If Huawei’s first Android Wear watch aped the classic timepiece you might wear to the office, the new Huawei Watch 2 is its gym-going sibling. Announced at Mobile World Congress, and officially priced up and available in the US from today, the new smartwatch promises more standalone flexibility than before, along with a distinct aesthetic all of its own. Gone … Continue reading
BOSTON – (April 17, 2017) – The elevator door swung open on the fifth floor of the Sheraton Boston hotel and Kathrine Switzer, age 70, strode down the hallway with a purpose. With an adidas rolling bag behind her, she walked quickly as there were people to see and interviews to do. Her schedule resembled that of the the busiest executive on State St. or maybe, even, a Head of State like the Queen of England. On this week, leading into the 121st running of the Boston Marathon, Switzer was celebrating and being celebrated for her historic efforts 50 years ago. For the past week, Kathrine Switzer was the popular Queen of Boston.
As it’s been chronicled so thoroughly this week, Switzer signed up for the 1967 Boston Marathon as K.V. Switzer at a time female participants were not welcome to run. When race director Jock Semple caught wind of the fact he’d overlooked the entry from the first woman to ever “successfully” register for the grueling road race. When old Jock saw the woman in full stride, he hopped off a press bus and accosted her, attempting to rip off her race bib No. 261. A few of the male runners alongside Switzer, including her big, burly then-boyfriend, former Syracuse All-American football and track man “Big Tom” Miller body-blocked the angry race official as he was shouting at Switzer.
The rest is history, as they say, but it’s a history that Switzer prefers to project to the present and the short and longterm future.
She settled into a conference room at the hotel and calmly opened her bag, itself a rolling office and work station, all week, for her 261 Fearless organization. She casually opened an old plastic shopping bag and out came original copies of the newspapers of Thursday, April 20th, 1967, the day after the race and carefully laid-out the Boston Globe and Record-American, among a few others, the edges frayed and yellowing. Dressed in her 261 Fearless running gear which was more Harvard Crimson than Syracuse Orange, she sat down with ARD-TV of Germany to begin a full day of interviews and appearances in Boston.
Only two weeks ago, Switzer was conducting interviews and conference calls from her New Zealand residence where she spends half the year before moving the operation to New Paltz, New York. Very capably and professionally, Switzer’s 261 Feaarless CEO, Edith Zuschmann, was orchestrating plans from Austria. Switzer’s small, buttoned-up organization, just recently launched, was prepping to hit a springboard at and around the events in Boston this month. It would vault her organization to truly global standing and stature, all in a purpose to create a different kind of not-for-profit in the running industry. The 261 Fearless mantra is all about encouragement and inclusion. It’s not about time and performance rates. Rather, Switzer is sending some mojo and a message to (mostly) women, but also to few good men to symbolize the assist Miller gave to her back in the spring of ’67, and the message is one of hope and determination, along with instructions to simply RUN.
She wants people to run for their lives. Not in a fight or fright kind of way, but rather in a mind-clearing, healthy, change your life for the better kind of way.
Too often, the running industry stresses the improvement of time or the increase of distance, rather than the life-changing Rx of a simple run. Too often, runners are told to buy the most advanced shoe or hook-up a wearable to gauge time, distance and heart rate. Maybe, the serenity of a run might be more beneficial if you could blend in some camaraderie and sheer fun? It sounds too simple, but in an age of constant competition and a human culture to always ask ‘What’s next,” a run with some friends and feeling the right way simply being part of a welcoming group of fellow 261ers, might just be the right remedy for what is ailing so many of us in this ever increasing stressful world in which we live.
Switzer sat down with dozens, if not hundreds of journalists and television crews to recall memories of 50 years ago, all amazingly vivid to her. She answer questions about ‘The Incident,” and generally celebrate women’s running and the extension to women’s sports. The enthusiasm began to shine through, speaking first to ARD’s Ole Zeisler who had flown in from Hamburg to conduct the nearly hour long sit-down. Afterward, leaving her prized newspaper stash with a producer she had just met, Switzer and Zeisler headed out from the hotel to Boylston Street, to take in the final stretch of the marathon route and film some candids and cut-aways. They ended up on the finish line, chatting it up like old friends.
