The Third Day review: Jude Laws inventive mystery drama from the team behind Utopia – NME.com

Posted on by

If theres one thing that film and TV history teaches us, its that strangers visiting remote communities is not a good idea. The Wicker Man, Netflixs Apostle, Midsommar there are no happy endings here. Sky-HBO co-production The Third Day, starring Jude Law and Naomie Harris, is the next big-budget project to adopt the premise and the results are mixed.

Split into three separate parts Summer (three episodes), Autumn (an immersive theatre event broadcast live from London) and Winter (three episodes) The Third Day is at the very least inventive. In the first part, Summer, Law plays bereaved husband Sam an episodic psychosis sufferer who happens upon the mysterious Osea Island during festival season. Reachable only at low tide via a causeway, this chunk of British land off the coast of Essex is populated by the likes of Paddy Considines Mr Martin and Emily Watsons foul-mouthed Mrs Martin (How c**ting lovely! she remarks during one scene), whose inn plays host to off-kilter shenanigans involving the locals. While staying there, Sam meets Jess (Fantastic Beasts Katherine Waterston) and the linebetween fantasy and reality begins to blur.

The Third Day stars Jude Law as Sam, in the midst of a nervous breakdown. Credit: Sky

In the middle of a breakdown, Sams fever-dream state is captured via intense close-ups by director Marc Munden. Aided by a cryptic script from Dennis Kelly and Cristobal Tapia de Veers disturbing score, the former-Utopia triumvirate have succeeded in crafting a haunting and colourful mystery drama that deals with weighty themes like faith and grief.

Skipping Autumn (the immersive theatre event hasnt been filmed yet),The Third Day arrives at Winter, which belongs to Naomie Harris character Helen. Driving to Osea with her two young daughters she explains that the island is a great archaeological treasure to her studious eldest the familys idyllic weekend away quickly spirals into a nightmare. Go home, believe me its for the best! a local hotelier says before shutting the door in Helens face. Does the Booking.com star rating mean nothing to these people?

Naomie Harris plays Helen, a mother who takes her children to a mysterious island off the coast of Essex. Credit: Sky

As Helen and her squabbling kids roam the freezing terrain, encountering weirdo after weirdo and the odd mutilated animal, Harris imbues Helen with an affable determination. This time we know what shes up against, so its a relief to find were in the company of someone a bit more attentive than Laws Sam. When the customs of the islanders manage to rattle our new protagonist, the atmosphere in The Third Day morphs into a low-key kind of horror la Ben Wheatleys Kill List. This is the shows best form and itll be fascinating to see which way Autumn goes when it airs in October.

Four months after it was originally scheduled to premiere COVID-19 pushed back post-production The Third Day arrives with two standout episodes (five were available for review, not including the live-streamed, mid-season Autumn and October 19s last episode). It might not blow anybodys socks off but for those who choose to stick by it, next months finale promises a mouthwatering if, likely ill-fated climax.

The Third Day premieres September 15 on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV

Read this article:

The Third Day review: Jude Laws inventive mystery drama from the team behind Utopia - NME.com

Recruiting for Utopia exhibit at Fruitlands looks to the past and the present – Worcester Telegram

Posted on by

HARVARD Nestled in the woods of Harvard is a message waiting to be discovered: Hope is the watchword now.

These words of Bronson Alcott flutter on a printed banner near the entrance to Fruitlands Museum. Flapping in the wind on large banners throughout the grounds are the words of other transcendentalists, too, utopians and some contemporary philosophers.

Jane Marsching, the 2020 artist-in-residence at Fruitlands Museum, is creating outdoors her interpretation of the newest exhibit indoors.

Recruiting for Utopia: Print and the Imagination, which opened Sept. 5, is an exhibit in two distinct parts. There is a historical collection and a contemporary collection of visual artifacts.

Shana Dumont Garr, curator at Fruitlands, explained the overall premise of the exhibit: To look at New England in two specific time periods: the 1840s and 2019-2020. And to explore how print and design helped express peoples worries and their desires to make the world a better place.

When we think of utopia in this way it was peoples imaginings of what was good, said Dumont Garr. Utopia has meant different things to different people.

In the1840s there were various ideologies competing for the attention of New Englanders. Since there was no internet to share memes, visual representations of complex ideas and concepts were created to spread particular beliefs.

For a little background, 1843 is the year that Bronson Alcott, educator, reformer and father of "Little Women" author Louisa May Alcott, tried unsuccessfully to establish Fruitlands, the experimental utopian community.

About that same time William Miller, a farmer turned preacher, who was born in Pittsfield, prophesied the return of Christ, the end of the world and the 1843 ascension of the true believers to heaven utopia. Miller was a charismatic speaker who gained followers across many social sectors. The Millerites were aligned with the temperance and abolitionist movements and they were encouraged to help others prepare to be worthy to ascend into heaven.

At large outdoor gatherings called tent revivals, Miller would preach to hundreds of people. To help spread the word, large-scale banners printed on linen were hung from the tent depicting timelines of real historical events, blended with scripture from the Old Testament. There were also frightening images of mythical beasts and lots of mathematical calculations. Instilling fear of an apocalypse was an important aspect of Millers proselytizing.

Miller successfully recruited many followers with his persuasive speaking and his didactic visuals. Flyers and pamphlets were printed and distributed and newspapers were sold to further promote his teachings.

The Millerites were only one of many Protestant organizations during this time of resurgent religious fervor. The Shakers in nearby Harvard believed that living a life of simplicity and perfection in all their endeavors would produce a utopia on Earth. They are known for their fine craftsmanship and innovation, but on display in this exhibit are writings devoted to their spirituality.

Shaker Sister Sarah Bates secretly documented in ink on paper her spiritual communications using detailed biblical symbols and text. It was kept secret, rolled up in a drawer, because creating two dimensional art was forbidden in the Shaker faith.

Also on display are handmade and printed ephemera from the Freemasons, the Phrenologists (practitioners of a pseudoscience who claimed they could discern a persons character from the shape of the skull), and various flyers concerned with the urgent issues of the times.

I am hoping that it will be reassuring for people to see that in 1840s New England, it wasnt just farmers who all got along and lived a simple life. There were conflicting ideas and life was just as complicated then, said Dumont Garr.

Today, even with the internet to digitally spread content, there is still a place for the printed word. Think about the signs we have all seen for the Black Lives Matter and Hate Has No Home Here movements, or Greta Thurnbergs Skolstrejk fr klimatet (School Strike for Climate). These powerful messages have spread organically with simply printed yard signs.

The contemporary part of the exhibit is an eclectic collection of printed materials, pamphlets, street signs, posters, zines and a comic book, all created within the past few years by diverse artists. These physical documents highlight issues as varied as the slave market at Faneuil Hall, saving the U.S. Postal Service, the repatriation of sensitive objects belonging to indigenous peoples, and the interface of beekeeping and environmental injustice.

This is not the singular, precious, one-of-a-kind type of artwork destined to hang on the wall of a museum, viewed only by people who have the privilege of visiting that place. These works were intended to be distributed, to convey a message and to recruit others who support the message, building a community in the process.

Paige Johnston, an art historian and co-curator for the contemporary portion of Recruiting for Utopia, explained the value of making art to be distributed. It is a very democratic art form. You can make it out of inexpensive materials, whether that is by photocopying or by hand stitching on paper you have made yourself out of old clothes. There is a level of economic and monetary accessibility.

And Marsching, the artist-in-residence, is creating banners that flutter in the breeze at Fruitlands just as the Millerite banners would have done in the mid-1800s. Marsching is a visual multidisciplinary artist, a professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and a climate change activist. For her project, Utopian Press, she uses bark and acorns foraged on the grounds of Fruitlands to make the ink for the 3-by-30-foot banners hung from trees.

Her ink is steeped in a passive solar oven that she made herself. Marsching designed and built a portable backpack letterpress that can be carried out onto the trails at Fruitlands for groups to collaboratively create the banners onsite and hang them from the trees. Marschings banners visually recreate the words and ideas of the utopians.

"Recruiting for Utopia" runs through March 21, 2021. While visiting Fruitlands, do not miss the exquisite work of Boston painter Polly Thayer Starr. Also on view are some of Starrs personal items and journals.

Read the original:

Recruiting for Utopia exhibit at Fruitlands looks to the past and the present - Worcester Telegram

Netflix’s The Social Dilemma fails to tackle the real issues in tech. – Slate

Posted on by

Skyler Gisondo as Ben in The Social Dilemma.Netflix

Toward the end of Netflixs new documentary-drama The Social Dilemma, former Google employee Tristan Harris describes technology as simultaneous utopia and dystopia. This quote encapsulates the focus of the film: It primarily plays up well-worn dystopian narratives surrounding technology, with a sprinkling of early utopian views. Although The Social Dilemma attempts to raise awareness around important issues like design ethics and data privacy, it ends up depending on tired (and not helpful) tropes about technology as the sole cause of harm, especially to children. It also omits the very voices who have been sounding the alarm on Silicon Valley for a long time.

The film, instead, mainly centers the voices of former employees at big technology companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Many make it a point to tell us about the utopian intentions behind their involvement in the rise of these companies. For instance, Justin Rosenstein, who led the team that built the Facebook like button, says the team was motivated by a desire to spread love and positivity in the world. People within the technology industry have leaned into such techno-utopianism for decades, underplaying how maximizing profits is a major motivating factor for them. As Maria Farrell, an Irish tech writer, argued in March, these prodigal tech bros get an extremely easy ride toward redemption, and The Social Dilemma is another example of this phenomenon. Farrell also points out how they are given attention at the expense of digital rights activists who have been working tirelessly for years. This documentary, which will undoubtedly reach a global audience being on Netflix (itself a key cog within the technology industry), could have amplified such voices. It could have also given space to critical internet and media scholars like Safiya Noble, Sarah T. Roberts, and Siva Vaidhyanathan, just to name a few, who continue to write about how broader structural inequalities are reflected in and often amplified by the practices of big technology companies.

This is one of the documentarys most glaring omissions because it keeps The Social Dilemma from grappling with the roots of the problems with these companies. In a world where economic inequality continues to widen and many people are deeply skeptical of those in power, the film emphasizes how issues like political polarization and the spread of misinformation are directly caused by the design of online platforms. Certainly, the nature of recommendation algorithms that pull people into certain rabbit holes contributes to these issues. But it is not the sole reason for themand oversimplifying problems is part of how we ended up with our current digital environment.

Focusing instead on how existing inequalities intersect with technology would have opened up space for a different and more productive conversation. These inequalities actually influence the design choices that the film so heavily focuses onmore specifically, who gets to make these choices. Many of the people featured in this film express shock and say they never imagined how online platforms would be weaponized. They might have been less surprised by online hate speechor at least better equipped to respond quicklyif their companies workforces were truly diverse in both race and gender. Black women have been sounding the alarm about abusive online speech for a long time, but their words were long ignoredand the film perpetuates that problem.

