#j Brinke Stevens

[darkmovies]

Spider Baby (2023) Date de sortie : Pré-production Réalisateur : Dustin Ferguson, Bobby Canipe Jr. Scénario :  Dustin Ferguson Avec : Beverly Washburn,j Brinke Stevens, Robert Allen Mukes

[lil-doodles]

Sketch of Warren Publishing’s Vampirella (created by Forrest J Ackerman and Trina Robbins) from a photo of B-movie scream queen Brinke Stevens (who was married for a brief period to Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens). www.deadcatcomix.com

[cinemaquiles]

Que m... é essa? Uma cópia de Alien e Predador que ninguém viu: Hybrid (1997)

[stilldancewithyou]

I really think they’re not gonna do J cheating in s3 which on one hand I’m fine with since they made him bi and as a bi person myself I don’t want to see that awful stereotype on screen for the billionth time (granted I also feel like it was so tokenized because it was such a blip and I don’t think they’ll ever mention his attraction to men ever again or explore that in a meaningful way but hey maybe they’ll surprise me since I have low expectations when it comes to TV and bi representation; personally I think Gavin has great chemistry with Sean but I’m not sure they’d ever explore j/s since people may find it weird he’d bounce between the Conklin siblings and as of now Steven is straight in the show iirc) but also I read that s2 follows the book very closely according to some extras on set and it would make me mad if they show Conrad’s very human mistakes and then sugar coat j’s so he still looks like the “nice” guy…

I can’t say j is my favorite but I also liked that the books kinda went beyond his nice guy persona and showed how this behavior can be a red flag (bc there’s too many shows that romanticize the guy who definitely sees the girl as the prize and let them end up together and like sorry to Jere who I know loved belly in his own way but his romantic intentions with her started off wrong since deep down it was about getting back and stealing something from Conrad and that just turned me off to them romantically (I do like their friendship)) but then also show him overcome it (I.e. letting belly go at their wedding day and presumably finding happiness since he was mentioned to have a plus one at the b/c wedding) I think this would be nice to see on tv but idk

granted I feel like they have shown in s1 the darker sides of J already and people ignore it (ex. The firework scene like no jeremiah physical violence is not the answer to your problems😒 and him yelling and projecting at Conrad saying he only sees belly as a competition and then scheming to separate them) but idk I don’t know what other problem aside from the cheating that they could throw between b/j to have them on the brink of a breakup that leads to their sham engagement happen for s3 (my worst fear is they’ll make belly the cheater to take the heat off of J since many of his Stans always say belly was projecting when she claimed him to cheat bc “technically” they were broken up and she was still in love with C and this would will further villanize her relationship with Conrad and thus prop up j… and that would remind me of how dirty the second to all the boys movie did LJ by not showing the very real mistakes Peter made in their relationship and making it look like she just freely bounced between John and Peter for no reason)… anyways this is a ramble but I’ve just been thinking about it since s2 is nearing (and in my heart I need it to be s3 already lol)

okay I have thought long and hard about this specific topic and I hear what you're saying. but I still firmly believe the cheating thing is going to happen in the show. I just...idk. there's just no way around it tbh. It's kind of like having Susannah miraculously live...the story wouldn't be the same. I think the cheating went a lot deeper than the surface level people are stuck at, at least in my interpretation of the book. The whole thing about it is that Jeremiah found out that Belly saw Conrad in Cousins in December and she never told him, and Jere spent months secretly brooding about that and being angry (somewhat rightfully) and the way he says things in the books I feel like Jeremiah thought/assumed that something happened between Conrad and Belly (cause they were alone at the beach house!) and he thinks that's why she never told him she saw Conrad. So I feel like after the whole fight about Cabo and Belly not wanting to go (bc she wanted to be in Cousins instead!) Jere went to Cabo pissed and jealous and slept with what's her face out of spite, to get back at Belly. at least that's my interpretation. But he obviously ended up realizing it was messed up and tried to make it better with the engagement. And then as a double whammy to Jeremiah, because of the engagement, Belly ends up spending the summer alone in Cousins with Conrad planning the wedding which probably made Jere even more angry (it's just so ironic lol).

I'm also with you on the point about Jeremiah being portrayed as the nice, perfect guy up until the 3rd book, and I really hope the show captures what the book did. Because they have worked overtime showing how perfect Jeremiah is and how he's the better option and trying to sell him as the best person. I think the way you get to see his flaws and mistakes (which are very human but also he was a jerk for a lot of the 3rd book outside of the cheating thing and ppl are blind to that I feel, like everyone is stuck on just the cheating). I also think it was super important for Belly to see Jere's flaws. She never truly appreciated what she had with Conrad and the person he is because she couldn't see past his very human mistakes (which all happened when his mother was dying and immediately after her death!!!) and she got so stuck on what Conrad did wrong she looked over and felt like Jeremiah was perfect and seemed so much better, funnier, happier, etc, etc, it was very much a "the grass is always greener on the other side" type of situation. The show definitely did show a lot more darker, more flawed sides of Jeremiah pretty early, but I still think they also worked really hard making him look perfect like in the books (up until book 3). I also think that's partly intentional, part of the point is that Belly had very idealized and romanticized ideas of both boys and what dating them and being around them all the time would be like and her bubble needed to be burst by reality.

anyway, all of that is to say that I still firmly believe the cheating thing is going to happen in the show. So prepare yourself while you have time. There's just nothing else that could compare to that to create not just the sham engagement but the angst, the jealousy, the anger and everything and then the way Conrad finds out about the cheating and immediately runs to Belly, all pissed off at Jere...I don't think anything else could get us there.

also as a side note: Jere and Steven did have good chemistry, but also I LOVE THEIR FRIENDSHIP TOO MUCH TO GO THERE. The friendship between Steven, Jere, and Conrad is so important and special and I feel like in the books they're presented as being like brothers. I don't think I could handle another lifelong friendship being ruined tbh (cause Belly and Jeremiah also had a great friendship and I loved it in the books but the show kinda fastforwarded over it). And I don't think it's something that could ever be explored because it gets too close the whole premise/storyline of Belly dating the Fisher brothers. But there's no harm in shipping! I personally thought Jeremiah and Taylor had really great chemistry as well (Taylor and Steven were also good together and I do love them) and I wanted to see more moments with Jere and Taylor. I am also still salty that the show basically erased Jere and Taylor's whole brief dating thing and some of the best flashbacks from the first book. But they're clearly going in the Steven/Taylor direction for now so I'm not getting my hopes up.

[corytrincilla]

What's Your Source?: A List of my Sources

Barber, Gregory, Nemeroff, Charles, Siegel, Steven. 2022. “A Case of Prolonged Mania, Psychosis, and Severe Depression After Psilocybin Use: Implications of Increased Psychedelic Drug Availability” American Journal on Psychiatry

https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.22010073

Lee, W. et al. (2019). Role of Mushrooms in Neurodegenerative Diseases. In: Agrawal, D., Dhanasekaran, M. (eds) Medicinal Mushrooms. Springer, Singapore. (Referenced in two areas of my research) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6382-5_8

Van Amsterdam, Jan & Van Den Brink, Wim. 2021. “The Therapeutic Potential of Psilocybin: A Systematic Review.” Expert Opinion on Drug Safety Pg. 833-840. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35225143/

Handbook of Imaging the Alzheimer Brain, edited by J. W. Ashford, et al., IOS Press, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, (pgs 710-725) https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unlv/detail.action?docID=784576. 

