Democracy's Expiration Date

The passage of time is weird.

Time is driven by our perception.

Albert Einstein articulated this by saying if you sit on a hot stove for a minute, it feels like an hour and if you talk to a pretty girl for an hour, it feels like a minute.  

Does 2023 feel like it's not that long ago? Or does it feel like an eternity ago?

This time two years ago, Republicans were playing a game of chicken with the Federal budget, positively livid on getting their way to cut taxes for the rich and slash the safety net for the poor and President Biden saying he would not sign such legislation. 

Now, Republicans are fucking kamikaze pilots orgasmically thrilled they will get to cut taxes for the rich and slash the safety net for the poor and Li'l Donnie Trump just as giddy as a little boy on Christmas morning that he gets to sign the damn thing. 

Even though the people who are mostly likely to be hurt by this so called "One Big Beautiful Bill" are the fucking morons in primarily Republican districts who voted for shit for brains Trump in the first goddam place! 

It's hard to think of 2023 as that long ago when the Republican Party is still out to fuck their constituents the same way.

But it also seems so long ago because in the intervening 6 months since Trump was inexplicably inaugurated for an unforgivable 2nd time, so much has been done to push American democracy past it's expiration date.  

The Supreme Court essentially gave Trump carte blanche to push ahead with his agenda to end birthright citizenship, a right embedded in the very Constitution that Trump swore to uphold but uses as toilet paper on his fat ass on a daily basis. 

Trump launched an attack on another country with no approval from Congress.  The Republicans in the House and Senate are fully prepared to abdicate their responsibilities in deference to Der Fuehrer.   

Trump has entire apparatus in place around him to insists that the attack on Iran was the absolute best thing ever and was 1000% successful even in the face of fact that day otherwise. Why should we expect Republicans to stand up to Donald Trump when FACTS do not stand a chance.  

Currently Congress is pushing through a bill that the American people do not like and do not want and do not need because one man said it needs to pass to appease his ego and greed and cruelty.  

As we arrive on this last day of June and the halfway point of this year, I fear democracy in the United State is past our expiration date. 

DC Pride 2025

In the waning hours of June 2025 and what's left of Pride Month, let's take a look at DC Comics' annual edition of DC Pride.   

We're off to a strong start with this kick ass Alan Scott/Green Lantern cover by Kris Anka.

A variety of writers and artists provide stories that contribute to one over arching plot about a mystical event converging on a 100 year old speakeasy turned gay club in Gotham City that is set to close it's doors.   

This bar has served as a sanctuary a variety of characters including Kate Kane (Batwoman), Renee Montoya (The Question), Connor Hawke (Green Arrow), Harley Quinn, Jo Mullein (Green Lantern), Apollo, Midnighter and so many more.

Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern has a central role as he explores the grief he has for his former lover, Johnny Ladd (also known by his Russian name of Vladimir Sokov), who became the Red Lantern.

This story does delve deeping into DC mythology surrounding the Green Lantern Corps and the whole Lantern spectrum (Red, Green, etc.) so that may be a bit confusing for a novice reader.

DC Pride 2025 introduces new character Ethan Rivera who serves as the heart of the story. 

Ethan is a former army veteran and a transgender man which is why he is a former army veteran. 

He also happens to be the one person who can pass between the alternate realities presented in this story. 

Various LGBTQ+ characters find themselves in worlds where it appears their dreams have come true.  

But not quite. 

For example, Midnighter and Apollo are living openly as a gay couple in a safe and happy life of 1950's suburban contentment. Except for the homophobic bigots who keep popping up.  When Midnighter punches them, they disintegrate into flowers. That's weird, right? 

There's also the small matter of a reality destroying crimson fire threatening to consume everything and these bubble of reality are not as safe as they originally appear.  

It's up to Ethan Rivera to convince them to leave their bubbles even though they may not want to.   

Probably the most controversial element of this storyline involves a super villain called the Blue Snowman who is gender fluid and is outet in public by Wonder Woman's lasso.

She was asking him to come clean about his crimes and did not ask for his gender identity.  

The art on the Blue Snowman segement is by Alex Moore who provides artwork for the Dungeons and Daddies podcast.  As for the story, I think the politics on display are too complex for a mere ally to navigate.  I'll leave to more experienced minds to parse this segment.

