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theliberaltony · 4 years

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

sarahf (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): Six more states vote (and Democrats Abroad wraps up its primary) today, with 365 delegates on the table. Former Vice President Joe Biden is currently projected to win all of today’s primaries, but these races are hardly all in the bag for Biden. Sanders is the underdog, but there could always be a polling surprise or two — remember the 2016 Democratic primary in Michigan.

So what are the stakes for tomorrow? And is this one of Sanders’s last opportunities to mount a comeback?

nrakich (Nathaniel Rakich, elections analyst): Yeah, it’s a pretty important day for Sanders. Several Western and Midwestern states vote today — the kind that are a good fit for Sanders — so it’s one of his last big opportunities to turn things around.

And it’s important he makes some inroads now, since next week Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Arizona are up — four big states that should be good for Biden if the state of the race stays the same.

geoffrey.skelley (Geoffrey Skelley, elections analyst): Sanders has to have a better-than-expected performance today because the rest of March isn’t great for him. Not only is March 17 bad, as Nathaniel pointed out, but then Georgia — a state Biden is expected to win handily — is the only state voting on March 24.

sarahf: Yeah, of the states up today, Michigan is just so crucial for Sanders, as it’s the biggest delegate haul on the calendar, but things don’t look good for him. He now has a 2 percent chance of winning, according to our forecast.

nrakich: Oh man, shades of 2016! Things were eerily similar before Michigan then too.

geoffrey.skelley: Polls were off by a historically large margin in the 2016 Michigan Democratic primary, but this time pollsters can use the 2016 primary to model the 2020 electorate, so hopefully that means the polls are more accurate. After all, part of the problem in 2016 was pollsters didn’t have a good recent primary to use, which contributed to the screw-up.

sarahf: That’s a fair point, Nathaniel, but watching Sanders’s odds drop precipitously over the last few days in Michigan as we got more and more polls makes me think 2016 might be the exception. Of course, as Geoffrey noted, there was a systemic polling failure in 2016, but given how much of the map Biden won on Super Tuesday — areas like Massachusetts, Maine and Minnesota — makes me think his odds aren’t being undervalued this year.

nrakich: Yeah, according to our friends at The New York Times’s The Upshot, a lot of the factors that allowed that Sanders upset in 2016 aren’t present this time around either. Specifically, Sanders hasn’t been as strong in working-class Northern strongholds this year as he was in 2016. Think about how Biden managed to beat Sanders in Maine and Minnesota. Sanders’s hope is that even though Detroit will vote for Biden, the rest of the state (which is much whiter) will vote for him. But that hope might be misplaced, as that hasn’t been the case in other parts of the country so far.

ameliatd (Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, senior writer): But say Sanders does manage to win Michigan — wouldn’t that be an even bigger deal this year, since he’s once again an underdog but was a national front-runner just a few weeks ago?

nrakich: Yeah, Amelia, I might go so far as to say that Sanders has to win Michigan in order to prove he can strike deep enough in Biden territory to still win the nomination.

ameliatd: It does seem, anecdotally, like he’s struggling to connect with some voters of color — and in particular, black voters, since there aren’t that many Latinos in Michigan. I was at a Sanders rally at the University of Michigan Sunday night and there wasn’t a lot of racial diversity. Sanders did just get a big endorsement from Rev. Jesse Jackson, so maybe that makes a difference? But it was striking to hear that endorsement touted by Sanders and his surrogates (including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) in front of a mostly white crowd.

geoffrey.skelley: I’m skeptical Jackson’s endorsement is going to move a lot of voters. Yes, Jackson won Michigan when he ran for president in 1988 — which might carry some additional weight — but it was an entirely different primary setup. (It was also 32 years ago!)

sarahf: Yeah, Nathaniel pointed out a real pain point for Sanders: A lot of the factors that helped him in 2016 aren’t holding up in 2020. For instance, exit polls showed that Biden really ate into Sanders’s advantage among white voters on Super Tuesday, especially among those who decided who to support in the last few days. Biden won the majority of them (51 percent), a 28-point increase from his performance among those who had decided earlier.

White voters had the biggest last-minute swing

Vote share by candidate among voters who decided in the last few days (“late” voters) and prior to the last few days (“early” voters) by race, according to exit polls in 11 Super Tuesday states

Biden Sanders Group Early Late Diff. Early Late Diff. Black 60% 55% -5 17% 22% +5 White 23 51 +28 36 17 -19 Hispanic 21 37 +16 48 22 -26 All 28 49 +21 35 18 -17

Colorado is not included as its exit poll was conducted prior to Election Day to account for its mostly mail-in balloting system and it included candidates who withdrew just ahead of Super Tuesday. We don’t have exit poll data from Arkansas, Utah or American Samoa.

Source: ABC NEWS/edison research

ameliatd: I’m also really curious where Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s supporters will go. As FiveThirtyEight contributor Meredith Conroy and I wrote on Monday, there’s no guarantee that they’ll line up behind Sanders — particularly white college-educated women, who made up the core of Warren’s base.

geoffrey.skelley: And because Michigan has an open primary, I’m also curious to see whether Sanders’s numbers fall in places like Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo, where there were a fair number of John Kasich voters in the 2016 GOP primary, some of whom might vote in today’s Democratic contest.

nrakich: According to exit polls, Democratic electorates in open primary states like New Hampshire and Virginia have been less liberal this year than they were in 2016 — probably because the Republican primary isn’t competitive. This has meant some Democratic-curious Republicans or Republican-leaning independents are participating in the Democratic primaries. (To be clear, this doesn’t mean die-hard Republicans are voting in the Democratic primaries in order to sow chaos.)

sarahf: So, say, our forecast is spot on and Biden wins all of tomorrow’s contests. If that happens, is Sanders’s campaign on life support? Might tomorrow night be even more important than Super Tuesday?

nrakich: If that comes to pass, when the history books (or Wikipedia articles) about this campaign are written, I still think Super Tuesday will be seen as the turning point. Super Tuesday is what put Sanders in this hole, after all.

But yes, I would agree that the campaign would be on life support if that happened, with Biden’s expected routs on March 17 (assuming they happen) serving as the death blow.

geoffrey.skelley: In the sense that Sanders’s campaign could essentially be over after today, today is more important. But as Nathaniel said, Sanders is only in this spot because Biden performed so well on Super Tuesday — it was almost the ideal outcome for him. In an alternate universe where Sanders wins Maine, Massachusetts and Minnesota, and maybe ekes things out or basically ties in Texas, the race is much closer going forward.

So yeah, Super Tuesday is still the key moment.

nrakich: Absolutely. Sanders would be the delegate leader at this point if that were true and could absorb a big Biden win.

Although is this where we point out that California is still not done counting?

geoffrey.skelley: Charles Stewart at MIT has been following the day-by-day count in California, and Sanders actually had his best day post-Election Day on March 8. He still leads by 7 points, but yeah, lots of votes left to count.

ameliatd: It does seem like Super Tuesday has led Sanders to this do-or-die moment — Michigan wouldn’t be so high-stakes if he hadn’t lost states like Minnesota. And Sanders is plainly aware of that. He has spent a lot of time in Michigan over the past few days.

I guess — thinking about more X-factors — could fears about coronavirus dampen voter turnout, particularly among older people? That could maybe help Sanders, if his younger base is more willing to brave crowded spaces and shared touchscreens.

nrakich: I’d be more worried about the effect on poll workers, to be honest.

Many of them are older and might want to stay home instead of interacting with hundreds of people. That could cause polling places to be understaffed, which could lead to longer lines.

sarahf: Oof. Coronavirus was definitely something many voters said they were concerned about on Super Tuesday, but without leaning too much into a big public health scare, I’m struggling to think of more X-factors for today. Biden’s polling bump post-South Carolina and Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg dropping out and endorsing him were just such big game-changers for Super Tuesday, it has felt a little like tomorrow is a foregone conclusion.

But OK, we didn’t see a lot of Biden’s potential strength last Tuesday until the last minute, so in that vein, two unexpected surprises for today could be: (i) The polls have overestimated Biden’s strength, or (ii) Warren dropping out boosts Sanders’s support in some of these states.

geoffrey.skelley: Biden has led nearly every state and national survey conducted since Super Tuesday. Though Emerson College did find Sanders down only 4 points in Missouri, so that’s a decent poll for him, all things considered.

ameliatd: It’s too bad for Sanders that the debate isn’t until next week, as I think he’s generally been a stronger debater than Biden. His performance could help shift momentum.

sarahf: That was one X-factor I was thinking about.

But in some ways, it feels like the debate might be a bit too late for Sanders if it’s another Biden blowout today.

ameliatd: Yeah, I agree, Sarah. I don’t think a good debate performance next Sunday can save Sanders if he bombs today.

nrakich: Mmm, I dunno, I think the debate is Sanders’s one glimmer of hope if he doesn’t score the wins he needs today.

Less so because of anything Sanders might do, but more so if Biden does something truly bone-headed.

ameliatd: Right, I think Sanders would just be relying on a bad performance from Biden. But it would have to be really, really bad, I think.

sarahf: How does the debate help Sanders moving forward, though, if some of his best states are today and he still underperforms?

nrakich: It could still affect votes for the big March 17 primaries.

I think ultimately today’s primaries are less important for what they themselves represent and more important for how they affect bigger primaries down the road (i.e., March 17). So Sanders could mayyyybe get away with a bad election night on March 10 if the March 15 debate is a game-changer.

geoffrey.skelley: I’m going to agree with the idea that Sanders could have used a debate this week instead. He needed something to change the conversation, and that hasn’t happened.

ameliatd: And the important thing is that Biden’s performance is not really in Sanders’s control. If you go into the debate just hoping that your opponent steps in it — that’s not a good place to be.

nrakich: Totally agree with that, Amelia.

ameliatd: I also don’t think it helps Sanders that many former Democratic candidates are coalescing around Biden. He appeared at a rally in Detroit Monday night with Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, Sanders doesn’t have an endorsement from Warren, this cycle’s most prominent other progressive candidate.

geoffrey.skelley: Right, among the former 2020 candidates Sanders has earned the backing of just New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Marianne Williamson, which is in stark contrast to Biden, who has earned the endorsements of almost half of the other candidates who ran, including Booker, Buttigieg, Harris, Klobuchar, John Delaney, Deval Patrick, Michael Bloomberg, Beto O’Rourke and Tim Ryan.

ameliatd: A couple people at the Sanders rally on Sunday night said they were hoping Biden will pick Klobuchar or Harris as his running mate. Of course, I don’t think Biden is going to announce his VP pick today. But their endorsements could be reassuring to people who think Democrats need a woman or a person of color on the ticket in November.

geoffrey.skelley: Interesting, were those Sanders voters or just curious undecideds?

ameliatd: Curious undecideds! One of them told me he was at the rally because he wanted to “feel the Bern,” but wasn’t there yet.

sarahf: It does feel as if the race has entered that phase where we know the ending: that is, Biden will win this thing outright. And I guess, while the primary definitely won’t be over tomorrow if Biden dominates again (I can’t see Sanders dropping out before the debate on Sunday), the overall trajectory seems pretty baked in at this point, barring some big Sanders upsets.

