FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of fixed abrasive substrates. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for fixed abrasive preparation and use in a cluster chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) tool.
One of the last stages before fabrication of semiconductor devices on a semiconductor substrate, such as Si or III-V related compounds (e.g. GaAs, InP), involves the polishing of the semiconductor wafer. One reason wafer polishing is performed is to remove any irregularities present on the surface so that the wafer is smooth and flat prior to performing any initial fabrication steps (such as etch, metalization or photolithography). In addition, CMP is also used to planarize the semiconductor wafer subsequent to initiation of device fabrication, for example after deposition of polyamide or other insulating material on the wafer.
In general, prior to device fabrication, there are two types of polishing: rough polishing and chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) in which the rough polishing precedes the CMP. Rough polishing is a conventional abrasive process whose primary purpose is to remove the surface damage leftover from the wafer-slicing process of diamond saws that created the wafer. CMP follows the rough polishing and is typically a combination of chemical etching and mechanical buffing. During device fabrication, only CMP is used as rough polishing is too abrasive to afford the necessary planarization control.
In a conventional CMP rotary or orbital system, wafers are mounted upside-down on rotating circular holders and lowered onto a polishing pad rotated in the opposite direction. The polishing pad is generally polyurethane or urethane-coated with felt and sits on a pallet. For ridding the surface of irregularities prior to fabrication, a slurry containing silica suspended in a mild etchant such as potassium or ammonium hydroxide is added to the polishing pad. A thin layer of silicon dioxide chemically grows on the surface of the wafer as a result of contact with the alkaline slurry. This layer is continuously removed mechanically by the buffing action of the polishing pad. The process generally reduces the irregularities of the wafer to a small percentage of the wafer diameter over the entire surface of the wafer. For planarization during processing, e.g. planarizing to flatten the wafer profile in multi-metal interconnection schemes, the CMP apparatus must remove oxides and various metals in addition to any planarizing material and/or wafer material.
To achieve the necessary precision without polishing away the active circuitry, a number of variables in any CMP apparatus can be controlled. For example, the numerous diverse variables that can be controlled include: composition of the slurry, rate of feed or introduction of the slurry to the pad, pad characteristics (both the pad material and the condition of the pad), polishing time, rotational speed of both the pad and wafer, and pressure of the wafer on the pad. The slurry characteristics to be controlled include the particulate size and pH of the etchant solution. In addition, slurries are chosen to balance chemical removal with abrasiveness so that the production rate of wafers through the CMP apparatus is acceptable (as is the planarity of the resultant wafer).
- BRIEF SUMMARY
More recently, some current CMP systems/modules have eschewed conventional slurries as described above, turning to fixed abrasive polishing instead. To date, a number of forms of fixed abrasives exist. Materials are produced either as a roll or as a fixed pad. The roll is slowly and continuously fed into a CMP module, while the fixed pad is applied to the conventional rotary or orbital system. At least one of the problems with these current fixed-abrasive CMP systems is similar to that of more-conventional slurry-type systems; a high cost of ownership of the system for the user. Additional problems include both inconsistent results of the fixed abrasive as the abrasive wears away due to usage and reliance on third-party produced consumable abrasive or slurry material.
To solve these problems, an arrangement containing a modified fixed abrasive material and method of using the same has been developed using a pre-patterned substrate onto which the fixed abrasive is disposed.
A first aspect of the present invention is directed towards a method of fixed abrasive substitute preparation and use. The method entails providing a substrate having a predetermined pattern on a surface of the substrate and introducing an abrasive/binder mixture to the surface of the substrate. The abrasive/binder mixture coats the pattern on the surface of the substrate. A semiconductor wafer is planarized to a desired uniformity by the interaction of coated substrate and the semiconductor wafer. In one embodiment, the method may include patterning the substrate prior to introducing the abrasive/binder mixture to the surface of the substrate. Introducing the abrasive/binder mixture to the surface of the substrate may include vacuum depositing the abrasive/binder mixture on the surface of the substrate. Similarly, the method may include a cure mechanism enabling curing of the binder such that the abrasive better adheres to the surface of the semiconductor. In other embodiments, the method may include stripping the substrate of remaining abrasive subsequent to planarizing semiconductors wafers. The stripping of the abrasive occurs in cleaning chamber and the substrate would be subsequently transferred to a deposition chamber in which the substrate would be re-coated with the abrasive/binder mixture to which new semiconductor wafers requiring planarization may be applied.
A second aspect of the present invention is directed towards an arrangement using a pre-patterned substrate containing a fixed abrasive coated on a surface of the substrate and a wafer to which the coated substrate is applied. The second aspect of the invention may also include a vacuum deposition chamber in which an abrasive/binder mixture is applied and a chemical-mechanical polishing chamber to which the substrate and wafers are introduced and the wafer planarized. A curing mechanism may also be included in which the abrasive/binder mixture is annealed, allowing the abrasive to better adhere to the surface of the substrate. The second aspect of the invention may also incorporate the use of a cleaning chamber in which the remaining abrasive after planarization is stripped from the surface of the substrate and after which the substrate is transferred to the deposition chamber and the abrasive/binder mixture is reapplied to the surface of the substrate.
It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to increase the reliability and decrease the cost of a CMP system by providing an arrangement and method to better control the amount of abrasive material used during planarization of a semiconductor wafer. An additional advantage of the present invention is the improvement in process control of the planarization of the semiconductor wafer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
The following figures and detailed description of the preferred embodiments will more clearly demonstrate these and other objects and advantages of the invention.
FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of a first embodiment of a patterned substrate of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a side view of a first embodiment of a patterned substrate of the present invention.
FIGS. 3A and 3B show second and third embodiments of patterned substrates of the present invention.
FIGS. 4A and 4B depict fourth and fifth embodiments of patterned substrates of the present invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates the change in surface area of the patterned substrate according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows a sixth embodiment of a patterned substrate of the present invention.
FIGS. 7A and 7B show side views of the first embodiment of the present invention before and after deposition of the fixed abrasive.
FIG. 8 shows a rotary-type CMP system of the present invention.
FIG. 9 shows a continuous feed-type CMP system of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 10 shows a used substrate disposed in a cleaning chamber of the present invention.
FIGS. 1 and 2 depict top and side views of a preferred embodiment of a fixed abrasive substrate according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a substrate 1 is provided with an abrasive-coated predetermined pattern 2. FIG. 2 depicts a side view of the coated substrate 1 better showing the abrasive-coated predetermined pattern 2, which consists of a predetermined pattern 3 and a fixed abrasive 4 coating the pattern 3.
The substrate 1 is made of a durable material that is suitable for use in a standard vacuum deposition process. Examples of typical materials include, but are not limited to, ceramic, rigid plastic or other rigid material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The substrate is generally purchased from a vendor of the particular material that comprises the substrate.
The substrate pattern is a three-dimensional topographical pattern that may be prepared by a number of different methods, including physically or chemically etching the substrate to form the pattern or depositing the pattern on the substrate via a deposition process. In the latter case, i.e. deposition, the pattern may be formed of either the same material as the substrate or a different material that is maintained on the substrate through repeated deposition of abrasive on the substrate and cleaning of the substrate by removal of the abrasive remaining on the substrate after numerous planarizations. In addition, the pattern on a substrate may be altered as desired by re-patterning the substrate. This may be accomplished by stripping (or partially stripping) the substrate of the prior pattern, cleaning the substrate and re-etching or re-depositing pattern material on the substrate. Although either chemical means (e.g. chemical etching) or mechanical means (e.g. grinding, mechanical etching) may be used to strip a prior pattern from the substrate, chemical means are generally used to clean the substrate, either when removing the abrasive or after stripping the prior pattern.
The substrate pattern 3 is selected such that die-level and/or wafer-level planarization is optimized when the abrasive-coated substrate pattern 2 is applied to a desired semiconductor wafer to be planarized. The shape of the substrate pattern 3 is particularly important for maintaining stability in the chemical-mechanical polishing process. A general objective is to select a pattern that will enable chemical transport of slurry or other fluid-based chemistry to the wafer/substrate interface and reaction by-product away from the substrate. One advantage of using a predetermined pattern is that the density of the pattern (both the number of shapes/unit area on the substrate and the amount of pattern/unit area on the substrate) is preset, thus allowing the user to select a pattern to best suit the processing needs for a particular wafer by increasing control over the planarization process. One suitable range of pattern density is from 60% to 95%. In addition to pattern density, the specific pattern profile, i.e. shape, may be selected. For example, in some cases the surface area of the fixed abrasive that contacts the surface of the semiconductor wafer during polishing may be desired to be constant for predictability and reliability reasons. One preferred shape having a constant cross-section is a pillar-like shape. Examples of typical pillar-like patterns with constant surface area with wear are shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. FIG. 3A illustrates a circular-type pillar 5 while FIG. 3B depicts a square-based pillar 6. Alternate pillar shaped patterns having a surface area that remains constant with usage, such as ovular-type or rectangular-based pillars (not shown), may be constructed in addition to those depicted in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
Other patterns may also be used in which the surface area does not remain constant with usage as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. FIG. 4A depicts a side view of a substrate 1 having hemispherical patterns 7, while FIG. 4B shows a side view of a substrate 1 having trapezoidal patterns 8. Once a substrate having these or similar patterns is coated with the abrasive, and is then used to polish a semiconductor wafer, the coated abrasive wears away while polishing the wafer to expose an increasing amount of abrasive (i.e. the surface area of the abrasive increases). This is because, as in the above patterns with constant cross-sectional area, the abrasive covers the surface of the individual pattern, e.g. a hemisphere. In this case, as opposed to a pillar-like pattern, the cross-sectional area of the uncoated hemisphere itself increases from the top of the air/pattern interface 10 to the pattern/substrate interface (the base) 11. Thus, the increase in surface area of the abrasive due to erosion with usage parallels a similar increase in cross-sectional area of the hemisphere. In this case, the surface area is 4π(r0−h)2, where r0 is the radius of the hemisphere and h is the distance from the base of the hemisphere 11 to the top of the air/interface 10, as shown in FIG. 5.
Patterns having increasing surface area during usage may be used where a high degree of surfacing with a smaller abrasive contact area is initially desired and subsequently the benefit of a larger abrasive contact area is desired during polishing/planarization of the semiconductor wafer. Alternatively, a combination of patterns with constant and increasing surface area may be used, as illustrated in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, the substrate having a combination of patterns may be used where one type of pattern enables another type of pattern to achieve a desired result or enhances the result obtained by another type of pattern. For example, assuming only two types of patterns, pattern A and pattern B, exist on the substrate, pattern A may enable activation of the material surface, say via chemistry of an alkali slurry, while patter B may remove the activated material. In this embodiment, pattern A preferably has a smaller surface area (locally) than pattern B. Patter A would then provide a higher pressure to the wafer surface than pattern B and allow chemical action to occur on the wafer, and the lower pressure imparted by pattern B would act to remove activated material. Although specific dimensions may vary, in any of the above patterns, either those having constant or increasing cross-sectional area, typical features of a particular shape might be a maximum height (as measured from the base and shown in FIG. 5 as h) of 20-50 μm and a maximum width of 100-1000 μm (i.e. 2Śr0 in FIG. 5).
The process by which the substrate having a predetermined pattern is coated and used will be described with respect to FIGS. 7-10. Initially, one surface of the substrate is patterned with the desired pattern characteristics, including shape and density as mentioned above, using standard methods. The substrate may be in the form of a rotary disk, linear belt or other desired shape. After preparation of the substrate, the pre-patterned substrate is loaded into a standard deposition (vacuum) chamber 50. The deposition chamber 50 is evacuated to a pressure ≦1 μTorr and then backfilled to a desired deposition pressure with an appropriate deposition gas. A fixed abrasive/binder mixture is then vacuum deposited on the substrate, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIG. 7A shows the substrate prior to deposition of the mixture and FIG. 7B depicts the combination of the substrate and mixture subsequent to deposition.
The abrasive of the fixed abrasive/binder mixture may be formed of silica and/or other materials such as ceria, manganese oxide or similar earth-metal oxide material of appropriate hardness. In one embodiment, the particles that comprise the abrasive may range in size from 0.1 μm to 3.0 μm. The binder allows the abrasive to adhere to the substrate. The binder may be made from any of several conventional binding mixtures such as organic polymers. Of course, alternate processes may be used as well, such as individual deposition of the binder material and the abrasive material or deposition of the abrasive material without the binder material. If the abrasive material is deposited without a separate binder material, the abrasive may adhere with enough strength to allow planarization of a semiconductor wafer or a curing process performed by a cure mechanism (described below) may be applied to the substrate prior to planarization of the semiconductor wafer.
Following the deposition, the substrate and fixed abrasive/binder mixture combination may be annealed or subjected to a curing process if necessary. The curing process sets the binder to more firmly adhere the abrasive to the substrate and may be performed either in-situ with the deposition process or ex-situ, in a separate cure mechanism. This is to say that, if the curing process is performed in situ, the substrate remains in the deposition chamber 50 at atmospheric pressure or less and annealing is performed by the cure mechanism in a range of temperatures between room temperature (approximately 20° C.) and the material melting point (typically >150° C.), depending on the particular binder used. The curing process can also be performed ex-situ, in which case the substrate and fixed abrasive/binder mixture combination is removed from the deposition chamber 50 and annealed in an ambient atmosphere and temperature depending on the particular binder used. In this case, the substrate may be annealed in a separate cure mechanism, such as a conventional annealing apparatus.
Subsequent to the deposition and/or curing process, the substrate is transferred to a CMP system, such as the TERES polishing system available from Lam Research Corp., Fremont, Calif. As described previously, the substrate may either be prepared as a roll or a fixed pad. Thus, the substrate having the fixed abrasive may be in a fixed pad/wafer-type form or a continuous roll, and is used to polish and/or planarize semiconductor wafers introduced to the CMP system. The fixed pad-type substrate is applied to a rotary or orbital CMP system 100, as shown in FIG. 8, while the prepared substrate/roll is slowly and continuously fed into the CMP system 200 as shown in FIG. 9.
FIG. 8 illustrates a stand-alone CMP system 100 in which either a single substrate 110 is prepared and loaded into the CMP system 100 or a plurality of single substrates are prepared and loaded into a magazine-style feeder 120. The loaded feeder 120 is then installed into the CMP system 100 for automated loading and unloading of an individual substrate 110 contained in the loaded feeder 120. The automated loading system of the CMP system 100 loads an individual substrate 110 contained in the loaded feeder 120 into an application chamber 130. A semiconductor wafer 140 to be planarized is introduced into the application chamber 130 either before or after the substrate 110 is loaded. The substrate 110 is rotated at a predetermined spin speed while the wafer 140 is rotated in the opposite direction at a spin speed to achieve a desired relative surface velocity. Typical relative surface velocities are 125 to 400 feet per minute, however even higher relative surface velocities may be used. In addition, although as depicted the substrate 110 is held from the top and the wafer 140 is retained from the bottom of the CMP system 100, the relative positions of the substrate 110 and wafer 140 may be reversed. The wafer 140 is usually retained on a chuck 150 by vacuum clamping.
After the abrasive coating on the loaded substrate 110 has eroded by wear to a preset amount, the substrate 110 is unloaded and may be placed in a reclaim magazine 160. The reclaim magazine 160 is filled with at least one eroded substrate and subsequently transferred from the application chamber 130 to a cleaning chamber 170. Although depicted in-situ in FIG. 8, the cleaning chamber 170 may be a separate module from the CMP system 100. Commercially available cleaning chambers, such as wet cleaning chambers utilizing sulfuric-peroxide wet cleaning chemistry available from FSI International, Inc. of Chaska, Minn., cleaning chambers from Semitool, Inc. of Kalispell, Mont., or a standard plasma-assisted gas etch utilizing O2 plasma followed by a brush scrub clean in an OnTrak scrubber available from Lam Research Corporation of Fremont, Calif., may be used to clean the substrate via chemical means described below.
As depicted in FIG. 10, when the eroded substrate 180 is disposed in the cleaning chamber 170, which is downstream of the chemo-mechanical polishing chamber, the remaining abrasive is removed from the eroded substrate 180 thereby cleaning the substrate. One approach may be to introduce a gas chemistry to etch away the remaining abrasive. These types of processes are usually assisted by plasma energy. A typical etch process may include evacuation of the etch chamber to ≦1 μTorr, backfilling with an etch chemistry and applying power to generate a plasma.
After the etch process is complete, the chamber is vented back to atmosphere and the substrate is removed. This is to say that, subsequent to cleaning, the stripped substrate (indicated by dashes) containing the original predetermined pattern is then transferred to the deposition chamber 50 by a substrate transfer mechanism such as a robot/robotic arm. Note that the substrate, during transfer, may be contained in the reclaim magazine 160, which has a number of cartridges to hold individual substrates. A fresh abrasive/binder mixture is applied to coat the previously denuded substrate. The process for coating the substrate with the abrasive/binder mixture is the same as that described above. As mentioned before, the deposition chamber 50, application chamber 130 and cleaning chamber 170 may be individual modules, or may be integral parts of the entire CMP system 100.
The use of the present invention has advantages, one of which is a lower cost of ownership for the owner of the CMP system as purchase of external manufactured consumables (pads, etc. . . . ) from third party sources are reduced/replaced by purchase of (lower cost) raw materials. In addition, this invention allows control of the abrasiveness of the pad by allowing pattern characteristics such as pattern density, shape and size to be predetermined and/or modified. Further, the present invention permits the user to set the desired abrasive characteristics such as abrasiveness and thickness of the coating as desired, thus allowing an even finer control of planarization.
Alternately, rather than applying fixed abrasive to the surface of the patterned substrate, other materials may be applied. For example, a non-abrasive pad-type material may be introduced to the surface of the substrate. The pad-type material may be polyurethane or other suitable compound, similar to the material of conventional pads used in standard planarization processes. The method of introducing the material to the pre-patterned substrate would be similar to that above, e.g. depositing and adhering (if necessary) the pad-type material on the surface of the substrate, applying the coated substrate to at least one semiconductor wafer requiring planarization, stripping the pad-type material after the pad-type material is sufficiently eroded (i.e. cleaning the substrate), replacing the pad-type material, and reusing the pad-type material. As above, the particular material used determines the specifics of the process, e.g. atmospheres, timing, and temperatures during processing. In this case, however, as the abrasives are not fixed, conventional slurries may be used during planarization of semiconductor wafers, having replaced the conventional pad with the pre-patterned substrate coated with the pad-type material of the present invention. Substrates prepared with standard pad coatings would then be usable with abrasive slurries commonly available in the CMP industry.
While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications and applications may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.


