Trump Derangement Syndrome is Real

I’ve said before that I don’t think an idea is stupid just because it comes from a person I don’t like.  Recently, Bernie Sanders did something that I found really toothless and pathetic – apologized to Joe Biden for calling him corrupt.  Biden is corrupt.  He absolutely is.  Nobody with any perspective on the Democratic Party and how deep in the DNC’s pockets he is can say otherwise.  It frustrates me how Bernie never attacks any of the people who viciously go after him.  But then you realize why he did it – because Biden being corrupt is a Trump talking point.  And if Trump says something, that automatically makes it untrue.  No matter how true the point actually is.

The coworker I’ve talked about before and I got into this big argument the other day where he said that he doesn’t care that Warren shit on Bernie.  All he cares about is that the Democrats win and Trump is out of office.  He’s planning on voting for Warren in the primaries because Bernie is “too liberal.”  Yeah, my respect for this dude dropped a few notches.  But listening to him talk, and the points I see mainstream Democrats taking made me realize something – Trump Derangement Syndrome is real.

What is Trump Derangement Syndrome?  It’s the belief that absolutely everything that Trump says is wrong, no matter what.  He is always in the wrong, no matter what he does.  Pulling out of the Middle East – a talking point that Democrats had been championing for years before Trump got elected?  Now all the sudden it is wrong and we need to stay.  Getting back into space – a point that every person who has any love of progressing humanity forward?  Now it’s stupid because Trump wants to do it.  I swear, Trump could come out saying that oxygen is great and they would find a way to spin it against him.  Listen to Bill Maher and his deep-pockets Democrat opinion and you can hear it every week.

It blows my mind how many people I know who are smart individuals have this massive blind spot based on their own bias against someone that they have an issue with.  I think that Trump is an orange-faced retard who can’t string a coherent sentence together, but I don’t think something is stupid just because he says it.  I swear, how many “woke” progressives who rail against corruption would run into the arms of the DNC just because he says they are corrupt?  How may Kopmala supporters were there just because Trump said she’s a crooked politician?  How many Biden supporters are there because of that?  I mean, Biden is worse than Trump when it comes to not being able to make a cogent thought.  You hear that thing where he blew up on a reporter asking “why?” over and over again?  That was pretty fun to watch.

Part of me really wishes Bernie would stop taking the high ground with his enemies.  Here’s the thing – we need some kind of proof that he’s willing to actually stand up and fight the corruption if he is elected President.  And that means that he needs to show he’s willing to pick a fight.  We have gotten to see him do some trash-talking on Twitter, but now we need to see him show the backbone to stand tall to his detractors and be like, “yeah, I called Biden corrupt.  Because he is!  Look at his record of being pro-war and has had no problem taking big corporate money, and it’s clear what a corrupt scumbag he is.  He said that he would gut all major social programs, but hasn’t done jack-diddle to end the wars in the Middle East.  So you bet your ass that I think he’s corrupt!”  It’s getting to the point that we are wondering if Bernie has fight in him.

Now I do get that some of the appeal he has with people is staying on message and not getting into the trench fights, but at the same time, we need a warrior, Bernie!  You talk a great talk, but eventually you are gonna have to fight for what you believe in.  When is that gonna be?  Like when CNN pulled that bullshit during the debate of asking if you said a woman can’t be President, and then turning to Warren and asking how she felt when you said that, after you said you didn’t.  That would have been a great point to interrupt and go, “excuse me, are we just going to make it seem like I just lied when I answered your question?”  Oh wait, that’s something Trump might do.  And if Trump does it, that means it’s automatically wrong.  Never mind that tactics like that are what got him elected when he was reaming his primary candidates left and right.  You made the point that you think a lot of Trump supporters are dejected voters who see the establishment as corrupt.  Taking a cue from how Trump won the primary might not be a bad idea.  You got the momentum.  It’s time to show us what you can do.

All of that digression aside, it’s long since time that we stop pretending like Trump is wrong by virtue of him saying something.  He’s wrong about all kinds of shit, and I got no problem calling it out.  But not everything he says is drop-dead stupid.  There is the occasional gold in the pile of shit.

