memfree

joined 2 years ago
[–] memfree@beehaw.org 5 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

Holy moly, that is a good essay. Below are a few bits that resonated with me.

Martin Luther King Jr. understood this: “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” Peace without justice isn’t peace—it’s imposed order. It’s the peace of the graveyard, the peace of submission, the peace that comes when one side stops fighting because they’ve been crushed.

That made me cringe thinking of the current state of the Supreme Court and how they are making true Justice harder to reach.

The problem isn’t efficiency itself—it’s optimization imposed by algorithmic systems or corporate interests without democratic input about what human values should guide that optimization. When we optimize transportation, do we prioritize speed, safety, environmental impact, or community connection? When we optimize education, do we focus on test scores, critical thinking, creativity, or civic engagement? When we optimize healthcare, do we emphasize cost reduction, patient outcomes, doctor-patient relationships, or population health?

These aren’t technical questions with objectively correct answers—they’re moral and political questions that require democratic deliberation. The current system optimizes for metrics that can be easily measured and monetized, often at the expense of human values that are harder to quantify but more important to preserve.

This called to mind the same author's essay from 2 days earlier (Brock, Ideas Without Love) about Peter Thiel:

What makes this particularly dangerous is that Thiel possesses genuine intelligence and insight. He’s not ignorant or deluded. He correctly identifies patterns of decline, understands technological risks, predicts political dynamics. But he approaches all of it with the emotional engagement of someone debugging code rather than someone whose species’ survival depends on getting the answers right.

Back to this post, two more insights I appreciate:

Poverty, for instance, is not meaningful struggle—it’s systematic deprivation that prevents people from engaging in the kinds of challenges that actually generate growth and purpose.

The choice to remain human is not a single decision but a daily practice requiring constant vigilance and continuous effort. It begins with the recognition that magical thinking serves not our interests but the interests of systems designed to eliminate human agency.

All this reminds me of the critique on U.S. society that we are no longer "joiners" and now put artificial barriers between ourselves and our neighbors. We don't join the Elks Club or attend Township meetings or have block-party get-togethers where it doesn't matter if it is a mix of Trumpers and Biden-backers, or vegans and beefeaters because everyone is there to get the road fixed or raise money for the library or whatever the cause of the day might be. I am guilty of this failure, too. I am fully aware that online chat is siloed and doesn't count, so I really need to join something. I just wish my body wasn't giving me mobility issues that make the task so hard.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 5 points 10 hours ago

That sounds as likely as any other crazy uninformed reason the Trump team might have.

I do recommend watching those and other government pages because I'm sure this is not the end of the weird edits.

 

Yesterday Erin in the Morning reported that the term "bisexual" was getting removed from the national park services pages. It was. They had proof -- but now, they've reverted that change so it is NOT TRUE now. Perhaps it will be again, but PLEASE check before saying it is gone.

The source wrote the piece well and linked to an archive so people can see the history. They have a snapshot from July 10th with 'bisexual' erased, but as of July 11th, it is back. As I write, the text they cite for the MAIN page (not History) reads:

Before the 1960s, almost everything about living authentically as a lesbian, a bisexual person or a gay man was illegal.

The History page (current | Jun 4 archive } April 19 archive uses LGB) is obliquely worded and has been for months, saying:

Through the 1960s almost everything about living openly as a member of the Stonewall comunity was a violation of law

It still omits transgendered as it has since the February 'purge'.

 

A fired Justice Department attorney has provided Congress with a trove of emails and text messages to corroborate his claims that a controversial Trump judicial nominee — top DOJ official Emil Bove — crudely discussed defying court orders.


Reuveni was a career lawyer at DOJ until he was fired this spring after he told a judge that the administration had mistakenly deported an immigrant in violation of a court order. Then, last month, Reuveni sent a 27-page whistleblower letter to the Judiciary Committee accusing Bove of saying that DOJ may need to rebuff court orders that might hinder Trump’s deportation agenda. According to Reuveni, Bove told colleagues that they might have to consider telling the courts “fuck you.”


