According to IMDb, Curse of the Undead (1959) is the first vampire western movie. Depending on your definition, that might also make it the first Weird West movie. (If you can find an example of an even older Weird West movie, let me know!)

Now, personally, I'm not a fan of this era of Westerns. I find the John Ford/John Wayne movies boring. There's just something about 1950s Westerns that pull me out of the movie. For example, I don't like how all the costumes are perfectly clean and look brand new. It never feels like the West to me; it all just feels like a stage play. And yet 1940s film noirs don't feel like that at all in my opinion. My point is that I have no nostalgia for these Westerns and my opinion on them is entirely ignorant and most likely wrong. So this isn't exactly a recommendation; it's more of a rant.

The main plot of this movie is about a greedy land-owner trying to take over a neighboring ranch. There's a minor sub-plot about a couple people dying with bite marks on their neck, but that's never really investigated or even discussed. Anyway, while this small-time ranch is trying to hold out from being bullied into selling their land, a mysterious gunslinger shows up to help. As backstory, he happens to be a vampire. But he isn't exactly the villain of this movie and he isn't exactly terrorizing anyone. He literally spends all his time trying to help the small ranch fight back against the greedy land-owner. But the local preacher (who's in love with the ranch owner's daughter) doesn't like the gunslinger and wants him gone. Honestly, you could cut out all the parts about the gunslinger being a vampire and very little of this movie would change. The gunslinger could've just been a "sinner" and 90% of this movie would still be the same.

Anyway, if you're curious at all about watching the very first vampire western, here's a trailer. You can watch the movie right now on tubi.

Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli daily that has faced severe criticism from the country's right-wing government, quoted soldiers, career officers and reservists who said commanders were given unprecedented authority to operate in the Gaza Strip.

They alleged commanders had ordered or allowed the killing of unarmed women, children and men in the Netzarim Corridor, a seven-kilometre-wide (4.3-mile-wide) strip of land that cuts across Gaza from Israel to the Mediterranean, and which has been turned into a military zone.

The report quoted an officer who recalled an incident in which a commander had announced that 200 militants were killed, when actually "only 10 were confirmed as known Hamas operatives".

Soldiers meanwhile told Haaretz they received questionable orders to open fire on "anyone who enters" Netzarim. "Anyone crossing the line is a terrorist -- no exceptions, no civilians. Everyone's a terrorist," a soldier quoted a battalion commander as saying.

The soldiers also described how division commanders received "expanded powers" allowing them to bomb buildings or launch air strikes that previously required approval from the army's top echelons. The allegations contained in the Haaretz report could not be independently verified.

In a statement to AFP, the military rejected the accusations. "All activities and operations conducted by (Israeli army) forces in the Gaza Strip, including in the Netzarim Corridor, are carried out in accordance with structured combat procedures, plans and operational orders approved by the highest ranks in the (army)," it said. The military added that "all strikes in the area (of Netzarim) are conducted in accordance with the mandatory procedures and protocols, including targets that are struck in an urgent time frame due to essential operational circumstances where ground forces face immediate threats".

Many soldiers who spoke to Haaretz pointed to a specific commander, Brigadier General Yehuda Vach, who last summer took charge of Division 252, which has been based in Netzarim. One of the soldiers said of Vach -- who was born in the settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank -- that "his worldview and political positions were clearly driving his operational decisions". Another soldier said Vach had declared "there are no innocents in Gaza".

The military told AFP that the "statements attributed to him... were not made by him". "Any claim asserting otherwise is entirely baseless."

The Haaretz report said Israeli soldiers spoke to the newspaper so that the Israeli "people need to know how this war really looks like, and what serious acts some commanders and fighters are committing inside Gaza". "They need to know the inhuman scenes we're witnessing".

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/18177525

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Laws and ministerial decrees against Palestinians are being passed at top speed. As in any apartheid system it is absolutely official that there is one set of laws for them and another for Israelis. But now, such measures are also being extended to Israeli Jews. Men and women who oppose the massacres and the war can be accused of treason. In the firing-line are journalists and newspapers like Haaretz, movie directors, heads of NGOs, militant pacifists and others.

