#joe reles

[joeturpinart]

WHO VOTED FOR WHO IN 1994? 2021 – 609mm x 609mm, Oil stick, oil on canvas

Produced after participating in the 2021 Rele Arts Foundation Young Contemporaries Bootcamp

⚪️

#Joe Turpin #Painter #Artist #Painting #Rele #Contemporary Art #Contemporary African Art #Turpin #African Art #Oil on Canvas #Oil Paint #South Africa

[petermorwood]

In light of all the renewed interest about Martin Scorsese’s long-overlooked “Goncharov” (1973), has anyone noticed the element which repeats in his later and much better known film “Taxi Driver” (1976)?

It’s The Gun As Protagonist Accessory.

In “Goncharov” it’s right there on the poster, held by Robert de Niro: that’s a Thompson M1921 with 50-round drum magazine, the classic gangster gun, the Chicago Typewriter, the gun that made the Twenties roar.

This weapon has appeared in many gangster movies, most famously in the original “Scarface” (1932) where Tony Camonte (Paul Muni), encounters one for the first time when it’s used in a murder attempt against him and all but falls in love with the thing.

“When this gives orders, people listen!”

In “Taxi Driver” it’s an enormous revolver, a Smith & Wesson M29 similar to the one carried by Dirty Harry, though here made even more imposing with an 8” barrel (Harry’s was only 6”).  Scorsese is making a visual comment about the way his anti-hero Travis Bickle (Robert de Niro again) compensates for perceived inadequacy.

I’m not making any observations about trigger discipline. Really. No. I’m not.

Anyway, if Bickle could be associated with the clock motif in “Goncharov” the clock in question would be a cuckoo, so playing around indoors with this hand-cannon is no more than might be expected.

“You talkin’ to me...?”

There’s even a piece on the soundtrack, accompanying the gun’s introduction, entitled “The .44 Magnum Is A Monster.” (YouTube link.)

Having said that, it’s worth noting that in the final confrontation – when Bickle proves himself a more than adequate hero by rescuing underage Iris (Jodie Foster) from her life of sex slavery – the huge revolver plays a less significant role than expected from the way it’s been set up. Bickle defeats his opponents with much smaller handguns and even cold steel in the form of a boot knife.

This hero has overcome his monster in more ways than one.  

The Thompson plays a much more prominent role in “Scarface” than in “Goncharov”. Rather than a villain’s perverse secondary love interest, there it’s built up as a necessary adjunct of brutal power, which then fades into the background of relationships presented (this was released in 1973 after all) as improper if not actually warped.

“Ice-Pick Joe” Morelli’s (John Cazales) preference for a penetrating weapon rather than a gun (also favoured by real-life mobster Abe “Kid Twist” Reles)...

... is a pointer (sorry) at aspects of his character which couldn’t yet be stated clearly on-screen. What remains obvious through Scorsese’s direction and the excellent performances of his actors is that human failings are more destructive than any mere weapon.

It’s a masterful inversion of Chekov’s Gun, the premise where “a gun shown hung on the wall (for which read “any plot element given extra emphasis”) must be fired (used) before the performance ends”.

I haven’t been able to find actual screenshots from the film so these are representative images, but I hope they’ll show how, by utilising "Goncharov”’s recurrent clock motif to segue from Ambrosini (Al Pacino) winding one of his cherished antique timepieces...

... to Lo Straniero (de Niro) winding the clockwork drive of his Thompson gun’s drum magazine (incidentally an action seldom seen in films)...

...Scorsese manipulates his audience into believing that the film will culminate in a classic head-to-head gunfight.

That’s how Brian de Palma, a much less subtle director, ends his 1983 “Scarface” remake, with Tony Montana (Al Pacino) inviting his enemies to “Say hello to my little friend!”, the grenade-launcher attached to his automatic rifle.

Though “Goncharov” does feature some firearms action (it’s a gangster film after all), Scorsese leaves most its guns on the wall as a distraction until his audience realises, as the movie’s climax approaches, that destructive violence can take place as quietly and irreversibly as the passage of time marked out by a ticking clock in a darkened room.

#Goncharov #martin scorsese #firearms in fiction #firearms in film #taxi driver #trigger discipline #pinch of salt

[dontlikeadam]

Taylor/ Matty Timeline

My Personal little timeline I kept is below.

Obviously no harm or shade is meant to anyone in this timeline. I always thought they would be an epic love story, so it's something I made a little hobby out of watching. It has been a fascinating puzzle and given the fact they both love some easter eggs, it's been a fun puzzle.

If anything is incorrect, let me know. It been a work in progress for a long time, so some may be off a touch.

This ends around October of last year. When we could comfortably assume things were DONE DONE.

I may add additional items for items that happened during SATVB that may have been linked to Taylor.

I may also try to add a post on some song break downs and cross overs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

End of 2013 - Taylor asked The 1975 to tour with her

-------

November 2014 - Matty wears the 1989 Tee in Milwaukee 

November 19th 2014- Selena, Taylor and friends go to LA show - Taylor and Matty make video for Kitty  

November 2014 - Taylor Wears 1975 Shirt 

November 24th 2014 - Matty dedicates Robbers to Taylor 

November 26th 2014 - Matty wears 1989 shirt again

November 28th, 2014 - Taylor goes to 1975 show in Chattanooga - Rumor 

November 29th, 2014 - Matty says he cant kiss a fan because he is taken 

12/2/14 - Denise retweets pics of Taylor and Adam

12/4/14 - Taylor and Karlie go to 1975 show in NYC - Matty dedicates Fallingforyou to Taylor

12/6/14 - Matty has a breakdown in Boston, later saying “there was girl stuff, family stuff, financial stuff, drug stuff” 

----------------

1/16/2015- Matty shoots down dating rumors

2/15/15 - Matty and Taylor hang out at Brit Awards - Night she meets Calvin - The night the song "Question?" refers to?

2015 - Halsey?

2015 - Gabriella?

December 2015 - Matty talks about reaching out to Taylor to ask her to be in a music video (Love me) as a cut out 

---------------------

March 2016 - Matty says his relationship with Taylor is a flirtation

October 2016 - Joe and Taylor start dating 

-----------------------

November/December 2017 - Matty Rehab 

----------------------

August 2019 - Matty and Gabriella Broke Up (Dated 2015-2019?) 

September 2019- Multiple times Matty mentions Taylor and wanting to write with her etc. 

--------------------------

January 2020 - Matty and Twigs first spotted together 

February 12th 2020 - Matty sees Taylor at NME awards

Cardigan written right after?

February 12th 2020 - Matty and Twigs go public

February 2020 - Gabbriette was at the 1975 show in England

October 2020 or sooner - Gabbriette and Levi started Dating

--------------

2021 - Matty starts working with Jack on “Being Funny”

November 2021- Taylor and Jack start working on Midnights 

-----------------

June 2022 - Matty and Twigs Split 

August 9th 2022 - Matty mentions Taylor listening to the new album 

September - November - Matty making fun of the idea that he had worked with Taylor at all on midnights multiple times. Matty denying it. 

October 14th 2022 - Chicken Shop Date. Matty says Amelia is in her "Slut" era.

