Category Archives: Nihilism

Those reading this with a Christmas tree twinkling away in their peripheral vision are probably happier than those who are not. So say various psychologists interviewed by major news outlets on the ritual of putting up early Christmas decorations. Decorations, one psychologist told the US show Today, are an anchor or pathway to those old childhood magical emotions of excitement.

Finding my way to that pathway is especially difficult this year because its my third successive Christmas away from Australia. Ive lived out of the country, on and off, for two decades, but Id always manage to find a way home in December. Christmas meant paper party hats and prosecco and prawns, all enjoyed under the glorious warmth of an Australian sun.

I began plotting Christmas adornments in earnest last month an attempt to evoke joy from a year as wretched as wet papier-mch.Credit:iStock

While borders are now open (albeit tenuously, given recent developments), I remain exiled by my aversion to spending 24 hours on a plane with two toddlers. So, clinging to the new-found knowledge that early decorators are cheerier people, I began plotting Christmas adornments in earnest last month an attempt to evoke joy from a year as wretched as wet papier-mch.

Its why Im desperately seeking a spot on Santas lap for kids only dimly aware of his existence; acquiring advent calendars for everyone in the house, even though half its residents cannot yet count; and, against my partners preferences, ordering matching seasonal pyjamas featuring candy canes and snowmen.

For the first time this year, we had family photos taken for Christmas cards. In October. During a warm spell. With everyone sweating in red jumpers and reindeer horns. (My favourite card from a friend last year featured her two boys tearing up her living-room with the caption EVERYTHING IS FINE. )

Gratitude is certainly something I feel acutely this year, even before decking the halls.

Judging by how difficult it is to nab an appointment with Santa at our local mall, how far in advance I had to book the Christmas card photo shoot, or the fact that Mariah Careys All I Want for Christmas Is You was on high rotation at the supermarket weeks ago, Im not the only one going all-in this year. Call it the sillier-than-usual season. Theres a sense that nothing can be taken for granted any more, not even the orderly ticking over of one year to the next. COVID-19 has exposed the surprisingly fine line between hedonism and nihilism: lets celebrate, because nothing matters. That would be the name of my Christmas song.

At the same time, global supply-chain problems and here I wave my hands vaguely at a picture of piled-up shipping containers means a refocusing of attention not on the perfect gift, but on creating indelible experiences.

To this end, Ive noticed friends pausing while recounting their Christmas plans to add caveats about how lucky they are to be celebrating with family, or injecting a note of real sentiment concerning togetherness when in the past theyd have expressed overwhelm about logistics.

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Call it the sillier-than-usual season: nothing can be taken for granted any more - Sydney Morning Herald

You could hear the Clark Griswald xylophone music in the air.

You know, that sort of tune that tells you a comic disaster is about to happen. Like staple-gunning your flannel shirtsleeve to the gutter. Or your extension ladder collapsing, taking you down with it.

Or sliding down your roof while youve been staple-gunning lightbulb strands into the shingles, which I dont think is a good idea. And then grabbing hold of the gutter and shooting its icy cargo in through Todd and Margos window and striking, as an ice missile, an outrageously expensive hi-fi system: a perfect crime, so to speak, as the weapon disappears into a sodden pool of water in Margos precious carpet.

Why is the carpet all wet, Todd?

I dont know, Margo!

I checked. You can get a Christmas sweater that says just that at Amazon (of course).

So far, I havent launched any missiles at my neighbors, mainly because theres just not too much ice available down here in these warmer climes.

However, I have been possessed by the spirit of Clark Griswold. I went out yesterday to look for a tree, and I experienced that same golden sunbeam effect, accompanied by the sounds of an angelic choir. The utterly irresistible, insurmountable thought came flooding in like a tsunami:

No. Tiny. Christmas. Tree. For. Me.

Anything less than this tall, majestic, and very full spruce thats right in front of me would be like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. Which, by the way, you can also get at Amazon (for $27 its cheaper at Hobby Lobby).

Upon further reflection, I regret, somewhat, this decision. But not too much. Despite the fact that Ill probably have to bring out my chainsaw and do some substantial trimming from the bottom, the Clark Griswold spirit is very strong in me.

And maybe thats not all bad.

There is a reason why Clarks story is so beloved. He is Everyman, who like each one of us is beset by disappointments and disasters (some not so comic at all). He constructs in his head unattainable ideals. His wife Ellen told him just this very thing, knowing that he would encounter frustration at many points knowing this from prior experience (like in the previous movies).

