Category Archives: Ayn Rand

Although Gov. Steve Sisolak backed away from introducing legislation on innovation zoneswhich would have allowed tech companies, specifically Blockchains, LLC, to govern private landhe got lawmakers to keep the concept alive.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 11, which passed late last Friday, establishes a joint special committee which will study innovation zones and report to the Governor on whether to proceed with legislation.

Sisolak originally introduced the idea of innovation zones in his January State of the State address. A draft of the legislation that leaked in February included provisions that would give tech companies, including Blockchains, LLC, the same power to govern as local counties, with the goal of attracting innovative companies to the state. In April, Sisolak retreated from his plan to propose the legislation, which garnered national headlines and was the target of jokes on late night TV. The Legislature did not have enough time to consider such a complex issue, Sisolak said. But rather than let the concept die, he worked with legislative leaders to create an interim committee.

On May 11, the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections introduced the resolution to study innovation zones. The resolution establishes a committee of six members, including three members of the Assembly (two appointed by the Speaker and one by the Minority Leader) and three members of the Senate (two appointed by the Majority Leader and one by the Minority Leader).

The committee will be responsible for a thorough vetting of the critical issues concerning innovation zones and will facilitate discussion among all of the interested stakeholders.

Unlike the drafted legislation which preceded it, the resolution, being just a study, flew comparatively under the radar.

At the initial hearing, trade organizations testified in support of the project, which supporters say will create jobs and diversify the economy. Lobbyists representing tribes and county governments testified as neutral, raising concerns including about their jurisdiction being compromised by innovation zones. Only the progressive nonprofit Battle Born Progress testified in formal opposition.

Annette Magnus, executive director of Battle Born Progress, said in an interview that Battle Born was opposed to the earlier drafted legislationwhich she called an Ayn Rand, dystopian nightmare that we were going to try in our own backyardand that they wanted to be on the record as opposing the study, too.

The concept of innovation zones, even as a study, Magnus said, was misguided and a huge distraction from more pressing issues.

The fact that we were even considering giving a billionaire his own county during the global pandemic, Magnus said, referring to Sisolaks original proposal, when people are homeless and being evicted, and dont have food on the tableIt just really spoke to where our priorities as a state should not be.

Magnus hopes that the committee will rigorously examine the concept of innovation zones, especially their potential harm to local tribal communities, to whom the land and water belongs, she said.

In committee meetings, several legislators voiced concern that the resolutions deadline might foreclose that kind of deep investigation.

The turnaround is tight: the committee must meet at least once per month and submit a report and recommendations to the Governor by the end of this year.

Legislators pointed out that producing a thorough proposal after only half a dozen meetings (if monthly, beginning in July) might be an unrealistic goal. Legislative support staff will also be stretched thin from the two anticipated special sessions this year, leaving less time to research a policy that would affect so many groups.

The Senate approved SCR 11 on May 19 on a voice vote. The Assembly Revenue Committee meeting, the last before the resolution headed back to the Assembly for a vote, made clear that despite the concerns some legislators had raised throughout the process, amendments were off the table.

Committee Chair Lesley Cohen, after the initial hearing, had submitted amendments that included pushing back the due date of the report to the Governor from December 31, 2021 to March 29, 2022; adding low income and historically underserved communities to the list of interested stakeholders; and requiring the committee to study the impact of innovation zones on water supplies.

But after the set of amendments was read aloud, Cohen quickly spoke up to withdraw it.

Several members of the committee were displeased.

I was pretty excited when I heard the amendment because I thought it made the bill palatable for me, Assemblywoman Bilbray-Axelrod said at the committee meeting, citing the December 31 deadline as the biggest, glaring thing to me.

Theres no one here to answer my question, but Im just wondering why none of the amendments were accepted, Bilbray-Axelrod said, in reference to Cohens amendments. Cohen could not be reached for comment.

Republican Assemblyman Gregory Hafen, who voted against the resolution in the Revenue Committee, said in an interview that timing was of particular concern for him, too.

Its been, now, five months that theyve been discussing the idea, Hafen said, referring to the governors idea for innovation zones, And in these 5 months they really didnt have any information for the legislative body. And now, they think that in 7 months they can.

Asked why Cohens amendments were withdrawn, Hafen said he does not know.

If I had to speculate, it was because we were up against the deadline, and she just didnt have time to get it fully vetted, through the process, but I really dont know why, Hafen said. The Revenue Committee meeting was just three days before the official end of the session.

Assemblyman Cameron (C.H) Miller voiced concern about the resolutions set of interested stakeholders, which includes groups such as advanced technology industries, environmental groups, global interests, and local governments, but does not prioritize those who might be living and working in innovation zones.

I would very much like to see the language added regarding communities of color, underserved communities, and low-income communities, Miller said, referring to Cohens failed amendment, so they can come to the table and be part of this conversation.

Later that day, last Friday night, the Assembly passed the resolution as it was originally written, on a voice vote.

Concurrent resolutions do not require a signature from the Governor, so the resolution took effect immediately, and went directly to the Secretary of State for filing.

Read more here:

The bill was never introduced, but Sisolak's Blockchains concept is still alive - Nevada Current

Ram Gopal Varma's office space in Hyderabad, called Company, is a reflection of his personality. The filmmaker in a 2017 interview spoke about some of the creative influences that went into the design of the office.

Every room, for instance, is named after a famous person -- from Donald Trump to Dawood Ibrahim, Ayn Rand to Tughlaq. The facade of the building is decorated with large statues of guns, girls, and cars. "Non-believers will be fired," reads a notice on the door.

