#flashpoint magazine

[zvaigzdelasas]

A painful reality check shows the 600-mile-long Ukrainian-Russian front in a figurative and literal freeze, draining Ukrainian resources and lives without much prospect for change in the foreseeable future. The much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive of the past six months exacted a huge cost in casualties and matériel, but barely nudged the front lines. Ukraine’s top military commander has said the fight is at a “stalemate” — a notion deemed taboo not long ago — and only an unlikely technological breakthrough by one side or the other could break it. [...]

The way things are going, “Ukraine will for the foreseeable future harbor Europe’s most dangerous geopolitical fault line,” [...] an endless conflict that deepens Russia’s alienation from the West, enshrines Putinism and delays Ukraine’s integration into Europe. That, at least, is the bleak prognosis if victory in the war continues to be defined in territorial terms, specifically the goal of driving Russia out of all the Ukrainian lands it occupied in 2014 and over the past 22 months, including Crimea and a thick wedge of southeastern Ukraine, altogether about a fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. But regaining territory is the wrong way to imagine the best outcome. True victory for Ukraine is to rise from the hell of the war as a strong, independent, prosperous and secure state, firmly planted in the West.[...]

the only way to find out if Mr. Putin is serious about a cease-fire, and whether one can be worked out, is to give it a try. Halting Russia well short of its goals and turning to the reconstruction and modernization of Ukraine would be lasting tributes to the Ukrainians who have made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the existence of their nation. And no temporary armistice would forever preclude Ukraine from recovering all of its land.

With U.S. and European aid to Ukraine now in serious jeopardy, the Biden administration and European officials are quietly shifting their focus from supporting Ukraine’s goal of total victory over Russia to improving its position in an eventual negotiation to end the war, according to a Biden administration official and a European diplomat based in Washington. Such a negotiation would likely mean giving up parts of Ukraine to Russia. The White House and Pentagon publicly insist there is no official change in administration policy — that they still support Ukraine’s aim of forcing Russia’s military completely out of the country. [...]

The administration official told POLITICO Magazine this week that much of this strategic shift to defense is aimed at shoring up Ukraine’s position in any future negotiation. “That’s been our theory of the case throughout — the only way this war ends ultimately is through negotiation,” said the official, a White House spokesperson who was given anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record.[...]

“Those discussions [about peace talks] are starting, but [the administration] can’t back down publicly because of the political risk” to Biden, said a congressional official who is familiar with the administration’s thinking and who was granted anonymity to speak freely.[...]

The European diplomat based in Washington said that the European Union is also raising the threat of expediting Ukraine’s membership in NATO to “put the Ukrainians in the best situation possible to negotiate” with Moscow. That is a flashpoint for Putin, who is believed to be mainly interested in a strategic deal with Washington under which Ukraine will not enter NATO. [...]

For most of the conflict GOP critics have accused Biden of moving too slowly to arm the Ukrainians with the most sophisticated weaponry, such as M1A1 Abrams battle tanks, long-range precision artillery and F-16 fighter jets. In an interview in July Zelenskyy himself said the delays “provided Russia with time to mine all our lands and build several lines of defense.” [...]

The Ukrainians themselves are engaged in what is becoming a very public debate about how long they can hold out against Putin. With Ukraine running low on troops as well as weapons, Zelenskyy’s refusal to consider any fresh negotiations with Moscow is looking more and more politically untenable at home. The Ukrainian president, seeking to draft another half million troops, is facing rising domestic opposition from his military commander in chief, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, and the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko.

So what was all that for then [27 Dec 23]

[cherrylng]

Matt Bellamy Interview - Muse [ROCKIN'ON (September 2000)]

"The ideal is to keep pushing forward and go on and on and on and on and die in the end….. What I want to do is act out that ideal."

The new generation of guitar band supernovas, Muse, have finally broken through in their home country of the UK. We caught up with Matt Bellamy just before Summer Sonic to find out more about the hyper nuclear explosion he is about to cause on stage. Interview by Erika Yamashita

Matt Bellamy is 22 years old. On the day of the interview, he had not returned from Glastonbury for a long time. When he finally got back, he got into a big fight with his sweetheart, who had been with him since he was 15, over whether he was going to Wimbledon or not. After all that, a phone call came into our waiting mobile phone, saying "We've broken up", which was not even an excuse (Of course, after this interview, he went to Wimbledon in his girlfriend's car). A genius boy is still a boy.

If a genius is born of talent plus environment, he is a very good test case indeed. A boring hometown, a complicated family environment thrown in at the delicate age of mid-teens. He was placed in a situation where there was nothing else to do but music, and his special qualities, which he could master as soon as he was given a musical instrument, blossomed most fortunately. The problem is the ‘riskiness’ of Muse's live shows, which lightly involve the superhuman technique cultivated in this way.

Every time I saw them on stage, I started to wonder if they were okay. Unnormal hyper-energy, passion, adrenaline - there's just not enough to say. He looks like he has a ticking time bomb in his breast pocket and is running into unlimited chaos. There, an explosion of life is always waiting, willing to stab the world in the back and destroy itself.

However, within Matt Bellamy lives the will to objectify such extreme conditions of life. He becomes possessed by the role as he plays it, and yet there is no fail-safe on the bomb in his chest that he returns to in the end, leaving a shell behind. The chaos which he dives into is always a flashpoint. And then, with a bang, he rises in an unknown place, leaving behind a shadow that flutters over the cliff and disappears before our eyelids. Another one is gone. And here I am.

A strange, almost split-second, instinctive balance. Is it his character, his theatrical training, or the blood of his mother, a medium? Or perhaps we are looking at a 21st-century artist who is called upon to survive.

"It's not that we think we're the best or anything, but I just don't see any bands playing this kind of rock in the UK at the moment."

The stage at Glastonbury was also incredible. The ending was like you, Chris and Dominic rolling around in a three-way and trying to smash a drum kit, what were you thinking at that moment? 「(laughs) No, I was struggling to get out of the way when they got on top of me. So I kicked the equipment over. I wasn't trying to break anything, I just decided not to break any more stuff. Well, that was the moment at the end of the show when the three of us got closer, or something like that.」

Closer, huh (laughs). Anyway, Muse went from being an unknown band at Glastonbury last year to becoming such a big name in the space of a few years. How do you feel about it? 「But I don't really feel that way. People don't stop us on the street and think we're famous. We're just starting out. People often talk about how well-known we are in interviews, but we don't see ourselves on TV or in magazines, so we don't really know.」

You guys originally got noticed at the CMJ festival in the US, which led to your signing with Maverick. Then came France, Germany, and Australia, followed by the very late recognition in your home country of the UK How did you feel about this? 「Yes, it's true that the British were late in that respect, and we were the last to be signed. But the record is the biggest seller in the UK. We were the first to have an album go gold. So we were slow to jump on board, but once we did, we were quick. We ended up being the most successful in the UK. I think the reason we didn't catch on right away is because it was a time in the UK when record companies weren't interested in guitar bands. They tended to focus on idols and R&B groups.」

The arrival of Muse has allowed British guitar rock to assert itself with pride, and has also created the ground for a revival in the young guitar band scene. In your eyes, do you see rivals to yourselves in the current scene? 「No, that's the problem. It's not that we think we're the best or anything, it's just that I don't see any bands doing this kind of rock. We seem to be the only ones in the Top 40 with this kind of music. Then there's Travis and Stereophonics, but they're not really new anymore, are they? They're on their second album. And then there's…… Coldplay are a great band, but they're not what you'd call rock! I wouldn't say they're our rivals because their music is completely different. I have no doubt they're going to be big, but I think it's a different audience.」

Do you feel like you're more in your element when you tour the US with bands like the Chilli Peppers and the Foo Fighters? 「UK bands have had a hard time in the States over the last couple of years. This is the downside of Britpop. Oasis and Blur sold really well in their home countries and then brought it to America, but they needed a slightly special audience in America. In other words, people who thought Britain was a really eccentric and cool place and would wear Union Jack T-shirts and stuff like that. We had a problem with people expecting that from a British band. But when we played with the Foo Fighters, I thought we had finally met a real American audience. Our music is more global than British, and that tour was really good for us. We got the chance to play to 20,000 people who only listen to American rock night after night. Other UK bands still don't get that chance.」

