Fuzz (1972)

It was November in Boston and the 87th Precinct in Boston was being repainted; it was apple green in every room and office.  The painters were a nuisance.  Detective Meyer (Jack Weston) had to move a drop cloth to answer his phone.  The caller threatened to kill Park Commissioner Cooper unless $5000 was paid.  Though viewed as a crank, they delivered a phony and followed the man who picked it up.  Later, Cooper was murdered.  When a letter arrived at the precinct that now demanded $50,000 or Deputy Mayor Scanlon would be killed, they took this a little more seriously.  Half the detectives were at the stakeout for the next ransom drop.

Detective Carella (Burt Reynolds) was trying to track down some goons who were lighting bums on fire.  Posing as a drunken bum himself, he managed to get torched.  The arsonists escaped and he spent time in the hospital.

Detective McHenry (Raquel Welch) had been temporarily reassigned to the 87th to catch a rapist.  As the sole female officer, she drew a lot of attention, especially from Detective Kling (Tom Skerritt).

Detective Brown (James McEachin) was put on a stakeout of the man who picked up the first ransom.  Surely, he would lead them to the killer.  In fact, he was a small-time hood who proved to be a wild goose chase.

The Deaf Man (Yul Brynner) has plotted the murders with no expectation of getting paid by the targets he has revealed.  No, he is demonstrating his ability to kill even when he warns the police so that when he gets to the big score, the money will be paid.

Though billed as a comedy, it mostly doesn't play as one.  There is silliness, such as Reynolds and Weston disguised as nuns, Welch and Skerritt tangled in a sleeping bag, paint spilling on characters in the precinct, a woman reporting her imaginary vampire rapist to Welch while others giggle, and so forth.  The cast is expansive and this is an ensemble story, each character getting a small slice of the pie.

Just okay.

Conspiracy Theory (1997)

Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson) is a New York City cab driver who lectures most of his passengers about various conspiracy theories that he holds to be gospel.  After work, he parked near an apartment building and spied on Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts) as she runs on her treadmill.  Next, he takes a pile of newspapers to his cramped apartment that has plentiful locks on the door, and even locks on the refrigerator.  He reviewed the papers and highlighted the important stories.  Soon, he types up his newsletter: Conspiracy Theory.  This issue proposes that someone is trying to assassinate the president via an earthquake during a visit to Turkey.  The space shuttle will trigger the earthquake from orbit.  Yes, of course.  He sent the newsletter - each one from a different mailbox - to his subscribers.  He has one more person to inform: Alice.

Alice Sutton is a lawyer with the Justice Department and has had regular visits from Jerry over the last six months.  Both she and most of the office staff view Jerry as a crackpot but she humors him.  He had saved her from a mugging, which was their first meeting.  He asked her to warn the president about the earthquake.  She is noncommittal.

Then Jerry is snatched from the street, taken to a secret location, and interrogated by Dr. Jonas (Patrick Stewart), who uses harsh methods.  He asks who else knows?  Knows what?  Jerry has no idea which of his theories might have been true.

Mel Gibson is terrific as a paranoid crackpot.  He freestyled much of his conspiracy talk in the taxi, which is some of the funniest bits.  When he warns a pair of nuns against the Vatican, you have to laugh.  This is a complicated character and an excellent job of bringing him to life.  Roberts is good in the role of Alice, but it isn't as interesting a character as Jerry.  Patrick Stewart is great at Dr. Jonas.  This was probably the first time I had seen Stewart play a villain.  He can be menacing and scary in his interrogation scenes with Gibson and then entirely sympathetic and sincere when talking to Roberts.

When released, conspiracy theories were viewed as ridiculous and silly.  That is no longer true today.  Because conspiracy theories were generally laughable and easily dismissed, it became common to accuse one's opponents of spouting conspiracy theories.  What is labeled a conspiracy theory has expanded so much that many have since been proven true.

Great popcorn fun.  Recommended.

RIP Patrick Stewart

Vivek

I like Vivek Ramaswamay.  When he first came on the scene, he proved to be an excellent spokesperson for the Republican Party and a terrific booster for President Trump.  He was upbeat and articulate.  I was eager to see him join Elon Musk in cleaning up the government at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).  Instead, he bowed out before DOGE even began and started pursuing the governorship of Ohio.  Naturally, I assumed the gubernatorial election was in November 2025 and he had to start campaigning immediately.  No, it was in November 2026, and he was getting started quite early.  Fine, I guess.  Maybe he could have put a few months into DOGE, just for appearance's sake.

To hear Vivek's spiel, one would think that the Democrats are driving Ohio's policy decisions.  He's going to clean out the Augean Stables like they have never been cleaned before.  Well, as it happens, Ohio has a Republican Governor, Mike DeWine, and a Republican Legislature.  Why isn't the current Republican administration implementing these great ideas now?  Why can't DeWine boost energy production, reform education, or cut taxes?  Are you dissing the current Republicans or offering pie in the sky plans that cannot be made to work?

Obviously, Vivek is to be preferred over his opponent, but a lot of the excitement for Vivek has faded over the last two years.  He's transformed from a conservative advocate to a standard politician.  Will he be transformational for Ohio or come and go like John Kasich?

Stop Paying Them!

With the latest riots throughout Europe, there is much talk of how to handle the issue of migrants who are not assimilating.  The pundits all explain how there are too many people to even consider deporting.  It is far beyond that as an option.  They are here to stay and a solution based on that must be found.  Then the discussion moves to the cost of housing and supporting these migrants - both legal and illegal - at government expense and how unsustainable it is.  Let's follow that for a moment.  The government is paying the expenses of these migrants.  The government is renting rooms at hotels and providing food and medical care for people who are mostly unemployed.  What if you stopped paying for them?

One of the main reasons that migrants travel through multiple European countries until they reach England is because England has the most generous welfare benefits of all the European countries.  They are coming for the handout.  Stop paying them to come and they will not only stop coming, but those already there will migrate to the next most generous country.  You keep pouring sugar on the counter and can't figure out why there are ants.  The solution is simple and obvious.  That they are not even considering it tells you that they do not want to solve the problem.

Europe has subsidized immigration for decades and - now that they are overrun - cannot figure out how to reverse the problem.  Try subsidizing remigration and taxing migration.  At the very least, stop paying them.

The Hot Rock (1972)

No sooner was John Dortmunder (Robert Redford) released from prison than his brother-in-law Andy Kelp (George Segal) recruited him to a diamond heist.  Dr. Amusa (Moses Gunn) was a UN Representative from an African country that laid claim to the Sahara Diamond.  Several other countries also made claims.  In order to strengthen his claim, Amusa wanted the diamond acquired; it was on display in the Brooklyn Museum.  He offered $25,000 each to a four-man team.  He further acceded to pay expenses and a weekly stipend.  The two added men were Murch (Ron Leibman), who could operate any vehicle, and Allan Greenberg (Paul Sand), an explosives expert.  The plan went reasonably well, except that one of them got caught with the diamond.  A new plan must be developed to break him out of jail.  But they still don't have the diamond!

The movie is a comedy of errors that sees the heroes always one step away from securing the diamond and each new plan requires ever increasing expenses, much to Amusa's irritation.  Zero Mostel appears as a shady lawyer who proves to be yet another hurdle to overcome.

Great popcorn fun and highly recommended.

The Game's Afoot, Holmes!

You Can See Everything is a new documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the Theranos. Prior to her incarceration, she allowed a documentarian - Nathan Fielder - to have access to her life.  I have not seen the film, but the trailers are informative.  What particularly struck me was when Nathan and Elizabeth are face to face, almost like he's about to kiss her.  Nope, they are just chatting about how she has no reason to deceive him.  Look at how close they are:

This is framing.  I wonder about the cameras being setup to film this.  There is something off-putting about the conversation they have, because she clearly has reason to deceive him.  In fact, the film has gained her some positive PR.  This may get some time shaved off her prison sentence.  Yeah, good reason to deceive.  But is he being deceived?  In another part of the trailer, he questions her husband about why she married him, highlighting the fact that his family is rich.  Then we have scenes of Nathan rolling his luggage toward the house, standing by a bed, staring out a car window, and similar antics.  Is this a story about him?

Not having watched Fielder before, it looks like his schtick is to mix truth and fiction.  The trailers do not delve into the evidence that convicted her, but it does show her bafflement at her impending incarceration. It also shows her with a baby in her arms, lap, or otherwise nearby.  What exactly is being documented in this documentary?  Is it exposing a fraudster or building sympathy for a mother headed to prison?  That Holmes agreed to a live-in spy with cameras would lean toward the second option.

I am curious.  The trailers are well done and certainly pique interest in the full story.  Holmes convinced seasoned investors to give her hundreds of millions of dollars, so it would not be surprising if she could convince me to watch a movie.  I'll certainly review it when that comes to pass.

