Strange Planet
Posted By: Hazymac, 7/7/2026 8:17:44 AM
Last night TCM played the dystopian thriller Soylent Green (1973), starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson. It was Robinson’s last film. He was dying of cancer during the filming and Heston credited him with the success of the film. Robinson played his character’s death scene in the face of his own “true and imminent death,” as Heston subsequently wrote. Rereading Gulliver’s Travels, I’ve been thinking about Heston’s role as surviving astronaut George Taylor in Planet of the Apes (1968). As Taylor crash lands on a strange planet, the film performs a variation on Part IV of Gulliver’s Travels. In Part IV Gulliver visits the land of the Houyhnhnms.
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Strange Planet
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Last night TCM played the dystopian thriller Soylent Green (1973), starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson. It was Robinson’s last film. He was dying of cancer during the filming and Heston credited him with the success of the film. Robinson played his character’s death scene in the face of his own “true and imminent death,” as Heston subsequently wrote.
Rereading Gulliver’s Travels, I’ve been thinking about Heston’s role as surviving astronaut George Taylor in Planet of the Apes (1968). As Taylor crash lands on a strange planet, the film performs a variation on Part IV of Gulliver’s Travels. In Part IV Gulliver visits the land of the Houyhnhnms.
A family paying the electric bill doesn't care how noble a subsidy sounds in Washington. They care whether the lights stay on, the furnace runs, the air conditioner works, and the bill leaves enough money for groceries.
President Donald Trump's tax law set July 4, 2026, as the deadline ending federal tax credit subsidies for new wind and solar projects not already under construction. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright called the deadline the end of roughly 35 years of federal support for wind and solar, and he noted that in 2025 they comprised about 3% of total U.S. primary energy consumption. From Just the News:
We Should All Sing Louis Armstrong
6 replies
Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives and Hot Sevens began turning 100 last year. An epochal centennial in American music! These 70-plus tracks, laid down between 1925 and 1928, are the source of so much of what was to come and remain a delight to the ear to this day. Woody Allen said that Armstrong’s “Potato Head Blues” was one of the reasons life is worth living. “Melancholy Blues” is included on the Voyager Golden Record launched into space in 1977.
Armstrong spanned the 20th century with his trumpet playing, his singing, and his warm and welcoming personality. No other jazz musician had more radio hits than Armstrong, hits heard during
The Week in Pictures: Sophia and the 4th
4 replies
Move over Sydney Sweeney: America has a new heroine perfectly fitted to the July 4 semiquincentennial today: She is Sophie Cunningham, Sophie being an adaptation of sophia, the ancient Greek word for wisdom. And sort of like Helen of Troy, our Sophie has launched a thousand memes. So as we celebrate today the sophia of our founding, let Sophie help point the way!
I’m sure you don’t, but I’ll give you one anyway.
Michelle Obama has spent years selling herself as America's warm, approachable former first lady. Remember the whole “when they go low, we go high” thing? We knew then it was just an empty slogan, because whenever she had a chance to prove she’s the bigger person, she just proved the opposite.
According to a Daily Mail report, Barack Obama’s wife personally torpedoed Cheryl Hines' return to the small screen when Larry David's new HBO series, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America, began casting. The show premiered last week. Higher Ground, the production company
Unprecedented Heat Wave?
27 replies
More ignorance from the New York Times: “Without Climate Change, U.S. Heat Wave Called ‘Virtually Impossible.”
Heat and humidity as severe, prolonged and far-reaching as this week’s would have been “virtually impossible” in the Northeast and eastern Canada before humans began warming the planet, a team of scientists said on Friday.
***
To estimate how much climate change increased the likelihood of this week’s sweltering conditions, the scientists analyzed records of a measurement of heat stress called “wet bulb globe temperature,” a figure that accounts for humidity, wind and direct sunlight. Given that the heat wave is still unfolding, the researchers combined weather observations and forecast data.
Of course they did.
Can Europe Be Saved?
16 replies
As a result of third-world migration–some say, invasion–much of Western Europe is no longer recognizable. Mass third-world immigration is unpopular nearly everywhere, but European elites, being unhappy with their populaces, seem determined to replace them.
Campaigners including Eva Vlaardingerbroek and Martin Sellner have proposed the Save Europe Act, which you can read about here. The proposal strikes me as entirely reasonable. It petitions the European Union to exercise its right of initiative to propose legislation that would declare a moratorium on non-European, non-Western immigration; fundamentally reform EU migration and asylum systems; ensure and accelerate the return of illegal migrants; establish an EU-wide framework to incentivize voluntary remigration; and remove
Pirro Steamrolls Lame Reporters Who Tried
to Minimize Vandalism at the National
Mall Reflecting Pool 5 replies
to Minimize Vandalism at the National
Mall Reflecting Pool 5 replies
One of the many ways Democrats continue to prove how pathetic they’ve become, and how they have no ideas to better the lives of regular Americans, is their endless attempts to scandalize Trump administration projects intended to repair and beautify the nation’s capital.
