Movies & TV The Legend of Vox Machina The Legend of Vox Machina Will Never Let Us Down The third season proves that Vox Machina is here to stay By Kathryn Porter | Published on October 29, 2024 Credit: Prime Video Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Prime Video I will readily admit that I have never taken the time to watch the Critical Role campaign that serves as the source material for The Legend of Vox Machina. I cannot bring myself to sit through the 373 hours of gameplay—and the 73 hours of other stuff—knowing that I would lose focus about 15 minutes in at the hands of my ADHD. D&D action plays will probably never be my thing, but animated fantasy series always will, and Vox Machina has continued to be a shining example of everything the genre can be. It is rare that a show can be three seasons in and continue to be just as good as it always has been. People often look down at animation when it goes beyond the boundaries of their childhood favorites, but if everyone could get past their preconceived notions of the medium “just being for kids” they would learn that some of the best television writing comes in the form of animated science fiction and fantasy series. Whether it’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, or Invincible, or Delicious in Dungeon, the half-hour format lends itself to fast-paced storytelling filled with drama, humor, and plenty of action without feeling bogged down or dragged out like live-action series of the same genre. Vox Machina is no exception, and while Season Three picks up where we left our mishmash of heroes, it quickly whisks us away into the next phase of the adventure with no hesitation. Thordak—voiced by the late Lance Reddick—is still on the loose and despite Vox Machina initially rejecting Raishan’s (Cree Summer) offer for an alliance, they cannot seem to keep her out of their business. Keyleth (Marisha Ray) wants nothing to do with her, but everyone else ends up accepting that Raishan is the enemy of their enemy, and Keyleth is left feeling railroaded. Raishan’s tenuous allyship is not enough to defeat Thordak and his ilk, and Vox Machina must face the fiery realm of the Hells of Despath in order to stand a chance against the complete destruction of their homes. Credit: Prime Video Handling an ensemble is hard enough, and Vox Machina does something this season that a lot of shows are afraid to by purposefully sidelining some of their characters in order to make sure that the story moves along smoothly. Grog (Travis Willingham) doesn’t do much outside of being the comedic relief, a stark contrast from last season, but had the writers tried to give him more to do in the form of a fully fleshed-out development arc, he would have gone from a classically lovable oaf to a character resented for being forced into the middle of a very streamlined narrative.  In exchange for Grog’s minimized role this go around, we are blessed with the world of Exandria expanding all around us, whether it is with secondary characters getting more of a spotlight, or magic new and old weaving its way into everyone’s lives. Allura (Indira Varma) and Kima (Stephanie Beatriz) are the heart and soul of episodes four and five, and it’s really wonderful to see a relationship between two women viewed as something for the straight couples in the series to aspire to. They are the ideal we get to see after spending three seasons watching multiple couples dancing around each other, and their simple existence as people who are committed to each other kicks Percy (Taliesin Jaffe) and Vex (Laura Bailey) into gear and pushes them towards accepting that their feelings for each other are real.  The core of this season truly is the power of love, but Vox Machina is smart enough to make it look so cool that you would never think to call it corny. Keyleth and Vax (Liam O’Brien) finally start to resolve the tension between them this season, too, and while they finally have the space to be happy together, the journey there is still rife with interpersonal conflict. After their kiss in the season premiere, the pair are still prone to second-guess their feelings. Vax has seen a future where Keyleth is alive well after the rest of the Vox Machina crew and he loves her too much to pursue a relationship with her if she is going to be alone for the majority of her life after he’s gone. Keyleth, on the other hand, is finally ready to be in a real