Monday, May 29, 2023

Filipinos break ground, bring controversy to Broadway with reboot of Here Lies Love

Celebrating an all-Filipino cast, producers say they are not shying away from criticism of the Marcos regime

A group of people are smiling for a camera.
Casting for Here Lies Love, which has an all-Filipino cast, wook producers all over the globe. The show received submissions from Canada, the United States, the Philippines and more than a dozen countries. (Submitted by Here Lies Love)

In a church basement on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the cast of Broadway's Here Lies Love is gathering for the show's first press conference.

But the atmosphere feels more like a big family party than an official engagement. 

That may have a lot to do with the historic nature of the musical's all-Filipino company, a Broadway first. 

The disco-themed musical was conceived by Grammy-winning musicians David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, and written and developed by Alex Timbers. But the story is decidedly Filipino — albeit a controversial interpretation of the country's history.  It centres on the Philippines' infamous first lady Imelda Marcos and her late dictator husband, Ferdinand Marcos, during a pivotal moment in the country's history – their rise and fall from power, ending in the People's Power revolution in 1986. 

Here Lies Love first opened off Broadway in 2013. But not with an all-Filipino cast like this. 

The show will make its Broadway debut this July with Filipino producers at the helm. They include a pair of Filipino Tony winners – Lea Salonga of Miss Saigon fame and theatre and film designer Clint Ramos, who were both instrumental in finding the talent. 

"We're extremely proud. And we also feel like this is the time," said Ramos. "We're in the middle of a Filipino Renaissance not only in the Americas, but all over the world."

A man sitting at a desk is smiling.
Tony Award-winning theatre and film designer Clint Ramos is one of the lead producers for Here Lies Love. The Philippines-born industry veteran was also part of the off-Broadway run of the show. (Marc J. Franklin)

As with all productions, casting is about finding the right people. It wasn't a sure bet that the show would feature an all-Filipino company. 

Salonga recalls the moment they cast the final actor, Filipino-American Moses Villarama, who plays a DJ.

"Oh my God," was Salonga's first reaction. "Then it sank in: The cast of Here Lies Love is fully Filipino." 

Race-based rejections

She said she's still processing the unprecedented moment for Broadway, the epicentre of musical theatre. 

The achievement is an emotional one for Salonga and many of her castmates because of their own struggles for representation and roles in the entertainment industry. 

"It's something that I felt incredibly proud of."

More than 30 years ago, Salonga was cast as the leading actress on Broadway's Miss Saigon, playing a Vietnamese girl who falls in love with an American soldier.

That role catapulted her into fame. But even with her Tony win and other accolades, she says she still experienced many rejections. 

"I was in for a rude awakening," she said. "I was told that I couldn't audition for certain shows because of my racial background."

Jose Llana, who plays former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos in Here Lies Love, feels the same way. He's been in the industry almost as long as Salonga and has a long list of credits on big musicals such as Rent and The King and I.

"You know, the opportunities for Asian Americans, particularly Filipino Americans, are very small," he said. "We're hopefully adding now to the library of Asian roles that Filipinos can play."

A woman smiles in the White House.
Lea Salonga, shown here arriving at the White House for a state dinner with U.S. President Joe Biden and the South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol on April 26, says she was told her racial background prevented her from auditioning for certain Broadway shows. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

For Arielle Jacobs, who plays Imelda Marcos, landing the role struck a personal chord. 

"This is the first time I'm getting to play on my own heritage, so I feel like I don't have to hide. I feel like I don't have to pretend to be somebody that I'm not," she said.

Despite the elation over the historic casting, the show has not been without controversy. Some critics have taken to social media, calling the musical a too-glossy retelling of the Marcos family's criminal and violent past. With a disco ball as its logo, Here Lies Love is staged in a nightclub setting and highlights Imelda Marcos's life as a glamorous, jet-setting socialite. 

When Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was first elected in 1965, the power couple was beloved in their country and around the world. But their nearly two-decade rule put the Philippines under a brutal martial law and ended with the storming of the presidential palace in 1986 and the Marcoses fleeing in exile to the United States. 

Under his rule, tens of thousands were killed, imprisoned and tortured according to Amnesty International.

But the show's producers are not backing away from that controversy. On their Instagram account,  a bold statement: Here Lies Love is an anti-Marcos show. It is a pro-Filipino show, being told in a quintessential American form: the Broadway musical. 

The show is meant to offer lessons on how to deal with tyranny and to raise awareness about how people can be seduced by a charismatic leader, said Byrne.

"The story is more relevant now around the world than it was back then," Byrne said at the event, referring to the show's previous off-Broadway run. "Now it seems like democracy has been threatened around the world, even in this country."

Byrne said he would have never predicted when he created the show that it would re-open, at a time when the Marcos family is back in power. 

Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos's son, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. was elected president last year and their family continues to polarize the Philippines. While the results were not contested, many Filipinos decried his victory, blaming the Marcos camp for whitewashing his family's history. 

Bad timing — or impeccable timing?

"We're showing the party that the Marcoses had for 20 years. But we're also telling a story about how the hangover happened after that party," said Llana. 

Salonga, who is a massive celebrity in the Philippines, is well aware of the gravity of staging a musical about a family that is currently in power. 

"I just think that the timing of this, it's either bad timing, or impeccable timing," she said. "How you interpret it is really a personal decision to make."

On the show's Instagram page, one of the first post clearly explains itself in response to the critics: "History repeats itself. Democracies all over the world are under threat. Here Lies Love offers an innovative template on how to stand up to tyrants."

At the press preview, all talk of controversy and critics seem to be drowned out by the celebration of the groundbreaking cast. 

The hope for the cast is that this production of Here Lies Love is just the beginning.

"I'm most excited about the future projects that are written by Filipinos where they're writing their own stories," said Llana. 

"Hey if we're able to do it for Here Lies Love, we'll be able to do it for another show," said Salonga.

"Here I am playing a real life character from the Philippines in a story set in the Philippines. I don't think the whole magnitude of that has sunk in completely, It'll probably hit me like a ton of bricks on opening night." 

Three people stand and look at the camera.
In Here Lies Love, Jose Llana plays Former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, Arielle Jacobs plays former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos and Conrad Ricamora plays former opposition Leader benigno Aquino. (Harold Julian)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kris Reyes

Foreign correspondent

Kris Reyes CBC’s correspondent based in New York. She is a multimedia journalist with more than 15 years of experience in broadcast and digital newsrooms in the U.S. and Canada, as a host, producer, anchor and reporter.

Ukraine built more onshore wind turbines in past year than England

Revelation about war-torn country is ‘terrible indictment’ of UK government, says Ed Miliband


Jillian Ambrose 
THE GUARDIAN
Energy correspondent
Sun 28 May 2023 

Ukraine has completed more onshore wind turbines than England since it was occupied by Russian soldiers – despite the UK government’s promise to relax restrictions on onshore windfarms.

Only two onshore wind turbines have been installed in England since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, generating 1 megawatt (MW) of electricity in the Staffordshire village of Keele.

Ukraine’s Tyligulska wind power plant, meanwhile, the first to be built in a conflict zone, has begun generating enough clean electricity to power about 200,000 homes just 60 miles from the frontline in the southern region of Mykolaiv, with 19 turbines providing an installed capacity of 114MW.

Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change secretary, said: “This extraordinary revelation is a terrible indictment of Rishi Sunak and his staggering failure to end the onshore wind ban.

“Even governments fighting for their very survival can get on and build the clean energy infrastructure needed to tackle the cost of living crisis, the energy security crisis, and the climate crisis with more urgency than the Tories can muster.”