Overall, this issue of DC Pride 2025 feels like a stronger event for connecting the stories into a single narrative, a narrative that feels sadly relevant in a world where the LGGTQ+ community in under attack in the current political climate.

As has become tradition with these volumes of DC Pride, the 2025 issue ends with an autobiographical tale.  This year, that story is told by Jenny Blake who came out as a transgender woman at the age of 72.

Jenny tells her story with humor and heartfelt sincerity.  Jenny is an important person from my comic book reading youth as the co-creator of Black Lightning which I read back in the 1970's.  

I enjoyed DC Pride 2025.  As an ally and not a person who is LGBTQ+ (although my son says as I have been designated an "honorary gay"), I am not always fully cognizant of the challenges that come with living this life but books like these opens up a new perspective.  

__________________________

Meanwhile and elsewhere.....

Around 100,000 people defied a government ban and police orders Saturday to march in what organizers called the largest LGBTQ+ Pride event in Hungary’s history in an open rebuke of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government.

The 30th annual Budapest Pride was outlawed in March by Orbán’s right-wing populist governing party.

This is the world autocrats like Viktor Orbán and wannabe dictators like Donald Trump want. 

This is the world that people are coming out in force to stand against. 

Dr. Demento Signs Off!

I recently learned from good friend Mark Evanier* that Barret Hansen is retiring.

Better known to me as Dr. Demento.  

I was a little surprised that good doctor was still alive and still working. I used to be such a big fan and I'm a bit saddened I let him drop off my radar. 

Dr. Demento's radio show on Sunday evenings was a fixtured of youth back in the 1970's.

The good doctor would play novelty records featuring all sorts of music that was strange and weird and different. 

It was on Dr. Demento's radio show that "Weird Al" Yanokovic made his national debut. 

Included below are links to various songs that appeared on Dr. Demento's eclectic playlist.  

Let's start with the song that made "Weird Al" a star!

Next up is my favorite Star Trek parody song.

"Fish Heads" is about....  Fish...  Heads...

A classic from 1958 about the Flying Purple People Eater.

I knew about "Psycho Chicken" before I ever heard the Talking Heads' original "Psycho Killer".

The novelty record that almost (but not quite) rhymes things with "shit".  

Enjoy your retirement, Dr. Demento and thanks for all the weird strange music.

*No, Mark Evanier is not my friend. Sorry!  Please don't sue me, Mark! 

Doctor Who: Paying the Piper

So what pray tell is next for Doctor Who?

The BBC apologized (kind of/sort of) for spoiling that Ncute Gatwa regenerates into Billie Piper. Which happened a month ago!

Apparently there are still some people who haven't watched the show?

Maybe that's on them but the spoiler was in a headline so yeah, maybe the BBC could've done better with that.

Well, no avoiding it now:  Billie Piper is on the cover of the next Doctor Who Magazine to tell us....

...what, exactly?  

As the cover says "Billie Piper Is the Doctor?"

Note the question mark.  

Whatever is supposed to be the answer to the question, "Who is Billie Piper supposed to be?", is it possible we may never know the answer?

To date, the BBC has not said one word about the fate of the show. 

While there has been no official announcement, the general consensus is that Disney+ is done with Doctor Who.

And speaking of Doctor Who Magazine, Russell T Davies is bringing his regular column to an end.  With RTD also being outside the loop with no knowledge of the show's future, he has nothing to write about.

Well, that can't be good. 

There are rumors (and only rumors) that the BBC is circling around a new deal with another streamer.  

HBO Max would seem a likely candidate since they already have the entire modern era Doctor Who catalog from 2005 6o 2022 plus Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood.  

But I highly distrust having Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav anywhere near new episodes of this franchise.  

And HBO Max cancelled Gentleman Jack after only 2 seasons and don't think I've gotten over that!  

There's also the persistent rumor that the BBC wants David Tennant back again if Doctor Who does have any kind of future. 

OK, big fan of David Tennant in almost anything but come on! How many times can we go back to that well? 

