Mobius

Lured to watch "Mobius" (2025)by the inclusion of a favorite movie actress seen in Thai films.  "Mobius" achieved 300 million views within one week of release and reached top 10 in several countries.

Science fiction built around the ability to loop through time to manipulate future events.  Several important scientists have lost their lives at a biotech company.  Ding Qi is called in and with his time looping ability is able to unravel some of the mystery and meanwhile build a relationship with one of the employees.  The mystery is deep and full of treachery.  The action is dynamic.

My interest was not the leading lady, but was an outside investor who I think appeared in 3 or 4 episodes, barely a supporting actress.  More on her later.

I no longer watch many films from China, but this one was mesmerizing.  See    http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/10/china-the-nba.html  They obviously have mastered still another business enterprise and I will give credit to some who handled this series.

Zhangmu Liu was the director with 5 directing credits and 1 for second unit directing.

Qiang Bi was the writer with 2 writing credits.

Bi Li was the cinematographer with 3 cinematography credits.

Peng Zhang was in charge of stunts.  He has 41 credits for stunts, 3 for directing and 4 for second unit directing including "Ant-Man" (2015), "Rush Hour 3" (2017) and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings" (2021). 

Jingting Bai was the leading man.  He is very dynamic and earnest.  Jingting was active in high jump and basketball in school.  Has been a model, a singer and pianist (with his own album).  Also known as a sharp businessman establishing his own studio and agency and regularly making the Forbes list.  He has 21 acting credits and 1 for soundtrack.

Janice Man played the leading lady.  From Hong Kong she has 34 acting credits and one for the music department.

Yang Song played the owner of the biotech company.  He has 28 acting credits. 

Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying played the investor and for the most part did little until near the end.  She is from Thailand, but parents were of Thai-Chinese background.  She spoke in English and not sure, but I think Cantonese.  She has 12 acting credits including "Bad Genius" (2017), an all time favorite, "Happy Old Year" (2019), "Sleepless Society:  Insomnia" (2020) and "Hunger" (2023).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2018/06/bad-genius-out-of-thailand.html and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/05/hunger-interesting-movie-from-thailand.html

I still watch numerous Mandarin language films and remember in past years that included some from the mainland.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/08/chinese-cinema-is-peek-into-their_1.html 

"Mobius" is available subtitled on Netflix.  If you like science fiction with some action you will more than likely enjoy this series.  Any of you would find Jingting Bai an exciting new face on the international scene.

The Crisis of Canadian Democracy

Most of "The Crisis of Canadian Democracy" dissects the many serious faults in Canadian democracy with a few solutions.  The last chapter is about the crises we are facing, including Trump and why we need to change our approach to democracy to better deal with the future.  

Explaining his solutions he also admits that those who have the power to make changes know they owe their power to the present system.  It appears most Canadians are not conscious of our deficiencies and perhaps an increased awareness will be a start.  But we are running out of time. 

With a poor democratic structure we are less fit to resist Trump.  One wild speculation has been he would be satisfied with luring Alberta to join America.  Blind patriotism may not be enough.

This post cannot be a summary of all Andrew's good ideas, but hopefully will inspire some to read the book and others to be more conscious of our deficiencies.

 The Canadian Prime Minister has too much power.  As with all party leaders he has power as to who gets nominated in ridings and obviously on cabinet ministers.  Cabinet members especially, and M.P.'s are expected to go along with government positions.  He or she has the power to call an election (at their convenience).  The power of prorogue to stop opposition, very effectively done by Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau.

Andrew feels the leader should be decided by the caucus as they have the best understanding of the job and the character required.  This is not a new idea, but got lost with the lure of money making recruiting new members.

Parliament is where ideas get discussed and debated and where some local concerns can be aired, but time devoted to it is diminishing.  Parliament is where the government has to answer to the people, but when not sitting grievances pile up.  Canada has fallen behind other nations.  One reason has been elections that even once resolved Canada takes longer than most nations to resume Parliament.

Chrystia Freeland was shabbily treated, because Justin could, and this helped finally to force him to resign.  Before she got into politics a book (and some tv. appearances)got my attention http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/01/plutocrats-by-chrystia-freeland.html

Andrew states "Conventional management theory teaches that the greater the size of the operation, the more important it becomes to delegate authority to subordinates."  Instead the Canadian government is centralizing power.  

