Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 865

Knockout Game Is 'Like the Animal Kingdom' CNN's Guest Says as He Beats Up Don Lemon

CNN

CNN aired a segment Tuesday afternoon pitting a martial arts expert/rabbi against the network's own Don Lemon. It was the network's attempt to tap into the racial fears driving interest in the so-called "knockout game," pushed by blatantly racist coverage from the site World Net Daily. CNN's efforts to obscure the undertones, however, were somewhat undermined by their main guest, who explained that the (black) perpetrators of the game are "attacking weaker people; it's very much like the animal kingdom."

The network is actually somewhat late to the issue, which we wrote about last week. CNN began its coverage by showing video of some of the isolated incidents, showing black men and teens sucker punching people. The idea that this is happening with any frequency has been largely debunked, including by New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly at the start of the CNN segment. But CNN wants to talk about it, so they invited Rabbi Gary Moskowitz on to show off his black-belt skills. Moskowitz has a vested interest in promoting the idea of the "game;" he's offering his services to train New York's Jewish community — which he says have been particular targets — to employ against the (nonexistent) threat. His comments start about 45 seconds in.

The issue is ... they're not just attacking Jews theologically. What they're doing is, they're attacking weaker people. It's very much like the animal kingdom. They're attacking weaker people. So they attack elderly women, they attack children. And Jewish people, unfortunately, especially in the Orthodox community are considered weak.

This, he says, is because members of that community "don't eat right and work out."

The "they" in Moskowitz's comments that are acting "like the animal kingdom"? The alleged perpetrators of the attacks: black people. That's why this is "news" worth covering — it taps into the poorly-veiled fear white people have of black people on the street, the source of so many similar "news" stories for decades past. Usually, though, the people talking about the issue refrain from comparing black people to animals.

Lemon was there ostensibly because he is doing a report later tonight about the knockout game. But it was an odd choice, made obvious once Moskowitz started demonstrating how to repel an attacker. Here's Lemon, awkwardly throwing punches at a Jewish man as the man fights back. In the background of the interview, the three or four attacks that have been caught on video played in a loop, reminding the viewer of what these attacks look like. Black men are attacking you. Here's how to fight back. (Lemon noted, correctly, that one video that was shown was from 2012 — hardly contributing to this current sense of panic.)

Among those championing Moskowitz for fighting back against the scourge of the knockout game is World Net Daily, the arch-conservative site that takes credit for starting the media narrative in the first place. The site's Colin Flaherty is proud of his role in bringing these attacks to the public's attention, in part thanks to his book 'White Girl Bleed A Lot': The Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore It. The book paints racial violence with a very broad brush; Flaherty's columns are more specific. Each of his knockout game columns are preceded with an editor's note: "Colin Flaherty has done more reporting than any other journalist on what appears to be a nationwide trend of skyrocketing black-on-white crime, violence and abuse. WND features these reports to counterbalance the virtual blackout by the rest of the media due to their concerns that reporting such incidents would be inflammatory or even racist."

Because they are. Flaherty's mastered the art of isolating individual assaults committed by black men, tagging them as "knockout attacks," and adding them to his collection. It's confirmation bias; none of his columns mention the countless times a white person has attacked another white person or person of color. That's not the story he wants to tell.

And it's not the story CNN wants to tell either. The idea that these attacks are happening is titillating. Showing a demonstration of how to fight back makes for better television than Ray Kelly's dismissal, and it's definitely better than just ignoring the meme altogether. But if you're trying to get away with a little racial pandering, it's better when your guests don't give the game away.

       

D.C.'s Metro Is Wrong, D.C. Women Don't Talk About Shoes

DC Metro via Twitter user KGSommers

There's an absurd D.C. Metro ad in the Metro Center station, which depicts a well-dressed and presumably intelligent D.C. woman wanting to talk about shoes instead of the city's public transportation. This can't be a more unfair depiction of D.C. women, because, in addition to being sexist, if you ever looked at the Jerry Seinfeld sneaker and skirt suit uniform many D.C. women wear, it's clear shoes are the last thing on their minds.

The ad in question shows one woman who can't be bothered to talk about Washington's very efficient metro system: 

Some see the ad as offensive. After all, it perpetuates the idea that women don't want to talk about serious, "smart" things like infrastructure and public transportation. It also incorrectly presumes that women are only capable of shallow conversations that revolve around footwear.  (A Washington Metro spokesman told DCist that the "point of the ad is to get people talking about Metro's massive rebuilding effort by juxtaposing technical facts with a variety of light responses in conversation between friends.")

