IMO one of the reasons why people try to compare Dan & Brian's offenses is because the documentary separated them in story telling, rather than intertwined in their history.
https://i.imgur.com/aAh1kn1.png

Two Pickles in a Pod

Early in their careers, both Dan & Brian worked on sex comedies, Last American Virgin and Hot Resort. Both films were written by the same person. Dan later worked with Brian's co-star and admitted to having a crush on her in a 2004 blog interview about Better Off Dead.
Their paths would cross in 1993 in ABC's Home Free, where Dan was part of the main cast and Brian was an extra. After working as a writer in All That, Dan briefly left Nickelodeon to make his own show, Guys Like Us at UPN. Brian was also in an episode as Happy Pants the Clown. And in 2002, LA Times cited Dan & Brian running comedy boot camps for kids while working for Nickelodeon.

Who hired Brian Peck?

Tollin/Robbins Production was not involved in Home Free & Guys Like Us where Dan and Brian Peck worked together.
In Dan's youtube video, he claimed it was Tollin/Robbins Productions who hired Brian Peck. In the Hollywood Reporter exclusive, it clarified Dan did not hire Peck on All That. Sources at Paramount said Brian Robbins (of Tollin/Robbins) was not involved in hiring Peck at Nickelodeon. This distinction is important because Brian Peck also appeared in Dan's first show as creator: The Amanda Show.
The Amanda Show ran between 1999-2002 and lasted 3 seasons. However it presented multiple problems each passing year. For one, splitting the salary of female writers Jenny Kilgen and Christy Straton where the issue was reported to the union. And in 2000, Jenny Kilgen sued the show's production company alleging gender discrimination, harassment and hostile work environment. Dan was said to behave inappropriately in the writer's room, asking female crew for massages and showing pornography from his computer. Raquel Lee left the series in the beginning of the 2nd season. In the Quiet on Set documentary, she talked about being neglected by the show when she raised her concerns about being disrespected & demeaned as a child actor. Then in 2001, Brian Peck's abuse against Drake Bell began. And finally in 2002, Amanda Bynes, the star of the show would decide to leave Nickelodeon to start in a new show What I Like About You at Warner Brothers.
(Brian Peck appeared in 2 episodes of What I like About You, and Dan Schneider wrote one episode he appeared in: S01E02)
Despite Amanda's parents firing her manager at Tollin/Robbins in 2003, Tollin/Robbins continued producing her show What I Like About You. Based on Taran Killam's Vulture interview, he said he shared the same manager as Amanda. Goldman was hired by Tollin/Robbins in 1997, then moved to Power Entertainment in 2004 taking Dan Schneider along with him. And in 2010, People Magazine reported that Amanda was spending a lot of time with Dan and his wife during the plans to emancipate her from her parents in 2003.
Also in 2003, two employees who both worked on The Amanda Show and All That were arrested for child sexual abuse.
Tollin/Robbins were still credited as executive producers on All That until 2005 but the collaboration between the network and the creator halted after. These series of events seemed to have severed the production company's relationship with Nickelodeon and also Dan Schneider.

"Drake & Josh" and the Letters of Support

After Brian Peck was arrested, Drake & Josh continued to be developed with now Schneider's Bakery producing. Here's where things become peculiar about Dan denying hiring Brian Peck.
Three people who wrote letters of support for Brian Peck, also worked on Drake & Josh:

• Beth Correll
• Kimmy Robertson
• Taran Killam

Both Kimmy and Beth would use their letters to testify against Drake:

• Beth: I must admit that I was surprised ~redacted~ behavior after hearing of this case and the charges brought against Brian. Nothing seemed to change in him at all. On set, he continued to be playful with other cast members and crew. He was always talking about his band and music and appeared to be excited about his future, the show and his musical career. He even moved into his own apartment. On more than one occasion, while watching her son perform on the set of ~redacted~ mother, Robin, would say to me, “Look at him. I’m so proud of how mature and responsible he is.”
• Kimmy: I had the misfortune of working on ~redacted~ TV show. I’ll make this short… I noticed this young man kept asking me about Brian and generally being “sleuth-like”. I also noticed no gay male ie: make-up/hair, or P.A. want to be alone in a room with him

Kimmy worked with Brian Peck since his first movie, Last American Virgin. While Beth worked with Brian on Boy Meets World.
Beth wrote 2 letters. The first was dated June 17, 2004. And the second one, containing the quote above was written October 5, 2004 - a mere two days before Brian was sentenced.
Taran did not have an extensive relationship with Brian compared to other letter writers. He wrote them when he was 22, before his career took off. According to SNLinReview, it was Dan who got Taran an agent while he was still at UCLA. In his case, he not only owes Brian, he also owes Dan. On top of also sharing the same manager as Dan.
Not only did Kimmy, Beth and Taran worked on a show created by Dan Schneider, they were also under his production company: Schneider's Bakery.
When asked whether Nickelodeon executives reached out, Drake said only Dan was there for him. And Dan said Drake's mom asked him for help to write her letter to the judge. Dan seemed to be a confidant for mother and son, but did he also know Brian Peck's friends and supporters were on set?

Child Actors in the Courtroom

The story doesn't end there.
In Quiet on Set episode 5, they played a clip of Will Friedle from the Pod Meets World podcast stating:

(Brian) then asked us to support him and go to court with him, which a lot of us did, and we're sitting that courtroom, on the wrong side of everything, of course having no idea of this, filled with child actors. To the point where the victim's mother turned to us and said, "Look at all the famous people you brought with you ..."

In this interview with the producers, they talked about the reason why not all letters of support were made public. They said:

They didn't release the names of folks who were minor when they wrote. They redacted the names of minors who wrote the letters.

And in the KCRW interview, the host mentioned Nickelodeon stars.
We do know that Brian made friends with a lot of people. But Drake also said this:

... many people turned away and said no I won't write a letter ...

Through the course of investigating Dan Schneider's inappropriate behavior on set & sexualizing kids on screen, the documentary found out about the letters of support from sources who rejected supporting Brian Peck. They raised questions on what conditions the minors were put under, and if there were undue pressure or influence involved in making them support Brian Peck.

That's All

There was little to no coverage of Brian Peck throughout the years, up until the documentary An Open Secret named him to have abused a Nickelodeon star in 2014. And the Daily Mail put him back on the news in 2015. And in 2017, Dan Schneider would post on his instagram, a signed poster of All That season 8, filled with messages of appreciation:

Oh Dan - You can dip my pickle in dill juice any time! I owe you!!! xxoo Love always, Pickle Boy aka Brian Peck

For someone who is desperate to disassociate himself from Brian Peck, he had no problem reposting this for the public to see. Even more curious, is how Quiet on Set never used this information. And instead placed a separation between Brian Peck and Dan Schneider, as if they never interacted, as if they were never friends.

As a big fan of the discussions between Adam and Destiny, I was thrilled to hear that Adam will be a guest on the podcast next week. Since I'm familiar with Adam's taste, humor, interests, and beliefs, this post can serve as an introduction to the DGG community and assist Kyla with topics, questions, and clips that will hopefully result in a quality and engaging interaction.
Roughly, the idea of the Bridges Podcast as a whole is to foster serious conversations around politics and current events. So, how can Adam's interests in art, music, movies and edgy humor be brought back into politics?

Bridges Podcast Ep. 5 w/ Adam Johnston (YMS)

Even at a fundamental level, it can be argued that Adam's interest in watching movies extends to the political realm. He's less concerned with "WHAT is shown in the film" and more focused on "HOW things are shown in the film." This preference leads him to favor movies that provoke thought, while disliking those that “turn off” your brain for relaxation. Adam is famously critical of the term "it's a kids movie" because it implies that films can exist devoid of political implications, where every decision by characters and directors is justifiable and never contradictory. That's why on Twitter he follows individuals from various political movements, including some of the more radical ones, seemingly in a perpetual attempt to contradict himself. So yes, Adam actively follows USA politics and periodically watches online political figures like Kyle Kulinski, Vaush, and his boyfriend is also a big Destiny fan (Oh, and he dislikes Hasan).
Why is Adam doing this? Can't he just enjoy a movie and shut up? As individuals our consciousness is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather emerges through our interconnectedness with others. Even if there was such thing as a non-political film, our reflection in the film's narrative inherently introduces political elements. When we see ourselves reflected in a movie, it stimulates our ideas and emotions, prompting us to seek out other people experiences and opinions. This leads us to read others perspectives on Twitter and watch YouTube reviews where we hope to find recognition once more. Thus, the politicization extends beyond the films themselves to include the viewers.
Individuals tend to connect with art that aligns with their own ideological values and beliefs. This explains why FREE GUY resonated with Jordan Peterson, given his focus on Jungian psychology and archetypes. However, for Adam, who watches around 500 movies a year, archetypes represent movie tropes that makes the film predictable, boring and with an bonus Ryan Reynolds cringe humor you get 2/10 movie.
Remember, Adam may enjoy a movie with stereotypical archetypal content, but after watching so many movies, he starts to see the film's form as well. Unlike Peterson, who would never enjoy a movie with a gay furry man because he only sees the content, not how the film presents itself. This doesn't mean that Adam can only relate to a film through its form; on the contrary, he's aware that there's hidden content within the form itself and therefore avoids making binary divisions. This skill is developed through watching movies but extends beyond them. Kids these days like to call it media literacy.
This makes it easy to spot manipulative videos, and fake news because you're aware of the hidden content within the form itself. Especially now in times of war we witness propaganda from both sides. For example, in THIS clip, Destiny pointed out several times that the video was edited, but Alex couldn't grasp why because his brain was ignoring the cut and its implications in real life. In private, I'm certain that Adam would agree with Destiny's point on this clip without doing any research. But I doubt Adam would feel comfortable publicly reacting and speculating, because, just like Destiny, he avoids talking about things he doesn't know. So, he likes to do deep research before coming to a conclusion publicly.
Proof of this is the Kimba video, in which Adam essentially debunks the Lion King and Kimba the White Lion conspiracy by doing research and delving into extensive detail. I swear, this video and controversy are so fascinating, they could spend the whole podcast discussing it. On a smaller scale, this serves as an example on why and how conspiracy theories are formed, how people consume information, and how it can be debunked by just one person. Keep in mind that this controversy has been around for over 20 years, including a college professor who helped propagate the false conspiracy by giving TED talks and writing an entire book about it without ever watching Kimba or The Lion King. This "controversy" lasted for decades because no one actually bothered to watch Kimba, except for one horny Canadian.
Similarly, individuals like to form opinions about movies, without watching them. Movie reviewers like The Critical Drinker provide surface-level analysis of these "bad blockbuster films" to their audience, who often don't actually watch the movies but experience them through the “movie review”. *Simulacrum - shouted Destiny.\* Ironically, they also don’t watch their own films, like SOUND OF FREEDOM, where they bought empty seats to financially support the movie, knowing that it's boring, yet still good enough to proclaim it one of the best .
They fabricate narratives about political elites wanting to prevent them from seeing the film. Adam addresses this in a video, illustrating how conservatives interpret everyday occurrences, such as a malfunctioning air conditioner in a theater, as evidence of malicious intent by politicians to stop them from watching the movie. If those politicians were a little bit smarter, they wouldn't have allowed the film to be distributed in theaters to begin with. Common conservative propaganda: the enemy is simultaneously too clever and too foolish.
For them, society along with culture and art are in decline. Often, these individuals argue that feminism is the main reason for the decline of modern films. The conservative trap that Destiny falls into is the suggestion that "perhaps we should push a little harder for the representation of women in movies", and then conservatives counter by claiming that women have historically been portrayed equally, citing a short list of the same five female characters they bring in this argument every time. However, we know that this is not the case, as women were largely excluded from film production roles except for editing. Instead of relying on the same five movies featuring female leads, why not examine how almost all supporting female characters were portrayed until the 2000s?
It would be interesting if Adam, Destiny, and Kayla were to discuss nudity in movies and how they portray the male and female bodies. Why do people take issue with nudity in general? Alternatively, if you really want to get under Adam's skin about moral topics, bring up how every movie doesn't have the balls to show children being killed even in rated-R movies.
​
Okay, I'm starting to realize that this is more like shizopost than an effort post that nobody will bother reading. Let me cut it short with a few topic suggestions:

• T1: Comparing current state of movie streaming platforms vs theater experiences vs film festivals?
• T2: Movie rating and rating system. Difference in 1/10 and 1/5 star system. Letterboxd vs IMDB.
• T3: How does our mental state influence the way we watch movies? How does Adam navigate this? He recently tweeted that after 30 years of life, he's finally found happiness. Is this the reason why he gives more higher ratings than usual?
• T4: What defines a movie? Are YouTube videos or yt documentaries considered films? Is there a distinction between written film criticism and yt movie criticism? Which is the better one?
• T5: Neither Adam nor Destiny can relate to older movies like they can with modern ones.
• T6: Is there a correct way to watch movies? Should one persevere through every film, even if it's dull, to reach the end?
• T7: Both Adam and Destiny have a strict schedule and work ethic.
• T8: Both Destiny and Adam share interests in music, particularly music in video games, as well as interests in law. Adam once mentioned during a stream that in some parallel universe, he would be a very good lawyer.
• T9: Both agree on: Dune, Oppenheimer, Kill Bill, Whiplash, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Marvel films, Death Note, and disagree on: Interstellar, Pirates of the Caribbean 1, School of Rock, Pulp Fiction, Parasite
• Immigration to America. How difficult is the process and impressions from living in America.

Anything Else? Podcast Ep. 3 w/ Adam Johnston (YMS)

I love Dan, butsometimes he seems a bit retarded. If he doesn't want to prepare with research, why does he insist on structuring it around topics he doesn't enjoy? Why not to go full retard and start shitposting?
Get another retard on the podcast. I heard Adam is going to stay in Miami for a few days. He already knows you and follows both of your Twitter accounts. You share a similar sense of humor and have same life experiences with gaming, early YouTube, internet culture...... And most importantly, unlike the beta male Destiny, Adam enjoys alcohol and cocktails, so you'll have great company.
Additionally, Destiny will finally have someone to openly discuss pedophilia, rape, sexism, and all his favorite topics. Adam is full of interesting stories; you could talk about his furry stuff, the time he was almost abducted in Vegas , crazy parties, and both good and bad drug experiences. GET HIM ON PLS!

I was long fascinated with the Cold War era military psychic programs in the US and USSR.
This is a review of several books I read on the subject in an attempt to piece together what transpired between early 1960s and 2000s. Spoiler alert: it feels like there is a lot to the story but much remains unclear. (I kept delaying it but now when the 60 minutes report is coming out, I want to post it before the report, to see how it stacks up.)
The Star Trek: DS9 quote comes to mind when reading these different accounts. The claims sometimes contradict and sometimes corroborate each other. The origin story claims are always contradictory, so that part is still a mystery to me. As Lyn Buchanan, one of the US "psychic spies" and author of one of the books (The 7th Sense) beautifully put it:

There is also admittedly a great deal of misinformation, disinformation, and misdirection involved in almost everything you will read about the unit and its work. This was, after all, an intelligence unit for the government. Your grandchildren may someday learn the whole, real truth about it, but you never will. There are basically three facts of life you must understand when dealing with the world of governmental and military intelligence:

1. You must remember that in the intelligence world, every truth is part lie and every lie is based on some truth. If you try to separate the two, you will only wind up confused and frustrated. If you are an outsider, you will slowly learn that there is no separation of the two - the lies and the truth are just two of the many sides of the same ever-flipping coin. If you are an insider, you will slowly and often painfully learn that sometimes the coin lands by chance, sometimes the way it lands is rigged and you’ll never know by whom, and sometimes there is not even a coin at all.
   
2. If you are lucky and work hard, you will find some of the truth. If you are lucky and work really hard, you might find the whole truth—as someone wants you to know it. If you are phenomenally lucky and really work your tail off, you might even go on to find the real truth. But no outsiders, and in fact very few insiders, ever—ever—learn the whole, real truth.
   
3. All assumptions are wrong.
   

Sadly, Buchanan himself seems to be following these principles to the T. With too much self-aggrandizing and his more recent interviews with WTF grade claims, his book is probably the least reliable source of information of the three.

The books

ESP Wars: East & West by Edwin May, Joe McMoneagle, and Victor Rubel

The most comprehensive and informative of the three, ESP Wars is a compilation of accounts of the participants in the psychic espionage programs in both the US and USSR. The authors made an effort to show differences and similarities between the two programs that ran in parallel. Ed May and Joe McMoneagle tell the story of the US unit, while generals Alexey Savin, Boris Ratnikov, and Nikolai Sham (senior enough to have served as a deputy director of KGB at some point) represent the Soviet/Russian side.
The similarity that stood out to me was that all of them complained. Bureacracy, office politics, looking for sponsors, very long commute, the "giggle factor", and occasional spectacular success. Much of the book is tedious description of procedures and office dynamics. Contrary to the sensasionalized title, there weren't actual "wars". Only a handful of described tasks involved spying on the USSR, most notably, the Typhoon-class submarine report; on the Soviet side, they seemed to focus on domestic issues and regional conflicts (specifically, post-USSR 1st Chechen war) plus esoteric explorations.
The most surprising and disturbing part of the Soviet/Russian program was outsized involvement of their senior officers in major political developments (further below).
It appears that on the US side, the programs were initiated by private parties (SRI) and then "sold" to the government. In the USSR, private parties lobbied the Gorbachev government and the experimental unit was created. But many of my questions regarding the history remained unanswered, sadly.

7th Sense by Lyn Bunchanan

An insider's account of the program by one of the psychics, as well as a discussion of remote viewing in general. Buchanan has axe(s) to grind. Many, many axes. And also many, many spectacular claims. Take the most extraordinary claim you've heard about the secret government UFO programs and multiply it by a factor of 10. Given Buchanan's own disclaimer about lies, and the impression that he is generally a bright dude, my gut feeling is that many of his claims are intentionally introduced fiction.
The part describing the process from the psychic's perspective, however, is surprisingly good. If you ever had some sort of a paranormal experience or even sudden eureka moments, no matter how minor, you will nod along to some of his descriptions. Buchanan compares remote viewing to a martial art:

Once the CRV [=controlled remote viewing] methodology became public knowledge, and people began to find out how much work it really is, a number of quite unscientific “remote viewing” methods began springing up. Most of these claim to be improvements on the original CRV. In reality, they are simplifications of CRV, for the purpose of making training easier and quicker and therefore more appealing to would-be students. Unfortunately, they sacrifice depth and advanced capabilities in the process.
The real thing is very much a martial art, and requires the same diligence, time, and effort as any other martial art. Anyone can go in, sign up, and get their white belt the first week. But it may take years for a person to earn their black belt status, and then only through continued practice, training, further instruction from more experienced experts. Similarly, you can’t get your black belt in a martial art by watching a how-to video or reading a book.

Buchanan described some of these exercises that sound a bit like "wax on, wax off". I suppose it answers a question I heard many times, "if it works, how come the government made the knowledge public".
Buchanan's perspective on why the program got closed is, unsurprisingly, a finger pointing at everyone else. Even Jessica Utts was, according to him, missing the point, even though Buchanan's own narrative sounds very much like the conclusion of Utts: yes, it works, but no one knows how to control or manage it and its usability is a hit and miss.

Mysticism and Philosophy of Special Services (in Russian)

The last book is, AFAIK, not available in English. I found it following a link in the Russian Wikipedia article about Unit 10003. Much of the book made it to the ESP Wars... however, not all. Some of these chapters are worth mentioning.
Overall, it is also a compilation (not too orderly, sadly) of memoirs. The memoirs are less conciliatory than in the ESP Wars; some stuff would normally be classified as conspiracy theories. The milder ones were included in ESP Wars with disclaimers, the batshit insane ones weren't. While May and McMoneagle were talking about how they went to Moscow in 1990s and had a great time with the Russian team, being relieved at no longer being enemies, the bulk of the authors (with some exception) in the Russian book held a hostile attitude toward their counterparts. The chapters are mixed with half a dozen different authors. The attribution is inline only (e.g. "See below Major X's account"), which makes it difficult to keep track who is who and who said what. The foreword is written by someone else (as it seems), who is closer to the batshit insane grade.
The last part is a utopian (or dystopian - if you're not in the camp of Alexander Dugin fans :) ) description how a proper state is to be run. Basically, think today's ruling ideology in Russia with its Messianic traditionalism, "surrounded by enemies", etc. and take it up a notch. Among other categorical and eyebrow-raising statements, "the state must be a dictatorship". (Are you happy now, guys?) My quick searches revealed that people linked to the authors (specifically, Sham) were a strange combo of jingoistic zealots, snake oil sellers, and sometimes persistent researchers of the paranormal.
The two parts I found most interesting are deliberations on how the psi phenomena work, and mentions of the "psychotronic" tech, even though in passing.

Programs

US

Most people talk about the psychic program as "CIA psychics" or Project Stargate. That is an oversimplification and wildly inaccurate. According to multiple accounts, CIA was the entity that got the custody of the program closer to its end, and saw it more like an unwanted headache. They were the ones to start the studies headed by Jessica Utts (as the main advocate) and Ray Hyman (as the main opponent).
Stargate was just one among the different names the program had. Before Stargate there were Project Grillflame, Center Lane, and others. All run by the same team. Many of these papers are now in public domain, and very much in line with the books, the programs were managed by the military (INSCOM). That said, the programs seemed to have been a baby of SRI with the key people constantly looking for government sponsors.
Many people point at Puthoff and his experiments with Uri Geller, but Puthoff joined the psychic program when it was already running. He was instrumental in setting up the protocols, but was not the person who started it.
My impression from both Buchanan's book and ESP Wars was that much honest effort was aimed at repeatability. Some of it was successful, some wasn't. It appears that they could not determine who can be trained better and what determines the magnitude of psychic abilities. So instead, they were recruiting those who already had those.

USSRussia

ESP Wars says that the US program was trying to work out a repeatable protocol based on human training (and, apparently, the result was a hit and miss), while the Soviet/Russian program was trying to come up with actual tech. The Soviet approach seemed less result-oriented and more about chasing various directions and ideas. So-called "psychotronic tech" seems to have been only studied in the USSR; the ESP Wars believes it was due to the "Marxist-Leninist" slant and firm refusal to deal with mysticism. Soviet researchers were supposedly looking for an electromagnetic solution only. In 1990, they invested a lot in researching so-called "torsion fields".
It's not entirely accurate, however. Both ESP Wars and the Russian compilation mention experiments with "querying the collective unconscious" (in a way, similar to the US INSCOM programs). In the post-Soviet period, they engaged in "white elephant" areas like improving the quality of consciousness.
In the US part, everyone is complaining about not being taken seriously, overworking, and general chaos. Seems like on the other side of the fence, it was more chaotic. However, unlike in the US, the psychics seemed to have influence. It's like it was all experiments and no protocols, and good old-fashioned "friends in high places" that kept unit 10003 operational.
While the book stops before Putin's ascent, it appears that today Russia still takes psychics seriously. The unit was dismantled in 2003 under pressure of Eduard Kruglyakov from the Russian Academy of Sciences, but years later, Patrushev himself (Putin's right hand, as they say, even more paranoid and xenophobic), cited a story told by Ratnikov about reading Madeleine Albright's mind as a fact.
The book mangles the history of the US program, and mashes together many different events. It touches the creation of Unit 10003 from the view point of Savin. It doesn't explain why his superiors decided to create the unit and whose initiative it was.

Claims of interest

Some of the claims have nothing to do with paranormal but are interesting from the historical point of view. It appears that at least in the USSR and later Russian Federation, the psychics had (have?) influence much greater than one would expect from an experimental military unit.

Meddling in political decisions: Kuril Island dispute

Source: Russian compilation
The most disturbing case described in both ESP Wars and the Russian book is an episode involving a long-running territorial dispute between Russia and Japan. Kuril Islands are a small group of islands controlled by Japan until the end of WW2. They are tiny and there is some speculation that Russia wants to use them in a future sea route, but apart from that there's not much going on there. Goes without saying, the issue has been a source of tensions between the two countries.
The chapter in the Russian book (ESP Wars tells the story somewhat differently) starts with a "cold open" where Savin describes an attempt to query "energetic-informational field of Earth" to read the mind of then US President George HW Bush. Bush "said", "let Russia produce metal, consumer goods which are harmful to health and energy-intensive in production, let them store nuclear waste, use their cheap manpower, while we're going to advance high technology and build huge national parks". Then they "queried" more and somehow, everyone around was an enemy.
Both books claim that Yeltsin unilaterally decided to resolve the dispute and give the islands back to Japan. He was planning to do that during his visit to Japan in 1992. Russian economy was in a pitiful state, and trading tiny pieces of land barely in use for billions in Japanese investments seemed a no-brainer.
But patriotically-minded psychics in unit 10003 decided otherwise. In addition to their mind-reading sessions that determined that everyone around was an enemy, apparently, there was some sort of a complex plan in place that would provoke a war with China after the Kuril Islands are returned (?). Ratnikov as quoted in ESP Wars:

We prepared a very skilled psychic to connect with the information field. We conducted a session and received information that indicated that as soon as Yeltsin transferred the islands to Japan, China would lay claim to territories they disputed with Russia. This situation would be favorable to many political forces in the world, so their goal was to steer China’s leaders toward a military confrontation with Russia, and have the international community declare China an aggressor. Then the United Nations and a number of countries could apply economic and political sanctions against China as an aggressor that had encroached on the sovereign territory of another state. This would be very advantageous for China’s political and economic competitors. But that wasn’t all—the situation would go much further. China could react to the pressure in this case and undertake local military action against Russia, as it had at the end of the 1960s. However, in 1993 it would have resulted in a large-scale war in Southeast Asia.

So they took on themselves to derail the visit by nitpicking on some sort of technicalities (safety of Yeltsin). While the psychic unit was then classified, and the particulars of the story were not confirmed, an old NYT article from 1992 says:

President Boris N. Yeltsin abruptly put off a visit to Japan today, only four days before he was scheduled to leave, after negotiations throughout the summer failed to resolve a bitter territorial dispute that has haunted Moscow-Tokyo relations since World War II. ... In Japan, officials said they were surprised and somewhat insulted by the Russian leader's sudden action. As late as today, Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa was meeting with aides to plan for the visit, and a senior diplomat said he would be "very surprised" if rumors of a cancelation proved correct.
The chief Cabinet Secretary, Koichi Kato, said in a statement that the Government "regrets the postponement," but he used a word that also meant "deplores."

It is a loud claim, the circumstances around it sound batshit insane, but given this public knowledge, the mess in the Russian government at the time, and the known influence of these guys on the top brass, I am inclined to believe it.

Psychic discovery of Typhoon-class submarines

Source: ESP Wars / Joe McMoneagle
One of the stories is how Joe managed to dedude and describe an experimental submarine that the USSR was building that was unlike anything every built before. It became known as Typhoon-class submarines, the biggest submarines ever built.

Men in black and Mikhail Gorbachev

Source: Lyn Buchanan.
Of all the claims made in all the books, this one absolutely takes the cake and makes me wonder whether the number of true stories in Buchanan's book is 0.0001% or lower.
Buchanan tells about a visit of "men in black". According to him, they are not otherworldly beings but a special unit of government operatives who operate virtually without oversight.
These ones met him in 1985, when Gorbachev only rose to power. They asked Buchanan to kill Gorbachev, psychically.

The MIBs are not known for their subtlety. He ignored my question and said, “We want you to kill Mikhail Gorbachev.”
“No,” I answered flatly without hesitation.
He sat and stared at me, waiting for me to qualify my statement.
I sat and stared back at him, unflinching. There would be no argument or concession of any kind. He finally motioned to the driver, who took us back to the parking lot.
When we arrived, the man beside me got out. I reached to open my door and found that the inside door handle did not work. He came around the car and opened the door for me. I got out and stood there, waiting for some other instruction or comment. None was given. The man walked back to the front passenger side of the black sedan and opened the door.
“I’ll tell you what I will do,” I called to him. “I’ll try to get Gorbachev to get rid of communism.” He looked at me blankly, then got into the car beside the driver and they were quickly gone.
I was joking, of course. It was a stupid thing to say, but it did relieve the tension. However, throughout the afternoon, I got to thinking of how great an experiment that would be. I dismissed the idea, but over the next couple of weeks, it kept coming back to me. Finally, I decided to at least try it. Over the next two and a half months, I worked repeatedly to instill the idea into Gorbachev’s mind that communism was not working on many financial, social, military, and political levels. I used specific phrases that I had designed to access his subconscious mind, where they would have the most effect. But, after two and a half months of work, nothing happened, so I gave up and began working on other things.
I think that I was probably the most surprised person in the U.S. when Gorbachev made his famous speech that effectively ended Communist rule in Soviet Russia. Had I had some influence on his decision? I did not know. It took me another month, but I finally got a transcript of his speech and within it were all of the subliminal phrases I had been trying to pump into his subconscious during my sessions. I have no grandiose illusions that I brought about the end of communism in Russia. Ending communism was a logical and intelligent thing to do at the time, and I truly believe that it would have happened, had I not been involved. But I still wonder: Did I just pave some subconscious pathways that allowed the thoughts to occur more easily?

Life on Mars?

Source: Lyn Buchanan.
No sailors fighting in the dance hall here. Buchanan was asked to conduct a remote viewing session by one of his least favorite coworkers, who kept breaking protocols. After some reluctance, Buchanan agreed. He saw some worm-like organisms underground.

I can’t really say whether or not there were any aliens hibernating there. However, right before I received the move command, I had already bilocated to a place in which I did perceive forms of alien life much like large segmented worms. They were very active and not at all in hibernation. I had just looked up and realized that there was a way out of the chamber I was in when I received the command to “move up one hundred feet and describe.” How much of that part of the bilocation was accurate, I cannot even guess.

Supposedly, Buchanan was in the vicinity of the "face on Mars", which he recognized later from a poster and claims to have never seen before.

Soviet contact with ET in 1991

Source: Russian compilation
In 1991, a certain Mark Melkhiker with a group of psychics petitioned Gorbachev himself about a planned visit of extraterrestrials. Supposedly multiple psychics in different cities were in contact with these entities. Surprisingly, Gorbachev forwarded it to the minister of defense Yazov, and eventually it was delegated to the head of Unit 10003 Savin.
One of the requirements of the supposed aliens was to disable anti-aircraft artillery around Uzbekistan where the meeting was supposed to take place. Only Gorbachev had the power to disable the AA defenses, so Savin was wondering if the entire thing will take place. Amazingly, Gorbachev approved the request, and they flew to a middle of nowhere, near Zarafshan in Uzbekistan.
They've been waiting and waiting and waiting at the agreed upon coordinates. Nothing happened, the helicopter pilot lost it, and started verbally attacking Melkhiker. Melkhiker suggested to hypnotize the pilot and bring him in contact with the aliens. The pilot agreed. In trance, the pilot acted as an intermediary, and produced, among other things, some sort of scientific data dump which was recorded on a tape. The pilot was told that the landing did not eventuate because not all the conditions were fulfilled.
Savin concludes the story by saying, "while we haven't seen the aliens, we encountered a phenomenon whose nature is not yet understood".

Psychotronic weapons and Havana syndrome lead

Source: Russian compilation
Possibly the most important episode that ties in the upcoming 60 Minutes coverage.
The Russian Unit 10003 compilation has a chapter conspiciously missing from the ESP Wars, describing Yeltsin's sudden maladies. Before that chapter, the book makes eyebrow-raising claims that, even with the rest, make me question the mental health of those who wrote that part.
On pages 275 - 277, the book claims that "in 1985, the Pentagon declassified materials about application of neuro-linguistic programming..., having dedicated much attention to methods of contacting the brain of targets by the operators of informational centers". "Built today in several countries systems, portable with 6 watt power and stationary with up to 10 kW power are called psychogenerators and are probably the most formiddable weapon of 21st century. Having been tested in space, sea, and ground locations, the psychogenerators produce a stable effect of seeing a phenomenon called the UFO, as well as create emotions like gloom, loneliness, hopelessness."
"An example of successful realization by a group of operatives of NLP methods is an information contact of an operator that occurred on December 3, 1988 with the brain of the director of CIA. Over the course of the contact, a "conversation" was conducted about the main directions of the US intelligence towards the former USSR. In March 1991, a similar contact was conducted through an operator with the brain of Robert Gates, who took over the position of Webster as the director of CIA."
Supposedly these technologies are (were?) spreading and developing to the point of developing "mind viruses" similar to computer viruses.
The book claims that these technologies have been in development since mid-20th century. They claim that "the greatest successes were achieved by the US, UK, France, Germany, Denmark. In China, the extra-sensory perception and psychotronics research is conducted by over 100 scientific organizations... Israel focused on research aimed at achieving new capabilities by self-regulation, mind state alternation, and human body potential. In Japan, psychotronics are researched by an institute of religious psychology."
With the compilation being both vague and not too orderly, it is hard to determine who was behind this purported tech. It appears to be a loosely defined group of "in and out of government" actors, likely with the same set of nationalistic esoteric views as the major figures in the book.
The interesting part is this:

From the first days of its existence, the new division faced a number of serious problems. The issue is that in the Soviet years, the ninth directorate of the KGB of the USSR developed a wealth of theoretical and practical experience regarding identifying, developing and preventing a different range of threats against the country’s top leadership. In the event of an operational need, the entire staff of the USSR KGB worked for the "Niner". While the security department of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, when Yeltsin as its chairman had virtually no such opportunities, and the staff of the department consisted of no more than twenty former state security and law enforcement officers without a lack of relevant experience, except for A.V. Korzhakov.
At the same time, the most unconventional threats sometimes arose, and it was one of them that prompted the leadership of the 175th security service to study unconventional influences on the country’s leaders.
It so happened that the office of the Chairman of the Supreme Council was located on Krasnopresnenskaya embankment in the White House [for the avoidance of confusion: not the one in DC)], the security of which was entrusted to employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And soon, after the occupation of the office by the new Chairman of the Supreme Council, a scandal erupted, provoked by the discovery by employees of the security department above the office of Yeltsin of a whole room, with special eavesdropping equipment. The KGB tried to pass it off as equipment for protecting against unauthorized removal of information from Boris Nikolayevich’s office, but the invited technical specialists put everything in its place.
And a few weeks later, Korzhakov suddenly began to notice that as soon as Yeltsin worked for an hour and a half in his office, elements of inadequacy began to be registered in his behavior: forgetfulness, inappropriate answers, jumping from topic to topic, headaches and general discomfort that literally drove him away from the office. But as soon as he left the office within half an hour, all his health would be restored and he would return to his normal state. This circumstance suggested that some unusual external influence was being exerted on the Chairman of the Supreme Council. To test this assumption, it was decided to thoroughly search the entire office.
The entire office was carefully examined, especially the shelves with political literature. It turned out that the security officers' assumption was correct. A microwave antenna was found behind the bookshelves, which was a flexible rectangular frame measuring 120x120 cm with rubberized fabric stretched over it. In the middle of the structure there was a radio emitter, protruding for about ten centimeters. The antenna was connected to the electricity and was in an active state. An OTO specialist invited by Korzhakov confirmed the fears of the security department, assuring that Boris Nikolaevich’s inadequate condition was explained precisely by the impact of a high-frequency electromagnetic pulse on his body.
So for the first time in practice I became acquainted with a new class of threats - the impact on the human body of electromagnetic radiation of low power and different frequencies.

I am also pasting here Russian original (starting pg 175) for those who need it.

