Upcoming releases: 'The Odd Life of Timothy Green,' 'Sparkle'
Wednesday
"The Odd Life of Timothy Green": Fantasy drama about two wannabe parents who bury a box containing all of their wishes for a child in their backyard. Soon, a boy arrives on the scene, though Timothy Green is not all that he appears to be. With Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton. Rated PG for mild mature themes and language.
Aug. 17
"The Expendables 2": Sequel to the 2010 adventure that reunited an all-star pack of '80s action stars. This time, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture and Terry Crews are joined by new members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) on a new mission handed to them by Mr. Church (Bruce Willis). Rated R for action, bloody violence and language.
"ParaNorman": Animated tale for kiddies about a boy who can speak with the dead and who battles ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse. With the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Goodman and Casey Affleck. Rated PG for scary action and images, mature themes, rude humor and language.
"Sparkle": In the 1960s, three sisters form a girl group and soon become Motown sensations, but fame becomes a challenge as the close-knit group begins to fall apart. Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks star in the eagerly awaited made-in-Detroit drama. Rated PG-13 for mature themes, content involving domestic abuse and drugs, violence and language.
Aug. 24
"The Apparition": A young couple (Ashley Greene and Sebastian Stan) are haunted by a presence that was accidentally conjured during a parapsychology experiment. Rated PG-13 for terror, frightening images and sensuality.
"Celeste and Jesse Forever": A husband and wife in the midst of a divorce try to maintain their friendship while they both pursue other people. With Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg. Rated R for language, sexual content and drug use.
"Hit & Run": Michigan natives Dax Shepard and Kristin Bell star in an adventure comedy about a former getaway driver who jeopardizes his protected identity to help his girlfriend get to L.A. They're pursued en route by both the feds and gang members. With Bradley Cooper. Rated R for language, sexual references, graphic nudity, violence and drug content.
"Premium Rush": A Manhattan bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon. Rated PG-13 for violence, intense action and language.
"The Queen of Versailles": Documentary about a billionaire couple and the construction of a mansion inspired by Versailles. Things change when the economy fails and the couple's wealth, fueled by the real estate bubble and cheap money, takes a hit. Rated PG for mature themes and language.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Bristol Palin’s ‘Life’s a Tripp’ Reportedly Prompts Levi Johnston to Consider Full Custody of Son
Bristol Palin’s ‘Life’s a Tripp’ Reportedly Prompts Levi Johnston to Consider Full Custody of Son
Dismayed by a reality-TV show featuring his ex-fiancee, Bristol Palin, and their son, Tripp, Levi Johnston plans to seek full custody of the boy.
In a statement to ABC News, Johnston wrote, “I want full or half custody of Tripp. His room is already set up in my house and just waiting for him.”
Palin, 21, and 3-year-old Tripp are featured on the Lifetime show, “Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp.” Johnston says the show is proof that his ex is a terrible parent and his son is “on a downward spiral,” the gossip website TMZ reported.
TMZ reported that Johnston, 22, is so “disgusted” by his son’s language and behavior that he obtained the required court papers to file the custody petition.
“I love my son more than anything … and I will do whatever it takes to make sure he is raised the right way,” Johnston reportedly told TMZ.
In a recent episode of the show, Tripp threw a temper tantrum when told he couldn’t go to the pool. When his aunt, Willow, tried to calm him, Tripp told her and his mother that he hated them, then told Willow, “Go away, you f***!”
Initial reports indicated Tripp had used an anti-gay slur, but his mother said in a blog post that he “used a different ‘f word.’” Palin confessed on the show to doing “a terrible job disciplining Tripp.”
Of her son’s behavior, she also wrote that the cameras “caught a moment on film that would cause any parent to be red in the face.”
Johnston was Palin’s high school boyfriend. The pair have been engaged twice but are no longer a couple.
Under the terms of their child-custody agreement, Palin has primary custody and Johnston may visit Tripp.
The agreement prohibits either parent from publicly disparaging the other.
Since the pair split, she has been a spokeswoman for teen abstinence, written a book and appeared on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” Johnston has posed for Playgirl magazine and written a tell-all book about his relationship with Palin and the Palin family.
Palin is the daughter of former Alaska governor and one-time Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
The disclosure during her mother’s 2008 campaign that Bristol Palin, then 17, was pregnant created sweeping controversy.
Dismayed by a reality-TV show featuring his ex-fiancee, Bristol Palin, and their son, Tripp, Levi Johnston plans to seek full custody of the boy.
In a statement to ABC News, Johnston wrote, “I want full or half custody of Tripp. His room is already set up in my house and just waiting for him.”
Palin, 21, and 3-year-old Tripp are featured on the Lifetime show, “Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp.” Johnston says the show is proof that his ex is a terrible parent and his son is “on a downward spiral,” the gossip website TMZ reported.
TMZ reported that Johnston, 22, is so “disgusted” by his son’s language and behavior that he obtained the required court papers to file the custody petition.
“I love my son more than anything … and I will do whatever it takes to make sure he is raised the right way,” Johnston reportedly told TMZ.
In a recent episode of the show, Tripp threw a temper tantrum when told he couldn’t go to the pool. When his aunt, Willow, tried to calm him, Tripp told her and his mother that he hated them, then told Willow, “Go away, you f***!”
Initial reports indicated Tripp had used an anti-gay slur, but his mother said in a blog post that he “used a different ‘f word.’” Palin confessed on the show to doing “a terrible job disciplining Tripp.”
Of her son’s behavior, she also wrote that the cameras “caught a moment on film that would cause any parent to be red in the face.”
