Month: September 2023

Categories
Film/TV TV Features

Ahsoka

Rosario Dawson plays Star Wars fan favorite Ahsoka Tano.

Ahsoka Tano was the best new Star Wars character introduced during the prequel era of 1999-2013. She was introduced in The Clone Wars animated series as Anakin Skywalker’s padawan apprentice. Ashley Eckstein voiced the head-tailed Togruta hero as she grew up on-screen during the show’s seven seasons. As the war, the contradictory demands of the Jedi Council, his secret romance with Padmé, and the malign influence of Senator Palpatine slowly changed Anakin from gung ho Jedi to genocidal Sith Lord Darth Vader, it was his relationship with Ahsoka that kept him balanced. But Ahsoka could see what Anakin could not, and she became disillusioned with both the war and Jedi idealism. When she was falsely framed for war crimes in season 5, she became one of the few Jedi to ever resign from the order — as it turned out, just in time to avoid Order 66.

When The Clone Wars returned after cancellation in 2017, showrunner David Filoni spent most of his time wrapping up Ahsoka’s story. But then she returned, 20 years older and much wiser, as Fulcrum, the nascent Rebellion’s most valuable intelligence asset, in Rebels. The character makes her live action debut in the limited series Ahsoka, now portrayed by Rosario Dawson. Filoni, who has been integral to The Mandalorian and other Disney+ live action Star Wars series, returns to oversee the fate of his most beloved creation.

Ahsoka is set in the same era as The Mandalorian. The Empire has been defeated, and the New Republic is struggling to rebuild as much of the galaxy slips into warlordism. Ahsoka and her comrades Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Hera (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) survived the war. But nascent Jedi Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) is missing, having apparently sacrificed himself in the final operation which sent Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) into exile in a galaxy far, far away. Sabine, who had previously been training with Ahsoka, feels heartbroken and betrayed in the aftermath of the war, while Hera, an ace pilot who fought with the Rebellion, is now a New Republic general. Ahsoka travels with Huyang (voiced by David Tennant), a thousand-year-old droid rescued from the ruins of the Jedi Temple, but her own attitude towards the Jedi remains ambivalent. But she does suspect that a group of defeated Imperials is trying to rescue Thrawn from exile, which is confirmed when Jedi-turned-mercenary Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) rescues Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) from New Republic captivity. Meanwhile, Sabine is convinced that tracking the Force witch’s movements are the best way to get Ezra back, if he is still alive. Hera is unable to convince the war-weary New Republic to commit assets to the search, so she, Ahsoka, and Sabine set out alone to track down a star map to the distant space whale graveyard where they suspect Thrawn and Ezra have gone.

If all that sounds confusing (Space whales? Yes, they’re a thing.), then you’ve identified the first problem with Ahsoka. After 40 years of movies, comics, novels, and TV series, Star Wars is currently suffering from a bad case of Marvel-itis, where the needs of maintaining the increasingly convoluted continuity take up all available narrative time between the wham-bam space battles and lightsaber duels. Much of the charm of The Mandalorian was that it positioned itself as a monster-of-the-week series apart from the main story. In later seasons, when Luke Skywalker showed up, things went downhill fast.

Ahsoka and Thrawn are both genuinely great characters, but the series gets bogged down in Easter eggs and barely comprehensible lore. Dawson, a legend in her own right, gives an uncharacteristically reserved performance as Ahsoka. (In flashbacks, Ariana Greenblatt portrays young Ahsoka and nails the mischievous spirit Eckstein brought to the role.) Winstead is, as usual, the best thing on-screen, while Stevenson (in his last role before dying in May) understands the level of camp required of a serial villain.

But the biggest problem with Ahsoka is the direction. ILM’s special effects and production design are, as usual, absolutely top-notch, and with the level of acting firepower at his fingertips, Filoni should be able to craft some quality space opera. Yet the bread resolutely fails to rise. The patient, indie-film-inspired editing that works in the political thriller Andor sucks the life out of Ahsoka. The dialogue has been bad even by Star Wars standards. Things liven up when Thrawn arrives in episode 6, but with only two episodes left, it might be too little, too late. Maybe Ahsoka is right, and the Jedi are the problem.

Ahsoka is streaming on Disney+.