The Supreme Court is appointed by the Prime Ministers.  One of their roles is judicial review that now is more important because of the Charter of Rights and specifically the "notwithstanding rule."  Without allowing for exceptions to the charter it would not have been agreed upon.  Nonetheless it is subject to abuse.  The Quebec Bill 21 wants to ban religious garb such as turbans, hajibs or skullcaps from public service.  Recently I learned some in Alberta would like to place restrictions on transexuals.  The federal government is supposed to protect all citizens from prejudice.

The Senate is all appointed and subject to Prime Ministerial favoritism.  Andrew feels it should be elected, but not based on population.  Some groups have special rights, but not majority clout.  An example might be the indigenous.  My opinion, this could offset some of the power of majorities to overlook human rights.  It might also help to honor agreements that have been made to Prince Edward Island and francophone Quebec

A few points on election campaigns.  Journalists put too much emphasis on the horse race aspects.  Andrew feels they should be explaining policies and characters to help voters sort for their big decision

He also feels debates should be a bigger part of the campaign.  The networks know debates take away from profitable ad time.  The debates should be managed by a non partisan group.  Ideally held once a week on different topics and all should be bilingual.  The networks should not have any control over content or format, but obligated as part of their license agreement.

Essentially democracy means the voice of the common citizen should be heard and respected, but all votes are not equal.  To start with the size of ridings.  Canada  has a greater variance than in other countries, for example from the 2021 census, the smallest riding is in Labrador with 27,000 people while the largest is Edmonton-Wetaskiwin with more than 209,000 people meaning it takes more voters in some ridings to elect a member.  

Another serious concern is that most votes are wasted.  In our first past the post electoral system the decision is made by plurality and not majority.  In actual practice it is very normal for the minority parties to have gained more votes  than the winner, yet their votes do not count and thus their views are not represented.  Also the winner usually has unneeded votes that are also wasted.  Many voters use strategic voting meaning they vote for a secondary choice in order to lessen the chances for a disliked party.  

Proportional representation is a concept to remedy the wasted votes plus the need for strategic voting and has been found to actually increase voter turnout.  Unfortunately those in power don't like this idea as they got their power for the current system.  Still hundreds of countries have adopted a variation allowing a more realistic opinion of their voters to be reflected by their government.

Andrew also likes the idea of mandatory voting as the government is supposed to represent the whole country and not just the educated and informed.  

As Andrew points out Canada's future is full of challenges such as pandemics, climate change, Parti Quebecois, a European War, aging population and immediately Donald Trump.  The stronger our democracy the better we can weather the storms.  He also warns that the future will call for sacrifices (that might be painful).

An earlier blog regarding proportional representation:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/10/your-vote-neednt-be-wasted.html

Israel has long been used against the proportional representation concept.  In truth Jewish voters and elected representatives dominate Arabs, but nonetheless there are occasionally opportunities:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/07/is-israel-such-bad-example-for.html

Adolescence

Before even winning an Emmy award "Adolescence" (2025)  had received a lot of publicity.  I didn't know what to expect and certainly it was different.  Different in a thought provoking manner.  We are used to watching murder mysteries which despite complications generally direct us to some sort of resolution. 

"Adolescence" gives more focus to those affected by the violence beyond the victim and supposed perpetrator.  The police, school mates, a psychologist and most of all the father and mother to Jamie.

First off we see a family settling in for the night and suddenly police cars appear with protectively armed police officers, one of whom quickly breaks the door down and they come in taking standard police procedures to find out where a young boy is.  He is in bed and has guns pointed at him. He is told he is being arrested on suspicion of murder.  He is flustered and claims he didn't do anything.  The police are considerate, explaining his rights, but firmly stating he has to go with them.  When he gets out of bed one officer tells him to change his trousers as he has obviously wet his pants.

From there we go the police station where he is photographed, blood taken and a strip search.  A lawyer is provided who before getting many details tells Jamie to say, "no comment" if he is unsure.  We are shown a video where a boy is following a girl and they have some sort of confrontation and she pushes him to the ground and walks away.  He designates his father to accompany him and in a private talk says he did not do it.

