Torkham tensions: Guns fall silent as ‘truce’ takes effect

TORKHAM / ISLAMABAD:
Guns fell silent on the Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Agency on Wednesday after three days of skirmishes between border guards of the two countries that left one Pakistani military officer dead and 19 others, mostly civilians, injured.

The fighting erupted along the Torkham border Sunday night and continued sporadically over the next three days, apparently after Afghan forces resorted to ‘unprovoked firing’ to disrupt the construction of a gate at the busy border crossing between the two militancy-plagued neighbours.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to de-escalate tensions on their border, said the Afghan ambassador in Islamabad on Wednesday after he was summoned to the Foreign Office over the death of Major Ali Jawad Changezi of the Frontier Corps in the Afghan firing.

In a Facebook post, Dr Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal said he had had ‘productive meetings’ with the Pakistani leadership on the Torkham issue. “Agreed on ceasefire, de-escalation of tension, drawdown of military buildup and steps forward for an amicable solution,” he added.

There was no official reaction to Zakhilwal’s claim from Pakistan. The Foreign Office said in a statement that Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry summoned the Afghan envoy over the death of Major Changezi.

A senior Foreign Office official objected to the use of word ‘ceasefire’ by Ambassador Zakhilwal insisting the two sides were not at war with each other. “There are tensions on the Torkham border and both sides are in contact to defuse the situation,” the official told The Express Tribunerequesting not to be identified by name.

Foreign Secretary Chaudhry urged the Afghan government to take immediate steps to put an end to ‘unprovoked’ firing. He stressed that Pakistani authorities were undertaking construction works on their side of the border to regulate the movement of people as well as vehicles with a prior agreement of the Afghan government.

He expressed concern over continued firing by the Afghan security forces for the past few days with a view to disrupting the construction works aimed at strengthening effective border management.

The foreign secretary rejected Afghan allegations that the construction works were in violation of the agreements and understandings reached between the two countries. “These works are being undertaken on the Pakistani side and were started after the two sides had agreed on them during the meetings held last month,” he added.

Underscoring the importance of border management for strengthening mutual security and checking infiltration of terrorists and militants, Foreign Secretary Chaudhry emphasised the need for resolving the issue through constructive engagement.

Meanwhile, border guards on both sides of the Durand Line hoisted white flag, a symbol of truce, at the Torkham border without formally declaring a ceasefire. Subsequently, Pakistani authorities resumed work on the construction of the border gate as part of the comprehensive border management plan.

A weekly flag meeting between senior officials of the two countries could not take place due to hostilities. Officials from both sides discuss border issues in a flag meeting which is held every Wednesday.

Earlier, Afghan forces again opened ‘unprovoked firing’ Wednesday morning when Pakistani authorities resumed construction of the Torkham border gate, local tribal sources told The Express Tribune.Two Pakistani border guards were wounded in the fresh firing.

Sources in Afghanistan said that six Afghan servicemen have been killed and over two dozen wounded in border clashes with Pakistani troops since Sunday. Tensions escalated on Tuesday amid reports that Pakistan Army had sent reinforcements and heavy weaponry to the Torkham border. There was similar troop buildup on the Afghan side of the border.

Though tensions have seemingly de-escalated, Torkham town remains under curfew which was clamped on Monday. Most of local Shinwari tribesmen have already abandoned their houses and shifted to their relatives in the neighbouring Landikotal town. However, thousands of Pakistani and Afghan nationals have been stranded on both sides of the border since hostilities began between the two countries.

Kids’ Choice Awards Best Dressed: Zendaya, Peyton List & More

Kids’ Choice Awards Best Dressed: Zendaya, Peyton List & More

From Zendaya to Fifth Harmony, so many stylish stars stepped out for the KCAs! See who topped our Kids’ Choice Awards best dressed list & VOTE for who YOU think rocked the best get-up of the night.

The Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards red carpet in LA on March 12 was the place to be, as so many stylish young stars stepped out in glam get-ups! In fact, these outfits were almost too cool to slime, (almost). From Peyton List to Zendaya and Fifth Harmony, see who topped our KCAs best dressed list & VOTE for who YOU think rocked the best look of the night.


