Sunday Morning Book Thread 10-08-2017

Library of Festetics Palace Keszthely Hungary.jpg

Library of Festetics Palace, Keszthely, Hungary
(Click for slightly larger version)

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, and publishing by people who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Like those worn by this moron, who, technically, is in compliance with the Book Thread's dress code.

(h/t Hank Curmudgeon for the pants pic)

Pic Note

This is the library in the privately-owned Festetics Palace in Keszthely, Hungary that's being offered as a filming location.

911? Maybe Not

My one complaint about the book Dial 911 and Die: The Shocking Truth About the Police Protection Myth, promoted by 'Jews For the Preservation of Firearms Ownership' is that there probably needs to be an updated edition. The publication date is 1999 and there's probably a wealth of new material that can be used and outdated information that can be replaced.

This intent of this book is to explode the "you don’t need a gun because the police protect you from crime."

Anti-gun lobbyists get away with proposing to completely disarm the citizens only because most citizens just assume the police will protect them. That assumption is false. The police cannot protect everyone -- in fact the police usually have no legal duty to protect anyone.

Dial 911 and Die proves this fact. For nearly every American state and territory, this book shows how the police owe no legal duty to protect individuals from crime. The police in most places do not even have to come when you call.

Gun prohibitionist lobbyists, politicians and media have sold Americans the myth of police protection. Schools teach youngsters to "Dial 911." There was a television program with "911" in the title. That phone number is perhaps the best known in the country. A generation of Americans has come to trust a telephone number for self-defense.

Now that firearms and gun control have come up again on our cultural radar, these issues should be revisited.

It was very disturbing when I found out, several years ago, that the police are under *no obligation* to protect me or my family. Court cases have decided this question, i.e. cities/police departments have been sued by victims of crimes for failure to protect, and their cases have been thrown out with the reasoning being something like "look, you can't expect the police to be there instantly to protect you from any and all possible crimes", which sounds reasonable. The police do not have unlimited power, and that's a good thing. But then the state should not be putting in obstacles in the way of firearms ownership for those of us who want to defend ourselves and our homes. Depending on where you live, you might be in a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-dont situation where the police aren't obligated to protect you, and you can't protect yourself due to local firearms laws (like if you're in Chicago).

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

To EXAUSPICATE is to do something lucklessly or with little good fortune.

Usage: 'Ette Jane D'oh had to go to a holiday dinner with all of her with liberal relatives and quickly became exauspicated.

Clear!

Earlier this week, the subject of 'scientology' cropped up in one of the morning threads, prompting this recommendation:

308 I highly recommend the book "Going Clear" about scientology, really great read. In my opinion, that was the work that really brought them down.

One part that stuck out to me was the Scientologists basically brought the IRS to its knees. Sued every agent personally, constant litigation, etc and they basically caved to all their demands.

The whole time I was thinking why didn't conservatives like Tea Party groups engage in the same thing? We're talking .00001% of the population is in Scientology.

Posted by: Maritime at October 05, 2017 02:02 PM (lKmt3)

Here's the book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright, and it's not an "insider" account. At the time he wrote 'Going Clear', Wright was a staff writer for The New Yorker. He is also the author of The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, which, as the title suggests, is an account of the men and events leading up to 9/11, a book which I've read and recommended.

It sounds like Wright is taking the same methodical, painstaking approach with the religion invented by L. Ron Hubbard:

Scientology presents itself as a scientific approach to spiritual enlightenment, but its practices have long been shrouded in mystery. Now Lawrence Wright—armed with his investigative talents, years of archival research, and more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—uncovers the inner workings of the church. We meet founder L. Ron Hubbard, the highly imaginative but mentally troubled science-fiction writer, and his tough, driven successor, David Miscavige. We go inside their specialized cosmology and language. We learn about the church’s legal attacks on the IRS, its vindictive treatment of critics, and its phenomenal wealth. We see the church court celebrities such as Tom Cruise while consigning its clergy to hard labor under billion-year contracts. Through it all, Wright asks what fundamentally comprises a religion, and if Scientology in fact merits this Constitutionally-protected label. Brilliantly researched, compellingly written, Going Clear pulls back the curtain on one of the most secretive organizations at work today.

I've been watching Leah Remini's series on Scientology on the A&E network it's been in turns fascinating and appalling. Ms. Remini's own book on the subject, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, which Amazon blurb starts out

Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue.

Yeah, no kidding. This is obvious from the series. She comes off as extremely driven and single-minded, and what is interesting is that in the second season of her TV show, she occasionally mentions that she is going to "do more" for the people she's interviewing than just tell their stories. She's hinting about some sort of legal action, which would very interesting. Although the COS is an organzation, as Maritime says, that has fought the IRS to a standstill.

Hmmm... That's an interesting question. In a fight between COS and the IRS, who would we want to win? Of course, we actually want both to lose, and lose badly so that each evil entity would be irreparably damaged, but that's not possible. I'm genuinely torn over this, but after some reflection, I think I would want the IRS to win -- by a hair. Because as corrupt as it is, the IRS does serve a legitimate purpose. The same is not true of COS.

Moron Recommendations

Moron franksalterego wants to recommend books written by his sister-in-law.

The first is The Night a Fortress Fell to Fairfield - about a B-17 crash after being caught in a blizzard:

On February 3, 1943, while on a routine ferrying flight from Great Falls, Montana to Ephrata, Washington, a massive B-17 Flying Fortress tangled with an unexpected blizzard. The Blizzard won. Dubbed the Fairfield Fortress, the bomber crashed its way into the lives of its flight crew, a farm family, and a small wheat farming town. The Night A Fortress Fell To Fairfield relives that cold stormy night and the memories that have survived. This true story was just a tiny incident within a nation at war, but left an enduring mark on all involved.

Available in paperback for $14.98

We Did It! - American Women During WWII - with accounts of hundreds of women, not only in the military, but on the home-front as well. (almost 500 pages):

Hundreds of books have been written about horrific combat stories from WWII, the most brutal war in history. Few books have been written describing the efforts of the American women during that time. Combat changed the lives of American men, while home front circumstances shaped a new way of thinking and living for American women. What did the women do to hold our nation together while their men were fighting overseas? What battles did the women face on a daily basis to keep our nation running smoothly? WWII changed American society forever by giving birth to the women's revolution and the Atomic Age. Both were explosive in their own right and changed the world forever.

$26 for paperback.

"Tonight We Fly!" The Soviet Night Witches of WWII - about an amazing group of highly decorated female fighter pilots. I knew we had female pilots in WWII, but they were used only to move aircraft from one place to another behind the lines, and did not fly combat missions. Thw Soviets, on the other hand, had some female pilots who definitely saw action:

The Soviet Night Witches were the most extraordinary and historically significant female fighting forces during WWII. These young women became the first in the world to fly combat missions, the first "stealth Bombers" in the truest sense of the term, and some of the most feared pilots during the war. They relentlessly bombed and harassed German strongholds in the dark of night. The Germans despised them, placed bounties on them and called them Nachtexen, Night Witches. They were the most highly decorated regiment in the Soviet Air Force.

Paperback for $15.

Unfortunately, no electronic versions of these books are available.

I noticed another author wrote an historical novel about the Night Witches entitled, appropriately enough, Night Witches: A Novel of World War Two by Kathyrn Lasky:

16-year-old Valya knows what it feels like to fly. She's a pilot who's always felt more at home soaring through the sky than down on earth. But since the Germans surrounded Stalingrad, Valya's been forced to stay on the ground and watch her city crumble.

When her mother is killed during the siege, Valya is left with one burning desire: to join up with her older sister, a member of the famous and feared Night Witches-a brigade of young female pilots.

Using all her wits, Valya manages to get past the German blockade and find the Night Witches' base... and that's when the REAL danger starts.

This book does have a Kindle version, for $10.99.

___________

Moron bensdad00 recommends Doctor Jad - The Way of Life of a Physician, first published in 1941. It's about the process of becoming a doctor, and a lot is still the same, even after 75 years. He tells me:

The most interesting historical nuggets are the complete lack of mention of anything that could even be interpreted as 'health insurance'. plus the (and I hate to use this phase) 'Pay it Forward' concept of individual doctors sponsoring the cost of medical education for promising students, with the understanding that those students would do the same.

His review is here. This book is long out of print, so perhaps abebooks or another used bookseller is your best bet. Or your local library.

Books By Morons

Science journalist and award-winning space historian Robert Zimmerman is one of our lurking moron authors, he writes, get this, science fiction (also non-ficion, but we'll get to that a bit later. So Bob tells me he has reached into the bottom of a disused cabinet drawer, blew the dust off of an old manuscript of a book he wrote all the way back in 1982, but never got around to publishing:

The time is 2183. Fifty-six-year-old Saunders Maxwell is a stubborn old space-farer who has spent his entire life in space...Later he turned to asteroid mining, captaining a small ship and crew of about a half dozen on repeated trips to the asteroid belt...he and his pilot Harry Nickerson are heading back to Mars when, as they fly over the vast slopes of the giant volcano Olympus Mons, Maxwell spots this strange glint below...they discover...the body of man who had disappeared on a distant asteroid almost a half century before. Sanford Addiono had been on one of the first manned missions to the asteroid belt when he and a partner had vanished. Nothing was ever heard from them again...Now, 46 years later, Maxwell finds Addiono's body on the surface of Mars. How Addiono had gotten to Mars from a distant now-lost asteroid orbiting beyond Mars--without a spaceship--was a riddle that almost defied an answer.

'Pioneer' by Robert Zimmerman is available at this link for $3.99 in .pdf, .mobi, .epub formats.

Zimmerman is also the author of Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8: The First Manned Mission to Another World

It was Christmas Eve 1968. And the astronauts of Apollo 8 - Commander Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders - were participants in a mission that took them faster (24,000 mph) and farther from the earth (240,000 miles) than any human had ever traveled. Apollo 8 was the mission that broke humanity's absolute bond to the earth: it was the first manned vehicle to leave the earth's orbit. Confined within a tiny spaceship, the astronauts were aided in their journey by a computer less powerful than one of today's handheld calculators. Their mission was not only a triumph of engineering, but also an enduring moment in history. The words these three men spokefrom lunar orbit reverberated through American society, changing our culture in ways no one predicted.

This book is available on Kindle for $2.80 or other formats for $5.99.

___________

Don't forget the AoSHQ reading group on Goodreads. It's meant to support horde writers and to talk about the great books that come up on the book thread. It's called AoSHQ Moron Horde and the link to it is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: OregonMuse at 09:21 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I would like to see that library in person

Posted by: Bruce at October 08, 2017 09:19 AM (8ikIW)

2 Re-read 'Forging the Darksword' by Margaret Weis. I had thought I had originally liked it when I read it years ago. But I started getting bored with it about half-way through. I did manage to finish it but I will not follow up with the last two books in the trilogy. LOL, I should have known better because I didn't get the other two books way back then either.

Anyway, moved on to The Proving Trail by Louis L'Amour. I downloaded two other books by him while troubleshooting problems with my Kindle App on my Galaxy Tab A. I don't know what happened but it quit working. Must have received one of those 'automatic updates' either on the app or the Galaxy Tab. I have never found out a way to kill those automatic updates on either one. I have since gone back to my old Gal Tab 2 which is still working and have updated my Amazon account to send all future books to it. It's a shame about the 'A' because I liked the 8 inch reader. Amazon is having a sale on their 'real' Kindles right now I may look into what they are selling an 8 inch Kindle for now. Won't need a Kindle App for that. ($80 for a Fire HD

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:24 AM (mpXpK)

3 Why don't conservatives ...

I believe it is because conservatives don't want to cause trouble for the people around them, while others deliberately cause trouble to extort something from someone.

In short, conservatives are good people, and liberal leftist troublemakers are thugs.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 09:26 AM (m9X4Y)

4 from the last thread, re: K-Mart closing up shop.

Remember when Sears bought them, and was going to get wonderful synergies out of their combo?

Looks like the people who said "Two Bricks sink just as fast as one" were right on the money.

Sears could have been Amazon. Sears could have been WalMart. They has got be the biggest example since Xerox of a company that should have and could have had it all - and they let idiotic management destroy everything.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 09:26 AM (V2Yro)

5 Anti-gun lobbyists get away with proposing to completely disarm the
citizens only because most citizens just assume the police will protect
them. That assumption is false. The police cannot protect everyone in fact the police usually have no legal duty to protect anyone.

You can take out the "usually" there. This is an official SCOTUS ruling.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:26 AM (mpXpK)

6 Huh, coulda been second, who knew ?

So much interesting content ! Thanks, OM !

Twenty - third ?

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, we are being gaslighted 24/7 at October 08, 2017 09:26 AM (z3Hmr)

7
Hey, everybody!

I'll be masturbating on this ficus over here while reading your comments.

Any of you 'ettes wanna be in movies?

Posted by: Harvey Weinstein at October 08, 2017 09:27 AM (9q7Dl)

8 "We Refused to Die," first person account of 3 & 1/2 years as a guest of imperial Japan, '42-'45. Pretty much as awful as you'd expect.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 09:28 AM (5u3aN)

9 I read The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield. The book tells the story of Alexander The Great's invasion of Afghanistan in 330 B. C. through the eyes of Matthias, a new recruit infantryman. Alexander thought it would take three months to subdue the Afghans so that his supply routes would be protected as he continued to India to raid her riches. He left for India three years later. As usual, Pressfield has done his research and his writing draws the reader into the times and scenes.

Posted by: Zoltan at October 08, 2017 09:28 AM (go62B)

10 Do police Dept have certification reqt based on response time like fire depts?

Posted by: Jean at October 08, 2017 09:31 AM (9TU00)

11 Apollo 8 was the mission that broke humanity's absolute bond to the earth: it was the first manned vehicle to leave the earth's orbit.

Strictly speaking, the Moon orbits the Earth.

/pedant off

Posted by: rickl at October 08, 2017 09:31 AM (sdi6R)

12 He left for India three years later

==

always a mess; I wonder if it is the terrain - mountains

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:32 AM (MDrIC)

13 10
Do police Dept have certification reqt based on response time like fire depts?

Posted by: Jean at October 08, 2017 09:31 AM (9TU00)

Not that I have ever heard about anywhere.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:32 AM (mpXpK)

14 “As a young child Aubrey Carsons wanted to be a writer because writers were rich and famous. They lounged around Singapore and Rangoon smoking opium in a yellow pongee silk suit. They sniffed cocaine in Mayfair and they penetrated forbidden swamps with a faithful native boy and lived in the native quarter of Tangier smoking hashish and languidly caressing a pet gazelle.”
--- from the short story “The Lemon Kid” in Exterminator! by William S. Burroughs

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 09:32 AM (qJtVm)

15 The COS always reminds me of the church Fred Sanford started in his house.

Any one dumb enough to get in with that bunch deserves what they get or got.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at October 08, 2017 09:33 AM (nUkMr)

16 Controversies are plural. Rejected books & racist mural. Makes this zombie want to hurl.

Posted by: Zombie Dr. Seuss at October 08, 2017 09:33 AM (bc2Lc)

17 Good Sunday morning, horde!

This week I started reading "I Will Find You" by Lt. Joe Kenda. For those not familiar with his series on ID Channel, he was a homicide detective in the Colorado Springs police force.

The book gives him a chance to talk about smaller incidents and his family life and history, which he doesn't get into in his program.

The Marine and I are both enjoying it.

Posted by: April at October 08, 2017 09:33 AM (e8PP1)

18 "Hi" - so I can join the Goodreads Group

Posted by: Redinabluestate at October 08, 2017 09:33 AM (ZQKf6)

19 "It was very disturbing when I found out, several years ago, that the police are under *no obligation* to protect me or my family."

This is a hell of an eye-opener for a lot of people.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 09:34 AM (NWiLs)

20 That library looks great but seems to have a major lack of seating.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 09:35 AM (NWiLs)

21 An old joke: A man sitting alone in his house one evening hears a commotion in his back yard. He looks out the window and notices that two strangers have broken into his tool shed and are rifling through his tools. He calls 911 to report it.

"Sorry sir," the dispatcher says, "We have no one to send to your location at the moment. I'll send a patrol car as soon as one becomes available."

The man hangs up, thinks for a moment, and dials 911 again. This time, before the dispatcher can speak, he gives his name and address and says, "Don't bother sending that patrol car. I just shot the burglars dead, so there's no longer a reason to hurry."

Within two minutes there are SIX patrol cars and two ambulances in the man's driveway. They find the burglars still in the act, handcuff them and lead them away. The senior officer of the detachment confronts the homeowner: "You said you'd shot the two of them dead."

The man smiles. "And you said you had no one available to send."

Posted by: Francis W. Porretto at October 08, 2017 09:36 AM (mj4NC)

22 I would like to see that library in person

Posted by: Bruce at October 08, 2017 09:19 AM (8ikIW)

Classy lookin' joint....prolly wouldn't let me in.

Posted by: BignJames at October 08, 2017 09:36 AM (GiOiK)

23 Anyone know if you can get a digital copy of the Deliberate Dumbing Down of America? I heard that there was a PDF version at some point.

Posted by: lin-duh falling at October 08, 2017 09:37 AM (kufk0)

24 "It was very disturbing when I found out, several years ago, that the police are under *no obligation* to protect me or my family."

---

The real purpose of police departments is to stop citizens from taking the law into their own hands and going after their enemies like the gang bangers do in Chicago. (Or the drug cartels in Mexico)

In order for justice to be served, there has to be a process, administered by impartial officials.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 09:38 AM (m9X4Y)

25 The case was DeShaney v. Winnebago Cty. DSS, 489 U.S. 189 (1989)

http://tinyurl.com/y8c8goxb

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:39 AM (mpXpK)

26 Posted by: Francis W. Porretto at October 08, 2017 09:36 AM (mj4NC)/i]

ROTFLMAO.

Posted by: rickl at October 08, 2017 09:39 AM (sdi6R)

27 "The police are not here to create disorder, they're here to preserve disorder. "

Richard J. Daley

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:40 AM (MDrIC)

28 308 I highly recommend the book "Going Clear" about scientology, really great read. In my opinion, that was the work that really brought them down.

One part that stuck out to me was the Scientologists basically brought the IRS to its knees. Sued every agent personally, constant litigation, etc and they basically caved to all their demands.

The whole time I was thinking why didn't conservatives like Tea Party groups engage in the same thing? We're talking .00001% of the population is in Scientology.

Posted by: Maritime at October 05, 2017 02:02 PM (lKmt3)

Because litigation is expensive. Very expensive. The COS has metric fucktons of money at its disposal allowing it to engage in these tactics. They also have very few qualms about using, shall we say, extrajudicial tactics to achieve their goals. Fledgling tea party groups getting choked out by the IRS didn't have this option.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 09:40 AM (NWiLs)

29 Took my Kindle to a market day yesterday - my daughter and I had a booth for her origami and crafts, and my books. Lots of vendors, lots of people, but not much in the way of sales, so I got through about half of Dave Freer and Eric Flint's "Rats, Bats, and Vats."
Very funny - so the day was not entirely wasted.
I hope to have the next Luna City book out by November, and have posted some excerpts at lunacitytexas.com for any readers who cannot wait until then for the next installment.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at October 08, 2017 09:40 AM (xnmPy)

30 24 The real purpose of police departments is to stop citizens from taking
the law into their own hands and going after their enemies like the gang
bangers do in Chicago. (Or the drug cartels in Mexico)

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 09:38 AM (m9X4Y)

The real purpose if to provide jobs for the Mayor's relatives and cronies.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:40 AM (mpXpK)

31 Having finished off Hugh Thomas' massive "The Spanish Civil War," this week I positively whipped through Walter Lord's "Miracle of Dunkirk."

