J'Accuse! says Hunter Biden

Hunter Biden has recently been on a tear on X, accusing the media of ignoring the financial shenanigans of the Trump children where they had blasted the previous president's son for the same; that would be him, by the way.  Yes, he had that sweet no-show gig on the board of directors for Burisma Holdings in Ukraine, which looked a bit fishy.  It looked even shadier when Vice President Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees to from Ukraine unless Viktor Shokin - a prosecutor investigating Burisma - was fired.  Sure, there may be a lot of nuance in here, but that looks bad.  Also, the nuance, if there was any, was not reported.  Then there was his art career while Joe Biden was president.  It was amazing how valuable his paintings were during Joe Biden's presidency and then the bottom fell out when he was not.  What exactly were the buyers buying?  Then there is the laptop, but there is no similar scandal with any of the Trump children, so let's skip that.

Hunter's Accusations:

1. Vulcan Elements, a defense startup backed by Donald Trump Jr., secured a $620 million loan from the Pentagon.  Ha!  Where is the outrage?  Why is this not plastered across every newspaper and news program like Hunter's crackpipe?  Let's look a little deeper.  Donald Trump Jr. has a stake in 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm.  No, he is not the CEO or on the board of directors.  Nor does he have a controlling share in the company.  1789 Capital has invested in Vulcan Elements.  1789 Capital does not own Vulcan Elements or have a majority shareholder position, but merely owns a part of the company.  So, a company that Don Jr. has shares in bought shares of another company that got a loan from the Pentagon.  Oh, what a scandal.

2. Israeli Drone Manufacture (XTEND) is going public through a merger.  Both Eric and Don Jr. are attached to the $1.5 billion deal.  War profiteering!  As with the Vulcan Elements case, the link is not so direct.  American Ventures, another venture capital firm, put $150 million into the merger, thus being 10% of the whole.  American Ventures is a branch of Dominari Holdings Inc.  Don Jr. and Eric have a combined ownership of 12% of Dominari.  Moreover, Don Jr. has a stake in Unusual Machines - another drone manufacture - that is also invested in the merger.  Again, the Trumps are attached not because they are driving this merger but because they have investments in the companies responsible.

3. Jared Kurshner and Ivanka Trump have acquired a wildlife sanctuary in Albania where they plan to build a luxury hotel.  That's a scandal?  In the western world today, BANANA is the rule.  What is BANANA?  Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone.  Recall, there was the long-running debate about drilling for oil in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) because nature and stuff.  The refuge is the size of South Carolina, but a few hundred acres to drill for oil would spoil the region.  Good grief.  The same is true of the Albanian coast.  Sazan Island has plenty of room and the suggested coastal region is mostly dotted with orchards.  This same story could be told of ANY builder anywhere in the western world; the environmentalists always oppose developers.

The Trump children are just pursuing the same sort of business dealing that their father did prior to his presidency.  They are investors, builders, and deal makers.  Are their efforts benefited by the fact that their father is president?  Almost certainly!  However, Hunter Biden's efforts benefited ONLY because his father was vice president and then president.

In any case, the reason the press isn't delving into these stories is because they don't stand scrutiny.  The one sentence accusation may sound damning, but the deep dive reveals them to be no big deal.  The very idea that the press is covering for Trump where it savaged Biden is ludicrous.

Mocha Dick

In 1838, a whaler sailed along the coast of Chile and came to Mocha Island.  There, they spotted a whale.  Quickly deploying whaleboats, the men rowed toward the whale only to discover that it was the infamous Mocha Dick, a white sperm whale of immense proportions that had a multitude of harpoons rusting on its back.  Eager to take the whale where so many others had failed, they tried their luck.  And failed.  The harpooner had made a bad cast and the whale vanished as night fell.

The following day, the whaler spotted a herd of whales and quickly paddled into the midst where the hunt began.  They took a calf and its mother.  Then, Mocha Dick appeared.  The first mate took the harpoon himself and his cast was true.  Mocha Dick dove so deep that the rope attached to the harpoon was almost exhausted.  The back and forth with the whale was exhausting but the first mate lanced Mocha Dick at the fin and shortly the whale was done.  Finally, someone had defeated the infamous whale.

The account of the whale was printed in The Knickerbocker by J N Reynolds in 1839.  Though probably exaggerated by the man who told Reynolds the story, there was indeed an albino whale that had haunted the ocean for 20 or more years.  The short story starts slowly with the author and several men gathered around for dinner.  At length, and despite interruptions from seal hunter, the first mate tells the tale of Mocha Dick.  This was the inspiration for Herman Melville's classic work, Moby-Dick.

