The Best Kardashian Halloween Costumes Over The Years
The Kardashians dominate every single event and occasion known to man. Their birthday parties are spectacular, their weddings are extravagant, and every dinner they host looks fantastic.
The first family of American pop culture has got it all down when it comes to hosting the perfect soiree. This family makes even better guests as they know how to show up and show out for an occasion.
There is no themed party or dress-up event that this trend-setting family cannot prepare for. Take a look at some of the best Halloween costumes that the Kardashian’s have pulled off over the years.
The Dark Knight Rises
Kim, Kourtney, Scott, Kanye, and Johnathan all dressed up as different Batman squad members. The A-List collective wore their group costume to a Halloween party in Miami.
Kanye West dressed as Batman, Kim was Catwoman, Kourtney went as Batgirl, and Scott was Robin. What impressed us was Johnathan Cheban’s dedication to the Riddler costume’s hair and makeup.
Kylie channeled Christina Aguilera in her ‘Dirrty’ phase in 2016, and fans were shocked and star-struck. The video of Kylie dancing in the costume was Instagram’s most-watched video after she posted it.
Kendall As A Forest Fairy
Kendall’s birthday is just after Halloween, so the supermodel celebrated with a Halloween bash in 2019. Everyone showed up to her party dressed to the nines, and so did the birthday girl herself.
The Victoria’s Secret angel looked utterly magical in her golden fairy costume and whimsical wings. Her golden highlighter makeup was the perfect touch to give her that special fairy dust effect.
The West Worms
The Kardashian-West’s stunned fans in their intricate matching insect costumes last year. The family had a series of group costumes, but this caught our eye and made an impression concerning its unique designs.
The Wizard Of Oz
Kylie recently shared an adorable throwback of her and Kendall in their tiny Halloween costumes. The cute pair dressed as Dorothy and the Wizard from the famous musical in the old photo.
Kylie’s tiny pigtails look perfect in Dorothy’s signature bows, and Kendall shines in her magical star outfit. This image is proof that these siblings have owned the Halloween game forever.
Kris Jenner was dripping in gold while wearing her Cleopatra Halloween costume in 2018. The Kardashian Jenner matriarch looked regal in her outfit that could double as a dazzling dress.
God Is A Woman
Kourtney Kardashian was an icon dressed as another icon on Halloween in 2018. The mother of three looked a few decades younger in her Ariana Grande costume that was too perfect for words.
Kourtney rocked every single detail of the outfit perfectly, especially the signature Ari high ponytail. We love that Kourtney committed to the outfit even more with her microphone accessory.
Something Wicked Comes This Way
Kendall embraced her witchy side in her sleek 2018 Halloween costume. Nobody makes being wicked look as cool as Kendall does in her chic all-black get up.
Khloe Kardashian and her daughter True rock several matching costumes each Halloween. The sweet pair always make us gush, but their 101 Dalmatians costume has to be the cutest thing ever.
Khloe dressed as Cruella De Vil and True as a dalmatian puppy for last year’s festivities. We can’t get over how cute tiny True looks in her spotted suit and curly pigtails.
Victoria’s Secret Angels
The Kardashian Jenner sisters blew our minds with their group costume in 2018. Kourtney, Kim, Khloe, Kendall, and Kylie wore actual Victoria’s secret wings for their lingerie-clad outfits and looked amazing!


Most recently marketers and publishers have been buzzing about the impending demise of TV and print. Some have heralded cord cutters as the new breed of viewers, who took the first stab at completely disconnecting from TV and instead relying on the Netflix and Amazons of the world. Some have even said that its cord switchers, those who oscillate between TV and online. Forrester Research went so far as to predict TV’s demise by 2016, when advertisers will spend almost $77 billion online, comprising 35% of overall ad spending. While, highly likely I am a bit weary of this statistic, I don’t doubt this will eventually happen but probably not this soon.
Category Archives: Marketing
Netflix, Qwikster and a bit of a branding nightmare
So I am assuming you’ve heard the news, everybody is talking, writing, tweeting about it. Not it’s not about Facebook’s latest update but it seems that Netflix has made another bold move.
After increasing the price of its DVD and streaming side by 60%, it has decided to split its famed DVD rental and streaming business. That’s right, the days when you could order the red envelope and stream one of the movies may be behind us. That is of course if you are not one of the many customers, who was so appalled with the price hike that you cut ties and instead moved to a competitor. I did and now I get superfast shipping and many TV serials and movies online from one provider, Amazon. Continue reading
Social and Search, and a new age power struggle??
I came across two interesting, yet opposing articles on the importance between social media and search. Scott Gillum wrote a post – Social is Intriguing, However Search is Proven – makes the argument that although social media is growing it does not offer anywhere near the effectiveness and impact on the bottom line as does search marketing. Moreover, Scott rightly indicates that search, via SEO and paid search has a proven track record, best practices, and ROI models in place to ensure that marketers can track performance and attribution. On the other hand, Ryan DeShazer, makes a valiant case for social media in his post – For Marketers, Social Isn’t Quite The New Search – stating that in the long run “social will pay off and the onus is on companies to discover their own “killer application.” Yet DeShazer too agrees that search is proven and accountable and needs the investment and consideration of corporates, thereby not getting side tracked by the glitz and glamour of social media.
Personally, I believe that the role of marketers is to be in the areas/channels where they are most likely and able to communicate, listen and engage with their current and potential customers. Gone are the days of one-sided conversations, when the marketer spoke and the customer listened and obeyed. Social and search offer two very different communication propositions. Consumers searching for a product have already felt a need for a product/service and are either researching for a solution or comparing between options or in the final stages of making a purchase or looking for the best deal. On the other hand, social offers a myriad of potentials from listening in to what people are saying about your brand, discussing a poor service experience, giving a positive shout out to your brand and perhaps even recommending or learning about your company for the first time.
Yes, social doesn’t yet have the intricate ROI attribution and performance metrics as compared to search, but it is still a new channel. Brand are still taking baby steps in the area, some haven’t even considered it as part of their marketing mix, while, service providers are developing new features and users are realizing its power and applicability in their lives. At the end of the day, I don’t think brands can simply focus on one marketing channel anymore and they need to identify the relevant channels and develop an integrated marketing mix to leverage and interconnect them to communicate and lead consumers across the purchase funnel. I think its too early in the process to announce the demise of any one channel.
What is your opinion on the topic? Does search require a lot of attention as compared to social or do you think brands need to develop a much more integrated approach towards their marketing? Chime in through the comment button.
The changing face of CRM
Customer Relationship Management – a word so often used yet rarely put into action. I am a strong believer that companies need to manage, maintain and nurture relationships with their customers, not just when they buy their product/service, but early on in the decision-making process and once the supposed transaction is complete. Yet while many “big” name companies maintain that the customer is at the heart of their operations, that’s often not the case.
So a few weeks ago, I was in the market for a new cellphone. I didn’t want to change my service provider, so looked at the phones they had and after scouring the internet, reading reviews from experts and users I made the decision to pick a Motorola on an Android platform. I choose the phone, decided to have it shipped (in retrospect I should have walked a few blocks and picked it up, but Amazon has changed my purchase behavior more than I like to admit), and then proceeded to wait for the shipping information and tracking number. It was Monday morning and no information had arrived, finally I called customer service and was given an explanation that I would just need to wait. “But I paid extra for express delivery, it said 1-2 business days. Where is my tracking number? This would never happen on Amazon.”
Finally, I decided to let me followers on Twitter know about my experience. Small as my follower numbers are, it was some respite to tweet about it.
I proceeded with my day, hoping to see my phone soon before I headed out of the country. I somehow had an inkling that the company in question might pick it up. But I didn’t have much hope. After all there are probably thousands of people at that moment commenting and it is likely to get lost. WRONG!!
The next day, I get a reply from Virgin Mobile’s handle, apologizing for the delay and asking for details to follow-up. Needless to say I was surprised that they picked it up. Until I noticed near the time stamp the words “via Radian6”. I was aware that companies like Dell and Gatorade had established social media command centers to track the social media chatter. But to truly see the results of the effort is nice. There was a series of tweets back and forth with various @VMUcare reps. I could tell that Virgin had some good practices in place – Virgin social media reps put down their initials at the end of the tweet. I suppose it is a way to tag the individual with the response, this is a really good practice, as it ensures accountability.
My story has a happy ending, I got the phone (and totally love Android in case you were wondering). But most of all I was pleasantly surprised by how companies are using social media listening and engagement tools – particularly Radian6 to track customers. If you noticed the initial tweet I sent out, the sentiment on the tweet is mixed. This would have required a moderator to look at Radian6’s river of news functionality, drill down to the specific tweet, analyse it and then respond.
A few days later, I had a follow-up question for Virgin about my phone, and got an immediate reply.
Of course, for every one player at the top of the game there are laggards. I needed some electronic equipment and walked down to one of the top consumer electronic retailers store in NYC. The customer service experience at the store was terrible, and I walked out despondent. Not only were the employees totally negligent and complacent, there was literally no service. I stood in a line, only to find out that I needed to pay in another area of the store. I left the products with a sales rep and walked out. I decided to tweet about my experience again, hoping that someone could look at it and fix an issue with the store.
Its been a few days and I am yet to hear back anything. Granted it was a Friday but it was in the first half of the day. The sentiment on the tweet was negative, and I would imagine Radian6 would have picked it up immediately. Considering the size of this player, I would have expected an immediate response, but nothing. I ran a cursory analysis on the company in question, using TweetFeel and the results were not surprising.
The above results show that 60% of approx. 151 twitter conversations on the company in question are negative. This is a small sample size, but an indicator that all is not well.
I remember a time when I was back home in India and our air conditioning (from one of the leading manufacturers at the time) had broken down. We waited several weeks to get someone in the company to acknowledge our request and send a mechanic down. There were numerous excuses told and shoddy service provided.
Looking at this experience, it is amazing how far CRM has come today. If companies would just listen to what their current/potential customers are saying they can build a strong and loyal following – one that is not easily lured away by a new competitor. The tools are available and the talent is knowledgeable, but it takes a strong belief and dedicated company to back this effort with the resources it needs – irrespective of whether you provide a product or service.
What is your experience with CRM and social media? Have you ever tweeted a company about an issue and got a response back?
Video Advertising and its growing role in the Online Display Industry
The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” has never been more true in marketing than today. This old expression not only highlights the effectiveness of pictures to capture our imagination but also its ability to communicate ideas succinctly. So it’s not very surprising that video is fast becoming a driving force in the online advertising industry.
Growth in display advertising dollars has prompted eMarketer to double its ad growth projections. According to projections, overall the market for display advertising is expected to grow at 20.2%, overtaking search to become the largest online ad spending category by 2015. One of the key factors driving this surge is the move towards video based advertising, with its share of pie expected to grow from 19.4% in 2011 to 35.9% in 2014, while Rich Media and Banner Ads are expected to moderately, by steadily, decline.So why are advertisers moving dollars from the once trusty search and banner advertising to video?
I have Klout!! – Now why should marketers care?
As a budding integrated marketer, I often hear and read about the importance of attracting and winning over influencers. For the mock strategy I conducted for the Cisco Cius in an NYU MSIM class, that was a focal point of our strategy, and rightfully so. Companies launching a new service or product need to get their message across to the right people, and what better way to cut across the customer spectrum than identifying and channeling your message to the influencers among your target audience.
But who exactly are influencers? There are a number of definitions out there. But for me these are individuals who have the network strength, following and ability to amplify your message and affect the behavior of others. In short they have the ability to influence others. While, a number of tools can help you identify influencers on blogs, twitter (such as http://twittercounter.com/) etc, one tool has blown away the competition – Klout.
Insights from ARF Audience Measurement Conference
I spent the last two days (June 13-14th) attending the ARF Audience Measurement 6.O conference in NYC, particularly the social media insights panels. It was exciting to sit there and listen to how companies such as Cisco and Verizon are using social media, as well as how media planning and technology companies are testing findings to roll-out of various advertising methodologies. The following post focuses on some of the insights I got from some of the Key Note and panels I attended.
Perfect People Meter:
Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, presented a keynote on how people use digital technology and how that makes audience measurement more complicated than in the past. Rainie listed out three revolutions – the Internet, mobile and social media, and then proceeded to discuss each in detail.


