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It Doesn’t Get More Embarrassing for Politicians Than the ‘I Love Oil Sands’ Campaign

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These Calgary Stampeders really want you to know how much they love the oil sands. Photo via Facebook

TransCanada needs a tender hug from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

At least, that's what was implied on January 28 when Conservative MP and natural resources critic Candice Bergen introduced a motion requesting the federal government "express its support for the Energy East pipeline currently under consideration."

The proposal seemed reasonable enough: global oil prices are in the shitter and Alberta's carbon-rich goop is sold at a heavy discount because it's extracted in the middle of fucking nowhere. Plus, TransCanada—a $34-billion pipeline company—has been feeling a bit bummed ever since US President Barack Obama vetoed its Keystone XL project. (Montreal mayor Denis Coderre recently tried a similar Gandalf vs. Balrog stunt with Energy East without actually having the authority to do so.)

But if the Liberals had voted in favour of the motion, it would have implicitly undermined the National Energy Board (NEB), the independent agency that approves or rejects pipelines and which the Liberals recently committed to depoliticizing.

The Conservatives knew this, of course, because they're sly dogs who took the chance to pull out the classic straw man "you're with us or you're with the child pornographers" card. Which is exactly what happened (at one truly sublime point, MP Michelle Rempel accused a Progressive Conservative MLA from Alberta of treason for retweeting a quip about the obvious vapidness of the motion).

Yet this pathetic instance is only the latest in a long lineage of efforts to polarize the conversation about the tar sands.

To be sure, politicians have been always very involved in boosting bitumen. But Andrew Nikiforuk, journalist and author of Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, says the rhetoric has become much more extreme in recent years: "We're talking about active cheerleading in which government has forgotten its role and duty to provide sober second thought on big megaprojects."

In 2006, then-prime minister Stephen Harper (where are you lately, buddy?) excitedly prophesied that Canada was "the emerging energy superpower." Yet it wasn't until 2008, when 1,600 ducks divebombed a Syncrude tailings pond and rudely died in the age of the meme-friendly internet, that a true rhetorical shift occurred.

Patrick McCurdy, associate professor at University of Ottawa who's currently researching the evolution of tar sands advertising, says that since that flashpoint it's been a ping-pong match of sorts between environmental NGOs like Greenpeace and the oil and gas industry, one dependent on "punchy, smart retorts and memes" which "doesn't necessarily advance discussion."

The "I Love Oil Sands" branding is a prime example of this. Only a few days before Bergen introduced the expertly crafted piece of political theatre, the so-called grassroots group Oilsands Action tweeted a picture of 21 Conservative MPs boasting such shirts (for context: Cody Battershill, the over-enthused fella who founded Oilsands Action, helped lead the vapid charge against Tim Hortons during the absurd Enbridge debacle that pitted questionable oil against generic coffee in a stereotypically Canadian fashion).

Why these people chose to publically devote love to bitumen—as opposed to, say, spiced banana ice cream or Future's new album—isn't immediately apparent.

But even more confusing is the fact that Alberta NDP officials also hopped on the bandwagon: in a short window of time, the province's energy minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd and the massively bearded MLA Shaye Anderson tweeted out photos of them wearing the "I Love Oil Sands" swag, with Premier Rachel Notley's communications head Marcella Munro—who's been slammed by far-right activists for previously working at a PR firm that opposed pipelines—posting a picture of her sporting a hat and gloves by a Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers-funded astroturf group.


Shaye Anderson rocks an "I Love Oil Sands" hoodie. Photo via Twitter

Obviously, the tar sands provide plenty of jobs and exports, which can help boost the country's dollar and keep the price of cauliflower under control. Not many people will argue against that. But the notion of "loving" bitumen is a fairly ludicrous one given the obvious not-so-amazing aspects of the business that's implicitly ignored by such rhetoric. McCurdy dubs the endorsement as "blind, unquestioning, unfaltering."

Politicians who profess their exclusive love for the tar sands are also implicitly defending the following: the leaching of oilsands tailings sludge into nearby water sources, the anticipateddoubling of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, the contamination of First Nations food sources, the continued extraction of water from the Athabasca River despite low levels, extremely high rates of substance abuse in Fort McMurray, the ongoing violation of treaty rights, the spread of cancer-linked pollutants, the intense fiscal overdependence on royalties, the lack of compensation to First Nations.

Topping it all off is the fact the tar sands, while a publicly owned resource, is leased and developed by private corporations that have an exclusive mandate to create profit for its shareholders, not to serve the broader public interest. It's what Imre Szeman, co-director of the University of Alberta's Petrocultures research cluster, designates as "a protracted politics of neoliberalism, where what governments are about is about making the circumstances better and better for companies to operate and generate profits."


Marg McCuaig-Boyd, the Energy Minister for the Government of Alberta, wears "I Love Oil Sands" gear. Photo via Twitter

"It's trying to shame politicians into figuring out a way to generate new markets," says Szeman, who also serves as the Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies. "If you're a politician, you're also being pressured to stand up and be the person who's finally going to reduce CO2 emissions in Canada. And they don't go together."

Nikiforuk suggests that if Alberta's government had retained more control or sharply raised royalties when it recently had the opportunity, it could have feasibly worked towards restricting exports until oil prices bounce back. But nobody seems particularly optimistic that kind of conversation will occur. Intensely pro-capitalist campaigns such as "I Love Oil Sands" and troll-y Conservative motions have worked to reposition the debate to one that's starkly black-and-white. And in the end, McCurdy suggests that such polarization ultimately benefits the status-quo.

"It's the corporations who win if we do nothing," he concludes. "If the citizen is confused or sits back and feels like, 'Well I don't want to threaten our quality of life,' inaction is action in and of itself. You can't turn energy and oil off tomorrow. You can't unplug the way things are. But you can have a discussion about what aspects in our lives we can transition."

Follow James Wilt on Twitter.


This Is What It's Like to Be a Gay Refugee in Germany

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A couple we met at a refugee shelter in Berlin. Photo by Alexander Cogin from 'Refugees Tell Us What Their Lives Are Like After They Make it to Germany.'

This article originally appeared on VICE Germany.

They travel 2,000 miles for a chance at a better life, only to arrive at their destination and realize that everything works almost exactly the same way it did at home: Coming out as a homosexual refugee in Germany is out of the question. They're still the targets of the same exact people they feared in their own country.

I got in touch with a Syrian refugee living in Germany who calls himself Alex. Online, when chatting or setting up dates, he keeps his real name a secret because even in Germany, where he is supposedly safe, Alex doesn't have the courage to come out.

It took me several weeks to get his cell phone number and organize a meeting, but we eventually met in Bochum in western Germany. He's a burly guy in his early 30s with brown hair and a meticulous haircut. He's wearing simple jeans and a dark jacket. He has the stature of a bouncer, yet he comes across as timid, even shy.

"The problem now is that a lot of people from my country have also made it to Germany." —Alex

Alex fled Syria because of the war, but also because his colleagues accidentally found out he's gay, which is illegal in Syria, with offenders facing at least three years in prison. Alex says the problem now is that a lot of people from his country have also made it to Germany and brought their views about gay people with them. "They still reject us," he says.

Alex sits on the edge of the sofa—he speaks quietly but he is also open and thorough. He continually asks that his real name not be used in this article. His siblings also live in Germany, and it's imperative that they don't find out about his orientation because his family would disown him immediately.

Asylum seekers reach Europe by means of the Balkan route or the Mediterranean, and they sometimes carry the objectionable convictions of their home countries with them. According to Alex, most Arabs are conservative: "They're disgusted by gays. They say we need to rid society of these 'germs.'"

Related: Watch our documentary, 'Gay Albania,' about the struggles of LGBT people in one of Europe's most homophobic countries

The situation is particularly bad in refugee shelters, where complete strangers are jammed together in tiny places. As recently reported in Berlin and in Dresden, gay men and women face daily discrimination even in those spaces. However, when it comes to episodes of violence, most of the cases go unreported, according to representatives from the various LGBT groups I spoke to. Still, Berlin is the first German state to do something in reaction to these attacks. According to Berliner Morgenpost, there are plans for a separate shelter that will exclusively house homosexual and transexual refugees.

At the moment, Alex is living in his own apartment in western Germany—he prefers it that way as it affords him a certain level of freedom. Most of the people he hangs out with, both Germans and refugees, don't have a clue that he's homosexual.

He socializes with other gay refugees at the Rosa Strippe counseling center in Bochum, where a weekly meeting is held. Nicole Ulrich, a professional counselor, is always present. One of her responsibilities is to make sure everyone is aware of the norms in his or her new home—in Germany you can be open about your sexuality, for instance, and you can hold your partner's hand in public. "People need to learn about the freedom Germany offers," Ulrich says.

She also advises Alex and the others on another delicate point—their asylum applications. According to EU law, facing persecution for being homosexual is a reason to be granted asylum, in the same way you can be persecuted for your political beliefs. However, it's often much harder to see this through in practice because the central question becomes: 'How do I prove that I'm homosexual?'

Those who are persecuted for their sexuality are not only afraid but also often ashamed. They are likely to appear hesitant during the asylum interviews and then get entangled in contradictions, which often affects the result of their asylum request. —Claus Jetz from Cologne

It all comes down to the individual interviews conducted by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, which is part of each asylum seeker's process. The result of the application is largely based on whether the administrator finds each story believable.

Political refugees often carry official files that prove they were persecuted in their country of origin—and many of them are proud of this proof. People who flee their homes because of their sexuality, on the other hand, officially fall into a different category—a persecuted social group. This means that their human rights have been infringed on and that they've been discriminated against.

"Those who are persecuted for their sexuality are not only afraid but also often ashamed," says Claus Jetz from Cologne's Gay and Lesbian Association. "That means that they are likely to appear hesitant during the asylum interviews and then get entangled in contradictions. That is partly because most of them have had bad experiences with administrators, police, and interpreters back home. They will hem and haw around and think up other reasons to apply for asylum. Sadly, the result is that often they don't come across as believable and are therefore threatened with deportation."

To the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, "believable" means "a concrete and convincing submission of facts with exact details." Additionally, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that human dignity must always be considered.

Evidence, such as videos and pictures, was forbidden by the European Union in 2014. Before that, the Czech Republic used phallometric tests to determine whether someone was gay. Now even intimate questions are forbidden—at least in theory. According to Nicole Ulrich, these are still quite common: "The methods of questioning are in fact rather questionable. To my knowledge, applicants have been asked to explain how their sexuality works under repugnant conditions." For that reason, LGBT organizations are demanding better education for both the interviewers as well as the interpreters.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees does not register how many people apply for asylum citing their sexuality as the reason they faced persecution back home. But they do observe countries of origin. In Iran, for example, the situation is clear—homosexuals face a death sentence. But the situation gets more complicated with other countries. For instance, the criteria on which the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs judges a country as safe or unsafe is unclear. They consider both Ghana and Senegal to be "safe countries of origin," even though homosexuality is illegal in both. I did reach out to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a comment but did not get a response.

Alex from Syria has just had his asylum application interview, during which he says he didn't tell the whole truth. He talked about the Syrian civil war and only made vague references to being part of a "persecuted social group." He said no word about being gay—which means that he could be sent back as soon as the civil war ends.


Eagles May Be Able to Fight Drones, but They're Also Selfish and Dumb

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A pair of useless assholes TBH. Via Wikimedia

When I first heard that eagles were being trained to attack drones, my initial reaction was, well, I sure like the sound of that. It means us luddites can use them to fight back in the inevitable battle between man and machine, between technology and good old elbow grease. It means the movie that will be made about our meaty struggle against the borg oppressors will be even better, cause it'll feature wing-ed beasts scratching away at the inner wiring of an airborne termination unit, a dog fight between nature and creation. Wow!

