Lord Liaden

But so are the giant ones...

Manages to combine cute with creepy.

Tap it? Sure. But the only time in the movies we saw it actually affecting Tony's behavior was in Iron Man 2, in response to anticipating his imminent death. Even then he retained enough control to beat armored Rhodey down twice. We never see his alcohol intake impairing his ability to function when he needed to.

I took his drinking to be one manifestation of Tony's general hedonism, along with gambling, womanizing, race car driving, and whatever else caught his fancy. Wanda deliberately pulled Tony's greatest fear to the forefront of his mind -- when he saw the full Chitauri host and mothership, and realized the magnitude of the threat to Earth. She gave him a vision of the other Avengers killed after failing to stop that threat, and Cap blaming him for not saving them. IMO the film makes clear that that was the last big push leading Tony to create Ultron, once he discovered the Mind Stone's AI matrix.

Assuming the perpetrator is one of those trumpeting an individual's right to choose to be vaccinated or not, taking that choice away from someone else is pretty damn hypocritical.

I wish I could feel some anticipation, but for me the year divisions are wholly artificial. All the complications we're living with don't magically disappear because a number on a calendar changes. But I do have hope that things will eventually get better -- just not all of a sudden on Jan. 1.

Oh, please let me watch. I loathe those characters. (Not meant as criticism of people who like them. Well, okay, I guess it is.)

You can't have Bradley Whitford. He was my second favorite human after Ken Watanabe.

I actually enjoyed the final fight in Wonder Woman, because it fit where the story had led. Most of the movie Diana was fighting like an Amazon, against mortal opponents. In the end she had to fight a god, on his level. I very much enjoyed the rest of that movie. I enjoy a good origin story/hero's journey. I welcome superheroes who stand for principles and ideals, who inspire the best in us. I particularly appreciated that the movie showed the traditionally "feminine" virtues -- compassion, protectiveness, love -- as a source of strength, not weakness. I haven't seen WW84 yet, and probably won't for quite some time. I can't get to an open theater in my region, and I don't stream.

I wish giant pandas didn't get all the attention. Red Pandas are concentrated cuteness.

Teaser for Thanos?

Marvel has been giving them a run for their money over this millennium. E.g. the Hulk can punch Time, and is now immortal, because his power literally comes from the Devil.

Chuck Norris brings him his coffee.

This goes beyond the stimulus bill, or control of the Senate, or electoral college votes. This is a power struggle for who controls the Republican Party for the foreseeable future, McConnell or Trump, with factions of the GOP lining up behind either. McConnell isn't trying to reign in spending. He supports lower taxes and massive spending to boost the profits of corporations, which can weather COVID fallout far better than individuals, because they put money in his pocket. Trump's call for bigger individual stimulus checks and his veto threat after the package was negotiated was a challenge to McConnell's authority. It's forcing Republican legislators to declare with whom their loyalty lies. Same with Trump's continuing dispute of the election result -- you're either with him or with McConnell.

I debated putting this in the "Random Videos" thread, but I think we need it here more.

Truth has become what enough people say it is. Which, to be fair, has been the case through most of our history.

The takeaway is that if you break the law to the benefit of the President, you're protected.

I'll have to think about the list longer myself, but the top would probably be Gul Dukat (Mark Alaimo) from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I don't remember anyone actually punching that smug smirk off his face. Another candidate: Carter Burke (Paul Reiser), the "company man" from Aliens. That deceitful, backstabbing little weasel got what he deserved in the end, but I still would've liked to get a shot in first.

I believe the author's analysis is reasonably accurate, but her overview is too short-term. America has been through multiple profoundly divisive, existential crises in its history, like the civil rights movement, the Great Depression, the Civil War. In their aftermath came large-scale social reorganization, which for the most part brought progressive changes. Some of the "American values" she decries the loss of are generational. I can remember when they weren't prevalent. The values of an era are always going to be challenged at some point, and have to be defended by those who believe in them. The battle may be long and hard, but in the end progressive ideas have always won out, because the only way to adapt to change is to move forward.

I've become convinced that a great many of the elites trying to squeeze everything out of society that they can for themselves, don't care if the world goes to hell as a result, because they figure they'll be dead before they have to face the consequences, and the rest of us don't matter.

If only they could see that for the vast majority of his followers, Trump is Not Like Them in nearly every way except skin tone. When he isn't orange, of course.

IMO Donald Trump's choice to make the response to coronavirus part of his self-serving propaganda campaign has changed it from a public health issue, to one of demonstrating support for him, and of accepting his unfounded conspiracy theories. The fact that he and his followers have raised the profile of those attitudes has contributed to citizens in other countries taking them up.

Oh, I thought you were using the generalized "you" as in, "anyone." FWIW I've been pronouncing it, "AW-droo-gar." Its native inhabitants being "AW-droo-GAR-ans." But I'd be glad to hear from Darren or Steve as to what it should be officially.