The year just keeps getting worse
If you’re reading or watching this, then congratulations, you survived the holidays, which is more than a lot of people can say. We deliberately skipped over all the bad news on Saturday in an attempt to give the weekend a positive spin. It didn’t work, though, did it? The universe just couldn’t go two days without inviting some disaster into our lives.
So here we go, the last week of 2016. We have snow in the Northernmost states, rain across the South and Midwest, with a chance of tornadoes just strong enough to make sure the steps down to your fraidy hole are clear. Bubble wrap your favorite living musician, I have a feeling that fate might try to finish the year strong. From all the disasters, we chose 5 things you should know.
We’ve lost our Faith
Both the US and the UK is in mourning at news of the death of singer George Michael yesterday. The 53-year-old singer is said to have died quietly at his home in London of heart failure. Michael first came to prominence as half the pop duo Wham! but it was as a solo artist that his career really took off and captured the hearts of millions of people around the world. Tributes started pouring in the moment the word hit the news yesterday afternoon.
There are a number of songs for which George Michael is remembered. Faith, Freedom ’90, I’m never gonna dance again, and the holiday favorite of the broken-hearted, Last Christmas. These are the kind of songs that are likely to dominate many of the memorials we’ll inevitably see popping up all over the Internet today. However, the song that might be most responsible for catapulting him to stardom isn’t on most George Michael playlists: I want your Sex.
Released in 1986, the salacious song was wildly popular but left radio stations and the still=new MTV channel with a conundrum as to whether to play the song. Conservatives were outraged that the word sex had gotten onto an album without any warning. Most stations refused to play the song at all. Those who did, limited it to late-night hours. The singer also courted controversy with the song Outside after an LA police officer outed the singer as gay.
Rest In Peace, George Michael, and thank you for letting us know it’s okay to think about sex. Here’s the video:
Russia Loses A Choir
Unfortunately, George Michael wasn’t the only loss to the music world yesterday. There was at first a sense of suspicion when news hit the wire yesterday that a Russian plane in route to Syria had gone down in the Black Sea. The suspicion turned to sorrow, though, when it was announced that the group known widely as The Red Army Choir was on that flight, heading to entertain troops at a military base2.
Formally known as the Alexandrov Ensemble, the all-male group was known for their loud if not stirring recordings of Soviet and Russian anthems. However, they group had their lighter side as well and was especially popular for their cover of Daft Punk’s, Lucky during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Sixty-four members of the ensemble, including director Valery Khalilov, were aboard the plane yesterday.  Russian officials this morning are saying that mechanical malfunctions were responsible for the plane going down, dismissing any idea that terrorism might have played a role.
While the full group has 186 members, most of the singers were on the flight. While the group will almost certainly rebuild, the loss for the people of Russia is significant. Here is a video of the group doing its cover of Lucky:
https://youtu.be/BYbtAZjB8QM
Carrie Fisher Is Hanging On
Fortunately, not all the news was bad yesterday. Star Wars fans around the world took a deep breath and held it when word was released late Saturday that actress Carrie Fisher had suffered a “cardiac episode” while on a flight from London to Los Angeles. We finally release that breath yesterday when Ms. Fisher’s mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, announced that her daughter was in stable condition and resting comfortably3.
While Ms. Fisher is both an accomplished actor and writer, it is her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise that made her’s a household name. In fact, the actress had been in London promoting her latest book, The Princess Diarist, a memoir depicting her time filming her iconic turn as Princess Leia in the Star Wars film series3. In recent years, Ms. Fisher has not been shy talking about the amount of sex and drug use on the film sets of the 1970s and 80s.
Here’s video of her latest interview just a few weeks ago with The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert:
Fake News Creates An International Incident
Fake news has reared its ugly head again and proven that even those in power can sometimes be fooled by an article that appears to know what it’s talking about. Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif found an article on the site AWD News claiming that Israel’s former defense minister threatened to attack Pakistan if they sent troops to Syria. Naturally, that’s the kind of news that doesn’t set well with a defense minister. Asif did as other world leaders are increasingly doing and took to Twitter to register his objection. He reminded Israel that “Pakistan is also a nuclear power.4”
Focus on the key word, “also.” You see, Israel has never actually admitted that they have nuclear capability. Doing so would put any such program under United Nations observation, thus rendering it very much not a secret. Historically, the US has helped keep this not-so-secret secret by blocking attempts within the UN Security Council to demand inspections of the nuclear sites Israel won’t admit that it has.
