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Q: When trying to automate a lighting effect in GIMP using python-fu, my function is throwing a "wrong parameter type" error I am trying to run this specific bit of code on the python console of GIMP:
pdb.plug_in_lighting(1,img,all_layers[0],0,0,FALSE,FALSE,0,1,[255,255,255],0,0,0,-1,-1,1,0.20,2.15,0.50,0.50,18,0,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE)

and I keep getting "TypeError: wrong parameter type".
Here's a list of the parameters for the plug-in:
 pdb.plug_in_lighting.params
((0, 'run-mode', 'The run mode { RUN-INTERACTIVE (0), RUN-NONINTERACTIVE (1) }'), (13, 'image', 'Input image'), (16, 'drawable', 'Input drawable'), (16, 'bumpdrawable', 'Bumpmap drawable (set to 0 if disabled)'), (16, 'envdrawable', 'Environmentmap drawable (set to 0 if disabled)'), (0, 'dobumpmap', 'Enable bumpmapping (TRUE/FALSE)'), (0, 'doenvmap', 'Enable envmapping (TRUE/FALSE)'), (0, 'bumpmaptype', 'Type of mapping (0=linear,1=log, 2=sinusoidal, 3=spherical)'), (0, 'lighttype', 'Type of lightsource (0=point,1=directional,3=spot,4=none)'), (10, 'lightcolor', 'Lightsource color (r,g,b)'), (3, 'lightposition-x', 'Lightsource position (x,y,z)'), (3, 'lightposition-y', 'Lightsource position (x,y,z)'), (3, 'lightposition-z', 'Lightsource position (x,y,z)'), (3, 'lightdirection-x', 'Lightsource direction [x,y,z]'), (3, 'lightdirection-y', 'Lightsource direction [x,y,z]'), (3, 'lightdirection-z', 'Lightsource direction [x,y,z]'), (3, 'ambient-intensity', 'Material ambient intensity (0..1)'), (3, 'diffuse-intensity', 'Material diffuse intensity (0..1)'), (3, 'diffuse-reflectivity', 'Material diffuse reflectivity (0..1)'), (3, 'specular-reflectivity', 'Material specular reflectivity (0..1)'), (3, 'highlight', "Material highlight (0..->), note: it's exponential"), (0, 'antialiasing', 'Apply antialiasing (TRUE/FALSE)'), (0, 'newimage', 'Create a new image (TRUE/FALSE)'), (0, 'transparentbackground', 'Make background transparent (TRUE/FALSE)'))

I just don't know which parameter is wrong...
My hope is to eventually iterate that function over multiple layers to tweaking it a little each time to create a roving spotlight look.

A: The doc for the Python API is often misleading because it is really the doc for the Scheme API. In particular there is no positional run-mode parameter (if you really insists, you can use it as a named parameter), so from the looks of your code your first parameter should be the image.
You can normally get a usable template for the call this way:

*

*open the Python console (Filters>Python-fu>Console)

*hit the "Browse..." button

*search your call (use the search/filter bar at the top of the left panel)

*hit the "Apply" button to have a template for the call copied in the Python console

*execute there (after editing parms) or copy/paste to your code as appropriate.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Sesame Street Welcomes Julia, a New Muppet With Autism
Elizabeth King
For the first time in 10 years, there's a new resident moving on to Sesame Street. Her name is Julia, and she has autism.
Julia is a four-year-old with red hair and big green eyes, and is close buddies with established Sesame Street muppets Abby Cadabby and everyone's favorite little red monster, Elmo, according to NPR. Julia has appeared in the Sesame Street universe before, but will make her debut as an official muppet this week.
Through Julia, we aim to show that all kids are amazing, and that all kids can be friends. #SeeAmazing pic.twitter.com/NHPytuDLFO
— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) March 20, 2017
Julia appeared in the world of Sesame Street for the first time in the online digital storybook, Sesame Street and Autism: See the Amazing in All Children in 2015, Entertainment Weekly reports. According to NPR, viewers can expect to see Julia in two episodes this season, and even more in seasons to come. It's a huge deal, especially for people with autism.
"If done well, this representation could lead to a lot of autistic youth knowing they have a community," says Kit Mead, a queer, non-binary trans autistic activist who writes about mental health, autism, and disability.
Mead was diagnosed with autism at age 14, and "still didn't know I had a community until I met other autistic people in college, because no one taught me about community and there wasn't much representation. I basically learned I was alone, and maybe I wouldn't have felt that way if I had been able to see others like me."
Now with Julia on Sesame Street, Mead tells us they are "hopeful that this will help autistic kids learn about autistic community and feel like they aren't alone."
We're excited to announce a new friend joining us on Sesame Street! She's Julia, a 4-year-old with autism! #SeeAmazing pic.twitter.com/xDS3x2a5za
Executive Director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network Julia Bascom tells us over email that the organization is "thrilled that Julia has made her television debut, and we hope to see her included as a regular part of Sesame Street's programming."
Bascom adds that "It's essential that kids with disabilities, including autistic children, get to see themselves reflected and represented — not just in special episodes, but in day-to-day content and stories."
CBS' 60 Minutes went inside the Jim Henson Workshop where muppets are made on Sunday to speak with Rollie Krewson, the puppet maker behind Elmo and now, Julia. Krewson told 60 Minutes that Julia's autism was a factor in her design. "She has to have an intense look," Krewson said of Julia's eyes, "but she has to look friendly." Krewson also said that she intentionally made Julia's bangs short so they wouldn't be a distraction to the character, and kept any trimmings such as buttons and bows out of her clothes for the same reason.
According to Autism Speaks, a leading autism education and outreach organization, one of the signs of autism is easy distraction, so Sesame Street took care to incorporate that as one of Julia's character traits, right down to her hair and clothes.
NPR reporters who recently visited the set of Sesame Street had the chance to talk with Abby Cadabby about Julia. Abby explained that sometimes it takes a few tries to get Julia's attention when someone wants to talk to her. "That's just Julia being Julia," Abby told the NPR team.
What do you think of Julia joining Sesame Street? Let us know on Twitter @BritandCo.
(Photos via: FilmMagic/Getty Images; Children's Television Workshop)
Elizabeth King is a politics, history, and culture writer based in the Twin Cities. She is generally pretty cranky but still enjoys traveling, music from the early 2000's, and plotting the resistance. Feel free to say hi on Twitter at @ekingc or check out some of her work at www.elizabethcking.com.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Cilymaenllwyd are proud to announce that one of our care assistants Miss Julie James has achieved a Gold Care Forum Award for Best Newcomer. Julie received her award at The Care Forum Wales annual awards ceremony in Cardiff on 24th October. Well done Julie!


