11 minute read
Mail in ballot controversy
Photos The Associated Press Letter carriers load mail trucks for deliveries at a USPS facility in McLean, Vir. on Sept 17.
Mail-in ballot controversies heat up
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Angela Ly Managing Editor
Part three of an ongoing series
Controversial changes at the U.S. Postal Service that slowed mail nationwide were overturned Sept. 17 by a U.S. judge who called the changes “a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service.”
Barbara Gandica
Design Editor
I’m sure that most of us have questioned ourselves about whether to get tested for COVID-19 or not. Even if we are not experiencing symptoms, we grapple with the fact that we might be asymptomatic carriers of the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends that you should get tested if you’re experiencing symptoms or have been in contact with someone who has tested positive, despite the fact that several areas of the country have struggled with a shortage of COVID-19 test kits.
North Texas is no exception but, unlike the earlier months of the pandemic, tests have become more available as the year has progressed. In addition to tests provided by local pharmacy chains, North Texans can get a free test by going to the website https://www. gogettested.com/where they can book a test in various places throughout the Metroplex.
To get tested, you must first fill a quick questionnaire that asks some basic questions. Then you can choose the time and place and go get the test.
I went through this process with my mom a few weeks ago. She is an essential worker in the shipping industry and there was the possibility that she had encountered a co-worker who tested positive for the virus. The process was surprisingly easy and fast.
After booking the appointment the night A nationwide injunction was issued after 14 states sued the Trump administration and the USPS. The judge ordered the reinstallation of mail processing machines to ensure the prompt handling of all election mail, according to The Associated Press.
Now, as the nation inches closer to the November election, the matter of third-party candidate placement on those ballots is heating up in Texas. Third-party candidates have before, we went to the testing site. We were scared that it was going to be a nasal exam like had seen in the news, but the test was a quick and painless oral exam. The workers took precautions such as constant sanitation and social distancing when possible. We were told that the results for the test would take two to three days, but mine actually arrived the day after the test. It thankfully came out negative for both of us.
The testing experience has changed as the year has gone by. During the earlier months of the pandemic, you were required to have a doctor’s note or severe symptoms to get tested. That was the experience that Cecilia Stevenson had when she got COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic. Stevenson is a local professional videographer. When the quarantine started, she and her roommates produced a parody video called “Stay Homemah-mah.”
If you had Lady Gaga’s song “Poker Face” stuck in your head during the late 2000s, prepare to have it take hold again. Published in April during the height of the pandemic, the video shows how our lives have completely shifted due to the pandemic.
“We tried to, kind of, capture what it’s been like living quarantine,” said Stevenson in a Chronicle TV interview with Dara Jones. “Experiences that we all can relate to.” The video is comedy gold. If you need a break from all of the hard news, I would recommend giving it a watch. You can watch at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtR9cGT9XQM. been fighting to stay on the November ballot, with Green Party candidates recently getting approval from the Texas Supreme Court on Sept. 15. The same cannot be said for the Libertarians. According to AP, this could potentially split Democratic votes in certain races.
To be eligible to vote-by-mail in Texas, constituents must be 65 or older, disabled, be out of the county during the entire early voting period and Election Day, or be confined in jail, but eligible to vote. The application needs to be received 11 days before the presidential election, Nov. 3, which means the county must receive the application by Oct. 23.
Voting by mail is a two-step process. The first step is submitting an application. Those who are eligible should download the application online, which can be accessed through nonpartisan political organizations, such as the League of Women Voters of Dallas at www.lwvdallas.org.
Texas voters may also request an application through the secretary of state’s office or their county’s website. By choosing the latter option, voters will receive a prestamped envelope. Whichever option is selected, constituents need to complete the application and mail it back, paying careful attention to their signature. Their respective websites are www. sos.texas.gov and www.dallascounty.org.
“Your signature actually matters in this case more than any other signature that you do,” said Barbara Larkin, the director of voter
Soon after releasing the video, Stevenson got the virus. She and a group of friends attended a wedding and caught the virus from the bride and groom. Of all her friends, Stevenson, caught it the worst and experienced a bad fever.
Her experience with testing was more involved and time-consuming. She was tested at CVS where the process is done by yourself with instructions from a pharmacist. CVS offers different kinds of tests that vary in the length of time to process the results. registration for the LWV Dallas. “That first signature is important because they’re going to compare it with the signature you actually sign your ballot.”
The second step would be to complete the ballot. After receiving a vote-by-mail application, a ballot will be mailed to eligible voters, which will need to be also signed and turned back in. The signatures on the application and ballot are then compared for authenticity. According to Larkin, digital pictures of the signatures are taken and used to deter fraud.
Larkin explains the definition of being disabled according to the Texas Election Code.
“A sickness or physical condition that prevents a voter from appearing at the polling place on Election Day without a likelihood of needing personal assistance or injuring the voter’s health,” she said.
Disabilities preventing individuals from going to polls can range from any physical or mental condition, with voters’ privacy protected even on the absentee ballot application. Voters simply check the disability box without having to disclose any specifics.
“Anyone who thinks they have a disability of any variety, go ahead and apply for a voteby-mail ballot and check the disability box. It is their decision whether they have a disability that would cause their health to be injured by voting,” Larkin said. “There’s no one who has the authority to ask you, ‘what’s your disabil
Adventures in COVID-19 testing and quarantining
Cars wait in line for drive-thru COVID-19 nasal swab tests Sept. 18 in Dallas.
ity?’” Stevenson’s results took 13 days to arrive and came out positive.
She quarantined with her friends from the wedding, separating from her roommates to avoid exposing them to the virus. Stevenson was cured and, like most of us, is staying at home and socially distancing so we can decrease the spread of the virus. “Stay homemah-mah.”
