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86d45094867ca04be1f451c4c67bd3b3	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-14-fo-tomatillo14-story.html	The tomatillo unwrapped	The tomatillo unwrapped IT’S VIBRANT green and looks like a small, under-ripe tomato hidden under a delicate, paper-like husk. Peel back that wrapping to reveal firm, slightly sticky flesh with a scent faintly reminiscent of freshly picked herbs. Take one bite and the sweet-tart flavor rings with plum, apple and citrus notes. The tomatillo, a close but very independent cousin of the tomato and Cape gooseberry, is known by several names, including husk tomatoes, jam berries and Mexican green tomatoes. Though widely available year-round, the main season is May through October. Allowed to mature, tomatillos may range in color from yellow to red, even purple. But they’re best picked just before ripening, when the flesh is still firm and the flavors are bright with a gentle but assertive acidity. Look for firm fruit with tight, unwrinkled husks. With husks on, tomatillos keep for about two weeks stored in a paper bag and refrigerated, but husk them and store refrigerated in a plastic bag and they keep up to four weeks. If you garden and find yourself with an abundance, try freezing them (spread them, sliced or whole on a sheet pan in the freezer until solid, then place them in an airtight freezer bag). In Spanish, tomatillo means “little tomato,” and records show that tomatillos were cultivated by the Aztecs as far back as 800 B.C. Tomatillos liven many Latin American recipes with their vibrant color, often silky texture and mildly tart flavor. They’re often used in salsas, especially those that lighten rich chicken and pork dishes. Tomatillos lend themselves to a variety of cooking methods such as roasting, sauteing and stewing. Cooking softens the acidity and brings out the sweetness in the fruit. And like tomatoes, tomatillos can be enjoyed raw. Eat the fruit by itself, or use it to punch up a salad or cold dish. For a simple meal, try grilling tomatillos -- direct heat over a hot fire brings out the sweet notes of the fruit -- by cutting them into wedges and lightly oiling and seasoning them. Quickly grill the tomatillos so they’re crisp-tender -- a couple of minutes per side -- then toss them with some quick-grilled scallions, serrano chile and marinated, grilled shrimp. Divide the mixture among freshly warmed tortillas, add a side dish -- and supper is served. Or try a variation on classic chile verde by using them in a sauce for a fluffy omelet made with panela cheese (a fresh Mexican cheese that softens to rich creaminess when heated). Saute diced pancetta and tomatillos with minced onion and garlic. The pancetta cooks until caramelized and crisp; the tomatillo is added just so it warms through and blends with the flavors in the pan. Freshen up the classic pairing of tomatillo and pork by adding citrus and fresh basil, mint and oregano. Stud a boneless pork roast with slivered garlic. Brown it in a heavy-bottomed casserole. In the same pan, saute onion, garlic, serrano chile and coarsely chopped tomatillos, then place the roast back in the pan. Add some broth, orange zest and fresh oregano and roast until the meat is falling-apart tender. Finish the dish by adding some fresh basil, mint and more oregano to the sauce (there is no cilantro in this variation ) along with some fresh lime juice. Spoon the rustic sauce over the pork and serve with rice or grilled tortillas. -- noelle.carter@latimes.com donna.deane@latimes.com -- Garlic shrimp with grilled tomatillos Total time: 25 minutes Servings: 2 to 4 Note: From Donna Deane. 1/2 pound cleaned, peeled large tail-on shrimp Olive oil 1 small clove garlic, pressed through a garlic press Salt, pepper 3/4 pound tomatillos, each cut into six wedges (eight if the tomatillos are large) 4 green onions 1 small serrano chile 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground cumin 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano leaves Tortillas 1. Heat a grill over medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon olive oil, the garlic, one-fourth teaspoon salt and a pinch of black pepper. Allow to marinate while the tomatillos, onions and chile are grilled. 2. In another medium bowl, toss the tomatillo wedges with just enough olive oil to coat, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Grill the wedges until charred and crisp-tender, about 2 1/2 minutes on each side. Place them in a large bowl, and set aside in a warm place. 3. Lightly brush the green onions and the serrano chile with a little olive oil. Grill until tender and charred on all sides, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside until cool enough to handle. Slice the onions crosswise into 2-inch pieces and add to the tomatillos. Halve the chile and remove the seeds, then chop and add to the tomatillos. Toss and season to taste with salt and pepper. 4. Grill the shrimp just until cooked through (they will be opaque, firm and pink), 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side. Remove the shrimp from the grill and toss them in the bowl with the tomatillos along with the cumin and oregano. Serve with grilled tortillas. Each of 4 servings: 107 calories; 10 grams protein; 6 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 84 mg. cholesterol; 246 mg. sodium. -- Cheese omelet with tomatillo sauce Total time: 25 minutes Servings: 2 Note: From test kitchen director Donna Deane. Mexican panela cheese is available at Latino markets and well-stocked supermarkets. 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon butter, divided 3 tablespoons diced pancetta 2 tablespoons minced onion 1 small clove garlic, minced 1 cup peeled and diced tomatillos (about 2 large or 3 medium) Salt, pepper 3 eggs 1/4 cup shredded panela cheese 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro 1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 teaspoon of the butter. Add the diced pancetta and saute, stirring occasionally, until crisp and browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the onion and continue to saute until translucent, then stir in the garlic and diced tomatillo. Continue to cook until the tomatillo is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Season to taste and set aside in a warm place. 2. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs with one-fourth teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. 3. In an 8-inch skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of butter over medium heat until melted, add the eggs and stir until they just start to set on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the eggs and reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue to cook until the top of the omelet is set and the bottom is nicely browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Fold the omelet in half and continue to cook until the cheese is completely melted, about 1 more minute. 4. Transfer the omelet to a serving plate and spoon over the tomatillo sauce. Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and serve immediately. Each serving: 295 calories; 17 grams protein; 6 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 23 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 358 mg. cholesterol; 636 mg. sodium. -- Slow-cooked pork with fresh herb tomatillo sauce Total time: 2 hours, 40 minutes Servings: 6 Note: From test kitchen director Donna Deane. 2 pounds boneless pork butt 2 to 3 slivered garlic cloves, plus 1 minced garlic clove, divided 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 2 tablespoons oil 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 small serrano chile, seeded and minced 1 pound tomatillos, husks removed and coarsely chopped into 1-inch pieces 1 1/2 cups chicken broth 2 teaspoons grated orange zest 2 teaspoons fresh oregano, divided 1 tablespoon chopped basil 1 tablespoon chopped mint 1 teaspoon lime juice Black pepper 1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a small sharp knife to make small 1-inch deep cuts all over the surface of the pork, and push one sliver of garlic into each slit. Season the pork with salt and pepper, rubbing the seasonings all over the meat. 2. In a large, heavy oven-proof casserole, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the pork and sear on all sides to a rich brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the pork to a plate and set aside. 3. Add the onion to the casserole and reduce the heat to medium. Saute the onion until tender, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the minced garlic, the serrano chile and the tomatillos and continue to saute until the tomatillos are tender, about 5 minutes. 4. Add the chicken broth to deglaze the pan. Stir in the orange peel and 1 teaspoon of the oregano. Nestle the roast back with the vegetables and spoon some of the juices over the meat. Cover and roast 2 hours, until the pork is tender (it will pull apart easily). Remove the casserole from the oven. 5. Carefully lift the meat out of the casserole onto a carving board. Stir the basil, mint, remaining oregano, lime juice and a few grinds of black pepper into the sauce. Use a fork to break the meat apart into bite size pieces. Divide the pork evenly among six plates and spoon the tomatillo sauce evenly over the portions. Serve with grilled tortillas and/or rice. Each serving: 323 calories; 27 grams protein; 8 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 21 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 90 mg. cholesterol; 385 mg. sodium.
a9227c5792e1828a01f13242a385cd48	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-14-na-campaign14-story.html	Clinton wins by a landslide in W. Virginia	Clinton wins by a landslide in W. Virginia Hillary Rodham Clinton romped to victory Tuesday in the West Virginia primary, burying Barack Obama in a landslide that seemed unlikely to stop his steady march to the Democratic nomination. Running in a state tailored to her strengths -- with a large turnout of white, rural and working-class voters -- Clinton posted one of her biggest winning margins. With nearly all of the vote counted, she was leading Obama 67% to 26%. Speaking to supporters at Charleston’s downtown convention center, Clinton made clear her intention to keep running, even as she praised Obama. “There are some who wanted to cut this race short,” she said. “They say, ‘Give up, it’s too hard, the mountain is too high.’ But here in West Virginia, you know a thing or two about rough roads to the top of the mountain. . . . I am more determined than ever to carry on this campaign until everyone has had a chance to make their voices heard.” Obama, who conceded even before the polls closed, left a voicemail message congratulating the New York senator. He campaigned Tuesday in Missouri, a fall battleground, and focused on the presumptive GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, saying he promised four more years of President Bush’s policies. There were 28 delegates at stake in West Virginia, too few to shake up the race even if Clinton won them all. Under the party’s allocation system, Clinton won 20 delegates to Obama’s eight, according to the Associated Press. But Clinton is no longer resting her candidacy on the delegate count. She hopes to persuade party leaders, who hold the balance of power, that she would be the more electable candidate against McCain, based on her support among white, blue-collar voters who have not embraced Obama’s candidacy in the same way as black, more affluent and better-educated voters. “The White House is won in the swing states, and I am winning the swing states,” Clinton said Tuesday night. But Obama continued to gain superdelegate support, adding four, including Roy Romer, a former Democratic Party chairman and ex-superintendent of Los Angeles public schools. “This race, I believe, is over,” Romer told reporters in a conference call. “It is time for the party to unify . . . and move on to the general election.” The balloting resumes Tuesday, with Clinton favored in Kentucky and Obama expected to win Oregon. The results could give Obama a majority of all pledged delegates -- those awarded through primaries and caucuses -- at which point he may declare victory. Since winning North Carolina last week and barely losing Indiana, Obama has picked up more than two dozen superdelegates, the party insiders and members of Congress who are automatically seated at the Democratic nominating convention this summer in Denver. Clinton has gained two. Obama now has 1,883.5 delegates to 1,717 for Clinton, according to the Associated Press. It will take 2,026 delegates to clinch the nomination. West Virginia’s demographics closely matched Clinton’s political base. Interviews with voters leaving polling places showed an electorate that was 95% white, less educated and poorer than in most other states. Four in 10 were over age 60, and a little more than half came from rural areas. Racial attitudes also boosted her performance. About 1 in 5 voters said race influenced their decision, and about 8 in 10 of them backed Clinton. She campaigned heavily in the state, criticizing Obama’s healthcare proposals as inadequate and pushing her proposal for a summer-long suspension of the federal gas tax. She noted that no Democrat has won the White House in nearly 100 years without carrying West Virginia in November and likened herself to John F. Kennedy, who laid to rest doubts about his candidacy by winning here in 1960. (Kennedy needed a victory to avoid placing the nomination in the hands of party elders; Clinton is attempting the opposite, hoping to extend the race so party elders can make the final decision.) Clinton campaigned to the sound of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” and many voters applauded the sentiment as they headed to the polls on a perfect spring day. Patricia Anderson, 59, a retired substitute teacher from Stonewood, had already voted for Clinton and was trimming a shrub in the yard of the tidy home she shares with her 90-year-old mother, another Clinton backer. “I just think she has the most solutions to our problems. The Clinton years were good years, and she can bring them back,” Anderson said. Dorsey Claypool, 62, who drives a garbage truck, intended to vote for Clinton as soon as he finished work. “They always helped me every time I needed something,” Claypool said of Bill and Hillary Clinton. “They are good people.” Asked about Obama, Claypool hesitated, then said he would not vote for him because he was black. Obama appeared just once in the state, campaigning Monday on veterans’ issues and playing pool for the benefit of TV cameras. It is not unusual for candidates to lose primaries even when their nominations appear inevitable. Jimmy Carter lost a batch of late-voting states in 1976 but still won the Democratic nomination and the White House. In 1984, Gary Hart won four of six contests -- including California -- on the last day of balloting but still lost the Democratic nomination to Walter Mondale. Obama won a little-noticed contest Tuesday, narrowly edging Clinton in the nonbinding Nebraska primary. -- mark.barabak@latimes.com faye.fiore@latimes.com Barabak reported from San Francisco and Fiore from Charleston, W.Va. Times staff writers Michael Finnegan and Richard Simon contributed to this report. -- (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX) West Virginia Hillary Rodham Clinton: 67% Barack Obama: 26% 98% in; John Edwards wins 7% Source: Associated Press
090b56099531b7cfa0c4067dd12e5d4d	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-14-na-congress14-story.html	Mississippi Democrat gains a seat in House	Mississippi Democrat gains a seat in House Mississippi Democrat Travis W. Childers won a special election to Congress on Tuesday, helping his party to a third victory this year for seats that had long been in Republican hands. The victory puts Childers into the House seat vacated by Roger Wicker, a Republican appointed to the U.S. Senate when Trent Lott resigned. The win also gives the Democrats a 236-199 majority in the House -- if only for a few months, until November’s general elections. With 99% of the precincts reporting, Childers had 54% to Republican Greg Davis’ 46%. Earlier this year, Democrats captured the Illinois district long represented by former Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, who resigned. And earlier this month, Democrats claimed a Louisiana seat that Republican Rep. Richard H. Baker had relinquished. In Mississippi, the Republican Party sought to link Childers to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The party had tried a similar strategy against the Democrat in Louisiana. At a rally Monday for Davis in Southaven, Miss., Vice President Dick Cheney also tried to nationalize the race. “These are decisive times for America,” Cheney said. “And whether the issue is the economy, or energy, or national security, the right answers are coming from Republicans -- not from Nancy Pelosi, or [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid, or the rest of the Democratic leadership in Washington.” Both parties invested more money in this race than in any other special election this year. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $1.8 million, and the National Republican Congressional Committee spent $1.3 million. The Mississippi seat had been in GOP hands since 1994.
760a8ac9aee9960a4caabc6512ec2a1c	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-14-na-mccain14-story.html	Pastor says he’s sorry for anti-Catholic rant	Pastor says he’s sorry for anti-Catholic rant An evangelical pastor who backs John McCain tried to put his controversial remarks about the Catholic Church behind him, apologizing to the head of the Catholic League and expressing “deep regret for any comments Catholics found hurtful.” Pastor John Hagee, who heads the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, said in a letter made public Tuesday that he now knew the terms he used to describe the church, such as “the great whore,” were “rhetorical devices long employed in anti-Catholic literature.” To win over evangelicals, McCain sought Hagee’s support when he launched his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. But his campaign was caught off guard by the uproar over controversial comments Hagee has made about the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic League called on McCain to repudiate Hagee, saying that he had “waged an unrelenting war” against the church and had called it a “false cult system,” among other derogatory terms. Hagee also said the damage Hurricane Katrina inflicted on New Orleans was “the judgment of God” on the city’s “sin.” McCain called Hagee’s apology helpful. “Whenever someone apologizes for something they did wrong, then I think that’s a laudable thing to do,” he said. The Arizona senator had initially waved off the criticisms, asserting that just because Hagee endorsed him did not mean that McCain embraced “everything that he stands for and believes in.” He later distanced himself from the remarks and, on a recent visit to New Orleans, he called Hagee’s comments “nonsense.” McCain had also rejected any comparison with the criticism aimed at Sen. Barack Obama for controversial statements made by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., who lead Obama’s church for 20 years. McCain noted that Hagee was not his pastor. In his letter, Hagee said he had gained a better understanding in recent weeks of the Catholic Church’s relationship to the Jewish faith. He wrote of his “profound respect for the Catholic people” and said he hoped to advance “greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals.” The Catholic League said in a statement that it accepted the apology. “Pastor John Hagee has demonstrated an improved understanding of the Catholic Church and its history,” Catholic League President Bill Donohue said in a statement. “The tone of Hagee’s letter is sincere. He wants reconciliation and he has achieved it.” McCain said he was pleased by the exchange. “That’s the kind of reconciliation that I’ve been engaged in for many, many years,” he said. Asked whether he or his campaign was involved in brokering the reconciliation, McCain said: “I certainly wasn’t.” McCain was on the second day of his environmental tour of the Pacific Northwest. In North Bend, Wash., he escalated his criticism of President Bush in what is becoming a pattern of distancing himself from the president. “There’s a long-standing, significant, deep and strong difference on this issue between myself and the administration,” McCain said at the Cedar River Watershed Education Center above Rattlesnake Lake, with acres of dense forest as his backdrop. McCain, who has sponsored a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, said his rivals had “never, to my knowledge, been involved in legislation nor hearings nor engagement in this issue,” even though both Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton co-sponsored his global warming legislation in 2007 and now back more aggressive measures. -- maeve.reston@latimes.com
5fc9097637914f0f021eee6b8e5f6cd9	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-14-sp-uscfb14-story.html	Many don’t get USC football joke	Many don’t get USC football joke An attempt at humor -- something that Coach Pete Carroll said “we were just having fun with” -- backfired on the USC program this week, prompting the school to pull a video off youtube.com. The footage was of Carroll’s son, Brennan, the Trojans’ tight ends coach, putting a group of potential walk-ons through a series of drills during a tryout. Throughout, Brennan Carroll is shown hamming it up for the camera -- and using language laced with profanities. The video was produced by USC and originally posted on Pete Carroll’s website as part of a “mic’d up” series. It was taken down from the site when the school started getting negative feedback from those who didn’t perceive it as a joke. “It was just a silly thing we wanted to do because Brennan takes so much ownership of the walk-on tryouts,” said Ben Malcolmson, director of online media for petecarroll.com. “That was our goal. It was taken by a lot of people in the way it was not intended. It wasn’t serving its purpose if it wasn’t being received in the right light.” Malcolmson said when the video was first posted April 8 it was “overwhelmingly well received. But as time went on, I think it sort of shifted to a more negative perception.” Pete Carroll said the intent of the video was a “spoof.” “As we went through the process, we were just having fun with it,” he said. “Sometimes stuff can be misinterpreted or misused or not received well.” The Los Angeles Daily News reported this month on its USC blog that UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel had pushed the video to recruits because he thought it reflected negatively on USC’s program. Several websites, including Deadspin.com, linked to the video last week. Carroll said he had not spoken to Neuheisel about the alleged negative recruiting and that it did not play a role in the video’s being pulled. Said Neuheisel, through a school spokesman: “We are not going to comment on rumors pertaining to this matter.” Brennan Carroll could not be reached for comment. Pete Carroll said he was not concerned about criticism -- “I don’t care. Not at all,” he said -- and added that he would continue to have Malcolmson experiment with material for the website. “It’s all trial and error and weird stuff for fun,” Pete Carroll said. “There’s not a whole lot of mentality behind this stuff. We’re just having a good time with it. It shouldn’t be taken for anything other than that.” Times staff writer Chris Foster contributed to this report. -- gary.klein@latimes.com
b48a57cd490a4cc5349aaf0ba309f63a	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-15-et-ford15-story.html	SCENESTEALER	SCENESTEALER Harrison Ford is back in the fedora with Sunday’s world premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” at the 61st Cannes Film Festival, and while it took 18 years to get a script to the liking of filmmakers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, Ford taught both of them a long time ago that sometimes they should put down the screenplay and let their star take a leap in improvisation. That’s because two of the signature cinematic moments of Ford’s long, crowd-pleasing career were brash ad-libs that ended up giving Indiana Jones and Han Solo their rakish aura of the beloved scoundrel. During the grueling shoot for “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the script called for a extended fight between Jones and a flamboyant swordsman dressed in black. But the actor, ailing from food poisoning, had a better idea: Why not just make a gesture of weary exasperation and shoot him? Then there was the Ford ad-lib on the line, “It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.” “Yeah, I guess the black swordsman has become a bit of a Hollywood story,” Ford said in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times. “I almost wish it hadn’t. I’m not so crazy about the audience having that much awareness of the process that went on. I just want to enjoy the movie and I’m not sure that helps.” In “The Empire Strikes Back,” Han Solo is being lowered into a deep-freeze when an overwrought Princess Leia tells him she loves him. His response is pure, perfect scoundrel: “I know.” For Ford, that “Empire” moment led to an interesting debate with producer Lucas. “It was such a contest between George and I about whether that was appropriate or whether the audience would enjoy that line or not, to the point where he made me go to a test screening to sit next to him to prove it was going to get a bad laugh,” Ford recalled with a smile. “And it didn’t. It got a good laugh. So it stayed in.”
5c02c6bcec8ca6a7121ea8296e455052	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-15-fg-mideast15-story.html	Bush pays second visit to Israel	Bush pays second visit to Israel President Bush on Wednesday began his second visit to Israel as president against a backdrop of sober questions about the potential for the Israeli-Palestinian accord he seeks this year. The White House maintains that Bush, starting with his declaration in 2002 of the need for an independent Palestinian state -- the first by an American president -- methodically pursued policies that have led to the negotiations underway. Yet questions about the administration’s focus, the slow pace of the talks, the unrelenting violence surrounding them and the inability of weakened leaders to deliver serious concessions has cast doubt that anything will be resolved here before he leaves office. Bush also attended with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert an evening gala related to Israel’s 60th anniversary. Olmert, under the shadow of a new scandal in which he has denied bribery allegations, embraced Bush at the event, telling him, “You are an unusual person. You are an unusual leader. And you are an unusual friend of the people of Israel.” But many Israeli and Palestinian commentators are calling the Bush visit more symbolic than substantive, a reflection of what many in the region view as his administration’s limited engagement over the years in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bush so far has left “a very mixed legacy” in the Middle East, said Itamar Rabinovich, an expert on the region at Tel Aviv University. Bush correctly identified the Iranian threat, tried to promote democracy, backed a moderate government in Lebanon and toppled a tyrant in Iraq, Rabinovich said, but “there was no follow-through.” “He belatedly began dealing with the Palestinian issue, but it was more administering first aid rather than anything serious,” he said. The current visit comes too late, he said. “People don’t do business with outgoing presidents,” Rabinovich said. On the Palestinian side, where Israel’s birthday is marked as the naqba, or disaster, analysts criticize what they view as the Bush administration’s bias in favor of the Israelis, which they say has prevented Washington from applying the pressures necessary to move peace talks forward.
