Another Terminator?!?!?!

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Dec 282020

Paramount Reportedly Wants Next Terminator Film To Be Rated PG-13

There is no “Terminator7” as yet, no plot, director, producers, anything, just Paramount noodling over the idea. But IMO, they should do one of two things:

1: Give it up. At least until 2029.

2: Do something different.

“Dark Fate” was so *aggressively* bad that the whole franchise has a stain on it now, like finding out that your favorite politician visited Epstein Island, kicks puppies and talks in theaters. But what I would like to see, were I given the reigns and a hundred million to make a movie: I’d ditch everything post “Terminator,” even unto ignoring T2 (*note), and go straight to the Future War against Skynet. Not early in the war like “Salvation,” but the *end* of the war. I’d want two movies: the first shows the battle up to the climax. The second one shows the world *after* victory. No Terminators or Skynet, no war against the machines, just humanity picking up the pieces. A fight among survivors about just how; some want to live like Amish, some want to use Skynets tech to rebuild the cities, restore the land, live out among the stars. Perhaps have true AI, but not of the “destroy all humans” variety. End showing a few generations down the line with humans and AI getting along, colonizing Pluto, say.

What do you want to bet we’ll instead get time travelling robots and lots of CGI splosions.

*Note: alternative: assume T2 happened, but obviously Cyberdyne backed up their data elsewhere. The raid on the complex didn’t change the future; Judgement Day still happens, catching the Connors a little off guard, but still prepped for action.

Unnecessary conspiracy theorizing

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Dec 272020

The Nashville bombing is likely the result of whackadoodlism, rather than religion or politics (let’s put aside for a moment the fact that most politics and religion are fundamentally whackadoodlism… they’re just *commonly* *accepted* whackadoodlism). But even nutjobs need to have some sort of reason why they target this place rather than that. And the link below suggests why the AT&T facility might have been targeted:

Photos After The Explosion Reveal That The Bombing Target The AT&T Building In Nashville Is Reinforced NSA Style Building

Gee whiz, an important communications hub was built rugged, designed to withstand the likes of tornadoes and Russian nuclear strikes? Why on earth would AT&friggenT *possibly* be considered, oh, I dunno, some sort of important national communications asset? Must be a conspiracy! Booga Booga!

The article then wonders why the AT&T facility had a warning sign mounted outside listing “flammability,” “health” and “instability – reactivity” concerns. The author ponders explanations like: “Potential secret chemical? Maybe quantum computing-related?”

Somehow, “loaded with lithium ion backup batteries and diesel generators” apparently didn’t occur to said author.

Bah.

There are lots of good reasons why a major communications corporation would ruggedize their facilities, especially the ones so clearly easily accessed by the public. People cranking out looney theories about normal communications buildings being NSA facilities, or remote airfields being UFO landing grounds, or nuclear power plants being stargate terminals, or abandoned WalMarts being concentration camps are just as nutty *and* bad for society as those who crank out conspiracy theories about a wage gap, or white privilege, or faked moon landings, or Russian collusion, or the CIA created AIDS, or the Proud Boys being white supremacists, or Holocaust-was-a-hoax BS, or Creationist claptrap, or Flat Eartherism, or 2+4=4 being anything other than flat reality.

They left out a reason or two

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Dec 212020

From the Washington Post:

Why Americans are numb to the staggering coronavirus death toll

A number of reasons are given for why Americans are just kinda shrugging at the ~300,000 deaths from the Commie Cough. One reason: it’s just too big, the human brain refuses to try to conceive of such vastness and simply shuts down trying. Another is that many people have bought into conspiracy theories. Another is that people are isolated from the actual deaths, the infected dying alone, sealed away from friends and family.

But there are two obvious reasons that didn’t seem to get mentioned:

1: We’ve all heard about overcounting… someone dying of cancer dies with the CCP virus in their system so it gets notched up to the Commie Cough. How often does that happen? Is it statistically insignificant? Or is it a sizable fraction? We just don’t know.

