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Turner Classics Massacre

Posted by M. C. on June 28, 2023

After a string of box office disappointments execs at Warner Bros Discovery might be planning to suck profitable TCM dry.

“Turner Classic Movies has always been more than just a channel,” read the statement. “It is truly a precious resource of cinema, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” 

Turner Classics Massacre

by LOU AGUILAR

For the past decade, my television viewing had alternated almost exclusively between Fox News and Turner Classic Movies, with the occasional PBS British mystery. In the two months since Fox fired Tucker Carlson, it has been only TCM. The vintage film channel is a unique window on the richness of 20th century America through its defining art form — cinema.  TCM revolutionized the presentation of some of the finest pictures ever made by showing them commercial-free in their entirety and their original form, post 1953 in spectacular cinemascope. 

Now the marvelous vintage film network is in mortal danger, once again due to the stupidity and ineptitude of corporate executives, in this case those at the parent company, Warner Bros.

Last week, threatened budget cuts by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav prompted the departure of numerous high-level TCM officials, including the vice-presidents of programming (Charles Tabesh), production (Anne Wilson), marketing (Dexter Fedor), and TCM Enterprises (Genevieve McGillicuddy), with more heads on the block. The reason for the bloodbath seems obvious. While TCM has been perennially profitable thanks to the love of film shared by both its personnel and devout fan base, Warner Brothers studio appears to be a bottomless money drain.

A logical link can be made between Warner’s latest box office disaster The Flash — budget $200 million, opening weekend gross $55 million — and the TCM exodus. The implosion of The Flash is not just a direct financial blow, it jeopardizes an entire slate of DC Comics projects, like the new adventures of Superman, Wonder Woman, and other superhero franchises. Because the people in charge of them have no idea of what they’re doing, and clearly far less talent than the auteurs whose work TCM showcases. Consequently, gutting the channel would save Warner honchos a little money and a lot of embarrassment.

Ironically, last April, TCM celebrated the studio’s 100th anniversary with a 24/7 marathon of its unforgettable pictures, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Searchers, Rio Bravo, The Exorcist, and — salt on Warner’s The Flash wound — the first superhero picture, the delightful Superman. Rewatching all of these for the umpteenth time, I realized that nothing the studio has done this century comes remotely close to any one of them. Even the lesser titles shown on TCM display a level of storytelling and execution far beyond today’s filmmakers. This could be partly explained by the decline in American culture, which the old movies expose to our detriment.

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Shut Down the Department of Education

Posted by M. C. on June 28, 2023

Why the department does more harm than good — and how we could actually help students.

The real work would again be done in the states and amongst students, families, and educators. The need for a bulging federal bureaucracy would disappear. If, as a result, the US Department of Education itself disappeared, so much the better!

Shut Down the Department of Education

by BETSY DEVOS

Imagine a government program that existed to achieve one goal — a laudable goal. But after spending more than $1 trillion in taxpayer dollars — that’s trillion, with twelve zeros — in pursuit of that goal, not only had the agency failed to achieve the goal, but it had also made the problem demonstrably worse.

Perhaps it’s not that hard to imagine because so much of what the federal government does is to fail in its mission.

But that scenario is far from hypothetical. It’s the regrettable truth about the US Department of Education. And those trillion dollars only scratch the surface of why the agency is a failed experiment and a malignancy to those who love freedom and believe students are more important than “the education system.”

The department’s main function in elementary and secondary education has been to spend money … a lot of money. But over the course of its four-decade history, there’s scant evidence that the department has done anything to improve student outcomes. In fact, there is considerable evidence to the contrary. It doesn’t take much more than a cursory skim of the Nation’s Report Card to see that it’s true.

But with money comes power. And because the Department of Education controls so much money, it has the power to push schools around, meaning that even things like “nonregulatory guidance” and “Dear Colleague letters” quickly become law in schools because the department threatens to withhold funding from those who don’t adhere to its edicts.

Power has been the department’s primary purpose. Its bulging bureaucracy has created rules, guidance, conditions, and red tape that have consistently stifled innovation, shackled teachers, slowed student achievement, advanced political agendas, and squandered most of the trillions in taxpayer dollars that have come through “Big ED’s” Brutalist doorways.