How Alzheimer’s Disease Affects Your Brain Cells, published by Nucleus Medical Media, 2023. YouTube, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgrTchmo-uk)

Alfakhri, Abdullelah S, et al. “Depression among Caregivers of Patients with Dementia.” Inquiry : A Journal of Medical Care Organization, Provision and Financing, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5798670/#:~:text=The%20occurrence%20of%20behavioral%20and,may%20lead%20to%20depressive%20symptoms.

[superpowerprayer]

When Casting Spells Took A Darker Turn: Sandy Boyd's Entanglement In The...

55,433 views  Dec 2, 2022 Spells, seances, and incantations... it all seemed innocent to a young Sandy Boyd, until one day the entanglement with darkness began taking a turn for the worse. Hear how she would find herself on the brink of a disastrous decision and what rescued her into a life of healing and deliverance as she exposes more on the reality behind the occult!

FATHER

I BELIEVE THAT YOU SENT YOUR SON JESUS CHRIST TO DIE ON THE CROSS FOR MY SINS. I BELIEVE THAT HE DIED, AND WAS RESURRECTED, AND IS COMING BACK TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. FATHER, I REPENT.FORGIVE ME OF ALL MY SINS. COME INTO MY HEART AND MAKE ME YOUR CHILD. IN THE NAME OF YOUR SON JESUS CHRIST. Thank you for saving my soul. AMEN

Neville Johnon / The Academy of Light  / Prophecy https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xwo6fVqslF832pq7X2ZK3OP

Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj / Prophecy / Angel TV     https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xxWWpNCBcMNZh_wgq9Io63D

Dr Bruce Allen / School of Translation / Prophecy https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xw_MXN157uQWUUrckfqYkz6

Steven Francis / Jesus My King Church / End Times Remnant https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xxYAFP-LxKq26XwBf0PTQ5v

Prophet Michael Van Vlymen / School of Translation https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xzwww3X6okxZp_D2Arn6-cO

Trey Smith / Bible History / Prophecy Movies https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xwdppFhJu3QBIURlc29Y5Dr

War Room Prayers / Take Control of Your Life https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xztyt0YgLmOg1HmNuZ0_Mqz

Speaking in Unknown Tongues  / What does it Do? //  Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xzKzsQnqrHdfzXv-5dw4lUX

Worship Worship Worship Praise Music / Shekinah Worship Center https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xwbLuba-6eBCVoan0Giz6pi

Worldwide Revival. Please Pray For

Heavenly Father in the Mighty name of Jesus Christ Destroy  every Demonic plot against  Me, My Family, My Church, My  City, and My Country. In Jesus name In Jesus name In Jesus name Satan, Lucifer, Every Demon, All Witch Craft, Sorcery, Every Principality, All Spiritual wickedness in High places, Prince of the Power of the air, Dominions, every Unclean Spirit, every Infirmity, Chief Prince, all Generals, all Captains, all Centurions, every Watchmen, Principalities and every other Devil. I rebuke you in Jesus name. I cast you out in Jesus name. I cast you Down in Jesus name. I Bind, Cage, Chain, Mute, Muzzle, Gag,  Cut you All Off, Destroy, Strip and Ruin You All. I Nullify All of Your Actions forever and ever In Jesus Christ name. I take back all of the permission that I have given you in the past to operate in me and through me. I take my Authority back right now by the Blood of Jesus Christ and as a Son or Daughter of The Most High God. I render you all Powerless in my life from now on in the Mighty name of Jesus Christ. The Holy Bible States in Phillipians 2:10-11 " That at The Name of Jesus Every knee shall bow of Things in Heaven and Things on Earth and things Under the Earth And Every Tongue Shall Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the Glory of God The Father.” I now command you All to Bow Down on your knees and confess with your mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord. Father God Destroy, Strip, Ruin, Confuse and Cast Down the demonic kingdom in Jesus name. Most High God,  His number is 644, Jesus, Emmanuel, Holy Spirit, Almighty God, Father and His Power Aleeth. Please Forgive Me of Every Sin that I have ever Committed and Thank You for dying on The Cross for Me. I Give You All of the Praise Honor and Glory forever. Lord Thank you for hearing and honoring my prayer and setting me free. Please Lead me and guide me from now on. Amen

My Two Sons Died on the Same Day  Then This Happened //  Timothy J Douglass Sr https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xx1BarkXoAwPMqN00JTmCzl

Be My Friend On Face Book / Super Power Prayer / Timothy J Douglass Sr / End Times Prophecy / Prayer / Worship https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010641464829

Psalms 91 / Prayers for Protection https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZKQz7rnHg&list=PLTA9JOYHK1xyRxubnpND6QgEz3gQwWVzO

Pornography  / How does It Affect People? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xxJt8OhUtotFuDsUUkPYHAk

The Two Witnesses  / Who are They? When will They Come? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xyc_hth4h79wUwXnboxh1P-

The Deep State  / What is It. What Does It Do? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xzGURojGv9GCjREs76WpYix

The New World Order / When will it Be here? What Is It? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xzRwm0kqwUVT3mKiUUlsa8N

The Rapture / When will It Happen? What Is It? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTA9JOYHK1xzmsDhXQkE877-JiBxg-SG-

[moviesandmania]

Terror Toons III: Herschell's Gory Story - USA, 2015

Terror Toons III: Herschell’s Gory Story – USA, 2015

‘In the cartoon dimension… anything is possible.’

Terror Toons III: Herschell’s Gory Story – aka Terror Toons 3 – is a 2015 American comedy horror feature film directed by Joe Castro (Terror Toons and sequel) from a screenplay co-written with Steven J. Escobar. The movie stars director Herschell Gordon Lewis, Beverly Lynne, Lizzy Borden and Lizet Garcia.

Plot:

Cindy and her little sister Candy…

[dadsbongos]

Anywhere, USA

Movie/Game/Show: Marvel (Endgame) Dynamic: Steve Rogers/Reader Warnings: what if… steve didn’t go to new york to get the stones :) that’s all you’re getting, fem pronouns Summary: Steve knows he needs the stone, but he also knows he needs you there when he gets it. Word Count: 2.3 K ~~~

You’d been a late recruit by Tony for the Avengers Initiative - Steve didn’t take to you immediately. He never intentionally avoided you, it’s just that he wasn’t very welcome of change and your personalities clashed pretty harshly. He had his group - Sam, Bucky, Nat - and you had yours - Thor and Peter. At least, when they were around. If they weren’t - you would bother Tony. Unless he was in the lab. Then you would go off on your own.

Natasha was actually the one who insisted he even talk to you. In her endeavor to get Steve “out there”, your name was among the slew that came from her lips. He didn’t usually follow her judgment, not even about Sharon, but you were in the building and barely spoke above missions and friendly passing anyway so it wouldn’t be too awkward if things didn’t work out. So he found himself making an effort to speak with you. And he found that he liked you.

He really liked you.