But there's something that's as equally offensive as the sexism on display. At the heart of it, it's an organization that is so out of touch with the people its meant to serve. A conversation like this between two women would never happen in D.C., because D.C. women have exhibited a historic disregard of the rules of fashion and footwear decorum.  

In many other metropolitan cities there exists a fundamental rule (which applies to both sexes) that you cannot pair cross-trainers with suits. And there's no major metropolitan city in America that ignores this rule as much as our nation's capital. There is photographic evidence:

This is a young woman wearing sneakers with a respectable dress. Young people are supposed to care about fashion more than any other people other around. She is defying human nature because she lives in D.C. where wearing sneakers with a formal top is acceptable.  And it's also because she's running a Supreme Court decision back to her news agency.  Here's another poor unfortunate soul:

One more (this one is even drawing applause despite her footwear):

Female news interns wearing sneakers has become so ubiquitous that BuzzFeed even started a meme: 

You might think it's only interns in a high-pressure news environment. But interns are usually young impressionable folk. They learn these habits from their elders who often don the Seinfeld sneakers after a long day at work. Here's an older woman wearing sneakers with an otherwise respectable outfit:

And this phenomenon has been documented extensively too. Clinton Kelly, respected host of The Chew and What Not To Wear, talked to The Washington Post in March about the problem. He said: 

I am a big fan of the commuter shoe, it just shouldn’t be a cross-trainer. People don’t even wear those for step class anymore. People don’t even go to step class anymore.

There are so many comfortable shoes out there for women. You could commute in a short wedge, or a short stacked heel or a great flat shoe.

D.C. publications like the Examiner, fashion sites like Refinery 29, and several blog posts have all dealt with the D.C.'s shameless love for the commuter sneaker. 

In other words, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority isn't just putting a sexist message out there. It's also showing that it doesn't seem to care about the customers it serves. 

I will admit that if you want to give WMATA the benefit of the doubt, you could read the ad as prescriptive too. Perhaps they want to send the message to D.C. women to up their commuter shoe game. But, that's unfair too, especially when you have male offenders roaming around unchecked:

Photos via Associated Press and BuzzFeed.

       

Judge Allows Obama's Kenyan-Born Uncle to Stay in America

AP

President Obama's 69-year-old Kenyan uncle Onyango “Omar” Obama may stay in the U.S. as a legal resident, two decades after facing deportation. Because Omar has lived in the U.S. for about 50 years, Judge Leonard I. Shapiro ruled that he could apply for residency under a federal immigration law applying to those who have resided in the U.S. since 1972 or before, according to the Boston Globe.  

During the deportation hearing on Tuesday, Omar contradicted a White House statement that the president has never met his uncle. Omar testified that Barack Obama stayed with him in Cambridge for a few weeks while attending Harvard Law School, a claim backed up by Omar's landlord at the time, Alfred Ouma. The president does not seem to have anything approaching a close relationship with his uncle.

In order to meet the requirements for residency under federal law, Omar had to demonstrate that he was of "good moral character." That's despite a 2011 drunk driving charge in Framingham. That arrest resurfaced an earlier attempt to deport Omar — he lost an appeal on an order to leave the country in 1992. The 2011 drunk driving case was ultimately dismissed, and
    

Billy Joel Takes Up Residency at Madison Square Garden, Possibly Forever

Pictured: Billy Joel; not pictured: Madison Square Garden. (REUTERS)

Though it's not immediately clear if he's lost a bet or simply grown tired of venues that seat less than 20,000 people, songwriter and eternal piano man Billy Joel has signed on to perform at New York's Madison Square Garden "indefinitely"—or "until he dies," as some publications more bluntly put it.  

"A show a month at the Garden for as long as there's demand means more opportunities to connect with music fans and provides a unique and memorable show every time we play here," the famed balladeer said, announcing the news at a press conference in New York today. Those adjectives seem a tad suspect, given the staunch predictability of most of Joel's setlists these days, but hey—it's Billy Joel. Come for "Piano Man," stay to hear whatever zany contemporary references he's added to "We Didn't Start the Fire." And anyway, maybe he's banking on the more geriatric portion of his fanbase not quite remembering the previous show in the residency. A month is a long time to go without seeing Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden!

As NBC reports, MSG Executive Chairman James Dolan "unveiled a new Billy Joel MSG logo next to ones for the Knicks, the Rangers and the Liberty" and declared the occasion "a little like having the Pope as your parish priest." But what if the residency never ends? What if Joel proves immortal, ceaselessly belting out the "La la-la di-dee-da" bit in "Piano Man" as the seasons turn and the centuries pass over? What then? 

The residency starts January 27.

       

From Hathaway to J-Law: Must Every Actress Face a Backlash?

