04:42:27Â 01/09/2017
https://youtu.be/Y1dUZDI66As
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A lot of news, but is it art?
Welcome to another Monday. Temperatures are still cold out this morning, but by mid-afternoon, we might just make it above freezing for the first time in several days. This is the beginning of a warming trend that will see central Indiana near 60 degrees by Thursday, but with that comes a reasonable chance for rain every day except today. By next weekend it will be cold and wintery again, so enjoy the warmer weather while you can.
The weekend managed to conjure up a fair bit of news for this morning. McDonald’s has sold most of its business in China and Hong Kong to investors who can help them grow. Turkey claims they’ve killed more than 40 ISIS fighters over the weekend, and the Friday’s Ft. Lauderdale shooter is likely facing the death penalty. Yet, it’s an award show that seems to be getting all the chatter this morning. Let’s look at our 5 things you should know and see if we can figure out why.
But first, the weather
We tend to look at the weather in terms of local forecasts and are typically thankful when everything is benign and quiet. A little bit of snow in the wrong place can be a real problem with it hits in the South, such as it did on Friday and Saturday last week. But what you might have missed was a massive winter storm that hit Europe over the weekend, leaving at least 20 dead and closing businesses and services across much of the continent1.
Those of you familiar with European geography know that, like the US, Southern Europe rarely sees a touch of winter. The Greek Islands are a popular winter tourist destination because they tend to stay warm. The same is true for Southern Italy. Yet, both are frozen over today and have a heavy blanket of fresh snow, closing ferries, ports, and schools. Overnight temperatures in Northern Europe reached as low as -22° F, which contributed to many of the deaths. Many of those dying are homeless and immigrant people with insufficient shelter.
At the same time, however, the Western US is getting hit with a storm of its own. Hundreds of homes have been evacuated in Nevada and in Northern California police are rescuing people from cars as the strongest winter storm to hit that region in 10 years pummels them with more water than they can handle2. This is on top of the more than six feet of snow dumped on the Sierra Nevadas in the past week. What you should know is that this is normally a high desert region that sees less than eight inches of rain a year. They’re looking at a very rough start to their week.
Death of a diplomat
People in Iran are mourning the death of Former Iranian president Akbar Rafsanjani who died Sunday at age 823. This is important because Rafsanjani, who was a political moderate, played a large role in the election of Iran’s current president, Hassan Rouhani and was a force within Iran for supporting the current nuclear agreement between that country and the West. Without Rafsanjani, Rouhani faces considerable objections from Iranian hardliners in favor of ditching the agreement and developing Iran’s nuclear program.
Given the rhetoric toward Iran from president-elect Donald Trump, many moderates and Middle Eastern academics feel that Rafsanjani’s death could not have come at a worse time. With political instability on both sides of the nuclear agreement, fears are high that the whole thing might fall apart without Rafsanjani’s voice working to keep both sides calm. Any political misstep on either side now could have catastrophic results.
In a country that has often been isolationist and protective, Rafsanjani was a rare voice of reason who advocated not only stronger ties with the West but closer relations with Iran’s Middle Eastern neighbors. A three-day period of mourning has been declared and the former president’s funeral will be held on Tuesday.
Using trucks as weapons
We may soon begin seeing a more diligent inspection of trucks on city streets as, once again, a truck has been used as part of a terror attack, this time in Jerusalem4. At least four Israeli soldiers were killed and 17 people wounded as a Palestinian driver rammed his truck into a crowd at a popular tourist attraction. This is the deadliest single attack in the region which has seen a considerable amount of violence over the past year.
This time, however, the US has a direct role in the causation for the attack. Tensions in the region have been high based on president-elect Trump’s statement that he plans to move the US embassy to Israel to Jerusalem. Palestinians have warned that such a move would have dire consequences, which has many wondering if this was merely a warning of what might be to come should the president-elect follow through on his promise.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blaming the so-called Islamic State, however, given that organization’s recent use of a truck at a market in Germany that left 12 dead. The truck driver was a Palestinian man from a nearby neighborhood known for being home to other terrorists in the region. Security cameras show the truck barreling through the streets at a high rate of speed toward a group of soldiers, and then backing up rapidly after hitting them. The driver was shot dead by other Israeli soldiers surviving the attack.
Ending the program but not the controversy
Following the death of Tilikum, the orca that killed a trainer at Sea World back in 2010, Sea World San Diego has announced that it is ending its Killer Whale show5. The final presentation featuring trainers interacting with the giant mammals was held yesterday afternoon. Sea World says it plans to redesign the large tanks and open a new orca exhibit in the spring that is more of an educational experience. Visitors will see how orcas eat and interact with each other rather than with a trainer.
Don’t think this is an end to the controversy surrounding the Sea World program, though. Tilikum died at an estimated age of 36. While that might seem old compared to the life of your family pet, orcas in the wild have been known to live well over 200 years, with some estimated to live another century beyond that. The effect of captivity on the giant animals dramatically shortens their lifespan, no matter how well their care might be.
What you should know is that Sea World parks in Orlando and San Antonio will continue their orca shows through 2019. Attendance at all Sea World parks has fallen off since the documentary Blackfish criticized the conditions of the orcas at Sea World, specifically Tilikum, saying that captivity makes the massive mammals more aggressive. Sea World has also announced they are laying off some 320 people across its 12 parks, none of which are likely to affect the orca programs.