That's quite an energetic touring pace, isn't it? I saw your ‘room introduction’ in Select magazine, and it looked like a deserted room with a bunch of chairs and musical instruments placed in a corner, and it looked like the owner might not be coming back (laughs). 「Hahahaha…… I don't actually live there anymore. I lived there for a year until last January, but I was on tour a lot and rarely came back, so I decided to leave. I used to work as a decorator and painter before the band became famous, so when I had more time I thought I'd do some work on it and make it a better home. The bed was still there for now, so I thought I'd put a few more things in there, so I took this photo. That's the closest I can get to being at home now, but I'm never at home at all (laughs).」

How many days have you actually been at home this year? 「Hahahaha…… About two weeks in total.」

There is a lot of concern out there that you are on the verge of burnout. Not long ago, there was a news report in the British press of you saying that, "If we keep going at this pace, we're going to burn out". 「I'm sorry about that, but it's not true at all. I was on a student radio show in America and I jokingly blurted out that "touring is hell and I'm burnt out". I was exhausted from all the small venues and all the travelling from the tour at that time, and the interviewer said, "You look tired", so I just said it in response. We just happened to be in that situation at the time, we weren't burnt out. But the radio interview went on the internet and the NME printed it proudly in their papers. It was like we were issuing an official declaration to the British press.」

The UK press is doing a great job as usual. 「Hahaha. Well, it doesn't matter. We're fine over here and it's obvious when you see us keep playing like this.」

"The gig was over and I was lying on the floor, motionless behind the amps. I stayed like that until the lights came on and everyone left, and it felt really good."

It's been ten months since "Showbiz" was first released to the world, and in that time you've already come a long way. How do you feel about that album now, looking back on it yourself? 「Basically, I still like it. I think it shows what we were like back then. The only regret I have is that the mixing could have been a bit better in places. But it doesn't matter, I was a different person then and I'm a different person now. When the album first came out, we were compared to Radiohead a lot, but as people got to know our live sound and who we actually are and who we are as a band, that stopped happening.」

Yes. By the way, I've been wanting to ask you something for a while. Your father was also a band member, so you must have been familiar with the industry from a long time ago, and I thought that's why you were so determined to make it big at such a young age. But when you decided to become a professional musician, your father wasn't around at all, let alone being a confidant? 「That's right. That's one of the things I'm starting to see…… My parents divorced when I was 13, and that's when I started playing guitar. I've recently started to wonder if that might have something to do with my father's disappearance. Before that, I wasn't that into music. I was just doing it for fun. But then my father left and it was just me and my mother, and then my mother left too, so I lived with my grandmother, from 14 to…… to 18, I think. That's when I really started playing music.」

Why do you think that was? 「I don't know, but when I'm playing music…… For me, music makes me forget everything else - everything that I don't like. Living like this every day now, I don't feel like I went through something terrible in the past. I don't think it was hard, either. But I think the reason I've managed to get by is because of music. Especially when my parents split up and neither of them were around anymore, I was able to get through it because of music.」

About the power of music. At the London Astoria show on June 7th, you seemed to lose your temper completely and rolled over with your guitar in your hand, right under the tube-shaped lights at the back of the stage. How is it that the climaxes of your shows, like at Glastonbury, are so unusual? You get to an extreme orgasmic state while you're playing, and you're like, ‘Kill! Kill! Kill me!’? 「Hahahahaha…… Ahaha…… No, recently, I've been thinking about it. I don't know if it's possible to make it happen, but I'd like to do a gig with a curtain at the back of the stage. The three of us have been soaring to the top, and even though there's a limit to how high we can go (laughs), sometimes I feel like that when I'm playing a gig…… It's hard to describe, but when I'm playing music I'm totally liberated and almost become a different persona. I think it's really boring to just stand there and wave and leave after a gig. The ideal gig is one that goes on and on and on and on, and in the end you die hahaha. But I don't really want to die (laughs), so what I want to do is to act it out. You know, like a one-act play. I become the destruction of everything, and in the end I disappear. And only the curtain remains. That's the way I want to end it」

And like only silence remained? 「Yes, yes. If we release many albums, we will be able to do many different kinds of shows, but the music we are doing now always has a climax waiting for us. If we start playing more quiet songs, I think it would be possible to play those songs at the end of the show and have a mellow ending, but for now. The way we ended the second day in Astoria, that was the first time we've done something like that. I was lying on the floor under the light tube, behind the guitar amp, not moving. I stayed there until the lights came on and everyone left the building. It felt really good, you know. I was starting to feel like I was falling down little by little and that it was really over. A lot of times during a gig you get so high from all the noise that you just can't get it down. But when you're sitting on the floor like that, you gradually come out of it. I can leave it on the stage. When I wait until all the audience is gone too, I really feel like everything is leaving me and disappearing.」

I see. So you die and are reborn every time. 「(laughs) That's right. I want to do an ending that conveys that.」

By the way, Muse's music, especially your guitar and vocals, is full of a sense of urgency, as if you are squeezing the world to death. It's like a sense of ‘I want to somehow make this world the way I want it to be’. What do you think? 「Hmmm…… I can't say I know what to say. Sometimes it's hard for me to look at things objectively. I think it can be read in various ways, it could have something to do with the way I was brought up as a child, it could be something that comes out of my inner darkness and chaos, it could be something that touches my subconscious and triggers a reaction in my brain that leads me to some kind of creative activity. But…… I've noticed recently that after a few months of making an album, I'm really good at explaining things. Why did I make this album, why did I write these songs? But in the last couple of months I've started concentrating on writing songs again and I don't know why I'm doing it at all, again. I can't explain my motives when I talk about the songs, but a few months ago I could say it very clearly and precisely. I'm back to confusion now. I'm starting to doubt that even my old songs were really made for the reasons I thought they were. From February to May this year I was undeniably confident about why I was doing what I was doing. Writing music itself is the most simple thing ever, I can't explain it, but it's a certain ‘feeling’. It's just a very simple desire to get the ‘feeling’ inside me out there. It doesn't matter if someone else is listening or not, it just spreads and fills the room with that feeling, that's all. It's only when it takes the form of an album that I start thinking about this and that. But I can't do that now. Sorry.」

No, I think that's right, when you're making something. By the way, do you consider yourself a guitarist, singer, or songwriter first and foremost? 「…… (thinks for a moment)) …… I don't know, I think I'm a songwriter first and foremost. I mean, I'm more of a music maker or a composer. That's what I want to be. I've passed the best stage of playing every instrument I've ever picked up. When I first started piano lessons, I improved a lot and by the time I was about 13 I was a very good pianist. All I played were pieces I'd composed myself. Of course, it was based on something I heard by ear, but I didn't really know it, so I just pieced it together. I realised that as soon as I learnt one instrument, I tended to move on to another. That's why I started playing the guitar. By the time I was 16 or 17, I was probably technically a better classical guitarist than I am now. Well, I play differently now. Then, at around 17, I let go of the guitar and concentrated on getting better at singing. It's the same with other instruments, but I seem to learn the basics very quickly. Then I decide if I want to improve further or not. Maybe it doesn't matter what kind of instrument you play, the instrument itself is a way of venturing out.」

Great guitarists often put their inability to express themselves in words into their instruments. But you put an excessive amount of energy into your guitar and vocals, like 300% when you add them together. That's rather rare, isn't it? 「Ahahaha, yeah, well, I'd like to. Ideally, I'd like to be like Jimi Hendrix. He sang a lot, and at that level, I don't think you're aware of how you're playing anymore. When you sing and play, it's almost automatic because you can't focus on your fingertips, and it's more expressive. The emotions that come out when I'm singing just flow straight out of my fingers. When I play guitar on stage, it's not the notes or chords that come to my mind, it's the emotion of the song itself. I really forget what I'm playing.」

"I remember very clearly that when I was 14, I thought that music was all I had. Well, I feel like I'm slowly starting to understand why my life is the way it is."

