May 23, 2017

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Today in Movie Culture: Deadpool Defends 'Logan' in Honest Trailer, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Recap and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Movie Takedown of the Day:

Logan is so good that Honest Trailers has trouble making fun of it and can’t even get Deadpool to say anything mean about it:

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Franchise Recap of the Day:

In anticipation of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Hal Rudnick of Screen Junkies recaps the first four movies:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

In anticipation of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, here’s a classic behind the scenes shot of Keira Knightley on the set of the original installment, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, in 2002:

Movie Parody of the Day:

Witness Darth Vader fandom within the Empire this Malaysian Stormtrooper sketch made for Star Wars Day (via Geek Tyrant):

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Fake Movie Posters of the Day:

James Gunn has shared all the movie poster parodies featuring Nathan Fillion as actor Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, from the set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2:

Actor in the Spotlight:

In anticipation of the release of Baywatch this week, ScreenCrush shares some trivia you might not know about Dwayne Johnson:

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Filmmaker in Focus:

Mr. Nerdista celebrates the talents of Taika Waititi and shows why he’s perfect for the MCU and Thor: Ragnarok in this video essay:

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Mashup of the Day:

Speaking of the MCU, BossLogic crossed Scarlett Johansson’s Avengers and Ghost in the Shell characters for a futuristic Black Widow:

Mashed up Ghost in the shell with Black Widow, I have always liked the concept of a futuristic BW πŸ˜€ yes widow maker is the inspiration pic.twitter.com/oguZIwz7Mu

β€” BossLogic (@Bosslogic) May 23, 2017

Supercut of the Day:

Movie characters love pizza, as seen in this supercut from IMBd:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 20th anniversary of the release of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Watch the original trailer for the sequel below.

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and

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Congress and Farmers Are Shocked By Proposed USDA Cuts

A tractor pulls a planter through a field as corn is planted in Princeton, Ill.

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Top officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture didn’t even try to act enthusiastic as they unveiled details of their agency’s proposed 2018 budget, which includes drastic cuts in spending. “We’re going to do the best we can,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. “It’s my job to implement that plan.”

The broad outlines of this budget, with its 20 percent cut in the USDA’s discretionary spending, had been released two months ago. This week, it became clear exactly what the Trump administration wants to cut: agricultural research, food aid for the poor, and programs that benefit small rural communities.

The budget also includes a surprise that’s particularly unwelcome to big Midwestern farmers. It proposes new restrictions on government-subsidized crop insurance, a program that is particular favorite of grain farmers. The changes, which would require congressional approval, would limit the ability of large farmers to take advantage of those programs and cut government subsidies by more than $2.5 billion each year.

In a statement, the American Farm Bureau Federation said that “this budget fails agriculture and rural America.” Similar criticism came from the American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association.

The impact of those cuts, however, is dwarfed by proposed restrictions on the SNAP program, which helps the poor buy food. Those changes would cut SNAP spending by $4.6 billion in 2018, increasing to more than $20 billion annually by 2022.

The budget reduces funding for the Agricultural Research Service by $360 million, or 26 percent. This would mean closing the doors at 17 research centers.

It also completely eliminates the country’s flagship program of international food aid, called Food For Peace. The current USDA budget includes $1.7 billion for that program.

All of this, of course, is merely a proposal for Congress to consider, and by all indications, Congress is inclined to reject much of it. The Republican chairmen of the agricultural committees in both the Senate and the House released a muted joint statement that said nothing at all about the proposal itself, but promised to “fight to ensure farmers have a strong safety net.” They also pledged “to take a look at our nutrition assistance programs to ensure that they are helping the most vulnerable in our society” β€” a signal that they hope to revive the rural-urban coalition in Congress that has traditionally defended a package of food aid and farm subsidies.

Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN) said in a statement that “this budget is going nowhere on Capitol Hill but it is still a statement of priorities and should be of concern to all rural Americans.” Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) called it “harsh and short-sighted.”

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Medical Research, Health Care Face Deep Cuts In Trump Budget

Budget Director Mick Mulvaney holds up a copy of President Trump’s proposed fiscal 2018 federal budget at the White House on Tuesday.

Andrew Harnik/AP

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Andrew Harnik/AP

The proposed budget unveiled Tuesday by the Trump administration doubles down on major cuts to biomedical research; programs to fight infectious disease outbreaks; health care for the poor, elderly and disabled; and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

It restates the goals of the “skinny budget” the administration released in March, which was widely condemned by scientists and public health advocates.

Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Monday that the goal is to cut back on public assistance and instead put people back to work. “We are going to measure compassion and success by the number of people we help get off of those programs and get back in charge of their own lives.”

