Mayor Annise Parker and Sermons

Mayor Annise Parker and Sermons 

The Gist

Annise Parker, mayor of Houston and the first openly gay person to lead a major American city, has been in the national spotlight as of late. This past May, the city of Houston passed the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy and genetic information, and family, marital or military status. Conservative groups in Houston then launched a petition drive that would put a repeal of the ordinance on the November ballot. They were able to obtain close to 50,000 signatures, but the City of Houston threw them out because the majority of the signatures were found to be defective. The City was then sued, with parties arguing that they were unaware of the rules pertaining to obtaining signatures.  As part of a routine discovery request, lawyers for the city asked for sermons that mentioned the following: the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity. The point was to see what, if anything, the pastors told their parishioners about how to obtain signatures and what the city rules were on obtaining these signatures (since the argument on the other side was that they didn’t actually know the rules).  Although broad discovery requests are the norm in any litigation, Mayor Parker (who was not told of the subpoenas until after they were sent) conceded that they may have asked for too much. The subpoenas have since been narrowed to simply communications on the HERO petition process….and now you know the gist.     

Mexico's 43 Disappeared Students

Mexico's 43 Disappeared Students

The Gist

This week, the New Yorker published a piece chronicling the disappearance (and probable death) of forty-three students in Iguala, Guerrero. The forty-three students, all in their late teens and early twenties, were training to be teachers and were heading to Mexico City. No one really knows why they were abducted. Reasons run the gamut: they angered the mayor of Iguala’s wife (pictured; her family runs the local drug gang), they were an example to other leftist groups to keep their mouths shut, etc. Whatever the reason, the disappearance has galvanized Mexico and sparked protests all over the country, leading the resignation of the governor (especially after it was realized the mayor and his wife had fled).The fact that peaceful protests have led to some sort of political change would be considered impossible twenty years ago. This upheaval comes at a time when the once murder capital of the world, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, has seen an economic resurgence. American companies Delphi and Honeywell, as well as various Chinese companies, have expanded their operations. The State Department has even downgraded their warning for the border city: you just have to be careful, rather than staying completely away. The optimistic view is that the Mexican people, finally fed up with their lackluster politicians, are slowly creating a more peaceful and robust Mexico….and now you know the gist.

    

Conan, Condi, and Albright

Conan, Condi, and Albright

The Gist

In a hilarious convergence of Hollywood and Washington, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and late night talk show host Conan O’Brien have engaged in a friendly Twitter war. O’Brien tweeted that his Halloween costume would be a “slutty Madeline Albright” to which Albright replied, “I'm considering going as hunky Conan O'Brien - but that might be too far fetched." Madeline Albright was America’s first female secretary of state, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997. Previously, she had served as American ambassador to the United Nations. Her father, Josef Korbel, was a professor of International Relations at the University of Denver. While there, Korbel’s favorite student was a former music major: Condoleezza Rice (the second female secretary of state). One of the more fascinating parts of Albright’s life was the fact that she didn't know she was Jewish until she was almost 60. Needless to say, O’Brien should have thought twice before getting into it with a woman who stood firm against Cuba’s Fidel Castro and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il….and now you know the gist.   

Soccer, Suárez, and Biting

Soccer , Suárez, and Biting

The Gist

This week, it was reported that FC Barcelona/Uruguay national team player Luis Suárez was seeking help for his biting “problem.” During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini’s ear and banned from playing for four months (sparking some pretty creative GIFs). Interestingly, Chiellini said he thought the punishment was excessive. Officials, however, said they took Suárez’s other biting incidents into account; he bit PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal in 2010, and Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in 2013. So it should come as a relief to opposing players that he has admitted he has a problem. His biting “impulse” has not made him any less popular among club owners. During his suspension, he left Liverpool for Barcelona for a reported $120 million contract, making him one of the highest paid soccer players in the world. It should be noted, that Suárez is not the Beautiful Games’ most infamous biter: in 2001, Sevilla striker Francisco Gallardo bit his teammate Jose Antonio Reyes … in the scrotum.