Selena Gomez is seriously stylin’ these days. After taking Paris Fashion Week by storm in a slew of sexy, daring ensembles she was back in LA — and just in time to help kick off the Kids’ Choice Awards! While she sported everything from plunging necklines and thigh-high slits in Paris, she totally switched up her style as she opened the show — and we loved her pretty, pink look.

The Fifth Harmony gals love to keep their looks coordinated and that’s just what they did at the show, proving that your closest friends make the best accessories — especially on the red carpet! We love the way they always rock show-stopping looks. They have killer confidence on the red carpet. Join Amazon Prime For Free – Thousands of Movies & Shows Anytime

Zendaya loves to switch up her style and can pull off practically anything — and her latest look for the KCAs was no exception! We love the way she doesn’t shy away from trying new trends — she constantly serves up major style inspiration.

While these gals totally topped our list, they weren’t alone! See who else wowed us with their stellar style at the Kids’ Choice Awards and VOTE for who YOU think rocked the best get-up at the show. Did you have a favorite?
                                                                         

Daylight Saving Time 2016 is Here, Clocks Spring Forward

Daylight Saving Time 2016 is Here, Clocks Spring Forward
Don't forget to change those creaky old clocks around your house that don't automatically adjust to Daylight Saving Time.


It’s always nice to have extra daylight after work or school to enjoy the evening and we’re about to get another hour as we spring ahead into Daylight Saving Time.
Fun fact: Though many people refer to the day clocks spring forward as the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, it’s technically Daylight Saving Time.

This year, Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 13.

The time change officially takes place at 2 a.m., but you don’t have to spring out of bed and move the big hand on your clock ahead an hour. The change is automatic for most smartphones, computers, tablets and other digital devices.

RELATED: 12 Tips to Adjust Your Internal Clock to Daylight Saving Time

If you’re still using an analog alarm clock, you’ll probably want to move it ahead before you go to sleep on Saturday, or when you wake up the next morning.

The start of DST is also a good time to change the batteries and make sure your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are in working order.

A brief history

Ben Franklin was only kidding when he suggested 232 years ago that towns should employ the use of church bells or cannon blasts, if necessary, to wake citizens at sunrise so they could take full advantage of sunlight – a thrifty alternative to pricy candle power.

More than two centuries later, the joke's still on us.

Daylight Saving Time is no longer just an amusing idea; it's taken hold with a vengeance.

Twice a year we're forced to adjust our sleep habits, synchronizing our biological and digital clocks in order to squeeze more sunlight into our waking hours.

Meanwhile, sleep researchers insist we should be cutting back on our waking hours if we really want to live long and prosper.

So here we are, caught somewhere between popping sleep aids and chugging Red Bull, not sure how to feel about our collective changing of the clocks.

David Prerau, recognized as one of the country's leading experts on our human quest for saving time, has devoted much of his life to chronicling the history and science of DST.

He served as a consultant to Congress back in 2005 when it enacted a law extending Daylight Saving Time as an energy saving measure, and he also has been a consultant on DST to the United Kingdom Parliament. He holds a Ph.D. from M.I.T.

Although Franklin certainly gets a historical nod for his amusing social commentary about our waste of perfectly good sunlight, Prerau points to British early riser and golf fanatic William Willett as the godfather of Daylight Saving Time.

"He used to go for early-morning horseback rides and wondered why nobody else was up enjoying this beautiful time of day," Prerau said.

Willett detailed his time-wise idea in a pamphlet, "The Waste of Daylight," and spent years lobbying Parliament in vain to adopt daylight-saving time – he died in 1915 before that would happen, Prerau said.

Germany was right on time, however. Seeing merit in Willett's bright idea, they adopted it in 1916 to conserve energy and resources during World War I. That launched a daylight-saving domino effect in countries around Europe.

Britain was finally shamed into adopting the policy three weeks after Germany.

Not to be left in the dark by our European counterparts, the U.S. officially adopted Daylight Saving Time for the first time during WWI, and again during World War II.

But it was not without controversy, even then.

By the end of WWI, city dwellers learned to love daylight saving, Prerau said. But country folk, still in tune with nature's clock, became disgruntled once they realized they'd actually have to rise before the sun if they were to get their goods on outbound trains that, under daylight saving, left town an hour earlier.

