#john knowles......... what did you observe...

[karinyosa]

Gene and Brinker, good sir?

AHHH okay okay

what made you ship it?

reading the book lol. ok so i feel like there's a lot of context i need to explain for this beyond just the book's subtext bc there's a bit of personal lore here. before teaching us the book, my middle school english teacher introduced each of the central four characters with this powerpoint with a slide on each one, and the way she described them like archetypically and physically made it sound almost like (to MY middle school brain) a dating sim, in which gene was the main character. like the blurb already sounds very romance novelesque so jdkshfkh. ig it wasn't too big a leap. so we already have a baseline there.

i also think that in the book brinker and gene are a secondary and competing rivarly/friendship to gene and finny's rivarly/friendship, and i think that's where the tension between brinker and gene and brinker and finny comes from. in fact this is kind of just text, like brinker and finny i think are pretty explicitly competing for gene's attention. i'm pretty sure there are some like old asp posts from the earlier 2010s era of the fandom where people are like "brinker and gene/finny have such ex energy", but iirc it was more often finny? like i'm definitely not the only person to see this Thing brinker has going on with gene, but at the time i'm p sure brinkerfinny was the more widespread take. anyway. brinker pursues gene so relentlessly both as an antagonist and as a guy who just Needs to be doing things with him, Needs to be occupying his time and attention. and yet they maintain this weird friendship/understanding throughout. to me this was most pronounced with the whole enlistment thing, and that dynamic where gene had to choose between finny and brinker for the enlistment/not enlistment??? it just gave very love triangle energy. the intensity with which brinker is fixated on gene is like. it gives repressed queer guy with problems. it's beyond wanting to antagonize him, he just is constantly coming up with excuses to be around him and to orient his focus around the pursuit of this one guy. his need to be morally superior to the object of his pursuit feels very queercoded to me. it's a very funny contrast to other parts of the book where he and gene are seemingly chill and normal friends? boy has issues

2. what are your favorite things about the ship?

HOOOOOO okay i have a long answer for this because it has to do with how i accidentally made myself insane about them. so i have this really long winded headcanon-turned-sequel fic in my Brain and Mind about gene and brinker moving in together after the war for kind of money reasons and kind of personal reasons. gene has been depression camping in finny's family's attic for a long undefined amount of time, and brinker is like hey you need to get the fuck out of there come live with me idiot. cue several years later and this is where the fic starts. i usually have it start at the time that gene would've gone back to visit devon, because i like the idea of that whole thing happening during a hs reunion in devon town, in which he and brinker joint travel and stay with his family which is its own whole awkwardness but anyway. <- culmination of everything i've ever thought about them since eighth grade

most of my genebrinker thoughts center around this period of adulthood where they're not young anymore but they're not old either, and they have all this unresolved tension and shared trauma and resentment that spills over into their "present" relationship. i think this is where genebrinker would theoretically "actually" start, in adulthood. i think there could've been ambiguous things earlier, especially during their joint enlistment period if they happened to be together, but nothing very deliberate or openly acknowledged until much later. it's this delicious mix of both having an established very domestic and familiar dynamic, knowing this person's routines and habits inside out, and yet having this pent up unspoken something. and for gene and brinker, it's not just this quiet tenderness, although i think that's bound to happen sometimes when you're essentially apartment husbands. i think they'd blow up at each other and let things slip during heated moments that they don't mean to, mostly on brinker's side, bc i think brinker's been nursing some kind of crush since hs, whereas if gene returned brinker's feelings, i think they'd slowly build over time. their familiarity with each other is also very interesting because, while they have this odd like, daddy issues(?) solidarity in the book that again feels very queer, in adulthood, it's also this thing of like, they kind of shared the murder of one of their closest friends. my fav think about genebrinker is that they know the worst of each other, that they actively participated in some of the worst parts of each other's lives, but it's that coupled with like, arguing over dinner and visiting the parents and trying to hold down stable jobs. or i guess for something more connected to the actual book, that coupled with like, accompanying your friend to an awkward meeting with his dad

this is not even all the things i think about their dynamic or all the like underlying sources of tension in their adult relationship in my head, i also think they'd be in very different places in terms of sexuality, and that would come to a head at some point, but i'll stop here because this is a question about my favorite THING, not explain every thought you've ever had about them

3. is there an unpopular opinion you have about your ship?

i think the entire ship is an unpopular opinion lmfao. like 90% of this is my headcanons. ummm i have brinker being the more responsible of the two when i write them as adults, if still the more temperamental one, so that might be controversial? i think at this stage of their lives, he's more practical and better at home ec stuff, and gene cannot fucking take care of himself for the life of him. gene is running himself into the ground while brinker is like get your fucking socks off my floor

[nattapohntkp]

Rhythms & Blues

        Everyone may have heard of a music genre called R&B (Rhythms & Blues), but many people don't know where R&B came from. With more melodies and rhythms founded, R&B is a music genre that focuses on the lyrics, the genre of love, and playing with the right rhythm. The music is a little brighter, but still not as bright as Pop. The musical instruments are not limited in style but often use a little sound effect. R&B originated in the '40s. It evolved from the Blues that black people sang in churches to release the suffering caused by the abuse and persecution of white people. Blues music has another meaning: sorrow, depression. Therefore, Blues has mostly sad rhymes and melodies, or sounds like a singing of the prayer in a church to seek blessings from the Lord (Gospel) itself. The R&B genre is a mix of African-American music from Pop, Jazz, and Blues. As the times change, more and more R&B music has evolved and mixed with other genres. Since the 90s, R&B music has infiltrated more and more music genres to become another genre. One example is that R&B can go along with Pop music which introduce many R&B stars such as, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion, Beyonce, Brian McKnight, Chris Brown, and more. It can also mix with Hip-hop music as well which appears in Afrobeat’s work. In addition to Pop and Hip-hop, artists like Davido and Wizkid blend R&B and local melodies to the mainstream.

        R&B music is a music genre that can reach audiences with a wide range of rhythm, catchy content, reflecting stories. Therefore, it is the music that no matter how much the times change, R&B is a song that people still listen to.

 The famous artists and their works.

1. Beyonce

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles, also known as Beyonce, became famous in the 1990s as a key member of destiny's child, the all-female R&B band of that era. In June 2003, during the suspension of Destiny's Child, she released her first solo artist with “Dangerously in Love” album. It was one of the most successful albums of that year. The album was a huge success in both sales and criticism, leading to a hit song such as “Crazy in love”. Later, Destiny's Child officially decided to disband. and she continued to work on music as a solo artist.

The examples of famous songs by Beyonce.

1. “Crazy in love” (2003) is a song that truly suitable for lovers because the content of the song says "Got me looking so crazy right now, your loves" which indicates how much you love someone until you are crazy about him and hope that he only calls your name.

2. “Listen” (2007) is a song that wants to convey other person to listen her voice and dream. Since, she has always followed others in the past but it's time for others to listen to her voice, her desire, and her dream.

2. Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, and filmmaker. She is named the most awarded female artist of all time by the Guinness World Records.  She is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with approximately 200 million records worldwide.  She is also an influencer for many African American female artists.

The examples of famous songs by Whitney Houston.

1. “I will always love you” (1992) is a song that wants to say goodbye painfully and deeply. The lyrics present a true love that we unable to stop loving even though we are far apart unless we discover later that the person we love is not what we think.

2. “I have nothing” (1993) is a song about deep and confusing love that arises between lovers due to the different feelings of women and men when it comes to their bond with their lover.

3. Mariah Carey

         Mariah Carey is an American singer, songwriter, music producer and actress. She made her debut in 1990 under the direction of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola. She became the first artist to have the first 5 singles hit the 1st chart on the Billboard Hot 100. She has a lot of hit songs, making her the best-selling artist in Columbia. According to Billboard magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States.

The examples of famous songs by Mariah Carey.

1. “Hero” (1993) is a song that wants to convey to the audience that loving yourself is the most important thing.

2. “We belong together” (2005) is a song that reminds many couples very well. This song teaches you how powerful words are, no matter how much you do well or be honest with love. Speaking without thinking, it can ruin a relationship.

4. Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American singer-actress. The owner of many famous songs whose past albums have sold more than 80 million copies worldwide and the movies that reach $ 2 billion.

The examples of famous songs by Jennifer Lopez.

1. “If you had my love” (1999), the lyrics are about the beginning of a new relationship with Jennifer Lopez during her confrontation with her crush.

2. “All I have” (2002) is a song that interacts between women and men., In this song, the woman is the one who breaks up and the man does not want to believe that she really leaves him. So, he tries to hold back but it is impossible to be the same. This song is a soothing melody but it expresses the pain of a man.

5. Brian McKnight

Brian McKnight is a talented artist with a wide range of singing and performance and he can play the music that ever nominated for a Grammy.

The examples of famous songs by Brian McKnight.

1. “One last cry (1993)”, the lyrics present to the people who are upset or disappointed about love, feel sorry, and want to cry. It will be the last time and don't let the same person come back to hurt us again. Tomorrow will start over, you have to tell yourself that you will have a new life and new things are waiting for you. When our thoughts and ourselves are good, we are always attracted to the good things, smiling brightly and strongly open for the something good coming in.

2. “Back at one” (1999), the lyrics present the good love that a man has for the woman he loves if he is like a bird perched on a branch and never afraid that the branches will break and fall because he believed in his own wing power.

6. Ne-Yo

Shaffer Chimere Smith, better known as Ne-Yo, is an R&B singer, songwriter, music producer, and American actor. He is famous for composing music when he composed Mario's “Let me love you”. This success leads Ne-Yo to meet with the head of Def Jam and sign a contract.

The examples of famous songs by Ne-Yo.

1. “So sick” (2006), the lyrics present that to forget about the old love are often very hard thing for many people, only time that can heal and that memory will be forgotten someday, but until then, those will always be the things that bother you to think about the past we did with an old lover.

2. “Miss Independent” (2008) is a song that wants to present that if you meet a woman and you are very interested in her, you will be able to observe her personality traits and capture her strengths and compose stories about why you like her.

7. Alicia Keys

Alicia J. Augello-Cook is an American R&B singer which sold more than 20 million copies worldwide from her first album in 2001 until 2007. The first album, “Songs in A Minor”, featured the hit song ‘Fallin’, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide and earn her 5 Grammy Awards. (Including the grand prize: Best New Artist and Best R&B Album).

The examples of famous songs by Alicia Keys.

1. “You don't know my name” (2003) is a song that presents the insanity of love on one side because he did not even know her name. She really liked him and felt that he had possessed her mind.

2. “If I ain't got you” (2004) is a love song that presents an interesting worldview philosophy. Fame, honor, and money, they do not important and are just illusions when compared with to be loved by someone.

8. John Legend

John Legend, real name John Stephens. He is an all-around R&B, soul, hip-hop artist with a wide range of singing, playing, composing, arranging, and producing music. His first album won 3 Grammy Awards 2006, 3 Soul Train Awards 2006, and 1 BET Award 2005. Britney Jean Spears, The Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, and more.

The examples of famous songs by John Legend.

1. “Used to love you” (2004) is a sad song that comes from the breakup. She was gone and took all the memories from him but he still remembered the moment when he first met her which make him sad when she left. Although he hates her a lot, he used to love her a lot too.

2. “All of me” (2008), the lyrics represent if you really love someone, you have to give your heart to him wholeheartedly and you need to accept him as he is no matter what it is good or bad. Then, you will be happy and you will never have to regret that later "Why are you like this or Why are you like that? " because you are willing and can accept anything that he can be.

9. Jeff Bernat

Jeff Bernat is an American-Filipino singer, songwriter, and producer. The owner of the super romantic song 'Call You Mine' has been selected to accompany the popular Korean series 'You Are My Destiny' and has a lot of Korean fans. Since he released his first full album, “The Gentleman Approach” in 2012, the 29-year-old Jeff Bernat has been on the constantly watch with subsequent albums such as “Modern Renaissance” (2013), “In the Meantime” (2016), and “Afterwards” (2017).

The examples of famous songs by Jeff Bernat.

1. “Just vibe” (2011) is a song for the fanatic. It represents to someone convey a woman who treats him equally as everyone else. Even if you are higher than him and tell her that he likes what she does, but actually likes everything that is her.

2. “Call you mine” (2019), also known as The Gentlemen approach, means approaching a woman like a gentleman. It is a song that has a good meaning and suitable for giving to someone special. The best sentence of this song is "Can I call you mine?".

10. The Weeknd

Abel Tesfaye, known as The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and music producer. In late 2010, he uploads the song to YouTube by the unknown name, The Weeknd. he released several mixtapes, and each set contains nine songs throughout 2011, including the highly acclaimed House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence.

The examples of famous songs by The Weeknd.

1. “Heartless” (2019) is a fun song that hides the gloom of a man who blames himself for being heartless to love one another. In which the heart deeply, he wants to have good love but living a fun life, spending money, mingling with other people, is the one that makes life go around like this.

2. “Blinding lights” (2020), a melancholy song of desperate people who leave their ex-lover. The inaction of that ex-lover made the atmosphere worse and helpless. Delivering is the only chance for that person to return, and it is the thing to heal from this despair.

11. Ben Chalatit

Ben Chalatit enjoys music from his passion and attendance at the School of Music. He joins the first music group with friends under the name, Monotone. In the style of self-composed music and become indie music that is very popular at that time. And the famous songwriter, Boyd Kosiyabong, pull him into the work. He has made many famous songs such as the people below, the score of life, ouch ouch, and many more. This is evidenced by the various artist awards that he has received.

The examples of famous songs by Ben Chalatit.