Until next time, a quote,

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” – Flannery O’Connor

Peace out,

Maverick

Thing People Misunderstand About Star Trek

Recently there was the unveiling of the utility uniforms for the new Space Force that Trump has cooked up.  And I was with everyone else thinking that they look butt ugly and stupid as fuck.  I mean, camo?  For space?  What are you blending in with?  Part of me was thinking that since they got rid of the blueberries with the Navy, you might as well export that with the Space Force.  Why not?  Would save on uniform design.  Hell, given how much of those uniforms are probably in storage, they probably wouldn’t have to make much more.  Just do some alterations.

But one of the biggest comments I saw was all the people lamenting that this Space Force is awful because it spits in the face of Star Trek and what that was meant to signify.  Which got me to thinking that these people really don’t seem to get exactly what Starfleet was.  In all the high-brow ideas that get addressed, perhaps it got lost the true nature of what this force is.  See, here’s the thing – Starfleet is just that – a fleet.  It’s the military apparatus of the United Federation of Planets.  Sure, there are those who are part of the exploration and diplomacy parts, but then you have the ships made for combat.  Did no one watch Deep Space Nine?  Did they not get that this is a force that can go to war with other alien races?

It’s always kind of baffled me that ignorant criticism of Trump’s Space Force and making the comparison to Star Trek.  I love me some TNG and Voyager, but I also recognize that Starfleet as it was in this series was an actual military arm.  They had chain of command, protocols, and were prepared to do battle where necessary.  Which got me to thinking – why is this something that people forgot about?  Perhaps Roddenberry was too good making a future where the ideas that we have today seem distant, but at the same time he understood that no Federation is going to survive without a force to protect it.  A Space Force, if you will.

Look, it’s a simple reality that all human expansion starts first with the military and then moves to the civilian sector.  Check out Neil deGrasse Tyson’s book “Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military.”  It lays out pretty well how science and the growth of military power throughout history really have been hand-in-hand.  We all like to think that there will be a point that humanity will get past that.  Where highfalutin ideas will trump humanity’s need to find better ways to kill each other.  But that’s pie-in-the-sky levels of ignorance of the world in which we live.

To prove my point, look no further than the fact that we haven’t reached Mars yet.  After we reached the Moon, people were certain that we’d be to Mars in another ten years.  But then the Cold War ended, and the desire to go to space stopped.  Now, we see the cold war is back, with China and Russia.  Now we have everyone talking about space again.  All the sudden, expanding to the stars is a huge thing that needs attention.  For my purposes, I’m fine with that.  Fuck, however we get to space to do cool shit, I’m down.  If it takes humanity pointing a gun at itself and saying that we’ll pull the trigger, great.  Maybe that can have us wrangling asteroids, building space colonies, a space elevator, and finally moving our species past our intellectual adolescence and into a future where a new world can be made.  If humanity’s need to murder our fellow humans is what it takes to get us there, so be it.  Hell, let’s make this cold war a little warmer, just so we can get this moving faster.

Having recently gotten back into DS9, it feels strange to me how many Trekkies are blind to the reality that the show they like was centered around a naval force in space.  It didn’t have all the military mumbo-jumbo, but it was still a genuine military apparatus.  Because the Federation wouldn’t be able to maintain its existence without such a thing.  Otherwise the Klingons or whoever would have destroyed us long ago.  So maybe, instead of laughing at Trump’s Space Force, you should recognize that we start somewhere, and hope that this can get us closer to achieving real greatness as a species.  Not this bullshit one that the people with those stupid MAGA hats claim to want but can never properly define.

But for real, those uniforms looked awful.  We can do better.

Until next time, a quote,

“When Garth presented his plan to battle the Klingons at Axanar, my first thought was – how far he’d come.  I mean, he was always an extraordinary explorer before the war, but I know, in his heart, he was first a soldier.” – Adm. Ramirez, Prelude to Axanar

Peace out,

Maverick

Nobody Should Care About the Impeachment Trial

Have you heard about the impeachment trial?  I sure have.  In fact, no matter where I look, it’s absolutely fucking everywhere.  Now it’s gone through the House and is headed into the Senate.  Oh boy!  I’m sure this is gonna be a big deal and not at all a complete time-waster that those involved probably knew it would be straight from the outset.

