#dominic tierney

[contemplatingoutlander]

In August [2020], the Senate Intelligence Committee reported in exhaustive detail how Russia sowed division in the United States and sought to meddle in the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump. Immediately, Republicans and Democrats battled over whether the Trump campaign had engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” with Russia, or “collusion,” or “cooperation,” or established “ties”—or whether, as the White House claimed, Trump was the victim of a massive liberal conspiracy. Years after 2016, Russian election interference continues to reap dividends for Moscow by turning American against American.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is particularly adept at psychological warfare because he has been practicing it for decades. He learned the art of destabilizing his opponents from the Stasi, East Germany’s secret police. Russia now uses the same techniques. However, it not only targets individuals; it torments entire countries. [...] The East German secret police developed a method known as "Zersetzung" or “decomposition” to stamp out rebellion without the use of overt force. The idea was to chip away at a dissident’s sanity so that he would lose the will to resist, or in the words of a Stasi guide, “[provoke] and [enforce] internal conflicts and contradictions within hostile-negative forces that fragment, paralyze, disorganize, and isolate” the opponent. The first step in a campaign was to identify the target’s weak spots—health, family, finances—then strike them over and over. [...] In recent years, Russia has reportedly used the methods of decomposition against individual journalists and diplomats. Putin’s real innovation has been to weaponize "Zersetzung" against countries. [...] Russia seeks to weaken a foreign adversary from the inside, paralyzing its ability to resist. It partners with a range of allies, such as oligarchs and journalists, and uses a diverse toolbox, including propaganda and cyber attacks. Moscow begins by locating the target country’s weakest point, whether it’s an ethnic, religious, or partisan cleavage. Then Russia manufactures a sense of distrust to destroy the social contract. Whereas the Stasi might break into a man’s apartment in the middle of the night and turn on his electric razor—just to freak him out—Moscow uses hackers and trolls to propagate conspiracy theories and cultivate a skepticism of authority.  

___________________ For related articles, a NYT reader (who commented on a recent NYT article) provided information about the above Atlantic article and also recommended these articles:

How Putin’s oligarchs funneled millions into GOP campaigns [Dallas Morning News] Russia’s State TV Calls Trump Their ‘Agent’ [The Daily Beast] Russian Operative Said ‘We Made America Great’ After Trump’s Win [Bloomberg] Russia Funded Facebook and Twitter Investments Through Kushner Investors [The Guardian]

[aerialtaluniverse]

My top 30 hot men of the year

Phil Dunster Matty Cash Vito Coppola Declan Rice Paul Mescal Carlos Alcaraz Jonathan Bailey Dominic Thiem Joe Bryan Lewis Cope John Stones Miguel Angel Silvestre Louis Rees-Zammit Ryan Prescott Sam Sherring Will Best Julian Alvarez Jack Laugher Ross Barkley Max Parker James Longman Eian Scully Jack Harrison Dan Goodfellow Thomas Inge Ben Chilwell Ross Haslam Kieran Tierney Todd Sanfield Aaron Ramsey

[vavuska]

Books similar to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood:

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett and Extasia by Claire Legrand are both distopyas dense of religious fanatism and women's segregation, in which sexism and sexual prejudice are associated with various aspects of religion (e.g. belief, faith, and fundamentalism). This novel shows also how higher religious fundamentalism is associated with internalized misogyny and passive acceptance of traditional gender roles, and both hostile and benevolent sexism.

In The Grace Year the stereotype of a women as source of sin was laid down by the dominant religious authorities before the inception of widespread violence led by women against women, but after all the violence and blood, women learn the importance of sorority, female friendship and start to support and help each others.

The main source of conflicts are ribbons, which, in The Grace Year, are the sign of a women lifestage and the bride's ribbon is a valued price among most of the girls of the age of Tierney, the protagonist. The bride ribbons create a competition between girls to get bachelor’s attention, self-objectification, and humiliation toward each others. Although the competition eventually destroys most of them, this characteristic offers pleasure to those who survived their Grace Year. Tierney learns to survive on her own, learns that the religious values she was thought were wrong and learns also to appreciate her peer's friendship.

Extasia adds witchcraft and supernatural elements, but the main character (Amity) believes deeply in social conservatism—Amity has a preference for stability, conformity and the status quo— which is often a key trait of the religious experience, but also betrays deep feeling of self-hate.

In Extasia, the very patriarchal structures that decry witchcraft – the Puritan church in which the characters lives in and escapes from, the male headship to which the community so desperately cling, the insistence, in the face of repeated violence, on the sin of her mother – are the same structures that inevitably foreclose the options of the lead character, Amity.

To this two, I will mention also The Year Of The Witching by Alexis Henderson. In this novel, Immanuelle, a young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society, discovers dark powers within herself. This book is very similar to Extasia, but not such as good: Amity character is way more believable than Immanuelle and shows way more comprehension of the injustices committed in the name of the religion. The cult in Extasia contains more original elements and believing than the one in The Year Of The Witching, which seems more a copy-paste of mormon radical close-communities, including the elements of racial prejudice. Both Immanuelle and Amity live in the disdain of their own community because of the sins committed by their mother, which were both punished for their love affairs, but when Amity is a girl-of-action and actively search for mercy and witchcraft, Immanuelle is cursed - literally - by passivity and events occurs without her active consents, including the defection of the evil antagonist. Also, female friendship doesn't take place among the main themes and the book suffer a lot of the male love-interest help.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

Extasia by Claire Legrand

Her name is unimportant.

All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain--an evil which has already killed nine of her village's men.

She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove.

Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother's shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?

The Year Of The Witching by Alexis Henderson

In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement. But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood. Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.

[devilsupdates]

Devils update before 3rd period

Jonas Siegenthaler has not returned for the third period.

Rempe cheap shots Siegenthaler with a late elbow to the face. He earns a 5 min major a game misconduct. His 2nd Match penalty in 2 games vs NJ

Matt Rempe has played two (sort of) games against #NJDevils  this season and has been thrown out of both of them for bad hits.

The first on Nathan Bastian's head and another now on Jonas Siegentahler's.

I am curious why MacDermid got a 10-minute misconduct.

Hopefully Travis Green got an explanation and we can ask him about it later.

#NJDevils 

Third period right now

#NJDevils  will open the third period with a five minute power play.

2:10 left in the devils PP

Pretty bad five-minute power play if you ask me!

