TESTING LIMITS of LOYALTY

The gunmetal cinematography and sleek backgrounds plunge us so quickly into “Conspiracy Central” that we immediately assume the worst of every London police officer, judge and cabinet minister.

My cinematic recommendation this morning is Closed Circuit (2013).

Full disclosure: I may be one of only eight people that saw the film.

But, I loved it!

For the majority of Closed Circuit, the movie creates the exact taut mystery of governmental corruption and legal system loopholes that I greatly enjoy.

The plotting kept me riveted in watching each new secret reveal itself.

A romance between lawyers Martin Rose (Eric Bana) and Claudia Simmons-Howe (Rebecca Hall) rears its head during an ill-advised moment that belittles the dastardly deeds that come beforehand…can’t and won’t say a tad more.

You see, that the British judicial system allows evidence that poses a threat to national security [War on Terror] to be hidden from NOT only the public but the defendant and his attorney as well.

So, while an open trial is conducted for the cameras, a separate one is held behind closed doors with only the prosecutor, judge and “special advocate” for the Defense.

The case at hand concerns one of the highest-profile terrorist attacks in British history. One-hundred and twenty people lost their lives when a suicide bomber engaged an explosion on a crowded street.

The twists and turns are expertly crafted, and the cast is 5-stars.

Bana and Hall’s idealistic heroes prove equal to the task set forth by a deliciously cunning bit of villainy with a disarming smile from James Broadbent‘s memorable Attorney General [who steals the movie!]…

OVER 30 MILLION in SIX WEEKS

Federal guidelines on “social distancing,” expiring today, will NOT be renewed.

Dozens of bodies were found decomposing in trucks outside a Brooklyn funeral home.

Despite trillions of dollars in stimulus spending, 3.8 million more American workers filed jobless claims last week.

That said, many state agencies [especially here on the Prairie, with 40-plus years of outdated equipment/computer capability] still find themselves overwhelmed by the flood of claims, leaving perhaps millions with dwindling resources to pay the rent or put food on the table.

Coping with relief legislation that provides an additional $600 a week in benefits has created additional strains on the respective state systems.

Upgrading technology that process claims has NEVER been a priority, state labor department officials are now yelling.

The consequences are now materializing…

Hundreds of thousands of Americans are still waiting to receive unemployment payments !!! at a time when many are falling behind on bills and can’t quickly find new jobs due to widespread business shutdowns.

Translation: These aforementioned administrative problems mean the official tally of 30-plus million initial claims is almost certainly an undercount.

I guess a V strapped recovery is off the table?!!??!

SEEN the HERMIT KINGDOM’S LEADER?

Where is Carrot Top‘s “beautiful friend?”

The conspicuous absence of North Korea’s third-generation leader, Kim Jong-un, has ignited fresh debate over a question that’s ALL but unmentionable inside the country: Who could replace him?

Kim, 36 years old, doesn’t appear to have launched any formal grooming for his successor before his unexplained absence.

His health status has come into question after he skipped an April 15th ceremony and hasn’t reappeared publicly since.

South Korea’s government, which closely monitors the North, claims to know his current whereabouts without elaborating and has repeatedly asserted he is alive.

Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, 32, a confidante who was recently reinstated to the country’s Politburo, the top decision-making body, may be in play. She has been her brother’s mouthpiece of late.

The beginning of a chaotic and painful process of transformation for North Korea???

My early suggestion would be Kim Jong Thin.

COVID-19 PASSES VIETNAM

More than 1,045,300 people in the United States have been infected with the Coronavirus and at least 60,900 have died, according to a New York Times database.

The outbreak in this country, which now has the highest number of known cases in the world, has exploded in less than two months.

And the economy was reported to have shrunk by nearly 5%.

Yet…

The White House yesterday declared its response to the crisis “a great success story.”

“We think we really have crossed a big boundary and much better days are ahead,”  Trump said at a televised meeting at the White House with business leaders.

In his revised history of the pandemic that the Orange Whale and his cabal offered, his actions were NOT belated and inadequate, but bold and effective.

“We did all the right moves,” Trump said. “If we didn’t do what we did, you would have had a million people die, maybe more, maybe two million people die.”

Enter Ichabod…

Jared “Ichabod” Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and “senior adviser” who has been overseeing efforts to provide medical equipment to states hit hard [excuse me?!!!!!!!]by the Coronavirus, presented a similarly revisionist account of the administration’s record on state television with the FOX deplorable associates.

“We’re on the other side of the medical aspect of this, and I think that we’ve achieved all the different milestones that are needed,” Ichabod said.

“The federal government rose to the challenge, and this is a great success story. And I think that that’s really, you know, what needs to be told.”

Please present your immunity cards as you enter the Alternate Universe…

NOT that any of us need a reminder, the reported death toll from the virus in the United States topped 60,000 represents more killed in less than seven weeks than American troops killed in major combat in Vietnam.

The death toll has ALREADY reached where it was expected to be in August, by the most respected medical/healthcare computer models.

Something that Cadet Bonespurs and Private Ichabod know z-e-r-o about!!!!!!!!!!!

DOWN 4.8%…no surprise

US Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced in the economy, fell at a 4.8%  rate in the first quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said about an hour ago.

That is the first decline since 2014, and the worst quarterly contraction ! since the country was in a deep recession more than a decade ago.

I think we’d ALL be naive to think it’s NOT going to get worse in the coming weeks.

