Monthly Archives: March 2020

Issued on: 23/03/2020 - 18:10Modified: 23/03/2020 - 18:07

London (AFP)

Alex Salmond came within a whisker of immortality among supporters of independence, when he took Scotland to the brink of a breakaway from Britain.

But six years on from the landmark referendum, he found himself battling to save his personal reputation after being charged with a string of sex offences, including attempted rape.

The feisty ex-politician was the face of Scottish nationalism for more than 20 years, taking it from a fringe issue into a mainstream phenomenon that almost broke up the United Kingdom.

He quit frontline politics in 2014, immediately after the campaign he spearheaded lost the independence referendum by 55 percent to 45 percent.

"Obviously I wouldn't have made the decision if there had been a 'Yes' vote," he said at the time.

Scottish independence though has become a permanent issue in British politics and his successor, Nicola Sturgeon, took up the cause with gusto, as Brexit breathed fresh life into his dream.

"For me as leader, my time is nearly over. But for Scotland, the campaign continues and the dream shall never die," he said at the time.

The rhetoric was typical of Salmond, who fired up crowds throughout his political career with his promise to "break the shackles" of the 313-year-old union with England.

He was set to go down in the history books as the politician who returned the energy to British politics -- and helped create a new type of United Kingdom, gaining paise from arch rivals.

The then UK prime minister David Cameron called him a politician "of huge talent and passion" who "has been an effective first minister and always fights his corner."

But the court case saw even his closest allies move to distance themselves from the jocular former first minister, including his protegee, Sturgeon.

- Made in Scotland -

Alexander Eliott Anderson Salmond was born on December 31, 1954 in Linlithgow, near Edinburgh, and graduated in economics and medieval history from the prestigious St Andrews University.

He worked as an economist with the Royal Bank of Scotland before entering the British parliament but found his calling when in 1990 he took over leadership of the Scottish National Party.

Four years before Tony Blair would do something similar to create "New Labour", Salmond steered the SNP towards the political centre and prepared to do battle.

David Torrance, author of "Salmond: Against the Odds", said both Salmond and Blair were more pragmatic than dogmatic. Their slogan could be: "Whatever works".

In the first elections for the devolved Scottish parliament in Edinburgh in 1999 -- created under Blair's leadership -- the SNP lost out to Labour and Salmond quit as leader.

He said his decision was "forever" but he was re-elected in 2004 saying: "I changed my mind."

He was rewarded with power, being elected first minister of a minority SNP government in 2007, and then in 2011 won an absolute majority -- and the promise of a referendum.

- Politician of a generation -

Salmond's charisma was hugely effective on the campaign trail but disguised what aides called an "explosive temper" and a talent for the scathing political put-down.

His supporters praise his unflagging determination and his political know-how, while his opponents brand him arrogant and misogynistic with a penchant for populism.

Many on both sides agree that he was one of the most talented politicians of his generation.

Sociable in public, Salmond has been discreet about his private life. His wife Moira is 17 years older and is only rarely seen by his side. The couple have no children.

His passions are horse racing, good wine and Indian curry, along with football and that Scottish invention -- golf.

Salmond also likes a singalong.

His favourite tune is "Scots Wha Hae" -- an ode by poet Robert Burns to an epic victory against the English at the Battle of Bannockburn 700 years ago.

2020 AFP

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Alex Salmond: from the brink of independence to a court room - FRANCE 24

Love will help us get through this period of self-quarantine and social distancing. So will laughter. Thats why romantic comedies are a good choice for pausing pandemic anxiety for a few hours. Here are five that fit the times in their own special ways.

The Holiday (2006)

Youre in safe hands for a cinematic getaway when director Nancy Meyers is in charge. She makes movies that are funny, sophisticated images of a dream life. Her films also provide ideas for dream date, dream best friends and dream kitchens.

Meyers achieved cable-rerun immortality with The Holiday, a rom-com too good to limit to December. The house-swap escapade sends a high-powered Hollywood exec (Cameron Diaz) off to vacation in a cozy English cottage, while its usual resident, a British columnist (Kate Winslet), borrows the execs luxurious Los Angeles trophy home.

Whats the best part of a film thats as comfortable as fuzzy socks and flannel pajamas? Is it Jude Laws take on a humble, awkward widower? Jack Blacks sexy side? Winslets friendship with an elderly screenwriter played by the great Eli Wallach? Yes, all that, plus Diazs endless supply of off-white winter knitwear. Keep watching over and until you feel much better about life.

The Big Sick (2017)

Its a counterintuitive pick, maybe, but star and co-screenwriter Kumail Nanjianis tender comedy about a man who breaks up with his true love, then sticks by her through a medically induced coma makes a hopeful statement about surviving a medical crisis.