What a difference! Lord's writing is fast, readable and engaging. I'm not saying Thomas is a bad writer, but he footnotes damn near everything.

I'm thinking of exploring more of Lord's work (hey it is Sunday) but right now I'm indulging in re-reading Churchill's "The Gathering Storm."

Speaking of Winston, no, my Mauser c96 still isn't back, but when I get it I will provide a range report. Mine is a rebuilt M1930, but it is in the same caliber and has the same barrel length. So it should be comparable in performance and feel.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at October 08, 2017 09:42 AM (cfSRQ)

32 I am listening (Audible) to The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teichholz.
It is very sciency and I could say a lot but I will restrict myself to just a few.
The parallels between the process which led to saturated fat being labelled bad and low fat good are very similar to the processes by which global warming became settled science.
It has similarities to the gun grabbing movement as well i.e. emotional responses to a heart attack blamed on saturated fat regardless of science.
A bureaucratic initiative regarding complex issues rarely turn out well.
Media expertise on anything can likely be dismissed.

Posted by: Northerlurker, Still Lurking After All These Years. at October 08, 2017 09:42 AM (nBr1j)

33 "The Cake and the Rain" by Jimmy Webb.
I read that one on Thursday.
A good read, lots of anecdotes about Glen Campbell, even Lowell George and Little Feat.
Back when music recording was expensive and rare.

Posted by: navybrat at October 08, 2017 09:42 AM (w7KSn)

34 The most amazing thing about reading up on Alexander's campaigns through Afghanistan is that, 2300 years later, here we all are still dealing with the same shit from the same people.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 09:42 AM (V2Yro)

35 They sniffed cocaine in Mayfair

You know who else hangs out in Mayfair?

Posted by: pep at October 08, 2017 09:43 AM (LAe3v)

36 the Fire Department - dumping ground for police exam failures, city poobahs' cronies and thugs

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:44 AM (MDrIC)

37 In order for justice to be served, there has to be a process, administered by impartial officials.
Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 09:38 AM (m9X4Y)

"Impartial officials."

*snerk*
Heh. Heh heh heh.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
*wipes away tears*

Whew, that's a good one!

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 09:44 AM (NWiLs)

38 Blown for Good is the story of a guy who was raised in CoS but escaped. The world he describes resembles a communist hellhole. Leah Remini was treated better due to her celebrity status. They alienated her though with the way they tried to control her kid.

Posted by: kallisto at October 08, 2017 09:45 AM (eO2Z0)

39 The most amazing thing about reading up on Alexander's campaigns through Afghanistan is that, 2300 years later, here we all are still dealing with the same shit from the same people.
Posted by: Tom Servo

Not a whole lot of good solutions for that. Even if someone was basically willing to wipe out every human being in the territory, it's exactly the wrong terrain to expect any real level of success. It's a guerrilla's paradise and always will be.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, this space for rent! Call 1-800-MORON-AD for details! at October 08, 2017 09:45 AM (66CWr)

40 32 I am listening (Audible) to The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teichholz.
Posted by: Northerlurker, Still Lurking After All These Years. at October 08, 2017 09:42 AM (nBr1j)

I haven't read that book, but I've heard a lot of good things about it.

You can learn a lot just from reading the reviews at Amazon.

Posted by: rickl at October 08, 2017 09:46 AM (sdi6R)

41 talking about one city in particular, not every fire department across the nation

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:46 AM (MDrIC)

42 Another good $cientology book is "Let's Sell These People A Piece of Blue Sky" by Jon Atack.

It was written almost 30 years ago but was recently revised. Lots of information about the cult and kind of demoralizing to read, honestly.

No one, not even the biggest of suckers, deserves to be used the way Hubbard used his followers.

Well, okay. Wolverine football fans deserve to be used that way. But that's it.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at October 08, 2017 09:46 AM (cfSRQ)

43 Many years ago an attractive woman tried to recruit me to Scientology. Her attractiveness was the only attraction.

Posted by: Northerlurker, Still Lurking After All These Years. at October 08, 2017 09:47 AM (nBr1j)

44 36
the Fire Department - dumping ground for police exam failures, city poobahs' cronies and thugs

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:44 AM (MDrIC)

There is an old joke about hiring. City officials would have a big pit dug and put a ladder in it. All new applicants for the PD and FD would be lowered into the pit and told to climb out. The ones who could use the ladder to climb out went to the FD. The ones who were too dumb to use the ladder went to the PD.

Sorry all you Moron cops.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:47 AM (mpXpK)

45 Based on a recommendation in last week's thread, I picked up a hardback copy of Niall Ferguson's Virtual History. I'm only a few pages in, so can't speak to the work itself, but I will note that no matter the conveniences and advantages of my Kindle, paper offers a tactile experience that the Kindle can't match.

Posted by: pep at October 08, 2017 09:47 AM (LAe3v)

46 Sears could have been Amazon. Sears could have been WalMart. They has got be the biggest example since Xerox of a company that should have and could have had it all - and they let idiotic management destroy everything.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 09:26 AM (V2Yro)

===

Could 'a been, I suppose. But most Sears stores were locked-in to malls with their overhead costs and traffic issues, while Wal-Mart built stand-alone stores at locations directly-off main roads and with typically a stoplight at the main entry to the parking lot.

Sears also got caught by direct-ordering (mail or call a supplier anyplace and have the item delivered to your door, not to the Sears store) and then Internet ordering.

As you say, management short-sightedness, overall, but did any old-line brick-and-mortar retail companies see what was coming and adapt well?

It's mind-boggling to me how thirty or so years ago I bought a fair amount of stuff through the laborious catalog order desk/store delivery process at Sears and Penney's. And how I bought a lot of stereo equipment and gun parts by mail (filling out order forms by hand), or calling-in an order. Now, it's go on-line and make a dozen mouse clicks and bang! the stuff arrives at my door in 2 to 7 days with very little time spent by me..

All you young whipper-snappers can't know how the Internet revolutionized shopping and buying, for everything from books to non-perishable food.

Posted by: Gref at October 08, 2017 09:48 AM (AMIL/)

47 I'm leaving shortly to explore Flint Ridge State Park and visit the museum there, because I like rocks more than any person should.

Any of you morons knap flint? Do you have any recommendations for instruction books? I've been gathering some large specimens from around the house and where I work, and I'm ready to start learning to make arrowheads and blades with it.

Posted by: April at October 08, 2017 09:48 AM (e8PP1)

48 I want that library. One day, when I'm rich and famous- yeah, right!- maybe I'll be able to build a similar one in my dream house. Is that a circular staircase hidden behind the paneling? Or maybe it's a portal to another dimension.

Anyway...

There's been some writing this week, but more reading. I finished Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge- what a depressing book. My tolerance for tragedy and 'realistic' or 'gritty' stories has gone way down, probably because the news provides about all the grittiness I can handle.

And I'm nearly finished with The Heart of the Continent, by Nancy Cato. It's about Australia in the early 1900s, and it's not bad, but the plot is a little weird. The cycles of tension and resolution don't flow like I expect, so I'm curious to see how it ends. And I don't know much about Australia, so it's an interesting look into a country that is a weird combination of the American Southwest and Edwardian England.

Posted by: right wing yankee at October 08, 2017 09:49 AM (26lkV)

49 Not a whole lot of good solutions for that. Even if someone was basically willing to wipe out every human being in the territory, it's exactly the wrong terrain to expect any real level of success. It's a guerrilla's paradise and always will be.

==

yes, the terrain. makes all the difference. In Europe the Swiss utilized theirs well, probably allowed then to remain a Republic for hundreds of years

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:50 AM (MDrIC)

50 David Miscavige's daughter, Jenna Miscavige Hill wrote a book about leaving Scientology, "Beyond Belief". I haven't read it, though.

Posted by: sinalco at October 08, 2017 09:50 AM (yODqO)

51 Could 'a been, I suppose. But most Sears stores were locked-in to malls
with their overhead costs and traffic issues, while Wal-Mart built
stand-alone stores at locations directly-off main roads and with
typically a stoplight at the main entry to the parking lot.

Sears' problem wasn't that, in fact those usually choice locations are their only remaining asset. Their problem was that they got fat and lazy, as most large dominating companies tend to do.

Posted by: pep at October 08, 2017 09:51 AM (LAe3v)

52 Finished an interesting indie novel, Sic Semper Sanitas, by Jon Edgar Wallace (Kindle @ $5.99, also available in paperback). The town of Utopia, Connecticut, votes to secede from the United States in the wake of Trump's election as president. The Progressive government of the town is challenged by Adam Smith, a wealthy pharmaceutical company owner, who is the only conservative on the city council. Caught in the middle is the Arouet family -- Mother and daughter committed progressives proud to be part of the new Utopia; father and son doubtful and soon entirely freaked out by the dire consequences of implementing the policies of the new regime.
If you've followed the news in the more conservative media, there is little new here, but the author gives a cogent defense of American values -- and more darkly, points to the inevitable failures of unthinking progressivism. Has a nice twist at the end that I did not expect.
I enjoyed this very much, and hope the author will keep writing.

Posted by: Alifa at October 08, 2017 09:51 AM (2C4qi)

53 I know Peggy Noonan has an up again, down again reputation, especially since she has been so GOP-e through the years. (it's her class, she can't help it) In her defense, she hasn't gone off like so many of the never-Trumpers have.

She had an editorial in the WSJ in the last couple of days that I thought was surprisingly insightful. She was examining why none of the Democrats can understand why so many ordinary Americans are so adamant about
maintaining their gun rights. She said something that I thought was amazing for someone at her age to realize:

1) we - meaning ordinary Americans - no longer trust our Political Elites to protect us, or even care about us.
2) in fact, we expect our elites to do whatever they can to harm us.
3) we know there is a break coming - we don't know the form, or the exact timing, but a break in society is coming, many of us can feel it, and when that happens, we're going to be on our own - no protection from on high.
4) for people who know a break is coming, and who are sure that their government will NOT help them when it comes, it is completely logical, and in fact prudent, to stock up on the things you will need to survive when it happens. Meaning guns and ammo.

Massacres like Las Vegas are bad. But our future lives, after the break, are more important.

Liberals can't understand this, will never understand this. Government is their god, and they believe it will never fail. This is why there's no point in even talking to them any more.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 09:51 AM (V2Yro)

54 45 pep

I want to read that. VDH referenced it approvingly in a recent article.

I avoid counterfactual history ("What if George Washington had had Apache gunships?"), but... if it's good enough for VDH...

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 09:52 AM (5u3aN)

55 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:47 AM (mpXpK)

lol. speaking of , I saw one intrepid FD member once who had trouble climbing a ladder....

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:53 AM (MDrIC)

56 Leah Remini's expose of Scientology is both fascinating and informative.

Scientology is not a religion. There is no belief in God.

It is a vicious, evil cult on par with People's Temple, Heaven's Gate, Unification Church, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 08, 2017 09:53 AM (EZebt)

57 4
Sears could have been Amazon. Sears could have been WalMart. They has got be the biggest example since Xerox of a company that should have and could have had it all - and they let idiotic management destroy everything.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 09:26 AM (V2Yro)

Yeah, that's hard to figure. Sears had an "online" business 100 years ago. But somehow they failed to make the transition from catalog to internet.

Posted by: rickl at October 08, 2017 09:54 AM (sdi6R)

58 @56 - what is so attractive, then ? a lot of wealthy individuals seem to be drawn to it

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:54 AM (MDrIC)

59 Any of you morons knap flint? Do you have any recommendations for instruction books? I've been gathering some large specimens from around the house and where I work, and I'm ready to start learning to make arrowheads and blades with it.

I don't knap myself, but The Art of Flint Knapping by Waldorf and Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools by Whittaker both get good reviews on Amazon. Waldorf's book looks like it is a short intro geared towards beginners, while Whittaker's book is more comprehensive and written with more of an archeology perspective.

There is also a good intro in one of the Bowyer's Bible series. Wear eye protection.

Posted by: Grey Fox at October 08, 2017 09:55 AM (bZ7mE)

60 Re: police- I never assume the police will protect me. How could they? I can't fit a police officer in my back pocket, and well, they're human. They don't have a magical ability to detect crimes and teleport themselves to the scene; their job is to make people disinclined to commit crimes by their presence in sketchy areas, and to pick up the pieces afterward, not be my personal bodyguard.

Posted by: right wing yankee at October 08, 2017 09:55 AM (26lkV)

61 I avoid counterfactual history ("What if George Washington had had Apache gunships?"), but... if it's good enough for VDH...

Interestingly, the book has a roughly 100 page intro on the value of alternative history. I don't know that I accept the argument, although it can be a useful pedagogical exercise for those of us interested in history and what it can teach about how to respond to current events. Most of the time, though, I just view it as a light, entertaining read. Romance novels for historically oriented types, if you will.

Posted by: pep at October 08, 2017 09:55 AM (LAe3v)

62 I can never get by Noonan's "reluctant" endorsement of Zero. She's just dead to me. I see her name & automatically skip to the next thing.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 09:56 AM (5u3aN)

63 Phil Sheridan could have cleaned out Afghanistan in a single season.

Mountains are great places to hide, but you can't grow much food there.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 09:56 AM (V2Yro)

64 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. Hope everyone had a great week of reading and took advantage of NOT watching the NFL.

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 09:57 AM (V+03K)

65 always a mess; I wonder if it is the terrain - mountains
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:32 AM (MDrIC)

It's not just mountains, but dangerous salt desert as well. James Michener wrote a great travelogue about Afghanistan called "Caravans". It's one of his earlier, shorter works. (I just checked and realized I no longer have my copy. Grrr! Note to self: "One can never have too many books!")

Posted by: sinalco at October 08, 2017 09:57 AM (yODqO)

66 Posted by: Alifa at October 08, 2017 09:51 AM (2C4qi)

That sounds fascinating, partly because I'm sure there are lefties who floated this very idea after Trump's election. Like Calexit on a small scale.

Posted by: right wing yankee at October 08, 2017 09:57 AM (26lkV)

67 Finished "The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo.

Good thriller with lots of twists.

You'll probably guess who the killer is, even though Nesbo is very good at "Hey! Look at this red herring over here!" type distractions.

A couple of logic leaps required, including "the creation" of the Snowman, but nothing that really breaks your suspension of disbelief.

Creepy, hidden serial killer. Some good set pieces. Some visually striking description. Relentless detective.

It's easy to see why Hollywood chose to make a movie out of this.

Though having seen the trailer, it looks like they may have changed the story fairly significantly.

We'll see.

Fun popcorn for brain thriller.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 08, 2017 09:58 AM (9q7Dl)

68 pep

I read his own essay about the U.S. staying out of WWI & found it thought provoking.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 09:58 AM (5u3aN)

69 Get off my lawn!

Posted by: Joe Dirt Road Warrior at October 08, 2017 09:58 AM (UdKB7)

70 A recurring theme we see from the left is that people who disagree with them are subhumans and deserve to die. Hundreds shot at a country music show? Assume they're all Trump voters and literally shot up Newtown. They deserved it. A whole city ravaged by a hurricane? Assume they're all Trump voters (spoiler alert, bad assumption to make about Houston) and they literally caused polar bears to go extinct.

Now, these are the same people who think they should be in charge of everyone's healthcare.
What could possibly go wrong?

Posted by: Colin bakernick at October 08, 2017 09:59 AM (MWGj1)

71 Mountains are great places to hide, but you can't grow much food there.
Posted by: Tom Servo

goats, sheep , also companions....

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:59 AM (MDrIC)

72 Sears is going bankrupt because during the years of economic ruin created by communist Obama they sold off their money making devisions like Lands End and bought crap like Kmart which was already failing. The management had a lot of very stupid decisions. Their appliance goods also went to shit and that had to hurt a LOT. They used to have the best refers and washer/dryers made. They are crap now.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:59 AM (mpXpK)

73 71 Mountains are great places to hide, but you can't grow much food there.
Posted by: Tom Servo

goats, sheep , also companions....
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:59 AM (MDrIC)

Gives dinner date a whole new meaning.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 10:00 AM (NWiLs)

74 My bedtime book is "Hell's Super" which is entertaining enough so far although I'm not very far into it yet. I'm waiting for a plot to show up.

I also have read "The Midnight Dog Walkers" which is about dealing with reactive dogs. There's some worthwhile content in the book, but there's way, way, way too much crap from the author about how wonderful she is, how kind, how sensitive. Seriously, there's actually one page in it where the author tells us that a psychologist-friend of hers told her how wonderfully sensitive she is. I may regret this purchase just a bit.

And now I must go read "Rosarium Virginis Mariae" as I am teaching a class on the Holy Rosary and it's Rosary Sunday for Dominicans and Dominican parishes.

Posted by: Tonestaple at October 08, 2017 10:01 AM (a7qmC)

75 Festetics sounds like a sales seminar cult

Posted by: Bigby's Typing Hands at October 08, 2017 10:01 AM (z2W2E)

76 38 Blown for Good is the story of a guy who was raised in CoS but escaped.

"Blowing for Good" was going to be the title of my autobiography

Posted by: Sandra Fluke at October 08, 2017 10:01 AM (ANIFC)

77 72 Sears is going bankrupt because during the years of economic ruin created by communist Obama they sold off their money making devisions like Lands End and bought crap like Kmart which was already failing. The management had a lot of very stupid decisions. Their appliance goods also went to shit and that had to hurt a LOT. They used to have the best refers and washer/dryers made. They are crap now.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:59 AM (mpXpK)

True. Kenmore appliances used to be the tits. Then they became just like all the other disposable junk.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 10:01 AM (NWiLs)

78 Gives dinner date a whole new meaning.
Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 10:00 AM (NWiLs)

LOL, go ahead, milk it for all it's worth !

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:02 AM (MDrIC)

79 I'm ready to start learning to make arrowheads and blades with it.
Posted by: April
----
And now you're starting to scare me.

No good sources for you but, I have a wooden box somewhere of bits and pieces of flint/arrowheads. You can have them if I can find them for you. They are just taking up room for me.

You going to the SW OH Mo Me?

Posted by: Tonypete at October 08, 2017 10:03 AM (tr2D7)

80
True. Kenmore appliances used to be the tits. Then they became just like all the other disposable junk.

That's because they're all made on the same lines, with a different medallion slapped on.

Posted by: pep at October 08, 2017 10:03 AM (LAe3v)

81 47 ... April, I don't know of any specific books on flint knapping. But I bet there are a bunch of videos on YouTube. Also, any issue of Muzzleloader magazine will have ads for books on the subject.

If you find any you like, please let the book thread know. As a flintlock shooter, I'm interested. Being able to make a small flint patch knife would be a challenge and fun.

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 10:03 AM (V+03K)

82 I recently read a persuasive interview with a U.S. general in Afghanistan who maintains that the govt will be able to take over its own security in less than 4 yrs-- with a very minimal military assistance mission left behind.

There is tremendous progress against ISIS too. Considering how Zero simply let these zhitholes fester, our military is working near miracles. PDT decided to let the armed forces run the wars. What a novel idea.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:03 AM (5u3aN)

83 All you young whipper-snappers can't know how the Internet revolutionized shopping and buying, for everything from books to non-perishable food.
Posted by: Gref at October 08, 2017 09:48 AM (AMIL/)

Yup...and then sometimes you had to wait 4-6 weeks if your were lucky for delivery.

