Defund NPR & PBS

There is no shortage of media in the United States today.  When I was a kid, there were 7 TV channels and PBS.  That was a lot.  I remember visiting my grandparents and they only had 4 channels.  In those days, you could argue that the government should subsidize some programming that would not be aired on the limited stations.  That is not true now.  We have a glut of programming on a vast array of topics.  Niche programming abounds.  If you can't find your thing on TV, the internet - YouTube, Hulu, Rumble, and so on will have it.  Government-funded media was always questionable and is now just wasteful.  Any programming that has a sufficient audience will find private media to air it.  There is no reason for the American taxpayer to subsidize programming for anyone.

Taking Chance (2009)

It is April 2004 when the story opens with an ambush in Iraq.  It is only the audio over a black screen.  Back in the US, Marine Lt. Col. Mike Strobl (Kevin Bacon) is a number cruncher at Quantico.  His job is to review troop allocations and make recommendations.  Casualties are high in Iraq, but Lt. Col. returns to his wife and kids every night.  He's safe while other Marines were giving their lives.  While reviewing casualty reports, he notes that one Marine was from Colorado, near the town where he himself had grown up.  The Marine was PFC Chance Phelps.  Strobl volunteered to escort Chance home.

The process of returning the deceased to their relatives is very particular.  Honor is due the deceased at every stop on the journey home.  Strobl stood at attention and saluted as Chance was loaded into the plane and when he was removed from the plane.  He had to retain Chance's personal effects (a watch, a medallion, dog tags) on his person at all times, not even allowing them to pass through the X-ray at the airport.  He was moved that others joined in his respect for Chance along the way, offering thanks to him as an escort and condolences to Chance's family.  Strangely, the hero of the film is Chance and Strobl comes to know him by taking Chance home.

The movie is a powerful tearjerker, a somber reflection on the sacrifices made by a young man still in his teens.  Kevin Bacon is outstanding in the role, showing deep feelings despite maintaining a mostly stoic expression.

Highly recommended.

The Bondsman

Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon) arrived at an abandoned motel to catch one of the Earl brothers.  It turned out that the brothers knew he was coming and set a trap.  They killed him!  To his great surprise, he awoke with a slit throat.  Why wasn't he dead?  Then the phone calls started from Pot O' Gold.  He was back from the dead for a purpose: he was now a bounty hunter in the employ of the devil.  His Pot O' Gold supervisor, Midge (Jolene Purdy), explained that Hell is basically a prison and sometimes there are escapes.  Escapees possess humans.  The only way to send them back is to kill the human they have possessed.

Hub isn't a lone wolf in his efforts.  His mother (Beth Grant) is his boss and she finds out about his new job when he does.  Of course, his mom is more interested in why he went to Hell rather than his new job of demonslaying.  Hub is coy on that subject, declaring it a mistake.  Hub's ex-wife, Maryanne (Jennifer Nettles), stumbles upon him in action against a demon and joins his efforts.  He roped his teenaged son, Cade (Maxwell Jenkins), into serving as a lookout on another instance.  Ex-con and Maryanne's boyfriend, Lucky (Damon Herriman), knows something dark is happening and wants to protect Maryanne and Cade, whatever measures that might require.

Though Hub accepts his new role, he thinks there must be a loophole, a way to get out from under his misdeeds.  He spends a lot of time plotting against Lucky rather than hunting demons that are clearly working as part of a greater plan.  His mother tells him that pride is what led him to Hell and he still hasn't mended that.

The series is available on Amazon.  It is only 8 episodes long and each episode is only 30 minutes.  Yeah, this is easy to binge in a single sitting.  The gruesome deaths of demons and their victims is often over the top, reminding me of Death of a Unicorn.  Good popcorn fun!

The Woman in the Yard (2025)

Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler) lives on a farm with her two children, Taylor and Annie. The family is recovering from a tragedy; David (Russell Hornsby), Ramona's husband, died in a car crash. Ramona is still wearing a brace on her leg and uses crutches to navigate the house and yard. On this particular day, Taylor reported that the power was out. Worse, her phone is dead. To add to their troubles, there is a strange woman (Okwui Okpokwasili) in the yard. She is veiled and dressed entirely in black. She even had a chair to sit on. Curious, Ramona confronts the woman.

"Today's the day," the woman stated. She even said that Ramona had called her and she had now come.

Rattled, Ramona returned to the house and locked all the doors. However, as the day wore on, the woman came closer to the house despite never seeming to move. Her shadow cast farther than it should and in directions it shouldn't. The explanations for the woman and the background of the family are revealed as the story unfolds.