Is that fair? It just seems as if there are genuinely fewer possible surprises this time around, aside from a systemic polling error or a scary coronavirus-related outbreak (which … let’s not game that out

nrakich: Yeah, I think that’s definitely fair, Sarah. These things fall along a spectrum, but it’s just varying degrees of bad news for Sanders: Right now he is pretty screwed. If he does poorly on March 10, he will be on life support. If he does poorly on March 17, he will be totally done for.

geoffrey.skelley: On the most recent installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast’s “Model Talk,” editor-in-chief Nate Silver described the events of Super Tuesday as basically Biden’s 90th to 95th percentile outcome. That is, it was about as good as he could have hoped for. Because of that, Biden has been set up very nicely for the remainder of March in a bunch of states that are now better for him than Sanders. In other words, it’ll be very difficult for Sanders to overtake Biden. But of course, the proof is the pudding — that is, the actual results.

ameliatd: It does feel like Sanders is running out of opportunities to turn things around. A bunch of things lined up last week in Biden’s favor — so maybe that could still happen for Sanders? But this is his dramatic comeback moment, if he’s going to have one.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #A FiveThirtyEight Chat

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schraubd · 7 years

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Conservatives, Ranked By Infuriatingness

Someone on Twitter wrote the other day that journalists are missing a big story regarding just how furious the Democratic base is right now at Republicans and conservatives. We often talk about the angry protesting left as being the Jill Stein remnant or obscure hippie cranks (hence how they're often dismissed by saying "oh, if only you had voted!"); but the fact is that this anger is real and palpable amongst the run-of-the-mill, institutionally-oriented Democratic voter. That includes me. There are a lot of types of conservatives. and I'm furious with just about all of them right now, because just about all of them are -- in their own special way -- abdicating basic duties to their country with scarcely a nod to the putative principles they endorse. That said, there are gradients. So, for your cathartic pleasure, here is how I rank the different types of conservatives -- from most to least infuriating. (1) Racist Republicans. We can debate until we're blue in the face just what proportion of Republicans are racist, or whether any person who backs Donald Trump can claim to be "anti-racist" with a straight face. But no matter how that discussion shakes out, there are clearly conservatives right now who are unquestionable bigots (and incidentally, those conservatives who are aghast that anyone would call them a bigot for voting Donald Trump would have a lot more credibility if they acknowledged this obvious fact). Steve Bannon, Steve King, and Ann Coulter, to name a few, are more or less open White Supremacists, and as such are existential threats to the American creed of equality under the law. Donald Trump was someone everyone put in this category right up until he became the Republican standard-bearer ("Much of the conservative movement has spent the last two years slowly transitioning from "it's an outrageous slander to say that a racist cartoon character like Donald Trump represents the conservative movement" to "it's an outrageous slander to say that the American conservative movement is 'racist' or 'cartoonish' just because it adopted Donald Trump as its representative."). Honestly, the best argument for keeping this group out of the #1 slot is that "angry" might not accurately capture my sentiments. I'm "angry" at people I harbor any expectation of good behavior from. I can't even spare anger towards these people. They're nothing but an enemy that must be crushed. (2) The Conservative "Intelligentsia". One of the more depressing facts of motivated cognition is that it is more effective in persons who are smarter and/or factually informed. They more intellectually adroit you are, the easier it is to tie yourself into pretzels to justify the unjustifiable and to equate the non-equivalent. The conservative brain trust has and continues to expend their significant intellectual firepower on ever-more convoluted apologias for the movement they're a part of and the politics that they practiced. They know better, they're generally not in office so they face no electoral pressure or backlash -- they're just that devoted to selling out. There is a special promotion (call them slot #1.5) for the subset that spends 1% of their column blandly asserting that "this isn't to say I support Trump," then demands credit for it even though literally nothing else they do attempts to block or undermine his support in any significant way. Also, anybody who responds to the latest Trump outrage by wailing "but OBAMA!!!!!!" on social media is automatically an honorary member of this group. "Honorary" because most of those people could in no way be deemed part of any "intelligentsia" -- so we'll give them slot #2.5. (3) MINOs. Moderates in name only. A commenter on Lawyers, Guns and Money described a moderate Republican Senator as one who "talks about voting against Republicans before voting with Republicans." Amen to that. Susan Collins has made her whole career on that sleight of hand -- supporting every GOP filibuster and obstruction and policy objective while occasionally being kind of angsty about it. Nobody this side of Paul Ryan has a reputation so far removed from her actual concrete voting record, and it's disgusting. She's voting nay on DeVos, though (even as she voted in her favor in committee). If Susan Collins thinks not approving a plagiarist as Secretary of Education makes up for years upon years of being a down-the-line GOP vote, she's got another thing coming. (4) "I Can't Believe the Leopards Ate My Face!" "I voted for you, Mr. Trump -- how could you do the horrible thing that was exactly what you said you'd do if I voted for you?" Oh really? Turns out, taking Trump literally was taking him seriously. I'll still fight to get your healthcare back, let your family back into the country, preserve your control over your own body -- whatever hobbyhorse suddenly made you realize that "I just want to a send a message to Washington" isn't the best way of choosing the leader of the free world -- but if anyone deserves to experience the full brunt of right-wing pain it's this group. (5) The Fallen Angels. At various points throughout the last election cycle (primary and general), various conservatives went out of their way to boldly declare that they would not allow Donald Trump to subvert the basic fabric of our democratic and constitutional structure, that they would provide oversight, that they would ask tough questions, that they would ensure that checks and balances would be a reality and not a dead letter. Some of them -- back when Trump's defeat seemed inevitable -- even indicated they might not vote for them. Virtually all of them have come crawling back into his corner, and have more or less backed him to a hilt ever since. Some check. This group would rank higher if I ever had more than a fleeting belief they'd actually follow through. (6) The Elder Statesmen. Some of the greybeards in the Senate are very concerned with tradition. With comity. With rules. With bipartisan respect. They are gravely worried at the potential flouting of norms which kept government from being simply a partisan aff-- wait, some of those rules might interfere with the right-wing agenda? Poof -- away they go (what's the over/under on the survival of a Supreme Court filibuster if Democrats try it on Gorsuch? A week?)! Now, where were we? Oh, right: "Blocking an unquestionably qualified judicial nominee simply because one does not think the current President should fill the seat would violate a Senate tradition that has been the rule for 0 consecutive years!" (7) The Rank-and-File. Foot soldiers, mostly. Still contemptible, but at least they were consistent. Well, except with respect to ethics in government. And federalism. And limited government. And the filibuster. And belief in objective facts about reality. (8) The Honest Resistance. I can count this group maybe on one hand, but there are people who are genuinely appalled for genuinely conservative reasons at the direction Donald Trump is taking the country. What is essential about being a member of this group is that it takes responsibility for the direction of its own party. It's not the Democrats fault, it's not Obama's fault, it's not the fault of mean protesters or silly left-wing course syllabi. If Republicans are going off the rails, that's a Republican problem that demands that Republicans take ownership over fixing it. In the short term, that's going to mean taking some serious lumps and doing things that make it harder to win elections and get even legitimate conservative policies passed. I wish them the best of luck, but I'm highly dubious of their success. (N/R) The ones who are now Democrats. See #8. Unless you're willing to own your party, GTFO of it. via The Debate Link http://ift.tt/2k0sUkM

#conservatives #GOP #Republicans

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kethwithlove · 4 years

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KWENTONG JOLLIBEE

I did get my first “real job” when I was 16 and I called it my “gateway to adulthood”.

I was 4th year college when I joined Jollibee. I applied as a Service Crew because I wanted to experience how to earn money and sustain my needs in school without a help from my parents. I submitted my application in Jollibee-JP Laurel, Davao which is near to my school (USeP-Obrero). I was told to wait for a text or call for an interview. I received a message from Jollibee 2 weeks after I submitted my resume. “Gikulbaan ko nga wa ko kasabot nga feeling.”

The day of my Interview

Ma’am Anne. Fierce, beautiful and cool. She asked me a lot about my skills, talents and my attitude towards customers. Purely situational questions. I was nervous and a bit excited. Ma’am Anne endorsed me to the next phase of the interview.

Ma’am Diane. She was pregnant that time. A little moody but soft-hearted. She doesn’t like the smell of my perfume (Vanilla scent) but she managed to have a conversation with me. She was wearing a hanky-mask when she interviewed me.

When she asked me “Keth, how do you see yourself in Jollibee?” I said, “Honestly, I don’t know yet, Ma’am since this is my first ever job. Maybe this is my gateway to adulthood.” She laughed. I was fragile that time, an innocent girl without any idea what future brings. Ma’am Diane told me to wait for a text with a big smile on her lovely face.

I GOT THE JOB!

I received an SMS that I needed to attend the orientation. I was in awe! To my surprise, I was hired and became part of the pioneer team of Jollibee-Buhangin. A perfect timing, indeed.

Orientation Day. Ma’am Diane (Store Manager) holding the mic. Sir Jerzon (ICT expert and Singer) and my co-trainees.

TRAINING

We had our training at Jollibee-JP Laurel, Buhangin. It’s not a simple training BUT a very challenging yet rewarding training.

Ma’am Yen. Witty, pretty and jolly. She was my mentor. She trained me a lot. I thought I only needed to learn on how to host a party, fix the mascot and assist customers BUT to my surprise, I needed to LEARN everything in JOLLIBEE. I’m obliged to passed the certification before they endorsed me from a crew trainee to a full-fledged Service Crew.

I had one memorable experience with Mama Yen. My FIRST task as the Store Marketing Officer.

The client booked for a 3-hour seminar. As the assigned crew, I reminded the client that she only had 30min left. 3hrs beyond is subject for an additional fee. She did not listen to me. She consumed 4hrs already. When she asked for the bill, she was so mad that she needed to pay for an additional hour. She scolded me. I was trained by Mama Yen to empathize and to stay calm whenever I encounter an irate customer. I explained the excess charges but she was furious. Mama Yen rescued me. Phew!

Another palpak day. I booked a wrong date for a children’s party. Kitchen crew prepared the ordered food based on the booking. Feel nako palayason nako ni Mama Yen.🤣 Ratol na pud ko. But, Mama Yen is professional. She just told me “Ketch, lesson learned. Next time, tan-awa jud ang kalendaryo.” Thanks to my katangahan, the food they prepared turned out to be our CREW MEAL.

