#Charles Oman

[minnesotafollower]

Iowa State Government Encouraging Refugee and Migrant Resettlement 

As a native Iowan who was born and raised in the State and as a supporter of refugees and immigrants, I was pleasantly surprised to learn from an article in the New York Times that Iowa’s state government has adopted and is implementing various programs to encourage these people’s resettlement in the State. [1] These conclusions were corroborated by that article and the ��preliminary research…

[dostoyevsky-official]

this a view of someone who's ignored european developments since 2007, opting for a rosy, outdated view of european politics, i.e. the exact type of american committing the exact type of mistake i'm warning about.

to address this point by point: not only has inflation been a global issue, but the US has consistently enjoyed the lowest inflation of any developed economy. american CPI has remained below the british, polish, and eurozone average numbers. european economies have to deal with fallout from the russian invasion of ukraine that the us can ignore: notably, in energy prices, as the US became self-sufficient in energy (and never imported any from russia to begin with, something squeezing the german economy). america is also not hosting millions of ukrainian refugees.

when discussing european instutions—and "europe" in general—one has to be more specific. do you mean the overarching institutions of the EU, criticized for a democratic deficit that many have pinpointed as one source for euro-skepticism and the rise of the far right? the EU Council, widely ignored and headed by charles michel, an incompetent, blatant nepobaby appointment whom everyone grinds their teeth over? the EU parliament, recently filled with a fresh batch of far-right hooligans, which functions more or less as a rubber stamp for the commission? the EU commission itself, headed by VdL, the latest in a string of failed local politician commissioners (who remembers the alcoholic swindler juncker?) masquerading as technocrats? the ECB, which smothers the monetary (and through the maastricht criteria, the fiscal) policy of eurozone members, thereby fueling resentment, far-right movements, and economic disparity? and all of this held hostage by the veto of one orban or fico, —or the german supreme court, when it decides it's had enough with public investment. those institutions, which remain so opaque that even educated americans—and europeans—aren't entirely aware of their function?

or do we mean the institutions of individual countries, ranging from undemocratic autocracies like hungary to the fief of the jupiter king, who called elections in june, lost them, refused to nominate a prime minister from the winning coalition, didn't name any for over a month, and then appointed a rightwing politician from a party that scored dead last, sidestepping his own centrist party? the UK, where sir keir is handing out five years in jail time to climate protesters, raising tuition fees, relying on private investment companies, and through rachel reeves' plan to fix the alleged budget hole left by hunt before further investment, again enacting austerity? this is all front-page headline news from the last half year.

european countries indeed have cheaper healthcare costs, better pensions, and other public goods that the united states does not. when considering "quality of life," remember, however, that most european countries have unemployment rates considered astronomic in america, especially for under-35s:

to focus again and again on european social democracy is to ignore that it has been steadily eroded since the end of the cold war and especially since the great recession by neoliberal political forces that crush the left and open the door for the far right. in the most blatant example, beside's macron's legislative politricks, the IMF-ECB-EC troika cut off euro cash liquidity flow to greece when syriza was trying to undo austerity under varoufakis. the greek collapse consigned a generation to economic failure, killed seniors, and curtailed possibilities for the youth. this erosion happened even in the nordic model, long imagined by americans as nothing short of a utopia:

In part due to the scrapping of wealth and inheritance taxes and a lower corporate tax than both the U.S. and European averages, Sweden has one of the most unequal distributions of wealth in the world today: on a level with Bahrain and Oman, and worse than the United States. Perhaps most dispiriting for Sanders, Sweden also now hosts the highest proportion of billionaires per capita in the world. Many of the country’s trademark social services are now provided by private firms. Its private schools even benefit from the same level of state subsidy as public schools—a voucher system far more radical than anything in the United States and that Democratic politicians would be crucified for advocating. Both here and there, right-leaning commentators in 2020 decried Sanders’s portrait as little more than what Johan Norberg, Swedish author of The Capitalist Manifesto, has called a 1970s “pipedream.” On this, Swedish observers on the left gloomily agree: despite official rhetoric, the “Nordic welfare model” is now more nostalgic myth than reality. (x)

to problematize further, there's an unadressed first world perspective: who's getting the good quality of life, why are the main economies of the EU so wealthy, and how does the EU continue to enrich itself? there are certainly many living outdoors today, drowning in the mediterranean, or dying of exposure in białowieża. fortress europe is a crime against humanity—and it doesn't beat back the far right. it weakens civic and human rights, undermines legal oversight, and criminalizes humanitarian engagement, allowing an authoritarian creep.

you shouldn't understand the political and the historical as a snapshot in time, but as a moving train. this is the state of europe today. all of the above is necessarily a simplification and an abbreviation, but there's a trajectory you can begin to trace out: given all of the above, where do you think europe is headed?

[carnumero16]

.ೃ࿐ ANA LE HABIBI | F1 DRIVERS

a series of F1 x arab!readers because we deserve love and more representation ✨

inspired by @f1version’s series! full credits to them ❤️

DRIVERS i write for include ...

charles leclerc, max verstappen, lando norris, oscar piastri, alex albon, daniel ricciardo, lewis hamilton, carlos sainz, yuki tsunoda, pierre gasly

REQUEST rules include ...

nothing nsfw, i accept oneshots, moodboards and smaus, i will write up to 2 requests per country!

COUNTRIES include ...