"The look of my office is a reflection of my personality, which obviously reflects in my films too. The huge gun and the brass statue of a woman outside, signify my primal fascination for power and beautiful women, the filmmaker had told Deccan Chronicle in a 2017 interview, which said that the office cost a reported 15 crore. He had added, "I wanted each and every part of the exterior, as well as every nook and corner to reflect an attitude. Anyone who comes to my office should already know what kind of a person I am, even before meeting me.

One of the rooms in the office is named after actor Urmila Matondkar, with whom the filmmaker has worked in several films, such as Rangeela, Bhoot, and Satya. In a recent tweet, RGV posted a picture of Urmila, and wrote, "Unable to deal with her new found super stardom post RANGEELA a blushing @UrmilaMatondkar caught on the Baara chawl location of SATYA."

Also read: RGV shares candid photo of Urmila Matondkar, says she was 'unable to deal with' post-Rangeela stardom

However, earlier this year, RGV said that he had moved his office to Goa. He told a leading daily, "Goa is best suited for the kind of projects I am looking at. My office is not in Mumbai anymore. I was in Hyderabad for a major part of the lockdown but have shifted out of Mumbai in the past few months."

PUBLISHED ON JUN 01, 2021 07:15 AM IST

PUBLISHED ON MAY 28, 2021 04:47 PM IST

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Step inside Ram Gopal Varma's office, where rooms are named after Donald Trump and Dawood Ibrahim - Hindustan Times

Lisa Kudrow, recently seen on HBO Max in its long-awaited Friends reunion, can only be heard in the animated comedy HouseBroken (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).

Loosely organized around group encounter therapy sessions conducted by Honey (Kudrow), a slightly neurotic poodle who speaks in the slightly halting, delusionally self-actualized manner that Kudrow employed as Phoebe on Friends. Her sessions are a shambles, as she tries to corral the egos and eccentricities of mangy cats, dim-witted dogs, a pig, some kind of rodent and a superannuated turtle, voiced by a raft of talent including Tony Hale, Will Forte, Clea DuVall and Jason Mantzoukas.

Therapy allows this menagerie to riff sporadically without listening to each other or respecting boundaries, a cacophony that rarely adds up to actual conversation. HouseBroken also explores Honeys dream life, where she is haunted by visions of her recently deceased friend. Her dreams take place underwater, where Honey sees herself as a mermaid, or mer-dog, a word she says so often, it sounds like Murdoch. Then again, I may be hearing satire that was not intended.

Honey is clearly depressed after the departure of her friend, and slightly less than stimulated by her partner, an aggressively dimwitted sheepdog. So shes more than ready for a change when a rogue coyote arrives in the neighborhood.

While HouseBroken is hardly saddled with what you might call a plot, there is certainly a lot going on. In addition to Honeys therapy and rich interior life, HouseBroken occasionally alludes to the critters human owners, other relationships altogether.

Kudrows presence, or rather her voices star billing, demonstrates how celebrity culture has invaded all aspects of entertainment. A generation ago, The Simpsons made voice stars of complete unknowns whose talent spoke for itself. What would the world be like had Dan Castellaneta and Nancy Cartwright not emerged as the voices of Homer and Bart?

The Titans that Built America (9 p.m., History) offers impressive, cinematic reenactments of events in the lives of historic characters including Henry Ford, Walter Chrysler, J.P. Morgan Jr., Pierre Du Pont and William Boeing. The focus is on the years between the World Wars, as the United States emerged as an economic colossus and the forces of industry clashed with the government and organized labor before collaborating to defeat the Axis during World War II.

Some of the chronology is out of sync. While clearly a visionary when he launched the Model T, Ford had become a bit of a crank by the 1920s, when he began to resent a car-buying market that wanted anything better than his black and basic model.

The hero worship is extreme. In the 21st century, the word Titans takes on a kind of superhero aura, presenting giants among us who created our world. To anyone who actually reads history, it comes off almost as camp, a parody of a comic book view of the past written by Ayn Rand.

Three specials recall the racist massacre that consumed Tulsa, Oklahoma, a century ago. Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten (9 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings), Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street (9 p.m., CNN) and Tulsa 1921: An American Tragedy (10 p.m., CBS).

TONIGHTS OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Gordon Ramsay hosts the 20th season of Hells Kitchen (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).

The 2009 cartoon The Princess and the Frog (8 p.m., ABC, TV-G) sets the fable in Louisiana.

A tough federal case on Bull (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).

In Treatment (9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., HBO, TV-MA) continues.

Toys in the attic on Duncanville (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).

Lil Rel Howery hosts the game show Small Fortune (10 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).

A mission of mercy on The Good Doctor (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).

CULT CHOICE

For some, director William Wellmans 1949 drama Battleground (8 p.m., TCM, TV-PG) marked a turning point in movies about World War II, a departure from patriotic propaganda and a move toward realistic portrayals of men in combat.

SERIES NOTES

Noise gets out of hand on The Neighborhood (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) American Ninja Warrior (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) begins its 13th season The truth hurts on All American (8 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) A possible bad influence on Bob Hearts Abishola (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) Illusionists audition on Penn & Teller: Fool Us (9 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG).

LATE NIGHT

Lisa Kudrow is booked on Conan (11 p.m., TBS, r) Billy Crystal, Tiffany Haddish and the Black Keys appear on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) Denis Leary, Cristin Milioti and Patrick Radden Keefe visit Late Night With Seth Meyers (12:35 a.m., NBC, r).

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ALL CREATURES GRATE ON FOX'S 'HOUSEBROKEN' - The Republic

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are two of the richest men in the world, and while both are clearly brilliant titans of industry, neither of them achieved that status without multiple handouts from the government. Musks Tesla and SpaceX have received nearly $5 billion in government aid over the years in various formsgrants, environmental credits, tax breaks, discounted loans, and morewhile Amazon received more than $3.7 billion in taxpayer subsidies at the federal level alone.