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Tag Archives: United Nations
Red Russia, the Red Jihad and Israel Under Siege
Patrick Buchanan's provocative column, "Is Europe's future Merkel or Le Pen?" reflects a limited and bad choice for America and Europe. Both of these leaders serve Russian interests. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's pro-immigration policies have destabilized Europe, leading to the rise of pro-Putin right-wing political parties. Marine Le Pen of France's National Front party, one of those pro-Putin political parties, wants to destroy NATO, a long-time Russian goal.
The terrible choices facing the United States mean that we are in the biggest crisis the West has faced since World War II. The dilemma outlined by Patrick Buchanan means that the incoming Trump administration has to recognize that Germany, the most important country in Europe, is in the hands of a Russian agent of influence. Despite running as the candidate of the conservative-leaning Christian Democratic Union, Merkel has destabilized her country and much of Europe by facilitating a Muslim invasion. Her involvement in the Communist Party of East Germany, when it was a major base of Soviet espionage operations, goes a long way toward explaining her curious behavior.
In a column titled, "The Suicide of Germany," Guy Millière writes, "The attack in Berlin on December 19, 2016 was predictable. German Chancellor Angela Merkel created the conditions that made it possible. She bears an overwhelming responsibility." He notes, "When she decided to open the doors of Germany to hundreds of thousands of Muslims from the Middle East and more distant countries, she must have known that jihadists were hidden among the people flooding in. She also must have known that the German police had no way of controlling the mass that entered and would be quickly overwhelmed by the number of people it would have to control. She did it anyway." (emphasis added)
The "she must have known" formulation is more evidence of a deliberate policy to destabilize Europe. She intends to run for re-election in 2017.
Labeled a "populist" by Buchanan, Marine Le Pen, the leading candidate for the presidency of France in 2017, talks a lot about French sovereignty but acts like a tool of Moscow. The Russia Today (RT) propaganda channel highlights her call for "closer ties with Russia" and opposition to U.S.-led NATO.
In events that have shocked the liberal media, Trump and/or his advisers have been reported to be meeting with representatives of European right-wing political parties, some of them pro-Putin. However, Trump's national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, has written in his own book that there is a "Russia connection" to Islamic terror networks and "many of the KGB's safe houses, station headquarters, and secure communications networks were put at the disposal of terror groups." This implicates Vladimir Putin, former officer and head of the KGB, in the conflicts that have spilled over into Europe and Israel.
Meanwhile, as commentators in the U.S. criticize the Obama administration for abstaining on the anti-Israel United Nations resolution, it is no surprise that Russia and China both voted for it. Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich did not miss the significance of this anti-Israel vote, commenting, "So Russia having illegally occupied Crimea and eastern Ukraine votes to condemn Israel for 'occupied lands.' We are supposed to be impressed." He might have mentioned China's own illegal seizures of territory.
"Russia has never ruled Israel," notes one Israeli commentator, Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, "but the Russian Army has never stood as close to Jerusalem as it does today." Professor Efraim Inbar of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies tells the publication, "It should be remembered that Russia sides with Iran, supports Hezbollah, and even has relations with Hamas."
Turkey, a member of NATO, has since joined with Russia and Iran, the new powers in the region, for talks. It has been forced into the arms of Russia because of the Obama administration's failure to save Syria from Russian aggression that propped up an unpopular and repressive dictatorship. In truth, Obama help accelerate the conflict when he ordered his CIA to support "rebels" against the Syrian regime that were linked to jihadist groups. They were no match for the superior Russian and Iranian forces which intervened on the side of the Syrian regime. Up to 500,000 were killed.
Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem will have symbolic value. But it does nothing to protect Israel from an attack by its regional enemies bearing Russian arms.
One way to turn the tide is to order the CIA out of the terror-supporting business and start shining the light on Russia's historical links to Islamic terrorism, known as the Red Jihad. These connections, which still exist, are not only a threat to Israel but demonstrate that "Red Russia" is behind the immigration crisis and the Muslim invasion of Europe.
Obama is leaving the White House. His ability to damage Israel and other U.S. allies will soon end. But Putin has only just begun to fight. What's at stake is the control of Europe and the entire Middle East.
If President Trump falls for Putin's offers of a truce, he will demonstrate to his political enemies and even his supporters that he was in fact a dupe of the Russians.
Posted in Military, Politics, Religion, Terrorism	| Tagged AIM, Barack Obama, Cliff Kincaid, Donald Trump, Europe, Iran, Israel, Jihad, Politics, Populism, Russia, Terrorists, United Nations, Vladimir Putin	|
Senator Ted Cruz: Eliminate US funding of the UN
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
From Senator Ted Cruz's Facebook page:
Today's United Nations vote is the culmination of this administration's systemic agenda to weaken #Israel and strengthen its enemies.
Every Obama foreign policy official should be ashamed of today's UN resolution, and any official who disagrees with or hopes to avoid the anti-Israel legacy of this Administration should resign on principle today.
I also emphatically second the call of my colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham that the consequences of this disgraceful UN resolution should be severe. I look forward to working with Sen. Graham, and with the incoming Administration of President-elect Trump, to significantly reduce or even eliminate U.S. funding of the United Nations, and also to seriously reconsider financial support for the nations that supported this resolution.
Brexit, Trump's election victory, US withdrawal from the United Nations?
Is a new and better world in the making?
Trump is right: Obama should veto UN resolution intended to undermine Israel. Trump should up the ante by pledging to cut off UN & PA funds
— Frank Gaffney (@frankgaffney) December 23, 2016
By the way…happy birthday Senator Cruz.
Posted in Politics	| Tagged Donald Trump, New Zeal, Politics, Ted Cruz, Trevor Loudon, UN, United Nations	| 5 Comments
Moscow's Five-Star Treatment of a Three-Star Army General
This is a special report from the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism
Before he left for Moscow to speak at a Russia Today (RT) conference, the former chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) inked a deal to write a book about how to defeat America's enemies in the Middle East. The title of the forthcoming book by Lt. General Michael T. Flynn (Ret.) is, The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies.
But Flynn's attendance at the RT "gala celebration," including a special seat at the head table at the anniversary dinner, suggests that this retired officer, who attained a three-star rank during a 33-year Army career, views Russia as a potential U.S. ally in the war on terror.
In announcing his new book, Flynn said, "I am writing this book for two reasons: first, to show that the war is being waged against us by enemies this administration has forbidden us to describe: radical Islamists. Second, to lay out a winning strategy that is not passively relying on technology and drone attacks to do the job. We could lose this war; in fact, right now we are losing. The Field of Fight will give my view on how to win."
We need military officials willing to fight and win. But Flynn's participation in the RT anniversary celebration raises questions about what the DIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies know, or think they know, about the Russian role in global conflict and RT's role in propaganda and disinformation.
What we can say for sure at this point is that it was not an accident that the former head of the DIA showed up in Moscow to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a TV channel that serves the interests of Moscow's intelligence establishment. Flynn was right in the middle of the "Field of Fight," and he must surely have known what he was getting into. It's not called KGB-TV for nothing.
RT's Disinformation Themes
In trying to attract and confuse an American audience, RT regularly features Marxist and radical commentators in the U.S. such as Noam Chomsky, Gloria La Riva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party, and 9/11 "inside job" advocate and radio host Alex Jones. It is preferable for the Russians to use foreigners, especially Americans, to make their propaganda points. Flynn is probably the most important American ever snared in RT's web. He has added propaganda value because of his impressive background and years of service in the U.S. Army.
The RT conference was held at a time when the Russian regime was determined to divert global attention away from its military intervention on behalf of its long-time client state of Syria. Research analyst Hugo Spaulding of the Institute for the Study of War notes that Russia's current air campaign in Syria "is focused on targeting Syrian armed opposition groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rather than ISIS." The Syrian Network for Human Rights reportsthat Russian military strikes in Syria have killed hundreds of civilians during the course of bombing hospitals, bakeries, and markets. The result has been increasing refugee flows into Turkey and Europe.
RT, however, promotes a different version of reality, a "false narrative," as Spaulding calls it. Indeed, that is the purpose of RT—to whitewash military aggression by the Russian state and focus attention on what the United States and its allies are supposedly doing in the world.
"Russian Air Force destroys 29 ISIS camps in Syria in 24 hours," was the headline over a typical RT story about Syria. The channel portrays Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spoke to the RT 10th anniversary dinner, as a devout Christian fighting radical Islam.
However, Russia's open war on the ethnic Turkmen fighting the Assad regime in Syria was something that NATO member Turkey could not ignore. The Turkish shoot-down of a Russian war plane flying through Turkey's airspace became major news and the first incident in a developing confrontation that shows no sign of ending. RT immediately went to work claiming that Turkey was benefiting from ISIS oil. The U.S. Treasury Department countered with evidence showing that Syria's Assad is buying ISIS oil through a Russian agent.
The Honey Trap
In addition to using Americans as props and pawns, RT relies heavily on glitzy graphics and beautiful women as anchors and correspondents to promote its propaganda. RT knows what it's doing, having run a story titled, "From Russia with lust: Femme fatal Anna Chapman, to Russian mail-order brides, to our very own RT correspondents. Americans are infatuated with Russian women!"
It is noteworthy that RT openly cited Chapman, a sexy Russian spy who was seducing an unnamed cabinet official in the Obama administration in an effort to obtain classified information. She was caught, pleaded guilty, and was expelled from the U.S. in 2010. However, she returned to Russia and was honored with an award by none other than Vladimir Putin himself. Chapman had reportedly tried to seduce NSA defector Edward Snowden.
One of RT's attractive female anchors, Sophie Shevardnadze, the granddaughter of former Soviet bureaucrat Eduard Shevardnadze, was tasked with interviewing Flynn during the conference, which was held at Moscow's historic five-star luxuryMetropol Hotel. Flynn appeared on a special edition of her RT show, Sophie & Co, where he appeared grateful for the opportunity, saying, "…thank you so much for inviting me and having me here."
In her interview with Flynn, Shevardnadze did not disappoint, echoing the Russian line on the Middle East by blaming the U.S. and its allies for conflict and violence. Rather than attack Putin's military interventions in Ukraine and Syria, Flynn responded by saying that the U.S. and Russia have "to move forward" together. Flynn, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from July 2012 to April 2014, said on RT that "…in order for us to not move to a greater level of conflict between the great nations of the world, we have to come to grips of how do we work together, how do we take interests, interests that are converging. So we have a whole set of converging interests that we are seeing right now, and unless we understand it, we're going to make mistakes, we're going to make tactical mistakes that are going to lead to strategic consequences."
He claimed that Russia has faced terrorism from Muslims within, as if Russia, like the U.S., is a victim of radical Islam. He said, "…there are some in this country that know this enemy from having dealt with it in Chechnya and Dagestan and other places. This is a very, very deadly enemy that we're facing, and it's not just hundreds or thousands, these numbers are much greater."
In fact, as veteran Moscow correspondent David Satter and others have documented, what sometimes appears to be Islamic terrorism in Russia can be carried out with the approval—or even at the direction of—the Kremlin, in order to justify greater repression by the Putin regime. For example, the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings that served to solidify Vladimir Putin's control of the country, and justify the war against the former Soviet republic of Chechnya, wereproven to be the work of agents of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, a successor to the old KGB.
Moscow's Role in Terrorism
Could Moscow in fact be behind much of the conflict in the Middle East, including the rise of ISIS? If Flynn has rejected this theory out of hand, it wouldn't be the first time in history that the U.S. intelligence community failed to understand and appreciate Moscow's role in international terrorism.
Flynn's announced co-author, or collaborator, on his new book, Michael Ledeen, has a deep understanding of the Middle East, knowledge of how the old Soviet Union operated, and how remnants of that regime guide Russian foreign policy today. Ledeen worked as a consultant to the National Security Council, Department of State, and Department of Defense during the Reagan administration, when Soviet involvement in global terrorism was highlighted and exposed.
Ledeen's 2003 book, The War Against the Terror Masters, describes the impact of communist disinformation and deception in the conduct of foreign policy.
Ledeen wrote about the discovery of Soviet moles in the CIA, such as Aldrich Ames and Harold Nicholson, and the discovery of one such mole in the FBI, Robert Hanssen. Ledeen writes, "The discovery that Soviet moles had been at work at the highest levels of the American intelligence community had particular importance in our efforts to combat the terror masters. Agency [CIA] analysts had long insisted that there was no conclusive evidence of Soviet involvement in international terrorism. One now had to wonder if that conclusion had been fed to us through the KGB moles in our midst." Ledeen writes about how the intelligence community ignored inside information provided by Soviet defectors, such as theMitrokhin documents, which exposed the nature of Soviet-backed international terrorism, as well as the identities of "thousands of foreign agents—Western politicians, journalists, movie makers, military officers, and diplomats."
Soviet KGB operations continued after the "collapse" of the Soviet Union in the hands of its successor agencies, the FSB and SVR. The book Comrade J examines the activities of Russian master spy, Sergei Tretyakov, who handled all Russian intelligence operations against the U.S. while serving under cover from 1995 to 2000 at Russia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
Since intelligence operations continued as if nothing had happened, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, why isn't it reasonable to assume that the Russians maintained contacts with international terrorist groups?
To his credit, Flynn has been very critical of the role of Russia's close ally in the Middle East—Iran. In June 2015 testimony, after his retirement, he cited Iranian cooperation with North Korea, China and Russia, and pointed with alarm to the "resurgence of Russian and Chinese influence" in the Middle East. He said Russian assistance to Iran was a part of the problem, noting that "After all, the Iranian nuclear reactor at Bushehr is Russian-built, the two countries work very closely together in Syria, and Russia is providing Iran with an effective antiaircraft system that could be deployed against any aircraft seeking to destroy the nuclear program."
However, in the RT interview with Sophie Shevardnadze, Flynn's criticism of Iran was couched in terms of getting all of the Arab and Muslim countries in the region to behave. He merely said "…Iran cannot continue to go the way it's going" because it was contributing to the conflict.
The Birth of RT
The Russians have gotten far more sophisticated, especially in the field of global propaganda and information. But the reality of what is happening behind the scenes came to public attention when two RT employees, Elizabeth Wahl and Sara Firth, resigned in disgust at the propaganda that they were ordered to spew on the air. For example, the Russian managers ordered "news" that was designed todepict the Ukrainian government in a bad light and mask Russian military interference in that country, including the shoot-down and destruction of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was carrying almost 300 people.
At the RT anniversary dinner on Thursday night, Putin made no mention of those embarrassing resignations. Instead he presented the channel as a free and independent news entity featuring "creative" people who are serving the global public interest. He said to his audience (including Lt. Gen. Flynn), "You compete on the same playing field as international news giants, and are already beating them according to many parameters. In some regions of the world, you have higher ratings than traditional news organizations that have long been operating in the international information market."
The speech was laughable, considering the Kremlin funding and control of the channel. Yet, it was posted on the president of Russia's website, along with photographs of the affair. Moscow is obviously proud of what it has accomplished, with the cooperation of foreigners who appear on the channel and give it credibility.
The participation of a former chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the event was a major coup for RT. Film and photos of his participation will help the Russians in their ongoing propaganda campaign to depict the state-funded entity as simply a respectable source of alternative news and opinion that offers different views.
Showing the continuity between the old Soviet Union and Russia, former Soviet President Gorbachev was in attendance at the Thursday night dinner. He "congratulated RT and expressed his admiration for the network," the channel reported. Outside the event, Gorbachev called the channel a "big success."
The Case of Edward Snowden
Flynn's attendance at the RT conference was shocking not only because Putin is an evil ruler whose regime murders opposition figures and truly independent journalists, but because Flynn was critical in the past about the damage done by NSA defector Edward Snowden, who escaped to Russia and now lives under Putin's protection.
Flynn said in January 2014 that Snowden's disclosures have caused "grave damage to our national security." He added that "the greatest cost" of his disclosures will be "the cost in human lives on tomorrow's battlefield or in someplace where we will put our military forces…when we ask them to go into harm's way."
It appears that the information stolen by Snowden has contributed significantly to the advances of the enemies and adversaries of the United States. Since his defection, Russia conducted a surprise invasion of Ukraine; Communist China mounted a series of cyber warfare attacks; and ISIS has gained ground in the Middle East and around the world. The bloody terrorist assaults in Paris and San Bernardino were carried out by plotters who clearly benefitted from Snowden's revelations and were careful to plan their attacks using encrypted communications apps, such as Telegram, which was developed by a Russian, Pavel Durov.
RT has consistently portrayed Snowden as a whistleblower, and ran what was apparently intended as a humorous promotional ad in connection with the 10th anniversary celebration. It imagined that the NSA defector would return to the U.S. and be elected U.S. president. The ad shows an elderly Barack Obama in the year 2035 complaining about RT's "propaganda."
Snowden apparently wasn't at the RT celebration, but former Russia Today TV star, Julian Assange, appeared via videotape from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He was interviewed by the well-known American "progressive" commentator, Thom Hartmann, who is paid by Moscow to host an RT show that appeals to liberals and left-wingers. Incredibly, the issue being discussed was the "right to privacy"—a right that doesn't exist in Russia itself. Assange was the recipient of massive leaks from former U.S. Army analyst Bradley Manning, who is becoming a woman named Chelsea while serving a prison term for espionage.
Obama's Support for Terrorism
One issue raised in RT's interview of Flynn was a heavily-censored 2012 DIA memo that has been interpreted by many as confirmation that the U.S. and some of its allies had armed the terrorist groups in the Middle East that eventually became ISIS. According to the memo, these groups were seen as effective in countering the Russia/Iran/Syria axis in the area. The memo also described China as backing the Syrian regime.
Flynn's criticism of this policy since he left the DIA has been made in different venues, including in interviews with Al Jazeera and Der Spiegel. As Flynn has correctly indicated, it is apparent that Obama's policy in the Middle East has been a disaster. The Benghazi terrorist attacks in Libya, which cost the lives of four Americans, came to pass after the U.S. "switched sides in the war on terror," as areport from the Citizens' Commission on Benghazi has demonstrated. But just as the Obama administration must be held accountable for arming terrorists, so too must the role of the Putin regime in fostering terrorism be exposed.
In addition to the evidence of an FSB role in domestic terrorism, a defector from the Russian intelligence agency has just confirmed Russia's role in creating ISIS by recruiting former members of Saddam Hussein's security services. The former FSB officer told Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsaplienko that "the Russian special services believed that if a terrorist organization was set up as an alternative to Al-Qaeda and it created problems for the United States as Donbas does for Ukraine now, it would be quite good." Donbas is the name for the region of Ukraine that has been the staging area for terrorists from Russia, organized by the FSB, to seize territory and undermine Ukraine's central government. Once again, Russia has demonstrated its commitment to global conflict rather than peace and reconciliation.
The FSB defector said that in order to create ISIS, the Russians selected former officers of the Iraqi army and members of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. All of them had graduated from Moscow-based "educational institutions," he said, referring to the time when the Saddam Hussein regime was in a close alliance with the Soviet Union. The overthrow of the Saddam regime was a huge blow to Russian influence in the Middle East. Iran and the Assad regime are the only firm Russian allies left in the region.
Russians Fighting for Terrorist Groups
The Daily Beast ran an article, "Russians Are Joining ISIS in Droves." But the idea advanced by The Daily Beast that these terrorists are a threat to Russia is not borne out by the evidence. It seems like they are more of a threat to the rest of the world, especially the United States. In what could be seen as an observation or a threat, Putin himself publicly acknowledged that there are an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 Russians fighting for ISIS. By contrast, FBI Director James Comey has estimated that approximately 250 Americans have traveled or attempted to travel to Syria to join ISIS. These potential terrorists are believed to be threats to America.
On December 3rd, the U.S. Justice Department announced that Irek Ilgiz Hamidullin, a Russian national and former Russian army tank commander, had been sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison for conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers and bring down an American helicopter, as well as for "conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and several other charges relating to an attack that he led against U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan in November 2009."
It is telling that the U.S., not the Russian authorities, prosecuted him. Perhaps the U.S. was reluctant to turn him over to Moscow. This is reminiscent of the case of the Russian arms dealer and former Soviet military officer Viktor Bout, the legendary "Merchant of Death" who is serving a 25-year sentence in U.S. federal prison. Bout was lured out of Russia, where he was living openly, and arrested in a sting operation in Thailand by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Some of the weapons Bout was selling were for communist Colombian terrorists to use against Americans.
RT has covered the Bout case relentlessly, always in a manner critical of the United States for apprehending and prosecuting him. RT has even highlighted how Bout's wife has set up The Road Home Foundation to facilitate the return to Russia of Bout and other Russians convicted of crimes abroad.
In another sensational case, the Boston Marathon bombing was carried out by two brothers from Russia, but the Russian connection was immediately discounted on the ground that the Russians had reportedly warned U.S. authorities about the bombers' travels back and forth to the old Soviet Union. Curiously, RT ran claims by their mother back in Russia that the terrorists were "set up" by the FBI.
It is indeed strange how a Russian connection seems to surface in some of these most sensational terrorism cases.
In the more recent San Bernardino attack, we have a case of two Russian beautiesmarried to Muslim men. A Russian blonde beauty had married into the terrorist's family, and another Russian woman had married Enrique Marquez, a convert to Islam who bought the weapons used in the massacre.
Nuclear Jihad?
In his June 2015 testimony, Flynn acknowledged that the U.S. intelligence community has had a "mixed" record in one important area—"tracking clandestine nuclear weapons programs." In this context, it is significant that in his December 9 testimony to Congress, FBI director James Comey made a passing reference to how the bureau had disrupted "a nuclear threat in Moldova," an Eastern European country and former Soviet republic. There is much more to the story and it directly involves the criminal regime in Moscow.
The story came to light in October, when the Associated Press disclosed that "gangs with suspected Russian connections" had tried on several occasions to "sell radioactive material to Middle Eastern extremists." AP said the latest known case came in February this year, "when a smuggler offered a huge cache of deadly cesium—enough to contaminate several city blocks—and specifically sought a buyer from the Islamic State group."
In a follow-up report, the Center for Public Integrity said the nuclear material in the various cases "appeared to have the same origin—a restricted military installation in Russia." It added that "no one in the West knows exactly who has this nuclear explosive material, and where they may be."
The group concluded, "It's a mystery that so far has stumped America's best spying efforts, in no small measure because the government of Russian president Vladimir Putin has refused to provide needed information on the case—or even to acknowledge that some of the country's nuclear explosive materials are missing."
Don't look for RT to get to the bottom of this.
Posted in Military, Politics, Survival, Terrorism	| Tagged AIM, Aldrich Ames, Alex Jones, Anna Chapman, AP, Barack Obama, Bashar al-Assad, Carl Dix, China, Christians, CIA, Cliff Kincaid, Communists, David Satter, Department of State, DIA, DOD, Eduard Shevardnadze, FSB, Gloria La Riva, Harold Nicholson, Intelligence, Iran, ISIS, Islam, Jihad, KGB, Lt. General Michael T. Flynn, Media, Michael Ledeen, Middle East, Military, Muslims, National Security Council, NATO, Noam Chomsky, Nuclear Weapons, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Radical Islam, Revolutionary Communist Party, Robert Hanssen, Ronald Reagan, Russia, Russia Today, Sophie Shevardnadze, Spaulding, Spies, SVR, Syria, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Syrian Network for Human Rights, Turkey, United Nations, United States, Vladimir Putin, War	|
Author exposes the 'cabal' of leftists and corporatists unwittingly supporting jihad through U.S. refugee resettlement
By: Benjamin Weingarten
Recently there have been several stories published regarding secretive American refugee resettlement programs under which a disproportionately high percentage of Muslim immigrants are being dispersed across the United States, an issue that Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina has brought to the State Department with respect to a town in his Congressional district.
Ann Corcoran, a patriotic citizen living out on a farm in rural Maryland has been the providing oversight that Congress has not on this issue for years via her blog, Refugee Resettlement Watch.
Based on her findings, Ms. Corcoran has recently published a book, the subject of our in-depth interview, titled "Refugee Resettlement and the Hijra to America."
In the book, Ms. Corcoran makes the case that the federal government at the urging of the United Nations is accepting thousands of immigrants each year, including from Muslim-majority countries hostile to the U.S., without concern for assimilation or any of the national security implications of such decisions. Corcoran believes that these programs aid and abet those individuals seeking to fulfill an element of jihad of hijra, in a bid to ultimately spread Islam and Shariah law in America.
Corcoran explains:
The hijra … is the Islamic doctrine of immigration. And Muhammad instructed his followers that one of the five responsibilities … that Muslims are supposed to do — one of them is to migrate and that migration is a form of jihad. And the refugee resettlement program as it is now constructed in the United States is now bringing large numbers of Muslims into the country from countries that hate us. We've brought over 100,000 Somalis, we have brought over 100,000 Iraqis — and most of the Iraqis … are Muslim. We're about to admit potentially 11,000 Syrians, 93% so far that have come into the country are Muslim — into the country that the United Nations have picked for us. And thus, I'm making the case that the refugee resettlement program — that is by the way where the UN picks our refugees, U.S. State Department distributes them around the country is in fact a significant contributor to the hijra to America.
While Americans may be aware of the fact that as Corcoran argues during our interview, there are refugees being resettled all over the country with little to no local control over such programs or federal oversight — assisted by leftist religious groups that are taxpayer funded — perhaps less noticed is an alliance between leftist activists and big business enabling jihadists to come into the country, as we have seen for example in the Somali population of the Minneapolis area.
… [T]he financial driving factor behind this … is cheap labor, which goes across all of these immigrant areas. The meat packers out in places like Minnesota have enormous power. And they're working with left-wing foundations to convince local elected officials that this is all just a wonderful thing, diversity is a wonderful beautiful thing, but there's really — money is driving this… And of course there's the ideology, and the need for Democrat voters, or the wish for more Democrat voters… But there's a big money component to all of this. And that's why you see these elite Republicans supporting this program because it involves big money, big business, I call it "big meat" for example.
Corcoran continues:
… I should mention that for example with the meat packers, they were using illegal immigrant labor for the longest time. Well first off, they used to pay I'm told by people who worked in the meat industry, that they used to pay very well, good wages to American workers. Then they discovered the illegal alien. Well that didn't work out so well because they were getting busted. And then the next thing they discovered was the refugees as a source of cheap labor. And it's especially mean to the refugees I think because the refugees are captive essentially — they can't just walk away from the job or go back to their home country or anything, so they're really captive cheap labor… So there's a big driving force there behind it. And it's a convenient thing — you've got the hard leftist who wants the Democrat voters joining forces with the elite Republicans who with big business and financial backers — and it's a terrible combination that's a juggernaut essentially against the average American citizen worker.
As a microcosm of what is occurring, Ms. Corcoran told us about a situation she is studying that has recently come to light in St. Cloud, Minnesota:
Title: Refugee Resettlement and the Hijra to America (Civilization Jihad Reader Series) (Volume 2)
Author: Ann Corcoran
… There's a couple of men out in Minnesota near St. Cloud who did some research on their own, and here's what they found … St. Cloud by the way is part of [former Rep.] Michelle Bachmann's district … [T]here's apparently a foundation called the Blandin Foundation — a left-wing foundation — that takes elected officials, and it's hooked up with I'm told The Hormel Foundation which is a meat company foundation, and they take elected officials and community leaders and they train them for a week with this diversity training and then they send them back to their communities expecting them to carry the water on how wonderful diversity is for the community. And as a reward, the community gets little grants for little things that they might need … the community might get a new soccer field if they're sufficiently welcoming… So there's this cabal of foundations — left-leaning foundations, the meat industry and elected officials — all working together to shove diversity down the throats of their communities, and the community is rewarded with grant money if they're sufficiently welcoming to the new Somalis. But then there's this other factor in there: The local cronyism kicks in and the local builder gets the job of building the new subsidized housing facility that they're gonna put the Somalis in. And the car dealer is happy to get money selling cars to the new refugees, so that there's this money component that flows through the whole thing. In the meantime the average citizen out there who says "Whoa whoa whoa, this is changing the culture of our community," is shoved out by this combination of supposed Republicans in some cases, and foundations, left-leaning foundations and big business… And of course they don't care about the jihad aspects of all of this… It's all about money I'm sorry to say.
During our interview, which you can find in full below, we also had a chance to discuss several other issues including:
How Ms. Corcoran became an activist on the issue of refugee resettlement
The theological background of "hijra"
The size and scope of America's refugee resettlement programs
The danger of diversity visas
The complicity of leftist religious groups with the government in perpetuating these programs
The states rights issues at play
Note: The links to the book in this post will give you an option to elect to donate a percentage of the proceeds from the sale to a charity of your choice. Mercury One, the charity founded by TheBlaze's Glenn Beck, is one of the options. Donations to Mercury One go towards efforts such as disaster relief, support for education, support for Israel and support for veterans and our military. You can read more about Amazon Smile and Mercury One here.
Posted in Constitution, History, Illegal Immigration, Politics, Survival, Terrorism	| Tagged America, Ann Corcoran, Benjamin Weingarten, Congress, Constitution, Hijra, History, Islam, Jihad, Leftists, Minnesota, Muslims, National Security, Refugee Resettlement, Refugee Resettlement Watch, Shariah Law, State Department, Terrorism, Terrorists, TheBlaze, Trey Gowdy, United Nations	|
POTUS sides with Turkey, Ignoring Armenian Genocide
The first holocaust of the century began April 24, 1915, 100 years ago. The Turks slaughtered the Christians.
In both historical and more publicistic writing, the term "genocide" has been used rather promiscuously to apply to mass repression of political opponents, real or imagined. When the Genocide Convention was being debated at the United Nations in the late 1940s, the Soviet representatives strenuously held out against extending the term to political killings, which would of necessity have included Stalin's purges, the millions lost in dekulakization, the Ukrainian Holodomor, the deadly settlement of Kazakhs, and the deportations of North Caucasians and other peoples during World War II. The American delegates also resisted any language in the convention that might be turned toward examination of racial segregation and the violence perpetrated against African Americans during the era of Jim Crow. In the interests of unanimity, political, social, and economic groups were not included in the protections of the convention that was adopted by the United Nations on December 9, 1948.
ISTANBUL According to a long-hidden document that belonged to the interior minister of the Ottoman Empire, 972,000 Ottoman Armenians disappeared from official population records from 1915 through 1916.
In Turkey, any discussion of what happened to the Ottoman Armenians can bring a storm of public outrage. But since its publication in a book in January, the number – and its Ottoman source – has gone virtually unmentioned. Newspapers hardly wrote about it. Television shows have not discussed it.
"Nothing," said Murat Bardakci, the Turkish author and columnist who compiled the book.
The silence can mean only one thing, he said: "My numbers are too high for ordinary people. Maybe people aren't ready to talk about it yet."
For generations, most Turks knew nothing of the details of the Armenian genocide from 1915 to 1918, when more than a million Armenians were killed as the Ottoman Turk government purged the population.
Turkey locked the ugliest parts of its past out of sight, Soviet-style, keeping any mention of the events out of schoolbooks and official narratives in an aggressive campaign of forgetting.
At the hands of Talaat Pasha, orders were delivered to massacre entire villages. Much later when it came to surviving children, a translated and digitized cable reads as such:
To the Government of Aleppo:
We are informed that certain orphanages which have opened also admitted the children of the Armenians.
Should this be done through ignorance of our real purpose, or because of contempt of it, the Government will view the feeding of such children or any effort to prolong their lives as an act completely opposite to its purpose, since it regards the survival of these children as detrimental.
I recommend the orphanages not to receive such children; and no attempts are to be made to establish special orphanages for them.
Minister of the Interior,
TALAAT.
(Undated.)
From the Ministry of the Interior to the Governor of Aleppo:
Only those orphans who cannot remember the terrors to which their parents have been subjected must be collected and kept.
Send the rest away with the caravans.
On eve of anniversary, Ottoman massacres of Armenians 'not genocide,' says Erdogan
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as genocide. Turkey, however, has insisted that the toll has been inflated, and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest, not genocide.
*** Obama agrees, as the historical slaughter of a Christian sect he ignores.
President Barack Obama is once again stopping short of calling the 1915 massacre of 2 million Armenians a genocide.
That's prompting anger and disappointment from people who have been urging him to fulfill a campaign promise and use that politically significant word on the 100th anniversary of the massacre this week.
"President Obama's surrender to Turkey represents a national disgrace. It is, very simply, a betrayal of truth, a betrayal of trust," Ken Hachikian, the chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America, said.
Officials decided against calling the massacre a genocide after some opposition from the State Department and Pentagon.
Posted in History, Military, Politics, Religion, Survival, Terrorism	| Tagged Adolph Hitler, Armenia, Armenian National Committee of America, Assyria, Barack Obama, Christians, Erdogan, Genocide, Genocide Convention, Greece, History, Holodomor, Islam, Istanbul, Jihad, Ken Hachikian, Military, Murat Bardakci, Muslims, Ottoman Empire, Pentagon, Politics, Purge, Russia, Soviet Union, Stalin, State Department, Talaat Pasha, Terrorism, Terrorists, Turkey, Ukraine, United Nations, United States, War, World War I, World War II, Young Turks	| 1 Comment
The Ferguson Hoax and Media Truth-telling
You know the standards of the media have hit rock bottom when a liberal commentator makes news for telling the truth. Jonathan Capehart of The Washington Post and MSNBC has become a media star for his belated recognition of the "Hands up, don't shoot" lie out of Ferguson, Missouri. Better late than never, except for the fact that this liberal narrative was always in dispute. There was never any legitimate reason to believe that Police Officer Darren Wilson had simply fired on Michael Brown for no reason.
The appropriate reaction to Capehart's Damascus Road conversion to the truth should be: What took you so long? And what will you do to make sure you never fall for such a vicious lie again?
Don Irvine, the chairman of Accuracy in Media, notes in his blog on the AIM website that Capehart admitted the narrative was wrong after the Department of Justice found Wilson's side of the story to be true. Capehart said, "What DOJ found made me ill." Irvine commented, "I would be ill too if I had helped push a false narrative that gave fuel to the riots in Ferguson that have cost businesses and taxpayers millions of dollars, and ruined the career of Officer Wilson."
The people who should be ill are those who depend on Capehart and others like him for the truth. Capehart is just trying to recover some of the credibility he never had in the first place.
Those of us who don't take Capehart and his ilk seriously as arbiters of truth are watching this celebration of his one-time truth-telling as an example of how, for much of the media, lies and distortions are the standard fare. Otherwise, why would telling the truth be so controversial?
But this case is much more than a few liberal commentators like Capehart taking the side of dishonesty and then waking up, months later, to what actually happened.
Colin Flaherty, an award winning reporter and author of Don't Make the Black Kids Angry: The hoax of black victimization and those who enable it, says that what happened in Ferguson was a carefully orchestrated hoax. He notes how in an amazing turnabout, the false claims about an unprovoked murder of a young black man became complaints about too many traffic tickets for black people.
"We now know the Ferguson riots were all about racist traffic tickets and not the relentless white racism and violence that killed yet another black person," Flaherty notes. "The greatest bait and switch of our generation and few reporters even seemed to notice. Why would they? They are used to it by now.
"First they told us about 'hands up, don't shoot.' When that turned out to be a lie, they told us about the Gentle Giant. It continued for months, one lie after another, each discarded, replaced and sometimes recycled." Flaherty reminds us of several of the lies. We were told that Michael Brown was shot in the back, that he was minding his own business, and trying to surrender.
Flaherty adds, "The racial grievance industry and their beards in the press put on and took off each lie like a cheap suit. Cute kids made viral videos with the 'hands up don't shoot' pose, and reminded white people of their relentless racism. Members of Congress followed from the floor of the House.
"The President talked about racists in Ferguson at the United Nations. The parents of Michael Brown were honored guests at the gala dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus. The President greeted them from the podium during his keynote speech to extended applause. Then he talked about Ferguson racism.
"The Attorney General traveled to Ferguson and made [a] 'personal promise' that he would stand with the people of Ferguson. As long as those people were not cops."
Flaherty goes on, "Entire cable networks repeated the lie day after day, guest after guest, promo after promo. Death. Murder. White racism. How could we not see it? Were we so blind, so immersed in white privilege, like a fish unaware of the water?"
It turned out, according to the DOJ, that Ferguson was all about traffic tickets. "Funny: At the time, no one mentioned the traffic tickets that now stand with the firehoses and police dogs of Selma as icons of racist oppression," Flaherty notes.
The facts were such that the Attorney General had to grudgingly admit what many others had been saying from day one. "The facts of the death and the fairy tale that followed were all concocted, spoon fed to a willing press corps that did nothing but ask for more," he points out.
Then, suddenly, in another diversion from the essential truth of what happened, the media picked up on another narrative—that blacks were the victims of too many traffic tickets. "The day after the Attorney General's confession, the manufactured outrage of Chris Cuomo of CNN was on full display as he and the Brown family attorney railed against the injustice of too many traffic tickets," commented Flaherty.
The media moved on to another issue, without bothering to emphasize how wrong they had been in the months before. This is the performance of a media that promotes and even prefers lies over the truth. The lies, after all, gin up racial controversy and ratings.
Flaherty asks: what about the CNN anchors who were holding the "Hands up, don't shoot" signs on the air?
That's a good question indeed. These included what we called a prominent example of the "fake conservatives" in the media, such as when Margaret Hoover joined her fellow CNN panelists in a "Hands up, don't shoot" display based on the fiction that Brown was surrendering to the police when he was shot.
Hoover has written a book titled, American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party. This self-described conservative thinks she has the answer to saving the Republican Party. She engaged in that display despite the fact that she said the narrative had been discredited because of witness testimony from the grand jury.
So Hoover engages in something she knows to be untrue, simply because it is the fashionable thing to do. What does this say about her ethical standards? "As a reform Republican, who works for the GOP to broaden its base and reach new constituencies, I see no contradiction between supporting law enforcement and the policy solutions highlighted by these protesters," Hoover says.
The "protesters" were not highlighting "policy solutions," but a deadly and false narrative about alleged police violence. She could have told the truth. Instead, she participated on the air in a display of a false narrative.
Why doesn't she have the decency to apologize? Why doesn't CNN apologize?
Flaherty also wonders why, after the hoax was exposed, we didn't hear one apology from the media. It's because our media have no standards of ethical behavior and conduct. Instead, the media went on with their business, acting as if traffic tickets "justified all the rioting, vandalism, fire-bombing, looting, assaulting, attacks on police, gunfire and other mayhem in and out of Ferguson."
The praise for Capehart for eventually telling the truth may be one way the media can attempt to atone for their sins in this coverage. But it's not good enough.
Posted in Politics	| Tagged AIM, Barack Obama, Chris Cuomo, Cliff Kincaid, CNN, Colin Flaherty, Congress, Congressional Black Caucus, Conservatives, Darren Wilson, Democrats, DOJ, Eric Holder, Fake Conservatives, Ferguson, GOP, Hoax, Jonathan Capehart, Liberal, Lies, Margaret Hoover, Media, Michael Brown, Missouri, MSNBC, Police, Politics, Protests, Race, Republicans, Riots, Selma, The Washington Post, United Nations	|
Obama's Dangerous Iran Nuke Deal
By: Alan Caruba
The Feb 10 Wall Street Journal editorial asked
"Has the U.S. already conceded a new era of nuclear proliferation?" and concluded that "Mr. Obama is so bent on an Iran deal that he will make any concession to get one."
As we should know by now, President Obama has no negotiating skills and even less understanding of the world the U.S. used to lead by virtue of its military power and democratic values.
If he succeeds in getting a deal, absent Congress doing anything about it, the Wall Street Journal says it will result in "a very different world than the one we have been living in since the dawn of the nuclear age. A world with multiple nuclear states, including some with revolutionary religious impulses or hegemonic ambitions, is a very dangerous place."
Yes, but. We already live in such a world and the real question is whether, absent their "revolutionary" rhetoric, shouting "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" do those at the top levels of the Iranian ruling structure want to risk having their nation destroyed if they were ever to use nuclear weapons?
No nation on Earth has done so since the U.S. ended the war with the Japanese Empire with two atom bombs rather than put at risk the lives of our troops in an invasion. Why do we think Iran would use their nukes if they acquired them?
The short answer is that the United Nations has passed six resolutions to deny Iran the capability of developing a military nuclear program and the current negotiations, the P5+1, while led by the U.S., are joined by Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Nations in the Middle East and around the world are inclined to think the Iranian leadership would use such weapons. Obama is intent on ignoring their judgment.
If you want to know why Iran continues to be involved in negotiations to restrict its nuclear weapons agenda, you need to know that the U.S. will release $11.9 billion to Iran by the time the talks are concluded in June. That's the figure cited by our own State Department.
On January 21, the U.S. released $490 million, the third such payment since December 10. For sitting at the negotiations table, Iran will secure $4.9 billion in unfrozen cash assets via ten separate payments by the U.S. It had received $4.2 billion in similar payments under the 2013 interim agreement with the U.S. and was given another $2.9 billion by the Obama administration last year in an absurd effort to get them to agree to end their effort to become a nuclear power.
In a sense there are several Iran's. There is the Iran of the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guard, both committed to the Islamic revolution that brought the present day Iran into being in 1979. They value having a nuclear weapons capability no less than the U.S. or other nations do.
Then there are the Iranian realists who would far prefer a detente between the U.S. and Iran because they believe it would be in both our interests. These are the voters who elected Hassan Rouhani in 2013 to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has served in office from 2005. They represent some 70% of its citizens would want peace, trade and normal relations with the U.S. Their leaders, however, have thoughts of hegemonic power in the Middle East to advance Shiite Islam.
The problem is that many of the Iranian leadership do not speak in terms other than an utter contempt for the U.S. and with an outspoken enmity for any nation that opposes the expansion of Islam. In late January, one of its newspapers, Kayhan, reported that "Professors, students and employees at the Imam Sadeq University, condemning the insults against the prophet of Islam by Charlie Hebdo…demand closure of the French embassy in Tehran."
The demonstrators carried placards read, "I am not Charlie, I am the innocent child of Gaza", "Death to America", "Death to Israel", "Death to Britain", "Death to France", 'Death to Wahabism" and comparable signs all indicative of Iran's hostility to any response to the terrorism it has sponsored for decades since the Islamic Revolution was initiated there in 1979.
On January 23, Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying "I do not believe that ten years of confrontation will have had any benefits for anyone. Ten years of sanctions has yielded 19,800 centrifuges, exactly that which the sanctions wanted to halt."
There is no question that sanctions and the long negotiations have reduced Iran's capacity to create nuclear weapons agenda. The current negotiations, however, are signaling an abandonment of that policy.
At Friday prayers in late January, Hojjat al-Eslam Zazem Sediqi told those in attendance "Our statesmen should know the enemy, should know with whom they are dealing and negotiating with…You are speaking with wild beasts which do not show mercy to (anyone) young or old, and who insult the Prophet, the most sacred of sacred."
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDC) maintains a constant monitoring of Iranian news media and government outlets. The reported news out of Iran paints a picture of fire-breathing zealots against a moderate political class and population. The question is whether the zealots will have the final word.
On January 28, Ali Alfoneh, a FDC senior fellow, authored a policy brief that concluded that "Even in the unlikely event that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his negotiating team reach a nuclear agreement with international negotiators, its implementation may well fall to the Islamic Revolutionary Corps…The IRGC's vociferous opposition to nuclear concessions and improving ties with the West raises serious questions over whether future Iranian governments will uphold any nuclear deal that the current one signs."
There are two major power centers in Iran, the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and the IRGC. Rouhani is routinely referred to as "a moderate." As Alfoneh noted, "Meanwhile, Rouhani's cabinet is torn between public demands for jobs and human rights, the creeping infiltration of the IRGC, and the Supreme Leader's dogged attempts to maintain the status quo at all costs."
In late January, the Democrats on Capitol Hill, led by Robert Menendez (D-NJ) gave Obama another two months to reach a deal before they vote for new sanctions. In the House, progressives are urging their colleagues to hold off moving any legislation that would tighten economic penalties on Iran. At this point, the only thing that has worked has been sanctions and the return of frozen funds, a form of bribery.
Meanwhile, Iran has taken credit for the training and arming of Shiite rebels who overthrew the leadership in Yemen. Iran also supports the Hezbollah in Lebanon that is threatening Israel from the area of the Golan. In reprisal for a recent attack, Israel responded with an air strike that killed an Iranian general. None of this helps position Iran as a potential peaceful partner.
This is why John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, has invited Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to address a joint session of Congress. He did so without consulting the White House, but we should keep in mind that Obama released five Taliban generals from Gitmo without consulting Congress.
Netanyahu will spell out what he has said in the past. A nuclear Iran is an existential and a potentially catastrophic threat to Israel. He will likely point out that it is a threat to Saudi Arabia and all the other nations in the Middle East and worldwide.
The question is whether we are dealing with rational people leading Iran or not. In the end, we are asked to assume that even the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards want to live, want their children and grandchildren to live, and want their nation to continue. That is what Obama is betting on. The problem with that is that Islam puts a high value on martyrdom.
© Alan Caruba, 2015
Posted in Constitution, History, Military, Politics, Religion, Survival, Terrorism	| Tagged Alan Caruba, Ali Alfoneh, Ali Khamenei, America, Barack Obama, Britain, Charlie Hebdo, China, Congress, Davos, Democrats, France, Germany, Gitmo, Golan, Hassan Rouhani, Hezbollah, Hojjat al-Eslam Zazem Sediqi, Iran, IRGC, Islam, Israel, Japan, Jihad, John Boehner, Kayhan, Lebanon, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Media, Middle East, Military, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, Muslims, Netanyahu, Nukes, revolution, Robert Menendez, Russia, Sanctions, Saudi Arabia, Shiite, State Department, Switzerland, Tehran, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, UK, United Nations, US, Wahabism, Wall Street Journal, War, White HOuse, WWII, Yemen	|


