EXCLUSIVE: Kodi Smit-McPhee has scored a lead role in 20th Century Fox‘s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes. The follow-up to Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is directed by Cloverfield‘s Matt Reeves, who also helmed Smit-McPhee in Let Me In opposite Chloe Moretz. Smit-McPhee is currently filming The Young Ones, directed by Jake Paltrow, alongside Nicholas Hoult, Elle Fanning and Michael Shannon. The Australian native most recently voiced the title character in the Oscar-nominated animated feature ParaNorman.
The Fox sequel is ramping up for a May 23, 2014 Memorial Day weekend release, which the studio announced last year. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Smit-McPhee’s been busy. He’s completed Ari Folman’s The Congress with Robin Wright, Paul Giamatti and Harvey Keitel; plays the title character in Michael J. Johnson’s The Wilderness Of James opposite Isabel Furman, Virginia Madsen, and Evan Ross; and has the lead role in A Birder’s Guide To Everything opposite Ben Kingsley. He’ll also appear as Benvolio in Carlo Carlei’s version of Romeo & Juliet (adapted by Downton Abbey‘s Julian Fellowes) with Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth, Ed Westwick, and Paul Giamatti. Smit-McPhee is represented by ICM Partners and managed by The Schiff Co.


Max Verstappen has fired back at his critics, urging them to judge Sebastian Vettel as harshly as they did him after the German’s first lap antics in the French Grand Prix on Sunday.
Heading into the first turn, Vettel was leading the championship, but a collision with Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas effectievly handed the race, and the standings lead, to Lewis Hamilton.
While Vettel recovered to fifth after behind handed a five-second penalty, Bottas suffered damage and limped home in seventh.
The crash helped Red Bull’s Verstappen to a trouble-free second place finish around the Paul Ricard circuit, but speaking afterwards, he was eager to highlight Vettel’s misdemeanour.
Verstappen has been subject to criticism for accidents in China, Azerbaijan and Monaco this season, but after another incident involving Vettel, after a handful last season too, the Dutchman believes the same questions should be aimed at the German as he had to deal with.
“I think next time you see Seb you should ask him to change his style,” the Dutchman said in the post-race press conference. “Because honestly, it’s not acceptable.
“That’s what they said to me at the beginning of the season, so I think they should do the same! And then, of course, Seb shouldn’t do anything, and just drive again and learn from this and go on.
“I hope when we get to Austria that the journalists ask him if he will change his approach because that is what l heard for so many races.
“Mistakes happen and they happen to the best of us,” he continued. “But it makes me angry because they won’t be as bad on him as they were on me.
His words off the track certainly spoke more than his actions on it. His was a routine run after the first corner. With Hamilton managing the pace at the front, Verstappen never expected to catch the Mercedes out in front.
He added: “Finishing second here in Paul Ricard is better than we expected coming into the weekend.
For Daniel Ricciardo, it was a frustrating afternoon in the south of France. After avoiding the carnage at the first corner, Ricciardo was running third after passing Carlos Sainz’s Renault.
But a late stop from Kimi Raikkonen saw the Finn scythe through the field, passing Vettel and Ricciardo en route to the final podium position, with the Australian having to settle for fourth place.
He said: “I’m obviously a bit disappointed and it’s a shame to lose out on the podium today.
“We were definitely quicker than fourth place and it could have been a good battle with Max. I don’t know why yet but the front wing was damaged during the race.
“Before the pit stop we had really good pace on the supersofts, I don’t know how good compared to Lewis as he was so quick, but it seemed that we were pulling away from Kimi and catching Max.


Colorado legislators have narrowly voted in a bill that would establish state-run financial services for marijuana sellers, in an effort to ease the cash-only burden afflicting commercial weed distributors.
The bill, which is pending approval from Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and then the Federal Reserve, would set up "cannabis credit co-ops" throughout the state. Because the sale of marijuana is still federally illegal, Colorado's pot sellers have found it difficult to find national banks willing to offer financial services for their businesses. This, according to Representative John Singer, has made marijuana businesses targets for criminals (with so much cash lying around) and hindered the state's ability to track revenues for tax purpose. Singer, the proposal's main backer, said that the co-ops would be "the final piece to our pot puzzle."
The vote was the ultimate compromise for legislators who wanted to keep the cooperatives limited to marijuana businesses. But industrial hemp farmers had voiced problems about accessing banking services, specifically with co-mingling loans on crops such as wheat and corn with hemp. "Two farmers with lines of credit were threatened, one told outright that if he grew hemp, the bank would terminate his line of credit," said Samantha Walsh of the Rocky Mountain Hemp Association.
The co-ops would be a step towards ameliorating what Attorney General Eric Holder referred to as a public safety problem. He said in January that "Huge amounts of cash, substantial amounts of cash, just kind of lying around with no place for it to appropriately deposited is something that would worry me from just a law enforcement perspective."
Representatives from Hickenlooper's office said that he will sign the bill. However, it still might not solve anything, as it's likely to be ultimately blocked by the Federal Reserve, because there's no provision for deposit insurance, which is required by other banks.


As the Merced County Spring Fair prepares to enter its 125th year, fair management is striving to continue in the face of budget cuts.
About three years ago, the state stopped funding the fair system. Local businessmen and the Merced County Spring Fair Heritage Foundation have stepped in to raise enough funds to continue to pay out more than $40,000 in prize money to youth for projects ranging from ag mechanics to livestock.
Fundraisers have also been critical in operating the fair and attracting talent.
More then 6,000 students come to the fair through the free school tour program, which provides them with hands-on learning about agriculture. The fair includes musical entertainment, a plethora of rides, plenty of food and an abundance of contests.
New this year is a bull-riding rodeo called Jaripeo Ranchero. The event is scheduled for May 1.
What began as a spring picnic by town founder Henry Miller in 1890 has grown into an energetic community event supported by businesses, local organizations and families.


Proposals to use lie detectors to search for spies and to impose the death penalty for espionage would violate fundamental constitutional liberties, said Morton Halperin, Washington director of the American Civil Liberties Union. Halperin called on Congress to reject anti-espionage proposals as unconstitutional. The proposals were contained in amendments to defense authorization bills. The real problems include "overclassification of information and excessive numbers of employees with access to sensitive information," Halperin said.


TEN couples in Cagayan de Oro City finally tied the knot in front of the altar last Saturday, March 23, during the mass wedding rites held at St. Augustine Cathedral, this city.
The mass wedding, according to the Oro Citizen’s and Wellness Center, is part of the aftercare activity of the Community Based Rehabilitation Program (CBRP) implemented through the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (CADAC), as some of the grooms and family members of the newly-wedded couples are graduates of the said program.
“Part kini sya sa atong Community Based Rehabilitation Program nga dili lang hisgutanan nga rehabilitate sila diha sa drug addiction but gusto sad nato nga mai-strengthen ang family ties sa mga magtiayon,” City Administrator Teodoro Sabuga-a Jr. said.
The city government and the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro sponsored the expenses used to process the couples’ requirements, their marriage certificates and the wedding rings.
Monsignor Perseus Cabunoc, who presided over the ceremony, lauded the effort of the local government in organizing the event which strengthens and officially place God in the relationship of the couples.
He mentioned the importance of receiving the sacrament of matrimony as the newly-wedded couples live together and build their own family.
Couple Demuel Santaan, a graduate of the CBRP, and his wife Mayene Mampalaod-Santaan, for their part, expressed their gratitude and happiness that after six years of living together they finally got married.
Despite living a simple life as a farmer and a housewife, the couple said they are happy with their simple life and looking forward for a better future, especially when concerning their plans on having a child or children.
“We are hoping mahimo kini nga inspirasyon sa mga atong mga ubang drug responders, labi na ang mga kabataan, nga diay naa pa gyu’y paglaom,” Sabuga-a said.
After the wedding, the reception was held at the Duaw Park where City Mayor Oscar Moreno congratulated the newly-wedded couples.


Buckeye Valley’s Zach Kreft completed the trifecta at Tuesday and Thursday’s MOAC Championships, winning individual titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.
Zach Kreft won a trio of individual MOAC championships and Nina Hilt nabbed two of her own to lead the Buckeye Valley boys and girls track teams during Tuesday and Thursday’s MOAC Championships at Mount Gilead.
Kreft dominated the distance events, crossing the finish line well before the other runners in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.
He won the 800 in 2:00.24 (three seconds ahead of the runner-up from North Union), the 1,600 in 4:36.49 (10 seconds ahead of the second-place runner) and the 3,200 in 10:16.22 (nearly half a minute faster than any of the other competitors).
Hilt won both hurdle events with relative ease, too. She picked up first-place points in the 100-meter event in 16.08 seconds while winning the 300-meter race in 48.19 seconds — a mark more than four seconds faster than her prelim time.
Other Baron standouts included Raquel Warner, who won the 200 (26.37 seconds) and the boys 4×800 relay team (Gavin Shearer, Bill Daily, Cameron Hurt and Kreft), which won its event in 8:26.8.
Team wise, Buckeye Valley’s girls finished third in the Red Division with 94 points. Galion won the title with 141.50 points while Pleasant nabbed runner-up honors with 109.50.
Mount Gilead’s girls won the Blue Division crown with 164.50 points.
The Baron boys, meanwhile, finished fourth in the Red Division with 80 points. Galion won the team title with 158 points, River Valley finished second with 117 and Marion Harding smoothed out the top three with 81.50.
Mount Gilead took top honors in the Blue Division with 157.50 points.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2016/05/web1_kreft-1.jpgBuckeye Valley’s Zach Kreft completed the trifecta at Tuesday and Thursday’s MOAC Championships, winning individual titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.