Categories
Astrology Fun Stuff

Free Will Astrology: Week of 09/28/23

Dario Bronnimann | Unsplash

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Author Diane Ackerman says it’s inevitable that each of us sometimes “looks clumsy or gets dirty or asks stupid questions or reveals our ignorance or says the wrong thing.” Knowing how often I do those things, I’m extremely tolerant of everyone I meet. I’m compassionate, not judgmental, when I see people who “try too hard, are awkward, care for one another too deeply, or are too open to experience.” I myself commit such acts, so I’d be foolish to criticize them in others. During the coming weeks, Aries, you will generate good fortune for yourself if you suspend all disparagement. Yes, be accepting, tolerant, and forgiving — but go even further. Be downright welcoming and amiable. Love the human comedy exactly as it is.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus comedian Kevin James confesses, “I discovered I scream the same way whether I’m about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.” Many of us could make a similar admission. The good news, Taurus, is that your anxieties in the coming weeks will be the “piece of seaweed” variety, not the great white shark. Go ahead and scream if you need to — hey, we all need to unleash a boisterous yelp or howl now and then — but then relax.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Here are famous people with whom I have had personal connections: actor Marisa Tomei, rockstar Courtney Love, filmmaker Miranda July, playwright David Mamet, actor William Macy, philosopher Robert Anton Wilson, rockstar Paul Kantor, rock impresario Bill Graham, and author Clare Cavanagh. What? You never heard of Clare Cavanagh? She is the brilliant and renowned translator of Nobel Prize Laureate poet Wisława Szymborska and the authorized biographer of Nobel Prize Laureate author Czesław Miłosz. As much as I appreciate the other celebrities I named, I am most enamored of Cavanagh’s work. As a Gemini, she expresses your sign’s highest potential: the ability to wield beautiful language to communicate soulful truths. I suggest you make her your inspirational role model for now. It’s time to dazzle and persuade and entertain and beguile with your words.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I cheer you on when you identify what you want. I exult when you devise smart plans to seek what you want, and I celebrate when you go off in high spirits to obtain and enjoy what you want. I am gleeful when you aggressively create the life you envision for yourself, and I do everything in my power to help you manifest it. But now and then, like now, I share Cancerian author Franz Kafka’s perspective. He said this: “You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be quite still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Let’s talk about changing your mind. In some quarters, that’s seen as weak, even embarrassing. But I regard it as a noble necessity, and I recommend you consider it in the near future. Here are four guiding thoughts. 1. “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” — George Bernard Shaw. 2. “Only the strongest people have the pluck to change their minds, and say so, if they see they have been wrong in their ideas” — Enid Blyton. 3. “Sometimes, being true to yourself means changing your mind. Self changes, and you follow” — Vera Nazarian. 4. “The willingness to change one’s mind in the light of new evidence is a sign of rationality, not weakness” — Stuart Sutherland.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “The soul moves in circles,” psychologist James Hillman told us. “Hence our lives are not moving straight ahead; instead, hovering, wavering, returning, renewing, repeating.” In recent months, Virgo, your soul’s destiny has been intensely characterized by swerves and swoops. And I believe the rollicking motion will continue for many months. Is that bad or good? Mostly good — especially if you welcome its poetry and beauty. The more you learn to love the spiral dance, the more delightful the dance will be.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If you have ever contemplated launching a career as a spy, the coming months will be a favorable time to do so. Likewise if you have considered getting trained as a detective, investigative journalist, scientific researcher, or private eye. Your affinity for getting to the bottom of the truth will be at a peak, and so will your discerning curiosity. You will be able to dig up secrets no one else has discovered. You will have an extraordinary knack for homing in on the heart of every matter. Start now to make maximum use of your superpowers!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Have you been sensing a phantom itch that’s impossible to scratch? Are you feeling less like your real self lately and more like an AI version of yourself? Has your heart been experiencing a prickly tickle? If so, I advise you not to worry. These phenomena have a different meaning from the implications you may fear. I suspect they are signs you will soon undertake the equivalent of what snakes do: molting their skins to make way for a fresh layer. This is a good thing! Afterward, you will feel fresh and new.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): According to legend, fifth-century Pope Leo I convinced the conquering army of Attila the Hun to refrain from launching a full-scale invasion of Italy. There may have been other reasons in addition to Leo’s persuasiveness. For example, some evidence suggests Attila’s troops were superstitious because a previous marauder died soon after attacking Rome. But historians agree that Pope Leo was a potent leader whose words carried great authority. You, Sagittarius, won’t need to be quite as fervently compelling as the ancient pope in the coming weeks. But you will have an enhanced ability to influence and entice people. I hope you use your powers for good!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Singer-songwriter Joan Baez has the longevity and endurance typical of many Capricorns. Her last album in 2018 was released 59 years after her career began. An article in The New Yorker describes her style as “elegant and fierce, defiant and maternal.” It also noted that though she is mostly retired from music, she is “making poignant and unpredictable art,” creating weird, hilarious line drawings with her non-dominant hand. I propose we make Baez your inspirational role model. May she inspire you to be elegant and fierce, bold and compassionate, as you deepen and refine your excellence in the work you’ve been tenaciously plying for a long time. For extra credit, add some unexpected new flair to your game.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian author and activist Mary Frances Berry has won numerous awards for her service on behalf of racial justice. One accomplishment: She was instrumental in raising global awareness of South Africa’s apartheid system, helping to end its gross injustice. “The time when you need to do something,” she writes, “is when no one else is willing to do it, when people are saying it can’t be done.” You are now in a phase when that motto will serve you well, Aquarius.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I invite you to spend quality time gazing into the darkness. I mean that literally and figuratively. Get started by turning off the lights at night and staring, with your eyes open, into the space in front of you. After a while, you may see flashes of light. While these might be your optical nerves trying to fill in the blanks, they could also be bright spirit messages arriving from out of the void. Something similar could happen on a metaphorical level, too. As you explore parts of your psyche and your life that are opaque and unknown, you will be visited by luminous revelations.

