The United States tolerates Trump’s behavior because of our warped definition of strength
The strongest men I’ve known didn’t behave anything like Donald Trump.
They were capable of restraint, first off. They may have spoken loudly, but they never used volume to enforce authority. None of them thought domination equaled leadership. How silly that would be.
Continue reading...Director Ferzan Özpetek captures the loves and lives of a group of seamstresses working on a fictional 18th-century period drama
If we are being honest this comedy-drama set in a costume atelier in 1970s Rome is a little light on the comedy, while the drama is decidedly on the melo end of the scale, even a bit absurd at times. But there’s something about it that is irresistible, especially if you are in any way sympathetic to queer-accented celebrations of women played by powerhouse ensembles in the spirit of George Cukor’s The Women, François Ozon’s 8 Women, or Pedro Almodóvar films. You will also have a ball if you like luscious-looking period costumes – this one is completely awash in them, specialising in 18th-century silhouettes and 1970s prints – with lust-inducing shots of bolts of silk fabric billowing out in slanting sunlight; as well as the haberdashery porn of carefully categorised button collections; and the camaraderie of collective craftsmanship, especially seamwork. To add to the list there is mouthwatering footage of food, scenes where women bicker one minute and then hug it out the next in sisterly fashion; the occasional studly male who walks cluelessly through the action to either be ogled or provide a baritone or tenor voice for a communal singsong to vintage 70s Italian ballads.
Nevertheless, it is essentially a fluffy work from director Ferzan Özpetek (Hamam, Facing Windows); he is no Almodóvar, but you can tell this comes from a place of love and sincerity for him, as well as familiarity given he’s spoken in interviews how the inspiration for this were his visits to costume studios around Rome in the 80s when he was just starting his film career as an assistant director. In this fictional version of that world, set in 1974, sisters Alberta (Luisa Ranieri) and Gabriella (Jasmine Trinca) run just such a studio, staffed by a few dozen seamstresses and supplemented by a dyeing specialist (Nicole Grimaudo) and an in-house cook/nonna figure (Mara Venier).
Continue reading...There is no justification for a regressive system in which the super-rich contribute less than the rest of us
Today, we have more income and wealth inequality than ever before. New York City’s average household income is $131,000. Without extreme inequality, residents could live reasonably well. Instead, a few people at the top of the income ladder capture enormous wealth, while millions of others struggle just to get by. Some simply can’t make it. For them, New York has become fundamentally unaffordable.
This outsized level of inequality has enormous economic, political and social consequences. It undermines social and political cohesion, erodes trust in institutions and leads people to conclude, correctly, that the system is rigged.
Continue reading...As Americans race to file their federal taxes before today’s deadline, new analysis breaks down where the money goes
Many US households spent hundreds more tax dollars on the military last year, according to new analysis, as Donald Trump’s plans to dramatically increase federal defense spending faces growing scrutiny.
Millions of Americans will race to file their taxes today, the final day for federal returns, amid concern over rising living costs and government spending.
Continue reading...The Nigerian megacity’s dynamic growth is outstripping its rental supply, and wages are not keeping up with rising costs
Every weekday before dawn, Oluwatobi Ogundipe leaves his small flat in Sango Ota, an industrial town in Ogun state, for a four hour commute to the glass towers of Lagos Island.
Despite working in one of Nigeria’s growing technology sectors, the 32-year-old product manager cannot afford to live any closer to his office.
Continue reading...Analysis shows whales’ coda vocalizations are ‘highly complex’ and remarkably similar to our own
We may appear to have little in common with sperm whales – enormous, ocean-dwelling animals that last shared a common ancestor with humans more than 90 million years ago. But the whales’ vocalized communications are remarkably similar to our own, researchers have discovered.
Not only do sperm whale have a form of “alphabet” and form vowels within their vocalizations but the structure of these vowels behave in the same way as human speech, the new study has found.
Continue reading...QUOTE - Prof. Carla Hoetink, politiek historica en directeur van het Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, schreef een rake column over de normalisering van extreem en radicaal rechts in de Nederlandse politiek.
Het Kamervoorzitterschap van PVV-ideoloog Martin Bosma is geen voetnoot in de parlementaire geschiedenis. Het is een onuitwisbaar teken van normalisering van radicaal en extreemrechts gedachtegoed als ‘gewoon een politieke mening’.
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Waarom gebeurt dit? De aantrekkingskracht van populistische retoriek op kiezers en media speelt een cruciale rol. Middenpartijen imiteren standpunten uit competitie- en overlevingsdrang, om relevant te blijven en kiezers te behouden. Bij regeringssamenwerking speelt machtsbehoud en coalitiedynamiek. Uitvergroting in het publieke debat van bepaalde thema’s, zoals nationale identiteit, immigratie en economische bedreigingen, versterkt de normalisering
De vervolg vraag is: hoe komen we er weer van af?