Daily Archives: September 16, 2021

The Meaning of Californias Anti-Stealthing Bill – The New Yorker

Posted: September 16, 2021 at 6:45 am

Last week, the California legislature unanimously passed a bill making it illegal to nonconsensually remove a condom during sex, an act known slangily as stealthing. If the bill is signed into law, which Governor Gavin Newsom has until October 10th to do, the state will become the first in the U.S. to explicitly acknowledge stealthing as an illegal violation of consent. (Several countries, including Germany, Switzerland, and the U.K., have prosecuted the act as a form of sexual assault.) The bill, which was introduced by the assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, would amend the states civil code and allow victims to sue perpetrators for damages. This is the second time that Garcia has written legislation on the issue. Her previous bill, introduced four years earlier, proposed making the act a criminal violation but did not pass the legislature.

Garcia has credited her interest in addressing nonconsensual condom removal to a 2017 article written by the attorney Alexandra Brodsky, who was a third-year student at Yale Law School at the time. Brodskys paper, Rape-Adjacent: Imagining Legal Responses to Nonconsensual Condom Removal, uses a combination of first-person interviews and legal analysis to make a case for stealthing as a transgression on par with other forms of sexual assault. It was published in the Columbia Journal of Gender & Law in the same year that Garcia introduced her first anti-stealthing bill. Uncommonly for a law-review article, it went modestly viral. It will never stop surprising me that I wrote a term paper in law school, a bunch of people read it, and now theres maybe going to be an actual law??? Brodsky tweeted last week.

I recently spoke to Brodsky, who is now a civil-rights attorney with the nonprofit Public Justice. Soon after graduating from college, she co-founded Know Your IX, an organization helping students navigate Title IX protections, and she is now the author of the recent book Sexual Justice, which turns an activist-cum-lawyers lens on ways that colleges, workplaces, and other institutions can fairly and humanely handle allegations of sexual misconduct. (An excerpt was published in The New Yorker last month.) During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed Californias groundbreaking bill, the implications of whether sexual misconduct is a civil or criminal violation, and the surprising range of opponents to anti-stealthing laws.

How did you come to the idea of exploring nonconsensual condom removal as a legal topic?

Before and during law school, I spent a lot of time working with college students and young alumni who were concerned about sexual violence. I met a lot of survivors, and I was exposed to stories about a lot of different kinds of sexual harm. Sexual violence takes many formsvery little of it looks like the clich of rapists jumping out of the bushesand, especially among young people, sexual violence often happens in the context of otherwise consensual sex. When I started law school, I had this question in my head of whether nonconsensual condom removal is cognizable under any of the laws that we have today that address sexual assault, and in my final semester of law school I decided to dig into the question in a more meaningful way.

The bulk of the paper is legal analysis, which I think is probably not interesting to anyone other than lawyers. But I also talked to people who had experienced [stealthing], and heard them describe the injuries that it had caused. Even among people who agree that sexual violence is badwhich I would like to think is most people, though certainly not allwe sometimes have thin understandings of how sexual violence hurts people. The survivors of this harm talked to me about a range of feelings: how it made them feel powerless, how it made them feel as though their partners just had no concern at all for their autonomy. It was also interesting to me that a lot of the people I talked to were deeply hurt by the experience but didnt know if they were right to feel that way. They didnt know if what they felt as bad was really bad. In my experience, part of the value of naming these things is to affirm for survivors that they have the right not to be treated this way.

Theres a strong feminist tradition of making harms legible by giving them nameslike sexual harassment.

Yes, thats exactly right. It will never stop being bizarre to me that people have read this paper who are not directly related to me, or who are [not] my academic adviser. Usually legal scholarship does not gain a broad audience. But, if I have any explanation for it, its the fact that it was one of the first times that this phenomenon had been given a name in a public forum.

There was a pretty forceful critique of your paper, shortly after it came out, from the writer and activist Judith Levine. She argued that criminalizing nonconsensual condom removal, or making it a civil violation, would be a grievous overreachshe used the phrase the privatization of sexual safety.

I read Levines critique to be a civil-libertarian critiquein effect, that basically any turn to the law to address sexual violence will inevitably serve illiberal ends. In many ways, I understand the root of this critique, but the answer just cannot be that victims of sexual violence are allowed no legal remedy whatsoever. Im a lawyer, so I obviously think that the law is useful sometimes, but I am much more interested in a careful balancing of the benefits and risks of law, and coming to sensible solutions, than I am in just throwing up my hands and giving up on the possibility of legal recourse for victims just because its hard.

Its interesting to me how often civil libertarians seem particularly eager to decry any kind of legal regime specifically when it comes to sexual harms. I fear this sometimes reflects an expectation that victims of this particular kind of harm, who are disproportionately going to be women, must suck it up for the greater good in ways that we dont expect of people who experience other kinds of harm.

In your paper, you ultimately conclude that this violation demands not criminalization but a civil remedywhich is what California is pursuing now. Cristina Garcia, the assemblywoman behind the bill, put forward a similar bill in 2017 aiming to criminalize the act, but it didnt pass. Do you think that shift from criminal to civil violation made the difference?

I havent been involved in the behind-the-scenes of this bill at all. I do think that, for good reasons, many people are worried about expanding the reach of criminal law in any way, even for the kinds of harm that we would all agree are bad. This goes back to my partial sympathy for a civil-libertarian critique. Whenever were making something illegal, we have to figure out what the costs are of making it illegal. There could be many good reasons why people would feel more comfortable with a civil bill than a criminal bill. I favor a civil remedy because I think its far more useful for survivors. Im not speaking for my employer here, but in my day job Im a civil-rights lawyer. Many of my clients are victims of sexual harassment, and the criminal law has almost universally been utterly useless to them. A civil remedy has the benefit of keeping decision-making in the survivors hand. In a criminal prosecution, the victims rely on police and prosecutors to decide whether a case moves forward, which can be a profoundly disempowering experience, coming on the heels of the initial violation, which was itself a supremely disempowering experience. In contrast, in a civil violation, the victim makes the decision about whether to file the lawsuit. Theres a real feminist tradition of innovative civil remedies. The Violence Against Women Act originally had a civil remedy, though it was eventually shut down by the Supreme Court. Im hopeful that this California bill will be an invitation to return to that tradition.

