Latest news with #Diamond
Montreal Gazette
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Montreal Gazette
Dunlevy: Montreal documentary hunts for stolen indigenous masks that inspired surrealists
The repatriation and restitution of art and cultural materials is a hot topic these days. A prime example is estates trying to reclaim objects taken by the Nazis or sold by Jews under duress as they fled Germany. But there's another example closer to home. Montrealer Joanna Robertson and Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond's absorbing new documentary So Surreal: Behind the Masks explores what happened to Yup'ik and Kwakwaka'wakw ceremonial masks taken from these indigenous tribes in Alaska and British Columbia's northwest coast more than a century ago by traders, government officials and collectors. The masks were brought as far as New York, where they inspired some of the great European surrealist artists, who were living in exile mid-century, and eventually made their way to auction houses, world-famous museums and private collections. Leading us on an investigative journey to learn the significance of these masks, the circumstances of their removal and where they ended up is Diamond. He appears on camera throughout the film as an unassuming, intrepid protagonist, pushing the narrative forward with playful determination. He has done the same in his other films, including 2009's Reel Injun, which examined the problematic portrayals of Native Americans in Hollywood westerns, earning him and co-directors Catherine Bainbridge and Jeremiah Hayes three Gemini Awards and a Peabody Award. 'I've gotten quite comfortable (on screen),' Diamond said recently, over coffee with Robertson at Outremont's Croissanterie Le Figaro. 'Sometimes I forget the camera's rolling and I just act real goofy.' 'I think people appreciate it,' Robertson said. 'You bring a lot of humour to these (potentially) doom and gloom situations.' One amazing shot in the documentary shows Diamond puffing on a cigarette as he rides a bicycle down the middle of the road in the bustling Champs Élysées, with the Eiffel Tower behind him, and ponders his next move. Inspired by their subjects, the filmmakers take a surrealist approach to the storytelling as they weave together disparate clues and different ways of seeing the situation. On the one hand are Yup'ik tribe members who are happy to see their masks being preserved and showcased under the same roof as the Mona Lisa: One magical moment finds Yup'ik artist and storyteller Chuna McIntyre singing and dancing joyously as he approaches one of his tribe's masks on display at the Louvre, during an after-hours visit. On the other are members the Kwakwaka'wakw and their allies, who are in a continuing fight to see their masks — including many stolen during Canada's Potlach ban in 1921 — come home. At the heart of the intrigue is a quest to locate a mystical Raven Transformation Mask and possibly converse with its current owner about its eventual return. Somewhere in the middle are the wild surrealists — Max Ernst, André Breton, Roberto Matta, Enrico Donati and Joan Miró — and their friends, including famed French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, who were endlessly stimulated by the otherworldly dreamscapes evoked by these masks. The extent to which they were aware of how these artifacts were obtained is unclear. 'I'm grateful we're able to shine a light on these stories, which are so fundamental to our understanding of who we are — of colonization and also the importance of Indigenous storytelling and culture,' Robertson said. 'The surrealists saw something — they lived through war after war after war — and they saw something in these masks, however problematic, as a reminder there's another way of being, and of seeing the world.' She expressed hope their film can foster empathy toward indigenous communities and all that they have lost. 'Yeah,' Diamond agreed, 'because if you lose your culture, you have nothing else.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jamie Dimon on the bond market, Palantir contract: Trending Tickers
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon warned that "a crack" is beginning to form in the bond market (^TYX, ^TNX, ^FVX) — "It is going to happen" — at an economic forum on Friday The Trump administration has tapped Palantir Technologies (PLTR) for a new contract, according to the New York Times, to expand the government's tech infrastructure and databases. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here. Now time for some of today's trending tickers. We're looking at the 10 year treasury. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon saying we're going to see a crack in the bond market. Dimond making the comments an economic forum Friday, Josh, so Diamond saying issuing me this warning, there's going to be a crack in the bond market. You're gonna panic, he says. He says he's not gonna panic, but you're gonna panic. I might. Yeah, you might maybe everybody will. Uh, it is Jamie Dimon, and so obviously when he Speaks people do pay attention and he's right to say that you stay focused on the bond market, which was spooking folks and we can debate the reasons why it was maybe debts and deficits or was it recession fears and winding was the selling in in in Japanese government debt, but it was spooking folks. There's something about Jamie Dimon and always hitting exactly where kind of the market zeitgeist is, right? It's if we're talking about the Fed and the Fed should cut seems to be the narrative that's out there, it feels like he starts talking. About rates if it's recession, it's that bond markets definitely been the conversation, right? And I think to Diamond's point, higher yields have weighed on stocks, right? That's been the clear trade over the last month in the sense that a lot of the broader market has struggled as rates are going higher and it definitely feels like the biggest fear or one of the biggest fears in the market right now. City Stewart Kaiser laid out kind of three key risks to the bond or