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From author John Scalzi at Whatever:

A Twitter thread I wrote on what Marvel films are, in the wake of both Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola dumping on them (and Coppola in particular calling them “despicable”). Archived here for posterity and conversation.

1. Since we’re on the subject, here’s my opinion of the Marvel films in general: They’re highly competent entertainments, whose individual installments range from underbaked (Iron Man 2) to superior pastiche (Winter Soldier). Brilliant? Generally, no. Despicable? Nah, bro.

2. Marvel films are to Disney over the last decade as musicals were to MGM in its heyday, or monster films were Universal, or gangster films were to Warner — a reliable economic engine, pitched to the masses. Easy to gripe on esthetically, but difficult to assail economically.

3. Will any Marvel films be “classics” 30 years down the line? Possibly, and in the same ratio as the MGM musicals or the Warner gangster films: a few remembered, the rest down the memory hole. But most films of any sort aren’t made to be classics, they’re made to make money now.

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• nojo argues compellingly that, with the betrayal of America’s Kurdish allies, the damage to our country is not really long lasting. It is more likely permanent.
   
• Max’s Dad does not think Mr. Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds was a mistake. It was deliberate. The real motive is obvious.
   
• North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz has a message for conservative evangelicals who proudly declare themselves to be pro-life. If you are not horrified, sick to your stomach, over the Trump-endorsed genocide that has begun against Kurdish families, you are not pro-life.
   
• Green Eagle suggests an unwitting partner in the Trump/Erdogan ethnic cleansing of our Kurdish allies.
   
• Tommy Christopher sometimes watches Fox News. He has to. It’s part of his job. On Monday he watched Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump defend the impulsive abandonment of Trump families to the tender mercies of Erdogan. She says it’s not a big deal because most Americans don’t even know who the Kurds are.
   
• Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger tells us of one American who does know who the Kurds are. The wife of an American soldier writes a letter of hope, fear, and gratitude to Kurdish soldiers, for fighting bravely along with her husband. They were part of his safe return home to her and the family waiting anxiously for him.

Continue reading “Betrayal, Corruption, Trump by the Numbers, Diving, Melting”

A journalist condemns that portion of American history that fostered slavery.

Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara defends America.

His larger point is that statism is form of slavery, differing only in degree.

Reader Art is having none of it:

No, sorry, this writer is wrong. Socialism and slavery are not the same thing. Not socially, not economically, not morally.

To the extent we have economic systems independent of freely given maintenance, through any means including a supportive natural environment all work is limited slavery, or more rightly, prostitution. I get up at an unnatural time but one convenient for my employer, I go to a location of his choosing even though I otherwise would not go there, I do things with my mind and body I wouldn’t care to otherwise do, and in return he gives me tokens I use to support my existence.

In this context all economic systems, short of living in the land of ‘milk and honey’ , where work is not necessary (if only those grapes would fall into my mouth) are, some more or less, watered down version of slavery.

Likewise all forms of government, some more than others, seek a monopoly on the use of violence. Kind of like, I dunno … slavery.

So if all economic systems have similarities to slavery, and all government systems are somewhat similar to slavery perhaps the problem is using slavery as solvent to analyze economic and governmental systems. Perhaps categories are being smeared, not illuminated.
Continue reading “Let’s NOT Equate Socialism with Slavery”

A journalist condemns that portion of American history that fostered slavery, beginning with the first slaves in Virginia 400 years ago.

Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara defends America.

He explains the essential unfairness of blaming America for slavery because slavery was not a uniquely American institution, that it pre-dated our country, even on the American continent.

His larger point is that statism is form of slavery, differing only in degree.

Reader Trey responds acerbically:

Holy Moley.

“He’s defending slavery now.” was my initial thought when I started reading this ridiculous piece. And he starts off by quibbling over math and that the United States of America isn’t 400 years old, nevermind the fact that the article he references said ‘Slavery was legal in America’ since 1619…

Let me offer Heim a revelatory fact. America is not 400—246 + 154—years old. It is a simple observation. Can Heim really not know that America—the United States of America—was Founded 243 years ago, in 1776? That the inhabitants of Jamestown were not Americans, but English colonists living in North America? What about the philosophical basis of slavery? What about the philosophical case against slavery? Nothing, other than a passing reference to the Declaration of Independence, as if that document is a minor historical artifact, rather than the most Earth-shaking political statement ever adopted as the foundation of a nation.

