Friday, July 31, 2020

DJ Fluker victim of Domestic Violence from Girlfriend Kimberly Davis

Baltimore Ravens lineman DJ Fluker is 6'5" and well over 325 lbs. As a professional football player he performs in a sport of unrelenting aggression which may take years off his life and/or leave him with brain damage. 

Fluker is expected to bench at least 300 lbs, squat over 400 lbs, and play through all sorts of pain, including broken bones. Absent immediate self-defense I don't see myself becoming violent with him. And yet his girlfriend Kimberly Davis apparently continually did so, slapping, punching and drawing blood. And this evidently wasn't the first time that she had done so.

REISTERSTOWN, Md. (SBG) — A Baltimore Ravens lineman has allegedly been a repeated victim of domestic abuse, according to police documents. According to police reports obtained by WBFF, D.J. Fluker says he has been the victim of several assaults over the course of his long-term relationship with Kimberly Davis, who he has a child with.

Davis was arrested following a July 13 incident at the couple’s home in Reisterstown, Maryland, after she allegedly punched Fluker in the nose over an argument over social media. The responding officer observed dried blood coming from his nose and a photo obtained by WBFF from that night shows blood on Fluker’s face. LINK

If Fluker had done the same to Davis or retaliated to her violence there would be another million editorials, tweets, blog posts, and cable segments talking about the evil NFL black ape thug and how savage he is. Fluker could become a billionaire philanthropist, cure COVID-19, cure cancer, and die bringing food to the hungry. Obituaries written would ignore all that to center his domestic violence issue.

Hagia Sophia Becomes A Mosque

Something that remains near constant across time and cultures is that when one group of people successfully invades, dominates, displaces, or conquers another group of people, members of the victorious group often, not always but often, decide to build their important political, social, or religious buildings and monuments on top of those of the defeated peoples, change the functions of those older buildings to something more in line with the values of the winning side, or just gleefully destroy the older structures altogether. 

It's a spike of the ball in the end zone complete with touchdown dance. It's hanging on the basketball rim after a particularly vicious dunk. It's watching the baseball soar out of the stadium, glaring at the pitcher, flipping the bat and taking a slow jaunt around the bases. In other words, it's something specifically designed to let the other group know that they lost and there's not a damn thing they can do about it. It's not a very nice thing to do. And that's the entire point. 


It's not often remarked upon or noted but Islam like Christianity, has its own history of invasion, conquest and imperialism. The Turks, who are originally from Central Asia, not only conquered the region known as Anatolia, now modern Turkey, but also much of Eastern Europe, including the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine), Constantinople, renamed Istanbul. 

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Movie Reviews: The Hunted

The Hunted (1948)
directed by Jack Bernhard
This is a workmanlike noir movie. It hits most of the major noir themes, alienation, loneliness, untrustworthy femme fatales, uncaring or corrupt officials and of course a few criminals. 

But it rushes through all of those plot points, rarely giving its two leads a chance to bite down into them. It looks great though.

From a purely visual standpoint if someone wanted to know what film noir looked like, you could show them this film. The framing of light and shadow, the blinds, the darkness, the streetlights, all let the viewer know that he or she is in an untrustworthy world. This could have been a better movie with a larger budget and stronger secondary actors. 

Johnny Saxon (Preston Foster) is a world weary homicide detective. He's just learned that his former special rider Laura Mead (Belita) has been paroled from serving her prison sentence for her role in a robbery. It seems that not only were Johnny and Laura an item but Johnny was the one who arrested Laura. 

Despite her protestations of innocence Johnny thought Laura was guilty. He apparently didn't even bother to visit her during her stint in the Big House. As you might imagine this has caused some strain in their relationship. Laura has sworn to murder Johnny and her lawyer Simon Rand (Pierre Watkin) once she gets out. And since she's out her parole officer feels legally and morally honor bound to warn the two men. 

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Movie Reviews: The Rental

The Rental
directed by Dave Franco
The Rental is Dave Franco's directorial debut. Franco wrote it with director/actor Joe Swanberg (The Sacrament, You're Next).

