DramatistDreamer

I think that it's probably more xenophobia more than racism (although for a percentage of 'little Britain', the two are co-mingled). Just after the referendum two years ago, I was surprised to see there were pockets of POC, a few young who voted to Leave the EU. Admittedly, a few of them felt remorse the next day, claiming they didn't realize what they were actually voting for. I think the divide is also a function of region (with the Metropole London and other big cities that have diverse populations generally voting in favor or Remaining in the EU and rural and outlying areas voting to Leave) When I speak of diversity, I don't just mean color, I mean the fact that in London and Birmingham, you can find residents who come from other parts of Europe making London and Birmingham their home. Much of the Leave campaign was xenophobic, about not allowing any more Polish or Romanian migrants in to "take" jobs. Never mind the fact that many Eastern Europeans were working in jobs that many British did not want to apply for (sandwich shops and cafés), or filled positions with the National Health Service that desperately needed filling (similar to the way that nurses and health care pros were lured from the West Indies in the late 1950s, early '60s, to the early 1970s). The Leave campaign was promoted for almost as long as Britain has been in the European Union, with many of GB's most widely read tabloids propagandizing it within their pages. Unfortunately, British tabloids became intertwined with British politics as the numbers of their former reporters have been known to join the political ranks or become very cozy with politicians. Boris Johnson himself used to edit a tabloid. The coverage in the tabloids was usually skewed to make Europeans from the Continent look like Barbarians At the Gate. Also, from my time there, I got the distinct notion that the British liked to think of themselves as distinctly apart from the rest of Europe. They had an air of exceptionalism, similar to the way many Americans think of the U.S. as being exceptional to other countries. Couple all this with the fact that many Conservatives/Tories sought to blame some external source for all the pain, poverty and hardship that austerity caused and you find a toxic stew of economic hardship, xenophobia, political power grabs and desperate measures (e.g. referendum).

One parent faked his son's learning disability, so that the son could take the SAT over two days with no proctor. Others falsified the ethnicities of their children, presumably to qualify for affirmative action programs. Man, these folks are disgusting!

At this point, the only hope left is the Southern District of New York.

Jussie Smollett is not the only one faking death threats, I guess.

Exactly! Those hours I sat to take that damn SAT, I'll never get them back, lol. Silly me for believing the mantra that I had to work twice as hard. At that age, I couldn't even conceive of the possibility of anyone else taking an exam for me, yet I still I was made to feel that had to somehow justify my existence at 'elite' schools, even though I had worked my a*ss off to get there! Maybe all the people who want to brand any minority who is at an elite school an "affirmative action baby" might want to take a look at these people. Maybe they're the reason why so and so's kid didn't get in, LOL!

It's too bad that the working class doesn't have a good lobbying group. These are the same muthafuckas who try to tell intelligent but low-income students that they're too poor to attend certain schools, and that's to the students whose grades qualified them for outright acceptance. This makes me angry, the more I read about it because I've always gotten low-key resentment from white men, especially who, when they found out what schools I attended (college and graduate schools), they will say something like "My son applied to _____ College or _____University and he didn't get in...hmph" and always with a quizzical look at me on their faces. This is more than just two actresses but they are the highest visible perpetrators. Tell me something...are their faces going to be in the news as much as Jesse Smollett's? Because as far as I'm concerned, they've adversely impacted as many lives as he has with their fraud.

Reading up on the air disasters involving Boeing's 737 Max airliners-- 2 in the past few months, including the crash in Ethiopia yesterday. Interesting to note that Boeing's stock has tripled since Trump got elected in 2016 and pretty much became the highest priced stock. I wonder if there is a connection?

Where have you been?! There are actually a bunch of older episodes uploaded to YouTube if you search. TVOne's website is a clusterf*ck.

During the 90s, GL became a bit too ready to kill of women of a certain age, for my comfort. Wasn't there an episode where all the dead mothers of some of the characters appeared to them in dream sequences? GL seemingly proceeded to kill off an entire group of would be matriarchs. Okay, Jenna and Nadine were probably never going to be your typical soap matriarch but between Maureen to Nadine, it just seemed like a pattern had emerged and these characters had really established themselves on the Springfield canvas. I found it unsettling for the future health of the show.