The man facing murder charges in the truck attack of a Muslim family in London, Ont., has left no traces on social media about his life, but a neighbour who spoke to CBC News said while the 20-year-old kept to himself, he’d have frequent and noisy gatherings in his downtown apartment.
Details about Nathaniel Veltman are difficult to piece together. It’s known, however, that he was living in an apartment in downtown London and has ties to Strathroy, a small community in the heart of southwestern Ontario farm country.
He’s currently in a cell at the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre, charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of
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Seek end to ‘form of slavery’ called human trafficking
Calling human trafficking “a modern day form of slavery,” the Catholic bishops of Illinois and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious of Illinois have issued a joint statement urging people of good will to seek its end through prayer, work and education.
“Eradicating Human Trafficking” comes at the beginning of National Migration Week, which is being observed Jan. 3-9, and just before National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, Jan. 11. The theme for National Migration Week, which highlights the church’s work with immigrants, refugees, trafficked persons and other people on the move, is “Renewing Hope, Seeking Justice.”
“The mission of the Gospel is to set captives free and to show mercy to our neighbor who is in need. Human trafficking around the world betrays every dimension of personhood and is a modern day form of slavery,” the Illinois bishops and LCWR Region 8 leaders say in their statement.
They note that human trafficking involves “the movement of people through violence, deception or coercion for the purpose of forced labor, servitude, slavery-like practices and prostitution” and is a “tragic denial of human rights.”
Saying that Illinois is already recognized as a forerunner in taking steps to stop human trafficking, the bishops and the women religious say it is still necessary “to raise awareness of the issue and to promote a response of compassionate assistance to victims in their need.”
BELIEVED to be the first of its kind, the joint statement took about three years to formulate, according to Sister Phyllis McMurray, OSB, prioress of St. Mary Monastery in Rock Island.
She explained that the leaders of LCWR Region 8, which encompasses religious communities throughout Illinois, meets annually with the state’s bishops. They have been using part of that time to write and refine “Eradicating Human Trafficking.”
The issue of human trafficking has been on their radar for some time since the women religious traditionally have worked on the local and state level to support programs that benefit women and children, Sister Phyllis said.
Sister Patricia Crowley, OSB, prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago and LCWR Region 8 chairperson, said her own community has had personal experience with the issue of human trafficking.
“MANY communities of women religious are in other countries and are in service ministries and have come across this issue in the people they have dealt with,” she told The Catholic Post in a telephone interview last week, acknowledging that this is something that can be difficult to recognize.
“I think people who are trafficked are not identifiable to people — and may not identify themselves,” she said. “They don’t trust others because they’ve been taken advantage of.”
“There’s a lot more going on than we’re aware of,” Sister Phyllis said.
“Eradicating Human Trafficking” explains that at any given time, approximately 2.5 million persons around the world are victims and that at least one-third of them are trafficked for economic purposes. It is estimated that this constitutes a $3.2 billion market.
“Human trafficking is difficult to eradicate,” Sister Phyllis told The Post. “Traders often defeat new law enforcement practices by moving their victims from hot spots to other, quieter regions. They also cross state lines to avoid prosecution.”
EDUCATION is one key to eliminating it, Sister Patricia said.
“It’s important for people to get educated so can they can recognize it when see it,” she said. “It’s very important that people be aware that it could be happening in their area.”
The joint statement by the Illinois bishops and the leaders of LCWR Region 8 also emphasizes the need to pray for human trafficking victims worldwide, to support those who are already assisting survivors, and to participate in legislative advocacy efforts that promote the dignity of trafficked persons. It includes the Web site for the Illinois Rescue and Restore Campaign, which was launched in 2005, and lists the toll free number for the National Human Trafficking hotline.
“We, the Catholic bishops, women religious and the Catholic laity of Illinois, are committed to ending this modern day form of slavery,” the statement says in closing.
“We ask God to bless all our efforts to develop a comprehensive approach to human trafficking that eliminates the root causes, supports the survivors and actively seeks to assist them in healing from this horrendous crime.”


Well, this does not inspire confidence. Law enforcement in Canada routinely ask ISP’s for all sorts of data in the process of conducting criminal investigations. According to Michael Geist who is a noted Canadian privacy and digital rights advocate, those request are inaccurate and incomplete according to a secret memo:
The memorandum specifically references a 2010 RCMP document that purported to list tens of thousands of warrantless subscriber information requests. The document indicated that 94 per cent of requests involving customer name and address information was provided voluntarily without a warrant.
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada auditors apparently expected that document, which was previously released under the Access to Information Act, to serve as the starting point for their review of RCMP practices. The internal memorandum notes that “we expected that these statistics would be accurate, complete, and up-to-date and that they would allow us to review RCMP files related to such warrantless requests.”
Once the auditors began examining the data, however, they found something entirely different. The internal memorandum states that “based on the evidence below we found, on the contrary, that the statistics provided for 2010 (and later for 2011-2013) were inaccurate, incomplete, not current, and they were not useful identifying PROS files for review.”
The internal memorandum continues by citing specific problems with the RCMP evidence, acknowledging that “problems with the reliability of data were also provided by way of interviews with senior officials.” The details of those interviews are redacted, however, the memorandum states that “from these discussions we also found that statistics for warrantless access are inaccurate because of lack of reporting, multiple reporting or overlapping reporting.”
The conclusion leaves little doubt about the problems the auditors encountered. It goes far further than the publicly released report, noting that “based on our review of statistics and interviews with senior officials at the RCMP we were unable to rely upon the numbers provided for warrantless access requests, nor was there any linkage between reports of such requests and the actual operational files containing such requests.”
In short, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada set out to audit the RCMP in the hope of uncovering the details behind requests for subscriber information. What it encountered instead was inaccurate data and an effort to downplay the problems within the public report.
The timing of this kind of sucks if you’re the Government of Canada. There is a bill in front of The House Of Commons right now called C-51 that would give Canada’s spies and law enforcement more powers to combat terrorism with questionable oversight. What this story highlights is that if you don’t have real oversight, you get this sort of situation. So one wonders what would happen if bill C-51 actually gets passed. Would this sort of situation happen more often?
The solution is either force more stringent and meaningful oversight on law enforcement, or if they can’t follow the existing rules, then they don’t get the ability to get info like this. Clearly this is a huge problem that needs to be addressed if Canadians are to have confidence in law enforcement.