relationship and does not want to deal with Vax’s hesitancy. It’s the perfect way to cool down a slowburn romance that is nearing its resolution. While this is a show that is inherently about the power of found family, there is also a good amount of love led by blood-family reconciliation that weaves itself into the binding thread of the season. Scanlan is separated from the crew several times as he attempts to initiate a meaningful relationship with his recently discovered daughter, Kaylie (Aisling Franciosi). While this is one of the more straightforward sidequests of the season, it is still full of nuance and complexity on both sides of the situation. Kaylie has no reason to have any faith that Scanlan will actually be a good father to her—he’s been absent for most of her life and a disaster when he was present—but she still yearns to have a connection with him despite what her gut tells her. Scanlan, in turn, is torn between trying to reconcile with his daughter and keeping his commitment to Vox Machina, working to take down Thordak and what is left of the Chroma Conclave. We as the audience are understanding of why Scanlan is so flip-floppy between everyone, but no matter what decision he makes, someone ends up hurt physically or emotionally. The apocalypse does not wait for anyone to get their family drama in order before it comes, and the same is true the other way around. Image: Prime Video In the end, Scanlan is able to convince his daughter that he truly cares about her with the help of Pike (Ashley Johnson), Keyleth and Vax are able to get over the roadblocks they built between each other, and even Percy and Vex, who are so afraid of expressing their feelings that death comes between them, get a happy ending by the season finale. Do not be mistaken, the peace that Vox Machina rewards us with at the end of this season is hard-earned. Percy may be the only character in the main cast who faced permanent residency in the afterlife, but there were plenty of near-death experiences to go around this season. The stakes always felt real no matter who was in peril, minor character deaths don’t feel superficial, and even with Thordak defeated in the end, the damage that the Chroma Conclave did to Exandria still looms. The season concludes in the best fashion possible, sending the heroes of Vox Machina off in separate directions after they restore some semblance of peace to the world. Obviously, they will not be kept apart forever. There are plenty of threads left loose to make up the foundations of a potential fourth season: What consequences will Vax face after defying the Mother of Ravens and reattaching Percy’s spirit to his body? What untapped power does Pike have inside her that is keeping her locked in the crosshairs of Gods and immortals alike? Who are all of those people in hoods at the end of the finale and why are their eyes bleeding everywhere? If you haven’t already muscled through the hundreds of hours of live-play that Critical Role has to offer, you are likely to find the answers you seek there. At the very least, the quality storytelling where Vox Machina finds its roots will hold its own, but I’m inclined to set up camp and wait for the recently-confirmed Season Four.  Animation is the dream vehicle for a story like this, and if Prime Video does the smart thing it will give Vox Machina the space to work out the remainder of its story on its own terms. It has the distinct advantage of never being beholden to the limits of the physical world, live-action production budgets, or the uncanny ambiance of Volume Stage technology. The animators at Titmouse and Production Reve have done incredible work bringing this show to life—from fight scenes to set designs to the timing of the physical comedy—and if this does even the smallest bit of work to bring adult animated television close to the center of mainstream pop culture, that is just another accolade for them to be proud of. There’s nothing that Vox Machina cannot do in its current form, and with a new Critical Role series coming by way of The Mighty Nein, there will hopefully be enough from this franchise to last us until the end of the decade. There is no other fantasy media around that has been consistently successful while remaining true to itself, and the next installment of Vox Machina cannot come soon enough.[end-mark] The post <i>The Legend of Vox Machina</i> Will Never Let Us Down appeared first on Reactor.

