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The Assassination Bureau (Arrow Video) – This comedy-adventure from eclectic British director Basil Deardon (Sapphire, The League of Gentlemen, Victim, All Night Long) isn’t for all tastes; it’s one of those 1960s psychedelic trains wrecks with a huge international cast and an elusive central theme that is nonetheless compelling…if only for its sheer commitment to weirdness. Adapted by Michael Relph from an unfinished Jack London novel, the story is set in 1908. Diana Rigg (fresh off her 2-season tenure with The Avengers) plays a feminist journalist who is assigned by her editor (Telly Savalas) to investigate a secret organization led by Oliver Reed that specializes in assassinating oligarchs (not willy-nilly, they do have a moral code…of sorts). Granted, it’s draggy in spots, but there are some imaginative set pieces; particularly a battle royale that takes place aboard a zeppelin. The mashup of 007 and steampunk recalls the 60s TV series The Wild Wild West. Nicely shot by Geoffrey Unsworth. Also featuring Curd Jürgens, Phillipe Noiret, and Beryl Reid.
America First is getting downright weird.
It’s the “stop grooming our children” sign next to the giant penis that really sells it… Ron Hedlund displayed a massive penis sign with the words, “Biden Sucks” written across it at a youth baseball game at RF&P Park in Henrico County, Virginia. In a video captured at the event, Hedlund, who is listed as a Virginia GOP Central Committee Representative defended his sign after a community member said it was inappropriate because there were children present. On social media, one user wrote that police came and made Hedlund put away his massive penis sign displayed directly across from children playing baseball at the park. However, Hedlund then reportedly displayed “fuck Biden” signs and the police refused to come back out. Ron Hedlund posted video to YouTube describing the sign as 16 feet long and a caricature and linked it to his personal protests against school boards offering sex education and affirming transgender students.
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Sommaren går mot sitt slut här ute på ön och på vår hamnkrog var det ikväll en spelglad duo som körde ett nostalgipotpurri med svenska örhängen. Ett av dem var den här låten, som onekligen väckte en del gamla minnen till liv:
Today, I signed up for Bluesky and Threads, taking a brief look at each of them, and announced my final departure from Twitter, to take place when Musk removes the Block feature[1]. Meanwhile I’m still using Mastodon as my main microblog along with CT and my personal blog for long-form blogging. I’m trying to maintain […]
Waiting for a man in a red fleece vest Ed Kilgore on the yearning for Youngkin: One of the best signs that Ron DeSantis’s 2024 presidential candidacy is circling the drain is the renewed enthusiasm some Republicans have for a late entry in the 2024 race who can save them from the Donald Trump and his unsatisfying rivals. This recent valentine to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin from the New York Post’s Miranda Devine is a good example of the longing for Mr. Right on the right: You get the sense that Devine still imagines that once Youngkin has saved his state for good this fall, he can turn his magnificent visage and towering figure toward the needs of his nation. It’s probably not coincidental that Devine’s boss is News Corporation’s Rupert Murdoch, who in July was reported to have been shifting his affections to Youngkin from the disappointing DeSantis.