1. “Hold back” (2014) is the theme song for the 2014 TV series Sai-Si Phaeng. It mixes with emotions, squeezing a little talk about the time when you lost your lover and want to hold it as long as possible. A moment of just a second would be invaluable if he would be with us.

2. “All My Heart” (2015) is a theme song, Kao Bodin drama, starring James Mar and Matt Peeranee. It is a slow-fusion-pop-style song with the sound of Thai music and tells of loving someone with all their love. This song also earns him the 30th Golden Television Award for outstanding drama song.

12. Lydia Sarunrat

The princess of the R&B of the Thai music industry. She is a gorgeous singer, Lydia Sarunrat, with a clear and unique voice. It makes her famous since her first release, such as I am free, please call me back. And there are always new songs coming out. Later, she returns to the sumo mask singer show and won “The Mask Singer Season 2”.

The examples of famous songs by Lydia Sarunrat.

1. “I'm free, please call me back” (2005) is a sad song content. Because he calls her lover but he does not answer the phone and does not call back. There is a hint in the song saying, "are you really busy or there are other people”.

2. “Just make eye contact” (2018) is a sweet love song. It composes of a period drama, Buppesanniwat. The content of this song is rather sweet. Because it wants to convey that the eyes are the windows of the heart.

        The examples of artists and their works. The author thinks that the reader may know or listen to some of their songs. The artists illustrated are quite famous for their outstanding works. If you have not listened to their music, I suggest you give it a try and I believe that you will be fascinated by their work.

        In conclusion, R&B (Rhythms and Blues) music is a genre that can listen to over and over. It can make you feel relax. But if you know the content of the song, some songs can also have content that can hurt, bruise or cry. Nowadays, R&B music is mix with a wide variety of other genres. This genre of music is therefore widely known. This has resulted in many emerging artists making R&B music or mixing R&B music as well.

[fairfieldthinkspace]

Can the Trauma of War Lead to Growth, Despite the Scars?

By Phil Klay 

When we speak of trauma, it is usually as something to be avoided at all costs. But the suffering that war brings can be a strange and terrible blessing.

This article is part of a series on resilience in troubled times — what we can learn about it from history and personal experiences.

The French weapon deployed against Spanish troops in 1521 was, contemporaries said, “more diabolical than human.” The rapid-firing light bronze cannon shot iron balls that crushed battlements, careened wildly and sprayed shards of stone in all directions. At the Battle of Pamplona, one cannonball twice injured the leader of a small Spanish garrison defying calls for surrender, nearly killing him, first by striking one leg with stone shrapnel, then in the other leg by the cannonball itself. His name was Íñigo López de Loyola. The effect on Loyola was not only physical, but also spiritual: Today, he is better known as St. Ignatius.

Back then, he was no saint. One biography describes him as “a rough punkish swordsman who used his privileged status to escape prosecution for violent crimes committed with his priest brother at carnival time.” But this near-fatal injury changed him, along with a few religious books he read during his exceptionally painful convalescence, in which his bones had to be broken again and reset, and where he came so close to death he was given last rites. He went on to found the Jesuits and send disciples all over the globe, in what the British historian Dom David Knowles suggested was Christianity’s “greatest single religious impulse since the preaching of the apostles.”

When we speak of trauma, it is usually as something to be avoided at all costs. “Interest in avoiding pain,” wrote the utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer, is among “the most important human interests.” And yet soldiers like St. Ignatius, who found in their suffering a strange and terrible blessing, are not rare. Senator John McCain, brutally tortured at the Hanoi Hilton, famously declared himself “grateful to Vietnam” for giving him “a seriousness of purpose that observers of my early life had found difficult to detect.”

His might be an extreme case, but the expectation of exposure to some trauma has long been part of the draw of war. “The law is this: no wisdom without pain,” wrote the ancient Greek playwright and military veteran Aeschylus. “Wanted or not by us, such wisdom’s gained; its score, its etch, its scar in us goes deep.” Perhaps that’s true, but it leaves us with an ugly and, to some, offensive question: Can suffering be a gift?

In the early 20th century, the German writer Ernst Jünger, who had proudly served four years in brutal front-line fighting in World War I, declared the answer was a resounding yes. “Tell me your relation to pain,” he claimed, “and I will tell you who you are!” Civilization before the war had slid into bourgeoise decadence, he thought, fleeing from self-sacrifice and prioritizing safety. But the war heralded a new sort of man.

“Hardened as scarcely another generation ever was in fire and flame,” he wrote of himself and his fellow soldiers, “we could go into life as though from the anvil; into friendship, love, politics, professions, into all that destiny had in store. It is not every generation that is so favored.” Postwar Germany convinced him that the industrialized world these men returned to, which happily destroyed workers’ bodies for the construction of railways or mines, was ruled by the same cruel logic as the trenches. Men would have to rise to the challenge by accepting pain, and accepting the cruelty of the age. This is toughness and callousness elevated to a first principle. Unsurprisingly, many of Jünger’s admirers became Nazis.

One of their victims was an Austrian of Jewish descent named Jean Améry, who after the war forcefully rejected, in the starkest terms, any notions of suffering as a gift. Likewise, notions of stoic detachment born of the trenches were absurd to a man who had been tortured by the Gestapo before being sent to Auschwitz. Améry experienced pain beyond description; he was hung by his arms until they ripped from their sockets, and then horsewhipped. For the tortured man, he wrote, “his flesh becomes total reality.”

More lasting than the pain, though, the experience destroyed his ability to ever feel at home in the world, which requires faith in fellow men. Humans are a social animal, our inner self in constant outward search for communion. Torture inverts that expansive, capacious self into a collapsing star. Whatever you thought you were — a mind, a consciousness, a soul — torture reveals how simply, and casually, that can be destroyed. “A slight pressure by the tool-wielding hand is enough,” Améry wrote, to turn a cultured man into “a shrilly squealing piglet at slaughter.” There is wisdom here, though of a dark sort. “Whoever was tortured, stays tortured.” Améry committed suicide in 1978.

Where does that leave those who suffer? For the medical community, the safest option is addressing symptoms, not metaphysics. The writer and former Marine infantry officer David J. Morris has described his own therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in Iraq, during which he was urged to retell the stories of his trauma, practice breathing exercises, and reframe his cognitive responses to his environment and his traumatic memories.

But he was not encouraged to grow in response to what he had gone through; when he would try to speculate on how his experience might be converted to wisdom, psychologists would admonish him, he reported, “for straying from the strictures of the therapeutic regime.” One senior psychologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs told him that notions of post-traumatic growth were an insult to those who have suffered. For a medical community grounded in science rather than spirituality, and rightfully leery of telling the Amérys of the world to look on the bright side, suffering is no gift.

But another current can be found in theories developed during the Vietnam War. The study of psychological trauma suffers from what the psychiatrist Judith Herman has called “episodic amnesia,” in which periods of active interest, frequently following wars, are followed by “periods of oblivion.” But the generation of soldiers disaffected from war during Vietnam organized and demanded the first systematic, large-scale investigations of war trauma’s long-term effects. In addition to a medical diagnosis — PTSD was added to the American Psychiatric Association’s official manual in 1980 — many of these same veterans and their allies argued for the spiritual and moral significance of their condition.

Psychiatrists like Robert Jay Lifton and writers like Peter Marin argued that the suffering of Vietnam veterans was not simply neurosis, but appropriate moral response to horror. “All men, like all nations, are tested twice in the moral realm,” Mr. Marin wrote. “First by what they do, then by what they make of what they do.” Rather than numbing themselves to pain, they needed to sensitize themselves, to become alive to the “animating” guilt they supposedly lived with. Guilt forces the suffering consciousness outside of itself, the theory goes, sparking empathy and a drive to make reparation.

Whether guilt results in healing, though, is debatable. Some of the most fascinating research on growth after war trauma emerges out of a four decade-long study initiated by Zahava Solomon, which followed the PTSD trajectories of veterans of the 1982 war in Lebanon and the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, also known as the Yom Kippur War. A 2016 analysis of Israeli P.O.W.s from the 1973 war, who faced systematic torture, deprivation and social stigma, did find that those who reported the most guilt about their experience also reported the most growth. However, those veterans also had greater reports of PTSD symptoms as well. As Aeschylus warned, the wisdom they felt they had gained came with deep scars.

None of this would likely have surprised Ignatius of Loyola. In his tradition, suffering was at best a mystery: God never really answers Job, and Christ’s prayer to “let this cup pass me by” goes ungranted. As a Jesuit friend recently told me, suffering is never a gift, never truly willed by God; suffering is real, and awful, and not to be forgotten. “Consider how the Divinity hides Itself,” Ignatius’ followers have been directed to ask for hundreds of years, “how It could destroy Its enemies and does not do it, and how It leaves the most sacred Humanity to suffer so very cruelly.” But of course, that doesn’t mean that we cannot respond to such suffering with grace.

Phil Klay is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, a visiting professor at Fairfield University and the author of “Redeployment,” winner of the 2014 National Book Award for Fiction, and the forthcoming novel “Missionaries.”

[beyond-the-yellowbrickroad]

Movies Watched in 2019 - Filmes assistidos em 2019 (part two / segunda parte)

111. About a Boy (2002) Directed by Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz

I liked it a lot! The Kid is amazing and just imagine my face when I found out he was Nicholas Hoult…

112. Hotel Mumbai (2018) Directed by Anthony Maras

It’s a very heavy movie to watch, even more because is based in a real life history… the amazing cast helps to make it even more realistic.

113. Toy Story 4 (2019) Directed by Josh Cooley

I’m angry and very disappointed. It may sound childish of me because “people change” and “leave our lives” but was that really necessary? I think NOT!

114. Widows (2018) Directed by Steve McQueen

I didn’t like it that much but it was probably my fault… I was expecting something more like Ocean’s 8, but it’s completely different from that. Anyway, the cast is great.

115. Final Destination (2000) Directed by James Wong

116. The Final Destination (2009) Directed by David R. Ellis

117. Final Destination 5 (2011) Directed by Steven Quale

So I re-watched all of the “Final Destination” Series at once, and I had the most fun!

I had already seen de second and the third one when I was little (I was about 6 or 7, grown ups were crazy in the early 2000′s) but I had never seen the others and, for my surprise, I loved almost all of them! (I really don’t like the fourth one and I rather pretend it doesn’t exist)

The second one is still my favorite, but the others are as crazy and fun! I LOVED IT!

AND THE ENDING OF THE FIFTH MOVIE, OMG, I WAS NOT READY!!!

118. Liar Liar (1997) Directed by Tom Shadyac

Jim Carrey making funny faces for no reason for 86 minutes straight

119. John Wick (2014) Directed by Chad Stahelski

120. John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) Directed by Chad Stahelski

121. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) Directed by Chad Stahelski

So I also watched all the “John Wick” movies all at once and all I can say is: it’s really great to see treined assassings kill people to revenge their dogs and to see Keanu Reeves being amazing, sexy AND kicking other people’s asses.

122. The Perfection (2018) Directed by Richard Shepard

I saw this weeks ago and I still am absolutely shocked with everything that happened in this movie

123. Us (2019) Directed by Jordan Peele

Literally, a masterpiece of horror and comedy. The cast it’s incredible!

124. The Lion King (2019) Directed by Jon Favreau

Nice, but… it’s the same as the original, but more… dull. Impossible not to have fun though, because it’s the same movie as the original.

125. Long Shot (2019) Directed by Jonathan Levine

Now I really want to go to a club with Charlize!!

126. The Angel (2018) ‘El Ángel’ Directed by Luis Ortega

Beautiful photography, and the cast is really great! The music is also incredible.

127. Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015) Directed by Michael Showalter

It’s a nice reminder that everyone has it’s own time for doing things… sometimes you star things eary and sometimes, other things happen in life before others, and that OK! I loved it!

128. The Lake House (2006) Directed by Alejandro Agresti

It’s romantic, well done and super interesting! Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock looked so good together! I really loved this sci-fi love story.

129. Pride & Prejudice (2005) Directed by Joe Wright

Honestly, everything is absolutely pefect in this movie… like when Mr. Darcy always look’s like he’s about to throw up everytime Lizzie is around, how Mr. Bingley is an absolutely sunshine, how Jane it’s his perfect match, how Lizzie is perfecly sassy and smart… I, obviously, and I can not stress this enough: THE HAND FLEX!!! (and when Mr. Darcy cofesses his eternal love to Lizzie in the rain and them they fight and them they almost kiss… AMAZING CINEMA!)

I loved the movie and I can’t wait to finally find time to read the book too…

130. Creep (2014) Directed by Patrick Brice

131.  Creep 2 (2017) Directed by Patrick Brice

Both weird movies, but the first one is more amazing because you spend more than a half of it not knowing what it’s happening.

132. Vox Lux (2018) Directed by Brady Corbet

Natalie Portman is amazing and this movie is also weird.

133. Austenland (2013) Directed by Jerusha Hess

A thriling saga to my Pride and Prejudice / Jane Austen obcession…

So, the fake Mr. Darcy (Mr. Noble) looks like young Tom Hiddleston so now I have a huge crush on him.

Also, I think it’s a very fun movie and I had a good time.  

134. Good Sam (2019) Directed by Kate Miles Melville

Fun, I guess… honestly, the romance was unecessary.

135. Almost Famous (2000) Directed by Cameron Crowe

The bus scene when they all are down and then suddenly starts singing to “Tiny Dancer”… The most beautiful thing I saw in my life.

136. The Losers (2010) Directed by Sylvain White

It’s a very fun movie!

But I have an observation: It just don’t sound truthful that people would make fun of a hot, nerdy, super uncle, not being that good with girls Chris Evans… really, he is absolutely hot and cute in this movie, it just not make sense!

