I thought I’d play a little “catch-up” and spotlight some noteworthy Blu-ray reissues that have been released within the past 6 months. With one exception (noted below), all of the discs are Region ‘A’. American Pop (Columbia/Sony) – Within the realm of animated films, Ralph Bakshi’s name may not be as universally recognizable (or revered) as Walt Disney or Studio Ghibli, but I would consider him no less of an important figure in the history of the genre. During his heyday (1972-1983) the director pumped out 8 full-length feature films (Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic, Wizards, et. al.) using his signature blend of live-action, rotoscoping, and traditional cel animation. In his 1981 film American Pop, director Bakshi and screenwriter Ronni Kern ambitiously attempt to distill the history of 20th Century American popular music (essentially from Vaudeville to Punk) in 90 minutes. The narrative is framed via the triumphs and travails of four generations of a Russian-Jewish immigrant family (all of whom are involved one way or the other in the music business).
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Here’s a NYT gift link to a thorough deconstruction of the “confidential informant” (dare I say) hoax with which the GOP planned to impeach Biden. Read it all if you have the time. An excerpt: In May 2023, Senator Charles E. Grassley, a chief antagonist of President Biden, strode to the Senate floor with some shocking news: He had learned, he said, of a document in the F.B.I.’s possession that could reveal “a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden.” Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, suggested to any Americans listening that there was a single document that could confirm the most sensational corruption allegations against Mr. Biden — and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was engaging in a coverup. “Did they sweep it under the rug to protect the candidate Biden?” he asked conspiratorially. Over the next few months, Mr. Grassley’s quest to make public the allegation — laid out in an obscure document known as an F.B.I. Form 1023 — became a fixation, and a foundation of the growing Republican push to impeach Mr. Biden as payback for Democrats’ treatment of former President Donald J. Trump.
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A psychologist formerly of Johns Hopkins University has some thoughts on Donald Trump’s mental status. Chauncy DeVega at Salon interviewed him about a number of things but this caught my eye due to that very weird moment above: Not enough people are sounding the alarm, that based on his behavior, and in my opinion, Donald Trump is dangerously demented. In fact, we are seeing the opposite among too many in the news media, the political leaders and among the public. There is also this focus on Biden’s gaffes or other things that are well within the normal limits of aging. By comparison, Trump appears to be showing gross signs of dementia. This is a tale of two brains. Biden’s brain is aging. Trump’s brain is dementing. What evidence do you have for that conclusion? “Phonemic paraphasias” —the substitution of non-words for words that sound similar—are not normally seen until a patient enters the moderate to severe stages of Alzheimer’s. “What I don’t understand is why those clips aren’t replayed over and over in the mainstream media. Isn’t Trump babbling incoherently the most newsworthy part of his rally?
In the past they tried to exclude them but they’ve thrown up their hands now and are welcoming them into the MAGA fold. Where they certainly belong: Nazis appeared to find a friendly reception at the conservative political action conference this year. Throughout the conference, racist extremists, some of whom had secured official CPAC badges, openly mingled with conference attendees and espoused antisemitic conspiracy theories. The presence of the individuals has been a persistent issue at CPAC, and in previous years, conference organizers have ejected well known nazis and white supremacists, such as Nick Fuentes. But this year, racist conspiracy theorists didn’t meet any perceptible resistance at the conference where Donald Trump has been the keynote speaker since 2017. At the Young Republican mixer Saturday evening a group of Nazis, who openly identified as national socialists, mingled with mainstream conservative personalities, including some from Turning Point USA, and discussed race science and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
They can’t Republicans are in a pickle on this one. Look at the record: Most House Republicans have cosponsored a bill declaring that life begins from the moment of conception, a position under increased scrutiny after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are “unborn children.” This Congress, 125 House Republicans — including Speaker Mike Johnson — have cosponsored the “Life at Conception Act,” which states that the term “human being” includes “all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.” The bill does not include any exception for in vitro fertilization (IVF), a reproductive treatment that allows mothers to fertilize several eggs outside the womb in order to increase the chances of a viable pregnancy. Several healthcare providers in Alabama have already halted IVF programs in the wake of the ruling, given that IVF treatments may include the discarding of fertilized eggs, which may now violate the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.