Bangalore: In the U.S., top outsourcing customers such as Bank of America and several local governments are asking vendors such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro to deliver more projects locally. These outsourcing customers are also canceling job offers to foreign workers in an attempt to address anti offshoring sentiments and cope with legislative requirements of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).
In the last few months, at least five new outsourcing contracts had new clauses which mandated that certain work be delivered onshore, reports The Economic Times. Under this regulation, Bank of America and other financial services organizations who have received funds under TARP need to ensure that they try and employ local American workers before hiring a foreign workers.
"Bank of America's Merill Lynch integration projects are being delivered locally because of TARP requirements. On any other day, it would have asked Infosys or other companies to do," said a U.S. based person familiar with the bank's outsourcing initiatives.
A spokeswoman at Bank of America confirmed that her company had canceled around 50 H1B job offers in order to comply with TARP. Several graduates from the University of Michigan are among many potential H1B workers left stranded in the US.
"Recent changes in U.S. legislation made it necessary for Bank of America to rescind job offers it had made to students requiring H-1B sponsorship. Bank of America had very much looked forward to these individuals joining the company," said Kelly E Sapp, spokeswoman at Bank of America.
Experts such as Phil J Fersht, research director at Boston-headquartered AMR Research, say all TARP funded banks have canceled their H1B offers. "All TARP-funded banks are rescinding H1-B offers right now, except in critical roles and existing outsourcing deals where its imperative to have offshore managers onsite. It's a political 'hot potato' especially after the AIG bonus fiasco."
The TARP-funded banks are not the only ones demanding more local delivery. Several government customers including City of Tucson, which works with TCS and State of Missouri, which is a Wipro customer, have asked these vendors to move over 80 percent of work to the U.S., and create local jobs.


On Nov. 2, when “Bohemian Rhapsody” — the biopic of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of British rock group Queen — debuts on U.S. screens, it will mark latest in a long string of highly diverse films lensed by cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel.
The DP’s work, which goes back to the early ’80s, has encompassed war stories (“Three Kings”), dark comedy (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”), historical drama (“Marshall”), TV movies and series, multiple documentaries — and the genre for which he is perhaps best known – superhero movies, including “Superman Returns” and four installments of the X-Men franchise.
Sigel was attracted to visual art from a young age, and at first honed his skills as a painter. He experimented with abstraction, but always came back to more representational imagery that served a narrative. He arrived in New York City from Detroit at age 18, having been invited to the Whitney Museum’s artist-in-residence fellowship program.
Sigel soon began making personal films and, given the political turmoil of the time, he gravitated to documentaries with social topics. Soon he was travelling to the world’s hot spots with a camera, especially Central America. He shot a documentary that showed U.S. audiences the first images of the Contras’ secret militia in Nicaragua.
His work came to the attention of master cinematographer, director and activist Haskell Wexler, who needed a DP for what became “Latino,” a 1985 film set against Ronald Reagan’s proxy war against the Nicaraguan government. “What drew me into narrative and feature filmmaking was the desire to control the visual storytelling more than you can with photojournalism,” Sigel says.
Despite his subsequent foray into indie and studio features, Sigel’s name still comes up among cinematographers as an under-the-radar trendsetter whose films are considered game-changers – “Drive” and “Three Kings” being the most often cited.
“Three Kings,” directed by David O. Russell in 1999, took a bold, even risky approach to color, contrast, film stocks and lab processes that is still influential. “Drive,” directed by Nicholas Winding Refn, used the then-new Arri Alexa digital camera.
Along the way, Sigel has forged working relationships with numerous directors, working most often with Bryan Singer. The forthcoming “Bohemian Rhapsody” will be their 12th narrative project together.
The visual artist and social documentary aspects of Sigel’s mindset still have a strong impact on his choices. Director Reginald Hudlin worked with Sigel on “Marshall,” last year’s biopic about the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.


Is Agunah Tamar Epstein's Remarriage Legal Without Orthodox Divorce?
Epstein, who has conducted a high-profile, years-long campaign to force her recalcitrant ex-husband to grant her a religious bill of divorce, appeared recently to have found a way around her dilemma.
Tamar Epstein, the prominent “chained woman” whose right to remarry under traditional Jewish law was long stymied, may have finally found two Orthodox rabbis willing to help her wed again. But her fate in the broader Jewish community — and the fate of any children she may have — is anything but ensured.
Epstein, who has conducted a high-profile, years-long campaign to force her recalcitrant ex-husband, a Capitol Hill congressional aide, to grant her a religious bill of divorce, appeared recently to have found a way around her dilemma. Traditional Jewish law bars a woman from remarrying without first receiving such a bill of divorce, even if, like Epstein, she is already civilly divorced. But on September 24, Epstein was wed to her new husband by a prominent rabbi in Memphis, Tennessee, after an unnamed Philadelphia Orthodox rabbi used a rare procedure to annul Epstein’s earlier marriage.
This seemed to end the 33-year-old’s status as an agunah, as such women are known in Hebrew — a term commonly translated into English as “chained woman.” But this was not necessarily the happy ending that many had hoped she would get.
The decision to allow Epstein to remarry ignited a firestorm within the Orthodox community. Opponents of the decision are making it clear that Epstein and any future children she may have will not find acceptance in the Orthodox community of which she considers herself a part.
“The woman is considered married for all purposes and is forbidden for any other man until a religious court rules otherwise,” Rabbi Aharon Feldman, head of Baltimore’s Ner Israel Rabbinical College, wrote in an open letter he addressed to fellow rabbis and religious leaders. “In the meanwhile, she must leave her second ‘husband,’ and if she has children, they will be considered bastards until relieved by a religious court.” Under traditional Jewish law, children classified as bastards — mamzerim in Hebrew — are not allowed to marry other Jews who are born to women considered to be legitimately married.
Epstein has long become the face of the struggle of chained women in America. A resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, she married Aharon Friedman in 2006; the couple’s only daughter was born a year later. In 2010 she and Friedman decided to separate; they got a civil divorce, but Friedman refused to provide his wife with a get, a religious bill of divorce, which is required under Jewish law to release the wife from the marriage. Epstein thus became an agunah, unable to remarry until her estranged husband grants her the religious divorce.
Epstein’s plight touched the hearts of many in the metropolitan Washington Orthodox community and led to a series of articles condemning Friedman. Her sympathizers held routine demonstrations outside Capitol Hill, where Friedman works as a congressional staff aide to Rep. Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican. Several area Orthodox synagogues decided to boycott Friedman, not allowing him to pray with the congregation until he signs his wife’s get. But despite the protests, Friedman has refused to grant the religious divorce, reportedly in an attempt to use the refusal to leverage his request for changing visiting rights of the couple’s daughter in his favor.
Some rabbinical authorities view the breakthrough that allowed Epstein to remarry as a creative solution. But others condemn it as a violation of Jewish law.
The breakthrough came earlier this fall, when a rabbinic authority in Philadelphia issued a heter, or permission, that annulled Epstein’s marriage based on the claim that Friedman was mentally ill at the time the couple married. The identity of this rabbinical authority was not disclosed, but according to several ultra-Orthodox websites it was likely to have been Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, head of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. In the past, Kamenetsky has worked to resolve Epstein’s situation.
Although the unnamed rabbinical authority was not provided with any professional mental evaluation of Friedman’s condition, the rabbi ruled that had Epstein known of these mental issues in advance, she would never have married Friedman, and therefore the marriage is annulled and Epstein is free to remarry. Annulment, while existing in traditional Jewish law, is a very rare procedure, and according to a source in the Orthodox community, it has never been used in modern times.
Epstein’s marriage to Adam Fleischer in a traditional Jewish ceremony in Memphis was officiated by Rabbi Nota Greenblatt, who is the head of the city’s Orthodox umbrella organization, Vaad Hakehilloth, and is a well known halachic authority.
The controversy that ensued centered on interpretation of religious law rather than on Epstein’s right to be released from her husband. Even those critical of the unusual halachic procedure were, for the most part, sympathetic to Epstein’s plight. They reiterated their call for Friedman to issue a religious divorce.
All parties involved declined to discuss the permission given to Epstein for her subsequent marriage, stating it was a private, personal issue.
Advocates of women’s rights under Jewish law were also cautious about the broader implications of this ruling. “There is a concept of annulment in Jewish law that can be applied in some cases, but I am neutral on this topic,” said Rabbi Jeremy Stern, executive director of the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot, an organization established to help chained women be set free. Stern said his group focuses on the need for divorced men to provide their ex-wives with a get.
Many rabbis argue that Epstein’s resort to what they view as a questionable procedure is inconsistent with Jewish law and will do nothing to solve the problem.
“It is clear at this point that Tamar Epstein is still married to Aharon Friedman — because the heter she received to remarry is a sad joke based on a clear corruption and misuse of halachic principles,” wrote Rabbi Dovid Eidensohn, one of the ultra-Orthodox community’s leading voices on issues of marriage.
Furthermore, rabbis who oppose the move are now working to sign up as many rabbinical voices as possible in the Orthodox community, to ensure that, in the future, the community does not accept Epstein’s annulment and the use of the practice.
“Until now, there were a few attempts” by rabbis to annul marriages, Feldman wrote. But they changed nothing, “because the protest of our rabbis silenced them.” But this time is different. “Now, this permission is coming from an important and significant rabbi, and if we do not protest, our pact will come apart,” Feldman warned.


