Drowsy Emperor

^ What he said. I don't see a single original or remarkable trait in Ex Machina. Its atmosphere is suggestive of something artistic and intelligent but the actual script doesn't reflect that. The Maritan is one of those films that celebrate know-how and technological omnipotence, practically a Victorian novel. Its naive and silly but passable. I suppose we should be grateful that they're something new at all, but I can't help hoping for something more substantial.

Sci fi films could be so good now if they weren't all wasted on superhero trash and reboots/remakes.

I love Americans and the drama they infuse their politics with - Trump is Hitler and Bernie is a Socialist. **** Europe, history and political ideologies. xD

AHAHAHAHAHAH Triump chasing Ted Cruz: Triumph: Hey, Ted, I love your smooth skin... tell me, when did Geppetto make you a real boy?!

Now that the "GOP is at war with Trump" it becomes even more obvious that he's the best candidate. When the likes of Bush, Mitt Romney and McCain are criticizing you its practically a compliment

For most countries borders are a symptom more than anything. For some (Greece) it would approach an almost existential problem if the multi multi hundreds of thousands of refugees that have transited Greece stay there- they simply don't have the money and have problems with geography as the vast majority of refugees arrive on small islands with low populations and infrastructure which are also important for tourism. But for most it's a symptom of how the theoretically fair and equal EU with collective responsibility etc isn't, really. EU is supposed to be an inevitable, irreversible march to more integration; practically that has hit some snags and the inevitable and irreversible bits are looking more evitable and reversible. It may be true that nothing of substance has changed- personally I'd disagree since things clearly have changed since Merkel's "Wilkommen alles" last summer- but the intangibles of being big E European as opposed to or in addition to being German/ French/ British/ Hungarian etc should not be underestimated. The Euro crisis, UK referendum, existing opt outs for Denmark and the UK and the refugee crisis damage the prestige of the EU as an existing institution and do even more harm to the dream of a 'United States of Europe'. Essentially, the end game for the EU is for there to literally be no borders between the countries. Re-establishing them, even in a manner which still allows trade and free movement of citizens is a retrograde step. Ah but the EU was never an unimpeded march towards integration. The political and security aspects were notoriously back and forth with more failures than successes. It was the economical advantages that glued EU countries together when all else failed. So while closing the borders (for immigrants, because that's what it boils down to) is a step back, it doesn't really disturb entrenched interests that much. I think at this point everyone is aware of how unequal the EU is towards its smaller members - and not just Greece, nor just on this issue. If Germany is going to do its own thing without caring for the impact that will have on everyone else... well then, maybe the EU integration should reverse, no?

That's something that the media is saying but its not supported by reality. Borders are still open for EU passport holders and the countries with schengen agreement, trade (the key thing around which EU integration revolved) is still flowing. Nothing of substance has changed. Controlling the flow of people across borders is not sufficient reason for EU "disintegration".

Countries like Turkey etc. can keep on piling the immigrants for as long as they like. All any Afghani or whatever has to do is rip up his passport once he crosses into the EU and then good luck guessing if he's a refugee or an economic migrant. This process could last for years. In fact, it will probably last for as long as it can be done with a high probability of success. Ergo, the states of Europe should close their borders before Germany and Sweden ruin everyone else.

I wouldn't describe being rather annoyed at this demagogue blowhard as 'bourgeois revulsion'. Pretty sure lower income people aren't entirely meshback boors obsessed with flexing nuts all the time. It's comedy, sure, but then you end up with Rob Ford. Look, I'm not enthralled with Trump and consider the outcome of the elections irrelevant either way. But the way Trump is being criticized rubs me the wrong way, because the same people that attack him in the media (especially his political opponents) are just as racist, narrow minded and imperialist as he is - they just have a better veneer of civility. Eg: for all his posturing all Hillary's husband did apart from banging his secretary was to feed the war in former Yugoslavia and increase the body count while endorsing racism and discrimination that wouldn't be out of place in Hitler's Germany against my country. The same CNN that's "horrified" with Trump, has been encouraging demolishing other nations "for their own good" for years. So I fail to see the democrats as the "better side of American politics", in fact I see them as worse because the pretense of civility and humanism they wear makes it that much more bitter to watch. Trump is a ****, but at least he's not pretending. Also this:

220000 in Sweden, in a country of 10 million. 2.2% population shift in just 2 years. Settling an entire middle eastern city. Gawd that country is insane..

