Nancy Pelosi to President Donald Trump: "You've come into my wheelhouse now"

HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI WAS THE CLOSING SPEAKER AT THE TEXAS TRIBUNE FESTIVAL. IMAGE BY BOB DAEMMRICH FOR THE TEXAS TRIBUNE.

Nancy Pelosi to President Donald Trump: "You've come into my wheelhouse now"

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi painted herself as a once-reluctant but now fully engaged general amid her party's push for an impeachment inquiry, in an onstage interview at The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday.

To make her point, she used sweeping, solemn language to underscore her view that what is happening at the U.S. Capitol is an existential moment in American history.

"If this activity, this pattern of behavior were to prevail ... then it's over for the republic," she said. "We will have the equivalent of a monarchy."

"Let us be prayerful. Let us be solemn. Let us try not to make it further divisive," she added. "But we cannot ignore our oath of office to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic."

In her most extensive interview about impeachment since she announced plans to open an inquiry this week, Pelosi described herself as "heartbroken" over the revelation that President Donald Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden. White House disclosures of the conversation — and that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine prior to the conversation — unleashed a firestorm in Washington last week.

"I think right now there is a cover-up of a cover-up," she said.

When asked why she moved from the strongest backstop against impeachment to the leader of the effort, she chose brevity: "The facts."

Joan Smalls Wears Super Yaya Lensed by Justin French for Interview Germany Fall 2019

Joan Smalls Wears Super Yaya Lensed by Justin French for Interview Germany Fall 2019

Top Model Joan Smalls is styled by Jessica Willis in Super Yaya, from emerging designer Rym Beydoun . Chicago-born, New York-based photographer Justin French is in the studio for Interview Germany Fall 2019.

AOC goes in-depth for more info about new fashion-industry talents Rym Beydoun and Justin French.

'Killing Eve' Emmy Winner Jodie Comer by Steven Meisel for LOEWE Spring-Summer 2020 Campaign

'Killing Eve' Emmy Winner Jodie Comer by Steven Meisel for LOEWE Spring-Summer 2020 Campaign

Acclaimed photographer Steven Meisel, working with LOEWE creative director Jonathan Anderson, has released a trilogy of images focused on the Spring Summer 2020 collection. Center stage is British actor Jodie Comer, best known for playing the Russian assassin Villanelle in the BBC series ‘Killing Eve’.

Comer graciously accepted a surprise Emmy Award last Sunday, winning for best female actor in a drama series, delivering an emotional “I love you” to show creator and fellow Emmy winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

The LOEWE scene, revealed more fully in the campaign video “Either Way”, is a moment of reflection and introspection with Comer, before she goes onstage. The actor repeatedly enunciates the word “Loewe” across the whole spectrum of emotions.

Nutrition Science and Obesity Research Turn A Critical Eye to Ultraprocessed Food

Ultraprocessed foods and drinks are designed to be ready-to-consume, with numerous additives that can include oils, fats, color enhancers, flavor enhancers, nonsugar sweeteners, and bulking and firming agents. (No specific brand has been linked to obesity.) Credit: Jamie Chung (photo); Amy Henry (prop styling); Source: “NOVA. The Star Shines Bright,” by Carlos A. Monteiro et al., in World Nutrition, Vol. 7, No. 1; January-March 2016

In scientific pursuit of the never-ending question of why the world’s humans are gaining weight in dizzying statistics, the October 2019 issue of Scientific American provides a new avenue of inquiry. “Ultraprocessed” foods seem to trigger neural signals that make us want more and more calories, unlike other foods in the Western diet, writes Ellen Ruppel Shell.

Since the early 1970s, scientists and nutritionists have been debating exactly why we gain weight. Some hardliners hold fast to the calories in-calories out theory of “you are what you eat and expend in activity” theory. If you gain weight, it’s a reflection of your own lack of willpower.

Globally the prevalence of obesity nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016, according to the World Health Organization. Major changes in diet are accompanied by increased heart disease and diabetes. My unscientific impression of global weight gain is that wherever fast food comes to town, citizens gain weight.

Personally, I hold the line on carbs to 60-100 a day, and not the 225 to 325 recommended. Over years of dieting or fighting not to gain weight, carb control is the only brake on weight gain or the solution to weight loss that seems to guarantee success at any stage of my life. The questions around the best healthy diet are relevant as humans are challenged to stop eating meat to save our planet. For people living on a paleo-focused diet, the trade-off will result in eating more carbs.

