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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

George Michael, a well-known British pop singer and songwriter, died on Christmas Day at the age of 53. Michael was found dead at his home in Oxfordshire, England, by boyfriend Fadi Fawaz.

Michael’s publicist released the following statement to People and Entertainment Weekly: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period. The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time.” He also reported that Michael had died of heart failure and “passed away peacefully”.

Sir Elton John said via Instagram, “I am in deep shock. I have lost a beloved friend — the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. My heart goes out to his family and all of his fans.”

George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in London. Over his multi-decade career, he sold more than 100 million records. Along with co-singer Andrew Ridgeley he became famous as part of the duo band Wham!. Together, Michael and Ridgeley produced several hit songs, such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Freedom, and Last Christmas. In 1985, Wham! was the first Western band to play in China since the beginning of the country’s opening up strategy. Wham! dissolved in 1986. In 1984, Michael recorded the successful single Careless Whisper. Michael was credited as the solo artist in the United Kingdom and as “Wham! featuring George Michael” in the United States. Michael released a hit solo album Faith in 1987, containing hits like I Want Your Sex.

Michael’s life was troubled by both substance abuse and issues with his sexuality. He initially hid his identity as a gay man from his fans, coming out only after a very public arrest for public lewdness in 1998. He would later be arrested for possession of drugs and driving under the influence of drugs. He was sentenced to eight weeks in prison in 2010 for crashing a Range Rover into a storefront while under the influence of drugs and possession of cannabis.

Michael had a history of transforming his negative experiences into art. He wrote White Light about a serious case of pneumonia that led to his hospitalization in 2011, and the music video for Outside, which followed on the heels of his arrest and coming out, showed scenes of a men’s bathroom, a dance club, and men kissing while in police uniforms. He would perform White Light live at the 2012 London Olympics.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Last night HBO premiered I Am An Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA. Since its inception, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has made headlines and raised eyebrows. They are almost single-handedly responsible for the movement against animal testing and their efforts have raised the suffering animals experience in a broad spectrum of consumer goods production and food processing into a cause célèbre.

PETA first made headlines in the Silver Spring monkeys case, when Alex Pacheco, then a student at George Washington University, volunteered at a lab run by Edward Taub, who was testing neuroplasticity on live monkeys. Taub had cut sensory ganglia that supplied nerves to the monkeys’ fingers, hands, arms, legs; with some of the monkeys, he had severed the entire spinal column. He then tried to force the monkeys to use their limbs by exposing them to persistent electric shock, prolonged physical restraint of an intact arm or leg, and by withholding food. With footage obtained by Pacheco, Taub was convicted of six counts of animal cruelty—largely as a result of the monkeys’ reported living conditions—making them “the most famous lab animals in history,” according to psychiatrist Norman Doidge. Taub’s conviction was later overturned on appeal and the monkeys were eventually euthanized.

PETA was born.

In the subsequent decades they ran the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty against Europe’s largest animal-testing facility (footage showed staff punching beagle puppies in the face, shouting at them, and simulating sex acts while taking blood samples); against Covance, the United State’s largest importer of primates for laboratory research (evidence was found that they were dissecting monkeys at its Vienna, Virginia laboratory while the animals were still alive); against General Motors for using live animals in crash tests; against L’Oreal for testing cosmetics on animals; against the use of fur for fashion and fur farms; against Smithfield Foods for torturing Butterball turkeys; and against fast food chains, most recently against KFC through the launch of their website kentuckyfriedcruelty.com.

They have launched campaigns and engaged in stunts that are designed for media attention. In 1996, PETA activists famously threw a dead raccoon onto the table of Anna Wintour, the fur supporting editor-in-chief of Vogue, while she was dining at the Four Seasons in New York, and left bloody paw prints and the words “Fur Hag” on the steps of her home. They ran a campaign entitled Holocaust on your Plate that consisted of eight 60-square-foot panels, each juxtaposing images of the Holocaust with images of factory farming. Photographs of concentration camp inmates in wooden bunks were shown next to photographs of caged chickens, and piled bodies of Holocaust victims next to a pile of pig carcasses. In 2003 in Jerusalem, after a donkey was loaded with explosives and blown up in a terrorist attack, Newkirk sent a letter to then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat to keep animals out of the conflict. As the film shows, they also took over Jean-Paul Gaultier‘s Paris boutique and smeared blood on the windows to protest his use of fur in his clothing.

