It was either Lady Vanishes or Day the Earth Stood Still.
“For what turned out to be his last masterpiece in the United Kingdom before leaving for Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock went back to a familiar theme of someone being innocently caught up in intrigue.
The someone here is the beautiful Margaret Lockwood who is being gaslighted while on a train in Eastern Europe. She’s made the acquaintance of Dame May Witty who disappears from the moving train and no one but Lockwood remembers she even exists.
Lockwood gains a sympathetic if skeptical ally in Michael Redgrave and they search the train for Witty. Of course as it is in Hitchcock films, the train’s passengers and crew are not all they seem to be either and in the end the passengers have to fight for their lives.
Although Lockwood is a striking dark beauty, not the cool blondes that Hitchcock normally favored, she’s a fine Hitchcock heroine. Best in the supporting cast are Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford who seem like a pair of silly English twits whose only concern is getting back for a big cricket match. They actually come through when the chips are down.
Viewers should also take note of Cecil Parker who plays a barrister on holiday with his mistress whose main concern is staying uninvolved lest news of a scandal kill a judicial appointment he wants. He is one absolute horse’s patoot and his death must have been cheered by film audiences in the theaters.
Alfred Hitchcock was about to leave his homeland and the less expensive British film industry for Hollywood and bigger budgets. The Lady Vanishes however is a great example of what can be done even on a skimpy budget by a master craftsman.”
WHAT??? A 1911 historical GHOST SHIP spotted in Antartica. This isn’t AI. These people are on a cruise in Antarctica and from their cabin room window they spot this.
But there is no way it could withstand over 100 years of storms and terrain, yet still be out to sea.… pic.twitter.com/Auxk7PT8LK
(0748) Morning all. Uniform grey cloud cover out there. (0816)
5. Steve at 1307
Comer, House Oversight Committee Members Say Hillary Repeatedly Deferred to Her Husband, Screamed and Was Unhinged During Epstein Deposition
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Boy Scouts Will Agree to Use Biological Sex Over Gender Identity to Keep Pentagon Partnership
Britain’s Far-Left Just Stole an Election Through Muslim Voter Fraud and Even Leftist Media is Admitting It!
Ukraine losing the war. Iran must destroy its obliterated facilities. Putin digs tunnels into Europe
Trump Admin Plots To Force Banks Into Immigration Enforcement
Loonie Left: Canada Provides Aid To Cuba Because “Orange Man Bad”
The ‘AI Safety’ Movement Is About Thought Control, Not Runaway Superintelligence
Much more.
4. A point of view
3. DAD at 1307
a) For months now, President Macron has been spreading a dangerous message: France could well give up exercising its full military sovereignty alone and decide to share its nuclear weapons with its European partners, starting with Germany.
b) The scandal surrounding the death of Quentin Deranque further damages the image of the far left in France. As a result, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party, La France Insoumise (LFI), accused of protecting the violent militia La Jeune Garde, is seen as a political force to be defeated in the upcoming municipal elections.
c) Greenpeace ordered to pay €292m to US energy firm for damaging pipeline.
d) England, my England [George Orwell]. “Ah yes ! I remember it well” [Hermione Gingold and Maurice Chevalier].
The most heinous bete noire in Jewish legend is Haman:
“Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people by Queen Esther from annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther. According to the Book of Esther, Haman was the royal vizier to the Persian king Ahasuerus (likely Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I; Khshayarsha and Artakhsher in Old Persian, respectively).”
Now, before you immediately pooh-pooh the remote possibility that ancient feuds come down to today, bear in mind Them (the term I use for globopsychopaedo) who very much use the mystery religions in their sacrificial chessboard temples. Read Albert Pike and Crowley, plus Sanger and others … remembering that The Statue if Liberty is a Masonic gift to the future of the fledgling USA, its ultimate destiny.
Using Israel, Babylon and Persia from ancient times, transposed to 2026, add the Talmud and Moose Limb concept of destiny, including the rebuilding of the Third Temple in Jerusalem … at the same time as Dar al Harb or the submission of the west … read on from Steve’s research:
“Persia: Everything you are about to read happened in the last 24 hours.
The USS Gerald R. Ford arrived off Israel. The USS Abraham Lincoln is conducting underway replenishment 850 kilometres from Iran, loading munitions and fuel for sustained combat operations. MizarVision satellite imagery shows four F-22 Raptors positioned on the active runway at Ovda Airbase in Israel. Not parked. Not sheltered. On the runway. That is hot-launch posture.
