least pose a question.
In much of Peter Orszag’s Nov. 22 op-ed, “GOP threats to weaponize the debt limit are dangerous,” one can agree with his conclusion, but when he mentioned, “The evolution of debt is also influenced by the economy, market interest rates and other factors, but those are mostly outside the control of policymakers,” he omitted vital aspects. Let me explain it with a question:
What would the United States’ public debt be in the absence of regulatory subsidies, such as bank capital requirements with decreed risk weights of zero percent against federal government debts and 100 percent against citizens’ debts; copious amounts of Treasury purchases by the Fed with quantitative easing programs; and the preaching by modern monetary theory fans that has definitely promoted a dangerous lackadaisical attitude when discussing the limits of public debt?
Yes, Congress must approve increasing the debt level. It’s too late to do otherwise, but to do so without even trying to answer that question would be to irresponsibly kick the debt can forward and upward with disastrous consequences.
And, by the way, the Supreme Court should look at what the Founding Fathers might have thought about the aforementioned risk weights.
Per Kurowski, Rockville | 2022-11-27T18:41:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | A few questions before the debt ceiling is lifted - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/few-questions-before-debt-ceiling-is-lifted/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/27/few-questions-before-debt-ceiling-is-lifted/ |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.