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As everyone who breathes oxygen knows, Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on Iran last week which has started a regional war. Of all the wars that have ever occurred inside this volatile region, this one can escalate very quickly into a global battle and potential World War III scenario. Iran (Also known as Persia) and Israel are two ancient civilizations going back over 4000 years. The Persians have had multiple empires lasting thousands of years throughout its history as ChatGPT explains below.
Achaemenid Empire (c. 550 – 330 BCE): Founded by Cyrus the Great, it became one of the largest empires in history, encompassing vast territories from the Indus Valley to Europe. The Achaemenids were known for their administrative efficiency, infrastructure projects (like roads and canals), and religious tolerance. Parthian Empire (c. 247 BCE – 224 CE): Following the Achaemenids, the Parthians (also known as the Arsacid Empire) established a powerful kingdom in Persia, characterized by a blend of Persian and Hellenistic culture. Sasanian Empire (c. 224 – 651 CE): The Sasanian Empire, also known as the Second Persian Empire, rose after the Parthians and played a significant role in shaping Iranian identity and culture. They oversaw a period of artistic and architectural achievements. Safavid Empire (1501–1736): Reasserted Iranian identity and established a national state, known for its artistic accomplishments. The Persians have always been more cultural and financial influencers on the planet not known for conquering foreign countries through violent wars. Jewish history is one we are all familiar with. They are a culture and religion that moved from place to place and faced oppression all over the planet throughout thousands of years of history. With the establishment of Israel in 1948 by the UN, the Jewish people got their first official state (Even though the Jewish people got an autonomous state inside the Soviet Union that they have effectively abandoned). Opinions on this war are strong, and this blog is not meant to inflame those tensions. Instead, I am going to promote the idea of non-violence and peace. I understand the repression that the Ayatollah has brought onto Iran but am also aware that the Iranian Revolution would never have happened if the West had not initiated a coup in 1953 to overthrow their democratically elected leader and replace him with a tyrannical Shah. Israel has been under bombardment since its founding but has also been responsible for being the initiators of much of the region’s violence. The area is complicated, and the dynamics of the Middle East would require a one-thousand-page book to hammer out all the details and perspectives. But I want to post three things here to give a little bit of perspective on the underlying cause of the war. If this Iran-Israel War breaks out into a global conflagration, there is plenty of evidence to show that the people who were pushing this war were completely and totally full of shit. First, no matter what you think of Tucker Carlson (The obnoxious laugh, the sometimes-lecturing demeanor), I truly believe that he is having a moment of spirituality. On his podcast, he constantly mentions the regret he had supporting the Iraq War in 2003 and how he felt deceived by his own government. This past week, he had warmonger Ted Cruz on for a two-hour interview. About thirty minutes in, they start arguing vociferously. Tucker than spends the next 90 minutes destroying Cruz’s narrative (Yes, he uses that word. Cruz insists that his “narrative” is fact) about Iran. This is a master class in oppositional journalism and should be heard by everyone. Link is here. Second, even though this is an Al-Jazeera link, this is a wonderful summary of Netanyahu worrying about Iran developing the bomb going back to my freshman year in Junior College. None of this has ever proven to be true. Back in March, the US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard not only said that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon but would take a year to “Break Out” to create the enrichment capacity and weapon capability to deliver it. Basically, Iran has no ability even if they enrich to weapons capacity to even launch a nuke on a rocket. So, the excuse for Israel’s attack does not pass the “fact” test. Finally, if Ted Cruz above did not prove how morally bankrupt so many Americans are regarding war, watch this debate on Matt Gaetz’s show between Dave Smith and Robert Spencer. To say that Spencer was destroyed in this debate would be an understatement. Another debate that happened a few years back between Scott Horton and neo-con extraordinaire Bill Kristol was also a one-sided obliteration. What is the point of posting these videos? The people pushing us into war have NOTHING. No factual arguments, no historical understanding, no empathy. They are warmongers and psychopaths, and our society needs to deal with them as such by ignoring everything they say. A functioning, healthy society would put these people in their proper place venting inside the dark corners of the internet with only anonymous crazy people listening to them spouting off crazy conspiracy theories. TO PEACE AND JUSTICE FOR THE FUTURE. Let’s hope so.
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Over this past week, my family and I went to see Tom Cruise’s latest big budget spectacle, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING which is Part 2 of the finale of the series that started with last year’s DEAD RECKONING. Totaling almost six hours of non-stop action content, the movie is the encyclopedic definition of the word SPECTACLE. My review for this film will be very simple and is not going to be the focus of this blog. Both films are fun with amazing action sequences done by stunt doubles (And in some cases, Cruise himself), has a very minimal story that allows the actors to move from one location to another, and is a grand finale to a movie franchise that dates all the way back to the mid-90s. But watching this movie made me realize something. With Marvel and DC movies effectively taking over the action genre with studio-controlled franchises stuck inside defined comic book universes, is the big budget action film dead? And keeping this in mind, is the future of action low-budget films going to be small scope but entertaining pictures like NOBODY with Bob Odenkirk which is now also being franchised and getting its own sequel?
Ask yourself a question. When was the last time you went to a movie theater and were inspired or blown away by something you saw? What happened to the 1970s/1980s political pictures that often focused on the downsides of the changing United States (NETWORK and SERPICO) as well as historical documents about a recent era (GANDHI, THE KILLING FIELDS, THE LAST EMPEROR and EMPIRE OF THE SUN) in human history? When was the last time we had a comedy star in the Jim Carrey mold? When was the last time you went to a theater to see a comedy film? What happened to science fiction films with inventive ideas like DARK CITY or CUBE? Did superhero movies kill these films and turn the genre into nothing but franchises like ALIEN? There are a couple of reasons. First, the streaming services have effectively taken over content creation and distribution which has forced the big budget studios to take less risks. This risk-free mindset has led to half as many films being greenlit and released since the last Golden Age of film in the mid to late 90s. Second, limited series and well-written television shows have effectively taken over the entertainment industry since BREAKING BAD and MAD MEN broke through in the late 2000s. This content which took over the 2010s with Marvel films will be remembered as a second television Golden Age. Even our old action stars like Harrison Ford would move onto television with shows like 1923 and SHRINKING as well as Sylvester Stallone in his very underrated Paramount Show TULSA KING. But this content was expensive and the streaming services that produced much of this content created it as a lure to buy their subscriptions and produced it at a loss. Now, the industry is beginning to adjust by reducing much of this content. Plus, many well produced shows from Europe and Asia (South Korea specifically) have counterbalanced the decline in American productions. Streaming services are truly global. So, these reasons above are why this latest big budget action film fills me with nostalgia. As a 50-year-old male, I grew up with a Hollywood that would save all their action spectacles for every summer. Movies starring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson and Bruce Willis and to a lesser B movie extent, Jean Claude Van Damme, Jackie Chan, Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris were also ever present in movie theaters every summer during my childhood and college years. The three films that made me realize that these big budget action films are fading into history besides this in-theater Tom Cruise movie are: INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY RAMBO: LAST BLOOD And THE EXPENDABLES franchise, which is a riff on an era that has long since passed. Watching both films and the above-mentioned franchise felt like saying goodbye to a family member with terminal cancer. When compared to films from the 80s and 90s, these movies are still made with the same high-quality commitment to action that all these other 20th Century films were. It just appears that our culture has moved onto other things and is no longer committed to giving their hard-earned money for a brainless and fun two-hour entertainment experience. RIP ACTION FILMS! |
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December 2025
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