137. Sing (2016) Directed by Garth Jennings

I watched this because of Taron Egerton singing “I’m Still Standing”, but I loved it for so much more!!!

138. Candy Jar (2018) Directed by Ben Shelton

Fun for spending the time.

139. The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019) Directed by Gideon Raff

Nice movie and great cast!

(also, I know thi isn’t the point but Chris Evans is beautiful in this movie to)

140. The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) Directed by Robin Swicord

I loved this so much, but I also feel kind of sad because I don’t have friends to make a Jane Austen book club with me and also I will never get married with nerdy and cute Hugh Dancy.

141. The Hustle (2019) Directed by Chris Addison

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson deserved better!

142. The Sun Is Also a Star (2019) Directed by Ry Russo-Young

I don’t want to be mean but, this was horrible!

143. Descendants 3 (2019) Directed by Kenny Ortega

This movie was already going to be very emotional because is the last one of the trilogy, but the recent evens with the super talented actor Cameron Boyce, it was twice as emotional... I cryed a lot.

Also, the movie is increadible in every way: the songs, the dancing, the characters, the cast... I loved it!

144. Brightburn (2019) Directed by David Yarovesky

Well, that was a disaster...

145. Parasite (2019) ‘기생충’ Directed by Bong Joon Ho

Okay, so this movie... there’s so much to talk about this movie...but I don’t want to spoil it... BUT,  everything is absolutely PERFECT! OMG! I LOVE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH!

146. Otherhood (2019) Directed by Cindy Chupack

Great cast, fun to watch!

147. The Craft (1996) Directed by Andrew Fleming

ICONIC!

148. Wild Child (2008) Directed by Nick Moore

EMMA ROBERTS: I’m sorry for every time that I sayd that you were not a great actress. You are, and this movie is a masterpiece.

149. Mandy (2018) Directed by Panos Cosmatos

That was a crazy ride and I LOVED IT! Nick Cage it’s amazing in this and I really love this scrypt.

150. Falling Inn Love (2019) Directed by Roger Kumble

This couple is so beautiful and I really wish they could date me as well.

151. Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009) Directed by Marc Lawrence

I did not like the movie that much but the cast is nice, so is not that bad to wach.

152. Bacurau (2019) Directed by Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho

This was, honestly, the best thing I saw the entire year. It made so happy and proud of my own culture, and was so increadible to watch, with a great cast and characters that are truly amazing... and as if all of this wasn’t enough, the movie (as a coincidence) talks direcly with Brazil’s currently politic scene. 

When the movie was over, I felt like crying of happines... I so proud o f brazilian cinema and how it gets better and bigger each year!!  

PURE PERFECTION. 

153. Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019) Directed by Scott Aukerman

There was scenes that I really found funny and there were times that I was just confused... but I liked it.

154. Last Holiday (2006) Directed by Wayne Wang

QUEEN LATIFAH I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, PLEASE BE MY FRIEND!!

Honestly, this movie is everything a romcom should be... PERFECT! 

155. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) Directed by Lasse Hallström, Joe Johnston

I’m absolutely angry with the fact that Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen in the same movie and they even looked at each other! CRAZY THING RIGHT?

156. Rumor Has It… (2005) Directed by Rob Reiner

Just imagine a world were Jenifer Aniston and Mark Ruffalo are a couple... 

The movie was SO WEIRD!!! (but good) 

157. It Chapter Two (2019) Directed by Andy Muschietti

The first one still is my favorite, BUT this is so great... I’m not even going to begin to write about the cast, ‘cause everyone knows it’s absolutely PERFECT, but really, BILL HADER GUYS! JUST, AMAZING.

Anyway, I did not got even a little scared, but who cares, it’s a great movie.

Also, the scene were Bill Skarsgård  show up without the Pennywise makeup... his acting was SO GREAT!

 158. Midsommar (2019) Directed by Ari Aster

Today I saw someone describe this movie as “a bunch of white people killing other people and dancing in circles” and honestly, this is the perfect description for this.

159. Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé (2019) Directed by Beyoncé Knowles

i CAN’T BEGIN TO DESCRIBE THE FEELINGS I FELT SEEING THIS! This woman is beautiful, super talented and a genius! 

YOU JUST MIGHT BE A BEYONCÉ IN THE MAKING!! 

160. Frozen (2010) Directed by Adam Green

HORRIBLE! OH MY GOD! I FELT SO BAD WATCHING THIS, IT WAS TERRIFYING! OMG!

161. Hush (2016) Directed by Mike Flanagan

I NEVER FELT SO UNCONFORTABLE IN MY LIFE! Truly a good idea for a scary movie and a very well executed one to! Loved it!

162. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019) Directed by Vince Gilligan

The perfect ending for one of the best suporting characters on a TV Series.

163. Little Monsters (2019) Directed by Abe Forsythe

Lupita Nyong'o deserves way more recognition from the Movies Industry because she is so great and even with a fucking OSCAR on her shelf, she barely has any leading characters on her career and is SO UNFAIR!

This movies is funny, scary, the cast is great and there’s Shake it Off by Taylor Swift was sang by a bunch of kids and Lupita dressed on a beautiful yellow dress all dirty of zombie blood, sooo... you should go and watch it!

164. The Blair Witch Project (1999) Directed by Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

The movie it’s okay until it gets on it’s last 15 to 10 minutes... then so much starts to happen and you just want to stop seeing it, but can’t because you want to know the ending of it, and it’s so scary and crazy... Really I totally get why lots of people are crazy about this one... SO SCARY!

Also, look out for the website they made for the three filmakers that “disapeared” ( AKA were killed by the Blair Witch), it’s so good and there’s a lot of more information that makes the movie even more scary.

165. Yesterday (2019) Directed by Danny Boyle

It could be SO GOOD! But it was SO BAD! Lili was this movie, the guy that played Richie in Skins was in this movie and I still did not like it... The sountrack was made by BEATLES SONGS and I still did not like it... SAD.

166. The Witches (1990) Directed by Nicolas Roeg

NOT A KIDS MOVIE! Really, it’s so scary! OMG!

167. Shaun of the Dead (2004) Directed by Edgar Wright

It’s a very diferent zombie movie, but I really liked it! 

168. Maid in Manhattan (2002) Directed by Wayne Wang

IT WAS JUST LIKE CAMP ROCK!!

Very cheesy, not the best romcom I ever watched, but also not the worse... If you want a good JLopez movie, go see Monster In Law!

169. Monster House (2006) Directed by Gil Kenan

ALSO NOT A KIDS MOVIE! This was actually very little apropriate to kids and so fucking sacry, OMG, how this was made up to be a kids movie? 

170. mother! (2017) Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I will never get over this movie, I feel marked for the rest of my life, thanks very much Aronofsky! (no, really, THANKS!)

171. The Meddler (2015) Directed by Lorene Scafaria

Honestly, the “I was visiting my daughter, she just shot a pilot!” joke was THE BEST THING I EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE! Also, “I have to go home, my hands are loud!”.

172. Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) Directed by Stephen Chiodo

I don’t even know what to write about this one... It was weird and not scary at all, but was kind of... diffent? I mean, you don’t get literally scared but you feel unconfotable, like, a lot! Go check it out and you will hopefully understand what kind of feeling I’m trying to describe, it’s just... weird.

173. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) Directed by André Ovredal

WHAT ON EARTH PEOPLE KEEP MAKING THOSE SUPER SCARY MOVIES ANT SAYING THEY ARE FOR KINDS? This was so scary Jesus, and It was great. But not for kids.

If you read the books I don’t know how you going to feel about it, but in my experience from movie adapttions from books, you probably going to feel like shit. But I did’t read the books and loved it, so, you might to :)

174. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) Directed by Joe Berlinger

Not ever close to be as great as the first one, it’s crazier, more things happen and you still feel crazy with the characters, but, it’s not as great. But it would be a great stanalone, if the first one did not existed. 

175. Vacation (2015) Directed by John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein

This is a comedic MASTERPIECE and I CAN NOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH! 

I love comedy movies, but I always expect to much of them... but this served me EVERYTHING that a good comedy should have to make me laugh until my breath runs out. LOVED IT!

176. Walk the Line (2005) Directed by James Mangold

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are absolutely babes and so increadibly talented! 

The movie is a bit slow (maybe only if you not a particularly big Cash fan), but is great! 

177. Love Happens (2009) Directed by Brandon Camp

Jennifer Aniston is amazing and goergeous as always but I didn’t conect with the characters so... it didn’t work to much for me, but it’s not bad eigther.

178. John Tucker Must Die (2006) Directed by Betty Thomas

Talking about perfect comedies, this is ONE OF THEM! FOR SURE! 

179. You’ve Got Mail (1998) Directed by Nora Ephron

I’ve got three things to say:

One: TOM HANKS

Two: I could never date someone that led me to bankruptcy, I could however punch this person multiple times.

Three: MEG RYAN!!!

180. The Prince & Me (2004) Directed by Martha Coolidge

Okay, so I was not expecting anything big from this movie and I only watched it because of Julia Stiles, BUT OMG I’m so thakfull that I gave it a chance, because it’s an amazingly done cliché and the Prince it’s totally hot!

 181. Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) Directed by James Bobin

I WAS SO SURPRISED THAT IT WAS SO GOOD! I really wasn’t expecting that! SO GOOD! 

182. Me Before You (2016) Directed by Thea Sharrock 

méh.

But Emilia, I want to be your best friend!

183. Late Night (2019) Directed by Nisha Ganatra

To Queens that almost coused my death because of how much a I laughed in this... it’s ligh, fun and dramtic and real... AMAZING!

184. Let It Snow (2019) Directed by Luke Snellin 

Kiernan Shipka and  Mitchell Hope singing The Whole of the Moon awakend my bissexuality.

Shameik Moore and Isabela Merced to!

185. When Harry Met Sally… (1989) Directed by Rob Reiner

MEG RYAN!!! 

So... this is the movie that every fanfic is based on? I really loved it!

186. Bringing Down the House (2003) Directed by Adam Shankman

Queen Latifah always brings a smile to my face... she’s perfect!

187. Joker (2019) Directed by Todd Phillips

Huum... Joaquin Phoenix it’s a very great actor, OMG! 

188. Penelope (2006) Directed by Mark Palansky 

It was very hard for me to watch this movie and not get distracted by James MacAvoy’s perfect face and body and not so perfect hair in this one, but does anybody really care? It’s beautiful James McAvoy! 

Also, the movie is so great! I didn’t knew about the plot and I was so surprised! It’s very, very good! 

I love the final scene when Penelope just let’s the children run wild while she swings with her hot boyfriend...

“Take of your mask!” ~proceds to kiss Christina Ricci very dramaticly~

189. Mad Money (2008) Directed by Callie Khouri

Everything about this movie was PERFECT

190. Baywatch (2017) Directed by Seth Gordon

Great opening scene, the rest was kind of a mess.

191. Noelle (2019) Directed by Marc Lawrence

CUTE! CUTE! CUTE! 

But I will complain about the lack of Bill Hader content.

192. Every Day (2018) Directed by Michael Sucsy

Another surprise this year, a very good one! 

It’s cute and dramatic, also, this actress kissed every teeneger and young adult in Hollywood!

193. Over Her Dead Body (2008) Directed by Jeff Lowell

A good and weird movie! Gave a few laughs. 

Paul Rudd is in it, so, totally worth it!

194. The Skeleton Twins (2014) Directed by Craig Johnson

A dramatic, surprising and “few good” comedy! 

I really wish I could hang out on Halloween with Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig...

195. Eat Pray Love (2010) Directed by Ryan Murphy

I didn’t quite understood her journey but I quite liked it. 

Veeeery long movie.

196. Death at a Funeral (2007) Directed by Frank Oz

197. Death at a Funeral (2010) Directed by Neil LaBute

I know I should have loved the original version more but the american version... I don’t know what it is (probably the many actors that I absolutely LOVE), but I coul not stop laughing! 

James Marsden was an absolute STAR! 

198. The Other Woman (2014) Directed by Nick Cassavetes

I wish I could personally thank Cameron Diaz for every great movie I watched because of her.

Thank you, Mrs. Diaz! 

That last scene was peak COMEDY!!!

199. The Back-Up Plan 2010 Directed by Alan Poul

JLo! PERFECT!

Honestly, I was thinking this movie was going to be very problematic, but it wasn’t that much... it was actually pretty cute! The birth scene was sacry and funny at the same time!! 

200. Muriel's Wedding 1994 Directed by P.J. Hogan

Don’t judge me, I didn’t liked it, it fact, It made me feel pretty shitty, so I just wnat to forget that it existis. 

[littlemissnellie]

Kennedy shuffled in her seat and dropped her gaze to her lap. Her cheeks flushed and her skin prickled with unease. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what Matt was thinking; she expected the worst, which is why she was so shocked when he calmly slid into the chair opposite the little girl and, despite taking a moment to collect his thoughts, let out a warm chuckle.

Matt: “You’re right there, Maddie. What an observant young lady you are.”

Maddie: “Where’s John, Kennedy? I wanted John to be here too. I wanted to show him my new dolls and-”

Matt: “Well who says you can’t show me your new dolls, huh?”

Maddie: “You’re not as good at playing dolls as John is.”

Matt: “That’s pretty funny, how did you know that? Because I don’t think I’ve ever played dolls with you before, so how could you know about these supposed lacklustre skills when it comes to playing with dolls?”

Maddie: “I just wanted John, okay?! And you’re not John!”

The little girl’s cheeks were mottled with scarlet frustration and her voice was becoming almost frantic. Kennedy couldn’t let the day get derailed this early on and as hard as it was for her, she knew that she had to intervene.