"Rural people bombarded Congress with requests to repeal Daylight Saving Time," Prerau said.

Among them, New Hampshire Gov. John H. Bartlett, who in April of 1920 went right to the top, urging President Woodrow Wilson by telegram to inform senators and congressmen "that New Hampshire demanded prompt action to remedy the injustice being done the rural communities through changes in railroad schedules to conform to daylight saving hours."

Bartlett didn't know Wilson was a big fan of daylight saving.

When Congress voted to repeal daylight-saving legislation, Wilson vetoed it. And when Congress voted a second time to repeal it, Wilson vetoed, again.

"It was an interesting time in history," Prerau said. "Because then Congress voted to override Wilson's veto – that's how contentious it was," Prerau said. "If you look back in history, not many things are passed by overriding a presidential veto."

In his 2005 book, "Seize the Daylight," Prerau includes all kinds of historical anecdotes about the chaos that ensued over the random nature of daylight saving until federal legislation finally standardized it in 1966.

One of his favorites is the one about the bus ride that spanned 35 miles and seven time zones between Ohio and West Virginia.

"It became nationally famous as a sort of curiosity. People rode the bus just to change their watches seven times," he said.

Prerau believes the upside of Daylight Saving Time isn't economic; it's the lifestyle benefit. People have more time to mingle and recreate.

"People don't like driving in the dark, and daylight savings reduces traffic accidents. Crime is reduced also, because of that extra hour of daylight," he said.

Savings in electrical energy is only about 1 percent, said Prerau. "Which may sound low, but if you think of it as something you get for free, it's a good side benefit."

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 went into effect as of 2007, extending Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. by three-to-four weeks in the spring and one week in the fall. Since then, more studies are in the works to see if increased use of air conditioning may actually negate whatever savings were originally calculated, Prerau said.

"There's going to be more studies, and if they end up being negative, Congress may want to reconsider," Prerau said.

"But I doubt it. There's the other problem, of having to reprogram computers and clocks. It was a big deal for companies last March. And having gone through that once, people may be reluctant to change back," Prerau said.

Time will tell.

Either way, looks like Daylight Saving Time is here to stay. Prerau, for one, isn't losing sleep over it except, perhaps, on March 13, 2016.

Reporting by Paul Milo

Ciara, Russell Wilson are engaged

Ciara, Russell Wilson are engaged


(CNN)Grammy award-winning singer Ciara and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson are engaged to be married, the NFL star announced on Instagram.


"She said Yes!!! Since Day 1 I knew you were the one. No Greater feeling... #TrueLove @Ciara," Wilson said.


In a picture posted Friday to the singer's Twitter account, Wilson took a knee while the couple was vacationing in a tropical locale. People magazine reported Ciara and Wilson were in the Seychelles Islands.


"I feel complete," she wrote.


Wilson, 27, is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, last year signing a four-year contract extension worth a reported $87.6 million. He guided the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in 2014 but, with his team on the verge of a game-winning touchdown, threw a last-minute interception in 2015 in the championship contest.


He has been married once before to his high school sweetheart.


Ciara, 30, has released six studio albums -- five of which hit the top 10 on the U.S. R&B charts. She has been nominated for five Grammys, winning one for best short-form video. She has one son with her former fiance, rapper Future.


Ciara and Wilson have been dating since early 2015. The couple has been very public about their decision to abstain from premarital sex.



Neither announced a wedding date.

Trump supporters, protesters clash after Chicago rally postponed

Chicago (CNN)Donald Trump's campaign on Friday postponed a rally in Chicago amid fights between supporters and demonstrators, protests in the streets and concerns that the environment at the event was no longer safe.

The announcement, which came amid large protests both inside and outside the event at the University of Illinois at Chicago, follows heightened concerns about violence in general at the GOP front-runner's rallies. Illinois holds its Republican primary on Tuesday.

Hundreds of demonstrators packed into an arena, breaking out into protest even before Trump had shown up. At least five sections in the arena were filled with protesters.