Categories
Best of Memphis Special Sections

Best of Memphis 2023

The Memphis Flyer’s annual Best of Memphis readers’ poll is back! We love to celebrate all things Memphis, and it’s time to announce our winners. From restaurants, to spa days, to family outings, and everything in between, our readers have spoken, and you all chose your favorites. Winners with “BOM” next to their name dominated the category, while ties have been noted.

Best of Memphis 2023 was written by Samuel X. Cicci, Shara Clark, Michael Donahue, Alex Greene, Kailynn Johnson, Chris McCoy, Abigail Morici, Toby Sells, Jon W. Sparks, and Bruce VanWyngarden. It was designed by Carrie Beasley with images by Justin Fox Burks. 

Thanks to our readers for their nominations and votes. Your favorites are listed on the following pages, but we think you’re the Best of Memphis, too! We reserve special thanks for Colors Agency and Triniti Holliday for the excellent cover shot, and for our advertisers, who help to keep the Memphis Flyer a free publication.

View this year’s BOM winners at this link: bom23.memphisflyer.com.

Categories
Best of Memphis Special Sections

Best of Memphis 2023: Staff Picks

Photo: Justin Fox Burks

Best Camarones al Mojo

Okay, granted, El Toro Loco isn’t the kind of hipster-beloved “authentico” Mexican joint you find on Summer Avenue, but if you can find a tastier dish than this grilled shrimp, garlic, rice, melted cheese(!), onions, tomatoes, avocado, peppers, etc. concoction, well, go for it. For my money, a frosty margarita and ETL’s camarones al mojo is hard to beat. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Bruce VanWyngarden sure loves him some camarones al mojo. (Photo: Bruce VanWyngarden)

Best Movie Reference

It’s been dangerous out on these roads the past couple years, what with the reckless driving, drag racing, and donuts being spun around intersections and in the middle of the street. Surely there’s a reason for this ceaseless vehicular tension. Well, according to one mayoral candidate who shall remain unnamed, the root cause of all these out of control drivers is … the movie Grease? Watch out for those Memphis youth, adorned with pompadours and black T-shirts, cigarettes rolled up in their sleeves, taking to the roads in their pink 1948 Ford De Luxe “Greased Lightning” convertibles. It’s chaos out there, I tell ya! — Samuel X. Cicci

These hooligans are behind all the reckless driving in Memphis.