The Enemy Below (1957)

The USS Haynes was a US Destroyer on patrol in the South Atlantic when it caught sight of something.  It turned out to be a German U-Boat.  Though a one-on-one battle between a destroyer and a U-boat isn't generally advisable, Captain Murrell (Robert Mitchum) ordered a pursuit.  Aboard the U-boat, Captain Von Stolberg (Curt Jurgens) had little interest in tangling with the American ship.  He was on a mission to Argentina to retrieve intelligence.  As such, he submerged and waited for the destroyer to move on after a desultory bombardment of depth charges.  He changed his course temporarily and then resumed his original course.  Murrell had already guessed that the German was bound for some rendezvous and used that hunch to continue the chase.  While the destroyer launched barrages of depth charges, the U-boat surfaced briefly to launch torpedoes.  A thrilling duel at sea!  It is a game of chess between to skilled commanders.

As usual, Mitchum makes for an engaging lead.  He is one of those actors who could deliver lines without effort and still be terrific.  It is unclear if he ever really acted, or just arrived on set as Robert Mitchum with an alias.  David Hedison plays Lt. Ware, the executive officer on the Haynes.  This was great preparation for his eventual role as Captain Crain in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.  Where Mitchum has this look of world-weariness and maybe a case of insomnia, Hedison is chipper and optimistic.  Also of note, Doug McClure has a small role as Ensign Merry.  This was one of his first movie roles.  Curd Jurgens made a career of playing German officers from WWII, though I best remember him as the Bond villain from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).  Where Mitchum had Hedison, Jurgens' captain had the support of Schwaffer (Theodore Bikel).  To make Von Stolberg more sympathetic, he is shown to be a loyal German who is not keen on the Nazi party, even bumping heads with the political officer on the ship.  Yes, if not for the war, Murrell and Von Stolberg could be friends.

Good popcorn fun.  Recommended.

In the Game of Thrones, You Either Win or Die

Yesterday, Brazil had its runoff election between President Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro.  Of note, Flavio is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.  Jair had a J6 incident after the last election and, unlike Trump, he was successfully prosecuted and sent to prison.  Back to his son, Flavio lost.  However, there were some irregularities.  The Supreme Court called for polls to be held open for an additional 2 hours on election day.  Flavio protested.  Today, the Supreme Court ordered Flavio to turn in his passport as he was viewed as a flight risk.  Flight risk for what?

President Lula is a member of the Workers' Party.  It proposes socialist solutions and governs from the left.  Lula had served as president before.  Of note, he is older that President Trump.  What is with all these old politicians?  It is noteworthy that he appointed the judge on the Supreme Court that extended voting and has now demanded Flavio's passport.  These are not good signs.  This gives banana republic vibes.

In the primary election - 1st round voting, Flavio had received over 2 million more votes than Lula.  In the 2nd round, Lula received over 4 million votes more than Flavio.  Impressive recovery.  Could that 4 million gap have been produced in a two-hour voting extension?  Does Brazil have early voting?  Whatever the case, Flavio's failure to accept his defeat looks to be a case of win or face prison.  Like his father.

Checkmate, Matt Walsh!

Recently, Matt Walsh - of What is a Woman? fame - has been producing true history documentaries.  He has tackled the Civil War, Slavery, and the American Indian.  Concerning that last one, Atun-Shei Films made a response video.  Atun-Shei has produced the brilliant Checkmate, Lincolnites! series, which is a deep dive into primary materials that thoroughly tears down faux justifications for the South.  Here are two YouTubers I have greatly appreciated.  This clash should be informative.

Walsh sought to dispel the peaceful, environmentalist ideal that has be painted of the Native Americans in recent decades.  They fought brutal wars before Europeans arrived and continued to do so afterwards.  They could be quite brutal in war and savage to captives.  He dismisses the smallpox blankets as untrue, states that there was no genocide, talks about a difference in private property rights, and spends some time on the Trail of Tears.  At an hour, it is just a general overview with the primary purpose of challenging the modern narrative.

Atun-Shei begins by pouring himself a drink before denouncing Walsh and being generally offended by every part of the documentary.  Though clearly infuriated by each section of the documentary, he concedes that the gist is true, but it is more complicated than that.  His best point was where he challenged the private property topic, which Walsh handled in an apples and oranges sort of comparison.  Where his other videos are well-produced and scripted, this one felt like an extemporaneous drunken rant.

After watching both, I have to side with Walsh.  His goal was to bust the myth of the peaceful noble savage that has become the default narrative.  Yes, Atun-Shei is correct on saying many of Walsh's points are oversimplified, but he conceded that each point is true.  Of course, he titled his response as Matt Walsh Hates Indigenous People.  The tone of presentation makes a big difference in the watchability of each.  Walsh offers a fairly neutral recitation of his thesis, while Atun-Shei answers with an angry, profanity-laced, rebuttal.

If you have a couple of hours free, this is probably not the best use of your time.  If you are interested in the topic, see for yourself which YouTuber makes a better case.

Une Demonstration Pratique

The current riots that are tearing France apart make for an excellent, though tragic, object lesson for other Western nations.  The rioters are clearly from Africa and the Middle East.  They may be second or third generation immigrants, but they have not become French.  Without assimilation, immigration is just a means of Balkanizing a country.  As the saying goes, "Import the third world, become the third world."  Any immigration must always be very gradual and demand assimilation.  If assimilation is impossible, then such immigrants should be turned away.  For example, Muslims cannot assimilate without leaving Islam.  Now, a country can survive a small number of Muslims, but there comes a point when the Muslims will seek to overthrow the existing order and install Sharia.  That is its nature.  By the same logic, a communist will use the freedom of a host country to undermine those very freedoms.  Much of Europe has flung open the borders to immigrants who will inevitably seek to destroy Europe.  Gad Saad calls this suicidal empathy.  Let in the downtrodden, out of compassion, and become conquered when the number of downtrodden reach critical mass.

France may have a new Napoleon soon.  One of the early appearances of Napoleon was when he put down a riot by firing cannon at the rioters.  The government was quite grateful.  I suspect there are a lot of French - the real ones, not these imports - who would appreciate a man like Napoleon today.  And that is truly tragic.  It takes catastrophes like this to create dictators.

Flock You

Happened to tune into a radio program while driving today.  The topic was Flock cameras.  There is a guy who created a program on his laptop that would identify only police cars.  He tested it a couple of times by going to a site and setting up his camera and laptop.  After a few hours, he checked his results.  Then, he blogged about it.  Bing!  The police soon showed up at his door.  Huh, that's odd.  The police wanted to know if he intended to create a database of police activity.  Huh, that's an interesting question.  Really, if you aren't doing anything wrong, you have no reason to care that you are tracked in public.  Right?  It is funny how instantly concerned the police were to be subject to the same surveillance that they are so keen to impose.  What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

The hosts directed listeners to a website: deflock.org.  There is a map that shows all the known License Plate Readers (LPR) scattered throughout the United States.  There are a lot.  As alarming as this may be, one must remember that almost everyone now carries a tracking device in their pocket or purse: a cellphone.  If the authorities want to find you, they will.  If they want to know where you have been, that's just a matter of strongarming your cell carrier.  However, cell records are not as easy to access, which provides at least some friction for the police to track you.

Straight Talk (1992)

Shirlee (Dolly Parton) worked at a dance studio.  Rather than teach her partners to dance, she chatted to them.  Her boss fired her.  When she told her boyfriend, Steve (Michael Madsen), he berated her.  She decided it was time for a fresh start and left for Chicago.  The job search proved difficult.  At one point, she stopped at a bridge with notions of tossing a coin into the river to make a wish.  Jack (James Woods) mistook her as planning to jump to her death and grabbed her.  It did not make for a good first meeting.  Later, while having breakfast at a diner, Shirlee met Janine (Teri Hatcher) and was soon telling her how to handle her workaholic boyfriend.  Moments later, her boyfriend, none other than Jack, arrived.  It did not make for a good second meeting.  Shirlee finally got a job as a receptionist at a radio station.  While looking for the coffee machine, she was mistaken for the new talk radio psychologist and put on the air.  Her homespun and folksy advice proved to be ratings juggernaut.  Despite no qualifications, she was given a show by Alan (Griffin Dunne), who kept her lack of credentials to himself.  As chance would have it, Jack was a reporter and he now took an interest in 'Doctor' Shirlee.  Maybe there was a frontpage story here.  He'd need to get close to her and asked her on a date.