On the second episode we see the two original arresting officers visit the school Jamie went to.  We encounter a close friend to the victim who is very upset and attacks another boy (a friend of Jamie's) and later the police officer chases down the friend.  The officers are led to different classrooms, but are unable to find any students or teachers willing to give any information.  After the two officers get set to leave, the one officer talks to his son who is a student at a higher grade and doesn't know Jamie very well.  But he does know teen culture and explains some of it to his father.  This was news to the police, schools and also to the creators and is a key message from the series.

In this second episode we learn the police have not found the weapon.  We are also led to believe that Kate had rejected an advance from Jamie.  

This post is not meant to be a summary of the series.  The final two episodes are more focused on some consequences.  Jamie is taken to a psychologist who claims her job is not to determine his guilt, but to learn what drives him.  He is suspicious, becomes upset and acts out.  She is professional and maintains her cool in Jamie's presence, but afterwards in private she breaks down.

The final episode is focused on the parents and his sister.  They are stressed.  Essentially this all I want to reveal.  The point of the series is how the events affect people.

 Researching the background to this series has been mind opening.  One new concept for me was one shot filming.  Each episode was filmed with no breaks.  The effect makes the viewer get closer to the action without realizing it.  The details are many and I don't understand them all, but the director, writer and many of the actors had been involved with it before.  It does require a lot of preparation with the risk that some small mishap means it has to be done all over again.

To create the experience takes a lot of talent.  Here are a few of the people. 

Phillip Barantini was the director.  He is a master of the one shot filming used for the series.  He has 12 credits for directing, 14 credits for producing and 32 as an actor including "Band of Brothers" (2001) and "Chernobyl" (2019).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/04/chernobyl.html

Jack Thorne was one of the creators and writers.  He studied politics at Pembroke College, Oxford.  Jack has 46 writing credits, 18 for producing and 3 for acting including "Wonder" (2017), "Help" (2021) and "Joy" (2024).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/11/joy-film-about-ivf.html

Stephen Graham was co-creator, writer and executive producer.  He has dyslexia and has his wife, Hannah Walker read scripts to him before approval.  He has 130 acting credits, 8 for producing and 2 for writing including "Band of Brothers" (2001), "Line of Duty"(2018-2020), "The Irishman" (2019), "Help" (2021) and "Bodies" (2023). See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/02/band-of-brothers.html

Jo Johnson was a producer.  One task for this film was to work with the parents of young actors to make sure everyone was comfortable with what they were asked to do.  He has 18 credits as director and 8 as producer including "Coronation Street" and "East Enders".

Brad Pitt, Hollywood star was an executive producer.  His children are home schooled.  He speaks fluent French.  Brad once bought the rights to the Hong Kong production of "Infernal Affairs" (2002) and ended up a producer for the adapted "The Departed" (2006).  He is banned in China for his role in "7 Years in Tibet" (1997).  Altogether he has 92 acting credits and 83 producing credits.

Hannah Walker had a cameo role as Mrs. Bailey.  She had formed a production company with her husband,  Stephen Graham in 2022 and was a producer.

The music was handled by the team of Aaron May and David Ridley.  Because of the one shot requirement they had to collaborate closely with the director and writers.  They had met at the University of Bristol, played in some of the same bands and then went their separate ways until re-uniting in  2017.  Aaron had 17 composing credits and 2 for soundtrack while David had 18 composing credits and 1 for music department.   

More on the musical collaboration.  Emilia Holliday had played Katie, the murder victim and had no lines, but when Phillip Barantini talked with learned she wanted to sing and so set her up with the two composers who liked her.  They also decided they would like a chorus and from the students at the filming location put together a choir and with Emilia adapted "Fragile" (from Sting).

Cinematography was by Matthew Lewis who has 15 cinematography credits and 15 for the camera and electrical department.  He had done one shot films before.

Ashley Walters played DI Luke Bascombe.  He was a rapper.  Ashley has 83 acting credits, 3 for directing and 4 for producing. 

 Erin Doherty played the psychologist Brioney Ariston.  She has 16 acting credits including two seasons as Princess Anne in "The Crown" (2019-2020).