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The Meaning of Californias Anti-Stealthing Bill - The New Yorker

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UB Humanities Festival to explore utopia – UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff – University at Buffalo Reporter

Posted: at 6:45 am

The UB Humanities Institute (HI) will present its 2021 Humanities Festival this weekend at Silo City. The free, two-day event Sept. 18 and 19 features speakers, panels and community conversations dedicated to exploring ideas addressing the theme of Utopia.

Utopia is a place of the imagination. Its an ideal that can embody a goal. If theres a whiff of impracticality in the words contemporary usage, the thematic utopia of the festival rings with distinct overtones of possibility. Utopianism is the first step in imagining better, more equitable futures, a conversation that brings communities together to affirm environmental and social justice, according to festival organizers.

In many cases, utopianism is about roads not taken; its about roads that may have emerged, but were never traveled, says David Castillo, HI director and UB professor of Romance languages and literatures, College of Arts and Sciences.

A complete schedule of festival sessions is available online.Guests are asked to register beforehand, but registration can be done on site on either day.

Since its founding in 2005, UBs Humanities Institute has established itself as one of the most important entities supporting the humanities in Western New York. The 2021 Humanities Festival is presented in collaboration with the HIs regional partners: SUNY Buffalo State, Canisius College, Niagara University and Daemen College.

Castillo says this years festival, with its utopian theme, arrives as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ricochet off current cultural, political and societal environments, further amplifying already overplayed dystopian themes.

That apocalyptic saturation has created a crisis of the imagination that has contributed to a clipped vision of the future. Better alternatives to the current historical moment have been cropped from that image.

If we dont reclaim ownership of our situation and imagine new futures, then we surrender to our existing destructive inertia, he says. We need to start over, and starting over begins with imagining new narratives. Thats what well be doing during the festival.

Its no coincidence that Silo City will host this years Humanities Festival. Organizers specifically chose the site for its symbolic power. Silo City speaks to the festivals theme and demonstrates how utopian conversations can take shape and effect change, according to Christina Milletti, associate professor in UBs English department and the HIs executive director.

Silo City itself is a transformative space and an ideal location for transformative thinking, says Milletti. The pandemic obliged us to re-imagine the festivals shape and structure, so it seemed an apt moment to also move the event to a site where imagination is visible as a tangible landscape. Silo City has evolved from a space of thriving industry and subsequent rust belt decay and is now reemerging as a thriving cultural and ecological community space populated by artists, homes and businesses surrounded by an innovative natural habitat.

Silo Citys historical legacy has been repurposed into a new modern reality that considers both people and the environment, she says. It represents the possible, the realization of imagination as a new future.

Millettis research and writing interests include contemporary fiction and narratives. With several UB colleagues, shell be part of a panel that considers how fiction regularly influences the real world. In this moment, when fraudulent narratives increasingly exert magnetism over public discourse, our panel will speculate how the power of fiction offers paths of resistance over spin, propaganda, alternative facts, imposture and doublespeak.

The festival opens at 1 p.m. on Saturday with a discussion of the legacies of utopian movements in New York State. Thats followed by a presentation on Ritual and Place: Towards a Utopian Policy. The Power of Fiction panel comes afterward; then a presentation on Walt Whitmans Calamus, a daring, sometimes utopian, sequence of poems about camaraderie, friendship and love, and how that love can save American democracy.

Sunday begins with a session from Dalia Antonia Caraballo Muller, UB associate professor of history, and three UB undergraduate students called The Impossible Project: The Truly Inclusive Classroom. Muller is the projects founder. The Impossible Project is an innovative learning practice that prepares students to take on social justice challenges.

All the festival sessions serve to illustrate how the humanities are a natural platform for critical inquiry and imagination, while the Humanities Institute in particular provides a bridge for that inquiry between the university and the surrounding community, according to Milletti.

We invite our communities to join us at the Humanities Festival this weekend to imagine socially and environmentally just futures, she says. Lets start a conversation together.

UB Humanities Festival to explore utopia - UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff - University at Buffalo Reporter

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A $500 billion American utopia, overseas manufacturing picks up speed, and more – Business of Home

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This week, Business of Home peered into the industrys future with the help of a stellar lineup of designers, changemakers and industry leaders. To get a sense of whats happening in the world of design right now, read on for our weekly roundup of headlines, launches and events, recommended reading, and more.

Business News

Furniture factories began to resume production in Malaysia this week as a result of improved vaccination rates, Home News Now reports. Factory shutdowns there first took effect in May, when just 3.3 percent of the population was fully vaccinatednow, a reported 53 percent of the population has received both doses of the vaccine, while 66 percent have received at least one dose. Though most facilities have issued only a partial reopening, sources expect shipments to occur more consistently by the end of September or mid-October.

For Ashley Furniture, the reopening of Malaysian facilities may be coming at an opportune timethe retailer has reportedly suspended the production of more than 1,000 SKUs due to recent COVID-19-related shutdowns in manufacturing centers in Malaysia and Vietnam. HNN reports that request dates for new orders on these products have been moved to May 1, 2022, affecting a variety of categories, including bedroom, dining, entertainment, home office and accessories. In the meantime, Ashley will use existing inventory to fill open orders, before pivoting to supply retailers with more of its bestselling items in the interim.

Greek design and art curator, researcher and writer Katerina Papanikolopoulos has announced the inauguration of the Athens Design Foruma nonprofit organization inviting local and global audiences to experience the city as an epicenter of design through multiformat events and activities. The forums first edition will take place September 30 through October 7, offering exhibitions, seminars, workshops and archival studies free and open to the public. Julia Montanez, the former curator of Made, the makers section of the AD Design Show, advised Papanikolopoulos, and her consulting agency, The Design Release, is a presenting partner. Im excited to bring an international audience to Athens, she tells BOH. Highlights will include an exclusive visit to the Papagos House, the private residency and studio of painter Alekos Fassianos; a tour of architect Dionisis Sotovikiss Kyspeli residence; and the first Greek exhibition of design studio Objects of Common Interest at Carwan Gallery.