Johnston was Palin’s high school boyfriend. The pair have been engaged twice but are no longer a couple.
Under the terms of their child-custody agreement, Palin has primary custody and Johnston may visit Tripp.
The agreement prohibits either parent from publicly disparaging the other.
Since the pair split, she has been a spokeswoman for teen abstinence, written a book and appeared on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” Johnston has posed for Playgirl magazine and written a tell-all book about his relationship with Palin and the Palin family.
Palin is the daughter of former Alaska governor and one-time Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
The disclosure during her mother’s 2008 campaign that Bristol Palin, then 17, was pregnant created sweeping controversy.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Life-Time Jail Requested in Torture Case
Life-Time Jail Requested in Torture Case
A public prosecutor has demanded aggravated life imprisonment for two prison guards charged with inflicting torture on Engin Çeber that resulted in his death in 2008.
The hearing in the case of Çeber’s death was held at Bakırköy’s 14th Court for Serious Crimes yesterday.
The jailed suspects Fuat Karaosmanoğlu, Selahattin Apaydın, Nihat Kızılkaya, and Sami Ergazi and lawyers for all parties were in attendance at the hearing. Çeber’s father, Ali Tekin, and sister, Şerife Çeber, were also present.
Public Prosecutor Erdal Şenol demanded “aggravated life imprisonment” for guards Selahattin Apaydın and Sami Ergazi, who are charged with “aggravated torture,” a prison sentence of between 3 to 12 years for guard Nihat Kızılkaya on the charge of “torture,” and between 6 months and 1 year in prison for Deputy Director Fuat Karaosmanoğlu on a charge of “misconduct.” The prosecutor expressed his opinion that Kızılkaya and Karaosmanoğlu should be released on charges of misconduct at their post, but requested 3 to 12 years in prison for police officers Mehmet Pek, Abdülmuttalip Bozyel, Murat Çise and Yavuz Uzun.
Çeber allegedly died due to torture and maltreatment he suffered at Metris Prison on Oct. 10, 2008.
The victim and three friends were taken into custody after participating in a rally protesting police brutality and violence, at which they read a press statement. His friends, who survived, described in detail the torture they experienced at the Şehit Muhsin Bodur police station and Metris prison.
The forensic medical report said Çeber died as a result of torture. Then-Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin accepted the report’s statement and apologized to the public.
A public prosecutor has demanded aggravated life imprisonment for two prison guards charged with inflicting torture on Engin Çeber that resulted in his death in 2008.
The hearing in the case of Çeber’s death was held at Bakırköy’s 14th Court for Serious Crimes yesterday.
The jailed suspects Fuat Karaosmanoğlu, Selahattin Apaydın, Nihat Kızılkaya, and Sami Ergazi and lawyers for all parties were in attendance at the hearing. Çeber’s father, Ali Tekin, and sister, Şerife Çeber, were also present.
Public Prosecutor Erdal Şenol demanded “aggravated life imprisonment” for guards Selahattin Apaydın and Sami Ergazi, who are charged with “aggravated torture,” a prison sentence of between 3 to 12 years for guard Nihat Kızılkaya on the charge of “torture,” and between 6 months and 1 year in prison for Deputy Director Fuat Karaosmanoğlu on a charge of “misconduct.” The prosecutor expressed his opinion that Kızılkaya and Karaosmanoğlu should be released on charges of misconduct at their post, but requested 3 to 12 years in prison for police officers Mehmet Pek, Abdülmuttalip Bozyel, Murat Çise and Yavuz Uzun.
Çeber allegedly died due to torture and maltreatment he suffered at Metris Prison on Oct. 10, 2008.
The victim and three friends were taken into custody after participating in a rally protesting police brutality and violence, at which they read a press statement. His friends, who survived, described in detail the torture they experienced at the Şehit Muhsin Bodur police station and Metris prison.
The forensic medical report said Çeber died as a result of torture. Then-Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin accepted the report’s statement and apologized to the public.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Phelps starts life out of the water
Phelps starts life out of the water
Like a fish out of water, Michael Phelps started the first day of his new life uncertain where to turn and wondering what to do next.
For the first time in two decades, he didn't need to set his alarm clock to get up before dawn and stuff his swimming trunks and goggles in a bag and head to the pool.
Exhausted from the night before when he finished his incredible career by winning his 18th Olympic gold medal, he had planned to sleep in but his body and mind wouldn't allow it.
He woke at 6 a.m., as always, but with his head still spinning with the magnitude of what he had accomplished and his emotions overflowing as the realisation that it was all over began to sink in.
"I didn't really sleep past the normal time I wake up. I only had three or four hours of sleep last night then I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep," he told Reuters in an interview on Sunday.
"It's kinda weird, it's very strange, the first day of not having to swim and never having it again."
Phelps had known for a long time that this day was coming after deciding in Beijing four years ago that London would be his last Olympics.
The American knew well in advance what his last race would be and what day it would take place so he started to get himself ready.
He didn't train as hard as he did before Beijing, where he won eight gold medals, but he got himself fit enough and stayed motivated enough to bag another four golds and two silvers and finish his career with a staggering record total of 22 medals.
His final race, Saturday's medley relay, was watched by millions of people around the world and could not have been scripted better.
The crowd inside London's Aquatics Centre let out a mighty roar, instinctively rising to their feet to honour the most decorated Olympian of all time.
He received his gold medal, then a lifetime achievement award from swimming's world governing body and a thousand handshakes and backslaps. There were tears as well, from his family, his coach, even Phelps himself. It was little wonder he hardly slept.