A romantic comedy that is also a fish out of water story.  Shirlee is a small-town girl who isn't used to the big city.  This is made more pronounced with her posing as a doctor, but not understanding certain words and expressions.  However, Dolly is quite charming and has a magical laugh and radiant smile.  One is always hoping for Shirlee to do well, even if she is pulling a fast one.  James Woods is a strange choice for a romantic comedy.  He does a fine job, but this just isn't the kind of role one would expect for him.  Unsurprisingly, the soundtrack features several songs by Dolly Parton.

Light and fun.  A must for Dolly Parton fans.

French Revolution: 2026

France is in flames.  Rioters are driving the police from the streets, looting & destroying shops, and burning down buildings.  The video, readily available on YouTube or Rumble, is tragic.  What began as a student protest has expanded.  It is hard not to notice how many of these protesters do not look French.  The importation of foreigners from the 3rd World has created a large enough population that the takeover shall commence.  Europe is long overdue for the Riot Act.

Reading the Riot Act was quite literal.  In the UK, the Riot Act was passed.  When the subjects got unruly, the sheriff or other court officer would read the Riot Act.  If the offenders did not disperse, deadly force could be used to force dispersal.

Looking at some of the video, some protesters are throwing heavy objects at the police.  That is clearly assault with a deadly weapon.  What are the French Police doing?  Withdrawing.  Oh, that should do the trick.

Midway (1976)

Several months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States launched an attack on Japan.  The bombing did minimal damage, but demonstrated that the homeland was not safe from American reprisals.  As such, Admiral Yamamoto (Toshiro Mfune) was allowed to proceed with a daring attack.  With a vast fleet that included 4 aircraft carriers, he set out for Midway Island.

In Hawaii, Captain Matt Garth (Charlton Heston) confronted intelligence specialist Commander Joe Rochefort.  Joe suspected the Japs were up to something.  Even though he could only decipher 10% of the communiques, he had a hunch that they were moving on Midway.  False report about a water filtration system confirmed it.  Or was this an elaborate ruse by the Japs.  Admiral Nimitz (Henry Fonda) trusted Rochefort's hunch and dispatched the remaining carriers - Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown - to Midway.  Now that the battle map is setup and the players have been introduced, it was time to detail the events.

After some melodrama between Garth, his aviator son (Edward Albert), and his Japanese finance (Christina Kokubo), the movie becomes a dramatized documentary on the battle.  Each fleet sending scout planes to locate the other, bombers unescorted by fighters are wiped from the sky, unprotected carriers are sunk, and Midway Island is bombed.  Thought Garth is the main character, the story is not told from his perspective.  There is Admiral Spruance (Glenn Ford) commanding Task Force 16 (which comprised Enterprise & Hornet), a command he received on account of Admiral Halsey (Robert Mitchum) suffering from shingles.  Admiral Fletcher (Robert Webber) commands Task Force 17, which only had one carrier, the Yorktown.  The Yorktown had been seriously damaged at the Battle of Coral Sea and really should have been in port for repairs, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  Of course, there is Admiral Nimitz in Hawaii who gets regular reports on how things are going.

There are entirely too many characters.  The number of noteworthy stars is impressive.  James Coburn gets a cameo as a naysayer to Nimitz's strategy.  Robert Wagner is Admiral Nimitz's chief of staff.  Tom Selleck is an unnamed officer on Midway.  Dabney Coleman is an officer on one of the carriers.  Cliff Robertson, Monte Markham, Christopher George, Steve Kanaly, and Erik Estrada are pilots.  Pat Morita - best remembered as Mr. Miagi - plays a Japanese admiral.

Just okay.  A good thumbnail sketch of the Battle of Midway, the battle that turned the Pacific War in the United States' favor.

Flying Car

Tonight, the Tesla Roadster was demonstrated in MacGregor, TX.  The flying car has arrived.  It doesn't have wings, just thrusters.  Among the tricks that the car performed was to drive upside down.  Yes, it drove up a ramp until it was clinging like Spider-Man.  Next, it raced up that same ramp and flew upside down off of it, but then spun 180 degrees to land gently on the ground.  Astonishing.  Then it jumped over several Teslas without a ramp.  Like Speed Racer's Mark V, it just leapt into the air and cleared 5 vehicles, doing a 360 degree spin as it did so.  Like the Batmobile, it has rockets on the back and those provided it so much acceleration that it could go from 0 to 60 in less than 1 second.  Elon tasked the engineers with achieving a top speed of Mach 0.5, half the speed of sound.  That's more than 380 mph.  He also suggested trying to jump the Snake River, like Evel Knievel tried to do in 1974.

The Roadster enters production in 2028.  As cool as it is, what is the practical use of such a car?  Flying over other cars downtown is likely to be frowned upon.  However, it will also be tough for the police to catch such a car.  I suspect this will be a Bond car when the Bond franchise restarts.  Impractical though it may be, such technological wonders inevitably lead to far reaching applications.

Check it out on YouTube.

Tesla

I had my first ride in a Tesla today.  First impression was that the interior was surprisingly spartan. Since the door windows don't have a frame, they automatically retract when the door is opened and then slide back into the body of the car for a clean seal.  Impressive.  There was a steering wheel and a large screen.  The top was non-opening sunroof.  The dash was almost a table, with no visible vents for AC.  The acceleration was alarming, like being shot out of a cannon.  Luckily, I had been warned to put my head against the headrest before the acceleration.  Then self-driving mode was demonstrated.  The Tesla managed stoplights, lane changes, and navigation with no input beyond the initial programming of our destination.  It was quite scrupulous about using its signal lights.  Impressive.  Throughout the ride, the screen showed the highway with the Tesla - in blue - in the middle and gray icons of all the other vehicles. Humorously, we encountered a Cybertruck which showed up as just a regular truck icon rather than a specialty one.  Upon arrival, the car pulled into an available spot.  The return journey was done without self-driving until we reached the parking lot.  Here, it was just a matter of selecting a parking space on the display.  The car then maneuvered so that it could back into the space.

Wow, this was quite amazing.  Who needs a salesman when you can just take a ride in one.  No wonder this is the most valuable car company.

Trial by Fire (2026)

Keira Frost (Andrea Pavlovic) walks through the woods amidst armed men.  Her wrists are bound.  She is forced to her knees and a gun is placed against her head.

Keira remembers her abusive stepfather.  She remembers running away from home, becoming a petty thief with Stevie (Michala Brasseur), and sitting at a briefing run by Ryan Drake (Derek Moran).  Drake did not have a high opinion of her, or so he intimated.  The mission was to recover some nuclear material at an abandoned Cold War site, but it went badly.  Keira was captured and suffered waterboarding.  And now she was to be shot.

The action is mediocre.  As most of the action is from Frost's point of view, it should have been shown only view the headset cams that she was watching from the van, but that would have really limited the screentime of the other actors.  As with the last outing, Drake and his team don't come off as professionals.

This half-hour short is an origin story for Frost.  She appeared in Rogue Elements (2024), so this is a prequel.  It is strange that we have an origin story for a support character before there is one for Drake himself.  As for her background, it was too run-of-the-mill.  Oh, she had a hard family life, dabbled in criminality, joined the Army where she was a problem soldier, and now she was on an elite black ops team.  Okay.  Typical girl.  Not the background I expected for her.  The conversations between her and Drake are bland and cliche.

There is a twist that makes the episode worthwhile.  Just okay.

Bird on a Wire (1990)

Marianne Graves (Goldie Hawn) is a successful New York lawyer on a business trip to Detroit.  While there, she stops at a gas station/garage and recognizes the gas attendant.  It's Rick Jarmin (Mel Gibson), her fiancé who went missing in Mexico fifteen years ago!  He denies it, claiming to be from Tennessee.  No sooner does she leave - not entirely convinced - than he called the FBI and demanded to be relocated.  Yes, he is in witness protection.  His regular contact unavailable, he is routed to Joe Weyburn (Stephen Tobolowsky), who agrees to move him in a couple of days.  That night, Marianne returned to the garage to take another look.  To her surprise, armed men attack the garage.  She recklessly drives at them and manages to get Rick in the car and race away.

The men were Eugene Sorenson (David Carradine) and Albert Diggs (Bill Duke), former DEA agents.  Sorenson is fresh out of prison, put there by Jarmin's testimony, and is eager for revenge.  Diggs has been on the lam for the last 15 years and would like to kill the only man who could put him in jail.

Rick knew that someone at the FBI had revealed his location.  Worse, the police were now looking to arrest him and Marianne for the shootout at the garage.  They were on the run!  Lou Baird (Jeff Corey) was the only man Rick trusted to sort things out.

The movie is one long chase with romantic comedy between the leads along the way.  The chase takes many forms.  There are car chases, motorcycle chases, a helicopter chase, and finally a showdown at a zoo.  During their cross-country escape, Rick visits several of his previous protection locations, which shows that he has had an interesting career path: carpenter, hairdresser, car mechanic, veterinary clinic pilot, and zoo employee.  Each came with a different name and even a change in personality.

