Handman

moviefreakedmind said:

TV’s Frink said:

moviefreakedmind said:

TV’s Frink said:

Handman said:

TV’s Frink said:

Warbler said:

Handman said:

TV’s Frink said:

Handman said:

and now the Senate will revoke the filibuster for the Supreme Court nomination.

Your post made me think this had happened but at this point it’s not even clear if the Dems will force it, let alone if the the Repubs will follow through with it.

Sorry if that was unclear, but I think it’s almost a certainty. Trump has endorsed they do this, giving them any justification they need. Seeing as they essentially did the same thing in the less-formal committee, I don’t see why they wouldn’t go through with it in the Senate if they could.

Trump Says ‘Go Nuclear’ as Democrats Gird for Gorsuch Fight
President Trump, seeming to relish a fight with Democrats over his nominee to the Supreme Court, encouraged the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, on Wednesday to invoke the so-called nuclear option and abandon the 60-vote threshold for confirmation.

“If we end up with that gridlock, I would say, ‘If you can, Mitch, go nuclear,’” the president said.

Democrats are weighing strategies for opposing the nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch and debating how aggressively to pursue a battle over a seat that many of them believe was stolen from their party.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-trump.html

well for thing, it might bite them in the butt if the Dems gain a majority in the Senate. Think about what would have happened under Obama if the Republicans couldn’t filibuster.

If they do get rid of the filibuster, I it is time for all out war(not violent or the illegal kind). The Dems should block/disrupt/refuse to cooperate/fight the GOP in every way shape and form possible at all levels of government. This includes state and local level. They should also look into a possible constitutional convention. This pisses me off. After all the filibustering the GOP did during the Obama years and now they have the nerve to get rid of it now that the shoe is on the other foot.

It’s almost like they’re massive hypocrites or something.

Or it’s almost as if both parties are two sides of the same coin.

Forced by Republican obstruction.

How is that any different than the Republicans doing this now?

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/us/politics/obama-supreme-court-merrick-garland.html?_r=0

Not to mention that Obama deliberately picked a centrist and Republicans threw a year-long hissy fit about it, and are now pissed because Democrats are pissed about an extreme conservative pick from Trump after throwing a year-long hissy fit about Obama’s centrist pick.

That was three years after the article Handman shared.

From the same article:

Republicans said the way Democrats upended the rules will result in fallout for years. “It’s another raw exercise of political power to permit the majority to do anything it wants whenever it wants to do it,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), the GOP’s parliamentary expert, told reporters.

Republicans vowed to reciprocate if they reclaim the majority.

So it’s not completely unprecedented. It’s still shitty that everything’s become so partisan (and Merrick should have had a hearing).

TV’s Frink said:

Warbler said:

Handman said:

TV’s Frink said:

Handman said:

and now the Senate will revoke the filibuster for the Supreme Court nomination.

Your post made me think this had happened but at this point it’s not even clear if the Dems will force it, let alone if the the Repubs will follow through with it.

Sorry if that was unclear, but I think it’s almost a certainty. Trump has endorsed they do this, giving them any justification they need. Seeing as they essentially did the same thing in the less-formal committee, I don’t see why they wouldn’t go through with it in the Senate if they could.

Trump Says ‘Go Nuclear’ as Democrats Gird for Gorsuch Fight
President Trump, seeming to relish a fight with Democrats over his nominee to the Supreme Court, encouraged the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, on Wednesday to invoke the so-called nuclear option and abandon the 60-vote threshold for confirmation.

“If we end up with that gridlock, I would say, ‘If you can, Mitch, go nuclear,’” the president said.

Democrats are weighing strategies for opposing the nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch and debating how aggressively to pursue a battle over a seat that many of them believe was stolen from their party.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-trump.html

well for thing, it might bite them in the butt if the Dems gain a majority in the Senate. Think about what would have happened under Obama if the Republicans couldn’t filibuster.