"I'm not sure right now what I feel. It's really confusing," he said.
"I'm all over the place right now. I've got really mixed emotions. I just don't know really how to react yet."
Phelps planned to spend the day with his mother Debbie, but had to fulfill one commitment first, a round of media interviews with his sponsor Visa.
He spent 30 minutes on stage in a packed auditorium answering questions on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from swimming, the food in London and whether he planned to marry soon, then spoke privately to a handful of selected media outlets, including Reuters.
Red-eyed and battling to keep awake, he reflected on his success and talked about his future, saying he wanted to travel more and improve his golf handicap.
The 27-year-old said he wanted to keep in shape after piling on the pounds when he took a short break after Beijing but was not going near a pool again, except to watch the world championships and Olympics.
"The competitive part of my career is over but it doesn't mean my involvement with swimming is over," he said. "I'm still going to be involved, but looking at it from the outside."
Like a fish out of water, Michael Phelps started the first day of his new life uncertain where to turn and wondering what to do next.
For the first time in two decades, he didn't need to set his alarm clock to get up before dawn and stuff his swimming trunks and goggles in a bag and head to the pool.
Exhausted from the night before when he finished his incredible career by winning his 18th Olympic gold medal, he had planned to sleep in but his body and mind wouldn't allow it.
He woke at 6 a.m., as always, but with his head still spinning with the magnitude of what he had accomplished and his emotions overflowing as the realisation that it was all over began to sink in.
"I didn't really sleep past the normal time I wake up. I only had three or four hours of sleep last night then I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep," he told Reuters in an interview on Sunday.
"It's kinda weird, it's very strange, the first day of not having to swim and never having it again."
Phelps had known for a long time that this day was coming after deciding in Beijing four years ago that London would be his last Olympics.
The American knew well in advance what his last race would be and what day it would take place so he started to get himself ready.
He didn't train as hard as he did before Beijing, where he won eight gold medals, but he got himself fit enough and stayed motivated enough to bag another four golds and two silvers and finish his career with a staggering record total of 22 medals.
His final race, Saturday's medley relay, was watched by millions of people around the world and could not have been scripted better.
The crowd inside London's Aquatics Centre let out a mighty roar, instinctively rising to their feet to honour the most decorated Olympian of all time.
He received his gold medal, then a lifetime achievement award from swimming's world governing body and a thousand handshakes and backslaps. There were tears as well, from his family, his coach, even Phelps himself. It was little wonder he hardly slept.
"I'm not sure right now what I feel. It's really confusing," he said.
"I'm all over the place right now. I've got really mixed emotions. I just don't know really how to react yet."
Phelps planned to spend the day with his mother Debbie, but had to fulfill one commitment first, a round of media interviews with his sponsor Visa.
He spent 30 minutes on stage in a packed auditorium answering questions on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from swimming, the food in London and whether he planned to marry soon, then spoke privately to a handful of selected media outlets, including Reuters.
Red-eyed and battling to keep awake, he reflected on his success and talked about his future, saying he wanted to travel more and improve his golf handicap.
The 27-year-old said he wanted to keep in shape after piling on the pounds when he took a short break after Beijing but was not going near a pool again, except to watch the world championships and Olympics.
"The competitive part of my career is over but it doesn't mean my involvement with swimming is over," he said. "I'm still going to be involved, but looking at it from the outside."
Friday, August 3, 2012
Knight Capital fighting for its life
Knight Capital fighting for its life
Knight Capital Group Inc. fought for survival on Thursday after a $440 million trading loss caused by a software glitch wiped out much of its capital, forcing Knight to seek new funding as its shares plunged almost 80 percent in two days.
Many of the company's biggest customers, including TD Ameritrade, the No. 1 U.S. retail brokerage by trading volume, and fund giants Vanguard and Fidelity Investments, stopped routing orders through Knight. One of the biggest fears is that the company will collapse, landing trading partners with losses.
"They have about 48 hours to shore up confidence," said James Koutoulas, head of an advocacy group for former customers of failed brokerages MF Global and Peregrine Financial.
Knight said it is "actively pursuing its strategic and financing alternatives," raising the likelihood the firm will be sold or face bankruptcy because of the loss and subsequent damage to business.
As one of the leading market makers in U.S. stocks, Knight is among the firms that are critical to smooth, orderly trading. Market makers match orders from buyers and sellers and often provide liquidity by stepping into the market themselves.
The speed at which Knight has unraveled has been particularly unnerving for investors and markets. It resulted from problems with the firm's trading software that sent bogus, rapid-fire trades into the market for 45 minutes on Wednesday and left Knight with big losses on numerous stocks it bought at inflated prices.
Knight is in talks with Silver Lake Partners-backed trading firm Virtu Financial LLC about a possible deal, according to The Wall Street Journal. Knight has approached JPMorgan Chase & Co for financing, according to a report on Fox Business Network. A spokesman for JPMorgan declined to comment. Spokeswomen for both Knight and Silver Lake also declined comment.
Knight's $440 million trading loss has reignited debate over whether technology has elevated risk in trading to unacceptable levels.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday said it would consider whether new measures might be necessary to safeguard markets.
"We continue to closely review the events surrounding yesterday's trading and discuss those events with other regulators as well as Knight Capital Group," said SEC spokesman John Nester.
"We also are considering what, if any, additional steps may be necessary, beyond the post-Flash Crash measures that limited the impact of yesterday's trading," Nester said.
