Archive for November 24th, 2025

Flaming hyenas update.

Monday, November 24th, 2025

The charges against James Comey and Tish James have been dismissed.

The reason is pretty much the usual one:

… interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan was improperly appointed to her position and “had no lawful authority” to secure indictments of either of President Trump’s longtime adversaries.

The charges were dismissed “without prejudice”, meaning they can be re-filed. I assume they will be if Judge Cameron Currie is overruled in this matter.

However, the ruling by senior US District Judge Cameron Currie comes after the expiration of the five-year statute of limitations against Comey, meaning the case against him cannot be reopened.

It would seem to me that, if the charges were filed before the statute of limitations expired, and the judge’s ruling is held to be in error, the charges should be able to be reinstated. But I Am Not A Lawyer.

Obit watch: November 24, 2025.

Monday, November 24th, 2025

Udo Kier, actor. THR.

275 credits in IMDB, including “Iron Sky: The Coming Race”, “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot”, and “Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated”.

Jimmy Cliff. THR.

Mr. Cliff won two Grammy Awards over his decades-long career: best reggae recording in 1986 for “Cliff Hanger” and best reggae album in 2013 for “Rebirth.” But his breakthrough in the United States came when he starred as an actor in “The Harder They Come,” a 1972 movie about a struggling Jamaican musician who turns to crime.

That film became a cult favorite in the United States, running for years in midnight slots at theaters. It won Mr. Cliff a wide base of fans, many of whom bought the movie’s soundtrack, which included “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “The Harder They Come” as well as Mr. Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross” and “Sitting in Limbo.”

Lee Tamahori, New Zealand director who went on to a Hollywood career. IMDB.

I never saw any of his Hollywood films. But I did see “Once Were Warriors” in a theater, and it blew me away. I highly recommend that, but be warned: it isn’t a light and happy movie.

Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, who was also known as H. Rap Brown.

Before converting to Islam and changing his name in the 1970s, Mr. Al-Amin was one of the most incendiary orators among the Black Power activists who emerged in the late 1960s to challenge the leadership and nonviolent strategy of the civil rights movement.
An admirer of the Cuban revolution, he preached armed resistance and separatism, declaring: “Violence is necessary. Violence is a part of America’s culture. It is as American as cherry pie.”
With his trademark black beret and sunglasses, dexterous mind and imposing 6-foot-5 inch frame — 7 feet, with his Afro — he was a persuasive and charismatic figure to many, adept at rallying Black audiences to his cause while alarming many white listeners.
Elected chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in May 1967, he made an immediate mark by getting the word “nonviolent” removed from its name, persuading the organization’s leaders to change it to the Student National Coordinating Committee.

He had a long history of “involvement”, so to speak, with law enforcement.

Enmeshed in court proceedings resulting from federal and state charges he faced in five cities, Mr. Al-Amin went into hiding in 1970 and spent 18 months on the F.B.I.’s Most Wanted list. He resurfaced in Manhattan on Oct. 16, 1971, in dramatic fashion — wounded in a shootout with the New York City police. The police said he and several accomplices had tried to hold up an uptown Manhattan tavern and exchanged gunfire with officers who were pursuing them.
Mr. Brown, who denied the charges, was convicted on charges of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. He served five years of a five-to-15-year sentence at the Attica state prison in upstate New York.
By the time he was released on parole in 1976, he had converted to the Muslim Sunni sect known as Dar-ul Islam. By his account, he had become a new man with a new name. He moved to Atlanta, where his wife, Karina, had established a law practice, and publicly renounced the revolutionary ambitions of his youth.

He was convicted of shooting two sheriff’s deputies – killing one – in 2000, and died in a federal medical center.

Firings watch: November 24, 2025.

Monday, November 24th, 2025

Shane Bowen out as defensive coordinator of the New York Football Giants.

The Giants are 2-10, and blew a big lead to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Chip Kelly out as defensive coordinator of the Raiders. He’d only been with the team for 11 games, and the Raiders are 2-9 this season.

Las Vegas has fired an offensive coordinator midseason for the second straight year. Luke Getsy was let go after nine games in 2024, with Scott Turner taking over in an interim role under then-coach Antonio Pierce.

The California Golden Bears have fired head coach Justin Wilcox. 6-5 this season, 48-55 over nine seasons with the team.