"Mr. Trump just arrived in Chicago, and after meeting with law enforcement, has determined that for the safety of all of the tens of thousands of people that have gathered in and around the arena, tonight's rally will be postponed to another date," the Trump campaign said in a statement. "Thank you very much for your attendance and please go in peace."

RELATED: Donald Trump rallies are turning violent


Several fistfights between Trump supporters and protesters could be seen after the announcement, as a large contingent of Chicago police officers moved in to restore order.

Supporters of Trump still inside chanted "We want Trump" after the event was canceled. Protesters, meanwhile, shouted "We shut s*** down" and "We stumped Trump." Others chanted "Bernie" as supporters whipped out Bernie Sanders campaign signs.


Some protesters were being detained and forcefully carried out.

Maria Hernandez, a 25-year-old community organizer, broke out into dance as a Trump campaign staffer announced that the rally had been canceled.

"I've never been more proud of my city," Hernandez told CNN.

Hernandez, who came out to protest Trump, said the Republican front-runner's immigration policies, as well as racial divisions in her city, pushed her to show up and protest Trump's planned event.

How Trump and Sanders tapped America's economic rage

"I'm protesting because I'm black and Mexican and I'm not sure where he wants to deport me to, but I deal with racism daily in Chicago and I've had enough," she said.

One Trump supporter said he was "disappointed" that the event was postponed.

"Protesters have won now," Marlin Patrick, 55, told CNN. "We just feel as if the protesters have taken over."

Opinion: Speaking to Donald Trump's people

Debi Patrick, a 53-year-old Trump supporter who lives outside Chicago, said there should have been more security planned for the event, but said she didn't blame Trump for the atmosphere at the rallies, saying people are responsible for their own behavior. Asked if she would still vote for Trump on Tuesday, she said, "Absolutely, more than ever."

But, Patrick said, "This is scaring the hell out of me, trying to leave here."


"Until today, we've never had much of a problem," Trump later told CNN's Don Lemon. Asked if he had any regrets about the charged rhetoric at his rallies, Trump was defiant.


"I don't have regrets," Trump said. "These were very, very bad protesters. These were bad dudes. They were rough, tough guys."

Authorities made five arrests, said Chicago Interim Police Superintendent John Escalante. One of those arrested was Sopan Deb, a CBS reporter covering the Trump campaign.

Two officers suffered injuries, he said. One was hit in the head with a bottle.

Some 300 officers were on hand for crowd control, according to Escalante. The Trump campaign didn't consult with authorities before calling the event off, he said.

The Chicago Police Department was "confident" they could provide adequate security to protect Trump, his supporters and protesters, Escalante said.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel praised officers' effort under difficult circumstances.

"For all of us who cherish the ideals upon which our country was founded, the hateful, divisive rhetoric that pits Americans against each other demeans our democratic values and diminishes our democratic process," he said in a statement.

"I want to thank the men and women of the Chicago Police Department for their hard work tonight in unexpected circumstances, and their continued commitment to protecting people's first amendment rights."

A crowd of protesters outside the rally site had been steadily growing throughout the afternoon. Earlier Friday, 32 people were arrested in protests both inside and outside Trump's rally at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, police said. Thirty-one people were charged with disturbing the peace, and one was charged with third-degree assault. St. Louis police declined to provide further details.


Protests spill into streets



Soon after the event was postponed, scores of protesters -- a racial mixture of whites and blacks, Hispanics and Asians -- spilled out into the streets near the university, which is located in the city's downtown.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside a parking garage adjacent to the arena, where police set up a human barricade to allow supporters to go to their cars and leave. More than a dozen police officers on horseback were there.


"Let's go, let's go," one Chicago police officer told Trump supporters in a truck. "Go home."


One supporter, who didn't give his name as he drove out, said the situation was dangerous and that he felt unsafe as protesters shouted at his car.


At one point, a man on the third floor of the garage leaned over the edge and shouted at protesters, "I don't support Trump."


A protester responded, "You f***ing neo-Nazi prick, come down here."


Aureliano Rivas, 18, a Mexican-American high school student from Chicago, told CNN he was protesting because "we have to stand our ground."



