Hellfighters (1968)

Chance Buckman (John Wayne) was known internationally as the best oil rig firefighter in the business.  When the call came in that his services were required, he turned his jet around and summoned his crew.  There was Greg Parker (Jim Hutton), a playboy with a different woman in every city.  There there was Joe Horn (Bruce Cabot), a reliable and able man.  Lastly, he had George Harris (Edward Faulkner), who mostly served in an administrative capacity, but was eager to get in the thick of the action.  The crew convened at the fire, which was being actively covered by NBC News.  In fact, the news crew became a nuisance that resulted in a serious injury to Chance.

Chance's injury was serious enough that Greg contacted his estranged daughter, Tish (Katharine Ross).  Of course, Greg is drawn to her and vice versa.  By the time Chance awakens, Greg has become his son-in-law!  What will his ex-wife, Madelyn (Vera Miles), think of this?

The story covers several fires, with particular interest on the anxiety of Madelyn and Tish.  Madelyn had divorced Chance because she could not endure his dangerous profession.  She was worried that Tish would have the same issue with Greg.  Unsurprisingly, he nearly dies in every fire.  Will he survive the movie?

The original script didn't have enough action for John Wayne's tastes, so he insisted more was added.  Thus we have a barroom brawl in Southeast Asia, rebels attacking a series of wells in Venezuela, and even a strafing run by rebel planes that is countered by military anti-aircraft guns.  Oil well fires just aren't sufficiently exciting.  Intermingled with all this action are the love stories of Greg & Tish and Chance & Madelyn.  These are very much by the numbers romances that feel tacked on.

The character of Chance Buckman was based on Red Adair, a famous oil rig firefighter.  He was still active when Saddam Hussein ignited the oil wells in Kuwait during the Gulf War (1991).

Mediocre.  John Wayne needed to stick to the Western or the World War II epic.

Civilizational Dead Ends

By strange coincidence, I encountered two different stories (one as a YouTube video and the other as an article in SciTechDaily) about signs of ancient civilizations.  Though each sought to elevate the story to groundbreaking or rewriting history, they both concern civilizations that went nowhere.

Murujuga concerned rock art in Australia.  There are a variety of carvings that date as far back as 50,000 years.  Yes, it is pretty cool, but it represents a people who never advanced beyond the Stone Age until more advanced civilizations arrived.  Is it important to preserve Stone Age graffiti in situ or will a photographic record be enough?  Do some 3-D modeling of the area to preserve it and carry the more interesting pieces to a museum.

Aquiry is a lost civilization in Amazonia on the Acre River.  I was at once reminded of The Lost City of Z when reading about it.  In this remote area, a civilization of up to 3 million people once flourished though it faded away sometime in the 9th century.  Though it may be interesting to study, it proved to be a civilizational dead end.  It is a cul-de-sac that leads to nothing beyond it, certainly nothing that applies to the modern world.

Where the Romans, Greeks, Chinese, Norse, Israelites, and countless others contributed to what has become our modern civilization, these two are dead ends or mere footnotes.  The Murujuga folk may be the source of the didgeridoo and the boomerang.  As for Aquiry, they weren't around to meet modern folk and pass on their innovations, if they had any.

Good Intentions and Racism

In 2003, Rush Limbaugh had a guest analyst post on an ESPN show.  Limbaugh was a huge football fan, and was thrilled to have the role.  During one appearance, he noted that a certain quarterback was getting more credit than the numbers indicated he should be getting.  He said the league and sports press was so desirous of having a successful black quarterback that it was promoting him beyond his talents.  This immediately led to accusations of racism on Limbaugh's part and he was removed from the show.

In 2008, a first term senator with only 2 years on the job ran for president.  Obama was championed despite a thin resume.  As with the quarterback, the media and the country in general had high hopes for a black politician.  Opposition to him or his policies was declared racist throughout his two terms in office.

Jason Arday, who plagiarized his PhD thesis and told the most outlandish stories was nevertheless awarded a doctorate and rose to be the youngest black professor ever at Cambridge.  Academics had high hopes for him and allowed him to bypass obstacles that no other candidate would be allowed to ignore.  His rocket rise was followed by an inevitable meteoric fall.  His tragic fall was enabled by those who wished him the best, misguided cheerleaders who allowed an unqualified man to assume a post to which he was almost certain to fail.