#NYR  with as dominant a 5 min kill as you will ever see. The #NJDevils  fail to score and barely register a shot

Devils plays Stars on the 14th, Coyotes on the 16th, golden knights on the 17th, penguins on the 19th, the jets on the 21st, senators on the 23rd, islanders on the 24th, maple leafs on the 26th and the Sabres on the 29th. That is the march schedule for the devils

Kurtis MacDermid has been released from the penalty box and is pacing back and forth on the ice during the break.

Haula back to the box.

#NJDevils  to the PK.

Haula to the box with 8 min left for interference on Panarin. #NJDevils  send out Tierney and Nosek

Nemec.

#NJDevils  trail 2-1

Kahkonen to the bench for a second time now.

1:42 remaining.

#NJDevils  trailing 2-1.

Nemec's third goal cuts the lead in half. #NJDevils  will play 6v5 the last 1:42

3-1 Rangers

Careless pass by Jack with possession in the offensive zone.

0:52 to go

Rangers won 3-1

Disappointed

[filmforager]

The Iron Claw: Review

Fighting with my family

With the super tight trunks and dodgy haircuts, there’s something wonderfully daft about the world of professional wrestling. But whether it’s The Wrestler or Foxcatcher, the sport has served as a serious topic to explore the destructive nature of masculinity in cinema. Weighing in at just over 2 hours, the latest to join the ring is The Iron Claw, a poignant true story about an ill-fated wrestling family. 

Set in 1980s Texas, we spend our time with the Von Erichs, an unusually close family of wrestlers and athletes. Led by patriarch and former pro wrestler Fritz Von Erich (a steely Holt McCallany) with his formidable wife Doris (a marvelous Maura Tierney), he rules the home with an iron claw, and looks to his four sons to carry on his wrestling legacy. He even has a hierarchy of what boys he favors - there’s olympic athlete Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), eldest son Kevin (Zac Efron), swaggering David (Harris Dickinson), and the more sensitive Mike (Stanley Simons). As the brothers jostle for a higher position, Kevin starts to have doubts about his father’s tough love approach.

While Fighting with my Family looked at how professional wrestling could bring a family together, this looks at how the need to appear macho in the sport can slowly tear a family apart. The Von Erich family is presented as a stifling cage that the brothers can’t escape, where talking about your feelings is taboo, and shedding a tear during a funeral too ‘unmanly’. There’s even a family curse that is invoked in the face of tragedy, when someone is pushed too close to the edge. From Sean Durkin, writer-director of Martha Marcy May Marlene, this is another excellent study of pent-up emotion and repressed feelings, with a show-don’t-tell approach that grounds the story, and makes major plot developments more upsetting. 

As the Von Erich family makes a name for itself in the world of NWA wrestling, the sudden fame and physical demands begin to impact the family dynamic in fascinating, devastating ways. This results in some truly layered performances, including Allen White as the troubled Kerry, and Simons as Mike, whose inability to fit the macho mold is the most heart-breaking plot point. While Kevin’s eyes are opened to a different kind of life with girlfriend Pam (a spirited Lily James), it’s fair to say the others aren’t so lucky.

Sitting ringside to this story of family turmoil is Efron’s Kevin, the brawny elder brother whose emotional maturity has been stilted by the pursuit of someone else’s dream. Trading in on his physicality (and a strong resemblance to He-Man), Efron is perfectly cast as a troubled man who chafes against his father’s domineering parental style, but struggles to put his doubts into words. It’s a complex and perceptive performance, allowing Efron to flex acting muscles that he previously hasn’t been able to. Like his central performance, the film aches with sadness and regret, acting as a plea for men everywhere: when the going gets tough, don’t be afraid to cry!

With a masterful grasp of tone and subtle story-telling that packs a punch, The Iron Claw is a sad and compelling story about the limits of traditional masculinity. 

★★★★

[spacenutspod]