WASPS, Watergate, and Bradlee

WASPS, Watergate, and Bradlee

The Gist

                                                                                   
Yesterday, Benjamin "Ben" 
Crowninshield Bradlee died of natural causes in his Washington, D.C. home. He was best known for his roles in publishing the Pentagon Papers and breaking the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s while executive editor of the Washington Post. His career coincided with what scholars have called the “WASP Ascendancy” (think the men in Matt Damon’s The Good Shepherd). The men who were part of this phenomenon had impeccable lineage, Ivy League educations, lived in upper class enclaves such as the Main Line in Philadelphia, and counted as their de facto leader President John F. Kennedy (even though he was Roman Catholic and Irish). Bradlee’s decision to publish the “Pentagon Papers” (that showed the Johnson administration was lying about American involvement in Vietnam) led to the landmark New York Times Co. v. United States Supreme court decision that said the newspaper’s first amendment rights trumped the government’s national security concerns. Under him, the Washington Post was at the forefront of reporting on the Watergate Scandal. He would later be immortalized by Jason Robards in the Oscar-winning All the President’s Men, starring Dustin Hoffman (pictured with Bradlee) and Robert Redford. He is survived by four children and his wife, former Washington Post society reporter Sally Quinn (who Secretary of State Henry Kissinger famously said felt like he wanted to commit suicide after being interview by her)....and now you know the gist. 

The Kurds

The Kurds

The Gist

With ISIS in the news, the plight of the Kurds (and the not-real-country of Kurdistan) has come to forefront…again. The Kurds, until recently, have simply had a century’s long streak of bad luck. It doesn’t help that the four countries they live in are as follows: Iran (currently under western sanctions and accused of wanting to obtain nuclear weapons), Iraq (no explanation necessary), Syria (in the midst of a civil war) and Turkey (who has worked against an independent Kurdistan since the founding of modern day Turkey in the 1920s). After the end of the World War I, when the Ottoman Empire’s Middle Eastern empire was being divided up, the Allied victors overlooked the Kurds. Since the time, they have been one of the largest stateless people in the world. Since the first Persian Gulf War, the Kurds of Iraq have enjoyed a certain level of autonomy (after then President Saddam Hussein gassed them, the international community thought it might be a good idea). Will the Kurds get their own country, especially after they have been at the forefront in the battle against ISIS? Probably not. They are not economically self-sufficient, the United States is not keen on breaking up the federal Republic of Iraq, and an independent Kurdistan would strengthen Iran and embolden Turkish Kurds (something that the United States sees as detrimental to American interests in the region)...and now you now the gist. 

The Clooneys and Art

The Clooneys and Art

The Gist

Ever since respected, multilingual attorney Amal Clooney née Alamuddin married Oscar winner George Clooney, her work has made news. It was reported that her honeymoon is now over and the British barrister has gone back to work helping the Greek government recover the Elgin Marbles (also known as the Parthenon Marbles) which have been in the possession of the British Museum since 1816. At first glance it may seem a simple argument: the Marbles were obtained by the then British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire under what many believe were dubious circumstances (all of the Ambassador’s “permissions” from the Sultan’s government have been lost). However, some argue that the return of the Marbles would set a very VERY bad precedent that would cause museums all around the world to lose their collections. Other famous artifacts that have caused similar rows have been the bust of Nefriti in the Neues Museum in Berlin, the Cyrus Cylinder and the Rosetta Stone, both in the British Museum. Greece, Ethiopia and Peru have all been successful in repatriating art in the past. However, none of the repatriations have been as high profile as the Elgin Marbles. As the centerpiece of the British Museums Greek collection, it is unlikely that Mrs. Clooney’s high profile will be enough to bring the marbles back to Athens...and now you know the gist.

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The Iranian Elite

The Iranian Elite

The Gist

The Iranian Revolution of 1979, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, turned America’s strongest ally in the Middle East to its biggest adversary. There are three basic reasons for the Revolution: 1) the rapid westernization of the country, 2) an overheated economy that finally reached its breaking point and 3) the wide income gap between the rich and poor. The last ‘grievance’ has actually gotten worse since the Revolution. Recently, the Huffington Post (among others) wrote about a popular Instagram account that chronicled the life of Tehran’s moneyed elite (which has apparently been unaffected by worldwide sanctions on the Islamic Republic). Matt Lauer of the Today Show also highlighted the “other side” of Iran. The elite is peppered with many clerics who have become very rich since the Revolution (so much so that Forbes had them on their cover a few years back). In fact, many saw the election of laymen Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a signal to the establishment that the people were tired of their shenanigans. A counter Instagram account featuring the less glamourous lives of the masses, show the vast differences between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in Iran. Many believe these economic inequalities, not discontent over the lack of personal freedoms, is what will be the catalyst for change in the country formerly known as Persia…and now you know the gist.