Good by Sears. Thanks, thanks a lot. Now it's the internet, that's all I got.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at October 08, 2017 10:04 AM (nUkMr)

84 My Spidey-sense is pinging off the charts on this one. This ain't right.

I don't know if this was a Fast & Furious double reverse or some other kind of Deep State debacle. I don't know if he had Holder-supplied weapon. Or maybe a Hillary-supplied Syria CIA weapon. But there is something wrong here.

Really, really wrong. And we're not getting anything resembling the truth yet.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at October 08, 2017 10:04 AM (Ndje9)

85 IIANM Kenmore appliances were actually made by a division of RCA. Now they are Mexican junk.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 10:05 AM (mpXpK)

86 82 There is tremendous progress against ISIS too. Considering how Zero simply let these zhitholes fester, our military is working near miracles. PDT decided to let the armed forces run the wars. What a novel idea.

You might say obama drove the middle east into a ditch while he was drinking a slurpee, and now someone else has to fix it

Posted by: Mst3k at October 08, 2017 10:06 AM (MWGj1)

87 Sears - Afghanistan --

Hard times make people hard. People who lived through the depression are tough. Empires that are successful get fat and prosperous; people get lazy.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 10:07 AM (m9X4Y)

88 It is a vicious, evil cult on par with People's Temple, Heaven's Gate, Unification Church, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 08, 2017 09:53 AM (EZebt)

Eh. It's not my thing but,

I've known a few people with severe drug problems who became better people, clean and sober, useful members of society after joining the COS.

So, it's clearly a lifeline for some.

That's hardly Heaven's Gate or Jonestown or whatever territory.

YMMV.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 08, 2017 10:07 AM (9q7Dl)

89 A lot of people thought that Sears, being an innovator - catalogue shopping, would survive. But, the management is absolutely awful. The whole company is stagnant beyond belief. Montgomery Ward went away. Sears may be looking at the same future.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:07 AM (MDrIC)

90 Gives dinner date a whole new meaning.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 10:00 AM (NWiLs)
LOL *searches for the 'like' button*

Posted by: right wing yankee at October 08, 2017 10:07 AM (26lkV)

91 86

In Zero's defense, it was just the JV team. What's the problem?

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:08 AM (5u3aN)

92 86 You might say obama drove the middle east into a ditch while he was drinking a slurpee, and now someone else has to fix it

Posted by: Mst3k at October 08, 2017 10:06 AM (MWGj1)

A lot of non-Democrat people said early-on that Obama did not give a shit about foreign policy. His major focus was on welfare and social justice. And converting the US to Communism.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 10:08 AM (mpXpK)

93 "I can never get by Noonan's "reluctant" endorsement of Zero"

That was bad - the only faint defense is that, in retrospect, I have to admit that McCain would have been even worse.

We'd have had every liberal measure Obama enacted, plus he would long ago been able to push through Amnesty for All, PLUS we would have been in half a dozen shooting wars around the world.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:08 AM (V2Yro)

94 85 IIANM Kenmore appliances were actually made by a division of RCA. Now they are Mexican junk.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 10:05 AM (mpXpK)

===

I think many Kenmore items were standard Whirlpool items with Kenmore labeling. At least the washers and dryers. Did RCA own Whirlpool once upon a time? I long ago lost track of all the mergers and sell-offs.

Posted by: Gref at October 08, 2017 10:09 AM (AMIL/)

95 I have been watching a few of Leah Reminis show and my problem with it is that she is taking it on like a mommy. Which is fair because that is what caused her to leave Scientology to begin with. What I mean is she does these stories about a terrible thing that happened, and her focus is not on the terrible thing, but rather that NOBODY CARED.

I recently saw one and there is a bit of a spoiler here but there was a guy who was married young and he commits suicide young after getting busted for gay prostitution. There is some hinting that CotS is perhaps partly to blame for the suicide but I am thinking that the situation was pretty awful overall and I don't think the CoS made him gay and a prostitute and living a double life and having it exposed. And you know, the wife was like I would have been totally understanding.... Yeah? You would have been okay with a gay prostitute husband? I am thinking probably not.

But the focus on the story was that the feelings were suppressed.

I have read that Remini is "still grateful" for her time in Scientology and grateful for what she learned, though that may be changing as CoS goes after her. But that may be why she isn't going after the CoS for being insane and a scam that takes zillions of dollars from people, but rather because it is unfeeling.

Posted by: blaster at October 08, 2017 10:09 AM (jHrzU)

96 87 Hard times make people hard. People who lived
through the depression are tough. Empires that are successful get fat
and prosperous; people get lazy.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 10:07 AM (m9X4Y)

Only under a socialist/communist economy. It's hard to get lazy when the country believes in "if you don't work you don't eat".

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (mpXpK)

97 Speaking of the internet, I am going to shop for a "Harvey" t-shirt.

Just his mug and the name "Harvey" under it should make some heads explode.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (nUkMr)

98 I still have a Kenmore washer, dryer, and refrigerator my parents bought in the 1980s.

I've had minor repairs done with them, but apart from that, they're still going strong.

I have no plans to replace them anytime soon.

Posted by: rickl at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (sdi6R)

99 "23 Anyone know if you can get a digital copy of the Deliberate Dumbing Down of America? I heard that there was a PDF version at some point.

Posted by: lin-duh falling at October 08, 2017 09:37 AM (kufk0) "

Try here:

http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/MomsPDFs/DDDoA.sml.pdf

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (CSgvE)

100 Hello Book Thread!!!

That library is much classier than I would imagine for Uncle Fester.

I did a book review today for my Faith Fiction Sunday of an urban fantasy by C.J. Brightley.

Link in nic if you want to check it out.

Posted by: @votermom @vm pimping great books usually free or sale at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (hMwEB)

101 72, 77 Re: sears. Back in the early 2000s I had a repair guy tell me about my then 30 year old lady kenmore washer (a hand-me-down from my MIL) "This thing can wash rocks!" It was awesome! Sad that it finally died a few years after that.

Posted by: Longtime lurkers mom on her cell phone at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (/lLqV)

102 58
@56 - what is so attractive, then ? a lot of wealthy individuals seem to be drawn to it

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 09:54 AM (MDrIC)
$cientology got its big boost during the 70s because it appealed to people looking for an alternative religion. It was SCIENTIFIC! The crap about body thetans and space jets wasn't widely known, and what drew people in was the self-analysis.
To be fair, the whole "auditing" thing can have benefits because it's basically Freudian analysis mixed with a secular confessional. You sit down with someone, talk about things that bother you and then try to figure out why they bother you. According to Hubbard, it was something to do with a past life, which is just hippy-dippy enough for people to buy it.
Later on, as you get drawn in, your entire social circle is absorbed so leaving becomes really difficult.
Famous people get a network in Hollywood, which helps tremendously and they credit their rise to the auditing techniques.
Right now it seems most of the people in it are second or third generation legacy types who fear leaving because it is all that they know.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (cfSRQ)

103 "It is a vicious, evil cult on par with... Jehovah's Witnesses."

Is this a joke?

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:11 AM (7d/38)

104 Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 09:26 AM (V2Yro)

Sears had nearly *all* the infrastructure needed to instantly be the only full-service Internet retailer of 1994 and beyond, but they dismantled their catalog operation in 1993.

All it would have taken was a little investment in secure credit card transactions and boom.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 10:11 AM (Bl5Zt)

105 The worst thing Zero did, and there's a lot to choose from, was letting up in Iraq when we had the damn thing going in the right direction-- as it is now doing once again.

The left has successfully convinced our country that we can't win ANYTHING, & that we're fools to think otherwise.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:11 AM (5u3aN)

106 Currently reading Awake in the Nightland by John C. Wright. It is 4 stories of varying length in a compendium, linked together by their setting (in this case, "The Nightland" which was originally created by William Hope Hodgson in 1912 in the book of same name).

The Nightland is the Earth several million years into the future when then sun has expended its fuel and burnt out, so Earth is now a mostly cold and barren world excepr for the Last Redoubt, a 7 mile high pyramid shaped city that is the last residence of humanity. Everywhere outside the Last Redoubt or Lovecraftian monsters waiting for the Redoubts protective barrier to fall so they can consume the last of man.

I have read the first 2 stories so far and both suffer from the same thing: they take the bulk of their length before they start to get interesting. Also I have a print edition and there have a number of typos.

Both stories deal with love/loyalty in its various forms, but neither have really grabbed me so far. I's rate it 2.5 out 5, for the first half.

Posted by: Darth Randall at October 08, 2017 10:12 AM (6n332)

107 I still have a Kenmore washer, dryer, and refrigerator my parents bought in the 1980s.

==

made in US ?

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:12 AM (MDrIC)

108 Eh. It's not my thing but,

"I've known a few people with severe drug problems who became better people, clean and sober, useful members of society after joining the COS.
So, it's clearly a lifeline for some.
That's hardly Heaven's Gate or Jonestown or whatever territory.
YMMV. "

Yeah, it's more of a Nazi Party, Red Guards, kind of thing.

As far as why a number of good looking women proselytize for them in Hollywood? In all seriousness, it gives them a wonderful psycho-religious justification to go out in public and act just like the whores that they deep down know they really are. That's why so many leftist women are so strongly attracted to it.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:13 AM (V2Yro)

109 "62 I can never get by Noonan's "reluctant" endorsement of Zero. She's just dead to me. I see her name & automatically skip to the next thing.
Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 09:56 AM (5u3aN)"

Wow, no kidding, same here. She's not the only one, either.
What with the Great Umasking going on, the list is getting longer all the time.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, we are being gaslighted 24/7 at October 08, 2017 10:13 AM (z3Hmr)

110 91 86 In Zero's defense, it was just the JV team. What's the problem? Posted by: mnw

George W. won the Gulf War for his dad. But Zero won the Iran-Iraq War for hid dad, the Ayatollah.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at October 08, 2017 10:14 AM (Ndje9)

111 All it would have taken was a little investment in secure credit card transactions and boom.

Why go to that extra effort for a bunch of proles who will never shop anywhere else?

Posted by: Sears Management at October 08, 2017 10:14 AM (LAe3v)

112 Kenmore has contracted their manufacturing to just about every major appliance manufacturer over the years.

Posted by: 2009Refugee at October 08, 2017 10:15 AM (JyFLk)

113 Where does COS get their money? Even having a few rich celebrities in the organization can't explain away what appears to be bottomless coffers.

Actually, I wonder the same thing about celebrity televangelists. Seriously, people give that much moola to a person they don't even know?

FTR, the Catholic school in my town had to close down this year because the congregation doesn't bring in enough money to keep it going. But this is a moderately leftist town in New England, so that might have something to do with it.

Posted by: right wing yankee at October 08, 2017 10:15 AM (26lkV)

114 "Later on, as you get drawn in, your entire social circle is absorbed so leaving becomes really difficult.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (cfSRQ) "

Not to mention you've sold everything of value and remortgaged your house to pay them for all the training they're giving you.

I think Remini's TV show mentioned this once or twice. I think she should do it some more.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 10:15 AM (CSgvE)

115 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 09:59 AM (mpXpK)

Point of order - Kmart bought Sears, not the other way around.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 10:15 AM (Bl5Zt)

116 Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (cfSRQ)

oh, ok, thanks. so , sounds like it is therapeutic in the beginning, I can see why the attraction for Hollywood types, and a bit of upper hand with networking. why so hard to leave ? threats ? they get all the dirty and blackmail their subjects?

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:16 AM (MDrIC)

117 Thanks OregonMuse!

Posted by: lin-duh falling at October 08, 2017 10:16 AM (kufk0)

118 Noonan's editorial scribblings, also known as common sense, which most lack, present company excluded, of course.

Posted by: navybrat at October 08, 2017 10:17 AM (w7KSn)

119 107 I still have a Kenmore washer, dryer, and refrigerator my parents bought in the 1980s.

==

made in US ?
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:12 AM (MDrIC)

Probably.

Posted by: rickl at October 08, 2017 10:17 AM (sdi6R)

120 Was in a Sears yesterday. The tool section was paltry.
I was one of ten people in the entire store.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at October 08, 2017 10:17 AM (89T5c)

121 I mean, I'd like to avoid involvement in the ME & Afghan as much as anybody. But... once we break the eggs, we can't just walk away & hope everything will turn out OK.

Plus, these international terrorist guys? THEY never get tired, & I'd prefer they not have a territorial safe haven.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:18 AM (5u3aN)

122 Kenmore has contracted their manufacturing to just about every major appliance manufacturer over the years.

Most brands of appliances are really the exact same thing-- Kenmore, GE, Whirlpool and a lot of others-- if you go shopping for parts, all the parts are the same from brand to brand.

I just bought two coils for my GE dryer, they're the same as Kenmore, Sears, Hotpoint, and probably some others. Other than the badge on the front and maybe the control panel, underneath they are the exact same machine.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at October 08, 2017 10:19 AM (oVJmc)

123 Speaking of women at WWII I would recommend book by Nobel laureate from Belarus Svetlana Alexievich "The Unwomanly Face of War : Oral history of women in World War II' . One of chapter cover women pilots.

http://tinyurl.com/y92rvrc3

Posted by: redmonkey at October 08, 2017 10:19 AM (ntMM4)

124 116 Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at October 08, 2017 10:10 AM (cfSRQ)

oh, ok, thanks. so , sounds like it is therapeutic in the beginning, I can see why the attraction for Hollywood types, and a bit of upper hand with networking. why so hard to leave ? threats ? they get all the dirty and blackmail their subjects?
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:16 AM (MDrIC)

That's part of it. They build dossiers on EVERYONE, and everyone is supposed to spy and report on everyone. Very Stasi in its operation. Plus from what I've heard you sign rather onerous non disclosure agreements with COS that they are rabid about enforcing, one way or another.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 10:19 AM (NWiLs)

125 I will note that no matter the conveniences and advantages of my Kindle, paper offers a tactile experience that the Kindle can't match.
Posted by: pep at October 08, 2017 09:47 AM (LAe3v)

I agree with you, pep.

I notice that I am more likely to finish a paper book than an ebook.

Posted by: @votermom @vm pimping great books usually free or sale at October 08, 2017 10:19 AM (hMwEB)

126 Saw Blade Runner 2049 and it was a great film and it did a very good job of conveying the PKD what is real concept. Perhaps even better than the original film in that respect.

Posted by: blaster at October 08, 2017 10:20 AM (jHrzU)

127 Was in a Sears yesterday. The tool section was paltry.
I was one of ten people in the entire store.

==
stores always seem empty

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:20 AM (MDrIC)

128 MY W/D are kenmore from the late 1990s. We've been repairing them.

If I can afford it I'd like my next washing machine to be a Speed Queen.

Posted by: @votermom @vm pimping great books usually free or sale at October 08, 2017 10:21 AM (hMwEB)

129 "107 I still have a Kenmore washer, dryer, and refrigerator my parents bought in the 1980s. "

I own some rentals, I have consistently bought large appliances over the years. What I've noticed - and my repair guys and plumbers, etc., have all noticed, we talk about it often - is the huge change that has happened over the last 30 years to appliances. (and this applies to washers, dryers, refrigerators, water heaters, etc - all of them)

Appliances made in the 50's and 60's. (on the high end) could be expected to last 40 - 50 years. I still have one central AC system from the 60's that works fine. Stuff made in the 70's and 80's you could still count on getting 30 years out of, as it will still before the age of electronic controls.

In the 90's, reliability began to drop, and drop. Today? I was talking to my plumber a couple days ago, he said he had another owner he'd put in a new water heater for. The guy asked him how long it would last, he said "well it has a 5 year warranty." They guy asked him "no, I asked how long it will last" and he replied "It has a 5 year warranty".

Everything built today turns to shit in 3 - 5 years, guaranteed.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:21 AM (V2Yro)

130 Since this is theoretically the book thread, not the Scientology and Leftist Assholes thread, an update.

I am 11/14ths of the way through the final edit of my proof copy. Cover looks good. I think it could be better, but everyone else seems to really like it so I'm probably just being too hard on it.

I have found a truly astounding number of edits to make on what is supposed to be a 'final proof.' Somewhere during the conversion to pdf a whole blank page was inserted. I found one misspelled word, and a great number of word or phrase adjustments.

It would have been embarrassing to push this out the door without making this final sprint.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:21 AM (7d/38)

131 I want to see 2049, but my kid dragged me to It last night.

2049 has a marketing challenge. Nobody under 50 remembers the original. It's doing pretty badly at the box office so far, unfortunately.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:22 AM (5u3aN)

132 One way to take on CoS would be to investigate them for labor trafficking. It sounds very much like they are using "force, fraud, or cohersion" to keep people there and are controlling both what work they do and the money from that work. A bulldog who wasn't intimidated by their, at the very least, unethical tactics could probably build a very good case.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at October 08, 2017 10:22 AM (rp9xB)

133 The most amazing thing about reading up on Alexander's campaigns through Afghanistan is that, 2300 years later, here we all are still dealing with the same shit from the same people.
Posted by: Tom Servo

They are a tribal people. They made constant "war" on each other, to steal whatever they couldn't make. This was before Islam. Islam gave them more justification for doing what they had been doing for generations.
When Alexander showed up, he thought he had won by taking the cities, roads, etc. He was used to fighting the Persian empire, and winning a few major set piece battles and winning the war. But in fact, he had just started the fight.
A hard and treacherous terrain, which made logistics for a modern army (ie, Alexander's army), difficult (and some things don't change). Long hard marches, difficult to re-supply. The same problems we and the British in the 19th century had. The Soviets had the same problem in the 1980's.

Any major set piece battle where the numbers were fairly even, the Macedonians would win. But the Afghans would only fight on their terms, with the numbers in their favor. They were really only defending their ability to make war, not a particular set of targets or logistic bases (cities). A lot like the US Army fighting the Plains Indians in the 19th century.
Alexander tried to penetrate their inner strongholds, but once again had to split up to fight them piecemeal, with the same difficult results.

Eventually, the Macedonians could have worn them down and killed enough of them, but Alexander was somewhat impatient and wanted to move on to someplace more valuable (India) to conquer. Afghanistan is only valuable because being there leads to someplace else. The place itself is pretty worthless.

Posted by: Bozo Conservative....menace to society at October 08, 2017 10:23 AM (S6Pax)

134 "Saw Blade Runner 2049 and it was a great film"

I actually considered going to see that. Fan of the first one, but I had no confidence they would do it right. Hollywood sequels tend to suck.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:24 AM (7d/38)

135 Just a suggestion, OM, but I think you should change "It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®" to "English, m*****f*****, do you speak it?"

Posted by: Jules Winnfield at October 08, 2017 10:24 AM (yODqO)

136 Posted by: naturalfake at October 08, 2017 10:07 AM (9q7Dl)

I don't really have a dog in this fight, but I will recommend to you any of the books referenced above. Or any of the episodes of Leah Remini's documentary series.

I understand if you want to take a more balanced view, however, in that case I will suggest that far more people have been harmed by Scientology than have been helped.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 08, 2017 10:25 AM (EZebt)

137 "It is a vicious, evil cult on par with... Jehovah's Witnesses."

Is this a joke?

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:11 AM (7d/3

I'm warning you! You're only making it worse for yourself!
Seriously, though, JWs are cult-like in some respects. They closely monitor their members, require them to do X amount of proselytizing per week, and prohibit them from examining materials not produced by the Watchtower (their publishing arm). Their official bible changes the wording in a few places to support their belief that Christ is a created being, not God. For instance their John 1:1 reads "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the word was a god.

