CatBus

I don’t normally post long video links, but this is really worth it IMO:

William Browder, CEO of the Hermitage Capital Management Company, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Hermitage was the employer of Sergei Magnitsky, the auditor who uncovered Russian corruption and was later murdered, triggering the Magnitsky Act, which is central to the Trump-Russia affair.

NeverarGreat said:

The silver lining is that, freed of the reliance on established media sources, more and more people are able to aggregate quality information and discuss methods of minimizing their own biases.

That’s not really much of a silver lining. Aggregating information, researching, fact-checking, comparing multiple sources, consulting with subject matter experts–that’s a full-time job. Specifically, it’s the full-time job of someone who works in the media (whether or not they actually do that job is beside the point for the moment). While the “old dead tree media” may very well get replaced by the “new Internet media”, the whole idea of media organizations of all stripes disappearing entirely and getting replaced by a network of crowdsourced volunteers is frankly appalling to me. It’s this very thing that would allow, say, a foreign intelligence service to much more easily slip propaganda into the news stream of another nation’s population. Sure, I get that the old corporate monolith system also allows rich corporations to ensure that all media organizations have different degrees of the same conservative bias, and so it’s not like the old media networks like CNN and whatnot don’t suffer from this. But at least with that system you can usually pretty easily identify who’s peeing in the pool.

Different mixing levels sometimes reveal small dialogue details–this happened in the mono mix of Empire a lot, where the words at the beginning of sentences were buried in the stereo mix, but completely audible in the mono mix. I’ve only seen one case like that in Jedi, and it’s not very exciting:

When Jerjerrod says “I tell you, this station will be operational as planned.”, the mono mix reveals what’s either a stutter or a partially-enunciated “that” so that it sounds more like “I tell you, th-this station will be operational as planned.”

Not enough to even bother changing subtitles for, sadly.

yhwx said:

CatBus said:

yhwx said:

TV’s Frink said:

“In God We Trust” shouldn’t be on official currency anyway but don’t get me started.

I’d like to hear your argument on that. Not necessarily that I disagree. I’m just curious.

The text was added in the 50’s (along with “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance) as a way of distinguishing our nation from the godless Communist menace presented by the Soviet Union.

So first of all, it’s an anachronistic holdover from the Cold War–so even if you agree with the logic that put it on our currency, that foundational reason no longer exists. Secondly, it’s a poor descriptor of our nation, which our founders explicitly stated is not a Christian nation. And thirdly, even at the time, it was a bad way to distinguish us from the Soviets–belief in God was a much less distinguishing characteristic than the freedom to believe or not believe in God as you chose. Or democracy. Or other civil rights.

I know all the history behind it, I just don’t really care either way. I wouldn’t be too phased if it went away, and I wouldn’t be too phased if it didn’t go away.

Must… not… gaa…

Fazed. It’s fazed.

But yeah, it’s small potatoes in the whole state establishment of religion problem we have in this country. There are much bigger fish to fry. I imagine this comes up a lot because everyone’s seen it, the history is so unambiguously unconstitutional, and nobody stands to gain financially from it being the way it is, so the number of people willing to spend billions on lawyers to keep things the way they are should be low. Contrast this with tax-exempt status for churches or the Hobby Lobby decision.

yhwx said:

TV’s Frink said:

“In God We Trust” shouldn’t be on official currency anyway but don’t get me started.

I’d like to hear your argument on that. Not necessarily that I disagree. I’m just curious.

The text was added in the 50’s (along with “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance) as a way of distinguishing our nation from the godless Communist menace presented by the Soviet Union.

So first of all, it’s an anachronistic holdover from the Cold War–so even if you agree with the logic that put it on our currency, that foundational reason no longer exists. Secondly, it’s a poor descriptor of our nation, which our founders explicitly stated is not a Christian nation. And thirdly, even at the time, it was a bad way to distinguish us from the Soviets–belief in God was a much less distinguishing characteristic than the freedom to believe or not believe in God as you chose. Or democracy. Or other civil rights.

Just listened to Yub Nub, and I think the mixdown/less dynamic range/lo-fi quality all conspire to make that harder to distinguish in ROTP that in the 83 stereo mix. I’m not sure the levels are any different except in the sense that with lower dynamics all noises are closer to the same volume, and those vocals sound like they may even be clipping a bit, which certainly can’t be helping matters.

