Zeropoint

ZOMG, hecking Phillips head. I despise Phillips head screws; there is FAR TOO MUCH cam-out; only an undamaged high-quality driver in an undamaged high-quality screw works acceptably. Roberts drive, AKA square drive, is superior in literally every way, but for reasons I'll never understand (sheer market inertia? "not invented here" syndrome?) people are NOT switching to it in droves, like they should be.
 
If I ever get a time machine, Phillips had better watch have watched his back.

I'm Laika called.
A Russian dog
Who flew above
The clouds and fog.
 
No plans were made
To bring me back.
I died alone
In the Big Black.
 
And there I met
A German crew
Composed of mice
And monkeys, too.
 
Though we don't come
From just one place,
We're all the same
Up here in space.
 
And all of us
Were kind of sad
When we got a
New fren called Vlad.
 
Georgy, Viktor;
Vladislav.
Best frens in space
A girl could have.
 
Americans
Have joined us, too.
Two Shuttle's worth
Of friendly crew.
 
From Israel, one.
And that's enough.
To get new frens
Up here is rough.
 
We see you weep
And hear you cry.
But we prefer
To watch you fly.
 
And if you want
To honor us
This doggo will
Beseech you thus:
 
Please leave your fights
And strife behind;
Be frens above
The Karman line!

I'm Laika called.
A Russian dog
Who flew above
The clouds and fog.
 
No plans were made
To bring me back.
I died alone
In the Big Black.
 
And there I met
A German crew
Composed of mice
And monkeys, too.
 
Though we don't come
From just one place,
We're all the same
Up here in space.
 
And all of us
Were kind of sad
When we got a
New fren called Vlad.
 
Georgy, Viktor;
Vladislav.
Best frens in space
A girl could have.
 
Americans
Have joined us, too.
Two Shuttle's worth
Of friendly crew.
 
From Israel, one.
And that's enough.
To get new frens
Up here is rough.
 
We see you weep
And hear you cry.
But we prefer
To watch you fly.
 
And if you want
To honor us
This doggo will
Beseech you thus:
 
Please leave your fights
And strife behind;
Be frens above
The Karman line!

I'm Laika called.
A Russian dog
Who flew above
The clouds and fog.
 
No plans were made
To bring me back.
I died alone
In the Big Black.
 
And there I met
A German crew
Composed of mice
And monkeys, too.
 
Though we don't come
From just one place,
We're all the same
Up here in space.
 
And all of us
Were kind of sad
When we got a
New fren called Vlad.
 
Georgy, Viktor;
Vladislav.
Best frens in space
A girl could have.
 
Americans
Have joined us, too.
Two Shuttle's worth
Of friendly crew.
 
From Israel, one.
And that's enough.
To get new frens
Up here is rough.
 
We see you weep
And hear you cry.
But we prefer
To watch you fly.
 
And if you want
To honor us
This doggo will
Beseech you thus:
 
Please leave your fights
And strife behind;
Be frens above
The Karman line!

I'm going to go a bit meta with this one: a cliche that annoys me is movies where no one did the research, or where no one cared about accuracy, and you get little things that most people wouldn't notice, but which just jump out and ruin suspension of disbelief for anyone with knowledge of the subject matter. Action movies seem to be worse about this, or perhaps they just overlap with my areas of knowledge a little more than other types of movie do.

He probably hasn't been given an official diagnosis. Until someone has official paperwork indicating that they have a problem, there's nothing to be done about it legally. For example, when I was in the Navy, we Nukes were strongly discouraged from seeking help for mental health issues. You see, a sailor with crippling depression and suicidal impulses but no diagnosis is clean on paper and can be assigned to stand a watch; a sailor who's seen a doctor and is getting help, including therapy and medication, is officially mentally unstable and can't be trusted to fill a slot in the watch rotation, leaving more work for his colleagues. That's how we handle mental health here in the US, and that's why people don't seek or receive the help they need.