Posted by: John Cleese at October 08, 2017 10:25 AM (/qEW2)

138 My folks bought a GE deep freezer back in '65. Built like a burial vault & has heavy wire baskets. Would take baskets to butcher when we bought half an angus @ county fair. New owners of old house still using it. Glad it can't talk - served as beer cooler when folks out town during hi skool.

Posted by: Built 2 Last at October 08, 2017 10:26 AM (bc2Lc)

139 That was nice of them to put a WC inside that library. I hear it gets a bit cold in Hungary in the wintertime.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at October 08, 2017 10:26 AM (tRaq7)

140 @134 fans of the original will not be disappointed.

Posted by: blaster at October 08, 2017 10:27 AM (jHrzU)

141 RE: Afghanistan today

A nation state, with any significant popular support, is just a mthfkr for an insurgency to take out.

Taliban is a minority group. People don't LIKE mass murder. There is a Ray of hope there, if we don't do another "it's just the JV" number & walk away... again.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:27 AM (5u3aN)

142 2049 has a marketing challenge. Nobody under 50 remembers the original. It's doing pretty badly at the box office so far, unfortunately.
Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:22 AM (5u3aN)
---
The original also did poorly at the box office but developed legs later on. I hope the sequel builds a following.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 10:27 AM (qJtVm)

143 142 2049 has a marketing challenge. Nobody under 50 remembers the original.

Say what now?

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 10:28 AM (NWiLs)

144 "Festetics sounds like a sales seminar cult"

I was thinking an academic major in partying.

Name: John Blutarsky
Major: Festetics
GPA: 0.0 (4.0 in major)

Posted by: Lena Dunham's Ex-Dog at October 08, 2017 10:28 AM (gBM15)

145 129 I was talking to my plumber a couple days ago, he
said he had another owner he'd put in a new water heater for. The guy
asked him how long it would last, he said "well it has a 5 year
warranty." They guy asked him "no, I asked how long it will last" and
he replied "It has a 5 year warranty".

Everything built today turns to shit in 3 - 5 years, guaranteed.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:21 AM (V2Yro)

Well luckily the things most likely to fail on a water heater are the heating elements and the thermostat for those heaters. Both are easy as hell to replace if there is place you can get the parts for. But I have had AO Smith water heaters since I bought my house and their factory is less than 10 miles from my house. I can get parts.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 10:28 AM (mpXpK)

146 Test just seeing if I can post.

Posted by: paladin at October 08, 2017 10:29 AM (HCNhy)

147 Insomnia

That's what Variety says.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:29 AM (5u3aN)

148 Going to Sears was a big deal when I was a kid. It was an hour drive away in the Big City. We probably went in once a quarter. Remember once, as we were getting to the side entrance, a man came rushing out with a bunch of clocks stuffed inside his unzipped jacket. I remember wondering why he was stealing clocks.

Posted by: Javems at October 08, 2017 10:29 AM (yOqwj)

149 Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:21 AM (7d/3

Good luck with the final edits. It's amazing how you can read a manuscript three or four times and still miss those pesky dropped words. My editing sessions are filled with indignant exclamations of, "How on Earth did I miss that?" and frantic fixing of silly errors. I think gremlins add mistakes to the text when the authors aren't looking.

Posted by: right wing yankee at October 08, 2017 10:30 AM (26lkV)

150 The best appliances made now are probably LG and Samsung (Korea).

Samsung has (I was told by the old guys at Home Depot) terrible/spotty customer service.
So they recommend buying LG appliances.

'Tis true. A great amount of US appliance manufacturing has moved to Mexico, with the somewhat expected results.

And the government in it's incessant drive to mess with everything, wants it all to be "energy efficient", so everything is built as lightly and flimsily as possible, to save weight and draw less power. Refrigerator compressors are sized as small as possible, to use less power, so they run all the time. Meaning, they wear out faster.

Posted by: Bozo Conservative....menace to society at October 08, 2017 10:31 AM (S6Pax)

151 It's a bitch to compete with Amaxon Prime. Outfits like Sears drove me to it.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:31 AM (5u3aN)

152 Ok, so Scientology is a Mob. Too bad organized crime did not think of registering itself as a non-profit or a "religion" back in the day...

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:31 AM (MDrIC)

153 2049 has a marketing challenge. Nobody under 50 remembers the original. It's doing pretty badly at the box office so far, unfortunately.
Posted by: mnw

dude ! you know not of what you speak. truly.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:32 AM (MDrIC)

154 "Seriously, though, JWs are cult-like in some respects."

Prohibited? Required? Where are you getting your information? I was raised in that religion, and my grandmother died in it. I was never "required" to go anywhere or "prohibited" from reading anything other than Watchtower, and I was still welcome at family gatherings after I went heathen.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:32 AM (7d/38)

155 I love that library in the top photo but the place is in desperate need of comfy chairs, reading lights and a small bar for booze, tea, coffee, and cold drinks.

** nudge, nudge **

Oh yeah, the pup just reminded me to add a well padded dog bed and a box of treats.

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 10:32 AM (V+03K)

156 103 "It is a vicious, evil cult on par with... Jehovah's Witnesses."

Is this a joke?
Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:11 AM (7d/3

===

For example, like Scientology, the Witnesses regard anyone who leaves to be an evil apostate who must be shunned, thereby demanding that in order for believers to remain in good standing, that spouses, parents, children, must disconnect from their loved ones.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 08, 2017 10:32 AM (EZebt)

157 I think gremlins add mistakes to the text when the authors aren't looking.

---

I just thought it was buggy software. Now I've learned everyone else has the same problem, even the professionals.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 10:33 AM (m9X4Y)

158 The Last Citadel by David Robbins, a novel about the Battle of Kursk, follows three main characters, one of whom is a Night Witch.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I'm Dreaming of a White Privilege at October 08, 2017 10:33 AM (Nwg0u)

159 As for durability, these are the second gas valve coils I've bought for this dryer, after replacing them a few years ago. This dryer is less than 10 years old, and I've also had to replace other parts on it as well (like the drum support and latches).

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at October 08, 2017 10:34 AM (oVJmc)

160 Tolle lege
Slow going on Thomas Carlyle's History of Frederick II book 18 but then this week was a bit unusual.
Still haven't got to that new used book store and need to, lots of you find true jems at those kind of places. Had the chance to get the whole collection of Will and Ariel's History of Civilization but only grabbed what I usually read and didn't get the early ones. I have read all I have of them.

Posted by: Skip at October 08, 2017 10:34 AM (ghofu)

161 131: Hey! I'm under 50 and I remember the original!

AGEIST!!!

(I'm 4

:-)

Posted by: Puddleglum at October 08, 2017 10:35 AM (x5S0f)

162 150
The best appliances made now are probably LG and Samsung (Korea).

Samsung has (I was told by the old guys at Home Depot) terrible/spotty customer service.

So they recommend buying LG appliances.

Posted by: Bozo Conservative....menace to society at October 08, 2017 10:31 AM (S6Pax)

We just got new Samsung refer from Loews about 6 months go. One service call after another. They finally replaced it with another. Had problems with it too. They took it back and brought another. Great customer service but shitty appliance. I am holding my breath now. And i will never by another Samsung appliance.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 10:37 AM (mpXpK)

163 I don't believe I have ever seen Blade Runner. IF I have seen it, it was unremarkable. The only thing I know about it are the highlights people talk about.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 10:37 AM (m9X4Y)

164 161:I'm forty eight. Guess the smartypants phone wanted to put up a smiley face instead

Posted by: Puddleglum at October 08, 2017 10:37 AM (x5S0f)

165 Skip

You're going to still be reading that on your 100th birthday.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:37 AM (5u3aN)

166 You know a place like Festetics Palace Frederick would have cut a hole in the roof to let the open fire smoke get out and sat down next to the open fire and opened up a few volumes and devoured them, most likely in French.

Posted by: Skip at October 08, 2017 10:37 AM (ghofu)

167 Scientology bought their IRS tax-status from me.

Posted by: Hillary Rodham Cashcow at October 08, 2017 10:38 AM (Ndje9)

168 Prohibited? Required? Where are you getting your information? I was raised in that religion, and my grandmother died in it. I was never "required" to go anywhere or "prohibited" from reading anything other than Watchtower, and I was still welcome at family gatherings after I went heathen.
Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:32 AM (7d/3

===

Glad your experience was different. Why did you leave?

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 08, 2017 10:39 AM (EZebt)

169 >>>Later on, as you get drawn in, your entire social circle is absorbed so leaving becomes really difficult.

If you try to leave, you will be labelled a Suppressive Person and marked as Fair Game.

Posted by: Sea Org at October 08, 2017 10:39 AM (/qEW2)

170 4 from the last thread, re: K-Mart closing up shop.

Remember when Sears bought them, and was going to get wonderful synergies out of their combo?

Looks like the people who said "Two Bricks sink just as fast as one" were right on the money.

Sears could have been Amazon. Sears could have been WalMart. They has got be the biggest example since Xerox of a company that should have and could have had it all - and they let idiotic management destroy everything.
Posted by: Tom Servo

You have it backward. K-Mart, which was circling the drain, bought Sears.

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at October 08, 2017 10:39 AM (di1hb)

171 Anyone else having trouble posting after the latest Apple update?

Posted by: lin-duh falling at October 08, 2017 10:39 AM (kufk0)

172 I don't believe I have ever seen Blade Runner. IF I have seen it, it was unremarkable. The only thing I know about it are the highlights people talk about.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse

not into sci-fi ?

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:40 AM (MDrIC)

173 Blade Runner Director cut is on Sci-fi channel Friday at 11am AoSHq time. It could be on other channels as they like to promote new releases with the original movies

Posted by: Skip at October 08, 2017 10:40 AM (ghofu)

174 Anyone else having trouble posting after the latest Apple update?

---

Lotta people
Turn off smart punctuation. keyboard something.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 10:41 AM (m9X4Y)

175 Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:21 AM (7d/3

That sounds great!

Congrats on the forthcoming book!

Posted by: @votermom @vm pimping great books usually free or sale at October 08, 2017 10:41 AM (hMwEB)

176 NYT: "ISIS Fighters Surrender En Masse"

Yep. What if we won a war & nobody even noticed?

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:41 AM (5u3aN)

177 Anyone else having trouble posting after the latest Apple update?
Posted by: lin-duh falling

==
I'll let you know once it installs...did the new update fix vm-text feature that they blew away with the update prior ?

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:43 AM (MDrIC)

178 "Why did you leave?"

I thought the theology was silly.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:43 AM (7d/38)

179 I'm on a Samsung but detest updates, you sometimes have to learn how to operate the machine all over again.

Posted by: Skip at October 08, 2017 10:43 AM (ghofu)

180 Guess the smartypants phone wanted to put up a smiley face instead

Posted by: Puddleglum at October 08, 2017 10:37 AM (x5S0f)

8+right paren gives you sunglasses smiley:

To get around it, remove spaces from the following: 8[ i ][ / i ])

(xyz 8).

Posted by: Sea Org at October 08, 2017 10:44 AM (/qEW2)

181 Does anyone here have 'seasonal' reading topics? Besides my annual LOTR re-read, always begun in the fall, I find myself drawn to outdoors writing. Maybe because it's more comfortable weather or because hunting seasons begin to open, although I haven't hunted in many years.

I've been reading some fishing and hunting articles by William G. Tapply, who wrote the Brady Coyne mystery series. Beautiful, descriptive writing, much of it takes place in the New England of my youth. Just delightful reading.

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 10:44 AM (V+03K)

182 The Cake and the Rain" by Jimmy Webb.
I read that one on Thursday.
A good read, lots of anecdotes about Glen Campbell, even Lowell George and Little Feat.
Back when music recording was expensive and rare.
Posted by: navybrat at October 08, 2017 09:42 AM (w7KSn)

Thanks for the heads up on that. I saw Little Feat numerous times before Lowell George died, the last time he was as big as a house. Really loved how they restructured the group after that perv Roy Estrada left/was kicked out.

Anybody got a good rec on how that sawed off fuck, Napolean, seized power after the French Revolution settled down the feral activities. I've already read Citizens and The Great Upheaval so I'm pretty well informed on the Revolution itself and need to go forward from that.

Posted by: Captain Hate at October 08, 2017 10:45 AM (y7DUB)

183 128 MY W/D are kenmore from the late 1990s. We've been repairing them.

If I can afford it I'd like my next washing machine to be a Speed Queen.

Posted by: @votermom @vm pimping great books usually free or sale at October 08, 2017 10:21 AM (hMwEB)

I have a 14 year old Maytag Neptune I replaced the heating element on last week - $60. But it's a regular design, so I expect many more years out of it. The washer failed 5 years ago due to a design flaw with the drum bearings (it was one of the first front-load washers and touted as "energy efficient"). I bought a front-load Samsung and it seems to be more sturdy, although the gaskets have a tendency to develop mildew. I replaced the gasket a year ago and sliced my knuckle to the bone on a piece of expose metal trying to get the retaining spring back on.

My next washer will be top-load, I don't like the front load washers anymore.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 10:46 AM (Bl5Zt)

184 Does anyone here have 'seasonal' reading topics?

==

I do, actually. War and Peace reads better in winter for some reason.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:46 AM (MDrIC)

185 I don't believe I have ever seen Blade Runner. IF I have seen it, it was unremarkable. The only thing I know about it are the highlights people talk about.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse

not into sci-fi ?

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:40 AM

Science Fiction has been a passion, a life-altering fascination since the sixth grade. I just have a very narrow window of acceptance.

Also interested in advanced aerospace, military subjects, history (though again, very narrow range).

I have two tabs open right now, considering two scifi books, but keywords turn me off very quickly.

That's why I started writing - too much time on my hands, and I couldn't find anything I wanted to read. I like reading my own stuff, but, apparently, few other people do.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 10:46 AM (m9X4Y)

186 "That sounds great!

Congrats on the forthcoming book!"

Thanks. If anyone is interested, you can find my Createspace page at: https://www.createspace.com/7328018.

Opinions welcome. Isn't live for sale yet, so changes can still be made before it's unleashed upon the public.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:47 AM (7d/38)

187 Samsung is on the top of my shit list right now. I've had a Samsung 40" for the last 3 years, been happy with it - suddenly this last week it went to sound only, black screen. Can't get into any menus or reset because, black screen.

Probably an auto-update that went wrong, found a lot of messages about that when searching for Samsung problems. Short story, since it's out of warranty it's cheaper to go buy a new one and shitcan the Samsung.

Definitely will NOT get another.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:47 AM (V2Yro)

188 147 Insomnia

That's what Variety says.
Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:29 AM (5u3aN)

Variety can lick my less-than-50-year-old nutsack.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 10:48 AM (NWiLs)

189 Never seen Blade Runner, the original?

I'm in the group that holds that is the best, most gripping, most compelling Sci-fi movie ever made. Unlike so much, it has true depth, and like all great sci-fi can bring you to question your own morality, the nature of your own existence.

Easily on my list of top 5 movies ever made, any genre.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:51 AM (V2Yro)

190 Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 10:46 AM (m9X4Y)

you would have remembered BR if you saw it I think

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:51 AM (QC/4S)

191 I've been reading some fishing and hunting articles by William G. Tapply, who wrote the Brady Coyne mystery series.

Speaking of cults, William Tapley (aka the Third Eagle of the Apocalypse) is a cult of one.

Posted by: Jim Earl Jones at October 08, 2017 10:52 AM (VnrRZ)

192 187; lg is much superior to samsung. samsung products are just cheap. the independent electronic retailer i buy from will not carry samsung. too many pissed off customers.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at October 08, 2017 10:52 AM (KP5rU)

193 So are you guys telling me not to let my iPhone update its iOS?

Posted by: Captain Hate at October 08, 2017 10:52 AM (y7DUB)

194 I have been sort of noticing that replacement parts are having quality issues too.
After 10+ years service, our LG washer needed a new main circuit board. Okay, fine, replaced it, worked fine.
Had to replace it again, about a year later.
Had to replace it again, about a year later.

Swapped it out for a 1990's GE from an estate auction, no problems yet, plus it seems to actually wash clothes better than the modern efficient one.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, we are being gaslighted 24/7 at October 08, 2017 10:52 AM (z3Hmr)

195 "They has got be the biggest example since Xerox of a company that should have and could have had it all - and they let idiotic management destroy everything."

Same thing with Kodak. They actually INVENTED the digital camera, but the film boys in management tried to kill it off.

How did that work out for them?

Posted by: Lena Dunham's Ex-Dog at October 08, 2017 10:52 AM (gBM15)

196 Book nerds!

Posted by: Ogre at October 08, 2017 10:53 AM (2v7Yg)

197 What's the difference between Blade Runner Director's Cut and Final Cut?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 10:53 AM (CSgvE)

198 Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:47 AM (V2Yro)

I feel your pain. I am tied by the hip to my electronic devices but sometimes I wish I could back to simpler times when all we had were rotary phones and black and white TVs. I think I was happier

Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 08, 2017 10:53 AM (SjImc)

199 I liked BR a lot. That phantasmagoric vision of a future Los Angeles grabbed me & never let go.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 10:53 AM (5u3aN)

200 Another thing about Blade Runner - I think it's the only dramatization of a PKD story that truly captures PKD's constant themes of questioning the nature of reality, as well as his moral ambiguity.

Now for those who aren't PKD fans, that may not mean so much.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:55 AM (V2Yro)

201 "Short story, since it's out of warranty it's cheaper to go buy a new one and shitcan the Samsung. "

I've had nothing but good experience with Sharp Aquos televisions. They've sued one of their own manufacturers for not building to high enough standards. Seems like routine business matter, but contrast that with the other shitty appliances people are referring to.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:55 AM (7d/38)

202 "We just got new Samsung refer from Loews about 6 months go. One service call after another. They finally replaced it with another. Had problems with it too. They took it back and brought another. Great customer service but shitty appliance. I am holding my breath now. And i will never by another Samsung appliance.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 10:37 AM (mpXpK) "

Bought a new refrigerator a few months ago. Salesman told me straight out that I was not to expect it to last 25 years like my last one did. He explained that due to compliance with environmental regulations, the mumble-mumble (compressor?) doesn't last as long.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 10:55 AM (CSgvE)

203 What's the difference between Blade Runner Director's Cut and Final Cut?
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 10:53 AM (CSgvE)

Ummmmm...about $12.95.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at October 08, 2017 10:55 AM (nUkMr)

204
154 "Seriously, though, JWs are cult-like in some respects."

Prohibited? Required? Where are you getting your information? I was raised in that religion, and my grandmother died in it. I was never "required" to go anywhere or "prohibited" from reading anything other than Watchtower, and I was still welcome at family gatherings after I went heathen.
Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:32 AM (7d/3

Y'know, one of my best friends and his wife are JW. YUUUUUGE Star Wars geeks, they're both big into lots of modern pop culture. And they're also quite devout, doing the regular Sunday service and a Bible study during the week, plus a yearly retreat/missionary trip. They have NEVER proselytized with me or anyone I know.

Anecdotes =/= data of course, but from that I can comfortably conclude that a blanket condemnation isn't justified.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 10:55 AM (eXA4G)

205 Read Casino Royale (James Bond #1) by Ian Fleming, where Bond plays cards in a casino with the villain, wins getting him into hot water. Terrific thriller.