🇩🇿 algeria

🇧🇭 bahrain

🇰🇲 comoros

🇩🇯 djibouti

🇪🇬 egypt

🇮🇶 iraq

🇯🇴 jordan

🇰🇼 kuwait

🇱🇧 lebanon

🇱🇾 libya

🇲🇷 mauritania

🇲🇦 morocco

🇴🇲 oman

🇵🇸 palestine

🇶🇦 qatar

🇸🇦 saudi arabia

🇸🇴 somalia

🇸🇩 sudan

🇸🇾 syria

🇹🇳 tunisia

🇦🇪 united arab emirates

🇾🇪 yemen

أنا لحبيبي وحبيبي إلي ... .ೃ࿐

[mindblowingscience]

Researchers have discovered a new distinctive and secretive snake species in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. Rhynchocalamus hejazicus is a small snake bearing a black collar and reddish coloration, distinguishing it from its closest relatives. A uniformly black "melanistic morphotype" of the species has also been discovered. The new species is widely distributed and fills much of the existing distribution gap between the Levant and the coastal regions of Yemen and Oman for the genus Rhynchocalamus. An international team led by scientists from the Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO), Portugal, and Charles University, Czech Republic, published their discovery in Zoosystematics and Evolution.

Continue Reading.

[comtessezouboff]

The Wertheimer Portraits

A retexture by La Comtesse Zouboff — Original Mesh by @thejim07

The Wertheimer portraits are a series of twelve portrait paintings made by John Singer Sargent of and for the British art dealer Asher Wertheimer and his family. The series amounts to Sargent's largest private commission.

The family became close friends of the artist John Singer Sargent. He often dined at their home at 8 Connaught Place, where the dining room (sometimes described as "Sargent's mess" ) was decorated with eight of the family portraits. Mr and Mrs Wertheimer commissioned Singer Sargent to paint two portraits to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in 1898, and ten more commissions followed in the next decade. Most of the portraits hang in the Tate Museum in London, after Wertheimer's death in 1918. The donation was an scandal, as some antisemitic comments emerged, such as that of the historian Sir Charles Oman: "these clever, but extremely repulsive, pictures should be placed in a special chamber of horrors".

The bequest and wish for the portraits to be displayed together was seen as a distasteful display of wealth with opponents claiming it was Jewish excess and asking “Is there any other gallery that has been given so many paintings? 

Since the paintings would hang among royalty, clergy and historical figures, to have a room dedicated to one family deemed outside the British establishment was so controversial that it was debated in Parliament.

Nowadays, the portraits are regarded as masterpieces, and most of the antisemitic comments remained in the past, but some critics have thought that the paintings "exudes caricature-like features and projected racial stereotypes onto the sitters" although the family was perfectly happy with them (of course this wouldn't have been issue if the family belonged to catholicism or other western-predominant religion)

This set contains 12 portraits, with the original frame swatches, fully recolourable. They are of:

Elizabeth "Betty" Wertheimer, Mrs. Euston Abraham Salaman (oval shape)

Flora Wertheimer (née Joseph) Mrs. Asher Wertheimer

Helena "Ena" Wertheimer, Mrs. Robert Moritz Mathias, "A Vele Gonfle"

Madame Asher Wertheimer (née Flora Joseph) (another portrait of Flora)

Miss Almina Wertheimer in Turquerie Costume.

Mr. Alfred Wertheimer

Edward Wertheimer (unfinished)

Asher Wertheimer with his Poodle, Noble.

Elizabeth "Betty" and Helena "Ena" Wertheimer.

Hylda, Conway and Almina Wertheimer.

Miss Hylda Wertheimer.

Ruby, Ferdinand and Essie Wertheimer.

Found under decor > paintings for:

500§ (1)

1.850§ (2-3-4-5-6-7-8)

3.040§ (9-10)

3.900§ (11)

6520§ (12)

Retextured from:

"Saint Mary Magdalene" (1) found here

"The virgin of the Rosary" (2-3-4-5-6-7-8) found here

"Portrait of Mariana of Austria in Prayer" (9-10) found here

"Portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria and her Son, le Grand Dauphin" (11) found here

"Vulcan's Forge" (12) found here

Thing to know before download: The pictures are not as dark as in this post, the lighting was awful in the screenshots.

-------------------------------------------------------

CC shown here:

Walls, floor and loveseat by @thejim07

Bust, urns, fireplace, clock, vases, candelabras, pendule à cercles tournants, door and screen by @joojconverts

Armchairs by ShinoKCR (tsr)

Rug by me, found here

Sideboard, chairs, sidetables and sofa by @martassimsbookcc

Commodes by Parsimonious Sims

Drive

(Sims3Pack | Package)

(Useful tags below)

@joojconverts @ts3history @ts3historicalccfinds @deniisu-sims @katsujiiccfinds @gifappels-stuff

-------------------------------------------------------

[tiaramania]

Foreign Royals at the Coronation of King Charles III

Even though we now know that the coronation on May 6th will not be a tiara event, I'll still keep a running list of foreign royals that have confirmed attendance. Traditionally other monarchs don't attend coronations in the United Kingdom unless they are from a Commonwealth country (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga) but they are doing away with that this time around.

Bahrain - King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

Belgium - King Philippe & Queen Mathilde

Bhutan - King Jigme Kesar & Queen Jetsun Pema

Brunei - Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah & Prince 'Abdul Mateen

Cambodia -

Denmark - Crown Prince Frederik & Crown Princess Mary

Eswatini - King Mswati III & Queen Sibonelo LaMbikiza

Japan - Crown Prince Akishino & Crown Princess Kiko

Jordan - King Abdullah II & Queen Rania

Kuwait - Crown Prince Mishal Al Ahmad

Lesotho - King Letsie III & Queen 'Masenate

Liechtenstein - Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie

Luxembourg - Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

Malaysia - King Abdullah & Queen Azizah

Monaco - Prince Albert & Princess Charlene

Morocco - Princess Lalla Meryem

Netherlands - King Willem Alexander & Queen Máxima

Norway - Crown Prince Haakon & Crown Princess Mette Marit

Oman - Crown Prince Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said

Qatar - Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

Saudi Arabia - Prince Turki bin Mohammed Al Saud

Spain - King Felipe & Queen Letizia

Sweden - King Carl XVI Gustaf & Crown Princess Victoria

Thailand - King Vajiralongkorn & Queen Suthida

Tonga - King Tupou VI & Queen Nanasipau’u

United Arab Emirates - Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Non-Reigning Royals

Ashanti - King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II & Lady Julia

Baden - Margrave Bernhard & Margravine Stephanie

Bulgaria - King Simeon & Queen Margarita

Greece - Queen Anne Marie & Crown Prince Pavlos (I've seen conflicting reports about Crown Princess Marie Chantal attending.)