... Boasberg ordered that planes containing the men, whom Trump deemed “alien enemies” under a wartime law, be turned around, if necessary, and in any event that the men not be handed over to the Salvadoran government.

Just prior to Boasberg’s decision, Justice Department officials worried that the effort might be stopped by a court. That’s when, according to Reuveni, Bove uttered the “fuck you” line.

After Boasberg’s decision, Reuveni sent a text message to an unidentified colleague referring back to Bove’s alleged comment: “Guess we are going to say ‘fuck you’ to the court. Super,” he wrote. The colleague responded: “Well, Pamela Jo Bondi is. Not you.”

The messages show that in the hours after Boasberg’s ruling, Reuveni repeatedly relayed to colleagues that the immigrants covered by the judge’s order should not be turned over to El Salvador. And he later expressed concern that they seemed to have been handed over anyway.

In one of the newly-disclosed emails, the acting head of Justice’s Civil Division, Yaakov Roth, told Reuveni and other officials that the men were unloaded based on legal advice given by Bove. The email indicates Bove said it was OK to do so because the flights had left U.S. airspace before Boasberg, who initially delivered his order orally, followed up with a written order in the court’s electronic docket.


Boasberg, an Obama appointee, has rejected that interpretation of his orders and found probable cause to initiate contempt proceedings over potential defiance of his rulings. That process has been halted for now by an appeals court.

from The Hill:

The three-judge D.C. Circuit panel was split 2-1. The two Trump appointees, Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, ruled for the administration. Judge Cornelia Pillard, an appointee of former President Obama, dissented.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 4 points 3 days ago

These attacks do not have to be reliable to be successful. They only need to work often enough to be cost-effective, and the cost of LLM text generation is cheap and falling. Their sophistication will rise. Link-spam will be augmented by personal posts, images, video, and more subtle, influencer-style recommendations—“Oh my god, you guys, this new electro plug is incredible.” Networks of bots will positively interact with one another, throwing up chaff for moderators. I would not at all be surprised for LLM spambots to contest moderation decisions via email.

I don’t know how to run a community forum in this future. I do not have the time or emotional energy to screen out regular attacks by Large Language Models, with the knowledge that making the wrong decision costs a real human being their connection to a niche community.

Ouch. I'd never want to tell someone 'Denied. I think you're a bot.' -- but I really hate the number of bots already out there. I was fine with the occasional bots that would provide a wiki-link and even the ones who would reply to movie quotes with their own quotes. Those were obvious and you could easily opt to ignore/hide their accounts. As the article states, the particular bot here was also easy to spot once they got in the door, but the initial contact could easily have been human and we can expect bots to continuously seem human as AI improves.

Bots are already driving policy decisions in government by promoting/demoting particular posts and writing their own comments that can redirect conversations. They make it look like there is broad consensus for the views they're paid to promote, and at least some people will take that as a sign that the view is a valid option (ad populum).

Sometimes it feels like the internet is a crowd of bots all shouting at one another and stifling the humans trying to get a word in. The tricky part is that I WANT actual unpaid humans to tell me what they actually: like/hate/do/avoid. I WANT to hear actual stories from real humans. I don't want to find out the 'Am I the A-hole?' story getting everyone so worked up was an 'AI-hole' experiment in manipulating emotions.

I wish I could offer some means to successfully determine human vs. generated content, but the only solutions I've come up with require revealing real-world identities to sites, and that feels as awful as having bots. Otherwise, I imagine that identifying bots will be an ever escalating war akin to Search Engine Optimization wars.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I'm used to seeing heaping plates of grilled veggies drizzled with olive oil in so many restaurants in Italy that I'd have thought it among the easiest countries to get vegan food, but here's a list of prep steps for future travel.

  1. Never expect translations. Unless the government has invited you explicitly, consider yourself an uninvited guest who ought to be thankful for any courtesy.

  2. Try to get a phone that can get service where you will be. This can be tricky. If you can't do that, but you CAN get an internet connection at least some of the time (in hotels, for example) consider bringing a laptop. If that is too bulky, then at the very least pre-translate some phrases you expect to need and take screenshots on your no-signal phone or transcribe onto 3x5 cards you can hand people with full text of both languages on each card (either all on one side or English on the back). Example: I would like vegetables and pasta, but no meat, no eggs, no cheese, and no dairy.

