MEGADETH's New Album 'Dystopia' To Be Issued As A Limited Edition Vinyl Picture Disc

MEGADETH's New Critically Acclaimed Album 'Dystopia' To Be Issued As A Limited Edition Vinyl Picture Disc on April 8 (PRNewsFoto/Universal Music Enterprises)

On April 8th, 2016, Universal Music / Tradecraft / T-Boy Records will issue MEGADETH's new highly successful and critically acclaimed album Dystopia as a limited edition vinyl picture disc featuring the album's vivid dark and chilling artwork which takes the bands long-time mascot Vic Rattlehead to a whole new level and drops him into a bleak, futuristic dystopian universe.

The Dystopia picture disc can be ordered individually at all participating retail and online outlets or at UMv as part of a specially priced pack with other picture disc titles including Peace Sells…But Who's Buying?, So Far, So Good…So What!, Rust In Peace, Countdown To Extinction and Youthanasia.

Featuring 11 tracks, Dystopia was released on January 22nd on CD, LP, and digitally, as well as a specialDeluxe Virtual Reality CD package.

Dystopia debuted at no. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, no. 1 album on the Hard Music and Top Rock charts. and no. 2 on the Top Album Sales chart. 

Globally, Dystopia also achieved top 10 debuts in Canada (no. 2),Japan (no. 2 international chart), Finland (no. 3), Mexico (no. 4), Czech Republic (no. 5), Australia (no. 6), New Zealand (no. 6), Switzerland (no. 7), Poland (no. 8) and Germany (no. 10), which along with Belgium, Ireland and Spain contributed to achieve MEGADETH's highest ever chart positions in their thirty year history in a total of 10 countries around the world. Other countries with significant sales or chart debuts included UK, Norway,Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, and France. A truly worldwide success, Dystopia outsold the band's previous album Super Collider (2013) in only 4 weeks.

Dystopia weaves together Dave Mustaine's intricate and unique songwriting style, trademark leads and lightning riffs with harmonious precision, paying homage to MEGADETH's influential roots while continuing to break new and heavy ground.  

TRACK LISTING:
1. The Threat Is Real	7. Poisonous Shadows
2. Dystopia	8. Conquer or Die!
3. Fatal Illusion	9. Lying In State
4. Death From Within	10. The Emperor
5. Bullet To The Brain	11. Foreign Policy
6. Post American World

MEGADETH are currently on the North American leg of their Dystopia World Tour, visiting a total of 12 states and throughout Canada, before performing across Europe in June and July, and in Latin America in August. Current tour dates are included below, with full information available at www.megadeth.com/tour.

Dystopia World Tour North American Dates are as follows:
Mar 17	Terminal 5	New York, NY
Mar 19	Sands Bethlehem Event Center	Bethlehem, PA
Mar 20	Electric Factory	Philadelphia, PA
Mar 21	House of Blues	Boston, MA
Mar 23	Cross Insurance Center	Bangor ME
Mar 24	Videotron Centre	Quebec City, Canada

In addition to the Dystopia World Tour, MEGADETH will also be making special festival appearances. Go to www.megadeth.com/tour for ticketing info and up-to-date information. 

Festival Dates Include:

Apr 28	Coliseo de Puerto Rico	San Juan, Puerto Rico
Apr 30	Fort Rock @ JetBlue Park	Ft. Myers, FL
May 1	Welcome to Rockville @ Metropolitan Park	Jacksonville, FL
May 7	Carolina Rebellion @Rock City Campgrounds	Concord, NC
May 20-22	Rock On The Range @ MAPFRE Stadium	Columbus OH
May 22	Rock'n Derby @ Shaghticoke Fairgrounds	Schaghticoke, NY
May 26	Badlands Pawn	Sioux Falls, SD
May 27-29	Rocklahoma @ Catch The Fever Festival Grds	Pryor, OK
May 29	River City Rockfest @ AT&T Center	San Antonio, TX

MEGADETH burst onto the scene thirty years ago, virtually inventing a genre with their debut album Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! (recently recognized by VH1 as the Greatest Thrash Metal Debut Album of All Time) sold more than 38 million albums worldwide, earning numerous accolades including 11 Grammy® nominations, scoring five consecutive platinum albums—including 1992's two-million-selling Countdown to Extinction.

