The Refuge of the Toads

#38101

Aneris wrote:Racism is often a class problem too, ironically. Those who aren't racist are often privileged, as they can afford to keep a distance to low class members of a minority, and they are never at risk of becoming a minority in their street, surrounded by a parallel society (which is the case in districts of European cities, e.g. Molenbeek). Actually, poor people are rather afraid of becoming stranger in their own street, than actually going through the situation. We know from studies that people are most xenophobic and racist where they have the least expierience with immigrants and minorities (prejudice plays a significant role) — though they often lack the confidence that they could deal with such situations, and the feeling is not unfounded. In other words, a poor person from such places can imagine how a street or district becomes a parallel society, even when in practice the fear is exaggerated as the process is slow and their xenophobia is more often fueled by lack of experience, not too much it. ..............

Often true. But then the fear of having your neighbourhood turned into a foreign culture can be very real. Imagine buying a property in a nice, quiet street in your homeland and having the area rapidly change into a Somali enclave. Not to denigrate Somalis, but they are LOUD, stain every exposed bit of ground with khat and have a culture which seems to involve being out on the street a lot in the evening. Although there is nothing evil about any of that, besides the khat spitting, it is definitely not a pleasant experience for your average local who isn't interested in living in North Africa and isn't deaf. Moving would probably not be an option given the inevitable collapse of property values. All the well off in the city see is an increase in cuisine options.

#38102

Service Dog wrote:I cant reconcile probable cause (or reasonable suspicion) with the way the supreme court has authorized cops to tell direct lies.

That's what I was referring to earlier. It's a huge source of mistrust between ordinary people and cops. But it does not need to be that way. Frazier v Cupp was only directly concerned with interrogations. All we need is a ruling that it does not apply to, e.g., Terry Stops (incl traffic stops) and things could be much better.

#38103

Billie from Ockham wrote:
Service Dog wrote:I cant reconcile probable cause (or reasonable suspicion) with the way the supreme court has authorized cops to tell direct lies.
That's what I was referring to earlier. It's a huge source of mistrust between ordinary people and cops. But it does not need to be that way. Frazier v Cupp was only directly concerned with interrogations. All we need is a ruling that it does not apply to, e.g., Terry Stops (incl traffic stops) and things could be much better.

Yeah, you ninja'd me massively... I didnt see any of your comments on rs & cops being allow to lie, when i wrote that.

#38104

Eskarina wrote:
AndrewV69 wrote:
AndrewV69 wrote: Would you recommend Der Spiegel or Stern for example?

I tend to avoid Stern because no English and instead read The Local.

Do you have any suggestions for news sources?
Borked links. Redo. Edit button failed just when I needed it. Anyway, any suggestions Eskarina?
I wouldn't dream of telling you what to do. :lol:

Indeed. :lol:

You have been in parent --> child mode from the start and the criticism was negative. So I was curious how you would respond to adult ---> adult and if you were capable of offering constructive criticism if nudged.

Eskarina wrote: The international Spiegel is okay, I think, whereas the german version is rather left leaning. I don't know much about The Local, but haven't heard anything negative about it. Die Zeit usually is a good source, too.

Really, just read as much as you can from lots of different sources and make up your own mind.

Incidentally, I just came across an interesting episode of Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown" about Cologne that he made shortly after the New Years Eve attacks. It might be available on youtube.

OK thanks.

#38105

Guestus Aurelius wrote:
Shatterface wrote:
Bhurzum wrote: Watch the embedded video in this article and listen to what the US cops say...

http://metro.co.uk/2016/02/01/scottish- ... e-5656880/
I honestly don't know what the solution is. In the UK the chances of a traffic violation ending with the death of either the suspect or the cop is pretty much zero.

The US situation needs to de-escalate and the 'war on blacks' meme isn't helping.
Major difference in the US is how prevalent guns are among the populace. The UK has fewer than 10 guns per hundred people. The US has over 100. Surely that affects how police are trained?

So there are more guns than people then? Is that accurate? I'll try and do some internet fact checking, that's quite a statistic if so.

#38106

There are a whole bunch of semi-conflicting rulings on lying, etc, during interrogations which boil down to allowing a few verbal lies but not repeated lies, false threats, or faked physical evidence. I'm actually OK with that balance because it is during a formal interrogation. What I'm not OK with are the lies from cops during consensual and Terry Stops. At best, it is simply making it easier for lazy cops, but the cost is huge. Not worth it all at.

Of course, if we did change the rules on this, cops would simply use Heien v North Carolina (i.e., the "ignorance of the law IS an excuse if you're a cop" decision) to keep doing it ... at least for a while.