С первых дней своего существования новое подразделение столкнулось с рядом серьезных проблем. Дело в том, что в Советские годы у девятого управления КГБ СССР в плане определения, разработки и предотвращения различного спектра угроз в адрес высшего руководства страны был наработан богатейший теоре- тический и практический опыт. Ведь в случае возникновения оперативной необходимости на 9-тку работал весь штат КГБ СССР. А у отдела безопасности Верховного Совета РСФСР в бытность Б.Н. Ельцина его председателем таких возможностей практически не было, да и штат отдела насчитывал не более двадцати бывших сотрудников госбезопасности и правоохранительных органов без отсутствия соответствующего опыта, кроме А.В. Коржакова.
При этом угрозы порой возникали самые нестандартные, как раз одна из них и подтолкнула руководство 175 службы безопасности к изучению нетрадиционных воздействий на руководителей страны.
Так сложилось, что рабочий кабинет Председателя Верховного Совета находился на Краснопресненской набережной в Белом доме, охрана которого была поручена сотрудникам МВД. И вот вскоре, после занятия кабинета новым Председателем Верховного Совета разразился скандал, спровоцированный обнаружением сотрудниками отдела безопасности над кабинетом Б.Н. Ельцина целой комнаты, с подслушивающей спецаппаратурой. КГБ попытался выдать ее за аппаратуру защиты от несанкционированного съема информации из кабинета Бориса Николаевича, но приглашенные технические специалисты поставили все на свои места.
А спустя несколько недель Коржаков вдруг стал замечать, что как только Ельцин час-полтора поработает в своем кабинете, у него начинают фиксироваться в поведении элементы неадекватности: забывчивость, ответы невпопад, перескакивание с темы на тему, головные боли и общий дискомфорт, буквально гнавший его из кабинета. Но как только он покидал кабинет в течении получаса все здоровье восстанавливалось и он возвращался в свое нормальное состояние. Это обстоятельство наводило на мысль, что на председателя Верховного Совета осуществляется какое-то необычное внешнее воздействие. Чтобы проверить это предположение, было решено тщательно обыскать весь кабинет.
Весь кабинет внимательно осмотрели, особенно стеллажи с политической литературой. Оказалось, что предположение сотрудников безопасности оказалось верным. За книжными полками была обнаружена СВЧ антенна, которая представляла собой гибкий каркас прямоугольной формы размером 120Х120 см. с натянутой на него прорезиненной тканью. В середине конструкции находился радио излучатель, выступавший сантиметров на десять. Антенна была подключена к электросети и находилась в активном состоянии. Приглашенный Коржаковым специалист ОТО, подтвердил опасения отдела безопасности, заверив, что неадекватное состояние Бориса Николаевича объясняется именно воздействием на его организм высокочастотного электромагнитного импульса.
Так впервые я на практике познакомился с новым классом угроз – воздействием на человеческий организм электромагнитного излучения малой мощности и различной частоты.

More related reading: Tom Rogan on Patrushev and Havana syndrome connection

Origin story

My biggest frustration is that none of the books provided a reliable and consistent origin story. Buchanan claims that the US programs started because they found that the Soviets were studying it. The Russian compilation claims otherwise and never explains why the Soviet/Russian unit was formed and what preceded it.
Many name Puthoff as the originator but it's probably not the case. Several sources claim that Puthoff joined the SRI program that already existed because he did some experiments independently and could contribute.

Is it all true?

The Havana syndrome story alone and the rogue elements in KGB installing antennas in Yeltsin's room do not require anything supernatural. If someone found out how to irradiate the brain, it does not break today's traditional understanding of how the mind/brain works.
But the big question is, what's up with the psychic insights that could not have been random? What's up with the well-documented instances of psi insight and non-psi phenomena which is hard to explain with the modern model of mind, like terminal lucidity?
We know next to nothing about how the human mind works. Today's psychiatry today can do as much as the rest of the medical science could do in 19th century: turn off cognitive function, keeping the patient in a permanently altered state without addressing the core reason. Its core concepts are being disputed and dismantled one by one. Even schizophrenia is being disputed as a concept.
My opinion is similar to that of Jessica Utts: psi is real but not usable. It is not reliable, at best being a noisy channel. One of the students of Bob Monroe, Tom Campbell, formulated a "psi uncertainty principle": psi is designed as sort of "cheat codes" not for mainstream use.
Which is why the psychics can tell the truth and indeed tap into remote sources of information, but it is as luck-based as a day of a hunter gatherer looking for game to kill.
The same Joe McMoneagle of the Typhoon fame published a book with predictions; they are mostly off the mark.
Astrophysicist Rudy Schild of Edgar Mitchell's FREE Foundation suggested a dual model of human mind, which may explain it. In a way, it assumes the mind to be similar to a computer connected to the internet: large part of "software" (the conscious mind) runs locally, while the other part (the unconscious, which the psychics use) is connected to the larger network.

Over the past month I've written about a lot of bad wrestling. That run (probably) comes to an end today with my look into some of the worst matches in history according to the users of Cagematch, an IMDB-like site for wrestling. Its users can share their ratings on promotions, events, and even individual matches.
This time, I'm looking at the lowest-rated matches in WrestleMania history. ‘Tis the season for all of the sign-pointing, story-finishing, and the wonderful matches that deserve to be contested at The Granddaddy of Them All. ‘Tis also the season to reflect upon all of the terrible matches that didn't deserve said honor but were part of the Showcase of the Immortals anyways.
Please note that matches under five minutes in length are ineligible as Cagematch does not allow for ratings on matches under that threshold by default. That means that classics such as Hulk Hogan versus Yokozuna or the boxing match between Butterbean and Bart Gunn are not included. Despite that limitation, there are still more than enough bad matches to fill this list.
If this sort of thing is up your alley, this is part of a series of posts on really bad wrestling. Yo u can find more in the links below:
Worst Events: WWE WCW Non-WWE/WCW
Worst Matches: WWE WCW Non-WWE/WCW
Ratings accurate as of March 7, 2024, and are on a scale from 0 to 10
#20 (tie): WrestleMania I Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd ($15,000 Body Slam Challenge) - 2.30
We start, appropriately enough, at the beginning.
This should come as no surprise, but the Andre the Giant/Big John Studd match from WrestleMania I - one where Andre would win $15,000 of Studd's money if he could slam Big John but retire from wrestling if he could not - was not a technical showcase. Neither man was exactly fleet of foot (although Andre moved better on this night than he would two years later in his world famous match against Hulk Hogan) so it was all strikes and rest holds. Andre put Studd in a bearhug for a minute and a half (which was more than a quarter of the entire match’s length), then put him in another rest hold just seconds later.
It wasn’t a thrill-a-minute encounter, but the fans did not care in the slightest. The fans absolutely loved The Eighth Wonder of the World and desperately wanted him to get his revenge on Big John. They loudly chanted “Slam! Slam!” during the bearhug, then cheered even louder when he slammed the villain. This is not a match that holds up to scrutiny under current expectations, but in that moment it delivered exactly what it needed to deliver.
#20 (tie): WrestleMania XXIV Melina & Beth Phoenix vs Ashley & Maria (Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjill Match) - 2.30
The lone women’s match on the ‘Mania XXIV card is a tough watch for reasons that have nothing to do with match quality. The recent wave of allegations against Vince McMahon have brought new attention to allegations that Ashley Massaro made against WWE in regards to an assault she suffered while touring with the company and their alleged role in asking her not to report it. Even if you can somehow separate those horrific allegations from what happens in the ring, the Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjill Match is not an enjoyable affair.
WrestleMania XXIV is the first of a six-’Mania stretch where neither the Women’s nor Divas’ Championships were defended at the Showcase of the Immortals. Those champions were either involved in tag matches or not on the card at all. There were more important stories to deal with, like former Playboy cover models Ashley and Candice Michelle trying to talk Maria into posing for the magazine. (Spoiler: they succeeded.) Maria’s on-screen partner, Santino Marella, was not a fan of the idea to say the least. He broke up with Maria and aligned with Melina and WWE Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix, as the women opted to settle things in a Playboy-branded Lumberjill match where Snoop Dogg served as emcee.
The match itself wasn’t the worst women’s match ever, especially considering that both of the babyfaces came into the company through the Diva Search rather than the indies, but it was far from great. The fans were largely disinterested (perhaps because they were still recovering from the previous match, Ric Flair’s WWE retirement match with Shawn Michaels). Not even the electricity cared; the lights went out during the final couple of minutes, and the tech team scrambled to shine a spotlight on the finish.
#19: WrestleMania NY/NJ “The World's Strongest Man” Mark Henry vs Ryback - 2.24
Mark Henry versus Ryback at the WrestleMania that took place in New Jersey (but WWE desperately wanted to loop New York into it as well) was not a great match by any definition of the word, but it wasn't terrible. It was a perfectly serviceable TV match that would have been right at home on a random SmackDown instead of the Showcase of the Immortals.
The match itself is typical big meaty men slapping meat. Ryback was built like a tank and Henry was a legit strongman champion so one would expect nothing less. If you are a fan of big man versus big man matches then you'll probably enjoy the match for what it was… at least until you get to the ending. After a short back-and-forth affair, Ryback hit his Meat Hook Clothesline on Henry. He then impressively picked Henry up for the Shell Shock, but Henry grabbed the ropes and fell into Ryback. The blow knocked the former Nexus member out, allowing Henry to pick up the win. Oddly, when Henry attacked Ryback post-match, Ryback fought back and actually connected with the Shell Shock.
Why didn't they just let him hit the move and pick up the impressive win? Especially since he turned heel the next night and started a program with John Cena? Who knows?
#18: WrestleMania X Lex Luger vs Yokozuna (with guest referee Mr. Perfect) for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship - 2.17
It's never a good sign when fans chant “bulls--t” at the end of a match.
1994 Royal Rumble co-winners Lex Luger and Bret Hart were each given a title match at WrestleMania X. Luger, by virtue of winning a coin toss, got the first crack at champion Yokozuna. The winner would defend the belt in the main event against Bret Hart, who faced brother Owen earlier in the evening to ensure fairness. The Bret versus Owen match is viewed as one of the best in company history. Yoko and Lex’s bout… not so much.
Yokozuna, who was over 560 pounds at the time of Mania X, was already 60 pounds heavier than he was when his character debuted in October 1992. The more weight he gained, the more he struggled with his cardio. He generally needed to work a bit more of a slower style than he had in the past, as evidenced by the inclusion of four separate lengthy rest holds in the middle of the fight. He had to pace himself particularly strictly on this night since a) this match was going to be 15 minutes, and b) he had to work a second match against Bret in the main event.
Like many other bouts on the list, this match had an unsatisfying finish. Luger bodyslammed Yokozuna and hit him with a Running Forearm, then knocked out Yoko’s managers Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji as they were on the apron. Luger then went to cover the big man, but surprise guest referee Mr. Perfect opted to check on Cornette and Fuji instead of counting the 1-2-3. Luger shoved Perfect in frustration and got disqualified, ending both his title hopes and his WWF main event push.
#17: WrestleMania V Andre the Giant vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts (with guest referee Big John Studd) - 1.92
The gigantism that helped make Andre the Giant into one of the most popular wrestlers in the world took a tremendous toll on his body. That much was apparent at WrestleMania III, where he worked one of the most iconic matches of all time despite his physical limitations. Two years later those limitations were more plentiful and painfully more obvious.
All of that made the choice to have Andre work a ten-minute singles match all the more odd.
Andre clearly struggled throughout his match with Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and it makes for a tough watch. The big man plodded around the ring throughout the contest, and he needed to hang on to the ropes to maintain his balance after nearly every punch he threw. At one point he rammed his shoulder into Roberts’s midsection and stumbled backwards, forcing Jake to act as if he caught Andre with a phantom knee.
There were efforts made to cover up for Andre’s immobility, including the addition of old rival Big John Studd as guest referee and a run-in involving Ted DiBiase attempting to steal Roberts’s snake. Eventually it led to Andre attacking Studd to cause a disqualification, but not before the giant was chased from the ring by The Snake and The Snake’s snake.
#16: WrestleMania XI King Kong Bundy vs The Undertaker (with guest referee Larry Young) - 1.85
The entire basis of the King Kong Bundy vs Undertaker match - aside from the inclusion of real-life MLB umpire Larry Young as referee - was that Million Dollar Corporation member Bundy helped Ted DiBiase steal Taker’s urn. That’s the entire setup; DiBiase has it, and Taker wants it back. It’s a simple conflict, but it works.
So what happens when you settle that conflict a third of the way through the match?
DiBiase brought the urn with him to the ring, because reasons. A couple of minutes into the bout Taker went to the outside, simply grabbed the urn out of DiBiase’s hands, and handed it over to Paul Bearer. Moments later DiBiase called upon Kama, who stole the urn back from Bearer and ran to the backstage area. The story took a turn and advanced to the next phase.
Had this all happened after the match, things would have been just fine. But all of this took place in the opening half of the contest. Taker and Bundy had to finish up the match in a situation where there was no heat and no real stakes because the thing they were fighting for was already gone. The match went from dull to dull and pointless.
#15: WrestleMania IV Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs The Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental Championship - 1.82
Gunther and The Honky Tonk Man are two vastly different performers who are linked by the Intercontinental Championship. As of this writing, each man had exactly one title defense take place at WrestleMania. Gunther’s defense at Mania 39 against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus, is widely regarded as one of the best WrestleMania matches of all time. HTM’s defense at Mania IV against Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake… isn’t.
There are a few things that are commonly associated with great ‘Mania matches. You will find none of them here

• Great technical work? No. This match was cartoony, even by the standards of the era and even for a match featuring a hairdresser and an Elvis-tangent singer. Brutus went for multiple wind-up punches and seemed more obsessed with cutting hair than winning gold. Honky didn’t do a whole lot of mat work by design, as his entire reign was based on him only hanging on to the title by hook or by crook.
• Non-stop action? No. Honky Tonk Man rolled out of the ring to break up the action on three separate occasions, an impressive feat in a match that lasted less than seven minutes.
• A clean finish? No. While Brother Bruti had HTM in his signature Sleeper, Jimmy Hart whalloped the referee in the back of the head with a megaphone, leading to a disqualification.

#14: WrestleMania VIII Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice - 1.70
In all fairness to the Hulk Hogan/Sid Justice clash that closed ‘Mania VIII, it wasn’t much different than any of the countless other ‘Hogan faces the Monster of the Week’ bouts in WWF history. And it does close with the memorable return of The Ultimate Warrior after a months-long absence. There are three things that make this match infamous: what the match could have been, how it was promoted, and how it ended.
What could have been: The initially-planned main event for WrestleMania VIII would have seen Hogan challenge Ric Flair for the WWF Championship. It was a dream match for many, as it would have seen WWF’s flagbearer square off against the man who left WCW as its champion and proclaimed himself to be the “real world heavyweight champion” upon his WWF debut. However, after disappointing box office performances when the two worked together on house shows, plans were changed. Instead of Hogan vs Flair, Hogan was paired up with Sid Justice while Flair defended (unsuccessfully) against Randy Savage. The two matches were billed as a double main event, but Savage/Flair was the fifth match of nine on the pay-per-view broadcast. Hogan’s bout, of course, went on last.
How it was promoted: WWF never said outright that this would be Hogan’s final match, but they implied the hell out of it. It’s a tactic that worked at the time, but it feels a whole lot tackier in hindsight knowing that the Hulkster would still be in a wrestling ring 20 years after ‘Mania 8. To be fair, Hogan did leave wrestling after this match… for about 10 months. The fact that his absence happened just as Vince McMahon went on trial for steroid distribution and Hogan had a disastrous interview on The Arsenio Hall Show about the topic was a total coincidence.
How it ended: The most famous part of this match was what happened at the end… or rather, what didn’t happen. Hogan slammed Justice and hit The Big Leg, then went for a cover. Papa Shango was supposed to sneak in and break up the cover, but he either missed his cue or underestimated how long it would take him to get to the ring. Either way, the lack of Shango meant that Sid had to kick out of Hogan’s finisher, making him the first man to do so. Hulk, Sid, and Sid’s manager Harvey Wippleman bungled around in the ring to stall for time until Papa finally arrived.
#13: WrestleMania 2000 Head Cheese ("The Lethal Weapon" Steve Blackman & Al Snow) vs T&A (Test & Albert) - 1.61
Before Al Snow and Steve Blackman began their tag match at WrestleMania 2000, Snow introduced the team’s new mascot: Chester McCheeserton, a little person in a cheese wedge costume with butt cheek holes cut out of the cheese block. Snow then started a “Let’s Go Head Cheese (clap clap clapclapclap)” chant, with Chester slapping his ass for each clap.
And they say that the Attitude Era was worse than we remember.
The odd couple tag team of the deadly-serious Blackman and the off-kilter Snow took on T&A, the new tandem of Test and Albert managed by WWF’s newest signing, Trish Stratus. (Get it? T&A? Test and Albert? Tits and Ass? GET IT?) This was supposed to be a bit of a showcase for the new monster heel team, but the match was hardly spotlight-worthy.
In a bit of an oddity on this list, the match wasn’t notable for big botches or performers who weren’t in great shape or anything like that. Everyone was pretty competent in what they did. The problem was that the match had zero flow. There wasn’t much of a beginning or end, just a long, unstructured middle. There were few periods of extended dominance or back-and-forth, and every pin but the final one was broken up by the non-legal partner. It was just a bunch of A hits B, C hits A, D hits C, rinse and repeat. Things occurred, but nothing really happened. The only really memorable parts of this match were Jim Ross’s mic cutting out, Jim Ross low-key insulting the contest throughout the match when his mic did work (“This match has those bowling shoe tendencies: somewhat ugly”), and Snow and Blackman attacking the mascot after the match.
On the bright side, your patience for sitting through this encounter is rewarded instantly. One of the worst tag matches in ‘Mania history is immediately followed by one of the best: The Hardyz versus The Dudleyz versus Edge and Christian in a three-team Ladder Match.
#12: WrestleMania 35 Kurt Angle vs Baron Corbin - 1.48
Kurt Angle’s final match is on this list because of what it was, but it's also on here because of what it wasn't.
When Angle announced that ‘Mania 35 would be his last hurrah, fans had a laundry list of dream opponents for his final match. Perhaps Brock Lesnar in a rematch of the ‘Mania 19 main event? What about fellow future hall-of-famer Rey Mysterio? Or maybe his last opponent could be the first man he faced in a WWE ring, John Cena?
What Angle and his fans got instead was Baron Corbin.
Corbin wasn't a bad choice in a vacuum. His style was safe and meshed well with the physical limitations Angle had after two decades in the business. He was good at being a heel and really embraced the hatred he received for not being a ‘dream’ opponent, going as far as busting out Cena’s “you can't see me” taunt during the match. But the pick did not go down well with fans, especially since Corbin was seemingly good for three appearances per week on Raw at the time.
The match itself was about what you would expect. Angle brought out some of his greatest hits (as well as his body would allow) and Corbin heeled it up on his way to a victory, running one last bit of mud in the faces of Angle’s fans.
#11: WrestleMania XXVI Bret "The Hitman" Hart vs Vince McMahon (No Holds Barred Match, with guest referee Bruce Hart) - 1.38
On paper, this is a great revenge story. More than a decade after the Montreal Screwiob that led to his departure from the company, Bret Hart returned to WWE. Vince McMahon goaded a revenge-fueled Bret into a match at ‘Mania and, despite having a broken leg, Bret agreed to a No Holds Barred Match. Once the match was signed, The Hitman revealed that his leg was A-OK and that he'd be prepared to destroy his former boss at Vince's own signature event.
At the event, Vince played his final trump card: the entire Hart family. Vince bought off hired DH Smith, Tyson Kidd, Natalya, and the rest of the Harts to serve as lumberjacks for the match, with Bruce Hart serving as guest referee. But in a satisfying double-cross, the family remained aligned with Bret and cheered on as Bret destroyed Vince in an extended squash match.
That's all great, but the segment had no business being TWENTY-TWO MINUTES.
Bret was 52, had retired from wrestling due to concussions, and had suffered a stroke. He obviously couldn't take any bumps so, aside from a brief bit of attacking by the lumberjacks, the entire match consisted of Bret hitting Vince over and over and over and over and over again. It was an 11-minute match that felt like it went 40.
#10: WrestleMania 23 The Great Khali vs Kane - 1.31
The Great Khali is a man who's as big as a tiger and as nimble as a housecat, so long as the housecat is Garfield. Kane is a bit more graceful in his movements compared to the Punjabi Playboy, but only slightly. The idea of having these two behemoths clash at WrestleMania was to create a spectacular demolition derby of violence, but the end result was much closer to a trainwreck.
Kane was not bad as the smaller giant trying to take down the bigger man, but he’s much better as an unstoppable monster than a scrappy underdog. He’s a literal horror movie villain for crying out loud. And if you forgot about that, this match gave you a reminder; Kane used his the chain from his See No Evil chained hook to land a low blow. Khali’s role kept him closer to his strengths, but those strengths weren’t really strong. His movements and strikes were awkward compared to the rest of the roster, so his dominance over smaller wrestlers never really clicked as well as it did for someone like The Big Show or The Undertaker.
Towards the end of the match, Kane bodyslammed Khali in a nod to what Hogan did to Andre the Giant twenty years prior in the same city. As impressive as the feat was, all it really did was drive home the fact that Khali is no Andre.
#9: WrestleMania XX Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar (with guest referee "Stone Cold" Steve Austin) - 1.22
Goldberg versus Brock Lesnar was a slam dunk of a match on paper. Two of the biggest monsters in recent memory engaged in a cross-brand blood feud. Lesnar screwed Goldberg out of a Royal Rumble win, and Goldberg screwed Lesnar out of his WWE Championship. Add in “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who was named special guest referee and had come to blows with Lesnar, and you had a highly-combustible must-see event.
One problem: Both men decided that they were going to leave the company after ‘Mania. Goldberg, unhappy with the edgy direction of WWE’s product, decided weeks before the event that he was done. Lesnar, burnt out by travel and other demands of life as a WWE Superstar and wanting to try out for the Minnesota Vikings, made his decision known just days before the event.
Okay, I lied. There was a second problem: The fans knew both men were leaving, and they were not happy. They serenaded Lesnar and Goldberg with chants of “you sold out,” “na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye,” “Austin,” and “this match sucks,” among others.
I lied again. There was a third problem: They tried to build tension by not having the pair wait nearly three minutes to actually make contact. The only action of the first five minutes was a pair of lock-ups that ended in stalemates. It took nearly seven minutes - about half of the match’s length - for anything of substance to happen. The fans didn’t get to see anything they enjoyed until after Goldberg got the victory, when Austin dished out Stunners to both of the departing performers.
#8: WrestleMania 33: Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship - 1.21
At some point between its debut and WrestleMania 33, the Bray Wyatt character changed from dangerous charismatic leader of men to dangerous supernatural leader of men. The challenge of leaning into supernatural elements is that it's tough to find the right amount of spooky. You want things to be strange enough that it actually feels supernatural, but not so strange that it doesn't work within the realm of wrestling.
This match did not strike that right balance.
After a short-lived alliance, WWE Champion Wyatt defended his title against Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton. The feud was intensely personal, including Orton burning down the Wyatt Family compound and Wyatt ‘baptising’ himself in Sister Abigail’s ashes, so you know that things were going to get vicious. Not even the sperm-like digital snake that followed Mr. RKO down the aisle could put a damper on this intense encounter.
Wyatt’s secret weapon turned out to be… a projector.
His big psychological play once he gained the upper hand in the match was to run into the corner and project a film clip of maggots onto the ring canvas. He did it twice more with clips of earthworms and roaches. Believe it or not, these non-attacks were not effective. Just as Wyatt was going to follow up post-roach clip, boom. R-K-O, 1-2-3, ding-ding-ding.
Oddly enough, even with the gross slide show, this match is not rated as the worst Orton/Wyatt bout in WrestleMania history. That honor goes to…
#7: WrestleMania 37, Night 2 Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt - 1.19
If you thought the first Orton/Wyatt feud was strange, this version ratchets everything up to 11. The promo package starts with Orton setting The Fiend on fire and only gets weirder from there. (Seriously though, does Randy have a thing for fire?)
After a build-up that included a possessed Alexa Bliss, Orton vomiting black goo, and a caramelized Fiend returning by ripping a hole in the ring from underneath and climbing through it, Randy and Fiendie were set to settle the score at ‘Mania 37. The Fiend made his entrance by popping out of a Jack-in-the-box and went on the offensive immediately. The match itself was fairly standard. Nothing in the way of spooky business or extreme violence or anything you'd expect out of a feud where one person immolated the other.
Things didn't get weird until the finish, when The Fiend was set to hit Sister Abigail. At that moment fire shot out from the turnbuckles and Bliss appeared atop the Jack-in-the-box with black goo pouring from her forehead. The visual distracted Fiend long enough to let Randall recover, then boom. R-K-O, 1-2-3, ding-ding-ding. Orton got the hell out of Dodge, leaving Fiend and Bliss staring at each other. The lights went out, and by the time they came back on both demonic figures had disappeared.
How did Wyatt respond to getting betrayed? Essentially, he didn't. His Firefly Funhouse character returned the next night, claiming to look forward to a fresh start. Then he disappeared from TV and got released a few months later.
#6: WrestleMania V The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) vs The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques & Raymond) - 1.15
The Bushwhackers aren’t remembered for being high ‘workrate’ guys. They weren’t the guys you’d throw out there to have a 30-minute mat classic. They were guys who were able to act a bit goofy and make the fans smile. Their biggest strength was getting the crowd involved.
So what happens when the crowd doesn’t get very involved?
The Men from Down Under faced off against The Fabulous Rougeaus at ‘Mania V, and the crowd was oddly disinterested. The fans cheered loudly when the Bushwhackers entered and cheered just as loudly when they picked up the win. But between those two moments, the faces couldn’t get much of a reaction out of the Trump Plaza crowd. They cleared the ring of the French Canadians (who at this point had started presenting themselves facetiously as all-American guys) and did their signature march to little response. They got on the turnbuckle and appealed to the crowd to little response. They hit a Battering Ram on the villains to little response.
If you’re a fan of what the Bushwhackers do, you probably won’t hate this match. But if you’re not a fan, the match itself combined with the lack of crowd reaction means that you’ll likely find this more painful to get through than their usual fare.
#5: WrestleMania II "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Mr. T (Boxing Match) - 0.99
There are a lot of things that WWF tried for WrestleMania 2 that just didn’t work all that well. The card was held across three cities (New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles), meaning that each arena got a small card of matches. The company upped the amount of celebrity involvement to the point of seeming desperate for anyone even mildly recognizable. And they decided to have a staged boxing match as the main event of the New York portion of the card.
Roddy Piper did box at a high amateur level before he became a wrestler. Mr. T won some toughman competitions where boxing matches served as the final round before he became famous, and arguably his most famous role was that of boxer Clubber Lang in Rocky III, so a boxing match made sense. The challenge in staging a boxing match is making it look at least somewhat like a legitimate contest. The pair succeeded… for one round. Rounds 2 and 3, dominated by Piper and T respectively, looked far more like a pro wrestling match where the competitors could only punch. Round 4 was effectively a Strong Style chop battle with boxing gloves, as the pair exchanged blows one at a time without even attempting to cover up before Piper shoved a referee and slammed T to get disqualified.
Part of the lack of chemistry may have been due to personal issues between the pair. Both men were part of WrestleMania I’s main event, and Piper was upset that a celebrity who hadn’t paid his dues was going to be in a prominent spot instead of an actual wrestler. That real-life beef was the basis for the start of their feud, but it’s possible that it reignited during the match. T left a good amount of daylight on a punch that knocked Piper out of the ring, and Piper responded by throwing his wooden stool at T before the start of the fourth round. It may also explain why Piper’s hands (according to him) were taped into a fist before they were gloved, so that he could not do too much damage to the A-Team star.
What was beyond explanation was the absolute mish-mash of celebrities involved in the match. Some made sense, like the two men who served in the corners of Mr. T and Piper respectively: boxing champ “Smokin’” Joe Frazier and trainer Lou Duva. Some were a bit of a stretch, like ring announcer Joan Rivers and commentator Susan St. James (a.k.a. the Wife in “McMillan & Wife”). And then there’s the absolute grab bag of a judging panel: jazz legend Cab Calloway, NBA star “Chocolate Thunder” Darryl Dawkins, and (I kid you not) Watergate co-conspirator G. Gordon Liddy.
#4: WrestleMania IX Giant Gonzalez vs The Undertaker - 0.77
Giant Gonzalez’s one and only WrestleMania appearance is widely cited as the worst of The Undertaker’s 27 matches at The Showcase of the Immortals. The showdown between the two provided a striking visual of Gonzalez (not quite his billed height of 8’, but still massive at 7’7”) towering over the massive Taker. That visual would have looked even cooler had the massive Argentinian not been dressed in a flesh-colored bodysuit airbrushed to make him look like a naked Sasquatch, complete with ass-crack and happy trail.
Things didn’t look much better once the match began. Every move Gonzalez made looked slow and awkward. The blows he landed on Taker looked too slow to cause any damage, and he sold the blows landed on him in a comical way. It was an ugly affair with a disappointing finish; The Undertaker won by disqualification after Gonzalez held a chloroform-soaked rag over his mouth.
This sounds like an indictment of Gonzalez, but his struggles weren’t due to a lack of effort. Much like Andre the Giant, Gonzalez’s career was greatly impacted by his gigantism. His tremendous height made him a potential basketball prospect and led to him being selected with the 54th pick in the 1998 NBA Draft (one spot behind future Sixth Man of the Year Anthony Mason). However, the toll that his size took on his knees was a big reason why he never played a minute in the league. His size got him signed to WCW but his awkwardness kept him from finding success there. The WWF brought him into the company in early 1993, but history soon repeated itself. He was gone from the company by the end of the year, having wrestled in just eight televised matches.
#3: WrestleMania XV Sable vs Tori for the WWF Women’s Championship - 0.63
Tori was put in a prominent position for WrestleMania XV, but she was not set up for success.
Tori challenged Sable for the WWF Women's Championship. Tori was a veteran who had worked in Japan with certified Joshi legends, so a big spotlight match shouldn't have been too much for her… if she had recently worked in Japan. Or recently worked at all. She had taken a five year break from the business, and Mania was just her second match post-hiatus. Sable wasn't exactly in position to lead the match as she had fewer than ten singles matches to her resume at that point.
And if the stakes weren't high enough, this was the first women's match on a Mania card in five years.
When you take all of that into consideration, the end result was hardly a surprise. Tori and Sable had a clunky, awkward match. There was a pair of very obvious botches, one of which saw Tori stumble as she slipped out of the Sable Bomb. The only woman who came out of the match looking impressive was Nicole Bass, who debuted at the end of the contest to help Sable retain.
#2: 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal - 0.25
WWE had two top belts for its women's roster, yet the company did not feel the need to have either one defended at WrestleMania 25 (which, despite its branded name, is NOT the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania. Your first date with someone is not your first anniversary). Instead, the company invented a new honor for the women to try and win: Miss WrestleMania. The prize was important enough that nearly every woman on the roster fought for it, including Women's Champion Melina and Divas Champion Maryse.
And Santino Marella.
See, the entire match - which was the only women's match on the card - was made for the sole purpose of getting Santino over. He tried qualifying for the match in the run-up to ‘Mania to no avail, but he had a trick up his sleeve.
The match itself was not all that different from the typical Divas Battle Royals of the era, full of nondescript action and a flurry of meaningless eliminations until the final handful remained. The only real differences were that half the women grinded on Kid Rock during the entrance, and there was one unknown woman who was avoiding the action for most of the match until- oh no that's Santino in drag and oh no he just won the match dear God why would they do this.
Surprisingly, this wasn't a one-off joke. Santino actually defended the title of Miss WrestleMania. Multiple times. He lost it and he won it back. He held onto the honor for the better part of three months until his firing at the hands of… Donald Trump, temporary owner of Raw and the man who spoke the Guest Host era into existence.
Late-00s Raw was a fever dream in all of the worst ways imaginable.
#1: WrestleMania XXVII Michael Cole vs Jerry "The King" Lawler (with guest referee "Stone Cold" Steve Austin) - 0.19
A former wrestler and a commentator walk into a ring. Thirty minutes later, they walk out with the honor of having wrestled (according to Cagematch users) the worst match in WWE history.
In 2010, WWE made the odd choice of turning Raw lead commentator Michael Cole heel. The move wasn't bad because Cole was bad in the role; just the opposite. He was good at being the annoying cheerleader for the villains. But he was annoying for the entire show, week in and week out. Couple that with being the voice of the Anonymous Raw General Manager (if you think you want to learn about the Anonymous Raw GM, I can assure you that you don’t) and you have someone who fans wanted to see taken down a peg. The man to do it: Cole's co-commentator Jerry “The King” Lawler.
This match shares the same cardinal sin as the Vince McMahon/Bret Hart match from earlier in the list: it asked way too much of people who were not regular in-ring performers. Michael Cole had never been a wrestler and Lawler was 61 years old, yet they were given an entire 30-minute segment. Granted, most of the 15-minute match is shtick, but that could have easily been compressed into five or six minutes without losing anything.
There is one key difference between Vince/Bret and this bout: Vince/Bret had a satisfying ending. As drawn-out as that match was, it ended with the hero getting his revenge. This match appeared to end with a Lawler victory, but that was reversed by the Anonymous Raw GM due to alleged officiating bias by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Cole got the win via disqualification since the powers that be decided that the Cole/Lawler feud needed to get stretched out until May.

How/why: A bit of a convoluted path to spending some time on this one: my YouTube feed gave me this video in which Paul Giamatti goes into the "Criterion Collection Closet" to pick out some interesting films. I wondered what movies I might recommend if I were asked to do the same, so I perused the Criterion Collection film list and found, while most of my all-time favorites are not there, this series was. I vaguely recalled seeing a couple of scenes from one of these movies but had never watched a full film; I also recognized that this was cited as an influence on The Mandalorian and, belatedly, also realized that it is the model for Hawk & Chick on Bob's Burgers. It's also apparently one of the earliest film adaptations of a Manga. With a set of links like that, and the opportunity to upgrade my film pedigree by watching a real foreign film from the vaunted Criterion Collection, I pulled up this second entry in the series (said by fans to be the best one).
So, without spoilers, I can say that this film, viewed today, is by turns intriguing, hilariously over-the-top, and downright bizarre. I'm no expert at Japanese cinema (though I've watched and enjoyed some Kurosawa and many Godzilla films) but I'm aware that there is often much more going on than is visible on the surface. It's just that the surface here is so strange to modern western eyes.
The basic premise is simple: a widowed Ronin and his young son travel the land as assassin-for-hire. There is some Lucas-esque trade-war intrigue exposition as they accept a job from the head of a province of textile workers to track down and kill a defecting craftsman who carries the secret process to their proprietary dyeing technique. Cub is a cute little guy often riding in a wheeled cart pushed by his stoic mercenary dad (seeing the Mando connection)? Lone Wolf is far from a leading-man type, he looks the part of a haunted former soldier. The father-son relationship is adorable and the whole film is presented somewhat through the eyes of Cub; it has the look and feel of a family-friendly adventure, until those big eyes start watching ol' dad slice and dice his way through an escalating series of enemies.
Which brings us to the violence: it's crazy. On one hand, it's hard to take seriously as great geysers of neon-red blood spray like (literal) hoses from severed heads and limbs. On the other hand, some genuinely disturbing shots dispel the idea that the intent here is purely cartoon fun. I think I need an expert guide to the symbolism of blood spray in Japanese film. Or maybe I'm just over-thinking it, but I do wonder how domestic 1970s audiences were meant to react to these scenes -- where they "fun" over-the-top violence (the way we might view Kingsman or 300 today), or intended to be deadly serious? Was this family viewing, or adults-only fare?
Speaking of the 1970s context, it's also worth noting that this film features a troupe of badass female antagonists, led by a truly terrifying female boss; in battle no quarter is given on either side based on gender. This is so far ahead of its time -- fifty years later Furiosa is still an anomaly -- that it might be the most impressive thing about the film.
The battle scenes are interspersed with more lyrical sections. While LW&C are traveling the countryside, they are also crossing lots of rivers and boundaries in a symbolic traverse of "hell" which is seemingly part of Lone Wolf's penance for his prior life (there's a mythological layer to the story that seemed to be at least partially lost in translation) and there are lovely nature shots and compositions. The transitions in tone can be sudden and jarring -- in one case a character stops mid-death to recite a rather stunning poem about a warrior's death in a slow-motion haze like something from a Malik film; then the action suddenly resumes with the gusher of fake blood. In what may be the strangest scene to modern eyes, Lone Wolf shockingly appears to be preparing to violently rape a female character, only to reveal that he's just removing her clothes so that she, he and Cub can huddle together to conserve body heat -- is the nudity here (first appearing to be real sexual violence and shortly later played for comic effect) exploitive in context the way it would have been in an American film at the time?
All in all, I don't think I understood it fully but I'm glad to have watched it for the sake of some additional context to other things I've seen or hope to see, but I can't say I'm hankering to watch more of the series.