"We shouldn't let racism happen like this," said Rivas, who was shouting "F*** Trump" as Trump supporters drove out of the garage. In response, Rivas said, supporters were flipping him off.

Asked what he would tell a Trump supporter, Rivas said, "This is wrong. You shouldn't support someone who is racist."


Trump responds



After the protests in the arena ended, Trump did a series of media interviews, including one with Lemon. Trump told Lemon he had no regrets about his rhetoric, attributing the root cause of the violence to economic issues such as unemployment among African-American youths.

"We have a very divided country," Trump said. "A lot of people are upset because they haven't had a salary increase for 12 years."

Why Americans are so angry in 2016

Trump also blamed the media for what he saw as an overinflation of the evening's problems. And he said most incidents involving protesters are tame and in control, saying that he has been "very mild" with those who disrupt his events and that his events are gatherings of "great love" that are interrupted by unruly, violent people.

Trump, however, did say he hoped "my tone is not that of causing violence."

"My basic tone is that of securing our borders, of having a country," he said.

Earlier in the night, as protests outside the arena continued, Trump tweeted that he had "just got off phone with the great people of Guam," which holds a Republican convention on Saturday to elect delegates.

"I just got off the phone with the great people of Guam! Thank you for your support! #VoteTrump today! #Trump2016."


2016 hopefuls blast Trump



Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump's main rival for the GOP presidential nomination who declined at CNN's Republican debate this week to blame Trump for violence at his rallies, took a much sharper tone on Friday night.

"In any campaign, responsibility starts at the top," Cruz told reporters in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

"When you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence," he continued, "you create an environment that only encourages that sort of nasty discourse."

Cruz added that the violence was a "predictable consequence" of Trump's posture toward protesters at his events.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told Lemon that the protests were part of an "organized effort to disrupt a rally. This is not some organic protest."

"But putting that aside for a moment, the tone and tenor of Donald Trump's rallies over the last few months has been disturbing to a lot of people," he continued.

Rubio added, "If you're running for president, you have to understand that that kind of rhetoric from a president -- or a major presidential candidate -- has ramifications," Rubio said. "The images that the world must be looking at now must seem to them like our republic is fracturing."

Ohio Gov. John Kasich blasted Trump in a statement.

"Tonight, the seeds of division that Donald Trump has been sowing this whole campaign finally bore fruit, and it was ugly," he said. "Some let their opposition to his views slip beyond protest into violence, but we can never let that happen."

And Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic hopeful, tweeted during the night that his campaign's message was about unity, a thinly veiled shot at Trump.

"We do things a little different in this campaign: We bring people TOGETHER. #BernieInIL," he tweeted.


But Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., blamed the demonstrators for the unrest.

"Liberals love the first amendment until you say something they don't agree with," he tweeted.



Heightened tensions at rallies



Protests and racial tensions have recently escalated at Trump rallies. On Thursday, a man attending a Trump rally this week was charged with assault after he allegedly sucker-punched a black protester being led out of a Trump event.

Last fall, Trump said a Black Lives Matter protester maybe "should have been roughed up." And despite an announcement at the start of his rallies urging protesters not to be violent toward protesters, Trump in February urged his supporters to "knock the crap out of" anybody "getting ready to throw a tomato" and vowed to pay for their legal fees should they face charges.

Opinion: No room for black Valdosta students in Trump world

"Knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. OK? Just knock the hell -- I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise," Trump said.

And Trump also said he personally wanted to punch a protester "in the face"during a rally in February.

But at CNN's Republican debate on Thursday, Trump insisted that he did not support violence at his events.

"I certainly do not condone that at all," Trump said, adding, "We have some protesters who are bad dudes. They have done bad things."

CNN's Mallory Thompson, Kristen Holmes, Noah Gray and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

10 Cloverfield Lane Is Fun But It’s Not in the Same League as Cloverfield

10 Cloverfield Lane Is Fun But It’s Not in the Same League as Cloverfield


You’ve probably heard that the new movie 10 Cloverfield Lane started out as an unrelated thriller called The Cellar (or Valencia). And then producer J.J. Abramsdecided to rename it 10 Cloverfield Lane, and make it a “sister movie” to his 2008 sleeper hit. This was probably a mistake, because it underscores that this new film, while entertaining, just isn’t in the same league as Cloverfield.



