Thursday, June 16, 2022
Police release image of suspect in 22 sexual assaults in London.
The man reportedly cycled up to women who were out walking or running in the Hackney Marshes area and grabbed their buttocks from behind, touched their genitals or harassed them.
The Metropolitan Police said: “In each incident the description of the suspect and his actions have been very similar.
“Lone women have been out either walking or jogging when they have been approached by a male on a bicycle who has grabbed their buttocks from behind, or touched their genitals, before making inappropriate comments and riding off.”
Detectives are looking for a light skinned male, possible mixed race, who is aged either 16 or 17, and who is usually wearing a grey tracksuit.
Detective constable Hannah Rodericks said: “I understand this news may cause considerable concern among the community. We in the Central East Command Unit share that concern and are doing everything we can to identify and bring to justice the person responsible.
“It is imperative that he is identified but we need the public’s help.”
Anyone who has information that could help police should call 101.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Out of the box fashion.
Models Omani Cross, Noxteli, Regina Rodriguez, El Wettig, Soi Sauce, Micah Sweezie, Francis Carter, Lex Wooley, and Casey Knepley wear Knepley’s designs on a set also designed by Knepley.
The long-awaited School of the Art Institute of Chicago fashion show was back in May after a two-year hiatus brought on by COVID-19. In the previous pandemic years students presented their work in beautiful highly-produced videos, but nothing substitutes the experience of seeing their garments IRL—especially so up close and personal. And this year’s show at the Chicago Athletic Association, with a particularly diverse slew of models, did not disappoint. Though each senior student presented their own collection—comprising eight head-to-toe looks—an overall theme of the show seemed to be “No Labels,” or better yet, “Labels? Who cares?” Many of the lines were blurred, which added to the impressive sophistication presented by the young designers.
According to SAIC associate professor Abigail Glaum-Lathbury, who co-taught this year’s fashion design seniors along with adjunct assistant professor Yoshiko Fredisdorf, most students “almost dispensed with categories altogether.” Glaum-Lathbury points out: “Historically, in some ways, fashion is simultaneously about rules and then breaking those rules and subverting them. You used to see collections of evening wear, and that had a certain definition to it. Evening wear was for women, and it was understood that women were cisgender, probably heterosexual. There were all of these different assumptions that I think were being made. Our students now are just not interested in these categories. It’s not even that they’re fighting against it, because to fight against something is to, in a way, accept the terms of the argument. All these other categories are like a dead language for a lot of students, which I think is beautiful.”
So instead of outdated classifications, seniors focused on themes they truly cared about. Casey Knepley, for example, based her “What We Have” collection on the 1970s novel The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions by Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta. Knepley says that “the book speaks on queer survival through collective resourcefulness, community, and love.” She adds that “the belief that beauty and glamour can be made simply using what I have to work with was core to this project, leading to every piece in this collection being created with affordable, secondhand materials sourced around Chicago. Every look was made specifically for and in collaboration with each model, all members of the local queer community and arts scene that I met during my time in this city. Providing tailored clothes for each individual was like making love letters for each of them.”
Knepley’s collection was festive yet gentle, featuring earthy and pastel tones on a wide array of body types. Other highlights of the show were the designs presented by Iyomi Ho Ken and Andrew Bohlin. Ho Ken’s collection explored the development of her own emotional world, showcasing garments that change color over time in progressively revealing silhouettes. Alluding to a broader kind of evolution, Bohlin’s creations—inspired by the Ediacaran and Paleogene periods—tell the story of life on Earth, with fascinatingly complex shapes and prints. The fact that Bohlin does every single step of their work all by themself makes it even more impressive.
“At SAIC a lot of the work that we make is really experimental,” says Glaum-Lathbury. “A lot of what we’re doing is teaching people how to think creatively, to have confidence in their own research and their own ideas. When you look at the collections and the runway show, each one couldn’t be more different than the next—there’s just not the accidental trend overlap. All of the collections really take radically different forms, which is not so much about distinguishing yourself amongst your peers, but about focusing on individual research and investment.
“The question is: how do you communicate ideas and what is it that you’re trying to communicate? It’s a very intense and complete process and I could not be more proud of this class,” she says. Not surprisingly, the pandemic made their arduous job even more challenging. “It was really hard for these students,” she adds. “This whole class spent the majority of their education in either online or some hybrid form of learning. And [fashion design] is a haptic skill—it is about touch and craft, which is hard to do online. So one more reason to give them credit.”
Thursday, June 9, 2022
The Mix: Cool things to do in Chicago June 9-15
Andersonville Midsommarfest, Taste of Chicago kick-off and Chicago Blues Festival are among the highlights of things to do in Chicago in the week ahead.
Festival Fun
- Taste of Chicago returns with events in the Austin, Pullman and Little Village neighborhoods (June 11, 18, 25) and in Grant Park (July 8-10). Along with food from local restaurants there’s music, family activities and Chicago SummerDance lessons. Music acts in Grant Park include Nelly, Aterciopelados and Drive By Truckers. For a complete list of events,
- Hyde Park Summer Fest features performances by Busta Rhymes,
Ashanti, Lupe Fiasco, Jhene Aiko, Lucky Daye, Marsha Ambrosius and DJs
like DJ Jazzy Jeff, Dee Jay Alicia, Terry Hunter and Jay Illa. From
noon-10 p.m. June 11-12 at Midway Plaisance at Dorchester Ave. Tickets:
$109. Now in its 56th year, Andersonville Midsommarfest offers more
than 50 music acts (Dos Santos, Chicago Soul Spectacular, Lil’ Ed &
The Blues Imperials), dozens of vendors, food and children’s activities.
From 5-10 p.m. June 10 and noon-10 p.m. June 11-12 on Clark from
Catalpa to Foster. Admission: $10 donation.Puerto Rican People’s Parade and Festival is the Puerto Rican
community’s celebration of its culture and features music, food,
carnival rides and games, domino tournament, cultural performances and
more. The parade kicks off at 2 p.m. June 11 at Division and Western
heading west to Humboldt Park. The festival is from 4-10 p.m. June 10
and noon-10 p.m. June 11-12 in Humboldt Park, Division and Mozart.
Admission: $8. Old Town Art Fair features more than 200 artists, a garden walk,
music, food and children’s activities. From 10 a.m.-7 p.m. June 11 and
10 a.m.-6 p.m. June 12. Admission: $12 donation.Wells Street Art Fair returns with a diverse mix of more than 140
local and national artists presenting work ranging for photography to
metalsmithing. From 10 a.m.-10 p.m. June 11 and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. June 12.
Admission: $10 donation. Ravenswood on Tap features craft beer and spirits, food, music
and vendors. From noon-10 p.m. June 11 and noon-6 p.m. June 12 on
Ravenswood from Berteau to Belle Plaine. Admission: $5-$10 donation.
