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That means it's working! Also, Taibbi is on that Jimmy Dore/Glenn Greenwald/Max Blumenthal side of things now where he gravitates towards anything counter to American policy or messaging. He's really been pilled by the single stance of "Because America = bad; anything against America = good" that many of those other dudes have. That's how he's into this ivermectin thing. He questions the "official line." God I hate conspiracy-brain...

Children spread the virus just as well and just as quickly as adults. They are not low-risk in terms of propagating the pandemic. Their personal health impacts are low.

I really don't think anyone is going to lock down again like we did last year.

He's not resigning. "One more week, while we literally weather this storm." Then another. And another.

Oh, yikes. That's not a good mix...

Yeah. I can totally buy that he was primed to do all of this with his own watching/reading/listening habits, but helped along from just believing and hearing to actually doing. I 100% believe that the news will come out in the future that he was in contact with some undercover FBI informant.

A friend of mine said this directly, but I didn't what stuff specifically. Do you know what the specifics were that lead people to believe that connection?

I'm wondering if all of this is going to wind up revealing that this guy was goaded into doing this, or assisted in some way (with the potential explosive device) by the FBI. Do we know if the device even had the right stuff in it to explode? Or was it completely fake in every way?

I think the point is that that's NOT what the worldwide military presence is for.

Not really. There's a difference between what their policy says they'll allow (nudity) and what is being kicked off--that is, hardcore, sexually explicit acts. That stuff will absolutely not survive.

Japanese actor known as Sonny Chiba dies at 82 due to COVID-19 ENGLISH.KYODONEWS.NET Japanese actor Shinichi Chiba, also known as Sonny Chiba, who dazzled action movie fans in Japan and abroad, died Thursday at a hospital in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo due to pneumonia associated with COVID-19, his office said. He was 82. He was not vaccinated.

I'm not saying that ALL of the responsibility rests on the 'elites' or whatever. What I'm trying to get across is that Tom's article is making the same mistake in the other direction. We don't deserve ALL of the responsibility. Not even most of it.

After our revenge fantasies were stoked by his Admin, a good portion of the media, and after outright lies were propagated about Kerry's military service to make him seem weak on war.

Tom Nichols is on a roll with his "actually, it isn't the elites' fault at all--it's YOUR fault!" articles: Trump is not ruining democracy, we are. And it's been anguishing to confront: Tom Nichols WWW.USATODAY.COM I was worried long before Trump and the Capitol riot, as political jousting turned zealous and well-off friends called America a disastrous mess. With this and with the Atlantic article, it seems to lack the reality that these conditions for how the American people respond were actually put in place by those in power. None of this flag waving nonsense began organically. I think Tom has defense analyst brain and is trying to deflect criticism or responsibility. Because his ilk have more blood on their hands for this Afghanistan thing (and Iraq, and the GWOT, and ruining democracy) than us lowly peons.

We watched shit like The Ten Commandments for our 'high film' viewings. Mostly it was just The Sandlot and October Sky on repeat.