I’m going to try to avoid any spoilers in this short review, because the surprises in 10 Cloverfield Lane are a big part of how the movie functions. But I’m going to assume that you’re okay with me talking about stuff that was already revealed in this trailer:


As that trailer shows, Mary-Elizabeth Winstead plays Michelle, a woman who’s been in a car accident. She wakes up in a scary mysterious cellar, the captive of a weird guy named Howard (John Goodman) who claims there’s been an apocalypse of some sort and “everyone outside of here is dead.” He’s sort of a doomsday prepper who believes the end actually has come, and now she’s stuck in there with him, plus another guy, Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr). But Howard is a scary wacko, and it’s clear he’s not telling the whole truth.


It’s clear as you watch 10 Cloverfield Lane that it’s still not really connected toCloverfield, beyond their titles. They’re not even really the same genre:Cloverfield is a wild and hectic ride where a giant monster attacks half an hour in and the characters are running through a city under attack, and 10 Cloverfield Lane is a slow, paranoid “trapped in a bunker” thriller.


The great pleasure of watching 10 Cloverfield Lane comes mainly from watching John Goodman’s masterfully weird performance, as a childlike control freak who may or may not have been right to prepare for an apocalypse. Goodman’s usual affability is almost completely subsumed inside a set of twitchy mannerisms, and he manages to keep you completely spellbound by his mercurial behavior—without ever overplaying it. The “redneck” aspects of his character sometimes feel a tad broad, but Goodman manages to make Howard seem like someone you could actually meet.


And the heart of the film is the interplay between Howard and Michelle, who has to figure out if he’s telling the truth but also keep herself safe. Michelle has the most fleshed-out character arc in the film—at the very beginning, we’re told that she always runs away whenever there’s trouble, and then she’s trapped with someone whose first impulse is always to hide. Dealing with that situation changes her, and we get to see it happen. Winstead does a decent job of showing Michelle’s evolution, and she more than holds her own against Goodman.


That said, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a much more conventional film than Cloverfieldwas. When Cloverfield came out in January 2008, I hadn’t seen anything quite like it. We hadn’t had a lot of movies about giant monsters attacking cities, full stop, in the decade since Roland Emmerich tried to reinvent Godzilla. AndCloverfield’s approach to the “monster movie” genre was full of new tricks, both stylistically and in terms of actual storytelling.


By contrast, I feel like I’ve seen a ton of movies like 10 Cloverfield Lane—even just in the past few years. The setup, with three people stuck in a tiny enclosed space with mysterious stuff going on, is a staple of claustrophobic psychological thrillers, especially low-budget or independent productions. (Just in the past half year, there’s been 400 Days and Air, off the top of my head.) When it comes to the “tense psychological drama in a box” subgenre, too, 10 Cloverfield Lane is mostly content to obey the usual conventions.


That said, there are some cool/shocking surprises in 10 Cloverfield Lane, especially in the final half hour. And this is a stylish example of the claustrophobic thriller genre—in fact, the weird mysteries, Bear McCreary’s brassy score and Dan Trachtenberg’s tight, creepily domestic direction all reminded me quite a bit of Abrams’ most famous TV show, in a good way. Several times while watching 10 Cloverfield Lane, I kept thinking, “this could easily be an episode of Lost.”


So I do think it was a mistake to rebrand an unrelated thriller as being somehow connected to Cloverfield. And it’s hard not to see this as a manifestation of Abrams’ great foible as a creator: The love of sleight of hand and manipulating audience expectations. This film’s title is a ruse, a misdirection, a way to set you up to be surprised when you actually get something that’s not even remotely in that same field of clover as that other movie. Sometimes, when Abrams plays with an audience’s expectations, it yields unexpected delights—but in this case, I feel like it backfired, for me at least. I kept expecting stuff that this film didn’t deliver on.


And you know, not everything has to be a franchise. Sometimes a movie can be a standalone, and its own thing, that’s okay. It makes me sad that the only way they could get people to come see this new movie is by branding it with the name of a previous hit.