2: And perhaps most importantly, look at how the pandemic was sold to us in the beginning:

“even if all patients were able to be treated, we predict there would still be in the order of 250,000 deaths in GB, and 1.1-1.2 million in the US.”

Now, assuming the vaccine works well enough, the pandemic should start tapering off in a couple months I’d think. We’re currently sitting at about 318,000 *official* deaths, losing about 2,600 more per day. Two more months of that, assuming that the death rate somehow stays constant (which would be damned peculiar) will lead to a total of about 473,000 deaths. Substantially less than the 1.2 million, especially if a large fraction of those deaths weren’t really killed by Pinko Pox but were already sick folk just sorta pushed over the edge.

3: The lockdowns indicate that the Government Takes This Seriously. That riots were allowed to proceed and that liquor stores were considered essential businesses, indicates that the Government Does Not Take This Seriously.

When were were oversold into a panic from the beginning, and then the data is not only well below the original fearmongering but is not widely trusted, and the government sending massively mixed signals… well, it only makes sense that lots of people kinda stop worrying about things too much.

The one where Phoenix gets blow to bits

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Dec 182020

A few days ago some random confluence of data conspired to make a few neurons fire that hadn’t fired in a very long time. I happened to see a reference to Phoenix, Arizona, and for some reason it caused me to think “didn’t I see a movie where Phoenix got hit by a comet?” Sure enough, the 1978 TV movie “A Fire in The Sky” features an impact just outside Phoenix, illustrated by the very finest in halfassed late-70’s TV-budgeted special effects. I highly doubt I’ve given this movie much thought since I saw it 42 or so years ago. But hey, with the internet all things are possible. So if you want to see it, or see it again, behold, here it is in potato-resolution:

Witness Michael Biehn before he fought Terminators, Xenomorphs and water tentacles. The man was a menace… wherever he went, disasters followed.

80’s Flashback

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Dec 162020

In some ways the 1980’s were FREAKIN’ AWESOME. Coming out of the truly dire 1970’s, what with Viet Nam and the end of Apollo and inflation and malaise and Iran and OPEC and the environment going straight to hell and Jimmy Carter and disco, the sudden arrival of optimism and Ronald Reagan made the world seem a better place. Even though expanded spending on disastrous social welfare programs torpedoed the deficit and the Soviets were still lurking around the corner with ten thousand nukes to turn the planet into a blasted hellscape… hey, no more Carter. People were proud of the US again; Viet Nam veterans were starting to be (rather belatedly) celebrated, as was the military; the US returned to space with the Shuttle; computer technology finally broke into the home market; Hollywood started cranking out some outstanding flicks that are still beloved even unto today. The world looked like it just might have a shiny future.

But then… sigh.

Growing up as a kidling in the 70’s, I was constantly bombarded by a culture saturated in the hedonism of the 60’s and the 70’s. The hippies and yuppies and their sex, drugs and rock & roll made it look like adult life was filled with nonstop partying, that once my cohort got over the hump of adolescence, we, too, would be having nothing but fun. Those my age were not quite sure what it was all about yet, but we were sure that once we got about to high school we’d have it figured out and we’d all be having a blast.

But then… wouldn’t you know it, the boomers had to go and destroy that, too. Right abut the time that girls started to seem interesting… AIDS. AIDS freakin’ 24/7. After school specials. In-school propaganda. News reports of DOOOOOOOOOM. Want a little taste of what we had to go through? Here:

Feh.

That was clearly some religious indoctrination of some kind, but even in the statist-est of state schools we got the same message, just without the Bible-bangin’ (and sometimes with). Coupled with the Satanic Panic and the sudden rise of Stranger Danger, freakouts over D&D and rock music, it’s no wonder that Generation X turned into the generation of “meh.” It was impossible to stay panicked all the time (even with air raid drills that we all knew wouldn’t do a damn thing once Soviet nukes started falling), but the constant drumbeat of “if you try to have fun, you’ll die” did a dandy job of draining the joy out of many regular aspects of existence.

