Magnolia Pictures“You are on your own. Nothing happens to men like us because we live from day to day,” states a Chechen immigrant to homeless Syrian kids in Istanbul in Stray. Rootless, nomadic hand-to-mouth existences are at the center of director/producer/editor/cinematographer Elizabeth Lo’s documentary, but humans are merely the peripheral players in this stunning non-fiction inquiry, which truly trains its gaze on some of the myriad canines that roam the city’s streets. A spiritual companion piece to Ceyda Torun’s 2016 Kedi (which concerned the legions of cats inhabiting this same metropolis), Lo’s film reveals the secret life of dogs. In doing so, she draws stark parallels between their world and our own, and our shared desires for sustenance, comfort, and companionship. Following ...

Renee Jones, Visit TallahasseeThis is the latest in our twice-a-month series on underrated destinations, It's Still a Big World. When planning a trip through Florida, chances are that Tallahassee doesn’t even enter the conversation. At first glance, unless you’re a dork like me who collects stamps from state capitol buildings, or a bright-eyed highschooler curious about Florida State University (one of the country’s top party schools), it doesn’t seem like Tallahassee has much to offer. My younger sister, a recent FSU grad, certainly had me convinced as much after years of visits filled with football games, cheap brunches, and lunchboxes—a heinously large pitcher with some ungodly combination of different alcohols. at The Daily Beast. ...read more Source:: The Daily Beast...

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Gravitas VenturesTim O’Brien has what he calls a lesson in outrage for his two teenage sons. “If you support a war, go for it; put your blood where your belligerence is, unless of course, you don’t mind the word hypocrite,” says the author of the wildly acclaimed Vietnam War novel The Things They Carried, who is the subject of The War and Peace of Tim O’Brien, a documentary currently available on video-on-demand. “Dead bodies are heavy, and awkward to carry,” says O’Brien in the film, and “the smell of death can be unpleasant. This death smell will one day be pumped into the nostrils of those who support wars.” This kind of brutal messaging is no surprise from O’Brien, who has been a noted anti-war proselytizer—or maybe the correct term is anti-stupid...

Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/GettyAfter the third sudden and unexpected death was confirmed on Sept. 29, 1982, Arlington Heights Fire Department captain Philip Capitelli began to suspect something was not right in his small suburb of Chicago. For Dr. Thomas Kim at Northwest Community Hospital, it was when a young couple was admitted on an early fall day in critical condition with dim prospects for recovery. Kim was shocked when he recognized them: just a few hours earlier, he had been speaking to the pair at the bedside of the husband’s brother, explaining that he had no idea why the young, fit man had suddenly died. Now these family members were also on their deathbeds for no obvious reason. As the two men began to look into the suspicious deaths, they realiz...

Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily BeastOn one level, it’s easy to summarize the Supreme Court’s about-face on the conflict between COVID-19 regulations and houses of worship. Before Justice Amy Coney Barrett replaced the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Court twice upheld restrictions on religious gatherings. Afterward, the Court twice overturned them. So, sure: Before Barrett, the churches lose, but after Barrett, the churches win. Yet the inexplicably sloppy way in which the Court’s conservatives have written about these cases reveals something much more troubling: a seeming inability to separate legal and scientific reality from Christian nationalist conspiracy theories about the “war on religion.” at The Daily Beast. ...read more Source:: The Daily Beast...

Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/GettyCOVID-19 is creating a mental health epidemic. Suicide numbers are increasing. According to Stat News, opioid addiction and alcoholism are rising, too. Because porn stars are people, too, we are also suffering from mental health problems. You likely don’t know anything about this because porn stars have entered into a pact to keep mum about our mental health crisis. Porn doesn’t cause mental health disorders, but the stigma surrounding porn can exacerbate pre-existing conditions. If you suffer from anxiety, you might grow more anxious when your job can lead to family tension, judgment from friends, and difficulties with romantic partners. On top of this, when we do suffer, people presume our mental health problems stem from porn. It ...

Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/GettyA few years ago, I interviewed Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson in front of a crowd at one of those infamous conservative conclaves you sometimes hear about. He refused to make eye contact with me or even position his body in my general direction. I would ask him a question, and (instead of answering) he would give an angry speech directly to the audience. I would ask another question, and he would repeat the process. He didn’t even try to hide his contempt for me, and he wasn’t exactly fond of the audience, either. He had just won a stunning surprise re-election, but rather than showing magnanimity, he oozed anger and bitterness. He had a mountain-sized chip on his shoulder for all the doubters who’d predicted he would lose. And tha...

Facebook/Help Find MayWhen Maya “May” Millete stopped answering texts in a family group chat on Jan. 7, her older sister wasn’t immediately worried. Millete, a defense contractor at Naval Base San Diego, would sometimes be slow to respond to her six siblings, but the family was planning a trip to a cabin in Big Bear for Millete’s daughter’s 11th birthday. Texts and calls to make arrangements were going unanswered. “Both May and her husband Larry’s phones were off and going directly to voicemail,” Maricris Drouaillet, 47, told The Daily Beast this week. “It was extremely unusual for my sister to be off her phone for that long—let alone turn it off and not be in communication with us at all. Especially since we had a plan to go on a trip that day for her daughter’s birthday.” at The Daily ...

Pubs without beer gardens may be able to take advantage of a loophole (Picture: Getty)Landlords without beer gardens can still serve thirsty punters on April 12 thanks to an apparent loophole in relaxing lockdown restrictions. Pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes are reportedly allowed to turn outdoor spaces – such as a car park – into makeshift drinking and dining areas. The idea was initially proposed last June, but a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government clarified the same rules will apply, according to the Daily Star. Speaking when the policy was first announced, Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick said: ‘I know we all look forward to seeing our pubs, cafes and restaurants open their doors again and I’m determined to give them a helping ha...

A home caught on fire March 7, 2021 in Englewood. | Chicago Fire DepartmentThe house caught of fire Sunday in the 6200 block of South Aberdeen Street. No one was injured when a home caught on fire early Sunday in Englewood on the South Side. About 2:30 a.m., a fire started in the back porch of a home in the 6200 block of South Aberdeen Street, according to the Chicago Fire Department. No one was injured. 6200 block of Aberdeen still and box. Single family home heavy fire in rear. All defensive. Wires down. Porch down. pic.twitter.com/4cQiBHEUmr— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) March 7, 2021 The Office of Fire Investigation is investigating the cause of the blaze. ...read more Source:: Chicago Sun Times...

DEAR ABBY: This is a delicate situation. Four days after my boyfriend (whom I had been seeing for 8½ years) was killed in an accident, I found out he was married. Jeanne Phillips He had claimed for years that he was divorced and even produced a copy of his divorce decree several years ago. It is a long story. He has been dead for five months now, and I need something back from his wife that he borrowed from me: my father’s Mason ring. I was devastated when I learned he was married and had lied to me all those years, but I have no intention of telling his wife or causing her pain. (I don’t think she knows about me.) Related Articles Dear Abby: I was horrible to my husband’s friends, and now they hate me Dear Abby: I think my son’s wife is having

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyIt’s safe to say that the people of New York City are ready for a new mayor, and certainly one who isn’t Bill de Blasio. Sure, he gave the city universal pre-K but had some faux pas over the years—most recently in 2020, when he was accused of anti-Semitism for a tweet addressed to the Hasidic Jewish community over social distancing rules during COVID and also (this one was big) for not standing up to the NYPD who had shown excessive force toward citizens during the George Floyd protests this summer. One of the many candidates stepping up to take his place is Maya Wiley, an activist, professor and veteran of City Hall, who says she will handle things much differently if she becomes the next mayor of New York City. To start, she doesn’t think there...