[psmith2.0]

Don't annoy/confuse/anger people with facts, dammit!

If you just give low-skill workers an excessive wage (so they can raise a family of five on a fast-food "career"), that's all that matters and all they care to hear. Nobody thinks more than 7 minutes down the road anyway, as it is. Why should this topic/issue be any different?

[psmith2.0]

*She's just never gonna get out from under all this...*

(inexperienced) set armorer from Rust shooting convicted on a separate gun-related issue.

The weapons expert for “Rust,” who faces an involuntary manslaughter charge in the deadly on-set shooting, also faces a separate gun charge in an unrelated incident weeks before the film's cinematographer was fatally shot. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has pleaded not guilty to the "Rust" charge, was indicted Thursday in New Mexico on a charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm in a licensed liquor establishment on Oct. 1, 2021.

I'm starting to think this person might be a bit of a dumb-ass, and not qualified for the gig just yet. She seems to have no real understanding of gun workings/movie set protocols and safety, or the law surrounding firearms.

An attorney for Gutierrez-Reed called the new charge baseless.

I'm sure they did. What else would her defense team say?

“The special prosecutor has now resorted to charging Hannah Gutierrez-Reed with another offense not tied to the 'Rust' set or remotely related to it. Next week it will probably be something else they will dream up,” attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement. “This is now turned into a complete smear campaign against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and an attempt by the prosecutor to get any conviction possible because its 'Rust'-related charges against Hannah are so weak.”

Absolutely. The nerve of these bastards, seeking to hold the ONE person on that set whose job it was to make sure all this shit was safe and done properly - and that bonehead actors weren't accidentally plugging/killing crew members - responsible for that horrible on-set shooting. Such gall. I don't know why, but maybe they should be charging Trump? Or perhaps O.J. Simpson? I'm sure they would, if they could.

Nobody involved in this incident will see any real trouble from it. That should be apparent at this point. It shouldn't take two years to figure it all out. That poor cinematographer didn't get two extra years to live, spend time with her family, march in picket lines, have coffee with friends, post selfies on social media, etc. Is anyone in all this thinking about her, I wonder? Does Baldwin even remember/think back to that awful moment, or is he just going to have 16 more kids with that exceptionally fertile wife of his? Does she get pregnant every time she merely sees his crank?

"Your honor, I can't go to prison. I have 57 mouths to feed! And, well...you know. I'm kinda Alec Baldwin. Helloooo?"

Will Smith will probably see the inside of a cell before Baldwin ever will. It seems slapping a has-been "comedian" on live TV is far more serious than shooting a young mother in the chest from three feet away. That's certainly the impression I'm getting from the world, and I couldn't be blamed for thinking so. Which of the two incidents still gets near-daily coverage/discussion?

Exactly.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by PB PM I recall being attacked when I said I wasn’t giving inflation based pay increases to employees and told I was evil scum essentially. People just don’t get it, wage increases are the driving force behind inflation. I give employees a raise, I have to raise prices for my customers. Why should I become homeless for them? High wages are the driving force behind the rise in interest rates. It’s all connected folks!

The vast majority of that is being driven by "convenience" wages, i.e. fast food and other services that have no intrinsic value. Anything that has no trade value is otherwise worthless in the long run, yet those services are getting all of the attention.

Amazon, Starbucks, Hollywood, etc. None are necessary for life, yet all contribute a great deal to an artificial economic boom that cannot hold itself up, because the end result of all those sales is just mountains of garbage in the dump. None of it has any real value, cannot be traded for other goods, and is just money to the billionaires.

And autoworkers wouldn't need to go on strike without the inflation driven by rising convenience wages and printed money being injected into the system to prop up the result of worthless convenience services.

Those are not the only things that drive inflation, but they are prime contributors.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by kscherer The vast majority of that is being driven by "convenience" wages, i.e. fast food and other services that have no intrinsic value. Anything that has no trade value is otherwise worthless in the long run, yet those services are getting all of the attention. Amazon, Starbucks, Hollywood, etc. None are necessary for life, yet all contribute a great deal to an artificial economic boom that cannot hold itself up, because the end result of all those sales is just mountains of garbage in the dump. None of it has any real value, cannot be traded for other goods, and is just money to the billionaires. And autoworkers wouldn't need to go on strike without the inflation driven by rising convenience wages and printed money being injected into the system to prop up the result of worthless convenience services. Those are not the only things that drive inflation, but they are prime contributors.

