David Fizdale’s ESPN gig—will he ever coach again?
How should the league handle dirty plays and players like Zaza Pachulia?
Can the Thunder actually beat the Warriors in a playoff series? (Spoiler: probably not)
The Grizzlies and Suns’ Wednesday night game with both teams coming off double-digit losing streaks
The Beyond the Arc podcast is available on iTunes, so you can subscribe there! It’d be great if you could rate and review the show while you’re there. You can also find and listen to the show on Stitcher and on PlayerFM.
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The results are in, and a newcomer has advanced to the final round of our Beer Bracket Challenge presented by Aldo’s Pizza Pies! In the final matchup of the whole dang bracket, Meddlesome 201 Hoplar faces off against Wiseacre’s Astronaut Status. Vote now for your favorite and help us crown a champion!
Twelve-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, died in 1982 after taking extra-strength Tylenol. Adam Janus, 27, a postal worker in another Chicago suburb, died the same day. Janus’s brother and sister-in-law both died from cyanide poisoning within the next few days. All three had taken pills from the same Tylenol bottle. Three other poisoning deaths in the area were found to be linked to the over-the-counter pain reliever. Around 31 million bottles were pulled from shelves in supermarkets and drugstores all over the country as a precaution.
Working with authorities, Johnson & Johnson determined that the cyanide lacing had occurred after the pills left the factory. Some deranged Illinoisan apparently had taken bottles of Tylenol from store shelves, tainted them with potassium cyanide, and replaced them without being noticed. Johnson & Johnson developed the tamper-evident child-proof packaging that makes us cuss and flail when we’re feeling weak. Congress passed and then-President Ronald Reagan signed the Federal Anti-Tampering Act in 1983.
When seven people died, a corporation in an industry with massive lobbying power put public safety over profit. The recall and subsequent relaunch cost Johnson & Johnson $100 million — all because one person did something sinister with their product.
Seven-year-old Michelle Snow didn’t see the lawn dart sail over the fence before it impaled her skull. Her nine-year-old brother and some friends were playing in the backyard, where one of the boys overthrew the “Jart” that killed her in 1987. Lawn darts had been banned in the mid-1970s, after countless injuries to children, but the game’s manufacturers had negotiated a compromise with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Under their terms, lawn darts could be sold with a warning label that they were for adults only. They couldn’t be sold in toy stores or near toy departments. Michelle’s grieving father lobbied to have lawn darts removed from stores and banned from further sale.
Wisconsinart | Dreamstime.com
Free to fear
One child died, and 30 years later we wonder who thought throwing steel-tipped projectiles in the grass sounded like a fun time. Because a tepid warning label couldn’t keep a deadly game out of the wrong hands.
Pseudoephedrine is the active ingredient in over-the-counter sinus medications, the stuff that just dries you right up when you have a cold. It also can be used as a chemical precursor in manufacturing meth. The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 regulated sales of products containing pseudoephedrine. Retailers are required to keep the products behind the pharmacy counter or in a locked cabinet, and they must maintain a retrievable record of pseudoephedrine buyers for two years. If Memphis allergies are ruining your life (unlikely, I know) and you need Claritin-D, you have to show a verified proof of identity.
Some people use products for uses other than the ones intended, so the rest of us have to submit our names to a registry when we buy decongestant.
Such is the cost of freedom. Some rights supercede others, so we compromise a little for the good of society. One person’s individual liberty to puff cigarettes ends at another’s right to breathe clean air, so cities restricted smoking in public places. A motor vehicle is a dangerous machine, so in order to enjoy the freedom to traverse public roads, a driver must demonstrate the ability to operate one, show the capacity to follow automotive laws, and must prove financial responsibility in case of an accident. These demands are not unreasonable.
Twelve moviegoers, 20 elementary schoolers and six of their teachers, 14 public health-care center employees, 49 nightclub revelers, 58 concert attendees, 26 parishioners, 17 high school students and teachers — and counting — have fallen to AR-15 gunfire since the assault weapons ban expired in 2004. Hundreds more have been injured. Each time, Congress has responded swiftly with thoughts and prayers. Gun manufacturers shrugged and quietly rejoiced. Their products worked exactly as advertised. The ability to enter a crowded place and quickly fill it with bullets and bodies is a feature, not a bug. Sales spiked as their loyal customers stocked up, fearing this would be the incident that sparked meaningful action. How long could a just society allow the bloodshed to continue unchecked?