The US State Department ordered evacuation of non-essential employees and families from the embassy in Baghdad. Separately, the US Embassy in Jerusalem approved evacuation of non-essential staff from Israel. Two American embassies, two countries, same order, same day.
Israel began opening public bomb shelters in Beersheba, Tel Aviv, and Raanana. Hundreds of IDF reserve soldiers were called up for the air defence command. Yediot Ahronot reported the callups today. You do not activate air defence reserves unless you expect inbound missiles.
Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, America’s largest air operations centre in the Middle East, is completely empty of refuelling aircraft. Tankers do not vanish from their home base. They disperse to secondary locations before operations begin so a single Iranian missile strike cannot destroy the refuelling fleet on the ground. Empty tarmac at Al-Udeid is not absence. It is distribution.
37 fighter jets landed at RAF Lakenheath in the last 24 hours. 12 F-35As. 12 F-15E Strike Eagles. 13 F-22 Raptors. They are expected to depart for the Middle East soon. The staging base is reloading heavier than the first wave that sent Raptors to Israel four days ago.
Two carriers in position. F-22s on hot runway. Tankers dispersed. Embassies evacuating from both sides of the theatre. Bomb shelters opening in three Israeli cities. Air defence reserves activated. Strike aircraft staging in England. Supply ships topping off a carrier strike group within missile range of Iran.
This is not build-up. Build-up is what happened last week. This is final positioning. Every asset is where it needs to be for the first 72 hours of a campaign. The only thing missing is the order.
Tomorrow Oman’s Foreign Minister meets Vance carrying Tehran’s answer. After Friday’s sermon declaring enrichment sacred and six governments evacuating their people, we know what that answer contains. And we know what follows when Washington receives it.”
And add these:
Reliving ancient history, eh? How thrilling. Except it’s for real. Throw in Christian eschatology including Daniel, Isaiah and Revelation and we have an explosive mix, centred on Jerusalem and the staging ground for troops near Har Megiddo.
Add India and Shiva, plus current China. Could not touch remote countries such as France, Britain, Canada? Well, looking at just Britain for now, we’re safe because we have a Beloved Leader who would never be a marxist and who would never countenance a flood of dregs from the third world, mainly male, fighting age, awaiting the command.
Nah, could never happen … sheer conspiracy theory.
(1823) Evening all, just got back, quite a day, hope you’re all alive and kicking.
16. Yes
15. Two horses’ backsides
14. How true is this?
13. Steve
More on Winston and his decision to go with the new Queen Elizabeth-class battleship:
Warspite: When she was launched in 1913, the use of oil as fuel and untried 15-inch guns were revolutionary concepts in the naval arms race between Britain and Germany, a considerable risk for Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, and Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jackie Fisher, who had advocated the design. However, the new “fast battleships” proved to be an outstanding success during the First World War – Wiki
Curious and strange set of mini-films at elevenses, see review. See y’all after 1600 today, hopefully.
“Eamonn Andrews is the link man for two tales of supernatural suspense and one murder mystery.
In the first segment, titled In The Picture, an art gallery guide is lured into a macabre house painting by the artist and finds himself at the mercy of the residents who dwell there.
In the second segment, titled You Killed Elizabeth, two friends fall in love with the same woman and when she is murdered it’s obvious one of them did it. But which one?
The final segment, titled Lord Mountdrago, The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs ruins the career of an opponent in Parliament and finds the man appearing in his dreams enacting retribution.
As is always the case with anthologies, the quality of stories is mixed, with here the middle section being the one that is pretty standard fare. No such problem with the other two stories though.
The first one is very creepy, even bordering on the terrifying as the tale reaches its conclusion. Once the story reaches the insides of the house in the painting, we are treated to a trio of odd characters living in a house that instantly conjures up images of horror. Ramshackle and creaky, director Wendy Toye further enhances the discord by using canted angles and personalised framing. An excellent story. Starring Hugh Pryse, Alan Badel and Eddie Byrne.
The third tale is considerably boosted by Orson Welles giving bluster to the story written by W. Somerset Maugham. Not without genuine moments of humour, it never reaches scary heights but always it feels off-kilter, the revenge dream attack angle devilish and the production has good quality about it. Very good. Alan Badel co-stars and although the three stories are not related, he is the constant actor in all three. Grand old British trilogy.”
(0025) Awoke early to a Paul Temple still running. Strange posting by me as I’m leaving it unredacted and going back to sleep. Hopefully. Continue at first light. (0602) Well, before first light. (0635)
5. Housekeeping … today’s cunning plan
I have a double whammy today … medical thingy which takes me out most of the day from around 1100, plus having to get myself ready for that before. I’ll do what posting I can before 0945, mainly sshots already prepared … any incoming after that will have to be looked at after about 1600. Have a good one, readers.
4. “Family voting”
Sam Coates of Sky:
“The Electoral Commission give Democracy Volunteers access to polling stations at election time. Only they and the police can go inside. They’ve just issued this report about “family voting” in Gorton and Denton:
Democracy Volunteers deployed four accredited election observers across the Gorton and Denton Westminster Parliamentary By-election today. The team attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the constituency, spending between 30 and 45 minutes in each. The observers worked in pairs using the international standard for election observation – the four eyes principle.
Each team assessed several aspects of the polling process, from accessibility to issues around the integrity of the vote. Staff were welcoming to the team and we would like to thank them for their time in accommodating our work.
The team assessed two significant aspects of electoral integrity – family voting (where two voters either confer, collude or direct each other on voting) which breaches the secret ballot. The team also assessed the impact of the requirement for voters to show ID before they are issued with a ballot paper.
2023 saw the enactment of the Ballot Secrecy Act, which made the practice of family voting more clearly a breach of the secret ballot, making it more enforceable by staff in polling stations. Signage is now available to discourage the practice. Signage was only seen in 45% of the polling stations observed. The observer team saw family voting in 15 of the 22 polling stations observed, some 32 cases in total, nine cases in one polling station alone.
The team observed a sample of 545 voters casting their votes – meaning 12% of those voters observed either caused or were affected by family voting.
Commenting John Ault, Director of Democracy Volunteers said; ‘Today we have seen concerningly high levels of family voting in Gorton and Denton. Based on our assessment of today’s observations, we have seen the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10 year history of observing elections in the UK.’
‘We rarely issue a report on the night of an election, but the data we have collected today on family voting, when compared to other recent by-elections, is extremely high.’
‘In the other recent Westminster parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby we saw family voting in 12% of polling stations, affecting 1% of voters. In Gorton and Denton, we observed family voting in 68% of polling stations, affecting 12% of those voters observed.’
The team also observed cases of voters being turned away, however, in each case this was due to them not being a registered voter for Westminster elections, such as having EU citizenship, and only being allowed to vote in local elections.
The team also saw a number of voters taking photographs of their ballot papers and one voter being authorised to vote despite them already having been marked as voted earlier in the day.
Democracy Volunteers has informed elections staff at Manchester City Council about our findings today.
3. Steve at 1306
Wayne Root: This Week’s State of Union was About God vs. Satan. God Directed Trump to Enrage and Expose Democrats as Godless, Communist, Satanic, Traitors and Enemies of America From Within
Nancy Mace Moves to Force House Vote to Release Shocking Sexual Misconduct and Harassment Reports Involving Members of Congress and their Staff
Trilateral talks. Selling Iran war to US voters. Orban deploys troops to border. Cuba seizes boat
Russia Shortens Intervals Between Massive Strikes
NED leader cut off in Congress after boasting of ‘deploying’ 200 Starlinks to Iran amid violence
Israel FOIA data shows over a 500X increase in rate of heart attacks in teens on the day of their COVID shot. So they deleted the records. No one in government calls for an investigation
France Enters the Era of Medical Death for All
ICO fines Reddit over £14 million for not implementing the UK’s age verification rules
a) Last week, X launched a landmark legal challenge against the €120 million fine it received in December under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a European censorship law.
b) Has Melenchon never heard of the expression, “When you are in a hole; stop digging”. Jean-Luc Mélenchon calls Quentin a “fascist” and a “neo-Nazi”: “At 23, he was an adult.”
c) McDonald’s has launched a new outdoor advertising campaign in Germany, in which digital billboards synchronize with the sun to reveal food products only after nightfall during Ramadan.
d) The UK Police don’t want you to know about this facial recognition trial.