We laugh at Clarks slapstick misfortunes because we recognize the theme all too well. And were glad that these misfortunes are cast in a comic frame, as this provides a much-needed relief from the burden of frustration and the seemingly constant theme of tragedy in our world.

We love Clark because besides being a man of constant sorrow, hes also a man of constant hope. Through all his stumbling through one mishap after another, through his lonely midnight inspection of every tiny bulb on the perilous rooftop under a very, very large wintry moon, through the interior destruction wrought by Snots and the squirrel, and even through the shattering letdown of the letter announcing his new subscription to the Jelly-of-the-Month-Club

We all decorate for Christmas because we hope. We feel the same expectation that the Old Testament Hebrews felt about the Messiah, Who would one day come to set things to rights. The Jews then, as they do now, knew for certain that there had to be justice, a happy ending, that it was impossible that life would turn out meaningless, collapsing in tragic irony, in nihilism.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new a glorious morn.

You know these words. They ring in your heart. You know that glorious morn broke on the Holy Night of the Nativity.

You also know, as do I, that this present weary life, with all its tragic frustration, will not end in meaninglessness. We know, in our heart of hearts, that there is an answer to the prayer, Thy Kingdom Come.

So even though Im too Clark-like and prone to mishaps (hopefully just comic), and there is undoubtedly that same xylophone melody in the soundtrack for my Christmas preparation video, I too am a man of constant hope, adoring the Child Christ.

That is why you and I decorate.

And that is why Ill be putting up our very full tree. Even though I might be saying, with Clark, A lot of sap in here! Looks great. A little full. A lot of sap.

Jonathan Tobias is a resident of Edenton.

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Like Clark Griswold, we too have the thrill of hope - The Daily Advance

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We live in angry, intolerant times. The ideological battles of yesteryear seem downright quaint compared to the swirling mess that currently passes for public debate. Politeness and passion have been replaced with intransigence and condemnation from all across the ideological and cultural spectrum.

Nuanced political debates are reduced to black and white standoffs, with combatants on all sides eager to jump on even the slightest deviation from perceived wisdom. Anti-vaxxers critique defenders of vaccines as though they are unrepentant fascists trying to control all lives. Extreme environmentalists treat those holding more moderate views like they are uncaring planet killers.

As prominent a figure as David Suzuki can cross the Rubicon of rhetoric to warn of pipeline bombings before offering a delayed and mild walk-back of his disagreeable ideas. However, the outright dismissal of environmentalists positions is just as one-sided and narrow-minded, blinding those who rebuff extreme views of the insights and learning that can be drawn from thoughtful and committed activists.

And so it goes. Groups try to suppress speakers perceived to be pro-Israel, as though finding any value in that remarkable society is cause for condemnation. Politicians remove statues of historical figures John A. Macdonald in Canada, Thomas Jefferson in the United States with remarkable lack of historical subtlety or understanding. Edgerton Ryerson, one of Canadas most effective educational reformers, is condemned with venom but little historical balance.

To critics of the modern university, these once venerable institutions of knowledge and provocation have become indoctrination factories, an absurd charge that ignores the ideological diversity and openness of most classes and the diverse contributions of scholars. Yet those with fixed ideas and unwavering minds try to silence commentary and debate, as though holding views that deviate from acceptable opinions is an intellectual crime.

But, while there are many scary aspects to consider in this relentless oozing of prejudice and anti-intellectualism, we must also acknowledge some merits of the current mood.

The emergence of powerful voices LGBTQ rights activists, radical environmentalists, Canadian libertarians (an oxymoron until recently), Indigenous advocates of autonomy, western sovereigntists, and others has broadened, sharpened and improved public debate. The country is undoubtedly richer for having to confront and square a wider range of perspectives and ideas about its past, present and future.

Forty or more years ago, womens rights advocates, Quebec separatists, Indigenous leaders or gay activists seeking to disrupt the countrys political status quo were condemned for views seen as too radical, too dangerous. But most people would agree Canada is much the better today for having to deal with their ideas and confront their resolve. The same will be true as Canadians come to terms with ideas and values projected by current activists.

What then is the nature of the challenge with our current political climate? The problem is neither the ideas nor the charged rhetoric, but simply the blatant determination to silence critics.