Former Walmart executive Marc Lore has announced plans to create a utopian city named Telosa (borrowed from the Greek telos, meaning higher purpose), located in either the American Southwest or Appalachian region, Architectural Digest reports. The $500 billion project would eventually house 5 million people over the next 30 years, with the first phase of development expected to be complete by 2030. According to Lore, the society would operate within a reformed version of capitalism in which anyone can build and sell homes, while the city retains ownership of the land underneathwith increased land valuation, a community endowment would invest profits in universal health care, education, transportation and schools. Danish architecture firm BIG, led by Bjarke Ingels, has been tapped to design the metropolis, which Lore himself has described as a moonshot.

Ikea has announced that it is hosting a free 24-hour festival offering a virtual glimpse into the lives and homes of figures like Virgil Abloh, Masego, Paul Svensson and The Scott Family. On September 16, the Ikea Festival will showcase more than 100 homes in over 50 countries across the world through a series of home tours, performances and discussions streaming live from the companys site. We want to spark a conversation on the more sustainable and affordable life at home of tomorrow. And just as with any festival, you can expect a few surprises, said Erika Intiso, managing director of Ikea Marketing and Communication AB.

Launches and collaborations

Multicategory lifestyle brand Parachute has announced its expansion into furniture, beginning with the launch of a new line of bed frames. Available in three upholstered linen stylesCanyon, Dune and Horizonthe debut draws inspiration from the landscape in Southern California and its surrounding neighborhoods. Building on recent expansions (this is the sixth new category the brand has entered in the last three years, including mattresses, rugs, window coverings, lounge wear and baby items), Parachute plans to unveil additional furniture pieces in early 2022.

HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams has announced its 2022 Color of the Year: Aleutian, an indigo shade selected as an emblem of this years much-needed respite from day-to-day life. Available at Lowes stores online and nationwide, the hue includes a corresponding palette of 10 complementary colors.

Showhouses

The Hampton Designer Showhouse returns this year September 19 to October 31, featuring honorary design chairs Jamie Drake and Alexa Hampton, along with more than 20 interior designers from across the country who will transform the Wooley House in the Village of Southampton. The historic farmhouse was originally part of the greater Wooley Estate, and will include a replica of its original 1950s front porch design, complete with Italianate brackets and swan spirals.

The Black Interior Designers Network and Architectural Digest have teamed up for their second annual virtual designer showhouse, Iconic Home. This years space, debuting online on September 27, focuses on sustainability, and 12 new designers and architects have been tasked with creating spaces centered on making environmental change at home. Set in a digital re-creation of the Hudson Valley, the home will be designed by a cohort that includes Arianne Bellizaire, Danielle Colding, Rasheeda Gray, Elizabeth Graziolo, Joan Goodwin, Andrew Hilton, Breegan Jane, Travis London, DuVl Reynolds, Alvin Wayne, Mikel Welch and Sara Zewde.

Travis Scott Reveals the Deeper Meaning Behind His Upcoming ‘Utopia’ Album – HYPEBEAST

Posted: at 6:45 am

For its latest CR PARADE specialty-themed issue, CR MEN led by Carine Roitfeld tapped Travis Scott for an evocative cover, editorial spread shot by photographer Ryan McGinley and accompanying interview.

The 13th issue sees cover star Travis Scott sit down with friend and artist, Tom Sachs, for an intimate interview ahead of the release of his fourth studio album, Utopia. The interview offers a window into the mind of La Flame, as the notoriously private artist discusses the lessons hes learned on his meteoric rise to fame and his need to break and set boundaries while balancing his celebrity status and personal life.

Aside from outlining his humble first recording studio setup, Travis also goes into the deeper meaning behind his upcoming Utopia album. The artist reveals his hopes for a better world by remedying miscommunication, non-communication, non-understandable communication, ignorance to communication with his new project. Expanding on his overall positivity while sharing how he keeps the inevitable anxieties of his fame under control, just seeing people in a good mood, legit brings me joy. And, knowing that you can kinda curate that? Makes it even better.

Catch excerpts from Travis Scotts interview included in CR MENs CR PARADE issue is set to be released September 16 below.

On his forthcoming album, Utopia, and the current state of society:

Medicine, nursing, being a better person, talking, language, communicationyou know, a utopian state. Thats what my album is about. You think utopia is a society where everything is good: health, buildings, architecture nah. Its just about proper lines of communication. Because thats the dystopian shit were in right now. Its all hate, hate, hate, and all of that is drawn from what? Miscommunication, non-communication, non-understandable communication, ignorance to communication. I dont like this person. Why? Because somebody told me something to not like this person? Because in history I read to not like this person? Why?

On watching his daughter, Stormi, grow up:

Shes so fire because she goes to sleep now. We try to do a more natural vibe [with parenting], like more self-discipline. Like, OK, you know you got to go to bed at nine, are you going to stay up till eleven or are you going to go to sleep now? And its so cool [to hear her say], Im going to sleep yall!

On what brings him joy:

Im in a spot now where Im where I wanna be and Im putting out amazing thingsthat makes me happy. Ive done enough of that. Now its about fulfilling things out and more team shit. So, for the person to the left, to the right, in front of me, behind me, its like, what the fuck they doing? Thats why I started Cactus, my company, to help bring up the people that I f*ck with and give more stability for the people around me. Now its about building that upthat makes me happy. Putting out the illest shitback to the musicreally makes me happy. To be totally honest, I love the ragers, the kids. Going out on stage and seeing people lose their mind, it aint got to be no festival, we could have a little shindig right here.

In case you missed it, a sample of the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low Reverse Mocha recently surfaced.

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Travis Scott Reveals the Deeper Meaning Behind His Upcoming 'Utopia' Album - HYPEBEAST

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Photos: Go Behind the Scenes of DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA – Broadway World

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New behind-the-scenes photos from David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway have been released! Check them out below!

The acclaimed show returns to the live stage this Friday, September 17 at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street), and will receive a Special Tony Award at the upcoming Tony Awards ceremony on September 26.

