An English Soldier in the United States Army

In the summer of 1845, George Ballantine arrived in New York.  Born in Scotland, skilled as a weaver, and a veteran of the British Army, he sought work.  His best offer was to become a whaler, which did not appeal to him.  Instead, he joined the US Army.  He details his life as a soldier from induction at Governor's Island in New York, to his training at Fort Adams in Rhode Island, his transfer to Fort Pickens at Pensacola, then to Tampa Bay.  The Mexican-American War began less than a year after he joined.

Corporal Ballantine served in the First Artillery Regiment, Company I.  The regiment was sent to Tampico, Mexico, as part of General Winfield Scott's invasion force.  In February 1847, the regiment has shipped south but did not land until March 9.  To George's surprise, the Mexicans did not contest the landing on the beaches south of Vera Cruz.  Assigned to General David "Old Davey" Twiggs Division, he took part in the siege of Vera Cruz, and the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec.

Where most of the memoirs of the war were written by officers (q.v., Lt. Francis Collins, Lt. Henry Benham, Lt. John Hollingsworth, Lt. Harvey Neville, Lt. Albert Brackett), this one was written by a man in the ranks.  As such, it has a very different point of view.  He discusses the discomforts of a soldier's life, the frequent waiting even during the heat of battle, the harsh punishments meted out by officers which contributed to the high desertion rate, the high mortality rate from illness, and the constant quest for alcohol.

Occasionally, he discusses the generals.  He indicates that the men liked Old Davey, but also knew he was not much of a strategist.  Had General Patterson not intervened to prevent it, Twiggs intended to throw his division into a frontal assault at Cerro Gordo.  The men knew it would result in heavy casualties, but Twiggs was raring to go.  When Scott arrived the following day, he sent scouts to find a way around the Mexican strong points.  The men knew that Scott was stingy with their lives, thus his popularity despite his Fuss and Feathers reputation.

Very readable and highly recommended.

A Man Called Horse (1970)

It was 1825 and John Morgan (Richard Harris) was a bored English lord.  Being a noble with a military commission and inherited wealth wasn't for him.  No, he had resigned his commission and left England.  In lieu of wealth and status, he was shooting "prairie chickens" in the wilds of North America with toothless bumpkins who served as his guides.  Even this had become tedious.  No sooner had he declared his intent to return to St. Louis than a band of Sioux warriors fell upon his camp.  The chief, Yellow Hand (Manu Tupou), took his as a slave.  He described him as no different from a horse, and thus he was thereafter called Shunkawakan, which means horse.

Morgan was ill-treated by the tribe, and his every attempt at escape was easily thwarted.  Soon he discovered an ally among the Sioux; Batise (Jean Gascon), another slave who was fluent in English, French, and Sioux.  From Batise, he learned how to survive.  From his own grit, he learned how to thrive.  In time, he was embraced by the tribe, rising to a valued member.  He was initiated by the Vow to the Sun and married Yellow Hand's sister, Running Deer (Corinna Tsopei).  So satisfying had his life become, all thoughts of escape vanished.

Here is a movie that long predates Dances with Wolves, another movie where a white man adopts Sioux ways.  Historically, there are many examples of whites being captured - mostly as children - by various tribes and then being raised among them.  A contemporary movie, Little Big Man (1970), saw comical take on the white man among the Cheyenne.  The big claim to fame is that Sioux participated, offering details on the culture, practices, and rituals.

Why in the world did Joe (Dub Taylor), Morgan's guide, take him so far from civilization to shoot nothing special?  Joe and his cohorts proved to be useless, clearly unsuited to wandering the frontier. It is only a couple of years since the Arikara War (1823), the start of which was shown in The Revenant (2015).  These guys really are reckless, but how else are we going to explain an Englishman captured by Sioux? Richard Harris reprised the role in two sequels.

Iron Eyes Cody, best remembered as the Indian who wept about pollution, has a role as the medicine man.  He made a career of playing Native Americans, claiming such ancestry, despite being of Italian heritage.

Just okay.

Eagle's Wing (1979)

White Bull (Sam Waterston), a Kiowa warrior, was out raiding.  He and his fellow warriors spotted several Comanche.  The Kiowa attacked, overcoming most of the Comanche but the leader, who was mounted on a magnificent white horse - Eagle's Wing, easily outran White Bull's horse.  Though the leader escaped, he died from the arrow wound he suffered.

Henry (Harvey Keitel) and Pike (Martin Sheen) were a pair of American trappers.  Henry was an old hand, having worked as a trapper for several years.  By contrast, Pike was a recent recruit, an Army deserter who sought a new start in the wilds.  Henry and Pike had a contentious relationship because Pike was too fond of drinking and not a diligent enough worker.  Henry expected to rendezvous with Comanche for trade, but the Comanche didn't show.  Instead, White Bull's band of Kiowa attacked, stealing horses, pelts, and most of the gear.

Elsewhere, Judith (Caroline Langrishe) rode in a funeral procession with her brother, a Mexican gentleman, a lady, and her servants.  Her brother was a priest who had sent for her from Ireland.  Judith spoke no Spanish.  The lady wore black as the procession was for her husband.  They were bound for her brother-in-law's hacienda when White Bull's band attacked.  White Bull took everything of value, including Judith.

Two Comanche warriors arrived at a burial ground to find their shaman was dead.  His woman told how a white man stole Eagle's Wing while the shaman was presiding over the chief's funeral.  The pair nod gravely and immediately departed to exact justice.

Judith's brother arrived at the hacienda and raised the alarm about the attack.  Soon, a band of vaqueros rode forth to rescue the widow and exact justice on the Kiowa.

The setting is uncertain.  Trappers were generally searching for beaver, which is not common in the desert.  The market for such furs crashed in the late 1830s, so one supposes this takes place before that.  The Kiowa and the Comanche would most likely clash in Oklahoma and North Texas.  Pike talks about going south to Mexico or north to Canada, implying he is not currently in either.  It was filmed in Durango, Mexico, which stood in for Texas in Texas Rising.

White Bull is inscrutable.  At one point, he has gold, jewelry, wine, a captive, and Eagle's Wing.  His only threat is Pike, whom he repeatedly refused to kill when given the opportunity.  Why?  Of course, he doesn't speak English and rarely utters a word in his own tongue.  When he does, there is no subtitle translation for it.  It becomes clear that he was trying to buy Pike off by leaving each treasure except the horse, but Pike would not settle.

Pike is a directionless man, a wanderer who happened to fall into this story.  When he got his hands on Eagle's Wing, the horse became his identity.  When he lost it to White Bull, recovering the horse became his sole goal.  It did not matter that a fortune in jewels and gold was offered, he would rather risk life and limb for Eagle's Wing.  Why?  What strange power does this horse have over men?

Mostly, this is a contest between White Bull and Pike to see who will ride Eagle's Wing.  The other characters add color and variety to the story.  It is not your usual Western, but still entertaining.

