It is weird how the little mermaid is called Ariel, isnt it? She has access to water and a bit of land, but definitely not the sky. No wonder she is frustrated. I have many thoughts like this as I hang upside down, blood rushing to my brain. Despite the fact I am wrapped in and suspended by the thinnest material, I feel safe and my mind is free to roam. Such is the paradox of aerial yoga (Flying Fantastic, three classes for 45, flyingfantastic.co.uk/buy-credits). Restorative and beginner-friendly, it is suitable for people with mobility issues, and also me; it would not be unfair to describe this as yoga in hammocks.

Iyengar yoga has long made use of slings to push positions further, but aerial yoga is different derived as much from the circus as the subcontinent. Tutor Edel Wigan shows us how to wrap ourselves in large loops of fabric suspended from a rig, and trust them with our weight. It is a bit like trapeze. (Wigan devised her company, Flying Fantastic, with her husband, Chris, when they lived in Argentina where circus schools are 10 a penny.) The class starts gently, leaning on ropes, swaying in circles to learn to trust them with our weight. We jump inside and expand the cloth. Farcically, my fabric keeps swinging around so I am facing the back of the class. I have to crane my neck to see the teacher, flailing to spin back around. I look like a buffoon. But I feel incredible.

The loops of red fabric act as a hanging seat, hammock and harness, offering the chance to swing, spin or fly. Its exhilarating. As well as freedom, there is a security to aerialism. Whether looped around ones arms, or enveloping us completely, the fabric has always got you, as Wigan says. One can do yoga poses that would be too challenging for a novice in another setting, pulling oneself up into a vertical sit-up, or being gathered into an assisted toe-touch, or back-bend. A weightless shoulder-stand is relatively easy, especially with ones entire body supported. It feels glorious, too, akin to being a silkworm in its cocoon. Isnt this what we all want? A chance to let go of adult cares and simply pupate? When we come to the shavasana, lying horizontal and completely enveloped in material, it is the most peaceful floating experience imaginable outside of a Trainspotting heroin sequence.

Speaking of which, my experience isnt all nirvana. After the class, I feel ropey. I mumble an excuse and make my way downstairs, past people I barely see. My brain is on rollerskates. I kneel down at the nearest bin and vomit copiously. A roaring rain dance of half-digested banana, in front of a waiting class of trapeze students. As I upchuck my guts, one of the students sadly remarks: Its my birthday. I attempt to wish her the best, but all that leaves my moaning hole is a fleck of quiche.

I cant really blame the class. Taking pictures for this column requires me to swing around upside down for inadvisably large amounts of time. (In the class, everyone works to their ability, taking breaks whenever needed.) I didnt eat a proper breakfast, and am still recovering from a cold. I also hate to get up before 7am. And to be honest, my pants were too tight. So: the media, physical frailty and bad pants. Its a perfect storm.

Recovering at home, I stop thinking about the tsunami of vomit and remember the joy of the silken cocoon. The class was thrilling: a way of moving I had never known, or known I could try. (UK circus schools are geared to professional qualifications more than recreation, which seems ironic.) For me, the yoga element was neither here nor there. And anyone of delicate constitution should swing with caution. But how often do our bodies get to experience a different relationship to gravity? I felt sick watching the film Gravity, too, but it was still an amazing experience. I feel leaden on the ground perhaps its time to fly again. Darling, it is better, flying unfettered! But I might eat two bananas next time.

Apologies to the student whose joyeux anniversaire I ruined. Given a choice, Id rather have vomited in the recycling bin proof we dont always get what we want.

Wellness, hellness, wellness again? Swings and roundabouts. 4/5

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Aerial yoga I look like a buffoon. I feel incredible. And then I vomit - The Guardian

Sarah Alexander was working as a mental health therapist when she realized that yoga was a perfect supplement to help trauma survivors.

So, six years ago, Alexander began teaching yoga, working as an instructor at The Yoga Practice for a year until she purchased the Summitview Avenue business in June. The business has 12 instructors.

She has owned Mending Grace Counseling since 2005.

Alexander has a masters degree in counseling psychology from Central Washington University. She and her husband, Jason, have five children, ages 22 to 6.

How did The Yoga Practice get started?

Amie Alapeteri founded The Yoga Practice five years ago. I have been teaching as an instructor here for more than a year and purchased the business in June 2019.

I have practiced as a licensed mental health therapist in the Yakima Valley for 18 years. After discovering the powerful benefits trauma survivors experienced from yoga in conjunction with talk therapy, I began my own practice six years ago and have never been the same. My passion is to facilitate healing experiences for the mind, body, soul and spirit.

Were there challenges that you had to overcome?

Owning a private practice, having small children and taking over a new business has provided ample opportunity for challenge. I can honestly say that I am never, ever bored. Im practicing being intentional with every decision so that I have a shot at being my best self in all the different roles I have. When I say yes to something, it means saying no to something (or someone) else. Im learning the gift of saying no, asking for what I need and not being responsible for things beyond my control.

What do you do to stand out from other yoga classes in the area?

I have an amazing tribe of highly trained teachers who are passionate about sharing the healing power of yoga with our Yakima community. We provide quality, safe, challenging and fun instruction. We are a warm studio not too hot, not too cold the perfect temperature. We offer Hatha, Yin, Restore, gentle yoga, Vinyasa, Tune Up Fitness, and a variety of workshops year-round (yoga for beginners, snow sport enthusiasts, acro-yoga, yoga for runners, handstand workshops, and many more). Yoga not only makes you stronger physically, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

My favorite addition at the Yoga Practice has been Yoga Church on Sunday mornings: BYOR (bring your own religion), come early to get a spot. Visit theyogapractice.life for more detail on all our studio has to offer.

Is there advice you would give to other people seeking to start their own businesses?

If I did not truly believe in the service Im offering (the healing power of yoga), owning the business would not be worth all the work. Believe in your product. Success is so much more than monetary gain. My greatest reward is providing a service that I know helps people and ultimately makes the world a better place. Be willing to make mistakes and not fixate on failure but move on. Stay humble, willing to take advice and ask for help youll need it.

What is your favorite movie, and why?