Advocates of trading systems that can pump thousands of shares across Wall Street in milliseconds say the fault lies not in the systems but in the lack of controls at individual firms. Knight blamed its technology breakdown on new software that routed a flood of erroneous orders to the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, but offered no explanation as to why traders didn't immediately intervene to arrest the obvious errors.
DISASTERS SEEN INEVITABLE
Trading veterans say the sprawl of trading venues in the United States coupled with the constant tinkering with software codes and systems upgrades have led to such complexity that disasters are bound to occur. Since March, a series of embarrassing technology issues, including the botched Facebook trading debut after its IPO and the failed public offering of BATS Global Markets have rocked markets and shaken the confidence of investors.
"You've got 13 exchanges, 50 dark pools, brokers that internalize client orders at their own desks and thousands of algorithms pumping orders in milliseconds," said Larry Tabb, founder of Tabb Group, a financial consulting firm. "The structure just may be too complicated to work."
But some experts fear that a regulatory and populist backlash -- let alone protests from competitors -- will reverse advances that benefit investors.
"I'm very worried people will take a look and say there is something fundamentally wrong with the market, and there isn't," said Maureen O'Hara, a finance professor at Cornell University who sat on an advisory panel that explored reforms after the U.S. stock market collapsed inexplicably in a few minutes in the 2010 "Flash Crash."
USING OTHER MARKET MAKERS
Several large retail brokerages said they had not resumed trading with Knight, instead routing orders to other market makers. TD Ameritrade, which usually routes about 4.5 percent of its orders through Knight, is currently not sending orders through the firm, said Joe Kinahan, its chief derivatives strategist.
Knight Capital Group Inc. fought for survival on Thursday after a $440 million trading loss caused by a software glitch wiped out much of its capital, forcing Knight to seek new funding as its shares plunged almost 80 percent in two days.
Many of the company's biggest customers, including TD Ameritrade, the No. 1 U.S. retail brokerage by trading volume, and fund giants Vanguard and Fidelity Investments, stopped routing orders through Knight. One of the biggest fears is that the company will collapse, landing trading partners with losses.
"They have about 48 hours to shore up confidence," said James Koutoulas, head of an advocacy group for former customers of failed brokerages MF Global and Peregrine Financial.
Knight said it is "actively pursuing its strategic and financing alternatives," raising the likelihood the firm will be sold or face bankruptcy because of the loss and subsequent damage to business.
As one of the leading market makers in U.S. stocks, Knight is among the firms that are critical to smooth, orderly trading. Market makers match orders from buyers and sellers and often provide liquidity by stepping into the market themselves.
The speed at which Knight has unraveled has been particularly unnerving for investors and markets. It resulted from problems with the firm's trading software that sent bogus, rapid-fire trades into the market for 45 minutes on Wednesday and left Knight with big losses on numerous stocks it bought at inflated prices.
Knight is in talks with Silver Lake Partners-backed trading firm Virtu Financial LLC about a possible deal, according to The Wall Street Journal. Knight has approached JPMorgan Chase & Co for financing, according to a report on Fox Business Network. A spokesman for JPMorgan declined to comment. Spokeswomen for both Knight and Silver Lake also declined comment.
Knight's $440 million trading loss has reignited debate over whether technology has elevated risk in trading to unacceptable levels.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday said it would consider whether new measures might be necessary to safeguard markets.
"We continue to closely review the events surrounding yesterday's trading and discuss those events with other regulators as well as Knight Capital Group," said SEC spokesman John Nester.
"We also are considering what, if any, additional steps may be necessary, beyond the post-Flash Crash measures that limited the impact of yesterday's trading," Nester said.
Advocates of trading systems that can pump thousands of shares across Wall Street in milliseconds say the fault lies not in the systems but in the lack of controls at individual firms. Knight blamed its technology breakdown on new software that routed a flood of erroneous orders to the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, but offered no explanation as to why traders didn't immediately intervene to arrest the obvious errors.
DISASTERS SEEN INEVITABLE
Trading veterans say the sprawl of trading venues in the United States coupled with the constant tinkering with software codes and systems upgrades have led to such complexity that disasters are bound to occur. Since March, a series of embarrassing technology issues, including the botched Facebook trading debut after its IPO and the failed public offering of BATS Global Markets have rocked markets and shaken the confidence of investors.
"You've got 13 exchanges, 50 dark pools, brokers that internalize client orders at their own desks and thousands of algorithms pumping orders in milliseconds," said Larry Tabb, founder of Tabb Group, a financial consulting firm. "The structure just may be too complicated to work."
But some experts fear that a regulatory and populist backlash -- let alone protests from competitors -- will reverse advances that benefit investors.
"I'm very worried people will take a look and say there is something fundamentally wrong with the market, and there isn't," said Maureen O'Hara, a finance professor at Cornell University who sat on an advisory panel that explored reforms after the U.S. stock market collapsed inexplicably in a few minutes in the 2010 "Flash Crash."
USING OTHER MARKET MAKERS
Several large retail brokerages said they had not resumed trading with Knight, instead routing orders to other market makers. TD Ameritrade, which usually routes about 4.5 percent of its orders through Knight, is currently not sending orders through the firm, said Joe Kinahan, its chief derivatives strategist.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Building castles in the sand on Lebanon’s glorious beaches
Building castles in the sand on Lebanon’s glorious beaches
But it’s also an art, and in Lebanon, for the fourth consecutive summer, sandcastle building is a competitive sport – albeit an amateur one.Sandcastles in Lebanon is an initiative founded and run by Rita Maalouf, who upon returning to Lebanon from the U.S. four years ago decided to be a doer rather than a complainer.
