In an earlier article in this newspaper (Understanding the Trump phenomenon, August 5, 2016), I suggested that it was necessary to take Donald Trumps candidacy and its implications more seriously than many were doing then. Six months into the Trump presidency, the American media remains fascinated with the new reality show that has entered the White House.

As every small skirmish, move and tweet is given inordinate scrutiny and attention, it is easy however to lose sight of the big picture. What have we, in fact, learnt about the United States in the months since November 2016? How is this new information going to be useful in understanding the future path of the U.S., as well as its ongoing relationship with the rest of the world? Here are some suggestions and speculations.

The first point to be taken note of is that, despite the widespread disapproval of Mr. Trump in the media and the political and intellectual classes, he still has an approval rating in excess of 35% with the American public. Given Mr. Trumps rather erratic conduct so far, there seems no reason to believe that this rating will fall much further, no matter what he does. A small part of this can be accounted for by legitimism, that is, the need to support an authority figure. But far more important is the suggestion that over a third of the American public is currently made up of inflexible, hardcore right-wing and populist elements. Racism surely plays a role here too. The presidency can be won for the Republicans by adding roughly 15% of votes to this core constituency. In contrast, the Democratic Party does not have a solid base that measures up to this demographically. For them, to drum up numbers in the high-40% or more is thus a more difficult task. As American demography evolves, this could change, but only by the 2030s.

Second, the American electoral system as such is irrevocably broken, and yet there is no collective desire to fix it. In 2000, George W. Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore by about 5,40,000 and yet won the election (this was the first time that it had happened since 1888). In 2016, Donald Trump then lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by a far larger margin of over three million votes. Still, currently there is no broad move afoot to reform the system, on the part of either major party, or to ensure that this does not happen again. This is in part because of American cultural hubris, which does not allow them to admit that their electoral system is far inferior to, say, that in use in France.

A third point concerns Mr. Trumps domestic agenda. Too much attention has been focused so far on the trench warfare regarding health care. So far, it has proven impossible to replace Obamacare, an ironical fact given that many of those who would have been adversely affected probably voted for Mr. Trump. At the same time, Mr. Trump has already placed one conservative Supreme Court judge, Neil Gorsuch, and may have a chance to effect still more changes. He has significantly turned back the clock on environmental legislation. By 2020, he will have effected many other major domestic policy changes in one or the other fashion. Again, this is an indictment of the American political system, which gives far too much power to the executive, and even to a President who has lost the popular vote.

The fourth point is more crucial still, and concerns the projection of American power abroad. Since the end of the Cold War, and the emergence of the unipolar American-dominated system around 1990, speculation has gone on regarding the nature of potential challenges to it. These could come from other state-systems, such as China, or the European Union, or from unclassifiable systems and forms, such as al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. But few could have predicted that the real challenge would come from within the U.S. itself. Yet, this is what has happened. The Trump administration appears singularly unconcerned with, and inept in dealing with, foreign policy, and after all its core internal constituency is firmly isolationist in its inclinations. The State Department is today in utter disarray. The Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is from the petroleum industry and seems out of his depth; so that rumours even surface regularly of his imminent resignation.

Based on the past six months, it seems likely that by 2020, the systematic projection of American power on a global scale would have shrunk considerably.

Whatever the direct reality of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, there can be no doubt that this outcome suits the Putin regime well. The Russian view appears to be that any political system that is nave enough to be manipulated from the outside deserves what it gets anyway. It could even be argued perhaps that the fresh emergence of a multipolar world is no bad thing. A system largely managed by an inept U.S. diplomatic apparatus is hardly attractive, even to the U.S.s erstwhile allies across the Atlantic.

To sum up, the Trump presidency is the product of a flawed political system that will obstinately not admit its flaws. In spite of this, it will surely have a significant impact over the medium term, both domestically and internationally. On the domestic front, it may be possible to turn some things back, depending of course on the outcome of the 2020 U.S. election. Where the impact is likely to be lasting, and not really reversible, is on the international front.

Sanjay Subrahmanyam is Professor of History at UCLA

Excerpt from:
Anatomy of the Trump presidency - The Hindu

Back in May it was announced that ABC had placed a straight-to-series order for a new Greys Anatomy spinoff based around a group of heroic firefighters, and now comes word from Deadline that Jaina Lee Ortiz (Rosewood) has been cast as the female lead.

