The Top 10 Theater Productions of 2017

www.advocate.com/theater/2017/12/20/top-10-theater-productions-2017

Medienbericht: Ex-Bundestagspräsident Lammert prognostiziert Merkels Ende 2018

www.huffingtonpost.de/entry/ex-bundestagsprasident-lammert-prognostiziert-merkels-ende-2018_de_5a3a20fde4b0b0e5a79e4088

The Waugh Zone Wednesday December 20, 2017

1. BRITANNIA RULES

It’s the final PMQs of the year and the only area where “nothing has changed” is that Theresa May is still Prime Minister and Jeremy Corbyn is still Leader of the Opposition. As they square up across the despatch box, May will want to trumpet her Brexit breakthrough. Corbyn may go off-piste and avoid Europe, preferring to highlight homelessness stats again, or Universal Credit, or even an IMF growth downgrade (Mark Carney and the IMF have a press conference this morning). The Labour leader probably won’t be tempted to cite an Iranian ayatollah who yesterday called Boris Johnson a ‘liar’, ‘womaniser’ and ‘a clown’.

May has a packed agenda, as she follows PMQs with a session before the Liaison Committee at 3.15pm, when all the select committee chairs will ask her about the following: Brexit and the transition; health and social care funding; her ‘burning injustices’ agenda; and sex harassment in the workplace (speaking of which, time is running out for the Damian Green inquiry to be published before the Commons rises for recess tomorrow). Blair used to fend off every question at Liaison Committee with aplomb, as MPs were notoriously bad at asking them. Brown stonewalled, Cameron arrived with gimmicky announcements in his back pocket. Will May yield any real insights today? Aides sound like they just want to get through it unscathed.

Over in Brussels, the EU publishes its draft negotiating guidelines. Michel Barnier’s “killer graphic” ridiculing May’s ‘red lines’ on Brexit emerged yesterday. But the backlash against Barnier is in full swing, with the Sun claiming the UK is winning round individual EU states and that even Jean-Claude Juncker was unhappy with him for ruling out a decent Brexit deal for the City of London.  The BBC reports the UK is offering EU banks easy access even under a ‘no deal’ Brexit. Is that a measure of the City’s desperation? Or a cleverly calculated olive branch?

A timely concession means May will avoid further defeat on the Exit Date for Brexit as the final day of Committee stage on the EU Withdrawal Bill takes place. (Watch out for a possible Labour rebellion on Chris Leslie’s amendment on staying in the customs union though). Yesterday’s lengthy but ‘lively’ Cabinet meeting on Brexit was most notable for Michael Gove warning colleagues against a re-run of ‘Project Fear’ doom and gloom on life outside EU rules. The Guardian reports he directed a pointed comment at Philip Hammond, who was in turn defended by Amber Rudd. Ex-Remainers insisted the UK should stick as close as possible to EU trade rules, but Brexiteers think Britannia should have its own rules. Come October, we will find out who’s really bluffing, in London and Brussels.

Still, I wonder what the PM thought of Sir John Sawers, former head of MI6, telling the Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday: “We have to acknowledge that Brexit is damaging our economy. We do not want to go through a repeat of the 1970s where the UK went progressively downhill. We will need to turn it around. I am not sure how we are going to do it”.  Maybe Sawers should attend the Tories’ Bow Group event tonight, where John Redwood will deliver his “annual Christmas fairytale”…

2. TAXING TIMES

Way back in the mid-1990s, I used to turn up to the old Department for the Environment building in London (its towers were dubbed ‘the three ugly sisters of Marsham Street’) for briefings on the annual local government finance settlement. That grey building has long been demolished, but yesterday Communities Secretary Sajid Javid revived a story we all used to write under John Major: millions facing council tax hikes.