Owen Cooper played Jamie.  At 15 he became the youngest male actor to win the Prime Time Emmy award for supporting actor. in a limited series.

This series brought to our attention there is a youth culture that is hidden from most outsiders and that violent crimes have an emotional impact on more than just the victims and perpetrators.  The presentation is unique and professional and resulted in 8 Prime Time Emmy Awards.

Available on Netflix.

All We Imagine As Light

 The Malayalam language has provided a disproportionate number of my favorite movies.  Totally unaware of it until I stumbled on a recommended movie and then truly stumbled on a few others and now look out for them, although admitting they have their share of ordinary films.  "All We Imagine As Light"(2024) somehow reached greater international attention than any of the others.  It received an 8 minute standing ovation and won a major prize at the Cannes Festival.  

On the surface it is a simple story, but reaches inside to quiet emotions.  The focus is on three women living in a huge diverse city of Mumbai.  The three are predominantly Malayalam speakers, but are surrounded by many other languages.  The link between the women is the hospital they work at, but at quite different functions;  one is a chief nurse, another a receptionist and the third is a cook.  

Prahba, the chief nurse had had an arranged marriage, but whose husband left to go to Germany and had ceased to write letters.  Even though approached by other men she maintained her loyalty to her husband, but felt abandoned.

Anu, the receptionist and Prabha's room mate was more open and expressive.  We are shown her dealing with a woman who was despairing about having two many children and a husband who would not consent to a vasectomy.  She snuck some contraceptive pills to her.  She had fallen in love with a Muslim man and knew her parents would be extremely upset.

Parvathy, the cook lived in a small housing unit after her husband had died.  She was being coerced by a big company that wanted that space for a big development.  She was forced out of it and went to her home village accompanied by the two other women for support.

The village is by the sea and it happens that a man is pulled out of the sea and apparently dead.  Prabha clears everyone away and with CPR is able to revive him.  A day or so later she is brought to the man as he wakes up.  For awhile she seems to think of him as her husband.  He asks how long he has been unconscious and in turn she asks him what he felt.  His description is strange, but somehow he feels everything he imagined became light.  

Anu is asked to invite Shiaz who had followed a great distance to meet the other two women.  At the end the three women feel a greater cameraderie and essentially that is the end of the movie with some viewers mystified and a few others understanding.

There are two scenes that upset a few Indian movie goers. In one scene we see Prabha changing her clothes and unnecessarily her breasts are exposed for a few seconds.  The other scene was with Anu having sex with her lover, Shiaz.

It takes a talented cast and crew to create such an award winning film.  Here are a few:

Payal Kapadia was the director and writer.  Although she does not speak Maylayalam she was able to make good use of a Malayalam writer to get the right nuance.  As a student she signed a boycott pledge with the Film Workers for Palestine.  Payal started with shorts and had one presented at Cannes and later her documentary won the Golden Eye award.  She has 6 director credits and 3 for writing.  Her mother did a painting that inspired the title. 

Julian Graff was one of the producers representing international involvement.  He represented the French.  He has 6 producer credits.

Topshe wrote the music.  Well known musician and has done many albums.  He has 1 music department credit plus one as composer and 1 as an editor.   The 9 minutes of music at the closing is very beautiful.

Ranabir Das was the cinematographer who has worked closely with Payal.  Growing up a downstairs neighbor was Anik Dutta, a well known film maker.  Ranabir has 9 cinematography credits, 2 as an editor and 2 as producer.

Clement Pinteaux was the editor.  He studied editing at La Femis film school in Paris.  He has 24 credits as editor, 6 editorial credits and directing.