Check out the full interview at www.richlandstudentmedia.com/stevenson
4 MOVIES September 22, 2020
Ricky Miller Entertainment Editor
“Sputnik” can be chalked up as a surprise sleeper hit since I don’t think I’ve heard of may recent Russian offerings. The only other one I remember was “Solaris” (1968), a Russian science-fiction tale that contained a plethora of pretzel-like twists and turns.
“Sputnik” can be viewed on Amazon Prime through their streaming app. This is something I normally wouldn’t watch, but my friend John suggested it, so I decided to take it for a spin.
Directing duties for “Sputnik” were handled by Egor Abramenko, who can only be credited for short films “The Passenger” (2017) and “Polaroid Love” (2008).
With this intriguing tale, Abramenko mixes together the genres science-fiction and suspense-thriller to give the audiences a tale that is ultimately captivating.
The only other commendable sciencefiction tale I can mention is director Ridley Scott’s original “Alien” (1979), which won an Oscar for visual effects. The creature in “Sputnik” closely resembles the xenomorph from “Alien” since it is an amphibian-like creature sans a skeleton that is gooey, gross and altogether icky.
Serving as an aide for the trip is astronaut Konstantin Veshnyakov (Pyotr Fyodorov) who is lauded a Russian hero after his return from space.
Oksana Akinshina plays Tatyana Klimova, a Russian doctor who finds out what happened to Veshnyakov. In investigating the cosmonaut, Klimova finds out he brought back a vicious alien creature from his trip. Veshnyakov has a symbiotic relationship with this alien in that they both need to stay alive by sustaining breathable air here on planet Earth.
The supporting cast members all give commendable performances. This includes Fedor Bondarchuk as Col. Semiradov, a high-ranking Soviet commander. His part is nothing amazing, yet his character has a small penchant for Klimova.
The film is in Russian with English subtitles. To the best of my knowledge, the only true Russian title was “Battleship Potemkin” (1925), famous for its baby cart scene falling down the steps, which was replicated by Brian De Palma in 1987’s Oscar-winning “The Untouchables.”
“Sputnik,” despite the language barrier, is worth the time, energy and patience because it is an altogether intriguing trip.
Grade: B
Oksana Akinshina stars in the symbiotic creature thriller, “Sputnik.”
Photo courtesy IMDb.com
Photo courtesy HBO via AP
Diana Rigg as Olenna Tyrell in a scene from “Game of Thrones.” Rigg was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.
Dame Diana Rigg passes away
Diana Rigg, a commanding British actress whose career stretched from iconic 1960s spy series “The Avengers” to fantasy juggernaut “Game of Thrones,” has died. She was 82.
Rigg’s agent, Simon Beresford, said she died Thursday morning at home with her family. Daughter Rachael Stirling said she died of cancer that was diagnosed in March.
Rigg “spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession. I will miss her beyond words,” Stirling said.
Rigg starred in “The Avengers” as secret agent Emma Peel alongside Patrick Macnee’s bowler-hatted John Steed. The pair were an impeccably dressed duo who fought villains and traded quips in a show whose mix of adventure and humor was enduringly influential.
Rigg also starred in 1969 James Bond thriller “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” as Tracy di Vicenzo, the only woman ever to marry, albeit briefly, Agent 007. Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said Rigg was “much beloved by Bond fans for her memorable performance.”
George Lazenby, who made his only appearance as Bond in the film, said on Instagram that he was “so sad to hear of the death of Diana Rigg. She undoubtedly raised my acting game when we made On Her Majesty’s Secret Service together in 1968-9.”
In later life, she played Olenna Tyrell — the formidable “Queen of Thorns” — in “Game of Thrones,” receiving an Emmy Award nomination for the role.
Other television roles included the Duchess of Buccleuch in period drama “Victoria,” and Rigg starred alongside her daughter in the gentle British sitcom “Detectorists.”
Rigg spent several years in the 1960s as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and combined screen work with a major stage career, in plays including William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage” and Tom Stoppard’s “Jumpers” at the National Theatre in London.
She had several acclaimed roles in the 1990s at London’s Almeida Theatre, including Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and the title role in Greek tragedy “Medea.”
Rigg won a Tony Award for “Medea” on Broadway, and was nominated on three other occasions — most recently in 2018 for playing Mrs. Higgins in “My Fair Lady.”
Jonathan Kent, who directed Rigg in some of her great stage roles, said her “combination of force of personality, beauty, courage and sheer emotional power made her a great classical actress — one of an astonishing generation of British stage performers.”
She never retired. One of Rigg’s final television roles was in rural veterinary drama “All Creatures Great and Small,” which is currently running on British television. -Associated Press
Diana Rigg (1938-2020)
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969)
– This is a distinctive James Bond caper for two reasons: the only appearance of actor George Lazenby as Agent 007 and Bond ending his bachelor days when he gets hitched. Rigg was Tracy di Vicenzo, the only woman to ever tame Bond. A-
“The Hospital” (1971) –
Directed by Arthur Hiller, this black comedy finds Rigg as Barbara, who works at the hospital with George C. Scott’s Dr. Bock, who’s in charge. This gem won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky.
“Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun” (1982)
– In this murder-mystery based on Agatha Christie’s novel, Rigg is part of the ensemble cast that deals with the cover-up of a murder. This one intrigues, but runs out of steam somewhere along the way.
“The Painted Veil”
(2006)– Rigg portrays Mother Superior in this period piece set in the mid1920s. She oversees a group of people in residence in southern China. This movie is very pretty to look at, but never really connects with the characters and their dilemmas.
C
“Game of Thrones”
(2017) – In this longrunning HBO series, Rigg played the strong-minded and formidable Olenna Tyrell, one of the villains of the story. The character she portrayed was not a nice woman. She was mean, spiteful and vicious.