  3. Make sure you have an adapter that plugs in to their electric outlets.

  4. Learn at least a few key words/phrases: "I'm, ummm... Sono vegano... umm, uhh, ... no carne, no latte, no formaggio, no frutti di mare. They may ask something like, "Mangi le uova?" and hopefully you can figure out with hand gestures that they mean 'eggs'.

  5. When you find portable food/snacks, buy some extra in advance so you have a backup.

  6. Learn to cook so you know what ingredients go into different foods. Example: Tuscan bread is just flour, water, and yeast. The rest of Italy usually adds some salt. In contrast, biscotti has eggs.

In Italy, vegan options are most likely found in meals sections: Primi, Contorni, and Insalata -- you aren't likely to find vegan options in Antipasti, Secondi, nor (obviously) Formaggi e frutta.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 8 points 5 days ago

From the article:

The Supreme Court ruled last week that Trump can continue to break the law — both US and international law — by having his secret police agents snatch people off American streets, “disappear” them into immigration prisons, then deport them to foreign concentration camps.

Lacking national injunctions, this cruel and inhumane process can now only be stopped one person at a time, one court at a time, at least until the six Republicans on the Court get around to deciding a person’s fate. And they’re now on vacation until October.


As Himmler himself wrote:

“The Führer is of the opinion that in such cases penal servitude or even a hard labor sentence for life will be regarded as a sign of weakness. An effective and lasting deterrent can be achieved only by the death penalty or by taking measures which will leave the family and the population uncertain as to the fate of the offender. Deportation … serves this purpose.”

Field Marshall Keitel was equally enthusiastic, writing:

“Efficient and enduring intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures by which the relatives of the criminals do not know the fate of the criminal. The prisoners are, in future, to be transported … secretly, and further treatment of the offenders will take place here; these measures will have a deterrent effect because: A. The prisoners will vanish without a trace. B. No information may be given as to their whereabouts or their fate.”


Reports from civil rights groups and journalists have documented instances where individuals were taken off the streets or from their homes without warning, transferred out of state, and left incommunicado from legal counsel or family for extended periods. These actions were not isolated errors: they are deliberate strategies aimed at instilling fear across immigrant communities, particularly those made up of Black and brown people.

What makes this moment even more alarming is the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that strips lower courts of the authority to halt deportations or removals, no matter how unlawful or abusive. With judicial oversight diminished, there is a clear and present danger that enforcement powers could be used arbitrarily and punitively.

The use of fear — rather than law — as a governing principle corrodes the foundation of due process and equal protection under the Constitution. Nonetheless, Border Czar Tom Holman bragged:

“Illegal immigrants should be afraid.”

It ends with a call to contact your Senators and Representatives -- and obviously to vote for people who are against all this. The more courageous might also choose film and report any activity that looks ICE-like, but there are heavy risks to that and the article did not suggest it. Instead, they more obliquely suggest:

Support organizations on the ground providing legal aid and sanctuary. Show up at protests, city council meetings, and community gatherings to bear witness and push back.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 2 points 5 days ago

I heard several sound bites with officials saying, 'No one could have predicted this' and I keep thinking, "I betcha some groundwater geological engineer already predicted this exact disaster complete with amount of rain needed per each foot-level of river rise and with a precise measure of their margins of error." I do NOT know that for a fact, but -- having known geological engineers -- it feels like the sort of thing they'd calculate out of idle curiosity (especially if they notice new development diverting groundwater in unmitigated ways).

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I see a muscovy mama's wing. Are they all hers or do other girls lay eggs in her nest? Lots of different colors in that set.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 6 points 3 weeks ago
[–] memfree@beehaw.org 2 points 3 weeks ago

The article talks about anthropomorphism the way people did in the 1950s by treating it as humans falsely attributing human behaviors to animals without bringing up research since then that suggests we share a whole lot of traits.