I mean, it’s not like Trump is the sitting President and the Senate is controlled by Republicans, right?  What’s that?  It is?  Oh dear.  Well then, if that is the case, then it would be a really stupid thing to actually expect that ANY of the Republicans who are in the Senate would actually vote to impeach the guy, right?  Not of any of them want to get elected again.  Which, as far as I understand, there are no big ones right now.

Here’s the thing – Trump’s base is ravenous and does not give one dusty fuck what the dude does.  He could walk into the street, pull out a gun, and blow the brains out of someone in cold blood, broad daylight and they would find a way to rationalize that it was the right thing to do.  These people are the quintessential sycophants one could ask for.  People who could not possibly care less what a leader does, because it’s their leader.  And because of this, every Republican in the Senate would have to answer to these people if they actually did something crazy like voting with their actual opinions instead of along party lines.

I’ve talked about a coworker who only cares about voting for whoever gets the Democratic nomination, regardless of who it is.  That’s all that matters to him.  Well, take the absolute opposite extreme, and that’s the modern Republican base.  It does not matter to them, at ALL, who the candidate is.  R next to their name, they’re alright.  Nowhere is this more apparent than with Trump.  This dude has said some horrifically sexist shit.  Don’t care.  Though if you saw the story about a bill before the Supreme Court to limit a woman’s access to contraception, you realize that his base doesn’t like women either.  Dude kills leaders in other countries in cold blood.  Not their problem.  In fact, if you don’t support Trump murdering foreign leaders, you hate America and support terrorism!  That’s the mindset these people come into this with.

Nobody who was paying attention was surprised that the impeachment stuff got through the House.  After all, this is pretty much a divide on party lines.  No Democrat who wants reelection can be against impeaching him, and no Republican who wants to win reelection can be for it.  But the Senate is controlled by Republicans.  There is zero, let me reiterate, ZERO chance that it will pass.  All of this trial stuff is the ultimate dog and pony show.  All to take attention away from a Democratic primary that is actually getting interesting with Bernie taking the lead spot nationally, according to the polls.

All over the place, I’m hearing people who actually think this matters.  Why?  Do they actually think that there is going to be some kind of weird miracle that will have a ton of Republicans turn on their base’s Supreme Leader?  I say again – he could murder a person in cold blood, talk about how much he liked doing it, and they won’t care!  Hell, he’s already done that!  The drone strike against Soleimani was an assassination.  Now he’s dropped all pretense of it being for American security and admits that he just killed the fuck.  Do the supporters of him care?  Nope!  You almost have to admire the childlike obedience these fuckers have.  It’s impressive.

Mainstream media can do nothing but talk about this.  And it makes sense.  What better thing to take the attention off the fact that a Democratic upstart is taking charge in a primary where they are looking to lose the first two elections of the season – Iowa and New Hampshire?  Just talk about this non-issue as much as you possibly can and speculate on whether this thing or that thing is gonna turn the tide on this trial.  Like there is any real chance that a Republican will stand against God-King Trump at any point ever.

As for me, I’m keeping my eye firmly where it matters – on the primary race.  It’s getting fun.  Bernie’s taking the top spot, and if the election results match this, then it’s gonna be a Presidential election for the ages.  Instead of a hollow candidate like Shillary, it’s going to be a principled man vs. a senile orange-faced moron.  This is the kind of thing that I have been waiting for.  Plus, failing some kind of huge economic collapse or massive war, the issue that’s going to be on the top of the list is healthcare.  Bernie has the top dog in that fight, easily.  Medicare for All as he’s proposed it is popular.  Trump’s healthcare plan was so bad that even he backed away from it.  The current Republican healthcare position is – get sick and die.

This is gonna be an interesting year, mark my words.  If the establishment does use every trick they have (again) and blocks Bernie from the nomination, then it will still be momentous.  The year when the Democratic base abandons them.  I’m not voting for a corporate candidate.  Period.  Neither is anyone who thinks like me.  And low voter turnout hurts one party and one party alone – Democrats.  So whatever happens next, it’s going to be a really interesting year.