If they do get rid of the filibuster, I it is time for all out war(not violent or the illegal kind). The Dems should block/disrupt/refuse to cooperate/fight the GOP in every way shape and form possible at all levels of government. This includes state and local level. They should also look into a possible constitutional convention. This pisses me off. After all the filibustering the GOP did during the Obama years and now they have the nerve to get rid of it now that the shoe is on the other foot.

It’s almost like they’re massive hypocrites or something.

Or it’s almost as if both parties are two sides of the same coin.

TV’s Frink said:

Handman said:

and now the Senate will revoke the filibuster for the Supreme Court nomination.

Your post made me think this had happened but at this point it’s not even clear if the Dems will force it, let alone if the the Repubs will follow through with it.

Sorry if that was unclear, but I think it’s almost a certainty. Trump has endorsed they do this, giving them any justification they need. Seeing as they essentially did the same thing in the less-formal committee, I don’t see why they wouldn’t go through with it in the Senate if they could.

Trump Says ‘Go Nuclear’ as Democrats Gird for Gorsuch Fight
President Trump, seeming to relish a fight with Democrats over his nominee to the Supreme Court, encouraged the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, on Wednesday to invoke the so-called nuclear option and abandon the 60-vote threshold for confirmation.

“If we end up with that gridlock, I would say, ‘If you can, Mitch, go nuclear,’” the president said.

Democrats are weighing strategies for opposing the nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch and debating how aggressively to pursue a battle over a seat that many of them believe was stolen from their party.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-trump.html

The Democrats are not doing well, they didn’t show up to the hearings for Trump’s nominees so the committee rules were suspended to allow them to continue without the party, and now the Senate will revoke the filibuster for the Supreme Court nomination.

If Dems continue to be a no-show, we’ll effectively end up in a one-party system fast.

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

Handman said:

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

Handman said:

Yeah, if I can get 14 Hitchcock movies for $40 on Blu-ray, I should be able to get 3 Star Wars movies for that or less.

false

What? I’m not saying it’s going to be that cheap, but it should be.

It’s called supply-demand economics.

I am aware of the concept.

There comes a price where it’s not worthwhile for Lucasfilm to drop the price any further. I guarantee that price is higher for the OT than any number of bundled Hitchcock films. Not to knock on Hitchcock, there are just many more buyers for SW.

The current Blu-ray set of the OT goes for $40. I imagine it would be the same for the OOT after the first three months or so of release, as the average, often clueless, consumer doesn’t know the difference. The Hitchcock set I mentioned here is a Region Free UK set from a few years back, the US release goes for about $120, which is what I’d imagine you’d want for an OOT set.

Edit: Also consider all the royalties Lucasfilm needs to pay out that don’t need to be paid for the Hitchcock films.

The estates still get something.

None of this changes the fact that I think $40 is a good price for any box set.

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

Handman said:

Yeah, if I can get 14 Hitchcock movies for $40 on Blu-ray, I should be able to get 3 Star Wars movies for that or less.

false

What? I’m not saying it’s going to be that cheap, but it should be.

Yeah, if I can get 14 Hitchcock movies for $40 on Blu-ray, I should be able to get 3 Star Wars movies for that or less.

TV’s Frink said:

Well I feel old now.

Any personal anecdotes of your experience with the hype? I missed it myself, didn’t pay close attention to Star Wars until the DVDs altered the alterations.

And lest we forget…

Here’s an article I think helps describe where we were when the Phantom Menace trailer was put online.

It’s astonishing to think how much things have changed in the last decade and a half, and many of those changes began for me that very year. In 1998 I got my first email address – Hotmail, of course. I hand-wrote my initial essays, until I got a word processor with a three-line LCD screen. My phone was a payphone at the end of the corridor – you had to hope someone passing by would answer it and then knock on your door – which is not coincidentally why I got my first mobile phone that year, an Ericsson T28.

We had the iTunes Trailers site and Ain’t It Cool News, but no Facebook, no Twitter and no YouTube. Into this veritable stone age came the first teaser for “The Phantom Menace” on 18 November 1998, six months before the film’s release.