SOURCE: Universal Music Enterprises

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How Donald Trump Gets Away With Saying Things Other Candidates Can't

Donald Trump fires up the crowd during a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan. Carlos Barria/Reuters

By Jennifer Mercieca, Texas A&M University

In an interview last month, George Stephanopoulos asked Donald Trump about his retweet of a follower who insisted that both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were ineligible for the presidency.

Trump dismissed Stephanopoulos' question with “it was a retweet” – as if to say that retweeting someone else’s claim meant that he wasn’t responsible for the content.

When pressed, Trump continued:

I mean, let people make their own determination. I’ve never looked at it, George. I honestly have never looked at it. As somebody said, he’s not [eligible]. And I retweeted it. I have 14 million people between Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, and I retweet things and we start dialogue and it’s very interesting.

It’s a response that can be reduced to I’m not saying it, I’m just saying it.

As a scholar of American political rhetoric, I’ve previously written about the ways that Donald Trump’s rhetorical style mirrors that of polarizing figures like George Wallace and Joseph McCarthy.

But it’s becoming increasingly clear that what sets Trump’s campaign apart is his reliance upon paralipsis, a device that enables him to publicly say things that he can later disavow – without ever having to take responsibility for his words.

Just saying…
The art of rhetoric – or persuasive communication – can include any number of forms: speeches, essays, tweets, images, films and more.

Paralipsis (para, “side” and leipein, “to leave”) is a Greek term that translates to “leave to the side.” It’s thought to be an ironic way for a speaker to say two things at once.

For example, say you wanted to imply that your coworker takes too many coffee breaks without actually accusing him wasting time at work. You might say something like, “I’m not saying that he drinks more coffee than anyone else in the office, but every time I go to the break room, he’s in there.” You might also shrug and make a “something seems kind of off” facial expression.

Paralipsis is a powerful rhetorical device because it can also allow someone to make a false accusation – or spread a false rumor – while skirting consequences.

And Trump has become a master at wielding this tool.

For example, after he was widely condemned for retweeting a graphic of homicide data delineated by race, FactCheck.org found that “almost every figure in the graphic is wrong.” His response on the Bill O’Reilly Show was:

Bill, I didn’t tweet, I retweeted somebody that was supposedly an expert, and it was also a radio show…am I gonna check every statistic? …All it was is a retweet. And it wasn’t from me. It came out of a radio show, and other places…This was a retweet. And it comes from sources that are very credible, what can I tell you?

In other words: I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly used paralipsis to deflect criticism that he’s courting white supremacists.

In January, Trump retweeted a photoshopped image of Jeb Bush from a user with the handle WhiteGenocideTM. In response to the backlash he received for retweeting a white supremacist, Trump simply shrugged: “I don’t know about retweeting. You retweet somebody and they turn out to be white supremacists. I know nothing about these groups that are supporting me.”

Likewise, he blamed a faulty earpiece for his unwillingness to disavow David Duke and the KKK in a CNN interview:

I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So I don’t know. I don’t know – did he endorse me, or what’s going on? Because I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists.

I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

And when Gawker tricked Trump into retweeting a quote from Benito Mussolini, his response was “What difference does it make whether it’s Mussolini or somebody else? It’s certainly a very interesting quote.”

Accountability and responsibility
Certainly it’s a good thing to “start dialogue.” Trump knows that “interesting” content attracts retweets, followers, audiences, media attention and, it seems, votes.

However, there’s danger in circulating accusations and rumors, even if the purpose is to “start dialogue.” Research shows that once an accusation or a rumor begins to circulate, it’s very difficult to retract. Often, a retraction or clarification doesn’t receive as much attention as the initial accusation. Meanwhile, the mere act of retracting misinformation can reaffirm the deceptive assertions as facts, even after the clarification.

So what does it mean when a presidential candidate gains a devoted following and rises to prominence – yet consistently avoids taking responsibility for the content of his public messages?

Political theorists, rhetoricians and historians have grappled with this exact problem since the rise of the “demagogue” in Athens in 429 B.C., when Pericles' death created a vacuum for “unofficial” leaders of the people to rise to power.