Until next time, a quote,

“If you want to build a better home, first you must demolish the old one.” – Petyr Baelish, Game of Thrones

Peace out,

Maverick

The Establishment Debate #CNNisTrash #NeverWarren

A couple days ago, there was the most recent Democratic primary debates.  The last debates before Iowa.  One last chance to see who the front runners were before voting and really getting to decide for yourself.  As with all the debates, there were a ton of people on that stage who didn’t belong.  Like Amy Klobuchar, whose chances of winning are in the nonexistent category.  Same with Steyer, who just bought his way onto that stage.  Surprised that Bloomberg didn’t do the same, though his chances of winning are the exact same.  Two rich pricks who think that they have any shot.  Kinda like John Delaney, who still hasn’t dropped out yet.  If you don’t know who that is, you’re not alone.

The debate was moderated by CNN, and that should have been a big red flag to anyone who pays attention to what an absolute partisan shill this network is.  But there were a couple things that happened before the debate which set the tone.  For starters, Biden’s poll numbers are tanking.  For another, in the Iowa polls, Bernie is now leading.  In fact, Biden was fourth in those polls.  The establishment go-to is falling fast, and now it has establishment Democrats starting to sweat bullets because there is a reality they have to face – Bernie might just clinch this.  Depending on what happens in Iowa and New Hampshire, he may sweep the field on the Democratic primary.

However, there was a more insidious thing that happened, speaking of Bernie Sanders.  A story was dropped by CNN where “four sources” close to the Warren campaign told them that in a closed-door meeting, Bernie had said that a woman couldn’t win in a race for President.  Yes, four mysterious sources got this insider info that spits in the face of EVERYTHING Bernie has stood for during his entire time in government.  Never has he said or done anything to lead anyone to believe that he believes a woman isn’t fit for the role.  Or that a woman couldn’t get there.  Hell, after losing the primary he tried to cheer for Shillary to get some of his dejected base to support that pit viper in a woman’s clothing.  Pay attention to the idea of a snake.  It will be back.

The reality is that since no corroborating evidence could be found of Bernie ever saying anything like this, most people rightfully extrapolated that the source on this bombshell is Warren herself.  Why would it be her?  Why would she stab someone who has championed her in the back?  Well, it’s because her poll numbers are tanking.  While Bernie is now poised to take the lead nationally, she’s slipping further and further.  Her campaign is just as aimless as Kopmala’s was.  Her version of Medicare for All was a joke, and one that even Bernie took to task with his much clearer and simpler version.  The woman doesn’t look good anymore.

But Biden isn’t look that good either.  Every speaking event with him is cringe-worthy.  The dude is almost as senile as Trump seems to be when he speaks.  Between the two of them, it’s hard to find a lot of coherent sentences.  So who does the establishment go with?  Their big guy is looking worse and worse, and his numbers are starting to tank?  So who’s it going to be?  Well, Warren has been cozying up to them in recent months.  Biden has even stated she would be his VP if he clinches it.  Seems she has decided to take the Shillary approach.

That sets the stage for this debate.  Everyone knew that CNN was basically going to go after Bernie with all the attack power they could muster.  And they certainly lived down to the expectations we had.  In fact, watching their assault on Bernie was as disgusting as it was insulting.  Never has it been clearer how utterly partisan this network is.  Conservatives like the rat shit in human skin, Ben Shapiro say that they are basically the Democratic News Network.  Well, in a way that’s true, but not as much as you’d think.  See, they do shill for the Democrats, but only the corporate ones.  If you are a challenger to the status quo the way Bernie is, they will attack you with all the vitriol they possibly can.  Come out as a usurper to the party and they will attack you as viciously as they possibly can.

My personal favorite bit was when they asked Bernie if he said that a woman could not become President directly.  He said no, obviously.  Then, they turn to Warren and ask, “Sen. Warren, how did you feel when Bernie said that a woman couldn’t be elected President?”  Are you fucking kidding me?!  So what, we’re just gonna pretend that Bernie denied it?  We’re just gonna call him a liar by virtue of ignoring his answer?  What the fuck is wrong with you?!  Where is your journalistic integrity?  Forget being unbiased, you might as well have just asked, “Sen. Warren, do you think Bernie Sanders is a sexist piece of shit?”  To which, given her recent conduct, she’d probably say yes.