The new number of positive cases of COVID-19 has increased since last Friday.
The Dubois County Health Department says that since July 10th, Dubois County now has 22 new cases of COVID-19.
This brings the county’s total of positive COVID-19 cases to 319.
Out of these 319 cases, 253 have recovered. This means that they are out of isolation and feeling well.
Approximately 3,435 Dubois County residents have tested for COVID-19.
Six individuals have died from COVID-19 in Dubois County.


Rekha Rajaram was looking forward with relish to visiting family and friends and immersing herself in the food and culture of her childhood. She was planning her first trip home to India since getting her Ph.D. from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. She wasn't planning on getting stranded in India, tied up in immigration security checks for months while her husband went back to the United States without her.
"I would feel very confident that [foreign scientists] can take their vacations and go home. They should go to the U.S. consulate on the first day they return and know that it will take 2 or 3 weeks. And if they are having problems, we want to hear about it." --David Donahue
"I thought it would be a pretty straightforward process to get my visa renewed because I had been in the U.S. since 2001," says Rajaram, an applications engineer specializing in semiconductor chemistry who works for a San Jose, California-based technology start-up at a client's site in the greater New York area.
But Rajaram found herself tangled up in a security-vetting process that took 100 days to resolve. She's in good, if unhappy, company: An apparently growing number of foreign scientists, despite having current, valid work permits, are being stranded outside the country while several U.S. agencies perform background checks.
In the past year, the waits have become so long and so common that foreign scientists working in the United States fear leaving the country lest they find themselves stranded, unable to return to their labs and careers. So many foreign students and scientists have found themselves mired in visa delays that some started a Facebook group to commiserate and document their difficulties.
This spring, such visa delays prompted the U.S. government to modify its handling of these inquiries and to dedicate more staff to processing visa applications. The goal: to bring the processing time down to 2 weeks.
The U.S. State Department acknowledges that there was a problem but insists that it has been fixed. "This was a problem that we were having last year," says David Donahue, deputy assistant secretary for visa services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department. Most visas, he says, should now be processed in 10 business days as a result of procedural modifications. "We put a clock on ourselves and committed to completing" visa reviews in 2 weeks. "We are confident this will not happen again."
Still, the scientific community remains concerned that such visa hassles will ultimately harm U.S. competitiveness by feeding fears of foreign scientists and students about working in the United States. "We have great universities in this country, but the perception that the U.S. is a difficult place to come to is hurting us," says Amy Scott, assistant vice president for federal relations at the Association of American Universities (AAU) in Washington, D.C. "People are finding opportunities elsewhere."
Unfortunately, the only way to get a passport stamped with a current visa is to do it at a consulate outside the United States. Under U.S. law, the Department of State is responsible for issuing visas, and most visas are issued at one of the Department of State's embassies or consulates abroad. Visa requests, therefore, must be made from overseas. There's no opportunity to plan ahead. A consular officer decides if you are qualified for a visa.
Rajaram's saga began when she graduated from Stanford and was granted approval for an O-1 visa to work as a researcher. Her paperwork gave her the right to work in the United States as long as she didn't leave the country with plans to return. In order to get back into the United States, she would need to schedule an interview at a U.S. consulate and have her passport stamped with her visa.
In December 2008, she and her husband, who works in finance and also needed a visa renewal, traveled to India for that purpose. "When I got to the consulate in India, I was asked what I do, and then I was told that they couldn't process my visa because I needed to undergo administrative processing."
Told to expect a 2- to 3-week wait, Rajaram stayed in India while her husband, who received his visa that day, returned to the United States. Her employer allowed her to work remotely from India for the first month. One month became two, and she was forced to take unpaid leave. During that period, she discovered that she "knew nearly 15 people, all of them Indian or Chinese, who had also got stuck in administrative processing."
Ups and downs
The visa troubles Rajaram and other foreign scientists experienced have a long history. Since the Cold War, foreign scientists and students from any country could face increased scrutiny if their field of study overlaps with sensitive technology categories outlined on the Technology Alert List (TAL). That list was classified in 2003, but before it was classified it included nuclear physics, biotechnology, semiconductor science, and urban planning, among other disciplines. Foreign scientists from China, Russia, Israel, India, Pakistan, and other countries face increased scrutiny--partly, it appears, because these countries possess or are seeking to possess nuclear capabilities (Science, 21 November 2008, p. 1172).
In the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks, the U.S. government enacted new security policies that increased the likelihood that scientists would face scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, and other federal agencies.
"Before 9/11, it was a fairly routine procedure that took between 10 days and 2 weeks," says Albert Teich, director of Science and Policy Programs at AAAS, Science Career's publisher, noting that agencies had to object to a visa if they wanted to slow the process. "After 9/11, every agency had to give their approval before a visa was issued. That is a much harder thing."
Predictably, processing times slowed, and by 2003 they had climbed to several months, prompting a group of scientific societies that included the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), AAU, AAAS, and others to call for changes in the visa system. "Fortunately, we saw the wait times drop back to 2 or 3 weeks," Teich says.
In 2004, the NAS Board on International Scientific Organizations began to collect data about visa delays on a Web site. Those data show that the number of visa delays jumped again in 2008.
The result: More foreign scientists were unable to attend conferences and symposia, students were unable to start degree programs, and scientists like Rajaram were unable to do their jobs.
"It was extremely frustrating," says Aspi Kolah, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science at Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, who was stranded in his native India for 4.5 months while trying to convert his J-1 visa to an H-1B visa. "The department wanted me back, and I was worried about funding I was about to lose. It caused real problems for me and my department."
"You may have a student finishing up his or her Ph.D., and that person gets a paper accepted to an international scientific meeting," says Chris Bargerstock, assistant director for the office for International Students & Scholars at MSU. "It's a great career opportunity, but they have to be worried about whether they are going to get their visa in time for a meeting. They've invested so much time in their education and projects, they aren't going to risk it. It means they are stuck here."
Also troubling is the potential for the visa system as it currently operates to harm the research enterprise in the United States by stymieing the flow of scientific information and the formation of international collaborations. On 10 June 2009, a group of organizations representing higher education, science, and engineering, including AAAS, NAS, AAU, and others, outlined recommendations to revise the visa system to both maintain security and encourage the entry of the best and most qualified scientists. These recommendations included establishing protocols to make treatment of visa applicants more consistent by regularly training consular staff abroad, reviewing and streamlining TAL to include subject areas that clearly have explicit implications for national security, adding transparency to the visa system, and convening a panel to evaluate whether the visa-related policies put into effect after 9/11 are effective.
"There are potentially very serious consequences to the U.S. because we are pretty heavily dependent on foreign nationals to conduct science in this country," says AAAS's Teich. "It's important to take an overall look at the big picture and ask whether how we are handling these security issues is costing us more in terms of negative impacts on research and connections with the international community than it is benefiting us."
One item obviously missing from those recommendations is allowing visa holders to renew their visas and undergo administrative processing while they are still in the United States. Teich calls the current system of sending people out of the country to renew their visas "pretty silly" and notes that scientific societies have suggested that to the State Department in the past, but "it was clear from our discussions that such a change was a nonstarter."
Whether these suggested changes to the visa system are undertaken, foreign scientists must decide if they will risk leaving the United States when their visas have expired or stay put. They will hear conflicting advice.
"I can't say that we have reached 100% of [visas being processed] in 10 days, but it is very close," says Donahue. "I would feel very confident that [foreign scientists] can take their vacations and go home. They should go to the U.S. consulate on the first day they return and know that it will take 2 or 3 weeks. And if they are having problems, we want to hear about it." Donahue notes that scientists and students having visa problems can contact the State Department at its Web site.
Even if the procedural changes that have been undertaken resolve the issue, it will take time for foreign students to feel confident about leaving. "There is a ripple effect," AAU's Scott says. "After a while, people will feel a little more comfortable because they aren't hearing horror stories."
Protein crystallographer Mishtu Dey, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute research specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, is facing that decision now. "I'm afraid that if I go home to India to renew my visa, I will get stuck in administrative processing. It's totally a gamble, but I think it's one I'm going to take."
Photo (top): Baigal Byamba
Lisa Seachrist Chiu is a science writer in Washington, D.C., and author of When a Gene Makes You Smell Like a Fish ... and Other Amazing Tales about the Genes in Your Body.


In this edition of Rave TV we hear from Sigi Schmid on how the team plans to bounce back this weekend, Ozzie Alonso appears in his 150th career game with the Sounders, and we take a look back at a memorable full-stadium match vs San Jose.
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Icahn plans dinner meeting with Apple's Cook on buyback size
By Edwin Chan
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Carl Icahn has spoken again with Apple Inc's Tim Cook and plans a longer discussion with the chief executive over dinner next month about the size of the iPhone maker's buyback program, the activist investor tweeted on Thursday.
The hedge fund billionaire, known for launching aggressive assaults on American boardrooms, caused a sensation last week when he revealed on Twitter he had taken a large position in Apple and was pushing for the company to expand its program of share buybacks -- already one of the market's largest.
That revelation, including comments about how he thought the stock was undervalued, pushed shares of the $400 billion corporation up 5 percent on Aug 13.
But on Thursday, Apple's stock held steady at about $501.11 in late trade on the Nasdaq, resuming trade after a glitch halted trading in Nasdaq-listed securities for more than two hours.
Icahn's tweet on Thursday, which came during the trading suspension, did not reveal much else apart from the fact that he and Cook had made plans for an in-person meeting next month.
"Spoke to Tim. Planning dinner in September. Tim believes in buyback and is doing one. What will be discussed is magnitude," the billionaire said on Twitter on Thursday, without elaborating.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment. In April, the company bowed to Wall Street pressure and said it would return $100 billion to shareholders by the end of 2015 - double the amount set aside previously. It got there in part by raising its dividend 15 percent and boosting its share buyback program six-fold to $60 billion, one of the largest of its kind
As part of that program, it bought about more than $16 billion worth of stock in the June quarter, much more than analysts had expected. Continued...