Associated Press

About a year ago, Anne Hathaway hatred was gaining steam as Les Misérables was set to open. Now, poised on the brink of another Oscar campaign, Jennifer Lawrence seems to be waiting in the proverbial wings to face her fate as the next young actress due for a backlash.  

In a story published today at Vulture, Jordan Hoffman wonders if Lawrence, known for her McDonald's-loving everygirl demeanor, is actually "Katnissing" us, meaning she's just putting on a show like her character in the Hunger Games series is instructed to do. Hoffman writes: 

She may indeed be a free spirit and an independent thinker, but her swift climb to the A-list is based on something very specific: She's an extremely talented actor, not just a pretty face. And all actors are trained fakers when you get down to it. 

Hoffman, for what it's worth, admits that his take is cynical, and he also commends Lawrence for her talent at the media circus. "In effect, Lawrence is giving the people what they want — by reminding us that what we want is bogus," he explains. "And all it takes to do that is to be someone who colors just a tiny bit out of the lines." Hoffman's take isn't specifically anti-J-Law, but it adds to a creeping sentiment out there: maybe we shouldn't be so taken with Lawrence's whole fry-eating, aw-shucks persona. Writing for The Wire after Lawrence talked about bowel movements on David Letterman's show, Richard Lawson wrote "I suppose it's all charming, but I feel a bit of artifice and aggression seeping into Jennifer Lawrence's whole 'aren't a I lovable good-times gal, just a real clumsy cut-up' shtick." 

Reading disingenuousness into Lawrence's public image feels like the first step toward a total rejection of it, which can only be a bad sign for Lawrence, who—for better or for worse—will likely be out in force in the coming months. Lawrence is good in the upcoming American Hustle. So good, in fact, that she probably deserves another trip to the Oscars as a nominee. (She won the New York Film Critics Circle prize for supporting actress today.)  Her performance is comedic and balls to the wall. She drinks, smokes, kisses Amy Adams, and raucously lip syncs "Live and Let Die." 

So what will have happened by the time the ceremony rolls around in March? Will Lawrence be still our favorite GIF-able goofball? Or will we all be tired of the antics we've now deemed just an act? 

It's worth looking at Anne Hathaway as a cautionary tale. Lest you forget, starting with the premiere of Les Misérables in December, Hathaway Hate was a persistent trend, generating think-pieces galore. Whatever path Lawrence takes this year won't be akin to Hathaway's campaign. Lawrence, having won last year, probably won't appear very desperate for a second award at the tender age of 23, whereas Hathaway came off as perhaps wanting her statue a little too much. While, for the most part, Lawrence is still very much beloved, Hathaway had been stoking the fires of public opposition since her nightmare turn as an Oscar host in 2011. Still: what's the difference in saying that Lawrence is putting on a show for our benefit and complaining that Hathaway comes off as too eager to please?

In many ways, it's part of a trend with Oscar-winning actresses, with everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Helen Hunt to Kate Winslet—yes, even once indestructible fan-favorite Kate Winslet!—subject to the tsking disapprovals of The People. With Lawrence poised to contend for a second Oscar in as many years at just the start of her career, wouldn't her odds at a similar backlash double? It's simple math.

Ultimately, with the distance of a year, the irrational anti-Hathaway sentiment feels pretty ridiculous. The collective Internet taunting of a woman for wanting to make us like her comes off as silly and, well, mean with some time removed.  Maybe, as Hoffman notes, Lawrence's self-awareness will save her. She knows the way the tide turns, telling the Huffington Post that "everybody is very fickle. They like me now, but I'm going to get really annoying really fast." The question then is just how fast. 

       

Fourth UC Santa Barbara Student Diagnosed with Meningitis

Photo by Coolcaesar via Wikimedia Commons

A fourth University of California - Santa Barbara student was diagnosed with meningococcal disease on Tuesday, prompting the school to suspend some social gatherings to prevent an outbreak. And no, this is not just an excuse for UC Santa Barbara to start a war on fun. According to the Associated Press, one of the students diagnosed lost his feet to the disease: 

His family has said that Aaron Loy, a freshman lacrosse player, had both feet amputated two weeks when the disease affected the blood supply to his limbs. He remains hospitalized.

The ill students have come down with the same strain of meningitis that affected eight students at Princeton. Though both institutions are combatting spread of the B strain, which is not responsive to the type of meningitis vaccine administered in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that the incidents are not connected, because the diseases do not share the same "fingerprint." The Ivy League university will start getting shipments of a vaccine used in Australia and Europe, but not yet approved by the FDA, to keep the disease in check. 

