Nolgroth

Sorry to hear that tkdguy. That's a hell of a patch to hoe. 

The government sucks.  There, I've said it, Badg, so you don't need to worry.
Seriously, though, I think there is definitely room for criticism of our government.  There is wasteful spending.  There is overregulation.  There's also areas where we don't spend enough.  And areas that are woefully under-regulated.
 
The problem, at least IMO, is the damned polarization going on in this country.  It seems like people either want to tear down the government completely, or have an omnipresent government that regulates every aspect of our lives.  Or at least, that's how the two sides paint each other.
 
The reality is (again IMO), we need some government.  Some spending on infrastructure, on public security, on military, on social safety nets.  Some regulation of businesses to make sure their products and services are safe.  Some laws on things people can and cannot do.
 
The problem comes in defining what "some" means.  As a society, we seem to be losing the ability to compromise.  It feels like we're heading toward a society of absolutes.  Hell, two sentences back I just caught myself almost saying "we've lost the ability to compromise."  As if we're either able to compromise completely, or none at all -- no middle ground.  And I had to remind myself that life's not like that.
 
And I'm sure all of what I've said is no surprise to anybody here.  This is a community of fairly smart people.  And as I look at posts here, at how people (generally) get along, may argue but typically keep from being "my way or the highway" internet trolls, it gives me a little hope that we (as a whole society) can get past these current bumps in the road, figure out a way to smooth them out, and move forward.

On the chainsaw?

On the chainsaw?

On the chainsaw?

Point taken.
 
I think this is a general problem with fantastical storytelling with no rules per se. When powerful characters and powerful artifacts are given whatever capabilities the writer wants/needs them to have, with little regard to internal consistency, everything tends to feel like deus ex machina. That may have worked okay for the ancient Greeks, but it plays less well with modern audiences, I think.

Pretty much. The evil elder god Chthon personally scribed the book to be his talisman on Earth, to pave the way for his eventual return, much as Set created the Serpent Crown. As such the Darkhold is unique and practically indestructible. Studying its lore corrupts the reader; the medieval mystic Mordred was turned into Chthon's undying slave after exposure to it. Ancient Atlantean wizards used spells in the Darkhold to create the first vampires.

Yeah, I've been doing that till recently.  Realty hit me hard.
 
 
Don't worry, too much, After my high school days,   when I wallow in despair too long, the fight in me kicks in.   Just taking a little bit longer, right now.

Maybe, it'd be a lot easier to go after, if not for his opponent being the wife of essentially the same thing and at roughly the same time.  It just ends up coming across as yet another case of political hypocrisy at its worst.  And why I refuse to vote for either.  (Hillary would come across better, if in hindsight she had taken the side of the Paulas, and Kathleens rather than straddle between oblivious and antagonistic).

1887
The International Herald Tribune was published for the first time.
1895The first U.S. Open Golf tournament was held in Newport, Rhode Island.
1957The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into orbit around the earth, ushering in the Space Age and Space Race.
1965Pope Paul VI made the first visit to the Western Hemisphere by a reigning pope. He came to New York to address the UN General Assembly.
1970Rock singer Janis Joplin was found dead of a drug overdose at age 27.
1990The German parliament met for the first time since the reunification of Germany.
2001Authorities confirmed a tabloid editor in Florida had contracted anthrax. He died the next day.
2002John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban," received a 20-year sentence.

For what it is worth, I love Smallville from S1 to S10. It is the first version of Superman that I could identify with and like.

Spinny kung fu superpowers. That does it. If I ever make a Champions character for real, THAT is going to be the name of the Martial Art I use.

Spinny kung fu superpowers. That does it. If I ever make a Champions character for real, THAT is going to be the name of the Martial Art I use.

Spinny kung fu superpowers. That does it. If I ever make a Champions character for real, THAT is going to be the name of the Martial Art I use.

It jumped the shark before that. We quit after Lana got spinny kung fu superpowers.