Recently, the two men have been competing for another taxpayer-funded contracta NASA grant to put astronauts on the moon.

Last month, it was announced that Musks company, SpaceX would be awarded the contract after their bid came in at almost half the cost of Bezoss Blue Origins offer.

After the loss, Blue Origin and a third company in the running filed protests with the Government Accountability Office, but it seems that the review process may be bypassed thanks to the actions of federal lawmakers who are now angling to help Bezos receive a $10 billion contract anyway.

Thats right. Since Bezos lost the bid, lawmakers are scrambling to make a second grant, in addition to the contract awarded to SpaceX. To make that happen theyre working to pass an amendment to the Endless Frontier Actlegislation meant to increase scientific research and technology funding.

The amendment was added to the bill by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who happens to represent the state where Blue Origins is headquartered.

While the third company, Dynetics, would technically also be in the running for the new pot of cash, most seem to believe Bezos would be a shoo-in for it.

Despite its massive price tag, the legislation is being moved rapidly through Congress and appears to have broad bipartisan support.

A [Senate] procedural vote last week passed by a 71-27 margin, The Intercept reports, "and Senate Democratic leaders are eyeing a Thursday vote for final passage, after which it would need to move through the House of Representatives.

Disclosures show Blue Origin spent $625,000 lobbying the Senate between January and March of 2021. Reports show that $50,000 of that went to a team of lobbyists that focused on the moon landing program. All in all, thats a heck of a bargain in exchange for a $10 billion government contract.

Though the notoriety of Bezos and Musk is drawing attention to this particular handout, this is really just rank and file behavior for Congress, which spends much of its time doling out tax dollars to billionaires and corporations.

The federal government alone spends roughly $75 billion a year on subsidies to private businesses, and thats only scratching the surface. Boeing gets billions of dollars from states and Congress. Under the initial stimulus package of 2020 The Cheesecake Factory got $50 million. Nike has received more than $2 billion. On and on it goes.

Theres no easy way to fully measure the dollar amount of corporate handouts across federal, state, and city budgetsmuch less the amount of corporate welfare given via other means like selective tax breaks or regulatory favoritism.

As Charles Koch once said, Subsidies and mandates are just two of the privileges that government can bestow on politically connected friends. Others include grants, loans, tax credits, favorable regulations, bailouts, loan guarantees, targeted tax breaks and no-bid contracts.

Corporate welfare is a form of cronyism, and it is a direct attack on free market capitalism. It allows the government to pick winners and losers and it is flatly wrongethically and economically.

In her seminal novel Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand wrote, When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothingWhen you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favorsWhen you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws dont protect you against them, but protect them against youWhen you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrificeYou may know that your society is doomed.

When the government interferes in the market it limits competition, often rewards people for bad business practices, reduces consumer choice, stifles innovation, and forces taxpayers to fund products and programs against their will. It is a complete perversion of a free market system, and the fact is neither Bezos or Musk should receive public dollars for their space exploration desires.

Its time we stop bailing out billionaires.

Read more:

Congress Is Trying to Give Jeff Bezos's Space Firm $10 Billion of Your Tax Dollars | Hannah Cox - Foundation for Economic Education

When information is suppressed and only one side is discussed, those points of view not mentioned fade away and are mostly forgotten. If that wasnt true, non-leftists would be on your Google news feed and have a bigger impact on society names like Justin Amash, Milton Friedman, Candace Owens, Ayn Rand, Ben Shapiro and Thomas Sowell just to name a few. French economist Frdric Bastiat and Austrian-British economist Friedrich Hayek have greatly influenced Justin Amash.

Why wont you question your views? Because there are only two sides, Republican and Democrat? Both sides want to keep it just two for their own benefit. You wont side with Republicans, because the one-sided media has falsely established they are sexist and racist who only care about the rich. You ignore opposing views for every situation you encounter? Do you read the hundreds of pages of a federal bill? Its Ok to realize that youve been duped. I prefer to look for .gov sites. A politicians website could be useful. Otherwise theres spin to avoid on most sites, if not all.

Dont like conservative values? So, you dont know how to spend less money and save? You ring up credit cards like the federal government rings up debt? You cant continually expand government, spend money like water and expect to be debt free. Its an economics fail. Unfortunately, not enough Republicans vote against more spending. How many Democrats vote to reduce spending?

In Thomas Sowells article The Lure of Socialism to the Foolhardy in The Desert Sun on Feb. 20, 2016, he wrote, Worst of all, government giveaways polarize society into segments, each trying to get what it wants at somebody elses expense, creating mutual bitterness that can tear a society apart. Some seem to blithely assume that the rich can be taxed to pay for what they want as if the rich dont see what is coming and take their wealth elsewhere.

In the East Bay Times, on June 23, 2011, Thomas Sowell wrote, Many retired people remember the money that was taken out of their paychecks for years and feel that they are now entitled to receive social security benefits as a right. But the way Social Security was set up was so financially shaky that anyone who set up a similar retirement scheme in the private sector could be sent to federal prison for fraud.

A few years ago, why was U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern so concerned when there was a mass exodus from countries south of the U.S.? Hes part of the problem. Venezuela didnt do socialism correctly? On the SSI website, an illegal immigrant can claim the income of their sponsor to obtain social security benefits. Ellis Island existed till it didnt. In general, Democrats want the votes and Republicans like cheap labor. A path to citizenship yes, but not for everyone at once. Build the wall.