I'm going to go a bit meta with this one: a cliche that annoys me is movies where no one did the research, or where no one cared about accuracy, and you get little things that most people wouldn't notice, but which just jump out and ruin suspension of disbelief for anyone with knowledge of the subject matter. Action movies seem to be worse about this, or perhaps they just overlap with my areas of knowledge a little more than other types of movie do.

And now the letter IS written and sitting in the mailbox. Reading about how the NRA allegedly acted as a conduit for Russians to funnel money into campaigning for Trump was the last straw that made me finally fire up the word processor. I realizes that THAT particular thing is only allegations at this point, BUT even if it's not true, the NRA has committed enough verified wrongs to make me want to disassociate myself from them.

And now the letter IS written and sitting in the mailbox. Reading about how the NRA allegedly acted as a conduit for Russians to funnel money into campaigning for Trump was the last straw that made me finally fire up the word processor. I realizes that THAT particular thing is only allegations at this point, BUT even if it's not true, the NRA has committed enough verified wrongs to make me want to disassociate myself from them.

And now the letter IS written and sitting in the mailbox. Reading about how the NRA allegedly acted as a conduit for Russians to funnel money into campaigning for Trump was the last straw that made me finally fire up the word processor. I realizes that THAT particular thing is only allegations at this point, BUT even if it's not true, the NRA has committed enough verified wrongs to make me want to disassociate myself from them.

Heroes are allowed to murder as many "unimportant" people, such as innocent security guards, as they want without it counting as a black mark on their character. The movies often want you to accept a mass murderer as a good guy.

Imagine how many socks they have!

Imagine how many socks they have!

Imagine how many socks they have!

The NRA is "curiously" silent on events wherein black gun owners are mistreated. I got a life membership with them decades ago, when I was young and naive and things were different . . . I keep meaning to write them a resignation letter but not getting around to it.

The NRA is "curiously" silent on events wherein black gun owners are mistreated. I got a life membership with them decades ago, when I was young and naive and things were different . . . I keep meaning to write them a resignation letter but not getting around to it.

On paper, of course it is. In practice . . . well, look around. It's becoming blatantly obvious that the people with power have decided that legal protections of ANY kind only apply to the powerful and their servants.
 
I just wish I had some idea of what to DO about it that didn't look like the French Revolution, and that the French Revolution wasn't starting to look reasonable.
 
Editing to add:
 
To clarify: I once swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and I stand by that. I do not want a revolution to depose the government and put in a new one; I believe that our laws would give us a perfectly serviceable and just government if they were applied to everyone equally. That's what I want to see; the corrupt and powerful cast down, and a new batch of civil servants put in place, who know that they are there to serve the public and that the law will come after them with sharp, snippy teeth when they use their positions to do wrong to their fellow citizens.
 
I also want to see a society that disallows extreme inequality of income and wealth. Despite what my avatar might lead some to think, I do NOT advocate a society where the "rich" are brought down to the level of the poor. What I want to see is a society where a rising tide really DOES lift all boats; where the lucky and exceptional people of the world are still allowed to excel and profit, but they pull the wealth floor of society up WITH them as they climb.

On paper, of course it is. In practice . . . well, look around. It's becoming blatantly obvious that the people with power have decided that legal protections of ANY kind only apply to the powerful and their servants.
 
I just wish I had some idea of what to DO about it that didn't look like the French Revolution, and that the French Revolution wasn't starting to look reasonable.
 
Editing to add:
 
To clarify: I once swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and I stand by that. I do not want a revolution to depose the government and put in a new one; I believe that our laws would give us a perfectly serviceable and just government if they were applied to everyone equally. That's what I want to see; the corrupt and powerful cast down, and a new batch of civil servants put in place, who know that they are there to serve the public and that the law will come after them with sharp, snippy teeth when they use their positions to do wrong to their fellow citizens.
 
