Via Protein Wisdom, The Thin Man sends us this. Readers may spot a thematic link with the previous post. 

After recent terrorist attacks, Spanish police are in no mood for leniency. This man picked the wrong time and the wrong way to try to support his drug habit.

I gather some of you are fans of the retooled Battlestar Galactica, which remains one of the more intelligent and compelling science fiction series. Given the issues raised during the last three seasons and their real world resonance, law professors Daniel Solove, Deven Desai and David Hoffman have taken an interest and interviewed BSG’s creators, Ronald D Moore and David Eick.

Part 1 deals with the trials and legal systems of the human survivors. Part 1-B explores the depicted use of torture. Parts 2 and 3, on the series’ treatment of politics, cylons and religion, will follow shortly.

Those of you unfamiliar with BSG can watch the episode 33 below.

Link: sevenload.com

(h/t, Volokh.)

A few months ago, I posted a short extract from Vanessa Engle’s Lefties documentary series, which seemed to go down well, possibly due to the heady mix of affectation and farce. I watched the third episode again recently and, as it made me laugh and despair in more or less equal measure, I thought I’d share it in full. A Lot of Balls details the comically inept attempt in 1987 to launch a “radical” left wing tabloid, The News on Sunday. The project was, unsurprisingly, a disaster, but what’s interesting is why. Engle’s documentary teases out how staggering incompetence was a direct result of ideological pretension. This is perhaps best illustrated by the scene in which, with the paper’s first edition about to go to press, most of the staff is out of the office on a deafness awareness day. 

Enjoy.

Part 1:

Statement of intent. “Our truth.” Big Flame. Class consciousness.

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Part 2:

Wearing suits. Other people’s money. The proletariat in charge. “Because you’re black.”

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Part 3:

An unholy war. Avoiding London. Qualified staff. Black man versus white lesbian.

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Part 4:

“No, but…” Pilger’s horror. Dummies and factions. Ad hell.

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Part 5:

Indignation. Causes and committees. “Theoretical crap.” Deafness awareness.

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Part 6:

Remote concerns. Public sector money. Kinnock and competence. Falling apart.

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All three episodes –  Property is Theft, Angry Wimmin and A Lot of Balls  – can be viewed in full here.

Related: the rise of Thatcherism. (h/t, The Thin Man.)

Subsidise my mischief. It’s for the greater good.

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, marking the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. If the point of HMD seems a little fuzzy or remote, the following episode of the outstanding World at War series may serve as a reminder. I should point out that some of the material is graphic and distressing.

Thanks to The Thin Man, I rediscovered Jim Schnabel’s charmingly bizarre documentary, The Real X-Files. Originally broadcast by Channel 4 in August 1995, the film investigates the U.S. military’s Cold War research into extrasensory perception as a tool of espionage. By turns intriguing and hilarious – part pure bonkersdom, part genuine puzzle – the film can be viewed in full below. Be sure to keep an eye out for Sergeant Mel Riley and his impressive feathered headgear.

First, here’s a short preview:

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Part 1:

Remote viewing. “Disrupt individuals.” Ingo’s target. Reading name tags.

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Part 2:

“Like Kryptonite.” Random numbers. Volcanoes and atom bombs.  “Undesirables.”

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Part 3:

Stubblebine and spoon bending. “Psychic blowjobs.” Chasing ETs. Tuning in.

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Jim Schnabel is the author of Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America’s Psychic Spies.

More on SRI’s “remote viewing” project can be found here. 

(h/t, The Thin Man, keeper of the archives.)