Category Archives: Politically Incorrect

As debates about national issues are playing out across the region, students are watching.

Gabrielle Johnson, a sophomore at Springfield Township High School, said its disheartening to hear adults fight against critical race theory. Few, she thinks, actually understand the concept; too many use it as a catch-all for any acknowledgment of race in classrooms.

Im honestly disappointed in how adults are handling it, because, out of everybody, theyre the ones that really do control a students learning. So they should understand what theyre talking about, said Gabrielle Johnson, a sophomore at Springfield Township High School. People say its going to teach white children to hate themselves when its really just teaching about the history of how race has affected America since its founding.

Johnson, who is Black, said she would like to see inclusive history classes that teach about multiple cultures. She pointed to a class project she worked on in her 7th grade history class, where she focused on ancient Mali.

That was the first time in school that I have ever been taught about African or really any minority history, and that was really important to me, she said, adding that it was especially meaningful to learn about 14th century ruler Mansa Musa.

Im usually used to seeing Black people being told, Youre not going to be successful or Youre not going to be anything in life. It was nice to see that one of the richest people to ever exist was a Black man.

Jeffrey Henig with Columbia University said the increased focus on school board races is part of the nationalization of education politics in the U.S.

Increasingly, national groups of various kinds have seen local school board elections as tactically important and have put money and people into local communities to try to have some influence on the local political outcomes, but also because they perceive the chance to use education as a way to build support for broader political goals, he said.

In suburban districts, injecting culture war politics into school board races is one potential way to mobilize voters and recapture Republican support in areas where it has waned recently in presidential and congressional and county-wide races.

Henig says the fact that these larger, coordinated campaigns are catching fire on the local level reflects actual grassroots backlash.

I dont think that outside actors can make a movement jump up on demand. They can move in strategically where there are real grievances, Henig said. If the discontent isnt there, then their throwing matches would be like throwing matches on wet ground.

In districts across the state and country, demand for change in school board leadership comes after an extremely challenging 18 months, when nearly every option for schools and families was less than ideal.

No matter what decision we made last year, a third of the people would be angry, a third would be furious, and a third would be just plain upset, said Wood. It was a terrible situation for everyone. We did the best we could.

Studies have shown that virtual school resulted in significant learning loss for students, both academically and from a social-emotional standpoint. The remote school year was incredibly challenging for parents, juggling work and other responsibilities while helping their children learn. It was also incredibly challenging for students, many of whom struggled with feelings of isolation and felt disconnected academically.

Even for those happy with districts that approached the pandemic in the most risk-averse ways, there has been a near universal understanding that virtual education presented steep challenges, especially for children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.

Now, even with most, if not all, Pennsylvania schools fully reopened, many parents remain wary, fearing another COVID surge could send students right back into virtual classrooms. That has been the constituency pushing hard for candidates vowing to keep kids in the building.

Many of those candidates, though, are also finding support from voters who are increasingly skeptical of a laundry list of other decisions school leaders make.

At a Radnor School Board meeting last week, a small but passionate group of parents turned up to rail against what they called pornographic material in the school libraries.

Parent Clark Engel said frustration about the schools books pushed him to move his two youngest children to private school.

Lots of little things go on throughout the year that are all subliminally designed to tell students that they dont have to listen to their parents that they can decide for themselves what gender they want to be, what sexual orientation they want to be, what religion they want to be, he told Keystone Crossroads. Its all designed to subvert parents. Theyre laying the groundwork in these very early, formative years.

He supports the slate of candidates backed by the Reopen Radnor Committee.

Even if Im pulling my own children out, I feel like I need to do this as a public service for those that cant afford to go to a private school, he said.

Some observers watching the more radical Pennsylvania school board races have noted, potential board members who are too focused on national, hot-button issues will be in for a surprise if they get elected.

When you actually get seated on the board, youre going to sit through a lot of boring discussions and presentations, said Larry Feinberg, president of the Haverford School Board, where hes served for more than two decades. Thats what democracy actually is. A great deal of it is not very exciting.

For Josh Tessler, the Radnor High School student, the past year has made him pay more attention to the school board race. For him, the biggest issue isnt around the districts handling of the mascot controversy or coronavirus pandemic. Hes passionate about two issues no candidates seem to be talking about: hands-on learning and feeling overwhelmed by homework.

I think they should be focused on the experience of students, he said.

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Big money is pouring into Pa. school board elections, proxies in wars over COVID and culture - WHYY

On the Caribbean island of Antigua, builders will soon put hurricane reinforcements on hospital roofs and strengthen the windows on police stations. As climate change makes tropical storms more intense and more devastating, Antiguans are getting prepared.

This $46m storm-proofing project is just one part of a much bigger flow of money: a promised $100bn a year that rich countries pledged to spend helping poorer countries to cut their emissions and adapt to climate change.

The funding is shaping up to be a make or break issue at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The $100bn target is an acid test for whether rich countries are sincere about tackling climate change, says Molwyn Joseph, minister of the environment for Antigua and Barbuda.

We are not asking for handouts, we are asking for compensation for damages, as a result of the profligacy of these developed countries, he says. Those that emit this carbon, that is causing climate events, should pay.

Many countries say they need the money to reach their climate targets and invest in projects that lower emissions. When Indian prime minister Narendra Modi pledged on Monday to reach net zero emissions by 2070, there was a demand attached: $1tn in climate finance to developing countries.

India expects developed countries to make $1tn available as climate finance as soon as possible, he said. As we are all increasing our ambitions with respect to climate action, the worlds ambitions with respect to climate finance cannot be [stay] at the same level.

In 2009, rich nations promised they would send at least $100bn a year in climate finance to poorer countries by 2020. That understanding formed the basis of the 2015 Paris climate accord, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2C, ideally 1.5C.

