Thursday, June 15, 2017
Not My First Movie Crush
But the late Anita Pallenberg was my most intense movie crush. Here's why--The Great Tyrant in Barbarella.
I was also faked out by her incredibly sultry voice in the film, but it was dubbed in by Joan Greenwood, also a babe in Mysterious Island and Tom Jones. I suffered the crush from 1968 through 1971, when I saw Performance.
I was also faked out by her incredibly sultry voice in the film, but it was dubbed in by Joan Greenwood, also a babe in Mysterious Island and Tom Jones. I suffered the crush from 1968 through 1971, when I saw Performance.
Labels: Anita Pallenberg: RIP
Thursday, June 08, 2017
Friedman Lies. That's All.
Although I don't read him because I have better things to do with my time, Bloodthirsty Liberal tipped me off that the latest title of a Tom Friedman piece, here, was an ironic lie itself. The title is "Trump Lies. China Thrives." So I checked for myself. First paragraph:
One of the many dangers posed to our society by having a president who’s a serial liar — and who doesn’t behave like an adult, let alone a president — is that we more easily ignore him even if he happens to say something true.And then there is not a single thing identified by the big liar writing the piece which is a lie from Trump. Not. One. Thing.
Indeed, Mr. Friedman points out that Trump's complaints about China's lack of free trade with the US are probably too tame.
So if you're writing a piece that Trump is onto something, why the lie of a title and why the unsupported claim of lying at the beginning of the article?
The second irony is that Mr. Friedman is clearly aware of one danger in not telling the truth, namely, that it creates a lack of trust in the liar so that even true things that happen to escape the pie hole of the liar are not believed.
But I reached that lack of trust with Friedman decades ago, which is why I so rarely read him.
My only remaining question is this: Is Trump Derangement Syndrome so blinding most journalists that they can't see they are damaging themselves and the institutions which employ them, perhaps beyond repair?
Labels: Tom Friedman: Ironic Liar; Trump Derangement Syndrome
Thursday, June 01, 2017
Delusion of the Day
This piece by Will Rahn, carrying the title: The Left is Winning, wins the award for the delusion of the day. Let's examine his facts and reasoning, if any. He writes:
In American politics, progressives are winning, and have been for some time.Back on planet Earth, the facts are that the Republicans control the House, the Senate, the White House (and are poised to realign the Supreme Court to an Originalist majority). In the 50 states, Republicans hold 33 of 50 Governor mansions, and 67 of the 98 partisan state house/senates. Over 1000 seats in the federal and state executives and legislators have gone from Democrat to Republican during the Obama Administration. Since Trump was inaugurated, Democrats have lost every special election to replace the Republican Representatives moving into Cabinet positions (and I bet will lose the Georgia one later this month). Winning, as Charlie Sheen would say as he loses his job and ditches rehab.
For starters, let's look at who's winning the battle of ideas in the Democratic Party right now. As Ben Smith recently noted, the answer is the left faction surrounding Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the unapologetic progressives who demand single payer health care and a fundamental rethinking of the government's role in the economy.
Correct. Which is why the Democrats are and have been losing elections. They are too far to the left for the nation at large. Duh!
Then there was a lot of speciousness followed by this contradictory sentence:
The biggest caveat to all this is that Democrats can still manage to screw this all up. Facing a decidedly unfavorable Senate map in 2018, and so far unable to win any of the special elections this year, it's too much to say that that party's fortunes are yet on upswing.
So there is no upswing yet from the 8 years of losing but this is exactly how Democrats are winning-- by losing and not yet winning. In lefty logic, this makes perfect sense. Big Finish:
Still, it's hard to escape the sense that the left is on the verge of a big moment in this country, one not seen since at least the 1960s. It could all fizzle out for one reason or another. But right now, there aren't many reasons to think it will.
I could come up with a few, but why kick a guy when he's down. I have to say I've easily managed to escape the sense that the Democrats are about to come roaring back.
Labels: Will Rahn: Delusion of the Day