Column The SF Path to Higher Consciousness The Babadook Knows Terror Has No Boundaries A struggling mother and her fragile son confront the depths of madness and grief. By Dan Persons | Published on October 29, 2024 Credit: Screen Australia Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Screen Australia Ghostface: Do you like… [dramatic pause] scary movies? Me: Could you be more specific? The weird thing about scary movies—what a lot of people call scary movies—is how many of them aren’t all that scary. Slasher films thrill, body horror shocks, ghost stories disturb, torture porn (I really hate that term) repel. But scare—that is, trap you in that region between fight or flight, where you dread what you will see next, yet are incapable of looking away? Nah. Even the movie that coined the “Do you like scary movies?” bit, Wes Craven’s Scream (1996), isn’t a scary movie. It’s a comedy, Craven’s metacommentary on the slasher genre. There ain’t a frightening second in the entire runtime. I will say this now: The Australian film, The Babadook (2014), scares the living shit out of me. Not just once, but every time I’ve seen it. (Yesterday was my third viewing.) Even better, it does it by deploying a variety of tools to express a viewpoint seldom encountered in the genre. There really isn’t a comfortable moment in The Babadook. It starts with a stylized recreation of a living nightmare: A car accident in which the protagonist, Amelia (Essie Davis), loses her husband as he is driving her to the hospital to have her baby. Soon enough, we discover that what we’re seeing actually is a nightmare (writer/director Jennifer Kent gives us some sublime imagery when Amelia wakens, having her fall in slo-mo out of her agonized revery and into her bed), which is broken when Amelia is wakened by her son, the six-going-on-seven Sam (Noah Wiseman), who summons her to his room for what appears to be a nightly ritual of making sure his closet and the region under his bed are monster-free. Young Sam is, to put it mildly, a handful. He’s fearful and clingy (in a disturbing moment, Amelia pushes the boy away when he hugs her too tightly). He is obsessed with protecting himself and his mother from monsters, and gets thrown out of school for bringing a makeshift portable catapult to class. He is impulsive in all the wrong ways, constantly pestering Amelia for her attention, injuring himself on the jungle gym during a demonstration of courage, alienating his classmates and the young cousin with whom he shares birthday parties (not because they have the same birth dates, by the way, but because Amelia cannot bear to commemorate the actual day he was born). And that’s before the night that Sam pulls from his shelf a strange, rough-hewn pop-up book for his bedtime story. Mister Babadook starts off in Tim Burton cute-creepy mode, introducing a weird, top-hatted, not-quite-human entity that insinuates itself into a boy’s home. But the narrative soon turns ominous, and the then downright terrifying, as the specter grows, reveals rows of razor-sharp teeth, and is last seen rising up over the hapless boy that let him in. And if Sam was a mess before, Mister Babadook sends him over the edge. He’s unable to fall asleep, swears he sees the Babadook everywhere, and traumatizes his peer group with warnings about the monster. Amelia attempts to exorcize the demon first by hiding the book, then ripping up the pages and tossing them in the trash. To her surprise, the book turns up back on her doorstep, with the pages reassembled and new ones added indicating that the Babadook will soon track her down, invade her soul, and drive her first to filicide, and then to suicide. She starts to get phone calls in which a guttural voice utters, “Baba-dook-dook-dook,” and begins seeing the monster manifesting in old movies on the TV. (In an interesting nod to film history, Kent largely uses the public domain films of the father of special effects, Georges Méliès, while the Babadook itself is modeled on a character Lon Chaney Sr. developed for the now-lost silent horror film London After Midnight.) And then, one night, something enters unbidden into Amelia’s bedroom. And enters, unbidden, into Amelia herself. And to better explain what follows, and why it so terrifies, I have to make an odd but relevant digression. It used to be that when people were discussing the misanthropic comedy of W.C. Fields, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to note, “Oh yeah, in one of his films, he actually sends a blind guy into oncoming traffic.” That isn’t quite accurate—the sequence in question is not as bad as is typically summarized. It’s actually worse. The film is It’s a Gift (1934). It’s pretty much a string of discrete set pieces, one of which has Fields, as the henpecked husband Harold Bissonette, trying to run his grocery store despite a string of small disasters and irritating customers, the most irritating and disastrous of which is one Mr. Muckle (Charles Sellon). Mr. Muckle is blind and deaf. He is also, as a polite person might put it, a difficult man, or as Monty Python might put it, a right