Best Indictment

The Brian Kelsey circus continues. After a federal indictment by a grand jury for violating campaign finance laws, the former Tennessee senator eventually pleaded guilty, was sentenced to jail time, and had his law license revoked. But then he pointed the blame at his original attorneys, before firing them, and hiring new representation, and then this month claiming prosecutors violated his plea deal. Lots of finger-pointing going around, but who is really at fault here? Hopefully there’s a mirror in his cell. — SXC

Best Spelling

Earlier this year, the 36th annual Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival decided to honor the Republic of … Rawanda? That big ol’ typo was front and center on a festival billboard, with the people of Rwanda left to rue the fact that no one conducted a spell-check. To double down, the billboard featured the green, yellow, and red colors of the country’s old flag, which had been discontinued in 2001. — SXC

Rwanda really got a raw deal from this billboard. (Photo: Reddit by u/Hungry-Influence3108)

Best Beer

The best craft brewers come up with some interesting concoctions, and Memphis has some of the best breweries around. But Meddlesome takes the cake this year with its Mashed Potato & Gravy black and tan, basically a Thanksgiving side dish in a can, that released on April 1st. The only downside is that this beer isn’t, well, real. Oh well, April Fools! — SXC

Too bad these mashed potato beers by Meddlesome aren’t real. (Photo: Meddlesome Brewing via facebook)

Best Solo Debut

A lifelong musician — and member of local bands Spacer and Magik Hours — multi-instrumentalist Cheyenne Marrs released his solo debut in late August. While upon first rotation, moments may give a reminiscent glimmer of The Beatles, Elliott Smith, The Strokes, or The Beach Boys, Everybody Wants to Go Home carries a depth and breadth all its own.

Cheyenne Marrs (Photo: Anna Rose Williams)

A pensive lyrical exploration of isolation and loss, it simultaneously encompasses loneliness and connection, melancholy and hope. The listener is set adrift with sleepy, sweeping guitar riffs that circle like a carousel and build into raucous fits like mood swings, dragging us low only to lift us up again. There’s a playfulness that eases the weight of it, brought in with shimmery synth, the stray jingle of bells, the clang of a xylophone, or the floaty flit of a flute.

In the opening track, Marrs commiserates, “You don’t have to stay down in your hell all alone.” And throughout the album, he muses on the state of not knowing — upon wrestling with the void left when processing a death, fighting one’s way through the darker parts of life, or navigating the shifting landscapes of our innermost thoughts and emotions.

Our editor listened to this full album three times in a row without interruption.

The catchy melodies on standout tracks, “Tweedy Bird,” “Fortune Faded,” and “Call Out” (they’re all standouts, tbh), implanted themselves as earworms for me, and as I write this, the line “I don’t have it all together, but you do — ain’t that what it seems?” is on a loop in my head.

After a few playthroughs, I’m reminded of the not-directly-translatable Welsh word, “hiraeth,” which embodies a grief and longing for a home that no longer exists, or maybe never did — a nostalgic yearning for a time, place, or feeling that cannot be reached.

Recorded in longtime Memphis musician/producer Graham Winchester’s home studio and released on Memphis-based Red Curtain Records, Everybody Wants to Go Home is both a lullaby and an alarm call that takes us on a journey from confusion and desperation to consolation and acceptance as we dig through the shadows and find the light. — Shara Clark

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

September Surprises

Jesse Huseth and Meggan Kiel (Photo: Posted to X by Jesse Huseth)

The term “October Surprise” has long since been a part of the political lexicon as a way to describe last-minute campaign attacks directed by one candidate against another as an election cycle wends its way to its November conclusion.

There were two such instances in the city election this past week — one which only arguably qualifies and another which fits the definition perfectly. (And since this election ends in October, not in November, the term “September Surprise” is a more accurate fit.)

Certainly the revelation last Friday of an indictment by Nashville DA Glenn Funk of nine Shelby County Jail employees in the death last year of a Shelby County Jail inmate hit sheriff and mayoral candidate Floyd Bonner between the eyes.

And it may well have an impact on the election. At this point, to be sure, there is no directly traceable connection between any other candidate and Funk’s decision. There is no doubt, however, that Bonner’s chief rivals may feel some satisfaction from it. For the record, Bonner stood by his employees and proclaimed their innocence.

The other case was clearly premeditated by an opponent. This was an instance whereby District 5 city council candidate Philip Spinosa openly accused rival candidate Meggan Wurzburg Kiel of having advocated for “defunding the police.”

Kiel and her supporters wasted no time in calling a press conference debunking the accusation, which was based on a collective call by numerous Memphians, including Kiel, to rethink public safety procedures in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 death.

It remains to be seen what the effect of either event will be on the election outcome.