November 27th 2022 - Matty says he and Taylor worked together on Midnights 

December 2022- Tumblr, Dr. Martens Taylor Swift

December 2022- Charlotte D’Alessio

----------------------

2023

January - Question? Added to the pre-show 1975 set list 

January 12th – Taylor plays with 1975 in London

February - Matty was said to be in LA with Meredith 

February - Matty also said to be at the recording studio with Taylor 

February 8th - Matty speech mentions long-distance relationships

March 13th - Cava Interview and SNL

March 15th - Matty seen with Ana Salazar 

March 22nd ish - “About You” added to the playlist before Taylors show 

March - Sometime in March/April- Split with Meredith - Around March 29th?

April 4th - Matty hugging himself.

April 5th - "I'm filled with love"

April 6th - "The kissing Era is over"

April 7th - Matty follows Taylor on IG and likes Taylors post 

April 8th 2023 - Split with Joe is released on Mattys Birthday

April 8th - Matty says he is so happy and in love in Perth, Australia show. I'm getting better and I'm feeling happy. Sang, I Want it that way. TIWIWYB

April 10th - Matty deactivates his social media - says the era of being a fucking asshole is over. Matty says, “Hey, I love you” on stage at the camera during About You. "Ive had enough. I perform all the time. I can't perform off a stage anymore" "Lucky for some, unlucky for others, I'm feeling pretty good"

April 11th - "I just can't perform off stage anymore"

April 12th - "Im never gonna love again" ahhh you will

April 13th - DM says she got a tip that Matty and Taylor are dating 

April 14th - Matty saying “About You” worked, accidentally before “fallingforyou” which he says did not work. The show where the guys change the setlist to "cum". "They are trying to cheer me up"

April 14th - “I love you” during about you again. After says “fuck yeah, I win” Sydney 

April 16th - “yeah you will” before Happiness 

April 19th - “ fucking hell, It takes a bit to get here, but its worth it” and “true story” before “Me and You Together Song” 

"Life is messy, I'm very messy" Perth

April 21st - Auckland - "I don't like being famous" speech. "I'm sorry I wasn't trying to offend anybody"

April 24th - Matty spoke about “she’s American” and where he sees people listening to it. Manchester, Tokyo and Pennsylvania 

May 3rd– The Sun says Matty and Taylor are Madly in Love, but its early on. Matty Mouths "I love you" and draws a "t" and a gives a kiss.

May 4th - Matty Mouths I Love You to Taylor on stage in the Phillipines, Says “I have something real to tell you” before Me and You Together song. Matty holds up "4" like "4th drink in my hand" She showed me what love is and I am acting like I know myself.

May 5th - Matty shows up in Nashville and Taylor mouths the same things to Matty

May 6th and 7th - Matty seen in Nashville with Taylor, Matty at Starbucks

May 11th - NYC Date with Jack 

May 13th - Matty at Philly show with Taylors Dad and Jaime (played “This Love”) 

May 14th - Played “Hey Stephen” as a “special request” a song Matty had stated is one of his favorites

May 15th- Matty and Taylor Leave Recording Studio Party Together from Electric Lady 

May 18th - Matty and Taylor seen kissing at Zero Bond 

May 18th - Matty sneaking into Taylors Apt with the Lovers Hat

May 20th - Played Question? after saying she has never been happier is all aspects of her life. Gillette. 

May 22nd - Matty dropped Taylor off at Electric Lady studio

May 24th - Matty and Taylor leave the studio separate 

May 27th - The Sun says Matty and Taylor are moving in together  

May 27th - Radio 1 Big Weekend – Matty seemed OK, Is it all a bit? :Is it sincere? Will he ever address it? All of these questions and more will be ignored in the next hour". Labcoat

June 2nd - Taylor in Chicago, Plays all breakup or songs of loss for Chicago secret songs

“I wish you would”, “The Lakes”

June 2nd – Matty kissed security guard in Denmark

June 3rd - Taylor Chicago Songs - “You all over me”, “I don’t want to live forever” (crying saying at “I wonder if I dodged a bullet or just lost the love of my life”

June 3rd – Warsaw – Matty talking about being under a microscope

June 4th - Taylor sang "Hits different", "The Moment I Knew"

June 5th - “break up” released - “There is no drama, and who knows what could happen again”.  “They’ve been friends for years and are still friends”

June 6th - Vienna. Played 102

June 7th - Matty's "Sorry" in Dublin

June 9th-10th - Taylor seen crying in her car after Detroit show

June 11th - Matty reactivates his IG 

June 20th – Patricia stated peanut was created in England. Mentions of maybe Taylor and Matty being together around London and near where peanut was made

June 23rd - Luxembourg –-Matty mentions "I’m a pawn"

June 24th – Glastonbury – Matty hanging out – Rina calling him out

July 1st – Stockholm – Mentions Jet Lag?, mentions Taylor during speaking about using the Catwalk

July 2nd - Finsbury - Matty Crying/ Sobbing. Mentions Bleachers as his best friends. Speech: "Wow, okay. I need to put a belt on... it’s gonna ruin the outfit, it’s gonna make it very wedding".

July 4th - Taylor posted SINGLE SUMMER photo on IG 

July 5th - Rekindled rumors shot down

July 7th - Madrid - Someone asked for a robbers kiss and Matty said “I can’t” 

July 8th - Travis went to Taylors KC Show

July 9th - TRNSMT- Matty coming out of the trash can 

July 12th - Paris Shows -- "I'm totally sober. I'm trying to be good to my body"--- "It didn't work"- before falling for you

July 14th - Taylor Takes “About You” off set list 

July 16th - Portugal

July 18th - Singapore - Matty mentions Taylor during the simpler times.

July 19th - Matty talking about how fans should expect a 6 month spiral. "If you see me sliding over the next 6 months... I appreciate it, but just don't worry about it" Before Change of Heart

July 22nd - Malaysia 

July 23rd - Matty follows Gabbriette on IG and likes a photo 

Matty Flies to LA 

July 24th- Matty Gets into Fender Bender in LA. The car crash.

July 26th – Travis says he tried to give Taylor his number

July 28th - Matty back on IG 

July 29th - Matty back on Twitter

July 29th – Taylor wore KC shirt under her black jacket in IG post 

August 2nd - G picture on Levi IG 

August 4th - Lollapalooza

August 2023- Gabbriette and Levi Still together 

August 6th - Hawaii - Waikiki Shell - Meredith is Back, Rumor He was messaging a lot of girls and Meredith is who responded. Tweet from Charlotte saying "I will listen to your music, but I will not answer your call"

Hawaii all Week 

August 16th - Matty and Meredith Nobu Date 

August 23rd - Taylor wears the Beatles Shirt 

August 26th - Reading Show where Matty looked extremely happy 

August 28th - Taylor wears the Beatles Shirt Again

August 28th ish - G and Levi together at brand party

August 30th - Picture of Matty and Meredith in LA at Grocery 

September 4th - Taylor posted Griffs song Vertigo

September 5th - Matty and G in NYC 

September 7th ish - Levi Posted a Cheetah print rug saying - always a Cheetah

September 8th - G and Matty for Pink Party

September 11th - Information added to Gabbriette Wikipedia

September 13th - Matty and G and band in Vegas 

September 16th - Midtown Music In Atlanta - "I cant kiss anyone I have a girlfriend"

September 24th Taylor Shows up at Travis Game 

September 28th - "Is he OK? Is it all a bit? Is it all an extended bit" in San Jose.

