Watching the new naked gun, I'm sort of shocked that they're allowed to make funny movies again.
In the introduction, a man in a dress is used for comedy, and later one character goes "We get retarded in here" and the main character goes "Can you say that?" And the character goes "In my club you can."
In the introduction, a man in a dress is used for comedy, and later one character goes "We get retarded in here" and the main character goes "Can you say that?" And the character goes "In my club you can."
[admin mode] I guess there was a power outage about an hour ago. I totally missed it. Back up now.
Foolish Marxists have been tricked for centuries by a mistake Marx made.
You see, in the moment Marx wrote, he mistook the decline of the aristocracy for its disappearance, replaced by the new business owner class.
In reality, one need only look at what share of gdp is government to realize that's totally wrong. Business may punch above its class but it's a small fry in the postmodern bureaucratic world. Like Imperial China before it, it's been subordinated and minimized by the state.
The most recent reliable global estimate of the total combined net worth of all the world’s billionaires comes from Forbes’ 2025 Billionaires List. According to that, there are 3,028 billionaires worldwide, whose collective net worth adds up to $16.1 trillion.
Imagine that -- if the United States were to seize every billionaire's entire assets without those assets magically becoming worthless, it would only pay for the federal budget for 2 years, or half the current national debt.
The Leviathan is the devourer of the world, and it will not stop at your enemies. Our ancient myths warned us of that, but we burned all the books when we proclaimed a sea monster couldn't literally eat the world.
You see, in the moment Marx wrote, he mistook the decline of the aristocracy for its disappearance, replaced by the new business owner class.
In reality, one need only look at what share of gdp is government to realize that's totally wrong. Business may punch above its class but it's a small fry in the postmodern bureaucratic world. Like Imperial China before it, it's been subordinated and minimized by the state.
The most recent reliable global estimate of the total combined net worth of all the world’s billionaires comes from Forbes’ 2025 Billionaires List. According to that, there are 3,028 billionaires worldwide, whose collective net worth adds up to $16.1 trillion.
Imagine that -- if the United States were to seize every billionaire's entire assets without those assets magically becoming worthless, it would only pay for the federal budget for 2 years, or half the current national debt.
The Leviathan is the devourer of the world, and it will not stop at your enemies. Our ancient myths warned us of that, but we burned all the books when we proclaimed a sea monster couldn't literally eat the world.
Future Sepsis: Book 1 is complete and available right now.
I'm not selling a kickstarter or an indiegogo where you might get a finished copy someday if I get around to it and stop playing on twitter and youtube. It’s a finished novel you can pick up today on Amazon.
The story begins in 2024 with four people who die in a plane crash, and a hundred years later they wake up into a society that has rebuilt itself in ways that don’t look much like ours. Neural implants pair with AI in ways that fundamentally change how people engage with the world. Institutions are very different (notably, the Church is a central part of this society).
I wrote it as hard science fiction centered around realistic and unique characters, which means the technology works the way technology actually works and people act like people do, with all the consequences that follow.
It’s on Amazon as a DRM-free ebook, paperback, and hardcover (though the hardcover version isn't up yet, but it's coming as soon as it's through kdp)
https://a.co/d/h7DUZ8U
Just like The Graysonian Ethic, I’ve written into the legal page that in 15 years the book will enter the public domain where possible, and CC0 elsewhere.
I'm not selling a kickstarter or an indiegogo where you might get a finished copy someday if I get around to it and stop playing on twitter and youtube. It’s a finished novel you can pick up today on Amazon.
The story begins in 2024 with four people who die in a plane crash, and a hundred years later they wake up into a society that has rebuilt itself in ways that don’t look much like ours. Neural implants pair with AI in ways that fundamentally change how people engage with the world. Institutions are very different (notably, the Church is a central part of this society).
I wrote it as hard science fiction centered around realistic and unique characters, which means the technology works the way technology actually works and people act like people do, with all the consequences that follow.
It’s on Amazon as a DRM-free ebook, paperback, and hardcover (though the hardcover version isn't up yet, but it's coming as soon as it's through kdp)
https://a.co/d/h7DUZ8U
Just like The Graysonian Ethic, I’ve written into the legal page that in 15 years the book will enter the public domain where possible, and CC0 elsewhere.
Maybe people should start invading this guy's press conferences. "No, no, you don't get to send in armed officers. Your best defence is to comply."
One thing I find a bit funny is that some people claim that doesn't happen for any taxes except tariffs, because of who implemented the tariffs.
My favorite part of the real-world two minutes hate is that part of the ritual is screaming "I'm so empathetic and loving! Why must the enemies of the regime be so hateful?! I hate them so much for their hate! I hate them so much for their lack of love!!!!"
It's kind of cartoonish. If I wrote a character like that the editor would probably say I'm being a bit on the nose and I should be more realistic.
It's kind of cartoonish. If I wrote a character like that the editor would probably say I'm being a bit on the nose and I should be more realistic.
Incidentally, I had to download a torrent recently, and decided on the bittorrent client called "bittorrent".