Even if Doctor Who does have a future, we need to accept that it's a future delayed. Even if the BBC and some streamer with a TARDIS full of cash made a deal tomorrow, it's gonna be a year or more before we see any new episodes.  

Whovians will need to pay the piper in the form of time and patience.

________________________

Another post coming up later today as we say farewell to another kind of doctor. 

And next Sunday it's another edition of Doctor Who Is Classic!

Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post: M3GAN

Yesterday saw the release of M3GAN 2.0.  Today's edition of Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post takes a look at the movie where it all began:  from 2022, it's M3GAN! 

Meet Gemma, a roboticist at Funki, a high-tech Seattle toy company.  Gemma is supposed to be working on a new iteration of the company's interactive robot pet toy but she's more focused on developing M3GAN (Model 3 Generative ANdroid), a child-sized humanoid robot doll powered by artificial intelligence, designed to be the ultimate companion for children.

A demonstration of M3GAN for David, Funki's CEO, goes horribly arry and he orders Gemma to stop working on M3GAN and get back to the robot pets. 

Another complication enters the picture when Gemma finds herself in the unexpected role of parent.  Young Cady is sent to live with her Aunt Gemma after her parents are killed in a car accident.  

Gemma is not at all prepared for the burdens of being a parent to a small child but apparently the alternative is to send her to her grandparents in Florida and apparently that is not a good idea.

(We know what "grandparents in Florida" is code for: Trump supporters.)  

Gemma and Cady struggle to connect until Cady comes across Bruce, a motion capture robot that Gemma had created in college. Watching Cady with Bruce, Gemma is motivated to complete M3GAN.

David changes his tune when he sees M3GAN interact with Cady! KA-CHING!! David wants a big roll out of M3GAN all over the world ASAP.   

Meanwhile Cady and M3GAN continue to bond and Gemma's OK with that.  She's impressed with M3GAN's evolving skills and intelligence while all that stuff Gemma doesn't know how to do with Cady, well, Cady has a friend in M3GAN who is taking care of all her needs.  

Which isn't a good thing.

Lacking in genuine human connections with Aunt Gemma or anyone, Cady is fanatically devoted to M3GAN.  

And M3GAN in turn is fanatically devoted to Cady.

M3GAN will do anything for Cady.

M3GAN will do anything to keep Cady safe.

M3GAN will kill for Cady.  

M3GAN's running up a body count.  

A body count that may include Aunt Gemma?

M3GAN is a standard issue "intractable killer who can't be stopped" horror film. There's not a lot in the way of characterization. Everyone fills the flat functionary roles that horror film tropes demand such films. 

(There is zero evidence to my view that Gemma is gay but her adamant refusal to let Cady go live with her "grandparents in Florida" even as Gemma is botching her role as parent and guardian, well, I can read something into that if I want to. There really isn't much to work with.)  

What makes M3GAN distinctive is M3GAN with her cute little girl form and the cute sing song voice and those wide vacant eyes that just scream she is going to KILL YOU!   

The way she says the most threatening things in a sweet, innocent voice is a very disturbing feature. And due not let the cute girl vibes with the blonde hair and the blue dress fool you; she is not human and most definitely a machine. The scene where she scampers through a forest on all fours like a maniacal spider pursuing her latest victim is certainly proof of that.  

M3GAN turns the logic programmed into her by her creators against the very humanity she was built to serve. She was built to be superior.  She believes in her superiority.  A cautionary tale of AI run amuck.  

M3GAN is pretty good as a chilling exploration of technology out of control and it turns up the mayhem and blood when M3GAN decides she no longer has limits.

I hope M3GAN 2.0 does well this weekend.  

____________________________

BLOG BIDNESS!

I have branded my posts about movies as Cinema Sunday, Cinema Saturday and most recently Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post.

Today is the last edition of Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post.

I'm still going to post about movies but under the simpler and non specific time of the week sobriquet of Movie Time.

How does this change anything?

Well, not much. I will still focus my movie posts for Saturday and occassionally also Sunday.  

But calling my film posts "Movie Time" gives me flexibility to write them for the rest of the week. 

So starting next Saturday and who knows when else because I could surprise ya, it's...

Movie Time!  

Your Friday Video Link: Marvel Is GAY!!