BEN Turner-Dwyer knows the trauma that a serious traffic accident can cause.
Five years ago his left arm was severely injured when he was a passenger in a road crash in the Warrnambool area. The injury put him off work for 12 months.
That’s why he has strong empathy for Bryn Murfett, of Port Fairy, who has been left with no feeling from the waist down after a traffic accident in Thailand earlier this year.
Mr Turner-Dwyer, 25, is also a friend of Mr Murfett’s partner, Carley Hickman.
A real estate salesman with Ray White Warrnambool, Mr Turner-Dwyer has pledged the commission from his first sale in 2014, which he anticipates will be in the thousands of dollars, to the 4Bryn Appeal.
“My injuries were nothing compared to Bryn’s but I know what it is like to go through a difficult time and get well,” Mr Turner-Dwyer said. “I am lucky to be able to assist in any way that I can,” he said.
Mr Murfett is determined to walk again.
His family and friends have set up the 4Bryn Appeal to raise $100,000 for specialised equipment, house alterations and possibly stem cell treatment overseas.
Because the accident did not occur in Australia, many of the costs for his rehabilitation are not covered by the Transport Accident Commission.
People wishing to donate to the 4BRYN Appeal can do so at BSB 193 879, account number 421940199.


This made my blood boil yesterday; http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/09/23/troubleshooting-macos-sierra-filemaker-logitech-and-razer-devices-4k-display-issues People commenting on how lazy developers are because their apps are not Sierra compliant yet.
As developers we had 2 months, in which we had to do beta testing also. Then there’s the edge issues which won’t appear until the app is released to a wider audience, then there’s Apple’s “Bug Fixes” which introduce new bugs or include undocumented changes which break apps that were working.
Journalists are often completely unaware of the difficulties encountered by developers with beta releases. Some of them have never, ever, touched code.
I felt somewhat better knowing that FileMaker apps don’t work and blneither does FCP, if Apple’s own apps don’t work, how can they expect ours?
FCP in Sierra is definitely broken - I got confirmation from my 3rd party Plugin Developer about my issues described here. He confirms that he had to change his installation routine AND that Apple brought in some bugs in media encoding/decoding… as developer he could manage to fix this though we both wait for Apple now


DON'T SHARE NUISANCE.
Truck bomb kills 105 in northern Iraq
Truck bomb rips through bustling market in northern Iraq, killing 105 people.
Baghdad: Over 100 people were killed in a sudden surge in violence in Iraq on Saturday when a truck bomb devastated a crowded village market and demolished many homes, police and local officials said.
The truck bomb ripped through a bustling outdoor market in the northern town of Tuz Khurmato on Saturday, killing over hundred people and wounding many others, police said. The bomb levelled shops and small houses, and police said they feared the death toll could rise.
"105 Iraqis were killed and five are missing. We have registered their names. There are more than 250 wounded," an official in charge of security coordination in nearby Tuz Khurmatu said.
Jasim Ali, 30, said he looked frantically for his wife when he heard the explosion. "I ran to the market and saw burned cars along with dead and wounded people everywhere. I screamed until I found my wife. She was wounded in the head and her hand," said Ali, his clothes stained with his wife's blood.
In another incident, a suicide car bomber killed 22 people and wounded 17 others when he drove his vehicle into a group of Shia Kurds near Iraq's border with Iran on Friday evening.
Ibrahim al-Bajilam, head of the local council in Garghoush village, said the victims were returning from a funeral. The village is in Diyala province, where U.S. and Iraqi forces last month launched an offensive against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
The US military said roadside bombs killed four soldiers in Baghdad, three on Friday and one on Thursday. It said two Marines were killed in combat in Anbar province on Thursday.
One British soldier was killed in Basra during an operation involving 1,000 British troops to flush out suspected militants, the military said. Three others were wounded. "British forces were exposed to a large number of attacks by IEDS (improvised explosive devises), RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and small arms, which resulted in the death of one British soldier and the injury of three others," the military said in a statement.
Also overnight, a mortar bomb killed seven members of one family as they slept on their roof in the Sunni neighbourhood of Fadhil in central Baghdad, police said. They included a couple and their four children, aged nine to 17.
New Delhi: The Army has called for fresh international bid to acquire the 52-calibre 155 mm towed gun even after conducting four rounds of trial with three competitors; a move experts fear would delay the forces' modernisation programme.
Top military sources said fresh tenders would be a jolt to Army's artillery modernisation programme as it would mean that it would take another six to eight years for the much-needed gun to be inducted into the Army.
The 52-calibre 155-mm towed guns are capable of firing nuclear shell to a distance of upto 50 km. The three competitors are Denel of South Africa, Soltam of Israel and BAE-SWS Bofors system.
While infantry and armoured formation modernisation drive in the Army has been in full swing since 2001, artillery, a vital arm has seen no quantum leap in its fire power.
Though India has concluded a deal to acquire long-range SMERCH multi-barrel rocket system, the deal has run into a logjam over pricing squabbles with Russians.
Under the artillery deal worth Rs 4,000 crore at present price level, India was to acquire 400 155 mm L 52 towed guns off the shelf and manufacture thousand guns in the country under technology transfer, providing New Delhi first exposure to indigenous use of such technology.
In a related move, government has already refloated request for proposals (RFP) for acquiring 100 self-propelled and 180 wheeled 155 mm and 52-calibre guns. However, the time for both the bids have been extended twice for lack of response.
In the towed guns, Army has already held four rounds of trials in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 to check general staff qualitative requirements (GSQR) parameters in desert and high altitude conditions during NDA and present UPA regimes. In response to Army's RFP issued in 2001, three bidders Denel of South Africa, Soltam of Israel and BAE-SWS system took part in trials.
The South African company, which was blacklisted on allegations of payoff in another deal, was not allowed to participate in third round of trials. The BAE-SWS and Soltam continued to be evaluated in fresh trials in 2004 and 2006.
After the fourth round of trial, Soltam was asked to take back its guns as it had failed to meet GSQR parameters. BAE-SWS system was asked to keep their guns in India and its guns were moved from Chandigarh to field artillery unit in Gurgaon near New Delhi.
The government move to go in for fresh international tenders comes at a time when the artillery fire power in the Army is dipping in the absence of induction of longer-range powerful guns. Eight Army regiments are having Bofors 155 mm .39 calibre guns and assortment of Russian 130 mm and 105 mm light mountain guns.
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An argument over parenting skills led to the stabbing of two people early Sunday, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.
Officers arrested Shelly R. Jones, 28, after they found her screaming that she’d stabbed two people when they arrived at an apartment in the 700 block of North Argonne Avenue about 4:30 a.m., according to police.
Jones’ three children were sent to their father’s home in Plummer, Idaho and Jones was sent to the Spokane County Jail on two charges of second-degree assault after police determined she’d stabbed two women, 37 and 31, with a metal can opener during an argument over Jones’ parenting skills, police said.
Cocaine and alcohol are believed to be factors, police said.
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June 30, 2011
Aggressive Fuel Economy Standard by 2025 Will Save Consumers Money and Dramatically Cut Oil Consumption
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Consumer Reports today commented on proposed fuel economy standards for 2017-2025 currently being considered by the Obama Administration. Fuel economy or “CAFE” (corporate average fuel economy) standards for new vehicles are already slated to improve from an average of 27.3 miles per gallon today to 35.5 mpg by 2016. The White House is considering a range of improvements from 47 to 62 mpg by 2025, with news reports saying the Administration is mulling a 56-mpg standard. Moving to 62 mpg by 2025 is estimated to save consumers about $6,000 in owner costs over the life of the vehicle and cut U.S. gasoline consumption by one-third.
Jim Guest, president of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, said, “Improving fuel economy standards is one of the most effective ways to save consumers money at the pump. We believe that an aggressive standard with a long lead time for auto manufacturers will foster the development of better cars that use less gas at an affordable price.”
David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports’ auto test division, said, “A minimum standard of 56 miles per gallon is definitely good for consumers and currently achievable, but 62 is even better. Technologies to attain this level of improvement exist, and the automakers can incorporate them over the next 15 years,” says Champion. These advanced technologies are currently on the market today. ”In our testing, we’ve already seen highway consumption of 55 mpg in a Toyota Prius hybrid and 49 mpg in a Volkswagen Golf diesel.”
A recent Consumer Reports survey says car buyers want better fuel economy and are willing to pay for it. 62 percent of survey respondents said when they buy their next car, they expect to choose a model with better gas mileage than their current car. 58 percent said they were willing to pay extra money for a more fuel-efficient vehicle. These findings were from a Consumer Reports National Research Center poll of 1,764 adult car owners surveyed between April 28 and May 2, 2011.
While manufacturers will retain lots of flexibility in how to meet the new CAFE target, it will drive the development of a variety of options including electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, in addition to more fuel efficient conventional vehicles whether gasoline or diesel powered. Consumer interest in alternative vehicles is growing—Consumer Reports’ survey also showed that about seven out of ten consumers planning to buy a vehicle are considering an alternative power train, such as hybrid, electric, or flex fuel.
Importantly, reducing vehicle mass will be essential in improving fuel economy. Consumer Reports is confident that lighter vehicles will not necessarily compromise vehicle safety. For example, a contemporary family sedan such as the Hyundai Sonata weighs 3,210 pounds and still achieves a Top Safety Pick by the IIHS. It weighs 7.5% less than its previous generation and about 6% less than the average family sedan. By contrast, a Chrysler 200 weighs 3,590 pounds (also a Top-Safety Pick) but with no performance or interior room advantage. The new Honda Civic at 2,810 pounds also received a Top Safety Pick and weighs 400 pounds less (about 9%) than the Chevrolet Cruze, a direct competitor.
David Butler, 202.462.6262


