In addition to announcing the release date for the Windows 10 Creators Update today, Microsoft also offered some information about plans to launch two new Surface products around the world. The Surface Studio and Surface Book with Performance will be making their way to other regions soon, after spending a few months exclusive to the US market. Surface Studio, as … Continue reading
This morning Samsung revealed the Samsung Galaxy S8 in all its glory – now we’ve got the details about its release. In stores, the Samsung Galaxy S8 will be joined by the Galaxy S8+, or Galaxy S8 Plus, if you prefer. This will be the larger of the two devices, both having very similar insides as they’re released to the … Continue reading
Facebook commenters are going off over a Texas mom’s video of a disturbingly thorough pat-down her young son received at the airport.
On Sunday, Jennifer Williamson and her 13-year-old son Aaron missed their flight at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport after Transportation Security Administration officers held them up for at least 45 minutes, Williamson told The Huffington Post.
But it was one officer’s intimate pat-down of Aaron ― allegedly prompted by a laptop found in the boy’s bag ― that got the public’s blood boiling.
The video shows an officer using the front of his hands to pat Aaron down in sensitive areas, a technique used only in “limited cases,” per TSA screening guidelines. Previously, officers used the backs of their hands, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month when the TSA rolled out a new, unspecified but “more intimate” pat-down procedure in airports across the U.S.
Williamson said she felt violated, noting officers ignored her requests that they screen Aaron in another way, as he suffers from sensory processing disorder.
“I believe the pat down that was performed on my son went beyond normal standards,” she told HuffPost.
Most commenters on Facebook agreed, and the video went viral, racking up nearly 7 million views. “This is absolutely disgusting!!” one viewer wrote.
The TSA stood by its officer’s actions in a statement posted to its blog.
“TSA screening procedures allow for the pat-down of children under certain circumstances,” the post reads. “In this instance, a laptop alarmed the explosives trace detection machine, which requires additional screening to resolve the alarm.”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
“Saturday Night Live” is currently enjoying its most successful season in decades, thanks in no small part to the the country’s ravenous appetite for political commentary in the lead up to and fallout from the president election.
The show’s depictions of public figures like Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer have helped many to digest the in which world we find ourselves. Some of the bits have become instant classics. Some never quite got the due they deserved. Some, frankly, weren’t that great.
So, since this is the internet, we decided to rank 32 Trump-related sketches this season. A few notes before we begin:
Date: March 11, 2017
Views: 7+ million
Signature line:
We are going to beat these aliens, because we have got the best military. But we don’t win anymore. And the aliens are laughing at us! They’re killing us, and they’re laughing at us.
Sorry to say, but this sketch immediately felt tired when it appeared earlier this month. Basically, President Donald Trump grapples with an alien invasion while misidentifying two black women, Leslie Jones and Sasheer Zamata, as “aliens.” After months of Baldwin’s spot-on impression, a lot of the jokes seemed like rehashes of ones from earlier in the season. Something had to be last.
Date: Dec. 10, 2016
Views: 4+ million
Signature line:
Trust me: I know the DEA better than anyone, inside and out.
Cool as it was to see Bryan Cranston resurrect Walter White for a brief moment, it felt as if the “SNL” writers relied too much on his presence to keep this sketch going. The jokes themselves landed flat.
Date: Dec. 17, 2016
Views: 8+ million
Signature line: None, really.
With apologies to John Goodman’s Rex Tillerson, this was a fine sketch, but a forgettable one as well. Let’s move on.
Date: Nov. 5, 2016
Views: 10+ million
Signature line:
Hey, Mark Burnett. Mark, my baby. I know you’re sitting on some pretty racist tapes of Donald on “The Apprentice,” so, uh, Mark, as they say on “Wheel of Fortune,” give me an “N”!
When this sketch aired just days before the election, there’s almost no doubt that Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin foresaw Clinton winning and Baldwin’s time with the show winding down. That explains why the end of this sketch has a finale-type air to it ― with the pair shedding their characters to run through Manhattan while Arcade Fire plays in the background. These sort of sentimental bits never quite do it for me. Also there is a big “whoops” factor here.
Date: Oct. 15, 2016
Views: 6+ million
Signature line:
Without us you wouldn’t be standing there, you’d just be that guy with the weird hair.