Yes, families could see bills rise by up to £100 a year (the biggest rise in 14 years) after Javid said town halls could jack up taxes by 5.99% without any local referendums. The figures are provisional of course, but it looks like this is one area the Government is following orthodoxy and hiking bills after a general election rather than before one. Tory MP Bob Blackman tells Mail Online: “It is not a happy Christmas message to see for hard-pressed council tax payers.” Jacob Rees-Mogg warned against “a return to the Blair/Brown era of stealth taxes”. Tory LGA chief Lord Porter is even more scathing, warning we are now at “a financial breaking point which will threaten the existence of some local services”

Meanwhile, there’s more bad news for local taxpayers in the police funding settlement smuggled out yesterday. Forces will get extra money, but only if police and crime commissioners jack up their council tax ‘precept’. Shadow Police Minister Louise Haigh tells HuffPost that a swift Commons Library analysis has revealed the amount of money provided by the Home Office to local forces will fall by at least £100m in real terms next year. A further 1.3% cut on the 2017/18 settlement, that takes the total cut in central government funding since 2015 to £513m. Don’t forget ministers said they would ‘protect’ police funding.

3. TRUMP CARD

Theresa May finally chatted on the phone to Donald Trump last night. It was the first time they had spoken since their public spat over the President’s retweets of far-right group Britain First’s propaganda videos. It’s not quite clear if Trump had been refusing to take her calls or she was refusing his (or they’d just been both very busy). But her failure to raise the tweets has been pounced on by Jeremy Corbyn, whose spokesman says she should have decided to ‘stand up against hate’.  

Trump and May wished each other a Merry Christmas, but there was a hint of disagreement on Israel. “They discussed the different positions we took on the recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital,” the official No.10 read-out said, which was diplo-speak for May repeating the UK official policy. May had declared 13 days ago she would challenge the President personally on the Jerusalem issue, and the delay suggests her anger, if she had any, was not exactly red hot yesterday.

Over in the States, however, Trump has secured his first big policy victory in Congress this morning with the Senate passing his ‘Tax Cuts And Jobs Act’ (Americans, they love an arresting title on their legislation).  The tax cuts are the most radical overhaul of the US tax system in 30 years, with big business and the wealthy benefitting most. That’s a bit awkward for Trump’s campaign trail promise to be on the side of ‘the little guy’, let alone the trillion dollars added to national debt. A bit like May, his inner circle will claim he’s got to Christmas by defying the doubters, with a major tax cut victory and an immigration ban that critics said would never happen. But as with May, there will be trouble ahead. My HuffPost UK colleagues report the tax cut bill is the least popular item of Presidential legislation since the 1990s.

BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR…

Watch panicked American student Ann Mark explain how she turned up to her first final exam, without the right notebook, in the wrong building.  Her tweeted video has gone viral, with 8 million views so far.

4. ROUGH, ENOUGH

Historically, the Public Accounts Committee used to deal only in dry topics like misspending and procurement errors. But today it brings its analytical heft to expose the growing scandal of the number of homeless people on Britain’s streets. Its new report found that 9,100 people are sleeping rough every night, with a further 78,000 families in temporary accommodation.

Since March 2011, the number of people who sleep rough has risen by 134%. The average rough sleeper dies before the age of 50, and children in long-term temporary accommodation miss far more schooling than their peers. PAC chair Meg Hillier wants targeted help for councils, rather than ministers passing the buck to town halls. Labour and the Lib Dems say benefit cuts are also to blame. As we approach Christmas, it’s not just Grenfell that has exposed Britain’s housing crisis.

5. PLASTIC PROMISES

A coalition of animal welfare and environmental charities has warned that more than 100,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will be thrown away and not recycled this Christmas. Michael Gove, who was famously ‘haunted’ by Blue Planet II’s footage of turtles caught in plastic bags, yesterday unveiled plans for a bottle deposit scheme and other moves to end single-use plastics, such as straws and coffee cups.

Unfortunately, Gove has a talent for embarrassing incidents while walking to and from Cabinet (who could forget this slip?). And yesterday, he suffered another political pratfall (or should that be Pretfall?) as the Sun reports he was photographed in Downing Street carrying a non-recyclable Pret A Manger coffee cup. Oops.