This debate was insulting to watch.  Every other candidate on that stage was given the most softball questions one can imagine. The only ones who had hard questions was Bernie.  Made him look really fucking good to me.  Would have been better if he had turned that little episode of being ignored right on CNN and insulted them for their unveiled bias.  And as far as I’m concerned, this was a damning indictment of Warren and her entire campaign.  That woman is a snake in the grass if I’ve ever seen one.  She was looking for the right moment to strike at Bernie, when her campaign needed him to falter.  Instead of having better ideas than him, she used her vagina as a weapon and tried to #MeToo him.  Disgusting.  Absolutely disgusting.

So I’m done with Warren.  Fuck her.  Fuck CNN too for being unrepentant partisan hacks.  This debate was a joke.  A complete fucking joke.

Until next time, a quote,

“Dude, you have been a colossal dick all frickin’ day. Shut the hell up.” – Capt. Ed Mercer, The Orville

Peace out,

Maverick

How Will History Remember America?

Assuming that humanity doesn’t nuke ourselves into oblivion or die when we use up the planet’s resources and perish from turning our planet into a toxic waste dump, there is a question that’s been rattling around my mind – how will history remember this country?  What will the historians of 2437 think of this country?  I hear the MAGA types talking about making America great, but by what metric do they define greatness?  Having a wall?  Is that really it?  See, in my eyes, it would be America leading the world in discovery and growth.  To have a nation where we are looking to pass the world in all the various ways they are passing us.  We should be leading the charge to other planets right now.  We should have a rail system that makes the rest of the world look like simpletons.  We should have the greatest healthcare system of all nations.

With the wealth this nation has, not ONE of those goals are outside our reach.  Not one.  Granted, we’d have to cut back.  But I can think of two things we could cut that would IMMEDIATELY bring expenses down – wars in the Middle East and the military budget overall.  Cut those two things and watch how quickly things change in the US.  There isn’t a single military engagement America has entered into today that is essential.  All of them are resource wars or proxy wars with our biggest enemy, Russia.  Well, biggest enemy who we don’t kowtow to.  Unlike some other nation who basically has this country by the short hairs. *cough*China!*cough*

But let’s take a look at where this country is at.  According to a Pew Research Study, America ranks 38th out of 71 countries in math, 24th in science.  We rank 23rd in the world mass transit according to the Sustainable Cities Mobility Index of 2017.  America is one of TWO developed nations without universal healthcare, which explains why our ranking there is so abysmal.  By no metrics is this country excelling over our contemporaries, with the exception of military power.  And even there it’s not so great.  A report published from the Defense Department said that America could actually lose a war against Russia or China, individually.  Much less against the two of them together.

So when I hear scum-sucking shit-stains like Ben Shapiro talk about how awesome America is, I’m thinking to myself – what numbers are you looking at?  Facts before feelings, Benny.  Man, if that little weasel-faced prick actually believed that, what a wonderful world it would be.  He uses emotional appeal ALL the time.  Just look at any of his rants about abortion.  Or that weird-ass one about people not having kids.  That dude is a marvel at how full of shit he is.

Where is conservative America’s pride?  America is being left behind by the developed world.  Where is your pride?  Why don’t you wanna be leaving them behind?  I’d think that you’d be all about it.  Instead, here we are, just treading the same ground.  The only thing America has going for it right now is a bunch of wars in the Middle East and a boondoggle wall we’re making at an absolutely glacial pace.  Guess how many miles of wall have been built from where construction officially started to now – 101.  When Trump started talking about it, he said that over 400 miles would be done by the end of last year.  Who knows, by the time it’s actually done, it would be about two or three years into the next president’s administration…if he win’s reelection in 2020.