The danger, according to political scientist Ernest Barker, was that “such a leader – having no official executive position – could exercise initiative and determine policy without incurring political responsibility, since it was not his duty to execute the policy which he had induced the assembly to accept.”

In the Greek context, Barker described the danger of demagogues who weren’t tasked with implementing the policies for which they advocated. In our current political context, Trump can argue that he can’t be held accountable because he wasn’t the one who originally posted the tweet. He can shrug and claim that he’s simply giving a voice to an idea.

In both cases, the defining feature of demagogues is their refusal to accept responsibility for their actions.

Yet Donald Trump (the television star) routinely fired people on his show “The Apprentice” for failing to take responsibility for their team’s failures. And he’s often given lectures on “responsibility” to his Twitter followers, like on February 14, 2013 when he invited his followers to “take responsibility for yourself – it’s a very empowering attitude.”

To use the candidate’s brand of paralipsis: I’m not saying that Trump’s a hypocrite and a demagogue. I’m just saying that he doesn’t exactly follow his own advice.

About Today's Contributor
Jennifer Mercieca, Associate Professor of Communication and Director of the Aggie Agora, Texas A&M University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

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'Underground' Premiere Shatters Records As The Most-Watched Program In Nearly 18 Years On WGN America

Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Rosalee, Alano Miller as Cato and Renwick Scott as Henry (PRNewsFoto/WGN America)

On the heels of rave reviews, the premiere of WGN America's critically acclaimed hit series "Underground" shattered records as the most-watched program in nearly 18 years on the network, since the Cubs vs. Cardinals game on 9/8/1998 where Mark McGwire famously hit his 62nd home run beating Roger Maris's single season record.  

In Live + 3 delivery, "Underground" amassed 3.5 million Total Viewers (+43% vs. 2.5 million) and 1.5 Adults 25-54 (+51% vs. 983,000), last Wednesday night (premiere and three encores) to become the highest rated original scripted program ever in the network's history.  When adding digital platforms and encores, "Underground" continued its winning streak, outpacing all originals on the network with 4.9 million Total Viewers on premiere night and 5.7 million Total Viewers across the week.  

The 10 p.m. airing drew 2.3 million Total Viewers (+60% vs. 1,421,000) and 985,000 Adults 25-54 (+68% vs. 585,000), outperforming the network's prime average season-to-date by +948% in the demo. 

The Full-Length Trailer

"We couldn't be happier with the outstanding performance of 'Underground,' but the overwhelmingly positive response of the audience to this story about the unsung American heroes of the Underground Railroad is even more gratifying," said Matt Cherniss, president and general manager, WGN America and Tribune Studios.  "The talented creators Misha Green and Joe Pokaski, along with the producers and an amazing cast and crew, have created something truly special."

The commercial-free premiere of "Underground" aired Wednesday, March 9 at 10 p.m., and ranks an impressive #6 in Total Viewers among all scripted cable series premieres this broadcast season and #8 among Adults 25-54.

Lauded for its vivid and thrilling portrayal of the revolutionaries of the Underground Railroad, "Underground's" 3.5 million Total Viewers on the night improved on the premiere nights of the network's popular originals "Outsiders" by +25% (vs. 2.8 million) and "Salem" by +9% (vs. 3.2 million).

From creators and executive producers Misha Green and Joe Pokaski, and executive producer and Academy Award®-winner John Legend, the 10-episode, hour-long program tells the unflinching story of a group of courageous men and women who band together for the fight of their lives – for their families, their future and their freedom.  In all-new episode of "Underground," "War Chest," airing WEDNESDAY, March 16 (10:00 p.m. ET/PT), a plantation dance becomes the perfect distraction for a heist while John and Elizabeth step into a strange new world.

"Underground" has fast amassed a passionate fan base, and trended on Twitter in its premiere night as the second highest trending topic of the night, only after the Democratic debate.  The series was recently honored at the White House with a screening and panel discussion as part of the Office of Public Engagement's Black History Month program.  Additionally, "Underground" has been screened at a number of revered institutions, universities and events, including National Civil Rights Museum, 2016 Sundance Film Festival, NAACP, Schomburg Center, DuSable Museum of African American History, Howard University, New York Comic-Con, and more.