Richest 1% produce as many greenhouse gases as the poorest 66%. Climate denialists have a new lyric: ‘sure, it’s happening – so what?’ but Australians are concerned about climate change and want action. No, it’s not OK to shoot a hippo. Climate Equality: A planet for the 99% … is the title of a report Continue reading »
The following words are from Canadian Dr. Yasser Khan (Eye-Facial Plastic Trauma Surgeon) who returned from a humanitarian surgical mission at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza. He said he has been to over 40 different countries for humanitarian work. What he saw in Khan Younis were, “the most horrific scenes in my entire Continue reading »
We’d cross a long rope across the street and I used to have a dozen kids skipping down there. Even Mrs Munro came out – seventeen stone and she had no shoes on. She’d come out and skip. Bernie Johnson was born in 1906, and he contributed this gem when interviewed by the National Library Continue reading »
When our father was one of those Australian soldiers fleeing the advancing Nazi army in Greece, an aircraft suddenly appeared. He jumped into a ditch on one side of the road. Others of his mates jumped into a ditch on the other side of the road. The guns in the plane killed all those on Continue reading »
“The Alternative: How to build a just economy” by American author, Nick Romeo, that has been published by Basic Books UK in recent weeks, is a welcome arrival to a human world in crisis. The Professor of Economics at the University of London, Ha-Joon Chang, says of the book “TINA (There is No Alternative)” has Continue reading »
Trump appeared before the Black Conservative Federation (although the crowd seemed mighty white) and this is what he had to say: (He’s really reaching out to Black youth with that one. I guess he figures his fugly sneakers are doing that for him.) Reminder: Trump’s Central Park Five op-ed. When they were exonerated he said they were guilty anyway and the city should never have paid them a dime. Anyone who believes this man is not a racist throwback is deluded.
Vote for candidates who will hear you out Ask me why I do what I do and my answer is not that altruistic. I hate feeling like political road kill. When I’m doing I don’t feel like a victim. This morning (FWIW) I’ll be electing members to the Democratic National Committee for the next four years from North Carolina. I want change agents. Not people intent on adding another bullet item to their long political resumes but not do anything with the position (and there will be plenty of those in the running). Yeah, the system is flawed. But as my friend Anat Shenker-Osorio says, “Forget about the lesser of two evils, and focus on choosing a president open to hearing you out on a whole bunch of evils.” Anat tells The Ink why you should not panic: What do you say to people who are burned out on the idea that we have to fight fascism again this November? How can you keep them focused despite an unending sense of crisis, through another election cycle that looks a whole lot like the last one? Keep your eye on what really matters — making room for progressive change Here’s what I say.
Plus, consumers could be protected from insurer meltdowns, dueling communities reach rare agreement over water rights, and rural America scores access to clean water.
Give an inch, take a mile Via Dispatches from the Religious Left, an analysis of the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling explaining how the judges scooped up this ball and rasn it in for a fringe-right touchdown. Chris Geidner writes: I’d like to focus instead on the majority opinion from Justice Jay Mitchell, which is extreme in its own ways — and highlights the dangerous faux-jurisprudence that the U.S. Supreme Court has encouraged. In order to reach its ruling, the court needed to ignore its own past precedents that congruence between the state’s criminal-homicide statute and wrongful-death statute was needed. This is important because the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act was passed in 1872. The court had justified expanding that civil law to fetuses in utero based on an expansion of the criminal law to include fetuses in utero and the claimed need for congruence between the two laws. Now that the court wanted to go further than the criminal law, it just ignored those rulings — overruling them without saying so, as Justice Greg Cook stated in his dissenting opinion.
On the two-year anniversary of the Russian government’s attack on Ukraine, the Drupal Association wishes to reiterate its support for Ukraine. The invasion was an act of aggression, and our hearts are still with our Drupal Ukraine community.
We want to bring attention once more to the ways that the Drupal community can continue to support Ukraine. Here is a list of organizations* accepting donations to help people directly affected by the events in Ukraine:
. To all my brothers and sisters in Ukraine, fighting the Russian invasion for two years now. May God be with you. Never give in. Never give up.
Baby elephants! Hilvarenbeek, February 20, 2024 – African elephant Punda has become the mother of a healthy elephant calf after a 22-month pregnancy. This is the third calf born in the Safari Park @Beekse-Bergen in four months. Never before have three African elephants been born in a European zoo in such a short time. The young elephant is a girl and has been named Tendai. Head zookeeper Yvonne Vogels says: “Everything is falling into place! Mosi means firstborn: the first of the three calves. Ajabu stands for ‘radiant’. It’s wonderful to see how the premature baby, because she was born two months prematurely, is now strengthened and how we see this reflected in her character. And now there is Tendai, which means grateful. Thankful for all the healthy happiness in the herd. We are completely over the moon!” The zookeepers of the African elephants were alert for the arrival of the calf for several days. Vogels: “On Wednesday we saw a change in the blood values and in principle the calf would be born within 48 hours.” The zookeepers monitored the webcam for five nights, taking turns and every hour.
