Tag: Donald

Categories
Entertainment

Donald York, Musical Director of Paul Taylor Firm, Dies at 73

Donald York, Musical Director of Paul Taylor Company, Dies at 73

In her review for The Times, Anna Kisselgoff described the score as “contains panting sounds, pop songs and the occasional mean beating of a drumstick that breaks through the classical structures and struggles to stay intact at the bottom of the pit”.

Once, Mr. York waved his baton and conducted an absolutely silent orchestra.

Donald Griffith York was born on June 19, 1947 in Watertown, NY. His mother Magdalene (Murphy) York was an organist and choir director; his father, Orel York, was a history teacher who later worked as an instructor for the FBI

Donald grew up in Delmar, a suburb of Albany. He had perfect hearing and was already composing piano music at the age of 7. As a teenager, he attended a summer program at the Juilliard School in Manhattan. In 1969 he earned a bachelor’s degree in composition from Juilliard.

Recognition…York family

After graduating, he played in several contemporary bands, including a synthesizer group called The First Moog Quartet, and for the pop duo Hall and Oates, before joining Paul Taylor in the mid-1970s. He has also conducted for the New York City Ballet and Broadway musicals, including “Clams on the Half Shell Revue”, Bette Midler’s mockery of Broadway show tunes. And he composed choral works and song poems.

In the early 1990s, Mr. York moved to Southern California. He is survived by his companion Debbie Prutsman, a performer and educator; his wife Anne York, a graphic artist he was separated from; three stepchildren, Nick, Tasha, and Andrew Bogdanski; and a brother, Richard. In 1985 he divorced his first wife.

Mr. York was a nocturnal composer. It was his habit to go to bed at 7 p.m., wake up between 1 and 2 a.m., make a pot of coffee, and go to work. He called these hours his “crazy time,” Ms. Prutsman said, adding that he would normally be ready by dawn.

Mr. York retired on November 17, 2019 and bowed at the final performance of the Paul Taylor Company season at Lincoln Center. His last concert composition for the American Brass Quintet will be performed in July at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he studied as a teenager. On his death, Mr. York wrote an operatic musical about a child prodigy named “Gifted”.

Categories
Politics

Apple Says It Turned Over Information on Donald McGahn in 2018

Apple Says It Turned Over Data on Donald McGahn in 2018

The Mueller report — and Mr. McGahn in private testimony before the House Judiciary Committee this month — described Mr. Trump’s anger at Mr. McGahn after the Times article and how he had tried to persuade Mr. McGahn to make a statement falsely denying it. Mr. Trump told aides that Mr. McGahn was a “liar” and a “leaker,” according to former Trump administration officials. In his testimony, Mr. McGahn said that he had been a source for The Post’s follow-up to clarify a nuance — to whom he had conveyed his intentions to resign — but he had not been a source for the original Times article.

There are reasons to doubt that Mr. McGahn was the target of any Justice Department leak investigation stemming from that episode, however. Information about Mr. Trump’s orders to dismiss Mr. Mueller, for example, would not appear to be a classified national-security secret of the sort that it can be a crime to disclose.

Yet another roughly concurrent event is that the subpoena to Apple that swept up Mr. McGahn’s information came shortly after another that the Justice Department had sent to Apple on Feb. 6, 2018, for a leak investigation related to unauthorized disclosures of information about the Russia inquiry, ensnaring data on congressional staff members, their families and at least two members of Congress.

Among those whose data was secretly seized under a gag order, and who were only recently notified, were two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee: Representatives Eric Swalwell and Adam B. Schiff, both of California. Mr. Schiff, a sharp political adversary of Mr. Trump, is now the panel’s chairman. The Times first reported on that subpoena last week.

Many questions remain unanswered about the events leading up to the subpoenas, including how high they were authorized in the Trump Justice Department and whether investigators anticipated or hoped that they were going to sweep in data on the politically prominent lawmakers. The subpoena sought data on 109 email addresses and phone numbers.

In that case, the leak investigation appeared to have been primarily focused on Michael Bahar, then a staff member on the House Intelligence Committee. People close to Mr. Sessions and Mr. Rosenstein, the top two Justice Department officials at the time, have said that neither knew that prosecutors had sought data about the accounts of lawmakers for that investigation.

It remains unclear whether agents were pursuing a theory that Mr. Bahar had leaked on his own or whether they suspected him of talking to reporters with the approval of lawmakers. Either way, it appears they were unable to prove their suspicions that he was the source of any unauthorized disclosures; the case has been closed, and no charges were brought.

Categories
World News

Donald Trump acquitted by Senate in second impeachment trial

Donald Trump acquitted by Senate in second impeachment trial

US President Donald Trump gestures during a rally to contest the certification of the results of the 2020 US presidential election by the US Congress on January 6, 2021 in Washington, USA.