Ketch. Mama Yen’s endearment. I love her so much. She’s now in Canada with her family. I missed her a lot!

Ground ZERO

I experienced the following training: The “ACKNOWLEDGE” word, order-taking, cashier station, drive-thru cashier, customer service, POS machine training, kitchen, fry, inventory of stocks, sanitation, proper calling of orders (PC for POS 1 spag 1 to go please), and a lot more! Imagine how difficult it was for a first timer. But, I was happy. Tired but rewarding.

My FIRST HOSTING career in Jollibee

I was still a TRAINEE when I experienced my first hosting career in Jollibee.

We had the chance to visit the House of Hope Foundation for Kids with Cancer Inc. located inside SPMC (Southern Philippines Medical Center). We had an outreach program sponsored by two Jollibee stores (JP Laurel and Buhangin).

I was a bit scared but somehow excited because that was my first time to host an event outside the store’s premises. Looking on the face of the children with Cancer made me brave. I needed to do well.

Ma’am Diane tapped my shoulder and said, “Kaya mo yan, Keth!” Sir Jerzon wished me luck as well. Sir Lan helped me with the mascot.

From the Left: Ma’am Diane, Me, Ma’am Jinggay, Sir Yan, crew mates, Sir Lan, Sir Jerzon and the rest of the team.

OPENING OF JOLLIBEE BUHANGIN

Jollibee BUHANGIN Grand Opening

The Management Team

From the Left: Ma’am Diane (Store Manager), Sir Jerzon, Ma’am Anne, Sir Yan, Sir Lan, JB Staff and Ma’am Jinggay

Sir Jerzon. Famous line: Oooh Yeah! Sir Jerzon was the coolest among them. He loves singing. The most memorable day I had with Sir Jerzon was during my birthday. He was with us ALL DAY (til’ dawn). We had Karaoke sesh, too!

Hi, Sir Jerzon!

One day, we received a letter (memo). It was gloomy. Everything went dull. There was a directive to transfer Sir Jerzon to another Jollibee branch. I was in pain. I cried like a baby. Begged Sir Jerzon to stay. But, we had no choice. Sir Jerzon left a little scar in our hearts that time.

It’s been 14 years, nothing has changed. Sir Jerzon is still HIM. Idol! He is now a successful Broker. If you guys are looking for a House and Lot or Condominium, Sir Jerzon can help you.

Sir Jerzon, THANK YOU! You taught me a lot of things. You are not just the PCQ Manager but our Big Brother.

Ma’am Jinggay. She was my confidant. I was with her during her Ups and Downs. There have been many hardships and struggles, but through it all, Ma’am Jinggay tried to remain grateful and focused on the positives along the way. She was a strong woman.

Ma’am Jinggay hired me as a Tutor to her Kids – Ena and Patty. How can I not love you, Ma’am Jinggay? I will never forget your kindness. I will always treasure you, Ma’am Jing.

Ma’am Jinggay and Me

Ma’am Anne. Soft-spoken and sweet. She always got my back. I loved how she treated me since day one. She never scolded me (ever). My crewmate always thought that I am Ma’am Anne’s fave because I can talk to her confidently without hesitation. There was one time that my crewmate accidentally forgot to turn off the electric deep fryer during the opening shift. From french fries to “burnt fries”. That was the first time I saw a dragon that has awakened from her deep slumber. Hahaha! Everyone was afraid to Ma’am Anne. They even asked me to collect their DTRs to be signed by Ma’am Anne. They didn’t know that Ma’am Anne was also preoccupied that time. His son was sick and she needed to go to work early because she was the Manager (Opener) for the week.

“What time na, Keths?”, “nag inom na ba kaya sya ug tambal karon noh…”, “Keths, ikaw na bahala arrange sa bookings ha?”, “Ang drive thru, Keths palihog ko ikaw salo ug absent ang naka assign.”, “Keths, thank you kaayo ha sa pagsabot nako.”

The sad part. When I decided to resign, I handed her my resignation letter. She was teary-eyed. I gave her a puppy stuff toy for her to remember me. 🙂 She asked me multiple times if I’m 100% sure. Dili jud siguro gusto ni M’Anne nga mulakaw ko.

Ma’am Anne, you know how much I love and respect you.

Sir Lan. “Boy Astig” with a Heart. I hated him sometimes. Why? He always assigned me as the ASSEMBLER. He wanted me to run and lose weight. HAHAHA!

“Kethelle! Ayaw sigeg petiks diha. Dagan kung kailangan.”

“Kethelle! Hustle!”

“Kethelle! Second TC. Abtik!”

“Kethelle! Kuha ug tissue and ketchup sa stock room! Hustle!”

You see. I can’t make him smile but when I got an accident, he laughed so hard! The floor was slippery. Sir Lan lend me his hands. He said, “Kethelle, pag amping sunod. Pero mu bounce ra man ka ba. Hahahaha!”

There was one time that our PC (Product Control) crew got a flu. Sir Lan took over the PC station. I witnessed his dedication towards his job as a Manager. He did not left the Kitchen until the end of mid-shift. I was like “WOW! Wa ko magtuo nga ingon ana ka paspas si Sir Lan ma PC, han-ay kaayo ang Kitchen!”.

Sir Lan, how’s Canada? I hope to see you ONE DAY kay gimingaw nako sa imong kasaba. HAHAHA!

Sir Yan. I have my Mama Yen, and I also have Papa Yan. 🙂

He loves LECHON. Hahaha!

This man has a GENUINE HEART. He’s really fun and likes to joke around, and he loves sarcasm (sometimes). I think he we just trying to figure out to make a balance from being a Manager and a friend. 🙂

The telephone number (the digits) of Jollibee Buhangin was his birthday. He was the OPENING MANAGER. I don’t know the exact designation but his job is to OPEN A NEW JOLLIBEE BRANCH. He loves to stay at the rooftop of JB-Buhangin store. He loved it there.

He is still connected with Jollibee until now. ISA KANG ALAMAT SIR YAN! Ginabaligyaan ko niya ug Valentus Coffee para mupayat na daw ko. Haha!

FRIENDSHIP

I met a lot of people working in Jollibee. My co-trainees and the Regular (Tekton) crews. No guts, no glory – that was our motto. Amidst the challenging training, we were happy. We enjoyed every bonding and the journey we had in Jollibee. I miss them.

Your Jollibee Store Marketing Officer is now a Public School Teacher. I am who I am now because of Jollibee.

Daghang Salamat, Jollibee!

My Jollibee Story KWENTONG JOLLIBEE I did get my first “real job” when I was 16 and I called it my “gateway to adulthood”.

#firstjob #Jollibee #jollibee story #kwentong jollibee

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marcusssanderson · 5 years

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60 Spiritual Quotes About Inner Peace and Love

Our latest collection of spiritual quotes that will help you develop a stronger connection to everything inside and outside of you.

We don’t always need to be inspired or motivated; sometimes we just need to slow down and reconnect…

During our quest for greater happiness, success and freedom many times we neglect our spiritual side. As human beings, it’s important for us to develop spiritually.

Below you’ll find our collection of inspirational, wise, and powerful spiritual quotes, spiritual sayings, and spiritual proverbs, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

These beautiful spiritual quotes will remind us how powerful it is to develop a stronger connection to everything inside and outside of us.

Spiritual Quotes About Inner Peace and Love

1.) The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it. ― Henri J.M. Nouwen

2.) You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul. – Swami Vivekananda

3.) The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God. ― Mother Teresa

4.) Step out of the circle of time and into the circle of love. –Rumi

5.) Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. – Denis Waitley

6.) It took me forty years on earth To reach this sure conclusion: There is no Heaven but clarity, No Hell except confusion.

– Jan Struther

7.) We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

8.) Surrender is the most difficult thing in the world while you are doing it and the easiest when it is done. – Bhai Sahib

9.) If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion. – The Dalai Lama

10.) It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive – to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are. – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Spiritual Quotes About Inner Peace

11.) Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. – Ludwig van Beethoven

12.) Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

13.) One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity. Connect with those around you today. Say, “I love you”, “I’m sorry”, “I appreciate you”, “I’m proud of you”…whatever you’re feeling. Send random texts, write a cute note, embrace your truth and share it…cause a smile today for someone else…and give plenty of hugs. ― Steve Maraboli

14.) My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind. ― Albert Einstein

15.) Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again. ― Joseph Campbell

16.) You and your purpose in life are the same thing. Your purpose is to be you. ― George Alexiou

17.) As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that. … That is why people are always searching for a meaning to life… Meaning is only found when you go beyond meaning. Life only makes sense when you perceive it as mystery and it makes no sense to the conceptualizing mind. ― Anthony de Mello

18.) If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another.

The universe has no fixed agenda. Once you make any decision, it works around that decision. There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience.

If this sounds too mystical, refer again to the body. Every significant vital sign- body temperature, heart rate, oxygen consumption, hormone level, brain activity, and so on- alters the moment you decide to do anything… decisions are signals telling your body, mind, and environment to move in a certain direction.” ― Deepak Chopra

19.) I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it. –– St. Thomas Aquinas

20.) You are one thing only. You are a Divine Being. An all-powerful Creator. You are a Deity in jeans and a t-shirt, and within you dwells the infinite wisdom of the ages and the sacred creative force of All that is, will be and ever was. ― Anthon St. Maarten

21.) Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul. ― Walt Whitman

Spiritual quotes to awaken your inner self

22.) Take care of your inner, spiritual beauty. That will reflect in your face. – Dolores del Rio

23.) Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations. – Samuel Ullman

24.) Spirituality does two things for you. One, you are forced to become more selfless, two, you trust to providence. The opposite of a spiritual man is a materialist. If I was a materialist I would be making lots of money doing endorsements, doing cricket commentary. I have no interest in that. – Imran Khan

25.) Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life. – Eckhart Tolle

26.) You can’t have a physical transformation until you have a spiritual transformation. – Cory Booker

27.) Friendship has always belonged to the core of my spiritual journey. – Henri Nouwen

28.) Part of spiritual and emotional maturity is recognizing that it’s not like you’re going to try to fix yourself and become a different person. You remain the same person, but you become awakened. – Jack Kornfield

29.) I realized then that even though I was a tiny speck in an infinite cosmos, a blip on the timeline of eternity, I was not without purpose. – R.J. Anderson

30.) The spiritual life is not a life before, after, or beyond our everyday existence. No, the spiritual life can only be real when it is lived in the midst of the pains and joys of the here and now. – Henri Nouwen

31.) Soul is the central point of spiritual discipline. – Mahavira

Spiritual quotes to brighten your life

32.) “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, man cannot live without a spiritual life.” – Buddha

33.) “God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars.“ – Elbert Hubbard

34.) “When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you.“ – Stephen Richards

