[NYPOST] Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, died on Friday at her Brookline home, her family said.
The cause of her death was said to have been complications from dementia, her son, John, told The Washington Post.
Dukakis, 88, is survived by her 91-year-old husband, Michael Dukakis, who lost the 1988 presidential election to Vice President George H. W. Bush.
She served as Massachusetts' first lady from 1975 to 1979 and then again from 1983 to 1991, during her husband's three terms as the Bay State's governor.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2025 00:00 ||
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1990: She was in a bad way KITTY DUKAKIS SAYS SHE DRANK HAIR SPRAY TO INDUCE `OBLIVION'
Published: Aug 27, 1990, 12:00 a.m. MDT
By Deseret News
Kitty Dukakis, wife of 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Gov. Michael Dukakis, says she drank hair spray, after-shave and other household products to induce "oblivion" and fight depression before seeking help.
The Massachusetts first lady wrote in her new book that she ingested mouthwash, after-shave, vanilla extract, nail-polish remover and Tylenol laced with codeine before entering an Alabama clinic in April to combat her substance-abuse problem, the Boston Sunday Globe reported Sunday."The last thing I swallowed was hair spray," Dukakis wrote in her book "Now You Know," to be released this week.
Dukakis, 53, was also hospitalized last November after drinking rubbing alcohol.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2025 9:11 Comments ||
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[THEPOSTMILLENNIAL] Disney's live-action remake of Snow White starring Rachel Zegler, which has been hit by conservatives as a "woke" version of the original movie, is projected to have one of the worst launches from Disney in recent years. Some reports have shown theatres nearly empty as the film has been mired in controversy.
Leading up to its initial release, the movie got an initial score of 47 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, and Thursday previews only brought in $3.5 million. The film is projected to earn around $45 million on its opening weekend, according to the Daily Mail. The Dumbo remake, which Disney launched in 2019, only made $45 million on its opening weekend. The Dumbo remake, however, only cost $170 million in expenses. Snow White, on the other hand, cost around $250 million to put together.
Some X users over the opening weekend posted videos of empty theatres and low ticket sales in their respective areas. User Dr. Sydney Watson wrote in a caption with a video on Friday, "My Snow White screening lookin' a little empty."
Another user posted a screenshot of ticket sales in his area, which showed relatively low numbers. "Theaters where I am are mostly empty for this film," the user wrote.
Kangmin Lee posted a screenshot of ticket sales in his area and wrote, "Opening Friday night for Disney's Snow White in IMAX. Only ONE person bought tickets for tonight. Yeah this movie's gonna flop."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
On the flipside, you could drive your Cybertruck down to the cineplex to watch Snow White. I'm sure the parking lot will be empty.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
03/23/2025 8:34 Comments ||
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#2
I was on a Disney cruise ship last week when Snow White opened on midnight of the 'opening day'. Then they showed it almost continuously, on two screens. the rest of the day (the final day of the cruise). Three women in the family party attended; my wife said it was, "O.K. ... it was different."
Long lines of children to see each of the traditional characters, in their classic costumes, for their numerous 15-minutes 'visits'.
I'm warming up my schadenfreude machine for the official tallies.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/23/2025 8:36 Comments ||
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#3
It will get worse if South Park knifes it.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2025 9:42 Comments ||
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#4
Friday night they got $16M domestic from 4200 theaters. Won't have Saturday numbers until late this pm.
It could have been worse. However, the costs for this movie (~$350M not counting marketing and distribution) was staggering.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
03/23/2025 10:06 Comments ||
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#6
Snow White is currently rated at 2.2/10 on the Internet Movie Database
A good movie typically gets a rating around 7.0.
The recent Oppenheimer got an 8.3.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Powerful magnetic storms are very likely to hit the Earth on March 23. This was warned on March 22 by Sergei Bogachev, head of the solar astronomy laboratory at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He noted that since the beginning of this day, space weather in the vicinity of the Earth has already begun to deteriorate. The main reason for this was the solar wind. Solar plasma accumulates around the planet and forms currents of charged particles that destabilize the magnetosphere. Magnetic storms occurred on the morning of March 22, but have now died down.
“The resumption of strong magnetic storms, however, is expected at the turn of today and tomorrow, when the impact of the mass ejection will be added to the current influence of the solar wind,” Bogachev wrote on the laboratory’s page on the social network VKontakte.
