#emorys music agenda

[90363462]

Kanye Is Never Coming Back From This

“I can say  antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me,” the artist formerly known as Kanye West proclaimed on Drink Champs just over a week ago. “Now what?” he rhetorically asked, with the sneering audacity of a man whose millions of dollars, millions of fans, and substantial high-powered connections have carried him through numerous instances of public backlash over the past 20 years. But that day is over.

Today, Adidas dropped him after a month in which he’s consistently asserted that he’s up against a cabal of Jewish people who control the world. His Yeezy partnership with Adidas was the core of his reported $2 billion net worth; without that deal, his billionaire status has reportedly been “obliterated.” Kanye’s musical and entrepreneurial endeavors have always been fueled by him foregrounding a barrier, imaginary or real, to stride beyond. That defining trait was endearing until his crosshairs veered from those doubting his musical chops into Black people who criticized his MAGA ties, and now to Jewish people. His recent antisemitic comments, coming after a long stretch of constantly escalating spectacle-chasing, have finally made him too radioactive for his influential allies. 

Adidas joins a long list of high-powered brands like JP Morgan Chase, CAA, Balenciaga, and Vogue that have severed ties from Ye in the past month. MRC has shelved a previously-filmed documentary about him. Ari Emanuel, CEO of William Morris Endeavor, wrote an op-ed calling for companies to stop working with Ye. UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer also implored his partners to “please support the boycott of Kanye West” because “powerful voices spewing hatred have frequently driven people to do hateful things.”

This latest torrent of controversy began with the strong negative response elicited by the “White Lives Matter” T-shirts that Ye wore alongside conservative pundit Candace Owens at his Yeezy Season 9 fashion show earlier this month. His friend Diddy defended him in public at first, telling the Breakfast Club that “a lot of times, what he means is, like, misconstrued.” Privately, the Bad Boy founder contacted Ye to offer some advice — only for Ye to rebuff him, post their texts on Instagram, and warn, “Never call me with no bulls— like that again unless you ready to green light me cause anybody who got on that tee is me.” Ye then commenced social media dustups with Supreme creative director Tremaine Emory, Boosie, and Meek Mill, all of whom criticized the shirt and railed at Ye for a variety of reasons. The whole incident might have seemed at first like another instance of Ye’s personal struggles with mental health, and/or his longtime habit of seeking headlines to promote his latest venture.

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But then, Kanye theorized that the people who came out against him weren’t simply upset at his anti-Blackness, but that they were agents “sent” by Jewish people. On Oct. 9, he infamously tweeted his plans to “go death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE,” blaming Jewish people for “starting cancel culture,” expressing that “the funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also,” and adding, “you guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”

His Twitter and Instagram accounts were immediately suspended. Days later, he did a since-deleted interview on N.O.R.E.’s Drink Champs podcast where he falsely alleged that former Minnesota cop Derek Chauvin’s knee “wasn’t even on [George Floyd’s] neck like that,” and continued his assault on the so-called “Jewish media.” The interview was taken down after widespread backlash (and the late George Floyd’s family is planning to file a $250 million lawsuit against Ye) — but it was soon followed with even more conversations with Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan, in which Ye kept the same hateful tenor going. He told Morgan that he was “sorry for the people that I hurt with the ‘Death Con’” tweet,” but never explicitly took back any of what he said about his plans to “#MeToo the Jewish culture.” 

Ye’s stated views seem to fall in line with those of the most extreme Black Hebrew Israelite sects, who believe that they’re the original descendants of the ancient Israelites, or the “true Jews.” These groups are known for their stubborn conservatism and the fiery espousal of their beliefs that white Jews represent the “synagogue of Satan.” Kodak Black is a self-admitted Hebrew Israeilite, and Kendrick Lamar has referenced their thinking in his music, though neither artist has expressed a belief that Jewish people are inherently evil or run the world. But Ye isn’t the only entertainer to make explicitly antisemitic comments in recent years, either. In 2021, Nick Cannon apologized for implying that “Jewish people, white people, Europeans” have a “deficiency” that caused them to be “savages” on his podcast. Ice Cube has a lengthy history of dabbling in antisemitism, rapping “They said I could sing like a jaybird/But nigga, don’t say the J-word” in 1992 after earlier lyrics about Jewish people drew criticism, and tweeting various antisemitic memes decades later in 2020. Ye told Drink Champs that Ice Cube inspired his “antisemite vibe,” but Ice Cube distanced himself from the implication, tweeting, “I’m not antisemitic and never have been.” 