The Maryland teenager who terrorized his high school used his father's handgun to shoot a girl he'd just broken up with and another classmate, investigators said Wednesday.
Austin Wyatt Rollins, 17, was later killed when he traded shots with the school resource officer at Great Mills High School, they said.
"Rollins and the female victim had a prior relationship that recently ended," the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "The handgun utilized by Rollins in the shooting was legally owned by Rollins' father."
Rollins' alleged target, 16-year-old Jaelynn Willey, remains in critical condition at a local hospital. But a 14-year-old boy who happened to be in a hallway when Rollins opened fire was released after being treated for a gunshot wound to the leg.
It was not clear how the teenager, who lived in Lexington Park, Maryland, got hold of his father's weapon or what make or caliber it is.
The Maryland shooting happened as a national debate is underway on how best to protect students from gun-toting attackers. It was rekindled by the Valentine’s Day massacre of 17 students and staffers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The quick response of St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Deputy Blaine Gaskill, who had been assigned to the school last year, stands in stark contrast to that of Parkland school safety officer Scot Peterson, who resigned amid reports that he went AWOL when the shooting started.
The National Rifle Association has been quick to point to Gaskill as proof that armed guards and teachers are a better deterrent than gun control. But Gaskill faced a teenager armed with a handgun, not a rifle like the Parkland shooter.
Nevetheless, what Gaskill is reported to have done is extremely rare.
The Washington Post, which has done an analysis of dozens of school shootings, reported Wednesday that Gaskill would only be the second school resource officer to kill an active shooter since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.
In the aftermath of the Parkland mass killing, President Donald Trump has called for arming teachers — an idea praised by the NRA and dismissed as a “colossally stupid idea” by many educators and school safety advocates.
Still, Florida Gov. Rick Scott last month inked a new law that defied the NRA by raising the age to buy all firearms to 21 and imposed other gun-buying restrictions — but also allowed trained school workers and teachers to arm themselves.
Meanwhile, Gaskill got a shout out Wednesday from Stephen Willeford, who was praised in November after he fatally shot the gunman who'd killed 26 people at a Texas church in Sutherland Springs.
In a telephone interview with NBC News, Willeford said he would “be honored to shake the hand" of Gaskill.
“He’s another good guy with a gun,” he said, repeating a phrase that is part of the NRA's mantra about armed citizens being the only thing "that can stop a bad guy with a gun."
Willeford is not likely to get any argument on the good guy part from Gaskill’s boss, Sheriff Tim Cameron, or Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. Both have praised the 34-year-old “tough guy” for putting his own life on the line Tuesday.
“While it’s still tragic, he may have saved other people’s lives,” Hogan said of Gaskill in the aftermath of Tuesday’s shooting.
Gaskill has yet to make a public statement.
Willeford's brush with fame came after he pursued Texas church shooter Devin Patrick Kelly and shot him dead. He used a rifle similar to the Ruger AR-556 that Kelley used to commit the massacre.
It was later revealed that Willeford was a longtime NRA gun instructor — so the powerful gun lobby, which has been fighting attempts to ban such weapons, was quick to dub him as their kind of hero.
They did the same for Gaskill on Tuesday.
Willeford, who recently was the guest of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Tex., at the State of the Union address in January, has done only sporadic interview since the Nov. 5 tragedy that pulled him from obscurity.
His lawyer, Pamela Thompson of San Antonio, said that’s mostly been by design.


Labyrinths of Memory (Matahat El-Zakirah) play will be performed several times over three days at Osiris art space, the same location that hosted the play in December 2015.
Directed by Nora Amin, the interactive performance transforms the entirety of Osiris’ space, its hallway, rooms and kitchen, to function as an unusual stage with separate performances on every part of it.
The different spaces offer distinctive stage sets that match certain memories that were drawn from participants in an acting workshop held earlier by Amin at Osiris.
“Shut in alone with each of the actors in turn, listening to him or her and engaging in an intimate exchange of memories, each member of the audience becomes actively involved in shaping the encounter,” theatre critic Nehad Seleiha wrote of the work in Al-Ahram Weekly.
Labyrinths of Memory stars Shehab Ibrahim, Mohamed Abo El Yazeed, Maha Omran, Ahmed Gamal, Nada Abdallah, Ahmed El-Sawy, Ahmed Abdallah, Mohamed Abaza, Karim Refaat and Hend El-Shimy.


The stock of State-owned manganese-ore mining company MOIL is down by about 12 per cent in the last month. This seems to be largely on account of lower-than-estimated sales volumes and realisations in the December 2018 quarter. Though the total sales volumes were down by 3 per cent Y-o-Y to 8.37 lakh tonne, revenue and operating profit grew at a healthy 11 per cent and 20 per cent to ₹332 crore and ₹185 crore respectively, aided by reduced costs.
Net profit for the quarter stood at ₹120 crore, 16 per cent higher Y-o-Y.
While realisations of non-fines and fines increased 8 per cent and 4 per cent Y-o-Y, it remained flat over the previous quarter. The company has announced price cuts over the last two months across various grades to boost sales in the fourth quarter of FY19. Demand for manganese ore, a key input for steel, will be impacted if the outlook for the latter turns weak.


The design, which features a 452-bedroom hotel plus apartments, was approved by the authority last week but must now win a green-light from the London mayor’s office.
Denise Hyland, Greenwich Council’s member for regeneration, enterprise and skills, said: ‘This will be the first four-star hotel east of Tower Bridge on this side of the river.
The project on the Greenwich Penionsula features a 3,000m² event space with capacity for 3,000 people and a green ‘living roof’.
The proposed hotel will feature a 3,000m² event space with dramatic views of the O2 arena – formerly the Millennium Dome.
It is thought the clear-span ballroom (40m x 75m) would be the largest bespoke space of its kind in London.
The scheme for developer AEG Europe is for a site on the north-western tip of the Greenwich Peninsula.
As hotel designs go this one is pretty uninteresting. I know I am being very critical but surly for a brand new concept Hotel & Event space this needs to have the "WOW" factor. It will follow in the footstep of the unimaginative millennium dome.
Somethings been nagging me for years - a suitable adjective for that dome thing. Ta, that fits the bill as the concept marries nicely with the "peninsular". Lord Love us, error on error and now someones tossing some mass cubes together and calling it a hotel.
Yep, wonderful, way to go.
Call me cynical, but I'm thinking you wouldn't be so enthusiastic justfacades if it was to be a hotel made out of cheese, .. yeah try making a facade out of that justfacdes.


Stamford's Old Town Hall Redevelopment Agency this week chose Nov. 19 for the opening ceremony for the renovated Old Town Hall building.
Both Mayor Dannel Malloy and the new mayor elected that week are expected to be in attendance. Plans also include local high school band performance. Not long after the ribbon-cutting, the building, which has been closed since 1987, will be open to the public.
An earlier plan to hold a large outdoor party downtown to commemorate the completed restoration was scrapped due to costs and timing. Agency members are considering turning part of the building into a museum.
Educational assistants, city school district employees who work with special education students and in kindergarten classrooms, would be renamed para-educators under a proposal Stamford's Board of Education is considering.
On Tuesday, the board's Labor Committee approved a revised job description, which focuses more on the employees' skill set and the job's caring and nurturing aspects, said Denise Gagne, the school district's executive director of human capital development.
The scheduled closure of Westport's Saugatuck post office has been delayed until Sept. 5, according the United States Postal Service.
The post office had been set to close Saturday due to environmental and safety concerns, a postal service spokeswoman has said. The delay was due to difficulty arranging the move of a temporary trailer location for post office boxes, according to a USPS statement.
Saugatuck post office box customers will be able to pick up mail from a trailer in the parking lot at 20 Saugatuck Ave., near the Fast Stop Convenience Shop, beginning Sept. 8. Mail will be available at the trailer Mondays through Fridays, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays from 7a.m. to 1 p.m. Other postal transactions, including stamp sales and package shipments can be made in at Fast Stop, a contracted postal service provider.
Westport First Selectman Gordon F. Joseloff and U.S. Congressman Jim Himes had written to the postmaster general Wednesday stating dissatisfaction with the sudden closure of the Westport office.
Stamford police chased several men in the city's Cove neighborhood early Thursday morning after catching them breaking into unlocked cars.
Police recovered a bag -- discarded by the thieves -- containing about $1,000 worth of valuables, including two GPS devices, a Sony Playstation console and several pairs of sunglasses stolen from cars, according to Stamford Police Lt. Sean Cooney.
Officers responded at 1:30 a.m. to Horton Street on a report of four young men stealing valuables from cars in the area.
A Darien Police Department dog searched the area for more than a half hour, tracking a scent to the Willowbrook Court condominium complex without success, Cooney said.


Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) today announced details for its upcoming five-day Worldwide Developers Conference starting June 9. The show, to be held at San Francisco’s Moscone center, will kick off with a keynote by CEO Steve Jobs. But most importantly, for the first time, the event will feature an iPhone track for mobile developers interested in sessions and hands-on labs time with the OS X iPhone 2.0 software, iPhone SDK and soon-to-be released App Store. Release.
At the show, many people expect Jobs to take the stage and unveil the highly anticipated 3G iPhone, which is rumored to be black and have new features, such as GPS. But the phone will likely only be an incremental improvement over the first one. What will provide a larger impact to the mobile industry is the software on the phone — the Apple SDK, the availability of enterprise features, such as Microsoft’s (NSDQ: MSFT) ActiveSync, and the App store, which will provide mobile developers a new business model and distribution network for their goods. At a March press conference, Apple said it would officially launch these features in June.
Coincidentally, the company’s stock hit $190 for the first time since January 4, reports Barron’s. That means the stock has recovered almost completely since declining from $198 at year-end to an intra-day low at $115.44 on February 26.


This dashcam video shows what can go wrong if you’re lazy and you don’t clear that huge block of snow and ice off of the roof of your car—it can fly off and crush the car behind you.
The poor Saab driving behind one such lazy driver had its windshield smashed in while the driver was distracted by a riveting discussion of the dangers of ISIS.
Indeed, ice is the greatest threat to America at the moment. Or at least our windshields.


San Francisco, as everyone who lives there knows, is a city desperate for more space. But making due with a small lot can sometimes lead to amazing things—like this 1,900-square-foot home designed by Craig Steely.
The one-year-old house is built atop a 24 foot by 24 foot concrete garage, perched above San Francisco's Dolores Park. The three-story home is actually quite small, but a number of clever details make it seem expansive—from pivoting windows to the operable wood louvers that reappear around the home.
Around the time the house was being designed, the new on-ramp to the Golden Gate Bridge was under construction which necessitated clearing a grove of Monterey Cypress trees in it's path from the Presidio. We secured some of these trees and working with a local milling shop turned them into 90 solid wood louvers.