6a60abd0cfa03aec8adb2724a247409c	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-15-hm-epiphyllum15-story.html	The orchid cactus’ fleeting fancies	The orchid cactus’ fleeting fancies The ORCHID cactus might be called the Cinderella of the garden world. Most of the year the plant, with disheveled, arched, trailing branches, is easy to ignore. But from February through June, magnificent flowers, some as large as 13 inches across, pop from the notched branches in brilliant shades of red, orange, violet, yellow and gold. Nature’s clock runs out after four days at most, and the blooms close and die. But happily the show continues. The plants, called epiphyllum, are often loaded with buds that extend the blooming period to several weeks as long as night temperatures remain below 50 degrees. With warmer nights, buds may open all at once, shortening the season. The flashy flowers have long had their admirers. Ganna Walska bought an epiphyllum collection and was soon hanging them in oak trees at her Lotusland estate in Montecito. In one photograph, the Polish soprano is seen wearing a flower behind her ear. In the late 1950s, Bauer Pottery featured a line of dishes called Epiphyllum Spray. And today, hundreds of the plants are auctioned on EBay every month, often bought by epi-holics, as devotees jokingly call themselves. There are 13,000 hybrids registered by the Epiphyllum Society of America. Fifteen hundred make their home at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, where society volunteers lovingly care for them. But mention epiphyllum and most people’s eyes glaze over, even those who work at nurseries. It’s somewhat understandable, because nurseries seldom stock the plants, and the flowers don’t last long enough to be sold by florists. “They’re not really showy plants unless they’re blooming, and most of the time they’re not,” says Rex Yarwood, nursery buyer for Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar. “Cactus growers don’t grow it, because it’s not commonly requested,” Chris Livingston, assistant manager at Green Arrow Nursery in North Hills says. “It’s a plant passed over the backyard fence. People trade among themselves. You just break off a piece and put it in potting soil. It’s really easy to grow.” Richard Kohlschreiber, former president of the society, explains that epiphyllum are not what people usually think of as cactuses. They may have small hair-like thorns, but these cactuses are from the jungle, not from the desert. Epiphyllum are at home in the crotches of trees, hence they are epiphytic (live on trees), not parasitic. Today, gardeners try to mimic the jungle environment. Pampered hybrids nest in hanging baskets rather than in trees. Well-draining soil and fertilizer have replaced the jungle’s decomposing leaves and bird droppings. Galen Pittman, the society’s current president, says the plants can be grown in the ground but fare better in pots because of their vulnerability to nematodes in the soil as well as snails and slugs. Plants started from cuttings usually bloom in two or three years. The hybrids are made up of a number of species, only one being epiphyllum. “The present name epiphyllum is a misnomer,” Kohlschreiber says, “because most of the hybrids sold today are not epiphyllum. The name has persisted so long that nothing is going to change it.” He calls his plants “epicactus,” the preferred name coined by an English botanist. Pittman uses the more descriptive “hybrid epiphytic cactus.” Others just use “epi.” Then there’s the common name, “orchid cactus.” The plants have nothing in common with orchids except for gorgeous flowers, but were likely given the name because many orchids are epiphytes and live on tree branches. Epiphytic cactuses can still be found in shady areas of lowland jungle and misty cloud forests in Mexico, Central America and parts of South America. Most are fragrant night bloomers. The challenge to plant-hunters in the early 1800s was to find day bloomers, fragrant or not. Hybridizers continue to crossbreed flowers, always hunting for new forms, colors, staying power and fragrance. Still, they’ve only managed to find a few that will fill a garden with fragrance during the day. Evelyn Shiraki, a Los Angeles hybridizer who has registered 20 hybrids, suggests Epiphyllum ‘Evening Delight’ as her choice for the most fragrant day bloomer. E. ‘William Clark’ is another, according to Pittman. Many of the smaller flowers give off a scent during the day, he adds. Society members agree that once an epiphyllum changes hands, whether it’s a cutting from a friend or a collection inherited from the family, there’s a good chance that the new owner will be hooked. But there are those who are not seduced by the ravishing flowers. Pittman says, “There is a disdain among many cactus growers that epiphytic cactus are somehow less [worthy], possibly because we don’t grow our plants for their form, while their thing is the shape and color of the plant and how it looks in the pot.” As Naomi Siplin, an epiphyllum collector with 1,000 hanging plants, puts it, “You can’t have the flower without the plant.” -- home@latimes.com -- (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX) How to plant a cutting The offers an extensive list of plants, resources and other information at www.epiphyllumsociety.org. Its annual show and sale is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia ( www.arboretum.org). A plant can be started from a cutting by following these steps: Prepping: Dip the cut end in rooting hormone, such as Rootone. Let a callus form over the cut, which takes about 10 days. Soil: Fill a small container, about 4 inches wide, with one-third potting mix or azalea/camellia mix, one-third perlite, and one-third orchid bark . Or use cactus mix instead. Plant: Place the cutting in the soil deep enough to cover one or two areoles or notches. Add slightly damp soil (try not to compress it), until the cutting stands on its own. Water: Don’t water for a week or two. Then mist lightly. When roots form, begin watering gradually, never letting the soil dry out. Light: Filtered light is best. -- Ellen Hoffs
9550b7be893a0190d6d69e6f7a60f264	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-15-me-law15-story.html	Actor appeared in ‘Barbarella’ and ‘The Russians Are Coming’	Actor appeared in ‘Barbarella’ and ‘The Russians Are Coming’ John Phillip Law, a tall, blond actor who cut a striking figure as the blind angel opposite Jane Fonda in 1968’s “Barbarella” and in other film roles, has died. He was 70. Law died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home, his former wife, Shawn Ryan, said. The cause of death was not announced. Born in Los Angeles on Sept. 7, 1937, to L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy John Law and actress Phyllis Sallee, Law decided to become an actor after taking drama classes at the University of Hawaii. He moved to New York in the early 1960s, studied with Elia Kazan at the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater and landed bit parts on Broadway. He went to Europe and found work in a handful of Italian films, where he caught the attention of Norman Jewison. The director cast Law as Alexei Kolchin, a young Soviet submariner who wins the heart of a teenage baby-sitter in “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming,” his 1966 Cold War comedy set in New England. Law’s next break came in Roger Vadim’s science fiction fantasy starring Fonda, who was then married to the director. Equipped with oversize, feathery wings, Law’s bronzed angel, Pygar, shields Fonda’s gun-toting, go-go-boot-wearing heroine in her intergalactic adventures. After gaining notice for his roles in “Hurry Sundown” (1967), “The Sergeant” (1968) opposite Rod Steiger, and “The Red Baron” (1970), Law starred as the ruthless Robin Stone in “The Love Machine,” a 1971 version of Jacqueline Susann’s pulp novel. The movie flopped. Law, who mastered Italian and Spanish in his European travels, worked steadily in Hollywood and abroad, appearing in such action-adventure movies as “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad” (1974), “The Cassandra Crossing” (1977) and “Tarzan the Ape Man” (1981), among others. He also had a stint playing Jim Grainger on the daytime television drama “The Young and the Restless.” At the beginning of his career in the ‘60s, Law lived in a 1924 Los Feliz mansion with his brother, Tom, who had been the road manager for Peter, Paul and Mary. The brothers rented rooms to up-and-coming singers and artists, including Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol and Tiny Tim, turning the home into a vibrant salon of emerging pop-culture icons. Life at the Castle, as it was known, was documented in “Flashing on the Sixties,” a 1987 collection of photos and text by Tom’s former wife, Lisa Law. Besides his brother, Law is survived by a daughter, Dawn, and a grandson. Services will be private. -- claire.noland@latimes.com -- On latimes.com For more on actor John Phillip Law and to view a photo gallery, go to latimes.com/law.
f3e261ed2f8ccec02ab3ee9ecaba1bec	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-15-sp-swim15-story.html	Lawsuit escalates swim fight	Lawsuit escalates swim fight The battle between high-tech swimsuit manufacturers TYR and Speedo has escalated in a significant way, moving from the pool deck to the legal arena. Huntington Beach’s TYR Sport Inc. upped the stakes by filing suit on Monday in federal court against Warnaco Swimwear Inc., parent company of Speedo and producer of the news-making LZR Racer swimsuit. TYR did not specify the damages it was seeking but did estimate that the long-term loss to the value of its brand could reach $500,000. Also named in the suit, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, are USA Swimming and team head coach Mark Schubert and two-time Olympic silver medalist Erik Vendt, a former TYR pitchman. The frenzy around the LZR exploded in mid-February when elite swimmers wearing the suit began smashing record after record -- 18 long-course world marks so far. The suit, designed with help from NASA, quickly became the target of criticism from rival manufacturers and from some swim federations, prompting Schubert to say in a March interview that such criticism smacked of “sour grapes.” In documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, TYR alleges that Speedo, USA Swimming and Schubert “combined to engage in a campaign of falsely disparaging the products of Speedo’s competitors, including TYR, for the purpose of inducing competitive swimmers to refrain from doing business with Speedo’s competitors” and that it was done in an “especially insidious and deceptive manner.” TYR attorney Lawrence J. Hilton said the company made several efforts to settle the matter and that TYR’s founder, former U.S. Olympic swimmer and medalist Steve Furniss, took this step with “great reluctance.” In Vendt’s case, the issue is alleged breach of contract. The former USC swimmer, who now trains with Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps and Club Wolverine in Ann Arbor, Mich., came out of retirement in 2006 and again signed with TYR. Then, in January, Vendt’s representatives informed TYR that he would be wearing a Speedo FS Pro suit at a meet in Long Beach, according to the lawsuit. Vendt did just that because, as his agent later said in an interview, he was “wearing the suit he feels is the fastest in the world, not because there is any deal pending.” Top Speedo officials could not be reached for comment and the company’s public relations firm said it had not yet seen the court papers, referring the matter to Warnaco’s legal counsel. A spokesperson for USA Swimming said that it became aware of the lawsuit Wednesday, had not seen the filing, and said it would be inappropriate to comment until it had the chance to review the court papers, adding that Schubert was also unavailable for comment. Neither Vendt nor his agent returned calls. Until now, the apparel fracas had been played out in pools and on the deck. “TYR is very concerned about some of the things that are happening in the world of elite competitive swimming, and wants to see the issue about whose product is better resolved by swimmers in the pool,” said Hilton, calling claims of Speedo’s hold on new and innovative technology based on “misinformation.” TYR’s answer this year to Speedo is the Tracer Rise. TYR swimmers this year have set one world record in a relay and were involved in three U.S. records. In the court documents, TYR cites several published reports from this year, though, in which Schubert recommends Speedo, including one interview in which he said he “will tell his team to wear Speedo at the U.S. trials.” Less publicly, there was advocacy from Schubert at swim industry gatherings in late 2007 -- before the LZR debuted, the court papers said. His enthusiasm extended to what was called a mandatory team meeting at the Short Course World Championships in Manchester, England in April, telling swimmers that they would “have a two percent advantage if they wore the Speedo LZR technology,” according to the lawsuit. “Schubert also arranged to have a fitting session during the mandatory team meeting where athletes were instructed on how to fit the Speedo LZR suit and position the LZR suit to the body,” the complaint said. “TYR-sponsored athletes in attendance expressed discomfort at Schubert’s unsolicited comments.” Speedo has long been linked to USA Swimming, in a commercial sense, and in court papers TYR maintains that Schubert “is a paid spokesman for Speedo.” The complaint also raises antitrust issues, maintaining that the actions of the defendants have enabled Speedo to hike prices -- the LZR runs more than $500 -- and limit competition. -- lisa.dillman@latimes.com
75ce69525a34431f0fb658178bac04e5	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-16-fi-insure16-story.html	Healthcare policies to be restored	Healthcare policies to be restored Two of the state’s largest health plans agreed Thursday to reinstate coverage to nearly 1,200 patients whose policies were dropped after they incurred high medical expenses. Under the deal, patients whose insurance was rescinded by Kaiser Permanente or Health Net since 2004 will be allowed to purchase new insurance regardless of preexisting medical conditions. The settlement, brokered by the California Department of Managed Health Care, comes three months after a Gardena hair salon owner won an unprecedented $9-million judgment against Health Net for canceling her coverage while she was undergoing chemotherapy, halting her treatment. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the settlement groundbreaking. “This important settlement should pave the way to similar agreements with other health plans to reinstate health coverage,” he said. “Patients should not live in fear of losing their healthcare coverage when they need it most.” The state is trying to reach similar deals with Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield and PacifiCare involving about 4,000 rescissions. Insurance rescissions affect people with individual coverage, which is sold and priced based on an applicant’s medical history. Insurers say some enrollees lie on applications in order to gain coverage and that rescinding policies from those who hide preexisting conditions prevents premiums from going up for everyone. But regulators and law enforcement officials allege that insurers do little to verify applications before issuing coverage and then wait to see what happens. When patients incur substantial medical claims, insurers go back and scour applications for omissions, even innocent ones, in order to rescind their coverage, critics say. About 2.6 million of the 28 million Californians with health coverage have individual plans. Kaiser spokesman Mike Lassiter said the insurer proposed the deal to reinstate up to 1,092 former enrollees -- all those whose coverage the health maintenance organization dropped between the time it began the controversial practice in April 2004 and when it halted rescissions in October 2006. Kaiser agreed to pay a $300,000 fine to the state without admitting wrongdoing. It also agreed to make a number of procedural changes, including developing simpler coverage applications to avoid applicant mistakes that often form the basis for rescissions. “We want to clear up past issues so we can move forward toward a longer-term solution addressing the larger issues of affordable healthcare coverage,” said Jerry Fleming, senior vice president of Kaiser Permanente. In a similar deal, Health Net agreed to reinstate 85 former enrollees. In a statement, the insurer said, “Health Net today announced that it will offer coverage to all 85 HMO customers who have been rescinded since 2004 and will work as expeditiously as possible with these individuals to resolve their eligible out-of-pocket costs.” Jane Macauley, a Sacramento mother of five who was rescinded by Kaiser two years ago on the eve of a scheduled hernia operation, said she was surprised by the deal. “I didn’t get the surgery,” she said Thursday. “I wrote two letters expressing my belief that it was very unfair that I was canceled. But they basically just said, ‘You are out of luck.’ ” These “enrollees are clearly getting a win today,” said Cindy Ehnes, director of the Department of Managed Health Care. The settlement creates a process through which former enrollees can seek repayment of medical expenses of up to $15,000. Larger and disputed medical bills and other types of claims would be submitted to an arbiter selected by the department and the health plans. Former enrollees may choose to buy insurance but also opt out of the settlement process, preferring instead to take their claims to court. “We believe our voluntary ‘Kaiser Permanente Fresh Start Program’ for previously rescinded members is the quickest way to give people what they really need -- health insurance,” said Fleming of Kaiser. “The issue of whether people either intentionally or unintentionally gave inaccurate information on their coverage application is set aside for the purposes of getting a fresh start on their coverage.” The deal comes a month after Ehnes threatened to order the state’s top five health plans to reinstate more than two dozen enrollees and to reopen every rescission carried out over the past four years in California for review. Reinstatement “means someone will not have to delay a necessary surgery due to the lack of insurance,” she said. “It means that someone will no longer have to contemplate bankruptcy because of an outstanding medical bill.” In addition to the state’s regulatory scrutiny, Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo has sued Health Net and Blue Cross over allegedly illegal rescission practices. Health Net also is the target of a criminal investigation by the city attorney related to rescissions. Chief Assistant City Atty. Jeffrey Isaacs said Health Net’s latest deal with the department would not affect its suit or criminal investigation. The city attorney’s office issued subpoenas to the department Wednesday seeking information related to rescissions. DMHC spokeswoman Lynne Randolph said the department would “cooperate to the extent that we are able.” Some consumer advocates were disappointed with the deal, saying portions of it appeared designed to help insurers contain their legal liability. William Shernoff, a Claremont lawyer who represents hundreds of people whose policies have been rescinded, said he would tell clients to “accept the reinstatements because that’s wonderful to get the medical care -- that is important.” But, he added, “as far as damages for past harm, there’s no doubt in my mind that the best place for them to get their full damages will be in court rather than in an arbitration process.” Jerry Flanagan, a spokesman for Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica, said the deal was no substitute for regulations promised 18 months ago that the department put on hold pending legislation. “Punting this issue to the Legislature where insurers have immense lobbying power risks regulation that is more loophole than protection,” he said. Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a statewide healthcare consumer advocacy coalition, said the department needed to enforce the settlement and adopt a “ ‘zero-tolerance’ policy for further bad behavior.” “It’s sad that after all the attention on this reprehensible practice, we don’t have the entire industry in agreement yet,” he said. -- lisa.girion@latimes.com
d69acae8ed871505054f92941bc4ac21	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-16-me-gaymarriage16-story.html	Gay marriage ban overturned	Gay marriage ban overturned The California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage Thursday in a broadly worded decision that would invalidate virtually any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation. The 4-3 ruling declared that the state Constitution protects a fundamental “right to marry” that extends equally to same-sex couples. It tossed a highly emotional issue into the election year while opening the way for tens of thousands of gay people to wed in California, starting as early as mid-June. The majority opinion, by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, declared that any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation will from this point on be constitutionally suspect in California in the same way as laws that discriminate by race or gender, making the state’s high court the first in the nation to adopt such a stringent standard. The decision was a bold surprise from a moderately conservative, Republican-dominated court that legal scholars have long dubbed “cautious,” and experts said it was likely to influence other courts around the country. But the scope of the court’s decision could be thrown into question by an initiative already heading toward the November ballot. The initiative would amend the state Constitution to prohibit same-sex unions. The campaign over that measure began within minutes of the decision. The state’s Catholic bishops and other opponents of same-sex marriage denounced the court’s ruling. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who previously has vetoed two bills in favor of gay marriage, issued a statement saying he “respects” the decision and “will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn” it. The ruling was greeted with loud cheering and whooping when it was released at the high court’s headquarters here Thursday morning. About 100 people lined up outside to purchase copies of the decision for $10 apiece. Some people bought 10 to 15 copies, calling it a historic document. One man said he planned to give them out as Christmas presents. Gay groups planned celebrations up and down the state. “I can finally say I will be able to marry John, the man that I love,” said Stuart Gaffney, one of the plaintiffs in the case, referring to his partner of 21 years, John Lewis. “Today is the happiest and most romantic day of our lives.” Conservative and religious-affiliated groups denounced the decision and pledged to bring enough voters to the polls in November to overturn it. Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, called the decision “outrageous” and “nonsense.” “No matter how you stretch California’s Constitution, you cannot find anywhere in its text, its history or tradition that now, after so many years, it magically protects what most societies condemn,” Staver said. The decision came after high courts in New York, Washington and New Jersey refused to extend marriage rights to gay couples. Only Massachusetts’ top court has ruled in favor of permitting gays to wed. The court’s ruling repeatedly invoked the words “respect and dignity” and framed the marriage question as one that deeply affected not just couples but also their children. California has more than 100,000 households headed by gay couples, about a quarter with children, according to 2000 census data. “Our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation,” George wrote for the majority. “An individual’s sexual orientation -- like a person’s race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights.” Many gay Californians said that even the state’s broadly worded domestic partnership law provided only a second-class substitute for marriage. The court agreed. Giving a different name, such as “domestic partnership,” to the “official family relationship” of same-sex couples imposes “appreciable harm” both on the couples and their children, the court said. The distinction might cast “doubt on whether the official family relationship of same-sex couples enjoys dignity equal to that of opposite-sex couples,” George wrote, joined by Justices Joyce L. Kennard, Kathryn Mickle Werdegar and Carlos R. Moreno. All but Moreno were appointed by Republican governors. George was appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson in 1991. The ruling cited a 60-year-old precedent that struck down a ban on interracial marriage in California. The three dissenting justices argued that it was up to the electorate or the Legislature to decide whether gays should be permitted to marry. In 2000, 61% of California voters approved a ballot measure, Proposition 22, that said “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California.” Since then, the Legislature has passed one of the strongest domestic partnership laws in the country, giving registered same-sex couples most of the rights of married people. “In my view, California should allow our gay and lesbian neighbors to call their unions marriage,” Justice Carol A. Corrigan wrote in the first sentence of her dissent. “But I, and this court, must acknowledge that a majority of Californians hold a different view and have explicitly said so by their vote. This court can overrule a vote of the people only if the Constitution compels us to do so. Here, the Constitution does not.” Justice Marvin R. Baxter, joined by Justice Ming W. Chin, said the ruling “creates the opportunity for further judicial extension of this perceived constitutional right into dangerous territory.” “Who can say that in 10, 15 or 20 years, an activist court might not rely on the majority’s analysis to conclude, on the basis of a perceived evolution in community values, that the laws prohibiting polygamous and incestuous marriages were no longer constitutionally justified?” Baxter wrote. The decision takes effect in 30 days. Gay couples would then be permitted to marry in California, even if they do not live in the state, gay rights lawyers said. Under federal law, however, other states would not have to recognize those marriages as valid. And same-sex couples would remain ineligible for certain federal benefits, including Social Security benefits for spouses and joint filing for income taxes. Lawyers on both sides of the debate said they were uncertain how a victory for the proposed November initiative -- which both sides predict will qualify for the ballot -- would affect gay couples who marry during the next several months. University of Santa Clara law professor Gerald Uelmen, who has closely followed the state high court for decades, said he was “blown away” and “very surprised” by the ruling. “The court is exerting some leadership here, and I think it needs to be said that it is a new role for the court,” Uelmen said. “This has not been a court that has been willing to stick its neck out and lead the way on cutting-edge issues like this that involve such strong political feelings.” Uelmen said the court’s vote probably reflected the fact that a growing number of Californians favor marriage for gay couples. He noted the case attracted a record number of friend-of-the-court briefs, most of them in favor of same-sex marriage. Although critics of the ruling, including the dissenters, argued the court should have waited for the voters to decide the question of same-sex marriage, “the majority is not always supposed to have its way” in constitutional democracies, said University of Pennsylvania constitutional law professor Kermit Roosevelt, one of many legal scholars who weighed in on the case Thursday. Roosevelt predicted more states would follow California’s example and that the U.S. Supreme Court would eventually rule in favor of same-sex marriage. “That decision will come at the end of a process that is now just beginning,” Roosevelt said. He predicted it would follow the pattern of state courts that struck down laws banning interracial marriage decades ago. The decision followed several recent rulings by the state high court recognizing the rights of same-sex parents, including those not biologically related to their children. The children in those families figured prominently in the court’s reasoning in those cases. The road to Thursday’s ruling began with San Francisco’s highly publicized same-sex weddings, which in 2004 helped spur a conservative backlash in an election year and a national dialogue over gay rights. Several states later passed constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, and same-sex marriage became an issue in the race for president. After a month of jubilant gay weddings here, the California Supreme Court intervened and ordered the city to stop issuing licenses to same-sex couples. The state high court later invalidated the licenses, saying the city should have waited for a judicial ruling before acting. The plan by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, City Atty. Dennis Herrera and gay rights lawyers to challenge state law by marrying same-sex couples was carefully drawn. City officials chose the first couples to wed, hoping their long unions and sympathetic stories would put a face on same-sex marriage that courts would find difficult to reject. The city also decided to begin the weddings on a day when courts were closed to deprive opponents of quick legal intervention. One of the first couples to wed has since separated. The long parade of weddings at City Hall -- across the street from the California Supreme Court -- provided a dramatic backdrop for the gay rights debate. As the issue moved into the high court, Brad Sears, executive director of the Williams Institute at UCLA’s law school, which examines sexual orientation and the law, said the state’s broad domestic partner law had undercut the traditional argument that children were better off being raised by opposite-sex parents. “Taking those issues off the table, which the domestic partners act did, might have made this an easier case for everyone,” Sears said. Once the state recognized the right of gays to rear children, the fight for same-sex marriage was shaped as “the right to have a family” and the ruling became “about family being protected.” The court concluded that giving gays a separate institution -- domestic partnership -- “marked gays and lesbians as second-class citizens,” Sears said. The Massachusetts high court ruling that permitted gays there to marry did not give sexual orientation the same kind of constitutional protection that Thursday’s decision did, nor was the Massachusetts ruling as explicit in stating that marriage licenses must be given to same-sex couples in the immediate future, legal analysts said. Sears said recent polls show that Californians are divided over same-sex marriage. Forty-three percent of Californians supported gay marriage in a Field Poll taken a year ago. He added that the issue was likely to affect the political debate even outside California. “It is going to give some new teeth to an issue that was losing its potency in terms of being a wedge issue,” Sears said. -- maura.dolan@latimes.com Times staff writers Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento, Rong-Gong Lin II, Jean-Paul Renaud, Francisco Vara-Orta, Molly Hennessy-Fiske in Los Angeles and John M. Glionna and Lee Romney in San Francisco contributed to this report.