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While a big chunk of my manuscript on the history and memory of camp servants/black Confederates is either completed as a rough draft or in outline form, I am still playing with the structure of the overall narrative. As it stands each chapter begins with a vignette that captures the theme of the chapter and includes its main argument. This is standard fare. The first chapter begins with Confederate General Edward Porter Alexander’s purchase of a servant in 1862 while the third chapter starts off with a detailed description of a Confederate veterans reunion that included former camp servants. As it stands, they work pretty well, but it is lacking in one important way. Continue reading
Much of my book on the history and memory of the battle of the Crater was shared in some form on this blog. This site was used regularly to share my thinking about various questions and to solicit responses from readers. It worked out incredibly well. Consider this post from 2009 in which I first proposed thinking about the Crater as a slave rebellion. Reader feedback figured directly into how I thought about this concept, which eventually became the organizing theme of the first chapter of the book.
The other aspect of this sharing that I enjoyed was showcasing what I understand to be the process that goes into a historical study. I thought it would be helpful to give my blog audience and potential future book readers a behind-the-scenes tour of the challenges faced in writing history that leans more toward the analytical as opposed to a straightforward narrative. Continue reading
In this final installment of the New York Times’s Disunion column, Paul Finkelman surveys some of the significant ways the Civil War changed how Americans interpret the Constitution. Finkelman offers the following observation to illustrate the extent of the constitution’s protection of the institution of slavery.
Finally, it took two-thirds of Congress to send a constitutional amendment to the states, and it took three-fourths of the states to ratify any amendment. Had the 15 slave states all remained in the Union, to this day, in 2015, it would be impossible to end slavery by constitutional amendment, since in a 50-state union, it takes just 13 states to block an amendment.
Keep that in mind next time you are told that slavery would have died a natural death had there not been a civil war.
Over the past few weeks I’ve made steady progress on my new manuscript, which is now tentatively titled, Searching For Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Enduring Myth. The first chapter on the history of Confederate camp servants serves as what I hope will be a solid foundation for the rest of the study. No historian has been more helpful to me in framing this chapter than Eugene Genovese, especially the short book, Fatal Self-Deception: Slaveholding Paternalism in the Old South, which he co-authored with his wife, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese.
The book offers a concise overview of those elements of slaveholding paternalism that the Genoveses have explored over the course of their career up to the moment of secession. They close with a brief analysis of the war years and even references a few examples of camp servants. This is where my study enters.
My goal in the first chapter is to outline the role that camp servants played in propping up the intellectual world of a slaveholding society. There is no denying that the mobilization of this specific group took place for reasons of necessity. In that sense they can be included among that much larger group of impressed slaves that supported the war effort on the state and federal levels. The critical difference, however, is that camp servants, in contrast with impressed slaves, were not nameless. They lived and worked in close proximity to whites beginning with their masters and likely interacted at times with members of the broader community. Continue reading
I don’t know too much about Melissa Harris-Perry or her show on MSNBC. The network is almost as worthless as FOX News, so what I have seen of her program has been little more than individual segments through various websites. All in all the show strikes me as an honest attempt to bring some thoughtfulness back to a major news network. I’ve especially enjoyed her segments on race and gender, which occupy a good deal of her attention.
Given this I wasn’t surprised that Harris-Perry took on the ongoing controversy surrounding Ben Affleck, Henry Louis Gates and the show, “Finding Your Roots.” Harris-Perry brought together a talented group of commentators including Tom Sugrue to discuss what Affleck’s request – that a reference to a slave-owning ancestor be left out of the show – tells us about the continued difficulty of coming to terms with this important history. Continue reading
Below is the first paragraph from a short essay that I recently wrote about Confederate General Edward Porter Alexander and his slave/camp servant, Charley. You can read the rest of it at the History News Network.
The Confederate rank and file said goodbye to many things in and around Appomattox Court House in the days following the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865. Three days following the formal surrender Lee’s men were separated from the weapons they carried over the previous four years through Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The stacking of arms was the first stage in a painful realization that the cause for which they fought and sacrificed so much for was beyond reach. But of all the separations that took place, the most difficult were the final farewells amongst friends and comrades that took place either at Appomattox or along the roads those groups of men followed until each crossroads gradually brought each individual to a final destination.
Why didn’t Henry Louis Gates and the producers of PBS’s “Finding Your Roots” just ask Ben Affleck’s mother whether she took part in the Freedom Summer of 1964? Over the weekend we went from editing out a section of Affleck’s episode to learning that a basic fact that tied his family’s narrative together is false. The drama of violence and the proximity of Affleck’s mother to the murders of Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner during that summer is nothing less than misleading and points to the possibility of there being more fundamental problems with how research is carried out on the show.
I understand that this show is about entertainment, but this doesn’t preclude the ability to apply sound practices of historical research. For many people Gates provides a window into that process. That is not an unreasonable assumption. Gates’s position as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard comes with a great deal of clout. This most recent revelation jeopardizes his reputation, that of his center and fellow faculty and Harvard University. Continue reading
This story just continues to get jucier with each passing day. The website Gawker now has the original script for Ben Affleck’s episode of “Finding Your Roots.” Henry Louis Gates has maintained that the decision to focus on another of Affleck’s ancestors had nothing to do with the actor’s request to steer clear of his slave-owning ancestor. The release of the script and the timing of the changes render that explanation as untenable.
Gates clearly has more explaining to do. Given when the edits to the episode were made it now becomes more likely that additional staff members with the show were aware of Affleck’s request and understood why the changes were being made.
The integrity of the show and Gates’s reputation as a public intellectual have both been jeopardized.