Major Lally's March

Colonel Louis Wilson of North Carolina was preparing to lead a relief column of 1000 soldiers to General Scott, but he contracted yellow fever.  With Wilson incapacitated, the next ranking officer, Major Folliot Thornton Lally, took command.  The command was a hodgepodge of regiments: 2 companies of the 4th Infantry, 2 companies of the 5th Infantry, 1 company of the 11th Infantry, 3 companies of the 12th Infantry, 2 companies of the U. S. Voltigeurs, 1 company of the 2nd Artillery, 1 company of the Georgia Volunteers, and a company of Louisianna Mounted Volunteers.  Lally himself was from the 9th Infantry, which had departed with General Pierce more than three weeks earlier.

Paso de Ovejas

The column set out on August 6th.  The pace was slow and guerrillas were always nearby.  Stragglers were frequently captured or killed.  Many soldiers abandoned their knapsacks on the side of the road.  On the 10th, the column neared Paso de Ovejas when gunfire erupted.  Luckily, the enemy was out of range for small arms.  However, the front of the column was soon charged by light cavalry.  Cannons quickly broke their charge and sent them in flight.  Before Lally's forces could engage the men off the roadside, they had fled.  One American was killed.

National Bridge

On the 12th of August, the column arrived at the National Bridge, an impressive structure that spanned the Rio La Antigua.  When General Scott's Army came to the bridge in April, it was abandoned.  When General Pierce came to the bridge in July, a minor skirmish ensued before the guerrillas retreated.  For Major Lally, National Bridge proved to be a fight.  The guerrillas were dug in and ready to repel the Americans.  Thinking to dislodge them with cannon, the artillery was rolled forward.  However, the soldiers were caught in a hail of fire and had to abandon the guns.  Suddenly, the Americans were exposed and at threat of being overrun.  Fortunately, the guerrillas did not take the opportunity to rush the Americans.  A Prussian Baron who happened to be traveling with the army urgently advised an attack, offering to lead it.  Fording the river rather than crossing the bridge, the Americans dislodged the guerrillas and took possession of the fortifications.  The 6-hour battle cost eleven dead and forty wounded, some mortally.

Cerro Gordo

On the 15th, the column arrived at Cerro Gordo, where General Scott had shattered Santa Anna's army in the middle of April.  When General Pierce marched through a month earlier, he experienced only harassment on the fringes of his army.  By contrast, Lally found himself once again in a battle.  The guerrillas had occupied the fortifications on the hills and contested his column's advance.  As luck would have it, a veteran of the April battle was part of the column and offered useful intel.  Lally's force assaulted the three hill forts, capturing 2 cannons, and 9,000 rounds of musket ammunition.  The battle cost another 3 lives and 10 wounded.

Xalapa

On the 19th, Lally approached Xalapa.  Once again, the guerrillas had taken up a position to oppose his advance.  For once, the guerrillas had not taken an advantageous position.  The Americans quickly flanked the enemy and sent them running in the 20-minute skirmish.  Despite the brevity, two more soldiers were killed and half a dozen wounded.  Lally waited until the following day to occupy Xalapa.  His thousand man column was reduced to 700 effective soldiers, the rest were sick, wounded, or dead.  To make things worse, the Louisiana troops deserted almost in mass and returned to Vera Cruz.  Lally opted to secure his forces in Xalapa.

A month later, Captain Sam Walker rode into Xalapa and declared that Colonel Childs was under siege in Puebla.  The sieging force was said to be 4,000 strong.  Despite the numbers, Lally prepared to march.  To his great good fortune, General Lane arrived the following day.  Lally attached his forces to Lane's and the army marched to relieve the Siege of Puebla and give Santa Anna his final defeat of the war.

Lally's column served as reserves at the Battle of Huamantla - October 9th - and later accompanied General Lane's forces for the Action at Atlixco on October 19th.  In December, his column went to Mexico City and the hodgepodge of companies joined their regiments, successfully delivering the reinforcements he had brought.

The End of Hollywood

There is a new moviemaker on the block and it's called Seedance.  Just a few minutes of watching what it can produce shows that $100 million movies are not long for the world.  Sure, there are clunky bits, but imagine what it will be like next year, or the year after.  We are on the cusp of where anyone can make a blockbuster quality film with just the correct series of prompts.  Behold the possibilities.  Any actor in any setting with crazy effects and essentially a limitless budget.

Damnation Alley (1977)

Lt. Jake Tanner (Jan Michael Vincent) and Major Eugene Denton (George Peppard) arrived at Fort Tipton AFB in the Mojave Desert.  Denton warned Tanner that he requested a change of assignment, as he doesn't think their styles mesh.  They had hardly taken their post at the launch controls of a nuclear missile silo when a missile strike from the USSR was detected.  Responding to orders, the pair launch all the Fort Tipton missiles.  World War III is over in an hour.

It had been two years and the survivors of Fort Tipton were isolated.  Jake left the Airforce but still lived on base with Keegan (Paul Winfield), another airman who quit the military.  Jake had a scouted around, but found no other survivors.  Meanwhile, Major Denton was busy working on an experimental military vehicle, the Landmaster.  He had only just received approval from General Landers to take it into the field when the base exploded in a tragic accident.  When the dust settled, only Tanner, Denton, Keegan, and Lt. Tom Perry were still alive.

Over the last two years, there has only been one repeated signal from Albany, NY.  Denton decided that would be their destination.  Of course, much of the area was an irradiated wasteland but their was a path through the destruction, a corridor named Damnation Alley.  With stops in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Detroit, the survivors of Fort Tipton must overcome hostile new lifeforms, extreme weather events, and bandits, while also collecting other survivors: Janice (Dominique Sanda) and Billy (Jackie Earle Haley).

Intended as a sci-fi epic, this was released the same year as Star Wars.  Amazingly, 20th Century Fox expected Star Wars to be the flop and Damnation Alley to be the hit.  The movie fits nicely into the disaster theme that was popular in the 1970s, even borrowing footage from Earthquake (1974), an earlier disaster flick.

Roger Zelazny, who authored the story upon which this was based, hated the film.  Looks like I'm going to have to read the book and find out why.

Anyway, the movie is just okay.  It feels more like a low budget SyFy channel movie than a big studio production.  In fact, I always thought it was made for TV until this latest viewing.

Mountains of the Moon (1990)

Richard Hanning Speke (Iain Glen) arrived on the coast of East Africa in 1854 with plans of exploring the dark continent.  There he met Richard Burton (Patrick Bergin), already famous for having gone on the Haj to Mecca.  Burton has planned a trek inland to find the source of the Nile and Speke is eager to go with him.  Speke brought lots of guns and ammunition, making him a welcome addition to the expedition.  They have hardly gone inland than they were attacked by tribesmen, killing most of the company.  Both seriously wounded, Burton and Speke escaped nonetheless.

The pair returned to England and sought funding for a new expedition.  In the interim, Burton met Isabel Arundell (Fiona Shaw), who proved to be a great admirer of his writing.  A torrid affair ensued.  Meanwhile, Speke was approached by Laurence Oliphant (Richard E. Grant), who wanted to both help fund the next expedition and publish the findings. Additionally, Oliphant plotted a split between Speke and Burton.  The second expedition set out in 1856.  The men explored inland from Zanzibar, reaching the shores of Lake Tanganyika in 1857.  With Burton seriously ill, only Speke could explore to the shores of Lake Victoria.  The pair returned to England in 1859 with very different ideas on what had been discovered.  Their disagreements led to a break between the two.  The next expedition was led by Speke while Burton was left on the sidelines.