Wrestling history is filled with matches and events that aren't well-liked. Some of them have faded into relative obscurity, while others have reached incredible levels of infamy. I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of these cards to relive the moments we all wish we could forget and rehash the ones that we blotted out of our collective memories.
My source for this list is the "Flop 100" from Cagematch, an IMDB-like site for wrestling events. The site gained a bit of notoriety in recent months when AEW owner Tony Khan cited its user ratings as a metric of AEW's success. That led to Cagematch Discourse, which virtually guaranteed that I had to see this project through.
I previously looked at the 20 lowest-rated matches from WWE, which can be found here. I also made a post about WCW's 20 lowest-rated events which can be found here.
The wrestling world outside of the companies involved in the Monday Night Wars is vast and wild. In recognition of that, unlike the WWE and WCW lists, shows that were not broadcast are eligible here. The only requirement is that the event received at least 10 valid votes (which means Wrestlicious is off the hook... for now). You will find some very familiar names from the past and the present, as well as a few events that you likely had not known existed.
Why is this list only 15 entries long instead of 20? Well, once you go beyond the top lists Cagematch offers, it becomes very difficult to compile any sort of comprehensive list. Creating a top or bottom 20 for a single promotion is pretty easy, but trying to search through every single event put on by all 3,828 promotions in Cagematch's database is nearly impossible.
Cagematch ratings are accurate as of February 12, 2024, and are on a scale from 0 to 10
#15: Circle 6: Queer Punk Outlaws (also promoted as Brother, Can Ya' Spare A Dime?) (Mar. 30, 2023) - 2.27
Brother, Can Ya' Spare A Dime? was a show co-promoted by California's Circle 6 and New York's Queer Punk Outlaws. The show's was part-wrestling card, part-burlesque, and part-party event that took place over the most recent WrestleMania weekend. That focus on things other than wrestling might not have been immediately apparent to those tuning in for the show. In fact, nothing was apparent to those who tuned in. The show, which took place outdoors, was delayed by approximately 45 minutes due to weather. For a three-match card, that was a significant chunk of time.
Fans did get to watch all three matches eventually. The opening contest featured by Delightful Dan the Goddamn Candy Man, who is instantly my favorite wrestler of all time sight unseen based on the name alone. Fans at home might not have heard that name, however, due to technical difficulties with the audio caused by the weather. The other two matches on the card suffered from continued technical issues, as well as from not featuring Delightful Dan the Goddamn Candy Man.
It might be possible to overcome a late start, or technical issues, or wrestling that doesn't quite hit the mark. It's tough to overcome all three.
#14: CZW Cage of Death (Oct. 16, 1999) - 2.18
Up until the start of the pandemic, Combat Zone Wrestling's Cage of Death was an annual highlight, especially among fans of deathmatch wrestling. Even those who don't like ultra-violent matches have typically been able to find something to enjoy; its cards have featured the likes of Lio Rush, MJF, Shane "Swerve" Strickland, and Jonathan Gresham among others, all of whom have held the company's top title. But one thing fans of tecnhical and hardcore wrestling can agree on is that a show with a bunch of undecisive finishes sucks.
Unfortunately, the inaugural Cage of Death event falls into that category. Of the card's seven matches, two definitely ended with no winner. Trent Acid and White Lotus fought to a time-limit draw (only to team up and beat The Kashmerino Brothers in an impromptu tag immediately afterwards), and Ric Blade and Nick Gage's match ended in a no-contest thanks to run-ins.
A third match may have ended in a draw, but I'm not entirely sure. Wifebeater and Zandig's First Blood Match ended with the referee seeing both men bleed. Supposedly he saw Zandig bleed first, giving Wifebeater the win. However, this is in dispute. Cagematch lists the match as a Wifebeater win, while the Internet Wrestling Database lists it as a draw. Even looking at fan reviews, I found one that said Wifebeater won and another that called it a draw. I would greatly appreciate any clarity that a CZW fan could provide.
#13: XPW Freefall (Feb. 23, 2002) - 2.08
A lot can be said about XPW. It was (and is again) owned by a porn mogul who served time on felony obscenity charges. It embraced the deathmatch style that some really love and some really hate. One of its top acts is called MAGA Butcher. One of their matches at Here Comes Revenge 2023 included a spot where someone stuck a syringe in their opponent's exposed penis. Yet despite all of that, there is still one moment that reigns supreme in terms of infamy.
Freefall's main event was a Scaffold Match between Vic Grimes and New Jack. The pair had wrestled a match in ECW two years prior, where miscommunication during a match caused both men to fall off of a 20-foot structure onto concrete with Grimes landing on New Jack's head. The spill caused New Jack brain damage and permanent blindness in one eye. The XPW encounter was supposed to be a chance for fictional revenge, but the Gangsta made things all too real.
Near the end of the bout, New Jack broke from the script. He pulled out a hidden taser and used it on Grimes to the point that Grimes reportedly could not feel his legs. Jack then launched Grimes off of the scaffolding and almost completely beyond the table-filled ring below, his fall only broken by the top rope. Grimes suffered multiple injuries, but thankfully was only sidelined for a couple of months.
In the years following the match, New Jack claimed in multiple interviews that his intent was to throw Grimes into the turnbuckle post and kill him.
#12: IWA Mid-South Queen of the Death Matches 2008 (June 21, 2008) - 2.07
IWA Mid-South's third annual Queen of the Deathmatch tournament ended with Rebecca Payne on top after she defeated Mickie Knuckles in the tournament final. Unfortunately for IWA, the finale was overshadowed by the ugly scene that took place in Knuckles's semifinal match.
Mike Levy was an inexperienced wrestler who somehow got onto the card. His role was to complain about being invited to the men's tournament, accept Knuckles's challenge to serve as her women's tournament semifinal opponent, and lose. During the course of their match, Levy did a poor job of selling Knuckles's offense and even tagged her when he landed a headbutt. Knuckles responded by landing some stiff shots on him. Eventually Mickie got the win, but that's when things took a serious turn. Promoters Devon Moore and Tank came out and began to viciously assault Levy. Mid-South owner Ian Rotten joined in on the attack as well. As did Rotten's 12-year-old son.
Surprisingly, the incident did not dull Levy's desire to wrestle. He continues to perform in and around North Carolina to this day.
#11: IGW Superstars of Wrestling: Rodman Down Under (July 30, 2000) - 2.00
Australia's short-lived i-Generation Wrestling promotion lasted less than a year and ran just one PPV event: Rodman Down Under. As you would expect from an event named Rodman Down Under, its biggest selling point was that hall-of-fame basketball player Dennis Rodman was in the main event. As you would expect from an event whose biggest selling point was hall-of-fame basketball player Dennis Rodman was in the main event, the match was not very good.
The night's fifth and final bout pitted The Worm against Curt Hennig in an Australian Outback (read: hardcore) match for the Hennig's title. It was the third hardcore-adjacent match of the night; a Tables Match between the Road Warriors and Public Enemy served as the opener, and that was followed by a hardcore match between The Barbarian and Brute Force (Ed Leslie getting as close as he can to his Brutus Beefcake name without getting sued). Unlike those other two matches, this one somehow ended in a disqualification.
If you were wondering if the finish led to a hotly-contested rematch: it did not. US audiences had a chance to watch the show on pay per view in December, which was the same month the promotion ran its final show. Rodman, clearly heartbroken by the show's struggles, hasn't wrestled professionally since.
#10: TNA Victory Road 2011 (Mar. 13, 2011) - 1.99
Victory Road 2011 would probably go down as a pretty good show had the event's final two matches been cut. Heck, even if the semi-main was included - a defacto #1 contender's match between Ken Anderson and RVD that resulted in a double countout and ended in dueling chants of "Re-Start the Match!" "No!" - it would probably be remembered as okay. But the main event did happen, and it marked a low point for both the company and the competitors involved.
TNA World Heavyweight Champion Sting was set to defend his title against Jeff Hardy. The problem: Jeff Hardy was clearly inhebriated. He was allowed to stumble his way to the ring under the influence of some substance or substances. Eric Bischoff came to the ring and cut an impromptu promo to change the match to a no-DQ affair while telling both competitors to end it quickly. The match itself lasted just 90 seconds. As a frustrated and disappointed Sting stood at the top of the ramp to 'celebrate' his victory, a handful of fans chanted "bulls--t." Sting turned to them and said "I agree."
And somehow, this is only the second-lowest-rated Victory Road event, but more on that later.
#9: WCPW Loaded #12 (Oct. 15, 2016) - 1.92
WhatCulture Pro Wrestling, the British promotion run by the crew that would eventually become Cultaholic, was not afraid to spend some money and bring in some big names for their shows. That trait was on full display here. The episode included Bret Hart cutting a promo to announce the company's new tag team titles, and ends with a triple threat match featuring Travis Banks, El Ligero, and Alberto del Rio el Patron.
The problem: Both of those segments were re-airings of things that happened at Refuse to Lose, the company's first ever iPPV event. If you were a fan who paid money to watch that show, a good chunk of this episode was a rerun. In their defense, the triple threat match was for the Internet Championship, and the company had promised that all matches for that title would be free to watch on YouTube. But still, hardcore fans were a bit miffed that a good chunk of this episode was stuff they had already seen.
If you were someone who watched Refuse to Lose, the only new in-ring action on view here is a three-team triple threat tag match that lasted just under eight minutes, and a match where Primate squashes four jobbers at once.
While WCPW is no more - it changed its name to Defiant in 2017 and ran its final show in mid-2019 - the Loaded episode in question is still on its YouTube page. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
#8: AEW Dark #75 (Feb. 4, 2021) - 1.84
AEW Dark was originally created to air the company's dark matches that took place before and after Dynamite. Once the COVID pandemic set in, however, the program's focus shifted largely shifted to pitting established AEW stars against talented independent wrestlers. The matches served to bolster the records of those under contract while giving the unsigned performers a paycheck and a chance to showcase themselves.
The issue with episode that hit YouTube on February 16, 2021 was that a lot of those wrestlers didn't get much chance to show what they could do. Most Dark matches were relatively short one-sided contests, but this particular episode's matches were significantly shorter than usual. Half of the episode's 12 bouts lasted 2:15 or less, including three matches that failed to hit the 60-second mark. There was a grand total of 36 minutes of in-ring action during this episode, compared to 60 the previous week. A 40% reduction in in-ring action on a show catered to fans who were big fans of in-ring action was not a popular decision.
AEW's response? The next episode had 90 minutes worth of matches.

If you want to see what the hubbub was all about, the episode is on AEW's YouTube page in its entirety.

#7: JCW Legends & Icons (Aug. 12, 2011) - 1.84
If you're a fan of the Insane Clown Posse then you'll probably enjoy the vibe of their Juggalo Championship Wrestling promotion. If you aren't down with the clowns, the wrestling itself might not be enough to keep you around. Never was this more true than for Legends & Icons, an event featuring stars of yesteryear. They might as well have been shooting stars, because many of them were in and out in a blink of an eye.
Aside from a half-hour battle royal, none of the other matches reach the seven minute mark. In fact, two matches - Midnight Express vs Rock 'n Roll Express and Tracy Smothers vs Tommy Rich - were done in less than a minute. Other highlights include 61-year-old Bob Backlund being the workhorse in a match with 67-year-old Ken Patera, and Greg Valentine and Tito Santana squaring off in a cage match that was done in under four minutes.
The main event, which was supposed to be Rowdy Roddy Piper (in his final ever match) versus Terry Funk, but Cowboy Bob Orton decided to insert himself into the match for... reasons. This eventually morphed into Piper and Orton versus Funk and event commentator Mick Foley, which was won by the heel team of Piper and Orton as chants of 'bulls--t' rained down from the crowd.
#6: TransGraps presents Wrestle Queerdom (Oct. 6, 2022) - 1.75
Wrestle Queerdom organizer Sally - known by the social media handle TransGraps - provided a stage and platform for many trans and non-binary wrestlers to show what they could do in an inclusive place. What TransGraps did not provide to those performers was money.
Wrestle Queerdom's low rating isn't because of what happened at the event - which included action from Kidd Bandit, Sonny Kiss, VENY, and Candy Lee, among others - but rather what was discovered afterwards. Even after borrowing thousands of dollars from her own mother, TransGraps mishandled funding for the event to the point that there was no money to pay talent. Several performers who were asked to get other wrestlers to the event or provide other services got stiffed out of money. Kidd Bandit, Aiden Von Engeland, Dark Sheik, and others scrambled to gather funds to make sure that those who needed to get paid got paid. Most of the talent got enough to get home, if not the original amount they were promised.
Samantha Riedel wrote a more in-depth look at both the event and some of its performers for them.us. It is absolutely worth checking out.
#5: NWA Powerrr #8 (Oct. 1, 2019) - 1.75
NWA Powerrr's goal was to recreate the feeling of the studio wrestling shows of the 80s, with a heavy emphasis on promos and interviews. This particular episode was perhaps a bit too successful in emphasizing the non-wrestling elements. Here's a rundown of the episode:

• Promo, interrupted by another promo
• Match recap and promos
• Pre-taped segment
• Match recap
• Aron Stevens/Question Mark (RIP) promo
• 74-second match won by Question Mark
• Debut recap, followed by an interview
• Pre-taped segment
• Reveal of a new challenger for the NWA title

And that's it. One match, which lasted less than 80 seconds.
This episode was also notable as the first one to air after Jim Cornette's resignation. Cornette, who was a color commentator for Powerrr, came under fire for his remark on the previous episode that Trevor Murdoch was the only man he knew "that can strap a bucket of fried chicken on his back and ride a motor scooter across Ethiopia."
#4: TNA Victory Road 2009 (July 19, 2009) - 1.66
Modern fans don't understand how good they have it when it comes to celebrity involvement in wrestling. Between Ronda Rousey, Bad Bunny, Logan Paul, Stephen Amell, and others, it seems like every big name that decides to step into the ring can more than hold their own. But it wasn't always like that.
As far as bad wrestling goes, Victory Road '09 is a one-match show: Sharmell versus Survivor's season six champion Jenna Morasca. Both women were part of the Main Event Mafia; Sharmell as Booker T's husband, Morasca as a financial backer. The pair clashed constantly, tensions boiled over, and the two had to settle it in the ring.
Morasca was a rookie to wrestling. Sharmell had wrestled some, but wasn't exactly a ring general. Yet that's the role she was asked to fill against the wrestling debutante Morasca. TNA could have turned the battle into a tag match, since Awesome Kong and Sojo Bolt were in the corners of Morasca and Sharmell respectively. Instead, TNA brass asked Sharmell and Morasca to carry the bulk of the segment. If you are curious about how well it went... the infamous MINUS! FIVE! STARS! soundclip comes from a description of this match.
TNA has uploaded the entire show to its YouTube page for free. Check it out if you dare. Jenna/Sharmell starts around the 1:10:00 mark.
#3: Blackcraft: No Apologies (Apr. 5, 2019) - 1.62
Blackcraft Wrestling, an occult-inspired indie run by the alt clothing brand Blackcraft Cult, had no issue dabbling in dark themes. That was never more true than at its fourth ever show and first ever WrestleMania weekend show, No Apologies. The show started with a crucifiction of a fan, ended with the murder of its authority figure, and directly lead to the death of the entire promotion.
No Apologies was scheduled to start at midnight but kicked off about a half hour later. That probably wouldn't be a problem for most cult-themed shows, but the venue had a hard closing time of 2:30am. That meant that a lot the matches did not get as much time as planned. A five-team Gauntlet Tag match became a five-team-at-once match that lasted less than 4 minutes, and Penta el Zero Miedo's match with Simon Grimm was done inside of the 4-minute mark as well.
Once the clock struck 2am, the time crunch went into overdrive and the card went into the land of infamy. Paige/Saraya's mom won her title match via countout after a brawl, with that match officially lasting just 25 seconds. Then came the advertised main event, where Blackcraft Champion Johnny Blackcraft/Nitro/[Company He's Wrestling With At The Moment] beat David Starr with a rollup in eleven seconds. Afterwards, Matthew Justice demanded a title shot, slitting the throat of the company's authority figure (The Preacher, played by Doug Bradley of Pinhead fame) to get it. That match lasted just nine seconds.
The show - and the promotion - ended with the actual main event: a 28-person Battle Royal that lasted less than 5 minutes. But even that was too long; the houselights came up in the middle of the match, indicating that the show was over.
YouTuber Benjamin Falbo put together a documentary about the promotion's brief history, including interviews with several of the company's performers. If you've got an hour to spare, it's worth checking out.
#2: UWF Blackjack Brawl (Sep. 23, 1994) - 1.17
Herb Abrams's Universal Wrestling Federation (not to be confused with Bill Watts's promotion of the same name) was launched in 1990 with an ambitious owner, a broadcast deal with SportsChannel America, hopes of competing with WWF and WCW. Four years later, the promotion had been without a weekly TV show for two years and was on its last legs. Blackjack Brawl, the company's first live TV event, was a last gasp at potentially earning a new TV deal. Unfortunately, the show did not leave a great impression on most of its viewers.
Non-finishes were a reoccurring issue with UWF's weekly television, and even with a two-year break those issues returned. Cowboy Bob Orton and the former Ludvig Borga fought to a double disqualification. Cactus Jack and Jimmy Snuka's Lumberjack Match somehow ended in a double countout, defeating the entire point of a Lumberjack Match. Not even the main event was immune: "Dr. Death" Steve Williams won his UWF World Heavyweight Title match against Sid Vicious (a match which took place with a visibly broken ring mat) via disqualification thanks to a Dan Spivey run-in.
Two other random notes that I wanted to include:

• Nine of the 11 matches on the card were for a title. Six of those nine titles did not exist before this show, and five of those did not exist after this show.
• Mando Guerrero's entrance song was (I swear I'm not making this up) "Taco Grande" by Weird Al Yankovic.

#1: Heroes of Wrestling (Oct. 10, 1999) - 0.29
Infamous indie pay-per-view Heroes of Wrestling was an event full of some of the stars of yesteryear (so long as they weren't under contract with WCW or WWF at the time). The show didn't feature highs and lows as much as it featured lows and lowers. For those of you who value Dave Meltzer's opinion, he gave one of the matches zero stars and it was still the third-best rating on the eight-match card.
The least bad, according to both Big Dave (1.25 stars) and Cagematch (4.42/10): a bout between 2 Cold Scorpio and another bonifide wrestling legend, 28-year-old Julio Dinero. 2 Cold Scorpio got the win when he completely whiffed his Tumbleweed finisher but Dinero sold it like it connected.
The comically bad: a nine-minute tag match between The Bushwhackers and the tandem of The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Volkoff, just days short of turning 52, was the youngest man in the ring. It was so bad that Bryan Alvarez awarded it "minus more stars than there are in the universe."
The tragically bad: Jake Roberts, at one of his lowest points, cutting his infamous '21' promo and walking to the ring in no shape to compete. His match with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart was changed on the fly to a tag-team match, with main eventers Yokozuna and King Kong Bundy teaming with Roberts and Neidhart respectively. Unable to even hit a DDT on a heel manager to send the fans home happy, Roberts ended the show holding Damien between his legs like a phallus. This is the lowest-rated US match in Cagematch history.
The most accessible way to experience the show may very well be OSW Review's review of the event for their 100th episode.

Wrestling history is filled with matches and events that aren't well-liked. Some of them have faded into relative obscurity, while others have reached incredible levels of infamy. I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of these cards to relive the moments we all wish we could forget and rehash the ones that we blotted out of our collective memories.
My source for this list is the "Flop 100" from Cagematch, an IMDB-like site for wrestling events. The site gained a bit of notoriety in recent months when AEW owner Tony Khan cited its user ratings as a metric of AEW's success. That led to Cagematch Discourse, which virtually guaranteed that I had to see this project through.
This list covers all of WWE's weekly episodes and PPVs/PLEs which were broadcasted in some form. If there's interest, I'll do something similar for indies and WWE's competitors.
All WWE weekly shows and PPVs/PLEs that aired in some form are eligible for this list, except for:

• Events with fewer than 10 ratings
• Kickoff shows
• Events which took place in multiple locations (like Wrestlemania 2), as Cagematch lists these as separate events

With all that said, here's the list.
Cagematch ratings accurate as of February 3, 2024, and are on a scale of 0 to 10
#20: Monday Night Raw #1354 (May 6, 2019) - 1.79
Vince McMahon kicked off the episode by announcing a Wildcard rule, allowing some Smackdown stars to appear on Raw and vice versa. This somewhat undermined the point of the Superstar Shakeup, which took place just two weeks prior. Oh, and the Usos put Ucey Hot in the Revival's tights, which was peak comedy.
Peak. Comedy.
#19: Friday Night SmackDown #1276 (Feb. 2, 2024) - 1.72
Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes opts not to challenge Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania, allowing The Rock to take his place. The fans were, by and large, not happy.
Side note: For a few hours immediately after its airing, this was among the ten worst-rated shows in WWE history. It has since 'stabilized' inside the Bottom 20.
#18: Monday Night Raw #1332 (Dec. 3, 2018) - 1.71
While not as disliked as the previous week's episode (more on that later), this one continued a streak of poorly-received Raw episodes. WWE was so desperate for an answer to sagging ratings that, two weeks after this episode, the entire McMahon family would openly apologize to its fans for the things that weren't working... while also blaming on-screen GM Baron Corbin for them.
#17: Monday Night Raw #865 (Dec. 21, 2009) - 1.67
If you don't remember the year-long Guest Host Era where random celebrities showed up to plug their projects host Raw, count yourself lucky. Baseball player Johnny Damon was the week's host for an episode that took place in Tampa, Florida, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Damon had spent the past 8 years playing for two different teams, both of which were divisional rivals to the Rays.
In perhaps an odder choice, the main event segment featured The Big Show calling out "the real Santa Claus."
#16: Monday Night Raw #845 (Aug. 3, 2009) - 1.61
Jeremy Piven and Ken Jeong were the guest hosts of this episode.
Piven called Summerslam Summerfest.
Piven and Jeong turned heel on John Cena.
Jeong took a bad bump out of the ring and smacked the back of his head on the floor.
There were no winners here.
#15: Super ShowDown 2019 (June 7, 2019) - 1.58
Have you ever seen the clip of an exhausted Goldberg lifting up The Undertaker and dropping him on his head in the worst Jackhammer in recorded history? That clip was from the main event of this card. What this card didn't feature was John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, or any of the company's female performers.
This is not the last time you'll see Super ShowDown on this list.
#14: Monday Night Raw #1426 (Sept. 21, 2020) - 1.57
This Raw featured the in-ring debut of Retribution, the totally-not-a-response-to-BLM-protesters group with "badass" names like Slapjack, Mace, and T-BAR. Retribution wanted to take down WWE. WWE responded by... giving them contracts and allowing them to show up on a weekly basis.
#13: ECW December to Dismember (Dec. 3, 2006) - 1.53
WWE's first, last, and only ECW-branded PPV. Only two of the six matches were announced before the event began, one of which was an Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship. Fan favorites CM Punk and Rob Van Dam were eliminated early in hopes that fans would get behind eventual winner, a pre-All Mighty Bobby Lashley. Needless to say, the fans did not get behind Bobby Lashley.
#12: Monday Night Raw #1315 (Aug. 6, 2018) - 1.50
An episode that included Ronda Rousey's first TV match (a quick win over Alicia Fox), a Paul Heyman promo, and practically nothing else of note.
#11: Monday Night Raw #843 (July 20, 2009) - 1.42
Squarely in the middle of the Guest Host Era, ZZ Top oversaw a card that featured Chavo Guerrero and Hornswoggle squaring off in a Sharp Dressed Man Tuxedo Match.
It was exactly as good as it sounds.
#10: Friday Night Smackdown #1194 (July 8, 2022) - 1.39
The theme of this episode of SmackDown may have been "I'm here for a good time, not a long time." Four of the show's five matches were done in under two-and-a-half minutes, including The Usos over Los Lotharios in 2 minutes and The Viking Raiders over Jinder Mahal and Shanky in 75 seconds.
Those disappointed by the shorter matches on the undercard held out hope that the advertised main event, Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus to determine who would challenge for the title at Clash at the Castle, would be a banger. Their hopes were dashed at towards the end of the episode when the Celtic Warrior withdrew from the match after claiming to have a (storyline) cough that could potentially be COVID. Instead, fans were treated to McIntyre vs Butch to close out the night. And in keeping with the theme of the episode, Drew needed just 90 seconds to dispatch of the former-and-future Bruiserweight.
#9: Monday Night Raw #1331 (Nov. 26, 2018) - 1.29
Do you like AEW's Jon Moxley? You know, the performer who used to be known as WWE's Dean Ambrose? Do you want to see why Jon Moxley is now AEW's Jon Moxley instead of still being WWE's Dean Ambrose? Then I have an episode for you!
The reason this show is rated so poorly isn't the 20-plus-minute battle between Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental title. It's not the fact that Baron Corbin featured in both the opener (seconding Lashley versus Elias) and the main event (teaming with Drew McIntyre to face Finn Balor in a handicap match). It's not even the fact that Jinder Mahal was involved with two matches (seconding Alicia Fox in her match against Ember Moon, then himself taking on No Way Jose - also, remember No Way Jose?).
No. It's because of a promo where Dean Ambrose tells the world that he doesn't want to get infected by their germs. And to drive the point home, he takes a series of vaccines, including a massive needle in the ass. It's somehow less crude and more bizarre than I'm making it sound.
Five months later, Dean cashed in his chips and walked away from the table... only to walk up to another table a month later and go Double or Nothing.
#8: King of the Ring 1995 (June 25, 1995) - 1.29
Bask upon The New Generation in all its [Vince McMahon]Unbelievable[/Vince McMahon] glory.
Does Bam Bam Bigelow and Diesel versus Tatanka and Sid sound like a random match from early Monday Night Raw? Screw that! It's the main event! Of a pay-per-view! That people paid money for!
How about a Savio Vega match? Forget A Savio Vega match, we've got FOUR Savio Vega matches! He won a qualifier in the pre-show to make the King of the Ring Tournament, then made it all the way to the final... only to fall to King Mabel. To set up a Mabel/Diesel match for a main event! Of another pay-per-view! That people paid money for!
Oh yeah, there's also a Bret Hart versus Jerry "The King" Lawler match in which the loser has to kiss the winner's foot! On a pay-per-view! That people paid money for!
If you want a deeper dive into this event, Wrestling With Wregret has you covered.
#7: NXT Season 5, Episode 4 (Mar. 28, 2011) - 1.20
What does the 'game show' era of NXT do on the Road to WrestleMania XXVII? A whole lotta nothin'.
The show opened with an arm wrestling contest among the NXT rookies, which was won by Titus O'Neil. It closed with a six-rookie tag-team match won by Byron Saxton, Conor O'Brian, and Titus O'Neil. Between those two contests was a whopping 35 minutes of hype packages for Mania. It was almost like WWE forgot that the show was supposed to be a competition. Which was fitting, because WWE dropped the game show elements and let the show exist on its own plane of existence once the field was narrowed down to three. That lasted until the following year, when NXT rebooted into a developmental brand. Derrick Bateman, the show's last remaining rookie, would become EC3 and take control of his narrative for years to come.
If you want to watch the whole thing for some reason: here you go.
#6: Superstars #208 (Apr. 1, 2013) - 1.09
[Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V]
What does Superstars do on the Road to WrestleMania XXIX? A whole lotta nothin'.
Much like the NXT episode above, the bulk of this episode is dedicated to hype packages for that weekend's Mania. If you want to get excited about The Rock and John Cena's 'Twice in a Lifetime' matchup or CM Punk vs The Undertaker, then you've got a lot to enjoy here. If you're looking for in-ring action, however, you'll have to settle for this episode's sole bout: The Great Khali in all of his Punjabi Playboy splendor dispatching JTG in less than three minutes.
#5: Crown Jewel 2018 (Nov. 2, 2018) - 1.09
When events are rated lowly, there's often one aspect of the show that draws most of the negative attention. Crown Jewel 2018 arguably has three such focal points:

• The show took place a month after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside of a Saudi embassy in Turkiye. WWE faced lots of criticism for going forward with the show, which was the second event of the company's 10-year, 20-show deal with the Saudi government.
  
• The WWE World Cup, an eight-man tournament that would crown the "best in the world," was won by SmackDown's then-Commissioner Shane McMahon. Shane-O-Mac replaced a kayfabe-injured Miz in the final and beat Dolph Ziggler in a sub-three-minute match that featured a Baron Corbin run-in.
  
• The main event of the night pitted Triple H and Shawn Michaels against Kane and the Undertaker. Featuring three men over the age of 50 - one of whom (Michaels) hadn't wrestled in 8 years - would have been a dream match a decade prior. Instead, it was a near-30-minute nightmare that 'won' the Wrestling Observer award for the year's worst match.
  

#4: Main Event #183 (Mar. 30, 2016) - 1.00
[Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V]
What does Main Event do on the Road to WrestleMania XXXII? A whole lotta nothin.'
Much like the Superstars episode above (and the NXT episode above that), the bulk of this episode is dedicated to hype packages for that weekend's Mania. If you want to get excited about Triple H's title defense against Roman Reigns or Shane McMahon vs The Undertaker, then you've got a lot to enjoy here. If you're looking for in-ring action, however, you'll have to skip the first 42 minutes of this 51-minute episode to find its sole bout: a classic encounter between Ryback and Fandango.
#3: Monday Night Raw #1558 (Apr. 3, 2023) - 0.80
The words "Raw after Mania" typically generate a lot of excitement. Where are stories going to go? Who's going to show up? What's going to be the big surprise? For many fans, however, the Raw after Mania XXXIX managed to generate more anger and frustration than anything else. At least, it did so among Cagematch reviewers.
Much of the focus was on Cody Rhodes, who many believed(/believe) should have been the one to end Roman Reigns's historic title run. He called out Roman for a rematch, but the Tribal Chief refused. Instead, it would be Reigns and Solo Sikoa against Cody and whoever wanted to stand beside him. Enter a returning Brock Lesnar, who shook Cody's hand and made the night's main event official. So while Cody fans wouldn't get to see a title match, they would get to see a huge tag match... or at least, they thought they would. Before the bell even rang, Brock attacked Cody to set up a story for the American Nightmare that, at least for the time being, did not involve another shot at Roman Reigns. The Tribal Chief would not defend his title again for another four months.
Thankfully, WWE learned its lesson and made sure that the next time Cody had a chance to finish his story, he would do so. Don't fact check that.
#2: Super Showdown 2020 (Feb. 27, 2020) - 0.77
The first handful of events under WWE's deal with Saudi Arabia were often seen as weird, largely-inconsequential house shows dressed up as major events. They often featured one-off matches and that didn't really lead to anything else afterwards. The Tuwaiq Trophy Gauntlet Match from this card falls into that category; the gauntlet was was won by The Undertaker to set up his eventual Mania match with AJ Styles, but the trophy itself was hardly mentioned afterwards.
But that's not the cause of the low ratings here. No, most of the bad scores can be attributed to the event's two biggest title matches. In the WWE Championship bout, Brock Lesnar squared off with Ricochet. What many hoped would be a competitive exhibition that elevated Ricochet instead was a dominant 90-second win for The Beast Incarnate in which Ricochet did not get in a single bit of offense. And in the main event, the nigh-invincible Universal Champion Fiend scored two Mandible Claws and nothing else before losing the title to then-53-year-old Goldberg.
Unfortunately, underwhelming wrestling events would become the least of our problems within a few weeks of this event.
#1: NXT Season 3, Episode 4 (Sept. 28, 2010) - 0.27
What makes a wrestling show? If you said 'wrestling,' you'd be wrong. At least you would be in this case.
What made this episode notable was that there were zero matches. Each week would usually feature a match or two along with the game show competitions, but this week was just the game show stuff. And believe it or not, wrestling fans would like to watch... wrestling. You got wheelbarrow racing. You got Diss the Diva. You got lots of other hype packages between those two events. But you got no actual wrestling matches.
As an aside, this was actually the final episode of NXT to air on television for nearly a decade. The series moved from SyFy to the WWE's website, as SmackDown was moving to SyFy that week. So, barring a one-hour special in 2017, this was the lasting image TV viewers had of the NXT brand for nearly 9 years. And what an image it was.

My choice in saying “best” is both meant to be incendiary to inferior voting methods and to counter the notion that there cannot be a “best” voting system. In particular I want to counter the defeatism this often brings. TL;DR summary in the conclusion
Key points summarized:

1. All ranked order voting systems fail Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem, but cardinal systems pass
2. Cardinal systems have fundamentally more information.
3. Score voting dominates all ranked choice voting systems.
4. Maximizing social utility is the best criteria to evaluate voting systems.
5. Oppression of the majority.
6. Yes, you can have proportional or multi-winner elections.
7. Meaningful changes to politicians and parties.
8. Simple to implement.
9. TL;DR

1 “But Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem proves all voting methods are flawed!”

Not quite. In his book titled “Social Choice and Individual Values” he sets forth 5 conditions on a reasonable voting system and paradoxes that arise for ranked choice voting. Almost all voting systems pass every criterion except #3. Since Condition 3 is a real doozie let’s explore what it says:

CONDITION 3: THE INDEPENDENCE OF IRRELEVANT ALTERNATIVES Let RI, • • •, Rn and RI', • • • , Rn' be two sets of individual orderings and let C(S) and C'(S) be the corresponding social choice functions. If, for all individuals i and all x and y in a given environment S, x Ri y if and only if x RJ y, then C(S) and C'(S) are the same (independence of irrelevant alternatives).

Arrow elaborates further with an example:

In particular, suppose that there are three voters and four candidates, x, y, z, and w. Let the weights for the first, second, third, and fourth choices be 4, 3, 2, and 1, respectively. Suppose that individuals 1 and 2 rank the candidates in the order x, y, z, and w, while individual 3 ranks them in the order z, w, x, and y. Under the given electoral system, x is chosen. Then, certainly, if y is deleted from the ranks of the candidates, the system applied to the remaining candidates should yield the same result, especially since, in this case, y is inferior to x according to the tastes of every individual; but, if y is in fact deleted, the indicated electoral system would yield a tie between x and z.

The problem with independence of irrelevant alternatives is a fundamental problem of ranked data and cannot possibly be fixed no matter how complicated your voting system. In fact, the more complicated your ranked voting system, the more it runs into problems with irrelevant alternatives. Voting systems which satisfy the much-hyped Condorcet Criterion are positively begging for voters to give cyclic preferences and fail the hardest when new alternatives are added and removed. Once you have identified the problems as being a byproduct of quirks of ordinal data (more on that later) which all have values relative to each other, the solution is blindingly obvious. Don’t rank alternatives.
For hundreds of years scientists studying voting have pre-supposed that ranking is necessary and created avoidable self-imposed problems. Any ballot that looks like this and has voters list preference in order has failed to notice the opportunity provided by simply having voters rate each alternative on a predefined scale (say 0-5 stars). Doing this immediately solves all of the fundamental problems of ranking without much effort and is a solution that fits on exactly the same sheet of paper. Choosing to rate a candidate like a movie might not seem like it changes anything, but this has profound and surprisingly deep implications on how elections are evaluated. I will argue this fixes democracy, but more on that later.