As a double business owner, I choose not to spend much time watching TV. But when I do, I want to feel challenged and inspired. I love movies like The Shawshank Redemption and Sea Biscuit, stories of redemption. Witnessing the struggle of trauma transform into triumph gives me hope and courage. We are all wrestling with pain, past and present. Movies like these challenge me to soften my edges and practice radical grace and compassion for myself and others.

If you would like your business featured in Take 5, contact Donald W. Meyers at 509-577-7748 or dmeyers@yakimaherald.com.

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Take 5 with Sarah Alexander, The Yoga Practice - Yakima Herald-Republic

"I started in law enforcement 33 years ago and it was always, 'Suck it up, get over it, it's part of the job, you've got to be tough. If you can't be tough, this profession's not for you,'" Police Chief Doug Keen said. Now, that's beginning to change.

by: Rebecca Burnett

MANASSAS, Va. (WDVM) In 2018, the City of Manassas Police Department reports 167 law enforcement officers in the U.S. died by suicide. The police department is making its officers physical fitness just as important as their mental health.

Police Chief Doug Keen says his police department is midsize, with about 130 staff members. As chief, it gives you a chance to personally know each staff member and get to know them outside of work a little bit, he said.

Through the police departments Law Fit program, sworn officers are allowed an hour of physical fitness each day. Even if keeping up with a runaway suspect is easy, the job is difficult for other reasons.

I started in law enforcement 33 years ago and it was always, Suck it up, get over it, its part of the job, youve got to be tough. If you cant be tough, this professions not for you,' Keen said. Now, thats beginning to change.

In August, the police department added an additional component to its program: its been teaching its sworn officers and staff in yoga, meditation and breathing exercises that are easily integrated into an officers shift. Each session only takes about 10 minutes.

This gives us a chance to give another tool or component to the fitness side of things for staff to be more resilient in their job, said Keen. The breathing exercises can be done in the carand if youre in an office like Chief Keen, at your desk. Even if its just shutting the door, not doing anything on the computer and just trying to relaxI find that when I come out of those sessions, Im more approachable, I want to talk to people, and Im not as tight.

Sworn officers are allowed an hour of physical fitness a day. Counselors are also on staff to help officers in need.

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Operation Yoga: At this police department, mental health is just as important as physical fitness - WDVM 25

TAWAS CITY With the cold weather and snow making its home Iosco County for the next few months, Alaina Edwards says people often become stagnant and, in turn, sad because their level of activity tends to decrease during this time of year.

As owner of Tawaste Yoga Studio in Tawas City, Edwards is trying to help those in the community combat lethargic lifestyles, while also snuffing out the stigmas attached to such disciplines as yoga.

Any preconceived notions about the practice go out the window when speaking with Edwards. While yoga can be very challenging, she notes that it can also be tailored to those of all ages, abilities and experience. Ones gender, body type and other factors are also irrelevant.

Yoga is just as much about mental health as it is physical, with Edwards pointing out that this natural mood booster is a form of meditation which can provide relief from a number of ailments.

She and other studio employees believe in this so much, in fact, that they have offered and plan to continue providing free sessions throughout the community. This has included chair classes at local senior centers, yoga lessons for area students and athletes and even some free guidance/classes on the Tawaste website.

Theyre just carrying so much weight that they dont need to, Edwards says of the students, in particular, noting that many young people now suffer with anxiety, aches and pains that they shouldnt be facing at this age, but that can be addressed.

Yoga is very humbling, she adds, noting that athletes may be able to run around a field for 90 minutes, but not be able to even touch their toes while stretching. Yoga, on the other hand, can help prevent injuries by loosening up the body, and also aids in curbing stress and anxiety.

Yoga, however, isnt about people just being able to touch their toes. Its all about the breath. We stretch to help get our breath into our tight shoulder, or our tight hip, Edwards explains.

We make these complicated shapes with our body because, the more complicated it is, the less we think. Its a form of meditation. So we get into the body to get out of the head, she describes. When we do that, thats our present moment. And thats all meditation is, is present moment.

She says it can be difficult for some people to only meditate but, when they can concentrate on something like yoga, Then youre there; youre in it.

Edwards says this is why she likes to offer yoga to children, and that she became trained in this field is because she has a son and she wanted him to learn the practice of breath and presence.

And I love yoga with seniors, because theres never a time thats too late, she added.

Edwards studied in Costa Rica and has been working as an RYT, or a 200-hour registered yoga teacher. She also recently completed the 1,000 hours of instructing required to be a teacher of other teachers, which has been a longtime goal of hers.

I did my teacher training because I love yoga. It really helped me with stress and anxiety, Edwards shares, adding that it has also helped with her feeling of calm and grace. Thats one of my prayers, God give me grace. I just learned that, with my breath, it helped me be in the present moment.

When introducing her husband Justin to the area, he loved it immediately and they moved to Tawas City about two years ago. Water and woods mean a lot to us. As a bonus, Edwards also has family who live in the community. They supported her dream of opening the yoga studio, which was realized on Jan. 5 this year.

The establishment features several instructors, including Edwards, and offers everything from Barre exercises, chair yoga and therapeutic massage, to Ashtanga yoga, dance lessons and Yin yoga.

We have some classes that are a lot slower; we dont ever get off of the floor. Its called Yin, and its more of that meditational, slow stretch, Edwards says, adding that there are different strokes for different folks, so she wanted to make everything available that she could at her studio.

She reiterated that Tawaste is all-inclusive and caters to those of any skill level, age and ability. In fact, on the day of the interview for this story, she had recently led a class where the participants ranged in age from 16-75.

Some people also assume that it is mostly women who partake in yoga, but Edwards says Tawaste welcomes a lot of male participants, as well.

Whatever your age, gender or experience, one point Edwards wants to drive home is that her studio is a safe space where real people can get together without fear of judgement or scrutiny.

For those who still prefer to get their workout done at home, Tawaste now offers online classes. Edwards also wanted to make this available, should inclement weather prevent people from showing up in person.

She says, though, that there are benefits to joining in on group classes, which also nurture peoples social needs. She has been delighted to watch friendships form, with many participants going out to eat or enjoying other activities together once their class ends.

And how nice that, in these times where things can be so isolated by our phones and just watching life happen, its actually happening in this spot, she expressed.