Then again — how many obese vegetarians do you know?

Nutrition researcher Kevin Hall works at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, where he runs the Integrative Physiology section. His small but rigorous studies suggest that how we make the food we eat is a major contributor to weight gain.

Pulling ingredients apart and then reconstituting them into things like frosted snack cakes and ready-to-eat meals from the supermarket freezer—bears the brunt of the blame for weight gain, theorizes Hall. This “ultraprocessed” food “disrupts gut-brain signals that normally tell us that we have had enough, and this failed signaling leads to overeating.”

The man who designed the research says he is not on a messianic mission to improve America’s eating habits. Hall admits that his four-year-old son’s penchant for chicken nuggets and pizza remains unshakable and that his own diet could and probably should be improved. Still, he believes his study offers potent evidence that it is not any particular nutrient type but the way in which food is manipulated by manufacturers that plays the largest role in the world’s growing girth. He insists he has no dog in any diet wars fight but is simply following the evidence. “Once you’ve stepped into one camp and surrounded yourself by the selective biases of that camp, it becomes difficult to step out,” he says. Because his laboratory and research are paid for by the national institute whatever he finds, Hall notes that “I have the freedom to change my mind. Basically, I have the privilege to be persuaded by data.”

Halls research inquiry seems partially validated by the ongoing success and high ratings of the Mediterranean diet in maintaining a desirable weight. A Mediterranean-type diet, heavy on vegetables, whole grains and fish and light on red meat and processed foods, is usually at the top of the list of healthy eating plans. Critics note that in today’s world of working moms, irregular workplace hours, flat family incomes, and food deserts in urban areas — well, the Mediterranean Diet is for rich people.

Bottom line, though, understanding the mind-gut connection in how we eat is a critical new frontier in nutrition in health. Turning our attention to “ultraprocessed” foods — knowing how our lifestyles promote eating it — seems critical in understanding the world’s growing health epidemic and why we become “addicted” to certain foods.

Read on at Scientific American.

Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill on President Donald Trump: "It Feels Like A 1776 Kind of Fight

AOC is so thankful that the media -- especially the more liberal MSNBC -- finally acknowledges that a wide roster of Democratic women came to Congress in 2019. There is life out there, besides The Squad of uber progressives that includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

These superstar military and intelligence women — many of them lawyers who became federal prosecutors and other professionals — have had more "air" time in the last two weeks, than in all the time since they were sworn into Congress last January. It's not that these Congresswomen don’t have a lot to say, even though they’ve been the subject of ridicule by Squad supporters. These leaders just aren't committed to fighting the "revolution" on Twitter, where no insult lives without a response.

In Politico, NJ Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill gets to speak. Rebecca Michelle "Mikie" Sherrill is an American Democratic politician, a former United States Navy helicopter pilot, and a former federal prosecutor  She is also the mother of four children.

Sherill joined six of her fellow Congressmen and Congresswomen this week to step off the sidelines from their previously noncommittal position on an impeachment inquiry for President Donald Trump. On Sunday night the newly-elected in Trump districts Congresspersons drafted an op-ed published in The Washington Post that was unusually blunt.

The group of seven — Reps. Gil Cisneros of California, Jason Crow of Colorado, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Elaine Luria of Virginia, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia are all freshman Democrats.— felt they had to “preserve the checks and balances envisioned by the Founders and restore the trust of the American people in our government.”

In two and a half centuries, three presidents of the United States have faced impeachment. With each hour of new revelations about the despotic, unpatriotic, illegal reign of Donald Trump, it’s certain that Trump will be the subject of a floor vote of impeachment in the US House of Representatives. and now, Sherrill is at the center of this latest turn of events, and she’s one of the reasons it’s happening.

This is the third installment of a Politico series on the first term of Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey. The first installment appeared in February, and the second was published in August.

None of this would be unfolding—it couldn’t be—if Sherrill and others like her hadn’t won in 2018, in districts like hers, flipping them from red to blue, giving Democrats control of the House of Representatives and thus the ability to perform meaningful oversight, including pressing forward on impeachment. But she had won partly by promising she wanted to work with not only those in her caucus but Republicans as well, preaching the necessity of bipartisanship. She didn’t come down here looking for a fight, and certainly not this one. It was “the squad,” not “the badasses,” who arrived clamoring to “impeach the motherfucker.”