2 Cardinal systems have fundamentally more information.

By switching from ranking candidates 1-6 to scoring 0-5 the type of information changes. The class of information has switched from an ordinal (ranked) system to cardinal information. Consider racecars for example. I can rank all racecars from 1st place to 31st place. This tells me about where each car is, but I can only know that 1st is ahead of 2nd place. I can never know by how much. So I can never predict the impact of adding one more car. The distance behind the leader is a cardinal measure of position. In a cardinal measure I know the direction and magnitude of racecars relative to each other and the leader. This extra information now makes addition and subtraction valid operations. For certain cardinal measures, multiplication and division are also valid. First place is not twice second place; that makes no sense as it is an ordinal measure. But a 10m lead is twice as good as a 5m lead. With these cardinal distances I can freely add and remove racecars without changing the position of existing cars relative to the fixed point. Adding and removing cars can make a particular one change from 1st place to 25th place to 6th place because all rankings are relative. Adding and removing cars will never making a 10m distance into a 20m distance.
For a moment consider the insanity in trying to rank every single movie on IMDB and updating each ranking each time a new movie is released. If you have just one objective opinion it can kind of work, but if you have multiple critics each with an opinion on each movie the rankings will change wildly and be fundamentally unstable. The lack of preservation of distances makes attempting to compare different rankings an impossible task. Using a borda count the distance between two movies could change from only 1 to 400,000 by adding more movies even if the critic thinks they are all very similar. Now hypothetically suppose every critic rates each movie on a 0–5-star scale. Relative distance between movies is now always preserved and the system becomes more stable. Finding the overall highest rated movie is now as simple as finding the movie with the highest average rating. This method also coerces the transitive property (preemptively stopping paradoxes) and allows critics to express equal levels of preference between multiple similar movies.
We should also address the problems with this method of Likert scale rating. For one, not all the movies are evaluated at once. So, a movie which had 3 stars 10 years ago might now be 2 stars due to more movies being added to the pile. Unlike the hypothetical, the real set of critics is different for each movie, and they apply different sets of standards. Each critic has not experienced all movies and might erroneously give high/low rating from lack of information. The 0-5 scale is coerced into being relative instead of an unbounded scale to let critics express extreme pleasure and disgust. All of these problems are very relevant to assessing millions of movies, but none of them are problems to voting in an election. In an election voters generally have lots of time to decide, can see and (hopefully) have knowledge of all possible alternatives, get to rate all alternatives all at once, can understand how this scale relates to real outcomes easy enough, and gains a common scale from everyone else in the country having the same options at the same time. In a scale with a neutral value {-2, -1, 0, 1, 2} the concept of strongly disagree to strongly agree is intuitive enough and people generally answer honestly.

3 Score voting dominates all ranked voting systems.

Preferring rankings over cardinal ratings is like preferring 8-bit over HD TV. If the number of score voting rating classes is greater (which scales to infinity by allowing voters to write any real number in a range) than the number of alternatives, you have all the information to evaluate the election with all ranked choice methods while having even more information to spare. Even if you support a ranked choice method like Condorcet, Borda count, Black, instant runoff, multistage plurality elections, plurality, STV, or any other voting method currently being used at the national level; all of these elections can have the information needed collected from a ballot where voters rate instead of rank alternatives. The rating process is mentally easier than the ranking process while allowing equality of alternatives and coercing the transitive property onto individual preferences. It's just easier to be an honest score vote by rating candidates one at a time than it is to work out a ranking.

4 Maximizing social utility is the best criteria to evaluate voting systems.

Returning back to Kennith Arrow’s “Social Choice and Individual Values”, he writes on the ultimate purpose of an ideal voting system:

“the process of assigning a numerical social utility to each social state, the aim of society then being described by saying that it seeks to maximize the social utility or social welfare … As before, all that is needed to define such an ordering is to know the relative ranking of each pair of alternatives.”

Arrow came up with the 5 conditions for assessing voter fairness at exasperation from the difficulty in using ordinal (ranked) data to decide anything. What he actually wanted was the true social utility function. the measure of benefit to society. What good is a “fair” voting system if it minimizes the utility experienced by society? All other criteria are arbitrary. A voting system being nondictatorial is usually a good requirement, but if a dictator had access to the true underlying social utility function of society, then according to Arrow “the condition of nondictatorship loses its intrinsic desirability”.
Economists have developed very good theories for maximizing utility if you actually had the underlying true utility functions. The problem that has frustrated mathematicians, economists, philosophers, and social scientists for centuries is turning ranked choices into an approximation of the underlying true social utility function. In this very book Arrow cites and appears to be inspired by recently published research on cardinal utility functions. Arrow understood that all ranked choice voting methods have a fundamental flaw but didn’t realize that cardinal voting was an option despite recently reading about cardinal utility in assessment of consumer’s perceived value. The research cardinal utility he read is is now ubiquitous from rating uber drivers to amazon products and social media posts as 👎🤷👍. Arrow very narrowly missed the opportunity to declare score voting as the best method in 1951, something he later regretted.
While only a fuzzy appropriator, it is the best representation of the true utilitarian candidate that you are going to get. By upvoting and downvoting on reddit you are an implicitly endorsing cardinal voting. Whichever you choose, I win because you participated in a 3 class score voting system. Before someone leaves a comment how Black's method is actually best, consider the insanity you would impose in having to rank every single reddit post you read.

5 Oppression of the majority.

Many ranked choice voting systems go through hoops to ensure that the winner is able to claim a majority. Condorcet voting criterion in particular is hardline majoritarian requiring a majority of majority pairwise elections. Majority rule is certainly preferable to minority rule but is misplaced as it loses sight of value to society. To illustrate this, imagine a country that is polarized into two dominate factions A and B. Faction A proposes a policy of robbing everyone in faction B of -100 utility to give its members +20 utility. Faction B proposes a reverse policy. Both of these policies are net negatives to society and go out of their way to harm people. Now imagine a 3rd party C, which has a policy proposal which gives everyone +10 utility. From a strictly selfish position A voters value A > C > B and B voters value B > C > A. If A can squeeze out a 50.1% majority in this election, they are the Condorcet winner despite doing a net negative of -40 utility on average to society. If we use honest approval voting then C wins with 100% of the vote. In more complicated score voting systems voters can accurately give the opposing side an extreme punishment to accurately reflect extreme disparity of positions. Both A and B’s score trend towards the middle position as voters give extreme positive and negative scores while C can be comfortably ahead. The tendency towards majority candidates giving marginal advantages to their coalition with large damage to the well being of the outgroup is a winning strategy in any majority system. In a cardinal system, all voters have an impact on all candidates. At no point is it beneficial to switch strategies and actively harm one segment of the population.

6 Yes, you can have proportional or multi-winner elections.

One good argument against cardinal voting is that certain ranked choice voting methods have multiple winners allowing proportional representation. Israel for example has a proportional representation election in which each voter casts one vote for one party. The votes are tallied, and parties are given a number of representatives proportional to their votes. This is a significantly better system than first past the post but comparing it to single winner cardinal voting is apples to oranges. With a trivial amount of effort Israel’s plurality proportional system can also become a cardinal proportional system. The only necessary rule change is to remove the restriction on one vote per person and allow voters to vote for as many parties as they want for proportional approval voting. The total votes (now exceeding 100%) can still be apportioned proportionally to support. There is no longer a plurality winner dynamic, voters get a wider range of expression, similar parties don’t split votes, extremism pays off less, and a voter can reward a party without sacrificing support for their favorite. Many problems fixed by a very small rule change. There are a whole host of methods for picking winners in a proportional cardinal system, all of which benefit from the huge increase in information voters can communicate compared to ranked choice systems.

7 Meaningful changes to politicians and parties

I have already mentioned it a few times, but I want to hammer home just how easy, meaningful, and immediate changes from a cardinal voting system can be. Cardinal voting systems scale really well, remember the millions of movies that can evaluated on the same scale? This means there is absolutely no disadvantage in a party running multiple candidates at once in a general ballot. This is the fundamental property provided by meeting Arrow’s 3rd condition. Elections with many candidates and many parties have profound implications on how both politicians and parties behave. It makes the election more competitive and everyone more replaceable and beholden to the voters. With multiple similar candidates, if one happens to be revealed as a pedophile, voters who liked their politics are no longer forced to support them. They can pick a politically similar candidate running concurrently. An individual politician who breaks party lines when it benefits the general population is now rewarded instead of punished. This hurts parties with non-democratic internal structures and hands the power into the hands of voters. Cooperation and constructive compromise is rewarded instead of cyclical stalemate. Entrenched politicians with safe districts now have much more competitive elections.

8 Simple to implement.

“Ok you sold me, now what can I do?”
Cardinal voting includes the simplest voting system, approval voting. Approval has fewer rules than first past post and can be used immediately on most existing ballots. It’s also really hard to get an invalid approval ballot which is a good selling point to organizers. This practicality aspect is a good reason to prefer approval over a theoretically superior 0-99 system. Although a 0-99 system allows for more expression, previous experience with cardinal systems in consumer assessments shows most of the range is unused. Maybe this will be different in high states political elections. A 1-5 Likert scale can often capture the same complexity and give the same result as 0-99 scale while being much easier to administer and use. Arrow of Impossibility Theorem fame personally endorses score voting with 3-4 classes. I personally like odd number systems of 5, 7 or 9 classes centered on zero because of the central tendency, but getting any cardinal system is so much of an improvement over ranked order the exact number isn’t worth fighting over. I’ve already shown how the simplest cardinal (approval voting) has advantages over the one of the strongest ranked order system (Condorcet). The score voting method with the strongest political backing right now is STAR (0-5) voting and also has a considerable amount of research. Lobbying to implement these methods at first local and the regional and eventually nation levels is the clearest pathway towards general acceptance. Even if just a few districts start using approval or score voting it can disrupt the foundations of entrenched parties and politicians enough to precipitate change. The only thing required is the political will to change the sentence "pick one/rank" into "select all you like".

9 Conclusion TL;DR (even shorter TL;DR below)

In conclusion, the apparent impossibility of finding the best ranked choice voting system is an artifact of problems with ranking and ordinal data. Borda count for instance makes an erroneous and unnecessary assumption that all distances between ranked data are equal; this is strictly speaking an invalid interpretation of ordinal data. Trying to work around the flawed data quality of ranked choice’s ordinal data has led to complex set of voting criteria being used for evaluation. This is dancing around the impossibility of specifying a ranked system which picks utilitarian answers that maximize benefit to society. Maximizing benefit to society is the real goal most mathematicians, economists, and philosophers are actually trying to achieve in voting systems. In picking utility maximizing outcomes score/interval voting is the undisputed king of voting systems as the best way to approximate the underlying the social utility function. Cardinal voting is also easier and more scalable than most ranked systems. Any Condorcet or Borda hardliners must yield that score voting with enough classes fully communicates the information to evaluate by their methods and allows simultaneous evaluation of an election to see if the score voting winner is also the Condorcet or Borda or any other ranked system’s winner. If you seriously favor ranked order methods, a score voting ballot is an easier way to get the same information to evaluate a ranked voting method. Strategic voting impacts all voting systems but has the lowest impact in cardinal systems. Rank choice systems are fundamental unstable when adding and removing alternatives, a problem no cardinal system has. In addition to cardinal voting’s ease of use, higher resolution information, and better theoretical basis; a number of beneficial changes happen in how candidates campaign and take actions to win votes. Elections remaining competitive even if all candidates have high absolute approvals. Bad or polarizing candidates are more replaceable by voters and don’t rate highly as they do in ranked systems. In cardinal systems each candidate is beholden to the entire electorate as their coalition. All of these factors are why election science experts and organizations overwhelmingly support cardinal systems (approval and score voting). Representing ranked choice systems as competitive options it’s a bit like saying “all countries have poverty”. While this is technically correct is obfuscates the reality of what poverty looks like in Switzerland compared to the DRC. This is a field of study with a clear set of winners, losers, and real impacts on politics. Let's end the non-discussion.

TL;DR of the TL;DR much requested

Cardinal voting systems (score, STAR, approval, range) have large advantages over ordinal (ranking) systems (FPTP, Condorcet, Borda, instant runoff, STV, and any other nationally used system). Proportional systems can be either cardinal or ordinal with the argument for cardinal remaining valid. The advantaged shared by cardinal systems is that they preserve relative distance (by cardinally) and adding and removing alternatives has stable impact on the result. Rather concerningly all ordinal (ranking) systems can give different results when irrelevant alternatives are added and removed.
Mathematically speaking cardinal information strongly dominates ordinal information (details why above). If you collect cardinal information on an election, that implies the ordinal ranking and allows resolving the election by both cardinal and ordinal evaluations. You can add whatever ordinal evaluation criterion you want into a cardinal evaluation such as picking a Condorcet winner if one exists and if not select by average score. Cardinal ratings really do strongly dominate any ranking system by allowing a ranking evaluator as a subset of a cardinal systems rules. STAR is score average with an additional ordinal evaluator. Using the maximum average of cardinal values is an extremely good metric by itself or integrated in any system because it tends towards a utilitarian solution, is more stable than other methods against tactical voting, and strongly avoids loss maximizing candidates. This pressure increases the minimum winning coalition size of candidates and punishes candidates who distribute limited resources only within their winning coalition.

---Updated January 12, 2024---
A timeline is my chosen method because I feel it best demonstrates the historical significance of the phenomena as well as the acceleration of disclosure and de-stigmatization since 2017. I have also included links to some of the best UAP footage I have found, additional resources, as well as documentary recommendations.

Timeline:

• March 1, 1639, Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony records in his journal that James Everell and two other men observed moving lights in the sky earlier that year. He described James as "sober" and "discreet", no doubt to lend credibility to the sighting. He wrote that while James and his two boat mates rowed their way up the Muddy River, they observed a great light in the night sky that darted between them and the village of Charlestown, a distance of about two miles, for roughly two to three hours. He added that “diverse other credible persons saw the same light, after, about the same place." This is considered to be "America's First UFO sighting".
• January 18, 1644, Winthrop records another sighting five years later writing, “About midnight, three men, coming in a boat to Boston, saw two lights arise out of the water near the north point of the town cove, in form like a man, and went at a small distance to the town, and so to the south point, and there vanished away.”
• June 13, 1933, An "unknown aircraft" crash lands in Northern Italy. Two classified telegrams are sent out to relevant personnel, one demanding "absolute silence" on the matter and the second calling for "immediate arrest and maximum penalties" for any journalists reporting on the crash. At the end of WWII the United States would capture the craft and send it back to the US. This is the only UFO crash case that David Grusch has specified as authentic.
• June 24, 1947, Civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine objects, glowing bright blue-white, flying in a “V” formation over Washington’s Mount Rainier. He compared their motion to a "saucer skipping over water". Newspapers reporting the incident mistook this description to mean the objects were shaped like saucers, thus the term "flying saucer" was born.
• July 8, 1947, The Roswell Daily Record of Roswell, New Mexico publishes a front page saying, "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region".
• July 9, 1947, The following day, The Morning Dispatch publishes a front page reading, "Army Debunks Roswell Flying Disk As World Simmers With Excitement". The official story that was then published was that it was a downed weather balloon. Major Jesse Marcel, the first military officer to arrive at the crash site, maintained that he was forced to pose for bogus photos for the media and that what he handled was "not of this world".
• September 18, 1947, The Department of the Air Force was created under the National Security Act of 1947, just two months after the Roswell incident.
• 1948, The newly formed United States Air Force established Project Sign, initially known as Project Saucer, under the command of Nathan Farragut Twining. The project was established to collect, evaluate, and distribute all information regarding UFO sightings with the presumption that they might be a national security concern.
• February, 1949, Project Grudge replaced Project Sign with the intent of alleviating public anxiety over UFOs.
• April 27, 1949, The United States Air Force released a public paper prepared by the Intelligence Division of the Air Material Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The paper stated that further investigation was required because although some UFOs appeared to be "actual aircraft", others were unexplainable.
• December 27, 1949, Project Grudge is terminated by the Air Force.
• March, 1952, Project Blue Book is established by the United States Air Force and ran out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The program was created to gather intel on UFO sightings from all over and, when possible and/or necessary, generate an explanation for the media. The Air Force recruits Dr. J. Allen Hynek, director at Ohio State University’s McMillin Observatory, to be their scientific consultant.
• 1954, a press event is held at the Escola Superior de Guerra in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. João Adil de Oliveira, captain of the Brazilian Air Force at the time, “declared to those present the reality of these flying objects and their advanced technological characteristics.” (paragraph 3)
• December 17, 1969, Project Blue Book is terminated thanks to the Condon Report. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, lead consultant on Project Blue Book, criticized the move saying the report was “rambling” and “poorly organized”. He also said Condon’s introductory summary was “singularly slanted.” Though the report cited numerous UFO incidents its researchers couldn’t explain, it concluded that “further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified.” Of the 12,618 sightings reported to Project Blue Book, 701 remained "unidentified."
• 1973, J. Allen Hynek founds the Center for UFO Studies to collect and evaluate UFO reports, which he did until his death in 1986. The organization continues to operate to this day.
• November 14, 2004, Commander David Fravor, a US Navy pilot and commander witnessed along with six others the famous tic tac UFO.
• December 18, 2007, chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura of Japan says, "Yes, UFOs do exist". Ryuji Yamane, a lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party went on to say, "This is an issue that the nation is interested in - it is a defense issue and a confirmation operation needs to take place but the government does not even try to collect information necessary for the confirmation."
• 2014 to 2015, Lieut. Ryan Graves, Navy fighter pilot, claims that UFO sightings were a regular occurence during training.
• 2014, NASA granted 1.1 million to Princeton University’s Centre of Theological Inquiry (CTI) in New Jersey to assess how the world’s major religions would react to the existence of life beyond earth and how such a discovery could potentially impact the concept of God and creation.
• December 16, 2017, the New York Times famously publishes, "Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious UFO Programs". This is the beginning of a paradigm shift of de-stigmatizing the topic as evident of other major news outlets covering it after that. It revealed the existence of AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) having existed since 2007.
• April 2020, the Pentagon officially releases three UFO videos.
• August 14, 2020, the Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist approved the establishment of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force (UAPTF), thus rebranding the term from "UFO" (unidentified flying object) to "UAP" (unidentified aerial phenomenon).
• January 13, 2021, The CIA declassifies a "treasure trove" of UFO documents for anyone to download in compliance with 10,000 FOIA requests. Find them here.
• June 25, 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence releases their Preliminary Assessment of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. Page 5 is particularly interesting stating: "And a Handful of UAP Appear to Demonstrate Advanced Technology. In 18 incidents, described in 21 reports, observers reported unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics. Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion. In a small number of cases, military aircraft systems processed radio frequency (RF) energy associated with UAP sightings."
• October 19, 2021, NASA Chief Bill Nelson talks UAPs.
• May 17, 2022, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security along with the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence swear under oath that the United States government has detected and confirmed UAPs of unknown origin that are physical and that we have detected active energies along with them. On page 30 Deputy Director Bray says, "Right. From some of the returns, I mean, it is clear that the majority -- well, it is clear that many of the observations we have are physical objects from the sensor data that we have." A full summary can be found here.
• June 24, 2022, the Brazilian Senate held a testimony from the country’s leading researchers, a former federal representative, and other speakers about unidentified aerial phenomena in an event during which high-ranking officials were reportedly present. The entire testimony is available and translated on YouTube, starting with part 1.
• July 15, 2022, the DoD announces the establishments of AARO, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. (It's worth noting that "all-domain" was chosen as a moniker because UAPs have been reported in space, the sky, and entering the sea) Recently AARO has been accused of being "Project Blue Book 2.0" with the purpose of dismissing and obfuscating the phenomenon.
• October 21, 2022, NASA Announces Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Study Team Members. This study would focus on unclassified data.
• December 23, 2022, President Biden signed the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. Baked into this act were specific protections for UAP whistleblowers (thank you, u/joeyisnotmyname for compiling those pages). I will say that one more time: baked into the NDAA for 2023 were whistleblower protections SPECIFICALLY in regards to UAPs.
• June 1, 2023, NASA reveals UFO sightings in Middle East in first ever public meeting on UAP sightings.
• June 6, 2023, just six months after Biden signed the 2023 NDAA into law, United States Air Force officer and former intelligence official David Grusch becomes a UAP whistleblower, claiming that the United States has a top secret UAP crash retrieval program.
• June 9, 2023, Thomas A. Monheim, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, deemed Grusch's claims to be "urgent and credible", paving the way towards a congressional hearing.
• July 14, 2023, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer adds his newly written UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 as an amendment to the NDAA. The NDAA was passed later that day. I highly recommend reading as much of the UAP Disclosure Act as you have time for, the language is very precise and very compelling.
• July 18, 2023, National Security Council Coordinator and spokesman John Kirby admitted that UFOs and UAPs are beginning to cause problems for the U.S. Air Force.
• July 26, 2023, just a month and a half after Grusch blows the whistle, there is a bipartisan congressional hearing on UAPs. This hearing sees the testimony of whistleblower David Grusch, David Fravor, and Ryan Graves. They are questioned for nearly two hours on their personal experiences, evidence they may have, as well as their opinions on how to handle it moving forward. Because of the official whistleblower protection channels Grusch goes through, he is not able to disclose intelligence that is still confidential, but offers names of both hostile and cooperative witnesses, as well as the specific locations of said retrieved craft if done through proper channels in closed session i.e. a S.C.I.F. Unfortunately the hearing didn't have time for closing statements, but you can read Grusch's closing statement here (as well as his opening statement). The quotes from his closing statement that stand out to me are, "Indeed, the future of our civilization and our comprehension of humanity’s place on earth and in the cosmos depends on the success of this very process." and, "As we move forward on this path, we might be poised to enable extraordinary technological progress in a future where our civilization surpasses the current state-of-the-art in propulsion, material science, energy production and storage."
• July 27, 2023, the Senate passed MULTIPLE UAP measures including presumption of immediate disclosure, further whistleblower protections, and others.
• August 9, 2023, Ken Klippenstein attempts to write a smear article on Grusch called, "UFO Whistleblower Kept Security Clearance After Psychiatric Detention". This article is majorly rejected by mainstream media and it's revealed that Ken received "vague tips" from people on Grusch. Ken is interviewed on Breaking Points and is called out for his one-sided reporting. Ken also admits on X, "I'm a national security reporter so I know people that do the UAP stuff and there is UAP retrieval." It only gets deeper when it is discovered that Ken's father, Stephen J. Klippenstein, is a Chemist and Mathematician that works for Argonne National Laboratory, a federally funded laboratory that works under the Department of Energy. Stephen's research at Argonne includes, "Developing theoretical methods for predicting the kinetics and dynamics of gas phase reactions and applying them to interesting problems in combustion, interstellar*, and atmospheric chemistry."* It is worth mentioning that The Intercept has a poor history with whistleblowers, leading to the arrest of one, while claiming they are a safe haven for whistleblowers.
• August 9, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection release multiple UAP videos on their website due to a FOIA request.
• August 31, 2023, The Pentagon releases a "one stop shop" website for UAP information. This is the updated AARO website.
• September 5, 2023, The Pentagon releases a "UFO Hot Spot Map" showing where the most common UAP sightings occur. It's mentioned that Japan is a massive hot spot for sightings (most likely due the the nuclear facilities).
• September 12, 2023, Mexican lawmakers heard testimony that "we are not alone" in the universe and saw alleged remains of non-human beings that remain unconfirmed. Ryan Graves was in attendance and claimed the reveal of the bodies was an "unsubstantiated stunt".
• September 14, 2023, NASA shares their long awaited UAP independent study report that was first announced in October 2022. They also name Mark McInerney as director of UAP research.
• September 30, 2023, The Department of Energy lists many UAP resources on their official website. This is significant due to the fact that the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 makes UAPs exempt from mandatory disclosure, something that the UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 aims to fix (Section 2, item a4).
• October 4, 2023, The Ring doorbell company offers a $1,000,000 prize to anybody who captures an unaltered video of an extraterrestrial with one of their products.
• November 7, 2023, The University of Ica announced that after studying the Nazca mummies for four years in person that they conclude the bodies are authentic, nonhuman, and unknown to science. Eleven scientists and doctors employed by the university signed. Big thanks to u/imaginexus for putting the breakdown together. There is still much skepticism around this as outside entities have not been able to verify their claims.
• November 22, 2023, Yoshiharu Asakawa, a member of the Japan Restoration House of Representatives, tweets, "the UAP problem suddenly accelerated today" and a national policy briefing session will be held on December 20th. (Try as I might, I cannot find information on the hearing itself. Please DM me if you do)
• December 12, 2023, The UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 is "edited", rather gutted, to have two major provisions removed. The first being the "eminent domain" clause which would have given the US Federal Government "eminent domain", which is to say immediate access and ownership, over all privately held UAPs. The second gutted feature was the establishment of an advisory board of experts chosen by the president to best decide how and what information to disseminate to the public upon disclosure. These two provisions we arguably some of the most important in the bill. As they say, where there's smoke there's fire.
• December 14, 2023, Retired Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet says that he believes David Grusch's allegations, that the military covered up UAP encounters during his time in the service, and that the government should disclose "contact with non-human intelligence".
• January 8, 2024, TMZ releases part one of a free documentary on Tubi called, "UFO Revolution". Jeremy Corbell, known UFOlogist and filmmaker releases one of the most interesting UAP videos to date: the jellyfish UAP. This video was taken on a weapons platform in the middle east in 2018. At first, skeptics thought it was just a smudge on the lens, but stabilization, zoom, and sharpening have proven otherwise (thanks u/Corsten). Ophello on twitter.com made a sped up gif condensing roughly 20 seconds showing it's three dimensional nature. Thanks to the zoom and stabilization, we can clearly see that the object changes with a perspective shift. What's even more interesting is finding out just how common jellyfish UAPs actually are. Here is a cruise ship captain talking about and sharing a video of a sighting out at sea. Back in 1954, British Captain James R. Howard witnessed along with crew and passengers a shape-changing UFO he described as a "flying jellyfish". He was interviewed on television and described the event.
• January 10, 2024, It is reported that David Grusch gave a presentation hosted by crypto advisor John D’Agostino and high-profile lawyer John J Altorelli in a secret meeting in a penthouse in New York. Around 60 people attended, the leaker claimed, including officials from the CIA, FBI, and major players on Wall Street. It is unclear as to why this meeting occurred but we do know that the advisolawyer duo host meetings monthly about various topics.
• January 11, 2024, Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis, introduce a new bipartisan UAP bill called, "Safe Airspace for Americans Act". The aim of this bill is to encourage ALL pilots to report sightings of UAPs to the federal government. It would also require the Federal Aviation Administration to forward all reports to AARO. This bill is a major step towards furthering the de-stigmatization of reports and discussions surrounding UAP sightings by pilots.
• January 12, 2024, Thomas A. Monheim, the inspector general of the intelligence community and the same inspector general who found David Grusch's claims "urgent and credible", gave a classified briefing to the House Oversight Committee on UAPs. Many members of Congress still felt frustrated after the briefing as they still believe the intelligence community is withholding information from Congress and the public at large.

Additional Resources:

• Preliminary Assessment on UAPs, 2021
• UAP select committee transcript, 2022
• David Grusch's resume
• UAP Disclosure Act of 2023
• 177 page timeline
• News Nation coverage of the congressional hearing
• Ross Coulthart's follow-up report after hearing
• NUFORC report index
• Air Force Official UAP resources
• Declassified CIA documents on UFOs
• Full Committee Member Briefing on NASA’s Independent Study Report on UAP
• Yes Theory documentary on David Grusch
• 2022 Brazilian hearing on UAPs

Possible UAP Footage:

• Glowing cube UAP in Belgrade, Serbia. Matt Gaetz described seeing classified footage of something similar during the hearing of 2023.
• Jellyfish UAP of 2018
• Jerusalem UAP from four different angles. CBS reported on this in 2011.
• Possible UAP at night that changes direction rapidly.
• Multiple UAPs caught on video in Fairfield, CT.
• Incredibly clear UAP caught on film in personal airplane cockpit.
• Triangle UAP in Shanghai, China.
• Insanely clear footage of a tic tac UAP in Hungary.
• Pilot spots cube/sphere like UAP similar to the one in footage released by NASA.
• Triangle UAP at night.

Documentaries:

1. UFOs: Investigating the Unknown.
2. The Phenomenon.
3. TMZ Presents: UFO Revolution
4. Moment of Contact

--Updated January 12, 2024--
A timeline is my chosen method because I feel it best demonstrates the historical significance of the phenomena as well as the acceleration of disclosure and de-stigmatization since 2017. I have also included links to some of the best UAP footage I have found, additional resources, as well as documentary recommendations.

Timeline:

• March 1, 1639, Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony records in his journal that James Everell and two other men observed moving lights in the sky earlier that year. He described James as "sober" and "discreet", no doubt to lend credibility to the sighting. He wrote that while James and his two boat mates rowed their way up the Muddy River, they observed a great light in the night sky that darted between them and the village of Charlestown, a distance of about two miles, for roughly two to three hours. He added that “diverse other credible persons saw the same light, after, about the same place." This is considered to be "America's First UFO sighting".
• January 18, 1644, Winthrop records another sighting five years later writing, “About midnight, three men, coming in a boat to Boston, saw two lights arise out of the water near the north point of the town cove, in form like a man, and went at a small distance to the town, and so to the south point, and there vanished away.”
• June 13, 1933, An "unknown aircraft" crash lands in Northern Italy. Two classified telegrams are sent out to relevant personnel, one demanding "absolute silence" on the matter and the second calling for "immediate arrest and maximum penalties" for any journalists reporting on the crash. At the end of WWII the United States would capture the craft and send it back to the US. This is the only UFO crash case that David Grusch has specified as authentic.
• June 24, 1947, Civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine objects, glowing bright blue-white, flying in a “V” formation over Washington’s Mount Rainier. He compared their motion to a "saucer skipping over water". Newspapers reporting the incident mistook this description to mean the objects were shaped like saucers, thus the term "flying saucer" was born.
• July 8, 1947, The Roswell Daily Record of Roswell, New Mexico publishes a front page saying, "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region".
• July 9, 1947, The following day, The Morning Dispatch publishes a front page reading, "Army Debunks Roswell Flying Disk As World Simmers With Excitement". The official story that was then published was that it was a downed weather balloon. Major Jesse Marcel, the first military officer to arrive at the crash site, maintained that he was forced to pose for bogus photos for the media and that what he handled was "not of this world".
• September 18, 1947, The Department of the Air Force was created under the National Security Act of 1947, just two months after the Roswell incident.
• 1948, The newly formed United States Air Force established Project Sign, initially known as Project Saucer, under the command of Nathan Farragut Twining. The project was established to collect, evaluate, and distribute all information regarding UFO sightings with the presumption that they might be a national security concern.
• February, 1949, Project Grudge replaced Project Sign with the intent of alleviating public anxiety over UFOs.
• April 27, 1949, The United States Air Force released a public paper prepared by the Intelligence Division of the Air Material Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The paper stated that further investigation was required because although some UFOs appeared to be "actual aircraft", others were unexplainable.
• December 27, 1949, Project Grudge is terminated by the Air Force.
• March, 1952, Project Blue Book is established by the United States Air Force and ran out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The program was created to gather intel on UFO sightings from all over and, when possible and/or necessary, generate an explanation for the media. The Air Force recruits Dr. J. Allen Hynek, director at Ohio State University’s McMillin Observatory, to be their scientific consultant.
• 1954, a press event is held at the Escola Superior de Guerra in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. João Adil de Oliveira, captain of the Brazilian Air Force at the time, “declared to those present the reality of these flying objects and their advanced technological characteristics.” (paragraph 3)
• December 17, 1969, Project Blue Book is terminated thanks to the Condon Report. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, lead consultant on Project Blue Book, criticized the move saying the report was “rambling” and “poorly organized”. He also said Condon’s introductory summary was “singularly slanted.” Though the report cited numerous UFO incidents its researchers couldn’t explain, it concluded that “further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified.” Of the 12,618 sightings reported to Project Blue Book, 701 remained "unidentified."
• 1973, J. Allen Hynek founds the Center for UFO Studies to collect and evaluate UFO reports, which he did until his death in 1986. The organization continues to operate to this day.
• November 14, 2004, Commander David Fravor, a US Navy pilot and commander witnessed along with six others the famous tic tac UFO.
• December 18, 2007, chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura of Japan says, "Yes, UFOs do exist". Ryuji Yamane, a lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party went on to say, "This is an issue that the nation is interested in - it is a defense issue and a confirmation operation needs to take place but the government does not even try to collect information necessary for the confirmation."
• 2014 to 2015, Lieut. Ryan Graves, Navy fighter pilot, claims that UFO sightings were a regular occurence during training.
• 2014, NASA granted 1.1 million to Princeton University’s Centre of Theological Inquiry (CTI) in New Jersey to assess how the world’s major religions would react to the existence of life beyond earth and how such a discovery could potentially impact the concept of God and creation.
• December 16, 2017, the New York Times famously publishes, "Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious UFO Programs". This is the beginning of a paradigm shift of de-stigmatizing the topic as evident of other major news outlets covering it after that. It revealed the existence of AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) having existed since 2007.
• April 2020, the Pentagon officially releases three UFO videos.
• August 14, 2020, the Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist approved the establishment of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force (UAPTF), thus rebranding the term from "UFO" (unidentified flying object) to "UAP" (unidentified aerial phenomenon).
• January 13, 2021, The CIA declassifies a "treasure trove" of UFO documents for anyone to download in compliance with 10,000 FOIA requests. Find them here.
• June 25, 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence releases their Preliminary Assessment of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. Page 5 is particularly interesting stating: "And a Handful of UAP Appear to Demonstrate Advanced Technology. In 18 incidents, described in 21 reports, observers reported unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics. Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion. In a small number of cases, military aircraft systems processed radio frequency (RF) energy associated with UAP sightings."
• October 19, 2021, NASA Chief Bill Nelson talks UAPs.
• May 17, 2022, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security along with the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence swear under oath that the United States government has detected and confirmed UAPs of unknown origin that are physical and that we have detected active energies along with them. On page 30 Deputy Director Bray says, "Right. From some of the returns, I mean, it is clear that the majority -- well, it is clear that many of the observations we have are physical objects from the sensor data that we have." A full summary can be found here.
• June 24, 2022, the Brazilian Senate held a testimony from the country’s leading researchers, a former federal representative, and other speakers about unidentified aerial phenomena in an event during which high-ranking officials were reportedly present. The entire testimony is available and translated on YouTube, starting with part 1.
• July 15, 2022, the DoD announces the establishments of AARO, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. (It's worth noting that "all-domain" was chosen as a moniker because UAPs have been reported in space, the sky, and entering the sea) Recently AARO has been accused of being "Project Blue Book 2.0" with the purpose of dismissing and obfuscating the phenomenon.
• October 21, 2022, NASA Announces Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Study Team Members. This study would focus on unclassified data.
• December 23, 2022, President Biden signed the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. Baked into this act were specific protections for UAP whistleblowers (thank you, u/joeyisnotmyname for compiling those pages). I will say that one more time: baked into the NDAA for 2023 were whistleblower protections SPECIFICALLY in regards to UAPs.
• June 1, 2023, NASA reveals UFO sightings in Middle East in first ever public meeting on UAP sightings.
• June 6, 2023, just six months after Biden signed the 2023 NDAA into law, United States Air Force officer and former intelligence official David Grusch becomes a UAP whistleblower, claiming that the United States has a top secret UAP crash retrieval program.
• June 9, 2023, Thomas A. Monheim, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, deemed Grusch's claims to be "urgent and credible", paving the way towards a congressional hearing.
• July 14, 2023, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer adds his newly written UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 as an amendment to the NDAA. The NDAA was passed later that day. I highly recommend reading as much of the UAP Disclosure Act as you have time for, the language is very precise and very compelling.
• July 18, 2023, National Security Council Coordinator and spokesman John Kirby admitted that UFOs and UAPs are beginning to cause problems for the U.S. Air Force.
• July 26, 2023, just a month and a half after Grusch blows the whistle, there is a bipartisan congressional hearing on UAPs. This hearing sees the testimony of whistleblower David Grusch, David Fravor, and Ryan Graves. They are questioned for nearly two hours on their personal experiences, evidence they may have, as well as their opinions on how to handle it moving forward. Because of the official whistleblower protection channels Grusch goes through, he is not able to disclose intelligence that is still confidential, but offers names of both hostile and cooperative witnesses, as well as the specific locations of said retrieved craft if done through proper channels in closed session i.e. a S.C.I.F. Unfortunately the hearing didn't have time for closing statements, but you can read Grusch's closing statement here (as well as his opening statement). The quotes from his closing statement that stand out to me are, "Indeed, the future of our civilization and our comprehension of humanity’s place on earth and in the cosmos depends on the success of this very process." and, "As we move forward on this path, we might be poised to enable extraordinary technological progress in a future where our civilization surpasses the current state-of-the-art in propulsion, material science, energy production and storage."
• July 27, 2023, the Senate passed MULTIPLE UAP measures including presumption of immediate disclosure, further whistleblower protections, and others.
• August 9, 2023, Ken Klippenstein attempts to write a smear article on Grusch called, "UFO Whistleblower Kept Security Clearance After Psychiatric Detention". This article is majorly rejected by mainstream media and it's revealed that Ken received "vague tips" from people on Grusch. Ken is interviewed on Breaking Points and is called out for his one-sided reporting. Ken also admits on X, "I'm a national security reporter so I know people that do the UAP stuff and there is UAP retrieval." It only gets deeper when it is discovered that Ken's father, Stephen J. Klippenstein, is a Chemist and Mathematician that works for Argonne National Laboratory, a federally funded laboratory that works under the Department of Energy. Stephen's research at Argonne includes, "Developing theoretical methods for predicting the kinetics and dynamics of gas phase reactions and applying them to interesting problems in combustion, interstellar*, and atmospheric chemistry."* It is worth mentioning that The Intercept has a poor history with whistleblowers, leading to the arrest of one, while claiming they are a safe haven for whistleblowers.
• August 9, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection release multiple UAP videos on their website due to a FOIA request.
• August 31, 2023, The Pentagon releases a "one stop shop" website for UAP information. This is the updated AARO website.
• September 5, 2023, The Pentagon releases a "UFO Hot Spot Map" showing where the most common UAP sightings occur. It's mentioned that Japan is a massive hot spot for sightings (most likely due the the nuclear facilities).
• September 12, 2023, Mexican lawmakers heard testimony that "we are not alone" in the universe and saw alleged remains of non-human beings that remain unconfirmed. Ryan Graves was in attendance and claimed the reveal of the bodies was an "unsubstantiated stunt".
• September 14, 2023, NASA shares their long awaited UAP independent study report that was first announced in October 2022. They also name Mark McInerney as director of UAP research.
• September 30, 2023, The Department of Energy lists many UAP resources on their official website. This is significant due to the fact that the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 makes UAPs exempt from mandatory disclosure, something that the UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 aims to fix (Section 2, item a4).
• October 4, 2023, The Ring doorbell company offers a $1,000,000 prize to anybody who captures an unaltered video of an extraterrestrial with one of their products.
• November 7, 2023, The University of Ica announced that after studying the Nazca mummies for four years in person that they conclude the bodies are authentic, nonhuman, and unknown to science. Eleven scientists and doctors employed by the university signed. Big thanks to u/imaginexus for putting the breakdown together. There is still much skepticism around this as outside entities have not been able to verify their claims.
• November 22, 2023, Yoshiharu Asakawa, a member of the Japan Restoration House of Representatives, tweets, "the UAP problem suddenly accelerated today" and a national policy briefing session will be held on December 20th. (Try as I might, I cannot find information on the hearing itself. Please DM me if you do)
• December 12, 2023, The UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 is "edited", rather gutted, to have two major provisions removed. The first being the "eminent domain" clause which would have given the US Federal Government "eminent domain", which is to say immediate access and ownership, over all privately held UAPs. The second gutted feature was the establishment of an advisory board of experts chosen by the president to best decide how and what information to disseminate to the public upon disclosure. These two provisions we arguably some of the most important in the bill. As they say, where there's smoke there's fire.
• December 14, 2023, Retired Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet says that he believes David Grusch's allegations, that the military covered up UAP encounters during his time in the service, and that the government should disclose "contact with non-human intelligence".
• January 8, 2024, TMZ releases part one of a free documentary on Tubi called, "UFO Revolution". Jeremy Corbell, known UFOlogist and filmmaker releases one of the most interesting UAP videos to date: the jellyfish UAP. This video was taken on a weapons platform in the middle east in 2018. At first, skeptics thought it was just a smudge on the lens, but stabilization, zoom, and sharpening have proven otherwise (thanks u/Corsten). Ophello on twitter.com made a sped up gif condensing roughly 20 seconds showing it's three dimensional nature. Thanks to the zoom and stabilization, we can clearly see that the object changes with a perspective shift. What's even more interesting is finding out just how common jellyfish UAPs actually are. Here is a cruise ship captain talking about and sharing a video of a sighting out at sea. Back in 1954, British Captain James R. Howard witnessed along with crew and passengers a shape-changing UFO he described as a "flying jellyfish". He was interviewed on television and described the event.
• January 10, 2024, It is reported that David Grusch gave a presentation hosted by crypto advisor John D’Agostino and high-profile lawyer John J Altorelli in a secret meeting in a penthouse in New York. Around 60 people attended, the leaker claimed, including officials from the CIA, FBI, and major players on Wall Street. It is unclear as to why this meeting occurred but we do know that the advisolawyer duo host meetings monthly about various topics.
• January 11, 2024, Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis, introduce a new bipartisan UAP bill called, "Safe Airspace for Americans Act". The aim of this bill is to encourage ALL pilots to report sightings of UAPs to the federal government. It would also require the Federal Aviation Administration to forward all reports to AARO. This bill is a major step towards furthering the de-stigmatization of reports and discussions surrounding UAP sightings by pilots.
• January 12, 2024, Thomas A. Monheim, the inspector general of the intelligence community and the same inspector general who found David Grusch's claims "urgent and credible", gave a classified briefing to the House Oversight Committee on UAPs. Many members of Congress still felt frustrated after the briefing as they still believe the intelligence community is withholding information from Congress and the public at large.