#38107

Oops. Above is to Service Dawg. :)

#38108

Aneris wrote:....and genuinely don't know how to solve situations, so they bear unpleasant situations longer, too. They simply don't walk through life knowing they can handle another curveball thrown their way. They barely make it, and they aren't like tourists who can go elsewhere if they don't like something, or complain and get heard. They actually have to live with other cultures and people...

Good post. When I was in a legal pinch, or experiencing hardship, I found that my most reputable friends kept themselves 'clean' by shunning me-- so I found myself dependent on sketchy people... drug addicts, people who were constantly broke or in-trouble. It's harder to navigate back to legitimacy in that environment.

#38109

Shatterface wrote:
Matt Cavanaugh wrote:My last year in Boston, the paper reported that the city had taken in something like $57 million in revenue from parking tickets. And they hoped to top $65 million the next year. I thought, 'shouldn't the point of tickets be to reduce parking violations?'
Quite.

Raising revenue through fines, or taxing cigarettes or fatty foods, etc. means the authorities become financially dependent on exactly the behaviour they are supposed to be preventing.

Which is why death duties should be avoided. People will then be free to live as long as they wish (Gun injuries notwithstanding).

#38110

deLurch wrote:So what do you think will happen? Will feminists & train wreak gawkers come out in droves, along with the haplessly unaware? Or will this movie tank? I believe it is showing in the UK first.

I think it's going to be a lot like Batman V Superman. It's gonna to have a good opening weekend and then fall off. It will make it's money back and even make a profit but it will be well short of what it should.

I think it will do well in Asia on the name alone.

#38111

sp0tlight wrote:I'm "glad" that this budget repairing via ticketing is a international issue. Me, being vagabond loser, who walks everywhere, are not at the receiving end of the stick but my car owning mates are constantly being fucked by ever changing zoning due downtown revitalization. One day you can turn right, next day, baam! You're it.

Same with parking. I don't know why they even bother to drive to office. No parking space, traffic, the municipal police always on the prowl for a easy money.

And may Jesus help you if you try to use main street (you shouldn't), the trap is set.

http://r-scale-d2.dcs.redcdn.pl/scale/o ... quality=80

You forgot to mention these trappers?

TrappedByDress.jpg: (41.11 KiB) Downloaded 261 times

#38112

Billie from Ockham wrote:I love that movie, so I appreciated this allusion. My son and I argued for an hour about the meaning of the origami unicorn before I realized that he'd seen the version without the dream sequence.

Quite a few ideas/theories here re: the unicorn.

http://www.br-insight.com/significance-of-the-unicorn

#38113

Oglebart wrote: So there are more guns than people then? Is that accurate? I'll try and do some internet fact checking, that's quite a statistic if so.

Oh yeah because there are lots of people that own one gun. These are mostly handguns and are used for self defence. Then there are hunters, most own more than one gun. All hunters I know own at least 3 guns. Then there are the gun enthusiast who collect and own a lot of guns. My in laws for example have a couple of hundred.

I am not counting people who illegally own guns by the way.

#38114

feathers wrote:
jimhabegger wrote:I think some people might be scoffing at the idea that part of what is needed to stop all this corruption, cruelty, treachery and violence. is more of the right kind of love. Am I right?
Yup.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/asmedia/7e47617 ... UpP_02.jpg

Looks like there's some confusion there about how stop and search should actually work.

#38115

Hitchens was well ahead of his time. The following is from 1994 and eveything he says has come to happen. Well worth listening to I think. What is very notable is the way people with different points of view can sit down and discuss ideas from an honest perspective. All SJW's and Progessives can do is lie, abuse, assert moral superiority with self righteous bigotry, express faux outrage, censor and crap on everything they touch. They are anti-science and anti-reality.

SJW's and the Neo-Progressives are the real Regressives. They are trying to take us back to the age of intolerance and tribalism. For them, the age of enlightenment never happened.

[youtube]f9EggTX-Jbk[/youtube]

#38116

While I'm on Hitchens, this still remains one of the best speeches on free speech ever delivered. It illustrates why fighting against the regressives is so important.

[youtube]jyoOfRog1EM[/youtube]

#38117

Bhurzum wrote:
Billie from Ockham wrote:I love that movie, so I appreciated this allusion. My son and I argued for an hour about the meaning of the origami unicorn before I realized that he'd seen the version without the dream sequence.
Quite a few ideas/theories here re: the unicorn.

http://www.br-insight.com/significance-of-the-unicorn

The ideas/theories on that site match those of my son and me almost exactly. He saw the version without the dream, so he thought it was Gaff telling them to run ... to be free. I saw the version with the dream, so I took it as Gaff being the source for Deckard's memories.