Entertainers who have been lambasted for antisemitic comments have usually apologized after being called out, but Ye is adamantly refusing to back down, repeatedly stating that he’s willing to die for his beliefs. Those who’ve previously chalked up his controversial comments to his mental health challenges can’t overlook how lucidly and calmly he’s been expressing his hate speech across multiple interviews, dating back several years now. Former TMZ staffer Van Lathan has alleged that Ye said something to the effect of “I love Hitler” during his 2018 “slavery was a choice” interview, but that it didn’t make the final clip “for whatever reason.” 

It’s worth noting that while Ye’s alleged Hitler support (which he hasn’t denied) was seemingly the third rail that TMZ wouldn’t air, him trivializing 400 years of American chattel slavery made the final cut. Perhaps that wasn’t offensive enough in a world that subsists on anti-Blackness. Many Black people were upset at his comments, but our mere outrage wasn’t enough to push him off his pedestal. Too many of us found validity in Ye’s MAGA rhetoric; too few were ready to organize and hurt him with a mass boycott. Many entertainers, entrepreneurs, and athletes within the so-called Black elite are his peers. Not only did they not publicly denounce him in 2018, they’ve since collaborated with him and, in the case of Revolt, offered him a platform to project harmful ideas. His fans have continued to buy Yeezy apparel, attend his Sunday Service events, and stream his Donda listening sessions to record-breaking effect. His corporate ties and cultural influence made him too powerful to be held accountable for throwing Black people under the bus. As much as this saga is a glimpse at one man’s endless self-sabotage, it’s also a glimpse of how little weight Black people’s grievances seem to hold in this country.

Before Adidas dropped him, Ye proudly claimed that he’s the richest Black person on earth. Even if one believed that, it should also be noted that net worth is just a loose estimate of a portfolio’s value. The more Ye alienates himself from the world’s biggest brands and turns off the general public, the less value his businesses will have, and that estimation will continue to plummet. If he refuses to apologize for his comments, that will likely make it even harder for many touring companies, management firms, fashion retailers, and media outlets to partner with him. The hypothetical CEO who’d want to support him would have to worry about the repercussions from partners who may back away from them. He claims to have the funds to float his own operation, and that’s what he may have to do after this wave of divestment. 

Last weekend, Axios ran a column that suggested “America is on the verge of the first truly parallel universe presidential campaign — where the parties speak to distinct groups of voters, in distinct media ecosystems, pushing distinct realities.” This country has long been ideologically siloed, and that dynamic is tangibly manifesting with conservative media outlets and social media platforms like Parler, which Ye recently moved to purchase. He has about 40 thousand followers on the platform, which is a far cry from his 31.5 million followers back on Twitter, but he can be assured that Parler is his soapbox, and he can say what he wants to his base with few consequences. That ostracized existence may be the new normal for Ye after this month.

He’s become so submerged in his ego that he’s essentially deciding to trade off his cultural ubiquity to be a beacon of hate for a small minority of conservatives who desire Black people as lapdogs for their beliefs. He’s also galvanizing Nazis like the ones in L.A. who said he “was right” last weekend. It’s questionable if these people have any interest in buying his clothes, listening to his music, or coming to his shows for the foreseeable future. But these Nazis do want to kill Jewish people, and his recent comments helped push their hateful perspective into the mainstream. In 2010, Ye rhymed “no one man should have all that power,” and he’s spent the next decade plus proving it. Now, his self-sabotage has stripped a good deal of that power away. 