No 10 promised last year to dismantle an effective ban on onshore windfarms in England, which was put in place in 2015 by tightening planning restrictions in the national planning policy framework. However, the government is yet to make any changes and campaigners believe a rebellion of backbench Tory MPs threatens to pile pressure on ministers to make only modest tweaks to the framework, which would continue to hold back the rollout of English windfarms.

The ban on onshore wind, which is the cheapest source of electricity, is estimated to have cost UK billpayers £800m over the past winter when millions were plunged into fuel poverty for the first time due to rising global energy market prices, according to analysts at the Energy and Climate Change Intelligence Unit (ECIU).

British households face energy bills that are expected to remain above pre-pandemic levels until the end of the decade after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a surge in global energy markets last year. Although global prices have retreated from record highs they are likely to remain far higher than usual while European countries seek alternative energy sources to help replace Russia’s gas exports.

Miliband said the Conservatives’ “absurd ban on onshore wind” had cost every family in Britain £180 and left the energy system “dependent on fossil fuel dictators like Putin”.

Sam Richards, the founder and campaign director of Britain Remade, which campaigns for green economic growth, said: “It’s simply mind-boggling that Ukraine, while it fights for its survival, has built more onshore wind capacity than England.

“The government should start by dropping its ban on new onshore windfarms in England – at the stroke of a pen unlocking the cheapest source of energy available.”

A government spokesperson said: “Since 2010, we’ve increased the amount of renewable energy capacity connected to the grid by 500% – the second highest amount in Europe – installing 3,790MW of additional capacity across all renewables in 2022 alone.”

“We continue to support more renewable projects to come online, including onshore wind if there is local community backing, as clean, more affordable energy brings down costs for consumers and boosts our long-term energy security.”skip past newsletter promotion

The Labour party has put forward plans to end the onshore wind ban and make Britain “a clean energy superpower” by 2030. Part of its plan includes setting up publicly owned energy company, GB Energy, to produce “cheap, clean power in Britain, for Britain”.

Ukraine’s largest private energy investor, DTEK, said its Tyligulska windfarm was on track to become the largest onshore windfarm in eastern Europe once complete.

Maxim Timchenko, DTEK’s chief executive, said the farm was “a symbol of Ukraine’s resistance to Russian attempts to freeze Ukraine into submission”, which would help to “build Ukraine back greener and cleaner and become a key partner in Europe’s energy future”.

In January, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, told the World Economic Forum in Davos that there would be no investment in new oil and gas fields in Britain under a Labour government.

Starmer is expected to set out his energy plans next month, including a pledge to ban all new North Sea oil and gas licences, the Sunday Times reported.

A massive, rare sea turtle washed up on P.E.I. It was likely on its way to be with family

‘They're in serious decline’

dead turtle on shore
A massive sea turtle was found dead on the shores of Fernwood, P.E.I. last Friday. (Submitted by Tom Sherry)

A large and increasingly rare type of sea turtle washed up on P.E.I.'s shores last Friday.

A dead leatherback sea turtle was confirmed to have been discovered in the community of Fernwood on May 19, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in an email to CBC News.

The DFO responded to some local residents' call about the turtle, with help from the Halifax-based Canadian Sea Turtle Network.

Leatherback sea turtles are the world's largest living turtles. The species faces world-wide population decline, and is considered to be endangered in Canada.

Kathleen Martin, executive director of the Canadian Sea Turtle Network, said the turtles are known to enter Canadian waters this time of year to feed on jellyfish.

Then, they head south and instinctively return to the same beaches where they hatched to nest – a behaviour called "natal homing."

The decomposing body of a turtle, with some rope tied to its neck, lies on a rocky shore.
Leatherback sea turtles are the world's largest living turtles. The species faces world-wide population decline, and is considered to be endangered in Canada. (Submitted by Tessa MacKinnon)

"So you end up with these beaches full of, like, sisters and aunts and mothers and cousins," Martin said.

