Mediaboss Marketing

Ab de Villiers. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The second edition of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) has reached close to its climax. Paarl Rocks have qualified for the final and are awaiting for their opposition which will be decided via an eliminator. Nelson Mandela Bay Giants and Tshwane Spartans will face-off to seal the second finalist spot. The Giants have been consistent throughout the season but missed a direct qualification to the fina; by a whisker losing to the Rocks.

The Spartans, on the other hand, won fewer matches compared to Cape Town Blitz but still ended up at the third position. 5 washed out matches and three thumping wins, one of them coming with a bonus win, helped them go ahead. Luck was with them throughout it seems as the last league game between Jozi Stars and Durban Heat also got washed out. It crashed the hopes of the Heat going through to the knockout game.

As far as the current form is concerned, both the teams are fairly struggling. The Spartans havent won in the last four matches. Their last two encounters were washed out and the team had lost two games prior to it. The Giants too have won only a couple in their last five matches. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top to qualify for the final. If rain plays spoilsport again, the match will go into the reserve day, unlike the last season.

The forecast is for a clear day in Port Elizabeth on Friday with no chances of rain whatsoever. Though it is expected to get cloudy around 8 PM, the heavens are not expected to open up. The temperature will hover around 22-24 Degrees Celsius during the match. As far as the pitch is concerned, it has been a belter for batting so far this season with the scores hovering over and around 160-170 consistently.

The Giants lost their previous game to the Rocks and might ponder over bringing in Junior Dala for Mthiwekhaya Nabe. Nabe bowled only a couple of overs and went for 21 runs and Dala might be able to sustain the pressure of the knockout game. Roys injury has also hurt the team at the top and Breetzke will be expected to get going from the word go.

Kuhn, Smuts and Dunk have been brilliant for them while Marco Marais has been the find for them with the bat. Morris, Burger and Imran Tahir have looked after the bowling attack and will have to play their best cricket on Friday to go past the Spartans.

Probable XI:Ben Dunk (wk), Matthew Breetzke, JJ Smuts (C), Heino Kuhn, Ryan ten Doeschate, Marco Marais, Chris Morris, Nande Burger, Akhona Mnyaka,Imran Tahir,Mthiwekhaya Nabe/Junior Dala.

Tshwane Spartans have not taken the field since December 3 when they lost to the same team at the same venue, St Georges Park. However, they are not expected to make any changes to their line-up with Mulder doing well opening the innings. Dean Elgar hasnt clicked like he wanted to and might continue to warm the bench as well. However, with AB de Villiers and Petrus van Biljon in full flow, the Spartans will bank on the duo to come good in the crunch game.

Probable XI:Tony de Zorzi, Wiaan Mulder, AB de Villiers, Heinrich Klaasen (C & WK), Petrus van Biljon, Tom Curran, Roelof van der Merwe, Corbin Bosch,Morne Morkel,Lungi Ngidi,Waqar Salamkheil.

JJ Smuts Nelson Mandela Bay Giants | AB de Villiers Tshwane Spartans

TV Sony Six, Sony Six HD

Online Sony LIV, Fancode

Match Timings 9 PM IST and 5:30 PM local time

Read the original here:
MSL 2019: Eliminator, Nelson Mandela Bay Giants vs Tshwane Spartans: Match Prediction Weather Report, Pitch Conditions, Playing XIs and Live...

On Wednesdays broadcast of the Tom Joyner Morning Show, MSNBC weekend host Al Sharpton said President Donald Trump was attempting to disassemble America by attacking the Federal Bureau of Investigation for investigating him.

Discussing a Senate impeachment trial, Sharpton said, If the citizens start emailing and putting pressure on their senators to go by the evidence and not the party, we dont know what could happen. We dont know what may come out of the trial.

He continued, When you have a president who last night went to Pennsylvania and called the FBI scum for investigating him and Russia when there was a clear report by the inspector general that there was a basis for investigation, were looking at the total upheaval of government. Who would have ever thought that a president of the United States would undermine and use such language against their own FBI agents?

He added, We are looking at someone who wants to totally disassemble the way this country has been built and established and establish it on a premise that is not fair and equal for all.

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Read the original here:
Al Sharpton: Trump Is Attempting to Totally Disassemble America - Breitbart

Anna Deavere Smiths brilliance, love for her fellowman and her portrayal of the racial tensions that arose in 1991when 7-year old Gavin Cato died under the wheel of a car in the Grand Rebbes motorcade in Crown Heightsare so richly demonstrated and profoundly felt by the audience during Fires In The Mirror, playing at the Signature Theatre. Smiths intensely conceived and written work is one of the most beautiful examples of journalism come to life. She personally interviewed dozens of people after Cato was killed, from both sides of the divide: the West Indian community, which lost this young life, and the Jewish community, which as a consequence of Catos death, lost the life of Yankel Rosenbaum.