Additional Resources:

• Preliminary Assessment on UAPs, 2021
• UAP select committee transcript, 2022
• David Grusch's resume
• UAP Disclosure Act of 2023
• 177 page timeline
• News Nation coverage of the congressional hearing
• Ross Coulthart's follow-up report after hearing
• NUFORC report index
• Air Force Official UAP resources
• Declassified CIA documents on UFOs
• Full Committee Member Briefing on NASA’s Independent Study Report on UAP
• Yes Theory documentary on David Grusch
• 2022 Brazilian hearing on UAPs

Possible UAP Footage:

• Glowing cube UAP in Belgrade, Serbia. Matt Gaetz described seeing classified footage of something similar during the hearing of 2023.
• Jellyfish UAP of 2018
• Jerusalem UAP from four different angles. CBS reported on this in 2011.
• Possible UAP at night that changes direction rapidly.
• Multiple UAPs caught on video in Fairfield, CT.
• Incredibly clear UAP caught on film in personal airplane cockpit.
• Triangle UAP in Shanghai, China.
• Insanely clear footage of a tic tac UAP in Hungary.
• Pilot spots cube/sphere like UAP similar to the one in footage released by NASA.
• Triangle UAP at night.

Documentaries:

1. UFOs: Investigating the Unknown.
2. The Phenomenon.
3. TMZ Presents: UFO Revolution
4. Moment of Contact

* It's Larry Mollin's birthday.
​
* Rosin and Mollin once pitched a show about a detective. They pitched it to John Landgraf, head of FX. Afterwards, he said "Is this a drama or a comedy"?
​
* Rosin and Mollin are not drinkers, they are herbalists.
* There have been restitution for the misprints in Larry Mollin's latest book.
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* This script had a lot of shared re-writing.
* Rosin told Luke Perry, that as long as the meaning was being communicated, the words didn't mean as much to him.
* Rosin sometimes wrote great lines for Douglas Emerson, and they didn't quite land as he wanted them to. They were doubles, not home runs, to use a baseball analogy.
​
* Writer Amy Spies was there from the beginning of the series.
* The Beverly Hills high school that Barry Diller and Rosin went to, was nothing like what the show was portraying. During Rosin's time, there wasn't drinking. There was smoking and herbs.
* There was alcohol at parties, but it was cheap wine.
* After movies in the 70s and 80s like Animal House, then there was more drinking at frat houses.
* Wisconsin was a beer town.
* David Stenn was another producer. He wrote "The Green Room". He took a pseudonym on "East Side Story".
​
* Stenn wrote a book on Clara Bow. His editor was Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
* Stenn is who brought in Jane Trapnell, the costume designer for The First 12. When Stenn left the show, Trapnell left with him.
​
* Darren Starr, David Stenn, Charles Rosin, Aaron Spelling, Amy Spies, Jordan Budde were the main people working on the show, at this time.
* Two weeks into the series, the Spelling company is leaving their studio.
* There's an office building on Wilshire Blvd. that might have been used in "The Pit And The Pendulum".
* When Rosin was introduced to the building by the facilities guy, he called and asked where their offices were. They said, "I'll call you back."
* When Rosin realized there weren't any offices, he went to go smoke.
* They ended up being put in the back of a complex in Hollywood, where it wasn't a safe place.
* That complex had just finished an incredible season of Twin Peaks. They are sharing the post production office with Twin Peaks.
* Propaganda did all of the post production for Twin Peaks.
* Propaganda also did a music video for Madonna.
​
* After The First Six, they got picked up for six more episodes.
* The network executive proposed every single thing they proposed.
* The show wasn't even called "90210" when they were pitching ideas to that network executive.
* The network executive had some successes with FOX, but he also caused a lot of stress and problems.
* They didn't think Beverly Hills, 90210 had enough swagger.
* They were also trying to appeal to a New York executive.
* Aaron Spelling did have a clear vision of what the show was supposed to be.
​
* Charles Rosin just went ahead and started writing The First Six. Had that not happened, none of the episodes would have been done on time.
* There were other shows that were actually filmed, but never aired, because the network executives weren't happy.
* The Simpsons, In Living Color, Married With Children were able to swim through that gauntlet and survive.
​
* This show just didn't fit in with a lot of the imagery of FOX.
* The network did not like "The Green Room" and "Every Dream Has Its Price (Tag)".
* After either "One On One" or "The First Time", the network did like these creatively.
* Still, Barry Diller said "I don't know if this show belongs on our air". It was an OK show, but is it the kind of show we should be doing?
​
* Rosin gives credit to Amy Spies, for using the words "White privilege" in "One On One".
* They got into trouble with "The 17 Year Itch". The network wanted them to do adult episodes.
* Pete Ferriero says that Carol's performance is great, but the focus should be more on Brandon and Brenda.
* Rosin also says you do not want to see Cindy have an affair. They are from the Midwest. Kelly's mom would be ok.
​
* They don't have Andrea's parents, because they don't have time to develop more characters. It also comes down to money, because they'd then have to have recurring characters.
* Rosin's father was Lainey Kazan's pediatrician.
​
* This episode was Rosin and Jordan Budde working together. "One Man And A Baby" was Darren Star and Amy Spies.
* IMDB lists more people.
* Rosin once did a show called "South Of Nowhere". Created by Tommy Lynch.
* The strike happens, and the series is cancelled.
* One of the staff puts himself down as the writer for every episode, on IMDB.
* The lesson in this is that do not rely on IMDB. Look at the actual credits at the end of the episode.
* Rosin doesn't care about this inaccuracy anymore. He cared when the show (South Of Nowhere) was live, but not anymore.
​
* Another case in point is how Darren Starr is on IMDB for every episode in the series. Where in real life, he had left long before the end of the series.
​
* Pete Ferriero hints there might be a new version of 9-OH News with Erin Clements.
​
* Barry Diller hated The Simpsons. He did not want to do a cartoon.
​
* Jordan Budde wrote the plot about Jim and Cindy going to the retreat.
* They are swingers, looking for a good time.
* Jordan Budde made the crew laugh with this plot.
* They kept interrupting the Walsh parents. The privacy of the Walsh parents meant nothing.
​
* Brandon dances in this episode.
* The place where Donna threw the party, was close to the studio. So it saved on the budget.
* Kelly and Steve hooking up is supposed to show what happens when alcohol is consumed.
​
* From The First 12, the episodes with real character definition are: The Green Room (Dylan), Every Dream Has Its Price (Brenda), The First Time (Brandon), The Gentle Art Of Listening (Brenda).
* Brandon doesn't know his boundaries in this episode.
* Rosin's favorite episode is "Slumber Party". The four girls really pushed the series forward in that episode.
* BYOB doesn't hold up to these other character episodes.
* Rosin does like how Jim Walsh basically says that he can be a harsh person, but he's glad Brandon is alive.
​
* E. Duke Vincent does not like how harsh Jim Walsh was, in "The Party Fish".
* Rosin and Darren Star both called the network, about the continuity problem, about Brandon driving a car in the next episode. The network did not care. They didn't think it was a problem.
* Star didn't want to fight as hard, because he was busy prepping for "One Man And A Baby".
* "BYOB" was the last episode Rosin was going to be heavily involved in, through episode 12, since more had not been ordered yet.
* Rosin cites this as an example of why the show was not taken seriously. This having Brandon drive a car in the next episode, and because they repeated an entire year of school.
* This episode did not benefit from the Gulf War ongoing. "Slumber Party" had better timing, as the Gulf War was ending.
​
* Pete Ferriero had to watch BYOB in health class in high school. That's how he discovered the series.
​
* Because this episode was not extended beyond episode 12, Rosin was thinking ahead of how he would have to move on to another serious show soon. He did not think this would be the lasting show.
​
* The type of shows that were getting Emmys were procedural. Or TV movies. Not character driven shows like Friday Night Lights.
​
* Rosin was given the script for "Love Is Never Silent". He told them "don't change a word".
​
* Rosin does not like the execution of the car accident. They didn't earn it from a production standpoint. From a sound standpoint. They were just trying to get it done. It was sloppy. And for less money.
* They didn't earn the moment.
​
* Shortly afterwards, the network said there were too many social dramas, and they wanted something lighter. So that's why they then did "Fame Is Where You Find It", where Brandon goes to Hollywood.
* They would not have done BYOB if it were the 2nd season onward. It would not have fit.
​
* Rosin says there's a part of Andrea that enjoyed being kissed. Perhaps she wished it would have happened under non drunk circumstances.
* Brandon's problem wasn't getting drunk, it was getting in the car.
​
* Rosin's mindset on this episode was that this was his last episode. Because Daren Star was doing #11 and #12. Rosin was involved, in terms of notes, etc., for those others. But he wasn't the main guy.
​
* Ferriero likes David and Kelly dancing.
​
* Ratings for this episode were not good. They wouldn't get good ratings until after the Gulf War.
​
* David Stenn turned in a draft of "East Side Story" and resigned.
* Rosin says he would have fired Stenn soon, if he hadn't resigned. They just weren't meshing, and Rosin didn't like where the show was going.
​
* There's a girl with purple gloves. (Interesting fashion choice). This was before Dianne Kennedy.
​
​
​

So obviously the whole sub right now is freaking out about Nettles and Daeron (potentially) not appearing in season 2. People are being quick to throw the entire show under the bus, insulting the writers/showrunners, call the show rushed, get angry about focusing on minoshow only characters over larger ones. I could go on.
The amount of caveats to all of this are astronomical, yet people seem to have leapt on this new opportunity to doom and gloom about the show and its doing my head in. So now I'm gonna list some reasons why it's (hopefully) too early to panic just yet and how Nettles and Daeron's possible absence doesn't signify a disaster of storytelling and their being cut from the show.

1. This did not come from an official source.

Outside Not a Blog and HBO themselves, this sub gets its show news from three major sources: Redanian Intelligence, HotdCroatia (now Wake the Dragon) and Housethedragons, the latter of whom initially shared the Nettles and Daeron news over Twitter. According to Housethedragons, this leak came from an "internal source". Seemingly, someone from inside the production told them that Daeron and Nettles wouldn't be appearing.
I'm not gonna sit here and say that these accounts are all clickbait liars. Usually, most of what they share with us is the truth or at least mostly true. But this information is far from watertight. And when you examine it further you begin to realise that these outlets don't always get their facts correct to begin with. For months it was reported that B&C would be episode 2 and that episode 3 would be Jaehaerys' funeral, and the directors working on each episode were cited and supposedly "seen on set" to confirm this. Now those same outlets have reported that this was wrong over Twitter and that B&C is actually episode 1 and the funeral episode 2. It begs the question which is actually true, and if the first is false then how did they get the directors on set so wrong?
Of the three I've mentioned, Redanian Intelligence is by far the most reliable news source. They don't report something unless it is 100 percent confirmed. And coincidentally, they are also the only source of the three that is yet to weigh in on the Daeron/Nettles leak. Something to think about.

1. The actor's strike means we can't get official confirmation of anything yet.

We haven't gotten an official casting announcement from HOTD/HBO since Alyn, Gwayne, Alys and Simon Strong were announced. Since then we've had tons of castings, rumoured and confirmed, but heard nothing from HOTD/HBO, Condal etc on who will be playing who. It's possible that in the next press release Nettles and Daeron will appear among the names. I don't think I ever remember Phoebe Campbell as Rhaena, for example, being even hinted at until the supporting cast announcement was made a couple months before season 1 aired. As hard as it may be to believe, Daeron and Nettles casting could just be being closely guarded.
Side note: The whole Dyana controversy, just cos someone's IMDB page says they'll appear in four episodes doesn't mean they're gonna be a major POV character. Even if she was in the background she could still get credited. Not to mention IMDB could just be wrong lol

1. The season was cut down, meaning some events got pushed to season 3.

People forget this season was originally meant to be 10 episodes just like season 1, but it got trimmed down to 8. We can assume that the Gullet was likely one of the events that got moved. Nettles and Sheepstealer, Daeron's full introduction and the Honeywine etc could have also been part of either a longer season 2 or at the beginning of season 3. Whether you think its too late or not, considering most people seem to think they won't be introduced at all, I'd imagine we would take a late appearance over nothing. And with the possible slower pace of the second half of season 2 it's possible we won't even feel like their introduction is too late in the day by the time the season is over.
The Dance is not a very long section of an already quite short book. HBO knows HOTD and The Last of Us will be their cash cows for at least the rest of this decade. They will want to stretch the show as long as it can go. So I think, rather than it being rushed, season 2 will actually end far before people initially expected (fall of Kings landing). Production also took less time, meaning season 3 turnover will be quicker than expected, assuming the actors strike has ended by the new year.
Trust the process. Trust the writers. Don't freak out about things that haven't even been confirmed yet. I'm still extremely excited for season 2, and you all should be too!

Hi BurnNotice. Big fan here. Been a fan since the middle of season 1 was in syndication. I was playing around with ChatGPT and thought it would be cool to see what it could generate, given some directives. The story is copyrighted by me, RMiller517, with some creative help from ChatGPT on story assembling, wording, continuity, grammar, and other linguistics.
As you read, I hope you can imagine how it could air as an episode of the show. You'll notice all major players within it, and there isn't a side-story, so it doesn't necessarily fit into any season. As such, there are no spoilers to the regular show for reading it.
Between and during scenes, I hope your mind's eye can imagine some of the shows imagery inserted in. So, for example, if the scene says "Miami Skyline" or "The Carlito" , imagine 20-somethings walking around in club attire or bathing suits (depending if it is day or night).
As I talk about things like hideouts, or the loft, or Maddie's house, I hope you can picture those and imagine the scene taking place there.
If a new character is introduced, I hope you can see the freeze frame for the first time with their name and what they are to the story (Mob Boss, The Client, etc.)
One slight spoiler to my story- three characters are introduced that are one-off characters for the episode. For the purposes of your mind's eye, I will post a link of who I imagine would play this part for the story. If you want to picture your own people or don't want to know who the characters I'd be introducing are before reading them, then skip this part.
Russian Mob Boss Anatoly Kozlov - Andrey Ivchenko - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3359985/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Alex - Jeremy Allen White - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2087739/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_0_nm_7_q_jere
Danny - Tom Sturridge - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0836432/?ref_=tt_ov_st
Happy reading. This isn't something I normally do, and I hope this kind of content is allowed here. I welcome your criticism but I'm not spending more time editing this so it is what it is at this point.
Title: Burn Notice - "From Russia with Espionage"
INTRO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RL7OOvsreM
[Scene 1 - EXT. MIAMI SKYLINE - NIGHT]
[The camera pans over the shimmering lights of Miami's skyline at night. The city is alive with activity, but danger lurks in the shadows.]
MICHAEL (V.O.):
(voiceover)
My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy until we got a burn notice on you. You're blacklisted.
[The camera cuts to a series of quick shots: Michael being blown up in a fiery explosion, his spy credentials being burned, and his life spiraling out of control.]
MICHAEL (V.O.):
(voiceover)
When you're burned, you've got nothing: no cash, no credit, no job history. You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in.
MICHAEL:
Where am I?
Fiona:
Miami
[The camera shifts to Michael, who's standing on a rooftop, overlooking the city.]
MICHAEL (V.O.):
(voiceover)
You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anyone who's still talking to you. A trigger-happy girlfriend
Fiona: Should we shoot them?
MICHAEL (V.O.): an old friend who used to inform on you to the FBI.
Sam:
You know spies, bunch of bitchy little girls.
[The camera zooms in on Michael's face, showing his determination.]
MICHAEL (V.O.):
(voiceover)
Family too.
Madeline:
Someone needs your help, Michael.
MICHAEL (V.O.):
(voiceover)
If you're desperate. Bottom line? Until you figure out who burned you, you're not going anywhere.
[End of Scene 1]
[Scene 2 - INT. MADELINE'S HOUSE - NIGHT]
[The episode starts with the group engaged in various activities.]
[Sound of a car pulling up outside]
Jesse:
(glancing toward the window)
Someone's here.
Fiona:
(raising an eyebrow)
This late?
[They all turn to the door as it opens, revealing Alex, an old friend.]
Alex:
(walking in, clearly distressed)
Guys, I'm in deep trouble.
[Michael steps forward.]
MICHAEL:
(concerned)
Alex, what's going on?
Alex:
(grim)
Guys, this is serious. I need your help. My brother, Danny, got caught up with the Russians in Miami. They're into some heavy drug dealing.
[The group exchanges worried glances.]
Sam:
(leaning forward)
What kind of drugs are we talking about here?
Alex:
(hesitating)
Something new they're pushing hard. They call it "Black Ice." It's potent, dangerous, and they're flooding the streets with it.
[Madeline chimes in, visibly concerned.]
Madeline:
(sincerely)
Oh, Alex, you've got to get your brother out of this mess.
[Alex nods, looking desperate.]
Alex:
(teary-eyed)
I tried talking to him, but he's in too deep. They've threatened his life if he leaves.
Fiona:
(determined)
We're in, Alex. But we need all the information you have.
[Alex proceeds to explain the situation further, detailing the ruthless nature of the Russian drug dealers and the danger Danny is in.]
MICHAEL:
(nods)
We'll get your brother back, Alex. But it won't be easy. These Russians are well-connected and dangerous. You're officially our client now.
[Alex, relieved, offers his gratitude.]
Alex:
(thankful)
Thank you, Michael. I knew I could count on you guys.
[The group discusses their plan to take down the Russian drug operation and rescue Danny.]
[Scene 4 - INT. MIAMI STREETS - DAY]
[The streets of Miami bustle with activity as the group disperses from "The Carlito." Michael and Alex walk together.]
Michael (Voiceover):
(narrating)
Spies are chameleons by nature. We adapt to new roles, change our identities, and learn to act and dress like the people we're dealing with. It's a skillset that comes in handy when you're infiltrating a world as dangerous as the Russian mob.]
[As they walk, Michael's voiceover provides guidance.]
Michael (Voiceover):
(narrating)
To blend in, you have to look like you belong. Dress appropriately, act natural, and avoid drawing attention.
[Michael and Alex reach a corner where they can see the Russian mobsters outside their compound. They engage in a hushed conversation.]
Alex:
(looking around)
We should head to the Russian's compound. It's in Little Havana, a few blocks from here.
[As they walk, Michael's voiceover provides guidance.]
Michael (Voiceover):
(narrating)
But sometimes, looking the part isn't enough. You have to sound the part, too.
[Michael and Alex approach the Russian mobsters, who are speaking among themselves in Russian, with an air of skepticism.]
Russian Mobster 1:
(in Russian, skeptical)
This better be worth our time, Alex.
[Alex takes a deep breath and signals to Michael, who steps forward confidently.]
Alex:
(in Russian, introducing)
Gentlemen, meet Viktor. He's my close associate and has connections that can be beneficial to all of us.
[The Russian mobsters eye Michael curiously.]
Russian Mobster Leader (Anatoly Kozlov):
(in Russian, sizing up Michael)
What kind of connections are we talking about?
Michael (Viktor):
(in a convincing Russian accent)
I have access to merchandise of the highest quality. No questions asked. It could change the game for your operation.
[Alex, Michael, and the Russians continue to discuss the potential business opportunity, with Michael gradually gaining their trust.]
Russian Mobster Leader (Anatoly Kozlov):
(in Russian, skeptical)
How do we know you're not a cop, Viktor?
Michael (Viktor):
(in Russian, confidently)
You can't be sure, but I can assure you that I'm in this for profit, not for any law enforcement agency. I've been in the game a long time, and I know how to keep a low profile.
[Anatoly Kozlov exchanges a wary look with his associates but seems more intrigued.]
Russian Mobster Leader (Anatoly Kozlov):
(in Russian, probing)
What's your track record, Viktor? Who have you worked with before?
Michael (Viktor):
(in Russian, with conviction)
I've done business with some of the biggest players in this city. You can ask around. My reputation speaks for itself.
[Alex chimes in to reinforce Michael's credibility.]
Alex:
(in Russian, supporting)
I can vouch for Viktor. We go way back. He's the real deal.
[Anatoly Kozlov appears to be considering the offer. He looks at Michael, sizing him up.]
Russian Mobster Leader (Anatoly Kozlov):
(in Russian, cautiously)
You have something to prove, Viktor. We don't trust easily.
Michael (Viktor):
(in Russian, confidently)
I understand, and I'm willing to prove my worth. Here's my business card.
[Michael hands over a sleek black business card with a phone number, written in bold letters.]
Michael (Viktor):
(in Russian, earnestly)
Call me tomorrow, and we can discuss the details. I'm confident this will be a mutually beneficial partnership.
[Alex, Michael, and the Russians continue their discussion, the atmosphere less tense as they delve into the specifics of the business opportunity.]
[End of Scene 4]
[Scene 5 - INT. MADELINE'S HOUSE - NIGHT]
[The group, including Alex, reconvenes at Madeline's house. Madeline is in her element, multitasking by smoking a cigarette and attempting to cook something in the kitchen. The smell of burnt food hangs in the air.]
[Fiona wrinkles her nose as she enters the house.]
Fiona:
(disgruntled)
Madeline, what on earth are you cooking?
Madeline:
(smoking and shrugging)
Just experimenting, dear. Trying to find that perfect recipe.
[The group exchanges knowing glances.]
Alex:
(grinning)
Ah, Madeline. Always the culinary artist.
MICHAEL:
(aside, smirking)
Although her culinary skills haven't improved since I was a kid.
[Madeline, undeterred, playfully claps back.]
Madeline:
(smiling)
Well, Michael, we can't all be gourmet chefs, but I manage just fine.
[They gather around the kitchen table, where Fiona has spread out a map with drawings on it.]
Alex:
(to the group)
So, what's our next move? Viktor is making progress in gaining the Russians' trust, but we're not out of the woods yet. Danny's still in danger.
[Before the end of the scene, the front door opens, and Sam enters with Jesse, holding a six-pack of beer. They join the group.]
Fiona:
(raising an eyebrow)
Well, Sam, how was your date with Ms. Reynolds?
Sam:
(grinning suggestively)
Let's just say it went well, Fi.
[Jesse, eager to contribute, chimes in.]
Jesse:
(excited)
I've been digging through some of my old contacts. Managed to pull up some old Russian news items. With a little creative modification, I can make it look like Michael here committed those crimes. It should be enough to convince the Russians he's the real deal.
[The group nods in approval.]
MICHAEL:
(adding to the discussion)
Jesse's right. This fabricated criminal history will make my cover as Viktor even more convincing. We need to make sure there are no loose ends.
[Fiona and the others consider Michael's words, realizing the importance of their strategy.]
[Madeline, still multitasking, offers a plate of burnt food.]
Madeline:
(offering a plate of burnt food)
Care for some experimental cuisine to celebrate?
[The group laughs, taking a moment to savor their progress.]
[Sam, with a mischievous grin, adds.]
Sam:
(raising a beer)
I'd rather just stick to the beer, Madeline.
[End of Scene 5]
[Scene 6 - INT. MICHAEL'S LOFT - NIGHT]
[Michael, now in his Russian persona as Viktor, stands in his loft. He holds a phone to his ear and speaks in a convincing Russian accent.]
Michael (Viktor):
(on the phone, in Russian)
Did you receive the files I sent over? Consider it my résumé for this partnership.
[As Michael continues his conversation, Fiona is nearby, focused on assembling a small listening device. She carefully wires it together and hides it inside a shoe.]
[Michael's voiceover guides us through the process of making the device.]
Michael (Voiceover):
(whispering)
Creating a listening device on the fly is all about resourcefulness. A tiny microphone, a few wires, and a shoe to conceal it all. It should do the trick.
[Michael watches as Fiona finishes assembling the device, her expertise evident.]
Michael (Viktor):
(on the phone, in Russian)
Excellent. I look forward to discussing the details further. We'll meet soon.
[He hangs up the phone, and Fiona hands him the modified shoe.]
Fiona:
(whispering)
This should help you gather more information from the inside, Viktor.
[Michael nods, impressed with Fiona's handiwork.]
Michael (Viktor):
(appreciative)
Good work, Fi. This might be the key to getting closer to Kozlov and the Black Ice operation.
[End of Scene 6]
[Scene 7 - INT. RUSSIAN MOB HIDEOUT - DAY]
[Michael (Viktor) and Alex find themselves back at the dimly lit Russian mob compound, accompanied by the Russian mobsters, including their boss, Anatoly Kozlov. It's the next day, and tensions are running high.]
[As Michael speaks with the Russians, he notices Danny, who looks more distressed than ever, being shuffled across the floor into a corner room, which is then locked. His presence adds a layer of urgency to the situation.]
Anatoly Kozlov:
(in Russian, impatient)
We must expedite our Black Ice Production plans. The pressure is mounting.
Russian Mobster 1:
(in Russian, agitated)
We need results, Alex. The clock is ticking on our Black Ice production deadline.
[Michael knows that the situation has taken a dangerous turn.]
Michael (Viktor):
(in Russian, maintaining composure)
I understand your concerns. To expedite your Black Ice production, we must trust each other fully. I can bring you what you need, but I need access to your full operation.
[The Russians confer among themselves, still reluctant to reveal everything.]
Anatoly Kozlov:
(in Russian, stern)
No, Viktor. We show you everything when we are ready to proceed with Black Ice Production.
[Alex, realizing that the plan has gone sideways and Danny's life is at risk, intervenes.]
Alex:
(in Russian, urgently)
Please, Anatoly, we're running out of time. You have to trust Viktor to expedite your Black Ice production. He's our best resource.
[Anatoly Kozlov finally relents, but only slightly.]
Anatoly Kozlov:
(in Russian, cautious)
We'll consider it. But for now, both of you leave. We'll contact you when we're ready to proceed with our Black Ice production.
[Michael and Alex exchange a worried look but have no choice but to comply.]
Michael (Viktor):
(in Russian, diplomatically)
Very well, Anatoly. We'll await your call.
[They exit the hideout, leaving behind a desperate Danny, as their plan to gather evidence against the Russians takes an unexpected and dangerous turn.]
[End of Scene 7]
[Scene 8 - INT. MIAMI LOFT - DAY]
[Michael sits at the table, eating yogurt while Alex and Sam are gathered around. Maps and notes are scattered on the table, and the atmosphere is tense as they discuss their next steps.]
MICHAEL:
(resolute)
Our last visit didn't go as planned. Anatoly is pushing to produce Black Ice faster.
Alex:
(worried)
And Danny is in more danger than ever. We have to act quickly.
[Sam takes a sip of his beer, deep in thought.]
Sam:
(contemplative)
We need to make them reach out to Viktor. Force their hand.
[They brainstorm for a moment.]
MICHAEL:
(determined)
We can sabotage a portion of the plant. Something critical enough that they need my expertise to fix it.
[Alex and Sam nod in agreement.]
Alex:
(assertive)
That's our play. We'll make it look like an accident but bad enough that they have no choice but to call you, Viktor.
[Sam leans back, impressed with the plan.]
Sam:
(smiling)
That's a sneaky move, Mike. They won't see it coming.
[Michael continues eating his yogurt, his expression confident.]
MICHAEL:
(confident)
Trust me; I've been in situations like this before. They won't be able to resist bringing me in to save the day.
[Before the end of the scene, Michael reaches for his phone and dials a number. He puts the phone to his ear.]
[On the other end, Fiona picks up, intrigued.]
MICHAEL:
(loudly)
Fiona, I need a favor. Can you rig up something to explode?
[Fiona, at another location, grins excitedly.]
Fiona (over the phone):
(excited)
I thought you'd never ask!
[Michael nods, knowing that Fiona is the key to making their plan work.]
[End of Scene 8]
[Scene 9 - EXT. RUSSIAN MOBSTER'S COMPOUND - NIGHT]
[The team gathers near the heavily guarded Russian mobster's compound, their plan meticulously crafted.]
Michael's Voiceover: (determined) When a spy needs to infiltrate a high-security compound, you need precision, timing, and nerves of steel.
[In a voiceover, Michael narrates as we see the team executing their plan.]
Michael's Voiceover: (whispering) First, we need a diversion at the front gate. Jesse's playing the role of a desperate addict looking for a quick fix.
[Cut to Jesse, dressed as a strung-out addict, stumbling towards the front gate, making a scene.]
Jesse: (in Russian, loudly) Come on, man! I need a fix! You guys got anything in there?
Russian Guard 1: (in Russian, annoyed) Get lost, junkie! There's nothing for you here.
[The Russian guards at the front gate eye Jesse suspiciously.]
Jesse: (loudly) I'm not leaving until I get what I need!
Michael's Voiceover: (whispering) With Jesse causing a ruckus up front, it's the perfect distraction.
[Cut to Sam and Fiona at the rear of the compound. Fiona produces a small, silent explosive device.]
Michael's Voiceover: (whispering) In the rear, Sam and Fiona are tasked with a critical mission. Their target: the compound's security.
[Fiona places the silent explosive device on a strategically chosen section of the perimeter fence. The device attaches discreetly, ready to be remotely triggered.]
Michael's Voiceover: (whispering) This device will give us access without raising any alarms.
[Fiona triggers the device, and a small, controlled explosion opens a breach in the fence.]
Michael's Voiceover: (whispering) Stealth is paramount.
[Sam and Fiona slip inside the compound, moving with utmost care and stealth. They approach the guarded drug-making room, where a heavy-duty security door presents a daunting challenge.]
Fiona: (whispering to Sam) Sam, this door is a fortress. I can try to pick it but I'm going to need some time.
Sam: (whispering, thinking) Alright, Fi. Do your best. We need a way to cripple their operation without getting caught. I'll keep an eye out.
Michael's Voiceover: (whispering) But in the world of espionage, even the best-laid plans can go awry.
[An alarm goes off as Sam and Fiona are working. Russians with guns are seen running out of a room across the compound after the pair]
[Jesse, up front, continues to draw attention.]
Russian Guard 2: (in Russian, stern) You need to leave, junkie, or we'll make you leave.
Fiona: (yelling to Sam over the alarm) Sam, we need to get out of here.
Sam: (yelling back) Right. Let's retreat for now. We need to rethink our approach.
Fiona: (talking to Jesse through a hidden earpiece) Jesse, get out now. We triggered an alarm and we're running out the back.
[Jesse, up front, hastily leaves as Sam and Fiona run out the back, getting out just before Russian men with guns are seen running into the room that they were in.]
[End of Scene 9]
[Scene 10 - INT. THE CARLITO - NIGHT]
[The group, consisting of Sam, Jesse, Fiona, Alex, and Michael, occupies a corner table at "The Carlito." The dimly lit atmosphere of the café contrasts with the urgency in their voices.]
[Michael's phone rings, and he answers it, placing it on speaker so the group can listen in.]
Anatoly Kozlov (over the phone):
(in Russian, concerned)
Viktor, we have a problem. I found traces that someone broke into the compound. Hidden cameras captured two intruders.
[The group exchanges tense glances as they listen to the call.]
MICHAEL:
(in Russian, feigning surprise)
Oh, that's troubling news, Anatoly. Do you have any leads on who these intruders might be?
Anatoly Kozlov (over the phone):
(in Russian, frustrated)
No, but it doesn't matter. I can't take risks right now. I'm suspending all new business until we figure this out.
[Anatoly hangs up abruptly, leaving Michael with a thoughtful expression.]
Alex:
(panicking)
Michael, this is a disaster! Danny's life is on the line!
[Michael understands the gravity of the situation but tries to calm Alex.]
MICHAEL:
(reassuring)
Alex, listen. This might be an opportunity. Anatoly is spooked. He's going to tighten security. We can use that to our advantage.
[Sam, leaning forward, seizes on the opportunity.]
Sam:
(determined)
He's right. We've got a chance here. We need Viktor to bring in his new employee, Dimitri. We'll set up a fake security firm, and we can gain access.
[Michael, puzzled, inquires.]
MICHAEL:
(curious)
Dimitri? Who's Dimitri?
[Sam suggests his plan.]
Sam:
(confident)
Dimitri is your brother, Nate. Listen, Mikey. They already have me on camera with Fi, and they'll recognize Jesse after his stunt last time. We need some new blood in this operation.
[Michael, realizing the necessity of the plan, nods.]
MICHAEL:
(resigned)
Alright, Sam, I'll contact Nate. We'll do it your way.
[The group nods in agreement, their resolve renewed as they begin to formulate their new plan.]
[End of Scene 10]
[Scene 11 - INT. MADELINE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY]
[Madeline and Nate are in the kitchen, huddled around a broken oven. Tools and parts are scattered across the table as they work on it. Nate is trying to figure out the oven's issues, and Madeline watches him with a mix of pride and nostalgia.]
Madeline:
(smiling)
You know, your father could've fixed this thing with duct tape and a paperclip.
Nate:
(chuckling)
Yeah, he had a talent for that.
[Michael enters the house.]
Nate:
(looking up, smiling)
Hey, bro.
MICHAEL:
(smiling)
Hey, Nate.
[Madeline interrupts their conversation.]
Madeline:
(to Michael)
Michael, could you do your dear old mother a favor?
MICHAEL:
(annoyed)
What do you need, Mom?
Madeline:
(realizing she burned dinner)
I've burned dinner. I was planning to make lasagna tonight.
MICHAEL:
(sympathetic)
That's okay, Mom. I can pick up some pizza on my way back.
Madeline:
(smiling)
Thank you, Michael.
MICHAEL:
(turning serious)
Actually, Nate, I need your help with something. You remember Alex from the neighborhood when we were kids?
Nate:
Sure, how's he doing?
MICHAEL:
He's in a tough spot. I need you to pose as a security consultant to help him out.
Nate:
(raising an eyebrow)
Security consultant? What do you need me to do?
Madeline:
(interjecting)
You know Michael, his brother Danny was such a troublemaker. Nate, stay away from Danny.
MICHAEL:
(explaining)
That's the one. Danny's gotten himself into a dangerous situation, and we need to help them. I just need you to look convincing and get us access to a certain compound.
Nate:
(thinking)
I have a friend who runs an electronics shop. He owes me a favor. I can probably get some equipment from him that they were looking to recycle.
MICHAEL:
(nods)
That should work. We're not looking for anything fancy. Just the appearance of legitimacy.
[Madeline looks at Michael with motherly concern.]
Madeline:
(softly)
Michael, promise me you'll take care of your baby brother. You better not let anything happen to him.
MICHAEL:
(sincere)
I promise, Mom.
[Michael puts on his sunglasses.]
MICHAEL:
Okay, I have to take off. Meet me at the loft later, Nate?
Nate:
I got you, Bro.
[Michael starts to leave.]
Madeline:
(Yelling out the door)
Don't forget my pizza, Michael!
[End of Scene 11]
[Scene 12 - OUTSIDE THE LOFT - DAY]
[Fiona, Michael, and Nate are in the loft. Michael is on the phone with Anatoly, and Fiona is working on a regular vehicle. Nate is getting ready to leave.]
Michael (on the phone with a Russian accent):
(on the phone, feigning concern)
Anatoly, you won't believe it. The same group that breached your compound just hit one of my warehouses. I can't believe this!
[Anatoly is heard on the other end, expressing his anger and concern.]
Michael (on the phone with a Russian accent):
(on the phone, reassuring)
Don't worry, my friend. I've already hired the best security consultant in town to fix the problem. And since we're dealing with these threats, how about we offer you an exclusive security package for your compound as well? It'll come at a small fee, but I guarantee your safety.
[Anatoly considers the offer.]
Anatoly:
(on the phone)
Da, da, we discuss details later. You make sure my compound secure.
Michael (on the phone with a Russian accent):
(on the phone)
Absolutely, Anatoly. I'll come over with the details right away.
[Michael hangs up the call and turns to Fiona and Nate.]
MICHAEL:
(to Fiona)
Fiona, we need to modify a regular vehicle to make it look like it's owned by a fake security consultant firm. We'll fill it with computers, cameras, and hide some guns inside tech-looking equipment, just in case.
[Fiona nods, listening intently.]
[Michael does a voiceover as he explains their preparation.]
Michael's Voiceover:
As a spy, most of the work is done with proper preparation. Spies aren't bulletproof; they just do their homework on an operation, stock the operation with the proper tools, and then learn how to play hide and seek with those tools better than most.
[Fiona begins working on the vehicle, following Michael's instructions, while Nate heads to another room to get dressed for the upcoming operation.]
[Cut to Nate getting dressed, putting on a suit and adjusting his tie. He looks determined.]
[Back to Michael and Fiona, they finish their respective tasks.]
MICHAEL:
(to Fiona)
Good job, Fi. Let's get ready. Nate, you about done?
Nate:
(entering the room, dressed sharply)
Ready as I'll ever be.
[Fiona takes a moment to inspect her work on the vehicle.]
Fiona:
(satisfied)
The vehicle is ready to go, Michael. It's packed with all kinds of security equipment for Nate's fake company, plus plenty of firepower.
[Michael glances at the modified computer.]
MICHAEL:
(serious)
And the computer?
Fiona:
(confident)
It's rigged and ready. A simple press of a button, and it'll wreak havoc on their operation.
[The three of them stand in the loft, preparing for the dangerous mission ahead.]
MICHAEL:
(determined)
Alright, let's make sure Anatoly regrets ever crossing paths with us.
[They gather their equipment and head out of the loft, ready to execute their plan.]
[End of Scene 12]
[Scene 13 - INT. COMPOUND - MAIN GATE - DAY]
[Michael and Nate (Dimitri) drive up to the compound's main gate in the modified vehicle. They approach a heavily armed GUARD who eyes them cautiously.]
Guard:
(raising an eyebrow)
What's your business here?
Nate (Dimitri):
(polite)
We're here on behalf of Viktor. My client, Viktor, and your boss have already met and are expecting us.
[The Guard scrutinizes them for a moment, then nods and communicates with someone through his earpiece. The massive gate slowly opens.]
[Michael and Nate (Dimitri) drive inside and follow the directions given by the Guard. As they navigate the compound, they can see the well-fortified buildings and security measures in place.]
[Scene 13 - INT. COMPOUND - MEETING ROOM - DAY]
[Michael and Nate (Dimitri) are led into a meeting room where Anatoly Kozlov awaits. The room is adorned with opulent furnishings, and Anatoly exudes an air of authority. They exchange pleasantries, and Anatoly gestures for them to follow him.]
Nate (Dimitri):
(polite)
A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kozlov. I'm Dimitri, and this is my client, Viktor. I believe you have already met.
Anatoly:
(nods)
Da, we have crossed paths. What are your plans, Dimitri?
Nate (Dimitri):
(with confidence)
We've been informed that there have been some security concerns within your organization. My client, Viktor, believes it's in your best interest to address these issues promptly.
Anatoly:
(stern)
Security is a top priority. What do you propose?
Nate (Dimitri):
(polite)
We suggest a comprehensive security audit. We'll assess your current systems and procedures, identify vulnerabilities, and propose solutions to tighten security. My client, Viktor, has successfully implemented such measures for various organizations.
Anatoly:
(musing)
Very well, Dimitri. I appreciate your concern for our safety. Let us discuss the specifics in my office.
[They exit the meeting room and proceed to Anatoly's office. Michael notices the door that Danny was in last time is opened. He makes a mental note.]
[Scene 13 - INT. COMPOUND - VAULT - DAY]
[Inside Anatoly's office, the three men discuss security measures. Meanwhile, Nate (Dimitri) discreetly plants the computer-bomb next to a vat of chemicals used to produce Black Ice.]
Nate (Dimitri):
(with enthusiasm)
You see, Mr. Kozlov, we can set up a state-of-the-art surveillance system with cameras, alarms featuring laser detection, and motion sensors. A comprehensive security approach.
Anatoly:
(impressed)
I see you take your work seriously, Dimitri. Security is paramount in our line of business.
[Scene 13 - EXT. COMPOUND - DAY]
[Outside the compound, Sam is seen making a call to the police.]
Sam:
(on the phone, acting distressed)
I just saw men with automatic weapons running away from a building on fire! You need to send help right away!
[Sam hangs up and watches as the chaos unfolds inside the compound.]
[Scene 13 - INT. COMPOUND - VAULT - DAY]
[Nate (Dimitri) continues discussing security measures with Anatoly while subtly arming the explosive device on the computer.]
Nate (Dimitri):
(earnest)
Exactly, Mr. Kozlov. We believe in providing the best protection possible. Our systems are foolproof.
[Michael, after a moment, silently escapes to doubles back to the room, revealing Danny inside.]
MICHAEL:
(low, urgent)
Danny, in a few minutes, take advantage of the commotion. Make a break for it out the back to our friend Sam.
[Danny nods, his eyes filled with hope.]
[Scene 13 - EXT. COMPOUND - VAN - DAY]
[After pretending to work for a bit, Michael (Viktor) and Nate (Dimitri) find an opportune moment to excuse themselves, citing the need to fetch additional equipment from their van.]
Michael (Viktor):
(keeping his composure)
Dimitri, we should grab the rest of the equipment from the van. We wouldn't want to leave anything behind.
Nate (Dimitri):
(nodding)
You're right, Viktor. Let's make it quick.
[They calmly exit the building to the van]
MICHAEL:
(speaking quietly to Nate)
Remember, we've got a narrow window. The distraction won't last forever.
Nate:
(agrees)
I got it, Bro. Relax, We'll get Danny out.
[They reach the van, with the modified vehicle packed full of tech equipment, cameras, and hidden firearms. The computer-bomb they planted earlier rests in the back.]
MICHAEL:
(whispering)
Everything's set. Let's finish this.
[With that, Michael picks up his phone and dials a number. One ring is heard, and then an immediate explosion.]
[Scene 13 - EXT. COMPOUND - DAY]
[As Michael and Nate set off the explosive device, smoke and flames erupt from the building, causing panic among the compound's inhabitants. People start evacuating the premises.]
MICHAEL:
(scanning the area)
Keep an eye out for Danny, Nate. He should be making a break for it any moment now.
Nate:
(alert)
Right... There he is!
[They spot Danny amidst the chaos, hustling to escape the burning compound. Sam urgently flags him down. He rushes toward his car.]
Sam:
(on the phone)
Michael, I've got eyes on Danny. He's headed for my car.
MICHAEL:
(on the phone)
Good, Sam. We're on our way out too. We'll see you soon.
[As the two groups drive away from the compound, sirens wail in the distance as the police and fire departments arrive to deal with the chaos.]
[End of Scene 13]
[Scene 14 - CARLITO'S - DUSK]
[Nate, Michael, Alex, Danny, and Sam are all gathered at a table, sharing a drink. The mood is lighter now.]
Sam:
(raising his glass)
Jesse talked to his contacts, Mikey, and Anatoly is going away for a long time for his Black Ice drug ring.
MICHAEL:
(nodding)
Danny, you should be safe now, but it's best if you lay low for a while. Don't get into any more trouble.
Danny:
(grateful)
Michael, we can't thank you enough for everything you've done for us.
Alex:
(sincere)
Yeah, you saved our lives, man.
[There's a moment of gratitude, and then Sam chimes in.]
Sam:
(teasingly)
Well, mojitos in Miami aren't cheap, you know.
[Laughter fills the table as Alex and Danny insist they'll grab the bill. They exchange goodbyes and leave.]
MICHAEL:
(turning to his team)
Thanks, guys. I couldn't have done it without you.
Sam:
(nods)
It was a team effort, Mike.
Nate:
(Cheersing his glass)
Here's to new beginnings.
[They all clink their glasses together, and Michael gets thoughtful.]
MICHAEL:
(musing)
I wonder where all these new crime bosses are coming from, and if we'll be seeing any more? Anyway, I'm off. I've got some things I have to look into.
[Michael puts on his sunglasses, the camera pans over to a sunset]
Michael(Voiceover):
Even after a successful mission, a spy's work is never done. The moment you let your guard down is when bad things happen. The job isn't always the most rewarding, but when friends are helping each other out for the greater good, you know you're doing things for all the right reasons.
[End of Scene 14]
[CREDITS MUSIC PLAYS] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N18OdEMXyP0

