Eddie Murphy is readying his magnifying glass, as the actor is in talks to star as Inspector Clouseau in MGM’s upcoming “Pink Panther” film, Variety has confirmed.

The reboot of the classic property will be directed by “Sonic the Hedgehog” filmmaker Jeff Fowler. Chris Bremner (“Bad Boys for Life,” “The Man From Toronto”) is writing the script, while Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich will produce via their Rideback banner.

That could be really good. Inspector Clouseau does disguises and Eddie's great at playing multiple characters. It could also be bad. I thought Steve Martin did a good job in the role in his two films but that the films themselves were rather distant. Peter Sellers, of course, created the role and played the part for years.

Now let's talk SECRET INVASION. What? I was on some UK sites and learned about it. Sorry if you already know all about it. It's going to be a mini-series this year on DISNEY+ and it's part of the MARVEL universe. Samuel L. Jackson will star (as Nick Fury, of course).

Remember the Skrulls from CAPTAIN MARVEL? They're secretly invading the earth and Nick's on the case. Assisting Nick will be Maria (Cobie Smulders).

It'll be a six-part mini-series that will debut on DISNEY+ June 21st.

I'm excited and looking forward to this. It seems like a different sort of twist and, of course, I'm a big Samuel L. Jackson fan.

By the way, please avoid NETFLIX's awful CALL ME KATE and, if you don't know why, read Ava and C.I.'s "TV: Does she need to be in a coffin and in a closet too?"

Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Another do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do hypocrite is exposed for the liar that they really are.

Damn you, Paul Rudnick! :D I thought I was done dictating this snapshot and then I said, "Wait, Paul's probably got something funny about this on Twitter." He does. And he also makes a Dogpatch reference. So I have to redo my sentence that originally opened the snapshot and we'll just instead open with his Tweets. So here's Paul.

Those two crazy kids were a match made in a blazing hell with Jesse Helms smiling over them. In spite of -- or because of -- that, Josh Fiallo and Roger Sollenberger (DAILY BEAST) report, Lauren Boebert served her registered sex offender husband with divorce papers on Tuesday. He refused the papers but she confirmed to the press that she had filed for divorce.

He was taken by surprise which makes clear that hate merchant and alleged Christian Lauren decided this was something she could do without God. She didn't do counseling, she didn't discuss the decision with her husband.

It's really interesting to watch the Christian illiterates like Lauren stand in judgment of others when, point of fact, they do whatever they want and then utter some mealy mouthed words if anyone notices.

By Lauren's beliefs, she will now be an adulteress as a result of this divorce -- which per the Book of Matthew -- must be due to her "sexual immorality."

I was thinking about this yesterday. The Bible is very clear that sex outside of marriage is wrong. But when Lauren's son gets an underage girl pregnant, oh, well Lauren doesn't care what the Bible says. However when it comes to a same-sex couple having sex, she's all about citing the Bible.

In September, Daniel Villareal (LGBTQ NATION) reported:

Anti-LGBTQ Christian nationalist Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) recently gave a speech telling Christians to “rise up” and put “God back at the center of our country.” She also said that LGBTQ people have created a national “identity crisis” for children and families by “spitting in God’s face” and perverting his creation.

Boebert made her comments last weekend at the three-day conference hosted by Truth and Liberty Coalition, a Christian nationalist organization that believes the U.S. must be a rigidly Christian nation. The organization was founded by far-right preacher Andrew Wommack, and the event was hosted at Wommack’s Charis Bible College in Woodland Park, Colorado.

In August, Lily Wakefield (PINK NEWS) reported:

Republican Colorado representative Lauren Boebert has suggested that children in public schools should be forced to undergo “biblical citizenship training”.

Boebert’s chilling comments were made on an episode of FlashPoint, a Christian news show which airs on the Victory Channel, owned by the anti-LGBTQ+ televangelist Kenneth Copeland.

The Colorado Republican and gun rights activist, who has previously said that LGBTQ+ people should be banned from coming out before the age of 21, discussed the upcoming midterm elections and said Republicans must prove that they will “get America rolling again”.

She added: “Maybe we need to have some sort of legislation that requires… biblical citizenship training in our schools. And that’s how we get things turned around.”

It's nonsense. It's two different standards. She's a hypocrite and so is anyone who goes along with her.

Ava and I called out the flaming pearl clutcher in that awful NETFLIX documentary CALL ME KATE -- he had a heart attack that anyone might wonder if Katharine Hepburn was a lesbian (she was) but he was fine talking about her alleged affairs with men -- including with Spencer Tracy who was married.

I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the damn hypocrisy where you feign outrage that Hepburn might be a lesbian (she was) while you dish about her (brief) affair with the married Spencer Tracy and try to present that as 'normal' and 'love.' No, he was a raging drunk who hit her repeatedly. Don't pimp the 'feminist' Kate lie while glorifying her relationship with Spencer -- which lasted weeks only according to Garson Kanin. I'm sick of it. And everyone knows about Hepburn and everyone knew about her.

And everyone knew Lauren Boebert was demanding that others live by this or that in the Bible while ignoring the very book she claimed to follow. Her own kind should pick up rocks and stone her -- that's in the Bible -- but the rest of us should just point a finger and laugh anytime we see her in public.

"Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women" -- isn't that in the Book of John? (It is.)

Some reactions on Twitter.

Meanwhile Brett Wilkins (COMMON DREAMS) reports:

Citing a "crisis of legitimacy" they say is plaguing the U.S. Supreme Court, a group of congressional Democrats on Tuesday reintroduced legislation aimed at thwarting Republican attacks on democracy by expanding the nation's top court from nine to 13 justices.

Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Judiciary Act outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., where they held a press conference.

"The nation's highest court today faces a crisis of legitimacy that began when Senate Republicans first abandoned norms and precedent to block the confirmation of then-President [Barack] Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, only to later ram through the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett a mere 10 days before Election Day 2020, and while millions of Americans were already casting ballots," the lawmakers said in a statement.

"The stolen, far-right Supreme Court majority has since ruled to destroy 50 years of settled precedent by rolling back the fundamental right to abortion care in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization and has become the subject of scandal, including new and resurfaced reports of Justice Clarence Thomas' failure to disclose gifts provided to him by billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow and his spouse's more than $680,000 in unreported income from the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation," the statement noted.

Markey contended that "Republicans have hijacked the confirmation process and stolen the Supreme Court majority—all to appeal to far-right judicial activists who for years have wanted to wield the gavel to roll back fundamental rights."

"Each scandal uncovered, each norm broken, each precedent-shattering ruling delivered is a reminder that we must restore justice and balance to the rogue, radical Supreme Court," he argued. "It is time we expand the court."

Johnson said that "it's easy to take for granted that the number of justices on the Supreme Court must be nine. But it is not written in the Constitution and has changed seven times over the course of our nation's history."

Meanwhile, the Iraq War continues. The White House issued the following yesterday:

Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to the Stabilization of Iraq

On May 22, 2003, by Executive Order 13303, the President declared a national emergency pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by obstacles to the orderly reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in the country, and the development of political, administrative, and economic institutions in Iraq.

The obstacles to the orderly reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in the country, and the development of political, administrative, and economic institutions in Iraq continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. For this reason, the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303, as modified in scope and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13290 of March 20, 2003, Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004, Executive Order 13438 of July 17, 2007, and Executive Order 13668 of May 27, 2014, must continue in effect beyond May 22, 2023. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to the stabilization of Iraq declared in Executive Order 13303.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 16, 2023.

The following sites updated: