Humanity’s connection to fire dates back to when our earliest ancestors realized it could be used for warmth and survival. Why do you think staring into a campfire is so mesmerizing? It probably also explains why watching toothbrushes slowly melt and shrivel away is so utterly fascinating. That, or deep down you’re secretly harboring bad feelings towards your dentist.
This was an extraordinary week — one offering a starkly different vision of America, and, by week’s end, one less glass ceiling. Michelle Obama laid the first cornerstone of that vision. “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves,” she said. “And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.” The next night Bill Clinton gave us another first — the first-ever speech about a nominee spouse by a man. He used it to present the “real” version of the “cartoon alternative” portrait of the woman he knows better than anyone else, saying, “She’s the best darn change-maker I have ever met in my entire life.” On Wednesday, the program came at Donald Trump from two directions. First, Michael Bloomberg demolished Donald Trump’s core appeal as a successful businessman: “Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s run his business. God help us.” He proceeded to openly question Trump’s mental stability. “Let’s elect a sane and competent person,” he urged. And then President Barack Obama took the stage to complete this alternate vision. The contrast with Trump’s convention could not have been greater. In one of his best and most important speeches, Obama offered an expansive, optimistic definition of America and made the case that we become more American by addition, not subtraction. The final night, before Hillary Clinton spoke, featured one of the most enduring and indelible moments: that of Khizr Khan, father of fallen Muslim-American soldier Humayun Khan. “Let me ask you,” he said to Donald Trump, taking an actual copy of the Constitution from his pocket and thrusting it forward, “have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy.” It was the entire election, summed up in one image. Then Hillary Clinton took the stage, and made history moments later by accepting the nomination. “When any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone,” she said. “When there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit.” But she had to do more than break the ceiling, and she did, laying out more policy details (“It’s true, I sweat the details of policy,”) than were put forth during the entire Republican convention. Yet she also noted what’s at stake — the sky might be the limit for America, but with Trump, there is no floor. “America’s destiny,” she concluded, “is ours to choose.”
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(Reuters) – A Minnesota judge dismissed claims from 29 would-be heirs to the estate of the late pop star Prince, strengthening the inheritance claims of the performer’s surviving siblings, court records released on Friday showed.
Carver County Judge Kevin Eide made the ruling on Thursday, adding that six people determined to be Prince’s siblings, half-siblings or other relatives would have to undergo genetic testing.
The denials of other would-be heirs came in response to a flood of individuals seeking a piece of the estate, estimated to be worth more than $500 million, left by Prince when he died unexpectedly in April at the age of 57, apparently without a will.
Among the claims dismissed by Eide’s 19-page ruling was one by Georgia resident Claire Boyd, who said she had been married to Prince but that her marriage records were kept secret by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
Also denied were four people who claimed to be the singer’s children, as well as people claiming to be Prince’s father or other relatives.
The musician, who born as Prince Rogers Nelson, has long been identified in public records as the only son from Mattie Shaw’s marriage to John L. Nelson, who also fathered Prince’s younger sister, Tyka Nelson. Prince’s parents are both dead now.
John Nelson, Norrine Nelson and Sharon Nelson are among five people who have been identified as surviving half-siblings of Prince. Eide said there were no known disputes with their relationship to the singer but ordered the three and Tyka to undergo genetic testing.
The order did not address the remaining two half-siblings.
Eide ruled that two women who claim to be a niece and grand-niece of Prince made a strong enough case to being potential heirs that they would undergo genetic testing as well.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Frances Kerry and Bill Trott)
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The question of being politically correct is an issue that most of us have an opinion about… and often a strong one. Whether you are a strong supporter of people being P.C. or are adamantly against it, I hope you will find some benefit – particularly a greater sense of peace – in tapping along with this video.
If you are new to tapping, it will be beneficial to also watch the first episode in the “Tap Out Your Fears” series — which explains the basics of EFT — click here.
As with any of my tapping videos, this is an abbreviated process for releasing uncomfortable feelings and enhancing good ones. Some folks may find their fear dissolve after just one tapping session, but for others, it will take some repetition, bringing the discomfort down little by little each time. (Still others may uncover specific issues that are best addressed directly with a wellness practitioner.) In any event, this brief video should help at least take the edge off the discomfort, freeing you up to enjoy life much more. Let us know how it helped you!
