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Post by neil on Sept 14, 2020 9:36:19 GMT -5
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Post by neil on Sept 14, 2020 9:38:34 GMT -5
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Post by neil on Sept 15, 2020 6:08:57 GMT -5
SONGEZO ZIBI As seen in: News24, Business Report, Sunday Times, The Times South Africa, Mail & Guardian, Business Day, Business Live, TechCentral, The Herald Port Elizabeth, Financial Mail and more muckrack.com/songezo-zibiMuck Rack enables you to discover the best journalists to pitch on any story based on their profiles in our extensive media database, or through our comprehensive search engine covering the articles they’ve written and the content they share on social media. [an excellent archive for radical and investigative journalists - thaMEwhuBE] muckrack.com/aboutBusinessLIVE is a national news website in South Africa, published by Arena Holdings (formerly Tiso Blackstar Group) and based in Parktown, Johannesburg. It focuses on finance and business news, analysis and insight; financial markets; and the political economy, among other topics. [SONGEZO ZIBI established his reputation as editor for this newspaper, which focuses on Black issues in SA - thaMEwhuBE] www.businesslive.co.za/pages/about/Africa Confidential is one of the longest-established [since 1960] specialist publications on Africa, with a considerable reputation for being first with in-depth news and analysis on significant political, economic and security developments across the continent. [Africa Confidential is repeatedly quoted by Tom Burgis in THE LOOTING MACHINE - thaMEwhuBE] www.africa-confidential.com/news
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Post by neil on Sept 15, 2020 7:42:40 GMT -5
suntzusaid.com/book/11/2311. The Nine Situations 23 Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve. THE ART of WAR Sun Tzu This is what it means to "Keep Your Eyes On The Prize."
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Post by neil on Sept 15, 2020 11:45:36 GMT -5
The secret of a great fortune with no apparent cause is a crime that has been forgotten because it was done properly.
Honoré de Balzac,
OLD GORIOT
epigraph to KLEPTOPIA - Tom Burgis - 2020
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Post by neil on Sept 15, 2020 18:16:03 GMT -5
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Post by neil on Sept 15, 2020 18:23:45 GMT -5
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Post by neil on Sept 16, 2020 5:20:15 GMT -5
From The Guardians Covid news live chain:
US president Donald Trump said Covid-19 would go away without a vaccine. This would happen because of “herd mentality”, he said in an ABC town hall. It is unclear whether he meant herd immunity, as he repeated the phrase several times. “It would go away without the vaccine, George,” he said speaking to ABC journalist George Stephanopoulos. “With time it goes away. And you’ll develop like a herd mentality. It’s going to be herd developed, and that’s going to happen. That will all happen.”
To Quote: "It is unclear whether he meant herd immunity, as he repeated the phrase several times."
I SAY: There is nothing unclear here. The President of the United States is a fool who does not know the difference between "herd mentality," which he has heard in reference to his own base, and "herd immunity" which is a technical term from epidemiology, about which he knows NOTHING.
That Herr Trumpf should be given the benefit of the doubt by The Guardian, which is normally a stickler for accuracy, is unconscionable.Trump's ABC News town hall: Full transcript - Tuesday, Sept 16, 2020Excerpt: STEPHANOPOULOS: Why not call the speaker down to your office? Hammer it out in the Oval Office? TRUMP: Because they know exactly where I stand. At the right time, I'll do right, but they know exactly where I stand. What they want is a bailout of Democrat-run states that are doing poorly, and, you know, I don't think this is the right. STEPHANOPOULOS: Why do you keep talking about Democrat states, Democrat states? TRUMP: They are. STEPHANOPOULOS: They're American states, American states. TRUMP: No. The Democrat-run states are the ones that are doing badly, George. If you look at New York, if you look at Illinois, if you look at a lot of different places, they're doing poorly. And cities, in particular, cities, I mean, these cities are being run so poorly… STEPHANOPOULOS: But don't you have a responsibility to those states and cities as well? TRUMP: …largely because of the debt, but largely because of the crime. They don't want to do anything about crime. Sanctuary cities -- they have sanctuary cities where they're protecting criminals. They have things that the Republicans don't have. So they are -- I mean, I don't want to say -- look, I'm the president of everybody, but -- I don't want to say it, but they're Democrat-run cities. It is what it is.