From a simple mechanical point of view, animals limp when injured, scratch when itchy, sleep when tired, yawn, stretch, eat, sneeze, and so on from the same sorts of triggers that trigger us.

Moreover, does anyone really think humans evolved emotions entirely separate from animals? Do animals not experience fear, lust, aggression, frustration, and so on in ways similar to us? And often for similar abstracted reasons (I'm not going to fight you specifically for a a piece of bloated carrion, but we've seen people storm the Aid trucks bringing food to the hungry).

Obviously, humans misinterpret animal behavior all the time and THAT is legitimate anthropomorphism. There's a meme of a duck 'laughing' that anyone who studied duck behavior would recognize as a distressed animal. Don't smile at monkeys because showing teeth is a threat and if they show THEIR teeth to you, back off. People get stuff wrong all the time, and anthropomorphize frequently, but so much of what animals do is the same as us that the mistakes are understandable.

Instead of saying that people anthropomorphize parent animals licking/grooming their offspring as 'a mom's love', I think it more appropriate to say people recognize a common trait we share. The scientist may term it as a bonding ritual, a need for cleanliness to ward off disease, and/or a method to identify their offspring's scent and shape, BUT you could say the same thing about human moms (though we aren't very good at scent and usually lick a napkin to get the smudge off rather than directly licking the child). We're mostly the same. The attributions are often correct.

 

Newswise — Cambridge, MA— A new landmark study has pinpointed the location of the Universe's "missing" matter, and detected the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) on record. Using FRBs as a guide, astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and Caltech have shown that more than three-quarters of the Universe's ordinary matter has been hiding in the thin gas between galaxies, marking a major step forward in understanding how matter interacts and behaves in the Universe. They’ve used the new data to make the first detailed measurement of ordinary matter distribution across the cosmic web.

"The decades-old 'missing baryon problem' was never about whether the matter existed," said Liam Connor, CfA astronomer and lead author of the new study. "It was always: Where is it? Now, thanks to FRBs, we know: three-quarters of it is floating between galaxies in the cosmic web." In other words, scientists now know the home address of the “missing” matter.

And this is just the beginning for FRB cosmology. "We're entering a golden age," said Ravi, who also serves as the co-PI of Caltech’s Deep Synoptic Array-110 (DSA-110). "Next-generation radio telescopes like the DSA-2000 and the Canadian Hydrogen Observatory and Radio-transient Detector will detect thousands of FRBs, allowing us to map the cosmic web in incredible detail."

The study is published today in Nature Astronomy.

 

Two law enforcement officials told CNN the suspect is 57-year-old Vance Boelter. Officials found a “manifesto” identifying “many lawmakers and other officials” in his vehicle, police said. A law enforcement official told CNN Boelter works for a security company.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 10 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Link is part of a live feed. Here's more:

DHS claims Padilla 'lunged' toward Noem 'without identifying himself' – despite footage showing he identified himself

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, has claimed the senator Alex Padilla “lunged” toward Kristi Noem during the press conference “without identifying himself” despite being told to back away.

She also claims that the Secret Service “thought he was an attacker”.

In the video footage of the moment, Padilla can be heard clearly identifying himself, saying: “I’m Senator Alex Padilla” and trying to ask Noem a question.

Not only did he identify himself, I didn't see anything I'd call a 'lunge'. Here's more:

Asked why the response was to forcibly remove Padilla, Noem deferred questions to law enforcement and doubled down on the claim that Padilla didn’t identify himself first (again, he did):

  • "But I will say that it’s – people need to identify themselves before they start lunging at people during press conferences."

MSNBC reminds us of Biden's State of the Union when Bobert and Marjorie Taylor Greene started acting up and yelling and no one threw them out. Commentor wants to know why Noem didn't call off the guards as soon as he identified himself.

[–] memfree@beehaw.org 9 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Deep in the entrails of the framework, the databases have been glitching: incorrectly issuing penalties and wrongly moving recipients into the Kafkaesque “penalty zone”. The bug was falsely cancelling welfare benefits to thousands of recipients across many years.