 

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Got something you want to share? Please send any stories/tips/quotes/pix/plugs/gossip to Paul Waugh, Ned Simons, Kate Forrester,  Rachel Wearmouth and Owen Bennett.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-waugh-zone-wednesday-december-20-2017_uk_5a3a1ab6e4b06d1621b06aa6

Familiennachzug: Junge Unions-Abgeordnete würden zusammen mit der AfD stimmen

www.huffingtonpost.de/entry/familiennachzug-junge-unions-abgeordnete-wurden-indirekt-zusammen-mit-der-afd-abstimmen_de_5a39f597e4b06d1621b060d1

I Fled The Syrian War And Now Work In A Refugee Camp Helping Children In Need

My name is Abed Elmajeed Elnaimi, I am 32-years-old, I am Jordanian and I was born in Syria.

Syria is a beautiful country, living there gave me amazing childhood memories. I finished college with a tour guidance major, and I have visited most of the historical attractions in Syria, it was an unforgettable stage of my life. Life in Syria was simple, everything was cheap and available, medicine, public transportation, education.

The war started in 2011, the first thing I experienced in Damascus was the increasing security forces presence everywhere, wherever I would go the security checkpoints were in front of me. Food items prices started to increase many folds in a very short time and lots of people couldn’t afford it.

I can still remember the very first scary situation. I was asleep at home where all of a sudden, I woke up at the noise of a ridiculously loud explosion, and then I learned that it was a suicidal car bomb attack. Up to this point people still had hope that violence will subside soon, but it was not meant to be.

I lived in Syria for one year during the war, in which time I experienced a couple of close-to-death experiences. One of them was when I was going back home after work and I had to cross a military checkpoint to reach home, and then after five minutes the same checkpoint was bombed and a crossing bus was destroyed, killing everyone in it.

The second incident was when I was working in an area where all of a sudden the shooting started between the government forces and the free Syrian army. I was stuck in a building for around five hours and it was located in the crossfire line between the two fighting forces, I was really scared. Eventually the shooting stopped, and on the way back home I saw the level of destruction in the area, there were many furniture shops and all of them were on fire, but the worst scene that is still stuck in my memory was the fear I saw in the people’s faces. I saw many families leaving the area and the women and children were terrified and crying. That was when I made my decision, I couldn’t stay in Syria anymore. It was a heart-breaking decision, but I had to do it. 

When I came to Jordan I had a problem that I shared with many Syrian people, I came with a very limited amount of money that was depleted in a short time and finding a job was difficult. The house rents were very expensive, and when I had spent all my money I almost made the decision to return to Syria like many Syrian families did, but then I had a job offer. It was in Za’atari camp.

When I got the job offer I went for it straight away. Working with the Syrian people is more than what I hoped for, coming from Syria I had a strong connection with the Syrian people and I had the desire to help them. I started working with a Jordanian NGO, at that time I used to work sometimes 24 hours a day in the camp because it was a state of emergency and people were coming by their thousands every day. I used to welcome the new arrivals and help distribute food and blankets for them upon their arrival. I continued witnessing the pain of the Syrian people by working in the camp but I was really happy knowing that I was doing something to help the Syrian people.

It’s been six years since I started working with humanitarian aid organisations and now I work with Unicef. My job is in communications, and mostly what I do is to help spread the news about the challenges the Syrian children are facing, hoping that the world would send more assistance for Syrian children.

One of the benefits of working with children is that every now and then I can directly help some of them. One of the children that I helped, her story will remain carved in my memory.

I met her couple of years ago she was struggling with English in school, she wasn’t able to memorise many words so I taught her couple of tricks on how to remember English words and she seemed very interested. After one year I came across the same girl, she told me how good she became in English and we were able to make a simple conversation in English. That moment knowing that – in a way – I was able to improve someone’s future was one of my proudest moments.   

Many families had to make the difficult choice to leave Syria, many of them crossed to Europe on a perilous route that can end up killing them, that is not easy, I know… My stepsister is one of them, she couldn’t come to be with us in Jordan but she left Syria to Europe. She sold everything she owns and worked so hard to get, including her house, to cover the cost of the trip, which is mostly paid to the smugglers, and she lost most of her bags and shoes crossing to Europe. She crossed on an unsafe inflatable raft but fortunately she ended up in the Netherlands and all I want to say is thank you to all the countries that welcomed the Syrian people, and without their help these people would have nowhere to go.