On the 14th of the month of July 2023, the likely possibly definitely last movie of film director and animator Hayao Miyazaki aired in Japan theaters without any promotion, after around 7 years of slow-paced production and 10 years after the previous long piece of the filmmaker that was already supposed to be his last one. Kimitachi wa dou Ikiru ka ? (君たちはどう生きるか？; “How do you live”, recently renamed for the English-speaking countries as “The Boy and the Heron”) takes its name from a book by Genzaburo Yoshino but, for having read it, don’t adapt a single element of its story and is restricted to a symbolic reference inside of the diegesis. Having watched every single animated movie signed Studio Ghibli and work directed by the master Miyazaki or his mentor Isao Takahata, I can pride myself of having watched this last one on the very date of its release, in a cinema in Sendai, prefecture of Miyagi, as well as a second time this August.
My goal in the following rant is not to make a critic nor analyze that piece in particular. However, the way the film is built and its position in the man’s filmography leads me to an important question that requires to discuss the qualities and flaws of the story in order to unveil. So, I’m afraid I am going to spoil a lil’bit, I’ll try to limit it.
I am going to make it quick. The 2D animation, as well as the character designs, is on point and reaches Studio Ghibli’s usual level of exigence. The music perfectly supports the images, but is less memorable than the vast majority of Joe Hisaishi’s previous compositions - there is a certain lack of a memorable theme, the main one being too subtle to be more than a support. I found that the main character has too deep of a voice for its age, but Miyazaki is known for sometimes making questionable choices when it comes to the seiyuu in OV (Hideaki Anno as Jiro in Kaze Tachinu). The story carries the topics dear to his heart, and includes fantastique as people often love in Ghibli movies, even flirting with horror in a way I didn’t dislike at all.
My issue however is about the storytelling itself. The movie seems to be built as a memorial to Hayao Miyazaki’s whole career, from Lupin III to Kaze Tachinu, as well as Studio Ghibli’s previous creations from other directors, from Neko no Ongaeshi to Karigurashi no Arietti, including some older Takahata’s ones. It works most often by references that are not direct references but more like echoes to previous movies. A shot on a kid's face lightened by the flames will echo a famous shot from Hotaru no Haka, another short from a kid going into a bush will perfectly mimic a shot from Tonari no Totoro. A wave will be animated in the recognizable typical style of Gake no Ue no Ponyo, faces of a crowd will be distorted in a creative way similar to Takahata’s gorgeous attempts in Kaguya-hime no Monogatari. The design of a character will remind us of Lady Eboshi in Mononoke Hime, while the design of little white cute creatures will remind us of the kodamas from the same movie. Her house could possibly mirror the small house from Gedo Senki, a big manor the one from Aya to Majo. A shot is a replicate from Cagliostro no Shiro, another takes a lake very similar to Hauru no Ugoku Shiro, the labyrinthic building replicates Laputa’s castle’s inside, and a big boat procession is very similar to the dead planes cemetery in Kurenai no Buta. And so on, and so on, there are actually another dozen I could mention. Never direct references, this is more like more or less obvious echoes too numerous to be a coincidence.
The most interesting thing here is that, as it is already mentioned, it is included in the story telling. The intro scene brings backs memories from Hotaru no Haka, before continuing as a somehow follow up from Kaze Tachinu, before becoming a very dark adaptation of Tonari no Totoro, then turning into Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi where they will meet characters such as a new Kiki from Majo no Takkyubin, while taking many elements from the classic Taiyou no Ouji : Horusu no Daibouken and many others from Miyazaki’s oldest inspiration, Le Roi et l’Oiseau by Paul Grimmault. The result from such a patchwork is immediate : it is the most Miyazaki movie ever, reminding of all and none.
And here’s the issue : by having plurals, Kimitachi wa dou Ikiru ka ? lacks an identity. While remembering every single Ghibli’s linked movie there is, we also at some point remember of the movies that tries to copy the Ghibli fabric with less style or less soul, movies such as Mary to Majou no Hana, (It’s not because you grew in Studio Ghibli that you should copy them) Hoshi wo ou Kodomo (which is, I’ll maintain, a better movie than most of the following Makoto Shinkai’s films, I’ll die on that hill), Birthday Wonderland (the most disappointing film that was bring to my eyes) or Gin-iro no Kami no Agito (who’s introduction is worth watching, contrary to the rest of the film). Thus, the movie can lack, more than an identity, of this famous Miyazaki’s magic, of a clear soul that would elevate the movie among the others. Maybe, time will bring that soul into it, and to be totally honest, I found a bit of that soul already in the character of the Heron. Hence, I must admit : The Boy and the Heron is an interesting exercice, especially from a director who claimed about 15 years ago that he never re-watched any of his own creations after he finished it, and a cinematic curiosity that I enjoyed, but that has troubles reaching the heights of the master’s precedent classics.
But you know what ? It just shows how impactful Hayao Miyazaki has been. Moreover, I think this movie was the best decision he could have made as a final movie, if it does ends up being it. And, more than that, the only true possibility. But to understand why, we must take a step back to a long long time ago : 1963, a year before my mother was born, oh my god, my mom is going to turn 60 soon, time sure flies.
1963 is also the year Hayao Miyazaki joins the Toei Douga as an In-Between animator. To make the story short, he quickly becomes a talented Key animator, meets Isao Takahata in a bus under the rain exactly like in Tonari no Totoro, meets a lot of others very talented animators and filmmakers I don’t have the space here to name, becomes a syndicalist leader, go on a strike that gets him to help Takahata make is first movie, a masterpiece that failed really hard, and then spend years flying from projects to projects. He directs a few episodes for shows here and then, especially for Lupin III, goes to Sweden and gets kicked out by Astrid Lindgren, co-directs his first almost-movie, Panda Kopanda in duo with Takahata, makes his own shows, Mirai Shounen Conan, starts and gives up Sherlock Hounds in order to spend only 6 months to create the game changing Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa, and on the ruins of the studio he killed to produce it, he, along Takahata and the brilliant mind of Toshio Suzuki, founds the infamous Studio Ghibli. He directs by himself about a masterpiece a year for about 10 years while others directs other masterpieces at about the same rhythm for about the same time, the great Yoshifumi Kondo dies, Miyazaki declares his next movie will be the last, there are 4 last Miyazaki movies, 2013 Isao Takahata dies, a new last Miyazaki movie airs, and we are nowadays 10 years later in 2023 and for once it seems likely that the new last movie, Kimitachi wa dou Ikiru ka ?, will really be the last. Here, was maybe the worst summary of Miyazaki’s career ever.
From this massive and successful production, recurring themes quickly emerge - ecology, strong women, flying machines, japanese folklore and western-style environments. And among those movies, patterns can be found, and they can, in my opinion, be divided into different categories of “type movies”.
The first one, historically, have to be the kids anime, with a cute mascot that sells plushies, selling innocence among disasters, casting children as main characters, and generally giving very good comfortable vibes. His very first (co)directed movie, Panda Kopanda (Panda ! Go, Panda !), is basically a draft for the later Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) and Gake no Ue no Ponyo (Ponyo). About the last one, despite the animating prowess, Toshio Suzuki himself said that he doesn't like it because it is too redundant with Totoro. And this is showing how influential and important this particular movie from Miyazaki’s filmography is. Fluffy mascots were already a thing in Japan before Totoro, but it made it ten times bigger and, more importantly, it pushed it into the global international pop culture. Everyone knows what Totoro looks like nowadays, it is savagely enormous. It is no secret that Ghibli is sustainable solely thanks to merchandising sales, but although they are selling some from every franchise they own (except perhaps for obvious reasons Sanzoku no Musume Rounia), Totoro’s plushies alone are more than half of the income. It definitely holds its place in the global mass culture.
A second type of movie is the ecological fable, some darker movies in wild worlds, where a hero between nature and civilization defends a middle ground and peace for each and any side, never really succeeding to stop destruction but keeping a certain amount of hope for a better rebirth in the end. While this type is the one that didn’t have any new piece for the longest time, it's also the one with the most length of content to watch or read. It includes the filmmaker’s first solo directing project ever, Mirai Shounen Conan (Conan, Future’s Boy), which is as well its longest animated show, the movie that acted the foundation of studio Ghibli, Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), as well as the manga that it is adapted from and that he wrote for 12 years, and finally the longest movie he ever made, the longest animated movie at the time (until Haruhi Suzumiya no Shoushitsu decided to be 3 geniuses hours long), Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke). Those are not just massive pieces in terms of length, their impact is also huge. Conan inspired a generation of animators (see : Eizouken by Masaaki Yuasa). Nausicaa introduced Miyazaki to a wide audience, it is really the one movie that made the crowd remember his name, leaving a trace on a whole era’s culture (many pieces of fantasy that came after have been affected by it, for example, the Chocobos from Final Fantasy, created 3 years after the movie aired, are inspired by the mounted creatures you can see in it). Mononoke is, aside my second favorite movie of all time, in most top 100 movies of all time (especially on public’s reviews such as IMDb or Senscritique) and often rightfully cited as one of the top 10 animated movies ever created. Once again, the real importance of this movie is hard to precisely measure, from the new computer techniques for animation developed for its production to its cultural impact all over the world, from a few people attempting to replicate it and failing to many others starting to educate themselves about ecology thanks to it… It’s one of those rare films that is a milestone in a multitude of lives, that changed the worldviews of countless people, especially amongst my still young generation.
But another Hayao Miyazaki’s movie can claim that title, and it is Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away). It is simple : in every single ranking placing Mononoke Hime high, it always end up a little behind Chihiro, and when one isn’t cite, it’s the other, and vice-versa. This is the Japanese movie that has been the most seen in cinema in the world, just beneath the much more recent success of Kimi no Na wa (Your name.). This is still to this day the second movie the most seen in theaters of all time in Japan. It is an acclaimed masterpiece, basically with the same impact range as Mononoke but with a totally different ambiance. Indeed, Chihiro belongs to a third type of Miyazaki films, that is the shoujo type : films centered around a teenage girl that will grow from a kid to a young adult, gaining maturity while working and discovering independence, widely criticizing the capitalism at the same time. Anyone who've seen Chihiro as an adult would have spotted the consumption society’s open critics, but the other main movie of this category is talking about burnout and this overworking society, and it’s Majou no Takkyubin (Kiki’s Delivery Service). Yes, the little Chihiro and Kiki, 12 years apart from each other, face the same society, although one is more scandinavian and the other purely japanese, and grow in the same way through labor and confrontation of the life views of surrounding more or less magic people. One may see this as a secondary type, given that it features only two Miyazaki movies, but it would be missing that he scenarized Kokuriko-zaka Kara (Up On Poppy Hill, Ghibli movie directed by Goro Miyazaki, his son), Mimi wo Sumaseba (Whispers of the Heart, Ghibli movie directed by the late Yoshifumi Kondo), directed a pilot for a never aired show, Yuki no Taiyou, and made the layout (an important designing step between story-board and key-animation) for Isao Takahata’s Heidi, all those pieces he’s been very implicated in featuring girls growing and leaving childhood behind by facing work, going through depressive phases and being lost in front of various teenager’s issues. These, as well as, most likely, the rejected unachieved project of Pippi Longstocking, a canon event of Miyazaki’s life and career, can be included in this third category.
The fourth movie type is the one of the purest beautiful heroes in a vicious world, facing a somewhat manichean situation and often war, directly, but with magic and in a universe that can be described as Steampunk. Influenced by the British Isles, opposingly as the Shoujo type, here, the male protagonist is often not nearly as interesting as the world he evolves in and the characters he meets. It includes at first Sherlock Hounds, in England, where the ambiguous detective is replaced by a good and noble dog, and the set of side characters, the originality of the situations and the original foreign conception of England are what moderately saves the show. Then, Tenkuu no Shiro, Laputa (Castle in the Sky) features the perfect boy Pazu rescuing a princess and destroying a dangerous war power in the doing, the whole thing being inspired by a mine workers’ strike in Wales. And finally, Hauru no Ugoku Shiro (Owl’s Moving Castle) is from an Irish book from whom it basically kept only the Irish inspiration, showing the most steampunk building ever and a (despicable) knightly hero everyone loves solely because he’s handsome. Seriously, not me judging your awful tastes in men, but-... Those three films are variations of a same fight, good versus evil, beauty against chaos, the war of the powerful few and the peace of the meaningful plenty. All that in a British Victorian landscape with dirty coal, creative (flying) machines and modern creatures - living robots, suited scarecrow or burning speaking flame.
Finally, the fifth type is the one I call the Personal Category : movies where Miyazaki portrays himself by discussing our current world. Often pretty geopolitical, they are considered by the critics as “personal letters” from the author. Jiro in Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises) is both his father and himself, while exploring his trauma with his mother sickness and talking about a dangerous pre-war Japanese politics background while being openly anti-military at a time where re-militarizing Japan was seriously considered and heated debate in the Archipelago. The Wind Rises is who Hayao Miyazaki was in his early 70’s. Toshio Suzuki said about Kurenai no Buta (Porco Rosso) that “when you see Marco, what you really are watching is Miya-san”, while the movie was produced at the fall of the USSR and Yugoslav Wars and became is a metaphorical comment about the situation : a young american actor aiming to become president in a blue plane fighting a disappearing aging pig in a red plane that says “better a pig than a fascist” and started to refuse to kill and join new wars. Porco Rosso is who Hayao Miyazaki was in his early 50’s. Lupin III : Cagliostro no Shiro (The Castle of Calgiostro) has immediately been seen when it aired as a weirdly personal movie for a command film linked to a popular show, and while it is very limited due to its nature of movie derived from a show derived from a manga, it remains the first full solo-directed movie of Miyazaki, a movie he put everything he was in because, by then, he acknowledgedly believed it would be his only one. According to him, it’s when he dedicated his time to this movie that he started to be a less good father to Goro, and give less time to his family. Also, the Count Cagliostro in the movie is in the middle of political shady business in a country that truly seems like a Balkans dictatorship. The Castle of Cagliostro is who Hayao Miyazaki was in his late 30’s. Those three films are the same process at different times of his life, a simple formula : “me + geopolitical analysis + cool planes”. Note how there’s an early-career movie, a middle-career one, and a late-career one. Note how the 3 are one step further in the representation of planes as a central subject and being overly mechanic-nerd’s movies. Note as well how all those films happened, rare decision for him, in a clear period of time, especially between the end of WW1 and the beginning of WW2, periods defined by how close those wars are or will be. Note finally how it would have been perfect to finish everything on Kaze Tachinu. However, Hayao Miyazaki decided to make another film, and here’s where we come back to it : what was there still to say leading to Kimitachi wa dou Ikiru ka ?
Let’s think about it for a minute : your career is wrapped up, you famously said that it was a mistake, but you are acclaimed, don’t really understand why, should rest, but you feel like you want to do yet another one just because you don’t know what else to do. What do you do ? You can’t do “just a movie”. You made a few attempts but made the best ecological fables you can think of. You wrote a lot for this sake, and ended up doing a perfect unbeatable fantasy shoujo. You’ve done everything you could with the british steampunk heroes. You’ve tried to do even better with mascot movies, but you couldn’t succeed more than with the gigantic Totoro. And finally, you’ve delivered the ultimate politically controversial plane nerd’s introspection letter. What more to do ? Two possibilities : something completely new, different. Almost impossible, to be honest, at this age with this path, everything will loop back to something already done. Or, you search in your skull, doing so, rewatching for the first time your own and your friend’s achievements, and see what you could have done better. And just like this, Miyazaki ends up making an enormous, honest, tribute to his and his friends artistic lives. It made a weird unbalanced creation, but the best one on a wider scale. The Boy and the Heron highlights how diverse, strong, consistent in its quality, influential, and important for today's global and Japanese culture, and unique, and huge, and loved, and fascinating is Hayao Miyazaki. He’s cited as an inspiration from Wes Anderson to Guillermo del Toro, from Mamoru Hosoda to Steven Spielberg, from Zelda no Densetsu to Ori and the Blind Forest. My whole generation watched at least one of his movies. Most likely loved it too. Anime is the ultimate modern Japanese pop-culture, and Hayao Miyazaki is its godfather. He’s probably the current most influential ambassador of Japan as a nation. Kimitachi wa dou Ikiru ka? is not the greatest Miyazaki movie, but it is an interesting epilogue that we must see as it is : a miraculous bonus to an outstanding, breathtaking career.
Thereafter is a timeline I made to explain the Miyazaki movies’ categorization. It’s in French and not up-to-date because I made it before the release date was announced. I think it remains understandable and hope it helps if my explanations are a bit confusing.
​
(Yellow : Mascot Type ; Green : Ecology Type ; Blue : Personal Type ; Red : Steampunk Type ; Pink : Shoujo Type)📷

Sources (sorry, plenty are in French) : Books : Mimi wo Sumaseba - Studio Ghibli Storyboard Collection Vol. 10, Yoshifumi Kondo & Hayao Miyazaki The Art of Princess Mononoke, Tokuma Shoten, Hayao Miyazaki Hommage au Studio Ghibli - les Artisans du Rêve (2017), Ynnis Edition Hommage à Hayao Miyazaki - un Coeur à l’Ouvrage, Ynnis Edition, Stéphanie Chaptal Hommage à Isao Takahata - de Heidi à Ghibli, Ynnis Edition, Stéphanie Chaptal Hayao Miyazaki, Nuances d’une Oeuvre, Vivian Amalric & Victor Lopez 100 Films d’Animation Japonais, Ynnis Edition & Animeland Documentaries : 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki, NHK (that’s a must watch) The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, Mami Sunada Never Ending Man : Hayao Miyazaki, Kaku Arakawa Journey of the Heart, Hayao Miyazaki Kurenai no Buta DVD Bonus Omoide Poro Poro DVD Bonus Youtube : La Face Cachée de Miyazaki, Benjamin “Bolchegeek” Patinaud (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gupZ07T-Sc0) Hayao Miyazaki : the Mind of a Master, Any-mation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zi7jIZkS68) L’Europe de Miyazaki, M. Bobine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce4Mq-SISsQ) The Immersive Realism of Studio Ghibli, Asher Ishbrucker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Q6y4-qKac) Les Plus Beaux Lieux de Porco-Rosso, Lapeint (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MAgz9es-fc&t=507s) Le Temps des Cerises - Les Réflexions Stupides, Arcades (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWAVSJ0Uff4) La Face Cachée de Princesse Mononoké, Laurent Turcot of L’Histoire nous le dira (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE-8CSn9VgY) And basically the entire youtube channel of STEVEM (https://www.youtube.com/@Stevem), especially the video The Miyazaki Problem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxjrw0Yv0ZA) Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_and_the_Heron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Ghibli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki Bonus : - Ghibli Museum 

