Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 1051

This Fake Psy Was the Most Successful Photobomb Prankster in Cannes History

How do you become the toast of Cannes? Pretend to be Psy, apparently. An imposteur dressed as the Korean pop sensation—complete with round glasses and trimmed jacket—was spotted around Cannes over the past couple of days as the city brimmed with parties centered around the film festival. He went to parties, including one hosted by the company fleeced in the Great Cannes Jewelry Heist of 2013. He posed with celebrities. He even appeared in a video for a radio station. But his glamorous jaunt through the seaside playground came to an end yesterday when Psy himself tweeted "seems like there's another ME at cannes...say Hi to him @scooterbraun lol #PSYinSINGAPORE." 

The fake Psy's run (the New York Post has dubbed him "Psych!") proves just how gullible and not very discerning the VIPs of Cannes can be when they're outside of the Hollywood paparazzi chase and on the Riviera's endless red carpet. Naomie Harris, who played Miss Moneypenny in Skyfall, tweeted a picture of herself with "Psy,"even tagging the singer in the tweet. 

Me and @psy_oppa at the @chopard party in #Cannes!! Xx twitter.com/NaomieHarris/s…

— Naomie Harris(@NaomieHarris) May 21, 2013

The official Twitter account of the Portland Trailblazers sent out an Instagram of their player Nicolas Batum posing with not-Psy in Cannes. 

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And club owner Ronnie Madra posted a picture of the guy who is not Psy posing alongside actor Adrien Brody. 

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The as yet unnamed con artist was the subject of chatter elsewhere on social media on the French Riviera. 

What a fantastic party..cannes film festival ..with Psy Gangam style @jelluri twitter.com/biljanacity/st…

— biljanaobradovic (@biljanacity) May 21, 2013

Gangnam style! #psy psy #bagatelle #torch #cannes #cannes2013 #travel #music #celebrities #france… instagram.com/p/ZlIXF-wZ5X/

— Roxy Manning (@RedCarpetRoxy) May 21, 2013

A fake Psy invading its parties is probably not what the people of Cannes had in mind, especially given that the festival has had its fair share of crime this year. According to the Post, fake-Psy made his way to a party hosted by Chopard, the jewelry company that had over $1 million worth of jewels stolen from a hotel room. In addition to being spotted at Cannes locations like the Carlton Hotel, VIP Room and Martinez Beach, he attended the "secret party" of "millionaire oil magnate and fashion designer" Goga Ashkenazi at Le Baron, at one point "grabbing a mike behind a DJ booth." He was "scamming for" free drinks at the Torch Beach Club, and a "manager" even got him an appearance at Monaco's Better World Awards. And of course he taught Gangnam Style: 

       

The Return of the Mac-vs.-PC Ad Wars, Siri-vs.-Surface Edition

After taking a little break from the classic Mac-vs- PC wars to punch a little lower (at Samsung), Microsoft has decided to return to its old rivalry, hoping to revive slow Surface tablet sales with a little anti-Apple advertising. This latest spot is a robot-future version of the cool Mac-guy-and-dorky-PC-guy campaigns that Apple used to build up its hip-cred in the aughts. But instead of getting actors to do its bidding, Microsoft used dueling tablets, creating a Siri-vs.-Surface showdown to show all the useful things Microsoft's tablet can do that Apple and its not wholly beloved Siri feature cannot:

That the ad exists at all shows a little desperation on Microsoft's part. While the company has run its fair share of negative campaigns against Apple, Google, and Samsung, this is the first such effort to sell the Surface tablet by bashing the other, most popular guy. As we've seen with Samsung's popular anti-fanboy ads that pushed its Samsung Galaxy S III and S IV sales into rivalry territory with Apple's dominant iPhone, a little poking can help the sales cause. But that only works if the product has some excitement behind it — and we haven't quite seen that for the Surface tablet, the sales for which have been falling well short of predictions. 

       

Two of Iran's Presidential Candidates Are Wanted for Murder

Iran has announced the list of eight qualified candidates who have been approved to campaign for president, including two men who are suspects in a notorious 1994 terrorist attack. Mohsen Rezai and Ali Akbar Velayati are among the group who are looking to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when his term ends this year—and both are believed to have helped plan an attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994. A car bomb leveled the AMIA community center, killing 85 people in the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina's history. 