#38118

Cnutella wrote:
feathers wrote:
jimhabegger wrote:I think some people might be scoffing at the idea that part of what is needed to stop all this corruption, cruelty, treachery and violence. is more of the right kind of love. Am I right?
Yup.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/asmedia/7e47617 ... UpP_02.jpg
Looks like there's some confusion there about how stop and search should actually work.

No confusion at all, other than the races being reversed:
[youtube]CAepItFDXc4[/youtube]

#38119

Cnutella wrote:
feathers wrote:
jimhabegger wrote:I think some people might be scoffing at the idea that part of what is needed to stop all this corruption, cruelty, treachery and violence. is more of the right kind of love. Am I right?
Yup.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/asmedia/7e47617 ... UpP_02.jpg
Looks like there's some confusion there about how stop and search should actually work.

The Finns allow their citizens a reciprocal search. It relieves all sorts of community tensions.

#38120

Cnutella wrote:Looks like there's some confusion there about how stop and search should actually work.

Stop and frisk.

#38121

comhcinc wrote:
deLurch wrote:So what do you think will happen? Will feminists & train wreak gawkers come out in droves, along with the haplessly unaware? Or will this movie tank? I believe it is showing in the UK first.
I think it's going to be a lot like Batman V Superman. It's gonna to have a good opening weekend and then fall off. It will make it's money back and even make a profit but it will be well short of what it should.

I think it will do well in Asia on the name alone.

Not in China - Ghost movies are banned there because of a tradition of venerating ancestors.

It might be the number one movie for the weekend, but there aren't any other big titles launching. Signs aren't looking good - movie complexes aren't planning to show it on lots of screens and fewer show times have been scheduled for it.

Also, Sony's long range forecast was for around $60m in the first weekend. The first official box office estimate they made on June 26 was a significant downgrade to $40-50m. The most recent estimate was two days ago, where box office opening weekend estimates fell to $35-41m. I'm not sure what they use to justify these downgraded estimates, but I imagine test screenings have a role to play.

Because the movie cost $150m to make, Sony is put in a tough position. Forbes did a piece based on the earlier estimates explaining how even a $50m box officer opener would be considered a disappointment.

I've developed a morbid fascination for watching this trainwreck unfold ever since Sony mole Stantz1984 spilled a whole slew of spoilers on Reddit after doing postproduction work on the movie. Also, Sony's hamfisted marketing attempts were pretty lulzy.

#38122

Billie from Ockham wrote:My bad, too, Yeti, as I have mixed the locations of the two things that we are cross-talking about. Michael Brown was in a stop-and-ID state, so a Terry Stop would have been enough to ID him.

"my bads" and "mea culpas" - mein Gott!, what's the Pit coming to? Has Jim corrupted the place beyond all recognition????

#38123

Badger3k wrote:
sp0tlight wrote:
Michael J wrote:Asking for Steersman - Is the robot okay?
It wasn't programmed for survival, it was programmed to care.

I mean, carry the bomb. Keep calm and carry the bombs.

[.youtube]S-xUjmJkO8g[/youtube]

In these dark times, a moment of silence, please!

#38124

Cnutella wrote:
feathers wrote:
jimhabegger wrote:I think some people might be scoffing at the idea that part of what is needed to stop all this corruption, cruelty, treachery and violence. is more of the right kind of love. Am I right?
Yup.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/asmedia/7e47617 ... UpP_02.jpg
Looks like there's some confusion there about how stop and search should actually work.

#BlackCocksMatter

#38125

sp0tlight wrote:
Cnutella wrote:Looks like there's some confusion there about how stop and search should actually work.
Stop and frisk.

I'd even go so far as to question "stop and frisk" as a package, given that the pat-down requires its own RAS.

#38126

My understanding has always been that people within more multicultural settings are more racist than those who aren't. I think that's entirely logical. Why would someone with no interaction with other cultures not only read the best about them or not feel threatened by their culture overtaking?

#38127

Cnutella wrote:
feathers wrote:
jimhabegger wrote:I think some people might be scoffing at the idea that part of what is needed to stop all this corruption, cruelty, treachery and violence. is more of the right kind of love. Am I right?
Yup.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/asmedia/7e47617 ... UpP_02.jpg
Looks like there's some confusion there about how stop and search should actually work.

Is that what they mean when they say fuck the police?

#38128

Cnutella wrote:
Not in China - Ghost movies are banned there because of a tradition of venerating ancestors.

Huh, did not know that. Seems Mao is reaching from beyond the grave. Well that does make my theory a lot less likely but I still think it will make a small profit from the international market onces it all said and done. Ignorant peasants are amazed by pretty pictures on the screen. They don't care about plots.

