2 minutes ago, Pariah said:

 

I would also recommend spending five bucks or so and getting one of those one-use aluminum roasting pans. 

You can often find them at dollar stores and save yourself 4 bucks.

35 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

 

BEST 

BIRTHDAY 
PRESENT 

EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, unclevlad!  It is my brother's birthday too, and he was also thrilled with the gift.

I'm claiming the obvious joke.

"Mr Trump, you're fired!"

On 10/28/2020 at 5:48 AM, Cygnia said:

I tested positive.

If it isn't too bad stay home, but don't be stoic.

Earlier in the pandemic, someone here (Old Man?) posted a chart of the differences in the treatments of people who survived serious Covid encounters and those who didn't.  The course of treatments were almost identical, but the survivors got the more aggressive treatments one day sooner.  Yep, that was it.  The doctors reaching for the big guns one day earlier in a significant number of cases made the difference between life and death.  How, we treat Covid has changed considerably in the months since that chart came out, but I would not be surprised if basic take away remains unchanged.  If things start to go south, do not hesitate to seek and demand aggressive treatment.  It can make a world of difference.

9 hours ago, Matt the Bruins said:

No, I think you're spot-on in your assessment, and increasing blue-on-white violence by 150% probably wouldn't change anything because we know it wouldn't be rich, powerful white men getting killed. Just information for the general topic to highlight that for back men, dying at a police officer's hands is more likely than due to a stroke or diabetes.

I agree that blue on black violence is a serious problem, and certainly, black lives matter.  That being said somewhere in the neighborhood of 9000 black men die each year of diabetes and close to 14000 die of strokes annually.  So, you will need to produce some receipts to convince me that police killings of black men get anywhere near those numbers

42 minutes ago, Greywind said:

And who is at the heart of the Ukraine scandal?

Biden by way of his son.

No, the heart of the Ukraine scandal was Trump and Giuliani.  They made it very clear that what was important to them was that Ukraine announce that they were investigating the Bidens, and that they were willing to withhold approved aid until they got the announcement.  It was the announcement that was important to them, not evidence of wrong doing or exoneration.  The important thing was to score the political hit.

Speaking of exonerating evidence, Joe Biden has been exonerated of wrong doing in Ukraine by multiple parties.  This includes a Republican led Senate investigation that concluded just last month. Link 

So if the Senate Republicans found him innocent in an election year, you can best believe that Biden is a pure as the driven snow on where the Ukraine is concerned.

As for the new "evidence" of "Hunter Biden's" laptop, Fox news wanted nothing to do with it and the laptop because they viewed it overly suspect.  Indeed the New York Post writer who wrote up the story had his name removed from the byline because he did not view his own story as being credible.  Giuliani is known to be a target of Russian intelligence efforts.  Everything about the story stinks like 5 day old five day old halibut.

So no this not about Biden or his son.  This is about grifters, and gullible people who are choosing to believe them

6 hours ago, Cygnia said:

When a group of libertarians set about scrapping their local government, chaos descended. And then the bears moved in.

Yep, sounds like libertarians.

Good luck.

1 hour ago, Cygnia said:

Trump's adviser Stephen Miller has COVID-19.

I have a personal rule against ever rooting for death or disease.  This news is really putting that conviction to a test.

1 hour ago, unclevlad said:

 

Maybe.  I skipped it.  I think my brain actively chose to reject that it was gonna happen because it figured it was going to be a horror.
Looked at the recaps...a very common theme was, if it's going to be that kind of debacle, what's the point of having them?

Dark comedy?

1 hour ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

I'm just waiting for the inevitable disaster that will be the November election. Trump has succeeded. I no longer have faith in the system. He's managed to plant the bug that will make any result questioned unless the result is his victory and a disputed result goes to the court and almost guarantees a Trump victory regardless of the vote.. And the populace doesn't seem to care. They just meander on like nothing is wrong. Protests have so far done nothing but prove how impotent the populace is compared to the monolithic Corporate Oligarchy. The people seem to actually want the return of fascism. The want to be "ruled". I hate to rant, but my heart and mind are tired...very tired....of so called humanity.