This digital short allowed the women around Trump to have a moment to go in on him to the tune of Beyoncé’s “Sorry.” While it’s hard not to get excited about anything related to the queen, little was uproarious here.
Date: Nov. 19, 2016
Views: 13+ million
Signature line:
OK, right, here we go. Big plan. Big plan. Google, what is “ISIS”?
In the month after Trump’s inauguration, reports arose describing Trump as a nervous man who was starting to realize the weight of what it means to be U.S. president. That’s depicted well in this Trump Tower sketch, but the highlight is something much simpler: Trump and potential Secretary of State Mitt Romney (Jason Sudeikis) exchanging an awkwardly long handshake before Romney finally asks, “This isn’t going to work, is it?”
Bonus points for causing a Trump tweet!
Date: Nov. 12, 2016
Views: 9+ million
Signature line:
I’m not giving up and neither should you.
Coming out of the presidential election, many were looking to “SNL” on Nov. 11 to make sense of what felt like a political sea-change. The show, hosted by Dave Chappelle, later would help do just that, but the cold open that week simultaneously felt too obvious and too random. Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton, singing “Hallelujah” by the recently deceased Leonard Cohen? It might have touched some of the most sensitive of us that night, but it felt like alike a forced mashup that wasn’t exactly poignant and certainly wasn’t funny. With some time having passed, hopefully you’ll be able to agree.
Date: Jan. 21, 2017
Views: 4+ million
Signature line:
When the world goes up in flames, at least I’ll know they knew my name.
This is a well-done bit, which imagines Kellyanne as something akin to Chicago’s Roxie Hart, hungry for fame and willing to do whatever it takes to get it. But is it funny? Not really.
Date: Oct. 8, 2016
Views: 10+ million
Signature line:
I wish that I was that hurricane, tearing through all of that hot Miami p***y. I would just destroy it.
After audio of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault to Billy Bush leaked last year, it was a matter of how, not if, “SNL” would address it. They went with another hot mic moment live on CNN, followed by Hillary Clinton celebrating with champagne and music. Watching it now, you can remember how inevitable Clinton’s victory once felt to almost everyone.
Date: March 4, 2017
Views: 2+ million
Signature line:
“… it’s definitely not about Paul Ryan.”
Who, exactly, will be the Republican that finally stands up to Donald Trump? As this mock trailer argues, the answer is “TBD.” By no means a classic, but a good digital short that didn’t get enough love.
Date: Nov. 19, 2016
Views: 350,000+ (Note: This was re-uploaded in February)
Signature line:
The one in the glasses has stepped out of his loop. He was starting to remember.
“SNL” takes the cultural zeitgeist of the moment, HBO’s “Westworld,” and combines it here with the political zeitgeist to create a sketch about CNN analysts who live in a constant loop of talking points before malfunctioning on air. Not pee-your-pants funny, but a good enough social critique to let it jump a few spots.
Date: Dec. 10, 2016
Views: 2+ million
Signature line:
Calm! Calm! Kellyanne will fix it.
The sketch is simple and solid: We get to imagine the world through the president’s eyes: His hands are huge, and sometimes so are his promises. It is a world of ego and insecurity, and it’s just as scary as you’d think it would be.
Date: Feb. 11, 2017
Views: 11+ million
Signature line:
And let me just say, you are doing too much, OK!? I want one day without a CNN alert that scares the hell out of me. I just want to relax and watch the Grammys, all right? And no one has ever said that.
Bringing Donald Trump to the People’s Court was a fine idea. As Trump joked at the beginning of the sketch, he is “a TV president,” after all. But it’s Cecily Strong as the judge who not only controlled the bit, but channelled the feelings of the country in early February when she begged the president to just take a day off so people didn’t have to sent into a complete panic for one 24-hour period.
Date: Oct. 8, 2016
Views: 3+ million
Signature line:
Of course black people don’t have one less toe than white people!
At the moment this digital short aired in October, Kellyanne Conway had only been famous for a few months, but already, she had become a near-ubiquitous part of American life. It felt as if any time you turned on the television, Kellyanne was there. How could one woman do so much? Hence, McKinnon’s hilarious rendition of what “a day off” must feel like for an exhausted-looking Kellyanne, which is not much time off at all. The critique of this sketch, however, is that it painted Kellyanne as a good person who hates Trump more than anyone else ― something that has become harder and harder to believe.