Confirmed those chain noises–and only those chain noises–seem to be excluded throughout ROTP, including other scenes where those sounds should be prominent like the Jabba strangulation scene, R2 cutting Leia’s chain, etc. Still haven’t listened to the whole thing.

FWIW, I’ve also PM’d hairy_hen in case he can provide an expert opinion. Because so far I’m not thinking we’re likely to get a more audible difference than the “Soon you will learn to appreciate me” scene.

Yes, that would be the smoking gun. But we do have some (admittedly quiet) hard-panned clinks disappearing, as well as some centered louder clinks. I’m thinking the most plausible explanation for that is now that it’s a different mix. Other explanations are still worth exploring.

Going into this, I was assuming it was a stereo mixdown unless indicated otherwise. Now, I’ve flipped my stance–I’m assuming it’s a unique mix unless indicated otherwise.

Yeah, Puggo’s suggested location (~29:56) is a much clearer, louder, and centered example of this. Someone simply failed to add the clinking chain sounds to the mono mix–it’s a different mix. I’m pretty certain of that now.

So in the “No bargain” section, I checked the panning. The initial clinks are indeed panned hard left, nothing at all in the right channel, so the mixdown method could explain those disappearing. However, the clinks immediately after he says “No bargain” are pretty well centered. I’ll listen to the spot Puggo mentioned too, but I’m still inclined to believe it’s a different mix.

Hm. That was fast. It appears ROTP has lots of clearly audible detail above 2khz, and it appears IMO that the missing clinking sounds can only be explained away by a near-complete lack of frequency response above 2khz, ergo… different mix!

I think so, at least. Man, I wish I had a better audio background so I could make sweeping statements like that with more confidence.

But I haven’t even listened to the whole thing. Maybe the Emperor will say “I’ll get you, my pretties!” and it’ll make the whole thing much more obvious.

Well, I was able to filter out the clinking noises from the 1983 mix with a 2khz lowpass filter, and the resulting muffling of the audio didn’t sound different enough from the ROTP to be unambiguously wrong. A 6khz filter wasn’t enough to filter it out, though. Considering the frequency response of 16mm optical probably tapers off before a 6khz cutoff, it’s all plausibly still a limitation of the medium IMO.

To test this, I think I’ll run the ROTP mix through a 2khz highpass. If it contains audible non-hiss detail above 2khz, then I’m assuming we should have been able to hear the clinking sounds. If it’s all hiss with maybe a few barely audible bits here and there, then this was likely a false alarm.

Tomorrow I’ll run the 83 stereo mix through something like a 6khz lowpass filter and see if the clinks could have gotten trimmed out by the lack of high end (although I’m not sure where that cutoff should really be–what is it technically, 16mm optical?).

I’m not nearly done with the comparison–it seems to match the 83 stereo mix very well, but here’s an “I can’t tell!” example:

At around 22:38, while Bib Fortuna is delivering his “No bargain” line to Luke, and a little afterward as well, the 83 and 93 mixes both have the clinking sounds of chains. ROTP? Nothing, just dialogue. The reason I’m not sure is that I’m wondering if it’s possible the sounds are so high pitched that they are effectively trimmed out by either the EQ or the limits of the physical media. I’ll listen around for proof of this, but I don’t have a strong enough audio background to say this is so.

So it’s a cautious maybe, that it’s maybe a unique mix. No new dialogue or more major SFX differences so far, and I’m not done yet.

Would love confirmation from another listener.

TV’s Frink said:

Warbler said:

I liked McCain’s speech, I did not like how he voted.

McCain’s political career in a nutshell.

One of his most important and timely speeches was the anti-torture speech he delivered just before he voted to authorize torture. His chutzpah knows no bounds.

Apparently not satisfied with the fake pro-Republican numbers the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is already required by law to provide, it appears Republicans are now throwing pretense out the window and plan to direct the CBO not to provide any analysis at all, but to just rubber-stamp pre-written analysis provided by right-wing think tanks.

