Six months since Hurricane Maria battered the island of Puerto Rico, the island is the site of a pitched battle between wealthy investors—particularly from the technology industry—and everyday Puerto Ricans fighting for a place in their island’s future. The Puerto Rican government has pushed for a series of privatization schemes, including privatizing PREPA, one of the largest public power providers in the United States, and increasing the number of privately run charter schools and private school vouchers. For more, we speak with best-selling author and journalist Naomi Klein, author of “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism [ https://www.amazon.com/Shock-Doctrine-Rise-Disaster-Capitalism/dp/0312427999 ].” Her latest piece for The Intercept, where she is a senior correspondent, is “The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Ricans and Ultrarich 'Puertopians' Are Locked in a Pitched Struggle over How to Remake the Island [ https://theintercept.com/2018/03/20/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-recovery/ ].” https://www.democracynow.org/2018/3/21/the_battle_for_paradise_naomi_klein[with embedded video, and transcript]
After Maria, Puerto Ricans Cultivate Food Sovereignty While FEMA Delivered Skittles & Cheez-Its
Published on Mar 21, 2018 by Democracy Now!
An upcoming video produced by The Intercept follows our guest, Naomi Klein, on her recent trip to Puerto Rico. Some of the people she speaks with include two environmental activists, Jesús Vázquez and Katia Avilés, who talk about food security after Hurricane Maria. For more, we speak with Naomi Klein and with Puerto Rican anthropologist Yarimar Bonilla. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/3/21/after_maria_puerto_ricans_cultivate_food[with embedded video, and transcript]
The Austin bomber has been stopped — who is he? BitCoin is (and has been) the primary focus of the NSA, while the Washington establishment pushes us to World War and the DC bureaucrats are prepping in the hills. Abortionists are defiant and demanding that their right to kill children identified with Down Syndrome exposes their eugenics agenda and the danger coming as other tests will be developed for other conditions. And Stacy Washington (StacyOnTheRight) joins to talk about the Left’s propaganda that things are hopeless for black boys.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia
Issued on: March 21, 2018
President Donald J. Trump met yesterday with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. President Trump and the Crown Prince reviewed progress in strengthening the American-Saudi bilateral relationship since their last meeting. The leaders discussed joint efforts to finalize new commercial deals that would support more than 120,000 American jobs and contribute to the success of Saudi Arabia’s economic reform agenda. The Crown Prince thanked the President for American leadership in defeating ISIS and countering Iran’s destructive actions across the Middle East. On Yemen, the President and the Crown Prince discussed the threat the Houthis pose to the region, assisted by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The leaders discussed additional steps to address the humanitarian situation and agreed that a political resolution to the conflict is ultimately necessary to meet the needs of the Yemeni people. The President said he looks forward to the visit of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to the United States later this year.
Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Call with President Emmanuel Macron of France
Issued on: March 21, 2018
President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Emmanuel Macron of France. The Presidents reiterated their solidarity with the United Kingdom in the wake of Russia’s use of chemical weapons against private citizens on British soil and agreed on the need to take action to hold Russia accountable. The two leaders discussed how the United States and Europe might come together over tariffs.
Donald Trump's personal security consultant Zimmer Ziezlow (Greg Hess) is here with a few tips on how to avoid confrontation like the big man himself in this first episode of Trump Combat TV.
Wednesday, Mar. 21st 2018[, with an appearance by Roger Stone]: Bomber Self Destructs! - The Austin, Texas, bomb suspect blew himself up in his car when approached by a SWAT team. Law enforcement is now concerned with the possibility of undiscovered bombs left by the suspect and if the 24-year-old had an accomplice. Also, Facebook users are leaving the site over abuse of their personal data. Joining today’s show is the founder of the Global Healing Center Dr. Edward Group to share his expertise on tackling the root causes of diseases with natural remedies.
Statement from the Press Secretary on the Senate Passing H.R. 1865
Issued on: March 21, 2018
President Donald J. Trump applauds the Senate for passing H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act. This bipartisan piece of legislation takes an important step forward in fighting the despicable act of human trafficking. The legislation empowers Federal, State, and local prosecutors to hold websites accountable for supporting the sale of sex trafficking victims. Over the last year, the President and his Administration have worked closely with Members of Congress, industry experts, and human trafficking survivors to develop a comprehensive series of bold actions, including this legislation, to end modern slavery in all of its forms. The President and his entire Administration are firmly committed to holding those who participate in these horrific crimes accountable, and look forward to continued work with these stakeholders in order to put an end to this scourge.