Nanjiani is wonderful in a plot based on his real-life courtship of his wife, co-screenwriter Emily V. Gordon. Whether dealing with his strict Pakistani parents (Anupam Kher and Zenobia Shroff), who are pushing an arranged marriage, or facing the skepticism of his girlfriends mom and dad (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano), he depicts the learning curve that anyone goes through when love is tested by uncontrollable outside forces.

Same goes for Zoe Kazan, who is superb as a woman who realizes that perfection in a relationship is unattainable, but extreme loyalty might be even better. If you think its impossible to laugh in a time of viral peril, the funny human moments here will correct that impression.

Youve Got Mail (1998)

Oh, the simple days of AOL email accounts. This classic Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan reboot of 1940s Shop Around the Corner directed and co-written by the great Nora Ephron is set in the dinosaur age of technology, yet its just the thing for coping with 2020.

What better way to conduct a flirtation right now than through online chatting and never actually meeting? And what more charming conflict than a feud between an indie bookstore owner (Ryan) and the scion of a mega-bookstore chain (Hanks)? It almost (but not quite) makes you forget your library is closed and your local bookstore is taking a big financial hit.

And given how much we all need a cathartic cry, the moment where Hanks wipes away Ryans tears Dont cry, shopgirl is one of the most exquisite weeping inducers of the last 30 years.

Jumping the Broom (2011)

Paula Patton and Laz Alonso star as the gorgeous young couple whose lavish wedding on Marthas Vineyard seems destined to be disrupted. But its still a reminder that family gatherings with dozens of testy relatives may not be the worst thing to endure.

As Patton and Alonso see their plans begin to unravel, a strong supporting cast finds comedy gold in the tensions of clashing relatives and in-laws. With Angela Bassett and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Pattons snooty parents, Loretta DeVine as Alonsos clingy mother, and Meagan Good and Gary Dourdain as the maid of honor and reception chef who send sparks flying, youll be saying I do to this comedy of misunderstandings, unearthed secrets and, eventually, blessed reconciliation.

The American President (1995)

The biggest problem faced by President Andrew Shepherd, at least for much of this politically themed rom-com, is convincing a florist he is not prank-calling when he tries to order flowers for the lobbyist who has stolen his heart.

Sure, there is some agonizing over an environmental bill and a mini-scandal involving the lobbyists youthful involvement in the protest movement. But rest assured, the ride in this star vehicle driven by Michael Douglas and Annette Bening is a smooth fantasy version of high-profile love affairs, not to mention government in action.

And if the ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast animated or live action is your ultimate in swoon-level dances, check out Douglas and Benings twirl at a White House state dinner. As they used to say in 1995 (or maybe it was 1935?), yowza!

Continued here:

Boost your spirits with fun rom-coms - Boston Herald

At a time when we are suddenly confronted with our own mortality, the notion of immortality holds tremendous sway. That's why this 1982 Mercedes-Benz 300SD, for sale right now on Bring a Trailer is even more compelling than usual. This Benz has covered just 4,000 miles and offers the promise, if not of immortality, then at least of a very, very long life ahead of it.

These diesel-powered W126-generation S-class Benz sedans are famous for their longevity, but most of them have already lived a full life in the 30-plus years since they were built. Not this example. With its ultra-low mileage and preserved condition, it's as if this Benz were only a few months old.

The '82 300SD is powered by a Mercedes's OM617 inline-six-cylinder turbodiesel, displacing 3.0 liters. Its 119 horsepower and 170 lb-ft of torque are dispensed to the rear wheels via a four-speed automatic transmission, and promise slow-but-steady progress. Outside, the car wears a period-perfect hue of Cypress Green. Inside, there's acres of Palomino leather. Adding to the big Benz sedan's comfort for the long haul are factory air conditioning (with a compressor that is said to have been replaced), power windows, power seats, and a power sunroof. Settle in and enjoy the ride.

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With only 4k miles, this 1982 Mercedes-Benz 300SD will outlive us all - Autoblog

I read with interest your editorial (The Guardian view on poetry for dark times: add Wordsworth to the stockpile, 16 March) the day after my wife and I had taken a walk on Hampstead Heath to have a break from our self-imposed isolation. On the slope in front of Kenwood House we came upon Wordsworths host of golden daffodils and a magnolia tree in full bloom. This was the spot where, 40 years ago, our daughters played as children. Recalling that this year is the 250th anniversary of Wordsworths birth, on returning home I penned this mock-Romantic poem, titled Far from the Madding Crowd, Lonely as a Cloud, for our daughters and granddaughters:

As we wandered far from the madding crowdWith Hardy thoughts and Worthy wordsAll at once appeared a golden cloudof daffodils upon the sward.The greenwood tree upon the slopewhere once two little children playedIn magnolia blossom now arrayedmay still recall their childhood games And perhaps, also their names.