bastard. He’s foul-tempered, ornery, and careless, first putting his cane through the store’s front-door window, then upending cases of glassware and decimating a pyramid of unprotected lightbulbs. Bissonette is deferential to the old cuss despite the chaos he leaves in his wake (“SIT DOWN, MR. MUCKLE, PLEASE!”), all the way to arranging a delivery run for the single pack of gum Muckle has purchased, and then making sure the street is clear of traffic before sending the man back to his job (which, in a punchline that by the time it lands is really beside the point, is as house detective at the neighboring hotel). Once the dick (in all senses of the word) is on his way, and too late for Bissonette to come to the rescue, Muckle is immersed in an onslaught of speeding fire trucks. Through some miracle, he manages to make it across the street unmolested, while Bissonette collapses butt-first into a garbage can. Here’s where people get that scene wrong: Bissonette does not deliberately send Muckle into oncoming traffic. And here’s where they get it right: W.C. Fields, who scripted most of his films, does. And he does it in a way that winds up brutally indicting the audience. We, most of us, possess enough empathy to know to defer to people with disabilities (ask any disabled person and they’ll let you know that sometimes people overshoot the mark, but better that than the alternative). Fields presents us with a damning contradiction: A man who at once should instantly prompt our desire to assist (if needed), and yet who is such an unholy crud that we can’t help but wonder if we are—to use a favorite, Fieldsian term—being taken for suckers. By the time the oblivious Muckle makes it across the street unscathed, Fields has turned our sympathies so far around that we don’t feel relief that the man wasn’t reduced to a smear on the asphalt, but wonder at the irony of a universe that will go out of its way to spare the life of a truly unpleasant person. There’s a ton of hilarity in the sequence (while Fields is best known for his verbal gros mots, he could also deploy exquisitely timed physical comedy), but it turns out that the final joke of our encounter with Mr. Muckle is the one that’s on us. As with our empathetic instincts toward people with disabilities and others who might be more vulnerable than ourselves, we are hard-coded to protect children. Amelia has struggled under that innate obligation for six years, compelled to sublimate her rage and guilt in order to concentrate on the daunting task of being a single mother. Sam, meanwhile, perhaps sensing the dark emotions roiling within Amelia, has become so obsessive about monsters—out of fear for his own safety and because he’s scared of the prospect that his guardian might be taken away—that he becomes a clinging, impulsive trial, one with whom even the most loving parent would have trouble coping. When the Babadook enters Amelia, all the suppressive stops are thrown off. She becomes verbally abusive, stops tending to Sam’s needs, and for all practical purposes barricades the two of them in their home. Within the logic of the film, she is possessed by a monster. Take a step back, and she is recognizable as the worst-case scenario of an abusive parent, venting her anger at a vulnerable child, remorseful in the next moment, utterly irrational. At one moment in the film, when Sam cries, “You’re not my mother!” Amelia counters with, “I am your mother!” And they are both right, Sam seeing the monster that has taken control, Amelia, finally, revealing the part of her that blames, rightly or wrongly, this young creature for taking away the man she loved. And here are the moves Kent executes that makes The Babadook so terrifying: She carefully establishes Sam as the ultimate in difficult children—needy, fearful, impossible to control. Amelia in the meantime has so sublimated her trauma—she bristles when anyone dares to even mention her husband’s name—that we can see how close she hovers to the breaking point. When she finally crosses the line, we realize that Kent has maneuvered the character dynamics to a place where we realize that now, anything could happen. This is not a slasher film, where it’s guaranteed that the virgin will live past the credit crawl; this is not Saw, where victims are subjected to simple-minded, Irony 101-style punishments. The director has removed the safety of predictability, and emphasizes the danger by having Amelia perform a truly atrocious act (which I won’t elaborate on here) and having Sam reveal more and more of his vulnerable innocence as his mother becomes ever more unhinged. We are in unknown territory, a place where the awful prophecy contained within the pages of Mister Babadook becomes a too-present possibility. [And we’ve also arrived at a point where in order to fully explain the hammer blow of The Babadook’s finale, I have to venture into spoiler territory. You’ve been warned.] The film’s final act is a nightmare of physical and emotional violence. Amelia, driven mad by Babadook-invoked manifestations of her husband, becomes determined that she and Sam should join her dead