For a picture of the tapping points — and more info on EFT — click here.
Tapping can sometimes bring up long-buried emotions, which is why I state that, before tapping along, folks must take full responsibility for their own well-being. For more information about that, please read this disclaimer.
Until next time, feel free to tap along with any of the many videos I have on YouTube or the many recordings I have at www.TapWithBrad.com.
For EFT with kids, please visit: www.TheWizardsWish.com.
For more by Brad Yates, click here.
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The biggest problem with The Killing Joke movie’s portrayal of Batgirl goes beyond a poor approach to a female character. Its biggest problem is that what it adds to Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s original 1988 comic is so pointless, that its shoddy treatment of Barbara Gordon becomes all the more insulting.
Sports have been a major presence in the lives of Mexican Americans since the early 20th century. This has been particularly true of Mexican Americans in the Midwest, where sports such as baseball took on a special significance. More than merely games for boys and girls, the teams and contests involved nearly the entire community, and often had political and cultural objectives…
— Richard Santillán, Vol. 7, Perspectives in Mexican American Studies, February 2001
It is estimated that 27 percent of today’s major league and 42 percent of minor league baseball players are Latino. We have come a long way since the great Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, and Luis Aparicio burst onto professional baseball diamonds, ushering in a dramatic demographic shift like no other in professional sport. Fourty-three players from Puerto Rico alone have played for the Kansas City Royals, last year’s World Series champions. If you were to add players from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, and other Latin American countries, KC’s numbers would be even more stunning.
While fans have marveled at the prowess and achievements of the likes of Pedro Martínez, Sammy Sosa, Fernando Valenzuela, Rod Carew, Mariano Rivera and today’s David Ortiz (aka Big Papi), Yasiel Puig, Johnny Cueto and Jake Arrieta (whose paternal grandfather was Puerto Rican), and while Major League Baseball is taking stock of how Latinos are transforming the professional game, I think it is equally important to closely examine the role baseball has played in Latino community formation.
Kansas City and the Midwest offer us an excellent lens through which to explore the impact of the game on our communities. On August 12 and 13, the Kansas City Museum and local baseball enthusiasts will host a community forum and collecting program designed to do just that. The program is part of a Smithsonian Institution initiative, Latinos and Baseball: In the Barrios and the Big Leagues. Spearheaded by curator Margaret Salazar-Porzio and advised by an accomplished and diverse group of scholars and community leaders, the initiative has already conducted similar programs in Los Angeles and San Bernardino, CA. After Kansas City, the initiative moves on to Syracuse, NY, back to Los Angeles, and then to Tampa, FL. A visit with the family of Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico is also scheduled. Decisions on excursions into other communities are pending finalization. With these stories and objects in hand, the plan is to open an exhibition at the National Museum of American History in 2020.
The Midwest experienced a great influx of Mexicans, owing, first, to the chaos of the Mexican Revolution, 1910-21. It is estimated that by 1910, over a half-million Mexicans had crossed the border, among them my maternal grandfather who became a copper miner in Arizona. The numbers continued to increase, with many workers recruited by railroad companies and meat packing industries of the Midwest. Understandably, Mexican families desired to acculturate to the ways of their new homeland, and baseball, including fast-pitch softball, became a path. Ever alert, companies encouraged the formation of baseball teams and leagues as a strategy to keep their Mexican workers content, with the added notion of discouraging or diminishing the impact of union organizing, among other worker-based initiatives. Not surprisingly, institutionalized racism and segregated social norms acted as strong deterrents to integrated play, forcing Midwestern Mexicans to organize their own leagues and tournaments. The Railway Ice Company of Argentine, KS, supported its own Mexican American team, while Kansas City, KS, fielded the Kansas Stateline Locos. Many of the teams selected ancestral names, like the Aztecas, Mayans, Cuatémoc and Águilas.
In his book, Making Lemonade out of Lemons: Labor and Leisure in a California Town, 1880-1960, José Alamillo argues that Mexican Americans helped lay the groundwork for civil rights struggles and electoral campaigns in the post-World War II era. In this case the “lemons” were low pay, segregated schooling, inadequate housing, and racial discrimination faced by Mexican citrus workers and their families in Corona, CA. The “lemonade” was how Mexican families transformed baseball, among other leisure activities, into political spaces to voice grievances, debate strategies for advancement, and build solidarity. Dr. Alamillo is a Professor of Chicana/o Studies at California State University, Channel Islands. He is also a member of the Smithsonian’s advisory baseball team.