There are surprises here.  Omar Sharif has a cameo as an Arab Chief.  Fiona Shaw, who most will remember as Harry Potter's shrewish Aunt Petunia Dursley, is terrific as Burton's love interest.  The two have great chemistry, allowing a fully realized love story despite being secondary to the Burton-Speke relationship.

An enjoyable movie that gives a general look at exploring Africa in the mid-nineteenth century.  No discussion of this period would be complete without Dr. Livingston (Bernard Hill).  Sure enough, he makes an appearance.  The lighthearted bit where Livingston and Burton compared scars that they have received was most entertaining.

Recommended.

USS Cyane: Workhorse of the Pacific Squadron

The USS Cyane was a 22-gun sloop-of-war with a complement of 200 crew that joined the US Navy in May 1838.  In 1845, the Cyane was dispatched to the Pacific Squadron.  At the time, this was a monumental voyage around South America.  It was not until January 1846 that she arrived at Mazatlan.  In February, Lt. Archibald Gillespie of the US Marines came aboard; he had secret messages to deliver to Commodore Sloat, US Consul Thomas O. Larkin, and John C. Fremont.  The Cyane departed Mazatlan and sailed to Monterey, California, by way of the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands.  Gillespie was left in Monterey in April.  By the end of the month, the Cyane was back in Mazatlan where it found an English rear admiral commanding a line-of-battle-ship and two additional ships of the British fleet.  Were the British keeping tabs on the Americans in this tense period between Mexico and the United States?

The Cyane again set out for Monterey in May and arrived in June.  On the 2nd of July, Commodore Sloat arrived on the flagship Savannah, a 54-gun frigate with a complement of 480 men.  Sloat had received word of the battles in Texas but dallied.  Finally, on July 7th, he ordered the capture of Monterey, the capital of Alta California.  Captain Mervine of the Cyane led the landing party that raised the US Flag over California.  The Pacific Squadron was officially in the war.

On July 14th, the USS Congress arrived in Monterey with Commodore Robert 'Fighting Bob' Stockton.  He replaced Commodore Sloat in command of the Pacific Squadron.  The following day, the HMS Collingwood, an 80-gun ship-of-the-line, arrived in Monterey.   Would the American capture of California have been so easy if the Collingwood had arrived a week earlier?

Captain Mervine was transferred to the Savannah and Captain Samuel Du Pont took command of the Cyane.  The Cyane also took aboard Lt. Col. John C. Fremont's California Battalion, providing transport to San Diego.  The Cyane captured a Mexican brig, the Juanita, before it could leave the harbor.  Fremont was let off at San Diego where that port was captured with similar efficiency as Monterey.  Alta California apparently settled, the Cyane set out for a cruise along the west coast of Mexico.

In August, she captured the Primavera.  In September, she blockaded the port of San Blas where she captured two additional ships: Solita and Susana.  Crossing to Baja California and the port of La Paz, the Cyane took control of 7 ships from the harbor, including the Baltimore-built Julia.  The Julia was quickly added to the Pacific Squadron.  Sailing further into the Gulf of California, she captured the Libertad and the Fortuna on the 1st of October.  The following day, she seized the Rosita.  Two days later, she captured the Chapita and the Alerto.  A raid on Guaymas destroyed three additional ships.

In November, the Cyane blockaded Mazatlan, but the ship ran out of supplies.  As the US had no Pacific ports, it depended on friendly ports or supply ships.  Sailing north once again, the Cyane found orders in San Francisco to join the squadron in retaking California; there had been a rebellion during the Cyane's absence.

In January 1847, she provided men for the recapture of Los Angeles, joining in the Battles of San Gabriel (Jan 8) and La Mesa (Jan 9).  Los Angeles was occupied the following day.  But the Cyane was not done with the war yet.

The Pacific Squadron had other duties than just the war and the Cyane went looking for pirates and protecting the US whaling fleet.  In November 1847, the Cyane joined the Congress and the Independence in the capture of Mazatlan.

The Cyane's final operation during the war was to relieve the siege at San Jose del Cabo (Baja California) in February 1848.  The Cyane remained in the region, relocating to Mazatlan.  On June 7th, while at the port of San Blas, the ship recieved word that the peace treaty was signed and the war was over.

No other ship in the US fleet on either coast saw so much action as the USS Cyane.  The ship remained active on the coasts of North and South America until she was decommissioned in 1871.

Slap Shot (1977)

The Charlestown Chiefs are a hockey team on a losing streak.  Their coach, Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman), is also a player.  Their star player, Ned (Michael Ontkean), is a college graduate who preferred to 'slum' it as a hockey player. Ned's wife, Lily (Lindsay Crouse), is not at all happy about living in a working-class mill town, especially since her parents are rich and Ned has great prospects.  The manager, McGrath (Strother Martin), scrounges for funds to keep the team afloat, including selling equipment and having the players model clothes.  Enter the Hanson brothers.  The Hanson brothers could be triplets but are actually 18, 19, and 20.  Their style of hockey involves goonery, a frequent switch to violence and foul play to diminish the other team.  Ned, an adherent to 'old-timey' hockey where skill and team play would win games, is horrified by the Hansons.  Reggie isn't too keen on it either, but his views change as the Chiefs start winning and game attendance skyrockets.

To further complicate matters, the mill has closed and it is unlikely the team will survive with a crashing local economy; who will be able to afford to attend games?  To keep morale up, Reggie concocts a story about a potential sale of the team to some Florida investors.  He fed the story to sportswriter Dickie Dunn (M. Emmet Walsh) and radio broadcaster Jim Carr (Andrew Duncan).  However, that's only temporary measures.  If he is going to avoid the team folding, he needs to find out who owns the team, but McGrath won't say.

For its time, it was the most profanity-filled movie made.  This may be the movie that inspired the old joke about going to the fights and a hockey game broke out.  It is certainly a movie of its time with men wearing platform shoes, leather pants, turtle-neck shirts, paisley patterns, wide collars, and just generally loud clothing.  All the cars are gas-guzzling land yachts or sporty muscle cars.  Mostly, this is a movie that riffs on all things related to hockey and hockey players.  There are no life-altering character arcs or deep messages, just a romp through the wild and wooly life of hockey players.

Good popcorn fun! 

Fallout (season 2)

At the end of last season, Lucy's father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), was shown to be the true monster.  While Maximus (Aaron Moten) returned to the Brotherhood of Steel with cold fusion, Lucy (Ella Purnell) and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) followed Hank to New Vegas.

In flashback, Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) found himself at odds with his wife (Frances Turner) and roped into an assassination plot against noted industrialist, Robert Edwin House (Justin Theroux).  House was the CEO of a robotics company but was also developing a mind-control device for use on people. Cooper's past was further revealed with another flashback to his time in Alaska during the war.  Here he first saw a Deathclaw.

Back with the Brotherhood, Maximus gained considerable status on account of his recent success.  However, he had also grown a conscience on account of his recent travels with Lucy.  Can he accept that the power of cold fusion will launch his faction of the Brotherhood into a civil war with the rest?