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Post by neil on Sept 16, 2020 5:38:38 GMT -5
Nearly two-thirds of US young adults unaware 6m Jews killed in the HolocaustBehold the Trumpf base ... "No one in this world, so far as I know ... has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people." - H. L. Mencken FIRST-EVER 50-STATE SURVEY ON HOLOCAUST KNOWLEDGE OF AMERICAN MILLENNIALS AND GEN Z REVEALS SHOCKING RESULTSPoll data was broken down by state and available graphically. In North Carolina where I live, the results were: 1 - CAN'T NAME A CONCENTRATION CAMP OR GHETTO - 48% - Range: 25% ME to 60% MS 2 - BELIEVE JEWS CAUSED THE HOLOCAUST - 9%* - Range: 6% WI/IA to 19% NY 3 - DID NOT KNOW WHAT AUSCHWITZ WAS - 39% - Range: 21% WI to 53% CA 4 - DID NOT KNOW 6 MILLION JEWS WERE KILLED IN THE HOLOCAUST - 57% - Range: 47% WI to 69% AR 5 - BELIEVE 2 MILLION JEWS OR FEWER WERE KILLED DURING THE HOLOCAUST - 29% - Range: 22% KS to 37% AR 6 - HAVE SEEN HOLOCAUST DENIAL OR DISTORTION ON SOCIAL MEDIA OR ELSEWHERE ONLINE - 38% - Range: 36% MS to 61% CO 7 - HAVE SEEN NAZI SYMBOLS IN THEIR COMMUNITY AND/OR ON SOCIAL MEDIA THEY HAVE VISITED IN THE LAST 5 YEARS - 48% - Range: 44% DE to 70% NE 8 - BELIEVE IT IS IMPORTANT TO TEACH ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST, IN PART SO THAT IT DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN - 75%** - Range: 69% to 89% *NC: 15 of 50 **NC: 4 of 50 Highest Overall Scores: WISCONSIN## / Minnesota## / Massachusetts# / Maine# / Kansas / Nebraska## / Pennsylvania / Idaho** / Iowa** / Montana** Lowest Overall Scores : Alaska / Delaware / Maryland / New York / Georgia^ / Hawaii / Louisiana^ / Florida^ / Mississippi^ / ARKANSAS^^ ^The Deep South ^^The Deep Southwest(Does this make Arkansas the worst of both worlds? #New England ##North Central GEO-MENTAL CONCLUSION: Yeah, we's deffnitly dumber down heah. All us Republicans.
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Post by neil on Sept 16, 2020 9:10:44 GMT -5
‘Our country is perishing, not now from an invasion of twenty foreign armies, but from ourselves: that beyond the rightful administration, another administration has been formed, much stronger than the rightful one.’
Nikolai Gogol DEAD SOULS 1842
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Post by neil on Sept 17, 2020 14:30:51 GMT -5
BSI was not a bank. It was a facilitator for a transnational kleptocracy, operating a short walk from the Bank of England. KLEPTOPIA Tom Burgis 2020
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Post by upfromsumdirt on Sept 17, 2020 17:22:59 GMT -5
brother, you are loved and admired for your dedication....
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Post by neil on Sept 17, 2020 20:52:56 GMT -5
"Just business as usual," said The Bank.