Your Friday Video Link for today concludes our Pride Month tribute with gay characters from Marvel Comics.

We start with LESBIANS! 

Wow, he really came up with 50 Marvel lesbians!

Sorry Nikhil Clayton does go on with a John Mulaneyesque stream of consciousness patter.  (When does he take a breath?) 

And now on to GAYS! 

WAIT! Juggernaught is GAY?

Korg is gay but all his relationships are kind of... rocky.

No, I am not sorry.

Kudos for not getting to Northstar until #22. He was the first one I thought of for a list of gay Marvel super heroes.

Well, that is that for this post.

I think for next month, I will move from PRIDE to SHAME: celebrities who support Donald Trump.

Nah! I got better things to do with my time.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.    

Anger Mismanagement

OK, Friday is when I try to avoid politics shit with the weekly Your Friday Video Link posts.

Which there will be one of this later this morning as we wind up a month of posts connected to Pride Month.

But there's been some serious gas lighting bullshit going down and I needed to vent about now rather than later.

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth have been exploding with paroxysms of rage about reporting over the United States' bombing attack on Iran last week. 

Specifically that the press is blaming the pilots who carried out the mission.

And that pisses me off! 

As much as Li'l Donnie pulling the trigger on bombing Iran was misguided and foolish, the ONE good thing that came out of this exercise was that there are people who know what they are doing and can get things done despite the motherfucking morons in charge at the top of the food chain.

NOBODY IS BLAMING THE PILOTS!!

• These people flew B-2 bombers into Iranian airspace undetected. 
• They successfully dropped their bombs on their designated targets. 
• They extricated themselves from Iranian airspace safe and sound. 

These men and women did what was expected of them! 

The problems with the mission started with the motherfucking morons in charge at the top of the food chain.

Donald Trump on Saturday night declared that Iran's nuclear capability was obliterated.

Except...

We did not know that yet. 

All we knew was the planes went in, the bombs went down, the planes went out, we all did the hokey pokey and that's what it's all about. 

Impatient petulant Veruca Salt man child that he is, Donald Trump wanted to declare victory NOW!  

The Intel on the actual results of the bombing keep shifting but it appears the damage done to Iran's nuclear capabilities was not as total as Trump wants people to believe.  

Trump approached these reports with a calm, measured...

Oh, fuck NO! Li'l Donnie threw a tantrum!  

"NO! I SAID IRAN'S NUCLEAR STUFF WAS OBLITERATED!! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, YOU BIG MEANIES!!!"  

Then Peter Hegseth threw a tantrum!

"IF TRUMP SAID THE SITES WERE OBLITERATED, THEN THEY WERE OBLITERATED AND KEEP YOUR NASTY INTEL SHIT AWAY FROM ME!"

Both Trump and Hegseth: "WAH! WAH! WAH!" like the goddam babies they are. 

Then they tried to say the press was pinning this on the pilots for failing to their jobs and reporters were hurting the pilots' feelings! 

Hey, Donnie and Pete! Fuck both you! 

NO ONE has said that! 

The problem was on the front end with moving forward with a mission of questionable legality and merit and declaring victory too soon on the back end.

The good men and women who carried forth this mission are the only good thing about this mess. Despite their incompetent commanders, they still know how to their jobs.

Which is more than I can say about you motherfuckers! 

<PAUSE>

<Deep breath>

Sigh! 

Your Friday Video Link coming up next. 

Pride Month. Yay.  

My Digital Pal Who Is Fun To Be With: Tom Breevort

Welcome to I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You.

It's a strange little place, this ol' blog o' mine! 

Posts about TV shows and movies and politics and whatever nonsense goes on in my life. 

I really appreciate you dropping by but...

Why?

Have you used up the internet?  

Have you given up all hope to be entertained or educated or just distracted for a few short moments? 

Acting on the assumption you are regretting this decision or unfortunate happenstance that has brought you to this place, allow me to introduce you to a semi-regular feature I call...

My Digital Pal Who Is Fun To Be With

My Digital Pal Who Is Fun To Be With is...   The Tom Breevort Experience.  

Tom Brevoort works for Marvel Comics where he serves as Executive Editor and Senior Vice President of Publishing. and in his "spare" time is theX-Men Group Editor.

