Deportation Dilemma

 

Well, this deportation uproar was predictable. Many people predicted it. I predicted it, years ago.

The left — “progressives,” “liberals,” “independents,” all of them voting for Democrat policies — created an illegal-immigrant crisis. Now they complain about the people trying to clean up their mess.

They are like children who, after making a cluttered nightmare of their bedroom, complain that their parents moved toys where they can’t find them while cleaning up the clutter.

Mistakes will be made by ICE. Some people will be detained who shouldn’t be detained. A lot of people will be inconvenienced. What would you expect when the mandate is to deport millions of illegal immigrants? An episode of Law & Order?

 

**

 

Potter Wars

 

I’d like to jump on the J.K. Rowling bandwagon over her takedown of Emma Watson. I’d really like to because I’m on Rowling’s side.

But from what I can tell, Rowling is still full of shit on a host of other liberal issues. 

 

**

 

Sellouts of the Week

 

Bill Burr, Louis C.K., and Dave Chappelle, all of whom decided they don’t have enough money and so decided to go kiss ass in Saudi Arabia.

 

**

 

X Files

 

Milo gave this girl a backhanded compliment, I guess:

 

 

So did I, I guess:

 

 

I thought her photo shoot looked like A.I. handiwork. Turns out I was (gasp!) incorrect. She posted the pic above to prove me wrong.

Not sure about the authenticity of the picture of her below:

 

 

**

 

 

Jonie tells it like it is. You won’t see her selling out in Saudi Arabia.

At least, not yet.

 

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by Harlan Coben

 

Just to give you an idea of how out of touch I am with bestseller lists, I had no clue who Harlan Coben was until movie adaptations of his books became a fixture on Netflix. I enjoyed the film version of The Stranger; some of the others, not so much.

Missing You is my first Coben book, and it’s easy to see why he’s so popular. He tells you just enough about his characters to generate interest in them, then pops them (and us) with a shocking surprise. And another, and another. Or, as the book’s blurb says, he’s the “master of the hook-and-twist.”

The protagonist of Missing You is a female cop who reminded me of Stephanie Plum, sans the goofy slapstick. A single woman with a messy love life, she’s also haunted by the murder of her cop-father. Oh yes, and she has an old flame who vanished without explanation 18 years previous. But now it seems he might be back.

The novel is fast-paced and peppered with sharp dialogue. The twists are frequent and not too implausible. Missing You is the perfect “beach read” — entertaining, but a bit shallow and forgettable.

 

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When I watch horror movies, the scariest villain, to me, is not the monster like a vampire or a werewolf, nor is it the masked slasher like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. It’s also not the crazed serial killer.

The most frightening monster is the angry child in an adult’s body.

This type of monster — I think of “Billy” in the original Black Christmas — is recognizable because, at some level, he or she exists in all of us.

That’s what scares me about this culture war, or civil war, we are now in. I’m seeing millions of citizens behave like angry children: unreasonable, crazed, and often violent. Thanks, Boomers, for unleashing these scary brats on the nation.

The bad news: They are hysterical, and there are a lot of them. The good news: They are not very bright.

I used to think these adult-children just needed a good spanking. Apparently, that’s not enough. A lot of them need to be sent to their rooms (i.e., jail) without dinner.

 

 

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Influencer

 

Synopsis: When a social-media influencer’s boyfriend fails to join her on a trip to Thailand, she makes an ill-advised decision that leads to lies, betrayal, and murder.

 

I had high hopes for Influencer. The opening scenes make use of spectacular Thailand scenery. The plot shows the influence of two of my favorite films, All About Eve and The Talented Mr. Ripley. The villain is telegraphed from the start, but it’s fun watching this person smile, connive, and seduce his or her way into power. And the social-media angle is timely.