On one side of the discussion there was a disparate collection of people expressing concerns about a profound policy shift which has a multitude of troubling — and unanswered — questions attached to it. On the other, a cabinet full of ministers who, before September 15, 2021, when it was announced by Scott Morrison, had never Continue reading »
Burning of all fossil fuels continues to increase. Gas is not better for the climate than coal but the myth continues and companies increase production. The fertile crescent is no longer fertile. Fossil fuels still burn brightly The bees in my bonnet began buzzing briskly when they saw the two graphs below. Look at the Continue reading »
How is it that the Uluru Statement from the Heart is even slightly controversial? How is it that the request for better listening which shapes the request for ‘Voice’ is found problematic? I have brought these Australian perplexities with me this week to the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago. Time and again, it is Continue reading »
Michael Leunig perfectly captures the challenges of current issues in Australian politics and the nation’s loss of sovereignty to the US. Continue reading »
The need for major governance system change in Australia is becoming more obvious daily but this is not obvious to the party in power federally and in five states, the ALP. Therefore, it is useful to reflect on this so that more ALP members begin to encourage their politicians to act accordingly. A preparedness to Continue reading »
Edmund Barton, an early Australian leader said: “the doctrine of the equality of man was never intended to apply to the equality of the Englishman and the Chinaman”. Inter-group violence and “yellow peril” fears were a key factor motivating the setting up of Australia’s political map. Fear of China is still so entrenched that it’s Continue reading »
Two years after Myanmar’s coup on February 1 2021, the country’s large and growing resistance forces receive almost no attention outside the country. The democratic opposition, fronted by the National Unity Government (NUG), but comprising many different groups, armies, militias and individuals, has also struggled to gain awareness, even for its substantial battlefield successes. And perhaps Continue reading »
The Nation reported this week: James O’Keefe, the founder and until this past February CEO of the right-wing nonprofit Project Veritas, is currently under investigation by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. While the exact nature of the investigation is not yet public, the timing would suggest that it relates to O’Keefe’s alleged financial improprieties during his tenure as the group’s chairman and CEO. Back in February, O’Keefe was accused of spending “an excessive amount of donor funds in the last three years on personal luxuries” by the conservative nonprofit’s own board of directors, amid their very public feud over the management and future of Veritas. Westchester DA Miriam Rocah’s probe follows a raft of civil lawsuits, criminal investigations, and six-figure court losses that have trailed the group under O’Keefe’s leadership—including a still-active federal investigation into the theft of property belonging to President Biden’s daughter Ashley Biden.
If we're reading Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies correctly, we can expect Yasmin Finney's Rose for Series 14 - and for Series 15?
How would you know what’s in the backpack? Does this mean anyone with a backpack is shot on sight? Or is it that if the border patrol seizes someone with a backpack and finds fentanyl that they summarily execute them? This is psycho talk and its common in this Republican primary campaign. The people cheer and shout with unbridled glee at the notion of killing immigrants and invading Mexico. Former President Donald Trump, who has previously called for building a wall along the southern border and giving drug dealers the death penalty, has also proposed creating a naval blockade of Mexico to prevent drugs like illicit fentanyl from entering the U.S. His leading opponent in the 2024 GOP nomination race, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, promised last week to use “deadly force” against anyone caught smuggling drugs across the border. On Capitol Hill, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and John Kennedy (R., La.) have both voiced support for military operations in Mexico. Sen. J.D. Vance (R., Ohio) said in a recent interview on NBC that cartels should be considered terrorist organizations, meriting a military response.
A scourge on democracy Seems as if our northern neighbors are better prepared. We’re still hoping for the best in November 2024. Global News: Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada has been considering a “game plan” for how it would respond if the United States takes a far-right, authoritarian shift after next year’s presidential elections. “We are certainly working on scenarios,” Joly said in French during an interview with a Montreal radio station Wednesday. Joly added that Ottawa’s close political and economic ties to the U.S. means that “we must certainly prepare several scenarios.” She suggested Canada has a game plan in mind but wouldn’t get into details. I wouldn’t. But it’s nice to know someone in charge is thinking ahead. Too bad it’s not happening south of the 49th parallel. Just warning speeches from scholars but no preparations. The U.S. embassy in Ottawa declined comment.
Also, oil spill money funds coastal restoration, union-busting gets Starbucks kicked off campus, and more.
No Dolby surround, this is real Axios: Category 4 Hurricane Hilary prompts first-ever tropical storm watch for California “Extras” will not get scale. Breaking Bad Maui last week: British Columbia on Friday: Northwest Territories on Thursday:
Let's look back to Doctor Who Series 9, Steven Moffat's most interesting & consistent season, and Peter Capaldi's second as The Doctor.