Oliver Wasow's Trump Rogues May 1-May 7 At NYC Steve Harvey Fine Art Benefits ACLU

New York-based artist Oliver Wasow has created a haunting portrait series of key figures in the Trump administration. The entire series, titled 'Rogues Gallery' will comprise a week-long exhibition opening from May 1-May 7, 2017 at New York's Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, 208 Forsyth Street. More details.

ArtNet News describes the process: To create the subtly disturbing images, Wasow has worked with images sourced from the Internet, digitally manipulating each portrait in Photoshop, adjusting the backdrop and lighting and sometimes distorting physical features to draw out the subject’s creepy side. First Daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, for instance, have had their brown eyes swapped out for Vladimir Putin’s baby blues, in a commentary on the Russian government’s possible influences on the administration.

Although the images were created to be shared on social media, rather than displayed physically, Wasow is selling 12-by-16-inch prints of each portrait for $100 each, or the full set of 14 for $1,000. A poster of the series is priced at $200. All proceeds will benefit the ACLU.

India's Bihar Province Women Launch Assault On Alcohol With Dramatic Wins For Families

Women in India's Bihar State province are waging battle against moonshine, writes the New York Times. 

Bihar is a state in East India, bordering Nepal. It is divided by the River Ganges, which floods its fertile plains. Important Buddhist pilgrimage sites include the Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya's Mahabodhi Temple, under which the Buddha allegedly meditated. In the state capital Patna, Mahavir Mandir temple is revered by Hindus, while Sikhs worship at the domed, riverside Gurdwara of Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib Ji.

It's easy to conjure up images of women taking their drunk-husband lives into their own hands in the image of Carry Nation, the temperance advocate who attacked saloons in America, hatchet in hand.

But the reality of everyday life in Bihar state province is that the majority of per capita income of $600 a year is routinely spent on alcohol, rather than to advance impoverished families. 

Bihar’s chief minister, Nitish Kumar found himself in the fight of his political life two years ago against the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A single womanly voice turned the tide of his political campaign, approaching him after an event with the simple words:

“Brother, ban alcohol.”  With a lot of self-reflection on the possible consequences, Kumar agreed with the pledge: “If I get elected, I will ban alcohol.” He was re-elected and his women supporters were poised for action, saying nada to Kumar's plan to introduce the ban slowly. 

As controversial as the ban has been -- and many agree that the punishments are too harsh -- the impact of the alcohol ban cannot be denied. 

Murders and gang robberies are down almost 20 percent from a year earlier, and riots by 13 percent. Fatal traffic accidents fell by 10 percent.

At the same time, household spending has risen, with milk sales up more than 10 percent and cheese sales growing by 200 percent six months after the ban. Sales of two-wheeled vehicles rose more than 30 percent, while sales of electrical appliances rose by 50 percent. Brick houses are rising in villages where mud huts used to predominate.

Women went after the biggest drinkers, men like Omprakash Ram Chandrawanshi, 35, who was interviewed for The Times.

“If I earned 500 rupees, I would spend 200 on alcohol,” he said. He earns the equivalent of about $200 a month as a driver, he said, but “I often wouldn’t bring any money home.”

Now, his family has more money for food, he pays for tutorials to help the children in school, and he has been able to expand the brick house shared by the extended family. Simply stated, he has dignity.

In an unimaginable show of force, more than 30 million Biharis, fully one-quarter of the population, joined hands along 7,000 miles of roadway in January in a show of support for the alcohol ban. This time men were leading the parade, but there's no doubt who supplied the momentum for families in the province to buy books, not booze. The change happened because of India's women.

Alicia Machado Goes Naked For PETA, Saying We Don't Need To Kill For Coats

Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado steps into the limelight, sans clothes in her 'Proud To Be Me and Fur-Free PETA Latino campaign. "I'd rather go naked than wear fur," says the 40-year-old Venezuelan model and former Miss Universe.

“I find wearing fur a little embarrassing. Animals are our friends. They're our companions. When an animal is bred to be killed, to make clothing, it is monstrous,” Machado said in Spanish.

“I think that human beings are at a time in the world during which it is no longer necessary. We have enough killing without also breeding animals just to kill them.”

“It is something that is terribly cruel and I think it is the biggest example of the frivolity and superficiality that human beings are capable of.”

Machado rocketed into the spotlight during the 2016 presidential campaign season after it was revealed that Republican candidate Donald Trump called her 'Miss Piggy' and 'Miss Housekeeping' during her reign.