Goldie Hawn was in amazing shape for her age.  There are multiple semi-nude shots or lose skirts that got caught in a breeze to demonstrate that.  The script was not great in explaining her continued presence on this adventure.  Does she view Rick as the one that got away?  Yeah, but she does seem rather annoyed with him for much of the movie.  Does running make sense because the police are after her?  Not really.  It's like the script forgot she was a successful lawyer; I suppose criminal law wasn't her thing.

Mel Gibson is Mel Gibson.  There is a little bit of variety with the change in accent based on what former life he is visiting, but otherwise it is a standard Mel Gibson character.

The villains are introduced grandly and then become cardboard cutouts who prove mostly incompetent.  Sure, it's a comedy - sort of - but the villains can't hit an easy target with superior weaponry and even fully automatic fire.  The finale was a comedy of errors by Rick and Marianne.  They both lost weapons before they could even use them, each either beaten or shot, and yet they survived.  Yeah, these are some really pathetic villains.

Just okay.

Recognizing a Dictator

During the 2016 election, Helen Andrews gave a lecture on How to Spot a Dictator.  The idea was to determine whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton bore the markers of a potential dictator.  Oddly enough, she listed Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the most dictatorial president the United States has yet produced.  FDR implemented two dictatorial strategies.

First, he established a cult of personality.  He was a master of public communication, had a gift for oratory, and convinced people to elect him again and again despite an ongoing Great Depression.  His fireside chats reassured the citizens even as the state of the economy and world didn't much improve.  He was an expert of spin.  In this regard, she said Trump was clearly along this path.  Trump is a salesman who wrote (dictated?) The Art of the Deal.  His entire schtick is to persuade voters to do what was unprecedented; elect a man with neither governmental nor military experience.  Amazingly, he carried that off in the primaries.  Yes, clearly a cult of personality figure.

Second, FDR established clientelism.  Prior to the Great Depression, the government was not in the habit of distributing money to the citizens, either through job programs or handouts.  To tackle the massive unemployment and poverty, FDR championed funds for relief to the states and later Social Security for the elderly.  There was also the Civilian Conservation Corps, a public works program.  Prior to the depression, the government-maintained pensions for veterans and career civil servants.  Afterwards, everyone who lived long enough would get a check from the government.  Once established, it ballooned: Medicare, WIC, SNAP, Drug Benefits, Obamacare, etc.  Now, if you vote wrong, your entitlements might be eliminated by the other party.  Yes, this is a common refrain in many election seasons and created a permanent threat by the government against the voters.  Andrews puts Clinton into this mode.

So, which is worse?  Do you go with the personality or the "gift" giver.  Which is less dangerous to your future?  Check out the video.

Outlawing Communism Again

In 1954, the Congress passed the Communist Control Act and President Eisenhower signed it.  The Communist Party explicitly stated its intention of overthrowing the United States government and instituting a new one.  This contradicts the oath upon taking office:

I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

The communist wants to overthrow the Constitution and is therefore committing perjury by taking the oath.

On the other hand, the US has the 1st Amendment that allows communists to believe communist ideas, Nazis to believe Nazi ideas, and so forth.  However, that is not permission to practice such beliefs.  You may think the South was right about slavery, but you will still get tossed in jail if you practice slavery.

Today, there is an effort by members of the House of Representatives to create a new Communist Control Act, this one aimed at the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).  As noted in a previous post, the DSA shares the ideals of the Communist Party.  The party platform calls for the effective repeal of the US Constitution and the dissolution of the United States.  There is no 'true faith or allegiance' to the Constitution.  It is either DSA or Constitution, but not both.

The law is questionable.  If the people vote for socialism or communism, does that qualify as sedition?  If the people want communism, shouldn't they get it?  Communism does not believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  It is not keen on individual rights, free speech, or the 2nd Amendment.  Communism is anathema to the United States as it has existed so far.  It is a sad state of affairs that so many Americans are unaware of how awful socialism and communism are, which is the only reason that it has risen in esteem in recent years.

Though such a law clearly doesn't work in the long run (e.g., the Communist Control Act of 1954 isn't being used to stop DSA), it may provide a speed bump to delay socialism/communism while wiser people educate the populace against such terrible ideologies.

Tucker Off the Rails

Tucker Carlson had a recent interview with Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former British MP and noteworthy pundit.  Where Tucker had his famously -infamously - friendly interview with Vladimir Putin in 2024, his conversation with Rees-Mogg was positively contentious bordering on hostile.  Fine, that makes for a more interesting interview, but Tucker comes across as a Putin apologist and maybe even a Hitler apologist.  Good grief!  The centerpoint of the discussion was that Rees-Mogg has argued that the UK should build up its military under the old truism that 'if you want peace, prepare for war.'  Tucker attacked this notion repeatedly.  Among his attacks was to say that England ruined itself by fighting in World War I and World War II, both of which he argued were entirely voluntary.  Indeed, the UK joined WWI because Germany attacked Belgium.

"Who cares?" Tucker argued.

"We had a treaty," Jacob replied.

Then there was World War II.  The UK went to war with Germany because Germany invaded... Poland!  Heck, Germany was merely reclaiming territory that had been 'stolen' in the Treaty of Versailles.  15% of Poland had been Germany/Prussia.

"Why not leave the Germans to it?"

"We had a treaty."

Tucker argued that the wars left the UK much worse than it was.  He pointed out that the UK now had a population that was 19% foreign-born.  If you can't even stop boats from landing on your shore, what makes you think you can face nuclear-armed Russia?  Really, if Putin so wished it, he could win tomorrow by nuking Ukraine or rolling out hypersonic missiles.  The UK stands no chance against Russia, which has a much bigger military.

The point that Tucker refused to understand was that strength deters aggression where weakness encourages it.  The UK was clearly unprepared in both 1914 and 1939.  Aggressors took that weakness as an invitation to attack.  By contrast, the US was strong post-WWII and remained so throughout the Cold War.  As such, the Soviets did not see weakness and no war resulted.

Repeatedly, Tucker spoke highly of Russia while dissing the UK and disapproving of US involvement in both Iran and Ukraine.  Heck, he condemned Hiroshima as unjustified.  'You can never kill innocents.'  Wow, there is a rule that, if followed, would lead to a loss every time.  Sheer stupidity.

Jacob Rees-Mogg had the patience of Job during this debate.  Somehow, he interjected some lighthearted moments despite Tucker's unrelenting series of attacks.  At the conclusion, Tucker thanked Jacob for putting up with his nasty questions.  Rees-Mogg brushed it off as a friendly discussion, showing he is unruffled by such.  Indeed, he came off rather well while Tucker sounded like a crackpot who sympathized with tyrants.

There was a time when I thought highly of Tucker, but it seems that his former employers - both CNN and later Fox - reined in his extremes.  Now free of editorial control, he has gone off the rails. 

Lanterns

In 2016, Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) is the Green Lantern, but has been assigned a trainee, John Stewart (Aaron Pierce).  Hal is clearly not keen on this, and the training is mostly non-existent.  However, Hal does offer the ring to Aaron and then puts the trainee in a do or die situation, literally.  After surviving the challenge and on his way to rejoin Hal, Hal suddenly materialized.  Only he looked different.  As it happened, this is a backup Hal, a projection from the ring that was made in 2006.  This version of Hal is much friendlier and a bit concerned that he might be dead.  In the brief chat, Hal 2006 thinks that Hal 2016 isn't doing a good job of training.  Hal 2006 also said to tell Hal 2016 about Rushville.  Upon regaining the ring, Hal 2016 flies to Nebraska and tells John to meet him there.  Rushville, Nebraska, is where Hal received the ring and his predecessor died.  This cannot be coincidence.  There are strange things happening in the town, but Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) is not keen on having Hal and John poking around.  It turns out that exploding aliens have an interest in Rushville, so Hal is determined to find out why.

The series is told in a non-linear fashion.  Though the story initially unfolds in 2016, it hops forward to 2026 and back as far as 1973.  Mostly, the story is split in two, with half the episodes concerning an event in 2016 and the other half taking place in 2026, plentiful flashbacks throughout.  John was chosen by the Guardians in infancy to be the next Green Lantern, whereas Hal received the ring by happenstance when the previous Lantern died unexpectedly.  But somehow it is Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) who is the current Green Lantern (Superman, Peacemaker) when the series jumps to 2026.

Where Ryan Reynolds would manifest his costume whenever he started using the ring, Chandler has an actual suit in the closet that he only wears a couple of times.  Usually, he's in jeans and a leather jacket. Hal is extremely reckless, to the point of infuriating the viewer. It is astonishing how often his ring is running low on power.  Even when he doesn't have his ring, he acts as if he is impervious.  Is he suicidal?  It often seemed like it.  Nonetheless, though he was often a jerk, he does possess charm that makes him likeable overall.