Earth’s last half-billion years were action-packed. During that time, the climate underwent many changes. There have been changes in ocean levels and ice sheets, changes in the atmosphere’s composition, changes in ocean chemistry, and ongoing biological evolution punctuated with extinction events. A record of Earth’s temperature over the last 485 million years is helping scientists understand how it all played out and illustrating what could happen if we continue to enrich the atmosphere with carbon. The new temperature record is presented in research titled “A 485-million-year history of Earth’s surface temperature.” It’s published in Science, and the lead author is Emily Judd. Judd is from the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. “This research illustrates clearly that carbon dioxide is the dominant control on global temperatures across geological time.”Jessica Tierney, University of Arizona The new historical temperature comes from an effort named PhanDA, which stands for Phanerozoic Data Assimilation. PhanDA combined data from climate models with data from geology to determine how the climate has changed over the last nearly 500 million years. The Phanerozoic is Earth’s current geological eon, and it started 538.8 million years ago. It’s known for the proliferation of life, and its beginning is marked by the appearance of the hard shells of animals in the fossil record. PhanDA is a mix of data and prior simulations by the scientific community. “This approach leverages the strengths of both proxies and models as sources of information, providing an innovative way to explore the temporal and spatial patterns in Earth’s climate across the Phanerozoic,” the researchers write in their paper. It allowed the researchers to reconstruct the climate more thoroughly. This figure illustrates the data used to create PhanDA. A shows the temporal distribution of proxy data used in PhanDA. B shows the spatial distribution. C shows the range (gray band) and median (black line) of GMSTs within the prior model ensemble for each assimilated stage. Image Credit: Judd et al. 2024. “This method was originally developed for weather forecasting,” said Judd. “Instead of using it to forecast future weather, here we’re using it to hindcast ancient climates.” We’re blowing by atmospheric carbon benchmarks, and the Earth is warming. We’re now at over 420 ppm of CO2. The best way to understand what’s coming our way is by looking at the past. “If you’re studying the past couple of million years, you won’t find anything that looks like what we expect in 2100 or 2500,” said co-author Scott Wing, the curator of paleobotany at the National Museum of Natural History. Wing’s research focuses on the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, a period of dramatic global warming 55 million years ago. “You need to go back even further to periods when the Earth was really warm, because that’s the only way we’re going to get a better understanding of how the climate might change in the future.” During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a massive amount of carbon was emitted into the atmosphere and the oceans. The Earth’s temperature reacted swiftly, warming by between five and eight degrees Celsius in only a few thousand years. While a few thousand years might seem long compared to a human lifetime, it’s nearly instantaneous for the climate of an entire planet. It likely triggered the massive extinction of between 35% to 50% of benthic life. Fossils show that during this time, sub-tropical planets grew in the polar regions. Many scientists think the PETM is the best analogue for what we’re facing today. No matter what we do with our emissions in the next several decades, much of the carbon humanity has released into the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution will persist in the atmosphere for thousands of years. Earth’s reconstructed Global Mean Surface Temperature for the past 485 million years. Blue rectangles show the maximum latitudinal ice extent, and orange dashed lines show the timing of the five major mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. The five orange fishbone symbols mark mass extinctions. Image Credit: Judd et al. 2024. PhanDA illustrates the unbreakable link between carbon and global warming. According to co-author Jessica Tierney, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Arizona, the link between the climate and carbon is undeniable. “This research illustrates clearly that carbon dioxide is the dominant control on global temperatures across geological time,” said Tierney. “When CO2 is low, the temperature is cold; when CO2 is high, the temperature is warm.” While proof of the link between climate and carbon isn’t new, this long timeframe drives it home. “The consistency of this relationship is surprising because, on this timescale, we expect solar luminosity to influence climate,” the authors write. “We hypothesize that changes in planetary albedo and other greenhouse gases (e.g., methane) helped compensate for the increasing solar luminosity through time.” Overall, Earth’s global mean surface temperature (GMST) ranged from 11° to 36°C during the Phanerozoic, a larger range than previously thought. It also shows that greenhouse climates were hotter than thought. The largest temperature swings were in the high latitudes, but tropical temperatures ranged from 22 C to 42 C. This goes against the idea that the tropics have a fixed upper limit and shows that life must have evolved to survive in those higher temperatures. The research also shows that our current climate is actually cooler than the climate through most of the Phanerozoic. Technically, Earth is in an ice age right now, though the ice is receding and has been for thousands of years. Earth’s current GMST is 15 Celsius, lower than during most of the Phanerozoic. But while that may sound comforting, it’s not. It’s the rate of change in the GMST that’s dangerous. Our GHG emissions are warming the planet faster than at any time during the Phanerozoic. “Humans, and the species we share the planet with, are adapted to a cold climate,” Tierney said. “Rapidly putting us all into a warmer climate is a dangerous thing to do.” This figure from the published research shows the climate states through the Phanerozoic. D shows the latitudinal surface air temperature gradient associated with each of the climate states. Coloured bands show the 16th to 84th percentiles, and coloured lines show the median value. Image Credit: Judd et al. 2024. While PhanDA is generally in agreement with previous climate reconstructions, it deviates in some ways. For example, cold climate periods don’t always coincide with glaciation and ice ages. Earth’s surface is ever-changing, and that can make some conclusions difficult to reach. “Many of the traditional glacial indicators can have nonglacial origins, complicating the interpretation of the rock record, and limited outcrop of older rocks and poor age control can make it difficult to discern between isolated alpine glaciers and widespread ice sheets,” the authors explain. But that doesn’t take much away from PhanDA. It strengthens our understanding of climate and carbon. This figure illustrates the undeniable relationship between atmospheric carbon and a warming climate. B shows PhanDA GMST versus CO2, colour-coded by geologic era. The black dashed line shows the York regression, a statistical method used to draw a straight line between data points with some uncertainties. C shows the CO2 ranges for each of the defined climate states. Image Credit: Judd et al. 024. Shockingly, the work suggests that Earth’s climate is even more sensitive to CO2 than some current models show. “PhanDA GMST exhibits a strong relationship with atmospheric CO2 concentrations, demonstrating that CO2 has been the dominant force controlling global climate variations across the Phanerozoic,” the authors write in their conclusion. The post From Frozen to Sweltering: Earth’s Climate Over the Last 485 Million Years appeared first on Universe Today.

[22-importedlasermodules]

"Instead of pounding their suspects into submission, they would send them mad. And so began the policy of Zersetzung.

The word meant disintegration or corrosion or decomposition. Today we would call it 'gaslighting' — playing with someone's mind and self-worth until any resistance crumbles and he or she becomes either compliant or apathetic. Another phrase for it was 'no-touch torture'.

According to a new book, The Grey Men, by former FBI agent Ralph Hope, the men and women of the Stasi who had enacted Zersetzung disbanded and disappeared into unified Germany to reinvent themselves and disguise their past.

Because, as we will see later, what the Stasi did has chilling resonances to life today.

There were scores of ways to play mind games with suspects, in a bid to create panic, confusion and fear. Some were obvious. The phone would ring but when it was picked up there was no one there. Then it would ring again, and again.

But Stasi agents were also known to break into suspects' homes when they were out and change the time on the alarm clock in the bedroom so it went off unexpectedly — and frighteningly – in the middle of the night.

Pictures on walls were moved, an electric razor in the bathroom left running, socks moved to a different drawer, furniture shifted to a different position, even the coffee mysteriously disappearing from the kitchen and the variety of tea in a cupboard replaced by a different one.

It was the little things like this that freaked people out, leaving them, in the words of the Stasi handbook, 'paralysed, disorganised and isolated'.

A married target would be sent falsified photographs of himself in a compromising situation or postcards from another woman demanding child support payments; his wife would get a sex toy in the post; a vibrator — which was classified as decadent Western frivolity — would be planted in his home to embarrass and incriminate him.

All these were tactics to undermine family relations and help destroy him.

'Decomposition was designed to unglue a dissident's psyche, to chip away at his sanity,' according to U.S. academic Professor Dominic Tierney of the think-tank the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.

A regime opponent would find himself trapped in a Kafkaesque nightmare. Everywhere he turned, an evil force seemed to be hounding him, even though he could not prove that he had been singled out. 'Who would believe that the government was secretly stealing his tea towels?

'The effects were powerful. Some victims killed themselves, others suffered insomnia, panic attacks and nervous breakdowns. One target called what happened to him 'an assault on the human soul'.

