May 1, 2018

Lobbyist helped arrange Scott Pruitt's $100,000 trip to Morocco

MARRAKESH, Morocco — A controversial trip to Morocco by Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt last December was partly arranged by a longtime friend and lobbyist, who accompanied Pruitt and his entourage at multiple stops and served as an informal liaison at both official and social events during the visit.

Richard Smotkin, a former Comcast lobbyist who has known the EPA administrator for years, worked for months with Pruitt’s aides to hammer out logistics, according to four individuals familiar with those preparations. In April, Smotkin won a $40,000-a-month contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, with the Moroccan government to promote the kingdom’s cultural and economic interests. He recently registered as a foreign agent representing that government.

The four-day journey has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and the EPA inspector general, who is investigating its high costs and whether it adhered to the agency’s mission to “protect human health and the environment.”

Information obtained by The Washington Post shows the visit’s cost exceeded $100,000, more than twice what has been previously reported — including $16,217 for Pruitt’s Delta airfare and $494 for him to spend one night at a luxury hotel in Paris. He was accompanied by eight staffers and his round-the-clock security detail.

Smotkin’s role in arranging the whirlwind visit was highly unusual, ethics experts say, and raises many questions. Federal laws prohibit public officials from using government resources to financially benefit friends, relatives or other people with whom they have personal connections.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/lobbyist-helped-broker-pruitts-100000-trip-to-morocco/2018/05/01/b2e20ee0-4d76-11e8-b725-92c89fe3ca4c_story.html?utm_term=.4f5541b169d7

May 1, 2018

Teen wears vintage cheongsam to prom. Elicits strong reaction. "My culture is NOT your Prom dress"

Daum decided to browse a vintage store in downtown Salt Lake City, where she came across a red cheongsam, also known as a qipao — the high-collared, form-fitting traditional Chinese dress.

https://twitter.com/daumkeziah/status/988115815068139520/



“I thought it was absolutely beautiful,” said Daum, who is not Chinese. She appreciated its high neckline, a difficult trait to find in many prom dresses. The dress, she said, “really gave me a sense of appreciation and admiration for other cultures and their beauty.”

On a Sunday after the dance last month, like many other social media-savvy high schoolers, she posted a photo in her dress alongside her friends. “PROM,” she wrote.

She had no idea it would elicit such a response.

“My culture is NOT your …. prom dress,” a man named Jeremy Lam tweeted days later, sharing the photos she posted.

“I’m proud of my culture, including the extreme barriers marginalized people within that culture have had to overcome those obstacles,” Lam also wrote. “For it to simply be subject to American consumerism and cater to a white audience, is parallel to colonial ideology.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/05/01/its-just-a-dress-teens-chinese-prom-attire-stirs-cultural-appropriation-debate/?utm_term=.40692c9249ad

May 1, 2018

Catholic School has "modesty ponchos" ready for prom night

Catholic high school announces it will hand out 'modesty PONCHOS' on prom night to girls whose dresses are deemed too revealing
Students at Divine Child High School in Dearborn, Michigan, will be handed 'modesty ponchos' if their dresses are deemed inappropriate
The ponchos, some of which have bright colors and patterns, have been displayed inside the school with a note explaining their use to students
'If your dress does not meet our formal dance dress requirements—no problem! We've got you covered—literally,' a note attached to the ponchos reads
Mary Pat O'Malley, the theology teacher who came up with the idea, said the ponchos were meant as a 'deterrent' to prompt students to obey the dress code
But one parent said the ponchos are 'a method of shaming, a method of bullying' and 'a method of degrading females'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5678687/Catholic-high-school-plans-hand-modesty-ponchos-prom.html#ixzz5EHYJAjKT