That's something only you can say, of course. So, the highly anticipated second album. You've written a lot of new material, but is it going to be a very different type of material? 「Yes. In terms of the method, it's the same as the first album, and each song is polished based on a live performance. For example, ‘Muscle Museum’, ‘Sunburn’ and ‘Falling Down’, we practised them live and then changed the instruments and arrangements on the recordings, and they turned out completely different. In the same way, the new songs we're playing live at this stage might not sound so different from the old ones. We're playing the same instruments and using the same techniques as before. When we go into the studio, we listen back to them and try different ways of doing things. I mean, that's when the song is really finished. Anyway, I can say here and now that some of the songs will be heavier than before. I don't know if heavy is misleading…… There are a couple of numbers where the guitars feature more than on the first one. But if I say that, people will expect it to be another heavy guitar album, won't they? Yes, there are some powerful, heavy and hard guitar-driven songs. But on the other hand, I think there are a couple of acoustic-oriented numbers on there too. With very old instruments. You know, bone percussion like they use in voodoo. And some Spanish guitars. So some of the songs will be very organic, very raw and sad. It's like taking the piano out of ‘Sunburn’, if you know what I mean. ‘Sunburn’, ‘Showbiz’, ‘Hate This And I Love You’, those are the songs that came towards the end of the first album, and I think it shows that the trend of our songs is shifting.」

Oh, I see. So it's safe to assume that the material for the new record is already in place? 「Yeah, we've got most of the songs. We've just started thinking about what sound we want to make and what instruments we want to use. With the first album we wanted to have variety throughout, and to create development within the songs, and we're going in that direction again this time. There's a lot of variety, and the direction of the variety is all over the place. It's hard to explain (laughs)…… But I'm sure it's going to be something that's very Muse.」

So the question is, when do you start recording (laughs)? 「Hmm, after the summer festival tour is over. We'll make a demo in September. Then we'll decide on a producer.」

Do you have any idea who you're going to choose? 「John Leckie wants to do another one, but I think it will probably be someone else. He's a great producer and a pleasure to work with, but I'm afraid to work with the same producer twice. And then I'm afraid that I'll be afraid to leave that person next time. So I'd like to take this opportunity to try someone new. I'm thinking of having a producer from Boston do a couple of songs, but if it's really up to me, I'd like to use a different person for each song. I don't know if that's possible. It might cost too much money. Anyway, we'll record a full record in November. And the first single in January or February next year.」

That's a good pace. By the way, regarding the content of the songs, you've said for some time that you want to deal with themes that go beyond personal anguish in the future. How do you feel about that? 「Well, there are a few…… To be clear, two songs, that's what I've done. That's something you can do when you're with someone else and you feel really connected to them. For example, with my mother, I recently had a long talk and found out a lot of things. She showed me some old photos and I started to understand more about who she was when she was younger. She had a lot going on in her life, and I thought that she must have had a difficult time when she was young, so I wrote a song about that. The other song is from the point of view of a young girl. She's always flicking through fashion magazines, comparing herself to other women who look like models and lamenting that she's not like them*. And she thinks how empty that is. That's what I'm putting myself in her shoes to sing about.」

Wow, that's exciting. Is this a very conscious process? Do you still find yourself saying, ‘Oh, I'm talking about myself again’? 「(laughs) Yeah, quite a lot. But the really good songs just come out on their own, without me even thinking about it. Like, I don't even know what I'm talking about. But I made a conscious effort to write songs that don't just rant and rave like that (laughs). It's the first time I've made a song that wasn't random. I won't know if it's a success or a failure until it's finished.」

You mentioned your mother, was she a medium? 「Yes, she was. It was a long time ago though.」

I wonder if the reason you often talk about the separation of technology and spirituality has something to do with this background. For example, when you were a child, did it feel very natural for you to come into contact with the world through spirits and the like? 「Hmmm… I don't know. I don't really understand it myself, but I'm interested. These things are speculation and nothing is factual…… It's true that when I was a child, my mother was a medium. That means she speaks the language of the dead. That kind of thing was very close to me. I was around 8 or 9, and my brother was around 13, and he was really into it. But when I was 13 or 14, my mother stopped. My father left, and that's when my mother stopped doing it too. And I remember very clearly that when I was 14, I thought that music was the only thing for me. Well, I'm slowly starting to understand why my life is the way it is……」

Yeah. By the way, you just turned 22 the other day. How did you spend your birthday? 「Oh, I was in London and took a day off. An old friend who I hadn't seen for months came out to London and stayed at my place. I was about to go on tour the next day, so I had a day off. I bought a Go-Ped. You know, a scooter with an engine. We rode around London on it, it was fun.」

Matt on a scooter. I can picture it in my mind (laughs). Lastly, what does the word ‘hope’ remind you of now? 「Hope. Hope is, you know…… Hmmm…… First of all, you're trapped in a cave or something like that. That's fine. That's the normal state of affairs. But hope is when you see a little hole all the way up there, and you see the sky, and the sun, and there's light. It's just a ray of light shining on your face. But it doesn't reach there. That's my image of hope.」

It's not here now, but I know it's there. Is that what it feels like? 「Yeah, yeah.」

Translator's Note: The article perfectly describes Matt as it is. "A genius boy is still a boy" indeed LMAO

* The song that Matt referred to later came to be known as 'Screenager' and appeared on the second album, Origin of Symmetry. As for the song that Matt talked about wanting to write to be based on his mum, I don't know what that is. If anyone knows, do let me know!

Do support me on my Ko-fi!

[mariacallous]

The remarkable rise of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket in the United States presidential election raises the question of her foreign policy priorities. This is a concern for the whole of the global community given the primacy of the U.S. in the international system. For the Western Balkans, however, it is particularly consequential, not only because the U.S. has wielded outsize influence in the region since the bloody dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, but because, since 2014, it has been widely perceived as the “next most likely” geopolitical flashpoint in Europe, after Ukraine. This is a region where Russia and China have exploited the waning capacity of the EU and made massive strategic strides, and where the restoration of authoritarian-nationalist rule in Serbia has prompted growing fears of renewed conflict, particularly following the discovery of large lithium deposits in the country. But understanding Harris’ posture toward the Western Balkans is not easy.

During her short tenure in the Senate (2017-21), Harris was not particularly outspoken on matters of foreign policy. Her concern with Europe, for instance, was largely apropos Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. She rose to national prominence as one of the most incisive questioners of Donald Trump’s links to the Kremlin during the then-president’s first impeachment. Upon assuming the vice presidency in 2021, Harris was largely assigned to domestic concerns, above all immigration and the southern border. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Harris did become part of the efforts by Joe Biden’s administration to rally support for Kyiv among European allies but one would be hard-pressed to identify a signature foreign policy issue Harris advanced during this time. And there is virtually no public record of Harris ever having taken an interest in the Western Balkans.

This is not to suggest that Harris was inconsequential in her role. But, ultimately, the most significant aspect of her legacy as vice president, at least with respect to the Western Balkans, may be her inescapable association with Biden’s approach to the region. It is an approach that has left both the regional policy community and much of its public aghast.

In a May 2023 article for Foreign Policy magazine, titled “How Biden Lost the Balkans,”I wrote that the Biden administration had “aggressively deepened its commitments to Serbia’s near-autocratic president while simultaneously reorienting its broader regional posture to center Belgrade and its foreign-policy priorities,” with especially pronounced negative effects on the security and stability of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro. In Bosnia-Herzegovina specifically, the Biden team was convincingly accused by other experts of having doubled down on “ethnic oligarchy” — shoring up the country’s sectarian constitutional regime at the expense of civil rights — during an episode of U.S.-backed election interference in October 2022, thus aiding the country’s institutional dismemberment by nationalist leaders in Zagreb and Belgrade. Even The Washington Post’s editorial board blasted Biden’s regional approach, writing in a Jan. 3 editorial that “Biden’s policy … to embrace Serbia’s authoritarian president, Aleksandar Vucic, in a bid to peel his country away from Russia … increasingly looks like a failure.”

Ironically, the vitriol directed at Biden is likely a product of the dizzying expectations that greeted his election in much of the region. The U.S. president was well known in the Western Balkans, with many — especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo — recalling his record as a fierce critic of then-President Bill Clinton’s soft approach to the genocidal regime of Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Serbia. The widely shared expectation was that Biden, as an impassioned Senate champion of the Bosnian independence cause, would reset Washington’s regional policy and perhaps even deliver on the historic task of reforming Bosnia’s failing U.S.-authored postwar constitution.

None of that occurred.

Instead, Biden’s ambassador to Belgrade, Christopher Hill, quickly emerged as almost a part-time spokesperson for the Vucic government. After Serb militants in the north of Kosovo attacked NATO peacekeepers, the U.S. and EU sanctioned the government of Kosovo, absurdly accusing Pristina of having provoked the riots. The sharp turn toward categorical appeasement of Belgrade became so pronounced that a group of 56 senior lawmakers from the U.S., U.K. and EU took the extraordinary step of penning an open letter calling on Washington and Brussels to adopt a tougher, reality-based approach to Serbia. Even senior Serbian opposition figures have complained publicly over an American approach that has left them, and the Serbian public, baffled.

Would President Harris continue her predecessor’s approach to the region? We do not know, and we have few tea leaves to read.