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Post by neil on Sept 18, 2020 6:27:09 GMT -5
While Nixon talks of a "generation of peace," his generals are girding themselves for another generation of war. The Air Force, for example, is perfecting a remote-controlled fighter-bomber WHICH WILL ENABLE IT TO UTILIZE AMERICAN AIR POWER WITHOUT EVEN RISKING THE LOSS OF PILOTS. "The Almanac" Derek Shearer RAMPARTS magazine February, NINETEEN SEVENTY THREE [emphasis mine] www.unz.com/print/Ramparts-1973feb-00052/
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Post by neil on Sept 18, 2020 7:40:08 GMT -5
"I ask thee about the Purusha in the Upaniṣad. And thou explain not him to me, thy head will fall off." S'akalya knew him not, so his head fell off. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad* -epigraph- EXPLOITS AND OPINIONS OF DR FAUSTROLL, PATAPHYSICIAN Alfred Jarry France 1911
[*circa 700 BCE, and by the way, Q.E.D.]
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Post by neil on Sept 18, 2020 12:18:02 GMT -5
SNAKE AGENT by Stefano Tamburini (August 18, 1955 – April 1, 1986) appeared in the Italian underground publications FRIGIDAIRE and CANNIBALE circa 1985
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Post by neil on Sept 19, 2020 11:53:46 GMT -5
PANTAGRUEL The horrifying and dreadful DEEDS AND PROWESSES of the most famous PANTAGRUEL KING OF THE DIPSODES, Son of the great Giant Gargantua. (Newly composed by Maître Alcofrybas Nasier*)
by FRANÇOIS RABELAIS 1532
It was in the month of October it seems to me or else in the month of September – so as not to fall into error: (I want scrupulously to guard against that) – that there occurred the week so celebrated in the annals which is called the Week of the Three Thursdays**.
*an anagram of François Rabelais
**which may sedulously be ascribed by the contemporary commentator (me) to correlate with that auspicious day in which the inauguration crowds are clearly the greatest in recorded history
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Post by neil on Sept 19, 2020 20:13:50 GMT -5
incidental music from BRIANPATCH on USA Network
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Post by neil on Sept 19, 2020 20:50:19 GMT -5
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Post by neil on Sept 21, 2020 4:38:42 GMT -5
last night i stepped outside my door looked up and saw the Milky Way
this morning i stepped outside my door looked up and saw the Morning Star
kicked in the head by what is greater than what i seem to be in my bluster
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Post by neil on Sept 21, 2020 10:03:10 GMT -5
Trump promotes “pandemic of hate” with “Kung Flu” term
By Curtis Stone (People's Daily Online) 16:17, June 24, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump keeps using the term “Kung Flu” and the internet is fuming. Most recently, at his “Students for Trump” convention in a church in Phoenix, Arizona, Trump took a moment to run through a list of names for a virus that has killed over 120,000 Americans and in the words of Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “brought this nation to its knees.”
Declaring that there has never been anything with so many names, Trump said, “Wuhan – Wuhan was catching on. Coronavirus, right?” He then said, “Kung Flu, yeah?” at which point the crowd of roughly 3,000 young supporters who filled the megachurch burst out in cheers and applause. Trump then repeated the term to egg on the disturbing moment.
His use of the offensive term comes on the heels of his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Trump also used it to describe coronavirus, resulting in a firestorm of criticism online. Chris Lu, former deputy secretary of labor in the Obama administration, responded by saying it is painful to think of all the Asian-American kids who will be taunted. “If you have kids, please watch this video and tell them this isn’t okay,” he pleaded.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang also took to social media to express his disgust, calling Trump’s use of the offensive term to describe coronavirus as “stupid” and “racist.” A fan page of Yang responded to his comment by saying that Trump knows his words hurt and he uses this language to amplify hatred and division.
Many people agree that the term “Kung Flu” is highly offensive and they have called on Trump to stop with the racist language. Even White House aide Kellyanne Conway has publicly condemned the term, mentioning that her family has Asian heritage.
However, what made the scene in Phoenix even more disturbing is that a church full of supporters cheered the racist rhetoric. Some Twitter users compared it to a televised Klan rally and one user wrote, “[Trump] took off his hood today.” To make matters worse, this happened on a day when Asian-Americans remembered Chinese-American Vincent Chin, who was beaten to death by two white autoworkers who mistook him for being Japanese and accused him of stealing their jobs in Detroit, Michigan, in 1982.