The lack of desire to see this country grow just baffles me.  This idea that we need to be trapped in a perpetual state of now.  Meanwhile, the rest of the developed world is growing and changing all the time.  China has started plans to put two more space stations in orbit, each a massive construction, while the ISS is shutting down in the next couple years.  Everywhere you look, more and more examples of America’s lack of exceptionalism.  We could be pioneering space.  We could have wrangled an asteroid by now and started mining it, unlocking a trillion-dollar empire with America at the helm.  China sees the writing on the wall.  Hence why they are looking to get into space.

Which brings us back to the question at the top of this article – how will history remember America?  In my eyes, not well.  They will see a country with so much wealth, who squanders all of it for the purposes of staying in a perpetual state of now.  To close our eyes and believe that the rest of the world is gonna just stick behind if we will it hard enough.  Never mind making America “Great” again, we won’t be able to make this country anything beyond mediocre.  It reminds me of how the Soviet Union ended.  Towards the end of their existence, they kept telling their people how amazing their country was and how everyone in the world envied it.  Meanwhile, the rest of the world had left them behind decades ago and they are still fighting to catch up.

And that’s not even bringing up all the people that America has killed for no reason.  So ironic that we are such enemies with Iran now, seeing as how we put the Ayatollahs into power back when the CIA destroyed the secular regime that was taking root, all to secure more oil.  The endless drone strikes in the Middle East against people who are no threat to us.  Killing thousands upon thousands of innocent people.  Yeah, that history remember us for is a very interesting question.

History doesn’t leave anyone behind, and America will almost-certainly learn that lesson entirely too late to actually do anything about it.  By then we will be broke and trying to put the house of cards back together again with glue.  Why am I, a horrible filthy liberal, the one who is insulted by this and not conservative America?

Until next time, a quote,

“Our history will be what we make of it.  And if there are any historians 50 or 100 years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes of one week of all three networks, they will there find, recorded in black and white and in color, evidence of escapism, decadence, and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.  We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable, and complacent.  We gave a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information.  Our mass media reflect this.  But unless we get off our fat surpluses and recognize that television, in the main, is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it may see a totally different picture too late.” – Edward R. Murrow, Good Night, and Good Luck

Peace out,

Maverick

The Warner Brothers Movie AI, To Murder Art

During breaks at my job, I tend to be on my phone, like a normal person.  Saw this thing on Twitter about how Warner Brothers has decided that instead of looking at scripts and stuff to see if a movie gonna be any good, they could outsource this issue to an AI.  It would do an analysis of what demographics a movie is going to appeal to and how much money it would be projected to make, thus maximizing profit potential and minimizing risk of a film not being profitable enough.  Will save movie executives a LOT of time in taking a look at the projects of young filmmakers or those with brave new ideas that could be the next big cultural landmark and weed out all ideas that aren’t able to generate the most money possible.

In other words, Warner Brothers is being pretty open about not caring about a movie’s artistic integrity or willingness to take risks.  Instead, they are gonna ONLY make movies that are made for absolute profitability.  A new IP headed by a filmmaker willing to take risks?  Can’t do that.  The AI has deemed it to not be cost-effective.  Instead, let’s make yet-another movie in an established franchise that will be guaranteed to make money off name recognition.

Though, to be fair, there may be signs that this is trending down.  After all, both the new Terminator and Predator films were massive box office fails.  Not to mention that when it was announced that there were going to be four sequels to that CG borefest Avatar, everyone’s reaction seemed to be – why?  The ONLY thing that movie had going for it was the fact that it is very pretty.  Got into an argument with a coworker over what a piece of shit that film is and that was their only counterargument – it’s pretty.  Makes sense that this argument came from a woman.  Pretty is a valid counterargument to plenty of women I know.  What were we talking about?

So maybe there is hope that Hollywood will be willing to take some kind of risks.  Or at least there was, until we got to see that creativity in films is being outsourced to AI.  Because of course it is.  Respecting filmmaking for art?  Fuck that!  There’s money to be made.  As much as possible?  A film that could appeal to a niche audience and not make as much money as its overly produced blockbuster contemporaries?  Nope!  Any investment in a film must have a guarantee of coming back with billions of dollars.

I’m kind of curious by what criteria this mythical AI is going to judge that a film can make money.  After all, if franchises with name recognition can fail, how can they be certain that this AI system is gonna work?  What is the metric that this soulless machine is gonna be able to establish that a movie has a high probability of being good?  How does a machine judge potential audience appeal?