Kennedy: “Maddie, that’s enough-”

Matt: “No Ken, it’s okay.”

Clearly Mr Knowles had other ideas though, as well as a knack for handling situations with unwavering charm. 

Matt: “Why is it that you wanted John to be here so badly, Maddie? ...Because I can’t try to fix the problem if you don’t even tell me what it is.”

Maddie: “...He promised me he’d let me show him all my cat toys when he came over next time...And I thought that might have been...today...”

The clear disappointment in her voice and the dejected look in her eyes Matt caught a glimpse of before she dropped her gaze to the floor were more than enough to tug on his heartstrings. But as soon as the words left a mouth a grin spread back across his lips.

Matt: “Oh, you like cats?”

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: REWIND REVIEW: The Lion King

(Image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures via wdsmediafile.com)

For an occasional new segment, Every Movie Has a Lesson will cover upcoming home media releases combining an “overdue” or “rewind” film review, complete with life lessons, and an unboxed look at special features.

THE LION KING

Anyone who seeks to own this version of The Lion King is doing so with a “how did they do that?” curiosity. The technical brilliance is its biggest selling point. That interest is answered very well by this disc release. Unlike its Pixar and Marvel offerings, Disney compiled a legitimate look into this re-imaginings wholly revolutionary bells and whistles. This movie will look gorgeous on your high-end television at home.

ANTICIPATORY SET AND PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

Jon Favreau’s The Lion King stands as the biggest test to all of that progress and the attached criticism because of how little beyond the pristinely pixelated exterior is actually “reimagined.” So incredibly and, dare I say, unnecessarily much is nearly a shot-for-shot duplication of Disney’s most popular and most successful film of their Renaissance era. Duplicated enjoyment may have been the goal, but that makes one question a tangible purpose for truly needing any such update. Luckily, the shininess, so to speak, is an undeniably impressive and redeeming feature to a lack of implemented originality.

With around thirty minutes of extra marination here and there simplified by screenwriter and former steady Brett Ratner and Steven Spielberg collaborator Jeff Nathanson, the well-worn tale of The Lion King, with all of its hefty Shakespearean elements, is retold for a new generation. The habitat-sustaining balance of predator and prey on Pride Rock and the coming-of-age journey of an impatient young lion cub named Simba are derailed by the tragic death of his kingly father Mufasa (James Earl Jones). The pourer of snake oil and the engineer of this tragic royal coup is Mufasa’s rebuffed and cerebral younger brother Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his enlisted army of hyenas. Shamed to believing his idolized father’s death was his fault, Simba leaves the savanna and grows into an adult (Donald Glover) in a lush jungle far away under the practical tutelage and scrappy friendship of a meerkat named Timon (Billy Eichner) and a warthog named Pumbaa (Seth Rogen). When his former betrothed lioness (Beyonce Knowles-Carter) and a spiritual soothsaying baboon (John Kani) from his past discover Simba is alive, they urge him to return home and claim his birthright.

LESSON #1: KIDS, LET’S LEARN ABOUT FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS — Depending on your chosen educator in the movie, Timon or Mufasa, you either have a straight line (food chain) or a grander circle (food web) to describe linked survival. It’s like the duel between facts and “fake news” only sung as an anthem to help you remember. Everything that lives will die and become the ingredients to a future living thing. We all are the products of that matter ourselves. It’s just what order you observe or place you occupy in the chain or the web.

LESSON #2: CARRY NO TROUBLE OR PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE — Just as in 1994, the catchy “Hakuna Matata” comprises your specially packaged teachable nugget for the target demographic. The Swahili phrase meaning “no trouble” or “no problems” remains good advice for moving on from past mistakes and perceived failures with an attitude change to focus on the present and future.

MY TAKE:

The opening line of my review for Aladdin read “It is becoming increasingly tedious to both critique and enjoy these Disney “re-imaginings.” That hasn’t changed. Go back before that with Dumbo and I said “Audiences constantly question the values of duplicated enjoyment or tangible purpose for needing anything new and shiny made from something that worked just that way it was intended decades ago.” That hasn’t changed either. Now, when I go back two years to Beauty and the Beast and read my words of “Let them be different, whether that’s better or worse, because they are different. View them separately and independently. Judge them separately and independently,” I see where the situations have changed for me and for this line of movies. I can’t do that anymore.

It is the present entertainment landscape and the future dividends that have powered this 2019 presentation to an immense level of anticipation. There is no disputing this movie’s immediate and constant wow factor as a stunning visual and technical spectacle. The photo-real animation of The Moving Picture Company supervised by three-time Oscar winner Robert Logato, fellow Jungle Book Oscar winner Adam Valdez, and promoted top supervisor Elliot Newman add divine ethereal layers and qualities to every corner of Caleb Deschanel’s laboratory cinematography, right down to the wind, bugs, hair, and dust. The conjured natural beauty and animal physicality is easily some of the best-looking CGI work Disney has ever attempted of film.

The trade-off with the hyper-detailed realism is the loss of engaging and exaggerated personification of characters and performances from traditional hand-drawn animation. This happened for The Jungle Book as well. Nearly all of the expressive eyes, mouths, and other emotional facial features are flattened and reduced by limits of physiological accuracy. Cartoons, more often than not, will always do that better. It shows here and it is showmanship that is dearly missed.

Stellar voice work would supersede that weakness. However, this update lacks a standout showy performance, even with a “let’s do this” and “I got this” modern attitude sprinkled throughout the diverse casting. Now 88, the returning Jones has lost little timbre, but counts as another ingredient of replication rather than an opportunity for newness. Ejiofor is a less oily Scar than Jeremy Irons and his calculated line deliveries of sinister intent and ruthless edge are underplayed and too calm to a degree. Glover and Knowles feel like they are reading more than emoting and hitting high drama. The most zeal, naturally, comes from the characters with the most personality. The chicanery of Eichner and Rogen charms to embezzle each episode of their participation.

What gave 1994’s The Lion King its lasting importance is the trait of majesty. In my eyes, that always came from the music as much as, if not more than, the characters themselves. The songs composed by the famed Elton John with lyrics by Disney hitmaker Tim Rice brought magnetic appeal. Hans Zimmer’s percussive and choral musical score, which stands as his only Oscar-winning work to date, elevated the entire movie’s powerful presence for show-stopping impact. That memorable music, recomposed and reworked by all three men with the infusion and addition of Beyonce, is the smartest and, in the end, the most essential anchoring element of this carryover. That vital strength is successfully retained rather than lost. Now, the musical majesty has a matching and radiant visual one primed to stir both new and old amazement.

LESSON #3: BE A GIVING KING — The generosity of a ruler’s wisdom and actions gain more fealty among their subjects than any fear or oppressive control. Mufasa and Simba earned that loyalty. The other animals in their organic orb of influence genuflect in respect. Can the same effect be evoked from the watching audiences of Jon Favreau’s new achievement as they gain or lose trust in Disney’s reputation with these second comings? The regal resonance of this parable wins. No matter if the version of The Lion King being shown is sketched or coded, we too may bow to the grand splendor on display.

3 STARS

EXTRA CREDIT:

The centerpiece of this home media edition is 53-minute “The Journey to The Lion King.”  The presentation is divided into three chapters with director Jon Favreau’s ever-present finger in every pie.  This feature easily bests the miniature 5-15 minute attempts of its peers. Even the so-so fans for this remake will find creativity to be impressed by in the production process for this movie.  

The first segment is a 13-minute portion documenting the return of composer extraordinaire Hans Zimmer to the project that earned his only Oscar so far in his illustrious career.  With a second crack at The Lion King, Zimmer brought increases of drums and vocal force to the familiar.  Hearing Zimmer speak on his creative process and goals is fascinating.  To have him and Elton John return to curate the score and songs was a coup for the studio and filmmakers.

The middle segment is the best and is subtitled “The Magic.”  Here is where we see the extensive shooting process, led by six-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel.  The DP, the effects vendor MPC, and Favreau documented their “virtual camera” process. Ben Grossman of MPC built game engine technology where VR headsets rehearse and chart possible camera movements.  Those shots are merged with the settings created by Andrew Jones and his animation team from the original animatic storyboards. All involved really go out of their way to explain this very new technique and the conversations are very insightful.

To see more of this outside of “The Journey to The Lion King,” viewers can peruse the “More to Be Scene” selections.  Three of the major vocal set pieces (“Circle of Life,” “I Just Can’t Wait to be King,” and “Hakuna Matata”) are presented with side-by-side screen shifts of the four visual layers.  Starting with the storyboards and animation to the virtual camera shooting and final finished product, the progression is amazing to see.

Last of the three chapters, “Timeless Tale” brings forward the diverse voice talents of these animal characters and personas.  Favreau leads here to explain and defend how this cast of new performers were chosen. They, in turn, excitedly explain their connection to it all.  Many grew up as ardent lovers of the original and feel the Favreau opportunity is dream fulfillment and a large honor. The smiles are shared by all around.

Jon Favreau’s feature commentary takes all of this and goes even further with scene-by-scene breakdowns.  His complementary insights often emphasize the documentary and photo-realistic goals and desires of the movie and all those working on it.  The goal from the beginning was less anthropomorphic emotion to avoid cartooning, which addresses the contention of many for the lack of facial expressions.  Emulation came first, right down to the shot creations. According to the director, the more iconic the scene, the more the filmmakers adhered to the known memories without tinkering.  Changes were easier to make elsewhere.  

After that, the other bonus features are pretty short and simple.  Entertainment is the chief goal where the movie itself can be played straight or as a sing-along version.  For those who want to cut straight to the ditties, there is a Song Selection feature to pick any of the eight lyricized song scenes.  Music video inclusions are given to the two new original song additions, “Spirit” by Beyonce and “Never Too Late” by Elton John. Expect one of those to get an Oscar nomination slot come the winter awards season.

The final minor bit is “Protect the Pride.”  It is a tidy 3-minute PSA on lions highlighting the beneficial Lion Recovery Fund efforts supported with a bucks from Disney’s fat checkbook.  The organization’s goal with this partnership is to double the formerly endangered lion population in the wild by 2050. Helpful and harmless, it represents a positive message and kissed ring at the same time.

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#833)

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[michellelewis7162]

Popular Song May Be Innovative

Popular Song May Be Innovative

 Popular song might feature components of stone, hip hop, reggae, dance, R&B, jazz, digital, and also in some cases folk songs as well as numerous other designs. Pop popular music performers generally utilize state-of-the-art innovation as well as audio centers to attain the noise they wish, and also report producers may possess a massive effect. Stand out popular music commonly makes use of a straightforward, momentous tune as well as focuses on the rhythm, typically along with syncopation, and also disrobed to an essential riff or loop which redoes throughout a lot of the song. Pop popular music is commonly slammed for being extremely easy and also repetitive Pop Classic Music.

 Popular

 Music is music concerning any one of a lot of music types that are available to the basic public and also are actually circulated by one or additional of the electronic media. Music is actually popular music that is actually not another thing (generally 'folk' or even 'art' popular music). Music is related to (produced for or even through) a specific social group. Music is disseminated through information media and/or in a mass market. Music is likewise seldom completely crucial. Music is not definitely regarding 'being actually listened to', but instead about 'being heard once more'; and 'being actually listened to over and over and also once more' is what truly preferred music is actually truly approximately. Stand out is contemporary songs as well as a typical type of music (distinguished from classical or even fine art songs as well as from folk music). https://classic-uptodate.com/

 The term popular songs carries out certainly not refer specifically to a single genre or even sound, and also its own significance is different relying on the opportunity and area. Within preferred music, "popular song" is often distinguished from various other subgenres through stylistic attributes including a danceable rhythm or even beat, simple melodies and a redoing design. The extensive allure of stand out popular music is actually observed to identify it coming from even more certain styles of prominent songs, as well as pop music entertainers as well as recordings are actually one of the very successful and also very most commonly understood in many areas of the globe. The advancement of videotaping procedures is actually considered a primary impact on the sound of pop, distinguishing it from symphonic music and jazz music, along with from some sorts of popular songs which might find an extra "organic" sound.

 Album

 In the documented popular music era, the solitary (a single tune) as well as the cd (an assortment of tracks) are the standard techniques of circulating pop popular music. Noteworthy highlights for stand out songs in the 1980s are Michael Jackson's 2nd Epic label launch, Thriller, which went on to end up being the very popular cd of all time. Jackson was actually the best productive performer of the 80s, extending nine # 1 single people in the United States alone during that years, and also selling over 133 thousand duplicates with simply two albums-- Thriller, and its follow-up Bad.

 Pop songs in the 1980s was greatly determined through a digital audio along with synthesizers and also drum equipments, and dancing style popular music. Pop music, alternatively, has predominantly happened right into use to describe songs that grew away from the stone 'n roll circle of the mid-1950's and also continues in a definable path to today. Stand out music can easily vary from the extremely artistic, iconoclastic or even virtuosic to easy and also completely dumb Pop Classic Music

 Gouge to Enthralling Pop Music.

 Popular song is actually one of the most spectacular as well as preferred category in music. This style is remarkably well-known as well as is actually acclaimed world vast. It is the music style of contemporary opportunities and has caused a terrific revolution on the planet of music. It is actually the spectacular group of music which has actually damaged numerous barriers of typical as well as traditional songs. This popular music is actually beyond the official learning in songs or normal popular music styles. The only main reason of the tremendous excellence of this sort of music is its own potential to muse and captivate folks.