In her trek to New Vegas, Lucy encountered various groups that seek to establish a new civilization.  First, there was Caesar's Legion, a band of people who had adopted the Roman Empire as a model for the future.  Among them was Lacerta Legate (Macaulay Culkin), a high-ranking officer who controled Lucy's fate.  Then there were the soldiers of the New California Republic, a would-be government for the wasteland.

While Lucy hunted for her father, her brother, Norm, found his way to the surface with freshly awoken Vault 31 middle managers.  Could he fool them into believing he was in charge while also delegating to them solving his problems?  So far, so good.

Lastly, there were those still in the vault, trying to rebuild.  Not everyone was who they seem to be, especially Stephanie (Annabel O'Hagan).  Though promoted to overseer of the re-established Vault 32, she proved to be... gasp...  Canadian!  There is a lot of backstory for the cyclops lady.

The second season is outstanding, every bit as good as season 1.  Not only is more of the pre-apocalypse explored, there are many developments in the present.  Hugely entertaining and highly recommended!

Filibuster

Traditionally, the filibuster was used to prevent legislation from proceeding to a vote in the Senate.  Strom Thurmond famously spoke for more than 24 hours in an effort to prevent passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.  The point is that the Senate allows debate to continue until everyone has had their say, even if it happens to be reading the phone directory into the Senate record.  In order to end debate, the Senate must assemble 60 votes.  What we have today is autopilot filibusters.  No one debates the bill.  No one puts in the time to speak ad nauseum to prevent a vote.  Nope, the minority party just says filibuster and voila, no vote without 60 votes.

The filibuster is a rule the Senate adopted that has no basis in the Constitution.  It could be eliminated, if the majority party so chose.  It has seen a lot of modification over the years, being nixed for judicial nominations, including Supreme Court nominees.  If no one is willing to carry on the debate, then it should just be a matter of calling for the vote.  The filibustering party should be required to talk the issue to death, which takes really commitment.

Debate or vote.

Asking Gangs to Fight ICE

Rogelio Martinez, a candidate for Mayor of Long Beach, has posted a message where he called for the gangs of Long Beach to eject ICE from the city.  My first question is whether or not this is real?  If so, this man is off his rocker.  Who would post a call for criminals to oppose federal law enforcement?  "Hello, FBI?  Could you come arrest me, posthaste?"  People who aren't all there have been convinced that anything is acceptable to fight the 'fascist Nazis' at ICE.

If you call someone a fascist or a Nazi, there is a minority - maybe a very small minority - of people who will believe it, embrace it, and act on it.  They will get their hands on a gun or a knife and attack the Nazi.  There was the crazy who shot Charlie Kirk, the crackpot who shot Trump, the other crackpot who tried to shoot Trump, and the loon who tried to gun down Republicans at a baseball field.  Though the left claims that the right-wing is likely to commit violence, it is more approving of the use of violence.  24% of far-leftist are okay with assassinations.  Only 4% of conservatives are on board with killing the competition, which is still too high.

It would appear that would-be Mayor Martinez is one of the crackpots who think it is okay to recruit criminals to fight law enforcement.  It has been so long since the US really tried to enforce some of its laws that it now feels like persecution.  It's not.

Black Bag (2025)

George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) went to a club to meet Philip Meacham.  Meacham explained that the agency had a traitor.  He provided a list with 5 names.  One of the names on the list was Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett), who happened to be George's wife.  In order to ferret out the rat, George invited all of them to dinner at his home.  George is a gourmet; he also drugged the food.  Once everyone was sufficiently lubricated, the game began.  Make a resolution for the person on your right.  It turned out that everyone was sleeping with everyone else, but nothing to mark out a traitor.  However, after dinner, George spotted something amiss that implicated his wife.

In the week that followed, George investigated the suspects, including his wife.  His investigations led to further incriminating evidence against his wife!  Even if she was guilty, he would protect her.  He needed to thwart a clandestine plan while keeping his wife safe.  The crisscross of lies led everyone to suspect one another.

The climax was something of a letdown.  It is a replay of the original dinner party with life on the line.  That the villain grabbed the gun provided by the host as though it was actually useful was beyond foolish.  Of course, it's a dummy gun.  How in the world could anyone - especially someone who works in intelligence - believe a loaded gun would just be offered?

Fassbender plays George as a flat, emotionless man.  He makes Roger Moore's raised eyebrow look like Shatnerian overacting by comparison.  He is a cold calculating machine with a keen eye for deception.  Cate Blanchett is similarly limited in emotional range.  It definitely gives the impression that these spies are focused and unflappable.  By contrast, the satellite operator, Clarissa, has wide emotional swings and the psychologist, Zoe, felt very normal as a person.  Pierce Brosnan plays Arthur Stieglitz, the chief of the agency.  It is not a good role, as he gets outmaneuvered by his subordinates and seemed to be oblivious to what was happening.

The movie feels like an old British spy thriller in the vein of The Ipcress File or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.  There is a lot of dialogue and no action.  This is more of a whodunit than a spy movie.  That the villain proved to be sloppy and incompetent was disappointing.

Just okay.

An Inside Job

Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan is an admin of the Signal Chat that has organized the resistance against ICE in Minnesota.  Yes, the government of Minnesota is actively interfering with federal officers who are just trying to remove illegal aliens.  When the governor of Arkansas tried to keep blacks out of schools in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Education, President Eisenhower called out the National Guard.  States don't get to decide which federal laws they will obey.  This sure looks a lot like an insurrection, and Democrats have stated how wrong those are for the past 5 years.

Insurrection: A violent uprising by a group against lawful authority or government power.  It typically unfolds through organized, illegal actions, such as riots or armed resistance, that obstruct the enforcement of laws.

Clearly, they are obstructing the enforcement of laws.  Alex Pretti was armed, which means that Minneapolis has seen more gun-carrying protestors than J6 had.  One ICE agent had his finger bitten off, another was beaten with a shovel, and one was hit by a car.  Organized action by members of the state government to thwart the federal government.  Yeah, we're right on the precipice of insurrection.  Is this to protect hard-working, law-abiding undocumented immigrants from being sent back to their home countries?  Or is it to distract from fraud growing out of migrant communities?  How many illegals voted in Minnesota?  How much of the money acquired from fraudulent daycares and medical clinics was kicked back to politicians, like the suddenly wealthy Ilhan Omar?  How far will insiders take this to prevent that information from being revealed?

Engineered Chaos

The state that has seen the most activity from ICE is Texas.  23% of all arrests have taken place there.  By contrast, Minnesota accounts for 2.2% of arrests.  Why have things gone comparatively much smoother in Texas than in Minnesota?  Texas has cooperated with ICE where Minnesota has cried, "Get the F___ out!"  Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, Attorney General Ellison, and Senator Klobuchar have all denounced ICE as the problem.  The intransigence of the state has caused the problem, and the Democrats are using the resulting chaos as a weapon against immigration enforcement.

Then again, there is potentially a darker explanation.  No sooner had the multi-billion-dollar Somali fraud schemes been revealed than the big story switched to ICE.  Suddenly, the massive fraud carried out under the noses of the Minnesota government fades into the background, overwhelmed by 'fascist ICE agents' sent by President Trump.  Look at that timely use of an Uno Reverse Card.  Rather than being on defense against financial fraud, Governor Walz is now on the offense against ICE raids.