Some rights supercede others. As it stands now, everyone’s right to feel safe in public ends at another person’s right to own and access a killing machine. That’s who we are now.
Jen Clarke is a digital marketing specialist and an unapologetic Memphian.
A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear a case that ruled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program unlawful is a small victory for local DACA recipients.
After President Donald Trump’s administration announced the end of DACA, an Obama-era program that provides protection for about 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children, two lower courts blocked the government from ending it.
Trump’s administration went directly to the Supreme Court to try to get those rulings overturned, skipping a federal court of appeals. The high court ruled Monday that an appeals court should hear the case first. This means DACA won’t be rescinded by Trump’s stated deadline of March 5.
However, Gina John, advocacy coordinator at Latino Memphis, said the fight isn’t over.
“There is still no permanent protections for DACA recipients and without it, the same patterns of traumatizing young people with the threat of deportation will continue,” John said. “This decision is a step in the right direction but finding a legislative solution is the end goal.”
When Trump’s administration announced the end of the program in September, he gave Congress until March to construct new immigration legislation. Now, that date is null and void, and DACA recipients will continue to be protected likely for another year.
Stephanie Teatro, co-executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said the Supreme Court’s decision is only a temporary victory for Tennessee’s 8,400 DACA recipients.
“The court’s decision allows some young immigrants to renew their DACA, for now, but it does not resolve the crisis at hand,” Teatro said. “DACA recipients, their families, and their employees shouldn’t live from deadline to deadline with their futures in limbo.
Fly on the Wall’s always looking to spot new trends in TV reporting and WMC’s recent marriage of food and crime news looks promising.
From this list of headlines we discover two things: It’s national pancake day (who knew?). Also, the International House of Pancakes in Midtown was robbed.
Good news/Bad news
WMC has also alerted Mid-southerners to the activities of a very thirsty burglar who’ll break into your house and steal all your Capri Sun. We bet this fiend would grab your SunnyD too, given half a chance.
For something so bland and innocuous, mayo can inspire very strong opinions. But would it change your opinion of the condiment to find out that it helped defeat the Nazis?
The story is much more complex than that, of course, as you will find out when see Monsieur Mayonnaise tonight at Malco Ridgeway. It’s the final night of the Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival, and they’re teaming up with Indie Memphis to present this story of one artist’s search for the real story of his father’s involvement in the French Resistance during World War II.
Or, if that’s not your speed, there’s always Primal Rage: Bigfoot Reborn at Malco Cordova. Get some of the cryptoid trailer action!
This Week At The Cinema: Mayo and The Oscars (2)
Then on Wednesday at the National Civil Rights Museum, Indie Memphis presents an encore screening of a bloc of 11 short films by Memphis artists created for the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968, including “Arkabutla” by filmmaker Katori Hall.
Spoiler alert: We’ve known Hamilton was going to be part of the Orpheum’s 2018-2019 season for a while now. Now we know the rest of the story — and there are some nice surprises.
From the media release:
‘Hamilton’ is coming! Orpheum Unveils 2018-19 Broadway Season. (8)
LOVE NEVER DIES September 4-9, 2018
This story of boundless love, full of passion and drama, follows Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, one of the most successful musicals of all time, which has now been seen by more than 130 million people worldwide and is the winner of over 50 international awards. The ultimate love story continues in Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s spellbinding sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.
The year is 1907. It is 10 years after his disappearance from the Paris Opera House and The Phantom has escaped to a new life in New York where he lives amongst the screaming joy rides and freak shows of Coney Island. In this new, electrically charged world, he has finally found a place for his music to soar,
but he has never stopped yearning for his one true love and musical protégée, Christine Daaé.
‘Hamilton’ is coming! Orpheum Unveils 2018-19 Broadway Season. (7)
SCHOOL OF ROCK October 9-14, 2018
SCHOOL OF ROCK is a New York Times Critics’ Pick and “AN INSPIRING JOLT OF ENERGY, JOY AND MAD SKILLZ!” (Entertainment Weekly). Based on the hit film, this hilarious new musical follows Dewey Finn, a wannabe rock star posing as a substitute teacher who turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. This high-octane smash features 14 new songs from ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, all the original songs from the movie and musical theater’s first-ever kids rock band playing their instruments live on stage. Vanity Fair raves, “FISTS OF ALL AGES SHALL BE PUMPING!”