 The popular music is actually developed with an intention to bring in and also allure the masses. Any individual and everyone may enjoy this music without being actually a professional as well as connoisseur of music. It concentrates much more on enjoyment than the artistic and expert concepts. This music does certainly not highlight on the some certain popular music type. However, it merely offers the performer freedom to experiment with the different type of popular music as well as show all of them in their own designs.

 The style is actually greatly renowned amongst the young people as well as the teens. Its own style has come to be the favourite of the masses as a result of its versatility. People can conveniently understand it as well as relate to it. Stand out tunes are created along with high target of entertaining the reader. This songs category can easily certainly not be actually epitomized or classified as per one's type. This splendid design consists of various moods and also it is large expression of the musician's innovation that matters one of the most.

 Stand out Music is actually acquiring recognition because 1950's this terrific songs style has outweighed all its own contemporaries. Enjoyed with the regular music instruments like Guitar, Drum as well as digital computer keyboards, the popular music is everything about higher spiritedness as well as enjoyable. These music bands are actually really widely known and also people across the world appreciate them. The ensemble as well as the performers all together consist of the stand out band.

 Several well-liked musicians of the music style have controlled the music globe. Its lovers keenly expect the launch of the albums from their favourite musicians. The Beetles has actually been just one of the absolute most well-known music bands on the planet. They have actually reigned the music charts and also individuals have actually loved their music crazily. For many years the singers, tune article writers and the musicians played an important job in the expansion as well as development of the category. Everyone adores to listen closely to this unbelievable popular music design.

 Our company are actually the World, Careless Whisper and also Footloose are actually a number of the absolute most rocking favorites of the 1980s. It was actually the period in which the genre acquired its own best stance. In 1990s, the popular music gained new elevations along with female artistes thinking of amazing stand out songs online videos as well as tracks. There were actually some awesome female singles released that topped the male efficiencies. Vogue, The power of Love, Hold On as well as the Hero are the couple of exceptional amounts Pop Classic Music.

 Madonna, Shania Twain etc were actually some of one of the most marvelled at stand out stars of the last years. Elton John thought of a few of the best astonishing Pop classics that offered the music huge popularity. Michael Jackson gained the greatest follower following with his unique design and astonishing stand out amounts.

 In today times, the popular song has actually concluded the songs planet. Nothing else style is thus popular and marvelled at through the individuals. Along with younger pop superstars happening with impressive and also sizzling varieties, this songs is actually all specified to obtain brand-new elevations. Britney Spears is just one of the best stand out images of the brand new generation. Her fatal music video recordings like Oops! I did it Again, I am a Slave For You etc have created her the absolute most desirable Pop icon among the young adults. Beyonce Knowles' Crazy in Love, White Flag and other smash hits have actually additionally shaken the songs enthusiasts all over the world.

 Jennifer Lopez, Boy Zone, Spice Girls and other pop celebrities have offered wonderful home entertainment to people across the world. Shakira has actually specified a new pattern along with her individual design with the blockbuster like Hips Don't Lie and also Whenever, Wherever Pop Classic Music.

 Hip hop located pop music video produced waves, with terrific favorites like Hot in Herre, Don't Phunk With my Heart, India Club and also Candy Shop. Latin Pop additionally ended up being considerably preferred with the remarkable hit By Enrique - Hero. The Ketchup Song was actually also a superior smash hit in 2002. Stand out popular music has enraptured people around the world. Everybody needs to pay attention to put popular music for terrific amusement and also revitalization

 Popular Song is actually Flexible

 Popular song, on the various other hand, has mostly entered into usage to illustrate popular music that grew away from the stone 'n roll circle of the mid-1950's as well as continues in a definite pathway to today. Pop music is certainly not generally composed, executed and also recorded as a symphony, rooms, or even concerto. Pop music gets something of a difficult time in today times.

 Songs

 Music is just one of the best essential experiences for human creatures. Artists are actually offended by this due to the fact that our company believe popular music ought to interact you. The meaning of popular song is purposefully pliable as the popular music that is identified as pop is actually continuously modifying. At any kind of particular point in time it might be actually easiest to identify popular song as that which is actually prosperous on the popular song graphes. For recent fifty years one of the most effective musical styles on the stand out charts have actually continually transformed and evolved. However, there are some constant trends in what is pinpointed as pop songs. This will include a very vast assortment of music from vaudeville and also minstrel reveals to metal. Popular song, on the various other hand, has mainly entered consumption to explain songs that advanced out of the rock 'n roll circle of the mid-1950's and proceeds in a definable road to today. This indicates the songs that markets the absolute most copies, pulls the most extensive gig audiences, as well as is actually played most commonly on the broadcast.

 Jazz music

 It's certainly not major or uncomplicated sufficient to become contacted jazz music. These often were actually by piano trios, playing sunlight classics as well as sterilized jazz music and also featuring headlines like, "Cocktail Time" and "Cocktails, Anyone. It originates from the Blues, in its own importance, and also has actually possessed even more poisonings with stand out popular music than Jazz. This type has come to be abundant of music subgenres: Soul, Funk or even fashionable pop (not to perplex along with the jazz music funk cultivated from Miles Davis in '60s as well as '70s), until getting there to Hip Hop, come from it. It conciliates stand out melodies along with jazz and also most of all with blues seems and rhythms. Dance rhythm as well as woes piano album "Modern jazz music dance "Piano Fender Rhodes improvs on rhythm and blues as well as dancing rhythms. His jazz improvisations carry you to the magic, spiritual as well as mystic feeling of popular music based upon Gurdjieff's training. It was actually certainly not awfully difficult to choose just how to separate jazz popular music coming from pop popular music. The suggestion is actually that you ought to review this publication to begin with, then the record of jazz popular music and also the history of rock songs. Latin popular music started operating its own method also as early as the Forties and also Fifties in jazz music.

 The definition of stand out songs is actually purposefully adaptable as the popular music that is pinpointed as pop is actually regularly transforming. At any kind of certain moment it might be actually best to identify popular song as that which is prosperous on the pop popular music charts. Nevertheless, there are actually some steady patterns in what is actually pinpointed as stand out popular music. It is actually alluring to confuse pop popular music with well-known songs.

 Free Classical Music

 Symphonic music is certainly not as preferred as sunny popular music so its need is maybe not as high as its own source. There are actually many classic popular music enthusiasts, composers and also producers who supply free downloads of symphonic music from their internet sites. Thus there are actually a lot of type of free of charge symphonic music downloads readily available on web. You can easily download and install timeless opus created through fantastic performers like Pachelbel, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Brahms, and also Bach. The music might have been actually carried out on an assortment of musical equipments like piano, harp, flute as well as violin. You can likewise discover a lot of initial music authors of timeless instrumental items, like the Brobdignagian Bards, Ryan Farrish, Bassic, Paul Spaeth, and a variety of classical popular music groups.

 The 1st step in obtaining complimentary symphonic music is actually to initial determine which category of classical songs as well as which composer's songs you desire to install. It is actually much better to prep a checklist of your favored popular music items as an alternative of creating random selections, which you might certainly not such as in the future and also which may have to be actually removed.

 Having actually prepared the listing of the items of your choice, it is when you begin searching the Internet to install all of them that you discover that what you definitely like might not be easily offered on the Net.

 If you are actually privileged adequate to discover some parts on call free of cost downloads, their audio high quality might certainly not be actually up to the mark. Several of these data might be copied and also or may also bring infections. These may destroy the smooth functioning of your personal computer. The free of cost provides are actually usually appealing, but the truth is that nothing truly happens free. Your free symphonic music downloads could come along with nasty advertising campaigns as well as pop flies or even other forcible downloads.

 In scenery of the above simple facts it is wise to properly review the summary of the opus prior to you download it. Besides, there are certain specialized aspects that must be remembered among the songs download. You ought to if possible have the Windows Media Player of Version 7 or much higher to participate in the songs that you may possess installed. You might also have to be actually tied through a permit contract before you are actually permitted to download and install.

 The Value Of Classical Music

 Every modern opus whether it be rhythm and also woes to stand out, behind the verses as well as tunes may all may be outlined back to the Classics. Every item of songs currently has been actually deciphered as well as integrated with elegant tones. Without the great composers like Bach, Hayden, or Mozart many of today's popular music most likely would not exist.

 The market value of Classical songs can certainly not be actually pressured sufficient. From a performer viewpoint, symphonic music is actually the personification of what entertainers make every effort for in their very own form of popular music analysis. From a target market point of point of view symphonic music stirs the imagination, ingenuity, feelings, as well as sensations that typically definitely would not develop at the same strength while paying attention to various other types of songs.

 In learning symphonic music is actually a most useful resource. Recent researches have ended that really little ones that are offered to the standards early in life all accomplish a much higher amount of academics than those kids who weren't exposed to classical popular music while they were younger. Studies also have ended that those kids, adolescents, young people, and grownups who experience continuous exposure to the classics further increases those individuals excellence in institution and in life. However, regrettably though institution units through-out the country songs appreciation is the one course that always acquires removed.

 Every youngster and youthful individual has to be actually given the possibility to come to be accustomed to the terrific composers from Bach, Mozart, to Beethoven in order that a recognition of classical songs will certainly become a timeless component of lifestyle's knowledge. Everyone has various likes, tastes, and also feelings which is actually all what makes our company an individual. Some people would certainly favor various kinds of popular music depending upon state of minds as well as life's occasions. Along with a very early intro as well as visibility to refined music a respect for all kinds of music as well as art will certainly establish now much more than if children and individuals were actually not left open to the standards whatsoever.

 Just How Pop Music Originated

 Stand out songs or mainstream popular music is a genre that has regularly been close to the center of songs caring reader. The style of songs that is actually considered stand out today is certainly not the exact same kind that was actually taken into consideration prominent a handful of many years earlier.

 Music started from the style that our experts presently consider as classical popular music. At some time eventually after that, there was a sizable progression in the business of pop popular music. At some aspect the songs that was under the genre "stand out" are actually emotional ballads. This included scripture and also praise songs. Jazz music as well as nation tracks likewise ended up being well-liked and were actually considered mainstream. An additional kind was actually hip jump and was viewed as songs for the masses in addition to for teens as well as younger adults. Dance and electronic popular music also possessed their portion of popularity.

 As songs may be considered as a thing that may assist sustain their very own field, they needed to link closer to the masses and the best individuals of the planet. This is exactly how pop songs happened into being actually. From the unsatisfactory masses, the mid lesson people and to cream of the crops, this sort of popular music ended up being fascinating to all of them. As there is actually terrific interest that is actually offered to it, popular song was capable to develop additional tasks for audio performers, authors, publishers and a whole lot extra.

 The development of the microphone, the remodeling in its own style and also the ability of 45 revoltions per minute transformed the method music has been actually transferred by means of broadcasts as well as documents. And a handful of decades after, the television came to be one of the most popular technological innovation in relations to media. Certainly not only are the stand out artists heard, they are actually also observed on TELEVISION. Their abilities were needed to one more degree. After the television's creation, multi track documents and digital versions of music took the culture. This equalized the method individuals pay attention to songs and also the degree through which they may access it.

 In the mid 20th century, music was actually mostly the field of American audio musicians. The two most popular musicians at that time were actually Michael Jackson and Madonna as well as were nicknamed as the King of Pop and also the Queen of Pop, specifically. There were actually additionally British performers or performers with British influences who made it popular songs scene.

 In the future, various musicians coming from different regions on the planet developed and also were actually known globally. This is actually where stand out popular music started to generate a monoculture of varieties for everyone. Also, for each and every of these regions, there are particular effects that are actually taken into consideration pop. They might be various coming from one area to an additional but the all over the world patterns come together right into the same interpretation.

[captainblogger100posts]

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early http://www.nature-business.com/business-what-year-is-it-exactly-2020-arrives-early/

Business

In a new series of weekly columns (available soon as a newsletter), we’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets.

(CNN)It’s the midterms of 2018, so why was Elizabeth Warren — presidential hopeful, class of 2020 — swamping the news cycle?

The November 6 vote is rolling in fast — the first chance since 2016 to answer President Donald Trump at the ballot box. It’s a moment that will either solidify the GOP’s total grip on power in Washington or — to hear the Democrats tell it — halt the country’s slide into authoritarianism.

But as a possible reordering of the political universe gathered, readers were riveted to see Warren — rising to the Trumpian bait, seemingly out of the blue — with her DNA test and video, meant to erase a negative issue and answer for all time: Native American or not (or just a little)?

Not helpful just now, said many Democrats.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was talking about her husband, Monica Lewinsky and #MeToo.

Please stop talking

(for now), said

Michelle Cottle,

in The New York Times.

“This close to Election Day, discussing hot-button issues in national interviews is nothing but problematic for her party — and, ultimately, her own legacy,” she wrote.

Warren walks into it

“On the first day of her unofficial presidential campaign, Sen. Elizabeth Warren

showed exactly why

President Trump is such a powerful political opponent,”

Julian Zelizer

warned. “He can twist his opponents into knots as they dive deeper and deeper into a political abyss,” drawing them “into conversations they never intended to have.” That would be the one about Warren’s attempt to get Trump to stop calling her “Pocahontas” (

no luck

) by producing

a DNA test.

Democrats fretting about the midterms were not thrilled. And

Kate Maltby

wrote that Warren was absolutely entitled to hit back at Trump,

but she is “mistaken

if she thinks Trump’s America is a place where an emotively scored promo video can change the tenor of a racial debate. If she thinks she’s the best Democratic candidate to take on Donald Trump in 2020, she’s even more mistaken.”

And there’s hypocrisy

, argued

Simon Moya Smith

, an Oglala Lakota and Chicano journalist: “Elizabeth Warren, where the hell have you been?”… during the Dakota Access Pipeline fight, the long history of “police brutality in Indian country,” and myriad issues affecting Native Americans. “I’d take Warren in a hot minute over a petulant President Trump … but the revered senator has a lot to apologize for — or at least explain. When we needed her, she didn’t lace up.”