Or, as I found out from Jonny Ames, head honcho over at birds-of-prey sanctuary and conservation area Eagle Heights in Kent, England, it won't be like that at all. In fact, it'll probably be the opposite. The eagles will get absolutely fucked by the drones. But why? Mr. Ames and I chatted about the drone attacks, eagles in general, and why, when it comes down to it, birds of prey are just a bunch of selfish pricks, really.

VICE: Can you tell us what you do at Eagle Heights?
We started about 20 years ago as a small bird of prey center. We built ourselves up to be a bird of prey and wildlife sanctuary as well. At Eagle Heights, our main purpose is education. We do big displays where we fly a bird freely outside. We also go to a lot of schools with birds of prey, country shows, and the odd bit of film work. We have a breeding project, and we do rescue and rehabilitation of wild birds of prey.

Basically everything you can think of to do with birds of prey, then.
I would say so. We even have a bald eagle that flies at Crystal Palace Football Club as the mascot. Her name's Kayla, and she flies at all the home games. We drive her up for each game with two to three members of staff.

Wow. How do you tame an eagle to the point where it's happy to fly around a stadium filled with thousands of people?
There are two ways of doing it. One's called hand-rearing, which is when you have an eagle from a chick, and it only knows humans and doesn't know its parents. It grows up thinking it's a human, and it will bond with you quite well. Hand-reared eagles can also be quite aggressive, because they have no fear of anything whatsoever. It's all basically down to food. It isn't loyalty like a dog. With birds of prey, it's down to trust and food.

If an eagle is parent-raised, when it first comes out of the aviary, it'll be quite scared. We have a big dark area for them, because when they're in the dark they're quite calm. We go in and—slowly but surely—let them get used to us. Once they fully trust you, they'll fly free and then come back to you for their dinner, basically.

I've been there. In comparison to other intelligent animals, where do eagles rank?
An eagle is nothing like an octopus or a dolphin; it's nowhere near as intelligent. It's not a stupid animal, but again it's not as smart as a parrot, because in the old days, people could train parrots to ride bikes and all sorts of stuff. You wouldn't get an eagle to do that. Because it's a top predator, an eagle is quite fixed into flying and food and not a lot else comes into it.

In the old days, people could train parrots to ride bikes and all sorts of stuff. You wouldn't get an eagle to do that.


What do you think the eagle's primary usefulness to humanity is?

There are a few different ones. In places like Mongolia and Kazakhstan, there's been a long history of golden eagles being used by farmers to kill wolves. And in the olden days people used birds of prey to catch food. That's probably our main thing with eagles.

Sounds like a lot of smashing things up and goring stuff, which also seems to be the aim with the drones.
It's all food association with the drones. What they're doing is teaching a bald eagle that when it catches that drone, it gets fed. That's how they train them.

How do you feel about using eagles to catch drones? Is it fair?
I think it's a publicity stunt, to be honest. Eagles aren't very maneuverable. If somebody knew what they were doing with a drone, they could outfly an eagle. Welfare-wise, bald eagles, which is what they're using, are very, very tough. There wouldn't really be any injuries, apart from obviously if the propeller hit the eagle in the eye. That would be the main risk.

I get the feeling that the eagles' talons could quite easily crush the drone.
Yeah. The power in an eagle's talons is unbelievable. They would destroy the drone.

What is it about eagles that people like so much, do you think?
I think it's purely because of their sheer size and power. They're the biggest flying killing machines, if you like. In New Zealand, there used to be an eagle called Harpagornis Moorei (Haast's Eagle, now extinct) that would kill humans, because humans would dress up in the feathers of its prey, which the eagle would mistake them for. This eagle was enormous. I think it has all to do with that primal, hunting, pride, and power aspect.

Have you ever had any incidents involving the eagles?
They can be quite aggressive toward the staff. We've never had a problem with the public because they don't associate the public with food, but quite a few of our hand-reared bald eagles, if they don't think you're feeding them quickly enough, they will beat you up to try and get food out of you. People new to flying an eagle will panic and throw the food away from them. The eagle then learns that if it beats you up, you're going to throw food. It's a novice mistake.

So the best thing to do is to just chill out.
Yeah. I mean, I've been grabbed by them and bitten by them and all sorts of stuff. When you're training eagles, it is part of the job. You have to accept the fact that you're working with a wild animal and now and again they're going to catch you out.

What's the worst injury you've sustained from one of these eagles?
I had my bottom lip split open by a bald eagle. I've also been grabbed in the back of the head with an eagle's talons because I stupidly turned my back to an eagle that didn't like me. Normally it's my mistake. Like I said, there's no danger to the public with eagles. Unless someone was to run up and grab one without a glove on.

Well, that would be fucking stupid, wouldn't it?
Yep.

Lastly, do you think it's OK to use animals for reasons that may also have political connotations, such as the taking down of drones, or even using sniffer dogs?
Yeah I do. I train animals and also have a lot to do with conservation, and I don't see anything wrong with it as long as the person who's in charge knows what they're doing. You get people who ignore the rules and the dangers and they're the sort of people who cause risks.

Follow Joe on Twitter.


Science Finally Explained My Resting Bitch Face to Me

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The author, when asked to smile for a photo

I was a pretty serious kid. Teachers used to call me a "thinker," which was fine until around the time I turned 19. That was when what I considered to be my neutral expression got a new name: Resting Bitch Face (RBF).

If you haven't heard of RBF before, here's a quick explainer from the internet's best friend UrbanDictionary: "A condition that affects 1 in 6 people meaning that their 'zoned out face' is in a constant state of bitchiness e.g. 'Claire Horn has resting bitch face!!'"

Yes, Claire Horn does have Resting Bitch Face, and so do I. If you want to get into specifics, my particular form of RBF has been described as "perpetually unimpressed" or "about to sneeze."

I'm not going to lie. It's been a rough couple of years. At least I haven't been alone, though. Victoria Beckham, Kristen Stewart, Kanye—we've all lived through this together. VB and KStew exhibit the most common type of RBF: "lemon mouth angry school principal." Kanye, one of the few widely cited male RBFers, is afflicted by a rarer form dubbed, "Son, I expected more of you."

Kristen Stewart's face. Image via YouTube

RBF is frustrating to live with but finally science has brought some answers. Last year, two behavioral researchers, Jason Rogers and Abbe Macbeth, used a technology called FaceReader to determine whether RBF is actually a thing, or just a delusion in the eye of the beholder. FaceReader scans more than 500 points on the human face and assigns an expression based on eight "basic" emotions: happy, angry, sad, scared, surprised, disgusted, contemptuous, or neutral.

To create a baseline, Rogers and Macbeth ran "normal" faces through FaceReader and found that most people's resting faces register as "neutral." Then they ran photos and videos of celebrities most often accused of RBF—Kanye, KStew, etc. What the pair found is that these faces registered far higher "contempt" than the normies. That sneering, condescending emotion accounts for around 5.76 percent of the resting expression for those afflicted with RBF.

Kanye West's face being analyzed. Image via Noldus

This doesn't sound great but there's still hope. "This is a fundamental and key point," Rogers and Macbeth note in a paper about their work. "FaceReader is not detecting enough contempt to reflect true contempt... It just looks like contempt to the viewer." As they explain, the human brain is hardwired to comb other people's faces for emotional cues and so even tiny differences can make an impression. "Because contempt is based upon elements of comparison and judgment, viewing this in someone's face creates a feeling of uneasiness, or uncomfortableness, for the person viewing that face," they explain.

So there it is—science says Resting Bitch Face is your problem, not mine. However, having the self esteem of someone who's been teased most of her adult life about her RBF, my main takeaway from this research is that looking at my face makes people uneasy and uncomfortable.

This research did give us a number though: 5.67 percent. This is the line where RBF begins. If the percentage of contempt in your expression falls below this threshold, you're in the clear. What if I'd been unfairly grouped in with those discomfort-inducing sneerers for all these years? All I needed was a contempt score below 5.67 percent. To find out, I got myself a copy of FaceReader to run some experiments.

By run some experiments, I mean that I wasted the next few hours of my life trying to take a selfie that was totally blank—it's impossible. We've been conditioned to pull some sort of expression whenever a camera is pointed in our faces. In some photos my eyes were too narrow; in others what I thought was a subtle smile came out as a full-blown sneer. It seems I have absolutely no control over my face.

My face being analyzed by FaceReader

I finally gave up on attaining expressionless perfection and just put a photo into FaceReader. It did some Minority Report biometric shit and spat out some graphs with all the answers I was looking for.

graphs.jpg

So the good news is the computer knows I'm lady, and it doesn't think I have a beard or a mustache. The gray bar in the chart is neutral, which is the clearly the dominant emotion in my expression. There's also some happiness in there, maybe some faint hope that FaceReader could give me the all clear from RBF.

But then there was the bad news: My contempt is pretty much off the charts. It's way above the RBF threshold. I'm even worse than Kanye. Kanye freaking West, the guy so famously grouchy there are memes about it. Kanye West, who didn't even crack a smile when Amy Schumer threw herself at his feet on the red carpet.

So I guess science has confirmed that I have RBF. I'm not really sure how to feel about it, but I probably look pretty angry.

Follow Maddison on Twitter.

Can Straight People Be Queer?

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Miley Cyrus, Laura Jane Grace, and Joan Jett singing 'Androgynous'

It's not easy being woke. Johnny Depp's 16-year-old daughter Lily Rose Depp tried to come out as a queer ally recently and accidentally just came out. She took part in an LGBT outreach project and said her sexuality fell somewhere on a "vast spectrum," which many took to mean she was announcing her sexuality. She has since come in again, clarifying that she was doing the exact opposite: "I was literally doing it just to say that you don't have to label your sexuality; so many kids these days are not labeling their sexuality and I think that's so cool."

Rose-Depp's fingers might be burnt, but she's far from the only young celebrity dipping into queer issues: Jaden Smith became the face for Louis Vuitton womenswear in January and now he posts Instagram photos of himself wearing dresses and standing on fire hydrants.

What Do Imprisoned Drug Dealers Think About the UK's New Business-Friendly Prison Reforms?

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Some cells in Alcatraz. Cells in British prisons will soon be known as "the office." Photo by marine_perez

Names and identifying details have been changed to protect privacy.

On Monday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron set out reforms to a prison system that he says currently "shames us all" because there's so much violence, drug-taking, and self-harm. He said: "I strongly believe that we must offer chances to change; that for those trying hard to turn themselves around, we should offer hope... In short: We need a prison system that doesn't see prisoners as simply liabilities to be managed, but instead as potential assets to be harnessed."

It sounds hopey-changey, but what will treating people as "assets" really mean? Back in October, MP Michael Gove spelled it out. A specific focus is being placed on education in prisons, which is all about fostering entrepreneurial spirit. Gove told the Telegraph: "We should definitely have more business going into prison. You could have businesses running in prisons." He cites the use of call centers operating out of prisons in the US, and also the admirable work that key-cutting and shoe repair firm Timpson does in the UK to integrate ex-offenders into its staff.

I teach in prison so I have a pretty good idea of the extent of the business acumen among those who are locked up. I teach burglars, ram-raiders, the occasional fraudster—but they all tend to be acting out of desperation, usually linked directly to either drug dependency or impending home eviction. The most obvious entrepreneurs are the drug dealers. Committed subscribers to the free market and capitalist doctrine, these guys are surely who Gove is aiming to empower. But would any of them be willing to swap Maybach money for minimum wage and timed toilet breaks? I asked some what they think of the reforms.