[ferrolano-blog]

Ganar la batalla pero perder la guerra, de Ucrania a Israel... la tiranía de las expectativas puede animar a los israelíes a considerar su guerra en Gaza como un fracaso... Netanyahu declaró que la guerra en Gaza terminará con una victoria israelí similar a la victoria aliada en la Segunda Guerra Mundial... los objetivos de guerra maximalistas y las promesas de triunfo predisponen a los israelíes a la decepción al sugerir que el único resultado aceptable es un triunfo rotundo. La victoria exigiría expulsar a Hamás por completo de Gaza o forzar la rendición de la organización. Ninguna de las dos cosas es probable... es posible que los israelíes recuerden la guerra como una campaña costosa y una oportunidad perdida, y quizá como una gran derrota. Las encuestas en Israel sugieren que la confianza en la seguridad del país está disminuyendo. La percepción del fracaso podría tener profundas consecuencias para la política y la sociedad israelíes. Dentro del país, el resultado podría ser una mentalidad de asedio, un endurecimiento de la política israelí y una búsqueda de chivos expiatorios. Pero el recuerdo de la pérdida también podría estimular una mayor disposición a hacer concesiones a los palestinos ( Dominic Tierney, Instituto de Investigación de Política Exterior)

[newbookcats]

Book Review: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett | Can Logic Be Overtaken by Lies and Emotion? Ft. A Story of Love, Punishment, and Magic

Book review can also be found at https://newbookcatsreads.blogspot.com/2024/01/book-review-grace-year-by-kim-liggett.html

The open water, the breeze, the unobstructed sun glaring down on us - it feels like freedom, but we know it's a lie. This is how they break us. They take everything away, our very dignity, and anything we get in return feels like a gift.

A perfect mash-up of The Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games during the Salem Witch Trials, Liggett's The Grace Year features a patriarchal society that fears the power of women, claiming a woman's luring gaze is downright witchcraft. 

[Women are] told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. They believe our very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild before we're allowed to return to civilization. 

Tierney, our female protagonist, is sixteen-years-old and is expected to marry and start a family, as is many of the other girls in her town. However, before she begins her role as a dutiful spouse and mother, she must embark on her Grace Year, during which all sixteen-year-old girls in the town will reside collectively in the wilderness until their "magic" dispels. Entirely alone and free to make their own decisions, these girls' choices will either strengthen or weaken their relationships, thus affecting their safety. Yet, when loner Tierney is unexpectedly courted by her best friend Michael, she is plunged into the female-female rivalries she spent years avoiding. Will Tierney be able to survive the year, or will her "magic" and the competition drive her to madness?

        - - -

In the past year, the word "feminism" has been frequently raised on social media - to the point that I question whether I know what actual feminism is or if TikTok's toxic version has come to dominate my world. My initial thought of Liggett's feminist story was, "Like The Handmaid's Tale?" Although the story is placed in a dystopian era, the culture is more traditional and the practices can be compared to those done during the Salem Witch Trials, especially as the opinions of females are challenged with deathly punishments such as hangings. However, Liggett's take on a heavy subject and her storytelling easily made this an exciting and gripping novel. 

Liggett's prose is executed wonderfully and places you exactly in Tierney's shoes. Although learning about the history of the town and its events from varying perspectives would have been interesting, the intimacy of following young Tierney makes the story so unputdownable. As Tierney readies to participate in the forty-seventh Grace Year, the reader is told that Tierney's mother previously underwent the ceremony as well and possibly her grandmother. Thus, since Tierney's knowledge of the the Grace Year is limited to what she has been told, there is so much mystery involved in the world itself. This quality not only lends to the reader's role as a detective aiming to understand the reasons behind the characters' actions but also unravels the town's repulsive and toxic nature. For example, women are plotted against each other from a very young age. In the town, men prey on and brainwash them; outside of town and during their Grace Year, this toxicity is fueled by their insecurities. Further, beyond the town's outskirts, ruthless poachers seek to kill these girls during their Grace Years and present their remains as trophies to be sold to the town's men and woman seeking to preserve their youth. However, as noted by the quotation marks surrounding the women's "magic," it's all false - a lie maintained to control these young girls as they develop into women.

There is no doubt that Liggett aims to reflect our society, particularly its cliques. The mean girls lead the young women during their Grace Year and inevitably punish anyone who disagrees with them. Tierney, with her set of survival skills, sets to improve the lives of the girls during their Grace Year. Rather than drink from an algae-infested well and rely solely on the rations they packed before their trip, she attempts to produce several solutions to help the overall experience of the Grace Year. Rather than the expected praise I would give Tierney for her creativity and resourcefulness, she is mocked and banished from the main pack. It's truly remarkable how Liggett skillfully portrays the influence of brainwashing over several decades and how much I literally want to hug each of these ladies.

However, Tierney's banishment leads to an unlikely romance with a poacher Ryker. Although I was at first flabbergasted with Tierney falling in love, Ryker fit the story extremely well. Tierney, at the beginning, is wanting her life to be entirely up to her. Since women are basically treated like property in her world, she despises courting, the Grace Year ritual, and anything to do with marriage. Tierney's initial wish is to not be chosen for marriage at the choosing ceremony and work in the fields where she can remain free. Although her plans are turned upside down after being courted by Michael, I enjoyed  Tierney's love for Ryker was her choice, and I love that Liggett included this romance in this story, especially since it is not un-feminist to fall in love or do tasks that are stereotypically feminine. I love the maturity and bravery exhibited by Tierney during her time with and after Ryker, and these scenes definitely encompassed the strength and intelligence of Tierney wonderfully.

Moreover, the symbolism with the flowers! Quite a unique concept that I have not seen yet in the books I have read, and I enjoyed learning each flower's meaning!

Lastly, the ending! Although I am somewhat confused by the ending, it was peaceful. There are spoilers ahead in this paragraph; therefore, I warn any socially awkward turtles to proceed with caution and read this masterpiece so we may discuss at our next meeting. Thank you!

So, the ending! Um...Liggett ended the story vaguely. Passing by Tierney's dismay of a betrothed, her subsequent send off into the scary wilderness, and her life's desire to give women the freedom to pursue their own passions, she gives birth to her daughter and experiences this:

As I close my eyes and let out my next endless breath, I find myself walking in the woods, weightless, free.

And, then Tierney is flashed to a scene of a very much alive Ryker walking around although the reader most definitely witnessed him die. So, it begs the question: is Tierney in too peaceful of a moment in which she dies during childbirth? With Tierney's mom freeing her hair and Ryker's dreamlike appearance, it's assumed that Tierney dies. Nonetheless, Book #2 will have to explain something about this ending scene and the legacy of Tierney's daughter. 