Not until I read the editorial was I reminded of the romantic poets fascination with the mysterious intensity of childhood.Mike FaulknerLondon

Surely the most apposite lines of Wordsworths poetry for our era of climate crisis is the stanza from his Intimations of Immortality:

The Rainbow comes and goes, /And lovely is the Rose, / The Moon doth with delight, / Look round her when the heavens are bare, / Waters on a starry night, / Are beautiful and fair, / The sunshine is a glorious birth; / But yet I know, whereer I go, / That there hath past away a glory from the earth.

I often find myself muttering those lines these days as I contemplate the loss of variety in our natural world. Wordsworth didnt know the half of it.Isabella StoneSheffield

Like Suzanne Moore (How do we face coronavirus? Common decency is our only hope, 17 March), I too am rereading Camuss La Peste, which I studied for A-level. Ms Moore quotes the main character, Dr Rieux, as saying its not a question of heroism but a matter of common decency. Interestingly, the original French is honntet and, when asked what he means by that, Rieux replies: in my case it means doing my job. Like Camus noble character in his book, thats exactly what our NHS is doing for us against all odds.Anne AbbottBath

The rest is here:

We're as lonely as a cloud but the Romance isn't dead - The Guardian

Altered Carbon: Resleeved may be set hundreds of years before the events of Altered Carbon season 2, but thanks to the power of immortality the two are connected by a returning character. Tanaseda Hideki, the yakuza leader whom Takeshi Kovacs turned to for help in Altered Carbon season 2, also appears in Altered Carbon: Resleeved. Not only that, we get to see how the strong relationship between the two characters began.

Based on the books by Richard Morgan, Altered Carbon is set in a future where humans have discovered a way to digitize their minds and store them on disks called cortical stacks, which are inserted at the top of a spine. If a person's body is killed, their stack can be recovered and put into a new "sleeve," creating the potential for immortality. Altered Carbon: Resleeved is an anime feature spin-off of the live-action series, which follows Takeshi Kovacs in his early years as a mercenary for hire, who himself is on the run from the authorities.

Related:Every Returning Character In Altered Carbon: Resleeved

In Altered Carbon season 2, Takeshi reluctantly returns to his home planet, Harlan's World, and seeks out his most powerful contact there: Tanaseda Hideki. The head of the Tanaseda yakuza clan has a long history with Takeshi (seriously - they first met more than 280 years ago). When they meet again, Hideki explains to his great-grandson that Takeshi carried out a job for him after the fall of Stronghold, and that after Takeshi was caught and tortured by the Protectorate "in every way they knew how," he still never gave Hideki up. Significantly, Hideki once recited his family's death poem to Takeshi, making him perhaps the only person outside of the Tanaseda clan to know the poem.

In Altered Carbon: Resleeved, we get to see the first meeting between the two characters. Takeshi is carrying out a mission for Hideki, investigating his brother's death within the Mizumoto clan on Latimer, in exchange for Hideki using his influence on Harlan's World to wipe Takeshi's record there. Hideki suspects foul play within the Mizumoto clan that's somehow connected to their upcoming sacrificial ceremony, in which power is handed over to a new leader. By the end of Altered Carbon: Resleeved, Hideki discovers the terrible truth about what happened to his brother - thanks to Takeshi.

The end of Altered Carbon: Resleeved reveals Hideki's more conniving side, as he tells Takeshi that he hasn't even begun to make moves on wiping his records on Harlan's World. First, he wants Takeshi to carry out another mission for him. If viewer interest in Altered Carbon continues, Netflix may well produce more anime spin-offs as a follow-up to Resleeved, and perhaps even reveal the circumstances that led Hideki to recite his family's death poem for Takeshi.

More:When Altered Carbon: Resleeved Is Set In The Timeline

Every Ship In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Finale

Hannah has been with Screen Rant since the heady days of 2013, starting out as a humble news writer and eventually clawing her way up the ladder through a series of Machiavellian schemes and betrayals. She's now a features writer and editor, covering the hottest topics in the world of nerddom from her home base in Oxford, UK.Hannah enjoys weird horror movies, weirder sci-fi movies, and also the movie adaptation of Need for Speed - the greatest video game movie of all time. She has lived and studied in New York and Toronto, but ultimately returned home so that she could get a decent cup of tea. Her hobbies include drawing, video games, long walks in the countryside, and wasting far too much time on Twitter.Speaking of which, you can follow Hannah online at @HSW3K

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How Altered Carbon: Resleeved Connects to Season 2 | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

COVID-19 has temporarily changed many aspects of our lives, sparking a firestorm of criticism about the best way to deal with the current crisis. While there are plenty of claims and decisions to debate, Im especially interested in those involving matters of faith. Ill address four that Ive come across over the last several days.