Meanwhile, back in 2018 …

Cue the uproars across the land.

President Trump crisscrossed the country whipping up Republicans’ anxiety about immigration, with warnings about a migrant caravan moving north through Central America. He paused in Montana to praise Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty after assaulting a reporter last year (and was elected to Congress a day later). “Any guy who can do a body slam … he’s my guy,” said the American President. “Even at his most paranoid, Nixon never solicited violence against journalists,” wrote

Samuel Freedman. Trump’s words should chill

an America “where the MAGA hat defiles the First Amendment, and practitioners of a free press feel ever more the peril that ultimately swallowed up Jamal Khashoggi.”

(

What does context matter,

though, for Trump?”

Eric Lach

pointed out in the New Yorker. “In Montana, on a stage, he felt that endorsing the assault of a reporter ‘might help.’ So he did it.” )

The President had another strategy, too

: Abandon issues and simply brand Democrats as “dangerous,” “wacko” and “an angry left-wing mob,” wrote

Noah Berlatsky

. Don’t ignore this, he warned, “once you start delegitimizing one sort of protest,” you’re headed to an “authoritarian state, in which repression of dissent is justified to preserve order and keep dangerous, disloyal elements out of power.” Example? Putin’s Russia.

But Trump and Republicans

have a good reason for banging away at immigration i

n a politically polarized country, wrote

Thomas Edsall

in The New York Times. Data show that “men and women opposed to immigration are much more likely to vote Republican on the issue than supporters are to base a vote for a Democratic candidate on a pro-immigration position.”

Midterm mix

In Georgia, the Republican candidate for governor, Brian Kemp (who is also the secretary of state, in charge of elections) was accused of trying to suppress the black vote by stalling 53,000 voter registrations. (“

How’s this for an axiom that is especially self-evident,

” asked the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s

Janai Nelson

: “An elected official should not oversee an election in which he is a candidate.”)

Kemp, locked in a close race against Democrat Stacey Abrams, denies the voters put on hold under the state’s “exact match” system have anything to do with his run. This is a system, noted

Eugene Scott

in the Washington Post, that

“would put someone named Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

on the ‘pending’ registration list if her voting application said Beyoncé Knowles Carter.” In other words, “the latest offensive in the renewed campaign against minority voting rights,” said

Nelson.

Sen. Ted Cruz declined, but CNN held a town hall anyway on Thursday with his challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, “the Irish descendant from the Hispanic borderlands of Texas” political writer

James Moore

called him, “who has given the state’s Democrats a

gift they have found too surprising to completely unwrap.”

The gift? Hope. So far O’Rourke is losing, said a CNN poll, but Moore thinks he is now on the national stage to stay. And if Hispanics, middle-class women and millennials come out, he may have a chance.

Khashoggi: Saudis try to explain the horror

By week’s end, Saudi officials, bending to intense pressure, confirmed the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, fired a top military official and detained 18 Saudis, but blamed it on a fistfight that got out of control.

Nic Robertson

wrote that the “rogue-operation”-gone-wrong narrative, rather than a culpable crown prince in a friendly oil kingdom,

“beggars belief.

But Trump chose not merely to buy it, but endorse and propagate it, too.” “Trump is already giving us a curtain raiser on his intent, tilting toward a pass for his autocratic ally in the Middle East,” he wrote.

It’s in keeping with the President’s “instinctive affinity for authoritarian figures,” wrote John Avlon, and his cynical read on American exceptionalism: “The biggest difference with Donald Trump is that he’s been quick to condemn America’s past policies not from an idealistic human rights perspective but from a cold realism that is quick to call the United States morally equivalent to other countries, like Russia. No other US president would refuse to condemn Putin’s extrajudicial killings by saying ‘you think our county’s so innocent?’”

Nick Paton Walsh

suggested that

Trump’s “we won” mantra

“set the tone for this year’s spate of attempted assassinations or failed abductions — and, possibly, a new era of impunity. Be it on a door handle in Salisbury, England, or inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul … the essential message is the same: We don’t really care if we get caught.”

Elites may not like it, observed

Damon Linker

in The Week, but “

the President views international relations in transactional terms.”

Khashoggi’s killing “would be a crime worth lamenting and condemning,” but “for the first time in a very long time, the man occupying the Oval Office appears to be almost totally unmoved by moral appeals in dealing with the rest of the world” — and that is welcome.

And in a

prescient final column for the Washington Post,

received by his editor the day before he disappeared,

Jamal Khashoggi

himself lamented the death of the Arab Spring. He gave as an example the Egyptian government’s seizure of the entire print run of one newspaper: “These actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community. Instead, these actions may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence. As a result, Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate.”

Here come ‘The Conners’

Make it stop, pleaded

Clay Cane.

The matriarch of the family has overdosed on opioids, went the storyline in the “Roseanne” reboot that premiered Tuesday. “Clearly, ABC wants to maintain the cash cow” without its former star’s racist baggage.

Enough.

“We must stop moving backwards. We must stop wading in nostalgia … from our television shows to our old guard politicians.”

But “The Conners” is very much about now,

argued show runner,

Bruce Helford

, in the Hollywood Reporter. “I wanted a respectful sendoff … one that was relevant and could inspire discussion for the greater good about the American working class,” he wrote, like “the unbowed Conners as they deal with the economic inequalities of life in lower-income America with love and humor.”

Melania and misogyny

Jill Filipovic

thought

the T.I. video that went viral this week

put the rapper in the same “piggish, unrepentant misogynist league” as the President. In the video, “a Melania Trump lookalike strips in the Oval Office, dancing for T.I.’s pleasure after the President leaves the White House,” Filipovic wrote. (Melania Trump’s spokeswoman called it “disrespectful and disgusting”) Spare us the outrage, wrote Filipovic: “the T.I. video is sexist and shameful. But if Melania’s team and Trump administration supporters want to boycott the sexist and shameful, they need to start at home, with the man in the White House.”

Finally, high time for Canada

First the bad news:

Pot can raise your “risk of psychotic illnesses”. The good news, at least for Canada? In “making it legal to buy, grow and own weed,” this week, noted science writer

Tom Chivers

, and in “imposing draconian penalties on people who sell to minors,” Canada takes the industry out of the hands of drug cartels. And that, he said, will “make it easier to keep the drug out of the hands of children.”

Read More | Pat Wiedenkeller, CNN,

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early, in 2018-10-21 15:03:34

[blogparadiseisland]

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early http://www.nature-business.com/business-what-year-is-it-exactly-2020-arrives-early/

Business

In a new series of weekly columns (available soon as a newsletter), we’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets.

(CNN)It’s the midterms of 2018, so why was Elizabeth Warren — presidential hopeful, class of 2020 — swamping the news cycle?

The November 6 vote is rolling in fast — the first chance since 2016 to answer President Donald Trump at the ballot box. It’s a moment that will either solidify the GOP’s total grip on power in Washington or — to hear the Democrats tell it — halt the country’s slide into authoritarianism.

But as a possible reordering of the political universe gathered, readers were riveted to see Warren — rising to the Trumpian bait, seemingly out of the blue — with her DNA test and video, meant to erase a negative issue and answer for all time: Native American or not (or just a little)?

Not helpful just now, said many Democrats.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was talking about her husband, Monica Lewinsky and #MeToo.

Please stop talking

(for now), said

Michelle Cottle,

in The New York Times.

“This close to Election Day, discussing hot-button issues in national interviews is nothing but problematic for her party — and, ultimately, her own legacy,” she wrote.

Warren walks into it

“On the first day of her unofficial presidential campaign, Sen. Elizabeth Warren

showed exactly why

President Trump is such a powerful political opponent,”

Julian Zelizer

warned. “He can twist his opponents into knots as they dive deeper and deeper into a political abyss,” drawing them “into conversations they never intended to have.” That would be the one about Warren’s attempt to get Trump to stop calling her “Pocahontas” (

no luck

) by producing

a DNA test.

Democrats fretting about the midterms were not thrilled. And

Kate Maltby

wrote that Warren was absolutely entitled to hit back at Trump,

but she is “mistaken

if she thinks Trump’s America is a place where an emotively scored promo video can change the tenor of a racial debate. If she thinks she’s the best Democratic candidate to take on Donald Trump in 2020, she’s even more mistaken.”

And there’s hypocrisy

, argued

Simon Moya Smith

, an Oglala Lakota and Chicano journalist: “Elizabeth Warren, where the hell have you been?”… during the Dakota Access Pipeline fight, the long history of “police brutality in Indian country,” and myriad issues affecting Native Americans. “I’d take Warren in a hot minute over a petulant President Trump … but the revered senator has a lot to apologize for — or at least explain. When we needed her, she didn’t lace up.”

Meanwhile, back in 2018 …

Cue the uproars across the land.

President Trump crisscrossed the country whipping up Republicans’ anxiety about immigration, with warnings about a migrant caravan moving north through Central America. He paused in Montana to praise Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty after assaulting a reporter last year (and was elected to Congress a day later). “Any guy who can do a body slam … he’s my guy,” said the American President. “Even at his most paranoid, Nixon never solicited violence against journalists,” wrote

Samuel Freedman. Trump’s words should chill

an America “where the MAGA hat defiles the First Amendment, and practitioners of a free press feel ever more the peril that ultimately swallowed up Jamal Khashoggi.”

(

What does context matter,

though, for Trump?”

Eric Lach

pointed out in the New Yorker. “In Montana, on a stage, he felt that endorsing the assault of a reporter ‘might help.’ So he did it.” )

The President had another strategy, too

: Abandon issues and simply brand Democrats as “dangerous,” “wacko” and “an angry left-wing mob,” wrote

Noah Berlatsky

. Don’t ignore this, he warned, “once you start delegitimizing one sort of protest,” you’re headed to an “authoritarian state, in which repression of dissent is justified to preserve order and keep dangerous, disloyal elements out of power.” Example? Putin’s Russia.

But Trump and Republicans

have a good reason for banging away at immigration i

n a politically polarized country, wrote

Thomas Edsall

in The New York Times. Data show that “men and women opposed to immigration are much more likely to vote Republican on the issue than supporters are to base a vote for a Democratic candidate on a pro-immigration position.”

Midterm mix

In Georgia, the Republican candidate for governor, Brian Kemp (who is also the secretary of state, in charge of elections) was accused of trying to suppress the black vote by stalling 53,000 voter registrations. (“

How’s this for an axiom that is especially self-evident,

” asked the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s

Janai Nelson

: “An elected official should not oversee an election in which he is a candidate.”)

Kemp, locked in a close race against Democrat Stacey Abrams, denies the voters put on hold under the state’s “exact match” system have anything to do with his run. This is a system, noted

Eugene Scott

in the Washington Post, that

“would put someone named Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

on the ‘pending’ registration list if her voting application said Beyoncé Knowles Carter.” In other words, “the latest offensive in the renewed campaign against minority voting rights,” said

Nelson.

Sen. Ted Cruz declined, but CNN held a town hall anyway on Thursday with his challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, “the Irish descendant from the Hispanic borderlands of Texas” political writer

James Moore

called him, “who has given the state’s Democrats a

gift they have found too surprising to completely unwrap.”

The gift? Hope. So far O’Rourke is losing, said a CNN poll, but Moore thinks he is now on the national stage to stay. And if Hispanics, middle-class women and millennials come out, he may have a chance.

Khashoggi: Saudis try to explain the horror

By week’s end, Saudi officials, bending to intense pressure, confirmed the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, fired a top military official and detained 18 Saudis, but blamed it on a fistfight that got out of control.

Nic Robertson

wrote that the “rogue-operation”-gone-wrong narrative, rather than a culpable crown prince in a friendly oil kingdom,

“beggars belief.

But Trump chose not merely to buy it, but endorse and propagate it, too.” “Trump is already giving us a curtain raiser on his intent, tilting toward a pass for his autocratic ally in the Middle East,” he wrote.

It’s in keeping with the President’s “instinctive affinity for authoritarian figures,” wrote John Avlon, and his cynical read on American exceptionalism: “The biggest difference with Donald Trump is that he’s been quick to condemn America’s past policies not from an idealistic human rights perspective but from a cold realism that is quick to call the United States morally equivalent to other countries, like Russia. No other US president would refuse to condemn Putin’s extrajudicial killings by saying ‘you think our county’s so innocent?’”

Nick Paton Walsh

suggested that

Trump’s “we won” mantra

“set the tone for this year’s spate of attempted assassinations or failed abductions — and, possibly, a new era of impunity. Be it on a door handle in Salisbury, England, or inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul … the essential message is the same: We don’t really care if we get caught.”

Elites may not like it, observed

Damon Linker

in The Week, but “

the President views international relations in transactional terms.”

Khashoggi’s killing “would be a crime worth lamenting and condemning,” but “for the first time in a very long time, the man occupying the Oval Office appears to be almost totally unmoved by moral appeals in dealing with the rest of the world” — and that is welcome.

And in a

prescient final column for the Washington Post,

received by his editor the day before he disappeared,

Jamal Khashoggi

himself lamented the death of the Arab Spring. He gave as an example the Egyptian government’s seizure of the entire print run of one newspaper: “These actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community. Instead, these actions may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence. As a result, Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate.”

Here come ‘The Conners’

Make it stop, pleaded

Clay Cane.

The matriarch of the family has overdosed on opioids, went the storyline in the “Roseanne” reboot that premiered Tuesday. “Clearly, ABC wants to maintain the cash cow” without its former star’s racist baggage.