There is nothing wrong with criticizing the policies of John A. Macdonald; indeed, the new ideas being advanced by activists have been well-known among historians for more than a generation. It is the deliberate and ahistorical assault on the first Prime Ministers legacy, as opposed to his politics, that stands out. Likewise for discussions about residential schools and the roles of Macdonald, Ryerson and others. Autobiographies by Indigenous leaders and seminal scholarly works by J.R. Miller, John Milloy and others outlined the main arguments decades ago. Only recently have selectively incomplete historical commentaries emerged as justification for destroying monuments, memorials, and memory.

A chill has descended over the academy, journalism, and public debate, a disdain for expertise or nuanced analysis. Think of the attacks on Jordan Peterson, or the derision of vaccination mandate opponents, climate change activists and anti-racism commentators. The fossil fuel industry, essential to Canadas fiscal stability and social programs, endures relentless emotional condemnation that oversimplifies and distorts a complex scientific, economic and social issue.

Stifling contrarian opinions wont stop people from holding them. If anything, it entrenches them. There is evidence that people who are shouted down for questioning the ideas of aggressive commentators simply retreat into in-group discussions and the anonymity of the Internet, strengthening antagonism but perverting open debate.

Challenging the status quo is essential to a strong and honest society. Contrarian thought is to be celebrated, not feared. But when people are cowed into silence and assailed simply for expressing different opinions, the nations political vitality is gutted. Finding fault with the sacred cows of history and politics is essential to intellectual and journalistic pursuit and the essence of political change, but we have fallen into an era of intense nihilism that assails open thought. As a result, Canadas foundations are attacked without alternate views being heard.

Working with those who hold conflicting views should not be polarizing; suppressing ideas rather than discussing our differences simply punishes us all.

Life is more nuanced and politics more complicated than most people think. Reflex aggression toward contrarian views is dangerously anti-intellectual, even if founded in a sincere desire for social justice. More importantly, stifling debate and insisting on a single view of our world and history takes the country further away from solutions and a tolerance that is needed to move forward.

Robust debate, not silencing those we disagree with, must be a shared, respected and celebrated goal.

Ken Coates is a Distinguished Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a professor at the University of Saskatchewan, where he is Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation.

Ken is a Troy Media Thought Leader. For interview requests, click here.

The opinions expressed by our columnists and contributors are theirs alone and do not inherently or expressly reflect the views of our publication.

Troy MediaTroy Media is an editorial content provider to media outlets and its own hosted community news outlets across Canada.

Cancel culture, Coersive progressivism, Self-Righteous

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Coming to terms with the politics of self-righteousness - Troy Media

Note: This review discusses addiction and self-harm.

Connie Sgarbossa spent the past two years wrestling with addiction, depression, OCD, bipolar disorder, and the question of whether making SeeYouSpaceCowboys second proper album would offer any kind of relief. Two weeks after the band finished recording The Romance of Affliction, Sgarbossas girlfriend found her unconscious on the couch, the result of a Xanax overdose meant to end her life. By recent accounts, things have improvedSeeYouSpaceCowboy are back on the road and Sgarbossa has given herself grace as she pursues recovery. What hasnt changed is her conviction in the unflinching and often unflattering honesty of The Romance of Affliction: SeeYouSpaceCowboy are living proof that cathartic self-expression shouldnt be expected to perform miracle cures.

Sgarbossas lyrical fatalism complicates and enriches an album that would otherwise be considered a full triumph. Imagine Converge guzzling Sparks Ultra and steel shavings, and thats 2019s deviously catchy The Correlation Between Entrance and Exit Wounds, which announced SYSC as heirs apparent to sasscore 2.0: After all, this mutant form of dance-punk was created in their homebase of San Diego, as the citys white-belt screamo and Spock Rock post-hardcore scenes commingled with far-left politics, highbrow literary pretense, and gratuitous handclaps. The Correlation had a lot going for it, and The Romance of Affliction does these things more so: The vocals skew harder towards both deathcore and Warped Tour, the production is sharper, and the songs are longer and more unconventionally structured, expanding to accommodate upstart noise rappers and metalcore icons.

The guest list is impressive, and the mere appearance of members of Every Time I Die and Underoath signifies The Romance of Afflictions status. But both Keith Buckley and Aaron Gillespie accommodate themselves to SeeYouSpaceCowboy, not vice versaeach a recognizable voice, yet one among many in Sgarbossas frenetic racket. The closing title track expands on SeeYouSpaceCowboys fruitful collaboration with heavily face-tattooed Epitaph act If I Die First, while the Shaolin G feature Sharpen What You Can proves that panic chords and double-kick drums are fundamentals for a new generation of emo rappers.