Hate has been on the rise in America in recent years and studies have shown a clear correlation between Trump-related rhetoric and reports of hate. It is evidence that Trump’s harmful rhetoric can have harmful consequences in the real world, especially in the middle of a global pandemic that has taken a heavy toll on America.
It is reckless for someone at the highest level of government to fuel fear and hate by using terms that tie certain groups to diseases. Some might see Trump’s use of the term “Kung Flu” or other related terms as a harmless or amusing way to take a jab at China or connect with his core, but the scapegoating and scaremongering is fueling fear and hate, leading to increased incidents of racist threats and attacks against Asian people in America and around the world.
We should beware of the “pandemic of hate” that is making the coronavirus pandemic even more dangerous and deadly. Trump’s use of racialized language for the pandemic—and at a time of racial turmoil in the America—is not harmless fun or something to joke about.
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Post by neil on Sept 22, 2020 14:38:22 GMT -5
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Post by neil on Sept 23, 2020 5:30:01 GMT -5
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Post by neil on Sept 23, 2020 21:06:27 GMT -5
KAILI BLUES | Return View ~ Bi Gan is Tarkovsky's soul heir. On the other foot, there is a l-o-o-o-o-ng tracking/stalking shot which reminded me of some of the camera work in Carlos Reygada's POST TENEBRAS LUX. Poetry, à la A.T., is by Bi Gan. "Blues" in the title refers directly to the color of water in a catch basin polluted by mercury run-off from mining operations. Indirectly it refers to the manifold blues with which Bi Gan liberally ornaments his canvas ... pick a card. Bi Gan's settings are in barely habitable rural ghost towns. Very much the same post code as the closing scenes of Xiaoshuai Wang's RED AMNESIA. No shiny surfaces anywhere and the walls are studies in themselves with multiple layers of paint, wallpaper, use, and abuse. My guess would be that these are as found, with a minimum of set dressing. One scene in a pedestrian tunnel with painted walls is a jaw dropper. B.G. peppers KAILI BLUES with Tarkovsky Easter eggs. A poet on local TV introduces the work he will read, "ROADSIDE PICNIC." The camera pans left from an interior scene to reveal that one wall is shared with the tunnel of a commuter train. A train is passing. If the sound of the train isn't cadged from the end of STALKER, I'm a bunny. As I am encumbered by zero liquid assets, acquiring DVDs is problematic; but if I do lose my mind and bust for a Blu-ray it could easily be this one. The most direct step I can think of to more accessible work would be the films of Taiwan's Mong-Hong Chung, also a Golden Horse winner.
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Post by neil on Sept 23, 2020 21:44:27 GMT -5
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Post by neil on Sept 24, 2020 9:20:21 GMT -5
manchild said thanks, but he was looking for a different vibe. still proud of it, though. lost the original artwork (shriek). this is a scan from somewhere. whole lunch box better than nothing. stretched it a wee bit to 1360x768. had to do some body work on the sides, but i'm satisfied. would look dope on a jacket, since i'm too fat for t-shirts. dang it.