The Syrian people are still suffering the ongoing war in their country. Many of them, including children, lost their lives to the war, many others lost their futures, and many children’s lives have been altered to the point of no return. Children have lost their parents, and have lost their chance to education, girls were forcibly married due to economic situation of their parents. Children are growing up as refugees away from their home country and many of them have never seen Syria after seven years of war.

What I really wish for is that the Syrian people would have a chance to live in peace once again. I believe that peace is the most important thing in life, without peace there is no life, and there is no future.

For me I wish I can one day be reunited with my loved ones, my sister, my friends…         

HuffPost UK has teamed up with Unicef to raise money for Syrian children affected by a war which has stretched over almost seven years. 

To donate to the HuffPost UK Christmas Appeal go to: unicef.uk/huffpost

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/refugee-worker-unicef_uk_5a38e99be4b0fc99878e7d54

Jake Shears Takes Us Inside His New Orleans: INTERVIEW

Mark your calendars, because 2018 will be the year of Jake Shears. The Scissor Sisters frontman is not only taking Broadway by storm in a lead role in Kinky Boots, but he’s also finished an upcoming memoir called Boys Keep Swinging and his first solo album. It’s not surprising to see the multi-talented Shears showcasing his skills across so many projects. What’s more unexpected is the place fueling this creative boon: New Orleans.

For an artist whose career has been closely associated with the New York scene and the Scissor Sisters’ early success across the pond, Shears says the Big Easy has been a huge influence on his work. Shears has spent recent years in the Crescent City and spoke with us about what makes New Orleans so special.

Find out how NOLA factors into his recent work and his favorite places around town in our interview below!

What inspired your initial move to New Orleans?

I was at this crossroads in my life, and I always wanted to be there. When Scissor Sisters would perform down there, it was my favorite place to play. I would get off the bus in the morning and spend as much time as I could just hanging out and walking around. It was just a huge fantasy of mine — as I think it is for a lot of people who visit — to move there. It was two years ago that I just had this moment where I saw the opportunity to just go. So I bought a one-way ticket, I didn’t know anybody, and I left. I rented a place for a few months from a buddy of mine and then just stayed. It felt like home to me. It feels like home to me more than anywhere else.

What is it about the city that resonates with you so much?

Do you have three hours? (Laughs) I could talk and talk and talk about it! First of all, there are no other people on Earth that are as wonderful as New Orleanians. I love the locals. The people down there are the most important thing about this city. It’s such a brilliant town, because one of the biggest industries is tourism. So, there’s this constant influx of new people. But with the locals, there’s this love for visitors, for tourists. I’ve never heard a local grouse about people visiting the city. I think there’s just an incredible welcoming nature within the people of New Orleans that is unbeatable.

Also, the people are funny down there. Everyone’s got such a great sense of humor. You can be anywhere from a streetcar stop to a Rite Aid, and people are just constantly making each other laugh. People talk to each other in public that don’t know each other more than any other place I’ve ever seen. It’s just a lot of fun walking out your front door.

The people of the city are my favorite thing about it, and the second thing that I really love about town is that it’s a music city. The city is built on music, it’s built on jazz, and theres’s music everywhere. I live in the Marigny, I’m right near Frenchmen Street. I just love that I can walk out of my apartment at any time of day and go hear some of the best musicians in the world. Being down there, the more you’re there, the more you can tune into it. I highly recommend one of the great things about New Orleans, the local radio station WWOZ. I highly recommend everyone tune into whenever, they’ve got an app. It’s the local station there. It’s mostly just New Orleans music, jazz and local music just 24 hours a day. It’s pretty awesome.