The �unofficial� track season for Oregon�s De�Anthony Thomas actually began about five yards short of the goal line on his game-opening kickoff return for a touchdown in the Fiesta Bowl.
That was when the running back for the UO football team decided to dip his head and lean across the goal line as if he was breaking the tape at the finish line of a 100-meter race.
On Saturday, Thomas made it official.
Despite a cold and drizzly afternoon at the Oregon Preview, he dazzled a crowd of 4,402 at Hayward Field with three victories as the Ducks kicked off the 2013 outdoor track and field season.
There was also an American record in the 2,000-meter steeplechase by Oregon Track Club Elite�s Bridget Franek, and the Ducks� Liz Brenner made her track and field debut in the javelin, her fourth varsity sport at Oregon.
Thomas opened by anchoring the 4x100-meter relay to a meet record of 40.35 seconds. He teamed with two other football players � Dior Mathis and B.J. Kelley � plus Arthur Delaney to break the mark of 40.46 set by Oregon in 1992.
For an encore, Thomas easily won the 100 with an all-conditions personal best of 10.31. He was aided by a tailwind of 2.1 meters per second, just above the legal limit of 2.0, or he would have moved into the seventh spot on the all-time UO list.
Thomas closed out his day with another dominant performance in the 200. He hit the tape in 21.17, followed by Mathis at 21.30.
Will Thomas and his football buddies be able to run track this year and still take care of their spring football responsibilities?
UO track and field coach Robert Johnson took note of Thomas� times under less than ideal conditions with little or no practice in a season-opening meet in mid-March.
Brenner, the second-team all-American outside hitter for the NCAA runner-up volleyball team who also has played basketball and softball at Oregon, wasn�t too thrilled with her third-place finish in the javelin at 141 feet, 5 inches.
However, it was her first time competing in that event since she was a senior at Jesuit High School in 2011. She had two practices leading up to the Preview.
Franek broke the U.S. record in the 2,000 steeplechase at 6:19.09, eclipsing the old mark of 6:20.66 set by Carrie Messner in 2007. The OTC Elite also got wins from Julia Lucas in the women�s 3,000 (9:21.91), Hassan Mead in the men�s 3,000 (7:58.43), and Ben Blankenship in the mile (3:48.57).
As for the Ducks, sophomore Johnathan Cabral set a meet record in the 110 high hurdles (13.68) and junior Laura Bobek moved up to No. 5 on the all-time list in the discus with a lifetime best of 172-6.
Freshman Alyssa Monteverde swept the 100 hurdles (14.05) and 400 hurdles (64.83); freshman Greg Skipper won the hammer with a 6-foot PR at 210-10; Delaney won the men�s 400 (47.84); junior English Gardner won the women�s 400 (54.31) and junior Parker Stinson bounced back from knee tendinitis to take second in the 3,000 (8:02.32).
Alexa Efraimson, a high school sophomore from Camas, Wash., won the women�s 1,500 with a fast time of 4:19.54, and UO alum Britney Henry took the hammer throw at 206-7. Oregon State�s Michele Turney set a school record in the triple jump by finishing second at 38-6?1/4.


Michelle Morris was surprised when her mom handed her the May 24th issue of Sports Illustrated and she saw her name and face staring back at her with a small write-up.
Sports Illustrated included Morris in a "Faces in the Crowd" segment. The item chronicled how the La Cañada High graduate propelled the University of Georgia to win the NCAA Varsity Equestrian National Championship during a sudden-death ride-off.
"It's always our goal to get to that point and win the national championship," Morris said. "It was the most intense thing I have ever been through in my entire life. It was so exciting and a great way to end it, obviously."
When Morris was told she would be riding in the sudden-death ride-off to help the Georgia Bulldogs to a possible win in the national championship, she showed poise and came through, said Meghan Boenig, Morris' coach at Georgia.
"I'm sure she was panicking somewhere, but she never showed it," Boenig said. "She was able to go out there and beat her opponent by 30 points, which gave Texas A&M no chance to come back. It gave our whole team a huge breath."
Somehow it got even better for Morris. Not only was she a part of a championship-winning team, but she also won the individual title in the event.
"The individual was actually really unexpected," Morris said. "It was something I knew was possible throughout the year, but it wasn't one of my main goals because it's almost as if you think about it — it doesn't happen. You just have to keep being consistent throughout the year."
This all sounds like the perfect ending to a dramatic senior season, but it's not. Morris, who turned 21 on June 20, was only a sophomore, and has two more years at Georgia.
Morris began her involvement in the sport by chance. While running errands with her mom, a 7-year old Morris spied a flier for a horse-riding camp, which ended up sparking her equestrian career. After attending the camp she told her mother she wanted to take riding lessons, and her interest evolved from there.
Soon, Morris was with a trainer in Chatsworth and at 13 she began training with Karen Healy in Thousand Oaks, who she still works with today. Healy's training reinforces the basics of riding and was influential in getting her experience in shows, Morris said.
That is important at the college level because Morris is always riding a different horse. Often, she has to focus so much on controlling different horses with different personalities and tendencies that she has little time to worry about her skills. The experience Healy has given Morris has proven priceless.
"I remember [Healy] telling my parents, 'the more you get into the show ring, the less the nerves are going to be and it will just become second nature,' " Morris said. "Training with her has helped me out a lot with that."
Morris graduated from La Cañada in 2008 and was a member of the Interscholastic Equestrian League. It was through her participation in IEL that she decided to ride in college because the team-aspect appealed to her.
After deciding she wanted to ride in college during her junior year, Morris prepared a recruiting tape and sent it to the four big riding schools in the NCAA: Georgia, the University of South Carolina, Auburn and Texas A&M. NCAA rules state coaches cannot contact players until July 1 before their senior year in high school.
"Literally, that day, July 1, the coach from Georgia called me and said she loved my tape and invited me to come out for a recruiting visit," Morris said.
During her recruiting visit, Morris saw all that Georgia had to offer, and it was everything she wanted in a school: a big campus, an elite football program in the South East Conference and a great telecommunications program. The Bulldogs made Morris a great scholarship offer and she signed her letter of intent.
"I am so happy with my decision," Morris said. "It is everything I wanted in a college experience."
Georgia and Boenig are also happy with her decision, as she was named the Most Valuable Player of her team in 2010.
Not only is Morris a great rider for the Bulldogs, who knows how to push the envelope and impress the judges, but she is a leader as well, Boenig said. She works with the program's freshmen to let them know what to expect during practices and shows.
"[Morris] is a technician out there," Boenig said. "She knows exactly how to get a little bit more out of each maneuver and has an incredible feel for whatever horse she is riding. She can get more out of any horse than other riders."
Now the question is: How does Morris improve on her sophomore season where she won nearly every major award available to her?
"She wants to continue to be a powerhouse," Boenig said. "I'm going to ask for her to take on a bigger leadership role on the team next year."
Morris said she will continue to concentrate on the goal she's always had of staying consistent in every competition; something she believes is one of the hardest things to do in any collegiate sport.
"Honestly, I don't know how it could be any better," Morris said. "But if the next two years I am there we are able to win the team championship again that would just be fantastic."
The problem is Morris will face a new challenge next year, as opponents will be gunning for her.
"It isn't going to be an easy road next year because people are going to remember her," Boenig said. "She has become a moving target and she has to keep moving to stay on top because they are coming back stronger and better prepared for her."


Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has doled out sops and freebies to dalits, backward classes, minorities and economically weaker sections, considered the Congress’ vote bank, in the 2014-15 budget ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections. For urbanites, the budget was a raw deal as neither big projects were announced to improve living conditions, nor employment opportunities created.
The budget proposal presented in the Assembly on Friday had no major programmes for asset creation or new flagship schemes. At the same time, Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, did not impose any fresh tax on the common man despite a shortfall in revenue to the tune of Rs 3,716 crore in the current fiscal.
In an effort to blunt the influence of the Aam Aadmi Party in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah announced that a separate anti-corruption legislation will be enacted in the State on the lines of the Centre’s Lokpal Act. He has not honoured his promise to provide free laptops to PUC students, though SC/ST students of professional courses will get the gadget.
Siddaramaiah restrained from imposing fresh taxes on commodities. He also left stamp and registration levies and motor vehicle taxes by and large untouched. However, prices of beer and liquor will go up.
Siddaramaiah hiked additional excise duty on beer by 13 percentage points and imposed a 5.5-per cent Value Added Tax on spirits served in bars, clubs and star hotels in urban areas. VAT was being imposed on liquor for the first time, a move that would fetch the exchequer an additional Rs 200 crore per annum. The additional excise duty on beer will fetch another Rs 100 crore. These were the two only additional resource mobilisation measures (ARM) in the budget.
Interestingly, the budget proposal and ARM measures will come into effect from March 1. Traditionally, new budget proposals come into effect from the start of the financial year, April 1.
Siddaramaiah increased grants to the SC/STs under various departments from Rs 8,614 crore to Rs 15,834 crore. The biggest sop in the budget was the Rs 2,718-crore loan waiver scheme for 11.41 lakh beneficiaries who had secured loans for constructing houses under the Ashraya programme.


