The agony of defeat

As a lifelong Los Angeles Rams fan, yesterday's brutal collapse against the Eagles has to rank as one of the worst sports losses I've ever endured. Sean McVay is the best coach the Rams ever had, and I thought it was literally impossible for a team helmed by him to blow a 19-point lead early in the third quarter. 

But that's precisely what happened. Granted, the Rams had a chance to kick a mid-range field goal to win the game by one with three seconds remaining; however, the Birds got their second blocked FG of the day, and this one was run back by a defensive lineman for an exclamation point TD with no time left on the clock.

No hope for the future

I've been writing for The College Fix for going on a dozen years now, and if there's one thing I've garnered in that time it's that I see very little assurance of any bipartisan understanding/reconciliation in the near future.

Virtually every day I peruse college student newspapers and it's literally (to paraphrase Hawkeye Pierce in MASH's classic "Adam's Ribs") the same stuff, day after day. The folks who run student media are those who will be in control of the mainstream media (MSM) in the years to come. And it's never been more one-sided. 

The effect goes like this: Progressives only get their news from the "mainstream," and as such have little or NO idea about the full picture. People I know still believe the January 6 "insurrection" was the worst thing to happen to the country since the Civil War ... because that's what they see on the MSM. They have NO idea about the real story surrounding several police officers' deaths, or how many "insurrectionists" were allowed in to the Capitol by security, and how Trump had called for peaceful protest, etc.

Meanwhile, right-leaning folks do hear/see more in-depth reporting of (particularly) controversial issues because not only can they not avoid the MSM, they read/watch conservative sources. 

I know several very intelligent people who poo-pooh this fact. The worst of it is they believe conservative media sources are "conspiracy"-laden, and in response to the point that the MSM are progressively biased a common refrain is "The New York Times is biased? CBS News is biased? The Washington Post is biased? These people are professionals!"

So what happens as a result? Both sides refuse to engage each other, instead opting to just throw up a middle finger (or worse). And they hunker down. Friendships are lost, family relationships go sour, and seething resentments and hatreds grow stronger.

What's the solution? I really don't know. I do know that if someone outright refuses to listen to my POV with mockery and dismissal (as is often the case with contemporary progressives with right-leaning folk), you'd better be ready to be called a not-very-nice word.

Hamas activists’ tiresome tactic: Horrible (and criminal) behavior, then free-speech victimhood

After a pro-Hamas activist was recently arrested in Massachusetts for various acts of vandalism, his mommy complained that he’s innocent and just “being punished for his views on Gaza.”

Jermaiah Sawaqed was nabbed over a week ago for allegedly vandalizing the Massachusetts State House, George Washington Monument, and MIT Stata Center, according to WCVB.

Sawaqed, who’s “associated” with the “extreme anti-Zionist” group Direct Action Movement for Palestinian Liberation, was charged with vandalism, destruction of property, vandalizing a war or veterans memorial, and “possession, transportation or use of a hoax device or substance.”

But Sawaqed’s mom said her son “does not belong to any group,” and claimed there is no evidence regarding his relationship with DAMPL. She also said Sawaqed simply was targeted for his online criticisms of Israel.

Hilariously, according to court documents, mommy also was arrested for spitting on a cop during the execution of a search warrant on her (and Sawaqed’s) home. No doubt she’ll assert hocking a loogie on a police officer’s face is protected by the First Amendment.

And why not? This has been pro-Hamas activists’ M.O. for years now.

After all, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, aka CAIR, said it was “an attack on free speech” when the activists who broke into and occupied the Stanford University president’s office were charged with crimes: “Instead of listening to [activists’] demands for justice and accountability, our institutions have chosen repression,” CAIR’s Zahra Billoo said.

At Harvard, one of its librarians justified tearing down posters of children either taken hostage or killed by Hamas with the justification that libraries “are not neutral” and “neutrality creates a chilling effect and facilitates the suppression of dissenting voices by mainstream ones.”

And students at Columbia started a petition to rehire a professor who was dismissed for posting “I’m with Hamas & Hezbollah & Islamic Jihad” on October 8, 2023 — the day after Hamas’ slaughter of over 1,000 Israelis — claiming he was a victim of the “McCarthyist backlash against pro-Palestinian speech.”

(Imagine if a professor had written “I’m with the KKK” or “I’m with the Nazi Party.”)

Read the full article at The College Fix.

Capricorn One

1978's Capricorn One is a perfect example of that era's conspiracy films, in this case a faked manned landing on the planet Mars because budget cuts and shortcuts would have caused the death of the astronauts just weeks into their journey.

After initially agreeing to go along with the charade, the astronauts (James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and OJ Simpson) realize (too late, in my view) there's no way those involved with the conspiracy (likely the CIA, et. al.) can let them live due to the chance they might spill the beans. So, they manage to escape ... but the jet they commandeer has little fuel, and they have to ditch in the desert.

Brolin is the only one of the three who eludes those chasing him. In the meantime, reporter Elliot Gould manages to figure out the conspiracy, and eventually tracks down Brolin's location (with the assistance of "Kojak" star Telly Savalas). 

