Michael Hopcroft

Sometimes there is a place for anger. Historical perspective is all well and good, and certainly informs us, but in times like this we should be angry. Indeed, it is imperative that we be angry when our nature as a nation is under attack.
 
I did something today I have not done in decades. I wrote a letter to the President. He won't read it -- it's possible that nobody at all will read it -- but I had to get it out. He wimped out yesterday, while at the same time singing his own praises as if the point of the exercise was to make himself look good. I actually watched that speech, and my gall rose higher and higher with every word. I had the strong desire to rake him over the coals for it, so I did.
 
I chose my words carefully, but I did not mince words either.
 
Even his own party is calling him out over that speech.
 
There is a time for anger. There is a time for outrage. This is that time.

This might sound weird, but I wanted to thank you all for carrying on a rational, respectful discussion. In the face of what's happening in Charlottesville right now, it gives me hope for the future to see people of different backgrounds and opinions trying to understand each other instead of resorting to yelling, name-calling, and threats.
 
I don't know why, but these events have hit me harder than I expected. For really the first time, I've begun to despair for the future of my country, and the world my kids are going to have to grow up in. It's been hard for me to process. I've begun to succumb to cynicism about the fate of the United States and the world.
 
So thank you for reminding me that there are still grown-ups out there who are genuinely interested in making the world a better place than it is today.

Last I heard there were 35 injured and 3 dead. A hideous tragedy for America. This is what intolerance and hatred leads to.

I don't view is as "homogenization" Is America homogeneous? No. Homogeneity implies things like a single religion, a single language, and a single national identity. America has none of these things. And you know what? None of these things are at all desirable. Can you imagine how boring life would be if everyone ate, wore,read, and viewed the same things? If everybody prayed the same way to the same concept of God? If deviance from those "national ideals" was swiftly and ruthlessly punished.
 
If you would like a country like that, welcome to Pyongyang.

Take a look at the Australian band Icehouse - very good synth-pop from that period, went a little harder with some of their later albums.

One of Oregon's US Senators, Jeff Merkely, made a Facebook post (probably written by a staff member -- most politicians are smart enough to vet their tweets and Facebook posts) deriding how enforcement of the Voting Rights Act is being gutted. This of course led to complaints about "illegals voting" and demands that the voting rolls be purged.
 
My personal take on this is like my personal take on justice. I do not object to a few voters getting in who shouldn't be there if that means ten voters who should be voting are not "purged". Maybe it;'s the Oregonian in me, but I very much oppose a system where it is presumed you are an ineligible voter unless you can somehow prove otherwise. It's like the judicial system, in which I am willing to liver with seemingly appalling verdicts (the first OJ trial, the Bundys in Malheur County) because I would much rather release a guilty person than condemn an innocent one.
 
What kind of civics are they teaching these days if voter suppression is viewed as virtuous, or an accused person is guilty until so proven?

"Shaggy" Rogers, International Man of Mystery

Q: I'm a brand-new Champions player. I wonder what SPD does?
 
A. I thought using children as begging props was something only the poor do.

Yeah, LeBron can say with impunity that he brought a championship to Cleveland (and an additional 3 shots at one) Dan Gilbert really can't.
 
Also, as bad as the Decision was for LeBron's public perception, this time it really will come down on Kyrie and/or Gilbert and the Trumpian Turmoil of his front office. 

Lesson learned: defraud the poor and you're a great businessman, but defraud the rich and you're a criminal.

It seems, that for once the owners have shot themselves in the foot. 
They won every collective bargaining agreement, making contracts shorter and then making it easier for the "owning team" to pay their stars. 
 
And then the Decision happened. LeBron played the villain and everyone (including me) felt bad for Cleveland's fans and even their crazy, moron owner.
 
The Decision scared the hell out of ownership who tweaked it again so they could better control their players.
 
Turns out...the players are now seemingly willing to take less money to get out of crazytown or chase the ring if that's what they want.

I don't know about Nevada, but in Michigan you're supposed to get into the opposite lane if possible when approaching an emergency vehicle in performance of its duties (police pulled someone over, tow truck hooking up a car, etc.) 
 
Does this mean that if someone pulls into the left lane to get around an accident site but then slows down to gawk, they can get ticketed for it?  (please-please-please!)  If so, this needs to be in place in every state.

Are we really calling it STD now? Can there possibly be a less fortunate acronym?

I believe that this is the entire problem CBS has with Trek right now. 
 
They are dishonest in both intent and how they deal with the existing fan base,, they repeatedly say one thing and do a completely different thing.  And then make believe it never happened. 
 
Is Star Trek (TV) their IP?  Yes. 
Can they do what ever they want with it?  Absolutely.
Is announcing the intent to do one thing and then doing something completely different a good sales tactic?  Nope, In the real world that is known as Bait & Switch and is considered a con.
 
The Prime Universe timeline has existed for over 50 years and has been embraced by millions.  Even when the original show had been written off as a failure, the fans were there and those same fans embraced and launched the moves and then TNG and the rest.   When they created the new movies (Kelvin timeline) some liked it some didn't, but the only controversy was the controversy generated by magazines and web-blogs desperate for clicks.
 
In this case CBS announced that the new series would continue in the existing Prime timeline ten years before TOS and then immediately changed everything.  Literally everything.
 
Like Twilight tried to transform Vampires from ancient evil entities into glitter dusted boytoys, the first look at STD has the hardened no nonsense Klingon warrior race transformed into pimped out somethings.  Their equipment went from tough utilitarian tools and weapons to gaudy for gaudy's sake. 
 