Soon, she was off to an official press function conducted by the Boston Athletic Association. At that event, the BAA announced that they were “officially retiring” Race Bib No. 261. Later, phone calls were made to Runner’s World for a podcast, to Running Magazine in Germany, to the Daily Telegraph in England, to WBUR-Radio the public station which seerves Boston and to its parent, NPR in DC and a lengthy list of others fell into place, like clockwork. In-depth interviews were done with CBS This Morning and CNN. She found time for Syracuse University, her alma later and for an old friend, Cristina Mitre who flew in from Spain to conduct a more “fashion than sports” photography shoot, calling on Ms. Mitre’s experience at Elle. That was done at the AT&T Store on Boylston where Switzer signed copies of her book, “Marathon Woman,” before grabbing a 10-minute rest on a comfy couch, exhausted but not deterred.
Some members of the 261 Fearless team passed along some nutritious concoction of nuts and who knows what to fuel her still-sleek-after-all-these-years body. Zuschmann sat down quietly next to her colleague and they ran through the agenda for a special event on the second floor loft of the AT&T Store, hosted by sponsors adidas and Bose after her healthy hand-off from Boston Magazine’s marketing team. Switzer’s husband, Roger Robinson, emcee’d an hour-long, story-telling reenactment of the famed incident, with first-hand anecdotes from Frank Litsky, the New York Times reporter on the press truck that day, John Leonard, the last surviving member of the Syracuse track team of ’67 and Dave McKenzie of New Zealand, the race champion that April day.
The hectic pace continued all weekend, with Switzer joining her old friend Amby Burfoot, the 1968 Boston champion who will follow Switzer’s experience and celebrate the 50th anniversary of his win a year from now. Burfoot, the longtime editor-at-large at Runner’s World magazine, is running today as a member of the 261 Fearless team, in support of his friend.
Switzer lined up for the Marathon, conducted a slew of other interviews for the BAA at the Hopkinton starting line, then performed an honor reserved for the best of the best by sending the “elite” women’s runners off on their quest to win today’s race.
To that end, Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya won the men’s division and Edna Kiplagat, also from Kenya, took the women’s honors. Switzer and 13,696 other women, just under half of the marathon’s 30,074 participants, followed the elites. At age 70, and in prime, mid-life like condition, Switzer was not looking at her stopwatch as she raced through the tough Boston course and the legendary Heartbreak Hill path through Newton and into Boston. When she crossed the line, it was graciousness and sheer appreciation to her team of runners who raised money for the launch of the global organization to live-on for the next 50 years or more, in her name.
“I’d like to thanks all teh people on the streets of Boston. I am so grateful for being able to run the Boston Marathon 50 years after my first one,” said Switzer after the race today. “I’d like to thank the BAA and everyone involved for their amazing support this entire weekend. I’d also like to send special thanks to the members of our 261 Fearless Boston Marathon team who have helped empower women globally through running.”
Switzer crossed the finish line to thunderous applause and into the arms of race officials and her husband, all while a huge contingent of media jockeyed for position to capture the moment. She ran the race in an official time of 4:44:31. It was her ninth Boston Marathon, the last to ever see the bib No. 261 participate.
The glorious day and her healthy and impressive finish put an end to a whirlwind weekend in Boston, from throwing out the first pitch at Fenway to a private party for her team tonight, Switzer seemed beyond elite, beyond inspirational, but rather, she seemed somewhat invincible. So invincible, we might need another 50 years or more to prove her membership in the human condition, known as mortality. As 261 Fearless grows, the guess here is that the legacy of one Kathrine Switzer is still yet to be realized. Let’s see what the next 50 years brings?