Cast of WGN America's "Underground" and Executive Producer John Legend (PRNewsFoto/WGN America)

The celebrated cast of "Underground" includes: 

• Jurnee Smollett-Bell ("True Blood," "Friday Night Lights") 
• Aldis Hodge ("Straight Outta Compton") 
• Christopher Meloni ("Sin City: A Dame to Kill For")
• Alano Miller ("Jane The Virgin") ‎
• Jessica de Gouw ("Arrow," "Dracula") 
• Marc Blucas ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") ‎
• Adina Porter ("The 100") 
• Mykelti Williamson ("Justified," "24") ‎
• Amirah Vann ("Girls," "And So It Goes") 
• Johnny Ray Gill ("Rectify")
• Chris Chalk ("Gotham") 
• Reed Diamond ("Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.")
• Theodus Crane ("The Walking Dead") 
• James Lafferty ("One Tree Hill")
• Renwick Scott ("Treme")
• Jussie Smollett ("Empire")

WGN America Logo (PRNewsFoto/WGN America)

Hailing from Sony Pictures Television and Tribune Studios, "Underground" is created by Misha Green ("Sons Of Anarchy," "Heroes") and Joe Pokaski ("Daredevil," "Heroes,") who executive produce alongside Academy Award-winner Akiva Goldsman ("A Beautiful Mind," "I Am Legend") of Weed Road Pictures; and Joby Harold ("King Arthur," "Edge of Tomorrow") and Tory Tunnell ("King Arthur," "Holy Rollers") of Safehouse Pictures.  Visionary artist and producer John Legend, an Academy Award, Golden Globe® and multi-Grammy Award winner, and his Get Lifted partners Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius executive produce.  Additionally, Get Lifted oversees all elements of the show's music.  Anthony Hemingway ("The Wire," "Treme") directs and serves as executive producer for the first four episodes. 

SOURCE: WGN America

Vasco da Gama Shipwreck Discovered

Ship's bell dated 1498 (PRNewsFoto/Oman's Ministry of Heritage)

Portuguese ship wrecked on a remote island in the Sultanate of Oman in 1503 is the earliest ship of discovery to be found and scientifically investigated by archaeologists  

Oman's Ministry of Heritage & Culture (MHC) in cooperation with Blue Water Recoveries Ltd (BWR) of West Sussex, UK announce the discovery and archaeological excavation of a Portuguese East Indiaman that was part of Vasco da Gama's 1502-1503 Armada toIndia. The ship, which sank in a storm in May 1503 off the coast of Al Hallaniyah island in Oman's Dhofar region, is the earliest ship from Europe's Age of Discovery ever to be found and scientfically investigated by a team of archaeologists and other experts.

Divers excavating the wreck site (PRNewsFoto/Oman's Ministry of Heritage)

Details of the wreck site, published today in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology reveal that the ship is believed to be thenau Esmeralda commanded by Vicente Sodré, who was the maternal uncle of Vasco da Gama and a descendent of the nobleman Frederick Sudley of Gloucestshire, UK. A website with high-resolution images and video of the excavation was also launched today: (esmeraldashipwreck.com)

The wreck site was initially discovered by BWR in 1998, on the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama's epic discovery of the direct sea route to India, but full-scale archaeological survey and excavation by the MHC didn't begin until 2013. Since then two more excavations have been conducted in 2014 and 2015, with more than 2,800 artefacts being recovered. The project has been jointly managed by the MHC and David L. Mearns of BWR and has been conducted in strict compliance with the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage of 2001.

Key artifacts that helped in identification of the wreck site as Vicente Sodré's nau Esmeralda include:

• an important copper-alloy disc marked with the Portuguese royal coat of arms and an esfera armilar (armillary sphere) - a personal emblem of Dom Manuel I.
• a bronze bell with an inscription that suggests the date of the ship was 1498.
• gold cruzado coins minted in Lisbon between 1495 and 1501.
• an extraordinarily rare silver coin, called the Indio, commissioned by Dom Manuel in 1499 specifically for trade with India.  The extreme rarity of the Indio (there is only one other known example in the world) is such that it has legendary status as the 'lost' or 'ghost' coin of Dom Manuel.