Meet the record number of women who arrived in Washington, DC in January 2019. They arrived as part of a historic wave of women elected in the November 2018 mid-term elections.

Do Nothing Male Privilege Struggles with Stunning Eco-Rebuke from Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg image composite via HarpersBazaar.com.

The world’s men — especially white men -- says Jennifer Wright, are not accustomed to having a 16-year-old climate activist read them the riot act. This is exactly what happened on Monday, September 23 when climate activist Greta Thunberg, now nominated for a Nobel price, delivered a stinging rebuke to the patriarchy from the stage of the UN.

"This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be standing here," she said, addressing world leaders. "I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to me for hope? How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!"

Responding to Greta’s occasion physiological responses from her Asperger’s condition, FOX News host Michael Knowles said that the influential activist is mentally ill. In response Thunberg tweeted: “I have Aspergers and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And—given the right circumstances—being different is a superpower.”

Not only did Greta respond with self-confidence, but she may be right about superpowers. When Hans Asperger first diagnosed the disease, he referred to kids with Aspergers as “little professors” owing to their enormous vocabularies, seemingly precocious interests, and tendency to lecture people. Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are all thought to have had Aspergers, says Wright.

Comparing Greta Thunberg’s First Climate Strike with Mass Demonstrations One Year Later My Modern Met

Equestrian Bella Hadid Wears Fendi Lensed by Blair Getz Mezibov for V Magazine Fall 2019

Equestrian Bella Hadid Wears Fendi Lensed by Blair Getz Mezibov for V Magazine Fall 2019

An accomplished equestrian, Bella Hadid revealed in January 2016 her plans to compete at the 2016 Olympics. Due to her ongoing battle with lyme disease, Bella had to abandon those plans due to particularly severe symptoms that derailed her from riding. The Hadid family lived on a horse ranch for a decade, and Bella has been riding horses since age three. Her mom Yolanda wrote at the time:

"Bella had to give up her lifelong dream of having a professional riding career and a shot at the Olympics due to her severe symptoms and inability to ride.This was the biggest heartbreak of her life and an extremely sensitive subject for her. She is resilient and focused on a new direction--she's made a name for herself in the modeling industry while she struggles with symptoms of chronic Lyme every day."

Today Yolanda Hadid maintains horses at her Pennsylvania family farm, giving both Hadid sisters plenty of time to enjoy their beloved companions. In these images Paul Cavaco styles Bella in modern equestrian-influenced looks from Fendi’s fall 2019 collection. Photographer Blair Getz Mezibov captures Bella for V Magazine.

Nancy Pelosi to Speak Saturday at The Texas Tribune Festival, As Trump Impeachment Looms

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be the keynote speaker, with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith as moderator, at The Texas Tribune Festival this Saturday.. Image via Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune.

By Chase Karacostas. First published on The Texas Tribune

Just a few days after declaring that the U.S. House of Representatives will begin a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will appear in Austin as the keynote speaker Saturday at The Texas Tribune Festival.

This is Pelosi's third time to speak at the festival, and it's one of her first major public appearances after Tuesday's impeachment investigation announcement. The California Democrat's interview, moderated by Tribune CEO Evan Smith, will be from 7:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theater.

Impeachment is sure to be a major topic of discussion, as is Trump's July phone call with the Ukrainian president requesting an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

Before this week, Pelosi had fended off demands from members of her caucus to pursue impeachment, even after a long-awaited report from special counsel Robert Mueller was released. Much of her hesitation lay with the desire to protect her party's hard-won majority in the House. However, her tune changed this week after reports that the call with the Ukrainian president was the reason for an "urgent and credible" whistleblower complaint filed last month.

On Wednesday, the White House released a record of the call showing Trump implored newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden's son, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company that Ukrainian authorities have investigated. While Biden was vice president, he urged Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor, though the country's investigation into the company was reportedly dormant at the time.

Trump put nearly $400 million of Congress-approved security assistance on hold in the days before the call, leading some to accuse him of implicitly dangling the revocation of aid if Ukraine did not investigate Biden.

Pelosi's panel will be streamed live on the Tribune's website.