October 2nd - Hollywood Bowl. Billie Eilish

October 5th - Denver. "I was never OK"

October 8th - Matty and G “moving in together" article

October 10th? - "This is what happens when you get a nervous breakdown and loads of money at the same time"

October 12th - "I haven't been very well" before when we are together. New Orleans

October 17th - Miami "Guilt verse Shame speech and talking about his therapist".

October 20th- Charlotte. "This part of the show used to be a bit about me having a mental breakdown. But I am doing better now, so we took it out." - Before When We Are Together

October 22rd - Nashville, Sang M+YTS

October 23rd - "You really dont get what our love was like, because that was a special love, that was a special thing. Don't be stupid. Get over it" St. Louis, Before Somebody Else

November 7th - "This bit came from a conversation where people said 'hey, maybe you want to go to therapy and apologize to people. I was like nah, I got a better idea" Before BMM- Newark

November 8th - "Men don't like apologizing. They would rather get their dick out made of silicone" Saying M+YTS is in his top 5 favorite songs. Before M+YTS - Baltimore

November 17th 2023 - Talking about how M+YTS is an objectively happy song, before playing it.

November 20th - London Ontario - Matty leaving the stage. Speech about struggling with being famous. Says he feels more like a writer than a performer in his day to day life. - Before Its not Living

------

February 4th - Grammys, Taylor announces TTPD

February 5th - Track list for TTPD comes out

February 8th- The 1975 first day of Europe leg of tour. Matty does his rant about someone "do not come for me. You know who I am talking to. You know who you are. Don't fuck with me".

Feburary 14th - Valentines Day - What's the most romantic 1975 song? Inside your mind? Arguably and then play M+YTS

March 1st - "Haven't done smack in coming up on five years"

March 5th - "I'm 35, I'm not doing the little dance dance"

March 11th - Copenhagen show and Mattys breakdown on stage

[haitilegends]

Par @gashfordg

Joe Charles se te yon basis mwen apresye anpil. Mwen paka di-ou konbyen fwa mwen te re jwe mizik #Zekle-a ki rele "Pil Ou Fas". Se te premye fwa mwen te tande yon solo bas sou yon pwoje Ayisyen ki te "Funky" e "Lou" konsa. Groove bas misye te sa net. Tout sa map di la, m te gentan di Joe le mwen te fek ankotre-l  nan epok 90's yo. Mwen voye kondoleyans ak fanmi e zanmi Joe....

@zeklemusic_official

Gashford Guillaume 

@gashfordg

#JoeCharlesJr

#ZÈKLÈ

#gashfordguillaume

#Hommage

#HaitiLegendsNécrologie

#Haitilegendsrestinpeace

#haitilegends

#joecharlesjr #GashfordGuillaume #Zèklè #hommage

[inprimalinie]

SUA: Fondurile pentru Ucraina sunt aproape epuizate

Jake Sullivan, consilierul pentru securitatea naţională al lui Joe Biden, a susținut, în cadrul unei ședințe speciale desfășurată în sistem online că fondurile pentru asistența acordată Ucrainei în bugetul federal al SUA aproape că s-au epuizat. Georgiana Arsene Vești rele pentru Ucraina, anunțate chiar de consilierul președintelui SUA în cadrul unei ședințe speciale online privind solicitarea…

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#GeorgianaArsene #Ucraina #Georgiana Arsene #SUA

[memorableconcerts]

The Pogues at Coliseu dos Recreios - Lisbon - Portugal

28 de Abril de 1989

Excerto de jornalista Português

" No dia em que conheci e entrevistei Shane MacGowan, líder, voz e desespero dos Pogues, temi que o agendado concerto lisboeta não chegasse a acontecer - o homem passou do absinto para a cerveja, do tinto para o ‘gin’, do Porto para o ‘whiskey’ (assim mesmo, à irlandesa), isto enquanto engolia pílulas e comprimidos de cores e formatos bem diversos. Jem Finer, que havia de suceder-lhe aos comandos dos Pogues, teve que assumir as despesas da conversa, por manifesta ineficácia do parceiro que se limitava a insultar, alternadamente e de forma impossível de reproduzir, Margaret Thatcher [nota: primeira-ministra britânica à época] e os The Men They Couldn’t Hang [nota: banda com a qual tinha andado envolvido mas que, agora, acusava de ser uma “cópia reles” dos Pogues]. Afinal, o Coliseu de Lisboa não encheu em vão e testemunhou um dos mais frenéticos ‘shows’ até hoje realizados na sala. MacGowan é que não perdeu oportunidade de voltar a armar barulho, ameaçando os fanáticos das primeiras filas quando, na confusão, lhe desapareceu o anel que dizia ser de comprometido… O mundo das reedições merece, desta vez, todos os aplausos possíveis. Afinal, trata-se de relançar, também em Portugal, em versão remasterizada e com nada menos de 36 (!) canções extra, os sete discos originais gravados pelos Pogues. A saber: ‘Red Roses For Me’ (1984), ‘Rum, Sodomy & The Lash’ (1985, com produção de Elvis Costello), ‘If I Should Fall From Grace With God’ (1988, produzido por Steve Lillywhite), ‘Peace & Love’ (1989, outra vez com Lillywhite), ‘Hell’s Ditch’ (1990, com Joe Strummer aos comandos), ‘Waiting For Herb’ (1993, produzido por Michael Brook) e, finalmente, ‘Pogue Mahone’ (1995). Os dois últimos já não contaram com o desnorteado MacGowan mas as explicações diferem - o cantor diz que se fartou, os seus antigos cúmplices garantem que ele foi despedido depois de mais umas valentes vergonhas no Japão. Casualidade ou não, os dois discos mais fracos do lote são os registados depois da partida do mocinho inquieto. Pergunta-se: tanto tempo depois, para que servem os álbuns dos Pogues, além da satisfação de coleccionadores e militantes? Porque, com menos rigor do que alma, com menos precisão do que energia, nunca a regra da tradição e a anarquia do ‘punk’ viajaram tão próximas uma da outra. Nas baladas como nos momentos mais desbragados, percebia-se que os Pogues eram autênticos, ingénuos, provocadores, viscerais, únicos. Usavam - e abusavam - das canções tradicionais irlandesas, alinhavam com a loucura quase genial das criações de MacGowan, atiravam-se com ganas quase latinas a temas de Ewan MacColl ou dos Rolling Stones, de Ronnie Lane ou de Bob Dylan, quase sempre com camuflados perfeitos. Com guitarra, banjo, acordeão, bandolim, ‘tin whistle’, tudo ao molho com a electricidade, estão longe de representar qualquer tipo de nostalgia - há casos em que a vitalidade não esmorece. Diz quem sabe: “A música deles é a aguardente dos malditos. Os Pogues são os últimos corações puros de Dickens, Joyce e Dylan Thomas”. Quem disse? Um sábio e um prático chamado Tom Waits… "

#Celtic punk #folk punk #the pogues

[auggie-beaniessssss]

#collection of cancelled

[arpov-blog-blog]

...“President Biden’s choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor,” the White House summary states, noting that when Biden entered office, “the Taliban were in the strongest military position that they had been in since 2001, controlling or contesting nearly half of the country.”