Let me start by saying that I've been playing games for 20+ years. Grand Theft Auto 1 was the first game I’ve ever seen when I was 5 years old, and you would understand that I have a very special affinity to these games as I, and surely many others here, grew up with them. However, it never occurred to me until now to share my thoughts on internet. This is a long post; you can skip the individual comments on games directly to the conclusions. As I have an academic background I can’t help but structure it accordingly.
My argument is that the open world crime adventure (or simulator) games had a "Golden Age" between 22 October 2001 (GTA III) and 17 September 2013 (GTA V). This means that the games after this period would see a significant fall in quality or quantity but doesn't implicate that all games released in the said period are all great games.
I will provide the Metascore and, if exists, and the Steam User score of each game. Throughout the essay there will be links to reviews and articles for more insight.
The Golden Age of GTA:
Back then in 2001 a 3D city where you can drive and shoot anything you see was the next big thing. Almost every mission in GTA III you drive or shoot someone in an Italian mafia story and some radio stations to make it even more fun. That was about it, but that’s why it’s called Grand Theft Auto, there was even a mission named as such.) The influence of GTA III can be felt up to today in countless games that emulated its formula.
The next steps were Vice City and San Andreas with new locations and numerous features added. The open-world crime simulation ideas were perfected in San Andreas; it featured countless activities, roleplaying features, mini-games etc.
Around this time surged what we call the GTA-clones (or GTA-likes if you want to be gentler). Here’s a list of all the GTA and GTA-clones that I could compile:
2002
• Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven (Metascore 88, Steam 90): Mafia was praised for its level of polish and immersion, impressive graphics, cinematic presentation, a city with “an awe-inspiring sense of detail”, a story that “gives reason for the action to exist”, and a game that “that expands on the Grand Theft Auto formula”. Mafia has two sequels.
• The Getaway (Metascore: 72): This one I never played but it seems like a GTA III set in London. It has two sequels.
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Metascore 95): Take GTA III and dress it in a Hawaiian T-Shirt in Miami, you get Vice City. GTA III had a rather dark atmosphere, and Vice City successfully addressed this issue, making the series even more enjoyable, in my opinion. I have fond memories of playing it for years during my childhood, constantly discovering new activities and, admittedly, encountering a fair share of bugs. Despite its flaws, Vice City possessed a unique personality and offered a level of immersion that was truly memorable.
2003
• True Crime: Streets of LA (Metascore 77): I remember having a hard time with this game as a child, but it was fun nonetheless. It offered the possibility of playing as an undercover police in Los Angeles, a concept that surely crossed the minds of many after playing GTA III. It has a sequel and spiritual successor Sleeping Dogs.
• The Simpsons: Hit & Run (Metascore 82): Oh how I loved this game. It was GTA in the Simpsons world in every way possible, great maps and characters, fun and comical throughout. Also one of the first GTA satires. Here’s a review.
2004
• Driver 3 (Metascore 57): This really was an awful game in every possible way.
• The Getaway: Black Monday (Metascore: 57): The sequel to The Getaway, seems to have done even worse.
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Metascore 95, Steam 90): Here it is, the king of all open-world games. Numerous innovations in gameplay features, mini-games, storytelling, roleplaying, map size. This game exceeded every expectation and the sheer size of the map and the things that the player could do in it was unmatched for this genre. It’s the culmination of what GTA III started. Critics, rightly, went loco:
“San Andreas breaks the video game mold and emerges as something far greater. This is more than a game. This is entertainment at its best.”
“A true platform defining title; in 20 years time gamers will look back at the Playstation2 and hold GTA: San Andreas as the true epoch-making title of the times. Nothing can be understated, RockStar North have truly delivered beyond everybody’s expectations.”
“San Andreas is shocking, not necessarily because of its typically contentious subject matter (though there's plenty in it to rub those of a conservative disposition the wrong way) but because of the sheer scale of the experience...Is it really the best game ever made? Quite possibly, yes.”
2005
• Crime Life: Gang Wars (Metascore 30: I don’t have any idea about it. This game doesn’t feature driving but it has clear GTA influences all over. It seems to have a very bad critical reception.
• True Crime: New York City (Metascore 60) : I didn’t play the sequel to True Crime but it looks like an average open-world crime simulator, it has worse reviews than the original.
• Total Overdose (Metascore 72): I missed this one, but it seems like a more arcade GTA set in North Mexico. It combines Max Payne like movement with Desperado. Sad, because I would have liked playing it. It has a sequel Chili Con Carnage.
• Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Metascore 88): Nice addition to GTA III. It’s the first GTA on a handheld device. However, the game engine at this point starts to feel rusty. I remember having fun with it. The main theme is super cool.
• Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (Metascore 86): A militaristic destruction centered GTA-clone. One of the more original takes on the formula.
2006
• Gangs of London (Metascore 52): Another sequel to The Getaway.
• Driver: Parallel Lines (Metascore 69, Steam 90): No idea.
• Scarface: The World Is Yours (Metascore 76): An intriguing take on the GTA formula, this one is set in the real world Vice City: Miami itself. It also offers a unique perspective on the movie's ending, beginning as an alternate scenario where Tony Montana survives and seeks to reclaim Miami. While it introduces some intriguing concepts, it falls short of revolutionizing the GTA formula. Following San Andreas, it feels like more of the same rather than a groundbreaking evolution.
• The Godfather (Metascore 77): I was so hyped up for this game, a GTA-like Godfather game! Sounded like a dream. The actual game however wasn’t anything near what I imagined; the controls felt awkward, the missions were repetitive. The protagonist wasn’t from the movies. In general it didn’t have the same grace as the movie. It was still an okay game though. It has a sequel.
• Saints Row (Metascore 81): I didn’t play the series until the second one but it seems to have positive critical reception. The series itself can’t be considered an innovation of the GTA formula; rather, it offers a more arcade-style approach to it.
• Just Cause (Metascore 75, Steam 66): I think Just Cause is more compelling reformulation of GTA than Saints Row, although each installment in the series tended to lose my interest after 10 hours. It’s a chaotic, more sandbox version of GTA. However, it falls short in terms of story quality, immersion, and attention to world details, which are surprisingly lacking. The driving mechanics are not enjoyable, and there is a noticeable absence of radio songs. Nevertheless, it manages to stand out from the other GTA clones released in 2006 by daring to be genuinely different.
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Metascore 86): Superior to its handheld predecessor, Liberty City Stories, this game exposes the limitations of its game engine even further. However, this doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment it offers. The sensation of returning to Vice City was delightful.
• Bully (Metascore 87): Another triumph from Rockstar, this game ranks among the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've ever had. It's also a dream come true for me: a school life simulation that only Rockstar could have made with such care. There's not a single aspect of this game that I dislike, yet it's disheartening that we haven't seen a sequel or any imitators. It begs the question of whether this is merely a GTA clone. In many ways, it feels like a GTA game set in a school environment, yet it offers its own unique essence and charm. Late 90’s nostalgia kicks in.
I will recommend these games; although they aren’t open world they will give you the same feelings: Hot Lava, Chicken Little, Life is Strange. Suggestions for more?
2007
• Crackdown (Metascore 83): A chaotic take on the GTA formula, it was more successful than Just Cause. It delivers a gameplay experience akin to being a superhero. I believe it can be seen as an effective approach to reimagining the formula. Here’s a video review.
2008
• Grand Theft Auto IV (Metascore 98, Steam 80): The next major step of GTA that we waited for years. The reboot in the sense of game engine, the graphics every aspect that you could think of the gameplay. I remember that GTA IV really had a bad optimization for PC. I actually played it a few years later than its release. The tone of the story, the color filters used, everything was dark about it. The driving was less arcadey than the previous installments; especially making a turn was difficult. I’m not sure if it can be considered realistic but it felt like you are driving a car with actual weight. The story was great, although the final act was kind of a cliché. The most striking thing about this game was how real and lived-in its world felt: every street, every light, every sound, even the trash on the floor felt like a simulation. This I think becomes the highest point of Rockstar games from this point onwards, the immersion. Sold 25 million+ copies. Amazing game.
“An absolutely essential landmark title for the games industry. In terms of the sheer scope, emotion, ambition, and the stupidly high fun factor it offers, there is no better available in the genre today. In fact, no one else comes anywhere near.”
“This game is a masterpiece! We have never seen such a harmonic virtual world before. The story is as good as a movie and the graphics offer tons of incredible moments. GTA IV is more than a game.”
“Grand Theft Auto IV means the matureness for Rockstar, abandoning -though not completely- all its insane humor and arcade action, this chapter of Niko Bellic captures the essence of the american society with black humor, great narrative and the characteristic 'sandbox' gameplay that the franchise has featured all this years.”
• Saints Row 2 (Metascore 81, Steam 75): Coming in the same years GTA 4 didn’t help the second game in the Saints Row series. This was the first Saints Row I played; it was good fun enough to play for a little while. Nothing revolutionary.
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Metascore 72): The sequel to the Mercenaries. It wasn’t as well reviewed as Crackdown which came a year before.
2009
• Wheelman (Metascore 66): A Vin Diesel game. Plays like a high-octane car action movie. I have never played it, so no ideas, but it seems to have done poor.
• The Godfather II (Metascore 65): Unlike the movie sequel this is a sequel that nobody asked for. I finished it back then but I remember it having a %100 repetitive game design where you clear out rackets over and over again and do the same executions, so I guess the critical reception is on point.
• The Saboteur (Metascore 76): Damn! The most underrated GTA-clone in my opinion. I loved this game as Paris was my number one place that I wanted to see back then and I loved WW2 settings. The critics and the players didn’t do this game justice. Sure, the protagonist was annoying as hell and the open-world elements were kind of repetitive but is there anything like it? GTA-like WW2 stealth open world shooter. It also embraces the destruction elements that the developer Pandemic Studios perfected in Mercenaries 2. I loved the atmosphere it had, a film-noir style with period jazz and French songs that oozes tobacco and whiskey. Shortly after this Pandemic Studios was closed by EA.
• Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (Metascore 90 Lost and Damned, 89 The Ballad of Gay Tony): Another great addition to the GTA series, two expansion packs that offer two different storylines with cool new features.
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Metascore 93): Nice return to the top-down GTA games. It had cool mechanics.
2010
• APB: All Points Bulletin (Metascore 58, Steam 63): The concept of creating an online version of GTA was incredibly thrilling. However, it ultimately fell far short of fulfilling even 1% of the immense hype it generated. Here’s why it failed.
• Crackdown 2 (Metascore 70): As the sequel to the excellent 2007 game Crackdown, it appeared to struggle in meeting the high expectations set for it.
• Just Cause 2 (Metascore 84, Steam 90): This was as good as the Just Cause series could get. While it didn't introduce anything groundbreaking, it offered the classic chaotic fun.
• Red Dead Redemption (Metascore 95): The only game to take the GTA formula and truly excel in every aspect, well, it’s made by Rockstar. I actually never could play it as I never had a console, it hurts.
• Mafia II (Metascore 77, Steam 94): The long anticipated sequel to the great Mafia I. When I saw its first gameplay trailer I was truly in awe of its graphics. I felt that nothing could surpass its realism. The game itself turned out to be quite realistic and methodical in its gameplay elements. Since I hadn't played Mafia I all the way through, my expectations may not have aligned with those of the critics, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the sequel. For a while, I even considered Mafia II to be the best crime game ever. The story is notably superior to the first one, and player reception is higher than the critical reviews, so I suppose it all comes down to expectations.
2011
• Saints Row The Third (Metascore 84, Steam 95): The best entry in the series, offering pure mindless fun.
• L.A. Noire (Metascore 89, Steam 85): God only knows how much I waited this game and how much I was disappointed of its optimization. That aside, it’s an outstanding masterpiece of storytelling, detective gameplay, dialogue, atmosphere and music. I thoroughly enjoyed every case and every chapter like an exquisite dessert. For someone like me who has a deep appreciation for film-noir, it was an absolute treat. There's truly nothing quite like it, particularly in terms of film-noir dialogue, world-building, and the immersion it provides into the 1940s era.
2012
• Sleeping Dogs (Metascore 83, Steam 93): Spiritual successor to True Crime series, it was originally going to be True Crime Hong Kong. It has combat taken from Arkham series. It was quite a good game actually, but I never finished it. Hope they continue making games like this. Here’s how it looked when it was True Crime Hong Kong.
2013
• Saints Row IV (Metascore 86, Steam 88): More of the same I guess. But it came at a time when every gamer in the world was expecting the next installment of GTA.
• Grand Theft Auto V (Metascore 97, Steam 86): I will only remind its superior quality over every open-world game that came before and almost every open-world game that came after. Rockstar truly excelled again in their own game, this time letting players control three characters in a world that feels lively as never before. There are some things, sure, lack of interiors, lack of ultra-realism seen in GTA IV or Mafia II but still it’s a quite realistic and yet fun experience with super smooth gameplay, with zero loading in-between. This was the game I was most hyped for in all my years of gaming.
The End of an Era
This, however, also constitutes the breaking point in the open-world games (not only GTA clones). Rockstar shifted its focus away from creating more meaningful content and instead started capitalizing on the most basic gamer instincts through GTA Online, which is indeed disappointing. On the other hand, this is where the ultra-high standard set by Rockstar became almost insurmountable for other developers. They struggled to compete with the staggering amount of meticulously crafted detail that Rockstar put into its games. Instead, many opted to fill their open-world maps with an abundance of content that, almost universally, has come to be seen as meaningless.
The bar was set exceptionally high in terms of production quality, budget, and sales, with GTA V selling a staggering 185 million copies. However, this doesn't excuse the overall lack of quality and polish exhibited by other developers over the last decade, particularly pointing at Ubisoft. Even though Ubisoft's most popular series, Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, draw inspiration from GTA, they always feel burdened with soulless content, main stories and characters that lack a sense of importance and weight, and generic designs. It's safe to say that we have been out of the Golden Age of Open World games for quite some time now. Let’s take a look at the games released after GTA V:
2014
• Watch Dogs (Metascore 77, Steam 75): The insane hype that it created but nowhere near fulfilled. The graphics were highly downgraded. It offers the most generic open-world, utterly boring driving and mission design. The added hacking elements to the GTA formula, which Ubisoft seems to think are cool, didn't do much to elevate the experience. I can’t even believe it has a 77 Metascore on PC. If repetition and mediocre gameplay is your thing, then this Ubisoft title might just be a masterpiece in that regard. Nothing in this game, or in many recent Ubisoft titles for that matter, manages to leave any lasting impact or create memorable moments; hours of mediocrity. Here’s a video of the downgrade.
2015
• Just Cause 3 (Metascore 74, Steam 83): It just leaves a sour taste at this point with only difference being the change of location and the addition of a few new pieces of equipment.
2016
• Mafia III (Metascore 62, Steam 57): And you thought Watch Dogs was bad and repetitive? Here’s your answer by Hangar 13. Where to begin? Better not begin. This should be considered an insult to the principles of game design as a whole, and it's particularly disappointing for fans of the Mafia series. The storyline is painfully cliché. There are so many videos tearing it to pieces.
• Watch Dogs 2 (Metascore 82, Steam 82): Quite a comeback from the mediocrity that was the first game. However, it’s still burdened by the fact that it’s made by Ubisoft. Expect a high amount of repetition, lack of meaning in gameplay, mediocre story and characters, lack of sense of importance and weight to the world. The driving is utterly bad. However, it still works as an open world GTA-clone or a stealth simulation. Just that it’s too far away from being the next big step after GTA V.
2018
• Red Dead Redemption II (Metascore 97, Steam 90): The savior that everyone was waiting for. But an entire genre can’t be saved by a single game. What it actually accomplished was raising the bar even higher, causing any GTA-like game, or any open-world game for that matter, released afterward to pale and shrink in comparison. A perfect experience, maybe could have been a bit shorter.
2019
• Crackdown 3 (Metascore 60): Seems to be a disappointing sequel.
2020
• Mafia Definitive Edition (Metascore 79, Steam 86): If this had been released alongside Mafia II back in the day, it could have been a fantastic remake, and it still has its merits. However, it doesn't excel in any aspect compared to Mafia II, except for its graphics (although even those seem to lag behind for a 2020 release). I'm also surprised to see that some people believe it has a good story; actually it largely adheres to mafia clichés.
• Watch Dogs Legion (Metascore 70, Steam 54): I haven’t played it but it seems that Ubisoft achieved something truly remarkable with this one, making it even worse than Watch Dogs 1.
2022
• Saints Row (Metascore 61, Steam 63): I could only suffer for about 4 hours with this even though the driving is fun and the radio stations are nice. This for me marks the last step of the fall of the open-world crime games as it’s an utter disgrace of a copy of Saints Row done horribly. A bad clone of a GTA-clone, this is the post-modern unintentional caricature of GTA-clones.
Conclusions
Between 2001 and 2013, which I consider the Golden Age of GTA, a total of 41 games were released in this genre. GTA clones had an intriguing beginning, with developers striving to craft captivating new worlds while adhering to the established formula. The pinnacle of this initial phase of the Golden Age arrived with GTA: San Andreas in 2014. Games like Mafia, The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Crackdown, and Bully were notable high points during this period. It's worth noting that 2006 stands out as the year with the highest number of GTA-like releases, with a total of 8 games.
The release of GTA IV marked the beginning of the second phase of the Golden Age (2008-2013). During this period, we witnessed developers refining GTA-like concepts with more mature execution. Games like Saints Row: The Third, Just Cause 2, Mafia II, and Sleeping Dogs exemplified this phase. While most games in this period retained the original GTA formula, they offered distinct variations and flavors. Rockstar also ventured into titles like Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire, culminating in the tragic end of the Golden Age with the release of GTA V.
Interestingly, this era of the GTA-like games aligns with the Golden Age of TV antiheroes, which began with Tony Soprano in The Sopranos (1999) and reached its zenith with Walter White in Breaking Bad (2013). However, due to changing business models and rising development costs, developers are no longer able to release as many games as they once did, regardless of the genre. This change has also impacted GTA clones, which saw a significant reduction in releases—from as many as 5 to 8 games each year during the Golden Age to just 1 game per year after GTA V.
Notably, there were no GTA-clone releases in 2019 and 2021. Furthermore, established series like Just Cause and Saints Row experienced a noticeable decline in quality post-2013. The trend popularized by Ubisoft, involving the filling of open-world maps with monotonous and uninspiring content, also seems to have gained momentum during this period, and it's observable across various open-world genres.
One thing is certain, a masterpiece is irreplaceable and impossible to surpass. You can only step aside and appreciate it. Creating a better GTA game than Rockstar is a daunting task, and the developers who recognized this have achieved greatness by avoiding the attempt to replicate GTA. Instead, they drew from it and charted new directions, resulting in outstanding games that stand on their own merits.
I may have overlooked certain games, and I eagerly await any suggestions or additions. My primary intention is to stimulate a broader discussion about the overarching theme of my essay, rather than delving into individual critiques of specific games, some of which you might adore while I do not.
Note: Some games that weren’t clones but are heavily influenced by GTA: 25 To Life, Narc, Roadkill, The Sopranos: Road to Respect.

Sources (sorry, plenty are in French) : Books : Mimi wo Sumaseba - Studio Ghibli Storyboard Collection Vol. 10, Yoshifumi Kondo & Hayao Miyazaki The Art of Princess Mononoke, Tokuma Shoten, Hayao Miyazaki Hommage au Studio Ghibli - les Artisans du Rêve (2017), Ynnis Edition Hommage à Hayao Miyazaki - un Coeur à l’Ouvrage, Ynnis Edition, Stéphanie Chaptal Hommage à Isao Takahata - de Heidi à Ghibli, Ynnis Edition, Stéphanie Chaptal Hayao Miyazaki, Nuances d’une Oeuvre, Vivian Amalric & Victor Lopez 100 Films d’Animation Japonais, Ynnis Edition & Animeland Documentaries : 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki, NHK (that’s a must watch) The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, Mami Sunada Never Ending Man : Hayao Miyazaki, Kaku Arakawa Journey of the Heart, Hayao Miyazaki Kurenai no Buta DVD Bonus Omoide Poro Poro DVD Bonus Youtube : La Face Cachée de Miyazaki, Benjamin “Bolchegeek” Patinaud (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gupZ07T-Sc0) Hayao Miyazaki : the Mind of a Master, Any-mation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zi7jIZkS68) L’Europe de Miyazaki, M. Bobine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce4Mq-SISsQ) The Immersive Realism of Studio Ghibli, Asher Ishbrucker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Q6y4-qKac) Les Plus Beaux Lieux de Porco-Rosso, Lapeint (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MAgz9es-fc&t=507s) Le Temps des Cerises - Les Réflexions Stupides, Arcades (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWAVSJ0Uff4) La Face Cachée de Princesse Mononoké, Laurent Turcot of L’Histoire nous le dira (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE-8CSn9VgY) And basically the entire youtube channel of STEVEM (https://www.youtube.com/@Stevem), especially the video The Miyazaki Problem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxjrw0Yv0ZA) Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_and_the_Heron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Ghibli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki Bonus : - Ghibli Museum 

So I'll start by stating that I know that different people have different opinions, and tastes. I'm not objecting to the simple fact that not everyone likes the same things and the things I like are not necessarily the same as the person next to me. And I also understand that for some, the dereliction of the source material that this show is based on is tantamount to heracy.
However, if one is going to commit to writing a supposedly objective review about a specific TV show, one should at least bother to pay attention to the material they are critiquing and be factually correct in what you are citing as evidence in your critique.
I have just read this IMDB review of Foundation, and either the reviewer is on a wind-up or was too busy playing with their phone to pay proper attention during Season 2.
Terrible Adaptation, Lazy writing and pretty CGI. (link to IMDB review).
Firstly the cite the passage of time and the aging of the Cleons as a problem:
" I'll start with the writing In season 2 it's unclear how many years have passed since season 1, it's implied to be over a hundred but the "old man" who is said to be a child during season is played by an actor in his sixties, but there is never any point in the show where there is anti aging technology shown, in addition the current "Day" Cleon is apparently a version of the "Dawn" Cleon killed at the end of season 1, which would imply about 30 years have passed at most.
This is pretty minor but it's to highlight my point that there isn't much attention to detail in the writers room. "
The very first episode of series 2 they address the amount of time that has passed since the foundation established on Terminus as over over 170 years.
They also address the age of the Cleons specifically noting that they are new clones are not the same, citing the events of the past. The 'Dawn' the IMDB poster cites is Cleon the 14th (who had a copy later decanted) The Day in series 2 is Cleon 17th. That easily fits within the timeline established if the subsequent Cleon's live to their full prescribed ages. (For reference, Terrance Mann who plays Brother Dusk is 72. If the average Cleon lives 72 years. Cleon 14th was in his early 20s when he was killed and a replacement decanted. So that means he may have lived another 50 years before a new Brother Dawn was needed. So, Cleon 14, +50 years. CLeon 15th, +72 years. CLeon 16th +72 years. - giving plenty of time for Brother Day to age naturally).
Furthermore, the entire mystery around cloning, who is controlling it and how they remember certain things but not others, the fact that a fully aged 'backup' is kept - is all addressed in detail and not just in the end episode. How they missed these details I do not know!
LAter they criticise the way that Terminus was destroyed
" ( this gets worse at the end of 209 when terminus is blown up (no that doesn't make sense, the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs didn't death star earth why would a moderately large ship crack a planet), "
Except for the fact that Cleon very specifically said that it would be the singularity that powers the jump drive that would implode the planet and destroy it! It was even there in the special effects showing the effect!!
They go on to make points about resurrecting characters that were dead, (except we never actually saw Seldon dying the 2nd time), or complaining that the Vault has cheapened every death so far. Except they don't even remotely seem to remember Hober Mallow, Rios, Brother Dawn,, Salvor - all having met their end with no possible way to resurrect them.
Anyone paying attention to how the Vault worked would have figured out a way in which it could have saved the people of Terminus, and why that would happen. And there could have been a number of ways Seldon was resurrected on Ignis. But they had already very clearly established the Mentalic ability to insert false memories/visions into people. Right from the minute they reached that planet, Salvor was being shown a vision of her long dead lover, and then we had the scene in which Gaal was imprisoned. I mean, it's right in keeping with how the Mentalics work int he books!
I understand the discomfort with a 'force like' power being established. This clearly is a variation of how it works in the books, and yes, they didn't have 'force' powers - but it's not explicitly shown that Gaal has 'force' powers (Lifting objects through telekenises) . Knocking someone over could easily be a case of making them throw themselves to the ground 'as if hit by a force', rather an literally 'forcing' them to fly through the air. They clearly established that it was possible to make someone do something against their will like drown, or fall unconcious.
I'm not saying it was without it's faults, but to cite things that they factually get wrong, as examples of poor writing - are, frankly, worse than that they accuse the writer of.
It also highlights a trend I note with 'user reviews' on aggregate sites. Do these people spend the episodes fiddling with their phones rage tweeting about things they hate rather than pay attention? Do they bother checking if they missed something? I'm certain that in this case, the person reviewing clearly had an agenda and knew that simply stating that 'it's not the book' was not enough to win over the casual reader.
Citing fictitious/inaccurate points to justify their displeasure ends up undermining their review, rather than justifying it.
TO provide balance, there are far too many sycophantic 10/10 reviews - seemingly kneejerk reactions to the 1/10 review bombs.
And yes, they do have a good point about the Vault being a bit of a cheap get out clause, but let's see how it's used in the future. Seldon spelled out why things happened the way they did. The people surived, but the planet didn't. And it will become a symbol of their struggle, the myths and legends of the episode title for the future foundation members. "This is how far the empire will go" narrative. It will inspire others to join their struggle. Hell, it turned Bel Rios against Brother Day, triggered the destruction of the entire Imperial fleet, and so on. The repercussions of this will stretch for centuries.
Lots of little nudges, suggestions, whispers, in order to move humanity in a certain direction - the entire purpose of the Foundation and Psychohistory.
​
​

I've been seeing a lot of talk about some of the movies people are missing out on as well as documentaries that people should be aware of. So I've decided to make a mega-post of my own to educate people that have time right now to stay calm and understand what's happening.
There are a couple of movies that people should watch but understand the perspectives, and I will cite what I can to link the movies and documentaries;
The Big Short (2015): This is the perspective of the Hedge Funds, I guarantee most of it is to enforce that short hedge funds did the right thing but I would believe with all the Synthetic CDOs, you are pretty much looking at naked shorting as well without locating Credit Default swap contracts, exactly why AIG could not fulfill all those obligations because the exacerbated amount of CDOs just completely skewed the volatility data.
Margin Call (2011): This is the perspective of the Market Makers and Brokers. Most of the actuaries and risk managers discuss about quant formulas on the risk overlooked in the integrity of bonds and volatility in markets. They wanted to believe they did the right thing but a lot of collateral damage to the clueless workers already had happened all in one night.
Too Big to Fail (2011) - This is the perspective of the government employees and prime brokers during the whole mess with legislation leading up to the 700 billion dollar bailout program called TARP. They try to enforce that what Henry/Hank Paulson did was in the best interest of the people, calling into negotiations with banks as well as even people like Warren Buffet to save the banks. Larry Summers is seen as some sort of unsung hero when he was part of the deregulation that lead to the systematic failure and Timothy Geithner was clueless to what he was doing.
Again, these are the movies that over dramatize the perspectives to protect the integrity of those narratives.
Here are the resourceful movies that are about what really happened and can only benefit Main Street investors like most of us;
Inside Job (2010): This documentary is about the steps leading to the financial crisis. They discuss about the global financial system and how big banks come into foreign countries to dismantle regulation and how they create the revolving door for those that are resilient to stand up to the big banks. They also break down the deregulations and control of the foundations which build ideals for the public such as government and education. An EXCELLENT documentary I would suggest to ANYONE. They point out clear conflicts of interest and show you how much they catch most of the people that think they did the right thing, off guard to show that they knew what they were doing but to act clueless in the eyes of the public.
Frontline (PBS)- To Catch a Trader (2014): This documentary focuses on hedge fund activity and insider trading that happens openly. The documentary focuses primarily on the one firm Steven A Cohen (SAC) Capital and how they became so "successful" in trading such risky bets. They focus on the networks being used as well as how the federal justice system pursued these traders, included interviews of how Steven Cohen acted to avoid real prosecution to be put in prison. This documentary is primarily to understand the people we are up against, the hedge funds that are doing anything to get away.
The Wall Street Conspiracy (2012): This documentary is exactly what is going on now more than ever and more obvious than ever. This includes the supporters that we know today such as Susan Trimbath or Wes Christian. This documentary focuses on naked shorting as well as its targets and how you can identify when this is happening and how they do it. Included companies that publicly talk about this such as Dr. Patrick Byrne from Overstock that has been fighting back against these hedge funds. This documentary doesn't show though all the regulations that stop people from seeing all of the mechanics of how naked shorting was used like swaps or deep out of the money options. This documentary solidifies the evil in hedge funds to scalp every trade they can.
Apes Strong Together (2023): This is the more recent one that many should know but some do not. This documentary is more for the narrative of Main Street investors to show the types of backgrounds we have as well as the frustration of when you have solid data but cannot fathom why the result is the opposite end of what we see. The Mulligan Brothers did a very good job of capturing attention from people and also exemplifying how ordinary people want to get to the pertinent information but need to understand the system of how it works.
That's all I can gather for the entire amounts of information that are within a documentary or movie. Here are the bonus clips of information that is VERY important of why GameStop investors hold strong convictions.
Congressional Hearing - Game Stopped? Who Wins and Loses When Short Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Investors Collide pt.1 (2021): This is an uncut congressional hearing that was right after the halt of buying shares for most of the volatile stocks, specifically GameStop. This hearing has very important people you need to pay attention to such as Ken Griffin, Vlad Tenev, Gabe Plotkin, and even our legendary advocate for Main Street investing, Keith Gill. You can see the debate between politicians and how they ask questions between all the people involved. This was during the pandemic lockdown so the majority of the people are in separate locations, but you can tell who has lawyers to enforce what to say to avoid legal prosecution, and who is speaking from the heart and truthfully understand their convictions.
Congressional Hearing - Game Stopped? Who Wins and Loses When Short Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Investors Collide pt.2 (2021): This is another important hearing because it has people that are analysts fighting about how veiled Wall Street is, and how disadvantaged retail investors are. The argument in most of the congressional hearing is that most of the system has been gamified(aka, highly speculative to create volatility in trading). Analysts like Alexis Goldstein, or Dennis Kelleher discuss strong points of necessary regulatory reforms in this segment and should not be overlooked.
The Ryan Cohen Interview with Joe Fonicello of GMEdd.com (2022): This video is about Ryan Cohen and the rare interview of what transformations Ryan is doing for GameStop as well as discussions even about his "cryptic" tweets. Ryan talks about his integrity behind wanting to support a company to strongly look at cyclical markets. Ryan discusses about the foundation of GameStop and the neglect that was done with GameStop and tries to explain the transformations required with an already operating company.
Markets Were 'Frighteningly Close' to Collapse Amid GameStop Turmoil (2021): This is a very important video especially after understanding the perspective of a person with 'skin-in-the-game' to admit the possibility of GameStop going to infinity because brokers were not able to meet margin requirements and discussing the conflict of interest perspective of the Payment-for-Order-Flow and how Interactive Brokers Group Inc. can trade without the need of it, but overlooks the fact that Payment for Order Flow creates an inherent conflict of interest because it's not executing in the best interest of Main Street investors. This is the proof you need to understand why it could had gone to infinity if the buying side was not stopped during the rise on January 28, 2021.
Secrets of a former high speed trader (2013): This video is an interview from our well known advocate Dave Lauer and how Market Makers and Brokers will use High-Frequency trading will destroys price discovery to create such disfunction in the markets. Dave provides insight of how predatory high-speed traders will intentionally break price discovery.
Fight Stops NYSE Traders (2014): This is a video showing how much High-Frequency Trading is done to scalp orders which means it creates that fragility in liquidity rather than creates great price discovery. You have Brad Katsuyama from IEX fighting with William O'Brien from the BATS exchange arguing how processing through specific exchanges goes against the interest of Main Street, and even Wall Street investors for price discovery.

A bit of history first: Starting in early 2016 and then going off and on until ca. August 2018, then on into early 2020, this old fart wanted to communicate with me and wisetaiten, one of the original 3 founders of SGIWhistleblowers. His supposed wife Marilynnnn, who was involved in these "behind-the-scenes" communiqués, was recently complaining that I spoke about some of the things he/they had said to me via reddit's PM (private message) system. Apparently she felt that the fact that it was all private meant that I am not allowed to share any of it.
IF that were the case, then NO ONE would ever get in trouble for sending dick pics, or kiddie porn, or making death threats via text messages, or trying to privately arrange to hire a hit man, WOULD they? NO ONE is required to keep YOUR communications with them private just because they were sent privately. EVERYBODY should keep that in mind. YOU are never obligated to cover for anyone else, particularly manipulative, abusive STRANGERS.
Note that there was never any sort of confidentiality agreement, no contract, no "NDA", no papers drawn up or signed. Just casual messages back and forth.
See for yourself - remember, these are all HER:

Andy: This is the time she introduces her dialogue with the late "Sam"...
Eulogio: ...whom she introduces as "this loony SGI Old," "the doddering old coot," and "the SGI SHITA sockpuppeteer Marilynnnnn's daft (now dead) husband."

Yeah - so? He WAS! slash IS!

Eulogio: But one must say that this is trivial compared to what follows.
Dee: It is truly disgusting. It shows the lowest standard of ethics.
Eulogio: In Blanche's post she quotes Sam saying, "However, as I mentioned in last week’s PM."
Dee: Voilà, the key. In case you don't know, "PM" means "Private Message." What part of Private Message don't you get, Blanche? It's private. There's a reasonable expectation of privacy in the conversation.
Blanche, did you get Sam's permission to reveal what he thought was a private message?

YES, as a matter of fact, as disclosed in my initial writeup on his bullshit. What an idiot.
Really, Marilynnnn should know better - a coupla years ago, she as her initial author insert character "TrueReconciliation" went on the attack via PM against a member of our commentariat. He reported her attack to the mods; "behind the scenes" he and I discussed what to do about it; she's now permanently banned from our site. She was terribly upset - apparently, she thought that, if she couldn't just "Sorry" her way out of consequences, she could at least get away with it via a warning! (Typical SGI cultist - as you can see here, there's altogether too much poop-dickery taken for granted within that cult community. We don't put up with that bullshit here.)
You can read her attack here, reproduced with her TARGET's permission; the fact that she thought she could get away with it because it was via "private message" doesn't mean she gets to get away with it! WE are under NO OBLIGATION to cover for horrible people!
Her husband "Sam" showed up under false pretenses - you can read the initial contact discussion here. He LIED about who he was and what his circumstances were - "Look at me, I'm pitiful/No, actually I'm better than everyone and disgustingly rich":

When I first joined this group I grossly oversimplified my situation. I was not simply moved by my company to part-time with a loss of "benefits." Rather, I was asked by the board to resign and offered some "saving face" outsider role. It hurt me so badly because I built this company up from scratch and I didn't see this coming (not sure which hurt more). "HR" did not contact me, as I wrote last week. Instead the company offered me a golden parachute with a lot of strings attached.
Today Marilyn and I discussed the situation with our lawyers. We decided to accept the offer without altering a single word. Absolutely clean break. I am agreeing basically to not work in the field for five years. Given my health challenges with COPD and CHF now this is probably the best thing. Two near death episodes in a single week clears the mind.

🤮
He also behaved obnoxiously, high-handedly, rudely. Here's how he came off - someone called him out:

From your interaction with the mod’s on this sub, It’s apparent that you came here looking for attention from the opposite sex; Is that what landed Marilynnn back on your lap, you made her jealous and she fell for it? You Sir, and your top-notch consultant job high-horse, no wonder you have a big cult-target on your back. "Pedro"

They shared that they had been divorced for 10 years - this was in early 2016, remember. While we (wisetaiten and myself) were polite to him/hethem, we had much different perspectives that we shared between ourselves:

Notice how PolicePlease changed his response to Pedro's post:

[–]PolicePlease[S] 2 points 23 hours ago* [⇠ asterisk indicates post was EDITED]
Neanderthal76, I apologize for my rant yesterday. I was in a funk and took it out against you. What I meant is that you have to craft your message with respect to the person you are addressing. I felt you were hitting me (uninvited) with the kitchen sink. My whole world has changed since December and I just don't have the capacity, energy, or interest to undertake the research you are suggesting. Again, apologies for my hissy fit.

Before, it was something along the lines of "asshole" and "WT and BF, rescue me!"

Also "Arrogant SOB and stupid jackass". Already with the dirty-deleting/changing the comments, which is something the SHITAs are known for(and why I ONLY work off archive copies now). Notice how he's dictating to STRANGERS how they must modify their self-expression if they're going to speak to him, just like this from over on SHITA.
The whole thing's a HUGE déjà-vu, frankly.
Those narcissists had no idea what we REALLY thought about them! Since they sounded so identical, we nicknamed them "Samilyn":

I haven't heard anything from Samilynnn, so maybe they've decided that we are a poor investment.
I did look back over several of the posts, and what pops out is a need to control. On one occasion, Sam chastened you for being "patronizing," and then - in his apology to Pedro - he still chastened him for not crafting P's original posting in a suitable way for Sam's consumption and for offering uninvited information. I was close to calling him out on that latter one, to let him know that when you post on a forum like WB you ARE inviting people to respond, and that he doesn't to tell people how to craft their postings. Arrogant much? I decided to let that go, though - I just don't want to prolong a conversation with him.
So, hopefully they've moved along to better and much bigger things, as suits their importance in their world.
I got the same Samilynnn message:

Sam
from Marilynnnn sent 35 minutes ago
We almost lost Sam on Saturday. He went into cardiac arrest in the evening. Luckily Sammy and I were there and 911 came right away. They resuscitated him and brought him to ER. He is in cardiac ICU again. Lots of tests ahead to ascertain whether there is any permanent damage. He is as feisty and curmudgeon as ever, which is a good sign according to staff. Very scary for Sammy.

Isn't the usage of "curmudgeon" (a noun) odd? It should be "curmudgeonly" - isn't she supposed to have been a higher-up at a university??? That suggests education O_O

[Shades of the "wizened" and "segway" controversies with GuysWritingCoach!]

Yup . . . the chair of a department; obviously not English. Apparently, old enough to be retired, yet young enough to have a kid young enough to be spoken of almost as a child.
Isn't there some single cell critter that's disk-shaped, and starts disintegrating around the edges as it dies? That's what's happening to their story. Do you think there's a coincidence that poor old Sam is taking a sudden turn for the worse when we stop being nice and playing his game? Every time we hear from them, things get more and more wobbly. I wonder if Sam is going to die, and Marilynnn will be saved by SGI? I wonder if Marilynnn is actually a member, and she's ever-so-cleverly telling us her shakubuku story, and all of this happened several years ago? You know, like live-TV, but with a ten-year delay rather than nine seconds (or whatever).

Marilynnnnnn is known for backdating posts!

Yeah, I don't know what to say to/about it/them any more. I've essentially taken a vow of silence.
I don't really care any more either; I only responded to be polite.
Every time I hope that I've heard the last from Samilynnn, s/he returns. The latest:

Sorry, no disrespect intended. I realize i had sent my reply to your inquiry to myself, and not to you. Here it is, slightly altered:
Sam came home on Monday but he is not strong. CHF is his most serious condition now. Certainly not able to handle radiation or chemo. His spirit is feisty again but his blood O2 level is low. He has had several long talks with me about your site and hisbresearchband asked me to take notes. If you are interested I will write them out in a couple of days and send to you and BF. Thanks for your concern.