It is inspired in part by some dodgy experiences that Franco had in hotels or private rented homes as well as some even more negative experiences that some of Franco's non-white friends or acquaintances had when trying to rent lodgings. 

It is true that it is illegal to refuse to do business with someone because of their race, religion or ethnic origin. It's also true that such discrimination can be difficult to prove. This discrimination remains so common that often it's not worth the time or trouble to take someone to court, which is usually what the offenders hope will be the case. 

Franco and his co-writers combine those elements and mix them up with a few more generic thriller cliches to make a quality story that doesn't set the genre on fire. It was fun to watch and had the requisite double crosses and misdirection. I think that because the cast was small with a very tight focus the viewer was able to understand the characters a little better. That doesn't necessarily mean that the viewer will sympathize with the characters. 

At least two of them are real scumbags while the other two are only marginally better. But they are very real. People make mistakes. People act selfishly. If you dig into anyone's past you're going to find a few things that might give you pause. So it goes.


Monday, July 27, 2020

Movie Reviews: The Big Town

The Big Town
directed by Ben Bolt
This 1987 neo-noir film wasn't earth shattering in terms of story, acting, or direction. The viewer can call out most of the twists and turns ahead of time. I still found it entertaining. 

A fatherless young man has an awesome once in a life time skill. Supported and trained by his enigmatic father replacement figure the young man decides he's ready for the big time. Becoming (in)famous the Kid proceeds to shock and awe his rivals while making time with two attractive ladies. 

One lady is a good girl, the other not so much. The Kid must determine which woman is good for him and not just good to him. The Kid learns that people aren't always what they seem. Eventually the Kid must make some life and death moral choices. 

This movie's brash young man is J.C. " Cully" Cullen (Matt Dillon, who apparently has aged only slightly in the intervening thirty three years: good genes and clean living or deals with Infernal Powers?), a small town Indiana gambler and gas station worker who wants more. Although his mother discourages it, Cully loves hearing stories of gambling and fun times in Chicago from his mentor, Carl Hooker (Don Francks) who, along with Cully's father, once ran with the Windy City's gamblers. 

Hooker has looked out for Cully ever since Cully's wastrel father died. Hooker thinks that Cully is the best craps player he's ever seen. Hooker believes Cully will be far better than Hooker ever was. Cully quits his job. Armed with Hooker's lucky silver dollar, Hooker's enthusiastic support and his mother's reluctant approval, Cully departs for Chicago. 

Friday, July 24, 2020

Michigan Woman Sets SUV On Fire

Apparently some women have been watching Waiting to Exhale too many times without understanding that (a) setting someone's vehicle on fire to express your disappointment with them is illegal and immoral and (b) gasoline vapors are just as flammable and dangerous as liquid gasoline. 

I'm sure the next time one Ms. Sydney Parham decides to set an "acquaintance's" vehicle on fire she will consider using a fuse and/or ensuring there are no witnesses or surveillance cameras around. You learn all about such things when you go to prison, which is hopefully exactly where this nitwit is headed.

Detroit Attempted Break-in

It is not a crime to

Movie Reviews: Each Dawn I Die

Each Dawn I Die
directed by William Keighley
This was a 1939 crime movie that shades over into film noir territory. It featured superstars James Cagney and George Raft. 

Raft was the boyhood friend of notorious mob boss Bugsy Siegel. Raft had not only grown up around gangsters but also allegedly had spent some time on the mob fringes before finding success as a dancer and actor. Even during his successful reign in Hollywood, Raft maintained some friendships (and business relationships?) with mobsters such as Siegel, Lepke Buchalter (head of Murder Inc), and Mickey Cohen, among others. So Raft's work here as an imprisoned mobster certain seemed to have the whiff of realism. Raft is cool, debonair and charismatic. 

There weren't many actors who could hold their own onscreen with the lightning in a bottle force that was Cagney but Raft was certainly such a man. And he did it seemingly without effort. Where Cagney is boom-zip-bam all over the place at 150 mph, Raft is laconic, behind the beat and as mentioned cool....


Movie Reviews: Lights Out

Lights Out
directed by David F. Sandberg
This 2016 movie is one that shows that horror films can be simultaneously inventive and traditional. It was the director's debut. Lights Out shares its title with the famous old time radio show. 