Observing that the country’s coastline had changed and that the stretch of beach between Blat and Jbeil where she had built sandcastles in her youth was now dominated by the plush pink loungers of the Edde Sands resort, Maalouf decided to take action, not in opposition to the coastal development, but in tandem with it to highlight the value of Lebanon’s sandy beaches and bring Lebanese together in a classic seaside activity.
“I was used to going to that beach when it was public, and it was a huge beach with a lot of sand ... We used to go there and make sand sculptures – just us family. [When I returned] I realized everything is closed and we couldn’t get there anymore,” Maalouf explains.
Then, she says, one day a friend led her onto the Jbeil beach through a public entrance. The pair walked down the beach toward Blat, passing along the waterfront in front of the new coastal resorts. Maalouf felt anxious: “We felt guilty,” she says, “because we knew [when we were] crossing we were walking into one [resort] and [then] into the others.”
However, when she asked around later, people told her: “No, you are allowed to go – it’s the municipality entrance.”
“I figured I wanted people to know about [this],” she says. “The whole beach is actually public [for] the first 10 meters [from the sea]. Of course you don’t want to ... annoy these resorts, but you can still enjoy [the beach].”
Maalouf’s brainchild to this end was a sandcastle-building competition – a half-day event during which teams would create, using only sand and water, a sculpture of their choosing.
Indeed, Maalouf even enlisted the cooperation of a private beach resort in running the inaugural competition.
“The first year we did it in Blat. It was with the help of Bay 183, and they let everyone in for free,” she explains.
The turnout that first year was only 20 to 25 people, Maalouf admits, and most of them were friends and family who she had convinced to come.
“They really didn’t know what they were getting into, but they didn’t want to fail me. So they came. But then they had a blast, and they all said, ‘We never imagined it was so much fun.’”
Taking this positive response as encouragement, Maalouf ran the competition again in 2010 and 2011.
“I did it the year after and I had 60 contestants, and then last year I had 80,” she says, adding that she actually had to turn people away in 2011 due to a lack of space.
Over the years the sand edifices produced at the Sandcastles in Lebanon event have ranged from fairy-tale castles to a recreation of an Egyptian pyramid. Sharks have materialized along the shoreline next to a living room replete with couch cushions and a DVD player. One team created an enormous Converse shoe, while another conjured from the sands a swimmer frantically struggling to escape a crowd of swarming crocodiles. Others have turned sea turtles into sand turtles, while many have skillfully crafted mermaids and female nudes, which at the end of the day are left to tranquilly bathe in the moonlight.
In both 2010 and 2011, the competition was held in Jbeil with the cooperation of Edde Sands.
This year, under the patronage of Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud, Maalouf is not only expanding the initiative – events will be held in Beirut and Tyre as well as Blat Jbeil – but also forgoing private sector cooperation in favor of using public beaches only.
Alongside highlighting Lebanon’s remaining public beach areas, space is a major factor in Maalouf’s decision.
“I think we can handle a lot more [contestants this year], especially as I am not bound within a limited area [because I am not working with a resort],” she says.
As for the competition itself, the formula is simple and very relaxed, although Maalouf says that ideally teams should register beforehand so she can estimate the space and equipment needed.
Otherwise, entry is free of charge; teams are usually comprised of four people although bigger or smaller groups may participate; and a bucket, a small spade and some basic sculpting tools (a plastic knife, fork and straw) are provided.
If you’re in it to win it though, Maalouf has a few suggestions: Bring a big shovel to hasten progress and decide on your sculpture or castle design ahead of time, bearing in mind that you’ll have a 3-meter square space in which to work.
She is also keen to point out that you’ll be working in the sun for four to five hours straight, so a hat, a T-shirt and plenty of water are essential accessories for castle building.
Don’t be discouraged if you’re neither an architect nor an artist, as the competition is designed for sand sculpting amateurs, with prizes not only awarded for the best sculpture but also for the most original and most difficult designs.
This year at Jbeil well-known sculptors Antoine Berberi and Naim Doumit return as judges, and so far prize sponsors include Quicksilver and Roxy. In addition to the judges’ award, both participants and passersby can choose their favorite sand sculpture in “The People’s Vote” category.
But, Maalouf explains, the prizes are just tokens. The real rewards of the competition are the friendships forged and awareness raised.
Sandcastles in Lebanon offers people an alternative and new way to interact with the coastal environment, one which, Maalouf believes, may break down social barriers.
“It’s very hard mixing people from different areas because they are so used to different ways of attending the beach,” she says.
“But I think this is a common way to have people join [together].
“You know, you don’t have to wear a swimsuit to go to the beach – you can still do something with the sand,” Maalouf adds.
However, for Maalouf, “the most important thing [to highlight] is that we are losing our sand.”
Both pollution and exploitation are damaging Lebanon’s beaches.
But, Maalouf contends, “when people realize that we can actually use [our sand] as an attraction to our country, or we can enjoy it, we wouldn’t allow people to suck up the sand in front of our shore and say it’s not a priority.”
What’s more, she believes that when people actually get down to working in the sand and they come upon garbage, it will highlight in a very tangible way the need to prohibit the littering and dumping on Lebanon’s beaches.
This year’s Sandcastles in Lebanon competitions will take place in Blat Jbeil on Aug. 12, Ramlet al Baida, Beirut on Sept. 2 and Tyre on a date yet to be announced.
For more information or to register your team visit SandCastles in Lebanon on
But it’s also an art, and in Lebanon, for the fourth consecutive summer, sandcastle building is a competitive sport – albeit an amateur one.Sandcastles in Lebanon is an initiative founded and run by Rita Maalouf, who upon returning to Lebanon from the U.S. four years ago decided to be a doer rather than a complainer.