But the discovered turtle didn't have a chance to meet its family.

It's likely the animal died last year from being entangled in fishing gear and it's just now being found, Martin said.

Tom Sherry was one of the Fernwood residents who discovered the turtle. When he got there, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"It was quite a sight," he said.

"It was kind of sad to see that it was in the water there and had been deceased possibly for a little while."

'Badly decomposed'

Two fishery officers from the Alberton Conservation and Protection detachment responded to the sighting, DFO said.

This is not the first time a leatherback sea turtle washed up P.E.I.'s shore. Those that were found before would typically be transported to the Atlantic Veterinary College for a necropsy.

But in this case, the turtle was "too badly decomposed" for wildlife pathologists to perform any kind of procedure, the AVC said in an email.

dead turtle
Fishery officers with the DFO pulled the animal to shore and removed the fishing gear it was entangled in. (Submitted by Tom Sherry)

Martin said what's left of the turtle is falling apart, so it's difficult to measure it accurately. A leatherback sea turtle can reach up to two metres long and weigh more than 450 kilograms, she said.

The species has been around for more than 150 million years, back to when dinosaurs walked the planet. Today, they're declining at a rate of almost 8 per cent a year, Martin said.

"They're in serious decline."

'We're like the UN of sea turtles up here'

turtle in the back of a truck
Shown here in this file photo is a leatherback turtle that washed up on P.E.I. in the fall of 2020. It was loaded on to the back of a DFO pickup truck and brought to the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown for a necropsy. (Ralph Clark)

In Canada, they are protected under the Species at Risk Act. Martin said leatherback sea turtles from all over Central and South America have been identified in Canadian waters where they "really bulk up and eat" before heading home.

"We're like the UN of sea turtles up here, where everybody comes and hangs out," Martin said.

"It's really important that we keep them safe here … and that we do all the work we can to learn about them."

That's why it's important the DFO, the Canadian Sea Turtle Network, the AVC as well as Nova Scotia's Marine Animal Response Society all have a hand in the process of responding to any specimens found in Atlantic Canada, she said.

At the moment, the turtle — or what's left of it — is still there in Fernwood.

DFO officers had pulled it to shore and removed the fishing gear that killed the animal. The gear will likely be returned to whoever lost it, Martin said. 

"Typically what you do is, at this point, let nature take its course," Martin said. "There will be things that scavenge off of that turtle and all the rest of it."

Martin said the decomposing body doesn't pose any threat to people.

She encourages people to call the Canadian Sea Turtle Network if they see anything to do with sea turtles because that can help wildlife officials bring the animals in and collect information that can help with conservation efforts.

"That's really an act of what we call citizen science," Martin said.

"That's what we need in the world right now."

BC

Making a better road to the Centre of the Universe

Closed for two years over the pandemic, the 2.2-kilometre road on Little Saanich Mountain has reopened to vehicles just in time for the resumption of school tours


Pedro Arrais
about 24 hours ago
The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory's 1.8-metre Plaskett Telescope, with a 72-inch mirror that weighed 5,000 pounds, was the largest operational telescope in the world when the observatory opened in June 1918. 
Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory

The road leading to the Centre of the Universe has been repaved and reopened, making the journey to the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory’s visitor and education centre much smoother.

(The “Centre of the Universe” moniker is an inside joke, as astronomers agree there is no physical central point to the universe — any point can be the centre from an observational point of view.)

Closed for two years over the pandemic, the 2.2-kilometre road on Little Saanich Mountain is now open to vehicles during regular working hours. After hours, the road and trails on the property are open to pedestrians and cyclists, who train by pedalling up the average six per cent grade route.

Ben Dorman, chair of the Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, a non-profit that hosts educational programs at the centre, said the reopening “happily coincides” with the restart of school tours, where busloads of children head up the hill to visit the white-domed observatory, a national historic landmark that houses the 1.8-metre Plaskett Telescope.