The acclaimed Spike Lee film of David Byrne's American Utopia also won two Creative Arts Emmy Awards over the weekend - Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special (Rob Sinclair, Lighting Designer / Brian Spett, Lighting Director) and Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special (Paul Hsu, Re-Recording Mixer / Michael Lonsdale, Production Mixer / Pete Keppler, Music Mixer) - and is up for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) at the main Emmy Awards ceremony next Sunday.

David Byrne's American Utopia features David Byrne with returning band members Jacquelene Acevedo, Gustavo Di Dalva, Daniel Freedman, Chris Giarmo, Tim Keiper, Tendayi Kuumba, Karl Mansfield, Mauro Refosco, Stphane San Juan, Angie Swan and Bobby Wooten III.

We could all use a little Utopia right now, and David Byrne's American Utopia returns to rock Broadway this fall. The show features staging by choreographer Annie-B Parson, with Alex Timbers serving as production consultant - will begin performances on September 17, featuring all the great songs, all the acclaimed musicians, and a gorgeous new venue to blow the roof off of. This is the event that will tell the world, if you want to rediscover the joy of live music, community and connection, Broadway's St. James Theatre must be the place!

ABOUT THE TEAM

American Utopia's design team includes Rob Sinclair (lighting) and Pete Keppler (sound). Karl Mansfield and Mauro Refosco are Musical Directors. Choreography and Musical Staging is by Annie-B Parson. Alex Timbers serves as Production Consultant.

David Byrne's American Utopia is produced by Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Patrick Catullo and Todomundo with Hal Luftig, Jonathan Reinis, Shira Friedman, Annapurna Theatre, Elizabeth Armstrong, Thomas Laub, Steven Rosenthal, Erica Lynn Schwartz, Matt Picheny, Steve Traxler, Len Blavatnik, Nonesuch Records, Warner Chappell Music and Ambassador Theatre Group Productions. Allan Williams serves as Executive Producer.

Academy Award-winning director Spike Lee's acclaimed filmed version of David Byrne's American Utopia made its world premiere opening the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and is currently streaming on HBO Max.

Nonesuch Records released both the original 2018 American Utopia album, which inspired the Broadway show, as well as the cast album for David Byrne's American Utopia, with music and lyrics by David Byrne. Both albums are available digitally and on vinyl and CD: the cast album here, the original album here.

Tickets are on sale at http://www.americanutopiabroadway.com.

The performance runs approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.

All ticket holders for performances through October 31, 2021 are required to be fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine and will be required to properly wear a mask at all times except while actively eating or drinking when seated. Guests under the age of 12 who are unvaccinated, and those who need reasonable accommodations due to a medical condition or sincerely held religious belief that prevents vaccination, must present proof of a negative COVID-19 test. See further details and requirements regarding vaccinations, testing and safety protocols here.

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Photos: Go Behind the Scenes of DAVID BYRNE'S AMERICAN UTOPIA - Broadway World

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Tech Billionaire Wants To Build Utopian City From Scratch In The US – IFLScience

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A tech billionaire wants to build a utopian megacity imbued with the spirit of hypercapitalism and sustainability from scratch somewhere in the US.

It might sound like one ofPhillip K Dick's nightmares, but it's actually a new project being touted byMarc Lore, an American e-commerce entrepreneur who previously served as President and CEO of Walmarts online shopping division. Pumped full of the techno-utopianism of Silicon Valley, Lore has now turned his attention to creating a new metropolis thats more inclusive, more accessible, more sustainable, and ultimately more livable than the grimey megacities of today.

The name of the proposed city is Telosa, referring to a term used by Aristotle, Telos, which means something along the lines of "fulfillment or higher purpose". Just this week, the project released three digital concept designs of the city produced by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the Danish architecture firm thats pitted to design the metropolis.

As per the Telosa website, a location has not yet been secured but possibilities include Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, or the Appalachian Region. The city aims to be up to 150,000 acres in size and could home up to 5 million people by 2060. That roughly equates to a population density similar to San Francisco, around 33 people per acre.

What we're trying to do is combine the best of different cities in the world and bring it together, Lore said in a promotional videolaying out his plans.

Think about Telosa being as vibrant and diverse as New York City, combined with efficiency, safety, and cleanliness of city like Tokyo, combined with the social services and sustainability of a city like Stockholm.

Sustainability is an important theme in Telosa. Citing concerns of climate change, Lore says the city aims to be powered with a renewable energy system and fresh water will be stored, cleaned, and reused on-site. The urban environment plans to feature plenty of green space for its inhabitants.

"Equitism," a kind of lovechild of Ayn Rand capitalism and the Nordic model, isanothercentral idea of the project. It's not exactly clear how this would work, but it appears every citizen would have "a stake in the land" and the city will effectively be owned by a community.Lore adds:"What if you could pay the same taxes you pay today, but get the best social services of any country in the world? That's equitism."

Telosa aims to welcome its first residents in 2030. However, bear in mind, theres still a lot of work to do. While much of the project will be funded by Lore himself, billions of dollars of funding still need to be secured, according to Fortune, and he hopes to wrangle up the cash with help of private investors, philanthropists, federal and state grants, and subsidies.

Of course, promo videos and slick concept designs are one thing, constructing a high-tech utopia is another. The world of visionary tech design is full of bold ideas that never become more than a pipedream.But hey, Rome wasn't built in a day.

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Tech Billionaire Wants To Build Utopian City From Scratch In The US - IFLScience

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His View: Another drive-in utopia? Is that Moscow’s fate? – Moscow-Pullman Daily News

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As I walk with my daughter under the canopy of hardwoods to the Moscow Public Library and back, I am immersed in the feeling of belonging and privilege that comes with living in the Fort Russell Historic District; I wish the feeling to be replicated for others.

That kind of imagination and bond with community that planners had at the turn of the 20th century is no longer relevant; the charm of a bygone era. Along West Palouse River Drive we find the relevancy of bulldozers busy scraping the last vestiges of anhydrous ammonia to make way for a new housing development. Called Edington Subdivision, 105 lots to start with: designed to be sterile, inoffensive, yet with curb appeal galore.

The imagination conjures up a real estate agent in pressed jeans and a seersucker sport-coat standing at the foot of the newly poured driveway jangling a set of house keys in front of a hopeful, jubilant young couple who qualified for their first mortgage with a little seed money from their folks. You can just about smell the fresh chocolate chip cookies in the oven, the agent titters, handing over the keys.