The 10-episode drama is being penned by Greys Anatomy executive producer and co-showrunner Stacy McKee and takes place in a Seattle firehouse, detailing the brave men and women from the captain to the newest recruit who risk their lives and their hearts both in the line of duty and off the clock.

The main characters of the new spinoff are set to be introduced in an episode of the upcoming fourteenth season of Greys Anatomy before the show premiers in midseason. It is the second spinoff from the long-running medical drama series after Private Practice, which ran between 2007 and 2013.

More here:
Rosewood's Jaina Lee Ortiz cast as female lead in Grey's Anatomy spinoff - Flickering Myth (blog)

At a time when the soft drinks market is crowded with health-conscious products, Feel Good aims to carve out its brand positioning by extending a message of positivity to women in its latest 'all natural' ad. The Drum went on set (and participated in the ad) to get a first-hand look at the campaign.

With the launch of a new 100% natural range of flavoured water drinks, Driven Agency was tasked with bringing the Vimto-owned Feel Good brand to life with an integrated campaign.

"Obviously the brand is called Feel Good, so the clue is in the name," said Graham Drury, partner at Driven, on the genesis of the idea. We wanted to capture something that actually meant something. Its all about this feeling of liberation and freedom.

"We had to find somewhere private and beautiful so when people arrived they felt comfortable. Finding this place was a a dead important part of the jigsaw."

The idea was to create a documentary-style film where client-side senior brand manager Becky Unwin rallies 100 women to go skinny dipping with her in Spain, tracking the journey from start to finish and how the women feel during the experience.

The shoot took place in rural Andalucia with an all female crew and led by director Nicky Woodhouse from Maker Projects, who incorporated underwater cameras, drones and Go Pros into the production of the film in order to capture every moment.

With an event like this we needed to capture it from all angles. Its not something you can do loads of takes of; its pretty much a one take wonder, said Jennie Ferrar, deputy creative director at Driven.

We knew there was a window where we had the 100 women all together so the best way to capture it was an underwater a camera, Go Pros on peoples heads, a drone in the sky to see the location, and of course our director behind the camera. So it was really throwing everything at that moment this had to be spontaneous, Ferrar added.

To recruit the 100 women, Becky Unwin of Feel Good drinks took to social media, called acquaintances and even approached strangers in the street.

If wed have planned it down to a T it wouldnt have had that seize of the moment quality, though it did come with its downsides, Unwin mused.

We had some challenges, obviously. The week before we were due to shoot we didnt have the full quota. There were people who were maybes, or waiting on flight details. It was very difficult to co-ordinate as people needed to organise shift swaps, child care, so there were a few hairy moments, but we got there in the end."

In addition to the documentary style film, Feel Good is executing an experiential campaign where people can hop into a 'Feel Good taxi', as well as a consumer PR campaign, radio and out of home plans in August. MEC is handling media buying while Social Chain is engaging in an influencer campaign with some of the skinny dipping participants.

"Theres only certain types of clients youd lay this challenge out to. We proposed that we do this for real, live, where theres nowhere to hide," Drury said.

"The client has taken a big leap of faith and we have managed to pull it off, I think. From an agency perspective, I've never seen staff moved to tears of relief during a campaign."

Read the original here:
Anatomy of an Ad: How Driven helped 100 women 'Feel Good' in skinny dipping spot - The Drum

Where exactly is the grave of Andreas Vesalius? This historical mystery, at the unlikely intersection of anatomy, archeology and cartography, could soon be solved. But not without a final crowdfunding effort.

It's a mystery tinged with irony. Vesalius (1514-1564) popularised autopsies and (unwittingly) kicked off the centuries-long trend of 'resurrectionism': snatching bodies for dissection by medical students. Now it's his own grave that scientists are after, and their search involves a studious postmortem of the landscape where he was buried, with ancient maps as material evidence.

The search started some time before 2014, the 500th anniversary of Vesalius's birth. To celebrate that event, medical artist Pascale Pollier set out to reconstruct the face of Vesalius, from his actual skull a fitting tribute to the father of modern anatomy. But where was that skull? The historical record showed that Vesalius died on the Greek island of Zakynthos. And that's where the trail went cold.