I like to share things that I like, and this has made such an impact on my life, that thats why I wanted to start this business here, because its something we could all use, she went on.

As for what people can do to beat the winter blues and carry that over into year-round wellness Edwards suggests starting each day with gratitude, a focus on breathing and doing a deep stretch. Just maybe inhaling, reaching up, exhaling, folding from your hips, she says.

We all get stagnant in this winter. We get sad. If were going to say one prayer a day, have it be thank you, she also recommends.

And just be mindful when we walk, when we have these slippery surfaces, to take our time. We are human beings, not human doings. We need to slow down, Edwards says.

When we feel like times are getting really tough, green is the color of peace, she also advises. This is why we are so fortunate where we live, because we are surrounded by trees.

If someone is feeling down, overwhelmed or even struggling with PTSD, Edwards says people have found relief just by being in nature and taking in the greenery around them, which is also known as forest bathing.

Thats one reason I have a lot of plants in here, she says of her studio, And its a big reason why we moved here, to be surrounded by nature. So this is a health tip that works for us year-round in our awesome community.

According to Edwards, people feel great after yoga lessons because of the stretching, but theyre also super charging their blood with oxygen, due to mindfully inhaling and exhaling. In with the new, out with the old.

Maintaining a good posture, stretching, practicing mindfulness and engaging in deep breathing to the belly can be carried out by almost anyone, and Edwards says she is actually surprised how some people live without this. Because life gets heavy, and this brings it back to the basics where we have everything we need within us.

She says the present moment is key, as well. Stop worrying about what happened, stop worrying about what might not even happen. Because right now, we are doing pretty good.

As for the deep abdominal breathing, she explains that this sparks the parasympathetic nervous system. The key to longevity is less stress, and the easiest thing to reduce this is by deep breaths in and out. You can feel it work.

Edwards says yoga is also very detoxifying and participants sweat a lot, but the effort is worth the reward. It all stems from our hips a lot of our knee problems, a lot of our back problems. A lot of it comes from these hips that were on, so when we open them up or neutralize them out, we walk better, we sleep better.

She shares that one reason she wanted to become a teacher of yoga teachers, is because she hopes to inspire others.

We teach because it magnifies our own practice, really. You dont teach yoga to become rich, but you do it to enrich your own practice, she notes. The more we practice, the more we crave it, and it becomes like this really healthy addiction, she went on, adding that yoga is a great opportunity to clear the mind and have some me time, without such distractions as cell phones.

Further, Edwards says yoga can spill over into other aspects of ones life, beyond just the four walls of a studio. What I tell people is, take your yoga off the mat. What did you just learn in this hour, that we can bring throughout our day?

Another way to feel healthy and happy is through community involvement, which is something Edwards also practices in her own life.

I love locality. I think we have strength in numbers. And I think thats whats really beautiful about small town life, is that our outreach makes more of an impact, she says.

Edwards is a proponent of local businesses and, rather than compete with other establishments, she prefers to join forces with them.

For example, Tawaste has held Barre at the Bar classes in conjunction with the Buckhorn Inn, as a way of getting people into spaces other than just the studio, and to even further integrate healthy habits into the community.

Edwards, along with Tawaste staff and other local supporters, also sponsored an East Tawas family this past year, through Harbor Lights Pregnancy & Information Center. Edwards says it went so well that the plan is to sponsor a few families this year. Im so excited to see what we can do.

Tawaste Yoga Studio is located at 211 W. Lake St. (US-23), and more information can be had by calling 984-5022 or visiting http://www.tawaste.com.

Link:
Yoga studio owner shares tips for boosting the body and brain - Iosco County News Herald

The five-day camp inaugurated by Yoga expert Baba Ramdev laid emphasis on the importance of Yoga in everyday life.

The camp is being organised by Paryaya Sri Palimaru Mutt, Pathanjali Yoga Peetha, at the parking area of the Sri Krishna Mutt in Udupi.

Baba Ramdev said that there are many aspects of Yoga that help to control and cure diseases. He claimed to have trained 10 crore Yoga enthusiasts so far. He, along with his students, have apparently trained as many as 20 crore people.

He emphasised the need to introduce Yoga in formal education.

My aim is to ensure a healthy India and healthy body for individuals. Practising Yoga helps overcome diseases and stress, Baba Ramdev stressed

He lamented that peace had become too expensive as countries were engaged either in war or in counter-terrorism activities and claimed, Yoga is one solution to sort out all the differences.

The Yoga guru, elaborating Yogas additional benefits, said that it is the ultimate solution for non-communicative diseases. Immunity can be improved. The students will stay away from addictions and unlawful activities by practising Yoga. They can improve their memory and also dream of a good future, he explained.

The Yoga camp will be held from 5 am to 7.30 am until November 20. A special camp will be held for women and children at 4 pm daily. A conference of saints were planned on November 19.

Many Yoga enthusiasts who participated on the first day of camp were guided by Baba Ramdev himself.

Tulasi to check radiation

Yoga expert Baba Ramdev advised people to keep a petal of tulasi in mobile pouches to prevent radiation signals from affecting humans.

He claimed that tulasi leaves have the power to check radiation signals. Radiation emanating from any electronic gadget can be checked by using tulasi leaves. People should grow tulasi plants in areas where electronic goods are placed, he added.

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Yoga should be introduced in formal education - Deccan Herald

captionOne of the many Trump impersonators at this years Politicon.sourceCourtesy of Abigail Bobo Photography

When Al Franken took the stage on a recent Saturday morning at Nashvilles Music City Center, he wore a crumpled suit without a tie. The top button of his shirt was undone. He looked out to a large, half-empty hall.

Franken began with a joke about the out-of-touchness of conservative New York Times opinion columnist David Brooks. It was an observation that might amuse a niche group of Twitter users and news junkies. Then he recounted a series of anecdotes from his nine years as a senator. Then came his impressions of his former colleagues Chuck Grassley and Mitch McConnell. Eventually, he started promoting his podcast.

I know that sounds pathetic, he said to the mostly silent, slightly restless audience.

In another universe, Franken might have used this appearance to reflect on the sexual-misconduct allegations against him, his resignation from the Senate, or his treatment of women. But he did not touch on any of that.