Longer version of the creepifyin’ original:

Now just imagine what todays younguns are gonna be like when they grow up, after having been burdened with the Commie Cough and being told that their whiteness is evil and that objectivity is racist and that their history should be erased.

Poor little bastards.

Contest: define this box

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Dec 132020

Below is a photo of a case for the transport of a display model, circa 1956. To figure out how big the model inside the box is, I need to know how big the box is. And oddly enough, figuring out how big a sixty-plus-year-old box is from a single photo is a little tricky. However, it’s *entirely* possible that this was an off the shelf item… and it might even be something that someone has. Not likely, but at least possible. So, on the off chance someone can nail this thing down for me… $100.00 (one hundred US dollars) worth of my downloadable stuff for whoever first is able to show me exactly what box this is and, importantly, how big it is. Photos of an actual item with a ruler would work. Photos/scans of a catalog that shows and describes it would work.

It could be more vaguely defined by going after some of the components. I suspect the three-digit locks might be pretty well standardized. Definition on those or maybe the handle would be useful if the box can’t be defined… useful to the tune of $15 in downloads.

The winner also gets clued in on just what the frak I’m doing here, and a copy of the results.

Self sabotage and child abuse as “virtue”

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Dec 132020

This makes for dismal reading:

How Well-Intentioned White Families Can Perpetuate Racism

The basic thesis here is that well to do families who want the best for their kids, and make efforts to provide for them, are evil and unjust. At least when those families are white, that is. Behold:

Pinsker: What would it look like for a white affluent parent to make a choice not to give their children “the best”? Is it a matter of not calling the school to get the best math teacher? Or is there a more proactive thing a parent might be able to do?

Hagerman: I think part of it is how we choose to define “the best.” Some of the parents in my book, they rejected the idea that their child needed to be in all the AP classes. They valued other elements of their children’s personalities, such as their concerns about ethics or fairness or social justice. There were a handful of parents in my study who resisted having a separate track for AP students, for example, which can sometimes be a segregating force within schools.

Any parent who would prioritize “social justice” indoctrination for their kids over math and history and critical thinking skills needs to consider whether of not they should really be parents. And any parent who would get rid of AP classes because they can “sometimes be a segregating force within schools” needs to have their ass handed to them. Athletics departments are “segregating forces,” because not every kid can hurl the sportsball with equal efficacy. Allowing student to choose their own friends and social circles is a “segregating force.”

And then there’s this summary:

“My overall point is that in this moment when being a good citizen conflicts with being a good parent, I think that most white parents choose to be good parents, when, sometimes at the very least, they should choose to be good citizens. “

The State über alles, citizen!

My god some people are awful. Is it important to do things to help make society, your city, your state, your nation better? Sure. And few if any things could make your nation better than to make your kids be as good as they can be, especially if your kids are on the high end of the bell curve. Is your kid average? Then ramming him or her onto a more aggressive educational track will have minimal benefits. But is he or she particularly intelligent or talented? Then for frak’s sake, do everything in your power to foster that. Actually stymieing the development of those who can actually grow substantially is not only child abuse, it’s damn near treasonous.

Some good news for Hollywood

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Dec 062020

OK, so a movie I have no interest in had a character make some sort of lame joke/pun about Chinese people, and as a result…

Monster Hunter: World Review Bombed On Steam As Backlash To Movie Grows In China

The “backlash” here involves the movie simply being pulled from distribution in Chinese theaters. This is bad news for the movie, since China is probably the only place it’s going to get a wide theatrical release. It’s supposed to open around Christmas here in the US, but let’s face it, it’ll make about a buck and a half.

So how is this good news for Hollywood? Simple: it’s a valuable object lesson. Do not rely on China. In fact… delete China from your plans altogether. If you can get your flick released there… sure, great. But there has been altogether too much kowtowing to the Chinese government to get a foot in the door of the Chinese market. Now is yet another really good opportunity to Hollywood to finally figure out that China is bad for business, long term.