On the one hand, Harris’ camp has signaled that, as president, she would look to replace both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Presumably such a move would accompany additional staffing changes within the U.S. foreign policy and defense apparatus. If these alterations indicated a desire by the new president to break with the policies of the Democratic foreign policy establishment since 2008, then they would potentially represent an opportunity for the Western Balkans. That is, if Harris has a critical view of this period, and wishes to chart her own course, the Western Balkans should quickly feel the effects (and benefits) of such a decision.

On the other hand, Philip Gordon, Harris’ national security advisor and the man expected to play the dominant role in shaping her foreign policy in the event that she becomes president, served previously under both Clinton and Barack Obama. Unusually for an Obama-era official, however, the U.S. media has presented Gordon as a Europhile. Worryingly, according to the Financial Times, he appears to share Obama’s skeptical view of America’s power to shape events and his “willingness to negotiate with autocratic regimes and suspicion of idealism in foreign policy.” Given that Obama presided over a dramatic decline in American interest and capacity in the Western Balkans, the continuation of such an approach, especially following the punishing Biden years and the chaos of the Trump administration, would erode the last tethers of stability (or “stabilocracy”) in the region.

In the absence of more detailed information about Harris’ likely disposition toward the region, it might be safest to assume that she would continue her predecessors’ policy of viewing the Western Balkans as peripheral to U.S. foreign policy. In practice, that would mean that those directing Washington’s policy in the region would continue to be career diplomats in the State Department, a smattering of political appointees, and even a handful of influential ambassadors, like Hill, who have dominated regional policy to date. Given the corrosive nature of the U.S. status quo in the region, this is not an optimistic scenario.

None of this is to say a second Trump presidency would be preferable for the Western Balkans, not least because of the Trump family’s now-transparent links to Vucic, as revealed by recent New York Times and Politico reporting concerning multibillion-dollar real estate ventures in Serbia (and Albania) by the former president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his daughter Ivanka Trump. Trump’s close associate Richard Grenell, the former head of U.S. National Intelligence, also has direct ties to the Vucic regime. Grenell is a frequent visitor to Belgrade and a stalwart defender of Vucic on social media. In 2023, the Serbian leader awarded him the Order of the Serbian Flag, one of the country’s highest state honors. Grenell’s relationship to Vucic is also widely speculated to involve ties to the hard-line Bosnian Serb secessionist Milorad Dodik. The latter, for his part, hired two ex-Trump aides in 2018 to lobby on behalf of his government in Washington, D.C. The consultancy that brokered this arrangement was registered to the home address of Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager.

Yet to many in the region, at least, the Biden years were seen as little different and, in some crucial ways, as worse than the Trump era. Trump, at least, did not shore up Bosnia-Herzegovina’s failing sectarian constitutional regime, nor did he particularly strengthen the hand of anti-state elements in the country. Biden did. Grenell was credibly accused by Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti of having orchestrated a coup against his first government but the U.S.-backed Washington Agreement of 2020 secured Kosovo’s recognition by Israel. Under Biden’s watch, during the 2023 Banjska paramilitary attack, militants linked to the Belgrade regime enacted the worst violence against Kosovo since the 1998-99 war. 

Democratic stalwarts may dismiss such characterizations but they should recall that the sizable Western Balkan diaspora in the U.S. is largely concentrated in a string of key swing states. Republicans are unlikely to secure the Bosnian-American or Albanian-American vote but Harris’ fortunes in states like Georgia and Michigan may well depend on their turnout. Harris’ team would do well to speak directly to these communities, stinging from Biden’s perceived betrayal over the past four years, and offer them a compelling reason to head to the polls in November, especially with respect to their core issue: U.S. policy toward the Western Balkans and Kamala Harris’ hitherto-unarticulated view on it.

The most urgent priority for a Harris administration’s foreign policy in the Western Balkans would be a comprehensive retooling of Washington’s posture toward Serbia. The Harris administration should recognize that the Trump- and Biden-era policies of attempting to pull Belgrade out of Moscow’s orbit have failed and, worse, have only further emboldened the most hard-line, militant elements in Serbia in their growing pretensions against neighboring states — above all, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The U.S. should categorically decouple its regional policy from Serbia and refocus its efforts on shoring up the security and democratic integrity of states and governments that have proven pro-Western track records.

In practical terms this means, in conjunction with the EU, lifting the “restrictive measures” (that is, the downgrading of diplomatic ties) against Kosovo that the U.S. and EU imposed in the spring of 2023 after Serb militants attacked NATO peacekeepers, for which Washington and Brussels blamed Kosovo. The U.S. should now work with its European partners to solidify Pristina’s place in the international order. The Harris administration should also stress to its European partners that it considers Kosovo’s admission to the Council of Europe a priority because Serbia cannot be allowed to unilaterally obstruct Pristina’s participation in the international system indefinitely. The present asymmetry in the countries’ international standing has only further incentivized Serbia to engage in maximalist posturing. Relatedly, the EU should no longer wait to formalize its relationship with Kosovo as a future candidate and member state until the resolution of the Serbia-Kosovo dispute. Instead, Brussels should grant Kosovo immediate candidate status and use the accession process to create the political and institutional framework for an eventual agreement between the two sides.

Because it is likely that the five countries within the EU that oppose Kosovo’s recognition — Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain — may seek to derail this process, the Harris administration should communicate to each of these respective capitals that any such decision on their part would result in a significant bilateral rupture with the U.S. The same should be communicated to Bulgaria concerning its ongoing blockade of North Macedonia’s EU path. And the same should, especially, be stressed to the right-wing government in Croatia, whose interference in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s domestic politics has become brazen and overtly malign. The U.S. should respond with a sharp rebuke of Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s recent rejection of the centrality of the European Convention on Human Rights in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s postwar constitutional regime. The White House should also promptly and categorically clarify that neither Croatia nor Serbia will be permitted to play any meaningful role in the process of constitutional reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is a political and legal priority.

Moreover, as president, Harris would also preside over the 30th anniversary of the signing of the same U.S.-brokered Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the Bosnian War. As the architect of the Dayton Agreement, and the Bosnian Constitution embedded within that agreement, the U.S. has a particular responsibility to the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina, especially in the wake of a succession of rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which have struck down large segments of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Constitution as discriminatory. Especially given Harris’ own multiracial and multicultural background, her administration should commit to delivering substantive constitutional reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina during her first term, in line with the decisions of the ECHR, ensuring that all Bosnian citizens, regardless of their ethnic or religious identity — or lack thereof — are afforded equal democratic rights in all parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina. A relatively modest set of reforms, proximate to those previously endorsed by significant portions of the Bosnia-Herzegovina political establishment in 2006, could then also clear the path for Bosnia-Herzegovina’s NATO accession. A forthcoming policy report from the New Lines Institute will further detail the actual mechanics and substance of such a U.S.-led constitutional reform process in the country. To wit, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s inclusion in NATO could be realized before the conclusion of a hypothetical second Harris term, assuming a successful round of constitutional reform.

In short, if Harris has the will, she could help deliver a remarkable political renaissance in the Western Balkans, during which the U.S. would, finally, adopt a reality-based security posture, buttressed by a commitment to shoring up genuine democratic regimes in the region.

Such a development would also clearly signal to our beleaguered friends in Kyiv that America delivers on its promises. Understandably, after the Obama administration’s shocking capitulation to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, Trump’s four-year rampage against the post-Cold War settlement, Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and his administration’s continued handicapping of Ukraine’s offensive capabilities, fears about U.S. commitments to the liberal democratic order remain pronounced among America’s friends and allies. Harris could do much to shore up U.S. credibility as the keystone polity of that order, through a succession of small but transformative moves in the Western Balkans.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Evan Urquhart at Assigned Media:

Dr. Eithan Haim has portrayed himself as a victim of politically motivated prosecution after he leaked information about trans kids treated at Texas Children’s Hospital to a notorious culture war activist. The FBI will bring felony charges against a doctor accused of leaking the private health data of transgender youth to conservative activist Chris Rufo. Dr. Eithan Haim has admitted to leaking partially redacted medical records to Rufo, records he accessed while working as a resident at Texas Children’s Hospital. 

Rufo is best known for his efforts to push the Republican party to pursue culture war flashpoints such as critical race theory and the idea that LGBTQ+ acceptance in schools amounts to “grooming” kids.  The records, which included multiple pieces of information relating to individual patients at Texas Children’s, were published on Rufo’s blog on May 16, 2023. At the same time, the write-ups of the leaks were also published in City Journal, the public policy magazine of the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. Stories by Rufo published to City Journal later revealed Haim’s identity and broke the news that he was under investigation by the FBI for misuse of patient data, Most recently, Rufo also broke the news on City Journal that the investigation has resulted in four felony charges for Haim. An update on Haim’s fundraiser on GiveSendGo, published on June 8, described how Haim was notified of the charges, in his own words.