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Post by neil on Sept 24, 2020 14:12:58 GMT -5
A SUN | Mong-Hong Chung | Taiwan | 2019 ~ This director's 2016 feature GODSPEED whispered sweet nothings in my ear with its threatening blend of character, camera smarts, noir violence, underbelly settings, and black humor. A SUN is straight drama, so the merest dash of black humor. A SUN glommed onto 5 Golden Horses, so it does a lot of things right. As evidence, I took over 100 screenshots by the halfway point. A SUN is a very good movie, and worthy of recommendation. For the high bar set by GODSPEED, however, it lacks as taut a production sense. At 2 hours 36 minutes it is too long. Bringing it in under 2 hours would have done wonders for the pace. Writing is solid, no gollee gee whizz snappy patter. Sound is good. I don't like rain machine rain in anybody's movie ever. The score was unnecessary and, for my fussy baby ears, jarringly manipulative. In car footage was either shot in a car or faked much better than usual. None of this is to say that I was ever bored or thought about doing anything else, unless it was watching THE WORLD OF KANAKO again, because I kept wanting to make screenshots. A SUN is a family drama which means that the cast is limited, but the interactions are complex and build scene by scene. Noir directors in a sense have an easier job than family drama directors because the noir director is allowed to dig into a big burlap sack stenciled "Stuff That Doesn't Really Happen, But Is Great Noir." Mong-Hong Chun leaves a gigantic family event completely unexplained, but this struck me as authentic because that's the kind of boy-howdy that happens in/to/because of families. A SUN impinges upon Hirokazu Koreeda's turf and acquits itself admirably. Samantha Shu-Chin Ko as the mother is titanic. I know that there's makeup and there's makeup; but her (apparently) makeup-less face eats scenes over and over in close-ups that you feel could fog the camera lens. Whatever they paid her, she should have gotten double. Netflix.
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Post by neil on Sept 24, 2020 18:42:11 GMT -5
Read long enough in American history and you come across the central myth of our nation, American Exceptionalism. Patriots lack the fundamental equipment to understand this term. This is the case because American Exceptionalism looks exactly like patriotism if you are an American patriot. If, however, you are not an American patriot for whatever reason, the alternate definition is plain: American Exceptionalism is only one expression of American Infantilism. Roll up your arm and bend over, do you want regular or premium? Now, choke on it.
And get that American flag and all the other trash off your lawn, because there is an owner's association around here. There was the last time I looked. Trailer scum.
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Post by neil on Sept 25, 2020 5:27:00 GMT -5
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Post by neil on Sept 25, 2020 8:29:20 GMT -5
AURORA | Cristi Puiu | Romania | 2010 | 3h 1m | 1.85 to 1 | Kodak 35mm ~ Winner of awards at the Gijón IFF(Spain), the Gopo Awards(Romania), the Karlovy Vary IFF(Czech Republic - among the oldest IFFs in the world as well as Central and Eastern Europe's leading film event), and the Wiesbaden goEast IFF(Germany). Puiu's(THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU) 5th of 7 features. Writer/director Puiu also performs the principal role, solo portions of which make up the bulk of the film. Cast includes Luminita Gheorghiu(CHILD'S POSE and 4 MONTHS 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS) and Valentin Popescu(TONI ERDMANN). Cinematographer Viorel Sergovici has 84 feature, short, TV, and documentary credits. As a tight focus movie viewer, I tend to find the most compelling aspect IMHO in short order and follow it closely throughout. AURORA reminded me of Weir's MOSQUITO COAST which was an impressive illustration of bipolar disorder. AURORA is a devastating and relentless depiction of the erosion of personality by clinical depression. Surely this was not the focus of Puiu's narrative, but it is enough for me to recommend the movie unreservedly by virtue of its authority and clarity of insight. Viewing requires patience and a high tolerance for emotional pain. Romania cooperated with the project by supplying a surfeit of grimy, overcast days. Eastern Europe is nobody's idea of a good time. It occurred to me while watching that the closest analog to Eastern Europe in the United States would be the smitten regions of Appalachia. Even there, absence of the phantom pain of communist domination(42 years between 1947 and 1989, not to mention the centuries-old pall of Russian military enthusiasm) leaves the region comparatively bubbly. Segovici's camera work never makes itself apparent and never evades the misery of its subjects. No score, thankfully. This film would have worked well in black and white, but that would have been an egregious aesthetic digression for Puiu. Netflix, which needs to polish its transfer. Ryan Gilbey writes a perceptive review for Sight and Sound. I agree with his comparison to Nuri Bilge Ceylan's CLIMATES. I disagree with his 5th paragraph.
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