That's a really critical bug. QA is supposed to catch this sort of thing. Development is supposed to fix it, and fast. When the client is a government, it should have the foresight to put in the contract that it will withhold payments until such critical bugs are fixed. If you don't do that, why would the vendor bother with QA and bug fixes?

And all of that is aside the fact that the whole thing results in busy work, hoop-jumping, and wasting time for both the people administrating it and those trying to get benefits. Sheesh.

 

I'm aware that I can go out of my way to specialty stores to get superior dried meats, olive oils, and so on, but for cheap and easy pepperoni, I grab Bridgford -- but not without issues. I get these 16oz Old World Pepperoni sticks that are oily, hard to slice, and harder to peel (it has a thin casing), so I was happy to see Hormel's in my local Costco -- until I tried it. Hormel pepperoni has no flavor. It isn't noticeably oily unless you cook it (such as on pizza), but if you do cook it, you get a similar quantity of reddened oil pooling out of it as with Bridgford.

I'd guess that small kids might prefer the mildness and ease of Hormel, but for me, Bridgford's flavor will keep me going back for more every time. Note that I've only tried Hormel's Original Pepperoni, so I can't say if their Cup and Crisp version is any better or not.

 

I am craving something bready and sloppy for dinner, but I can't think of anything that fits the bill. I could make a giant vegetable pot pie (I've done that before and they are tasty), but for whatever reason, I'm wanting bread dough instead of pie dough and I don't think that would work as well. Focaccia by itself would be too much bread without enough 'stuff'. My better half is vegetarian, so I'd like to keep it meatless (cheese is fine). We have too much tofu right now, so I'm slightly tempted to make an S&B curry stew and then baking it inside bread dough, but would that work? It'd certainly have the sort of savory I desire, but it might be too gloppy. Really, I'm looking for something more like stromboli but I can't think of anyone but Italians that bake lots of filling inside a bread wrap.

Any ideas?

 
  • 6:09PM 200 missiles launched at Israel

Nearly 200 missiles have been launched at Israel from Iran, Israel’s army radio announced.

  • 6:06PM IRGC vows ‘crushing attacks’ if Israel responds

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have threatened “crushing attacks” for Israel if it responds to the missile barrage launched on Tuesday evening.

  • 6:04PM Iran says Tel Aviv is target of attack

Iran has launched a missile attack on Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, state media reported, citing officials.

The official IRNA news agency said Iran had launched “a missile attack on Tel Aviv”, without elaborating after staying quiet during the start of the barrage.

  • 6:03PM Explosions in Jerusalem

Explosions sounded in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening as air raid sirens rang out, AFP journalists reported, with what appeared to be air defence interceptors echoing over the city.

The explosions came shortly after the military said that Iran had launched a missile attack targeting Israel.


See also BBC and AP coverage:

 

Donald Trump's running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), on Monday said there's a "big difference" between Republicans and Democrats: "No one has tried to kill Kamala Harris."

Note that earlier in the day, Elon Musk wrote and deleted a similar post. From NY Times:

In response to a user who asked, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?” Mr. Musk, who has endorsed the former president and comments frequently on the U.S. presidential campaign, wrote: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” His post, which was captured by X users, included a thinking-face emoji.

Mr. Musk took down the post after it immediately drew outrage.


For Vance comments, see also NY Times, Vance says the left is to blame for the attempts on Trump’s life., and/or CNN, Vance blames liberal rhetoric for apparent assassination attempt against Trump :

“I know it’s popular on a lot of corners of the left to say that we have a both sides problem. And I’m not going to say we’re always perfect. I’m not going to say that conservatives always get things exactly right. But you know, the big difference between conservatives and liberals is that we have — no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months, and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months,” the Republican vice presidential candidate said at the Georgia Faith & Freedom Coalition dinner in Atlanta.

“I’d say that’s pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric, and needs to cut this crap out,” he continued.

Vance vowed to “do my part” to tone down the rhetoric and said he was speaking particularly to those who say that Trump needs to be “eliminated.”