The chaos is not by chance and is not merely concerned citizens marching in the streets.  Opposition to ICE in Minneapolis is a highly organized and well-funded operation.  Cam Higby successfully infiltrated a Signal chat that kept track of ICE vehicles and sent activists to the site of arrests to engage.  The anti-ICE forces have patrols throughout the city, tail vehicles, access to license plate data so they can ID vehicles belonging to ICE, and so on.  Cynical Publius observed that the anti-ICE forces are using the tactics of a paramilitary operation.  Again, these are trained operatives, not random citizens taking a day off work to aid those in need.  This is a fifth column.

The New Nullification Crisis

ICE agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis.  The man was armed and resisting arrest.  This article reports that his parents urged him not to engage with ICE.  Though I am in favor of the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms, it does not seem wise to be armed when you know you are going to be in contact with armed police.  Don't bring a gun to a peaceful protest.  Definitely don't escalate things when you are armed.

Combined with Renee Good's death, the situation in Minnesota is spiraling out of control.  Governor Walz and Mayor Frey are making matters worse with their vocal opposition to ICE.  This is a resurrection of the Nullification Crisis of 1832.  President Andrew Jackson threatened to march an army into South Carolina and his Vice President, John C. Calhoun, resigned over the issue.  Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.

Cynical Publius, an insightful commentator on X, argues that the problem is that no one is asking the right question.  Currently, the Democrats are framing the issue by hyping the protests and claiming that the administration is fascist.  The Republicans are, as usual, on defense.  The simple solution is to turn it around would be to ask this question:

Why do you oppose the lawful enforcement of America's long-standing bipartisan immigration laws?

That is what is happening.  Duly passed laws are being enforced.  There is no good answer to this question, so every politician will dodge it, change the subject, or claim it isn't the law.  That reaction is an answer in itself.

Barry (season 1)

Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) is a former US Marine who now works as a hitman for Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root).  Barry is clearly depressed and directionless.  He doesn't like what he does but there is nothing else for him.  Fuches has a new job: go to Los Angeles and kill a man who is screwing the wife of a Chechnyan gangster.  Barry follows the man to an acting class and fumbles into being in a scene with his mark.  Hey, that was kind of fun.  And his mark is a cool guy.  Because Barry dawdled on the hit, the Chechnyans kill the mark and Barry kills some of them.  Barry is now determined to stay in California and pursue acting, but his hitman past won't stay in the past.

This is a particularly dark comedy.  Is it comedy?  The situations that Barry finds himself in are outrageous, which is what makes them funny.  Barry plays it straight while many of the other characters are goofy.  Henry Winkler as Gene Cousineau the acting teacher is particularly good.  Anthony Carrigan is quirky as the number two man among the Chechnyans.  He has a mild delivery of every line, whether it be compliments or threats.  He is an entertaining yes-man with a peculiar look: completely bald and no eyebrows.  Sarah Goldberg plays Barry's love interest, Sally Reed.  She is an aspiring actress and the most talented member of Cousineau's class.  For her, everything is acting and advancing her career.  As such, she and Barry are on-again, off-again through the season.  The central character, Barry, is something of a mush.  He doesn't know what he wants, which seems very strange.  Here is a man who kills people for a living, but he can't say 'no' to some of the dumbest ideas.  His timidity in facing people leads to some truly horrendous outcomes.

Not great, but not bad either.  Good enough that I will start the second season.

Land Purchase is Common

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory for $15 million from Napoleon.  This purchase included the cities of New Orleans and St. Louis.

In 1819, President James Monroe purchased Florida from Spain.  The Adams-Onis Treaty traded American claims to Texas and $5 million for ownership of East and West Florida.  St. Augustine and Pensacola became American cities though the population was Spanish.

In 1848, President James K Polk sought to purchase California and New Mexico from Mexico.  He offered up to $30 million for the territory.  Any Mexican president who looked like he might negotiate such a deal was deposed.  Santa Anna returned from exile to fight the Americans.  After Mexico decisively lost the war, the US nonetheless paid $15 million for the territory.

In 1854, President Franklin Pierce approved the Gadsden Purchase, which added around 30,000 square miles to Arizona and New Mexico Territories.  This also included the city of Tucson.  Interestingly, Santa Anna was President of Mexico at the time.  At this time, Pierce also offered to buy Cuba, but Spain declined.

In 1867, President Andrew Johnson approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.  Viewed as a bad purchase, it was called Seward's Folly.  William Seward was the Secretary of State.  It is noteworthy that Seward also wanted to buy Greenland.

In 1898, President William McKinley purchased the Philippines from Spain for $20 million.  Though the US had defeated the Spanish fleet, it had only captured Manila Harbor.  The payment was to acquire all of the Philippines.

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt paid $10 million for the Panama Canal Zone.  Of course, he had helped Panama secede from Columbia when Columbia had refused a treaty for the canal zone.

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt began paying rent for Guantanamo Bay on Cuba.  Though the US had long flirted with acquiring Cuba, when it actually was acquired, the Congress forbade annexation.  The naval base was established to maintain Cuban independence.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson bought the American Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million.  The US had first sought to purchase them in the 1860s.

In 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt purchased Water Island for $10,000 from Denmark.  It was the last of the Danish Virgin Islands and was less than 1 square mile in size.  At the time of the sale, Denmark was occupied by the Nazis.

During World War II, the US used Greenland as a refueling stop.  In 1946, President Harry Truman offered to buy Greenland, but Denmark declined.  In 1951, the US established Thule Airbase - now Pituffik Space Base - as a missile warning base for the Cold War.

President Trump's offer to buy Greenland is nothing out of the ordinary.  Clearly, the US has purchased a lot of territory with varying degrees of arm-twisting.  Greenland has been on the wish list for more than 150 years.

Maggie Moore(s) (2023)

Maggie Lee Moore (Mary Holland) fled in terror while screaming for help.  She ran down a dead end and her assailant approached.  In the morning, Sheriff Jordan Sanders (Jon Hamm) and Deputy Reddy (Nick Mohammed) examined the corpse.  When her name is mentioned, both look surprised.  Cut to 10 days earlier.

Maggie Moore (Louisa Krause) screamed at her husband, Jay (Micah Stock), so loudly that the neighbor, Rita (Tina Fey) heard some of it.  Maggie kicked Jay out of the house and threatened divorce and exposure to the police.  Jay hired a goon, Mike Kosco (Happy Anderson), to scare his wife straight.  Instead, Kosco killed her.  Now Jay was in the crosshairs of Sheriff Sanders.  However, he learned by happenstance that there was another Maggie Moore in town.  What if she was murdered?  He went back to Kosco to make arrangements.

There is no mystery here, just dark comedy that is not funny.  There are a lot of cringy interactions, where people humiliate themselves in awkward conversations.  The deputy frequently makes inappropriate comments regarding the sheriff's love life.  The budding romance between the sheriff and Rita had all the chemistry of a flat soda.  Jay Moore practically screams "I'm guilty" in every scene, though the sheriff happily goes down the wrong path.  Micah Stock makes Jay amazingly pathetic and unsympathetic.  Fine.  However, he's somehow got money to burn on a hitman and payoffs but can't afford to keep his restaurant stocked with non-moldy food.  Was moldy food meant to be funny?  Why are there customers here when the mold is beyond obvious?  Really, the sandwiches are polka dotted with mold.  The normally smooth and suave Hamm is here a man without moves.  Okay, so he's a widower and out of practice, but women are tossing themselves at him and he's got no game.  Yeah, this was not the role for Dan Draper.  Ditto with Tina Fey.  Her character has lots of undesirable traits, from busybody neighbor to self-loathing.  She says her ex-husband broke her, but she still has sex with him regularly.  Is that dark humor?  Why is the sheriff attracted to this woman?