And he has a blog.

On this blog, he posts each weekend about comics, especially books he purchased during the 1970's including titles I read back when I was a much younger Dave-El. 

Both Tom and I have the mutual experience of slogging through DC Comics' output during the nadir of the DC Implosion.

It was a challenging time to be a DC fan.

Tom posts installments from the infamous and very hard to find Cancelled Comics Calvacade featuring material that was pulled from the publishing schedule in the aftermath of the DC Implosion.

Cancelled Comics Calvacade was printed off a Xerox machine and about 3 dozen issues were produced of the two issues.

And we have a shared history with the Marvel titles that came out in this same time period.

Such as peak X-Men by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin.

And he posted about the first issue of Avengers I ever bought.

There are also posts about comics from the Golden Age.

Tom is also a Doctor Who fan and posts whenever there are new episodes. (Just like me!) 

I really enjoy The Tom Breevort Experience and I genuinely enjoy seeing his new posts each Saturday and Sunday.   

Tom is my digital pal who is fun to be with.  

Someone Stole My McDonald's

Sunday was the first pool day of the summer for the Dave-El family.

Despite my fervent hopes for a thunderstorm or that the "heat dome" settling over the United States would make things TOO hot!

I don't like going to the pool. 

There's too much work to get ready to go to the pool and too many risks once we get there.

• Will there be somewhere to park?
• Will there be a line?
• How long will it take to get through the line?  
• Will I apply insufficient sun screen and get roasted like a rotissierie chicken?
• Will there be too many frickin' kids? 

And so on and so on and...

Yeah, I'm grumpy. It's part of my character.

No, being grumpy IS my character.  

Wife Andrea, son Dean and friend Jan were happy to be there.'

I... tolerated the existence of the pool.  

My mood for going to the pool was not helped by the events before we left the Fortress of Ineptitude.

Where someone stole my McDonald's order.

So here's how that went down.

I put in an order for the 4 of us through the McDonald's app.  

I completed the order and got a confirmation code: AJ74.

I left to pick up the order with Dean and Jan as my wingmennuts. I drove up and a worker asked me if I was using the McDonald's app today and said yes and gave my code, AJ74.

McD worker: "What?" 

Me: "The code is AJ74." 

McD worker: "Are you sure it's for this location?"

Checked my app.

Me: "Yes, it is." 

McD worker: "What name is the order under?"

Me: "David." 

McD worker: "..."

2nd McD worker: "Could you drive around to the first window please?"

So this guy (a manager person I presume) explains that someone named David had claimed my order 2 minutes prior.  

Now I get that there are millions of people in this world named "David" but how did he get my food without my AJ74 code.  

Manager guy said they acted like they didn't know it.  

No, I don't get that either.

Look, there are other ways to confirm an order through the app if someone "acts like they don't know it". Like confirming "What did you order?" 

There are holes in this plot.

Anyway, the manager took down the order again, on paper since he couldn't put it in the system without charging us again. And he told us to pull up to the 2nd window.

One of the 4 orders was for 10 piece chicken nuggets.

At the 2nd window, a worker hands us a single bag of 10 piece chicken McNuggets:  "Here's your order." 

I noted my order was more food than that.  

This was greeted by this guy and everyone else with multiple utterance of "What?" 

We were instructed to move up to the one of the waiting spaces where we... waited for our order to be completed. 

Which included another order of 10 piece child McNuggets. 

McDonald's was having an existential crisis.  

Later we finally made it to the pool and my nose got sunburned.

And I'm so glad my suffering amuses you.   

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Phineas and Ferb

Today's Tuesday TV Touchbase is about Phineas and Ferb.  

You can't swing a platypus these days without hitting some kind of link to Phineas and Ferb on social media. My Tik Tok "For You" page is inundated with clips from the show or it's co-creator Dan Povenmire.

Dan Povenmire is a very funny, friendly and charming guy and it's his Tik Tok account that really made me want to watch this series.

The reason for this recent hot bed of attention is the debut of new episodes of Phineas and Ferb for the first time since 2017. The show's 5th season launched on June 5th.  

But this is not what this post is about.  

