Okay, like Liza
Featherstone, I'm a little tired of the RBG hype. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
is not a hero to me. She's left only when compared to others currently
serving. And the worship seems a little out of place
-- especially considering how she's overstepped her bounds from time to
time by discussing issues that come before the Court in her speeches to
groups, etc. Anyway, Ed Hightower (WSWS) reviews the wave of Ginsburg films:
The second feature-length film about US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in less than a year came to theaters on Christmas day, titled On the Basis of Sex, a reference to gender-based discrimination. Mimi Leder’s two-hour biopic—a tedious cinematic effort—seeks to rally a core constituency of the Democratic Party: upper-middle-class women.
The moniker “Notorious RBG” comes from a liberal blogger who commented on Ginsburg’s defense of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013. Offered in the spirit of respect and enthusiasm for the aging spokesperson for the high court’s ostensibly liberal bloc, the name found its way to a “Saturday Night Live” sketch. In the latter, a glib and defiant Ginsburg (played by Kate McKinnon) insists that, in the face of impending right-wing appointments to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump, she will never retire.
On the Basis of Sex follows this adulating path. It is a thoroughly artificial undertaking, whose screenplay—edited by Ginsburg herself no less than three times—was written by her own nephew, Daniel Stiepleman. It depicts Ginsburg’s legal education, early career as a professor and civil rights attorney, and her family life.
As a legal drama, On the Basis of Sex has some limited merit. One can sympathize with then (1972) civil rights attorney Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) eagerly representing Charles Moritz (Chris Mulkey), who was not allowed to claim a tax deduction for nursing expenses for his elderly mother. Under the tax code at the time, the deduction was available for women or for men whose wives were deceased or incapacitated, but not for men who simply had never been married. Even though the tax exemption ostensibly favored women—making it easier for them to join the workforce by hiring in-home care for an aging parent—Ginsburg and her colleagues took the case to the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and earned a noteworthy victory.
He goes on to detail how the film includes all these made up bits. So why is it considered a biography?
To be honest, I almost
slammed the film but I didn't see it. I was going to slam it just for
Felicity Jones -- that pointed head, that earnest face. I find her to
be a hideous actress and can't image her carrying
any film -- both because she's bad at acting and because she has no
star power.
Then I saw two things: Arme
Hammer was in it and Mimi Leder directed it. I like Arme. He gets
slammed a lot online. I figured just take a pass on the film because
Arme's in it. And Mimi? She had a hit with DEEP
IMPACT but she hadn't directed a film since 2009's THICK AS THIEVES.
So I didn't want to slam her either. But that trailer was hideous.
If they'd cast someone
other than Felicity, I probably would've paid the price for tickets to
see it for Arme and Mimi. But I can't stand Felicity Jones.
Which reminds me. From THIRD's "Mailbag:"
Market & Grocery wondered if we like romantic comedies so much, "why didn't you promote Rebel Wilson's ISN'T IT ROMANTIC?"
We talked about that actually. When we did, C.I. stated that the film would not clear sixty million domestically. Someone asked why? C.I. said the trailer had a joke that shouldn't be in it but, worse, they were using that same joke in the commercials on TV. What joke? The man Rebel's now with has a penis bigger than a pepper grinder -- the kind at the restaurants. That was not going to make men eager to see it. It would be, she said, as though a movie had John Cusack joking about how tight the vagina on his lover was -- that would bother women who might buy tickets. Or worse, insulting her for how 'stretched out' it was. Stan thought about it and agreed. C.I. and Stan were correct. The film's struggled to reach $40 million over the weekend and it's fallen to number seven. It should have been a hit but pimping that joke scared off a lot of ticket buyers.
Meanwhile, we strongly endorse THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS. We didn't see the film when it came out -- it was trashed. But it is funny. Yes, it's raunchy. It's also incredibly funny and a puppet noir. The puppetry deserves strong praise as does the live acting by Melissa McCarthy, Joel McHale and Maya Rudolph. In fact, Maya's so great her character could have been written into the comedy classic MURDER BY DEATH. Barry Rothbart is very funny in his small role and we're hoping he becomes an even bigger name with his upcoming TV series.
If you haven't seen the movie, try it -- you can stream it or purchase it on disc. It's very funny and, in ten years, it's going to be considered a classic. The morality police charged in when it was in theaters. They kept a lot of people from seeing the movie. But this is a film that will build each year.
We talked about that actually. When we did, C.I. stated that the film would not clear sixty million domestically. Someone asked why? C.I. said the trailer had a joke that shouldn't be in it but, worse, they were using that same joke in the commercials on TV. What joke? The man Rebel's now with has a penis bigger than a pepper grinder -- the kind at the restaurants. That was not going to make men eager to see it. It would be, she said, as though a movie had John Cusack joking about how tight the vagina on his lover was -- that would bother women who might buy tickets. Or worse, insulting her for how 'stretched out' it was. Stan thought about it and agreed. C.I. and Stan were correct. The film's struggled to reach $40 million over the weekend and it's fallen to number seven. It should have been a hit but pimping that joke scared off a lot of ticket buyers.
Meanwhile, we strongly endorse THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS. We didn't see the film when it came out -- it was trashed. But it is funny. Yes, it's raunchy. It's also incredibly funny and a puppet noir. The puppetry deserves strong praise as does the live acting by Melissa McCarthy, Joel McHale and Maya Rudolph. In fact, Maya's so great her character could have been written into the comedy classic MURDER BY DEATH. Barry Rothbart is very funny in his small role and we're hoping he becomes an even bigger name with his upcoming TV series.