What is wrong with this scene? Well, not a thing if you are convinced this is the look and feel of economic progress and a higher step on societys ladder; fallow land in need of mankinds oxen and plow (or Cat D8 to save some time). The glories of a manifest destiny and all that tripe. More jangling of house keys and progress is in the Moscow air 82 acres to the north of town: Woodbury Subdivision. The initial plat map shows 74 low density residential lots. Certain to be investor-friendly, this tract of sport utility homes are to feature heavenly vistas of Moscow Mountain and are not for the financially meek.

Cynicism aside, the Moscow City Council is expected to give their stamp of approval to this colossal misallocation of resources, otherwise known as a balanced response to a chronic housing shortage. After all, the financial argument is compelling: a sizable bump in the property tax rolls to pay for municipal services that will cost more and infrastructure replacement (think sewer lines).

Woodbury, and developments like them, provide a safe haven and market for the urban flight of relatively wealthy work-from-home post-COVID-19 refugees. And then there is the argument that home construction provides jobs aplenty if, that is, willing and able subcontractors can be found! And when Harold and Lorraine settle into their mini-estate, they will no doubt be donning straw hats and whimsically injecting dollars into the local economy for honey and fresh daffodils at the Moscow Farmers Market.

Wed be remiss to overlook the lament of local developers. Along with the high cost of raw land in Moscow are the permitting fees. With these upfront capital costs coupled with the increases in materials costs and infrastructure build-outs in their spreadsheets, these projects dont pencil-out with a profit unless they are able to expand the square footage and market them at a sales price that only Harold and Lorraine can touch.

In what appears to be competing interests as to how this inevitable housing growth will manifest, there is a pervasive, unifying drive: financial gain. In fact, ever since the great American Suburban Experiment was launched six decades ago, the financial sector has driven the economy. Those with the money make the rules hand-in-hand with a complicit government. (And some were nave enough to believe this charade would end with the subprime crisis!)

Rather than act according to an economic reflex, Moscow City Council has an opportunity to now reflect. In addition to the 340 additional single-family homes recommended in Point Consultings Moscow housing study done a couple of years ago, there was some important advice: there needs to be a shift in the paradigm of how housing is built.

That paradigm shift requires vision, and a well-formed vision relies upon a clear set of values. Above all else, is it the car we value, and the drive-in utopia represented by Sonic fast food and Dutch Bros coffee? Are we building for the community as a whole or for the high-salaried university staff and faculty demographic? And ask our children what they want!

In the final analysis, fast forward 30 years and imagine your own kids and grandkids strolling through the housing development before you. Are they sensing a feeling of belonging and community? Are they saying, I really care about this place?

After years of globetrotting, Todd J. Broadman finds himself writing from his perch on the Palouse and loving the view. His policy briefs can be found at US Resist News: http://www.usresistnews.org/

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His View: Another drive-in utopia? Is that Moscow's fate? - Moscow-Pullman Daily News

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IN CASE YOU MISSED ITSchedule of Reuters features from this week – Yahoo Finance

Posted: at 6:45 am

Sept 16 (Reuters) - Every week, Reuters journalists produce scores of multimedia features and human-interest stories from around the world.

Below are some stories from this week selected by our editors, as well as explanatory context and background to help you understand world headlines. For a full schedule of news and events, please go to our editorial calendar on Reuters Connect https://www.reutersconnect.com/planning.

Yemeni gives her time and wages to treat children malnourished by war

HAJJAH - In the poor village of Jarb in northern Yemen, Ashwaq Mahmoud gives her time and spare cash to provide basic health services that people there could not otherwise reach or afford. (YEMEN-HEALTH/VOLUNTEER (PIX, TV), 456 words)

Bosnia's wild horses: Promising tourist attraction, or farmers' pest?

LIVNO, Bosnia - Wild horses galloping across rugged mountains in western Bosnia are an ever-bigger tourist attraction, but need protection from local farmers who see them as pests, activists say. (BOSNIA-WILDHORSES/ (PIX, TV), 320 words)

Masterpiece or monstrosity? Tourists bemused by Arc de Triomphe artwork

PARIS - Bemused tourists in Paris reacted with a mix of surprise and disdain when they discovered the Arc de Triomphe monument had been enveloped in a shimmering shroud, a posthumous installation conceived by the late artist Christo. (FRANCE-ART/ARC DE TRIOMPHE-TOURISTS (TV, FILE PIX), 285 words)

Pets enjoy some pampering in Palestinian clinic

NABLUS, West Bank - A new animal clinic has opened in the occupied West Bank, part of a growing tendency among Palestinians to raise and pamper pets. (PALESTINIANS-ANIMALS/CLINIC (PIX, TV), 165 words)

'A family reunion': Voices from Broadway on the return to the stage

NEW YORK - More than a dozen Broadway musicals and plays are opening in September after the longest shutdown in the history of New York's theater district. The 18-month-long pandemic closures threw hundreds of actors, musicians and dancers out of work, along with stage crews. Following are comments from some of them on how it feels to be back. (HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/BROADWAY-ACTORS (PIX, TV), 400 words)

Story continues

Malaysian clown finds new role in pandemic

TAIPING, Malaysia - When the coronavirus pandemic struck Malaysia, Shaharul Hisam Baharudin, like many others working closely with people, soon lost his work as an entertainer who juggled and sometimes dressed up as a clown. But rather than give up, the 43-year-old from Taiping in western Malaysia found a new way of using his skills - disinfecting people's homes while wearing his clown's outfit. (HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/MALAYSIA-CLOWN (TV, PIX). 309 words)

Byrne sees a longing for an 'American Utopia' as his show heads to cinemas

LOS ANGELES - While Americans have fought over masks and vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, musician David Byrne said he believes the health crisis showed that people actually yearn for a better society as he envisions in his Broadway show "American Utopia." A filmed version of the stage production, recorded in early 2020, will play in U.S. cinemas for one night only on Wednesday. (PEOPLE-DAVID BYRNE/ (PIX, TV), 414 words)

