Iran Keeps Simmering
Juan Cole points out that the protests have gone truly national. The movement can no longer be considered even remotely a Tehran-only isolated phenomenon.
Goin' Old School
Waaaaay back in the day I did a ranty-style film column. Had the gig continued, one of the regular features would have been me spotlighting young actors and actresses I thought had a future (the first one to receive my golden touch was Tara Subkoff, who hasn't exactly set the world on fire as a performer -- but by choice, not because she lacked the talent.)
Since my second-favorite House episode is on right now I thought I'd revive the feature and give a little attention to another actress who, in my extremely important and insightful opinion, has greatness in her: Katheryn Winnick.
Sure, she's rather stunningly beautiful. She's pulled off the CSI trifecta, appearing in all three shows. And (unbeknownst to me until I hit her IMDB page) she's a Torontonian, which gets her bonus points. It also looks like she's having a good run career-wise right now, scoring a big role in Paul Giamatti's Uncle Vanya riff Cold Souls as well as in the upcoming PDK adaptation Radio Free Albemuth.
But mainly what she has, and which screams through in One Day, One Room, is a ridiculous level of intensity. It might be her black belt background, as there's a definite level of physicality in her acting style that, frankly, is really rare in women (and which leads me to think there's some A-list, Sarah Connor-esque action roles in her future if she wants them), but whatever Winnick's secret weapon is, it leaps off the screen.
She's gorgeous, she's talented, and she makes an impression. In Hollywood, that's a formula for big-time success.
McNair
Lot of stuff got lost in the shuffle when my net access was limited, but I should say something at least about the murder of Steve McNair. Guy was a former co-MVP, after all.
Which reminds me of the stupidest thing about Limbaugh's short, unlamented stint as a sports commentator. When he ragged on McNabb as some sort of media affirmative action case, I'm still amazed that no one rebutted his bullshit with two words: Steve. McNair. McNair was a Pro Bowler, had nearly single-handedly led the Titans to a Super Bowl win, and yet never got mentioned among the best QBs in the game when Limbaugh publicly embarrassed himself (and got himself sacked as a football commentator).
The fact that McNair was co-MVP, with Peyton, later that year was sweet justice.
Yay!
I can make things on the innerwebs again.
By the way, Bell is apparently fully staffed by fucktards who don't have two working brain cells to rub together.
Hey? D'oh!
Hedo Turkoglu spurned the Blazers to come join the Raptors. Yay home town sporting club!
I've seen a lot of discussion about whether it's a good move for the team or not and whether they overpaid for a good-but-not-great complementary player (it essentially costs them the services of Shawn Marion, Anthony Parker and Carlos Delfino, although there's no guarantee they would have re-signed any of those guys anyway) but one important factor I haven't seen mentioned is whether it makes Chris Bosh more likely to stay when his contract is up next year.
Having Hedo at small forward is a definite talent upgrade for the roster, but it also sends a pretty strong statement to Bosh that management is committed to building a winner around him. Hedo developed a nice 'clutch' reputation in the postseason with Orlando, and he now has that championship aura (even though the Magic didn't actually, y'know, win a championship, but that's neither here nor there.) And Turkoglu has to know that coming to Toronto means he won't be the main guy on offense, and will be fitting in with Bargnani as one of Bosh's wingmen, so there shouldn't be chemistry issues in terms of who gets touches (at least not between Bosh and Turk... between Turk and Bargny, however -- two guys with similar skill sets -- is another question, although Hedo seemed to co-exist with Rashard Lewis just fine last year.)
This isn't just a free agent signing, it's the opening salvo in Colangelo's contract negotiation with Bosh. And it's a good one.
South of South of the Border
President Zelaya should be getting close to landing in Honduras right about now, accompanied by the president of the UN General Assembly.
Lousy day to be without internet access at home (I'm at a cafe right now), sincce God knows the weekend corporate media probably aren't going to say a damn thing about what happens.
More Iranian Rumblings
Booman does a good job of explaining why Rafsanjani's successful wooing of the clergy at Qom is so potentially dangerous to Ahmadinejad's regime:
This is a true ideological crisis for the Revolution. The government can crack down on dissenters of all stripes, but they can't very well declare that a government based on the Guardianship of the Clergy can crack down on the most esteemed clergy in the country. They can't issue some edict that will change the very nature of Shi'a Islam so that the people no longer show deference to their own Grand Ayatollahs.
Yet, the government still maintains all the levers of coercion. The question is: will the rank-and-file members of the armed services, Revolutionary Guard, and Intelligence Services obey the Supreme Leader when he is opposed by a religious establishment that has much greater religious legitimacy?
It took about two years for things to build up enough to topple the Shah. I have a feeling it won't take quite as long this time.
New Coup Math
Al points out the insanity involved in the Honduras coup regime's decision to cut ties with the OAS:
The Honduras coup’s behavior virtually assures that come Monday, the US government will define it as a “military coup,” triggering a cut off of US aid, joining the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, PetroCaribe, the UN and the rest of the world in withdrawing economic support for the coup regime. (The US had already put all funds on "pause" this week, so the boycott has already begun and merely awaits formal moves to become permanent.)
This is very significant because of Honduras’ annual $3.5 billion budget, $2.3 billion – 65 percent - comes from those foreign sources.
What's a couple of billion dollars when you're trying to defend the country's democracy from the depravations of its citizens?
Giordano speculates that the coup might try to fill the budget shortfall with money from a Cuban ex-pat network better known for arms dealing, drug pushing and occasional acts of terrorism.
In other words, there's a decent chance Honduras is on its way to becoming something closer to Somalia than Iran.
Welcome to Obama's first real foreign policy crisis.
Dammit!
Being teeveeless and innerwebsless at home for the moment, I missed this awesomely funny routine from the Glenn Beck Half-Sane Comedy Hour.
Heh heh. Another al Qaeda attack would be good for America. Top that one, Colbert!
You'll notice how Beck has it both ways too with his "Osama's not that stupid" remark. Either there'll be another attack because Obama is soft, or there won't be another another attack because Obama is soft. bin Laden is too smart to exploit our vulnerability because that would... errr... clue us in to our vulnerability. Or something. It's not really about the logic so much as making sure no matter what happens in reality, it fits into the Obamuslimarxist storyline.
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