I have been watching this trainwreck too. They have put out some additional trailers that I have seen while watching adult swim. It looks more and more like the reddit leak was right.

I have said this before but I think that Sony (and frankly a lot of people) don't understand how big Ghostbusters is.

I think for people around my age (36) Ghostbusters was our first grown up movie. We loved it as kids because it works for kids but when you see it as an adult it still works. I think it has a large fan base but not a large fandom.

#38129

I think U.S. police forces could learn something from the Dutch and their low-impact community police approach.

[youtube]IRfluaMKoOY[/youtube]

#38130

screwtape wrote:
Matt Cavanaugh wrote: Canada has more guns per capita than the US.
I don't think so:
1280px-World_map_of_civilian_gun_ownership_-_2nd_color_scheme.svg.png

Afghanistan looks pretty safe.

#38131

rayshul wrote:My understanding has always been that people within more multicultural settings are more racist than those who aren't. I think that's entirely logical. Why would someone with no interaction with other cultures not only read the best about them or not feel threatened by their culture overtaking?

People in rural areas, with limited contact to "strangers" are more xenophobic than city dwellers with routine social contacts. For example, in Germany, the stereotype neo-nazi thug hails from the Eastern States and more from the smaller towns, where they had ironically almost no experience with immigrants. There were Vietnamese and some Russians and other Ostbloc Europeans in the communist GBR, but even that was to a limited extend and it was mandated to like your communist friend from elsewhere. As soon as the wall fell, part of the lower rungs of society developed neo-nazi subcultures (which in part fueled stereotypes in Western Germany about the "Ossi", the "Eastler"). PEGIDA was founded in Dresden, East Germany, of course. Here's an overview of the vote for the AFD party (a kind of German UKIP, including nationalism, climate denialism, etc). I guess the same thing is going on in the US, when I look at the states that vote Republican.

#38132

comhcinc wrote:
deLurch wrote:So what do you think will happen? Will feminists & train wreak gawkers come out in droves, along with the haplessly unaware? Or will this movie tank? I believe it is showing in the UK first.
I think it's going to be a lot like Batman V Superman. It's gonna to have a good opening weekend and then fall off. It will make it's money back and even make a profit but it will be well short of what it should.

I think it will do well in Asia on the name alone.

Not that it means anything, but I loved BvS, have watched it a couple of times and just bought it for future viewing pleasure. I am contemplating a morning rendition of the Wonder Woman theme if the staff at the new job place don't display more than 10 pieces of mental flair.

#38133

Brive1987 wrote:
comhcinc wrote:
deLurch wrote:So what do you think will happen? Will feminists & train wreak gawkers come out in droves, along with the haplessly unaware? Or will this movie tank? I believe it is showing in the UK first.
I think it's going to be a lot like Batman V Superman. It's gonna to have a good opening weekend and then fall off. It will make it's money back and even make a profit but it will be well short of what it should.

I think it will do well in Asia on the name alone.
Not that it means anything, but I loved BvS, have watched it a couple of times and just bought it for future viewing pleasure. I am contemplating a morning rendition of the Wonder Woman theme if the staff at the new job place don't display more than 10 pieces of mental flair.

[youtube]GvnhNeHAafg[/youtube]

#38134

The mighty Peez comments on the sexist FTB ads and Carrier:

A guy named David Shakespeare has a complaint.
I wonder sometimes! I wonder why this website has ads that fill up the lower window of your webpage
To pay for the server, and give a few bucks to the writers, obviously. You might also notice that there’s a link up on the top left of the page that says GET FTB AD-FREE. You don’t get to complain about the ads when we have an option to support the network while ditching all the ads.
Also, I don’t particularly like the ads either.
that show huge breasts, busty celebs, and loaded sexual innuendo
Oh, really? I get ads that say Easiest Way to “Remove” Wrinkles, 1 Fruit That “Destroys” Diabetes, New 20/20 Vision Breakthrough Leaves Optometrists Speechless, and Watch: Alzheimer’s Reversal “Cocktail” Changing Lives. I think the ad company has noticed that I’m ancient and wizened. What is it inferring about you?
But here’s a hot tip: at the bottom right of that block of ads, there’s a little note that says “Paid content” with a question mark. If you click on that, you’ll get an option to show only “family-friendly” ads! Don’t say I never did nothin’ for you. You have the power to make those huge breasts transform into ads for wrinkle cream.
Actually, I blame you for the ads. Because David Shakespeare is not pulling his weight to support a site he clearly reads, we’ve got to run ads to keep the lights on. (It’s OK if you can’t afford or would rather not pay for a subscription…but then, you don’t get to complain that we have ads.)