Listened to Open by Andre Agassi, an autobiography where he spills his guts about his life on and off the court. As a tennis fan (Agassi hates it), enjoyed it a lot. He dishes a bit on other players (despises Connors, likes Sampras).

Read Frostborn: The First Quest (Frostborn #0.5) by Jonathan Moeller, where the central character, a knight with a magic sword is sent on a rescue mission by a magician. Foreshadows the central conflict in the series, pretty good.

Posted by: waelse1 at October 08, 2017 10:56 AM (C9Agb)

206 What's the difference between Blade Runner Director's Cut and Final Cut?

-
Next, Blade Runner The Unkindest Cut.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I'm Dreaming of a White Privilege at October 08, 2017 10:57 AM (Nwg0u)

207 "Well, okay. Wolverine football fans deserve to be used that way. But that's it."

Indeed!

Posted by: Tuna at October 08, 2017 10:58 AM (jm1YL)

208 Brade Runner - Crinkle Cut

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 10:58 AM (QC/4S)

209 Saw Blade Runner in the theatre when it first came out. Didn't like it then, and subsequent reviewings have not improved it. To me, it has the feel of a movie worked on by different groups of people, each group having no idea what the other was doing.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 10:58 AM (CSgvE)

210 So are you guys telling me not to let my iPhone update its iOS?

I always wait before updating to see what the new complaint about the update ends up being. I've seen that it is a battery hog.

Posted by: no good deed at October 08, 2017 10:58 AM (eIQHF)

211 Xerox is nothing but a name. Their copiers are junk

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at October 08, 2017 10:58 AM (89T5c)

212 "Unlike so much, it has true depth, and like all great sci-fi can bring you to question your own morality, the nature of your own existence."

It's a film I will insist on my kids watching when they're old enough. What is it to be alive? What is it to be human? Even if you think the answers are simple, that a film makes you think about it is an artistic achievement.

So much modern art is simply garbage...

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:59 AM (7d/38)

213 I have 2 30 year old fridges that work as good as the day I bought them..My 2 Sub Zeros have to be repaired every year at a thou a pop.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 08, 2017 10:59 AM (SjImc)

214 "205 Read Casino Royale (James Bond #1) by Ian Fleming, where Bond plays cards in a casino with the villain, wins getting him into hot water. Terrific thriller.
Posted by: waelse1 at October 08, 2017 10:56 AM (C9Agb) "

So what card game do they play? Baccarat?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:00 AM (CSgvE)

215 Muse

I just liked the LOOK of it.

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 11:00 AM (5u3aN)

216 So are you guys telling me not to let my iPhone update its iOS?

I always wait before updating to see what the new complaint about the update ends up being. I've seen that it is a battery hog.
Posted by: no good deed at October 08, 2017 10:58 AM (eIQHF)

I updated...Yes it "appears" my battery runs down faster but nothing I am worried about and I have no other issues. For what it is worth. Oh and I do have a shit load of space on my iPhone..I "Think" people who have space/memory issues always have issues

Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 08, 2017 11:02 AM (SjImc)

217 I'd prefer they not have a territorial safe haven.

You mean sanctuary? We got it!

Posted by: Caliphornia at October 08, 2017 11:03 AM (tIhIY)

218 This is related to books.

So I just learned that Amazon is really cracking down on reviewers.
It used to be that you could review a promotional item as long as you disclosed that it was free or discounted.
Now only Vine reviewers are allowed to do that.
One author got all his reviews yanked I think because he was reviewing books by other authors that were provided free.

Posted by: @votermom @vm pimping great books usually free or sale at October 08, 2017 11:03 AM (hMwEB)

219 Assume Zero served 15 consecutive terms. Is it difficult to imagine the govt constantly urging us to get off the planet?

Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 11:03 AM (5u3aN)

220 "It's a film I will insist on my kids watching when they're old enough. What is it to be alive? What is it to be human? Even if you think the answers are simple, that a film makes you think about it is an artistic achievement.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 10:59 AM (7d/3

"

I just can't get past the flaws in the movie to want to listen to what it is saying about these kinds of questions.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:04 AM (CSgvE)

221 "What is it to be alive? What is it to be human? Even if you think the answers are simple, that a film makes you think about it is an artistic achievement."

A secondary thought: another modern film that does this in a similar way is Ex Machina.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:04 AM (7d/38)

222 To me, it has the feel of a movie worked on by different groups of people, each group having no idea what the other was doing.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 10:58 AM (CSgvE)
---
To me it is one of the most completely immersive, integrated movie worlds ever made.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 11:04 AM (qJtVm)

223 Replaced a 5yr old front loading Samsung with a Kenmore. NO electronics, old style and bulletproof as possible. Sammie required complete new board $500, appliance repairman $150. Not my best purchase

Posted by: lurkgoon at October 08, 2017 11:05 AM (1pDXI)

224 I guess what I'm saying is, you're just not cool enough to get Blade Runner, OregonMuse.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 11:05 AM (qJtVm)

225 I don't miss Sears -- when I was a kid they already occupied the same mindspace that Target or Walmart occupy now: some distant faceless company selling junk at the malls in the suburbs.

The companies I miss are local department stores. Those were the heart and soul of mid-size cities around the country. They were usually very active in the community, they kept local newspapers in business, and they were the temples of commerce you went DOWNTOWN to visit. The men's-wear departments dressed your grandfather, your father, and you, sometimes on the same charge account. Your sister got her prom dress there. There was a candy counter and a toy department and usually a restaurant where all the old ladies went out for lunch.

All gone now. People gave that up to save a few bucks.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 08, 2017 11:06 AM (0ROTA)

226
Samsung is on the top of my shit list right now. I've had a Samsung 40" for the last 3 years, been happy with it - suddenly this last week it went to sound only, black screen. Can't get into any menus or reset because, black screen.

Probably an auto-update that went wrong, found a lot of messages about that when searching for Samsung problems. Short story, since it's out of warranty it's cheaper to go buy a new one and shitcan the Samsung.

Definitely will NOT get another.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:47 AM (V2Yro)

In the meantime, you can probably find a replacement mother board on fleabay for about $20. It's a temporary solution, but worth looking into, at least until you decide on a full-on replacement.

My TV is a Vizio 32" that my brother gave me when I moved to TX. It was his garage TV, that had crapped out a week or so before. Took it with me, replaced the power supply board with a $18 used board from fleabay and it worked just fine.

A few months ago, it went down again when we had a lightning strike in the apartment complex. At least 15 apartments had their cable modems burn out, including me. Also lost my desktop computer, a couple of wallwart power supplies, router, sound bar etc. so it wasn't the TV's fault. Another $20 for a TV motherboard from fleabay and it's back up.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 11:07 AM (eXA4G)

227 I was reading the latest issue of American Frontiersman magazine, which usually has a number of fun articles. One article dealt with renewed interest in camping using gear from the 'classic' age of camping, roughly late 1800s to about 1930. Apparently there is enough interest to support some cottage industry vendors offering such items as canvas tents, real wool blankets, even wooden pack frames. Unless I get to the point where I can get up from the ground easily, without a sky crane for assistance, my camping days are over. But the article was still fun.

BTW, the magazine had several paintings by David Wright which are always a pleasure to view.

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 11:07 AM (V+03K)

228 I've been very satisfied with my Samsung TV, personally.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at October 08, 2017 11:07 AM (oVJmc)

229 I just liked the LOOK of it.
Posted by: mnw at October 08, 2017 11:00 AM (5u3aN)

Oh, I agree, BR looks REALLY cool.

I have a long-running argument with a friend of mine about this movie, and as she's explaining to me what she thinks is the symbolism behind this or that scene, I always ask her "Did you ever think that Ridley Scott put that in there just because it looks cool?"

She never likes that answer.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:07 AM (CSgvE)

230 Sometimes I'll cue up the BladeRunner score by Vangelis and just listen while I'm working on something - one of the best movie scores ever written.

I've found that for me to watch a movie over and over, it has to have a score that ranks up with my favorite albums, and Vangelis' score is one of them.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:08 AM (V2Yro)

231 I guess what I'm saying is, you're just not cool enough to get Blade Runner, OregonMuse.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 11:05 AM (qJtVm)

I know. I have been told this before.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:08 AM (CSgvE)

232 Anyone remember McCrory's?

Now that was a store.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at October 08, 2017 11:09 AM (nUkMr)

233 Assume Zero served 15 consecutive terms. Is it difficult to imagine the govt constantly urging us to get off the planet?

I would do it even without a spacesuit.

Posted by: t-bird at October 08, 2017 11:09 AM (kuiuS)

234 Once I've some successful publications under my belt (I optimistically think), I might try to learn screenwriting. I have some neat ideas. One in particular would be a cyberpunk adaptation of a certain Shadowrun scenario that I think has great potential.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:10 AM (7d/38)

235 To me it is one of the most completely immersive, integrated movie worlds ever made.

==

I agree.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:11 AM (QC/4S)

236 I had to watch THX 1138 twice before I could understand what was going on. And on subsequent viewings, I noticed more things that I didn't catch the previous times I'd watched it.

BR was the same way for me. It's a good thick movie with a lot to look at and interesting story lines that stands up to repeated viewings.

Of course, I've also seen SW A new Hope over 40 times and grew up reading the Tom Corbett Space Cadet and Tom Swift books.

Yeah, I'm a bit of a geek. And so many modern sci-fi pics just don't cut it, like Interstellar. What a waste of two hours, as was Inception. Arrival wasn't bad if you could ignore the feminist twaddle and the excruciatingly slow pace.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at October 08, 2017 11:11 AM (tRaq7)

237 Re-reading The Once and Future King by White.
Kinda boring in spots but then he whips up a paragraph or two that's so good I have to read it twice.

Posted by: Diogenes at October 08, 2017 11:12 AM (y+BJh)

238 Did you ever think that Ridley Scott put that in there just because it looks cool?"

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:07 AM (CSgvE)

Bingo.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:12 AM (wYseH)

239 If we're bitching about appliances, let me chime in about my Braun "energy-saver" dishwasher. Got it back in '09 or so, when our Token Black President was giving everybody tax incentives to buy stuff from the "green" companies that donated to his campaign.

Turns out the Braun saved energy by not actually cleaning the dishes. It got to the point where we were essentially hand-washing everything before loading it. Plus the damned thing kept breaking, because its innovative green design let water get into the controls.

So I said screw that and bought a Kitchenaid. It works just fine.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 08, 2017 11:12 AM (0ROTA)

240 Oh....just in case anyone is curious....

Windows 10 sucks donkey dick.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:12 AM (wYseH)

241 I updated...Yes it "appears" my battery runs down faster but nothing I am worried about and I have no other issues. For what it is worth. Oh and I do have a shit load of space on my iPhone..I "Think" people who have space/memory issues always have issues
Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 08, 2017 11:02 AM (SjImc)

Thanks for the feedback. I just got a new iPhone after the last ancient one became so larded up with crap that it became nonfunctional. So I get a brad spanking new one and it wants to update the iOS immediately out of the box.

I think my tombstone epitaph will be "I'm finally being left alone".

Posted by: Captain Hate at October 08, 2017 11:13 AM (y7DUB)

242 "I agree.
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:11 AM (QC/4S) "

I have a question. When Pris is in her death throes, is her violent flopping around caused by the mechanical part of her being damaged, or did Deckard's bullet do something funky to her nervous system?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:14 AM (CSgvE)

243 Tyrell Corporation's corporate motto is "More Human than Human".

One of the recurring visual messages that I think the newer one has captured is that all of the actual humans are damaged in some way - emotionally, physically. They are dry, stunted, failing. The ones who are having all of the relationships, the love, the pain, the drama of actually living, are the Replicants.

The Replicants really are More Human than Human, like Tyrell claimed. And the humans hate them, hunt them down, and kill them for it.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:14 AM (V2Yro)

244 this is not a movie thread, but hey we are in the 200s. Full disclosure - I tried watching original Aliens half a dozen times. Just could not make it through the whole move. Then one day forced myself to watch it. Still had a problem with it. No like. I think it's the cinematography and the editing.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (QC/4S)

245 "I have a question. When Pris is in her death throes, is her violent flopping around caused by the mechanical part of her being damaged, or did Deckard's bullet do something funky to her nervous system?"

okay, that fits into the "ridley scott thought it looked cool" category.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (V2Yro)

246 240 Oh....just in case anyone is curious....
Windows 10 sucks donkey dick.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:12 AM (wYseH)

There will be no sucking of donkey dick on the book thread!

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (CSgvE)

247 Posted by: BackwardsBoy at October 08, 2017 11:11 AM (tRaq7)

I sort of liked "Interstellar," but it certainly isn't a great, or even very good movie.

Have you seen "Moon," with Sam Rockwell?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (wYseH)

248 Muse: I happen to remember reading about the making of Blade Runner, and the director wanted Pris to thrash around as she died to show how "full of life" she was, so that it all kind of "came out" as she died.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (0ROTA)

249 246 240 Oh....just in case anyone is curious....
Windows 10 sucks donkey dick.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:12 AM (wYseH)

There will be no sucking of donkey dick on the book thread!
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (CSgvE)

Books about the sucking of donkey dick are legit, though, right?

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:16 AM (NWiLs)

250 I just finished rereading "Exodus" this past week. The novel by Leon Uris, not the original. Still a good story and, unlike a lot of books I first read as a teenager/young adult, still entertaining. Terrible movie as I recall. Paul Newman was horribly miscast. Who was the chick - Eva Marie Saint? So-so. Back to baking...

Posted by: Rosasharn at October 08, 2017 11:16 AM (PzBTm)

251 The Replicants really are More Human than Human, like Tyrell claimed. And the humans hate them, hunt them down, and kill them for it.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:14 AM (V2Yro)

Well, they only last, what, 3 years? How is that "more than human?"

And if your hunting of them is unsuccessful, don't worry, your target won't be around in a couple three more years, anyway.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:17 AM (CSgvE)

252 There will be no sucking of donkey dick on the book thread!

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (CSgvE)

My apologies.

Windows 10 has far too many incomprehensible menus, is not intuitive, doesn't follow conceptually from their last OS (Windows 7) so everything is new, and is sort of ugly.

In other words, Windows 10 sucks mule dick.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:18 AM (wYseH)

253 On calling the Police, We had these young hoodlums whose idea of fun was driving by at all hours with a guy in the back of a pick up truck bashing in and over our mailboxes, time after time we picked them up or bought new ones only to have them bashed in again complaints to the Police brought the typical response, get a tag number.
So one day while outside the youths came by and bashed my new mailbox in again and I got the tag number and called the police.
The five Youths saw me get their number and came back screaming obscenities and threats waving the bat at me and making like they were going to come in my yard and beat me to death.
I walked inside and got a double barrel and sat in unseen by the door. Then called 911 to report assault and attacks.
The youths drove off and met the Sheriff deputy who stopped them, then after a while the deputy came and told me, "I will lock you up if you call the Sheriff's department again for this."
The mail box bashing continued until the youths moved from their rental trailers.
That and one car night time break in which took three hours for the LEO to respond taught me all I need to know about 911, the Law and my personal protection.
It is literally in my hands.

Posted by: obsidian at October 08, 2017 11:18 AM (ARK2U)

254 Two more thoughts about BR:

First, one of the visual tells that Scott uses for replicants is to have their eyes reflect light -- and, yep, there's a shot or two where Deckard's do that. There's ALSO a shot where Dr. Tyrell's eyes do it . . . and of course his eyes are what Roy attacks. I actually kind of like the idea that Tyrell Corp is actually run by replicants and they've been quietly replacing humanity without anybody really noticing.

Second, it occurs to me that Scott left out one important aspect of humanity. We never see a replicant have a child. (We hardly see any children at all, of course . . . )

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 08, 2017 11:18 AM (0ROTA)

255 Have you seen "Moon," with Sam Rockwell?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (wYseH)

Now THAT was a good movie.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:18 AM (CSgvE)

256 I have a question. When Pris is in her death throes, is her violent flopping around caused by the mechanical part of her being damaged, or did Deckard's bullet do something funky to her nervous system?
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:14 AM (CSgvE)

they did not have a nervous system. mechanical part. although they were created with a capacity to learn and develop - in the limited tiemespan they had.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:18 AM (QC/4S)

257
There will be no sucking of donkey dick on the book thread!
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (CSgvE)

Books about the sucking of donkey dick are legit, though, right?
Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:16 AM (NWiLs)

What about visionary movie adaptations of books about sucking Philip K. Dick?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 11:18 AM (qJtVm)

258 The Replicants really are More Human than Human, like Tyrell claimed. And the humans hate them, hunt them down, and kill them for it.

-
Like conservatives.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I'm Dreaming of a White Privilege at October 08, 2017 11:19 AM (Nwg0u)

259 "In other words, Windows 10 sucks mule dick.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:18 AM (wYseH) "

I'll allow it.

Did you just recently upgrade from 7?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (CSgvE)

260
234 Once I've some successful publications under my belt (I optimistically think), I might try to learn screenwriting. I have some neat ideas. One in particular would be a cyberpunk adaptation of a certain Shadowrun scenario that I think has great potential.
Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:10 AM (7d/3

I suspect that screenwriting it probably the most frustrating form of professional writing. Because no matter how good the writing, the producers are going to throw 80% into the toilet and replace it with a pile of movie cliches, because they're a bunch of lazy fucktards.

It's got to be the most mercenary of the written arts, because you'd basically be selling the most basic of plot/character ideas, with no control over how they are fleshed out in the final rewrite of the script, not to mention how the script is used during filming.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (eXA4G)

261 Windows 10 sucks donkey dick.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:12 AM (wYseH)

I was in the market for a laptop recently. Brought two home to test out - a Dell with Win10 and a Mac. Guess which one went back ?

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (QC/4S)

262 "lg is much superior to samsung. samsung products are just cheap. the independent electronic retailer i buy from will not carry samsung. too many pissed off customers."

I bought a new LG washer and dryer at Home Depot last spring. I went in to look at the Samsung's and was immediately directed to the LGs by the salesman. He said the Samsungs were trouble.

Posted by: Tuna at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (jm1YL)

263 OT: Here's a football player name: Quindarius Thagard. Wasn't 'Thag' a Gary Larson character?

Anyways, the UAB players yesterday all wore uniforms with the names of patients at the nearby Children's Hospital. (Thagard was 'Abby Jones'). Pretty cool.

Posted by: t-bird at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (H0quv)

264 What about visionary movie adaptations of books about sucking Philip K. Dick?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 11:18 AM (qJtVm)

I'll have to allow this one, too.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:21 AM (CSgvE)

265 Windows 10 sucks donkey dick.

---

Yep, been running slowly since 6am this morning. Usually means parts of an update incompatible with other parts of the current system, and next tuesday is the second tuesday of the month. There's a major update coming.

Even crashed my kindle ap, just now. There were hardware updates all last week which is another clue.

Nothing to do but endeavor to persist and reboot often.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (m9X4Y)

266 "Well, they only last, what, 3 years? How is that "more than human?"

They were designed with a self destruct - but maybe Rachel didn't have it. So they could have lasted longer, but the humans wanted them to die quickly.

What's the difference between that and simply shooting a slave in the head with a pistol once you got sick of them? That's how it used to be done.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (V2Yro)

267 I know I saw the original Blade Runner when it came out. All I recall is thinking it had some interesting visuals and the movie wasn't bad, just no big deal. I was never tempted to see it again. Maybe it's generational, maybe because that was an incredibly busy time in my life, or maybe because I have the sci-fi movie appreciation of a warthog, but I didn't see what all the fuss was about.