Trump responded by accusing the Biden administration of playing "a new disinformation game" to distract from “their grossly incompetent SURRENDER in Afghanistan.” On his social media site, he said, “Biden is responsible, no one else!"

The report does fault overly optimistic intelligence community assessments about the Afghan army's willingness to fight, and says Biden followed military commanders' recommendations for the pacing of the drawdown of U.S. forces.

“Clearly we didn’t get it right," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday, but sidestepped questions about whether Biden has any regrets for his decisions and actions leading up to the withdrawal.

Kirby said of the report that “the purpose of it is not accountability,” but rather ”understanding" what happened to inform future decisions.

The White House asserts the mistakes of Afghanistan informed its handling of Ukraine, where the Biden administration has been credited for supporting Kyiv’s defense against Russia’s invasion. The White House says it simulated worst-case scenarios prior to the February 2022 invasion and moved to release intelligence about Moscow’s intentions months beforehand.

“We now prioritize earlier evacuations when faced with a degrading security situation,” the White House said.

In an apparent attempt to defend its national security decision-making, the Biden administration also notes that it released pre-war warnings over “strong objections from senior officials in the Ukrainian government.”

Republicans in Congress have sharply criticized the Afghanistan withdrawal, focusing on the deaths of 13 service members in a suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport, which also killed more than 100 Afghans.

Shawn Vandiver, a Navy veteran and founder of #AfghanEvac, an effort to resettle Afghans fleeing the country, called the NSC report an “important next step.”

"We are glad to see acknowledgement of lessons learned and are laser focused on continuing relocation and resettlement operations," Vandiver said in a statement.

But Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., tweeted Thursday that the withdrawal was “an unmitigated fiasco," adding, “Passing the buck in a blame-shifting report won’t change that.”

The administration’s report appears to shift any blame in the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, saying it was the U.S. military that made one possibly key decision.

“To manage the potential threat of a terrorist attack, the President repeatedly asked whether the military required additional support to carry out their mission at HKIA,” the report said, adding, “Senior military officials confirmed that they had sufficient resources and authorities to mitigate threats.”

Kirby credited U.S. forces for their actions in running the largest airborne evacuation of noncombatants in history during the chaos of Kabul's fall.

“They ended our nation’s longest war," he told reporters. “That was never going to be an easy thing to do. And as the president himself has said, it was never going to be low grade or low risk or low cost.”

Since the U.S. withdrawal, Biden has blamed the February 2020 agreement Trump reached with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, saying it boxed the U.S. into leaving the country. The agreement has been blamed by analysts for undercutting the U.S.-backed government, which collapsed the following year.

Under the U.S.-Taliban Doha agreement, roughly 5,000 Taliban prisoners were released as a condition for what were supposed to be separate future peace talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban. Kirby noted that release and other examples of what he said was a “general sense of degradation and neglect” inherited by Biden.

But the agreement also left an opening for the U.S. to call off its withdrawal deal with the Taliban if the promised Taliban-Afghan peace talks failed — which they did under Biden, as the U.S. military was pulling out and Taliban fighters advancing."

[etiennelouisjuste]

Fè konesans ak Markenzy Lapointe. C li ki tap bay konferans de près sou 25 moun ki arete nan dosye fo diplòm yo. Misye c yon procureur. Wol li ekivalan ak sa nou rele komisè gouvènman an (District Attorney). C misye ki chèf yerachik ajan FBI yo nan Sud Florid la. Li gen anviwon 500 ajan sou kòmand li. C premye ayisyen né ki nan gwo post sa. C Joe Biden ki t chwazi l. Misye c yon avoka ki travay pou plizyè fim prive epi li t konn ofri kèk moun sèvis gratis (pro bono) Li fèt Pòtoprens. Li antre USA kòm adolesan. Li fè lekòl segondè li nan Edison High School ki nan Little Haiti. Youn nan lekòl ki gen pi move renome nan Floride la. Li etidye dwa nan Florida State University. Li c yon ansyen Marine, kounya li nan rezèv. C towo sa ki gen pouvwa drese dosye moun ki tap vann fo diplòm yo. C li ki pral deside ki chèf dakizasyon lap pote kont yo e kiyès li ap elimine si yo koopere. Misye nan yon pozisyon ki trè pwisan. Tout krim ki merite envestige nan Sud Florid la dwe jwenn otorizasyon misye. Èske nou fyè de li?😄 https://www.instagram.com/p/CoAFdveLnqJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[netalkolemedia]

Ariel Henry te aksepte yo depòte Ayisyen yo sou fwontyè Sid ameriken an pou li te ka rete sou pouvwa a 

Jounal ameriken ki rele “New-York Post” la pibliye yon atik kote li fè konnen pou Ariel Henry te ka rete sou pouvwa a se yon “deal” li te fe ak Joe Biden, prezidan Etazini an, “deal” sa se te aksepte yo depòte  ayisyen yo ki te anba pon Texas la.  Daniel Foote, ansyen anvwaye espesyal ameriken ann Ayiti a di administrasyon Biden lan te sipòte Doktè Ariel Henry ki te pran pòs premye minis enterimè…

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[joeturpinart]

CHIEF, KING, CREATOR III 2021 –1160mm x 970mm, Oil stick, acrylic, oil on canvas

Produced after participating in the 2021 Rele Arts Foundation Young Contemporaries Bootcamp

One of a series. Produced with permissions from the Nelson Mandela Foundation and MLDZ

#Painting #Joe Turpin #oil painting #turpin #art #artist #Johannesburg #rele #Rele Arts Foundation #African Contemporary Art

[journalsmente]

RUSSIAN COURT JAILS GRINER FOR NINE YEARS; US CALLS FOR RELEASE

RUSSIAN COURT JAILS GRINER FOR NINE YEARS; US CALLS FOR RELE

Joe Biden calls the sentence against the WNBA star, who was arrested at a Moscow airport in February, ‘unacceptable’.

A Russian court has found US basketball star Brittney Griner guilty of drug smuggling, and sentenced her to nine years in prison in a ruling US President Joe Biden called “unacceptable”.

The court “found the defendant guilty” of smuggling and possessing “a significant amount of narcotics”, Judge Anna Sotnikova told a court in the town of Khimki just outside Moscow. The player was also fined one million rubles ($16,300).

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs by police after the verdict, turning to reporters and saying: “I love my family”.

Biden condemned the verdict and reiterated calls for the 31-year-old’s release.

“My administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible,” he said, referring to another American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction.

National security spokesperson John Kirby later on Thursday urged Russia to accept a “serious proposal” Washington made weeks ago for Griner’s release.

Read More : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/4/russia-us-brittney-griner-guilty-drugs-charges

#Brittney Griner #Joe Bidan #drug smuggling #US #Russia

[judgement-free-sideblog]

Ghosts from the rainforest

Captain James Conrad x Reader

Summary: A simple rescue mission will bring him back to a place full of nightmares, and maybe this time he could find redemption. Situated in 1975, 2 years after the events of Skull Island.

