Day: January 29, 2018

Native Americans took to social media Monday to celebrate the pending “death” of Chief Wahoo, the longtime logo of the Cleveland Indians baseball team which features a garish “Indian” caricature that is offensive to America’s first peoples.

But the victory is only a small one for Twitter users, using the hashtag #NotYourMascot: The Cleveland Indians won’t be changing the team’s name; the team will still be able to sell Chief Wahoo merchandise; and fans won’t be blocked from wearing clothing bearing the logo.

In a statement released Monday, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said he told team owner Paul Dolan that the time had come to remove the caricature that has appeared on players’ caps and uniforms since 1948.

“Over the past year, we encouraged dialogue with the Indians organization about the club’s use of the Chief Wahoo logo,” Manfred said. “During our constructive conversations, Paul Dolan made clear that there are fans who have a longstanding attachment to the logo and its place in the history of the team.

“Nonetheless, the club ultimately agreed with my position that the logo is no longer appropriate for on-field use in Major League Baseball, and I appreciate Mr. Dolan’s acknowledgement that removing it from the on-field uniform by the start of the 2019 season is the right course.”

For decades, Native American activists and their supporters have protested the logo, a cartoon of a grinning red-skinned man in a feathered headband.  They have complained that the image is offensive and perpetuates racist stereotypes about America’s first peoples.

In 2014, a group called People Not Mascots filed a federal lawsuit seeking $9 billion in damages.  Two years later, a Canadian man sued the team in an attempt to prevent it from wearing the Chief Wahoo logo during games in Toronto.

In recent years, many schools and universities across the country have stopped using Native Americans in their team names or as mascots.  But according to MascotDB, a database of sports team names and mascots, many hundreds of American teams retain Indian imagery, ranging from local high schools to major teams like the Washington Redskins.

“Today’s announcement marks an important turning point for Indian Country and the harmful legacy of Indian mascots,” said Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians. “These mascots reduce all Native people into a single outdated stereotype that harms the way Native people, especially youth, view themselves.”
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David Beckham finally has his Major League Soccer team in Miami.

Beckham and MLS announced Monday that the long-awaited franchise is now born. It took Beckham nearly four years to bring the team to Miami.

The Miami area had an MLS team from 1998 through 2001. It folded because of poor attendance.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber says “great things come to those that wait.” He says Miami fans have been emailing him for 10 years with hopes of MLS coming back to South Florida.

It has been a long road just to get to this point. In the beginning of his Beckham-Miami plan, some people involved in the talks predicted that the team would begin play in 2017.
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The U.S. television audience for Sunday’s Grammy Awards show on CBS Corp. fell by more than eight million viewers and could be one of the lowest audiences on record, early Nielsen ratings data showed Monday.

Variety and TVLine.com reported that 17.6 million Americans tuned in for the three-and-a-half-hour broadcast, a more than 30 percent drop from 2017 when some 26.1 million television viewers watched.

If the early figures are confirmed when final data comes out later Monday, it will be the least-watched Grammy Awards show since 2008, when 17.2 million people saw the television broadcast.

The lowest audience for any Grammy Awards show came in 2006, which drew an audience of 17 million.

Sunday’s 60th anniversary Grammy Awards, staged in New York, saw R&B singer Bruno Mars win six statuettes, while rapper Kendrick Lamar won five. Jay-Z, who had gone into the show with eight nominations, won nothing.

Audiences for the Grammys had risen in 2016 and 2017.
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North Korea has cancelled a joint cultural performance with the South planned ahead of the winter Olympic Games, South Korea’s unification ministry said Monday.

Pyongyang blamed South Korean media for encouraging “insulting” public sentiment regarding the North and cancelled the February 4th event to be held in the North to celebrate the upcoming games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Seoul called the decision “very regrettable” and urged its neighbor to uphold all agreements made between the two countries, Reuters reported.

Last week, twelve North Korean female ice hockey players crossed the border to join their counterparts in the South to form the first-ever unified Korean Olympic team since the two sides split in the 1950s civil war.

The surprise offer by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to send a delegation to the PyeongChang Games during his New Year’s Day speech paved the way for restored dialogue between Pyongyang and Seoul, which had been frozen due to North Korea’s development of its nuclear and ballistic missile weapons programs in defiance of international sanctions.

The talks led to an agreement for both sides to march in the February 9 opening ceremonies under a unified flag, as well as the formation of the joint women’s hockey squad.

But South Koreans have grown increasingly angry over the combined team, believing their compatriots will lose playing time to the North Koreans and that President Moon Jae-in gave up too much to the North in his eagerness to have Pyongyang participated in the Games.