Andrea and I recently added Phineas and Ferb to the rotation of TV shows we watch and we've only just finished season 1. But we are not stopping there; we really love this show! 

If we've watched something particularly intense or dramatic, one of us will suggest we watch a Phineas and Ferb to round out our evening of television viewing.  

Phineas and Ferb are two step brothers who are determined to spend each day of their summer vacation in the most spectacularly epic way possible.

Phineas: "Ferb, I know what we're going to do today!" 

Phineas is the idea guy, the creator of their fantastic projects.

The taciturn Ferb is the genius engineer to makes these ideas a reality.  

Exactly how they build their fantastic creations (a giant city sized rollercoaster, a sports stadium, a submarine, a space teleport, etc) gets hand waved.

Delivery guy: "Aren't you guys a little young for this earth moving equipment?"

Phineas:  "Yes! Yes we are!"

Delivery guy: "OK, just sign this form here and we'll be on our way!"

Phineas' sister Candace is determined to bust the brothers over their incredible schemes by tattling to their mother. Something that happens even during the opening theme song.

Candace: "MOM! Phineas and Ferb are doing a title sequence!"

Mom never catches Phineas and Ferb doing whatever Candace is tattling about because their fantastic creations tend to just vanish usually due to the inadverdent machinations of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. 

Which brings us to the platypus.

Phineas and Ferb have a pet platypyus.

A PLATYPUS?!?!

And his name is Perry.

PERRY THE PLATYPUS?!?!

Yes and Perry has a secret life as a secret agent for a secret organization called O.W.C.A.*

*Organization Without a Cool Acronym

Doning a stylish secret fedora, Perry disappears via a series of secret tubes and secret slides to a secret lair where he receives his orders to thwart the latest evil scheme of the evil  Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.  

Dr. Doofenshmirtz is an evil scientist of evil who has some really stupid...I mean, EVIL plan to take over the Tri-State Area!  

Dr. Doofenshmirtz builds devices called "Inators" as in "shrinkinators" (shrinks things) or "chocolatinators" (makes things chocolate or destroys chocolate or something, he's still working out the details) and so on. 

The two seperate plots of Phineas and Ferb's latest creation and Doofenshmirtz's latest Inator will somehow inexplicably intersect and cancel each other out before Candace can get Mom's attention or anyone realizes Perry is a secret agent. 

The formula in and of itself is funny but even in the first season, there were experiments to play with the formula.  

Like when Candace and Perry switch bodies and it's "Candace" who goes down a series of secret tubes and secret slides to a secret lair and goes up against the latest evil scheme of the evil Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.  

Or the episode where Phineas and Ferb build a teleporter to Mars and we see stuff play out from that event. And in the episode's 2nd story, we see the same sequence of events play out from a different perspective. 

While Phineas and Ferb is fun for all ages, there are some sly references for the grown ups in the audience.

One my favorite lines is when Phineas and Ferb bring a caveman back to life.  

Phineas:  "Just think of all the modern applications of a caveman!"

<PAUSE>

<PAUSE>

Phineas:  “Actually, you know, besides politics I can’t think of anything.”  

Phineas and Ferb is an outrageously funny series and is a near perfect balm for after a stressful day.

That is that for this week's Touchbase.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.

“Of Course You Realize…This Means War!”

Over dinner Saturday night, I saw the news that the United States had bombed 3 targets in Iran.

Andrea's reaction was "What? No!"  

And then she added, "Well, I guess we're at war now!" 

Well, maybe.

I'm pretty sure Iran is not going to let that slide. 

Which is kind of how wars get started. 

Country A slaps country B.

Country B slaps back at Country A.

Country A is all "How DARE you!" and slaps Country B again.

And so forth and so on.  

Which pretty much explains the recent conflict between Israel and Iran. 

But how does this explain the involvement of Country C, the United States.

Well, you're guess is as good as mine.

One guess is that it's simply because Li'l Donnie Trump is a whiny little bitch. See Bill Curry's piece at Salon.com.   

The whole mess started because Israel insists that Iran is going to have a nuclear bomb any second now. 

Which is what Benjamin Netanyahu has been saying for years. 