His Excellency Hassan Al Lawati the Adviser to the Minister For Heritage Affairs comments: "This project is regarded as the first that is conducted in Oman and the region in underwater archaeology. Therefore, the Ministry has taken a proactive approach to ensure that the project will be efficiently conducted. This was done by involving the expertise in underwater archaeology and by working under international regulations such as the UNESCO convention of 2001. We appreciate the joint efforts of the local and international entities and institutes that made this project a huge success."

"This project differs from the majority of maritime archaeology projects in that we set out to specifically find the wreck site of the Sodré ships, using a suvivor's and other historical accounts, because of their very early age and the potential they held for new discoveries. It is extremely gratifying therefore that this strategy has paid off with such interesting revelations even though we are still at a relatively early stage in the study of the artefact assemblage," said Project Director David L. Mearns.

SOURCE: Oman’s Ministry of Heritage & Culture (MHC) and Blue Water Recoveries Ltd

A Play Inspired By The "Ground Zero Mosque" Controversy

Poster art for the stage play, "Mosque Alert." (PRNewsFoto/Silk Road Rising)

Jamil Khoury's "Mosque Alert" Taps Into Fears Fanned By Current Political Climate

"Mosque Alert," a bold new play by award winning playwright Jamil Khoury, will receive a professional world premiere production at Chicago's Silk Road Rising this Spring. Mosque Alert (www.mosquealert.org) tells the story of three fictional families living in Naperville, Illinois, whose lives are forever changed by a proposed Islamic Center on the site of a beloved local landmark. The play was inspired by the 2010 "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy in New York City.

"I should thank Donald Trump," says playwright Jamil Khoury. "If Mosque Alert was relevant when I first started, that relevance has since exploded. Today the play exists within a cultural zeitgeist animated by fears of immigrants, fears of Muslims, demographic anxiety attacks, and calls to erect walls and impose bans—a more optimistic read is that of one big messy America struggling to work it out for the better."

Unlike most plays, Mosque Alert was developed through an open and public workshop process. Originally conceived as an online video-based civic engagement project, over the last two years, Khoury has adapted the project into a stage play by working in communities with both Muslim and non-Muslim participants. Over 2,500 individuals have participated in the new play's development and have expressed their surprise at how closely the play reflects real life scenarios.

"When I launched Mosque Alert as a digital online initiative nearly five years ago," says Khoury, "how could I have guessed that my three fictional families in Naperville, Illinois, with intertwined lives and competing worldviews, would drive a story so reflective of actual mosque battles and presidential politics in 2016? Mosque Alert, I believe, not only responds to the current climate, but gives new spin to the adage 'life imitates art.'"

Mosque Alert explores the intersections of zoning and Islamophobia with humor, family drama, and refreshingly blunt honesty. The play provides no easy answers. Instead, it offers insights into conversations taking place within segments of the Muslim American community, the challenges faced by their allies, and the political beliefs that have contributed to a climate of fear. The play isn't one sided, either. Instead, it works to ascribe integrity to a wide spectrum of perspectives, even those we may find objectionable, and it presents characters that are complex, flawed, and ultimately relatable.

"With Mosque Alert we're seizing the gray areas," says Khoury, "and inviting audiences to grapple with unsettling truths about our post-9/11 world: namely, the resistance to mosque-building in communities across the US, and what that resistance tells us about ourselves."

Director Edward Torres, who returned to his native Chicago fromNew York City where he recently directed Macbeth for the Public Theater, reflects on the themes of the play and says, "Mosque Alert gives voice to multiple American perspectives and exposes the fears at the heart of intolerance."

Playwright Jamil Khoury, author of "Mosque Alert." (PRNewsFoto/Silk Road Rising)

Mosque Alert performs from March 24 to May 1, 2016 at Silk Road Rising in The Historic Chicago Temple Building, 77 W. Washington St, Lower Level, Chicago, IL. For more information, including purchasing tickets online, visit www.mosquealert.org.