People were a little surprised about you two - because while he was orderly and structured you seemed to thrive in the split brink of chaos before an explosion. But Steve liked that about you. He didn’t usually enjoy changes of pace, but he always found your change to be the most fun.

He would stress over your godawful credit score with you - for eternity, if he could.

He would listen to you talk shit about voting and taxes just to get him riled up and patriotic - for eternity, if he could.

He would get papers flicked at him by you from across the conference table - for eternity, if he could.

He would look at impractically large houses on the market that you two would never actually buy - for eternity, if he could.

He would sit in countless shitty diners in anywhere, USA with you - for eternity, if he could.

He would go to Tony’s cheesy, expensive, dramatic galas and slow dance in the center of the floor with your foreheads gently pressed together - for eternity, if he could.

He would look at engagement rings and wedding decor and cakes and venues even though you both knew a smaller wedding would probably be best - for eternity, if he could.

He wants to do that and more, so much more, for eternity, he wishes he could.

He wants your chaos to fill each day and his order to put you both to bed at night. He wants to feel your lips against his every day and feel your body under his when he needs comfort. You were always there, when he defended Bucky and Wanda from the world you were immediate to go alongside him despite knowing you’d be a fugitive. You kept him in time and he’s just grateful you weren’t one of the people who vanished in the Blip.

Without you, he isn’t sure he’d still be the man Steven Rogers.

And he’s sure that you two should be the ones to get your assigned stone. The Soul Stone. Should be easy - in and out - but he wants you there. He can’t stand the thought of you being hurt while gathering a stone.

But when you both land on Vormir, the air is thick with upset and something in his stomach churns at the dark sky.

You notice his hesitancy to come forth and so you hold your hand out, “Come on, you big lug. We need to get that rock.”

“‘s a little more than a rock, isn’t it?” he takes your hand and falls to your side.

“Aw, you know there’s an ‘it’ in ‘it’s’, don’t you?” he’s heard those words before, “You know, you can’t tease me about that all the time and then do it.”

“Hm, guess where I got it from,” he purses his lips, “You still got the point.”

“Stone and rock are synonyms, I’m pretty sure,” you shrug, going to take a step forward, but Steve’s grip on your hand keeps you back. Turning to face your boyfriend, you quirk a brow, “What’s wrong, bub?”

“Just…” he shakes his head, “I have a bad feeling.”

“Oh, c’mon, it’ll be fine. We’ll just go get the stone and come right back. We aren’t even the ones in New York, so no fighting necessary. Guaranteed,” you take his cheek in your hand, gently running your thumb over the bone, “We’ll be fine, Stevie. We got each other, right? Besides, you owe me an engagement.”

“And I’ll do that,” he grins genuinely for the first time in a long time, “I’ll give you such a nice proposal.”

“Yeah? Will I be shocked?”

“Astounded.”

“Wow, well then, you better hurry up and come get this pebble with me so you can prove it.”

“The Soul Stone is not a pebble,” he chuckles before relenting and stepping forward with you, “Alright. Let’s get the stone and go home.”

Then - he sees it. Him.

You feel Steve tense up beside you, your hand goes to his bicep and your brows furrow in concern, “Steve, what’s wrong?”

Steve would’ve ran back if it weren’t for the hold you had on him, “Red Skull.”

“I guide those who seek the stone to it.”

“And how are we supposed to know you’re not going to lie?”

The cloaked Red Skull doesn’t respond, only turning and going to the rocky path - guiding his old enemy to a stone he could never grasp.

“A soul for a soul.”

Steve had fallen back to sit on a large rock, head hanging in his hands in denial. He’s muttering to himself in thought. Repeating that it has to be lies. Red Skull would do anything to take him out - he’s convinced. He’s lying.

“Steve,” you call softly, putting a hand atop his head and running your fingers through his hair, “I think… I think he’s telling the truth. Nebula,” you purse your lips, wondering why it’d taken so long to click, “Nebula said it. Thanos came up here with Gamora and came down with the stone but no daughter. I think he’s telling the truth.”

Nebula didn’t mention this for a reason. If everyone knew one of them would have to die - nobody would go.

He simply shakes his head, clenching his eyes shut. He reaches up and takes the hand you have in his hair, squeezing tightly - just to make sure you’re still in front of him and not running to the edge.

“Steve. I- I don’t- we can’t put it off anymore. We need that stone.”

“You need that stone,” he stands.

“What?” you chase after him when he starts running towards the cliff’s edge, “Steve, no!”

He seizes and crashes to the ground when a round of the Widow’s Bite that Natasha lent you hits him in the back. The ache he feels watching you rush to the lip of the cliff is worse than the sting of his body against the ground. He just barely manages to catch your wrist as you’re jumping. Leaning over the ledge, he’s hanging onto you for his life. He doesn’t want the stone this way. He doesn’t want the stone if it costs you.

“There’s so many people that we lost, Steve. Not just Bucky or Sam or Peter or our other friends. Billions of families are incomplete now, Steve, and they need us to try for them. They need this stone,” you press your shoes against the rocky ridge and push, trying to wriggle out of Steve’s grasp, “Steve, people need the stone!”

“And I need you,” his eyes are pooling with tears, “I can’t- I can’t lose you.”

You stop trying to get out of his hold long enough to stare into the ocean blues you’d grown so accustomed to seeing first thing in the morning. Shaking your head, there’s a growing urge to let him pull you up. But you know how many people have disappeared. Not only on Earth, but around the universe.

“Stevie…”

“Don’t… don’t call me that. Not right now.”

“Please, listen to me,” you press against the rocky wall once again, “you need to get the Soul Stone back to the others and get the rest of the world back. Please. For Bucky, for me.”

He wants his best friend back. He wants Bucky and Sam back, but not in a world without you.

“I can’t without you,” he’s tugging you up, but you’re firm with your boots against the cliff, “Let me go instead. I’ll go. You can’t- I can’t watch you go.”

“I can’t watch you go either, Steve,” your waterline wets the longer you’re hanging on, “I love you, Steve. I wouldn’t do anything different, even if it means I have to go over. Let this happen. Bucky and Sam will need you, okay?”

“Peter will need you… Thor needs you more than ever. You can’t leave them,” he’s trying - he’s fucking trying so hard to pull you up, but you’re still wedging yourself against the side of the cliff, “Please don’t leave me…”

“Watch after Peter and Thor for me,” you want to kiss him one last time but you know yourself well enough to know that if you do, neither of you will get the stone, “We’ll find each other in another life, I promise.”

“I can’t let you go on a promise. Not one like that.”

There has to be another way. He’s sure of it. If you just come up, you’ll both find another way, he knows it. There’s always another way.

You ready another round of Widow’s Bite, “And I can’t let you go without this stone.”

You fire and he seizes up again - his grip ceasing. He can’t even scream as you fall. It’s shock and agony and he’s been here before and this time there’s no Russian super soldier experimentation at the bottom to save him.

With Soul Stone in possession, Steve returns to the group.

They ask where you are and he can only tearfully shake his head.

He pushes his feelings down and uses the frustration of losing you to fight Thanos - the reason you’re gone. He’s it. Thanos is why. So he fights Thanos like he’s fighting for you, because in a way, he is. He always is.

Volunteering to take the stones back was his only chance - he was certain.