The indictments against a Pineville brother and sister in a triple murder case provide a few more details in the October case in which the three bodies were found in two spots during one day.
The indictments against a Pineville brother and sister in a triple-murder case provide a few more details in the October case in which the three bodies were found in two spots during one day.
Matthew Sonnier and Ebony Nicole Sonnier will be arraigned on Dec. 12 after indictments, formal charges alleging a serious crime, were returned against them last week. Both are suspects in the deaths of Latrice Renee White, Jeremy Deon Norris and Kendrick Dwann Horn.
Rapides Parish District Attorney Phillip Terrell said Wednesday that his office intends to seek the death penalty for Matthew. A decision hasn't been made regarding the case with Ebony, he said.
The bodies of all three victims were found on one day — Oct. 18 — in two different locations. White's body was found lying on Melrose Street in Pineville. The 42-year-old woman had been stabbed and thrown from a car.
Hours later, the bodies of Norris, 28, and Horn, 33, were found on fire in a ditch on Old Boyce Road outside of Alexandria.
The siblings were arrested and charged within a week. Law enforcement officials were tight-lipped when announcing the arrests, but the indictments against the pair provide a few more details into what officials believe happened.
"I don't want to go into any detail about evidence and how much evidence we have, and get into the facts of the case that might hinder the DA with his prosecution of this case because it is a very, very serious case," said Rapides Parish Sheriff William Earl Hilton at a press conference announcing the Sonniers' arrests. "There's gonna be a lot of court in front of us to get this through the system and to get these people convicted and bring justice to them and to the community."
Matthew, 29, was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of obstruction of justice. Ebony, 31, was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and two counts of obstruction of justice.
The second-degree murder charge against Ebony is for White's death.
The counts from both indictments concerning White and Horn state that the siblings "had the specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm upon a victim who was a witness to a crime" for the purpose of preventing their testimony in a criminal action or proceeding.
The indictment against Matthew alleges that he killed Norris, also known as "Apple," during an armed robbery or attempted armed robbery "while engaged in the distribution and exchange or an attempt thereof of a controlled dangerous substance."
Ebony was a principal to Norris' murder, alleges the indictment against her.
The obstruction of justice charges accuse both of removing the bodies of Norris and Horn from wherever the homicides happened, "cleaning and attempting to clean the blood and firearms evidence from inside a blue Dodge Dakota truck" and then wrapping both bodies in material from an above-ground swimming pool.
The indictments continue that the pool material was secured to the bodies with cables and that both bodies were set fire on Old Boyce Road.
Attorneys from the Louisiana Capital Defense Project now are listed as representing Matthew in Rapides Parish Clerk of Court records. Two motions already have been filed in the case, including one to reduce bond that also is scheduled to be heard on Dec. 12.
Hugo Holland, who prosecutes death penalty cases across Louisiana, is representing the state, according to the records.
According to the clerk's website, Ebony does not have an attorney yet.
Both remain in the Rapides Parish Detention Center. Bond was set for Ebony at $913,600, but she is being held without bond on the two first-degree murder charges.
Matthew also is being held without bond on the three murder charges.


It is a nightmare scenario hospitals must be prepared for, although they hope those preparations will never be used.
On Monday, that nightmare came to Kingston General Hospital when the sound of gunshots shattered the normal hum of the busy hospital.
Millhaven Penitentiary inmate Corey Ward is alleged to have disarmed a correctional officer and fired his gun, wounding the visiting family member of a patient in the leg. Ward has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and a review has been launched.
In response to the shooting, the hospital declared Code Silver, which is designed to alert staff to the existence of a person with a weapon in the hospital and to set off planned emergency procedures.
Code Silver is the latest colour code that is part of hospital emergency preparedness. It was introduced by the Ontario Hospital Association in 2016, 25 years after a standardized system of colour codes, including Code Orange for an external disaster and Code Red for a fire, was introduced.
Code Silver is, to a certain extent, a sign of the times, with a steady increase in gun violence across the country.
Willmore is currently working on modules to train employees at The Ottawa Hospital on what to do in the event of a Code Silver.
Hospital shootings remain rare in Canada, although that is not the case in the United States. Between 2010 and 2011, there were 154 hospital-based shootings in the U.S., according to one study. Numbers have most likely increased since then.
On Monday, while Kingston General was dealing with Code Silver, a police officer, a doctor and a pharmacy resident were all shot at Chicago’s Mercy Hospital.
“This is a rather rare event, but not so rare that we can’t pay attention to it,” said Willmore. In fact, he noted, there has been a steady rise in gun violence in Canada — especially in Ontario — in recent years.
Kingston is not the first Canadian hospital to be shattered by gunfire. In Cobourg a man shot his wife and then was shot by police at the local hospital in 2017. There have been several other shootings in hospitals across the province in recent years, including in Fort Erie and Northumberland.
The Ottawa Hospital, which held a Code Orange training exercise last week based on the scenario of a mass shooting in the community, is, like other hospitals, preparing for a possible shooting within one of its campuses.
Willmore is working on a 15- to 20-minute simulation module that staff in various departments can do. The exercise gives staff a scenario involving an active shooter in the hospital and takes them through what they should do.
The reality of active shooters, though, is that there are few things people can do to remain safe.
The options are limited to running, hiding or trying to survive by whatever means possible, Willmore said. That could include fashioning weapon out of equipment in the hospital to try to disarm the shooter. The scenario also raises potentially difficult ethical questions — including whether to remain with a patient who is unable to hide.
Dr. Alan Drummond, an emergency physician at the Perth hospital and co-chair of public affairs for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, said there is growing alarm about violence against staff in hospitals, including gun violence.


Claude Isaacs and Eric Roubbi, two French nationals accused of killing Lee Zeitouni in a hit-and-run case in Tel Aviv last September said Thursday that a trial held in Israel would be unfair.
Michel Apelbaum, one of Roubbi’s lawyers, spoke to Haaretz following the publication of French First Lady Carla Bruni’s letter to the Zeitouni family to argue that the case should not become an international media circus, and instead should be moved into a French court, rather than an Israeli one.
According to Apelbaum, the accused want to be judged in France, but that no trial can go forward since the Israeli authorities have not made a request for France to look into the case.
“We need to be very clear on one point — and this point is that the Israeli government has not asked the French government to take any jurisdictional action against my client. If they really wanted to see this case in front of a judge, they could ask the French minister of justice to take action against these men. But the Israeli government has not done this until now,” Apelbaum said.
This story "Men Charged in Tel Aviv Hit and Run Want French Trial" was written by Haaretz.


Over the Cool & Dre production, Joey Crack references his 2002 hit “What’s Luv?” and raps about Donald Trump and Kanye West (“What’s Trump without a little of Kanye?”).
Breezy provides the radio-ready hook, singing about a girl who’s chasing clout. “Now you’re callin’ me for attention, feenin’ for attention / Say you’re looking for that action,” he sings, while Dre drops some rhymes of his own.
In addition to collaborating with Fat Joe, Chris is readying a duet with Agnez Mo and a joint album with Rich the Kid.


The robbers, precise as they were about meeting the two Brinks security guards on the 11th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:30 A.M., were a little fuzzier about their exit from the building once the money was in their hands.
As they left, half a dozen security cameras captured images of their unmasked faces for posterity.
And as Brooklyn boys universally disliked in their neighborhood, their decision to return there proved calamitous. Before the sun had set, friends and neighbors by the dozens were calling police hot lines, hoping to collect a $26,000 reward for the thieves' capture.
Melvin Desmond Folk was the first to fall, turned in by his wife, according to police investigators. Michael Reed came next, handcuffed in the home of an elderly acquaintance who was feeding him cookies.
And the lone holdout, Richard Gillette, has three law enforcement agencies in hot pursuit as well as a host of civilian trackers hoping to win the crime-stoppers lottery.


The final group of Irish peacekeepers to serve in Chad arrived back in Dublin this afternoon.
For the first time in three decades, there are now no large Irish battalions serving overseas.
The 186 soldiers were met at Dublin airport by the Minister for Defence Tony Killeen and the acting Chief of Staff, Major General Dave Ashe.
The troops were also given an enthusiastic reception by their families.
Irish soldiers have been serving on four-month tours of duty in Chad for the past two years.
But at Easter, the Government decided to end the mission because of uncertainty over the UN mandate.
An earlier group of 200 peacekeepers returned from Chad over a week ago.
A small group of 11 will remain to serve at the force headquarters in Chad but they will not be on operational duties.
There is provision for 850 Irish troops to serve abroad at any one time.
But with the recent end of the mission in Kosovo and now Chad, only a few dozen soldiers will be on foreign postings.
Minister Killeen said Ireland’s commitment to peacekeeping remains very strong and he expects invitations to serve abroad in the future.
General Ashe said the Defence Forces would use the time ahead to gather their resources and prepare for any future mission, though he said there are none on the horizon at the moment.