With that same UN Security Council denouncing Israeli settlements in the West Bank last week, tensions between Israel and much of the world are very high at the moment5. The thinly veiled threat was considered very serious. Israel’s defense ministry tweeted back that the alleged news story was fake, but Pakistan has yet to reply to that tweet.
Is Your Makeup Too Heavy?
And finally, here’s something you might not think of too terribly often: the amount of lead in the makeup you use. The Food and Drug Administration released new guidelines last week on the amount of lead to be used in cosmetics made in the US6. The non-binding set of guidelines addresses the amount of lead in things such as lipstick, shampoo, eye shadows and body lotions. Generally speaking, most products have a lead content of less than 10 parts per million (ppm). However, there remain a few brands across every category that still have higher lead content.
The renewed concern about lead in products comes as an increasing number of cities are finding high levels of lead in their drinking water due to corroding pipes. Where lead levels in the body may already be higher than normal, lead in other products becomes a more serious issue as the lead builds up within the body and can reach dangerous levels. For people living in places such as Flint, Michigan or St. Joseph, Louisiana, this can be a very serious issue.
Complicating the matter is the fact that not all products list the amount of lead on their label. I talked briefly with Kat about the subject and she confirmed that most makeup artists don’t look at lead content as a point of concern and typically don’t check their products. Again, this new paper is not binding. However, it may indicate a much more carefully managed position by the FDA in the future.
That’s all we have time for this morning. We have some personal obligations today that require us to be on the road early, so we don’t have time to put this in video format before we need to leave. We’ll try and do that again tomorrow. Until then, please stay safe. Hear’s hoping this Monday is a good one.
5 Things You Should Know: 12.28.2016
https://youtu.be/yARx2XOyYbE
This year is not over yet
Good morning, we’re back after some holiday complications, ready to tackle what’s left of this tremendously upsetting year. There certainly will be plenty of reasons to celebrate its passing Saturday night. My concern at this point is that the year might try for a big finish. So please, wherever you go, whatever you do, exercise caution and common sense.
As we’re looking at developing news this morning, there were a couple of shallow earthquakes waking up everyone in the Lake Tahoe region this morning. Zsa Zsa Gabor’s adopted son died just a few days after his mother’s passing. And the president, the one who knows what he’s doing, signed a bill yesterday allowing the FBI and DOJ to re-open civil rights cases more than 20 years old. But that’s not what we’re talking about this morning, is it? Here are the five things you need to know.
Our favorite princess has died
Everyone from a devastated Mark Hamill to Daisy Ridley is remembering actress and author Carrie Fisher this morning. Ms. Fisher passed away yesterday after suffering a heart attack while on a flight from London to Los Angeles1. The actress was on a tour promoting her new book, The Princess Diarist, and had been on multiple talk shows across the US and Europe. The last interview I saw was with Stephen Colbert just a few weeks ago. She seemed spirited and lively.
Fisher’s ability as an author was perhaps greater than that as an actor. Her 1987 book Postcards From The Edge became an international best seller. When no one else wanted to take on the project, she produced the movie version of the book as well. She was open about the challenges she faced and honest about the demons that still dogged her.
Yet, it will always be her role as Star Wars’ enigmatic Princess Leia that we will always remember first. For an entire generation of young people, she was their first Hollywood crush. She played a character that didn’t need to be sexy to be meaningful, but still managed to be sexy anyway. She was tough enough to fight off the boys and take on an empire. She became a part of our lives, our youth, that we will never forget. Rest in peace, Ms. Fisher. You will not be forgotten.
No more mall rats
By now, you’ve likely heard of the numerous incidents that occurred at malls in several cities Monday night. So far, police have not found any evidence linking the different events2, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one and that parents shouldn’t be taking notice for multiple reasons.
First, it has been years since hanging out at the mall was actually cool. I have three boys, the youngest of which is 18. The only way you would get any of them in a mall at any age was if the closest Game Stop was in that mall. Even then, it was go in, buy the game, and get out. The mall was not a place they wanted their friends to see them. This is a large part of why retail malls are in decline. So, if your child is hanging out at the mall, you might consider the possibility they have social issues.