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[laufire]

The 100 for the in depth fandom questions (of course!)

Top 5 favourite characters: Murphy, Echo, Raven, Emori, and Octavia. The order has varied but the members have been constant since 5x02.

Other characters you like: Indra, ALIE, Becca, Josephine, Jaha, Diyoza, Hope, Anya, Gaia, Lincoln, Harper, Monty... a lot.

Least favourite characters: Bellamy, Kane, Lexa (she bored me). Clarke and I are in a weird place xDD

Otps: Memori, Biyoza, Clarke/Josephine, Indra/Sheidheda, Echoven. Followed by an army of rareships.

Notps: Clarke/Raven, Bellamy/anybody, Clarke/almost anybody.

Favourite friendships: the remaining Spacefam aka snowkru, the og s5 spacefam, Echo’s infiltration team(s), Murven & Memoraven, Murphy & Monty.

Favourite family: Diyoza-Blake clan. They hypenate.

Favourite episodes: 2x12 (Memori’s 1st meeting), 1x10 (I watched it ONCE when it aired and I still remember it so vividly...), 3x02 (Memori stuff!), 3x10 (ALIE VS RAVEN), 3x11 (again), 4x08 (take a guess), 4x12-3 (they made me return to the show c’mon), 5x02, 5x06, 5x09, 5x10-13 really. 6x08. The episode number gets blurry in my head with s7 but I enjoyed the Echo-Diyozas-Blake episode, the Echoven episode, and the finale for the hilarity factor + the opposite feeling of buyers remorse it gave me.

Favourite season/book/movie: s5. Followed by s3 ‘cause a bitch loves an AI plot.

Favourite quotes: “love at first knife to throat” lives in me. Every uber romantic Memori quote does. Also every Blodreina quote.

Best musical moment: 3x01 sing-along scene. S2 had bored me so much and it felt like a breath of fresh air.

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: everything Memori did in s5-7.

When it really disappointed you: Diyoza and Octavia should have kissed. ON THE MOUTH.

Saddest moment: Finn’s death and Raven’s reaction to it was gutting.

Most well done character death: Diyoza’s.

Favourite guest star: Josephine’s actress, she looked very pretty xD

Favourite cast member: for NON-SHALLOW REASONS, NONE WHATSOEVER- Luisa D’Oliveira.

Character you wish was still alive: Diyoza and Josephine should’ve been there on the beach for my shipping agendas.

One thing you hope really happens: n/a. But we all know Clarke will feel the need to escape to the woods, right? And there she’ll start hallucinating (or not...) Josephine........

Most shocking twist: can’t think of anything.

When did you start watching/reading?: I watched s1 as it aired, for the most part. Quit by a mix of boredom and annoyance at the show. Returned when I heard about How Dirty They Did Clarke in the s4 finale xDD

Best animal/creature: that giant alien whose butthole Clarke & co climbed through is the only one I can remember right now.......... oh thank fuck, Octavia’s poor horse xDD. Helios :((

Favourite location: Becca’s lab.

Trope you wish they would stop using: I don’t want to hear “I bear it so they don’t have to” ever again.

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: male lead swaps and controversial female characters.

Funniest moments: s5-7 Clarke was hilarious and peaked in the finale.

Couple you would like to see: Biyozaaaaaaaa.

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: n/a.

Favourite outfit: Emori’s blue wardrobe owns me.

Favourite item: Raven’s raven necklace :’)

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: nooooope.

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: beachkru is doing alright I guess, now that Clarke left for the woods.

Most boring plotline: s2. I KNOW it’s a fan favourite. Raven had some good scenes, Murphy’s plot was more engaging. But the central stuff/how Clarke-dominant it was? Zzzzzzzz.

Most laughably bad moment: Clarke’s “u want me to be the bad guy? Fine, I’ll be the bad guy”. Ma’am.......

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: the flashbacks in “His Sister’s Keeper” were something else.