 
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Politics took the stage at the 60th annual Grammy awards this year, along with some great music. 

Hillary Clinton, who ran against Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, made a surprise appearance in a pre-taped skit about people auditioning to be the voice for the spoken word recording of Michael Wolff’s best-seller “Fire and Fury” about Trump’s first unconventional year in office. 

Clinton followed John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg, Cardi B and DJ Khaled who also “auditioned.” Grammys host James Corden told Clinton that she beat out the competition to win. 

“The Grammys in the bag,” Clinton said at the end. Political observers say Clinton thought her presidential win was “in the bag.”

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley did not see the humor. “I have always loved the Grammys, but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it,” she tweeted. “Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.

Neil Portnow, head of the recording academy, told the Associated Press that he thought Clinton’s appearance was more satirical than political. 

The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted: “Getting to read a #fakenews book excerpt at the Grammys seems like a great consolation prize for losing the presidency.” 

Singer/actor Janelle Monae, meanwhile, reminded the audience that the music industry needed to face its sexual harassment and gender discrimination issues. “To those who would dare try and silence us, we offer you two words: Time’s Up,” 

Monae introduced singer Kesha who has long sought to break her deal with her producer whom she says raped her. 

Kesha’s song “Praying” included the lyrics, “After everything you’ve done, I can thank you for how strong I have become.” 

Cuban American singer Camila Cabello spoke out for legal protection for “dreamers,” the immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and do not have legal status. “This country was built by dreamers for dreamers,” she said. 

Cabello introduced a pre-recorded performance by the band U2, who sang their song “Get Out of Your Own Way” on a barge in the New York harbor with the State of Liberty, the beacon that welcomed millions of immigrants to their new lives in the U.S. in the background. 
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The North Korean women’s ice hockey team is in South Korea to prepare for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The two governments reached an agreement to play together wearing the same jerseys and marching under a unified peninsula flag. Arash Arabasadi reports.
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Bruno Mars was the big winner Sunday night at the 60th annual Grammy Awards in New York, winning album, record, and song of the year. Mars also won Grammys for best R&B album, best R&B performance and best R&B song. 

In accepting the top prize of album of the year for “24K Magic,” Mars said the album’s songs were “written with love” and he just “wanted everybody to dance” to the album’s tunes. 

Mars also joined flamboyant rapper Cardi B on the stage Sunday to perform their hit Finesse. 

In contrast to Cardi B., Pink stood alone on the stage, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, to sing her new song “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken.” 

Pink was nominated Sunday for pop solo performance for “What About Us,” but that prize went to Ed Sheeran for “Shape of You.” 

This year’s show was hosted by late night talk show host and musician James Corden. 

Rapper Kendrick Lamar took home Grammys for best rap album, rap song and rap performance.

Crooner Tony Bennett’s album “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90” won the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album.

Comedian Dave Chappelle beat out Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Sarah Silverman and Jim Gaffigan, to win the best comedy album prize for the double album of his two Netflix specials – “The Age of Spin” and “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” 

Alessia Cara won the best new artist Grammy. She said she had dreamed of winning a Grammy since she was a child, but she didn’t have a speech prepared. 

She said, “I’ve been like pretend winning Grammys since I was a kid like in the shower, so you’d think I have the speech thing down, but I absolutely don’t.”
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Stars, including Lady Gaga and Kelly Clarkson, turned out on the Grammys red carpet Sunday displaying white roses in solidarity with the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements against sexual misconduct on music’s biggest night for what is usually the wildest display of fashion during awards season.

Gaga was in a black lace top and leggings with a full skirt and train, white rose in place and her hair swept into a fishtail braid with black pins. Her signature towering platform shoes – black boots this time around- were on her feet. Rita Ora also wowed in black, a gown with a silver embellished lining open on one side to the hip. She, too, had a white rose pinned on.

There was lots of black, perhaps spillover from the anti-sexual misconduct message of the recent Golden Globes, but there was also plenty of color.

Elton John didn’t disappoint on that score in a geometric-pattern, blue, gold and red sparkler of a jacket from Gucci, encrusted sunglasses to match. Country’s trio Midland – Mark Wystrach, Cameron Duddy and Jess Carson – went big in the cowboy hat department, including a topper with a rainbow feather to match a similarly adorned jacket for one.

Multiple-nominee Sza was accompanied by her grandmother and donned embellished white, her hair loose and natural. Cardi B made a big statement in white with a short tiered dress and train.

“It was an interesting choice for her,” Cosmopolitan’s senior fashion editor said of Cardi. “I loved it. It was very playful and fun.”