That’s part of why I’m telling you guys this: I think you’ll enjoy 10 Cloverfield Lane more if you think of it, instead, as a called brand new thriller Valencia.

Stephen Fishbach's Survivor Blog: 'Brutal Challenge' and a Medical Emergency Test the Castaways in New Ways

Stephen Fishbach's Survivor Blog: 'Brutal Challenge' and a Medical Emergency Test the Castaways in New Ways
This week on Survivor, everybody almost died. After a brutal challenge in scorching 118 degree Cambodian heat, three contestants zonked out from heatstroke, and Caleb took a (Russell) Swan dive that ended with a medevac.

It's really the humidity that kills you.
The Fishy Award goes to Dr. Joe. He stayed calm, cool, and collective while the entire cast twitched and foamed at the mouth like they were extras on The Walking Dead. First Debbie went loopy, then Caleb collapsed and Cydney broke down. Dr. Joe had ice packs, water bottles, and battlefield wisdom for them all. (Though for some reason, just one umbrella?)
Moments of crisis bring out the best in the Survivor team. It looked like chaos, but it revealed such incredible order and discipline: Dr. Joe summoned choppers and intravenous injections with a wave of his hand.
Meanwhile, Jeff Probst hopped from Debbie to Cydney to Caleb, all while narrating the reward challenge, translating what was happening for the viewers, and overseeing a genuine medical crisis. Let's get this guy a fifth Emmy. He really is the best in the business. When was the last time Tom Bergeron called in the helicopters for Dancing with the Stars?
The medical team takes tremendous care of us contestants, but they never coddle us. Dr. Joe monitors our wounds for infection, but he doesn't kiss our booboos. Even when my feet were swollen to prehistoric size, the only aid he could give me was the advice to "try and keep them dry" – not so easy in a monsoon. He reminds me of a very handsome high school gym coach. If you have all your limbs intact, his general prescription is "walk it off." But if you do lose that leg, by god he'll sew it back on with bamboo fiber.

That's exactly how Survivor is supposed to be. Tough – but survivable.

Poor Beauty tribe. You could tell what they were all thinking: "Leave us Caleb, our charming challenge champion. Take Nick instead!"
But alas, the Survivor Gods are cruel, and Caleb was whisked to the skies – though with the promise that he would one day return to save us all.

Oh, And Alecia?

The episode's other elimination was an afterthought. Even Jeff kind of shrugged his shoulders about that whole Tribal Council thing.

"You guys want to just do it here? We spent a ton of money on that chopper. I'd love to save on torch fuel."

I wonder if Scot and Jason let Alecia flub the Immunity Challenge by not tagging in. Losing Alecia before a swap or a merge is a pretty good plan for the two of them, given how thoroughly they've alienated her.
(Another good plan would have been - maybe don't alienate Alecia in the first place.)

Alecia to her credit didn't "pull a Posley" and agree to an early Tribal Council demise. She refused to be bullied out of the game. Nevertheless there was no question at Tribal whose torch would be snuffed.

Poor Alecia. I had high hopes that she might upend the Aggro Trio of Jason, Scot, and Cydney. Though apparently they're actually bullying her as an inspirational lesson to young girls everywhere?

To be fair, it's easy to judge players like Jason and Scot without having walked a challenge in their sneakers. I might get testy with Alecia too, after an hour of digging in scorching sand while she kicked around little clumps in a pointless attempt at "helping."

I've survivored with a couple maddening players myself, who taught me new depths of patience. They come off as bullied underdogs, but ask anybody who played with them, and you'll hear tales of homicide narrowly averted. The long buildup, the agonizing hours of enduring their complaints and sullen glares, never quite translate to TV. When someone finally snaps, that plays great on camera.
I'm not defending Scot and Jason. At best they're being dismissive jerks. At worst, they're sabotaging their own games by treating another player with disdain in front of the entire cast.

But everybody on Survivor is struggling to be their best selves in the brutal elements. Everybody acts a little crazy, irritable, weepy, or mean (with the exception of beautiful, transcendent Tai.) Nobody keeps it completely together for 39 days. That's why it's such an amazing show.

We're lucky if we can walk out of the game ourselves – instead of being shuttled away into the sky.