John Stossel cites Thomas Sowells work in Capitalism Magazine on Jan. 19, 2021. John says, todays self-anointed leaders talk constantly about how Americas systemic racism holds back Black people.

Propaganda, Sowell calls it. If you go back into the 20s, you find that married-couple families were much more prevalent among Blacks. As late as 1930, Blacks have lower unemployment rates than whites.

The Mises Institute printed an article from Gary Galles on June 30, 2020, where he cites Thomas Sowells distinction between the market and government.

The market is nothing more than an option for each individual to choose among numerous existing institutions, or to fashion new arrangements suited to his own situation and taste. The government establishes the answer to a given problem. The Market is simply the freedom to choose among many existing or still-to-be-created possibilities . Any comparison of market processes and governmental processes for making a particular set of decisions is a comparison between given institutions, prescribed in advance, and an option to select or create institutions ad hoc . The advantages of market institutions over government institutions are not so much in their particular characteristics as institutions but in the fact that people can usually make a better choice out of numerous options than by following a single prescribed process.

Continued here:

My Turn: To those who fear non-leftists - The Recorder

Paul Ryan, former Republican Congressman and vice presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign event in 2012, in Swanton, Ohio. (Mary Altaffer/AP Photo)

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I am sick of letting Republicans mangle the narrative of how their party became a clear and present danger to American democracy. I am tired of the media lauding the few Republicans (or former Republicans) who belatedly speak out against the Trumpist cult of bigotry and lies that they themselves helped construct. Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, John Boehnerthese people are not iconoclasts; theyre complicit. Long before Donald Trump, they greedily made a deal with the devil and are now miffed that the bill has come due. Republicans who speak out against the threat that other Republicans pose to democracy are just dog-whistle salesmen trying to claw back market share from the ascendant bullhorn industry.

The latest entrant into this field is former representative Paul Ryan. Most people will remember Ryan for his mewling cowardice in the face of Trumps bullying and bigotry, despite his being the Republican speaker of the House. Ryan basically invented the I didnt see the tweet defense. Now, he has joined the tiny rump of Republicans trying to wrest their party back from white domestic terroriststhe same people Ryan used to coddle in his own quest for powerby denouncing the GOPs slide toward antidemocratic authoritarianism and urging a return to some made-up principled past.

In a speech last night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (of course), Ryan made a big show of warning that the Republican Party is at a crossroads. If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations, then were not going anywhere, he said. He also warned that, should conservatives fail in future elections, it will be because we gave too much allegiance to one passing political figure, and werent loyal enough to our principles.

Given that the Republican Party has now mainstreamed infection and insurrection, I get why mainstream media makers might think its newsworthy when any erstwhile Republican leader is willing to speak out against the party orthodoxy of lies and deceit. But lets not make any mistakes about who Ryan still is and what his principles are. Before he debased himself into retirement, Ryan was an Ayn Rand sock puppet on a personal crusade to starve the government of resources so it could not deliver services. And the glory days hes hoping to resurrect are nothing more than that: a return to the days where Republicans expressed their cruelty through charts and graphs instead of tweets and slurs. Ryan just wants the cult of tax cuts to reassert its dominance over the cult of Trump.

Remember, while the current GOP rhetoric is overtly racist, the old GOP policies have long been as well. This is a party that, for decades, has attacked the social safety net through racist depictions of welfare queens and other takers, while carrying out union-busting in the name of the white working class. Its fiscal plan has long been to give more benefits to the already rich while providing fewer services to the currently strugglingand then call those who struggle lazy or lacking in personal responsibility. When Ryan talks about bringing back his partys principles, of returning to the Reaganite good old days, thats what he means.

But thats not the only problem with his big attempt. Part of Ryans critique of his GOP brethren is that they are too caught up in culture war issues, that they too often mistake reactionary skirmishes in the culture wars with a coherent agenda. That might sound good to anyone desperate to prove that the GOP is not an utterly bankrupt institution. The problem is that the party has always engaged in those reactionary skirmishes, and theyve done it precisely because the above-mentioned economic agenda has been repeatedly rejected by the American people when its been left to stand on its own.

Republican policies are broadly unpopular and empirically ineffectual, so the people peddling them realized long ago that they must be tethered to some hysterical lie or cultural threat to keep just enough white people voting against their own economic interests. Hell, Ronald Reagan launched his 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, Miss., site of the murder of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman! The only difference is the color of the hood these people wear now.Current Issue

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Heres a one-paragraph history lesson on the Republican Party, 1932present. During the Great Depression, white people demanded more government services and better working conditions, which Democrats reluctantly provided. This freaked out corporate interests that held unpopular beliefs about unfettered capitalismbeliefs which the defeated Republican Party embraced. Recognizing that nobody wanted what Republicans were selling, the party started telling white people in need of government services that various out-groups were coming to take their freedom. In the 1950s, it was communists. In the 60s and 70s, it was communists, immigrants, and Black people, and by the 80s it was communists, immigrants, Black people, and liberated women. Now, white people have literally gone to Congress looking to kill a socialist, brown woman from New York who doesnt care which bathroom you pee in, and the United States has the largest wealth gap of any G7 country. All according to the Republican plan.

So-called fiscally conservative Republicans will occasionally bemoan that they dont have a party anymore, but they have exactly the same party theyve always had: an unpopular group of megalomaniacal robber barons who cannot win elections without the rabid and sometimes violent support of their white cultural grievance foot soldiers. Most people do not like the Republican economic message and proactively hate the CEOs those policies benefit. The natural constituency for tax cuts for the rich, crumbling roads and bridges for everybody else is so small you can fit them all into a moderately sized marina.