John has a big chip on his shoulder.  Because he has been groomed for life to be the next lantern, it is understandable that Hal is not particularly friendly.  That the writers chose to make his racial background a major factor in his life was irritating.  You would think he grew up in the 50's and 60's rather than the 90's and aughts.  John proves to be a stand-up guy who has more integrity than most give him credit.

The show doesn't feel like a superhero show.  It feels more like a noirish detective show that happens to have sci-fi elements.  This is True Detective meets X-Files with a superhero included.  It is a peculiar fusion that was made more difficult because no one got along with anyone else.  Every relationship is contentious.

Good popcorn fun.

Bet on a Winning Major

The Trump Administration has proposed a new rule for college loans and grants: if your proposed degree will not result in a higher income than no degree, the government will decline to fund your education.  That's a start.  In truth, the government shouldn't be funding education at all, especially college education.  However, this is a step in that direction.  There is no reason to get a degree in art history just to work as a barista at Starbucks.  Even before this new rule, many colleges have been pruning degrees that don't lead to high earnings.  The student debt crisis combined with the underemployment of recent grads is changing the education landscape.  The shrinking pool of students - a result of declining population - will lead to a reduction in the number of colleges.  Some have already closed.

The quickest way to resolve the student debt problem is to get the government out of it and then allow students to declare bankruptcy on their debt.  Watch the cost of college plummet, the number of worthless degrees vanish, banks demand that colleges provide proven value, and students take responsibility for the debt they incur rather than look to the government for a bail out.  As is, we have too many 'educated' people and not enough jobs that require that education.  Turns out that the blue-collar jobs like a welder or electrician are far more profitable than the white-collar jobs these days.

Starship's First Mission

Today, Flight 14 of the SpaceX Starship took place.  For the first time, it achieved orbit and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites.  This was no test flight, this was a successful deployment mission that saw both the booster and starship successfully maneuver back to earth and land relatively softly.  Yes, they could probably have caught them with the chopsticks if they had wanted to up the ante for the day.  However, enough success has been achieved.  Though there are still hurdles to overcome, the starship - as is - has become economically viable.

Uncharted (2022)

Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) returned to consciousness to find himself dangling out of an airplane far above the ocean.  A string of crates connected by cargo straps swing from the loading ramp of a plane.  As Nathan sought to climb back toward the plane, he found enemies among the crates who he must overcome.  Finally, he gets onto the loading ramp.  Ha!  Then a red car hit him!

Days earlier, Nathan Drake arrived at his job as a bartender in NYC.  In addition to mixing drinks, he had light fingers for a lady's jewelry.  However, Sully (Mark Wahlberg) spotted his pilfering and did some counter pilfering.  He also left a business card.  It turned out that Sully was something of a thief himself and suggested they team up on a heist of Ferdinand Magellan's hidden cache of gold.  Sully already has a map, but there is need for a key.  They go to an auction where Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas) plans to purchase the key, unless Drake and Sully can steal it first.

Next, they go to Barcelona to find Chloe (Sophia Ali) who has the second key.  With the two keys, they must traverse through ruins that are both part of a church, the sewer system, a subterranean bar, and a fast food joint.  Wow, all this stayed intact for four centuries.  Yeah, not buying that.  Amazingly, they acquire yet another map, this one being an island in the Philippines.  Time to stowaway on Moncada's cargo plane and we've caught up to the opening act.

Drake, Sully, and Chloe are not likable people.  Tom Holland's natural charm is carrying the character.  Only the fact that Moncada and his goon squad are murderous villains justifies the unscrupulous actions of our 'heroes.'  Many of the action scenes are beyond ludicrous and even look like something out of a video game.  The duel between two 16th century sailing ships being carried by helicopters was just too much.

Mindless popcorn fun.  Entertaining in its parts but disappointing as far as story and characters.

Banned Media

Is it wrong for the president to eject certain media agencies from the White House press room?  CNN, MSNOW, and Politico certainly think so.  Many other news agencies agree.  However, there is only so much space in the press room.  Do certain agencies have a right to that limited space?  Do they have more right to the space than an obscure newspaper from Wyoming or Iowa?  Sure, it makes sense to have news agencies with the greatest reach to have access as that gives the easiest route to disseminate news.  Then again, that could be a detriment if those news agencies are consistently hostile.

In the early days of the republic, there were party papers.  Andrew Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet had a couple of friendly newspaper editors as members.  Jackson's message was printed as he wanted it printed.  Did the people only get government propaganda through such a system?  No, the Whigs controlled newspapers as well, blasting whatever message the Jacksonian papers delivered.

Supposing that there are 100 seats in the pressroom, why can't the administration choose which agencies get them?  If a thousand news agencies across the country and internationally apply, could the administration just pick the 100 least hostile?  Would that be censorious?

The media is overwhelmingly left leaning, which means it is reliably hostile to Republicans and cheerleaders to Democrats.  A quick request from ChatGPT came up with these numbers:

With such an obvious tilt in the coverage, why wouldn't the administration take some action to mitigate it?  Where the Trump Administration seeks to limit access to proven hostile news agencies - which he claims produce 'fake news' - the Obama DOJ was aggressive in law enforcement regarding reporters and their sources.  He was getting net positive coverage and still sought to muzzle the media.

The entire press corps apparatus in the White House is a convenience first extended by President Theodore Roosevelt, which means it did not exist for the first half of the country's history.  There is no requirement for it.  Besides, Trump is constantly out speaking.  In his first term, he had 88 press conferences, which averages to around 2 a month.  By contrast, Biden had 37, less than 1 per month.  Trump was interviewed 326 times, or nearly 7 times a month; Biden 125, or 2.6 times per month.  There is no dearth of Trump in the media.

Supergirl (2026)

Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) is on a planetary pub crawl to celebrate her 23rd birthday when Ruthye (Eve Ridley) entered the bar.  The bar is one of those hives of wretched scum and villainy that abound in space settings and Ruthye is a teenaged girl who clearly does not belong.  Ruthye offers a bounty of a well-made sword for anyone who helps her avenge the murder of her family by Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts).  One rather large and thuggish monster that looks like an evil version of a teenaged mutant ninja turtle simply confiscated the sword.  With a resigned sigh, Kara intervened to recover the sword, demonstrating that she was a skilled combatant despite the vast size difference.

Though Ruthye followed Kara back to her starship, Kara declined to help on her quest for revenge.  However, by a miracle of bad luck, Krem appeared, poisoned Krypto - Kara's dog, and stole her starship.  Krypto had three days to live unless Kara could retrieve the antidote from Krem.  Now Kara was committed to finding Krem though she still wasn't keen on the revenge quest.

In order to even begin to chase Krem, Kara had to take public transport.  She waited at a galactic bus stop in the middle of a field until a rocket bus arrived.  Interesting.  Oh, yeah, this planet had a red sun so she didn't have powers.  Sounds awfully reckless.  On the other hand, she was incapable of getting drunk in systems with a yellow sun.  Though she had left Ruthye behind, Ruthye appeared on the space bus!  In fact, Ruthye proves to have a talent of stowing away on ships.  There follows fights with Sklarian Raiders, investigations, interrogations, false friends, rescues of slave girls, and more battles with brigands.

There are multiple flashbacks to detail Kara's past.  Her father, Zor-El, was the brother of Superman's father.  Zor-El had created a shield generator that allowed a city to escape the doomed planet of Krypton.  Kara was born and raised on this floating chunk of Krypton.  However, like Superman, she was sent to Earth.  Superman (David Corenswet) makes several appearances, both in flashback, on facetime calls, and a homecoming scene at the end of the movie.

Based on the graphic novel Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which itself was a retelling of True Grit, the movie is a hodgepodge of action scenes that are poorly stitched together.  Kara tends to be a slovenly drunk, a woman who seems to be drinking away her sorrows rather than celebrating her birthday.  At one point, she plops onto the toilet while leaving the door open.  Um, okay.  On the other hand, Ruthye is sober and clearheaded but naive beyond belief.  Does this planet have no law enforcement to deal with the likes of Krem?  Does she expect noble behavior among the patrons of the bar?  But for the presence of Kara, Ruthye had walked into her likely enslavement by entering the bar.  Did she not know that?  Does not matter because Kara and Ruthye need to meet somehow.  About halfway through, the pair encountered Lobo (Jason Momoa), a bounty hunter who happened to be tracking one of Krem's associates.  He looks like some space Hells Angel with evil clown makeup.  Yeah, this movie needed a dark edge and this character doesn't really fit.  His inclusion comes off as nothing but fan service.  Krem is a lazy villain.  He's just competent enough to be a nuisance but not competent enough to be a threat.  Whenever he and Kara fight, one or the other pull up short from securing victory.  Kara could have snatched the poison cure in an early encounter, but doesn't.  No, let's have something distract her.  Krem has just poisoned Kara with Kryptonite, but pauses for a monologue.  Sigh.