Think Arizona's new immigration law is harsh? The Grand Canyon state has nothing on these guys.
What the law does: Like much of southern Europe, Italy faces the daunting challenge of trying to regulate and manage massive migration inflows from North Africa and the Mediterranean. In response, the Italian government has instituted various measures aimed at curbing immigration. One of the harshest, passed by parliament in 2009, penalizes illegal immigrants with a fine of €5,000-10,000 and allows immigration officials to detain them for up to 6 months.
Reactions: Suffice it to say that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's tough new legislation has done little to allay the rising tension in Italy over immigration and its role in Italian society. This tension came to a head this January when race riots erupted in Rosarno, a small town in the southern region of Calabria that is home to some 20,000 migrant workers, many of whom are African. The riots, which lasted for two days, left cars destroyed, shops looted, more than 50 immigrants and police officers wounded, and many rioters handcuffed and detained.
What the law does: Switzerland's uneasy relationship with its Muslim immigrant population became very public in recent years thanks to the rise of the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) and the referendum that resulted in a ban on mosque minarets in 2009. One subject that hasn't been getting as much publicity, however, is a tough new immigration law proposed by the SVP that is currently awaiting referendum. The law would allow the Swiss government to immediately deport all convicted criminals from other countries and — depending on which specific provisions of the bill pass — potentially their family members.
Reactions: After the SVP distributed a now-infamous poster in 2007 depicting three white sheep kicking out one black sheep above the caption "For More Security," the U.N. instructed its special rapporteur on racism to request an official explanation from the government regarding the poster (at the time, the SVP held a plurality of seats in the Swiss coalition government). Swiss society has become polarized over the immigration law debate. In 2007, opponents of the bill formed the short-lived "Black Sheep Committee" to support immigrants rights — but enthusiasm for the SVP and its policies continues to grow.
What the law does: Despite its anything-goes image, Australia has a surprisingly draconian immigration policy. And none of the country's various immigration laws is more controversial than the Migration Reform Act of 1992 and its subsequent amendments, which collectively require the authorities to detain all non-citizens who are discovered in Australia without a valid visa. Between 1999 and 2003, the law was used to detain more than 2,000 child refugees from Southeast Asia and the Middle East who were seeking asylum in Australia.
Reactions: The law has seriously irked human rights NGOs. In 2001, Human Rights Watch sent Prime Minister John Howard a forceful letter arguing that the legislation "seriously contravenes Australia's obligations to non-citizens, refugees and asylum seekers under international human rights and refugee law." Three years later, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission released a report condemning the government for the abuses and human rights violations child refugees suffered while being detained. Although Kevin Rudd's government has softened certain provisions of the law, it is still being employed to intercept and detain illegal immigrants.
What the law does: Japan has long struggled with its demographics and immigration problems. Although the country's aging population necessitates the importing of cheap labor, recently the Japanese government has sought to curtail immigration in an effort to shore up its unprecedentedly high unemployment figures. The most infamous of Tokyo's new anti-immigration policies is the "Nikkei" Law. Passed in spring 2009, the law allows the Japanese government to pay $3,000 to each unemployed Latin American immigrant of Japanese descent (known as Nikkei in Japanese) and $2,000 to each of that unemployed worker's family members to return to their country of origin. The catch? These workers and their family members would be prohibited from ever returning to work in Japan. An estimated 366,000 Brazilians and Peruvians lived in Japan at the time.
Reactions: Whereas in the past criticism of UAE immigration and labor law seemed to come only from human rights NGOs and international organizations like the U.N., more recently the immigrants themselves have begun to denounce such laws. Immigrant workers in Dubai have been particularly vocal. In 2006, a group of blue-collar workers in Dubai held a union meeting and protested the unfair working and living conditions that their employers subject them to. More recently, in September 2009, construction workers went on strike and protested in the streets, demanding higher wages and overtime pay.