Romil Modi was the casting director.  He had done 500 commercials before getting involved with films.  Romil has 29 casting credits, 3 for acting and 3 for secondary direct credit including "Budhia Singh Born to Run" (2016), "Newton" (2017) and "Lapataa Ladies" (2023) .  He was praised as the casting director for the two contenders for the Oscar foreign film nomination, "Laapataa Ladies" and "All You Can Imagine As Light" with the former prevailing.  "All We Imagine as Light" was also on a short list for France, but lost to "Emilia Perez" (2024).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/04/laapataa-ladies.html

 Kani Kusruti played Payal.  Her parents were activists and had dropped their last name to avoid discrimination.  Kani needed a last name for a school requirement and adopted Kasruti which means "mischievous" in Malayalam.  She had studied at L'Ecole International de Theatre" and went into theatre.  Kani has 47 acting credits including "Killer Soup" (2024)

Divya Prabha played Anu. She has 18 acting credits including "Take Off" (2017).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/02/take-off-brutality-in-tikrit.html 

Chhaya Kadam played Parvathy.  She once played kabbadi at the state level.  She got involved with the theatre.  Chhaya has 67 acting credits spread over Marathi, Hindi and Malayalam languages including "Budhia Singh Born to Run" (2016), "Andhahun" (2018), "Gangubai Kathiawadi" (2022) and "Laapataa Ladies" (2023).   Here is a post on "Andhahun" that Chhaya appeared in and the film had been remade into a Telegu film...http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/10/telegu-remake-opens-my-eyes.html

Hridu Haroon played Shiaz.  He has 7 acting credits.

Anand Sami played the drowning man rescued by Payal.  He was prominent in theatre.  Anand has 7 acting credits in film including "The Family Man" (2021).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/the-family-man.html

 Ever since I discovered films in the Malayalam language they remain a favorite source.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/how-i-discovered-malayalam-cinema-and.html

 I saw this film on a DVD borrowed from the library with subtitles.  It also had an interesting feature with Payal Kapadia talking about her history and the film. 

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if any film is worth following up.

Beyond the Bar

Legal dramas tend to be cut and dried and certainly "Beyond the Bar" has its share, but nevertheless is entertaining and thought provoking with interesting dialogue.

It was decided romance was distracting so they held back at the beginning.  The main characters certainly had personal problems.  Hyo-min, the female lead we learn was a twin whose sister turned out deaf and had been given to an aunt who was also deaf.  When a lover found out about this he broke off their relationship.  Romance is subtle and slow to develop.

A tool for a possible romance is a dog.  Early on you will learn Seok-hoon the male lead and mentor to Hyo-min has been divorced and shares custody of a dog.  He fusses over the dog and is very concerned for its well being.

What makes the series worth viewing, is the cases and how the lawyers peel away the issues to find out what really happened.  Ethics are discussed.  A few examples follow.

A man breaks into a fertility clinic and destroys some expensive equipment.  The clinic sued him for damages, but realistically that was beyond his means.  His motive was that he had come to them before an operation with a risk of infertility.  The operation saved his life, but he did become infertile.  And later we learn that his wife was desperate to have a child that would not have a disfigurement that she got from an accident.  The back story was important for the case and Hyo-min is the one who uncovered it despite the accused client's wariness being interviewed by a woman.

In another case Seok-hoon was forced to work with a client that repelled him.  Nonetheless he is very good at getting the client out of some messy situations.  You can't help but think life is unfair when despicable people can get away with bad things.  Obviously money plays a role, but not the only one:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/08/untouchable-how-they-get-away-with-it.html  Our hero does redeem himself.

In an assisted suicide case we learn the husband had had an affair and stood to inherit her fortune.  But we and the court come to appreciate the wife was suffering and he really did love her more than some greedy relatives.

In the episode "Bystander" we learn a little of Hyo-min's history that involved watching someone being beaten up and did nothing.  One of their cases involves a similar situation and as viewers we come to appreciate what a big factor ignoring someone's suffering can be. 

Each episode brings a difficult case demanding careful analysis and moral judgments.  

Typical of Korean series there are some personal relationships among the staff as there would be to some extent with all legal teams.

Such a popular and well received series is the result of the talent and work of a number of people.

Kim Jae Hong was the creator, writer and director.  He has 3 director credits and 1 for writing.

Jang Woo-seok was the producer.  He has 47 producer credits and 1 for acting including "The Roundup" (2022) and "Rebound" (2023).

Yoo Min-ho was the music composer with 25 music credits including "When the Camellia Blooms" (2019). 