And finally …
The first big awards show of the new year, the Golden Globes, was held last night and, as one might expect, the tabloids and entertainment news is full of chatter about who won what6.  Now, before anyone busts a gut, we can tell you that the musical La La Land took the lead with seven awards, which definitely brightens its chances going into the Oscars. Tracee Ellis Ross, took the award for best actress in a TV comedy for “Black-ish,” the first black woman to win in that category since 1992. Emma Stone won for best movie actress in a comedy or musical, and Billy Bob Thornton won for best actor in a TV drama.
What has tongues wagging fiercely this morning is Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech after winning the Cecile B. DeMille award, where she called the president-elect a bully and challenged the press to hold those in power accountable. What is getting the most attention, however, is when she said, “Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. And if we kick ’em all out you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”
That comment set off a firestorm about athletics not being the arts. MMA supporters especially took exception, given the word “arts” is in the title. Stop and think about it, though. We don’t called anyone a football artist, we call them “players.” We call those who participate in MMA “fighters,” not artists. Just so we’re clear, the Fine Arts always have been, and continue to be painting, sculpture, architecture, music and poetry extending to dance and drama. Modern modifications include film, photography, and other visial elements, but they do NOT include athletics. Those are sports. Don’t get confused.
And that’s all we have time and energy for this morning. Being a Monday, I’m sure there will be a lot happen throughout the day today. We’ll watch it all and we’ll be back in the morning to sift through all the nonsense. Enjoy the warming weather if you can and we’ll back tomorrow.
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Avalanche!
Earthquake and snow proves deadly
The Short Version
30 people are missing and most presumed dead after earthquakes and heavy snowfall resulted in an avalanche that buried Hotel Rigopiano in the mountainous region of central Italy. Rescue crews had to dig their way through several feet of snow just to get to the remote spa location. Initial calls to survivors have yielded nothing but silence and the entire situation looks quite grim.
Update:
4:54:59 PM EST 4:55:16 PM: 10 people have been rescued as efforts continue on into the night. Four bodies have also been removed from the snow. At least 20 others are still missing. Some reports say the guests had gathered in the lobby, awaiting evacuation from the earthquakes, when the avalanche hit. The force of the snow not only broke through walls but shifted the entire building some eleven yards or more off its foundation. There is still considerable criticism being directed toward an official who refused to believe the initial report of the avalanche and waited several hours before sending out rescue crews. A survivor said all the guests had checked out and were waiting for transportation that had been delayed because of blocked roads. Prosecutor Christina Tedeschini has opened a manslaughter investigation to determine whether the disaster could have been avoided.
05:04:56 AM ESTÂ 01/20/2017: Rescuers continued working through the night as hopes of finding any survivors dims. Two bodies have been found and two more have been located but not recovered. Rescuers are going slowly amidst fears that as snow is removed weak walls could cause the snow to fall in on top of them. Snow continues to fall, further hampering the ability of rescuers and big equipment trying to get to the hotel. An investigation has begun as to why it took 11 hours before anyone got to the site of the avalanche. Power continues to be out at most homes in the area and most roads are impassable.
12:02:18 PM EST: The only rescuers who have gotten through have been on skis, which limits the amount of rescue work they are able to do. Heavy equipment is struggling to get through all the snow. One survivor reports that it took two hours of calling immediately after the avalanche before anyone believed that anything bad had even happened. One person trapped in the hotel was able to get out a message that said, “Help, we’re freezing to death,” but the message did not say where in the resort the person was located. As darkness descends upon the region, there is still no power to the area, making it difficult to utilize even the most basic of rescue efforts.
A Little Background
The Hotel Rigopiano is a very popular spa destination nestled in the remote mountains of Italy’s Abruzzo region in the central part of the country and located in the Gran Sasso National Park. The hotel caters primarily to foreign tourists and provides a multi-lingual staff to accommodate guests in their native language. One of the attractive features of the hotel is its remote location, well away from the noise of any other tourist destinations.
What Happened
Earthquakes. Â Four tremors hit central Italy yesterday, ranging from 5.3 to 5.7 on the Richter scale. Seismologists registered more than 100 aftershocks as the effect was felt throughout the mountains. This came on top of more than three feet of snow that had already isolated much of the region, making travel difficult. The hotel’s website on Wednesday morning advised using snow chains to get to the resort. Several of the smaller towns in the region were reporting problems with power being out and the hotel’s phone service had gone out due to the snow as well.
All this proved to be deadly as aftershocks from the earthquakes shook loose tons of snow that crashed into the hotel and through its walls without any warning. Early video from rescuers shows snow blasted through exterior walls and into guest rooms. Crews have been working through the morning in an effort to find any survivors. So far, two have been found, but both of those had actually been outside when the avalanche hit. No one inside the hotel has been found alive yet.
While an exact count of people potentially trapped in the hotel is not known, there were 30 guests registered in addition to staff, which could ultimately push the number of missing above 40. There is also a slim possibility that some local people were in the hotel, having been moved there after previous earthquakes made their homes unsafe. However, there is no confirmation of Hotel Rigopiano having taken any of those additional guests.
All this comes after heavy earthquakes in the region killed some 300 people last August.
Rescue efforts are ongoing, but there appears to be little hope as crews still receive no answer to their constant calls.
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