Although it doesn't appear to take inspiration from the H.P. Lovecraft story, "The Haunter of The Dark" it still reminds me of the monster of that story, something that only appears when it's dark.

Lights Out lacks excessive blood and gore, gratuitous toplessness, or characters who do incredibly stupid things (well with a few exceptions) to serve the story. Lights Out goes back to the basics. There are many jump scares and what was that bump in the night shivers, but these are successful in this movie. Sometimes keeping stuff simple really does work best.

The film has a few information dumps but fortunately I didn't think those ruined the story. Unsurprisingly darkness plays a significant role in the movie. You could make the case that this film's title refers to darkness which is the absence of light and the metaphorical darkness which is what we experience with familial or romantic loss and depression. Here one darkness leads to the other. And both seem to be where evil thrives.

The movie's intro was like the intro to a lot of older Supernatural episodes in which the monster of the week kills someone or takes over their body. The Winchester brothers then have to figure out what happened and how to beat the bad guy. Well this movie doesn't have the Winchester brothers. 

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Run with the Buffalo!!!

Bison and buffalo are actually different animals. I suppose if you are a zoology expert and got very close to a male bison in say Yellowstone National Park you could probably point out all the minor and major differences between the two species to a novice such as myself. 

All the same you should probably remember a few things. First, bison, particularly male ones, are rather protective of their herd, their land, their young, and their personal space. Second, if a bison should happen to become dangerously aggressive against any humans it thinks are violating its boundaries, I don't need to outrun the bison. I just need to outrun you.

A recent visit to Yellowstone National Park nearly turned into a catastrophic experience for two friends when they had to run for their lives when a bison charged at them. Video of the frightening encounter shows the moment when the bull starts chasing after the two women, who haven’t been identified, while terrified bystanders look on. 

Friday, July 17, 2020

Detroit Starter's Bar and Grill :Wear a mask

How often do you go out to eat? I used to do so at least once a week. But with the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting quarantine orders I stopped doing so. Living is more important than that perfect Caprese salad.

Even with the slight relaxation of the governor's orders regarding COVID-19 I haven't gone out to eat. And I really don't think I have any intention of doing so any time soon. The juice isn't worth the squeeze in my opinion. There have been a number of situations across the country where people have entered establishments without masks and confronted or been confronted by employees or other customers who are wearing masks. Some of these have turned violent. Well in Detroit we do things differently. 

Instead of a scofflaw entering an establishment without a mask and demanding service, a woman wearing a mask entered a restaurant/bar and asked an employee not wearing a mask to start doing so. This apparently aggrieved the employee so much that she started making threats of imminent body harm to the customer. Fortunately this time, it didn't come to that.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - As people get used to the mask mandate there has been no shortage of tension over who is or is not wearing one. The latest confrontation went down at Detroit's Starter's Bar and Grill bar when a bartender refused to wear a face covering. It appears to have been an isolated incident but Starter's is not taking it lightly. The employee in question has been suspended.

Aurora Colorado Police Murder Elijah McClain And Make Jokes

So many Black men and boys are accosted, harassed, assaulted, and murdered by their local police departments that it's difficult to keep up with the numbers and stories. Somehow Black men and boys lack any patriarchal privilege to protect them. More on that later.

One August night in Aurora, Colorado in 2019, an anemic massage therapist and violinist named Elijah McClain was walking home from the convenience store, having just purchased an iced tea for his brother. Unfortunately Mr. McClain was Black. McClain was wearing some sort of face covering to protect himself against the cool night air. That was enough for some other citizen to call the police and report McClain as suspicious. Aurora's finest rushed to the scene and choked out McClain as he begged for his life.  

The police called paramedics, who injected McClain with the sedative ketamine. McClain had a heart attack and died three days later. McClain was unarmed and as far as I know had no criminal record. Unsurprisingly the coroner claimed that the cause of death was undetermined, while the district attorney promptly declined to charge any of the police or paramedics involved. 

Move along folks, nothing to see here. We didn't kill him. All we did was cut off his airflow and overload him with sedatives. Him dying is between him and God. Apparently irritated by any grief over McClain's death murder, some other police officers thought it would be insanely funny to take pictures of themselves mocking McClain's death near a memorial set up to honor McClain.