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Impact of mannoproteins structural features on the colloid stability when facing different kinds of wine polyphenols
The aim was to study the impact of structural features in the polysaccharide moiety of mannoproteins on their interaction with polyphenols and the formation of colloidal aggregates. To this end, mannoproteins fractions were extracted from four different yeast strains: a commercial enological strain (MP-com), the wild-type BY4742 strain (MP-WT) and its mutants ΔMnn4 (MP-Mnn4) and ΔMnn2 (MP-Mnn2). The Mnn4p and Mnn2p are responsible for mannosyl-phosphorylation and branching of the N-glycosylation backbone [1]. Enzymatic extraction was performed using a commercial Endo-beta-1,3-Glucanase of Trichoderma sp. (E-LAMSE, Megazym)[2]. Mannoprotein fractions were thoroughly characterized by composition of their polysaccharide and protein moieties, branching degree, net charge, molecular weight distribution, static and dynamic molecular parameters [3]. Their interactions with seed tannins and a pool of red wine polyphenols and the formation of colloidal aggregates were studied in model solutions at different polyphenol/mannoprotein ratios through Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). Model solutions were followed during one month. The number and size distribution of colloidal aggregates was determined by Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA).The four Mannoprotein fractions had broad and high molecular weight distributions, as well as similar protein, polysaccharide mass % and amino acid composition. However, they showed different proportions of mannose and glucose and the structural characterization of the polysaccharide moiety confirmed the expected differences between MP-WT, MP-Mnn2, and MP-Mnn4. DLS and NTA experiments indicated a two-step interaction process between seed tannins and mannoproteins: an immediate formation of colloidal aggregates (150-300 nm), followed by a very progressive evolution related to a reversible aggregate flocculation. The number, dispersity and extent of flocculation were dependent on the tannin/MP ratio. So far, no notable differences were evidenced between the four MP fractions. With the polyphenol pool of red wine, neither DLS nor NTA experiments were able to evidence the formation of colloidal aggregates. This does not mean that interactions do not exist[4,5]. Although the mannoproteins used had different polysaccharide compositions, structures, and properties, no difference in terms of colloidal behavior when in solution with tannins or wine polyphenols was evidenced by the methods applied. Thus, neither the absence of mannosyl phosphate groups (MP-Mnn4) nor the absence of branching of the outer chains of the N-glycosylated carbohydrate structures (MP-Mnn2) seems to play a determining role in the colloidal behavior of mannoproteins in the presence of seed tannins or red wine polyphenols.
Authors: Saul Assunção Bicca – UMR-SPO, University of Montpellier, INRAE, Montpellier Supagro, Montpellier, France,Thierry, DOCO, UMR-SPO, University of Montpellier, INRAE, Montpellier Supagro, Montpellier, France Céline, PONCET-LEGRAND, UMR-SPO, University of Montpellier, INRAE, Montpellier Supagro, Montpellier, France Pascale, WILLIAMS, UMR-SPO, University of Montpellier, INRAE, Montpellier Supagro, Montpellier, France Julie MEKOUE N'GUELA, UMR-SPO, University of Montpellier, INRAE, Montpellier Supagro, Montpellier, France & Lallemand SAS, Blagnac, France Aude VERNHET, UMR-SPO, University of Montpellier, INRAE, Montpellier Supagro, Montpellier, France
Email: bicca.saul@gmail.com
Keywords: mannoproteins, colloidal stability, wine interactions