Rather than a meaningful discussion on this subject, The Social Dilemma retells a dystopian narrative about technology that harks back to moral panics that have accompanied the introduction of various technologies, including books, the radio, and even the bicycle (despite what Tristan Harris says in the documentary). Social media is framed as ruining Gen Z and leading to a mental health epidemic. Although there are valid concerns about issues like excessive use and unrealistic body image expectations, years of research on how young peoples social media use affects their mental health and well-being tells a much more nuanced story. The film correlates a rise in mental health issues among teens in the U.S. with mobile social media use and makes a causal argument that ignores the role of a number of factors. As professor Sonia Livingstone, co-author of the new book Parenting for a Digital Future, points out, issues ranging from economic inequality to climate change may also contribute to young peoples anxiety and stressyet the film suggests technology alone is the problem. This narrative is further bolstered by framing technology use as an addiction. Some researchers who focus on digital well-being warn against using such labels as it pathologizes technology use. It treats frequent use of technology, even for a short period in someones life, as a disorder that possibly requires clinical intervention. This debate continues on, but the documentary only presents one side of it.

This framing of technology use as an addiction also serves to promote complete abstention as a possible solution. In fact, completely logging off social media is one of the few muddled solutions offered toward the end of the documentary. We are told that those in Silicon Valley do not let their children use any social media. Not only does this gloss over how young people can make positive social connections online, it does not offer parents any productive advice about the conversations they may have with their children on issues like media literacy and privacy protection. Again, experts who have spent years conducting research on children and digital media could have offered such suggestions. But they are absent while a dystopian narrative that lacks any nuance is uncritically presented.

Ultimately, this omission of experts and lack of nuance results in The Social Dilemma feeling like a missed opportunity. On the plus side, it informs a wide audience about issues like surveillance, persuasive design practices, and the spread of misinformation online, which may encourage them to hold big technology companies accountable. But who gets to convey this information and how it is framed are also crucial. Amplifying voices who have always had a seat at the table and continuing to ignore those who havent will not lead us any closer to resolving the dilemma the film claims to present.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.

See more here:

Netflix's The Social Dilemma fails to tackle the real issues in tech. - Slate

I never really understand genre: the writer of The Third Day on why he refuses to define his new series – The Guardian

Posted on by

Naomie Harris as Helen in The Third Day

Lets talk about range. Few writers can jump from hilarious female-led comedy to dark conspiracy theory drama, and then move on to a glorious Roald Dahl musical. Dennis Kelly can. Now, the writer behind Utopia and Pulling is back with The Third Day, an unclassifiable drama/mystery/horror starring Jude Law. I never really understand genre, its confusing, Kelly says, which may go some way towards explaining his eclectic CV. He is interested more in telling a good story than in what form or genre that story takes.

The Third Day is an atmospheric, disorienting tale split into three distinct but interlinked parts. Summer, led by Law; Winter, led by Naomie Harris; and Autumn, a one-off as-live theatrical broadcast on Sky Arts (Saturday 3 October), masterminded by theatre icons Punchdrunk. As the shows co-creator, Punchdrunk founder Felix Barrett had the ideal creative partner in Kelly. He was the perfect match. Because hes a theatre playwright as well, we have that common language, says Barrett.

With the brilliant Utopia, Kelly proved hes more than capable of pulling together a rich tapestry of character backstory, mystery and mythology. Viewers drove themselves mad with the repeated mantra of where is Jessica Hyde?, speculating over the villainous goals of The Network, while falling in love with morally dubious characters such as Arby and the brilliantly-named Wilson Wilson. The Third Day is set to inspire similar levels of speculation as Kelly and Barrett dig into what Kelly calls the mythology and craziness of the shows island setting, and the characters unusual religious beliefs, inspired by the weird and wonderful Gnostic Gospels, which say the world was created by the demiurge and the demiurge isnt God, its something else, something slightly evil, says Kelly.

The direction and visuals of The Third Day needed to reflect the tone of Kellys writing, so its no surprise that Kelly turned to Utopia director Marc Munden to direct the first of the three episodes. With my writing you can read it one way, and become obsessed with the darker or more dangerous elements, Kelly says. But what I wanted someone to do was think of the other stuff the more emotional stuff. Marc immediately responded to that. For Mundens part, he was in no doubt about collaborating with Kelly again. I love working with him. His writing is so unique. His craft is so honed Hes also been so prophetic. Its typical that as we finish this series, we get hit by a virus that is straight out of our last series!

Utopia fans associate Kelly with moments of shocking violence, and The Third Day will once again utilise Kellys ability to shock. It was very interesting to work on how fear and suspense can be visually imagined and [it was] an adventure to peer into the weird mind of Dennis Kelly, says director Philippa Lowthorpe, who directs Winter. Dennis has an interesting take on violence its always challenging the viewer sometimes its bloody, sometimes chilling, at others times its casual, but it always feels real.

Kelly is no shock-jock, though. Hes just as adept with comedy (albeit often dark) and childrens entertainment. Pulling, co-written by Sharon Horgan, dug into the messy, and often ugly, romantic lives of women, while he lent his pen to the multi-award-winning Matilda the Musical. He also wrote a stage adaptation of Pinocchio for the National Theatre. His fondness for comedy even Utopia was hilarious in places is what grounds his work, and stops the darkness from becoming too grim and painful to watch.

Kellys writing always sits right on the cutting edge, and often paves the way for similarly challenging work to follow. This has the unfortunate side effect of meaning that in the past Kelly has tended to be the canary in the mines, testing the waters with work that is a few years ahead of what many commissioners are comfortable with. Utopia was unjustly cancelled by Channel 4 after only two seasons, something that you cant imagine happening in todays era of dark, prestige TV populated with fascinating anti-heroes. Luckily, the TV landscape has finally caught up to his sensibilities.

Kellys reluctance to abide by the rules of genre presents TV commissioners and PR teams with a pickle: how to sell something that doesnt fit neatly into a particular box? But that is also Kellys strength as a writer viewers never know if hes about to veer sharply into comedy, terror or tragedy. Recently the huge success of shows such as I May Destroy You and Years and Years have proved what Kelly has always known: that a show doesnt need to adhere to a certain genre for viewers to latch on to it. Utopia is now finding a second life as a US remake, overseen by Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn, and The Third Day is fully embracing Kellys approach to genre, keeping viewers on their toes until the bitter end. Which is exactly where Kelly likes them.

The Third Day is available now on Sky

Read the original:

I never really understand genre: the writer of The Third Day on why he refuses to define his new series - The Guardian

Highlights From a Surreal, Remote Toronto International Film Festival – The Ringer

Posted on by

Thank you for leaving your homes, David Byrne tells the adoring crowd of New Yorkers whove showed up for his Broadway show American Utopia, a line that instantly transforms Spike Lees concert movie into a period piece. In a year when live music and theater-going are on the ropes, Lees film version of Byrnes combination rock-show-slash-performance-art-hootenannyshot in late 2019 and slated for broadcast this fall on HBOvibrates with wistful nostalgia. As the opening night selection of a film festival whose attendees mostly experienced it via their laptops or living-room flatscreens, American Utopia is savvy, but also a bit sad. Its vibrant, winning showmanship cant help but feel bittersweet.

Typically, the Toronto International Film Festival is a hive of industry and film-criticism activity; as a resident of the city whos covered TIFF for the past 20 years, Ive gotten used to late August and everything after as an epicenter of business, pleasure, and everything in between. Last year, I introduced my TIFF Ringer coverage by talking about how, nearly 50 years into its history, the organization was gamblingand mostly winningon trying to be all things to all people: a corporately-backed, public-facing celebration bringing together arthouse, grindhouse, and experimental fare under the sign of pop cultural diversity, all while still showing allegiance to the mainstream. Since the 90s, TIFFs desire to act as a launching pad for the Oscars has affected its in-house programming and media perception in equal measure.

In a normal year, the question in a piece like this would be which Toronto premieres had the look of movies that could go the distance on the awards circuit, or maybe which ones flying under the radar were worth seeking out. In 2020, the more pressing concern, on the ground and online, was whether or not there would even be a TIFF, or whether there should be, and if so, what would it look like, and why.

I havent had to leave my house to cover TIFF this year, although I could if I wanted to: The festival is holding a series of in-person screenings at its downtown headquarters and at drive-ins located around the city. But because the festivals entire programwith a couple of exceptions that Ill get to in a momenthas been available to critics via a smoothly functional digital cinema, it felt best to stay inside. (A note: With the exception of Tenet, the only movie Ive seen in public since February was a local drive-in screening of David Cronenbergs seminal sex-and-car-wrecks thriller Crash, which also happens to be the best depiction ever of Torontos concrete overpasses and automotive culture; imagine watching Jaws in a dinghy in Marthas Vineyard.)

To say that this overall setup has had its share of hiccups is an understatement. In the past few weeks, TIFF has come under fire on Twitter for problems ranging from its policy of geoblocking screenings to newly limited media accreditation to an edictsince reversedthat mask-wearing would be optional inside its theaters. In addition, the reduction in programming from over 200 movies to 50 has led to diminished excitementand expectationsabout the festivals impact and artistic mandate. In 2019, TIFF hosted the coming-out party (complete with Kevin Garnett) for Uncut Gems and facilitated heated debates about Joker; this year, with distributors unsure what to do with their wares (even more so after the seeming catastrophe of Tenets theatrical release) and Netflix withholding potential heavy hitters like David Finchers Mank from the festival circuit altogether, its become that much harder to capture a collective public imagination thatin another understatementhas other things on its mind.

As distraction tools go, American Utopia will do nicely. A spiritual sequel to 1984s epochal concert film Stop Making Sensea masterpiece of collaborative music-and-moviemaking directed by Jonathan Demme when he was truly feeling himselfAmerican Utopia finds ex-Talking Heads frontman Byrne in puckish, playful artiste mode, presiding over a troupe of identically suited singers and musicians whose choreographed moves and harmonies are captured by Lee with more cinematic dynamism than the recent film version of Hamilton. A comparison between the two productions is instructive: Where Lin-Manuel Mirandas Tony Awardwinning musical plays now as a relic of the Obama era, American Utopia, from its slyly ironic title on down, has been devised as a dispatch from Trumpland, with Byrne positioning himself as a figure of gentle, principled resistance. An alternate title could be Start Making Sensewalking onstage alone in the first sequence, Byrne tenderly cradles a replica of a human brain and marvels at the neurological miracle of conscious thought. Here is an area that needs attention, he sings, fingering the ersatz cerebellum. Here is a connection with the other side.