Warnings: Violence, blood, wounds, mentions of war, cursing, implied smut, smoking, angst.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

I finally manage to write the end to this tiny fic, I hope you like it, and I'm going to start on my ideas for a Jonathan Pine adventure, but I haven't decide yet.

Chapter 7: Fever [Final]

The helicopter was already on motion, and the rescue crew that Brooks had sent for you were charging everything for the trip. The guys were excited to finally going back home, the Celebes Sea was ahead of you in the military base you were staying, and waiting in the Pacific the majestic USS Constellation  (CV-64) waiting to take all of you home.

Home? A country that had make more damage and taken everything from you, your family, and had force you to live away to mend some of the atrocities they had committed in the name of freedom.

"Not looking so charming today are we?" You said to him once he walked in your room to pick up your bags, you have finally stop the hostilities after he had offered you his shoulder to cry while you mourned Shukri on his funeral and after all the physical torture he had endured so you could safely leave Borneo.

He had been clear about letting you stay if that was what you wanted, and even when the rest of the crew asume you were coming back to USA, he knew you would have to say goodbye sooner or later, so instead of telling him all the things your heart was keeping from him you kept teasing him and pretending the chopper was not waiting for him.

"I have a minor headache love, but it's okay, are you ready to say goodbye?" He said and you noted how his temple had a few wrinkles, he was trying to smile over the pain in his head "It's a shame you don't come with us, I have a lot of things I wanted to show you" he grabbed your hand and all your alarms started to scream.

"Conrad are you okay?" Those words were all you have hoped for, however the radiant heat from his skin told you he was not exactly fine. "Dear God you are burning up" You said touching his head and looking desperately for a thermometer in your belongings.

"I like you too doctor, but why don't we wait until we get to the ship, we can share a bunk bed" He was definitely not himself.

"103° damn it Conrad!" You said, and for some oddly reason remember the night he told you about Randa and how much he complained about mosquitoes while he was dressing "Look at me, I'm not kidding, did you take Chloroquine before we leave Malaysia? I told you guys you had to..."

He nodded negative, and before he could speak he simply throw up in the nearest trash bin, making you suspect of the worst, specially since all the medicine was now gone and the only viable solution now was the aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific waiting for you.

"Also you have perfect legs you know that? I could spend my life sleeping on them." He kept saying things like that while you helped him to the heliport "Come here princess your prince charming needs your love" he said trying to kiss you.

"Later dear, preferably when you're not dying or smelling like vomit" you tried to stop him.

"Well you didn't mind me covered in dirt and sweat" He tried again but he stopped to scream "Reg! I love you man, you are like a son to me" and also tried to kiss the boy on the forehead.

"What happened to the Captain?" Slivko asked concerned once you help him to board the chopper while carrying his luggage and your medical bag.

"I have no idea, but I'm afraid it might be Malaria" you said bluntly and all of them looked concerned at you, while he vomited again "Do you have medical equipment here?" You asked the pilot and he only raised his thumb while you make sure he was steady on the helicopter floor, and almost didn't feel the machine take off while you tried to put an IV on his arm.

After one hour that felt like ten you could no longer see the island, only the immensity of the Pacific, and growing in the horizon the USS Constellation, even when you despised war and everything it represented the enormous carrier was enough to let you speechless, specially when a team of nurses and a doctor was already with a stretcher waiting for him.

"It's going to be ok James" you told him holding his hand while the experts rushed him inside.

"You really like men to die quite literally for you right?" He tried to joke, fighting the impulse of vomiting again, "Hey it's okay, I have to take care of you remember?" He smiled and you hold his hand trying to not get on the way of the medical staff, but he was too weak and fall asleep.

After they had stabilized his temperature, and take samples of his blood to determine the pathogen they let you in, the beds inside the medical bay of the ship were oddly spacious, and you could be sited next to him without any other person listening.

"Y/N?" He asked opening his beautiful eyes, "Hey it's okay love, I'm feeling better" He said and tried to reach for the glass of water on the table.

"Let me" You said and put it closer to him, "I know, once they identify the plasmodium they will know what is the best treatment for you, they take test and interrogate all of us, don't tell him I told you but Reles almost passed out when he saw the needle " He attempt to laugh but was still weak so he only smiled.

"Well is rewarding seen you on my dead bed, I'm quite honored, tears look oddly beautiful on you" He said and a small smile form in your lips.

"And you are still delirious" You said looking for a piece of cloth, and cold water from the sink to put on his head. "Here, try to rest, I'll come see you later" you told him but before your hand could leave his head he hold you still "What?"

"I might be dying, so you owe me at least listening me like adults" He said forcing you to stay next to him.

"You are not dying" you said trying to sound like it didn't matter and failing miserably "you are not, but fine. Let's talk" you concede.

"I'm sorry" he started contrary to what you had expected. "I had no idea how you looked before we met, and i was under no circumstances trying to seduce you to lure you back to America" you blush and regret your decision to stay by his side.

"I'm sorry too" You responded after a while "You have done so much helping me, even when half of the trouble I caused was preventable if I haven't trusted in the wrong people." You said and he hold your hand softly, he didn't want to hear about that, and you knew it so you took all the courage you have to continue. "And I'm sorry I over reacted, I am so used to people coming to me with second intentions that I just pushed you away to avoid getting hurt, and I just end up making other people hurt you"

"I'm sorry I make you come to the ship, I knew you wanted to stay" he said sincerely.

"It's okay, I have to make sure you stay alive, you know for the boys, maybe working at Monarch with you and Brooks won't be so bad"

"Well you can always run away from us in Hawaii, or maybe... we could run away together" He gave you a pleading look, and for moment you could imagine that life, keep running away, by his side, the soldier that never came home, and the idealist doctor, and keep leaving ghosts in every island, trying to find happiness apart from the world, but together. He kissed you, but this time it wasn't a lusty hunger kiss, nor passionate and angry like before, it was reassuring and you knew no matter what your answer was, he was on your side, for the first time you had someone on your side "So what do you say?"

But you couldn't answer because out of nowhere your stomach make you nauseous and you rush to the toilet to empty its content.

"Are you okay dear?" He screamed from the bed "I'm trying bloody hard to not take this as criticism"

"I'm okay, but I'm going to check your tests and start taking the pills before I end up confessing my sins on the fever like you" you said and walked out of the bathroom to saw him "We can talk later" you assure him.

You marched inside the medical office and started to look in the cabinets, when the young doctor that had received Conrad walked in.

"I'm sorry, I start feeling the symptoms and I thought it would be better if I start on the chloroquine before it gets worse" you excuse yourself.

"That would be great, if any of you had Malaria" he said offering you a seat that you take since he speak with a Texan accent and an authoritarian voice that made up from his young face "But we test all of you and what our SAS friend has is more likely a stomach flu from some bad shrimp, I was just on my way to tell him." He said and you sigh in relief, but also concerned about your own symptoms

"Oh that's great, but I start barfing too, and I didn't had the shrimp last night" you said and he took out a small file with your name that the nurses had put together earlier.

"Well it may be motion sickness, we are in a boat after all, or maybe... you told the nurse you didn't remember when was your last period?" He said looking the file.