Health officials advise taking pretty standard preventative measures, like washing your hands, avoiding sharing utensils and staying away from those with the illness. 

The Los Angeles Times reports that meningitis causes high fever, severe headaches, rash and a heightened sensitivity to light, and ABC adds that stiff neck is another symptom that could be a sign of the disease. 

       

Brazil Restarts Construction on Stadium Where Two People Died Last Week

Construction workers returned yesterday to Sao Paulo's Itaqueraro, where a crane collapsed last Wednesday, killing two.

Brazil is building 12 new stadiums for next year's World Cup. Despite widespread construction delays and cost overruns, half of them are already up and running. The 70,000-seat Itaquerao (also known as Arena Corinthians) is still scheduled, for now, to host the first match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup on June 12.

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According to officials, the stadium is 94 percent complete, but it's behind schedule. Now, it seems certain to open after the December 31 deadline FIFA gave Brazil. More than 100 workers gathered before the start of their morning shifts to pray in honor of the two men who died on duty last week. Though work has now resumed, the part of the stadium where the crane collapsed is off-limits. Brazil's labor ministry banned use of the remaining nine cranes on site until the construction company has proven that enough safety measures are in place.

"We are all Brazilians and Brazilians never quit," metalworker Americo Barbosa told the Associated Press yesterday, "we're going to get our work done and the first game of the World Cup will be held here." 

Metal worker Americo Barbosa returns to the Arena Corinthians stadium that will host the opening match of the World Cup, five days after an accident killed two workers, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) Construction workers walk past the damage caused by the collapse at the Corinthians Arena stadium that will host the opening match of the World Cup, five days after an accident killed two workers, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) Construction workers gather for a prayer honoring the victims at the Arena Corinthians stadium, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) Construction workers walk past a banner that reads in Portuguese "Daddy, don't get accident in your work", as they return to the Arena Corinthians stadium, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) Workers stand near a collapsed crane at the Arena Sao Paulo, known as "Itaquerao", December 2, 2013. (REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker)  Construction workers return to the Arena Corinthians stadium that will host the opening match of the World Cup, five days after an accident killed two workers, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

 

       

If You Cut Your Finger, Make Sure You Do it in New England -- It's Cheaper

Shutterstock

I was washing the dishes about a year ago when a glass shattered in my hand and sliced open my knuckle. I live a few blocks away from an emergency room, but ultimately decided against going because it wasn't worth the money I knew I'd have to pay to get it stitched up. 

Turns out, I probably would've gotten a good deal at my local hospital, compared to average prices in the rest of the country (still, of course, a bad deal compared to the rest of the world). The New York Times' latest installment of its "Paying Till It Hurts" series, written by Elisabeth Rosenthal, looks at E.R. prices across the country. They vary significantly.

At California Pacific Medical Center, a single Tylenol -- market price, 50 cents -- goes for $36.78. CPMC's CEO told the Times that the markup was because the hospital was staffed 24/7 and had best equipment. Also because they charge patients who they know will pay for their services (people with insurance) more to compensate for the ones who won't.

CPMC's net income is $200 million, Rosenthal reports. It spends $16 million on charity care.

In North Carolina, a woman was knocked unconscious in a soccer game. When she came to, she made sure her friend drove her to an in-network hospital, using her smartphone to find one. She didn't have to pay for an ambulance or out-of-network fees, so she saved a few thousand dollars.

A woman in Long Island was "so disgusted" by how much an E.R. charged for stitches after she cut her finger while cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy that she took them out herself rather than go back to have them removed.

In one telling visualization, the average amount paid to hospitals and doctors combined for the treatment of a cut finger ranged from $790 in New England to $1,377 in Washington, Oregon and California. It's $893 in the mid-Atlantic region, which includes New York.

Which means that, after I cut my hand last year, if I had jumped on a train to my parents' house in Connecticut and visited an E.R. there, it would've cost me (or, for the most part, my insurance company) less than going to an E.R. in New York -- including the price of the round trip train fare. I'm in Los Angeles right now, and if I were to cut my hand open again, it'd be cheaper to fly back to CT (round trip) and go to an E.R. there.

I don't even want to think about how much cheaper Canada would be.

 

 

       

Alabama Football Fan Allegedly Killed Another Alabama Football Fan Over Alabama Football

Reuters

The annual Auburn University vs. University of Alabama football game -- the "Iron Bowl" -- is a huge event for the state. Stores shut down. Church organists take the day off. Doctors switch on-call dates with fans of other football teams in other states. Even the inmates of the Alabama Department of Corrections are on their best behavior.