spouse in the Great Beyond. Sam, having none of it, knocks his mother cold, and binds her to the floor. But at the moment when we dread what will occur next, Kent pulls a switch: As Amelia rages, Sam tells her he loves her, tells her he knows it’s the Babadook in control, and urges her to find the will to exorcise it. Kent doesn’t simplify the moment—Sam, with the innocence of a child, caresses his mother’s face; Amelia, breaking free, comes close to throttling him. But in the heat of her mania and through the strength of her son’s unconditional love, Amelia manages to find her own love, succeeding in expelling the monster in a gout of black bile. From a first-person perspective, we watch as the Babadook flees, retreating to the house’s basement where, not so coincidentally, Amelia has sequestered all of her husband’s belongings. The finale shows Amelia finally at peace, and happily prepping for Sam’s birthday party. But a task must be performed first: Bringing a dishful of worms—freshly dug from the garden—down to the thing that dwells in the basement. It’s not unusual these days for a movie monster to survive past the end of a film. Can’t have sequels without it. But Kent has something more powerful in mind by letting the Babadook live. When the monster in the basement tries to attack Amelia, instead of fighting back, Amelia mollifies it, whispering, “It’s all right. It’s all right,” until the beast calms, and snatches the dish away into the darkness. And this is the journey The Babadook takes us on: From subtle dread, to outright terror, to miraculous reconciliation. It tells us that there are some things dark, and unpleasant, and sometimes even monstrous that cannot be killed, that the best that can be done is be aware of their existence, try to understand why they are there, and learn to live in some kind of tentative harmony with them. The Babadook explores the horror of the worst aspects of the human soul, and somehow, surprisingly, imbues us with a sense of hope. It says that, even in the deepest depths of darkness, we can find our way to the light. Is it okay to cry at the end of a horror film? The Babadook does that to me every time. I really hate the phrase “Instant Classic”—it’s a blatant contradiction in terms—but if any film deserves it, it’s this one, both for the skill with which Jennifer Kent orchestrates the terror, and for the way she offers a vision of the human condition from a perspective not often presented in the genre. Is this the only example? Probably not. Maybe there are other horror films that evoked true terror in you, or touched you in places you least expected. We’ve got a comments section below for just such thoughts; you’re free to post there. Be friendly and polite, though. Let’s all act through the lens of love.[end-mark] The post <i>The Babadook</i> Knows Terror Has No Boundaries appeared first on Reactor.

News That Christmas That Christmas Trailer Reveals Holiday Hijinks & a Talking Reindeer From books written by the writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on October 29, 2024 Credit: Netflix Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Netflix Halloween hasn’t happened yet, but that’s not stopping the promotion of this year’s holiday movies! The latest one is Netflix’s animated feature That Christmas, a delightful-looking adaptation of the children’s books written by Richard Curtis (who also wrote movies you might have heard of, including Love Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral). The talent attached to the film, which released its first trailer today, is more than impressive. In addition to Curtis writing the screenplay along with Peter Souter, it features an original song from Ed Sheeran and is directed by How to Train Your Dragon alum Simon Otto. The cast is also out of this world and includes Brian Cox as Santa, Fiona Shaw as Ms. Trapper, Jodie Whittaker as Mrs. Williams, Lolly Adefope as Mrs. McNutt, Alex Macqueen as Mr. Forrest, Katherine Parkinson as Mrs. Forrest, Sindhu Vee as Mrs. Mulji, India Brown as Bernadette, Zazie Hayhurst as Sam, Sienna Sayer as Charlie, Jack Wisniewski as Danny, Rosie Cavaliero as Mrs. Beccles, Paul Kaye as Yirrell, Guz Khan as Dasher, Andy Nyman as Mr. Beccles, Kuhu Agarwal as Nisha, Bronte Smith as Eve, Freddie Spry as Teddy, Ava Talbot as Scarlett, Bill Nighy as Bill, and Rhys Darby as Mr. McNutt. “This has been the most amazing adventure, my first animated film,” Curtis said in a statement. “It’s been especially exciting to see the whole world I imagined come to life beyond my wildest dreams—and populated by a dream bunch of actors, their wonderful voices turned into such rich and funny characters.” The official logline explains that the feature is “a series of entwined tales about love and loneliness, family and friends, and Santa Claus making a big mistake, not to mention an enormous number of turkeys!” You had me at turkeys. That Christmas premieres on Netflix on December 4, 2024. Check out the trailer below.[end-mark] The post <i>That Christmas</i> Trailer Reveals Holiday Hijinks & a Talking Reindeer appeared first on Reactor.