Argentine officials have long blamed Iranian leaders for orchestrating the attack and directing Hezbollah militants for carrying it out, but Tehran has denied any involvement. (Iran has also been accused of bombing the Jewish embassy in Buenos Aires two years earlier.) Rezai was the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard at the time of the attack. Velayati was Minister of Foreign Affairs. (A third suspect, Ahmed Vahidi, is Iran's current Defense Minister.) In 2006, several Iranians were charged with the crime in Argentina, but none have been arrested and no one has ever been convicted for it.

In 1999, one of Rezai's sons moved to the United States and accused his father of being involved in the attacks, but recanted after moving back to Iran a decade later. In 2011, the son died under suspicious circumstances while living in Dubai.

Rezai even has an active international arrest warrant through Interpol, meaning that if he were somehow elected President of Iran, he might not be able to leave the country without fear of being arrested. Velayati, who is also considered a prime suspect, is described as a close ally of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The election to succeed the term-limited Ahmadinejad will be held on June 14 and candidates had to be vetted and approved by a committee of politicians and theologians in order to compete. More than 600 other candidates were denied the right to run, as were all women. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was also charged by Argentine authorities in the Jewish center attack, was also disqualified.

       

The Ban on Gay Boy Scouts Might End Today

The Boy Scouts of America will continue to disavow gay troop leaders, but the national council of the most high-profile youth group in the U.S. could change the tone and history of its extremely controversial anti-gay policies on Thursday by voting to allow openly gay scouts to join the organization. In a secret vote today, "more than 1,400 volunteer leaders from scouting's 270 councils" will vote whether or not to allow openly gay youths to participate in scouting, The New York Times's Erik Eckholm reports. That vote would dissolve a decades-long explicit restriction on gay members, a policy that which has been the root of vocal public criticism and internal conflict for an organization that prides itself on teaching young boys and men to do the right thing, but also has deep religious ties. The group is having its annual national gathering in Grapevine, Texas, a Dallas suburb, at this very moment — and under very serious pressure from gay rights groups and even its own president.

Word of a possible reversal surfaced in January amid a torrent of criticism from local chapters and Facebook pages, but the full vote was ultimately postponed in early February when the organization's Great Salt Lake Council, along with 32 other councils, urged that the discriminatory policy stay the same. And so we arrive at the hedge of today's decision: Gay scouts but no gay adults. "[Boy Scout executives] devised a plan that they hoped might defuse the debate, opening the door to gay youths but keeping it shut for gay adults, a step that, based on their surveys, they feared would cause mass defections," the Times's Eckholm writes. 

Gay-rights group say is just the compromise is a step in the right direction —organizations like GLAAD have vowed to continue fighting until gay scout leaders are approved — but troops and organizations backing are still threatening to leave if gay young men are allowed in the Scouts. The Los Angeles Times's Molly Hennessy-Fiske writes:

If the proposal passes as expected, some troops and the religious groups that sponsor them will withdraw from the national organization, they have said — a dangerous possibility for a group whose membership has decreased by nearly 19% during the last decade, according to the most recent figures from 2011.

Both The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times have interviews with troop leaders who are protesting the vote because of their religious beliefs. "We're trying to uphold traditional values," one scout leader told Eckholm, while another told Fiske that "They're caving."

Some parents simply don't want their sons sharing tents with young gay boys. "Admitting gays would create 'safety and security issues' at overnight campouts" is one of the concerns from an insinuating protester who spoke to Reuters.

With the very vocal protests very much happening and Scout leaders pushing back vocally — both inside the group, on social media, and in the press — to make sure that the National Council knows they do not want young gay boys in the organization, it would seem like a turnaround would be a long shot, even with the hedge vote. But consider the lobbying: High-profile members of the Scouts executive board like Ernst & Young CEO James Turley and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson have been vocal in denouncing the gay ban, President Obama has publicly urged the Scouts to reverse their policy, and on Wednesday, Boy Scouts President Wayne Perry wrote an op-ed in USA Today stating that the boys need to do away with their gay ban. "No matter what your opinion is on this issue, America needs Scouting, and our policies must be based on what is in the best interest of our nation's children," Perry wrote.

       

Jon Stewart and the Ghosts of Presidential Scandals Past

Jon Stewart last night turned his attention to Ronald Reagan "fan fiction" author (and, you know, Wall Street Journal columnist) Peggy Noonan, who is angry at Barack Obama for his recent scandals, but gives her former boss a pass for a little thing like Iran-Contra.