Following up on the last few months of moviefilms I've taken in. Again, I'm a long time fan of bad movies, a la MST3k fame. But over the pandemic I decided I wanted to really get acquainted with the top of the range in filmmaking. This time, I've taken a trip into Film Noir. These are in no particular order. Battle of Algiers - 10/10 Back around July 4th I thought I'd celebrate Independence Day by watching a great film about a colony breaking away from its imperial oppressors. No aliens though. So I picked this wonderful film I've been meaning to watch for ages. It's about the resistance to French rule in Algiers, Algeria, and the French efforts to bring the area under control with paratroopers. It's almost documentary style while still retaining the narrative of a drama film. The most fascinating part to me was that a large amount of the actors (especially the Algerians) were active in the National Liberation Front against the French in real life. It's a well told drama with a compelling story. The cinematics and direction of some of the scenes (such as the bombings) are gripping. And the views of the Casbah used to establish the mood throughout the movie are striking. One of the things I've always recognized with this is the Colonel Mathieu character, played by French actor Jean Martin. His sharp cheekbones and stoic face behind his sunglasses as he marches his paratroopers into Algiers is iconic. His juxtaposition against his adversary Ali La Pointe, the NLF leader, makes for a great cat and mouse game. The Day of the Jackal - 8/10 I turned July 4th weekend into a double feature and followed Battle of Algiers up with this. The Day of the Jackal is a thriller that honestly serves as an indirect sequel to Battle of Algiers. The premise is that after the French are unable to pacify Algiers and leave the country on the path to independence, a group of far-right paramilitaries inside France begin a campaign to prevent this from happening. This group, the OAS, was made up of ex-paratroopers and other soldiers that had served in Indochina and Algiers as well as right-wing politicians. The film follows an assassin contracted by the OAS to assassinate the President of France, Charles de Gaulle, as well as the detective that tries to stop the assassin before this can happen. The movie is a great thriller/spy flick that ramps the suspense up as the plot progresses and the assassin closes in on de Gaulle--and the police work to try to stay ahead of the assassin. I loved it. It was compelling and jumped across western Europe like a Bond film, but without all the ridiculousness. But the wildest part of this movie is this... Jean Martin plays an OAS operative that is in league to kill de Gaulle. His character has a different name, but he's still a paratrooper. And he still served in Algiers during the same time when Battle of Algiers took place! There's no direct connection between the two movies, but Martin's appearance in both of them as essentially the same character is enough for me. If you watch one, be sure to watch the other. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) - 9/10 Back to Hitchcock for me. I was on a Jimmy Stewart kick, so I didn't watch the original with Peter Lorre. I think I watched this one not too long after I watched North by Northwest. I really like these sprawling thrillers that Hitchcock did. This time, it was another assassination plot, but picked up not by the police, but by plucky everyman, Jimmy Stewart and his wife Doris Day, who is a stone cold fox. As per usual with Hitchcock, this one was composed of gorgeous shots in lively color and featured twists, turns, and a great resolution. I didn't know this, but the song "Que Sera, Sera" was written for and popularized by this movie. How neat! It was stuck in my head for days after watching this. The 39 Steps (1935) - 9/10 This one popped up as recommended on HBO Max and I took a chance on it because it seemed like a proto-Man Who Knew Too Much. And it didn't disappoint. For 1935, the atmosphere of inter-war Britain was way different than post-war, but the international spy drama stuff was still pretty thick. And the melodrama of a typical 30s movie was there too. And it was wonderful. I kinda gave it short shrift at first because it's just so OLD. But the story starts quickly and really grabs you, even if the cinematics and visuals don't. Robert Donat is a compelling lead and rather likeable, especially when he starts galloping between lies to get himself out of situations. This movie also put Madeleine Carroll on the map, and it's obvious why. She's a great second to Donat and their chemistry is enjoyable to watch. You can really see the influence of this movie on The Man Who Knew Too Much. The Maltese Falcon - 8/10 I just finished this one tonight. It's the second Humphrey Bogart picture I've seen now, after Casablanca. And... he's basically just Humphrey Bogart in each. Which is good. This one was a little tough at first because the characters just talk so much and so quickly. What I found humorous was the slang that Bogart's character uses. It's all so dated and prototypical of the 30s and 40s... Then I recognized how I knew some of it: Bugs Bunny cartoons. Bugs Bunny doing a Bogart impression would always dip into this 30s gangster/detective/noir slang, but what I realized watching this was that they never had to dip too far in. It literally was that thick. It was an enjoyable heist/detective story about the personalities after a mcguffin. The only thing I was sort of put off by was Bogart's love interest. I can't say it felt forced because it was generally just not really felt at all. Then at the end they share their feelings. But it doesn't feel earned. I suppose that's just because that's how movies were written. I didn't see it in the characters I guess. Still a great movie. One of the classics. And, with this one starring Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre, it's pretty much the same cast as Casablanca! Next on my list are some heavy hitters: Night of the Hunter, and... I'm finally going to do it... Citizen Kane

We generally know what terrible consequences this will have for the people of Afghanistan. But is this going to become Biden's Operation Eagle Claw? Because I'm thinking this is even WORSE than Eagle Claw...

So did Milley fuck up? Or did Biden order Milley to damn the torpedoes and do it anyway?

This is truly devastating. He's one of the most iconic British comedians on panel shows. That's how I'm most familiar with him. And this... is probably his greatest moments for me.

NPR this morning has fully transitioned to "how will the Taliban rule Afghanistan" and had a spokesman from the Taliban on air. Steve Inskeep interviewed him and pressured him with questions like "are you going to cut the hands off people who are caught stealing" or "can women keep their jobs." So NPR has given up on the country too!

Right. It was foolish to say anything until it was studied further. Which is why the former head of the CDC Robert Redfield was stupid to say so. Joe Rogan doesn't know better. CDC head does. Especially when it's a political statement made from a political position.

No, it was. It was during the media furor over lab leak though. So in context it was when a lot of people in media were uncritically repeating it as "well, what if" or "some experts are saying." The lab leak hypothesis has always been the least likely of origins.

I don't know how much the board at large looks up to Jon Steward anymore. When this aired, I was vocal (elsewhere) about him being really really bad-faith about this. Like, he perpetuated this dumbass conspiracy kind of as a joke, but also, as his personal ideas for what happened. Joe Rogan was, in fact, the first example that popped into my mind when I saw this clip of who would parrot this kind of nonsense.

I'm a little fuzzy on this. Can you expound? Are you saying that Americans getting a third dose means that dose doesn't go overseas and therefore the unvaccinated overseas contributes to the deaths?

I'm really wondering if I can claim political asylum somewhere at this point.