Thats because this was Politicon, an annual two-day conference that bills itself as the Comic-Con of politics.

As Franken spoke, I thought back to Nietzsches Beyond Good and Evil. Nietzsche writes, One begins to distrust very clever persons when they become embarrassed.

Franken has always been very clever. But that day, he seemed so incredibly embarrassed.

And no wonder. That hed even consider a gig at this event, its lineup crowded with mostly B-list, past-their-prime political celebrities, showed how far his star had fallen.

The weekend would see Fox News host Sean Hannity spar with James Carville, the one-time Democratic Svengali, who hasnt been relevant since the 90s. Former FBI director James Comey continued to overstay his 15 minutes of fame. Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and Reince Priebus, a one-time cast member in Trumps Oval Office, went head to head before a crowd sparser than Frankens. A gaunt Ann Coulter ranted about immigrants with her more subdued counterpart, the one-time George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum of the Atlantic.

Fresher faces like Lauren Duca, the viral liberal talking head who popularized the idea that Trump is gaslighting America, participated in panels like The Future is Female and signed copies of her new book. Lefty pundits from The Young Turks took on Tomi Lahren and the wet-mouthed antisocialist diehard Trump supporter Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA. YouTube star Randy Rainbow, beloved by resistance moms for his musical parody videos (including a Trump-themed version of Despacito called Desperate Cheeto), sang his biggest hits and took audience questions.

Politicon, it soon emerged, was politics Twitter come to life, a physical embodiment of the most noxious Facebook spats blasted algorithmically across your Fox News-loving uncles feed. Pundits on the left and right took cheap shots at one another, trading the sort of barbs one hears every day on cable news.

The event was a tribute to political tribalism in the age of Trump, a place where team identity is everything. At Politicon, politics is understood not as a means by which to improve lives, but as blood sport. It left me empty, desperate for revelation.

Politicon does not pretend to be anything other than what it is: a colorful manifestation of politics as commercialized spectacle.

Rows of kiosks hawking political merchandise and booths promoting various podcasts and publications filled the giant, thinly populated hall.

A libertarian podcast called Good Morning Liberty advertised its website, BernieLies.com, and held a giveaway for a handgun. (Why not Warren lies? I inquired. Oh, we also have LizLies.com, host Charlie Thompson clarified.)

Lining the conference hall were posters of historical figures reimagined as pop-culture icons: George Washington sporting a Mike Tyson face tattoo, John F. Kennedy with a lip-shaped hickey on his cheek, a frowning Harriet Tubman wearing big headphones around her ears, Thomas Jefferson in red wayfarer sunglasses, and Benjamin Franklin as Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie. The images suggested what Politicon would have looked like in another era: In lieu of Al Franken attempting a comeback from some unnamed demise, wed have Thomas Jefferson skirting around his affair with Sally Hemings during his keynote address and a panel comprising slave owners and freemen debating abolition.

For all this, tickets start at just 50 bucks a day. (Unless you want access to the VIP lounge a curtained-off area where I saw people ordering alcoholic beverages well before noon. Thatll run you another $200.)

Of course Politicon is very much a creation of our current era, a congress of depravity bubbling forth from the Trump eras primordial muck. The inaugural Politicon, with a lineup that also included Ann Coulter, Clay Aiken, and James Carville, as well as Trevor Noah, Newt Gingrich, and Michele Bachmann, took place in October 2015, three months after Trump announced his candidacy. Ted Hamm, a film producer whose credits include Get Out, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, helped bankroll the first iteration.

According to a Politicon spokesperson, Hamm still funds a part of the event, but ticket sales and sponsorships are becoming a larger component of the financing required to produce the event every year. While Politicon does not release information on how much it pays speakers, one performer told me on background that they were paid $,7,500.

Past Politicons had been held in Los Angeles. But Simon Sidi, the middle-aged British founder of the event, said he wanted to move the convention to the heart of the country, and so to the American south it went. The chaos of the gathering made it a perfect fit for downtown Nashville, crowded with tourist-baiting honky-tonk bars, its roadways cluttered with tractors hauling party buses packed with drunk people decked out in Halloween costumes and cowboy hats.

Sidi, who once produced Kanye West concerts and American Idol, described himself as a political junkie.

I loved the whole subject [of politics], and I wanted to do something Id like to see, he said.

For the founder of a political convention, he seemed oddly bereft of a political ideology, or at least one he would share. Then again, he is a master of spectacle, a former concert producer with an acute sense of showmanship perhaps that, in itself, is its own ideology.

Politics and entertainment have been bedfellows for all time, he told another reporter. Were not the Aspen Ideas Festival, he added, referring to the annual center-right conference that brings together (mostly) members of the elite to chat about important ideas, ranging from politics and economics to art, in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Were here for people who want to enjoy politics.

Were here for people who want to enjoy politics.

Like the latest Marvel movie, politics is a hollow entertainment product to be consumed.

Sidis professed lack of political ideology invites others to fill the space with theirs, and every corner of the Music City Center reeked of it. Dressed in their finest pro-Trump gear, a gaggle of skinny teenage boys, almost all them white, were dead ringers for Nicholas Sandmann, the teenager from Covington who went viral earlier this year after footage emerged of him wearing a MAGA hat while seeming to taunt a Native American demonstrator.

A lonely Bernie supporter munched on a pickle.

A man clad head to toe in Tulsi 2020 merch griped about the corrupt Democratic Party. A tall drag queen, calling herself Lady MAGA, was surrounded by attendees, lapping up the attention she was getting as the token queer conservative. An older woman wore a mini-dress patterned with the word TRUMP, while a man in a Star Wars shirt reimagining Bernie Sanders as a Jedi waited in line to meet The Young Turks Kyle Kulinski. He told me hed made it himself just for Politicon. In the center of the hall stood a pop-up called A House Divided, displaying large MAGA flags on one half of the booth, while the other side was stocked with attire branded with the logos for Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and other 2020 Democratic hopefuls.