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A former New York City deli clerk is set to be sentenced Tuesday in New York for the 1979 abduction and murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz, one of the first missing children to be pictured on a milk container.
The case began nearly 38 years ago when Etan disappeared on the first morning that his mother permitted him to go to school unaccompanied from the family’s Manhattan apartment.
Convicted killer Pedro Hernandez, 56, will face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life for choking Etan and then leaving him to die.
Jurors convicted Hernandez in February of kidnapping and second-degree murder after his first trial resulted in a hung jury.
Etan’s disappearance alarmed parents from coast to coast and contributed to increasing levels of supervision of children. Etan was one of the earliest, if not the first, missing children to have his photo included on a milk carton. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared May 25, the day of Etan’s disappearance, as National Missing Children’s Day.
Police pursued other suspects for decades before a break came in 2012 when Hernandez’s brother-in-law in New Jersey shared his suspicions with authorities. The brother-in-law claimed that Hernandez had told a prayer group that he’d killed a child in New York City.
In a recorded confession to police in 2012, Hernandez said he used the promise of soda to lure Etan into his deli where he worked near the Patz apartment in the SoHo neighborhood. Inside the shop’s basement, he said, he choked Etan and placed his still-breathing body into a plastic bag inside a box that he discarded a few blocks away.
Etan’s remains have never been found.
Jurors in the first trial saw video of the confession, but the prosecution lacked physical evidence tying Hernandez to the crime, and defense attorneys argued Hernandez confused reality and fantasy because of a mental illness, making the confession unreliable. They argued that police coerced Hernandez during an interrogation, and pointed to evidence suggesting an earlier suspect who is now a convicted pedophile in Pennsylvania was the culprit.
A deadlock ensued at the 2015 trial when one juror refused to convict Hernandez, leading to the mistrial.
The retrial began in October 2016 with prosecutors and defense lawyers presenting a similar case. This time the jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for nine days.
Jurors told The New York Post that they were convinced by Hernandez’s confession and by members of the church group who testified about incriminating things he’d said.
But the defense challenged the conviction. Some jurors knew that members of the first trial’s jury sat in the audience of the second trial as supporters of Patz’s father. The defense argued that this unfairly tainted their deliberations by revealing how some previous jury members had decided.
A judge, however, disagreed and let the conviction stand on April 4.
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Surveys suggest the race in Georgia’s 6th congressional district could be headed toward a runoff. Americans are losing faith in President Trump and the GOP. And Bill O’Reilly is still viewed favorably by most of his his audience. This is HuffPollster for Tuesday, April 18, 2017.
IT’S ELECTION DAY IN GA-06 – Harry Enten: “Election junkies, rejoice! The biggest race since the 2016 presidential election is here. Georgians in the Atlanta suburbs are casting ballots today in a special election to decide who will represent the state’s 6th Congressional District. Democrats are coming off of strong performances in special House elections in California and Kansas and are hoping to flip Georgia 6, which President Trump carried by only 1 percentage point in 2016. The race is an early test of whether Democrats can ride a wave of anti-Trump sentiment to win traditionally red seats….Trump barely squeaked by Hillary Clinton there, but most other Republican candidates — presidential and House — have done much better….Today’s primary pits all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, against one another. If no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters (again, regardless of party) will meet in a runoff on June 20….If there’s no outright winner at the end of this first round of voting and Ossoff moves on to face a Republican in the runoff, be careful about using tonight’s results to forecast Round 2. The dynamics in the runoff will be completely different; whichever Republican comes in second, for example, will be able to turn their fire on [Democrat Jon] Ossoff instead of fighting other Republicans.” [538, more from Nate Silver]
What the polls say – HuffPost Pollster’s average puts Ossoff at just below 43 percent, with surveys from both parties this month giving him a share of the vote ranging from 39 to 45 percent. As Enten notes, even with undecided voters proportionately allocated between the candidates, that leaves him several points shy of the 50 percent needed for an outright win. [Pollster chart]