It baffles me that cleaning up Columbus Circle, outside the major D.C. travel hub, Union Station, is somehow controversial. Democrats would rather the fountain was still covered in pro-Hamas graffiti and didn’t, you know, actually work.
They’ve really worked themselves into a lather over Trump’s actions to reseal the bottom of the iconic Reflecting Pool and fix leaks.
Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico was caught on video describing a “Christofascism movement” as he criticized legislation restricting gender-affirming care for transgender minors and the state’s abortion law.
During an appearance on Texas Impact’s Weekly Witness, Talarico argued that legislation restricting gender-affirming care for transgender minors and Texas’s abortion ban stemmed from what he called a “Christofascism movement.” (X) “You saw it in the anti-LGBTQ legislation, including the bill that would have denied gender-affirming health care to trans children,” Talarico said. “And then, of course, famously, infamously, we saw it last session with the most extreme abortion ban in the country. All of these ideologies stem from this Christofascism movement.”
It’s a sign of what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the rest of us are up against that the Miami area’s PBS station, WLRN, headlined its story about Florida’s new designation of Antifa and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as terrorist groups this way: “DeSantis: Florida set to label Muslim civil rights nonprofit a terrorist group under new law.”
The obvious intent of that headline is to give WLRN’s remaining handful of readers, who are no doubt all already hardcore leftists, the impression that DeSantis, drunk on “Islamophobia” and right-wing “hate,” is gratuitously naming an innocent, and indeed, noble, civil rights organization a terrorist group just because it’s non-Christian
Today, when I enter a public building or a store where the lighting is dim, I am immediately transported to the depressing life we lived under communist rule. The immediate reaction is to exit the building.
My entire childhood, grandma’s house, six miles from the biggest refinery in the south, was illuminated by an anemic oil lamp. Years later, their village finally got electricity. A 40 W bulb was dangling from the ceiling, too weak and inefficient to even light up grandma’s small bedroom. Things and people inside looked yellow and sickly.
The six-mile road from the city to the village remained a gravel road until the communists were dethroned.
Who are the so-called Democratic Socialists of America and their fellow travelers?
While it is difficult to generalize, many current and would-be socialist officeholders share several common traits.
Most of them represent a relatively small slice of American life. Almost all are urban, with little knowledge of small-town or rural existence.
Their world is subways, buses, high-rises, Uber, taxis, and proximity to corporate, academic, and financial institutions—yet often with little understanding of where their food, fuel, water, or everyday goods originate, or where their waste and sewage ultimately go.
Their worldview is shaped more by consumption than production, as though goods simply arrive in and depart from cities on autopilot.
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The View co-host Sunny Hostin has complained that seeing American flags in her community makes her feel “unsafe.”
During Monday’s episode of the flagship ABC political talk show, Hostin weighed in on the July 4th march by the white nationalist group Patriot Front.
Hostin ranted:
You know, I think unfortunately in this country, people have different lived experiences. So while some may have a lived experience like this, it is the best country in the world. (Snip) When I walk into a community and I see American flags all over the community and I suddenly feel unsafe
The controversial group Patriot Front always picks very high-profile moments to crawl out from under its rock and make a big splash. You hardly see these masked guys any other time of the year, but when a big event is underway, you can always count on them showing up and giving the mainstream media the headlines it needs to remind the country, and the world, how “systemically racist” America is and how dangerous “white men” are to precious democracy.This is just one of the reasons why so many people believe Patriot Front is an “SPLC-style” stunt. It feels very well-timed and performative, and as you likely know, it’s been proven
James Gunn was supposed to revamp and revitalize DC Studios at Warner Bros. (snip) Friday grosses dropped an astonishing 80.4% from opening day on June 26 to just $3.6 million. Saturday estimates are for just $2.6 million, another 77% drop, despite the Independence Day holiday. (snip) Lazy, uninteresting stories made by people who obviously despise their audiences is a recipe for disaster. That's exactly what "Supergirl" is, a disaster.
Former US comptroller calls on Trump,
Congress, all Americans to address nearly
$40T national debt 20 replies
Congress, all Americans to address nearly
$40T national debt 20 replies
Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker is joining the call for President Trump, Congress – and essentially all Americans – to reign in the national debt that is now nearing $40 trillion, saying its creating an inevitable collapse of the U.S. economy that will ultimately lead to a global depression.