Date: Feb. 4, 2017
Views: 3+ million
Signature line:
You’ll also need a valid passport from your country of origin. NOT INCLUDING IRAQ, IRAN, SYRIA, LIBYA, SOMALIA, SUDEN AND YEMEN, AND MAYBE AUSTRALIA, WE’LL SEE.
The days following the introduction of Trump’s travel ban were chaotic. Protests erupted and tears were shed. So “SNL” gets some kudos for producing an organized digital short that envisions the calm U.S. customs welcome video in Trump’s America. It showed just how ridiculous the situation was getting.
Date: Dec. 17, 2016
Views: 6+ million
Signature line:
Anyway, enjoy your holidays. But keep in mind, if Donald Trump becomes president, he will kill us all.
If you like “Love Actually,” you probably loved this holiday mashup, in which Hillary Clinton begs an Electoral College voter not to go with Trump in the same way Andrew Lincoln’s character once revealed his feelings for Keira Knightley’s. But the truth is, that scene in the original movie was kind of weird if you think about it, and these are my arbitrary rankings, so I’m docking it a bit for that.
Date: Feb. 11, 2017
Views: 2+ million
Signature line:
Is it like a “Hamilton” thing where you’re making a comment on race and politics?
Nope, it’s about giving America what it wants.
For a brief moment in early February, a movement started online to have women play a signifiant number of the men in the Trump administration. We never got that, but we did get this fantastic little bit by Leslie Jones, who reveals her secret urge to one day President Donald Trump.
Date: Mar. 4, 2017
Views: 6+ million
Signature line:
The president made a great speech. Folks were thrilled on account of it was real words in a row for a whole hour. We was all as happy as a monkey with a peanut machine. Then I want to bed. I got 800 messages and phone alerts, saying I was a sneaky little liar. I didn’t know what to do. So my lawyer said: Run, Jeffrey, run! I started running and running. I ended all the way sitting at this bus stop with you.
This sketch ran a bit long, and it dipped at points as a result, but Kate McKinnon simultaneously impersonating some combination of the U.S. attorney general and Forrest Gump is good enough to let it sneak into the top half of these rankings. Especially considering Jeff Sessions had recused himself from any investigation into the 2016 general election just days before, it was easy to see how he would want to be on the run.
Date: Jan. 21, 2017
Views: 5+ million
Signature line:
Today, many of you are scared and marching in the strets. You are worried that your country is in the hands of this unpredictable man. But don’t worry, it’s not. Relax, I got this. Putin’s going to make everything OK.
For most of the season, Beck Bennett’s rendition of Vladimir Putin has been a bit of a side-piece, always hilarious but rarely the center of a sketch. But one day after Trump’s inauguration, it was Putin alone who was center stage. Let’s just say that the jokes about the country being in his hands have held up quite nicely so far.
Date: Feb. 11, 2017
Views: 4+ million
Signature line:
I just want to be part of the news, Jake.
Kate McKinnon’s Kellyanne Conway took on many forms over the season, but it was probably at its best when she was seen not as a nervous, tired wreck, but as a woman who so desperately wanted to remain a part of the mainstream news cycle that she’s willing to go full “Fatal Attraction” on Jake Tapper to do so.
Date: Jan. 14, 2017
Views: 12+ million
Signature line:
I’m his lawyer, and this right here is all the papers that prove that Mr. Trump is really divesting. I mean, look at all these papers. If he wasn’t divesting, how could there be so many damn papers? There’s papers here. There’s papers here. It’s like help, help, lifeguard, I’m practically drowning in papers!
The highlight of this sketch, which parodied the president-elect’s press conference just days before his inauguration, wasn’t anything related to Alec Baldwin. It was Cecily Trump’s brief moment on stage as Trump’s tax lawyer. In a thick New York accent, she makes a great point: There were certainly a lot of papers on that desk.
Bonus points for causing a Trump tweet!
Date: Nov. 19, 2016
Views: 4+ million
Signature line:
Coming in January 2017, The Bubble is a planned community of like-minded free thinkers, and no one else.