Hesse - Landgrave Donatus

Hohenlohe-Langenburg - Prince Philipp & Princess Saskia

Māori - King Tuheitia & Queen Te Atawhai

Romania - Princess Margareta & Prince Radu

Serbia - Crown Prince Alexander & Crown Princess Katherine

[workersolidarity]

[ 📸 U.S. troops go on patrol at al-Tanf air base in eastern Syria. The Syrian government considers the United States presence in its eastern third as an illegal occupation, and wants U.S. soldiers out of the country.]

🇺🇲⚔️🇸🇾 🪖 🚨

US TO CONSIDER WITHDRAWAL FROM SYRIAN OCCUPATION

The United States is considering a withdrawal of its forces from Syria, according to an article published in Foreign Policy, an online news periodical with ties to the U.S. Defense establishment.

Citing four sources from within the U.S. departments of State and Defense, Foreign Policy claims active internal discussions are ongoing within the Biden administration on a troop withdrawal from Syria, a notoriously illegal occupation of nearly one-third of Syrian territory, which the United States has used to siphon tens of billions of dollars worth of oil out of the country.

The piece was written by senior fellow and director of the Syrian Counterterrorism and Extremism Programs at Middle East Institute, Charles Lister.

The organization itself, the Middle East Institute, is funded by a who's-who of U.S. proxy-governments, Intelligence sources, elite Universities, and giant corporations including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, ExxonMobil, George Soros's Open Societies Foundation, Morgan Stanley, and Princeton University.

The article itself presents the decision on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria as an impending disaster, warning that the Islamic State is waiting in the wings for an opportunity to take back control over the Levant, with the title of the published article "America is planning to withdraw from Syria- and create a disaster."

Lister warns that the withdrawal should be "cause for significant concern" and that, while no decision has yet been reached by the Biden administration, the White House is "no longer invested in sustaining a mission that it perceives as unnecessary."

"Notwithstanding the catastrophic effect that a withdrawal would have on U.S. and allied influence over the unresolved and acutely volatile crisis in Syria, it would also be a gift to the Islamic State. While significantly weakened, the group is in fact primed for a resurgence in Syria, if given the space to do so," Lister summerized.

Lister claims that the United States's "unprecedented intervention" launched in 2014 by the Obama administration, alongside "80 partner nations," was "remarkably successful," without ever mentioning Iran's intervention to organize a strong resistance to the Islamic State in Iraq, nor the Russian Intervention to strengthen and reinforce Syria's military and air defenses.

Lister claims the situation in Syria is "more complex" than that of Iraq's, adding that "with approximately 900 troops on the ground, the United States is playing an instrumental role in containing and degrading a persistent Islamic State insurgency in northeastern Syria, working alongside its local partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)."

Again, Lister ignores the role played by the Russian military in providing air cover and tactical strikes on behalf of the Syrian military, warning that the threat from IS remains a serious cause for concern.

Lister points to a rocket attack launched against a prison maintained by U.S. proxy-forces to warn of the dangers in Syria, elaborating on the heroic defense of the so-called "Syrian Democratic Forces," comprised of a mix of jihadist groups, some with ties to al-Qaeda, that ran amok, sowing chaos and destabilizing Eastern Syria, until the Russian Intervention in September 2015, when U.S. proxy-forces were largely sequestered into the illegally U.S.-occupied territory in the eastern-most third of Syria.

Lister goes on to raise alarms over the security situation in western Syria too, where Syrian government forces, with the help of the Russian military, have since regained control of much of its territory formally under the control of jihadist groups.

"While U.S. troops and their SDF partners have managed to contain the Islamic State’s recovery in Syria’s northeast, the situation is far more concerning to the west—on the other side of the Euphrates River, where the Syrian regime is in control, at least on paper," Lister claims.

Lister, pushing for the U.S. to remain in Syria, says that "In this vast expanse of desert, the Islamic State has been engaged in a slow but methodical recovery, exploiting regime indifference and its inability to challenge a fluid desert-based insurgency."

Lister's alarmism goes on, describing the supposed regrouping of IS in various government-held regions of Syria, even going so far as to claim that the Islamic State has only been quiet in recent months due to employing a strategy of concealing its operations, never pointing to specific examples that might back those claims.

"For the past several years, the Islamic State has purposely concealed its level of operation in Syria, consistently choosing not to claim responsibility for attacks that it was conducting," the article claims, inversely suggesting the absence of activity by the extremist group is actually evidence of their malfeasance.

Lister also claims that the situation in the Gaza Strip is fueling the groups return, stating that the "war in Gaza and a spiraling regional crises are adding fuel to its fire and creating opportunities for the terror group to exploit the situation for its own advantage," without ever giving any concrete examples of how, where and in what way the group is returning, only citing research from his own shadily-funded organization's projects as evidence.

"According to the Counter Extremism Project, in 2023 alone, the Islamic State conducted at least 212 attacks in Syria’s central desert region, killing at least 502 people. As covert threats and overt attacks increase, reports are emerging with increasing frequency of desertions within regime ranks," Lister says.

Lister then claims that the United States is the only thing holding the region together even as he admits there's little the U.S. can do within territories controlled by the Syrian government.

That claim, that the U.S. is the glue holding Syria together, flies in the face of the countless warnings by both the Syrian and Russian governments that say the United States is in fact the source of instability in the region.

"While there is little that U.S. forces can do to alter Islamic State activities within the regime-controlled regions of Syria, U.S. troops are the glue holding together the only meaningful challenge to the Islamic State within a third of Syrian territory. Were that glue to disappear, a significant resurgence in Syria would be all but guaranteed, and a destabilizing spillover into Iraq a certainty."