Pain and suffering are part of life. And though some of the fiercest opponents of Christianity cite the problem of pain as a reason for their disbelief, the Christian religion best explains the suffering we experience on a daily basis. Believers, agnostics and atheistsnone of us are immune to the harsh realities of life brought about by our own brokenness.

Faith can certainly help us get through bad times, but it is not a guarantee of immortality in this present world. If it were, then the death rate for the human race would not be 100 percent. Therefore, its perfectly reasonable to claim that faith alone will not guarantee protection against the deadliness of COVID-19.

This one is particular to Catholics who believe in transubstantiation. That is, when the priest consecrates the bread and wine, the substance transforms (hence the word transubstantiate) into the real body and blood of Jesus. However, the accidents (or appearances) of the bread and wine dont change. And because these accidents remain, its possible for infectious particles to be present when Catholics receive the sacrament. In other words, one can get sick when receiving the body and blood of Jesus.

For those who might find this to be paradoxical, I would point to Jesus own death, which is itself both incredible and ordinary. It was incredible in the sense that the Son of Man died for our salvation, but ordinary in that Jesus death was complete after His body stopped functioning.

In the midst of chaos and panic, people look for answers. In the case of COVID-19, some have suggested (or thought) that this is Gods punishment of a sinful people. My first response to such a claim is, what evidence do you have? And I dont mean that dismissively. Im not ruling out the claim as a logical impossibility, but evidence needs to be offered in its favor.

It is true to say God permits everything to happen. However, it doesnt follow that God wills everything that has happened. And herein lies the distinction between Gods antecedent will and His consequent will. God wills that every person be saved. Theologians would say this is Gods antecedent will. Yet, as a consequence of our free will, we know that not everyone will be saved. We know God did not will the latter (2 Peter 3:9), but He did permit it in His decision to give us the gift of free will.

This same framework for thinking about Gods will can be applied to COVID-19. While it wasnt Gods antecedent will for the virus to spread, He allowed it as a consequence of our free will and fallen human natureboth of which were on display in China during the early part of the epidemic.

Moreover, as Jesus pointed out in John 9:3, sometimes a persons sin (or their parents sin) plays no role in a persons suffering, but God permits it so that His works may be manifest in the person who is suffering.

No, he didnt. What Pope Francis said is if you cant find a priest to go to confession, go to God. Thats a lot different than the many interpretations Ive seen on social media. And the reason the pope put it this way is very simple: the Sacrament of Confession is biblical (John 20:23). God gave us this amazing sacrament to grow closer to Him and to free ourselves from the burden of sin.

However, this doesnt mean God Himself is bound by the sacraments. As the Catholic Church teaches, it is possible for someone to make a perfect contrition and be forgiven of all sins if the person does not have recourse to sacramental confession.

Sacramental confession is the ordinary means by which our sins are forgiven. But, if the ordinary means are not available to us, God, being just, will take this into account at the end of our lives, which is why Pope Francis insisted on asking God for forgiveness in the absence of confession.

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In Times of Crisis, We Need To Inject Reason into Debates over Faith - The Libertarian Republic

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Ray Comfort, in his bookSpurgeon Gold: Pure and Refined, describes Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the 19th-century preacher who ministered in the streets of London during the cholera pandemic of 1854. Spurgeons words, says Mr. Comfort, were pure and refined. They were rhetorical and theological gold. Spurgeon, had the ability to take the hammer of eloquence and nail a particular truth, to pull back the veil of the eternal and give us a fleeting glance.

Mr. Comfort continues. Gold holds its market value. Heavens everlasting streets are paved with it Gold is not meant to sit on the shelf of a rich man. If it does, then it becomes worthless. Its real value will be seen in its being spent on the cause of the Kingdom.In other words, the gold of truth earns its value only through the spoken word and the active life of men of virtue and valor. The gold of integrity must be spent. It cannot be hoarded. It only earns its value if it is invested.

As COVID-19 hysteria sweeps across our nation, the tens of millions of us who still claim to be followers of Christ might do well to consider, not only these words from Ray Comfort, but also the words and actions of Charles Spurgeon of some 150 years past.

They are so good.

They are so faithful.

They are so pertinent and so prophetic.

They are gold.