No problem!
Hopefully, he'll get stronger - it's going to be a journey. Statistically, if you survive your first cardiac event, it's less likely that a subsequent one will be fatal; that's probably kind of cold consolation, but it speaks favorably for his recovery.
I appreciate the offer to share his notes but, with all due respect, it's more mild curiosity on my part than anything else. We have people who love us, those that think we are evil incarnate, and those that fall somewhere in between. We've had more than 300k hits over the two years we've been up and running and, while it isn't cute puppies and babies, we're pretty happy about that. We're a pretty niche market, and we seem to be reaching our intended audience; every couple of month, we get a PM from someone who may have never left a single posting, but tells us that we've helped them. That's what it's really about; we hope to save other people from the pain and wasted years we've experienced.
Regards.

I have no idea what the apology is about, so I can't address that.
I very deliberately turned down her offer to send us the notes. I'm sure that Sam thinks that we can't wait to find out what he thinks of our efforts, and I wanted to make it clear that I don't. And I really don't; there's actually no curiosity on my part. A Trump supporter who examines us to see if he can leverage us somehow isn't really someone whose opinion I give a rat's ass about.

Me:

Especially since he might be imagining he can send us a bill for his "research"...

When the PPman resurfaced in 2018, he was wanting me to give him attention on the basis of those same "notes". I strung him along to see if there was anything interesting (for me) in there; you can read my earlier posts on the content here.
wisetaiten then continues:

Followed up with:
Marilynnn, with all due respect, I really am a bit confused. I’m unclear on what your expectations are here. While you discuss your negative feelings surrounding SGI, you continue to plunge yourself into its depths. Your instincts and intuitions are trying to protect you from yourself, and you persist in ignoring and running counter to them.
You’ve mentioned that Sam can be very charismatic – are you doing this to please him? Because, seriously, you sound too intelligent and independent for that. When I say that becoming a member of SGI is giving your very self up, I’m not exaggerating. Do you truly want to become someone who sends her critical thinking skills packing and believes in something as ridiculous as a magic chant changing your life and making everything all better? Do you want to become someone who loses their autonomy and freedom? Who loses her own idea of what happiness is and believes that every negative thing in her life is the result of some mysterious karmic force?
It’s nice to have a group of instant friends, especially if you’re in a difficult, vulnerable place in your life. Let me assure you, though . . . if Mariko and Jack and any other members you’ve become friendly with come to believe that you are completely disinterested in SGI, they will drop you like a hot rock. Been there. Have several tee-shirts.
I have no vested interest in whether you join or don’t join. I’d be happy for you if you were able to shake off all of this influence and came back to your senses. I don’t know if you’ve taken the time to look at any of the threads on the subreddit or if our communications have been your sole exposure, but do yourself a favor and look through it. That’s why it’s there, so that people can educate themselves before making an informed decision that will influence their lives.
I need to point out that when you send me an IM, you rarely (if ever) respond to anything that I’ve written to you, other than to thank me for my interest. You vacillate between complaining about how intrusive Mariko has been and praising her loyalty and kindness. When I’ve tried to put things in perspective, my comments are ignored. So you have to forgive me if I’m a bit confused as to what our interaction is really about. I can only offer what I can if I believe that you’re listening – otherwise it’s a waste of both of our time and energy. I can’t save you from swimming into sewage if that’s what you ultimately want to do, despite the abundance of information that supports the idea that that is exactly what you’re doing.
This is a decision that you need to make for yourself – I truly do wish you the best of luck.

I am really tired of her, and not understanding what her expectations are is annoying. On the one hand, I really would like to prevent SGI from getting a couple more notches on their bed-post, but I feel like I'm starting to talk to a wall. Is she staying in touch because she wants me to talk her out of joining? Because that doesn't sound like something I can do. I've got enough on my plate right now

Me:

Your observation that she never engages with your replies reminds me of Uncle Jesus. He just wanted me to read his sermons, figured they'd fix me right up I guess. The invitation to evaluate them was nothing more than a ruse to get me to read his sermons - he only wanted me to convert. Aside from that, he didn't care what I thought.

WT:

As it evolved, it took on that vibe. I really don't give a rat's behind about Sam or Marilyn . . . I have enough to worry about all on my own. It's like that kid who got snatched up by an alligator - utterly tragic, but the warning signs were there. You're in FL, and if there are "no swimming" signs there, it's probably because there's something in the water you should be afraid of. If she's only been engaging with me and not reading what's on the threads, she's ignoring enormous resources. I would be genuinely happy for her if she decided that SGI wasn't for her, but if she ignores everything I've written to her (and thousands of posts), then . . . well, you've been warned and chosen to ignore it. I don't care to be an observer of the process. If there really is a Sam and a Marilyn (which at this point, I suspect there may be), then Sam is a manipulative dick and Marilyn is his cat-toy. Apparently, he and Jack (the MD leader) were off talking "world domination," according to her. You can be well-educated, you can have had a successful academic career, but that doesn't mean that you have a lick of common sense or an idea of self-preservation (or even recognize the need for it).
Uncle Jeez is cut from the same cloth - he thinks that if he achieves the proper magical combination of words, he will win you over. Some key phrase is going to break your will, and you will see the light. Only a fool steps into a cesspool despite the smell and floating turds. Good luck to her. I think Sam has been captured by means of his hubris; people like that are generally flattered into complaisance.
Sam didn't contact us all that long ago - it seems to me that it was during the time I was laid off this past winter in January and February. He was dishonest with us from the start, if you'll recall, telling us his hours had been unjustly laid off, blah-di-blah. If I remember correctly, it seems he said he'd only been to a few meetings, wasn't all that involved but was concerned. I am coming to view him as a bit of a sociopath, willing to bad-mouth his friends (Jack and Mariko, with whom it's obvious now that he's good friends), but his not-so-ex-wife and son to ribbons, all to gain our sympathy. I get uncomfortable when I can't figure out why someone does what they do; I think the simple answer with Sam is that that's just how he operates because he can.

Marilynnnn then disclosed that she had SHARED some of the content from her and wisetaiten's PRIVATE conversations with retired SGI-USA General Director Danny Nagashima. Funny how it's never a problem when SHE's doing it...

I shifted the balance a bit with Marilyn yesterday (jeezus, I'm manipulative). I expressed discomfort at her having shared our communications with Danny and gave her a link to that relatively short, recent thread on the Yakuza connections. She was very, very apologetic. I do feel kind of sorry for her, but I understand her motivations for sticking with Sam - they have a very nice lifestyle and, at 68 (or even 65), you realize how grim being on your own can be. I think she's in complete denial about just how dangerous SGI is and doesn't want to think about it. She's enjoying all the affection and support she's getting from Mariko - I get the idea that she's been somewhat isolated. She really is perfect pickings for a cult.

She's "somewhat isolated" because she's a terrible person!
WT:

Bored with the pair of them . . . all they want is attention and are offering nothing in return for it. Screw 'em.

Marilynnnnnn also sent THIS (conversation with me; she's italics):

Emergency
Sam grabbed his phone when my back was turned and posted a nasty comment. This is the second outburst he had today. He also went into a tirade when Jack and Mariko came by.Spoke to the doctor who said Sam is going through the anger stage of grieving and this is common. He prescribed a homeopathic remedy for Sam.Can you remove his posting and convey my apology to Neanderthal76? Is there any way you can give Sam a "time out" for his uncivil behavior? I really don't want him on his devices now. Some tough love now might also help him get through this phase.Thank you

That's referring to the EDITED comment above.

I think it's okay - don't worry, we're all good.That exchange was on a secondary tributary from the main topic, so it's not like anyone's going to see it if they don't go looking for it.And, as it turned out, everyone who saw that post he reacted to completely lost their shit, but it turned out to be good stuff that I am comfortable recommending.Carry on, in other words. Are you sure it's a good idea to be treating an adult like a recalcitrant child?? Why not let him express himself?
Forgot to mention - when I first saw it, I lost my shit as well. But then I looked more closely and realized it was all material we'd already featured here on our subreddit, so I went ahead and unbanned it. It's mostly, if not all, content that I myself have cited before, so I think we're okay. Funny how we're all a little bit on edge, apparently...
You are right. I'm new picking up the wife-y role after so many years. The post was just so EMBARRASSING!
Nah, don't worry about it - we're pretty laid back around here, and we all have plenty of experience with doing stupid shit! It's fine. Really. And nobody will think anything unkind about anyone, especially someone who's in the throes of a health crisis!
Oh my goodness... You are being punked by Sam! You should have banned him when you had due cause.Sam is applying his fàmous research approach on you guys, Jack and Mariko, and probably me as well. This is why I left him. Sam is not Sam... He's a bubble within a bubble.I bet you he has a hunch that the SGI is "the next big thing." He's using the same research methodology he's used with hundreds of startups: reading their public documents, talking with their grassroots people (Jack and Mariko), and studying their fiercest critics (you guys). I wouldn't even be surprised if his tirades yesterday were planned, to test your reactions.OMG!!!!PS, please share with WT [wisetaiten]. I have to run.
I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of a reply. Done.
There is just so much bullshit.

WT:

What the point to the punking was - what would Sam have to gain by punking us? She said something about this being something of a discovery-phase for him - as far as anti-sgi info is concerned, we're pretty much an open book in terms of info we want to be public with . . . I guess ultimately, what is his agenda and how does he think we can serve it.
I haven't heard anything else from her today, and if I do later, I'll hold off on responding to her until you and I can put our heads together again. She may be trying to play both ends here.

Me:

That's a confusing angle - what's the point of "punking" us? To demonstrate that he could fooool us?? Oooh, duuuuuuuude - you sure punked them! Like, nobody's ever lied about themselves on the Internet before! Ha ha ha - smoked them! They never guessed you were lying!! Buuuurrrrn!!!
O_O
He certainly didn't get anything out of us that wasn't already readily available to anyone.

After the "punked" comment - remember, this is all from Feb 2016 - me:

Here is what I'm planning to send her via PM - your editorial perspective, please:
I'm a bit perplexed. What's the point in "punking" us? We're complete strangers. It's not like Sam can see our reactions, and it's not like anything Sam does is going to affect how we run our site. We get people in all the time under false identities, using IDs just made up for the purposes of that post, etc. - that's the norm when you're running an anti-cult/cult survivor activism site. Surely Sam didn't think my real name is Blanche Fromage O_O
So we've been "punked". Are we supposed to feel embarrassed? Surprised? About what? What was the "due cause" we should have noted in order to ban Sam? On what grounds? That he was lying about his situation? Why should that bother us? We just get out the popcorn :)
Where is the profit potential in SGI, if I may ask? That's the only way something can be "the next big thing", right? How does Sam feel his research turned out?
So how did our reactions measure up to the norm? Are we average, below average, or something else entirely? Was Sam pleased with the effects of his "punking" or disappointed or somewhere in between?
As you can probably see, we have a fairly active site, so after a while, threads get pushed back off the main page. At that point, we can't be expected to go searching back in the archives to see if someone's updated them - we've got, like, a thousand threads now, and more added almost daily. Since the thread Sam started has now migrated to the second page, if you want to contact us, you should probably use private messages or post on a first-page topic or make a new one - unless you're replying to one of us, we won't be notified that there's a new post. IMDb's better in that regard - a new post bumps the entire thread to the first page - but that's not how reddit rolls.
Best of luck to you all!

WT:

That sounds perfect. We do have a tendency to be pretty laid back, and for someone like Sam (who, let's face it, if he's out punking people has a bit of a predatory nature himself), we may sound childishly naïve. This message clearly shows that while we're nice and supportive, we aren't stupid.
There's just something very weird going on - while there's nothing that Samilynnn can do to harm us, it kind of creeps me out that he's trying to manipulate us when there's no clear end-goal visible. And it's very strange to me that Marilyn, who seems to clearly see what an asshole that Sam obviously is, would consider reconciling with him 10 years after divorcing him. Maybe she is after the golden parachute - he kind of deserves to be used.
There's just a whole lot that doesn't compute

Me:

I love that "hundreds of startups" bit - oooh, sooooooooo impressive! Isn't Sam just the biggest mover-and-shaker the world has evar seen? And yet here he is, slumming on our little subreddit!

WT:

I'm amazed that we can't see his big, gigantic penis from our porches.
That's part of the predator's spiel, though, isn't it? Establish authority and make you just feel so special that he's noticed you! The more I think about Samilynnn, the less I like him. Her. It. I'm thinking that we might be dealing with a whack-job on the same footing as I7 (a mentally ill SGI member who had a memorable meltdown on our site back ca. 2014); we just need to nail him on it.

Me:

The only approach I can think of is to keep a gentle, tolerant smile on my face and answer generally, asking bland questions, and simply inviting him/heit to tell us more.

Which is what I did - then and later.
Sam:

Yes. I'm thinking maybe it's right in front of my face...exploring this gap between SGI and anti-SGI. I have you and WT in one ear and Jack and Mariko in another. Marilyn is an unknown factor. Could be fun.

🙄
WHATever.
WT:

Well, it appears that the beast with two heads has gone to ground - nothing since our less-than-coddling posts that I can see. I guess he doesn't like it when women aren't all sweet and accommodating.
Oh, well . . . don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out, Samilynn!
Do they not have other, local people to bother? Like actual, physically-present friends?
This reminds me of being at a cocktail party, where you get cornered by the one person who doesn't know anybody else there and proceeds to talk your ear off. I'm not interested anymore, Samilynnn - you and your stories are boring and irrelevant. I do not wish to be your newest BFF. Go live your life and leave me the fuck alone. Maybe if I ignore her next message for a few days, she'll get the idea.

Then, a couple months later:

Fuck
from Marilynnnn sent 2 hours ago
Coming home tomorrow
We've been away on a month-long "health tourism" voyage on preventing and reversing heart disease. Esselstyn, homeopathy, Dahn Yoga have topped our list. We found lots of reasons for hope here. Sam's stubbornness has a flip side: he is very proactive.At any rate we arrive home tomorrow. Sam is upset that I still haven't typed up his notes for you. I promised him soon, soon, soon.

Notice the "Marilynnnn Triplet" there.
WT:

Godammit! So he's coming home a member of the Dahn Yoga cult? That's entertaining at least. And what part of "no thanks, not interested in the notes" is hard to understand? Ugh - not interested and not willing to waste my time reading them.

Sat, Apr 2, 2016 at 9:48 AM
I might have a look for the lulz...Did Samilynnn contact you, too?
Sat, Apr 2, 2016 at 9:55 AM
My reply to Samilynn:

Glad that you guys had some down-time. I don't know anything about Esselstyn, but I'm sure that you and Sam are aware that many consider Dahn to be just another cult?http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0803/fraud-dahn-yoga-centers-body-brain-and-wallet.htmlPlease don't hurry to type up his notes - as I mentioned earlier, and with all due respect, I don't have a great deal of interest. We don't have or need any kind of business-oriented concerns, no one has any desire to change how we're doing things - we're all pretty happy with the way things are. As of the end of February (I haven't done the March numbers yet), we've had nearly 320k hits over the slightly less than two years we've been up and running. We're reaching the audience we need to, and that's our primary concern - it's more about quality than quantity here. I appreciate his interest, but I really have a hard time imagining how his notes (based on perceptions) would be meaningful to anyone but him.

Seriously, how fucking egotistical is this guy that he thinks we must have his notes? Who cares? Hah! He'd probably try to charge us a consulting fee!
I just don't want to deal with them any more. I don't understand her point, why she keeps coming back and coming back.
I'm really, really tired of her. I have no interest in either being her buddy or her shakubuku. I just really don't care what she and/or Sam do. Go join the fucking Scientologists.

"Sam" contacted me again toward the end of 2017:

WT [his subject line this time]
Happy holidays from a long forgotten friend.
I am concerned that I haven't seen any posting from WiseTaiten in a while. Do you know if she is all right?
You may or may not know that she and I had a falling-out a couple of months ago over an insensitive remark I made in a private message. The problem was 100% my fault.
Best wishes again,
Sam

wisetaiten had this reaction:

That's kind of amusing - it had nothing to do with anything anyone said. I think I mentioned the parting of the ways to you - just a matter of me feeling that the "friendship" was quite one-sided and off balance. It amuses me because Sam made it about him, but that's typical.

Me:

Any recommendations? I'm tempted to just let it sit there unacknowledged. I have no desire to interact with "Sam", and certainly not just to feed him information about YOU, when you've made it clear that you're done with all that.

WT suggests:

I was kidnapped by a roving band of gypsies? I've become part of the Clinton/Obama deep-state organization and can no longer interact with trumpanzees? I've won the lottery and am now too good to talk to anyone beneath my income bracket?
I'm sorry he's bugging you now; just ignore him, and maybe he'll go away? We owe him nothing and, as you said, I've made it clear that I'm done there.

Me:

Oh, he just sent me the one message - it's not like he's crying outside my door like some hungry stray cat or anything!

Sam again [like, 5 days later]:

Happy holidays
I hope you are doing well. Things are steady over here, with Marilynnnn.
I have not heard back from WiseTaiten recently and I have not posted on the Reddit. I am just concerned if she is all right.
You may not know that we had a few months ago. All my fault.

WT:

Jeezus. I'll let him know that I'm okay. FFS.

So! That's the tip of the iceberg. WHY they both thought they'd glomm onto us out of the blue, I'll never know. I also don't CARE.
And I will talk about whatever the hell I want to talk about.

---Updated January 12, 2024---
A timeline is my chosen method because I feel it best demonstrates the historical significance of the phenomena as well as the acceleration of disclosure and de-stigmatization since 2017. I have also included links to some of the best UAP footage I have found, additional resources, as well as documentary recommendations.

Timeline:

• March 1, 1639, Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony records in his journal that James Everell and two other men observed moving lights in the sky earlier that year. He described James as "sober" and "discreet", no doubt to lend credibility to the sighting. He wrote that while James and his two boat mates rowed their way up the Muddy River, they observed a great light in the night sky that darted between them and the village of Charlestown, a distance of about two miles, for roughly two to three hours. He added that “diverse other credible persons saw the same light, after, about the same place." This is considered to be "America's First UFO sighting".
• January 18, 1644, Winthrop records another sighting five years later writing, “About midnight, three men, coming in a boat to Boston, saw two lights arise out of the water near the north point of the town cove, in form like a man, and went at a small distance to the town, and so to the south point, and there vanished away.”
• June 13, 1933, An "unknown aircraft" crash lands in Northern Italy. Two classified telegrams are sent out to relevant personnel, one demanding "absolute silence" on the matter and the second calling for "immediate arrest and maximum penalties" for any journalists reporting on the crash. At the end of WWII the United States would capture the craft and send it back to the US. This is the only UFO crash case that David Grusch has specified as authentic.
• June 24, 1947, Civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine objects, glowing bright blue-white, flying in a “V” formation over Washington’s Mount Rainier. He compared their motion to a "saucer skipping over water". Newspapers reporting the incident mistook this description to mean the objects were shaped like saucers, thus the term "flying saucer" was born.
• July 8, 1947, The Roswell Daily Record of Roswell, New Mexico publishes a front page saying, "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region".
• July 9, 1947, The following day, The Morning Dispatch publishes a front page reading, "Army Debunks Roswell Flying Disk As World Simmers With Excitement". The official story that was then published was that it was a downed weather balloon. Major Jesse Marcel, the first military officer to arrive at the crash site, maintained that he was forced to pose for bogus photos for the media and that what he handled was "not of this world".
• September 18, 1947, The Department of the Air Force was created under the National Security Act of 1947, just two months after the Roswell incident.
• 1948, The newly formed United States Air Force established Project Sign, initially known as Project Saucer, under the command of Nathan Farragut Twining. The project was established to collect, evaluate, and distribute all information regarding UFO sightings with the presumption that they might be a national security concern.
• February, 1949, Project Grudge replaced Project Sign with the intent of alleviating public anxiety over UFOs.
• April 27, 1949, The United States Air Force released a public paper prepared by the Intelligence Division of the Air Material Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The paper stated that further investigation was required because although some UFOs appeared to be "actual aircraft", others were unexplainable.
• December 27, 1949, Project Grudge is terminated by the Air Force.
• March, 1952, Project Blue Book is established by the United States Air Force and ran out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The program was created to gather intel on UFO sightings from all over and, when possible and/or necessary, generate an explanation for the media. The Air Force recruits Dr. J. Allen Hynek, director at Ohio State University’s McMillin Observatory, to be their scientific consultant.
• 1954, a press event is held at the Escola Superior de Guerra in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. João Adil de Oliveira, captain of the Brazilian Air Force at the time, “declared to those present the reality of these flying objects and their advanced technological characteristics.” (paragraph 3)
• December 17, 1969, Project Blue Book is terminated thanks to the Condon Report. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, lead consultant on Project Blue Book, criticized the move saying the report was “rambling” and “poorly organized”. He also said Condon’s introductory summary was “singularly slanted.” Though the report cited numerous UFO incidents its researchers couldn’t explain, it concluded that “further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified.” Of the 12,618 sightings reported to Project Blue Book, 701 remained "unidentified."
• 1973, J. Allen Hynek founds the Center for UFO Studies to collect and evaluate UFO reports, which he did until his death in 1986. The organization continues to operate to this day.
• November 14, 2004, Commander David Fravor, a US Navy pilot and commander witnessed along with six others the famous tic tac UFO.
• December 18, 2007, chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura of Japan says, "Yes, UFOs do exist". Ryuji Yamane, a lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party went on to say, "This is an issue that the nation is interested in - it is a defense issue and a confirmation operation needs to take place but the government does not even try to collect information necessary for the confirmation."
• 2014 to 2015, Lieut. Ryan Graves, Navy fighter pilot, claims that UFO sightings were a regular occurence during training.
• 2014, NASA granted 1.1 million to Princeton University’s Centre of Theological Inquiry (CTI) in New Jersey to assess how the world’s major religions would react to the existence of life beyond earth and how such a discovery could potentially impact the concept of God and creation.
• December 16, 2017, the New York Times famously publishes, "Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious UFO Programs". This is the beginning of a paradigm shift of de-stigmatizing the topic as evident of other major news outlets covering it after that. It revealed the existence of AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) having existed since 2007.
• April 2020, the Pentagon officially releases three UFO videos.
• August 14, 2020, the Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist approved the establishment of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force (UAPTF), thus rebranding the term from "UFO" (unidentified flying object) to "UAP" (unidentified aerial phenomenon).
• January 13, 2021, The CIA declassifies a "treasure trove" of UFO documents for anyone to download in compliance with 10,000 FOIA requests. Find them here.
• June 25, 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence releases their Preliminary Assessment of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. Page 5 is particularly interesting stating: "And a Handful of UAP Appear to Demonstrate Advanced Technology. In 18 incidents, described in 21 reports, observers reported unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics. Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion. In a small number of cases, military aircraft systems processed radio frequency (RF) energy associated with UAP sightings."
• October 19, 2021, NASA Chief Bill Nelson talks UAPs.
• May 17, 2022, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security along with the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence swear under oath that the United States government has detected and confirmed UAPs of unknown origin that are physical and that we have detected active energies along with them. On page 30 Deputy Director Bray says, "Right. From some of the returns, I mean, it is clear that the majority -- well, it is clear that many of the observations we have are physical objects from the sensor data that we have." A full summary can be found here.
• June 24, 2022, the Brazilian Senate held a testimony from the country’s leading researchers, a former federal representative, and other speakers about unidentified aerial phenomena in an event during which high-ranking officials were reportedly present. The entire testimony is available and translated on YouTube, starting with part 1.
• July 15, 2022, the DoD announces the establishments of AARO, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. (It's worth noting that "all-domain" was chosen as a moniker because UAPs have been reported in space, the sky, and entering the sea) Recently AARO has been accused of being "Project Blue Book 2.0" with the purpose of dismissing and obfuscating the phenomenon.
• October 21, 2022, NASA Announces Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Study Team Members. This study would focus on unclassified data.
• December 23, 2022, President Biden signed the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. Baked into this act were specific protections for UAP whistleblowers (thank you, u/joeyisnotmyname for compiling those pages). I will say that one more time: baked into the NDAA for 2023 were whistleblower protections SPECIFICALLY in regards to UAPs.
• June 1, 2023, NASA reveals UFO sightings in Middle East in first ever public meeting on UAP sightings.
• June 6, 2023, just six months after Biden signed the 2023 NDAA into law, United States Air Force officer and former intelligence official David Grusch becomes a UAP whistleblower, claiming that the United States has a top secret UAP crash retrieval program.
• June 9, 2023, Thomas A. Monheim, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, deemed Grusch's claims to be "urgent and credible", paving the way towards a congressional hearing.
• July 14, 2023, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer adds his newly written UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 as an amendment to the NDAA. The NDAA was passed later that day. I highly recommend reading as much of the UAP Disclosure Act as you have time for, the language is very precise and very compelling.
• July 18, 2023, National Security Council Coordinator and spokesman John Kirby admitted that UFOs and UAPs are beginning to cause problems for the U.S. Air Force.
• July 26, 2023, just a month and a half after Grusch blows the whistle, there is a bipartisan congressional hearing on UAPs. This hearing sees the testimony of whistleblower David Grusch, David Fravor, and Ryan Graves. They are questioned for nearly two hours on their personal experiences, evidence they may have, as well as their opinions on how to handle it moving forward. Because of the official whistleblower protection channels Grusch goes through, he is not able to disclose intelligence that is still confidential, but offers names of both hostile and cooperative witnesses, as well as the specific locations of said retrieved craft if done through proper channels in closed session i.e. a S.C.I.F. Unfortunately the hearing didn't have time for closing statements, but you can read Grusch's closing statement here (as well as his opening statement). The quotes from his closing statement that stand out to me are, "Indeed, the future of our civilization and our comprehension of humanity’s place on earth and in the cosmos depends on the success of this very process." and, "As we move forward on this path, we might be poised to enable extraordinary technological progress in a future where our civilization surpasses the current state-of-the-art in propulsion, material science, energy production and storage."
• July 27, 2023, the Senate passed MULTIPLE UAP measures including presumption of immediate disclosure, further whistleblower protections, and others.
• August 9, 2023, Ken Klippenstein attempts to write a smear article on Grusch called, "UFO Whistleblower Kept Security Clearance After Psychiatric Detention". This article is majorly rejected by mainstream media and it's revealed that Ken received "vague tips" from people on Grusch. Ken is interviewed on Breaking Points and is called out for his one-sided reporting. Ken also admits on X, "I'm a national security reporter so I know people that do the UAP stuff and there is UAP retrieval." It only gets deeper when it is discovered that Ken's father, Stephen J. Klippenstein, is a Chemist and Mathematician that works for Argonne National Laboratory, a federally funded laboratory that works under the Department of Energy. Stephen's research at Argonne includes, "Developing theoretical methods for predicting the kinetics and dynamics of gas phase reactions and applying them to interesting problems in combustion, interstellar*, and atmospheric chemistry."* It is worth mentioning that The Intercept has a poor history with whistleblowers, leading to the arrest of one, while claiming they are a safe haven for whistleblowers.
• August 9, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection release multiple UAP videos on their website due to a FOIA request.
• August 31, 2023, The Pentagon releases a "one stop shop" website for UAP information. This is the updated AARO website.
• September 5, 2023, The Pentagon releases a "UFO Hot Spot Map" showing where the most common UAP sightings occur. It's mentioned that Japan is a massive hot spot for sightings (most likely due the the nuclear facilities).
• September 12, 2023, Mexican lawmakers heard testimony that "we are not alone" in the universe and saw alleged remains of non-human beings that remain unconfirmed. Ryan Graves was in attendance and claimed the reveal of the bodies was an "unsubstantiated stunt".
• September 14, 2023, NASA shares their long awaited UAP independent study report that was first announced in October 2022. They also name Mark McInerney as director of UAP research.
• September 30, 2023, The Department of Energy lists many UAP resources on their official website. This is significant due to the fact that the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 makes UAPs exempt from mandatory disclosure, something that the UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 aims to fix (Section 2, item a4).
• October 4, 2023, The Ring doorbell company offers a $1,000,000 prize to anybody who captures an unaltered video of an extraterrestrial with one of their products.
• November 7, 2023, The University of Ica announced that after studying the Nazca mummies for four years in person that they conclude the bodies are authentic, nonhuman, and unknown to science. Eleven scientists and doctors employed by the university signed. Big thanks to u/imaginexus for putting the breakdown together. There is still much skepticism around this as outside entities have not been able to verify their claims.
• November 22, 2023, Yoshiharu Asakawa, a member of the Japan Restoration House of Representatives, tweets, "the UAP problem suddenly accelerated today" and a national policy briefing session will be held on December 20th. (Try as I might, I cannot find information on the hearing itself. Please DM me if you do)
• December 12, 2023, The UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 is "edited", rather gutted, to have two major provisions removed. The first being the "eminent domain" clause which would have given the US Federal Government "eminent domain", which is to say immediate access and ownership, over all privately held UAPs. The second gutted feature was the establishment of an advisory board of experts chosen by the president to best decide how and what information to disseminate to the public upon disclosure. These two provisions we arguably some of the most important in the bill. As they say, where there's smoke there's fire.
• December 14, 2023, Retired Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet says that he believes David Grusch's allegations, that the military covered up UAP encounters during his time in the service, and that the government should disclose "contact with non-human intelligence".
• January 8, 2024, TMZ releases part one of a free documentary on Tubi called, "UFO Revolution". Jeremy Corbell, known UFOlogist and filmmaker releases one of the most interesting UAP videos to date: the jellyfish UAP. This video was taken on a weapons platform in the middle east in 2018. At first, skeptics thought it was just a smudge on the lens, but stabilization, zoom, and sharpening have proven otherwise (thanks u/Corsten). Ophello on twitter.com made a sped up gif condensing roughly 20 seconds showing it's three dimensional nature. Thanks to the zoom and stabilization, we can clearly see that the object changes with a perspective shift. What's even more interesting is finding out just how common jellyfish UAPs actually are. Here is a cruise ship captain talking about and sharing a video of a sighting out at sea. Back in 1954, British Captain James R. Howard witnessed along with crew and passengers a shape-changing UFO he described as a "flying jellyfish". He was interviewed on television and described the event.
• January 10, 2024, It is reported that David Grusch gave a presentation hosted by crypto advisor John D’Agostino and high-profile lawyer John J Altorelli in a secret meeting in a penthouse in New York. Around 60 people attended, the leaker claimed, including officials from the CIA, FBI, and major players on Wall Street. It is unclear as to why this meeting occurred but we do know that the advisolawyer duo host meetings monthly about various topics.
• January 11, 2024, Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis, introduce a new bipartisan UAP bill called, "Safe Airspace for Americans Act". The aim of this bill is to encourage ALL pilots to report sightings of UAPs to the federal government. It would also require the Federal Aviation Administration to forward all reports to AARO. This bill is a major step towards furthering the de-stigmatization of reports and discussions surrounding UAP sightings by pilots.
• January 12, 2024, Thomas A. Monheim, the inspector general of the intelligence community and the same inspector general who found David Grusch's claims "urgent and credible", gave a classified briefing to the House Oversight Committee on UAPs. Many members of Congress still felt frustrated after the briefing as they still believe the intelligence community is withholding information from Congress and the public at large.

Additional Resources:

• Preliminary Assessment on UAPs, 2021
• UAP select committee transcript, 2022
• David Grusch's resume
• UAP Disclosure Act of 2023
• 177 page timeline
• News Nation coverage of the congressional hearing
• Ross Coulthart's follow-up report after hearing
• NUFORC report index
• Air Force Official UAP resources
• Declassified CIA documents on UFOs
• Full Committee Member Briefing on NASA’s Independent Study Report on UAP
• Yes Theory documentary on David Grusch
• 2022 Brazilian hearing on UAPs

Possible UAP Footage:

• Glowing cube UAP in Belgrade, Serbia. Matt Gaetz described seeing classified footage of something similar during the hearing of 2023.
• Jellyfish UAP of 2018
• Jerusalem UAP from four different angles. CBS reported on this in 2011.
• Possible UAP at night that changes direction rapidly.
• Multiple UAPs caught on video in Fairfield, CT.
• Incredibly clear UAP caught on film in personal airplane cockpit.
• Triangle UAP in Shanghai, China.
• Insanely clear footage of a tic tac UAP in Hungary.
• Pilot spots cube/sphere like UAP similar to the one in footage released by NASA.
• Triangle UAP at night.

Documentaries:

1. UFOs: Investigating the Unknown.
2. The Phenomenon.
3. TMZ Presents: UFO Revolution
4. Moment of Contact

Recently watched the first 3 Indiana Jones movies and I am absolutely baffled by the fact that Raiders of the Lost Ark has an 8.4 rating on IMDb, and is regularly cited as one of the top films to watch in your lifetime etc. I found it to be absolutely dire... The cinematography is bizarre and jarring shots and transitions (feels like it was shot by a 17year old cinema student not Steven Spielberg), there's not fluidity, danger just suddenly happens with no build up of suspense and then the action stuff seems to go on and on with not let up before ending abruptly, the plot is almost non existent and there are weird plot holes, things go unexplained and the characters motivations and choices just don't feel compelling, the fight scenes are very cringe... I don't know it felt like one of the worst movies I'd seen in a while on a lot of levels. Apparently there's no debate that Temple of Doom is terrible (whole heartedly agree) and I found the Last Crusade to actually be not too bad. But I do not get why Raiders of the Lost Ark is supposed to be good. What am I missing here? Can someone enlighten me? (I would like to point out for reference that I'm a big fan of Star Wars, and I kinda like that old 70s/80s corny over the top cinema with janky special effects, which is why I'm all the more baffled by how much I disliked Indiana Jones). Thanks!
Edit: hey all - ok I can't really reply to all the comments so I thought I'd clear up a few things... I didn't really expect this kind of response, I didn't mean to offend anybody, and I'm sorry if this was perceived as ragebait or trolling, it genuinely is not.
So I just wanted to give some context. Some have suggested I'm a teenager who has only seen recent action films: this is not the case, I'm a millennial and films such as Marvel or John Wick aren't my go-to genre (haven't seen John Wick and have seen a fair bit of the MCU). As a millennial, it'll come as no surprise to any of you that my favourite films of all time are the LOTR trilogy...
I like films, I'd say I'm a higher than average cinema-goer, I've seen quite a few films but also I'm by no means a film-buff, there are quite a lot of classics I haven't seen (which is the reason why I recently watched Indiana Jones, cause it's a must-see!). I've been slowly working my way through the list of films on IMDb with an 8.0+ rating and this is the first time I've felt I didn't agree with the rating.
My partner says I'm an easy-going film goer, meaning that I tend to like most things and that's why I enjoy going to the cinema: I can pretty easily get stuck into a film and just enjoy it.
I actually generally tend to like older movies. Like I said I love the original Star Wars, and grew up watching 60s musicals with my Nana (think West Side Story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Singing in the Rain, the Sound of Music...).
Based on all of the above, I was FULLY expecting to love Indiana Jones.
Hence this post: I was so surprised that I found it really bad that I started looking for answers.
I have been researching on the internet (watching videos and reading articles etc) and I appreciate those who pointed me towards further research. This post was just part of my research, I wanted to hear what people on this sub thought.
Again: I am asking to be proven wrong. I want to know why it is considered good. Just because I can't see why it's good doesn't mean there aren't reasons why it is. I want to be enlightened.
And finally to clarify on two further points: - I'm happy to be proven wrong on the cinematography, storytelling, etc. However there is obvious racism and sexism permeating particularly Temple of Doom, and yes I get that the films are "of their time", in the same way as the James Bond films, but that doesn't make it ok today. - Regarding Temple of Doom, last night I was reading some interview extracts where Steven Spielberg himself said he didn't like it and critic reviews from the time saying it wasn't great. One of those reviews was (I may be paraphrasing): "constantly sitting on the edge of your seat gives you a sore bum" which was basically my experience of Temple of Doom: constant over the top action scenes which just made it pretty tiring to watch.
Ok that's it, if people still want to comment and give me further reading or their personal experience of liking the film(s) that would be great. Thanks !