“Somebody’s gonna get hurt by it, and it’s gonna destroy this country. Somebody is gonna get hurt. And you think about what an incredible wound it would open up in the United States of America, all of us, and I promise I will do my part to tone down the rhetoric,” Vance said. “But in particular, the people telling you that Donald Trump needs to be eliminated. You guys need to cut it out, or you’re gonna get somebody hurt.”


Thankfully, both Democrats and Republicans came together to disavow the New Hampshire Libertarian Party for this from Deadline:

Republican and Democratic Party leaders have condemned New Hampshire’s Libertarian Party for sharing a post saying that anyone who assassinated Vice President Kamala Harris would be “an American hero.”

The party later deleted the post on X, formerly known as Twitter, but appeared unrepentant about the message, saying it was removed because of the platform’s rules and complaining about restrictions on free speech.

 

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/16039719

This series started last week, but it continues tonight Friday the 13th through November 1st.

The films are drawn from a list compiled by The New Republic last year of the 100 most impactful political movies.

The films encompass both documentaries and dramatized works; most are American, while a few are from other countries. Their release dates range from 1915 (The Birth of a Nation) to 2016 (I Am Not Your Negro). Many will have celebrity presenters introducing them, along with TCM host Ben Mankiewicz.

From Hollywood Reporter:

The series runs Sept. 6 to Nov. 1 — four days before America votes for its next president — and features TCM host Ben Mankiewicz in conversation with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Lee Grant, Sally Field, Andy Garcia, Melissa Etheridge, John Turturro, Bill Maher, Alexander Payne, Diane Lane, Josh Mankiewicz, Barry Levinson, Maureen Dowd, Stacey Abrams and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

More from the Advocate:

LGBTQ+ issues won’t be neglected. I Am Not Your Negro, for instance, is a documentary based onan unfinished manuscript by Black gay writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin, reflecting on the lives of Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Baldwin himself. The Times of Harvey Milk(1984) will be featured, presented by Sally Field, the proud mother of a gay son. Also scheduled are 1964’s The Best Man, scripted by gay writer Gore Vidal, in which a same-sex liaison threatens to derail a politician’s career, and Born in Flames, director Lizzie Borden’s 1983 vision of a dystopian future in which women, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color are oppressed.

Borden will be among the celebrity presenters, introducing Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Chantal Akerman’s 1975 feminist feature about a widow engaged in sex work. Melissa Etheridge will be a presenter as well, discussing the 1928 silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc.

Times listed are for Eastern Time. I've skipped last week and bolded titles ranked in the top 20.

Friday, September 13 - Night Two

  • 8:00 PM Reds (1981) (Bill Maher - #41)
  • 11:30 PM The Parallax View (1974) (Kyle Smith - #47)
  • 1:30 AM Germany, Year Zero (1948) (Alexander Payne - #97)
  • 3:00 AM Gabriel Over the White House (1933) (#30)
  • 4:30 AM The Battleship Potemkin (1925) (#7)
  • 6:00 AM The Fog of War (2003) (#56)

Friday, September 20 - Night Three

  • 8:00 PM Dr. Strangelove (1964) (Spike Lee - #3)
  • 9:45 PM Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (Stacey Abrams - #11)
  • 12:15 AM Hearts and Minds (1974) (Phil Mattingly - #39)
  • 2:15 AM The Lives of Others (2006) (#19)
  • 4:45 AM Born in Flames (1983) (#43)
  • 6:15 AM Bicycle Thieves (1948) (#52)

Friday, September 27 - Night Four

  • 8:00 PM Three Days of the Condor (1975) (Maureen Dowd - #72)
  • 10:15 PM I Am Not Your Negro (2016) (Sara Sidner - #58)
  • 12:00 AM The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) (Melissa Etheridge - #88)
  • 1:30 AM The Last Hurrah (1958) (#57)
  • 3:45 AM Night of the Living Dead (1968) (#35)
  • 5:15 AM The Tin Drum (1979) (#92)