According to his information, the Sun ejected a cloud of plasma the day before as a result of an M1.2 flare, and a very high ejection velocity was recorded. This probably unbalanced a large prominence (a dense filament of plasma), which headed towards the Earth.
“It is assumed that this particular object is currently in space and will hit the Earth within 24 hours,” the scientist explained.
The expected time of impact is between 03:00 and 06:00 Moscow time on March 23. According to preliminary estimates, the level of magnetic storms will reach class G3. The last time a comparable indicator was in early January of this year.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on March 11, scientists recorded a class M flare on the Sun, which is the penultimate one in terms of power. Such activity leads to magnetic storms on Earth.
Don't wanna be on the same ticket as Pakistain. We'd hafta learn to play cricket and wear monocles and crap like that. Ptui.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] President Donald Trump on Friday indicated he would accept an offer from King Charles to join the British Commonwealth, strengthening America's ties to the United Kingdom. 'I Love King Charles. Sounds good to me!,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. Trump was responding to an exclusive report in DailyMail.com that the King would make a 'secret' offer to the president for the U.S. to become the next 'associate member' of the Commonwealth.
So not an actual offer so much as rumours of a possible offer and the hope of taming President Trump by snagging his love of the British royals. Got it.
The Commonwealth, whose nations have a total population of more than 2.7 billion, is one of the world's oldest political associations of states. It is made up of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. They are connected through their use of the English language and historical-cultural ties. Membership is voluntary and the group is mostly ceremonial.
King Charles III is the head of the commonwealth. Trump and the King have kept a close relationship even after Trump left the White House. The two exchanged letters often. The Commonwealth proposal was originally floated in Trump's first term, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who Trump adored.
Now the British are reviving the plan to extend the invitation with the hope the King will personally make the case to Trump when the president and first lady make their state visit to the UK later this year. 'This is being discussed at the highest levels,' a member of the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) told DailyMail.com: 'It would be a wonderful move that would symbolize Britain's close relationship with the US. 'Donald Trump loves Britain and has great respect for the Royal Family, so we believe he would see the benefits of this. Associate membership could, hopefully, be followed by full membership, making the Commonwealth even more important as a global organization.'
The source added: 'The Commonwealth is also a great forum for resolving differences between nations, and the King has shown that he is a natural peacemaker.' Trump is a longtime fan of the British royal family. Prime Minister Keir Starmer used that to his advantage when he visited the White House earlier this month. Starmer personally delivered the letter from the King at a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office.
In it, the King personally invited Trump to make a state visit to the UK later this year, a rare second invite for an American president. Trump made a state visit in his first term when Queen Elizabeth II was on the throne. Trump waved the letter around in front of the cameras and grandly accepted the invitation. He described the King as a 'beautiful man.'
The invitation to join the Commonwealth could also cool the tension around Canada. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to make Canada the 51st state. The country is part of the Commonwealth. The talk of turning has created enormous tensions and put the King in an awkward position. Canada is one of the 15 countries of which he is head of state.
He met new Canadian prime minister Mark Carney in London this week, in what many interpreted as a show of support. Canada is looking to the King as their head of state, and head of the Commonwealth, to speak up for them and ward off Trump. The king also hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Sandringham after Trump and Zelensky had their falling out during a disastrous meeting in the Oval Office. Trump was said to be annoyed at the king's move.
The royals have courted Trump as part of their role in keeping a strong relationship between the U.S. and UK. Prince William met with him in Paris shortly after Trump won the 2024 election when the two were in France for the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral. 'I was very impressed by William. I think William is terrific,' Trump said after their meeting.
#7
"Nice doggie!", he said while calmly reaching for a rock.
As for the cricket and monocles and crap like that, true. But on the plus side, maybe we could get them all to drive on the right (meaning proper) side of the road.
#8
President Trump speaks and negotiates to accomplish results. He doesn’t seem to much care whether the path is straightforward or when putting a bit of English on the cue ball to kiss an object ball off another will achieve his goal indirectly.
#9
I think Trump is going for a three peat. If Charles lasts two years, I will be surprised.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/23/2025 12:11 Comments ||
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#10
I love Trump's domestic policies and much of what is being done in foreign policy and the historic U.K special relationship, but this is symbolically wrong. No!