Theater
- “Life After” is Toronto-based playwright Britta Johnson’s new musical about a young woman who uncovers a complicated truth about the fateful night that changed her family forever. Samantha Williams leads the cast as teenaged Alice; Annie Tippe directs at the Goodman Theatre. From June 11-July 17 at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn. Tickets: $25-$80. Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s drama “cullud wattah,” directed by Lili-Anne Brown, looks at the effects of water lead poisoning on one family in Flint, Michigan. In 2016, an assembly line worker worries over impending layoffs while struggling to fight the poison invading her home. From June 11-July 17 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln. Tickets: $29-$62.Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical,” Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble’s new musical based on the film about havoc at an elite Manhattan prep school. Laced with hits from the ’90s, it features new takes on tunes by No Doubt, Garbage, Goo Goo Dolls and more. From June 9-Aug. 7 at Kokandy Productions at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division. Tickets: $40. Eboni Booth’s offbeat workplace comedy “Paris” explores the impact of race and economics on the wage-earners of rural America. In a small, predominantly white Vermont town, a Black resident starts a new job in a big box store. Jonathan Berry directs. From June 11-July 23 at Steep Theatre, 1044 W. Berwyn. Ticket: Free. Godspell” is John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz’s timeless musical, a tale of friendship, loyalty and love based on the Gospel of St. Matthew. From June 10-July 31 at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, 721 Howard, Evanston. Tickets: $41-$75. Set in a Louisiana beauty parlor, Robert Harling’s comedy-drama “Steel Magnolias” follows six women as they face life’s challenges together. From June 10-Aug. 7 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. Visit $54-$69. Set in a Louisiana beauty parlor, Robert Harling’s comedy-drama “Steel Magnolias” follows six women as they face life’s challenges together. From June 10-Aug. 7 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. Visit $54-$69. Pivot Arts Festival returns with another roster of adventurous, multidisciplinary performances. The array of dance, film, opera and other works features artists who have “demonstrated creativity and resiliency in creating artistic work” during the past two pandemic years, says artistic director Julieanne Ehre. From June 10-18 at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway. Tickets: Free-$35.Giordano Dance Chicago, the company that expands the boundaries of jazz and contemporary dance, presents a program of six works including Ray Mercer’s “Shirt Off My Back,” Christopher Huggins’ “Pyrokinesis” and Autumn Eckman’s “Retroverse.” At 7:30 p.m. June 11 at Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Dr. Tickets: $38+.
- Chicago Blues Festival (June 9-12) celebrates the
city’s blues legacy with performances in Millennium Park and the Austin
and Bronzeville neighborhoods. Artists include Shemekia Copeland,
Toronzo Cannon, Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues, Ronnie Baker
Brooks, Cedric Burnside, Eric Gales and many more. For a complete list
of acts,
- Grant Park Music Festival gets
underway June 15 with conductor Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park
Orchestra performing Mozart’s Symphony No. 35 and Florence Price’s Piano
Concerto in One Movement featuring guest artist Michelle Cann. The
season continues through Aug. 19 at Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park,
Michigan and Randolph. Most concerts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays and 7:30
p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free. For a complete concert list, There was a palpable sigh of sadness heard around the world when the
multi-talented musician Prince passed away in 2016. Now six years later,
“Prince: The Immersive Experience” takes fans on a journey to
experience the artist’s life, creative evolution and music. Visit
Paisley Park, take part in a audiovisual dance party, explore Prince’s
catalog of hits and his eye-catching wardrobe as well as photography and
instruments. Begins June 9 at The Shops at North Bridge, 540 N.
Michigan. Tickets: $39.50+.Max Allard practically grew up in the halls of the Old Town
School of Folk Music, where he developed his love for the banjo. Now a
20-year-old student at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, he is releasing his
debut album “Odes/Codes.” Banjo master Bela Fleck says Allard is “a new
mature and poetic voice on the five-string banjo.” Allard celebrates
the album’s release on a co-bill with Jonas Friddle and Andrew Wilkins
at 8 p.m. June 11 at The Old Town School, 4545 N. Lincoln. Tickets: $20. Gerald Lovell explores themes of migration, memory and place in the exhibit “In the Eye of the Beholder.” He
reflects on his past by examining his present through paintings that
document life experiences, friendships and family events. To June 19 at
Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island. Admission is free. “The Restored Films of Buster Keaton” explores the work of one of
the world’s great comedians and filmmakers. Five recently restored
films are screened: “College,” “Go West,” “One Week,” “Our Hospitality”
and “Steamboat Bill Jr.” Organist Dennis Scott provides music for the
films. From June 11-12 at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Lincoln. Tickets:
$12. African Diaspora Film Festival features 10 films celebrating the
human experiences of people of color all over the world. Included are
Wagner Moura’s action drama “Marighella,” Robert Guediguian’s love story
“Dancing the Twist in Bamako,” Angus Gibson’s noir drama “Back of the
Moon: Sophiatown 1958” and Joanne Burke’s historical drama “Fighting for
Respect: African Americans During WWI.” From June 10-12 at Facets, 1517
W. Fullerton. Tickets: $12, festival pass $45. Chicago Film Society and The Numero Group present a screening of “Stony Island,” Andrew
Davis’ 1978 love letter to Chicago soul music. The independent film
captures the story of Richie Bloom (Richie Davis), the only white kid on
the block, as he forms an R&B band with his best friend, Kevin
(Edward Stoney Robinson). Davis will attend the screening. At 7 p.m.
June 13 at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Lincoln. Tickets: $10.
Thursday, June 2, 2022
Monkeypox: 86 per cent of cases in England are in London
More than 80 per cent of Monkeypox cases in England are in London, new figures have revealed.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published details about the outbreak in the UK with data up to 30th May.
The current outbreak is the first time that the virus has been passed from person to person in England where travel links to an count.
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Jessica Tisch, Loews heiress and former tech czar, named NYC sanitation commissioner.
City Hall’s tech czar Jessica Tisch has been named as the new head of the Department of Sanitation, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday.
Tisch — whose family owns the Loews Corporation — most recently served as commissioner of the Office of Technology and Innovation after former Mayor Bill de Blasio
Before that, she served as the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for information technology.
“Jessica’s knowledge, experience, and unwavering commitment to New York City cannot be overstated,” Adams said in a press release.
Put plainly, Jessica is a ‘Get Stuff Done’ leader, who has delivered continuous results on behalf of all New Yorkers throughout her career. From revolutionizing policing technology in the NYPD, to overseeing critical pandemic programs to support New Yorkers in need, Jessica’s work has touched millions,” he added.
“All New Yorkers deserve clean, safe, and welcoming streets, and I know Jessica will bring the same energy and deliver results leading the sanitation department as we continue building a just and prosperous recovery for all.”
“Delivering essential services is government’s number one job and I know Jessie is more than up to the task.”
Said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), “Jessica Tisch will do a great job as the city’s next commissioner of sanitation.”