Water music: London canal boat serves as floating concert hall

LONDON - Music lovers in London can now enjoy classical performances with a difference - on a canal boat traversing the city's waterways. (BRITAIN-BOAT/PIANO (PIX, TV), 290 words)

Scientists scramble to harvest ice cores as glaciers melt

Scientists are racing to collect ice cores along with long-frozen records they hold of climate cycles as global warming melts glaciers and ice sheets. Some say they are running out of time. And, in some cases, its already too late. (CLIMATE-CHANGE/ICE-CORES (PIX, GRAPHIC, TV), 1,380 words)

Kabul gamers fret over favorite pastime with Taliban back in power

The Sm:)le net club, a gaming cafe in downtown Kabul, used to be a haven for young people in the city: an escape from the daily grind in a country where decades of war and economic malaise have dimmed their prospects. Now, with Afghanistan back under control of the Taliban, which banned most forms of entertainment during its previous rule in 1996 to 2001, some fear that gaming may be wrenched away. (AFGHANISTAN-CONFLICT/GAMING (TV), 280 words)

EXPLANATORY CONTENT

Global vaccination tracker https://tmsnrt.rs/39xWS94

Global COVID-19 cases and deaths https://tmsnrt.rs/32CyMHu

U.S. COVID-19 cases and deaths https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR

EXPLAINER-How will Biden's vaccine mandate impact workers, companies?

FACTBOX-European nations' plans for coping with COVID-19

EXPLAINER-The Canadian federal election: what has happened and what is at stake

FACTBOX-The federal party leaders contesting Canada's election

NEWSMAKER-Self-belief and strategy: Japan's Taro Kono upends race for next premier

NEWSMAKER-Winner of Norway's election is wealthy champion of 'common people'

TIMELINE-The dramatic first month of the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan

TIMELINE-North Korea's tests and summits over recent years

EXPLAINER-Lebanon's Mikati faces tricky path to safe economic ground

FACTBOX-Kosovo Tribunal: the suspects, allegations and history

EXPLAINER-Bleak house: Why Europe faces steep winter energy bills

FACTBOX-Tennis-Records held by Novak Djokovic

(Compiled by Patrick Enright and Mark Porter)

IN CASE YOU MISSED ITSchedule of Reuters features from this week - Yahoo Finance

Posted in New Utopia | Comments Off

In London, Musicals That Stay True to a Brand – The New York Times

Posted: at 6:45 am

LONDON Theres a human story embedded within the shiny toy that is Back to the Future: The Musical, which opened Monday night at the Adelphi Theater here. But you pretty much know from the start that a revved-up audience is saving its greatest roar of recognition for a certain prop.

That would be the whiz-bang car so beloved from the 1985 blockbuster film that its the calling card for the Tony-winning director John Randos transcription of the film on the West End. (A run in Manchester in March 2020 was cut short by the pandemic.)

And so it proves. Scarcely has the vaunted DeLorean made its way onto a set by Tim Hatley which itself resembles a mammoth LED-framed computer console before the theater erupts in cheers that back in the past, so to speak, might have been reserved for legends of the stage. Its gull-wing doors all but ready to take flight, the vehicle later soars into the auditorium, doing a somersault in the process. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, eat your heart out.

The result honors a hard-working array of lighting, sound and video designers not to mention Chris Fishers illusions and recalls the era of the 1980s mega-musical and its dependence on visual effects: the falling chandelier in The Phantom of the Opera and the whirling helicopter in Miss Saigon, to cite just two examples.

What about the actors? Back to the Futures opening performance, as it happened, suffered a last-minute cast replacement when its (terrific) co-star, Roger Bart, was sidelined that day by a positive Covid-19 diagnosis. The role of the wild-haired Doc Brown immortalized by Christopher Lloyd onscreen has been given over temporarily to Barts understudy, Mark Oxtoby. I caught Barts gleeful performance, manic and unexpectedly touching, at the final preview.

Still, can you imagine the mayhem that might ensue were the shows mechanized capabilities to shut up shop? That would bring to grief a stage venture that, as with so many films turned stage musicals, exists essentially to honor the brand. As with Frozen, the Disney extravaganza that opened on a newly bustling West End a mere five days earlier, the creators must give obsessives a reasonable facsimile of the movie while attempting to find something uniquely stage-worthy to what, after all, is a franchise. (Both musicals go heavy on the merchandise.)

The need to think outside the celluloid box explains the 16 new songs from the Grammy winners Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard currently overburdening a story known onscreen in musical terms for Huey Lewis and the News rocking out The Power of Love. That ever-welcome rouser shows up just in time to fuel a clap-happy finale.

The new songs, by contrast, feel largely like filler, though Bart lands the appealingly plaintive For the Dreamers, and Olly Dobson brings boundless energy and a strong voice to that wannabe rocker Marty McFly the teenage time-traveler played in the movie by Michael J. Fox. Something About That Boy has an up-tempo catchiness appropriate to the era of Grease to which the material pays homage, and several numbers reference time specifically, as befits a sci-fi narrative in which the skateboard-happy Marty is forced to repair nothing less than the space-time continuum.

And yet its the DeLorean again that prompts a double-page program spread explaining such vehicular specifics as temporal field stabilizers, a Tachyon Pulse Generator and, most crucially, a Flux Capacitor. That last item gets a workout as the engine youll forgive that word choice that drives the plot when an anxious Marty hurtles back to 1955 in an effort to bring his parents together so as to ensure that his own existence isnt erased.

Because 1985 is by now itself long ago, the book by Bob Gale (a co-author, with Robert Zemeckis, of the film) has sensibly jettisoned the Libyan terrorists who figure in the movie. Instead, we get a rather desperate-seeming reference to the current appetite for kale, and a tongue-in-cheek allusion to 2020 as a time without war, crime or disease.

I hadnt recalled the degree of Oedipal depth to a story that finds Marty resisting advances from his own mother, Lorraine (a clear-voiced Rosanna Hyland), in order to bring her under the romantic 1950s sway of the geeky George (an immediately appealing Hugh Coles). This slow-blooming charmer, given in song to rhyming myopia and utopia, is the one who belongs in Lorraines arms, not her own son.