One can almost hear Spurgeon bellowing from the podiums of New York City and Washington, D.C., as he did from his pulpit in Essex England Christians take heart! Be not afraid! Your Savior and your God, is with you! Be steadfast and immovable! Be strong and courageous! Be not afraid! Always abound in the work of the Lord!

If you listen carefully, this man, known as the Prince of Preachers, a man with a golden tongue and a refined soul, is shouting Never let a crisis go to waste. Run toward the storm, not away from it. Embrace this calamity. Have courage! This is your time. This is your destiny. This is your opportunity. Shine with the light of salvation and the love of your Redeemer. Be the Church, for Jesus, himself, has told you the gates of hell will not prevail against you! Put your trust in God, not in yourselves, and not in government. Believe in His sovereignty. Walk in His grace. March with confidence in your King!

But enough of the dross of my speculation. Hear the exact words of Spurgeon:

At first, I gave myself up with youthful ardor to the visitation of the sick, and was sent for from all corners of the district by persons of all ranks and religions; but, soon, I became weary in body and sick at heart. My friends seemed falling one by one, and I felt or fancied that I was sickening like those around me. A little more work and weeping would have laid me low among the rest; I felt that my burden was heavier than I could bear, and I was ready to sink under it.

I was returning mournfully home from a funeral, when, as God would have it, my curiosity led me to read a paper which was wafered up in a shoemakers window on the Great Dover Road. It did not look like a trade announcement, nor was it, for it bore, in good bold handwriting, these words: Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

The effect upon my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on with my visitation of the dying, in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm.

The Providence which moved the tradesman to place those verses in his window, I gratefully acknowledge; and in the remembrance of its marvelous power, I adore the Lord my God.

Let me repeat Faith appropriated. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm!

This is gold. Pure gold. Refined gold.

Whether it be a bad market or a bad disease, lovers of Christ should be the first to show the world that our security is not in hand sanitizers but in our Savior.

Dont let this crisis go to waste! shouts Spurgeon.

Show the world what love, joy and peace, truly look like.

Show your neighbor, your city and your nation that even though we walk through dark valleys, fear has lost its victory and death has lost its sting.

Everett Piper, former president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, is a columnist for The Washington Times and author of Not A Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth (Regnery 2017).

Excerpt from:

Neutralize COVID-19 hysteria with faith and kindness toward neighbors - Washington Times

The 1980s were a pivotal decade at the movies. The blockbuster era blossomed and franchises began to flourish. Comedies provoked tears, dramas provoked thought. There were voices in the corn, and absolutely no cats in America. The movies of the '80s were also eminently quotable, from the punchlines to the shocking third-act revelations and beyond. These '80s movie quotes are imprinted on the hearts and souls of '80s kids everywhere.

Faye Dunaway's performance as Joan Crawford, tyrannical movie star and mother in 1981's Mommie Dearest is one of the most terrifying and indelible screen performances ever. She tiptoes the line between over-the-top brilliance and ghoulish failure throughout. Her explosion of anger at her daughter for using wretchedly common wire hangers is a line that defined the careers of two actresses.

If you think the line is "Luke, I am your father," you need to seek out those Star Wars trilogy DVDs on your shelf and have another look. But no matter what the precise wording was, the revelation that the ultimate villain in the galaxy was the father of its greatest hero sent shockwaves through movie audiences. Every shocking twist at the end of a movie has been chasing Darth Vader's (James Earl Jones) paternity confession ever since.

Picking out just one line from the famously joke-dense Airplane is a nearly impossible task. Or it would be if Leslie Nielsen's immaculate deadpan delivery in response to the prompt "Surely you can't be serious!" didn't make this line stand head and shoulders above the rest.

What makes a line like "E.T. phone home" so great is how many different emotions it conjures up. The first time he says it, there's the wonder of this funny little alien creature talking. The second time he says itafter we all thought he was deadit's just the most thrilling moment, inspiring equal parts excitement and tears. Steven Spielberg's movie depends on the audience forming a bond with E.T., and that one line truly seals it.

The maternal panic and rage that Shirley MacLaine delivers as she berates the hospital staff to give her daughter (Debra Winger) painkillers while she's dying in the hospital runs counter to the film's reputation as a five-hanky weepie. In the expert hands of MacLaine (who won an Oscar for this performance), the moment is both funny and harrowing at the same time.

Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) finally stands up to the abusive Mister (Danny Glover) at the dinner table, holding a knife to his throat and cursing him. It's a long-awaited moment for Celie, as she takes back her power and promises nothing but ruin to the man who kept her down for so long.

Director James L. Brooks' comedic view of a changing TV news industryshifting from grubby substance to flashy styleis stuffed with great lines. But this one, which has Holly Hunter responding to a put-down with sincere self pity, is at once delightfully funny and smartly cutting at the same time.