Thirty-three-year-old Ryan is a former professional athlete sentenced to ten years for dealing coke. It's his first conviction, but the scale of his operation and its relatively high-profile nature meant a stiff sentence. He explains to me that he was working on a plan before getting busted that would have seen him open a holistic health and organic supplement store in his local area and then expand into different areas over time. I ask him if he is aware of the possible contradiction of going from supplying his community with coke to wheatgrass and raw cacao powder. He blushes a little, offering "Mate!" as his only response.

Ryan is at the higher end of the scale academically in terms of the prisoners I teach. Although he has pretty limited qualifications, he is bright enough to be gaining merits and distinctions in the FE college business course he is studying. He's also smart enough to realize that I have googled him, and asks what I made of the national press coverage he received. I ask him whether he regrets being so openly flashy with his money. Ryan tells me that if he knew what he knows now about business models and growth, he would have reduced his presence in the market to stay off the police radar. He frames this approach around Patagonia, the outdoor and adventure clothing firm, who last year stated it would seek to shrink the business as part of a long-term stability strategy.

Ryan will be transferred to an open prison soon and will then probably be released in the next 18 months. After his release, he plans to set up his business—a combination of legit money he earned from his career in sports and a small loan from his father-in-law will be enough to cover the first year's setup and operating costs. I ask if he would consider employing an ex-offender. "You mad, bro?" he says as he photocopies carefully selected pages from a Richard Branson biography that's due back at the library tomorrow.

"If I'm going to be bored and depressed, I might as well be earning £5,000 a week doing it."

It's a cliché, but most drug dealers are good with mental arithmetic, and 25-year-old Alex is no different. Alex pleaded guilty to a Class A supply at the earliest opportunity, knowing that as this was his second conviction for drugs he'd be in line for something heftier if he went to trial and lost. The judge was impressed with his contrition but warned him that a third conviction in the future would have pretty bleak consequences. His partner has told him that she wants a baby but won't consider it unless he gives up dealing. He has a scar that begins near the top of his forehead and runs deep into his hairline. Alex talks about the trap houses he ran and says it was easy money but ultimately boring and depressing. I ask him to expand and he tells me I don't want to know.

I ask what he wants to do instead of dealing. Would he consider getting a job cutting keys and engraving cat names on small copper discs at Timpson, for example? "If I'm going to be bored and depressed, I might as well be earning five a week doing it," he says.

Related: Watch 'Inside America's For-Profit Bail System'

Not everyone is on board with Gove's project. Mark Icke, the vice president of the Prisoner's Governor's Association, has voiced concerns that while education is important, many of the people in the prison system have a variety of serious issues that need sorting before they can contemplate applying for small business loans and setting up a LinkedIn.

From my own teaching experience, it seems like a valid criticism. Arron, 19, is waiting to '"run trial" on a charge of selling heroin, crack, and mephedrone outside a school. He is adamant that he will "bust case," explaining that he has sacked his "faggot solicitor" and hired the solicitor his cellmate has used on over 30 occasions. Arron's work is borderline high school level, and it's a chore to get him to complete the simplest of tasks. He talks ceaselessly in monologues often lasting for up to ten minutes and usually revolving around massage parlors, Huaraches, and his dad—an enigmatic "businessman who lives in America." His lack of empathy is at times astonishing, and there's a dead-eyed malevolence in an unfinished letter he shows me where he tells an ex he'll take her back if she gets a tattoo of his name on her stomach. Weirder still, he tells me he's sent the exact same letter to two other exes. It's often hard to shut him up, and the other prisoners in the class find him annoying and full of shit, but maybe working as a call center operator is just what he needs to increase his sense of empathy. Or perhaps not.

A cynic might say that running businesses in prisons seems like a pretty sweet way to engage in modern-day sub-minimum-wage slave labor. But maybe the scheme deserves the benefit of the doubt. After all, could it actually be the ultimate deterrent to committing crime in the first place? Get caught selling rocks, and it's five years on outbound calls at seven bucks a week.

Welcome Wagon: From Syria to the Six: What It's Like Experiencing Canada as a Refugee

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Amidst ongoing attacks from public figures such as Donald Trump, it's easy to forget that Syrians and other desperate refugees are, in fact, people. One person is pushing back and rolling out the red carpet: Kourosh Houshmand.

Student, journalist, and self-proclaimed "Middle-Eastern Harry Potter," Kourosh knows firsthand the struggles of being displaced—he was born to an Iranian immigrant family in Toronto. Now, he wants to pay it forward.

On December 31, 2015, Kourosh linked up with Nazar Poladian—a newly arrived Syrian refugee—to send off the past year in style, shed some light on what it's really like to be a Syrian refugee, and usher in the new year on a fun, positive note.

Toronto Politician Asks Whether Canada Should Ban Beyoncé

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A performance apparently befitting of a freakout by a Toronto city councillor. Photo via Facebook

Does Jimmy K want Canada to block Bey?

That's a possibility he raised with the Toronto Sun on Tuesday.

Jim Karygiannis, Toronto city councillor, former Member of Parliament, and all-around plain-spoken guy, told the tabloid on Tuesday that the Trudeau government should investigate ties between Beyoncé—and her Super Bowl backup dancers—and the Black Panther Party.

And while it might seem ridiculous to suggest that Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) should turn Beyoncé Knowles-Carter away at the border, well, it is.

Beyoncé is slated to perform in Toronto on May 25 but, after her Super Bowl halftime performance—which, on top of being the best, gave shout-outs to the Black Panthers and Malcolm X—the city councillor says the federal government should be vetting whether or not she's eligible to enter the country.

"Perhaps Immigration Minister John McCallum should have her investigated first?" Karygiannis told Sun columnist/Rob Ford apologist Joe Warmington, who is very good at transcribing interviews with city councillors he likes. "If someone wore bullets and supported here, they would not be welcomed in the United States—that's for sure."

Likewise, he said, "she or some of them could be found not eligible to enter the country as others in the past have faced," adding that it's wrong for the popstar to be advancing "gun culture or anti-police sentiments."

VICE reached out to the councillor to find out what the hell he was talking about.

"Look, if there's questions, have Minister MacCallum investigative," Karygiannis said. "People are offended by it... and If people are offended by it, call the minister."

Karygiannis, himself, says he has no problem with the performer—despite telling the Sun that her performance was "disturbing"—saying: "I don't care whether she comes, she doesn't come, I don't care."

But, at the same time, Karygiannis kept reiterating that people should pass their complaints onto the federal government and ask them to investigate. "If people are offended with what's she's wearing, is where it should be addressed. If you're offended by it, don't let her in."

Lots of people hated Bey's performance, of course. New York mascot Rudy Giuliani ranted about how it's anti-cop, and proceeded to tell America's black population what it should be doing,

But nobody raised the idea of banning Beyoncé from the country, especially because that's not even remotely how Canadian law works.

Let's go through the CBSA's checklist of how someone can be denied entry to Canada:

"Security" — Unless you consider her ass to be dynamite, I don't think national security applies.

"Human or international rights violations" — While she did slay at the Super Bowl, there were no reported casualties.

"Criminality" — Jay Z once stabbed a guy in the stomach and spent three years on probation. But that's his problem.

"Organized criminality" — Destiny's Child does not sound like a very good gang.

"Health grounds" — She looks healthy to me.

"Financial reasons" — Maybe she has too much money?

"Misrepresentation" — "Listen, Mrs. Beyoncé, you need to put your last name on the form."

"Having an inadmissible family member" — I think we can all get behind banning Jay Z from Canada for his verse on "Monster".

I cannot find "being offended," "wearing a bullet sash," or "making Chris Martin look stupid" anywhere on the CBSA website.

And while Canada has a long history in barring would-be entrants at the border, there are generally pretty good reasons.

Chris Brown, for one, got turned away en route to a show in Montreal, probably due to his criminal record. Emo band The Used (AKA the poor man's My Chemical Romance) had a similar experiences thanks to some decade-old misdemeanors. Rapper Danny Brown was also denied en route to tour dates in Western Canada.


A Neuroscientist Explains How He Found Out Meth Is Almost Identical to Adderall

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This piece was published in partnership with The Influence.

The long subway ride from DC's airport to Silver Spring was unusually pleasant. It had been about an hour since I had taken a low dose of methamphetamine. It was my 40th birthday—October 30, 2006—and I was headed to a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-sponsored meeting.

A friend, who had a prescription for the drug, had given me a couple of pills as a gift, knowing that I was an expert on amphetamines but had never actually taken any myself. I sat on the train feeling alert, mentally stimulated, and euphorically serene.

And when the effects had worn off after a few hours, I thought, that was nice, worked out, and enjoyed a productive two-day meeting. Well, maybe not enjoyed—it was a NIDA meeting after all. But I didn't crave the drug or feel the need to take any more. I certainly didn't engage in any unusual behaviors—hardly the stereotypical picture of a "meth head."

So why is it, then, that the general public has such a radically different view of this drug?

Perhaps it has something to do with public "educational" campaigns aimed at discouraging methamphetamine use. These campaigns usually show, in graphic and horrifying detail, some poor young person who uses the drug for the first time and then ends up engaging in uncharacteristic acts such as prostitution, stealing from parents, or assaulting strangers for money to buy the drug. At the end of the advertisement, emblazoned on the screen, is: "Meth—not even once." We've also seen those infamous "meth mouth" images (extreme tooth decay), wrongly presented as a direct consequence of methamphetamine use.

These types of media campaigns neither prevent nor decrease the use of the drug; nor do they provide any real facts about the effects of meth. They succeed only in perpetuating false assumptions.

Swayed by this messaging, the public remains almost entirely ignorant of the fact that methamphetamine produces nearly identical effects to those produced by the popular ADHD medication d-amphetamine (dextroamphetamine). You probably know it as Adderall®: a combination of amphetamine and d-amphetamine mixed salts.

Yeah, I know. This statement requires some defense.

This is not to suggest that people who are currently prescribed Adderall should discontinue its use for fear of inevitable ruinous addiction, but instead that we should view methamphetamine rather more like we view d-amphetamine. Remember that methamphetamine and d-amphetamine are both FDA-approved medications to treat ADHD. In addition, methamphetamine is approved to treat obesity and d-amphetamine to treat narcolepsy.

In the interest of full disclosure, I too once believed that methamphetamine was far more dangerous than d-amphetamine, despite the fact that the chemical structure of the two drugs is nearly identical (see figure). In the late 1990s, when I was a PhD student, I was told—and I fully believed—that the addition of the methyl group to methamphetamine made it more lipid-soluble (translation: able to enter the brain more rapidly) and therefore more addictive than d-amphetamine.

It wasn't until several years after graduate school that this belief was shattered by evidence—not only from my own research, but also by results from research conducted by other scientists.

In our study, we brought 13 men who regularly used methamphetamine into the lab. We gave each of them a hit of methamphetamine, of d-amphetamine, or of placebo on separate days under double-blind conditions. We repeated this many times with each person over several days and multiple doses of each drug.

Like d-amphetamine, methamphetamine increased our subjects' energy and enhanced their ability to focus and concentrate; it also reduced subjective feelings of tiredness and the cognitive disruptions typically brought about by fatigue and/or sleep deprivation. Both drugs increased blood pressure and the rate at which the heart beat. No doubt these are the effects that justify the continued use of d-amphetamine by several nations' militaries, including our own.

And when offered an opportunity to choose either the drugs or varying amounts of money, our subjects chose to take d-amphetamine on a similar number of occasions as they chose to take methamphetamine. These regular methamphetamine users could not distinguish between the two. (It is possible that the methyl group enhances methamphetamine's lipid-solubility, but this effect appears to be imperceptible to human consumers.)

It is also true that the effects of smoking methamphetamine are more intense than those of swallowing a pill containing d-amphetamine. But that increased intensity is due to the route of administration, not the drug itself. Smoking d-amphetamine produces nearly identical intense effects as smoking methamphetamine. The same would be true if the drugs were snorted.