It looks like the Trump administration has severely increased the campaign in Somalia with a lot of airstrikes.

This makes me wonder whether the producers or someone connected with ATWT saw Martha Byrne in The Beniker Gang which, according to IMDB was released in November 1984. In that movie, Byrne played a real spoiled brat!

This!

Her co-star, Chris O'Dowd, who was replaced by Richard E. Grant, talked about the fact that he was replaced and he was disappointed but was very complimentary and diplomatic toward Grant. Grant even mentioned it during awards season, before the Academy Awards so I don't think that it was some big secret. Entertainment reports were likely dancing around the topic and Moore had other movies to promote like Bel Canto. I just don't expect entertainment reporters to ask the probing questions, especially when they defer so much to the studios and agencies for access. It's cool that Andy Cohen allowed the caller to pose that question but it wasn't breaking news. I just think the entertainment reporters likely didn't want to touch it and were happy to move onto other stories like the one about the movie in which she portrays Gloria Steinem. Everybody knew that that movie's production history was very messy, lol.

I've been watching Felix since his junior days and I don't subscribe to TC so thankfully I've avoided everything that you're talking about. Why are you waiting for him to beat Denis? Is he Top 10? I like a lot of other players but that doesn't take away from what Felix achieved today and I think it would be somewhat disingenuous to take that away from him. It's fine if you don't like him (because TC likes him?) but you can't seriously dismiss the fact that, at 18 he thoroughly dispatched a Top 10 player, Tsitsipas, who has been playing some solid tennis lately.

I don't credit Andy so much as someone actually asked Moore the question. I don't think anyone had actually asked Moore about it.

To those who still don't want to believe, this young man is the real deal!

Also came across this recent interview on CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley, who it seems, was a fan of ATWT and mentions Frannie/Sabrina Hughes.

Julianne Moore talks about being fired from Can You Ever Forgive Me and why she still hasn't seen the movie. The write-up is in Vanity Fair. Julianne Moore Says She Was Fired from Can You Ever Forgive Me?

On International Women's Day, no less.

A lot of board members have been posting scenes in the Best U.S. Soap Scenes thread and I've been posting some from ATWT. During my search, I came across this scene from 1986 and I must say, it does not age well. At all. I realize that this scene was supposed to be fraught with sexual tension, and even, in some ways, sexy but Holden comes off in a somewhat predatory manner. We were talking about scenes that seemed age-inappropriate for the Dusty character- the same logic sort of applies in regards to Lily being a minor and Holden being an adult-grabbing her hair violently. Ugh. nv6rv.mp4

So the owner of the Florida "spa" where NFL N.E. Patriots team owner Robert Kraft, Trump's buddy, was arrested for solicitation, has pictures of herself with many Republican figures, including Trump.

A good part of me feels that I will never forgive my fellow citizens for voting for this viper in the White House. Part of me hopes that someday, I may be able to forgive but I see what little progress made being stripped away, I read about the fact that deaths by drug overdoses and suicides are at an all-time high (am I the only one deeply disturbed by this?) and that the global economy is already slowing down and showing the hallmarks of a future recession after all the pain and suffering and I get very pissed off. And we're focused on the wrong things...already! Looking onto the next election cycle in our perpetual election process...already! Everything is just going sideways, it seems.

Yeah, I suspected you might have some mixed feelings about this. Some people say that these presidential races are no more nastier or vitriolic than a hundred years ago but it feels as though the influence of big money and dark money has made the vitriol and nastiness inescapable. Add to that the use of social media to promote vitriol and it's a pretty inhospitable environment for many people. And the expense of mounting a campaign (as you mentioned) has ensured that the average person who might want to get into public service at a higher tier, won't be able to afford to do so. It's no wonder that many elected officials often want to stay closer to the grassroots or local political movements where perhaps she/he feels the most positive change can be accomplished. I'm seeing a lot more politicians veering toward gubernatorial posts because a lot more direct change can be made from that position.