Thanks for doing all the research and posting it hear Ghostdancer. I always like historical tidbits. Often they lead me to do casual internet research about the topic. I generally end up spending lots of time on that research and fail to do other things I want to do, but still valuable for the soul.

On this date in 1908 Henry Ford introduced the Model T, and began his quest to put the world on wheels.
The birthplace of the Model T.
Designed by Field, Hinchman & Smith. Ford Motor Company Piquette Avenue Plant 411 Piquette Avenue built in 1904 Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Historic District, Detroit, MI.
 
A link to the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant website.
http://www.fordpiquetteavenueplant.org/

1187-Muslims take Jerusalem.
 
1835-Texas starts their war for independence.
 
1959-Twillight Zone premieres.

1226

St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order, died.
 
1863

President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November as  Thanksgiving Day.
 
1922

Rebecca L. Felton became the first woman U.S. Senator when she was appointed to serve out the term of Senator Thomas E. Watson.
 
1929

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes formally changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
 
1955

Captain Kangaroo and The Mickey Mouse Club premiered on television.
 
1974

Frank Robinson was named the first African-American manager in major league baseball.
 
1990

East Germany and West Germany united to become Germany, 45 years after being split into two countries at the end of World War II.

My current comics list is mostly indie stuff - a lot of Image and so forth. I gave up on DC after New 52, and while I've heard some good things about the latest reboot I think I'm suffering from relaunch fatigue. There are still several good Marvel titles, tho crossover fatigue is the problem on that side. Ms. Marvel continues to be a delight. Spider-Man is actually fun again, the new Thor is interesting...I'm blanking out on other titles at the moment, and frankly haven't been keeping up over the last several months because reasons.
 
But I think the point is there have always been good comics stories and bad comics stories. Looking back it's easier to remember the good bits and forget the bad bits, whereas today I notice more ex-fans pointing at One Awful Story and using that to condemn the entire industry. Also, if you go back and re-read a lot of the great stories you remember, you may find not all of them hold up as well today. Some great story ideas, but some of the writing was pretty weak by today's standards.
 
As for superhero TV shows, I agree they weren't all awful. But even the best of them are painfully cheesy by modern standards. Mostly because the show runners refused to take the concept seriously and treated them like live-action cartoons. The fact that they were almost completely devoid of supervilllains certainly didn't help. If we're grading on a curve I'd say 70s Wonder Woman and 80s Greatest American Hero are among the best of their day, but neither could compete today with Supergirl, let alone Daredevil or Jessica Jones. (Unless you really like camp, in which case more power to you but I'll be over here.)

A government so multi-faceted and complex that it defies such simplistic abstractions.
 
I am from the generation that sits awkwardly between the baby boomers and gen X, and I've watched our culture slowly transform into one in which political awareness and understanding has become reduced to only that which can be conveyed by a sound bite or a Tweet. Clearly it is easier to just yell "Fire!" than it is to educate people how to help keep the building from burning to the ground around them.

Did he provide a link?

[deja vu moment]
 
Yes, these shows have faults... and will probably never win any awards; but they're superhero shows that are on the air, dang it! And IMO still better than the other dreck on the airwaves.
 
[/deja vu moment]

As I've remarked before on these forums, I often notice people conflating "I don't like it" with "It's no good." Any comment that starts with, "For me..." implies a high degree of subjectivity; which is highly relevant to the person making the comment, but may not be shared at all by someone else.
 
The range of opinions displayed on this thread alone regarding the exact same productions, show how much individual tastes color people's assessment of the quality of a given work. None of these opinions are necessarily "right" or "wrong," nor are they mutually exclusive.
 
I believe it's possible to separate subjective and objective criteria to some extent. There are a number of entertainments that I admire for their compelling acting, intelligent scripts, beautiful cinematography, exciting visual effects, etc. but simply don't like, even hate, for their style or subject matter. There are others that I enjoy a lot while recognizing they're severely lacking in any or all of these areas.