They'll give up when they realize what the weather is like

That's just a calculated way of building up his votes by bragging. Many people are susceptible to ineccessant and extravagant bragging because they see it as a sign of confidence, and over time even believe some of it. Just because he said it doesn't mean he believes his own bull****. He's got nothing on her spontaneous outburst of psychopathy "He bull****s on purpose, so he shouldn't be held accountable for bull****ting"? The easiest way to hold him accountable is not to vote for him. Other than that he did nothing illegal. Neither did Hillary, but my point was that her outburst speaks of her true character whereas he's not hiding anything in that regard. He's a showman who knows his act and audience. Even so, he isn't an advocate of wars and mass murder like she is. Methinks you've become too complacent with the piss warm pool of western politics, where everyone is disgorged from the same cloning vat and now that something a tad different has appeared everyone is suffering from an acute case of petite bourgeois revulsion. Its true, you really dont have a clue about how US politics works "Away from me you beggar!" - generic Baldur's Gate noble

That's just a calculated way of building up his votes by bragging. Many people are susceptible to ineccessant and extravagant bragging because they see it as a sign of confidence, and over time even believe some of it. Just because he said it doesn't mean he believes his own bull****. He's got nothing on her spontaneous outburst of psychopathy "He bull****s on purpose, so he shouldn't be held accountable for bull****ting"? The easiest way to hold him accountable is not to vote for him. Other than that he did nothing illegal. Neither did Hillary, but my point was that her outburst speaks of her true character whereas he's not hiding anything in that regard. He's a showman who knows his act and audience. Even so, he isn't an advocate of wars and mass murder like she is. Methinks you've become too complacent with the piss warm pool of western politics, where everyone is disgorged from the same cloning vat and now that something a tad different has appeared everyone is suffering from an acute case of petite bourgeois revulsion.

That's just a calculated way of building up his votes by bragging. Many people are susceptible to ineccessant and extravagant bragging because they see it as a sign of confidence, and over time even believe some of it. Just because he said it doesn't mean he believes his own bull****. He's got nothing on her spontaneous outburst of psychopathy

Most "memorable" (because it's recent memory) for me would be the improved relations with Cuba and a possible normalisation of relations. One more small cold war leftover on the way out. For me the most memorable thing was the preemptive Nobel Peace prize. A case of lol wut? if I ever saw one. Another memorable thing was the misconception that he was "weak", when in fact some of his foreign policy decisions made more political sense than any of his predecessors. Like in Syria, when he (and the administration naturally) realized that the mediocre forces the US controlled in the conflict had shifted allegiances, leaving the US without a horse in the race so to speak - and subsequently decided not to waste national resources to empower Saudi Arabia, Turkey etc. even with all the domestic clamoring for intervention. The fact was that in Syria Russians have genuine interests to defend and the US doesn't really have any, or at least not any they can realize to their own benefit (not Saudi or Turkish benefit). In the media frenzy this was spun as Putin's victory, because Obama failed up to follow the chemical weapons threat - even though in politics its plainly better to sometimes bluff to maybe achieve something, rather than following up at all costs and losing out in the long run.

I keep on thinking to read the odd Discworld novel that I missed but Pratchett's euthanasia related activism soured his work significantly for me. Which is a shame since I loved the carefree way the first Discworld novels were written and enjoyed the more sophisticated tales he spun once the setting was established. It is my opinion that his whole campaign was an extremely cowardly way to offload the responsibility for his death (which he quite able to arrange, on his own, had he the courage) from himself to others, just so that he could eke out that last "good bit" and then have someone else do the morally questionable part. Mind you, there are people who spent their whole lives ill and perhaps unable to make that decision, who have more ground to make the claim he made - but he certainly was not one of them, nor could he represent them. Its a funny thing how perception of the artist can influence the enjoyment of his work, even though the two don't have to be seen as one and the same.

Another problem with Hillary is that she wants to be president for the wrong reason. That being a self-centered obsession to prove her worth after her husband humiliated her in front of the whole nation.

