Behold: “Darth by Darthwest.”
May 172016
May 172016
While I realize that I am often rather flabbergasted by peoples motivations, I can’t be the only one to be stumped at why some people claim to be so terribly upset that someone else won’t take their money to bake them a cake. Go somewhere else. Or go on a damn diet. Are these solutions really that difficult?
But if the motives of the Social Cake Justice Warriors are difficult enough to figure out in their most basic form, imagine someone who *fakes* a minor bit of offensiveness and then sues the supposed offender, demanding not only millions in cold hard cash but the firing of innocent people.
Remember The Fake Whole Foods ‘Hate Cake’? Pastor Apologizes, Admits He Lied
In short, a black gay pastor (I might be wrong… maybe he’s a gay black pastor. I’m not up to date on the current hierarchy of victim groups) bought a cake decorated with “Love Wins” on it, and then added a three-letter slur word, claiming that the Whole Foods he bought the cake from did it. Specifically, the “victim” claimed the gay cake decorator added it. (Surveillance footage revealed that the added word wasn’t there when he bought it.) The “victim” then proceeded to file a lawsuit. The company sued him right back. The “victim” has now admitted that he lied, and has dropped his lawsuit…and for some reason the company has dropped their counter-suit.
Now, again I may be wrong here, but generally when Person A sues Company X, it is because they have been harmed in some way by a faulty product or fraudulent behavior or some such. I’m at a loss as to how this guy, even if his claim of a vandalized cake was true, could claim any sort of injury. If the courts were to have been insane enough to let him win because someone wrote a naughty word on his cake, rest assured that someone *saying* a naughty word would become lawsuit bait… and since that would be simply a matter of hurt *feelings,* then someone telling this pastor that his religious beliefs are wrong (because he’s worshiping God wrong, or worshiping the wrong god, or worshiping a mythical god, or… whatever) would seem an invitation to a lawsuit.
Whole Foods, on the other hand, *has* been harmed by this guy. Even if their reputation ends up intact, they still had to spend a lot of manhours dealing with this… internal investigators, PR flacks, lawyers, the whole thing. Plus the poor schmoe who the “victim” claimed scribbled the acronym for the Film Actors Guild onto his cake undoubtedly suffered considerable *real* stress. The “victim” here should, IMO, be sued into the permanent poorhouse. I’d be interested in what criminal laws can be brought to bear. With luck, someone will send him a Whole Foods cake in prison, with a file sculpted on it in frosting.
And for those on the other side: if someone comes in and wants your cake baking company to make them a cake that says something your religion disagrees with it, I have a simple suggestion: mask your contempt and take their money. Put your B Team on the job and get on with life, secure in the knowledge that you have drained their bank account slightly while filling them up with sugar and empty calories, shortening their lives.
May 172016
Home again. Would have been home slightly sooner; it’s my own fault for not pencilling in, in advance, the blizzard I ran into. Silly me for thinking mid-May might be a tad late for such things.
Anyway, much to take care of before things return to normal. So in the meantime, please to enjoy this trailer for “Son of Zorn,” which when I first heard of it I thought sounded stupid, but now the 10-year-old Thundarr The Barbarian fan in me is laughing his ass off. Yeah, yeah, it’s probably more a “He-Man” parody, but I never got into that, and have to fall back on what I know.
May 162016
Even though there’s no chance that Bernie Sanders will be President this time, it bothers me sometimes that a man with such retrogressive Socialist ideas can gain such popularity with so many in the electorate. We’ve had an entire century now to see just how badly collectivist economic policies fail, and still… here’s Bernie.
Venezuela continues to exemplify the sort of disasters Bernienomics would provide.
After Beer Shortage, Venezuela President Threatens to Jail Factory Owners
In short: Venezuelan beer brewers have been shutting down. The last one in the country quit because they have been unable to buy the needed raw materials. The response of President Maduro, successor to Hugo Chavez and idol to Sanders, has been to threaten to jail the factory owners who cannot keep their doors open.
Socialism: magical thinking.