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Women in hip-hop are no longer rare. There is a resurgence of women beating up a lot of their male counterparts these days. the 2021 XXL First year class is a reflection of the times, welcoming four women in the spotlight this year. Pink Ruby is one of them. Her distinct voice and sexually charged lyrics helped her win a legion of followers in no time. After dropping out “Big Mouth,” a song showcasing his deep tone and playful energy, in 2019 it was from there. But to get there, Rubi found inspiration along the way from several different rappers, namely Nicki Minaj, which she positions as her top choice by naming her top five favorite rappers.
“No. 1, Nicki Minaj. I love her because she’s the queen,” shares Rubi, who calls Nicki the “rap queen”. “She’s like the first female rapper I really got into. Her looks, her visuals, everything. I love it.” Rubi was influenced by both Nicki and Cardi B during the coming, which Rubi revealed in her 2021 XXL First year coverage interview.
Staying close to family, Rubi’s top five list also includes one of Nicki’s longtime friends. “Second, Duck, sure, “said Rubi.” The boy. What’s not to like, every song. He makes me feel it. I’m crying. I am in my feelings. I fuck with him. ”Even a self-proclaimed“ raw ”artist like Rubi embraces his emo side.
For her pick # 3, the rising rap newcomer shows her love for an Atlanta hip-hop staple. “Three, Thugger,” said Rubi. “Love Young thug. Legend of Atlanta. Most of the time I don’t understand what he is saying, but I can say it again and love it. “Although she is from Lexington, Ky., Rubi attended Georgia State University. University as a polish major. Time spent at ATL really shaped his musical tastes. Future Hendrix, another Atlanta legend, “she continues.” I love ‘Codeine Crazy’ ” DS2. Just whatever that nigga put out. “
To complete his list, Rubi puts respect on a Chicago rapper who was himself a freshman in 2014. “The No.5 should be Lil durk“Says Rubi.” He’s just become, I only really started listening to his music this year, but I listen to all that nigga songs. He’s also very similar, you hear the pain and the fucking “punch” in his voice. I’m really fucking with Durk and what he’s doing right now. One of his favorite Durk tracks is “When I’m Lonely,” from the deluxe edition of his 2020 album, The voice.
Take a look at Pink Rubypicks from his top five favorite rappers below.