16th-century map of Zakynthos, transposed on a topographically accurate modern map.

It's fair to say that few scientists have been as consequential for the development of modern science in particular medical science as Vesalius. So how could his last resting place have been neglected, forgotten and ultimately lost?

Born in Brussels to a family of apothecaries and physicians, Andries van Wesel later latinised his name to Andreas Vesalius, as was the fashion among Renaissance scholars. He studied anatomy in Paris and Louvain, where he famously robbed a corpse from a gibbet outside the city walls in order to procure a complete skeleton. He obtained his doctorate in Padua in 1537, then immediately received a professorate there, teaching surgery and anatomy.

His seminal work is the seven-volume De humani corporis fabrica ('On the Fabric of the Human Body'), published in Basel in 1543, when Vesalius was just 29 years old.The book is a milestone in the transition from the symbolic approach to medicine to an empirical one. With his insistence on learning via dissection of the human body, Vesalius not only improved upon, but even superseded Galen, whose teachings on medicine had been authoritative for over a millennium, despite the fact that Galen's autopsies on Barbary macaques were as close as he got to human anatomy.

The Fabrica has been called the most beautiful medical book ever published, combining the best science, art and typography that 16th-century Europe had to offer. In 2011, the only completely coloured first-edition copy of the Fabrica known to exist (probably the one presented by Vesalius to Charles V in the autumn of 1543) sold at Christie's for over $1.6 million, more than double the highest estimate of $600,000. Because the colouring was most likely carried out under the supervision of Vesalius himself, the author's portrait provides the only historical basis for our knowledge of Vesalius's complexion and hair colour.

For Vesalius, publication of the book also marked a turning point in his career. He left academia to become the personal physician to Emperor Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and from 1556 to his successor Philip II and their respective entourages, in Spain.

In 1564, Vesalius, a devout Catholic, left Spain for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He visited the Holy Places, but never made it back. It was long assumed that he had been shipwrecked on the island of Zakynthos, then a Venetian colony. Scientists now think Vesalius fell ill on the sea voyage home with scurvy, some argue; general fatigue, say others. Recently rediscovered eyewitness reports say he collapsed on the quay of Zakynthos, dying in October 1564.

Previously, Vesalius was thought to have been buried at the Franciscan abbey at Kalogerata, near the beach. However, reports from European pilgrims to Jerusalem place the tomb at the local Catholic church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (1).

Ground plan of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (1806)

That further complicates matters, as the church was destroyed in the big earthquake of 1953 which levelled most of the buildings on the island. The ruins of the church were bulldozed into the sea, and it was never rebuilt. The city itself rose from its ashes on a slightly different street grid.

So in 2014, with the help of Belgian embassy in Greece, Belgian archeologists conducted Phase One of the Quest for the Lost Grave of Vesalius.Painstakingly matching historical maps of the area to satellite imagery and modern cartographic data, Dr. Sylviane Dderix identified the exact location of the ruins of the Santa Maria delle Grazie church: on the north side of the city, partly under the intersection of Kolyva and Kolokotroni streets, and partly under some adjacent houses built after the quake.

Location of the vanished church on the current street grid.

So far, so good. But now, to enrich the data of the first phase, more applied cartography is necessary, specifically: tracking down cavities, foundations and other subterranean anomalies via ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical-resistivity tomography (ERT). The archeologists have now received permission from the Greek ministry of Culture to perform this non-invasive research. Work could start as soon as September, if the crowdfunding campaign to raise the necessary funds, now tantalisingly close its goal, is successful.

Location of the church on Google Earth.

If Phase Two produces actionable results, Phase Three would consist of targeted, small-scale excavations in areas that could hold the grave. And there is indeed a good chance that Vesalius is still in the ground, says Theo Dirix, of the Vesalius Continuum project: Previous construction work on the spot has already turned up funerary slabs, proving there was a cemetery. Moreover, one of them dates from around the time Vesalius was buried here.