While true, there are many factors to what a local wage for an entry level job is, beyond the required skill set. Provincial/State minimum wages, but I can assure you nobody could even rent here on minimum wage, since a living wage is considered $25+/h. A far bigger factor in many places is good old supply and demand in the labour pool. Our local unemployment rate has been hovering between 4-5% (that 4-5% is mostly stay at home moms, injured workers, people who cannot/will never work etc) for the last 5-7 years, so employees can demand more pay, because there is a labour shortage. As a result, unless you work at a restaurant that gives tips, you are making $20+ an hour.

[psmith2.0]

Elon Musk stepping in it. Again.

How is this guy seen as something special or above the rest?

He's a dork, at best. And, like former combover-in-chief, his mouth keeps him in trouble because he simply can't figure out the parts not to say out loud.

It's my experience that those screaming/crying loudest about "free speech" and the First Amendment actually understand it least of all.

Nowhere does it say - or ever said - that you can just say whatever the hell you want, anytime you feel like it, and are free of blowback/consequences. Ask those three country music chicks how that works, they'll tell you. Say what you want. You do, to a point, have that right. But you better prepare for stuff to blow up in your face, because you aren't guaranteed mass, wall-to-wall agreement or lack of fallout. That's never been part of anything. All you're guaranteed is that, for the most part, The Man isn't gonna throw you in jail over your words/beliefs/statements. That's it. And there's even a limit to that. Life isn't some wild-ass free-for-all. It can't be.

This clown should know that by now. It isn't like he just stepped onto the world stage 3-4 days ago and hasn't figured out how stuff works. In fact, people like him should know more than most of us. He's been in the world spotlight long enough.

Thank goodness this idiot was born outside the U.S., because he'd be running for president within a decade otherwise. Goodness knows he'd fit right in to the endless clown parade constantly vying for the gig. Yeah, that's all we need, this idiot sitting in the Oval Office, following the most recent two.

There's just something about the "chosen few" (Trump, Musk, etc.) where their mouths aren't actually connected to any thinking, rational part of their bodies, and they've spent a lifetime being an unhinged prick, unchecked, and they never learned to shut off/moderate that once they because super powerful and/or famous. Prime examples of what happens when deserving people don't get punched in the mouth, early and often, during their formative years. Sometimes that's all it takes. It's the only thing that explains their disconnect from reality/normalcy.

Put it this way: Elon Musk absolutely strikes me as the type of guy who'd get on a stage/podium at some big meeting or conference, and, in his efforts to be seen as "normal"/"one of the guys" would open with. "Welcome, everyone. Hey, did you hear the one about the two spooks walking into a fag bar?", and then get all apoplectic/"victimized" when it got him in trouble and resulted in tangible losses.

"Wait...what did I say?! Free speech!!"

Some folks have billions, and can buy everything but a clue.

[PB PM]

Musk always has been, and always will be a rich fool.

[turtle]

So what did he say? I'm not going to bother searching it out, put it in spoilers or paraphrase is fine. I'm curious if it was enough for Apple to stop advertising with X.

[Ryan]

He responded to and liked a bunch of literal Nazi content on Twitter. Twitter also keeps placing ads for major brands next to antisemitic or Nazi posts: https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter...te-nationalist

In the last two days he's lost, off the top of my head: Apple, Disney, IBM, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros, Lionsgate and Paramount.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by PB PM Musk always has been, and always will be a rich fool.

An out-of-touch doof who walks between the raindrops. Or likes to imagine he does. I don’t think he’s clever enough to actually pull it off. He’d say or do something to ensure he gets soaked, guaranteed.

And then, you know…blame it on the Jews.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by Ryan He responded to and liked a bunch of literal Nazi content on Twitter. Twitter also keeps placing ads for major brands next to antisemitic or Nazi posts: https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter...te-nationalist In the last two days he's lost, off the top of my head: Apple, Disney, IBM, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros, Lionsgate and Paramount.

And doesn’t know why/seems perplexed.

Of all people to throw in with, after the past several years. If nothing else, the guy is a bit tone-deaf. Which I find funny for someone who n his position and status. You’d think he’d be among the most media-savvy/act right people on the planet, just from having done it so long.

He makes blogger/YouTuber mistakes, like he’s never read anything or been around others. Trump does it out of jerkwittery/to push buttons. Musk just seems run-of-the-mill clue-starved, which makes me laugh. I think his social retardation comes naturally, whereas Trump puts in the effort and means to be, which makes him more of a dick.

Musk is like a 14-year-old pulled out of prep school and dropped in the middle of NYC with a bunch of money and no minder or chaperone. You don’t know what’s gonna happen, but you just know it ain’t gonna be good or pretty. Probably lots of whore- and drug-based activities/purchases, and several involuntary rides in the back of a NYPD squad car.

