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By 1989, you'd think men would stop underestimating women. Nope. The hurdles that young Tracy Edward's and her crew of tenacious adventurers were numerous and extremely steep. When everyone compares their accomplishments with those of the men, they are already making a false equivalency. The women did not have the best technology, the best yacht built with the latest materials, nor the easy road to sponsorship. They were saddled not just with inexperience (which is what all the naysayers of the day dwelt upon), but also having to make do with a banged up old vessel that was not even seaworthy. With their own sweat and muscle, their own perseverance, they rebuilt themselves a yacht that was capable of basic sailing. Yet still, all other competitors had a leg up on this Maiden team, simply by quality of their watercraft. Think: Women driving a VW Beetle vs. All the men driving Lamborghinis. Anything this Edwards' Crew accomplished after the starting gun should be considered quite miraculous. The public certainly seemed to feel this way, to the team's sailors' utter consternation and incredulity. So well documented with video footage of interviews conducted at the time, as well as present day. Fantastic documentary film!

This propaganda coming from Putin & his minions cannot be trusted. Thank God smart people prevailed and obtained some small amount of justice for Sergei Magnitsky, by passing the "Magnitsky Act". This Act gives the US government the power to sanction & seize assets of the corrupt, criminal Russian public servants and oligarchs who stole $230million from the taxpayers of Russia, and who falsely accused, incarcerated, tortured and finally murdered Sergei Magnitsky, the hero who stood up to the rampant corruption in post-Soviet Russia. The eponymous act took years to pass through the U. S. House & Senate, spearheaded by Bill Browder, former CEO of The Heritage Fund, who worked with Magnitsky and honoured his legacy of anticorruption. "Justice for Sergei" is the TRUE story if what occurred. Watch THAT.

Hallmark romance movies are pretty hamstrung in their formulae. Heroine comes into or back to a charming (or her childhood) small town for a short period of time, and must get back to her fantastically successful career ASAP. Usually, although the heroine has everything going for her, she is still (or recently) single, and willing to give up said achievements in a heartbeat once she is looked at twice by the recalcitrant hero, who often has less to offer than she does. Hero is set up as an initial adversary for the heroine. Timing between initial meeting & ultimate clinch (usually accompanied by a proposal of marriage after one or possibly two kisses) is lightning fast. It was refreshing to see a Hallmark film that's a little bit different. This one came without gasps of amazement at the lighting of a Christmas tree (Seriously? When was the last time you craned your neck in a crowd, mesmerized at such a commonplace site? Yet Hallmark trots out that lame trope in every winter holiday flick). The lead actors here actually have chemistry. The supporting characters are believable too. No lame gingerbread cookie or house competition here. No community festival that the entire town can't seem to live without. No children or teenagers breathless with anticipation at decorating for the holiday (rather than whining about being taken away from their video games &/or social media for a chore and tradition they care little about). The hero and heroine here actually seem to get along. The conflict between them is credible (since it was pulled from an actual news story). Granted, the male lead seems more that a bit naive in his faith in corporate executives, but his blinders aren't on for long. And the final resolution, although it seems to have skipped a few chapters from breakup to reconciliation, also didn't stretch the imagination too far. And the actor playing the hero sure knows how to act charming.