As I left DC and traveled home to New York, I reflected on how I had previously participated in misleading the public by hyping the dangers of methamphetamine. For example, in one of my earlier studies, aimed at documenting the powerfully addictive nature of the drug, I found that when given a choice between taking a small hit of meth (10 mg) or one dollar in cash, methamphetamine users chose the drug about half the time.

For me, in 2001, this suggested that the drug was addictive. But what it really showed was my own ignorance and bias. Because, as I found out in a later study, if I had increased the cash amount to as little as five dollars, the users would have taken the money almost all of the time—even though they knew they would have to wait several weeks until the end of the study before getting the cash.

All of this should serve as a lesson on how media distortions can influence even scientific knowledge about the consequences of drug use.

It took me nearly 20 years and dozens of scientific publications in the area of drug use to recognize my own biases around methamphetamine. I can only hope that you don't require as much time and scientific activity in order to understand that the Adderall that you or your loved one takes each day is essentially the same drug as meth.

And I hope that this knowledge engenders less judgment of people who use meth, and greater empathy.

Dr. Carl L. Hart is a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. He is also the author of the book High Price: A neuroscientist's journey of self-discovery that challenges everything you know about drugs and society Follow him on Twitter.

This article was originally published by The Influence, a news site that covers the full spectrum of human relationships with drugs. Follow The Influence on Facebook or Twitter.

The VICE Guide to the 2016 Election: Photos from the Tiny New Hampshire Town Where Voters Cast Ballots at Midnight

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Dixville Notch, the unincorporated town located in the far north of New Hampshire, was the first place to cast ballots in the primary at midnight Monday night. This early voting event has been a tradition at the Balsams Grand Resort Hotel since the hotel's owner, Neil Tillotson, started it in 1960. Though closed for renovations, the resort was opened to press and the nine registered voters.

Those nine voters obviously don't count for much when it comes to the overall primary, but the residents of this small mountainous town have consistently predicted a number of presidential candidates in the past. That's good news for Bernie Sanders, who won the Democratic side four to zero, and John Kasich, who edged out Donald Trump in a three-to-two nail-biter. Here are photographer Maggie Shannon's impression of the scene:

Is Toxic Shock Syndrome on the Rise Among Young Women?

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In the first weeks of 2016, four Michigan teenagers lay in hospital beds, all suffering from toxic shock syndrome (TSS): a rare and deadly, but preventable, bacterial infection. All of those teenagers are girls, all of them had been using tampons, and all of them live in western Michigan.

In the past year, we've written a lot about TSS, the infection caused by a strain of staph bacteria carried by 33 percent of the population. Tampons made with synthetic materials can create an ideal breeding ground for the staph to multiply and attack the body like a "D-Day invasion on Omaha Beach," as one researcher told me last fall. For an illness that's long been considered an epidemic of the 80s, there have been a lot of stories lately of women sent to the hospital due to the infection; in Michigan, the recent cases have even been called a "TSS outbreak."

Brian Hartl, an epidemiologist at Michigan's Kent County Health Department, isn't used to seeing any cases of TSS, let alone several in a row. "Four cases in the scope of a month—that's definitely something we don't see very often," he told me. "In fact, those are the first cases of TSS reported to Kent County in quite some time."

It's not entirely clear why these four cases occurred in such a small geographical area. But they were enough to trigger Hartl's department to contact the state health department, which then partnered with the CDC, and filed a report to the FDA (which has not yet been released) on the specific tampon brands being used by the girls.

One of those girls is 15-year-old Rylie Whitten, of Greenville, Michigan, who fell ill just after the new year. Her father, Nate Whitten, says Rylie complained of body aches on Sunday, January 3. "She came home from hanging out with some friends, wasn't feeling well, took a hot bath and went to bed," he said. She stayed home from school Monday, January 4, and didn't show any signs of improvement the next day. That's when her father says he and his wife called the family doctor—but without a fever or a cough, the doctor said there was no reason to come in.

On Tuesday night, Rylie took a turn for the worse. "The honest to God only reason I knew that something was wrong was she was sitting there in so much pain, she couldn't even lay there without moaning," Whitten said. They brought her to the emergency room, where influenza and spinal meningitis tests came back negative. Soon, though, Rylie's body started to shut down: Her blood pressure plummeted, she had kidney failure, lung failure—"they were talking heart transplant," Whitten said.

On Motherboard: Why Are Tampons Still a Thing?

Rylie was airlifted from Greenville to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, where she was kept on life support for the next nine days. Only then did Whitten hear doctors start talking about TSS. "I didn't even know what TSS was until we got to DeVos," her father said. "From that point on, they basically identified it, but they weren't 100 percent sure."

Toxic shock can be difficult to diagnose, since its symptoms (fever, vomiting, rashes) look similar to many other illnesses. Last year, a 13-year-old girl died from TSS after doctors misidentified her symptoms as a simple stomach bug.

Once Rylie was diagnosed, she made a miraculous recovery, with only slight damage to her vocal chords. But if researchers know that young girls like Rylie are most likely to contract TSS (the older someone is, the more likely they are to have built up antibodies to fight off an infection), then why aren't doctors and tampon manufacturers doing more to prevent it from happening?

In 1980, the incidence of TSS was six in every 100,000 women between the ages of 19 and 44—that year, 772 women in the United States developed the illness. By 1986, the rate went down to one in every 100,000 women—the statistic that's still touted most often today. But other studies suggest that the rate is actually higher, especially for younger girls: It could be closer to 4 in every 100,000 women, and warning labels on some tampon boxes report rates as high as 17 in every 100,000 for tampon users. Barring updated research, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly how common TSS is today, but the recently reported cases show that it's certainly not obsolete.

Watch: VICE revisits Lauren Wasser, the model who sued a tampon company after she lost a leg to toxic shock syndrome

Bob Brand, a spokesman for Kimberly-Clark, which produces Kotex (the brand used by model Lauren Wasserman, who lost her leg after contracting TSS) says his company heard about Rylie Whitten's case. "Our hearts go out to Rylie and the other young women and their families that have been dealing with this rare but very serious medical condition," he said in a written statement.

Brand points out that tampons aren't the cause of TSS, but "data suggests that tampon usage can increase the risk of TSS. That is why every box of tampons contains information and warnings regarding TSS along with specific directions for use that, if followed, will lessen the risk."

Over the phone, I ask Brand if a warning is enough to make a teenage girl aware that TSS is not a thing of the past.

"We think the warnings are clear and we think the information is clear," he said. "I think the fact that dropped off dramatically indicates the warnings are working."

On Broadly: String Theories: How the Tampon Came to Be

But Philip Tierno—a professor of microbiology and pathology at the New York University School of Medicine—thinks the warnings aren't enough. The Michigan TSS cases all involved young girls, who are most susceptible to TSS, especially if the tampons are made of synthetic ingredients.

In the 1980s, Tierno's research showed a link between synthetic tampon ingredients and TSS. And though many of those ingredients aren't used in tampons anymore, one still is: viscose rayon. With the exception of 100 percent cotton tampons, Tierno says all tampons on the market are made with viscose rayon, and are much more readily available than their all-cotton counterparts. But even the FDA calls a connection between rayon and TSS "allegations."

"I have never, ever—in all my work with TSS—ever had a result of all cotton resulting in toxic shock," said Tierno, who has been researching toxic shock syndrome for over 30 years. "All current tampons made by major manufacturers are mixes of viscose rayon and cotton," meaning most women use those, rather than the harder-to-find cotton variety.

Tierno says that one of the worst issues is that people think TSS is a thing of the past. "Toxic shock does still occur," he said. "People are unaware that its a problem at this point. It will remain a problem unless something else happens."

Representative Carolyn Maloney, from New York, has been pushing for safer tampons since the 1990s. She says that despite TSS's rarity, it's something that needs to be watched. "We have learned of several high-profile cases of TSS in the past year, and part of the reason is that the media is paying more attention to it," she said, "and because women are paying more attention to it."

Maloney re-introduced her Robin Danielson Feminine Hygiene Product Safety Act last March, a bill that would promote research on feminine hygiene products. She's introduced similar legislation nine times since 1997, and each time it's been killed in committee.

"Women's health is often swept under the rug, not just in our policy debates in Congress, but in our national dialogue," she said, noting that the surge of TSS cases in the 1980s was attributed to super-absorbent tampons, which were subsequently pulled off the market.

"Right now we don't have enough evidence linking the modern cases we are seeing, but that's why we need more research. We need to get to the bottom of it."

Follow Leah Sottile on Twitter.

What Will It Take to Resurrect Legendary New Orleans R&B Venue the Dew Drop Inn?

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In 1955, legendary producer Allen Toussaint was just another young pianist looking for a break on the New Orleans scene. He was part of a generation of musicians who helped lay the foundation for modern-day rhythm and blues. Like all the aspiring local cats in his day, he hung out at the Dew Drop Inn.

"The Dew Drop for me and for us was a rite of passage from the teenage world to the adult world. It was big-time," Toussaint told me before his unexpected death last year at 77, while on tour in Madrid, Spain. It was a sunny, fall day, and Touissant was sitting at his Steinway grand piano in an elegantly pressed blue suit, reminiscing. Over his career he popularized new kinds of funk music, building the careers of influential artists such as the Meters and Dr. John, as well as penning hits such as the Rolling Stones' "Fortune Teller" and Labelle's "Lady Marmalade."

The Dew Drop Inn was his launching pad. When he was 17 years old, he enrolled, along with many others, in what he describes as an unofficial university degree in music at the club, crossing paths with greats such as B.B. King, Nat King Cole, and Duke Ellington. Toussaint remembers unreal scenes from the nightclub's heyday, like Etta James strutting in wearing a sparkling white dress with platinum blonde hair and a white rhesus monkey on a diamond chain. "She came in with an entourage of guys behind her. All the tempos dropped when she walked slowly across the floor to her seat. There wasn't any space, but they made space right away," Toussaint told me, smiling.

"If you were of any status, you played the Dew Drop," said Irma Thomas, whose five-decade career as a rhythm-and-blues singer has earned her the title "Soul Queen of New Orleans. "This was the place during segregated times."

Bobby Marchan, emcee Patsy Vidalia, and Joe Jones during a female impersonators dance contest in 1954. Photo courtesy of the Ralston Crawford Collection of New Orleans Jazz Photography, Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University

The historic music club still sits in its original location in New Orleans's Central City neighborhood. The sign advertises "Dew-Drop Inn, Hotel, Lounge and Restaurant" on a red arrow with light bulbsthat still appear ready to turn on at any moment. But it's been largely neglected since it closed in 1972. Metal bars hang over the rusting window frames and wooden planks protrude from the building like a half-completed construction project. The main part of the club, a large, gutted room that smells of old books, has been steadily deteriorating for decades.

But Kenneth Jackson, who inherited the Dew Drop from his grandfather and the original owner Frank Painia, wants to restore the venue to its former glory. Jackson's working with Harmony Neighborhood Development, Tulane City Center, and the Milne Inspiration Center to raise $1.5 million for the repairs. Last month they secured a modest $6,000 grant from the city of New Orleans, which they aim to use to host a fundraiser in March. They're largely depending upon donations made through their website to get the Dew Drop up and swinging again. If all goes as planned, the Inn will reopen in April 2018.

"If these walls could talk, they could tell stories that no other place in town could tell," said Jackson as he scanned the dark, musty room where the stage used to be.

Owner Kenneth Jackson, grandson of founder Frank Painia, outside the Dew Drop Inn. Photo by the author

When the Dew Drop opened in 1938, it was a supper club with entertainment headed by the fabulous, cross-dressing emcee Patsy Vidalia. The shows, portrayed as vaudeville with a hint of circus, featured female impersonators, ventriloquists, magicians, snake charmers, as well as a world-famous tap dancer named Peg Leg Bates, the "one-legged dancing man" who performed twice for the English Royal Family. Above the bar was a hotel where all the best black musicians, including regular Ray Charles, stayed when they were passing through town.