“It is always something to see their little eyes light up at the sight of the telescope,” said Dorman, noting that with a 72-inch mirror that weighed 5,000 pounds, it was the largest operational telescope in the world when the observatory opened in June 1918. “It’s pretty darn big and a lot more interesting than a lesson at school.”

In its early years, the observatory contributed to a number of major scientific discoveries, he said, with the design copied around the world.

The grounds also house the National Research Council Canada’s Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre, the leading centre for astronomy and astrophysics in Canada. Workers with the National Research Council build and test instruments at the site.

Funding from the Victoria Foundation’s Community Grants Program, which helps subsidize field trips to the observatory, allowed the Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory to provide almost 90 school tours involving more than 4,300 students last year to learn about the universe.

In-person school visitors are given tours of the dome and the Plaskett Telescope, presentations on B.C. school curriculum topics, planetarium shows, gallery tours, astronomy demonstrations and hands-on activities.

The Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory also hosts Star Parties, public events that run 7 to 11 p.m. every other Saturday over the summer months.

Each session promotes scientific literacy with different speakers and topics, such as light pollution and its impact on ecosystems.

During the Star Parties, participants can peer at the stars through a number of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s telescopes, set up outdoors on the interpretive centre’s deck and in the parking lot between the centre and the dome, weather permitting.

The programs are also now more accessible to those who can’t be there in person, with YouTube videos and live streaming of some events.

“We offer a passport to science for different groups, such as schools, clubs, retirement homes and Scouts,” said Dorman.

Contributions to Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory are tax deductible. Every donation of $100 can support 50 students in one school tour, the group says.

For more information, go to centreoftheuniverse.org.

parrais@timescolonist.com

Opinion
The debt deal is done. Scrapping the debt limit is long overdue.

THE POST'S VIEW
May 28, 2023 


The U.S. national debt clock is seen in midtown Manhattan, on Thursday, May 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Finally, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have reached a deal to avert an embarrassing — and potentially disastrous — U.S. default. It’s hard to view this as a celebratory moment given how close the nation came to being unable to pay its obligations to investors, the military, hospitals and more. But there’s relief that the worst-case scenario has been avoided and that there is still some possibility for bipartisanship in U.S. politics. That is a low bar, but Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy cleared it.

The agreement “in principle” still has to pass Congress this week, which is not a given, especially in the House, where far-right members are already bashing it. The June 5 deadline for default leaves little room for antics.

If this passes, the nation won’t face another debt limit crisis until 2025. The basics of the deal appear sensible, and most Americans will probably approve of them.

It imposes spending caps, but they are not onerous, as the cuts in the initial House Republican bill were. After several years of discretionary budget increases, this will force what is essentially a two-year pause at most federal agencies. Unspent coronavirus funds will also be clawed back — a reasonable compromise that this Editorial Board had advocated in recent weeks. The deal avoids the mistake the Obama-Biden White House made in 2011 when it agreed to caps for a decade that slowed the recovery and hampered its ability to do much in its second term.


If any sort of political center still exists in Washington, the tentative deal is about as close as it comes to finding it. Both sides got some of what they wanted: Republicans achieved some cuts, including to Internal Revenue Service funding, and Democrats preserved spending on important domestic programs, from the environment to education, at about current levels. Even on contentious issues such as tying work requirements to government assistance, Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy appear to have taken the least controversial route, which is increasing them for older food stamp recipients with no children.

What should not happen now is for Americans to breathe a sigh of relief and move on. Yes, a last-minute compromise occurred, but a dangerous precedent has been set. House Republicans have now used the debt limit twice to create a hostage-like situation that brings the nation close to an unthinkable default. Expect that a future Republican Congress would be willing to go over the cliff to extract more.


