After Missteps, Pop Stars Apologize … and Sometimes Push Back
In the last two weeks, the pop stars Lana Del Rey and Doja Cat have both found themselves in hot water on the internet over kerfuffles of their own creation. This is what life online is often like for the famous and demi-famous. Misstep, apologize, recalibrate, repeat. But these two scenarios are unusual in that the pop star’s explanations were delivered with a stiffened spine, a bit of pushback against the organized hive of social media condemnation. On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about how pop stars are asked to be avatars of moral perfection, and how they are increasingly shrugging off that burden and embracing their complexity, critics be damned.
Source:New York Times
June 01, 2020 19:52 UTC
The Metropolitan Opera Cancels All Fall Performances
He added that people who have already bought tickets for the canceled performances could exchange them for other performances, donate the money or get full refunds. The Met has struggled at the box office in recent years while maintaining an annual budget of over $300 million. The Met still enjoys strong philanthropic support, and it has raised $60 million over the past two months, as part of an emergency campaign. “It has always been a disadvantage of opera that so little of its income comes from box office,” he said. The company has been streaming free operas from its extensive video catalog each night, an endeavor that has helped it attract 20,000 new donors.
Source:New York Times
June 01, 2020 19:52 UTC
Air travel is bouncing back ... sort of
Washington (CNN Business) Air travel is nowhere near pre-pandemic levels . The number of people passing through airport security checkpoints nearly doubled over the course of the month. The Transportation Security Administration says it screened nearly 949,000 passengers over the past weekend. said more people traveled this past weekend than over Memorial Day, the start of the summer travel season. Those loads are unprofitable, so more passengers on flights means airlines will burn less cash with each takeoff and landing.
Source:CNN
June 01, 2020 19:51 UTC
How a City Once Consumed by Civil Unrest Has Kept Protests Peaceful
A weekend protest in Newark ended at the same intersection where one of the most wrenching and deadly of the race riots that convulsed the nation during the 1960s began. It was there, just outside the First Precinct at the corner of 17th Avenue and Livingston Street, that hundreds of protesters outraged by the death of George Floyd faced off late Saturday against officers in riot gear. A plaque commemorating the 1967 upheaval hung within eyeshot, summoning the old ghosts: 26 dead; five days of looting, gunshots and arson fires that left a legacy of vacant lots that still haunts New Jersey’s largest city; the exodus of businesses and middle-class residents that would come to define Newark for the next five decades. But on Monday, the city emerged at least partially redefined. As many cities across the United States were filled with fiery scenes of rock-throwing demonstrators, burning squad cars and aggressive policing, peace has so far prevailed in Newark.
Source:New York Times
June 01, 2020 19:43 UTC
Judge Sullivan says he is not required to ‘rubber stamp’ DOJ’s bid to dismiss Flynn case
The Justice Department joined Flynn in a separate filing Monday urging the appeals court to quickly bring the case to a close. The appeals court agreed to review Sullivan’s actions and gave the judge 10 days to respond to Flynn’s request. As recently as January, prosecutors recommended the judge sentence Flynn to up to six months in prison. Sullivan’s filing notes that the move to dismiss the case was not signed by any front-line prosecutors who had previously worked on the case. In this case, Flynn pleaded guilty under oath before two different judges, and he told Sullivan at a 2018 hearing that no one had coerced him to admit his guilt and that he had no intention of taking back his plea.
Source:Washington Post
June 01, 2020 19:41 UTC
Five dead in newest Ebola outbreak in Congo, UNICEF says
(CNN) Five people, including a 15-year-old girl, have died of Ebola in a fresh outbreak of the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations Children's Fund said Monday. A new #Ebola outbreak detected in western #DRC , near Mbandaka, Équateur province. The country is also in final phase of battling Ebola in eastern DRC, #COVID19 & the world's largest measles outbreak. "The announcement comes as a long, difficult and complex Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is in its final phase, while the country also battles COVID-19 and the world's largest measles outbreak," WHO said in a statement. The Ebola virus lives in bats, and WHO says new outbreaks can be expected in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Source:CNN
June 01, 2020 19:41 UTC
Live Updates on George Floyd Protests: Military Confronts Protesters in Nation’s Capital
A curfew in New York City, looting in Los Angeles and tear gas as the president went for a walk in Washington. Times reporters, photographers and correspondents are filing updates and videos from around the country on the seventh day of protests since George Floyd was killed by the police in Minneapolis. Zolan Kanno-Youngs in Washington“It’s been the last straw,” said Janasia Crumpler, 20, at a rally in Washington. “It was out of control before when white people were rioting and you called them very good people. Rebekah Castilaw stood on an island of grass along one of the busiest thoroughfares in Hattiesburg, Miss — a protest of one.