#12
As me and milady learned raising our two, sometimes yes is the best answer for fussy children. The reaction from the commonwealth is now perhaps, "OMG, now what do we do?"
#13
I don't trust Daily Mail to neutrally frame a situation any further than I can throw a tantrum.
"I'll think about it, send me your proposal." is something I use often to end a sales pitch. Sounds to me like some sort of rhetoric trap, like "Well what if we offer you something disgusting as asking Canada to be a state?"
That said, what if the offer is a deciding leadership and policy directing position with said association? A sort of turn-key business acquisition?
Those two considerations deserve something better than 'fukov', plus DM being hacks and on the heels of why WWIII would be good for the UK story pivot.
[FoxNews] 'The UAE remains committed to strengthening its economic ties with the U.S.,' HH Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan wrote on X
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has agreed to a 10-year, $1.4 trillion investment framework, the White House announced on Friday, saying it will "substantially increase the UAE’s existing investments in the U.S. economy." The White House said the investments would be in AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, American manufacturing and more.
The White House said in a press release that the UAE agreed to the framework after President Donald Trump hosted the UAE National Security Advisor, HH Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for a meeting in the Oval Office.
The sheikh thanked Trump for "the warm welcome and hospitality" in a post on X. He said their discussions focused on the future of U.S.-UAE relations.
"The UAE remains committed to strengthening its economic ties with the U.S. by accelerating investments in artificial intelligence, advanced technology, infrastructure, energy, and healthcare – key pillars for sustainable growth and development," Sheikh Tahnoon added.
According to the White House, investments in the framework include Abu Dhabi-based MGX, BlackRock, Microsoft and Global Infrastructure Partners working with NVIDIA and xAI to support "U.S. AI leadership." The group will mobilize up to $100 billion to support the build-out. Additionally, Emirates Global Aluminum is expected to invest in America’s first new aluminum smelter in 35 years.
Interesting for all involved — Israeli Jews are no doubt less reserved than the local variety, and considerably more Jewishly knowledgeable than the previous wave of Jews from the former Soviet Union.
[IsraelTimes] While most live in the US, Europe is now home to some 30% of Israelis abroad, bringing ‘significant transformation’ to local communities, Institute for Jewish Policy Research says
Nearly a million Israeli citizens and their children live outside Israel, according to a new report by the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
While most Israeli expats live in the United States, many Israelis have chosen to move to Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... over the past 25 years, with profound impacts on local Jewish communities there, noted Daniel Staetsky, the report’s author and senior research fellow and director of JPR’s European Demography Unit.
The data suggests that "the Jewish Diaspora is undergoing a significant transformation," Staetsky wrote in the report. "Cultural transformation... is likely to follow on the back of the demographic change."
The report, which claims to provide the most detailed insight on Israeli expats to date, is based on information gathered between 2021 and 2023, and not reflect population changes taking place after Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... launched its war with Israel on October 7, 2023, Staetsky told The Times of Israel.
More than 82,000 Israelis left the country in 2024, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics. It is still too early to assess their long-term impact on the data, Staetsky noted.
About 630,000 Israelis lived outside Israel during the period surveyed, equivalent to about 6% of Israel’s population. That includes 328,000 who were born in Israel and another 302,000 who were born elsewhere but acquired Israeli citizenship and lived in Israel during their lives.
When their children who aren’t Israeli nationals are added to the calculation, there are some 955,000 "Israel-connected" people outside of Israel, the report said. About 80% of these totals are Jewish, with the remainder being Moslems and other groups.
"We can see that if all these people would have stayed in Israel, the country would have about another million people, maybe 11 million instead of the current 10 million," Staetsky told The Times of Israel. "I’m not sure that difference is so dramatic for Israel in the big picture, but others may disagree."
The largest Israeli populations abroad are based in the US, where about half of them reside, followed by Canada, Germany and the UK. About three-quarters of all Israelis outside of Israel live in English-speaking countries, the report noted.
However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... more Israelis than previously expected have been moving to Europe in recent years, due to a number of factors that include strengthening economies, geographic proximity to Israel, and several countries that grant citizenship to Israelis based on their ancestry, the report said.
The continent (including the UK) is now home to nearly 30% of Israelis abroad, an outsized proportion considering that only 16% of all Diaspora Jews live in the continent.