The debt limit itself needs to be scrapped. Enacted in World War I, it was created so Congress would not have to keep approving debt issuances. A century ago, the limit was set high to avoid hitting it. Over time, the debt ceiling took on a different role as a useful check on bipartisan spending largesse. It played a role in the 1990s in pushing lawmakers to reduce the national deficit and enact a balanced budget at the turn of the century. In recent years, as the normal budget process in Congress has broken down, the debt ceiling has functioned as one of the few moments of reckoning on the increasingly alarming fiscal outlook.

But this latest deal has shown that this isn’t a substitute for coming up with an actual, forward-looking fiscal strategy. Republicans employ the debt limit to force cuts to nondefense discretionary spending, which is only about 16 percent of total government expenditures. But this slice is not a key driver of the nation’s debt problems. The refusal of either party to tackle rapidly rising Social Security, Medicare and health-care costs — along with Republicans’ opposition to any tax increases — means the debt limit isn’t forcing the tough choices that are needed.

Almost no other nation has anything like a debt ceiling because it no longer makes any sense. Congress has already approved the spending that forced the debt to rise; there should be no question, much less the possibility of an economic cataclysm, when the bills come due. Members of both parties have called for an end to the debt limit because it risks too much for the United States — and the entire global financial system, as well as the livelihoods of federal workers, veterans and businesses who need to be paid.


This crisis may pass, but 2025 is coming soon.

Saturday, May 27, 2023

First overdose prevention centers in US tout their success

By Jorge Fuentelsaz

New York, May 27 (EFE).- In the spacious waiting room at one of the only two recognized overdose preventions centers in the United States, dozens of people watch television or chat before or after consuming drugs in a safe environment provided by OnPoint NYC, an organization working for social justice in the Big Apple.

Since the centers, known as OPCs, opened in November 2021 at locations in Manhattan’s Harlem and Washington Heights neighborhoods, staff members have successfully reversed nearly 800 overdoses, OnPoint NYC says.

Across more than 75,000 visits by the roughly 3,500 registered users, staff have only had to call an ambulance on 15 occasions, a supervisor told EFE.

The costs of treating the other 700-plus overdoses at hospitals would have been as much as $35 million, according to Kailin See, OnPoint NYC’s senior director of programs.

“I came here about a year ago. It gives us a safe place to do our thing – get high – instead of going to the park or the sidewalk or the street,” Max, a 44-year-old heroin addict, told EFE at the OPC in Harlem.

Staff member Yusef Colley, who describes himself at the “first line of defense against an overdose,” said that the center serves around 300 people a day.

Both OPCs are in the process of hiring more staff with the aim of operating 24 hours a day.

Overdose prevention is just aspect of what OnPoint NYC does and See told EFE that 87 percent of registered participants have received help with housing, medical care, or mental health.

Noting that one of the challenges OPCs face is overcoming skepticism on the part of communities and police, See said that no one has produced any evidence to show that the presence of OPCs leads to more crime.

At the same time, she acknowledged that authorization to open the OPCs would not have been forthcoming if not for support of New York’s then-mayor, Bill de Blasio.

“But somebody had to be the first,” See said, to bring the US out of the “dark ages” when it comes to the harm-reduction approach to drugs.

“We did it and the sky didn’t fall, federal agents didn’t come here or take all of us to jail. The results of both sites have been absolutely extraordinary,” she said.

EFE

jfu/dr

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Former HealthSouth CEO denies hiding millions amid ongoing scandal


AP
yesterday

Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy leaves the federal building after he was convicted on six counts in a government corruption case in Montgomery, Ala. June 29, 2006. Scrushy, who once led HealthSouth, a huge provider of outpatient rehab services, has been ordered to turn over records related to a bank account that lawyers say he's using to hide millions. (AP Photo/Rob Carr/File)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The man who once led HealthSouth, a huge provider of outpatient rehab services, has been ordered to turn over records related to a bank account that lawyers say he’s using to hide millions.