ead817c7eed56a99b712a161b67fccc1	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-16-me-myspace16-story.html	‘Cyber bully’ fraud charges filed in L.A.	‘Cyber bully’ fraud charges filed in L.A. Invoking a criminal statute more commonly used to go after computer hackers or crooked government employees, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles on Thursday charged a Missouri mother with fraudulently creating a MySpace account and using it to “cyber-bully” a 13-year-old girl who later committed suicide. The girl, Megan Meier, hanged herself in her upstairs bedroom two years ago, shortly after being jilted by an Internet suitor she thought was a 16-year-old boy. The case caused a national furor when it was alleged that the “boy” was actually Lori Drew, the mother of one of Megan’s former friends. Drew, 49, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. She is accused of providing bogus information to Beverly Hills-based MySpace when she created an account in the name of the imaginary boy, Josh Evans. Drew then used the account to obtain information about Megan in violation of MySpace rules, which she used “to inflict emotional distress” on the girl, prosecutors allege. Speaking at a noon news conference, U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O’Brien said he believed it was the first case of its kind in the nation. He said Drew, posing as “Josh,” began flirting with Megan, telling her via e-mail that she was “sexy.” The flirting went on for weeks and their correspondence took on an increasingly sexual tone before Josh abruptly cut off the relationship. O’Brien said Josh told the girl “the world would be a better place without her.” “This adult woman allegedly used the Internet to target a teenage girl with horrendous ramifications,” O’Brien said. “This was a tragedy that did not have to happen.” Sal Hernandez, who heads the FBI office in Los Angeles, accused Drew of “hiding behind cyber walls in cyberspace” in allegedly perpetrating the hoax. Drew’s attorney, H. Dean Steward, denied that his client either created the MySpace account or directed anyone else to do so. “There are a lot of issues we’re going to need to raise, including why this case is happening in Los Angeles,” Steward said. “This seems like a Missouri case no matter how you cut it. There is a lack of connection with California. All of the witnesses are from Missouri, with one or two exceptions being from MySpace,” he said. Drew, who faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted, is expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles next month. News of the indictment left Megan’s parents, Christina and Ron Meier, in tears. The pair said they had all but given up hope that any criminal charges would be filed in their daughter’s death. “I just want some justice after all this time,” said Ron Meier. “For the first time in as long as I can remember, I actually have hope,” he said. Local and federal authorities in Missouri initially looked into the circumstances surrounding Megan’s October 2006 death in Dardenne Prairie, an upper-middle-class enclave of about 7,400 people 35 miles northwest of St. Louis, but declined to file charges, saying they were unable to find a statute under which to pursue a criminal case. O’Brien said attorneys in his office were aware of the case, saw a Los Angeles nexus because MySpace Inc. is a local company and began their own investigation with the assistance of prosecutors in Missouri and FBI agents in Los Angeles and Missouri. Before the grand jury was convened, the Meiers said, officials from the U.S. attorney’s office in California traveled to Missouri to talk to them and other potential witnesses about the details of the MySpace communications. Among those questioned by the grand jury, according to sources, was 19-year-old Ashley Grills, a former temporary employee in Drew’s advertising coupon business. Grills could not be reached for comment Thursday. But earlier this year, she told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” that she, Drew and Drew’s teenage daughter had taken turns typing out messages to Megan Meier. During the interview, Grills said that Lori Drew tapped out messages “when we didn’t know what to say.” She said Drew told her to keep mum after Meier’s suicide. Specifically, Drew is charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information. The indictment alleges that she provided false information when she registered for the MySpace account and violated various aspects of the company’s terms of service, including prohibitions on soliciting information from anyone under 18 and using information obtained from MySpace to “harass, abuse or harm” other people. MySpace did not respond to an e-mail request for comment. The federal statute under which Drew is charged is more often used to prosecute defendants who have hacked into computers with the intent of causing damage or improperly accessed computers for financial gain, legal experts said. Rebecca Lonergan, a law professor at USC and former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said applying the statute in this case is a stretch. After reading the indictment, she said there was some ambiguity as to whether MySpace or Megan was the victim. The case hinges, she said, on getting the circumstances surrounding Megan’s tragic death before a jury if the prosecution “has any hope of winning.” “This is an extremely aggressive prosecution,” she said. “L.A. is doing a laudable thing in trying to find a charge. But I’m not sure the courts are going to let this stand.” -- scott.glover@latimes.com -- pj.huffstutter@latimes.com
6f5ee606201b07d1d09fc386248f1a5f	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-16-oe-stein16-story.html	Star trix nix pix	Star trix nix pix While I was interviewing Jason Bateman for the cover of Best Life magazine, we stopped at a car wash because Bateman’s definition of “best life” is pretty liberal. As we were leaving, we spotted a guy hiding behind an SUV taking photos with a telephoto lens. Of Jason Bateman. At a car wash. The next day, a blog ran photos of us under the provocative headline, “Guess Who Sneezed?” The sad thing is, he was actually blowing his nose. Paparazzi have no respect for the facts. The paparazzi have become so pervasive across L.A. that last week the mayor of Malibu asked Ken Starr, Pepperdine law school dean and former Clinton tormentor, to help draw up a city ordinance to restrict them. Earlier this year, Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine proposed an ordinance to prevent paparazzi from getting too close to famous people. Both efforts have minimal chance of accomplishing their obvious goal -- getting celebrities to hang out with low-level local politicians -- and absolutely no chance of resulting in laws because even TMZ.com has press-freedom rights. So, in a feat of public service that I hope will win me the kind of awards, appreciation and movie deals that Steve Lopez gets, I’ve decided to help the celebrities. I called paparazzo Garry Sun, who makes more than $8,000 a month selling to magazines and TV shows, for some tips on how to avoid him. You don’t need to thank me, celebrities. That movie deal will be thanks enough. Don’t go to the Ivy for lunch: Sure, the Cobb salad is good -- but are you completely unable to find a salad at a less tourist-packed, paparazzi-stalked joint? If you’re going to the Ivy for lunch, you want your photo taken. This is the place where Melanie Griffith went with sudden-friend Sharon Stone last week in what will rank as the most desperate plea for sexual attention from a 50-something until whatever Kim Cattrall does in the “Sex and the City” movie. In fact, stay off Robertson: Also, says Sun, don’t step foot in downtown Beverly Hills. “And Hollywood, West Hollywood and Malibu. Then you’ve effectively cut your chance of getting shot by 90%.” To simplify: Don’t hang out with other celebrities. Go out early: Do your errands before 11 a.m. because, as you know if you’ve ever seen paparazzi, there’s no way they’re awake before 11. And make dinner reservations before 8, because there’s a window between 5 and 8 p.m. when they’re doing their equivalent of office work: uploading video, sending photos, killing puppies. Go solo: “Any time you’re seen with a new person, it’s news. Regardless or whether you’re dating, they’ll run a story wondering if you are or not.” The definition of news has been lowered so far that you should also avoid new haircuts, new lipstick and new British accents. Close your eyes: As soon as you see a flash go off, remove your sunglasses and shut your eyes. “Magazines want eyes,” Sun says. This trick does not work for Pamela Anderson. Hire security: David and Victoria Beckham, as well as Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, are among the hardest celebrities to get pictures of. The Beckhams travel with a phalanx of SUVs that block the view of restaurant entrances. Cruise’s SUV has a dividing wall and window curtains. Also, he can melt film with his mind. Try decoys: The important part is the decoy car. “Sienna Miller was leaving Villa, and they had the car she came in pull up to the side. And then she ran out the front into a different car,” Sun says. He got fooled. But when Leonardo DiCaprio got a guy who looked like him to run out of a club with his hat pulled low, Leo-style, no one followed because they hadn’t been primed with the decoy car. “Without the car, no one was ready,” Sun says. “Very few times they will care enough to run after someone to see who it is.” Another tip, apparently, is to run. The same-clothes trick doesn’t work: At the height of the Jen-Brad-Angelina scandal, Jennifer Aniston kept wearing the same outfit to deliberately bore magazine editors who couldn’t confirm they were new shots. After the first “Harry Potter,” Daniel Radcliffe did it too. Oh, those innocent times. Now, Sun says, “they’ll still use the pictures, but they’ll talk smack about you for wearing the same clothes over and over.” Wear a burka: Surprisingly warm on cool Malibu nights, yet well-ventilated for day. -- joelstein@latimescolumnists.com
cf45d58bb2037726e8eddd5d76287f72	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-17-fg-chipolitics17-story.html	China’s old ways shaken by quake	China’s old ways shaken by quake In a system with a centuries-long tradition of austere leaders laying down the law from behind their palace walls, China’s response to its worst natural disaster in three decades has revealed a nation in the throes of political change. The China that emerged from the wreckage of Monday’s magnitude 7.9 earthquake in Sichuan province looked surprisingly modern, flexible and if not democratic, at least open. It has admitted foreign rescue experts into the disaster area and tolerated reporting by a more aggressive news media. The leadership has appeared more responsive to the public, and the public in turn reacted with an outpouring of individual initiative to help out. Premier Wen Jiabao, sounding much like a Western politician throughout the week, trudged through the mud, visited gut-wrenching scenes of collapsed schools and homes, and stroked the cheeks of crying children. Wen even echoed the words of the Bill Clinton who spoke of feeling others’ pain, as he told survivors, “Your pain is our pain.” President Hu Jintao flew to the battered city of Mianyang on Friday to show support for victims. The trip appeared to go beyond the formulaic photo opportunity. It suggested a growing recognition by the government that public opinion matters and that the people should know what their leaders are doing, particularly in times of crisis. Instead of ordering people, the government is guiding them in a manner befitting a modern 21st century state. “The Communist government is changing its ruling ideology to become more people-oriented,” said Huang Nanping, Marxism and Leninism professor at Peking University. The Chinese people too have been intimately a part of the tragedy that has been brought into many of their homes through 24-hour television coverage. They’ve cheered together when children were rescued from under the rubble; more often they have cried when the dead were carried out. There has been a crush of people wanting to volunteer in the disaster area in Sichuan -- so many that the government has worked to keep people away. “I have faced the very real possibility I face death, but I have to help,” said Tong Rongan, 33, a volunteer who was sent through a mountaineering club to help in remote areas at higher altitudes. “All my friends, especially the doctors, are envious that I’m getting to go.” Individual initiative Within 72 hours after the earthquake, Chinese individuals and companies had raised nearly $200 million. In almost every neighborhood of Beijing, volunteers were seen collecting money. At a blood donation van parked in front of a McDonald’s in downtown Beijing, volunteers had to turn away hundreds of prospective donors. The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau announced that all of the city’s blood banks were full. “I feel like I want to give a piece of myself,” said 25-year-old Can Li, a caterer who said she also was on a waiting list to volunteer. “It’s not enough to give money.” For centuries, China has operated under a top-down system. During the height of the Cultural Revolution, Mao Tse-tung ordered millions of city dwellers to the countryside, upending society and leaving scars that remain more than 30 years later. But since the 1990s, economic liberalization and a changing culture have placed far greater emphasis on the individual, creating an ever-tougher balancing act for a one-party state attempting to maintain control and stability. Rising living standards and an increasingly willful middle class have shifted vitality and initiative to the private sector and individuals. Seeing disaster in their country, their every impulse is to head out to the scene with blankets, food, medicine and drinking water. Their enthusiasm might be more helpful to the country’s cohesiveness than slogans about national unity and harmony. “It’s wonderful to see young people working together like this. Nobody’s ordering them to do it. It is all voluntary,” said a retired doctor, Xiang Guichen, 73, who was strolling past the bloodmobile. Together, she and her 74-year-old husband marveled at the scene, the hordes of well-dressed volunteers and a crowd that had gathered to watch news updates of the disaster on a three-story-high television screen affixed to the McDonald’s. The couple are from northeast China and remember the earthquake in 1976 that killed more than 240,000 people there. “Nobody knew anything of what was going on then . . . now we’re watching on the television eight hours a day,” Xiang said. Also in evidence this week was a shift in the news media. For decades, China’s reaction whenever there was a hint of trouble was to cordon off the affected area and squelch alternative views. The government this time made a fleeting effort to control the news media; an order went out Monday that Chinese outlets should not send reporters to the damaged areas and should take material only from the official news service. But the order was ignored, causing the government to loosen its expectations. “This is such a big event that none of us would give up the opportunity to cover it,” said a Chinese journalist who asked not to be quoted by name. Foreign journalists also witnessed a difference in the treatment and access provided by government officials. “Journalists? Go right on through,” said a security official at a tollbooth on the road to Mianyang, waving through a foreign journalist. The security official also did not collect the toll fee. At the county emergency relief center, government officials quickly provided statistics, handouts and interview opportunities. A government that once put up with few challenges to its authority has taken the unusual step of fielding questions online from people about why thousands of schools that collapsed were not built to be quake-safe. Another change has been admitting foreign experts to the disaster area. Initially the Chinese government said it would accept foreign aid, but not actual foreigners -- thank you very much. But on Friday, an elite team of earthquake experts arrived from Japan, soon to be followed by experts from South Korea and Singapore, as well as Taiwan. In the Chinese context, the quick reversal suggests that the usual game plan was overruled by leaders at the very top. Lessons learned “The government is absorbing lessons from each past crisis, generally part of a trial-and-error approach,” said Xiao Gongqin, professor at Shanghai Normal University. “We’re seeing the government learn from its mistakes and gradually become more open.” Chinese leaders have had several opportunities recently to absorb such lessons. Last year, there were the scandals about the safety of Chinese toys and food. A massive storm battered southern China in January and February just before Chinese New Year, leaving millions of angry, tired and hungry people struggling to get home during the most important holiday of the year. Chinese officials’ handling of protests in Tibet turned what was supposed to be one of their proudest moments, the relay of the Olympic torch from Athens to Beijing, into a transcontinental embarrassment. In the last few weeks, the Chinese leadership watched its ally, Myanmar, turn a natural catastrophe into a public relations disaster. The military regime’s refusal to let in international aid created the impression that the Southeast Asian country’s rulers cared more for their jobs than for the lives of tens of thousands of cyclone victims. China has had a huge incentive, and a big opportunity, to repair some of its damaged international prestige as it prepares to host the Olympics, which open Aug. 8 in Beijing. The Tibet crackdown, Beijing’s support for Sudan in the Darfur crisis, protests surrounding the Olympic torch relay, the xenophobia whipped up in response to foreign criticism and human rights campaigns by overseas activists have damaged China’s international reputation. The destruction caused by natural disasters, for which the government bears limited responsibility, is far easier to address and respond to openly than political unrest, environmental devastation fueled by badly administered factories, corruption and other crises, situations in which Beijing tends to revert to its old ways. A government rooted in authoritarianism and with the world’s largest army may be in a better position to marshal relief resources and manpower than a decentralized democracy. “The Chinese government won a lot of credibility from the way they responded to the earthquake,” said Jing Jun, a sociologist at Tsinghua University. “But whether this is a turning point to China becoming a democratic society, that is a long shot.” -- barbara.demick@latimes.com -- mark.magnier@latimes.com -- Gao Wenhuan of The Times’ Beijing Bureau contributed to this report.
bae08e471e317bac3e07cb6a31daa2c2	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-17-na-mass17-story.html	Massachusetts lives happily with same-sex marriage law	Massachusetts lives happily with same-sex marriage law For some, it is as simple as access to the vocabulary of marriage. “My wife” translates so much more readily to the general populace than “my partner,” said Marcia Hams, who traded vows with Susan Shepherd days after Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage on May 17, 2004. Other same-sex couples say marriage has produced more practical benefits. Gay and lesbian spouses can authorize emergency medical treatment for each other that once was off-limits because they were not husbands or wives. They can inherit property without mountains of paperwork explaining their relationship -- documents that often still were subject to challenge by biological relatives. And, as legally recognized families, they have access to cheaper health insurance. “It’s a huge savings for us, about $4,000 a year,” Gary Chalmers said. After he and Rich Linnell married four years ago -- the very day that such unions became legal in Massachusetts -- they were able to scrap Linnell’s $340-a-month individual policy and join a family plan. The couple have diverted the savings to a college fund for their 16-year-old daughter, Paige, who wore her first pair of high heels to her fathers’ candlelight church wedding. As California prepares to permit gay and lesbian marriage following Thursday’s ruling by the state Supreme Court, Massachusetts views itself as a largely positive case study. In fact, at least one outspoken adversary in the Massachusetts Legislature has completely changed his views. “I was a huge opponent,” said Rep. Paul Kujawski, a Democrat who voted repeatedly in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. After three years of conversations with gay and lesbian families and individuals, Kujawski said, he has become a supporter: “I listened to story after story, and I found out they only want what everyone else wants -- the opportunity to live in happiness and dignity.” Opposition persists among groups that champion the sanctity of traditional marriage between a man and a woman. But for the most part in Massachusetts, lesbian and gay marriage has become so everyday that when kindergartner Chloe Page saw her teacher sporting a new wedding band, she asked if he had married a boy or a girl. Chloe’s mother, Boston-area events planner Liz Page, said Friday that the California decision meant Massachusetts could finally relinquish its status as the sole state to allow gay and lesbian marriage. “This is so important,” Page said. “We have been waiting for the other dominoes to start to fall.” But Kris Mineau, president of the nonprofit Massachusetts Family Institute, said Friday that the California court decision represented another assault on a treasured institution. “What has happened here in Massachusetts is that marriage has been denigrated. It has been cheapened,” Mineau said. “The California ruling has just exacerbated the notion that marriage is no longer held in high esteem.” According to recent state data, more than 10,000 gay and lesbian couples have married in the four years since the Supreme Judicial Court redefined marriage in Massachusetts to mean “the voluntary union of two persons as spouses,” regardless of gender. Fears that Massachusetts would become a same-sex marriage mecca for the rest of the country were quelled when then-Gov. Mitt Romney -- a Republican and a foe of gay and lesbian marriage -- unearthed a 1913 statute barring marriage in the commonwealth if a couple’s home state did not recognize the union. City and town clerks at that point were barred from issuing licenses to same-sex couples from outside Massachusetts, and there are no firm figures on how many such marriages have taken place. Same-sex divorces also are hard to track because counties record those actions only by the last names of the parties involved. Carisa Cunningham, spokeswoman for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders here, said gay and lesbian divorces in Massachusetts probably numbered “in the several dozens.” (GLAD represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that prompted the Massachusetts court decision permitting same-sex marriage, and it also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in conjunction with Thursday’s California decision.) In a way, “Massachusetts has been like the reality TV show for gay marriage,” said Karen Kahn, co-author of “Courting Equality,” a book examining same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. “When we were the only state, we were the ones who were ‘out there.’ We were the target for every kind of criticism, all the threats that this would destroy marriage, families and civilization.” Instead, Kahn said, “what we have had is four years of marriage equality. Nothing terrible has happened in our state. The Red Sox have won the World Series twice since the law changed. There continue to be little pockets of opposition, but almost none of it is not religious-based. Overall, we are doing just fine here in Massachusetts.” Kahn, 52, married her co-author and longtime companion, Patricia Gozemba, 67, in September 2005. Before facing the general electorate, constitutional amendments in Massachusetts must be approved by two successive special meetings of the state Legislature known as constitutional conventions. Last June, lawmakers voted 151 to 45 against a measure that would have placed an amendment barring same-sex marriage on the state ballot. That action essentially tabled any ban until 2012. As he arrived in Baltimore on Friday for a hockey tournament, Peter Hams said he had a personal reason to celebrate Thursday’s California court decision. Growing up as the son of two unmarried “moms,” Hams, 28, said he always had to watch what he said about his family, even among his closest friends in open-minded Cambridge. Now that Marcia Hams and Susan Shepherd are married -- they waited in line for hours with Peter to become the first same-sex couple in the commonwealth to obtain a marriage license -- he said: “For me it is a huge weight off my shoulders. I don’t have to explain anything to the people I meet. I can just say my parents are married. This is the kind of privilege that most heterosexual families take for granted.”