If the individual influences are familiar, their coherence within a singular sound is modernand like most exciting music in the vanguard of populist and extreme metal, SeeYouSpaceCowboys accessibility and ambition are inversely proportional to their desire to appear tasteful. Opener Life as a Soap Opera Plot, 26 Years Running shifts gears about five times before the band lets out an a cappella woo! Misinterpreting Constellations grinds to a halt for a handclap breakdown. This isnt a fun record by any means, but SeeYouSpaceCowboy are freakishly adept at using the most immediately gratifying parts of oft-maligned influences, drawing on metalcores clean, septum-piercing hooks and the scene-chewing flourishes of MySpace emo. On past releases, melodies felt like brief interruptions from Sgarbossas guttural howls; here, Misinterpreting Constellations and Melodrama Between Two Entirely Bored Individuals evoke a more believably vampiric AFI or the Blood Brothers retconning themselves as a festival act.

The Romance of Affliction isnt a crossover albumplaying it in a social setting would still be taken as an act of antagonism by people whove never listened to metalcore. Even putting aside the confrontational production values, SeeYouSpaceCowboy demand a reconsideration of the reflexive tendency to stereotype this type of music as an expression of overblown, adolescent suburban pain. Its not that they lack a sense of humorthis is a band with a song called Stop Calling Us Screamo. But theres also the self-awareness that often accompanies a prolonged struggle with mental illness. Sgarbossa never glamorizes nor sanitizes her pain, even when its rendered with theatrical flair. Its not enough to stay warm/I want to burn in the flames captures the impulsivity and nihilism of active addiction, where no emotion can ever be considered overdramatized. SeeYouSpaceCowboy initially imagined The Romance of Affliction as an uplifting sequel to The Correlation Between Entrance and Exit Wounds until life intervened; the album owes its success to their inability to fake a happy ending.

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SeeYouSpaceCowboy: The Romance of Affliction Album Review - Pitchfork

If you asked someone to select a film that represents the spirit of American filmmaking in the 1990s more than any other, theres a good chance that Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino would sit at the top of the pile. Starring the likes of John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Therman and more, Pulp Fiction is a brilliant cinematic translation of the nihilism and irreverence that dominated the social fabric during that time.

In aninterviewwith the American Film Institute, Tarantino opened up about the influences that inspired him to write Pulp Fiction, explaining: Well, the idea inPulp Fictionwas the idea of taking the I wouldnt say film noir, but the pulp genre that was represented in the case of magazines like Black Mask where you had Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett writing them.

He went on to explain how these stories werent exactly original but his treatment would amplify the atmospheric sensibilities that were prevalent during the the 90s. Tarantino added: So I thought the idea in the case ofPulp Fiction, that would be kind of cool is to take three separate stories and make them be the oldest stories in the book.

According to Tarantino, he had been working on the script since 1990 with Roger Avary and had been influenced by gems like Mario Bavas 1963 filmBlack Sabbath as well as American cult films such as Bonnie and Clyde. Apart from writing and directing Pulp Fiction, Tarantino also starred in the film as Jimmie a friend of Jules (played by Jackson) who suddenly finds a messy car and a dead body in his house while his wife is out.

When he was starting out, Tarantino developed his skills as a screenwriter by attending acting classes. He explained: I actually realised I had a bit of talent at it [by] going to acting class. And I was always doing bizarre scenes in acting class. Little by little, I started adding more and more and more to the scenes and that was me learning how to write dialogue.

While he was focused on the acting, Tarantinos best friend Robert Rodriguez took over for him and filled the directorial seat to supervise the scenes with Jimmie in it. Tarantino was torn between choosing to play Jimmie or Lance, the latter being Vincents (Travolta) eccentric drug dealer. In order to help him out with the confusion, he asked the From Dusk Till Dawndirector to take charge of the Jimmie scenes.

Watch Tarantinos cameo in Pulp Fiction below.

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The 'Pulp Fiction' scenes that were not directed by Quentin Tarantino - Far Out Magazine

What does it say that Charlie Baker of Massachusetts isnt running for governor again but Paul LePage of Maine is?