During Tisch’s time in the police department, its high-tech fingerprint database was temporarily crippled by a virus, and the NYPD in 2017 was forced to scrap a $160 million smartphone program because the 36,000 Nokia devices given to cops became obsolete after just two years.
At the time, law enforcement sources blamed Tisch for the screw-up, with one saying, “She drove the whole process.”
Three years later, Tisch facilitated the rollout of a digital log app on cops’ phones to replace hand-written paper logs that officers previously used to track their daily activity.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tisch was a member of the City Hall team that managed the vaccination sign-up system.
Tisch — whose billionaire father, James Tisch, is the CEO of the Loews Corporation, founded by her grandfather, Laurence Tisch — first entered city government in 2008, when she began working in the NYPD’s counterterrorism unit.
After serving as Commissioner Ray Kelly’s director of planning for counterterrorism, she was named deputy commissioner for information technology in February 2014 amid a personnel shakeup under the new mayoral administration.
Adams’ appointment of Tisch as sanitation commissioner comes after the departure of Kathryn Garcia, who came in second in last year’s Democratic mayoral primary.
In September, Gov. Kathy Hochul chose Garcia — who is widely regarded as a competent manager — to serve as her director of state operations. Garcia quit the de Blasio administration in September 2020 in protest of budget cuts.
It also comes after the retirement earlier this month of the agency’s most recent commissioner, department veteran Edward Grayson, who worked for the department for 23 years.
“I also want to thank Commissioner Grayson for his decades of service — all New Yorkers owe him a debt of gratitude for his unwavering leadership throughout the pandemic,” Adams said.
Tisch grew up in New York City and is a graduate of both the Harvard College Law and Business school. In February, the Conflict of Interest Board slapped her with a $2,000 fine for loaning a friend $75,000 to help pay for law school, and subsequently supervising that friend and helping get him a promotion while at the NYPD.
In a press release, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg heaped praise on Tisch.
“New York City deserves public servants like Jessica Tisch, who work hard, solve problems creatively, and take public service seriously,” Bloomberg gushed. “She is a fantastic choice to lead DSNY and will throw herself into the mission of keeping our communities clean, fighting climate change, and bringing innovations and new ideas to this important agency.
“Delivering essential services is government’s number one job and I know Jessie is more than up to the task.”
Said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), “Jessica Tisch will do a great job as the city’s next commissioner of sanitation.”
“She has the managerial and governmental experience, the energy, and that New York can-do attitude that will keep DSNY humming,” Schumer added. “I wish her all the best.”
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
NYC woman hold online ‘date’ hostage for $100K.
Late one night last month, a 24-year-old man headed to a Bronx apartment — believing he was about to hook up with a pretty brunette he’d met on Instagram.
It turned out to be a honeytrap that nearly cost him his life.
The woman he’d been chatting to was actually part of a group of sadists — who spent hours torturing the kidnapped man, even stabbing him while demanding $100,000 in ransom on a FaceTime call to his horrified brother, Manhattan prosecutors allege.
When police found the victim some 24 hours later, he was tied up and gagged in the back of a van — barely clinging to life.
The beauty who allegedly lured him, Valerie Rosario, 22, is facing charges of kidnapping and attempted murder over the sick scheme, it was revealed in court last week.
Prosecutors say the Lower East Side con woman allegedly coaxed the “complete stranger” to an address on Marble Hill Avenue in the Bronx on Feb. 7 after they connected on Instagram.
He arrived around 1 a.m. — and that’s when the twisted torture session began, according to a criminal complaint.
Three men barged into the apartment, with one of them pistol-whipping the victim, the court document said.
Rosario and the accomplices then allegedly stripped the victim, “placed him in a bathtub, poured flammable substances on him, and burned him with a flame” all over his body, the charging document states.
They also tormented him with a knife, striking him “about the legs, back and body,” according to the court doc.
Sources said the sickos allegedly lured the victim to the apartment because they were driven by the money he flashed on his Instagram account.
“After multiple hours of torture,” the kidnappers moved their victim to a different location, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Kluger said at Rosario’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday.
Later that afternoon, the man’s brother got a grisly FaceTime call — and watched as his sibling was cut with a knife by one of the masked kidnappers as they demanded ransom, the complaint alleges.
“Give us one hundred thousand dollars or we will kill him,” they told his brother, according to the court doc.
Police officers were able to track down one of the alleged accomplices, Javier Vargas, outside an address in Queens, where he was sitting in a van with a knife, the court papers said.
The victim was found lying in the back of the van, “unconscious, wrapped in a blanket with tape covering his mouth,” the complaint stated.
He was “barely breathing,” Kluger said.
The victim was treated at a hospital for multiple burns and stab wounds to his face, body, back and legs, according to the complaint.
At her court appearance last week, Rosario wore a ratty “Tom and Jerry” top — a far cry from the tight dress and plunging gown she can be seen posing in on her Facebook page.
Kluger requested she be held without bail, noting that she stands accused of abducting a “complete stranger” and had allegedly “tortured him for 24 hours.”
Defense attorney Raymond Loving asked that his client be released on her own recognizance, pointing out that Rosario lives with her mom and brother and has a full-time job at a dentist’s office.
Judge Soma Syed cited the seriousness of the charges as she remanded Rosario into custody. The case is expected to be presented before a grand jury Tuesday.
“Ms. Rosario denies all the allegations that have been leveled against her,” Loving said in a statement Monday.
Vargas and another of the alleged kidnappers were also remanded after being arrested and charged last week.
Thursday, March 3, 2022
A wicked Ghanaian man arrested for smearing poop on woman’s face in New York
The man accused of smearing human feces in a woman's face as she sat on a Bronx subway platform has been arrested and charged, police said Monday.
Cops said the suspect, a 37-year-old Bronx man, approached a 43-year-old woman sitting on a southbound platform bench at the East 241st Street station around 5:15 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 21, when he struck her in the face and back of her head with human feces. He then fled the scene on foot, but was arrested in connection to the incident on Monday and charged with forcible touching, menacing, disorderly conduct and harassment, the NYPD said in a statement.
It was not clear Tuesday if the man had an attorney who could be reached for comment.
The incident was caught on video and released via NYPD social media on Monday.
Mayor Eric Adams unveiled his administration's subway safety plans last month to prevent homeless people from living inside the train cars. He, along with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, promoted the plan at a Feb. 18 press conference to address crime, providing what he referred to as a direct mandate for officers to enforce rules against things like lying down, sleeping, or outstretching, spitting or littering, aggressive behavior towards riders, smoking or open drug use throughout the system.
Woman pretended to be dead to avoid punishment in london.
A Brit woman who claims to be a Grenfell survivor has been jailed after pretending to be dead in a bid to dodge punishment for driving offences.
Zoe Bernard, 38, gave a false name when caught driving carelessly while banned and without insurance - but when her real name was discovered she applied for a death certificate to try to convince police she had died.
She was eventually convicted for the driving matters in December last year, unsuccessfully arguing it was not her driving, but a male passenger.
