Emperor

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17027060

Businesses, community groups, arts organisations and residents in a thriving town on the Croydon-Surrey border are in uproar because the automatic systems employed to police social media have silenced them on one of the world’s biggest digital platforms – all because Coulsdon has the letters L, S and D in its name.

Residents’ associations and businesses with “Coulsdon” in their titles have found themselves “cancelled”, with posts being removed from Facebook and warnings issued as to their future conduct under a set of rules so vague that any post, however innocent, might fall foul of them.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19862461

Marshall wrote on Instagram, “Since so many fans keep asking, I figured I couldn’t keep the disappointing news to myself any longer. Your unwavering loyalty deserves better. For the past 6 years myself and original UK producer of Dog Soldiers, Christopher Figg, have been working tirelessly to negotiate for the rights to make a sequel with the US Producer/rights holder David E. Allen and his company Dash. 6 years!! That’s as long as it took to write and make the first movie. Unfortunately these negotiations came to a sudden and unexpected halt when, earlier this year, we were due to finalize and sign the agreements and….they disappeared. Vanished. Cut off all communication. Refuse to answer emails or calls. Why, you ask. I don’t know why. That’s the point. We simply don’t know what happened or why, but the end result is that we don’t have the rights to make a sequel without this deal in place, thus rendering it effectively dead. I’m sorry. We tried. We really did. And in Chris Figg’s case spent a lot of money on legal fees doing so. We wanted this for you. For all the countless fans who’ve asked for it. But in the end, perhaps it’s just not meant to be. The original film was lightning in a bottle, and perhaps lightning doesn’t, and in some cases shouldn’t, strike twice. So there it is…“

Nineteen hours later, he revealed that he hopes to make a separate project called The Werewolves of London. “Since I dropped such a clanger last night, I thought I’d give fans a little moonlight at the end of the tunnel today… While I do not have the rights to make a Dog Soldiers sequel, there’s nothing to stop me making another werewolf movie…. Which is exactly what I intend to do. It’s early days and I’m not giving away any plot details just yet, the plan is to bring as many of the original team back for this as possible, and then all we need is the money to make it!“

“Black Panther will return,” Marvel promised at the end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. When the superhero does eventually return to the big screen, they’ll be joined onscreen by Denzel Washington, according to the actor himself.

While Marvel Studios hasn’t officially announced a Black Panther 3 for its upcoming slate, Washington says that one is in the works, and that writer-director Ryan Coogler is writing a role for him. Speaking on Australia’s Today show during press rounds for Gladiator II, Washington outlined his upcoming list of projects, saying that he’s slated to appear in a third Black Panther movie.

“At this point in my career, I’m only interested in working with the best,” Washington said. “I don’t know how many more films I’m gonna make, probably not that many. I want to do things I haven’t done.

“I played Othello at 22. I’m about to play Othello at 70. After that, I’m playing Hannibal. After that, I’ve been talking with Steve McQueen about a film. After that, Ryan Coogler is writing a part for me in the next Black Panther. After that I’m gonna do the film Othello. After that I’m gonna do King Lear. After that I’m gonna retire.”

When the mass roll-out started, the decision to use radio signals across northern England and Scotland - rather than the mobile technology further south - was because it was thought the signals would be able to travel far across the hills and mountains, reaching more rural communities more easily.

But Energy UK admits there are problems regarding how the radio signals transmit. “There are issues in the north,” chief executive Dhara Vyas told us.

She said there were “live conversations” within the industry about increasing the network range in the north of England and Scotland.

This technological divide has been experienced by smart meter engineers who have spoken anonymously to Panorama.

One engineer, “Ahmed” told us there were more problems in northern England and Scotland on average, adding that the technology further south was more up to date.

“You can end up going to someone’s house at the bottom of a mountain in the north and the radio frequency can’t get through. But there could be a good 3G signal nearby and that could get through - the customer doesn’t know that,” he said.

Another engineer, “Steve” working for a major energy supplier in Merseyside, who has experience of installing meters in homes on both sides of the regional divide, told us it was “far easier to complete a successful installation” in the south and Midlands where he could use the cellular network.

You voted, and now, after over 1,050 ballots were cast (but less than 1,100 ballots), here are the results of your votes for your favorite comic book creator runs of all-time (this is the FIFTH time we've done this countdown. We're on an every four-year schedule)! I'll try to post a new installment every day for the rest of the countdown. Even on Thanksgiving!

To recap, you all sent in ballots ranking your favorite runs from #1 (10 points) to #10 (1 point). I added up all the points and here we are!

96. Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz's New Mutants [New Mutants #18-31, 35-38]
97. Will Eisner's The Spirit [The Spirit Newspaper Strips 1940-1942, 1945-1950]
98. Wendy Pini and Richard Pini's ElfQuest: The Original Quest [ElfQuest #1-20]
99. Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez-Walta's The VIsion [Vision #1-12]
100. Ryan North’s Fantastic Four – 90 points (1 first place vote) [Fantastic Four (2023) #1-present]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19859084

A £250m bypass planned to go through a Merseyside country park has been scrapped in the budget.

The proposal for a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley Country Park in south Sefton was first announced in 2017 to improve access to the Port of Liverpool.

In budget documents released today, the Transport Secretary said the A5036 Princess Way scheme would not progress as it was “unfunded and unaffordable”.

Bootle’s Labour MP Peter Dowd, whose constituency includes the port, said: "Rimrose Valley is a green lung for my constituents and the last thing we wanted was a road to be built through it."

He added: "We now have to ensure that the work to develop a long term, environmentally sustainable alternative continues."

A £250m bypass planned to go through a Merseyside country park has been scrapped in the budget.

The proposal for a dual carriageway through Rimrose Valley Country Park in south Sefton was first announced in 2017 to improve access to the Port of Liverpool.

In budget documents released today, the Transport Secretary said the A5036 Princess Way scheme would not progress as it was “unfunded and unaffordable”.

Bootle’s Labour MP Peter Dowd, whose constituency includes the port, said: "Rimrose Valley is a green lung for my constituents and the last thing we wanted was a road to be built through it."

He added: "We now have to ensure that the work to develop a long term, environmentally sustainable alternative continues."

45 years ago, Ken Foree faced off with the undead in one of the greatest zombie movies ever made, the George A. Romero classic Dawn of the Dead. Now, Foree has written a zombie story of his own – and it’s coming our way in the form of a graphic novel called Descendants of the Undead! Copies of the 30 page first issue are available for pre-order through a Kickstarter campaign that has greatly surpassed its initial goal and still has ten days to go. You can check out the campaign at THIS LINK.

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Descendants of the Undead has the following synopsis: THE REAL HORROR CONSUMES FROM WITHIN. Twenty years ago, when a group of survivors fled the zombies ravaging the mainland, they commandeered a ship and sought refuge on a distant island. They hoped to find safety among the lush vegetation, fresh water, and sprawling landscapes. But the island harbored its own dark secret: its native inhabitants were infected with the same ravenous disease. Now during the present, the brutal nightmare against the flesh-eating hordes left only a handful of adults alive among the survivors is a man with the moniker “Dad.” Because of his seniority, he leads the children of the original settlers. These teenagers are the new generation of young zombie hunters, born into a world of carnage; honing their skills and instincts in ways their predecessors never could. Their resilience and resourcefulness may yet keep Dad alive. But across the island, something strange is happening with the flesh-eaters. The monsters are more organized and dangerous, turning the island into a fatal battleground. Scarred by the trauma of the initial outbreak in his past, Dad fights a mental battle, struggling to become the leader the new generation needs. He can either succumb to his madness or rise to the challenge and guide his chosen family to safety. With danger lurking around every corner, the island’s inhabitants face their greatest threat yet—a father figure whose inner demons may be deadlier than the zombies around them.

For nearly the entire time that Collider has been around, we’ve been reporting on the Flash Gordon remake. Now, nearly two decades later, the movie has gone through several levels of production hell with no release date in sight. The most recent director stepping up to the plate to take a swing at the Alex Raymond-created comic-turned-Mike Hodges-film of 1980 was none other than Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit director, Taika Waititi. His involvement came into focus back in 2019, first as an animated production, before moving into live-action in 2021. Since then, however, things surrounding the reimagining have been rather hush-hush, with fans wondering if Waititi’s Flash Gordon will ever crossover onto screens.

Recently, Collider’s Tania Hussain caught up with The Adjustment Bureau director, George Nolfi, to pick his brain about his upcoming action thriller, Elevation. While discussing the writer-turned-director’s lengthy and impressive career, Hussain inquired about Nolfi’s ties to Waititi’s Flash Gordon. Previously revealed to be joining the behind-the-scenes team as an executive producer, Nolfi’s name has been looped into the comic adaptation for quite some time. Unfortunately, he’s just as in the dark about the fate of Flash Gordon as the rest of us, revealing,

“I'm not too involved with that one. There are a couple of things coming up that I can't talk about that I'm humbled to be involved with that I think would be in your realm of interest, but I’m not too involved with Flash Gordon at this point.”