Sam Smith was in a green suit – yes he wore the rose – and a red scoop-neck shirt underneath, while Ne-Yo wore a yellow jacket. In a red tuxedo look, including red bow tie, was DJ Khaled and his adorable, mini-me 1-year-old son, who got a matching red suit.

Khaled called Asahd: “My partner in crime, my best friend, my biggest blessing. … When he smiles it’s like God smiling on me.”

Khaled’s red was a win for Reid as well: “I thought it was very whimsical and he did it well.”

Maren Morris was in a chain-link silver sparkler that brought the wow in a barely there design. Also in silver: A pregnant Chrissie Teigen as she posed with husband John Legend.

“My favorite is definitely Chrissie Teigen in her all-silver sequin look. I think she’s taking maternity style to the next level.”

Lana Del Rey, meanwhile, joined Sir Elton in Gucci, an angelic gown in cream with a high slit and crystal star theme, including a star head piece. Ashanti was a princess in long-sleeved gold.

Rapper K. Flay, in a black tuxedo jacket, chose a Time’s Up button instead of the flower but noted all such symbols are important expressions of solidarity for women. Songwriter Diane Warren, a 15-time Grammy nominee, wore black and white and went her own way on symbols. She wore white gloves with “Girl” on one hand and “Power” on the other, explaining: “I didn’t want to wear the rose. I’m a rebel.”

Nominees The Secret Sisters won for largest white roses, noting it’s time for the music industry to step up and better acknowledge sexual misconduct.

Perhaps the New York vibe – the Grammys hadn’t been held here in 15 years – added to the parade of music men and women opting for black, including traditional tuxedos and suits. Women in black went for both edgy and chic.

Country star Reba McEntire, the latest pitch person as Col. Sanders for KFC, was among them in a Jovani sleeveless studded gown in black with silver embellishment, white rose in place as a reminder to everybody to “treat each other like we want to be treated. It’s the golden rule.”

Clarkson’s black gown was embellished in silver and gold. Her white rose was long stemmed and she carried it as opposed to pinning it on. Miley Cyrus also opted for the long-stem rose option to go with her black, skinny-legged trouser look.

Newcomer Julia Michaels was in lavender, her arm tattoos on display in an open-sided long gown. The deep V-neck with a butterfly motif was by Paolo Sebastian.

Veteran performer Andra Day, nominated for one Grammy, popped in pink trimmed with red, her hair up in a beehive. It was a long tuxedo-style dress with a high side slit. Why did she carry a white rose?

“For me, Time’s Up means time’s up on being silent about it,” she said. “I think it also means understanding when we’ve been taken advantage of and when we’ve been abused.”

Joy Villa, ever provocative on the red carpet, made a statement last year in a pro-President Donald Trump dress. This year, she wore a white gown with a rainbow uterus with fetus on one side and carried a “Choose Life” handbag. Oh, and a huge crown topped her head.
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Robert Parry, a longtime investigative journalist who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1985 for his Associated Press exclusives about the CIA’s production of an assassination manual for Nicaraguan rebels, has died. He was 68.

Parry died Saturday in hospice care after a series of strokes brought on by undiagnosed pancreatic cancer, said his wife, Diane Duston.

Parry joined the AP in 1974 and went on to work in the Washington bureau, where he covered the Iran-Contra scandal as it rocked the Reagan administration. His work on the scandal also brought a George Polk Award in 1984.

After leaving the AP in 1987, Parry worked for Newsweek until 1990 and then became an investigative reporter for the PBS series “Frontline.”

In 1995, frustrated with what he saw as dwindling venues for serious investigative reporting, Parry founded the Consortium for Independent Journalism. Its website, Consortiumnews.com, sought to provide a home for such reporting in the early days of the internet, though it struggled financially and relied on contributions.

In a tribute posted on the site, son Nat Parry said, “With my dad, professional work has always been deeply personal, and his career as a journalist was thoroughly intertwined with his family life.”

Parry was born on June 24, 1949, in Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated from Colby College with a degree in English in 1971. He worked in Massachusetts journalism before joining the AP.

The author of six books, Parry received the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence from the Nieman Foundation in 2015 and the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in 2017. In his remarks in London at the presentation of the Gellhorn Prize, Britain-based journalist John Pilger said, “Bob Parry’s career has been devoted to finding out, lifting rocks – and supporting others who do the same.”

Survivors include his wife, a former Associated Press newswoman; sons Sam Parry and Jeff Parry of Arlington and Nat Parry of Copenhagen, Denmark; daughter Elizabeth Parry of Alexandria, Virginia; and six grandchildren.

A memorial service is planned for later in the year.
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