SACRAMENTO — Returning to his alma mater, C.K. McClatchy High School, Attorney General Xavier Becerra stood in front of students, parents and cameras Tuesday night to deliver the Democratic response to the State of the Union in Spanish.
“It says to other students that it does not matter where you come from, how humble your background may be, you can reach those dreams through hard work,” said C.K. McClatchy Principal Peter Lambert.
Having sued the Trump administration 45 times over varying issues, the attorney general is used to being at odds with the president. His speech was expected to be no exception.
“He is the symbol of resistance in California,” said CALmatters columnist Dan Walters.
Walters said we should expect immigration and health care to be top focuses for Becerra’s rebuttal.
“He’ll be talking about immigration, seeing himself as kind of the embodiment of the American dream. His parents were immigrants from Mexico,” Walters told FOX40.
While Tuesday night’s speeches are mostly symbolic, Walters says talking points will be geared toward party agendas for the presidential election.
As for students watching in the audience, just seeing an alumnus from their school on the national stage is a point of pride.
The attorney general’s speech was not the first time a State of the Union response was delivered in Spanish, as well as English. The first time that happened was back in 2011.
It is an honor to be here with you from C.K. McClatchy High School in the City of Sacramento, the capital of the State of California. I am here with future leaders of our country — McClatchy students — where I also studied, but about four decades ago!
My parents began their life together in the United States for the same reason that many other families come to this country: to work hard and give their children a better life. Upon leaving Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, they brought with them their faith and not much else. They trusted in the promise of this country that all those who work hard and play by the rules, have earned the opportunity to get ahead.
I know I am the product of those who fought to open the doors of opportunity. The optimism – that characterizes the waves of immigrants who have come here – runs through my blood. And if the state of our nation can be characterized as “strong,” it is because people like my parents and yours — citizens or immigrant — built this country.
There is no other country like the United States.
The world needs us strong and ready. The world looks to us as a leader and partner.
How can it be, then, that our young, rich, and strong nation finds itself in a state of disorder, stress, hostility?
How can it be that what defines the state of our country in 2019 is the shutdown of the government at the hands President Trump? And not only once, but perhaps a second time in the coming weeks.
It shouldn’t surprise us that the majority of people here in the United States think that the country is moving in the wrong direction. And that four out of 10 Americans believe that this is the worst government that they have seen in their life.
If President Trump wanted to seriously advance comprehensive immigration reform, including border security, Democrats are and have been ready. But closing our government — and leaving hundreds of thousands of workers without work or pay — is not that way to do it.
We are ready to reject this foolish proposal, in court, the moment it touches the ground.
1. They are also putting a wall between you and your doctor, dictating what services you can receive. That is why my fellow Attorneys General and I defend, in court, people like Elizabeth from Florida. Having healthcare coverage allowed her to complete university and ensured that her husband had coverage to defeat cancer. And now, Elizabeth is an attorney.
2. Also the Trump Administration — they are putting a wall between you and the voting booth. But I have news for you here: They failed! During the November elections, Latinos, especially young people, came out to vote in historic numbers! Thank you!
3. What else? They are also putting a wall between our veterans and their medical services. They are ready to waste millions of dollars on a border wall instead of helping our veterans who deal with long delays in hospitals.
4. And they’re also building a wall between parents and their children, by putting children in cages that separate them from their families.
Now that you see your power, are you ready to open new doors?
Don’t you think that it is already the time that we in our government build schools, not walls? Then, get those hands ready to vote in the next election!
Our system of government rewards the participation of everyone. And with 66,000 Latino citizens reaching 18 years of age, the voting age, every month, we have many hands to reward.
And comprehensive immigration reform to fix our broken system: Check! Check! Check!
In the courts and in Congress, or at the polls, we have to fight for our agenda. That is why I have fought as Attorney General in court against the President’s Administration and we are winning!
1. In protecting the DACA program, we fought and won for 700,000 young people.
2. In protecting the Affordable Care Act, we are the protagonists. More than four million Latinos depend on the ACA for their health insurance.
3. In protecting college students against fraudulent loans, we fought and won for thousands of them.
Over the years, they have reaped the fruits of their labor and dedication to their family. There is no doubt that the ‘State of the Union’ of Maria Teresa and Manuel Becerra is strong and resilient.
If you asked my parents what is the state of our Nation, I am sure they would paint an image more real than what President Trump presented tonight. They know what it means to work hard and to respect the rules.
And they know well that to stay strong as a united people, we have to work together and push those heavy doors open so that all our children – like the students from CK McClatchy – can walk through them, and have an opportunity.
Whether it’s with marches on the streets or marches to the polling booths, with fights in the court or through Congress, we will do what’s needed to ensure a strong and vibrant national Union.
Friends, with faith and the strength of our labor, and respecting the diverse contributions of the American people, the United States will continue to be the home of the American Dream.
Thank you. Good night and may God bless you.


Someone taped a Kim Kardashian selfie to a treadmill in Bushwick. We're not sure why.
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We have an entire generation of folks who have no idea how to change the own oil in the car.
When one of my grandkids asked me if I could sew a button on for her, I was amazed. Don’t you have a needle and thread I asked? No, she told me and I am not sure how to do it if I did.
I wondered if my eighth grade sewing teacher, Mrs. Barnes, was rolling over in her grave. I can remember hemming a tea towel over and over again when I was in school because I couldn’t get the stitches even enough to please her.
When I think how many things my grandkids have never learned, I realized I was glad that sewing was a requirement when I was in junior high school. It was certainly a pain at the time, but it gave me a skill I may never have had otherwise.
And while no one has ever asked me to prepare a Rosy Apple Compote, I remember that was one of the first requirements in my cooking class. Our cooking teacher also taught us the presentation was as important as the food itself.
We had to prepare a special breakfast for Easter and I added a little red and blue food coloring to my scrambled eggs. My teacher was very impressed and I got an A, probably the only one I got in that class.
My dad was much less overwhelmed when I prepared my special dish for him on Easter morning. He thought it was the most disgusting mess he had ever seen and looked more like liver than eggs. Needless to say, I didn’t cook for my dad again until after I was married.
And I can’t remember which class I was in when I was in high school, but one of my teachers taught us all how to balance a checkbook. I have discovered that is a lost art. Even my own kids bank online and accept whatever the bank says as their balances. I am still not that trusting.
I’m not sure how long ago schools stopped teaching basic life skills, but it’s a shame they did. We have an entire generation of folks who have no idea how to change their own oil in the car. Of course, most people would rather have someone else do that anyway.
But what if the handle on your toilet breaks? Do you really need to call a handy-man for such a simple fix? I’m not one to preach about repairs. If it can’t be fixed with Duct tape or Super Glue, I am lost. But I can sure iron a crisp white dress shirt.
I know I am somewhat of an anachronism, but we Baby Boomers may be the last generation that was prepared to take care of ourselves. Hopefully, at some point, the millennials will realize there is no app that can do the laundry, sew, cook and create a budget. Maybe those chores will have to be revisited.


As of June 1, experts from the Ministry of Tourism will start independent checks of hotels and restaurants on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. This was announced in Varna today by Minister Nikolina Angelkova, where she had a working meeting with the control authorities for the preparations for the beginning of the season.
Last summer, the Ministry of Tourism remained in the shadow of Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov, who, together with tax inspectors, closed down bars with violations.
With recent amendments to the Tourism Act adopted last week, however, the Ministry of Tourism now has the right to control tourist sites. The strengthened control functions of the tourist office provide for a control unit to inspect persons providing tourist services and their sites. They will be able to draft protocols, send them to the CPC for ex-post control and sanctions.
The change was due to the numerous reports of violations addressed to the Ministry of Tourism. Until now, only the CPC, at the request of the Ministry of Tourism, could take away the category of accommodation, which put the ministry in a "tied hands" situation.


The United States Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, says that the US cannot afford to wait for conclusive proof of Saddam Hussein's weapons programs before it attacks Iraq.
He equated the reluctance of America's allies to get involved with the appeasement of Nazi Germany.
His most outspoken remarks on Iraq to date appeared to be a deliberate move by the Bush Administration to ratchet up the anti-Saddam rhetoric in the face of scepticism at home and abroad.
Speaking of Nazi Germany, Mr Rumsfeld told Fox News on Tuesday: "Think of all the countries that said, 'Well, we don't have enough evidence'.
"I mean Mein Kampf had been written. Hitler had indicated what he intended to do. Maybe he won't attack us. Maybe he won't do this or that. Well, there were millions of people dead because of the miscalculations."
He said the risk of a terrorist attack with a biological, chemical or nuclear weapon was so high, that the US could not wait for more evidence before acting.
In another development, intelligence officials on Tuesday said at least a handful of senior members of al-Qaeda had taken refuge in Iraq.
Iraq has often been cited by US officials as a haven for al-Qaeda fighters who have fled the US military campaign in Afghanistan.
"There are some names you'd recognise," a defence official said.
The reports of a more significant al-Qaeda presence in Iraq come as the Pentagon plans for a possible invasion. They also serve President George Bush's arguments for toppling Saddam.
A senior US intelligence official said there was no evidence that Saddam had formally "welcomed in or sheltered" the terrorists.
"They are not the official guests of the Government," another official said. They were largely still "on the run".
But Mr Rumsfeld scoffed at the notion that al-Qaeda's members were hiding in Iraq without the full knowledge or protection of the Government.
Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, said in an interview with CBS News on Tuesday that members of al-Qaeda were operating in the northern part of Iraq and were not under the control of the Iraqi Government.
They were operating under the Kurdish opposition leader, Jallal Tallabani, "an ally of Mr. Rumsfeld".
Meanwhile, General Wesley Clark, NATO's commander during the Kosovo war, has joined the growing ranks of US elder statesmen, including prominent Republicans and former US military commanders, in urging caution about attacking Iraq.
General Clark said on Tuesday that privately even the "hawks" in the US Government acknowledged that Iraq was no threat to America.


The long wait for Tesla's new Model 3 is almost over.
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk will unveil the company's first car for the masses Thursday night. Tesla fans who can't afford the Model S, which costs between $70,000 and $140,000, have eagerly awaited this day for years. The Model 3 will be priced at about $35,000.
Tesla will start taking $1,000 deposits from buyers in stores Thursday morning, and online at 10:30 p.m. ET that night, which is when the car will be unveiled.
But there are still more questions than answers about the Model 3. Here's what we do -- and don't -- know about the car.
When can buyers actually get one?
Tesla expects to start delivering the Model 3 in "late 2017." So even if you're one of the first to reserve one, it'll still be a long wait. And ramping up production can take a while, so it could easily be 2018 before even early buyers can get their hands on a car.
The Model 3 will be more like Tesla's Model S sedan than its Model X crossover. But the company has kept the design under wraps. It definitely won't have the distinctive falcon wing doors of the Model X.
How far will it go on a charge?
The base model Model S has a minimum range of 240 miles, but the Model 3 probably won't go quite as far. The Model 3's battery will be smaller and lighter in order to keep the cost of the car down, and the size of the battery pack is what determines range.
Musk has been quoted as saying 200 miles should be the minimum range for any all-electric car.
At $35,000, the Model 3 will cost about half the price of the base version of the Model S. And buyers will get tax breaks -- there's a $7,500 federal deduction, and some states offer as much as $2,500 in credits. The average price of all new cars today is about $34,000, according to Kelley Blue Book.
What options will it offer?
Musk said in February that Tesla might hold back on some features for the Model 3 to get the car to market faster, having learned a lesson with the much delayed Model X SUV.
"In retrospect, it would have better to do fewer things with the first version of Model X, and then roll in ... new technologies over time," Musk said. "I do think that there was some hubris there with the Model X."
Of course, some of the most talked-about Tesla features cost thousands of dollars. If they're available for a Model 3, they could quickly end the car's claim of being a moderately priced for those who add them.
For example, the "ludicrous mode" that lets the car to go 0 to 60 in only 3 seconds, adds $10,000 to the price of a Model S, and it requires all wheel drive, which adds another $5,000, as well as high performance motors that add $20,000. Autopilot features add another $2,500.