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Teachable Moment

Posted by M. C. on June 28, 2023

Teachable Moment

James Howard Kunstler

“In the wake of the Hunter Biden sweetheart plea deal, calling D.C. a swamp is an insult to swamps and frankly to all wetlands in general. We need to redefine the Clean Water Act to include all Biden adjacent areas.” — Margot Cleveland, Lawyer and legal analyst

“I’m proud of my son” — Joe Biden

  I hope you agree this has been an instructive week for our republic, sinking to the bottom as fast as the Titan submersible on its way to consort with its grandmama, the RMS Titanic. Here’s what I learned, for instance, from Special Counsel John Durham’s visit to the House Judiciary Committee: When asked why he did not seek grand jury testimony from the primary culprits in the Russia Collusion hoax — Comey, McCabe, and Strzok — he told the room it would have been “unproductive” because they habitually claimed to “not recall” anything when testifying in Congress.

    That’s an interesting legal theory. If it is so, we must suppose that any witness in a criminal inquiry may decline testifying on the grounds of claiming a defective memory. I’m not a lawyer, of course, but is it not the case that witnesses can be prompted to recall events when presented with evidence? E.g., “…here is your smartphone text of July 29 saying, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll stop him [Trump].’ What means did you have in mind to accomplish that, Mr. Strzok?”

     In the four-year lead-up to his personal appearance in the House, many of us were fooled into thinking Mr. Durham was a serious dude. (I sure was.) Turns out the ferocious facial hair masked a rather timorous persona. Mr. Durham apparently did not dare test the boundaries of the narrow lane laid out in the scoping directives set forth by then Attorney General Barr. Mr. D. did find a line of criminal conduct between Lawfare artist Michal Sussmann, the Fusion GPS disinfo company, the DC law firm Perkins Coie, and candidate Hillary MyTurn in the creation and marketing of the Steele Dossier — yet he never called Hillary to do any ‘splainin about it (or anything else she did in 2016). Weird, a little bit.

     While his omissions and missteps were spotlighted by the Republican members, Mr. Durham was mugged, kicked to the curb, stomped, and peed-on by the committee Democrats, who still labor to prop-up the dead-letter Russia Collusion fraud against all evidence and reason. As usual, the lead attack dog on that was Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). He was rewarded the next day with a censure vote for seven years of shameless lying about said fraud, and stripped of his seat on the House Intel Committee, which he used, as then-chairman, to launch Trump Impeachment #1 in 2019 with fake “whistleblower” (and CIA goblin) Eric Ciaramella, whom Mr. Schiff naturally lied about never meeting prior to the proceeding.

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I Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Vote

Posted by M. C. on June 28, 2023

Disenfranchisement of legitimate voters is an inescapable issue with raising the voting age, but nonetheless the sentiment of the policy proposal should be welcomed. In fact, because of decreasing rational ignorance, it would likely be a net good rather than a net bad.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/i-shouldnt-be-allowed-to-vote/

by Benjamin Seevers 

pexels tara winstead 8850706

I just turned 22, and I should not be allowed to vote.

I agree with Vivek Ramaswamy that the voting age probably should be increased, but the good intentioned policy misses the mark because it does not go far enough. Raising the voting age would be a step in the right direction, but the criterion for voting should not be age, but instead if one owns property in land.

Ramaswamy, a candidate in the 2024 Republican primaries, stated that the voting age should be increased to 25 years of age, granting exceptions to those that serve in the military, work as emergency responders, or pass the naturalization test.

It is easy to decry this as disenfranchisement (it is), but that is precisely why we should be cheering on this proposal. If people under 25 years of age are barred from voting, then the vote of everyone else becomes more valuable. Therefore, a single vote has a higher chance of swinging an election. The relative worthlessness of the single vote is why the public is ignorant about what policies work and what policies don’t; learning what policies are good and which are bad just is not worth the reward. Bottom line: If you increase the effectiveness of an individual vote, people will do more research because there is a higher chance their vote matters.

If raising the voting age can be accomplished, why stop at 25? Raise it to 30, 35, 40…Doing so will only make the marginal vote more impactful, thereby decreasing rational ignorance of the average voter.

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John Kerry Skewered By French TV Host After Condemning Putin Invasion: “Why Isn’t Bush Judged In The Same Way?”

Posted by M. C. on June 27, 2023

Rochebin came back with: “I get that. But you understand that for the countries of the South, of course, justice, equality, principles, it’s their impression that there is a double standard. And that weighs today, including on the debate of the climate,” Rochebin said.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald later observed of the interview, in which a humiliated Kerry was clearly unprepared to be challenged and called out so directly, “The complete lack of self-awareness on the part of the US establishment sometimes shocks me, despite the contempt I harbor for them.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/john-kerry-skewered-french-tv-host-after-condemning-putin-invasion-why-isnt-bush-judged

Tyler Durden's Photo

BY TYLER DURDEN

John Kerry, who is Biden’s special presidential envoy for climate, came up against rare pushback when he tried to issue the usual invective and talking points on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s aggression while speaking on French television in Paris. 