Suddenly you had this really emblematic $100bn where, unless you work this out, it is difficult to have the global agreement [at COP], recalls Josu Tanaka, who helped launch the climate finance unit at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It became the signal, the base of trust, between developed and developing countries.

But last week, on the eve of COP26, donor countries admitted they missed that target in 2020. Now they expect to reach it in 2022 or 2023, years later than planned.

Everyone agrees there should be more money for climate finance. But that is where the consensus ends.

There is little agreement on how to spend the money, who should receive it, or how to make sure it is used effectively. There is even a dispute about how it should be measured, and what should be counted as climate finance.

While building storm shelters on hurricane-prone islands such as Antigua and Barbuda might seem straightforward, the issue of who will pay the $100bn, when it will arrive, and how it will be distributed, has at times threatened to derail COP negotiations. Climate finance has had a very mixed record in terms of impact. Yet the $100bn-a-year target has also become a lightning rod for disagreement between rich and poor countries.

Much of the money that has been raised so far has gone to large international institutions that are already well-funded.

Climate finance has been pivoting, says Nick Mabey, head of E3G, a climate charity. Everyone kind of points fingers, like there arent enough projects or there isnt enough money. But the system is broken, and how do you fix the system, that is the real question.

Traditional development banks have not really risen to the challenge. Just putting climate money through current development architecture will not get the impact that you need, says Mabey. This money needs to be used to help systemic reform, rather than just plugging a few gaps.

These arguments over climate finance will provide the backdrop to COP26. Donor countries are making a major push at COP26 to boost the sums involved Japan, Italy, the UK and Denmark have all raised their climate pledges in Glasgow. More private funding is coming to tie in with climate-related projects. And a new pool of tens of billions of dollars is being announced by multilateral development banks, with a special focus on helping countries quit coal.

A plan to redistribute special drawing rights to developing countries, to help fight climate change, is also under discussion. The IMF said last month that it would create a new trust for up to $50bn in reallocated SDRs.

The climate finance will happen [eventually], says Yannick Glemarec, head of the Green Climate Fund, which was set up by the UN to help distribute a portion of the $100bn. The problem is, will it happen fast enough to avert catastrophic climate change?

One of the challenges with the $100bn target is simply how to define it, and who gets to decide what counts and what doesnt.

Thats the real $100bn question what is climate finance? And no one has a real claim on that, says Tracy Carty, climate change policy lead at Oxfam. She says that donor countries use this to their advantage.

The OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, issues an annual report on climate finance that tallies what donor countries have mobilised including grants, loans and export finance credits from both public and private sources.

Many developing countries think that definition is too generous, but it is still short of the $100bn goal: OECD figures showed that climate finance reached just $79.6bn in 2019.

Calculations from Oxfam suggest the true level of climate-specific grants is about one-fifth of the OECD climate finance numbers, once loans are taken out.

As the total level of climate finance has expanded in recent years that increase has been on much harder terms for developing countries, says Carty. The amount of grant funding has increased much more slowly than the amount of loan funding, she explains.

The origins of the $100bn target lie in the COP negotiations that took place in 2009 in Copenhagen.

The $100bn figure is also part of a much longer legacy, one that goes all the way back to the inception of the UN climate change framework, at the Rio Conference in 1992. The concept that rich polluting countries should pay to help developing countries fight climate change has been a core part of the grand bargain that lies behind every climate treaty.

That hasnt always gone well though. In the Kyoto protocol, an elaborate system called the Clean Development Mechanism was introduced, which helped to channel hundreds of millions of dollars into climate-related projects in the developing world.

Abuses of the system, which was similar to a carbon offset market, were rampant. A 2017 study by the EU found that 85 per cent of Clean Development Mechanism projects examined failed to have the expected emissions impact.

When climate projects go wrong, its doubly bad, because it is a waste of money and also bad for the planet, says Brice Bhmer, head of programmes at Transparency International, which recently launched a corruption tracker for climate and energy projects.

We need to have much higher standards because if these investments are less, the consequences are terrible, says Bhmer. If it is a project that is supposed to reduce emissions, or a project that is supposed to help a population adapt, this is like penalising them twice.

The $100bn goal took a slightly different approach: channelling funding through existing aid programmes and development banks, allowing donor countries to self-report to the UN each year on the funding they had mobilised.

The UN also launched a dedicated institution the Green Climate Fund to help distribute the $100bn. The GCF became the largest climate-specific fund in the world, having raised about $18bn since its inception in 2010.

But the GCF has had a chequered record. Beset by infighting on the board, and accusations of mismanagement and abuse from staff, it has been less effective than many of its early backers hoped.

And once funding from donor countries started coming in 2014 the GCF raised $10bn in its first fundraising the board decided not to hedge its exposure to the currency fluctuations between the currency that pledges were made in, and the US dollar (the currency for GCF operations). By 2018, $1bn had been wiped off the dollar value of the fund as a result.

One former board member, Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, says the rich countries backing the GCF were willing to turn a blind eye to the mismanagement.

If it was an African country, losing that much money would be a big deal, he says. The slow pace at which funds are handed out is also to blame, he adds, echoing a complaint made by many developing countries. If the money had been dispersed right away, maybe the loss would have been less.

Glemarec says that the $1bn was not a loss and that currency fluctuations are normal. By the time [the pledges] were translated into signed contributions, the dollar had significantly appreciated, he explains. The GCF is considering whether to adopt a hedging policy next year.

The GCF has not achieved its goal of working with local institutions: its biggest grantees are the UN Development Programme, and the EBRD, both giant development organisations that are already well-funded. Two of the UNDP projects awarded by the GCF are under internal investigation after corruption allegations were raised.