—all this—all the while demonizing Richard Carrier
What “demonizing”? I rather regret that we couldn’t get to the bottom of those accusations — but he quit when all we’d done is start an inquiry.
for lude behavior via accusation!
We were not inquiring into lude behavior. There were accusations of harassment. That’s serious, and we weren’t going to just pretend that nothing happened.
What’s the world coming too?! My goodness,
OK, Ward Cleaver, the disingenuousness is already getting old. Grow up.
and the double standard,
What double standard? No one here is opposed to sexual behavior. We’re concerned about sexual behavior without consent.
along with the ‘so-called’ contempt of Carrier over the accusers…
You’re not making any sense now. I also don’t have contempt for Carrier, but quite like him personally, and respect his work…but if we’re getting concerns about problematic behavior, we’re not going to sweep it under the rug.
What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Double standards on both ends of this argument.
First, this was not a legal proceeding; nobody had dragged him into court. Secondly, we hadn’t assumed guilt at all — we were in the process of investigating some troubling accusations. If this were a court case (and it wasn’t), you’re arguing that you can’t even try someone with due process because that’s a violation of the principle of innocent until proven guilty.
Golly gee willikers, David Shakespeare! You’re a foolish little troll. Now fuck off.
I get a lot of snide, ignorant notes like this, all making the same complaints. I’m beginning to suspect there’s a troll factory somewhere that stamps stupid ideas into the heads of dull, unimaginative people.

http://archive.is/7uyPq

#38135

Hey does anyone want to skip later tonight or, does anyone want to play Civilization V?

#38136

comhcinc wrote:
Oglebart wrote: So there are more guns than people then? Is that accurate? I'll try and do some internet fact checking, that's quite a statistic if so.

Oh yeah because there are lots of people that own one gun. These are mostly handguns and are used for self defence.

I don't actually know the anwser to this this - so actual question.

Are there figures that could say how often a legal gun in a civilian context is used for self defence vs less positive actions like suicide, DV, accidents?

It would be useful to say a legal handgun has a x in x chance of protecting your life rather than an x in x chance of ending it or the life of an innocent person). It would also be useful to know whether a handgun had an x% chance of doing precisely nothing other than adding to the 'weapons in supply' statistic.

#38137

Brive1987 wrote:
comhcinc wrote:
Oglebart wrote: So there are more guns than people then? Is that accurate? I'll try and do some internet fact checking, that's quite a statistic if so.

Oh yeah because there are lots of people that own one gun. These are mostly handguns and are used for self defence.

I don't actually know the anwser to this this - so actual question.

Are there figures that could say how often a legal gun in a civilian context is used for self defence vs less positive actions like suicide, DV, accidents?

It would be useful to say a legal handgun has a x in x chance of protecting your life rather than an x in x chance of ending it or the life of an innocent person). It would also be useful to know whether a handgun had an x% chance of doing precisely nothing other than adding to the 'weapons in supply' statistic.

I do not know the answers to your questions. I am not sure that the data is out there right now that can answer those questions. I don't agree with the gun control crowd on a lot of things but one thing I do agree with them is we need more unbiased research and better reporting on the matter.

#38138

Cnutella wrote:<snip>

I've developed a morbid fascination for watching this trainwreck unfold ever since Sony mole Stantz1984 spilled a whole slew of spoilers on Reddit after doing postproduction work on the movie. Also, Sony's hamfisted marketing attempts were pretty lulzy.

Link? Check out Midnight's Edge, a very good channel that has lots of indepth material on Ghostbusters 16 and what happened in development hell and afterwards, including plenty on #Trankgate. Here's their most recent:

[youtube]L-6VLuz75yw[/youtube]

#38139

Really? wrote:The mighty Peez comments on the sexist FTB ads and Carrier:

A guy named David Shakespeare has a complaint.
I wonder sometimes! I wonder why this website has ads that fill up the lower window of your webpage
To pay for the server, and give a few bucks to the writers, obviously. You might also notice that there’s a link up on the top left of the page that says GET FTB AD-FREE. You don’t get to complain about the ads when we have an option to support the network while ditching all the ads.
Also, I don’t particularly like the ads either.
that show huge breasts, busty celebs, and loaded sexual innuendo
Oh, really? I get ads that say Easiest Way to “Remove” Wrinkles, 1 Fruit That “Destroys” Diabetes, New 20/20 Vision Breakthrough Leaves Optometrists Speechless, and Watch: Alzheimer’s Reversal “Cocktail” Changing Lives. I think the ad company has noticed that I’m ancient and wizened. What is it inferring about you?
But here’s a hot tip: at the bottom right of that block of ads, there’s a little note that says “Paid content” with a question mark. If you click on that, you’ll get an option to show only “family-friendly” ads! Don’t say I never did nothin’ for you. You have the power to make those huge breasts transform into ads for wrinkle cream.
Actually, I blame you for the ads. Because David Shakespeare is not pulling his weight to support a site he clearly reads, we’ve got to run ads to keep the lights on. (It’s OK if you can’t afford or would rather not pay for a subscription…but then, you don’t get to complain that we have ads.)

http://archive.is/7uyPq

The question mark thingie is new and I suspect something initiated by the add company (not FtB) and now being latched onto by Peez.