For those on the same side of Byrnes intellectual playfulness and progressive politics, American Utopia will seem like its reaching out; for anybody else, its overt, unapologetic appeals to liberal tolerancemost explicitly on the single Everybodys Coming to My House, with its message of inclusion and acceptancewill be just so much preaching to the choir. The matchup between Byrne and Lee is compelling insofar as theyre both masterful at inviting audiences to contemplate ideological issues. Its telling that Lee forgoes the aggressive alienation effects of a movie like Da 5 Bloods in order to serve his stars more benign vision. If American Utopia is a bit uneven and draggy toward the end, its because Lees direction, for all its skill, cant artificially elevate the source material. Its also telling that most of the best songs here are reprises from Stop Making Sense; write stuff as good as Once in a Lifetime and Burning Down the House and youll never live it down, even if youre a genius.

American Utopias greatest virtue is its open-heartedness, which is also, interestingly enough, its greatest flaw: While Byrne and Co. can be forgiven for not anticipating or integrating the precise psychic torment of COVID-19 into their guided tour of contemporary fears and anxieties, theres a cloying sense that the showand the filmis an attempt to put a happy face on an anguished moment. This is also a sticking point with TIFFs consensus critical hit Nomadland, Chlo Zhaos much-anticipatedand mostly impressivefollow-up to the acclaimed millennial Western The Rider, a mix of verit frontier mythology that marked the emergence of a beguiling new filmmaking talent. In The Rider, Zhao profiled a self-styled, 21st-century cowboy struggling, literally and figuratively, to get back in the saddle after a debilitating accident; the film was a work of fiction cast with real people (including taciturn star Brady Jandreau), serving simultaneously as a snapshot of the modern rodeo circuit and a model of a collaborative artistic process in which the storyteller takes her cues from her subjects.

Nomadland is also filled with non-actorsa charismatic gallery of itinerant Americans crisscrossing the Midwest in mobile homes, picking up seasonal work at resorts and warehouses before moving on to the next outpost. Theres material here for a rich, probing documentary about the relationship between rugged individualism and the comforts of community, as well as a critique of the social and economic conditions that leador forcepeople to get on the road. Zhaos journalistic curiosity and facility for location shooting (the lunar landscapes here are mostly in Nevada) are genuine strengths in this context. But theres another major figure in Nomadland whose presence supersedes Zhaos skillfully self-effacing direction: Frances McDormand, whose 60ish widow Fern gets foregrounded to the point that the movie feels like a star vehicle.

To clarify, this is not a bad thing: McDormand might be the best American actress of her eraand potentially on her way to a third Academy Award for her sterling work here. Shuffling purposefully on a bum knee through Zhaos gorgeous widescreen frames, Fern is a perpetual motion machine whose combination of gregarious friendliness and unorthodox awkwardness registers as real and lived-in; her desire to go it alone after the death of her husband (and the vaporization of their savings) evinces a strong will even while she struggles with the obscure, day-to-day logistics of living out of a van. But as good as McDormand is, shes also too iconic to ever disappear into the role, and while her recognizability doesnt keep Nomadland from hittings its marks as an absorbing realist drama, its hard to fully reconcile her presence with the people she bounces off of in a series of ambling vignettes. That goes double for David Strathairn, an excellent actor whose casting as a potential love interest additionally compromises the believability of the proceedings.

The bigger issue with Nomadland might be how benign it is. In her admirable attempt to rebut Trump-era stereotypes about American life and character, she ends up draining away some of the tension and live-wire emotion that could have made the movie extraordinary. At its heart, Nomadland is a road movie, but too many scenes feel stuck in neutralsubtle and delicate to the point of paralysis. It may not be necessary to compare an ascendant auteur like Zhao to a master like Kelly Reichardt, but even with its contemporary dateline, Nomadland lacks the urgencyand effective, hectoring despairof First Cow, which looks more and more like a fraught years most significant American film.

I would have liked to include thoughts on a few other titles that should join Nomadland on the short list of TIFF entries that could gain traction in whatever ends up comprising 2020s Oscar race, but the festival did not make them available to critics. Whether the exclusion of Francis Lees starry same-sex romance Ammonite (starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan) or Halle Berrys directorial debut Bruised from the digital cinema was done at the behest of distributors or as an extra caution against piracy is hard to say for sure, but the movies absence ends up propagating a feeling of imbalance in which some entriesi.e., ones with big stars and actual box office prospectsare deemed more valuable than the exemplars of national, ethnic, and stylistic diversity being showcased further on down the virtual bill.

With this in mindand noting in passing that neither of the two biggish-ticket movies by actors-turned-directors, Viggo Mortensens semi-autobiographical Falling and Regina Kings fact-based drama One Night in Miami, are strong enough to write about at lengthIll end by praising a movie thats not necessarily coming to a cinema (or streaming site) near you anytime soon, but which represents the sense of discovery thats kept me coming back to TIFF for half of my life. Shot in Budapest by the emerging Hungarian writer-director Lili Horvat, the ominously monikered Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time initially evokes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Arriving for a bridge-side rendezvous with a lover shed met in the United States, Mrta (the mesmerizing Natasa Stork) is bewildered and disturbed to learn that he doesnt remember her. The man doesnt seem to be lying, and as he speaks, Mrtas relationship to reality splinters on impact; as he hurries off to work, she faints dead away.

One way to look at Horvats bizarre and challenging feature is as a story that unfolds in the dazed, semiconscious aftermath of Mrtas swoon. Plenty of movies get described as dreamlike, but Preparations has an uncanny, subconscious logic to ita menacing, immersive sensation of drift from scene to scene and mystery to mystery. The vagaries of the human brain are on display: to Byrnes Hamlet pose in American Utopia, we can add scenes of exposed craniums, gorily clinical operating-room footage that doubles down on the theme of inner worlds being exposed. Mrta and her not-boyfriend Jnos (Viktor Bod) are both doctors specializing in brain surgery, and the characters mutual expertise in the synaptic functions of others is juxtaposed against their uncertainty in each others presence; a scene in which Mrta stalks Jnos down the street (shades of Vertigo) before their physical movements inexplicably sync together transfers their disorientation onto the audience. There are movies that are confusing because their makers dont know what theyre doing, and ones that are confusing because they doPreparations belongs proudly in the second category. Long after my memories of this socially-distanced, WiFi-dependent TIFF have evaporated, Horvats exquisite enigmas will still be on my mind.

Adam Nayman is a film critic, teacher, and author based in Toronto; his book The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together is available now from Abrams.

Read the rest here:

Highlights From a Surreal, Remote Toronto International Film Festival - The Ringer

Bill and Ted 3: Here’s what you need to know – Metro.co.uk

Posted on by

Keanue Reeves and Alex Winter are back for a new Bill and Ted journey (Picture: Rex)

No way?! Yes way! After long 30 years, those bodacious dudes Mr William S Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and his best friend Ted Theodore Logan (Keanu Reeves) are finally back in cinemas. As Bill And Ted Face The Music is released,, heres Larushka Ivan-Zadehs refresher course on all you need to know about the cult sci-fi comedy franchise.

1983Bill and Ted are conceived in an improv workshop by UCLA students Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson. One day, we decided to do a couple of guys who knew nothing about history, talking about history Solomon told Cinemafantastique, while Teds father kept coming up to ask them to turn their music down.There was a third guy, called Bob, but Bob dropped out.

1984Solomon and Matheson write the first script, by hand, in just four days in a coffee shop. Originally called Bill & Teds Time Van, it saw two nice but dim teenagers borrow a van (later judged a bit too close to Back To The Futures DeLorean) and somehow end up in Nazi Germany where they get up to high jinks with Adolf Hitler (later switched to Napoleon as being less problematic).

1987Though Bill and Ted were originally conceived as weedy 14-year-olds, the rather older and cooler Alex Winter (fresh off The Lost Boys) and Keanu Reeves (in his breakthrough role) and are cast and the film comes in to time and budget ($8.5m). A most egregious disaster occurs when the distributor files for bankruptcy. However Bill and Ted are saved from the direct-to-DVD dustbin by a small video company called Nelson Entertainment, who snap the movie up for a song and make millions.

1989Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure is released! [Cue air guitar riff!] It sees two loveable metal heads in danger of flunking most heinously (Ted) out of their Californian high school unless they can score A+ final history report. Given they only know Julius Caesar as the salad dressing dude, failure seems assured. That means Ted will be sent to a military academy and their atrocious rock group, Wyld Stallyns, will be disbanded.

Enter Rufus (the late George Carlin) and his time-travelling phone booth from the year 2688, who tells Bill and Ted that that their philosophy and music will eventually inspire new utopia, but only if Wyld Stallyns stays together.The goofy pair Ping-Pong through time, collecting historical personages like Socrates (pronounced so crates) and Joan of Arc to ace their project and ensure world peace.

1990Excellent Adventure is such a hit, it spawns a TV cartoon series, an entire youth slang lexicon and a breakfast cereal which Alex Winter cheerfully admits was disgusting.

1991Bill& Teds Bogus Journey is released! [Cue air guitar riff!] This bonkers movie sequel adventure cast a reluctant Joss Ackland (who later said he regretted doing it) as a baddie from the future, who dispatches evil robot replicants of Bill and Ted back to the past to kill our heroes. Events take a surreal turn as our heroes challenge Death (William Sadler) to a game of Twister, find the meaning of life in a Poison lyric, finally learn to actually play their guitars and both produce beards and babies. They sign off to us with Be excellent to each other and party on.

1991Bill and Ted is spun-off into a videogame, a live action TV series and a comic book. In a case of life imitating art, Keanu Reeves forms an ill-received garage band called Dogstar. Reeves also makes Point Break which, followed up by Speed and The Matrix trilogy, transforms him into one of the biggest stars on the planet. Making Bill and Ted 3 is no longer top of his To Do list.

2010A sad Keanu meme, of Reeves looking sad, circulates online. As if to cheer him up, a first draft of Bill and Ted 3 is created. Hollywood, however, doesnt want it. Alex Winter directs the kids TV cartoon series Ben 10, then turns his hand to feature documentaries.

2018The script is still locked in bogus development hell. The studios want to reboot the franchise with a younger cast, but writer Ed Solomon tells Digital Spy that We love these characters, theyve been with us for our whole lives and we wanted to visit them again as middle-aged men. We thought it would be really fun, and funny, and sweet.

2020Bill & Ted Face The Music is released! [cue air guitar riff!] It sees a now middle-aged and married (not to each other) Bill and Ted settled in the suburbs, but yet to fulfil their rock and roll destiny. With time ticking, they must write the best song ever to save life as we know it. This time theyre helped by their own teenage daughters (Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine). Released in the UK this Friday, it has enjoyed most excellent reviews in the US, with a 81% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. A Bill & Ted 4 is already being rumoured. Catch you later, Bill and Ted!

Kid Cudi as himselfThe US rapper shows another side of himself (as himself) as the movies go-to expert regarding epistemological reality and quantum looping.