While tensions between the Sanders diehards and the MAGA zealots never boiled over, the dynamic of the weekend was painfully oppositional. A website called WeHateLiberals.com, for example, sold shirts bearing messages like Ukrainians for Trump and a photoshopped picture of the president shaking hands with Ronald Reagan. On inspecting my black-rimmed glasses and skinny jeans, Eric Grinnell, the owner of the website accurately assessed I am a liberal and accused me of being a person with a microphone who traps you into soundbites they put in their articles. (Did I just fulfill his prophecy?)

Judging from the name of Grinnells website, he seemed to have molded his political identity in response to something he hates rather than something he supports. The things liberals say about us are very hateful, Grinnell explained, a claim further substantiated by his domain name. Were uneducated, were trash, were rednecks, we cling to our Bibles and our guns, were deplorable. At WeHateLiberals.com, were doing exactly the same thing. The underlying hostility was not only confined to the right-wingers. When I approached the Green Partys booth, I asked a bespectacled fellow wearing a Blue Lives Murder t-shirt what he made of the convention. It grosses me out, he said. Im a little triggered by seeing all these aspiring-school-shooter MAGA chuds.

But its not all so bad. Javier Perez, a 19-year-old Rutgers student and Sanders diehard, told me, We have met so many amazing Trump supporters, he said. Despite his support for Sanders. Perez donned a MATH cap in support of second-favorite candidate, Andrew Yang. He and his friends had hung out with a group of really great Republicans, he said. But Trump, he stressed, is one of the worst presidents of all time. At the same time, to paint all Trump supporters as Hillary did in the 2016 election, as deplorables and racists, is really a mischaracterization, he added.

Among the weekends marquee events was James Carvilles interview with former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Carville came ready for a fight, but Sanders was as tight-lipped as ever. News nowadays was just opinion writing, she complained; the crowd, resplendent in MAGA gear, gleefully ate up her claptrap. Carville, taking the bait, tried to goad her into naming journalists she believed to be enemies of the American people a dangerous game in a world where journalists regularly receive death threats just for doing their jobs. Luckily, she declined to indulge him. Is [Washington Post reporter] Robert Costa an enemy of the people? the Ragin Cajun asked. One woman, seated near me in the audience, answered with an enthusiastic Yes! Later, Carville told Sanders he wanted to have a real conversation. Then, in the same breath he asked her if she, like the president, believed Mitt Romney was human scum.

A less highly anticipated event was trivia hour hosted by CNN political commentator Chris Cillizza. Cillizza built his brand by posing mundane questions like What if Donald Trump is just winging it? and ranking Anthony Scaramuccis quotes based on their levels of absolutely bananas-ness. Cillizza is the Platonic ideal of the Politicon speaker: more fixated on the spectacle of the news cycle than the weightiness of the news itself, a man with a totally apolitical approach to politics.

Cilizzas appearance triggered something inside of me, and for a short time, I gave into Politicon.

I teamed up with a libertarian couple to try and win the trivia contest. We tackled bracing questions like How many days was Anthony Scaramucci in office? (11) and What honor did Rudy Giuliani receive in 2001? (Times Person of the Year). For our efforts, we won second place. I was awarded a free Politicon tote bag, portable sippy cup, and T-shirt.

For a fleeting moment, as I laughed with the libertarians, I tricked myself into believing I belonged.

Cillizzas trivia hour was perhaps the most trivial episode in a weekend devoted to oppressive triviality. Descending into the Cilizza-verse acquiescing to the amorality of Politicon if only for a brief moment, can feel good. I suddenly saw how such rituals can bring Bernie Bros and MAGA nuts together, giving them a sense of belonging at a time when the internet has made that so scarce.

As I gleefully claimed my second-place trivia tournament prize, for a brief moment, I lapped up the dull, amoral wickedness of the Cillizza-verse.

But then I snapped the hell out of it.

I remembered this sort of identification, animated by antipathy, exacerbated by cable news and social-media algorithm is a false proxy for meaning.

My mind again wandered to Nietzsche. Nietzsche, who didnt care much for the Christian idea of evil, wrote in his list of aphorisms: The great epochs of our life are at the points when we gain courage to rebaptize our badness as the best in us.

Nietzsche, who didnt care much for the Christian idea of evil, wrote in his list of aphorisms: The great epochs of our life are at the points when we gain courage to rebaptize our badness as the best in us.

In that moment, when I was drunk on Cilizza, my badness rebaptized itself as goodness.

Id abandoned my judgment and focused only on the positive the inherent fun of trivia, or the interactions between the very much in love libertarian couple on my team. Id studied the tender way the husband kept resting his hand on his wifes leg.

My enjoyment then reminds me now of how I enjoy a John Wick movie: delighting in each violent murder Keanu Reeves commits because I dont allow myself to feel the weight of what it actually means to take a life.

Putting aside the nefariousness of the event, Id become one with the crowd. Id seen them not as political animals but as vulnerable humans just looking for a fun weekend.

The feeling hadnt lasted long, and I hurried out of the hall.

As I fled, I walked past a wall of needlework depicting Trumps most deranged quotes and I thought about parasites.

I recalled a National Geographic documentary about the Leucochloridium, a parasitic worm. It takes over the eyes of a snail, turning it into a horrifying, strangely beautiful zombie, with two semi-translucent tentacles patterned like precious minerals, pulsating out from its shell. The now possessed snail is doomed to follow the parasites will, the narrator intones. The parasite compels the snail to ascend towards the sunlight, where it becomes lunch for a bird who plucks out its eyes. Inside the birds stomach, the Leucochloridium multiplies, and when the bird eventually defecates it out onto the forest floor, the toxic feces becomes food for a new generation of snails, who are then infected by the parasite. The cycle continues.

For a time, my social-media presence on Twitter, especially defined my professional identity as a journalist. I was a bird breeding Leucochloridium, each tweet a parasite-tainted dropping, infecting my followers. I could have continued exploiting the ills of our world for sweet, sweet content, and inflating the inauthentic, bombastic persona I had cultivated. Instead, I made a tactical retreat into a more thoughtful, less reactive existence.

Politicon brought together the desperate snails in search of sustenance, only to become zombified.

Politicon brought together the desperate snails in search of sustenance, only to become zombified.

The birds, whose stomach breeds this mind-controlling parasite, were the headliners: the public figures, the media, politicians, millionaires, billionaires, famous actors, and any influencer who makes a living off of telling other people how to think.