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REVIEW: Night Shift (2020)
Three Paris police officers have their morality sorely tested in Anne Fontaine's considered and powerful drama Night Shift (aka Police). Virginie (Viriginie Efira) has fallen pregnant to a fellow officer, and is planning for an abortion. The officer in question, Aristide (Omar Sy) is in growing conflict with his colleague Erik (Grégory Gadebois) – a weary police veteran struggling with a failing marriage and an alcohol problem. When all three officers sign up for a special assignment to escort a rejected refugee to the airport, their loyalty is put into question when they learn the man (Payman Maadi) will be executed by his own government on arrival.
Night Shift feels deeply topical, as it reflects upon France's treatment of international refugees – a topic that should resonate with Australian viewers in particular, given our own government's mishandling of the issue over the past two decades. It is all well and good to form one's own opinion of how to deal with it, but it is another matter entirely to be asked to drive a human being to near-certain death. How does it reflect on a police officer's role to legally stand aside and allow someone to be murdered? Which is the greater crime, and how willing can someone be to destroy their career to save a life?
It is enough fodder for a feature film as is, but Fontaine (with co-writer Claire Barre) devotes much of the film's first half to establishing her four lead characters and giving them overlapping problems and issues of their own. All three officers are demonstrated to be imperfect and conflicted. Seeds of conflict between each of them are layered gently into the narrative, to be let alight later in the film. They are not really generate for plot reasons either, and very little is emotionally resolved by the film's conclusion. It is all generated for depth and realism. Fontaine exploits them to make the characters seem real.
Such strong characters lead to equally strong performances. Omar Sy is easily the most famous actor here for international audiences, and brings his enormous charisma and presence to bear on the flashiest of the four protagonists. Grégory Gadebois brings a brilliant unspoken sorrow and sense of defeat to Erik, recognisable to anyone who has ground down by a system to the point of no longer standing for anything except one's orders. Payman Maadi is excellent as Tohirov, a Kajik refugee terrified of repatriation and death, and entirely isolated by his lack of French. It is a difficult job for an actor to express an entire emotional range without reliant on dialogue. While the character is ultimately unknowable, Maadi gives Tohirov dignity, sympathy, and an authentic sense of growing terror.
Virginie Efira is, however, the ultimate standout among the cast. She makes the fictional Virginie a hugely effective blend of contradictions: broken but defiant, cynical yet idealistic, and littered with small reactions and subtle tics. Most importantly she feels real without coming across as overly heroic or tediously weak. It seems very likely that international audiences are going to see more of Efira in future; she has 'future star' written across her performance here.
Night Shift is a sharp, intelligent drama with a keen contemporary relevance. It asks vital questions with no easy answers. It is well written, well directed, and well performed.
Night Shift is currently playing across Australia as part of the Alliance Française French Film Festival 2021. Click here for more information.
March 8, 2021 Grant WatsonAFFFF2021, Anne Fontaine, film, France, Grégory Gadebois, Omar Sy, Payman Maadi, Virginie Efira
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Russian airstrikes carried out Wednesday in western Syria resulted in 36 civilians casualties, Khaled Khoja, head of the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition, said Wednesday.
"All the targets in today's Russian air raid over northern Homs were civilians," Khoja declared via Twitter.
On Wednesday afternoon, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov announced that Russian warplanes had struck positions in Syria associated with the Daesh militant group.
According to Konashenkov, Wednesday's airstrikes – which, he said, had been ordered directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin – had targeted Daesh munitions depots, vehicles and communications centers.
Khoja, however, who is currently in New York for a UN General Assembly meeting, said areas targeted by the airstrikes were free of any Daesh or Al-Qaeda presence.
"The targeted areas in today's Russian air raid in Homs were those areas which fought ISIL [Daesh] and defeated it a year ago," he said, using a common abbreviation for the extremist group.
Later on Wednesday, the opposition group said five of the 36 civilian casualties were children.
Speaking to a press conference in New York, Khoja called Russia's build-up in Syria an "occupation" and urged the international community to express a strong condemnation for the reported casualties.
"The Russian occupation will be met with a liberation movement from the Syrian people. We have the right to do it," Khoja said.
"We demand the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Syria, including Russia, Iran, Daesh and Hezbollah," he added.
On Wednesday, activists in Syria's Hama and Homs provinces told Anadolu Agency that airstrikes carried out by Russian warplanes against opposition-held areas had caused considerably more damage than those carried out by Syrian aircraft.
Earlier the same day, the upper house of Russia's parliament voted unanimously to give President Putin the authority to deploy the country's armed forces in Syria.
Syria's devastating civil war, now in its fifth year, has claimed more than 250,000 lives, according to UN figures, and made the country the world's single-largest source of refugees and displaced people.