The way climate finance is being dispersed now is through huge institutions and big red tape, says Mpanu-Mpanu, who is a climate negotiator for the Democratic Republic of Congo. He points out the administrative overhead is also significant for these big multilateral institutions. In the meantime, runaway climate change is happening.

Climate finance has been beset by the same challenges of waste, corruption and inefficiency that have plagued traditional development aid.

In some ways, getting climate finance right is harder: people who work in the industry always say that the goal of climate finance is to be transformative and to trigger systemic changes, rather than just to build buildings and bridges.

But those goals are much harder to measure. Projects that aim to cut emissions known as mitigation projects typically compare their results against a hypothetical baseline of what emissions would have otherwise been. The results can often be subject to tricks of accounting: if $10m is invested in a better bus system in Hanoi, how do scientists measure how much emissions have been avoided?

When it comes to adapting to a warmer world, those projects can be even trickier to gauge, because they are based on projecting the likelihood of future events which are highly uncertain.

Mushtaq Khan, professor of economics at Soas, says that because climate projects are often trying to prepare for risks that are in the distant future, or threats that are perceived to be very far away, it can be harder to monitor them.

His research found that one-third of the funding for climate adaptation projects in Bangladesh was lost to embezzlement. Countries with high levels of perceived corruption also tend to be among the most vulnerable to climate impacts, according to Transparency International.

It is hugely politically incorrect to combine statements about climate change and corruption, because it looks like you are giving an excuse not to fund, says Khan.

Khan thinks better monitoring by local communities can help, but acknowledges that this is not usually the way that big development banks design their programmes.

To say that there is a lot of wastage and corruption should not be an excuse for saying, oh well this is not going to work, lets not do it, Khan continues. As the flows [of climate finance] are ramped up, a lot of it is likely to be wasted, if we dont get our heads together and think of out-of-the-box ways to reduce leakage [from corruption].

No one has tried to measure the total impact of the portion of the annual $100bn that has been spent so far.

Amar Bhattacharya, a researcher who chaired a recent UN report on the $100bn climate finance pledge, says this is an area where more research needs to be done.

To date there has been very little impact measurement, says Bhattacharya, a senior fellow at Brookings. It is a very important issue.

People look at impact in terms of the composition of finance, things that relate to the financing side. But in terms of real impact of climate finance, and efficacy across different donors, there has been no development impact or climate impact study done to date, says Bhattacharya.

At COP26 a major topic of discussion is not only the $100bn but also how to redirect financial flows from all sources and channel them towards cutting emissions.

It is indisputable that there is capital out there, but is the capital going to where it needs to go? That is the problem, the capital is not going where it needs to go, says Mafalda Duarte, chief executive of the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs).

A new wave of money is starting to head towards more climate projects. Some of this is starting to come from private sources one example is a $600m BlackRock fund for climate projects, which is paired with government funds that take the risk out of the investment.

Public investors are starting to rethink their approaches: The CIFs is raising a $2bn fund from rich countries including Canada, Germany and the US, to help countries transition out of coal. Duarte says it will use this money to leverage funds from other public and private investors, so that every $1 from CIF brings in $10 from others.

Another potential big source of new funding could come from the Article Six negotiations at COP, which will iron out rules for global carbon markets.

That will put in place a system by which polluting countries transfer millions or billions of dollars for carbon-reducing projects in other countries. Done right, it could help lower emissions and send climate finance in the right direction.

But done wrong, it risks re-creating the same problems that plagued the earlier Clean Development Mechanism. If negotiators leave a lot of loopholes in the carbon market rules, such as allowing countries to double count their emissions, then the system could push emissions up rather than reducing them.

Still, developing countries warn that it may all be too little, too late. In Glasgow, negotiations will start over how to set a bigger climate finance target for 2025, even before the $100bn has been reached.

All this will come to a head in the next few days. As a political issue, the funding will be keenly debated. Even though there are questions about whether the money can be spent effectively, and how it should be distributed, politicians and activists admit that no one has found a better solution. However imperfect it is, climate finance is a central part of fighting climate change and also the hardest to fix.

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As part of our coverage ofCOP26we want to hear from you. Do you think carbon pricing is the key to tackling climate change?Tell us via a shortsurvey.We will share some of the most interesting and thought provokinganswers in our newsletters or an upcoming story.

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COP26: where does all the climate finance money go? - Financial Times

In the world of combat sports, the line separating reality and entertainment can often be blurred.

How often have you asked yourself: Do these two fighters really hate each other? Or are they putting on a performance to sell extra pay-per-view buys?

But on Sunday (Australian time), the potential for scepticism will be non-existent when arch enemies Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington lock horns again for the welterweight belt at UFC 268 at the hallowed Madison Square Garden in New York.

Watch UFC 268: Usman vs Covington 2 LIVE on Main Event available on Kayo and Foxtel, Sunday 7th November from 1pm AEDT. ORDER NOW >

Make no mistake, these two men have a lot of history and their hate for each other runs deep.

For starters, Covington is an unabashed supporter of former president Donald Trump, and even got invited to the White House when Trump was in office.

Given reigning champion Usman is of African descent, and what Trumps presidency represented for many black Americans, Usman was always going to be at loggerheads with Covington on politics, and went so far as accusing him of trying to divide the country with inflammatory remarks.

MORE: This terrifying beast is on a historic tear. Only the most hated man in the UFC can stop him

ULTIMATE GUIDE: How to watch epic UFC 268-Canelo combat double header in Australia

Covington is undoubtedly a firebrand with the gift of the gab who has adopted the heel persona seamlessly, largely by being politically incorrect.

Among his many outrageous comments, Covington accused Usman of using Erythropoietin (EPO) a banned substance which stimulates red blood cell production and assists with endurance for a couple of years in the lead-up to their first fight in December 2019.

