The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

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My Thoughts About Cuba

When the Soviet Union fell, there was adulation everywhere around the world and it was seen as a sign of "the end of history." (See book by the same title.) Everyone rejoiced except for the right wing in Russia, which recreated many of the institutions that existed during the USSR and put Vladimir Putin in charge of the task. (See the book Black Wind, White Snow.: The Rise of Russia's New Nationalism)

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Andrew Yang has that Diamond Cutter

I think Andrew Yang found a new calling - this is him with legendary professional wrestler Diamond Dallas Page. FYI he previously interviewed Nic Nimeth AKA Dolph Ziggler of WWE.

 

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"One Hour of Vintage Summer Music"

From Jake Westbrook on YouTube:

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Russian Hacks?

A business I work for got hacked and a forwarded racist rant message "Dr. Fauci's N!66ers" went viral. Various offensive documents with absurd, Ku Klux Klan sounding language were sent out under the auspices of staff. There was later a big apology for a security breach by the owner of the company.

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Homage to Amtrak

 

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More on the Complex History of Autism

Newly revealed information speculates that autism was pioneered by Soviet psychologists who wanted to integrate gifted children who had been marginalized socially. (A bit like the movie Elling.)

The methods of psychologists like Grunya Sukhareva and Lev Vygotsky were duplicated in parts of Europe that were inspired by the Soviet experiment, including Germany. When the Nazis took over these clinics, people like Hans Asperger steered them in to grooming centers for super-children who were either seen as gifted stewards of the Reich or sent them to be euthanized.

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Colbert Gets Tense With Jon Stewart

There is a phrase in professional wrestling called "putting over." When you help sell another wrestler, that's putting them over. Jon Stewart helped put over Stephen Colbert over a very long period of time.

Nevertheless, when Stewart came to conclusions Colbert didn't like about the origins of Covid-19, Colbert started deriding him immediately.

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Thoughts: Forrest Gump, Porn and Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The movie Forrest Gump popped in to my head recently. There's a scene, after having been wounded in Vietnam, where Forrest Gump's lieutenant, Dan, refuses to move or engage anything while in the hospital. He comes back to the United States and is homeless, wandering around, and, by the time him and Forrest set out on starting on a fishing business together, he's close to insane.

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Why Hollywood Stays Woke

I want to precede this post by saying I, unlike a lot of critics, have enjoyed "woke" films. In 2016, The Legend of Tarzan was released. Despite having a disappointing box office reception, the film accurately depicted the reality of colonial Africa at the time Edgar Rice Borroughs set his character. (With a budget of $180 million, it did $356.7 million at the box office.)

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