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Returning to Arrakis

In anticipation of Friday night’s cinematic premiere of Dune Part 2, I rewatched Dune Part 1 on Netflix last night. I wasn’t planning to, although several times over the past couple weeks I thought I really should  watch it again before Friday. I have it on disc, but the player isn’t even connected to anything any more, and it’s more of a hassle than it’s worth to get everything set up for only one movie. So when I was scrolling through Netflix and saw it come up (with the note “Leaving Soon” underneath the icon) I thought it was the perfect opportunity to return to Arrakis for a couple hours.

I haven’t seen the film since its debut back in 2021 except for maybe one screening shortly thereafter when I got the blueray release.

All I can say is, “Wow!” Better than I remember (and at the time I thought it was awesome), and with this go-round I found myself catching a lot of small details that screamed references to the book that had slipped past me upon my initial viewings.

I was already excited for Part 2, but even moreso now after being reminded last night of how much Villeneuve genuinely loves and reveres the original source material.

And now he’s actively planning for a third move that follows the events of Dune  Messiah? Yes, please!

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News That Will Drive You To Drink

From MockPaperScissors:

All the finest people (@JohnRJohnson via Twitter)

This isn’t snarky, really, but Politico is giving us some background on what happens if once-elected (sorta?), twice impeached, quintuply-indicted, 91-ily charged LOSER ex-prznit Stupid doesn’t pay his judgements:

Even for a man who claims to be a billionaire, $440 million is a potentially crippling amount of cash to turn over. Can Trump afford the judgments? When does he have to pay them? And what happens if he says he can’t — or if he outright refuses?

[…]In the civil fraud case, which is in New York state court, if Trump can’t post the funds or get a bond, then the judgment would take effect immediately and a sheriff could begin seizing Trump’s assets. […]

Can Trump delay payment by appealing the verdicts?

No. In all three cases, he has to put money in an escrow account with the court or get a bond while he’s appealing the verdicts. […]

Does he personally have to pay the verdicts? Could he get his campaign or PAC or the RNC to pay?

The courts don’t have restrictions on the sources of funds used to pay judgments, and Trump would surely like to tap other funds than whatever money is in his own personal accounts.

[…]Using his political vehicles to pay would be far trickier. There is a general ban on using campaign donations for personal uses unrelated to a campaign or the official duties of an officeholder. And as for his political action committees, Richard Pildes, a professor of constitutional law at New York University law school, said they can’t pay Trump’s judgments.

“Campaign funds cannot be used for that purpose regardless of whether the PAC is the decision-maker,” he wrote in an email.

And this is my favorite answer to the question of the RNC paying his fines:

The Republican National Committee doesn’t have the same ban on the personal use of funds as Trump’s campaign committee, but paying Trump’s judgments could jeopardize its nonprofit status.

So he has the potential of financially destroying the RNC. ETTD, to Infinity and Beyond!

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Eat The Rich

Why don’t Democrats use this easy to understand story on the campaign trail?

Democratic politicians need to explain how capitalism is failing and many many hardships in life stem from the grinding capitalist agenda.

Biden has done a great job standing by unions.

Orgainized labor and worker solidarity are the path forward. #VoteBlue

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