Southwark Crown Court heard she has a catalogue of previous convictions, including drink-driving, driving while disqualified, battery and assaulting police officers.
Now she has been jailed for eight months for perverting the course of justice.
Sentencing judge Martin Beddoe said Bernard, of Notting Hill, West London, had a history of "deploying and exaggerating '' traumatic experiences in her past to avoid responsibility for offending.
It was said Bernard’s uncle died in the Grenfell Tower blaze on June 14, 2017 and she also claims to have been a resident at the time.
Her uncle is believed to be Raymond ‘Moses’ Bernard, who lived in the tower block for more than 30 years, and died alongside seven others in his flat.
Her mother, Bernadette, gave evidence at the Grenfell Inquiry about how her daughter “rushed” to the tower on the night of the fire and witnessed the blaze.
Lawyers for Bernard initially said her eldest daughter died in a car crash, but after a brief adjournment, they corrected to say Bernard claims she also died in the Grenfell fire.
Jailing Bernard, Judge Beddoe said: “I don’t doubt some of the traumatic experiences are genuine, but not necessarily all of them.
“I think you deploy them with convenience and then both misuse them and exaggerate them to avoid your responsibility.”
The court heard Bernard failed to stop when police tried to pull her over in her BMW Kilburn, west London, for careless driving in November 2020.
When arrested, she gave her name as ‘Kyesha Bernard’ but when taken to the police station it was established through address and vehicle registration searches she was Zoe Bernard.
Prosecutor Gregor McKinley said: “The investigating officer PC Hockton then wrote to Ms Bernard requesting her to attend the police station for a voluntary interview.
“He says he was contacted on a number of occasions between 15 December 2020 and 27 January 2021 by someone calling herself Shanice Bernard and claiming to be Zoe Bernard’s sister.
“She said Zoe had been ill and that she was dead.”
Margo Munro Kerr, defending, told the court she had two documents from a team that supports Grenfell victims and their families showing Bernard had first been referred in 2017 and again in October 2021.
A psychiatrist’s report on Bernard was also handed to the court but the doctor said he was unable to diagnose Bernard with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as he did not have access to all of her medical records.
Ms Munro Kerr said: “In the psychiatrist’s report it says Ms Bernard was feeling suicidal prior and planning her death so she applied for a death certificate.”
Judge Beddoe said: “I don’t accept that for a minute. It’s complete nonsense.”
George W. Bush dishes on Putin in Chicago
While President Joe Biden took a serious tone last night in attacking Vladimir Putin, former President George W. Bush was in Chicago, making his own jabs at the Russian leader.
Bush headlined a benefit fundraiser for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, which Gov. JB Pritzker helped build. The governor gave opening remarks before Bush took the stage for a Q&A with museum CEO Susan Abrams.
The Republican former president managed to mix serious comments about Ukraine with takes on Putin, and some humor too. He began by telling a story about once playing host to Putin.
“I introduced Vladimir Putin to Barney, our Scottish terrier, and [Putin] dissed him. A year later, Laura and I go visit Vladimir and his wife — this was before he decided to be with a gymnast 30 years younger — and he says, ‘I want you to meet my dog.’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ And I’ll never forget, out runs a huge Russian hound," Bush said. "And Putin says ‘Bigger, stronger, and faster than Barney.’" (Big laugh from the audience here.)
Bush added: “By the way, I told that to the Canadian prime minister and he said, ‘At least he only showed you his dog.’”
It was a funny setup to a deeper discussion about Putin’s aggressive actions toward Ukraine. “In [Putin’s] view the demise of the Soviet Union is bad for the Russian people, so we’re watching him try to reinstate Soviet hegemony,” said Bush. “He picks weak people to do that. He thought Ukraine was weak, but it’s not. Ukraine is showing a backbone and a spine that this world sorely needs to see.”
The crowd of 1,300 guests ate it up. Here’s an abbreviated take on some of Bush’s other comments.
Regarding how Germany has responded to Russia invading Ukraine: “The Germans attitude has shifted completely from becoming guilt-ridden pacifists to people who understand that liberty is under attack and we have to do something about it.”
On China: “I don’t think they want to be too cozy with Putin at this moment. So this may be an opportunity to conduct some diplomacy that [creates] an alliance of convenience. The president’s foreign policy team has an opportunity to deal with China in a way that will surprise the country. … Putin loves the idea of isolating China against the United States. The idea of China needing Putin’s energy gives Putin a chance to say to the world: ‘The United States is no longer as significant as it used to be. It's now Russia and China.’ And that’s just not going to hold given his actions in Ukraine.”
What messages do we take from the events of 9/11? “The human condition matters to our security. We cannot be an isolationist nation and hope to protect ourselves. The idea that how other people live does not matter is foolhardy. The lesson of 9/11, there are people who can’t stand our way of life and are willing to do us harm. And therefore, the United States must be forward-leaning in protecting our people, not hoping for the best. The lesson of 9/11 is still relevant today.”
Switching gears…
What parental advice did he give his daughters? “Girls, I love you. There’s nothing you can do to make me stop loving you. So stop trying.”
What about his friendship with Michelle Obama? “I sit next to her at funerals. And political funerals tend to go way too long, so I’m bored. I gave her a mint. … And after I got in the car, Jenna [his daughter] called and said ‘Dad, you’re trending.’ It was an illuminating moment for me because the country is starved for the kind of relationship where a Republican and a Democrat don’t have to be warring.”
DUMP RUSSIA: Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot are taking steps to extricate Illinois and the city from Russia.
The governor has sent letters to the Illinois State Board of Investments, Teachers’ Retirement System Board, and State Universities Retirement System Board, calling for them to “explore the potential of divesting state pension assets from Russian-based companies and Russian assets and the feasibility of doing so.” The state has a $100 billion portfolio.
“The State of Illinois stands with the people of Ukraine and nations around the world supporting peace in the country,” Pritzker wrote in the letter sent late Monday.
Lightfoot has called for suspending Chicago’s sister city relationship with Moscow — a tactic that's trending across the country. “While this is not a decision I enter into lightly, we must send an unambiguous message: we strongly condemn all actions by the Putin regime,” she said in a statement, adding that on Monday, she directed World Business Chicago to suspend the relationship.
Thirty-two members of the Chicago City Council called for ending the relationship with Moscow outright. In a statement tweeted by Ald. Raymond Lopez, the council members said Moscow’s sister city status should be “revoked” and that the Russian capital city should not be allowed to get back in the program until “normal diplomatic relations are reinstated.”
The Illinois actions follow efforts across the country to put the squeeze on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called for divesting any Russian investments in state pension funds (California State Controller Betty Yee, however, issued a statement last night raising doubts about how quickly something like that could happen, particularly when the value of Russian assets have plummeted in the last week). New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order to ban state agencies from doing business with Russia. The Indiana House passed legislation calling for sanctions against Russia.
And Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, received a bipartisan standing ovation when he told lawmakers he would push to divest state retirement funds from Russian assets too.
Friday, February 11, 2022
Looking for love? Here are six dating tips from a Chicago matchmaker
The Chicago cold and COVID-19 may be keeping you indoors, but that doesn’t mean you need to stop searching for your soulmate. In fact, a new romance may be just what you need to muddle through the isolation of another pandemic winter. “We’ve all experienced what it’s like to really be alone for an extended period of time, People have wanted connection more than ever.” With Valentine’s Day approaching, we asked the modern-day cupid for advice on how to find someone who keeps your heart warm. Here are a few of her tips and tricks.
1. Define your expectations
Before you dive into the local dating pool, Laricks recommends taking some time to figure out what you need in a partner. “Come up with your three must-haves, three core values that you can’t live without,” she said — traits like honesty, loyalty or a sense of humor. Then, draft up a similar list of deal breakers. Laricks’s clients often point to religion, politics, smoking and even cat allergies as serious complications to compatibility.
Once you’ve clarified those key qualities, feel free to add some “nice-to-haves” to your list. Attracted to a sharp jawline or drawn to a bright smile? Put them down as possible perks.
2. Expand your horizons
While it’s helpful to have your priorities in place before meeting a potential partner, Laricks said don’t immediately discount those who differ from the mold. Past experiences and societal pressures often influence what you think you should want from a relationship, but that’s not always what you need.
“Many of us cling so tightly to a list that we don’t allow ourselves to be surprised and delighted by what actually really feels good to us,” Laricks said. Case in point: More than 50% of her clients who end up dating one of their matches find the person has characteristics that fall outside their initial preferences.
3. Strengthen your dating muscle
In some ways, dating is a bit like exercise — it can wear you out, but it gets easier with practice.
“So many people have swiping fatigue and are so frustrated by the amount of time it takes to swipe and then message and then sometimes it goes somewhere, sometimes it doesn’t,” Laricks said. Matchmakers and other relationship experts can serve as personal trainers, coaching you to get back out there instead of calling it quits.
4. Avoid ghosting
If a date leaves something to be desired, resist the urge to disappear. Not only can ghosting leave the other person feeling hurt, it cuts off potential opportunities for growth.
“I always will check in with my client and their match and really get downloads … where we ask all kinds of questions and really figure out how everyone felt on the date,” Laricks said. Even if you’re not interested in round two, forcing yourself to reflect on the experience can help clarify what you are looking for in a partner. Plus, she adds, being honest about your feelings can prevent your date from making assumptions about what went wrong.
5. Give your dates some direction
Planning a meet-up with a match? Choose an activity that creates space for quality conversations — even if the Chicago cold keeps you cozied up indoors for a movie.
“Try to make what you watch [or] what you do have a discussion point so that you’re constantly learning something new about each other,” Laricks said. A documentary, for instance, could spark the other person’s sense of curiosity, prompting an interesting dialogue. Meanwhile, something more nostalgic could bring up memories from childhood, helping you better understand your partner’s past.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask for help
In a world of swiping and super likes, modern dating can feel pretty impersonal. However, Laricks said it doesn’t have to be an isolating process.
“People aren’t able to normalize their experience because quite often when you’re doing this on your own, or you don’t have that village around you or that community around you,” she said, “there’s that tendency to think, ‘Oh, I’m the only one who’s waiting by my phone for a text for 10 minutes’ or ‘I’m the only one who thinks that she’s not interested in me, because two days have gone by and I haven’t heard from her.’ ”
Instead of spiraling solo, seek support. Sharing your fears and frustrations with someone you trust can take some of the weight off your shoulders, giving you the strength you need to bounce back.
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Who’s who in Eric Adams’ administration
Yes, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is thinking about “emotional intelligence” as he fills out his administration, but he’s also thinking about demographic representation. He said for months that he would appoint a woman to lead the New York City Police Department and he did, setting up Keechant Sewell to be the first female commissioner to lead the country’s largest police force. The man who narrowly defeated two women in the Democratic primary also announced that five of his deputy mayors will be women – four of them women of color. And the leader of the city Department of Correction will be a Latino man, Louis Molina, overseeing a majority Black and Latino workforce overseeing jails where the majority of people incarcerated are also people of color.
Appointing leaders at the top level may take Adams some time. Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio was appointing commissioners well into April when he took over in 2014 – though he was criticized at the time. Here’s who will be in the Adams administration so far.
City Hall Insiders
First deputy mayor: Lorraine Grillo
Grillo has been in city government for nearly three decades, starting at the School Construction Authority in 1993, the agency where she was appointed president by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2010. For a while, she served as commissioner of the city Department of Design and Construction at the same time, before de Blasio named her pandemic recovery czar earlier this year.
Deputy mayor for economic and workforce development: Maria Torres-Springer
Most recently the vice president for U.S. programs at the Ford Foundation, Torres-Springer previously served in the de Blasio administration as commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp. and commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services. Her husband, Jamie Torres-Springer, is president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s construction and development division.
Deputy mayor for health and human services: Anne Williams-Isom
While she is now the James R. Dumpson endowed chair in child welfare at Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service, Williams-Isom is best known as the former CEO and COO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, an anti-poverty nonprofit organization. Before that, she was at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services for more than a decade, ending her tenure as a deputy commissioner.
Deputy mayor for operations: Meera Joshi
Joshi is coming from the federal government, where she’s deputy administrator in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. She was briefly New York general manager at Sam Schwartz consultants before that, but is best known as the former chair and CEO of New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. She also has experience at the city Department of Investigation and the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
Deputy mayor for public safety: Philip Banks
Banks resigned as chief of department for the NYPD in 2014 after a 28-year career. He said the cause was professional differences between himself and then-Commissioner Bill Bratton. But it was later revealed that Banks was under federal investigation for possible influence trading. He was never charged with a crime, but named in court papers as an unindicted co-conspirator. More recently, Banks has been consulting city governments and police departments with his firm CitySafe Partners.
Deputy mayor for strategic initiatives: Sheena Wright
Wright is leading Adams’ transition committee and is now getting a top job. She’s president and CEO of the nonprofit United Way of New York City, and before that, she led the Abyssinian Development Corp. Her reported partner is David Banks, who has been appointed city schools chancellor.
Chief advisor to the mayor: Ingrid Lewis-Martin
Lewis-Martin has been one of Adams’ closest advisors since before he entered the state Senate in 2007. The “tough-as-nails gatekeeper” has worked with him throughout Adams’ political career, most recently as deputy borough president of Brooklyn.
Chief counsel to the mayor: Brendan McGuire
A partner at white shoe law firm WilmerHale, McGuire previously led the public corruption unit for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Back in March, McGuire wrote an op-ed in the Daily News calling on strict anti-corruption standards for the next mayor. McGuire is the son of Robert McGuire, who served as NYPD commissioner under former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.
