rjshae

We went to watch Bugonia, but weren't quite satisfied with the story. I suppose you could call it an unusual character study. There were a couple of unexpected plot twists, but in the end I wasn't sure what message it was trying to communicate (other than maybe humans don't deserve to survive). I suppose if you liked Poor Things then you may enjoy this. But I preferred Emma Stone in Cruella.

After getting off the plane in Sydney, the man waits to go through Australian customs. "Do you have anything to declare?" asks the Australian customs officer. "No" replies the British man. "Do you have a criminal record?" "I'm sorry, I didn't know that was still a requirement."

Yes, the public already knows he's a sleezy philanderer, yet they elected him anyway. The only possible additional harm is an association with the underage sex activity. He already gets heavily criticized, so I'm not sure that's the concern. I do think he's worried this might cost him his base (and thus his Congressional power).

My initial thought was that a full release might hamper any cases brought to trial. But with DJT in charge, any such trials will likely be for purely political purposes; only producing evidence that harms his opposition. A full release at this point may be the only fair outcome. Let the (creepy) chips fall where they may.

Blue Origin pulls off the booster landing technique.

I'm reminded of a quote from The Longest Day: "There it is, he's at it again! Have you ever heard such a racket in all your life?"

Spanish, perhaps so. The others? Maybe if they are comparable to ASL communicators: ~1 million? Then that would include Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, Korean, and Russian. Some day maybe AI can be tasked with that.

Ever heard of CPAN? Speeches to Congress can go out to the nation. She was clearly speaking in both languages intentionally, and wasn't translating for the benefit of either audience.

Here's a contrast in requirements: White House told to bring back sign-language interpreters even though Trump dislikes ‘sharing a platform,’ judge rules Arizona's first Chicana representative has been sworn in. She's going to code-switch. Okay, apart from the legal specifics, why is the White House required to provide ASL interpreters but a Chicana representative speaking to Congress in spanish is not required to provide a translator? This seems inconsistent, if not rude.

Coming to a sci-fi monster movie soon...

What I saw was a democratic party engaged in negotiating tactics over health care funding by talking up an extreme position. But what they're facing is a CEO-mentality of DJT being willing to sacrifice people for his own purposes. Remember that C. Schumer dealt with the previous such government funding vote by going along with the Republicans, for which he was heavily criticized. This time he tried a different tactic, which clearly won't work and he still gets criticized. I'm not sure what he's supposed to do about it when he has no leverage. People voted in this clown of a President; they get to live with the consequences. Like I've said before, the health care situation in the US won't be dealt with until a lot of people start dying. The unaffordability of health care is one way (and perhaps the only way) to achieve that goal here. It's a completely irrational situation.

"There is no rule of law until the Mafia needs lawyers." --Stephen Holmes

Lenny Wilkens, NBA player and coach

Future application process: (1) verify male neanderthal genome; (2) welcome to the military son.

The Starfinder: Afterlight Kickstarter has wrapped. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/epictellers/starfinder-afterlight/posts/4533285 The final stretch goal (Mechanic class) made it in under the bar.

From a mile-high perspective, the fundamental problem is that illegal immigrants are deeply embedded in the US economy, and trying to extract that component is going to have negative consequences for everybody. It would be less impactful if they focused on avoiding new illegal immigration and extraditing the newest arrivals before they become entrenched. But either way the optics won't look pretty.

Speculation: AI will gradually become a fourth branch of government. I could see it starting out in an advisory role, then the politicians steadily offload more and more responsibility to AI. Eventually it will become like the government in Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

In the US, many people vote for a particular party because they don't like the other side. Given the political division in this nation, they are too far apart for many people to switch. That doesn't necessarily mean they like the direction of their own party. Personally, at this point I don't particularly favor either party; they have both diverged too far from the mainstream.

Greg Newby of Project Gutenberg fame

Trump threatens to cut New York funding if ‘communist’ Mamdani elected Everything is a transaction with DJT, including implicit vote buying.

I watched Vinland Saga on Hulu; it wasn't bad for a semi-historical drama (and it lacked anything resembling anime goofiness). Unfortunately, the second season isn't available yet.

At least he passed away peacefully in his sleep. May he rest in burrito.

What are you suggesting then? Many countries have food subsidy programs for their poor. Are they okay but the US is not? My understanding is that SNAP is just 1.5% of the federal budget. Many European nations spend much more of their GDP than the US on public social welfare programs. What are they doing wrong?