A bromance develops along the way between Marty and Doc, a mentor of sorts who in this iteration breaks the fourth wall more than once to express dismay at finding himself surrounded by choreographer Chris Baileys high-stepping chorus line. The surprise, in context, is understandable. After all, it cant be easy folding dance into a scenario in which the car gets all the best moves.

Frozen induces gasps of its own when the vast stage of the Theater Royal Drury Lane gives itself over to a shimmering icescape against which the magic-endowed Elsa can belt out Let It Go the Oscar-winning power ballad from the 2013 animated film that sends the audience into the intermission on a high. But for all the transformations wrought by Christopher Orams set, the emphasis remains firmly on the characters, not least the reined-in Elsa (Samantha Barks) and her comparatively harebrained younger sister, Anna, whose bumptious peppiness is meant to seem endearing but, Im afraid, left me cold onscreen and again onstage. (A perky Stephanie McKeon, it should be said, delivers what the part requires.)

Its Barkss superbly realized Elsa who benefits most from this reconsideration of a show that was the first Broadway title forced by the pandemic to call it quits. Having had time to look at the material afresh, the director Michael Grandage and his team have beefed up the fraught emotional state of a snow queen at savage odds with her own powers and given the siblings a duet, I Cant Lose You, that places this show on a continuum set by Wicked and centered around a literal or figurative sisterhood.

The plotting is still peculiar: Anna and Elsas parents die at sea, a loss that seems barely to register, and a lot of the shifts in behavior look decidedly arbitrary. Oh, and how else to explain that second-act opener, Hygge, involving the ensemble emerging semi-clad from a sauna, beyond giving the choreographer Rob Ashford something to do?

A definite bonus to the London production is the restoration for a reported 60 million pounds of the theater itself, which now looks sufficiently luxuriant that I, for one, might be cautious about inviting many thousands of people through such elegantly appointed portals. Frozen is sure to attract innumerable families throughout its run. Lets just hope these hungry and thirsty patrons treat their newly ravishing surroundings with respect.

Back to the Future: The Musical. Directed by John Rando. Adelphi Theater.

Frozen. Directed by Michael Grandage. Theater Royal Drury Lane.

When a queer witch writes climate fiction, utopia isnt the goal – Grist

Posted: at 6:45 am

Imagine 2200, Fixs climate-fiction contest, recognizes stories that envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress, imagining intersectional worlds of abundance, adaptation, reform, and hope. Read all 12 stories here.

Spoiler alert: This interview discusses Ailbhe Pascals short story Canvas Wax Moon. If you havent read it yet, go do that now.

Its not immediately obvious that Ailbhe Pascal is a witch. They dont wear a pointy hat or scoot around on a broomstick. If you catch them around West Philadelphia, youre far more likely to see them on a bench in Malcolm X Park, dutifully masked, draped in a paisley shawl and scribbling in their notebook.

To Pascal, magic comes in many forms, very few of which resemble Hollywoods tropes. And as a trained cook, herbalist, and writer, Pascal is almost always making magic. Growing up, relatives of various cultural backgrounds taught them to write poetry, read tarot cards, and practice rituals that honored nature and the seasons. But Pascals brand of witchcraft is more of a philosophy than a set of actions. The practice I was raised with has to do with honoring what feels true to you and seeking that, they say.

Canvas Wax Moon, the short story that made them a finalist for Imagine 2200, Fixs first climate-fiction contest, provides another glimpse of their craft. As someone who is queer, non-binary, and disabled due to a degenerative bone disease, Pascal turns to writing to imagine a world in which they and their loved ones are celebrated. That yearning is woven throughout Canvas Wax Moon, which tells the story of a character remarkably similar to Pascal: Ashix, a non-binary young adult who walks with a cane and is supported by their family and neighbors as they prepare to get an abortion.

Not expecting to see abortion in a cli-fi story? To Pascal, it makes perfect sense. In their fictional world, all living beings, from humans to trees, are respected, cherished and granted bodily autonomy. Reproductive rights are part of the package. Embracing the messiness of life mundane human nonsense, as they call it is an essential part of Pascals writing. A future without injustice isnt one without conflict. And to Pascal, conflict is when the magic happens.

Fix talked to Pascal about how witchcraft intersects with climate justice, what attracted them to speculative fiction, and why they chose to write about a subject thats still considered taboo by a sizable portion of the population. Their comments have been edited for length and clarity.

Q. How long have you been interested in climate fiction? What drew you to the genre and to this contest?

A. To me, climate fiction isnt just about how we imagine place and environment changing in the future, but also about how we relate to each other, relate to place, and relate to the more-than-human, and how those relationships can change in the future. Thats the juicy stuff about being an imaginative writer: imagining changing our relationships for the better and moving toward that with hope.

Thats been a throughline for me personally and for my writing for as long as Ive been writing. But fiction specifically is newer for me. I came to fiction because I love reading fiction. And I kept having dreams about a story that I wanted to tell and wanted to be reading. So I started writing for myself.

Q. What makes Canvas Wax Moon a cli-fi story?

A. Canvas Wax Moon is first and foremost, for me, a story where the city has fundamentally changed its relationship to infrastructure infrastructure meaning, on a local level, how are homes related to each other? And on a bigger scale, what do we do with government buildings? What is government? And recognizing that reparations and Indigenous sovereignty are imperatives. All of those things are just part of the world. To me, those are building blocks for a climate story.

Within that, you have a story about a young adult whos relating to healing. The main character, Ashix, is held by this world in a way that represents a communitys commitment to each other, in a way that I see today and in a way that I believe will be our future.

Q. I feel like that implies that healing is a climate solution of sorts.

A. Climate fiction, for me, is an opportunity to imagine the people I know now being elders and being celebrated and imagining what we get to see in our childrens children or childrens childrens children. That in and of itself is like healing for us now, because we really need to believe that were going to be elders. And by we, I mean folks of color, sick folks, and neurodivergent folks. I mean folks who are targeted by violences and who are surviving right now. And when I think about climate, place, environment, who do I want in that place and environment? What [survivors] do I want in that future? I want my people, my community.