Interestingly, Lister goes on to point to Iraq as an important player in the future of the Islamic State group, admitting that increased tensions created by the U.S. occupation in Iraq, along with the U.S support for Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, is creating a new push in the country to remove U.S. forces from Iraq by its parliament, creating a supposed opening for extremist groups in the region.

Lister puts the blame squarely on Iran for these openings, and for Iraq's growing impatience with Washington, adding that a troop withdrawal would be a bad idea, even invoking the collapse of U.S. proxy-forces in Afghanistan to warn of the dangers of a troop withdrawal from Syria.

"Ultimately, events since October have placed the U.S. deployment in northeast Syria on a fraying thread—hence recent internal consideration of a Syria withdrawal," Lister says, adding that "Given the disastrous consequences of the hurried exit from Afghanistan in 2021 and the impending U.S. election later this year, it is hard to grasp why the Biden administration would be considering a withdrawal from Syria."

Lister concludes that "no matter how such a withdrawal was conducted, it would trigger chaos and a swift surge in terror threats."

"There can be no denying the clear sense in policy circles that it is being actively considered—and that it has been accepted as an eventual inevitability," Lister claims.

Lister emphasized that anyone considering a collaborative approach with the Syrian government are making a big mistake, because "that would not only be a phenomenal boon to the Islamic State, but simply impossible on its own terms."

Lister explained that "part of the SDF may have periodic contact with Assad’s regime, but they are far from natural allies. The regime would never allow the SDF to sustain itself, and Turkey would do everything possible to kill what remained [of Washington's proxies]."

"The last time that the Islamic State surged in Syria, in 2014, it transformed international security in profoundly negative ways. Should a U.S. withdrawal precipitate a return to Islamic State chaos, we will be relegated to mere observers, unable to return to a region that we will have placed squarely under the control of a pariah regime and its Russian and Iranian allies."

#source

#OnListersOrganizationsFinances

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[tilbageidanmark]

MOVIES I WATCHED THIS WEEK (#195):

What an unusual film experience!

A PUBLIC PROSECUTOR AND A TEACHER is the very last silent film from Korea (made in 1948!), a morality tale and a flowery melodrama. A kindhearted teacher helps a very poor student of her, a hungry orphan. Years later, she's accused of an accidental murder, and he, who's grown to be a successful lawyer, thanks to her help, is able to save her from a guilty verdict.

But the wordless story is explained via the voice of an overly-emotional orator, "The Last Crying Byeonsa", who gives a running commentary of every detail of the story, in a most unusual way. It is reminiscent of old traditions of oral story-telling. His sorrowful and plaintive interpretation makes this an unbearable tragedy, and the most memorable aspect of this film. (Via).

🍿

"Say, you haven't happen to see a white.... Wang?!"

MURDER BY DEATH was a spoof of the Agatha Christie-type whodunit mysteries, with an ensemble cast that included a rare performance by Truman Capote, a youngish, gayish James Cromwell, and another of Peter Seller's offensive Charlie Chan impressions. it was full of all the old whodunit cliches, down to the blind butler, done in a mid-70's Woody Allen joke style. The only somehow-original point was the opening title sequence which was composed of Charles Addams caricatures. 2/10.

RIP, MAGGIE SMITH!

🍿

6 MORE WITH ISABELLE HUPPERT:

8 WOMEN (2002) is another whodunit murder mystery, but very different. A delightful feminine Christmas comedy, taking place in an isolated snowbound estate, played by an all women cast. Eight of the best French actresses of the day, including sisters Catherine Deneuve and Isabelle Huppert, the gorgeous Virginie Ledoyen, Fanny Ardent and teenage Ludivine Sagnier ham it up. Full of surprises, the best one is that every so often, somebody suddenly starts singing and dancing, (like the Clip Above), or as in 'Toi jamais' or the final shot with Georges Brassens' 'Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux'. Also, nearly everyone secretly is or at least ends up gay! 8/10.

🍿 (Re-visiting the PARC MONCEAU episode from 'Paris, je t'aime', just to see the cutest Ludivine Sagnier again. This was the Alfonso Cuarón short when she was Nick Nolte's daughter.)

🍿 MAMA WEED, my first stylish, fun film by French director Jean-Paul Salomé. A wonderful crime comedy where Isabelle Huppert is a badass Arabic-French translator working for the Narcotic department of the police, but who "Breaks bad" and learns how to deal. Like ‘Personal Shopper’ it ends in the deserts of Oman. 9/10.

🍿 Hotel Vivier Cinémathèque looks like a glamorous short riddle, where Huppert is presenting 5 interactive gaming scenarios, Fantasy, Crime, Comedy, Horror and Animation. But actually it's a whimsical presentation of the 2021 spring collection by some fancy shoe designer.

🍿 "Austria is a country that produces neuroses and also produces culture".

MICHAEL H – PROFESSION: DIRECTOR is an insightful 2013 documentary about director Michael Haneke. It starts with 'Amour' and goes back all the way to 'The Seventh Continent'. Obviously it contains references and interviews with Isabelle Huppert who starred in his 'Time of the wolf' and 'The piano teacher'.

I'm glad that I've seen all his movies [except of 'Funny Games', naturally] so I don't have to watch them again.

🍿 SCÉNARIO DE 'SAUVE QUI PEUT LA VIE, a visual essay proposed by J-L Godard in connection with his 'Every man for himself' (1980). I only watched it because of Isabelle Huppert. His usual stream of consciousness approach mixing up movements, snippets of sounds, words, montage of ideas, unfinished conversations, colours... 1/10

🍿 I was ready to hate the short 3D installation VIRTUAL EMBALMING (2020), "a digital remembrance as a document for the future", but I didn't. Huppert and 2 other women were asked how they wanted to be remembered, and the artist built interesting, artsy alters to their visions.

