America the not-so-beautiful

America was beautiful;
Once upon a time.
But now our vulgar president
has turned it into slime.

America, America;
God turned his back on thee;
And now we are condemned to live
in a kakistocracy.

Three special days in a row

Yesterday was Darwin Day. Today is Friday the 13th, which is special only if you are superstitious or a fan of certain cult movies. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, as the local merchants will remind you if you shop af a physical store (not online).

Happy Darwin Day, everybody!

Mirage (1965)

Twenty years after "Spellbound", Gregory Peck starred in another movie in which his character has amnesia. I have this one on DVD. I think it's pretty good. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage_(1965_film)

Spellbound

Hitchcock's 1945 B&W classic starring Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman is now playing on Turner Classic Movies. I discovered this in desperation after trying twice to buy a DVD of the movie through Amazon.com.

Attempt number 1: The disk turned out to have only a dubbed Spanish audio track.

Attempt number 2: My Blu-Ray player refused to play the disk. Besides that, it was labeled "Full Screen". I'm not sure what that means, since the original aspect ratio was about 4/3.

There are also colorized versions out there. Here's an idea, why not colorize the woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer? Wouldn't that be an improvement?

The version playing now on TCM is a 2024 restoration. I'm so glad I got to watch it.

color names

I always thought "purple" meant a mixture of red and violet, hence not a color of the rainbow. Now I find that many Americans, perhaps most, use "purple" as I would "violet", i.e., as a color of the rainbow. People who do that tend not to use the word "violet" except to designate a type of flower, the color of which they would describe as "purple". Am I right?

Some of our best scientists are leaving for greener pastures,

What's happening now in the USA is reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

The best German scientists, facing intolerable conditions after 1933, moved to other countries, especially the USA. The list of Nobel prize winners had been dominated by Germans before 1933. From 1933 onward their share of prizes plummeted, while ours soared.

Right now many of the best American scientists are facing intolerable conditions and planning to emigrate. The universities and laboratories they leave behind are likely to become increasingly mediocre, as Germany's did under the Nazis. Is this what we want for the USA?

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/29/nx-s1-5343966/countries-boost-recruitment-of-american-scientists-amid-cuts-to-scientific-funding

Eek - my Netflix account has been suspended!

Or so the email message says. But, oddly enough, I can still watch stuff on Netflix.

I'm pretty sure it's a phishing expedition.

Who could this possibly be?

He came to power in 1933 and stayed in power for the rest of his life. Like most politicians he made a great many speeches. Unlike most present-day politicians, he was a powerful orator. He died in 1945.

X declared war on the USA, but the USA never declared war on X.

Can you name Country X?