It says that the Yankee Republican, a political species that has long been a stabilizing force in New England public life, is one step closer to going from being endangered to being extinct.

Baker, like Bill Weld, his predecessor and former boss, embodied the classic Yankee Republican: Ivy League, patrician, pragmatic, not especially partisan, moderate to liberal on social policy, more conservative on spending, and a bulwark against one-party rule.

Massachusetts voters like a Republican in the corner office at the State House if only to serve as a check on the unbridled power of Democrats who overwhelmingly control the legislative branch of state government.

That explains why, since just before the turn of the 20th century, Republicans have been elected governor in Massachusetts nearly twice as often as Democrats. It explains why, since John Volpe was elected in 1964, six of the last nine Massachusetts elected governors have been Republicans, even as the Democratic stranglehold on seats on Beacon Hill and in Washington has solidified.

Yankee Republicans were the duck boots of New England politics, the embodiment of what was on offer in an L.L. Bean catalogue: nothing flashy, but well-made and reliable, able to withstand the muck.

In Maine, Paul LePage, who served as governor from 2011 to 2019, likes to say he was Trump before there was Trump, a self-assessment that is hard to dispute. Riding a wave of resentment, musing about using violence against those he disagrees with, LePage was elected twice, first with a plurality of just 38 percent, then a plurality of 48 percent. He left office with one of the lowest approval ratings of US governors.

In 2016, LePage, like Baker, endorsed former New Jersey governor Chris Christie for president. But when Christie dropped out, LePage hitched his wagon to Trump and never looked back.

LePage became Trumps biggest cheerleader in New England, even while the other Republican governors in the region Baker, Phil Scott of Vermont, and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire openly criticized Trumps divisive and dishonest rhetoric, lamenting the hyper-partisanship they said is ruining the country.

The Yankee Republican governor most like Baker is Phil Scott. As a Republican in a state that sends Bernie Sanders to Washington, Scott is more popular with Vermonters than Sanders is. He is the most popular governor in the nation, and by that same metric Baker and Sununu come in at No. 2 and No. 4, respectively.

I asked Scott for an appraisal of Bakers governing style.

He has been an incredible leader for Massachusetts during difficult times, and I believe his approach of finding common ground, being practical, pragmatic and deliberate, while putting the needs of his constituents ahead of his own political interests is the exact kind of leadership we need more of in America, Scott said.

Whenever a group of governors are on a call together and Charlie speaks, we all listen, Scott added.

Sadly, the common-sense pragmatism that made Yankee Republicans a durable political class in New England has run headlong into the partisan nihilism of Trumpism, which has come to dominate the state party apparatus of even those states that, against the national tide of hyper-partisanship, have popular Republican governors despite having a majority of Democratic voters.

Like Baker, Scott is more popular in his state with Democrats and independents than with Republicans.

Like Baker, Sununu has had to endure unseemly protests outside his residence by Trump cultists.

Scott and Sununu have ruled out running for Senate seats, saying they prefer to get things done in their states rather than get stuck in the mud that figuratively overflows from the Potomac.

And now, Charlie Baker has declined to seek a record third term that was his for the taking. His state party is determined to nominate a no-hope Trump loyalist to replace him.

The Yankee Republican is not dead yet, but the prognosis isnt exactly promising.

Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at kevin.cullen@globe.com.

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Charlie Baker and the demise of the Yankee Republican - The Boston Globe

By TEE NGUGI

Over the past one week, there have been riots in the Netherlands and Belgium over lockdowns due to a spike in Covid-19 cases. Authorities blame vaccine hesitancy for the spike.

Vaccine hesitancy across the developed world is fuelling spread of the disease. Frustrated by increasing infections and deaths, some jurisdictions in these countries have announced vaccine mandates.

But mandates, just as with the lockdowns, are being vigorously opposed. In other words, significant numbers of people have refused to take the vaccine, and yet see reasonable restrictions or mandates as an affront to their human rights.

Vaccine sceptics give various reasons for their stance. Some say the vaccines were developed unusually fast and there could be unforeseen serious side effects. Others claim that Covid-19 is a government fabrication meant to control them.

Some sceptics are driven by a nihilistic instinct. The rights-based sceptics argue that it is their absolute right to decide whether to take the jab. Other reasons advanced by sceptics hark back to medieval thinking.