Holland Taylor as The Great LeaderThe Emmy-winning TV veteran (Two And A Half Men, Hollywood) camps it up in a glittery cape as the most powerful person in the universe.

Kristen Schaal as KellyIn a tribute to the late George Carlin, who played Bill and Teds kindly guide, Rufus, Schaals character is named after his daughter, Kelly Carlin.

Brigette Lundy-Paine as Wilhelmina Billie LoganA most excellent turn as Little Bill (ie the daughter of Keanu Reeves character) should prove a breakout role for this non-binary rising star.

Samara Weaving as Theodora Thea PrestonShe may portray Bills daughter but the real life niece of Hugo Elrond Weaving looks more like Margot Robbies cousin, dont you think?

Bill & Ted Face The Music is out now.

MORE: Keanu Reeves claims Alex Winter almost died while filming for Bill and Ted 3 in a muscular bodysuit

MORE: Bill & Ted Face The Music reviews are out is it an excellent adventure or just bogus?

See original here:

Bill and Ted 3: Here's what you need to know - Metro.co.uk

ICYMI: The week’s top news in the arts – ArtsHub

Posted on by

QUICK NEWS BITES

Our most-read stories this week were:

TALKS and OPPORTUNITIES

Delivered virtually over four days, the Know My Name Conference celebrates women (cis and trans) as artists, activists, researchers, intellectuals and mentors, now and into the future. Foregrounding diverse voices and with First Nations perspectives embedded across the program, the event will bring together leading and emerging Australian and international voices from arts and academia.

Presented by National Gallery of Australia from Tue 10Fri 13 November. Registrations essential.

AOC Initiative Scholarship Panelists. Image supplied.

To qualify for the AOC Initiative, applicants must identify as Bla(c)k, Indigenous or as People of Colour; be pursuing a career in musical theatre; be aged between 17 and 30 at the time of submission; be an Australian citizen or resident; not have previously secured a leading or supporting role in a mainstage musical theatre production, and not be engaged in or scheduled for performance-related work in a leading or supporting role at the time of submission.

Donations are being raised via GoFundMe with 100% of the prize money being awarded to the six finalists. So far, the AOC has raised over $10,000 with the winner receiving 50% of the donations; the runner up receiving 20% of the donations and the final four receiving 7.5% of the donations each. All donations support a step forward in the dialogue of inclusivity and social awareness.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has released new dates and funding for the UK/Australia Season 2021-2022.

The Season is a joint initiative by the British Council and the Australian Governments Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to strengthen and build cultural connections. Australia-based arts organisations and individuals are invited to submit project proposals for inclusion in the UK/Australia Season 2021-22.

The application deadline for Australian applications to present work in the UK has been extended. The new closing date is Monday 5 October 2pm AEST. More information relating to the Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program (ACDGP)for the Season is now available on the DFAT website.

Australian individuals and organisations can apply for grants of up to $60,000 AUD. A reminder that organisations are also eligible to bid for up to $40,000 AUD as part of the UK/Australia Season Grant.

This will be the first time the Australian Government and the British Council have collaborated on a reciprocal Season, which will take place from August 2021 to March 2022.

DFAT recently hosted a webinar for Australia-based arts organisations and individuals looking to find out more about the Season. The panel included representatives from the Australian High Commission in the UK, DFAT and British Council Australia, who shared key information around the Season concept, funding opportunities and eligibility criteria. There was also an extensive Q&A session for live participants. Listen on Youtube.

Utopia Art Centre is a community-led initiative. The artists, with the help of Urapuntja Aboriginal Corporation (UAC) have lobbied, saved and put their own resources into getting started. Two years ago, UAC approached Desart for support and direction in finally establishing an art centre.

Were all really excited for the artists and their community. People might think that a region like Utopia has had lots of art services and an art centre set up for years, but it hasnt; the artists have fared for themselves, making this a really important project, said Philip Watkins, CEO of Desart.

With over 100 artists in the region, there is strong demand for access to the benefits of an Aboriginal owned and managed enterprise. The Utopia artists have long seen the success and services a strong art centre brings to other communities and have long advocated for such a model for their homelands.

The nationwide search for the Utopia Art Centres foundation Manager has started. Recruitment is led by Desart, with a competitive package for the right person. The new Manager will be crucial to the start-up of Utopia Art Centre, in equal parts exciting and problem-solving.

Learn more about the position. Applications close Monday 21 September 2020.

FESTIVAL UPDATES

On the eve of wrapping up this weekend, Parrtjima has announced 2021 dates off back of this years success. Parrtjima - A Festival in Light will return to Australias Red Centre and Alice Springs from 9-18 April 2021.

Parrtjima is the only event of its kind in the world, celebrating Aboriginal arts, culture and storytelling through extraordinary light, art and sound installations.

ON STAGE

The City of Ballarat has created what appears to be a world first a 1300 hotline where residents can dial in to express their emotions and have those feelings transformed into a specially composed piece of music.

1300 ROAR is a project of the Creative City Strategy of the City of Ballarat and has been developed as part of the Citys ongoing commitment to supporting the arts and culture sector, as well as integrating creativity into the Citys response to recovery from the pandemic.

Mayor, Cr Ben Taylor said: We understand that our community needs to have an avenue to voice their emotions whether they are feeling frustration, sadness, grief, hope or joy. The 1300 ROAR project gives everyone an outlet to express their emotions in a healthy and productive way.

Residents will be able to call the hotline on 1300 728 760 from now until mid-October. The service also has the capacity to connect residents to Lifeline.

Residents will be able to dial an answering machine and have three minutes to voice their feelings. Everyones submission is anonymous. The files are not listened to instead they are compressed into a single file. The total compressed files are supplied to a local digital sound engineer and composer to craft a soundscape or a piece of music designed to lift spirits and encapsulate this important time.

Ballarat has proven to be ahead of the curve in both managing community wellbeing and injecting much-needed funds into the vulnerable creative sector during lockdown times. This lockdown is no different, added Taylor.

Queensland Symphony Under the Stars 2019. Image supplied.

Symphony Under the Stars is set for 24 and 25 September, when Queensland Symphony Orchestra will return to Gladstone for the eighth consecutive year. For the first time, two concerts will be held in Gladstones picturesque Marina on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 September 2020 at 7pm.

The spectacular event is part of the Gladstone Enrichment through Music (GEM) initiative. Fifty-nine musicians will take the trip north of Gladstone for the two performances.

The program features a movie music repertoire, with works from blockbusters such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, E.T., and Cinema Paradiso under the baton of conductor Dane Lam.

While the event is free, bookings are essential, and must be made via Gladstone Entertainment Convention Centres website.

arTour and Flipside Circusare rolling their first large-scale arts and entertainment tour since COVID-19 hit.

arTour Producer Laura Bonner said they were excited to once again hit the road to bring arts and entertainment to regional and remote Queensland. This trailblazing tour with Flipside Circus is a positive indicator of Queenslands post-COVID recovery and a hopeful sign of more regional tours and performances to come, said Bonner.

arTour has teamed up with Flipside Circus, Queenslands largest youth arts company, to present their community youth engagement program from 12 September to 16 November. They have tailored a program of youth workshops to present a unique two-day training residency in 10 western Queensland communities.

Eugene Choi, Rainbow Chan, Marcus Whale will present a new song cycle inspired by Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love. Photo: Daniel Boud

The Sydney Opera House has commissioned a new work by Sydney artists Rainbow Chan, Eugene Choi and Marcus Whale to be presented as part of its free weekly digital program,From Our House to Yours.

In the Mood, A Love Letter to Wong Kar-Wai and Hong Kongwill feature a theatrical set, 60s style costumes, and sax-drenched renditions of the films romantic soundtrack. New music by Chinese-Australian artists Rainbow Chan and Marcus Whale against a backdrop of narration by Eugene Choi will present an audiovisual journey that guides the audience through a heartbreaking cycle of longing, intimacy and forbidden love.

The performance will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wais landmark film In the Mood for Love, with a new song cycle performed on the Joan Sutherland Theatre stage with visuals evoking Wongs iconic romance through the lens of 2020.

The event will be livestreamed at 9pm AEST on Saturday 26 September and will be available to watch on demand thereafter. Free to watch live online

AROUND THE GALLERIES

Award winning artist Michael Zavros will have his first Sydney exhibition in more than a decade, with a new body of work, A Guy Like Me, to be presented at Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney October 15 to November 14.

Melbourne Art Fair has announced the cancellation of the 2021 edition. With ongoing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, both in Australia and overseas, Melbourne Art Foundation has made the choice to focus on delivering an exceptional art fair to mark the start of the Australasian cultural season in 2022 from 17-20 February at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Stage 4 is a new online gallery launched 20 September, and exhibiting work created during the COVID-19 pandemic by Australian artists.Exhibited works will be rotated every two weeks. Artists will be able to sell their works through a connected online Shopify store, currently under development.

Stage 4 is currently taking submissions of painting, drawing, digital art, dance, performance, spoken word, and written works. Work must be created after 1 March. Stage 4 was created by Ronan MacEwan, a digital communications specialist for contemporary art galleries and organisations, based in Hobart.

The team at Sydney Contemporary have been busy creating a bespoke online platform that is more than just an online viewing room.Sydney Contemporary presents 2020features over 450new artworks from Australasia's leading galleries, created by contemporaryartists from around the globe. Sydney Contemporary presents 2020will launch on1st Octoberand will run until the end of the month, with new works added weekly.The new digital initiative showcases 450+ new artworks by more than 380 artists, created during - and in response to 2020.

Imaginary Territories - A Feminist Surrealist Visual Art Exhibition features new works by five accomplished Western Australian artists. Presented by Dark Swan Exhibitions for PS Art Space, Fremantle, it runs from 17 October to 14 November.

The works include film projection, sound, installation, photomedia, and visual art by Jo Darbyshire, Lucille Martin, Rebecca Patterson (33 POETS), Dr Toni Wilkinson, and Dr Kelsey Ashe (pictured top), who is also the curator.

Explaining the inspiration behind the exhibition, Ashe said: In an era of environmental/world crisis and political divisiveness, to conceive new realities has become critically important.The exhibition explores the concept of a "territory" as a domain of the inner world a representation that expresses an "internal truth". Through this Surrealist lens, the artists territories are simultaneously real and imagined, explored into being; a place where both conscious and subconscious realities are envisioned.

Kawita Vatanajyankur becomes a traditional beam scale in The Scale of Justice, holding baskets which fill up with luscious green vegetables, as her balance and composure are increasingly tested.

Part of the artists Mechanized series, in which Vatanajyankur acts as a moving part of a machine, she transforms herself into food production equipment in performance videos that restage everyday processes.

A Horsham Regional Art Gallery digital exhibition touring with NETS Victoria. Curated by Olivia Poloni.