The end of the film shows Brolin and Gould arriving at a memorial service for the astronauts (the government's cover story was that their ship burned up during re-entry due to heat shield failure) to blow the lid off what arguably is the biggest conspiracy ever. But aside from the astronauts' way-too-late brainchild that they'll be killed regardless, the fact that Gould remained alive long enough to deduce the conspiracy is laughable.

This is because his best friend, who works for NASA and had begun asking questions regarding how some of the radio signals from the Mars launch just didn't add up (i.e. he was on the verge of figuring everything out), was expertly "disappeared" by the government -- so much so that even his landlord claimed he never remembered him.

But government intelligence was ridiculously inept when it came to Gould. First, they mess with his car so that its speed continues to increase while the brakes won't work; Gould somehow manages to evade everything, goes flying off of a drawbridge into a river, and manages to make it out alive. 

Second, someone tries to shoot him while he's investigating part of a cryptic message uttered by Brolin while was playing along with the government's ruse. Gould takes cover -- he just falls down on an open dirt road -- and there's no follow-up shot on the easy target!

Third, government intel operatives bust into Gould's apartment, plant cocaine, and then arrest him for it. But ... he gets bailed out by his editor! Like, why not just kill Gould then and there? Why not break into his apt. and poison, say, his iced tea? 

And to top off the "aw, c'mon"-style hilarity, Savalas and Gould rescue Brolin in a biplane and then manage to elude (and destroy) a pair of heavily armed choppers. Then Gould and Brolin somehow are permitted to drive right up to where the president of the United States is speaking (the astronaut memorial) without any Secret Service intervention. 

Alas, these were the days when Hollywood thrived on government conspiracy endeavors, most especially (or only) when committed by the Right, and portrayed the media as objective, looking-out-for-the-public Samaritans. (See here for how Capricorn One would be created under the Biden administration.)

Alien: Earth -- the premiere

 "Alien: Earth" premiered last night on FX and my reaction: Meh.

Set just two years before the events in 1979's classic Alien, a Weyland-Yutani science vessel (Maginot) is heading towards Earth carrying several quite dangerous alien lifeforms, including the franchise's famous facehugger. According to Wikipedia, the vessel has been out in space for 65 years, meaning it was launched in 2055, just 30 years from now. 

According to Google's AI, in Alien the Nostromo traveled 39 light-years in 10 months, which equates to 47 times the speed of light. Given the Maginot in "Alien: Earth" journeyed to deep space in 2055 and managed to track down several (deadly) alien lifeforms, one can assume that FTL (faster-than-light) tech is already pretty proficient 30 years from today (which is unrealistic, natch).

Interestingly, the Weyland Corporation wasn't yet partnered with Yutani in Prometheus or Alien: Covenant (at least it wasn't explicitly stated, and Weyland himself was present in the former film) which take place 27 and 17 years prior, respectively. However, "Alien: Earth" takes place in 2120, so they could have merged in the interim. (A "xenopedia" page puts the merger in 2099, for what it's worth.)

What's newly established in "Alien: Earth" is that, like the classic film Rollerball, the world essentially is run by four mega-corporations, including Weyland-Yutani. The Prodigy Corporation, founded by "boy genius" Boy Kavalier, has created the first synthetic humans with actual human consciousness. Luckily or unluckily, the Maginot just happens to crash-land in a Prodigy Corp. city.

(Weird how there was no way for all of Earth's advanced year-2120 science to prevent the crash-landing, or at least alter its final resting place away from a heavily populated area. The gaping of the people on rooftops in the Prodigy city was unbelievably stupid -- there is absolutely no warning about an incoming spacecraft??)

Of course, the deadly collection of specimens aboard the Maginot escape upon crashing, and at least two of them seem as deadly as the 'ol xenomorph. 

At this point, however, there's really nothing that stands out (yet) to make "Alien: Earth" decidedly different from what has come before. As rescue teams enter the huge building crashed into by the Maginot, as well as the Maginot itself, it all reminds one of Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3. The synthetics with human consciousness (all pre-teens, by the way!) allow for (unnecessary and annoying) playful banter, as they ultimately are dispatched to assist with securing the Maginot's dangerous cargo. 

The only thing that piqued my interest was the interplay between Prodigy's Boy Kavalier and Weyland-Yutani's CEO over who gets the "rights" to the specimens returned by the Maginot. Other than that, I thought the first two episodes were rather boring -- especially given there was almost as much commercial time as actual show. 

The Best of NuTrek (which ain't saying much)

Star Trek's "Strange New Worlds" certainly is so-called NuTrek's best offering, most especially since it returns to the single-episode method of telling a story. Unfortunately, that's not saying a whole lot given other NuTrek series like "Discovery" and "Picard." 

Still, two episodes of "SNW" really stand out in its first two seasons. The first season finale "The Quality of Mercy" is a sensational tie-in to the original series' (TOS) episode "Balance of Terror." Pre-Kirk Enterprise Captain Pike knows his final destiny (shown in TOS's "The Menagerie"), but in this episode he believes he sees an opportunity to alter it.