Kara is not a likable character.  A woman doing a solo pub crawl is a big red flag.  That she would go to a planet with a red sun to do such makes her seem suicidal.  She certainly has cause to be depressed, but is drunkeness the cure?  Much of the time, she looks hungover and unkempt.  Even in the midst of the adventure, she is still somehow always less than 100% on account of this poison, that green sun, or those Kryptonite arrows.  And what is with all the primitive melee weapons?  Why are the villians running around with swords, axes, crossbows, and spiked chains?

Mediocre.  Skip.

Oikophobia

Oikophobia (noun)

1. Ecophobia; fear of a home environment.
2. Dislike of one's own culture or compatriots

This is the going thing.  For some decades now, the West has become oikophobic; there is no civilization worse than Western Civilization.  Indeed, the West has oppressed - and often enslaved - all other civilizations in the world.  Thus, the current reversal of fortune with hostile immigrants flooding into Western countries is an appropriate comeuppance.  Though the West is entirely capable of preventing this destructive influx, enough of the citizens have embraced oikophobia to not only tollerate it, but to encourage it.

In a video on YouTube, Joomi Kim discussed how this was not the first time that this has happened.  In fact, it appears to be a normal feature of powerful civilizations.  She starts off with the Ancient Greeks, who had risen to prominence.  Alexander the Great had conquered vast territory and left Hellenic dominance behind.  However, there arose among the Greeks those who attacked their culture.  She mentioned Diogenes in particular.  By the time the Romans arrived on the scene, the Greeks had already self-sabotaged.  The Romans followed a similar though slower pattern.  France ripped itself apart during the French Revolution, handing global dominance to England.  Modern England appears to hate its history and seeks to erase the English through mass migration.

After World War II, the United States stepped into England's shoes to become the dominant civilization.  The self-hatred soon followed.  US History is more often described as one long crime spree rather than the rise of a great and laudable nation.  Joomi suggests that the US has, since 1976, elected presidents who were either committed oikophobes (Carter & Obama) or sympathetic to oikophobia.  Only Reagan and Trump have been enthusiastic Americanophiles, which may explain their popularity outside the usual Republican demographics.

Excellent, though somewhat depressing, video.  Highly recommended.

My Latest Book

The next installment of Downland Tales.  There are the birthday stories that have been written since the last volume, a series of random character sketches, and a couple of other random stories.  The fifth book that takes place in Downland.  Available at Amazon.

Palestinian-Israeli Conflict 101

The podcast provides some background of the conflict from 4000 years ago until the modern day.  It is broken into 3 parts, each about 45 to 50 minutes in length.  The narrator does an excellent job of being neutral in the conflict.  She announced from the start that it was meant to inform those who know next to nothing of the conflict and is merely a primer.

Part 1: 4,000 years ago to 1917.  Our story begins with Abraham, whose sons are the putative ancestors of the conflicting parties.  Jews trace their ancestry to Isaac while Muslims trace theirs to Ishmael.  The Jews lived in the region that is now Israel for hundreds of years, interrupted by the all too frequent conquest by a more powerful state.  However, the Romans grew tired of Jewish rebellions and deported many Jews from the area; this was the Jewish Diaspora.  Moreover, the Romans renamed the region to Palestine.  Though there were still Jews in the region, they were a minority.  Time passed and the Romans were replaced by the Byzantines who were replaced by a series of Muslim caliphates.  Then the Crusades conquered the area, briefly, before Egyptian Sultanate took over.  In turn, the Ottoman Empire ruled from the 16th century.  Meanwhile, Jews in Europe were suffering pogroms and needed somewhere to go.  In the 19th century, many migrated to Palestine.  During World War I, the British proposed a homeland for the Jews in the Balfour Declaration (1917).  That was not popular among the resident Muslim population.

Part 2: 1917 to 1967.  In the wake of World War I, the Ottoman Empire - which was on the losing side - had its territory divided among the victors.  The British acquired what is now Israel along with the growing tensions between the Jewish and Muslim residents.  There was a lot of unpleasantness between the wars.  Then World War II came.  Jews in Europe sought to escape to Palestine but were largely foiled.  After the war, they flooded in and Britain decided to split the territory in two and bug out.  Immediately, there was war between the Jews and the Muslims.  The Jews fared far better, claiming the majority of the territory.  Many Palestinians who had fled during the conflict demanded the right to return to their homes now that the fighting was ended.  Denied.  Instead, those homes were provided to the incoming flood of Holocaust survivors.  In the 1960s, Egyptian President Nasser threatened to destroy Israel, stating it had no right to exist.  He put troops in the Sinai Peninsula and prepared to attack.

Part 3: 1967 to 2023.  Taking Nasser at his word, the Israeli Airforce attacked Egypt, disabling its airforce and making its ground-based force in the empty desert an easy target.  The Israeli Airforce likewise bombed Jordan and Syria.  This was the Six-Day War and saw Israel capture the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.   Egypt and Syria took another crack at Israel in 1973's Yom Kippur War.  In 1978, President Carter hosted a peace conference between Egypt and Israel which resulted in Egypt recognizing Israel, a first for an Arab country.  At this point, the Palestinians, who had been in the wilderness for 4 decades now, gave up hope of being restored by neighboring co-religionists and took matters into their hands.  The PLO and similar groups emerged to fight by other means: terrorism.  In the 1990s, the Oslo Accords were negotiated but never fully implemented; it was another effort at a two-state solution going back to dividing the region like the British tried during the Mandate period.  Since then, there have been a series of Intafadas (uprisings) as well as Israel trading land for peace (evacuation of Gaza, some of the West Bank).

The podcast was released in August and September of 2023.  On October 7, 2023, the latest and most dramatic Intafada took place.

As mentioned, the narrator sought to be neutral regarding the conflict, offering the reasons each side views their position as superior.  She points out that atrocities have been committed by each side and each has been dispossessed of homes in the area.  She does not delve into the religions, giving each equal merit.  She does not delve into the governmental systems, again offering equal merit.  By ignoring the differing character of the competing peoples, it is easier to stay neutral on who should prevail.

Recommended.

Used Cars (1980)

Rudy "Trust Me" Russo (Kurt Russell) is a used car salesman with dreams of political office.  In order to secure his nomination, he must provide a cash donation; he's $10,000 short.  His boss, Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden), offered to give him the money.  Rudy is so grateful that he offers a 50-50 split on all the graft once he's in office.  However, Luke's brother, Roy (Jack Warden), owns a used car dealership across the street and has eyes on securing a monopoly.  If something happened to Luke, he would inherit the lot.  Well, as long as Luke's daughter didn't show up.  Barbara Fuchs (Deborah Harmon) came looking for her father and found herself as the owner of a failing car dealership.  Could she and Rudy keep it solvent long enough to benefit from a new highway exit?

The movie is a series of zany gags and crazy humor.  In order to drum up business, Rudy contacted Freddie (David Lander) and Eddie (Michael McKean) to hijack the local TV signal and air a commercial for the dealership.  That Lenny and Squiggy appear was itself hilarious.  The commercial goes horribly wrong with the female model (Cheryl Rixon) somehow made topless; the lot was packed the following day.  Further such antics saw the pair hijack a presidential address!

Jack Warden makes for a terrific villain as Roy Fuchs.  There is no underhanded tactic that is beneath him, including an effort to put his niece in jail.  Kurt Russell inhabits his role as a sleazy car salesman, only too happy to do whatever it took to sell a car.  Despite his dishonesty, manipulativeness, and general lack of morals, he was somehow likable.  Gerrit Graham was a great wingman to Russell.  His faith in superstitions from rabbit's feet to saltshakers to fear of red cars made him a constant source of laughs.  By contrast, Deborah Harmon is left as the straight man in most of the gags.  To add yet another classic guest appearance, Al Lewis (best known as grandpa from The Munsters) played Judge Harrison.

At the time this was released, it was quite the raunchy comedy.  Today, it feels tame.  Nonetheless, it is a lot of fun.  Recommended.

9/11 + 25

It has been 25 years since planes crashed into the twin towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. In the wake of this attack, President Bush declared Islam to be a religion of peace. Nonetheless, we went to war with a couple of Islamic countries: Afghanistan and Iraq.  Moreover, a new department was created to keep the country safe: Homeland Security.  Where the hijackers had come into the country to execute their terrorist attack, such an agency would surely curb future intruders.  Clearly, those who would scream Allahu Akbar must get the hairy eyeball before entering.  As such, the number of Muslims in the United States has been careful monitored so as to rise from 2.5 million to 5.5 million.  Likewise, where there were approximately 1200 mosques in 2000, there are now only 2,800 or thereabouts.  Of course, New York City has been particularly active in preventing future incursions.  Where there were 120 mosques in 2000, there are now only 300.  Additionally, where NYC was in the process of electing a Jewish mayor - Michael Bloomberg - during the 2001 attack, it now has its first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani.