Starting out as a Roman statesman and military leader, Augustus used his cunning and political leverage to become the first Emperor of Rome. Ruling from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD, he established himself to be one of the most effective as well as controversial leaders in human history. So, take a look to see what made Augustus the ruler he is, his rise to power, and what he did when he managed... Source

Let's travel back in time to the 1950s when John Wayne dominated the cinema with Western classics including The Searchers and Rio Bravo. "The Duke" wasn't the only major star headlining the genre – Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, and James Stewart all found success putting on cowboy hats and saving the day. These are the best Westerns of the '50s to take you on a trip down memory lane! 3:10 To Yuma... Source

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. During an appearance on the Tim Dillon podcast, Senator and Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance shared his views on the expanding influence of government surveillance, expressing deep concern over its implications for American democracy. During the hour-long conversation, Vance addressed various issues, including his stance on the intelligence community, Big Tech’s role in censorship, and the Patriot Act’s lingering effects on American privacy and security. Vance argued that many in government prioritize the survival and growth of intelligence agencies over addressing the everyday issues Americans face, such as inflation and housing. In a pointed critique, he sarcastically stated, “I recognize that the biggest crisis facing my fellow Americans is not that they can’t afford groceries or housing, but that a CIA bureaucrat making $190,000 a year might have to find a job in the private sector.” He went on to emphasize that the increasing prioritization of surveillance infrastructure overshadows crucial American values, adding, “It’s really you know, a win-win…Kamala Harris’s defense…she’s made it harder for Americans to afford housing but that’s been in the service so the CIA can more easily spy on our fellow Americans.” Related: Wiretaps Exposed: How Encryption Backdoors Open the Floodgates for Hackers Vance pointedly criticized the legacy of the Patriot Act and its unintended consequences, stating, “Part of the infrastructure [China] hacked into was built on top of surveillance systems that were implemented in 2001—Patriot Act-style stuff. So, you know, we’re worried about the civil libertarian element of that, and rightfully so…I don’t want American citizens to be spied on. But the more important issue, in some ways, is we’re creating a backdoor in our own technology networks that our enemies are now using. That’s crazy.” This sentiment extended to the technological infrastructure supporting government surveillance. Citing a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, Vance revealed that foreign adversaries, notably China, had reportedly hacked parts of the Verizon and AT&T networks—systems Vance claims were initially established under the 2001 Patriot Act. He argued that these surveillance systems, while ostensibly set up for domestic security, have created vulnerabilities for adversarial infiltration, saying, “We’re creating a back door in our own technology networks that our enemies are now using. That’s crazy…no one is going to accept responsibility for it.” The Patriot Act, officially known as the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act), was enacted in October 2001 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Its primary aim was to enhance national security by expanding the surveillance and investigative powers of US law enforcement agencies. Key provisions included increased authority for monitoring phone, email, and financial records, improved information sharing between government agencies, and broader powers. While intended to prevent terrorism, the act has faced criticism for infringing on civil liberties and privacy rights, sparking ongoing debates about the balance between security and individual freedoms. Related: The FBI Wants More Mass Surveillance But Can’t Keep Your Data Safe The WSJ recently reported a major cybersecurity breach involving Chinese hackers infiltrating US telecom networks, specifically targeting infrastructure used for government surveillance and wiretapping. The hackers, associated with the group known as “Salt Typhoon,” gained access to networks operated by companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies. Their intrusion may have allowed them to intercept sensitive internet traffic, including data from systems that fulfill court-authorized wiretap requests. According to reports, the hackers could have maintained this access for several months, posing substantial risks to both national security and the privacy of millions of American customers. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post JD Vance Slams The Surveillance State, Government Backdoors appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. That pandemic is over – but UK’s authorities appear very keen to launch another one, this time political, where various government departments seem to be lining up proposals aimed at keeping as many people as possible at home. And those ministers look very optimistic about the surveillance capabilities of various wearables, all the way to enabling “virtual prisons” to function (this time for actual criminals, not the general population caught up in lockdown measures.) Those in charge of healthcare would like people to basically take primary care of their own health whenever possible, and are ready to hand out wearable devices for patients to monitor anything from blood sugar to cancer recovery at home; and now Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is considering “virtual prisons.” What would be the difference between house arrest and these “alternatives to jail”? One is that the first is usually handed out for minor crimes, or to allow inmates to serve the last six months of their prison stretch under these conditions (“HDCs” as this is known in the UK – involving some level of technology-driven surveillance) – while the other is new, and involving a new role of tech, in Mahmood’s thinking. Now, there are GPS tags, phones, and watches (all “smart” – i.e., very capable of round-the-clock surveillance – but would that be legal, and in what jurisdictions, remains to be clarified). Where Mahmood (and those behind the policies he’s the face of) are concerned the solution to “jails running out of space” (just as hospitals are apparently running out of staff and capacity) is to make people serve their serious, 5+ year sentences – at home. And, just as working from home seems to be facing a backlash, in the UK at least – healing yourself, or imprisoning yourself, in your own home, paying your own utilities, etc, seems to be gaining traction. Labour is not shy to “work” with Tories, especially on initiatives that are fairly puzzling, if not offensive, to common sense. “Theoretically a judge could hand down a sentence of house arrest. We have an opportunity now to reshape and redesign what punishment outside of a prison looks like,” said Mahmood. According to the Telegraph – Mahmood is expected to confirm David Gauke “the former Tory justice secretary (as) head of the review of sentencing that aims to ensure there will be enough space to lock up the most dangerous criminals, encourage offenders to turn their back on crime and expand punishments outside prison.” According to opponents from the ranks of civil and digital rights advocates, this is yet another dystopian exercise worthy of criticism, not least because the plan includes learning from (other) authoritarian surveillance states who spy on their own citizens – perhaps simply, at this time, because they do it more effectively than the UK. We know what all this says about those run-of-the-mill authoritarian regimes – but what does this “ambition” tell us about the UK authorities? According to the Sun, the question, and the problem are real – the newspaper cites “an insider” as saying that the real or perceived problem of overcrowded – as we now know them – prisons, ought to spill over into the rest of society. If the report is to be taken for granted – and it cites an unnamed insider – “We (UK) need to learn from the surveillance states who spy on their own citizens and use the same tactics with our criminals.” It might sound incredulous to those whose point of view is still that governments like that in the UK are, as far as democratic practices, pure as the driven snow. But the reality seems to be that the official position is moving ever closer to a place where “maximum security” prisons can when all’s said and done – be set up anywhere. Including a person’s own home. Now, remember the days when technology was the force for the good, and in service of people using it. And now – apparently, just forget those days. “Those under home detention curfews are in practice under a form of house arrest, with a tag on their ankle, and a sensor in their home, they are placed under curfews, generally for 12 hours each day,” said Mahmood. “In some ways, punishment outside a prison can be even more restrictive than prison.” It does warrant repeating that once widespread use of facial recognition tech as a surveillance measure is in place in a society, it means that everyone is subject to it – rather than just those currently treated as suspects and/or convicted inmates. Once set up and running, this system can very easily in the future be “repurposed” in a number of scenarios – including capturing individuals who break no law, but are simply political/ideological/speech dissidents. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Home Is the New Prison: UK’s High-Tech Digital Prison Plans Should Spark Privacy Fears For Everyone appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Got some piles of old newspapers in your garage? Bring them back to life with these easy yet crafty (and practical) projects you'll definitely love! Repurposing Ideas for Old Newspapers I know there are a lot of people out there who have switched to more of a paperless lifestyle. The bills come via e-mail and the newspapers are read online, BUT, there are still some of us who enjoy turning the pages of the newspaper and the scent that comes from the freshly printed ink on paper. For those of you who still read the news the old-fashioned way, I have some repurposing ideas for those old newspapers piling up. Of course, there’s always the recycling bins which is great! 