Adrián Burgos’ benchmark study on Latinos and professional baseball from the 1880s to the present, Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line, provides us a compelling story of the men who negotiated the color line at every turn—passing as “Spanish” in the major leagues or seeking respect and acceptance in the Negro leagues. Dr. Burgos teaches in the History Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also a Smithsonian pelotero.
While we acknowledge achievement at the professional level, let us also continue to learn more about and celebrate baseball in our local communities—from San Juan to San Bernardino—and its role in narrating our valiant and vibrant history of cultural negotiation, struggle and achievement.
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Well everything about Rio keeps getting worse. The Zika-infested
city, with it’s shit-laden waters
, and beaches rife with human remains
will be hosting fewer and fewer athletes, many of whom are backing out for totally understandable reasons. As of today that list of non-competitors now includes the entirety of Russia’s weightlifting team, the AP reports.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton drew 30 million television viewers for Thursday night’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, a tally that fell just over 2 million short of Donald Trump’s audience a week earlier in Cleveland.
Clinton’s speech capped a four-day Democratic convention that featured a stream of political heavyweights and celebrities and was widely considered to be better produced than last week’s Republican gathering.
In addition to introducing running mate Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to a national audience, the Democratic showcase featured speeches by President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, first lady Michelle Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). And while the Republican convention offered the likes of actor Scott Baio, the stable of stars on the Democratic side included singers Katie Perry, Alicia Keys, Paul Simon and Lenny Kravitz, as well as actors Eva Longoria, Elizabeth Banks and Meryl Streep.
The DNC averaged more primetime viewers each of the first three nights against the RNC: 26 to 23 million (Monday), 24 to 19 million (Tuesday) and 24 to 23.4 million (Wednesday).
A self-described “ratings machine,” Trump fell short of expectations for his nomination speech last week and downplayed the DNC’s winning stream through most of this week. “I didn’t produce our show — I just showed up for the final speech on Thursday,” he told the New York Times.
Several hours before Clinton’s speech, Trump urged his supporters not to watch. Whether Trump fans tuning out put him over the top is hard to say. Either way, Trump, who drew 32.4 million, will have bragging rights when it comes to the ratings ― a topic he’s been gloating about all election season.
The Nielsen final numbers are based on 10 television networks between the hours of 10 p.m. to 11:45 pm. They don’t take into account live-streaming.
Among the networks, CNN drew the largest audience Thursday night, with 7.5 million total viewers and 2.8 million in the key age 25-54 demographic.
MSNBC brought in 5.3 million total viewers, while NBC News topped network rivals CBS and ABC with 4.5 million viewers.
Fox News drew just over 3 million and 785,000 in the demo, a significant drop from last week. The conservative cable news network led the pack at the Republican convention.
Though Trump edged Clinton in the ratings, her convention’s message of hope and inclusion, rather than fear and division, drew more favorable reviews in the media ― even among some prominent conservatives. MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” crew gushed Friday morning over the Democrats’ framing of America’s place in the world and the unabashed patriotism on display the night before.
Co-host Joe Scarborough said the Democrats “ripped the mantle of Reagan’s optimism and spread it all over primetime” and predicted the convention would be “transformational” for the party. “Donald trump’s slogan, ‘Make America Great Again!’ gave the Democrats this entire week to say, ‘No, here’s why America is great,’” Willie Geist said. Mike Barnicle said the Democrats’ “convention this week was much more a reflection of America, the America that we all live in, than was last week in Cleveland.”
“The entire convention itself, especially as it sort of came to the crescendo last night, represented all the problems that this country is facing,” said co-host Mika Brzezinski, along with “the hope, the optimism, the principles it’s based upon.”
Trump responded Friday’s that the “little watched” MSNBC hosts’ analysis of Clinton’s speech was a “joke,” and in trademark fashion, “SAD!”
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Fans who weren’t in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con last week haven’t seen it yet, but the first footage from
Jon Watts’ Spider-Man Homecoming was excellent: it’s got an upbeat, ‘80s high school vibe with one very surprising moment for Peter Parker, which we asked star Tom Holland about.
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