Chief of staff to the mayor: Frank Carone
Frank Carone, a giant in Brooklyn politics and close adviser to Adams through the campaign, is coming on as chief of staff to the new mayor. Carone, a lawyer, has developed a reputation as a political power broker and is expected to serve in a similar capacity as de Blasio’s longtime chief of staff Emma Wolfe, the Times reports.
First deputy chief of staff to the mayor: Dawn Miller
Previously chief of staff at the Taxi and Limousine Commission, Miller was more recently in the private sector as vice president for policy and partnerships at Coord , a street space management tech startup.
Deputy chief of staff to the mayor: Madeline Labadie
Labadie is also coming from the TLC, where she worked for seven years, most recently as director of strategic initiatives. Before that, she was a political coordinator for the Hotel Trades Council.
Deputy chief of staff to the mayor: Ryan Lynch
Previously a director with the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Lynch joined Adams at Brooklyn Borough Hall back in 2014, rising up to becoming the then-borough president’s chief of staff.
Deputy chief of staff to the mayor: Menashe Shapiro
A top staffer on Eric Adams’ mayoral campaign – known for defending the candidate on Twitter – Shapiro is an attorney and longtime political consultant who previously worked on Michael Bloomberg’s presidential and 2009 reelection campaign.
Senior advisor to the mayor: Stefan Ringel
Ringel is one of Adams’ longest-tenured aides. He started at Brooklyn Borough Hall under the previous borough president, Marty Markowitz, and worked for Adams as communications director, then senior advisor, and worked on his mayoral campaign as well. Before that, Ringel worked comms for then-Council Member Jumaane Williams.
Senior advisor to the mayor: Eric Ulrich
A New York City Council member for more than 12 years representing parts of the Queens and the Rockaways, Ulrich was a public supporter of Adams’ mayoral campaign despite being a Republican who had said he planned to vote for Donald Trump in 2020. Ulrich ran for public advocate in 2019, and came in second.Senior advisor for external affairs to the mayor: Tiffany Raspberry
A top advisor on Adams’ campaign and transition team, Raspberry has been a political consultant and lobbyist for nearly two decades, recently representing clients including Success Academy charter schools and tobacco company Reynolds American.
Senior advisor and director of public service engagement to the mayor: Andrea Shapiro Davis
A longtime City University of New York leader who most recently served as interim vice chancellor for university advancement, she previously worked as a senior advisor to former Mayor Bloomberg, whose City Hall she worked in for all 12 years.
Chief of staff to the first deputy mayor: Jeff Rodus
Rodus comes from CMW Strategies, where he was a lobbyist representing clients such as the Brooklyn Museum and the Building Trades Employers Association. Before that, he was a top City Council staffer under Speakers Christine Quinn and Melissa Mark-Viverito.
Chief of staff to the deputy mayor of operations: Jimmy Oddo
The borough president of Staten Island from 2014 to 2021, Oddo said that deputy mayor of operations was his “perfect job.” Now the Republican will be the deputy mayor’s right hand.
Communications director: Maxwell Young
Young is now chief public affairs officer and senior vice president at Everytown for Gun Safety. Before that, he worked in communications for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, The Rockefeller Foundation and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Press secretary: Fabien Levy
Levy comes from Attorney General Letitia James’ office where he was press secretary and senior advisor. Levy did communications for a variety of political campaigns and government offices over the last 15 years including a stint working for now-Gov. Kathy Hochul when she was serving in Congress.
Special assistant to the mayor: Rachel Atcheson
Rachel Atcheson will serve as senior assistant – and unofficial food diarist – to Adams, as well as the at-large director of the SUNY Downstate Committee on Plant-Based Health and Nutrition. Atcheson previously worked on animal welfare issues in the mayor’s office.
Senior adviser for mayoral security: Bernard Adams
The mayor received a waiver from the Conflicts of Interest Board to hire his brother. To get around the normal rules against benefiting close family members, Bernard Adams will receive a salary of just $1 a year. The NYPD will still oversee the mayor’s detail, but Bernard Adams will serve as a senior adviser, based in the mayor’s office. Bernard Adams is a retired NYPD sergeant who more recently worked at Legalshield, a multilevel marketing firm, and as an administrator at Virginia Commonwealth University’s office of parking and transportation.
Agency Heads
Administration for Children’s Services commissioner: Jess Dannhauser
New York City’s child welfare system will fall under the leadership of Dannhauser, the former president and CEO of Graham Windham, a social services nonprofit for children and families. Dannhauser previously worked at ACS in several positions, including associate commissioner for performance measurement, monitoring and improvement.
Department of Citywide Administrative Services commissioner: Dawn Pinnock
Already the acting commissioner since November, Pinnock will officially get the commissioner title in the Adams administration. She was previously the DCAS executive deputy commissioner, and before that, worked for New York City Transit and NYCHA.
City Planning Commission chair: Dan Garodnick
Most recently president and CEO of the Riverside Park Conservancy, who brought lawn-mowing goats
to the greenspace, Garodnick is best known for representing much of the
east side of Manhattan in the New York City Council from 2006 until
2017. In that position, he helped negotiate the purchase of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.
Jessica Tisch fined by conflicts of interest board
If you’re a high-ranking government official, you’ve got to be careful about who you loan money to. Jessica Tisch, the former commissioner of the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, was fined $2,000 by the Conflicts of Interest Board because she loaned a friend $75,000 to help pay for law school – and then later supervised and obtained a promotion for that friend while the loan was still outstanding.
The Conflicts of Interest Board adopted a $2,000 fine against Tisch after an OATH administrative law judge recommended it last May, finding that Tisch violated a section of the City Charter that states that, “No public servant shall use or attempt to use his or her official position as a public servant to obtain any financial gain, contract, license, privilege or other private or personal advantage, direct or indirect, for the public servant or any person or firm associated with the public servant.” The OATH judge stated, however, that she did not believe Tisch intentionally violated the law.
The case dates back to 2013, when Tisch made the first of three payments to a friend and former colleague from the New York City Police Department. At the time, Tisch was still working for the NYPD, where she led the information technology bureau. The friend did not work at the department at the time the loans were made but was re-hired at the NYPD in a bureau separate from Tisch’s in 2015.
In 2017, Tisch requested that her friend be transferred to the information technology bureau, and that’s when the trouble started. The employee was temporarily transferred and a few months later Tisch sought and obtained a title change and 12% raise for them as the employee took on a new workload – all while the loans were still outstanding. Tisch said that she never intended to collect on the loans but they were officially characterized as loans on her annual financial disclosures. By obtaining a benefit – the title change and raise – for someone who she had a financial relationship with, Tisch violated the city’s conflicts law. The OATH judge found, however, that Tisch didn’t obtain a “wrongful benefit” for the employee and dismissed a second charge of entering into a financial relationship with a superior or subordinate, because the loans were made before Tisch and the friend worked together.