‘Hamilton’ is coming! Orpheum Unveils 2018-19 Broadway Season. (6)
LES MISÉRABLES November 27-December 2, 2018 (SEASON OPTION)
Cameron Mackintosh presents the new production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, Les Misérables, direct from an acclaimed two-and-a-half-year return to Broadway. Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an unforgettable story of heartbreak, passion, and the resilience of the human spirit. Featuring the beloved songs “I Dreamed A Dream,” “On My Own,” “Stars,” “Bring Him Home,” “One Day More,” and many more, this epic and uplifting story has become one of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history. With its glorious new staging and dazzlingly reimagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, this breathtaking new production has left both audiences and critics awestruck. “Les Miz is born again!” (NY1).
‘Hamilton’ is coming! Orpheum Unveils 2018-19 Broadway Season. (5)
WAITRESS January 15-20, 2019
“THE WOMEN OF WAITRESS ARE CHANGING BROADWAY!” (Time Magazine). Brought to life by a groundbreaking all-female creative team, this irresistible new hit features original music and lyrics by 6-time Grammy® nominee Sara Bareilles (“Brave,” “Love Song”), a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam), choreography by Lorin Latarro (Les Dangereuse Liasons, Waiting for Godot) and direction by Tony Award® winner Diane Paulus (Hair, Pippin, Finding Neverland). “It’s an empowering musical of the highest order!” raves the Chicago Tribune. Inspired by Adrienne Shelly’s beloved film, WAITRESS tells the story of Jenna – a waitress and expert pie maker, Jenna dreams of a way out of her small town and loveless marriage. A baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s new doctor may offer her a chance at a fresh start, while her fellow waitresses offer their own recipes for happiness. But Jenna must summon the strength and courage to rebuild her own life. “WAITRESS is a little slice of heaven!” says Entertainment Weekly and “a monumental contribution to Broadway!” according to Marie Claire. Don’t miss this uplifting musical celebrating friendship, motherhood, and the magic of a well-made pie. www.WaitressTheMusical.com
‘Hamilton’ is coming! Orpheum Unveils 2018-19 Broadway Season. (4)
ON YOUR FEET! February 12-17, 2019
From their humble beginnings in Cuba, Emilio and Gloria Estefan came to America and broke through all barriers to become a crossover sensation at the very top of the pop music world. But just when they thought they had it all, they almost lost everything. ON YOUR FEET! takes you behind the music and inside the real story of this record-making and groundbreaking couple who, in the face of adversity, found a way to end up on their feet. Directed by two-time Tony Award® winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots), with choreography by Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys) and an original book by Academy Award® winner Alexander Dinelaris (Birdman), ON YOUR FEET! features some of the most iconic songs of the past quarter-century — and one of the most inspiring stories in music
history.
‘Hamilton’ is coming! Orpheum Unveils 2018-19 Broadway Season. (3)
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF March 19-24, 2019 (SEASON OPTION)
“An entirely fresh, funny, and gorgeous new production. A REASON FOR CELEBRATION!” – New York Magazine.
Tony®-winning director Bartlett Sher and the team behind South Pacific, The King and I and 2017 Tony-winning Best Play Oslo, bring a fresh and authentic vision to this beloved theatrical masterpiece from Tony winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. The original production won ten Tony Awards, including a special Tony for becoming the longest-running Broadway musical of all time. You’ll be there when the sun rises on this new production, with stunning movement and dance from acclaimed Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter, based on the original staging by Jerome Robbins. A wonderful cast and a lavish orchestra tell this heartwarming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the timeless traditions that define faith and family. Featuring the Broadway classics “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “To Life,” FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will introduce a new generation to this uplifting celebration that raises its cup to joy! To love! To life!
‘Hamilton’ is coming! Orpheum Unveils 2018-19 Broadway Season. (2)
ANASTASIA June 4-9, 2019
Inspired by the beloved films, the romantic and adventure-filled new musical ANASTASIA is on a journey to Memphis at last! From the Tony Award®-winning creators of the Broadway classic Ragtime, this dazzling show transports us from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past. Pursued by a ruthless Soviet officer determined to silence her, Anya enlists the aid of a dashing conman and a lovable ex-aristocrat. Together, they embark on an epic adventure to help her find home, love, and family. ANASTASIA features a book by celebrated playwright Terrence McNally, a lush new score by Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics) with direction by Tony Award® winner Darko Tresnjak.