Jim Bourg | Reuters

The Senate on Saturday acquitted former President Donald Trump in a 57-43 vote on charges of instigating rioting for his role in the Jan. 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol, which killed 5 people, including a police officer.

Seven GOP senators voted guilty in the most bipartisan majority in support of an impeachment conviction in US history. It took Democrats 17 Republicans to join Trump and hold a separate vote to keep him from running for office in the future.

The decision came after the House impeachment managers reversed course and dropped a call for testimony that would have delayed the verdict. The acquittal marks the end of a five-day impeachment trial.

Republicans who voted guilty included Sens. Richard Burr from North Carolina, Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Mitt Romney from Utah, Ben Sasse from Nebraska, and Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania. Toomey and Burr are not running for re-election in Congress.

Nine House Democrats acted as impeachment managers in the process, arguing that Trump had direct responsibility for the riots and was bringing new video and audio evidence to the US Capitol during the attack.

Trump’s defense team denied that the former president instigated the attack, arguing that Trump’s rhetoric was protected by the first change. His lawyers also argued that the process was unconstitutional as Trump was a private individual and no longer president.

No president before Trump has ever been tried and tried twice, and a former president has never been tried in the Senate.

In Trump’s first impeachment trial, the Senate acquitted Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress because Trump had pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son. Romney was the only GOP Senator found guilty in the trial.

Trump described the process in a statement following his acquittal on Saturday as “another phase in the greatest witch hunt” in US history.

“Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to make America great again has only just begun,” Trump said. “I have a lot to share with you in the months ahead and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people.”

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, in a speech in the Senate, classified the acquittal as “un-American” and said the January 6 riots would be Trump’s “last terrible legacy”.

“Let it live on in shame, a stain on Donald John Trump that can never, never be washed away,” said Schumer. “There was only one correct judgment in this process: guilty.”

Chief impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Said in his closing arguments that the house managers presented “overwhelming and irrefutable” evidence that Trump orchestrated and instigated the attack on the Capitol.

Raskin compared Trump’s actions to those of an arsonist who started a fire, kept pouring fuel on it, and stood ready to see it burn “happily”. In a separate argument, he got more personal, asking the senators if this was the kind of land they wanted future generations to give.

“This process is ultimately not about Donald Trump. The country and the world know who Donald Trump is,” said Raskin. “This process is about who we are.”

“And if we as a people cannot deal with it together, we all forget the boundaries of party, ideology and geography and all these things. If we cannot deal with it, how will we ever conquer the other?” Crises of our time? “Raskin continued.” Is that America? Do we want to leave this to our children and grandchildren?

Trump’s attorney Michael van der Veen said in his concluding argument that the Democrats had committed a tremendous violation of Trump’s constitutional rights by punishing him for a protected speech on the First Amendment. He described this as an attempt to “censor unfavorable political speeches and discriminate against those who were disapproved of” stance. “

“It is an unprecedented action with the potential to cause serious and lasting damage to both the presidency and the separation of powers and the future of democratic self-government,” said Van der Veen.

Democratic impeachment manager Rep. David Cicilline, DR.I., made his closing argument by going through the timeline of Trump’s actions on the day of the riot and rejecting the defense team’s claim that Trump did not know his Vice President Mike Pence. was in danger.

“It developed on live television in front of the whole world. Do you believe that no one, not a single person, informed the President that his Vice-President had been evacuated? Or that the President did not look at the television Has.” ? Or his Twitter account? “Said Cicilline.

“He cheated on us on purpose. He broke his oath,” added Cicilline.

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., Rejected arguments from Trump’s defense team, saying that Trump had convinced his supporters to believe his “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen and that they had to go out to fight it.

“It is not true that you did this of your own accord and for your own reasons,” said Dean. “The evidence shows the exact opposite, that for Donald Trump they did this at his invitation, at his direction, at his command.”

The Senate had voted to allow witnesses 55 to 45 ahead, with five Republicans joining all Democrats. The GOP Senators were Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Collins, Murkowski, Romney and Sasse.

However, the board agreed to terminate the trial shortly afterwards after including a statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., As evidence on the record. Earlier in the day, Raskin called for Beutler’s removal after confirming the contents of an explosive phone conversation between the House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump as the attack on the Capitol unfolded.

On the call, Trump appeared to be on the side of the rioters. Beutler’s testimony stated that Trump said to McCarthy, “Well, Kevin, I think these people are more upset about the election than you are.”

Van der Veen responded to Raskin by saying, “We should close this case today,” saying the call for witnesses showed that the House had not properly investigated the riot.

It is unclear whether calling witnesses could have changed the votes of GOP senators who have already made their decisions.

For example, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell told his Republican counterparts earlier in the day that he intended not to vote guilty, arguing the chamber had no power to convict a former president.

