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Forbes
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Ozzy Osbourne Embodied The Spirit Of Heavy Metal
(MANDATORY CREDIT Koh Hasebe/) Ozzy Osbourne Band, live, Moscow Music Peace ... More Festival 1989 at Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, USSR, 12th and 13th August, 1989. Ozzy Osbourne (vocals). (Photo by Koh Hasebe/) Few contemporary artists have shaped an entire genre the way Ozzy Osbourne has. Without Ozzy, the heavy metal genre would not be what it is today, and iconic bands from the likes of Metallica, Slipknot, Pantera, and so many more would simply not exist. From his early work in Black Sabbath, which pioneered the heavy metal genre, to his solo work throughout the '80s which created the blueprint for arena metal, the impact that Ozzy Osbourne had on the genre will forever be second to none. For these reasons and so many more, the metal community has always shared a deep love and reverence for Ozzy Osbourne. The outpouring of love showcased from fans and fellow musicians since Osbourne's death is telling, and it's a clear sign that his loss will be one of the most significant moments in the genre's history. Ozzy Osbourne Died Doing What He Loved The loss of Ozzy Osbourne is the end of an era, however, the ending was far more magnificent than what any rock star or musical icon could have dreamt of. Osbourne died only weeks after performing at Back to the Beginning – his final show with Black Sabbath – which has since become the highest-grossing charity concert of all time. To achieve such a feat in one's final hour is beautifully poetic and a genuine showcase of the passion that Osbourne had for performing and connecting with fans through metal music. Given the serious health issues Osbourne was going through leading up to his final bow, particularly his battle with Parkinson's disease, it's all the more incredible that he was able to perform in front of fans and the world one last time. Ozzy Osbourne Was A Metal Mentor Many of the bands that performed at Back to the Beginning shared a history and deep connection with the late singer. Metallica, for one, were brought on their first arena tour in 1986 as direct support for Ozzy Osbourne during The Ultimate Sin tour. This tour had a monolithic impact on Metallica, exposing them to thousands of fans that would soon hear their 1986 opus Master of Puppets, and Metallica were just one of many bands that Osbourne took under his wing in their early years. Mötley Crüe, Slipknot, Lamb of God, System of a Down, and so many of metal's biggest acts owe Ozzy Osbourne for giving them their first huge breaks on tours, in addition to the mentorship he and his wife/manager Sharon Osbourne would provide. Not to mention, Ozzfest, the legendary touring metal festival founded and curated by the Osbournes, brought metal into the early 2000s and exposed dozens of bands who are now household names in the genre. The way in which Ozzy Osbourne directly kickstarted careers for so many was unprecedented, and it was a part of his personality that endured and was admired until the very end. Ozzy Osbourne's Persona Was As Big And Loud As His Music Ozzy Osbourne's outlandish and often chaotic behavior earned him a reputation in the eyes of pop culture early on in his career. Whether it was him biting the head off of a bat, or getting banned from the Alamo in Texas, Osbourne's wild persona made him the perfect poster child for heavy metal, specifically in the eyes of pop culture. Later on in his career when he and his family ventured into reality TV with "The Osbournes," viewers got a glimpse into the life of Ozzy Osbourne. What was revealed amidst all the hilarity and chaos was someone who was authentically himself and beloved by his family for it. While his crude behavior and aggressively loud personality wasn't for everyone, Osbourne was genuinely himself whether he was on stage or on camera, and that aspect alone gave so many millions of viewers the idea that it's okay to be authentic. Ozzy Osbourne's Musical Legacy Is The Gold Standard Whether it was his albums with Black Sabbath or his solo records throughout the '80s and '90s, the multifaceted success Ozzy Osbourne saw has since cemented him as one of the most influential musicians in rock. A huge reason why Osbourne embodies the spirit of heavy metal is simply because he helped invent it. Every band whether they're hard rock or death metal, has in some way, shape or form been influenced by the music of Ozzy Osbourne. Between his albums with Black Sabbath and his solo career, there isn't another artist in hard rock or heavy metal that has as many masterfully crafted albums in their discography as Ozzy Osbourne. For that and so many other reasons, Ozzy Osbourne will forever be remembered as the godfather of heavy metal, and moreover, as the Prince of Darkness who ironically was a shining light to so many.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
'Norwich speedway helped break Cold War barriers'
The rousing success of a Soviet speedway team at a Norwich track helped create unity at the height of the Cold War, a historian has USSR test team had toured Britain's speedway clubs in 1964 but achieved legendary status at the Soviet Russia v Norwich Stars meeting that July.A depleted squad "rode out of their skins", impressing the home crowd and local journalists, Dr Richard Mills Mills, based at the school of history at the University of East Anglia, has explored the sport's links with the Eastern Bloc for the city's inaugural Norwich History Festival. "It really was a moment where speedway broke through those Cold War divides, broke through the barriers," he added."A four-man Soviet team raced in front of a packed Firs stadium [off Cromer Road in Hellesdon], and they won the meeting."Publications like the Eastern Daily Press spoke glowingly about these riders and the way they behaved - the miraculous fact they had beaten a Norwich Stars team full of its Swedish legends."There was a realisation that many people on the other side of the barrier