The third thing that I really love about the city, and this kind of goes along with the people and its welcoming atmosphere, but it’s a place where you’re just allowed to be whoever you are. And you’re encouraged to just be yourself. It’s a very live and let live city in that way. It’s funny, because when I’m down there, I’ve got a bunch of clothes in my apartment and whatnot, but it’s one of the places where I can just throw on whatever’s in front of me and just walk out my door, whether it’s a pair of shorts and T-shirt or whether it’s a naughty nurses uniform or whatever. I can put on anything. I could wear my pajamas and go down to Phoenix Bar and just hang out. It’s place where your self-consciousness can just fall away.

How has the city influenced the music you’re making now?

I’ve always been super inspired by New Orleans music. I’ve always been referencing it in my songs and albums since I’ve started making music. But actually being there, it was such a great place to get work done, strangely enough. Since I’ve moved down there I’ve written and recorded an album, and I’ve written a whole book. There’s something about it where if you want to live your wildest life, that’s there.

But also it’s a great place to turn off and squirrel yourself away and get work done. It’s a great place to get work done. People don’t believe me when I say that, but I get more work done down there than anywhere. It’s because the surroundings are so beautiful, everything is so easy, everything’s walkable. You can be really lazy down there, and it’s the kind of place where you can get up and get everything done by 2 and then be having a cocktail at the Country Club by 2:30.

There’s a studio right near my apartment called Marigny Studios that’s where a ton of people record. Solange is always there recording. It’s a great studio, and it’s two blocks away from my place. So it was kind of the perfect set up where I could just schedule days there, have friends fly in to write and work with me, and also everyone wants to come to New Orleans. It’s an easy way to get friends to come visit you.

Also, on Sundays all the second line parades happen. I recommend anybody going down to try to experience the big Sunday second line parade. They’re just life affirming. They just get this massive community together that plays music and marches down the street for hours. It’s exquisite.

What has your writing process been like on your book?

I started two years ago. When I went down to New Orleans is when I really just started writing it. It’s a memoir. I just went down there and really started from scratch, just kind of vomiting pages and pages and pages. It’s the first book I’ve ever written, so, it was tougher than I thought it would be, but at the same time I’m really happy that I’ve had the kind of free space to do it in…

Once I had a full draft of the book I was really able to start having a good time with it, making connections in it, linking things and creating a kind of arc for it. At first it was really messy. It was a really tough process … It’s just been so exciting to finish it. I just got the galleys last night, and to actually finish something like that just felt really good. It made me realize that it’s something I want to do again. With a book, it’s something you just chip and chip and chip away at it, and then suddenly you have a book. It doesn’t really happen overnight, but one day you just realize that it’s all there.

What are your favorite places in New Orleans to write?

As far as the book goes, in the mornings I would take my laptop and go to Press Street Station, which is in Marigny, it’s right by the train tracks. It’s an awesome place for breakfast. It’s connected to the art school there. Their breakfast is flippin’ amazing. My other place to write is Cafe Who Dat, which is right around the corner from my place. They have some insane corn cakes. I get a chicken fried steak there that’s really scary good. It’s dangerous, though. Finally, I got my kitchen set up and a truck so I could go buy groceries, which really helps the waistline, because I definitely gained a lot of weight.

Just for hangs, my favorite bar there is the Phoenix. It’s right down the street from my place, it’s open 24 hours. It’s the kind of place that they don’t make ‘em like that anymore. It’s like a neighborhood bar from the ‘70s or something, it’s just amazing. I love the balcony at Good Friends, that’s one of my favorite spots. I love 700 Club, as far as a gay bar there that has a lot of locals. It’s not sort of in the middle of the Bourbon Street gay area, it’s a little bit removed from that, which is nice.

The post Jake Shears Takes Us Inside His New Orleans: INTERVIEW appeared first on Towleroad.

Jake Shears Takes Us Inside His New Orleans: INTERVIEW

Roy Moore Still Won’t Concede, Begs for Cash to Fund ‘Election Integrity Program’

A week after Doug Jones defeated him in the U.S. Senate contest in Alabama, the homophobe and accused pedophile is pleading for money.

www.advocate.com/politics/2017/12/19/roy-moore-still-wont-concede-begs-cash-fund-election-integrity-program