In a seven-page order against Richard Scrushy, the Birmingham-based company’s former chief executive officer, John England Jr., acting as special master in the case, also issued an injunction against any money being transferred out of the account in question, AL.com reported.

The ruling Tuesday came after lawyers representing the plaintiffs in a 2009 civil verdict contended that Scrushy has been hiding money that could be used to pay some of the more than $2.87 billion in damages he still owes as result of the HealthSouth scandal. The government contends Scrushy and other executives inflated earnings by $2.7 billion from 1996 through March 2003 to make it appear HealthSouth was meeting expectations of Wall Street analysts.

Lawyers alleged Scrushy has written checks totaling $7.3 million on an account in the name of convicted felon Eddie Briskett, who is currently serving time in the Alabama Department of Corrections for various convictions, including property theft, burglary and assault.

England contends Scrushy, or someone connected to him, has control of the account and has actively used it. Scrushy denies any wrongdoing and said he welcomes any disclosures, since “they will find nothing,” the news site reported.

“It’s totally made-up, false information that never should have been put out,” Scrushy said.

In 2007, Scrushy was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for bribery involving former Gov. Don Siegelman. While serving his sentence in a Texas prison, a civil court found him liable for the HealthSouth accounting fraud.

After serving about five years of his sentence, Scrushy was released from prison.

According to England’s order, Scrushy contends he is unemployed and has no assets other than Social Security. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say he is conducting business through other entities owned by friends and family.

According to the ruling, Scrushy has “exchanged thousands of text messages” with a number associated with Briskett and written checks totaling $7.3 million on the account, including two checks to himself totaling $3 million.

However, those checks were never deposited in any account previously disclosed by Scrushy, the order states.

In addition, England references a 2020 letter to the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles by an associate of Scrushy, explaining that Briskett has an investment portfolio of about $7.1 million.

“The evidence presented suggests that Mr. Scrushy may have an interest in the account or in some or all of the proceeds of the account,” the order reads. “At minimum, it appears that Mr. Scrushy or someone acting in concert with him opened the account in Briskett’s name and that Mr. Scrushy has control of the account.”

Scrushy told the news site that he has known Briskett for 20 years through his prison ministry and has exchanged text messages with Briskett’s sister, mainly to set up telephone conversations.

The checks, he said, were “kind of a joke” between the two of them.

“He’s one of the gentlemen that I’ve helping, being a friend and minister,” he said. “I’ve never signed on any bank account of his. There’s zero truth to any of that. I’ve never been involved with Eddie Briskett on any account, period. I’ve never taken a dime from Eddie Briskett.”

Scrushy said the court filings in the case are a continued harassment to him and his family.

“I’ve never seen such abuse and waste in my life,” he said. “I told the judge yesterday to let those attorneys go and discover anything they want. There is nothing to it.”
Elon Musk And Ron DeSantis Prove That Twitter Spaces Is Kind Of A Joke





















John Brandon
Contributor
FORBES
May 27, 2023

Imagine a product where the only way to make it work is if you limit how many people can use it.

That was the case this week when Governor Ron DeSantis took to Twitter Spaces to announce his presidential run. Initially, about 500,000 had connected, but after about 21 minutes, the server crashed and the Space had to be restarted.

According to one report, it was only when the user count was limited to about 250,000 that the stream started working again.

Other reports noted that as many as 600,000 had attempted to join, and ultimately only about 161,000 actually heard the live audio chat.

Think of how this would work with other products like the Apple iPhone.

Sure, you can buy one, but if Apple told us there was a limit on how many people could connect in your city at one time, we’d balk. Or how about a new minivan? It works great for your family as long as you don’t have more than one or two kids.

At this stage in the Twitter lifecycle, I’m not surprised by the hiccups. Musk has reportedly fired many of his employees, including many who disagree with him.

Twitter Spaces was always a bit suspect. It was basically a Clubhouse clone where you could hold an audio-only conversation with others. During the pandemic, I was a major fan of Clubhouse and wondered why Twitter Spaces even existed. Then I realized holding these conversations was mostly a reaction to how we can’t hold real events and talk in person.