This has been an ongoing problem.  Colleges have given black students an advantage in enrollment - as demonstrated by the recent Harvard lawsuit settlement - where they find themselves in settings beyond their abilities.  A student who would excel and graduate from a state university is instead thrust into an elite institution where he falls behind and often drops out.  This 'benefit' to make up for past wrongs only sets the student for failure.  Such partly explains the fall of Jason Arday.

One must stick to merit alone.  By taking race into account to either benefit or penalize a candidate is harmful.  It is a misallocation of talent.  It is better to be a successful plumber than a drop out burdened by student loan debt.  One must be allowed to honestly assess an individual's abilities and accomplishments without being called a racist.  On the other side, one must hold all candidates to the requirements, regardless of how eagerly it is hoped for the candidate's success.

Keen vs. Webberley

Konstantin Kisin of Triggernometry hosted a debate between Kellie-Jay Keen (aka Posie Parker) and Dr Helen Webberley on the topic of transgender.  The sparks flew from the very start as it was clear that neither guest respected the views of the other.  Keen has been one of the most visible anti-transgender personalities for nearly a decade.  She holds that transgender is a mental disorder and that it is medical malpractice to treat them with hormone blockers or surgery.  She is particularly opposed to such treatment being given to minors.  By contrast, Webberley holds that transgender youth are able to decide their gender and that Keen was causing harm with her statements.

A good portion of the debate was Keen attempting to elicit exactly what age was appropriate for a child to decide on gender, how many encounters with a medical professional should be required before hormone blockers could be considered, whether gender dysphoria was a mental illness associated with other conditions (e.g., homosexuality, autism), and whether treatment resulted in permanent sexual disfunction.  Webberley refused to pick a specific age for treatment, though she offered 15 as a reasonable age, but would not categorically rule out 11.  She dismissed the idea of contributing conditions, even suggesting that the autism diagnosis might be in error.  Gender dysphoria is not a mental disorder and saying that it was is hate speech, which is illegal under British law.  Both ended the debate by declaring the other should be in jail, Keen for hate speech and Webberley for child abuse.  Lively!

Keen's big weakness was that she would refer to studies and then not cite them.  Which study?  She mentioned a few examples, but that is all anecdotal.  However, she was specific and clear in what her views were.  There was nothing vague or gray in her answers.  Webberley was hopelessly ambiguous and offered nothing specific except that the law stood on her side.  At one point she said that sex cannot be changed and at another point, she said that a trans-woman is indeed a woman.  Okay, which is it?  She would then explain the issue in such a way that it was entirely confusing.  She had a strategy of filibustering, denouncing interruptions and going on tangents.  She denounced Kisin for platforming Keen.

Keen's argument was far superior.  Webberley spent much of her time being offended and giving answers as clear as mud.  Comments on the debate massively favored Keen.  That said, it was not an hour well spent.  Much of this was the same old stuff gone over again, with Keen offering the standard litany and Webberley mostly offering non-answers with accusations of bigotry on the side.

Blame Israel and the USA!

In response to the sudden influx of 'immigrants' into the Spanish town of Ceuta, the Spanish government has determined that the fault lies with... Israel!  And the United States!  Even Iran agrees with this assessment.  Gee, it must be true.

No, it isn't a logical response to the incentives of recent Spanish laws and court rulings.  Spain just legalized hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and the Spanish courts have ruled that deporting those who arrive by water is near impossible.  Look at those incentives.  Spanish citizenship - with its sweet, sweet welfare checks - is just a short swim away.  But no, that can't possibly explain the hordes of invaders.

Clearly, Israel is furious about Spain's stance on the Gaza issue.  And the US is peeved that Spain barred US access to Spanish airbases during the dustup with Iran.  Obviously, Israel and the US engineered this border breach to punish Spain.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez needed to shift blame from his disastrous policies that have set a reversal of the Reconquista into motion.  He's a socialist so he isn't going to take responsibility for this.  Better to blame those who are already unpopular with the Spanish people.  Maybe they will buy it.

As for Iran, they have jumped on Sanchez's bandwagon since it drives a wedge between Western nations.

His Dark Materials (Season 1)

During the night of the great flood, Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) placed an infant girl in the protection of the master of Jordan College (Clarke Peters).  Twelve years later, Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen) eagerly awaits a visit from her Uncle Asriel.  During his brief visit, Lyra learns about something called dust, which attached to adults but not children, whatever that meant.  Moreover, the talk of dust is treated as the gravest sin, a topic that should never be discussed.  Though she wanted to travel north with him on his further research, she was left behind.  However, Marissa Coulter (Ruth Wilson) arrived at Jordan College soon after and enlisted Lyra as an assistant.