“Oh, I’m not supposed to do that? But I thought it’ was a free country!”

A twerpier Richie Rich, basically.

[Ryan]

Oh he knows. His nickname in the industry is Apartheid Clyde for a reason.

[psmith2.0]

It’s weird he skates on things that would sink/perma-cancel just about anyone else.

People have lost their careers/reputations for far less in recent years. He just kinda bounces from one “oops!” To another, with no real fallout. I guess the press is afraid to wind up on his bad side or “enemy list”. Because they’ve hounded others into oblivion or cultural/social Alcatraz over an iffy joke, a decades-old Tweet or off-the-cuff remark.

The Teflon dork?

I always find that stuff interesting. You learn who has real power/clout, based on who gets away with shit that would permanently submarine you or I.

Some people - Bill Clinton, Robert Downey, Jr., Howard Stern, Bill Burr, etc. - are simply uncancelable. It would’ve happened by now, otherwise, with all the ammunition they’ve provided. Name one actor n Hollywood who could - in the 21st century, the year Obama wins the presidency, no less - do an entire movie in blackface, and all that went with it, and suffer no fallout whatsoever?!?

Not only that, but he goes on to become the cornerstone of the MCU, making bazillions for the involved companies. Which is the only reason needed. Marvel/Disney managed to hinge their multi-year/multi-movie cinematic universe on a guy that allegedly committed the most unpardonable sin of all, that same year, and that they would’ve canned anyone else over. “Well, he was so fucked up on drugs just a few short years ago, we gotta cut him some slack/wiggle room on this. Could be residual effects? He didn’t know what he was doing.”

I’m can only imagine the contortions/ulcers of the Marvel execs in 2007-2008. “We hired WHO to play Tony Stark/Iton Man and build a decade-long franchise around?!?!? He’s gonna play it white, right? We’re not gonna do any of that Tropic Thunder makeup stuff, right?? He will play Stark as a white guy, correct?! Otherwise, let’s hire Denzel or Wesley instead and save ourselves a boatload of grief and hassle!”

I’ve been led to believe that’s the worst thing since the “n word”. Well, apparently not. But let Carrot Top, Pauly Shore or David Spade try it and see what happens.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 It’s weird he skates on things that would sink/perma-cancel just about anyone else.

Yeah, money lets you get away with almost anything, just ask OJ Simpson.

[psmith2.0]

I would but I’m afraid he’ll stab me.

[psmith2.0]

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has died at 96

Like her husband, I always thought of her as a decent, kind person. I always thought he took a beating/got the short end of the stick. He made some bad calls, and probably wasn't our strongest President, but I'm convinced he meant well and his heart was in the right place. Probably one of the last likable, relatable couples to occupy the White House (at least in my time, I can't speak to Eleanor, Mamie, Bess and the rest; slightly before my time). They were married for 77 years. He'll be lost without her. Sad.

If there's such a thing as people being too good for the office, and national politics in general, it would be these two...ugly, hateful DC chews up/spits out such people.

She entered hospice care with her husband just yesterday, I read online somewhere. She must've known her time was approaching.

Rest In Peace, Mrs. Carter.




Mark my words...she won't get 1/10th the coverage of Chandler Bing, but that's just kinda where we are in the culture. No real surprise there. *shrug*

[psmith2.0]

*Ain't nobody wanna see that! news...

Woman(?) on Frontier Airlines flight threatens to pee in aisle in front of everyone. Because air travel.

While pixelated/cropped, the pics contained in the above story are probably, in a reasonable world, NSFW. Be aware before blindly, wildly clicking the link. I don't wanna get anyone in trouble/fired from their gig.

Start beating some of these people and this shit stops immediately. Physical violence is underrated/unerappreciated, and is sometimes exactly what is needed. Some stranger puts their big fat ass inches from me on a plane like this, at the very least, they're getting kicked/pushed away from me. That wasn't part of my ticket seeing some stranger bush/pissing action. I can go to the Internet for that, anytime I want.

Folks who were there say it all went down on a flight from somewhere in Florida...

No kidding. I'm not even surprised. Of course it's the glorious Sunshine State. Where else?!

... to Philadelphia ... and one passenger is accusing the woman of threatening to kill another person onboard.

Well, of course. She's just getting started! Pissing, murder, etc.

I wrote here, months ago, during that run of morons wigging out and punching flight attendants and other passengers that something needs to be done to get a grip on these crazy people flying and acting like animals while doing so.