If you haven't seen the movie, try it -- you can stream it or purchase it on disc. It's very funny and, in ten years, it's going to be considered a classic. The morality police charged in when it was in theaters. They kept a lot of people from seeing the movie. But this is a film that will build each year.
THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is hilarious. Also be sure to read Ava and C.I.'s "TV:
PBS' long con." That is another one of their epic pieces and another truth telling one.
Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, March 4, 2019. More US bases are built in Iraq while Iraqis continue to suffer from lack of jobs in their own country.
Calls for US troops out of Iraq have been a feature of the ongoing war for over a decade now. Typically, the Kurds call for US troops to stay. NIQASH's Mustafa Habib says they're not the only ones calling for US troops to remain.
Calls for US troops out of Iraq have been a feature of the ongoing war for over a decade now. Typically, the Kurds call for US troops to stay. NIQASH's Mustafa Habib says they're not the only ones calling for US troops to remain.
Regardless of where the leaders fall on the issue, the Iraqi people's position remains the same -- all US troops -- all foreign troops period -- out of Iraq.
Despite that fact, as we noted in THIRD's "Editorial: When does the US leave Iraq?" last night, US bases are going up in Iraq.
Search results
MAJOR: US EXPANDS OCCUPATION OF IRAQ – BUILDS TWO NEW BASES @FortRussNews
"U.S. Has 31 Military Bases, 34,000 Soldiers in Iraq." en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?…
The war has been going on so long that now it is now possible to have children serving whose parents served. Two e-mails came into the public account noting an article Saturday about a Tweet. Didn't see that article and won't link to it. Two Sundays ago, at THIRD, we noted the same Tweet in "Editorial: The silence is deafening:"
Editorial: The silence is deafening
My first born son was 14 months old as I talked to him the night before I deployed to Kuwait/Iraq in June of 2003. My son just received mail from a recruiter for the first time. How the f**k is it possible he could go fight in the same war I did before he could walk? ENDTHEWAR
Why aren't others asking it?
And if anyone was asking sincerely for that other site to be noted, it never will be. I still have the January 2005 e-mail the head of that site wrote that was a racist attack on then-US House Rep Stephanie Tubbs Jones (she passed away in 2008). That's why we don't highlight that site. It's not that we're not aware of it, it's that we're far too aware of it.
We never highlight them. We never highlighted Keith Olbermann even when he was our great hope supposedly. Keith's anti-woman, sexist nature (among other things) was well known so we never highlighted him. If there's someone we've always avoided in the 15 years of this site, there's generally a reason for that.
On the subject of Tweets, Fadel al-Nashmi (ASHARQ AL-AWSAT) reports:
Twitter has closed the official account of the “Security Media Cell” that is affiliated with the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.
The cell was initially formed under the name of the “Military Information Cell” after the ISIS terrorist organization took over large swathes of Iraqi territory in June 2014.
During the war on ISIS, the Cell played a pivotal role in disseminating combat-related military information and information from the Joint Operations Command.
It did not comment on the shutdown, but a source close to it told Asharq al-Awsat that “Twitter has suspended, not closed, the account.”
Adel Abdul Mahdi remains ineffective and ripe for removal. Nouri al-Maliki, former prime minister and forever thug, is currently attempting to convince other politicians to support his move to remove Mahdi and step back in as prime minister. Mahdi's inability to accomplish anything allows this to be a very real possibility.
At no time since 2003 has the president of Iraq (a ceremonial position) been elevated higher than the prime minister by the western press. Now western outlets repeatedly report on Barham Salih and his pronouncements as though Barham is the leader of Iraq. It as though they're preparing you for the end of Mahdi's rule.
Mahdi was, of course, the longtime choice of the CIA and his inability to rule says a lot about their poor analytics. They pushed him hard every time starting in 2010. He was the answer, they insisted.
He has turned out to be no answer at all.
Terrorism and violence happen for reasons. These include economic reasons. There are no jobs in Iraq. That could have been addressed long ago -- and should have been. But it's become a growing problem and one that Mahdi can't address apparently.
The graduates of universities have demonstrated in Alwai area in the
middle of Baghdad to demand Baghdad government providing them with job
opportunities .
If you're not getting how bad the situation is, note this.
These stats on demographics and growth rates should keep you up at night
If the referred to article doesn't show in the Tweet, it's Chloe Cornish's piece for THE FINANCIAL TIMES which notes that overall joblessness in Iraq is at 13% but for the younger adult Iraqis it stands at 40%. The article delves into the implications for Iraq's future as a result of the current babyboom taking place among Iraqi youth, so it's of interest for that as well. But with protests in Baghdad over the lack of jobs, we're noting it due to the jobless rate.
Again:
The graduates of universities have demonstrated in Alwai area in the middle of Baghdad to demand Baghdad government providing them with job opportunities .
Sir i live in Iraq and I graduated from Computer engineering college two years ago and have no job yet, please help me sir
In Iraq, residents of Basra City protest in Bahariya Square near government council building. Demand jobs, better services, abolishment of Basra Council & accountability for the corrupt.
mobp.as/zGGEo
Again, this issue has festered for some time. But Mahdi came to power after the protests began in Basra (July was when they started) so he should have had that on his lists of things to address in his first 100 days. It's now around 124 days since he became prime minister and he's done nothing to address the lack of jobs. He also still can't appoint a Minister of Defense or Minister of Interior.
Again, he's proven to be rather inept.
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