Alas and alack, alack and alas, the movie cannot, or will not, sustain a good thing. The last act devolves into either trailer-fodder or lazy screenwriting, take your pick. For some godawful reason, modern thrillers feel they must always wrap up with some sort of physical confrontation, often with a slight-figured young female handily outmuscling a healthy young man. Logic flies right out the window.

But I did enjoy the lead-up to Influencer’s absurd ending. And Thailand never looked better. Release: 2022  Grade: B

 

Cassandra Naud gives her ass all to the cause of ‘Influencer’

 

Would I watch it again? Only the shower scene pictured above.

 

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I think it’s time we drop the word “conspiracy” from conspiracy theories. Too many conspiracy theories turn out to be factual.

But the term has a negative connotation. Sounds like something dreamed up by shadowy cultists in a smoky basement.

Let’s just call them “theories.”

 

**

 

Is Donald Trump pulling MAGA’s leg because Benjamin Netanyahu is pulling Trump’s strings?

Is Israel somehow behind the Charlie Kirk assassination? The Epstein files? Dancing with the Stars?

Conspiracy theories? I have no clue.

 

**

 

Speaking of the Kirk assassination, I admit I am enjoying the mass firings of leftist celebrants, thanks to doxing on sites like X.

On one hand, it’s a satisfying case of giving them a taste of their own medicine.

On the other hand, what comes next if both sides do nothing but seek vengeance? Civil war? Or is that a conspiracy theory?

My head spins.

 

**

 

 

Speaking of X, some poster is catching flak for complaining about creeps filming scantily clad chicks at water parks. He did this by posting a video of scantily clad chicks at a water park.

I suppose I will catch flak for posting pics from his pics about creeps taking pics.

But she does have a nice ass. It’s her fault for showing us her bare ass at a water park.

 

Since we’re on the topic of female rear ends, let’s check in with Morgan (top) and Lauren (bottom) in the backyard of the Big Brother house:

 

 

Let’s check in a bit closer:

 

 

THE END

 

 

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Turning Point?

 

 

This woman scares me. And I’m on her side.

 

*

 

I was not a big fan of Charlie Kirk. I was on his team politically, but personally there seemed to be something vaguely off-putting about him. He reminded me of those earnest Mormons who come to your door hoping to convert you. I don’t exactly dislike them, but I wonder how they can seem so certain about everything.

But Kirk’s murder was shocking. I can’t help but believe this is some sort of “turning point” in the culture wars. We do indeed live in interesting times — but not in a good way.

 

*

 

Kash Patel — I’ve wondered why this guy has such ardent supporters, like podcaster Tim Pool. From the Epstein files to his early bungling of the Kirk-killer manhunt, he doesn’t inspire much confidence. Plus, he has a perpetual deer-in-the-headlights look:

 

 

Please prove me wrong, Patel.

 

*

 

The shooting of Kirk made me angry. I don’t want revenge on leftists in the streets. I do want a strong response from Trump. I have no faith in our hapless congressmen and congresswomen.

I hate to say this, but this seems like civil war and, as the saying goes, all’s fair in love and war. So go ahead and bend some rules, Donald; even break them, if you have to. It’s what the left does.

 

*

 

The gleeful celebrations by leftists on social media —

If I’m honest, there were times the past five years when I’ve wished Joe Biden dead. I thought if he was killed, or just died, the world would be better off. I think this is human nature. So, I can’t get too worked up over the leftists and their tasteless, often odious, celebrations.

But I’d like to think that those feelings are temporary, and that they won’t transform into something tangible. But obviously, sometimes they do.

 

*

 

“Let’s just admit that both sides are guilty of this.” No, let’s not. There are exceptions, but 90 percent of political violence comes from one side, and it’s not the right.

And let’s not forget the non-political violence that stems from Democrat policies (below).

 

 

 

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Pet Peeve

 

It’s a slow news week (not really) so I thought I’d take the opportunity to vent about a pet peeve.

People I admire and/or respect keep committing this sin. These people are usually well-educated. They are famous, published writers, or acclaimed public speakers. People who ought to know better do this in print, they do this on TV, they do it on social media.