One report suggests Vesalius's tombstone may have been looted in 1571 by the Turks. If bones are found without identifying inscriptions, it is hoped they will yield enough DNA for forensic analysis; the project has already tracked down descendants of Vesalius's mother Elisabeth Crabb for mitochondrial DNA comparison.

Zakynthos street grid pre-earthquake (blue) and post-earthquake (red).

There is however a small chance that bones yielded by the underground on this specific plot of Zakynthos belong to another luminary from centuries past. The church was constructed over a much older cemetery; in the 1540s, about two decades before Vesalius was interred at the church, a grave believed to be that of the famous Roman orator Cicero was discovered in its grounds.

Many thanks to Theo Dirix for the images used here. For more on the search for Vesalius's grave, go to Vesalius Continuum.

Strange Maps #850

Got a strange map? Let me know at strangemaps@gmail.com.

(1) Christoph Furer von Haimendorff, who visited Zakynthos in the year following Vesalius's death, gives the epitaph: ANDREAE VESALII BRUXELLENSIS TUMULUS, QUI OBIIT ANNO DOMINI M. D. LXIV. ID. OCTOBRIS, CUMEX HIEROSOLYMA REDIISSET, Anno Aetatis suae LVIII. Mariae de Gratia (however, Vesalius was 50, not 58 years old when he died)

Read the original:
Anatomy of a Grave-Hunt - Big Think

Pamela Gocobachi 9:05 am on July 28, 2017

(Photo by ABC/Mitch Haaseth)

Greys Anatomyis about to take it way back! The ABC drama is gearing up for a fourteenth season thats apparently going to make long-time viewers of the series incredibly happy.

According to actor Kevin McKidd, who plays Dr. Owen Hunt, season 14 of the hit medical drama starring Ellen Pompeo will be heavy on the old school Greys Anatomy vibes.

Its fantastic, wrote McKidd via Twitter when one fan asked what we can expect from this years season premiere. Funny and feels like vintage @GreysABC.

Vintage Greys Anatomy? Sign us up, please! Its nice to hear that the show could potentially be going back to its roots in terms of tone especially considering how many of the original actors weve had to bid farewell to over the years.

Though McKidd didnt go into details via Twitter, the reasons Greys Anatomy season 14 in particular might be so reminiscent of earlier seasons of Greys Anatomy could have something to do with the return of executive producer Krista Vernoff.

On Thursday (July 27), we learned via TVLine that Vernoff, who served as the head writer and executive producer for Greys Anatomyfrom season one through seven, is officially heading back to spearhead season 14.

Vernoff will be taking over showrunner duties from Stacy McKee, who has been tasked with helmingShonda Rhimes upcoming firefighter spinoff series. As sad as well be to see McKee go, we cant deny that were excited to have Vernoff back.

We cant wait to see what Vernoff, who is said to be working closely with Rhimes and her TV partner Betsy Beers, has in store for us this year!

(H/T MovieFone)

Greys Anatomy returns to ABC with a two-hour premiere on September 28.For the latest pop culture news and voting, make sure to sign up for the Peoples Choice newsletter!

Visit link:
'Grey's Anatomy' Season 14 Feels 'Vintage,' Teases Star - People's Choice

Johnni Macke 4:08 pm on July 27, 2017

(Photo Courtesy: ABC)

A Greys Anatomy original is heading back to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital next season, and its great news for longtime fans of the ABC doctor drama.

After serving as the head writer and executive producer for Greys from seasons one through seven, Krista Vernoff is officially back as showrunner, TV Line has confirmed.

With news that Greys most recent showrunner, Stacy McKee, is moving to Shonda Rhimes upcoming firefighter spinoff serieswhen it debuts, fans can rest easy with Vernoff at the helm of the veteran drama. The showrunner will reportedly be working alongside Rhimes and her TV partner Betsy Beers this season, beginning with the premiere.

TV Line reports that in addition to being the showrunner this season, Vernoff wrote the season 14 premiere, Break Down the House, which is already being filmed in Seattle.

In fact, Vernoff has already shared a few pictures from set hinting that episode one is already wrapped and ready to go. Can you believe it?!

Thats a wrap, Seattle! Thank you for the weather and for my sparkle hat! (Its like a sparkle pager, only hattier!) #GreysAnatomy, Vernoff captioned a selfie with Kevin McKidd, who played Dr. Owen Hunt.

