Ranxerox

It is funny how much like standard video game bosses BTG are. They pack a hell of a punch, but are most vulnerable during and immediately after these big attacks. They are surrounded by minions (the allied paramilitary units) which don't pose a creditable threat on their own and are their primarily shield and support the big bad. They are best handled by keeping on the move, harassing and making sure that your counter-attacks do serious damage. The main difference that I see that most video game bosses keep you on the clock by regenerating. If you don't keep inflicting damage on them they will quickly get back to full health. BTGs are very slow to regain health. Instead they keep you on the clock by attacking civilians. If you take too long to take them out, your final victory over them is too soaked in blood to be worth celebrating. Okay, admittedly, that last part isn't so funny.

It should be pretty easy for Putin to save face, all he needs to do is pull a Trump. He has created the problem of the supposed shelling of the Russian separatist regions of the Ukraine by the Ukrainian government. Since this was never a real thing, it is easy for him to make it stop and then claim credit for stopping. Trump used to do this all the time, "solving" problems that he himself created and maintained and then claiming credit. As long as neither the Ukrainians or the West insist on collecting a pound of flesh from the Russians over the pain and chaos that they have caused, then it will appear that he has cowed them into submission and saved the separatist from genocide. What a hero! Of course, both the Ukrainians and the West will want to punish him and Russia, but will they want it so much that they are willing to subject Ukraine to years of war, death and struggle? No. They will do what the Democrats always did with Trump, the sane and reasonable thing. Just as the Democrats always provided the necessary votes to keep government running or solve whatever Constitutional crisis Trump had precipitated, the West will drop most of the sanctions against Russia and pick up the tab for putting the Ukraine back together. It sucks, but it beats the hell out of a protracted war in Ukraine.

I'm not buying it. Is Putin a sociopath? Sure. That is pretty much in the job description for being head of the KGB. However, he is a very, coldly rational person, which is also part of the job description. It is basic game theory that in order to get any political mileage out of having nuclear weapons, you have to act like that you are crazy enough to maybe use them. That is what we are seeing, an act. He is not going to start lobbing nukes just because things go badly in the Ukraine. Not unless, a major power swoops in and attacks Russian soldiers, and none of them have any plans on doing this. So, there are currently a thousand things to worry about, but imminent nuclear war is not one of them.

A really good, short speech.

Oh, great. 🙄 Now, in addition to being ignorant and belligerent, they are going to be horny as well.

Well, obviously, they totally could have if they were geniuses like Trump. They just weren't smart enough. /s

I see what you did there.

The fact that this might be a viable path to the White House is quite disturbing enough. Thank you.

No cause of death has been given yet, and he had multiple health problems. So, his anti-vaxxer status may not have anything to do with his demise.

Well, yes, they nerfed Mongal considerably from the comic version of her. However, since the DCU is explicitly a different universe than Prime Earth, I don't see that as cheating. The same goes for Javelin thought I am not sure that Green Arrow would have made it through that if you stripped away his plot armor. Actually, there is a thriving market in burner phones in American prisons. They are small, easy to smuggle and there is always some guard who is willing to accept bribes. Heck, at a place like Belle Reve, probably most of the guards would be open to accepting bribes. Though in this case that doesn't really matter, since Amanda Waller obviously wanted to create a distraction for team #2 and to do some house cleaning while she was at it by getting rid of all the members of the team who disobeyed her in the last movie. So, even if Belle Reve was normally good about keeping its prisoners from have cell phones, an exception would have been made in this case.

Javelin seemed to think that the spear was a big deal, and just because we never really got to see him us it does not mean that he was wrong.

The Russo brothers announced that they had acquired the rights to do a Grimjack movie back in 2019, and in 2020 reasserted their intention to make one (link). However, they haven't mentioned it since then. Ever since I first heard about the announcement, I have been assuming that the plan was to get Keanu Reeves to play Grimjack, because, well, d'uh. So, I am wondering if they were unable to get him or maybe he said yes but they have to wait until he finishes other projects. That is of course just complete speculation on my part.

Well, that does explain all the those kids.

My apologies and condolences.

Yes, but you are from Ohio.

Actual good news! South Africa says that it has passed its fourth wave of cases, and counts few added deaths.

I enjoyed NWH and thought it was well done, but I can't say that I enjoyed it any more than Black Widow, Shang-Chi or Eternals. Marvel has been very consistent in it's quality as of late.

I think that is the NSA, but since the CIA has better name recognition you might want to use them instead.

A number of years back, I asked some of my coworkers to name as many Supreme Court justices as they could. Most of them could not name even one.

TMI, Old Man.

Yes, and tools are a subset of objects, and objects are a subset of stuff. Put it that way, people should be free to carry guns, knives and explosives into schools, places of worship and courthouses. After all, people routinely carry stuff into all those places. 😏 This logical fallacy is called the Fallacy of Division. It can be easily avoided by calling things what they are and not that of which they are a subset. So call them firearms, or if you want to include knives and bombs in the discussion use the term weapons. However, unless this is a discussion about anthropology there aren't going to be many situations that it broadening things to the point of calling firearms tools adds anything good to the discussion.

Well, taking a glass half full view of it, a guy who lives down the street from me had a "F*** Joe Biden!" flag and has changed it for a "Let's Go, Brandon!" flag, and I consider it a definite improvement. This is particularly true since the guy's house is across the street from the playground of a public park, and I don't think the parent's of the kids that played there appreciated having to explain to their children why that word that they aren't allowed to say was on a flag next to the president's name. Yep, some people are real classy.

I foresee 31 tragic hunting accidents coming up.

Marvel has made Eternal's supporting character, Karun Patel, his own emoji. This is cool because I and apparently everyone else really liked the character.

I think that Thena has an arc, but it is more related to her illness than the external events of the movie.