Songhwan Moon was the editor.  He has 26 editor credits and 26 for the editorial department including "When the Phone Rings" (2024-2025).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/01/when-phone-rings.html

Lee Jin-wook played Yoon Seok-hoon, the mature mentor.  He has 32 acting credits including "Miss Granny" (2014), "The Beauty Inside" (2015) and "Squid Game, Season 2" (2024).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/01/squid-game-season-2.html

Jung Chae-yeon played Kang Hyo-min, the new lawyer.  She has 20 acting credits including "The King's Affection" (2021).  see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/12/the-kings-affection.html

Kim Eui-sung played a senior partner.  He has 61 acting credits including "Assassination" (2015), "Train to Busan" (2016), "Memories of the Alhambra" (2018), "Under the Queen's Umbrella" (2022) and "Trauma Code:  Heroes on Call" (2025).  see  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/04/under-queens-umbrella.html and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/08/trauma-code.html

Lee Joo Yeon played a junior lawyer.  She had been in a girl band.  She has 7 acting credits including "Chocolate" (2019), "Hyena" (2020) and "Flower of Evil" (2020).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/10/flower-of-evil.html

If you enjoy legal drama you should find this thought provoking.  Romance is there, but you have to wait for it.  Available on Netflix dubbed and subtitled.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  Some of them are among my favorite Korean films and a big part of my Korean obsession.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if any film is worth following up.

The Future of Tourism

As more of us become more affluent one luxury in increasing demand is traveling.  It has been beneficial for many, but the author to point how some concerns.

One concern is that as an area becomes popular the locals lose control as corporations and outside companies move in.  Prices for many locally priced goods go up and locals find themselves being pushed further away.  In some cases there is significant environmental damage.

One example given was for Barcelona, one of my targets having watched a few foreign films plus the Olympics.  Now I am putting it further down my list.

Another example was Hawaii with its native culture being sidelined for a more commercially desirable image. 

Environmental concerns are the direct result of trying to squeeze more people into a sensitive area.  One trend has been with glaciers that have been promoted as something you have to see before they disappear.   Many efforts have begun to ameliorate climate change.  One long range concern is air travel and that is very complicated, but progressing.

Kerala in India is an example where locals have been given power to make decisions.  Most countries see tourism as an important economic tool.  Kerala is home to some of my favorite movies and I am glad to hear that locals offer interested tourist a chance to understand their culture.   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/how-i-discovered-malayalam-cinema-and.html

The author referred to another book that impacted me, "Overbooked".  Among many good ideas that author highlighted two countries as good examples of being well managed.  France was one that honored its literary and artistic history.  Costa Rica was the other that got my attention, because their focus was on the environment with an emphasis on their unique natural assets.  At the same time they trained local people and paid them well.  They also limited numbers.  Read more  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/02/overbooked-and-thoughts-on-tourism.html

We have always had travelers including migrants, merchants, pilgrims and invading armies.  Tourism happened among the wealthy of Europe starting around the second half of the 18th century.  World War II heralded awareness of the world and incomes started to rise sparking an interest.  From 1950 to 2019 tourists went from 25 million per year to nearly 1.5 billion.  Then Covid drastically cut tourism with a notable drop in economic benefits.  Now the trend is upward.

One motive for tourism was to promote world peace,.  One unlikely source was Nikita Krushchev, but many others joined the pleas.  Tourism was identified in the 1960's as an industry with some countries including it in cabinet positions.

Mark Twain said "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness and many of our people need it sorely...Broad, wholesome and charitable views of men and things can not be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

Traveling can be very superficial, but Paige holds out hope that as individuals we can go deeper and enjoy it a bit more.  As an example she wrote about her experiences going by herself to Saudi Arabia where fears of anti female views had been prevalent and the Kashoggi.  Afterwards reflecting outsiders view of America. 

"I now know that Saudi Arabia is a deeply flawed and beautiful place that's home to millions of diverse souls including my fun and courageous tourist guide." Thinking deeper, "I ...see my home country as a deeply flawed and beautiful place that's home to millions of diverse souls including many of my closest friends and family members.....hope the naysayers might one day visit the U.S. and see there is more to it than the politics and crises they read about in the news."

 Hoping as you contemplate what to do in your future you give some thought to traveling and how it could make your life not only more enjoyable, but also more meaningful.