The movie was inspired by the murder of two women named Maggie Moore in Houston within a week of each other.  Those murders were never solved and may have no relation other than the coincidence of the victims' names.

Skip this one.

Dying before the War

In July 1845, Texas accepted annexation to the United States.  Coincident with this, General Zachary Taylor moved his Corps of Observation from Ft. Jessup - on the Texas-Louisianna border - to Corpus Christi, Texas on the Nueces River.  Though the Mexican government still didn't recognize Texas independence, it argued that the Nueces - not the Rio Grande - was the border for Tejas.  Taylor camped on the south side of the river, a clear statement that the US leaned toward Texas' claim that the Rio Grande was the border.

For the next nine months, the US Army of Occupation loitered in Corpus Christi.  Though there were certainly rumors that a Mexican Army would attack, such did not happen.  Even so, the army suffered a surprising number of casualties.  Of the 3,000 troops encamped, around 67 of them died while the army waited for the war to begin.  Most of them died from illness, a common killer for those in a new climate with unfamiliar hazards.  Quite a few died from chronic diarrhea, a few drown, one accidentally shot himself, and another was shot by a man named Springer.  One unfortunate officer, Lieutenant Henry Merrill, who had only just arrived at St. Joseph Island was killed when a ship's mast fell on him; Merrill had graduated West Point on July 1st and was killed less than 4 months later.  Nearly half of the soldiers that died were from Europe: fourteen Irishmen, seven Germans, three Englishmen, three Scots, a Prussian, a Pole, a Swiss, and a Canadian died a long way from home.  Oddly, the 2nd Dragoon Regiment suffered the most deaths: 18.  The 4th Infantry lost a dozen men and the 3rd lost 11.

Steamship Dayton

Corpus Christi Bay was quite shallow and could not accommodate the supply ships.  Thus, supplies were deposited on St. Joseph Island, one of the line of coastal islands on the Texas coast.  From there, riverboats would ferry the men and equipment across the bay - about 20 miles - to the camp.  One of those riverboats was the Dayton.

On September 12, 1845, the Dayton set out on the latest supply run.  Several officers and men from the army were aboard the ship.  2nd Lt. Ulysses S. Grant, who served as a quartermaster in the 4th Infantry, declined to join them.  Captain George Crossman, who was the Chief Quartermaster, was aboard.  The Dayton was somewhat more than halfway to its destination when the boiler exploded.  Bodies tumbled through the air.  Lt. Benjamin Berry and Lt. Thadeus Higgins - both from the 4th Infantry - were killed instantly.  As the boat sank, the other boiler exploded.  There were 8 dead and 17 injured.  Two of the injured died soon afterwards.  Captain Crossman survived with minor injuries.  Captain West, who commanded the Dayton, had been severely scalded and died shortly after the disaster.

In January 1846, Taylor was ordered to move the army to the Rio Grande.  The march began on March 8th.  Those who were too ill to march were left in Corpus Christi.  By the middle of April, 4 more had died.  Approximately 2% of Taylor's troops died while camped.  This was only a hint of what was to come.  In the Mexican-American War, disease killed vastly more soldiers than muskets, cannons, swords, and bayonets.

Bleeding Minnesota

In the 1850s, Senator Stephen A. Douglas had argued in favor of popular sovereignty, a system where the people of a state would decide whether slavery would be legal or not.  This idea was tested with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.  Though both states were north of the previously agreed upon 36th parallel, the act allowed them to organize how they chose.  Unsurprisingly (well, it must have been a surprise to Douglas & President Franklin Pierce), abolitionists and pro-slave forces flooded into Kansas.  Murder and mayhem followed: Bleeding Kansas.  John Brown was quite active, gaining his fame or infamy depending on one's point of view.  It is agreed that this was a big step on the way to Civil War.

Today, the question is illegal immigration.  Again, we have a popular sovereignty where some states encourage illegal immigration and protect those immigrants from deportation.  The term Sanctuary City goes back decades.  There are many who are strongly opposed to illegal immigration.  Unlike the case in the 19th Century where slavery was not only legal, but Constitutional, illegal immigration is clearly illegal.  There is no argument in favor on the basis of law.  Sanctuary cities have always been enabling lawlessness, which the federal government has tolerated to varying degrees.

Just as the slavery question grew more and more contentious as the 19th century progressed, the issue of illegal immigration has done the same.  One could argue that Donald Trump won both his elections on that issue alone.  Trump is to illegal immigration what Lincoln was to slavery.  Why is illegal immigration so important to those who support it?  They would claim human decency.  That is no more convincing than when slave owners declared their slaves to be too stupid to take care of themselves.  No, there are several benefits.  First, illegals count in the census, which is why there was such a ruckus when Trump tried to get a question about legal status on the 2020 Census.  If one accepts the long-stated 12 million illegals, that is 16 seats in the House of Representatives, even if illegals don't vote.  If they do vote (and many have), they are going to reliably vote for the pro-illegal immigrant party (i.e., Democrats).  Then there is the money.  As has been exposed with the Somali daycares, a lot of money is supporting illegals in America.  How much of that gets kicked back to political campaigns or activism?

Much as the American South had built a culture on exploiting slaves, the Democratic Party of today has built a system that exploits illegal immigrants.  Like the slave, the immigrant doesn't have recourse to law; he will be deported.  The illegal immigrant is just a variation of the same old Democratic playbook: cheap labor and greater electoral representation.  Just as they resorted to violence to protect and extend slavery in Kansas, they are resorting to violence in Minnesota.  ICE represents the abolitionists.

The Naked Gun (2025)

The story opens with a little girl stumbling into a bank robbery in progress.  When confronted by an armed bank robber, she pulls off her face to reveal Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson).  He deftly took out the robbers though one escaped.  Oddly, the robbers didn't take money, just the contents of a safety deposit box.  When Frank went to interview the owner of the box, it turned out he had driven off a cliff the previous night.  Interesting.  However, the man's sister, Beth (Pamela Anderson), insisted that her brother had been murdered and she would investigate on her own.  Thus, Frank and Beth crossed paths repeatedly.

Okay, that's more plot than required.  This is nothing but a thin story to support a non-stop series of comedic bits.  Where the original Naked Gun series had silly word play or ludicrous situations, this one goes over the top.  There is the deadpan delivery that was a staple of Leslie Nielsen.  A lot of the gags are beyond silly.  Doesn't feel as clever.  Certainly has its moments but not something I will rewatch.

Meh.

