They've released propaganda films about nuking us. We didn't mobilize the cyber or real armies over the matter; I guess that's the difference between a modern nation-state and one held together with a pygmy's cult of personality....

"Person."

Yeah, he was walking down the middle of the street, blocking traffic. That is a weird and dangerous thing to do, and is obviously a matter of public safety, which is exactly the kind of things cops are supposed to look after.

Citizen? They use the word "civilian" like it's something we are and they aren't. They're civilians, too. They're not in the military.

I'm still furious about the flashbanged baby thing.

The entire circus around Michael Brown was media-generated. Perhaps I need my tinfoil hat adjusted, but I think deliberately so. It's like it was purposely pushed to make black people get up in arms, when clearly, most people looking rationally at the case can wish it didn't happen, but can hardly blame the cop. Brown wasn't innocent; he robbed a store. He wasn't just minding his own business until cops hassled him because he was black; he was walking in the middle of the street. I want cops to stop people walking in the middle of the street and ask them wtf they're doing. He was not an "unarmed teenager;" he was a 300lb man who punched the cop. What the hell? When you drive that story in the media, people like my father who don't think police brutality is a problem take notice of the story, say "this is what the liberals are complaining about? They're morons!" it confirms his biases and he goes right back to ignoring the problem.

Where's the outrage and the marches and protests and media helicopters over flashbanged babies? SWAT teams busting down doors at 3am to serve search warrants? "Overwhelming force?" Budgets that rely on "civil forfeiture" which is literally highway robbery? No, the media pushes the non-story of Michael Brown. Muddies the issue. Ignores the real problems.

It's a conspiracy. A C-O-N...spiracy.

Not that they were necessarily "better" but I think the attitudes of police towards the public have indeed changed over the past forty years. Forty years ago there weren't SWAT teams. The cops did not bash down your door, throw in flash bangs and shoot your dog to serve a simple search warrant. They....knocked on the door.

Did they always lie (well, they have to and there's nothing wrong with that so long as it's not under oath), plant drugs on people, shoot black people? Yeah. But damn if they weren't more polite about it.

The "us vs them" mentality wasn't so readily apparent. Maybe it was there and we just didn't notice because there weren't cell phone cameras, and they were mainly doing it to black people. Still, I don't remember cops 15 years ago driving APCs, in body armor, all black, and referring to citizens as "civilians." Now I hear that routinely. If we're civilians...what exactly are you? And what exactly is our relationship?

Ya know, to be honest, that wouldn't be that bad. So long as the cause was somehow noble, and they had to use their brains to find a sneaky, non-violent solution to a problem instead of just blowing shit up...

I'd prefer exploration and maybe a suspenseful first contact, trying to understand a truly alien species before conflict erupts. But anything where they don't just immediately jump to photon torpedoes and punching would be a step up.

No, the Matrix was a work of art. The last thing I want is for them to ruin it with a sequel. Thank God they never made any.

That one sucked too, when you stop and think about it.....

First Contact sucked too. I hate to admit that, because TNG was my favorite show, but it did.

This guy says it better than I can.

No, by definition he's right: It's tough to overwrite a READ ONLY MEMORY . Of course, the firmware in the Mac isn't actually stored in a true ROM but in an EEPROM or some other solid-state memory that can be overwritten. So the article is incorrect or misleading to call that chip a ROM.

That's been my take from the beginning. There's no way they're canning the movie. They want money. Even if the bomb threats had teeth (which they don't), Sony does not give two fucks about people being blown up.

So they pretend to cancel it. Internet freaks out. Senators and the goddamn President of the United States say "you guys should release this movie!" And now their middling picture that barely anybody would have seen or heard about is the most talked about picture of the year. So after some soul* searching, chats with their spiritual advisors, and a big-girl cry, Sony will "bravely" release their mediocre movie to thunderous applause and ticket sales.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkk yoooooooooouuuuuuu Sony.

*lololololololol as if anyone at Sony has a soul!

Pretty much.

I've vacationed at a few all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico. Some "nice" ones that are ~$250/night and a few VERY nice ones that are ~$600/night. But the accommodations are amazing, and it's all you can drink, all you can eat. I would eat three dinners. Once at the steak house, once at the sushi place, and then a 2AM BLT from room service, without touching my wallet. Not bad!

Well once I went to a place in the Dominican Republic called Casa de Campo for a wedding. This is not a place for rich people. This is a place for wealthy people. There's $100 million yachts at the marina. It's a walled fortress of wealth surrounded by abject poverty. It's the only place on the island with a water treatment plant where you could actually drink the water, but they won't let you. It's only evian or perrier at the restaurants. Tap water? Like out the toilet?

Anyway, food at this place was ridiculously expensive. Like, a fruit plate was $20. It's a bunch of fucking bananas. What, do they export them and then re-import them so they'll be more expensive? You couldn't have a light lunch without spending $80. And I thought "this is ridiculous! When I go to the all-inclusive resorts, it's all just take what you want! And this is a way nicer, more expensive place! Why bother with the accounting?" And then I realized, oh. The people here could not give two shits about an $80 lunch with a $50 bar bill. It's just charged to their room and when they leave there's another $1000 for food and beverage on there and who gives a fuck.

At higher-end places they charge you for everything because nobody's watching the bill because they don't care. It's only us poor people who care about money.