A brief summary of mayoral endorsements:

Van Turner: State Rep. Justin J. Pearson; Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris; Congressman Steve Cohen; District Attorney Steve Mulroy; Stand for Children; Memphis For All; People for Fairness and Justice; Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood; AFSCME Local 1733

Paul Young: Shelby County Young Democrats; GenNext PAC; Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood; UpTheVote901 People’s Convention; West Tennessee Home Builders Association; Elliot Perry; Craig Brewer; NLE Choppa 

Floyd Bonner: Memphis Police Association; Memphis Fire Fighters Association; Shelby County Deputy Sheriff’s Association; ACRE (Association of City Retired Employees);West Tennessee Home Builders Association; MAAR – Memphis Area Association of Realtors

As the city election winds down, next year’s elections for state and federal office are already stirring.

As one example, Jesse Huseth, the Memphis businessman who earlier this year lost a close race to Lexie Carter for local Democratic chair, has his sights set on the District 97 seat in the state House of Representatives.

That’s the seat currently held by Republican John Gillespie, who originally won it in a tight race two years ago against Democrat Gabby Salinas, who went on to serve as Carter’s predecessor as party chair.

District 97, on the suburban eastern edge of Memphis, is adjacent to District 96, a formerly Republican bailiwick which went over to Democratic control with the upset victory in 2016 of Democrat Dwayne Thompson, who continues to hold it. Flipping 97 in like manner is now a Democratic priority.

That may not be easy. Gillespie, who is known to have broken with his fellow Republicans on key issues, has achieved a somewhat moderate reputation during his tenure and has passed significant legislation to curb the excesses of drag racing.

Categories
Fun Stuff News of the Weird

News of the Weird: Week of 09/28/23

Police Report

In news from Paris, an “experienced climber” got to the top of the Eiffel Tower early on Aug. 17 and parachuted off before guards could stop him, The Guardian reported. The unnamed man landed safely after the leap from about 1,100 feet and was promptly arrested for endangering the lives of others. “This kind of irresponsible action puts people working at or near the tower in danger,” scolded SETE, the tower’s management company. [Guardian, 8/17/2023]

Least Competent Criminal

Sure, Mountain Dew has been compared to battery acid, but one suspect thought a can of the stuff could save her from being fingered as a killer. Fox35-TV reported that on Aug. 5, Nichole Maks, 35, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 79-year-old roommate, Michael Cerasoli. Cerasoli was discovered beaten and stabbed in the home they shared in Daytona Beach, Florida, on July 1. Officers tracked down Maks around 3:30 the next morning at a Krystal’s restaurant, where she had blood on the side of her leg and part of her shirt had been torn or cut away. As they approached, she dropped a knife and hammer she’d been carrying; she told officers she often carried such items. Police said that as they questioned her about her roommate, she became “agitated” and asked for a drink; they gave her a can of Diet Mountain Dew, which she poured over her body and hair, hoping to eliminate any evidence on her person. Unsurprisingly, that stunt didn’t work, and her DNA was found on the knife used to kill Cerasoli. She currently resides at the Volusia County Jail. [Fox35, 8/14/2023]

The Weirdo-American Community

TikToker Michaela Witter was on Day 20 of a series she was posting about “100 solo dates” — activities like reading in the park or buying herself flowers. On Aug. 7, as she browsed in Barnes & Noble in Burbank, California, Witter inadvertently captured a stalker on video as he followed her, kneeled behind her, and sniffed her (and another woman) repeatedly. Fox News reported that Witter’s post unleashed a torrent of similar experiences — even with the same stalker. “Bro that same man was crouching behind me and following me thru Marshalls today,” one commenter posted. “The same thing happened to me at Ralph’s in Burbank,” another said. One TikToker had the same experience in the same bookstore. Glendale police arrested Calese Carron Crowder, 37, on Aug. 11, but a judge placed him on probation and released him on Aug. 15. Los Angeles County Jail records show Crowder has been booked there 41 times. [Fox News, 8/16/2023]

Ummmmmm

• Street performer Lino Tomasen, 32, of Havana, Cuba, retired from boxing after a blow delivered to his opponent fractured the man’s skull and killed him instantly, he told Reuters. Tomasen gave all his fight winnings to that man’s family and took to the streets, where the “Ironman” now beats on himself and collects tips. He uses a sledgehammer to slam his wrists, elbows, and forearms for horrified onlookers, but seems to be unharmed by the abuse. “It’s all real, nothing fabricated,” said Edward Carbonell, who watched Tomasen’s “show.” “I want to be remembered as someone who pushed the limits of what was possible,” Tomasen said. [Reuters, 8/15/2023]