Contempt of Congress

Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon both refused to comply with congressional subpoenas to testify before the J6 Committee.  Both were then held in Contempt of Congress.  Eventually, both were found guilty of defying the subpoenas and sentenced to a 4-month stint in jail.  This was an escalation from previous incidents.  For example, Attorney General Eric Holder was held in Contempt of Congress, but he did not go to jail.  Of course, he wasn't going to prosecute himself.  Lois Lerner of the IRS was found in Contempt, but she was not prosecuted either.  Interestingly, Eric Holder was the AG.  It is noteworthy that the Republicans were jailed while the Democrats were not prosecuted.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have refused to comply with congressional subpoenas to testify regarding Jeffery Epstein.  Where the Biden Administration went hard on former President Donald Trump and those who served in his administration (Navarro and Bannon), what will the Trump Administration do?  Did the Democrats cross the Rubicon by jailing Navarro & Bannon and serially prosecuting Trump?  If the Republicans don't do the same in return, will the temperature be lowered when a Democrat again takes office or will they have missed their one opportunity to prevent their demise?  Sounds crazy.

Political assassinations and violence have been rising.  Democrats have shown an eagerness to use government against their rivals, which has been ongoing for a long time.  Lois Lerner was accused of targeting right-leaning groups, thus her contempt charge.  That was more than a decade ago.  By the time President Biden was in office, the FBI was searching a former First Lady's underwear drawer.  Blue states are resisting ICE's efforts to remove criminal aliens, which has resulted in violence and deaths.  Yes, things are escalating.  Tim Pool's long-standing claim that Civil War II is coming - maybe it is already here - looks to be less outlandish every day.

Democrats had no problem attempting to imprison Donald Trump.  Turnabout is fair play.  Jail Bill and Hillary for Contempt of Congress, just like Democrats did to Navarro and Bannon.  Only when the stakes are even can the temperature be brought down.  Either everyone gets the Holder/Lerner slap on the wrist or everyone gets 4-months in jail.  No two-tiered system.

Scott Adams

Scott Adams, the man most known for his Dilbert comic, died this morning.  I first became aware of Adams when Dilbert appeared in the comic section.  Of course, I didn't much like Dilbert.  I preferred The Far Side and Calvin & Hobbes.  More than 20 years later, I encountered his blog.  He had taken up political writing, which fell right into my field of interests.  Though I often disagreed with his views on subjects, he was quite engaging and often came at topics from an interesting angle.  He would often preface his opinions by saying "I'm a trained hypnotist."  To him, persuasion was the most important thing, while being right or wrong was often secondary.  Not that it wasn't important to be right, but an unpersuasive right will lose every time to a persuasive wrong.  This was keen observation, especially when facts are weak persuasion compared to emotion.

During the 2016 campaign, Scott became a key source for me.  His analysis frequently annoyed me, but all too often proved more accurate than I expected.  He and I were looking at things differently, but his views tracked better.  So I bought his book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.  Then I bought God's Debris.  Loserthink and Reframe Your Brain also joined my library.  He switched from blogging to streaming.  I watched his stream and was a paying member of his Locals channel for a while.  Though clearly a fan, I still couldn't get into Dilbert.  But that's okay.  He was so much more than the Dilbert guy.

RIP

Perfect Blue (1997)

Mima Kirigoe was a member of a pop band, but her agent wanted her to switch to acting.  Her friend, Rumi, was not so keen on switching.  Nonetheless, Mima switched.  She got a small part in a TV thriller and was also called upon to pose nude for a photoshoot.  Her TV character was raped, which transformed her into an avenging angel in the show.  Is it only the show?  She had crazy dreams.  Or were they memories?  She was soon haunted by her old self, the pop icon in a pink dress.  Then there is the stalker with dead eyes, the webpage that knows her every move and thought, and a series of murders.  Was she going insane?

This is not the sort of story one expects from Anime.  In fact, the script was originally intended as a live-action movie.  The movie has a dream quality to it.  There are some things that don't make sense in retrospect.  Mima sure seemed to be losing her marbles, but she was being gaslit.  Could she have dreams of murders that she did not commit only to find they happened as she dreamt?  When Ghost Mima is revealed to be an actual person, one wonders how she bounded from the second floor and fled on top of light posts.  Was Mima just hallucinating?

Though highly-rated (8 stars on IMDb, 84% Rotten Tomatoes), it missed the medium.  This isn't a story for Anime.

Flight Risk (2025)

Somewhere in rural Alaska, Winston (Topher Grace) was cooking a cup of noodles in his motel microwave when the door burst in.  Two local cops and US Marshal Madolyn Harris arrest him.  A couple of days later, Madolyn loaded Winston into a barebones charter plane.  The pilot, Daryl Booth (Mark Wahlberg) was a chatty fellow, who offered a history of how he found his way from Texas to Alaska.  Shortly after takeoff, Madolyn learned that both the radio and the GPS were offline.  Then Daryl talked about them going to Seattle; he's only taking them to Anchorage.  It turned out that Daryl was an assassin dispatched to kill Winston before he could testify against a mob boss.  Neither Mandolyn nor Winston can fly a plane.

There is a lot of inadequate securing of Daryl when he is subdued.  Repeatedly!  By the same token, Daryl had subdued Madolyn and then failed to secure her.  Everyone is needlessly reckless and it costs them again and again.  To add to the tension, it becomes clear that Daryl got information from within the Marshals, making her question her allies on the other end of the actually working radio.  Is she just flying into a trap?

A Mel Gibson film, it is just okay.  I'm sure that Wahlberg enjoyed the opportunity to play a bad guy and Michelle Dockery is a long way from Downton Abbey's Lady Mary here.  Far off type, which is cool and they are good in their roles.  No, it is the script that fails.  In order for the flight to have several fights, the characters must leave the opponent in a position to escape or fight back.  The characters must be dumb or the story would end after the first fight.  Meh.

The Changing Demographics of a Syrian Refugee

In this clip, Professor Casagranda states that Greek fire was invented by a Syrian refugee.  There is no further context to that.  Well, everyone knows what a Syrian refugee is, right?  We just had thousands upon thousands of them flee the Syrian Civil War and flood into Europe.  They are mostly Arabic Muslims.  Anyone watching this clip will mistakenly conclude the same of the refugee who invented Greek fire.  Why would you not?  Unless you actually know history, like Professor Casagranda.  A 7th century Syrian refugee is quite different from a 21st century one.  In fact, Callinicus of Heliopolis was a Greek-speaking Jewish architect who fled the Muslim conquests of that Christian nation.  Huh.  I'm sure that omission was unintentional.

A Minecraft Movie (2025)

Steve yearned for the mines as a child but was chased away by old man miner.  Years later while slaving away at his boring job, adult Steve (Jack Black) remembered his dream.  He returned to the mine, but this time, he cleverly outmaneuvered old man miner and got to digging.  In almost no time at all, he discovered a magic orb that granted passage to the blockish realm that all Minecraft players know.  Here, he mined, crafted, and built.  Then, he found his way to the Nether, a dark realm ruled by a pig witch named Malgosha (Rachel House).  She imprisoned him.

Meanwhile, in our world, Garrett (Jason Momoa) was on the brink of bankruptcy.  He had won a video game championship in 1989 and was still coasting on that 'achievement.'  In desperation for money, he bid on the contents of storage unit.  He thought it was a bust.  However, the magic orb was part of his loot.  Garrett was soon joined by Henry (Sebastian Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers), and Dawn (Danielle Brooks).  All of them were transported to Minecraft World, where the joined the quest to foil Malgosha's dark plans.  Oh, and also get back home.