That client sucks! Not only did it try to install a bunch of extra crap programs, not only did it have two video ads playing at all times on the main screen, but it didn't even successfully download my torrent! I had to uninstall and install Transmission which works much better even on windows.
That client sucks! Not only did it try to install a bunch of extra crap programs, not only did it have two video ads playing at all times on the main screen, but it didn't even successfully download my torrent! I had to uninstall and install Transmission which works much better even on windows.
"Nobody has reminded them of what happened last time someone tried to separate from the United States"
"Also, nobody has reminded them of how much debt they've racked up"
"Also, nobody has reminded them of how much debt they've racked up"
[Admin mode] Power failure during a thunder storm knocked out the servers and more importantly broke dns. All back up now.
It's been 10 years of "if you didn't like this movie it's because you're actually evil" -- but is it really culture war stuff, or is that just the argument they're using? Filmmakers have never liked critics, but now they've got an argument that their critics are fundamentally evil and every reason in the world to use that argument.
I think you kind of have to look past the specific form of what these people say, because they're from Hollywood, they don't believe a word they say about anything unless it's how great they are, and lashing out at people they don't like or who criticize their work.
Healthy ecosystems such as Hollywood of yesteryear or Japan's anime ecosystem today had different rungs, you'd get lower cost lower impact media to start, and as you succeeded you'd get to work on higher impact higher cost (potentially higher profit) works until eventually you earn the big tentpole blockbuster through proven success.
There used to be multiple rungs in Hollywood, but now you go from niche movies at Sundance (not even a market) to producing mega budget blockbusters, and that's not healthy. Hollywood would blame streaming for this, but other markets have rungs still, it's more that Hollywood got addicted to blockbusters and ate their seed corn.
Some of the best movies of all time were created at those lower rungs. Star Wars: A New Hope was actually a fairly low budget movie. E.T. was a lower budget movie. Cult classics Half Baked and Office Space were lower budget, and Fight Club and The Matrix were mid-budget, not massive tentpoles with budgets that would bankrupt the studio. They couldn't make any of these today because those rungs of the ladder don't exist. They can only hand the empire to a child emperor and watch them have a hissy fit when the treasury starts to dry up and barbarians at the gate start taking territory.
I think a lot of these storytellers are trying to do what Joker did -- hop into an established franchise and tell the story they want to tell regardless of the franchise. That's a big problem with an established brand because something that could have been a modestly successful lower tier film ends up pissing off customers who came in with an expectation based on the brand. The problem was never politics, but not following the laws of physics when it comes to pleasing customers and making money. Then the child emperors lash out because it turns out the emperor must follow certain laws of physics or their empire collapses. Then the audiences are alienated because the movies wasn't FOR them, and you get the current MCU. Even if they make some decent movies, it'll take a lot of time in the penalty box.
I think you kind of have to look past the specific form of what these people say, because they're from Hollywood, they don't believe a word they say about anything unless it's how great they are, and lashing out at people they don't like or who criticize their work.
Healthy ecosystems such as Hollywood of yesteryear or Japan's anime ecosystem today had different rungs, you'd get lower cost lower impact media to start, and as you succeeded you'd get to work on higher impact higher cost (potentially higher profit) works until eventually you earn the big tentpole blockbuster through proven success.
There used to be multiple rungs in Hollywood, but now you go from niche movies at Sundance (not even a market) to producing mega budget blockbusters, and that's not healthy. Hollywood would blame streaming for this, but other markets have rungs still, it's more that Hollywood got addicted to blockbusters and ate their seed corn.
Some of the best movies of all time were created at those lower rungs. Star Wars: A New Hope was actually a fairly low budget movie. E.T. was a lower budget movie. Cult classics Half Baked and Office Space were lower budget, and Fight Club and The Matrix were mid-budget, not massive tentpoles with budgets that would bankrupt the studio. They couldn't make any of these today because those rungs of the ladder don't exist. They can only hand the empire to a child emperor and watch them have a hissy fit when the treasury starts to dry up and barbarians at the gate start taking territory.
I think a lot of these storytellers are trying to do what Joker did -- hop into an established franchise and tell the story they want to tell regardless of the franchise. That's a big problem with an established brand because something that could have been a modestly successful lower tier film ends up pissing off customers who came in with an expectation based on the brand. The problem was never politics, but not following the laws of physics when it comes to pleasing customers and making money. Then the child emperors lash out because it turns out the emperor must follow certain laws of physics or their empire collapses. Then the audiences are alienated because the movies wasn't FOR them, and you get the current MCU. Even if they make some decent movies, it'll take a lot of time in the penalty box.
It's a truism that your last movie sells your next movie, and the film industry has spent a decade flagellating fans and telling them it's comfort.
If they do manage to turn things around, it isn't going to be easy. A lot of commentators have been really happy with Andor, but I'm sure a lot of star wars fans assume it isn't FOR them.
If they do manage to turn things around, it isn't going to be easy. A lot of commentators have been really happy with Andor, but I'm sure a lot of star wars fans assume it isn't FOR them.