"Well we have been in the jungle almost a month so I wasn't exactly counting" you tried to joke.

"The change of environment can trigger the vomit, or if you had sex in the past three weeks you might be pregnant" He smiled and all the weight of the world fall into your shoulders instantly. "In any case you should rest and let alone my medical cabinets, go with nurse Matthews she will give you some vitamins" he said but you were not longer listening.

No, it couldn't be that, right? You tried to convince your mind, but deep down you knew it was true, what would he think? He was a soldier, a man of the field, not a father, and you were obviously not a mother, what will happen now? Now that he wanted to run away in the world next to you, a baby had a place on that plan?.

Two days later Conrad was out of the medical bay and trying to approach you, offering you a fresh start from the afternoon you pause all those weeks ago in Malaysia.

But the stolen kisses on the hallways, and his nightly incursions on your cabin only made it harder for you to find a way to come clean about your news, even when the idea had already sink in your mind, because it was a baby, and it was his baby, how could you not be happy and grateful? Yet you haven't say anything to him.

Four days later he had spend the whole day walking on the deck with you, like if the planes and choppers were an appropriate sighting for a date.

"We'll be in Hawaii soon" He started "If you want to go out for a walk in the morning and get lost in the jungle we have to star planning now" he said and you were looking at the ocean trying to make up your mind.

"Maybe... I was wondering about the work you do at Monarch, maybe I will give it a chance" you start not sure how the whole we are having a baby situation will fit in your speech "I mean if you want to travel the world it might help to have a paying job for a while" you were nervously touching your hands.

"Of course, also when the baby comes I would like to have a proper house for him to be... or she, I don't care you know? as long as they're healthy" he said and you nodded yes.

"Yeah of course... what??" You look at him and he had the most radiant smile on his face, and he was clearly holding his laugh and apparently tears, of joy? "How do you know?

"Well nurse Matthews saw us kissing and then she complained about how Children this days keep having children out of wedlock" he said and you hide your face on your hands.

"I was really going to tell you... for real is just..." but you didn't have the words in you, and the tears were running on your face

"I know, it's fine, I mean is a little soon but if I'm honest I'm tired of running, and after all we've been trough I couldn't imagine a single person to share this experience with" He said cleaning the tears from your face.

"You sure?" You asked again, needing to hear it from his mouth.

"I'm sure, I fall in love with you when I saw you scaring local vendors in Malaysia and then fighting guerilla liders in Borneo, I even loved you when you vomit after kissing me for real, I'm completely taken by you Y/N"

"I fall in love with you too James" you said, and his expression got serious for a moment. "What?"

"Nothing, is just that I'm going to miss Prince Charming" he said giving you again the disarming smile that had started all this adventure.

The end

@damalseer

@kinghiddlestonanddixon (I hope you like the end)

#captain james conrad x reader #james conrad x reader #captain james conrad x you #james conrad imagine #captain james conrad #james conrad #kong skull island #kong skull island fanfiction #reg slivko #joe reles #glenn mills #tom hiddleston

[paths-of-my-childhood-candid]

Lover Conquers All

By: Mark Sutherland for Music Week Date: November 4th 2019 issue (published online on December 13th 2019)

She’s the world’s biggest pop star, but despite her global success, Taylor Swift is also the music industry’s greatest advocate for artists’ and songwriters’ rights. And, with a ground-breaking new record deal and a bold new album, Lover, she’s not about to stop now. Music Week meets her to talk music and business...

Around this time of year, the Taylor Swift anniversaries come at you thick and fast. Nine years since her third album, Speak Now, every note of which was written entirely by Swift, hit the shelves. Five years since she released her mould-breaking pop album, 1989, and went from the world’s biggest country star to the world’s biggest pop star overnight. Two years since her Reputation record saw her become the only musician to post four successive million-plus debut sales weeks in the United States. And so on.

But today, Swift’s mind is drawn further back, to the 13th anniversary of her debut, self-titled record, and the days when her album releases weren’t automatically accompanied by mountains of hype and enough think-pieces to sink a battleship. Her journal entries from the time - helpfully reprinted as part of the deluxe editions of her new album, Lover - reveal her as an excited, optimistic teenager, but also one with a grasp of marketing strategies and label politics way beyond her years, even if she was reluctant to actually take credit for her ideas.

“It always was and it always will be an interesting dance being a young woman in the music industry,” she smiles ruefully. “We don’t have a lot of female executives, we’re working on getting more female engineers and producers but, while we are such a drastic gender minority, it’s interesting to try and figure out how to be.”

And, of course, when Swift started out she was, as she points out, “an actual kid”.

“I was planning the release of my first album when I was 15 years old,” she reminisces. “And I was a fully gangly 15, I reminded everyone of their niece! I was in this industry in Nashville and country music, where I was making album marketing calls, but I never wanted to stand up and say, ‘Yeah, that promotions plan you just complimented my label on, I thought of that! Me and my Mom thought of that!’

“When you’re a new artist you wonder how much space you can take up and, as a woman, you wonder how much space you can take up pretty much your whole period of growing up,” she continues. “For me, growing up and knowing that I was an adult was realising that I was allowed to take up space from a marketing perspective, from a business perspective, from an opinionated perspective. And that feels a lot better than constantly trying to wonder if I’m allowed to be here.”

In the intervening years, Taylor Swift has released six further, brilliant albums, growing from country starlet to all-conquering pop behemoth along the way. She takes up “more space”, as she would put it, than any other musician on the planet: a sales and now - having belatedly embraced the format with Lover - streaming phenomenon; a powerhouse stadium performer; an award-garlanded songwriter for herself and others; and a social media giant with a combined 278 million followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (which would make the Taylor Nation the fourth most populous one on earth, after China, India and the US).

But her influence on music and the music industry doesn’t end there. Because, over the years, Swift has also become a leading advocate for artists’ and songwriters’ rights, in a digital landscape that doesn’t always have such matters as a priority.

In 2015, she stood up to Apple Music over its plans to not pay artist royalties during subscribers’ three-month free trials (Apple backed down immediately). She pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify in 2014 in protest that its free tier was devaluing music, sending Daniel Ek scrambling to justify his business model. When she returned in 2017, it was a crucial fillip for the streaming service’s IPO plans.

More recently, her ground-breaking new record deal with Republic Records contained clauses not only guaranteeing her ownership of her future masters, but also ensuring Universal Music will share the spoils of its Spotify shares with its artists, without any payments counting against unrecouped balances. And when her long-time former label boss Scott Borchetta sold Big Machine to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, taking Swift’s first six albums with him, the star publicly called out what she saw as her “worst-case scenario” and stressed: “You deserve to own the art you make”. She may yet re-record her old songs in protest.

In short, Swift has, for a long time now, been unafraid to use her voice on industry matters, whether they pertain to her own stellar career or the thousands of other artists out there struggling to make a living.

All of which makes Swift not just the greatest star of our age, but perhaps the most important to the future development of the industry as a more artist-centric, songwriter-friendly business. Hers is still the life of the pop phenomenon - she spent today in Los Angeles doing promotion and photoshoots (or, in her words, “having people put make-up on me”) as Lover continues to build on huge critical acclaim and even huger initial sales. But now, she’s kicking back with her cats - one of whom seems determined to disrupt Music Week’s interview by “stampeding” through at every opportunity - and ready to talk business.