The FBI indicts anti-trans Dr. Eithan Haim for leaking the medical info of trans kids to right-wing agitator Christopher Rufo.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: Dr. Haim faces federal HIPAA charges for leaking trans kids’ medical records to rightwing activists

[archoneddzs15]

Sega 32X - Golf Magazine presents 36 Great Holes starring Fred Couples

Title: Golf Magazine presents 36 Great Holes starring Fred Couples / ゴルフマ ガジン プレゼンツ 36グレート ホールス スターリング フレッド・カプルス

Developer: Flashpoint Productions

Publisher: Sega of America

Release date: 24 February 1995

Catalogue No.: GM-5002

Genre: Golf

Fred Couples Golf on the 32X is a nice surprise. The courses are fairly wide open. There are a few problems, though; the ball is too small - it appears to be about one pixel big!! The computer always positions your golfer for you. Usually, you're aimed at the hole or fairway, but occasionally it's a bit off. You can aim your shot, but the limited graphics (and views) make it difficult to know WHERE it's safe to hit it. This is a quiet game with the exception of some birds and an occasional comment from Fred. Overall, a nice 32X title.

[wolfliving]

2/3rds of everyone in cities afraid of the sky

*|Economist magazine.

Executive summary

By 2050, cities will be home to more than two-thirds of the world’s population, placing them at the crux of humanity’s ability to adapt to the risks and uncertainties of the 21st century. Natural disasters from extreme weather to pandemics, and human catastrophes such as industrial accidents, terrorism and cyber-attacks, take their gravest toll on citizens in densely populated urban centres. Cities can also be flashpoints for instability and conflict due to poverty and inequality.

For the purpose of this research, Economist Impact defines urban resilience as a city’s ability to avoid, withstand and recover from shocks, such as natural disasters; and from long-term stresses such as poverty, decrepit infrastructure or migration. A resilient city should be able to self-organise following a shock event, adapt to unfolding risks and plan ahead rather than react.

“With the reality of climate change, resilience is not just about the ability to withstand or absorb disturbances but [is also about] being sustainable. It must not add to any future potential problems while serving its basic functions,” says Lavan Thiru, executive director at Infrastructure Asia....

[clay-cuttlefish]

Infinite Crisis is here. I'm over 75% of the way to Flashpoint now, which is good, because I gotta get as much of this out of the way as possible before I start my first school projects or else it'll kill me.

Infinite Crisis #1

Renee gets actual lines during a Crisis, which is wild.

Crispus is still hung up on Corrigan. Haha don't worry about it.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday (Gotham Central #37)

"Or else you find yourself asking questions that have no answer." Oh god damn it.

IC is a lot, and the street-level view doesn't make it any better. The world's ending and it takes a damn long time to happen.

Corrigan II (GC #38-40)

AAAAAA

CRISPUSSSS

The fact this is happening mid-Crisis. Jesus fuck does Renee not have enough going on already???

I'm gonna explode.

Even here, so much lower than she was back in Officer Down, she doesn't have it in her to execute someone.

Agony.

IC #2

Renee's gutwrenching emotional journey is on hold while I try to locate Vic in a bunch of group shot splash pages.

Vic's in a Charlton group photo.

Wonder Woman #226

On a magazine cover. He's a mystery!

IC Special: Villains United

Fighting alongside Nightshade and Judomaster, since his usual MO of standing next to Ted in Charlton references is. Uh. Not an option anymore. :(

Also in the big hero lineup.

IC #7

Judomaster gets his back broken. RIP or whatever.

Crispus is having just the worst time.

This was all very affecting the first time I read it but right now I'm just skimming for Vic in the group shots so I can get to 52.

[fiftytwotwentythree]

Wellness Wednesday:

Making Core Memories

This entire week has been a countdown to some quality family time.

I've had effing blast and honestly didn't have single disappointment or setback.

Things went as plan - things were loose and chill. I may have lost a little sleep but it was well worth it.

Oh, and... I broke the plateau and finally surpassed 80 pound mark - just the cherry on top for the this entire week.

.

.

31st CHECK-IN:

Current Goals:

Lose 52 lbs

Completed as of 4/12/2023

New Goal: Maintain or Continue on The Weight Loss Path

Avoid "Junk Food"

Minimize Take-Out / Fast Food Consumption

Short Term:

Vegetarian-ish Diet: Completed

End Date: 4/09/2023 - 46 Days Total

.

.

Stats from July:

Food:

Oranges: 34

Salads: 28

"Bags" of Popcorn: 26

Leftover Meals: 16

Cans of Soup: 3

Take Out: 0

Candy/Sweets: 0

Workout:

Jumping Jacks: 6,200

Push-Ups: 3,100

Glute Bridges: 3,100

Assisted Push-Ups: 3,100

Reverse Leg Lifts: 1,550

Leg Kickbacks: 1,450

Sit-Ups: 1,500

Plank (mins): 80

Squats: 0

Weight Loss:

Weightloss This Month: -3.6 lbs

Average Weightloss per Week: -0.9 lbs

Total Weightloss: -80.8 lbs

Entertainment:

Movies Watched: 19

Favorite from the Month:

Barbie

Hours of Television Watched: ~ 17 hours

( Crime Scene Kitchen, The Bear, The Righteous Gemstones, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, Adam Eats the 80's)

Reading

Books:

Books Completed This Month: 0

Book Title(s) Completed This Month: -n/a-

Book Total for the Year: 2

Comics:

Comics Completed: 2

Trades Completed: 15

Comic/Trade Titles Completed:

Flashpoint

The Last Ronin

Doom Patrol (2016-2018) Vol 1: Brick by Brick

Chew Vol 1: Taster's Choice

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol 2: Squirrel You Know It's True (2015)

Rick and Morty Vol 1

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe

Fantastic Four (1961) Issue #1

Incredible Hulk (1962) Issue #2

Paper Girls Vol 1

Bitch Planet Vol1: Extraordinary Machine

Umbrella Academy Vol 2: Dallas

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Vol 1

All-Star Superman

Batman '89 (2021)

All New X-Men Vol 1: Yesterday's X-Men

X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga The Complete Collection (Uncanny X-Men (1963-2011))

Favorite Comic/Trade Read:

The Last Ronin

Magazine(s):

Magazine(s) Completed: 0

.

.

Meal Tracker:

THURSDAY

Lunch:

Bowl of Progresso Tomato Basil Soup

- 10 Crackers

(1) Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Snack:

Serving of Blue Diamond Almonds

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

Supper:

Large Plate of Dirty Rice mixed with Dice Hashbrowns & Peppers

- Wild Rice

- Italian Sausage

- Onions

- Celery

- Carrots

- Kidney Beans

- Steak Seasoning

- Cumin

- Chicken Broth

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

FRIDAY

Lunch:

Large Leftover Plate of Dirty Rice

(2) Servings of Blue Diamond Almonds

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

Supper:

Large Leftover Plate of Dirty Rice

- Fried Egg

- Diced Hasbrowns with Peppers

Burrito

- Dirty Rice

- Diced Hasbrowns with Peppers

- (Runny) Fried Egg

- Roasted Red Salsa

- Sour Cream

- Cholula Hot Sauce

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

SATURDAY

Lunch:

StarKist Ranch Flavored Tuna on a Croissant with (2) Slices of Pepperjack Cheese

Great Value Teriyaki Tuna & Rice Bowl

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

Snack:

Bag of Smartfood's White Cheddar Popcorn

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

Supper:

Large Plate of Spaghetti

- Parmesan Cheese

(3) Scoops of Cottage Cheese

(6) Scoops of Green Beans

(2) Garlic Parmesan Rolls

(2) Glasses of Chocolate Milk

SUNDAY

Lunch:

Bowl of Cesaer Salad with Croutons

(2) Scoops of Cottage Cheese

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

Snack:

Serving of Blue Diamond Almonds

Bag of BBQ Corn Nuts

Individual Bag of Wonderful's Shelled Sweet Chili Pistachios

Bag of Orville Redenbacher Ultimate Butter Popcorn

Supper:

Bowl of Leftover Cesaer Salad with Croutons

(2) Scoops of Cottage Cheese

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

(2) Small Oranges

MONDAY

Lunch:

Cobb Salad

Snack:

Serving of Blue Diamond Almonds

Supper:

Santa Fe Style Salad

(2) Small Oranges

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

TUESDAY

Lunch:

Chef Salad

Serving of Blue Diamond Almonds

Supper:

Spinach Dijon Salad

(2) Oranges

WEDNESDAY

Lunch:

(4oz) Bag of Sahale Snacks Pomegranate Vanilla Flavored Cashews Glazed Mix

(4oz) Bag of Sahale Snacks Pomegranate Flavored Pistachios Glazed Mix

Supper:

(4) Oven Baked Ham, Pastrami, Corn Beef, and Pepperjack Cheese Sliders

(2) Small Oranges

(1) Glass of Chocolate Milk

.