are just like you and me, and sport was something everyone can unite behind and get together over." The link between East Anglia and the USSR brought other benefits the 1970s, Skoda set up its headquarters at the Port of King's Lynn and brought in thousands of vehicles, including speedway bikes and tractors."You had an ironic opportunity for communist organisations, state-run factories effectively, to use speedway to market their products," added Dr Mills. "The first marketing tie-up and the first fully sponsored team in Great Britain was the Peterborough Skoda Panthers in the early 1980s. "Speedway was the tip of the iceberg but there was a whole raft of relationships -Lowestoft shipbuilders were building fishing trawlers for the Soviet Union in the 1950s, you had Norwich making various bits of machinery for factories in Siberia, and you had east German tractors coming into King's Lynn." Dr Mills said the "human legacy and historic legacy" continues to this day, with the Norwich Stars resurrected as the King's Lynn Stars at the Adrian Flux decades the club has signed multiple riders hailing from the former Eastern Bloc, including the reigning Czech Republic champion Jan Kvě Norwich History Festival, which runs to Friday, aims to present history as a living topic relevant to our theme is rebels and radicals, with the 1549 Kett's Rebellion and lesser-known uprisings among the numerous subjects in the festival calendar. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
New York Times
4 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Overlooked No More: Polina Gelman: Fearless ‘Night Witch' Who Haunted Nazi Troops
This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times. They said she was too short to fly. It was 1938, and Polina Gelman, a teenager with her heart set on the skies, was trying to join a Soviet flying club. But in the cockpit of a plane, at a height of under 5 feet, she could barely reach the foot pedals with her toes and only peek above the control panel. 'Grow up, if you can,' a sympathetic instructor told her. She never did grow tall enough, but she refused to give up. Instead, Gelman would train as a navigator — an adjustment that ultimately landed her a place in history as one of the Soviet Union's famed 'Night Witches,' the daring female aviators who flew bombing raids against the Nazis in World War II. Gelman became one of its most celebrated members and the only Jewish woman who served in the war to earn a Hero of the Soviet Union medal, the U.S.S.R.'s highest commendation for military service, according to Arkadi Zeltser, a historian at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial and museum in Israel. 'She was bright and ambitious as a young woman, but no one would have earmarked her for glory,' Reina Pennington, a historian at Norwich University in Vermont and an Air Force veteran who wrote a book about Soviet women fliers during World War II, said in an interview. 'The war gave her the opportunity to display extraordinary qualities, not through any single act of heroism, but through a kind of stamina and determination that extended combat duty required.' Gelman logged 1,058 combat mission hours — all of it under relentless German fire — with the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, nicknamed the Night Witches, or 'Nachthexen' in German. The pilots got the name from powering down their engines as they approached their targets, whooshing through the darkness like witches on broomsticks. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fast Company
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Fast Company
I dropped out to keep up—Students today shouldn't have to make that choice
In the early eighties, I went to school in the USSR. Every morning, we sat in rows, eyes front, hands still. On our desks sat wooden abacuses—not relics, but the official tools for learning math. One day, I was gifted something extraordinary: a calculator. At the time, it was a rare and deeply prized possession. Holding it felt like holding the future. My teacher noticed. He walked over and, with the calm authority only the Soviet system could produce, said, 'Don't waste your time using the calculator. They're hard to find and easy to break. The abacus is everywhere. And besides, you need to learn how to think.' That moment never left me. Not because he was wrong—but because he was loyal to a system that had stopped evolving. A system that mistook availability for relevance and standardization for wisdom. I've seen the same inertia in modern education systems around the world. We've built institutions still shaped by industrial-age logic while the workplace has already transformed. Students are being prepared using structures that are only slightly updated—tweaked around the edges but stagnant at their core. The result is a generation at risk of being overeducated, underprepared, and unemployable in the world they're entering. I'VE SPENT MY LIFE BUILDING THE FUTURE. NOW I'M SOUNDING THE ALARM. For decades, I've helped organizations—from Fortune 500s and startups to Olympic committees and governments—reimagine their future through emerging technologies. My career has been about identifying opportunity and accelerating transformation. I've also learned to spot systemic breakdowns before they explode. What's happening in education has all the markings of one we can still prevent—if we act fast. In the mid-1990s, I enrolled in college to study computer science. It quickly became clear that the pace of real-world innovation—especially in internet development—was far outpacing what was being taught. While professors explained outdated concepts, entrepreneurs were busy building the digital future. So I made a choice. I dropped out—not to rebel, but to keep up. I wanted to build, not analyze what had already been built. I wanted to create, not stay stuck in theory. In hindsight, I don't romanticize that decision. I wish I hadn't needed to make it. I wish the system had evolved fast enough to keep me engaged instead of forcing me out. That's what I want for the next