Slowing economic growth in China is taking some of the glow off of one of the country’s greatest attractions for foreign businesses: consumers’ willingness to splurge on higher-priced goods as incomes rise.
Rein is the author of “The End of Copycat China,” “The End of Cheap China,” and “The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order.” Excerpts follow.
Q. What’s your take on China’s economy?
A. It’s much weaker than people realize. Labor markets are bad. Starting in October, it became very difficult for even kids from top universities like Stanford and Columbia to get jobs. When we started our business in 2005, they would graduate from the U.S. in June, they looked for a visa in the United States for three or four months, couldn't get one, and then came back to China. It used to take me a week in order for me to hire someone. I'd have to decide very quickly. Even in August 2018, we’d have to decide in a week. Now, people that I interviewed in October are still looking for jobs. The labor markets collapsed in October.
So from a consumer spending standpoint, that's hitting hard. They're starting to trade down. They're skipping the big-ticket items like houses and cars. They're still travelling overseas, but they're going not so much to America or the UK; they're now going more closer -- so Thailand and Japan. We're very bullish on domestic tourism.
The next thing is they're just trading down in general. So instead of buying a Starbucks latte, they're going to Luckin. Instead of going to Imax movie theaters, they're watching on iQiyi and online videos. So in 2019, the premiumization drive that a lot of people said consumers would do is over, and they're now trading down. A big shift.
Q. What does all of this mean for multinationals? To what extent are multinationals caught up in China's mixed relations with the West?
A. You haven't seen anti-American sentiment on the consumer side except for Apple. Because people feel that the United States is going into hostage diplomacy by arresting (Huawei CFO) Meng Wanzhou, people are supporting Huawei. But, in general, people aren’t buying multinationals’ (goods) not because of the economy and not because they're anti-American. It’s because they're becoming more supportive and more nationalistic when it comes to Chinese brands.
For instance, in 2011, we interviewed 5,000 consumers in 15 cities, and at the time 85% of consumers surveyed always buy a foreign brand over a local brand. In 2016, we did the same research. This time, 60% of consumers said they would always buy a domestic Chinese brand over foreign brand. I didn't even do the research in 2017 or last year.
So Apple's problems in China are not due to the economy. They're not due to anti-American sentiment. They're due to the fact that they're being out competed by Huawei, Oppo and Vivo at a much better price points.
Q. How are multinationals as a group reacting to all of this?
A. They're getting hit very hard. The only brands that are doing well would be heritage brands that have an incredible brand position – a Nike, Chanel, Estee Lauder. Other brands are in confused mode. They think it's the economy, but it's not. They need to adjust. They need to understand that the day Chinese just desire Western brands is over.
Q. How should they adjust?
A. They either need to buy a Chinese firm. They need to either go even more upmarket, in some cases they have to offer more value products.
Q. Any recent examples of a multinational buying a Chinese firm? Multinational?
A. You don't want to go too down. What you want to do is offer more like, “Buy five, get five.” It's more of a value play.
A. The food market is a difficult one because companies are getting hit by Ele.me and Meituan. Anything that's 30 RMB and less is dead, because people can just buy something at half of the price. So you need to try to go more upmarket, be a little bit of premium, a little bit healthier. And then you're able to win. It's not easy.
Q. That's what Yum is trying to do?
A. That's what they're trying to do. I'm very negative on say McDonald's. All these guys earn a lot of trouble. For the first time in about a decade, I'm bullish on instant noodles. People are starting to buy the cheap three or four (yuan) noodles again.
Q. When is this going to end?
A. This is a long time period. The economy is a lot worse than people realize. None of my clients are making a lot of money. If nobody's making money, how on earth are you getting six percent growth？ I just I can't figure it out.
A. There are two things hitting autos. First, prices are so high and people are concerned about their savings, and so they're skipping autos. It's hitting the American brands because of the tariffs. People are buying a Lexus and they're still buying a BMW because China has lowered the tariffs from Germany and Japan, but people are not buying American brands. You saw Ford’s sales dropped 50% year on year in the fourth quarter. And you also have the issue where people to use shared mobility. That's a big trend in China because it's very difficult to buy a license plate. It's expensive. I've never been able to get one. My company has had to buy all of my license plates and they cost $30,000 each. So the American auto manufacturers are in a lot of trouble. They're going to continue to double-digit (sales) drops this year.
Now the second thing is people are hoping for an end of the trade war and they're saying if there is an end to the trade war China might lower the tariffs on cars even more. So people are taking a wait and see attitude to see is it going to be cheaper in three months. And that's what's happened with Tesla. They're waiting for when Tesla opens their factory in China in May, or when they lower their prices which they just did last week by $20,000-30,000. So the market for American autos in China is in trouble because people have no money, or if they have money, they have a wait and see attitude.
Q. What does this shared economy mean for foreign businesses? It’s easy to think of Chinese companies like Didi benefitting and maybe a Geely, which seems to be building up a fleet to supply that sector.
A. It’s too expensive to own a car in China, and a lot of Chinese -- younger Chinese especially -- tell us they don't even want to drive. It's too stressful, too much traffic, too expensive and too much risk of an accident. They'd much rather outsource driving either to a driver or autonomous cars.
Q. Where can foreign companies fit into the shared space?
A. What they can do is sell fleets. But if they sell fleets to the taxi companies, that lowers their brand image. Hyundai did that with the taxi companies; now nobody wants to buy a Hyundai. They could invest in some of the Chinese Internet players and do co-partners partnerships with them.


On June 17, hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent will be stateless.
Last week, I wrote that the Dominican Republic has summarily stripped over a hundred thousand Dominicans born in the DR of Haitian parents of their citizenship and is threatening to deport them to Haiti. And though initial reports suggested that the deadline for deportation might be delayed, it now seems to be going forward as planned: In four days, hundreds of thousands of people in the Western Hemisphere will become stateless.
Where is the US press? Why aren’t they covering it? And why the silence from human-rights groups? The main page of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch has three posts on Venezuela. Nothing on the Dominican Republic. HRW’s director Ken Roth is a prolific voice on Twitter—yet nothing on the topic since November 11, 2014 (but do a Twitter search for @KenRoth and Venezuela and bathe in the stream).
The pope has spoken out, sort of. He told Dominican bishops that they “cannot be indifferent to the plight of Haitian immigrants.” Yet the impending expulsion will not be of immigrants but Dominicans of Haitian descent, born in the Dominican Republic, with family and friends and property and work in the Dominican Republic; many of them have never been to Haiti or know anyone in Haiti (though the Dominican press insists on calling them “Haitians”).
The Dominican government has set up a number of centers where Dominicans of Haitian descent can try to “regularize” their status, and thus avoid being expelled. It’s a charade. The offices are overcrowded, understaffed, and the needed paperwork doesn’t exist (many Dominicans of Haitian descent were born in rural areas, since their parents came to work the sugar fields, with midwifes and not in hospitals, and were therefore never issued birth certificates).
As of the 17th, hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Dominican-Haitians here will be rendered stateless and eligible for summary detention and deportation. The Dominican government maintains that they will not delay implementation of the law, despite pressure from the US, the UN, the OAS, and the Pope.
The government also announced last week that they do not intend to deport those who have already registered for legalization. However, I am documenting dozens of personal accounts from Dominican-Haitians who have gone to great lengths to register, some as much as 8-9 months ago, and as of today have not received any type of confirmation that their paperwork has even been processed. Without confirmation, they are still eligible for deportation. This does not even consider the hundreds of thousands of others who lack birth certificates and thus could not register in the first place.
Given the common practice of nightly police sweeps, the government solicitation of passenger buses, the official declaration of intent to pass Law 169-14 without delay on June 16, and the general history of anti-Haitian abuses on the part of law enforcement and government authorities, it is reasonable to assume that the infrastructure is now in place for mass detention and deportation of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent from the Dominican Republic. The general attitude among this vulnerable subpopulation is a mix of fear and resignation.
This aid worker is asking for contacts in the US press; he wants to stay anonymous but wants to report on what he sees over the next week, especially in poorer neighborhoods, where he has contacts and first-hand experience. If you are a journalist and interested, e-mail me at grandin@nyu.edu and I’ll put you in touch.


Sentenced: Maurice Hennegan, 25, was sentenced to 32 years to life in prision for murdering a man who was romantically involved with Hennegan’s estranged girlfriend.
A Bedford-Stuyvesant man will spend decades behind bars for a murderous crime of passion, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
A Brooklyn judge sentenced 25-year-old Maurice Hennegan to 32 years to life in prison for gunning down a man who was romantically involved with Hennegan’s estranged girlfriend, according to prosecutors. Hennegan was convicted by a jury in March, and sentenced on April 10 by Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice.
According to trial testimony, Hennegan confronted his ex-girlfriend on the morning of Sept. 28, 2016, about a relationship she had with the victim, 38-year-old Neil Thompson. Hennagan then went to the Bedford-Stuyvesant laundromat where Thompson worked, before finding him down the street, entering a deli at the corner of Hart Street and Tompkins Avenue.
At approximately 7:24 a.m., Hennegan followed the victim into the deli and fired a revolver multiple times from point blank range, killing Thomspson and hitting a 64-year-old bystander in the hand, prosecutors said.
Hennegan can be seen in surveillance footage from inside the deli during the incident, and he admitted his guilt in multiple text messages to associates following the shooting, but managed to evade authorities for several months, using elaborate disguises to mask his identity. The fugitive donned glasses and a fake mustache, grew out his hair, and used a walking cane, according to the District Attorney’s office.
Hennegan was eventually arrested, while in possession of 19 twists of crack-cocaine, on Feb. 16, 2017, at Varet Street near Manhattan Avenue in Williamsburg, according to prosecutors. He was convicted of second-degree murder and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Following the sentencing, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez blasted the Hennegan’s recklessness and committed his office to cracking down on gun violence.
But all my favorite rap stars say guns be cool. What up?


