Sometimes it's all about the casting

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There is no polite way of saying it, and I certainly mean no offense to Jodie Whittaker in her role as the Thirteenth Doctor (or to any of her fans, who I am sure are legion — amongst the members of the Saturn Awards presenting Academy 😏), or her costume designer, or, for that matter, Chris Chibnall, Jamie Magnus Stone or Azhur Saleem (and whatever happened to Steven Moffat?), but...

Let me ask you: wouldn't Diane Morgan (Philomena Cunk) have made a fantabulous Doctor Who?



And, I don't know, could the Doctor Who franchise maybe hire some writers of the caliber of Charlie Brooker and his team, or perhaps just maybe get Steven Moffat back on board? Because, sometimes... Sometimes it's all about the writing too.

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Stay Thirsty My Friends

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Meanwhile In the Lounge

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The poetry of F. G. Sanford

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Damn, here is what is rather bluntly put and straight to the point, wouldn't you say, Count?





It doesn't have any of the whimsical allusive poetic tongue of a F. G. Sanford, but it does carry some wallop.

- Are you familiar with F. G. Sanford, Count?

- . . .

- Well, neither I am.

He's one commenter whose entry I just so happened to stumble upon while reading some of the comments about The Pseudo Debate Over Jeffrey Epstein’s Suicide, which has been all the vogue of late in the presstitude and amongst the servile mass media stenographers, who, quite unconvincingly, pass themselves off as the fourth estate nowadays.

Details that shock still emerge. Intelligence assets converge. There are hints of foul play that just won’t go away, And conspiracy theories resurge! Just ignore all Jack Ruby’s connections. Those stories are merely deflections. Tricky Dick payed him well, when he threatened to tell, Jack claimed he got cancer injections! They needed a secret backwater. A place to hide Joe Stalin’s daughter. The family estate of Ruth Paine worked out great, But that link didn’t seem to hold water! Allen Dulles had many a tryst. Another Paine topped off his list. But don’t dig too deep in a Nietzschean leap, Such theories are rightly dismissed! Don’t bother connecting the dots. You’ll have yourself tied up in knots. The string that you’d need would be quite long indeed, The guilty are covered with spots! The evidence gets a sequester. They’ve got pictures of every molester. That safe that they cracked in New York was just packed, Now it’s classified where it will fester! The case will not likely be solved. That’s because of the big-shots involved. Fools will x-ray the ground for what’s already found, The cement truck diversion resolved. They’ll never release any files. They are classified pending denials. Dershowitz is relieved and Prince Andrew reprieved, Cash payouts will stifle the trials! Folks won’t look at what’s right in their faces. It works just the same in all cases. Ghislaine like Ruth Pain will get legerdemain, All the good stuff will stay in safe places! They covered up Epstein for years. Never mind all the tragic young tears. So now in a pinch, you think they might flinch, And endanger those stellar careers? The Iran-Contra fixer is clever. He’s certain to pull every lever. All the classified dirt is a cinch to subvert, They’ll just keep it a secret forever! It’s been fifty six years since the coup. But the truth never seems to pull through. With each turn of the screw, magic bullets accrue, And Americans can’t find a clue! — F. G. Sanford August 20, 2019

Truly inspired, if you ask me. Poetry and critical thinking combined!

But then again poetry and critical thinking, perhaps, have become somewhat out-of-style in this era of nitwittery.

Subtlety is lost on some people.
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Avengers: Endgame

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Oh, c'mon, you two...




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Men die and they are not happy*

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*It's a quote from Albet Camus's Caligula: "Les hommes meurent et ne sont pas heureux."

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I don't know...

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Some people have been taking it pretty hard.

If you ask me—it has been said before, and I'll say it again:

America does deserve Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump.



After all, it's not like anyone forced anyone to cast their vote for either one of those contestants during the presidential primaries.

It's called free will -- look it up.

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Moral Clarity

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You want to know what moral clarity is?

This is what moral clarity is:

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii just endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders in his bid to become President of the United States. She also resigned as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee.



This is her interview on Meet the Press, this morning:





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Contradictio In Terminis?

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The gentleman from Vermont is absolutely right:



I couldn't agree more. And allow me to add, by the same token, and for good measure, that I am sick and tired of Hillary Clinton too—just on general principles.

I know what you are gonna say...

Principles?

What principles?





My point exactly!

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Contradictio in terminis (Latin for contradiction in terms) refers to a combination of words whose meanings are in conflict with one another. Examples are "independent colony", "square circle", and a "principled politician".

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Hubris

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Here is Foreign Affairs's refreshing and unexpected analysis on the events in Ukraine:

- Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault

And here are a few alternative independent news sites worth watching, and some of their takes on the crisis:

• RSN (Reader Supported News): "No outside investment capital was used in the startup of RSN. No advertising money or grants is sought or accepted by RSN. RSN carries forward the core concept that the reader is best served by financial control of the news service they depend on":

- Meet some of the good people who put together the coup in Kiev.