.

Workouts:

THURSDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 Sets of 1 min]

FRIDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 Sets of 20]

SATURDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 Sets of 1 min]

SUNDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 Sets of 20]

MONDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 Sets of 1 min]

TUESDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges [4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [5 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 set of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(100) Sit-Ups [5 Sets of 20]

WEDNESDAY

(200) Jumping Jacks [4 sets of 50]

(100) Glute Bridges[4 sets of 25]

(100) Push-Ups [10 sets of 10]

(100) Assisted Push-Ups [2 Sets of 50]

(50) Reverse Leg Lifts [5 sets of 10]

(50) Leg Kickbacks [5 sets of 10]

(5 min) Planks [5 Sets of 1 min]

.

.

WEIGHT TRACKER:

Starting Weight (Noon, 1/01/2023): XXX.X lbs

Weight at Last Check-In, 7/26/2023: -0.4 lbs

Weight As of Noon, 8/02/2023: -2.4 lbs

Total Weight Loss: -80.8 lbs

.

.

Closing Thoughts:

The Good:

Had a blast hanging with family.

Saw a great movie.

Got play some old and new, but all fun video games.

Broke 80 pounds.

The Bad:

If I had to make a complaint... I couldn't. This week was very chill.

The Ugly:

Nada.

[businesspr]

How a U.N. Agency Became a Flashpoint in the Gaza War

UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, has survived 75 years of Israeli-Palestinian strife. Can it survive the latest conflict? source https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/magazine/unrwa-gaza-war.html

[tknblog]

Watchmen Chapter I, a review

What can I say about Watchmen that hasn’t already been said… is what I would say if DC hadn’t just released the first part of an animated two part adaptation of what is considered one of the finest comic books of all time. But let’s talk about the comic book first.

Released as a 12-issue limited series in 1986 and rendered into a trade paperback combining all twelve issues in 1987, the creation of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colored by John Higgins, Watchmen was a critical and commercial success and has remained so since its release. It would win a Hugo Award in 1988 and be added to Time Magazine’s 100 All-Time Best Novels list.

<!—more—>

For more details regarding the Watchmen comics, please refer to the Wikipedia entry.

Zack Snyder’s 2009 adaptation was something of a critical success, but in no way a commercial one. On a $150 million dollar budget it only pulled in $187 million at the box office, or in other words a commercial flop. A Director’s Cut would be released later in 2009, but that would only increase the film’s appreciation amongst critics and would not contribute to the studio’s bottom line in any significant way. A decade later, HBO would release Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen TV series which would, like the comics, receive wide critical praise and commercial success and currently has a 96% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However the show would differ significantly from the comics taking place thirty four years after the events in the comic books and focusing on racist violence in modern-day Tulsa, Oklahoma, the location of the tragic Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921.

DC’s struggle with feature films

DC is not known for making good live action adaptations of their comic book characters, aside from the Batman movies. I won’t go into details, but I’ll list a few: Steel, Catwoman, Constantine, Superman Returns, Jonah Hex, Green Lantern, Man of Steel, Suicide Squad, Justice League, Shazam!, Black Adam, The Flash, and Blue Beetle are most of their releases in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), and none of them performed well when compared to Marvel’s blockbuster run. There is, however, one medium in which DC has excelled and Marvel has not; animation. Their animated films, generally referred to as the DC Animated Universe, or DCAU, are produced by Warner Bros. Animation studio.

For a complete list of all DCAU animated films released, check the Wikipedia entry.

From 1993’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm to the just released Watchmen Chapter I, DC has floated a literal armada of top-notch animated features. Sure, there have been duds like the unfortunate adaptation of the already unpopular comicbook, Batman: The Killing Joke, the 2nd and 3rd installments of the three part Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths film trilogy, and Superman/Batman: Apocalypse but there have been a lot more highly rated outings like Batman: Under the Red Hood, Justice League: Doom, the sublime Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Parts 1 & 2, and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. There are many, many more out of the near 60 films so don’t feel bad if I’m leaving off one of your favorites. I’ve already listed a lot of films, so let’s just move on to Watchmen Chapter I.

Editor’s Note: While DC has had an enormously successful run of animated features, the medium of animation in America has been relegated to the juvenile markets. There are pockets of successful adult animation, like Family Guy and other animated sit-coms and sci-fi like Scavengers Reign, but on the whole, animation isn’t taken seriously in the US.

The breakdown

Now, normally for a review of an animated film, television show, or short I would not go through the history that lead up to that property’s release, but Watchmen is different. Since it hit comic book shop shelves in 1986 and hasn’t been developed into a continuing franchise of any significance. I suspect a lot of our younger folk born since 2000 may not be as familiar with the comics as with older readers and an overview is helpful to understand the significance of Watchmen in relation to our history. So, let’s take a quick look at the spoiler-free Wikipedia synopsis:

Watchmen is set in an alternate reality that closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s. The primary difference is the presence of superheroes. The point of divergence occurs in the year 1938. Their existence in this version of the United States is shown to have dramatically affected and altered the outcomes of real-world events such as the Vietnam War and the presidency of Richard Nixon. In keeping with the realism of the series, although the costumed crimefighters of Watchmen are commonly called “superheroes”, only one, named Doctor Manhattan, possesses any superhuman abilities. The war in Vietnam ends with an American victory in 1971 and Nixon is still president as of October 1985 upon the repeal of term limits and the Watergate scandal not coming to pass. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan occurs approximately six years later than in real life.

When the story begins, the existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has dramatically increased Cold War tensions. Eventually, by 1977, superheroes grow unpopular among the police and the public, leading them to be outlawed with the passage of the Keene Act. While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and another superhero, known as The Comedian, operate as government-sanctioned agents. Another named Rorschach continues to operate outside the law. [SOURCE]

The fundamentals

The film lines up quite neatly with the comics. Chapter I covers the first five books of the twelve book series and the opening scene is almost a shot-for-shot, word-for-word adaptation of the opening pages. In fact, without having had the trade paperback in front of me while watching I could still tell that much of Alan Moore’s gritty dialog and story beats are translated almost directly from the comics to the screen with some streamlining by screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, World War Z, The Amazing Spider-Man). Watchmen is very character-driven, so a lot of time is spent with a focus on said characters. However, it is the comic’s more fleshed out dialog in which we get a larger sense of the world of Watchmen that appears to have been trimmed. A simple truth illustrating the differences between the comic and animation mediums is that what we do get in terms of texture and detail is often lost in the flow of the motion picture as we are unable to linger on panels and soak in the additional context that the comics allow.

Documenting all the little changes would take me a lot more time than I am willing to invest. Suffice it to say that the changes do not, as of yet, necessarily detract from the story and help to frame the necessary pacing for the motion-based medium versus the static page while maintaining the overall story arc of the first five issues.

Character design is, due mostly to the 3D CGI, smoother and slightly less textured than the meticulous art of Dave Gibbons (illustration and lettering) and John Higgins (colorist). The positives, however, are that there are no speech bubbles to obfuscate the visuals, the view is wider than in the comic panels, and we can see the body language of characters in motion. One early illustration of the differences is when Dan Dreiberg (Nite Owl II, voice acted by Matthew Rhys) comes home to find Rorschach (Walter Kovacs, voice acted by Titus Welliver) has broken into his front door and is eating cold beans straight from cans in his kitchen. Rorschach’s iconic pattern shifting mask is pulled up above his nose revealing the lower half of his face. In the comics, he clearly hasn’t shaved in days and has baked bean sauce on his chin where in the film he’s clean-shaven, as shown in the comparison below. This is a nitpick, but it’s indicative of some of the visual sanitization of the adaptation, likely for budget reasons and/or time constraints. For now, however, that remains speculation.