To look at where things stand, the Muslims are winning.  They have changed tactics - for the moment - and just begun to migrate into the West.  The situation is dire in England, but the West has chosen to just idly watch as the invasion progresses.  Eventually, the numbers will favor the Muslims and, like Lebanon, they will take over and oppress the infidels.

Good Intentions

In Good Intentions, Walter Williams, a noteworthy economics professor, discussed the unintended consequences of those good intentions.  He detailed his own youth, education, and job history compared to what was possible today (early 1980s).  Education had degraded since his time, seeing a dramatic rise in administrators at the cost of resources to the classroom.  Furthermore, efforts to give control of education to parents was foiled by teachers' unions and government.  Where he had a job as a teen for a $1/hour, a modern teen could not be hired for less than $3.35/hour.  That minimum wage, intended to protect the youth from an employer who would take advantage, limited the number of teens who could be hired.  Rather than get job experience - even for a pittance, the teen was instead unemployed.  Then there was the licensing scam.  Many governments required a license to participate in an industry.  He gave the example of driving a cab.  In Philadelphia, it cost $20,000 to get a license and thus be an independent cab driver.  By contrast, Washington D.C. only required $50.  Unsurprisingly, vastly more cabs were available in DC and there were more independent cabbies.  All too often, government efforts to assist the citizenry results in exactly the opposite.

Highly recommended.

Mr. Baseball (1992)

Jack Elliot (Tom Selleck) was a New York Yankee, an MVP from the World Series.  He viewed himself as untouchable.  Then a new player arrived and the Yankees traded Jack.  "Not Canada!" Jack insisted.  No, not Canada.  "Cleveland?"  Nope.  He was being traded to Japan.  Jack arrived in Japan to find himself assigned an interpreter, Yoji (Toshi Shioya), who often changed Jack's replies to completely change the meaning.  His coach, Uchiyama (Ken Takakura), was a serious and sober man who did not appreciate Jack's disrespectful antics.  Hiroko (Aya Takanashi) was his assigned agent and arranged for his mandatory endorsement deals and TV commercials in Japan.  She soon became his love interest.  Jack was not the only American on the team; Max 'Hammer' Dubois (Dennis Haysbert) had been in Japan for 5 years and offered pointers on assimilation, most of which Jack didn't take.

The movie doesn't know what it wants to be.  The comedy elements are purely situational and fish out of water variety humor.  There are no laugh out loud gags or jokes.  The romance between Jack and Hiroko is bland.  She's the only woman he knows in Japan who speaks English; she's the only fish in the pond.  Later revelations about her parents paint this in an even weirder light.  Because much of the dialogue is in Japanese, the other players - except Max - don't get much development.  It is unclear why this movie was even greenlit.

Of course, this was the year that ended Tom Selleck's movie career.  Also in 1992, he had a cameo in the critically panned Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, and stared in Folks!, a movie where Don Ameche played his senile father who moved in with him; it was a comedy.  All three were box office bombs.

Skip

Lake America

 

He's done it again! So long to Lake Ontario and hello Lake America.

I would prefer a bit more creativity in Trump's naming.  Gulf of America vs. Gulf of Mexico made sense.  Lake America?  We weren't calling it Lake Canada.  Ontario is a province.  May Lake New York?  If he does manage to acquire Greenland, will it get renamed to Americaland?

To Vax or Not to Vax?

On X, someone noted that 127 children had died from the measles vaccine while only 2 have died from contracting measles.  Proof that the vaccine is more dangerous than the disease!  No, sorry, it does not prove any such thing.

The measles vaccine was introduced in 1963.  Prior to vaccination, the annual death toll was 300 to 400 per year.  The population was considerably lower then, but let's stick with that number and just compare.  With the vaccine, we can have 2 measles deaths and 127 vaccine deaths, but without the vaccine with can have 300 to 400 measles deaths and no vaccine deaths.  I'll let you choose.

As Thomas Sowell explained, there are no solutions, only tradeoffs.  By only examining one side of the equation, it can appear that the status quo is obviously wrong.  However, once you look at both sides, the tradeoff is apparent and the cost/benefit can be answered.

AI Scouring the Web

Though I have been writing this blog for 15 years, it is not a popular or widely read blog.  However, there have been the occasional bursts of activity.   In October 2018, I had over 5,000 views!  Prior to that, I only saw a few hundred in a month.  It flattened out to the regular few hundred until June 2019 when I broke 3,000.  Cool.  It then dipped to the usual few hundred for the next several years.  In December 2023, I had over 4,000.  In May 2024, there were more than 6,000.  Wow!  That was the high-water mark until July 2025 when I broke 42,000.  What?  How is that possible?  It was so out of the blue.  In the last few months, the real craziness occurred.

The last 4 months have seen 273,000 views, which constitutes more than 60% of all the views I've had since starting this blog.  What could possible account for such skyrocketing views?  Artificial Intelligence.  Yes, the AI bots must be grabbing everything that can be found.  I suspect all bloggers have seen a huge increase in views.  How long will this last?  In a few months, will I look back on this as the slow times?

For the rare human reader, thanks for stopping by.

DSA: Working-Class Democracy

In addition to changing both domestic and foreign policy, the DSA has idea on reforming how the government governs.  Let's go back to the DSA website.

Working-Class Democracy

Democracy for All: Extend full voting rights to all permanent U.S. residents and restore the right to vote for incarcerated people and people with criminal convictions. Establish statehood for Washington D.C. and recognize the right to self-determination for all U.S. territories and colonies. Expand and protect voting rights and end voter suppression.

Death row inmates get to vote.  Criminals are a reliable voting block for Democrats because Democrats are the soft-on-crime party.  Of course, the DSA would seek to benefit its voters.  Beyond criminals, what sort of expansion of voting rights are being considered?  Recognizing a right to self-determination is just an invitation for secession and disintegration of the country.  When combined with the instant amnesty proposed in the abolition of ICE, a lot of newly-minted permanent residents will join the voter rolls and they will mostly vote for the party offering the most freebies (psst, that would be the DSA).

A Real Democracy: For the working class to govern, we need a new political system. End political corruption and legalized bribery: get rid of lobbyists, dark money, and Citizens United, and publicly finance all elections. Abolish the Electoral College. Replace the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.

Repeal the Constitution.  This requires a constitutional convention or several new amendments to the Constitution.  By eliminating the president, the Congress would become more like the British Parliament where the Prime Minister is just one of the members of parliament who happens to exercise the executive.  If we have eliminated the presidency, the Electoral College is irrelevant.  However, if the Electoral College was eliminated before the presidency was folded into the Congress, it would greatly diminish the representation of smaller states.  This is a call for the destruction of the US Republic.

A Democratic Congress: Replace the two-party system with a multi-party democracy. Expand the House of Representatives, implement proportional representation and ranked choice voting in all elections, and abolish the Senate.

By abolishing the Senate, the DSA would abolish the states.  Wyoming would have one representative in the new unicameral legislature and would be pillaged by neighboring states with more say.  Proportional representation means that parties have slates of candidates who are elected based on the proportion of the vote that the party gets.  You aren't voting for your congressman but merely a party who will get so many seats in government.  Furthermore, a multiparty system can lead to empowering minority parties, such as the DSA.  A coalition party is likely to be both less stable and more extreme, allowing for wide swings in governing.  Again, this is a repeal of the Constitution and a destruction of the Republic.

Economic Democracy: Establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries to ensure democratic control and accountability to the people. Enact aggressive wealth taxes on the richest individuals and corporations to spend on public goods and infrastructure.

Communism.  Yeah, we finally got there.  There is public ownership of the means of production.  There is from each according to his means (i.e., the rich) to each according to his needs (i.e., the public).  The DSA has adopted communist policies, but made them sound like democracy and fairness.  How long will the rich remain rich under such a system?  This will lead to an equality of poverty though the governing elites will be a bit more equal than everyone else.  Sounds familiar.

Democracy at Work: Empower workers to come together and fight the boss. Protect, expand, and enforce the rights of all workers to form, join, and strike with their unions, regardless of industry. Support union members who organize reform caucuses, democratize their unions, and take political action.

For those industries that have not been nationalized, the workers are to view the boss as an adversary.  Rather than being unified in providing a good or service to the public, the boss-employee dynamic should be one of constant contention where the workers chip away at the boss and inevitably make the business less productive and profitable.  This is sure to encourage more entrepreneurship and expand the economy, right?  No, quite the opposite.  There is a reason that Detroit has fallen so far as car manufacturing fled to less hostile locations.