In this world, humans have an external soul that is called a daemon (pronounced demon).  Though the daemon of a child can change shapes, it settles into one form after puberty.  Lyra's daemon is named Pan.  The religion of the world is an oppressive form of Christianity that is maintained by the Magisterium, a militant order that deploys armed airships and ground troops in the later episodes of the series.  The world also has an underclass of folk called Gyptians, a gypsy-folk whose children have been targeted for abduction for unknown purposes.  The abductors are called Gobblers.  Then there are the armored bears, polar bears who live in the cold north, wear suits of armor, and maintain a kingdom.  They look like normal polar bears who just happen to have the power of speech.  Not particularly dexterous paws and yet they have buildings and skilled craftsmanship items.  Interesting.  Lastly, there are witches.  Witches are long-lived - the only one who appears claims to be 300 years old - can fly without a broom and move like the Flash.

Before Lyra left Jordan College with Miss Coulter, she was given an alethiometer.  It is a peculiar device that can answer any question, but few can deduce the meaning of the answers.  Where most must spend years to learn how to decipher an alethiometer, Lyra has a natural ability.  She is thus an unmatched augur, able to know the unknowable if only she can craft the right question.

The story follows Lyra as she traveled north, having different allies along the way.  Initially, she is with the Gyptians, then she teamed with Iorek Byrnison (Joe Tandberg) the Armored Bear and Lee Scoresby (Lin-Manual Miranda) the Aeronaut.

Meanwhile, in our world, Will Parry (Amir Wilson) is the son of an explorer who went missing 13 years ago.  He is a highschooler who boxes after school.  His mother, Elaine, suffers from anxiety and Will is more her caretaker than vice versa.  As it happens, Carlo Boreal (Ariyon Bakare) of the Magisterium has a doorway between worlds.  He believes that Will's missing father, who was exploring in Alaska, may have found another path between worlds.

With how central dust is to the plot, it is not well explained.  Is it the physical manifestation of sin, thus it sticks to adults but not children?  Is it a byproduct of the clash of worlds, most easily investigated at the northern lights where cities in the sky can be viewed with the right lens?  Why is the Magisterium ramping up to Def Con 1 over a couple of scientists investigating the northern lights?  Even after 8 episodes, it is unclear why there is panic.  Perhaps this adaptation missed something.

Dafne Keen is good as Lyra.  In the previous adaptation, The Golden Compass, I developed an almost instant dislike of Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) because she lied with glee from the moment we met her.  This Lyra likewise proves to be a talented liar, but it is a tool rather than a personality trait.  Lin-Manuel Miranda is a downgrade from Sam Elliot as Lee Scoresby.  He's okay, but he doesn't pass as a Texan.  As for the armored bears, there is no matching Ian McKellan and Ian McShane from the 2007 version, but the new actors are adequate.

Overall, pretty good.  The longer format provides for more explanation of some characters and development of the world.  The character development of Lyra, Lord Asriel, and Miss Coulter greatly benefit from a miniseries format.  Good popcorn fun.

A Glimpse of Europe's Future

Ceuta is a Spanish enclave on the coast of Africa.  It has been a Spanish enclave since 1415.  The population is somewhere around 80,000 people.  This week, tens of thousands of Moroccans flooded into the area, overwhelming border enforcement and leaving residents in panic.  Thanks to the new law passed by the Spanish government, these folks can claim asylum.  If that happens, the flood will continue until Spain is destitute and no longer Spanish.  The seriousness of the situation is clear in that fellow Schengen Zone members are closing their borders to Spain.

Where some European countries (e.g., Denmark, Sweden, Italy) have begun to push back against the continuing waves of non-assimilating immigrants, others have left the borders open (e.g., U.K., Spain, Ireland).  Unlike the United States, which is not a country based on an ethnicity, most Europeans are.  Thus, though a person from Japan could become an American, he could not become English, French, or Swedish.  Rudyard Kipling may have been born and raised in India, but he was always an English.  On the current path, Europe is doomed.  The immigrants are having far more kids.  Without remigration in the very near future, much of Europe will suffer a similar fate to Ceuta.