Cher's absolute triumph culminated with an Academy Award, and also with the immortality of her signature line from the film. Cher fans, film fans, and even people who have never seen the movie know the sound of that slap, followed by her iconic "Snap out of it!" The poor, unsuspecting faces of wistful dreamers would never be safe again after Moonstruck.

Animation director Don Bluth was momentarily a rival to Disney in the late '80s with movies like An American Tail, which told the story of Russian Jews immigrating to the United States to escape the pogroms via the allegory of mice immigrating to the United States to escape the cats. On the boat crossing the ocean, Papa Mousekewitz (Nehemiah Persoff) sings of the promise of a golden, welcoming America, where they'll be finally safe from cats, and even the streets are paved with cheese.

Yes, yes, the words you probably think of first when you think of Field of Dreams are, "If you build it, he will come." Those words, spoken by an unseen voice to Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), inspire him to plow under his Iowa cornfield and build a baseball field where the spirits of dead (often scandal-plagued) baseball players can return and play again. But the moment of truth for the movie comes at the very end, when Ray spots one player and recognizes him as his father. With the final words of the movie, Ray musters up the courage to ask his dad to play catch. Cue the waterworks.

After Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) completes his adventures back in 1955 and does indeed return back to the future, he meets his old pal Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) one last time before the closing credits. Doc has been to the future, and when he returns, his trusty DeLorean has undergone some upgrades. Few '80s films sent audiences screaming for the sequel more reliably than Back to the Futurewith Doc and Marty and their flying car.

A child's wish made to an (admittedly creepy) isolated carnival game is what sets this 1988 Penny Marshall comedy into motion. When young Josh Baskin wakes up the morning after his wish, he's played by Tom Hanks, a kid in an adult's body. So many fun shenanigans follow, but it's that simple, plaintive, oh-so-relatable wish that lingers.

The most famous line in the Nora Ephron-penned, Rob Reiner-directed When Harry Met Sally is delivered not by Billy Crystal's softly chauvinistic Harry nor Meg Ryan's persnickety Sally. Instead, it comes from Reiner's mother, playing a customer in a diner scene whoafter Sally gets finished demonstrating an incredibly convincing performance of how a woman might fake pleasuresimply turns to her waiter and requests what Sally's having. And thus one of the great one-liners in all of film comedy was born.

The laugh-a-minute film version of the popular board game Clue featured a pitch-perfect castTim Curry, Lesley Ann Warren, Martin Mull, Eileen Brennan, Michael McKean, Christopher Lloydbut it was the great Madeline Kahn who sent the film into immortality with her stammering monologue about her white-hot hatred for Yvette the maid (Colleen Camp).

Character actor R. Lee Ermey spends the first half of Stanley Kubrick's nightmare vision of the Vietnam War barking a ludicrous string of orders and profane invective to the soldiers he's training. When he finally pushes one particular private (Vincent D'Onofrio) over the edge to the point where he's threatening armed retaliation, Ermey's recourse isn't to back down but to dial up the abuse. Not a great idea, as it turns out.

Glenn Close plays a woman who carries on an affair with a married Michael Douglas, only to have him back off and get distant on herwhich she responds to with violent obsession. Close's performance works hard to balance the "crazy ex-girlfriend" tropes; her delivery on the above quote is as much righteous as it is threatening.

Director Ivan Reitman's film about a quartet of spectral exterminators in 1980s New York culminates in a jailbreak of ghoulies from their containment facility. The result? Chaos, panic, the living communing with the dead, and, as Bill Murray's Peter Venkman hyperbolically sums it up, all laws of nature and reality upended. Dogs and cats! Together!

Odds are long that you'll meet someone who's seen Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and hasn't at least once attempted to pull off Jack Nicholson's signature delivery. The line comes when he's halfway through chopping down the bathroom door, trying to murder his wife and son. Not sure how Johnny Carson must've felt about the association.

The final voiceover monologue from Brian the brain (Anthony Michael Hall) is the perfect encapsulation of aggrieved teenage angst. These five disparate teens spend a Saturday afternoon in the school library and discover they all have common ground (mostly hating their parents!)and, in a final kiss-off to the principal, the lesson they learn is that adults will never truly understand them.

Pop culture's most famous truant teen takes time away from joy-riding around Chicago in his friend's dad's car and lip-synching in a parade to turn to the audience and offer a nickel's worth of free advice. You can thank Ferris (Matthew Broderick) for every "life comes at you fast" tweet you come across.