Jennifer Lopez + Shakira Take the Stage Feb 20, 2020 in Miami for Super Bowl LIV

Two giants in the music industry — Jennifer Lopez and Shakira — will take the stage on Feb. 2, 2020 for Super BowlLIV, in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. The two superstars broke the news on Twitter, featuring each other.

Previously, the only Latin performers to take the Super Bowl haltime stage are Gloria Estefan (in 1992 and 1999 and as part of Miami Sound Machine in 1995) and Enrique Iglesias alongside a slew of other artists in 2000.

"Throughout the years, Pepsi has had a strong heritage in music, working with a range of artists from Britney Spears to Ray Charles to Beyoncé. The Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show has become one of the most iconic and anticipated music performances of the year, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome Jennifer Lopez and Shakira to the stage," Todd Kaplan, Pepsi's vp of marketing said in a statement. "These two remarkable artists are setting a new precedent for what this show can become, and we’re confident that this will be an incredible performance for the ages."

"We’ve been working closely behind-the-scenes with our longstanding partners at the NFL, and now alongside [Jay Z] Roc Nation to bring these mega superstars together. It is a testament to our partnership and commitment to push the envelope of what is possible," Adam Harter, senior vp of Sports, Media and Entertainment for Pepsi also shared.

Vox Media Acquires New York Media, Owner of New York Magazine, The Cut in New Media Vision

Jim Bankoff of Vox Media and Pamela Wasserstein of New York Media on Tuesday. Todd Heisler/The New York Times

On Tuesday, Vox Media agreed to acquire New York Media, owner of New York Magazine , one of the city’s premiere chroniclers of “highbrow, lowbrow, brilliant and despicable characters” writes the New York Times.

Neither company would discuss the valuation of the all-stock deal, that also included New York Magazine’s five online properties including The Cut — devoted to style, self, culture and power. The Wall Street Journal estimates the deal valuation of New York Media of about $105 million and Vox Media at about $750 million

While consolidations in the media industry typically mean cutting costs at the expense of quality journalism, Vox and New York said their combination was something different. They are bringing together a much-decorated print magazine, websites, a podcast empire and several streaming television deals — the very model, they hope, of a modern media company.

“No one had to do this,” Pamela Wasserstein, the chief executive of New York Media, said on Tuesday. “It’s a brilliant, in our view, opportunity, so that’s why we leaned into it. It’s not out of need. It’s out of ambition.”

Demi Moore Shares Real Life Stories with WSJ Magazine in Images by Cass Bird

Demi Moore Shares Real Life Stories with WSJ Magazine in Images by Cass Bird

Actor Demi Moore covers the October 2019 issue of WSJ Magazine. Paul Cavaco styles Moore, now 56, in designs from Alexander Wang, Eres, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and more for images by Cass Bird. / Makeup by Jo Strettell; hair by Teddy Charles

Demi Moore is the author of a new book ‘Inside Out’, co-written with Ariel Levy. “I wanted it to be a good book, but I didn’t feel like my skill set lent itself to be able to do that,” Moore says about enlisting Levy, an American staff writer at The New Yorker magazine since 2008.

For perspective, Ariel Levy is also the author of ‘The Rules Do Not Apply’ and the ‘Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture’. Her New Yorker profiles include the South African runner Caster Semenya, the artist Catherine Opie, the swimmer Diana Nyad, and Edith Windsor, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that brought down the Defense of Marriage Act.

Supermodel Iman Joins CARE CEO Michelle Nunn As First Global Advocate for Girls + Women

Iman and CARE CEO Michelle Nunn

Supermodel, entrepreneur, former Somali refugee, activist and Mrs. David Bowie, Iman officially became anti-poverty and humanitarian organization CARE’s first-ever global advocate. The role was created specifically for Iman by the esteemed CARE organization, founded in 1945.

The beauty entrepreneur’s new activist focus will be aiding refugee girls both domestically and internationally, including women and girls currently locked in detention centers at the US-Mexico border. The supermodel has a long history working with organizations like Keep a Child Alive, Save the Children and the Children's Defense Fund.

"This is the work that moves me. I have been involved with quite a lot of charities, but what moves my heart is women and girls. Since I was a refugee myself and because I've known the plight of women and girls myself, through my own journey in life, I was aware of what CARE does and I was aware of their long history," Iman tells The Hollywood Reporter of the agency, which originated the "care package" in 1946 during post-World War II relief efforts. "So, we came up with the global advocate role, where it's about finding out what really impacts women and girls around the world and here at home in America."

