Impoverish Russia by Drilling for Oil

The biggest export from Russia is oil and natural gas.  In 2015, that constituted about 60% of exports.  As the price of oil rises, Russia's economic fortunes improve.  The same goes for the Middle East.  Oil producers love when the gas price goes up.   As we know that Russia is enriched by high oil and natural gas prices, it follows that we should try to keep the prices as low as possible.  Heck, if we could drive the price down far enough, we might even make it unprofitable to continue producing oil.  Can we do that?  Yes.  A couple of years ago, the US was a net exporter of energy, for the first time in decades.  Now, we are buying Russian oil!  We are funding Russia.  Why?  Because we canceled the XL Pipeline, we reduced fracking, we're back on the Climate Change bandwagon.  Russia's not on that bandwagon and they are benefiting from our reduced production.  As supply goes down, price goes up.  More profit for Putin.

It has been reported that Russia has funded anti-nuclear and anti-fracking groups in Europe and the US to hamstring competition.  As Europe reduces its ability to provide power for itself, Russia steps in with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.  Wow, look at that.  Russia and the Middle East benefit immensely when the West limits domestic energy production and thus become beholden to these foreign sources who don't give a damn about climate change.

If we are serious about hobbling Russia, we have to stop buying oil from Russia and return to being a net exporter of energy.  We've done it before, very recently, therefore we can do it again.  Drive those oil prices down and Russia won't be able to afford invasions.

Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)

Jason McCullogh (James Garner) is on his way to Australia when he passes through the gold rush town of Calendar, Colorado.  The town is chaotic and dangerous, inflation is devastating, and the Danby family is skimming 20% of the gold profits.  McCullough has a notion of getting some of the gold while he is in the area but doesn't have enough money to even start a claim.  Looking for a job, he sees that the town needs a sheriff.  Two of the last 3 sheriffs were killed, while the 3rd fled town.  Despite the dire history, he takes the job.  There follows a series of comic antics as he tames the rowdy town, woos the mayor's daughter (Joan Hackett), and faces the Danby clan, led by Pa Danby (Walter Brennan).

The movie is a goofball comedy.  Joan Hackett spends most of the film embarassing herself in front of Garner.  Jack Elam plays a hilariously ill-used sidekick and deputy.  Harry Morgan is the mayor.  Bruce Dern gets to play the dim-witted Joe Danby who spends the majority of the film in a jail with no bars.

Great popcorn fun.

Jean-Baptiste Charboneau: Man of Two Worlds

Jean-Baptiste Charboneau was born in 1805, the son of Sacagawea and Toussaint Charboneau.  He had hardly been born when Toussaint and Sacagawea were recruited by Lewis and Clark on their Voyage of Discovery.  During the 2-year adventure, William Clark grew very fond of Jean-Baptiste, whom he affectionately called "Pomp."  At the journey's end, Clark asked to raise the boy as his own in St. Louis, promising to provide an excellent education and far more opportunities than he would have in the Upper Missouri (what would become North Dakota).  This was agreed.  Clark went on to be the territorial governor and the Indian agent for the West.  He did provide an excellent education and many opportunities for Jean-Baptiste.  When Jean was 18, he met a German royal and was invited to travel to Europe.  He went to Europe for 5 years, where he learned French and German.  When he returned from a life of luxury, he embraced a life as a mountain man.  He hunted and trapped in the dangerous wilds of the West.  He was occasionally hired as a guide for military expeditions and even encountered Captain Fremont and Kit Carson during one of their famous expeditions.  In 1846, he was working as a hunter at Bent's Fort in Southeast Colorado when the Mexican-American War was declared.  His talents needed, he was soon guiding the Mormon Battalion across the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, and California.  He remained in California and soon joined the Gold Rush.  He lived in Auburn, CA, for the next 15 years.  Word of a new gold strike in Montana lured him back on the trail.  Sadly, he died on the way in Southeast Oregon.  He was 61.