It should be noted that the DSA does not need to achieve all of its policies to crash the US.  Just defunding the military could end the US.  Opening the borders like the Biden Administration for a more extended period with the amnesty policy could destroy the US.  The only reason Europe has been able to enact so many of these policies is because the US has footed the bill for defense.  The US has no one to cover that bill.

Vote against the communists in November!

DSA: Foreign Policy

Where Thriving Communities concerned itself with domestic policy, the DSA also has plans on how to handle international relations.  Let's return to the DSA website.

Working-Class Foreign Policy

End the U.S. War Machine: Defund the Department of War. End all foreign wars and close overseas military bases. Support and fully employ veterans. End immunity for U.S. war criminals and support the International Criminal Court's mandate to prosecute war crimes.

This is a prescription for national suicide.  How does the US defend itself without a military?  Who will fill the vacuum left by a US withdrawal from all overseas bases and a dismantling of the US Navy?  Who will determine which Americans are war criminals that need to be prosecuted in the ICC?  A call for unilateral disarmament is an invitation for hostile nations to invade.

Free Palestine: Recognize the rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return, the right to resist military occupation, and the right to self determination in a free Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. End all military and economic aid to Israel. Prosecute U.S. and Israeli leaders responsible for the genocide in Gaza.

Why doesn't anyone call for Free Tibet?  Or how about Free Kurdistan?  Free East Oregon?  No, it is always about the Palestinians.  Where Tibet is under the thumb of China, Kurdistan is dominated by Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, and East Oregon is oppressed by Salem, it is the Jews who are blamed for Palestine.  Yes, those rascally Israelis are uniquely evil and require a statement in DSA foreign policy.  Nevermind that the Palestinians always start the wars which result in the Israelis implementing defensive measures that further restrict the Palestinians.  Basically, until Israel is eliminated, Palestine is not free.  Understand that and you understand the whole Israel-Palestine conflict.  DSA wants the destruction of Israel.

End Blockades, Embargoes, and Sanctions: People around the world deserve to live their lives without U.S. interference. End economic warfare against countries whose governments act independently of the United States, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran.

Stop making life difficult for those who hate us and wish our destruction.  Yes, what an obvious plan.  Let's make nice with communist Cuba (clearly, DSA is sympathetic to communists), ease up on narco-state Venezuela, and let the Mullahs of Iran resume their title of leading state sponsor of terrorism.  We've gotten rid of the military, so let's also get rid of our economic tools for fighting hostile powers.  Can't wait for those Iranian missiles to get installed in Cuba.  This time, there will be no missile crisis because we have ended blockading and defunded the navy that would implement the blockade.  I'm sure it will be fine.

Abolish ICE: End ICE detention and deportations and punish federal agents' brutality. Legalize migration, grant amnesty for all immigrants regardless of status, provide a path to citizenship for all permanent residents, and end visa caps and quotas.

Throw open the borders!  Let everyone in and grant them amnesty.  A country without borders soon ceases to be a country.  Combined with the policies outlined in Thriving Communities, the US - which is already under heavy financial strain - will be bankrupt in months.  If it survives that long.  With the borders open and the military defunded, what is to stop a flood of hostiles from sweeping into the country?

Are there people who are stupid enough to believe this?  Apparently there are.  This proposed DSA Utopia would quickly devolve into a hellscape.  It must be remembered that Lenin spoke of useful idiots, people who believed the Utopian pap he spouted and supported his overthrow of Russia.  After their usefulness was at an end, firing squads can eliminate them.  The DSA playbook is an old one.

DSA: Thriving Communities

In much the same way that the Republican Party has suffered a hostile takeover by the MAGA crowd, the Democratic Party has been invaded by the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA).  President Trump and others have accused the DSA of being communists.  Is that the case?  Let's check out the party's proposed policies on the DSA website.

Thriving Work Class Communities

Freedom to Flourish: Expand public resources to support recreation, learning, and social spaces accessible to all. Establish paid family leave for all workers, a 32 hour work week with full pay and benefits, and a living minimum wage. Provide free, quality public education from pre-K to college and cancel all student debt.

Here the DSA proposes increasing social service costs, diminishing work hours while increasing pay and benefits, and eliminating all educations costs.  Where will they get the money to pay for this?  Clearly, the pay and benefits will be assessed to the employer, who will have to make do with 20% less productivity (i.e., 32 hours instead of 40).  Education and social services are funded by the state via taxation; the necessary tax increase is not mentioned here.

Healthcare for All: Guarantee universal healthcare at no cost to individuals, including complete access to reproductive and gender-affirming care. Expand healthcare access and quality by investing in new public hospitals and clinics. Make all medical education and training public and free.

Quality healthcare access to everyone, with a special note that both abortion and transgender care are included.  Moreover, medical education will also be free.  Last I checked, healthcare costs accounted for a sixth of the US economy.  If it is free, the government will assume control of that part of the economy.  There are models for how this works (e.g., Canada, the United Kingdom, etc.), which does not bode well for a government takeover here.  Like the expanded services in Freedom to Flourish, this will expand government costs and thus require increased taxation.

Housing for All: Housing is a human right. Build new, publicly-owned social housing, strictly regulate investment properties, establish universal rent control, and guarantee right to counsel for all tenants.

Everyone gets free housing?  Not exactly.  There is talk of rent control and regulating investment properties, so some housing will still cost money.  However, there will be an increase in publicly-owned housing.  In any case, landlords are going to find it even less profitable to provide housing under these new rules.  That is likely to drive many property owners out of the housing business and thus reduce the supply.  Moreover, with housing as a right, the government will have to step in to cover costs or provide shelter.  The UK is currently trying this and is paying a fortune to house immigrants in hotels.

Finish Reconstruction: End the legacies of slavery and colonialism. Reinforce anti-discrimination laws. Honor all treaties and tribal sovereignty. Enact reparations and massively invest in good jobs, quality housing and infrastructure in neglected minority communities.

Though it has been 60 years since the civil rights movement and more than 160 years since slavery was abolished, there is still more to do?  Yes, the government needs to invest in good jobs (what are good jobs?) and enact reparations (what does that mean?).  What is meant by tribal sovereignty?  Do the various reservations become independent countries within the US?  These actions will serve to further divide the country, which is the point.

End Mass Incarceration and Police Immunity: Demilitarize police departments, disempower police unions, and redirect funding to public services as steps towards fully abolishing the police and prison system which protects the rich and jails the poor. Treat drug addiction and mental illness as health issues, not crimes. End qualified immunity and empower civilian oversight bodies with real authority over the police.

How much incarceration are we allowed to have?  What do you mean by 'fully abolishing the police and prison system?'  The catch & release system is already being tested in many jurisdictions and has proved to be detrimental to the public.  Repeat violent offenders have been released and offended again.  These policies will lead to increased violence, which we've seen again and again through the decades.  The infamous Willie Horton ad touched on this back in the 1988 presidential campaign.  Irina Zarutska would be alive today if only a violent offender had been kept in prison.  This is a recipe for chaos, which is likewise not accidental.

Feminism for All: Socialist feminism fights for queer liberation and the freedoms of all working class women. Stop gender violence and end policies that oppress bodily autonomy and intimate life, including patriarchal restrictions on abortion, childbirth and childraising, gender expression and transition, marriage, and divorce. Ban sex discrimination and ensure fair compensation and support for all forms of labor, including care work.

Just in case the message wasn't received under Healthcare for All, let's reiterate that DSA is pro-abortion.  What is meant by 'including care work?'  Is the government going to cut a check for stay at home moms?  Why is marriage and divorce listed under Feminism for All?  Don't men participate in these as well?  Do the courts not favor women enough in these areas?  Let's further divide the sexes.

Green New Deal: Workers must lead our democratic transition to a green future. Pass a federal jobs guarantee. Implement massive investment in sustainable, publicly owned energy and transit infrastructure. Phase out the use of fossil fuels. Reclaim and repair our earth's resources for all.

Bankrupt the country.  As if all the other policies that will dramatically increase the federal budget were not enough, here is a plan to crush the economy.  Unless the DSA plans to transition to nuclear power, phasing out fossil fuels will result in manufacturing fleeing the country, probably to China.  What is a federal jobs guarantee?  I would suppose that the government would employ the unemployed, which is going to be costly.

The policy prescriptions that propose to create thriving working class communities will not work.  Anyone with a basic understanding of economics or human nature will see that the incentives are counter-productive and harmful.  This is a way to destroy the country, not make it thrive.  However, once it is destroyed, there will be an opportunity for new management, which is the actual end goal.