THERE will be a captive audience for the world premiere of new Coventry drama The Last Women.
Jail doors will slam shut behind theatre-goers and they will spend the evening behind bars as they watch the last moments of condemned women on death row.
The Belgrade Theatre’s B2 studio has been transformed into a prison and courtroom setting for the powerful new work by Coventry writer, director and performer Carran Waterfield.
“When that door slams shut I want people to experience a rush of emotion,” explains Carran.
Prison wardens will be on hand and mug shots of the condemned will line the walls as the stories of seven condemned women unfold.
They include club hostess Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, and Nuneaton ribbon weaver Mary Ball, the last women to be hanged in Coventry.
There are also the tales of Coventry housekeeper Mary Ann Higgins, who was the last person to be hanged on Whitley Common in Coventry, and Mary Queen of Scots who was briefly imprisoned at the city’s Guildhall.
The Last Women marks the 21st anniversary of Carran’s award-winning Triangle Theatre Company and the production features props from past stage hits.
The seeds for The Last Women began four years ago when Carran was invited to work with students at Birmingham University and they began to research condemned women.
Carran has since met Robert Muscott, the great, great grandson of Mary Ball and been in touch with Doctor Norwood Andrews, a Texan historian and expert on execution and relatives of condemned prisoners.
“It’s been quite a journey,” admits Carran. “We’ve involved the local community and organised workshops and research. I’ve even seen the skull and death mask of Mary Ball which is kept at Little Park Street police station.”
There’s gallows humour and even a line-dance as the nine-strong cast tell their stories and Carran has also interwoven a Sumarian myth about the descent into the underworld into the true accounts of execution.
“This ancient myth has great significance for me in the many years I have been developing the performance work. It has been like a guiding light and anchor point containing the essence of what makes a great story with resonance for how we live our lives now.”
The cutting edge drama is certainly haunting and provocative but, the question is, are you brave enough to step into the world of death row inmates?
n The Last Women premieres at the Belgrade Theatre’s B2 studio in Coventry on Monday and runs until April 25. Box office 024 7655 3055.


KalingaTV News Network
Cuttack: Protesting against the arrest of Choudwar-Cuttack MLA Pravat Biswal, hundreds of his supporters and BJD youth wing staged a demonstration here on Tuesday.
The supporters of Biswal alleged that the MLA’s arrest was an act political vendetta against him by the BJP. They claimed that BJP got him arrested as it could not digest the huge support of the public to the BJD’s hartal against oil price hike in Choudwar-Cuttack, which was led by the MLA.
“The innocent MLA was arrested only because of BJP’s political vendetta against him. He has no links with the Seashore chit fund company. The CBI reopened the file of a four year-old case despite the fact that the MLA has all verified documents due to BJP’s pressure and got him arrested. If he was guilty, why then was he not arrested earlier?,” questioned one of the supporters of Biswal.
The irate supporters, along with members of youth BJD, burned the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP National President Amit Shah and Union Minster Dharmendra Pradhan.
They also took out a bike rally from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar shouting slogans against BJP and CBI. They are slated to demonstrate in front of the CBI office in the state capital city.
Biswal was arrested by the CBI in connection with the purchase of a piece of land from the Seashore chit fund company.


Artificial insemination is not just for your human family planning anymore. It's made its way into the animal kingdom.
Two bottlenose dolphins gave birth in the past month at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom thanks to outside sperm donors.
The babes are now old enough to meet their public.
The two little ones along with their mothers, 23-year-old Jasmine and 30-year-old Chelsea make their debut on Thursday in the Dolphin Harbor pool.
Discovery Kingdom says it chose to use artificial insemination to allow for greater genetic diversity. The genes came from dolphins that aren't part of the park’s current population.


The hospital trolley crisis worsened today as 583 patients across the country were forced to wait for a bed.
The new high for 2019 follows yesterday’s surge in overcrowding with 541 patients on trolleys.
The turnaround follows efforts to keep overcrowding under control in the aftermath of Christmas and the New Year.
This led to the daily trolley toll being kept under 400 but the pressures on hospitals are now escalating.
But normal activity is being resumed which means there are less beds available to the very sick patients who need to be on a ward.
The figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation comes as the union is et to announce a series of dates for planned 24-hour stoppages in pursuit of pay.
If they go ahead the action will bring more chaos to the struggling hospital service.
There 398 waiting in emergency department, while 185 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital. The INMO is due to announce strike dates this afternoon at 3.30pm regarding safe staffing levels in the health service.
The worst-hit hospitals today are:
Cork University Hospital - 61
Letterkenny University Hospital - 43
University Hospital Limerick - 43


2019 National Partnership Agreement still unconfirmed
The National Partnership Agreement for 2019, which is listed on the Australian Department of Education and Training website as “under development” has been used by Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Development Amanda Rishworth as evidence of a “complete lack of interest or commitment to early education and preschool funding” by the Federal Government.
When asked last week in Senate Estimates if the National Partnership Agreement for the 2019 preschool year has been signed yet, departmental officials confirmed it had not, according to Ms Rishworth, who also claimed the agreement was only sent to the states and territories on 25 September 2018.
Ms Rishworth questioned the delay in time between the announcement of the funding rollover into 2019, which was announced on 3 February 2018, and the sending of the agreement on 25 September saying there was no rational explanation for the 234 day delay.
When asked if there was a funding allocation for preschools in 2020, Ms Rishworth says the reply was “that’s a matter for government’, which was also the reply given to questions around any issues which needed to be addressed before the commitment was made, or if the Government could guarantee to continue funding preschools at the current levels.