Jack Black goes far beyond William Shatner levels of overacting, emoting where no man has emoted before.  Jason Momoa joins the embarrassment by wearing a pink jacket whining like few leading men have ever whined.  Impressive commitment to the role.  Henry, who proves to be a genius kid with poor people skills, is generally the central character, Steve and Garrett playing goofy mentors.  Natalie is his older sister, though it is hard to tell.  Wow, when she first appeared on screen, I wondered why a 14-year-old was driving a car.  No, she's well into her 20s but sure doesn't look it.  Lastly, there is Dawn, a realtor who has a side gig of a mobile petting zoo; there is a llama in her car.

There is no pretense to seriousness.  This is slapstick silliness in a crazy unbelievable world.  Good popcorn fun!

Presidential Sons

Might it be the case that a lack of sons among most of the early presidents led to a more orderly transition of power?  Washington established the peaceful handoff, but the lack of sons may have aided in keeping the tradition going.

Founding Fathers

George Washington had no children of his own.  Martha had been widowed at age 26 and brought 2 children with her when she married Washington: John and Martha.  John became ill during the Siege of Yorktown (1781) and died shortly after the British surrendered.  Had Washington become a monarch, he had no progeny to benefit.

By contrast, John Adams had three son who survived to adulthood.  The eldest, John Quincy Adams, pursued a career in government and eventually became president during his father's lifetime.

Thomas Jefferson had only daughters.

Like Washington, James Madison had no children.  However, his wife, Dolley Payne Madison, had a child from her previous marriage.  John Payne impoverished his mother after James Madison died.

James Monroe's only son died in infancy.  Monroe is the last of the Founding Fathers to serve as president.

Antebellum Presidents

Almost 50 years after the Declaration of Independence, John Quincy Adams became the first to follow his father's footsteps into the White House.  Like his father, he had three sons.  Two died tragically and young (suicide and alcoholism), but Charles Francis Adams sought the Vice Presidency in 1848.

Andrew Jackson had no children, nor did his wife, Rachel, who had been previously married.  They adopted a nephew who proved to be a lot of trouble.

Martin Van Buren had two sons: Abraham and John.  Abraham served as personal secretary while his father was president.  John became the Attorney General of New York, an office his father had held.

William Henry Harrison had 10 children, but only 1 son outlived him.  Interestingly, that son, John Scott Harrison, was the father of President Benjamin Harrison.

John Tyler had the most children of any president, but he and his sons joined the Confederacy during the Civil War.

James Knox Polk had no children.

Zachary Taylor had one son, Richard, who went on to be a general in the Confederate Army.

Millard Filmore had one son, also named Millard, who a became a lawyer.

Franklin Pierce had 3 sons, all of whom died before he was inaugurated.

James Buchanan never married, earning his title as the bachelor president.

Abraham Lincoln had 4 sons, only 2 of whom survived him.  Of those, only Robert lived beyond the age of 18.  Robert became Secretary of War for President Garfield and Minister to the UK under Benjamin Harrison.

Post Civil War Presidents

Andrew Johnson had 3 sons, 2 of whom predeceased him and all of whom died of alcoholism.  Yikes.

Ulysses S Grant had three sons.  The eldest followed his father's footsteps by going to West Point and joining the military.  The younger two did pursue politics but without success.

Rutherford Hayes had 4 sons who survived him, none of whom pursued politics.

James Garfield had 3 surviving sons, one of whom went on to be Secretary of the Interior for President Theodore Roosevelt.

Chester Arthur had two sons, only one of whom made it to adulthood.  Chester Jr. proved to be a playboy, a man who lived a life of leisure.

Grover Cleveland had 2 sons by his wife.  As he married late in life, the boys were only 11 and 5 at the time of his death.

Benjamin Harrison's only son, Russell, became the US Consul for Mexico and Portugal.  Though he did become a politician, it was only at the state level in Indiana.

William McKinley had only two daughters, both of whom died by the age of 3.

20th Century Presidents

Theodore Roosevelt had four sons.  The youngest was shot down during WWI.  Two others died (heart attack & suicide) while in the military during WWII.  The last lived until 1979.  None followed their father into politics.

William Howard Taft had two sons.  Robert Taft became a noted Senator and sought the nomination for president several times but never won it.

Woodrow Wilson had only daughters.

Warren Harding had no children with his wife but did have a daughter by his mistress.

Calvin Coolidge had 2 sons, one of whom died during his presidency.  When Coolidge said that the business of government is business, his son, John, took it to heart and became a businessman.

Herbert Hoover had 2 sons, neither of whom pursued elective office.

FDR had several sons.  Two pursued elective office but never achieved anything close to their father's success.  The youngest son, John, did not seek office but he did become a Republican.  Yes, the youngest is usually the rebel.

Harry Truman had only one child, a daughter.

Dwight Eisenhower had two sons.  One died of scarlet fever at the age of three.  The other, John, followed his father example by joining the military but not politics.  John's son, David, would go on to marry Richard Nixon's daughter.

JFK had one son survive to adulthood.  JFK Jr. died in a plane crash when only 38.

LBJ had only daughters.

Richard Nixon had only daughters.

Gerald Ford had 3 sons, none of whom pursued politics.  Steven Ford is an actor.

Jimmy Carter had three sons. Jack Carter was the nominee for the Senate from Nevada but lost to the Republican.  The other sons have not pursued politics.

Ronald Reagan had two sons.  Michael was adopted with his first wife.  He followed his father into entertainment, notably talk radio.  I listened to his show a few times when I lived in Southern California.  Ron Jr. is his son with Nancy.  Ron is the rebellious son who became a Democrat.  Though he went into entertainment like his father, he didn't parley that into political office.

George Bush had four sons, two of whom became governors of major states (Texas and Florida).  George W Bush became the first son of a president since John Quincy Adams to become president.  JEB sought the Republican nomination in 2016.  George Bush himself was the son of Senator Prescott Bush.  Yes, here is the makings of a family dynasty to rival the Adams.  That's not a good thing, BTW.

Bill Clinton has only a daughter.

21st Century Presidents

George W Bush has only daughters.

Barack Obama has only daughters.

Donald Trump has three sons, 2 of whom followed their father into business.  Both Donald Jr. and Eric have also become activists since their father jumped into politics.  His third son, Barron, is still in college.

Joe Biden had two sons.  The older son, Beau, died while his father was Vice President.  The younger son, Hunter, has been one long source of scandal for his father.

One thing to note is how many of these presidential sons became alcoholics or drug abusers.  Several committed suicide.  It must be quite hard to live in the shadow of a presidential father.

Reconquista

In this short video, Professor Casagranda once again tries to mislead the viewer.  Oh, how can a different people reconquer a region?  You aren't the Germanic people who were kicked out by the invading Arabs.  It was never yours, so this is just a landgrab.  Casagranda has chosen the framing of Germanic people being displaced by Arabs rather than Christian people displaced by Muslims.  With that change in framing, the previously Christian Iberian Peninsula was once again Christian.  Hey, now Reconquista makes perfect sense.  I could figure that out and I don't have a PhD.