Iraqi TV: Satan with a Pitchfork, ISIS, and The Joker

What are we to make of this?

Al-Iraqiyya TV recently aired a promo announcing a soon-to-come anti-ISIS satirical series. The series, called "The Superstitious State" - a play on the words "khilafa" ("caliphate") and "khirafa" ("superstition") – features an assortment of colorful characters, including a red-clad devil with a pitchfork, whose union with a Jewess - wearing a large Star of David - begets an "ISIS-ling" in the form of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, hatched from an egg. Other characters in the cast include Sheikha Mozah, wife of the former Emir of Qatar, a gun-toting, grog-swigging American cowboy, the Joker from Batman, Dracula, and a character presumably representing Stalin. The promo was broadcast on the Iraqi TV channel on September 9, and is being shown several times a day since. September 14, 2014.

The line between Joseph Stalin (Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin; 1878 – 1953) and Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (1937-2006) is thin in terms of appearance.

 

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Director Zack Snyder Defends Aquaman Due to His...Trident

You really can't make these kinds of syncs up. Right after posting "Several Sites Are Studying Trident Syncs," one comes of another trident moment from the universe of comic books and superheroes.

IGN News' Jim Vejvoda penned an interesting little bit of popular culture news about how "Batman v Superman Director Zack Snyder Defends Aquaman on Detroit Radio."

Disturbed by what he was hearing from some disc jockeys who were criticizing Aquaman, Snyder phoned in his defense: 

The cool thing with Aquaman is he has his trident. You have to realize that could cut the flesh of Superman if they came in contact. That's a thing that's in the canon. He's super strong because, of course, he can exist at these super deep depths. So when he comes up here, he's crazy strong. Anyway, not to say he's in my movie or anything like that, but he has the potential to be bad ass, that's all I’m saying.

That's right. Because Aquaman has a trident!

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Superman + Batman

Ben Afleck has been picked as the New Dark Knight, er, Batman, for the next Superman, er, Man of Steel movie.

The reaction has not been overwhelmingly positive.

You may recall, a similar negative reaction occurred when Heath Ledger was named to play Joker.

We all know how that turned out.

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Dark Knight of Gotham: Sports Illustrated Curse?

Making the cover of Sports Illustrated is sometimes called a curse. How do you think it might feel to be on the cover and be called The Dark Knight of Gotham? Major League Baseball pitcher for the Mets, Matt Harvey, may be pondering that very fate. He's on the cover of the May 20th issue.

Matthew Edward Harvey was born (March 27, 1989) in New London, Connecticut and grew up in Mystic, Connecticut. He played during his youth for Fitch Senior High School in Groton, Connecticut and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Harvey is an National League MLB right-handed pitcher for the New York Mets, debuting with them on July 26, 2012.

The Staten Island Advocate even published Harvey and Batman next to each other so the comparison would not be lost on its readership. And by doing that, all could clearly see that Harvey's jersey number is 33.

Also, don't forget, Harvey Dent was a major character in the second Dark Knight film.

The name Harvey is of Old English and Old French origin, and derived from the Breton name Haerviu, rooted in the elements haer "battle" and vy "worthy," literally "battle worthy," or in some views, "eager for battle; strong and worthy."

The Sports Illustrated cover curse or jinx is an urban legend that states that individuals or teams who appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated magazine will subsequently be jinxed or experience bad luck. See here for a long list of incidents causing some to feel the curse has been confirmed.

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The Dark Knight Chechen

Manuel F. writes:

Loren,
Don't know if anyone left you with this sync, but here goes...
Yesterday I was thinking about this "dark night" period we're living in. Then my mind jumped to Dark Knight and something was connected.
You saw the infamous Dark Knight movie (the one with Heath Ledger). Remember the scene where the Joker burns the mountain of money?
The gangster he double crosses is called "The Chechen."
The Joker says he will retrieve their money from the money launderer and then burns it and feed "The Chechen" to the "pooches."
Seems like the fountain of syncs never gets dry with the Batman trilogy. You do more dot connecting (you're good at it)! I just wanted to leave this idea.
Greetings

Enki writes:

Tsarnaev contains the root tsar (also spelled czar, csar, or tzar) - a Russian emperor. A villain in the Batman universe, Mr. Hammer, has a tattoo which reads: "Joker The Tzar" in Russian.