It was a stylish scene for black movie stars and dignitaries when most businesses in the city exclusively served white patrons. "If you were a musician playing in the Dream Room , you couldn't go out and get a drink," said Deacon John Moore, a former member of the Dew Drop house band. "You were confined to the green room and if you went out you were going to jail. But if you were playing at the Dew Drop, well, hey, you could play with your friends, get a room upstairs, do whatever you wanted to do."

At the time, Central City was a hub of thriving black-owned businesses. According to the Data Center, in the 1940s the neighborhood's main commercial corridor on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, then known as Dryades Street, was home to more than 200 commercial enterprises. Keystone Insurance, one of the most important black-owned healthcare businesses in the South, was located off the street. Until the 1950s, the nearby Flint-Goodridge Hospital, where New Orleans's first three African-American mayors were born, was the only place in the city black doctors could practice.

"Growing up in an environment where you saw black people own their businesses and keep the neighborhood flourishing with grocery stores, restaurants, and all the other things was very, very rewarding," said Central City native and New Orleans visual artist Willie Birch. As a kid, Birch saw local and national stars such as Tina Turner, Earl King, and Big Mama Thornton picking up costumes from his neighbor Miss Lucy Mae or just hanging around the Dew Drop. To him, it was just how it was.

In the 1960s, Dryades Street was still one of the few places where African-Americans could shop freely in New Orleans. Central City natives describe the stretch as bustling on Sundays as churchgoers socialized with one another in their finest clothing. The community also became active in the Civil Rights movement—Dr. Martin Luther King founded the Southern Christian Leadership Council in Central City in 1957 and the New Orleans chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality also got its start in the neighborhood.

The Dew Drop Inn in 1953. Photo courtesy of the Ralston Crawford Collection of New Orleans Jazz Photography, Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University

After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, black residents who were formerly relegated to specific parts of the city started shopping in other areas, white families left for the suburbs, and the neighborhood, like many other urban centers across the country, fell into decline. Less than a decade later, the Dew Drop, once a symbol of Central City's prosperity, shut down.

"The place was still important to people that knew it," said Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers, who began his career as a saxophonist in the Dew Drop's house band. "But another generation of people came along who hadn't really been a part of that scene and that particular racial dynamic, where you were limited to certain sections of the city."

"On Bourbon Street you were confined to the green room and if you went out you were going to jail. But if you were playing at the Dew Drop, you could play with your friends, get a room upstairs, do whatever you wanted to do."
—Deacon John Moore

Two decades later, the Magnolia Housing Projects, across the street from the Dew Drop, had become notorious for crime and drugs, most famously featured in songs by neighborhood rappers. Lil Wayne and Juvenile both got their starts in and around Magnolia in a group called the Hot Boys. They rapped about broken communities, murder, and violence in songs such as "Take It Off Your Shoulder" and "Dirty World."

"It's an inner-city community that's had inner-city problems for the last 30, 40 years. Now, we are in a kind of renaissance," said Carol Bebelle, co-founder of Central City community development organization Ashe Cultural Arts Center.

The Ashe Cultural Arts Center, Harmony Development, and other nonprofits began working with the neighborhood in the 1990s to fuel revitalization. Since Hurricane Katrina, Harmony has helped put 460 new mixed-income homes where the projects once were. About four years ago, they approached Jackson about using the Dew Drop's legacy to inspire arts and culture investment in the neighborhood.

"It is the heartbeat," said Harmony's executive director Una Anderson of the role the Dew Drop plays in her broader plan to build up Central City. "I mean, if we can get the Dew Drop back up and running and vibrant, it's going to drive the development of this entire corridor."

If Jackson has his way, the new Dew Drop would serve as an one-stop cultural complex replete with a barbershop, a 24-hour kitchen serving New Orleans cuisine, live music at least three nights a week, and nine boutique hotel rooms. The goal is to make the nightclub as similar to the original as possible.

Jackson plans, too, in the spirit of his grandfather who was a civil rights pioneer and neighborhood leader, to provide a space for community building. The Milne Inspiration Center, a nonprofit for youth empowerment, has been working on setting up a social entrepreneurship incubator with a recording studio and a small radio station above the club.

It's an ambitious plan. There's already been months of delays trying to raise money to hire a formal fundraising manager. For now, they're depending on word of mouth to get the momentum going. Jackson and the team at Harmony Neighborhood Development have no doubt though: They will succeed.

"I think right now this area would really benefit from have something like this back in operation, with the nostalgia and just the history behind it," Jackson said. "It really was one hell of a place."

Follow Shelby on Twitter.

For updates on the project or to donate visit the Dew Drop Inn's website.

Black Lives Matter Activist MarShawn McCarrel Ended His Life Monday on the Steps of the Ohio Statehouse

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Photo and thumbnail photo from MarShawn McCarrel's Facebook

MarShawn McCarrel, a Black Lives Matter activist and homelessness advocate, died by a self-inflicted gunshot Monday on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. According to the Columbus Dispatch, the local authorities were initially unsure why he chose to commit suicide. He was 23.

His final Facebook post was from the day before his death. It read, "My demons won today. I'm sorry." His final tweet, posted hours before he died, said, "Let the record show that I pissed on the state house before i left."

McCarrel got involved with Black Lives Matter in 2014, helping to organize Ohio protests after the police fatally shot unarmed Missouri teenager Michael Brown, sparking that year's unrest in the town of Ferguson. McCarrel posted frequently on social media about his involvement in the recent civil rights struggle, and among these posts were examples of apparent abuse from racists. It's unclear whether his activism or responses to it had anything to do with the problems he was obviously suffering from.

He told the blog Columbus Alive in 2014, "People who look like me are one breath away from being an Eric Garner," referring to the notorious choking death of another black man killed by police that year in New York City.

Prior to his involvement with Black Lives Matter, according to a 2014 interview on the blog 614 Columbus, McCarrel had been among the young homeless in Ohio for three months shortly after graduating from high school. During that time, he told the blog, he "realized an important thing: I don't need anything to be happy. I mean, it changed everything; I had to be broken to see what genuine happiness is."

YouTube user Adam Little captured McCarrel reciting poetry under the name "MC Carrel" in 2013.

In October of 2013, after McCarrel's experience with homelessness, he founded Pursuing Our Dreams, an organization that gave out lunches to the homeless in Columbus. "We don't believe in heroes. We believe in neighbors," he told the site Columbus Underground in an interview during one of their Feed the Streets (FTS) events.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Pursuing Our Dreams was still planning to hold one of its Feed the Streets events on Saturday, February 20 at 10 AM at Franklinton Square in Columbus. Bahirah Malik, who runs the organization's Facebook page, and identified herself as McCarrel's sister, told VICE that the event would not be changed.

Malik said the group still plans to "make it the FTS that Shawn always dreamed of."

If you are struggling with depression or suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Follow Mike Pearl on Twitter.

The VICE Guide to the 2016 Election: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Conquered the New Hampshire Primaries

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A Donald Trump supporter holds up a foam finger at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Tuesday night. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

There wasn't much drama in the New Hampshire presidential primary on Tuesday night. Every poll showed Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders ahead in the Republican and Democratic races, respectively, and every poll turned out to be pretty much right on that score. Just after 8 PM—while some people were still waiting in long lines to vote as the polls closed—news outlets started calling the results, and the only mystery that remained was which Republican candidates would outperform their poll numbers, and which ones would disappoint.

The New Hampshire primary has always been an odd second stop on the campaign, with candidates courting the tiny state's voters individually and in small groups. But this time around it was basically a reality TV show. In the final 24 hours before votes were cast, Ohio Governor John Kasich served breakfast at a diner, Donald Trump sorta called Ted Cruz a "pussy," Marco Rubio was followed around by protesters dressed as robots who later apparently got into some kind of scrape with his supporters, and Bernie Sanders couldn't find the car that was supposed to pick him up from a campaign stop. Everything seemed to be newsworthy; nothing in particular seemed to be happening. The state's primary is particularly difficult to predict, thanks to the rule that allows independents to cast ballots in either party's contest, so for a while, the political world was giddy with possibility.

Now all those possibilities have collapsed, leaving us with a fairly strange situation. Sanders, who won nearly 60 percent of the Democratic vote, continues to look strong against former heir apparent Hillary Clinton. Trump, with almost 40 percent support among Republican voters, continues to prove that his frontrunner status isn't a mirage or some kind of complicated prank. Kasich, who essentially invested all of his energy and money in New Hampshire, came in a surprising second in the GOP race, with about 16 percent. Jeb Bush, whose campaign has so far been a series of unfortunate events, won around 10 percent, enough support that he can stay in the race and see if he can win over his party's base. Cruz came in with about 12 percent, Rubio earned 10 percent—a disappointing fifth place after his strong showing in Iowa—and the rest couldn't get above single digits.

The primary process hasn't yet become a full-on reality show, so no one is getting voted off, but some GOP candidates will soon decide that the constant public humiliation of running for president isn't worth it. Ben Carson's campaign has said he won't drop out before South Carolina, but Carly Fiorina and Chris Christie haven't attracted much in the way of votes and might soon hang it up. (Christie all but announced his exit on Tuesday night.)

Trump, who knows something about reality TV competitions, has to be feeling good: Rubio, who looked like a possible Establishment counterweight to the extremism of Trump and Cruz, had a bad night, and it's hard at this point to imagine Kasich (who hasn't polled well outside of New Hampshire) or Jeb! suddenly gaining traction. With every day that Trump leads in the polls, while his opposition remains fragmented, it seems more and more likely that he's actually going to get the nomination. That would make for good TV, but bad reality.

Follow Harry on Twitter.

The Feds Are Cracking Down on the Potentially Deadly Mexican Heroin Flowing into Florida

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Heroin seized by the feds in a Miami heroin case. Photo courtesy US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida

Last September 11, detectives working with a federal task force based in in Miami rummaged through the bathroom of an apartment on Sunrise Village Lane in Norcross, Georgia, some 680 miles from their home base. Under a vanity cabinet, they found several kilos of heroin belonging to an alleged drug trafficker from Mexico named Joel Diaz-Fernandez, according to a factual proffer statement recently filed by prosecutors in Miami federal court.

Diaz-Fernandez was not in the apartment during the search, but investigators did arrest two of his alleged employees who were inside, Mexican nationals Crecencio Silverio and Margarita Barragan-Velez, court documents show. The raid was part of an 11-month investigation into a 20-person network that apparently funneled multi-kilogram quantities of heroin from Mexico to several cities across Florida, including Miami in the southeast, Fort Meyers in the southwest, and Orlando in the central part of the state. The case provides a rare glimpse into the Mexican heroin trade that's taken hold in Florida, where opioid-related deaths have reached record levels in the aftermath of high-profile crackdowns on so-called "pill mills" that shill prescription drugs.

"We are in an epidemic as it relates to heroin and other opioids," says James Hall, a Broward County-based epidemiologist. "Traditionally, we had low numbers of opioid-related deaths. We are now catching up with the rest of the country."

Florida's medical examiners documented 447 heroin-related deaths in 2014, an increase of 111 percent compared to the previous year, according to an annual drug report released this past September by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). That's the most deaths since 250 people died from heroin-related overdoses in 2002.

Meanwhile, deaths caused by fentanyl, a synthetic opiate that is more potent than morphine and sometimes used to cut heroin, increased 114 percent in 2014 to 470, the same report says.