Why those polls ― and early vote counts ― could be misleading – Nate Cohn: “It’s hard to estimate how many people will vote, and the public polls are of fairly low quality. One prediction: It’s likely that the first votes counted will be misleadingly good for Mr. Ossoff….[S]pecial election polling tends to be fairly inaccurate….Most important, it’s hard to know what the electorate is going to look like. There is no ‘model’ for a special electorate, let alone one with more than $13 million in spending so far. Historically, turnout in special elections is pretty unpredictable….There is really only one thing that’s clear about the electorate: Mr. Ossoff will probably fare very well in the early and absentee vote, which will most likely be counted first on Tuesday night. Over all, early and absentee voters were split evenly between the two parties, each at 41 percent, based on whether voters had last participated in a Democratic or Republican primary. That’s impressive for the Democrats, since Republican primary voters in the district outnumber Democratic primary voters by a margin of two to one.” [NYT]
THE PUBLIC’S TOP TAX FRUSTRATION HAS TO DO WITH INEQUALITY – Pew Research: “Among the public overall, 62% say they are bothered ‘a lot’ by the feeling that some corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes, and 60% say the same about some wealthy people not paying their fair share. About four-in-ten (43%) say they are bothered a great deal by the complexity of the system. But with the April 18 tax filing deadline approaching, only about a quarter (27%) say they are bothered a lot by the amount they pay in taxes. And just 20% say that about the feeling that the poor do not pay their fair share of taxes….Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to say they are bothered “a lot” by the feeling that some corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes (75% vs. 44%). And the gap is about as wide over the feeling that some wealthy people don’t pay their fair share (76% vs. 40%).” [Pew]
AMERICANS NO LONGER BELIEVE TRUMP WILL KEEP HIS PROMISES – HuffPollster: “More U.S. citizens have lost faith in President Donald Trump’s ability to keep his promises, a new survey finds. In a Gallup poll released on Monday, only 45 percent of adults polled say they believe Trump keeps his promises. That’s down 17 points since early February, when 62 percent of respondents held that position….This is especially true for members of groups that didn’t overwhelmingly vote for Trump. In February, 65 percent of women thought Trump kept his promises. However, that is now down to 40 percent, a 25-point drop. Other groups with significantly worsening perceptions of Trump include Democrats, liberals and adults under age 35. At the beginning of Trump’s presidency, 92 percent of Republicans said they believed Trump kept his promises. That’s now dropped 11 points to 81 percent. While Republicans’ approval ratings for Trump have remained fairly stagnant, their attitudes about him appear to be changing.” [HuffPost, more from Gallup]
Philip Bump notes that faith is declining most sharply among independents. [WashPost]
AMERICANS AREN’T TOO HAPPY WITH THE GOP – Pew Research: “Nearly three months after the Republican Party took control of the White House and Congress, the public gives low job ratings to the president and even lower ratings to the speaker of the House. The new Congress is viewed about as unfavorably as the previous Congress. And while both parties are viewed less positively than in January, the GOP’s ratings are more negative than the Democratic Party’s….Donald Trump’s overall job rating stands at 39%, the same as it was in February. As was the case then, his job rating today is lower – and more politically divided – than other recent presidents at comparable points in their first year….Just 29% approve of the way Paul Ryan is handling his job as speaker of the House, while nearly twice as many (54%) disapprove. About half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (51%) give Ryan a positive job rating, while 31% disapprove. Democrats and Democratic leaners overwhelmingly disapprove of Ryan’s job performance (75% disapprove).” [Pew]
BILL O’REILLY’S VIEWERS STILL RATE HIM FAVORABLY – HuffPollster, with Emily Peck, on a new HuffPost/YouGov survey: “Slightly more than 85 percent of Americans polled who sometimes or regularly watch ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ say they’re aware of the recent controversy surrounding its host…. 65 percent hold a favorable view of O’Reilly, according to the HuffPost/YouGov survey. Just 17 percent say they think his show should be canceled in light of the controversy. Among Republican viewers, only 9 percent want to see the show canceled….Among respondents who said they watch ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ sometimes or regularly, 60 percent are men, 66 percent lean or identify as Republican and 52 percent voted for President Donald Trump.” [HuffPost]
HUFFPOLLSTER VIA EMAIL! – You can receive this update every Tuesday and Friday morning via email! Just click here, enter your email address, and click “sign up.” That’s all there is to it (and you can unsubscribe anytime).