Following the presidential election, the left-leaning metropolitan pockets of the country started to have earnest conversations about what they could do to reach outside of their bubble. To which “SNL” asked: Why not reach inside? “The Bubble,” an infomercial for an insular planned community that sure looks a lot like Brooklyn, made fun of like-minded rich people who enjoy reading clever stories on McSweeney’s at internet cafes. Who can’t get behind that?
Date: Oct. 22, 2016
Views: 19+ million
Signature line:
I’ve said this before and Ill say it again: Nobody has more respect for women than I do. [UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER]
The third and final presidential debate wasn’t the best ― in fact, it might have been the least memorable of the three. But by way of the sheer comedic force provided by the real-life Trump, it still provided some memorable moments, even if they weren’t as eye-popping as what transpired at the actual debate. Bad hombres and nasty women, anyone? That’s a-bingo.
Date: Dec. 3, 2016
Views: 9+ million
Signature line:
It was from a young man named Seth. He’s 16. He’s in high school. And I really did retweet him. Seriously, this is real.
There were times this season when the real world was so absurd that the best thing “SNL” writers could do was sit back and embrace the fact that nothing could be weirder than what Trump actually did. So it was with this skit about the president’s continuing desire to retweet people like a 16-year-old boy named Seth. Yes, McKinnon and Baldwin had to clarify, this happened in real life too.
Bonus points for causing a Trump tweet!
Date: March 11, 2017
Views: 7+ million
Signature line:
“Complicit,” the fragrance for the woman who could stop all this, but won’t.
One of the better Trump-related digital shorts of the year, “Complicit” was a sharp and layered attack on a woman who has quietly pushed herself as a woman who will defend women, but who has remained, well, complicit thus far. Who knew a parody ad for a fragrance could be so devastating?
Date: Feb. 4, 2017
Views: 12+ million
Signature line:
OK, Donald, that’s enough fun for tonight. Can I have my desk back?
Yes, of course, Mr. President. I’ll go sit at my desk.
I’m a simple man. Depict Steve Bannon as a walking skeleton in a black cloak and put Donald Trump at a small desk with a giant toy, and I’m happy.
Date: Feb. 11, 2017
Views: 15+ million
Signature line:
The Bowling Green massacre — not the Kellyanne one, the real one. The Horror at Six Flags. The Slaughter at Fraggle Rock. The night they drove Old Dixie down. OK?! And then there is the light terrorism this week when Nordstrom’s decided to stop selling Ivanka Trump’s line of clothing and accessories. That’s Nordstrom’s loss, because these are high, high quality products. In fact, I am wearing one of her bangles right now.
McCarthy’s return as Sean Spicer felt almost inevitable, but that didn’t make it any less exciting when it actually happened. Just as she was the first time, McCarthy came out as a full-on comedic force for more than eight minutes, subsidized by Kate McKinnon revealing her Jeff Sessions impression. And then, to top is all off, Spicey started driving his lectern straight at the press.
Date: Oct. 1, 2016
Views: 23+ million
Signature line:
The thing about the blacks is that they’re killing each other. All the blacks live on one street in Chicago. All on one street. I just read it this morning. It’s called Hell Street, and they’re on Hell Street, and they’re all just killing each other, just like I am killing this debate.
Alec Baldwin debuted his Trump impression to widespread acclaim. Later on in the season, it would get harder to get laughs from more or less repeating Trump’s claims, but for at least that one night, nothing was better, and Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton was more than willing to let him do the talking.
Date: Oct. 15, 2016
Views: 21+ million
Signature line:
Hi Patrice, let me start by walking over to you just as I practiced. Right, left, right, left, right, left.
Donald Trump made for the easiest comedic fodder throughout the season. But when Kate McKinnon was at her best as Hillary Clinton, she might have been even funnier. At no point was that more clear than when “SNL” parodied the second presidential debate.“I’d like to begin tonight by attempting a casual lean,” she said at the start of the debate. In retrospect, of course, McKinnon’s depiction of a powerful woman who wants so desperately to be seen as normal proved to be more than a little spot-on.
Bonus points for causing a Trump tweet!
Date: Nov. 12, 2016
Views: 14+ million
Signature line:
Oh my god. I think … America is racist.
