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Monday, April 07, 2025

Val Kilmer: RIP

Val Kilmer, Film Star Who Played Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65

Val Kilmer, a homegrown Hollywood actor who tasted leading-man stardom as Jim Morrison and Batman, but whose protean gifts and elusive personality also made him a high-profile supporting player, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 65. The cause was pneumonia, said his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer. Mr. Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered, she said ...

Sad. Many have mentioned his most popular movies, but here are some others that I liked too, that people might want to check out ...

- Thunderheart ...

a 1992 American Neo-Western mystery film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay by John Fusco. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973 ...



- Heat ...

a 1995 American crime drama film written and directed by Michael Mann. It features an ensemble cast led by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, with Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, and Val Kilmer in supporting roles.



- At First Sight ...

a 1999 American romantic drama film directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino. It is based on the essay "To See and Not See" in neurologist Oliver Sacks's 1995 book An Anthropologist on Mars and inspired by the true life story of Shirl Jennings.



- Red Planet ...

a 2000 science fiction action film directed by Antony Hoffman. The film stars Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Tom Sizemore.



Saturday, April 05, 2025

The tariffs: their origin story



Where did Trump's disastrous tariff policy come from? Rachel Maddow explains.

15 rescue workers

CNN: Video showing final moments of Gaza emergency workers casts doubt on Israeli account of killings

Here's the latest info on this from Emanuel Fabian of The Times of Israel ...

Thursday, April 03, 2025

Tariffs

Trump in the Rose Garden yesterday, showcaed his tariffs. They seem nonsensical at best.

One of the places upon which he's imposing tariffs is a small island that is populated mainly by penguins. Isn't life hard enough for these little guys without having to now pay tariffs? ...



But his tariff plan is not just insane, it's also unfair. Take his tariffs on Israel ...



Why would anyone continue to support Trump?

Wednesday, April 02, 2025

Devil's Advocate Unit



There's a story in Bloomberg today about the IDF's Devil's Advocate Unit ...



But I'm not a subscriber so I couldn't read it. Wikipedia has a page on the unit, though.

What made me notice the story was actually a zombie movie. Remember World War Z starring Brad Pitt? I really liked it, enough to buy it, but hated the book.

But anyway, there was a part in the movie where Pitt's character, trying to discover the origins of the zombie apocalypse, visits Israel, the only country that seemed to anticipate the coming nightmare, and speaks with a high ranking member of the Mossad (played by Ludi Boeken). The Israeli tells him about "the 10th man theory". Until I saw the story about the Devil's Advocate Unit today, I thought that was a made-up thing. Apparently not. I think every country could use a unit like that.