Jonny Niesche,Public Intimacy, 2020. Photo credit: Kate Collingwood.

oOh!media has launched a campaign exclusive to Melbourne, showcasing works from contemporary commercial gallery STATION across its street furniture and rail sites. As Melbournes lockdown continues, the campaign highlights meaningful art that reflects on the current conditions in Victoria, reaching the citys commuters and essential workers at multiple points throughout the day.

Artworks created for the campaign focus on COVID, the artists interpretations of emotions felt during lockdown, and some of the possibilities and positives to come out of Victorias isolation.

Neil Ackland, Chief Content Marketing and Creative Officer at oOh!, said the campaign was a small gesture to help Melburnians through difficult times.

The campaign features works from Adam Lee, Dane Lovett, David Griggs, Jason Phu, Jonny Niesche, and Nell, and will run throughout September.

When COVID 19 forced the cancellation of Design Eye Creative paper on skins live gala event, Burnie Arts Council made an instant decision to shift to a digital format.

Design Eye Creative paper on skin connects Burnies papermaking heritage to a community of Australian and international artists. Their challenge is to design a wearable garment made from at least 80% paper. Filming took place in Burnie over a ten-day period in late June. The film features 31 works from 7 countries and is free online.

Boroondara Arts final exhibition for 2020 is A Family Album. Through painting, photography, textiles and video works, the featured artists illustrate the myriad experiences that bring families together and pull them apart, creating a collage of contemporary Australian communities.

The exhibiting artists include: Donna Bailey, Julie Dowling, Hannah Gartside, Pia Johnson, Hoang Tran Nguyen and Selina Ou. Showing Saturday 31 October Sunday 13 December 2020 at Town Hall Gallery and online.

More arts news you may have missed.

See the rest here:

ICYMI: The week's top news in the arts - ArtsHub

The Housewife Who Was a Spy – The New York Times

Posted on by

AGENT SONYAMoscows Most Daring Wartime SpyBy Ben Macintyre

We have at last, in Ben Macintyres Agent Sonya, the tale of a fully fleshed-out female spy. Not a femme fatale with a tiny pistol in her purse, Sonya was a spy who loved her kids and was racked by guilt for neglecting them, who had serious babysitter problems, a woman whose heart was broken by Mr. Wrong a woman very much like the rest of us. Except not quite. Macintyre, the author of numerous books on spies and espionage, has found a real-life heroine worthy of his gifts as John le Carrs nonfiction counterpart.

Le Carr, however, could not have invented Ursula Kuczynski, a.k.a. Agent Sonya. For this panoramic account of espionage from Weimar Germany through the Cold War is, above all, a womans story. Macintyre draws on Sonyas own journals, which capture the stressful balancing act of spymaster, mother and lover of several men during the most dangerous decades of the 20th century. Like many supremely successful women, Sonya benefited from men underestimating her.

Her journey began in the lawless streets of Berlin in the 1920s, as Communists and Nazis brawled and the Weimar Republic unraveled. A blow from a policemans rubber truncheon during her first street demonstration set the 16-year-old on the road to revolution. Although born to a prosperous, secular Jewish family from Berlins bourgeois Zehlendorf district, she signed up with the Communists, who seemed to be the only ones prepared to shed blood to fight the Nazis. And once she was seduced by their promise of a workers utopia, Sonya never swerved from the cause.

[ Read an excerpt from Agent Sonya. ]

From Shanghai, where Sonya was caught up in the struggle between Chiang Kai-sheks Nationalists and Mao Zedongs Communists, to Japanese-occupied Manchuria, to the placid Cotswold hamlet where she spent part of the war, Sonya managed to elude German, British and American secret services. It boggles the mind how a woman with so many domestic responsibilities a husband and two children could find time for spy drops and transmitting coded messages. But Sonya was the consummate multitasker, now cooking dinner, now cooking up explosives to blow up railways. Domesticity was the perfect cover.

The rest is here:

The Housewife Who Was a Spy - The New York Times

Silicon Valley’s ‘Fatal Flaw’… And How to Avoid It – DailyWealth

Posted on by

If you lived in a reasonably large city in 2018, you witnessed an invasion.

Unlicensed, unregulated electric scooters flooded cities across the country, starting with the tech utopia of Silicon Valley.

Oftentimes, people in dense cities only have to make a short trip less than a mile or so to run an errand, meet someone, or get something else done. From the perspective of getting around a city, grabbing a scooter for a quick, cheap ride made sense.

But all of the competing scooter companies like Bird, Lime, Scoot, Spin, and Jump forgot about one thing in their business plans... People tend to be jerks.

If you've ever wondered how scooter companies left scooters on the street without losing them, the answer is that they didn't. The scooters got smashed, stolen, and damaged at an amazing rate.

Lots of folks who objected to the scooters even destroyed them out of spite. The Instagram account @BirdGraveyard features scooters thrown off parking garages, lit on fire with gasoline, toppled over like dominos, or hurled into the ocean.

As you can imagine, this was a major problem for the companies. But it isn't unique to scooters...

This problem runs rampant in many disruptive technology companies. And as I'll show today, if you want to invest successfully in the tech sector, you need to watch out for this fatal flaw...

All of these scooter companies aside from Uber Technologies' (UBER) scooter division are private, venture-funded startups, so they don't share full data about their internal finances. But here's the best we can piece together and we're generalizing across the industry...

Scooter rides are cheap. It can cost something like $1 to unlock a scooter and another $0.15 per minute of a trip. Bird reported last year that it earned an average of $4.27 per ride.

The typical scooter got somewhere between three and four rides per day, so revenue would be about $15 per day.

At a cost of around $550, a scooter needs to ride for 37 days before it pays back its cost.

But scooters don't last even that long. Some datasets show that the average scooter lasts just 28 days before it dies (or is killed).

In other words, buy a scooter for $550, rent it for a total of $420 in revenue, and then start over again.

And that's before the costs of credit-card fees that facilitate the trip (which are high on small transactions), along with paying people to charge and relocate scooters, marketing, and general administration.

Renting out scooters as the business stood just didn't make sense. This is called "unit economics." How much does it cost you to produce and sell one unit... and how much revenue does that earn you?

If the unit economics come back negative, you're going to have a hard time making a successful business. It's the basic building block of making money.

Bird, as of mid-2019, was burning $100 million per quarter. But venture capitalists were giving it money to continue. As the old joke goes, "Sure, we lose money on every sale. But we make it up in volume!"

The thinking was that making some changes could flip the unit economics to positive. If Bird made its own scooters for a better price, controlled its costs, and beat out the competition so that it could raise prices, maybe it could do well.

This sort of thinking pervades the modern economy. Lose money now, and somehow make it later.

This thinking stems from a few things. First, historically low interest rates mean that these businesses can find the capital injections to keep them from running out of money.

Second, Silicon Valley has been taken in by the concept of "blitzscaling." It goes like this... Spend massively, get big, shut out the competition, and then worry about profitability.

Take the food-delivery industry, for example. Business has been booming during the pandemic... But a lot of companies lose more money the more customers they have.

Food delivery apps like Grubhub (GRUB), Postmates, and DoorDash all follow the same model. They charge restaurants a lot, they charge customers a lot, and they don't pay drivers very much. No one seems to come out happy in the deal.

And still, they lose money on every delivery.

Many of these companies have big marketing costs, too. The cost of finding a new customer counts in your unit economics...

For instance, as of July, meal-kit delivery service Blue Apron (APRN) charged about $60 per order and reported gross margins of 38%. This means that after paying for food and delivery, it earned $23 per order. To get a single new customer, we've seen estimates that say Blue Apron pays anywhere from $94 to $460.

That means to turn a profit, it needs customers to renew for anywhere from four months to 20 months. Currently, customers tend to stick around for just a little over four months.

While Blue Apron was a startup darling, the public markets haven't given it much credit since its initial public offering...

We know that everyone loves big technology opportunities the disruptive stocks that will change how our future works. And the companies that put scooters on the streets, deliver food to our front doors, and get us talking about something new... we love them, too.

Technology will be an even bigger part of our lives from here. And a few maybe a small few of these companies will turn into big, profitable enterprises.

But we don't have to play that game.

We can make money in the ever-growing technology sector by investing in companies with positive unit economics... and avoid the guessing game of which unprofitable companies will fix their fatal flaw in time.

Good investing,

Dr. David Eifrig

Editor's note: Doc says this could be the best moment in more than a decade to start using his favorite strategy. That's because when chaos is spiking on Wall Street, the instant cash payouts you can get from this type of trading will spike higher too... And it could help you collect thousands of dollars in extra income each month. Learn the details here.

Further Reading

Major shifts in technology come with hot startups promising to change the world. They're the kinds of companies that are only after growth, with no long-term business model. And they can be a terrible trap for novice investors... Read more here: The 'Hot IPO Trap' Is Back.

Tech-related initial public offerings have made headlines more than a few times in recent memory. But most of these companies don't reach the dominance you might expect. And that's why you're better off avoiding them altogether... Get the full story here.

A NEW ALL-TIME HIGH IN MAKING THE REMOTE WORLD POSSIBLE

Todays company is hitting new highs as it provides broadband Internet

As the pandemic lingers, many Americans have switched from working in offices to working at home. And as the fall begins, a lot of kids are learning virtually instead of showing up to class. This new virtual environment means that demand for fast Internet has exploded. And todays company is meeting that demand

Charter Communications (CHTR) is a $125 billion provider of broadband, video, mobile, and voice services under its Spectrum brand. According to Barrons, its the No. 2 cable provider in the U.S. after Comcast (CMCSA). And the remote work environment has only increased demand for its services Last quarter, Charters residential and Internet customers rose by 850,000, up from 258,000 over the same quarter last year. And its revenue grew 3.1% year over year.

As you can see, CHTR shares are in an uptrend. Theyre up roughly 45% over the past year, recently hitting an all-time high. And as the pandemic drives further need for Charters services, this companys success should continue

View post:

Silicon Valley's 'Fatal Flaw'... And How to Avoid It - DailyWealth

Fraser T Smith on going from Britain’s most in-demand producer to solo star – British GQ

Posted on by

Fraser T Smith is the biggest producer in Britain. A bold claim, sure, but one thats entirely justified when you consider the 48-year-olds CV, which, featuring cowrites for everyone from Mabel and Tom Grennan to Sam Smith and Adele, reads like a Brits red carpet roll call.

Hes master of the pop banger Smith has contributed to 18 No1 albums but most recently hes become best-known for his role in the British rap resurgence, having helped MCs such as Ghetts and Kano achieve recognition outside the underground, before coproducing two of the most seminal albums from the past five years: Stormzys Gang Signs & Prayer (2017) and Daves Psychodrama (2019).