Act or no act, most reasonable people would think Covington crossed the line when, again in the lead-up to UFC 245, he said Usman gave his late trainer Glenn Robinson a heart attack and that Robinson would be watching their main event showdown from hell.

Covington didnt stop there, though. The former interim champion claimed that Usman was not actually born in Nigeria, but was in fact born in America, in Dallas a kind of reversal of the birther movement conspiracy theory his hero Trump subscribed to which claimed former president Barack Obama wasnt born in America, but was born in Kenya.

It also plays nicely into Covingtons use of the nickname he has for Usman: Marty Fake News-man, a reference that also draws on Usmans nickname Marty which he acquired in high school because his coach was having trouble pronouncing his full first name, Kamarudeen.

Throughout it all, despite clearly harbouring deep disdain for Covington, Usman remained fairly calm and collected in the face of the verbal barrage. But while The Nigerian Nightmare put a lot of Covingtons theatrics down to attention-seeking, he did believe the 33-year-olds behaviour also showed what kind of person he was.

I dont think theres ever been a guy universally hated this bad, Usman told MMA Fighting back in 2019.

In response to Covingtons unfounded allegations about his nationality, Usman said he was proud of his immigrant story and went so far as to say he believed he was even more American than Covington, considering America is a country of immigrants and he, as an immigrant, has become a spectacular sporting success story.

Things really boiled over between the pair in August 2019 when they engaged in a live on-air bust-up after Covingtons win against Robbie Lawler.

And then came the fight itself, where Usman got the chance to shut Covington up in the best way possible, by breaking his jaw.

Widely regarded as one of the best welterweight fights in UFC history, Usman put his belt on the line in what was his first title defence, after usurping Woodley as king of the division earlier in 2019 at UFC 235.

In what was a back-and-forth contest full of huge hits from either fighter, only one judge had Usman in the lead going into the final round.

Usman needed to produce something huge in the fifth round, he needed a finish and thats exactly what he got. Twice he rocked Covington, sending the American to the canvas, before ending the contest with rapid-fire hammerfists to the head with just 50 seconds left the latest finish in UFC welterweight history.

But you didnt think that Usman successfully defending his title in such dramatic circumstances would keep Covington quiet did you? On the contrary. Inspired by his hero Trump, Covington labelled the result fake and referee Marc Goddard fake for finishing the fight when he did.

He also accused Usman of not only faking being hit in the cup, but also being poked in the eye in order to buy himself some time and get a rest during the fight.

It all blew over again live on air in September last year when they had another verbal stoush following Covingtons win over Woodley.

Whoevers side you might find yourself on in this gargantuan war of words, one thing is for certain these men are the two best fighters in the welterweight division.

In one corner you have Usman (19-1) who has won his last 18 fights, including each of his 14 bouts in the UFC, in an undefeated streak that dates back eight years. He has also defended his title four times since winning it.

In the other corner you have Covington (16-2) who won 15 of his first 16 fights before being stopped by Usman.

One way or another, with these two men so evenly matched, its not hard to envisage another fight for the ages at UFC 268.

Read more from the original source:
The hate is real: Wild claims and explosive blow-ups behind one of sports nastiest feuds - Fox Sports

Hotel California: The Original Eagles Tribute

When the Eagles took a break in the mid-1980s, Hotel California filled the breach, and theyve been the worlds premiere Eagles tribute band ever since. See them at the Sorg Opera House, 57 S. Main St., Middletown, on Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30-$35. For more information, visit http://www.sorgoperahouse.org.

The Menus

This charismatic rock band has been entertaining Cincinnati audiences for over 30 years. See them at the Sorg Opera House, 57 S. Main St., Middletown, on Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. For more information, visit http://www.sorgoperahouse.org.

Farewell Angelina

This female country trio blends vocal harmonies with double violins and a guitar. See them at the Fairfield Community Arts Center, 411 Wessel Drive, Fairfield, on Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $31-$34. For more information, call (513) 867-5348 or visit http://www.fairfield-city.org/tickets.

Winter Craft Show

This second annual show will feature over 50 vendors. Get all your holiday gifts and dcor at EnterTRAINment Junction, 7379 Squire Ct., West Chester, on Nov. 6 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. There is no admission cost. For more information, call (513) 898-8000 or visit http://www.entertrainmentjunction.com.

Jason Bonhams Led Zeppelin Evening

The son of the late, legendary Led Zeppelin drummer has been rocking on is own since the 1980s. On this tour, hes recreating the iconic songs of Led Zeppelins entire catalogue. See it at the Icon Music Center, 25 Race St., Cincinnati, on Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39.50-$75. For more information, call (513) 232-5882 or visit http://www.iconmusiccenter.com.

Styx

These progressive soft rockers released a string of multi-platinum albums in the 1970s and 80s. They are touring in support of their 17th album, Crash of the Crown, released last June. See them at the Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati, 1000 Broadway St., Cincinnati, on Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $59-$114. For more information, call (513) 250-3150 or visit http://www.hardrockcasinocincinnati.com.

Ledisi

This Grammy-winning R&B and jazz vocalist has released a live album, a Nina Simone tribute album, and an original album in just the last two years. Shes touring in support of her 2020 original album, Wild Card. See her at the Taft Theatre, 317 E. 5th St., Cincinnati, on Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $31.50-$48.50. For more information, call (513) 232-6220 or visit http://www.tafttheatre.org.

Bill Maher

The old-school liberal host of Politically Incorrect and Real Time has never abandoned his stand-up comedy roots. Check out his rescheduled show at the Taft Theatre, 317 E. 5th St., Cincinnati, on Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $47.50-$129.50. For more information, call (513) 232-6220 or visit http://www.tafttheatre.org.