to the stock market, and he said simply that premium. Uh, that bond market premium continuing to move higher is one of the key risks he's concerned about right now. And you also hope that it does feel like things have perhaps right now calmed down a bit. I mean, I'm looking at the 10 year benchmark. We are back to 44. Well, what I find interesting, he also said in this conversation that this may be the wake up call that we need. I mean, I think with what we saw last two weeks, we got the wake up call already, so I'm not really sure what this really adds. I mean, of course. He's always going to make news with what he says, but you know, I, I think he's already to your point, talking about the zeitgeist, and we've been talking about it for a while. So, um, you know, to me it's, it's always nice to have a Jamie headline here and there, but I'm just really not sure what new things we're learning from his insights today. I mean, he's he's right. I mean debts and deficits, it's are a big challenge, and bond markets gonna have to navigate that. We are checking in on Palantirer, and by the way, those shares tacking on a nice 5%. In today's trade that's at the New York Times reported President Trump has expanded the software company's work across the federal government, tapping the company's technology which can easily organize, we know, and analyze data pulled from different agencies. So this was the Times report how the Trump administration has expanded Paltier's work, jobs for the government. They say the company has received more than $113 million in federal government spending since Trump took office. It does not, and that doesn't include, by the way. They see this nearly $800 million contract that the DOD awarded Alex Karp's company last week. This has not been a stock by what you want to bet against. It's been rough. No, short sellers have lost over $2 billion betting on this stock since April 8th. That's from, uh, S3 Partners, Josh. But you just zoom out on the stock like we're doing right now, right? You look over 6 months, things up 91%. Like stock is now trading at basically an all-time high, right around 470% over the past 12 months. Yeah, it's, it's it's crazy. Crazy crazy chart and I think I was when we were talking about this before the show, I was looking stock was only up 1% and I was like, OK, maybe we finally just maxed out on potential catalysts here because it is a good contract and the stock wasn't moving that much. Now interesting as we get the broader market rally that we're starting to see into the close. Palantirer is one of the key movers. Palantirer feels like it's been a little bit of a leader for the market. Palantirer kind of moves a little bit higher than the market's moving, but it's definitely one of those hype trades, right? Oh, what do you make of it? Pallanter and Nvidia, these are companies you don't bet against now. I think. Most fascinating to me is that there were some concerns that defense stocks were going to get hit as the Doge operation was well underway, and the fact that Palantirer has done better than most expected, but clearly still winning more contracts and that Trump is is very much leaning into Karp's business is is obviously another reason that you will not now bet against Palantirer. And by the way, what else happened this week? Fannie Mae told us they're launching this AI powered crime detection unit. Who did they partner with? Patienter.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jamie Dimon on the bond market, Palantir contract: Trending Tickers
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon warned that "a crack" is beginning to form in the bond market (^TYX, ^TNX, ^FVX) — "It is going to happen" — at an economic forum on Friday The Trump administration has tapped Palantir Technologies (PLTR) for a new contract, according to the New York Times, to expand the government's tech infrastructure and databases. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here. Now time for some of today's trending tickers. We're looking at the 10-year Treasury. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Diamond saying we're going to see a crack in the bond market. Diamond making the comments an economic form Friday, Josh. So Diamond saying issuing this warning, there's going to be a crack in the bond market. You're going to panic, he says. He says he's not going to panic, but you're going to panic. I might. Yeah, maybe you might maybe everybody will. Uh, it is Jamie Diamond and so obviously when he speaks people do pay attention and he's right to say that you stay focused on the bond market, which was spooking folks. And we can debate the reasons why, was it maybe it's debts and deficits or was it recession fears and widening, was it the selling in in Japanese government debt, but it was spooking folks. There's something about Jamie Diamond and always hitting exactly where kind of the market zeitgeist is, right? It's if we're talking about the Fed and the Fed should cut seems to be the narrative that's out there, it feels like he starts talking about rates. If it's recession, it's that. Bond market has definitely been the conversation, right? And I think to Diamond's point, higher yields have weighed on stocks, right? That's been the clear trade over the last month in the sense that a lot of the broader market has struggled as rates are going higher and it definitely is feels like the biggest fear or one of the biggest fears in the market right now. City Stewart Kaiser laid out kind of three key risks to the bond or to the stock market and he said simply that premium that bond market premium continuing to move higher is one of the key risks he's concerned about right now. And yet also hope though it does feel like things have perhaps right now calmed down a bit. I mean, I'm looking at the 10-year benchmark, we are back to 44. Well, what I find interesting, he also said in this conversation that this may be the wake-up call that we need. I mean, I think with what we saw last two weeks, we got the wake-up call already. So I'm not really sure what this really