One of the funniest things about the story is all the units of measurement, many of which are arcane or obsolete.  They spot whales a league off the port.  The whale dove 50 fathoms.  They closed to 5 rods.  The whaleboat was now only a cable away.  They were reduced to 3 flakes of rope.  Mocha Dick was so big that he would fill 100 barrels.

Highly recommended.

Creature Commandos

Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has received intel that Circe - a sorceress from Wonder Woman's home island of Themyscira - has traveled to Pokolistan to assassinate Princess Ilana.  Waller decided to dispatch General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) with a band of 'creatures' to protect the princess.  Why creatures?  Congress has shutdown the Suicide Squad program, forbidding Waller from sending humans on such high casualty missions.  The creatures - none of whom are quite human - are a work around.  There are 5 creatures:

The Bride (Indira Varma) is the Bride of Frankenstein.  She has 'lived' for 200 years and spent much of her time fleeing the monster, Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour).  She is strong, tough, and anti-social.  She is also the leader of the creatures when Flag is absent.

G. I. Robot (Sean Gunn) is, as the name states, a robot.  He was deployed during World War II where he killed Nazis.  He is obsessed with killing Nazis.  His arms conceal machineguns with which he kills those his teammates identify as Nazis.

Weasel (Sean Gunn) is a human-sized weasel-like creature.  He's basically an animal.

Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk) is a walking radioactive man whose skeleton is always visible through his translucent body.  He can burn through anything with his touch, often graphically killing opponents by melting their faces.  Yikes.

Nina (Zoe Chao) is a female creature from the black lagoon.  She had a rare lung defect that her scientist father 'fixed' by screwing with her DNA.  Now she's aquatic with green skin and gills.

Most episodes have the story of the present as well as an origin story for one of the creatures.  Though all of them are in prison and thus available for Waller to dispatch, some of the origin stories indicate that they were wrongly incarcerated.

The dull-witted and lovestruck Frankenstein was frequently funny, but often quite dark.  He was only too happy to murder anyone in his way.  There is a montage of the Bride and Frankenstein encountering each other throughout the years, her always running and him always chasing.  The guy won't take a hint after 2 centuries.

Overall, it is entertaining.  Not exactly superhero stuff and quite similar to the Suicide Squads and Peacemaker.

Democrats Against Democracy

Yet again, the Democratic Party has ejected the party's chosen nominee.  Graham Platner, whose Nazi tattoo did not discourage Maine voters from voting for him, has become even more toxic since the primary.  Or has he?  No, this, like the 2024 Presidential Election, is a reaction to polls.  When it was clear that Joe Biden was going to get creamed in the general election, the Democrats 'convinced' him to withdraw and then selected an equally flawed candidate to replace him.  Now Platner, the second notably Democrat candidate this year to be brought down by sexual assault accusations (i.e., Eric Swalwell), has been jettisoned by his party and the party will select a new candidate.  You know, democracy.

Bill Clinton had a lot of baggage in 1992, including serial infidelity and a rape accusation (i.e., Juanita Broaddrick), but the polls said he was a winner, which he was.  Bill Clinton's sex life was less of a threat than his smoking marijuana.  "I didn't inhale," is a more memorable line, perhaps because Billy Crystal riffed on it during the Oscars.  But then there was Barack Obama, who documented his membership in the weed-smoking Choom Gang in one of his biographies, and it was hardly a blip.  He had an America-hating pastor, ties to a Weather Underground terrorist, and questions about his citizenship.  Not a problem.  He polled well.

Democrats will toss losers over the side in a heartbeat but stick with seriously flawed candidates if the polls look good.  If Platner was still polling well, the excuses for his behavior would be flowing.

In Defense of General Pierce

In 1852, Franklin Pierce was nominated for the presidency by the Democratic Party.  As the Whigs had nominated General Winfield Scott, attacks on Pierce's military service became a popular topic.  Democrat newspapers soon responded to the attacks by publishing the accounts of fellow soldiers who held Pierce in the highest regard for his military service during the Mexican War.  Fellow veterans Major Isaac Stevens, Colonel Noah Smith, Colonel J F H Claiborne, Major General James Shields, Major Oscar Winship, General Gideon Pillow, Colonel Francis Wynkoop, Lt. Richard Drum, Lt. George Bowers, and Lt. Col. Benjamin Roberts each provided an account of Pierce's gallantry and meritorious service in Mexico. 

