Global

In 1825, long before anybody even thought about air flight, the US Navy began operations in the Pensacola, Florida area, when the federal government built a naval yard on Pensacola Bay.

90 years later, in 1914, the naval yard became home to the Navy’s first permanent air station. Since that time, NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola has served as the primary training base for naval aviators and has housed the Blue Angels aerobatic programs, which will be giving 61 shows at 32 locations from March through November of 2019. The two Blue Angel shows in Duluth are scheduled for July 20 – 21, 2019.

As leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys are convicted of seditious conspiracy for their
roles in the failed Jan. 6 insurrection, LA Opera revives the production about the most malicious
traitor in the entire history of the stage and screen. Sure, Judas betrayed Jesus in The New
Testament and Jesus Christ Superstar, and Major General Benedict Arnold attempted to double-
cross George Washington (and the cause of American liberty) by plotting to turn West Point over
to the British, who he went on to fight for as a counterrevolutionary brigadier general.
But William Shakespeare’s conniving Iago (played to the hilt by Moscow tenor Igor
Golovatanko in Giuseppe Verdi’s operatic adaptation of the Bard’s tragedy) is in a class by
himself when it comes to treachery. For not only does he stab Otello (Miami tenor Russell
Thomas) in the back, he conspires and painstakingly manipulates Otello to be the unwitting
author of the Moor’s downfall, which is carefully choreographed by the scheming Iago every
step of the way. In this specific sense, Iago is more than a mere traitor, he is the puppeteer who

It is unclear why 100-year-old Henry Kissinger has been elevated by Western intelligentsia to serve the role of the visionary in how the West should behave in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. 

 But does the centenarian politician have the answers? 

 Every major global conflict that involved the US and its NATO allies in the past had its own state-sanctioned intellectuals. These are the people who usually explain, justify and promote the West's position to their own countrymen first, then internationally. 

 They are not 'intellectuals' in the strict definition of the term, as they rarely use critical thinking to reach conclusions that may or may not be consistent with the official position or interests of Western governments. Instead, they advocate and champion stances that are dominant within the various strands of power. 

(Note: This is the edited text for Rampell’s introduction to the April 29 screening of Spartacus at the Academy Museum for The Hollywood Ten at 75 Film Series from April 13-30 commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Hollywood Blacklist. A startling thing occurred during the Spartacus screening: As the first rebellion of the gladiators erupted, one of the warriors struck a Roman with a weapon and at that exact moment one could see the celluloid jump out of the projector’s sprockets and then watch the film literally burn. It seemed as if the gladiator’s mighty blow actually caused a remarkable, real life special effect, which literally brought the show to a halt and the houselights went on in the packed almost 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater in the Academy Museum’s Sphere Building. Stunned audience members were anxious that the screening would not be able to continue, but in that show biz tradition, the show must – and did – go on. Apparently, projectionists were able to splice the film together and viewers were able to watch the epic all the way to the end without any additional mishaps.

Though the United States remains a strong supporter of Israel, there are some indications that the supposed 'unbreakable bond' with Tel Aviv is faltering, though more in language than in deeds. 

 Following the provocative ‘Flag March’ on May 18, which is carried out annually by Israeli Jewish extremists in the Occupied Palestinian city of East Jerusalem, the US joined other countries around the world in condemning the racism displayed at the event.