adds. I mean, of course he's always going to make news with what he says, but you know, I I think he's already to your point talking about the zeitgeist and and we've been talking about it for a while. So, um, you know, to me it's it's always nice to have a Jamie headline here and there, but I'm just really not sure what new things we're learning from his insights today. Yeah. I mean, he's he's right by me. I mean, debts and deficits are a big challenge and bond markets are going to have to navigate that. Yeah. We are checking in on Palantir by the way, those shares tacking on a nice 5% in today's trade. That's after the New York Times report of President Trump has expanded the software company's work across the federal government, tapping the company's technology, which can which can easily organize, we know and analyze data pulled from different agencies. So this was the Times report how the Trump administration has expanded Palantir's work, Josh, with the government. They say the company has received more than 113 million in federal government spending since Trump took office. Does not and that doesn't include by the way, they say this nearly $800 million contract the DOD awarded Alex Karp's company last week. This has not been a stock by the way you want to bet against. It's been rough. No, short sellers have lost over two billion dollars betting on this stock since April 8th. That's from S3 partners, Josh. But you just zoom out on the stock like we're doing right now, right? You look over six months, things up 91%. Like stock is now trading at basically an all-time high, right? Up 470% of the past 12 months. Yeah, it's it's a crazy, crazy chart. And I think I was when we were talking about this before the show, I was looking stock was only up 1% and I was like, okay, maybe we finally just maxed out on potential catalyst here because it is a good contract. And the stock wasn't moving that much. Now interesting is we get the broader market rally that we're starting to see into the close. Palantir's one of the key movers. Palantir feels like it's been a little bit of a leader for the market. Palantir kind of moves a little bit higher than the market's moving, but it's definitely one of those hype trades. But what do you make of it? Palantir, Nvidia, these are companies you don't bet against now. I think what's most fascinating to me is that there were some concerns that defense stocks were going to get hit as the DOD operation was well underway and the fact that Palantir has done better than most expected, but clearly still winning more contracts and that Trump is is very much leaning into Karp's business is is obviously another reason that you will not now bet against Palantir. And by the way, what else happened this week? Fannie Mae told us they're launching this AI powered crime detection unit. Who do they partner with? Palantir. Palantir.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Revenue seize tobacco worth almost €170k in two separate Dublin operations
Revenue officers seized tobacco products worth almost €170,000 in two separate operations in Dublin. On Monday, as a result of an intelligence led operation, Revenue officers seized 133,600 cigarettes following a search, under warrant, of a premises in Dublin. The illicit cigarettes of different brands including Septwolves, Diamond and Nanging had a retail value of over €120,000 representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately €95,000. On Friday, as part of an intelligence led operation, Revenue officers seized 50,400 cigarettes and 4.25kgs of tobacco, following a search, under warrant, of a premises in the Dublin 7 area. The seizures were made with the assistance of detector dog Toby and with the support of An Garda Síochána. The illicit cigarettes, branded Benson and Hedges silver, Mayfair, JPS and Yeti, and roll your own tobacco branded Turner had a retail value of more than €49,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately €39,000. Investigations into both seizures are ongoing. These seizures are part of Revenue's ongoing operations targeting the supply and sale of illegal cigarettes and tobacco in the shadow economy. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on 1800 295 295.
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Drake breaks RIAA record with 10 Diamond certifications across singles and collaborations
Drake has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the artist with the most RIAA Diamond certifications ever — a total of ten. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) confirmed the news on May 28, announcing that his singles 'Hold On, We're Going Home' and 'Best I Ever Had' have now reached Diamond status, joining an already impressive list. With this update, Drake's Diamond-certified catalog also includes hits like 'God's Plan,' 'One Dance,' 'Hotline Bling,' Travis Scott's 'SICKO MODE,' 'Life Is Good' with Future, Lil Wayne's 'Love Me,' and Chris Brown's 'No Guidance.' These achievements place Drake ahead of Garth Brooks and Post Malone, who each hold nine Diamond certifications. The RIAA celebrated the milestone with a social media post showcasing all 10 plaques. Drake now stands as the first artist to hit double-digit Diamond certifications across both singles and albums. An 11th certification may be on the horizon, with 'Nice for What' currently certified 9x Platinum. Fans quickly reacted on social media. 'You just simply can't say anything bad about this,' one person wrote. Others used the occasion to reference Drake's ongoing rivalry with Kendrick Lamar, commenting, 'Looks like the 20v1 didn't work out!' Beyond the certifications, Drake continues to stay active. In February, he released his collaborative album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U with PARTYNEXTDOOR, with two tracks still charting on the Billboard Hot 100. This summer, he's scheduled to headline all three nights of Wireless Festival in London from July 11–13 and is also planning the return of OVO Fest in Toronto. Drake's consistency and dominance show no signs of slowing down.