While low levels of vaccination in Africa are attributable to unavailability of vaccines, there are still those who have refused to be inoculated for reasons not dissimilar to those in the West. This is particularly worrisome because our health facilities would be catastrophically overwhelmed should we experience the numbers of Covid cases seen in Europe.

In frustration, some countries in Africa, including Kenya, have announced some form of vaccine mandates. But just as in Europe, those refusing vaccination are also opposed to lockdowns and mandates. Cases are beginning to rise again and there is fear of a devastating fourth wave.

Contrast this attitude to that in some Asian countries like China, South Korea and Singapore. These have high vaccine uptake levels. People here are not so vehemently opposed to lockdowns, wearing masks or vaccine mandates. Not surprisingly, they are also the countries that are the most successful in suppressing spread of the virus.

South Korea and Singapore are relatively functional democracies while China is not. But in all of them, there is a strong sense of community. There is trust that government Covid protocols are well-meant and not some conspiracy. People have faith in medical science. Crucially, they accept restrictions or some inconvenience for the sake of the larger community. In these countries, rights and responsibilities, privileges and obligations, go hand-in-hand.

Over the last two decades, Western democracy has been infected by scepticism about science, cynicism about community, distrust of government, and nihilism. Individual rights, regardless of consequences to others, have become an absolute right.

What an individual feels is the only truth that matters. An individuals experience, not matter how subjective, is the only factor that counts. This attitude is the biggest threat to Western democracy, not China or jihadists. As we in Africa continue to nurture a culture of democracy and human rights, we must place personal responsibility towards others at the centre of this process.

Tee Ngugi is a Nairobi-based political commentator

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Rights of individuals now a big threat to Western democracy - The East African

Most days, its hard to fully comprehend our current dystopian nightmare.

We now accept that 777,000 Americans are dead in the COVID pandemic and the death toll continues to climb day after day, even when weve had life-saving vaccines widely available for eight months.

We accept that millions of parents refuse to get their children vaccinated or even send them to school in masks and then angrily demand to be worshipped as heroes for endangering their kids and untold numbers of others.

We accept that leaders of the GOP, one of our two major political parties, have bluntly told us that mass death is inevitable, while trafficking in conspiracy theories and quack science as alternatives to vaccines, and then cravenly blame Democrats when herd immunity cant be reached and people continue to get sick and die.

While the majority of Americans are vaccinated, we are being held hostage by the millions who arent and politicians practicing pandemic nihilism. How do you ever come back from that? Many of us have lost hope that we ever fully will.

Ive thought a lot in recent months about how weve become so unmoored from our collective humanity and moral decency. And I keep coming back to Sandy Hook.

Ive thought a lot in recent months about how weve become so unmoored from our collective humanity and moral decency. And I keep coming back to Sandy Hook.

After 20 little children and six adults were brutally murdered in a Connecticut elementary school in 2012, President Barack Obama addressed the nation. With tears in his eyes, the father of two spoke of the tragedy and the need for common-sense gun reforms, something that the vast majority of Americans supported then and now.

First Republicans and a few NRA-backed Democrats blocked any progress on policy. Then the GOP launched a ghastly ad mocking Obama for comforting a grieving parent. The lesson here is that the right will always lecture that its too soon to talk about gun control after a mass shooting, but its not to disparage victims and those trying to help. Meanwhile, far-right media, like Alex Jones Infowars which became highly influential in the Trump era spent years spreading conspiracy theories that Sandy Hook parents were crisis actors, subjecting them to threats and harassment after the greatest loss imaginable.

When it became acceptable for right-wing leaders to gleefully embrace their monstrousness after first-graders were blown away, all bets were off.

Is it a surprise that the GOPs next and current leader, Donald Trump, made his political bones by slandering Mexicans as rapists, separating migrant children from their parents at the border and egging on his supporters to assault his enemies at rallies?

Is it a surprise that hours after our nation was rocked Tuesday by yet another school shooting, this time at Oxford High School, that a GOP operative would slam Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a mother of two who knows firsthand what its like for our kids to be subjected to Kafkaesque lockdown drills for coming out and mourning with parents?

No. The cruelty is the point, as essayist Adam Serwer noted during the Trump era. And so is the brazenness.

Now almost two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, weve managed to normalize a breathtaking loss of human life.

Whats more, we dont expect Republicans who run the Legislature to have a plan to stop any more than our over 24,000 friends and neighbors in Michigan from dying in the fourth surge, because theyve never had one.