There are hundreds of different kinds of male condoms for sale in the US, so why is there only one female condom?
There are hundreds of male condoms that have been approved by the FDA, but there is only one female condom that’s available in the US –– and you need a prescription to get it. Female condoms are almost as effective as male condoms, so why are they so hard to find?
Female condoms have been around since the 1980’s, when a Danish doctor named Lasse Hessel came up with a prototype. It was brought to the US in the 90’s under the name FC1 but the media ridiculed it, comparing it to a plastic bag.
The FC2 came out a few years later but it wasn’t marketed very well and the original stigma still stuck around. In 2017, the company that manufactures them stopped selling them in stores and changed to a prescription-only model, so you need to see a doctor to get one.
But sexual health advocates say that we should give female condoms another chance. They're the only female-initiated method of preventing STIs (including HIV) and unplanned pregnancies and many say they’re preferable for anal sex as well.
Putting them back in retail stores and raising awareness on the marketplace could give them a second wind and increase their usage.
YouTube has announced it's latest move to censor free speech by announcing new policies dealing with firearms. The new policy will put any and all gun enthusiasts on YouTube on a list to be censored and even banned from uploading content. Meanwhile, the Austin Police have announced the suspect of the Austin bombings to be dead as he blew himself up as SWAT was approaching. We also look at Trump's statements dealing with the opioid crisis.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
The US prescription med, Xanax has been influential in the recent wave of sad rap. With infamous rapper, Lil Pump, cutting a Xanax cake after reaching 1 million followers on Instagram. Since 21 year old rapper, Lil Peep died from a suspected Xanax related overdose, many US artists are denouncing Xan culture. But is this too late as fake versions of the highly addictive drug grip the UK?
While fake versions of the desirable XANAX printed bars are appearing in selfies on social media with #bartard and #xanman in the captions, the addictive nature of this psychiatric medication is usually disregarded in comparison to drugs with higher classification, despite withdrawal symptoms including seizures and psychosis.
As the numbing quality of fake Xanax becomes more popular amongst anxious mobile-first teens, is this the age old argument of blaming artists for drug culture? Or is there a more serious issue with mental health among young people?
From dealers selling counterfeit Xanax on social media, to addicted college kids and Soundcloud rappers with face tattoos, VICE speaks to the next generation self-medicating with fake versions of the anti-anxiety drug, amidst underfunded mental health services for young people in the UK.
Melber: New scandal shows Zuckerberg still puts Kremlin over U.S.
The Beat with Ari Melber 3/21/18
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg breaks his silence and admits a “breach of trust” after a hidden video scandal reveals political dirty tricks. Roger McNamee, a former mentor to Zuckerberg and an early investor in Facebook calls the response “totally inadequate.”
“Missing link” in Trump-Russia collusion blasts Trump aide on live TV
The Beat with Ari Melber 3/21/18
Randy Credico, the man said to be Roger Stone’s “intermediary” to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange joins Ari Melber exclusively on The Beat responding to Stone’s explosive allegation, his Assange contacts and Mueller asking witnesses about it. Credico lambasts Stone as a “shady character” and “trickster.”
Fired FBI Official authorized perjury investigation against Sessions
The Beat with Ari Melber 3/21/18
Sources tell NBC former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe authorized a perjury investigation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions nearly one year ago, looking at whether Sessions lied in his testimony about contact with Russian operatives.
In early 2017 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced moves that would turn the world’s most oil-rich nation from a democracy into a dictatorship. This sparked a crisis, igniting longstanding anger over inequality, misrule, hunger and crime.
VICE founder Suroosh Alvi and correspondent Ben Anderson traveled to Venezuela as Maduro seized the country’s political institutions with an alleged “sham election” and violently suppressed growing opposition to his rule.
“The issue on the streets is not an issue of ideology, it’s not people out on the street saying ‘we want capitalism instead of socialism,‘” veteran journalist Phil Gunson told VICE News. “It’s people out in the streets saying ‘we can’t eat.’”