Bucky can see the plan in his eyes. But Bucky doesn’t stop him.

“Don’t do anything stupid till I get back.”

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

Bucky can see that Steve isn’t coming back, at least, not in the same way.

Steve sees you on the street while he’s returning the stones to New York and he nearly runs to you. When the stones were gone and he knew he should be going back to Bucky and Sam - he looked for you.

“We’ll find each other in another life, I promise.”

He finds you seated at an outdoor cafe and that’s where he chooses to run to you. Catch you before Vormir is even a question.

Just as he goes to seat himself beside you with some bullshit excuse about missing you while at home, the other him - the real one at this time, is already pulling out the chair next to you. He can hear his own voice,

“Sorry, I missed you.”

He can hear your voice.

“Don’t apologize, ’s cute.”

“You think so?”

He sees you run your fingers through his hair before leaning up to kiss his forehead.

“Yeah, ‘s real cute.”

“There’s an ‘it’ in ‘it’s’, you know?”

He watches himself take your hand and lay a kiss to your knuckles. He wishes he could relive that for himself - he would give the rest of his life to take his own place and live out the selfish moment he wants. Then he hears you again,

“Hey, did you call Bucky today?”

Bucky needs him. Sam needs him. Someone had to watch after Thor and Peter in your absence, especially now. He knows that. You knew that. You’d said it before you dove into Vormir’s pit. He knows you’re right, he just doesn’t want to live through a life without your body next to his - he almost wants to warn himself now.

But he doesn’t risk being seen. Instead, he continues to hide. He watches you and himself from afar - laughing and kissing and holding hands like you have the rest of your lives together. He burns your profile into his brain before finally returning to where he knows he should be.

Bucky seems surprised to find him back on the platform.

Sam comes to him with a hug that Steve’s quick to return.

Steve finds Bucky later and sighs as he speaks, “I’m giving Sam the shield.”

“You’re giving it up?”

“I’m done fighting,” he stares at the lucid reflections in the pond on the Stark cabin, “I don’t have it in me anymore.”

Nodding, Bucky follows his friend’s gaze out to the water, “She would like that. Sam having the shield.”

“She’d want both of you to have it.”

“Good for Sam, I don’t want it.”

“Anti-hero.”

“I‘m not a hero.”

“I know,” Steve shrugs, “that’s why I said ‘anti-hero’.”

“Not that much of a difference.”

“Huge difference.”

“God, I gotta deal with this for the rest of our lives.”

“Rest of yours, old man.”

Bucky side-eyes Steve through a glare, “You’re probably older than I am, just by how long we’ve been unfrozen compared to each other.”

You would like this. Steve’s sure. Sam takes the mantle of Captain America, as he deserves, and he and Bucky go into quiet retirement. Well, as much retirement as Bucky’s calling as an anti-hero would allow.

But Steve was done. He was tired. He was getting burnt at both ends.

He wishes he had you.

And he isn’t sure he made the right choice by returning because he still misses you. He thinks he always will.

But hopefully he’ll heal. Hopefully he can grow. You’d want that, he’s sure.

“I kinda wish I stayed…”

“I know, punk. I know.”

[weirdletter]

1000 Women In Horror, 1895-2018, by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, BearManor Media, 2020. Cover design by Darren Cotzabuyucas, info: bearmanor-digital.myshopify.com.

Blowing a kiss back through time and space from Aaliyah to Jill Rae Zurborg, 1000 Women in Horror, 1895-2018 is a love letter to both the stars and the often-invisible women who have made the genre what it is today. From Classical Hollywood to alt-Nollywood, mumblegore to J-horror, this book offers a tiny global snapshot of the vast number of women who have worked in the creation of dark and spooky movies for well over a century, both behind and in front of the camera, and in films both widely known and comparatively obscure. Featuring a selected filmography of over 700 feature films directed or co-directed by women, this book also features interviews with Rutanya Alda, Tara Anaïse, Tonjia Atomic, Anna Biller, Axelle Carolyn, Aislinn Clarke, BJ Colangelo, Mattie Do, Julia Ducournau, Jordan Hall, Catherine Hardwicke, Katherine Kean, Karen Lam, Izzy Lee, Barbara Magnolfi, Marsha Mason, Donna McRae, Patrushkha Mierzwa, Hannah Neurotica, Alexandra Paul, Isabel Peppard, Cassandra ‘Elvira’ Peterson, Debbie Rochon, Mia’Kate Russell, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Elizabeth Shepherd, Jen and Sylvia Soska, Brinke Stevens, Barbie Wilde and Silvana Zancolò.

[professorofcrimeratigan]

Create your own class for Pride University. Who teaches it? Come up with three assignments 

HIST4010:  Magicks Under Greek and Roman Rule

Taught by: Dr. Pedram Ratigan

Required Texts:

A Magick’s History of the Roman Empire Third Edition by Aubrey J. Contos

On Magic, Power, Justice, and Human Nature: Greek History by Steven Ngai and Elizabeth Brinks

Course Description: Covers the social, cultural, and political history of Magicks during the Greco-Roman Era. Will survey magic’s influences on the period of time when it was widely accepted and how it affected the civilizations expansion through both conquest and colonization. Tracking the rise and fall of these empires as well as the loss of integration of Magicks within society and the reasons behind magic’s expulsion. 

Assignments: 

1. Primary Source Analysis: Given a list of primary sources, the student will pick a total of 5 sources that they will identify and answer the following questions for: 

Identify the creator/author of the primary source. 

Identify the intended audience.

Describe the historical context. What happened during this event or time period?

Personal description of the source: Give a brief summary of what you see when you look at the source. Consider the images, people, objects, activities, actions, words, phrases, facts, and numbers.

What sentiment (attitude or feeling) do you think the author is trying to convey through the source? What, based on the source, can you infer about the historical event or time period? 

Questions: Write a few questions you’re left with about this source. 

2. Presentation: 5 minute presentation on a chosen event and how magic influenced and affected the outcome of this event. 

3. Essay: Using a minimum of 10 scholarly sources, write a 10 page essay on what led to the fall of magic’s prominent role in society during the Greco-Roman time period.

[bountyofbeads]

Federal Budget Would Raise Spending by $320 Billion https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/us/politics/budget-deal.html

Federal Budget Would Raise Spending by $320 Billion

By Emily Cochrane, Alan Rappeport and Jim Tankersley | Published July 22, 2019 | New York Times | Posted July 22, 2019 |

WASHINGTON — White House and congressional negotiators reached accord on a two-year budget on Monday that would raise spending caps and lift the government’s debt ceiling, likely averting a fiscal crisis but splashing still more red ink on an already surging deficit.

If passed by Congress and signed by President Trump, the deal would stop a potential debt default this fall and avoid automatic spending cuts next year. The agreement would also bring clarity about government spending over the rest of Mr. Trump’s term.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

 · 20m

I am pleased to announce that a deal has been struck with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy - on a two-year Budget and Debt Ceiling, with no poison pills....

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

....This was a real compromise in order to give another big victory to our Great Military and Vets!

13.7K

5:44 PM - Jul 22, 2019

“It’s pretty clear that both houses of Congress and both parties have become big spenders, and Congress is no longer concerned about the extent of the budget deficits or the debt they add,” said David M. McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth, a conservative group that advocates for free-enterprise.