Most layered character: Murphy. King shit given where he started xDD

Most one dimensional character: Levitt? But his one dimension is “horny for Octavia” so I’m not judging too hard.

Scariest moment: can’t think of anything.

Grossest moment: did I mention the alien butthole.

Best looking male: Lincoln is objectively pretty af but I’ve grown so fond of Murphy’s owlish face....... I like ‘em a bit weird and with big noses and sharp angles guys.

Best looking female: Emori, to absolutely nobody’s surprise.

Who you’re crushing on (if any): Emori, Echo, Diyoza, Indra (there’s always at least a MILF in my crushes list).

Favourite cast moment: Adina and JR slow dancing in character get up.

Favourite transportation: the spacefam dropship.

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): Eden was very pretty. Also that shot of the Earth on fire with Braven watching over it *chef’s kiss*

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: again, I’m a pro at ignoring/explaining these so I rarely can think of anything lol.

Best promo: absent Bellamy in s7 promo. The way it drove the fandom wild, man. All the Bellamygates that were born of it... groundbreaking.

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: the s4 finale is went it grabbed me to never let go.

#boomheda #replies #talking to the void #long post for ts #my thoughts #the 100 #t100 thoughts #thank you :D

[perfectirishgifts]

Rochelle Walensky Reportedly Biden’s Pick To Head CDC, How To Rebuild

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/rochelle-walensky-reportedly-bidens-pick-to-head-cdc-how-to-rebuild/

Rochelle Walensky Reportedly Biden’s Pick To Head CDC, How To Rebuild

Rebuilding and restoring trust in CDC will be an important and challenging task for the new CDC … [] Director under the Biden Administration. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

To say that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has had a rough past four years would be like saying that some of the characters on Games of Thrones ran into some complications. When Joe Biden becomes the U.S. President on January 20 because he was elected to that position, one of his priorities will have to be repairing the CDC. That’s going to require a lot more than a glue stick, duct tape, and some disinfectant.

It will start with selecting the right person to lead the agency responsible for protecting the nation’s health. According to Tyler Pager reporting for POLITICO, Biden has already chosen his candidate: Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH. If she turns out to be the new Director, Walensky will have her work cut out for her. Imagine “Extreme Makeover: CDC Edition” and having to lead the U.S. out of what will be so far the worst part of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. It’s also been a pandemic where the U.S. national response has been about as coordinated as a cast of marmots re-enacting the Broadway musical Mamma Mia! while driving golf carts.

The CDC, under President Donald Trump’s administration, has had its share of drama. Trump’s first selection as the Director, Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, didn’t get off to the greatest of starts. In this case, “didn’t get off to the greatest of starts” means “got off to a bad start.” In fact, she didn’t get too much further than the start as the 17th Director of the CDC. As Rita Rubin described previously for Forbes, early on there were questions about whether Fitzgerald had the scientific qualifications to lead the CDC and whether Fitzgerald had promoted the use of anti-aging therapies that weren’t backed by evidence. After all, aside from maybe the song “Party in the U.S.A,” most anti-aging treatments are questionable at best and duck-sound-like at worst.

Fitzgerald ended up lasting in the position for just 208 days, which is about 20 Scaramuccis. Just five months into her tenure there, which is shorter than many celebrity marriages, members of the U.S. Senate began raising concerns about her having financial conflicts of interest, such as holding financial stakes in prescription drug monitoring programs and purchasing tobacco company stocks after becoming the head of the CDC. Indeed, the CDC Director holding tobacco stocks is not the greatest of looks. Those whoopsies led her to resign on January 21, 2018, which incidentally was also National Backward Day.

Trump eventually chose Robert R. Redfield, MD, a virologist, as the 18th Director of the CDC. Compared to many of his predecessors under other Presidential administrations, Redfield hasn’t seemed to make nearly as many public statements and briefings. In fact, as Brett Murphy and Letitia Stein reported for USA TODAY in October, former CDC Director William Foege had written a message to Redfield about the handling of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, “You could upfront, acknowledge the tragedy of responding poorly, apologize for what has happened and your role in acquiescing,” He advised, “Don’t shy away from the fact this has been an unacceptable toll on our country. It is a slaughter and not just a political dispute.” If you haven’t figured it out yet, that message wasn’t exactly a “hi, how you doing” letter.

