The Foreigner
directed by Martin Campbell
Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have f***** with? … That's me.
There are several older man takes revenge flicks, some good, some not so good. Years ago Liam Neeson reinvigorated the genre with Taken. In that movie we saw Neeson's secret agent with a very particular set of skills open up a can of whup-a$$ on people foolish enough to kidnap and threaten his daughter. Denzel Washington riffed on this theme in Man on Fire and The Equalizer. Michael Caine did the same in Harry Brown. Gran Torino (quoted above) saw Clint Eastwood deconstruct this trope. Mel Gibson explored this genre with Blood Father and Edge of Darkness. You could even argue that no matter what role he's playing Bruce Willis is never too far from this trope. There is an ongoing cinematic desire for patriarchal protection and revenge, regardless of real life society moving away from that. People often like to think that they are worthy of such protection or alternately that they are capable of providing protection or revenge for those they love. The Foreigner is a worthy entry into this crowded field. It's not the best. It's not the worst. It is different for at least two reasons.
The first is that The Foreigner is a dramatic turn by actor and martial artist Jackie Chan. Chan is not making any jokes in this drama. Chan has no reason to laugh. The second reason that this movie is different is that it partially steps away from the cardboard cutout bad guys who usually provide the cannon fodder for the vengeful father as he fights his way up the ladder to the Big Bad. It's not just a mindless action film, not that there's anything wrong with a mindless action film, thank you very much.
Well meaning people often try to comfort themselves by thinking that racism is something that is only found in a few backwater states or among low class low iq people or a problem that can be dodged by wealth, correct diction and classy style of dress or something which will be reduced if not eliminated by the vigorous application of free market principles. Unfortunately none of those statements are true. Racism is worldwide.There's no place in the U.S. which is certifiably racism free. Something as innocuous as attempting to purchase goods or services can be dangerous to your emotional and physical well being. Maybe it's waiting for a restaurant table longer than everyone else or being refused entry into a nightclub. Maybe it's being followed around a store because the employees automatically assume you're a thief. Maybe it's a clerk who wants two pieces of ID when you pay with a check or credit card when you just saw her decline to demand the same of the white customer in front of you. Maybe the landlord who agreed over the phone to rent to you has just rented the unit when he sees you in person.
Whatever it may be spending money with people who dislike you or distrust isn't a good idea. Often their animus can be far greater than their desire for your money. And many people who think this way won't shy away from letting black people know how they feel in word and deed. A recent example of this caught my eye.
Ursula K. Le Guin recently passed away. She was among other things, a sci-fi/fantasy author who combined what would today be considered social commentary with a unique and inventive imagination and style. Although I enjoy the European based pseudo-medieval/Dark Ages/Roman era/Renaissance era that provided fertile fuel for works created by such authors as Tolkien, Vance, Anderson, Martin, Howard. and many others, Le Guin always went her own way. And fiction was better for that.
For me her most enjoyable and influential works were the Earthsea series. These were unusual in fiction at the time of their creation then and even today because most of the protagonists were what would today be called people of color. These books have dragons, wizards, quests, the entire Hero's Journey, all in a world that is universes apart from the then popular Tolkien or Howard knockoffs. Le Guin also challenged ideas about sexuality, identity, gender, economics and society in such works as The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Lathe of Heaven. But what was really different about Le Guin's works were the ideas that the "good guy" would not and should not "win" by greater application of effective violence. The struggles Le Guin described were just as much internal ones to find balance as they were external ones to win victory. Violence might occur but it was almost never the answer.
Acts of Violence
directed by Brett Donowho
I try to handle it without violence being involved but sometimes that's the only way these problems are solved -2 Black 2 Strong MMG
Acts of Violence is a low budget mashup of any number of classic thriller and action movies, including but not limited to Death Wish, The Searchers, The Sons of Katie Elder, Four Brothers, and almost every seventies or eighties Golan-Globus production. The film lacks glossy production values, though as it's set in Cleveland, that's probably on purpose to try to increase the verisimilitude.
Acts of Violence has a strong made-for-tv/direct to video feel. Certain themes repeat themselves throughout human stories and history. Men of a different tribe kidnap a woman, presumably for nefarious purposes. The husband, relatives and other friends of the kidnapped woman decide that they aren't going to take that kind of thing lying down and rustle up a posse/army to go rescue the kidnapped maiden or failing that, deliver some righteous vengeance. This stuff is at least as old as The Iliad, which describes the war between the Greeks and Trojans caused by the Trojan prince's kidnap, or was it seduction, of a Greek Queen. And likely 3000 years from now there will still be humans telling stories that use this trope.