• AlterNet: AlterNet, a project of the non-profit Independent Media Institute, is a progressive/liberal activist news service. (Has won its fair share of Webby and Utne Independent press awards, and also made it on NPR's five "best of the internet"):

- A brief history of time: America's coup machine - since 1953

• CounterPunch: CounterPunch's "muckraking with a radical attitude" welcomes a range of contributors critical of conventional wisdom on a wide variety of topics:

- Chronology of the Ukrainian coup

CounterPunch—like good Tequila— is to be taken with a grain of salt. While the publication does indeed "tell you the facts and name the names," some of its contributors' interpretation of current events can get a bit out there—though, admittedly, oftentimes with good reasons.



But then again, that's the whole point of the exercise, isn't it? "Mudkacking with a radical attitude": not just an idle boast.

What can I say? If any of these sites and publications seems too divorced from mainstream media for your own taste, well, there is always Katie Couric's "Now I Get It":


The battle for Ukraine


She speaks with a soothing, soft, controlled voice, and her page always comes with visual aid in the form of a video—for those of us who do not read.
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Human Overboard

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Hey Ya pretentious know it all
Why are you being rude to me?
I respect pygmies
So please respect the Maasai
I respect you hole
So please respect my land
I respect insects
So please respect mammals

Shall I say it again?
Me have to explain?
You not understand?
You not speak or perhaps think?

Poor thing, he needs some help
His buddy: let's give him a hand
Let's delegate to the delegate
Who'll delegate to the delegate

Imbecile, shut him up!
Even if **, make him shut up!

Too dicey to be listened to
Even at such-and-such a time

It's a euphemism
Yeah, I did idealize you
Foolishness quest
Yes, I'm a racist towards that

Human Overboard!

Me human Papuan
Simple, what about you?

Highly advanced, I bet!
I don't evolve at all

Me talking about glaciers
If sinking, me angry
I know where to find you
When you'll be perched like me

But of course, yes, remember me
Piercing like you do
The same hole as the ozone layer has
I'm going to get you penis sheaths piercing
But fly fly and travel
Go get your documentaries
But you leech, spit out far away
In your bowl of soup

In your upper-class world
Me? I've never wanted it
Of course, you think
But better be quiet when you don't know

Shuuuut your mouth, you fool
Listen to nature here
Don't be surprised
It smells like a coup d'etat

Human overboard!

Human overboard!



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I know, right?

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She has talked to her companion since the rescue, hoping to piece together their recollections, but the effort has proved futile.



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The Pretense of Honesty

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I don't know, Rachel...

I think you are giving Romney too much credit.

If you ask me: Obama bumbled because he lacked convictions.

You know how it goes, the expression varies but the basic saying is the same:



It's not easy being a "New Democrat".

And it's not easy being Barack Obama—especially when there is so much he and Mitt Romney do really agree upon.

I think the best take on this has got to go to Charlie Pierce:



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Penny For Your Thoughts.

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Représentation

Des représentants de commerce du Peuple sont en scène et échangent de terribles invectives.

Le rideau tombe et se relève sans que les acteurs y aient prêté attention et ils continuent leur "conversation".

- Qu'est-ce que cela peut faire que je lutte pour la mauvaise cause puisque je suis de bonne foi ?

- Et qu'est-ce que ça peut faire que je sois de mauvaise foi puisque c'est pour la bonne cause ?

Ils se saluent.

Le rideau tombe puis se relève.
Ils s'en aperçoivent et s'invectivent.

— Jacques Prévert, SPECTACLE (1949)

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On s'en fout

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Hansel and Gretel

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The words to say it

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And now for a bit of brutal honesty

Speaking truth to power:


1: After 1981, comes 1983

Some call it insolence...

I find it refreshing in its brutal honesty.

The world sure could use a bit more of this on that side of the Atlantic...



As on this side.


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Shane on you!

How does media shape public opinion?

Easy!

Case in point. Take Shane Goldmatcher's article on the front page of today's edition of the Los Angeles Times, for instance:


Note: For those of you looking for the online edition, the title has been changed already to:
Poll illustrates California voters' anger.

I quote:


Gee, I wonder why that is, Shane?

Lemme see...could it have anything to do perhaps with how the media pundits and political hacks, including President Obama and Shane Goldmatcher himself, have been framing the issue?

I quote:


Strident pro-government rhetoric?

Whoa! Gag me with a spoon. We don't want that, now, do we?

What would a "more nuanced" Democratic message ought to be now, pray tell?

Shh! Let's pay close attention now; Shane the nuanced one is speaking:



"Rollback of Corporate taxes" and "targeted spending cuts," quoth Shane Goldmatcher, that's what a more nuanced Democratic message is!

Now, you know.

And, just for the record, Shane is a graduate of UC Berkeley.



Makes you wonder what it is they teach at Berkeley, these days?

Probably some of the same thing they teach at Harvard, no doubt . . .




Or Yale . . .


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