The return of Elian and his father to Cuba is wonderful not only for Elian and his family, but was a great triumph for the people of Cuba. It was a defeat for the fossilized politics of what Fidel Castro referred to as the Miami mafia—those Cuban-Americans who were willing to sacrifice the well-being and best interests of a young child to further their retrograde and narrow political agenda. In the eyes of many Americans the efforts by those Cuban-Americans to kidnap Elian demonstrated the utter bankruptcy of the cold war politics that drives that community. Indeed, it is unlikely that congress’s passage of legislation loosening the embargo on food and medicine would have occurred, but for the Elian case.
This is not to be Pollyannaish about the prospects for real change in U.S. relations to Cuba. There is still a very long way to go. The lock that the Miami mafia has on U.S. foreign policy regarding Cuba is rusting, but, as Elian’s case illustrates, it is still keeping that policy hostage. We can just look at the somersaults our politicians and judges turned in their efforts to please the Cuban-Americans, while all of the time knowing that law and morality mandated the immediate return of Elian to his father.
Money, Votes and Gore
On the national level Al Gore gave the worst performance of any of the actors, a spineless bid for votes and money that was shameful even by the low standards by which many judge politicians. Stating that Janet Reno was wrong in her determination that Elian should be returned to his father, he supported a law that would give Elian permanent residence, and called for the case to be decided by the state court, although only the federal courts had jurisdiction. Recall what happened when the great uncle went to state court in Miami; the judge, gave an unprecedented and lawless ruling granting custody to the great uncle. Subsequently it was discovered that the judge’s former public relations person for her judicial election was managing the great uncles’s public relations campaign to keep Elian in the U.S. The judge was subsequently indicted for______
So why did Al Gore who is a father and knows the importance of family relationships, turn his back on a six year old child? Although it was rarely mentioned, Gore did raise major money from the Cuban community—over $300,000 when Elian arrived in the U.S. and over $600,000 by spring of 2000.This was comparable to the amounts Bush raised. The Democrat Party had received an additional million dollars or more in soft money, some of it from the Fanjul family, the Cuban-American sugar barons for South Florida who receive significant subsidies. Gore also wanted to win Florida in the election; Clinton won it in 1996. However, Clinton did not win it with the Cuban-American vote; Gore’s hurt his election chances in both Florida and the U.S.
Dithering by Reno
Janet Reno also does not deserve high marks. Early on, in fact by January 5th , she had determined that Elian belonged with his father and advised Elain’s great uncle that Elian should be reunited by January 14th. However, after that date, Janet Reno—at least until the April 22nd seizure of Elian by federal agents—utterly failed to take any of the necessary actions that could have enforced her decision and possibly avoided the use of force. During this 31/2 month period she set deadline after deadline for the reuniting of Elian with his father, but was unwilling to stick to her position. It became almost laughable; except for the fact that this was our nation’s highest law enforcement officer. Her actions made a mockery of herself and the rule of law.
The effect on Elian of her actions is the real tragedy. During the crucial period after his mother’s death, Elian was given no chance to mourn or be with his father who could have comforted him. Instead, Reno allowed the great uncle to abuse Elian in a variety of ways: taking him to Disney World five days after his mother’s death, allowing him to become the poster child for the Cuban American National Foundation and allowing him to be interviewed by Diane Sawyer. Janet Reno allowed this circus atmosphere to prevail in which Elian was the main performer; she never even issued an order to the great uncle that such uncaring conduct had to cease. She could have easily ordered Elian removed from the great uncle on this basis alone. It is not only the great uncle who is guilty of child abuse.
At least initially, Federal marshals were not her only choice. Instead of continuously extending the deadline for the reuniting of Elian and his father, she could have issued an order requiring the return of Elian. When the great uncle refused to comply, she could have gone to federal court, and requested a court order. The great uncle’s failure to obey that order would have meant contempt of court; he could have been fined for every day of refusal and jailed almost immediately. At that point it was still January; the threat by a federal court
might have been enough. Reno also could have begun a criminal proceeding against the great uncle for his failure to comply with her order; charges could have included child abduction and possibly kidnapping. Again, these actions would probably have forced compliance.
In the March 21 order dismissing the great uncle’s federal case, the judge said that “each passing day is another day lost between Juan Gonzalez and his son.” Reno, while acknowledging the trauma this continued separation was causing Elian, still refused to take any significant action. She set another deadline by which the great uncle had to agree that if he lost the appeal, he would return Elian—in other words agree to obey the law. Once again, true to form, she negotiated day after day, each day extending the deadline and the harm to Elian. The great uncle never agreed that he would comply with the law. Yet when Elian’s father came to the U.S. she started negotiating again (begging may be better word), this time for Elian’s return. This meant even more delay. The spectacle of her—the Attorney General of the United States flying to Miami to convince people who already said they would not obey the law, was embarrassing not only to her, but to the entire Department of Justice. Why she acted in the end
The George Wallace Mayor of Miami-Dade County
Alex Penelas the mayor of Miami Dade County publicly stated that he would refuse to uphold the law and assist federal authorities if they came to take Elian from the great uncle. This reminded people of George Wallace’s refusal to enforce a federal court order to integrate the Little Rock, Arkansas schools. It was a disgraceful performance. The fact that he thought he could and did get away with it demonstrates how much the Miami Cuban community considers itself outside the laws that govern the rest of the county. This is true not only in this instance. For years the First Amendment right of citizens of Miami to express views different than those espoused by the Cuban American National Foundation has been practically non-existent; for years expressing such views has been very dangerous.
When the federal authorities decided to forcibly take Elian, they did not inform Penelas. The raid had to be a surprise. Reno feared he would tip off the great uncle, that demonstrators would gather and that the chance of violence would increase. Nor did he police chief tell the Mayor. After the raid, the Mayor requested the city manager to fire the police chief; the city manager refused and he was fired. The new city manager then fired the police chief. Miami remains a country to itself; apparently run only in the interests of some of its Cuban-American residents.
The Forcible Taking of Elian
On April 22nd Janet Reno finally was forced to act. Elain’s father had been in the country for sixteen days and despite her promise that he would be reunited with his son if he came to the U.S., that had not happened. It was unclear to many why Reno had negotiated for so long and had not acted more forcefully through the courts to remove Elian from the great uncle, particularly because of the manner in which the Miami relatives where abusing him. By the time Reno made her decision she had little choice. The Miami relatives were clearly never going to voluntarily return Elian. After the seizure they claimed they would have done so, but their words and actions belie that claim. A week prior to the raid, the great uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, said, “We will not turn this child over…They will have to take this child from me by force.” His daughter, Marisleysis, implied that there were guns in the house, “You think we just have cameras in the house? If people try to come in, they could be hurt.”
None of us liked to see the use of force and weapons to retrieve Elian. But once the decision was made to get him back, Reno had no choice. The Miami family had made that clear. Reno and the U.S. also feared violence from those surrounding the house. The U.S. government had trained and supported a number of Cuban-Americans in carrying out acts of terrorism against Cuba. These people were living in Miami and Reno knew the violence they were capable of. After all they were “our” terrorists. In fact, one of those blocking the entrance to the house on the night of the seizure had served 4 years in jail for refusing to tell a grand jury about Omega 7, a Cuban terrorist group.
Nor was there anything illegal about the raid despite the claims of Professor Tribe in a New York Times Op-Ed. Reno went farther then she had to; she went to a judge a got a warrant that authorized her to seize Elian. She probably could have done so without such warrant. In fact, she complied fully with the law.
The right wing TV media did the expected, excoriated Fidel Castro, claimed the father was not free to decide to stay in the United States because members of Juan Miguel’s family were being held hostage and ignored any facts that would show otherwise. So, for example, Mary Matalin on CNN’s crossfire asked “How he (Juan Miguel) can freely make decisions when his mother is in a secure government building, when his father his back in Havana.” And Bill O’Reilly of Fox News’s O’Reilly Factor said that high level sources had informed him that “Fidel Castro is taking no chances about Juan Miguel Gonzalez defecting with Elian. Castro has now removed Gonzalez’s elderly mother from her home in Cuba and has her in custody.” None of this was true. In fact, a day prior to O’Reilly’s report NBC had interviewed Juan Miguel’s parents in their home, not in government custody. Not only were the grandparents free, but they had applied to the U.S. for a second visa to travel to the United States so they could be with Juan Miguel and his family. This second request was turned down by the United States. None of this was reported by these and other reporters who continued to argue that Juan Miguel was not free because of what Fidel might do to the father’s relatives.
The claimed neutral reporters also got in on the act. Cokie Roberts of ABC, a journalist lauded by many, repeated the drivel about Juan Miguel’s parents having been put in a government compound. She rhetorically asked an interview with Janet Reno, “But do you feel that he’s really free? His parents have apparently been put in some compound where they’re being watched by the government.” On ABC’s This Week Cokie Roberts made the extraordinary statement that she wanted Elian and Marisleysis to come and live with her as “she (Marisleysis) is clearly the only person who cares about him.” And what about Elain’s father and grandparents?
The most shocking was the exploitative Diane Sawyer ABC interview with Elian. It was one of the low moments of the entire saga, a utter abuse of Elian and an example of just how base American TV and its newscasters have become. Sawyer asked Elian to describe what happened to him on the high seas, how his mother died and had him draw pictures of the scene of tens of millions of people. Elian was obviously pained by the memory of what occurred.. These are the type of memories a six year old child ought to talk about with a therapist or his father. It is difficult to understand how Sawyer can live with herself; were Dante writing today he would have for Sawyer and her ilk.
Print media was somewhat better—at least the editorials. The majority favored the reuniting of Elian with his father and allowing him to return to Cuba. Even the normally conservative New York Post came out on the right side as did the less ideological Daily News.
The New York Times had three editorials favoring the return of Elian to his father, but pulled its punches as to when and how that should occur. It was frustrating to read the Times continued calls for patience and the use of the courts during a period when the great uncle was abusing Elian, psychological damage was being inflicted and he was denied his father. Not once did the Times recognize this abuse and call for Elian’s immediate removal from his great uncle.
There was much that generally was not covered —except by Salon and a few others–that would have been beneficial to Elian’s case. The great uncle’s family was no model. There were drunk driving convictions, older cousins of Elian’s had been accused of crimes, and the famous Marileysis had been hospitalized for breakdowns even prior to contact with Elian. Then here was the matter of the money, some two million dollars, supposedly offered to Juan Miguel to stay in the United States. Nor was their significant coverage of the how children are treated in Cuba, of the guarantees of health care, education and nutrition. Instead a portrait of children living under state control in almost concentration camp conditions was put forward. The true facts were inconvenient for much of the media; they did not agree with the propaganda line they were putting out.
*Media quotes are taken from a wonderful compilation by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
The Law and the Court Cases
Until the very last day, June 28th, when the Supreme Court refused to hear the case and refused to prevent Elian from leaving the country, there was never any assurance that he would be allowed to do so. This was not because the law was unclear. There was never a serious question about the law—Elian should have been returned to his father within days of his November 22 arrival in the U.S. The taking of Elian by his mother was contrary to the domestic law of Cuba and the U.S. as well as international law. It is forbidden for one parent to remove a child from another parent who is exercising some form of custody over the child, even where it only visitation. Here, of course, Elian was practically living at his father’s house; there was really no dispute about this point. Even had his mother survived the voyage he should have been returned to Cuba; that is what the law says. The U.S. has signed a treaty to that effect.[As an aside here it is important to note that the U.S. by its dry land refugee policy and the Cuban Adjustment Act encourages Cuban like Elian’s mother to make the dangerous voyage by sea. The U.S. Cuban refugee accords permit 20,000 immigrants a year from Cuba. It was not part of the agreement that Cuban who reach the dry land of the United States would also be treated as refugees; it was the understanding that any such Cubans, like those found on the high seas would be returned. The U.S. is in violation of that agreement. In addition the Cuban Adjustment Act allows any Cuban in the U.S. for a year (unlike any other immigrant) to adjust to permanent resident in one year. This is an added inducement to take the dangerous boat trip.]
Once Elian’s mother died, Elian’s should have been an especially simple legal case. There was only one surviving parent, and barring the unfitness of that parent, he, the father, should have gotten his child back. Even had there been claims that Juan Miguel was an unfit father, those claims under the law are to be decided by the courts of the country of the child’s habitual residence, in this case Cuba.
The steps taken in the earliest days of Elian’s case did follow the law. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is the legal custodian of unaccompanied alien minors. The INS is supposed to try and not put minors like Elian in custody, but should attempt to find a parent or other relative. That is what INS did; it temporarily gave or “paroled” Elian to his great uncle, but INS still retained legal custody. That temporary paroling of Elian was just that; INS could request Elian’s return at anytime and INS could place conditions on that parole, e.g. no TV appearances etc. This temporary parole gave the great uncle no rights, but he did have obligations, particularly to obey INS requests and orders with regard to Elian.
During this entire period there was also an effort to make Elian a citizen or permanent residence by means of a congressional private bill. The theory here was that as permanent resident, Reno and the INS would no longer be his legal custodian and could no longer determine who should have custody of the child. In other words, Reno and INS would be divested of jurisdiction. Elian’s custody would then be determined by the Florida state courts which certainly at the lower levels were bound to award custody to the great uncle. This proposed legislation was a serious threat for a while. Interestingly it was stopped by a number of Republicans some of whom just do not like immigrants and others who had a strong belief in family values and did not want to deprive Elian of this father. As a number of law professors argued it also was probably unconstitutional to make Elian a citizen or resident without his father’s consent.
Subsequent to the temporary paroling of Elian, INS made the determination that Juan Gonzalez was Elian’s father. For political reasons it went even further then it needed to, interviewing the father twice in Cuba and concluded that he had a close relationship to his father and that he was speaking freely. None of this was necessary under the law, nor would any of this have been done with regard to an unaccompanied minor from a country such as Haiti. Such minors would have been returned immediately.
On the basis of these interviews Reno and INS requested that the great uncle to return the Elian by January 14th. When they did not do so, she did nothing to enforce that request. Instead, by letter she informed the great uncle that he could file a federal court action and that she would not take Elian back pending that court proceeding. This was a remarkable caving in to the lawlessness of the Cuban-American community and certainly gave the great uncle the firm impression that they could violate the law with impunity.
The great uncle took up Reno’s invitation and filed a federal court action. It had one primary claim: that Reno and INS improperly denied an asylum application filed by the great uncle on behalf of Elian and signed by the great uncle and by Elian. The application claimed that if Elian was returned to Cuba (1) he would not have the freedom he has in the United States; (2) he might be forced to undergo “re-education” and indoctrination in communist theory; and (3) he might be used for propaganda purposes. Reno and INS had denied the asylum application for two reasons. First, that a six year old child was not competent to file such an application and the great uncle had no authority to do so; and second, that on the merits there was nothing in the application to warrant the granting of asylum. Asylum is given to aliens who have a well-founded fear of persecution for political, racial or similar reasons and the application clearly did not articulate such a fear. Reno’s great uncle insisted that Elian or he could file such an application and that Elian had a right to a hearing prior to its denial.
The Federal District Court in Miami took months, until March 21st, to finally decide in favor of Attorney General Reno. It found that it was within the Attorney General’s discretion to decide whether or not Elian had the capacity to apply for asylum. This was clearly the correct legal decision. The only earlier relevant case concerned a child from the U.S.S.R. An appeals court had found that the views of a child of 12 who applied for asylum should be considered, but that 12 years old was at the lower end of when the INS had to do so. The lawyers for the great uncle knew this and argued that Elian, while only six, had the mental capacity of a 12 year old.
From the time of that district court decision it took over 3 months to finally let Elian go home. It must have been a frightening time for Elian and his father. The appeal of the district court order went to 3 judges in the 11th Circuit court in Atlanta. The first order out of this court—on the question of whether Elian could leave the country while the appeal was pending– did not bode well. The circuit court continued to require that Elian not leave the country, a decision that many of us expected. But the court went on to say that the language of the asylum statute “appeared to support” the great uncle’s claim that Elian as a six year old could apply, on his own, for asylum and “it appears that he did so.” The court further emphasized that Elian, “has expressed a wish that he not be returned to Cuba,” and that the INS had failed to interview him. That the court could have believed that a six year old had any idea about asylum or that his claimed preference of where to live should be considered, seemed absurd and ridiculous. Its an embarrassment to the claimed intelligence of the judges. I asked myself whether any of them had ever raised children?
Luckily, the decision on the merits of the case went against the great uncle. On June 1st the circuit court decided that the asylum statute gave Reno the authority to rule that a six year old was not competent to apply for asylum and that it was inappropriate for the great uncle to do so as well. But the three judges did so with great reluctance and they said so. Essentially the court said that had the decision been theirs to make they would have made a different decision, but because Congress had left the issue to the Attorney General they could not interfere. The Court heavily criticized Cuba: “We acknowledge, as a widely-accepted truth, that Cuba does violate human rights and fundamental freedoms and does not guarantee the rule of law to people living in Cuba.” This statement is not only false, but it was utterly extraneous to the opinion and seems to have been made to ingratiate the judges with the Cuban-American community. The court went on to say that a “reasonable” asylum judge might well have granted the application and found that re-education was persecution. Presumably to these judges teaching students the benefits of capitalism is education and teaching the benefits of socialism is re-education.
This decision should have ended the case, but the great uncle and the Miami Cubans did not give up. They appealed to all twelve judges of the judges on the 11th Circuit; while this appeal was pending the order prohibiting Elian from leaving the country remained in effect. On June 23rd the Circuit denied the appeal. On June 28th the Supreme Court refused to hear the case and refused to prohibit Elian from leaving the country. He, his father and the rest of his real family left for Cuba few hours later.
Some Afterthoughts, The Return Home & Fidel
One of the ironies of Elian’s case is that the primary accusation leveled against Cuba, that the State takes custody and control of children from their parents, is precisely what the Miami Cubans attempted to do in the United States. The accusation with regard to Cuba is unfounded. Yet, without any apologies, these Miami Cubans attempted to take a very young child from his father. Another irony is that unlike the United States where millions of children do not receive a good education, sufficient nutrition of have good health care, the opposite is true in Cuba. In the very community where Reno placed Elian, his relatives were not exactly shining examples of the benefits of America’s bounty.
Behind many of the actions taken in Elian’s case was the belief by both the Miami Cuban, by Reno and Clinton et al., that if and when Juan Miguel came to the United States, he would defect and stay here. This explains many of their actions. It explains why Reno did nothing to take Elian out of an abusive situation with the great uncle until Juan Miguel came to the U.S. Elian was the bait to bring the father here. It explains why the case was tied up in court. Reno always knew the court had no jurisdiction and she could take Elian back; but court delayed the return forcing Juan Miguel to come to the U.S. The court itself, even after Elian and his father were reunited, refused to let Elian leave; there could be only one reason for this—the vain hope that Juan Miguel would defect. The politicians, the courts, the Cuban Miami community could not believe that Juan Miguel would voluntarily go back to Cuba, especially after two million dollar offer to stay. After all in the United States for many it is money and not morality that matters. But Juan Miguel proved otherwise.
It should be recognized that it was Cuba that acted morally took the risks. Cuba made the decision to permit the father and his family to come to the United States where it knew the pressure Juan Miguel would be under to defect. But it allowed the journey in the belief that what was most important was the reuniting of Elian and his father. Many would have been tempted by the offers made to Juan Miguel; he was not. For this he stands as an important symbol not only to the Cubans, but to all of us.
In awarding Juan Miguel the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Order Fidel recognized the importance of the decision made by Juan Miguel, the incredible pressure brought upon him to forsake his country and the risks. As Fidel said:
“A whole nation staked everything and was prepared to do whatever was necessary for his son. But in the final stage, the success of failure of our colossal efforts depended solely on him. The best decision made by the revolution was to fully trust Juan Miguel. The biggest mistake made by the mob and the empire was to believe that Juan Miguel could be bribed and coaxed into treason….There is a grave moral sin of which neither [the U.S. Administration and the Miami mob] is innocent. They both believed that Juan Miguel could be bought and even openly urged him to defect and stay in the United States.”
Fidel closed the award ceremony by recalling highlights of the revolutionary struggle that he had experienced. Yet he said that at
“none of these moments in our struggle have I felt such intense emotion as I did when I saw on television that door open on the little plane that brought them from the United States after so many months of tireless battle, and the figures of Juan Miguel and Elian emerge, at 7:53 p.m. on June 28. A small boy and a modest Cuban father known by very few people hardly a few months before, were as great moral symbols of our homeland.”