Second, the possibility of a social media connection has yet to be fully explored. Police say they are still investigating that possibility. More than that, though, this is a wake-up call for parents who think they can drop their children off anywhere and not have to worry. Over the past five years, we’ve seen violence break out at everything from graduation parties to church outings. Locally, malls are at least temporarily requiring that any child under the age of 18 must have a parent with them. Parents, time to step up and take some responsibility because your children don’t know what that is.
Behave yourself on that flight
Malls aren’t the only place where one needs to watch their behavior. Incidents of people being removed from flights for various outbursts and bad behavior has increased this past year. In one such incident earlier this month, 80s pop singer Richard Marx and his wife, former MTV VJ Daisy Fuentes, had to step in and help subdue an “unruly” passenger aboard a Korean Airlines flight they were on5. Both Marx and Fuentes were highly critical of the airline after the incident, saying that flight attendants did not know how to properly use tasers and ropes that were aboard the plane.
That has now changed. Korean Air told Reuters yesterday, “We have decided to improve our conditions and procedure on using Taser guns to cope with violent acts and disturbances on board in a fast and efficient manner.6” What this means is that flight attendants no longer have to wait to assess the level of danger a passenger might pose to others on the plane. Previously, flight attendants were instructed to only use the tasers if the lives of the passengers and crew were in danger or the safety of the flight was threatened.
Exactly how this new policy plays out in the air remains to be seen. Korean Air did not set a time for implementation of the new policy. Still, if I were on a Korean Air flight, I’d think twice before demanding that full can of soda.
Does Versace have a race issue?
Around the world, the Versace fashion brand is known for the look that Donatella Versace herself exhibits: platinum blond hair and a sexy silhouette. We wouldn’t expect to see anything less from her runway shows or her retail stores. However, a charge of blatant racism has been leveled against the brand, complete with a special code used in retail stores to alert employees when a black person enters the store3.
The charge is part of a lawsuit filed by a former Versace outlet employee who says he was fired for being of mixed race. According to the lawsuit, the manager instructed the employee “to say ‘D410’ in a casual manner when a black person entered the store.” When the employee told the manager he was part black, he claims the manager treated him differently and subsequently fired him without cause.
Racial bias is not a new charge for anyone in the fashion industry. Runways are notoriously white, something that has drawn no small amount of attention in recent years. I went back and checked, of the 52 looks shown in Versace’s most recent Ready-to-Wear show, only five were presented on models of color4. Yet, that is above the norm and viewed as progressive for the fashion industry. Whether the lawsuit has merit remains to be seen, but fashion as a whole, not just Versace, needs to realize that racism doesn’t work for them anymore.
And finally …
We’ve been told for how long now that print media is dying? I have one word for you: LIES! This may not please the incoming president-elect all that much, but the nation’s largest newspapers are doing quite well, thank you. Several outlets, including NPR7, announced yesterday that the Washington Post is expanding their newsroom by adding 60 new journalists. The Post is one of the newspapers the president-elect criticized for their coverage of his campaign. That coverage seems to have paid off, though, as the newspaper reports Post‘s online traffic had increased by nearly 50 percent in the past year, and new subscriptions have grown by 75 percent, more than doubling digital subscription revenue.
At the same time, the New York Times, LA Times, and Wall Street Journal have also reported significant jumps in their subscription rates and profitability. Speculation is that more people are relying on large newspapers and their extensive reporting capabilities to help keep the new White House in check. Throughout the presidential campaign, the newspapers took the lead in fact-checking both candidates and took the lead in presenting any possible scandals or conflicts of interests. Americans who don’t trust the incoming president are hopeful that newspapers continue to force a level of transparency in government despite objections from the West Wing.
Whether this growth trend extends on down to local and regional newspapers remains to be seen, but I certainly wouldn’t count them out so long as newspapers step up to the role of keeping all levels of government responsible to those who elected them.
That’s all we have time to discuss this morning. We’re watching for potential news coming out of the UN this morning as well as a severe weather system forming over Alaska that could affect the Northern US later this week. This year doesn’t need any more causalties so please, whatever you do, be safe out there. We’ll see you again tomorrow.
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