Passing

"Passing"

The Gist:

A book entitled “A Chosen Exile," came out this week. The book deals with African Americans who “passed” for white and all of the problems and benefits that came along with it. Throughout the course of American history, people of color have (with varying degrees of success) tried to pass as white in order to escape racial discrimination. Famous stories of people “passing” abound: the first black president of Georgetown University (from 1873-1882), Patrick Francis Healy (pictured), passed for white until the day he died. One of the first cases dealing with the constitutionality of restrictive housing covenants was brought by a Michigan man who, because he looked white, was able to buy a home in an all-white Detroit neighborhood (his lawyer: future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall). It is an interesting topic, since it brings up what it means to be black, white, purple or green. In fact, stories still come up from time to time dealing with actors "you didn't know were black"…and now you know the gist.

ISIS, IS, the Caliphate, the Islamic State

ISIS, IS, the Caliphate, the Islamic State

The Gist

The Islamic State is a Sunni group that was originally part of Al-Qaeda that broke away back in February, 2014 which currently controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Its stated purpose is to create a caliphate (the term was first used by rulers to describe the original Islamic empire in the 7th century). There are many theories as to how we got this point, but as always in the Middle East it’s a bit complicated. First, President Obama waited a bit too long to back one side or the other in Syria, creating a vacuum in that country’s ongoing civil war. Second, President Maliki of Iraq antagonized his Sunni countrymen by blatantly favoring Iraqi Shiites and marginalizing Sunnis, making it very easy for the Islamic State to win them over to their side. The Islamic State makes it money selling crude oil (somehow everything Middle East-related is stained with oil) on the black market. Although the world is rallying against the Islamic State with targeted airstrikes, what will be interesting will be how the Kurds fair in all this. The Kurds have long wanted their own state (they didn’t fare well when the colonial secretary Winston Churchill was drawing up Mideast boundaries back in the 1920s). The Kurds have solidified their hold on their autonomous region and may be able to convince the world that Kurdistan should join the community of nations as a full-fledged member. Also interestingly, the crisis has left such foes as Iran and the United States on the same side….and now you know the gist.

The Hong Kong Protests

The Hong Kong Protests

The Gist

The protests in Hong Kong are a big deal because they could have ramifications for mainland China. The protesters are angry because they feel that the government in Beijing is not living up to its part of the agreement signed with the United Kingdom back in 1997. The British, rulers of at least part of Hong Kong for over 150 years, agreed to ‘give’ Hong Kong ‘back’ with the assurance that democracy would stay in place (the so called one country, two systems policy). Problem is, for the 2017 elections, the Chinese government has said that it would allow for free elections AFTER they vet the candidates. This is a no-go for many in Hong Kong and what started out as a student led “occupy movement” type protest has spread to include the wider population. Although, the protests seem to be dying down, they are important as the first visible anti-government demonstration since the Tiananmen Square protest. Many are calling it the Umbrella Revolution because that is what the protesters used to shield themselves from the pepper spray….and now you know the gist.

The Hajj

The Hajj

The Gist:

Millions of Muslims are converging on the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia for the five day Hajj. Mecca is holy to Muslims because it is both the birthplace of the Prophet Mohammad and where he is said to have received his first revelations from God. Hajj is the generic term for the pilgrimage to Mecca that every able Muslim must make in their lifetime. Along with 1) professing there is no god except God, and Muhammad is God's Messenger, 2) praying five times a day 3) giving 2.5% of one’s income to the poor and 4) fasting and during the holy month of Ramadan, it is one of the “five pillars” of Islam. This year, over 2 million people will take part in the Hajj. The number would be higher, but Saudi officials refused to issue visas to various Ebola-hit countries. The large numbers of pilgrims has seen a reshaping of the city, including the construction of one the tallest buildings (pictured) in the world. It has also seen the destruction of historical locales for the sake of modernization….and now you know the gist.

The Ebola Outbreak

The Ebola Outbreak

The Gist:

Ebola was first reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1970s and is spread when a person comes in direct contact with an infected person. Normally the disease has a 90% mortality rate, but this time around it stands at about 50%. Symptoms at first include fever, intense weakness, and headache and are followed by vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function and internal and external bleeding. Always a big deal, it become a HUGE deal when a Liberian citizen contracted the disease and came to the U.S. aboard a flight via Brussels and Washington. Initially told to go home, he went back and U.S. officials confirmed he had Ebola and he has been in critical condition in a Dallas hospital ever since. Although he came in contact with dozens of people, including school age children, none have shown symptoms yet....and now you know the gist.