Three Aurora, Colo., police officers have been fired over photos that show two of them grinning and mocking the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist who was arrested and placed in a chokehold last August. Mr. McClain died several days later.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Donald Trump and Chuck Woolery are Evil Stupid People

/sarcasm on
I don’t know about everyone else but whenever I encounter a strange new easily transmitted deadly virus for which there is no cure or vaccine I ALWAYS check with game show hosts, not doctors or scientists, to find out the real deal.


It gives me a warm happy feeling that our President is spending time retweeting game show host and certified nutjob Chuck Woolery instead of telling people what they could do to stay safe, asking scientists what they need to speed up vaccine availability, or reviewing some best practices from nations who have slowed transmission.
/sarcasm off


Donald Trump defended his retweet this week of Chuck Woolery’s claim that Centers for Disease Control officials and others are “lying” about the coronavirus.CBS News Catherine Herridge asked Trump, “You reposted a tweet yesterday saying that CDC and health officials are lying. You understand this is confusing for the public. So who do they believe? You, or the medical professionals like Dr. Fauci?”

“I didn’t make a comment,” Trump told Herridge. “I did. I reposted a tweet that a lot of people feel. But all I am doing is making a comment. I’m just putting somebody’s voice out there. There are many voices. There are many people that think we shouldn’t do this kind of testing, because all we do, it’s a trap.”

In a tweet on Sunday, Woolery wrote, “The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”

Movie Reviews: The Loft

The Loft
directed by Eric Van Looy
"If you don't like my loving woman, you sure don't have to stall/Cause I can get more pretty women than a passenger train can haul!"
This is an English language remake of the Belgian film of the same name helmed by the same director. It shares some DNA with similar late 80s and early 90s erotic thriller films starring such women as Shannon Tweed, Shannon Whirry, and Tanya Roberts among others. 

It tries to be a little smarter than such films but only briefly succeeds. The film can't rise above what I thought was a silly premise and a few wooden acting performances. It was a little fun until the melodrama became terminal, resulting in an ending that saw all involved competing to chew up the scenery.

As recent revelations about certain couples' private lives have shown you never know what's going on behind closed doors. Some people aren't meant for monogamy though they may otherwise be great spouses. Some people would say that it's by definition impossible to be a good spouse, let alone a great one, if you can't devote yourself to one person, forsaking all others. It's in the freaking wedding vows, for goodness sakes. 

Some think that providing a stable lifestyle for the children and the spouse is all that anyone can expect, especially once the initial infatuation has disappeared. Some people would forgive their spouse his or her (non-public) trespasses. Others wouldn't forgive a single doggone thing. If their special rider steps out he or she better keep on walking and never come back. Other husbands or wives don't ask what their spouse gets up to on long business trips or overseas assignments. And their spouse certainly doesn't tell.


Friday, July 10, 2020

Movie Reviews: A Good Woman Is Hard To Find

A Good Woman Is Hard To Find
directed by Abner Pastoll
This is yet another entry in the "slight woman is underestimated by everyone and takes bloody revenge" genre so if that theme leaves you cold then you know what to do. 

It is a little bit different than many other similar films in that the violence, even when deserved is NOT played for laughs or shown as explicitly being some sort of political statement. 

This movie does make a link between committing violence and being willing to stand up for yourself in some very dodgy situations but in some ways that's true in real life isn't it. Although we all hope not to, sometimes we run across people who mean us harm and simply won't be deterred by kind words or appeals to morality. 

There's only one language that they understand. Also the film spends a lot of time showing the basic challenges a young widow with two small children might face, whether it be dealing with her bossy judgmental mother or needing batteries in a hurry.

This movie is set in the UK. I think it's supposed to be in Northern Ireland somewhere but I am not familiar enough with the various accents to state for sure exactly where the events are taking place. That's not really that important. What is important is that Sarah Bolger (Sarah Collins) is an impoverished widow who lives on an estate (public housing). She has two small children, a boy and girl. The boy saw his father Stephen, Sarah's husband, murdered, and hasn't spoken since then.