May 11, 2017

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Entertainment May 11, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: Why Every Movie Space Battle is Wrong, 'Super Mario Bros.' vs. 'Aliens' and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Movie Science of the Day:

With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 out in theaters, Kyle Hill scientifically explains why every movie space battle is wrong:

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Musical Cosplay of the Day:

Speaking of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, here are some fans in costume as its characters singing a capella covers of its songs:

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Fan Build of the Day:

And speaking of space movies, here’s a tutorial on how to make your own bike helmet modeled after K-2SO from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (via Fashiobably Geek):

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Remade Trailer of the Day:

And speaking of Star Wars, here’s a redo of the trailer for The Last Jedi with old school video game graphics (via /Film):

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Mashup of the Day:

Also speaking of space movies and video games, here’s a mashup of an old school Super Mario Bros. game and Aliens (via Geek Tyrant):

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Movie Comparison of the Day:

And speaking of James Cameron’s Alien sequel, Couch Tomato has 24 reasons why Aliens and Resident Evil are the same movie:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Goldie Hawn, who returns to cinemas this week in Snatched, and the late director Jonathan Demme on the set of Swing Shift in 1983:

Movie Trivia of the Day:

Speaking of Demme, here’s ScreenCrush with a bunch of trivia you might not know about The Silence of the Lambs:

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Video List of the Day:

CineFix is back with part two of its selection of the best shots of all time, from movies including Persona, The Master and Metropolis:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Cannes premiere of Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning masterpiece The Nights of Cabiria. Watch the original U.S. trailer for the Italian classic, celebrating Giulietta Masina’s best actress festival award win below.

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Business May 11, 2017

Convicted Coal Mine CEO Is Taking His Case To The U.S. Supreme Court

A plaque memorializes 29 miners killed in a 2010 explosion at a Massey Energy mine in West Virginia. Former Massey CEO Don Blankenship wants the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his conviction on charges of willfully violating mine safety and health standards.

John Raby/AP

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John Raby/AP

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is marking his release from federal custody with an appeal for vindication by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Blankenship served a one-year federal prison sentence after being convicted of conspiracy to violate federal mine safety laws. The charges stemmed from the disaster at a Massey Energy mine in West Virginia in 2010 that left 29 coal miners dead.

“We never give up,” says Blankenship attorney William Taylor, who notified the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday that Blankenship will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

In his first two days of freedom, Blankenship has posted a blizzard of tweets declaring his innocence and blaming the Upper Big Branch mine disaster on federal regulators and what he says was a natural inundation of natural gas.

Multiple investigations blamed the explosion that ripped through the mine on inadequate safety protections, including excessive explosive coal dust, inadequate ventilation and worn out equipment. Federal prosecutors cited Blankenship’s micromanagement and obsessive focus on coal production in the conspiracy trial that resulted in his conviction and imprisonment. The charges were based on safety practices at Massey Energy and Upper Big Branch but were not directly related to the deadly explosion.

Blankenship’s conviction was upheld by the federal appeals court. Taylor argued that the jury instructions during Blankenship’s trial were unfair, pinning conviction on “reckless disregard” of mine safety laws rather than intent to violate the law.

As Ken Ward, Jr., reported in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, the defense argued on appeal that “the government fully exploited these novel willfulness instructions to obtain a conviction for not doing enough concerning safety rather than for intending to violate the law.”

Taylor is confident the Supreme Court will take the case. “It’s a pretty clear issue,” he says. “We’re either right or wrong about that.”

Taylor also insists that the timing of the Supreme Court petition notice “has nothing to do with [Blankenship’s] incarceration status,” even though it was filed the day after Blankenship’s release, and as Blankenship took to Twitter with a spirited defense.

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Health May 11, 2017

Heroin Epidemic Is Driving A Spike In Hepatitis C Cases, CDC Says

Used syringes rest in a pile at a needle exchange clinic in St. Johnsbury, Vt. The CDC says needle exchanges like this one, where users can obtain clean needles, help reduce the rates of death and transmission among those suffering from hepatitis C.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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The number of new Hepatitis C cases leaped nearly 300 percent from 2010 to 2015, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the CDC points to the likely culprit behind the spike in cases of the infectious disease: the use of heroin and other injection drugs.

And despite the existence of therapies that can cure more than 90 percent of infections, the organization says the disease remains a deadly threat. In 2013, for instance, the CDC says some 19,000 people died of their infections.