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Things to do in Greater Cincinnati this week - Hamilton Journal News

BROADWAY's smash-hit musical The Book Of Mormon opened to a standing ovation at Bord Gais Energy Theatre earlier this week.

Penned by the geniuses behind South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the irreverent satire about two Mormon chaps sent on a mission to a remote Ugandan village is a howl a minute.

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Between blissful profanity, sacrilege and politically incorrect mischief, it's probably most anarchic fun ever staged at the Bord Gais.

Although the show runs until December 4, sources predict word of mouth will see the Mormons selling out with the theatre selling a limited amount of day tickets.

Ireland AM star Alan Hughes, Keith Walsh and his son Finn, Graham O Toole and Nathan O Reilly - Spin Radio breakfast presenters were among those attending.

Alan said: I Loved it such fun lots of shock value too with some of the lines but that added to it, the cast looked like they were having a blast."

Last week, we told how Alan Hughes and fellow Ireland AM presenter Muireann O'Connell donned grass skirts for Daniel O'Donnell.

The pair were speaking to the Donegal star as he released the clip for hissingle Down at The Lah De Dah.

The video features the singer working a standard nine to five but daydreaming about sporting a hula skirt and a Hawaiian lei while surfing waves, sipping cocktails and playing the ukulele.

Muireann and Alan dressed up as Hawaiian dancers as a tribute to the Donegal crooner, wearing a grass skirt and a flower necklace.

Taking to Instagram, Muireann said: "Daniel O'Donnell was chatting to us this morning and we had to get dressed up in homage to his new vid.

Daniel told the presenters on Ireland AM: "I love your attire."

Laughing, Alan said: "Thank you very much.

"We went all out for you this morning darling."

At the end of the interview, Daniel said: "Thanks a million guys, and thanks for dressing up."

Alan replied: "We have to give you one last show."

The Virgin Media stars then got up and did a hula dance for Daniel and the Ireland AM viewers.

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Broadway musical The Book Of Mormon opens to standing ovation at Dublins Bord Gais Energy Theatre... - The Irish Sun

It's safe to say that Buffalo Bills fever is at an all-time high. It's at least as big as it was back in the early 90s, the last time the team was this consistently good. I was too young to remember those days, but I do know that this current Bills team has made all of Western New York sleeping and breathing Bills Mafia.

You see Bills hats, jerseys, and shirts all over Buffalo, but I love when you see a fan wearing that "niche" piece of merchandise. You know, like a Wyoming hat or jersey (Josh Allen's college team), or maybe it's his high school team.

Back in early October, Allen wore a Firebaugh hoodie duringwalking into Highmark Stadium before the Houston Texans game, and then wore it during his postgame press conference.

Wegmans

Bills fans wanted to get their hands on that jersey, and it was made available through theShop One Buffalo store online. Now, you can get those signature Firebaugh hoodies at Wegmans!

This was at the Orchard Park Road Wegmans in West Seneca.

Josh Allen grew up in northern California, and went to Firebaugh High School. His team was called the Firebaugh Eagles and now Bills fans can wear the hoodie Josh Allen has been wearing.

I have a ton of Bills gear like most fans do, but there's something very cool about having Wyoming or Firebaugh gear. It just shows how much this community had adopted Allen as their own and wants to support anything associated with him.

Many of them aren't around any more, but our parents always took us to these Buffalo restaurants growing up.

The 20 best old-school restaurants and bars in Western New York.

Did you know these 35 celebrities are on the wall at Chefs Restaurant?

The best pizza spots in Buffalo!

See more here:
These Are Finally In Stock at Wegmans and Bills Fans Are Thrilled - wyrk.com

First of all, Randy Rainbow swears thats his real name. You also need to know that Rainbow is one of us. The political parodist who rose to YouTube super-duper-stardom grew up in Broward County and graduated from Plantation High School, where he appeared in productions of Grease, Guys and Dolls and Youre a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He also did childrens, community and regional theater in Miami Shores and Hollywood. At the Hollywood Playhouse, he often shared the stage with Josh Gad. All that musical theater served him well with his patented blend of Broadway and politics (or any hot topic) satirized in smirky viral videos that have delighted devotees numbering in the millions. For the tour, Rainbow brings some of his song parodies from the virtual world to the live stage world, accompanied by a live band of Broadway musicians. He also tells dishy stories, does a Q&A with the audience and performs some new songs he composed with none other than Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin) and Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mary Poppins Returns).

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Critic's picks: The 10 best theater, comedy, dance performances this fall - South Florida Sun Sentinel

Michael Jacksons star, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, California, 12/6/2016 Hayk_Shalunts / Shutterstock

Michael Jackson has been named the king of pop for his timeless hits as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist. His lyrics have brought individuals across the world together as one. Billie Jean and Thriller are some of his best-known songs, but it is They Dont Really Care About Us that has been the topic of conversation in far-right Telegram channels.

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The far right took Jacksons song out of context by framing the lyrics around the idea of the great replacement. Appropriating a global hit performed by one of the most famous artists in modern history allows the far right to reach a wide audience, using Michael Jacksons star status to build credibility around its claims.

The far right has a fascination with the lyrics of They Dont Really Care About US because of the themes covered in the song. The lyrics in question contain anti-Semitic Jew me, sue me, everybody do me / Kick me, kike me, dont you black or white me. The conversations on Telegram involve praising Jackson for recognizing that Jews were the ones in control. Users continued to praise Jackson for using the word kike, deemed anti-Semitic for its historical context that dates back to the Jewish community entering the United States via Ellis Island.

The word kike is offensive, which pleases the far right and helps build a narrative frame around a misconstrued version of Jacksons song. The lyrics about Jews, in addition to the chorus, All I wanna say is that they dont really care about us, also feeds into the beliefs espoused by the Patriot movement.