The House indicted Trump when he was still president and McConnell declined to start the process before Biden’s inauguration because there wasn’t enough time. After the acquittal, McConnell criticized Trump for a “shameful breach of duty”.

“There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said. “No question.”

Categories
Business

Donald McNeil and Andy Mills Depart The New York Occasions

Donald McNeil and Andy Mills Leave The New York Times

Two journalists responsible for some of the New York Times’ best-known work over the past three years have left the paper after past criticism of their behavior inside and outside the organization.

In two memos on Friday afternoon, Dean Baquet, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, and Joe Kahn, the editor-in-chief, briefed staff on the departures of Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science correspondent covering the coronavirus pandemic, and Andy Mills Audio journalist who helped create “The Daily” and was the producer and co-host of “Caliphate,” a 2018 podcast that was found to be severely flawed after an internal investigation.

Mr. McNeil, a Times veteran who has covered from 60 countries, was an expert guide on a Times-sponsored student trip to Peru in 2019. At least six students or their parents complained about comments he made, The Daily Beast last week. The Times confirmed that he used a “racist bow” during the trip.

In their memo, Mr. Baquet and Mr. Kahn wrote that Mr. McNeil “did a lot of good reporting over four decades” but added “that this is the right next step”.

The statement was a turning point from last week when Mr. Baquet sent a message to staff defending his decision to give Mr. McNeil “another chance”.

“I cleared an investigation and found that what he had said was offensive and that he displayed extremely poor judgment,” wrote Mr Baquet, “but that it did not appear to me that his intentions were hateful or malicious.”

Days after this note, a group of Times staff sent a letter to the publisher, AG Sulzberger, criticizing the paper’s attitude towards Mr. McNeil. “Despite the Times’ apparent commitment to diversity and inclusion,” said the letter, viewed by a Times reporter, “we have given a prominent platform to someone who has chosen to use it – a critical blow, the one Pandemic that disproportionately affects people with color. ” Language that is offensive and unacceptable by newsroom standards. “

Mr. Sulzberger, Mr. Baquet and Meredith Kopit Levien, the CEO of the New York Times Company, responded to the group in a letter on Wednesday with the words: “We welcome this contribution. We appreciate the spirit in which it has been offered and broadly agree with the message. “

In a statement to Times staff on Friday, Mr. McNeil wrote that he used the bow in a discussion with a student about the suspension of a classmate who had used the term.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” he wrote. “I originally thought that the context in which I used this ugly word could be defended. I now realize that it can’t. It’s deeply offensive and hurtful. “

Mr. McNeil concluded, “I am sorry for offending my coworkers – and for everything I have done to hurt The Times, an institution I love and whose mission I believe in and try to serve . I let you all down. “

The departure of Mr. Mills, the audio journalist, was announced nearly two months after an editorial note was posted about the bugs in “Caliphate”. The note says the series on Islamic State put too much faith in the misrepresentation or exaggeration of one of its main themes.

In an interview with Michael Barbaro, the host of the Times podcast “The Daily”, Mr. Baquet attributed the show’s shortcomings to “an institutional failure”. The note and the interview with the editors followed a month-long internal investigation into reporting on the “Caliphate”.

Following the correction, people who worked with Mr. Mills in his previous job on the WNYC show “Radiolab” posted complaints on Twitter about his behavior towards women in the Radiolab workplace and in social settings.

In February 2018, two months before the debut of Caliphate, an article in New York magazine The Cut about sexual harassment on New York public radio reported that Mr. Mills had been the subject of complaints while at Radiolab.

Women interviewed for the article said he asked them about dates, gave unsolicited back massages and poured beer on the head of a woman he worked with, and he said a woman in the office was about her a man’s sex has been set. WNYC Human Resources investigated Mr. Mills’ behavior, reported The Cut, and issued him a warning while allowing him to keep his job. In an interview for The Cut, Mr. Mills admitted much of the behavior described in WNYC’s HR report.

In an online post on Friday, Mr Mills said that his departure from The Times was not due to problems with “Caliphate” and that those responsible for the newspaper “did not blame us” for their shortcomings.

After posting the editor’s note, “Another story surfaced online: my lack of punishment was due to entitlement and male privilege,” he wrote. “This accusation gave some the opportunity to revive my previous personal behavior.”

He wrote that when he was hired, he told The Times about his past mistakes and received good reviews for his work in the newspaper. He also said he received a promotion in December. But in the weeks after Caliphate’s errors were publicized, “allegations on Twitter quickly escalated to the point where my actual flaws and past mistakes were replaced by gross exaggerations and unsubstantiated claims.”

In the end: “I believe it is in the best interests of me and my team to leave the company at this point,” he wrote. “I do it without joy and with a heavy heart.”