They say “unconsciously” when they mean “subconsciously.”

I rarely see this mistake the other way around.

I am posting the explanation below, taken from a grammar and English usage site:

 

grouchyeditor.com conscious

 

Please get it fucking right.

You’re welcome.

There is nothing approaching the importance of this matter in the news this week. That completes the “Weekly Review.”

 

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If I wrote the headline about the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce engagement:

 

Dumb Jock Lands Mid-Looking Feminazi

 

**

 

 

In theory, I should love The Thursday Murder Club. The novel is a “cozy” mystery, with elderly protagonists, and I dig cozy mysteries by Agatha Christie with older heroes like Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. I also enjoy the 1960s Miss Marple flicks with Margaret Rutherford.

But I was bored by Thursday the book and I was bored by the Netflix adaptation.

Being an old person doesn’t automatically make you interesting. Being Pierce Brosnan or Helen Mirren doesn’t mean you get to play interesting characters.

If you subscribe to the school of comedy in which older people cursing — or expressing an interest in sex — strikes you as hilarious, this movie is for you. I call it the “oldsters acting like teenagers” genre. That sort of thing was mildly amusing in 1971, when Ruth Gordon starred in Harold and Maude. Today, it’s an uninspired cliché.

I watched Thursday with cautious optimism. I thought British star power might overcome a weak story. After 20 minutes the movie became background noise as my thoughts drifted elsewhere. After 45 minutes I turned it off.

 

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Until Dawn

Settle down, kids, no nudity in this movie

 

Until Dawn opens with an overhead drone shot looking down on a forest as a vehicle moves along a lonely road. Inside the car is a group of five young people: three girls and two guys. They stop at a gas station, where an older man at the cash register creeps out one of the girls. Seems somehow … familiar.

How many horror movies have opened this same way?

Sigh. That opening should have warned me about the rest of this film, in which our young heroes discover something is going to kill them. And kill them again. And again. You know, like in Groundhog Day or, more apropos of the genre, Happy Death Day.

The plot, such as it is, checks a number of woke boxes: The alpha male turns cowardly; the beta male turns heroic; the final girl has girl-boss attributes and no romantic interest in the boys — that would no doubt be too heteronormative. Instead, her main interest is her sister.

The movie is well produced, competently directed, and doesn’t embarrass any members of the cast. There are a few effective moments. Lots of jump scares, lots of gore. 

But how many times do we need to see this kind of crap?

Release: 2025  Grade: D

 

Would I watch it again? I had a difficult time watching it once.

 

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I’ve been watching “Pop Culture Crisis” on YouTube, and I feel a bit sorry for the hosts.

When you are conservatives covering pop culture, which these hosts are, there must be no end to the hair-pulling, eye-bulging, and teeth-gnashing over the tidal waves of Twitter bile, TikTok nonsense, and constant streams of “woke” product from the progressive entertainment machine.

Somehow, Millennial Brett Dasovic and Gen Z’s Mary Morgan manage. They don’t suck celebrity ass, and they pepper plenty of homespun wisdom atop the nonstop crap they cover.

 

They do have weaknesses, of course.

Dasovic —

Good: Affable and amusing.

Bad: Terrible taste in movies and TV. His idea of good television:  a 25-year-old CBS police procedural. His idea of bad television: Kenneth Branagh’s (superb) Wallander.

 

Morgan —

Good: For someone so young, she’s very good at calling out bullshit.

Bad: She is alarmingly ignorant of anything (or anyone) pop-culture-related prior to the year of her birth.

 

**

 

It’s rare to see Morgan laugh out loud. But curiously, suspiciously, she lost it when a woman in the clip below accused a dude of having a small penis. That’s not very Christian of you, Mary.

 

We’ll give her a pass, since she does have quite the perky behind in this (fake?) clip:

 

 

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