The agreement, struck by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, would raise spending by $320 billion, compared to the strict spending levels established in the 2011 Budget Control Act and set to go into effect next year without legislative action. Spending on domestic and military programs would increase equally, a key demand of Ms. Pelosi, offset by about $75 billion in spending cuts, far lower than the $150 billion in cuts that some White House officials initially demanded.

The deal would lift the debt ceiling high enough to allow the government to keep borrowing for two more years, punting the next showdown past the 2020 elections. The negotiators hope to enact the accord before Congress leaves for its August recess.

The president said he was pleased with the added military spending and made no mention of the mounting deficits that he and Republicans once railed against.

The deal is a coup de grâce for the Budget Control Act of 2011, which President Barack Obama signed into law after House Republicans, led by the current acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, pushed the government to the brink of defaulting on its debt. The law, once seen as the Republicans’ crowning achievement in the Obama era, set strict spending caps, enforced with automatic spending cuts.

But since 2014, a succession of budget deals has waived the Budget Control Act caps, and the new deal not only lifts them again but allows the whole law to expire in 2021.

Meantime, the federal debt has ballooned to $22 trillion. Despite healthy economic growth, the federal deficit for this fiscal year has reached $747 billion with two months to go — a 23 percent increase from the year before.

“It appears that Congress and the president have just given up on their jobs,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which blasted out a statement arguing the tentative deal “may end up being the worst budget agreement in our nation’s history.”

“The economy is great and able to accommodate changes,” she said in an interview. “But we’re about to make things worse due to nothing other than the lack of political will.”

The rising costs of an aging population, with the baby boom generation drawing Social Security and Medicare benefits, and Washington’s spending habits have led to increases in both federal spending and interest costs on the growing national debt. During the first two years of the Trump administration, the debt increased by more than $2 trillion, in part because of the 10-year, $1.5 trillion tax cut and large spending increases Mr. Trump signed into law.

The president has repeatedly called for deep spending cuts in the budgets he has submitted to Congress — then signed several laws that have boosted the deficit even further.

As president, Mr. Trump has overseen both a binge in discretionary spending and a plunge in expected tax revenues as a result of the tax cut legislation that stands as his signature legislative achievement. The federal budget deficit has increased by an average of 15 percent for each fiscal year he has been in office. (Mr. Obama ran large deficits in his first term in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. But his second term saw deficits fall by an average of 11 percent per fiscal year.)

In that first Obama term, which included a large government stimulus package to jump-start job creation in the depths of the recession, discretionary spending on military and domestic items rose by about 3 percent per year, on average. In his second term, such spending declined by an annual average of nearly 2 percent.

Mr. Trump is currently on pace to increase discretionary spending by an average of nearly 4 percent per year.

Mr. Trump’s tax cuts, which reduced rates for businesses and individuals, have not paid for themselves, as some administration officials said they would. Instead, they have reduced individual and corporate tax revenues by about 8 percent per year, compared to what budget forecasters expected before the cuts were passed into law.

Combined with increased costs from paying interest on a larger national debt, the tax cuts are on pace to add nearly $400 billion to the national debt in the course of the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years, according to data from the Congressional Budget Office.

But Democrats are not inclined toward austerity either. In the first round of Democratic presidential debates, the national debt was barely mentioned.

Still, passage of the budget agreement is not certain. Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Mnuchin, who have led the negotiations in private phone calls over the last week, will have to sell the deal to their parties ahead of an anticipated House vote this week, before that chamber leaves on Friday. The Senate is scheduled to leave for its recess next week.

In her caucus, Ms. Pelosi must wrangle votes from both her fiscal hawks and liberal members opposed to increased military spending. Mr. Mnuchin must secure the president’s signature and wave off critics of government spending Mr. Mulvaney.

But the threat of an economically disastrous default on the nation’s debt, coupled with widespread desire to avoid automatic cuts to military and domestic programs, are likely enough for the proposed measure to become law.

“I can’t imagine anybody ever even thinking of using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wedge,” Mr. Trump said on Friday. “We can never play with it.”

Once a deal is enacted, lawmakers have to race to agree on how to allocate the money before Oct. 1, when current spending laws expire.

Meantime, the deficit hawks are getting more disheartened.

“Everybody getting what they want is not bipartisan compromise, it’s irresponsible policymaking that harms the next generation,” said Michael Peterson, chief executive of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, an advocacy group for debt reduction.

Jim Tankersley contributed reporting.

[dustedmagazine]

Flying Lotus — Flamagra (Warp)

Photo by Renata Raksha

In the decade-plus since Flying Lotus’ breakthrough 2008 album, Los Angeles, it’s been a true pleasure to watch the artist otherwise known as Steven Ellison evolve from a darling of the L.A. underground beat scene to a globe-trotting, Grammy-nominated super-producer. Best of all, perhaps, is the fact that success hasn’t dulled Ellison’s casual brilliance and restless, questing weirdness. In the five years since his last Flying Lotus record, Ellison has been creatively prolific in other forms. He directed Kuso, a truly bizarre horror film; scored “Blade Runner Blackout 2022,” a short by acclaimed anime director Shinichiro Watanabe; and shepherded more than a few great records into existence as head of the Brainfeeder label, including Thundercat’s acclaimed 2017 album Drunk and Georgia Anne Muldrow’s excellent 2018 album Overload. It’s satisfying to report, then, that the new Flying Lotus record, Flamagra, finds Ellison still burning bright--both a savvy collaborator and curator, and a sharp creative mind in his own right. 

Flying Lotus is a Millennial artist in the fullest, most complimentary sense of the term. The product of a steady diet of Adult Swim absurdist humor, J Dilla records and Afrofuturism, FlyLo’s genre-agnostic approach to electronic music has one foot in the warm, booty-mobilizing groove of hip hop and classic funk and the other in the ice cold, intellectual visions of techno shamans like Drexciya and Aphex Twin. In a way, it’s oddly fitting that a capital-L, capital-A Los Angelino like Ellison found a home for his music on Warp Records, home of groundbreaking UK IDM acts like the aforementioned Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Boards of Canada. As Flying Lotus, Ellison has established himself as a key figure in bridging the divide between hip hop and techno, reintroducing electronic dance music to its quintessentially Black, American roots.  

Flamagra advertises some of FlyLo’s biggest-name collaborations to date, from elder statesmen of the avant-garde like David Lynch and George Clinton to contemporary heavy hitters like Solange and Anderson.Paak. But, despite the boldface names, the total package is boldly embossed with Flying Lotus’ unmistakable stamp. Cinematic but not grandiose, varied but not scattershot, Flamagra feels like diving into a web of intricately interconnected ideas and synapses firing a little too fast for the casual observer to track.  