If you click it you see below. Some how Peez forgot to mention the bit where the default porn selection was chosen by FtB. Presumably to maximise income.

A bit like the police eh?

http://i.imgur.com/OB0gFkz.jpg

..............

PZs chosen setting produced this by default:

http://i.imgur.com/RPaY46j.jpg

#38140

Lsuoma wrote:
Cnutella wrote:
feathers wrote:
Yup.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/asmedia/7e47617 ... UpP_02.jpg
Looks like there's some confusion there about how stop and search should actually work.
#BlackCocksMatter

#BlackCocksAreFatter

#38141

comhcinc wrote:
Cnutella wrote:
Not in China - Ghost movies are banned there because of a tradition of venerating ancestors.

Huh, did not know that. Seems Mao is reaching from beyond the grave. Well that does make my theory a lot less likely but I still think it will make a small profit from the international market onces it all said and done. Ignorant peasants are amazed by pretty pictures on the screen. They don't care about plots.

I have been watching this trainwreck too. They have put out some additional trailers that I have seen while watching adult swim. It looks more and more like the reddit leak was right.

I have said this before but I think that Sony (and frankly a lot of people) don't understand how big Ghostbusters is.

I think for people around my age (36) Ghostbusters was our first grown up movie. We loved it as kids because it works for kids but when you see it as an adult it still works. I think it has a large fan base but not a large fandom.

I think you might be right. It's not a movie that attracted the same slavish devotion in its fanbase - you don't see a lot of Ghostbusters cosplay, for example. However, it is a movie that does have a lot of fans Who regard it with affection and nostalgia, and I think a lot of the backlash is from those folk.

I am not someone who considers a bad remake to be an assault on my fond childhood memories. I think the problems with remaking Ghostbusters are a lot simpler.

My first point why the first movie was a hit was its original concept of a supernatural comedy about a group of guys doing pest control, but that's also kind of limiting. I don't mean that in a bad way because the original movie was great and stood beautifully on its own, but it doesn't leave a lot of room for expansion because it wasn't written to have depth.

The guys catch ghosts and say funny things. More ghosts appear and the city gets mad at them. Then they fight a big boss at the end. That's the format. You can add more or weirder ghosts (as Paul Feig wrote to Amy Pascal in the hacked Sony emails "here's what I think might be the billion dollar idea - alien ghosts!), send them to an extradimensional ghost city, it doesn't matter. To support this assertion, I'd point at GB 2, which followed the same basic stucture, as does the newest version. Or the fact that Billy Murray said that was never a GB 3 because all the scripts were shit.

The second point was the comedy, was is a huge part of what made Ghostbusters the movie that is is. It's also an area where a new movie could have had more leeway to take a different direction. But it would only work if you found a cast that worked together as effectively as the original team, which is a tall order. If you fail as Sony just did, you will always be overshadowed by the original.

Paul Feig didn't even try to find an original solution to my first point, going instead with a device much loved by lazy Tumblr fan fiction writers, the gender swap, which became the basis for the movie's comedic tone. Gender swapping is lazy, and the the jokes in the movie appear to be as well, squandering an opportunity for them to develop an original voice and demanding unfavorable comparisons with the first.

On the plus side, the failure of this movie will be a titty twister to the legions of SJWs who (with some help from the outraged childhood brigade) turned a poorly executed summer comedy into a Manichean battle of ideologies.

#38142

According to FoxNews, Obama & Biden are boycotting universities-- including Stanford & Dartmouth-- due to their campus rape stats being too low.

(Sorry if Im garbling this story, or falling for Fox bullshit. Im not trying to be alarmist.)

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/07 ... cases.html

#38143

According to FoxNews, Obama & Biden are boycotting universities-- including Stanford & Dartmouth-- due to their campus rape stats being too low.

(Sorry if Im garbling this story, or falling for Fox bullshit. Im not trying to be alarmist.)

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/07 ... cases.html

#38144

Cnutella wrote:
On the plus side, the failure of this movie will be a titty twister to the legions of SJWs who (with some help from the outraged childhood brigade) turned a poorly executed summer comedy into a Manichean battle of ideologies.