“I helped someone in a difficult financial spot pay for grad school,” Tisch said in a statement emailed to City & State. “I'm pleased that an independent OATH judge found this was a minor technical issue, and that I had no intention of violating city rules.”
Tisch left the NYPD when she was appointed by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio as commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications in 2019, holding the additional title of the city’s chief information officer. She stepped down from that role in early January, but she has said that she intends to continue working for the city. That may include a role in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.
A number of high-level positions in the Adams administration are still unfilled, including commissioner of the Department of Sanitation – a role that Tisch is rumored to be interested in. The position would mark a step up from leading DoITT, a mid-sized and now reorganized city agency, to the nearly 10,000-person sanitation department.
Tisch declined to comment on those rumors. Adams’ spokesperson Fabien Levy told City & State that the administration does not comment on pending appointments and that no appointments are confirmed until they are formally announced.
The current sanitation commissioner, Edward Grayson, has been in the post since 2020. Grayson is a 23-year veteran of sanitation and would be a popular pick within the department to stay on as commissioner, according to one person familiar with conversations at the department.
Thursday, January 6, 2022
Nigeria's last AFCON winning team - Who were the players and where are they now?
Three times African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winners Nigeria last won the AFCON title in 2013 when they defeated Burkina Faso 1-0 in the final.
Former Premier League stars like John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses and Ahmed Musa were part of the Nigerian team that last lifted the continental title.
Interestingly, Burkina Faso, who finished second, comprised of players like Bakary Kone and Saïdou Panandétiguiri who played in India at some point in their career. While Kone played for Kerala Blasters during the Indian Super League (ISL) 2020/21 season, Panandétiguiri played for FC Pune City in 2014.
Vincent Enyeama - GK
The goalkeeper began his professional career at Nigerian club Iborn Stars in 1999. From 2011 to 2018, Enyeama played for Ligue 1 club Lille. He retired from football in 2018. For Nigeria, he appeared in 101 matches between 2002 to 2015.
Efe Ambrose - RB
The full-back made his professional debut in 2006 for Nigerian third division side Kaduna United. He later played for clubs like Celtic and Derby County. In 2021, he joined Scottish top tier club, St. Johnstone FC. Ambrose made his international debut in 2006 and played 51 matches till date.
Kenneth Omeruo - CB
A youth product of Belgian club Standard Liege, the central defender was signed by Chelsea in 2012 but was immediately loaned out to Dutch side ADO Den Haag. Later he played for Middlesbrough, Leganes and three Turkish clubs but never appeared for the Blues. In 2019, Omeruo permanently moved to Leganes. For Nigeria, the player has appeared in 54 international matches.
Godfrey Oboabona - CB
The defender made his debut for Nigerian top division side Sunshine Stars in 2010. In 2017, for a season, Oboabona played for Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli. In 2020, he joined Georgian top-tier club FC Dinamo Batumi.
Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé - LB
The left full-back played for clubs like Rennes, AS Monaco, Braga and Sporting Gijon. He last played for Finnish club HJK in 2019 before terminating his contract with his mutually. For Nigeria, he appeared in 59 international and last played for them in 2018.
Ogenyi Onazi - CM
The central midfielder made his debut for Nigerian club El Kanemi Warriors in 2011 and later played for Serie A side Lazio from 2012 to 2016. In 2021, he joined Turkish top-tier side Denizlispor. For Nigeria, Onazi has appeared in 52 international matches so far.
John Obi Mikel - CM
The former Chelsea star joined Blues in 2006 and went on to play until 2017. He later played for Middlesbrough, Stoke City. In 2021, Mikel joined Kuwait SC but both parties terminated the contract after just four months in November without him playing a single game. He is currently without a club. Mikel represented the national team from 2005 to 2009 appearing in 91 matches.
Sunday Mba - AM
The attacking midfielder who scored the solitary goal in the final played club football in Nigeria throughout his career except for 2014 when he joined French third division club CA Bastia for a season and the final two seasons of his career when he played for Turkish top-tier club Yeni Malatyaspor. Since 2017, he is without a club. For Nigeria, he appeared in 21 international matches.
Victor Moses - RW
The winger played for Crystal Palace and Wigan Athletic before joining Chelsea in 2012 where he spent nine seasons. In between, he played for clubs like Liverpool, Stoke City and Inter Milan on loan spells. Moses appeared in 38 international for Nigeria between 2012 to 2018.
Brown Ideye - LW
The attacker made his professional debut for Nigerian top-tier side Bayelsa United in 2006. Other than several Nigerian clubs, Ideye also played for Dynamo Kyiv, West Bromwich Albion, Olympiacos and Malaga. In 2020, he joined Turkish club Goeztepe. Ideye represented Nigeria in 26 international matches between 2010-2016.
Ikechukwu Uche - ST
The forward began his professional career at Spanish club Racing Ferrol in 2002. He later played for Getafe, Real Zaragoza, Granada and Malaga. He retired from football in 2019 after spending three seasons at Spanish third division club Gimnastic. Uche represented the national team in 46 international matches between 2007 to 2014. Interestingly, he is the younger brother of former FC Pune City, Delhi Dynamos and ATK striker Kalu Uche.
Ahmed Musa - Sub
The attacker played for clubs like Leicester City, CSKA Moscow and Nigerian giants Kano Pillars. In 2021, he joined Turkish top division side Fatih Karagümrük S.K.
Juwon Oshaniwa - Sub
The full-back made his professional debut for Nigerian club Kwara United, During his career, he also played for Israeli club SC Ashdod and for Scottish club Heart of Midlothian. In 2018, he joined Nigerian top division side Akwa United. Oshaniwa has played for Nigeria in 21 international matches so far.
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations invokes Harry Potter magic in message
“Fiction may work in Harry Potter but it does not work in reality,” Erdan said on Twitter Monday, attaching a screenshot of a post from Watson’s Instagram account. “If it did, the magic used in the wizarding world could eliminate the evils of Hamas (which oppresses women & seeks the annihilation of Israel) and the [Palestinian Authority] (which supports terror). I would be in favor of that!”
Watson, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, is famous for her portrayal of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. She and other actors and participants in the series marked the 20th anniversary this week of the first film with an HBO special.
It’s not clear however if Watson posted or approved the message or if the person who posted the message was endorsing its pro-Palestinian associations; Watson recently indicated that she has handed over control of at least part of the account to a left-wing activist group, and her Instagram profile bio reads, “Emma’s official Instagram has been taken over by an anonymous Feminist Collective.”
The post appearing Sunday on Watson’s page comprised a slogan superimposed over a photo from a pro-Palestinian protest in Chicago in May, when Israel and Hamas were in conflict, and a quote unrelated to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict attributed to Sara Ahmed, an Australian feminist theorist.
The slogan, which dominates much of the picture, reads “Solidarity is a verb,” and the passage attributed to Ahmed analyzes the meaning of “solidarity.” Visible behind the slogan are protesters bearing banners that read “Free Palestine” and “U.S. & Israel — Hands off Jerusalem.”