Just three little words that don't normally sound like a threat unless they're spoken by a six-foot-two wall of Austrian muscle who's just teleported in from the future on a merciless quest to murder a soon-to-be mom. Arnold Schwarzenegger's flat, emotionless affect was the perfect ominous delivery. And as a bonus, it turns out he was right, if five Terminator sequels and counting is any indication.

Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards as flyboy pals at their elite Navy training program are the central friendship of one of the biggest hits of the '80s. Together, they gave Top Gun exactly what it needed, besides its massive box-office haul and movie-star appeal: a catchphrase that would soar long past the end of the '80s, right into the danger zone (that's what we call the '90s).

The line has been imitated, duplicated, borrowed, riffed on, and parodied for decades now. Al Pacino as cocaine kingpin Tony Montana introduces his enemies to his "little friend," which is obviously his machine gun. Carnage, plus hundreds of dorm room posters, followed.

The repeated warning to young Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) in the enduring Christmas classic gets funnier every time it's repeated. All the bespectacled young boy wanted was an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot, range model air rifle. Too bad every adult in his lifeup to and including a mall Santatold him it was too dangerous.

With those words, Patrick Swayze rescues Jennifer Grey from her overprotective father and whisks her onto the dance floor to wow those uptight Catskills types with some expertly choreographed moves.

You might find it rather inconceivable that this is the most memorable line from The Princess Bride, a film practically overflowing with hilarious quotables. But Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya is brilliantly committed and ferocious as Inigo confronts the six-fingered man who slew his dad.

A line like this is only memorable if it's delivered in the perfect circumstance by the perfect character. In other words, a little girl (Heather O'Rourke) staring at static on the TVthe only one who knows that the malevolent spirits haunting the house are here to play. It's a supremely creepy moment in one of the decade's signature horror movies.

Jeff Goldblum steadily transforming into a human fly over the course of this David Cronenberg film is both disgusting and terrifying. Thankfully, we don't have to worry about which reaction is the appropriate one, because Ronnie (Geena Davis) says it straight outbe afraid.

Michael Douglas won an Academy Award for playing Gordon Gekko, avatar of 1980s corporate greed. The performance is of the decade's signature creations, and his monstrously simple ethosoften paraphrased as the even simpler "greed is good"has echoed through the subsequent years.

Ossie Davis speaks the title line of Spike Lee's incendiary 1989 film. The line is said as a piece of advice given to pizza-parlor employee Mookie (Lee), though its ironic simplicity only becomes apparent by the end of the movie.

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'80s Movie Quotes Every Kid From the '80s Knows By Heart - Best Life

THE same people who tell us that we cannot under any circumstances torture a terrorist to save the lives of 1,000 people, perhaps 10,000 innocent people, as torture fundamentally compromises our democratic values, are the same people who tell us we should shutthe entire country downover the coronavirus. So far, it has killed 56 people in the UK.

On Monday, the Prime Minister, perhaps having little choice given the pressure put on him by the hysterical media class, decided that yes, we will crash the entire British economy and restrict the liberty of freeborn citizens because of the coronavirus.

No doubt the schools will be closed, suspending the education of an entire generation of children.

There will be bailouts of industry after industry, the cost of which will be borne by that same next generation whose education we will destroy. It is not their fault the open border lunatics wouldnt hear of closing the border in January. Yet, as usual, they will pay the price.

This time last year, anyone who said we should restrict the freedom of movement on non-citizens over Britainsexternal borderswere painted as a bunch of fascists. Today, the British public have their free movement restricted to the greatest place on Earth their local pub.

If you want to know what a Godless, meek and weak society looks like, mark 2020 in your calendar. It was the year we knew Europe was done for. Country after country is put in lockdown, police arrest citizens who go to the shops, all because the big bad germs are coming to get them.

But people will die, I hear you shout. We all die. We are not entitled to immortality. Ill take my chances, as Id rather die as a freeborn citizen doing the things that freeborn citizens do, than cower like a dog in a kennel because the Government has ordered me to do so. I wont do it.

As France goes into lockdown, theyve stopped rebuilding Notre Dame the magnificent cathedral that went up in flames last year. Its a sign, I tell you, like the flames itself, its a sign. That cathedral was built by people of faith in the medieval times, times when a mouth ulcer could take you out. Today, they down tools over the flu.

It is coming up to 80 years since the Blitz and I keep hearing the Blitz spirit is coming back. Is this really what the British public did in 1940 squabble over toilet paper and stop going to the pub, when actual bombs were falling on their actual heads?

Is this what British manhood did say yes, Mr Prime Minister, whatever you say Mr Prime Minister, Ill hide in my bedroom for 14 days because I have a cough? Or did they get on the boats and bring those soldiers back from Dunkirk?