Friday, October 4 - Night Five

  • 8:00 PM The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) (Sally Field - #81)
  • 10:00 PM The Best Man (1964) (Josh Mankiewicz - #69)
  • 12:00 AM I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) (Sec. Lonnie Bunch III - #95)
  • 1:45 AM City Hall (1996) (#80)
  • 3:45 AM Strike (1924) (#25)
  • 5:15 AM High and Low (1963) (#84)

Friday, October 11 - Night Six

  • 8:00 PM A Face in the Crowd (1957) (Barry Levinson - #10)
  • 10:15 PM Wag the Dog (1997) (Diane Lane - #54)
  • 12:00 AM The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) (Abby Phillip - #37)
  • 1:45 AM JFK (1991) (#34)
  • 5:00 AM Z (1969) (#15)
  • 7:15 AM Night and Fog (1956) (#21)

Friday, October 18 - Night Seven

  • 8:00 PM The Birth of a Nation (1915) (Jamelle Bouie - #5)
  • 11:30 PM Lincoln (2012) (Hon. Robert M. Gates - #24)
  • 2:15 AM Malcolm X (1992) (#22)
  • 6:00 AM Primary (1960) (#38)

Friday, October 25 - Night Eight

  • 8:00 PM All the President’s Men (1976) (Steven Spielberg - #4)
  • 10:30 PM Citizen Kane (1941) (Frank Luntz - #33)
  • 12:45 AM Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) (Lizzie Borden - #36)
  • 4:15 AM Olympia Part One: Festival of Nations (1938) (#86)
  • 6:15 AM Olympia Part Two: Beauty of the Festival (1938) (#86)

Friday, November 1 - Night Nine

  • 8:00 PM Being There (1979) (Andy Garcia - #71)
  • 10:30 PM The Candidate (1972) (Kaitlan Collins - #20)
  • 12:30 AM Harlan County USA (1976) (Lee Grant - #12)
  • 2:15 AM The Manchurian Candidate (1962) (#2)
  • 4:00 AM Weekend (1967) (#94)
 

This series started last week, but it continues tonight Friday the 13th through November 1st.

The films are drawn from a list compiled by The New Republic last year of the 100 most impactful political movies.

The films encompass both documentaries and dramatized works; most are American, while a few are from other countries. Their release dates range from 1915 (The Birth of a Nation) to 2016 (I Am Not Your Negro). Many will have celebrity presenters introducing them, along with TCM host Ben Mankiewicz.

From Hollywood Reporter:

The series runs Sept. 6 to Nov. 1 — four days before America votes for its next president — and features TCM host Ben Mankiewicz in conversation with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Lee Grant, Sally Field, Andy Garcia, Melissa Etheridge, John Turturro, Bill Maher, Alexander Payne, Diane Lane, Josh Mankiewicz, Barry Levinson, Maureen Dowd, Stacey Abrams and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

More from the Advocate:

LGBTQ+ issues won’t be neglected. I Am Not Your Negro, for instance, is a documentary based onan unfinished manuscript by Black gay writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin, reflecting on the lives of Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Baldwin himself. The Times of Harvey Milk(1984) will be featured, presented by Sally Field, the proud mother of a gay son. Also scheduled are 1964’s The Best Man, scripted by gay writer Gore Vidal, in which a same-sex liaison threatens to derail a politician’s career, and Born in Flames, director Lizzie Borden’s 1983 vision of a dystopian future in which women, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color are oppressed.

Borden will be among the celebrity presenters, introducing Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Chantal Akerman’s 1975 feminist feature about a widow engaged in sex work. Melissa Etheridge will be a presenter as well, discussing the 1928 silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc.

Times listed are for Eastern Time. I've skipped last week and bolded titles ranked in the top 20.