Additionally, back in March, Robert Kuznia, Curt Devine and Nick Valencia reported for CNN about concerns that CDC was being “muzzled” by the White House. Now, the word “muzzled” rarely has positive connotations. “It’s a great relationship except that he muzzles me,” is not something that you typically hear, unless you have willingly enrolled yourself in a kennel. The concern has been that the Trump administration may have been overriding science with political agendas. It got to the point that there were reports of Trump administration officials even altering CDC scientific reports, as I covered for Forbes in September.

It is vital that the CDC is able to stand on its own as a scientific and public health organization. To do so, the CDC needs a leader who is able to interface directly with the public and stand by scientific principles, even when they may go counter to what the White House may want. Otherwise the public will continue to lose trust in the CDC. Selena Simmons-Duffin reported for NPR in September about how trust in CDC was at a nadir.

Walensky would bring significant scientific cred to the position. A search on PubMed will reveal that she has well over 200 scientific publications. She is currently Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research has focused mostly on HIV and AIDS policy. This has included developing mathematical models, such as microsimulation and decision analytic models, to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of HIV testing, care, and prevention strategies in both the U.S. and internationally. She has served as Chair of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (NIH) and as a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents. Dr. Walensky did her undergraduate studies at the Washington University in St. Louis, graduating in 1991, earned her M.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1995, and added an M.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2001. She completed her internal medicine residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and infectious disease fellowship at the MGH and Brigham and Women’s Hospital combined program.

Her experience in decision analysis and microsimulation is a bonus. The use of such quantitative approaches in medicine and public health are still relatively new and can help further integrate epidemiologic, clinical, and economic considerations when addressing decision-making in public health.

Of course, running CDC will involve more than running its research endeavors. There’s the coordination with different public health departments and organizations around the country. There’s understanding what the needs and challenges are of very diverse populations. There’s also the managerial and business aspects of the position. And, of course, there are the politics. Oh, the politics.

The selection of Walensky has already gotten a different response from real public health experts and scientists than the selection of Fitzgerald did back in 2017. For example, Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine offered the following:

Tatiana M. Prowell, M.D., an Associate Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where Walensky did her training, tweeted the following:

Harlan Krumholz, MD, the Harold H. Hines, Jr. Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine posted a picture of Walensky on Twitter:

And Wendy Armstrong, MD, a Professor of Medicine and Carlos del Rio, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine had this exchange:

Again, these are noted experts in medicine who have been giving shout outs, specifically in fields that are highly relevant to public health. This is a little bit different from getting endorsed by a guy who is known for selling pillows or reading brain scans.

Here is a Harvard College video of Walensky discussing with Danoff Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana the challenges involved in opening a residential college campus during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic:

Without a doubt, Walensky’s job, should she become the CDC Director, will not be easy. It’s much easier to inherit something that has been running well versus something in crisis. The public only knows the tip of iceberg of what’s happened with CDC during the Trump administration. You know when you have to clean up after a bunch of guests have been in your house for a weekend when you haven’t been around? Well stretch that weekend out to three plus years and change the word “guests” to, well, whatever word you think would be appropriate.

Ultimately, the solution won’t be disinfectant (which by the way, you should never ever inject into yourself). The solution will have to come from scientific principles. CDC has to be led by scientists and people who understand and appreciate science. Whether it’s knowing how to work with different public health departments and organizations or connecting with diverse populations, science, data, and evidence have to be the guiding lights. The CDC has to foster and advance science and ensure that science is not trumped by politics, so to speak. Science will help make the CDC’s messages to the public consistent, which will, in turn, help restore the public’s trust in the CDC. And trust is going to be so important when trying to coordinate the national response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

From Healthcare in Perfectirishgifts