To overcome this rather massive barrier, every Republican in office or in the media today has made the same deal. Every one has, at some point, decided to throw their hat in with the MAGA forces before those forces were unified under Trumps banner, and either explicitly or tacitly given aid and comfort to hate and grievance politics to achieve their otherwise unpopular agenda.

So when Paul Ryan tells his fellow Republicans to abandon the cultural battles, hes telling them to abandon the only parts of their platform that their voters actually like. If Ryan were right about the appeal of conservative principles, hed still have a job. Instead, Majorie Taylor Greene does.

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And yet, you dont see most Republicans, current or former, wrestling with that fact. The narrative anti-Trump Republicans paint is one that sees Trump as conducting a hostile takeover of their party. They act like the bigots and racists currently representing the GOP are a minority faction that is feasting on the weakness and low character of their current leadership.

But that narrative is just not true. This form of the Republican Party, the one that doesnt think Black people should be allowed to vote and doesnt accept the legitimacy of a pluralistic democracy, is what the real Republican Party has been about for nearly a century. Republicans have spent my entire lifetime telling their voters that Black people were dangerous and lazy, immigrants were leeches, liberals were godless, and women who want access to their own bodies are in fact conducting mass baby murder. All to support the biggest lie: that tax cuts for the wealthy would trickle down and result in increased wages for all, a theory thats been every bit as debunked as the one that Earth is flat.

Is it any wonder, then, that the group of voters who have been fed this drivel, not for four years but for more than four generations, now believes in pedophile rings and stolen elections? Republicans asked their voters to believe in things that were demonstrably untrue long before Trump came along. They spent decades poisoning the well. They cannot now cry over their partys lying to people about the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine when most of them spent decades letting their voters believe that climate change isnt real and Jesus rode around on dinosaurs.

Trump did not change the Republican Party; he just inverted its message. He put the popular stuff, the bigotry and sexism and anti-science articles of faith, out front and sold the unpopular stuff, the corruption and graft and permissiveness of corporate malfeasance, as a small price to pay for all the good white supremacy he was delivering for his people.

Now, establishment conservatives cant take the party back from Trump, because theyve never invested the time in developing a popular message that can be supported without the racism their voters have always really wanted. And theyre not investing that time now either. Paul Ryan has nothing to offer Trump voterswhich is why his message and those like it are falling flat with the base.Related Articles

Though the media desperately tries to prop up the Ryans and Romneys and Cheneys as examples of how the GOP can be saved, the GOP cannot be saved. Republican voters were never in it for the conservative principles; they were in it for the white ethnostate. Now that Trump has said the quiet part out loud, theres no stuffing the message back into a box. This is the Republican Party now. Its the same one its always been, just with their bigoted voters empowered to say what theyve always believed.

But nobodys going to listen to me. Im just a Black person who has been absolutely right about what Republicans are this entire time. Instead, anti-Trump Republicans will keep spinning the same, tired message about fiscal restraint that nobody except three pundits on a Sunday show cares about, and wonder when the racists they used to rely on will come home to the party of Lincolnwhich is a phrase Republicans invented to make themselves feel better while their voters stocked up on Confederate flags.

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The GOP Cant Be Savedand Neither Can Paul Ryan - The Nation

Writer-director Zack Snyder (Watchmen, Man of Steel, Justice League) helms this mash-up about a team of mercenaries that infiltrates Las Vegas in a bid to steal $200 million from a safe under a casino. The only hitch? Vegas is filled with zombies. (148 min.)

Glen If you're a fan of Zack Snyder's brand of excessive filmmaking, you'll no doubt enjoy this violent, gory romp. On the other hand, if you're annoyed by filmmaking that seems to want to throw everything but the kitchen sink into a film, you're going to despise this over-the-top, trashy pile of nonsense. Even if you're in the second category, you still may want to watch this for Tig Notaro, who's absolutely hilarious as Marianne Peters, a deadpan helicopter pilot. Dave Bautista stars as Scott Ward, who's hired by the mysterious businessman Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada), whose $200 million is sitting in a safe ripe for the taking. Ward rounds up a crew that includes experienced zombie killers, and to up the emotional ante, Ward's estranged daughter, Kate (Ella Purnell), comes along for the ride. German safecracker Dieter (Matthias Schweighfer) is also hired, which seems dumb since you'd assume Tanaka would know the combination to his own safe and just hand it over to the team, but Dieter makes for great comic relief. To top it off, things aren't quite as they seem. Tanaka's head of security, Martin (Garret Dillahunt), also comes along to supervise the operation, though there's definitely something shady about him. At nearly 2 1/2 hours, Snyder takes his time introducing us to the various characters, so despite the long list, it isn't confusing, but it is pretty glib and sort of dumb. The film picks up speed when the team is eventually guided into the quarantine zone by The Coyote, Lilly (Nora Arnezeder). Turns out not all zombies are created equal, and Vegas is run by Zeus (Richard Cetrone), who's making more smart zombies like himself. It's one thing to take out "shamblers" the slow mindless undeadit's another to go up against Zeus and his army of fast-moving flesh eaters. Cue exploding blood bags.

Anna You definitely can't analyze the storyline too intricately without seeing some major flaws right away. That said, this was a pretty fun, pretty gross romp through a zombie world, and the ensemble is a good mix of funny folks and badasses. My faves are definitely Notaro's deadpan Peters and Schweighfer's Dieteran inexperienced zombie slayer who isn't prepared for the sheer amount of gore in store for him. The storyline between Scott and Kate, and the rebuilding of their father-daughter relationship is pretty unoriginal, but it helps move things along and gives the characters something to do with any downtime. It definitely made me laugh a few times and made me say "yuck!" a few times more as guts went flying all over the place. I wasn't a fan of the zombies at firstthey don't fit the normal zombie moldbut once we realized they're working to build their own army of the smarter, faster undead, I got into it. It's a long run, but I had fun watching it and I didn't get bored, so kudos to Snyder for that!