The toxic bird droppings that contain these parasitic worms?

Its your Facebook feed. Its cable news. Its Twitter. Its Politicon.

Its poison, disguised as nourishment. Politicon echoed something critic William Deresiewicz had said in a speech: By looking at social media and the news you are marinating yourself in the conventional wisdom. In other peoples reality: for others, not yourself. You are creating a cacophony in which it is impossible to hear your own voice.

By Sunday night, the vendors were packing up their stalls. The hall, which had felt oversized and empty all weekend, looked sadder and hollower than ever. I missed Randy Rainbows performance, which Id planned to attend, since my boyfriends mother frequently sends him his videos.

Everyone was gearing up for the grand finale: Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, an organization that fights liberalism on college campuses, protesting safe spaces by wearing literal diapers, among other things, debating The Young Turks Kylie Kulinski, a rising leftist star. A uniformed policeman sipped on a pink smoothie while vigorously nodding along to Kirk as he rattled off numbers about black employment, which he said had risen under Trump. Kirks teeth, nubby and square, extended from his gums in perfect alignment, slanted inward, like stout little Chiclets, so tiny in his abyss of his moist mouth.

Even before the debate ended, I leapt out the door. Idly scrolling through my Twitter feed, a virtual Politicon, I waded through the damp early-evening air, surrounded by drunk, boisterous partiers in cowboy hats looking for an authentic Nashville experience.

One short weekend of political hell had me all different kinds of messed up.

What saved me, in part, was Abigail Bobo, a seminary student and local photographer who documented the event for this publication. Just before Politicon, she had been at a prayer group where they had talked about how valuable humans are, how valuable they are to God, and how much God loves to impact and affect our lives, she said. She noted the sharp contrast between that gathering and the convention, an event predicated on people picking each other apart over nothing. She recalled Psalms 133:1: Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! and then remarked, This is not unity. No one at Politicon, she felt, had been valued.

Her perspective as an outsider, as well as her raw earnestness, moved me. Abigail was largely a stranger to the animosity Politicon was selling, someone who found her identity, her guiding kindness, through religion and empathy, not anger and ideological sniping.

I just kept wanting to go to people and tell them their voice mattered, and that they were empowered to actually make changes instead of just talk about the changes that they dont just have to sit here and argue about it that they are a child of God,

I just kept wanting to go to people and tell them their voice mattered, and that they were empowered to actually make changes instead of just talk about the changes that they dont just have to sit here and argue about it that they are a child of God.

she told me.

As I walked out of the convention, my boyfriend, also a writer, sent me a poem that he had written, something he hadnt done in a while, just for me. It was the first time anybody had ever written a poem for me. He described touching me and the ease of our intimacy. The final lines asked me to come now, come home. My face turned beet red and suddenly I was weeping.

I read the poem over and over again, in the throes of catharsis. I reminded myself to value the quietness of existence, and the small, lovely moments in life that make me feel OK in an ugly world. A good life, I told myself, is talking about God with Abigail over mozzarella sticks and fried broccoli. There is good in a world that lives in opposition to evil, that isnt beyond it, and its writing a poem for someone you love. Its finding peace within your vulnerability, weeping in a Nashville hotel room; its yearning for the refuge of your lovers arms. Its having a home you want to return to, somewhere who makes you feel safe.

Politicon, and everything it represents, simply aint it.

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I went to a convention for politics nerds and it filled me with dread, loathing, and existential terror - Business Insider

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Global Cold Chain Tracking and Monitoring Market Types, Key Players, Applications and Statistical Forecast to 2028 - Hitz Dairies

To be perfectly honest with you, only one race really gets the punting fires burning at Cheltenham on Sunday, and that is the Greatwood Hurdle at 15:00.

And in a further bout of truth, I really do think that the market has now landed on the right favourite in the shape of Monsieur Lecoq.

He is three-from-five since joining the stable from France, will love the ground and I think a 7lb rise for beating Le Prezien by a short-head in the Welsh Champion Hurdle, the pair 6 lengths clear, on his return is fair enough.

There must be more to come from this 5yo but the problem is that the ship has sailed as regards his price, so we have to look elsewhere.

Recent Flat form puts Torcello in the mix

Ascot winner Gumball has a leading chance on the clock and I like the way Quoi De Neuf shaped at Chepstow, but I have been chipping away at Torcello since earlier in the week and I have little hesitation in putting him up as the bet in the race at 16/1 each way, four places, with the Betfair Sportsbook.

I got lucky with Nietzsche at a big price in this race last season and one of his part-owners was Dan Gilbert, who is solely responsible for paying the bills for Torcello.

And this has the look of a long-term plot to me.

Gilbert bought the 5yo for 33,000 in May and he has recaptured his best on the Flat in winning his last three starts, and he is now rated 88 in that sphere (he actually hit 91 when trained by Andrew Balding in 2017).

So if he can translate that ability to hurdles, then he must be a player here off a mark of just 127.

Granted, that is no more than fair on what he has actually achieved over hurdles, harsh even. His Tramore maiden hurdle win in 2018 worked out well enough but he failed to progress as expected in that department, it has to be said.

And I was expecting connections to put headgear on him here as he often looked in need of them over hurdles (he wore a hood when winning at Tramore, and has also been tried in cheek pieces).

But you can't question his attitude on the Flat of late, as he battled hard to land his hat-trick at Windsor by a short-head last month, and all of those three wins came on soft or heavy ground.

Maybe he has simply turned a corner again, so he will do for me at the prices.

Santos the right fav but he might just need the run

The rest of the Cheltenham card does little for my enthusiasm, as the other ITV races include a Cross Country race - this column does not "do" Cross Country, thanks - and a measly 13 runners cover the remaining three terrestrial contests, as classy as they are.

Not for me.

ITV viewers do have the Southern National at Fontwell to peruse though and Shanroe Santos looks a fair price at around the 5/1 mark.

He is just 1lb higher than when winning this race by 5 lengths last season, handles testing ground very well and he has had a wind op since we last saw him.

Everything looks set for a big run but his recent record suggests he may need a run to put him straight - he had a prep run before winning this race last season - and I fear a marathon slog here first-time-up could find him out.