e7bea7332493adcf24bbe08e6777a322	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-17-na-money17-story.html	Obama sees huge jump in wealth	Obama sees huge jump in wealth Barack Obama’s wealth has more than doubled during his presidential campaign -- and has shot up tenfold since he entered the U.S. Senate three years ago, his financial disclosure filed Friday shows. Obama is the least wealthy of the three major presidential candidates. But with advances and royalties from two bestselling books, Obama’s assets were worth between $2.02 million and $7.35 million at the end of 2007, according to a public financial disclosure report filed with the Federal Election Commission. At the end of 2006, Obama’s holdings were worth $455,000 to $1.125 million. When he entered the U.S. Senate in 2005, he reported assets worth between $200,000 and $400,000. Obama’s wealth does not match that of Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has loaned her campaign $11.4 million. She and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have earned more than $100 million since he left office at the start of the decade. Sen. Clinton received an extension and won’t file a financial disclosure statement until next month. Nor does Obama’s wealth match that of Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. McCain’s wife, Cindy, inherited her father’s Anheuser-Busch distributorship in the Phoenix area. Although the McCains’ holdings are separate, their family wealth is thought to be between $28 million and $100 million. Obama’s money has come largely from sales of his books, “Dreams From My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope.” He’s also writing a children’s book. All three of the candidates have had bestsellers. Obama’s money is mostly invested conservatively in Treasury notes and bond funds, one of which was worth $1 million to $5 million, according to the forms, which require the disclosure of a range of values. His mutual funds include so-called socially responsible funds, screened to meet certain “social and environmental criteria.” Those funds have major stock holdings in such banking and technology companies as Bank of America and Google, along with McDonald’s, Walt Disney and CVS Caremark. Obama last month released his most recent tax return, which shows that he and his wife, Michelle, earned $4.2 million in 2007, driven primarily by book sales. His 2006 income was less than $1 million. Claremont McKenna College political scientist Jack Pitney said that although there were no questions of conflict related to Obama’s writings, his wealth could present him with a political problem “because of the issue of elitism,” a charge he has sought to fend off during his campaign. “With millions in the bank, it is a little easier to make that charge stick,” Pitney said. But, citing Cindy McCain’s wealth, he added, “John McCain is probably not the best messenger.” -- dan.morain@latimes.com
332071217ebb022afa04ffbe7f2f94a6	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-18-bk-newton18-story.html	Dividing lines	Dividing lines THE SURPRISES begin right away in “Nixonland.” The book opens with the Watts riots, a singularly unconventional starting point for a narrative built around Richard M. Nixon, who was not in office and not involved with the 1965 events or their aftermath. But these passages in Rick Perlstein’s rambunctious, ambitious, energetic tour through the Nixon era set both the tone and approach that distinguish this remarkable work. As the initial setting makes clear, Perlstein is after something other than biography here. And wisely so. The world almost certainly has enough Nixon biographies; few subjects have tantalized writers more than the troubled soul of Yorba Linda’s favorite son. Instead, he tells the story of Nixon’s America, a country of division and resentment, jealousy and anger, one where politics is brutal and psychological, where victors make the vanquished suffer. Perlstein, who covered some of this ground in “Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus,” aims here at nothing less than weaving a tapestry of social upheaval. His success is dazzling. His method is worth noting as well. “Nixonland” is not, fundamentally, a work of primary research. Its sources largely are news accounts and other books; although there are occasional citations to personal papers and interviews, this is a synthesis, not an investigation. Written with verve and a ranging, incisive intelligence, “Nixonland” re-defines the fissures of that period as the product of conflict between two forces, which Perlstein dubs the Franklins and the Orthogonians after two fraternities that claimed opposite corners during Nixon’s Whittier College days. The Franklins were the dapper, refined Big Men on Campus; in the larger story of “Nixonland,” they are the Ivy Leaguers, the U.S. Supreme Court clerks, men of privilege like Alger Hiss and Jack Kennedy, Jerry Voorhis and Eugene McCarthy. This was not Nixon, who co-founded the Orthogonians for the strivers and loners, the shirt-sleeved and tough. Nixon, as is well known, met his wife by driving her on dates with other men, simmering and persisting until eventually she accepted him. He was drawn to others like himself, and he found them on the outskirts of every kind of organization, even in sports, where most observers saw glamour or fame. “It was an eminently Nixonian insight,” Perlstein writes, “that on every sports team there are only a couple of stars, and that if you want to win the loyalty of the team for yourself, the surest, if least glamorous, strategy is to concentrate on the non-spectacular -- silent -- majority. The ones who labor quietly, sometimes resentfully, in the quarterback’s shadow: the linemen, the guards, the punter.” -- THERE began a lifetime of positioning, of nurturing and exploiting the nation’s deepest resentments, of rallying the silent and the glum to their champion. This cleavage defines “Nixonland,” and the resulting tensions make the riots the right place to start, for it was in those bloody days that the American consensus, such as it was, melted in the streets of Watts, just months after President Johnson crowed about American civilization at its apex, about a nation prepared to deliver “abundance and liberty for all.” As Perlstein tracks the rise and fall and rise and fall of Nixon, he hews to the knife’s edge of conflict, opting for the cultural over the narrowly political. Student activist Tom Hayden makes more appearances in “Nixonland” than Justice William O. Douglas, and that’s appropriate. This broad scope opens up the narrative, and through it flutter the personalities, large and small, who populated the late 1960s and early 1970s so colorfully. We find Abbie Hoffman and H. Rap Brown, Dr. Benjamin Spock and Herbert Marcuse, Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X, Jane Fonda and John Wayne, H.R. Haldeman and Spiro Agnew. These figures come back to us in Perlstein’s able hands, a reunion of old friends and enemies drawn together and mutually repelled by Nixon’s influence. They make a dashing backdrop to this exegesis on love and war, politics and art. Perlstein sends home some scintillating snapshots from his ‘60s tour. His account of the Chicago Seven trial is superb, as is his portrayal of the nation’s response to the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. His writing is occasionally overwrought, but more often modulated, breezy in the decade’s lighter moments, deliberate when appropriate. Thus, he observes, candidate “Richard Nixon’s summer of love was spent abroad.” And, “Some people wanted peace because they didn’t want America to be humiliated. Some people wanted peace because they preferred America’s humiliation. Now the president invited Orthogonians to join him in defining themselves by the split -- in a wager that the majority on his side would grow for it.” Although Perlstein has produced an exuberant reconstruction of these years, he does, regrettably, adopt one of the period’s less admirable qualities. He embraces hyperbole and, as columnist George F. Will noted in his recent review of “Nixonland” for the New York Times, chalks up a few errors along the way. None are devastating, but they are distracting; one reveals a weakness in Perlstein’s reliance on secondary sources. Describing the 1970 Kent State massacre, he writes that residents of Kent, Ohio, “were thrilled to see the tanks and jeeps rumble through town” and later describes children climbing around the tanks. That appears to be drawn from James A. Michener’s account (in “Kent State: What Happened and Why”), but no tanks appear in the extensive photographic and journalistic record. (There are references to armed personnel carriers, but not tanks.) -- ANOTHER error, harder to explain, caught my eye, in part because it detracts from what should be a signature scene, Nixon’s 1969 inaugural address, when the long-suffering politician finally claimed the presidency. The occasion had special resonance because the oath was administered to Nixon that January day by Chief Justice Earl Warren, who had sparred with Nixon for decades, going back to Warren’s time as California’s governor. So deeply did Warren detest Nixon that the chief justice had tried to retire earlier the previous year, in part to prevent Nixon from choosing his replacement on the court. (Warren eventually left in 1969, and Nixon replaced him with Warren Burger.) Perlstein, however, incorrectly reports that Justice Hugo Black administered the oath, not only getting the moment wrong but also robbing it of much of its consequence. These mistakes are distracting, but hardly debilitating. Once they are remedied, what will be left is a superb history of a period too often glamorized beyond recognition. Perlstein’s grand epic revolutionizes the history of those revolutionary times and does something more as well. Through it, through Nixon, he delivers a new understanding of some of the divisions of our modern life. The coarseness and recrimination that undermine our political civility today have deep roots in the Nixon era. If we now live in a country where politics swallows its victims, where victory must be total, where opponents are demonized rather than having their arguments debated, well, Nixon carries his share of the blame. Perlstein may make too much of that. Not all conflict is between the camps of “Nixonland,” and there are plenty of evils in modern America that have nothing to do with Nixon; indeed, our current president has managed to invent more than most. But for those inclined to minimize Nixon’s demerits, to insist that he only got caught at what all presidents do, Perlstein reminds us who Nixon was and what he wrought. Here’s one small but telling anecdote, in which Nixon is taped berating Haldeman and other top aides to use the Internal Revenue Service to punish administration critics: “We have the power, but are we using it? To investigate contributors to Hubert Humphrey, contributors to Muskie, the Jews, you know, that are stealing everybody. . . . Bob, please get me the names of the Jews, you know, the big Jewish contributors of the Democrats. . . . Could we please investigate some of these [expletive deleted]?” Nixon may not have invented a divisive America, and today’s divisions may not all be his fault, but it’s hard to read those words and not acknowledge that he was in a class of his own. And yes, as Perlstein concludes, we all have paid a price for it. *
cd80599e6b14aa756526b31defe043b1	https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-18-ca-iraq18-story.html	View from the front lines	View from the front lines IN JUNE 2003, Air Force Staff Sgt. Stacy Pearsall was new to Iraq, and she still got a rush from the “combat entry” landing, as the pilot hurtled the plane into a downward spiral in darkness to outmaneuver enemy fire. Baghdad international airport was the Wild West. But Pearsall wasn’t coming to shoot Iraqis -- though she would eventually shoot at them. She was there to shoot pictures. The rosy dawn looked like fire on that hot morning, and Pearsall worried that daylight would make her medical mission a target as they waited for a badly wounded young man. As they loaded him onto the plane, Pearsall snapped away. The man was likely to be a double amputee and was concerned about how he would cope. “I remember the anguish on his face,” said Pearsall, who, at 28, has won numerous awards. “When you take pictures like that it’s etched in your mind forever.” Pearsall is one of nine military combat photojournalists whose work will appear in “Eye of the Storm: War Through the Lens of American Combat Photographers” at the Reform Gallery at West Hollywood. Pearsall will attend Saturday’s opening, which is timed to coincide with Memorial Day weekend and will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. At a time when the Iraq war is ubiquitous yet strangely remote, this exhibition brings home the conflict from the point of view of the military waging it. This war lacks the triumphant lyricism of liberated concentration camps or flags over Iwo Jima. Iraq imagery is as viral as the digital cameras that made the abuse at Abu Ghraib, photographed by troops, one of the war’s most enduring visual symbols. But this conflict, set in dramatic high relief against an austere biblical desert, is dangerous to photograph. Danger means distance. The military photographers run with the troops, and their immersion can be as intimate as Marine Cpl. Samuel Corum’s shot of the guys camping on cots in their skivvies. These photographers are uniformed and always armed in combat, said Pearsall, a member of the Charlotte, N.C.-based Air Force 1st Combat Camera Squadron. They’re targets and sometimes combatants. “I have fired back at the enemy, but whether I hurt, wounded or killed I do not know,” Pearsall said. “That’s the trade-off. It’s soldier first.” Pearsall doesn’t strive for the lexicon of objectivity. She peppers her anecdotes with partisan phrases like “the bad guys.” She was once so bloodied rescuing wounded troops and performing first aid that another sergeant burned her uniform afterward. She weeps as she tells how her unit’s members died in a booby-trapped house in Baqubah in 2007. She felt guilty for not being with “my guys” but blessed to be alive. Dane Jensen, the West Coast sales associate of the Moss Gallery, said he decided to curate the exhibit after seeing military photos online. He said the military was enthusiastic, especially since proceeds go to the nonprofit that helps veterans. “Some people will say the images are whitewashed,” Jensen said. “There is some censorship -- it was, ‘Here are the images that are released that we want you to see.’ When they shoot photographs they choose a side, but sometimes it’s a side the media doesn’t report on, like the humanitarian work the soldiers do.” In addition, “They’re wearing the same uniform as the people they’re photographing, so they’re more emotionally available to their brethren.” Some of the photographers would like to follow the path of Eddie Adams, who moved from the Marines to the mainstream press. Adams won a Pulitzer Prize for a photo of a Vietnamese general executing a prisoner with a pistol on a Saigon street in 1968. Today’s U.S. military photos already appear from time to time in mainstream American media, military spokesmen say, via military photos posted for public use. Santiago Lyon, director of photography for the Associated Press, said the AP distributes fewer than two dozen military photographs a year. Newspapers must decide whether to print the caption identifying them as military photos, he said. “On occasion, if there is no other access, we take a military handout, but we try to limit that and press for our own access,” Lyon said. “People are using them if there’s nothing else. I would always argue for independent media access before any military-produced information.” Unseen by the public are the photos documenting sensitive special forces missions or intelligence photos of so-called high value targets -- suspected Iraqi terrorists. Also off-limits are shots that might reveal security weaknesses. ‘Innocent to the war’ THE IMAGES approved for the exhibition are as varied as the photographers. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Bailey followed U.S. troops kicking in doors of abandoned houses on a 120-degree day in the northwestern Iraqi town of Tal Afar in 2007. An Iraqi woman opened the door into one courtyard, and Bailey entered a quiet, cool room where a little boy was asleep on the floor, “innocent to the war that raged around him, as if one could just take a nap and make it all go away,” Bailey told the curators. “To come across something like that really puts things in perspective, what these civilians go through,” Bailey said by phone a few minutes before he graduated from the military photojournalism program at Syracuse University. “The future of that country lies with a generation that has grown up with poverty, neglect and warfare,” Bailey said. “Whose side will they take? Will they be pro-American or anti-American?” Air Force Staff Sgt. Cherie Thurlby traveled to the remote Afghan village of Aroki in Kapisa province with the 48th Combat Support Hospital. A boy of 8 brought his badly burned baby sister by donkey. A boy of 5 led the ailing family cow. Teenage girls brought infants who might have been siblings or their own. When the girls unveiled, Thurlby asked if she could take their pictures, and they nodded eagerly, yielding images of imploring, upturned faces suffused with hope and desperation. Such photos might inspire sympathy for the U.S. military. But if they’re intended as propaganda, some don’t do a very good job. Haunting images SAN DIEGO-based Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Watkins captured the spooky terror of the war in 2007, with a nighttime shot of heavily armed U.S. special forces standing by a door, with a barking German shepherd straining at its leash. Their high-beamed nightscopes cut into the darkness. Their faces are masked with night goggles that tint the photograph in ghoulish greens. Would anyone willingly open the door to these scary trick-or-treaters? In Army Staff Sgt. Mike Pryor’s 2007 photograph of a night patrol, the American troops look as alien as astronauts on the moon as they try, in the words of one platoon leader, “to pick a fight.” “At higher levels, the talk may have been about reconciliation and engagement,” Pryor reflected in his statement, “but out with the grunts, the law of the jungle still applied.” The difference in the usual journalistic rules of engagement is as evident as the M-16 over the shoulder of Army Staff Sgt. Russell Klika. There are no photos of Iraqis screaming at Americans, no terrified families cringing on the floor while U.S. troops shout in unintelligible English. Klika’s image of displaced Iraqis scrounging to build a home in a garbage dump was shot from a bulletproof vehicle, whizzing by at 50 mph. Danger also isolates independent photographers, though “civilian photographers aren’t censured for what they shoot,” said David Hume Kennerly, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his Vietnam War photography in 1972. “It’s very hard to cover this war. I think the level of photography among military photographers is the highest I’ve ever seen.” The show also offers intriguing insights into the experiences of U.S. servicewomen, who are increasingly being drawn into combat situations. Thurlby arrived in Iraq in April 2003. She and a female videographer, Staff Sgt. Dawn Anderson, spent months pleading to go on missions. They finally rode along -- armed with a 9-millimeter pistol and M-16 rifle. “This was a battle we constantly fought as photographers, and women,” Thurlby told the show, though “they eventually saw the value in having us along to document history.” Like a lot of volunteers, Pearsall viewed the military as a chance to achieve her career goals. Pearsall, living with her divorced mother, the manager of a pet store in Canton, S.D., dreamed of attending art school but didn’t have the money. An uncle in the military encouraged her to aim for a career as a military photographer. She joined the Air Force at 17, and for four years, she processed images from U2 intelligence flights. In 2003, she went to Iraq, living with troops in tents and abandoned buildings, shooting the photos that made her the Defense Department’s military photographer of the year, a citation co-sponsored by the National Press Photographers Assn. She is the only woman to win twice. Along the way, Pearsall completed the Syracuse photojournalism program and married fellow photographer Andy Dunaway before returning to Iraq in 2007 with the wave of U.S. troops the Bush administration called “the surge.” In Baqubah, Pearsall teamed with Staff Sgt. Katie Robinson, a videographer, to cover an Alpha unit. One day, while she and Robinson were assigned elsewhere, “our guys” in Alpha walked into a booby-trapped house and died in the explosion. Pearsall weeps at the memory. But she and Robinson had to “man up” and keep working. A sniper had shot a gunner with Pearsall’s new group, and as he died on the operating table, Robinson got shot too. A single bullet traveled through Robinson’s arm and into her video camera, exploding the battery, and exiting to take off the top of her thumb. Soon Robinson was back in the field, shooting video with what remained of her thumb. “The Iraqis who spoke English thought she was ‘the man,’ ” Pearsall said. -- anne-marie.oconnor @latimes.com
9b1f4c61fdc43611303a24fe17c15591	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/26/fact-check-ghana-not-offering-money-land-lure-black-americans/3212522001/	Fact check: Ghana is not offering money, land to lure Black Americans	Fact check: Ghana is not offering money, land to lure Black Americans Claim: Ghana, in a pitch to Black Americans, offers money, land to Americans to escape 'deadly' racism An article appearing in the online publication PopularSuperstars says Ghana is offering Black Americans land and money to Americans to avoid "deadly racism." Ghana, located in an area once known as the Gold Coast of Africa, was the hub of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the departure point for slaves bound for America. Last year, Ghana declared the "Year of Return" to appeal to Black Americans to visit Ghana and become acquainted with the continent of their forefathers. Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, the minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, said the program was a boon to the economy and to the effort to boost Ghana's tourism industry. The BBC reported Ghana attracted a number of celebrities in 2019, including model Naomi Campbell, actor Idris Elba, comedian Steve Harvey and American rapper Cardi B. To double down on its pitch to Black Americans, Ghana unveiled for this year a program called "Beyond the Return." According to the cited online article: "Ghana Tells Black Americans: 'We Will Pay You To Live In Ghana.'” It said Oteng-Gyasi "offered unhappy African Americans to come to Ghana." Related:'I'm leaving and I'm just not coming back': Fed up with racism, Black Americans head overseas An appeal to Black Americans Oteng-Gyasi's overture to Black Americans has been pointed, as noted by her comments in Accra in June at a ceremony honoring George Floyd, whose death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer touched off weeks of protests in the U.S. “Racism in America continues to be a deadly pandemic, for which for more than 400 years now, our brothers and sisters in the United States of America have yearned for a cure," she said. “We continue to open our arms and invite all our brothers and sisters home. Ghana is your home. Africa is your home." Oteng-Gyasi said, according to Newsweek. We have our arms wide open ready to welcome you home. … Please take advantage, come home, build a life in Ghana. You do not have to stay where you are not wanted forever, you have a choice and Africa is waiting for you.” More:In Ghana's Year of Return, NAACP goes home on behalf of the ancestors What is 'Beyond the Return'? According to the tourism authority's "VisitGhana" website, "Beyond the Return" is not only aimed at promoting tourism but also fostering economic relations, trade and investments from the diaspora in Africa and the world at large. It lists seven "pillars" of the program, including "progressive government transparent regulations" to encourage investment; developing pilgrimage infrastructure around "sites of memory," promoting tourism; and creating a sense of national consciousness anchored on key cultural festivals. The second pillar, aimed squarely at potential emigres, "will see to the adoption of legal and policy frameworks on visa acquisition (e-visa) and the institution of a diaspora visa. It will facilitate key diaspora pathway programs such as Citizenship programs, Educational and work exchanges, Residence and work permits." None of the pillars in this framework for "Beyond the Return" includes any reference to giving land or money for potential immigrants. More:Fact check: Yes, Kente cloths were historically worn by empire involved in West African slave trade Comments by Ghanaian officials indicate that the Beyond the Return program is aimed at attracting wealthier African Americans to encourage their investment in Ghana, rather than those who might need financial assistance. “We feel that given the wealth that African Americans and Black Americans have, given that spending power, travel budgets of Blacks in America,” Akwasi Agyeman, CEO of Ghana Tourism Authority tells Black Enterprise. “We felt that it’s about time that we start that conversation that, instead of moving to any other destination, come back to where you came from.” Land giveaway isn't part of the plan In response to an inquiry by USA TODAY, Agyemang, whose tourism authority is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, said the Popular Superstars article regarding purported offers of land and money is "categorically" untrue. Likewise, Rabbi Kohain Halevi, director of PANAFEST, a cultural and theatrical event that attempts to unite Africans on the continent and in the diaspora around the issues raised by slavery, says he has never heard of any financial incentive being offered to African Americans or any members of the diaspora to return to Ghana. Halevi, member of the original Year of Return Committee who was recently asked to serve on the Beyond the Return committee tells USA TODAY the only issue involving land that he knows of is one tribal chief who has offered land for free, but requires a registration fee for potential participants. Rashad McCrorey, an American entrepreneur and writer who founded Africa Cross-Culture, a back to Africa travel company that organizes trips to Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigera and Rwanda, also says it is inaccurate that a "land and money" offer is part of the program. "The belief that Black Americans will receive free money and free land is a false rumor," McCrorey, who took self-quarantine in Ghana during the coronavirus pandemic, tells USA TODAY. "It seems like people mistook the minister of tourism invite for Black Americans to come home and ran with it and started spreading false information." Kwabena Agyare Yeboah, a prominent journalist in Ghana who has written about the Year of the Return, says historically lands belong to family, town or kingdom heads, not the government. "Ghana does not have enough money nor lands to dash out." he tells USA TODAY. He added that references to offers and land and money is a misreading of the Ghana Right to Abode, which dates from 2000, that grants diasporans the right of citizenship. "I have seen some African,-Americans planning and buying pieces of land for a future community," he says. "But they are certainly not free lands." Goodlet Owusu Ansah, a master’s student in International Business at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and an author on research into hospitality and tourism, explains that "Beyond the Return " a "safe-haven of a sort to entrepreneurial African diaspora while seeking to economically stimulate the Ghanaian economy." "However, references to commitments in the form of financial gains and land handouts are factually incorrect. Generally, land ownership is held by the local ethnic groups and as such will be very difficult for government to be engaged in such gestures in the first instance," he tells USA TODAY. "Although, the Rights of Abode bill was birthed in 2000, where Ghanaian citizenship was open to those who have the need for it, there is no proclamation to support monetary and land handouts, and Beyond the Return has not changed this either," he says. "What government can do is to expedite land acquisition processes for those who will need such." The Ghanaian embassy to the U.S. did not respond to inquiries on more specifics of the program. Our find: Partly false While the claim that Ghana is attempting to attract Black Americans is clearly true, there is no evidence that the country is officially offering land or money. Instead, Ghana, through improvement in its financial regulations, and by offering help with visas, citizenship and work permits, is looking for potential immigrants to invest in Ghana. We rate this claim as PARTLY FALSE. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
5f4d0206d0f2be0e985ba4ab3200c720	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/26/fact-check-tim-tebow-did-not-kneel-during-anthem-protest-abortion/3225091001/	Fact check: Tebow did not kneel to protest abortion before Kaepernick knelt against racism	Fact check: Tebow did not kneel to protest abortion before Kaepernick knelt against racism The claim: Tim Tebow took a knee to protest abortion before Colin Kaepernick knelt to protest police brutality As companies retire brands with racial stereotypes, Congress discusses police reform and protests continue, racial inequity continues to hold America’s attention. Amid this, a meme comparing the public response to former National Football League players Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem has resurfaced. The meme, which has been circulating online since 2018, falsely claims that Tebow knelt in protest years before Kaepernick, and that Tebow received a favorable public response. “Let’s not forget about Tim Tebow, the NFL quarterback that kneeled in protest of abortion during the National Anthem in 2012,” claims the meme Gregory Nelson posted June 13. The meme has been widely shared by many others. “Unlike Colin Kaepernick, who clearly stated his protest has nothing to do with the flag or military, Time (sic) Tebow specifically said that he couldn’t stand for a flag that allowed for abortion. If you can’t see the hypocrisy in this then chances are you are part of the problem.” Tebow, who has played football for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos and now plays baseball with the New York Mets, has never knelt during the national anthem. Tebow has famously taken a knee in prayer before each game throughout his athletic career. Snopes, Check Your Fact and PolitiFact have fact-checked similar claims over the past three years. Nelson has not returned USA TODAY's request for comment. The image does not depict Tebow protesting The meme shows Tebow bowing with a clenched fist to his forehead and claims he was doing so in protest of abortion. According to the original image caption, the photo was taken by Associated Press photographer Julie Jacobson on Dec. 11, 2011, while Tebow knelt in prayer before a Denver Broncos game. Tebow is a devout Christian and has expressed his opinion on abortion. In 2010, he and his mother starred in a Super Bowl commercial for anti-abortion group Focus on the Family. But hese views are not his motivation for kneeling before games. Tebow made his kneeling position — commonly known as “Tebowing” — famous during his professional athletic career and even trademarked it. "It's something I do that's prayer for me, and then it got hyped up as Tebowing. So I think (it's) just to control how it's used, as well. Make sure it's used in the right way," he told ESPN in 2012. "I did it from my sophomore year in high school all the way through the NFL, that before and after games I would get on a knee to thank my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and also put things into perspective." Tebow on kneeling in protest On June 8, 2018, Tebow said he had never knelt during the national anthem. After Kaepernick began his highly controversial kneeling protest against police brutality in August 2016, some questioned whether Tebow's famous kneeling was also politically driven. Tebow said he knelt to pray, not to protest abortion. “I never did anything during a national anthem but stand and support my country," he said. When asked about his thoughts on NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality, Tebow avoided criticizing other players. “I think when people believe in something and they stand for that, I don’t knock them for that,’’ he said. “So I think there’s a lot of players that I’m friends with that have been on both sides and I understand it and I think what’s more important is to know their heart and where they’re coming from and where the conviction stands in their heart and what they really want to share.” Neither USA TODAY, Check Your Fact, Snopes nor PolitiFact has found any evidence of Tebow kneeling during the national anthem at a NFL or Major League Baseball game. Our rating: False We rate the claim that Tim Tebow knelt in protest of abortion before Colin Kaepernick knelt in protest of police brutality FALSE because it has been debunked several times and Tebow has denied it. Tebow has famously knelt in prayer before NFL and MLB games throughout his career, but has never done so during the national anthem. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
d5cb52f742db9658c98d460dfd2b2c63	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/27/fact-check-covid-19-orders-are-not-tied-sharia-law-islam/3269954001/	Fact check: COVID-19 restrictions are not related to imposition of Sharia law	Fact check: COVID-19 restrictions are not related to imposition of Sharia law The claim: Steps to limit the spread of COVID-19 are the first moves to impose Sharia law in the United States. This social media post claims that steps adopted in the United States to limit the spread of the coronavirus — such as the slaughter of hogs; closing of bars and churches; and cancellation of sports — are actually part of a secret agenda to facilitate the spread of Sharia law. Misspelled in the post as "shiria," Sharia law provides a framework by which Muslims may live their lives. It is based on the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. According to the Library of Congress, some provisions of Sharia law clash with Western concepts of personal freedom and equality between the sexes. That also has made it an easy target for extremists to point to when attempting to vilify or demonize Muslims. I wonder if thi More:List of sports events affected by the coronavirus pandemic Pigs, bars, churches The social media post states that among the actions that point to the adoption of Islamic law in the U.S. is the slaughter of 700,000 pigs a week. Muslims avoid all pork products for religious reasons. More:As leaders warned of US meat shortages, overseas exports of pork and beef continued The coronavirus outbreak forced the closure of slaughterhouses across the country. Demand from restaurants, closed by the pandemic, has also dropped. That has left farmers with more pigs than they can handle, leaving them often with little choice but to euthanize their hogs, according to The Associated Press. The slaughter of the pigs has nothing to do with Islam. The post also states bars, along with churches, are closed in accordance with Muslim beliefs. This is true, but has nothing to do with Sharia law. The moves are tied to social distancing measures backed by science and health officials, and adopted by the U.S. – and much of the rest of the world – to limit the spread of COVID-19. This includes limits on houses of worship, where people gather together in large numbers and often in close quarters. More:Businesses react to 'pause' on Texas reopening Many of those temporary closures have now been lifted as states slowly begin to reopen their economies, with most restaurants allowed to offer in-house dining and even bars opening in some places. But the reopening has led to a spike in COVID-19 cases in several states, prompting governors in Texas and Florida last week to announce the re-implementation of several mitigation measures — notably the closure of bars. And to the claim that mosques have remained open, in line with Islamic law, while churches are closed — that has been debunked by FactCheck.org. Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a major Islamic civil liberties organization, told FactCheck.org that even during Ramadan, “I personally know of no mosques remaining open for prayers.” More:The NBA is coming back, and here's 10 things to know Lastly, the post states that sports are canceled. (There is debate among Muslims over whether sports are permissible, according to the website UmmahSport, which presents stories involving Muslim athletes.) Global sports have not been permanently canceled. Sports also are slowly returning, with NASCAR and the PGA Tour already back up and running and most professional team sports, including the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, planning to start training again by mid-July. More:As MLB makes plans for 2020 season, what about the mascots? Our ruling: False We rate this claim as FALSE. The steps taken are scientifically based and are recommended by health officials worldwide to try to stem the spread of COVID-19. The social distancing measures are not based on the views of one religion. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