Here, watch this. It’s a fan film set in the Warhammer 40K universe. I’ve watched it several times and I have no friggen’ clue what’s going on. But I do know it’s impressive as hell to look at… and it was apparently made by *one* *guy.* Sure, it’s short, less than 15 minutes, with almost no dialog and a plot that confuzzles the bejeebers out of me… but IT WAS MADE BY ONE GUY.

Take note, Hollywood. If one guy over a span of a few years can make 15 minutes worth of fully rendered, entirely artificial worlds, then twenty guys can make a full movie in a year. Imagine what you could do with that capability. You could have a movie showing India defeating China in a war for territory. You could show Taiwan triumphant, the Communist flag falling to the ground in Beijing. You could have westerns with heroic cowboys. You could have war movies where the US forces are actually portrayed as the good guys. You could make an actually *good* Star Trek TV series and an actually *good* Star Wars movie trilogy. You wouldn’t even need to be in Hollywood or even California; you could make the movie somewhere *good.* All this would be possible if you simply sought out enthusiastic talent… and told the ChiComs to get bent.

“Seriousness of the charge” quote

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Dec 022020

I’ve seen these lines pop up here and there recently:

The seriousness of the charge mandates that we investigate this.
Or…
Even though there is no evidence, the seriousness of the charge is what matters–Thomas Foley (D, WA)

The sentiment there has been repeated, in spirit if not in exact quote, many times over the last few decades. Witness, for example, the sexual assault witch hunt against USSC nominee Kavanaugh, the insistence upon investigating Trump as a Russian assert. Both were claims asserted without evidence, both were taken seriously enough to consume months to years of effort by many, many journalists and investigators and politicians.

Now it is being turned around to justify everything up to an including negating the recent election, overturning the results and calling for a new one. Granted, that just ain’t gonna happen. But once you accept the notion that simply *claiming* that A Very Bad Thing Happened mandates a full investigation and an assumption of guilt prior to an actual establishment of guilt, you can’t really argue that the claim that the election was fraudulent or tainted or stolen isn’t worth worrying about.

Thing is: I can’t quite seem to find a primary source on that quote from Rep. Foley. Closest I could find was this LA Times article from 1991:

“We have no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing, but the seriousness of the allegations and the weight of circumstantial information compel an effort to establish the facts,” said House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) and Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) in a joint statement.

This was in reference to the conspiracy theory that Reagan & Bush delayed the Iranians turning over the hostages in order to win the 1980 election. This same line of thinking asserted without evidence that Bush hopped on board an SR-71 and used it as a private SST to get to Paris to negotiate with Iranians without being missed back home.

So are the Foley “quotes” at the beginning of this post accurate, or are they paraphrases of the “joint statement?”

Why do we need heroes?

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Dec 022020

Some might consider it sad that a drunk YouTuber knows more about not only the history of heroic literature, but also the importance of heroic myths and tales, than the “professional” story tellers who are paid to actually tell stories about heroes.

The video starts off with appropriately smartasssed mockery of some questionable decisions being made by major comic book publishers, then turns serious and thoughtful on the subject of what heroes our culture celebrates. This is a subject that interests me greatly. In my own dabblings with writing literature I almost never include a Lance Squarejaw action hero, but try to write more or less normal folk who try, to varying degrees, to do what seems to need doing. But so much of modern culture denigrates even that, mocking the very notion of the “hero.” The very traits that in past generations would be seen as not only heroic but necessary for a vital civilization are now “problematic” and “toxic masculinity.” John Wayne is despised while the media celebrates Ellen Page rebranding her/himself as Elliot Page. Restraint and rationality are sneered at while children twerking is touted as high art.

I used to love the show “Adam Ruins Everything.” But when he got to the episode on “Cowboys” and the conclusion that tales of a heroic ideal should be wiped form our culture, I was out.

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