No schnitzel, but you can still get beer at new pizzeria that opens Wednesday at former Hofbräuhaus in Rosemont
A year after the last schnitzel was fried and oompa played, a portion of what was a former German beer hall in Rosemont is set to reopen Wednesday under a different restaurant name and concept.
But the new venue will have at least one thing in common with the old one: beer.
Crust, a pizzeria and craft beer bar, will open at 11 a.m. Wednesday within the Parkway Bank Park entertainment district, taking up 13,400 square feet of the 20,000-square-foot former Hofbräuhaus Chicago.
The space has been transformed inside and out over the course of the last year, but the old brewing equipment -- a 2,000-liter Kaspar-Schulz brewery designed, engineered and built by hand in Bamberg, Germany -- has stayed in place. Brewmaster Rob Hunter also has remained on staff to produce a selection of about a half-dozen signature and seasonal/specialty beers.
The menu features 16 pizzas; each are individually-sized at 12 inches, but can be shared. They include The 312 (red sauce, mozzarella, house made Italian beef and giardiniera) and The Shroom (white garlic Parmesan cream sauce, black truffle cream, mixed mushroom, arugula and shaved Parmesan).
For diners not into pizza or beer, the menu offers other entrees, shareables, salads, desserts, wine and cocktails.
The pizzeria and brewery is the brainchild of father-and-son businessmen Joe and Mike Matuschka, who operated Hofbräuhaus for eight years under a lease with the village. Amid rising costs and shrinking profits, they decided to retool, and last April, they bought a portion of the former beer hall for $2.165 million and started renovations.
Still to come on the other side of the wall in the subdivided building: a 5,000-square-foot Pete's Piano Bar and 1,800-square-foot Tiki Tiki bar.