When it comes to Obama, "she's more upset than your mom when she caught you jerking off with one hand and smoking a joint with the other hand," Stewart said. But she blames Reagan's involvement in Iran-Contra on "bad luck." 

Of course, when you think of how Noonan has written about Reagan in her books, it all makes sense. In one case she asks you to "imagine a man no one hates." Stewart might think Ryan Gosling, but she actually means Reagan. "Here's the deal. You can't really get so upset about Obama if you've written the book Fifty Shades of Greygan," Stewart concluded. 

 

       

David Cameron on the London Murder: 'We Will Never Give In to Terror'

Great Britain is still stunned by yesterday's brutal public terroristic murder on the streets of London, but the nation has already shifted into a defiant and defensive stance. Police continue to investigate the two suspects, who are under arrest and in the hospital, to discover if they have any other accomplies or if they have any connection to international terror groups. Early on Thursday, London police raided a home in the Greenwich area and detained four people, however, they did not reveal what connection, if any, those individuals may have to the attack. Authorities have also confirmed that the man killed in Woolrich was indeed a serving U.K. solider and he appears to have been targeted for just that reason.

Like the two brothers who committed the attack on the Boston Marathon, many people want to know if the perpetrators are "homegrown" terrorists who who acted completely on their own, of if they were encouraged, supported, or even trained by foreign organizations like al-Qaeda. Many of those questions are still unanswered, but according to the BBC, one of the attackers has been identified as Michael Adeboloja, who was born in Britain, but comes from     

Dog Found Standing Guard Over a Tornado Victim Reunited with Her Owner

There's a happy ending to the story of a dog, found alive in the rubble after a massive tornado devastated Moore, Oklahoma: she's been reunited with her owner.

Because "Susie" was found standing guard over a body, officials believed she belonged to one of the victims of the storm: 

"CSO deputy searching for victims found a 12-year old Schipperke-Border Collie mix standing guard over a deceased male inside a house in Moore. The deputy convinced the dog to leave the side of the deceased victim, and eventually made sure the pup was taken to an emergency tornado animal shelter." 

The department, who initially tweeted out the photo in the immediate aftermath of the storm, later added their sad context to the story: 

STORY BEHIND DOG PICTURE:The dog was guarding it's deceased owner.Taken to shelter; deputy plans on adopting. twitter.com/OkCountySherif…

— Oklahoma Co. Sheriff (@OkCountySheriff) May 21, 2013

But then, good news. The owner's sister saw one of the photos, and contacted the department on Facebook. Sheila Collins told them that the dog belonged to her brother, Curtis, who lives about a half a mile from where "Susie" was found. He'd been looking for the dog since the storm, and eventually, the two were reunited: 

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Photo via the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. 

It turns out that the person "Susie" was guarding after the storm was a stranger: Curtis has "no idea," according to the Sheriff's office, "why she stood guard of the victim whom he did not know." 

       

Colorado Governor Has Death Penalty Doubts

Today, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper issued a temporary reprive for death row inmate Nathan Dunlap. But it's not because of anything Dunlap has — or hasn't — done. It's because Hickenlooper is questioning whether his state should be in the business of capital punishment at all.

Colorado's last execution was over a decade ago, and the state has existed in something of a limbo on the issue since then — capital punishment is on the books, but not a practicing part of the state's justice system. As the Atlantic's Andrew Cohen has noted, Hickenlooper's decision today was much anticipated. While, as he explains, the governor's order today is actually not that decisive on the issue of capital punishment itself, it has forced him to make a public statement on an issue he's previously dodged. 

In his     

You're Going to Be Forced into Amtrak's New Pet Car, and It'll Be Worse Than WiFi

If Congress sees fit, you could soon be accompanied by your dog or cat on Amtrak, adding adorability to the increasingly popular national rail service. You could also be crowded into the proposed "pet car," accompanied by someone else and their stinky dog or allergy-inducing cat, fueling commuter rage just as Amtrak was starting to calm down the Acela set over bad wireless connections and not-so-quiet quiet cars.