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“What—?” Dong Linhai couldn’t hear him clearly.
Lin Hangzhi cupped his hand around his mouth like a horn and shouted in his ear, “I said– Found her—!”
“Where is she?!” Dong Linhai’s gaze followed Lin Hangzhi’s finger and landed on Xia Qiongyun. Due to her shorter height, Wang Que could only see the top of her hat.
The young lady was watching the performance, and she was surrounded by her companions. From time to time, she would exchange a few words with her friends. The pulsating light lit across her face. Her long hair hung behind her back, and her diamond earrings could be faintly seen. She was looking at the stage with the same excited expression as everyone else, different from the reticent but very reliable Xia Qiongyun that everyone knew. Maybe, she would have been like this.
It wasn’t convenient to act now. Lin Hangzhi waited patiently. Half an hour later, the show finally ended. Lin Hangzhi and Dong Linhai’s eyes and ears were liberated. As the audience began to leave the venue in an orderly manner, Dong Linhai shot the others a meaningful look and they began to move.
Xia Qiongyun went to the bathroom, not noticing that she was being followed. There was a long line of people at the door of the bathroom. How could they draw her away? Or, should they directly “kill” her to wake her up?
“Let’s try and see if Sister Xiao Xia can recognize us first.” Wang Que closed her eyes, sent out a thought, and a teddy bear suit appeared on her in the next moment. She lifted the thick headgear to reveal a gap and said, “I’ll attract the others’ attention. You both can take Xiao Xia to a place where you can talk easily.”
Dong Linhai and Lin Hanzhi nodded. After talking it over, they came up with a plan.
The bear’s appearance had drawn a great deal of attention. The young women who were lined up instinctively liked this cute plush doll, especially when Wang Que took the initiative to make cute movements so as to encourage everyone to interact with her and take pictures.
Xia Qiongyun stood in place some distance away, watching other people interact with the large bear. At the moment, someone called out from behind her, “Excuse me, are you Miss Xia Qiongyun?”
Xia Qiongyun turned around. There were two Asian men behind her, both wearing black suits. They seemed…somewhat familiar?
The thinner-looking man said in English, “We’re staff here. You’ve been selected as this show’s special guest. Please follow us to collect your gift.”
Xia Qiongyun was very wary. Her brows furrowed and she asked, “Wasn’t the performance already over? Why is the lucky guest announced just now?”
Lin Hangzhi continued to fabricate, “That was our momentary negligence, so I came to you to remedy it right away. You can take a look at your admission ticket. There should be a special mark on it, which represents the lucky guest.”
Xia Qiongyun skeptically took out the admission ticket from her handbag, and sure enough, there was a six-pointed star in the upper right corner—Was this here before?
Xia Qiongyun still didn’t believe it. “Can you show me your credentials?”
Dong Linhai and Lin Hangzhi took out their temporary work permits, and Xia Qiongyun finally said, “Sorry, I’m not very interested in the gift.”
She didn’t believe them.
Lin Hangzhi exchanged a helpless glance with Dong Linhai and said, “Okay, I’m sorry to disturb you. I wish you a good evening.”
Xia Qiongyun nodded. She turned around to line back up for the restroom, and just as she raised her heel to take a step, her mouth and nose was suddenly covered from behind.
The sweet, pungent gas was inhaled into her nasal cavity, and Xia Qiongyun almost instantly became dizzy. Just before her consciousness completely disappeared, she heard her companions’ alarmed screams.
The world sank into darkness.
Dong Linhai rushed into the elevator, carrying the unconscious Xia Qiongyun. Lin Hangzhi and Wang Que followed close behind. Before Xia Qiongyun’s companions could chase after them, the elevator door closed and they were lifted up.
When the elevator reached the top floor, they picked a room at random and swiped the card in their hands. With a beeping sound, the door opened. Everyone filed in, and Wang Que locked the door.
Dong Linhai placed Xia Qiongyun on the bed. They needed to wake her up before security personnel arrived.
“We won’t be able to wake her up for the time being. Let’d just do it.” Lin Hangzhi took out from his pocket a small glass bottle filled with a white powdered medicine and a syringe, as well as a tiny bottle of transparent liquid.
Wang Que asked, “What’s this?”
“Cyanide.” Lin Hangzhi used the syringe to transfer some saline solution into the small glass bottle. The powdered medicine inside the bottle began to dissolve. His movements were practiced and proficient, and very quickly, the chemical compound was evenly mixed. He then drew all the mixture into the syringe.
Xia Qiongyun lay quietly, like a breathing corpse. Her hair was still very long, so that Lin Hangzhi couldn’t help but recall the first time he saw her in the Labyrinth of Time.
Lin Hangzhi swept the memories out of his mind. Even in a dream, killing one teammate was an extremely cruel act. Because of the increased pressure, he took the initiative to take the task upon himself.
Lin Hangzhi took a deep breath, rolled up Xia Qiongyun’s sleeves, and pushed the needle into her arm.
The highly toxic substance was injected into her vein.
Victor stood up. He walked from the central area of the carriage toward the end. The bathroom door sign showed that it was unoccupied. He pushed the door open and walked inside. Soon, the sign on the door was locked to red.
He stood in the small space, facing the mirror. After taking his mobile phone out, he dialed the number on top of his address book.
After a few short rings, the phone was connected and a gentle female voice sounded. It was his wife, Karina.
“Why did you call me?”
“I suddenly wanted to hear your voice.” Victor stared at himself in the mirror. He spoke Russian in a low voice, “I’ll be there in about four hours. Are the children okay?”
“The family’s all good. We’re planning to pick you up together.”
In the background, he could vaguely hear his little daughter laughing as she asked if her father was calling. A smile appeared on Victor’s face, and the hand he was using to hold the phone slowly tightened as he quietly soaked in his wife and children’s every words, as if to imprint those voices forever in his heart.
They talked about unimportant things, like the weather, the neighbors, work, financial expenditures, the children’s learning situation…A knock came from the bathroom door, and Victor covered his mobile phone to shout, “Sorry. Please, can you use the bathrooms in the other carriage?”
The knocking on the door stopped. Victor released the mouthpiece, and the woman on the phone said, “Where are you? Is it inconvenient to call? Or, should we hang up first?”
Victor immediately said, “Don’t hang up, Karina. I’m fine. Let’s talk for a while.”
His tone sounded too much like he was pleading. The conversation continued, but the woman on the other side already noticed that something was wrong. “What’s wrong, Victor? You don’t seem too good today.”
“I’m fine.” Victor smiled and looked into the mirror. His violet eyes were full of tenderness. “Let me talk to the children for a bit.”
The little girl immediately took over the phone and shouted, “Daddy! When will you get home?!”
“As soon as possible,” Victor said. “Have you been listening to Mama at home?”
“From now on, when Daddy is away, you need to continue to listen to Momma.”
“Anna and Kasha are still in school. Wait for me to get them, and we’ll come together to pick you up from the train station.”
The train gradually slowed, and the news of the stop was broadcasted on the radio. The smile on Victor’s face slowly disappeared. He whispered, “We’ve arrived at the stop early. I love you and the children, Karina.”
With regards to her husband’s sudden confession, the woman only felt a little bit of shyness that came after a long absence, and she didn’t notice the deeper meaning behind it. “I love you too. I’ll see you in four hours.”
“Okay. Goodbye, Karina.”
The train came to a complete stop. Victor hung up the phone, and the smile on his face disappeared completely. He walked out of the bathroom, but didn’t return to his seat. Instead, he directly left the train.
The biting cold wind poured into his neck. He let out a long breath, causing white mist to drift from his nose and mouth.
The platform separated two railroad tracks. On the other side, another train was approaching and was about to enter the station.
The conductor didn’t notice the man standing by the side of the platform. Victor tucked his hands into his pockets, and a whistling sound came to his ears. A few seconds before the train reached him, he jumped off the platform.
Xixi: Sniff, sniff. Victor got me teary-eyed.


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Get a good battery charger to keep in your vehicle. Having a car battery die is a common problem, so keeping a battery charger in your car can help you and others in this situation. Learn how to find the points where the battery charger connects.
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If you have issues with your car, you can fix it yourself. Many things can be easily fixed. Try troubleshooting the issue on the Internet or talk to your friends to see if they have an idea of what could be wrong with your vehicle. If it is a simple fix, you can usually do it yourself.
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text:
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 10:13 pm
Stephen Holden’s review is here.
Striving for New Standards, Just the Way They Are
Jason Robert Brown at 54 Below
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
The New York Times, September 13, 2012
If you pay little attention to the insular world of musical theater, you might not know that the 42-year-old singer, composer and playwright Jason Robert Brown is the Billy Joel of his generation. The heartfelt outpourings of this brainy, driven, hypersensitive, self-conscious introvert deserve to be standards, but still aren’t.
“Stars and the Moon,” from his 1995 show, Songs for a New World, has become something of a cabaret staple but hasn’t quite reached the golden circle. His 2001 boutique musical, The Last Five Years, a two-character story of a failed marriage, has become a regional-theater staple. A revival opens at the Second Stage Theater in March.
With the singer Shoshana Bean, Mr. Brown performed more possible standards at 54 Below on Wednesday evening and offered previews of songs from works in progress: musical-theater adaptations of the films Honeymoon in Vegas (to star Tony Danza) and The Bridges of Madison County (written with Marsha Norman).
After all these years, the expectations for Mr. Brown’s future remain as high as ever. He has matured and expanded his stylistic reach, and his newer songs are as good or better than his older ones.
Wednesday’s show opened with another would-be classic love song, “It All Fades Away,” a waltz, which Mr. Brown, at the piano, sang in a deep, resonant voice, accompanied by Gary Sieger on electric guitar, Randy Landau on bass and Matt Hinkley on mandolin. It was followed by another waltz, “And I Will Follow,” sung to the similar accompaniment by Ms. Bean, a singer with a blues side.
Two Madison County songs, “Another Life” and “Wondering,” were especially impressive. These hers-and-his interior monologues manage the tricky feat of being both minutely psychological and utterly comprehensible. Unlike many musical-theater love songs nowadays, they don’t flatten emotions into declamatory slogans.
Mr. Brown doesn’t shy away from romantic hyperbole and fairy-tale images, but even his most extravagant effusions have the ring of truth. The recent “Caravan of Angels” was a deeply felt celebration of family and friends. The final number, “Someone to Fall Back On,” is a classic vow of commitment and an answer to “The Wind Beneath My Wings,” just waiting for its moment:
I am no prince,
I am no saint,
I am not anyone’s wildest dream,
But I can stand behind
And be someone to fall back on.
Jason Robert Brown performs through Saturday at 54 Below, 254 West 54th Street, Manhattan; (646) 476-3551, 54below.com.