Hall, who works for Nova Southeastern University's Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities, says the death toll numbers continued to rise in 2015 for Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, which documented 186 people dying from heroin-related causes from January through November. In 2014, both counties had a combined 111 heroin-related deaths. (Hall says 2015 figures for Broward County are not yet available.)

The expert does note, however, that admissions at primary treatment centers for heroin and fentanyl increased by 33 percent in Miami-Dade and 74 percent in Broward last year when compared to 2014.

Media reports have attributed the rise in heroin use in Florida in part to law enforcement crackdowns on the state's illegal pain pill clinic industry, as well as a push by Mexican drug organizations to reintroduce smack as a cheaper, more accessible alternative to oxycodone and other prescription drugs. And it's true that deaths caused by oxycodone in 2014 decreased by 12 percent when compared with 2013 and decreased 69 percent over the past five years, according to the FDLE report.

But Hall argues Florida's opioid problems would be worse if pill mills were still in operation. "We would be seeing a greater heroin epidemic," he says. "The prescription opioid clinics are breeding grounds for new heroin users."

Mexican traffickers are now marketing a white powder that is purer and more powerful than the traditional "black tar" heroin the US's southern neighbor is known for, according to a 2015 national drug report prepared by the DEA. The same report also claims that Mexican criminal groups produce backyard fentanyl and smuggle the drug across the southwestern border of the United States.

John Schmidt, founder of Marvin's Corner, a Miami-based nonprofit addiction services company, says Mexican heroin—whether laced with fentanyl or not—sells for $100 a gram on the street. "One tenth of a gram is enough to get someone plenty high," Schmidt tells me. "I believe it is Mexican junk. They're now using good chemists who have taken out the old brownish stuff. The moment a junkie sees white dope, they run to it like a scotch drinker runs to Johnny Walker."

Hall thinks heroin laced with fentanyl is even more lethal. "It's 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin or morphine," he argues. "Heroin users can easily be fooled into buying fentanyl-laced heroin that can be far more deadly."

While a majority of Mexican white heroin is being seized in the Midwest and Southwest, it is now being found in large quantities in Florida alongside South American made white heroin, the DEA report states.

"The suspected production of white powder heroin in Mexico is important because it indicates that Mexican traffickers are positioning themselves to take even greater control of the US heroin market," the DEA report reads. "It also indicates that Mexican traffickers may rely less on relationships with South American heroin sources-of-supply, primarily in Colombia, in the future."

The feds say Diaz-Fernandez is a Mexican drug trafficker who was looking to capture his share of the market. This past March, a task-force aimed at reducing violent drug-related crimes in south Florida began surveillance on Sean Watkins, a 43-year-old convicted felon from Miami who was selling multiple ounces of smack to other dealers in his hometown, as well as in Fort Meyers, Orlando, and Huntsville, Alabama, according to the factual proffer.

The court document states that Watkins agreed to purchase multiple kilograms of heroin from Diaz-Fernandez (and his Mexican associates) for $65,000 each. On August 26, investigators tailed Watkins as he made the nine-hour trek from Miami to Norcross, where he twice visited the apartment at Sunrise Village Lane. The feds also claim Watkins had other Mexican heroin suppliers in his rolodex.

"One such supplier, Francisco Quezada, regularly received wire transfers from Watkins and Watkins' associates as payment for past narcotics sales," the factual proffer states. "Quezada communicated with Watkins from inside a Mexican prison."

The investigation culminated on January 28, when prosecutors indicted Watkins, Diaz-Fernandez, Quezada, Silverio, and Barragan-Velez on heroin trafficking and conspiracy charges. At a press conference, Wifredo Ferrer, US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, hailed the bust, along with the announcement of four other separate, unrelated indictments, as a major victory in the drug war.

"Today, we have cast a wide net in our ongoing efforts to prosecute the violent offenders, narcotics traffickers and convicted felons who continue to prey on our local communities," Ferrer said in a prepared statement. "Our innovative investigative techniques continue to support the identification and apprehension of those who violate the law."

But Hall and Schmidt believe heroin and fentanyl is still flowing into Florida. "I don't think it will make much of a dent," Schmidt says. "It will be a couple of days of addicts going through a little sickness until they find a new source."

Follow Francisco Alvarado on Twitter.


Bun B's New Hampshire Primary Dispatch, Part 3: Partying with the GOP's 'Prince of Hope and Light'

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The hotel lobby is abuzz Tuesday morning, with a dozen or so folks milling around, working on laptops and cell phones. It's the most people I've seen here at one time all week. Some of them are with the Jeb Bush campaign, which is based out of our hotel, and the Washington Post has set up a temporary bureau in one of the hotel conference rooms for primary night. But it turns out that most of the lobby crew is down with John Kasich, the self-proclaimed "Prince of Light and Hope." Yeah. Let that shit marinate for a minute. There's been some dope-ass names coming out of 2016—it's starting to feel like mix show power summit.

Kasich woke up in a three-way tie with Ted Cruz and Donald Trump for New Hampshire's midnight votes, which is a pretty nice turnaround from Iowa, where the Ohio governor came away with less than 2 percent. I, on the other hand, am performing my morning ritual of trying to find somewhere to smoke weed in the snow without getting caught. Smoking in the car isn't an option because basically every road and driveway is blocked by police and state troopers. Neither is my hotel room, which is five doors down from South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, and anyway, Secret Service advance teams hop out of black Escalades at any given moment around this bitch. My safe spot is a corner in the back of the hotel, behind the indoor pool area. It's out of view of the lobby, and most of the rooms. And besides, who thinks to bring swim trunks to New Hampshire in January? I smoke one, chow down on some Chinese food I'll no doubt regret later, and then get ready to load up and roll out.

I come off the elevator and walk directly into Jeb!, who's doing an interview in the lobby hallway. I'm like six inches away from him, and the first thing I notice is how tall he is. I'm pretty sure Bush is bigger than Trump, and he's in much better shape than he used to be, so I'm not sure why he lets Donald punk him so easily.

It's Primary Day, and "Fade Away" by Logic plays as we pull into our first polling center, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Concord in Ward 4. It's pretty low-key. Only one news crew is on site, and just thee campaign volunteers are outside. A Ted Cruz supporter in a black beret, who probably has at least a dozen cats at home, is marking down out-of-state license plates and reporting them, to make sure no one's voting who shouldn't be. When I tell her I'm with VICE, she responds, "Like the sin?" The Democratic campaign workers are a little deeper; one of the Sanders guys tells me—in the best New England accent I've heard all week—that he suspects it's because the Republican volunteers in the area are a little naive. But everything the dude says after that makes him seem just weird as the cat lady, so it's time to roll.

The next polling place we stop by is at the Green Street Community Center in Concord's Ward 5. At least five news crews are here, as well as quite possibly the only person in the state of New Hampshire wearing Mardi Gras beads and celebrating Fat Tuesday. It's also like six degrees colder for some reason. A volunteer with the Kasich campaign is walking around, giving Atomic Fireballs and toe warmers to people. A Fireball shot would be better in this weather, but I'll take it. Another thing I notice is that people in Ward 5 have big, beautiful dogs. I see a gorgeous Great Pyrenees, a Staffordshire bull terrier, and a Goldendoodle puppy that, at ten-months-old, is twice the size of a Shetland pony. All of the volunteers are engaging in small talk with one another, except for those with the Trump campaign. Typical.

It's slow boogie out here so we head to Ward 10, stopping on the way to talk with a Brit from Brooklyn who's selling handmade Bernie Sanders T-shirts. As of Tuesday morning, Ward 10 has the largest registered voter base of any of the city's districts, at about 3,500, according to Jae Whitelaw, who's moderating voting at the Mill Brook School polling place. Let me just say, by the way, that the Mill Brook School looks like a set of condos designed by Disney. She walks us around the gymnasium with the other observers, and gives us a very thorough, step-by-step rundown of the voting process here in New Hampshire. It takes a minute, but she's delightful, so it's all good. We observe the observers observing for a few, and then chunk them the deuce.

Time is starting to work against us, but we make a final push to the Beaver Meadow Golf Course, where there's another polling center in the club house. I assume that a golf course in New Hampshire would be beautiful, and I assumed right. Untouched rolling hills of snow for as far as the eye can see—it's postcard shit. Inside, the 19th Hole restaurant is serving Louisiana-style chicken-and-vegetable soup. Technically, it may be gumbo, but apparently they're not allowed to call it that this far away from New Orleans. At this point, I've seen what I need to see, and I don't wanna have to hear the whole voting thing again, so it's time to get out of this goddamn cold and wait for the election returns to come in.

We switch up our swag and get ready to hit a few of the functions being put on by the campaigns this evening. But as we load the ride and pull off, we immediately feel the car dragging hard. I'm sure it's a flat. I get out and there's no air in the one tire at all. That bitch is on the ground. But if a trill one like me always stays down like four flat tires then do you think one flat tire can stop me? GTFOH. There's always a back up plan. We grab a cab and make our way to Jeb Bush's party.

On the way, the driver, Andy, asks if it's going to be a party or a funeral. Good one, Andy. When we tell him about the flat tire, he suggests it was probably Trump supporters. That had been my first thought, too, and it sounds like it wouldn't have been their first rodeo. Then Andy tells a story about seeing MC Hammer and Donald Trump together once. It doesn't quite live up to the picture in my head, but it's funny enough. I'd retell it, but without his local accent, it wouldn't hold up.

We talk politics the whole way over, and like everyone else I've met in New Hampshire, Andy is super informed. That's been an amazing thing about this state—people here are excited about being part of the democratic process, and they're not afraid of voicing an opinion. Plus, almost everyone seems to have a stake in the race.

After driving in circles for a while, we finally pull up to Manchester Community College, where Jeb is having his "party," for lack of a better word. Because this ain't a party—it's a press junket in a gym with mini hot dogs and a poor excuse for a nacho station. Nobody seems particularly happy to be here. Writers are rushing to meet filing deadlines, and cameramen are jockeying for the best possible angle, but it's all work and no play here. Most of the polls have closed in New Hampshire, and any hope the Bush camp had of coming in second, or even third, are fading away fast. The only smile I see in the whole place is a forced one from a female reporter taking a selfie.

We had originally planned to go to the Trump party, but at the last minute, his campaign denied our request for credentials. VICE's politics editor, Grace, went over there to see what the problem was, only to be escorted out of the building. This dude Trump is like a bloated Linus-haired version of Kylo Ren, longing for the old days when men like Darth Vader and Mussolini ran shit. As much as I wanted to witness his fuckery firsthand, I hate letting that kind of energy into my life. Shit's been way suspect ever since last night.

Almost immediately after the polls close, the networks start projecting that Trump will win the Republican race, and that Sanders will beat Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side. Jeb is currently trailing Trump by 20-plus points, and Kasich is pulling into second place. At this point, the reporters at the Bush party run back to their laptops, and staffers start typing updates into their smartphones. CNN is reporting live here, and for the first time, there's some energy in the room, though it's short-lived. As soon as the network cuts back to Wolf Blitzer, the crowd here sits back down and everyone goes back to wishing they were somewhere else.

We've planned on closing the night at the Kasich party, at the Courtyard Marriott in Concord. I stop at the bar and grab a quick sip of Grey Goose and cranberry on the way to the conference room, and then enter to chants worthy of a homecoming pep rally. After more than an hour of this, Kasich finally enters, flanked by his wife and former New Hampshire Senator John Sununu. It's a good night for Kasich, who's spent more time in this state than any other Republican candidate this cycle. As he tells the crowd, "We may have lost the state to Trump—but we beat him in Dixville Notch!"

Kasich is clearly selling himself to Republicans as the guy who isn't Trump. His speech is all about how hard his campaign has struggled for tonight's second place win, and how many attack ads his opponents ran against him, while he refused to play their games. "Maybe, just maybe," he says, "we're turning the page on the dark part of American politics because tonight the light overcame the darkness of negative campaigning." It's the message his supporters were waiting to hear, and they erupt into applause.