No one thinks the president’s budget will pass as proposed, since Congress has budget and spending authority. But it does provide a baseline from which negotiations may begin.

“The president is right to take a close look at spending,” says Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. But “Congress has the power of the purse strings. I’ve never seen a president’s budget proposal not revised substantially.”

Here’s a rundown of the budget’s medical research and health care proposals.

Medicaid: The budget proposes cutting Medicaid and CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, by $616 billion over 10 years, with almost half the savings occurring in the last two years.

The joint federal-state programs provide health care and support services for 75 million low-income, elderly and disabled people, about half of whom are children. In 2015, federal and state spending on Medicaid was about $545 billion.

The budget mirrors the changes in Medicaid included in the health care overhaul bill passed by the House earlier this month. Rather than the federal government matching state spending based on beneficiaries’ health care needs, it would give states a fixed amount of money per enrollee or, alternatively, offer states a fixed block grant. That would cut the program’s growth over time and reduce services because health care costs grow faster than the broad economy.

Medicaid benefits for the elderly and disabled: Medicaid pays for services β€” including personal care, shopping or cooking for the elderly, and occupational therapy and work support for the disabled β€” that allow people to continue to live on their own.

Under the law, those services are considered optional. But Medicaid is required to pay for nursing home and institutional care.

“We’ll see a return to more people with disabilities and more older adults not having access to services that allow them to remain at home,” says Barbara Beckert, director of the Milwaukee office of Disability Rights Wisconsin. “Instead, we may see people forced into institutions, forced into nursing homes.”

Refugee benefits: The proposed budget makes the argument that the U.S. should reduce the number of refugees it brings into this country because those fleeing persecution in their home countries often end up using public assistance, including 50 percent who were on Medicaid in 2015. “The larger the number the United States admits for domestic resettlement, the fewer people the United States is able to help overall,” the budget document says.

National Institutes of Health: The NIH, which funds research into medical treatments and basic science, would see cuts of almost $6 billion, to about $26 billion. That would include a $575 million cut to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and $838 million cut to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is involved in a wide range of diseases including AIDS and Zika. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases would be cut by $355 million.

The proposed cuts drew immediate and harsh criticism.

The cuts would “cripple our nation’s scientific efforts, undermining our economic growth, public health and national security,” Mary Sue Coleman, president of the Association of American Universities, said in a statement. The cuts could “hobble our ability to provide tomorrow’s cures and technologies.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The administration proposes trimming the CDC, which helps states and other countries fight infectious disease outbreaks, by $1.3 billion β€” 17 percent. That could include a $186 million cut in programs at the CDC’s center on HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other sexually transmitted diseases. The CDC’s chronic disease prevention programs, such as those for diabetes, heart disease, stroke and obesity, would be cut by $222 million.

The proposed cut to CDC “would be perilous for the health of the American people,” says John Auerbach, president and CEO of the Trust for America’s Health. “From Ebola to Zika to opioid misuse to diabetes to heart disease, the CDC is on the front lines keeping Americans healthy.”

Food and Drug Administration: A 31 percent proposed cut, from $2.7 billion to $1.89 billion, would be offset by $1.3 billion in proposed increased fees to be paid by drugmakers and device-makers.

The budget shows a basic misunderstanding of how these agencies function, says Ryan Hohman, vice president of public affairs at the group Friends of Cancer Research. “To further suggest that private sector industry make up for such a significant cut to the FDA as proposed by the president shows a lack of knowledge for how user fees can be used and the scope of the FDA’s pivotal role in assuring the safety of the daily lives of Americans.”

The budget doesn’t explicitly address high drug costs, though Trump has frequently inveighed against drug prices, telling Congress in February that it should “work to bring down the artificially high price of drugs and bring them down immediately.”

Planned Parenthood: The family-planning organization has been the target of efforts to cut funding for years because it provides about one-third of the nation’s abortions.

This budget would be the first to bar a specific provider, according to Planned Parenthood. And it would bar the organization not only from Medicaid funding but also from any other Health and Human Services program, including the Title X family planning program, maternal and child health, STD testing and treatment, and Zika prevention.

“From Day 1, President Trump has worked to keep his pro-life promises, including stopping taxpayers from being forced to fund abortion and abortion businesses,” says Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List. “Taxpayers should not have to prop up Planned Parenthood’s failing, abortion-centered business model.”

Planned Parenthood officials said Tuesday that many of their clients don’t have other places to get health care. “We’ve already seen the results of these sorts of policies in Texas, so we know what would happen,” says Kevin Griffis, vice president at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “The heartbreaking truth is that if this budget were enacted, the results would be catastrophic for countless women and their families β€” cancers and diseases going undetected, higher maternal mortality and more unintended pregnancies.”

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