She adds, "We have to think of refugees collectively as humans. They're not nameless, they're not faceless, they're not just people who come from far away. These are people who are at the U.S.-Mexico border right now. I am one of them. People usually don't understand who a refugee is. I am the face of a refugee."

Iman will make her first public appearance as CARE's global advocate Wednesday at Advertising Week New York during an onstage discussion with Nunn. The talk will focus on the power of storytelling in the face of international crises.

In 2018, CARE worked in 95 countries, touching the lives of 56 million people globally.

In Kenya's SORALO and Shompole Lands, Samantha du Toit Takes Us to the Great Rift Valley

In Kenya's SORALO and Shompole Lands, Samantha du Toit Takes Us to the Great Rift Valley

Samantha du Toit (formerly Russell) was born and raised in Kenya. After completing secondary school in Nairobi she went to England to study Zoology and Psychology at Bristol University in England

Upon returning to Kenya, du Toit went straight into working in wildlife conservation with Dr. David Western, founder of the African Conservation Centre. Her first major task was to establish the baseline monitoring of the Shompole and Olkiramatian ecosystem, over eight years ago.

Today the Shompole Conservancy is a large privately operated conservation area in the south of the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. It is located between Lake Magadi to the north and Lake Natron to the south, on the border between Kenya and Tanzania. The conservancy was registered in 1979 and is owned by the Loodokolani Maasi with over 2000 registered members representing around 10,000 Loodokilani Maasai dependents.

Today, Samantha du Toit can be found at the Lale’enok Resource Centre, which she helped establish and now plays a major role in its operations. Or we might find her in the Nairobi SORALO office, helping to manage the affairs of the South Rift Association of Land Owners. This network of shared goals and objectives operates with complementary decision-making and objectives.

Kylie Jenner Teams Up With Olivier Rousteing For Balmain SS20 Paris Runway Show Makeup Collab

Kylie Jenner and Oliver Rousteing Launch KYLIE X BALMAIN @kyliecosmetics collection

Kylie Jenner dropped news that she was named artistic director of makeup for Friday’s Paris Fashion Week Balmain spring-summer 2020 fashion show. The world’s youngest self-made billionaire has also created a capsule collection that includes a nine-pan eye shadow palette, matte lip kit and high gloss. Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing is a family friend and equally excited about the new partnership. The collab is Karlie’s first forray into a luxury fashion show.

The campaign photo features Jenner and Rousteing (above) posing in matching white ensembles in front of a lavender, holographic background. It’s sleek, modern but ultra glam with a caption that reads: “Paris is always a good idea 🇫🇷 surprise… KYLIE X BALMAIN @kyliecosmetics collection launching this Friday 9.27 on KylieCosmetics.com.”

Jenner previously wore Balmain to the 2016 Met Gala and the 2019 Grammy Awards. The young business tycoon was enchanted with the light pink shade of her dress for the Grammys, which ultimately inspired the packaging of the Kylie x Balmain makeup collection, which features Parisian street art. The eyeshadow names channel fashion week: Close the Show, Model Type, Attitude, Main Event, City of Love, Night Out, Top Model, Catwalk and PFW. The line will include new Parisian-inspired shades of fan-favorite products like High Gloss ($16) and the Matte Lip Kit ($29), as well as a brand-new, limited-edition KyShadow x Balmain Eye Shadow Palette ($42). You can also purchase the products in bundles for $38 and $75.

The collaboration is Balmain's second venture into beauty, following a lipstick line with L’Oréal Paris in 2017.

Kylie Jenner wore Balmain Couture to 2019 Grammy Awards

Yang Gang + Swing State Dems Challenge Justice Democrats As Voices of the People

The Justice Democrats may have a new competitor -- the Yang Gang. I don't have all the differences worked out in my mind, but I know I like the Yang Gang because I like Andrew Yang as a political candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Note, I have no candidate that AOC is endorsing, but Yang has definitely enjoyed far more success in his candidacy than anyone thought possible.