Or if a disreputable ne’er-do-well managed to get access to the audio on your machine, they might be able to tell you if it’s a unique mix.

On another note, this “feud” between Trump and Sessions smells. If the feud was really putting Sessions’ career in jeopardy, you’d think he’d be spending long hours in Mueller’s office, getting all his paperwork in order for the FBI, and so on. And none of that is happening, nor do I think it will.

I think Sessions is every bit as alarmed by the direction of Mueller’s investigation as Trump, but he doesn’t feel he’s able to circumvent his recusal again to get him fired–possibly because doing it a second time makes the first time look fishier, or because he can’t convince Rosenstein to write another firing memo for himself–so his only option is to get someone in charge of the DOJ who’s not recused. Wait until recess while making loud feud noises, resign, and let Trump do a recess appointment of whoever he wants, and then that guy (we’ll call him Schmudy Schmuliani) can fire Mueller and Rosenstein. Sessions is no longer AG, but maybe he can get re-hired as DAG, and even if he doesn’t, at least there’s no longer any risk of Mueller investigating him, so he’s happy.

Not sure what the defense is against this. I suppose if Mueller was investigating Schmuliani, there may be something conflict-of-interest-wise he could do there, but that’s unlikely–Sessions may feel the need to keep up the appearance of following some sort of legal procedure, but Schmuliani doesn’t. Otherwise it’s pass the investigative baton to Schneiderman, the feds are out of the investigation business for good.

EDIT: I should say the feds will be out of the Trump investigation business for good. They may investigate other things, like a new Pizzagate task force or something.

yhwx said:

Anyone else think that it’s a bit ironic (and sad) that McCain receives some of the best medical care in the world but then rushes back to potentially remove it from millions of Americans?

Not ironic considering his record. He gives good speeches, then falls in line. Only his mouth was ever a maverick.

The real question is if McConnell is pushing this vote through without knowing it will pass, because Trump wants his enemies list.

Puggo - Jar Jar’s Yoda said:

But just because it’s mono, does that mean it’s a different mix?

No, it could be (and likely is) just a stereo downmix. However, PSB had alternate dialogue which made it pretty easy to quickly distinguish. Without alternate dialogue and sound effects, you’d really have to listen carefully for mixing differences, which were also present in PSB’s audio. Maybe it’ll be like that–a different mix with no SFX or dialogue differences.

We’ll just become progressively ruder until you notice, then, okay?

TV’s Frink said:

I missed this a few weeks ago but holy crap.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/26/lynne-patton-trump-party-planner-new-york-federal-housing-239963

Six months ago, Lynne Patton was a party planner. On Monday, she took the helm of New York’s federal housing office, a promotion she won after making enemies at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and fumbling a job as senior adviser to Secretary Ben Carson.

It pays to have been a party planner for the Trumps.

Patronage is as old as politics, but Patton’s swift rise to power has startled even some Trump administration insiders.

When President Donald Trump dispatched her to HUD in February — a month before Carson’s arrival — industry lobbyists mostly shrugged it off. But the former events planner quickly made a mark, big-footing experienced staffers and flubbing the rollout of Carson’s first public appearances as secretary, according to people close to the secretary.

During his confirmation hearing, Carson had promised to take a nationwide listening tour to get his bearings, a move widely praised by housing activists. Planning the tour fell to the professional — Patton.

It didn’t go well. The launch was barely publicized, denying the new HUD secretary news coverage as he visited his hometown of Detroit. In other cities, Carson praised programs targeted for budget cuts, a blunder that suggested he hadn’t been properly coached by staff.

In April, the secretary was ridiculed when he got stuck in an elevator at a Miami housing project. Soon after, his staff suspended the listening tour, which his own allies chalked up as a disaster.

I guess since Trump has been failing upwards his whole life, it’s a quality he admires in others too?

You laugh now, but when you start seeing dolphin ice sculptures in federal housing, you’ll change your mind.

Warbler said:

That has to be an alternative fact.

I dunno, it’s petty and juvenile. Seems legit.

Yeah, for German and English any changes are minor. I think there are a couple places where repeated lines were merged in the SUP in 9.3 (e.g. “The first transport is away!/The first transport is away!”) into a single subtitle, while in 10.0 I kept that from happening.