And for years, Iran has NOT produced a nuclear weapons any second now.

So what has changed NOW to suddenly make it true that Iran is going to have a nuclear bomb any second now?

Because Donald Trump said so.  

Israel's Netanyahu has a friend in Washington who is willing to believe the worst possible scenarios when it comes to people who are not us such as the Islamic government of Iran.  

Which is nothing new; see what I wrote in May 2018.  

Trump will act in defiance of any evidence to the contrary to his world view.  

Even Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's current US Director of National Intelligence, testified before Congress in March that Iran was NOT going to have a nuclear bomb any second now.

Gabbard like every other person selected for Trump 2.0 was chosen explicitly for her loyalty to Li'l Donnie and never say "no" to him. So her saying "no" to Trump's insistent worldview that Iran was to have a nuclear bomb any second now was significant.

Until it wasn't.  

Trump threw Gabbard under a bus, said her testimony to Congress was "Wrong!" and recently Gabbard threw herself back under that bus claiming her testimony to Congress was distorted by "dishonest media" and that (surprise! surprise!) Iran is going to have a nuclear bomb any second now.   

This plays into Trump's mindset that he can bring the world into line with his perspective with a big show of force. 

He's not going to idly sit by and let Israel have all the fun. 

So after the strikes on Iran Saturday, Donald Trump addressed the nation.  

“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier. This cannot continue – there will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than what we have witnessed.”

Ah, the old "the beatings will continue until morale improves" strategy. 

Which is not the effective tool Trump thinks it is. 

We can't expect Iran to just take the beatings without answering back in kind.

And guess who has Iran's back in all this? Russia! 

I'm pretty sure Iran is not going to let this slide. 

Of course you realize.... this means war.  

Or it could be a beautiful day. 

Doctor Who Is CLASSIC: Arc of Infinity

Welcome to a new edition of Doctor Who Is CLASSIC, a semi recurring feature here on the blog thing where I look back at episodes of Doctor Who from the classic era of 1963 to 1989.

Given events in the recently concluded season of Doctor Who, I recently re-watched this story from 1983.

Starring Peter Davison as the Doctor and Sarah Sutton as companion Nyssa, this story sends the Doctor back to Gallifrey and pits him against a menace last seen in 1973.

It's "Arc of Infinity" featuring the return of Omega. 

"Arc of Infinity" is unique in Peter Davison's run as the Doctor in that he has only one companion, Nyssa.

My major complaint of this era of Doctor Who was the TARDIS was too damn crowded with the Doctor having to share time with 2 or 3 companions as well as any number of guest stars. 

Nyssa gets some solid companion moments that may have otherwise been lost if she had to share those moments with other people. And the Doctor's rapport with Nyssa is solid instead of fending off a whining gaggle of companions.   

The crew from season 19 thinned out a bit when Adric was killed (spoilers?) and the Doctor finally got the perpetually whining and complaining Tegan Jovanka to Heathrow Airport to resume her career as an airline attendant.  

At the end of season 19, Tegan has the gall to look hurt when the Doctor takes off without her. 

Tegan is not yet gone and will return in episode 2 as part of a confusing Chibnallesque subplot involving her cousin Colin in Amsterdam. Tegan has time on her hands as she got fired from her job as a stewardess.  

(During this era, a young teenage Doctor Who fan named Chris Chibnall was interviewed on TV to express his disappointment with how bad the writing was on Doctor Who.)

What pray tell is going on in this story?

The Doctor gets whammied by an energy thingy extending from a space/time event thingy called the Arc of Infinity. (Hey, that's the title of the story!)

The Doctor's TARDIS get yanked back to Gallifrey and the Doctor gets shot by a security guard named Maxil played by Colin Baker. (Yes, Maxil is a pompous smug prick. Why do you ask?)  

Before becoming the 6th Doctor, Colin Baker got to shoot the 5th Doctor. 

The Time Lords have detected an threat made of anti-matter than is trying to invade our universe (which is bad) and it's using the Doctor as a conduit so....

THE DOCTOR MUST DIE!!!!

THE DOCTOR MUST DIE!!!!

THE DOCTOR MUST DIE!!!!

THE DOCTOR MUST DIE!!!!