The book is an enjoyable read that gives a good overview of the era in which JB Charboneau lived.  Ritter provides an excellent background for the environs in which Charboneau lived.  He also offered details about what the life of a trapper or guide or mountain man.  However, Charboneau himself is still something of a mystery.  There is very little from the man himself.  No diary, no correspondence, no records of his statements and views.  We know the kind of life he lived, but not why he chose this path.  Also, he never married though he did have two children.  One, born in Germany, died in infancy.  The other, born in California, probably lived to adulthood and had children of her own.

Very good book and definitely recommended for anyone interested in the ante-bellum American West.  One of the interesting comments from the author was that Kit Carson only became famous because Fremont selected him.  Charboneau, and many others, were equally qualified and might have become legendary figures but for the chance that brought Fremont to Carson instead.

The House of Fear (1945)

In a Scottish town, a group of 7 men created a club called the Good Comrades.  Recently, one of the comrades received an envelope that contained 6 orange pips.  Soon after, he died a horrible death.  Then an envelope arrived for another comrade, this time with 5 orange pips.  He too died a horrible death.  It was at this point that the insurance company called upon Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone).  Each man had life insurance which was paid to the surviving members of Good Comrades; they suspect foul play by one of the remaining members.  Holmes and Watson (Nigel Bruce) arrive to investigate.  There is reason to suspect everyone.  Despite their presence, the envelopes of orange pips come and horrible deaths follow.  Can Holmes uncover the culprit before more men die horribly?

The story bears little resemblance to The Adventure of The Five Orange Pips.  Most of the Good Comrades aren't good; Holmes even noted that one of them had gotten away with murder through a legal loophole, a fact that put him on the top of the suspect list.  The idea of 7 men living in a remote castle seems bizarre to a modern viewer.  Maybe that was more typical in a bygone era.  Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) arrives to bumble around and contrast with Holmes' keen observations.

Entertaining to watch but disappointing as a whodunit.  Holmes only catches the villain because the villain took an action that, in retrospect, makes no sense.  Holmes can explain everything at that point but had been helpless to prevent the continuing murders.  Though not a great movie, it is always fun to watch Rathbone and Bruce.

A Farewell to Arms (1932)

Frederic (Gary Cooper) is an American in Italy during the Great War.  He is an ambulance driver.  Upon returning from his recent stint at the front with many wounded in his ambulance, he meets his good friend, Rinaldi (Adolphe Menjou).  Rinaldi has great plans to go out drinking and meeting the ladies, but asks for some money first.  The pair meet some nurses.  Frederic finds he is attracted to the one that Rinaldi has chosen, Catherine (Helen Hayes).  He steals her from him, causing some hard feelings.  In a flash, Frederic and Cahterine are in love, but he has to go back to the front.  Seeing as Catherine is ruining his friendship with Frederic, Rinaldi has her reassigned to Milan.  Meanwhile, on the front, Frederic has been wounded.  After patching him up, Rinaldi sends him to Milan for recovery; clearly, he feels guilty now that his friend is injured.

The movie feels incomplete and disjointed.  There are some things that the viewer must figure out for himself.  Frederic and Catherine are lovers and she is pregnant.  Nope, can't have that in a movie.  There are multiple flash-cuts, that clearly show something is missing.  Often, I wasn't quite certain what was going on and why some of the characters were helping Frederic.  Checking on IMDb, it shows that censors snipped some of the film and Hemingway was very unhappy with the results.  However, he was impressed with Gary Cooper and suggested him for For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Cooper portrays the hunky American well and Menjou is great as Rinaldi.  I loved how he kept calling Frederic 'Baby.'  He was a very likeable Italian doctor.  Helen Hayes was miscast.  Her American accent didn't go with playing an English nurse.  Also, the 5 foot tall Hayes was positively dwarfed by the 6'3" Cooper.  I could see her attraction to him, but not his to her.

Mediocre.