I also want to see a society that disallows extreme inequality of income and wealth. Despite what my avatar might lead some to think, I do NOT advocate a society where the "rich" are brought down to the level of the poor. What I want to see is a society where a rising tide really DOES lift all boats; where the lucky and exceptional people of the world are still allowed to excel and profit, but they pull the wealth floor of society up WITH them as they climb.

On paper, of course it is. In practice . . . well, look around. It's becoming blatantly obvious that the people with power have decided that legal protections of ANY kind only apply to the powerful and their servants.
 
I just wish I had some idea of what to DO about it that didn't look like the French Revolution, and that the French Revolution wasn't starting to look reasonable.
 
Editing to add:
 
To clarify: I once swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and I stand by that. I do not want a revolution to depose the government and put in a new one; I believe that our laws would give us a perfectly serviceable and just government if they were applied to everyone equally. That's what I want to see; the corrupt and powerful cast down, and a new batch of civil servants put in place, who know that they are there to serve the public and that the law will come after them with sharp, snippy teeth when they use their positions to do wrong to their fellow citizens.
 
I also want to see a society that disallows extreme inequality of income and wealth. Despite what my avatar might lead some to think, I do NOT advocate a society where the "rich" are brought down to the level of the poor. What I want to see is a society where a rising tide really DOES lift all boats; where the lucky and exceptional people of the world are still allowed to excel and profit, but they pull the wealth floor of society up WITH them as they climb.

Oh, in THAT case it's easy. You just store all the characters you're not using in quantum non-observational limbo until they're relevant to the story, at which point they spring back into full existence when the camera points at them.

On paper, of course it is. In practice . . . well, look around. It's becoming blatantly obvious that the people with power have decided that legal protections of ANY kind only apply to the powerful and their servants.
 
I just wish I had some idea of what to DO about it that didn't look like the French Revolution, and that the French Revolution wasn't starting to look reasonable.
 
Editing to add:
 
To clarify: I once swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and I stand by that. I do not want a revolution to depose the government and put in a new one; I believe that our laws would give us a perfectly serviceable and just government if they were applied to everyone equally. That's what I want to see; the corrupt and powerful cast down, and a new batch of civil servants put in place, who know that they are there to serve the public and that the law will come after them with sharp, snippy teeth when they use their positions to do wrong to their fellow citizens.
 
I also want to see a society that disallows extreme inequality of income and wealth. Despite what my avatar might lead some to think, I do NOT advocate a society where the "rich" are brought down to the level of the poor. What I want to see is a society where a rising tide really DOES lift all boats; where the lucky and exceptional people of the world are still allowed to excel and profit, but they pull the wealth floor of society up WITH them as they climb.

On paper, of course it is. In practice . . . well, look around. It's becoming blatantly obvious that the people with power have decided that legal protections of ANY kind only apply to the powerful and their servants.
 
I just wish I had some idea of what to DO about it that didn't look like the French Revolution, and that the French Revolution wasn't starting to look reasonable.
 
Editing to add:
 
To clarify: I once swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and I stand by that. I do not want a revolution to depose the government and put in a new one; I believe that our laws would give us a perfectly serviceable and just government if they were applied to everyone equally. That's what I want to see; the corrupt and powerful cast down, and a new batch of civil servants put in place, who know that they are there to serve the public and that the law will come after them with sharp, snippy teeth when they use their positions to do wrong to their fellow citizens.
 
I also want to see a society that disallows extreme inequality of income and wealth. Despite what my avatar might lead some to think, I do NOT advocate a society where the "rich" are brought down to the level of the poor. What I want to see is a society where a rising tide really DOES lift all boats; where the lucky and exceptional people of the world are still allowed to excel and profit, but they pull the wealth floor of society up WITH them as they climb.

I choose to believe this is a cute and intimate film about Liam Neeson as an engineer giving emotional support to an anthropomorphic train working up the courage to be open about its sexuality.

You humans want my geothermal energy? You like hot rocks? THEN HAVE SOME HOT ROCK!