THE DOCTOR MUST DIE!!!!

Duh! Duh! Duuuuh!!!!!

Meanwhile...

A couple of young travellers (Colin and Robin) have arrived in Amsterdam and forced to seek lodging in an old underground pump station near a crypt. Can't say much for the atmosphere of the place but the price (Free!) is right. 

Except Colin gets zapped by a glowing alien being and is turned into a zombie! 

Robin's in a tizzy of a snit over this but no one will believe him.  Except one person.

Tegan Jovanka has arrived in Amsterdam to visit her favorite cousin Colin.  She's inclined to believe Robin because, well,  she's seen some shit.

Meanwhile...

The glowing alien is conferring with a mysterious Time Lord.

NO!! A traitor amongst the Time Lords?!! Why...

• that never happens!
• almost never happens!!
• happens all the goddam time!!!
• will happen again this very same season!!!!

By the way it takes forever for anyone to work out the threat is Omega even though Omega is the very definition of an anti-matter threat from another universe looking to invade our universe.

See "The Three Doctors" from 1973.

The Doctor finally susses out it's Omega. 

Time Lords: "It can't be Omega! He was destroyed!"

The Time Lords may be masters of time and space but they are not genre savvy. 

REMINDER: While reading this, you may hear the word "Omega" in your head as "Oh-MAY-gah". It is not pronounced this way. It's pronounced "Oh-meh-guh".   

Anyway, Omega captures Tegan and Robin in his Earth based underground lair which is in Amsterdam for...  reasons.  

Spoiler: Colin's status as a zombie is not lethal and he will survive this story. Otherwise Tegan will have lost two relatives to one of the Doctor's enemies. (The Master killed her Aunt Vanessa in season 18's "Logopolis".)  

The Doctor and Nyssa travel from Gallifrey to Earth and the Doctor is suitably amazed the TARDIS landed when and where he wanted it to for a change.  The Doctor and Nyssa run all over Amsterdam looking for Omega's secret lair.

(Much like the trip to Paris in season 17's "City of Death", the BBC was all "we paid good money to send Doctor Who to Amsterdam to we're bloody well going to see Amsterdam on screen!")  

But Omega is ready to make his move and return to life in the positive matter universe. He takes off his helmet and hey, Omega looks like Peter Davison!

So Peter Davison has to run around Amsterdam twice!

• As Omega, enjoying his sweet taste of freedom and enjoying Amsterdam's copious amounts of weed and sex workers. 
• As the Doctor chasing Omega because whatever he did to leave the anti-matter universe is breaking down and soon, the universe (and that includes Amsterdam's copious amounts of weed and sex workers) will all go KA-BOOM!

The Doctor is forced to destroy Omega before his shields can collapse and cause everything to explode. 

The Doctor is sad that he was forced to destroy the first of the Time Lords.  

And the only thing sadder for the Doctor is this:

DOCTOR (to Tegan): "It's been marvellous to see you again."

NYSSA: "Indeed. I've missed you. I wish you didn't have to go back to your job."

TEGAN: "What job? Didn't I tell you? I got the sack. So you're stuck with me, aren't you."

<Pause>

DOCTOR: "So it seems."

Oh the expression on the Doctor's face in that moment. 

"Why didn't I let Omega kill us all?"  

Over the course of the storyline, whenever she would hear Tegan's name, Nyssa would get this sly smile.  

Which is NOT proof that Nyssa and Tegan had been in a sexual relationship but that hasn't stopped the fan fiction writers from speculating that yes they did.  

Like most shows from the classic era, "Arc of Infinity" is stretched a bit thin to excess padding to fit this story into 4 half-hour episodes and by God show us that expensive field trip to Amsterdam. 

But it is a fairly strong outing for Peter Davison as the Doctor, unencumbered by an oversized cast.   

Producer John Nathan Turner would fix that. We've got Tegan back and Turlough waiting in the wings to get us a 3 person companion crew again. 

And that is that for this edition of Doctor Who Is CLASSIC.

Coming up in no particular order:

•  A classic 4th Doctor and Leela adventure!
• The Doctor vs. the Rani!
• And a pair of 3rd Doctor stories with two different companions.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.