domain: entertainment


text:
The National Assembly of Hungarians has begun
The National Assembly of Hungarians (MOGY) is being held for the ninth time between 11-13 August 2023 at the Ópusztaszer National Heritage Park, organized by the National Defence Free University Foundation. The aim of the event is to strengthen the resilience of Hungarians in times of crisis and to showcase the diversity of Hungarian culture.
The official opening of the event took place on August 11th. The attendees were greeted by Ferenc Vukics, the founder of the National Defense Free University Foundation, and the board members, Henrik Németh and István Andrási.
Following the greetings, the participants were able to attend presentations that matched their interests. The Ferenc Rakoczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education and the units founded by the institution were also presented at the event. Ildikó Orosz, the president of our college, introduced the unknown Transcarpathia from our perspective. In her speech, she recounted the history of Transcarpathia detached as a result of the Treaty of Trianon.
Krisztina Molnár, from the NGO Pro Cultura Subcarpathica, presented the work of the organisation. Natália Váradi, the office director of the “GENIUS” Charity Foundation, spoke about the Foundation’s programmes and talent management in Transcarpathia. Andzselika Kepics, the director of the Tulipán Tanoda Hungarian School of Folk Music and Folk Art, presented their activities. Vanessza Birtók, from the “Rákóczi-tour” Tourist Information Center, introduced the Rákóczi College and the activities of the tourist center to the participants. János Balogh, the director of the Ede Egán Vocational Training Center of the Rákóczi College, introduced the Nagydobrony Vocational Training Center. Andrea Jakab, the acting director of the P. Frangepán Katalin Grammar, discussed the operation of the grammar school and the Transcarpathian Hungarian Lyceum.
Following this, Barnabás Kész, lecturer at our college’s Department of History and Social Sciences, guided the participants into the world of Transcarpathian ethnography and traditional costumes.
In addition to all this, our college welcomed the interested participants with a full-day film screening related to Transcarpathia. As the film of the day, they had the opportunity to watch the movie “Satan’s bastard” based on the work of Zoltán Mihály Nagy, followed by a meet-and-greet with Tarpai Viktória, recipient of the Jászai Mari Award and the leading actress of the film, from the Transcarpathian Regional Hungarian Drama Theatre. The conversation was moderated by Natália Váradi.
- "GENIUS" Charity Foundation
- "Rákóczi-tour" Tourist Information Center
- Ede Egán Vocational Training Center of the Rákóczi College
- Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education
- P. Frangepán Katalin Grammar
- Pro Cultura Subcarpathica
- Transcarpathian Hungarian Lyceum
- Tulipán Tanoda Hungarian School of Folk Music and Folk Art

domain: news


text:
[Noisebridge-discuss] Just wanted to share this... (Weev)
Robert "Finny" Merrill
rfmerrill at berkeley.edu
Fri Mar 22 18:57:56 UTC 2013
On Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 11:08 AM, Shawn <shawnlandden at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have to disagree.
> Weev For The Win!
You're right, how could I be so wrong as to defame the man who said this:
<weev> always stick ur dick in
<weev> before u start beating and strangling
<weev> thats my rule
08:58:03 <Leonidas> weev: Black culture is a result of affirmative action etc.
08:58:07 <weev> no
08:58:10 <weev> black culture is a result of NIGGERS
More information about the Noisebridge-discuss

domain: sociology


text:
1950s metal kitchen cabinets offer a great look for today’s vintage design enthusiasts. These midcentury relics conjure up images of postwar optimism and atomic-age style. Beyond just decorative appeal, the renewed popularity of 1950s metal cabinets provides a unique way to add historic charm to a contemporary kitchen.
So for designers, collectors, and homeowners looking to infuse their spaces with some Fabulous Fifties flavor, let’s delve into the world of vintage metal cabinets. We’ll explore the history behind these atomic-era antiques, where to find them, and how to restore 1950s metal cabinets to their former retro glory.
The Historical Origins of 1950s Metal Kitchen Cabinets
Metal kitchen cabinets first rose to prominence in the years following World War II. With the war over and the economy booming, many American families moved to the suburbs and outfitted their homes with modern conveniences. Sleek and durable metal cabinets aligned perfectly with the atomic era aesthetic of streamlined designs.
Companies like Youngstown, Geneva, and St. Charles led the way in metal cabinet manufacturing. With bold colors and space-age styling, their steel and aluminum cabinets soon found their way into millions of American kitchens. Tabletop sales demonstrations using miniature cabinet models became a popular merchandising tactic.
The Big Three: Youngstown, Geneva, and St. Charles
In the metal cabinet business, Youngstown, Geneva, and St. Charles ruled the roost. Collectively known as “The Big Three,” these major manufacturers churned out metal cabinets that suburban homeowners eagerly installed in their partitioned kitchens.
Of the Big Three, Youngstown stood at the head of the class. At its peak, the company produced around 300,000 steel cabinets annually at its Ohio plant. Youngstown’s popular freestanding cabinets came in a rainbow of 1950s color schemes.
The Rise of the Populuxe Era
With their promises of convenience and style for all, metal kitchen cabinets exemplified the consumer-driven Populuxe movement of the 1950s. Populuxe, a blend of Popular and Luxury, described the era’s tastes for inexpensively-produced goods dressed up in space-age flair.
While postwar patriotism fueled their initial popularity, by mid-decade metal cabinets evolved from staid white to a kaleidoscope of trendy pastel hues. This explosion of color aligned with the flashy, status-conscious Populuxe aesthetic.
Collecting Vintage 1950s Metal Cabinets Today
For today’s collectors, tracking down vintage 1950s metal cabinets offers an exciting treasure hunt through architectural salvage yards, flea markets, and online auctions. Avid seekers can still uncover museum-worthy pieces, but competition is stiff. Let’s explore some insider tips for locating these retro finds.
Where to Find 1950s Metal Cabinets
eBay and Etsy offer collectors a worldwide buffet of vintage cabinets. Locally, scouting antique shops and vintage home stores may yield rare treasures. Check classified ads, as collectors sometimes part with portions of their stash. Flea markets remain fertile hunting grounds, but prepare to compete with other mid-century aficionados.
Auctions through specialty sites like 1stDibs are ideal but expensive. Lesser-known local auctions sometimes slip under the radar. Estate sales in older neighborhoods also promise 1950s cabinet sightings.
Factors Impacting Cost
A pristine mint-condition 1950s Youngstown set could set you back five figures. More commonly, prices range from a few hundred dollars for cabinets needing restoration to several thousand for professionally refurbished pieces in vibrant retro colors.
Variables impacting value include:
- Brand names like Youngstown and Geneva
- Rare colors like turquoise or pink
- All original parts
- No rust or damage
One-of-a-kind customized pieces also command higher prices from serious collectors.
Restoring Retro Beauty
For design-lovers less concerned with perfection, restoring a set of vintage 1950s metal cabinets can be a fulfilling DIY adventure. Let’s explore some tips for revitalizing these atomic-era antiques.
Repairing Dents and Rust
Light dents can sometimes be carefully popped out, but deep dings may remain. Removing rust requires sanding, priming, and painting damaged areas. Replacing rust-damaged sections may be necessary.
Stripping and Repainting
1950s cabinets came in baked-on enamel finishes that hold up remarkably well. Stripping old paint requires potent chemical strippers. For repainting, durable enamels or powders coatings are recommended to emulate the original look.
Missing or rusted hardware like hinges, handles, and latches can be replaced with period-appropriate parts available from specialty suppliers.
With some perseverance and elbow grease, salvaged steel cabinets can be returned to their former retro glory. For extensive restorations, hiring a professional may be worth the investment.
Beyond just decor, vintage 1950s metal cabinets serve as a tangible link to the optimism and futurism of the postwar era. Each restored set preserves a slice of midcentury design history to enjoy for years to come.
So for adventurous designers, these atomic antiques offer the chance to add a dash of retro nostalgia to modern kitchen spaces. With their sputnik chic and bold pops of color, few pieces capture the essence of the 1950s like these vintage steel cabinets.

domain: history


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News24.com | PODCAST | The Story: The increasing politicisation of judicial appointments
On Monday, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) recommended the exact same candidates they originally put forward for appointment as judges to the Constitutional Court. CASAC challenged the legality of the JSC’s April process, and as a result the high court ordered a rerun of the April interviews. But, the result was no different, with two top legal minds excluded for a second time.
Copyright 2021, All Rights Reserved