The initial reaction to the strange woman in the yard was inexplicable. Taylor is a teenager who is both taller than and more mobile than his mother, but she sequesters him in the house like he was a toddler even before a threat is revealed. The family has 2 cars, one that was wrecked and the other won't start. How have the kids been going to school since the accident? Do they go to school? Is it a weekend? Is it summer break? The powers of the woman are related to her shadow. Somehow, Ramona knows this. How? Ramona is an artist, though she hasn't been doing much painting since moving from the city.

Though it has several jump scares and a few hair-raising instances of terror, the movie proved to be merely so-so. Skip this one.

Deepwater Horizon (2016)

In 2010, Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) and his wife, Felicia (Kate Hudson), drove together to the heliport.  He was leaving for a 3-week stint on the Deepwater Horizon.  At the heliport, he met James "Mr. Jimmy" Harrell (Kurt Russell) and Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez), who were also going to the Deepwater Horizon.  A pair of BP executives were included as well.  As the helicopter hove into view, Mr. Jimmy was surprised to see a ship near the platform.  That generally indicated that the well was ready and the platform would travel to a new site shortly.  When the helicopter landed, he briefly conferred with a test team who did not give satisfactory answers to Mr. Jimmy.  What was the situation?

Mike and Mr. Jimmy found Don Vidrine (John Malkovich), a BP Executive, in a good mood.  This particular site had been running over cost and beyond schedule, but he was now certain that the well was ready to hand off to an oil extraction platform.  They could move to a new site.  Mr. Jimmy was doubtful and wanted a test.  The test was inconclusive, but Vidrine was confident.  Though the Deepwater Horizon was owned by Transocean, it was currently leased to BP.  Jimmy deferred to BP's decision.

As it turns out, the well was not hunky dory.  In fact, it was a timebomb that exploded, sending pressure and oil into the platform with destructive force.  The oil soon caught fire and more explosions wracked the doomed platform.  Could they cap the well?  Could they even escape the platform?

The movie opens and closes with the testimony of the actual crew, including Mike and Mr. Jimmy, neither of whom look much like Wahlberg or Russell.  As with the investigation that followed the explosions, the movie pins the blame on BP.

Though true, this is a disaster movie right out of the 1970s.  I was reminded of The Towering Inferno as everything exploded and everyone fled the spreading fire.  Mike proves to be the central character who ties the story into a clean narrative.  Wahlberg does a great job.  Russell is excellent as Mr. Jimmy and Malkovich is terrific as the supercilious executive who is humbled when his claims are proved wrong.

Mostly good popcorn fun, but the conclusion is mostly a downer.  Is this a movie for entertainment or is it a documentary?

Signalgate

The Atlantic journalist Jeffery Goldberg somehow found himself included in a Signal chat among high-ranking officials of the Trump Administration.  As such, he gleaned information about an attack on Houthi rebels that would take place shortly thereafter.  Clearly, this is a serious data breach, a security failure, a clear case of 'loose lips sink ships.'  So, how did the attack go?  Without a hitch.  Whew.  Dodged that bullet.  Now, let's make sure we don't invite reporters to the next chat.  That is not how the press is playing it.

No, Trump needs to fire Secretary Hegseth for using Signal to communication.  He needs to fire Mike Waltz for adding Goldberg to the chat.  Someone needs to be fired for this incident that resulted in no negative consequences other than embarrassment to the 2-month-old administration.  By contrast, when 13 Americans were killed during the Afghan withdrawal, billions in military equipment abandoned, and allied Afghans fell to their deaths from departing aircraft, these same folks didn't call for Secretary Lloyd Austin or Joint Chief Chairman Milley to be fired.  Interesting.

By and large, the press is a wing of the Democratic Party and will spin any story to best favor the Democrats.  That such a big deal is being made of Signalgate shows how effective the Trump Administration is so far.

Due Process for Illegal Immigrants

In response to Trump's wholesale expulsion and deportation of illegal immigrants, the democrats are crying out for due process.  Apparently, these illegal entrants should be allowed to stay - at our expense - until we can give them a court date.  And what is going to happen at that court date?

Judge: Are you a US Citizen?

Immigrant: No

Judge: Do you have a green card or visa?

Immigrant: No

Judge: Clearly, you do not have a legal right or permission to be in the US.  Deportation order is hereby upheld.

What a waste of time and money to go through this.  Once someone crosses the border, the US is now obligated to pay for a public defender and a court date to shove them back to the other side?  Imagine if someone moved into your backyard and you couldn't just kick them out.  Nope, you need to wait on a court date and let a judge permit you to kick them out.  Ludicrous.  Asinine.  Of course, even in the above example, there will be demands for appeal.  Craziness.  This is a strategy that will lead to bankruptcy just trying to get the trespassers out of the country, and that is the point.  The other side wants to make it as expensive as possible to return illegal aliens to their home countries.  Why are they so keen on keeping illegals in the US at the expense of the American taxpayer?