• At a sunset “furmeet” on Aug. 12 in Huntington Beach, California, one furry took offense when a man in street clothes started filming the spectacle on his phone, the Toronto Sun reported. Someone in a black wolf costume asked the filmer to stop, then amplified his message with a megaphone: “Leave or we will make you leave.” When the filmer didn’t budge, the wolf hit him over the head with the megaphone. Others jumped into the brawl, which was finally broken up by California State Parks officers. [Toronto Sun, 8/16/2023]

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

News of the Weird is now a podcast on all major platforms! To find out more, visit newsoftheweirdpodcast.com.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD
© 2023 Andrews McMeel Syndication.
Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved.

Categories
News News Feature

Locating Lost Assets

Don’t lose track of your assets. (Photo: Joshua Hoehne | Unsplash)

Losing track of retirement funds is a common and concerning trend that has worsened in recent years. According to a report from the firm Capitalize, as of May 2023, there were about 29.2 million forgotten 401k accounts in the United States that held approximately $1.65 trillion in assets. Due to recent increases in job switching, the number of forgotten 401ks has grown by more than 20 percent since May 2021.

Missing out on these retirement funds can put your retirement at risk, as you may end up losing significant assets. Fortunately, there are ways to locate and reclaim lost retirement accounts. The following tips can help.

1. Check with past employers.

If you’ve changed jobs throughout your career, it’s important to follow up with past employers to make sure you didn’t leave any money behind. Retirement plan administrators have several options for how to handle abandoned funds in an employer-sponsored account, based on the amount left in it.

$1,000 or less — The employer can issue a check and mail it to your last known address. If you’ve moved since leaving a job, you may need to request a new check.

Between $1,000 and $5,000 — Employers can move funds to an IRA without your consent. You’ll need to ask your past employer how to access the account.

More than $5,000 — There’s a good chance your funds are still in the employer’s plan. It may be wise to roll over the account balance to an IRA that you control.

2. Search unclaimed property databases.

Sometimes people lose track of their retirement savings when they move and forget to notify past employers of their new address. When an employer or financial institution is unable to reach an account-holder, it may turn over the account to the state’s unclaimed property office.

Fortunately, you can search for your name on the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) website or your state-specific unclaimed property office to find any unclaimed retirement funds that may be waiting for you.

3. Check the Department of Labor (DOL) abandoned plan database.

If your past employer’s plan was terminated, the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration consolidates information about unclaimed retirement benefits and makes it easy to track down missing funds.

4. Contact the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

The PBGC can be a great resource if you lost track of a defined benefit pension plan at a previous employer. This organization is a government agency that insures the value of pension benefits and helps individuals locate lost pension plans. Visit pbgc.gov for more information.

5. Track down forgotten IRAs.

If you think you may have abandoned an IRA along the way, take inventory of past bank and investment account statements for any evidence of the account. You can also reach out directly to any financial institutions you’ve worked with in the past to inquire about any inactive or dormant IRAs associated with your name.

If you think you left behind retirement assets at some point, it may be worth the effort of tracking them down. Even if you haven’t contributed to the accounts in many years, the power of compounding has the potential to significantly grow your retirement assets over time.

Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Partner and Private Wealth Manager with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest Registered Investment Advisory firms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s financial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

The ‘Conspiracy Industrial Complex’

Who’s to blame for conspiracy theories?(Photo: Alexskopje | Dreamstime.com)

When humans organize into societies, the foundational cement upon which they build them is as strong as their shared conviction in what they should look like. Principles like “Every child should receive an education,” “Quality healthcare is a right,” and “Justice should be fairly meted out regardless of class,” are just a few ingredients mixed by mortar and pestle to produce the basis for American institutions and the society they help create.

Polls show that most Americans still share the same convictions on issues such as healthcare, housing, labor relations, the economy, civil liberties, foreign policy, and education. However, the institutions created to build that society are failing. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, Americans’ trust in institutions has never been lower, with significant declines in trust in 11 of 16 institutions tested. From 2021 to 2022, the percentage of Americans declaring they had a “great deal” of confidence in the public education system fell from 32 percent to 28 percent. Confidence in healthcare declined from 44 percent to 38 percent, and confidence in the justice system eroded from 20 percent to 14 percent. Trust in the presidency, the Supreme Court, and Congress declined by 15, 11, and 7 points, respectively. From a wider historical lens, the percentage of Americans saying they had a great deal of trust in institutions declined from 48 percent in 1979 to 27 percent in 2022.