Mister Hammer and his brother Sickle were conjoined, orphan twins who performed in a russian circus, developing a reputaton for brutality which attracted the attention of the Joker. Joker sent his cohort Harley Quinn to recruit the twins, but the circus manager refused, however he subsequently turned up with a Glasglow smile carved into his face, and the twins were recruited into Joker's gang. During a fight between the Abramovici's and Batman, Joker had an ingenius idea to separate the brothers, and acquired the help of Dr. Thomas Elliot to perform the surgery and cut the twins in two. After the surgery was completed, Joker favorably chose Mr. Hammer to be his "right-hand man" and left Sickle for the Penguin, who hired the twin to be apart of his gang. Ever since, the Abramovici's operated alone in Gotham, and later Arkham City, however Sickle always had a disliking for Joker for separating him from his brother. Source.
Here we have twins again, as well as the theme of brothers separated violently.
Also, in Batman Confidential, Batman works to prevent a massacre by a bomb-packing villain called The Tsar. Source.

The site Merovee mentions a further link to the Dark Knight and Aurora, beyond the early one widely noted that "Dzhokhar" sounds like "Joker." That site points out that the the Boston police released the number plate of a car connected with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – 116 GC7.

Merovee writes that "116 is a number which is closely connected with The Joker – Century 16 (116) at Aurora, as well as being a mirror of 911. As well, there is the compulsory 7/7. G=7. 116 7 C 7."  

(Personally, I don't understand the "7" numerology being "compulsory.")

 Century 16 in Aurora, Colorado.

Aurora building, Shanghai, in Skyfall.

There are stories of coincidence and chance, of intersections and strange things told, and which is which and who only knows? And we generally say, "Well, if that was in a movie, I wouldn't believe it." Someone's so-and-so met someone else's so-and-so and so on. And it is in the humble opinion of this narrator that strange things happen all the time. And so it goes, and so it goes. And the book says, "We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us." ~ Magnolia, 1999.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was named after Dzhokhar Musayevich Dudaev (Chechen: Dudin Musa-khant Dʒouxar/Дудин Муса-кIант Жовхар; Russian: Джохар Мусаевич Дудаев), who was a Soviet Air Force general and Chechen leader, the first President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He was born February 15, 1944, and reportedly killed by "two laser-guided missiles when he was using a satellite phone, after his location was detected by a Russian reconnaissance aircraft, which intercepted his phone call," on April 21, 1996.

Recent postings of the Boston Marathon/Patriots' Day Bombings and aftermath are:

* The Dark Knight Chechen

* Name Game: The Brothers Tsarnaev

* "Terrorists": Suspect #1 Has Been Killed; Suspect #2 At Large

* What Logos Are On Boston Marathon Suspects' Caps?

* Mapping The Tragedy: Boston Bombs Set On Symbolic Sites

* Targeting Patriots' Day Is Significant for Boston Marathon Bombing 

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Malachi Throne Dies

In a bizarre twist of fate, considering the Malachy Prophecies and the "throning" of a Jesuit Pope on March 13, 2013, plus the "lexilinking" played out across the twilight language landscape last year, Malachi Throne has died.

Veteran actor Malachi Throne, 84, was best known for his roles as False Face on the televised Batman series, and as the reoccurring character of Noah Bain (!) on It Takes A Thief.

Throne died the evening of March 13, 2013, of unknown causes.

Malachi Throne was born in New York City, on December 1, 1928. He was an American stage and television actor, noted for his guest-starring roles on Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Mission: Impossible, and The Six Million Dollar Man, and those mentioned above. In Babylon 5, he played "Prime Minister Malachi."

One of his strangest roles was as the villain "False Face" in the ABC Batman (1966) series. The character, who used a variety of disguises to effect his nefarious schemes, wore a semi-transparent mask when not in the midst of his crimes. The mask rendered Throne's real face unrecognizable on screen. Playing off this effect, but against Throne's wishes, the show's producers wrote the on-screen credit as "? as False Face," which denied Throne his credit. However, at the end credits of the episode, "Holy Rat Race," his full name was finally given full credit. His portrayal was a substitution for Clint Eastwood's proposed version of Two-Face. Source.

Throne worn varieties of disguises as False Face to effect his evil efforts against Gotham City. He also wore a semi-transparent mask when not in disguise.