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Week 9 – BEST & WORST Decisions (2019)
Each week coaches are faced with real-time critical calls. By evaluating how teams manage their win probability, we can learn how to optimize future decisions and give your team the best chance to win the game.
Let's a take a look at one of the best and worst decisions in the NFL this week.
Best Decision – BUF vs WAS
With 6:33 remaining in the second quarter, 1 timeout, and leading 10-3, the Bills faced a 1st and goal. After failing to convert on their first 3 attempts, the Bills faced an interesting 4th and goal decision. Based on the results of the first three attempts, most coaches would attempt a FG, and chalk it up to "you gotta come away with something." Coach McDermott, on the other hand, made the correct call by deciding to go-for-it, again. His decision increased the Bills (pre-snap) win probability by 2%. Our Edj Power Indexes (EPI's) had the Bills rush offense ranked well above league average, and the WAS rush defense ranked at league average. Based on these rankings and the game state, teams that go-for-it, go on to win the game 91% of the time and teams that attempt a FG, go on to win the game 89%. The Bills went on to win the game and decisions like these are part of the reason why they are 6-2.
Worst Decision – DET vs OAK
With 9:21 remaining in the 4th quarter, 3 timeouts, and trailing 17-24, the Lions faced a 4th and 3 from their own 42-yard line. By deciding to punt, Coach Patricia made an error that cost the Lions -7% in (pre-snap) win probability. Our EPI's had the Lions pass offense ranked among the top-4 best in the league and the Raiders pass defense ranked among the bottom-4 worst in the league. Based on these rankings and the game state, teams that go-for-it, go on to win the game 20% of the time and teams that punt only go on to win the game 13% of the time. If the Lions had leveraged advanced analytics, their play calling strategy on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd downs may have also changed/improved because they would have understood that the optimal decision was to go-for-it, even if they ended up facing a 4th and 10. The Lions went on to lose the game and decisions like these will keep them looking up at the division leaders.