In The Iliad, the Greeks' greatest warrior Achilles, sulks in his tent and refuses to fight because the Greek high king Agamemnon, forced to return a female hostage/slave, took Achilles' female captive for his own. Without Achilles the Greeks come close to losing the war. It's only when Achilles' best friend (?)/cousin (?)/lover(?) Patroclus is killed that Achilles is inspired to return to the battlefield and do what he does best.
The Republicans changed tax law so that starting in 2018 there will be a upper limit of $10,000 for state and local tax deductions to federal taxes (SALT). If you happen to be impoverished, low income or live in a relatively low tax state the impact of this change on you will probably be small or non-existent. If you however live in one of the relatively high tax coastal states and/or happen to be somewhat well off then the impact will be a bit greater. And it may not be a very nice change. Unless the states make other changes, placing a limit on federal deductions for local taxes means that all else equal some people will pay more in federal taxes. Or to put it another way, the federal government will no longer help shield you in toto from your state's tax policy. States will then have less money available for local initiatives.
This delights many Republicans for at least four reasons. (1)They really do believe in low taxes for the wealthy and low services (at least for the poor and middle class). (2) They deeply resent their perception of federal underwriting of higher tax bases in Democratic leaning states. (3) They enjoy watching people who claim to support higher taxes on the wealthy in general turn around to fight effective higher taxes on their wealthy. (4) Most of the states impacted are "blue" states, not "red" ones. Here it's very important to point out that the cost of living/housing can vary widely from state to state. Someone in say SE Michigan with a household income of $180K and a home valued at $500K may be better off even before taxes than someone in New York City with a household income of $250K and a home valued at $700K. Generally the South and Midwest are lower cost regions than the Northeast and West coast.
Apparently this cow decided that it was better to risk starvation, death by wolves, cold, or disease than stay safe and wind up in the one way line to the slaughterhouse. I guess that is a smart cow. I've often thought that it is a dirty trick to raise cattle from birth, keep them safe, clean, healthy and well fed only to kill them and literally rip them limb from limb.
Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A domesticated cow that ran away from its farm in Poland last fall surprised researchers by taking up with a herd of bison for several months.
Biologist Rafal Kowalczyk said he spotted the Limousin cow, a French breed popular in Poland, this week with a 50-strong bison herd in the Bialowieza Forest, three months after the smaller bovine ran away from a farm and was first spotted socializing with the wild animals. "She is not very integrated with the group, as bison act like one organism and she stands out," Kowalczyk told TVN24.
He said the bison herd don't seem to mind the cow's presence, however, and are likely responsible for keeping the smaller animal safe from wolves. Kowalczyk said he is concerned the cow could breed with the bison and contaminate their gene pool with hybrids. "Another danger is that hybrid calves are large, and the cow could die giving birth," he said.
The cow may die in birth but if it did it would also die in freedom.😇
The Rise and Fall of a Casino Mobster: The Tony Spilotro Story
by Frank Cullotta
If crime stories aren't your thing then you know what to do with this review. If you are interested in such tales this concise story may fill some holes in your knowledge. However, the book jumps around in time so much that by the ending the reader will still have may unanswered questions. If you've seen the Martin Scorsese movie Casino starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, Frank Vincent, and James Woods, you know this story's general narrative. The author was a technical adviser on Casino.
Up until the seventies and eighties, the criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit, on its own and with various other satellite crime families, owned pieces of several Las Vegas area casinos and hotels. The Outfit maintained influence over various entertainment unions, talent agencies and actor management companies. Via control of the Teamsters Union, shared with East Coast and Detroit area crime families, the Outfit bankrolled new business ventures across the U.S. The Outfit used these businesses to diversify profits and launder monies from dirtier businesses. The Outfit placed two people in charge in Nevada.
These two Outfit Nevada managers were Mr. Inside (Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal) and Mr. Outside (Tony "Ant" Spilotro). Each man had different responsibilities. Lefty worked inside the casinos. Lefty's job was to hire and manage casino personnel, stay clean, maximize casino profits and ensure that the skim (the amount of money stolen before taxes were reported) was generated every day. Spilotro worked outside of the casinos. Spilotro's tasks included making sure the skim got back to Chicago, stopping any rival mobsters from extorting Lefty, preventing Lefty or other Outfit affiliated mobsters from skimming the skim, taking over other criminal rackets for Chicago and "fixing" any problems. Spilotro's "fixes" could range from bribes to business mergers to threats to torture, beatings or murder. It all depended on Spilotro's mood, his orders from Chicago and how serious the problem was.