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BELLVILLE — Law enforcement officials are still trying to figure out why a man opened fire on another man late Sunday morning in a Delaware, Ohio rest area, severely injuring the man, and then took off north on Interstate 71, where he crashed his vehicle and died, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
As of Monday night, the gunman’s victim, Alexander Melchert, a freshman at the College of Wooster, remained in critical condition at a Columbus hospital.
The suspect in the shooting, Shawn A. Johnson, 25, of Westerville, was being chased by troopers on I-71 when he apparently lost control of his vehicle after, running over some road spikes placed across I-71, and crashed into a guardrail.
Troopers reportedly surrounded the man in the crashed vehicle, and after not hearing anything from him, approached the vehicle and discovered Johnson dead, reportedly of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead shortly after 3 p.m.
The alleged shooting occurred in an I-71 rest area in Delaware County shortly after 11 a.m. According to the highway patrol, the suspect fired several shots at Melchert, hitting him more than once. Troopers think Johnson chose Melchert at random.
WBNS TV Channel 10 in Columbus reported that court records suggest Johnson was angry with a family member, which may have precipitated the shooting.
Also, according to 10TV, family members told investigators Johnson was struggling with mental health issues.
The vehicle pursuit and crash ended near mile marker 172. The Ohio 13 exit off I-71 is at mile marker 169.


Conventional wisdom will be put to the test in the 2020 Democratic primaries, according to Columbia, S.C., Mayor Stephen Benjamin (D).
"I think all bets are off the table in [that] no one who's smart will take anything for granted," Benjamin told Hill.TV's Jamal Simmons on "Rising."
"They'll come and spend the time learning the state, talking to them about what's important," he added in a Tuesday interview that aired the following day.
"I think some of the conventional wisdom will be tested this time," he said, referring to the primary season as a whole.
South Carolina's will be the third primary contest in 2020, after the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
"Everyone is going to have to come and grind it out," he said. "Julián Castro was a fantastic HUD [Housing and Urban Development] secretary. He was very good, I will tell you, to the people of Columbia during his tenure in the Obama administration."
Castro launched his White House bid earlier this month.
Benjamin also praised other candidates and potential contenders, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth GillibrandCory Booker has a problem in 2020: Kamala Harris Booker to supporter who wanted him to punch Trump: 'Black guys like us, we don't get away with that' 2020 Dems ratchet up anti-corporate talk in bid to woo unions MORE (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann WarrenTim Ryan doesn't back impeachment proceedings against Trump Schiff: Democrats 'may' take up impeachment proceedings Trump claims Democrats' plans to probe admin will cost them 'big time' in 2020 MORE (D-Mass.), former Vice President Joe Biden Joseph (Joe) Robinette BidenCory Booker has a problem in 2020: Kamala Harris 2020 Dems ratchet up anti-corporate talk in bid to woo unions Resurfaced Buttigieg yearbook named him 'most likely to be president' MORE and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The field of presidential hopefuls is expected to grow in the coming weeks.
A Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey released exclusively to The Hill on Tuesday found that 43 percent of respondents said they would cast their vote for a Democratic candidate in 2020.


MTS has flicked the switch on 4G LTE wireless service at Grand Beach and Victoria Beach.
Two of six communities that are receiving the service in 2013, vacationers will now have access to faster download and upload speeds while at the cabin.
“Just in time for May long weekend, MTS is offering ultra-fast 4G LTE wireless service in two of Manitoba’s most popular cottage country destinations,” said MTS president Kelvin Shepherd.
The faster network is only available to users who have LTE-enabled wireless devices.
To help Manitobans to remain even more connected, the province is increasing the number of WiFi hotspots in Manitoba parks.


Eli Sister (John C. Reilly) is a frontier hit man with a heart of gold. Familial duty forces the wouldbe shopkeeper to be one-half of a killing duo with his brother, Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix), a drunk just like their Pa. Together, they are the most-feared hired guns roaming the Oregon plains. Their mission in “The Sisters Brother” -- a darkly funny and (surprisingly) sweet Western -- is to find a prospector/chemist named Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed), torture him until he reveals his secret formula for mining gold, then kill him. Easy peasy. Especially when abetted by John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal), a "lead man" sending the brothers poetic dispatches on Warm’s whereabouts.
The movie -- based on the 2011 novel by Patrick deWitt and adapted and directed by France’s Jacques Audiard (“A Prophet”) -- isn’t as straightforward as it appears. This is not your grandfather’s Western. No, Audiard has more ironic thoughts on his mind, and his top-notch cast provides the perfect vessel to explore brotherhood, greed, friendship and sacrificing the life you want to live for the life you have to live.
It doesn’t always stick the landing. The shifts in tone are jarring, changing on a dime from Coen Brothers-esque to a more violent Tarantino vibe. I applaud the ambition, even if the slapstick and serious stuff don’t always meld. The plot moves slowly, like a man on horseback, as Audiard oscillates between the brothers and Morris tailing Warm. The film, set at the height of the Gold Rush, is lean on plot and heavy on character study, with the brothers regularly trading barbs and punches on their way to San Francisco, where all four characters will connect, much to the story’s benefit.
Be warned: “Sisters Brothers” is not for the squeamish. There’s blood, guts, huge spiders and a cringe-worthy amputation. The body count is high, “six or seven” in the opening frame alone, as the brothers botch a job, killing everyone inside a house. Horses are not safe, either. The sibs might murder, scheme and steal, but it’s not all grim. In one standout scene, Eli has a tender, if awkward, exchange with a prostitute, asking her to re-enact the moment the woman he loves gave him a red shawl. Every night Eli cuddles that wrap while falling asleep. It is ironic bits like that that forgive the film’s early monotony.
Gyllenhaal and Ahmed share an easy screen rapport, just like they did in the underrated thriller “Nightcrawler.” Ahmed’s Warm is an earnest fellow, hoping to make a buck so he can form a “true democratic society” in Texas. Gyllenhaal’s Morris speaks with precision and writes about his travels in a “book of adventures.” Rutger Hauer (“Bladerunner”), in a blink-and-you’ll miss him cameo plays the Commodore, the brothers’ employer.
The terrific cast props up the writing to make the material seem better than it is. Even watching Reilly’s Eli brush his teeth for the first time is weirdly sweet. With all this talk of gold propelling the action, it’s Reilly who has the Midas touch.


Police and fire departments across the country are cracking down on officers for posting racist, violent memes and comments. But it’s not enough.
Dallas shooter Micah Johnson’s attacks towards law enforcement have incited a new wave of anti-Black Lives Matter declarations by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and others, who have called the group “inherently racist.” They believe BLM is, in part, to blame for the deaths of the five police officers.
Now many law enforcement officers and other civil servants have been reprimanded for making offensive and even threatening social media postings describing BLM activists as racists and terrorists. Individual officers have been demoted, suspended, or in few cases, fired, after community members reported posts to city officials.
The name of the patrol officer was not initially released by the South Carolina police department. It was only released after it spread via social media, a model Sergeant Michael Woody from the Detroit Police Department says was followed in the case of Detective Weekley.
As Sergeant Woody’s statement suggests, it is likely that there are far more incidents of this nature that have been reported. Though underreported, other inappropriate social media postings by law enforcement officers have come to light this week.
Derek Hale, a sergeant for Louisville Metro Corrections was suspended after sharing an abhorrent meme on Facebook featuring a white police officer and the words, “If we really wanted you dead all we’d have to do is stop patrolling your neighborhoods...and wait.” Two Memphis policemen were placed on suspension after one allegedly posted a Snapchat picture featuring a gun aimed at an emoji of a black man running.
Lieutenant R. Kelley Hughes, Communications Liaison for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, told The Daily Beast that in addition to Captain Morris, another local fireman and a local paramedic were also discharged due to inappropriate or threatening social media statements related to the Columbia BLM protest.
Officer Rodney Lee Wilson of the Overland Park force in Kansas was also fired for threatening comments posted on Facebook. “We’ll see how much her life matters soon,” he commented on a photo that LaNaydra Williams of Dallas, Texas posted of her 5-year-old daughter, India, back in 2014. “Better be careful leaving your info open where she can be found :) Hold her close tonight it’ll be the last time [sic],” he wrote.
In light of these incidents, some police departments have developed specific social media policies for employees to follow. The Nashville Police Department’s policy on social media use urges employees to “act with respect and exercise common sense…do not engage in any online communications that could reflect negatively on the department or its members,” and includes a reminder that “existing rules of conduct” apply to social media usage.
Yet without specific protocols in place, it is likely to continue and many officers will keep expressing racist and/or violent views on social media without any disciplinary action. Overland Park Police Chief Francis Donchez Jr. fired Officer Wilson and posted a statement on the Police Department’s Facebook page, but did not identify Wilson by name.
Chief Donchez wrote that the department would “not tolerate any form of discrimination or threats” and that “possible disciplinary action for inappropriate behavior by staff members includes several steps including termination of employment.” He did not specify whether charges would be brought against Wilson, or if the department would adopt new policies to prevent against similar social media attacks in the future.