- On: 9, Nov 2018
7 min read
Social media engagement insights, news, and tips.
For this year's Brand Marketing Summit, the Incite Group made the bold statement "Marketing is Dead: Engagement is Alive." We were privileged to catch some great talks from leaders in marketing for some of the world's biggest brands during the summit. Read on for the most inspiring takeaways of the conference, curated by our Customer Success Lead, Maria Moilanen!
The Marketing Trifecta: Content, Purpose, Action by Jill Cress, Chief Marketing Officer, National Geographic
This was an insightful talk especially as I've been a massive fan of National Geographic since my childhood. Who doesn't remember those exciting wildlife documentaries on television or flipping through stacks of magazines filled with incredible images?
As the CMO of National Geographic (the #1 brand on Instagram with 93.6 million followers), Jill Cress shared how important it was for them to know what's on the hearts and minds of consumers.
"We now get bombarded with so much content that anything not immediately relevant, authentic or interesting gets quickly ignored or pushed aside. But I think this new “era of distraction” has created an exciting challenge for today’s marketers – and it’s one that’s forcing us to really understand our audiences, their motivations and their preferences at a core level."
Jill shared about how National Geographic turned to Facebook Messenger and virtual reality to captivate audiences and drum up exciting for two of their new series, "Genius" and "One Strange Rock".
For "Genius", the company created Genius Bot, a Facebook Messenger app that connected audiences directly with the show’s main character – Albert Einstein - and allowed people to chat directly with "Einstein". To promote the series “One Strange Rock,” National Geographic created the first-ever Astronaut Reality Helmet giving viewers a brand new perspective of earth, without ever having to leave New York.
Cress also emphasized how listening to consumers was crucial, in order to understand what will resonate and move the needle:
"From a media and content consumption standpoint, fluffy no longer cuts it – people are demanding harder-hitting news. And with this change, consumers also look to align themselves with brands that confidently take stands on societal issues. Brand marketers must do more than sell products, experiences and lifestyles; they must insert themselves into conversations on larger topical issues to remain relevant and respectable to today’s consumer."
One key takeaway from this talk was how at Turner Broadcasting (owner of CNN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, and others) uses the term "fans" instead of "viewers".
"...we are on a mission to Reimagine TV and disrupt our industry by turning viewers into highly engaged, loyal and unapologetic fans of the content we create and the deeply personal experiences we provide. As marketers, it is our job to break through the clutter and constantly surprise and delight our fans at every interaction."
In her talk, Molly Battin shared about how the company's main marketing goal across all brands at Turner is to develop and execute fan-centric campaigns. They do that by relying on data and analytics more than ever before, capturing data at every point and infusing it into decision-making.
At the same time, it is important for them to balance SCIENCE with ART and MATH with MAGIC. They consider themselves "data-informed" rather than "data-driven", as world-class creative is still crucial to entertain and delight fans.
"Put the fan at the center of everything you do. Listen to them.
Create experiences for them where they can engage with your brands and interact with other fans. They are more loyal, more willing to sample new content, more willing to spend time and money to interact with their favorite content across a variety of touchpoints and they become your biggest marketing asset – evangelists for your brands."
My key insight from this talk by Terrance Williams was the focus that Nationwide has on creating better processes to make life easier for customers.
"It’s about meeting consumers where they are and providing them with something of value. If we seek to make the “right” impression and move consumers further down the path to purchase, we need to show up in the correct environmental space with something meaningful to them."
Hearing what Nationwide is doing in terms of new ways of marketing to customers was exciting, especially as the insurance and financial services industry is ripe for disruption.
The talk finished on a high with the exclamation that Nationwide will "bring sexy back to insurance." We look forward to seeing this in action!
My key takeaway from this talk by James Gregson was how focused LEGO is on ensuring that the company's global content, be it organic or paid, aligns with the brand mission "to inspire builders of tomorrow". LEGO focuses on a global mindset and adapting to digital disruption.
"From a LEGO social media stand point what we really try and do is being comfortable that we are okay with removing content when it doesn't perform. If we publish an asset and it isn't performing we have no problem with removing it and we will do so within 5-10 minutes of it being live. It's not something we do often. Understanding the value of the world of organic reach and the idea of channel health we feel really confident that we need to be empowered as a publishing team to only share the best content. We will be the first ones to raise our hand and say "We thought this content would perform and it didn't" and we will change, republish, edit it or not publish it at all."
LEGO feels that it needs to be very reactive and responsive. Impressively, within 2-3 hours of the Ellen tweet about the blue and black dress going viral, they posted a piece of content referencing the meme that was reactive, responsive and relevant, taking a fun, playful standpoint.
When combating the challenge of organic reach, relevancy and timeliness of content is paramount to LEGO's content strategy. LEGO delivered some of the most fun content examples of the summit and clearly has succeeded in being reactive and responsive.
We hope you found some of these takeaways as inspiring as we did! On the other side of the world, our Lisbon local #brandbastioneer Carina Miranda writes about her takeaways from Web Summit Lisbon here.


Courtesy of PSU Marketing and Communication department
A project to replace the turf field at Pittsburg State University’s Carnie Smith Stadium will wrap up soon and the stadium will re-open to the public.
The project, which began on June 22, is being funded by Freeman Health System of Joplin, Missouri.
“This project is long-planned, given the lifetime of synthetic fields,” said Jim Johnson, director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Pittsburg State University. “We’ve had this work on the horizon for some time, so we’re excited to see it come to fruition.”
The project is led by Mammoth Sports Construction, a company based in Meriden, Kansas. The company’s recent projects include the turf at Hutchinson Field in Pittsburg, the football field at Girard (Kan.) High School, and Wagner Field in Bill Snyder Stadium at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. The field going in at Pitt State is an elite FieldTurf system also used by the Universities of Oregon and Alabama.
The project is led by Joe Kerr, a 1998 graduate of PSU’s School of Construction.
“We’re excited to be part of the future of such an iconic stadium and NCAA Division II football tradition, and excited that Joe is leading the way,” said Brian Morris, vice president of operations for Mammoth. “We’re proud of the footprint we have in our home state of Kansas.”
Keeping the business in Kansas was an important part of the decision-making process, Johnson said.
“We are fortunate to have companies like Mammoth in Kansas, and that we can call upon them for complex projects like this one,” said Johnson. “Keeping our business close to home has many benefits.”
The current turf was installed in the summer of 2012 and was nearing the end of its life from a safety standpoint.
“It becomes a safety issue for our student-athletes. One of the primary benefits of a synthetic surface is to help prevent concussions and other injuries at higher rates than what can occur on grass fields,” said Johnson. “But that advantage degrades over time, so replacement is necessary to protect our student-athletes and others who use our field.”
Freeman Health System President and Chief Executive Officer Paula Baker said it’s important to invest in the infrastructure that fuels the future.
“Institutions like Pittsburg State University are critical in producing the graduates needed by Freeman Health Systems and other industries, and football is an important part of the experience at Pitt State,” Baker said. “We appreciate PSU’s recruiting power and are aware of the health and safety benefits of a new field, so we are proud to support it.”
The project is wrapping up now, and the stadium will reopen to the public by the end of the month.
“This project is the latest example of our long-standing relationship and value exchange with Freeman Health System,” said Steve Scott, president of Pittsburg State University. “They’ve committed to the success of our programs across our campus, and we’ve committed to producing graduates that go right to work in the healthcare industry.”


After great success with their first movie showing, “Jo Davidsmeyer Unleashed,” new club American Film Society (AFS) will be putting together a film festival to raise money for the Class of 2018, the Class of 2017, and the club itself.
AFS is a brand new club founded earlier this year that meets at 1 p.m. on Thursdays in Portable 13. They produce videos to raise funds to ultimately donate to charity. “The production of student films can be a fun and engaging activity. I plan to create an environment at AFS where students can learn to make films, publish them, and then use them as fundraisers to raise money for a good cause, such as the Alzheimer’s Association or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. If anyone in high school, would like to join please feel free talk to me and come to our next meeting,” said sophomore Josh Wolff, founder of AFS.
The most unique aspects of the movies they create are the inside jokes only Pine View students can appreciate. “I love how AFS is its own little community, and how we’re all one big family”, said sophomore Matthew Overbeck.
Earlier this year, AFS produced and showed “Jo Davidsmeyer Unleashed,” a humorous movie detailing computer teacher Jo Davidsmeyer’s secret title as undercover dictator of Pine View. The profit from ticket sales went to the Class of 2017.
The AFS Film Festival will feature the sequel of “Jo Davidsmeyer Unleashed,” “Jo Davidsmeyer Uncensored,” along with other short films. The festival will take place in the auditorium from 2:00-3:30 on April 9. “I am very optimistic about the Pine View Film Festival. We will raise money for charitable causes and classes, engage students in local film production, introduce new students to AFS, while simultaneously creating a united element of culture at Pine View. I hope that the Festival will be the first of many to come,” said Wolff.