The songs lyrics faced criticism for being politically incorrect when it was initially released, but it was not until recently that the far right noticed how it could manipulate the lyrics to reach a mass audience. Despite Jacksons revisions of the song, both versions continue to be readily available online.

Jackson produced two music videos for this powerful hit. The first video opens with the statement: This film is not degrading one race, but pictorializes the injustices to all mankind. May God grant us peace throughout the world. The video takes place in prison, with disgruntled inmates surrounding Jackson. Throughout the video, visuals of weapons, bombs and beatings are shown across the screen.

The other version of the video is more upbeat, taking place in Brazil, with bright colors and dancing, but with the same problematic lyrics. Some even claimed they saw Jackson doing a Nazi salute at one point in the video. Telegram users preferred the prison version because the visuals aligned with their us-versus-them frame.

After facing criticism, Jackson explained that he purposefully used that verbiage to highlight the injustice individuals were facing at the time by creating protest music, specifically with the intention of showing the symbolic nature of name-calling people.

After users went back and forth in the channel providing their own interpretations of the song, they attempted to develop tactics to circulate the music video and create memes of Jacksons photograph with the words great replacement or they dont really care about us. Circulating images of the king of pop in this context across the internet could lead to those unfamiliar with the terms the opportunity to seek out further information on this type of content.

The us-versus-them mentality that binds the far right together is further solidified by the us Jackson uses in the song title and chorus, a user pointed out. After the user pointed out that they were considered the us Jackson was referring to, the channel realized that he was talking about them. While the channel did not use the words great replacement outside of putting it on memes of Jackson, it was being described implicitly by users.

The channel audience agreed that the songs purpose is to inform listeners that the government doesnt care about them and that the authorities are willing to replace them through immigration to the extent that whites become the minority group. The great replacement and white genocide are two concepts of particular relevance for the far right because whites aspire to retain their majority status.

Based on the 2020 census results, there is a high likelihood of the far right panicking because the United States is becoming more diverse. The world saw this fear of the great replacement in Charlottesville, Virginia, when protesters chanted Jews will not replace us during a Unite the Right rally in 2017.

Despite evidence that Jackson suffered from vitiligo a condition where the skin loses pigmentation users claimed he purposefully bleached his skin because he disliked his dark African American complexion. While there was no evidence for the claims Telegram users were making, they began to discuss how this framing can be used as a recruitment tactic especially as these claims cannot be entirely disputed since Jackson has passed away. However, the larger a conspiracy theory becomes, the less likely that it will survive because it has crossed too many paths.

The Michael Jackson frame the Telegram channel developed is a false reality and can be easily disproved after research. It only took one person to start the conversation before other individuals chimed in by trying to make connections between everything that has been said. The entire narrative framework is built on the foundation of an us-versus-them mentality the far right has always had.

Michael Jackson was not an ant-Semite, nor did he bleach his skin. But rhetoric can easily be misconstrued to fit a narrative that aids in furthering a specific cause. Rhetoric can have an impact, examined under a microscope, especially when delivered by someone of Michael Jacksons caliber. Unfortunately, it is only a matter of time before the memes created by the far right that piqued interest in Jackson begin to circulate not only on other fringe platforms but also in the mainstream.

*[Fair Observer is amediapartner of theCentre for Analysis of the Radical Right.]

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observers editorial policy.

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Appropriating the King of Pop: The Far Right Co-Opts Michael Jackson - Fair Observer

Over the past year, few things have been as controversial as Grand Army. The show, which centers itself around some pretty sensitive issues, is one that has aroused the curiosity of all those looking for a hint of controversy and all those who tune in to the news for all the latest heat. Grand Army has just been killing it when it comes to making itself infamous. Whether that is a good thing or a bad one is open to interpretation. But no matter what, it spells a lot of trouble for those who are involved with the show. I personally found the show to be quite different in its nature too, and think that while it might have brought it a lot of attention, it has also put it up for a lot of criticism. But will Grand Army Season 2 happen? That is what we need to know.

Another show that you might be interested in isThe Walking Dead: Negan And Maggie Hit It Off. The Walking Dead is one of the most popular shows of all time, and it is not an understatement. The latest episode of the Walking Dead brought us a profound conversation between Negan and Maggie. Find out all about it at the link above.

Grand Army, at its core, is a coming of age show. Adapted from Slut: The Play, which was a production of the showrunner Katie Cappiello herself, the show is based around social issues and tackles them head on. It doesnt make any reservations with the fact that it might be triggering to some or that it might not be politically incorrect. It is unabashedly itself, and takes pride in it.

The major plot point revolves around Joey, who is the victim of a rape at the hands of her former best friends Luke and George. She is fighting for her justice and trying to get the boys the punishment that they deserve. A slew of other characters get involved, and power play is paramount between them. There are hints of racism, and then there is an uprising against it. Social issues are handled with a lot of rigor, and make up the majority of the show. With the end of Grand Army Season 1, we still had to see justice being brought for Joey, and Grand Army Season 2 was sure to bring that justice to her.

You might also be interested inThe Resident Season 4: All You Need To Know. The Resident is one of the best shows surrounding the medical profession on TV right now. Season 4 of the show brought us a lot of new variables in the show, including the privatization of the hospital. Find out all that the new season brought to us fans in the article above.

Grand Army has been a polarizing show, not just in terms of the politics that it brought along with it, but also in the way that it was received. While it made the top lists for a lot of people and a lot of top review blogs, it wasnt received that well by the audiences. And that is not to say that it was not liked, but that it garnered a very limited viewership over the course of its run. It wasnt a blockbuster show by any means and didnt rake in the viewership that many other shows did. Nor was it hyped as much as any other series on Netflix. It just happened to fly under the radar and did its own little thing. Which again had an impact on the existence of Grand Army Season 2.