cdbd673afbf2cf6a744b656a086ff57d	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/27/fact-check-ohsa-didnt-say-cloth-masks-offer-no-covid-19-protection/3266817001/	Fact check: Masks are effective against COVID-19; OSHA doesn't say they offer no protection	Fact check: Masks are effective against COVID-19; OSHA doesn't say they offer no protection The claim: Cloth masks will dangerously reduce oxygen levels, and masks don't work There are a lot of claims circulating on social media about the effectiveness of different kinds of face masks. A viral post that includes a long text purportedly written by someone "OSHA 10&30 certified," sometimes along with an image with writing on a car’s rear window, claims masks can cause brain damage, headaches and high blood pressure by reducing a person’s oxygen intake to dangerous levels. Fact check: Ear loop masks – even homemade cloth masks – offer protection against COVID-19 Required oxygen levels The post claims that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires employers to keep oxygen levels in their work environments at a minimum of 19.5%. That’s true. The air we breathe is about 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and 1% other gases, including carbon dioxide and neon, according to NASA. OSHA says in its preamble to a document called the Respiratory Protection Standard that going below 19.5% can cause “increased breathing rates, accelerated heartbeat and impaired thinking,” as well as “impaired attention, thinking, and coordination, even in people who are resting.” The more detailed part of the claim is more false than true. Do masks reduce oxygen intake? Are they safe for work? The post claims wearing a mask puts a person’s oxygen intake below OSHA’s required levels and can cause brain damage, high blood pressure and headaches. USA TODAY fact checked whether masks can cause such afflictions and found that cloth and surgical masks are unlikely to cause a dangerous drop in oxygen intake because they are not tight-fitting. Kelli Randell, an internist and medical adviser at Aeroflow Healthcare, told Health.com that using any mask for a long time has not been shown to cause carbon dioxide to build to a toxic level in otherwise healthy people. Does OSHA say anything about the dangers of wearing a mask at work? Yes. OSHA says on its COVID-19 FAQ webpage that masks may not be appropriate for certain workers. “For example, cloth face coverings could become contaminated with chemicals used in the work environment, causing workers to inhale the chemicals that collect on the face covering,” according to OSHA. The agency recommends alternative protections such as clear face shields. OSHA says on its website that cloth masks cannot not be used as substitutes for required personal protective equipment. Airline mask requirements: Check the policies for North American carriers Other mask safety claims The image of the car with writing on it accompanied a long post that made several claims about face masks and were purported to come from a person who was “OSHA 10&30 certified.” That means a person took OSHA’s 10-hour and 30-hour training on general health and safety hazards. This training does not cover COVID-19 topics, according to OSHA. The agency doesn’t certify people who take such training. Fact check: No, N95 filters are not too large to stop COVID-19 particles The post claims that N95 masks are not safe to wear in public because they filter only the air coming in, not the air going out. This is true but only for the kind of N95 masks commonly used in construction. These have valves, but medical N95 masks do not. In May, the San Francisco Department of Public Health shared side-by-side images of medical and construction N95 masks and urged residents not to use the kind with valves. The post's writer says surgical masks were “designed and approved for sterile environments,” and they clog quickly out in the real world, essentially rendering them “useless” after 20-30 minutes. "The surgical mask is not designed for the outside world and will not filter the virus upon inhaling through it. Its filtration works on the exhale (just like a vacuum bag, it only works one way)," the post says. OSHA says surgical masks don’t protect “against airborne transmissible infectious agents due to loose fit and lack of seal,” but they can “contain the wearer's respiratory droplets.” Basically, the masks are meant to protect others. More:The 10 most popular face masks people can't stop buying The FDA says surgical masks do stop the wearer from inhaling large particles: "If worn properly, a surgical mask is meant to help block large-particle droplets, splashes, sprays, or splatter that may contain germs (viruses and bacteria), keeping it from reaching your mouth and nose." OSHA recommends surgical masks for dentists and other medical professionals who don’t work in sterile environments, but it doesn’t say how long the masks last. OSHA recommends surgical masks “be properly disposed of after use.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asks the general public to wear cloth masks, not "use a face mask meant for a health care worker.” "The cloth face coverings recommended are not surgical masks or N95 respirators. Those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for health care workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance," the CDC's website says. The post claims that cloth masks trap carbon dioxide and “the moisture caught in these masks can become mildew-ridden overnight.” "Cloth masks are WORSE than none," it says. That is false. Much like surgical masks, cloth face coverings are loose-fitting and meant to protect others more than the wearer from infection. "Cloth face coverings may slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others," the CDC says on its website. A CDC representative told Reuters, “CO2 will slowly build up in the mask over time,” but the levels are “mostly tolerable to people exposed to it.” Symptoms could include a headache, but Reuters reported “it is unlikely that wearing a mask will cause hypercapnia,” or excessive carbon dioxide buildup in the bloodstream. Fact check: Wearing a face mask will not cause hypoxia, hypoxemia or hypercapnia The CDC says, “Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.” The CDC and OSHA recommend laundering cloth masks after each use. Our rating: Partly false Both the picture and the post are PARTLY FALSE, based on our research. It is true that OSHA requires employers to keep their environment's air at 19.5% oxygen or higher. And it is true that surgical masks keep the wearer's droplets from getting into the air but do not protect the wearer from inhaling particles. It is false that mask-wearing will cause serious health effects; cloth and surgical masks are unlikely to cause a dangerous drop in oxygen intake because they are not tight-fitting. The sweeping claim about the safety of N95 masks is not true. And it is false to say "cloth masks do not filter anything." Cloth masks can help prevent the wearer from spreading the virus to others. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
f49aedc888bd9242af733ddfa0e422f9	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/27/fact-check-us-sent-ventilators-navajo-despite-claims-otherwise/3265337001/	Fact check: US government sent ventilators to Navajo Nation, despite claims otherwise	Fact check: US government sent ventilators to Navajo Nation, despite claims otherwise The claim: The U.S. sent ventilators to Russia but not to the Navajo Nation. Recently a claim was made that the United States sent ventilators to Russia, but not to the Navajo Nation. One Facebook user shared a post May 23 writing “Thought for the day: why did we send ventilators to Russia but not the Navajo Nation?” That post was shared more than 37,000 times on Facebook and had many comments. The Facebook user did not respond to a request to comment from USA TODAY. Other posts on social media have also asked the same question: Why is the United States sending ventilators to Russia but not helping Americans in the Navajo Nation? Did the United States send ventilators to Russia? Yes. The United States has sent a total of 200 ventilators to Russia. On May 21, the United States delivered 50 ventilators to Russia as part of a $5.6 million humanitarian aid package, according to NPR, and the remaining ventilators were delivered June 4. A State Department spokesperson told CNBC on May 20 that the sending of medical aid to Russia was to improve relations between the two countries, as their relationship has been strained following the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and the meddling in the 2016 election. Ambassador John J. Sullivan said in a May 21 video that it is the first of a total of 200 “much-needed U.S.-manufactured ventilators to save lives here in Russia.” Sullivan said the United States and Russia has provided assistance to each other in the past and has no doubt they will continue to help each other. “Particularly in times of crisis,” he said in the video, “we must work together.” Russia had the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, with the United States being first, and Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted assistance May 7 from President Donald Trump. “Up to 20 percent of all COVID-19 patients are expected to require at least supplemental oxygen,” a notification from the U.S. Agency for International Development. “The most-critical patients require intensive care and assisted ventilation. The U.S. Government is responding to requests from national governments to support the highest-level care, as they are currently underprepared to save the lives of these patients." Did the United States not send ventilators to the Navajo Nation? No. This part of the claim, which has gone viral on social media, is false. Joshua Barnett, public affairs specialist for Indian Health Services, confirmed to USA TODAY that the Navajo Nation received 50 ventilators from FEMA on April 9. A White House briefing issued May 5 also states that the Trump administration has provided relief to the Navajo Nation with the delivery of ventilators, as well as the deployment of two Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and the construction of three 50-bed medical stations. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez told ABC15 that getting those ventilators was not easy, however. He said he has watched other states continue to receive federal help as his nation has struggled with the coronavirus. More:Native Americans call for inclusion in virus data “Don’t get me wrong,” said Nez, “we’re grateful for what we’re getting. It could have been a lot quicker, but it’s enough.” Nez said the ventilators went to the Indian Health Services, and they also received rapid test kits and PPEs, some of it coming in from the strategic national stockpiles. Navajo Nation hit hard by COVID-19 The Navajo reservation, spanning parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, is larger than the state of West Virginia and had the highest COVID-19 rates in the U.S., according to Dominick Clichee, an epidemiologist at Tsehootsooi Medical Center in Fort Defiance, Arizona, in an article from ABC News. The Navajo Nation, with a population of more than 173,000, has a higher per capita testing rate than any state in the U.S. and many countries worldwide, Nez told the Salt Lake Tribune. He said that 15% of reservation residents have been tested for the coronavirus. It also passed New York earlier in May for per capita positive cases. The Navajo Nation’s cases peaked around April 24, with a steady decline since. In mid-May, 2,400 people on the reservation were infected, and 73 people had died. The Navajo Nation has been flattening the curve since. As of April 8, the 50 ventilators provided to the Navajo Nation were part of a total of 9,240 that FEMA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have provided as of April 8. California received 170, Illinois received 600, Michigan received 700, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons received 20, according to a FEMA briefing. More:As Native Americans fight virus, basketball takes a timeout While the Navajo Nation only received 50 ventilators compared to Russia, which received 200, it also received $600.5 million in CARES Act relief from Congress in March, which Nez hopes will be used for building water infrastructure, as between 30-40% of Navajo citizens do not have running water. Part of the aid will also go toward personal protective equipment, care packages to assist Navajo families impacted by the pandemic, as well as hazard pay for essential employees, according to the Navajo Times. Our ruling: Partly false We find this claim to be PARTLY FALSE, based on our research. The United States did send ventilators to Russia, but it also sent ventilators to the Navajo Nation. The United States sent 200 ventilators to Russia as part of a $5.6 million humanitarian aid package, and it sent 50 ventilators to the Navajo Nation, as well as $600.5 million in CARES Act relief. Our fact-checking sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
b4477dfab591efd352892069e067b112	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/28/fact-check-confusion-cdcs-covid-19-death-count/3254404001/	Fact check: CDC did not add flu and pneumonia cases to its COVID-19 death count	Fact check: CDC did not add flu and pneumonia cases to its COVID-19 death count The claim: CDC admitted adding flu and pneumonia deaths to COVID-19 death count A Facebook post claims the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admitted adding flu and pneumonia deaths to the COVID-19 death count Claims that the CDC “corrected” or “adjusted” the number of COVID-19 deaths to a lower number fuel conspiracy theories that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax. Conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza tweeted May 2, “Just like that, CDC reduces its #Coronavirus death count to 37,000. That’s nearly HALF the total they were peddling. Did 30,000 people spring back to life like Lazarus? No, this seems a 'gaffe' – defined as a case of the CDC accidentally telling the truth.” The post was retweeted more than 20,000 times. USA TODAY reached out to the person who made the Facebook post and D’Souza for comment but did not receive a response. Archived CDC records show that COVID-19 deaths steadily increased. Provisional deaths versus confirmed and probable deaths As of April 14, the CDC regularly updates two measurements of COVID-19 deaths: provisional deaths (verified by death certificates) and confirmed and probable cases (deaths suspected to have been caused by COVID-19). The number of provisional deaths is based on data from the National Vital Statistics System, used by the National Center for Health Statistics, which records information from death certificates. This number lags the number of confirmed and probable cases because, according to the CDC’s website, “it can take several weeks for death records to be submitted to (NCHS), processed, coded, and tabulated. Therefore, the data shown on this page may be incomplete, and will likely not include all deaths that occurred during a given time period, especially for the more recent time periods.” Provisional deaths lag other counts by one or two weeks. The discrepancy has been a source of confusion in some of the posts claiming the CDC corrected or adjusted its count. When a Twitter user tried to correct D’Souza’s tweet with a screenshot of the number of confirmed and probable cases, D’Souza responded with a screenshot of the number of provisional deaths, saying, “See for yourself,” as if the two numbers were the same calculation. Uncertain counts Experts acknowledge there has been widespread underreporting of COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic, so any death tolls do not present the full picture. Fact check:Is US coronavirus death toll inflated? Experts agree it's probably the opposite The New York Times reported in April that although the extent of the problem is not clear, a lack of testing, varying requirements for testing, inconsistent protocols for reporting deaths at the local and state level and people dying before being tested means many COVID-19 deaths were never counted. Fact check:Coronavirus's annual death toll can't be calculated, compared NPR reported in May that this issue has not improved. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a Senate hearing that month the death count is “almost certainly" higher. COVID-19 death counts have increased, not decreased Despite incomplete death counts, archived versions of both of the CDC’s coronavirus death counts – provisional and confirmed and probable – have continued to increase since the virus started spreading. There have been no instances of either death count being significantly reduced, as claimed in the Facebook post. Fact check:CDC's estimates COVID-19 death rate around 0.26%, doesn't confirm it CDC’s reporting on pneumonia- or influenza-related COVID-19 deaths The Facebook user claimed the CDC admitted “adding pneumonia and flu with COVID deaths.” This is not true, as Bob Anderson, NCHS chief of mortality statistics, confirmed to AFP Fact Check. Fact check:CDC has not stopped reporting flu deaths, and this season's numbers are typical The CDC has changed the extent and format in which it publicly displays death statistics relating to COVID-19 and the other illnesses, which may have contributed to confusion. According to archived web pages, the CDC has displayed “deaths with pneumonia and COVID-19” next to the count of all provisional COVID-19 deaths since April 3. On April 24, the CDC added a column for deaths from pneumonia, influenza or COVID-19 in addition to the total of COVID-19 deaths. According to AFP Fact Check, Anderson explained counts in “the ‘All Deaths involving COVID-19’ column only refer to people who died from the disease, not merely with the disease.” On June 11, the CDC implemented its current format that reports COVID-19, pneumonia and influenza-related deaths. The webpage with provisional deaths includes columns for: The variations of pneumonia and influenza deaths are reported alongside COVID-19 deaths because the illnesses exhibit similar symptoms. Considering all three tallies can provide a better understanding of the extent of COVID-19 cases that may have gone undiagnosed. "Deaths due to COVID-19 may be misclassified as pneumonia or influenza deaths in the absence of positive test results, and pneumonia or influenza may appear on death certificates as a comorbid (when a person has two diseases at once) condition," the CDC’s website says. "Additionally, COVID-19 symptoms can be similar to influenza-like illness, thus deaths may be misclassified as influenza." Despite these new variations, the total provisional count of deaths involving COVID-19 was not significantly reduced. The same goes for confirmed and probable deaths, which continued to increase. Our ruling: False Although it’s unclear where the Facebook user found the numbers, the CDC did not lower the death count, nor did it admit adding influenza and pneumonia to its COVID-19 death count. The user may have confused the CDC’s additional reporting of influenza and pneumonia-related deaths or the fact that the CDC reports two different counts for COVID-19 deaths. We rate this claim FALSE because it is not supported by our research. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
8edbe49691e5587a8cc89559fef23c46	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/28/fact-check-debt-dow-drops-bear-market-pandemic-trumps-watch/3217270001/	Fact check: Verifying President Donald Trump's alleged failures in office	Fact check: Verifying President Donald Trump's alleged failures in office The claim: America can't take four more years of President Donald Trump's "winning" On June 12, the Facebook page Ridin' With Biden stated, "We can't take 4 more years of Trump's 'winning,'" then listed some of President Donald Trump's "accomplishments" while in office: "Not to mention 110,000 deaths and America becoming the epicenter of a pandemic and the laughingstock of the world,” read the caption. The page did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY. Are these statements true? Did Trump add $5.2 trillion to the debt? The $5.2 trillion in additional debt was reported by Newsweek on May 14. The report referenced data released by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog firm that charts government spending. The national debt rose from more than $19.9 trillion from Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017, to more than $25.2 trillion in May, Newsweek reported. The Peterson Foundation cited a gross federal debt of $23.7 trillion at the end of March in a June 5 report. By June 9, gross federal debt surpassed $26 trillion, according to the foundation. USA TODAY confirmed a total national debt over $19.9 trillion on inauguration day and $25.2 trillion on May 14 was recorded by the Treasury Department. The total national debt is comprised of accumulated deficits — the difference in tax revenue and congressional spending — and off-budget surpluses. The sale of Treasury bills, notes, bonds and savings bonds to the public is also factored into the debt, according to the Treasury Department. The Peterson Foundation attributed an accumulation of $1 trillion in gross federal debt in just a month to the coronavirus pandemic. In early March, policymakers passed $8.3 billion in emergency funding for public health agencies and vaccine research, the foundation reported. Most of the national debt is owned by the public, according to The Wall Street Journal. Foreign countries, including China, Japan and the U.K., own nearly 30% of U.S. debt. The Federal Reserve owns almost 12%, which is mostly attributed to Treasury securities bought by the agency to stabilize interest rates during the 2008 financial crisis, the WSJ reported. The statement that $5.2 trillion has been added to the debt is true. Has the Dow experienced the 10 biggest drops in history during the Trump administration? Fox Business Network reported that 10 of the Dow's biggest single-day losses have occurred under the Trump administration. The Dow's worst day since "Black Monday" in 1987 happened on March 16, when the Dow lost 2,997 points. Historical losses were also charted this year on March 5, 9 and 12; June 11; Feb. 24 and 27; and in 2018 on Feb. 5 and 8, and Oct. 10, according to Fox Business Network. However, eight of the biggest point gains have also happened within the last two years, Fox Business Network reported. By percentage rather than point loss, none of the top 10 biggest losses occurred during the Trump administration, according to financial advisory news outlet InvestmentNews. Is the nation experiencing the highest unemployment since the Great Depression under the Trump administration? The unemployment rate fell to 13% in May from 14.4% in April, The Pew Research Center reported. But it is still up by 9.8 percentage points from February, according to a report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of unemployed people reached 15.2 million between April and May, a reflection of efforts to contain the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the BLS. Prior to the epidemic, the United States experienced one of the lowest unemployment rates (3.8%) since the post-World War II era, Pew reported. The research firm also stated that unemployment during the "COVID-19 recession" is comparable to rates during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the unemployment rate reached 25%. It is true that the nation is at its highest unemployment since the Great Depression. Does Trump have the lowest approval rating of any president in modern history? Presidents Harry S. Truman and George W. Bush had the lowest Gallup presidential job approval ratings of any president in the post-World War II era, Gallup reported in 2019. Truman's historically low rating dropped to 22% in early 1952. Bush bested Truman by 3%; his lowest approval rating was 25% in late 2008, according to Gallup. The most recent job approval rating recorded for Trump from May 24-June 8 is 39%, according to a report released by Gallup. It is lower than the average recorded for U.S. presidents from 1938-2020. At 32% and 37% respectively, Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush had lower job approval ratings than Trump in June of their fourth year in office, Gallup reported. So it is false to say Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president in modern history. Did Trump end Obama's bull market? In 2018, Business Insider called the ongoing bull market, which began a few months after Obama's inauguration, "the longest ever." March 6, 2009, marked the end of the stock market decline during the Great Recession of 2007. The S&P 500 gained about 306% since the March 2009 low, Business Insider reported. The Dow experienced an all-time closing high of 29,551 points this February, Forbes reported, but fell by 20.3% the following month, "officially ending the bull market," according to Forbes. Forbes' Chuck Jones said the Dow and S&P 500 lost over half their gain under Trump. "The Dow entering Bear territory is the second fastest in history, after the one day decline in October 1987 of 23%," Jones wrote. Jones also reported that the Dow and S&P 500 both rose 28% since Trump's election. However, with Obama, the Dow increased 35% from his election and 64% from the February 2009 low, and the S&P 500 rose 36% from his election and 103% from the low point in March 2009. The bull market that began during Obama's presidency did end while Trump was in office. Has America become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic? In May, Politico Magazine reported that usage of the term "epicenter" does not reflect the nature of a viral spread. “I think the problem with ‘epicenter’ is a connotation that there is a singular location that is seeding cases to the rest of the world,” Alison Galvani, a professor of epidemiology at Yale University, told Politico. “It is particularly problematic if it leads to a sense that control measures are only necessary at the ‘epicenter.’ The entire country should be exercising caution and limiting interaction as far as possible,” Galvani said. Moreover, recent reports suggest that Latin America has claimed the "epicenter" mantle due to a shortage of tests and inadequate government response, CNN reported in May. "This is the new epicenter," Dr. Marcos Espinal, director of communicable diseases at the Pan American Health Organization, told CNN in May. The BBC reported that, though they are fewer confirmed cases of COVID-19 cases in Latin America than the U.S. or Europe, testing for the disease is not as widespread and deaths from the disease may be underreported. The U.S. has 2.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, more than any other country in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 125,000 Americans have died of the disease; about 68,000 more than Brazil, the country with the second-highest death count. Our rating: Partly false We rate this claim PARTLY FALSE because some of it was not supported by our research. It is misleading to claim the 10 biggest Dow drops in history occurred during the Trump administration and that Trump has the lowest job approval rating of any president in modern history. However, the end of the bull market, the highest unemployment since the Great Depression and an additional $5.2trillion in national debt occurred during Trump's presidency. The United States also has the highest reported COVID-19 prevalence and mortality count in the world, to date. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
9d30dda0c17b3e13341e76f61c5da44c	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/28/fact-check-president-barack-obama-mentioned-juneteenth-multiple-times/3269798001/	Fact check: Barack Obama mentioned Juneteenth multiple times while president	Fact check: Barack Obama mentioned Juneteenth multiple times while president The claim: Barack Obama never mentioned Juneteenth while in office During this month's celebration of Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery, a Facebook post made the claim that former President Barack Obama never mentioned the holiday during his entire eight years in office. The claim came a few days after President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal, on June 17, that before his rally "nobody had ever heard of" Juneteenth. PolitiFact published a fact-check the following day that rated Trump's claim as "pants on fire" false. The Facebook post asks readers, "how come black Obama in 8 years never mentioned Juneteenth?" However, it provides no evidence to support the claim. The user could not be reached for comments or clarification. More:Trump takes credit for holiday celebrating Emancipation Proclamation Obama's history with Juneteenth The former president of the United States has a long history with the holiday, dating back to his days as an Illinois state senator. In 2003, he was one of many co-sponsors of SB1028, a bill that made Juneteenth a state-recognized holiday in Illinois. According to White House archives, during his time in the Oval Office, Obama made an official White House statement regarding Juneteenth on seven separate occasions, beginning during his first year in office in 2009, with the exception of 2013, based on our research. That year, he was in Berlin on Juneteenth. Several tweets from the White House's official account also coincided with the statements from past years. "On this day in 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, those who found themselves still enslaved in Galveston, Texas had their hopes realized and their prayers answered," Obama's 2009 statement read. "Contrary to what others had told them, the rumors they had heard were indeed true. The Civil War had ended, and they were now free." Obama has also continued to advocate for the holiday even after leaving the Oval Office. In recent weeks, Obama commemorated Juneteenth by sharing a New York Times opinion column, along with a comment of his own. "Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory or an acceptance of the way things are. It's a celebration of progress. It's an affirmation that despite the most painful parts of our history, change is possible — and there is still so much work to do," Obama tweeted. USA TODAY has reached out to the former president's team for comment. More:Should Juneteenth be an official holiday? Two-thirds of Americans surveyed by Harris Poll think so What is Juneteenth? According to the Congressional Research Service, Juneteenth "marks the date that Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the end of both the Civil War and slavery." The announcement was delivered on June 19, 1865. Although the Emancipation Proclamation came two-and-a-half years prior in 1863, many slave owners continued to hold slaves because of the lack of communication channels. Thus, this date is largely symbolic of African-American freedom. Fact check:The Irish were indentured servants, not slaves According to the Texas State Historical Association, Texans began celebrating Juneteenth, recreationally, as early as 1866. These events included "public entertainment, picnics, and family reunions" often featuring "dramatic readings, pageants, parades, barbecues, and ball games." A year later, under the direction of the Freedmen's Bureau, Juneteenth was first celebrated at the Texas state capital. By the 1870s, some cities had even purchased specific land tracts for celebrations, most notably Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas. According to the Texas State Library, migration to the neighboring states of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma saw cultural celebrations like Juneteenth slowly become adopted. Other states included Alabama, Florida, and California. Fact check:Father of modern gynecology performed experiments on enslaved Black women According to Juneteenth.com, the holiday continued to gain strong support up until WWII, when a mix of social issues led to the celebration of Juneteenth significantly declining. It was not until the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s that a resurgence in Juneteenth would be sparked. Fact check:Ghana is not offering money, land to lure Black Americans According to the Library of Congress, Texas became the first state to proclaim Juneteenth an official state holiday in 1980. Since then, all but three states have officially recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday: Hawaii, North Dakota and South Dakota. Our rating: False We rate the claim that former President Barack Obama did not mention Juneteenth while in office as FALSE because it is not supported by our research. During his time in the Oval Office, the former president released many official White House statements commemorating the date. The White House, and president, have also tweeted out Juneteenth content on multiple occasions recognizing the holiday during the Obama administration. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
9d03018f6426dda4df5257b91ce34b66	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/29/fact-check-confederate-veterans-not-considered-u-s-veterans/3263720001/	Fact check: Congress did not designate Confederate veterans as U.S. veterans	Fact check: Congress did not designate Confederate veterans as U.S. veterans The claim: In 1958, Congress passed a law giving Confederate veterans the same legal status as U.S. veterans. Thus, damaging Confederate monuments defiles U.S. veterans. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, protestors toppled a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Virginia. Cities from Jacksonville, Florida, to Louisville, Kentucky, removed statues of Confederate soldiers. This is not the first push to remove these monuments –– after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned deadly in 2017, a number of Confederate monuments came down. Floyd’s killing at the hands of police reinvigorated the movement to remove certain statues and monuments, and inspired debate, resulting in an executive order from President Donald Trump on Friday aimed at protecting such monuments from violence and vandalism. A Facebook post from Donnie Johnson on June 11 claims that with U.S. Public Law 85-425, Section 410, in 1958, Congress gave Confederate veterans the same legal status as U.S. veterans. “Those desecrating Confederate graves and Confederate monuments are defiling United States veterans, same as WWI, WWII, Korean, Vietnam, or Middle East vets. Let’s see you print this,” the post continues. U.S. Public Law 85-425, Section 410, actually provided pensions to Confederate widows The law that the Facebook post cites –– U.S. Public Law 85-425, Section 410 –– amended Section 432 of the Veterans’ Benefit Act of 1957 (Public Law 85-56), which grants pensions to Confederate widows. Section 433, which grants a pension to Confederate veterans’ children when there is no widow, was also amended. This amendment to the Veterans’ Benefit Act does indeed expand the definition of “veteran” to include “a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.” However, the act also clearly specifies that this inclusion applies “for the purpose of this section, and section 433,” which Jessica Owley, professor of law at the University of Miami, interpreted as a limited extension. More:Donald Trump signs order protecting federal monuments and statues from vandalism “This language indicates that this definition of veteran only applies for this specific reason. Congress specifically chose to state that this definition was for the purposes of the pensions,” Owley said. While Confederate veterans receive some benefits, they are still not recognized as U.S. veterans This Facebook post specifically mentions Confederate graves and monuments, likely in reference to a decision from Congress that provided for “headstones or markers at the expense of the United States for the unmarked graves” of Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. While this act did grant Confederate veterans some benefits also allotted to U.S. war veterans, it does not confer on Confederate veterans equal status as U.S. veterans. When President Andrew Johnson granted pardon and amnesty to all Confederate soldiers in 1868, this restored to them “all rights, privileges, and immunities under the Constitution and the laws which have been made in pursuance thereof;” however, this did not grant them veteran status. The definition of “veteran,” as specified by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, does not include Confederate armed forces. Les' A. Melnyk, chief of public affairs and outreach for the National Cemetery Administration, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, provided further clarification: “While federal law authorizes some benefits for former Confederates, such as the marking of unmarked graves of Confederate service members outside VA national cemeteries, this does not confer U.S. Veteran status for other VA benefits to those affected,” Melnyk said. Our rating: False The claim that Confederate veterans maintain the same legal status as U.S. veterans is FALSE. Confederate veterans' widows and children received pensions after congressional action, but that action in itself did not declare those soldiers to be full U.S. veterans. The very definition of a U.S. veteran never expanded to include Confederate soldiers –– even when they were granted amnesty by President Andrew Johnson. Our fact-checked sources: Sarah Lynch is an intern for the Asbury Park Press and the editor-in-chief for the Marist Circle at Marist College. Reach her at SDLynch@gannett.com or via Twitter at @sarahdlynch.