The group’s tactics have been criticized. Co-founder Pacheco, who is no longer with PETA, called them “stupid human tricks.” Some feminists criticize their campaigns featuring the Lettuce Ladies and “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” ads as objectifying women. Of their Holocaust on a Plate campaign, Anti-Defamation League Chairman Abraham Foxman said “The effort by PETA to compare the deliberate systematic murder of millions of Jews to the issue of animal rights is abhorrent.” (Newkirk later issued an apology for any hurt it caused). Perhaps most controversial amongst politicians, the public and even other animal rights organizations is PETA’s refusal to condemn the actions of the Animal Liberation Front, which in January 2005 was named as a terrorist threat by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

David Shankbone attended the pre-release screening of I Am An Animal at HBO’s offices in New York City on November 12, and the following day he sat down with Ingrid Newkirk to discuss her perspectives on PETA, animal rights, her responses to criticism lodged against her and to discuss her on-going life’s work to raise human awareness of animal suffering. Below is her interview.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Silver Birch has won the 2007 Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool. Ridden by Robbie Power and trained by Gordon Elliott, the 33-1 outsider won the 4 mile 4 furlong (7.2 km) race by three-quarters of a length, becoming the sixth Irish winner in the past nine years.

Thirteen horses finished the race out of 40 starters. Slim Pickings, leading the race at the penultimate fence, was overtaken by Silver Birch on the last jump. Silver Birch then held off a late challenge by McKelvey in a close finish.

McKelvey came in second at 12-1, while Slim Pickings finished third at 33-1 and Philson Run fourth at 100-1. Numbersixvalverde, winner of the 2006 race, finished sixth while the 2005 winner Hedgehunter finished ninth. The 8-1 joint favourites Point Barrow, Joes Edge and Monkerhostin failed to finish, with Point Barrow falling at the first fence.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Buffalo, New York —The preliminary hearing for a lawsuit filed against the Elmwood Village Hotel proposal in Buffalo, New York as well as the City of Buffalo has been postponed indefinitely and will take place “as needed” pending the resubmission of the proposal by Savarino Construction also of Buffalo. A request was made to New York State Supreme court Judge Justice Rose Sconiers, the judge to preside over the case, to discuss a “timetable” for resubmission, but the court “decided not to,” said attorney Arthur Giacalone who represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

The hotel would require the demolition of at least five properties, 1109-1121 Elmwood and would cause the closure of several businesses. Already, two businesses, Skunk Tail Glass and Six Nations Native American Gift Shop have relocated, outside the Elmwood Strip. Don apparel, H.O.D. Tattoo and Mondo Video still remain on Elmwood; however, Mondo Video is planning on moving to a new location. The hotel will be 72 rooms and will cost at least 7 million dollars to build. Wyndham Hotels is expected to be the owner/operator of the hotel. The properites are currently owned by Hans Mobius. Two other properties, 605 and 607 Forest might also be part of the proposal. 605 Forest is owned by Pano Georgiadis, owner of Pano’s Restaurant on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo. 607 Forest is owned by Mobius.

“There’s no new [court] date. The next appearance will be as needed,” said Giacalone.

The proposal was withdrawn by Savarino on July 13, 2006 to undergo “a do-over” and according to the Buffalo News, “shed the lawsuits” against the proposal; however, so far the proposal has “not yet” been resubmitted, but could be in about a “week.”

“With Council being out of session we have a bit of time [before resubmitting]. [We will] Probably resubmit] in a week or so,” said Sam Savarino, CEO of Savarino Construction.

