What’s News In This Story?
This interview is part of the “Tomorrow Lives Here” Conversation Series presented by Miami Business School.
WATCH:
–Artist Xavier Cortada is known in Miami for helping introduce the public to complex issues and ideas through beautiful pieces of art.
–A graduate of Miami Business School, Cortada has done some wild things in his life including planting a green flag at the North Pole in order to “reclaim it for nature and launch an eco-art reforestation effort”.
–He is also trying to get more public awareness around the issue of climate change in South Florida, among other issues.
–Cortada recently donated four pieces of public art to Miami Business School and spoke to Dean John Quelch about the significance of that work, his view of how art has made Miami an international city and how it may save the city in the future.
And Watch This Too:
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins On How Growing Up In Miami Prepared Him For Success
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Huge Shark Spotted Near Swimmers Off Miami Beach
What’s New With This Story:
–A large shark was spotted close to swimmers off Miami Beach this past weekend.
-According to the Miami Herald, it was probably a tiger shark, but Vince Conosa, the chief of Miami Beach’s Ocean Rescue wasn’t 100% sure.
-The video was taken by professional drone photographer Kenny Melendez.
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Millennial Intelligencer: Meet JEF, The UK’s Latest Measure to Shape International Security
On Nov 30th, British Defense Minister Michael Fallon committed the UK to a leading role in the freshly designed Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).
This force, composed of: the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Norway, will be a 10,000 strong unit designed to cooperate with NATO, EU, and UN operations.
JEF will be able to respond to a variety of missions including deterrence, interstate conflict, and humanitarian crises.
There has also been some speculation of Sweden participating in JEF, as the Swedish government continues its increasingly robust affiliation with the Atlantic Security system.
When looking at the list of countries taking part in this UK lead endeavor, one notices two things:
- All of the current contributors are NATO members, and potential contributor Sweden is greatly affiliated with NATO.
- This is a UK lead venture. While France and Britain have a similar integrated reaction force, the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF), the most prominent member of NATO, the US is missing from these recent arrangements.
The establishment of these reaction forces, in addition to the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), potentially indicate a shift in European defense responsibilities in response to increased Russian adventurism, and the American “Pivot to Asia”.
Thus, Britain attempting to shift the weight onto its own shoulders is in keeping with historical precedents from 1950-1955.
In Anthony Eden’s account of the period in “Full Circle”, American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles threatened an “agonizing reappraisal” of American security policy should West Germany not be integrated into the European security infrastructure.
This was followed by the personal commitment of Prime Minister Eden to finding a diplomatic solution, and the commitment of four British divisions under international direction.
The addition of the West Germans into the Atlantic Alliance, due to the hard work by Her Majesty’s Government, convinced the Eisenhower administration that Europe was worth investing resources to balance against the Soviets.
Likewise, in the establishment of these various European reaction forces, Britain is taking the lead in directing European Security policy.
Cover Photo Credit: Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum/Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Miami Archbishop Announces Findings Of Investigation Into Priest Accused Of Improprieties
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski released a letter to the parishioners of St. Rose of Lima in Miami Shores today on his investigation of the parish’s former priest Father Pedro Corces.
In it, Wenski claimed that many of the allegations leveled against Corces in a 129 page dossier of information were not true.
However, Wenski’s investigation also found that Corces was not fit for service as a parish priest and he accepted Corces’ resignation.
Wenski’s investigation was prompted after a group of concerned parents at St. Rose accused Corces of putting children at the school in “grave danger” after he allegedly hired a man as a school maintenance worker who was once arrested on prostitution charges.
The parents united under the name of Christifidelis and they paid a private investigator over $3,500 to surveil Father Corces to help them build a case against him. Once they could no longer afford the investigator’s services, parents took to surveilling Father Corces on their own, even digging around the rectory trash to find incriminating documents.
The parent’s report also alleged that Father Corces took frequent expensive vacations, sometimes with a St. Rose maintenance worker and that he often spent the night at the same workers condo where they claimed Corces paid the cable bill.
Read More: Miami Priest Accused Of Hiring School Maintenance Worker Who Was Once Arrested For Prostitution
During the investigation, Wenski said that Corces volunteered to take a polygraph exam and that the priest denied any sexual improprieties with school maintenance staff.
“The investigation of these allegations is now completed,” Wenski said in the letter. “Based on the outcome of extensive interviews of all persons that could have knowledge of the truth of these allegations as well as the results of a voluntary polygraph examination of Fr. Corces, it is concluded that no sexual impropriety had occurred. Nevertheless, Father’s decisions to hire friends to work for the Parish and his continues socializing with them outside the Parish did contribute to the perception among some of inappropriate behavior.”
Read the whole letter:
Letter from Archbishop Wenski on Fr. Corces Investigation
Interestingly, while short on specifics, Wenski’s letter did say something damning about Corces:
“The investigation did identify other deficiencies with Fr. Corces’ administration in which we failed to follow clear Archdiocesan policies.”
While trying to put a bow on the story, Wenski may have only opened up more questions as to the full extent of what actually happened.
For example, which specific deficiencies were there with Corces’ administration?
Which clear Archdiocesan policies did he not follow?
Why was Sister Bernadette Keane fired from her role as principal before the end of the school year?
Did the maintenance worker not have a criminal record when he was hired?
This is a developing story. Stay with RISE NEWS for further updates.
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