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When is Chapter 13 Better than Chapter 7? - Law Offices of Robert M. Geller, P.A.
One of the first decisions you'll make when you file for bankruptcy is whether to choose Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. How do you know which is the better option?
The filing process begins with a means test. This determines if you even qualify you for Chapter 7, but even if you pass the means test, it might still be better to choose Chapter 13. Ideally, you'll work with an attorney who can offer advice and help you make the best decision for you, but it can also help to have an understanding of the differences between the two types of bankruptcy before moving ahead.
One of the main differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 is that in Chapter 7 debts are discharged and your case is over within four to six months, while in Chapter 13 you must make payments based on a pre-arranged plan which lasts three to five years.
Another difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 is how property is handled. In Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee can take your property, sell it, and use the liquidated funds to pay your debts. What many people are surprised to learn, though, is that it's still possible to exempt property in a Chapter 7 filing. Just because you have filed for Chapter 7 does not mean you will lose all of the property you currently own. Chapter 13 is more lenient with protecting property, so if you have valuable non-exempt property you don't want to lose, this is likely the way to go.
Should I File for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 If I'm Behind on My Mortgage?
Mortgage loans often make up a significant portion of debt for the average American. And unfortunately, it can be one of the reasons you decide to file for bankruptcy.
Despite the myth that bankruptcy will cost you "everything," you can actually keep possession of your home and continue living in it when you file, especially if you file for Chapter 13. In order to keep your home in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you'll need to bring the debt current, keep it current, and likely reaffirm the debt when filing. Unless you're able to meet these obligations, your bankruptcy trustee will be able to take your home.
In Chapter 13 your home is protected, even if you aren't immediately able to bring the loan current. You'll have the opportunity to roll past due payments into the repayment plan, making it easier to catch up. In most cases, homeowners opt for Chapter 13.
What If I'm Over-Extended on a Vehicle Loan?
In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you'll likely lose a vehicle that's behind in payments. In Chapter 13, you may have the option of "cramming down" the loan. This means you'll reduce the amount you owe to whatever the vehicle is currently worth. That adjusted amount will be included in your repayment plan, which allows you to make payments and maintain ownership of the vehicle.
For more information on how to cram down a loan, check out this article.
If someone else co-signed for a loan with you and you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the lender can still pursue the co-signer, even if your responsibility for the debt has been discharged. If you are concerned about someone being held responsible for your debt, you'll want to file for Chapter 13. It allows you to include that loan in your repayment plan and retain responsibility for it.
Choosing whether to file for Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 can be complicated and overwhelming. Having an expert to guide you through this initial decision can help. For more information or to speak to someone about filing for bankruptcy, contact the Law Offices of Robert M. Geller at 813.254.5696.