As I organize this blog post my city for over 43 years, Hamilton, Ontario, is holding its biggest tourist attraction event, Supercrawl.  I look forward to it, but I am now appreciating some downsides.  It is a once a year bonanza for our local restaurants, but as part of the deal literally tons of food trucks siphon off much of the tourist dollars.  Often they are more accessible than the restaurants.  This event started as an art crawl and then music was added and many vendors showed up. There is something for most everyone, but I would feel more comfortable if more locals benefited.  Now it is a big deal with a big budget trying to balance making it a fuller experience to attract a crowd, without local entrepreneurs being missing out.

King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution Explained

The Iranian Revolution was a big surprise to many including Jimmy Carter and the Shah Reza Pahlavi.  There were clues, but they were largely ignored until it was too late.  Scott Anderson decided it was time to research the records and try to better understand it.  His research was impressively extensive.

One perspective presented Iran with a positive rising income (but unequal), good life expectancy, fair treatment for minorities including Jews, Armenians and Assyrians.  Over half a million citizens with college degrees from abroad.  Traded with Israel.  Relative freedom for Muslim women, even planning to give them the vote.

On the other hand you had a religious fundamentalist, who thought women had way too much freedom.  Khomeini also hated Jews and Bahais as well as the American government. 

How did it happen?  More than 40 years after the Iranian Revolution Scott Anderson was able to talk with many eye witnesses and uncover detailed written information.  He does a great job providing a better understanding of this globally important event with serious consequences today.

Shah Reza Pahlavi was not universally popular.  Corruption was evident and inequality was prominent.  His freedom for women and toleration of  Jews and Bahai offended many.  His secret police, SAVAK was assumed to be much more intrusive than Scott was able to prove, but nonetheless clamped down on political dissent.  The Shah was very secretive.  He would talk to generals, chosen for loyalty one on one and never as a group.  He kept knowledge of a fatal medical condition from American intelligence.   An interesting skill was he could pilot jet planes and did so.

Ancient Persians did not enslave the people they conquered and allowed them to keep their religion.  They required only a pledge of loyalty to the Kingdom.

The Brits wanted to get rid of Mohammad Mossedegh, an elected leader who wanted to nationalize their oil resources.  They negotiated with President Truman who turned down request for a coup, but Eisenhower agreed.  Shah had been requested to sign an agreement to this end, but at first refused until Kermit Roosevelt strong armed him to do so.  The U.S. government had helped engineer the coup that in 1953 forced Mossedegh out and replaced him by a more powerful Shah. 

Fundamentalists immediately developed a greater grudge against Americans.  They already felt that Americans tempted Iranians to sin and encouraged female freedom.  Khomeini was one of the more vocal critics urging death to the Satanists. 

Jimmy Carter actually wanted to develop a stronger relation with Iran recognizing they were stable in an unstable part of the world, supplied a significant amount of oil, bought a lot of American weapons and provided a better location to monitor the Soviet Union.  He successfully encouraged the Shah to modify his human rights abuses.  He felt obligated to the Shah, but paid little attention to the real situation and his staff mostly ignored Iran, until they couldn't.

Ebrahim Yazdi, was a key operative.  Born in Iran he was an Islamist with a social conscience and became very upset about the Mossadegh ouster and hated the Shah.  Although aware of the American connection he ended up upgrading his education and becoming a pharmacologist in the U.S.  Active among anti Shah groups while in America at first sought political action, but decided a fundamentalist would work better.  When Khomeini needed to find a new exile location Yazdi steered him to France where he would have a better platform allowing his bombastic sermons to have a wilder distribution. Yazdi provided translations for media while toning down Khomeini's hatred.  Noted U.S. most concerned with all the riots in Iran that Communists would take over, but they were assured not a problem.  He planned strategies to steer the military leaders to Khomeini.  He was a moderate to the end (2017) confessing he regretted his (critical) involvement with Khomeini.

Riots escalated and it was decided the Shah should leave.  Khomeini was ready to move in, but other political forces tried to form a government encouraged by the United States.

Eventually in 1989 Khomeini came to Tehran and gave his blessing to some politicians he approved of, but was in reality the final decider.  The Americans wanted the politicians in charge, but found even they bowed to Khomeini. 