25 minutes ago, TrickstaPriest said:

 

I'm with you there.  This has officially ended any idea I had that we (humans) had a future.

No.  It is only that way if you choose for it to be.  The people are there and the will is there to reclaim our country.  Over a month ago I put in for time off from work after election day, so that I can go to Washington to participate in evicting the current of occupant from the White House if it comes to that.  You can bet your bottom dollar that if it comes to that, I will not be alone. 

50 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

I agree that the Republican and Democratic parties have been extremely successful at advancing their own interests. Until recently. We're in our present situation because they both committed the one unpardonable sin for corporate entities: alienating their client base.

I think that you misunderstand who their client base it. 😏

2 hours ago, pinecone said:

I heard that Microsoft purchased Bethesda...?

They did.  That is why all the future games are going to made for XBox and PC.

12 hours ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

Maybe that means the next game in the series will be an Xbox exclusive.

The article that I read indicated that Bethesda would be making games for XBox and PC, with the decision on whether to make versions for other game consoles being made on a case by case basis.

2 hours ago, Cygnia said:

This is barbaric.

 

Staggering Number of Hysterectomies Happening at ICE Facility, Whistleblower Says

 

Yes, it is barbaric.

I was sure that this had to be illegal under US law, but so far I have not been able to find any evidence that it is.  In 1927 the Supreme Court ruled in Buck vs Bell that state statute permitting compulsory sterilization did not violate the 14th Amendment.  This ruling has never been overturned.  Nor, as far as I can ascertain, has any federal law forbidding forced sterilization been passed in the intervening 97 years.  California has as state law against it, but that was passed in 2013!  Forced sterilization is not illegal under Georgia law.  Though IANAL much less one with a license to practice in Georgia, so I can't say that there aren't any laws on the books in Georgia that these women might be able avail themselves on in the pursuit of justice.

Letitia Wright

11 minutes ago, archer said:

Transsexual Satanist Anarchist Wins Republican Nomination

 

https://www.the-sun.com/news/1463548/transsexual-satanist-anarchist-wins-nomination-new-hampshire-sheriff/

 

DiMezzo is the High Priestess of the Reformed Satanic Church. Her campaign slogan was "F*** the Police".

 

She attributes her win to voter stupidity in not researching the candidates and what they stand for.

Gods, I hope she wins.  😈

11 hours ago, Tjack said:

  I just watched a video on YouTube of sports figures from all around the world; English and Italian soccer, African rugby, American basketball and French tennis players, all giving the “Wakanda Forever” salute.  It seems to have become a gesture of pride for people of color everywhere. 
  I believe whatever Marvel decides to do, be it recast or replace the character, they better treat as carefully and respectfully as handling nitroglycerin during an earthquake.

11 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

I agree. But what you cite is an example of what I meant, that the character of Black Panther is bigger than the actor playing him. That's more true today than it ever has been.

Personally, I consider Wakanda to be a more important character than T'Challa.  A king on a continent that has long since started moving towards democracies, magic herbs and animal totems.  I have no idea how Africans view these things, but on this side of the pond it seems rather backwards looking.  However, an African nation free of the trappings of colonialism, proud, strong and with technology that doesn't equal western nations but surpasses them, well that is something.  That is a powerful idea today, and back in the 60s when Lee and Kirby invented Wakanda it must have seemed mind blowing.

So, when blacks across the globe say "Wakanda Forever", I take it at face value. Wakanda forever, not Black Panther forever.

4 minutes ago, Cygnia said:

😆😢

22 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

Personally, I favor recasting. The Black Panther is a much bigger and more important person than whoever plays him, even if that person is a Chadwick Boseman. There are so many stories still to tell about him.