Currently, the only pets allowed on Amtrak trains are service animals — not even comfort animals are allowed. But the U.S. government can very much regulate Amtrak, a new bill set to hit the House floor soon — H.R. 2066, also known as the majestic-sounding "Pets on Trains Act of 2013" — would do just that. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), and John Campbell (R-Calif.) designates one car of every Amtrak train as a pet car, and riders would be able to transport their dogs or cats provided they are in kennels and are traveling less than 750 miles: 

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"My dog, Lily, is part of our family and travels with us to and from California all the time.... If I can take her a on a plane, why can't I travel with her on Amtrak, too?" Denham stated on Tuesday, outlining his argument, according to The Hill, as a boost for efficiency and revenue for the seemingly always under-funded Amtrak. It's unclear whether Denham, who represents California's 10th District up by Big Sur, is talking about travelling with Lily to Washington, D.C., which under his own bill would not qualify in that 750-mile radius for the pet car. (Nobody could sit next to a dog on a cross-country train trip without going crazy, and no dog owner wants to subject a pet to a carry-on size bag for even close to that, do they?) In any case, it sounds like Denham's heart is in the right place, and that he's already got support:

"@samsteinhp: Thought for Amtrak. Why not have a designated pet car?"/will propose to Amtrak/got Tn.parks 2 allow pet friendly cabins

— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) May 12, 2013

But this is Amtrak, a method of American transportation governed by its own set of rules. Case in point No. 1: the glorious institution that is the Quiet Car. Because, you know, it's never exactly quiet. We'll let The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates take it from here:

These people are almost always dealt with by a conductor or other passengers. But I've never quite been able to figure out why they come to the Quiet Car. It's not a matter of not knowing the rules, so much as a matter of not caring. It's almost as if the offenders regard the regular cars as a public lavatory, and the Quiet Car as a private bathroom where they may repair to handle their shit.

It's hard not to complain about Amtrak, especially about its notoriously horrible WiFi. Which brings us to case in point No. 2: Just last week, Amtrak finally upgraded the WiFi on its Acela route from DC to Boston from really bad cellphone-based wireless to slightly better 4G wireless. And while there were instant testimonials that the Internet had indeed gotten faster and better, there were plenty of social media complaints bemoaning the fact that streaming sites remain blocked.

Now, just imagine the complaints of an Amtrak rider who wants to watch his Netflix — and has to watch his Netflix in a pet car full of meowing and barking cats and dogs. 

That might end up being the case. Because, well, consider case in point No. 3: Despite the myriad complaints over the years, more people are using the rail service than ever. "Amtrak ridership increased in the first half of FY 2013 (Oct. 2012 – March 2013) and March set a record as the single best month ever in the history of America’s Railroad," reads an April press release from Amtrak. More people on Amtrak trains means more crowded trains. Crowded trains mean doubling up in seats. And trains that crowded means that, if you're not early or in the origin city, there may be people forced to sit in certain cars of said very crowded trains that they didn't want to sit in — like a Quiet Car regular who has to marinade with the hoi polloi in the café car. Meaning: If Congress gets Amtrak to install a pet car on every train, and ridership continues to increase, there's a distinct possibility that pet-averse people may have to sit in the pet car.

Indeed, increasing ridership for the pet-friendly might be the point, but ridership is increasing as Amtrak becomes increasingly commuter-friendly instead. As The New York Times's Ron Nixon pointed out in August, Amtrak has benefitted from air travel being such a pain — and seen its ridership grown between DC, New York, and Boston. Ridership on the Vermonter, which travels between Northern Vermont and DC with stops in New York, grew by 6.7 percent in the first half of the 2013 fiscal year, Amtrak said. (There might be some friends of the pet population in between.) And Nixon adds that since the introduction of the Acela high-speed trains on the DC-New York-Boston route in 2000, the rail service said "its market share between New York and Boston grew to 54 percent from 20 percent" with an estimated national ridership at around 30 million people. As Nixon reported last week when the WiFi upgrades kicked in, Amtrak is listening to its whining commuters:

Amtrak responded to some negative Twitter posts, saying the upgrades would strengthen its Wi-Fi network and increase the amount of bandwidth available for tech-savvy passengers who have become accustomed to being connected while traveling.

Amtrak's success in the Acela corridor is a big reason why airlines like Delta and U.S. Airways, as Nixon notes, started to offer free WiFi on short flights between New York, Boston, and D.C. But the entire Acela corridor also fits within the 750-mile pet limit of the new bill in the House. Will Congress realize the pet car is a a nuisance to its loyal riders on the East Coast, or side with the pet owners to grow business? One thing's for sure: You can bet there will be complaining. 