text:
Musical McCool Season 3, Week 1 (Midnight Rain, Lizzy McAlpine, Bloody Mary and more)
Updated: Jan 13
Hey guys, welcome back to The Social Tune. And get excited, cause it's a brand new Season of Musical McCool!
I don't know if it's entirely accurate to call what happened last year a "season", as I only wrote 1 edition of Musical McCool and 1 of Music Maelstrom. I still kept up with the charts in my own time of course, even releasing my Top 100 Biggest Irish Hits of 2022 at the end of last year. This year though, I wanted to once again commit to making this a weekly series, so I've decided to tweak the format a bit. Long-time readers will still see the segments they've grown used to, but the way I talk about the 'Top 10', 'The Punished & the New', and ESPECIALLY the 'National Treasures' will have changed quite a bit. We'll tackle those differences as we get to each section, but suffice to say it will make each edition of this series a bit more digestible and quite a bit shorter... I say that now, let's see if my rambling tendencies don't just take over.
And with all that clearly established, let's run through our current biggest hits!
The Top 10
This week saw the exodus of ALL our Christmas songs, flushed out in one go to allow the new hits to fill in the gaps. Personally, I think this just makes sense and is something more chart companies should consider doing *ahem*. And so, our Top 10 looks like this: 1. Escapism. - RAYE (Ft. 070 Shake) [LW: #5 / WOC: 7]
2. Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift [LW: #40 / WOC: 11]
3. Kill Bill - SZA [LW: #18 / WOC: 4]
4. Made You Look - Meghan Trainor [LW: #24 / WOC: 11]
5. Miss You - Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz [LW: #63 / WOC: 13]
6. Another Love - Tom Odell [LW: #35 / WOC: 95]
7. Calm Down (Remix) - Rema (Ft. Selena Gomez) [LW: #38 / WOC: 19]
8. Let Go - Central Cee [LW: #31 / WOC: 3]
9. messy in heaven - venbee & goddard. [LW: #37 / WOC: 14]
10. Kiss Me - Dermot Kennedy [LW: #81 / WOC: 17]
Honestly, this is a pretty great and diverse set of songs to start off the year with. Okay, Calm Down was one of the worst hits of 2022 and Let Go has a STRONG chance of being one of the worst of 2023 (I mean way to pick a sample I despise!), but all the other songs here range from personally enjoyable to downright amazing! And yes, I am including Made You Look in that assessment.
If you want more context on some of these songs, check out my Top 10 Best Hits of 2022, but even the ones I didn't mention there have either developed a weird charm for me (I still enjoy Miss You for some ungodly reason), or in the case of Escapism and messy in heaven, fast grown to be some of my early favourite hits of 2023, both with great production, atmosphere and lyrics! And the fact that we're starting the year off on such a relatively high note really gives me hope that this year could be something special.
The Punished and the New
So I think the changes to the 'Top 10' segment are pretty self-explanatory, but this segment is more about shifting focus. Instead of talking about gains and drops, I'm going to highlight any hits that got shoved into ACR (Accelerated Chart Ratio) - so in this case, let's just say ALL the Christmas music - but the primary focus has always been the new entries, of which we had a fair few this week. The main difference being that, from now on, we're covering the FULL Hot 100, not just the Top 50! This means we'll be talking about a much more diverse range of songs, which this batch certainly showcases. Starting off with:
Title: Midnight Rain by Taylor Swift
I was genuinely excited for Midnights when it dropped, but after giving it about half a dozen listens, I was forced to recognise it just wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. Not bad, but with some baffling production choices, weirdly inconsistent writing, and themes that Taylor has frankly explored better in the past. And if there's one song where those odd production choices are on full display, yeah, it's this one.
When I first heard the album, this was the "instant WTF track", with a chorus that reminded me more than a little of some of the more middling-to-mediocre moments on Reputation. Now since then, it's gotten more tolerable. I like the gleaming dramatic synths that are scattered throughout the verses - verses which really save the song to be honest - and the lyrics are fairly potent, focusing on a relationship that she gave up on to pursue something as hollow as fame. There's a wistful air of "what might have been" to this song that Taylor sells pretty well, when the nights are dark and lonely and you're left to ruminate on past failures.
But I'm sorry, that weird vocal production on the chorus still throws me off, it's such an ODD choice! Hell, in the middle of the song, the vocal effects are stripped away and Taylor sounds so much better for a moment, before the effects come flooding back in for no good reason. That and the "peppermint candy" line always just rubbed me the wrong way.
Ultimately, it's not a bad song, certainly nowhere near her worst, but just frustratingly middle-of-the-road when it could have been a real highlight.
Title: ceilings by Lizzy McAlpine
Lizzy McAlpine came onto my radar last year when her album five seconds flat dropped into my lap. A very pretty folk album which suffered from slight overproduction and was just a couple of steps shy of Phoebe Bridgers. Now I made that comparison well before discovering how much Lizzy clearly idolises Phoebe;, she had a pretty lucrative TikTok career before bursting onto the scene last year, and has in fact covered several of Mrs Bridgers' songs, including HUGE favourites of mine like Kyoto and Motion Sickness. And they're good covers too, check them out!
Regardless, this song has now picked up enough groundswell that it's actually charting in Ireland, and has personally always been a favourite deep cut of mine. On your first couple of listens, it just sounds like a well-produced folk love song, with some nice details about her staring at the peeling ceiling alongside the love of her life. But as the final verse hits, it's revealed this person she's fantasising about doesn't even exist. In fact, she can't remember the last time she was kissed, as that loneliness hits her all at once, sitting slumped in her car. It's a gut-punch twist that I always love hearing in these kinds of songs, and Lizzy conveys the tangle of emotions really convincingly. Now, it's not quite as powerful as it could have been. The twist comes a little late and the instrumental building around it is just a tad underwhelming. Like with Midnight Rain, it had the potential to be something really special, but it just can't QUITE stick the landing. It doesn't botch it up nearly as badly though, so I do think ceilings is definitely the better song. And hell, who says a song has to be perfect for me to like it anyway? I do like this, and I hope it's just the beginning for Miss McAlpine. Bring on the hits, we could use more of her on the charts!
Title: Here With Me by d4vd
Oh goodie, the Romantic Homicide guy has a new song that's gaining traction. And for some reason, it sounds like the opening to Better Call Saul... random.
That being said, this might be some of the lushest guitar production I've heard on a modern hit in recent memory. Seriously, it's kind of gorgeous, with a decent amount of echoing reverb and multitracking that sound pretty great. It's a weird brand of neo-phychedelia that I wasn't expecting to hear in 2023 and certainly never from THIS artist!
I suppose some context about d4vd would help; apparently this 17-year-old used to be best-known for making Fortnite compilations - yes, really - and started making his own music to avoid copyright strikes. Which makes him smarter than me, at the very least, and may explain why his music still feels a bit slap-dash and in-house... because it is. Hell, maybe the success of Romantic Homicide drove him to start making "real" music, because this is clumsy, a bit overblown, and lyrically generic... but it is kinda charming, certainly more so than anything he's done so far.
Again, the song is definitely coasting on the production, and at over 4 minutes, it feels a bit too sprawling and empty to stick with me in the long run. But again, it's the most potential I've seen this kid display yet. Maybe there are some good ideas in that head of his, it doesn't always have to be about fantasising about killing your girlfriend. Progress!
Title: Sure Thing by Miguel
Miguel has always been a singularly frustrating performer to me. A beautiful voice, usually some pretty good production, great individual songs... but when it comes to the albums, the hooks and lyrical content rarely stand out to me. He's the kind of artist where your favourite tracks of his are likely the same as mine, he doesn't tend to have any songs which one might consider polarising. Now, my favourite tracks by him are generally from his last 2 albums Wildheart & War & Leisure, both decent albums with strong high points, while most people claim his 2012 album Kaleidoscope Dream as his best work. My point being... who even remembers his 2010 debut?
That brings us to this song, the opening tack to that poorly marketed album. It's here because of TikTok, where both this and (of course) a sped-up remix started doing the rounds in late December. And this is one of those rare cases where TikTok is a force for good, because I think this song is pretty great. It was still early days for Miguel, as you can tell he was still trying to find his unique style and sound, but he's got a ton of charisma. Plus his promises to not only respect you in the relationship (a neat detail that's sadly all too rare), but also give them each their distinct role to play, complimenting each other, it's really well done and sounds really good.
Shame the distorted refrain isn't better integrated, as it's the one point of the song that feels a bit cheap, like the producer cut corners. Not bad, but it gets repetitive and doesn't match the sharp percussion or liquid guitars on the rest of the song. Still, I do like this, and between this and Frank Ocean's Lost, maybe this marks a trend in getting more veteran R&B artists to chart more frequently thanks to TikTok. It's not Adorn or NWA or Waves or The Valley and it sure as FUCK isn't Coffee-- BUT I digress, it's still a good song!
Title: snowfall by øneheart & reidenshi
Speaking of TikTok, this is an odd one. A very low-key, almost ambient instrumental track from a Russian duo on Soundcloud that is now charting. It's so random I had to look further into it, and it turns out this is being used as that "crying on the inside while smiling on the outside" trend of videos that are seemingly all the rage... CHRIST I feel old! Look, the song is fine. It's comprised of a very melodic piano line, very light bass which only compliments the mix, and some very nice synth work. It's subtle, it's short at only 2 minutes (which is longer than Central Cee's Doja, I'll remind you), and it's undeniably quite pretty in a sombre sort of way. The issue is that it's also very forgettable and indistinct. Unlike the last few songs we discussed, it doesn't have any major flaws, but it's also arguably the most forgettable one of the bunch.
So yeah, not sure what to add to this one. I doubt it would have even got on anyone's radar if it weren't for the title, and even as TikTok songs go, I don't expect it to last beyond this week. We'll see, I've been wrong before, but I just don't see much substance here.
Title: Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga
Ooh, I knew this one was coming! Like many of you, I saw Wednesday about a month or so ago and enjoyed it a fair bit. Okay, it's not my favourite show Netflix has ever put out, but as a classic Addams Family fan who has always appreciated Jenna Ortega's acting chops, I had fun! I didn't predict how viral the Wednesday Dance would be though, with a ton of people on the internet mimicking the dance scene to the same song Jenna did: a deep cut from Lady Gaga's 2011 album Born This Way.
Now, I'm in 2 minds about that album. Critically speaking, it's a mess, with a ton of weird experiments, even for Gaga. As a fan though, it contains some of her best ever songs, not to mention being a queer staple all the way to the bank! It's the camp album that defined a generation right when club music was hitting its peak, and who can fault it for that? That being said, Bloody Mary always stuck out to me as the black sheep on that album... so fitting that Wednesday Addams should be associated with it now.
The kooky plucked strings almost feel cheeky as they open up the song, before swiftly getting replaced with a throbbing drum machine at a leaden pace that Gaga nevertheless rides as naturally as anything. It's not my favourite on the album because it always struck me as awkward and disjointed, where the religious imagery and chanting just feel like a less outrageous Judas. I like it as part of the Wednesday soundtrack, but honestly, it might be one of the few times the sped-up TikTok remix might genuinely be better. It has energy and the chipmunk effect on the vocals maintains the kooky energy throughout the full running time. Not that I particularly care if either version sticks around... even if I appreciate some representation for those of us who are ONLY able to dance with our hands. I'll give her that.
Title: Too Many Nights by Metro Boomin (Ft. Future & Don Toliver)
Metro Boomin has got a lot of praise over the years for his beatwork across many projects, both mainstream and slightly underground, but producer albums always strike me as a risky experiment. Sure, producers should be allowed to take the spotlight, show off their production skills for multiple artists, but not only do you have to deal with the usual stress of being a producer, now you also have the pressure on you as the "lead artist" when your guests suck!
Having given the album a couple of listens, I do appreciate that it has a loose concept to it, even if I do think there's too much Future and some of the guests are miscast *cough*Chris Brown*cough* but overall, it's not super memorable. And this song falls right in the realm of "forgettably bland" for me. The production is decent, with the ominous buzzing synths having a surprising amount of energy, forming a really good backdrop for Don Toliver. I still struggle with understanding him a lot of the time, but after consulting the lyrics, it's a lot of general debauchery, hooking up with a series of random girls. What stands out a bit though, is the hook, where he acknowledges how empty and boringly repetitive his own hedonism is. Okay, I'm certainly putting it more eloquently than he does, but hey, C- for effort.
Oh yeah, and Future shows up for a handful of rambling mumbles at the end, that are worthy of ME they're so incoherent. I guess it bookends the song well enough, but it also made me realise how forgettable the track is. I had to hear it a lot in prep for this post, and yet even as I'm writing this sentence, the song has come to an end and I've already forgotten it. Instead I'm just humming that 220 Kid x JC Stewart song from 2020... that's not a great sign.
Title: The Way I Am by The Tumbling Paddies
My oh my, this was unexpected. The Tumbling Paddies had a few songs in rotation last year, but this is their first time breaking onto the mainstream charts, to my knowledge. And from that name, you can probably already guess what type of music to expect from this group; very traditional, heavily accented, upbeat trad music with a joie de vivre that is almost a stereotype with Irish pubs.
And there is a lot to like about this. The jovial accordeon, the tambourine, the driving guitars, all strum out a traditional jig that is definitely familiar, but still so enjoyable. Galway Girl this is not, this is the real deal, a bunch of Fermanagh lads who spend their weekends overdrinking too much, and their Mondays overthinking their various life decisions, but ultimately refusing to apologise for their basic rhymes and clichés. After all, it's just the way they are, and who are you or I to judge them. It's easily charming and an easy sell to most people who like their Irish music a bit more old school.
Sure, it's corny, but despite me wishing we could give CMAT a real hit instead, it really is good to hear a song like this cross over to the mainstream charts, it's way more rare than you might think! Even this low down on the chart, we normally just expect a bunch of legacy hits that were popular 10-20 or more years ago... and on that note:
Title: I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston
Yes, the one and only! Call it TikTok's grace, call it a gap in the airwaves that we're desperate to fill with anything, but we got authentic 80s Whitney to chart in the first week of 2023! If that isn't a good omen, I don't know what is!
Now, some of you may remember me being less than kind to Whitney's music in the past. And you'd be right, I don't like the majority her 90s material at all, even to this day (no disrespect, rest in power). Her 80s material, on the other hand? Yeah, take everything I said about Lady Gaga and crank it up to 12! 80s' Whitney was arguably THE ultimate diva, with terrific pipes, an emotive voice that launched 100 power anthems, and a presence and starpower that very few have come close to matching since the 80s. And I Wanna Dance With Somebody is easily one of her best EVER songs!
The triumphant synths that soar to the heavens, the bouncy percussion snare that opens up the song before blending seamlessly into the rest of the mix, the explosive chorus that can't help but make you smile...despite the lyrics actually being kind of lonely and sad! But that's what makes that joyful chorus have such an impact, it's dancing in spite of sadness, wishing for that human connection on the dancefloor, desperate to find something that will actually last! Whitney Houston's powerhouse vocal performance on this KILLS me every time, effortlessly flitting between the uncertain breathiness of the verses and the raw power of the hook, driving one of the best dancefloor jams to ever exist!
So yeah, if it wasn't obvious, I adore this song! People forget it's LONG too, over 5 minutes, but you're having so much fun while it's playing that you're easily forgiven for not noticing. A classic by every definition, and I don't care how long it's here, because it'll never truly go away.
And with that, let's skip ahead to picking our Best and our Worst songs of the week. That's right, we're going to just be pitting new songs on this Hot 100 chart against each other, the 'National Treasures' are separate! And so... well, yeah, of course the Best has to go to I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston, by a mile, how could it not? As for the Worst though, it's trickier, I genuinely didn't hate anything else that dropped this week. So I guess I'll go for the one I've already forgotten again, Too Many Nights by Metro Boomin (Ft. Future & Don Toliver). Nothing personal, I just don't give a shit about it.
And last but not least, the National Treasures are now getting their own special treatment. To find out my thoughts on the current Top 20 Homegrown Hits, simply head over to my Instagram @thesocialtune, where I will be reviewing EVERY SONG that hits the Homegrown Top 20 over the course of 2023... wish me luck!
As for the current Top 20... well, most of them are 2022 songs first and foremost, so I'm going to endeavour to cover anything that was released over the past 2 months, songs that might still have a chance to make an impact in 2023.
If you want to know my thoughts on the current number 1, I'll Be Waiting by Cian Ducrot, head over to my Instagram now: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnMsRHBJ3TF/
But as for the new arrival:
Title: Love The Way by Lee James & Menrva
Head over to Instagram to hear my thoughts, looking forward to seeing you there!
As always, please let me know in the Comments what you thought of the songs covered this week, and leave a Like if you enjoyed! This year is going to be a cross-platform dump of content on the blog, Instagram and hopefully even YouTube occasionally, so if you're interested, make sure to follow me everywhere. Here's to an interesting year everyone, and until next week, I'm Fionn and this is The Social Tune signing off.