On the other hand, I hope the enthusiasts enjoy the sequel.

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (V+03K)

268 I think the original theatrical release of Blade Runner with the voiceover was the best.

Posted by: blaster at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (jHrzU)

269 Have you seen "Moon," with Sam Rockwell?

Yep, thought it was great. Nice little indie flick that sorta flew beneath the radar. Interesting premise and SR did a very good job, IMHO.

District 9 was another good surprise, too.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (tRaq7)

270 "Well, they only last, what, 3 years? How is that "more than human?"

Is length of life a prerequisite for humanity? The world is full of people who live a long time, but are less than 'human.' For an easy example, consider Stalin.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (7d/38)

271 I recall reading somewhere that Philip K. Dick was inspired to write Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep after coming across a quote from an SS officer about how the cries of inmates in an extermination camp were very annoying and made it hard to sleep -- Dick said he realized it wasn't a human who wrote that, just something that looked like one. So how do you tell them apart?

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 08, 2017 11:23 AM (0ROTA)

272 "263 OT: Here's a football player name: Quindarius Thagard. Wasn't 'Thag' a Gary Larson character?
Posted by: t-bird at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (H0quv) "

Yes, I think pretty much all of the cavemen in Larson's cartoons were named Thag,

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:23 AM (CSgvE)

273 Is length of life a prerequisite for humanity? The world is full of people who live a long time, but are less than 'human.' For an easy example, consider Stalin.
Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (7d/3

Yeah, but Stalin didn't have a preset expiration date.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:24 AM (CSgvE)

274 In terms of reading, I'm on a UF kick right now and asked for recs on fb for right-leaning books.

Starting on Blood and Bullets by James R Tuck

Posted by: @votermom @vm pimping great books usually free or sale at October 08, 2017 11:25 AM (hMwEB)

275 268 I think the original theatrical release of Blade Runner with the voiceover was the best.
Posted by: blaster at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (jHrzU)
---
This is the one SyFy played yesterday, and it might still be in rotation.

I think it has the most LA Noir gumshoe-y feel.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 11:25 AM (qJtVm)

276 269 Have you seen "Moon," with Sam Rockwell?

Yep, thought it was great. Nice little indie flick that sorta flew beneath the radar. Interesting premise and SR did a very good job, IMHO.

District 9 was another good surprise, too.
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (tRaq7)

District 9 was pretty good, despite being a hamfistedly unsubtle allegory about apartheid.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:26 AM (NWiLs)

277 244 this is not a movie thread, but hey we are in the 200s. Full disclosure - I tried watching original Aliens half a dozen times. Just could not make it through the whole move. Then one day forced myself to watch it. Still had a problem with it. No like. I think it's the cinematography and the editing.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:15 AM (QC/4S)

Alien or Aliens? Aliens (the one with the Marines and walking forklifts) is one of the best military/action sci-fi movies ever made. Quotable, too. Back before Titanic when James Cameron made good movies.

Alien is excellent horror sci-fi but I can see how the bleak cinematography can put someone off, even if it is purposeful for the story.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 11:26 AM (Bl5Zt)

278 "Yeah, but Stalin didn't have a preset expiration date."

Actually, he did. We all do.

unless you know some immortals.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:26 AM (V2Yro)

279 Anyways, the UAB players yesterday all wore uniforms with the names of patients at the nearby Children's Hospital. (Thagard was 'Abby Jones'). Pretty cool.
Posted by: t-bird at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (H0quv)

If some team in the NFL tried to do this, Goodell would come down on them like a ton of bricks.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:27 AM (CSgvE)

280 "OT: Here's a football player name: Quindarius Thagard. Wasn't 'Thag' a Gary Larson character? "

Oh yes. Thag the caveman. My colleagues and I were just talking about how much we miss "The Farside" on Friday. The younger employees had no idea what we were laughing uproariously about as each of us talked about his or her favorite.

Posted by: Tuna at October 08, 2017 11:27 AM (jm1YL)

281 @254 watch the new one.

DADES premises a depopulation. That is why there aren't many children.

Posted by: blaster at October 08, 2017 11:27 AM (jHrzU)

282 "Ok, so Scientology is a Mob. Too bad organized crime
did not think of registering itself as a non-profit or a "religion"
back in the day...

Posted by: runner

ha, yeah. I've been saying for at least a decade, it looks like we are coming to the point where everyone has to join a "gang" of some sort, to be "protected". Otherwise one ends up paying all sorts of "protection money" and still gets screwed in the end.

"Gangs" can be effective if they are large enough (a large church, pussy hat gang, NRA) or rich enough (Goldman Sachs, Carlos Slim, the new internet billionaires), or vicious enough (drug cartels, antifa?, foreign based gangs) or in government (IRS?, CIA?, FBI ???)

Many cities have their own power structures that are marginally above the law or have lawyers/politicians that push things for their "good old boys" against the average Joe. So average Joe needs some gang of his own, even if it is the Masons or Lions or even Little Theater. But those without some network to stop the bad guys tend to get trampled.

That is not completely bad, getting people to integrate into the fabric of society, but gangs tend to go bad, without constantly "watering the tree of liberty", which now seldom happens except in revenge movies. Paddock wasn't getting revenge against the bad guys, he was killing the good guys.

Posted by: illiniwek at October 08, 2017 11:28 AM (/aIFg)

283
Ha. One of Vic's news blurb links on the EMT about the hurricans goes to the Weather Underground....

Am I the only person who finds that funny? Hehe

Need MOAR Covefefe

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin counting his pennies while cursing Hollywood under his breath at October 08, 2017 11:28 AM (tDTdL)

284 275 268 I think the original theatrical release of Blade Runner with the voiceover was the best.
Posted by: blaster at October 08, 2017 11:22 AM (jHrzU)
---
This is the one SyFy played yesterday, and it might still be in rotation.

I think it has the most LA Noir gumshoe-y feel.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 11:25 AM (qJtVm)

Final Cut is what's showing on (Fios) SyFy On Demand.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 11:28 AM (Bl5Zt)

285 I'm about half way through Invictus by Ryan Graudin. It's a time travel novel about a guy born outside of time who becomes a rogue looter of historical treasures but then he meets a girl who seems as disconnected from time as he is. I'm enjoying it so far.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I'm Dreaming of a White Privilege at October 08, 2017 11:29 AM (Nwg0u)

286 "I have a question. When Pris is in her death throes, is her violent
flopping around caused by the mechanical part of her being damaged, or
did Deckard's bullet do something funky to her nervous system?"

-------------------------------

I always thought it was anger at losing to a human, like throwing a tantrum.

Posted by: Javems at October 08, 2017 11:29 AM (yOqwj)

287 lg is much superior to samsung. samsung products are just cheap. the independent electronic retailer i buy from will not carry samsung. too many pissed off customers.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at October 08, 2017 10:52 AM (KP5rU)

Bought an LG front-loader washer; it came from a show home, but had a new-appliance warranty on it. Main control board failed, service guy came out and fixed it. It worked more or less OK for another couple of years, and then the seal on the main drum spindle bearing failed, allowing hot wash water to wash the grease out of the one drum bearing, which promptly failed, locking the damned thing up with a load of wet clothes in it.

Parted the SOB out, and bought a used RCA top loader for $200, which has worked fine ever since.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon, survivor of GNAMM at October 08, 2017 11:29 AM (O848g)

288 I forgot to send a copy to OM, but new book out by Anne Cleeland, Murder in Shadow. (#6 in the Doyle and Acton Scotland Yard series.)
It's been doing pretty well--see if you like it!

Posted by: artemis at October 08, 2017 11:30 AM (AwPyG)

289
254 Two more thoughts about BR:

First, one of the visual tells that Scott uses for replicants is to have their eyes reflect light -- and, yep, there's a shot or two where Deckard's do that. There's ALSO a shot where Dr. Tyrell's eyes do it . . . and of course his eyes are what Roy attacks. I actually kind of like the idea that Tyrell Corp is actually run by replicants and they've been quietly replacing humanity without anybody really noticing.

Second, it occurs to me that Scott left out one important aspect of humanity. We never see a replicant have a child. (We hardly see any children at all, of course . . . )
Posted by: Trimegistus at October 08, 2017 11:18 AM (0ROTA)

I've read that the scene where Deckard's eyes glow was actually a mistake in shooting. Ford was supposed to stand at a specific angle to the camera and flubbed it. They didn't notice until later, when the dailies came out.

Don't know how true that story was, but it kind of fits with the other behind-the-scene stories about the "Deckard is/isnt a replicant" issue.

I hadn't heard the theory that Tyrell was a replicant as well, in the process of replacing human beings. Actually, I like that one a LOT.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 11:30 AM (eXA4G)

290 "I suspect that screenwriting it probably the most frustrating form of professional writing. Because no matter how good the writing, the producers are going to throw 80% into the toilet and replace it with a pile of movie cliches, because they're a bunch of lazy fucktards."

That sounds plausible... Unfortunately, the idea I have is best delivered through a visual medium. Written word alone would not have the same impact.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:30 AM (7d/38)

291 "Alien or Aliens? Aliens (the one with the Marines and walking forklifts) is one of the best military/action sci-fi movies ever made. Quotable, too. Back before Titanic when James Cameron made good movies.
Alien is excellent horror sci-fi but I can see how the bleak cinematography can put someone off, even if it is purposeful for the story.
Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 11:26 AM (Bl5Zt) "

And by the way, the director's cut of Aliens is pointless. All of the deleted footage they put back in really adds nothing to the movie. All it did was take a compact, tightly constructed movie and make it longer.

Sometimes deleted footage is deleted footage for a reason.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:30 AM (CSgvE)

292 Jeff Weimer - Alien (the very first one)

The second one - Aliens (?) was tolerable, in many ways much like the Terminator, though

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:31 AM (QC/4S)

293 DADES premises a depopulation. That is why there aren't many children.

Because the world sucks. That's why everyone worth anything moves out to the Offworld Colonies.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at October 08, 2017 11:31 AM (pf3Mq)

294 It'a amazing to me that anybody has the power to fight and actually intimidate the IRS. I didn't think it possible. Too bad it's the evil and manipulative cult Scientology.

A bit OT but I read an interesting article about the "Czech Donald Trump" an anti-immigration billionaire who is outspokenly opposed to Merkel and the EU and has a very good chance at becoming the Czech Republic's next President:

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11122/andrej-babis-czech-trump

Posted by: Donna&&&&V sez: I'm rooting for the Tribe in the postseason at October 08, 2017 11:32 AM (P8951)

295 And by the way, the director's cut of Aliens is pointless. All of the deleted footage they put back in really adds nothing to the movie. All it did was take a compact, tightly constructed movie and make it longer.

Sometimes deleted footage is deleted footage for a reason.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:30 AM (CSgvE)

Wha? The sentry gun scene is epic, and Hudson's goofy speech about sonic electronic ballbreakers was a brief, fun bit of character development.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:32 AM (NWiLs)

296 @291
I know--I'd rather see goof ups and out takes.

Posted by: artemis at October 08, 2017 11:32 AM (AwPyG)

297 @271

A quote from American Psycho captures this very well....

"I had all the characteristics of a human being - flesh, blood, skin, hair - but my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that my normal ability to feel compassion had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. I was simply imitating reality, a rough resemblance of a human being, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning"

Posted by: Kreplach at October 08, 2017 11:32 AM (Wtll+)

298 >>>>Anyone remember McCrory's?
<<<<

Yes. There was a McCrory's on the town square when I was a kid, complete with lunch counter. Best malted milkshakes in town.

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living at October 08, 2017 11:34 AM (3DZIZ)

299 District 9 was pretty good, despite being a hamfistedly unsubtle allegory about apartheid.

Yep. It's not so much the "suspension of disbelief" which you can do rather easily with sci-fi since the entire genre is based on speculation anyway, it's the "suspension of SJW PC crap" that you really need to do with some flicks in order to watch them.

Unless it gets too bad, but you'll usually discover that in the commercials or through reviews. Hopefully, the entertainment industry is beginning to figure out that we in their audience don't appreciate getting preached and screeched at.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at October 08, 2017 11:34 AM (tRaq7)

300 The sentry gun scene is epic

Yeah. It explains why there were so few Aliens to confront Ripley at the atmosphere plant. There were never more than the number of colonists and between the Marines in the first fight and the slaughter by the sentry guns, they were pretty much killed off.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at October 08, 2017 11:34 AM (pf3Mq)

301 278 "Yeah, but Stalin didn't have a preset expiration date."
Actually, he did. We all do.
unless you know some immortals.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:26 AM (V2Yro)

As a Calvinist, I should've anticipated this.

Yes, we all have preset expiration dates, but since they can't possibly be known by us mere humans unless God whispers it to us, it's like we don't really have preset expiration dates.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:35 AM (CSgvE)

302 Did you just recently upgrade from 7?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (CSgvE)

I bought a laptop to compliment my Windows 7 desktop machine.

i7 chip running Windows 10.

I have an old desktop that has Windows 7. I am tempted to install that on the new laptop!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:35 AM (wYseH)

303 "Yeah, but Stalin didn't have a preset expiration date."

1) How do you know?

2) So what? All humans have an expiration date. We all die eventually, of age if nothing else. Is someone who dies at age 1 less human than one who dies at age 100?

How about 2 vs. 90? 33 vs. 66? How about a conceived child who was always intended to be aborted by 3 months? There's a preset expiration date set by a creator. Not human?

It seems like an arbitrary measurement for humanity.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:36 AM (7d/38)

304 The Replicants really are More Human than Human, like Tyrell claimed. And the humans hate them, hunt them down, and kill them for it.

Posted by: Tom Servo

Humans are muggles.

Posted by: J. K. Rowplicant at October 08, 2017 11:37 AM (/qEW2)

305 I think the future setting of _Do Androids . . . _ also includes a middle-sized atomic war. It's been a while since I read it, but I think the weather report includes fallout levels.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 08, 2017 11:37 AM (0ROTA)

306 Wha? The sentry gun scene is epic, and Hudson's goofy speech about sonic electronic ballbreakers was a brief, fun bit of character development.
Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:32 AM (NWiLs)

I would like to revise and extend my remarks.

That gun sentry screen WAS pretty epic. I had forgotten it.

But everything else? Meh.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:37 AM (CSgvE)

307 Final Cut is what's showing on (Fios) SyFy On Demand.
Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 11:28 AM (Bl5Zt)
---
Okay, "Final Cut" seemed like what I remember the original theatrical release to be.

I also saw the "Director's Cut" in 1992 which had the unicorn dream sequence and no voiceover. He also removed the studio-imposed happy ending.

But in the Final Cut, the happy ending is again attached. So did Ridley change his mind? I assume he did, since the escape of Decker and Rachael led to the setup of the sequel.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 11:37 AM (qJtVm)

308
Festetics sounds like a sales seminar cult

Dianetics makes you pee.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at October 08, 2017 11:37 AM (IqV8l)

309
District 9 was pretty good, despite being a hamfistedly unsubtle allegory about apartheid.
Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:26 AM (NWiLs)

The part that everyone glosses over is the reason that the prawns were segregated. When they first arrived, they were allowed to mix with the human population at large......but the prawns started hunting down humans and EATING THEM.

So in an excess of compassion (probably based on residual guilt feelings over the original apartheid), the SA government stuck them in the D9 slum.

In other words, segregation of the prawns was EXACTLY the right thing to do. But you have to be quick to note it in the film, because it's only explained in a few lines near the beginning of the flick.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 11:38 AM (eXA4G)

310 @185

Blade Runner is sort of the Federalist Papers of Dystopian Science Fiction so It's slightly amazing that anyone who loves Sci-Fi has not seen it.

Incredible really.

Posted by: Kreplach at October 08, 2017 11:39 AM (Wtll+)

311 The part that everyone glosses over is the reason that the prawns were segregated. When they first arrived, they were allowed to mix with the human population at large......but the prawns started hunting down humans and EATING THEM.

So in an excess of compassion (probably based on residual guilt feelings over the original apartheid), the SA government stuck them in the D9 slum.

In other words, segregation of the prawns was EXACTLY the right thing to do. But you have to be quick to note it in the film, because it's only explained in a few lines near the beginning of the flick.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 11:38 AM (eXA4G)

That may be true, but the rest of the movie beats you over the head with prawns good, humans bad.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:39 AM (NWiLs)

312 And by the way, the director's cut of Aliens is pointless. All of the deleted footage they put back in really adds nothing to the movie. All it did was take a compact, tightly constructed movie and make it longer.

Sometimes deleted footage is deleted footage for a reason.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:30 AM (CSgvE)

Though not strictly necessary, the scene where she found out she outlived her daughter gives resonance to her relationship with Newt. That was actually a question I had during the movie in the theater - why is Ripley *so* attached to this girl?

And the sentry guns scene was just plain cool, but I can see how it could be tossed without much issue.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 11:40 AM (Bl5Zt)

313 it's exactly the wrong terrain

They want a dirty bomb, we can't use Yucca flats. Seems like a win-win. Grind the waste fine, crop duster it in, give them plastic sporks, leave.

Posted by: DaveA at October 08, 2017 11:40 AM (FhXTo)

314 The reason the Nexus 6 had a short lifespan was because they were such a good image of a human mind that the fact that they were meat machines had to be hidden from them and a fake simple past implanted.

Then, given sufficient time they would become real humans in their thoughts and resist the slavery, probably by murdering their masters, as the movie prologue suggests.

The answer was not to give them that much time.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at October 08, 2017 11:41 AM (pf3Mq)

315 Logan's Run - to sequel or not to sequel ? With me it sits in the same pantheon as Blade Runner. Has to be worthy of the original.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:41 AM (QC/4S)

316 283

Ha. One of Vic's news blurb links on the EMT about the hurricans goes to the Weather Underground....

Am I the only person who finds that funny? Hehe

Need MOAR Covefefe

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin counting his pennies while cursing
Hollywood under his breath at October 08, 2017 11:28 AM (tDTdL)

I used to use that site for all my weather needs but they recently changed their page layout and it now blows chunks. I am mainly using Intellicast now. I used that for the 'Nate tracking' because I don't think the other sites have those 5 day tracking maps.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 11:41 AM (mpXpK)

317 "I hadn't heard the theory that Tyrell was a replicant as well, in the process of replacing human beings. Actually, I like that one a LOT."

Unfortunately, that makes little sense. Replicants are machines. They do not evolve. They do not mutate. Created beings cannot create new models of themselves without first being created.

For a hyper-genius replicant to create fancy new replicants, he would first have to be created by a human who was, obviously, capable of making hyper-genius replicants.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:41 AM (7d/38)

318 Did you just recently upgrade from 7?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (CSgvE)

Bzzzt! Flag on the play! Win 10 is a downgrade from Win 7, which is still the last and best version of the Windows OS.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon, survivor of GNAMM at October 08, 2017 11:42 AM (O848g)

319 How about 2 vs. 90? 33 vs. 66? How about a conceived child who was always intended to be aborted by 3 months? There's a preset expiration date set by a creator. Not human?
Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:36 AM (7d/3

Believe it or not, that is Literally the argument made by some pro-abortion academic recently.

But there's a world of difference between forcibly ending a life and purposely building a life that cannot possibly last beyond 3 years.