Glen He's certainly returned to his roots with this film. Snyder's feature film debut was the 2004 remake of George A. Romero's 1978 zombie classic Dawn of the Dead. Snyder followed with 300 (2006), about Sparta's epic battle against the Persians in 480 B.C. He's a slick filmmaker with a knack for depicting stylized violence. His 2011 fantasy Sucker Punch, about an institutionalized and abused girl who retreats into an alternative reality, is one of his best and most underrated films. By the time he was plucked to direct Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and finally Justice League, he was Hollywood royalty. In a break from all these big violent films, he's next directing an adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel Fountainhead, about a young architect battling for artistic freedom. Seems like a weird choice, and I hope he has the good sense to skewer Rand's sophomoric brand of libertarianism. Snyder really is an indulgent filmmaker, and Army of the Dead is nowhere near his best, but it's a fun diversion if you can stomach the gore. It also gives Bautista an opportunity to stretch his acting muscles. In his scenes with his movie daughter, you almost forget he's a 6-foot-4 former pro wrestler. There are also better zombie films out there, but for fans of the genre, watching this is a no-brainer ... pun sadly intended.

Anna Bautista was a fun choice, and seeing Las Vegas in tatters is pretty fun, too. Superhero flicks aren't always my thing, so I've missed some of Snyder's work there, but I love a good zombie movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, and Army of the Dead certainly fits that bill. It's gross and gory and totally over the top, the characters all have their own brand of snark, and there's enough comic relief to stay light. It's fun enough to ignore the flaws in the storyline and ride along as this group gets pulled apart. Some get eaten, some sacrifice themselves, some make it out unscathed. There's a nuke headed toward the city to try to wipe out the zombie colony, so of course the team is up against the wire, and time is not on their side. It keeps things rolling, and the film never gets boring. Like you said, fans of the genre will probably have fun with this one, and if zombies aren't your thing, I doubt this is on your watch list anyway.

Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Glen compiles streaming listings. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.

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Army of the Dead mashes a heist flick with zombies - New Times SLO

Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn

Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. is an ex-diplomat & ALCAPs Special Advisor for Asia & Africa and Jainendra Karn is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

KATHMANDU (IDN) What a sombre way to start ones day by going through the newspapers and realize the dystopian times we live in. Its just like listening to Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones or pondering about what Ayn Rand had said: There is no difference between Communism and Socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: Communism proposes to enslave men by force, Socialismby vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.

April was indeed the cruellest month but so is May, it seems. Germany opposing waiving off COVID-19 Vaccine IPR, Hamas firing one rocket after another into Israel and anti-Semitic crimes flaring up in the US, the US coming to a halt after cyber attack forced the shutdown of fuel pipelines, and the chaos in South Asia.

Second COVID wave in India that jolted the country, China blatantly interfering in the foreign policy of Bangladesh where the nations Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had to remind China that being an independent nation Bangladesh shall follow its own diplomatic policy.

And Nepal plunging into fresh turmoil after the President of Nepal dissolved the countrys Parliament, and announced the mid-term polls for November.

It was after the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli lost the vote of confidence in the Nepalese parliament but was back in power as per Article 78(3) of the Constitution of Nepal.

Of the 232 members present, Oli got only 93, and 124 MPs voted against him. Out of 121 of his own UML partys members, 28 from the dissident faction were not present, and 15 MPs voted not to vote. The anti-Oli faction did not join the floor test by floor crossing but decided to keep away.

The opposition parties, riddled by factionalism, failed to secure majority seats to form a new government and Sher Bahadur Deuba, chief of the main opposition Nepali Congress and other allies, informed that he would not be able to put together a coalition that has majority in the House.

Nepals tryst with democracy is interesting. In the aftermath of the dramatic Royal Family Massacre in 2001, the monarchy was abolished on 28 May 2008 by the First Constituent Assembly in Nepal. But democracy is still an evolving process in the country and fraught with its own set of challenges both internal and external.

Nepal lies between two leading economies of the worldIndia and China. While India is a Socialist state, China is ruled by the Communist State, and it does have a bearing on the local politics of Nepal.

It can be a bit confounding to an outsider and particularly to someone who is from the West. For example, US economist and social theorist Thomas Sowell had noted that whole political vision of the left, including socialism and communism, has failed by virtually every empirical test, in countries all around the world. But this has only led leftist intellectuals to evade and denigrate empirical evidence.

Interestingly China is now the Trade Titan of the world whose economy is almost five times larger than that of Indias. Also as per the 2021 Military Direct's study, China has the world's strongest military where as India stands at the fourth place.

But there is a notion in the Chinese strategic circle that though India always had a strong influence over many South Asian countries' decision-making on foreign policy, India's hegemony in South Asia is not that firm. Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences mentions the same.

Indeed, the argument by Hu Zhiyong holds a great merit because the disparity between India and China has resulted in the latters significant interference in the South Asian region that has affected the state of local equilibrium.

With the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) losing its steam in Pakistan, Chinas intrusion in the Ladakh region of India last year and in May 2021 the reports of Chinese Villages and Security Forces revealed inside Bhutan's borders are incidents that make one very circumspect of the Chinese strategic design for the region.

In June 2020, it was reported that China had occupied Rui village of Nepal and annexed it to Tibet. Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, former Tourism Minister of Nepal had said that Chinese troops had crossed the border and built nine concrete structures about 1 km inside Nepal, at Limi in the district of Humla bordering Tibet.

During his recent visit to Dhaka, the Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe had warned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government that China does not want any form of participation of Bangladesh in QUAD alliance as Beijing sees it as an anti-China grouping.

On 21 May 2021, China's State Council Information Office brought out a white paper titled Tibet Since 1951: Liberation, Development and Prosperity' which is interpreted as a means to blunt India and the Wests diplomatic advantage.

Democratic processes especially elections across the world are like a bird on a wire which is a temptation for any bird of prey. Chinas embrace of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the US during the 2020 Presidential elections can be seen as an example of this.

However, in the case of evolving democracies where violence and power still hold sway, time tried tactics of gunboat diplomacy can still work. On 8 May 2021, the U.S. 5th Fleet seized weapons shipment from a stateless dhow in the North Arabian Sea which was mainly of the Chinese origin.

The pertinent question is who wanted these weapons that were confiscated between Pakistan and West Asia? Arms and ammunition just like money and drugs, can be transferred illegally anywhere in the world to cause unrest and also to compromise democracy.

However, the forthcoming elections scheduled for November 2021 in Nepal not only outside factors along with local issues will matter but also COVID-19. One has witnessed how great an impact COVID-19 can have in the recent state elections in India such as in West Bengal.

This will be a very tricky affair. India recently had some glitches in its vaccine production capacity which the country is trying to fix so that a country of over a billion people can be inoculated while meeting its international commitments. Not to mention India made vaccines are amongst the cheaper and most effective ones in the world that have a special relevance for developing countries.

There are very serious doubts about the efficacy of the Chinese vaccines in the international community. Seychelles, worlds most vaccinated country, where majority of vaccinated received Chinas Sinopharm vaccine, recently reported an unprecedented Covid-19 surge among fully inoculated individuals. UAE and Bahrain have also questioned the efficacy of Sinopharm vaccine.

How policymakers in Nepal will meet this challenge posed by COVID-19 before the elections are held needs to be seen. With only six months to go, one way could be that the government of Nepal directly talks to its Indian counterpart so that the vaccines can be secured without the involvement of middlemen or explore the international market where it might have to pay more.

Between Nepal and India, the situation is very unique as both the countries share economic and military ties besides the people-to-people, cultural, historical, and religious ties. Even the Communists are bound by Nepals religious traditions, says Nepalese scholar Dr. Ramesh Dhungel, so the latter assumes significant importance. Trying to ride the fine line of balancing these concerns is the key.

There is no doubt that no country can close its eyes to Chinas participation in its economic development because of its sheer economic prowess and might. But in the context of Nepal, the issue of Indias security concerns and problems of over dependence on China also raise their head.

The forthcoming elections will give an opportunity to the peoples of Nepal to move beyond the clichd connotation of buffer between India and China that has been associated with it for a very long time.

Nepal has the potential to be the Switzerland of Asia. It must harness and make the best of the opportunities that it is receiving from its neighbours while treading prudently on the path of development to deliver fruits of progress to its peoples. [IDN-InDepthNews 26 May 2021]

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Photo: (From Left to Right) Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. Mr. Bimalendra Nidhi, Ex-Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal and Jainendra Karn.

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Nepal Is the Boat of Democracy on The Road Ahead - IDN InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

You might have heard of many great movies being adapted into games and vice versa. However, adapting novels into video games makes for quite an exciting experience. Through the video game format, you get to experience the authors imaginative world in great detail. Here are some video games that are based on novels:

The Witcher trilogy of games by CD Projekt is one of the most popular games out there. This fantasy action role-playing game is based on a book series by the same name written by a Polish writer called Andrzej Sapkowski. The Witcher is also now a successful TV series on Netflix.

You play the fun character called Geralt of Rivia. You will have to use your supernatural abilities and hunt down and kill all the beasts. Witcher 3 has been praised for its beautiful environment, and it is fascinating to walk through the woods and towns in the game.

Assassins Creed has to be one of the most successful video games. It is absolutely adored by the gamer community. But did you know that the inspiration for the first Assassins Creed game actually came from a 1983 novel called Alamut written by Vladimir Barton?

Alamut is about a man called Hassan-Ibn-Sabbah who basically finds an order of elite fighters or assassins to attack the Seljuk Empire. The book explores how the assassins are devoted to Sabbahs cause in order to reach heaven. The maxim in the book, Nothing is an absolute reality, all is permitted was changed to Nothing is true, everything is permitted in the game.

Specs Ops is one of the most unique and unconventional third-person shooter games with an incredible storyline. The game starts with a group of soldiers who are tracking down the survivors of the Dubai sandstorm. It has lots of firefights and interesting maps.

This game is actually a direct adaptation of an 1899 novella called Heart of Darkness which is written by a Polish-English novelist named Joseph Conrad. The book explored the issues of imperialism and colonialism in great detail.

BioShock is regarded as one of the most influential games ever made. It was praised for its storyline, which explored the concept of morality in great detail. The gameplay and environment are incredibly immersive and dystopian.

The storyline is hugely influenced by the book written by Ayn Rand called Atlas Shrugged. In fact, the game actually exists as a criticism of the philosophy of Objectivism in Rands book. It explores all the power dynamics in people and how self-interest is valued more than anything else.

Bloodborne is one of the most incredible horror games that you will ever play. If you havent played it yet, make sure to add it to your list. The game is inspired by the author H.P. Lovecraft as you can see elements like cosmic horror and the fear of the unknown being explored in the game.

Bloodborne is not your average horror game. Its atmosphere is rich and unparalleled as it embraces many Lovecraftian elements. The game is fast-paced and incredibly challenging as you have to fight your way through dangerous and terrifying creatures in a grim atmosphere.