We cant wait to see what Vernoff and the rest of the Greys Anatomy team has in store for us come this fall! Until then, we will just have to look at thepictures that the cast including Ellen Pompeo, Jesse Williams, and morehave been sharing from their current adventures in Seattle.

Greys Anatomy returns for season 14 with a two-hour premiere on September 28, 2017 on ABC.For the latest pop culture news and voting, make sure to sign up for the Peoples Choice newsletter!

Visit link:
'Grey's Anatomy' Alum Returning For Season 14 - People's Choice

Welcome to the Anatomy of a Goal, where each week we dissect one goal from the previous weeks Columbus Crew SC match.

For match 22 on the 2017 MLS Season, we take a look at Ilsinhos 20th minute goal that put the Philadelphia Union up 1-0 on Crew SC level as part of the 3-0 loss on Wednesday.

Heres a look at the finish from the Philadelphia winger.

The Union approached Wednesdays match with an offensive mindset, totally unlike its defense-first approach on Saturday. Columbus weathered the Philadelphia attacking storm during the first portion of the match, but still faced a significant amount of pressure from the Union attack.

Phillys opener starts with a 50/50 ball won by the Union midfield. Left back Giliano Wijnaldum picked up the won ball as he is closed down by Justin Meram and Hector Jimenez.

Notice Artur, looking downfield. The Black & Gold center-midfielder decides to hold his position and let Meram and Jimenez defend Wijnaldum.

With Meram closing out his angle to Haris Medunjanin, Wijnaldum slots a pass along the sideline to Marcus Epps.

Though he would has room to turn and run, Epps elects to play a one-time pass back to Medunjanin. Throughout this entire sequence, Philadelphia plays very quick passes, slicing through the Crew SC defense.

With the ball at his feet and a soft cushion from Meram, Medunjanin has multiple options. He can either play a quick pass back to Wijnaldum, a pass up the field to CJ Sapong, dribble the ball forward or a field-switching pass to Roland Alberg.

Medunjanin takes quick touch forward and switches the ball to Alberg.

Alberg receives the ball and finds himself with tons of space along the right flank. Running down the flank, right back Raymon Gaddis spreads the field just to the right of Alberg.

Wil Trapp, just to the right of the referee, and Jukka Raitala shift toward Alberg in an attempt to close down the Union attacker.

With Albergs angle on goal closed out by Trapp and Raitala, the Philadelphia No. 10 slides the ball over to Gaddis, who continued his overlapping run with Alberg.

As Gaddis approaches the ball, he hits a one-touch cross into the box. It seems that Gaddis is looking for Sapong, but the striker is marked by both Alex Crognale and Jonathan Mensah. No matter, Gaddis cross wont have enough power to make it to his striker.

As Gaddis weak cross trickles into the box, Crognale has a simple angle to the ball. If the ball doesnt take a difficult bounce then Crognale should be able to clear the ball or at least send it out of bounds... neither of those things happen.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.

In the above video, you can see Crognale whiff on this clearance. Its not clear if the ball takes a quick bounce before reaching the center back, but Crognale at worst should have side-footed this ball out of bounds.

Here, you can see the ball slicing up and above Crognale, back into the face of the goal.

As the ball reaches its apex, Jonathan marks Sapong while Jimenez puts himself between Epps and the goal.

All 4 players misplay the ball, and Epps gets an awkward touch into the path of Jonathan, who does a good job to shift in front of the open attacker.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.

I have included the above video to show Jonathans quick attempted clearance of the ball on this play. The defender quickly got in front of Epps and was able to clear the ball up and out of immediate danger without a full swing of his leg.

The beleaguered center back obviously had his issues later in the first half, but here he did nearly everything he could to bail out his teammates.

As Jonathans short clearance drops, Sapong begins to take aim at an overhead kick. There is not much that Jimenez can do aside from putting his face into the path of Sapongs foot in hopes of drawing a free kick.

Now as Sapongs prepares for his, excellent assist, notice how totally wide open Ilsinho is. The winger is in the vicinity of multiple Crew SC players, but is totally alone.

With no defenders near him, Ilsinho lines up his half volley. . .