🍿

It was obvious that the new "Crime Comedy" WOLFS is a mediocre piece of junk from its very first scene when frantic Amy Ryan kept hysterically talking to herself, and from when her "fixer" arrives, and finds a cliched parking spot right in front of her posh NYC hotel. It's a low-rent, uninspired, boring 'Michael Clayton' clone about a 'cleaner', where even the Croatian folk dancing scene felt forced and joyless. Like a copy of a copy of a copy, degraded through the endless, talent-less story-telling. 3/10.

🍿

40'S NOIR WITH LIZABETH SCOTT AND BURT LANCASTER X 2:

🍿 "I'm Mrs. Alexis Richardson."

"You say that like it was spelt in capital letters."

"Ha. Sit down."

Are you telling me or asking me?"

"Please. You know, you're quite an attractive man."

"Keep goin'."

"How far do you want me to go?"

"I'm at the plate. You're doin' the pitching."

I discovered Lizabeth Scott, the beautiful actress with the "smoky voice", because her long Wikipedia page is unusually extensive. She never made it "BIG", but made it big enough to star in 22 hard-boiled, mid-tiered Noir classics in the 40's and 50's.

In I WALK ALONE (1947), good guy Burt Lancaster, released from 14 years in prison, confronts his ex-buddy, bad guy Kirk Douglas. Scott is the sultry nightclub singer, dangling as a bait. Deception, betrayal, retribution... 6/10.

🍿 DESERT FURY is a strange melodramatic Western Noir which is played out in glorious Technicolor. It got beautiful 19 year old Lizabeth Scott who can't get along with her casino owner mom Mary Astor. There's good-guy sheriff Burt Lancaster who's in love with her. And then there's two gangsters who come to their Nevada desert town, who are blatantly a gay couple. They had been together for 15 years, and now one of them falls for young Scott. It's bulky 1947 cars and giant shoulder pads for the ladies, with a Miklos Rosza score working overtime, but it's all so mixed up, with such unclear message.

🍿

X-RAY (1977), my 10th by Krzysztof Kieślowski, in which men that are being treated for tuberculosis at a sanatorium share their thoughts about their lives.

🍿

THE ONE AND ONLY, my 7th film by favorite director Susanne Bier. A frothy romantic comedy, which was both critical and a huge commercial success in Denmark when it came out in 1999. With the always-delectable Sidse Babett-Knudsen, but everybody else on the cast was utterly forgettable, and the story was as cliched and boring as can be. 2/10. [*Female Director*]

🍿

Buster Keaton's 1921 THE PLAYHOUSE is remembered mostly for the first half, in which he plays all the roles, dozen or more, of an elaborate variety show. In the second part he falls in love with a twin. At one point he is dressed and made up as a chimpanzee.

🍿

THE WAY THE EAGLE SHITS is an anti-capitalist screed, an angry cry about wealth inequality and unjust distribution of assets, and it doesn't mince words, or use euphemisms. The Poor are fucked, it shows, in 1975 and today.

🍿

KONCERT, an early, whimsical film by Hungarian István Szabó, which was nominated for an Oscar in 1962. 3 guys on a piano bicycle ride by the Danube, and people join them in an impromptu performance. 2/10.

🍿

MUYBRIDGE'S STRINGS (2011), my second artsy animation by Koji Yamamura (After 'Franz Kafka’s a Country Doctor'). A mixed-up theoretical metaphor about (one of) the fathers of motion pictures. The 'Strings' are the ones his horses triggered galloping in front of the battery of cameras, which took the photographs that later created the illusion of movement. 2/10.

🍿

"I want an unwritten life..."

THE BROTHERS BLOOM (2008), my third strike-out from Rian Johnson (After the 2 boring Benoit Blanc stories). Always looking for a good grifters story, but I couldn't get into this one, even after 3 attempts, and had to bail out midway.

🍿  

(ALL MY FILM REVIEWS - HERE).

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

The Dark Untold History The Arabs Have Tried To Erase

The Arab history of anti black racism predates European anti black racism by several centuries. The early Islamic empire exhibited all the characteristics of anti black racism, and blacks suffered the lowest form of bondage. Europeans took photographs of chained black African slaves in Arab slave trading vessels on the East Coast of Africa in the eighteen eighties. Slavery persisted openly in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries in the latter half of the twentieth century, one hundred years after slavery was abolished in the United States. As late as the nineteen sixties, African Muslims still sold slaves when they arrived on pilgrimages, as a way to finance their pilgrimages. Arab nations lagged far behind the rest of the world in abolishing slavery: Saudi Arabia and Yemen in nineteen sixty two, United Arab Emirates in nineteen sixty three, Oman in nineteen seventy! However, unlike the rest of the Arab nations, hereditary racial slavery persists in Mauritania despite multiple official attempts to abolish it(..)

P.S. Fortunately for Europe, Charles Martel was not a "multiculturalist" and saved Europe from the horrors of Muslim invasion and slavery at the Battle of Tours in October 732. Today's pseudo-liberals are trying to eradicate European history and open the borders to Muslim terrorist invasion and modern slavery...

Yesterday, I saw the original and uncensored video material that today's "popular" media is TRYING TO HIDE and silence from the world community about hamaz crimes. I lack WORDS TO DESCRIBE and COMMENT ON WHAT I SAW!

The only thing I can say is that every aerial bomb dropped by Israel finds its target, spare no artillery shells and bullets, spare no mosque, leave no stone unturned and remember the mentally retarded who funded, propagandized and supported hamas...organized demonstrations, opened borders for them, find them too...!!!!

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Elizabeth II liked to drink a Martini before meeting guests when she was flying and always requested a particular type of mint sweet during take-off, it has emerged.

The late Queen also enjoyed following the route map while travelling.

Her flying habits are revealed in a treasure trove of memorabilia kept for decades by an air hostess who worked for British Airways for 28 years from 1970.

Elizabeth Evans, from Birmingham, served many famous travellers during her long career, among them the late Queen and Prince Philip during their 1989 tour of Singapore and Malaysia.