35.) “We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.“ – Ray Bradbury

36.) “Human spirit is the ability to face the uncertainty of the future with curiosity and optimism. It is the belief that problems can be solved, differences resolved. It is a type of confidence. And it is fragile. It can be blackened by fear and superstition. By the year 2050, when the conflict began, the world had fallen upon fearful, superstitious times.“ – Bernard Beckett

37.) “The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear.“ – Daniel Defoe

38.) Big-heartedness is the most essential virtue on the spiritual journey. – Matthew Fox

39.) When a man is willing and eager, the Gods join in. – Aeschylus

40.) Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself. – Herman Hesse

Spiritual quotes to inspire and uplift

41.) Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from. – Elizabeth Kübler-Ross

42.) Be guided by Spirit and not driven by ego. – All1son

43.) If peace is our single aim in all we do, we will always know what to do because we will do whatever will protect and deepen our peace. – Gerald Jampolsky

44.) Looking deeply at life as it is in this very moment, the meditator dwells in stability and freedom. – Buddha

45.) We are not human beings trying to be spiritual. We are spiritual beings trying to be human. – Jacquelyn Small

46.) You are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars, guides you too. – Shrii Shirr Anandamurti

47.) Prayer is a friendly conversation with the One we know loves us. – St Teresa of Avila

48.) “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you really are.”- Carl Jung

49.) “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.”- Albert Einstein

50.) You can read books without ever stepping into a library; and practice spirituality without ever going to a temple. – ANTHONY DE MELLO

Other inspirational spiritual quotes

51.) “You are never alone. You are eternally connected with everyone.”- Amit Ray

52.) “The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware; joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”- Henry Miller

53.) On the spiritual path, all the dreck and misery is transformed, maybe not that same day, but still transformed into spiritual fuel or insight. – ANNE LAMOTT

54.) “Character can not be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”- Helen Keller

55.) “If you lose money you lose much, If you lose friends you lose more, If you lose faith you lose all.”- Eleanor Roosevelt

56.) It is in our wild nature that we best recover from our un-nature, our spirituality. – FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

57.) No individual can ultimately fail. The Divinity which descends into humanity is bound to re-gain its original state. – N. Sri Ram

58.) Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. – Kahlil Gibran

59.) Most importantly, the meaning of spirituality lays the seeds for our destiny and the path we must follow. – Dennis Banks

60.) It is the inner life that is to spark the change in consciousness that will permit us to advance. – Brother Wayne Teasdale

Spiritual teachings: Radhanath Swami at TEDxLondonBusinessSchool

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Which are your favorite spiritual quotes?

Spiritual development doesn’t have to be hard or confusing. If we can just learn to break out of our shells and see the bigger picture, we will all have an easier time developing a stronger connection to everything inside and outside of us.

The pursuit of spiritual growth is a highly profitable undertaking. Hopefully, these spiritual quotes have inspired you to seek greater happiness.

Did you enjoy these quotes? Which are your favorite spiritual quotes. We would love to hear all about it in the comment section below. Take a second to Like, Comment and Share!

The post 60 Spiritual Quotes About Inner Peace and Love appeared first on Everyday Power.

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jamesgeiiger · 5 years

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Jerry Brown wraps a 5-decade history in California politics

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It was a matter of life and death in 2015 when California Gov. Jerry Brown pondered an assisted suicide bill granting terminally ill people the right to choose when they die.

After much speculation, Brown signed the measure, a victory for “death with dignity” advocates and a blow to the Catholic Church, which vigorously opposed it. Brown, who once considered becoming a priest, added to his signature a five-paragraph statement outlining how he made his decision: He sought contradicting perspectives from the church, families of the terminally ill, his friends and doctors. And he pondered his own existence.

“I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill,” Brown wrote. “And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”

Brown, who leaves office Jan. 7, has signed thousands of bills , but this one stands out to Dana Williamson, Brown’s cabinet secretary at the time.

“His ability to articulate his deliberations and why he landed the way he did — to me that’s quintessential Jerry Brown,” she said.

Brown has honed that decision-making style over five decades in public life , including a record 16 years as California’s governor, first from 1975 to 1983 and again since 2011.

He used the bully pulpit that comes with governing the nation’s largest state to mount three unsuccessful bids for president and urge swifter action on climate change — something he’ll continue when he leaves office — and he’s credited with pulling California out of a financial sinkhole that had observers deeming the state ungovernable when he returned to Sacramento in 2011.

The son of Gov. Pat Brown, Jerry Brown became governor at 36 and built a reputation as an idealist who eschewed traditional trappings of wealth and power. During his first term, he earned the condescending nickname “Gov. Moonbeam” after proposing a state communications satellite.

Now 80, he’s still an idealist but one who during the last eight years championed fiscal moderation, a position that sometimes put him at odds with fellow Democrats who wanted more social program spending. Yet Brown’s popularity surged as he took the state from a deep budget deficit when he entered office to a surplus and $14.5 billion socked away in a rainy day fund.

He never gave up on the satellite idea. Last fall, at the end of a global conference on climate change that he organized, he announced California would launch its “own damn satellite” to track pollutants.

“Jerry is an original and always has been,” said his sister Kathleen Brown, the former state treasurer who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1994.

Jerry Brown was 20 when his father was elected to the first of two terms in 1958. Politics wasn’t his plan — he chose to attend a Jesuit seminary. There he learned the Latin motto: “Age quod agis,” or “Do what you are doing.” He chafes when asked to reflect on his accomplishments or legacy.

“Taking pride is not something that I have been trained to pursue,” Brown said recently at a Sacramento Press Club appearance.

But the priesthood ultimately wasn’t for Brown; he instead got a law degree at Yale and a job at a Los Angeles firm before embarking on his political career by winning a spot on a community college district board of trustees.

Brown leaves the governorship with an unmatchable history in California politics. He was elected secretary of state in 1971 on a platform of transparency and reform, and then governor in 1974. Two years later, Brown was running for president. He lost, but his star continued to rise, powered in part by his relationship with popular singer Linda Ronstadt. The two appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine under the headline “The Pop Politics of Jerry Brown.”

Brown again ran unsuccessfully for president in 1980, with a slogan that reflected the same sensitivities he has today: “Protect the Earth, serve the people, explore the universe.”

After losing a bid for the U.S. Senate in 1982, he travelled abroad, re-entering politics as California Democratic Party chairman and, in 1992, seeking the presidency for a third time and losing to Bill Clinton. He returned to elected office six years later as Oakland mayor then became state attorney general. In 2011, he won the governorship, and his political comeback was complete.

He prefers the second two terms to the first.

“I was more experienced, the people who work with me were more skilled, I had a wonderful wife who was my partner and companion in all this,” he told The Associated Press in a recent interview. Brown’s wife, Anne Gust Brown, is a former Gap executive who friends and advisers say helps Brown execute his ambitious ideas.

The second time around, Brown more easily persuaded the Legislature and voters to make politically painful decisions such as cutting services or raising taxes on themselves. Lawmakers often overrode his vetoes in the 1970s, but they did not do it once in the last eight years. Unlike his early terms, Brown didn’t have his sights set on the presidency.

“Jerry Brown One was quirky and an interesting governor. Jerry Brown Two is not quirky. Jerry Brown Two is deliberative, and he likes to have it his way,” said Republican state Sen. Jim Nielsen, who served in the Legislature from 1978 to 1987 and returned in 2008.

In the 1970s, Brown brought younger, more diverse voices into state government. He appointed his campaign manager, Tom Quinn, to head the state Air Resources Board and quickly advanced policies to curb air pollution. Quinn cracked down sharply on the auto industry for violating California’s vehicle emissions standards, still the nation’s strictest and now a target of the Trump administration.

He won passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975, the first in the nation to give farmworkers collective bargaining rights. It was hailed as a victory, but its long-term effectiveness remains disputed.

Brown also fell victim to his presidential ambitions, giving lawmakers and voters the impression he was focused elsewhere. In 1978, a property tax revolt led to the passage of a ballot measure that radically changed California’s financial picture.

Although Brown opposed it, his embrace of the measure once it passed earned him the endorsement of tax crusader Howard Jarvis and reinforced that Brown’s idealism was wrapped in political pragmatism.

When Brown returned to Sacramento, he turned California’s $27 billion deficit into a surplus for his successor; twice successfully pushed tax increases at the ballot box; aggressively advanced California’s climate change fighting measures; and reversed course on tough-on-crime measures he adopted in the 1970s. He also championed two major and expensive infrastructure projects — a high-speed train between Los Angeles and San Francisco and giant twin tunnels to reroute the state’s water supply — that are mired in lawsuits and may never be completed.

And while he’s made significant strides on climate change by extending a cap-and-trade program for emissions and expanding access to electric cars, critics fault him for failing to stop new oil drilling.

“There’s a slightly tragic quality to the fact that he couldn’t in the end bring himself to change his outlook, because the thing that’s marked his career for decades is being able to change his outlook and be kind of ahead of the curve,” said Bill McKibben, an environmentalist who wrote “The End of Nature,” a call to arms against global warming.

Criticism, bad press, political fights — Brown said he will miss it all when he leaves the governor’s office and retires to a ranch he built on family land in rural Colusa County.

“I can’t think of a day I haven’t enjoyed since I’ve been governor,” he said. “I can’t think of one day.”

—-

Associated Press writers Jonathan J. Cooper and Don Thompson contributed to this report.

Jerry Brown wraps a 5-decade history in California politics published first on https://worldwideinvestforum.tumblr.com/

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lyndsey-parker · 6 years

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Exclusive photos: Ranking ‘The Voice’ Season 13's top 20

The Voice Season 13’s top 20 semifinalists were revealed this Tuesday, and Reality Rocks has their exclusive cast photos… and, of course, some opinions as well. Check out this definitive ranking of the contestants, so you can make an informed vote next week!