Smith actually joined Dave onstage at the Brit Awards in February to deliver the most talked-about performance of the night with Black, the lead single from Psychodrama, which earned the pair the Ivor Novello for Best Contemporary Song earlier this month. It was their second time winning this highly prestigious award, having already picked up the prize for Daves seven-minute political anthem Question Time in 2017 and one in a long line of accolades for Smith, including Grammys (most notably for Adeles "Set Fire To The Rain), Brits (for both the aforementioned rap albums) and the Mercury Prize, again, with Dave for Psychodrama.

Now, for the first time, Smith is making the move from behind-the-scenes into the spotlight with his own debut solo album, where the likes of Dave and Stormzy will appear not as the lead artist, but as featured acts. Titled 12 Questions, the album, which is due in October, sees Smith pose 12 deeply profound, urgent and universal questions to a lineup of collaborators old and new, with contributions from Kano, Ghetts, Idris Elba and Bastille, as well as artists Es Devlin and Katrin Fridriks, poets Simon Armitage, Arlo Parks and Alysia Nicole Harris and former Black Panther Albert Woodfox. The record couldnt be more resonant for right now, tackling exactly the kind of existential issues that have come to define a 2020 worldview, whether thats retrospection or the desire to reset.

Today, hes releasing the video for the first single from the album, Do We Really Care? Pt1, which features Tom Grennan and rapper Tia Carys. Although the album was 80 per cent finished before lockdown, this particular song had yet to be recorded, meaning Smith had to get creative in order to get it over the line: We drove a hard disk recorder with a mic down to Toms house and left it outside. He took it in, recorded it, gave us a call and left it outside again for us to pick it up. I got his vocal off the little memory card, which is what you hear on that single, he says. Smith knew he wanted this to be the lead track: the chorus, a sample from The Lovin' Spoonfuls 1966 hit Summer In the City, felt weirdly prescient for the pandemic, particularly the line There doesnt seem to be a shadow in the city. Also, he says, Tia Carys' verses, which delve into her growing up in London, really resonated for this time.

The video, premiering exclusively above, drills down on these themes even further, offering a trippy, animated look at the lyrics in action, inspired by the artwork from 1970s progressive rock covers and created in collaboration with creative agency 1983, illustrator Ori Toor and Pentagram Design. Knowing how conceptual the record is and how potentially challenging some of the concepts are, I wanted to make sure we had balance, says Smith. I wanted visuals and music that people could just enjoy. As much as the collaborators answering the 12 questions are incredibly deep and diverse, I dont want the album to feel high-brow, so I wanted to juxtapose that with a video that was pretty. It also features Do We Really Care? Pt2 at the end, a spoken word piece from Poet Laureate Simon Armitage.

Smith came up with all the existential questions himself, saying that they flowed out of him during a time when he was feeling anxious about his next step musically, but also the state of the world more generally. Theyre big and focused (Dave, for example, responded to Why Are We So Divided, When Were So Connected? while Stormzy tackles How Do We Find Our Truth?) but also intertwined: The more we got into it the more I realised there was a lot of cross-pollination between the questions, so What Matters Most could relate to How Much Is Enough? he explains. Its been the most amazing 12 months of learning... I went into this looking for answers and through the strength and diversity of all the collaborators I came out with some really interesting points of view. Being able to share that in this album is the greatest gift Ive been given and also could possibly give.

So of all 21 tracks, does Smith have a favourite? Id never heard of Albert Woodfox before doing this record, but while I was trying to decide who I wanted to pose each of my 12 questions to, I read an article about him. Long story short, I flew out to New Orleans to ask him, Whats the cost of freedom? His story is well documented, but to sit in a room with a guy who was held in solitary confinement for the longest of any prisoner in America 44 years, 23 hours a day in a six by four feet cell, to ask him that question, it was a mind-blowing experience, Smith explains. He asked Kano, who hes been working with since 2004, to appear on Freedom, the companion track: For him to have to record the track on his phone, then for me to receive that and hear how he reacted to Alberts story was a seminal moment.

Interestingly, Smith has chosen not to release 12 Questions under his own name, opting instead to go by Future Utopia. Im very proud of the collabs Ive done over the years, but I did feel that my name is so associated with the great people Ive worked with, that it could feel very much like a producer record, he says. Instead, this project feels to me very much like a collaboration in the Massive Attack and Gorillaz style and Id like to feel that this project could take on many different guises in the future.

Given the mind-expanding aims of the record and the way it so skilfully, comprehensively captures the zeitgeist, would Smith say he feels hopeful or concerned for the future? I feel positive because I just feel we have to be, he says. There has to be good that can come out of the terrible events of lockdown in terms of the way that we view frontline workers, carers and the NHS. I think in the wake of the George Floyd tragedy there is more awareness of Black Lives Matter and hopefully so much more care and education These terrible events have allowed us all to take stock of the way that were living and, hopefully, we can move forward in a more diverse, caring and thoughtful way.

The 35 new musicians to make 2020 better

From Prince to Kano: The best live acts we've seen

Dermot Kennedy on working with Paul Mescal at his record-breaking show

Excerpt from:

Fraser T Smith on going from Britain's most in-demand producer to solo star - British GQ

How the NSA is disrupting foreign hackers targeting COVID-19 vaccine research – TechCrunch

Posted on by

The headlines arent always kind to the National Security Agency, a spy agency that operates almost entirely in the shadows. But a year ago, the NSA launched its new Cybersecurity Directorate, which in the past year has emerged as one of the more visible divisions of the spy agency.

At its core, the directorate focuses on defending and securing critical national security systems that the government uses for its sensitive and classified communications. But the directorate has become best known for sharing some of the more emerging, large-scale cyber threats from foreign hackers. In the past year the directorate has warned against attacks targeting secure boot features in most modern computers, and doxxed a malware operation linked to Russian intelligence. By going public, NSA aims to make it harder for foreign hackers to reuse their tools and techniques, while helping to defend critical systems at home.

But six months after the directorate started its work, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and large swathes of the world and the U.S. went into lockdown, prompting hackers to shift gears and change tactics.

The threat landscape has changed, Anne Neuberger, NSAs director of cybersecurity, told TechCrunch at Disrupt 2020. Weve moved to telework, we move to new infrastructure, and weve watched cyber adversaries move to take advantage of that as well, she said.

Publicly, the NSA advised on which videoconferencing and collaboration software was secure, and warned about the risks associated with virtual private networks, of which usage boomed after lockdowns began.

But behind the scenes, the NSA is working with federal partners to help protect the efforts to produce and distribute a vaccine for COVID-19, a feat that the U.S. government called Operation Warp Speed. News of NSAs involvement in the operation was first reported by Cyberscoop. As the world races to develop a working COVID-19 vaccine, which experts say is the only long-term way to end the pandemic, NSA and its U.K. and Canadian partners went public with another Russian intelligence operation aimed at targeting COVID-19 research.

Were part of a partnership across the U.S. government, we each have different roles, said Neuberger. The role we play as part of Team America for Cyber is working to understand foreign actors, who are they, who are seeking to steal COVID-19 vaccine information or more importantly, disrupt vaccine information or shake confidence in a given vaccine.

Neuberger said that protecting the pharma companies developing a vaccine is just one part of the massive supply chain operation that goes into getting a vaccine out to millions of Americans. Ensuring the cybersecurity of the government agencies tasked with approving a vaccine is also a top priority.

Here are more takeaways from the talk, and you can watch the interview in full (embedded above).

TikTok is just days away from an app store ban, after the Trump administration earlier this year accused the Chinese-owned company of posing a threat to national security. But the government has been less than forthcoming about what specific risks the video sharing app poses, only alleging that the app could be compelled to spy for China. Beijing has long been accused of cyberattacks against the U.S., including the massive breach of classified government employee files from the Office of Personnel Management in 2014.

Neuberger said that the scope and scale of TikToks apps data collection makes it easier for Chinese spies to answer all kinds of different intelligence questions on U.S. nationals. Neuberger conceded that U.S. tech companies like Facebook and Google also collect large amounts of user data. But that there are greater concerns on how [China] in particular could use all that information collected against populations other than its own, she said.

The NSA is trying to be more open about the vulnerabilities it finds and discloses, Neuberger said. She told TechCrunch that the agency has shared a number of vulnerabilities with private companies this year, but those companies did not want to give attribution.

One exception was earlier this year when Microsoft confirmed NSA had found and privately reported a major cryptographic flaw in Windows 10, which could have allowed hackers to run malware masquerading as a legitimate file. The bug was so dangerous that NSA reported the vulnerability to Microsoft, which patched the bug.

Only two years earlier, the spy agency was criticized for finding and using a Windows vulnerability to conduct surveillance instead of alerting Microsoft to the flaw. The exploit was later leaked and was used to infect thousands of computers with the WannaCry ransomware, causing millions of dollars worth of damage.

As a spy agency, NSA exploits flaws and vulnerabilities in software to gather intelligence on the enemy. It has to run through a process called the Vulnerabilities Equities Process, which allows the government to retain bugs that it can use for spying.

Excerpt from:

How the NSA is disrupting foreign hackers targeting COVID-19 vaccine research - TechCrunch

Posted in NSA

Deputy NSA gets one year extension – The Hindu

Posted on by

The Central Government on Thursday extended the tenure of Deputy National Security Adviser Pankaj Saran for one year.

Mr. Saran is a 1982 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service and was appointed Deputy NSA in May 2018. He was then serving as Indias envoy to Russia.

The competent authority has approved the extension in tenure of Mr. Saran for one year beyond September 3, 2020 on contract basis as per the notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.

Mr. Saran previously held different positions, including the countrys High Commissioner to Bangladesh and has also served as the Joint Secretary in the Prime Ministers Office between 2007 and 2012 during the UPA regime.

Former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, Ajit Doval, is the National Security Adviser since 2014 after the NDA government headed by Narendra Modi came to power.

You have reached your limit for free articles this month.

To get full access, please subscribe.

Already have an account ? Sign in

Show Less Plan

Find mobile-friendly version of articles from the day's newspaper in one easy-to-read list.

Move smoothly between articles as our pages load instantly.

Enjoy reading as many articles as you wish without any limitations.

A one-stop-shop for seeing the latest updates, and managing your preferences.

A select list of articles that match your interests and tastes.

We brief you on the latest and most important developments, three times a day.

*Our Digital Subscription plans do not currently include the e-paper ,crossword, iPhone, iPad mobile applications and print. Our plans enhance your reading experience.

Read the original post:

Deputy NSA gets one year extension - The Hindu

Posted in NSA

Crime Prevention and Community Outreach, Common Goals for NSA and NYPD Commissioner – Abasto, Food and Beverage Industry News

Posted on by

Leaders of the National Supermarket Association (NSA) met with New York Police (NYPD) Commissioner Dermont Shea in recent days to seek solutions to the recent wave of robberies against its members grocery stores and to work on programs to help the community.