I don't think we are going to see that. I think the movie will make profit and even though it won't be enough of a profit to be make the film an actually success it will be enough that SJWs everywhere will proclaim victory.

And Paul Feig will never be allowed to make another big film like this again and Sony will suther plans for any future Ghostbuster films.

Oh and Aneris is right. Midnight Edge has done a lot of good stuff on this subject. They release a 30 minute catch all video yesterday.

#38145

Service Dog wrote:According to FoxNews, Obama & Biden are boycotting universities-- including Stanford & Dartmouth-- due to their campus rape stats being too low.

(Sorry if Im garbling this story, or falling for Fox bullshit. Im not trying to be alarmist.)

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/07 ... cases.html

Obama Demands More Campus Rape!!!

#38146

Kirbmarc wrote:
jimhabegger wrote: Could you give some examples of some possible applications for all that, for any of us, or for decision makers or policy makers?
The first practical concern would be for people to stop taking parts in spreading misleading information and practice more skepticism towards information in general, even if it seems to "agree with your lived experience". It's also good to rationally control one's temper instead of writing online rants. People should be encouraged to discuss facts with a cool head and a detached approach instead of being encouraged to express their feelings in an explosive manner.

Skepticism and a focus on evidence come in handy here. It's also useful to try to have a tentative charitable reading of other people's intention unless they explicitly reveal to have ill intentions, to avoid demonization.

People should also avoid voting politicians just because they say what they want to hear and focus more on their track record and the possible effects of their policies. Skeptics should educated people to recognize propaganda and political posturing.

Policy wise I think that people should support a gradual legalization of the sale recreational drugs, revising the justice system so that there are no disproportionately high mandatory sentences, revising the prison system so that corporations can't handle prisons, revising law enforcement so that people are trained as community policemen instead of a standing army, stop supporting campaigns to convict more people by dismantling the principles of "innocent until proven guilty", devoting more resources to public schools, and making sexual education of teenagers which includes instructions on the use of contraceptives mandatory.

A limited ban on certain kinds of guns (automatic and semi-automatic rifles) would also be a good idea.

This is what progressives should support instead of focusing on internet slacktivism, special pronouns, political correctness, witch hunts and promoting social tensions.

Thanks. That all looks good to me.

#38147

#38148

Oh there is more! Should look at the guy's stream. https://twitter.com/EarlyBirdCritic Here are some choice tweets.

#38149

comhcinc wrote:
Service Dog wrote:According to FoxNews, Obama & Biden are boycotting universities-- including Stanford & Dartmouth-- due to their campus rape stats being too low.

(Sorry if Im garbling this story, or falling for Fox bullshit. Im not trying to be alarmist.)

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/07 ... cases.html

Obama Demands More Campus Rape!!!

Lazy Black Man Insists That Others Do The Work For Him!!!

#38150

Aneris wrote:
rayshul wrote:My understanding has always been that people within more multicultural settings are more racist than those who aren't. I think that's entirely logical. Why would someone with no interaction with other cultures not only read the best about them or not feel threatened by their culture overtaking?
People in rural areas, with limited contact to "strangers" are more xenophobic than city dwellers with routine social contacts. For example, in Germany, the stereotype neo-nazi thug hails from the Eastern States and more from the smaller towns, where they had ironically almost no experience with immigrants. There were Vietnamese and some Russians and other Ostbloc Europeans in the communist GBR, but even that was to a limited extend and it was mandated to like your communist friend from elsewhere. As soon as the wall fell, part of the lower rungs of society developed neo-nazi subcultures (which in part fueled stereotypes in Western Germany about the "Ossi", the "Eastler"). PEGIDA was founded in Dresden, East Germany, of course. Here's an overview of the vote for the AFD party (a kind of German UKIP, including nationalism, climate denialism, etc). I guess the same thing is going on in the US, when I look at the states that vote Republican.

Seems quite illogical to me. I'm sure I've seen studies that say the exact opposite. I don't think voting for a party is the same as being racist - I like the UKIP myself.

#38151

Cnutella wrote:The second point was the comedy, was is a huge part of what made Ghostbusters the movie that is is.

Exactly. Just now I was trying to see what it was that I liked most about that movie, and that was the best explanation I could find: I enjoyed the humor. The same reason I liked some Mel Brooks movies, and Pink Panther movies.

That doesn't explain to me why some people would be so outraged by the new movie. Trying to explain what seems annoying about it to me, it might be something like the way I might feel about people defacing a monument. I see Ghostbusters as a kind of shared experience for a lot of us, and the new movie looks like someone carving stupid graffiti on it.

#38152

Here is the winning comment for PZ's non post on Dallas.

@JohnnyCanuck, they created an IED on the end of their robot’s arm because they were afraid that the gunman would hurt them. That was quite well quoted on CNN.

