cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/movies/p/1397021/stalker-stalker-1979-tarkovsky-s-classic-will-air-on-tcm-sunday-oct-29

Andrei Tarkovsky's haunting classic Stalker (Сталкер) (1979) is a must-see for cinephiles.

If you've played the video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R., you already have a sense of the 'feel' of this film as both are based on Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's 1972 novel Roadside Picnic. Those two also wrote the screen play, which diverges from the book.

The film is about a stalker, but the visuals will remind the viewer of gulags, the Chernobyl disaster, and possibly the current state of the world. For a price, the stalker will guide interested pilgrims from the crumbling and polluted normal world, past guards and hazards, and into the "Zone" where a wellspring of small life is overtaking the decaying creations of man. A dystopian normality is replaced with aberrant physics, harrowing obstacles both mental and physical, and most importantly with a chance to reach "The Room" where one's desire might be granted...for a sacrifice. That is the trek, but the story is about the men, specifically, as titled, the Stalker.

The stalker has a family, he's fresh from jail and is about to risk a return if he isn't killed, first. His inner journey is more important than the physical one and is described as much with ambient sound and water as with action and dialog. With a writer and professor in tow, the stalker again undertakes the pilgrimage despite concerns from his wife. His desire for the Zone itself and the money he'll make outweigh his wife's concerns, but not his love for her and their child. Will it be worth it? Is he doing more harm than good? Does anyone know and can anyone choose a better path? Filled with loaded imagery and motif from faith and love to war and cynicism, this film slowly reflects on a variety of conflicting ideas without forcing any single principle to be the sole answer (though one could argue that there's a theme).

The movie is available through various library subscriptions, youtube, HBO, and will air on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) on Sunday Night/Monday Morning October 27 2025 at 2:00am EDT. Find a long block of empty time to give it a try.

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President Trump showed off a draft of a letter firing the chair of Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, during a meeting with roughly a dozen House Republicans on Tuesday night, polling them as to whether he should do it and indicating that he likely would, according to two people briefed on the meeting.

The NYT contains several quotes from the CBS story ,but skips much of the name calling Trump uses against Powell.

Before you read that, see also: Choreographed celebrations in Venezuela as Maduro claims win

There are some things that are indisputable. Some which I, as an observer on the ground, was witness to.

There were the huge queues at polling stations, but only tiny amounts of people being let in at one time.

This led to accusations of deliberate delays, perhaps in the hope some people would give up and go home.

When our BBC team arrived at one polling station, the organiser of the station took a call saying the international media were there. 150 people were then suddenly allowed to be admitted.

There were some poll stations that didn’t open at all, leading to protests and clashes with the authorities.

There were allegations that some of those who work for the state, including police students, were told how to vote.

The protest coverage says:

The opposition has disputed Mr Maduro's declaration of victory as fraudulent, saying its candidate Edmundo González won convincingly with 73.2% of the vote.

A heavy military and police presence, including water cannons, was on the streets of Caracas with the aim of trying to disperse protesters and prevent them from approaching the presidential palace.

In some areas, posters of President Maduro were ripped down and burned while tyres, cars and rubbish have also been set alight.

Armed police, military and left-wing paramilitaries who are sympathetic to the government clashed with protesters and blocked off many roads around the city centre.

See also similar coverage from Al Jazeera: Protests break out as Maduro declared winner of disputed Venezuela election (archive)

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/15211295

After adding operatic vocals to Gojira's rendition of "Ah! Ça Ira," a song popular during the French Revolution, she went on to sing a portion of Georges Bizet's Carmen.

From NME:

The heavy metallers performed ‘Ah, Ça Ira!’ (which translates to ‘It’ll be fine’), a song that was popular during the French revolution, during a segment titled ‘Liberté’ (in reference to France’s famed motto ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’) that celebrated one of the most famous events in French history, as well as the nation’s emphasis on freedom.

Gojira appeared on the side of a castle surrounded by fire and bursts of red streamers to represent blood, with Viotti later appearing on a moving prop boat. Their performance followed a portion dedicated to Les Miserables and came just after a beheaded Marie Antoinette was shown singing.

Traditional lyrics translated at wikipedia (linked above) Gojira's lyrics translated via redditors:

"Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
Hang the aristocrats from on high!
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
The aristocrats, we'll hang 'em all.
Despotism will breathe its last,
Liberty will take the day,
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
We don't have any more nobles or priests,
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
Equality will reign everywhere,
The Austrian slave will follow him,
To the Devil will they fly.
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
To the Devil will they fly."

Article details how reporter -- pre-armed with relevant facts and cameras -- confronts neoNazis in Tennessee. | Excerpts:

Members of the Goyim Defense League harassed people in the heart of Nashville's entertainment district, berating a lesbian mom who had just left a restaurant.

Later, the neo-Nazis assaulted a bartender who had confronted the group.

"I'm curious: Why Nashville? Why did you guys choose Nashville?" I asked Minadeo.

A fellow GDL member, Nicholas Bysheim, quickly answered.

"It's the only place that respects freedom of speech," Bysheim said.

Minadeo added, "Yeah, this city respects freedom of speech, but communist Jews like yourself don't."