I never want to fly again, with all I've seen reported this past year. Yes, COVID was a thing. Yes, for some it was horrible. But it can't be a perpetual excuse for people to be idiots in public, and that's where it seems to have gone. It just seems like the wheels have fallen off and people are routinely acting in ways now that they didn't three years ago. We were all stressed and lost something during the height of that stuff, but you gotta pull it together. Starting with your butt cheeks.

I would absolutely die if I saw stranger genitalia in public, in such a nutty, stupid display of childishness. Piss on yourself lady, in your pants, and clear it all up later. Don't get in the aisle, with dozens of strangers around you, drop your pants and threaten to pee. That's just gross and immature. That's something a brain-damaged, overmedicated 8-year-old does, ffs. Or a mental patient, if an adult. Which is it?

And, no...it isn't my job to "understannnnnnd". This is ridiculous, unacceptable bullshit behavior, period, and I'm not gonna be the villain here, so don't even start, some of you. You probably know who you are by now.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Start beating some of these people and this shit stops immediately. Physical violence is underrated/unerappreciated, and is sometimes exactly what is needed.

I can see a bit of a problem with that approach.

[psmith2.0]

You DO?!

Okay, I'm exaggerating a smidge. Maybe.

It's not anything anyone needs to "Yikes!" out over, I promise. It's not that serious, people.

[turtle]

Oh, I don't know. I think a good beat down to establish pecking order and such is normal.

I mean, should it ever actually devolve to that? No. However, there are some people that really do get better after a beating. I've seen it time and again in the military. I've seen it in many other areas too. Not the pretty side of life, but it is reality. Heck, even the animal kingdom has this figured out.

[psmith2.0]

That’s kinda what I was initially getting at but I didn’t want a dose from the joint. Think how normal/bearable someone like Donald Trump might be if he’d gotten his ass kicked on the regular, growing up. You know he didn’t. You can tell, everything about him screams “nobody’s ever jacked my jaw”. And certain former Novans who were obviously never taught how to interact with other humans. If you haven’t learned it by 30, the world owes it to you. That’s all I’m saying. If you think standing up in the middle of a crowded plane, pulling down your pants and squatting in the aisle is a reasonable, acceptable way to behave, then yeah…you need your ass kicked so it’s something you know not to do again. She’s not a child. Physically, anyway.

If someone will do that in public, among strangers, imagine this doof in her own home or with friends/family. Nobody in her circle has ever just given her a corrective smack, out of love/concern, when sorely needed? Come on.

“We can’t even go to Olive Garden with you anymore because of how you get sometimes…”.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 That’s kinda what I was initially getting at but I didn’t want a dose from the joint. Think how normal/bearable someone like Donald Trump might be if he’d gotten his ass kicked on the regular, growing up. You know he didn’t. You can tell, everything about him screams “nobody’s ever jacked my jaw”.

I don't agree in terms of literal physical violence, but in a metaphorical sense, I 110% agree: I think a lot of his behavior stems from him always, always, always having gotten his way. Because he's white, and male, and inherited lots of wealth from his dad, he never had to develop scruples about anything.

It's kinda funny from the outside watching him try to understand judges who don't put up with his shit. Like, he literally doesn't understand, because his formative years didn't feature pushback.

[PB PM]

Getting, or giving, a beating does absolutely nothing. Some people are simply too dense to see beyond their own nose. Some of the most self centred kids in school got into fights, that they lost, all the time and didn’t change them one bit.

Discipline is an internal choice, as much as it is taught. Some of the worst people I knew were raised just fine by their parents, they simply couldn’t help but make bad choices, or so it seemed anyway.

[psmith2.0]

It does sometimes. There's no blanket catch-all answer to this because I've seen, with my own eyes, how it has solved a problem (bullying, excessive shitheadery, etc.). Just as I'm not allowed to say "a beating to everyone solves everything", others can't say it does nothing. Horseshit. I've clearly seen otherwise. An "attitude adjustment", it was called. Everything's a situation, and to be taken that way.

On a lighter, less contentious note:

Dave Filoni has been promoted – and he’s now pretty much Star Wars’ answer to Kevin Feige

As God intended.

This is how it should've been for several years. Then maybe that sequel trilogy would've had some stick (and made an ounce or two of sense).

This is good news. He and Jon Favreau are the two guys responsible for me even noticing/watching any SW content of late, so...good for him. And smart of Disney/Lucasfilm. I knew they had a good decision in them somewhere, they just had to look! Nice to know that a longtime fan - and someone who obviously "gets it" - is in that position, vs., say, J.J. Abrams or Rian Johnson or any number of "huh?!" choices they could've gone with. Nice to see talent, vision and a general grasp of things get rewarded! Says he'll be working alongside Kathleen Kennedy in the development of any/all new projects, going forward. While I'm not bonkers that she's still involved, having a longtime, successful creative type like Filoni in the mix is a good thing. Perhaps he can gently persuade her away from some bad ideas/plans, or has the clout/presence/success rate to outright override some of her misfires. It's just a good sign that someone like him is now among the group coming up with/okaying new content.