The comics are laid out by Gibbons in a perfect grid of three by three rectangular panels, only deviating to group into larger panels or , less often, divide them even further into smaller ones, but always maintaining the pureness of 90º angles. I find that this helps define the pacing of the comics, like driving with a steady beat to the ultimate climax of the tale. For the film, overall shot composition, set design, and world building are moderately strong, but is somewhat lacking in the ticking urgency in comparison to the source material. The Doomsday Clock plays a major role in the comics. The panel layout helps to subtly sell the slowly encroaching time, and I feel that is lost in this first chapter, though I can honestly say I don’t know how they’d fix that. The strategically placed shots of period newspapers, however, help to sell the stakes. If you can are able to see them in time.

There are many things to like about the animation. Color, lighting, and atmospherics are strong. The colors are vibrant and clean while still delivering that dark, foreboding, dismal feeling of experiencing a time on the edge. While the animation technique used is cel-shading it feels very mature, like many strides have been made in technique since 2004’s Appleseed, so it helps to deliver the appearance of the comics coming out of the pages. The one character that really jumped out at me, however, is Dr. Manhattan, and I think that this is mostly due to the fact that his radiation glow eliminates the need for cel-shading.

Character movement does suffer a bit from 3D figure rigging, but it’s clear they attempted to put a lot of care into trying to make characters look organic and their body language look natural. The end result, however, is that despite that effort, it’s not always successful. As has become common with Western 3D animation the characters are animated on the “twos”, which means they are moved every other frame, a technique from traditional animation due to the extreme cost of animation on the “ones”, or every frame. Unfortunately, there are a number of scenes where movement, such as walking, appears stiff. I am glad, however, that they didn’t go with motion capture.

The Ups

One of my favorite parts of Watchmen Chapter I is the flawless handling of the dismally depressing Tales of the Black Freighter that appears as a comic inside both the comic books and the film.

I also very much like the application of textures throughout which work very well with the lighting and color work.

The application of depth of field is also excellent which makes me suspect that a cinematographer was involved in production.

There are also some truly beautiful shots in the film.

The Downs

I’m not sure I’d call it an animation error, per se, but during Dr. Manhattan’s Mars monologue where he reflects on the accident that changed him, there is a scene where two characters meet and walk away and one of their shoes appears to pass through a rock. It just seems to me that they should have put the rock somewhere else, but it really stood out to me.

The 84 minute run-time does not work in the film’s favor, mostly because there is only one more part to be released. Unless Chapter II is significantly longer, they won’t be able to fully adapt all twelve issues of the comics.

Some of the ugly language from the comics is trimmed from the film. While I don’t like the words used, they aren’t applied gratuitously and have a sharp, cutting point that should have been maintained to illustrate the cultural and sociological undercurrents of division and fear that pervaded the US in the 80’s when the Cold War was intense and AIDS put people on edge.

Conclusions

Out of all of DC’s Warner Bros. Animation’s works Watchmen Chapter I sits near the top as one of the best, and not because it’s their first “R” rated film. It is clear that the production team took the adaptation seriously, though were likely saddled with some constraints as illustrated by the short run-time, that there will only be one more part to complete the adaptation, and that quite a lot of contextual dialog was removed in translation.

What I would really like to see from DC, however, is a real commitment to their animation works teams of writers and animators. I would see that as an increase in budgets for their animated features and to use their writers for their live-action films to increase the script quality well over their current efforts that have plodded onto the big screen.

TKN’s Nothing Score™

This is my first go at a rating system, so bear with me. I’m a nerd. I give Watchmen Chapter 1 three and a half Macs, mostly for story and accuracy and detract points for not going all the way with the animation. Being such an important work from the 1980’s, I believe it deserved a lot more attention and care.

[tiredtwstoutt]

Lincoln Mondy grew up in a mixed race family in Texas, where his white mother's family used regular tobacco, unlike his Black father.

"My dad exclusively smokes menthol cigarettes," he says. "Menthol was such a part of Black culture. And I knew that Black people smoked menthol and that was just a fact."

The 29-year-old filmmaker turned his curiosity about race and menthol tobacco into a documentary on the topic he produced for the Truth Initiative, an anti-smoking advocacy group.

He then realized how menthol's popularity with the Black community came from decades of racially targeted marketing, including ads (such as the Kent Menthol ad shown above) depicting Black models in Black magazines like Ebony, and cultural events in Black neighborhoods — like the KOOL Jazz festival, sponsored by the menthol brand. "They really created menthol as a Black product," Mondy says.

Now, as a proposed ban on menthol remains in limbo since the Biden administration put it on hold in December, lobbying and debate continues about how the ban would impact Black smokers.

Not only is the minty, cooling flavored tobacco most heavily marketed and consumed in Black communities, where over 80% of smokers use menthol, it is a big reason Black men face the highest rate of lung cancer, says Phillip Gardiner, a public health activist and co-chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. Latino and LGBTQ communities as well as women were also targeted, he says.

The minty, cooling flavor of menthol masks the smoke and soothes the throat, making it easier to inhale deeply. "The more deeply you inhale, the more nicotine and toxins you take and the more addicted you become," and the more lethal the product, Gardiner says.

That history is why efforts to ban menthol cigarettes and cigars have always been entwined with race. Menthol has become a flashpoint of controversy, dividing Black leaders and their communities.

The Food and Drug Administration was set to enact a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes and cigars last August. The rule detailing the ban has already been written but needed to be approved by the White House's Office of Management and Budget before it could be finalized. The White House since delayed it until March, and agreed to hold meetings with groups opposed to the rule. This angered activists like Gardiner.

"It's ridiculous; thousands of lives are being lost because of the inactivity of the FDA and now the White House," he says. Gardiner says the delays are the result of the industry wielding its financial influence within the Black community.

Late last year, tobacco giant Altria recently sponsored a poll finding a menthol ban would sway more Black voters against President Biden. Details of that poll have not been released, and NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson refutes its findings, saying in a video statement, "we're the largest civil rights organization in the Black community in 47 states across the country; no one has raised this as a political issue."

One of the most vocal and influential voices against menthol bans is Reverend Al Sharpton. Sharpton and his group, National Action Network, didn't respond to requests for comment, but in the past, they've acknowledged working with and receiving funding from tobacco companies— including in fighting in New York state, which has considered a menthol ban.

"Smoking is bad for you, no question about it, but if it's a health health issue, why aren't you banning all cigarettes," Sharpton says to a cheering crowd, in a video from a speech at a 2019 National Action Network event. Implied in a menthol ban, he says is the notion that "whites know how much to smoke and we don't know how much to smoke."

More recently, in lobbying against a federal ban, Sharpton has also repeated his argument, including in a letter to White House's domestic policy advisor Susan Rice that it would lead to more over-policing of Black people. He cites the death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York City police during an arrest on suspicion of selling loose untaxed cigarettes.

In fact, a federal menthol ban would not outlaw individuals from possessing or using those cigarettes, but bar the manufacture and sale of them.

But Lincoln Mondy, the filmmaker, says coming from respected leaders like Sharpton, messages that tap into existing fears about aggressive policing can be deeply confusing and divisive for the Black community.

"My granny has pictures of Al Sharpton on her mantle, along with Jesus," he says. "Especially for our elders, you have Black leaders who are selling this tobacco PR line around policing and [messages like]: 'They're just trying to take things away from Black people.'"

He and others say the delays in the federal menthol ban have already handed the industry a win. In places like California and Massachusetts that already banned menthol, the tobacco industry is now selling menthol-like flavors that aren't technically menthol, and therefore not subject to those new laws.

A similar end run, he says, would be likely if any national ban were to take effect.

[brettsinger]

Saga and More

Returning to the show is comedian Harrison Greenbaum! What has Harrison been up to since the last time he was on? Shout out to Stunt Dog Comics and Cemetery Pulp in Las Vegas. What are the top 3 things Harrison looks for when traveling? Can you read Dark Knight Returns if you don't already know about Batman? What is Saga about? What powers did the original Super Skrull have? Why are some series on Netflix too many episodes? What Superman comic had to be pulled after 9/11? (See it here.) How about MAD Magazine? (See it here.) Who are in the Runaways? Are the Netflix shows and Agents of SHIELD part of the MCU? What properties would Harrison like to see turned into movies? Should DC just make live action versions of their animated movies? Who are Aquaman's villains? Why can't movie and tv writers just take the plot and dialogue right out of the comics? What good thing does Chris Hemsworth do when he plays Thor? Will we ever see DC vs Marvel on screen? 