You might also be interested inLaw And Order Season 21: Release Date And Latest News. Following a hiatus that was more than a decade long, Law and Order is finally returning to TV. And no, it is not a reboot, but a continuation of the same old Law and Order that we love. Read the article to find out all the latest news about the show.

Unfortunately, given the amount of controversy that the show suffered, due to the allegations of racist exploitation and abuse against the show creator Katie Cappiello, it just wasnt boding well for Netflix. It was feeling the heat, and some of the writers and other crew for the show left due to Cappiellos controversial actions. In addition to that, the show didnt take off as well as Netflix would have like it to. And that led to the platform canceling the show altogether. A few months ago, Netflix announced its decision to end the era of Grand Army after its pilot season itself. Now that might be disappointing for those of us who were invested in the story, but it was bound to go this way with all that stuff.

The Magicians Season 5: Why It Ended is one of the most asked questions when it comes to the aftermath of its cancelation. While the show had a stellar run and pleased us with every minute of screen time, it still went off the air. For reasons that would shock you, the show had to be ended at that point. Read all about it in our article.

While the show has officially ended, we were never given the closure that we deserved as fans. But we can still theorize what direction the show might have taken had it gone on for another season. Tim could have put the final nail in the coffin and gotten Joey the justice that she deserved, while Leila could be looking at some serious consequences for her false alarm. How Owen could end up is also a question. Nevertheless, unless the show is renewed, we might never know the answer to these questions.

Grand Army is currently streaming on Netflix. You may watch it at the following link:

Watch Grand Army on Netflix

Grand Army currently holds a rating of 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb, based on multiple user reviews. IMDb is our preferred platform for all movies and TV shows.

You may watch the trailer for the show down below:

What do you think the second season of the show would have been like? Were you invested into it? Let me know in the comments down below.

Stay tuned in to the Franchise Hound for the latest entertainment updates.

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Grand Army Season 2: News About The Grand Renewal - TheFranchiseHound

By Ann Rostow

Not the Greatest Generation

I have been casting about for interesting topics and procrastinating to some extent, since I dont have a major lead story this week, and I couldnt resist clicking on: Most Uncool Things Boomers Still Think Are Cool, preparing myself for an affectionate dressing down by some Gen X or Millennial writer assigned to one of these clickbait listicles.

Sure enough, I agreed with cruises, racquetball, and crocs. No, Mel and I dont go on cruises or play racquetball. But we have friends who play pickle ball and we do have an ugly pair of crocs on the porch, so thats not too far off the mark. But after that, these analysts devolved, accusing us of hanging out at the mall and preferring chain restaurants like Applebees to more sophisticated fare. Boomers also like the Home Shopping Channel, and readReaders Digest, they continued inexplicably.

I had to stop at that point because, as many people know, Boomers are still busy people with no time to waste on nonsensical internet tangents. Applebees? Really? Havent you noticed that Boomers managed to avoid student debt and retire at the end of a decades long rise in the stock market? Youre the ones at Applebees. Were deciding whether or not we agree with Pete Wells latest restaurant review. And no, were not at the mall. Weve never liked the mall. That was Gen X, you fools! Oh, andReaders Digestis the Silent Generation, not us.

Also, we may still be guilty of doing and liking uncool things, but were not so out of it that we still think these things are cool. We know theyre not cool and we choose to do them anyway.

In all seriousness, Im not happy about our generation, those Americans born in the 1950s and 1960s.

We allowed the civil rights movement to fail. We set the stage for climate change. We were complacent. Most of us were too young to participate in the opposition to Vietnam or Woodstock or the Summer of Love, yet we assume those mantles as if we were part of a valiant struggle or a cultural revolution.

Im sure youve heard that we Boomers had to duck and cover for those absurd nuclear bomb preparations. But we were kids. That wasnt frightening. Gen Z students, on the other hand, live with a legitimate sense of dread based on an actual possibility that has happened dozens of times and killed hundreds in the last ten years alone. They and their older siblings are also the ones who will have to save our planet, while paying off loans and trying to support their families on two incomes with expensive health insurance and lousy child care.

Hey, wedidfight for gay rights, live through AIDS, invent computers, increase everyones life span, map the human genome, and discover the Higgs boson. So, were not complete wastrels. And any of us with extra cash will presumedly leave it to you guys to help with your many projects.

It just feels as if we could have done better.

Gay Is Not Always Good

I see from the Human Rights Campaigns news email that Amazon is going to make a movie out of the best-selling novel Red, White and Royal Blue. Because I am fond of trashy paperbacks and because this book had a gay theme and good beach read type reviews, I bought it and read it.

Friends, I advise you not to follow my lead. It wasnotgood. It was trite, predictable, and just plain stupid. I sort of like bad novels, but there are good bad novels and bad bad novels and this was in the latter category. So much so that I wondered if some of those saucy and fun! reviews and blurbs reflected peoples fear of looking politically incorrect by dissing a gay book.

The premise is that the handsome son of the Hillary-esque female President of the United States is secretly gay and in love with the handsome Prince of Wales, who is also secretly gay and in love with the Presidents son. They pretend to dislike each other at various important events, but thats just their way of hiding their true feelings. This tension is presented with the subtlety of an opera plot, and before you know it, the two of them are having a steamy affair. The rest of the book is just them, having their affair, trying to hide it, breaking up and making up, and living happily ever after. Each of these transitions is signaled loudly in advance so the reader is not disturbed by any distractions, like suspense.

This book was one of the ones I took along on a visit to family a few months ago, and now that I think about it a) it has a number of sort of raunchy sex scenes, and b) I left it in my grandchildrens playroom. Ooops. I would warn their parents but I dont want them to know how low I will stoop in my trash reading habits since I like to parade around with sophisticated novels or serious nonfiction selections.