EPA chief Pruitt spent over $105K on first class flights
All In with Chris Hayes 3/21/18
Scott Pruitt is supposed to fly coach, but the EPA insists he has to fly first class due to security threats - like non-rich passengers confronting Pruitt about what he's doing to the environment.
Mueller following the money on Trump Middle East policy
The Rachel Maddow Show 3/21/18
Mark Mazzetti, investigative correspondent for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about Robert Mueller's consideration of undue influence on Donald Trump's Middle East policies on behalf of Saudi Arabia and UAE.
No mention of Russia hacks of US power plants in Trump Putin chat
The Rachel Maddow Show 3/21/18
Rachel Maddow shares some of NBC News' exclusive interview by Pete Williams of FBI Director Chris Wray and notes that not only did Donald Trump not mention the UK poisonings when he called Vladimir Putin, but he also didn't mention Russia hacking U.S. power plants and energy infrastructure.
Chris Wray on the FBI: I don't see a politicized organization.
The Rachel Maddow Show 3/21/18
FBI Director Chris Wray talks with NBC News justice correspondent Pete Williams about emphasizing the FBI’s fact gathering processes to immunize the bureau against accusations of partisanship in its results.
Trump regard for Putin unlike past presidents' deals with despots
The Rachel Maddow Show 3/21/18
Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, talks with Rachel Maddow about whether past presidents have had the kind of leak problems Donald Trump suffers and the nature of Trump's obeisance to Vladimir Putin.
Students press for change on guns ahead of March For Our Lives
The Rachel Maddow Show 3/21/18
Emma Gonzalez, Jaclyn Corin, and Sarah Chadwick, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas who have been thrust into activism against gun violence after a shooting tragedy at their school, talk with Rachel Maddow about whether legislators are doing enough to prevent future atrocities.
Rick Saccone finally concedes to Conor Lamb in PA18 race
The Rachel Maddow Show 3/21/18
Rachel Maddow shares a tweet by Conor Lamb that Rick Saccone, his Republican opponent in the race to represent Pennsylvania's 18th district, called to concede, making Lamb's upset flip victory official.
Lawrence: Trump may privately realize error of Putin call
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 3/21/18
Lawrence O'Donnell looks at the new reports that President Donald Trump is "furious" over leaks his phone call with Putin — and what White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly reportedly says about it.
Ex-CIA analyst Ned Price: 'This White House is a snake pit'
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 3/21/18
Former CIA analyst Ned Price says the 'DO NOT CONGRATULATE' leak from the White House about Trump's call with Putin could have been to protect Trump aides. Lawrence O'Donnell also discusses with John Heilemann.
A NY Times reporter who interviewed Mark Zuckerberg and Zuckerberg's former mentor Roger McNamee join Lawrence O'Donnell to discuss the CEO's response to reports the Trump campaign's digital firm, Cambridge Analytica, secretly harvested private user information.
Donald Trump furious over leaks of call with Vladimir Putin
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 3/22/18
The White House deals with fallout from President Trump’s congratulatory call to Vladimir Putin. Jonathan Lemire, Shannon Pettypiece and Heidi Przybyla share their latest reporting on a West Wing looking for leakers.
Mark Zuckerberg owns up to mistakes, and admits Facebook must take responsibility for the misuse of personal data by Cambridge Analytica. Brian speaks with Recode’s Kara Swisher, just hours after her interview with the Facebook CEO.
Tensions between U.S. and Russia take a back seat in space, as two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut make their way to the International Space Station, where they'll collaborate on hundreds of projects over the next five months.
It has been another week of endless news but only a few stories can rise to the top: Andrew McCabe, Cambridge Analytica, and looping back around to Hope Hicks.
The History Of Women's Pain | March 21, 2018 Act 2, Part 2 | Full Frontal on TBS
Published on Mar 21, 2018 by Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
In honor of Women's History Month, Laurie Metcalf joins us to give you a brief history of women's constant, apparently untreatable pain through the ages.
Facebook comes under fire for losing control of its customers' data to Cambridge Analytica, a company that specializes in influencing elections by manipulating users via "electronic brainwashing."
Seth takes a closer look at President Trump congratulating Vladimir Putin on his re-election as he also takes a more hostile tone toward special counsel Robert Mueller.