Reading list: Saga Dark Knight Returns Watchmen Y The Last Man Invincible Walking Dead Secret Invasion The Boys (free on Kindle Unlimited) Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #36 (9/11 issue) Vision (Tom King) The Runaways War of Jokes and Riddles (free on Kindle Unlimited) Dark Phoenix (free on Kindle Unlimited) Young Justice JLA: World Without Grownups Amalgam Comics

Watch list: Invincible Walking Dead Avengers Endgame Spider-Man: No Way Home The Boys Runaways Roger Corman's Fantastic Four Watchmen (HBO series) DC Animated movies Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War Arrow Flash

Recorded 1-10-24 via Zencastr

Check out Comics Who Love Comic Books!

[qu-film-history-to-1968]

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Week 1)

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was released to a very small audience in 2010, mostly due to a marketing push that seemed to advertise directly to it's demographic, video games, anime and comics that the films aesthetic harkened from. The mainstream audience it desperately needed to be successful was left by the wayside. Simon Abrams for Slant Magazine said in 2010, "the sad thing about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is that people assumed that because it embraced its niche-oriented demographic's interests, in its ad campaign and in its content, that it was destined for cult status and nothing more." Cult status it was destined for, and cult status it certainly has now. The film has aged remarkably well, with critics citing it as "one of the best films of 2010" and being considered a top tier Edgar Wright picture alongside "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz". It's easily his most "in your face" stylistically with its combo counters, slo-mo fights, video game sound effects and enemies turning into coins upon being defeated in single combat. 

I know part of this essay is discussing how we remember things, but honestly nothing has really changed in my opinion over the years. Scott is still an idiot and the movie doesn't do as good of a job condemning his actions as the comic does. I love how every character is hyper specific to the point where every character is somebody's favorite one. Even if they lack depth, it's only because they're are so many and so little time. I love that the film is praised for it's outsized, macro moments but I also love it always has time for sight gags and allusions to character history throughout the many fights to further entrench you in the world. I love how this is a movies star flashpoint movie where many of it's stars are just on the cusp of becoming the signature movie stars we know today(I.E. Chris Evans, Brie Larson and Aubrey Plaza to name a few).

However, I do think that documentary and memory is vastly different. Memory, although the emotions attached to one could be more prevalent, is extremely fragile. It can age, change without warning, dilapidate in precision and exist outside of linear chronology. Documentary is far more precise, the images are linear, clear and cold in it's point of view. I think it's extremely important to do analysis like this though. Me and my relationship to Scott Pilgrim certainly isn't a good example but they're are certainly others. I mean we have all had different thoughts about different things as time goes by. Decisions we would've/could've/should've made and all that. This is great experiment, especially since nostalgia can be incredibly damaging. Especially in a time where mainstream movies are made to cater to our inner child and movies for adults have been largely phased out as it's not a guaranteed market for execs to invest in(2023 seeming to be a start out this cycle for movies at least). I think it's important to question everything, even ourselves.

[orlamount]

90s Culture: Woodstock 99 style and fashion

I was looking at what gen X would get up for fun and I came across Woodstock 99 so I did some research into it to find out what it was about.

Woodstock 1999 (also called Woodstock '99) was a music festival held from July 22 to July 25, 1999, in Rome, New York. The attendance was approximately 220,000 over four days.

The festival was marred by controversy and difficult environmental conditions, overpriced food and water, poor sanitation leading to sicknesses, sexual harassment and rapes, rioting, looting, vandalism, arson, violence and death. It has been described as, "notorious", "a flashpoint in cultural nadir", and like being "in another country during military conflict".

Many of the high profile acts such as DMX, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alanis Morissette, Kid Rock, Metallica, and Creed were popular or rising artists of the era.

I then watched the Woodstock documentary on Netflix, which better helped me understand the festival. I found it very interesting, it showed the music side of the 90s as well as the festival fashion in the 90s and a lot of the footage was taken on digital cameras, so had a vintage 'bad quality' look to them. These are some of the photos of the fashion from Woodstock 99 amongst all the chaos of the festival.

[feliciagarrivan]

Cindy Sherman

American, born 1954

“I wish I could treat every day as Halloween, and get dressed up and go out into the world as some eccentric character.”

Cindy Sherman

For four decades, Cindy Sherman has probed the construction of identity, playing with the visual and cultural codes of art, celebrity, gender, and photography. She is among the most significant artists of the Pictures Generation—a group that also includes Richard Prince, Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, and Robert Longo—who came of age in the 1970s and responded to the mass media landscape surrounding them with both humor and criticism, appropriating images from advertising, film, television, and magazines for their art.

Sherman was always interested in experimenting with different identities. As she has explained, “I wish I could treat every day as Halloween, and get dressed up and go out into the world as some eccentric character.”1 Shortly after moving to New York, she produced her Untitled Film Stills (1977–80), in which she put on guises and photographed herself in various settings with deliberately selected props to create scenes that resemble those from mid-20th-century B movies. Started when she was only 23, these images rely on female characters (and caricatures) such as the jaded seductress, the unhappy housewife, the jilted lover, and the vulnerable naif. Sherman used cinematic conventions to structure these photographs: they recall the film stills used to promote movies, from which the series takes its title. The 70 Film Stills immediately became flashpoints for conversations about feminism, postmodernism, and representation, and they remain her best-known works.

Sherman has continued to transform herself, displaying the diversity of human types and stereotypes in her images. She often works in series, improvising on themes such as centerfolds (1981) and society portraits (2008). Untitled #216, from her history portraits (1981), exemplifies her use of theatrical effects to embody different roles and her lack of attempt to hide her efforts: often her wigs are slipping off, her prosthetics are peeling away, and her makeup is poorly blended. She highlights the artificiality of these fabrications, a metaphor for the artificiality of all identity construction.

While she sometimes portrays glamorous characters, Sherman has always been more interested in the grotesque. In the 1980s and 1990s, series such as the disasters (1986–89) and the sex pictures (1992) confronted viewers with the strange and ugly aspects of humanity in explicit, visceral images. “I’m disgusted with how people get themselves to look beautiful; I’m much more fascinated with the other side,”2 she said in 1986. At the time, images of ailing bodies were painfully on view in the news during the AIDS crisis; these added poignancy to her investigation of the grotesque and of various types of violence that could be done to the body. In these series and throughout all of her work, Sherman subverts the visual shorthand we use to classify the world around us, drawing attention to the artificiality and ambiguity of these stereotypes and undermining their reliability for understanding a much more complicated reality.

[karina01]

Cindy Sherman

For four decades, Cindy Sherman has probed the construction of identity, playing with the visual and cultural codes of art, celebrity, gender, and photography. She is among the most significant artists of the Pictures Generation—a group that also includes Richard Prince, Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, and Robert Longo—who came of age in the 1970s and responded to the mass media landscape surrounding them with both humor and criticism, appropriating images from advertising, film, television, and magazines for their art.

Sherman was always interested in experimenting with different identities. As she has explained, “I wish I could treat every day as Halloween, and get dressed up and go out into the world as some eccentric character.”1 Shortly after moving to New York, she produced her Untitled Film Stills (1977–80), in which she put on guises and photographed herself in various settings with deliberately selected props to create scenes that resemble those from mid-20th-century B movies. Started when she was only 23, these images rely on female characters (and caricatures) such as the jaded seductress, the unhappy housewife, the jilted lover, and the vulnerable naif. Sherman used cinematic conventions to structure these photographs: they recall the film stills used to promote movies, from which the series takes its title. The 70 Film Stills immediately became flashpoints for conversations about feminism, postmodernism, and representation, and they remain her best-known works.

Sherman has continued to transform herself, displaying the diversity of human types and stereotypes in her images. She often works in series, improvising on themes such as centerfolds (1981) and society portraits (2008). Untitled #216, from her history portraits (1981), exemplifies her use of theatrical effects to embody different roles and her lack of attempt to hide her efforts: often her wigs are slipping off, her prosthetics are peeling away, and her makeup is poorly blended. She highlights the artificiality of these fabrications, a metaphor for the artificiality of all identity construction.

While she sometimes portrays glamorous characters, Sherman has always been more interested in the grotesque. In the 1980s and 1990s, series such as the disasters (1986–89) and the sex pictures (1992) confronted viewers with the strange and ugly aspects of humanity in explicit, visceral images. “I’m disgusted with how people get themselves to look beautiful; I’m much more fascinated with the other side,”2 she said in 1986. At the time, images of ailing bodies were painfully on view in the news during the AIDS crisis; these added poignancy to her investigation of the grotesque and of various types of violence that could be done to the body. In these series and throughout all of her work, Sherman subverts the visual shorthand we use to classify the world around us, drawing attention to the artificiality and ambiguity of these stereotypes and undermining their reliability for understanding a much more complicated reality.