Observing that the country’s coastline had changed and that the stretch of beach between Blat and Jbeil where she had built sandcastles in her youth was now dominated by the plush pink loungers of the Edde Sands resort, Maalouf decided to take action, not in opposition to the coastal development, but in tandem with it to highlight the value of Lebanon’s sandy beaches and bring Lebanese together in a classic seaside activity.
“I was used to going to that beach when it was public, and it was a huge beach with a lot of sand ... We used to go there and make sand sculptures – just us family. [When I returned] I realized everything is closed and we couldn’t get there anymore,” Maalouf explains.
Then, she says, one day a friend led her onto the Jbeil beach through a public entrance. The pair walked down the beach toward Blat, passing along the waterfront in front of the new coastal resorts. Maalouf felt anxious: “We felt guilty,” she says, “because we knew [when we were] crossing we were walking into one [resort] and [then] into the others.”
However, when she asked around later, people told her: “No, you are allowed to go – it’s the municipality entrance.”
“I figured I wanted people to know about [this],” she says. “The whole beach is actually public [for] the first 10 meters [from the sea]. Of course you don’t want to ... annoy these resorts, but you can still enjoy [the beach].”
Maalouf’s brainchild to this end was a sandcastle-building competition – a half-day event during which teams would create, using only sand and water, a sculpture of their choosing.
Indeed, Maalouf even enlisted the cooperation of a private beach resort in running the inaugural competition.
“The first year we did it in Blat. It was with the help of Bay 183, and they let everyone in for free,” she explains.
The turnout that first year was only 20 to 25 people, Maalouf admits, and most of them were friends and family who she had convinced to come.
“They really didn’t know what they were getting into, but they didn’t want to fail me. So they came. But then they had a blast, and they all said, ‘We never imagined it was so much fun.’”
Taking this positive response as encouragement, Maalouf ran the competition again in 2010 and 2011.
“I did it the year after and I had 60 contestants, and then last year I had 80,” she says, adding that she actually had to turn people away in 2011 due to a lack of space.
Over the years the sand edifices produced at the Sandcastles in Lebanon event have ranged from fairy-tale castles to a recreation of an Egyptian pyramid. Sharks have materialized along the shoreline next to a living room replete with couch cushions and a DVD player. One team created an enormous Converse shoe, while another conjured from the sands a swimmer frantically struggling to escape a crowd of swarming crocodiles. Others have turned sea turtles into sand turtles, while many have skillfully crafted mermaids and female nudes, which at the end of the day are left to tranquilly bathe in the moonlight.
In both 2010 and 2011, the competition was held in Jbeil with the cooperation of Edde Sands.
This year, under the patronage of Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud, Maalouf is not only expanding the initiative – events will be held in Beirut and Tyre as well as Blat Jbeil – but also forgoing private sector cooperation in favor of using public beaches only.
Alongside highlighting Lebanon’s remaining public beach areas, space is a major factor in Maalouf’s decision.
“I think we can handle a lot more [contestants this year], especially as I am not bound within a limited area [because I am not working with a resort],” she says.
As for the competition itself, the formula is simple and very relaxed, although Maalouf says that ideally teams should register beforehand so she can estimate the space and equipment needed.
Otherwise, entry is free of charge; teams are usually comprised of four people although bigger or smaller groups may participate; and a bucket, a small spade and some basic sculpting tools (a plastic knife, fork and straw) are provided.
If you’re in it to win it though, Maalouf has a few suggestions: Bring a big shovel to hasten progress and decide on your sculpture or castle design ahead of time, bearing in mind that you’ll have a 3-meter square space in which to work.
She is also keen to point out that you’ll be working in the sun for four to five hours straight, so a hat, a T-shirt and plenty of water are essential accessories for castle building.
Don’t be discouraged if you’re neither an architect nor an artist, as the competition is designed for sand sculpting amateurs, with prizes not only awarded for the best sculpture but also for the most original and most difficult designs.
This year at Jbeil well-known sculptors Antoine Berberi and Naim Doumit return as judges, and so far prize sponsors include Quicksilver and Roxy. In addition to the judges’ award, both participants and passersby can choose their favorite sand sculpture in “The People’s Vote” category.
But, Maalouf explains, the prizes are just tokens. The real rewards of the competition are the friendships forged and awareness raised.
Sandcastles in Lebanon offers people an alternative and new way to interact with the coastal environment, one which, Maalouf believes, may break down social barriers.
“It’s very hard mixing people from different areas because they are so used to different ways of attending the beach,” she says.
“But I think this is a common way to have people join [together].
“You know, you don’t have to wear a swimsuit to go to the beach – you can still do something with the sand,” Maalouf adds.
However, for Maalouf, “the most important thing [to highlight] is that we are losing our sand.”
Both pollution and exploitation are damaging Lebanon’s beaches.
But, Maalouf contends, “when people realize that we can actually use [our sand] as an attraction to our country, or we can enjoy it, we wouldn’t allow people to suck up the sand in front of our shore and say it’s not a priority.”
What’s more, she believes that when people actually get down to working in the sand and they come upon garbage, it will highlight in a very tangible way the need to prohibit the littering and dumping on Lebanon’s beaches.
This year’s Sandcastles in Lebanon competitions will take place in Blat Jbeil on Aug. 12, Ramlet al Baida, Beirut on Sept. 2 and Tyre on a date yet to be announced.