What did you think of Liggett's The Grace Year? Was it the feminist novel of the year, or do you have a differing opinion? What one object, if you were set to be stranded in the woods with nothing else, would you bring? What books will you be reading in 2024? Converse with me in the comments below or via any social media!

Love,

newbookcats

Goodreads

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[movienation]

Next screening? "The Iron Claw" takes us into the ring and a family that dominates it

Former “High School Musical” “It boy” Zac Efron co stars with this year’s cable king Jeremy Allen White of “The Bear” in this tale of wrasslin’ and the violence, risk and true costs of a life in this “fake” “sport.” The formidable Holt McAllany and Maura Tierney also star in the latest from “The Nest” and “Martha Marcy Mae Marlene* director Sean Durkin.

[juniordsindia]

HOW READING IS AN ESSENTIAL LANGUAGE SKILL?

Reading falls under the four langauge skills namely LSRW , Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Traditionally, reading was narrowly conceptualized as a decoding process, that is, speaking out  written language. In terms of literacy acquisition the dominant perspective (reading readiness) considered learning to read as learning to decode. In terms of material, it meant that the texts were structured around letter-sounds and children were expected to master the letter-sound correspondence and learn about blending to decode words. The assumption behind constructing materials was a ‘bottom-up’ approach to reading, where the whole consisted of parts and by learning parts one could learn the whole. Varnmala , barakhadi in pre- primary and primary classes along with drill based letter writing was the road to langauge teaching.

This view of reading has been challenged in recent years. An alternative perspective, emergent literacy, based on a different and broader conceptualization of reading and development has gained prominence. Literacy is not viewed merely as decoding but rather the whole act of reading, including comprehension (Mason and Sinha, 1993).

Emergent literacy perspective advocates literacy learning by interacting with meaningful texts for genuine purposes including enjoyment as early as to three years depending on age appropriate material. The text when are considerate towards children, better is the process of motivation for them to read.This perspective focuses on all aspects of language (semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic), and not merely on phonics. Also Read About Top 10 Preschool In India

Hence, we must understand that Reading  is a cognitive process involving decoding symbols to arrive at meaning. During this processing of information, the reader uses strategies to understand what they are reading, uses themes to organize ideas, and uses textual clues to find the meanings of new words. It is also not just done in language classrooms, but across curriculum and is a lifelong activity.

The suggestive approach to reading is top-down processing approach which revolutionized the conception of the way students learn to read (Goodman 1967; Smith 1994). In this view, reading is not just extracting meaning from a text but a process of connecting information in the text with the knowledge the reader brings to the act of reading. Reading, in this sense, is “a dialogue between the reader and the text” (Grabe 1988, 56).

 It is basically making readers  be at the forefront and is an active cognitive process in which the reader’s background knowledge plays a key role in the creation of meaning (Tierney and Pearson 1994). There are several indicators that enable early and careful development of reading. Like:

1. Importance of Rich reading environment for Children(at home , school, culture , outside world)- The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) -2005 appreciates the importance of a print-rich environment as one of the strongest tools for reading. There should be enough printed material in and around the classroom. Symbols, charts and notices should be placed in the class so that children can learn the sounds of various letters along with their written symbols. NCF-2005 also supports the use of reading material other than textbooks for children. The exposure of children to printed material in their surroundings is essential. Read More :- Best play school in Delhi

Also , at school the School and classroom libraries have a significant role to play in children’s literacy.The research, commissioned by the Great School Libraries campaign, highlights the benefits having a library can have on reading and writing skills, enjoyment of reading and improving general academic achievement.

DEAR programs in preschools and primary schools are a significant step towards the same. Junior Delhi School, leading playschool franchise India is a prime example of it.

[globalhint]

Man United 0-3 Man City: Haaland scores again

Man United 0-3 Man City: Haaland scores again. Living rivals Manchester United were humiliated in an ugly home loss, while Manchester City secured derby day ecstasy thanks to a double from Erling Haaland. The world of football turned to Old Trafford for the 191st Manchester derby, the first since Pep Guardiola's team duplicated their 1999 triple crown. Although Haaland's spot-kick and uncontested header sealed the 3-0 victory, City's domination was much more evident than the score indicates. Haaland then fed Phil Foden. Erik ten Hag's United, who have already dropped five of their ten Premier League starting games, saw an abrupt end to an unimpressive three-match winning run in all competitions. Midway through the first half, Haaland gave City the lead with a penalty given following the A purported Rasmus Hojlund tug on Rodri was observed by VAR. Haaland scored another goal thanks to ragtag defending, capping a lopsided victory that Foden sealed with a late flourish. If Andre Onana hadn't made his saves on a day when United supporters jeered Ten Hag for starting Hojlund instead of Hojlund, it would have been worse. Last Sunday, United paid tribute to the late, great Sir Bobby Charlton once more, and it was an awful way to cap off an emotional week. The red-and-blue supporters cheered together prior to a contest that City controlled right away. With just eight minutes remaining, Foden scored a strong header that Onana blocked after Kyle Walker nodded back Rodri's diagonal ball looped upward and, but for Haaland's efforts, would have been carted home by the goalie. It was a let-off, as Jack Grealish was denied by Onana prior to City being given a penalty. VRA When a free-kick was finished, Michael Oliver told Paul Tierney to go to the pitchside monitor to look into a possible pull by Hojlund on Rodri. Eventually, the referee pointed to the spot, and Haaland maintained his composure to send Onana spinning around and wheeling off in celebration in front of the enraged home crowd. The Old Trafford crowd were silenced by that gut punch in the 26th minute, which gave City the upper hand. Away supporters even made light of the atmosphere, comparing it to that of the Etihad Stadium. For the remainder of the opening frame, City dominated as they pressed for For the rest of the first half, City dominated play as they pressed for a second goal that few could dispute, but United had two significant chances to draw even. Hojlund eventually cut back for Bruno Fernandes to rifle over after roaring onto a stray ball and rounding Ederson. The youthful attacker could have wished, in retrospect, that he had fallen following John Stones' powerful build-up defence. In stoppage time, Marcus Rashford's first-time sweeping ball put Scott McTominay behind to take a touch and clear a strike that Ederson had pushed over, bringing United even closer. The noise level inside Old Trafford went up after that, as did Onana's superb save of Haaland's close-range header. Though it appeared to be a moment that may change the game, the City Sharpshooters would never be without a second chance. Following a trade of efforts between Fernandes and Foden, the visitors took advantage of United's weak defensive structure when Bernardo Silva flicked a cross to an unmarked Haaland, who finished at the far post. ALSO READ Rugby World Cup final: South Africa defeats New Zealand in a brutal match A small group of jubilant City supporters screamed, "Mind the gap, Man United," when Onana stopped Grealish from adding to the header in the 49th minute. The away supporters were still making their voices heard, and as Haaland went down, claiming a penalty, the attacking midfielder for England curled over a cross-shot. Rashford's deft touch and strike over the goal's face gave United a fleeting glimmer of optimism, but City soon resumed their attack. In order to prevent Haaland from finishing his hat-trick before Ten, Onana spread himself wide. The choice by Hag to switch Hojlund for Garnacho was greeted with a chorus of jeers. Grealish's deflected attempt went wide, and in the 80th minute, Onana was eventually defeated once more. This time, the supplier was Haaland. Onana deflected Rodri's shot into the path of the striker, who then passed it in for Foden to score. As some United supporters started to leave early, the goal scorer attempted to add an overhead kick. Few could blame them, considering the dismal performance on their side. As the clock ticked down, all they missed was petty jealousy. source credit Read the full article