This whole thing makes me think of a documentary that if you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out.  It’s called Jodorowsky’s Dune, and it tells the story of the greatest science fiction film never made.  A film that if it had gotten funding from the studio would have been a masterpiece.  If I ever get a chance to get my hands on a copy of that book Jodorowsky made for the production, I would pay all my money for it.  To see the last work that H.R. Giger did to design the Harkinnen family design, along with the incredible ship designs by one of the biggest cover designers of the time.  You really do owe it to yourself to see that documentary.  Hearing the lengths that Jodorowsky went to in order to get this film to work and the people involved makes you realize that if it had been done, it’s almost a guarantee that this film would have been alongside Blade Runner in having a place in science fiction history.

Now we have an AI that is making decisions on movies to make, with the only goal of maximizing profits for the company.  How long before other studios take this up?  Assuming they already haven’t.  Now that I know that it’s possible, I figure that Disney has been doing this shit for years.  Though to be fair, they make money like gangbusters because the drooling nostalgia idiots will eat whatever gruel Disney feeds them.  Those people are in large part to blame for the situation modern film finds itself in.

Where does this end?  That’s my question.  Where does the corporatization of filmmaking end and people actually making unique and thoughtful things begin?  It’s not like it doesn’t happen anymore.  You have films like Arrival, Annihilation, Overlord, and a whole bunch of others that I like to call – great movies that nobody ever saw.  At least nobody in the US, where everyone wants the next bombastic Marvel film or something to tickle that nostalgia button for the 1000th time.  I can’t wait for when we actually get a trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s take on Dune.  Everything I hear about the film is that it’s ambitious, unique, and that it’s in good hands.  Not surprising, since he made Arrival, Sicario, and Blade Runner 2049.  This guy has a real appreciation for the craft and sounds like he is pretty damn driven to make sure the cinematography and visual style of his movies is at the top of their class.

But I guess we can exclude Warner Brothers from the studios who are going to be making quality films that push boundaries in the near future, since they have their fancy new AI who can tell them what people want to see.  Disney has already said that they cancelled everything 20th Century Fox was doing now that they own it, and already working on a reboot of Alien and other nostalgic properties.  Unique movies with their own qualities?  What the fuck is that?

I love good movies.  Just got Blade Runner on blu-ray, and holy shit!  It looks amazing!  There are some incredible movies that have stood the test of time.  Nothing in Disney’s modern catalog will join the ranks of that.  NONE of their god-awful live-action remakes will.  Not one.  Every last one is going to be quickly dated because of their effects that the original films were able to avoid by being 2D animated, with the animation still holding up today.  Fuck modern Disney.  I seem to take every opportunity I can to shit on them, but for good reason.  They suck.

Film as an art medium is in danger of slipping away.  That fact fucking depresses me.

Until next time, a quote,

“Finally made obsolete, the concept of art passed away.” – The Parking Lot is Full

Peace out,

Maverick

Let World War III Commence!

For those who didn’t know, Iran launched a missile strike against two US military bases in Iraq.  Thus far, it looks like the casualties are limited to Iraqis with very little destruction of hard targets.  From where I’m sitting, that isn’t an accident.  The Iranians knew exactly what they were doing, and deliberately aimed their missiles to avoid doing hardcore damage.  After all, this was a message to the US, not a declaration.  Not that conservative America sees that.  The fires of war are upon us, but it isn’t like this is where it ends.  No, depending on what the orange-faced retard in office does, this could be the start of the beginning of the end for the human race.  Let’s talk about it.

The timeline for events goes like this.  First, there was a riot at the US embassy in Iraq.  And that’s what it was, a riot.  See, the Iraqis are getting tired of the unending US occupation of their country and the disastrous effects it has had.  The unending war with ISIS that now Trump is trying to negotiate with enemies we were supposed to destroy in order to fight an enemy was helped create.  So they rioted at the embassy and staged a sit-in protest.  The Iraqi Parliament voted to have America leave as well, but the orange-faced retard in office’s response was, “nope.”  And we wonder why they were mad at us.  Not hard to see, from where I’m sitting.  Conservative media frames it as some kind of horrible attack, but it was a riot.  Sure, there was destruction of property and stuff, but it was still just a riot.