And they got on more boats a few years later and landed on the beaches in Normandy to be shot to pieces by German machine guns. What would that generation say now if they saw this healthy adults locked in their houses on governmental say-so? Its astonishing.

I dont think Im wrong on this. I do think this is a hysterical over-reaction to save the face of a socialised health system and bloated, decadent European continent that has been blowing the cash on IVF for the over-50s, sex-change operations and millions of abortions for decades. Today, the reckoning came. We knew it would come and now we have been found out.

So we scramble around to find cash for ventilators while we lock law-abiding citizens in their houses. Dont bother telling me we live in a liberal democracy any more, when people will willingly sacrifice their liberty off the backs of a whipped-up media class and Government scrambling to limit the damage, long after the best times for key decisions have been made.

RIP Europe, 312 2020.We had a good run.

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Liberty shackled and the future blighted: RIP Europe, 312 - 2020 - The Conservative Woman

The extraordinary shutdown, if continued, will have harmful consequences that go far beyond the economy. A short period of decisive action to buy time to prepare may be prudent. But ongoing measures of mass mobilization are likely to do severe damage to our society.

The Wall Street Journal editorial Rethinking the Coronavirus Shutdown warns of the economic consequences of a prolonged lockdown. We could be heading toward a drastic decline in GDP. This will dislocate the lives of tens of millions and exact human costs, not just economic ones. Already, federal officials are gearing up to spend one trillion dollars. Central banks have committed nearly two trillion dollars to stabilize markets. These extraordinary measures indicate how perilous the situation has become.

As Warren Buffet says, when the tide goes out, you discover who has been swimming naked. He meant to capture an economic truth. When credit tightens in a down market, the indebted and improvident are exposed. But the quip holds true more broadly. The shutdown puts stress on our economic system, to be sure, but it can damage our political and social systems as well. In the end, the latter are more important.

Earlier in the week I wrote about Christian churches, especially the Catholic Church. Cancelling services and closing churches underlines the irrelevance of institutional Christianity in our technocratic age. We are bombarded by the gospel of perpetual youth won through diet and exercise (supplemented by the ersatz immortality of social media fame). If churches are darkened in the face of sickness and death, only TV talking heads, media pundits, and public health officials will speak to our anxieties and fears. This reinforces the secular proposition: Life in this world is the only thing that matters.

The docility of religious leaders to the cessation of public worship is stunning. It suggests that they more than half believe that secular proposition.

Other institutions are at risk. State-encouraged self-isolation and restrictions on public gatherings have paused institutional life. There are no Boy Scout meetings, no Little League practices, no Rotary Club or Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Most book clubs are suspending their evening discussions, even though these small gatherings are permitted. Closed restaurants dissolve informal coffee klatches. Some institutions, organizations, and fellowships will rebound when the draconian limits on social life are lifted. But some will not. And the longer those limits last, the more will wither and fade away.

Earlier generations understood that institutions anchor our lives. Thats why German children went to school throughout World War II, even when their cities were being reduced to rubble. Thats why Boy Scouts conducted activities during the Spanish flu pandemic and churches were open. Weve lost this wisdom. In this time of crisis, when our need for these anchors is all the greater, our leaders have deliberately atomized millions of people.

Society is a living organism, not a machine that can be stopped and started at our convenience. A person who is hospitalized and must lie in bed loses function rapidly, which is why nurses push patients to get up and walk as soon as possible after sicknesses and operations. The same holds true for societies. If the shutdown continues for too long, we will lose social function.

Undoubtedly shelter in place will slow the spread of disease, but at what cost to the body politic? Beware public health officials who advise burning the village in order to get rid of the pestilence.

And beware those who pronounce that we should save lives at any cost. Thats a dangerous falsehood, one that leads to barbarism and slavery. There are many things more important than physical survivallove, honor, beauty, and faith. Anyone who believes that our earthly existence is worth preserving at any cost will accept slavery. As St. Paul teaches, he is already a slave, spiritually speaking.

The defining moments of the coming weeks and months will not be those of sickness and death, as much as those sad realities will anguish us. Modern history shows that epidemics, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters can take life, often on a vast scale (tens of millions died from the Spanish flu in 1918-19). Yet society goes on pretty much as before.

I worry that this will not be the case in 2020. Imbued with the illusion that, if we but muster our collective will, we can master nature and tame deathan illusion Pope Francis warned against in Laudato Siwe risk going mad. We are being seduced into adopting methods of total war to fight COVID-19. I fear that, if we continue down this path, our wartime mentality of mass mobilization will have untold consequences, many that we will deeply regret. Wars, not epidemics, turn the wheel of history.

R. R. Reno is editor ofFirst Things.

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Questioning the Shutdown | RR Reno - First Things