Chloe Kohanski (Team Blake)

Chloe is this year’s Jeffery Austin: a sleeper contestant absolutely no one saw coming (who was even montaged in the Battles), until she showed up at the Knockout Rounds in a snazzy suit and slayyyyed. Her gorgeous, goosebump-inducing Knockout cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landside” was the standout performance of Season 13 — and the season’s highest iTunes charter so far, peaking at No. 12. Shockingly, Chloe’s doppelganger and original coach, Miley Cyrus, gave her up, but Miley’s loss is definitely Blake Shelton’s gain. Blake could pull off a six-peat win with this exquisite young songstress. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Davon Fleming (Team J.Hud)

Jennifer Hudson will probably land an endorsement deal with Zappos before Season 13 is over — because as long as she has fellow Whitney Houston fan Davon (and his nearly Whitney-level vocals) on her side, she’s sure to be throwing designer shoes left and right. This charismatic entertainer is a force to be reckoned with, the real deal, and the total package. Jennifer, a former Voice U.K. coach, may soon be bragging about winning The Voice on both sides of the pond. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Addison Agen (Team Adam)

While there is a risk that Addison and Chloe, both indie-leaning songbirds, will cancel each other out in the Playoffs, I feel there is room for both in the Season 13 finale. With a natural “melody in her voice” (according to J.Hud, in one of the most astute comments of the season), Addison has also experienced early iTunes success, with her “Beneath Your Beautiful” hitting No. 38 and her Battle Rounds duet of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” going to No. 36. Interestingly, Addison is another Team Miley castoff; Miley apparently came in like a wrecking ball and wrecked her chances of winning this season, by getting rid of two of her star players! (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Noah Mac (Team J.Hud)

He’s got Harry Styles hair — and Harry Styles charisma. But did Harry Styles ever make Kelly Clarkson cry? Becaus that’s just what Noah did with his soulful Knockout performance of James Bay’s “Hold Back the River.” I’ll be crying a river myself if this talented kid doesn’t at least make it to the top six. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Janice Freeman (Team J.Hud)

A rock ‘n’ soul powerhouse channeling Mary J. Blige and Tina Turner, a cancer survior, and a mother, Janice is a true fighter. She pours every ounce of her pain and passion into go-for-broken, gauntlet-throwing performances like “I’m Goin’ Down” and “Radioactive,” and it’s always good TV. I would love to see Janice differentiate herself in the Playoffs with more leftfield alt-rock choices, a la her Imagine Dragons cover; if she does that, there’s no way she’s goin’ down any time soon. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Moriah Formica (Team Miley)

Moriah is, as Blake might say, BAD. ASS. And she’s as tough as her surname implies. A guitar-slinging 16-year-old raised on ’80s hair metal (she even once guested on a solo album by Stryper singer Michael Sweet!), Moriah nailed every note of Heart’s “Crazy on You” in her Blind Audition. Granted, she sounded a lot like Heart’s Ann Wilson, but in her Knockout performance, she started to find her own voice with a fierce take on a contemporary Kelly Clarkson classic. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Chris Weaver (Team J.Hud)

Chris is a worship leader by day and a drag queen (Nedra Belle, the drag daughter of RuPaul’s Drag Race veteran Sasha Belle) by night. Can I get an amen, literally? With a pedigree like that, Chris makes for good TV, but he also has vocal chops — no lip-syncing for this guy! However, with dual backgrounds in church and NYC drag clubs, Chris’s performance style is, shall we say, far from subtle. He’ll have to work on his oversinging tendencies, which could alienate viewers — otherwise he might sashay away from the competition way too soon. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Brooke Simpson (Team Miley)

During a mentoring session, Kelly Clarkson said, “Not only does Brooke have what it takes to be in the industry, I think the industry needs people like her. She’s so lovable on top of being an amazing vocalist.” High praise from one America’s sweetheart to another! Brooke might fade into the background as she goes up against some of this season’s flashier personalities, but like Kelly on American Idol Season 1, she has chops and charm. Don’t underestmate her. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Ashland Craft (Team Miley)

Miley is determined to win with a country contestant this season, which would bring her career’s Joanne-reminiscent, return-to-roots story arc to its logical conclusion. With fellow sassy rebel girl Ashland, Miley may get her wish. Ashland has enough Gretchen Wilsonesque sass to please diehard country fans, plus the rock ‘n’ roll edge (note her Skynyrd-style cover of Bon Jovi’s road-weary “Wanted Dead or Alive”) to cross over. I’m interested to see if she can pull off a ballad, however — at some point, America will yearn to connect with kinder, gentler Ashland underneath all that leather. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Keisha Renee (Team Blake)

The onetime Adam Lambert/Nicki Minaj backup singer-turned-country contender occupies a lane all her own, and she’s certainly interesting and unique. But will country fans, and Blake Shelton fans, embrace her? I’m concerned they’ll cast their votes for the more traditional, conservative country contestants… like Adam Cunningham. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Adam Pearce (Team Miley)

Adam has a fantastic, ferocious rock voice, but the Led Zep cover band frontman has some corny onstage habits he needs to kick — like his tendecy to prowl the stage in endless, nervous circles, not to mention all that excessive hairography. However, every Voice season needs a longhaired rocker dude, and Adam P. is the only longhaired rocker dude of Season 13. I think if Miley, a rock chick herself with impeccable taste, gives him some newer tunes that prove he’s more than just a Foreigner/Deep Purple karaoke type, he could stick around a while. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Hannah Mrozak (Team J.Hud)

Hannah is a classic Clarkson-style pop/soul balladeer, and though she has faded into the background for much of this season, her Knockout Rounds performance of Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain,” which resulted in the final dramatic Steal of Season 13, established her as a strong contender — and Brooke Simpson’s stiffest competition this season. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Adam Cunningham (Team Adam)

Like Miley, Adam Levine is determined to win with a country contestant (and rub it in his longtime rival Blake’s face, of course). Adam almost achieved this goal in Season 11, when his bro-country contender Josh Gallagher placed fourth and country-crossover pop singer Billy Gilman was runner-up, but maybe his dastardly dream will come true with this guy. While Adam the C’s earlier performances were generic meat-‘n’-potatoes country, his gruff Lee Ann Womack/Chris Stapleton remake in the Knockouts was a revelation. If Adam the L continues to push Adam the C down that singer-songwriter lane, that lane just might lead to the finale. (Making the victory even more sweet would be the fact that Cunningham was originally a member of Team Blake.) Song choice will be key here. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Shi’Ann Jones (Team J.Hud)

Shi’Ann, at age 15, is the youngest semifinalist in the top 20 — a fun fact that will surely be trotted out at every opportunity this season. (“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU ARE ONLY 15!!!”) Obviously Shi’Ann’s inexperience may hinder her, and the novelty of her youth will only get her so far; from this point onward, she must be graded on the same curve as everyone else, even 40-year-olds Red Marlow and Esera Tuaolo. But Jennifer Hudson sees a younger mini-me version of herself in Shi’Ann, and is therefore likely to give this girl special guidance — so Shi’Ann could be this year’s Wé McDonald or Jacqui Lee. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Emily Luther (Team Adam)

There’s no doubt that this theater-trained, Berklee-schooled jazz chanteuse is one of Season 13’s most techincally skilled vocalists. But even her own coach Adam said she’s “almost too perfect.” She lacks charisma and doesn’t pop onscreen like some of her opponents, and she seems much older than her 24 years. It’s easy to see why her former YouTube duet partner Charlie Puth’s career soared, while hers has stalled. I think Emily could have a bright future on Broadway, but sadly, I don’t know how far she can go on this show. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Red Marlow (Team Blake)

This dyed-in-the-flannel everyman could not be more obvious Team Blake material if he’d showed up wearing an “Ol’ Red”-era mullet and drinking a Starbucks cup filled with whiskey. A “country as cornbread” (or “country as a wheelbarrow full of turnip greens”) dude who rattles off one-liners like “I’m as excited as a fat kid at a candy store,” he sure has a big, made-for-TV personality, and Middle America will love the lug. Until this week, I’ve found his performances to be typical weeknight bar-band fare andand corny as cornbread, so I’d rather Middle America’s country votes go to Ashland Craft or Adam Cunningham — but Red’s “Outskirts of Heaven” Knockout performance proved that he has a softer side and doesn’t always have to be the Season 13 class clown. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Mitchell Lee (Team Blake)

Mitchell has the cougar-baiting, hunky good looks to make America’s housewives swoon, and with his excellent pitch, he’s easy on the ears as well as the eyes. He’s already shaping up to be the Barrett Baber of Season 13. However, there’s a Ken-doll slickness, forced smiley-ness, and smugness to his performances that I find offputting, and he plays it safe with his song choices. I’d love to see more grit and gravitas from Mitchell, so he can become the Brendan Fletcher of Season 13 instead. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Anthony Alexander (Team Adam)

Young Anthony has teen-heartthrob appeal and tons of potential, but even his coach Adam admits that he’s “not fully cooked yet.” With only four weeks of Playoffs, will Anthony have the time to “cook” and catch up with his more, um, seasoned opponents? I am not so sure. Anthony has talent, but he may have been better off waiting to try out for Season 14. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Jon Mero (Team Adam)

Jon’s confidence can sometimes come across as cockiness, and the professional corporate gig singer’s performances (“Blame It on the Boogie”? really??) don’t feel modern or relevant. It doesn’t bode well for his chances that his Knockout Round performance was montaged — a rarity on this series — and not even uploaded by NBC to YouTube. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

Esera Tuaolo (Team Blake)

As an openly gay former NFL player, Esera has by far this season’s most fascinating (and timely) backstory. Does he have the pipes to back that up, though? I sense that he’s made it this far mainly because he makes for compelling television. It’s unlikely that there’s a Voice touchdown in his future. (Photo: NBC)

Source: Yahoo Music

#slideshow #the voice #_uuid:108bf949-198a-3d9e-b72a-315dcbd0422f #reality rocks #photos #_revsp:wp.yahoo.music.us #_lmsid:a0Vd000000AE7lXEAT

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junker-town · 7 years

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Absolutely everything on the 2015 Michigan State-Michigan ending: Highlights, fan reactions and more

One of the wildest plays in college football history!

The Michigan State-Michigan game from 2015 had one of the greatest endings in college football history, and it hasn’t been forgotten in the two years since the miraculous finish.

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Before 2017’s return by the Spartans to Ann Arbor, some players were asked about the game, and it’s still fresh in their minds.

“Honestly, when you’re in a situation like that, you don’t think you’re gonna win the game,” Spartans linebacker Chris Frey said Tuesday via the Detroit Free Press. “Guys were pretty upset because we had played pretty well the entire day. We didn’t play very well at a few points of the game, but statistically, I think we dominated them.”

“You just love the feeling of knowing that you went into a stadium that holds 110,000 people or whatever it is,” Frey added. “And you can hear the crickets because you silenced them.”

"Oh yeah, I was on the bench just laughing it up with (former Michigan offensive linemen Erik Magnuson and Kyle Kalis), we were just laughing about how great it was (to get a win)," Wolverine center Patrick Kugler said via the Detroit Free Press. "Then you freeze for a second and see (Watts-Jackson score) and you don't believe what you saw. But that's football, it happens. We're excited to play them this year."

Here's what happened. No. 12 Michigan led 23-21 and just needed to punt the ball away to win. But the Wolverines mishandled the snap, and the No. 7 Spartans ran it back for a touchdown as time expired to win 27-23.

Michigan fans, who'd been so happy earlier, were stunned.

Michigan fan Rich Eisen of the NFL Network had a similar collapse on Twitter.

What @richeisen was like when he thought @Umichfootball won. I can't show you what it was like when they did not win http://pic.twitter.com/UgQL4QK8ju

— Michael Irvin (@michaelirvin88) October 17, 2015

That did not just happen.

— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) October 17, 2015

Players on the field explain how it went down, and hero defensive back Jalen Watts-Jackson says it was the first time he ever touched a ball in a college game:

"OH MY GOD!" ... "I don't ... know what ... to say." Listen to both teams' radio calls of the play:

THIS IS SPARTA! Former Spartan Le'Veon Bell videoed himself running around like a maniac in celebration:

WE ARE SPARTA!!!!!! http://pic.twitter.com/QifqlNbTum

— Le'Veon Bell (@L_Bell26) October 17, 2015

Mark Dantonio celebrated by asking Spartans fans at the Big House, "Where did all the Wolverines go!?"

Bad news. One fan literally had a heart attack.

The ending was so unlikely, the Spartans had already given the Paul Bunyan Trophy to Michigan. Yeah, they got it back.

MSU had just a 0.2 percent chance of winning, according to ESPN.

Here's another way to look at the swing of fortune:

The game was so over, a Grand Rapids TV station had already started its live report on Michigan's win:

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Someone has some explaining to do.

Posted by Tom Clyde on Saturday, October 17, 2015

Ohio State paused its video board on a shot of sad Michigan fans, and OSU fans chanted "we don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan." And of course you can buy an OHIO shirt with one of those sad Michigan fans on it.

Was it the craziest ending ever? It's lacking one big thing: a band on the field.

How was the rest of the game? Well, it's the highest-rated October game ever on ESPN. Lee Corso picked the Wolverines with a Spaceballs-sized helmet, a Michigan linebacker with some MSU-hating history was ejected for a bad targeting call and took a pump-up lap around the Big House, a furious Michigan fan in a Patriots hat managed to flip off ESPN's camera, an MSU fullback thundered 74 yards on a glorious wheel route and there was a thing flying over the crowd that was maybe an inflated condom.

So, pretty good.

youtube

Despite needing that play to win, Michigan State actually outgained Michigan and simply has the better quarterback. The advanced stats go further, projecting the Spartans to have won that game by 17 points, based on how the game's numbers would've shaken out in an average game. UM's only major advantage in the game was on special teams, which is pretty ironic ...

... that's all despite Michigan's top defender winning the game's marquee matchup and the Wolverines' offense being good enough for three quarters.

Bittersweet ending. The hero on the play, Watts-Jackson, broke and dislocated his hip on the tackle in the endzone and had surgery. He has no regrets, saying, "I'd do it all over again for my brothers."

Here's a heartbreaking look at the celebration turning somber:

youtube

A few idiots on Twitter sent mean messages to the punter, and Michigan interim athletic director Jim Hackett wrote an open letter scolding them. Those people and are both awful and very stupid, and the punter, Blake O'Neill, had this beautiful, 80-yard punt earlier in the game.

O'Neill remains upbeat: "I tried to sort of kick it over my head, and that didn't work out. ... Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and go again. That's the beauty of sport. We get another chance against Minnesota to come out and prove we're improving."

Former Michigan punter Zoltan Mesko broke down the play to defend O'Neill.

And yeah, that was a bad mistake, but Spencer Hall explains how it could've been way worse: he could've gotten so drunk he damaged the global economy. Somebody did that!

Barack Obama offered Jim Harbaugh some encouragement as well:

Obama told Harbaugh it 'was a tough way to lose a football game,' the coach said. The pair also talked about mutual friends. '(Obama) told the fellas to keep their chin up and him and Michelle were watching the game and likes the way our team played and told our guys to keep it going.'

And any Michigan fans disappointed in Harbaugh can rally now that Brady Hoke said he would've ... gone for it?

It's good that it hurts. Bill Connelly writes that the pain is a sign of progress. Looking past the heartbreak, Maize N Brew was encouraged by the game.

That single play changed our Big Ten power rankings and our Rose Bowl projection, but the Wolverines' season resume ranks No. 2 in S&P+ anyway.

Always making it interesting. Michigan State has had a lot of thrilling finishes recently. The Only Colors takes a look at all of them.

A Michigan State fan made a bad rap song about the win, as one does.

It took magic this time, but Michigan State is now on a 7-2 run against its once self-described "Big Brother."

Hate check! Well, MSU's Magic Johnson statue got vandalized before this game, so hate might be at unmeasurable levels now.

The Gift Six? Now the play needs a nickname. Help us pick one! The voting leader is Fail to the Victors, but our Michigan State blog has endorsed The Quick Six.

Dantonio has his own name: "Rangers: Mission 4:10." "Rangers," for the name of MSU's special teams unit, and "Mission 4:10," for ... he'll explain:

We were saying all week that mental is to physical as four is to one; that you had to be four times mentally tougher than you were physically tough. And inevitably, it was going to come down to a mental game. They were going to make some plays. We were going have to handle adversity, we were going to have to handle the crowd, weather a storm or be the storm, one of the two. We were going to have to be able to do that. So that was where the 4-1 came in.

The 10 seconds obviously comes in at the back end, with the last 10 seconds of the game. But it also comes in on the front end because we sat on that bus for 10 extra seconds because I wanted to make sure our players understood the size of this game, the bigness of this particular game, the impact it will have not only on them at that point in time but on their entire lives. And so that's where the 4-10 comes in.

Images via ESPN and Getty

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stephaniefchase · 7 years

Text

Bajan Newscap 7/22/2017

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Saturday 22nd July 2017. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today ((BT), or by purchasing a Saturday Sun Newspaper (SS).

DIVIDE ON MARCH - There appears to be discord among the private sector following yesterday’s announcement of a joint protest march between Barbados’ major trade unions and the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA). During a press briefing yesterday at the Barbados Secondary Teachers Union (BSTU), Belleville, St Michael, BPSA chairman Charles Herbert said they were urging the private sector to shut shop on Monday and allow employees to participate while still receiving full pay. However, a check with Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) president Eddy Abed revealed this did not have the chamber’s full support. He sent the SATURDAY SUN an emailed response to another email sent to all private sector organisations by the BPSA, signed by its president, Anne Reid. (SS)

WE MARCHING! – Some of this island’s leading businesses, including one of the largest private sector groupings, are on board with Monday’s national march called by trade unions and the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA). However, Chairman of Williams Industries Inc Ralph Bizzy Williams is making it clear that the action being taken by his company is not in support of any political party, but “just to impress on Government that we want to meet urgently to find a better way to close the fiscal deficit”. While complaining that the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL) was causing “bare confusion with our accounting systems”, the prominent businessman also charged that the recent increase in the NSRL from two per cent to ten per cent was equivalent to increasing the 17.5 per cent Value Added Tax to 27 per cent. In support of Monday’s march by members of the BPSA and the labour unions, Williams told Barbados TODAY he would be closing all but three of his companies – Ionics Fresh Water Limited, which is a desalination plant; Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre, which handles garbage disposal and Big Gases Limited, which supplies oxygen to the hospital – which he said could be considered “essential services that should not be disrupted”. Late this evening, Barbados TODAY also received a copy of communication sent by Chief Executive Officer of Automotive Art Douglas Armstrong to members of staff advising that the company “fully endorses the initiatives of the BPSA” and would therefore be closing its to facilitate participation in the march. Barbados TODAY also understands that similar communication was sent to workers at Caribbean Label Craft, which is a member of the Goddards Group, as well as to other private sector employees on Friday. However, not everyone in the business community seems to be on board with Monday’s march. This afternoon, Executive Director of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Carlos Wharton said in a statement to members that although the BCCI’s Council was in agreement that “dialogue with the other Social Partners is important, we do not believe that this march should have been the first course of action taken”. However, Wharton said the BCCI Secretariat had been instructed to inform members of the march, which takes place from 10 a.m. until noon. When contacted, BCCI President Eddy Abed declined further comment on the matter. However, Abed has been insisting on the need for tripartite dialogue, and for Government to explore alternatives to its recently announced austerity Budget, which he said “gives us the pain”. But fed up of waiting for Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to respond to their demands, General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union Toni Moore announced during a 1:30 p.m. press conference today at the headquarters of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) that the march, which is slated to begin in Queen’s Park, was a “united effort for all of us to show our commitment towards achieving what is best for Barbados. (BT)

MORRIS: ACTION ABOUT POLITICS - The current tumultuous industrial relations climate in Barbados has very little to do with industrial relations and everything to do with politics. So says Ambassador to CARICOM Robert “Bobby” Morris, who is warning Government to take action and ensure the trade union and private sector combo does not become the norm and ultimately destroy the Social Partnership. The prominent historian and veteran trade unionist made his opinion clear yesterday as he claimed the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) were all acting with political intent. “What we are seeing is an attempt by the trade unions and the private sector to wrestle power away from a duly elected Government,” Morris said following a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) lunchtime lecture. (SS)

MORRIS SAYS REDMAN’S ACCIDENT WAS CONTRIVED - A former trade unionist has seemingly made light of the accident in which President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) Mary Redman damaged ligaments in her left ankle while participating in a march last week Tuesday. Former Deputy General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) Robert Bobby Morris Friday said the accident seemed “a bit contrived”. Redman twisted her ankle at Queen’s Park, The City when the area on which she stepped after completing her presentation gave way. “You realize that Mary Redman has a membership of about 350 people, and you realize that the woman went into the park with about 400 [people] and she was the only person who a hole found. I can’t understand. Four hundred people in the park and the hole found the foot of one person – the trade union leader – and the Leader of the Opposition had to lift her up, apparently,” Morris said while delivering a lecture at the Democratic Labour Party’s headquarters as part of the party’s weekly Astor B Watts lunchtime lecture series. However, his comment was not funny to Redman who told Barbados TODAY Friday afternoon she was slowly on the mend. The BSTU leader expressed surprise at the comment, describing it as strange, unbelievable, sad and offensive, and she called for an apology from Morris. “I cannot imagine what would make him think that I would be part and parcel of something contrived. Towards what end? To achieve what? I am so disappointed in him, honestly,” Redman said. “For him to make such a statement I believe it is really beneath him and it is surprising because he knows me for years in relation to trade union matters and he has never in the years that we have known each other, known me to be in a position of compromise of my integrity or honesty as an individual. So for him to ascribe dubious motive and dishonesty to an incident that occurred with me is distressing to me because he is calling my character into question and I take umbrage with that, and I think that he owes me an apology. That is the truth,” she protested, adding, “that alleged behaviour by him is bringing his credibility into question”. Redman has been on crutches since the accident and the healing process is expected to take between six and eight weeks. (BT)