Death on the Nile (1978)

In England, Jackie (Mia Farrow) asks her friend Linnet (Lois Chiles) to give her soon-to-be husband, Simon Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale) a job.  Linnet agrees.  Six weeks later, Simon and Linnet are on their honeymoon in Egypt.  Not only has an insanely jealous Jackie followed them, so has a cast of suspects.  Romance novelist Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury) and her daughter, Rosalie (Olivia Hussey) may be financially ruined on account of a lawsuit by Linnet.  Mrs. Van Schuyler (Bette Davis) is a wealthy woman with a love of jewelry, especially pearls like the dazzling necklace that Linnet wears.  Van Schuyler's nurse, Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith), had been reduced to being a servant on account of Linnet's father's business practices.  Doctor Bessner (Jack Warden) may see his clinic ruined on account of the harsh criticisms that Linnet has leveled.  Andrew Pennington (George Kennedy), who is Linnet's uncle, has been embezzling funds and could be ruined should Linnet discover it.  Even Linnet's maid, Louise (Jane Birkin), is upset at her employer for derailing her marriage plans.  This hornets' nest of would-be murderers has the misfortune of encountering the famed Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov).  Linnet requests his assistance in ridding them of Jackie and he is soon traveling with them and the cast of suspects on the SS Karnak down the Nile.  It is little surprise when Linnet is found dead.  Poirot is joined in his investigation by Colonel Race (David Niven), an old friend and occasional assistant.  As the pair interview all the suspects, additional murders occur.

The all-star cast is terrific in this version.  Poirot is fastidious and has an uncanny knack of being in earshot of all the incriminating conversations, which he parrots back at the enraged suspect.  Unlike the recent remake, this one was filmed in Egypt.  Just this puts it head and shoulders above the Branagh production.  Better still, no anachronistic casting, no efforts to represent this group or that group, just a straight-forward adaptation of the novel.

After watching both versions, I must say that the plan was ludicrous.  A gunshot on a ship the size of the Karnak should have drawn more people.  The idea that there would be no one around seems unlikely.  The stars had to align for the outlandish plot to work.  Also, Hercule Poirot is on the ship!  Are you crazy?  Time to abort the plan and wait for another time.  Heck, maybe wait for whoever pushed the rock to give it another try.

I've not seen the David Suchet version of Death on the Nile.  Until I do, I rate this one the best.  Highly recommended.

Peacemaker

The HBO series pickups up soon after The Suicide Squad concludes.  Peacemaker (John Cena) has recovered from his bullet wound and being caught under a collapsing building.  Surprised that no one has arrived to put him back in jail, he goes to his home, a mobile home that is painted in patriotic colors.  However, it turns out he is not free.  An independent group - including two office operatives seen in The Suicide Squad - impress him into service.  Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) is the leader of the team and declares they are up against the Butterflies.  Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and Economos (Steve Agee) have been assigned to the task force as a punishment for their actions in The Suicide Squad.  The crew also has a greenhorn agent named Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), who is actually the daughter of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis).  Added to the crew is Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), Peacemaker's occasional partner.

Though Peacemaker remains a homicidal goofball, much like he was in his last appearance, there is a lot of character development.  His dynamic with his abusive and racist father, Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick), explains how he came to be who he is.  His father is also the White Dragon, an Iron Man like supervillain with high-tech battle armor and a variety of powerful helmets that Peacemaker acquires.

The opening credits scene is awesome.  All the characters dance onto the stage like some Vegas show.  It is so unexpected and funny that I watched it virtually every episode.  Great stuff.

The downside of the series is the insertion of politics.  There is a big message about environmentalism and how humanity is on a course to destroy the earth.  Yeah, okay.  Also, it turns out that Leota is a lesbian and her wife appears in most of the episodes to voice concerns about what Leota is doing.  5'5" Harcourt easily trounces a thug who is nearly a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier.  Fine.  White males get all the big character flaws: Vigilante is abysmally stupid, Peacemaker's father is a rabid racist, John Economos is a mostly pathetic loser, and Peacemaker is a dim bulb.  By contrast, Murn is competent and focused.  Harcourt is kickass and qualifies for a serious spy thriller.  Leota is a noob who blossoms into a hero.  However, she is the butt of some physical comedy, something mostly reserved for the white males.

Despite the modern political tropes, the show is highly watchable and quite entertaining.  I look forward to further antics from Peacemaker and his crew.  Recommended.