Americans rely on institutions to form the framework of their society. But to the degree that institutions shift from providing Americans with what they need to what the institutions think will make money, Americans will lose trust in them, disbelieve them, and seek other “credible sources” for information and support.

Just a few examples of institutions losing American support due in part to profit-seeking and corruption include:

• Education: From 1981 to 2021, the cost of attending a four-year college skyrocketed from $11,840/year to $30,031/year, a 153 percent increase over 40 years. Soaring costs of public universities and fraud committed by private colleges landed Generation X and millennials in $1.77 trillion in debt, even as their degrees increasingly failed to provide the quality of life those same degrees secured for their Baby Boomer parents. After experiencing this, is it any surprise today’s Gen X and millennial parents distrust the educational system, thus giving rise to conspiracy theories about what’s “really being taught” in our schools and universities?

• Healthcare: In the early-2000s, Purdue Pharma saw an opportunity to strike it big. They encouraged (and sometimes bribed) doctors to prescribe the opioid painkiller OxyContin under the farce that it was the non-addictive solution to acute and chronic pain. Purdue raked in billions of dollars while 280,000 Americans died from overdoses on prescription painkillers between 1999 and 2021. The Sackler family, owners of Purdue, are currently negotiating a multi-billion dollar settlement that would grant them immunity from all future civil litigation despite thousands dead in the name of Purdue’s “contribution to healthcare.” After Americans watched that crisis play out, is it any surprise some have turned to conspiracy theorists who offer “alternative healthcare,” like Alex Jones and his inventory of “health products’?

• Justice: The courts may still be public institutions, but they increasingly favor business interests over non-business interests. Data shows today’s Supreme Court is the most pro-business of all time, even more pro-business than the courts of the Gilded Age. Today’s court rules in favor of business interests 83 percent of the time, siding with big business to the detriment of the environment, civil liberties, and voting rights. Add to that the recent breaking news of conservative justices benefiting from the largesse of billionaire business tycoons who often have cases before those same justices, and it’s no surprise only one in four Americans has a great deal of confidence in SCOTUS.

• Politics: Politicians may be public officials, but often in name only. Case in point, researchers at Princeton University found that one’s wealth is a direct barometer for political representation. The bottom 90 percent of income earners in the U.S. see their preferred legislation pushed for and passed by their elected representatives just 30 percent of the time. Meanwhile, the top 10 percent of income earners see their preferred legislation pushed for and passed 61 percent of the time. After watching candidates make grandiose promises on the campaign trail and immediately forgo those promises once elected so they can serve the interests of their big donors, is it any wonder many Americans have attached themselves to conspiracy theories about politicians and elections?

A population rife with conspiracy theories is not a feature of a healthy society. However, Americans do themselves a disservice when they ostracize people who believe in such theories. For one thing, conspiracy theories occasionally prove to be true, as in the case of MK-Ultra, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, or the Tuskegee experiments. But even when they don’t, Americans’ collective ire should never be solely directed at the conspiracy theorists or the and fame-seeking hucksters who are often behind the scenes peddling such theories for personal gain.

Rather, Americans must demand accountability from the institutions whose consummate failures led to the growth of the Conspiracy Industrial Complex. U.S. institutions exist to serve the Americans who formed them, not the interests of private capital or the wealthy elites who see every aspect of American society as something to profit from.

Returning America from the brink of a dystopian nightmare where millions wander a landscape of their own invented reality will only occur when trust in institutions is restored. And that can only happen if those institutions are returned to their foundational purpose of serving regular Americans, not Wall Street investors and billionaire business executives.

Ren Brabenec is a Nashville-based freelance writer and journalist. He reports on politics, local issues, environmental stories, foreign policy, and the economy. This commentary originally appeared in Tennessee Lookout (tennesseelookout.com).

Categories
News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Train Robbed, Tricky, and Who to Follow

Posted to Youtube by @atver600

Memphis on the internet.

Train Robbed

In late August, YouTuber @atver600 caught a group in Memphis unlawfully unloading a boxcar by hand. This is not the group that robbed a boxcar in Boxtown, nor the duo arrested for lifting Nikes from another train last month.