generation: an education system that moves at the speed of relevance—so students don't have to choose between staying enrolled and staying ahead. THE NUMBERS TELL THE TRUTH WE KEEP AVOIDING Since 2010, U.S. college enrollment has dropped by more than two million students. Tuition continues to rise, even as the market shifts. Employers today want AI fluency, critical thinking, adaptability, and real-world problem-solving. They're not looking for degrees—they're looking for ability. And yet, students are punished for using the same tools the workforce rewards. If a student uses ChatGPT to help structure an argument or explore a new topic, it's often labeled as cheating. If an analyst at a consulting firm does the same, it's called efficiency. One gets written up. The other gets promoted. We're sending contradictory signals by demanding that students adapt to the real world while banning the tools they'll need to thrive in it. It's not just outdated. It's actively harmful. AI ISN'T THE PROBLEM. EDUCATION'S REFUSAL TO EVOLVE IS. Degrees once signaled potential. They were shorthand for competence, persistence, and professional readiness. But that shorthand no longer holds. Students know this. That's why they're turning to bootcamps, certificates, and platforms that teach what's actually needed. They're building portfolios, learning from real creators, and developing skills at a speed traditional systems can't match. Yet when they bring that initiative into classrooms, it's often penalized. Resourcefulness is labeled dishonesty. Creativity is dismissed as rule-breaking. The system still rewards conformity while the world celebrates agility. We are discouraging the very behaviors that define success in the real world. AI didn't break education—it exposed its cracks. It showed us how reliant we've become on memorization, how slow we've been to adapt curriculum, and how afraid we are to let go of control. While students use AI to code, write, visualize, and simulate, many schools are still debating whether these tools even belong in the classroom. This isn't a conversation about tools. It's a question of leadership and whether our institutions are willing to shift before they get left behind. 3 THINGS EVERY EDUCATION LEADER MUST DO NOW 1. Train Every Educator In AI AI shouldn't be confined to IT departments or elective tracks. Every teacher, professor, and administrator should understand how to integrate AI into their teaching —how to model it, challenge it, and guide students through it. 2. Incorporate AI Into The Curriculum As A Tool—Not A Subject Students should be using AI in every subject area: writing, research, science, math, history, design. AI should become as normal as a calculator or a web browser. It's not about adding content; it's about changing the way content is engaged. 3. Build Entrepreneurial Ecosystems We must move beyond job training. The best education systems will encourage students to become creators, founders, and collaborators. That means building partnerships with local startups, global companies, VCs, and nonprofits to create opportunities students can step into before they graduate. I'm not writing this from the sidelines. I've worked with brilliant professors, fearless administrators, and forward-thinking deans who are fighting to shift their institutions from the inside. I've learned from them. And as a father, I want my kids—Matthew and Zachary—to grow up in a world where those educators are empowered, not restricted. But let's be honest: We're asking students to follow a path that even we don't believe in anymore. We tell ourselves we're preparing them for the future, but the truth is, that future has already outpaced us. In many cases, we haven't even caught up to the present. The institutions willing to acknowledge this—and act—will shape the next generation of leaders, inventors, and that don't will become cautionary tales of what happens when relevance is ignored and courage is postponed.
Russia Today
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia-West clash not about ideology
Western nations' hegemonic aspirations and dismissal of Russia's security concerns have led to the ongoing standoff between Moscow and the West, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview released on Sunday. Ideological differences are only a pretext to advance the West's geopolitical interests, he claimed. Putin added that he expected the collapse of the USSR to alleviate tensions between Russia and the West. 'I also thought that key disagreements [between us] were ideological in nature,' he stated. 'Yet, when the Soviet Union was gone… the dismissive approach to Russia's strategic interests persisted.' The president went on to say that his attempts to raise Russia's concerns with Western leaders were in vain. 'The West decided… they do not need to follow the rules when it comes to Russia, which does not have the same power as the USSR.' All of Moscow's proposals regarding mutual security, strengthening international stability, and reaching agreements on offensive weapons and missile defense were rejected, Putin said. 'It was not just negligence. It was based on a clear desire to reach some geopolitical goals.' 'It has become clear that, unless Russia positions itself as an independent sovereign nation… we will not be reckoned with,' he added. The Russian president has accused Western nations of betraying Russia and not fulfilling their promises. Last month, he said Moscow was 'blatantly lied to' about NATO expansion for decades as the US-led military bloc approached Russia's borders. 'Everything was good as long as it was against Russia,' he said at the time, adding that Western nations have supported separatism and even terrorism directed against the country. Moscow has listed Kiev's NATO ambitions and Western military assistance to Ukraine key reasons behind the Ukraine conflict. Prior to the escalation in early 2022, Russia sought to address its security concerns by seeking guarantees from US and NATO, as well as non-aligned status for Ukraine, which were rejected by the West.