Regarding the name "Bain," see also: 

Bane/Bain ~ Part 1 

Bane/Bain ~ Part 2 

Bane/Bain ~ Part 3

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Joker + Colorado Movie Theater - Again!

It has happened again, but luckily there was no loss of lives. An individual went into a film wearing a Joker mask (from the Dark Knight?), and scared moviegoers into running out of the Century theater. What was he thinking?

The Daily Camera reports, in part:

Boulder [Colorado] police [on Sunday evening, November 11, 2012] arrested a 17-year-old who wore a clown hat and "Joker" mask inside one of the movie theaters at Twenty Ninth Street -- a prank that scared moviegoers so badly that [five] of them ran out of the cineplex...[His] name [was not released] because he is a minor, but said that he is a part-time student at the University of Colorado.
...
The suspect told police that he wore the mask to Century Boulder Theater, 1710 29th St., to scare his friends and said he wanted to dress as the "Joker" next year for Halloween. He was carrying the mask and hat in a shopping bag when police approached him, according to the police department.

The person was aware of the July 20, 2012, theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, with occurred during The Dark Knight Rise. James Holmes, arrested in that incident, identified himself as the Joker. Aurora is about 35 miles southeast of Boulder.

The movie that was being screened in Boulder during this November 11th event was not identified.

Do you think it might have been Skyfall?

Thanks to DJ for the newstip.

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Skyfall: Bond's Dark Knight

There is much to be said about Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film. Let me share some initial items and images to begin the pondering. (There are no spoilers in such an early posting about this film. I just saw it tonight, as it opens in the USA.)

It is remarkable how the tone and underlying themes of The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall overlap. I have already discussed the Aurora backdrop in Skyfall.

Skyfall's Silva, the psychopath, is this film's Joker. Bond is Batman.

James Bond: Everyone needs a hobby... 

Raoul Silva: So what's yours? 

James Bond: Resurrection.

Skyfall, 2012

M: Quoting Tennyson's poem Ulysses: Though much is taken, much abides; and though 

We are not now that strength which in old days 

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are... 

One equal temper of heroic hearts, 

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will 

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Skyfall, 2012

In a scene where Bond and M first reach Scotland (shown here), the following exchange occurs, as noted:

M: Orphans make the best recruits. 

Bond: There's a storm coming.

Skyfall, 2012

BMT 216A ~ The same registration for this vehicle in Goldfinger and Thunderball.

Sarah Connor: What did he just say? (asking about what a Mexican child said)

Gas Station Attendant: He said there's a storm coming in. 

Sarah Connor: [sighs] I know.

~ The Terminator, 1984.

The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming. 

~ Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight, 2008.

Selina Kyle to Bruce Wayne: You think this can last? There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us. ~ The Dark Knight Rises, 2012

Later...

Selina Kyle: There's a storm coming. 

Bruce Wayne: You sound like you're looking forward to it. 

Selina Kyle: I'm adaptable. 

~ The Dark Knight Rises, 2012

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Beheadings & Batman

As we travel into the new darkness being revealed in 2012, we should not forget the reality of beheadings in the background of the Batman blackness.

Batman Beheading

On Saturday, June 28, 2008, at Six Flags Over Georgia, 17-year-old Asia Leeshawn Ferguson of Springfield, South Carolina, scaled two six-foot fences and passed through restricted areas posted as dangerous to visitors. Ferguson jumped the fences and was then decapitated by the Batman roller coaster. 

Tim McLean's tatoo.

It should not be lost on people that the victim of the Canadian bus beheading (July 30, 2008) was a young man who told his friends he "loved being a carny," who sported the Joker-like tattoo (above) on his back. Tim McLean was headed to Winnipeg after working with the carnival in Edmonton, Alberta. His links to Joker/clowns/Jokawild and more were discussed, in depth, here.

Remember, The Dark Knight was released on July 18, 2008.

On August 5, 2008, The Boston Herald reporter Stephen Schaefer asked, "Is The Dark Knight cursed?"

It was only a matter of time until the mainstream media would catch on to this "curse." People have been mumbling about it since Heath Ledger died. As those watching for the curse of threes have noticed, Ledger died, Christian Bale was arrested and then Morgan Freeman has been in a tragic car crash.

Schaefer writes:

The box-office behemoth, expected to pass the $400 million mark this week, is notorious as being the late Heath Ledger's last completed movie.