Those were late at night and very early in the morning. The group @atver600 caught were brazenly operating in the full light of day.

Tricky

Posted to Facebook by David Dahler

This image was posted to the Stop Memphis Crime Facebook group. What turned out to be trickier than the stunts pulled by the rider in the photo? Commenters wondered, “Where are his legs?”

Who to Follow

Posted to X by Memphis Jookin

You won’t regret following Memphis Jookin on X. The dance videos are mesmerizing and stoke that city pride. Don’t miss the funny one to the right on “how to workout in Memphis.”

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Lucchesi’s Beer Garden

Tony Lucchesi (Photo: Michael Donahue)

The sandwich of the month began in September at Lucchesi’s Beer Garden: Deli, Package & Parlor.

“We tried to get it started in June, but we ended up having a baby,” says Tony Lucchesi, 41. “He was born July 7th. Giovanni.”

Tony, who co-owns the business with his wife, Basma, often combines eclectic ingredients for his sammies. Like September’s offering: The Memphisto.

“It’s a take on the Monte Cristo, but it’s not quite a Monte Cristo. I’ve been on a John Prine kick lately. And he has a song, ‘The Sins of Memphisto.’ It’s Italian rye bread with blackberry jam, ham, turkey, and Swiss cheese. But it’s pressed on a panini press. When we pull it off, it’s topped with powdered sugar.”

For October, Tony will feature his I’m From Memphis sandwich. “It’s a sub roll with peanut butter, pulled pork and a half-pound hot dog, and banana honey puree. And it’s pressed on the panini press.”

As for the logic behind his sandwich-making, Tony says, “We come up with stuff randomly here and there. And, eventually, they make it on the menu.

“I’ve never considered myself a chef. But I think I’m good at flavor combinations.”

Growing up, Tony made sandwiches. “I was obsessed with bologna and mayonnaise sandwiches. Simple, thick-cut bologna, mayonnaise, and bread. I was a very plain eater when I was younger.”

But not that plain. “I used to always make just turkey and ham sandwiches. With Doritos on them.”

Then there was his “fried Spam with peanut butter sandwich on toast. Peanut butter goes oddly well with pork.”

Cooking came later. “Outside of just making sandwiches and making Kraft blue box macaroni and cheese, I didn’t start getting into a bunch of stuff until college when I had to start making stuff for myself: ‘Yeah. I’ll try this out.’”

Tony worked at Old Venice Pizza Co. while attending Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi. He and his roommate also did a lot of cooking. “We would flip through random cookbooks and if we saw something we liked or something that seemed appealing, we’d give it a shot.”

Tony graduated from University of Memphis with a degree in music. “I was in a band [Antique Curtains]. And I played guitar and piano, but my concentration was in record industry operations.”

He met Basma when he began working for her dad at the old Raffe’s Deli, where he had his first gyro. Basma’s dad also introduced him to tabouli and hummus.

In 2009, Tony and Basma moved to Orange County, California, where he worked at Five Crowns, a fine dining restaurant. He credits the restaurant for teaching him “the whole concept of hitting different flavor profiles, where you have five tastes: sweet, savory, salty, sour, and tart.”

In 2012, Tony and Basma took over Lucchesi’s Beer Garden, which Basma’s parents opened in addition to the deli.

Tony began using “higher quality ingredients” in the food. “I wanted to bring people natural deli meats that had no fillers or anything.”

He also introduced his sandwiches, including the Grizzle — a panini with mayonnaise, hot sweet mustard, turkey, roast beef, pepper jack cheese, jalapeños, and bruschetta.

The Grizzle is their top-selling sandwich, but Tony says, “I think we have one of the best vegetarian sandwiches you can get in the city. It’s the Spicy Little Burger: toasted wheat bread with hummus, tabouli, a falafel burger patty, jalapeños, hot sweet mustard, and a pickled-turnips-and-beets relish.”

Tony plans to debut more of his cuisine at Lucchesi’s Beer Garden. “This winter, I think I’m going to introduce at least maybe a soup or a chili. But I think at some point in time I want to make spaghetti gravy from my grandmother’s recipe. I don’t know if I’m going to do a traditional spaghetti with gravy or if I’m going to work it into a gyro. I have not decided yet.”

It might even include an offbeat ingredient. “I’m not opposed to adding honey to anything.” 

Lucchesi’s Beer Garden is at 3358 Poplar Avenue.