This real-time strategy game which is developed and published by the famous Electronic Arts, is based on the hugely influential epic high fantasy novel Lord of the Rings written by the father of modern fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien.

If you are someone who loved the Lord of the Rings movies, you get to relive the battle scenes and locations as you fight the Goblins, Orcs and Ringwraiths in campaign mode. If you are someone who loves to play on slot online terpercaya and other online casino websites, you will be happy to know that there are Lord of the Rings themed slot machine games that you can play in many casinos!

This game managed to turn the popular childrens books Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass written by Lewis Carroll into a dark and interesting game. It is a beautiful game filled with many artworks. There is a great spin on Alices character where she is no longer the innocent Alice that you know.

If you are someone who loves horror, you should absolutely try this brilliant psychological horror game. This fun shooter game will keep you occupied for hours. The soundtrack is scary and gorgeous as well. You are sure to have a lot of fun with the wittiness and charm of the game.

If you want to have a new appreciation for these video games, you can try getting your hands on these novels and giving them a read. It will surely give you a deeper insight into the game and an interesting gaming experience as well.

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Video Games That Are Based on Novels Film Daily - Film Daily

My eighth-grader cannot wait to get her COVID-19 vaccine. Gone are the days of needle dread, when every trip to the doctors office prompted the same anxious question: Will I have to get a shot?

Now the question is, How soon can I get vaccinated? and, Then can I hug my friends?

White, Republican men are the biggest anti-maskers and the least willing to get vaccinated.

The youngest, she will be the last one in our family to get the vaccine, approved this week for twelve- to fifteen-year-olds by the FDA, with the CDC expected to deliver final public health guidance shortly. She can hardly wait.

My oldest daughter, now in college, is already fully vaccinated. She was five years old when, during a flu shot appointment, she made a break for it. She ran all the way down the clinic hallway and out the revolving door. She was headed for the parking lot when I caught up with her and dragged her back insidea scene neither of us will ever forget.

For years she hated needles. In high school she passed out cold after a series of shots at that same doctors office. But she, too, was delighted when she became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, and rushed to get an appointment. It was great, she saidnothing to it.

Lets hope all the vaccine-hesitant people in our lives undergo a similar transformation, from leery to gung-ho.

As public health officials keep reminding us, we need everyone who can get a COVID-19 shot to get one, so we can achieve herd immunity and get our lives back.

We are on the brink, this spring, of getting back to normal.

I recently started going into the Wisconsin Examiner office, after a winter spent sitting around the house with my loved ones, staring at our separate screens and bumping into each other as we cruised the kitchen and binged on crackers. Dont get me wrong, its wonderful to have the option to work from home, and cozy to be with the family.

Everyone enjoyed it, for a while. Especially the dog. But its amazing to be back in the world again. The first day I visited our silent office after a year away, I cleared up yellowing newspapers with headlines from March 2020 about the pandemic, threw away dried flower petals scattered across the carpet by a bouquet that was quickly turning to dust.

Now, I look out the window and see crowded cafe tables on the street below. I hear bubbling conversation and music from the coffee shop downstairs. The coffee crowd slowly gives way to the after-work beer crowd as the sun sinks behind the Capitol. It feels like the world is coming alive again, especially in the beautiful spring weather.

We cant hibernate forever.

You would think the Reopen crowd would be thrilled by the success of Wisconsins tops-in-the-nation vaccination program, and eager to get their shots and put the pandemic behind us. But alas, you would be wrong about that.

Our own Senator Ron Johnsonthe same guy who said COVID-19 deaths were not such a big deal, that people needed to get back to work early in the pandemic and that stay-at-home orders were not worth the economic cost, is pushing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Johnson claimed on rightwing talker Vicki McKennas radio show last week that lots of people have died after getting the vaccine, and cited those (debunked) statistics as a reason for sticking up for people who choose not to get vaccinated.

Johnson, an Ayn Rand acolyte, truly does not seem to grasp the concept of public healthor society, for that matter. If youhave avaccine, quite honestly, whatdo you care ifyour neighbor has one or not? he said, firmly staking out the political terrain that opposes the control of contagious disease.

This is the same guy who publicized snake oil remedies for COVI-19 at a U.S. Senate hearing, to the dismay of doctors.

No surprise, then, that he was an outlier no vote on Tuesday when Andrea Palm, the former head of Wisconsins Department of Health Services, sailed through Senate confirmation to become the No. 2 at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Palm must be so delighted to be moving up and out from Wisconsin, after enduring relentless attacks from state Republicans just for doing her job and trying to protect us all from a deadly virus. Johnsons no vote is practically an endorsement.

What is it with our states Republican leaders? Why must they start a war with sane public health policies in the middle of a public health crisis? Why must they opposemasks and social distancing and vaccination? Couldnt they pick one?

White, Republican men are the biggest anti-maskers and the least willing to get vaccinated. Some of the same dont tread on me sign carriers who gathered on the State Capitol lawn to protest Governor Tony Everss stay-at-home order last spring appear to have moved on to the Alliant Center, holding some of the same signs objecting to the nanny state while promoting Johnson-esque anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.

Driving past this crowd reminded me of chasing my daughter through the revolving door when she was running away from her shot. Irrational fear is hard to control. The least our political leaders can do is not give it a running start.

Instead, they should remind people how badly they wanted to reopen the state a year ago. Nows their chance. Get vaccinated, so we can get back to normal.

If my shot-resistant kids can do it, so can all of those Republican men. Because Im getting too old to chase you through the parking lot.

This article first appeared in the Wisconsin Examiner.

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Kids Are Getting VaccinatedSo Should Ron Johnson - Progressive.org