But a French TV anchor wasn’t having it, and confronted Kerry over US hypocrisy, given Washington has mounted multiple invasions of sovereign countries in recent decades, especially since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Well-known French journalist Darius Rochebin during the Sunday night interview on news channel LCI posed the following: “We have to judge Putin for crimes of aggression, of course. But you, the Americans, you committed the crime of aggression in Iraq.” Rochebin then asked Kerry: “These countries of the Global South say, should we judge George Bush? Why isn’t Bush judged in the same way?”

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How the Flu “disappeared” during the Covid era

Posted by M. C. on June 27, 2023

 In a carefully conducted study (4) of hospitalized pneumonia patients diagnosed on classical X-Ray or CAT scans, the cause of the infection (etiology) could not be established in 62% of cases. How is it possible that during the pandemic in the US, there were 107,201,630 COVID infections and 1,166,899 COVID deaths as of today (8)? Where are infections with other viruses? Where are conditions of unknown etiology?

The answer is straightforward. The results of PCR testing just for one virus are meaningless. This scam should be obvious to anyone versed in diagnosing respiratory infections.

https://www.dossier.today/p/how-the-flu-disappeared-during-the?publication_id=69009&post_id=130515871&isFreemail=true

JORDAN SCHACHTEL

One of the biggest mysteries of “the pandemic” involves the supposed disappearance of the flu. Did the flu really disappear during the covid hysteria era, or is something else afoot?

Here’s the grand mystery, in meme format.

Now, during the confusion and panic of the last few years, there have been lots of explanations advanced about the supposed disappearance of the flu. The lockdowners and their credentialed institutions often claimed that masked worked (lol) to stop the flu, despite not working for covid. Others claimed that covid had some kind of viral dominance effect that defeated influenza strains.

But neither explanation really solves the “where did the flu go” mystery.

The evidence seems to point to two main reasons for the flu’s disappearance: the physical disappearance of flu testing kits and a misunderstanding of what the flu actually means.

1. The flu tests were not physically available in healthcare systems

The Dossier surveyed several individuals and organizations with access to hospital system records and supply chain management, and we pooled together lots of anecdotal information to paint a greater picture of what happened.

We found that, at least in the United States, there was virtually no access to flu testing during the covid hysteria years, particularly from 2020 to 2021. Virtually all testing manufacturers pivoted to covid testing, leaving the influenza kits behind. According to Pharma and Government Health, Covid was a much bigger priority, both from a healthcare perspective and a business perspective, so the flu industry was no longer lucrative and kicked to the curb.

The second reason, however, is even more important.

2. The flu is not understood in its proper context

Prior to the establishment of the covid testing industrial complex (which brought in well over $100 billion a year at its peak), flu was almost always diagnosed by symptoms, not by a swab test. And again, covid symptoms are virtually identical to flu symptoms. In the vast majority of cases, what is “the flu” is traditionally understood not as a viral influenza diagnosis but a general diagnosis of countless potential symptoms categorized in a broad category as “flu.” Very few doctor-diagnosed “flu” cases actually come from influenza strains. This is why it is the perfect rationale to understand covid as the flu but with scarier branding. Both flu and covid share the same symptoms, so a potential flu case/illness/death instead was generally diagnosed as a covid case/illness/death.

Read the Whole Article

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Rich Country, Poor Country. Why the Differences? | Mises Wire

Posted by M. C. on June 27, 2023

Surveying history it becomes clear that pursuing economic extraction does not lead to long-term prosperity. Typically, countries with a history of exploiting others are poorer than their peers. In Africa, Benin is an economic dwarf despite its rapacious history, but less aggressive peers like Mauritius and Botswana are economic stars. Similarly, the Ivory Coast experienced some of its best years when the country invested in promarket policies.

https://mises.org/wire/rich-country-poor-country-why-differences

Lipton Matthews

The scourge of poverty wounding citizens in the developing world has provoked much discussion in affluent countries. Quite unreasonably, rich countries have been indicted for inciting poverty in poor countries. Unfortunately, the assumption that prosperity stems from exploitation is still widely popular in academia and politics. However, the historical record casts serious doubt on this argument.

Imperialism was the standard in the ancient world, but no imperialist power achieved Schumpeterian growth. For example, bouts of economic progress in ancient Rome and Greece fizzled out despite imperial pursuits. Indeed, the national treasury is expanded when empires extract tributes from conquered states, but this does not redound to superior living standards for ordinary people. The wealth of the state is not a proxy for individual prosperity.

