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This past weekend, while in Greenville, SC, I saw pretty much the most hipster thing imaginable:
Yes, this is a business devoted entirely to recreational axe-throwing. And yes, the clientele were wearing cuffed skinny jeans and sporting well-groomed beards.
Why was I there? Because it is located next door to a shop serving some of the most mind-blowingly good tacos east of Baja, and a brewery with some pretty damn good stuff on tap. (Note to Scott: no, this is not the same taco shop I sent you the picture from. Same town, though.)
And yes, I realize that those are both hipster-as-hell also.
There are a crossfit studio, a couple of artists' studios, and a doggie spa in the same complex which, in true hipster fashion, is built right next to the railroad tracks in an old cotton mill, just past a scrapyard where the homeless congregate to sell stolen copper.
High School Cancels Musical After White Student Lands Lead Role
Kevin Revie, Staff Writer January 22, 2018
Whitewashing has long been a problem in Hollywood, but a recent casting diversity outcry has proven that it’s one that plagues even the smaller productions. Students at a New York high school joined forces to get their school’s spring production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame shut down after a role intended for a woman of color was given to a white student.
The catalyst for this student movement was 17-year-old Maddi Carroll, who decided to quit Ithaca High School’s annual production after the role of Esmeralda, a Romani woman, was given to a white actress. “It shows you that theater wasn’t made for you,” Carroll told Ithaca Journal. “And it shows you that, if you can’t get the parts that are written for you, what parts are you going to get?”
Carroll’s departure sparked the members of Students United Ithaca to write a letter demanding a more inclusive production. The students wrote, “At best, this is cultural appropriation. At worst, it is whitewashing, a racist casting practice which has its roots in minstrelsy. It also reinforces the damaging narrative that only white power structures can save oppressed people, rather than people of color having the fortitude to do so themselves.”
These students’ voices were eventually heard and it wasn’t long before Ithaca High School decided to cancel the spring production. Instead, the high school opted to put on a more collaborative project. However, this replacement hasn’t quite placated these activist students. In fact, it prompted them to post a list of demands for the Ithaca City School District.
Facebook / Students United Ithaca
The Ithaca City School District responded to the casting outcries by releasing a statement on their website, writing, “We thank everyone for their contributions as we delve further into complex conversations. In addition, we ask that you please stay engaged as we continually work to create community-wide support for our students and school community.”
A new production, however, isn’t the change these students were looking for. Despite the district stating that this matter “is not about any particular faculty member or ICSD employee,” Students United Ithaca is demanding a new “socially conscious” director to replace the current one.
“This issue is bigger than one part in one musical in one place,” Carroll told Ithaca Journal. “It’s very very systemic and is very deeply rooted in how we learn and what we do every day. So, we next want to go to the school. We want to branch out from the arts to the school in general and we want to try and make a change.”
CORSICANA (CBSDFW.COM) – A statue of a gorilla, and prime attraction for kids at the Community Park playground in Corsicana was removed by the city.
A spokesperson for the city said some community members found the gorilla offensive – racially insensitive — in some form, and requested its removal from the park.
“We can understand this, because we have an obligation to listen to all our citizens, to determine what is offensive and not, especially in public places,” said Corsicana Mayor Don Denbow.
Denbow saw an uptick in complaints about the playground primate during the last few weeks. There were more and more phone calls, and personal discussions, and he, the city manager and a city council member, decided it needed to come down.
UPDATED: February 28, 2018 1:15 PM Corsicana city council member Jeff Smith posted to Facebook that the city will return the gorilla statue inside his cage as soon as weather permits.
China has launched a social media crackdown after criticism of President Xi Jinping's plan to remain in office indefinitely was revealed.
Searches for "I object", "proclaimed king", "tenure system" and "Winnie the Pooh" - the portly cartoon character which Mr Xi has often been compared - were blocked.
Some articles reporting the news were also taken down, while pieces praising the ruling Communist Party were published as part of a concerted push to control the political agenda.
The party has proposed removing a constitutional clause which limits a president to two terms in office, which could mean Mr Xi, who also leads the party and military, staying in power for years to come.
The Chinese government has banned the letter 'N' and George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984 in a major online censorship clampdown.
:( two of my favorite books. China can't get woke now.
While China's government is certainly not (and does not claim to be) democratic, it does have a Congress and purports to be a socialist state. Thus, it is not excluded from the definition of a republic.
Gene Wu has been a member of the Texas House of Representatives since 2013:
There is no official record of his having ever owned a cat, although he has not specifically claimed cat-ownership.
Orwell refused to say who was the target of that satire. My experiences in life suggest that it goes beyond Marxism and includes almost any human endeavor. Picture the line employee made supervisor, voter who becomes an elected official, student who becomes a professor.
When we gain power, we look at the power struggle much differently than we did previously.
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