Enough.

“We must stop moving backwards. We must stop wading in nostalgia … from our television shows to our old guard politicians.”

But “The Conners” is very much about now,

argued show runner,

Bruce Helford

, in the Hollywood Reporter. “I wanted a respectful sendoff … one that was relevant and could inspire discussion for the greater good about the American working class,” he wrote, like “the unbowed Conners as they deal with the economic inequalities of life in lower-income America with love and humor.”

Melania and misogyny

Jill Filipovic

thought

the T.I. video that went viral this week

put the rapper in the same “piggish, unrepentant misogynist league” as the President. In the video, “a Melania Trump lookalike strips in the Oval Office, dancing for T.I.’s pleasure after the President leaves the White House,” Filipovic wrote. (Melania Trump’s spokeswoman called it “disrespectful and disgusting”) Spare us the outrage, wrote Filipovic: “the T.I. video is sexist and shameful. But if Melania’s team and Trump administration supporters want to boycott the sexist and shameful, they need to start at home, with the man in the White House.”

Finally, high time for Canada

First the bad news:

Pot can raise your “risk of psychotic illnesses”. The good news, at least for Canada? In “making it legal to buy, grow and own weed,” this week, noted science writer

Tom Chivers

, and in “imposing draconian penalties on people who sell to minors,” Canada takes the industry out of the hands of drug cartels. And that, he said, will “make it easier to keep the drug out of the hands of children.”

Read More | Pat Wiedenkeller, CNN,

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early, in 2018-10-21 15:03:34

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Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early

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Business

In a new series of weekly columns (available soon as a newsletter), we’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets.

(CNN)It’s the midterms of 2018, so why was Elizabeth Warren — presidential hopeful, class of 2020 — swamping the news cycle?

The November 6 vote is rolling in fast — the first chance since 2016 to answer President Donald Trump at the ballot box. It’s a moment that will either solidify the GOP’s total grip on power in Washington or — to hear the Democrats tell it — halt the country’s slide into authoritarianism.

But as a possible reordering of the political universe gathered, readers were riveted to see Warren — rising to the Trumpian bait, seemingly out of the blue — with her DNA test and video, meant to erase a negative issue and answer for all time: Native American or not (or just a little)?

Not helpful just now, said many Democrats.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was talking about her husband, Monica Lewinsky and #MeToo.

Please stop talking

(for now), said

Michelle Cottle,

in The New York Times.

“This close to Election Day, discussing hot-button issues in national interviews is nothing but problematic for her party — and, ultimately, her own legacy,” she wrote.

Warren walks into it

“On the first day of her unofficial presidential campaign, Sen. Elizabeth Warren

showed exactly why

President Trump is such a powerful political opponent,”

Julian Zelizer

warned. “He can twist his opponents into knots as they dive deeper and deeper into a political abyss,” drawing them “into conversations they never intended to have.” That would be the one about Warren’s attempt to get Trump to stop calling her “Pocahontas” (

no luck

) by producing

a DNA test.

Democrats fretting about the midterms were not thrilled. And

Kate Maltby

wrote that Warren was absolutely entitled to hit back at Trump,

but she is “mistaken

if she thinks Trump’s America is a place where an emotively scored promo video can change the tenor of a racial debate. If she thinks she’s the best Democratic candidate to take on Donald Trump in 2020, she’s even more mistaken.”

And there’s hypocrisy

, argued

Simon Moya Smith

, an Oglala Lakota and Chicano journalist: “Elizabeth Warren, where the hell have you been?”… during the Dakota Access Pipeline fight, the long history of “police brutality in Indian country,” and myriad issues affecting Native Americans. “I’d take Warren in a hot minute over a petulant President Trump … but the revered senator has a lot to apologize for — or at least explain. When we needed her, she didn’t lace up.”

Meanwhile, back in 2018 …

Cue the uproars across the land.

President Trump crisscrossed the country whipping up Republicans’ anxiety about immigration, with warnings about a migrant caravan moving north through Central America. He paused in Montana to praise Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty after assaulting a reporter last year (and was elected to Congress a day later). “Any guy who can do a body slam … he’s my guy,” said the American President. “Even at his most paranoid, Nixon never solicited violence against journalists,” wrote

Samuel Freedman. Trump’s words should chill

an America “where the MAGA hat defiles the First Amendment, and practitioners of a free press feel ever more the peril that ultimately swallowed up Jamal Khashoggi.”

(

What does context matter,

though, for Trump?”

Eric Lach

pointed out in the New Yorker. “In Montana, on a stage, he felt that endorsing the assault of a reporter ‘might help.’ So he did it.” )

The President had another strategy, too

: Abandon issues and simply brand Democrats as “dangerous,” “wacko” and “an angry left-wing mob,” wrote

Noah Berlatsky

. Don’t ignore this, he warned, “once you start delegitimizing one sort of protest,” you’re headed to an “authoritarian state, in which repression of dissent is justified to preserve order and keep dangerous, disloyal elements out of power.” Example? Putin’s Russia.

But Trump and Republicans

have a good reason for banging away at immigration i

n a politically polarized country, wrote

Thomas Edsall

in The New York Times. Data show that “men and women opposed to immigration are much more likely to vote Republican on the issue than supporters are to base a vote for a Democratic candidate on a pro-immigration position.”

Midterm mix

In Georgia, the Republican candidate for governor, Brian Kemp (who is also the secretary of state, in charge of elections) was accused of trying to suppress the black vote by stalling 53,000 voter registrations. (“

How’s this for an axiom that is especially self-evident,

” asked the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s

Janai Nelson

: “An elected official should not oversee an election in which he is a candidate.”)

Kemp, locked in a close race against Democrat Stacey Abrams, denies the voters put on hold under the state’s “exact match” system have anything to do with his run. This is a system, noted

Eugene Scott

in the Washington Post, that

“would put someone named Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

on the ‘pending’ registration list if her voting application said Beyoncé Knowles Carter.” In other words, “the latest offensive in the renewed campaign against minority voting rights,” said

Nelson.

Sen. Ted Cruz declined, but CNN held a town hall anyway on Thursday with his challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, “the Irish descendant from the Hispanic borderlands of Texas” political writer

James Moore

called him, “who has given the state’s Democrats a

gift they have found too surprising to completely unwrap.”

The gift? Hope. So far O’Rourke is losing, said a CNN poll, but Moore thinks he is now on the national stage to stay. And if Hispanics, middle-class women and millennials come out, he may have a chance.

Khashoggi: Saudis try to explain the horror

By week’s end, Saudi officials, bending to intense pressure, confirmed the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, fired a top military official and detained 18 Saudis, but blamed it on a fistfight that got out of control.

Nic Robertson

wrote that the “rogue-operation”-gone-wrong narrative, rather than a culpable crown prince in a friendly oil kingdom,

“beggars belief.

But Trump chose not merely to buy it, but endorse and propagate it, too.” “Trump is already giving us a curtain raiser on his intent, tilting toward a pass for his autocratic ally in the Middle East,” he wrote.

It’s in keeping with the President’s “instinctive affinity for authoritarian figures,” wrote John Avlon, and his cynical read on American exceptionalism: “The biggest difference with Donald Trump is that he’s been quick to condemn America’s past policies not from an idealistic human rights perspective but from a cold realism that is quick to call the United States morally equivalent to other countries, like Russia. No other US president would refuse to condemn Putin’s extrajudicial killings by saying ‘you think our county’s so innocent?’”

Nick Paton Walsh

suggested that

Trump’s “we won” mantra

“set the tone for this year’s spate of attempted assassinations or failed abductions — and, possibly, a new era of impunity. Be it on a door handle in Salisbury, England, or inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul … the essential message is the same: We don’t really care if we get caught.”

Elites may not like it, observed

Damon Linker

in The Week, but “

the President views international relations in transactional terms.”

Khashoggi’s killing “would be a crime worth lamenting and condemning,” but “for the first time in a very long time, the man occupying the Oval Office appears to be almost totally unmoved by moral appeals in dealing with the rest of the world” — and that is welcome.

And in a

prescient final column for the Washington Post,

received by his editor the day before he disappeared,

Jamal Khashoggi

himself lamented the death of the Arab Spring. He gave as an example the Egyptian government’s seizure of the entire print run of one newspaper: “These actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community. Instead, these actions may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence. As a result, Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate.”

Here come ‘The Conners’

Make it stop, pleaded

Clay Cane.

The matriarch of the family has overdosed on opioids, went the storyline in the “Roseanne” reboot that premiered Tuesday. “Clearly, ABC wants to maintain the cash cow” without its former star’s racist baggage.

Enough.

“We must stop moving backwards. We must stop wading in nostalgia … from our television shows to our old guard politicians.”

But “The Conners” is very much about now,

argued show runner,

Bruce Helford

, in the Hollywood Reporter. “I wanted a respectful sendoff … one that was relevant and could inspire discussion for the greater good about the American working class,” he wrote, like “the unbowed Conners as they deal with the economic inequalities of life in lower-income America with love and humor.”

Melania and misogyny

Jill Filipovic

thought

the T.I. video that went viral this week

put the rapper in the same “piggish, unrepentant misogynist league” as the President. In the video, “a Melania Trump lookalike strips in the Oval Office, dancing for T.I.’s pleasure after the President leaves the White House,” Filipovic wrote. (Melania Trump’s spokeswoman called it “disrespectful and disgusting”) Spare us the outrage, wrote Filipovic: “the T.I. video is sexist and shameful. But if Melania’s team and Trump administration supporters want to boycott the sexist and shameful, they need to start at home, with the man in the White House.”

Finally, high time for Canada

First the bad news:

Pot can raise your “risk of psychotic illnesses”. The good news, at least for Canada? In “making it legal to buy, grow and own weed,” this week, noted science writer

Tom Chivers

, and in “imposing draconian penalties on people who sell to minors,” Canada takes the industry out of the hands of drug cartels. And that, he said, will “make it easier to keep the drug out of the hands of children.”

Read More | Pat Wiedenkeller, CNN,

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early, in 2018-10-21 15:03:34

[blogcompetnetall]

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early http://www.nature-business.com/business-what-year-is-it-exactly-2020-arrives-early/

Business

In a new series of weekly columns (available soon as a newsletter), we’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets.

(CNN)It’s the midterms of 2018, so why was Elizabeth Warren — presidential hopeful, class of 2020 — swamping the news cycle?

The November 6 vote is rolling in fast — the first chance since 2016 to answer President Donald Trump at the ballot box. It’s a moment that will either solidify the GOP’s total grip on power in Washington or — to hear the Democrats tell it — halt the country’s slide into authoritarianism.

But as a possible reordering of the political universe gathered, readers were riveted to see Warren — rising to the Trumpian bait, seemingly out of the blue — with her DNA test and video, meant to erase a negative issue and answer for all time: Native American or not (or just a little)?

Not helpful just now, said many Democrats.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was talking about her husband, Monica Lewinsky and #MeToo.

Please stop talking

(for now), said

Michelle Cottle,

in The New York Times.

“This close to Election Day, discussing hot-button issues in national interviews is nothing but problematic for her party — and, ultimately, her own legacy,” she wrote.

Warren walks into it

“On the first day of her unofficial presidential campaign, Sen. Elizabeth Warren

showed exactly why

President Trump is such a powerful political opponent,”

Julian Zelizer

warned. “He can twist his opponents into knots as they dive deeper and deeper into a political abyss,” drawing them “into conversations they never intended to have.” That would be the one about Warren’s attempt to get Trump to stop calling her “Pocahontas” (

no luck

) by producing

a DNA test.

Democrats fretting about the midterms were not thrilled. And

Kate Maltby

wrote that Warren was absolutely entitled to hit back at Trump,

but she is “mistaken

if she thinks Trump’s America is a place where an emotively scored promo video can change the tenor of a racial debate. If she thinks she’s the best Democratic candidate to take on Donald Trump in 2020, she’s even more mistaken.”

And there’s hypocrisy

, argued

Simon Moya Smith

, an Oglala Lakota and Chicano journalist: “Elizabeth Warren, where the hell have you been?”… during the Dakota Access Pipeline fight, the long history of “police brutality in Indian country,” and myriad issues affecting Native Americans. “I’d take Warren in a hot minute over a petulant President Trump … but the revered senator has a lot to apologize for — or at least explain. When we needed her, she didn’t lace up.”

Meanwhile, back in 2018 …

Cue the uproars across the land.

President Trump crisscrossed the country whipping up Republicans’ anxiety about immigration, with warnings about a migrant caravan moving north through Central America. He paused in Montana to praise Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty after assaulting a reporter last year (and was elected to Congress a day later). “Any guy who can do a body slam … he’s my guy,” said the American President. “Even at his most paranoid, Nixon never solicited violence against journalists,” wrote

Samuel Freedman. Trump’s words should chill

an America “where the MAGA hat defiles the First Amendment, and practitioners of a free press feel ever more the peril that ultimately swallowed up Jamal Khashoggi.”

(

What does context matter,

though, for Trump?”

Eric Lach

pointed out in the New Yorker. “In Montana, on a stage, he felt that endorsing the assault of a reporter ‘might help.’ So he did it.” )

The President had another strategy, too

: Abandon issues and simply brand Democrats as “dangerous,” “wacko” and “an angry left-wing mob,” wrote

Noah Berlatsky

. Don’t ignore this, he warned, “once you start delegitimizing one sort of protest,” you’re headed to an “authoritarian state, in which repression of dissent is justified to preserve order and keep dangerous, disloyal elements out of power.” Example? Putin’s Russia.