The first trailer was shown before Universal’s “Meet Joe Black”, Disney’s “The Waterboy” and 20th Century Fox’s “The Siege” at 75 US and Canadian theatres. Fans queued around the block to get in, watch the trailer – and then leave. Trailers were repeated after each movie, so some fans are reported to have ducked out before the feature presentation only to return at the end for a second glimpse of the preview.
https://www.cnet.com/news/how-the-star-wars-the-phantom-menace-trailer-made-web-history/

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

Handman said:

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

I think Jaws is more saying they didn’t study it when making Rogue One because it’s the black sheep, not that it wasn’t restored for that reason.

I said that and you are correct in my intended meaning.

oops…

Don’t worry about it.

moviefreakedmind said:

Laserdisc at the time was an entirely new phenomena in terms of home media. 4K is similar enough to blu-ray that it doesn’t justify laserdisc prices. When all we had were tapes, laserdisc was groundbreaking. 4K blurays, not as big of a jump.

I think the fact 4k is more of a niche market, and one that wants the best home theater experience possible, justifies the premium somewhat, at least in the minds of the people who set the price. With cheap online streaming, something Blu-ray didn’t have to compete with at this point in its life, there’s going to simply be less demand.

suspiciouscoffee said:

I went to Walmart today to get the new Power of the Daleks dvd.

Oh, that’s out now? Consider it ordered. Impulsive purchasing? You bet, but I’d hate for it to go out-of-print like the other Doctor Who DVDs and then go for $90 before I know it.

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

I think Jaws is more saying they didn’t study it when making Rogue One because it’s the black sheep, not that it wasn’t restored for that reason.

I said that and you are correct in my intended meaning.

The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971)
Italian giallo, a genre I need to see more of.

4k is doing better than Blu-ray did at the same point in its life-cycle right now, last I checked. I think we’ll have to wait a few years for it to be more prominent. But we’re not going to have a DVD-like phenomenon ever again.

The Founder of Namco and father of Pacman, Masaya Nakamura. Aged 91.

Jetrell Fo said:

Here is a legitimate question …

Will anyone blame the evil which causes refugees?

You mean… us, and the invasion of Iraq?

Either it wasn’t done in time, or they think it’s the black sheep of the trilogy and didn’t need to look at it. Or both. Hard to believe it would just be ignored completely on the scanning side of things.

andyw715 said:

flametitan said:

NeverarGreat said:

flametitan said:

HP. Lovecraft said:

DominicCobb said:

Galen didn’t construct the DS, only the laser.

Then how did he construct a convenient way for the rebels to destroy it???

That’s a common misconception. He didn’t. All he did was make an unstable reactor to set off the chain reaction. That’s why he wanted the rebels to steal the plans, so they could figure out on their own how to set it off. He didn’t have a clue how the rebels would do it. It’s entirely possible he was expecting an espionage mission than a bunch of snub fighters trying to make a one in a million shot.

So it would have been possible for, say, a 4 person crew to infiltrate the Death Star and sabotage the faulty reactor using the Death Star plans carried by R2? It’s a good thing there was never the chance for such a sabotage mission or the Rebellion wouldn’t have needed to give away the position of its base and send almost all of its fighters to their destruction.
😉
“SUPPLEMENTAL DATA: BATTLE STATION ENGINEERING NOTES

I am instructing my team to look into all options. To expedite matters, I must request the use of your droids in running several alternative scenarios.
This will be an inconvenience, I realize, but the safety of the battle station’s crew is paramount.

[Document #YM3884U (“Reply to Venting Shafts”), sent from Engineering Operations Manager Shaith Vodran to Galen Erso.]

Are the command sectors or officer quarters in the affected radiation zones?

[Document #YM3884V (“Reply to Venting Shafts”), sent from Galen Erso to Engineering Operations Manager Shaith Vodran.]

No.