A collection of mementoes found in Mrs Evans’ study following her death contains confidential instructions on how to look after the royal couple.

The points of etiquette reveal that the late Queen liked a bowl of sugar-free Velamints beside her on take-off and that she should be left to doze if she was sleeping prior to landing.

She also preferred to use her own pillows, with her personal dresser advising on how to make up her bed.

Any guests joining the royals for dinner would be told what time cocktails were to be served in the royal compartment and the Queen would later be asked which wine she would like served with dinner.

“Her Majesty tends to like a Martini before her guests arrive,” the notes state.

Canapes were served with cocktails before the guests took their seats and staff were reminded that the late Queen must be served first.

One section of the notes is titled “Tips for Royal Compartment,” under which is listed: “Route map – Her Majesty enjoys looking at these.”

Members of the flight crew were told not to pass through the cabin and to restrict all noise.

The memorabilia, inherited by Mrs Evans’ niece, Jo Smallwood, is expected to fetch between £400-£600 when it goes under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers on August 20.

Charles Hanson, owner of the auctioneers, said:

“Elizabeth must have been extremely highly regarded by BA because she served some of the most important people in the world. Take that 1989 British Airways royal flight.

Her memorabilia includes confidential instructions on how to care for our late Queen and Prince Philip – right down to the sweets Her Majesty preferred on take-off.”

Velamints were launched in the US in 1977 and are said to have become president Ronald Reagan’s favourite mint.

They were dubbed “the Official Air Force 1 mint.”

Meanwhile, both the late Queen and her husband were known to be fond of a Martini, which they would typically enjoy before dinner.

In late 2021, a year before her death, it emerged that she had given up drinking on doctors’ orders.

She was said to favour a gin and Dubonnet at lunchtime, and a gin and vermouth cocktail before dinner.

Mrs Evans also crewed Concorde, the world’s first commercial supersonic airliner, which would fly at twice the speed of sound, during the 1980s and 1990s.

She kept signed menu cards and other paraphernalia relating to many of her VIP passengers, including Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the late Patrick Swayze.

Mr Hanson noted that although the late Queen had flown to Singapore and Malaysia on BA, she had closely followed Concorde’s development.

“Elizabeth’s archive sweeps us back in time to the 1970s, 80s and 90s when flying on Concorde was a luxurious privilege enjoyed by the wealthy jet-set,” he added.

“Celebrities flocked to use its services and carrying royalty was the norm. Service had to be first class.”

He said of the late Queen:

“She enjoyed her first supersonic flight in 1977 and used the aircraft for state visits.

The Queen of the Skies was seen as fitting transport for the Queen of the realm."

“In 1991, Charles and Diana, then the Prince and Princess of Wales, flew supersonic during a trip to Oman and Pakistan."

“Elizabeth gathered mementoes throughout her career. Her memorabilia captures the life and times of Concorde at its height and the detail that went into luxury travel with British Airways.

No VIP wish was too small to be accommodated. Even smoking was permitted on board back then.”

Ms Smallword, 53, a retired police officer, from Solihull, West Midlands, said:

“I was aware of some of the things Elizabeth had kept from her career with BA but nothing on this scale.

She married late in life, moving to Devon and finally Hermanus, in South Africa.

The objects were found there in her study following her death at the age of 70 in 2017.

I came across them when I travelled to South Africa to arrange the funeral.

Having found this treasure trove relating to my aunt’s career and experiences with BA, especially the fantastic trips on Concorde and serving the Queen, I found it sad that none of it had seen the light of day.

I believe this collection is a little piece of history that should be shared and enjoyed by somebody.”

Mrs Evans was awarded a certificate to commemorate the time she served the royals on British Airways flights.

She also amassed signatures from the likes of Warren Beatty, Virginia Wade and Billie Jean King, which will also be sold by Hansons.

[ifreakingloveroyals]

6 November 2016 | Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall visits the Grand Mosque on the first day of a Royal tour of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall are on a Royal tour of the Middle East starting with Oman, then the UAE and finally Bahrain. (c) Chris Jackson/Getty Images

[medium-observation]

November Release

Beetlejuice - First US National Tour

October 31, 2023 - Medium Observation

Video

Cast:

Justin Collette (Beetlejuice), Isabella Esler (Lydia Deetz), Megan McGinnis (Barbara Maitland), Will Burton (Adam Maitland), Jesse Sharp (Charles Deetz), Kate Marilley (Delia Deetz), Lexie Dorsett Sharp (u/s Miss Argentina), Abe Goldfarb (Otho), Brian Vaughn (Maxie Dean), Kris Roberts (Maxine Dean/Juno), Jackera Davis (Girl Scout), Lee N Price (Ensemble), Eric Anthony Johnson (s/w Ensemble), Haley Fish (Ensemble), Kenway Hon Wai K. Kua (Ensemble), Sean McManus (Ensemble), Katie Lombardo (s/w Ensemble), Trevor Michael Schmidt (Ensemble), Corben Williams (Ensemble)

Notes:

Good capture of Halloween! This was filmed on the aisle so you can see some people getting up and walking around at times. LOTS of latecomers during ready set I had to get up to let people into the row, so there is no video there. The guy in front of me wouldn't stop moving so his head can come in and out of frame at times but it's always worked around.