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Forty international NGOs have expressed deep concern at the recent attack on Buddhist community and their temples at Ramu in Cox’s Bazar. In a press statement on Thursday, the INGO Forum Bangladesh demanded exemplary punishment of those involved in the incident through conducting independent and unbiased judicial investigation. “Working in Bangladesh has always been a matter of pride and satisfaction for us as religious, cultural, ethnic and other diversities are glorified here in terms of social behaviour and mutual relationships,” the forum leaders said in the statement. “We know secularism, equal rights, justice and peaceful coexistence are the core values and spirit of Bangladesh’s history. We also know these are inseparable elements in the lives of people,” they said. “The cowardly acts of violence are absolutely inconsistent with these core values of Bangladesh which make us particularly concerned. We call on the government to ensure that people involved in the incident are punished after a credible judicial investigation,” the statement added. “We express our solidarity with the affected families of the Buddhist community and also urge the government to take immediate measures against those responsible and repair of the damaged temples and relics. The affected individuals must also be compensated and rehabilitated as early as possible”, the forum leaders said in the statement. They also urged all stakeholders to make every effort to restore peace in the affected areas, and promote and sustain sense of mutual respect, equality and justice.
CHT Voice, e-mouthpiece of the PCJSS.


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6,000 federal prisoners to be released by Nov. 2
LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - By November 2, around 6,000 federal inmates will be back on the streets. The Justice Department is set to release these non-violent drug offenders starting Friday, in order to help the overcrowding issues in federal prisons.
According to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), more than 200,000 inmates are in federal custody, with nearly half of those charged with drug offenses. Thousands of those will walk out next week — a move the Justice Department said will help the system's overpopulation problem.
Last year, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted on a policy called "Drugs Minus Two" which shaves an average of two years off the sentences for non-violent drug offenders. The policy was made retroactive and now, it's time for the first wave of resentenced inmates to be released.
"It's hard to believe that 6,000 inmates are going to be released all at one time, with no endangerment to public safety," said a skeptical District Attorney John DeRosier. "A number of these people, for example, have criminal histories of violent crimes, but they weren't convicted of violent crimes."
Though they'll be put in halfway houses or home confinement, there is the potential of felons falling back into old habits.
"Texas is directly between where we are in Louisiana and the drug-mecca of the world, which is Mexico," said DeRosier, "Texas is a conduit for drugs coming into Louisiana. So to suggest that 1,000 or 1,500 people in Texas who are former drug dealers — and I hope none of them go back to drug dealing — but that's not particularly realistic."
Those eligible for the two-year sentence reduction range from low level charges to major drug rings. Each inmate's case must be signed off on by a federal judge.
This week marks the first of many mass release dates. The next is scheduled for November 1, 2016.
According to The Washington Post, about 60 inmates will be released in Louisiana. The probation office said about six of those will be in Calcasieu and surrounding parishes.
Copyright 2015 KPLC. All rights reserved.


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New data shows that the average price of new and second hand residential properties in Spain increased by 4.3 per cent over the course of 2017.
According to a report from ST Sociedad de Tasación, one of the largest real estate valuation firms in Spain, new home growth picked up significantly during the second half of the year, rising to 2.3 per cent from a rate of 1.7 per cent for the first six months of 2017. The company’s Confidence Index has also ticked upward, with buyer confidence increasing in the first quarter of 2018.
Meanwhile, new figures from Tinsa also reveal that the trend has continued into 2018. The price of new and second-hand housing was up by 5.4 per cent in the year to April 2018. According to Tinsa, this is the highest growth rate recorded since the third quarter of 2007.
What’s more, Spanish property sales were up by nearly 30 per cent in April 2018, compared to the same month a year earlier. According to the government’s central statistics unit, a total of 42,014 properties sold in April, with year-on-year transaction increases recorded in all 17 regions.
The biggest rises were 59.1 per cent in La Rioja and 50.2 per cent in Murcia.
All this data will be seen as hugely positive for a property market that has spent most of the last decade in the doldrums. Experts believe that the Spanish property market is now at its strongest point since the financial crash in the late noughties.
Article published 19th June 2018


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Delegation Expresses Concerns About Changes To Medicare Wage Index
The entire New York Congressional delegation has expressed concerns over recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed changes to the Medicare area wage index, arguing that it would disproportionately harm hospitals across New York state.
The Medicare Wage Index aims to ensure that Medicare payments adjust for markets with the highest costs of living, in which hospitals must pay employees more than they would in lower-wage areas. CMS proposed a change that would reduce wage index payments for hospitals in the top quarter of the most expensive hospital markets in the country, while sending the money to hospitals in the lowest quarter. While numerous New York hospitals – including those in urban, suburban and Upstate areas – stand to lose funding, none of New York’s rural hospitals stand to gain funding.
“New York hospitals never cease to provide innovative, world-class treatment to our communities, but they are often forced to do so on a razor-thin budget margin. New York can be an expensive place to live and do business, and so we need to ensure that hospitals have the funding they need to attract world-class doctors and health care providers,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York. “That’s why I, along with the entirety of New York’s Congressional delegation, am urging CMS to reverse course on this deeply misguided rule. The struggles faced by New York’s hospitals are no different from the struggles faced by the countless others across the nation, they must not be allowed to suffer as a result of their ZIP code.”
The Medicare AWI is a crucial adjustment applied to the reimbursement of hospitals that raises or lowers Medicare payments to account for geographic differences in labor costs. The representatives argued that the proposed changes from CMS would ignore the core intent of AWI: to account for real differences in wages in each labor market.
Instead, the representatives stated, CMS’ proposal would arbitrarily reweight AWI and unfairly redistribute funds across states without a sound policy rationale.
While CMS argues the proposed changes to the Medicare AWI would seek to help rural hospitals, the representatives pointed out that not a single one of New York’s rural hospitals, who face the exact same challenges as other rural hospitals across the country, would see a benefit from the policy. It is estimated that the proposed policy would reduce Medicare inpatient and outpatient funding to New York’s hospitals, both rural and urban, which would stand to lose roughly $53 million each year because of the changes. When factoring in Medicare payments for patients with private Medicare Advantage coverage, the potential losses jump to an estimated $83 million annually.