Strong disagreement.  T'Challa has spent the vast majority of his career as a c-lister, only occasionally ascending to the b-list before tumbling down again with the next writer.  Chadwick Boseman and Ryan Coogler took him to the a-list, but did so by fundamentally changing the character.  They toned down his arrogance and softened him and made him more likable.  They made him less Bruce Wayne and more Peter Parker.  IOW, they made him not the jerk we see in the comics most of time. 

The fact that they had to do such a major overhaul to make him palatable to movie audiences shows the weaknesses of him as a lead character.  So, instead of making him into a character that he never was in comics, pass the mantle.  Let someone else play Wally West to T'Challa's Barry Allen.

8 minutes ago, Spence said:

 

Small thinking.

It is the spirit world and there are such things as spirit guides and such.  A spirit guide in the form of a great panther with just enough CGI to add a fleeting glimpse of the human face of T'challa, and you're good. 

After all, this is Shuri's new path, not the old one.

 

I have enough faith in Marvel Studios to believe they can do something in a tasteful manner. 

Both T'Challa and Killmonger got to sit down and talk to the ancestor that that they most wanted to talk to.  Shuri has to settle for following some panther around?  I'm glad that you have a lot of faith of Marvel studios, but personally I don't think that would work for me.

I guess they could kill off Queen Ramonda and then give Shuri the opportunity to talk to her, but I would really prefer that they didn't kill off a good character just to bring her back later for a brief conversation on the ancestral plane.  Really, the "heart shaped herb" doesn't seem worth all this bother.  First, they have to  finds some more of the stuff and then they have to work out the whole ancestral plane problem.  That seems like a lot of wasted screen time when Shuri can just declare that she doesn't need the damn thing to be the Black Panther and then prove it so.

50 minutes ago, Spence said:

 

Or she could prove herself "worthy" by discovering another path to the spirit plane. 

And I don't see any hard fast reason she cannot see T'Challa in the spirit world. 

You mean besides the actor who plays him not being around to play the role?

6 hours ago, Tjack said:

     A story problem is that in BP the “heart shaped herb” was destroyed with the last sample being used by T’Challa.  If you kill off or retire the character then you have no Black Panther.

I've been thinking kinda of the opposite about the destruction of the "heart shaped herb".  Its absence allows other people to take on the mantle without a super awkward trip to the ancestral plane, where they get there and T'Challa is nowhere to be seen.  

Shuri would be reliant on her skills and her technology as she took up the role of Protector of Wakanda, but in her case that would be sufficient.  Admittedly, without the ancestral plane connection people would likely consider her claim to be the Black Panther weaker than those who came before, but that could be a plot point.

12 hours ago, Tjack said:

  
Business wise, I wonder what Marvel’s going to do?  He so nailed the character in at least three movies I for one can’t imagine anybody else taking the role, but BP was a big moneymaker and a sequel is already in the pipeline

9 minutes ago, Pattern Ghost said:

 

They could pass the mantle to someone else. I don't see anyone else ever playing T'Challa in the MCU. He was as much the character as Robert Downey Jr. was Tony Stark. Seems like the only play they have.

 

They could also just drop the character from the MCU, but I don't think letting Wakanda die with the actor is a good idea, as there were too many other great Wakandan characters, and it'd be a step back from what they accomplished for representing black actors on screen.

I don't know.  From a story stand point, it is pretty straight forward.  Shuri is next in line to be the Black Panther and has worn that mantle in the comic books.  Moreover, I think that Letitia Wright has it in her to carry a big budget film.  However, without Chadwick Boseman there to do the handover and the shadow of his too young death hanging over picture, I don't see people emotionally accepting the film.

In order to make it work, they would need to the film about loss, pain, grief and ultimately rebuilding from there.  Are people willing to go to a super hero film where they won't just be expected to just get a little misty-eyed, but instead will be called upon to actually cry and cry a lot?