So, we’ve firmly established that, at the least, Dallas police are cowards, but unafraid of using terrorist tactics.

#38153

It looks like the narrative of the shooting in MN is falling apart even further. It turns out that the girlfriend was bullshirting in the video, he didn't even have a concealed carry permit. The officer that shot has released a statement through his lawyer saying that Castile wasnt complying, didn't declare that he had a gun , and reached for the weapon. The girlfriends video started after the shooting already happened. To top it off, the officer that shot wasn't white, he was Mexican-American. I hope for the officers sake that his agency uses body cameras or he at least had on a microphone during the traffic stop so the investigators can find out what actually happened.. I am quite certain that most of the liars in the media won't let these facts interfere with their coverage.

#38154

Re: Ghostbusters

I am getting aroused at the prospect of this film flopping like mad. The social justice warriors are so fucking invested in it. It is ridiculous. It is simply a rather silly-looking commercial Hollywood reboot.

Bring on the mother-fucking salt.

#38155

The Yeti wrote:It looks like the narrative of the shooting in MN is falling apart even further. It turns out that the girlfriend was bullshirting in the video, he didn't even have a concealed carry permit. The officer that shot has released a statement through his lawyer saying that Castile wasnt complying, didn't declare that he had a gun , and reached for the weapon. The girlfriends video started after the shooting already happened. To top it off, the officer that shot wasn't white, he was Mexican-American. I hope for the officers sake that his agency uses body cameras or he at least had on a microphone during the traffic stop so the investigators can find out what actually happened.. I am quite certain that most of the liars in the media won't let these facts interfere with their coverage.

I thought it odd I couldn't find the "beginning" of the video. I am still holding my judgment on that one. The other guy I am conflicted. Dude had a gun in his pocket but it was also on the ground and had two cops on him. I'm sure they would be catching shit for this too but right now I am thinking the right move would have been to bash him in the face with a gun.

What are your thoughts about that?

#38156

CommanderTuvok wrote:Re: Ghostbusters

I am getting aroused at the prospect of this film flopping like mad. The social justice warriors are so fucking invested in it. It is ridiculous. It is simply a rather silly-looking commercial Hollywood reboot.

Bring on the mother-fucking salt.

It'll be an interesting test of how far the SJW buck goes. If Becky's morose and flabby coterie of Patreons is anything to go by, these sorts will happily fork out for a steaming pile of donkey shit if it accords with the ideology. So far, all the indications are that this film is indeed diabolically bad. That said, much depends on how it'll perform in the far East, which has managed to keep the Transformers franchise afloat (and yes, there's another one on its way) despite TF2 featuring Autobots from da hood and a Decepticon with a giant pair of metal bollocks hanging down. Haw haw haw. Then again, giant robot shit seems to do well over there (hence Pacific Rim 2 being greenlighted, so it's not all bad), so how giant-ghost-being-zapped-in-the-dick-by-a-fat-roundeye shit goes down over there remains anyone's guess.

#38157

If some people are saying that it's mostly white men who are raging against the new Ghostbusters movie, that might be true, but if so, that doesn't mean to me that it's because it stars women. It seems more likely to me that it's because the promotion of the movie revolved so blatantly around the kind of feminism that demonizes white men.

Of course, it isn't only white men who are enraged, because white men are not the only people who object to demonizing white men.

#38158

Tigzy wrote:
It'll be an interesting test of how far the SJW buck goes. If Becky's morose and flabby coterie of Patreons is anything to go by, these sorts will happily fork out for a steaming pile of donkey shit if it accords with the ideology.

No I think it's just the opposite. They will scream and shot but most won't spend money. Marvel have been putting out a lot of SJW friendly stuff and it hasn't helped the sales of those books at all.

#38159

comhcinc wrote: I thought it odd I couldn't find the "beginning" of the video. I am still holding my judgment on that one. The other guy I am conflicted. Dude had a gun in his pocket but it was also on the ground and had two cops on him. I'm sure they would be catching shit for this too but right now I am thinking the right move would have been to bash him in the face with a gun.

What are your thoughts about that?

Mind if I threw in my 2c? Although better than being dead, a series of mug shots featuring black males with badly bruised faces, nasty lacerations, broken teeth and concussions is probably not going to do much to de-escalate accusations of police brutality. Plus, a handgun isn't the most effective club because of its shape. I also wonder ifaccidental discharge would be a problem, particularly in sidearms that use have grip safeties? Not sure how widely those are used by LEOs though.

#38160

As a counter, this guy saw it and LOVED it.

[youtube]ZLNCwoOQFdo[/youtube]

He is currently answering questions on a reddit thread.