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Tsi Venda
Venda orthography
The Tshivenda orthography (writing system) has five characters that contain diacritics ( Ṅ ṅ Ḓ ḓ Ḽ ḽ Ṋ ṋ Ṱ ṱ ). These characters do not appear on a standard keyboard. The fonts that come with Windows also do not support these characters. However, these characters are present in the Unicode character set, and thus can be entered on Unicode-enabled operating systems, such as Windows 2000/XP, Linux, and Mac OS. (Unicode is an international character set standard that supports most world languages.) By simply installing a font that includes these characters, these characters can be entered into a computer, and can also be displayed on a web page. Major word processing applications such as OpenOffice and Microsoft Word do support the entering of Unicode characters.
(Note that using Unicode provides the only "correct" way to represent these characters within documents; in the long-term, documents stored using other non-standard and/or proprietary methods will have to be specially converted later on, while documents encoded from the start using Unicode will continue to work, because Unicode is "the standard".)
To use the Venda diacritics, first download and/or install a font that supports them, e.g. Gentium. If you are using Windows, download the Windows version of the Gentium font, and unzip the files to your hard disk. Using Windows Explorer, copy the font files (.ttf files) into your system fonts directory ("C:\Windows\Fonts" for Windows XP, Windows 98 and Windows ME; "C:\WinNT\Fonts" for Windows 2000).
FOR EXAMPLES OF DOCUMENTS PLEASE CONTACT: lee at web-lingo dot com
More information about TsiVenda diacritics : http://www.africanlanguages.com/venda/


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TRAILER PARK: The Hippopotamus
It appears you can't keep a good man down – especially if his name is Stephen Fry. He may have left England's green and pleasant land for the sunnier climes of America's West Coast, but that doesn't mean his presence can't still be felt this side the Atlantic. The new film adaptation of his bestselling novel The Hippopotamus is about to hit cinemas any day now, and to whet our appetites the first official trailer has just been released. And what a delight it appears to be.
TRAILER PARK: Summerland (2020)
TRAILER PARK: The Secret Garden (2020)
TRAILER PARK: The Ritual
Following the misadventures of hapless poet Ted Wallace (Roger Allam) and his eccentric aristocratic friends Lord and Lady Logan (Matthew Modine and Fiona Shaw), the film is directed by John Jencks. Based on Fry's novel with additional material and screenplay by Robin Hill, Tom Hodgson and Blanche MacIntyre, it is released in June. With more than a touch of 'Jeeves & Wooster', the film will be the perfect accompaniment to the English summer, and looks set to ensure we haven't heard the last of the madcap Mr Fry.
Tags: Blanche MacIntyreFiona ShawJeeves & WoosterJohn Jencksmatthew modinerobin hillROGER ALLAMstephen fryThe HippopotamusTom Hodgson
Cleaver Patterson
Cleaver loves movies and watches most things, though he favours films with a darker air. A contributor to various books, magazines and websites, he has written for The Sunday Times Magazine, L.A. Review of Books and We Belong Dead Magazine amongst others. His book - Don't Go Upstairs! A Room-by-Room Tour of the House in Horror Movies - which studies the role of the house in horror cinema, was recently published by McFarland.
TRAILER PARK – Star Wars: The Last Jedi
TRAILER PARK – Thor: Ragnarok
Yogi Bear (2010)
TRAILER PARK – 'The Angry Birds Movie'