TUESDAY’S ‘OUTLIERS’ – Links to the best of news at the intersection of polling, politics and political data:
-Nearly three-quarters of Americans think international tensions are escalating. [Marist]
-Christopher Ingraham reviews the final price tag on the 2016 election. [WashPost]
-Thomas Wood argues that Trump voters were motivated more by racial attitudes than authoritarian beliefs. [WashPost]
-Chris Cillizza takes a skeptical look at Rasmussen’s polling. [CNN]
— 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.
Bangkok has won accolades for its tasty street food. But its reputation as the street food destination of choice for many foodies is about to end.
City officials announced Tuesday that they’re launching a “clean-up” effort that will see all street food vendors banned from main roads in the Thai capital by the end of the year.
The crackdown has already started in some of Bangkok’s most bustling neighborhoods, but the city only confirmed its plans to remove all street food vendors from main roads on Tuesday. In August, the BBC reported that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration had already evicted nearly 15,000 street vendors from 39 public areas across the city. Many of them were food sellers.
Wanlop Suwandee, a chief adviser to Bangkok’s governor, told The Nation Monday that authorities were outlawing the practice in the city that CNN last week named the world’s best street food destination for “order and hygiene reasons”.
“The BMA is now working to get rid of the street vendors from all 50 districts of Bangkok and return the pavements to the pedestrians. … No exceptions,” Wanlop told the paper.
Many locals and tourists alike consider Bangkok’s vibrant street food culture an indispensable asset ― the food is often far tastier and always cheaper than dishes served in restaurants.
Vendors told AFP news agency they could not afford to pay Bangkok’s rent prices if they’re driven off the street. They pay a small under-the-table fee every month to city officials in order to operate, they added.
The city regularly tops “world’s best” lists from travel sites all over the globe. A Travel & Leisure article about the world’s best street food reported Bangkok is home to some 12,000 street food vendors.
Authorities ordered nearly 100 street food vendors to leave with their carts by Monday in the popular Thonglor area. And officials told The Nation that popular street food areas including Chinatown and Khao San Road would be next on the hit list.
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Apple is prepping up to three iPhones for a possible fall launch, including a flagship stainless steel and curved glass tenth anniversary model, according to Bloomberg’s Apple guru Mark Gurman. That jibes very closely with past rumors from Fast Compa…
Watching a rocket launch is the most wholesome and exciting activity besides going on a rollercoaster or eating large quantities of cheese. Today, at around 11:11 am EDT, NASA, in coordination with United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Orbital ATK, will take things to the next level—the agency will be broadcasting the …
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TREASURY SECRETARY: TAX REFORM BEFORE AUGUST IS UNREALISTIC U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the health care debate had set back the tax reform timeline. Democrats are making President Donald Trump’s own tax returns part of the bargaining, saying they won’t work on tax reform unless they know how it could affect the president. Press Secretary Sean Spicer made it clear the president has no plans to release his returns. [Reuters]
THERESA MAY CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTION The British prime minister announced the so-called “snap election” will take place June 8. [Reuters]
TIPS IN THE UBER APP COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU? As the founder of the drivers guild in NYC put it, drivers can’t pay bill with “stars.” [HuffPost]
AUTHORITIES STILL SEARCHING FOR SUSPECT WHO ALLEGEDLY KILLED A MAN AND POSTED VIDEO ON FACEBOOK Cleveland police said the search is now nationwide. And Facebook said “we know we need to do better” when it comes to screening for violent videos. [HuffPost]