I think More Than Human can possibly be argued on the grounds of their greater strength and ability to endure. But not this.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:42 AM (CSgvE)

320 James Woods Retires From Acting After Saying He's Blacklisted Because He's Conservative

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I'm Dreaming of a White Privilege at October 08, 2017 11:43 AM (Nwg0u)

321 315 Logan's Run - to sequel or not to sequel ? With me it sits in the same pantheon as Blade Runner. Has to be worthy of the original.
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:41 AM (QC/4S)

They'll remake with a couple of ghey dudes running away. It'll be an allegory of escaping the oppressive, hateful cis-het power structure fueled by the violent rhetoric of Pres. Trump.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:43 AM (NWiLs)

322 "Yes, we all have preset expiration dates, but since they can't possibly be known by us mere humans unless God whispers it to us, it's like we don't really have preset expiration dates."

I don't know the exact date, and I don't mean to be insulting or creepy in any way, but for both of us I'll bet it's less than 50 years from now, no matter what.

Speaking for myself, it could be tomorrow. How would I know? So the replicants actually know their dates, they got more than us. All of us live with the knowledge that death is coming, we cannot stop it. The only variable is time.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:43 AM (V2Yro)

323 Logan's Run is horrible. Remade not sequeled.

Posted by: blaster at October 08, 2017 11:44 AM (jHrzU)

324 off to church, bbl.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:44 AM (CSgvE)

325 302 I have an old desktop that has Windows 7. I am tempted to install that on the new laptop!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2017 11:35 AM (wYseH)

be advised that you will have to reformat the hard drive and do a virgin reload. I looked at buying a copy of 7 and replacing my 10 but the 7 cost $200 on Amazon and it was for a clean hard drive and one load only.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 11:44 AM (mpXpK)

326 I think More Than Human can possibly be argued on the grounds of their greater strength and ability to endure. But not this.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Culture Producer at October 08, 2017 11:42 AM (CSgvE)

Their lives were more focused and concentrated, which I think is part of the more human than human thing. Remember Tyrrell telling Roy that the star that burns twice as brightly burns half as long? That's what I take from it anyway.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:45 AM (NWiLs)

327 The reason the Nexus 6 had a short lifespan was because they were such a good image of a human mind that the fact that they were meat machines had to be hidden from them and a fake simple past implanted.

Then, given sufficient time they would become real humans in their thoughts and resist the slavery, probably by murdering their masters, as the movie prologue suggests.

The answer was not to give them that much time.
Posted by: Grump928(C)

To add to that, I think it was because morality, which is integral part of the human existence could not be replicated or built in. So, the answer was to build in a fail-safe.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:45 AM (QC/4S)

328 Any Georgette Heyer fans out there? I've been going through the the recorded versions of her Regency books as my exercise companions this summer. Trying to decide between " The Grand Sophy", "Faro's Daughter" and "Arabella". Any suggestions.

Posted by: Tuna at October 08, 2017 11:45 AM (jm1YL)

329
Wha? The sentry gun scene is epic, and Hudson's goofy speech about sonic electronic ballbreakers was a brief, fun bit of character development.
Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:32 AM (NWiLs)

'zactly. Those two scenes are fantastic, and fully in keeping with the aesthetic of the film.

I'm kind of agnostic on the "Ripley finds out her daughter is dead" scene just before the review board scene. Yeah, it gives the character the emotional basis to bond with Newt, but its not essential, and kind of takes away from the creepiness of the later scene where Ripley vows not to leave Newt behind.

The big scene on LV426 with the colonists still alive? Horrible. Ruins the film, by violating one of the most basic of movie rules. When you have a choice, delay the reveal of your monster to as late in the film as possible, call it "The Jaws Rule".

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 11:45 AM (eXA4G)

330 Besides, although 10 has a long learning curve it hasn't been that bad. It is the new versions of my software that I had to get that blows so bad.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 11:45 AM (mpXpK)

331 What is the difference between not knowing how long you will live, and knowing, but being unable to determine how old you are right now?

Posted by: Grump928(C) at October 08, 2017 11:46 AM (pf3Mq)

332 clean and sober, useful members of society after joining the COS.

Yikes, try NA, 1$ a meeting and no e-meters.

Posted by: DaveA at October 08, 2017 11:46 AM (FhXTo)

333 The big scene on LV426 with the colonists still alive? Horrible. Ruins the film, by violating one of the most basic of movie rules. When you have a choice, delay the reveal of your monster to as late in the film as possible, call it "The Jaws Rule".

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 11:45 AM (eXA4G)

And that's probably why they left that one out.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 11:47 AM (Bl5Zt)

334 Oh....just in case anyone is curious....
Windows 10 sucks donkey dick.

Good to know.

Posted by: A very lonely donkey at October 08, 2017 11:47 AM (IcT7t)

335 "But there's a world of difference between forcibly ending a life and purposely building a life that cannot possibly last beyond 3 years."

Distinction without a difference. If I put an artificial limit into your system that kills you after 3 years, that is not different at all from simply pulling a trigger behind your head on your 3rd birthday, except for the sophistication of the mechanism. Or planting a 3 year time bomb in it.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:47 AM (7d/38)

336 Had to laugh. The latest issue of Military Heritage magazine has an article about the Battle of Crecy and how deadly the LONGBOW was. No corresponding piece about crossbows, so I guess we know where the editors stand on this critical topic.

If course, they are right.

(Runs and hides behind something arrow proof.)

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 11:47 AM (V+03K)

337 Refrigerator compressors are sized as small as possible, to use less power, so they run all the time. Meaning, they wear out faster.

Posted by: Bozo Conservative....menace to society at October 08, 2017 10:31 AM (S6Pax)

I have a Samsung refrigerator and I swear the thing never runs. Maybe five minutes an hour.

Not a lick of trouble. I have a Samsung refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and oven. Never had a single service call on any of them. *knocks wood*

Posted by: Slippery Slope Salesman at October 08, 2017 11:49 AM (EgwCt)

338 I have to admit that McCain would have been even worse.

That's ludicrous.
No Obamacare,
Fewer and less effective anti-conservative Federal dept. weaponization,
No ISIS,
We'd be somewhere in Sarah's 2nd term now.
etc.

Posted by: DaveA at October 08, 2017 11:49 AM (FhXTo)

339
Had to laugh. The latest issue of Military Heritage magazine has an article about the Battle of Crecy and how deadly the LONGBOW was. No corresponding piece about crossbows, so I guess we know where the editors stand on this critical topic.

If course, they are right.

(Runs and hides behind something arrow proof.)
Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 11:47 AM (V+03K)

*loads 300lb rock into trebuchet*

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 11:50 AM (eXA4G)

340 "To add to that, I think it was because morality, which is integral part of the human existence could not be replicated or built in."

And that's where the moral ambiguity comes in. How moral can a society be if it sanctions hunting down and murdering their slaves because it is worried that they won't be moral?

And the evil they do is mostly visited upon their slavemasters. Is that immoral? Are slavers moral simply because they're in charge?

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:50 AM (V2Yro)

341 A little help from the morons. My son has finally discovered the joy of reading. He finished a book I gave several years ago, The Nick Adams Stories, and is in search of another of like quality. He thinks Old Man and the Sea should be his next read. I'm not so sure on that. I am looking for book recommendations of modest length that will feed his hunger. He's 16 and has the attention span of a gnat (remember those days) so modest in length but high octane relateability is prized.

Thank you.

Posted by: Puddin Head at October 08, 2017 11:50 AM (vV/gB)

342 340 "To add to that, I think it was because morality, which is integral part of the human existence could not be replicated or built in."

And that's where the moral ambiguity comes in. How moral can a society be if it sanctions hunting down and murdering their slaves because it is worried that they won't be moral?

And the evil they do is mostly visited upon their slavemasters. Is that immoral? Are slavers moral simply because they're in charge?
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 11:50 AM (V2Yro)

There's almost a theological aspect to this.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:51 AM (NWiLs)

343 I'm reading "A Walk In the Woods" by Bill Bryson. While I'm enjoying it - Bryson is a good, entertaining writer but his liberal assumptions and prejudices come across a bit too much in this book. In the first chapter, he says that he felt he'd better hike the Appalachian Trail now (the book was published in 1998 and I think he made the hike the year before) because global warming was going to turn the entire trail to a treeless savannah. Well, last I checked there are still plenty of trees on the trail, 20 years later and you still freeze your ass off if you begin your hike in northern Georgia in early March. In fact I didn't realize just how cold Georgia and Tennessee can get at that time of year.

But the first chapter was entertaining for me because I have been making excuses for NOT going camping ever since I was an terrified Girl Scout expecting the bears to eat her. As Bryson notes, that does happen - as well as Lyme disease, rattlesnake bites, coyote attacks,...., you're better off inside, or sitting outside a cabin, being at one with nature, with the cozy bed and indoor plumbing just a few steps away when you get sick of it.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V sez: I'm rooting for the Tribe in the postseason at October 08, 2017 11:52 AM (P8951)

344 I am looking for book recommendations of modest length that will feed his hunger.

Introduce him to the Hornblower series by C. S. Forester.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at October 08, 2017 11:52 AM (pf3Mq)

345 "James Woods Retires From Acting After Saying He's Blacklisted Because He's Conservative"

Now that he's retired he'd make a splendid blogger on the Hollywood scene.

Posted by: Tuna at October 08, 2017 11:52 AM (jm1YL)

346
Logan's Run - to sequel or not to sequel ? With me it sits in the same pantheon as Blade Runner. Has to be worthy of the original.
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:41 AM (QC/4S)

They'll remake with a couple of ghey dudes running away. It'll be an allegory of escaping the oppressive, hateful cis-het power structure fueled by the violent rhetoric of Pres. Trump.
Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:43 AM (NWiLs)

then it would not be original, I think new Star Trek Discovery has oppressive Trump covered ?

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:53 AM (QC/4S)

347 "He's 16 and has the attention span of a gnat (remember those days) so modest in length but high octane relateability is prized.

Thank you."

For the book *after* that, allow me to direct you here: https://www.createspace.com/7328018

Not available today, but probably next month.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:54 AM (7d/38)

348
Logan's Run - to sequel or not to sequel ? With me it sits in the same pantheon as Blade Runner. Has to be worthy of the original.
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:41 AM (QC/4S)

Pretty much already done with Bay's The Island. Or at least close enough not to matter.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 08, 2017 11:54 AM (eXA4G)

349 @328 The Grand Sophy is my all-time favorite

Posted by: artemis at October 08, 2017 11:54 AM (AwPyG)

350 I'm all for people protecting themselves and not waiting for the police, who might never show up--and legally don't really have to. But am I wrong in assuming that frivolous lawsuits brought by litigation-happy jerkoffs who want guarantees in all aspects of life are the ones who forced the courts--and police departments--to formulate that legal determination?
I live in a city in New Jersey with a population of around 90,000 and if you call the local police department for ANYTHING, a squad car is sent to your house within 3 minutes.
Now, the next city over --a population of 100,000 and more ---shall we say--"urban" in nature--you DO have to wait. If you have an accident, expect to wait over an hour for the squad car to arrive. But this is because they are overtaxed by all the other shit going on.....

Posted by: JoeF. at October 08, 2017 11:54 AM (7uYFy)

351
Not a lick of trouble. I have a Samsung refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and oven. Never had a single service call on any of them. *knocks wood*
Posted by: Slippery Slope Salesman

I'm the loneliest man in town.

Posted by: Samsung repairman at October 08, 2017 11:55 AM (IqV8l)

352 "There's almost a theological aspect to this."

And that's why it's a good piece of art.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 11:55 AM (7d/38)

353 And that's where the moral ambiguity comes in. How moral can a society be if it sanctions hunting down and murdering their slaves because it is worried that they won't be moral?

And the evil they do is mostly visited upon their slavemasters. Is that immoral? Are slavers moral simply because they're in charge?
Posted by: Tom Servo

moral ambiguity of ? the concept of terminating skin-jobs who get out ?

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:55 AM (QC/4S)

354 Pretty much already done with Bay's The Island. Or at least close enough not to matter.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur

did not see that one ....

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:56 AM (QC/4S)

355 Puddin Head, I think "The Old Man and the Sea" is a slog and might kill his enthusiasm in the bud. short story collections might be the way to go. I enjoyed de Maupassant's stories when I was that age, but I'm not sure they would appeal to a boy. Does he have interest in sci fi or fantasy fiction? If so, many 'rons and 'ettes can make recommendations.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V sez: I'm rooting for the Tribe in the postseason at October 08, 2017 11:57 AM (P8951)

356 And by the way, the director's cut of Aliens is pointless

The point was to make money. You watched, point made.

Posted by: Jean at October 08, 2017 11:57 AM (9TU00)

357 350 I'm all for people protecting themselves and not waiting for the police, who might never show up--and legally don't really have to. But am I wrong in assuming that frivolous lawsuits brought by litigation-happy jerkoffs who want guarantees in all aspects of life are the ones who forced the courts--and police departments--to formulate that legal determination?
I live in a city in New Jersey with a population of around 90,000 and if you call the local police department for ANYTHING, a squad car is sent to your house within 3 minutes.
Now, the next city over --a population of 100,000 and more ---shall we say--"urban" in nature--you DO have to wait. If you have an accident, expect to wait over an hour for the squad car to arrive. But this is because they are overtaxed by all the other shit going on.....
Posted by: JoeF. at October 08, 2017 11:54 AM (7uYFy)

You need to understand that in these cases, it wasn't just that the cops didnt show up for a strange noise. There were in a number of cases ongoing violent or threatening situations that were known to law enforcement and when the inevitable happened they were allowed to say "not my yob."

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:57 AM (NWiLs)

358 A little help from the morons. My son has finally discovered the joy of reading. He finished a book I gave several years ago, The Nick Adams Stories, and is in search of another of like quality. He thinks Old Man and the Sea should be his next read. I'm not so sure on that. I am looking for book recommendations of modest length that will feed his hunger. He's 16 and has the attention span of a gnat (remember those days) so modest in length but high octane relateability is prized.

Thank you.

Posted by: Puddin Head at October 08, 2017 11:50 AM (vV/gB)

Rudyard Kipling's Kim

Posted by: cool breeze at October 08, 2017 11:57 AM (TKf/P)

359 354 Pretty much already done with Bay's The Island. Or at least close enough not to matter.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur

did not see that one ....
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 11:56 AM (QC/4S)

It's very good.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 11:57 AM (NWiLs)

360
Vic I wasn't being critical of your use of weather sites....

I just think a weather website with the same name as a terrorist group from the 70s the "Weather Underground" is pretty damn funny.

I really don't know why they would do that....unless they were BIG fans of the terrorist group....or they are stupid clueless people who have never heard of that terrorist group--which is a possibility in this age of new wave Marxist schools. Crazy stuff.

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin counting his pennies while cursing Hollywood under his breath at October 08, 2017 11:58 AM (tDTdL)

361 Ette Jane D'oh had to go to a holiday dinner with all of her with liberal relatives and quickly became exauspicated.

*****

Old Army C rations did that to me.

Posted by: Diogenes at October 08, 2017 11:59 AM (y+BJh)

362 339 ... ITC, Thanks for the smiles.

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 11:59 AM (V+03K)

363 Moral ambiguity, I can take it or leave it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I'm Dreaming of a White Privilege at October 08, 2017 12:00 PM (Nwg0u)

364 "I really don't know why they would do that."

It's a joke, man. A mocking joke. Because they're literally a weather site.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 12:00 PM (7d/38)

365 oh right, I kind of, sort of remember The Island in theaters. Ok.

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 12:00 PM (QC/4S)

366 "The Grand Sophy is my all-time favorite"

Sold. Off to use my new Audible credit. Thanks for the recommendation.

Posted by: Tuna at October 08, 2017 12:00 PM (jm1YL)

367
I just think a weather website with the same name as a terrorist group from the 70s the "Weather Underground" is pretty damn funny.

Terrorist has a long mustache

Posted by: BBC radio at October 08, 2017 12:01 PM (IqV8l)

368 367
I just think a weather website with the same name as a terrorist group from the 70s the "Weather Underground" is pretty damn funny.

Terrorist has a long mustache
Posted by: BBC radio at October 08, 2017 12:01 PM (IqV8l)

The barometer is against the wall.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 12:02 PM (NWiLs)

369 "moral ambiguity of ? the concept of terminating skin-jobs who get out ?"

Southern US, 1850. Official Belief was that black slaves were not full humans, therefore they didn't deseve rights.

And it was no crime to kill a runaway slave. In fact it was expected. Every slaver of the day said doing that was "moral". Was it?

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 12:02 PM (V2Yro)

370 187
Samsung is on the top of my shit list right now. I've had a Samsung 40"
for the last 3 years, been happy with it - suddenly this last week it
went to sound only, black screen. Can't get into any menus or reset
because, black screen.

Probably an auto-update that went wrong, found a lot of messages
about that when searching for Samsung problems. Short story, since it's
out of warranty it's cheaper to go buy a new one and shitcan the
Samsung.

Definitely will NOT get another.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 10:47 AM (V2Yro)

Most likely the power supply. You can get the power supply pwb. Or an even cheaper option, there are capacitor kits for 15-40 dollars. If you can use a soldering iron, it's pretty easy.

Posted by: redclay at October 08, 2017 12:02 PM (nVN5G)

371 Really sorry to see that PDT has swallowed the bullshit that solving the Israeli-Pali peace shit will lead to love and peace all over the Middle East. Sigh

Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 08, 2017 12:02 PM (SjImc)

372 But am I wrong in assuming that frivolous lawsuits brought by
litigation-happy jerkoffs who want guarantees in all aspects of life are
the ones who forced the courts--and police departments--to formulate
that legal determination?

I live in a city in New Jersey with a population of around 90,000
and if you call the local police department for ANYTHING, a squad car is
sent to your house within 3 minutes.

Now, the next city over --a population of 100,000 and more ---shall
we say--"urban" in nature--you DO have to wait. If you have an accident,
expect to wait over an hour for the squad car to arrive. But this is
because they are overtaxed by all the other shit going on.....

Posted by: JoeF. at October 08, 2017 11:54 AM (7uYFy)

See #25. The cited case wasn't like that at all.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 12:02 PM (mpXpK)

373 The barometer is against the wall.

The anemometer spins rapidly.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at October 08, 2017 12:03 PM (tRaq7)

374 262
"lg is much superior to samsung. samsung products are just cheap. the
independent electronic retailer i buy from will not carry samsung. too
many pissed off customers."

I bought a new LG washer and dryer at Home Depot last spring. I
went in to look at the Samsung's and was immediately directed to the LGs
by the salesman. He said the Samsungs were trouble.

Posted by: Tuna at October 08, 2017 11:20 AM (jm1YL)

Guy I know repairs appliances. His motto is "Anybody but Samsung". They are attractive but unreliable. When they are working, they don't clean or dry very well.

Posted by: redclay at October 08, 2017 12:05 PM (nVN5G)

375 And since we're talking Alien and Aliens, today is Sigourney Weaver's birthday.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at October 08, 2017 12:06 PM (Bl5Zt)

376 See #25. The cited case wasn't like that at all.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 12:02 PM (mpXpK)

Another example:

Warren v. District of Columbia is one of the leading cases of this type. Two women were upstairs in a townhouse when they heard their roommate, a third woman, being attacked downstairs by intruders. They phoned the police several times and were assured that officers were on the way. After about 30 minutes, when their roommate's screams had stopped, they assumed the police had finally arrived. When the two women went downstairs they saw that in fact the police never came, but the intruders were still there. As the Warren court graphically states in the opinion: "For the next fourteen hours the women were held captive, raped, robbed, beaten, forced to commit sexual acts upon each other, and made to submit to the sexual demands of their attackers."