Oh, hi, Matthew! This? Yes, Im just rereading David Talbots history of the Kennedy brothers. Do you know it?

Has anyone seen my copy of The Overstory? I was sure I left it here in the living room. What? Red, white, and what? No, I have no idea what youre talking about.

Its That Time Again

The U.S. Supreme Court is back in session, and will be considering whether or not to accept a number of GLBT cases. For now, however, most people are focused on the scheduled review of Mississippis abortion ban, which takes effect at 15 weeks. Roe v Wade effectively guarantees the right to an abortion during the first two trimesters of pregnancy, ergo this Mississippi law would seem to violate settled law.

But, I can hear you out there, what about Texas? Isnt that a ban on abortion after just six weeks? Well, yes and no. The state of Texas is not going to go after women who have abortions after that time, nor will the state confront the doctors who conduct the procedures. Instead, the state has left it up tovigilante bystanderswho can sue anyone who facilitates an abortion and legally be awarded damages of up to $10,000.

Weve talked about this already, and indeed, the Justice Department has sued Texas over this convoluted situation. But did you know that the judge in charge of this lawsuit is a gay man, appointed by Obama with the full support of Senators Cruz and Cornyn? Well respected throughout the federal bench, Judge Robert Pitman heard arguments on October 1 in Austin.

And heres what I should have known already, but just discovered. A few years ago, the city council of San Antonio voted against Chick-fil-A, which wanted to set up a franchise at the airport. San Antonios administrators didnt like Chicks antigay postures, and also did not approve of the Christian companys Sunday closings. That may be fine and dandy to encourage small town church attendance, but its not really useful in a busy airport.

Well, of course there was an uproar, and Texas being Texas, the state legislature passed a special statute in 2019, the Save Chick-fil-A law, that Governor Abbot promptly signed. Im not kidding. I remember the situation and Im sure I mentioned it in these pages, but I had not paid close attention to the logistics of the Save Chick-fil-A law. It allows anyone to sue when they believe religious discrimination has denied someone or some organization a government contract or benefit.

Sound familiar? Its just like the abortion law, providing totally unconnected strangers the right to interject themselves into conflicts that are none of their damned business.

In the Chick-fil-A case, the restaurant was offered a spot at the airport in some kind of settlement with the FAA, but they declined. Subsequently, in line with this wacky law, some rando and his pals sued the San Antonio city council in an effort to give Chick-fil-A another opportunity for an airport restaurant (even though there was no indication they wanted one). That suit was dismissed on the grounds that the city council had sovereign immunity, but the fact is that the law remains operable and that this statute has provided the predicate for the abortion nonsense.

Look, theres a clear mandate in American jurisprudence that a third party does not have the right to sue just because they dont like a situation. Further, a plaintiff with standing must have suffered an actual injury. Its not enough to argue that you might be injured in the future or that youre offended by something thats going on. You and I cannot sue the state of California or the city of San Francisco because we believe weve observed some nefarious instance of discrimination against some other person. We cant (well, we shouldnt be able to) sue an Uber driver who drove our Texas cousin to the womens clinic and collect $10,000.

Any law that says otherwise is opening the door to complete chaos. And thats why the Supreme Court decision that allowed that Texas law to stand during litigation is such a jaw dropper. Its like temporarily allowing the volunteers with the neighborhood watch to demand an ID check, or lock people up in Mrs. Parkers basement overnight. Its not right. And I can only hope Judge Pitman puts an end to it, pronto, and takes the Save Chick-fil-A law down while hes at it.

And Another Thing or Two

There are a lot of school stories here and there. A Gay Straight Alliance was discriminated against in Indiana (allegedly)the school in Oregon, where the farmers put out a rainbow flag in the field, remember? That school board voted again to ban controversial paraphernalia that apparently include rainbow images and Black Lives Matter signs. And in the Dallas area, students held a walkout after safe space stickers and rainbows were removed from classrooms, and some gay-friendly teachers appeared to have been disciplined.

It seems evident that the countrys step back into more overt racism, meanness, jingoism, and conspiratorial nuttiness has been colored with a wash of homophobia. I dont recall the same number of antigay school stories in pre-pandemic years. The increase fits with our narrowing minds.

Speaking of narrowing minds, I was pleased to hear Liz Cheneys mind widen to accept the blame for the opportunistic hostility to same-sex marriage that she affected in order to ingratiate herself to Wyoming conservatives during her 2013 run for Senate. I was wrong, she told 60 Minutes the other day. Its a very personal issueand very personal for my family. I believe that my dad was right. And my sister and I have had that conversation . Freedom means freedom for everybody.

Finally, we can thankPsychology Todayfor observing that gays and lesbians are more likely than straight men and women to be friends with their exes. The authors cite three fairly recent academic papers on the subject, all from the late teens, concluding that yes, its more than an urban myth. We do indeed put the long into long-term relationship, even after we break up. I guess another research project on this subject is underway at Trent University, wherever the hell that is. Oh, okay, fine. Its in Ontario, Canada, in a town called Peterborough.

The original authors, the Canadian writers say, suggested that the continuation of such relationships in the form of platonic friendships may help to preserve access to social support and security, in particular, due to the fact that us gays and lesbians historically lack social support and might need to hang on to our exes as a result.

It also might be that we have no choice in the matter because our ex just took up with our other ex, who is dating our sister and we cant avoid them. Plus, considering were having an affair with her exs best friend, were bound to run into each other. Did we mention there are only two gay bars in town? Oh. And weve always really liked each other and still do.

arostow@aol.com

Published on October 7, 2021

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Ann Rostow: Not the Greatest Generation - San Francisco Bay Times - San Francisco Bay Times