. . . and smashes it home.

Ive highlighted the four Columbus players who I think should have been responsible for marking Ilsinho in order of responsibility: Trapp, Raitala, Artur, and Lalas Abubakar.

Lets look at this defensive slip up from another angle.

As Gaddis cross heads into the penalty box, you can see that Artur track Ilsinho. Raitala defends Gaddis while Abubakar covers the middle of the box. Trapp is just sort of hanging out in the general vicinity of a Union attacker.

From this angle, I think you can remove Abubakars responsibility for covering Ilsinho. he attempts to deny the ball into the box, cut off Ilsinhos run were it to continue and then is forced to deal with Crognales mishit.

Now, with Ilsinho lining up his volley, you can see Artur, Raitala, and Trapp all around Ilsinho with no other Philadelphia attacking threats present. Raitala had to recover from the cross, but neither Artur nor Trapp have any excuse not to have picked up Ilsinho. The responsibility for covering Ilsinho falls directly on Columbus two center midfielders. Artur tracks Ilsinho into the box and then decides to hang out in the middle of the box rather than cover the open winger. Trapp sees his man drop out of the play and slowly walks into the box; the captain has to do a better job here.

Findings:

Go here to see the original:
Anatomy of a Goal: Ilsinho's Goalazo - Massive Report

https://usat.ly/2v67hGs

Jesse Williams, Justin Chambers, Greys Anatomy cast throw first pitch at Mariners game

Jackson Avery, Alex Karev, Owen Hunt and Ben Warren at Safeco Field.

I found this on FTW and wanted to share: %link% For more great sports stories ... *visit For The Win: https://www.ftw.usatoday.com *follow @ForTheWin: https://www.twitter.com/forthewin *like FTW on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usatodayftw

Link:
Jesse Williams, Justin Chambers, Grey's Anatomy cast throw first pitch at Mariners game - For The Win

Editor:

I started out to write a simple letter of thanks to all the people who protected and served over the 4th of July Holiday.

I understand that our personal safety relies on certain occupations fulfilling their duties, no matter what. I thank them for their dedication.

This started me wondering how many how many around me can not quite grasp the true significance of this holiday, but want to. (Maybe they dont.) I would strongly suggest picking up a copy of the book The 5000 Leap Year by W. Cleon Skousen.

It spells out the truly unique, while not perfect, opportunities our founders gave us. It is a good place to state. I can not help but feel that if the founders dropped in on us, today, they would be ashamed.

The wanted us to grow and seek out our potential. Not to retreat into some safe space while muttering homilies about our entitlements or past wrongs. History is for learning from and to grow, not to be used to manufacture strife.

Not one hurled insult or unprovoked attack will chance a single moment of history. But, they will impede our growth into the society our founders hoped or us. That Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit Happiness thing, not the you got it, I want it, therefore I am entitled to take it thing.

I can almost see the fingers waging now; you dont know, you cant understand, I feel. But, that just proves my point. I have not written about something I do not understand or believe in.

Its not my opinion, it is there to see in the documents and correspondences left for us by the founders. On the other hand many will make the mistake of thinking they know me based on this tiny bit of scribbling.

Most opinions are formed form little to no facts or in consensuses with the opinons of others (also with out verification). It does not take much these days to form one. To paraphrase; opinions are like certain parts of our anatomy, everyone has them, but few know how they got there.

Just another out of step, old timer.

Wesley Girard

Camp Verde

Continued here:
Letter: Opinions are like certain parts of our anatomy | The Verde ... - Verde Independent

Use your (arrows) to browse

Photo Credit: Greys Anatomy/ABC Image Acquired from ABC

Ever feel like you got that dj vu moment or the feeling like youve seen an actor before? It happens in so many shows, and Greys Anatomy was certainly one of them.

While Greys Anatomy was the major role for a number of the cast members, it hasnt been the only one. Theyve all starred in a TV show or movie that youve likely forgotten.

This isnt just about the main stars of the show. Ill look into some of the guest stars that you just know youd seen in another show. Did you remember these roles that the Greys Anatomy cast had been in?

Use your (arrows) to browse

See the original post here:
15 'Grey's Anatomy' cast members in roles you've forgotten - Hidden Remote