       

Sergio Garcia Added 'Fried Chicken' to Golf's Mega Feud & Tiger Is Not Amused

The biggest feud in golf right now got unexpectedly racist last night after Sergio Garcia said he would serve "fried chicken" to Tiger Woods during the upcoming U.S. Open. That reference, hurled at Woods by another golfer before, has some very serious racial connotations. Garcia quickly apologized, saying his comment was meant to be "silly," but Woods isn't having any of it. So what was already a years-long rivalry between two great players has now transformed into a full-fledged war of words with racial undertones fueling the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world heading into golf's major summer tournaments.

When Garcia was participating in a Q-and-A at the PGA's European Tour awards show Tuesday night, he was asked if he would have Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open. 

"We will have him 'round every night," Garcia said. "We will serve fried chicken."

If you say anything involving "fried chicken" and a black person, you are going to be rightfully labeled a racist. That definitely happened in this case. And the world of professional golf, before Tiger Woods burst on the scene, was never a very accepting place for black people. In many ways it still isn't, but back in 1997 — the year Woods won his first Masters — the outspoken American golfer Fuzzy Zoeler made a similar comment. Zoeller called the 22-year-old Woods "a little boy," and then this happened: "He's doing everything it takes to win. So, you know what you guys do when he gets in here? You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year. Got it." Zoeller started to walk away from reporters, satisfied with himself, before turning and adding: "Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve." 

Any public admiration for Zoeller disappeared shortly thereafter. Garcia, or one of the PGA execs in the room last night, realized how bad his remarks were — and the dinner ended shortly thereafter. So Garcia sent out his initial apology out late last night: "I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment," Garcia said. "I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner." Garcia, the 14th ranked golfer in the world and a longtime Woods rival, echoed that "silly" excuse at an emergency press conference Wednesday morning. Garcia asked for forgiveness, claimed he couldn't sleep last night, and insisted that he unsuccessfully tried to contact Woods through his agent. He also said he was unaware of Zoeller's infamous remarks. (Garcia emerged on the pro tour in 1999 with a duel against Woods at the PGA Championship.) "It was a funny question. I tried to give a funny answer," Garcia said at the press conference. "I'm very, very sorry. I cannot apologize enough times."

The spat between Woods and Garcia flared up again roughly two weeks ago at the Player's Championship. Garcia was lining up for a shot as Woods went to pull a club from his bag. Seeing that Woods was making an aggressive club choice — and this being Tiger Woods — the crowd started to roar. Except this was all happening during Garcia's back swing. Garcia's shot went into the trees. He blamed Woods for his poor stroke.

So cut to Monday, when Woods was asked at a charity event if he would call Garcia to squash the beef. "No," Woods replied. Garcia was asked the same thing at another event later that day. His response: "First of all, I don't have his number. And secondly, I did nothing wrong and don't have anything to say to him. And he wouldn't pick up the phone anyway. But that's OK; I don't need him as a friend," Garcia told Golf.com.

As we said, these two have quite the history. It goes all way back to that 1999 PGA Championship. Let's let the experts at Golf.com explain: 

A teenage Garcia irritated Woods at the 1999 PGA Championship by pointing across the course at Tiger as if to challenge him. Sergio tweaked Tiger's nose again shortly afterward by beating him in a made-for-TV match and celebrating too much for Woods's tastes. Then there was the 2006 Open Championship at Hoylake when Tiger went out in the final group along with Sergio who was dressed all in yellow. Tiger won and reportedly texted friends: "I just bludgeoned Tweety Bird."

These two aren't friends, have never been friends, and won't be friends any time soon. Garcia can apologize all he wants, but if this feud wasn't going away to begin with, it's certainly not dying down after you add a racial layer to it.

And Woods isn't giving in. "The comment that was made wasn't silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate," Woods said on Twitter Wednesday morning. "I'm confident that there is real regret that the remark was made." He then expressed his desire to move on and "talk about golf." Garcia is probably happy to move on, at least until these two meet on the course again. Because plenty of people are expecting something like this will happen: 

Can't wait for Tiger to body Sergio in every tournament going forward.You don't give that type of athlete any more motivation.

— Joe La Puma (@JLaPuma) May 22, 2013

Good luck, Tweety bird. The U.S. Open starts on June 13.