Source:New York Times
June 01, 2020 19:39 UTC
EPA Mounts A New Strike On States’ Rights, This Time To Boost Pipeline Companies
The new rule, first proposed last August, sets a strict one-year deadline for states and tribes to certify or deny permits to build pipelines. The statute as it existed previously required states to grant or deny permits in a “reasonable” amount of time within one year. “This new rule says states can’t do that.” That means states must either grant or deny permits within 12 months or the EPA will deem the state permit waived. This incentivizes pipeline companies to withhold information states would need to fully assess a projects’ impacts on water “to try to force the state to certify the permit,” Ryan said. Robert Nickelsberg via Getty Images Contractors and welders work on the Pennsylvania section of the Williams Pipeline in 2017.
Source:Huffington Post
June 01, 2020 19:37 UTC
In wake of George Floyd's death, Mark Zuckerberg announces $10M donation, adds there is 'more to do'
In the wake of George Floyd's death last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is making a $10 million donation to a number of groups working on racial injustice. Zuckerberg added that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has also donated large sums of money, "investing ~$40 million annually for several years in organizations working to overcome racial injustice." Several media reports, including the New York Times, on Monday reported that Facebook employees were holding "virtual walkouts" in response to Zuckerberg's decision to leave Trump's posts on the platform as is. Color Of Change, an organization that has been pushing Facebook and Zuckerberg to do more, thanked Facebook employees who walked out in protest. Lyft co-founder Logan Green also said the ride-hailing service would donate $500,000 in ride credits to a number of different organizations.
Source:Fox News
June 01, 2020 19:30 UTC
Police Target Journalists as Trump Blames ‘Lamestream Media’ for Protests
“Then one police officer started pointing at me and started to shoot,” he said. Mr. Chang was hit with something in his chest, and then in his elbow. A group of roughly 20 journalists standing apart from the protesters moved aside, but the police attacked them directly with pepper spray and rubber bullets, she said. A colleague, the reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske, shouted, “We’re reporters!”Ms. Cole was wearing a press pass around her neck and a flak jacket with “TV” on it, she said. She was pepper-sprayed in her left ear and eye, and her cornea was damaged, she said.
Source:New York Times
June 01, 2020 19:29 UTC
With Another Stimulus Check Looking Less Likely, Here Are Steps To Take Now If You Need Financial Relief
The act would provide a second round of stimulus payments to individuals, at $1,200 per family member (up to $6,000 per household). Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) supports another round of stimulus payments, but is now prioritizing other policies, like expanding unemployment benefits and assisting small businesses, over direct payments. The drift from support for another round of stimulus payments follows how Senate Republicans are also aiming for other forms of relief. This behavior suggests the stimulus payments were a financial lifeline for many Americans, and were used as a cushion to prepare themselves for the looming recession. Many financial institutions are now offering coronavirus hardship loans, which are personal loans intended for consumers who are in need of cash on hand right now.
Source:Forbes
June 01, 2020 19:25 UTC
Independent autopsy and Minnesota officials say George Floyd's death was homicide
(CNN) Experts hired by George Floyd's family and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner have concluded his death was a homicide, but they differ on what caused it. The independent autopsy says Floyd died of "asphyxiation from sustained pressure" when his neck and back were compressed by Minneapolis police officers during his arrest last week. Cardiopulmonary arrest means Floyd's heart failed. The medical examiner made no mention of asphyxiation. The Hennepin County release says heart disease was an issue; the independent examiner didn't find that.
Source:CNN
June 01, 2020 19:19 UTC
George Will: There is no such thing as rock bottom for Trump. Assume the worst is yet to come.
In 2016, voters were presented an unprecedentedly unpalatable choice: Never had both major parties offered nominees with higher disapproval than approval numbers. The measures necessary for restoration of national equilibrium are many and will be protracted far beyond his removal. Voters must dispatch his congressional enablers, especially the senators who still gambol around his ankles with a canine hunger for petting. In 2016, the Republican Party gave its principal nomination to a vulgarian and then toiled to elect him. So, assume that the worst is yet to come.
Source:Washington Post
June 01, 2020 19:18 UTC
Joel Revzen, Conductor and Music Festival Leader, Dies at 74
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. Joel Revzen, a conductor who thrived in regional opera and music festivals, but whose career also took him to the Metropolitan Opera and the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, died on May 25 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. The cause was Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, his wife, Cynthia Rhys, said. Critics often noted Mr. Revzen’s clarity and instinct for shaping drama in music.
Source:New York Times
June 01, 2020 19:18 UTC
Music industry leaders vow to pause business for a day in observation of Blackout Tuesday
At least, that's the message coming from leaders and artists in the music business as part of a movement being referred to as Blackout Tuesday. Music executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang spearheaded the effort to shutter normal business operations on June 2 via their #theshowmustbepaused initiative. In a letter explaining the effort posted to their official site , Thomas and Agyemang said it is "in observance of the long-standing racism and inequality that exists from the boardroom to the boulevard." Artists like the Rolling Stones, Quincy Jones and Billie Eilish have said they'll observe the day. A number of artists have also canceled listening parties or fan events in response.
Source:CNN
June 01, 2020 19:18 UTC