[Document #YM3884W (“Reply to Venting Shafts”), sent from Engineering Operations Manager Shaith Vodran to Galen Erso.]

Send me your final plans. I’ll declare the droids in error.

This isn’t too far from real engineering reports I saw when I worked at an automotive assembly plant. Way to make the Empire ordinarily corporate.

How does it feel to agree with the Koch brothers?

“What has made America great always is that this has been a place that has welcomed the best and the brightest,” said Brimen, a Venezuelan native who became a U.S. citizen last year and now manages a private equity firm. “The message needs to be very loud and clear that we continue to be such a place no matter where you come from.”

The sentiment was in line with a formal statement released Sunday by the Koch network, which said Trump’s “travel ban is the wrong approach and will likely be counterproductive.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/tensions-flare-as-koch-promises-to-hold-trump-accountable/2017/01/30/15c25d1e-e6c4-11e6-903d-9b11ed7d8d2a_story.html?tid=hybrid_collaborative_1_na&utm_term=.8afcc3d476ac

Does the ending to The Graduate count as a cliffhanger?

My biggest regret for the original politics thread being locked is that George Washington is no longer the rather fitting icon next to it.

suspiciouscoffee said:
Next I think I’ll read 1984, which I’ve been meaning to read for a year or so and haven’t ever gotten around to it.

Please do, it’s one of the most influential novel of my life, the other being The Count of Monte Cristo.

I’m about finished with Johnny Carson’s lawyer’s retrospective on Johnny Carson:

It’s been very entertaining and interesting, and I think the Huffington Post put it best with

"This is not a tawdry tell-all but rather, an insightful and sobering character study of a tortured man and failed husband and father, as told through the eyes and experiences of one of his closest confidantes.”

Forgive me as I don’t do analysis of literature often, if at all, so I can’t really say if it’s written well or not, all I know is I’ve been stuck in it.

I believe some shots were updated for 2.7.

towne32 said:
Additionally, the “A Long Time Ago” card is a cleaned up version from the Silver Screen Edition (SSE). It also features Catbus’s excellent Greedo subtitles that were derived from the SSE, and Darth Lucas rotoscoped the lightsaber blade in Ben’s hut from the SSE. This version has better video quality as I used Harmy’s lossless encodings. It features a Hindi track and Project Threepio v9.2 subtitles.

Tyrphanax said:

https://thinkprogress.org/islamic-center-of-victoria-fire-8a683f632a7a#.5177v9a3b

A Texas mosque was set on fire just hours after Trump signed an executive order restricting migration from Muslim-majority countries.

The Islamic Center of Victoria was set on fire around 2 a.m. on Saturday, according to local reports.

I guess we can go back to the 1950s/60s after all. Lovely that we’ll get to experience another civil rights crisis in this country.

Maybe this time we’ll learn.

The article in question is placing the blame on a Trump supporter committing arson without actually saying it, because the people there don’t know how the fire started.

Paul Hulbert, a clerk at a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station, said he called the fire department just before 2 a.m. after he saw smoke and flames while taking out the trash. He said he noticed nothing suspicious at the mosque before or after the fire.

Victoria Fire Marshal Tom Legler, who was on scene, said he had no theories about how the fire started. He said he would have to wait until the fire diminished to begin his investigation.

By 6:30 a.m., with the fire extinguished, Victoria Fire Marshal investigators were beginning their investigation into the fire’s cause, he said. The Victoria Fire Marshal’s Office has requested help in their investigation from the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2017/jan/28/breaking-fire-consumes-victoria-islamic-center/

The exact cause of the fire is unknown.
http://abc13.com/news/fire-destroys-victoria-mosque/1725497/

Correlation does not equal causation, and it’s a bit irresponsible of that article to make an unsubstantiated claim, but in defense of that article:

Victoria Fire Marshal Tom Legler told the Victoria Advocate he had no theories about the cause of the fire, but he is seeking assistance from state and federal fire investigators.

It may very well be likely it was a Trump supporter committing arson, but the evidence so far does not support that claim.