1. Paper Mulch image via tallcloverfarm If you have a paper shredder you can use it to do the shredding for you. If you don’t have one you can just use scissors to cut the papers up or just rip them into pieces. What I prefer to do with my paper mulch is to use it as the ground layer and then I use wood mulch over top of it. This process seems to help keep the weeds out even better. You don’t have to use it as a secondary, it can be used on its own, but it’s a little light. 2. Paper Mache Projects | Paper mache can be fun for all ages. Easter is on its way and using a balloon, newspaper strips, glue or flour paste mixtures you can create an awesome Easter Egg. Here’s a great video tutorial you can follow. I like to do a cracked egg and stash the goodies inside of it! 3. Liners We all know some craft projects can get pretty messy, it doesn’t matter how old we are, it is what it is! Just line the work area with a few layers of the newspaper, I like to tape it down so I know it’s not going anywhere. Peel it off when you’re done and toss it in the tinder box. *Be sure if you plan to burn the newspaper after use that you use non-toxic paints!* This lining method is also an amazing way to cover windows, trim, and furniture when painting indoors! It’s also much cheaper than tarps and covers. Although tarps and covers are good to have if by chance paint is actually spilled. 4. Recycle It Into Clean Paper I remember doing this in school when I was a little girl and I was amazed. There is a process to it but this video explains the whole process in less than 10 minutes. You can even turn it into colored paper using dyes and inks. 5. Kindling & Fire Starter image via archivodiario Well, newspapers are pretty dry stuff so it makes great tinder and kindling to start campfires. If the weather is damp and rainy I will even use it to get my wood stove going in a pinch. You can just store it and crumble it as it’s needed or prep it if you’d like. 6. Cleaning Windows image via cutefetti Don’t waste another paper towel trying to clean the windows. There’s just something about the newspapers that seem to eliminate any streaks and they also clean them better. It also saves you money and is more eco-friendly. I have a little box I use to keep my dirty window paper. Once it dries back out it can be used as kindling. Just a quick side note, I use eco-friendly cleaners that are free of harmful chemicals, hence safe to burn. 7. Insulation For The Coop | If you have an abundance of saved newspapers you can use it as insulation in the chicken coop and other animals housing. I prefer to use it in between the walls just as you would housing insulation, but it can be laid down for bedding which will help keep them warm. Be careful – goats will sometimes make a meal out of it. 8. Make Art image via iheartartsncrafts There’s so much more than paper mache projects that old newspapers can be used for. For the toddlers, you can use the old paper for finger painting projects. Just tape the paper to their easel and let them make art. You can also create collages and sculptures, paper airplanes etc. 9. Package Padding | The process will go much faster if you have a paper shredder but if you don’t you can always cut it up by hand. As a matter of fact you don’t even have to cut it up you can just crumble it up. Put it in boxes to protect fragile items when shipping them. I personally like to shred it if I am sending smaller stuff but I use the crumbled technique for heavier items. Works just as good as those styrofoam peanuts. 10. Moving | Just as you can use the old newspaper padding for shipping fragile products you can also use it for packing up the house and moving. My mother always like to wrap her china and glassware directly in the newspaper before placing it into the boxes with the crumbled sections of the newspaper. It adds extra cushioning and keeps it from getting scratched. 11. Small Wall Murals | The pages of the newspaper are pretty big when you open them up. You could take the pages of the newspaper and tape them together to make one massive painting page for the kids. Just tape or glue the pages together starting in the lower corner of the wall from there add more until you have it to the desired size. Once you have a small wall mural you could take it down, roll it up and start over. This allows you to swap out from the old to new and change things up for fun. Aside from old newspapers, old magazines can also be turned into a DIY home decor. Check out this video and find out how to make one: Finding new ways to use old things is one of my favorite things to do! When something’s reusable why not find a way to put it back into use. I hope some of these ideas spark your creative interests. What do you think of these old newspapers repurposing ideas? Which one will you try out soon? We’d love to hear some of your ideas too so drop us a line in the comments! Looking for DIY projects for your creative kiddos? Check out these 30 Projects for Crafty Kids! Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook!   Featured image via pexels

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