NFT Date: May 1st, 2024

Screenshots: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB1KLh

Video is $20

Mean Girls - Second US National Tour (Non-Equity)

October 26, 2023 - Medium Observation

Video

Cast:

Natalie Shaw (Cady Heron), Maya Petropoulos (Regina George), Kristen Amanda Smith (Gretchen Wieners), MaryRose Brendel (Karen Smith), Alexys Morera (Janis Sarkisian), Ethan Jih-Cook (Damian Hubbard), Joseph Torres (Aaron Samuels), Shawn Mathews (Kevin Gnapoor), Kristen Seggio (Mrs. Heron/Ms. Norbury/Mrs. George), Justin Phillips (Principal Duvall), Justin O'Brien (Mr. Heron), Justin O'Brien (Coach Carr/Glen Coco/Math Moderator), Thalia Atallah (Dawn Schweitzer), Victoria Mesa (Lizzie Therman/Caroline Krafft), Lucas Hallauer (Tyler Kimble), Jonah Nash (Christian Wiggins), Mikey Corey Hassel (Shane Oman), Oshie Mellon (Sophie Kawachi), Megan Arseneau (s/w Caitlyn Caussin), Brandon Moreno (Jason Weems), Tyler Jung (Marwan Jitla), Reagan Kennedy (Taylor Wedell), Joi D. McCoy (Rachel Hamilton)

Notes:

Nice Capture of the new non-equity tour! There can be a head in the way at some points but it's worked around well. The video can be somewhat grainy at times due to how far I was + how dark the show was. Overall a great video of this incredible cast.

NFT Date: May 1st, 2024

Screenshots: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB1e1L

Video is $20

Come From Away - Second US National Tour (Non-Equity)

October 30, 2023 - Medium Observation

Video

Cast:

Addison Garner (Beverley/Annette & others), Shawn W. Smith (Kevin T./Garth & others), Andrew Hendrick (Claude & others), Danny Arnold (Oz & others), Hannah Kato (Janice & others), Trey DeLuna (Kevin J./Ali & others), Stanton Morales (Nick/Doug & others), Molly Samson (Diane & others), Candace Alyssa Rhodes (Hannah & others), Kristin Litzenberg (Beulah & others), Kathleen Cameron (Bonnie & others), Jason Tyler Smith (Bob & others)

Notes:

Incredible capture of the new non-equity tour. No obstruction, very little washout in wideshots. Overall a perfect video of a great new cast.

NFT Date: May 1st, 2024

Screenshots: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB1DyY

Video is $20

Videos can be purchased through me at

mediumobservationtrading@gmail.com

[alibnabitalib]

Muhamed Pasha (30 maggio 1995) è un ufficiale intelligence presso US army Reserve di nazionalità statunitense di origini bosniache mentre in precedenza era un detective, attore, modello,agente intelligence BiH,agente speciale del FBI.

È attualmente single

Breve biografia

Muhamed Pasha nasce il 30 maggio 1995 a Sarajevo in Bosnia ed Erzegovina ed è un discedente del Grand vizier Ibrahim Pasha e del profeta islamico Muhammad tramite Hasan Ibn Ali, alcuni discendenti dei suoi antenati raggiungessero Bosnia ed Erzegovina quando ci fu la conquista Ottomana e la popolazione si convertì all'Islam nel 1580 rimanendo lì per secoli.

Muhamed studiò all'università di Sarajevo dal 2014 al 2015 su affari internazionali, storia dell'arte scienze politiche ed entro a far parte dell'intelligence bosniaca BiH nel 2016.

Nel 2022, si trasferisce a Roma in Italia per una missione di mantenere legami con i turchi e i palestinesi di nazionalità italiana.

Successivamente,dopo aver ottenuto amicizie, conoscenze e contatti dei turchi e palestinesi di nazionalità italiana completando la sua missione, Muhamed lascia Roma e fa ritorno a Sarajevo per ottenere una nuova missione.

In seguito Muhamed si trasferisce a New York per la missione di mantenere i legami con turchi,palestinesi e uiguri di nazionalità statunitense.

Successivamente, Muhamed lascia il suo lavoro presso BiH (intelligence bosniaca) e New York trasferendosi a Los Angeles in California dove inizia a lavorare come attore e modello, iniziò a lavorare per la serie televisiva Criminal minds per un ruolo interpretando un serial killer.

Successivamente, Muhamed concluse il suo lavoro come attore e modello e iniziò a lavorare come agente speciale per il FBI e qui fece conoscenza con Carl Foster.

Il 20 luglio, Muhamed lasciò Los Angeles e si trasferisce a New York essendo stato chiamato dal FBI di non svolgere più operazioni a Los Angeles ma a New York.

Il 14 agosto, Muhamed lasciò il FBI e iniziò a lavorare presso Port Charles Police Department diventando il nuovo collega di Chase Harrison e Texas Storm.

Il 20 agosto, inizia a indagare insieme ai suoi colleghi Chase Harrison e Texas Storm sulla scomparsa di Amy Logan e scoprire il responsabile.

L'1 settembre, Muhamed viene a sapere dall'agente del FBI,Carl Foster che sua moglie è stata strangolata senza trovare indizi sul suo assassino e iniziò a indagare su questo caso.

Il 3 settembre, Muhamed lascia il suo lavoro come detective e ritorna a lavorare come agente speciale del FBI.

Il 6 settembre, Muhamed insieme al suo collega Pascal Milka tramite una squadra speciale del FBI fece arrestare un membro di al-Qaeda, Naseem Bashar portandolo alla prigione di massima sicurezza ADX Florence e fece salvare Amy Logan riportandola a New York.

Il 29 ottobre, Muhamed ottiene la cittadinanza statunitense e inizia a lavorare come ufficiale intelligence per US Army Reserve essendo stato in precedenza anche un agente speciale del FBI e agente intelligence per il BiH bosniaco, nello stesso giorno si trasferisce nel campo militare di Guantanamo-bay per essere sicuro che i difensori KSM,Ammar al-Baluchi, Mustafa al-Hawsawi e Ramzi al-Shibh ricevono tutti un processo con la legge piuttosto che una pena capitale e fare in modo che Walid Bin Attash venga riprocessato per i suoi crimini perché il presidente James Sawyer l'ha rilasciato da Guantanamo-bay con un processo incompleto e senza prove mostrate pubblicamente ma anche trovare un modo per trascinare l'ex presidente Bush nei tribunali militari avendo commesso crimini di guerra, mentito pubblicamente e maltrattato i prigionieri di guerra rompendo gli accordi di Geneva.