Through Smith's candid, vivid, enthralling capturing of the heart, emotions and trauma that had been suffered by everyone due to the child's death, the audience is able to see this tragedy from many perspectives. Smith also interviewed community activists including Rev. Al Sharpton, Angela Davis and Sonnie Carson, people who wanted to stand for the family and this travesty that had occurred in the Black community of Crown Heights. It is riveting to hear from the 24 characters depicted here.

When Fires In The Mirror was originally performed I was fortunate enough to see Smith perform it herself, but I must say she has passed the torch on to an actor who plays her baby to perfection. Michael Benjamin Washington is a theatrical tour-de-force as he effortless transitions from character to character. He has the audience from the moment the play opens, when he plays an anonymous Lubavitcher Woman and shares her concerns for what this event meant to her and her community. Washingtons performance helped the audience not to see a Black man standing there, but to see a young Black Haitian girl, George C. Wolfe, Minister Conrad Mohammed, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Rabbi Joseph Spielman; Richard Green, Norman Rosenbaum, Henry Rice and several others. Some of these names may not sound familiar to you, but they were all affected by that faithful day in August 1991. Catos killing sparked confrontations with police, rioting, and looting of Jewish businesses, and the audience gets to look at these scenarios from all sides. Washington navigated through Smith's complex, human-nature and character defining words with grace and ease. And it was so justified to let Catos father, Carmel Cato, have the final word. I have never been so moved to hear a father speak of the senseless devastation that has befallen him and his family. For this tragedy to happen to his baby boy was never something he could have been prepared for and it just broke his heart, and the hearts of those of us who heard this father's words; a flood of tears spilled down Washingtons cheeks and chin, it seemed to be a never-ending flow.

This play is heart-wrenching, powerful, thought-provoking and moving to experience. It will leave you stunned after you sit for 1 hour and 45 minutes straight. I must say I was so touched by this production and the passionate performance of Washington, as others around me shouted BRAVO, I simply couldnt speak, all I could do was stand and clap as loudly as I could.

But, I can speak now, BRAVO, BRAVO! Job Well DONE! This magnificent piece of theatrical genius is only playing through Dec. 22 at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center located at 480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues. Please make plans to visit the Signature Theatre and experience Smiths powerful work, which has fantastic direction by Saheem Ali, marvelous scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado; wonderful costume design by Dede M. Ayite, interesting lighting design by Alan C. Edwards and delightful sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman.

for more info, visit http://www.signaturetheatre.org.

See the original post:
Anna Deavere Smith's genius at play in Signature Theatre's 'Fires In the Mirror' - Amsterdam News

Some of the biggest names in film, television and music gathered for the annualUrban One Honorsawards show at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on December 5.Hosted by Urban One Founder and ChairwomanCathy Hughesand actorChris Tucker, the prestigious event celebrated the 40-year legacy of Radio One and will premiere onJan. 20, 2020, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Among this years honorees were veteran music executiveSylvia Rhone(Lifetime Achievement Honor); Grammy Award-winning recording artist and producerMissy Elliott(Music Innovation Honor); Academy Award-winning actorJamie Foxx(Entertainment Icon Honor); Grammy Award-winning artistChance the Rapper(Represent Change Honor); and, actor/dancer and star of Pose Ryan Jamaal Swain(Represent Pride Honor). Special recognition went to music executive legendClarence The Black Godfather Avant(Represent Opportunity); civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton(Represent Leadership); and Emmy Award-winning actorBilly Porter(Represent Excellence).

Highlights from the evening included:

Dont miss the exciting Urban One Honors show, airing on TV One on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 20, 2020, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central.

Read more:
Star-Studded Annual Urban One Honors Show to Air in January on Martin Luther King Jr. Day - EBONY

The past 24 hours provided a clear and painful picture of the momentous challenges American Jews face these days.

The day began with news that President Trump had issued an executive order designed, the White House said, to fight anti-Semitism. Reporting on the order, The New York Timesstressedthat it will effectively interpret Judaism as a race or nationality, not just a religion, and that it could be used to stifle free speech and legitimate opposition to Israels policies toward Palestinians in the name of fighting anti-Semitism.Leftist NGOsechoedthe same talking point, and a phalanx of pundits took to Twitter to decry the order as anti-Semitic because, allegedly, it somehow paved the road to defining Jews as something less than fully American.From the Hollywood actress whothundered, You, stupid crook president do not get to decide this so your white nationalist pals get to stick me in a concentration camp, to the law professor whoblasted the order for deeming Jews to be some nationality other than Americans, our bien-pensants were whipping everyone into a wild frenzy, portraying the president as an unhinged anti-Semite and a clear and present danger to the Jews.