Friday, September 13 - Night Two

  • 8:00 PM Reds (1981) (Bill Maher - #41)
  • 11:30 PM The Parallax View (1974) (Kyle Smith - #47)
  • 1:30 AM Germany, Year Zero (1948) (Alexander Payne - #97)
  • 3:00 AM Gabriel Over the White House (1933) (#30)
  • 4:30 AM The Battleship Potemkin (1925) (#7)
  • 6:00 AM The Fog of War (2003) (#56)

Friday, September 20 - Night Three

  • 8:00 PM Dr. Strangelove (1964) (Spike Lee - #3)
  • 9:45 PM Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (Stacey Abrams - #11)
  • 12:15 AM Hearts and Minds (1974) (Phil Mattingly - #39)
  • 2:15 AM The Lives of Others (2006) (#19)
  • 4:45 AM Born in Flames (1983) (#43)
  • 6:15 AM Bicycle Thieves (1948) (#52)

Friday, September 27 - Night Four

  • 8:00 PM Three Days of the Condor (1975) (Maureen Dowd - #72)
  • 10:15 PM I Am Not Your Negro (2016) (Sara Sidner - #58)
  • 12:00 AM The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) (Melissa Etheridge - #88)
  • 1:30 AM The Last Hurrah (1958) (#57)
  • 3:45 AM Night of the Living Dead (1968) (#35)
  • 5:15 AM The Tin Drum (1979) (#92)

Friday, October 4 - Night Five

  • 8:00 PM The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) (Sally Field - #81)
  • 10:00 PM The Best Man (1964) (Josh Mankiewicz - #69)
  • 12:00 AM I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) (Sec. Lonnie Bunch III - #95)
  • 1:45 AM City Hall (1996) (#80)
  • 3:45 AM Strike (1924) (#25)
  • 5:15 AM High and Low (1963) (#84)

Friday, October 11 - Night Six

  • 8:00 PM A Face in the Crowd (1957) (Barry Levinson - #10)
  • 10:15 PM Wag the Dog (1997) (Diane Lane - #54)
  • 12:00 AM The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) (Abby Phillip - #37)
  • 1:45 AM JFK (1991) (#34)
  • 5:00 AM Z (1969) (#15)
  • 7:15 AM Night and Fog (1956) (#21)

Friday, October 18 - Night Seven

  • 8:00 PM The Birth of a Nation (1915) (Jamelle Bouie - #5)
  • 11:30 PM Lincoln (2012) (Hon. Robert M. Gates - #24)
  • 2:15 AM Malcolm X (1992) (#22)
  • 6:00 AM Primary (1960) (#38)

Friday, October 25 - Night Eight

  • 8:00 PM All the President’s Men (1976) (Steven Spielberg - #4)
  • 10:30 PM Citizen Kane (1941) (Frank Luntz - #33)
  • 12:45 AM Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) (Lizzie Borden - #36)
  • 4:15 AM Olympia Part One: Festival of Nations (1938) (#86)
  • 6:15 AM Olympia Part Two: Beauty of the Festival (1938) (#86)

Friday, November 1 - Night Nine

  • 8:00 PM Being There (1979) (Andy Garcia - #71)
  • 10:30 PM The Candidate (1972) (Kaitlan Collins - #20)
  • 12:30 AM Harlan County USA (1976) (Lee Grant - #12)
  • 2:15 AM The Manchurian Candidate (1962) (#2)
  • 4:00 AM Weekend (1967) (#94)
 

"In the end, we all knew what we knew before, that ABC's goal tonight was to help Kamala Harris, and ABC did help Kamala Harris," Laura Ingraham said on Fox News. That's one way of putting it. Van Jones on CNN found another.

"She whupped him," Jone said. "She just whupped him. ... Kamala Harris did something great for every parent in America. She put the bully in his place."

A certain super gigantic galactic pop star seemed to agree. Moments after the debate, Taylor Swift endorsed Harris, signing her Instagram post "Childless Cat Lady," a reference to a comment made by Trump's running mate, JD Vance.

For more details on the 4chan nature, head over to the Daily Beast for pieces like these:

Debate Transcript: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/harris-trump-presidential-debate-transcript/story?id=113560542

PBS (no longer live) updates: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/live-updates-trump-and-harris-debate-in-philadelphia

 

The incident occurred approximately one block from the stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., as traffic started to build ahead of a 1 p.m. start to the game.

"How things escalated into the situation that they were in handcuffs and being held on the ground with police is mind boggling to me," Rosenhaus told ESPN.

See also:

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