No, just Torcello for me on the Sabbath. And they can leave out as many hurdles as they wish.

Good luck.

***

Check out the latest episode of our Racing...Only Bettor podcast, available in video format for the first time. In this week's show, we have an exclusive interview with Tiger Roll owner Eddie O'Leary...

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Sunday ITV Racing Tips: Torcello can go well in Greatwood - Betting.betfair

In a world of conscious uncoupling and trendy divorce rituals that border on bad satire, Noah Baumbachs Marriage Story is a lacerating exploration of a dying marital relationship.

The film opens with Charlie and Nicole (brilliantly played by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson) listing each others virtues at the request of their mediator, hoping positive recollections will soften the blow of divorce (Nicole is a good listener, while Charlie is a terrific Dad, etc.). But thats no longer enough for the rising New York theater director and especially his creative partner/muse, a former Hollywood actress who briefly made a name for herself with a few TV appearances. Charlie is indifferent to Nicoles achievement (he never watches television anyway, he says matter-of-factly) and she, in turn, feels invisible. For years, Nicole has wanted to return to Los Angeles, her home base, a desire made all the more pressing when shes offered the chance to do a pilot. Charlie has never had any interest in moving to L.A.

Nicole relocates there with their 8-year-old son, Henry (Azhy Robertson), and the ugly tug-of-war between husband and wife over custody mushrooms, thanks in large part to the legal system and its practitioners (played to scene-stealing perfection by Laura Dern as Nicoles commanding attorney in stilettos, who earnestly espouses, What youre doing is an act of hope, and Ray Liotta as the $900-an-hour barracuda representing Charlie).

Charlie has the worst of it, attempting to keep his work in New York afloat while regularly flying across the country to see his son. Marriage Story provides a detailed look not simply at the dynamics of a couple spiraling downward, but also at the comic and horrible legal wrangling that takes place which, most tragically, distorts Nicole and Charlies relationship even in retrospect.

The granularity of the legal procedural elements alone makes Marriage Story a cutting-edge entry in the divorce movie subgenre. Add to the brew the complicated, contradictory emotions experienced by the warring parties vis a vis each other and, more important, within themselves. Each has valid points; neither is a villain. In true contemporary style, everyone is doing the right thing, and its almost impossible to cast blame, unlike in so many films that cover the same territory.

If Marriage Storyis an artistic leap for Baumbach, its seeds were evident in his 2005 The Squid and the Whale, a divorce narrative told from the perspective of a 16-year-old (Jesse Eisenberg) observing his artsy Park Slope family imploding. His mother, Joan (Laura Linney), is having an affair, but of greater relevance to their marital issues, she and husband Bernard (Jeff Daniels) are two writers whose fortunes are moving in opposite directions: Her career is soaring while his is dead in the water.

Like Marriage Storys Charlie, Bernard is intellectually pretentious, valuing creativity above all else and eschewing commercial success. Its a familiar Baumbach type, reaching full fruition in the filmmakers wonderful 2017 The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) with Dustin Hoffman as the aging patriarch, an artist grappling with mortality and legacy.

The anguish of divorce is natural film fodder, and its been amply covered over the decades in a variety of films, each informed by its genre and era. The slick sitcom Divorce American Style (1967) is galaxies away from Danny DeVitos dark (ultimately violent) 1989 farce The War of the Roses or Husbands and Wives, a 1992 Woody Allen flick that is at once a comic tribute to Ingmar Bergmans Scenes From a Marriage and a self-referential autobiographical pic detailing Allen and Mia Farrows disintegrating relationship. His is a rarefied New York City world where everyone lives in tastefully appointed and/or book-lined homes, makes good money and takes for granted satisfying careers in such settings as Columbia University and high-end editorial offices.

Indeed, all these films zero in on well-heeled, homogeneously white communities where men are usually the primary breadwinners while wives may or may not work. That said, womens employment or lack thereof was leading to donnybrooks in films about divorce way before Marriage Story or even The Squid and the Whale hit the screen. In Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and War of the Roses, the wives, Joanna and Barbara (Meryl Streep and Kathleen Turner, respectively), are unfulfilled precisely because they have no identity outside the home. Barbara launches a catering business, but her husband Oliver (Michael Douglas) looks down his nose at her. Hes Harvard Law, shes a State University gymnast; hes articulate, she gropes for the right word. Her career blossoms and she grows to detest him, literally wishing him dead.

In Kramer, Streeps Joanna and Hoffmans Ted hail from the same class, but her yearnings have been ignored so she jumps ship to find herself, abandoning her son to Ted, who must now juggle two jobs: high-powered advertising writer and Mr. Mom, a gig he is ill-prepared to tackle. Nonetheless, he grows increasingly attached to his young son. When Joanna returns (as meteorically as she disappeared) with her newly spawned career in tow, she demands custody of their child. Joanna is not a simpatico character, though many would still come to her defense and there was no shortage of ink shed on the topic at the time, the height of the womens movement.

Like Charlie in Marriage Story, the husbands in Kramer and War are baffled and enraged by their wives discontent. Each has worked hard to provide his family with a high standard of living. But unlike Charlie and, for that matter, Squids Bernard, the men in Kramerand War celebrate materialism, while their partners put a premium on communication. It was a long-standing trope that men dont listen on the one hand and refuse to confide their own feelings on the other. That truism persisted, perhaps, until Allen came along and created male figures who discussed their emotional experiences ad nauseam. Arguably, their relentless airing leads to the breakups in his films; openness has its consequences, too.

Extramarital affairs also have played a role in onscreen divorce whether as the cause or symptom of deeper issues.Squids Joan is a cheater and so is George (Albert Finney), Faiths (Diane Keaton) husband in Alan Parkers Shoot the Moon (1982). But nowhere is the extramarital affair a more defining event than in Paul Mazurskys An Unmarried Woman (1978), in which Erica (Jill Clayburgh) is unceremoniously dumped by her husband, Martin (Michael Murphy), for a younger woman. His infidelity leads to divorce and simultaneously becomes a vehicle for Ericas transformation from devastation to a freshly acquired sense of self-worth. Shes no longer interested in Martin and even refuses to tie the knot with her new boyfriend Saul (Alan Bates), an embodiment of sensitivity, warmth, charm and physical appeal. Her independence takes precedence over marriage or even committing herself to spending the summer with a lover whos beyond reproach.