Flying Lotus’ penchant for high concepts doesn’t always connect. His last record, 2014’s You’re Dead, was a pleasant but unfocused psychedelic ramble to...somewhere. Flamagra, on the other hand, is deeply rooted in and evocative of a sense of place. Like Los Angeles, Flamagra is a love letter to a city and a creative community, albeit one transformed by political upheaval and looming environmental disaster. The tense funk of tracks like “Burning Down the House” and “Fire is Coming” channels the psychic tension of life in a city threatened both by literal uncontrolled wildfires and other forms of manmade disaster: pollution, gentrification, socioeconomic inequality. But, as Flamagra’s guiding metaphor, fire can also be a force for balance, cleansing and renewal. This tenacious, up-from-the-ashes survivor’s optimism is embodied by mellower highlights like “Spontaneous,” “9 Carrots” and “Land of Honey.”  

L.A. is a strange, singular place: a sprawling network of immigrants, stars, ramblers and seekers, a Hollywood-pop-industrial dream factory on a geological fault line perpetually on the brink of rupture, a smog-and-ash- choked testament to human ingenuity and human hubris. In 27 short tracks, Flamagra creates a vivid, memorable collage of L.A. life circa 2019, speaking to both the complicated present and the imaginative future of the city Flying Lotus calls home.  

Rachel Smith

[newyorktheater]

Bob Dylan, Glenn Close, Daniel Radcliffe, and Gloria Steinem are all on a New York stage one way or another in October, always a good month for theater.

This year’s October is likely the busiest ever, thanks to the addition of the hundred shows in the New York International Fringe Festival, which for the first time has been moved from August to October.

Three shows are opening on Broadway in October: Elaine May returns to Broadway in a star-studded revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery”; Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones and Bobby Cannavale star in “Lifespan of a Fact,” a true story that starts with one of our society’s unheralded heroes – a fact checker. Jez Butterworth’s “The Ferryman” is one of the several plays that month about a stranger who visits…and turns everything upside down.

Off-Broadway’s promising shows include a re-imagined “Oklahoma”; an evening of Beckett performed by Bill Irwin; and a new Bob Dylan musical with a book by Conor McPherson. Glenn Close stars as Joan of Arc’s mother. Christine Lahti portrays Gloria Steinem.

Off-Off Broadway, filmmaker Todd Solondz makes his theatrical debut, and two plays by Samuel D. Hunter are joined together into a dinner theater, New York style.

Below is a selection of openings in October, organized chronologically by opening date. Each title is linked to a relevant website. Color key: Broadway: Red. Off Broadway: Black or Blue. Off Off Broadway: Green. Theater festival: Orange

October 1

Girl from the North Country (Public Theater)

Playwright and director Conor McPherson transforms Bob Dylan’s songbook to tell the story of a down-on-its-luck community on the brink of change in Duluth, Minnesota in 1934.

October 2

Final Follies (Primary Stages at Cherry Lane)

Three one-act plays by A.R. Gurney, who died last year at the age of 86.

October 3

On Beckett (Irish Rep)

Bill Irwin explores his relationship with the work of Samuel Beckett through excerpts of his texts including “Waiting for Godot,” “Endgame,” and “Texts for Nothing.”

The Bachae (BAM)

Euripides’ cautionary parable of hubris and fear of the unknown thrashes to new life in the hands of Anne Bogart, the renowned SITI Company.

October 4

Makbet, a version of Shakespeare’s tragedy presented by the Dzieci international experimental theatre ensemble, takes place inside a shipping container in Sure We Can, a Brooklyn recycling center. It’s one of the first shows in the monthlong New York Fringe Festival.

  October 7

Oklahoma (St Ann’s Warehouse)

Director Daniel Fish’s 75th anniversary production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s landmark musical upends the sunny romance between a farmer and a cowpoke with what has always been just below the surface. The cast includes Rebecca Naomi Jones, Mary Testa, and Ali Stroker.

October 8

Rags Parkland Sings The Songs Of The Future.(Ars Nova)

Sci-fi folk concert set 250 years in the future. “Rags will play the revolutionary songbook that carried us to where we are today”

October 10

Black Light (Greenwich House Theater)

Jomama Jones, portrayed by Daniel Alexander Jones, returns in the cabaret show that’s an act of healing and an act of warning in these turbulent times. My review when it was at Joe’s Pub.

October 11

Midnight at the Never Get (York)

a gay New York couple in 1965 put together a show at an illegal Greenwich Village gay bar. But as the decade ends, they find themselves caught in a passion they can’t control and a political revolution they don’t understand.

Playwright William Jackson Harper

Travisville (Ensemble Studio Theater)

Their lives are irrevocably changed when a stranger visits the members of a community untouched by the civil rights movement, forcing them to take sides and take a stand.

October 12

FringeNYC 

FringeNYC opens in earnest with performances by 23 of its 83 shows, including  The Resistible Rise of JR Brinkley, the true story of a 1920s con man who became a successful politician.

Duke Oldrich & Washerwoman Bozena (Czech American Marionette Theatre)

non-traditional staging of a 374 year-old marionette play based on the story of love at first sight of the 11th century Duke Oldrich, who married a washerman. Part of the Centennial Heritage Festival

October 13

The Things That Were There  (Bushwick Starr)

Written by David Greenspan and directed by Lee Sunday Evans, the play dramatizes the events and relationships of a family over many years at a family get-together. “Certain scenes begin again with slight or significant variation as a means of investigating family relationships through a continually shifting lens a

October 14

Emma and Max (The Flea) 

Filmmaker Todd Solondz (“Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “Wiener-Dog”) makes his theatrical debut with a play about privilege, race, and the intersection of black and white.

October 15

Fireflies (Atlantic)

Written by Donja R. Love, starring Kris Davis (magnificent in Sweat and The Royale, now on FX’s Atlanta.) When four little girls are bombed in a church, the marriage between Charles (Davis) and Olivia (Dewanda Wise)  is threatened

October 16

Apologia (Roundabout)

Stockard Channing in a powerhouse performance as a woman facing the repercussions of her past, in this play by Alexi Kaye Campbell

October 17

Mother of the Maid (Public)

Glenn Close plays Joan of Arc’s mother in this drama by Jane Anderson (“Olive Kitteridge”)

October 18

Gloria: A Life (Daryl Roth Theater)

Christine Lahti portrays Gloria Steinem in a new play by Emily Mann directed by Diane Paulus.

  The Lifespan of a Fact (Studio 54) 

Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones and Bobby Cannavale in a true story that begins with an essay written  about a Las Vegas teenager who committed suicide. But the fact-checker assigned to make sure the piece is accurate begins to wonder whether any of it is true

October 21

  The Ferryman (Bernard Jacobs) 

Written by Jez Butterworth and directed by Sam Mendes, this play is set in the Carney farmhouse in rural Northern Ireland in 1981, a hive of activity with preparations for the annual harvest…until a stranger visits.

The Book of Merman (St Luke’s Theater)

Two Mormon missionaries ring the doorbell of Ethel Merman in this new musical comedy. Carol Sakolove sings original songs as Merman.

October 22

School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play (MCC)

A return of the play about the catty girls at Ghana’s most exclusive boarding school who vie to enter the Miss Universe pageant.My review of the original production.

Plot Points in Our Sexual Development (Lincoln  Center)

In this play by Miranda Rose Hall, Theo (Jax Jackson) and Cecily (Marianne Rendon) want to be honest about their sexual histories, but what happens when telling the truth jeopardizes everything?