When Kasich starts getting into Americans being American, talking about bringing America back to its former glory, he loses me. That, to me, still sounds like coded language. But his point about helping our neighbors and fellow man resonates, as it should. Politics sometimes forces us to forge allegiances to movements that we don't always align with fully. But humans are complex creatures—no one is straight conservative or straight liberal, and we agree on more, at a human level, than most of us like to admit. Most of the people in this room—and in rooms like this all over New Hampshire—are good people who generally care about their fellow man. It's defining who those fellow men that seems to be the point of contention.

At the end of the day, North by Northeast may be the worst festival in history, but the experience has still been eye-opening, and I'm leaving with a deeper understanding of how the country works on a political level. I initially thought being here would make me disenfranchised from the process, but it's made me more engaged than ever. So thanks to VICE for believing in an MC from Port Arthur, Texas, enough to send him untested into the storm. I'm gonna get back to my day job now, but don't be surprised if I'm back. Soon. This has been the Trill OG signing off from the New Hampshire primaries. UGK 4 Life!

Follow Bun B on Twitter.

Photos of Greek Conspiracy Theorists Protesting Their New ID Cards

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This article originally appeared on VICE Greece

If the streets of central Athens could speak, this Sunday they'd have been mumbling, "Leave us alone, for fuck's sake."

It's February 2016, and demonstrations take place in downtown Athens every single day. Doctors, farmers, lawyers, civil servants, even policemen—everyone is demonstrating against an overhaul of the country's pension system demanded by international lenders and imposed by the local left-wing government.

Everyone, except the 4,000 people who turned up at Athens's Propylaia earlier this week. These guys were protesting the new Greek ID cards, which will come with a microchip carrying the holder's NI number. But as it turns out, microchips and NI numbers are instruments of the devil—at least according to the country's Christian Orthodox fanatics, conspiracy theorists, and thriving far-right community. So those brave few got together to protest in the city center, holding religious icons and Greek flags.

I decided I should try to talk to a few of them. The first person I approached—a tall nervous man in his 40s named Anthony—told me that if we tolerate microchips in our ID cards, in a few years Greeks will need chips implanted under their skin in order to get into supermarkets. The second—a lady from the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, who was attending the demo with her husband and her son—took time out of her day to explain to me why all journalists are slaves to Satan. A third gave me an impassioned speech about how the New World Order will soon demand that we all type our phone numbers into cash machines if we want to get any money out, which isn't that scary.

In short, it all felt as if a few thousand YouTube comments had suddenly come to life and decided to take a stroll around Athens on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

See for yourself in the photos below.

The New ‘Hitman’ Game May Prove to Be the Pinnacle of the Series

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I sprint the final 20 meters to the car. Somehow, I've managed to escape this Russian military base—in Cuba, not anywhere closer to Moscow. Any guard I encounter, I neutralize using the incredibly subtle tool of a hammer. The game assures me it's non-lethal. Sure, a fractured skull almost certainly poses zero risk to anyone's life. At least, this is what I've been telling myself each time I've lured an enemy down a dark corridor for a thump to the temple.

"That was funny, but you'll never get away with it in Paris," smirks one of the Square Enix staff walking around the Hitman preview event I'm attending. Their steady patrolling makes them seem like guards of a different sort. Guards I shouldn't whack with a hammer.

But I'm delaying on answering the big question here, hanging above the heads of every Hitman fan: Does this new entry in IO Interactive's long-running stealth-murder series feel anything like the beloved Hitman: Blood Money of 2006? Or, at least, not so much like the maligned Hitman: Absolution that came out six years later and is, iOS titles aside, the immediate predecessor to this forthcoming entry?

'Hitman,' beta launch trailer

The answer is that Hitman, 2016 version, is somewhere between the two points, but a lot closer to Blood Money than Absolution. It features the next-gen polish that we saw in Absolution, while the large levels filled with flexible opportunities for sneaky kills return from Blood Money, albeit with a whole lot more non-player characters to interact with. The three areas I explore are thriving with life, some of which to talk to, some of which to take away. The two-part tutorial begins with a boat party before our quiet protagonist, Agent 47, finds himself at the aforementioned base. Later, the first mission proper turns you loose at a Parisian fashion show, complete with dodgy meetings going on in secret rooms.

Each area is teeming with hostiles, weapons to improvise, opportunities for kills—and potential witnesses. And if they see so much as the slightest shadow of your misdeeds, you'll need to take care of them. Suffice to say that while learning the art of the hit, I had to stuff a dozen or so bodies into a side room before stalking off into the night, whistling a jaunty tune, and wearing the clothes of the last guard I killed. Who was, conveniently and just like every other male in the game, exactly my size.

The gunplay in Hitman feels fine—an armed Agent 47 is more than a match for a room full of guards, which makes total sense considering you're a genetically engineered killing machine. But fighting in this fashion is only ever a war of attrition. There's only one of you, and every round chips away at 47's health. There are, however, absolutely loads of them. However many guards you drop with a headshot, they will just keep coming.

The Hitman games have always been tough: Pulling off the perfect hit takes plenty of practice, nerves of steel, and often a little bit of luck. But that final factor's always been a big part of the series' charm. It makes those flawless assassinations feel all the better, like fate was as much on your side as thorough preparation.

Everything gels immediately in the new Hitman. The tutorial shows you Agent 47's training montage within the International Contract Agency (ICA), and the shadowy assassination broker who he works for/against through the series. Within seconds you choke out a poor crew member near the party boat and slip into his outfit. "We've not seen anything like that before," remarks Diana Burnwood, 47's long-term handler. I guess 47's been into role-play since before he joined ICA.

The boat feels claustrophobic and tense, but it's a perfect location to show off the way playing dress up works in 2016. Disguises have always been an awkward element of the Hitman series, hard to introduce into any stage while ensuring they make enough thematic sense. There's no risk of dissonance this time, though: Wearing the uniform of a guard gives 47 his privileges, unless you run into one of that (now, at least, incapacitated) guard's closest work colleagues, or the security supervisor, who knows his entire team personally. And this will probably happen—the crew of the target-owned boat is small, each guard knowing the next, so it's vital not to linger too long in anyone's sight.

Article continues after the video below

Reated: Watch VICE's film exploring life inside Japan's aging biker gangs

You can avoid suspicion by keeping your distance from other guards. Get your head down if they're passing nearby. Wipe down a table; look like you're supposed to be there. It's a constant challenge—just putting on someone else's clothes isn't enough to prevent detection in Hitman. You have to act the part, too.

The second part of the tutorial sees you throw down with the Russian military. While I pick up a hammer for the blunt approach, the journalist playing next to me manages a hit with perfect stealth, slipping in and out of the hot zone like a whisper.

Little did I know, slyly watching his silent entry to the facility, that he had a master plan. The second tutorial—in addition to introducing enemies with some firepower on their side—is all about the game's opportunities system, a new addition for 2016. Overhearing two guards discussing the fighter jet that'll be used to fly out the Soviet spy you're here to assassinate gives you an inventive new way to take down the mole. With a bit of prodding, and a lot of sneaking, you can sabotage the jet's ejector seat and splatter your target when it triggers prematurely.

These sorts of kills have long been a hallmark of the Hitman series, with perhaps the most infamous being the switching of a prop gun for the real deal during Blood Money's "Curtains Down" opera level. The difference here is that several of them are available in any single scenario. Talking about too many of them would ruin the surprise, but when you move into Paris, there are a number of options open to particularly creative players. You might, for example, want to note that Agent 47 is the spitting image of a world-famous supermodel rumored to be walking the catwalk at today's fashion show.

There is a wealth of positives to embrace about the new Hitman. But with the base game—the tutorials and Paris, with further missions available episodically—being released just weeks away from the time of writing, on March 11, I have some concerns. During my preview session with Hitman, it crashed ten times in three hours. The beta, which starts on February 12, might allay performance fears—hopefully, what I played was a version several tweaks ahead of what the public is about to get its hands on. Perhaps more pertinently, there's the question of longevity: Is there enough to do in this game? Will one level proper be enough to keep people content until the next batch of missions becomes available? Square Enix is gambling on yes—and the inclusion of a few extra modes might be reason enough to back its corner.

New on Munchies: Snakes on a Plate

The Contracts mode from Absolution returns for 2016's Hitman. Square Enix has revealed that 30 million contracts have been played to date on Absolution, so they're bringing it back. The basic structure hasn't changed: Carry out a hit and then upload your efforts so that online friends and strangers alike can either replicate them or, better yet, improve upon your best. What's different is the scope of the mode—300 "fully simulated" NPCs populate each Contract stage, all of which have their individual routines, ready to either interrupt your progress or become an essential cog of it. Either way, horrible, horrible murder is the likely result.

Escalation contracts are included, too. These are similar to the Contracts missions, but they're hand designed by the team at IO Interactive. They slowly escalate in difficulty by adding more and more problems to the mix every time you beat a scenario. This led to running someone down in the middle of a hall with an ancient cavalry saber, so expect similarly ridiculous antics when you play the game yourself.

Finally, there are the Elusive Targets challenges. This is what I'm most excited by—time-limited targets who will come online for just a few hours, in real time, with players getting just one chance to take them down. If you kill them, they're dead, obviously; but if they escape, that's it. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression, as they say. And finding these targets is going to be tricky—each has his or her own backstory, but the player will receive just a few cryptic clues on how to find him or her. Players will be skulking around looking for hints and listening to conversations if they want to find the target, and I can see this mode appealing massively to Hitman perfectionists.

At its best, Hitman 2016 is the pinnacle of what any game in this series should be. It's incredibly polished, and when everything clicks into place, and you strike down your target having laid out the most incredible plot ahead of that moment, it's just so much fun. But its drip-fed digital release model is a risk, and its pricing a little confusing—you get access to everything for your standard $60, but breaking the full game down into its components can see that price rise, and it's actually marginally cheaper to buy further episodes individually than as an "upgrade pack" complete bunch of five. A disc version including (presumably) everything won't come out until much later in 2016.

I'm not wholly convinced that the loyal Hitman audience of old will be up for playing the new game piecemeal, but the beta is likely to separate those who are ready to go right now from others who'll wait for the physical package. I'll be playing the beta at home, I know that much, and if the idea of getting away with murder appeals to you, I recommend you do the same.

Hitman is released on March 11, with its beta beginning on February 12—check the game's official website for more information.

Follow Jake on Twitter.

The VICE Guide to the 2016 Election: How the Republican Candidates' New Hampshire Predictions Got It Wrong

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Over the weekend in New Hampshire, I heard Republicans say a lot of different things.

In a school cafeteria in Londonderry, Marco Rubio said Barack Obama was fundamentally changing our country, and that we never see "boatloads of American refugees" washing up on other countries' shores—evidence of our greatness. In a school auditorium in Bedford, Jeb Bush defended his brother's legacy, and said Donald Trump needed "therapy." And, to a packed audience in the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, Trump indirectly called Ted Cruz a pussy.

All those speeches eventually came around to the same point: Whoever was talking needed to win the "first in the nation" primary here on Tuesday, both to save America from the Democrats and because their political lives kinda depended on it. Every candidate was projecting confidence—though Trump, the eventual winner, held a "yuuge" lead in the polls, second place was up for grabs, and third, and fourth, and so on.

Read Bun B's latest dispatch from New Hampshire

But though everyone was busy making promises about how well they'd do in the primary vote, the actual primary vote proved almost all of them wrong. Here's a look at how the candidates and their campaigns said they'd do, and how those promises panned out.