A Californian who moved to Florida, Minadeo leads the hate group as it goes around the country trying to create scenes that they hope will bring them attention and followers.

One of their favorite tropes: Falsely accusing Jews of being pedophiles.

Over and over, it became clear that these are people who are blind to any facts that don't support their hate.

These are really pathetic human beings.

They are the only ones who seem not to know it.

For 12 years, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has pushed for a ban on congressional stock trading, calling the practice “corrupt,” “unacceptable” and “wrong.”

Now, Merkley is confident an amended version of the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act has enough bipartisan support that it will come out of a markup meeting with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday with the votes necessary to present the amendment for a vote.

EDIT: It passed out of committee, so now it can go to the floor. https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-new-ban-stock-trading-merkley-ossoff-hawley-2024-7

One key difference between this bill and previous proposals is that it doesn't allow for lawmakers to continue holding stocks via "blind trusts," which some have criticized as insufficient.

There are still certain assets that lawmakers and their families could continue to hold, such as mutual funds, US Treasury bills, and municipal bonds.

Despite the progress represented by Wednesday's committee vote, it's unclear when or if the bill will come up for a vote.

Just a few weeks of session remain for the rest of this year, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has historically been hesitant to bring up bills that don't already have enough votes to pass. It's unclear if that's the case with this bill.

Miller appeared on Fox News on Sunday, where he went off on a rant about the Democratic votes were thrown away as the party rallies around Vice President Kamala Harris.

"They held a primary. They had ballots. They filled out circles!" Miller shouted on Fox News. "They went to the voting booths. They spent money on advertisements!"

Still yelling, Miller says that Republicans also spent money running against Biden.

"While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for my term," Mr. Biden posted in a statement on social media.

First elected to represent the 18th Congressional District in 1994, Jackson Lee quickly rose to prominence within Houston’s congressional delegation, securing overwhelming victories, election after election. She became known as a fierce advocate for women and people of color and made a national name for herself with iconic House floor speeches and perennial media appearances.

She was poised to secure a 15th term in office this fall after achieving a decisive victory in the March primary against upstart challenger Amanda Edwards.

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the director of Project 2025, Paul Dans, told the hundreds of RNC attendees ...

“We have to take the vitriol down” — seconds before he suggested that Biden’s amped-up rhetoric around Project 2025 created the climate for an assassination attempt.

The Republican Party line that it’s now time for national unity — and that this week in Milwaukee is about asking America what’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding — is clearly carrying the day. Never mind that most GOP calls for toning down the rhetoric are followed with an attack that blames Democrats for all the toxic political speech.

Just like the days after 9/11, Americans need to watch what they do, watch what they say — or so we are told. We continue to obey in advance.

“The more we as a society bow to the pressure and self-censor — the dream of autocrats is for you to silence yourself, doing their job for them — the more arrogant and lawless the enemies of democracy will become,” Ruth Ben-Ghiat, the New York University historian and author of the book Strongmen on modern dictators, posted on Monday.

Thanks to silence7@slrpnk.net for this gift link

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12136649

politico archive: https://ghostarchive.org/archive/PS7WH

see also: https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-politics/ap-supreme-court-moving-quickly-will-decide-if-trump-can-be-prosecuted-in-election-interference-case/ | thehill archive: https://ghostarchive.org/archive/W6bFe

Excerpts (politico):

In Wednesday’s order, the Supreme Court granted Trump’s emergency request to maintain that pause while the justices hear Trump’s immunity appeal.

But the court’s decision to keep the pretrial proceedings frozen is a blow to special counsel Jack Smith’s effort to bring Trump to trial this year. Smith has charged Trump with four felonies stemming from his bid to subvert the 2020 presidential election.

If they deny the immunity bid by the end of their term in June, it may still be possible for the trial judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, to schedule a trial to begin in late summer or fall.

The timing of the justices’ eventual ruling could be critical since Chutkan has vowed to give Trump roughly three additional months to prepare for trial if the case is returned to her courtroom.

That hypothetical schedule would guarantee that much of Trump’s general election calendar is consumed by his mandatory presence in the courtroom, perhaps overlapping with the Republican National Convention or even Election Day itself.

Chutkan had originally intended to begin the election-subversion trial on March 4, but she nixed that start date due to the delays caused by Trump’s immunity claim. The trial, if it happens, is expected to last several months.

Excerpts (thehill):

That timetable is much faster than usual, but assuming the justices deny Trump’s immunity bid, it’s not clear whether a trial can be scheduled and concluded before the November election. Early voting in some states will begin in September.

In the end, the timing of a possible trial could come down to how quickly the justices rule. They have shown they can act fast, issuing a decision in the Watergate tapes case in 1974 just 16 days after hearing arguments. The decision in Bush v. Gore came the day after arguments in December 2000.

By taking up the legally untested question now, the justices have created a scenario of uncertainty that special counsel Jack Smith had sought to avoid when he first asked the high court in December to immediately intervene. In his latest court filing, Smith had suggested arguments a full month earlier than the late April timeframe.

Though their Supreme Court filing did not explicitly mention the upcoming November election or Trump’s status as the Republican primary front-runner, prosecutors described the case as having “unique national importance” and said that “delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict.”