However, a Future Pike suddenly appears to show Present Pike what will happen if he follows through with his attempt to change his fate. What else could possibly change other than the fact that I won't be crippled? Present Pike asks.

Suddenly, Present Pike finds himself in the future at a time past the incident which maims him. He is still in command of the Enterprise, and it is just prior to the events that unfold in "Balance of Terror." In that (excellent) TOS episode, Kirk and a Romulan commander play a game of cat-and-mouse following the latter's destruction of several Federation outposts along the Neutral Zone. 

Kirk and his crew ultimately prevail as they cripple the Romulan vessel, and instead of being captured the long-time Earth enemy destroys themselves. Still, before doing so, the Romulan commander (played by Mark Lenard, who also played Spock's father in TOS and "The Next Generation") tells Kirk that in another time and situation they could have been friends.

Present Pike now finds himself at the beginnings of this skirmish, but instead of trying to disable or destroy the Romulans, he attempts to make peace with them (yes, even though they annihilated several Federation outposts!). Enterprise pilot Ortegas now plays the role Stiles had in "Balance of Terror," oozing skepticism about Pike's plan and questioning him at every turn. Kirk still has a major role in this alternative future; he's in command of the Farragut which arrives to assist Enterprise in its efforts to track the Romulan ship.

Such is short-lived, however, as the Romulans severely damage the Farrgut and Kirk, after transporting aboard Enterprise, criticizes Pike's attempts at making peace with their historical nemesis. But Pike is the senior captain, and he persists in his efforts. 

Although the Romulan commander is sympathetic to Pike's appeal, his second-in-command is not, and he clandestinely contacts the Romulan homeworld for assistance. Suddenly, a multitude of Romulan vessels appear in front of the Enterprise and demand its surrender. A Kirk-conceived plan forestalls the Romulan attack, but just briefly. The Romulans end up declaring war on the Federation, reigniting the century-old devastating conflict with Earth. 

Had Pike taken Kirk's approach from "Balance of Terror" (of which Kirk tries to convince Pike in this episode), the Romulans never would have sought backup ... and their destruction would have maintained the (uneasy) peace. 

Speaking of Kirk (competently portrayed by Paul Wesley in "SNW"), he's also part of the second-best episode of the show -- as are the Romulans -- in the second season's "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow." Enterprise security chief La'an (who is a descendant of Khan -- yes, that Khan ... don't ask) sees an oddly dressed person stumbling about the ship's corridors. When she demands to know who he is, he suddenly disappears and there's a strange flash of light throughout the ship. La'an goes to the bridge and lo and behold Capt. Pike is gone and in the captain's chair sits Kirk -- and the Enterprise is not a Federation vessel, but a United Earth ship.  The stranger La'an encountered has altered history somehow.

After a contentious argument with Kirk as La'an is trying to explain what happened to her, the two suddenly find themselves whisked back to 21st century Toronto. La'an realizes just how much the timeline has changed after Kirk informs her he wasn't born in Iowa but in space -- because Earth has long been too devastated by past wars. The pair eventually discover that Romulans from the future have been infiltrating Earth in an attempt to prevent its scientific progress. 

Along the way, La'an realizes she's fallen in love with Kirk, and if they're successful in repairing the timeline this alternate Kirk will never have been. That's precisely what happens, and in the conclusion La'an uses a silly pretext about Kirk's brother to contact the real (Lieutenant) Kirk at his current post. Obviously, Kirk has no idea what had happened, but tells La'an that if/when they meet he'll tell her more (about his brother)  over a drink. After breaking contact, La'an bursts into tears. 

Resurrected

Well, it's been nine years. 

I joined the blogging craze early on in late 2003 with what I called Hube's Cube. That lasted a tad over a year until an early DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) guru came to my school district and (allegedly) eventually discovered my criticisms of his work on the blog. So, in early 2005 some pals started up The Colossus of Rhodey (the name was my idea; obviously it's a play on "Colossus of Rhodes" but given I am a huge Iron Man fan, the last word became "Rhodey" after Tony Stark's best pal Jim Rhodes) for which I quickly became the main contributor.

I joined the staff of The College Fix in early 2014, and I kept Colossus going for another two years. But with my Fix duties taking top priority, I found I neither had the time nor desire to maintain it ... and so it ceased operation in 2016. The fad of blogging had faded by that time anyway as the evolution of the internet rolled on.

Alas, after 11 years of being immersed in college campus (and some lower ed.) craziness, I rediscovered the need to have an outlet for whatever the hell I wanted to rant about. I'm still with The Fix (I love it and the folks with whom I work) and while I certainly appreciate the outlet Bleeding Fool has given me to pontificate about entertainment, I just needed a more intimate spot to go off about whatever.

This (re)effort may be similar in tone to the old Colossus; however, I don't care about reach, hits, shared links, etc. If you're reading, great. If no one does, that's OK too. This is my outlet. For anything. But if you are reading and want to share your thoughts, by all means drop a line in the comments.