BAR OWNERS WATCHING NSRL - Some bar owners across the island are still playing a wait-and-see game to determine whether their liquor prices will go up this Crop Over season as a result of the recent increase in the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL) and other tax measures. Banks Breweries reportedly implemented increases in its products from as early as July 1 when the NSRL increased from two per cent to ten per cent, while manager at Bryden Stokes, Jeffery Evelyn confirmed that some prices went up from the same date and others increased from July 17, when a two per cent tax on foreign exchange transactions took effect. Speaking to Barbados TODAY before the levy came into effect, owner of Chop Arts Sports Bar in Baxter’s Road, the City, Troy Trotman said he was waiting to see how much the prices from distributors would increase before taking a decision on whether his would go up. But shop steward Jennifer Harper said she expected that even with an increase, customers would still continue to purchase alcohol. Owner of Crystal Waters Beach Bar in the south of the island, who gave her name only as Debbie, also indicated no decisions had yet been made on price increases “because it hasn’t been a notable change” since the rise in the NSRL. Meantime, the owner of Mullins Beach Bar, who did not want his name published, confirmed that prices at the St Peter establishment would increase. (BT)

JONES LAMENTS OBSESSION WITH GUNS – Minister of Education Ronald Jones has expressed concern about what he described as a new love affair some of the region’s youth have with guns. And he suggested that because of “corrupt processes in our societies”, some of the most sophisticated guns could be found in the hands of these young people who then act as though they are all-powerful. “So the idiot, the fool, the clown, gets that power against the palm of his hand and . . . he is now a God, because the potential to take life is in his grasp. These are the dichotomies within our space,” Jones said Friday as he outlined what he said were two streams of behaviour in Caribbean societies – constructive and destructive. “Voices must be added and the contradictions must be removed from those who want to be part of the total collective. We have to change our space. We have to ensure that those who put products of destruction in our youth’s hands must be stopped,” added the outspoken minister who said authorities in Caribbean countries seemed incapable of stemming the flow of illegal guns into their territories. Jones voiced his concerns Friday morning as he addressed the closing ceremony of the Caribbean Technical Entrepreneurship Programme (CTEP) at the Accra Beach Hotel. The programme, financed by the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank, saw the participation of 164 young entrepreneurs from the Eastern Caribbean and Haiti. Jones said while there was a set of youth who create “mayhem”, there were other sensible, rational youth, like those who participated in CTEP, who were constructing “strong pillars all across the region” as part of a new Caribbean economy and society. (BT)

BORDER AGENCIES ‘CAN POOL RESOURCES’ TO FIGHT DRUGS, GUNS - Border agencies across the region can fight illegal shipment of drugs and guns by pooling resources, says Acting Commissioner of Police Oral Williams. He was speaking to participants yesterday at the closing ceremony of the Maritime Operations and Planning Course. The project, funded by the European Union and the Regional Security System (RSS), carried a fitting theme of Strength Through Unity and was focused on strengthening law enforcement and border security in the RSS member states. Participants came from the Barbados Defence Force and Coast Guard, Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force, Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force, Royal Grenada Police Force, St Kitts and Nevis Defence Force, Royal St Lucia Police Force and the St Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard. (SS)

MORE POLICE NEEDED – The Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) needs another 200 good men. Assistant Commissioner of Police William Yearwood said Thursday the Force is understaffed and young people of quality are needed to help boost the numbers. The RBPF currently has about 1,300 officers in its ranks. “It is over 200-plus officers the Force is short of. Because of persons who have retired, some . . . have resigned and been dismissed from the Force, we are in need of young persons to come forward and join, particularly males. We do have a good quota of females but we are in need of males,” he disclosed. “It means we have [fewer] police officers on the ground, which is less visibility. We have been doing our . . . best with what we have presently, but certainly having those added numbers would make it easier for our members in terms of the workload.” Yearwood spoke about the RBPF’s staffing issue on the sidelines of a celebration ceremony for eight teenagers who successfully completed the Prince’s Trust International Team Programme. He told reporters that more needs to be done to encourage young people to enter the RBPF, including offering more attractive salaries and benefits. “We have a lot of young men who are hyped to join the Force. Some of them have the education but they choose not to come to the Force. There are certain things that need to be done by authorities to make the Force more viable to encourage others to join the Force . . . . Salary is one, of course, that can be looked at, and also certain benefits and allowances that can be given,” the senior cop said. (BT)

LIE DETECTOR TESTS COMING FOR CUSTOMS OFFICIALS, BRATHWAITE SAYS - Customs and Immigration officers may soon be forced to undertake lie detector tests as part of Government’s offensive against the importation of illegal guns. Without naming any of the departments, but convinced there are “some undesirables” in border control agencies, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite Thursday warned the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) and Barbados Coast Guard ought not be the only law enforcement agencies requiring their officers to take polygraph tests. “At the risk of causing a national shutdown in Barbados tomorrow [Friday], let me say this also. We need to move to the state where all agencies that look after our borders have to go through the same integrity testing, or shall I say polygraph . . . as required by our marine unit, by our Coast Guard, by certain sections of the force if they want to serve in some sensitive positions. We really need to,” Brathwaite told a joint news conference with Acting Police Commissioner Tyrone Griffith. Brathwaite’s reference to a national shutdown appeared to point to the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), which in August 2015 expressed outrage at comments by Griffith that customs officials were either deliberately or unwittingly allowing illegal guns into the country. From an investigative view point, it is clear that there is an abundance of high calibre weapons and large quantities of available ammunition on the streets. What is also clear is that [those] weapons are not lawfully manufactured in Barbados and the wider region, so they are being smuggled into the island. Our intelligence suggests they are coming through legitimate ports of entry, either assisted by officials, or not detected by them at our borders. This is an untenable situation which has to be addressed if we are to stem the flow of these weapons,” Griffith had said at a news conference, provoking an angry NUPW to described the comment as “inflammatory and without basis”. “If police intelligence suggests that these guns are coming through legitimate ports of entry, then officials should be identified and charged for this illegal activity,” the union had said in a statement. “The union considers the commissioner’s statements to be inflammatory and without basis; and believe they only serve to tarnish the reputations and integrity of all customs officers.” It was not immediately clear how the NUPW, currently involved in industrial action to press Government into compromising on the vexing National Social Responsibility Levy, will respond to the latest concerns raise by Brathwaite. The country’s top legal adviser suggested the introduction of polygraph tests would help lift the lid of suspicion over the border control officers, adding that Barbadians need not become sensitive and feel that everyone inside the agencies was crooked. (BT)

‘VOID CREATED’ BY DPP’S PASSING - Barbados’ justice system has been diminished by the loss of Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock QC. Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson made the comment yesterday as he spoke highly of Leacock’s many achievements and aspirations during his funeral service at the Cathedral of St Michael and All Angels. Leacock passed away on July 8 while in Orlando, Florida, where he was undergoing prostate surgery. He was 59 years old. (SS)

CCB REACTS TO PAYNE’S MURDER - The state-run Child Care Board (CCB) Friday expressed deep sadness over the tragic death of one of its longstanding employees. Fifty-eight-year-old Colleen Payne of Lodge Hill, St Michael was shot while trying to use the Royal Bank of Canada’s automated teller machine (ATM) at University Drive, Black Rock, St Michael around 9 p.m. on Monday. She later succumbed to her injuries at the state-run Queen Elizabeth Hospital. In brief statement issued on Friday evening, CCB Chairman Ken Knight noted that Payne had been employed with the child protection agency for the past 36 years and had given exemplary service to the organization. At the time of her death, she was attached to the Nightengale Day Nursery. “We are deeply saddened by the loss . . . our thoughts and profound condolences are extended to her husband, daughter and loved ones, at this time,” Knight said, adding that “our focus continues to be that of supporting all of our staff, particularly Mrs Payne’s colleagues at the Day Nursery”. Police are questioning three men in connection with the shooting death, which has brought to 19 the number of murders so far this year, compared to 21 for all of last year. Just Thursday, the island’s top law enforcement officials, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite and Acting Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith, admitted to a worrying spike in gun-related murders so far this year. Griffith told a joint news conference with Brathwaite at Police Headquarters on Roebuck Street, The City that 15 of the 19 murders this year were committed with firearms, which were used in nearly 80 per cent of murders this year. (BT)

FAMILY’S PLIGHT - Ernest Lynton and the family he has made his own have found themselves with nowhere to call home and are appealing for help. Over the past few weeks the St Michael family of seven has been experiencing hard luck, compounded by unemployment, and have had to move from house to house. They are in dire need of financial aid and basic living necessities. Lynton, 48, was renting a Blackman Field, The Pine, St Michael house for more than five years, where he lived with girlfriend Lisa Greene and her four children, aged 12 to 18, and her grandson. However, the house was in need of serious repairs and two weeks ago they were told to leave. (SS)

CAR BURSTS INTO FLAMES ALONG EAGLE HALL - This was a car problem no mechanic could fix. The Barbados Fire Service had to be summoned to extinguish a blaze after a car caught fire along Eagle Hall, St Michael just after 3 p.m today. The driver of the car, who only gave his name as Junior, said he borrowed the car from his friend to run an errand. Junior, a mechanic, said the car “just shut down” and he noticed smoke coming from the bonnet just before it became engulfed in flames. “It just shut down and I see the fire coming from the bonnet. I was going to the mechanic shop to get a part for another vehicle,” he explained. (SS)

STILL ‘NOT A CENT’ FROM NSC – Barbados’ medal–winning effort at the World Relays may all be for naught. The men’s 4x100 relay squad and Barbados’ other IAAF World Championships qualifiers could be missing from the London line-up next month, as the National Sports Council (NSC) is still to provide funding for the team to travel two weeks before the meet. Athletics Association of Barbados (AAB) president Catherine Jordan confirmed the news in a telephone interview yesterday as her body awaits word ahead of the August 4 start to the games. “I have started to talk to the Sports Council already so I am hopeful something gets done the closer we get to the championships because it’s a shame that this would happen after our team did so well at the World Relays with a silver medal,” said Jordan. (SS)

FARLEY TAKES CHESS LEAGUE – International master Terry Farley has hit the front of the second qualifier for the 2017 Digicel Barbados National Chess Championships after he defeated previous leader Kemp Lynch in their round six clash last Thursday evening at the Bridgetown Chess Centre. With this result Farley now takes the lead with five points, a half of a point ahead of Lynch and Jerome Harewood who both sit on four and a half. Farley defeated Lynch with the black pieces in what turned out to be an anti-climactic result for many who thought the young Lynch would have made a tough fight of it. However, after starting aggressively with the white pieces Lynch soon quickly ran into difficulties on his queenside and succumbed to defeat. (BT)

BIRKETT KEEPS COOL AGAINST LOCKHART – Andre who? Finals MVP Keefe Birkett says he wasn’t too fazed about facing Andre Lockhart, figuring he’d be better served focusing on his team’s performance than worrying about a one-on-one matchup in Thursday’s Game 5 of the Co-operators General Insurance Premier League basketball finals at the Barbados Community College. “It’s just a game of basketball at the end of the day and the game is played five on five so it’s not really between me and him. Yeah, we played against one another but it’s a team sport and our team came through in the end,” Birkett said. (SS)