Late Night in Partnership with Tourism Australia: Amber's Australian Adventure
Published on Mar 21, 2018 by Late Night with Seth Meyers
Late Night with Seth Meyers in partnership with Tourism Australia sent Amber Ruffin Down Under to soak up some sun, cuddle with koalas and, for a moment, forget who the president of the United States is.
Trump [and Kelly] furious over leak of warning to not congratulate Putin Washington (CNN) - President Donald Trump was infuriated after it quickly leaked that he had been directly instructed by his national security advisers in briefing materials not to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his recent election victory during their call Tuesday morning, a source familiar with the President's thinking said. Trump was fuming Tuesday night, asking his allies and outside advisers who they thought had leaked the information, noting that only a small group of staffers have access to those materials and would have known what guidance was included for the Putin call, the source said. According to the source, the incident resurfaces his long-held belief there are individuals inside his administration -- especially in the national security realm -- who are actively working to undermine him. White House chief of staff John Kelly also is furious that a confidential presidential briefing became public knowledge, a White House official said, and intends to address the matter Wednesday as aides try to figure out who disclosed the warning. "If this story is accurate, that means someone leaked the President's briefing papers. Leaking such information is a fireable offense and likely illegal," another senior White House official told CNN Wednesday. The Washington Post first reported [ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-national-security-advisers-warned-him-not-to-congratulate-putin-he-did-it-anyway/2018/03/20/22738ebc-2c68-11e8-8ad6-fbc50284fce8_story.html ] Tuesday that Trump congratulated Putin despite warnings from multiple national security advisers and briefing materials that said "DO NOT CONGRATULATE." The White House declined to officially comment to CNN on the matter, with an official adding that they "cannot comment on alleged classified deliberative documents allegedly provided to the President." [...] https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/21/politics/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-congratulations/index.html
Anti-Abortion Zealots Won’t Stop At Overturning Roe v. Wade This year, President Donald Trump became the first sitting president to address the annual anti-abortion March for Life by live video. The event, which is scheduled each year to coincide with the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision affirming the right to legal abortion, is a gathering of single-issue anti-abortion voters. The president knows he needs them to win. “We are protecting the sanctity of life and the family as the foundation of our society,” he said, and the crowd went wild. The theme of this year’s march was crisis pregnancy centers, which are fake clinics with anti-abortion agendas that exist to shame and mislead women seeking abortion care. This was timely, for fake clinics are the subject of a Supreme Court case, NIFLA v. Becerra, in which oral arguments are taking place on Tuesday. It is the first abortion-related case the court will hear since the ascension of Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch. Remaking the Supreme Court and overturning Roe are key goals for the anti-abortion movement, which has continued to enthusiastically stand with Trump regardless of what is happening in the country or his personal life. No policy or pronouncement has been enough to turn “pro-lifers” away. Not an immigration policy that hurts babies and tears families apart. Not a travel ban targeting Muslims that will bar Syrian refugees from entering the country, literally leaving some children to die. And though there’s a wing of the anti-abortion movement that has appropriated the words “Black Lives Matter” to shame and isolate black women seeking abortions, that wing didn’t say a word in pro-life protest when the president reportedly made a racist statement about Haiti and African nations being “shithole” countries. At first blush, the alliance between Trump and anti-abortion voters appears unnatural, or even hypocritical. But a new poll suggests they have more in common than first meets the eye. In January, communications and public opinion research firm PerryUndem released The State of the Union on Gender Equality, Sexism, and Women’s Rights, a study that shows voters who want to see Roe v. Wade overturned have markedly different views on gender roles than voters who do not. Nearly two-thirds of anti-Roe voters agreed they were “more comfortable with women having traditional roles in society, such as caring for children and the family.” Only 31 percent of pro-Roe voters agreed with that statement. Two-thirds of anti-Roe voters agreed that “male politicians can represent the interests of women as well as female politicians can.” Only 27 percent of pro-Roe voters agreed with that statement. There’s more. Nearly two-thirds of anti-abortion voters disagreed with the statement that “men should not have a say in legislating what women do with their bodies” and almost half of them disagreed with the statement that “the country would be better off with more women in political office.” This new data suggests what pro-choice activists have long suspected: that opposition to abortion is not just about hostility to abortion or even discomfort with women’s sexuality. At its core, opposition to abortion is about keeping women from having power in the public square. Once we acknowledge the anti-abortion movement’s anti-feminism, the group’s alliance with the president makes far more sense. The president faces more than a dozen accusations of sexual harassment, to say nothing of his own on-tape bragging about sexually assaulting women. “Grab ’em by the pussy,” he told Billy Bush. “You can do anything.” Then, there’s the alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who is suing Trump’s lawyer, arguing that the legal agreement she signed to never speak of her purported affair with the president is invalid. Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, was willing to acknowledge the president’s moral rot but also to keep standing with him; he told Politico he gave Trump a “mulligan … a do-over” on the Stormy Daniels affair because “he has delivered more than any other president in my lifetime.” A president trying to buy the silence of a woman with whom he had an affair is not the same thing as a president accused of sexual harassment or a recording of a president bragging about sexual assault. What all three have in common is a fundamental disregard for women, their bodies and their right to hold equal power in public life. No matter how the women working in the White House characterize their employer ? White House counselor Kellyanne Conway claimed that Trump “has many times come to the aid of women privately” ? the president’s well-documented history of behavior toward women makes the Oval Office sound like a frightening place for any woman to enter, alone or in a group. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the West Wing, the vice president’s office observes a very different set of norms. Mike Pence won’t eat alone with women or attend events where alcohol is served unless his wife is there, too. The Pence Rule, too, is logically coherent with the anti-abortion worldview. On one hand, we have a president who treats women as objects of sexual convenience. On the other, we have a vice president who won’t even meet with women alone ? an explicit acknowledgment that sex discrimination dictates who can lobby the person holding the second-highest office in the land, and under what circumstances. Though they express it differently, anti-feminism unites Trump and Pence. Together, they are a dream team that agrees with their anti-abortion base ? it’s better for men to be in charge. While it is possible for an individual woman to be empowered without ever deciding to have an abortion, it is not possible for women as a class to hold full power over their lives when they are forced by the state to bear children. Many members of the anti-abortion movement insist they are neither anti-woman nor anti-equality. Some even try to appropriate the label of feminist in their quest to overturn Roe v. Wade and support fake clinics that lie to women about abortion and their bodies. Yet, plain facts and polling show what anti-abortion voters believe about women, and it’s not pretty. The anti-abortion policy agenda is not pro-life, and its dear leaders are blatantly sexist. If they get their way on Roe and abortion rights, why would they stop there? https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-matson-roe-abortion-sexism_us_5ab11146e4b0697dfe1ab76c
Man Dies After Getting Head Stuck In Movie Theater Seat The footrest on the electrically-powered seat clamped down on the victim’s head. Ateeq Rafiq, a 24-year-old father in Birmingham, England, was seeing a movie on March 9 when he bent down to retrieve a phone that had dropped between the reclining seats. When Rafiq bent down, the footrest on the electrically-powered seat apparently clamped down on his head, according to the Birmingham Mail newspaper. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ateeq-rafiq-freak-theater-accident_us_5ab28d2ae4b0decad04634a0
The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal is the textbook case for why we need new privacy protections The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal has highlighted the lack of privacy protections in the US. Thanks to the lack of privacy protections, companies can generally collect whatever information they want on consumers and do with it as they wish — as long as they disclose what they're doing first. The scandal may have lots of different results, but one ought to be new, comprehensive privacy protections. http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-cambridge-analytica-shows-the-need-for-a-new-privacy-law-2018-3
An End to the Class vs. Race Debate A new study [ http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/assets/documents/race_paper.pdf , http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/assets/documents/race_summary.pdf , http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/data/index.html#race ] rebuts a widely shared view that racial disparities in social mobility are economic inequalities in disguise — the belief that if we address class issues, we can fix racism. The report, by the Stanford economist Raj Chetty, the Harvard economist Nathaniel Hendren and colleagues at The Equality of Opportunity Project [ http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/ ], provides an empirical basis for an economic susceptibility that black parents like me have sensed: Across generations, we are less likely than whites to rise and when we do, are more likely later to fall. We seem unable to grasp or preserve economic gains as other groups do, including Latinos and Asian-Americans. The study’s findings build on the authors’ prior research that has empirically substantiated two insights about intergenerational economic mobility. One is that a child’s economic position is sticky: Children