“We welcome some discourse on this project and while we realize that, in all likelihood, we will not make everybody happy, we hope we can develop a consensus that what we provide on that corner will be something that is an enhancement to the neighborhood and the community. Better to have that decided (again?) in a public forum and through the approval process than through a debate over points of law in a courtroom,” added Savarino.

Despite the withdraw of the proposal, Giacalone states that the lawsuit his clients filed is still in effect due to the re-zoning of the properties, which he says are still in place and that he is “frustrated” that his client’s “day in court” has been delayed continuously by Savarino and the city.

Savarino believes that the re-zoning of the properties are “not in effect” because the proposal was withdrawn. He also stated that he is “unsure” on a decision to request the rezoning again because the “city suggested” the rezoning “last time.”

“We have pulled the request [proposal] so I would suppose it [the rezoning] is not in effect. We are as of yet unsure of whether or not to request rezoning of all the parcels. We are communicating with the City on this. You may recall that the City suggested this to us last time. We want to make sure we are doing the correct thing – and the proper thing. I am not sure whether I have a clear indication of that at this juncture,” said Savarino.

Savarino was asked if the proposal was going to be resubmitted or not, but did not answer the question.

Giacalone states that there may be several resons as to why “a new application has not been filed. Is Savarino having a hard time coming to an agreement with Mobius? Has Wyndham Hotels backed out? Is Savarino negotiating with Pano to buy the [605] Forest Avenue property?”

Buffalo’s Common Council is scheduled to meet on September 9, 2006 after Summer recess.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

London, England — In an interview with Samoa’s Chef de Mission at the London Paralympics, Julie Tuala said she hopes to get a powerlifting program under way in Samoa following the London Games.

The Samoa Paralympic Committee, she explained, with assistance from the Oceania Paralympic Committee is submitting a grant request to acquire the equipment necessary for a powerlifting program in Samoa; equipment costs around A$18,000 to A$20,000 used, and is specifically built for paraplegic competitors who need to be strapped down when lifting. If Samoa is successful in getting the money for the equipment, the next challenge will be finding money to cover the cost of freighting it to Samoa. Tuala and the nation’s athletics coach have previously held raffles, run events at a golf club, and run bake sales to assist in covering costs for developing disability sport in the country and look to do it again if they can get the grant. The last grant the International Paralympic Committee gave for the region for the equipment did not include Samoa.

According to Tuala, equipment costs are a major barrier to participation in the development of disability sport. Samoan London Paralympian Leitu Viliamu needs a new leg as she has outgrown hers. A high quality leg like the one worn by Oscar Pistorius can cost upwards of AUD$10,000 per leg. Viliamu and fellow Samoan Paralympian Milo Toleafoa only acquired real running shoes for the first time when they arrived in London.

Samoa has primarily sent athletics competitors to past Paralympics because of the cost factor.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Canadian authorities report that a Chinese restaurant in the Chinatown area of Toronto has been closed down by the Board of Public Health for the second time yesterday after investigators saw a video and pictures of a rat in the window.

The photos were posted on websites and local TV. Witnesses around the area report that they have seen rats crossing the streets, often going in and out of the restaurant.

Jesse Ship, arts editor of Format Magazine, filmed the picture of the rat while on his way to work. “I was just walking past Happy Seven [the restaurant] today on Spadina and snagged images of a rat in the window on my cell phone, sitting right next to the health inspector sign,” he said, commenting on his find. “The restaurant wasn’t open yet.”

The video of the rat in the restaurant, which according to blogTO, is one of the most liked Chinese restaurants in Toronto, was then posted on the video sharing site Vimeo four days ago. It took a couple of days after the publication of the video to attract widespread press attention.

Until the video of the rat was made public, officials believed that the restaurant was safe, giving it a pass for food safety. The restaurant will be given permission to reopen once professionals are hired to remove the rats, and inspectors are satisfied that they have been removed.

Inspectors have closed 41 restaurants in Toronto this year, six of which have been in the same area as Happy Seven. Of the restaurants in the same area, half have been for rat problems.