TRUMP CONGRATULATED TURKISH PRESIDENT AFTER REFERENDUM VICTORY “President Donald Trump called Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to congratulate him after Erdogan narrowly emerged victorious from a referendum to inflate his political powers, Turkish officials said and the White House confirmed.” [HuffPost]
WHAT SEAN SPICER HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE NO LONGER RELEASING VIDEO LOGS It involved the phrase: “Frankly, the faux attempt that the Obama administration put out where they would scrub anyone who they didn’t want put out didn’t serve anyone well.” [HuffPost]
FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN PAUL MANAFORT NOW ADVISING CHINA ON INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN As a reminder, Manafort is at the center of the allegations of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. [HuffPost]
UNSEALED DOCUMENTS SHOW PRINCE’S DOCTOR PRESCRIBED HIM DRUGS IN SOMEONE ELSE’S NAME No one has yet to be charged in the “active homicide investigation.” [Reuters]
WIN TICKETS TO TECHCRUNCH DISRUPT IN NYC Want to know everything there is to know about tech? We got you. We teamed up with Product Hunt and friends to give one lucky person the chance to win a trip to NYC, two tickets to TechCrunch Disrupt, a private chef-led tasting dinner and a one-year subscription to Mogul courses. [HuffPost]
THE MURDER RATE JUMPED IN 2016 Mostly due to spikes of murders in these three cities. [HuffPost]
EVEN THE FORMER PRESIDENT CAN BE AN INSTAGRAM HUSBAND Somebody has to make sure to capture Michelle Obama looking fabulous ― on an iPad no less. [HuffPost]
MEET THE NEW BROADWAY VOICES OF ‘FROZEN’ Because “Let It Go” will never stop playing at all times. [HuffPost]
WE HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THESE COACHELLA OUTFITS Most of which revolve around how expensive it is to wear so much fringe. Here’s a rundown of all the celebs that got their jam on, as well as stills of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga filming scenes there for their upcoming “A Star Is Born” remake. [HuffPost]
LOOKS LIKE MEGHAN MARKLE IS HEADED TO PIPPA MIDDLETON’S WEDDING AFTER ALL If we were a betting newsletter, we’d be putting some money on an engagement announcement any day now. Or a week after that wedding as not to steal the spotlight. [Vanity Fair]
THE DEATH OF THE DATELINE Gems like “WITH THE ATOMIC BOMB MISSION TO JAPAN” and “NORTH POLE” are now of the past at The New York Times. [NYT]
Here’s how Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s first day on the job went.
Why Georgia’s special election Tuesday matters nationally.
Arkansas governor and attorney general vow to pursue executions after the state’s Supreme Court stayed the first two.
Sorry, Justin Trudeau fans ― the Canadian Prime Minister got called out for his record on climate change.
Mike Huckabee’s just like us all ― he hates his cable company more than anything.
This woman survived being groped and thrown onto the NYC subway tracks.
In case you need summer gym motivation, these swimsuit photos of Serena Williams should do the trick.
The internet is pretty darn excited that James Gunn is returning for a third “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie.
We want to know how you get the assignment to evaluate the top cross country flights in the U.S. ― bottomless champagne and all.
Huma Abedin wants $2 million for her memoir.
Did you miss Kate Middleton’s Easter outfit? We could have sworn she was Jackie O.
You’re about to see the Starbucks unicorn frappuccino everywhere.
The Tomi Lahren-Glenn Beck feud is only getting nastier.
Don’t mind this, it’s just a photo of hundreds of people dressed like Charlie Chaplin.
Do women wear men’s button-up shirts in the morning or does that only exist in the movies?
The one tweet that everyone loved from the White House Easter Roll.
And thank you Deadspin, for giving us nightmares about cockroaches living in PS4s.
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Maybe that’s why Chewie’s fur is so big: It’s full of secrets about Han Solo.