We dont even expect them to be responsible and OK billions from the feds to respond to COVID and aid people and businesses who have suffered during the crisis. (House Appropriations Chair Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) blithely said theres no emergency even though Michigan hospitals broke records again this week for COVID hospitalizations). It goes without saying that Republicans are playing politics as the 2022 election looms, hoping that the continued horror show will cost Whitmer reelection.

All along the way, Republicans have propped up the ridiculously dangerous medical freedom movement. Its the logical endpoint of right-wing propaganda about what freedom is.

Freedom isnt free. In America, its really the freedom to die.

For decades, Republicans have sold people on the idea that universal health care is communism and true freedom can only be achieved by keeping a free-market system that can bankrupt you after a single visit to the ER.

Theyve told us that climate change isnt real, but even if it is, corporations must have the freedom to poison our planet or else theyll take away jobs or raise prices on everything.

And of course, theyve idolized guns as the ultimate symbol of freedom so much so that theyre good with domestic abusers and felons being able to buy firearms, while terrified parents get to instruct children on what to do in case of mass shootings at school, the mall, really anywhere which occur almost daily.

Freedom isnt free. In America, its really the freedom to die.

We are still free, of course, to reject this right-wing culture of death. But after years of living with savagery, too many of us seem too exhausted to fight.

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Susan J. Demas: From guns to COVID, we're all trying to survive the GOP's culture of death Michigan Advance - Michigan Advance

As you would expect, this Supreme Court case has generated the usual briefs from gun rights advocates: the N.R.A., gun clubs, libertarian scholars, Republican politicians. What is strange, and disheartening, is that the petitioners have also received support from a group of prestigious and seasoned New York public defenders, who argue that the New York law should be overturned not really on Second Amendment grounds, but because of the way the law is enforced against their clients, Black and brown, poor defendants who need to carry guns for self-defense. The public defenders argue that, historically, permits have been issued unevenly, and that still today, in many places, it is easier for whites and members of the middle class to get permits than it is for people of color and the poor. And they argue their clients should have guns just like other Americans do. In other words, the progressive left has met far right in describing dangerous streets and the need to be armed on them.

Theirs is not a legal argument, but a political one, and is unlikely to sway a Supreme Court focused on the text and original meaning of the Constitution (though the court may find it a useful fig leaf if it decides against New York). It is meant to shock, and it does, in its nihilism a nihilism that echoes the far right champions of the men we have seen on trial. Instead of taking guns out of the hands of the Rittenhouses and McMichaels of the world, these progressive public defenders want to level up to make guns more readily available to their clients, to all of us. Their vision, if realized, would make the self-defense claims of Mr. Rittenhouse and Mr. McMichael unremarkable, not only in red states, but across the country.

The audacious position taken by these New York public defenders should give pause to anyone tempted to understand, and maybe even discount, the Rittenhouse and McMichael defenses as essentially conservative arguments playing to conservative juries in conservative states. If we start to think of guns only as a problem in the hands of the Other (white supremacists, the far right, criminals), we will miss the simple fact that unregulated guns escalate violence across ideological lines. Their presence tends to create a need for self-defense on both sides of the trigger, about which the law has very little to say. If Mr. Rosenbaum and Mr. Arbery did indeed reach for those guns, werent they, no doubt, acting in self-defense? More guns, no matter in whose hands, will create more standoffs, more intimidation, more death sanctioned in the eyes of the law.

Tali Farhadian Weinstein (@talifarhadian), a former federal and state prosecutor in New York, is a legal analyst on NBC News and MSNBC.

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Opinion | Kyle Rittenhouse, Travis McMichael and the Problem of Self-Defense - The New York Times

Mark Toias film is set during the pivotal moment when the creature escapes its maker in this case, when military robots acquire the ability to think for themselves, go rogue and decide to kill everything in sight.

Three computer nerds run what they think is a navigation test involving four mechanical soldiers being airdropped into a jungle in the Golden Triangle. They dont have a problem with black ops involving secret weapons until things go haywire, and Monsters of Man is quite good at describing the techies hubris and utter lack of morals, as well as their terminal navet: What did they think they were building, exactly? Not that the trios handlers are any better.

The films ruthlessness in killing off almost every character, including women and children, may feel exploitative, but there is honesty in showing the full range of casualties caused by American weaponry. If you thought drone attacks were bad, wait until you see what autonomous robots that were built to kill are capable of.