Pretty easy to adapt the famous Goering quote to illustrate why that is seen as being 'popular'. Get the press to demonise an enemy, label anyone who doesn't agree as weak or a terrorist sympathiser, then celebrate getting a 'bad guy' when he dies; it's the same everywhere but just a bit more extreme in the US. She was pretty obviously trying for a soundbite/ quote of the "we got him" type, she just stuffed it up and got moderately psychotic instead- small punishment compared to how her (and, to be fair, Dave and Nick's) decision impacted the people of Libya. End of the day all the Mad Dog of Tripoli stuff was done precisely to set the scene for nobody crying when he (or his grandchildren) died by labelling him as a rabid animal that has to be put down for the greater good (the greater good). Essentially though, the biggest flaw most US politicians see in the current climate is that of appearing 'weak'; hence the popularity of the Tea Party a few years ago going after anyone on their own side who'd compromise with Obama, and to a large extent Trump's current popularity as well. That goes extra for Clinton, since she's female some people will assume she's 'weak'. Makes sense

Dislike of Iran could be xenophobia/ jingoism or probably most accurately, bigotry, but Iranian is not a race or ethnicity so it can't be racist. Persian, Azeri, Arab, Kurd and Arab are the main ethnicities in Iran. Realistically though it just plays well with the electorate under the calculation that anyone who likes Obama's foreign policy simply will not vote for a Repub candidate and are likely to vote for her despite her record, even if holding their noses while doing so. I've indirectly addressed a lot of the other stuff below, too. You have seen the We came, we saw, he died clip? The problem with Hillary is basically that she's always been running for President since she got back into politics. That is one of the reasons why she is actively disliked by so many people, everything seems to be calculated and there's a feeling that she's just a walking aggregate focus group response form. In terms of her foreign policy specifically she knows perfectly well that she's going to be labelled as "weak on america's enemies!" or similar because she's female and a Democrat, so her history is strident arch hawk to counter that. Ironically, while an asset vs a Republican that was one of her weaknesses as a primary candidate vs Obama. But in any case that may or may not reflect her real views and what she would do if actually elected, but it certainly reflects a calculated long term strategy to counter an obvious weakness. Same with distancing herself from Obama's policies. Personally, I'd be amazed if she tore up the Iran agreement or significantly changed anything. Rhetoric and posturing as a candidate is risk free, putting that stuff into action isn't. As for Gaddafi, very few americans were going to mourn the passing of The Mad Dog of Tripoli, celebrating it with giggly, crappy classical allusions may seem decidedly sociopathic and the whole intervention was moronic; but that response will have been popular and makes her look strong, and that is what counts. I'd go a bit further than Malcador and say he probably is*. Most large organisations as a whole are sociopathic, and Putin in practically a large organisation by himself. *or whatever form of psychopathy sociopathy is formally defined as nowadays If that is what will give her popular support then I know even less of the US "average Joe" than I thought.

Reading: Yeats's complete poems Gene Wolfe's Soldier of the Mist About to finish (I recommend it): Walter Miller Jr.'s Canticle for Leibowitz Finished: Arthur Clarke: Rendezvous with Rama (decent) Gave up on (due to being underwhelming): Robert Heinlein: The Moon is a harsh mistress Alfred Bester: The stars my destination Next up: Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon

Does Putin strike you as a sociopath? And why should they be glad at Gaddafi being killed, what has he done to the US (that they haven't returned several times over by killing his grandchildren in strikes on his palace) other than refuse to obey?

It shows everything about her that anyone needs to know, that you can wear the finest suits, finish the best university and still be a worse piece of **** than most criminals prowling the streets. What does the fact that you see it as a result of mere carelessness (so she should think it rather than say it? difference much?) rather than a sign of a sort of mental instability say about you?

Its all bull**** pre-election talk. You can even see it in his face as he's speaking it. The clip was about Gaddafi, not Bin Laden. Just take a look:

You have seen the We came, we saw, he died clip? How is he worse, in regards to foreign policy? He's explicitly said that the Iraq war was an unnecessary disaster and he's against intervention in Syria now. Also possibly the only US politician to have a balanced view of Putin He just adopted a strategy of public appearances that sets himself apart from the other candidates and is deliberately being controversial at every juncture because he realizes that there may be benefits to playing the game outside the usual rituals. You could see that in the debates, how he dominates others by thinking quickly, adopting controversial points of view (for US standards anyway) and being loud and rude (which always goes far in politics, as people respect combativeness). People like him for the simple reason is that he (at first glance) looks like a leader and not a technocrat. In reality, he's about as much a leader as a hamburger is a hearty meal - but if the others are the same oatmeal you've been eating for decades, even a burger starts looking tasty.