250 years of the United States

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

It's one of the most famous lines in human history - and one of the most hypocritical, considering the number of slave owners who signed the Declaration of Independence.

That kind of sums up the United States - high ideals and frequent failure to live up to them. From Jim Crow to the Trail of Tears to the Chinese Exclusion Act to the internment of Japanese Americans and more, the American Dream has been largely one for white people. With the current US adminstration, I am amazed that anyone would want to claim asylum there right now. Then there's the actions perpretrated by the American government overseas, Vietnam being a classic case in point, not to mention their support for Israeli human rights violations.

Yet people still keep coming to the country and want more from it. Vietnam is now an ally of the United States. American-produced movies still dominate the global box office. When foreigners speak English, it's frequently with an American accent - indeed many foreign actors go to the US and end up playing Americans!

I've been to the US four times myself - my main memories are of the size of the portions and the fact they don't put the sales tax on the sticker price. A sweatshirt I acquired in New York as a teenager still fits me over 25 years later and I've put on a fair bit of weight since then.

I might go back in future. I'd particularly like to see Los Angeles, although not in the summer!

For all its evils - and there are many - the United States isn't the worst empire that you could have as a superpower. It still is a democracy with free elections and freedom of speech. Many who criticise it do so on social media platforms run by the very billionaires they rail against. Donald Trump is a vile, venal and corrupt man, but he could easily be a lot more dictatorial than he actually is; he hasn't sent the tanks into Minneapolis. Iran would be in a lot worse shape if the US was like Russia or China.

I am not sure the United States will see its 300th anniversary; the red v. blue state tensions are real and growing. What comes after Trump might easily be worse and could start a Civil War by accident, if not by design. The world might well be poorer without it.

The US isn't necessary a force for good... but it's not necessary a force for evil. It's an empire of complexity. 

To misquote Monty Python and the Life of Brian - "What have the Americans ever done for us?"

It's 1997. It's dinner time. She's wearing hoops. (Review: 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' 2.9 and 2.10, "What's My Line?")

OK, what on Earth was Bianca Lawson doing with that accent? Jamaica? You should have stopped her!

История не повторяется, но она рифмуется. (Review: 'The Internship', 2026)

Or "History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes". 

It was that or "Don't mind me, I'm just here for Megan Boone".

Capital Ring Section 3

A murder in progress in Beckenham.

Or "I was walking with a limp when I got home - and the following day too".

The first trillionaire in history

Which just goes to show you that money can't buy you taste, humanity or popularity.

Also, Elon, you can't take it with you, even if it was actual cash rather than just shares in a company that is reliant on its systems actually working.

The Death of Doctor Who?

The announcement of the cancellation of the 2026 Christmas special and the show going out to tender is like the death of a relative. An old obese one that had been smoking for years. It's a surprise, but in the same way not a surprise.

Here's my post from last year on the show. At that point, I'd not seen The War Between the Land and the Sea, which ended in one rather stupid manner. "Survival" beats it hands down as a show ender.

Russell T Davies has clearly lied somewhere - he says there was no script, but in a Doctor Who Magazine column earlier this year, he teased three words from it. We might not know the precise details of the breakdown in the relationship for some years, but Bad Wolf has left the building and the far-too-big TARDIS set they built will soon be no more.

RTD was the right man for his time in the 2000s, but the wrong man in the 2020s. He shouldn't have been trusted with the show in retrospect and some can justly say "I told you so".

I suspect we are not likely to see any more live-action Doctor Who until Donald Trump is out of the White House i.e. 2029. If we see any more at all.

At least we've still got the CBeebies show...

As a final point, with no Trek show now in active production and the Stargate SG-1 revival axed, we are now in a world where the only live-action space show currently being made is "Serbs in Space" aka The Ark and I am not sure what state that is in.

Brave heart, people. We're going to need it.

Anthony Head 1954-2026

Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Uther Pendragon in Merlin and many more. Even his guest turn in Doctor Who was memorable. He was loved by many and his death at 72 from pneumonia will be a shock to many.

He will be deeply missed.

Rest in Peace.