All technology follows functional reasoning.  Form follows function.  That is why there are so few overall changes.  A ship today and a ship built in the 1800's is still recognizable as a ship, with the biggest noticeable change being masts and sails.   But overall if you line them up, you can easily trace the evolution of the ship from the past to present. 
 
Fictional settings are not different.  You pick the parameters of the rubber science and go.  TOS was created in a TV era where continuity wasn't a thing and no effort was expended to try and make things fit.  But they did establish a few general "rules".   When the movies sparked Treks return the new series (TNG, DS9, etc) did try to maintain continuity and did so.  Each new series adding to the "rules" and the canon.  When they did ENT they realized that a major issue was blending into the timeline when TOS on screen tech was obviously behind real world current tech.  They set the new series 100 before TOS.  But even with the visual update the overall ship designs and uniforms did look like they could have been before TOS.  Any fan could take the ships and draw a progressing line from ENT to TOS to TNG to DS9 to VOY.  Fudging a little to compensate for Hollywood Tech they all still held up. 
 
But here comes STD.  Ten years before TOS and the ship design does not fit anywhere.  There is no path from ENT to STD to TOS. 
 
If they would have been honest up front and said they were creating a new stand alone Trek then they might have succeeded.  Fans would watch a new reboot for all the lamentations for a fans favorite series.   But they didn't.
 
1) They say that Axanar is great, and then when it looks to be a massive hit, they reversed and killed it.
 
2) They see Trek fans as a collective herd of stupid idiots who will automatically hand them money so they pander with the Bait & Switch promise about the Prime timeline.
 
3) They blithefully intone "Ignore our lies and subscribe to a web stream for only one show that isn't what we promised". 
 
4) They repeatedly make believe 1 through 3 didn't happen and anyone that doesn't like being mislead is a whiner, ensuring anyone that was on the fence gets pissed off and leaves.

But said president had trusted handlers who carefully vetted everything he said in public beforehand. Donald Trump has no handlers, nor any self-editorial function between his brain and his mouth.
 
His defenders' excuse for his latest remarks, as has often been the case, is, "It was a joke." He and they have to learn that every word out of the mouth of the President of the United States carries weight for everyone in the world, because everyone in the world is affected by him. His words will always be noted, scrutinized, and weighed, for clues to who he is and what he's going to do. Careless words will inflame passions and change people's course of action. And if we're supposed to treat everything provocative he says as a joke, the man himself will be treated as a joke.

"You've never been a policeman, have you, Mr. President?"
 
"No, but I have seen a couple of Clint Eastwood movies."
 
Encouraging police brutality is  a terrible idea. It makes cops' jobs a lot harder when people they deal with know they can be roughed up or worse with impunity, and act accordingly to protect themselves. This, in turn, motivates police to resort to deadly force even more readily than they do now.
 
You don't want action movie heroes on the police force. Period. You want to have cops involved in prolonged chases and fights as little as possible. You want to keep your officers accountable for each bullet they fire, and not because ammunition is expensive (it's not). Donald Trump lives in a B-Movie fantasy when it comes to law enforcement.
 
This inability to distinguish the real world from a movie in which he is the star may cost the President dearly. It's certainly going to exact a severe cost on minority communities, who are already subject to major problems in their dealings with the police.

Can badminton ever be played well, or would that defeat the purpose my making it Goodminton?
 
My relationship with college football is becoming more and more ambiguous. It's entertaining, but the same six to eight programs dominate the spotlight almost every year. Plus it seems to be a sport where you pretty much can;t compete if you don't break the (often silly or worse) rules of the NCAA, or be willing to accept people on campus who are a threat to the safety of other students.
 
The Premier League season in England starts in two weeks, and I'm actually looking forward to that more than to the college football season.

Not to mention how difficult it is for the person to pay their bills and support their families in the 1-3 years retraining takes (during which time the work they are training for may also become obsolete).
 
There is, of course, no glib or easy answer that meets the needs of the situation. That hasn't stopped people from looking for one rather than recognizing the complexity of the problem.

Harley Quinn dumping Mistah J in favor of Foxbat. All the psychosis, none of the abuse!
 
NT: Potential Champions Universe ships for Foxbat.

Starting out a recording career (that will not make me a living) is a challenge un many ways.--including realizing just how much I have to work on if if I'm going to make progress. There are several textbook errors in this clip, which I recorded live at AnimePDX this weekend. Bad though it was, the number reminded me why this is something I really want to do,.
 
[youtibe]
 
I'm trying to get funding for proper recording software and equipment though a GoFundMe page. I'll already 20% at my goal, but I had a very small goal.

Starting out a recording career (that will not make me a living) is a challenge un many ways.--including realizing just how much I have to work on if if I'm going to make progress. There are several textbook errors in this clip, which I recorded live at AnimePDX this weekend. Bad though it was, the number reminded me why this is something I really want to do,.
 
[youtibe]
 
I'm trying to get funding for proper recording software and equipment though a GoFundMe page. I'll already 20% at my goal, but I had a very small goal.

"Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue.  Lovely plumage."

And the smallest of the three Texas markets (San Antonio) has one of the most stable, well-managed, and well-coached franchises in the NBA. Some of the best players the recent NBA (David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli) were/are Spurs for their entire careers even though they could have gotten more money or notoriety in a larger market. Tim Duncan never did get a massive shoe contract or national endorsement deals like the ones Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal frequently collected, but was perfectly happy to stay in San Antonio, where he was loved, treated well, and almost always had a legitimate shot at a championship.

Carmen, from the Met, in HD at a local multiplex. A gorgeously mounted performance that was exquisitely sung and acted. Carmen is full-grade weaponized sexuality. But she is also a free spirit who makes her own rules. Her downfall is teasing the wrong man.