For more information or to register your team visit SandCastles in Lebanon on
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Stephan Salisbury: Life in the American Slaughterhouse
Stephan Salisbury: Life in the American Slaughterhouse
article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.
Is America an increasingly violent society? Statistics seemingly tell us no. From 2001 to 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, violent crime victimizations actually dropped 34%.
While this decrease is part of a longer-term trend (and there's still startling amounts of carnage in this country), it begs the question of whether the United States is really less violent than previously and, if so, where all that excess violence went.
It's notable that, since 2001, the U.S. has been exporting and facilitating violence of all sorts all over the globe. Some of this violence is thoroughly sanctioned and some isn't. In Iraq, members of the U.S. military committed violent acts against untold numbers of Iraqis, including military personnel who served Saddam Hussein's regime, as well as insurgents, and civilians. (The U.S. invasion itself touched off Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence that killed tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands and continues to this day.) Though the numbers may not be comparable, much the same story could be told about Afghanistan, not to speak of Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Americans have also killed African pirates on the high seas and, just days ago, an Indian fisherman on a boat in the Persian Gulf.
Recently, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents have been killing suspected drug smugglers in Honduras. U.S. arms have been sent to Middle Eastern autocrats visiting violence on their own people and the U.S. military has trained African troops to more effectively kill African insurgents. American weapons have flooded Mexico and supercharged drug violence there. A war in Libya, involving the U.S. military, led to Tuareg fighters looting Libyan weapons stockpiles and committing acts of violence across the border in Mali (which was plunged into further violence due to a military coup by an American-trained officer). Today, America's commander-in-chief regularly selects individuals in a number of countries to be placed on a "kill list," targeted, and assassinated. And so it goes.
Exporting violence is not, of course, simply a post-9/11 phenomenon. It's been an American tradition, from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, from Haiti to Hiroshima. When the U.S. exported war to Southeast Asia, it eventually engulfed Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in utter carnage. One way civilians there were frequently killed resulted from what historian David Hunt has trenchantly called "the sin of running." A Vietnamese villager frightened by the roar of a helicopter or a door-gunner pointing an M-60 machine gun at her would bolt in fear or a young military-age man would take flight when armed American teenagers, who might detain, beat, or kill him, approached. As Vietnam veterans would later tell me, "running" branded Vietnamese as guilty, and so as enemies, in the minds of many U.S. troops and led to startling numbers of noncombatants being gunned down.
Today, TomDispatch regular Stephan Salisbury examines police violence in America, which may, hardly noticed, be on the rise. In poor neighborhoods, in particular, the "sin of running," it appears, is alive and well. For the last decade, we've barely noticed as the U.S. spread violence globally. At home, we generally take note of only a few of the most egregious or spectacular cases of violence. Luckily, Salisbury has delved deeper and offers a window onto the less-reported version of American violence that most of us fail to see. (To catch Timothy MacBain's latest Tomcast audio interview in which Salisbury discusses the lack of good numbers on police shootings and why they are so poorly covered, click here or download it to your iPod here.) Nick Turse
Police Shootings Echo Nationwide
Aurora Gets the Attention, But Guns Are Going Off Everywhere
By Stephan Salisbury
Welcome to the abattoir -- a nation where a man can walk into a store and buy an assault rifle, a shotgun, a couple of Glocks; where in the comfort of his darkened living room, windows blocked from the sunlight, he can rig a series of bombs unperturbed and buy thousands of rounds of ammo on the Internet; where a movie theater can turn into a killing floor at the midnight hour.
We know about all of this. We know because the weekend of July 20th became all-Aurora-all-the-time, a round-the-clock engorgement of TV news reports, replete with massacre theme music, an endless loop of victims, their loved ones, eyewitness accounts, cell-phone video, police briefings, informal memorials, and "healing," all washed down with a presidential visit and hour upon hour of anchor and "expert" speculation. We know this because within a few days a Google search for "Aurora movie shootings" produced over 200 million hits referencing the massacre that left 70-plus casualties, including 12 fatalities.
We know a lot less about Anaheim and the killing of Manuel Angel Diaz, shot in the back and in the head by that city's police just a few short hours after the awful Aurora murders.
But to the people living near La Palma Avenue and North Anna Drive, the shooting of Manuel Diaz was all too familiar: it was the sixth, seventh, or eighth police shooting in Anaheim, California, since the beginning of 2012. (No one seems quite sure of the exact count, though the Orange County District Attorney's office claims six shootings, five fatalities.)
Diaz, 25, and as far as police are concerned, a "documented gang member," was unarmed. He was apparently running when he was shot in the back and left to lie on the ground bleeding to death as police moved witnesses away from the scene. "He's alive, man, call a cop!" a man shouted at the police. "Why would you guys shoot him in the head?" a woman demanded.
"Get back," officers repeatedly said, pushing mothers and youngsters away from the scene, which they surrounded with yellow crime-scene tape.
Neighborhood residents gathered on lawns along the street, upset at what had happened near their homes, upset at what has been occurring repeatedly in Anaheim. Then, police, seeking to disperse the crowd, began firing what appeared to be rubber bullets and bean bag rounds directly at those women and children, among others. Screaming chaos ensued. A police dog was unleashed and lunged for a toddler in a stroller. A mother and father, seeking to protect their child, were themselves attacked by the dog.
We know this because a local CBS affiliate, KCAL, broadcast footage of the attack. We know it because cell phone video, which police at the scene sought to buy, according to KCAL, showed it in all its stark and sudden brutality. We know it also because neighbors immediately began to organize. On Sunday they demonstrated at police headquarters, demanding answers. "No justice, no peace," they chanted.
article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.