Surveying history it becomes clear that pursuing economic extraction does not lead to long-term prosperity. Typically, countries with a history of exploiting others are poorer than their peers. In Africa, Benin is an economic dwarf despite its rapacious history, but less aggressive peers like Mauritius and Botswana are economic stars. Similarly, the Ivory Coast experienced some of its best years when the country invested in promarket policies.

On the European side, empire proved to be quite costly for Sweden. Sweden became the envy of the world after the collapse of its empire. Further, the economic success that coincided with Swedish imperialism was the result of governance and economic reforms rather than empire-building. Japan experienced the glory of empire late in its history and like other examples, the evidence shows that it was a burden.

Using political clout to exploit other countries is not a strategy for success. Indeed, history reveals that many poor countries transitioned into affluence by facilitating commerce rather than chasing colonies. Finland was a poor European country in the early twentieth century and had no colonies like Switzerland. Yet both are two of the most successful countries in the world.

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Government Shouldn’t Be A Loophole For Criminality — If We Can’t Do It, They Can’t Do It

Posted by M. C. on June 27, 2023

Bastiat’s Law

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Pentagon Says Cluster Bombs Would Be ‘Useful’ for Ukraine

Posted by M. C. on June 27, 2023

Cluster bombs endanger civilians by scattering small bombs across a large area and have been banned by over 100 countries

Civilians like curious children.

antiwar.com

by Dave DeCamp

A Pentagon official has told Congress that controversial cluster munitions Ukraine has been seeking from the US would be “useful” to Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

Cluster bombs scatter small submunitions over large areas, making them especially hazardous to civilians. Because of their indiscriminate nature, cluster munitions have been banned by more than 100 nations.

But the US, Ukraine, and Russia are not parties to the treaty, known as the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Both sides in the current conflict in Ukraine have reportedly used cluster bombs, and Kyiv was using them against populated areas of Donestk in the Donbas war going back to 2014.

Ukraine has been asking the US to send cluster munitions that are in Pentagon stockpiles, and the Biden administration has been under growing pressure from Republicans in Congress to oblige the request.

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Armed IRS and ATF Gun Raid in Montana: What Should Be Learned?

Posted by M. C. on June 27, 2023

Could it have been a test run meant to set the stage for many more of these raids, or was it done to prepare the proletariat for accepting more invasions against gun owners? If the Montana Department of Justice, and local police, had advance notice, did the politicians know as well? The owner stated that his shop had been under surveillance and investigation for a long time, so why was this such a surprise?

Why would the government goons expose themselves in such a bold manner with a small gun store in the middle on no-where Montana? Why would they steal information not listed in their bogus warrant; when they have most all that information already? What do the politicians gaining the spotlight due to this so-called raid, have to gain from this mass exposure?

Armed IRS and ATF Gun Raid in Montana: What Should Be Learned?

“The politicians of your country will always try to encircle you with the high walls of lies! You must know that the truth is beyond the walls and without meeting the truth you cannot meet the freedom!”

~ Mehmet Murat ildan

On June 15th, 20 armed IRS and ATF (Bureau of Alcohol. Tobacco, and Firearms) agents raided, according to the owner of Highwood Creek Outfitters and others, his gun store in Great Falls, Montana. This was first and foremost, an IRS operation, with help from the ATF, both federal agencies. According to sources reporting, and what the IRS claims, this raid was meant to gain financial records, but all Form 4473s held by this store were said to have been seized, even though the supposed warrant did not mention these forms. Apparently, the IRS stole all of these forms held by Highwood Creek Outfitters during this assault, and without cause to do so; or at least this is what is being presented.

As an aside, the Great Falls Police Department, according to local TV station KRTV, confirmed that they were informed in advance of this raid, and participated by providing ‘security,’ but the Montana Department of ‘Justice,’ claimed no involvement, although an IRS spokesperson confirmed their presence at the store. This is all par for the course, as government agencies, state and federal, are birds of a feather, and lie and collude during these attacks against society.

Concerning government, absolutely no one at the local, state or federal level, including the mainstream media, can be trusted to do the right thing, protect any liberty of the individual, or tell the truth about any assault on what is falsely referred to as the ‘public.’ Nothing should be believed unless it can be factually verified, as the corruption and gross fraud connected with these entities is rampant and all-consuming.

This event has been reported nationwide, and covered by many different gun organizations, bloggers, TV stations, and others, mostly from the same angles, but what was the reason for this raid at this particular time? Why this shop, in this location, and why would the IRS be involved in leading this coup? Was it known about in advance by all, or was this really some singular plotted secret raid on one shop in a small city in Montana? Something does not make sense here, but finding the truth may not be possible, given the continuous lies by most involved.

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