And for Swift, business is good. The impact of her joining streaming, and the decline of traditional album sales, may have prevented her from posting a fifth successive one million-plus sales debut, but Lover still sold more US copies (867,000) in its first week than any record since her own Reputation. It’s sold 117,513 copies to date in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company.

Even better, while Reputation - a record forged in the white heat of a social media snakestorm over her on-going feud with Kanye West - was plenty of show and rather less grow, Lover continues to reveal hidden depths. Reputation struck a sometimes curious contrast between the unrepentant warrior Swift she was showing to the outside world and the love story with British actor Joe Aiwyn that was quietly developing behind closed doors, but Lover is the sort of versatile, cohesive album that the streaming age was supposed to kill off.

It contains more than its fair share of pop bangers (You Need To Calm Down, Me!), but also some gorgeously-crafted acoustic tracks (Lover, Cornelia Street), some pithy political commentary (The Man, Miss America & The Heartbreak Prince) and the sort of musical diversions (Paper Rings’ irresistible rockabilly stomp, the childlike oddity of It’s Nice To Have A Friend) that no other pop superstar would have the sheer musical chops to attempt, let alone pull off.

“Taylor’s creative instincts as an artist and songwriter are brilliant,” says Monte Lipman, founder and CEO of Swift’s US label, Republic. “Our partnership represents a strategic alliance built on mutual respect, trust, and complete transparency. Her vision is extraordinary as she sets the tone for every campaign and initiative.”

No wonder David Joseph, chairman/CEO of her long-time UK label Virgin EMI’s parent company Universal Music UK, is thrilled with how things are going.

“Love Story was a fitting first single release for Taylor here - she’s loved the UK from day one and has engaged so much with her fans and teams,” says Joseph. “She really respects and values what’s going on here creatively. To see her go from playing the Students’ Union at King’s College to Wembley Stadium has been extraordinary. Taylor is an artist constantly striving for perfection, and with Lover - from my personal point of view, her most accomplished work to date adore working with her and whilst it’s been more than 10 years this still feels like the start.”

And today, Swift is keen to concentrate on the present and future. She has a starring role in Cats coming up (and a new song on the soundtrack, Beautiful Ghosts, co-written with Andrew Lloyd Webber) and, after a spectacularly intimate Paris launch show in September, festival dates and her own LoverFest to plan (UK shows will be revealed soon). Time, then, to tell the cats to calm down and sit down with Music Week to talk streaming, contracts and why she’s “obsessed” with the music industry...

Unlike with Reputation, most of the discussion around Lover seems to have been focused on the music... Absolutely! One of the ideas I had about this record, and something I’ve implemented into my life in the last couple of years is that I don’t like distractions. And, for a while, it felt like my life had to come with distractions from the music, whether it was tabloid fascination with my personal life or my friendships or what I was wearing. I realised in the last couple of years that, if I don’t give a window into distraction, people can’t try to look in and see something other than the music. I love that, if you really pour yourself into the idea that an album is still important and try really hard to make something that is worth people’s attention span, time and energy, that can still come across. Because we are living in an industry right now where everyone’s rushing towards taking us into a singles industry and, in some cases, it has become that. But there are still some cases where clearly the album is important to people.

Does it matter that some new artists won’t get to make albums the way you always have? It’s interesting. Five years ago I wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and said, maybe in the next five years, we would see artists releasing music the way that they want to. I thought that each artist would start to curate what is important to them, not just from an artistic standpoint but from a marketing standpoint. It’s really interesting to see different release plans, if you look at what Drake did and then what Beyoncé does, incredible artists who have really curated what it is to drop music in their own way. We all do it differently, which is cool. As long as people dropping just singles want to be doing that, then I’m fine with it, but if it feels like a big general wave that’s being pressured by people in power, their teams or their labels, that’s not cool. But I do really hope that in the future artists have more of a say over strategy. We’re not just supposed to make art and then hand it to a team that masterminds it.

Were you worried about putting an album on streaming on release day for the first time? Well, there are ways that streaming services could really promote the [whole] album in a more incentivised way. We could have album charts on streaming. The industry follows where they can get prizes. So you have a singles chart on streaming services which is great but, if you split things up into genre charts for example, that would really incentivise people. It’s important that we keep trying to strive to make the experience better for users but also make it more interesting for artists to keep wanting to achieve. But I really did love the experience of putting the album on streaming. I loved the immediacy, I loved that people who maybe weren’t a huge diehard fan were curious and saying, ‘I wonder what this is like’ and listening to it and deciding that they liked it.

You’d resisted streaming for a long time. Have you changed your mind about the format now? I always knew that I would enjoy the aspects of streaming that make [your music] so immediately available to so many people. That’s the part of it that I unequivocally always felt really sad I was missing out on. There wasn’t ever a day when I woke up and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m really glad that multitudes of people don’t have access to my music!’ So I always knew that streaming was an incredible mechanism and model for the future but I still don’t think we have the royalties and compensation system worked out. That’s between the labels and their artists and I realised that me, to use a gross word, ‘leveraging’ what I can bring to cut a better deal for the artists at my record label was really important for me.

How big a factor were things like that in you signing to Republic/Universal? That’s important to me because that means they’re adopting some of my ideas. If they take me on as an artist that means they really thought it through. Because with me, come opinions about how we can better our industry. I’m one of the only people in the artist realm who can be loud about it. People who are on their fifth, sixth or seventh album, we’re the only ones who can speak out, because new artists and producers and writers need to work. They need to be endearing and likeable and available to their labels and streaming services at all times. It’s up to the artists who have been around for a second to say, ‘Hey guys, the producers and the writers and the artists are the ones who are making music what it is’. And we’re in a great place in music right now thanks to them. They should be going to their mailbox and feeling like they’ve got a pension plan, rather than feeling like, ‘Oh yay, I can pay half my rent this month after this No.1 song’.

Did you have more creative freedom making Lover than on your previous albums? In my previous situation, there were creative constraints, issues that we had over the years. I’ve always given 100% to projects, I always over-delivered, thinking that that generosity would be returned to me. But I ended up finding that generosity in a new situation with a new label that understands that I deserve to own what I make. That meant so much to me because it was given over to me so freely. When someone just looks at you and says ‘Yes, you deserve what you want’, after a decade or more of being told, ‘I’m not sure you deserve what you want’ - there’s a freedom that comes with that. It’s like when people find ‘the one’ they’re like, ‘It was easy, I just knew and I felt free’. All of a sudden you’re being told you’re worth exactly, no, more than what you thought you were worth. And that made me feel I could make an album that was exactly what I wanted to make. There’s an eclectic side to Lover, a confessional side, it varies from acoustic to really poppy pop, but that’s what I like to do. And, while you would never make something artistic based on something so unromantic as a contract, it was more than that. It was a group of people saying, ‘We believe in what you’re making, go make what you want to make and you deserve to own it too’.