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By comparison, presidential announcements like this usually result in incredible interest — usually in the millions. The Twitter Spaces chat with Elon Musk and Governor DeSantis resumed after stamping down the bugs but not before many users tried to join, hearing nothing but crickets.

You would think the Twitter team would have been ready for massive interest and prepared the Twitter Spaces servers to handle a high user count.

The reason this is all happening has more to do with the person leading the company, not just the technology.

Here’s why. Technical infrastructure is something that hinges on server capacity, the number of engineers you have ready to deal with problems, and cold hard cash. Anyone who has run a website knows this. If you have a few thousand users, you don’t have to worry about capacity issues. When you attract a massive audience, you have to be ready to pay for the infrastructure, the tech support, and a speedy server to handle the new interest.

My guess is that Elon Musk has been cutting corners left and right, not worrying too much about capacity problems or hosting large-scale events. It’s almost as though he expects the company to crash and burn before he can rebuild it into something new.

This is not the path forward, though.

The Twitter brand has survived quite a bit. Controversy is one thing; when the app doesn’t deliver what was promised, that’s when you have to start worrying.

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John Brandon
 is a well-known journalist who has published over 15,000 articles on social media, technology, leadership, mentoring, and many other topics. Before starting his writing career in 2001, he worked as an Information Design Director at Best Buy Corporation. Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnbrandonmn

First observation: Scientists discovered a cyclone on the north pole of Uranus

It’s a much more dynamic world than you might think.

MAY 27, 2023
BY AMIT MALEWAR
NASA scientists used microwave observations to spot the first polar cyclone on Uranus, seen here as a light-colored dot to the right of center in each image of the planet. The images use wavelength bands K, Ka, and Q, from left. To highlight cyclone features, a different color map was used for each. 
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/VLA


Uranus is regarded as a world of mystery. It was seen only once, as NASA’s probe passed near the planet nearly four decades ago. Using huge radio antenna dishes of the Very Large Array in New Mexico, scientists present observations of Uranus in northern spring with the Very Large Array from 0.7 to 5 cm.

For the first time, NASA scientists have convincing evidence that Uranus has polar cyclones. They discovered the phenomenon at the planet’s north pole by looking at radio waves radiated by the ice giant.

Collected in 2015, 2021, and 2022, the observations went deeper into Uranus’ atmosphere than before. These observations reveal details in the thermal emission from Uranus’ north pole at 10s of bar.

The results support a general observation about all planets in our solar system with significant atmospheres: Whether they are mostly made of rock or gas, their atmospheres exhibit signs of a whirling vortex around the poles.

When peered below the planet’s clouds, scientists determined that the circulating air at the north pole seemed to be warmer and drier, indicating a strong cyclone.

Lead author Alex Akins of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California said, “These observations tell us a lot more about the story of Uranus. It’s a much more dynamic world than you might think. It isn’t just a plain blue ball of gas. A lot is happening under the hood.”

The compactly structured cyclone on Uranus, which has warmed up, dry air at its center, resembles those observed by NASA’s Cassini at Saturn. But unlike hurricanes on Earth, cyclones on Uranus and Saturn aren’t formed over water. They also don’t drift and are locked at the poles.

In the upcoming years, these recently discovered researchers will constantly monitor the Uranus cyclone to see how it develops.

Akins said, “Does the warm core we observed represent the same high-speed circulation seen by Voyager? Or are there stacked cyclones in Uranus’ atmosphere? The fact that we’re still finding out such simple things about how Uranus’ atmosphere works excites me to learn more about this mysterious planet.”

Journal Reference:Alex Akins, Mark Hofstadter, et al. Evidence of a Polar Cyclone on Uranus From VLA Observations. Geophysical Research Letters. DOI: 10.1029/2023GL102872