John Kasich

What He Said: Kasich can come off as an affectionately daddish figure, the moderate grown-up in a field full of war-mongering toddlers. "Look, I have trouble with Republicans, too," he told folks in Plainstow. "I have to talk to them seriously about stuff. It's not always easy." The no-frills dude was banking on a strong showing New Hampshire to prove that his message of balanced budgets and working to get things done actually appeals to people.

What Actually Happened: Kasich proudly told voters and reporters that, by Tuesday, he had done 106 town halls—a grueling ground game that introduced the candidate to a state that barely knew him a few months ago. And it looks like grassroots campaigning like that can still work: Kasich finished in second in New Hampshire, with nearly 16 percent. The "happy warrior," as he's been called, won this battle, almost guaranteeing that this race will drag on to the Republican National Conventionin July.

Ted Cruz

What He Said: Cruz won a big victory in Iowa, but New Hampshire is unfamiliar territory for him. The Granite State is more secular than the Bible Belt, more "Live Free or Die" libertarian than socially conservative. As a result, Cruz has sort of slipped from everyone's minds these past few days. The voters I spoke with rarely mentioned him, and his quiet debate performance seemed to reflect that. Cruz told people it was a "turnout game" at this point, but it wasn't clear how many New Hampshire Cruz fans there were to turn out.

What Actually Happened: People turned out all right, but not for Cruz—the Texas senator barely beat out Jeb for a third-place finish. The religious right's choice for the White House didn't find fertile ground here, and whether Cruz can replicate his Iowa result anywhere else remains to be seen.

The crowd at Chris Christie's primary night party. All photos by Jason Bergman

Jeb! Bush

What He Said: As I reported earlier this weekend, New Hampshire could have either resurrected Bush's flagging campaign, or killed it for good. In his town halls, the candidate did not obsess over polls, but, in the background, his campaign handed out "Jeb on the Rise" leaflets, showing supporters how much his numbers had improved. Jeb barely ever mentioned his chances. He just told the crowds how much he loved their state—how its residents could "change the course of anything"—and hoped they returned the affection on Tuesday.

What Actually Happened: Smiling and sure, Jeb delivered the line he's been dying to say on Tuesday night: "You've reset the race." In other words, after pulling a fourth-place finish behind Ted Cruz, but more importantly in front of Marco Rubio, the Bush scion has mustered up enough support to convince himself, and his donors, that he's not done quite yet.

Marco Rubio

What He Said: In the days after Iowa, Rubio was on a roll. He surprisingly finished in third, nearly beating out Trump, and almost instantly became the favored son of those Republicans who were scared shitless of a Trump-Cruz shootout. That all changed Saturday night, though: After his stuttering performance at the debate in Manchester, he was the butt of everyone's jokes the next morning; a man in a robot suit even showed up outside of his pancake breakfast event in Londonderry to mock the mechanical way the candidate repeated the same soundbite nearly word-for-word at the debate.

At his rallies, Rubio would hang signs that read "New Hampshire is Marco Rubio Country." But you got the sense he was just hoping everyone would forget his bad debate performance.

What Actually Happened: The Rubio saga was, by far, the biggest upset on Tuesday night. He finished in fifth place, a far cry from his strong Iowa showing. He will now likely face an uphill struggle in the next few states, as he desperately tries to recover from his malfunctions. In his post-primary speech, he even apologized to his supporters for his debate mistakes; it's clear he badly needs a reboot.

Chris Christie at his primary night event

Chris Christie

What He Said: Christie should have been right at home in New Hampshire, as a Republican governor of a nearby Democratic state who is a bit more moderate than his rivals on social issues. Logically, Christie should find support among New Hampshire's center-right, anti-Washington independents who would otherwise vote Democrat. And that's why he spent more time here than in the state he governs for a living. Although his poll numbers didn't show it, that's the line his campaign had been telling the media.

What Actually Happened: Turns out, nope. Christie didn't crack 10 percent, finished in sixth, and is now headed back to New Jersey to "regroup." Everyone is more or less expecting him to end his campaign now before he suffers another inevitable bad loss in South Carolina.

Ben Carson

What He Said: At the Trump rally the other night, another reporter asked me if the famed neurosurgeon had any events in New Hampshire: "Is he even campaigning here still?" As a matter of fact, he was, though if you weren't actively seeking out Carson stops, you probably wouldn't know that. His roadside signs were few and far between, and his debate performance on Saturday night was best remembered for his botched entrance. No one expected him to do well in New Hampshire, but he'll continue on at least until South Carolina regardless.

What Actually Happened: Before polls even closed in New Hampshire, it was reported that Carson would skip the whole watch party thing and head to South Carolina. That was probably smart: By the end of the night, Carson had finished in last place (not counting Jim Gilmore, because who ever does?). It doesn't seem as if he'll recover much ground in the next few primaries, either.

Carly Fiorina

What She Said: In a New Hampshire ad during the Super Bowl on Sunday, the former CEO HP's voice can be heard saying, "Join with me. Fight with me. Vote for me. It's time to take our country back." That sounds good and everything, but this photo of a woman eating her breakfast while Fiorina strolls through a diner in Manchester is the best symbol of her fledgling campaign here.

What Actually Happened: By Tuesday evening, it was clear the Fiorina train was losing what little steam it had. A sign-waving event on Manchester's busiest street earlier drew little press besides myself. And while her watch party was upbeat, her speech at the end of the night conveniently left out the fact of her seventh-place showing. She told the crowd at a country club in Manchester that New Hampshire "gave us wind at our back," but where it'll take her is really anyone's guess. As one supporter told me, "We're not gonna give up." But maybe they should?

Donald Trump

What He Said: After his second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, the Donald arrived in New Hampshire with an uncharacteristically modest tone (even though he still doesn't think he lost). When I saw him at his pro-wrestling rally the night before the primaries, he told the crowds that he didn't care about his "amazing" poll numbers, and that they had to vote. He said the same thing earlier that day in Salem. Trump has seemingly gone from boasting about winning to really, really trying to win.

What Actually Happened: Well, he won. For now, at least, Trump's predictions are coming true, and everyone else's are pretty much useless.

Follow John Surico on Twitter.

We Used Video Games to Predict the Next President of the United States

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A screenshot from 'Political Machine 2016,' via YouTube

Sometimes, it feels like video games can predict the future. Electronic Arts' Madden NFL series has a pretty good track record when it comes to selecting Super Bowl winners. Back in 1992, Randy Chase's strategy game Power Politics made Associated Press headlines when it correctly predicted that Bill Clinton would be the next president of the United States.

Power Politics wasn't the first presidential election simulator—that's probably 1981's President Electbut it was the most advanced, and early 1990s political analysts were impressed by the game's depth and attention to detail. Power Politics has proved remarkably robust, too. Twenty-four years after the game debuted, presidential simulators still follow Power Politics's basic template. The candidates may have changed, but the rules remain largely the same.

Election simulators turn the presidential election into turn-based strategy games, giving armchair campaign managers the chance to guide their favorite candidates to victory. Usually, every candidate acts simultaneously, and players must anticipate their opponents' next moves while also juggling their limited resources. There's a time limit, too. Players need to sway as many voters to their side as possible before Election Day, when the computer tallies up the electoral votes and declares a winner.

A screenshot from 'President Infinity,' played in 2015, via YouTube

Not every election game is created equal, of course. For example, only one of this year's major election simulators, President Infinity, includes the crucial primary elections. Spiritually, President Infinity is Power Politics' closest successor, offering a complicated and thorough simulation with all the visual panache of an Excel spreadsheet. In some ways, President Infinity offers too much detail: You'll have to plan your travel itinerary, schedule speeches, prepare for debates, and manage your advertisements. Everything costs money, so you'll need to fundraise to stay competitive. You also need to manage an in-game currency called "political capital," which can be used to buy surrogates who will campaign on your behalf as well as important third-party endorsements.

A screenshot from 1992's 'Power Politics,' via YouTube

None of these actions affect voters directly. Instead, everything you and your opponents do changes candidates' momentum. When momentum's high, you'll win supporters. When it's low, you'll lose them. You can change your opponents' momentum by attacking them in ads or during public appearances, but if your campaign is too negative, that can backfire. On top of all of this, your candidate has a stamina meter. When that runs out, you'll need to let them rest.

That's a lot to pay attention to. Thankfully, there's also a way to make President Infinity play itself. Simply choose a candidate with very little money and no name value—someone without a Wikipedia page is a safe option—and don't take any actions during your turn. The CPU-controlled frontrunners will duke it out amongst themselves, leaving you free to watch the action.

On the Democrats' side, President Infinity's primaries don't get too interesting. Over the course of the 11 simulations I ran, Hillary Clinton only lost the nomination twice—to Vice President Joe Biden, who's not running in real life. Sorry, Bernie fans: Despite his New Hampshire success, according to President Infinity, Sanders doesn't stand a chance.

Article continues after the video below

Related: Watch VICE's new short film, 'Confessions of an Internet Troll'

With the Republicans, it's a different story. In most President Infinity runs, Donald Trump drops out of the election by late March, thanks to a combination of momentum-killing debate performances, public speaking gaffes, and media scandals. In fact, after ten simulations, the Republican card was caught in a five-way tie: Trump, Rubio, Cruz, Carly Fiorina, and Jeb Bush all scored two nominations. It took a tie-breaking 11th run to crown Marco Rubio the Republican candidate for President of the United States, and even then, Fiorina gave him a run for his money.

In the ensuing Clinton versus Rubio battle, President Infinity predicts a Rubio win three out of five times. On one run, Rubio won the popular vote, but Clinton walked away with the presidency. In two others, Election Day polls predicted a Clinton victory, only for Rubio to emerge the winner (as in real life, President Infinity's polling isn't entirely accurate). It's going to be a close race, but according to President Infinity, Marco Rubio will be America's next president.

The Political Machine 2016, another election simulator, disagrees. The Political Machine is simpler and more polished than President Infinity. The Political Machine has a friendly, responsive user interface, and players' actions—delivering speeches, deploying advertisements, and building regional campaign headquarters—have a direct effect on states' electorates. There's none of this "momentum" stuff. Your actions either win voters or they don't.

A screenshot from 'The Political Machine 2016,' via YouTube

The Political Machine is also the only election game that asks players to take a stand on the issues. In most games, President Infinity included, you can choose the topics of your speeches, but you don't actually choose a position. In The Political Machine, you'll need to advocate policy that both appeals to undecided voters and also won't piss off your own party. That's not as easy as it sounds.

In six different games of The Political Machine, Clinton won the White House four times—twice when I controlled her, and twice when I managed Rubio. That makes sense: In The Political Machine, the deck is stacked in Clinton's favor from the beginning. Clinton has higher stamina and fundraising ratings than Rubio and starts the game with more money. Basically, Clinton can get stuff done faster and more efficiently. That's a big advantage in The Political Machine—and not a bad quality for a president, either.

That's one game for Rubio, and one for Clinton. So can the mobile titleCampaign Manager break the deadlock? As it turns out, not really. Campaign Manager only lets players take a few actions: You can create advertisements, mount a ground campaign, and hire volunteers. That's it. There's just one currency, money, which is replenished by tapping on dollar signs that appear during the game. Both candidates start with the same amount of cash in the bank, and nobody has an advantage.

Campaign Manager is too simple to use as a predictive tool—generally, whoever the player is controlling wins. But by stripping an election simulator down to its base components, Campaign Manager reveals a common philosophy that all these games share. In election games, the presidential race isn't a clash of ideologies or personalities. It's a contest to see who can manage their resources most effectively. What a candidate says doesn't matter as much as how and when they say it. Votes aren't earned. They're bought and sold.

In other words, when it comes to who's really going to win the White House later this year, video games provide us with only one clear answer: whoever is willing to pay the most for it.

Follow Christopher on Twitter.

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