Last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger raised eyebrows in a University of Southern California lecture hall when he said an upcoming “Star Wars” movie focusing on a young Han Solo would reveal “how he got his name.” The suggestion that Harrison Ford’s beloved smuggler was perhaps not born “Han Solo,” but acquired it as a nickname through unknown circumstances, caused mass confusion.
Thankfully, another studio insider has stepped in to clarify the comment.
“I’m not sure that’s entirely what Bob meant,” Kathleen Kennedy, a producer on the much-anticipated “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” told MTV News on Monday. “There’s more to Han Solo’s name, but it’s not that it’s not his name. It’s obviously his name. It will always be his name.”
To recap: Han Solo is Han Solo. But he’s more than just Han Solo. Got it?
The yet-untitled “Star Wars” film will reveal the character’s past, following him from age 18 through 24 with Alden Ehrenreich (”Hail, Caesar!”) in the title role. All-stars Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge round out the cast.
“There are a few significant things that happen in Han Solo’s life,” Iger explained last month, “like acquiring a certain vehicle and meeting a certain Wookiee that will happen in this film.”
But whatever the deal with his name truly is, we won’t find out until May 2018.
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The push for California secession just suffered a major setback. The colorful co-founder of the “Calexit” movement revealed that he’s withdrawing his petition for a California nationhood ballot and setting up home permanently in Russia.
Louis Marinelli published a lengthy farewell statement on the website of the Yes California Independence Campaign announcing his move Monday. “I do not wish to live under the American flag,” he wrote. “I do not wish to live under the American political system or within the American economic system.”
The succession campaign started before President Donald Trump’s election, though Yes California co-founder Marcus Ruiz Evans ― who is now pushing for a new nationhood bid with a rival group ― told the Los Angeles the surprise result sped up the move to submit a proposed ballot measure to the state attorney general’s office in December.
Marinelli’s announcement surprised many ― but while his “Calexit” movement is supposedly headquartered in San Diego, he’s been living in a town on the edge of Siberia for some time and his ties to Russia run deep. He first moved to Russia a decade ago, is married to a Russian citizen and works as a teacher in Yekaterinburg. And he studied at St. Petersburg State University when he was younger.
Marinelli, who was born in Buffalo, New York, said in his farewell statement that he had planned to return one day to “occupied California to struggle for her independence from the United States so we could build the kind of country that reflects our progressive values,” but now his “disillusion” with the U.S. points to a “new direction.
Russia offers Marinelli “a new happiness, a life without the albatross of frustration and resentment toward one’s homeland,” he said, as he lamented the “animosity that has thus far engulfed my entire adult life.” “If the people of Russia would be so kind as to welcome me here on a permanent basis, I intend to make Russia my new home,” he added.
Marinelli, who once battled gay rights before changing his mind and supporting same-sex marriage, told KQED that Russian President Vladimir Putin is helping American secession movements –- including his own campaign –- as part of a strategy to hit at U.S. power.
“I kind of don’t blame them because it’s what the United States has been doing to them, and to every country around the world,” he said. But he also stressed that he wasn’t receiving any direct support, so it wasn’t unclear what kind of Putin “help” Marinelli was referring to.
News of Marinelli’s move drew mixed responses on social media:
Trump’s victory has triggered major support in California for secession. A third of the state’s population now wants to secede, according to a January poll.
Marinelli’s petition to place the secession measure on the 2018 ballot for a vote in 2019 has some 100,000 supporters, though 585,000 signatures are required on the ballot petition by July for it to qualify in time. But a formal request has already been issued to withdraw the petition.
Ruiz Evans, the campaign’s vice-president, announced on Monday that he’s leaving Yes California, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. He told the Sacramento Bee that secession supporters got “spooked” when they learned about Marinelli’s links to Russia.
He’s joining another pro-nationhood group, the California Freedom Coalition, and Ruiz Evans said he hopes to have another ballot proposal ready to go on May 1.
The Freedom Coalition won’t accept any foreign money, and contributions from other states must be cleared by the group’s board, spokesman Steve Gonzales told the San Francisco Chronicle.
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