Mainstream media was also quick to jump on Trump’s bandwagon that Iran was responsible for the whole thing.  Not hard to see why the orange-faced retard in office wanted to spin it that way.  Conservative America has been itching for a war with Iran ever since 9/11.  If you look at the arguments that neocons are spinning these days, you can see some commonalities between reactions then and now.

Next, there was the cold-blooded murder of Qassim Soleimani, and Iranian military leader who, neat fact, had been one of the leaders in the fight against ISIS.  You know, that enemy that America basically gave a free rise to power with multiple government-toppling wars that’s left a power vacuum in the Middle East.  It wasn’t some attack where we attacked back.  The stuff about Iran being responsible for the riot at the embassy had the sweet reek of WMD bullshit.  Ironic, given where the riot occurred.  The orange-faced retard in office’s administration tried all kinds of ways of spinning the cold-blooded murder to make America look good.  First, there was the bit about how Iran funded the people who rioted in Iraq.  Then, there was this bit about how Soleimani was planning an attack against America.  Or there was the line about how he was secretly orchestrating terrorism.  Lots of reasons, all of which were PURE BULLSHIT.

Everyone who called this ruthless assassination what it was were met by a chorus that should seem VERY familiar to people.  “Why are you defending terrorists?!”  “Why do you hate America?!”  “If you’re not with us, you’re with them!”  2001 is back!  And just like then, the rational, reasonable people are thrown by the wayside in favor of patriotic bullshit, all because of a riot at an embassy in a country that doesn’t even want us there anymore.  Since part of what the orange-faced retard in office campaigned on was leaving the Middle East, you’d think he’d have an easy out, but nope!  Because it’s resoundingly clear to anyone paying attention since 2001 that America wants to go to war with Iran.

In any event, after assassinating an Iranian leader, the world watched with baited breath, with one question on their minds – what would Iran do?  At this point, with one of their most beloved military leaders murdered, they had to do something.  Retaliation was inevitable.  Well, today we got the retaliation.  Over a dozen short-ranged ballistic missiles were launched at two US bases in Iraq.  The attacks were not especially effective, as it seems that few targets of value were hit.  From where I’m sitting, that wasn’t an accident.  I think Iran deliberately kept their attack limited to soft targets.  If they had wanted to do real damage, it’s pretty obvious they could have.

Which leads us to the title of the post – World War III.  It all comes down to America’s reaction.  See, if we decide that we’re going to go in and turn that country in the surface of the moon (like so many neocons would like), then there is another risk.  See, Iran is pretty tight with two of our biggest threats right now – Russia and China.  If we decide to declare war on Iran, that means that both of their nations are going to have to come to their aid.  They both have a vested financial interest.  Russia far more than China.  They have financial and treaty reasons to step up for Iran.  World War III ahoy!  All because the orange-faced retard in office had to waggle his pathetic dick to make himself feel better.

It blows my mind that this country can pick a fight with another nation, murder one of their leaders in cold blood, and when people rightly make a point that we started this, an entire political party is like, “nuh-uh!  You support terrorism!”  The hubris of people in this country is kind of inspiring.  Like, instead of apologizing for our actions, we decide that we already shit the bed once, so let’s do it again!  Except this time it will be bigger!  Let’s start another quagmire war in the Middle East, except with a nation that has nukes, and has allies with nukes that we will be put in direct conflict with.  Why not?  America, fuck yeah!

Part of me genuinely does hope to be part of the generation to turn the lights out on the sad, failed experiment that was humanity.  And since we have an orange-faced retard in office who exemplifies a quote that will close up this post nicely, I might actually get to see it.  There’s something inspiring about that.  So we’ll see if cooler heads can prevail, or if the orange-faced retard will live down to my expectations.

Until next time, a quote,

“We’ve had vicious kings, and we’ve had idiot kings, but I don’t think we’ve ever had a vicious idiot for a king.” – Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones

Peace out,

Maverick