But Trump and Republicans

have a good reason for banging away at immigration i

n a politically polarized country, wrote

Thomas Edsall

in The New York Times. Data show that “men and women opposed to immigration are much more likely to vote Republican on the issue than supporters are to base a vote for a Democratic candidate on a pro-immigration position.”

Midterm mix

In Georgia, the Republican candidate for governor, Brian Kemp (who is also the secretary of state, in charge of elections) was accused of trying to suppress the black vote by stalling 53,000 voter registrations. (“

How’s this for an axiom that is especially self-evident,

” asked the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s

Janai Nelson

: “An elected official should not oversee an election in which he is a candidate.”)

Kemp, locked in a close race against Democrat Stacey Abrams, denies the voters put on hold under the state’s “exact match” system have anything to do with his run. This is a system, noted

Eugene Scott

in the Washington Post, that

“would put someone named Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

on the ‘pending’ registration list if her voting application said Beyoncé Knowles Carter.” In other words, “the latest offensive in the renewed campaign against minority voting rights,” said

Nelson.

Sen. Ted Cruz declined, but CNN held a town hall anyway on Thursday with his challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, “the Irish descendant from the Hispanic borderlands of Texas” political writer

James Moore

called him, “who has given the state’s Democrats a

gift they have found too surprising to completely unwrap.”

The gift? Hope. So far O’Rourke is losing, said a CNN poll, but Moore thinks he is now on the national stage to stay. And if Hispanics, middle-class women and millennials come out, he may have a chance.

Khashoggi: Saudis try to explain the horror

By week’s end, Saudi officials, bending to intense pressure, confirmed the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, fired a top military official and detained 18 Saudis, but blamed it on a fistfight that got out of control.

Nic Robertson

wrote that the “rogue-operation”-gone-wrong narrative, rather than a culpable crown prince in a friendly oil kingdom,

“beggars belief.

But Trump chose not merely to buy it, but endorse and propagate it, too.” “Trump is already giving us a curtain raiser on his intent, tilting toward a pass for his autocratic ally in the Middle East,” he wrote.

It’s in keeping with the President’s “instinctive affinity for authoritarian figures,” wrote John Avlon, and his cynical read on American exceptionalism: “The biggest difference with Donald Trump is that he’s been quick to condemn America’s past policies not from an idealistic human rights perspective but from a cold realism that is quick to call the United States morally equivalent to other countries, like Russia. No other US president would refuse to condemn Putin’s extrajudicial killings by saying ‘you think our county’s so innocent?’”

Nick Paton Walsh

suggested that

Trump’s “we won” mantra

“set the tone for this year’s spate of attempted assassinations or failed abductions — and, possibly, a new era of impunity. Be it on a door handle in Salisbury, England, or inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul … the essential message is the same: We don’t really care if we get caught.”

Elites may not like it, observed

Damon Linker

in The Week, but “

the President views international relations in transactional terms.”

Khashoggi’s killing “would be a crime worth lamenting and condemning,” but “for the first time in a very long time, the man occupying the Oval Office appears to be almost totally unmoved by moral appeals in dealing with the rest of the world” — and that is welcome.

And in a

prescient final column for the Washington Post,

received by his editor the day before he disappeared,

Jamal Khashoggi

himself lamented the death of the Arab Spring. He gave as an example the Egyptian government’s seizure of the entire print run of one newspaper: “These actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community. Instead, these actions may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence. As a result, Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate.”

Here come ‘The Conners’

Make it stop, pleaded

Clay Cane.

The matriarch of the family has overdosed on opioids, went the storyline in the “Roseanne” reboot that premiered Tuesday. “Clearly, ABC wants to maintain the cash cow” without its former star’s racist baggage.

Enough.

“We must stop moving backwards. We must stop wading in nostalgia … from our television shows to our old guard politicians.”

But “The Conners” is very much about now,

argued show runner,

Bruce Helford

, in the Hollywood Reporter. “I wanted a respectful sendoff … one that was relevant and could inspire discussion for the greater good about the American working class,” he wrote, like “the unbowed Conners as they deal with the economic inequalities of life in lower-income America with love and humor.”

Melania and misogyny

Jill Filipovic

thought

the T.I. video that went viral this week

put the rapper in the same “piggish, unrepentant misogynist league” as the President. In the video, “a Melania Trump lookalike strips in the Oval Office, dancing for T.I.’s pleasure after the President leaves the White House,” Filipovic wrote. (Melania Trump’s spokeswoman called it “disrespectful and disgusting”) Spare us the outrage, wrote Filipovic: “the T.I. video is sexist and shameful. But if Melania’s team and Trump administration supporters want to boycott the sexist and shameful, they need to start at home, with the man in the White House.”

Finally, high time for Canada

First the bad news:

Pot can raise your “risk of psychotic illnesses”. The good news, at least for Canada? In “making it legal to buy, grow and own weed,” this week, noted science writer

Tom Chivers

, and in “imposing draconian penalties on people who sell to minors,” Canada takes the industry out of the hands of drug cartels. And that, he said, will “make it easier to keep the drug out of the hands of children.”

Read More | Pat Wiedenkeller, CNN,

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early, in 2018-10-21 15:03:34

[algarithmblognumber]

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early

Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early Business What year is it, exactly? 2020 arrives early http://www.nature-business.com/business-what-year-is-it-exactly-2020-arrives-early/

Business

In a new series of weekly columns (available soon as a newsletter), we’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets.

(CNN)It’s the midterms of 2018, so why was Elizabeth Warren — presidential hopeful, class of 2020 — swamping the news cycle?

The November 6 vote is rolling in fast — the first chance since 2016 to answer President Donald Trump at the ballot box. It’s a moment that will either solidify the GOP’s total grip on power in Washington or — to hear the Democrats tell it — halt the country’s slide into authoritarianism.

But as a possible reordering of the political universe gathered, readers were riveted to see Warren — rising to the Trumpian bait, seemingly out of the blue — with her DNA test and video, meant to erase a negative issue and answer for all time: Native American or not (or just a little)?

Not helpful just now, said many Democrats.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was talking about her husband, Monica Lewinsky and #MeToo.

Please stop talking

(for now), said

Michelle Cottle,

in The New York Times.

“This close to Election Day, discussing hot-button issues in national interviews is nothing but problematic for her party — and, ultimately, her own legacy,” she wrote.

Warren walks into it

“On the first day of her unofficial presidential campaign, Sen. Elizabeth Warren

showed exactly why

President Trump is such a powerful political opponent,”

Julian Zelizer

warned. “He can twist his opponents into knots as they dive deeper and deeper into a political abyss,” drawing them “into conversations they never intended to have.” That would be the one about Warren’s attempt to get Trump to stop calling her “Pocahontas” (

no luck

) by producing

a DNA test.

Democrats fretting about the midterms were not thrilled. And

Kate Maltby

wrote that Warren was absolutely entitled to hit back at Trump,

but she is “mistaken

if she thinks Trump’s America is a place where an emotively scored promo video can change the tenor of a racial debate. If she thinks she’s the best Democratic candidate to take on Donald Trump in 2020, she’s even more mistaken.”

And there’s hypocrisy

, argued

Simon Moya Smith

, an Oglala Lakota and Chicano journalist: “Elizabeth Warren, where the hell have you been?”… during the Dakota Access Pipeline fight, the long history of “police brutality in Indian country,” and myriad issues affecting Native Americans. “I’d take Warren in a hot minute over a petulant President Trump … but the revered senator has a lot to apologize for — or at least explain. When we needed her, she didn’t lace up.”

Meanwhile, back in 2018 …

Cue the uproars across the land.

President Trump crisscrossed the country whipping up Republicans’ anxiety about immigration, with warnings about a migrant caravan moving north through Central America. He paused in Montana to praise Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty after assaulting a reporter last year (and was elected to Congress a day later). “Any guy who can do a body slam … he’s my guy,” said the American President. “Even at his most paranoid, Nixon never solicited violence against journalists,” wrote

Samuel Freedman. Trump’s words should chill

an America “where the MAGA hat defiles the First Amendment, and practitioners of a free press feel ever more the peril that ultimately swallowed up Jamal Khashoggi.”

(

What does context matter,

though, for Trump?”

Eric Lach

pointed out in the New Yorker. “In Montana, on a stage, he felt that endorsing the assault of a reporter ‘might help.’ So he did it.” )

The President had another strategy, too

: Abandon issues and simply brand Democrats as “dangerous,” “wacko” and “an angry left-wing mob,” wrote

Noah Berlatsky

. Don’t ignore this, he warned, “once you start delegitimizing one sort of protest,” you’re headed to an “authoritarian state, in which repression of dissent is justified to preserve order and keep dangerous, disloyal elements out of power.” Example? Putin’s Russia.

But Trump and Republicans

have a good reason for banging away at immigration i

n a politically polarized country, wrote

Thomas Edsall

in The New York Times. Data show that “men and women opposed to immigration are much more likely to vote Republican on the issue than supporters are to base a vote for a Democratic candidate on a pro-immigration position.”

Midterm mix

In Georgia, the Republican candidate for governor, Brian Kemp (who is also the secretary of state, in charge of elections) was accused of trying to suppress the black vote by stalling 53,000 voter registrations. (“

How’s this for an axiom that is especially self-evident,

” asked the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s

Janai Nelson

: “An elected official should not oversee an election in which he is a candidate.”)

Kemp, locked in a close race against Democrat Stacey Abrams, denies the voters put on hold under the state’s “exact match” system have anything to do with his run. This is a system, noted

Eugene Scott

in the Washington Post, that

“would put someone named Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

on the ‘pending’ registration list if her voting application said Beyoncé Knowles Carter.” In other words, “the latest offensive in the renewed campaign against minority voting rights,” said

Nelson.

Sen. Ted Cruz declined, but CNN held a town hall anyway on Thursday with his challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, “the Irish descendant from the Hispanic borderlands of Texas” political writer

James Moore

called him, “who has given the state’s Democrats a

gift they have found too surprising to completely unwrap.”

The gift? Hope. So far O’Rourke is losing, said a CNN poll, but Moore thinks he is now on the national stage to stay. And if Hispanics, middle-class women and millennials come out, he may have a chance.

Khashoggi: Saudis try to explain the horror

By week’s end, Saudi officials, bending to intense pressure, confirmed the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, fired a top military official and detained 18 Saudis, but blamed it on a fistfight that got out of control.

Nic Robertson

wrote that the “rogue-operation”-gone-wrong narrative, rather than a culpable crown prince in a friendly oil kingdom,

“beggars belief.

But Trump chose not merely to buy it, but endorse and propagate it, too.” “Trump is already giving us a curtain raiser on his intent, tilting toward a pass for his autocratic ally in the Middle East,” he wrote.

It’s in keeping with the President’s “instinctive affinity for authoritarian figures,” wrote John Avlon, and his cynical read on American exceptionalism: “The biggest difference with Donald Trump is that he’s been quick to condemn America’s past policies not from an idealistic human rights perspective but from a cold realism that is quick to call the United States morally equivalent to other countries, like Russia. No other US president would refuse to condemn Putin’s extrajudicial killings by saying ‘you think our county’s so innocent?’”

Nick Paton Walsh

suggested that

Trump’s “we won” mantra

“set the tone for this year’s spate of attempted assassinations or failed abductions — and, possibly, a new era of impunity. Be it on a door handle in Salisbury, England, or inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul … the essential message is the same: We don’t really care if we get caught.”

Elites may not like it, observed

Damon Linker

in The Week, but “

the President views international relations in transactional terms.”

Khashoggi’s killing “would be a crime worth lamenting and condemning,” but “for the first time in a very long time, the man occupying the Oval Office appears to be almost totally unmoved by moral appeals in dealing with the rest of the world” — and that is welcome.

And in a

prescient final column for the Washington Post,

received by his editor the day before he disappeared,

Jamal Khashoggi

himself lamented the death of the Arab Spring. He gave as an example the Egyptian government’s seizure of the entire print run of one newspaper: “These actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community. Instead, these actions may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence. As a result, Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate.”

Here come ‘The Conners’

Make it stop, pleaded

Clay Cane.

The matriarch of the family has overdosed on opioids, went the storyline in the “Roseanne” reboot that premiered Tuesday. “Clearly, ABC wants to maintain the cash cow” without its former star’s racist baggage.

Enough.

“We must stop moving backwards. We must stop wading in nostalgia … from our television shows to our old guard politicians.”

But “The Conners” is very much about now,

argued show runner,

Bruce Helford

, in the Hollywood Reporter. “I wanted a respectful sendoff … one that was relevant and could inspire discussion for the greater good about the American working class,” he wrote, like “the unbowed Conners as they deal with the economic inequalities of life in lower-income America with love and humor.”

Melania and misogyny

Jill Filipovic

thought

the T.I. video that went viral this week

put the rapper in the same “piggish, unrepentant misogynist league” as the President. In the video, “a Melania Trump lookalike strips in the Oval Office, dancing for T.I.’s pleasure after the President leaves the White House,” Filipovic wrote. (Melania Trump’s spokeswoman called it “disrespectful and disgusting”) Spare us the outrage, wrote Filipovic: “the T.I. video is sexist and shameful. But if Melania’s team and Trump administration supporters want to boycott the sexist and shameful, they need to start at home, with the man in the White House.”

Finally, high time for Canada

First the bad news:

Pot can raise your “risk of psychotic illnesses”. The good news, at least for Canada? In “making it legal to buy, grow and own weed,” this week, noted science writer

Tom Chivers

, and in “imposing draconian penalties on people who sell to minors,” Canada takes the industry out of the hands of drug cartels. And that, he said, will “make it easier to keep the drug out of the hands of children.”

Read More | Pat Wiedenkeller, CNN,

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