Is America an increasingly violent society? Statistics seemingly tell us no. From 2001 to 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, violent crime victimizations actually dropped 34%.
While this decrease is part of a longer-term trend (and there's still startling amounts of carnage in this country), it begs the question of whether the United States is really less violent than previously and, if so, where all that excess violence went.
It's notable that, since 2001, the U.S. has been exporting and facilitating violence of all sorts all over the globe. Some of this violence is thoroughly sanctioned and some isn't. In Iraq, members of the U.S. military committed violent acts against untold numbers of Iraqis, including military personnel who served Saddam Hussein's regime, as well as insurgents, and civilians. (The U.S. invasion itself touched off Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence that killed tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands and continues to this day.) Though the numbers may not be comparable, much the same story could be told about Afghanistan, not to speak of Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Americans have also killed African pirates on the high seas and, just days ago, an Indian fisherman on a boat in the Persian Gulf.
Recently, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents have been killing suspected drug smugglers in Honduras. U.S. arms have been sent to Middle Eastern autocrats visiting violence on their own people and the U.S. military has trained African troops to more effectively kill African insurgents. American weapons have flooded Mexico and supercharged drug violence there. A war in Libya, involving the U.S. military, led to Tuareg fighters looting Libyan weapons stockpiles and committing acts of violence across the border in Mali (which was plunged into further violence due to a military coup by an American-trained officer). Today, America's commander-in-chief regularly selects individuals in a number of countries to be placed on a "kill list," targeted, and assassinated. And so it goes.
Exporting violence is not, of course, simply a post-9/11 phenomenon. It's been an American tradition, from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, from Haiti to Hiroshima. When the U.S. exported war to Southeast Asia, it eventually engulfed Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in utter carnage. One way civilians there were frequently killed resulted from what historian David Hunt has trenchantly called "the sin of running." A Vietnamese villager frightened by the roar of a helicopter or a door-gunner pointing an M-60 machine gun at her would bolt in fear or a young military-age man would take flight when armed American teenagers, who might detain, beat, or kill him, approached. As Vietnam veterans would later tell me, "running" branded Vietnamese as guilty, and so as enemies, in the minds of many U.S. troops and led to startling numbers of noncombatants being gunned down.
Today, TomDispatch regular Stephan Salisbury examines police violence in America, which may, hardly noticed, be on the rise. In poor neighborhoods, in particular, the "sin of running," it appears, is alive and well. For the last decade, we've barely noticed as the U.S. spread violence globally. At home, we generally take note of only a few of the most egregious or spectacular cases of violence. Luckily, Salisbury has delved deeper and offers a window onto the less-reported version of American violence that most of us fail to see. (To catch Timothy MacBain's latest Tomcast audio interview in which Salisbury discusses the lack of good numbers on police shootings and why they are so poorly covered, click here or download it to your iPod here.) Nick Turse
Police Shootings Echo Nationwide
Aurora Gets the Attention, But Guns Are Going Off Everywhere
By Stephan Salisbury
Welcome to the abattoir -- a nation where a man can walk into a store and buy an assault rifle, a shotgun, a couple of Glocks; where in the comfort of his darkened living room, windows blocked from the sunlight, he can rig a series of bombs unperturbed and buy thousands of rounds of ammo on the Internet; where a movie theater can turn into a killing floor at the midnight hour.
We know about all of this. We know because the weekend of July 20th became all-Aurora-all-the-time, a round-the-clock engorgement of TV news reports, replete with massacre theme music, an endless loop of victims, their loved ones, eyewitness accounts, cell-phone video, police briefings, informal memorials, and "healing," all washed down with a presidential visit and hour upon hour of anchor and "expert" speculation. We know this because within a few days a Google search for "Aurora movie shootings" produced over 200 million hits referencing the massacre that left 70-plus casualties, including 12 fatalities.
We know a lot less about Anaheim and the killing of Manuel Angel Diaz, shot in the back and in the head by that city's police just a few short hours after the awful Aurora murders.
But to the people living near La Palma Avenue and North Anna Drive, the shooting of Manuel Diaz was all too familiar: it was the sixth, seventh, or eighth police shooting in Anaheim, California, since the beginning of 2012. (No one seems quite sure of the exact count, though the Orange County District Attorney's office claims six shootings, five fatalities.)
Diaz, 25, and as far as police are concerned, a "documented gang member," was unarmed. He was apparently running when he was shot in the back and left to lie on the ground bleeding to death as police moved witnesses away from the scene. "He's alive, man, call a cop!" a man shouted at the police. "Why would you guys shoot him in the head?" a woman demanded.
"Get back," officers repeatedly said, pushing mothers and youngsters away from the scene, which they surrounded with yellow crime-scene tape.
Neighborhood residents gathered on lawns along the street, upset at what had happened near their homes, upset at what has been occurring repeatedly in Anaheim. Then, police, seeking to disperse the crowd, began firing what appeared to be rubber bullets and bean bag rounds directly at those women and children, among others. Screaming chaos ensued. A police dog was unleashed and lunged for a toddler in a stroller. A mother and father, seeking to protect their child, were themselves attacked by the dog.
We know this because a local CBS affiliate, KCAL, broadcast footage of the attack. We know it because cell phone video, which police at the scene sought to buy, according to KCAL, showed it in all its stark and sudden brutality. We know it also because neighbors immediately began to organize. On Sunday they demonstrated at police headquarters, demanding answers. "No justice, no peace," they chanted.
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