Dave Chappelle’s turn as “SNL” host gave us a couple memorable moments, including his heartfelt monologue just days after Donald Trump’s victory and a great performance by A Tribe Called Quest. But here, white liberal America got its mirror. The sketch juxtaposed their shock and horror upon realizing their country is still racist against the reaction of Chappelle and Chris Rock, who quite literally reacted in the exact opposite way. It was a sketch that captured a particular moment in time, and did so perfectly.
Date: Oct. 22, 2016
Views: 19+ million
Signature line:
OK, the answer there: “They out here saying that every vote counts.” Oh, Doug again.
What is, “Come on, they already decided who wins even ’fore it happens.”
When “Black Jeopardy” popped up last October, it did something that few journalists had been able to do in years prior by tying black Americans’ concerns about the country together with the most unlikely of people: rural Trump voters. The lack of trust in powerful institutions had bottomed out, and “SNL,” of all places, was the place that zeroed in on it. Slate called the sketch “The Most Astute Analysis of American Politics in 2016.” But just as importantly, it was funny.
Date: Feb. 4, 2017
Views: 25+ million
Signature line:
I’d like to begin today by apologizing on behalf of you to me!
With apologies to Alec Baldwin and the entire “SNL” cast, there is really no other choice here. In 20 years, Melissa McCarthy’s thunderous impression of the White House press secretary ― which was so devastating that it even bothered Trump himself ― will be the moment we remember above all others. It’s just too Spicey.
Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Tracy Morgan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Moore, Padma Lakshmi and a whole host of other stars are teaming up for Stand for Rights: A Benefit for the ACLU. Donate now and join us at 7 p.m. Eastern on Friday, March 31 on Facebook Live. #standforrights2017
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Your childhood fear of clowns has been validated thanks to the just-released trailer for “It,” based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name.
The clip kicks off with a young boy playing with a paper boat in the rain. While chasing it down the street, the boat gets caught up in the stream and winds up in a sewer grate. Of course, the boy looks down into the deep, dark sewer, and there appears ― you guessed it ― Pennywise, the most terrifying clown ever. (Seriously, the new iteration of this character makes Tim Curry’s Pennywise look lovable.)
Judging by the 2-minute clip, you can expect the movie to be full of moments that involve Pennywise appearing out of thin air, effectively scaring the living daylights out of you. If that’s your cup of tea, check out the trailer above.
“It” hits theaters Sept. 8.
Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Tracy Morgan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Moore, Padma Lakshmi and a whole host of other stars are teaming up for Stand for Rights: A Benefit for the ACLU. Donate now and join us at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, March 31, on Facebook Live. #standforrights2017
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Italian women who suffer from painful periods might be close to getting a monthly “menstrual leave”—up to three paid days off, upon presenting a doctor’s diagnosis of dysmenorrhea (extremely painful periods, which can include vomiting or headache), for women whose period pain stop them from conducting their regular daily activity.
The bill (pdf in Italian), presented by four female members of parliament last April, is being examined by the labor commission and could be approved shortly.
The news has been met with international enthusiasm: Italy—a country of notorious sexism—taking up a progressive policy meant to benefit women! And that is, indeed, reason to celebrate.
But behind the good intentions, there is the reality of Italian working women: They are unemployed at even higher rates than Italian men, and their labor already is more expensive.
Italian women have the lowest workforce participation rate among high-income economies. Less than 50% are employed. Of those, only about a third are employed full time. For these women, Italy has friendly policies in place. A five-month maternity leave, paid at 80% of full salary, is mandatory. Fathers do not have access to the same benefit, but once the mother has finished her five-month leave, both parents can take up to six months at a 30% salary. Women can often take paid sick days if their young children are ill, and can work a reduced work schedule if they are breastfeeding.
Though maternity leave is paid by the government, the extra benefits women enjoy contribute to the perception of them as more expensive employees, in a country where the cost of labor is already pretty high. Non-wage costs, such as taxes and other benefits (pdf), make up 27.9% of the cost of an Italian worker. The high investments required to hire Italians is often blamed for low salaries as well as reluctance to hire full-time personnel.