Successivamente, Muhamed accettò la decisione del governo statunitense di perseguire i detenuti di alto valore rimanenti a Guantanamo-bay escludendo Walid Bin Attash che è in una prigione in Oman per la riabilitazione e rinunciare alla violenza e crimine.

L'1 dicembre, Muhamed lascia il suo lavoro presso US Army Reserve e Guantanamo-bay facendo ritorno a New York dove ritorna a lavorare come agente speciale del FBI.

Il 5 febbraio 2023, Muhamed fece ritorno a Guantanamo a Cuba nella prigione Guantanamo bay per sorvegliare i 5 detenuti di alto valore in particolare Walid Bin Attash oltre a dare a loro il vaccino COVID-19 e le medicine.

L'1 marzo, si trasferisce a Miami in Florida dove inizia a lavorare nuovamente come ufficiale intelligence presso US army Reserve.

Personalità:

I Gemelli sono proprio così come dicono tutti: mostrano una personalità a volte parecchio contraddittoria e mutevole, con un alone di mistero. L'uomo Gemelli è un essere intelligente: ha una mente rapida e agile. Molto osservatore, tende ad analizzare tutto ciò che lo circonda. Inoltre, non è raro sorprenderlo mentre sogna ad occhi aperti.

Informazioni

Data di nascita: 30 maggio 1995

Nazionalità: Bosniaco

Occupazione: Ufficiale intelligence presso US army Reserve

Luogo di nascita: Sarajevo, Bosnia

Luogo di residenza: Miami,Florida

Religione: Islam sunnita

Prestavolti:

-Dan Jeannotte

-Chez Rust

-Ken Bek

-KJ Apa

-Brenton Thwaites

-Mustafa Acilan

-Ugur Gunes

-Kade Wise

-Eren Elmali

-Eleazar Gomez

-Zayn Malik

-Abraham Hamadeh (pv attuale)

-Abraham Aiyash

-Abdelhakim Belhaj

[racefortheironthrone]

Do you have any good reading recommendations that touch on the Peasant's Revolt?

So for nostalgic/family reasons, I'm a fan of Charles Oman's the Great Revolt of 1381, even though it's over a century old at this point and doesn't reflect modern revisions to the academic literature.

For a more modern popularized account of 1381 that does incorporate some of the more recent additions to the literature, I'd recommend Juliet Barker's 1381.

[aimeedaisies]

Members of other royal families who attended the coronation of Their Majesties, King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey - 06/05/23

Europe

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium 🇧🇪

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (representing the Queen of Denmark) 🇩🇰

Alois, Hereditary Prince and Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein (representing the Prince of Liechtenstein) 🇱🇮

Grand-Duke Henri and Grand-Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg 🇱🇺

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco 🇲🇨

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands 🇳🇱

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway (representing the King of Norway) 🇳🇴

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain 🇪🇸

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden 🇸🇪

Asia

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain 🇧🇭

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan 🇧🇹

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Prince 'Abdul Mateen of Brunei 🇧🇳

Crown Prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait (representing the Emir of Kuwait) 🇰🇼

Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko of Japan (representing the Emperor) 🇯🇵

King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan 🇯🇴

Yang di Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia 🇲🇾

Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Crown Prince of Oman (representing the Sultan of Oman) 🇴🇲

Emir and Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad of Qatar 🇶🇦

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi (representing the Emir of Abu Dhabi and President of the United Arab Emirates) 🇦🇪

Prince Turki bin Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia (representing the King of Saudi Arabia) 🇸🇦

King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida of Thailand 🇹🇭

Africa

King Mswati III and Inkhosikati LaMbikiza of Eswatini 🇸🇿

King Letsie III and Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso of Lesotho 🇱🇸

Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco (representing the King of Morocco) 🇲🇦

Oceania

King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipa’u of Tonga 🇹🇴

Ceremonial monarchs

Asantehene and Lady Julia of Asante 🇬🇭

Māori King Tuheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII and Queen Te Atawhai 🇳🇿

Members of defunct foreign royal families

Margrave Bernhard and Margravine Stephanie of Baden 🇩🇪

Tsar Simeon II and Tsaritsa Margarita of Bulgaria 🇧🇬

Landgrave and Langravine of Hesse 🇩🇪

Prince Philipp and Princess Saskia of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 🇩🇪

Margareta of Romania (Custodian of the Crown of Romania) and Prince Radu of Romania 🇷🇴

Queen Anne-Marie, Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of the Hellenes 🇬🇷

Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia 🇷🇸

[fideidefenswhore]

In contrast, surviving portraits and sculpture depicting such heart-shaped jewels are fewer. The effigy of Elizabeth Aldeburgh at All Saint’s, Harewood, (d. 1434), after the Master of Flémalle, Marie de Pacy, Wife of Barthelemy Alatruye (copy circa 1562 of painting dating to circa 1425) and Jean Hey’s Margaret of Austria (Metropolitan Museum, ca. 1490) are notable examples. A mid-sixteenth-century example is Maerten van Heemskerck’s Allegory of Innocence and Guile (Bowes Museum). Early sixteenth-century Netherlandish Books of Hours, such as the Bruges-made example in the Morgan Library (MS. M399, ca. 1515) show pendant hearts enclosed within borders of twisted wire, and many surviving silver and lead-alloy pendants imitate this border with a twisted wire motif or beading. Though these can be difficult to date, the use of Roman capitals on 1997,0105.3 and 1836,0610.82 suggests that both are post-medieval. Since Charles Oman’s British Rings 800-1914 (1974, 40-41), it has been proposed that letter forms (Lombardic vs. Blackletter vs. Roman vs. italic) may be used as an aid to dating. Philippa Glanville asserts that Roman lettering was introduced to England in 1509, but that blackletter-inspired lettering continued to be seen as late as 1525 before giving way to Roman capitals in the 1530s (1990, 149). Lead alloy heart-shaped badges are recorded by the PAS for England & Wales, and on the continent.

Heart-Shaped Discovery