NSA President William Rodriguez, accompanied by members of the Board of Directors of the association that represents more than 400 independent supermarkets in New York and other cities on the East Coast, had the opportunity to dialogue with Commissioner Shea on issues of mutual interest.

According to a press release from the NSA, the meeting was also attended by the Chief of Patrol Bureau, Fausto Pichardo, who is the first Dominican-American to reach this position.

NSA leaders discussed with Commissioner Shea priority issues for the association, such as finding solutions to reduce the recent crime wave in their members stores.

Related Article: The National Supermarket Association Strengthens Relationship With The Dominican Government

We had a very productive conversation that took place over the course of an hour in which we discussed high-level priorities, such as the recent increase in crime at our members stores, opportunities for partnership in our mutual efforts to reach out to youth, and ways we can work together to keep our communities safe, said Rodriguez.

The National Supermarket Association expressed its support for the NYPD and its leadership personally thanked Commissioner Shea for the work of his officers during the pandemic and their tireless efforts to help keep neighborhoods safe. NYC has been the safest big city in the world for a while and will continue to be so with the efforts of the NYPD, the statement said.

This meeting was a great first step in establishing a more formal relationship between NSA and NYPD. We look forward to working together now and in the future, the NSA leadership said.

Excerpt from:

Crime Prevention and Community Outreach, Common Goals for NSA and NYPD Commissioner - Abasto, Food and Beverage Industry News

Posted in NSA

Exceeding All Expectations: A Journey of Adversity, Triumph and Eternal Optimism – Worth

Posted on by

We all have a role to play if we are to discover an effective means out of our collective global social crisis.

This is the story that I never wanted to tell and the article that I never thought I would write.

Although these are my experiences, too many of my colleagues have similar stories. Unfortunately, so do many of our friends, family members and kindred spirits around the world. This is an American story, and it is a global story.

As a former senior national security official retrospectively looking at life, I can say that it is a story of hopes, promises, courage, circumstance, disappointment and perseverance. Most importantly, it is ultimately a story of triumph.

It is difficult to write about the numerous obstacles that one might face in lifeespecially when these obstacles are based solely on superficial trivialities, such as ones melanin content or skin pigmentation, and not on deficiencies in a persons intellect, motivation, character, potential or loyalty to their nation.

I have never sought sympathy nor empty apologies, so I have avoided talking about:

My climb up the corporate mountainwas arduous, challenging and eventually rewarding. I welcomed the challenge of high expectations, but unlike many of my non-minority counterparts who were on similar climbs, I had few Sherpas, almost no time for acclimation at any level, no supplemental oxygen (i.e., sustained mentoring or assistance) and had to move along a steeper incline than most.

I worked at the National Security Agency (NSA), where only a gifted and blessed few ever make it to the top of operations. From that perch, you are entrusted to lead the United States global Signals Intelligence enterprise and arguably one of the worlds most capable spy organizations. The NSAs Operations Directorate has a storied history that includes contributing to breaking the World War II enigma code and still provides key input to the President of the United States daily intelligence briefing book. In the NSAs storied operations history, no minority had ever successfully reached its pinnacle.

I was promoted into the U.S. Senior Executive Service in my late 30s. Since the NSA is a Department of Defense (DoD) organization, I was a one-star general equivalent. This came at a time when minorities rarely achieved that rank and almost never until their early 50s. I began my career as an Air Force Russian linguist. My first assignment was in Japan, where it immediately became apparent that the words Black and Russian were more synonymous with a bar drink than an individual. I was never mistreated, just viewed as more of a curiosity. My 36-plus-year career climb was unlike most. This is my first capture of these experiences in writing.

The anecdotes that I have experienced during my life would literally fill a multi-volume book. Upon hearing brief snippets, most listeners shake their heads in disbelief. Although only a few incidents were done with malicious intent, they each spoke volumes about our culture and accepted behaviors.

A few examples of the adversity I faced included:

In spite of the many challenges, I eventually shattered a significant ceiling becoming NSAs Director of Global Operations. Entrusted with multi-billion-dollar budgets, I led tens of thousands of the worlds best engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists, analysts and linguists. This was a far cry from the days when NSA minorities were relegated to the basement. However, when I departed the NSA, there was still much to be done.

The current pandemic has severely impacted much of our daily lives. This has also affected the economic, social and mental well-being of millions across the world.

However, there has also been a silent pandemic that has been ravaging our nation, and the world, for centuries. It has prevented citizens from attending schools and colleges, sporting and entertainment venues, visiting certain public places, joining various professions and being accepted into boardrooms. It has even interfered with places of worship. The side effects of this pandemic will likely linger for centuries to come. There are no daily casualty counts or comprehensive economic metrics, and although it is easy to identify, few want to acknowledge its existence. We shun the topic, ascribing it to days gone by, while ignoring the fact that if we only open our eyes, it stares back at us in our communities and workplaces. It is the pandemic of discrimination, bias and presumed privilege that knows no boundaries. This pandemic permeates every facet of our lives and is spawned in our homes, neighborhoods, communities and businesses. There appears to be no immunity for this silent plague and unfortunately few seem willing to help find a cure. But there is hope

The past six months have been a period of enlightenment for many. We have become semi-experts in the art of social distancing, living with some degree of depravity and adjusting to a new way of life. However, we have also seen an unprecedented social movement blossoming around the world. The movement has taken root in our homes, cities and businesses, and is being joined by those of goodwill and like minds daily. While this movement can be viewed with guarded optimism, many of us know that it is rooted in a fragile foundation that could crumble at any moment.

I applaud Worth for having the courage and social consciousness to allow me to tell part of my story. Mine is but a small link in a global chain of stories that should and must be told. I hope that in the coming months we can present the journeys of others who have triumphed in the face of overwhelming adversity. These authors stories should inspire us, while stirring our social and ethical consciousnesses to assist others in their journeys. We all have a role to play if we are to discover an effective means out of our collective global social crisis.

Writing this story has been cathartic. My reluctance has been overtaken by a sense of moral obligation to embolden others to come forward. We need your intellect, resourcefulness, ideas, prayers and active participation if we are to build a coalition of the willing and able. The journey will not be easymost worthy endeavors are usually laboriousbut we will achieve our goals. I look forward to serving with you. Keep the faith.

An indispensable guide to finance, investing and entrepreneurship.

Go here to read the rest:

Exceeding All Expectations: A Journey of Adversity, Triumph and Eternal Optimism - Worth

Posted in NSA

Huge threat to national security as hackers attack NIC computers, steal sensitive information – DNA India

Posted on by

In a major development, India's largest data agency National Informatics Centre (NIC) faced a cyberattack in which many computers of the agency were targeted and sensitive information was stolen from them.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police has registered a case and started investigations in connection with this attack.

The NIC contains information related to the national interest, including the Prime Minister and the NSA, among others. In such a situation, this cyber attack is being considered very dangerous. According to the information, this cyberattack has been done by a Bangalore based firm, with connections to the United States

Besides the information related to national security, the NIC computers also have information related to the citizens of India, and well as VVIP people.

According to the information received by the Special Cell of Delhi Police, a malware was sent to the systems of NIC through e-mail. Clicking on the link wiped all the information from the computers after which, information was given to Delhi Police. As soon as the news broke, the Special Cell of Delhi Police took command and started investigating the case.

Upon investigation of the received email on the complaint of the employees of NIC, its link was found to be connected to a company based out of Bangalore. A police investigation found the IP address of this company, which is associated with a US-based firm.

Original post:

Huge threat to national security as hackers attack NIC computers, steal sensitive information - DNA India

Posted in NSA

Police: 2 more held in Agra boys kidnap-murder, NSA to be invoked – The Indian Express

Posted on by

By: Express News Service | Noida | September 14, 2020 5:01:30 amAccording to police, the two were nabbed near KSB Chowk in Chinchwad around 7.30 pm on Wednesday. Police said that during a search, they recovered 13.2 grams of MD, worth Rs 39,600, from them. (Representational)

Three days after the body of a missing nine-year-old boy was found in a pile of sacks, Agra police on Sunday arrested two more accused in connection with the case, taking the total arrests to three. They are likely to invoke the National Security Act (NSA) against the accused. The process to suspend an inspector of the police station concerned for alleged dereliction of duty will soon start.

Two more persons have been arrested after the main accused, Wahid, was arrested on Saturday. Given the nature of the crime, we will ensure that NSA is invoked against the accused. We will be initiating suspension proceedings against a policeman of the station concerned, said Agra SSP Babloo Kumar.

The child went missing from Agras Dhaura area on Tuesday, and his body was found close to his home two days later. According to police, the accused kidnapped the boy hoping for Rs 2 lakh in ransom but ended up killing him for fear of being caught. The accused allegedly choked him to death, police said.

The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.

The Indian Express (P) Ltd

Read the rest here:

Police: 2 more held in Agra boys kidnap-murder, NSA to be invoked - The Indian Express

Posted in NSA

NSA to be invoked against miscreants involved in killing Malihabad farmer: Lucknow DM – Outlook India

Posted on by

Lucknow, Sep 13 (PTI) The Lucknow district administration has decided to invoke stringent National Security Act against the six bike-borne miscreants involved in the killing of a 30-year-old farmer in its Malihabad tehsil early this week.

Ram Vilas Rawat, a Dalit farmer of Malihabad''s Dilawar Nagar area was attacked by the six bike-borne youths -- Ghulam Ali, Mustaqeem, Mufeed, Shanu and Guddu on Thursday night after he objected to them for running their bike on a hosepipe watering his field.

Rawat was critically injured in the attack and succumbed to his injuries while being rushed to the Malihabad community health centre, said police earlier.

"The entire incident is being probed by a Deputy SP rank officer and the National Security Act will be invoked against those found guilty," Lucknow District Magistrate of Abhishek Prakash said on Sunday.

Under the NSA, one can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months if the authorities are satisfied that the person is a threat to national security or law and order.

The police have already booked the six on charges of murder under IPC and various other provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

So far, three accused -- Ghulam Ali, Mustaqeem and Mufeed -- have been arrested, and efforts are on to nab the other two suspects.District Magistrate Prakash on Saturday visited Dilawar Nagar and transferred a sum of Rs 5 lakh to the bank account Rawat''s widow.

He also urged the family members of the deceased to maintain peace in the area and assured them of all possible help.

"The entire incident will be probed, and mischievous elements should be identified, and their arms'' licence will be cancelled," the DM said.

Rawat''s death had triggered a protest from his co-villagers, who had blocked the Hardoi Road and clashed with police.

"The entire incident will be probed, and mischievous elements would be identified, and their arms'' licenses will be cancelled," the DM said.