The post notes that it is a repost of a graphic and text originally shared by the Bad Activist Collective. The original post in May noted that the photo was from a pro-Palestinian protest. Watson’s post does not include that information.
Watson’s account was dormant for over a year until last October, when its main page said that the account “has been taken over by an anonymous Feminist Collective” and included a link to information about the November climate change conference in Glasgow, where Watson played a lead role.
Most of the account’s posts since October have had to do with climate change activism and feminism, although a handful are written in the first person, ostensibly by Watson, and three promote the Harry Potter 20th anniversary special.
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
A woman used Instagram to lure two men into robberies in the Bronx.
A woman chatted up two men on Instagram, offering to hang out with them in the Bronx — but instead delivered both to a pair of masked bandits, cops said.
One gullible victim was stripped of his clothing while another was shot at during his dash to escape, police said.
The first victim, 24, was tricked into meeting the woman at 11:30 p.m. Dec. 3 near a contractor’s office on Anthony Ave. near the Cross Bronx Expressway in Claremont Village, cops said.
She showed up, but so did two crooks in masks. They ordered him at gunpoint to remove his clothing and property, then stole his car, a 2018 Infiniti, and drove off, cops said.
The next day, the woman convinced a 27-year-old man to meet her on a residential block on Boller Ave. near Tillotson Ave. in Eastchester, cops said. He showed up about 8 p.m. and was confronted by two masked robbers who took his cell phone, coat, chain and a gold ring.
The victim managed to escape with his car, cops said. But the duo opened fire on him, striking his vehicle as he fled, cops said.
Monday, December 13, 2021
Why we opted for monthly rent payment, by Lagos officials
As debate rages over monthly rent payment, Lagos authorities have explained that it committed N5 billion into the monthly house rent scheme to ease the burden of yearly payment on residents.
The state government said the initiative is part of the resilience policy of the current administration, which was agreed after a rental survey that found out that 88 per cent of tenants would rather pay their rent monthly.
“We had to pursue this by working with different relevant stakeholders and we now have a model that will work and enable Lagosians pay their rent monthly. Landlords have nothing to lose because they will continue to receive their rent yearly and their default risk is zero,” according to the Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo.
Olowo disclosed this at the closing ceremony of the second edition of Lagos Real Estate Market Place Conference and Exhibition which held at the Expo Hall, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos State, with the theme: Lagos: 21st Century Real Estate Investment Hub.
He said the scheme will commence in January 2022 with the formal sector to enable them minimise risk. “As government, we are already looking into the informal sector to involve them into this programme but we need to first begin with the formal sector to enable us mimimise the risk level.
“It is easier for us to verify how much those in the formal sector earn and for us to know what we will get and how we will get it. When we succeed on this, we will move to the informal sector. There is an insurance pack that helps us manage all of the risk. We have a data plan that helps us fish out defaulters.”
He said government is working with stakeholders, especially financial institutions, noting that the platform is a social investment for the benefit of Lagos citizens and residents, and not a money making investment.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, said the scheme will benefit landlords as they have their rent guaranteed and assurance of payment upfront, while tenants will also no longer have that burden of yearly payment of a huge amount of money.
Benson-Awoyinka explained that to come on board, tenants must meet the qualifications, which includes ensuring that they have the capacity to make the payments on a monthly basis.
She assured that the scheme has come to stay and will be sustainable as several government policies have stood the test of time and are still working, adding that this would not be an exemption.
“With this initiative, we are able to enable tenants pay monthly rent beyond properties built by the state government as we have in the rent-a-home scheme.
“We know we cannot enforce monthly rent collection on landlords but we have created a platform that will make monthly rent payment possible for tenants, when the system begins and runs fine, many more landlords will come on board.”
On his part, the Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Housing, Rasheed Makinde, promised that the legislators would not relent in enacting enabling laws to grow the sector.
He said: “With what we are doing, every landlord will get his or her rent yearly and tenants at the same will have the capacity to pay their rent on a monthly basis. This platform will be demand driven because of the convenience of payment. People will be able to log into the platform to search for houses.”
Makinde said that the initiative would also sanitise pricing of houses in terms of tenancy rate. He said this will be possible as the platform tells similar properties in similar areas within Lagos State that can either go for the same price or lower prices and people can shop for rent easily on the platform as well as rentals will be highly subsidised.
He said the initiative is a robust system that takes care of everyone, adding that it is an intervention platform that will also fish out defaulters.
Managing Partner, Charlse Anthony LLP, Charlse Adeosun-Phillips, said it is a social welfare programme and it’s a win win for all. “The landlords, government, financial institution and all stakeholders win,” she said.
Sunday, December 12, 2021
Woman drove into river at Niagara Falls on purpose
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A woman who died when her car went into the icy rapids above Niagara Falls likely drove into the river on purpose, authorities said.
The New York State Park Police said on Thursday “entry into the water appears to be an intentional act,” and an investigation was ongoing.
The driver was a woman in her late 60s who lived in the area. She died on Wednesday before rescuers could get to the vehicle.
Her body was recovered by a U.S. Coast Guard swimmer, who descended by cable from a hovering helicopter.
Her cause of death is still being determined.
Hundreds of NY towns opt out of marijuana dispensaries.
NEW YORK — More than 400 towns and villages across New York have opted to block local marijuana dispensaries and consumption lounges from opening as a statewide deadline nears.
The law that legalized recreational marijuana in New York gave municipalities until Dec. 31 to “opt out” of hosting dispensaries or on-site consumption lounges once retail sales start in a year or so.
The Rockefeller Institute of Government reported that with three weeks left to act, more than a quarter of New York’s towns and 31% of its villages have voted to become the cannabis equivalent of dry towns when it comes to dispensaries — at least initially. Numbers are slightly higher for consumption lounges.
The opt-out list includes more than 30 villages in Nassau County, about 20 towns or villages in Westchester County, and over a dozen villages and several towns in Suffolk County.
The Rockefeller Institute, the nonpartisan public policy research arm of the State University of New York, launched a “Marijuana Opt-Out Tracker,” which allows users to search for individual towns and villages to see if they’ve opted out of dispensaries and/or on-site consumption lounges.
Friday, December 10, 2021
Captain smart pleads not guilty, gets GH₵100,000 bail
Smart who was arraigned by the Police on Thursday, December 9, 2021, is also to report to the Police every Tuesday and Friday.
It is recalled that Smart was arrested on December 2, 2021, for what the police say was "unsavoury pronouncements" during a broadcast.
Apart from the police arrest for the "unsavoury pronouncements", the National Media Commission (NMC) also wrote to the management of Media General, where Captain Smart works, complaining about his conduct and calling on the management to institute proper gatekeeping mechanisms.
Meanwhile, Media General, the parent company of Onua FM and Onua TV, has questioned the basis for Captain Smart's arrest.
Thank your God they did not send delta force on you.