Sylvain Cypel

Formerly a member of the editorial board of Le Monde and previously editor in chief of Courrier International

Scores of lawmakers from Lai's Democratic Progressive Party had occupied the podium of the parliament's main chamber since Thursday night and barricaded themselves inside -- piling up chairs to block entrances. The DPP parliamentarians were attempting to stop three legal amendments proposed by the opposition bloc, which would make it more difficult for voters to oust elected officials who they see as unfit.

"Parliamentary dictatorship," some DPP lawmakers shouted to criticise the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party and its ally Taiwan People's Party (TPP) for trying to pass the bills with their majority.

"If the KMT forcefully passes the amendments... Taiwan's democratic self-checking and self-repairing mechanism will be gone, and it will also cause significant and irreversible damage to Taiwan's civil society and democratic system," the ruling party said in a statement. "At a time when Taiwan's democracy is being violated and damaged, we must stand up and take action," it added.

Among the disputed bills was a planned revision to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act pressed ahead by the KMT and TPP to raise the threshold for removing elected officials. The Beijing-friendly KMT said it would prevent the power of recalls from "being abused" but some DPP lawmakers said they fear the move would revoke voters' rights to remove unfit officials. Han Kuo-yu, the current parliament speaker from the KMT, was ousted in 2020 as mayor of southern Kaohsiung city following a failed presidential bid.

Outside the parliament on Friday, thousands of people gathered to protest the bills, shouting "return the evil amendments", and "Defend Taiwan". "I am here to protest the opposition parties for trying to confiscate the people's rights to recall," graduate student David Chen told AFP.

2024 was a bumper year for horror, not only on the silver screen but also in the gaming sphere. In fact, the genre has arguably never been in a healthier state than it has over the last twelve months; with a good mix of AAA successes, mid-budget sleeper hits, and plucky indies that punched well above their weight. When we could pry ourselves away from compulsive rounds of Balatro, we here at Bloody Disgusting even managed to play some of them!

With 2025 just around the corner, now is the perfect time to celebrate the true standouts. Of course, it was tough to whittle this list down to a top 10, and some favourites inevitably didn’t make the cut. Still, that’s a nice position for us to be in and is a testament to the incredible quality of those that did end up qualifying.

This book is currently out of print but may still be accessible via secondhand sellers or the Internet Archive.

The union, which says it represents some 10,000 workers at the massive online retailer's facilities around the country, called the action the "largest strike against Amazon in US history."

Workers will picket at facilities in New York, Atlanta, southern California, San Francisco and Illinois, with other Amazon Teamsters "prepared to join them," the union said in a statement. "The nationwide action follows Amazon's repeated refusal to follow the law and bargain with the thousands of Amazon workers who organized with the Teamsters," it said.

Less than a week before the Christmas holiday, the strike threatens a significant disruption of deliveries of Amazon orders as Americans rush to send last-minute gifts.

"If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed," Teamsters boss Sean O'Brien said in the statement. "We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it."

Workers at a New York facility became the first Amazon employees to unionize in April 2022, with several other sites since following suit. Originally an independent union, the Amazon workers voted in June to affiliate with the Teamsters. Amazon has repeatedly sought to block the unionization efforts, with legal proceedings still ongoing.

The Teamsters represents only a tiny fraction of the 1.5 million employees at Amazon, the nation's second largest private employer after Walmart. The union has some 1.3 million members nationwide in sectors ranging from freight delivery to cafeteria employees.

Nitter

🤦‍♂️ Lock your edibles up like responsible people if you have kids/pets, folks.

"Background music is no longer an afterthought at many airports, which are hiring local musicians and carefully curating playlists to help lighten travelers’ moods."

I have a distinct memory of hearing and seeing a pilot play a baby grand piano in Frankfurt airport during a transfer, and it was such a pleasant impromptu experience. I welcome both thoughtfully curated recorded & live music in airports. It's a win also for local talent.