PENANG is encouraging more property developers to develop green buildings in the state by offering them green incentives.
State Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the state government would provide two thirds rebates on development charges to eligible applicants of new green building projects.
“This green incentive is for all new green building projects that have attained Green Building Index (GBI) gold or platinum rating before Jan 1, 2022,” he said in his speech during the ‘Green Buildings & GBI Certification’ seminar at Setia SPICE Convention Centre today.
Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang said the two thirds rebates for new green building projects would be given in three stages over a period of three years.
“For the first stage, one third of the total two thirds rebate is given to the developer during the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) stage.
“Another one third of the total two thirds rebate is given one year after the first stage.
“The third stage would see one third of the total two thirds rebate be given to the developer after the second stage.
“Applicants who maintain their gold or platinum GBI certification can apply for the 10% rebate on their yearly assessment,” Yew said.
For those who retrofit their existing buildings to become green buildings (those who applied for GBI certification after the issuance of CCC) and attain gold or platinum GBI certification from Jan 1, 2022, would be given 100% rebate on assessment for the first three years.
Jagdeep Singh said that applicants who wished to retrofit their existing buildings to become green buildings would have a reasonable time to do so from now until Jan 1, 2022 to be eligible for the 100% rebate on assessment for the first three years.
“We are happy to also consider their application if they managed to attain gold or platinum GBI certification for their retrofitted building before Jan 1, 2022.
“Applicants who maintain their GBI certification could apply for a 10% rebate on their yearly assessment the following year,” he said.
Jagdeep Singh added that applicants could apply for the GBI certification renewal fee incentive from the Penang government.
He also announced that the SP Chelliah affordable housing project was the first affordable housing project in the country to have obtained a gold GBI certification.
“The SP Chelliah low medium-cost project also attained the GBI certification,” he said.
Yew said that Penang had a total of 43 GBI certified buildings, comprising 16.3 million square feet of total gross floor area.
“Penang has the third highest number of GBI certified buildings in Malaysia. Our aim is to ensure more people will adopt GBI and promote green building concept for a better future.
“The GBI is an environmental rating system for buildings. The system is developed by the Malaysian Institute of Architects and the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia.
“GBI is Malaysia’s first comprehensive rating system used to evaluate the buildings’ environmental design and performance based on six main criteria – energy efficiency, indoor environment quality, sustainable site planning and management, materials and resources, water efficiency and innovation,” Yew said.
He added that the GBI certificate is valid for three years and is renewable every three years.
Some 300 participants took part in the seminar which include three presentations – ‘Green Buildings & GBI since 2009’, ‘How Difficult or Easy to Obtain GBI Certification (Commercial & Residential)’ and ‘Case Presentations of GBI Buildings in Penang’.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Alissala Thian


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In five to seven years' time, five enormous halls must be built on the outskirts of the municipality, packed with computer servers from an, as of yet unnamed, American tech giant. The municipality promises that the complex will generate 410 jobs, which will largely benefit the local population.
The municipality did not want to disclose who owns the enormous data complex on Wednesday when the plans were presented. Although the municipality acknowledges that 410 jobs are limited for an area of 166 hectares, Zeewolde is nevertheless pleased with the arrival of the unknown tech company. "Data centers like these help create the jobs of the future in a growing industry," said De Jonge.
And the data center industry is growing: data centers are sprouting up in the Netherlands, there are now 189 scattered throughout the country. It makes the Netherlands a European 'mainport' for so-called cloud computing and it takes up space. relatively limited with comparable main ports such as Schiphol and the port of Rotterdam. However there are not so many complexes of the size Zeewolde: Microsoft has one in Middenmeer, plus another one under construction, and Google has such a giant center in Eemshaven.
The arrival of these 'computer farms' not only leads to employment, but also to grumbling among the local population, who, in addition to the arrival of data centers, also see windmills rising in the area, whose green electricity would disappear directly into the computer parks. In the Netherlands, more than 2 percent of all electricity goes to data centers, which indeed largely run on green electricity. The complex in Zeewolde will also become a major consumer with an estimated capacity of 200 megawatts; enough to power 200,000 households simultaneously.
Adapting the Power Grid
There is already a shortage on the power grid in the region, but grid operator Tennet does not see the newcomer as a problem, because due to the expected development time of five to seven years there is sufficient time for connection to the high-voltage grid and the construction of a switching station, said a spokesman.
The municipality of Zeewolde has big plans to make the computer complex "one of the most efficient in the world". A steering group including neighboring Harderwijk is investigating the possibilities of using residual heat - cooling water of about thirty degrees Celsius - for heating homes, for example. In concrete terms, nothing has yet been agreed upon for such an intermunicipal heat network with the international tech giant, but according to Alderman for Spatial Planning Wim van der Es, that is not yet necessary: "The residual heat project does not have to be ready tomorrow."


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Ladies and gentlemen: This is the Open Door Theatre in Yekepa, Nimba County, Liberia. This was where the first play I wrote, directed, and produced entitled "Kekula" was staged forty-one years ago in 1974. Those days not that many Indigenous Liberians were married to Americo-Liberians and Congors as there are nowadays due to class segregation in Liberia between Indigenous Liberians and the ruling Americo-Liberian class.
The theme of the play was "National Integration", the merger of Indigenous and Settler Liberians as one family in support of President William V. S. Tubman's Integration and Unification Policy. In the play a Kpelle boy named Kekula who was reared by an Americo-Liberian family in an Americo-Liberian settlement (Careysburg) married the daughter of his adopted parents named Sussie Davies and they had children who became the core lineage of Liberia sociologically in that Kekula and Sussie's children automatically had both Indigenous and Americo-Liberian relatives that binds us (all sects of Liberians) as one people.
Today thousands of Liberians (including my own children and grandchildren) are members of the core lineage of Liberia. They are related to both Indigenous and Americo-Liberians, and so are thousands of other Liberian children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Therefore, it is my ardent request and plea to all Liberians, including the President of Liberia, and members of the Legislature, that the Open Door Theatre be preserved as a National Treasure because it symbolizes the strength of our union as a nation and people and as civilized beings who embrace all peoples of the universe through our Open Door Policy.
Further, the Open Door Theatre marks the genesis of my career as a national and international playwright, theatre director, actor, and producer and served as a venue of the genesis of a new trend of thought and conversation, a new awakening and cultural renaissance in Liberia that through marriage we could bridge our political and ethnic divide and live as one family and people in Liberia.
Thanks to Mr. Benedict "Blackie" Sayeh for sharing this photo with us which has indeed engendered this worthwhile conversation that affirms our bond of national unity through the sacred process of matrimony.
In the Kpelle language we say: "Koo-ka-lay, Koo-ka-tonon": "We are one"!
Blessings and peace to all peace-loving Liberians!
Rabbi Joe Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D.
11 June, 2015


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The Gathering of the Tribes surf contest will bring surf clubs from along the California coast and beyond together this weekend at Church surf break at San Onofre State Park.
The event – now in its 21st year – is a way to have a family-friendly competition while catching up with surfers from different areas, and to build friendships with different surf tribes as far south as Coronado and as far north as San Francisco.
This year, 14 groups that are part of the Coalition of Surfing Clubs are participating, with surfers showing up from as far away as Virginia. Local clubs from Long Beach, Huntington Beach, and Doheny State Beach will be competing.
It's the first of a 10-stop series this year, with surfers from 5 to 75. There are various categories, including longboard, shortboard, tandem and stand-up paddle, which was added four years ago.
“It helps build the sport of surfing in a family environment,” said organizer Mark Calkins. “It's promoting surfing in a positive way. Some of the clubs have school scholarships. It's about making the surfing image untarnished. It's a great chance for the younger kids to get involved, who may turn pro some day.”
There are a few top pros who compete, such as longboard world champion Taylor Jensen and three-time longboard champion Josh Baxter of San Clemente. Joel Tudor has competed in the past two events, but it's unclear if he will be surfing this year.
“You have some of these older pros who now have kids, and they are now getting their kids involved,” said Calkins.
“It's a way to be united and see your friends from north and south. There's a great spirit about the event,” Calkins said.
Surf today is expected to be in the chest-high-to-waist-high range – perfect for longboarders and stand-up paddlers. But conditions could make it tough for shortboarders.
After this event, the next stops in the series are Santa Cruz, then Malibu in summer and San Diego next fall.
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domain: geography