And then something else happened.

As Twitter was aflame with vitriol directed at the president, gunmen shot up a kosher market in Jersey City, New Jersey, killing threeincluding two Jews. Those of us rushing to report on the attack were initially reassured by a host of sources, official and unofficial alike, that there was no larger story here: The shooting, we were told, was randomnot a hate crime specifically targeting Jews. The early reports in the press echoed these sentiments, with most not even mentioning the fact that the crime scene was a kosher establishment.

It didnt take long for the truth to come out. The shooting, we now know, was a premeditated attack, and one of the suspects was ablack nationalistwho had a long and proven track record of posting anti-Semitic screeds online.

And then we learned something else. We learned that, unbelievably, it turned out that at the exact moment that Jews were being murdered for being Jewish, a bunch of blue checkmark assholes were inaccurately and outrageously railing against the president for doing nothing else but protecting Jews.

When Trumps executive order was finally made public, it turned out that far from somehow defining Jews as this, that, or the other, as our self-appointed moral and intellectual superiors falsely and hysterically claimed, it did little but extend the same protections afforded to minorities under our existing civil rights laws to Jews as well.Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), 42 U.S.C. 2000det seq., prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance, it reads. While Title VI does not cover discrimination based on religion, individuals who face discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin do not lose protection under Title VI for also being a member of a group that shares common religious practices. Discrimination against Jews may give rise to a Title VI violation when the discrimination is based on an individuals race, color, or national origin.

This is in no way, as the Times implied and many on the left have tweeted, an attack on free speech on campus or anyplace else. It is, in fact, nothing more than an extension of the Obama White Houses own legal guidance about the treatment of Jews and Sikhs under existing U.S. civil rights law. You may challenge the wisdom of designating groups of people as a protected classas some on the right do, arguing that protections ought to be granted to individuals, not collectivesbut as long as our laws exist the way they do, and as long as Jews remain Americas most targeted minority, affording them the same legal protection enjoyed by other minorities isnt just right, its a moral and physical imperative.

But none of this matters to the social media addicts in charge of public discourse.To our intelligentsia, no explanation is feasible unless it underscores the evil intentions of Trump, their sworn enemy.

Even in a political climate rich with petulant outbursts and virtue-signaling, the reaction to Trumps executive order sets a dangerous precedent. Portraying measures clearly designed to combat anti-Semitism and protect Jews from harm as being in of themselves somehow anti-Semitic is not only an affront to logic and morality, but also a reckless move when violence against Jews is on the rise.

If you want to see this muddled logic carried to its extreme and ugly end, just look at what New Yorks mayor, Bill de Blasio, said in a press conference after the Jersey City shooting. The attack, he said, tragically confirms that a growing pattern of violent anti-Semitism has now turned into a crisis for our nation. And now this threat has reached the doorstep of New York City.

Thedoorstep? The threat has beenfar inside the mayors own house for years. But acknowledging that would mean fessing up to his own calculated inactionand finally explaining exactly why hes allowed targets to be put on Jewish backs.

The mayors laughable campaign for president is one likely reason for his inaction in the face of all this violence, and for his belief that threat has only now reached his citys limits. Another may be the fact that the majority of the hundreds of hate crimes against Jews in New York were perpetrated by African Americans and Hispanics, not by enraged white nationalists, who are frequent targets of the mayors rhetoric but have been found responsible for exactly zero hate crimes in the city of New York.

Jews make up about 2% of the American population, yet were the victims of a whopping 57.8% of all religious bias crimes last year, according to the FBI. Rather than vocally and unequivocally demanding that their Jewish constituents be protected, the politicians representing those targetedfrom de Blasio to New York Sen. Chuck Schumerhave been largely silent on this issue, while at the same time loudly and vigorously accusing the right of racism. Videos like this one, shot at the scene shortly after the Jersey City attack and featuring local neighbors blaming the Jews for Jews being murdered, are not likely to make any politician on the left take action, especially not someone like de Blasio, who has for years beenkissing the ringof Al Sharpton, an anti-Semite best remembered for inciting an actual pogrom against the Jews of Brooklyn.

Enough.

What American Jews need right now is clear and concrete action that protects them from anyone who wishes them harm. Whether you like it or not, the fact is that yesterday New Yorks senator and mayor took no such steps. The president did.

Liel Leibovitz is a senior writer for Tablet Magazine and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.

Excerpt from:
The Real Dangers to Jews - Tablet Magazine