The film overstays its welcome by a solid half-hour (it is not about a time loop but feels like one because the last third is so repetitive) but its nihilism and violence are unsettling because the action feels as if its set just minutes into the future.

Rent or buy from Amazon and Vudu.

So, what happens after the killer mechs become sentient? Daniel Raboldts debut feature, thats what.

In it, the robots have fully taken over and exterminated as much of humankind as they could details are fuzzy but it looks as if there are few people left. A banged-up survivor, Tomasz (Stefan Ebel), moves around in a foil-lined van and sets up camp in an empty house in the woods, which he protects with a jury-rigged force field. He meets Lilja (Siri Nase), a member of the local resistance with a plan to vanquish the killing machines, and together they take off for a long walk to a mysterious destination.

Much of this, along with flashbacks showing how the world ended up in this mess, is told wordlessly to avoid alerting the new overlords the German A Living Dog is a bit like A Quiet Place with robots instead of aliens. Raboldt shot in a Finnish forest by the Arctic Circle, an inspired location that gives the film a natural grandeur and beauty while suggesting a forlorn emptiness. Another asset is that unlike too many C.G.I. creations, the robots project a real sense of massive weight. Add a steady, deliberate pace that is mostly absorbing, and you have a solid debut that doesnt always match its ambition, but at least puts up a valiant fight.

Stream from Starz or buy from most major platforms.

Do not confuse this movie with the schlocky (in a bad way) Monster Hunters.

This Monster Hunter is the one in which a feline cook, the Meowscular Chef, prepares a meal Benihana-style for a crew of desert pirates led by Ron Perlman, who then asks a flabbergasted Milla Jovovich: Whats the matter? You dont have cats in your world?

If this makes you laugh I did by all means cue up the preposterously entertaining latest by Jovovich and her husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, one of the best action directors around.

Based on a video game, as is so often the case with Anderson, the film is essentially an extended dash-and-fight sequence. Jovovichs Captain Artemis finds herself marooned in a strange landscape packed with bloodthirsty creatures, which she must defeat if she ever wants to go home. Every time a beastie goes down, a bigger one pops up. Good thing a badass warrior played by Tony Jaa (from the Ong-Bak series) is there to lend a hand. The film is big, loud, boisterous and proudly nutty. Naturally for such an unabashed exercise in pulp fiction, the ending invites a sequel. Bring it on.

Has there ever been a movie where hopscotching between dimensions went smoothly? The various strands and timelines tend not to interact in harmonious ways, creating headaches for everybody involved (including screenwriters trying to overcome niggling paradoxes). Those problems are at the core of Gaurav Seths indie film, in which a student experiment exploring the coexistence of multiple planes spins out of control: This is what happens when STEM education spills from physics into metaphysics.

A car accident at the very beginning is just one in a cascade of consequences and choices, many of them deeply personal for the students. In one world, for example, a deaf woman (Sandra Mae Frank) can hear, but is that better? Another character gets so carried away that he forgets all about ethics and basic decency, raising quandaries on how to handle him. The film is at its most interesting when it juggles a series of interlocking tendrils you may feel compelled to rewatch the beginning to search for missed clues about the final plot twist. Seth probably had a fraction of Paul W.S. Andersons catering budget for Monster Hunter, so the Multiverse description of alternate realities relies on dialogue and a goldfish rather than explosions and rampaging Black Diablos. But the issues it raises are almost as infinite as the universes it posits.

Stream it on Hulu.

Some of the best what-if scenarios provoke tangible emotional responses. Such is the case of Chad Hartigans film, which is lovely and heartbreaking without ever feeling manipulative or sappy. The hypothetical here is as simple as it is soul-crushing: What would happen if a virus destroyed the afflicted persons memory? Emma (Olivia Cooke, just as good in a subtly poignant role as she was as a powerful rock frontwoman in Sound of Metal) narrates her experience watching her husband, Jude (Jack OConnell), progressively forget who he is and what they mean to each other. Emma sees some of the practical consequences of the pandemic at the animal shelter where she works people forget to look after their dogs, who are then brought in and euthanized since nobody claims or adopts them. She also watches the couple formed by their friends Ben (Ral Castillo) and Sam (Soko) sink when Bens mind goes. And still, Emma is not prepared when the illness hits home. You, the viewer, can be: make sure to have a box of tissues ready when watching this most romantic, and sad, of love stories.

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Five Science-Fiction Movies to Stream Now - The New York Times