"One of the things that we clearly have to have is we need a constitutional amendment, because only a constitutional amendment can bind the Congress to return to fiscal sanity and sustainability," Walker said last week on the Just the News, No Noise TV show.
A mad horde of teens pummeled a pair of South Carolina cops in a wild brawl after the officers tried to break up a dangerous Fourth of July celebration that included gunshots and fireworks launched at cars, police said.
The shocking attack unfolded when officers attempted to shut down an Independence Day celebration in the North Charleston nabe of Chicora-Cherokee around 8:30 p.m., the North Charleston Police Department said.
“We need some help,” North Charleston Police Chief Ron Camacho pleaded with the public. “We really do. We need some help from the community. Because stuff like this is getting dangerous.”
As we've been reporting, most Americans are all-in, celebrating and enjoying America 250. We recognize the great gift we have been given with this nation and the principles it espouses. But even as celebrations are ongoing, you see folks on the left going all-in to attack it because of their Trump hatred or their hatred of America in general. We saw the Mayor of New York City deliver an ugly speech, for example. That was taken down with pointed responses from people like Elon Musk and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But if there was a real sign of how far the Democrats have gone off the leftist cliff,
Senator Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized for three weeks. His wife, Elaine Chao, appeared in China just days after his hospitalization to meet with high-ranking Chinese officials. The trip was planned before Mitch’s hospitalization. Desiree Townsend, an independent journalist who works on Capitol Hill, expressed concerns about national security. “If Senator McConnell has been unable to independently perform his duties, what safeguards exist to ensure classified intelligence briefings, defense appropriations information, or other sensitive congressional matters could not be accessed, discussed, or shared by individuals operating behind the scenes? And given the timing of Chao’s meeting with China’s vice president, what exactly was discussed?"
The heat was Frank-ly unbearable.
A semi-truck leaked a whopping 40,000 pounds of sticky Frank’s RedHot sauce onto an Ohio highway amid a brutal heatwave last week.
The truck carrying loads of the popular condiment began leaking while traveling north on Interstate 71 in Delaware County on Thursday, leaving a trail of the spicy sauce on the roadbed before its driver realized, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
The driver eventually pulled into a truck stop as fire crews followed the trail of the bright-red mystery fluid to find its source.
“Our crews were out on the highway trying to track it down and actually were able to follow the trail to the Pilot,”
In yet another desperate power grab, radical Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom is warning that anyone who dares help President Trump protect election integrity in California will be prosecuted.
He’s now moving forward with legislation to make it a FELONY to seize ballots before they’ve been certified by his hand-picked state and county officials.
This is the same Gavin Newsom who has spent years resisting basic election security while California’s system remains wide open to abuse.
In a video statement posted on social media, Newsom warned that anyone who assists President Donald Trump in what he described as interference with California’s elections would face prosecution under state law.
Graham Platner Reflecting on ‘Path Forward’
After Latest Bombshell Sexual Assault Allegation 12 replies
After Latest Bombshell Sexual Assault Allegation 12 replies
Graham Platner, the scandal-plagued progressive military veteran, said Monday he is reflecting on the best path forward for his Maine Senate campaign after another allegation of sexual misconduct was raised against the troubled Democrat.
Platner’s announcement comes after he canceled several events over the July 4 weekend as rumors spread that a “very damaging allegation” would be coming out against the already troubled candidate.
On Monday, Politico reported on allegations made by Platner’s former girlfriend that he “forced
Another front in the language war that Muslims are fighting everywhere can be found here: a Muslim police officer is now enraged that the terms “Islamist” and “jihadist” are being used to label terrorists. “U.K. Muslim Police Association Urged End to ‘Islamist’ and ‘Jihadist’ Labels,” by Jules Gomes, Middle East Forum, June 25, 2026:
Britain’s official representative body for Muslim police officers has sparked outrage after a policy paper published on its website proposed scrapping terms like “Islamist” and “jihadist” to label “terrorists with Islamic affiliations.”
The National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) has deleted the 39-page paper titled “From Past Prejudices to Present Policies: Confronting anti-Muslim hatred and Promoting Human Rights,”
Students will no longer be able to take out federal loans to pay for degree programs that fail to provide them a return on investment, thanks to a new federal policy that went into effect on July 1.
And it’s about time.
It’s a response to a shocking fact: Graduates of more than 800 college programs across the country — including at institutions like the University of South California and New York City’s New School — make less than the average high-school grad four years after getting a degree, despite all that time, effort and tuition money.
Now the American government will have no part in propping up degree programs