Now Morgan Freeman, the 71-year-old actor who plays Batman's techie Lucius Fox, is in serious condition following a car accident in Mississippi late Sunday night.

The Oscar-winning actor was driving his wife's friend Demaris Meyer's 1997 Nissan Maxima when it rolled off Tallahatchie County Highway 32, flipping over several times. Meyer was treated for minor injuries and released.

Freeman, who was driving to his Charleston home, reportedly suffered broken ribs and was air-lifted to Regional Medical Center in Tennessee.

This tragedy follows assault allegations made last month by the mother and sister of "The Dark Knight" star Christian Bale. The 34-year-old Bale denied the charges. He'll be back in court next month.

The Dark Knight is dedicated to both the 28-year-old Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose last Jan. 22, and Conway Wickliffe, 41, a stunt supervisor who died in a freak accident in London while setting up a car crash.

Blogger Todd Campbell, after he read an early sharing of these thoughts, forwarded the following photographs to my attention, from the movie. He posted on this, as well, in 2008.

What do we find these photos have revealed?

Embedded within the movie was the Heath Ledger character, the Joker, using the Joker/Death card as his "business calling card," as pictured, shown holding a decapitated head. 

Schaefer wrote that The Dark Knight joined a grim list of "cursed" films. Most people are familiar with them.

Curses Abound

The Superman hex struck Christopher Reeve, who shot to fame after starring in the 1978 movie, after he broke his neck in a horse riding accident. Television's original "Superman," George Reeves died in an apparent suicide in 1969.

In June 2007, a teenager's legs were severed when cables snapped on the Superman  Tower of Power ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky.

The 1982 horror classic Poltergeist was haunted by the premature deaths of two of its female stars. Vanity Fair celebrity scribe Dominick Dunne's daughter Dominique was murdered by her live-in lover soon after the film was finished. Heather O'Rourke, the film's child star, died in 1988 at age 12 of cardiopulmonary arrest prompted by Crohn's disease. For all of its sensationalism, in the end, the Poltergeist curse only documents four deaths.

I have written of the "Mothman Death Curse" online and specifically in the August 2004 issue of Fortean Times, with a list of over 80-related deaths, some of surprisingly young people and others of elder members of the crew, cast, and aligned associates of the film, in West Virginia and elsewhere.

VA Tech Beheading

On Wednesday, January 21, 2009, (a year after Heath Ledger's death) police reported a woman was slain on the Virginia Tech campus and decapitated. Xin Yang, 22, was killed after arriving at the campus from Beijing on January 8 to begin studying accounting, Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said.

The first 911 call came into police around 7:06 p.m., saying a woman was being assaulted inside the Graduate Life Center, just outside the Au Bon Pain cafe.

A police officer who responded to an emergency call has told how she entered the cafe to find the male attacker holding the female victim's head in his hand. Police say the victim was decapitated with a kitchen knife while having coffee at the cafe with the suspect.

Responding officers found the woman had been stabbed to death and beheaded. They arrested the suspect, a 25-year-old Chinese graduate student named Haiyang Zhu. He is a Ph.D. student in agricultural and applied economics. The police also recovered a large kitchen knife they believe was used at the scene.

Haiyang Zhu was charged with first-degree murder and is being held in Montgomery County jail.

Au Bon Pain - French for "place of good bread" - was founded by Louis Kane (remember the comic character Batman was created by Bob Kane) as a bakery in Boston's historically significant Faneuil Hall in 1978, known for Samuel Adams' revolutionary speeches and its famous grasshopper weathervane used to tell British spies from Patriots. In 1982 Au Bon Pain debuted a bakery cart at Logan Airport in Boston. Au Bon Pain Inc. (later renamed Panera Bread Company) went public in 1991, and today has 230 units worldwide.

The Au Bon Pain decapitation was the first violence on the VA Tech campus since April 16, 2007, when Korean student Seung-Hui Cho killed two students at West Ambler Johnston Hall, and then two hours later, after walking across campus to Norris Hall, killed 30 others and himself.

From Batman to Mothman, whether or not there are curses is not important. As the spectre of decapitations grows in the Mideast, we need to be aware. The fact that they have become part of popular culture and that there is a dark sense that there may be such things in the modern world, in the end, may be what becomes more significant. If they are foreshadowing other storms, dawns, and wicked things coming this way remains to be seen.

As seen in Sydney, Australia on September 15, 2012.

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