Though Pierce had not been a soldier beyond serving in the New Hampshire state militia, he volunteered for the Mexican War even though it was unpopular in New England.  He was briefly the commanding Colonel of the 9th Infantry Regiment, but President Polk elevated him to Brigadier General.  He arrived in Vera Cruz in June 1847 and, in July, he led 2500 soldiers to meet General Scott at Puebla.  He handily overcame the guerrillas that sought to impede his column's progress, even having his hat shot off his head during an engagement at the National Bridge.  Upon reaching Puebla, he proved popular among his fellow officers and worked well with General Scott.  In August, the army moved into the Valley of Mexico.

During the Battle of Contreras, Pierce led his men through a rocky and uneven area - a lava field - when his horse startled from Mexican artillery.  The horse fell on him, injuring his leg and knocking him unconscious.  General Scott suggested that he refrain from leading his men the following day and instead recover.  Pierce refused.  Believing that it might be the last battle of the war, he needed to be present to offset his embarrassing horse fall.

During the Battle of Churubusco, he had himself tied to his horse and set out to cut off the Mexican retreat.  His horse was soon stuck in a ditch.  Getting free of the horse, Pierce hobbled toward the objective but, overcome by pain, he feinted again.  That he was not laid low from gunfire, shrapnel, lance, or sword but rather his own inadequate horsemanship led to the nickname of 'Fainting Frank.'  He did not partake in later battles of the war.

There is no questioning Pierce's bravery.  He had demonstrated his willingness to expose himself to enemy fire and ride into combat.  His great misfortune was how he was injured.  Would the Whigs be able to convince the nation that Pierce was a coward?  Not by a longshot.  In the 1852 election, Pierce crushed General Scott, winning 27 states to Scott's 4.  Sadly, Franklin Pierce proved to be a better general than president.

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway (Clint Eastwood) had been in the Corps since the 1950s and was nearing mandatory retirement.  Reassigned to Recon Marines, he found an undisciplined collection of dissolute Marines; Gunny Highway set to work forging them into an elite fighting force.  However, he had to contend with Major Powers (Everett McGill), a professional paper-pusher who disliked Highway's checkered past.  Then there was the issue of Tom's ex-wife, Aggie (Marsha Mason), who was dating a man who hated Marines.  Tom was reading women's magazines for relationship advice with a notion of getting back together.  At length, the invasion of Grenada in October 1983 tested his Marines and provided Highway with a final taste of combat before his retirement.

There are points when the movie shines and others when it drags.  There are some great bits.  One memorable one was that t-shirt matching during PT.  That the goal post seemed to move each time was fun.  Improvise, adapt, overcome.  Heck, I remember hearing that from friends in the Marines.  The battle in Grenada was surprisingly bland and included goofball A-Team silliness, such as driving a bulldozer (wow, handy that it is on the side of the road and available to the Marines) at an enemy machinegun position where the bullets ping against the raised blade.  Yeah.  But it wasn't raised high enough to cover the driver.  Lucky the Cubans didn't aim a little higher.  Well, this isn't a war movie, it's a dramedy?

Though the movie is set in 1983, the title refers to a battle fought during the Korean War (1950-53) by the US Army, not the Marines.  It is revealed that Highway won the Congressional Medal of Honor during the battle and that he had been in the Army at the time.  A thumbnail sketch of the battle is offered by Sergeant Major Choozoo (Arlen Dean Snyder), who was also a veteran of the battle.  Well, that's good to know.  Are there flashbacks?  No.  This is just to establish Highway's bona fides.

Just okay.

They Will Kill You (2026)

Asia Reeves (Zazie Beetz) spent more than a decade in prison after shooting her father in a parking lot while trying to escape his abuse with her younger sister, Maria.  The intervening years have toughened her and provided time for a guilty conscience to grow.  Her father had survived and her sister was once again in his custody.  Now she wanted to reconnect with her sister, but she had vanished into a mysterious building - The Virgil - that hosted the wealthy.  Stealing the identity of a new employee, she infiltrated the building.  Then the creepy residents attacked!  Luckily, she was prepared; she had brought a shotgun and a machete.

Very like Ready or Not, Asia must survive the night against a host of residents while also locating her sister, Maria (Myha'la).  Among the homicidal tenants were Sharon (Heather Graham), Kevin (Tom Felton), and Lily Woodhouse (Patricia Arquette).  I did not initially recognize any of them.  Tom Felton is best remembered as Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter.  Heather Graham's career peak was probably in the late 90's as Rollerskate Girl in Boogie Nights or Felicity Shagwell in Austin Powers II.  As for Patricia Arquette, she was most famous in the 90's, but I recall her role Boyhood.

The movie is one long action-packed rollercoaster ride and one must suspend disbelief to the extreme.  Yes, the story is ludicrous but fun.  Despite the blood and gore, this is quite comedic, sort of like the Evil Dead movies & series.

Good popcorn fun!