– Old Man Ashamed of His Country’s Terrible History

Yes, Jamestown was a British colony. Slavery was still legal in America. Jamestown was/is in America. I think, based on context, everyone knows what the author of the cited article meant. But, no, let’s quibble and dismiss.
Continue reading “Let’s NOT Defend American Slavery”

 

From Andy Borowitz:

“By ‘associates,’ do they mean people who actually associate with Giuliani?” Carol Foyler, who lives in St. Louis, said. “This whole story doesn’t add up.”

“I read that these quote-unquote associates of Giuliani’s were actually business associates,” Tracy Klugian, of Butte, Montana, said. “If that means he was paying them a lot of money to associate with him, that could explain everything.”

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From Jon Perr at PERRspectives:

By now, Americans have grown accustomed to incendiary rhetoric from the raging right. Nevertheless, the past week witnessed some truly explosive eruptions from some of the leading lights of the conservative movement. Last Sunday, Donald Trump warned that his impeachment and removal from office could trigger a second civil war. Three days later, frequent Fox News flame-thrower Todd Starnes lost his longtime gig with the network after an episode of his radio show that advanced the theory that Democrats worship the Old Testament pagan god Moloch, who allowed for child sacrifice.

But in neither case were the slanders and threats original. The savage sound bites Trump and Starnes circulated to the world weren’t the handiwork of press secretaries or the focus group-tested talking points of a Karl Rove or Frank Luntz. No, these abominations were the dirty work of a supposed man of God, Pastor Robert Jeffress.

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From CBS News:

Firefighters let “very scared” little girl paint their nails after she was in a car crash

While on the scene of a car accident on Saturday, two Utah firefighters noticed a “very scared” young girl clutching bottles of nail polish. The pair offered to let the girl paint their nails to help calm her down — and left with much more than a new manicure.

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From Patrick Holman at The Moderate Voice:

Few films this year will unsettle, disturb, and make audiences think as much as Joker.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Joker focuses on the less-fortunate life of Arthur Fleck, who is newly unemployed, lives with his mother, and deals with an array of mental illnesses. One of them is an uncontrollable, maniacal laugh that Fleck can’t help but emit when he’s feeling other, unrelated emotions. To say the least, most people are uncomfortable around him, and Arthur Fleck is seen as an outcast in society.

Following his firing, however, Fleck goes off the deep end and slowly descends into insanity and violence. He is Joker, as we already know. The rest of the film gets more violent, more insane, and more unsettling.

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From former Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns in Foreign Affairs:

Not Since Joe McCarthy Has the State Department Suffered Such a Devastating Blow

By using his public office for personal gain, Trump has affirmed Putin’s long-held conviction—shared by autocrats the world over—that Americans are just as venal and self-absorbed as they are, just more hypocritical about it. For dictators, Trump is the gift that keeps on giving, a non-stop advertisement for Western self-dealing. So much for enlightened self-interest. So much for the power of our example. So much for our credibility.

We are digging a deep hole for ourselves in a world that is changing fast, filled with players who won’t wait for us to stop digging and a landscape that is quickly hardening against U.S. interests. Our allies are confused. Our adversaries are quick to take advantage. The institutions and coalitions we shaped over decades are wobbling. The confidence of the American people in the power and purpose of disciplined American leadership is evaporating.

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From driftglass:

After all, if you just hide the (D) when you talk about a policy proposal, it turns out most Republicans are in favor of a whole lot of things which Democrats have championed. Most of them like the Affordable Care Act (as long as you don’t call it Obamacare) and would even support a single-payer heath care system. A large majority support stricter gun control and registration. Most think Roe v. Wade should be left alone and that the very rich need to pay more in taxes.

So why would these same people keep electing Republican governors and legislatures who (for example) would let 15,000 of their friends and neighbors die every year rather than do something as simple as expanding Medicaid?

Because to the average, dumbass Republican voter, actual policy — what government actually does or does not do — is almost entirely beside the point. Because they only know what they hear on Hate Radio or see on Fox News. So if you go looking for the source of their seemingly inexhaustible rage and hysteria in the details of policy differences between Republicans and Democrats, you might as well be looking for the headwaters of the Nile using a Goody Goody Burger placemat.

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