ARCHER MAKES CAREER-BEST STRIKE - Exciting Barbadian seamer Jofra Archer snatched career-best Twenty20 figures as he helped fire Sussex to a comfortable victory over Hampshire, in the English T20 Blast here Thursday. Playing at the Ageas Bowl in the South Group, the 22-year-old right-armer claimed four for 18 in a brilliant four-over spell, to restrict the hosts to 126 for nine off their 20 overs. In reply, Sussex eased to their target with 16 balls remaining, earning their first victory in four games while ending Hampshire’s unbeaten streak. Batting first, Hampshire were powered by Tom Alsop who top-scored with 64 from 50 deliveries with five fours and two sixes but he was the only one to pass 15 and one of only three players in double figures. Archer struck early, prising out captain and opener James Vince (3) and Sean Ervine (2) cheaply as Hampshire slumped to 30 for two in the fifth over. Alsop then joined with Lewis McManus (12) to add 48 for the fifth wicket and rebuild the innings before Man-of-the-Match Archer returned to help engineer yet another decline. In reply, Sussex were guided by Ben Brown who struck 42 while Chris Nash got 32 and Laurie Evans, an unbeaten 24. Former Barbados and West Indies speedster, Fidel Edwards, went wicket-less in three overs which leaked 29 runs. (SS)

CLOUD TEN POSTPONED - BREWSTER’S ROAD CREW’S Cloud Ten event has been postponed. The premium all-white event was scheduled to be held last night at Balls Park, Christ Church. However, organisers announced the postponement earlier Yesterday. A new date and venue have not been announced. (SS)

TEN TO FACE AZIZA IN CALYPSO FINAL - Ten calypsonians will take on reigning Pic-O-De-Crop queen Aziza on August 5. The announcement was made early this morning at Kensington Oval following the performances of 18 semi-finalists. Ten contestants were announced instead of nine because of a tie. The finalists are Colin Spencer and Donella of Cave Shepherd All Stars, De Big Show's AC, Classic, Edwin, iWeb and Chrystal,Smokey Burke of Gladiators and Observer and Sir Ruelrepresenting House of Soca. No reserve was named. (SS)

That’s all for today folks there are 162 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase

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hoopslab · 7 years

Text

A Black Man venting at 3 AM about racism and the new president

So…later today Donald Trump officially becomes the president of the United States of America.

Simultaneously, of course, Barrack Obama will no longer be president.

I feel like I’m walking towards a historical crossroads…no, that’s not the best analogy. Instead, maybe I’ve been riding for months towards an inevitable world-wide fork in the road, and as I look out the window I see that we’re almost there. I say riding instead walking, because ultimately I feel like I had no choice in this. I didn’t have any volition, any real inkling that this particular set of events would or could happen. My state of mind since the election has often been horror, and though I try to fight it with bursts of optimistic energy, the sense of impending doom just keeps sneaking back up on me.

I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

In the midst of trying to prepare myself for the new direction of my country, I have started trying to make myself watch CNN again. I had pretty much stopped after the election, you see…I guess as a form of denial since the pain was too fresh for me to handle tuning in right away. But in the end I’ve got to stay informed and into the world, even if I don’t like what’s going on, because hiding my head in the sand doesn’t hurt anyone but me. So I watch…and I read…and I listen to the radio…and every story seems to stab at something in me.

I watched the CNN special on President Obama’s legacy. I re-lived the joy and hope that this amazing thing could come to pass. And then…they started showing the hate. The absolute vitriol and destructive language with which people talked about him, screamed about him. The rise of the Tea Party as an “acceptable” way for a mob to say “I hate you”. Seeing him disrespected in ways that I’ve never personally seen any other president disrespected, especially by others in office. A U.S. Congressman shouting “You lie!” in the middle of the president’s speech. Public announcements by leaders in Congress right off the bat of intent to obstruct and prevent everything that he wanted to accomplish, then faithfully following through on that obstruction.

And ultimately feeling…KNOWING that at the heart of a lot of the vitriol was simply that some people could not allow themselves to accept that a black man was leading the country.

Then, I watched the coverage of Kellyanne Conway and other Trump supporters. Not even getting to the absurdity of the Russian conspiracy to interfere with the election, the cabinet and official appointment nominees that seem almost universally terrible, or the blatant lies and unprofessional conduct of our soon-to-be Commander in chief and his administration…maybe I’ll get to those things later, maybe not. They could really each be their own complete volume of articles, and I don’t know that I have that many words in me to work through them.

But I digress. Where was I? Oh yes. Besides the policy, I’ve watched Kellyanne and the other Trump Supporters celebrating and giving their reasons for why Trump won. The talking point is that the Democrats and the media didn’t listen to the voices of “real” Americans, didn’t realize how passionate they were to get “their country” back, how terrible “middle” America had it. This last week I’ve been hearing it asked why Democrats didn’t reach out to “Trump America” during the election, before it was too late.

Some are even honest, and instead of using code words in quotation marks just calls the demographic what it is: a subset of White America, many of whom felt that they lost control because a black man was in charge.

People of color are being asked to empathize with White America. President Obama himself, in his Farewell Address, said that we have to make the effort. Van Jones, a very respected CNN pundit that happens to be black, has started a whole series on trying to heal the divisions in the country by communicating with and trying to understand the point of view of people that we may disagree with…leading the way, as it were, as himself a minority non-Trump supporter volunteering to interact with a lot of (usually) non-minority Trump supporters.

It sounds like it should be the right thing to do. At my heart, I am all about communication and healing. I’ve got role models in this, people that I respect trying to lead the way…

So why does it stick in my craw?

Actually, that’s rhetorical. I know why. It’s BECAUSE I just got done watching eight years of how President Obama was treated. It’s BECAUSE Trump won by blatantly appealing to the most racist sector of our society, giving them a platform to claim superiority over minorities in ways that haven’t been allowed publicly since the Civil Rights Era. And it’s BECAUSE, having empowered that segment of society, there are real and present consequences moving forward.

Kellyanne Conway was on some show where she was accused of running a racist campaign. And Kelly Ann was incredulous. “Do you think I ran a campaign where white supremacy had a platform? Are you gonna look me in the face and tell me that?” she asked indignantly, contempt dripping from her voice.

But the answer is yes. Yes! Yes, you did! And you KNOW that you did. And the fact that you continue to go on television and straight-faced lie to my FACE about it, just like seemingly you’ll lie about every subject that comes up, is ballsy and galling as all hell.

All around the country, in the immediate aftermath of the election, it became racist open season. On a big scale we had an elected mayor participating in social media conversations with city officials calling our beautiful, dignified first lady an “Ape in Heels”.

Carl Paladino, the honorary co-chair of Donald Trump’s New York campaign, called Mrs. Obama a male gorilla. Or, more specifically, he said this:

"I’d like (Michelle Obama) to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla,"

Oh, and he wasn’t done...and he didn’t want to only target Mrs. Obama. Of course not. Here’s a snippet of what he had to say about President Obama, and what he’d like to see happen to him in 2017:

“[Barack] Obama catches mad cow disease after being caught having relations with a Her[e]ford,”...“He dies before his trial and is buried in a cow pasture next to [senior Obama adviser] Valerie Jarret[t], who died weeks prior, after being convicted of sedition and treason, when a Jihady [sic] cell mate mistook her for being a nice person and decapitated her.”

Yes, I know this is crazy over the top. No, I’m not making it up. Yes, this was really said by a former New York governor candidate and Trump campaign official. And oh, by the way...Paladino insists that he’s not racist.

And it’s not just the Obamas that get it. Literally TODAY I read about a tennis announcer being suspended for saying Venus Williams had a “gorilla effect” on a tennis match when she came to the net. After he got in trouble he apologized and said he just used the wrong word, that he was describing her aggressive style as "guerrilla" tactics and not comparing her to a "gorilla." That’s garbage. Guerilla Warfare involves hiding and attacking from out of sight. 6-foot-2 Venus Williams running toward the net is the exact OPPOSITE of guerilla warfare. But …yeah.

White Supremacists gleefully celebrated Trump winning and appointing Steve Bannon his Chief Strategist. KKK leader David Duke celebrated Trump Advisor Bannon “basically creating the ideological aspects of where we’re going.” White nationalist Peter Brimelow gushed:

"I think it's amazing," Brimelow said of Trump's decision to tap Bannon. "Can you imagine Mitt Romney doing this?”

Chairman of the American Nazi Party (yes, you read that correctly) Rocky Suhayda celebrated Trump’s election as a call to action on their website (which I refuse to link to, but if you’re curious I’m sure you can Google it).

Richard Spencer, the president of the white nationalist National Policy Institute, also celebrated Trump and Bannon. Then, a month later he went and spoke on the Texas A & M campus to college kids. Oh, and speaking of college campuses…

All around the country, numbers of racist incidents were reported on college campuses and schools. I went to the University of Michigan and still have people there. So these are the incidents I’m most familiar with. But these types of things were in NO way isolated to UM. But at UM…

White nationalist flyers and graffiti were all over campus (started before the election, continued after). “Alt Right”. “Be White”

A female UM student was forced to remove her hijab under the threat of being lit on fire

Another female student was pushed down a hill by two men after being accosted over religion

And here’s a list of a cross section of 13 racist incidents from all around my area, including three white students threatening to hang a Wayne State University student by her hijab, swastikas drawn on apartment doors, and of course, a police officer posting “go home monkeys” on Facebook in response to black protestors. Good old primate jokes, they just never get old, do they?

This is the kind of stuff that many don’t see. Because it doesn’t happen to national figures and doesn’t get much run on CNN. But it happens, just the same. All around the country.

Now, can I say that Trump officially endorses any of these specific incidents? No. Am I saying that all Trump supporters are racist? Of course not. But what I CAN say is what I did above, that by running the campaign that he did, pandering to the racist segment of our society, and tacitly supporting racist ideologies, he (yes, Kellyanne) ABSOLUTELY empowered racism on a national, public level in a way that …in a way that I hoped I’d never see.

I’m…tired. I’m…scared of what happens next, where this country might go. Just last month Dylan Roof was convicted of mass murder at a historically black church, rationalizing “Somebody had to do it” and “Our people are superior.”

On Martin Luther King Day weekend I got to see Congressman John Lewis question the legitimacy of the next president, only to have that soon-to-be-president say that Civil Rights hero Lewis was all-talk/no-action. On Martin Luther King Day weekend!

I’ve got three children. Two beautiful, intelligent little black girls that light up the world and a brilliant son who’s currently the Student of the Month in his class but that one day will be perceived by some as a dangerous thug. I’ve got to prepare them for this life. To protect them. And I…

It’s 3:09 AM. In just a few hours Donald Trump officially becomes the president of the United States. God help us all.