2c796f51ded252d89bfd439322a1ad61	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/29/fact-check-joe-bidens-great-grandfather-did-not-own-slaves/3264488001/	Fact Check: Joe Biden's great-grandfather didn't own slaves, fight for Confederacy	Fact Check: Joe Biden's great-grandfather didn't own slaves, fight for Confederacy Claim: Joe Biden's great-grandfather owned slaves and fought for the Confederacy Protests nationwide are calling for America to reckon with its racist history. Amid that, as the 2020 election approaches, misinformation about Joe Biden's family history is spreading online. A meme shared June 17 on Facebook claims that Biden’s great-grandfather, named Joseph J. Biden in the post, was a slave owner and fought for the Confederate States of America. The text is displayed below a monochrome photo that allegedly depicts Great-Grandpa Biden toting a gun. The meme appears to have originated from a blog post made Aug. 27, 2008, four days after Barack Obama picked Biden as his vice presidential running mate. The post offers no evidence regarding the claim. The person who shared the meme on Facebook did not respond to a request for comment and clarification from USA TODAY. Biden’s genealogy The former vice president's paternal great-grandfather was named George T. Biden, not Joseph J. Biden, as the claim suggests. George Biden was born in Maryland in 1867, two years after the Civil War ended. He died in 1933. George’s father – former VP Biden’s paternal great-great-grandfather – was named Joseph H. Biden. On some genealogy sites, his name is listed as Joseph J. H. Biden, which may be where the name in the claim came from. Joseph H. Biden was born in 1828, as the claim suggests of former VP Biden’s great-grandfather. Both Joseph H. and George Biden were born, raised and buried in Maryland. Candidate Biden’s maternal great-grandfather was named Edward F. Blewitt. He was born in 1859, making him 6 years old when the Civil War ended. The Blewitt family immigrated to America from County Mayo, Ireland, in 1851. Biden’s ancestry is easily traceable online through multiple genealogy websites. USA TODAY primarily used Geni.com. More:Joe Biden campaign says 36% of senior staff are people of color Archives provide no evidence Biden’s ancestors owned slaves, fought for Confederacy There are a number of federal records that can be used to help identify former slave owners. In the 1850 U.S. Census (Slave Schedule), no Bidens were listed as slave owners. A more specific search of Maryland’s “Legacy of Slavery in Maryland” database found that no Bidens in the state of Maryland — where Biden’s paternal great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather resided — owned slaves either. USA TODAY also found no evidence that anyone in former Biden’s direct lineage fought for the Confederate Army. More:DNC announces sweeping changes to convention, but Biden will still accept nomination in Milwaukee A search through the National Park Service’s Civil War Soldiers database found that there were five people with “Biden” as a surname and one with “Biden” as a first name who participated in the Civil War. None of them appears to be connected to the former vice president's family lineage. The only Biden who participated on the Confederate States' side was a man named Biden Owen; he belonged to the 2nd Regiment of the Texas Calvary. Man in photo is not related to Biden The man depicted in the meme's photo is Richard Young Bennett. He was born in 1836 and enlisted as a private in the Confederate army’s 2nd Mississippi Infantry on March 1, 1862. Throughout his three years of service, he was on the Roll of Honor for his actions at the Battle of the Wilderness and spent several months as a prisoner of war in 1865. Bennett remained an active member or the Confederate army until June 1865, when he was released from prison on an Oath of Allegiance to the Union. Confederate records show him as “deserting to the enemy” on Jan. 7, 1865. Bennett died in March of 1901 and is buried in Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery in Chalybeate, Mississippi. Our rating: False We rate this claim as FALSE because it was not supported by our research. Biden’s paternal great-grandfather was named George T. Biden — not Joseph J. Biden — and no databases found the Biden surname to have owned slaves or fought for the Confederacy. The man in the meme's picture is not one of Biden’s relatives; it is Richard Young Bennett, who was a member of the Confederate army. Our fact check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
d6e86f27d52ba92ce17352ead29b97d5	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/29/fact-check-satanic-statues-arent-located-arkansas-detroit/3264174001/	Fact check: Posts call for removal of satanic statues in cities where there aren't any	Fact check: Posts call for removal of satanic statues in cities where there aren't any The claim: There are satanic and Baphomet sculptures located in several U.S. cities. In response to the removal of several monuments across the country representing Confederate leaders and other controversial historical figures, some Facebook users have begun circulating posts calling for the tearing down of satanic statues across the United States. The wording of the posts specifically names statues of Baphomet, a winged, goat-headed figure that's used as a symbol by the Salem, Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple. "Since we are removing offensive statues and monuments in America, I want all the satanic and Baphomet statues and monuments removed!" the posts say. "They are very offensive to me!" The posts name several locations where such statues are allegedly located: Salem, Massachusetts; Detroit; Sabrina, New York; and the state of Illinois. The posts includes a photo of a Baphomet statue that the post says was used at the Arkansas Capitol building. Is this statue real? The photo in the posts matches a 2018 photo used in media reports when the Satanic Temple unveiled the statue in front of the Arkansas State Capitol to protest a separate monument of the Ten Commandments that was previously installed on the capitol grounds. However, the event was temporary and the statue was not allowed to be erected on Capitol grounds. Like Arkansas, multiple locations named in the posts are places where this same statue or another satanic statue has appeared, but none of the statues is now standing publicly in those cities. The Satanic Temple has only one Baphomet statue, and it's on private property Founded in 2013, the Satanic Temple is a nontheistic religious group that was granted tax-exempt status by the federal government as a recognized church in 2019. It is not affiliated with the Church of Satan, a group formed in 1966 by Anton LaVey. The Satanic Temple's creed does not actually include belief in Satan or the supernatural, according to its website. Instead, members believe that religion should be "divorced from superstition." The adoption of the name Satan is symbolic of "the heretic who questions sacred laws and rejects all tyrannical impositions." Over the past few years, the Satanic Temple's activities have made headlines in multiple cities for challenging the display of Christian symbols in public places. In 2013, a year after Oklahoma erected a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the state capitol, the Satanic Temple began commissioning its sculpture of Baphomet, with plans to place it there as well. Plans changed after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the Ten Commandments statue be taken down. The Satanic Temple then unveiled the completed statue in 2015 in Detroit during what was billed as the "largest public satanic ceremony in history." The 8½-foot-tall sculpture reportedly weighs about a ton. The statue resides at the Satanic Temple's headquarters in Salem, where it sits indoors, co-founder Malcolm Jarry told USA TODAY in an email. Outside Salem, the statue has only been displayed briefly Two locations mentioned in the Facebook posts, Arkansas and Detroit, are places where the Baphomet statue has appeared, but only on a temporary basis. It is not now displayed in either city. Jarry said the statue was only displayed in 2015 in Detroit, which at the time had the Satanic Temple's largest chapter, for the unveiling event before it was transported to Salem. More:Will the Black Lives Matter movement finally put an end to Confederate flags and statues? After a Ten Commandments monument was installed in 2017 on state grounds in Arkansas, the Satanic Temple brought its Baphomet statue to the Arkansas Statehouse for the public event in 2018, which is where the photo in the Facebook posts was taken. But in Arkansas, monuments must receive the approval of the state Legislature. The monument has not been granted approval, and Jarry said the church is suing the state to have the statue placed there. "We have the mold and we can create more if we are successful in donating the statue to Arkansas or other states," he said. In Illinois, a satanic statue is part of a holiday display In Illinois, a statue of a snake-wrapped arm holding an apple, called "Snaketivity," was installed in the rotunda of the Illinois State Capitol by the Satanic Temple's Chicago branch in December 2018. The sculpture was part of a holiday display that recognized several religious traditions. Dave Druker, a spokesman for the Illinois Secretary of State's Office, told USA TODAY that the statue is not on display year-round but has appeared as part of the Capitol's holiday display for the past couple of years. He said the group has the same First Amendment rights to place the sculpture there as other groups have. The display also includes a Nativity scene, a menorah and a winter solstice exhibit from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Where is Sabrina, N.Y.? It's unclear what the posts refer to by mentioning "Sabrina New York." The U.S. Census Bureau does not list Sabrina as a current city or county in the state of New York. One possible connection: The Netflix show "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" was sued for copyright infringement by the Satanic Temple in 2018 over the show's use of a Baphomet statue. That lawsuit has since been settled out of court. Baphomet is not Robert E. Lee Addressing the viral Facebook posts, Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesman for the Satanic Temple, said in a statement that the call to remove satanic statues is not comparable to calls to remove Confederate memorials because the Confederate memorials aren't religious monuments. He added that the Baphomet statue has only been proposed in areas where Ten Commandments monuments have been installed already, and the monument doesn't "denigrate anybody." "All of these arguments aside, however, it is worth noting that the Baphomet monument (of which there is only one) does not currently reside on public grounds at all, which moots the entire argument from the start," he said. Our ruling: False The claim that there are satanic sculptures in several locations around the U.S. is FALSE, based on our reporting. Multiple locations named in the posts are places where the Satanic Temple's Baphomet statue has briefly appeared but is not on display. It's unclear what was meant by another place — Sabrina, New York — which is not a real city. The Baphomet statue resides in Salem, but the sculpture is on private property, unlike several Confederate monuments that have been removed from display on public property. A satanic sculpture has appeared at the Illinois State Capitol, but the piece is not permanent and is part of a seasonal display with other religious symbols. Our fact-check sources: Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at irichardson@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR. Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
8e5b819dd4d940cbe43420d9cb107e14	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/29/fact-check-u-s-government-did-not-intentionally-engineer-covid-19/3216066001/	Fact check: US government did not engineer COVID-19	Fact check: US government did not engineer COVID-19 The claim: The novel coronavirus was intentionally engineered by the U.S. government in research overseen by Dr. Anthony Fauci In the newest slew of theories as to the origin of the novel coronavirus, the U.S. government played a role in its creation. "After the (SARS) outbreak in 2002, the United States government funded a collaboration of Chinese scientists and the US military from a bioweapons lab in (F)ort Detrick," Malcolm Harris alleges in a May 21 article on The Duran. It goes on to claim that none other than the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, oversaw the research initiative that led to the development of "pandemic superbots" and viral strains more lethal than their naturally occurring counterparts. There were concerns raised by an unnamed "Harvard professor" that Fauci's work "was intentionally weaponizing the virus." However, research continued unfettered and subsidized by the U.S. government, Harris claims. Years later, incidents involving the near release of the weaponized virus, on which Harris does not elaborate, put a stop to Fauci's work. "In 2014, the US government terminated Fauci’s federal funding," Harris writes. This does not truly stop the experimentation, Harris claims, instead shifting it, along with U.S. funding of $3.7 million, to a military lab in Wuhan, China. Fact check:Obama administration did not send $3.7 million to Wuhan lab Harris draws parallels with different instances of unethical human experimentation such as Operation Sea Spray, the Tuskegee study and the CIA's mind-control project MKUltra to claim the coronavirus was intentionally created. The website that published Harris' claim, The Duran, did not respond to a request for Harris's contact information or comment from USA TODAY. On its website, The Duran acknowledges it "does not routinely moderate, screen, or edit content contributed by readers." Some believe the outlet is a possible platform for Russian propaganda. According to Media Bias Fact Check, The Duran is owned by the Cyprus-based DRN Media PLC, with Russian native Alex Christoforou as its president. Fauci's background Fauci has been the face of the national coronavirus response since the start of the pandemic. It's a position that has earned him national admiration but also vilification and suspicion. Other Fauci conspiracy theories: While Fauci has overseen a variety of research – some involving viruses like Ebola and Zika – in his 36-year directorial tenure, his primary focus has been on HIV. In the early years of the HIV epidemic, Fauci investigated how the body's immune defenses were wrecked by the virus, explaining why infected people were getting so sick and dying. Later, he was instrumental in working with AIDS activists to loosen clinical drug trial policies, making experimental HIV/AIDS treatments available to patients in need. Since then, the 79-year-old immunologist has continued to advance the study of HIV and has served as a health adviser to six presidents, most recently President Donald Trump. There is no evidence to suggest Fauci himself was directly involved in coronavirus research. Coronavirus not man-made While there's no question the U.S has been involved in human medical experimentation in the past – Senate hearings during the early 1950s revealed testing of biological agents on the public, and the CIA's mind-control program MKUltra was confirmed in the 1975 Church Committee – evidence does not point to the coronavirus being purposefully engineered. "It's extremely unlikely that there was any intentional development or any intentional action in a laboratory, whether in China or the United States, to develop (the coronavirus)," Dr. Leonard Cole, director of the Terror Medicine and Security at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, told USA TODAY in an interview. Cole has written several books on the topic of bioterrorism, including "Clouds of Secrecy: The Army's Germ Warfare Tests Over Populated Areas." Several scientific analyses have also rejected the notion that the novel coronavirus was purposefully created. Fact check: Coronavirus not man-made or engineered but its origin remains unclear “By comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, we can firmly determine that (the novel coronavirus) originated through natural processes,” Dr. Kristian Andersen, PhD, an associate professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research, said in a March statement released by the institute. "If someone were seeking to engineer a new coronavirus as a pathogen, they would have constructed it from the backbone of a virus known to cause illness," Andersen also added. Our ruling: False We rate the claim that the U.S. government purposefully created the novel coronavirus, through research efforts led by Fauci, as FALSE because it is not supported by our research. Scientific evidence has found no support for the claim that the coronavirus was intentionally engineered in a laboratory setting. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
04154767f23dfd48cea24135bbee90c5	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/30/fact-check-democratic-party-did-not-found-kkk-start-civil-war/3253803001/	Fact check: Democratic Party did not found the KKK, did not start the Civil War	Fact check: Democratic Party did not found the KKK, did not start the Civil War The claim: The Democratic Party started the Civil War to preserve slavery and later the KKK As America marks a month of protests against systemic racism and many people draw comparisons between current events and the Civil Rights Movement, an oversimplified trope about the Democratic Party’s racist past has been resurrected online. “Friendly reminder that if you support the Democrat Party, you support the party that founded the KKK and start a civil war to keep their slaves," claims an image of a tweet Instagram user @snowflake.tears shared June 19. Many Instagram users read between the lines for the tweet’s implication about the modern Democratic and Republican parties. Some argued this past action discredited current liberal policies, while others said it did not matter. “Everyone knows that Abraham Lincoln fought to free the slaves, but he also created the Republican Party, and was the leader of it to help fight to free the slaves, yet it’s said that most black people still vote for Democrats who fought to keep the slaves,” user @shrukenshmuck commented. “I’m a conservative but I find this argument pretty stupid because clearly that’s not what they support anymore, values change overtime,” user @james.dubee wrote. Historians agree that although factions of the Democratic Party did majorly contribute to the Civil War's start and the KKK's founding, it is inaccurate to say the party is responsible for either. Instagram user @snowflake.tears has not returned USA TODAY’s request for comment. This is not a new argument Princeton University Edwards Professor of American History Tera Hunter told USA TODAY that this trope is a fallback argument used to discredit current Democratic Party policies. “At the core of the effort to discredit the current Democratic Party is the refusal to accept the realignment of the party structure in the mid-20th century,” Hunt said. In September, NPR host Shereen Marisol Maraji called the claim, “one of the most well-worn clapbacks in modern American politics.” Comedian Trevor Noah tackled the misleading trope on an episode of "The Daily Show" in March 2016, after two CNN contributors debated the topic. “Every time I go onto Facebook I see these things: ‘Did you know the Democrats are the real racist party and did you know the Republicans freed the slaves?’” Noah joked. “A lot of people like to skip over the fact that when it comes to race relations, historically, Republicans and Democrats switched positions.” A similar meme attributing the claim to U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson has been circulating on social media since November 2016. “Who started the KKK? That was Democrats. Who was the party of slavery? Who was the part of Jim Crow and segregation? Who opposed the Civil Rights Movement? Who opposed voting rights? It was all the Democrats,” the meme reads. Other posts making more specific claims about the Democratic Party starting the Civil War or founding the KKK continue to circulate. This trope was rated false by PolitiFact and the Associated Press in October 2018. A faction of the Democratic Party started the Civil War Opponents of slavery extending further into America founded the Republican Party. They elected President Abraham Lincoln in 1860, in response to escalating tensions around slavery after the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854threatened the balance of slave states to free states. Southern states, primarily led by Democrats, initiated secession proceedings and launched the Civil War. But historians say the party is not to blame. “The short answer is that the Democratic Party did not start the Civil War,” Hunter said. “The war was initiated by Southern slaveholding states seceding from the United States.” Fact check:Congress did not designate Confederate veterans as U.S. veterans Jon Grinspan , the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History curator of political and military history, agreed. “A splinter of a splinter of a Democratic Party really contributed to the secession and the coming of the war,” he told USA TODAY. “It would be wrong to say the Democratic Party started the Civil War. It would be right to say some Democrats really contributed to the start of the Civil War.” Grinspan pointed to the small group of Northern Democrats that fought for the Union as evidence that the Civil War was not Democrats versus Republicans. Fact check:Joe Biden's great-grandfather didn't own slaves, fight for Confederacy The KKK was founded by Democrats, but not the party The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 by ex-Confederate soldiers Frank McCord, Richard Reed, John Lester, John Kennedy, J. Calvin Jones and James Crowe in Pulaski, Tennessee. The group was originally a “social club” but quickly became a violent white supremacist group. Its first grand wizard was Nathan Bedford Forrest, an ex-Confederate general and prominent slave trader. Fact check:Photo shows Biden with Byrd, who once had ties to KKK, but wasn't a grand wizard Experts agree the KKK attracted many ex-Confederate soldiers and Southerners who opposed Reconstruction, most of whom were Democrats. Forrest even spoke at the 1868 Democratic National Convention. “The KKK is almost a paramilitary organization that’s trying to benefit one party. It syncs up with the Democratic Party, which really was a racist party openly at the time,” Grinspan said. “But the KKK isn’t the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party isn’t the KKK.” Although the KKK did serve the Democratic Party’s interests, Grinspan stressed that not all Democrats supported the KKK. The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism senior fellow Mark Pitcavage told the Associated Press that many KKK members were Democrats because the Whig Party had died off and Southerners disliked Republicans after the Civil War. Despite KKK members' primary political affiliation, Pitcavage said it is wrong to say the Democratic Party started the KKK. Fact check:Yes, historians do teach that first Black members of Congress were Republicans A reconstituted, early 20th century KKK attracts members from both sides After Reconstruction, and as the Jim Crow period set in during the 1870s, the Klan became obsolete. Through violence, intimidation and systematic oppression, the KKK had served its purpose to help whites retake Southern governments. In 1915, Cornell William J. Simmons restarted the KKK. This second KKK was made up of Republicans and Democrats, although Democrats were more widely involved. “The idea that these things overlap in a Venn diagram, the way they did with the first Klan, just isn’t as tight with the second Klan,” Grinspan said. Political parties switch stance on racial progress According to Grinspan, the Republican Party was much more concerned with protecting African Americans and their voting rights from its founding through the early 20th century. In the mid-20th century, both parties' stances on racial equity began to switch. “It starts with FDR and the New Deal, but the actions with Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s with the Voting Rights Act and civil rights legislation really kind of seals the deal,” Grinspan said. Fact check:Southern Dems held up 1964 Civil Rights Act, set filibuster record at 60 days As the Democrats introduced policies to support voting rights, it became the favored party for most Black voters and has remained so since. With that realignment, many racist voters who opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 left the Democratic Party to become Republicans. “That was 150 years ago and the parties are totally different today,” Grinspan said. “It’s like a dinosaur to a modern-day bird. So much evolution has happened. These really aren’t the same groups anymore.” Noah has mocked the political trope of highlighting the Democratic Party’s racist past to question its current progressive policies. “That was true in like 1910, but then after World War II Democratic presidents like Truman and Johnson started supporting civil rights laws and that led to a mass exodus of racists from the Democratic Party,” Noah mocked the claim in 2016: “Just because something used to be something doesn’t mean it still is. What matters more is what it is now.” Fact check:Yes, Kente cloths were historically worn by empire involved in West African slave trade Our rating: False We rate the claim that the Democratic Party started the Civil War to preserve slavery and founded the KKK as FALSE because it is not supported by our research. Experts agree that although factions of the Democratic Party were responsible for the South's secession and the rise of the KKK, it is inaccurate to claim the party is responsible for either. The Democratic Party was undoubtedly the party of racism and white supremacy during and after the Civil War. However, it evolved throughout the late 20th century, and garnered the support of most Black voters. Our fact check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
f9b0808ca33a96666ee32ecd1a97ea53	https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/10/fact-check-caren-act-make-illegal-nonemergency-racist-911-calls/5398107002/	Fact check: San Francisco's CAREN Act will make racist, nonemergency 911 calls illegal	Fact check: San Francisco's CAREN Act will make racist, nonemergency 911 calls illegal The claim: California lawmakers propose the 'CAREN ACT' to crack down on racist 911 calls. Racist, nonemergency 911 calls have been a recurring theme in the American race narrative, from "Permit Patty" threatening to call the police on an 8-year-old Black girl selling bottled water to, more recently, Amy Cooper in the infamous Central Park video posted on Twitter. A San Francisco lawmaker is proposing the CAREN Act make such calls a crime, an Instagram post claims. "Racist 911 calls are unacceptable that's why I'm introducing the #CARENAct at today’s #SanFrancisco Board of Supervisors meeting. This is the CAREN we need. Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies. #CARENact #sanfrancisco," user freddyo writes. More:Fact Check: Viral video does not show Black Lives Matter supporter beating a white mother Cracking down on racism San Francisco lawmaker Shamann Walton announced on Twitter on Tuesday his decision to introduce the ordinance. The news was widely shared across social media. At a board of supervisors meeting, Walton emphasized the history of fraudulent calls being used as means for racist behavior and that these "... fraudulent reports based on the perceived threats of someone's race takes away emergency resources from actual emergencies." Walton declared the CAREN Act would "make it illegal for people to contact law enforcement solely to discriminate on the basis of a person's race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity." The ordinance will also allow individuals harmed by these calls to sue for damages up to $1,000. Making false police reports is punishable in California by up to six months in jail, but Walton pointed out "there are currently no consequences by law for people who make fraudulent emergency calls based on race." More:Fact check: Louisville Police had a 'no-knock' warrant for Breonna Taylor’s apartment On the legislation's name The proposal's name appears to mimic the popular "Karen" meme on social media. "It's usually used as a pejorative for middle-aged white women," said Matt Schimkowitz, a senior editor at Know Your Meme, the online meme encyclopedia, in an interview with Insider. "It's almost like they have an entitlement, where they're kind of lording their privilege over another." Similar action at the state level Assemblymember Rob Bonta, who represents California's 18th Assembly District and serves as assistant majority leader, introduced similar legislation at the statehouse last month. "Racist and discriminatory 911 calls are dangerous, demeaning and demoralizing to the person falsely accused. They further deteriorate community-police relations and contribute to the inaccurate and harmful over-criminalization of black and brown communities," Bonta said in a June 17 press release. His amendment to AB-1550 will charge those who knowingly make false calls and reports to the police with a hate crime, punishable by felony or misdemeanor. The amendment will also create a legal pathway for victims to file a lawsuit and claim damages. The bill is in the California State Senate’s Safety Committee. More:Outbreak delays return of California Assembly Our ruling: True We rate the claim that California lawmakers are proposing the CAREN Act to make exploitative, racist calls to the police illegal as TRUE because it is supported by our research. The legislation was proposed by San Francisco lawmaker Shamann Walton during a City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting. Similar legislation was proposed last month at the state level by Assemblymember Rob Bonta through an amendment to AB-1550. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
0e47de15bde830c92c5a6247e3113e83	https://www.forbes.com/sites/joannabelbey/2018/03/30/how-to-show-the-roi-of-compliance-at-your-firm/	How To Show The ROI Of Compliance At Your Firm	How To Show The ROI Of Compliance At Your Firm Shutterstock Compliance officers must proactively demonstrate value to their organization in addition to protecting their company’s reputation and complying with various rules and regulations. After all, no one wants to be viewed as a cost center that doesn’t add to profit to the organization. But is there a ROI of Compliance? To find out, I spoke with Lynn Haaland, Senior Vice President, PepsiCo Deputy General Counsel, Global Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer and Chief Counsel, Cybersecurity at PepsiCo. Here is an edited version of a conversation that took place during an event and over the telephone a few weeks later. Joanna Belbey: Maintaining a culture of compliance is an important goal for most compliance officers. Any suggestions on how to achieve that? Lynn Haaland: Instead of attempting to have a rule that matches every situation, we want a culture where people treat each other with respect and abide by our company values and Code. That means having a values-based versus a rules-based compliance culture. Train people to act appropriately and be their best selves. I think of it as a muscle memory -- the more you do it, the more it feels right. In a values-based culture, you know what feels right. You don’t need your boss or somebody else telling you what to do. Belbey: How can firms train their employees to make ethical decisions? Haaland: The industry is talking about about using real cases, but anonymized to remove a person’s identifying information, such as role or geography. Using real-life situations in training is more effective than lecturing somebody about the rules. When you expose employees to real-life scenarios during training, hopefully they will recognize problematic situations in their day-to-day lives and start asking the right questions. That training, that “muscle memory”, on top of their own moral compass, helps them make the right choices at the right time. Another essential part of helping employees make good decisions is to position Compliance as a resource rather than the internal affairs police. In my view, the compliance professional needs to know that that she or he is not in charge of the ethics of the company. All employees have to own the compliance culture . And second, sometimes issues are complicated. Being a subject matter expert is not useful if no one wants to talk to you . In the end, most employees want to do the right thing. They welcome talking to someone to help them figure out the best possible way to achieve results consistent with company values and policies. Belbey: How do you apply the concept of value-based culture specifically to social media? Haaland: Social media impacts organizations in many ways, from legal, compliance and ethics through to cyber security and privacy. We are seeing more social media cases now. Sometimes employees are using social media in their personal lives, on their own time, and other employees are impacted because they see views or updates from their colleagues that make them feel uncomfortable. Speaking very generally, we do have the First Amendment, and it is not always appropriate for the company to intervene. At times, however, we may ask ourselves whether a Facebook post or a Tweet tips over into a situation that may violate our Code or values. It’s challenging. Companies also face risk when employees use social media to conduct business, for example, in WhatsApp or a private Facebook group, where the company does not have full awareness or retention of those communications. Social media has also re-written expectations surrounding how quickly Compliance should respond. Lawyers like to be careful and thorough and make sure we have all of our facts right. However, we need to investigate and respond to a complaint or other issue as quickly as possible, while getting it right. In the end, we strive for a culture where we respect and act appropriately towards one another in keeping with our company Code, values and policies, including on social media. Joanna Belbey: Tell us about the concept of Return on Investment (ROI) of Compliance. Haaland: Legal departments often demonstrate their value to the organization by talking about the money they have saved, for example, by avoiding court cases or negotiating less expensive settlements resulting from “good lawyering”. At the same time, many companies such as ours, are developing new and better metrics to measure what compliance programs are delivering. The ROI of Compliance is demonstrating the value of compliance by leveraging metrics, adding efficiencies, searching for better processes and building tangible programs to mitigate risk to give back to the organization. In this way, the business is freed up to do what it does best. For example, a few years ago, we restarted a pilot program for vetting third party vendors. We created a Working Group with representation from across the firm, such as control, audit, global procurement, and other key stakeholders, to create a “Third Party Due Diligence Playbook”. We drafted chapters and circulated them to the Working Group for input. If there was something that sparked a lot of interest or a question about next steps, we scheduled a meeting to hear everyone’s thoughts. Using that process, we moved from pilot, to playbook, to paper program, to an online platform. The new online platform incorporates our Playbook, resulting in a consistent, global process for the hiring of third parties in scope for anticorruption due diligence, which better protects the company. We centralized and elevated due diligence of third party vendors with new technology, all while gaining input and building coalitions with other functions throughout the organization. That's something concrete that Compliance could give back to the organization.