October 23

Happy Birthday Wanda June (Wheelhouse at Duke)

A revival of Kurt Vonnegut’s satire about a big game hunter who returns to America after an eight-year absence to find it trying to address the culture’s toxic masculinity

October 24

India Pale Ale (MTC)

In this play by Jaclyn Backhaus, a tight-knit Punjabi community in a small Wisconsin town gathers to celebrate the wedding of a traditional family’s only son, just as their strong-willed daughter announces her plans to move away and open a bar. This comedy of generations clashing was the recipient of the 2018 Horton Foote Prize  for Promising New American Play.

Playwright Orlando Pabotoy

Sesar (Ma-Yi)

After watching an excerpt of “Julius Caesar” on television, a 14-year Filipino boy locks himself in the only family bathroom to dive head-first into the world of ancient Rome, determined to make sense of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, eventually joined by the boy’s father, a former town mayor now exiled because of his democratic beliefs.

October 25

The Waverly Gallery (John Golden)

Written by Kenneth Lonerganand directed by Lila Neugebauer, making her Broadway debut, and starring Elaine May as Gladys,  whose world is being rearranged both within her own mind, and externally – the landlord wants to turn her  small Greenwich Village into a coffee shop. It co-stars Lucas Hedges, Joan Allen, Michael Cera, and David Cromer.

Lewis and Clarkson (Rattlestick)

Samuel D. Hunter’s two plays focus on two modern-day descendants of the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Each night “the plays will be performed together, in an intimate space for a small audience of only 51 guests who will gather to watch, to share a catered meal between the two productions, and to consider as a community our place in the ongoing American experiment.”

Renascence (Transport Group)

The biography of radical poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay, using her poetry as lyrics.

October 28

Daniel’s Husband (Westside Theater)

A turn of events puts the perfect life of a gay couple in jeopardy, This production of a play by Michael McKeever had a run last year at Primary Stages. My review

October 30

Steven Levenson and Mike Faist

Days of Rage (Second Stage)

Steven Levenson (who wrote the book for Dear Evan Hansen) writes about five young idealists in the middle of a country divided, in October, 1969, who admit a mysterious newcomer to their collective, and the delicate balance they’ve achieved begins to topple. It stars Mike Faist (late of Dear Evan Hansen), Tavi Gevinson, J. Alphonse Nicholson

      October 2018 New York Theater Openings Bob Dylan, Glenn Close, Daniel Radcliffe, and Gloria Steinem are all on a New York stage one way or another in October, always a good month for theater.

[moviesandmania]

Blood Reaper - USA, 2004

Blood Reaper – USA, 2004

‘The legend has just become a bloody reality…’

Blood Reaper is a 2004 American slasher horror feature film directed by Lory-Michael Ringuette (Tele-Zombie) from a screenplay co-written with Douglas Hensley and Michael J. Stewart. The movie stars Cameron McHarg, Alison Moon, Jerri Badenhop and Mark Siegel. Former ‘Scream Queen’ Brinke Stevens has a cameo role.

Plot:

Jim (August Hanks) is driving…

[christopherhudsonjr]

Left-Libertarian Weekly Podcast Roundup (3/2/18)

100 Words Or Less - Chris #2 from Anti-Flag

Against the Grain - The History of Classical Anarchism

Anews - 52: what has occurred in the last week in the wide world of anarchism

Animal Law - Harvard’s Animal Law and Policy Program

ATB - Ben Bradley’s Political Eulogy

Audio Report - Tree Sit Resists Mountain Valley Pipeline in Appalachia

The Bearded Vegans - Dog Meat and Hero Cows: Using Speciesist News Stories To Our Advantage

Bi Any Means - Psychiatric Abuse with Caleb Orion

Biskeptical - #MeToo in the Atheist Movement

By Any Means Necessary - 'An American Execution' and Trump's Destruction of the EPA

Cato Daily - The Case against Qualified Immunity

The Chauncey DeVega Show - Is the "Black Panther" Movie Disrespectful to Black Americans?

Clear and Present Danger - The Age of Persecution

Conversations with Tyler - Robin Hanson on Signaling and Self-Deception

The Corbett Report - The Weaponization of Social Media

Dangerous History - Talking National Security Cinema with Tom Secker

Delete Your Account - Dirty Water: interview with incarcerated environmental activist Bryant Arroyo

The Dig - Glenn Greenwald: Surveillance Hypocrisy Amid Russiagate Mania

Discourse Collective - Current Events - Lee Atwater Part II

Economic Rockstar - Eric Lonergan on the Philosophy of Money (Part 1)

EconTalk - Elizabeth Anderson on Worker Rights and Private Government

Felony Friday – The Felon Firefighter

The Final Straw - “Between the Bullet and the Lie”: Kristian Williams on George Orwell

Foreign Policy Focus - Why the UN is Horrible

Free Man Beyond The Wall - What Do You Do, When the Police Show Up at Your Door…and They Intend to Kill You?: interview with Dan Gifford on Waco

Free Thoughts - Is the DEA Trippin’? (with Rick Doblin)

Friendly Anarchism - No Nazis In Knox, Heckling Cops, and Mental Fortitude with Molly

The Gaytheist Manifesto - What Does it Mean to be a Man?

The Guillotine - Mass Shootings, Gun Control, Afrin, and Nazi Terrorism

Historical Controversies - Filibuster in Nicaragua, Part 5: President William Walker

The Hotwire - #20: West Virginia teachers strike—Student walkouts everywhere—Youth liberation NOW!

IGDcast - Mutual Aid Disaster Relief on Building Dual Power & Upcoming Tour

Indigo Radio - Our Children "In Custody": Foster Care and the Vermont Eugenics Movement

Kite Line - Conscious in Confinement

Knowing Animals - Evil in Nature with Oscar Horta

Labour Wave Revolution Radio - On Air: West Virginia Teachers' Strike and Hazel Daniels from the Coalition of Graduate Employees

Liberty Chronicles - Rumps and Buffaloes

Macro Musings - Brink Lindsey and Steven Teles on Rent-Seeking and the Twin Melees Afflicting the U.S. Economy

The Magnificast - Gettin' Charismatic w Vincent Lloyd

Neighbor Science - Peeter da Bo$$ and A$$alt Ryfle rap about the new$

Our Hen House - Carol Adams and Bill Crain on exploitative history of the hamburger, sexual and physical violence in the animal rights movement, and recent arrest for civil disobedience while protesting the New Jersey Bear Hunt.

Peaceful Anarchism - Mary J Ruwart – Author of Healing Our World, The Compassion of Libertarianism

Polite Conversations - The intersection of Religion & Tech

Political Research Digest - Do Americans Implicitly Trust Government, Despite our Public Anger?

Primo Nutmeg - Mark Stewart, libertarian-leaning Democrat running for Governor of Connecticut in 2018

Radical Underground - Long Live International Solidarity!