There are similar dynamics at work outside of Italy, too. As Lisa Maatz, who leads government relationships and advocacy at the American Association of University Women (AAUW), told Quartz in September, female-friendly work benefits also have a cost for women, in that they are more likely to exacerbate stereotypes about women being less dedicated to their careers. That is one of the reasons to support leave for both parents, and not just for mothers.
Menstrual leave risks working similarly. If the legislation passes, a female employee would automatically come with the potential added cost of three paid days off—something that could further reduce her chances of being hired. The better bet might be to expand sick leave for everyone, so that one gender’s commitment to work doesn’t appear different—not even on paper.
This article originally appeared on Quartz. Like Quartz on Facebook or sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
The early months of spring in New York always bring a rush of new Broadway musicals, and each year we kick off the season with a peek at some of the sexiest dancers, singers and actors that Broadway has to offer.
Here is our seventh annual roundup of 20 talented and men and women who will be heating up stages in the months ahead.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
WASHINGTON ― New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will lead a commission to combat the nation’s opioid crisis, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday at a White House event on the issue.
Christie has long spoken in personal terms about the need to fight drug addiction. During his presidential campaign in 2015, he recounted the story of a law school friend who died after battling an addiction to prescription painkillers, a moment that went viral.
Last month, Christie signed a bill that requires health insurers in New Jersey to cover treatment for substance abuse for up to six months.
“The person who’s in the throes of addiction … [and] realizes he or she needs help, they should not be blocked from the treatment center doors with their lives hanging in the balance,” he said.
Trump’s announcement came the same day that Christie’s former aide Bill Baroni was sentenced for his role in the 2013 “Bridgegate” scandal. In November, Baroni and another Christie aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, were found guilty of all charges, which included conspiracy and fraud.
Though Christie has maintained that he had no direct involvement in the scheme that shut down lanes on the George Washington Bridge as payback for a Democratic mayor refusing to endorse Christie’s re-election bid, the scandal has dogged his political career.
After dropping out of the presidential race in February 2016, Christie quickly endorsed Trump, in a surprise move. He became an adviser and led Trump’s transition efforts, before being sidelined. Since Trump’s election, Christie has largely been out of the spotlight and was reportedly passed over for top roles in the administration.
At Wednesday’s event, Trump, who made combating the opioid epidemic a campaign pledge, said his administration wants “to help people who have become so badly addicted.” But his failed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act last week would have eliminated a mandate that requires Medicaid to cover addiction services.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
The number of refugees being resettled in the U.S. has shot up ever since a federal court struck down portions of President Donald Trump’s second executive order on immigration earlier this month.
While this has allowed many to breathe a sigh of relief, it’s placing serious strain on the organizations responsible for bringing refugees to America and helping them resettle.
“In accordance with the Court Order, and consistent with both our operational capacity and our capacity under available funding, we have increased the current pace of refugee arrivals to approximately 900 individuals per week,” a State Department spokesperson told The Huffington Post in a statement on Tuesday. “New refugee pre-screening interviews will continue to be scheduled and conducted at Resettlement Support Centers around the world.”
Trump has signed two executive orders attempting to prevent refugees from finding safe haven in the United States since entering office. Both were legally challenged amid mass protests.
His first order, signed on Jan. 27, halted the refugee resettlement program for 120 days, among other things, and slashed the number of people who could be resettled in the U.S. from 110,000 in the 2017 fiscal year to 50,000.
As a result, the number of refugees entering the country weekly had been limited to 400 people, in an effort to avoid reaching the 50,000 quota too soon (the 2017 fiscal year ends on Sept. 30). Fewer refugees means less money allocated to the agencies that resettle refugees, since they receive federal funding contingent on the number of people they take care of.
Parts of this order were struck down in federal court in February, but the quota remained unchanged. So the 400 per week figure was in effect until Trump’s revised ban was struck down in a Hawaii federal court on March 15, only hours before it was supposed to be implemented.
We have increased the current pace of refugee arrivals to approximately 900 individuals per week.
State Department spokesperson
These increased resettlement figures are welcome news to the nine U.S. refugee resettlement agencies, several of them said. But the multiple orders and their ever-changing legal statuses has placed the agencies in operational limbo, causing many to significantly downsize their staffs.