Trump cut taxes and deregulated [which he’s still attempting to do] to boost the economy unnecessarily during a time of growth.

These measures put the our economy in a more precarious situation should a crisis hit.

Bam, America…

“Moscow Mitch” McConnell (R-KY) tells states to go bankrupt but can’t wait to bail out cruise lines.

More than 24 Million job losses so far.
Almost 60,000 dead so far.
Many [so far an unknown number] companies permanently shuttered.

The extent to which people of Planet Earth long for a return to “normal” is puzzling to me.

Your ‘normal’ ain’t my normal…that I can guarantee, based on the 8 out of every 10 persons I’ve know, or been in contact with over my lifetime.

It has ALWAYS seemed to me that consumer spending without realistic ability to afford such spending should be deeply discounted when calculating “growth.”

Most American citizens have less than $500 in their banking account.

And, cowboys and cowgals, once we ALL get our COVID-19 vaccine shots – whenever that may be – the person in the black hat standing on the corner is going to be the bill collector.

NOT just for John and Jane Q. Citizen, but the biggest tab of ALL will be for Uncle Sam himself!  

BOLLYWOOD to HOLLYWOOD, RIP

Irrfan Khan, 53, died earlier today, local time, in a Mumbai hospital.

Khan was one of my favorite character actors over the span of the last fifteen years.

Khan’s death was confirmed by a spokesman; he had been battling cancer.

He found critical and commercial success later in life, with roles in movies like “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Life of Pi,” “The Namesake,” and “A Mighty Heart.”

MEAT before TESTING!!!

So meat is critical but testing is NOT?

The Orange Whale, NOT wanting any disruption of the ingredients that go into his double quarter-pounders with cheese, declared yesterday meat processing plants “critical infrastructure,” in an effort to ensure that facilities around the country remained open !!!? as the government tried to prevent looming shortages of pork, chicken and other products as a result of the Coronavirus.

This action comes as meat plants around the country [currently the hottest clusters of outbreak of the virus!] have turned into Coronavirus hot spots, sickening thousands of workers, and killing multiple people.

Their environment(s) are breeding grounds for Covid-19.

The folks that I personally know within the ranching/farming communities do NOT trust this administration.

In an executive order issued late yesterday, Trump said recent closures of meat processing facilities “threaten the continued functioning of the national meat and poultry supply chain, undermining critical infrastructure during the national emergency.”

Hey, Donnie, so does lack of testing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t know about you, but the old Lobsterman wants to see The Weave tour a few of the slaughter-houses and/or meat-processing plants across the Prairie…experience the smell from about 8+ miles away to walking through the endless streams of blood and animal waste inside these locations.

State and local  authorities, who want to shut down these dangerous environments – in most cases – can now be overruled !!! by this blanket Defense Production Act cover.

God, I love the smell of napalm in the morning!

PASTOR ENDANGERS HIS FLOCK!

Yep, he’s special!

Pastor Mike Pence, aunts and uncles.

The pastor has been exposed!!!!!!!!!!!!

…as he exposed everyone else.

The images defy gravity, as well as any basic logic.

The head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force prancing !!! around the Mayo Clinic yesterday…

Pastor Pence stood out as the only person with his face uncovered as he toured the virology laboratory’s labeling area and spoke to a clinic staff member who had recovered from the Coronavirus; the pastor also participated in a round table with local officials and Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, who were ALL wearing masks!!!

This current cabal at the White House needs to be driven into the northern limits of Somerset County in Maine…dropped off; stripped to waist; and, lathered in maple syrup.

LUKE’S GOSPEL

One line of the film’s dialogue from the Captain (Strother Martin) is often quoted: “What we’ve got here is…failure to communicate.”

With this classic, vivid film, produced during a decade in which protest against established powers was a key theme, we get one of the best performances from the career of the late great Paul Newman.

Cool Hand Luke (1967) is the moving character study of a non-conformist, anti-hero loner who bullheadedly resists authority and the Establishment.

The main character Luke (played by Newman) was inspired by real-life convicted safecracker Donald Graham Garrison.

Rich southern religious symbolism, references and imagery are deeply embedded within the narrative, with some critics, at the time, arguing that Luke represents a modern-day, messianic Christ figure who ministers to a group of disciples and refuses to give up under oppression.

After his arrest, Luke is placed in an isolated environment – a chain-gang farm – with strict rules, guards, and regimentation, leading to where his fiercely individualistic spirit immediately clashes with authorities wearing dark expansive sun glasses…

How about some scrambled eggs this morning?

ONLINE PORTAL CRASHED

Within seconds after a $310 billion aid program for small companies opened for business yesterday, the online portal for submitting applications crashed!!!!!!

Much to the frustration of bankers around the country who were trying, and failing, to apply on behalf of desperate clients.

Rob Nichols, the chief executive of the American Bankers Association, wrote on Twitter that the trade group’s members were “deeply frustrated” at their inability to access the system.

Until the problems were fixed, he said, “#AmericasBanks will not be able to help more struggling small businesses.”

Bring me the head of Stevie Mnuchin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the program’s initial $342 billion funding ran out in under two weeks, stranding hundreds of thousands of applicants whose loans did NOT get processed, the anxious demand has reached levels NOT experienced since the release of the initial Blade Runner film.

So for the second time in a month, the relief effort, called the Paycheck Protection Program, turned into chaos, sowing mass confusion among lenders and borrowers.

Being stuck in limbo is maddening.