Healing is literal in this story: Two siblings are on a search for medicine. And theres also real trust in disabled people, in neurodivergent people, and in plants to be healers. Thats part of a wider shift that needs to happen as we fight the climate crisis and capitalism, and work toward something new and healed.

Q. How do you go about creating and detailing an imaginary, immersive world?

A. I listen to my dreams. I record them, and I pay attention to them. There was a stretch of time where all I dreamed about was the future where this story was taking place. At first it wasnt even about Ashix. It was just like, What do I hope for as someone who is inheriting a wildly changing world? And what changes do I see happening now that I believe in the changes that community organizers, urban farmers, and everyday neighbors are working together for?

That expressed itself every time I would go to sleep. It was vivid and urgent to me to develop that. Im lucky in that I have been able to talk to people and say, I have this wild visioning thing happening right now. Where are you in this future? How can I love up on you by visioning you also? Theres community in that building process.

Q. Your story is about an abortion. Some people may not expect to see that in a cli-fi story. Why did you feel it was important to write about that in such an unapologetic way?

A. Abortions are normal. People have them. Omitting normal experiences from the way we envision the future is counterproductive. I want to be a good elder, and I want to be the kind of elder whos like, Oh, do you need an abortion? Lets make that happen for you. Lets support you. And I know that all of my loved ones want to be that kind of elder, too. So why not give us an opportunity to picture that?

When theres a crisis, its easy to forget about the important mundane things that are happening in all of our lives. When were writing fiction about sea-level changes and how a community responds to that and that alone, we forget that people are having arguments. People are having bodily needs. Thats something I wanted to see in a climate story.

Abortions are normal. People have them. Omitting normal experiences from the way we envision the future is counterproductive.

Q. In the world youve created, abortion is universally accepted and embraced. That is obviously not the world that were living in now. How do you see us getting to that point?

A. Reproductive justice is something we achieve by organizing for it. As an herbalist who has supported loved ones with their abortions, and as someone who is seeing how folks are fighting for that access right now by helping folks get to the clinic safely or make their appointments, I see real fatigue. We get to a place of normalness and ease when more of us are including reproductive care and justice as part of our worldview and doing that work.

I dont believe that climate fiction needs to be utopic. I by no means meant for this story to be utopic. Its totally possible in Ashixs world that there are some folks who would teach their kids not to do the things that Pa Opelie [Ashixs parent] is totally cool with happening, but I dont need to focus on that.

Q. Lets dig into that. What are the dangers, in your view, of striving for that perfect, idealized world in climate fiction?

A. Someones not going to like somebody for some reason, period. That has always been true. It always will be true. Conflict is important. Its illuminating sometimes, if you let it be. Erasing conflict from stories is a slippery slope. Is conflict not happening for toxic reasons? That utopic worldview can mean that folks are afraid to talk about race or gender inequality or sex. Utopia comes from a white colonial vision of the world, and its nasty. Why would we want to perpetuate that?

At the same time, its exhausting to only read stories about the future where its all doom and gloom. Theres a balance. I tried to nod to the fact that the elder [Mellie] had been laughed at for sharing her ideas because people didnt respect her for being a brown lady, for being disabled. And maybe some people still dont, but were not talking about that in this story. In this story, were going to celebrate the heck out of her. She has so much to teach and share.

Theres this type of climate fiction where cars dont exist, pharmacies dont exist, and weve all gone off the grid. Its this knee-jerk reaction: Our current energy usage isnt working; therefore, therell be no energy in the future. Thats ableist and not helpful. Its another utopic pitfall.

Q. Your story is populated with queer characters, including the protoganist. Why was that important to you?

A. Its important to me to imagine a world where we have queer elders. Ashix has two grandmas, Jidda and Grams, who are head over heels for each other and have been together for a long time. Theyre the support beams of their family. Theres so much trauma in not getting to see queer elders and celebrate them. We deserve to grow old and be seen and be loving to each other.

Theres this whole other aspect of Ash being non-binary. Its not a thing that anyone has to ask questions about or have a label for, but they use they/them pronouns and theyre pregnant. Right now, thats taboo and confusing for people. And then add on top of that the taboo of abortion. I just dont see stories about trans folk needing abortions. Thats not the reality we live in. And if Im going to tell a story about abortion that really resonates with me and feels like its speaking of truth, I want this character to be non-binary.

Queers at their best are innovators in mutual aid and are the epicenter of creativity in our world. Being queer right now means carving out a place to be and be vibrant and be loved. That divinity needs to be part of our plan to survive climate change. The visionaries that we need to look to are people who already are imbued in the work of taking better care and surviving.

Q. One of your characters, Mellie, is a witch just like yourself. Can you explain what that means and how it relates to climate justice, if at all?

A. Witchcraft and climate fiction are related because both of them, for me, are about, How do I be a good elder? What traditions am I carrying on? How am I taking care of the place that Im in and the people who Im around and all of the connections seen and unseen that Im responsible for as a person on this planet? Theres this sense of being in relationship with the world and all the beings in it, and imagining all of those relationships being well.

Witchcraft is also, for me, a spiritual practice of being consistently helpful. I have a loved one going into the hospital. Im going to light a candle, and Im going to make phone calls to all the relatives who need to know. Both of those are going to be my offerings. Im going to believe that this is going to be OK and that were going to take care of each other. That is what I want to see in climate fiction.

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When a queer witch writes climate fiction, utopia isnt the goal - Grist

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Daily Archives: September 16, 2021

The Meaning of Californias Anti-Stealthing Bill – The New Yorker

UB Humanities Festival to explore utopia – UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff – University at Buffalo Reporter

A $500 billion American utopia, overseas manufacturing picks up speed, and more – Business of Home

Travis Scott Reveals the Deeper Meaning Behind His Upcoming ‘Utopia’ Album – HYPEBEAST

Photos: Go Behind the Scenes of DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA – Broadway World

Tech Billionaire Wants To Build Utopian City From Scratch In The US – IFLScience

His View: Another drive-in utopia? Is that Moscow’s fate? – Moscow-Pullman Daily News

IN CASE YOU MISSED ITSchedule of Reuters features from this week – Yahoo Finance

In London, Musicals That Stay True to a Brand – The New York Times

When a queer witch writes climate fiction, utopia isnt the goal – Grist

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