[redeyedroid]

A lot of the great rivalries in sport aren’t really. We create narratives and imagine storylines that don’t really fit the reality. Serena beat Maria Sharapova twenty times and lost twice, but their contrived rivalry has it’s own Wikipedia page. Tennis’s Big Four was really Federer, Nadal and Djokovic far ahead of Andy Murray, who was just as far ahead of everyone else (unless we’re talking Olympic gold medals, of which Murray has twice as many as the other three combined.) Stephen Hendry crushed Jimmy White in snooker final after snooker final. Nikki Lauda won twenty-five Grands Prix and three Formula 1 titles; James Hunt ten and one. There’s a decent movie about them that makes it look more even than it was. At the end of fourteen of the last twenty series, Australia’s men have held the Ashes and England's women haven't done much better (though, to be fair here, there's a galaxy of more stories to it than that). And so on. Equals that go through long phases of being very unequal. Or never were. 

But there are some rivalries between objective unequals that don’t play out the way they should.  

First played in 1872, the oldest fixture in international football is England versus Scotland. England have won the World Cup (which – in my Scottish opinion - really should come with an asterisk or two attached). They were beaten finalists at the last Euros (to be Scottish about it again, they do best when they rig the draw so they can play all their matches at home, at Wembley). They aim at finals, semi-finals. Grudge matches against Germany and Argentina and big ones against France or Brazil. 

Scotland have never played a knock-out match at a tournament. Our men have only qualified for one in the last quarter-century (though, unlike our neighbours, who have decades of penalty pain to look back on, we are perfect in shootouts.) Only one Scot, Kim Little, has ever scored the winning goal in a full international against Brazil. Our men have never beaten them. On the global stage, most often we lose and most often we fail, because that is what we have always done.  

Our players are collectively not as good as England’s. Even our good players are undervalued. Andy Robertson, probably the best left-back in world football over the past five years, cost Liverpool £8m. The most expensive transfer involving a Scot was the £27m Arsenal paid Celtic for Kieran Tierney. Chelsea paid PSV £30m recently for an uncapped English player called Nomi Madueke. Nobody would be surprised if it turned out he's actually a Football Manager regen. Prising the equally uncapped and not very good Englishman Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace cost Manchester United £50m.

Before she moved to Real Madrid, the absurdly good playmaking midfielder, Caroline Weir would regularly – casually - dominate matches in the WSL for Manchester City, racking up a collection of goals that by rights, should have won her at least one Puskas Award. 

(I didn't fuck up the links. The last two are different goals.) 

But it would feel like precious little footage of her, or Kim Little, or Erin Cuthbert would make it into promos or prematch coverage that preferred to feature far less talented English players..  

England: a team world famous multi-millionaires playing the biggest matches on the biggest stages.

Scotland: not often – if ever – that. 

And yet, 150 years of history gives an all-time record in men's football of 48 England wins, 41 Scotland wins, and 24 draws. 195 goals for England. 171 for Scotland. The last game, played at Wembley in 2021 during the pandemic-delayed Euro 2020 ended 0-0, with Scotland having the best of it. 

I think – and I probably am very wrong - this is because there’s a difference in how the match is perceived these days. As the gap in talent has grown in one direction, the gap in attitude has grown in the opposite.

Before that match in 2021, Rio Ferdinand was on English coverage saying, "It’s a huge game. I can’t wait. Nothing to fear, and we will go down and get our seat and watch it. Looking forward to it. England are going to win. I can’t see anything else, I’m telling you. I’ve never been this confident about a game in a major championship." 

Meanwhile, on the Scottish feed, they were showing this: 

We used to play annually, but those days are gone and it feels like the English have moved on, that the fixture stil matters to them only because of history and because the Gammonscenti among them are upset that a lot of Scots want independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom. But, on the whole, they aim higher and a game against Scotland doesn’t live in their heads the way it does for Scotland.

For Scotland, there is only England. When we don’t play them, we live in perpetual annoyance at anglocentric TV coverage during tournaments we aren’t even at. When we do make it, we get more annoyed, because – fairly or not – we feel we’re treated as afterthoughts by broadcasters that ostensibly cover the whole UK. And so, England must lose. Preferably to us, but anyone is acceptable. We’re fuelled by grievances real and imagined; schadenfreude; a desire to see the ruin of our enemies; and a weird sporting inferiority complex that affects the whole country.

(And, let’s be honest, that fucking song was tedious when it was released in 1996, long before it was shorn of all nuance by the hordes of pink-faced cretins who only know three words of it).

If England were playing the Fascist Red Spiders From Mars, most Scottish football fans would be sitting there, rooting desperately for the Fascist Red Spiders. 

It matters to England because it matters to Scotland, but they underestimate how much it matters to us. Because, pathetically, we have nothing else. 

On September 12 the men’s teams will play a friendly at Hampden in Glasgow to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Scottish Football Association. On the 22nd, the women’s teams play in the Nation’s League. England should win both. They are better teams with better players. And it’ll hurt if they do. But it won’t be because the Scots haven’t performed, haven’t given their best. Somewhere in their preparation, someone will have pointed out that “It’s fuckin' England. Let’s get intae these cunts” and they'll come out looking like they’re about to chib someone. 