Jonathan Herzog, a 25-year-old former Yang staffer, announced his intentions to primary House Head of the Judiciary committee Jerry Nadler, entering an increasingly crowded Democratic race for the 10th Congressional District seat in New York

Jonathan Herzog, like his former boss, is running on a platform advocating for a $1,000 a month universal basic income (UBI), which he and Yang have both referred to as the "Freedom Dividend."

“My first priority will be to pass the Freedom Dividend,” Herzog said in a video Tuesday announcing his campaign launch.

AOC is so disgusted with Nadler's incompetency and ineffectual judiciary hearings, that I think the country would be better off with new and younger blood. NADLER CANNOT LEAD AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY.

Don't think House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn't juggling that hot potato as well, but we seem to be headed toward a special impeachment committee or commission, where Nadler is only one of the key members. Rep. Adam Schiff of California, head of the House Intelligence Committee, should head the effort, as far as I'm concerned.

The moderate swing-state Dems, who came out Tuesday night for impeachment and ALL legal means possible in the matter of Trump’s actions against Ukraine, tipped the balance in the matter of making Donald Trump the third president impeached in US history.

Unlike the squad, who is always calling Trump out (we will impeach the m#therf#cker), the swing state Dem women don't even mention Trump's name. These women — also first-term members of the House of Representatives — are all about protecting the Constitution, not seeking revenge on Trump. They are not involved in a Twitter war with Trump supporters, like members of the squad. It's very interesting to listen to the swing-state women Dems take a totally different approach. Yes, the fact that they have commanded navy war ships and large real-life squads of military men inspires my confidence in them.

The contrasts among these women: Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Elaine Luria of Virginia, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan just emphasizes the wide range of women in the Democratic party. All are important, but I am happy to see the swing district women (and a few men) begin to move in unison in their own squad. Progressive media is obsessed with the squad, as if they represent the entirely of the Democratic party, when they do not.

This is another reason why AOC is learning as much as we can about the Yang Gang, as an emerging balance to the as far left as they can go Justice Democrats, who want to blow up everything. Their voices are important but the equally innovative Yang Gang can be an important addition to the political mix among our young people.

Back to Nadler, who is ineffectual toast in my playbook, the Congressman has multiple challengers for his very important House seat. Besides Herzog,

Herzog joins a race in which Nadler has already attracted three women primary challengers. They are Amanda Pearl Frankel, Holly Lynch and Lindsey Boylan, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Boylan’s campaign so far is considered to be the more formidable, writes The New York Post.

The former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo raised $264,657 during the first quarter that she was in the race.

“I welcome all candidates,” she told The Post, responding to Herzog’s entry. “A healthy democracy needs more, not fewer candidates.”

David Yarrow Eyes Nyamuoch Girwath in 'Call of the Wild' for Harper's Bazaar US October 2019

David Yarrow Eyes Nyamuoch Girwath in 'Call of the Wild' for Harper's Bazaar US October 2019

South Sudanese refugee, Omaha, Nebraska-raised model Nyamuoch Girwath is styled by Patrick Mackie in Chanel, Dior, Gucci, McQueen, Prada, Yves St Laurent and more Photographer David Yarrow captures Nyamuoch on location in Botswana for US Harper’s Bazaar October 2019./ Hair & makeup by Orli Meiri

Yarrow has an upcoming book focused on the perilous position of the Kalahari bushmen in a modern world. He is also an ambassador for the Kevin Richardson Foundation, a new organization devoted to saving the world’s lion population which has declined from 450,000 to an estimated 15,000-20,000 in the wild. In the last 20 years, that population has decreased by 43%.

AOC will write a separate post on the Bushmen, who are the indigenous peoples of southern Africa. Largely hunter-gatherers, their territory spans several nations including Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa with small numbers in Angola and Zimbabwe. The Bushmen, also known as the San or Saan peoples, have called the region home for tens of thousands of years.Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa with small numbers in Angola and Zimbabwe.

As we prepare our own story about the Bushmen, you can learn more about them on Survival International.

Some Fashion Luxury Brands Are Just Buying Carbon Neutral Status -- Not Gabriela Hearst

Some Fashion Luxury Brands Are Just Buying Carbon Neutral Status -- Not Gabriela Hearst

Carbon Neutral Buzz

The new luxury fashion buzz word in the sustainability dialogue is “carbon neutral”. Long-time sustainable brand Gabriela Hearst delivered a carbon-neutral Spring 2020 runway show in New York, and Gucci announced to considerable fanfare that “it had achieved 100 percent carbon neutrality in its supply chain and operations.” How? By buying carbon offsets writes Vogue Business. Both Burberry in London and Gucci in Milan hosted carbon neutral Spring 2020 shows, again by buying carbon offsets.