from affluent families are many times more likely to maintain their privileged status than children from poor families are to attain it. The other is that while economic mobility may be individual, the conditions that enable or retard it are social. Wealthy neighborhoods with good schools and strong social ties propel even poor children toward a brighter future. But the reality for black communities is grim. Black families trace our economic insecurity in part to a gender divide that we see but often don’t discuss. We know that African-American daughters tend to do well. They climb the socioeconomic ladder as high as their white peers, if not higher. It’s the boys who fail. Whether born to a rich family or a poor one, in an impoverished neighborhood or wealthy one, black boys lag behind their white peers as adults. Black boys who grow up rich are twice as likely as their white counterparts to end up poor. And of those black boys who start life poor, nearly half will remain so in adulthood, while more than 2 in 3 of their white peers will escape the poverty of their youth. Black women may surpass their white counterparts in individual income, but they lag in household income. The men who would be their husbands are missing — incarcerated, unemployed, unable to be the partners that women want. Or the parents that children need. And so the failings of one generation fall upon the next, as the trajectories of black boys are shaped by the absence of black fathers. Looking beyond the usual focus on how individual children are affected by the presence of their fathers, Mr. Chetty and his colleagues found that the presence of black fathers in the community powerfully shapes boys’ trajectories. Black fathers are a social resource. The two-parent families that don’t form perpetuate African-Americans’ disadvantage across generations. The economic predicament of black men, which disconnects them from their children, threatens to ripple across families and generations. All of which raises the question: How do African-Americans in the 21st century confront the prospect of being indefinitely left behind? The cycle that the research documents had a beginning and it can have an end. A s black women began to take advantage of the opportunities opened by the civil rights movement, black men were hit first with deindustrialization — the loss of well-paying blue-collar jobs throughout large swaths of our nation — and then with a surge in incarceration unlike anything a democratic nation had ever seen. Black children bore the brunt of their parents’ suffering. Many well-meaning Americans remained oblivious to a national tragedy. Black men’s disadvantage has shaped not only how they are perceived but the meaning of race as well. Racial disparities — in incarceration, unemployment, school failure — fuel racial bias, which ensnares black boys, rich and poor alike. Boys like my own go from cute and cuddly to strong and manly, and so become a threat in the eyes of many. The bias, subtle yet pervasive, compounds the disparities by undermining the relationships and hope that one needs to get, and stay, ahead. And so the cycle continues. But it need not. We can disrupt the cycle of black disadvantage. What we’ve lacked is the will to do so. We act as though economic inequality is inevitable, relegating poor children of all races to schools to which most parents would never choose to send their own children, schools often in neighborhoods where most would never choose to live. We segregate ourselves by race and class, and accept the inequality of opportunity that doing so breeds. So many Americans profess to be blind to race, which ensures only that it will remain salient. So many worry more about appearing to be racist than working to remove the enduring taint of slavery and segregation. We will find a way to undo intergenerational racial disparities when we find the will. And to find the will, we need to recognize what’s at stake: The conditions that challenge us imperil the future of black boys and black families and the viability of the American dream itself. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/opinion/class-race-social-mobility.html
A Comprehensive Timeline of Fyre Festival’s Ongoing Disaster [UPDATE]
For those who love irony and have problems with the selfie culture this umm, festival must have been sweet. A mention of it on tv just now and the fact i didn't recall hearing of it before prompted this post.
Anna Gaca // May 3, 2017
In retrospect, Fyre Festival was clearly too good to be true. The upstart festival, launched by would-be tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland and musician Ja Rule, promised headliners like Blink-182, Migos, and Major Lazer, spread over two weekends on a lush private island “once owned by Pablo Escobar” in the Bahamas’ Exumas district. Tickets ran to several thousand dollars, or as much as $250,000 for the deluxe packages.
The promised amenities were lavish—elegant villa-style housing, gourmet catering, beach yoga, bikini-clad models aboard rented jet skis and yachts. Perhaps wildest of all was the promised real-life treasure hunt, which was said to offer up to $1 million in “luxury jewelry and watches [and] cash,” plus a piece of oceanfront property for the winner. But we all know what really happened: A bunch of well-off young people really did buy tickets, and made it as far as the Exumas, where they found a Lord of the Flies-style “disaster tent city” with no villas, no bands, and no models. ADVERTISING
Was it all a scam? What happened? Here, in one timeline, is our attempt to piece together a few key events in the run-up to Fyre’s fuck-up.
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