Blogs

 The relationship between Tracey and Jason in Lynn Nottage's Sweat is a painful exploration of inherited working-class identity and its total undoing by economic forces. At the root of it all lies their lifelong connection with Olstead's factory. Tracey, being a mother, instills in her son Jason pride and a sense of entitlement deeply rooted in their German American heritage and generations of family work at the steel tubing plant. Their early timeline within the play establishes their bond through this shared legacy. However, as the factory threatens to close, Tracey's fear and resentment go toxic, expressed in increasingly racialized anger over the possible layoffs and promotion of her Black friend Cynthia. This infects Jason. His pride curdles into violent rage after losing his job in a lockout with his friends. Tracey encourages the resultant vicious assault on Oscar, the new cheaper worker, which gets Jason into prison for eight years. Jason is released in the 2008 tim...

 A bad plan to hurt people was foiled right before Halloween! This is what happened recently near Dearborn, Michigan. Some guys were making up a plan to do a terror attack around Halloween. In their messages online, they called it "pumpkin day." They were inspired by a group called ISIS, and they were looking at places like gay bars near Detroit to attack. That is a scary thing to think about but the FBI knew what they were up to. They watched the terrorists online messages and saw that they weren't just joking. Their main targets included places such as LGBTQ+ bars in a Detroit suburb. The suspects scouted locations, which showed they were serious about their plan. The FBI and other enforcement agencies were watching them closely, they were able to move in and make arrests before the men could carry out any cause any harm to others. The suspects were buying big guns and lots of bullets, and they were practicing shooting. The FBI was so smart and quick, they moved in and ...