Church World Service announced Tuesday that it let go of 547 employees worldwide, beginning the week of Feb. 27. That represents about 50 percent of their entire staff, a spokeswoman said. Their Africa operations were hit the hardest, with more than 400 layoffs in Kenya alone.
“The decision to reduce our staff was a direct result of these executive orders, which sabotage our ability to offer vital services, support and counsel to families seeking to rebuild their lives in safety,” CWS president and CEO Reverend John L. McCullough said in a statement.
“The reductions in international and Kenyan staff were the result of budgetary constraints,” a State Department spokesperson added.
World Relief is laying off more than 140 people in the U.S. alone and closed five of its national offices.
Resettlement agencies carried out these layoffs assuming, back in February, that the quota would remain at 50,000, which would warrant way fewer staffers. But the portion of the second order containing the new quota was struck down ― meaning that it’s been reverted back to 110,000.
After laying off hundreds of people, organizations like CWS could now find themselves grossly understaffed for the rest of the year.
“The situation continues to be highly volatile for resettlement – unfortunately the [executive order] itself hasn’t been fully and permanently rescinded yet,” the CWS spokeswoman said. “So it’s unclear how long this stay will last and whether that will be through the end of this fiscal year.”
Elise Foley contributed reporting.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Animal photographer Andrew Marttila says when he first heard about Japan’s “cat islands,” he knew he had to go.
He’s best known for his portraits of felines and his partner, Hannah Shaw, founded the cat rescue group Kitten Lady, so it made sense for them to plan a trip.
“Cat islands” — places where populations of free-roaming kitties boom in the absence of predators — have drawn growing numbers of international feline-loving tourists for several years. Photos of huge groups of cats ― like these images from an island called Aoshima ― periodically go viral and fueling interest in visiting the region.
Japan has 11 cat islands in all, typically the result of fishermen bringing cats to shore to control rodent populations.
In November, Marttila and Shaw traveled to Ainoshima, an island off the town of Fukuoka that measures a little more than a half a square mile, inhabited by around 500 people and hundreds of outdoor cats. The place is known as “Cat Heaven.”
But what the couple found was a little more complicated.
“For us cat lovers, there’s something pretty special about an area littered with dozens of cats,” Marttila told The Huffington Post in an email. “What you’re not seeing, however, are all the cats and kittens suffering from very treatable illnesses.”
Lack of spaying and neutering, plus an abundance of food provided by tourists, contributes to a growing cat population. But with no veterinarians or real framework for their care, this leads to what Shaw, writing for Paw Culture, called “a constant cycle of birth, early death, and more birth.”
She wrote that while the cats that survived to adulthood seemed healthy, there was a high mortality risk for the younger felines.
“Roughly one-third of the cats were young kittens struggling with untreated upper respiratory infections,” Shaw wrote.
“Eyes and noses crusted, the kittens huddled together on the warm pavement.”
A 2014 Japan Times article gave a similar account, quoting Japanese cat scientist Akihiro Yamane as observing many of the cats die in kittenhood, and adult males suffer brutal injuries over fights for mates and territory on the crowded island.
Marttila said that people on the island were resistant to the idea of veterinary care and were “more keen to allow nature run its course.”
And while he acknowledges that yes, it’s natural for animals outside to get sick and die, the island is teeming with cats in the first place only because of human activity. As Shaw wrote in her essay, “human intervention is already impacting the growth of the population, just not in a way that benefits anyone.”
Marttila also stressed that he did not mean to criticize Japan in particular, since the United States is rife with its own animal welfare problems. And not all Japanese cat islands are the same. On Tokonoshima Island, for instance, which is home to around 3,000 cats, the government is implementing a “trap-neuter-return” program. This involves humanely trapping the cats, neutering or spaying them and giving them necessary vet care and then returning them to their outdoor homes.
Spaying and neutering cats cuts down on overpopulation and curbs stressful behavior like fighting and mating. On Tokonoshima, officials started the program in part to protect an endangered species of rabbit threatened by the cats.
When it comes to cat islands, Marttila believes potential visitors should be aware of what they may be getting into.
“Just be prepared to see the full gamut of beautiful to utterly depressing,” he said. “Having a more realistic expectation of what occurs on Ainoshima would have better braced me for the experience.”
You can see some of Marttila’s photos from the island below, and view more of his work on his Instagram and website.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