(No, really. Set Robertson to malky!) 

If England show up thinking that it’s a foregone conclusion, or that they can roll substitutions, or that they need to avoid injury ahead of their Champions League game next week, they’ll find themselves in trouble. They have more than enough class to win, but the Scots have the fight. 

[pdj-france]

Une femme dont les restes faisaient partie des découvertes connues sous le nom de meurtres de Gilgo Beach a été identifiée après 27 ans, ont annoncé vendredi les autorités, révélant la dernière d'une série de révélations récentes sur l'affaire de longue date.Connue jusqu'à dernièrement du public uniquement sous le nom de «Jane Doe n ° 7», elle était Karen Vergata, 34 ans, a affirmé le procureur du comté de Suffolk, Ray Tierney, lors d'un entretien avec les médias.Sa famille a entendu parler d'elle pour la dernière fois le jour de la Saint-Valentin en 1996, lorsqu'elle a appelé son père le jour de son anniversaire, d'après des documents judiciaires qu'il a déposés en 2015 dans le but de la faire déclarer présumée morte.Le procureur de district du comté de Suffolk, Raymond Tierney, invisible, prend la parole lors d'un entretien avec les médias pour annoncer l'identité d'une victime que les enquêteurs avaient appelée la "Jane Doe n°7", sous le nom de Karen Vergata, photographiée à gauche, le vendredi 4 août 2023, à Hauppauge, New York. (PA)Le dossier expose des années d'efforts de la part de parents et d'avocats pour la retrouver et indique que la police du comté de Suffolk a contacté la famille dès 1997 à cause de le décès d'une femme non identifiée. Il n'était pas tout de suite clair si cette femme était bien Vergata, dont les restes alors non identifiés avaient été retrouvés l'année précédente.Tierney a attribué à une récente enquête et à un nouvel échantillonnage d'ADN le mérite d'avoir finalement établi qui elle était. Pourtant, beaucoup reste flou sur les tournures d'enquête d'une affaire qui a tourmenté les détectives pendant plus d'une décennie et a été assaillie par des affrontements entre les forces de l'ordre et des changements dans leur direction.Le développement de vendredi faisait partie d'une nouvelle enquête qui, le mois dernier, a provoqué la première arrestation en relation avec la longue série de meurtres non résolus de 10 personnes dont les restes ont été retrouvés il y a plus de dix ans le long d'une promenade côtière à Gilgo Beach sur Long Island à New York.Mais on ne sait pas si le décès de Vergata pourrait un jour être liée à l'affaire en cours contre Rex Heuermann, un architecte qui a été accusé de trois des meurtres et nommé le principal suspect dans un quatrième. Tierney a refusé de commenter "ce qui, le cas échéant, les suspects" ont été développés dans le décès de Vergata.Les autorités chargées de l'application des lois ont affirmé vendredi avoir identifié une femme dont les restes avaient été retrouvés dès 1996 à différents endroits le long de la côte de Long Island, certains d'entre eux près des endroits de Gilgo Beach où les enquêteurs pensent avoir été laissés par un seri (AP)Certains des restes de Vergata ont été découverts en 1996 sur Fire Island. D'autres ossements ont été retrouvés en 2011 près de Gilgo Beach, à plus de 32 kilomètres à l'ouest de l'emplacement d'origine.Une femme avec un "style de vie troublé", ont rapporté les mots du père Dominic Vergata, elle vivait dans une chambre louée dans le quartier Hell's Kitchen de Manhattan à l'époque.Les responsables de la protection de l'enfance lui avaient enlevé ses deux fils et ils avaient été adoptés par une mère nourricière. Elle n'avait pas vu les jeunes garçons depuis 1992, mais elle rendait fréquemment visite à son père et à son frère, a affirmé son père dans des déclarations sous serment dans le cadre de la procédure judiciaire visant à la faire déclarer légalement morte.Karen Vergata a été arrêtée à multiples reprises, d'après des documents dans les documents judiciaires, qui ne précisent ni les accusations ni les résultats. Tierney a affirmé que les enquêteurs pensaient qu'elle travaillait comme escorte. Les nombreux autres victimes des meurtres de Gilgo Beach étaient aussi des travailleuses du sexe.Vergata était de nouveau derrière les barreaux lorsqu'elle a appelé son père pour ce qui serait la dernière fois le 14 février 1996, semblant "très troublée", a-t-il déclaré.