"If you look at Europe as a whole, it is clear that changing migration patterns affect the culture and character of native populations," Staetsky said. "This is natural. It’s the same thing for Jewish communities and Israelis. They are coming to a new country with a different mentality, and it impacts the communities they join."
Germany has the largest population of Israel-born people in Europe, followed by the UK, the report noted. Together, these two countries have nearly 50% of Israelis living in Europe.
Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Livia grabbed for Jane's hair to make her point. Jane elbowed her in the face in rebuttal... many small Jewish communities have seen significant influxes of Israelis. During the past decade, Israeli-born populations have skyrocketed in the Baltic countries (135%), Ireland (95%), Bulgaria (78%), Czechia (74%), Spain (39%), The Netherlands (36%), Germany (34%) and the UK (27%), the report noted.
Israel-born Jews now make up nearly half of the Jewish population in Norway, 41% in Finland, and over 20% of the Jewish communities in Bulgaria, Ireland, Spain and Denmark.
These are communities that had previously been expected to gradually decline, due to low birthrates, aging populations and wide scales of emigration, Staetsky noted. However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... "Israelis joining these communities are helping to maintain their numeric levels and even increase them."
In the Netherlands, for example, a trickle of 200 Israelis emigrating annually serves to offset population decline in the Jewish community of 35,000, JPR noted in a separate report in January.
In contrast, Israeli-born Jews make up only about 3% of the population of 7.5 million Jews in the United States.
Jews in Europe must adapt to these changing trends, not least by increasing options for Jewish schooling in communities where young Israeli families are joining, the report said.
"The thesis of a ’vanishing Diaspora,’ even if it still holds good in its essentials at a European level, needs to be qualified at a country-specific level," the report concluded. "Diving deeper into the demography of Israelis abroad, and in Europe in particular, holds a key to that."
Staetsky offered a minor example of changing trends in Europe from his local kosher supermarket: "In London 15 years ago, you could only find Ashkenazi food, and you couldn’t find anyone who sold kubbeh. Now, all the stores have it."
[Yahoo] March 22 (UPI) -- Turkish police arrested at least 343 people during the overnight hours Friday and Saturday for participating in mass protests in several cities in Turkey.
The arrest of opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Wednesday sparked the multi-day protests that got underway on Thursday, CNN reported.
He is viewed as current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's primary challenger for the nation's presidency.
...Turkish authorities also arrested about 100 others who are connected to Imamoglu, including his press adviser Murat Ongun.
Imamoglu and many others who were arrested are accused of embezzlement and corruption tied to Imamoglu's construction company.
He has denied those charges and others accusing him of terrorism for allegedly collaborating with a leftist political coalition prior to local elections held in 2024.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu appeared before police for questioning on terror-related charges on Saturday, a day after his interrogation over corruption allegations. His arrest this week has sparked widespread protests across The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure.... member, but not the most reliable... , with demonstrators rallying in multiple cities to voice their opposition.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted on social media that 343 suspects were tossed into the calaboose in protests in major cities on Friday night, adding "There will be no tolerance for those who seek to violate societal order, threaten the people’s peace and security, and pursue chaos and provocation." The cities listed included Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Konya and Edirne.
The mayor, who is a popular opposition figure and seen as a top challenger to President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... , was detained on Wednesday following a dawn raid on his residence over allegations of financial crimes and links to Kurdish holy warriors. Dozens of other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained.
Imamoglu is also under investigation for "bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud, and illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of a criminal organization."
Many view the arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and key challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028. Government officials reject accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently.
On Saturday, police questioned Imamoglu for some five hours as part of an investigation into allegations of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, the Cumhuriyet newspaper reported. A day earlier he was questioned for four hours over the corruption accusations. The mayor rejected all charges during both interrogations.
He was transferred to a courthouse on Saturday afternoon for questioning by prosecutors and to face possible charges.
Several hours before his appearance, the authorities announced they were sealing off the main roads leading to the court.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[NYPOST] 
[THEPOSTMILLENNIAL] 
Friday indicated he would accept an offer from King Charles to join the British Commonwealth, strengthening America's ties to the United Kingdom. 'I Love King Charles. Sounds good to me!,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. Trump was responding to an exclusive report in DailyMail.com that the King would make a 'secret' offer to the president for the U.S. to become the next 'associate member' of the Commonwealth.
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