‘Hamilton’ is coming! Orpheum Unveils 2018-19 Broadway Season.
HAMILTON July 9-28, 2019
HAMILTON is the story of America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington’s right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation’s first Treasury Secretary. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway, HAMILTON is the story of America then, as told by America now.
Tennessee has joined 20 other states asking a federal court to render the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional and stop it altogether.
Tennessee’s Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced Monday that, without the individual mandate, the law is unconstitutional and he wants to kill it.
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Texas and on it Tennessee joins Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The original ACA carried a mandate that everyone in the United States carry health insurance or face a penalty in the form of an extra tax. Last year, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which repealed the penalty for the individual mandate.
This, Slatery said, is the heart of the argument to kill the ACA.
“The lawsuit filed today explains that in 2012 in NFIB v. Sebelius the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly upheld the core provision of the ACA—the individual mandate—because the Court viewed ACA’s penalty for not complying with the individual mandate as a ‘tax,’ Slatery said in a statement. “But now, with the recent passage of its tax reform package—the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017—Congress has repealed this tax, while leaving the mandate in place.
“Since the Supreme Court has already held that Congress has no authority to impose the individual mandate on Americans without invoking its taxing authority, the repeal of the tax renders the individual mandate unconstitutional. And, since the ACA is dependent on the individual mandate, the ACA itself is now unconstitutional.”
[pullquote-1]
The complain says the ACA “forces an unconstitutional and irrational regime onto the states and their citizens.” The attorneys general also argue that “Congress sought to do something unconstitutional: impose a mandate to obtain health insurance by requiring that most Americans ‘shall’ insure that they are ‘covered under minimum essential coverage.’”
But, as the complaint reads, “things changed on Dec 22. 2017” with the signing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“What remains, then, is the individual mandate, without any accompanying exercise of Congress’s taxing power, which the Supreme Court already held that Congress has no authority to enact,” reads the complaint. “Not only is the individual mandate now unlawful, but this core provision is not severable from the rest of the ACA—as four Justices of the Supreme Court already concluded. In fact, Congress stated in the legislative text that the ACA does not function without the individual mandate.”
FedEx Corp. won’t roll back discounts to the National Rifle Association (NRA) but says its positions on gun policy differ from the gun rights group.
The Memphis issued a statement about its now-controversial NRA discounts Monday, after hours of silence and an avalanche of criticism.
Here’s the company’s statement issued late Monday afternoon from communication advisor Jim Masilak:
FedEx Responds to Questions on the National Rifle Association, Gun Safety and Policy
“FedEx Corporation’s positions on the issues of gun policy and safety differ from those of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
FedEx opposes assault rifles being in the hands of civilians. While we strongly support the constitutional right of U.S. citizens to own firearms subject to appropriate background checks, FedEx views assault rifles and large capacity magazines as an inherent potential danger to schools, workplaces, and communities when such weapons are misused.
We therefore support restricting them to the military. Most important, FedEx believes urgent action is required at the local, state, and Federal level to protect schools and students from incidents such as the horrific tragedy in Florida on February 14th. FedEx Corp.
FedEx is a common carrier under federal law and therefore does not and will not deny service or discriminate against any legal entity regardless of their policy positions or political views.
The NRA is one of hundreds of organizations in our alliances/association marketing program whose members receive discounted rates for FedEx shipping. FedEx has never set or changed rates for any of our millions of customers around the world in response to their politics, beliefs or positions on issues.”
[pullquote-1] FedEx Corp.
The company’s response came after hours of silence on the issue and after many companies had already cut ties with the NRA. That silence led to speculation, ridicule, and a massive online backlash to FedEx.
For example, while the media and social media storm swirled around FedEx, this was the tweet at the top of the company’s feed:
While Fedex sat on the sidelines for so long, the NRA took to the frontlines of Twitter with tweets like these:
Let it be absolutely clear. The loss of a discount will neither scare nor distract one single NRA member from our mission to stand and defend the individual freedoms that have always made America the greatest nation in the world. #StandandFight#NRA#2Ahttps://t.co/4kzNq9GDLq
Wisconsinart | Dreamstime.com 
Orpheum Theatre Group 
FedEx Corp. 
FedEx Corp. 
FedEx Corp.