Often the new love interest in divorce films stands in stark contrast to the spouse, thus functioning as further provocation. In Squid, Joans new beau (played by William Baldwin) is a youthful, intellectually limited tennis pro whom Bernard views as the consummate philistine. Similarly, in Shoot the Moon, Faiths post-breakup lover (Peter Weller) is a young construction worker shes hired to build a tennis court in her backyard, which George will have to bankroll. Squids Bernard and Husbands and Wives Gabe (Allen), both creative writing teachers, court their nubile, much younger students (played by Anna Paquin and Juliette Lewis, respectively).

At the same time, in these films, it often seems to be the husbands who suffer most intensely through the divorce, usually because theyre clueless. They also shoulder the exorbitant cost of child support and alimony, causing their own lifestyles to plummet. In Squid, Bernards new abode is in serious disrepair and sparsely furnished a far distance, literally and metaphorically, from his previous (and now his wifes) comfy Park Slope brownstone. In Divorce American Style, the lowered economic status of the hubby played by Dick Van Dyke is played for laughs. The films comic heavy, a sleazy ex-husband (delightfully brought to life by Jason Robards), spends his time concocting ways, one scheme more Machiavellian than the next, to get his ex-wife wealthily remarried so that he can regain his economic equilibrium.

Even in The War of the Roses, in which Oliver is staggeringly rich and doesnt need the family home, he feels entitled to it because he paid for it and moves back in to establish ownership resulting in a mounting melee of blood-curdling assaults. Hes also acting on the advice of counsel (a hilarious Danny DeVito), a figure of unabashed corruption as seen through a Borscht Belt lens who is the predecessor of the more finely realized legal avatars of divorce in Marriage Story.

The potential loss of ones child (or children) is the crucible for the divorced dad, as first (and most poignantly) dramatized in the groundbreakingKramer vs. Kramer, a film that depicts a father who, since his wife walks out on the family, is forced to become the superior parent and deserves custody. Who can forget its three-hanky ending, when Joanna relinquishes her court-awarded rights in favor of a higher moral ground? That was, of course, a feel-good Hollywood denouement, with its obligatory nod to feminism and its credibility up for debate.

More realistic was Shoot the Moon, which memorably illustrates the impact a breakup has on the whole family (including four daughters), as well as on new partners who are not bad people but, like everyone else involved, are trapped in a no-exit morass. Finneys George, a successful writer (again), is having an affair and the tensions between him and Keatons homemaker Faith are mounting, finally erupting in an overplayed dish-breaking scene. Moving in with his mistress (Karen Allen) and her son, George is suddenly part of a new family and losing contact with his own children especially his eldest, Sherry (Dana Hill), who, identifying with her mother, rejects him. In a drunken rampage, George spanks her mercilessly.

But the films final moments say it all. After George crashes through Faiths newly built tennis court, destroying it with his car, he is beaten to a pulp by Faiths construction worker lover (Weller). He lies battered on the ground, his children clustered around him, perhaps with forgiveness. He imploringly extends his hand to Faith, who, peering down at him, remains silent, immobile, refusing to take it. The love is gone, at least from her end.

The feelings are more oblique and messier in Marriage Story, something else that makes the film feel different from the similarly themed works that preceded it. Even as Charlie and Nicole hopelessly watch the demise of their relationship, theyre still connected, however tenuously. At the divorce arbitration, an unpleasant and contentious encounter, Nicole orders Charlies lunch, knowing what he wants when he cant make up his own mind. Its a telling and touching detail.

A year later, after the divorce proceedings have come and gone, a residual love remains between them, coupled with a renewed appreciation and even a redefined affection that in no way negates the inevitability or finality of the breakup. Its both unremittingly sad and also, in its exceptional nuance, unprecedented in films about divorce.

Originally posted here:
'Marriage Story' and the Evolution of the Divorce Film - Hollywood Reporter

On Monday, Nov. 12, University of Dallas students accompanied by Biology Professors Dr. Deanna Soper, Dr. Drew Steneson and Psychology Professor Dr. Scott Churchill visited the Perot Museum to receive a guided tour from Director of the Center for the Exploration of the Human Journey Dr. Becca Peixotto, a paleoanthropologist that brought rare hominid fossils to Dallas.

The unique opportunity allowed the UD group to see fossils that will most likely only be exhibited in Dallas until they return to South Africa, where they were discovered. The fossil skeletons Homo naledi Neo and Austalopithecus sediba Karabo were discovered in cave systems in 2013 and 2008, respectively.

According to Peixotto, Neo lived around 300,00 years ago, while Karabo lived 1.97 million years ago, and they are the remains of our fossilized relatives.

We used to think of human evolution in terms of a ladder or there is that terrible t-shirt that shows a chimpanzee and then all of a sudden you have Homer Simpson on a computer, said Peixotto. Thats not how we understand human evolution anymore.

Peixotto explained that the popular representation of human evolution, the March of Progress, was not entirely accepted by the scientific community. Instead, Peixotto suggested that human evolution occurred in a braided stream where species interbred.

The UD group followed Peixotto through the exhibit where they learned that the work of a paleontologist can challenge our thought of what it means to be human.

We can tell from the taphonomy, so whats happened to the bones since the animal died, and from lots of geologic clues, that [the fossils] werent washed in with a flood, they werent drug in by carnivores, they didnt all fall in at the same time from a hole in the ceiling, said Peixotto. Our hypothesis is that Homo naledi was deliberately depositing the dead in this cave system We see evidence of behavior that suggests that Homo naledi was able to recognize self and other, and when other wasnt anymore.

Peixotto said that purposeful burial rituals were one of the aspects considered to be unique human activities, such as tool usage and language, both of which have been observed in other species.

Sophomore physics major David Foust found the experience to be enjoyable and enlightening to the human experience.

Knowing that they had burial rituals was fascinating to me, said Foust. I presumed that they had conscious experience, which seems to have been confirmed [through the evidence]. I was awestruck that they used the caves to bury their dead.

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Students view rare fossils at the Perot Museum - University of Dallas University News