Rachel Cernansky notes that the numbers add up on paper but buying carbon credits isn’t a substitute for actually reducing emissions, and ideally they follow — not lead — actual carbon-reduction improvements in the brand’s design, sales, marketing and manufacturing and manufacturing processes.

Gabriela Hearst Sets New Standards for NYFW

Gabriela Hearst is a leader in the sustainability sector. No one tops Stella McCartney, but Hearst makes a strong showing. Vogue Business shares innovations taken by Hearst that surely aren’t happening at either Gucci or Burberry.

The designer booked only local models (see photo above) for her SS20 New York show, and this new policy will become permanent. Hearst also cut out sample production for her supply chain and — this is a biggie — the designer is shipping product via boat, resulting in a longer 10-week delivery window.

New York’s CFDA website drills down even deeper on Gabriela Hearst’s initiatives for NYFW. She teamed up with her production company Bureau Betak to track every element of the show including insuring that the food used for catering to the models used only local and seasonal foodstuffs and the models’ hair was done without using electricity.

Unable to cut down on the emissions from private cars, Ubers, and taxis delivering guests to her September 10 show, Hearst gave guests a scarf featuring a print of animals that’ve have recently gone extinct. The Gabriella Hearst brand donated funds in guests names to Our Children’s Trust, the nonprofit organization based in Oregon that has filed lawsuits on behalf of youth plaintiffs against governments, arguing that they are infringing on the children’s rights to a stable climate system. Read on in Fashion & Brands.

Ghana’s Copyright Law for Folklore Hampers Cultural Growth

Ghana’s Copyright Law for Folklore Hampers Cultural Growth

Ghana has a rich folkloric tradition that includes Adinkra symbols, Kente cloth, traditional festivals, music and storytelling. Perhaps one of Ghana’s best known folk characters is Ananse, the spider god and trickster, after whom the Ghanaian storytelling tradition Anansesem is named.

Ghana also has some of the world’s most restrictive laws on the use of its folklore. The country’s 2005 Copyright Act defines folklore as “the literary, artistic and scientific expressions belonging to the cultural heritage of Ghana which are created, preserved and developed by ethnic communities of Ghana or by an unidentified Ghanaian author”.

This suggests that the legislation, which is an update of a 1985 law, applies equally to traditional works where the author is unknown and new works derived from folklore where the author is known.

The rights in these works are “vested in the President on behalf of and in trust for the people of the republic”. These rights are also deemed to exist in perpetuity. This means that works which qualify as folkloric will never fall into the public domain – and will never be free to use.

The 1985 Act only restricted use of Ghana’s folklore by foreigners. The 2005 Act extended this to Ghanaian nationals. In principle, this means that a Ghanaian artist wishing to use Ananse stories, or a musician who wants to rework old folk songs or musical rhythms must first seek approval from the National Folklore Board and pay an undisclosed fee.

This is deeply problematic.

Agroforestry at 40: How Tree-Farm Science Has Changed the World

PEOPLE TERRACING SLOPING LAND TO CONTROL SOIL EROSION. PHOTO COURTESY OF CCAFS.

Agroforestry at 40: How Tree-Farm Science Has Changed the World

“Agroforestry” – the practice of having trees as part of farms – is as old as agriculture itself. But as a field of scientific enquiry and policy making, it’s now marking its 40th birthday.

In 1978 the International Council for Research in Agro-Forestry was created to document the use of trees on farms – as a source of income, food and for a healthy environment – and spread information about it. Research gradually became a stronger focus and today it is known as the World Agroforestry Centre.

It’s an important area of research because more than 40% of the worlds’ agricultural lands have at least 10% tree cover. Because the interactions between trees, soils, crops and livestock can be positive or negative, their relationship must be balanced and understood.

To mark this anniversary my colleagues and I from the World Agroforestry Centre, launched a book which takes stock of the science produced and what else needs to be done. A total of 80 authors looked at approaches to agroforestry and how it has contributed to the transformation of rural livelihoods and landscapes. (Note from Anne: you can read this entire book online for free, so follow the link.)