Radio Rothbard - Lack of Police Accountability Shows the "Social Contract" Isn't Working

Reason - Kurt Loder on Why the Oscars Always Suck but Movies Are Great

Revolutionary Left Radio - Black Rose Anarchist Federation: Revolutionary Organizing

School Sucks - Dropping Out of College, Why and How (Derek Magill, Part One)

The Scott Horton Show - Surviving Branch Davidian David Thibodeau recalls the Waco Massacre 25 years later

Serious Inquiries Only - Lawrence Krauss Accused of Sexual Misconduct; Interview with Monette Richards

Srlsy Wrong - School Shootings Are Bad

Symptomatic Redness - Marxism and Religion

This Is Hell! - Human / Nature: Women and the work of building of Black nationalism / On time, trauma and the climate storm to come / Inside America's growing, doomed White nationalist movement / A history of Millennials and neoliberalism / I could never shoot enough Wayne LaPierres

Tech Freedom - How Should Congress Address Online Sex Trafficking?

Unregistered - Janet Capron: Author of the memoir Blue Money, which chronicles her time as a prostitute in New York City in the early 1970s

The Vegan Vanguard - Universal Basic Income: Panacea or Dystopia?

Women’s Liberation Radio News - Analysis of Rape Culture & #METOO Movement

Who Shaves the Barber? - David Rosenthal: Consciousness

The Whorecast - Rep. Elizabeth Edwards and SWOP’s Leslee Petersen on Studying Decrim in New Hampshire

Words & Numbers - Why Don't We Insure Guns Like We Insure Cars?

[mideastsoccer]

Confronting a Pandemic of Crises, Few Middle Eastern Leaders Step Up

Confronting a Pandemic of Crises, Few Middle Eastern Leaders Step Up

by James M. Dorsey | June 9, 2020

This story was first published in Inside Arabia

A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spreaker, Pocket Casts, Tumblr, Podbean, Audecibel, Patreon and Castbox.

The Middle East is at a crossroads. The coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout confronts regional leaders with a stark choice: dial down tensions to open the door toward cooperation in tackling existential challenges or risk ever more aggravated political and economic threats enhanced by a potential wave of social protest.

Beirut, Lebanon, a day before the government begins to ease coronavirus restrictions. Sunday, May 3, 2020 (AP Photo Hassan Ammar)

A second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is raising its ugly head. It is putting Middle Eastern leaders at a crossroads as they struggle to contain the disease and tackle its economic fallout.

The question is whether they are getting the message: neither containing and controlling the virus nor economic recovery is a straight shot. Both are likely to involve a process of two steps forward, one step backwards, and no state can successfully tackle the multiples crises on its own.

The Middle East is a part of the world in which conflicts and problems are not just complex but inherently inter-connected. The pandemic poses not only political, economic, and social challenges. It also calls into question regional security arrangements that reinforce fault lines rather than create an environment that allows rivals to collectively manage disputes as well as diseases whose spread is not halted by physical and other boundaries.

At stake is not just regional but also global security. Focused on their own healthcare and economic crises, Western nations ignore Middle Eastern and North African instability at their peril. They risk waking up to threats that could have been anticipated.

Suspected Russian hopes that an end to the Libyan war would allow for the creation of a Russian military base on the southern shore of the Mediterranean that would complement facilities in Syria would be one such impending threat.

“Russia wants a foothold in Libya, and that’s a fact,” said Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian military analyist at the Jamestown Foundation. US officials warned that a permanent Russian presence would enhance Russia’s efforts to weaken the already strained trans-Atlantic alliance.

The prospect of increased Russian influence in the Mediterranean coupled with China’s expanding sway over ports in the Eastern Mediterranean raises the specter of emboldening Turkey as it aggressively seeks to grow its control of energy-rich waters in the region in violation of international law.

“To avoid the worst outcomes for an already fraught region, there is no substitute and frankly no alternative to some form of cooperation among regional actors. . . . With the Middle East likely to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis more fragile and potentially explosive than before, a cooperative architecture that can build regional resilience is an imperative,” said strategist Steven Kenney and international relations scholar Ross Harrison in a just released Washington-based Middle East Institute report.

The economic part of the message is already evident: Putting an end to the pandemic and economic recovery will be a painful and long-drawn-out process.

Countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Lebanon, and Israel are witnessing first signs of the pandemic’s second wave.

Increasing the likelihood of a cancellation of this year’s Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca scheduled for late July, Saudi Arabia re-imposed a lockdown in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, the haj’s major gateway, after a spike in coronavirus infections. The lockdown involves a two-week, 15-hour curfew from 15:00 p.m. to 06:00 a.m.

A dramatic surge in infections in Iran, averaging 3,000 new cases a day, has rekindled the Middle East’s largest outbreak, weeks after the country appeared to have tamed the virus.

Israel closed dozens of schools and ordered any school reporting a virus case to shut down following a surge in coronavirus cases that swept through classrooms two weeks after they were allowed to reopen.

Mass social and economic protests in Lebanon, a country on the brink of financial collapse, have heightened the risk of a second wave of the pandemic.

The surge bodes ill for economic recovery.

Based on a survey of 1,228 CEOs, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce warned that a  staggering 70 percent of businesses in the emirate expect to close their doors within the next six months.

The warning came as the UAE government extended a nightly curfew following a doubling of infections after it eased lockdown restrictions.

Government-backed UAE carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways have since extended reduced pay for staff until September as they try to preserve cash.

Austerity measures threaten to bring the social unrest that has swept the Middle East and North Africa for the past decade closer to the Gulf.

“If it’s temporary, one or two years, I can adapt. My concern is that more taxes will be permanent — and that will be an issue,” said Mohammed, a Saudi government worker after his $266 USD a month cost of living allowance was cancelled and sales taxes were tripled as part of painful austerity measures announced by Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan.

Mr. Mohammed’s words were echoed in a rare pushback against the government by columnist Khalid Al-Sulaiman, writing in the Okaz daily, one of the kingdom’s tightly controlled media outlets.

“I was hoping [the minister] would say [the tax hike] would be reviewed after the coronavirus crisis is gone or contained, or when oil prices improve, but he did not say that. Citizens are feeling concerned that pressure on their living standards will last longer than the current crisis,” Mr. Al-Sulaiman said.

The challenges Gulf states face of an ongoing healthcare crisis and a painful, protracted, and complex road toward economic recovery, coupled with debilitating regional conflicts that not only fester but appear to be expanding, are almost insurmountable obstacles.

Kuwaiti efforts to resolve the rift in the Gulf and pressure by US President Donald J. Trump on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain to lift their three-year-old air embargo of Qatar have raised, perhaps prematurely, the hope of an end to the conflict. Although there is no public indication that the parties are willing to seriously engage.

The proxy war in Libya, in which the UAE-backed forces of rebel commander Khalifa Haftar are on the defensive, is extending into the Eastern Mediterranean as Turkey claims rights in energy-rich territorial waters in violation of international law.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi-based English language newspaper The National, despite UAE efforts to reduce tension with Iran, seemed, to stop just short of inviting Israel to attack an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ command and control center on the outskirts of the main airport of Damascus, the capital of Syria.

“For now, the Glass House remains unshattered,” The National said in a detailed expose of the center dubbed The Glass House.

Middle Eastern leaders are confronting the worst pandemic of crises since independence.

Addressing those predicaments requires regional and global leadership which looks beyond immediate survival and ideological and geopolitical rivalries; a leadership which recognizes that stability and solutions to shared threats must be vested in longer term managing and cooperation in tackling common challenges rather than maintaining conflict.

The problem is that few leaders seem willing or able to step up to the plate.

Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. He is also an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture in Germany