Malihabad Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ajay Kumar Rai, meanwhile, on Sunday said the situation in the area is normal, and the police force has been deployed in the area. PTI NAV RAXRAX

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI

View post:

NSA to be invoked against miscreants involved in killing Malihabad farmer: Lucknow DM - Outlook India

Posted in NSA

Blue Hawks to face completely new Comet team in home opener – The Dickinson Press

Posted on by

The Comets brought in an astonishing number of new players for this year's team with 88 newcomers.

They also have a new head coach in Rocky Larson who was the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin-River Falls last season.

Mayville State is 0-1 after playing a shootout last week, falling 50-40 to Waldorf, while the Blue Hawks are looking to go to 2-0 after beating Dakota State a week ago.

Last fall, Dickinson State downed the Comets twice winning 79-14 and 63-13, but Dickinson State head coach Pete Stanton believes this year Mayville State will pose a much bigger challenge.

We look at every week as an opportunity. We dont look back whether that is a team we beat or lost to. We talk about how each week is an opportunity for us to get better, Stanton said. All our kids have to do if they have any misconceptions about Mayville is to look at the tape and the speed they have. They are obviously a different team than last year. If you look at the Waldorf score against them last year, it was similar to ours, and then they played a 10 point game last week.

The Comets are led by senior quarterback, Creighton Pfau, who has unique ties to Dickinson and Stanton.

Pfaus father, Pete, played for Dickinson State in the 1980s and was the free safety in 1987, while Stanton was the strong safety.

He was also a standout at Trinity High in Dickinson before moving on to play for the Blue Hawks.

As for the younger Pfau, he started off his career by playing basketball for the Comets, but transitioned to football and had an excellent week last week versus the Warriors.

He threw for over 350 yards, and freshman Elijah Roundree from Georgia was his favorite target.

Roundtree set a school record with 213 yards on seven catches and two touchdowns.

Stanton said that including Roundtree, they are deep at wide receiver and tight end.

We have to be aware of all of those guys and keep the ball in front of us, Stanton said. We have to limit the big play. We didnt do a great job of that last week... But we have to go up and win some jump balls.

As for Dickinson State, Drew Boedecker is making his second start at quarterback.

He went 14-19 last week passing, but he did throw one interception and failed to fall on the ball after a bad snap.

Turnovers are something that the Blue Hawks have been working on all week because in addition to Boedeckers interception, they lost four fumbles last week.

It is something we have to work on. We need to remind the guys on the importance of taking care of the ball, Stanton said. It would be different if it was the same guy, then he probably wouldnt be playing this week.

As for the Comets defense, they will do a lot of different things in what Stanton says is an unorthodox defense.

They will have defensive linemen all over the place, and at times, their linemen will stand up on the line of scrimmage, then drop back into coverage.

The key for the Blue Hawks offense will be to be patient.

Due to having a new coaching staff and so many new players, one week of film isnt enough for Stanton and his staff to gather enough information to see the Comets tendencies.

They will have to adapt on the fly this week and base play calls off personnel on the field and base formations.

The hope for Dickinson State is that they can handle their business to move to 2-0.

It is really hard to tell with them. You dont get enough tendencies on film after just one game. They have a bunch of new guys and especially with them having only played Waldorf who plays a lot of press man coverage. Since they didnt face a lot of the same coverages as us (last week), we will get different route combinations.

The hope for Dickinson State is that they can handle the uncertainty of the Comets and move to 2-0.

Read more:

Blue Hawks to face completely new Comet team in home opener - The Dickinson Press

Scientist: Early ID, warnings will defend against comets – The Daily Advance

Posted on by

An astrophysicist offered the Elizabeth City Rotary Club this week a sobering account of the potential for a catastrophic impact from an asteroid or comet.

Malcolm LeCompte of Comet Research Group spoke to the club about the potential damage to earth from the impact of a near-earth object, or NEO, striking the earth.

Tim Witwer, the clubs president, also is associated with Comet Research Group.

LeCompte said Comet Research Group is focused on early identification and warning as well as hazard mitigation.

Were trying to save the planet, LeCompte said.

LeCompte explained that the solar system is less stable and more dangerous than had been long thought. In one generation the perception of the solar system changed from the safe old solar system pre-1970 to the new and dangerous solar system during the 1970s and later, he said.

The older notion of the safe solar system stressed nine predictably stable planets and asteroid belt objects located safely between Mars and Jupiter.

That change in perception resulted mainly from the discovery of much larger numbers of near-earth asteroids and also the observation of dwarf planets, which are large bodies in the outer solar system.

LeCompte said more than 20,000 NEOs have been identified.

An NEO roughly the size of Washington, D.C., would cause global-scale destruction, LeCompte said.

A smaller NEO, roughly the size of the National Mall, would still devastate most nations, he said.

Although much of the attention is often given to asteroids, comets are far more dangerous, LeCompte said. Comets are unguided missiles, he said.

Comets are characterized by high speed and a low density but potentially high mass, according to LeCompte.

The dinosaurs were likely wiped out by an asteroid about 30 million years ago, LeCompte said.

Even objects that never strike the earth can wreak extreme havoc, LeCompte explained.

As an example he cited the 2013 event at Chelyabinsk in Central Russia in which the explosion of a meteor miles above the earth caused damage on the ground and injured more than 1,000 people.

The 1908 Tunguska Event in Siberia also was caused by an explosion in the air. LeCompte said its important to note that the object exploded miles above the earths surface but still caused massive damage on the ground.

LeCompte holds a doctorate in astrophysical, planetary and atmospheric sciences from the University of Colorado. From 2004-14 he was professor of math and computer science at Elizabeth City State University.

Since 2015 LeCompte has been co-director of Comet Research Group.

Excerpt from:

Scientist: Early ID, warnings will defend against comets - The Daily Advance

Comets aim to get back on winning track – Midland Daily News

Posted on by

Front row: Alec Baker, Josh Kipp, Bryce Middleton, Matthew Federico. Second row: Dylan Crandall, Dylan Penny, Bo Carbeno, Max Marovich. Third row: Ty Klopf, Richard Sapp, Ayden Ruhle, Conner Schrank, Jack Wiggins Fourth row: Jaden Bovee, Ty Murray, Konner Carbeno, Dawson Haller. Fifth row: Jack Gates, Carson DeJongh, Kaden Boyer, Kris Haney, Isaiah Biers, Shane Cole. Sixth row: Mason Tucker, Sam Bovee, Brooke Falor, Vance Sysak, Jackson Harsh, Marlon Garcia.

Front row: Alec Baker, Josh Kipp, Bryce Middleton, Matthew Federico. Second row: Dylan Crandall, Dylan Penny, Bo Carbeno, Max Marovich. Third row: Ty Klopf, Richard Sapp, Ayden Ruhle, Conner Schrank, Jack

Photo: (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Front row: Alec Baker, Josh Kipp, Bryce Middleton, Matthew Federico. Second row: Dylan Crandall, Dylan Penny, Bo Carbeno, Max Marovich. Third row: Ty Klopf, Richard Sapp, Ayden Ruhle, Conner Schrank, Jack Wiggins Fourth row: Jaden Bovee, Ty Murray, Konner Carbeno, Dawson Haller. Fifth row: Jack Gates, Carson DeJongh, Kaden Boyer, Kris Haney, Isaiah Biers, Shane Cole. Sixth row: Mason Tucker, Sam Bovee, Brooke Falor, Vance Sysak, Jackson Harsh, Marlon Garcia.

Front row: Alec Baker, Josh Kipp, Bryce Middleton, Matthew Federico. Second row: Dylan Crandall, Dylan Penny, Bo Carbeno, Max Marovich. Third row: Ty Klopf, Richard Sapp, Ayden Ruhle, Conner Schrank, Jack

Comets aim to get back on winning track

Seeking its first winning football season in six years, Coleman has a favorable schedule in this abbreviated season with four of its six games at home, including four of the last five after this Friday's opener at Breckenridge.

"Right now, the expectations for the guys themselves are pretty high," 12th-year Comets' coach Chad Klopf said. "Theyve had really good practices. Our team culture and family atmosphere have been really strong. Our offense has looked really good the last few weeks. Were pretty excited to see how it all comes together Friday night. The number one thing is letting them play and getting them some normalcy in their lives."

Coleman's new quarterback is junior Ty Klopf (5-11, 143), the coach's son, who was a starting receiver last year on varsity and played junior varsity QB two years ago.

Chad Klopf, who noted that offensive coordinator Luke Mastee chose the starting quarterback, said Ty has a strong knowledge of the game and has had a recent growth spurt and added some arm strength.

Meanwhile, junior Conner Schrank (5-10, 186) will split time between running back and wide receiver and will be joined in the backfield by junior Konner Carbeno (6-0, 201).

Junior Jaden Bovee (5-8, 148) is a returning starter at wideout, a position which will also feature sophomore Ty Murray (5-8, 145), junior Ayden Ruhle (5-10, 170) and senior Dylan Crandall (5-7, 152).

Up front, the Comets have three returning starting offensive linemen in junior left guard Richard Sapp (6-0, 222), junior center Max Marovich (5-9, 271) and senior right tackle Josh Kipp (6-3, 300).

Senior left tackle Bo Carbeno (6-3, 266), Klopf noted, hadnt played football since his freshman year.

"He's a huge addition for us," Klopf said. "I think his senior year came around and his buddies were talking to him (about coming out for football again). He bought into everything we were doing. He's been a big bright spot for us."

Meanwhile, senior right guard Bryce Middleton (6-2, 285) is poised for a comeback season after an injury limited his playing time the past two years.

"He started getting healthy last year during wrestling season," Klopf said. "Hes been a tremendous leader for us this year. Hes been able to hold everybody together."

Senior Matthew Federico (5-10, 231), who started at all three positions on the line last year, will be the first lineman off the bench, Klopf said.

On the defensive line, Kipp and Marovich will likely be the tackles, with Federico at one end and Bo Carbeno and sophomore Dawson Haller (5-11, 213) rotating at the other end position.

Sapp and Middleton will be the middle linebackers, and Konner Carbeno and Schrank will be outside backers.

Senior Dylan Penny, Murray, Wiggins and Ruhle are vying for positions in the secondary, and Bovee will play free safety.

On special teams, Federico will kick extra points, Bo Carbeno will kick off and Middleton will be the punter.

Coleman adds St. Charles to its schedule as a new member of the Mid-State Activities Conference, replacing Merrill, which went to eight-man football.

Klopf said Coleman will play eight-man football at the junior varsity level this year.

"We want to give those kids some playing time. It's hurt our program the last few years not being able to play enough JV games," he said.

COLEMAN'S SCHEDULE

Sept. 18 - at Breckenridge

Sept. 25 - CARSON CITY-CRYSTAL

Oct. 2 - SAUGATUCK

Oct. 9 - at St. Charles

Oct. 17 (Saturday) - MONTABELLA

Oct. 22 (Thursday) - VALLEY LUTHERAN

Originally posted here:

Comets aim to get back on winning track - Midland Daily News