Too bad the same can't be said for all of the teams' fans. Harvey Updyke, sworn Alabama fan, was ordered last month to pay Auburn almost $800,000 in restitution for his 2010 "revenge" poisoning of the iconic Toomer's oak trees. Someone left cremains near Auburn's 40-yard line following the team's last-second victory ("It happens a lot more than you think," said Auburn's associate professor for turfgrass and weed science, which apparently is a thing).

And now, it seems, one Alabama fan has killed another for not being upset enough that their team lost.

Adrian Laroze Briskey, 28, was charged with murder today, accused of shooting Michelle Shepherd, 36, at an Iron Bowl party in Hoover, Alabama. Police have yet to reveal a motive, with Hoover police department chief telling The Birmingham News: "It's a shame two Alabama fans who didn't know each went to a party and literally two lives were lost."

Shepherd's sister, Neketa Shepherd, said that Briskey was furious with Michelle and others for joking that a Miami Heat loss would be more upsetting than Alabama's.

"I was saying I wasn't even mad (about the loss). Like when The Heat lost in game four, I was sick to my stomach,'' Neketa told The Birmingham News. "She started cursing. Her friends said she always did that when she got drunk and they took her outside."

The Shepherds left the party soon after. Briskey was still in the parking lot.

"She said we weren't real Alabama fans because it didn't bother us that they lost. And then she started shooting," Neketa told the AP.

Briskey, the AP said, has no criminal history -- just a few speeding tickets.

Michelle died at the scene in her sister's arms. She worked as a case manager for at-risk youth and young adults, and was a mother of three young children. Neketa said their father hasn't told them about their mother's death yet because he doesn't know how.

 

 

       

This Florida Pool Guy Made a Racist Ad for an Alabama Law Firm on Spec

YouTube

The Alabama law firm of McCutcheon & Hammer insists that it had nothing to do with an immensely racist ad that appears on its behalf on YouTube. And we're inclined to believe them, given how deeply weird the rest of the YouTube channel — and its apparent proprietor — obviously are.

We'll just start with the ad, which we saw on Vice.com. In it, a mid-1950s Asian stereotype insults insurance companies. And as befits its status as the Racist Outrage of the Minute™, a warning: it's as dumb and unfunny as it is ignorant.

When the spot first got some online attention — at the blog Angry Asian Man and FindLaw, a legal professionals site, the only defense of the ad came from Jim DeBerry, the creator of the spot. His defense (including: it's only satire!) was precisely what you might expect:

@khayters I appreciate your viewing but to the contrary, I'm not a racist. I have many friends of various races and a top minority employer.

— Jim DeBerry (@RealJimDeBerry) November 25, 2013

(He is also friends with gay people and Jewish people, if you were wondering.)

Those posts, however, assumed that McCutcheon & Hammer hired DeBerry's firm, Definitive Television, to produce it; Angry Asian Man reported that the firm provided the copy.

Perhaps understandably, the firm denied that in a statement to the blog Above the Law.

We insisted that the video be removed and that he disclose the party that allowed my partner and I to be portrayed in such a negative and misleading light. After a personal review of our financial records which conclusively established that this video was not paid for or authorized by any party associated with our law firm, McCutcheon & Hamner, P.C. posted our response specifically disavowing the video as well as issuing a cease and desist letter to Mr. DeBerry and Definitive Television. Of course, Mr. DeBerry has refused and we are currently investigating our legal options.

The response, itself entertaining, goes on to defend the state of Alabama from Above the Law's apparent disparagement: "The State of Alabama has had it’s share of race problems, that cannot be denied. This State has addressed those problems and continues to do so. Quite frankly, if the video had portrayed a 'southern redneck' I doubt you or anyone else would have even cared."

If you were looking for such rednecks, good news. Along with plenty more of DeBerry's Asian character, who is cleverly named "Mr. Wong Fong Shu," Definitive Television has its own redneckish character, Rodeo Roscoe.

There's also a cop, "Officer Billy Doofus," and a wacky chef, "Chef Bozaboo." All equally hilarious — and all, apparently, DeBerry.

How many of these ads were created for clients isn't clear, but it's quite possible that none were. (We've reached out to DeBerry with some questions.) Another Rodeo Roscoe short mentions wellwater.com, an oil drilling company unrelated to the short itself. And the website for DeBar Holdings, another DeBerry property, indicates that Definitive isn't live yet.

Launching December 31, 2013 DTV will be providing National, Regional, and Local Content. Targeting Males 18-45, DTV's programming is sold by syndication for ON-DEMAND services.

Questions about this weird collection of videos sent us down a bit of a rabbit hole. DeBerry's online trail is complex. His