"Bien que l'année commençait à avancer et que personne dans la famille n'avait entendu parler de Karen, ni n'avait pu entrer en contact avec elle, je suis devenu de plus en plus inquiet", a-t-il ajouté.Cette image de réservation fournie par le bureau du shérif du comté de Suffolk montre Rex Heuermann, un architecte de Long Island qui a été accusé le vendredi 14 juillet 2023 de meurtre dans le décès de trois des 11 victimes dans une longue série de meurtres non résolus connus sous le nom de Meurtres de Gilgo Beach. (Bureau du shérif du comté de Suffolk via AP0 (AP)La famille a appris qu'elle n'avait jamais tenté de récupérer l'argent de la caution qu'elle avait payée pour un ami avant février 1996, qu'un policier qui la voyait fréquemment dans son quartier ne l'avait pas aperçue depuis lors et qu'elle avait raté une date d'audience en mars 1996. , a affirmé le dossier judiciaire du père.Tierney a affirmé vendredi qu'aucun rapport de personne disparue n'avait été déposé quand Vergata a disparu. Mais son père avait dit qu'il avait essayé de déposer un rapport de personne disparue auprès du département de police de New York en 1996, mais on lui avait dit qu'il ne pouvait pas. Un message sollicitant des commentaires a été laissé au NYPD.La famille a appris l'année suivante, par un détective du comté de Suffolk, que la dépouille d'une femme non identifiée avait été retrouvé, a affirmé le père. Il a affirmé que des proches avaient donné des échantillons d'ADN, mais qu'on leur avait dit qu'ils ne correspondaient pas.Au cours des années qui ont suivi, la famille et les avocats ont sollicité les forces de l'ordre et les services sociaux de la région métropolitaine de New York et ont engagé un détective privé, a rapporté le dossier du tribunal. Pourtant, ils n'ont trouvé aucun signe d'elle.Les autorités ont fouillé la maison du suspect Rex Heuermann à Massapequa Park, New York, en utilisant un radar pénétrant dans le sol et une rétrocaveuse pour fouiller la cour. (Seth Wenig/AP)L'enquêteuse, Jacqueline Buda-Moss, a refusé vendredi de détailler sa recherche de Vergata, mais a affirmé qu'elle "avait déterminé qu'il n'y avait aucune trace indiquant qu'elle était encore en vie".Le père de Vergata est décédé en décembre, d'après une nécrologie.Un nouveau groupe de travail d'enquête, formé l'année dernière pour enquêter sur les meurtres de Gilgo Beach, a développé un profil ADN de la femme que les enquêteurs ont appelée Jane Doe n ° 7, a affirmé Tierney. Ensuite, le FBI a utilisé des techniques de généalogie génétique pour l'identifier provisoirement comme Vergata et a utilisé l'ADN d'un parent pour cimenter l'identification en octobre, a-t-il déclaré."Il est important que nous nous souvenions et honorions non seulement Mme Vergata, mais toutes les victimes de Gilgo Beach", a affirmé le procureur. Il a refusé de répondre aux questions pendant la conférence de presse.Des enquêteurs sur les lieux du crime sont photographiés à la résidence de l'architecte Rex A. Heuermann, qui a été arrêté comme suspect dans le cadre de meurtres en série il y a plus de dix ans, qui ciblaient des travailleuses du sexe et d'autres, dont les corps étaient éparpillés le long de la plage de Gilgo, à Massapequa Park, New York, États-Unis, 18 juillet 2023. (Shannon Stapleton via Reuters)Tierney a affirmé que les autorités avaient retardé la divulgation du nom de Vergata tout en contactant ses proches et en poursuivant leur enquête, ce qui a conduit le mois dernier à l'arrestation de Heuermann dans le décès de Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman et Amber Lynn Costello. Les procureurs affirment qu'ils travaillent aussi pour l'inculper de le décès d'une quatrième femme, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, mais ils ne l'ont pas encore fait.Heuermann a plaidé non coupable et son avocat affirme que l'homme de 59 ans nie avoir tué qui que ce soit.Les autorités ont affirmé qu'il était peu probable qu'il soit responsable de tous les décès.L'affaire a fait la une des journaux pour la première

fois en 2010, quand la police a démarré à rechercher une femme disparue nommée Shannan Gilbert près de Gilgo Beach. Au lieu de cela, ils ont découvert 10 ensembles de restes d'autres personnes, dont huit femmes, un homme et un enfant en bas âge.Le corps de Gilbert a été retrouvé en décembre 2011 dans un marais à environ cinq kilomètres des 10 autres restes. Les enquêteurs ont découvert qu'elle s'était noyée accidentellement; ses proches ont longtemps contesté cette détermination.Une icône…

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

The Shanghai Gesture

Josef von Sternberg’s THE SHANGHAI GESTURE (1941) takes place in such an artificial world a shot of a plane flying across a real sky seems out of place. Yet the director’s style is so consistent and strong that even the film’s flaws, chief among them a truly atrocious drunk scene played by Gene Tierney, can’t detract from its overall power. To appease the censors, von Sternberg had to transform Mother Goddam’s brothel from John Colton’s play into Mother Gin Sling’s casino and have her enemy’s daughter succumb not to opium addiction but to addictions to gambling, alcohol and a hunky Syrian (he was a Japanese prince in the original, but many states banned films with interracial romances). Almost everything is shot on sound stages, with the casino, a wonder of art direction, arranged in descending circles like Dante’s vision of hell. At the center is Ona Munson, a skinny, freckled blonde transformed into the Orientalized image of corruption, Mother Gin Sling, pitched somewhere between Norma Desmond and Lucretia Borgia. It’s a marvelous performance, with Munson dominating every shot she’s in and even piercing the heavy “yellowing up” makeup to create a rich picture of a woman who’s allowed a life of pain to turn her into a dragon. Tierney is the object of her revenge, and though her line readings are tinny and unconvincing, she looks marvelous in gowns designed by Oleg Cassini, and her physical deterioration is a great visual trope. Walter Huston is reliably good as the tycoon who once wronged Munson and now is trying to close her casino (it’s a post-colonial comment as the Western politicos and businessmen decide to turn the city’s Chinese-run casino district into homes for wealthy Europeans). The real surprise, however, is Victor Mature as Doctor Omar, who seduces Tierney so he can get rich off her gifts and a little blackmail. He thrives under von Strenberg’s controlling direction to create a powerful and very sexy image of decadence. The cast also includes Phyllis Brooks as a wise-cracking chorus girl, Albert Bassermann as the colonial leader, Eric Blore as Mother Gin Sling’s bookkeeper, Maria Ouspenskaya as her silent servant (her lines were cut when preview audiences roared at seeing a Chinese woman with a thick Russian accent), Grayce Hampton as a society doyenne and Marcel Dalio as the croupier. Mike Mazurki made his film debut as a rickshaw driver who seems to be flirting successfully with Houston.

[irvinenewshq]

Europa League: Arsenal Beats FC Zurich

Arsenal The win was essential to keep away from a playoff matchup. The match was towards one of many sides that dropped out of the champions league. Arsenal’s subsequent sport is towards Chelsea. Arsenal Confronted Objective Earlier than The Victory Arsenal gained towards FC Zurich 1-0. On the emirates stadium for his or her Group A match. The primary half from Kieran Tierney was excellent which brought on the tie. Arsenal dominated from the start and spent more often than not attacking. Bukayo Saka’s motion made the gang go loopy. There was a clear sheet, nobody was injured. Nonetheless, Gabriel Jesus’s efficiency was mindblowing and energetic however not sufficient for the forwards. The guests continued to frustrate Arsenal all through the second half of the match. PSV made it troublesome for Arsenal to win the match. Some consider supervisor Arteta might need tousled as he chalked out the plan in his thoughts towards Chelsea price him the Thursday match. There may have been extra targets and vitality within the discipline however weren’t there. Aaron Ramsdale did some nice passes within the first half. Gabriel Jesus sped up. Ben White mixed with Nelson through the opening objective. They overlapped however it was a blessing in disguise that made it work for his or her crew. He was aggressive from the start. Zurich’s ahead motion didn’t make the English crew really feel proper about it. Nelson received into a superb place after his win towards Nottingham forest. Fabio Vieira was an integral a part of the opening objective, he confronted fairly a shot blockage. Originally published at Irvine News HQ