Joker: Folie à Don’t—Filmmaking as Penance

A burning clown

Seldom is a sequel widely recognized as superior to its predecessor, with most follow-ups struggling to recapture the relevance or dynamism of the original. There are exceptions—Aliens comes to mind. But they are few and far between. As often as not, a sequel is a shameless and hamfisted cash grab, with remakes typically no better. Yet … Read more

The apology culture and timeless evil

I hate the apology culture when a modern politician/statesman/intellectual of any kind makes a solemn speech addressing some “oppressed” “minority” and apologizes for things of the past like slavery. I think it is silly to argue whether or not prominent figures of the past — for example, George Washington, Alexander Pushkin, Ivan Turgenev, etc. — … Read more

How To Get a Residence Permit To Russia in 2024

Tonight my Russian teacher invited me to talk with her about getting a residence permit in Russia.

“The Russian government has released a list of 47 countries and territories whose citizens are eligible for its new “Shared Values Visa” (SVV) program. Let’s talk about how to obtain this visa and what opportunities it provides for living in Russia. I have invited an American who has been living in Russia for two years to an interview, and he will tell you more about how to prepare to come to Russia and live comfortably there.”

The White Man’s Complacency and the Myth of Genocide

Lately I have noticed patterns in western right-wing and left-wing discourse and realized they’re both based on the same falsehood; an illusion of power that doesn’t actually exist. The dumbest decisions tend to be made by people with a delusion of invincibility. It is possible to see this invincibility trope on display when American conservatives … Read more