c5805834a6493c8bc23f980afedbf8a7	https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanneshurvell/2016/05/30/insider-guide-to-bilbao-spain/	Insider Guide to Bilbao, Spain	Insider Guide to Bilbao, Spain Superb architecture, art and food are three good reasons to visit the Basque city of Bilbao in Northern Spain. The opening of the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim museum in 1997 marked a change in focus for a city formerly supported by ironworks and shipbuilding. The docks area around the Guggenheim was regenerated with landscaped parks adding much needed green space along the banks of the Ria de Bilbao. Norman Foster's metro, Santiago Calatrava's Sondica airport terminal and Zubizuri (Basque for ‘white bridge’), a stunning suspension cable footbridge and the Torre Iberdrola by Cesar Pelli are among the architectural gems that have contributed to the city's metamorphosis. Guggenheim Museum and La Salve Bridge. Photo © Paul Allen See & Do The Guggenheim Bilbao, one of prize-winning architect Frank Gehry's finest works, should be explored both inside and outside to fully appreciate this icon of twentieth-century design. Gehry is also the architect of the impressive new art Fondation Louis Vuitton, opened last year in Paris, with similar curved panels and glass to the Guggenheim. ‘Puppy’, a gigantic sculpture made of colorful living flowers and plants by Jeff Koons, towers in front of the Guggenheim. It was intended to be a temporary installation when the museum opened but the city loved it so much, it adopted as its own. Behind the building is Louise Bourgeois’ ‘Maman’ a 30 foot bronze, steel and marble spider. Andy Warhol, Shadows, 1978 at Guggenheim. Photo ©Paul Allen On our previous visit last year, we were impressed by Jean-Michel Basquiat's Now's the Time, an exhibition that included some collaborative works by Basquiat and Andy Warhol. And this year, one of the temporary exhibitions is Andy Warhol's Shadows, a series of 102 abstract paintings (on until October 2, 2016). We also enjoyed a brilliant retrospective of Louise Bourgeois's sculptures (until September 4, 2016) and had great fun navigating our way through one of the permanent exhibits, a massive Richard Serra installation, The Matter of Time, taking up a large section of the ground floor. Mari Puri Herrero, El Arenal al fondo, 1999 at Museo de Bellas Artes I always enjoy discovering the work of local artists and the fine collection of 20th and 21st century Basque painters at Museo de Bellas Artes includes Bilbao natives Mari Puri Herrero and Adolfo Guiard. The permanent collection also includes work by Spanish greats such as El Greco, Goya and Tapies as well as international artists like Mary Cassatt, Paul Gaugin and Francis Bacon. Bilbao street market. Photo ©Paul Allen Further down the right bank of the river, the old quarter, dating back to 1300, provides a fascinating contrast to modern Bilbao. Aside from enjoying drinks and snacks at the lovely art deco Mercado de la Ribera, we spent a several happy hours rummaging through vinyl records and antiques at the Saturday weekly street market. Slightly further afield but easily reachable by Norman Foster’s RIBA award-winning Metro, is the Vizcaya Bridge, a World Heritage site. Built in 1893 and the first of its kind, this remarkable ‘hanging bridge’ links the towns of Portugalete and Las Arenas crossing the mouth of the Nervion River. The bridge is more commonly known as Puente Colgante (the hanging bridge) because it features a gondola suspended by steel cables that can transport 6 cars and about 30 foot passengers across the river in a minute and a half. Pool at the Melia Hotel. Photo ©Paul Allen Sleep We stayed at the conveniently located Melia Hotel, a short walk to both the Guggenheim and Fine Art Museums. The hotel was designed by the Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta and is located on the former site of the city's main shipyard. Its steel structure was inspired by the steel industry and by the iron sculptures of the great Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida. View from Melia Hotel of Parque de Dona Casilda. Photo ©Paul Allen All of the 211 rooms over ten floors are outward facing with park or river views. Our room had lovely views over the Parque de Dona Casilda de Iturrizar, an oasis of calm with a large duck pond in the center. We were equally impressed by the open air swimming pool on the 6th floor and the artwork by mostly Spanish artists throughout the hotel. 'La Musica', a painting by German artist Anselm Kiefer also caught my eye. Bacaicoa pinxto bar. Photo ©Paul Allen Eat The Basque country can pride itself for having some of the best restaurants in the world as well as a multitude of cafes and bars serving Basque tapas or 'pintxos'. One of our favorite pintxo bars was Bacaicoa on Plaza Miguel de Unamuno in the old town, where we were served grilled chorizo that was chosen as one of the 50 best in Spain in last year's tapas competition. Azurmendi restaurant. Photo © Paul Allen Pintxos aside, we were delighted to discover that Bilbao is a foodie's paradise, with five Michelin-starred restaurants and dozens more in the surrounding Basque Country. In fact the area can boast more Michelin-starred restaurants than anywhere else in Europe. Azurmendi, with its three Michelin stars, is the jewel in the Basque country's crown and is alone worth a trip to Bilbao. Picnic Basket at Azurmendi. Photo ©Paul Allen Located on a hilltop just outside of Bilbao, Chef Eneko Atxa's menu is a theatrical event, starting with a 'picnic' in the interior garden featuring small bites presented in a picnic basket. This was followed by a visit to the kitchen where the friendly staff all shout 'hola' in greeting. Asparagus-infused candy floss (sounds bizarre but delicious) was served along with mushroom leaves in the 'greenhouse' before we moved into the dining room for the actual menu. Every dish was beautifully presented, including our seafood favorites; roasted lobster, sea urchin and oysters tartar. My sweet tooth was nicely satisfied with what I described as a posh peanut butter cup - chocolate, peanut and licorice. Peas and roe at Azurmendi. Photo ©Paul Allen We will be sampling Eneko Atxa's delights again very soon when he brings Basque cooking to London with Eneko at One Aldwych opening later this summer. Also recommended is Restaurante Mina, a worthy recipient of its Michelin star. The fine tasting menu included curried mussels in coconut broth, oysters in gin and tonic and deliciously tender tuna belly with eggplant in a sticky sweet and savory red tea and honey lime sauce. Mina serves only 25 people each evening in a beautifully converted warehouse on the river. We were able to sit at the bar to watch the chefs prepare our tasting menu. Gooseneck barnacles in tangy aguachile were a treat at Restaurante Porrue and equally sublime was the tuna tataki in a tart broth, a tribute to traditional tuna recipes of local fishermen. Dessert was watermelon infused with cinnamon and sangria and pina colada mousse cleverly solidified by liquid nitrogen right at our table. Roof terrace at Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao. Photo ©Paul Allen Essential for any visit to Bilbao is brunch on the rooftop terrace at the Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao. Brunch is available seven days a week to non-hotel guests too with the bonus of fabulous views of the Guggenheim across the road. Getting there British Airways, Easy Jet , Iberia and Vueling fly direct from London to Bilbao in just under two hours.
f747497241aeb250afd9fbe2b2fb4b2c	https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanneshurvell/2017/04/28/seven-of-the-best-indian-restaurants-in-london/	Seven Of The Best Indian Restaurants In London	Seven Of The Best Indian Restaurants In London London has long been known for its excellent Indian food and I opted for fine dining over the plentiful and often mediocre curry houses of east London's Brick Lane. This selection includes some long established favorites, as well as popular new ventures. After sampling the food at these restaurants, I'm not sure I'll be able to ever order Indian takeout again. Stylish interiors in Gymkhana, one of London's most fashionable Indian restaurants Credit: Gymkhana Named best British restaurant in 2014, Michelin-starred Gymkhana continues to be extremely popular so be sure to call well in advance for a reservation. The name and design of the restaurant were inspired by Colonial Indian gymkhana clubs where wealthy people socialised, dined and played sports. Dark red leather banquets, ceiling fans, glass wall lamps and wood panelling wouldn't be out of place in an E.M. Forster novel. Wild muntjac biryani, signature dish at Gymkhana, Mayfair Credit: Joanne Shurvell My dining companion was keen to try one of the signature dishes, wild muntjac biryani with pomegranate and mint raita but I'm not a lover of game so he enjoyed it more than I did. I preferred the lamb shank korma and the kalongi scallops served with a crisp onion pakora. And, as a huge fan of green mango, I loved the peanut and green mango fish tikka. Chef owner Karam Sethi has much to be proud of in Gymkhana and his other two restaurants Trishna and Sri Lankan outpost Hoppers. Gymkhana, 42 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4JH Tel 0203 011 5900 Nandu varuval - soft shell crab at Trishna, Marylebone Credit: Joanne Shurvell Sibling to Gymkhana is the equally delightful Trishna in Marylebone village. Michelin-starred, Trishna specialises in seafood is also reasonably priced, especially for lunch, with a four course tasting menu at £35. Nandu varuval (soft shell crab) is a personal favorite and an extra dollop of delicate white crab on the side made this dish one of the best I've had anywhere. Likewise, the tandoori bream flavored with coriander and green chilli with smoked tomato on the side was another excellent choice. Bhangi bhaath, an eggplant and cashew dish was deliciously smokey and nutty and the ideal accompaniment to the fish dishes. Dessert was creamy kulfi, the traditional Indian ice cream, in flavors of rose, almond and plum. Seabream with coriander and chili, a standout dish at Trishna, Marylebone Credit: Joanne Shurvell Trishna has a lovely neighborhood feel with doors that open onto sidewalk tables for al fresco eating. Inside, the decor is light and airy with white brick walls adorned with vintage travel and film posters from India and pretty pastel china tableware. Trishna, 15 -17 Blandford Street, Marylebone Village, London W1U 3DG Tel: +44 (0)20 7935 5624 Tandoori Macchi Aur Kekda at Benares, Mayfair Credit: Joanne Shurvell Continuing with Michelin starred restaurants, my third stop was Benares, which undoubtedly deserves its reputation as one of the best Indian restaurants in London. Atul Kochhar was the first Indian chef to earn a Michelin star for Tamarind in 2001. He went on to open Benares Restaurant and Bar which was awarded a Michelin star in 2007, followed by opening Ananda in Dublin in 2008 and Benares Madrid in 2015. Kochhar is a popular chef who has made numerous TV appearances and has several cookbooks to his name including Indian Essence, Fish Indian Style, Benares: Michelin Starred Cooking and to be published next month, 30 Minute Curries. Peanut butter parfait at Benares, Mayfair Credit: Joanne Shurvell Among our favorites, on the buzzy night we visited, were Jal Tarang, pan seared, succulent scallops, served with lime, coriander and green chilli chutney, the tandoori dishes, especially the salmon, nalli gosht, a dish of slow cooked lamb shanks in a delicate saffron curry and jeera aloo, potatoes with cumin, ginger and ground spices. Although dessert seems an unlikely highlight at an Indian restaurant, the peanut butter parfait with almond cake and jaggery ice cream was worth a return visit. Benares, 12a Berkeley Square House, Mayfair, London W1J 6BS Tel: +44 (0)20 7629 8886 Gol Guppe (panipuri) at Bombay Palace Credit: Bombay Palace Bombay Palace has been offering consistently good traditional Indian food for over 35 years. Chef Harjeet Singh, who trained at Bukhara in New Delhi, has been at the Bombay Palace in London since 2000. The restaurant was refurbished recently with an emphasis on comfort rather than glamor and it retains its feel of a popular neighbourhood restaurant. Although we didn't run into one of the restaurant's local customers, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, we did enjoy a faultless Indian meal. All the classic favorites are on the menu including onion bhaji, and lamb and chicken curries. Tandoori dishes shine, especially the salmon and prawns. If you're seeking experimental food, you're best to go elsewhere but for classic Indian food in an attractive setting, it would be tough to find a better option than Bombay Palace. Bombay Palace, 50 Connaught Street, London W2 2AA T: +44 (0) 20 7723 8855 Exotic interiors of Flora Indica in West London Credit: Joanne Shurvell A little further afield but definitely worth the trip to West London is Flora Indica, which has just launched a new menu featuring unusual dishes like spiced pulled duck cheela, pickled octopus and jerusalem artichoke flavoured with tamarind. Hearty curry dishes were satisfying as well, with a slow cooked duck leg accompanied with potato and coconut sauce as Paul's choice and monkfish and king prawn curry as mine. Jerusalem Artichoke Papdi Chaat at Flora Indica Credit: Joanne Shurvell The restaurant's intriguing name is a tribute to a nineteenth-century book by the same name which catalogued thousands of exotic Indian plants, previously unknown in the UK. Flora Indica uses many of these plants and spices in their modern Indian menu and extensive list of botanical gins. The decor is as striking and unusual as the food, from the antique distillery pipes on the walls to the Harris tweed dining chairs. A bonus on the evening we dined was the excellent sound system featuring music by Didier, the charming manager/DJ who was playing his own tracks. Flora Indica, 242 Old Brompton Road London SW5 0DE Tel: +44 (0)20 7370 4450 Stone bass tika at Jamavar, Mayfair Credit: Joanne Shurvell New kid on the block, Jamavar, is already one of the hottest meal tickets in town and rightly so. It had only been opened for a month when I had lunch there recently and the food and service were faultless. The menu is wide ranging with specialties from both the North and South of India. I'd been told that the stone bass tikka was a must and I would definitely add my praise. Delicate, moist and flavorful, the fish is soaked in milk before being roasted in the Tandoor oven with the genius addition of avocado chutney. Lobster Nerulli, a curry, flavored with coconut milk, was excellent too. Lobster nerulli at Jamavar, Mayfair Credit: Joanne Shurvell Jamavar, which opened in late 2016, follows five successful restaurants in India, with the first Jamavar opening at The Leela Palace, Bengaluru in 2001. Jamavar London, the first outside of India, is led by Executive Chef Rohit Ghai who was at Benares, Gymkhana and Trishna before being lured by the Leela Palace group to open what quickly has become one of the hottest meal tickets in town. The interiors, designed by Fabled Studio, the highly praised designers of Gordon Ramsay's and Heston Blumenthal's restaurants, are inviting too. Set across two floors, the restaurant design was inspired by the Viceroy’s house in New Delhi. Dark wood panelling is offset by vibrant colors of traditional Kashmiri Jamavar scarves, brass features and an embellished mirror in the bar area. Jamavar, 8 Mount Street, Mayfair, London W1K 3NF Tel: +44 (0)20 7499 1800 The Cinnamon Club in the former Westminster Library Credit: Andfotography.com Set in the historic Grade II listed former Westminster Library, The Cinnamon Club was one of the first restaurants in London to offer modern Indian cooking. The restaurant is known for its game classics and delicately-spiced fish and I noted the halibut and sea bass on the menu. Commencing with two of the restaurant's signature cocktails, cinnamon bellini and mango and thyme gimlet, we moved straight to the main courses. Seared sea bass fillet with coconut ginger sauce, served on spiced red lentils was followed by king prawns with mango coriander sauce, inventively accompanied by rice vermicelli. Also on the menu are larger main courses for sharing and we were pleased with our choice of butter chicken on the bone, served with black lentils, pilau rice and garlic naan. Gulf king prawns with mango coriander sauce and rice vermicelli at the Cinnamon Club, Westminster Credit: Andfotography.com If we hadn't been so full from dinner, we would have been tempted to have another cocktail at the attractive Library bar adjacent to the foyer. The bar is known for its inventive cocktails and extensive list of gins. The Cinnamon Club, The Old Westminster Library, 30-32 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU Tel: +44 (0)20 7222 2555
75be31dd70fc0f4b2ddc4561fd17cc2f	https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanneshurvell/2018/02/28/six-reasons-to-visit-copenhagen-in-2018/	Six Reasons To Visit Copenhagen	Six Reasons To Visit Copenhagen Nyhavn (New Harbour), the 17th-century port in Copenhagen Andfotography.com Danish fashion and design, culture and the nordic cuisine are all good incentives to head to the Danish capital this year. Here are six reasons to visit now. Mielcke & Hurtigkarl in the historic Fredericksburg gardens Andfotography.com 1. Gastronomy Copenhagen, home to Michelin-starred Noma, one of the most famous restaurants in the world, is renowned for its fine dining scene. Located in Denmark's oldest garden, the Royal Danish Horticultural Garden, Mielcke & Hurtigkarl restaurant offers a very special dining experience with innovative cooking in one of the loveliest dining rooms I've ever visited. The dining room was designed by Danish textile artist Margrethe Odgaard who explains that “Frederiksberg Gardens are very beautiful in a groomed and cultivated way and I have mirrored the garden image but warped the prettiness of it, by depicting weird insects, beetles and weeds. My intention is that initially you should feel like you are sitting in a well-groomed garden and that you would only discover the insects bit by bit.” Owner (with Roy Hurtigkarl) and Executive Chef Jakob Mielcke worked at Pierre Gagnaire in Paris and later at Sketch in London and has been a judge on Masterchef (Denmark) since 2013. Languostine with shiso and kaffir lime at Mielcke & Hurtigkarl Andfotography.com The seasonal menu offers tasting menus of five, seven or more courses. We had at least ten dishes, all beautifully presented and each deliciously inventive. Highlights included languostine with shisho and lime, the tenderest of scallops, served with green strawberries and pomelo, lemon sole with chicken skin and kombu (a sea vegetable) and a gorgeous apple, caramel and walnut dessert. For a more low key dining experience, Paté Paté in the meatpacking district offers a hearty, bistro style menu of food inspired by Spain, France, the Middle East and Morocco, served up in a rustic dining room. with great jazz in the background. We loved the signature dish, French country roasted chicken with saffron tomatoes and a yogurt sauce with fries. Jazzcup, a cafe, record shop and live music venue Andfotography.com 2. Jazz clubs Denmark has long had a strong association with jazz and many of the greats have not only performed there but lived there as well, especially during the '50s and '60s where the racial atmosphere was more relaxed than in the United States. We had great experiences at two of the city's top clubs, Jazzcup and Jazzhus Montmarte. Harry Allen trio performing at Jazzcup, Copenhagen Andfotography.com Jazzcup is a record shop with its own record label (Stunt Records),café and live music venue with gigs every Friday afternoon from 3:30 - 7pm and every Saturday afternoon at 2:30-6pm. We heard the brilliant American tenor saxophonist Harry Allen perform standards and original pieces with his quartet and then purchased some gems from the record shop in the back. For an old school, authentic jazz experience, this was ideal. Afro Cuban Supreme at Montmarte jazz club, Copenhagen Andfotography.com Jazzhus Montmartre has been open since 1959 with all the greats having performed there as we witnessed from looking at the photos on the walls backstage. Afro Cuban Supreme performed two energetic sets mixing Afro-Cuban rhythms and Coltrane inspired jazz. Original pieces along with classics like Dizzie Gillespie's classic 'A Night in Tunisia' made for an exciting gig. The quintet features saxophonist Fredrik Kronkvist, pianist Martin Sjöstedt, Eliel Lazo on congas, bassist Johnny Åman, Jason Marsalis (youngest brother of Wynton) on drums and Miriam Aida on vocals. Nova Fairy Tales Bike rental Andfotography.com 3. Bicycle City Tours. There are many options as bicycles and thus bike tours are ubiquitous in Copenhagen but we wanted a small group tour so we chose Nova Fairy Tales. We opted for a three hour bike tour of the city's main attractions which took in some of the famous landmarks such as the Little Mermaid, Amalienborg Palace (the royal residence of the current Danish royal family) and the 17th-century Round Tower (the oldest functioning observatory in Europe). The tour also took us to Christiana Freetown, a self-proclaimed autonomous anarchist district set up by hippies in abandoned army barracks in the 1970s. Crafts, art and organic food were for sale and if we'd been in the market for marijuanna, it was openly sold in many varieties in the market stalls but I think that would have made for a slightly wobbly bike journey back. Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Folketing Andfotography.com We enjoyed riding across the bridges and through various parks but the highlight for me as a major fan of the Danish drama Borgen, was seeing Christiansborg Palace, the Folketing (Danish Parliament). Canal cruises all set off from Nyhavn Andfotography.com 4. Canal tours Copenhagen Cards available as a 24, 36, 72 and 120 hour card offer free canal tours which start from Nyhavn (New Harbour), a 17th-century waterfront district, lined with brightly colored townhouses, bars, cafes and restaurants. A Copenhagen card provides free admission to 79 attractions and free transport in the Copenhagen region. A canal tour is an excellent way to see the city with open top boats passing the Opera House, the famous palaces, Black Diamond Library and the Little Mermaid. Jeff Wall and Giacometti at Louisiana modern art museum Andfotography.com 5. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art One of the world's most beautiful art galleries is in an idyllic location on the Danish coast about 35 minutes by train north of Copenhagen. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art has a permanent collection of over 3,500 works and presents six to ten special exhibitions annually. Outdoors, you can see Sweden across the sound and 60 sculptures dot the grounds, including works by Henry Moore, Alexander Serra and Alexander Calder. The museum takes its name from the original 19th century house owned by a man with three wives, each named Louise. The Copenhagen card covers the trains and entrance to the museum. Den Bla Hal flea market, Copenhagen Andfotography.com 6. Den Bla Hal Flea market This indoor flea market on the edge of town is well worth a visit. As with any flea market, Den Bla Hal offers the usual mixed bag with a range of bric-a-brac, china, lighting, clothing and lots of furniture. The day we visited, we found several gems among the many boxes of vinyl records on display. The lobby bar at the Andersen hotel Andfotography.com We stayed in two areas, at the newly opened Hotel Sanders, owned by former Principal dancer in the Royal Copenhagen Ballet in the historic centre and at the Andersen Hotel, on the edge of the hip meatpacking district. Andersen is stylishly decorated with fabrics and wallpapers from the Designers Guild with the 69 rooms in three color schemes, allowing guests to choose the color scheme when they book. We took full advantage of the hotel's "Wine Hour" offering complimentary wine in the lobby lounge in the early evening. I often ask for late checkout which of course isn't always possible so I was pleased to discover that if you book your room online, the Andersen offers CONCEPT24 where your room will be yours 24 hours from check-in to check-out. We arrived at 5pm which meant we didn't have to check out until 5pm the following day. Andersen Hotel, Helgolandsgade 12 DK-1653 København V Tel: +45 33 31 46 10 Hotel Sanders, Tordenskjoldsgade 15 DK - 1055 København K Tel: + 45 46 40 00 40