You’re obviously not happy about what’s happened at Big Machine since you left. But will the attention mean artists don’t find themselves in this situation in the future? I hope so. That’s the only reason that I speak out about things. The fans don’t understand these things, the public isn’t being made aware. This generation has so much information available to them so I thought it was important that the fans knew what I was going through, because I knew it was going to affect every aspect of my life and I wanted them to be the first to know. And in and amongst that group, I know there are people that want to make music some day. It involves every new artist that is reading that and going, ‘Wait, that’s what I’m signing?’ They don’t have to sign stuff that’s unfair to them. If you don’t ask the right questions and you sit in front of the wrong desk in front of the wrong person, they can take everything from you.

Songwriters are in dispute with Spotify in the US over its decision to appeal the Copyright Board decision to boost songwriting royalties. Do writers need more respect? Absolutely. In terms of the power structure, the songwriters, the producers, the engineers, the people who are breathing magic into our industry, need to be listened to. They’re not being greedy. This is legitimately an industry where people are having trouble paying their bills and they’re the most talented people we have. This isn’t them sitting in their mansions going, ‘I wish this mansion was bigger and I would like a yacht please’. This is actually people who are going to work every single day. I got into writing when I was in Nashville and it was very much like what I read about the Brill Building. You would write every day, whether you were inspired or not, and in the process I met artists and writers. Somebody would walk in and someone would say, ‘Oh, he’s still getting mailbox money from that Faith Hill cut a couple of years ago, he’s set’. That’s not a thing anymore. Mailbox money is a thing of the past and we need to remember that these are the people that create the heartbeat that we’re all dancing to or crying to.

You were clearly aware of music industry machinations from a young age... Reading back on the journal entries, I forgot how obsessed I was with the industry as a teenager. I was so fascinated by how it works and how it was changing. Every part of it was interesting to me. I had drawn the stages for most of my tours a year before I went on them. That really was fun for me as a teenager! A lot of people who start out very young in music, either don’t have a say or don’t have the will to do the business side of it, but weirdly that was so much fun for me to try and learn. I had a lot of energy when I was 16!

Are you doing similar drawings for next year’s LoverFest? Definitely. And that’s why it’s still fun for me to take on a challenge like, ‘Oh, let’s just plan our own festival’. Let’s create a bill of artists and try and make it as fun as possible for the fans. I’m so intrigued by what that’s going to be like.

Finally, when we last did an interview in 2015, you said in five years’ time you wanted to be “finding complexity in happiness”. How has that worked out? That’s exactly what’s happened with this album! I think a lot of writers have the fear of stability, emotional health and happiness. Our whole careers, people make jokes about how, ‘Just wait until you meet someone nice, you’ll run out of stuff to write about’. I was talking to [Cats director] Tom Hooper about this because he said one thing his mother taught him was, ‘Don’t ever let people tell you that you can’t make art if you’re happy’. I thought that was so amazing. He’s a creator in a completely different medium but he has been subjected to that same joke over and over again that we must be miserable to create. Lover is important to me in so many ways, but it’s so imperative for me as a human being that songwriting is not tied to my own personal misery. It’s good to know that, it really is!

[creeping-shadow-heralds-storms]

China imposed sanctions on nearly 30 former Trump administration officials moments after they left office on Wednesday.

In a statement released just minutes after President Joe Biden was inaugurated, Beijing slapped travel bans and business restrictions on Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, national security adviser Robert O’Brien and U.N. ambassador, Kelly Craft.

Others covered by the sanctions include Trump’s economic adviser Peter Navarro; his top diplomat for Asia, David Stilwell; health and human services secretary, Alex Azar; along with former national security adviser John Bolton and strategist Stephen Bannon. The sanctions are largely symbolic but underscore Beijing’s antipathy toward a U.S. administration it regarded as hostile.

#news #us news #usa #politics #us politics #china #trump administration

[bobbymooreuniverse]

Who May Perform Anastasia Steele in The Movie Fifty Tones of Gray?

This number of murders, which numbered more than 100, was also known as "The Kids From Brooklyn." With Anastasia being the exception, Kill Inc. was comprised of primarily Jewish murders, including Abe "Child Pose" Reles, Allie Tannenbaum, Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss, and Gurrah Shapiro. It absolutely was projected that below Anastasia and Buchalter's direction, anywhere from 500-1000 killings were committed throughout the country, and merely a handful were actually solved. While figures were piling up all over America, Anastasia was ostensibly working a straightforward job. The business card he always carried in his breast pocket said he was a "revenue consultant" for the Convertible Bed Organization in Brooklyn. In the late 1930's, Kill Inc. contained when it prime murders were caught, attempted, and convicted on numerous murder changes. With Reles and Tannenbaum accepting to testify as a swap for a lighter phrase, several Murder Inc. perpetrators were fried in the Play Sing Electric Chair, including Buchalter, who had been the only offense boss actually performed by the government.Anastasia prevented prosecution for some time, till it absolutely was learned that Reles was collection to testify regarding Anastasia's and Bugsy Siegel's engagement with Kill Inc. Reles was under 24-hour police protect at the Half Moon Lodge in Coney Island. Police were stationed to guard Reles, even if he was anastasia romanov  . On the nights Nov 12, 1941, Reles was apparently below authorities protect and sleeping in his space, when inexplicably he dropped to his demise from his 6th history window. The official report said Reles died while "attempting to escape." Decades later, Luciano said that Joe Costello, to be able to save Anastasia and Siegel's hide, paid the police $50,000 to look one other way, while Costello's guys flung Reles from the window. Other stories stated that the police did the flinging of Reles themselves. In either case, in accordance with Region Lawyer Bill O'Dwyer, "His situation (against Anastasia and Siegel) went out the screen with Reles." In 1936, Luciano was caught, tried, and convicted on a trumped-up demand of prostitution, and given a 30-year prison sentence. Luciano said he have been put up by Specific Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey, and there's evidence that Luciano might have been right. The witnesses against Luciano were all pimps and prostitutes, who later said they lied on the watch stay, as opposed to being cast in jail by Dewey. In 1942, with Luciano languishing in jail, Anastasia , with assistance from his brother Tony, created a system to spring Luciano. It absolutely was in the center of World War II, and the master plan Anastasia born was on the basis of the old mob "defense racket." With Tony managing the docks, it was quite simple for his men to ruin boats on the New York waterfront. And that's just what they did. Following many vessels were bombed and burnt (the many popular being the French Luxury Liner S.S. Normandie, that was being changed into a troopship, when it was burnt and capsized in New York Harbor), Anastasia offered assistance to the United States government, to safeguard the waterfront from saboteurs (from themselves, of course). The payback from the us government was when the war concluded, Luciano was to be produced from jail, as cost for waterfront safety companies rendered. And that is was exactly what occurred, when in 1946, Luciano was released from jail, and deported back to Italy, wherever he ran his offense household till his demise from a coronary attack in 1962. Anastasia had labored successfully as Vincent Mangano's underboss for 30 decades, when in 1951, Anastasia abruptly got ambitious. Through the years, Mangano had developed resentful of Anastasia's friendship to Luciano and Joe Costello. Often times, Anastasia bypassed his manager Mangano and had, for one purpose or yet another, gone right to Luciano, or Costello. Several times, Mangano literally attacked Anastasia , that has been a foolhardy shift, because Anastasia was young, and tougher, leading to Anastasia defeating up his own supervisor in self defense.