They're on a tear in the TV side of things in recent years, so maybe they can bring some of that to the big screen and it'll be good/watchable stuff again? I honestly don't know of anyone else, at this time, who'd be a better choice for this position. Most of us already assumed he was kinda that way in some casual, unofficial capacity, but it sounds like they've gone and made it official/known. Good! Filoni strikes me as someone who loves the property and has added to it, in the positive, over the years. That's what/who you want! Not another round/decade of Abrams doing his best George Lucas tribute band thing. Come on...we've tried that already. I was prepared to give up on the franchise completely had they named his silly ass to the position.

Maybe he can go back to Star Trek, the one "space" property I don't care enough about for someone to botch it.

[turtle]

Wonder if they will reboot the sequel trilogy? They have the rights to do it.

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by turtle Wonder if they will reboot the sequel trilogy? They have the rights to do it.

Kennedy won't want her legacy project erased, even if the rest of the world wants it disappeared as fast as possible.

Fisher's gone, Ford is done with SW, and Mark Hamill can't carry a trilogy on his own. So a reboot will have to recast the three, and I think to do that you have to erase the time gap. The new trilogy would have to start in the years after the Emperor goes down the shaft.

Wait - why is this in the News thread? Don't we have a Star Wars thread?

[turtle]

Keeping y'all on your toes!

[psmith2.0]

Because it felt like "news" to me, and I didn't want to go back and find the right Star Wars thread. There are dozens. Maybe hundreds? Sequels trilogy, Disney+ TV shows, etc.

PS - They're never gonna undo/remake/erase the existing sequel trilogy, just get that out of your minds. That's a slap in the face to Kennedy, which they're just not gonna allow or back, as well as to all the workers and crew/actors who put in the long hours and work to bring those three movies to life. The stunt folks and effects department obviously putting in far more time than the writers, but that's another discussion. Those are the episodes 7-9 we got. Accept it. No, I don't like it either, but I'm also a realist and Disney/Lucasfilm aren't about to admit "wow, we kinda dropped the ball" and how it would reflect on everyone involved (and what it would say to the world, big picture). Just bad PR/egg on face they don't need. And the shareholders certainly wouldn't appreciate it.

[psmith2.0]

*I can't believe it wasn't "problematic"! What planet am I on?!?

Merriam-Websters announces the word of the year for 2023

"Authentic". Something nobody actually is. Can't afford to be, frankly, or it gets your ass in a sling, fired, canceled, etc. Look around. The most "authentic" people I know all seem to have mugshots, and/or are universally reviled. It's overrated, from where I sit! In any case, I've certainly heard "problematic" FAR more than "authentic", that's for sure!

In fact, some political/business figures contract firms to teach them how to be the word. Which I find hilarious. If you have to be "taught" such a thing, then guess what? It automatically means you ain't, so why is anyone listening to your fake, sham ass? For years/decades, even? Go do something else, and don't run for public office, knobs. It doesn't suit you if you have to fake the one thing you're not supposed to!

You don't "become" authentic over the course of a political campaign, TV season, film shoot, pregnancy, new social media launch, etc. You either are, or you're not. But who knows anymore?

I suppose one can say they "identify" as authentic, and everyone is kinda expected to applaud and fully buy in.

I think Ms. Boebert was being her "authentic" self in that theater a while back, vaping, grabbing a handful of dick, getting her titties played with, arguing with people around her and trotting out the ever-popular "don't you know who I am" (Yes, bitch...that's why we're tossing you out. It seems you left your "family values" at home, or in the cab.)

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has died at 96 … Mark my words...she won't get 1/10th the coverage of Chandler Bing, but that's just kinda where we are in the culture. No real surprise there. *shrug*

Her funeral/memorial gathering is in atlanta today. Boy I nailed it above. Since the day she passed, until today, I haven’t heard a peep. Was she not a liked First Lasy? I always thought she was, so the complete lack of coverage is a mystery/odd.

Cable news typically lives for stuff like this. Getting hold of something and covering/talking about it nonstop for days, if not weeks. I figured she’d merit a bit of talk/coverage this past week or so. It’s been total crickets.

[turtle]

Leaders are not honored like they used to be. Passing of leaders is even less so.