PS: Here’s some comedy from 2013:
Hugo Chavez’s economic miracle
The Venezuelan leader was often marginalized as a radical. But his brand of socialism achieved real economic gains
That there deserves a Walter Duranty Journalism Award.
May 162016
Mystery as ghost ship runs aground in Liberia
So, the Nigeria-registered tanker Tamaya 1 was last heard from April 22. Last week it ran aground in Liberia. Nobody was on board. No bodies were on board. One of two life boats was missing. There had been a fire… which destroyed all the records.
Neat. The Marie Celeste lives!
May 152016
As mentioned hereabouts many months ago, Bruce was delivered to his new home. It’ll be sad to not have him around… but it’ll also be better for all involved. Five cats *is* a bit much, and now he’s in a good home with only one other cat. Longer-term blog readers may remember Tak… she now has a room mate, whether she likes it or not.
And, yes, Bruce did seem to recognize that I was leaving him. But he will be happy in his new place.
May 152016
When I finish “Gimli” and a few other projects I intend to revist “Mass Disappearance.” The primary goal will be to convert it from first person to third person, but also to revise it substantially. Some things I’m unhappy with, some areas that need expanding and a bit of clarity. At least two new characters; Anubis Alpha and Beta; more clarity on the stored passengers; expansion on the mad dash at the end. There were bits that I wanted to be morbid and creepifyin’ that just never lived up to what I saw in my head; I want to try again on those.
But of course I’m looking at it from my own perspective, with is not objective. For those of you who’ve read Mass Disappearance and found it to be at least somewhat enjoyable, what areas do you see that you’d like to see worked on… plot holes, logic problems, “what the hell does that mean”, that sort of thing. Can’t say as I’ll answer all questions (some mysteries presented I intend to keep as mysteries, at least for a while), but if there’s anything clearly stupid, I’d like to fix it.
May 142016
A 1952 film describing the turboprop tailsitter. The film apparently had no audio, so a wholly unnecessary bit of “film projector noise” was added.
The film shows some interesting stuff, such as animations of the craft in action, and artists impressions of what must have been early alternate designs including a ducted-fan design and one with an odd delta wing with a cutout for the props.
May 132016
Michigan State University has posted online a PDF copy of “Screen Guide for Americans,” a pamphlet apparently written by Ayn Rand in 1947 that presents ideas for film makers on how to *not* be a stooge for Communists. It has a number of what are, frankly, still very good ideas: don’t trash the free market system, wealth, individualism or success in your little film. Don’t extol the mythical virtues of collectivism . Don’t tar industrialists or rich folk as villains as a *group.* Don’t raise up mediocrity or victimhood as morally superior. Basically… don’t be a dumbass progressive.
On the whole the pamphlet is on the mark, and as valid today as sixty years ago. But perhaps even more today, the suggestion that maybe we shouldn’t worship the economic philosophy that gave the world the Holodomor and the execution and deportation of the Kulaks and the Cultural Revolution and Venezuelas empty shelves and forced labor camps and purges and theft and greed on continental scales drives some leftists buggo. See, for example, the writeup and, better, the comments on the subject of this pamphlet HERE.
May 122016
Oy.
Join 100 Women Posing Naked at the Republican National Convention
The photograph will involve 100 nude women holding large mirror discs, reflecting the knowledge and wisdom of progressive women and the concept of “Mother Nature” into and onto the convention center, cityscape and horizon of Cleveland. The philosophy of the artwork relates to the idea of the sacred feminine. By holding mirrors, we hope to suggest that women are a reflection and embodiment of nature, the sun, the sky and the land. We want to express the belief that we will rely upon the strength, intuition and wisdom of progressive and enlightened women to find our place in nature and to regain the balance within it. The mirrors communicate that we are a reflection of ourselves, each other, and of the world that surrounds us. The woman becomes the future and the future becomes the woman.
Blah, blah, blah. Basically, this goober is comparing women to mirrors: you know, flat, featureless objects that are incapable of creation, can only reflect what they happen to be facing, with neither intellect nor volition. Hmmm. You know, that might actually be an accurate metaphor for the sort of progressive who would sign up for this sort of gag, thinking she’s doing something “important.”