fce9e5ed741b3ce7fab9080ad9923ab3	https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanneshurvell/2018/07/26/laurent-tourondel-opens-his-first-european-restaurant-at-hotel-cafe-royal/	Leading Chef Laurent Tourondel Opens Sushi Grill Restaurant At Hotel Café Royal	Leading Chef Laurent Tourondel Opens Sushi Grill Restaurant At Hotel Café Royal Laurent Tourondel outside of Hotel Café Royal, London Hotel Café Royal After building his reputation as a top chef in the United States, it's no surprise that French chef Laurent Tourondel is better known across the pond than here in Europe. However, with a stellar reputation for his eponymous LT restaurants, many inside luxury hotels, in Sag Harbor, Miami, Charlotte, Hong Kong and San Juan and for his popular New York restaurants, The Vine and L'Amico, among others, Tourondel is hot property. Hotel Café Royal are fortunate to have him at helm of their new venture, Laurent, a sushi/grill restaurant. And for Chef Laurent Tourondel, this restaurant opening marks a return to Café Royal where he worked in the late 1980s doing weekend shifts or as they call it in the industry "the extra." One side of the chic new dining room at Laurent, Hotel Café Royal, London Café Royal In addition to collaborating with an eminent chef for their new restaurant, Hotel Café Royal invested in a major redesign by a leading designer. Italian architect and designer Piero Lissoni (who also designed Hotel Café Royal's sister hotel Conservatorium in Amsterdam, as well has other luxury hotels, yachts and private houses) was brought on board for the refurbishment. The 110 seat restaurant located on the first floor of Hotel Café Royal is an elegant and airy space with leather banquets and sleek dark wood. Piero Lissoni also renovated the main lobby and added a stunning Murano glass chandelier made by the Italian glassmaker Vistosi that can be viewed from the main restaurant. Gin-cured salmon sushi at Laurent, Hotel Café Royal Hotel Café Royal I met the French chef who says he "learned to cook in England" in the 1980s at the private members' club Boodles about Laurent, his first European restaurant, just after the recent launch to find out how his strategy of giving "people what they want to eat" has proved to be so successful. Laurent is clear that you'll never see a sweetbread on his menu for instance. And the menu at Laurent will be changed seasonally as he does with his other restaurants as "it’s especially important here as European countries really focus on seasonal eating." How did you come to be a chef? Was it an aspiration from an early age? LT: I went to chef school in the centre of France. My parents and grandmother were cooking a lot at home and we were cooking together from when I was ten years old. My whole family were really involved with food. My great grandfather had a restaurant so it was a family thing with special Sunday dinners. When I was younger I wasn’t doing very well at school so my dad gave me three options: cooking school, office worker or fashion designer. What do you know at 12 years old but I chose cooking. Laurent's delicious popovers, a cross between a French bread roll and an English Yorkshire pudding Hotel Café Royal Laurent at Hotel Café Royal, a restaurant combining sushi and a grill might seem a slightly bizarre choice to some. Do any of your other restaurants offer this? LT: Yes, more and more. I have one in Miami and one in Kazakhstan offering this. Kazakhstan - another interesting choice! That doesn't seem like an obvious place to open a high end restaurant? LT: Why not? The restaurant is in a business hotel as it’s not a very touristic country. A lot of business men in oil and natural gas staying in a luxury hotel want a restaurant to match. I lived in Russia in the 1980s so when I overheard customers in my restaurant in New York speak Russian, I approached the table and asked where they were from. When they said Kazakhstan, I said I’d been there and had my honeymoon in Kazakhstan. They said they were building a hotel in Kazakhstan so seven years after that random conversation my restaurant opened in the hotel. You have so many restaurants in the US, two restaurants in Hong Kong, one in Kazakhstan and your main base is in New York so how much time do you anticipate spending here at Laurent in Hotel Cafe Royal in London? LT: As much as I can, especially now at the beginning. Honestly it’s a good thing as it’s easy for me to stop here on the way to or from visiting my parents in France. And London is a nice city. I like London, I always have. Blue fin tuna poke bowl/Milk chocolate peanut butter croquant at Laurent, Hotel Café Royal, London Joanne Shurvell I’m having lunch at Laurent today. Is there anything on your menu that you’d particularly recommend? LT: The Poke bowl with blue fin tuna has been very popular and has sold out every day since we opened. Also, be sure to try the “popover”, a French version of the English Yorkshire pudding! I ordered accordingly, was very pleased with Laurent's suggestions and I plan to return very soon. I also couldn't resist the milk chocolate peanut butter croquant for dessert. Think posh peanut butter cup; a crunchy, peanuty, chocolate delight, topped with banana ice cream. Laurent, Hotel Café Royal, 68 Regent Street , London, W1B 4DY Tel: +44 (0)20 7406 3310
1a62de3f4518f136b1725680ebfd7003	https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanneshurvell/2019/05/26/five-reasons-why-valencia-spain-should-be-your-next-holiday-destination/	Five Reasons Why Valencia, Spain Should Be Your Next Holiday Destination	Five Reasons Why Valencia, Spain Should Be Your Next Holiday Destination The Albufera, a freshwater lagoon near Valencia, Spain is the birthplace of paella Paul Allen/Andfotography.com Valencia on the east coast of Spain is the country's third largest city (after Madrid and Barcelona) and offers many of the same attractions of these two better known cities. If the birthplace of paella with its seven kilometers of sandy beaches and virtually year-round sunshine wasn't already on your radar, it might be now due to a major exhibition by Spain's best known impressionist artist Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (born in Valencia in 1863) currently on until 7 July 2019 at London's National Gallery and then touring to the National Gallery of Ireland from 10 August 2019. The opening night of "1989" a new exhibition at the Institute of Modern Art in Valencia, Spain Paul Allen/Andfotography.com 1. Art collections that are among the best in Europe The first stop for art enthusiasts should be IVAM, the Institute of Modern Art, where a major new exhibition celebrating 1989, the year the museum opened, was on when we visited. IVAM was Spain's first museum of Modern Art when it launched and today it is the country's second largest (after the Reina Sofia in Madrid). 1989: The End of the 20th Century also referenced the historic year that ended an era defined by the Cold War and focused on events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the AIDS crisis and the beginning of the end of Apartheid in South Africa. For that exhibition, as well as the current one with Fernand Leger (on until 15 September 2019), the museum drew on their own extensive collection of over 10,000 works valued at more than 100 million euros. Their 30th anniversary will feature major exhibitions throughout the year, with the final blockbuster show, Jean Dubuffet, a collaboration with Marseilles' Mucem, opening 8 October. Be sure to stop for a snack or lunch at Mascaraque, the museum's excellent cafe that serves expertly prepared mediterranean-style fish dishes with cod and trout, along with ratatouille and beef tacos. Bombas Gens, Valencia, a new contemporary gallery in a former hydraulic pump factory Paul Allen/Andfotography.com Another essential cultural venue, that will appeal especially to photography fans, is Bombas Gens, a new art museum, in a former hydraulic pump factory that today houses over 1500 artworks. The art deco style space itself is incredible and clearly no expense was spared in the renovations. A current exhibition of Japanese photography runs until February 2020. Admission to Bombas Gens is free as are tours of its civil war bomb shelter and a massive 16th-century wine cellar discovered when digging the garden. There’s also a two Michelin-starred restaurant on site, Ricard Camarena, that we didn’t try but judging from the excellent reviews, would be worth booking. Biking on the former riverbed, now park, will take you past Santiago Calatrava's City of Arts and... [+] Sciences Paul Allen/Andfotography.com 2. Sightseeing that includes historical sites, award-winning modern architecture and nature We always start any city visit with a short tour on our first morning. In Valencia, we enjoyed a historic tour of the old town. Valencia Guías showed us the key sights like the medieval silk exchange and the gorgeous Central Market built in the 1920s and featuring art nouveau design housing one of the largest fruit and vegetable markets in Europe. But the real surprise of the tour was seeing the magnificent, ornate interiors and frescos in Saint Nicolas Church. It’s unlikely we would have found this ourselves as it’s down a small side street and is very nondescript from the outside. Highly recommended is hiring a bike for a morning or afternoon; there are loads of reasonably priced, friendly bike rental shops such as Valencia Bikes. Ride along the riverbed (the river was diverted) which is now a park of around five kilometers long. It will take you past the fantastic Santiago Calatrava designed Alameda bridge and to the City of Arts and Sciences designed by Calatrava and Felix Candela. The "city," spread over more than 7 kilometers, comprises L'Oceanografic, the largest aquarium in Europe, which features a transparent tunnel that surrounds the visitor with fish and sharks, a Science Museum, an IMAX cinema and an opera house. A photographer's dream, even if you don't go inside any of these buildings, it's worth visiting Calatrava's masterpiece just to see the magnificent exteriors. Albufera Lagoon near Valencia Paul Allen/Andfotography.com If time permits, do take a day trip to the beautiful Albufera Nature Park to discover where paella originated. Jaume Dasi, a charming and informative guide showed us the paddy fields in the lagoon where the paella rice is grown and the warehouses with the tall mounds of the bomba rice (the best for paella). The tour included a peaceful boat trip across the Albufera lagoon, stopping for lunch (paella of course) at Nou Racó restaurant. It was here that we had “authentic paella” something that never has chorizo in it or seafood, the addition of which has been to please tourists. Apparently the only ingredients in a traditional Valencian paella are chicken, rabbit, snails, and three types of beans (green beans, garrofon broad beans and white beans). Monkfish with sundried tomatoes at Michelin starred Riff restaurante in Valencia Paul Allen/Andfotography.com 3. Exceptional Cuisine from tapas to fine dining No trip to Valencia would be complete without enjoying paella. If you don't have time to travel to Albufera for paella, an excellent alternative is the fantastic seafood paella at La Marítima, a chic and airy restaurant at the harbor that hosted America’s Cup. Tourist version or not, this seafood paella was one of the best things we ate in Valencia. Wonderful paella aside, Valencia is a paradise for eating and drinking, from cool wine and tapas bars to Michelin-starred establishments. German Chef Bernd Knoller's Riff opened in 1993 and has had a well-deserved Michelin star since 2009. Chef Knoller personally takes all the guest’s orders which is a lovely touch in a room with only ten tables so the entire experience is intimate and relaxing. Knoller's inspired tasting menus change regularly as he likes to use seasonal and local ingredients and to keep things fresh and interesting. As he says "if I see a new and/or excellent ingredient, I must include it in the menu because the tasting menus are key for us, this is where the essence of the RiFF can be found." The tasting menu we enjoyed included butter lettuce with cockles, feathery light donuts stuffed with meat, langoustine with artichoke in a coffee sauce, paella rice with beer yeast, mushrooms and peanuts, monkfish with sundried tomatoes and pine nuts and for dessert, a whisky flavored milk ice cream with almond cream. Most Valencian restaurants, including the Michelin-starred Riff, have very reasonably priced tasting menus, especially at lunchtime (Riff's is 39 euros), making fine dining accessible to wider audiences. Begoña Rodrigo, chef and owner of La Salita restaurante, Valencia Paul Allen/Andfotography.com A short cab ride from the city center is La Salita Restaurante, another fine dining restaurant, also highly recommended. Judging from the enthusiastic crowd, and buzzy atmosphere La Salita is clearly extremely popular with Valencians so be sure to make a reservation. The tasting menu by Begoña Rodrigo, winner of Spain's first Top Chef program in 2013, is all evening affair including genius dishes like sardine infused almond soup, lobster with jerusalem artichoke and caviar and oxtail ravioli. The three tasting menus are reasonably priced ranging from 50 - 90 euros. Bodega Casa Montana, established in 1836 Paul Allen/Andfotography.com For a traditional meal in a congenial place, try Bodega Casa Montaña, a very popular spot not far from the seaside in the Canyamelar district. The restaurant has been making its own wine since it was founded in 1836 and you can see the large barrels in the back. The menu includes typical tapas like Padrón peppers and cod croquettes. Patatas Bravas at tapas/wine bar Colmado Lalola, Valencia Paul Allen/Andfotography.com In the city center, a trio of eating and drinking establishments are owned by congenial Jesus Villanueva, who is often on site to chat with customers and offer friendly menu suggestions. The tapas menu at Colmado Lalola, is wide ranging and creative, with a surprising highlight, a delicious twist on the popular Spanish dish patatas bravas. Jesus also owns La Lola, a fancier restaurant nearby and Lolita, a chic cocktail bar around the corner. Lolita, with its gorgeous art deco interiors and pink and aqua blue velvet chairs and sofas, is the idea place for a nightcap. The Adriano Tortora quartet at Jimmy Glass, Valencia Paul Allen/ Andfotography.com 4. Excellent bars and nightlife In addition to lots of bars, if you like jazz, Barrio del Carmen in the old town is packed with vibrant bars, cafes and quirky music venues like Jimmy Glass, which features old-school vinyl and live music. The night we were there, Adriano Tortora was performing with his quartet, featuring saxophonist Jesus Santandreu, bassist Dario Piccioni and the talented Davide Lo Cascio on drums, currently studying at Berklee music school. And just east of Estacio del Nord, is the Ruzafa district, a neighbourhood where the locals hang out. The area is packed with small boutiques and a gem of a cocktail bar in an antique shop called La Bella de Cadiz, the ideal place for an agua de valencia (cava and orange juice). In another part of town and worth checking out is the newly opened is Convent Carmen, a former convent built in 1609 that now houses art shows, live entertainment and street food in the large internal garden. 5. Unique Shops Kubelik features Mitumi, a local jewellery brand created by Josu and Marieta. Their handmade, contemporary style earrings, broaches and necklaces are all limited editions and are made in their studio in Valencia. Further up the road I found Simple, a charming concept store with local products in lovely packaging, including spices, soaps, jewellery, all made in Spain. Practicalities: We stayed at a lovely new boutique hotel in the old town, Marques House Hotel, conveniently located beside the stunning ceramics museum, Palacio del Marqués de Dos Aguas and near the central market. This historic 4 star hotel contains 29 spacious rooms, many with pretty balconies. Double rooms start around 120 euros/night including breakfast, depending on the season. Getting there and getting around: There are daily flights on British Airways from London to Valencia, including a new flight from London’s Heathrow that started this spring. From North America, if you fly to Madrid it only takes 90 minutes by the high speed train to Valencia. A Valencia tourist card for 24, 48 or 72 hours is well worth purchasing as it offers free transportation on buses and subways and free access or discounts to most museums and attractions. A 24 hour card is 15 euros.
895ec498d3ed392376dcbbfd89c4e569	https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanneshurvell/2020/02/21/anna-maria-island-a-florida-beach-paradise-on-the-gulf-of-mexico/	Anna Maria Island, A Florida Beach Paradise On The Gulf Of Mexico	Anna Maria Island, A Florida Beach Paradise On The Gulf Of Mexico Anna Maria Island, Florida at sunset Joanne Shurvell Nestled in the Gulf of Mexico, Anna Maria Island is seven miles long with wide white sandy beaches and clear turquoise waters with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Sarasota Bay on the other. Spectacular beaches aside, the island is a lovely base for exploring other islands nearby, or Sarasota and St Petersburg. Rod & Reel Pier, a popular fishing spot and restaurant on Anna Maria Island, Florida Joanne Shurvell Away from the strip malls on parts of the island, Anna Maria Island has a rustic “Old Florida” feel to it. High rise buildings are not permitted and the wooden homes, many in bright colors, are very attractive. Although private homes line the beaches, there is plenty of public beach access. A popular spot for fishing and bird watching is the Rod n’ Reel Pier. There’s also a bar and casual restaurant there. Leave your car at your condo or hotel and either walk, cycle or take the free Anna Maria Island bus that travels the entire island (6:30am -10pm daily) from Coquina Beach all the way to the Public Pier on the North side of Anna Maria. Another way to get around is by “monkey bus” a service that operates on tips only that you simply call to pick you up anywhere from noon—3am The boardwalks at Leffis Key, Anna Maria Island, Florida Joanne Shurvell What to Do: Leffis Key, on the south part of Anna Maria Island, has footpaths and boardwalks through dunes and a mangrove forest. In the center of the park, a low hill offers a 360-degree view of Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Local school children helped to plant over 20,000 marsh grass plants, such as smooth cordgrass, saltwater cordgrass and salt jointgrass, were installed along the banks of the tidal ponds. MORE FOR YOUWhy Albuquerque, New Mexico, Is the Most Exotic American Big CityEuropean Tourism Rebounds: May EU Travel Restrictions, Covid-19 Test Requirements, Quarantine By CountryNCL’s Newest Ship, Norwegian Prima, To Set Sail Summer 2022 The Ringling's former home near Sarasota, Florida Joanne Shurvell Glorious beach walks, fishing and birdwatching aside, get your dose of culture with a visit to The Ringling, a fabulous museum in nearby Sarasota. It was the former grand winter home of the famous Ringling Bros. Circus founder, John Ringling and his wife Mabel. Today in the glorious grounds of the mansion is a circus museum and an art museum housing 10,000 works of art including much of the Ringling’s personal collection. The collection is one of the largest Baroque art collections in the United States. There are regular tours of the Ringling's Italian Gothic style mansion, Ca’ d’Zan (“house of John” in Venetian dialect) on the waterfront, designed by New York architect Dwight James Baum. The mansion and art museum were left to the state of Florida on John’s death in 1936 and both are well worth a visit. Two of the five massive paintings by Rubens at The Ringling, Florida Joanne Shurvell The large pink Renaissance-style palace designed by John H. Phillips houses 21 art galleries and an internal courtyard filled with copies of iconic sculptures like Michelangelo’s David. Highlights inside include five large scale paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, works by Lucas Cranach, Bernardo Strozzi and The Sirens by Edward Burne-Jones. The only other two paintings by Rubens’ in his immense Triumph of the Eucharist series are in Paris at the Louvre. Be sure to also visit the circus museum where you’ll see a large array of model trains and circus memorabilia. Where to Stay A balcony of a suite at the Waterline Resort, Anna Maria Island, Florida Waterline Resort Waterline Marina Resort, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection hotels, is a well appointed property with 37 two bedroom suites that include full kitchens and balconies, many of which overlook the waterfront. Outside there is a marina that can accommodate 50 boats and a swimming pool. There’s a fitness center inside and an excellent restaurant if you don’t fancy cooking. The beach (on the Gulf side) is a short stroll away. Spring Oasis, a condo to rent through Vacasa on Anna Maria Island, Florida Joanne Shurvell Staying in one of the many condos on the island is a good alternative to a hotel. Spring Oasis, a Vacasa managed property, is a charming two storey wooden house in the north of the island. The house has a heated outdoor pool, two decks and sleeps six, with rates starting from US$217/night. It is attractively furnished with large sofas and a four poster bed in one room and has everything you need in its well-equipped kitchen. the house is an easy stroll to either gulf side or bay side beaches and to Pine Street with its assorted boutiques and eateries. Where to Eat Beach Bistro on Anna Maria Island, Florida Beach Bistro Beach Bistro, owned by Nova Scotia native, Sean Murphy and his wife Susan Timmins opened on the eve of the major Hurricane Juan in 1985 and has since become one of the island’s most popular restaurants. The menu is both creative and satisfying, offering excellent meat, seafood and vegetarian options. Mangalitsa pig feed on acorns, poached lobster tail served on a bed of citrus grits, Gulf grouper in a toasted coconut and cashew crust, duckling served three ways and one of the best rack of lambs are all great choices. Their signature dish is bouillabaisse with “Novey” lobster tails, jumbo shrimp, market fish, shellfish and octopus. Be sure to save room for the classic Florida dessert, key lime pie, delicate and not too sweet. Before or after dinner, stop for a cocktail or nightcap at Sean Murphy’s other establishment. The Doctor’s Office, which was a real doctor’s office in the 1950s now serves an imaginative cocktail list including “the bee’s knees,” a gin-based drink with lemon and lavender honey and “a corpse reviver” with gin and absinthe. The Blue Marlin bistro on Anna Maria Island, Florida Blue Marlin Blue Marlin Seafood, opened in 2011 by Adam Ellis on historic Bridge Street, near Bradenton Beach, cleverly serves edamame (Japanese soybeans) instead of bread, ensuring you’re not full before your main course arrives. And the main courses are certainly worth waiting for. Highlights include shrimp rolled in cajun spices served with grits or fish caught that day, sauteed with lemon butter or crushed pecan crust. The cool blue decor of the former 1920s fisherman’s cottage is charming and rustic with fishing memorabilia, including tackle and black and white photos of local fishermen, hanging on walls and ceilings. Shrimp tacos at Gulf Island Cafe, Anna Maria Island, Florida Joanne Shurvell Gulf Drive Cafe is an expansive beachfront restaurant established in 1981. The restaurant sits directly on spectacular white sands on Anna Maria Island’s south end. Directly in front of the restaurant is an underwater archaeological preserve site and famous diving spot that attracts divers who try to see The Regina, a sugar barge that sank in 1940, carrying more than 300,000 gallons of molasses from Havana, Cuba. The fish-heavy menu offers crab cakes, Fresh Catch served grilled or blackened, wonderful grouper bites with homemade tartar sauce and shrimp tacos. Enjoy the food sitting on the beach while being entertained by the live band and watching the sun go down. Eliza Ann’s Coastal Kitchen in the Waterline Resort is a casual, family-style restaurant with a great seafood offering including wood-grilled oysters and daily specials based on local catch. The restaurant is named after Eliza Ann, the wife of Samuel Plimsoll who invented the life-saving Plimsoll line (or waterline) still in use today around the world. A boardwalk to the beach on Anna Maria Island Joanne Shurvell How to Get There: From the UK, British Airways has direct, daily flights from London Gatwick to and from Orlando and Tampa, the latter being closer to Anna Maria island. By car from Tampa, Anna Maria Island is about 45 miles and there are two bridges connecting the island to the mainland.