“Hepatitis C is associated with more deaths in the United States than 60 other infectious diseases reported to CDC combined,” the researchers write.

States that have struggled most with the unfolding opioid crisis also tended to have worst rates of new Hepatitis C infections. All of the seven states that have rates of infection at least twice the national average — Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Tennessee and West Virginia — have seen a statistically significant increase in drug overdose deaths in recent years, as well.

The CDC evinces little doubt that statistics like these are intimately related.

“Injection drug use is the primary risk factor for new HCV infections,” the researchers write, referring to the disease by its initials and recommending that lawmakers “create and strengthen public health laws” to fight the disease.

In particular, the CDC says some of the best ways to combat its spread are ways to boost access to clean needles — such as syringe exchange programs and decriminalization of the possession of paraphernalia.

“State laws that increase access to syringe exchange programs and clean needles and syringes, and policies that facilitate access to HCV treatment through state Medicaid programs can reduce HCV transmission risk,” the CDC says.

Of all 50 states, the CDC found that only Massachusetts, New Mexico and Washington had both a “comprehensive set of laws and a permissive Medicaid treatment policy that might affect access to both HCV preventive and treatment services for persons who inject drugs.”

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Sports May 11, 2017

Fenway Incidents Prompt Questions About Hate Speech At The Ballpark

Last week at Boston’s Fenway Park, fans openly used racial slurs, and in one case they were directed at Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones. NPR explores if the incidents are isolated or part of a larger problem.

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Last week, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones said he was the target of racial slurs during a game at Fenway Park in Boston. A day later at Fenway, there was another fan using another racial insult this time directed at a Kenyan woman who sang the national anthem. NPR’s Tom Goldman reports that people are wondering if these incidents are isolated or part of a growing problem.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: While the furor around Adam Jones has receded, the discussion hasn’t even 3,000 miles west of Fenway Park.

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GOLDMAN: On an otherwise carefree afternoon, baseball fans at Angel Stadium of Anaheim stopped to talk about hate speech. None of those we polled this past weekend said they’d ever witnessed it at a ballgame, but all of them said they wouldn’t stay quiet if they did. Amanda Israel is a first-year dental student at USC.

AMANDA ISRAEL: I would honestly – I wouldn’t even go to the usher. I would go straight to the person. I mean, yeah, some people may be afraid to kind of approach it, but I think if you approach it yourself, you’ll know that it will get taken care of, whereas somebody might just brush it off because they don’t want to engage in conflict.

HARRY EDWARDS: I think it’s a positive thing for us to be talking about it.

GOLDMAN: That’s longtime sociologist and civil rights activist Dr. Harry Edwards. He says a national conversation about hate speech at the ballpark is especially positive because historically, black athletes dealt with racist taunts by themselves, athletes from Jack Johnson to Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali to Shaquille O’Neal and so many others who weren’t famous. But Dr. Edwards says with Fenway Park, we need to know what it is we’re talking about, an isolated incident or…

EDWARDS: Are we talking about these individuals as simply the latest manifestation of the much wider problem in American society?

GOLDMAN: Perhaps. Dr. Richard Lapchick directs the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. He tracks racist incidents in sports. In 2016, he says there were 31 nationwide, mostly affecting pro athletes.

RICHARD LAPCHICK: It was triple the year before.

GOLDMAN: That jump from 11 to 31 came at a time when there was a reported 20 percent increase in hate crimes nationwide. But few, if any, of those crimes had the counterpoint seen last week at Fenway Park when fans showed their support for Adam Jones. Again, here’s Dr. Harry Edwards.

EDWARDS: You can go from a racist incident that goes viral one day and the very next day have a standing ovation for that same athlete by 35,000 people. That carries a message with it.

GOLDMAN: Dr. Edwards says over the last 50 years, he’s witnessed the power of sports as a lever for social change. It’s a stretch to expect baseball to provide a roadmap for dealing with this country’s intractable issue of race relations. Still, MLB wants to send a message within its world. For at least the last decade, all 30 teams have been required to give fans the opportunity to report hate speech by alerting an usher or by sending a text to club officials. Late last week, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said MLB is surveying each team’s policies, what they do to handle Adam Jones-like incidents.

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ROB MANFRED: As a prelude to giving consideration to some more industry-wide guidelines in this area.

GOLDMAN: At a minimum, baseball hopes to deliver what fans want from a day at the park – a day away from the world outside. Tom Goldman, NPR News.

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