ArthurinCali has put together a review of David Lynch’s 1984 motion picture adaption of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel Dune.
For you Dune fans go over to his substack and see what he has to say about both the book and this movie version.
Category: ArthurinCali
Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 30APR2025 – American Media Bubble
I think the biggest reason that the narratives were so jarring and caused such a sense of cognitive dissonance comes down to the fact that I had spent so much time overseas. Outside of America, the media landscape stops being a constant funnel of US-centric news. This sounds obvious, but one must personally see the difference to truly understand the constant bombardment of information and narratives versus how others receive news on world events. I still chuckle to this day when an Op-Ed or headline declares how “the world is watching” what the US is doing with baited breath, as if there are villagers in far-flung East Timor or a town in Norway huddled around the TV or computer awaiting the next headline from CNN or NYT. Yes, many around the globe pay attention to current events, but not to the extent that MSM implies. The Legacy media kabuki theater is mostly for the US audience. I used to believe that finding 5-10 sources on a story was enough to put together a mostly accurate picture of what machinations were happening. Now, I try to find 2-3X that many because of the rampant misinformation displayed. It’s even worse now than it was two decades ago.
Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 29APR2025 – American Miasma
Arthur has written an essay describing the cognitive dissonance and other symptoms that set in after the 9/11 attacks were the excuse for creating the surveillance state that made Americans the bad guys that our government was trying to control.
https://www.arthurincali.com/p/american-miasma
Arthur was in the service when the attacks occurred so he saw firsthand the change when he returned afterward. I guess he was more perceptive than I was. It took until halfway through the Iraq War before I finally realized that protecting Americans was very low down on the priority list for the Bush administration.
A very nostalgic reading experience. In retrospective, I wonder now how I could have been so naive about the clearly anti-American nature of the policies of the Republicans and Democrats alike. But those were innocent times. I still believed some politicians were there to help us. Silly me.
Good read.
Guest Contributor -ArthurinCali – 28APR2025 – Military Women
There are many well-qualified women in the military.
Alright, now with that said, in almost 30 years of active, reserve, and now civilian DoD experience, the parable of “The Emperor Has No Clothes” is probably the best metaphor regarding women in the armed forces. Every reasonable person who has looked at the requirements and conditions sees that it is not an enhancement to try and put women into every role performed in the armed services. Not one single deployment was enhanced with having females around. In fact, it usually presented unnecessary hindrances and complications to the mission at hand. Military service has one purpose — defense of the country and its national interests. To treat the institution as a grand laboratory for social sciences has been a complete detriment overall.
ArthurinCali Reviews Sweden’s Changing Views on Immigration
Formerly one of the most welcoming and tolerant of all European countries toward migrants, Sweden has soured on their guests and now will even pay them to leave.
Sweden’s Changing Views on Immigration
Arthur presents the latest changes to the Swedish saga of violent invaders overstaying their welcome.
Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 04APR2025 – Is Americans
What makes America great is Americans, not some global economic think tank idea about “Cosmopolitanism.”
We’re not a group of backwoods rubes crouching in fear of the outside world. What we are, and should always be, are people who care more about the well-being of each other and not the stock portfolio of a multinational corporation that will pull the rug at the first chance of increasing profit shares. This nation’s initials are USA not GDP. The overly misused phrase of collectivism when describing Marxist-style ideologies has woefully made it a dirty word for those of us on the Right-wing to employ. It needs to be reclaimed and utilized often. It is the proper attitude to have for our fellow Americans’ living conditions. We are all in the same boat, whether some are in first-class cabins or third-class.
Are protectionist tariff policies the silver bullet solution that will restore American labor and wage loss woes? Will the Rust Belt be revitalized with a glut of new manufacturing jobs by next year? Of course not. But it’s a start. Prepare for pain and embrace the understanding that it is needed and long overdue. The medicine that cures does not always go down easily. To go down fighting is better than to simply accept the current state of affairs.
Legacy media reporting tries to lead one to believe that tariffs will be the only strategy Trump will use. That is folly and only propaganda for the low-information citizen as they like to call most of us. Stronger tariffs are only one piece of the equation that (might) correct the dismal path we are on.
Things are very wrong with how the game is set up. Many of us know this. The promised results of NAFTA, free trade (Ha!) and WTO platitudes were a siren song that mainly enriched a select few. Brave voices spoke out on this such as Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot. They were right.
It is time for something different and if it takes burning my 401K to the ground so that my kids do not have to be serfs to the worship of an almighty GDP Excel spreadsheet God of Globohomo, then I say burn it to the ground.
ArthurinCali Has a Theory About “Signalgate.”
Arthur thinks maybe the Atlantic is being used to pass along some information about our attitude toward Europe and the NATO alliance. Check it out and see what you think.
Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 07FEB2025 – In the Moment
The optimist in me understands that Trump’s superpower is that the Left, Media, and others constantly underestimate the man’s intelligence and act as if he is a barely functioning special ed student. This impression is amplified by the sycophant news outlets that produce slanted coverage of practically everything the man does; from his policies to even what the man decides to eat for dinner.
Those of us who follow politics closely can recall from memory the litany of dishonest accounts of the man. Remember “Very fine people” and “Injecting Bleach” are still told as gospel. This doesn’t even begin to include the rumors and tall tales reported as truth.
FWIW, my take on the Gaza announcement is an orchestrated strategy with a plan that hasn’t been fully revealed yet. No, we aren’t going to see American boots on the ground in Gaza. (I pray we don’t) But there is something in the works behind the scenes that should play out in the coming months. I know, I know, it sounds a little too much like “Trust the Plan” thinking.
However, I have been blown away with what the incoming administration has done so far, especially after today when they threw down the gauntlet over the DOGE kid getting doxxed and attacked from the Left. Trump, JD, and Elon coming out and telling, well, the world really, that these cancelling tactics aren’t going to work was exactly what I voted for. Many of us on the Right are done with the past, watching scalps offered to the Leftist altar of morality with no chance of absolution or grace for the offenders.
“I refuse to cut one blade of grass for my enemies delight.”
The Left has long had their radicals and vanguard of folks within the Progressive coalition. Do they routinely perform purification rituals to placate and appease the Right? No.
Have a great weekend OCF
ArthurinCali Has an Article on Realpolitik and Trump
ArthurinCali has a very interesting interesting discussion about how Trump looks at the ways and means of running the American Empire.
“From time to time, the mask slips and the broader public catches a glimpse into the inner machinations of the Global American Hegemon. This can be a striking blow to the ideals and platitudes usually presented as representation of the Liberal international order.”
An Informative Article on Africa
ArthurinCali has a good read on how the population in Africa looks to be stretching well beyond their and our ability to feed it. It dovetails with what’s been on my mind lately. There needs to be a new way of interacting with the third world areas. So far nobody seems to have hit upon it.