When Iraq invaded Iran to take advantage of its supposed vulnerability the Iranian leadership realized they had used up much of their weaponry and needed the U.S. to re-supply them and negotiations seemed to be progressing, but suddenly collapsed.  There was speculation that Ronald Reagan's campaign team may have encouraged the delay for the hostage release.  It is known they had contact with Khomeini staff.  Scott Anderson, the author in 2023 learned of comments by prominent Republicans that indicated they had inside information the hostages would not be released until Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.  Carter's humiliation at the hands of the Iranian went right to the inauguration. 

One interesting source for this book was Michael Metrinko who had learned Farsi when working with the Peace Corps.  He learned what street Iranians thought and tried to pass it on to little avail.  Working with the U.S. Embassy he was captured with the other American workers and for awhile his Farsi abilities were hidden, but when discovered he was tortured as he was falsely thought to be with the C.I.A.  He was eventually released and when the author discovered him he was sharing his house with a few Afghan students who had escaped that conflict.

Details do matter and Scott has been a hard worker uncovering the key players and the key moves.  A blog cannot do justice to his book, but it is my hope you will check out the book itself.

Trump has found Iran to be a good enemy to use for his political goals.  An earlier view of Iran from 2022:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/10/the-iranian-dilemma.html  That was for his first term.  In his second term he has taken a more aggressive stance in line with Netanyahu's perspective.

Jimmy Carter made critical mistakes with Iran, but overall was a very decent man who did much good, but admits his biggest regret was with Iran.   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/10/the-outlier-unfinished-presidency-of.html

An earlier book, "Lawrence in Arabia" illustrates Scott's understanding of important historical events. http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/12/lawrence-in-arabia.html

Stolen a book about the Sapmi nation

As a young man I recall seeing news clips about exotic Laplanders wearing colorful clothing and on skis herding reindeer.  For several years similar clips reminded me that they were found mostly in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland.  The term "indigenous" was one way to label them.

"Stolen" (2021) upends some of those ideas.  I had seen the movie and more recently read the book (that always deepens understanding).  The area is more properly labelled "Sapmi" and includes parts of Russia.  "Laplanders" is considered a slur and they prefer to be called Sami.  

The term "indigenous" is sometimes applied.  Definitions vary, but one perspective is those who identified as such, feeling they are different in culture and too often suffer discrimination.  As an outsider I believe the Sami qualify as indigenous.  Outsiders view the indigenous as primitive and strange.  We miss understanding their culture that would not only help us to better communicate with them, but also how we might benefit. 

Their status has been elevated by contact and intermixing, but the underlying dynamic is caste as they are seen as inferior beings.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/caste-origins-of-our-discontents.html 

Reindeer herding is integral to their culture.  At the beginning a Sami nine year old, Elsa witnessed a familiar Swedish man kill her reindeer and threaten her.  She does report the death, but refrains from identifying the man.  We follow her as she ages.  The local Sami feel a need to be on guard against outsiders stealing or killing their reindeer.  They have adapted to modern times by using fencing and snowmobiles are ubiquitous.  

They do suffer discrimination in various manners.  They were resented for their privileges (only they have the right to kill reindeer).  The Swedish police are slow to respond to attacks on Sami or their reindeer.   A slur is to be called "Lapp" or worse "Lapp whore".  Some Sami work in factories, but are mocked for their reindeer connections.  Sami clothing is mocked.  Elsa's mother is Swedish and is frowned upon by some Sami as "rivgu". 

Elsa and her family clash with Robert Isaksson, a belligerent Swede who hurt others, but never seems to be punished for it.  There is one sympathetic policeman who wrestles with his sense of fairness and his ambition.  

We learn about a Norwegian organization, SANKS (The Sami Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Mental Health and Substance Abuse) that uses psychology and understanding of the Sami culture to help with mental health.  Elsa's brother seeks help from them.

The climax involves some moral choices and guilt feelings.  An interesting read to help understand how minorities try to fit in while maintaining their uniqueness.

After the story has been told Ann-Helen offers some suggestions for discussion.

Earlier I did a post on the film.  Check it out  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/02/stolen-film-on-saami-people.html

 Note the different spellings:  Sami and Saami.