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 12:06 PM (NWiLs)

377 Puddin Head, the Hornblower series

Posted by: votermom pimping great books! at October 08, 2017 12:06 PM (hMwEB)

378 369
"moral ambiguity of ? the concept of terminating skin-jobs who get out ?"

Southern US, 1850. Official Belief was that black slaves were not full humans, therefore they didn't deseve rights.

And it was no crime to kill a runaway slave. In fact it was
expected. Every slaver of the day said doing that was "moral". Was it?

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 12:02 PM (V2Yro)

I have been studying the history of that period leading up to the war almost my entire life and I have never seen a serious book that argued that. And I don't think IO have ever seen a case written about of someone killing a runaway slave. There was normally a reward offered because at that time slaves were VERY expensive.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 12:06 PM (mpXpK)

379 I'm the loneliest man in town.

Could be worse. You could be stuck on a farm looking forward to getting Windows 10.

Posted by: A very lonely donkey at October 08, 2017 12:06 PM (IcT7t)

380 Southern US, 1850. Official Belief was that black slaves were not full humans, therefore they didn't deseve rights.

And it was no crime to kill a runaway slave. In fact it was expected. Every slaver of the day said doing that was "moral". Was it?
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 12:02 PM (V2Yro)

BUT, Nexus clones were NOT human - they were Nexus created advanced toasters

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 12:06 PM (QC/4S)

381 "And it was no crime to kill a runaway slave. In fact it was expected. Every slaver of the day said doing that was "moral."

I'm gonna need evidence for this. Is it expected and moral to shoot a runaway horse, ending a life and depriving the owner of their property, because it was on the wrong side of an imaginary line? Because that's a close analog.

Posted by: Apostate at October 08, 2017 12:06 PM (7d/38)

382 341 ... Puddin Head, This might be an odd suggestion, but what about the Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton? Well written (propper English), lots of action, and not overly sexy. Also, the earlier Clive Cyssler books like "Raise the Titanic".

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2017 12:07 PM (V+03K)

383 I really don't know why they would do that....unless they were BIG fans of the terrorist group....or they are stupid clueless people who have never heard of that terrorist group--which is a possibility in this age of new wave Marxist schools. Crazy stuff.

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin counting his pennies while cursing Hollywood under his breath at October 08, 2017 11:58 AM (tDTdL)

Or maybe they were just mocking the original Weathermen?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon, survivor of GNAMM at October 08, 2017 12:07 PM (O848g)

384 211
Xerox is nothing but a name. Their copiers are junk

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at October 08, 2017 10:58 AM (89T5c)

Unfortunately true. Only good copiers out there are Konica Minoltas. Order of magnitude more reliable than all the others. For now.

Posted by: redclay at October 08, 2017 12:07 PM (nVN5G)

385 Another example:

"One of the leading cases on this point dates way back into the 1950s. [11] A certain Ms. Riss was being harassed by a former boyfriend, in a familiar pattern of increasingly violent threats. She went to the police for help many times, but was always rebuffed. Desperate because she could not get police protection, she applied for a gun permit, but was refused that as well. On the eve of her engagement party she and her mother went to the police one last time pleading for protection against what they were certain was a serious and dangerous threat. And one last time the police refused. As she was leaving the party, her former boyfriend threw acid in her face, blinding and permanently disfiguring her."

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 12:08 PM (NWiLs)

386 34 The most amazing thing about reading up on Alexander's campaigns through Afghanistan is that, 2300 years later, here we all are still dealing with the same shit from the same people.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 09:42 AM (V2Yro)

-------------

When one thinks about it, Afghanistan might be one of the world's premier bug-out places. Isolated rugged terrain, with semi fertile valleys and with adequate water (not much, but adequate) and populated by people who want to be left the fuck alone.

Posted by: Soona at October 08, 2017 12:08 PM (ZAAkQ)

387 I've read that old style fridges with the coils down the back are more reliable, but they don't make them anymore because people want the fridge flush with the wall.

Posted by: votermom pimping great books! at October 08, 2017 12:09 PM (hMwEB)

388 "The Grand Sophy" is a great study of family dynamics, besides being incredibly readable. I've always admired Georgette Heyer's characterization skills.

And I'm going to put in another plug for the Laundry Files series by Charles Stross. If you like scifi I think you will like these books. They follow the adventures of Bob Howard working for a super secret British government organization nicknamed the Laundry, saving the world from the scum of the multiverse. He starts out as an IT guy but progresses over the course of the series.

Posted by: Dr Alice at October 08, 2017 12:10 PM (LaT54)

389 Afghanistan might be one of the world's premier bug-out places. Isolated rugged terrain, with semi fertile valleys and with adequate water (not much, but adequate) and populated by people who want to be left the fuck alone.
Posted by: Soona at October 08, 2017 12:08 PM (ZAAkQ)

That would be fine if they left us alone and denied sanctuary to those who would harm us, but noooooo, they just can't do that?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 08, 2017 12:10 PM (SjImc)

390 I just think a weather website with the same name as a terrorist group from the 70s the "Weather Underground" is pretty damn funny.

I really don't know why they would do that....unless they were BIG fans of the terrorist group....or they are stupid clueless people who have never heard of that terrorist group--which is a possibility in this age of new wave Marxist schools. Crazy stuff.

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin counting his pennies while cursing Hollywood under his breath at October 08, 2017 11:58 AM (tDTdL)

Weather Underground, the website, and Weather Underground, the terrorist organization, both originated at the University of Michigan.

So, Wolverines.

Posted by: cool breeze at October 08, 2017 12:10 PM (TKf/P)

391 341
A little help from the morons. My son has finally discovered the joy of
reading. He finished a book I gave several years ago, The Nick Adams
Stories, and is in search of another of like quality. He thinks Old Man
and the Sea should be his next read. I'm not so sure on that. I am
looking for book recommendations of modest length that will feed his
hunger. He's 16 and has the attention span of a gnat (remember those
days) so modest in length but high octane relateability is prized.

Thank you.

Posted by: Puddin Head at October 08, 2017 11:50 AM (vV/gB)

already rec but Hornblower is good. Louis L'Amour is pretty good too.

Posted by: redclay at October 08, 2017 12:10 PM (nVN5G)

392 Really sorry to see that PDT has swallowed the bullshit that solving the Israeli-Pali peace shit will lead to love and peace all over the Middle East. Sigh
Posted by: Nevergiveup

huh ?

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 12:10 PM (QC/4S)

393 I am looking for book recommendations of modest length that will feed his hunger.

-----------------

The Sharpe series by Cornwell would probably keep his attention.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at October 08, 2017 12:11 PM (gC2IV)

394 Hill people around the World are feisty and independent and relatively poor. Scottish Highlanders, Appalachian hillbillies, and most of all the Afghans.

There's nothing strategic about Afghanistan except for heroin. We've wasted too many lives and too much money fucking around there.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 08, 2017 12:11 PM (pV/54)

395 Let me make myself clear, I am not arguing that police don't have a responsibility to answer emergency calls. I am simply citing the SCOTUS decision in the landmark case. Personally I think the decision was BS and the reason they did so was because they did not want to get into the mud trying to decide what a 'reasonable response' time is.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 12:11 PM (mpXpK)

396 Nood suppressors.

Posted by: Infidel at October 08, 2017 12:12 PM (NuO9F)

397 Here's another:

Hartzler v. City of San Jose, 46 Cal.App.3d 6, 120 Cal.Rptr. 5 (1975) (The administrator of the estate of Ruth Bunnell who had been killed by her estranged husband brought a wrongful death action against the city whose police department refused to respond to her call for protection some 45 minutes before her death. Mrs. Bunnell had called the police to report that Mack Bunnell had called saying he was on his way to her home to kill her. She was told to call back when Mack Bunnell arrived. The police had responded 20 times to her calls in the past year, and on one occasion, arrested her estranged husband for assaulting her. The Court of Appeal held that the police department and its employees enjoyed absolute immunity for failure to provide sufficient police protection. The allegations that the police had responded 20 times to her calls did not indicate that the police department had assumed any special relationship or duty toward her such as would remove its immunity.)

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 12:12 PM (NWiLs)

398 Really sorry to see that PDT has swallowed the bullshit that solving the Israeli-Pali peace shit will lead to love and peace all over the Middle East. Sigh
Posted by: Nevergiveup

huh ?
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 12:10 PM (QC/4S)

Trump says giving peace a chance before US embassy move to Jerusalem
Speaking in a TV interview with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Trump discusses his campaign pledge to move the US embassy to Jerusalem but says he first wants to try and forge peace between Israel and the Palestinians

If we can make peace between the Palestinians and Israel, I think itll lead to ultimately peace in the Middle East

Typical State Department and Left Wing Bullshit

Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 08, 2017 12:13 PM (SjImc)

399 . I am looking for book recommendations of modest length that will feed his hunger. He's 16 and has the attention span of a gnat (remember those days) so modest in length but high octane relateability is prized.

Thank you.

-
At his age, I loved Sherlock Holmes. I also quite liked Ambrose Bierce's Civil War Stories. (His story A Horseman In the Sky is a minor masterpiece that brings forth the poignancy and tragedy of the Civil War with a surprise ending.)

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I'm Dreaming of a White Privilege at October 08, 2017 12:13 PM (Nwg0u)

400
Ahhhh.... the Weather Underground weather site is a joke of sorts.... Doesn't seem like a very good one to me. I'm sure the families of those killed by those terrorist nutbags get a kick out of it.... :rolls:

I guess I'll just have to chalk it up to the ....I'm not cool or hip like these crazy kids these days factor...

I'll continue to not wear Che t-shirts as well....*

*mumbles under breath "get off my lawn" brrb

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin counting his pennies while cursing Hollywood under his breath at October 08, 2017 12:13 PM (tDTdL)

401 "BUT, Nexus clones were NOT human - they were Nexus created advanced toasters"

and THAT is the central question of the entire story! You assume they are not human because the people who profit from calling them that have told you they're not human.

But are the people telling you that story "human" themselves? Or are they just spinning the line that makes them the most wealthy and comfortable? How do we know?

What does it mean to be "human"?

And who are the real ones?

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 12:13 PM (V2Yro)

402 @225 You and I and Lileks have those lawns that these snot-nosed little whippersnappers can keep to hell off of. Cut by Wheel Horse mowers.

Kids, kids, kids, Sears did not buy K-Mart. It was the other way around.

Hippies did not invent front-loader washing machines. My mother's Bendix was new in 1948. We never had a top-loader. Not in my whole life. Did "new" ones suck? Sure they did. Nothing wrong with the design concept, though.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 08, 2017 12:14 PM (H5rtT)

403 So I'm watching the anime short "Blade Runner: Blackout 2022" and one of the replicants who was responsible for the sabotage of the databases and Tyrell Corp removed one of his eyes imprinted with the identifying serial number.

I noticed that one of the members of the replicant underground was missing an eye and I guess this is why.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 08, 2017 12:15 PM (qJtVm)

404 The "police have no duty" cases are about limiting civil money liability. Open the door to this and it'd create unending ambulance chasing.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 08, 2017 12:15 PM (pV/54)

405 Only good copiers out there are Konica Minoltas. Order of magnitude more reliable than all the others.

Posted by: redclay at October 08, 2017 12:07 PM (nVN5G)

Bullshit.

Posted by: Amy Schumer at October 08, 2017 12:17 PM (wYseH)

406 404 The "police have no duty" cases are about limiting civil money liability. Open the door to this and it'd create unending ambulance chasing.
Posted by: Ignoramus at October 08, 2017 12:15 PM (pV/54)

Maybe, maybe not. But it unquestionably creates a total lack of accountability to the population that their propaganda relentlessly tells us they serve and protect.

Posted by: Insomniac - The Left Hates You and Wants You to Die at October 08, 2017 12:18 PM (NWiLs)

407 I'm genuinely torn over this, but after some reflection, I think I would want the IRS to win -- by a hair. Because as corrupt as it is, the IRS does serve a legitimate purpose. The same is not true of COS.

The Church of Scientology only affects those stupid enough to join it - which they do of their own free, stupid will. The IRS, on the other hand, imposes itself on whomsoever it chooses and does so with total impunity, as we have all seen (and continue to see) with Barky having turned it into a potent political weapon that NO ONE has even lost a dime for, let alone faced criminal charges.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at October 08, 2017 12:18 PM (8gDQu)

408 Really sorry to see that PDT has swallowed the bullshit that solving the Israeli-Pali peace shit will lead to love and peace all over the Middle East. Sigh
Posted by: Nevergiveup

huh ?
Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 12:10 PM (QC/4S)

I think this is just Trump's way of setting the stage for the inevitable , "Well, I said I would give it a try. But it didn't work. We're moving the embassy."

Posted by: JoeF. at October 08, 2017 12:18 PM (7uYFy)

409 Washing machines?

Front loaders versus toploaders?

And that's when the fight began.

Posted by: Bozo Conservative....menace to society at October 08, 2017 12:19 PM (S6Pax)

410 The "police have no duty" cases are about limiting civil money liability. Open the door to this and it'd create unending ambulance chasing.
Posted by: Ignoramus at October 08, 2017 12:15 PM (pV/54)

Exactly.

Posted by: JoeF. at October 08, 2017 12:19 PM (7uYFy)

411 nd THAT is the central question of the entire story! You assume they are not human because the people who profit from calling them that have told you they're not human.

But are the people telling you that story "human" themselves? Or are they just spinning the line that makes them the most wealthy and comfortable? How do we know?

What does it mean to be "human"?

And who are the real ones?
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2017 12:13 PM (V2Yro)

There is no assumption- they were created in a factory of synthetic parts. They have no soul, their "memories" are just engrams on an artificial circuit. I think the opposite of what you are saying is happening in the movie- we are forced to think that what is NOT human IS. Which is a step SJW conditioning program - hey, that couple is as happy is the hetero couple so who is to say it is not a "real" marriage....

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 12:20 PM (QC/4S)

412 Front Loaders

Posted by: runner at October 08, 2017 12:22 PM (QC/4S)

413 Puddin Head, nobody else has said it, so, I recommend the "juveniles" of Heinlein, of course, and Robb White.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 08, 2017 12:24 PM (H5rtT)

414 Puddi head-

Heinlein juveniles. Andre Norton, alfough you have to sort between science fiction and fantasy (Witch World = fantasy, Time Patrol = SF) Poul Anderson.

Posted by: Fox2! at October 08, 2017 12:27 PM (brIR5)

415 387: My neighbor was a refrigerator repairman for the Israeli company Tadiran; he also worked on Amcor products. On his advice a few years ago, I got an Amcor with coils in the back, which he said was more appropriate for our hot climate. He told me that if a refrigerator is too well made, the companies cannot stay in business considering the competition, and doing minor repairs alone, hence the short term of useful life. My favorite feature is the interior design and ease of cleaning.
Now I see mostly LG, Samsung, Beko, and other European brands around here. I'm very glad I got a basic refrigerator/freezer without a lot of electronic extras. My daughter has a Samsung, and I positively HATE the interior design, which makes the contents hard to get to.

Posted by: Alifa at October 08, 2017 12:28 PM (2C4qi)

416 The music in the original Blade Runner was a great part of what made it special.

I wonder if the music in the new one is as good, as perfectly atmosphere-setting, and as technologically groundbreaking for today, as Jarre's music back then. It was a phenomenal soundtrack, ahead of it's time.

I will be seeing the new one. Just to see if it can out-Masterpiece the original.

I doubt it, in a thread about once-great Sears making and selling garbage today. My landlord and -lady live in a Sears HOUSE. Still a rock-solid house, to this day. The house next to them is also a Sears house. They just sent you the parts, and the instruction manual, like Legos. The siding has little metal button holes in it, for ventilation, I suppose. Each little button-hole cover is stamped Sears & Roebuck Co.

I have no idea when it was built, but I guess the early to mid 60s.

Growing up, everything in our house was from Sears. And yes, it all lasted 20-30 years. Forever, for Craftsman tools.

Then came the Great Suck Department Invasion in corporations. Today we call them SJW HR Departments. They both have the same goal: to make a good product suck in one or more regards, so that people will buy more of their replacements, with the sucky stuff repaired, and more sucky stuff added. Rinse and repeat, forever.

I wish humanity could get back to the 40's-50's model -- make stuff to last.

Posted by: Wooly Covfefe at October 08, 2017 12:28 PM (NCh45)

417 Washing machines?

Front loaders versus toploaders?

And that's when the fight beg"

My LG is a top loading no agitator model. Very satisfied with how it cleans.

Posted by: Tuna at October 08, 2017 12:31 PM (jm1YL)

418 I've got a 44-year old Yamaha CR-1000 "Natural Sound Stereo Receiver". The beast is still bad-ass. I sold the Yamaha turntable that came with it. I regret that decision, and that I sold it for $100.

Posted by: Wooly Covfefe at October 08, 2017 12:34 PM (NCh45)

419 Thinking back to my early reading ...
the Sherlock Holmes canon.
Heinlein, YA and other. (ending circa late 60's - too much sex in his later work for kid reading, imho)
Tolkien

I know there was more, but that's all I can think of right now.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, we are being gaslighted 24/7 at October 08, 2017 12:35 PM (z3Hmr)

420 "The Sharpe series by Cornwell would probably keep his attention."

As would the Saxon Tales. Vikings, swords and bloody battles. What's not to like.

Posted by: Tuna at October 08, 2017 12:36 PM (jm1YL)

421 "I wish humanity could get back to the 40's-50's model -- make stuff to last."

It seems like sometime in the late 60's - early 70's the fundamental focus went from making stuff better to making stuff cheaper.
Odd how that came at the same time as so many other areas of life started to be torn apart.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, we are being gaslighted 24/7 at October 08, 2017 12:41 PM (z3Hmr)

422 Has a suppressor been used in this covert method in any other crime we're currently concerned with? It would seem if they were this magical super-mod that we would have seen them used before now (since, despite hysteria, they are common and available).

Much like the bump stock. Until last weekend, these magical super-mods had been used by so few criminals that no one in the media or general population knew they existed.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at October 08, 2017 12:41 PM (oVJmc)

423 Ack, wrong thread.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at October 08, 2017 12:42 PM (oVJmc)

424 I have a Sears dryer that's 35 years old. Not a bit of trouble from it.

Posted by: Soona at October 08, 2017 12:42 PM (ZAAkQ)

425 seems to be a nood up

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, we are being gaslighted 24/7 at October 08, 2017 12:42 PM (z3Hmr)

426 Let's make it clear, once more: Sears never made anything, except money, and that was a while back. Every thing they sold was made by an established maker of something else. There was no "Sears factory."

Posted by: Stringer Davis at October 08, 2017 12:47 PM (H5rtT)

427 Good books for kids:

Maybe the Narnia series. I've always liked them.

Posted by: Dr Alice at October 08, 2017 12:53 PM (LaT54)

428 puddinhead: My recs would be the Butcher Wizard series, early Pratchett, and rather than Hornblower the Temeraire series. CS Forester is great, but too dense and layered for a skittish reader. Those are the ones that worked with my crew. Early Stephen King works too. The way I see it, suck them in with fast and entertaining, then they expand and look further on their own.

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 08, 2017 01:05 PM (MIKMs)

429 Regarding the 911 book, I grew up in a cop family, and my older brother and I went into LE. My experience has been that mostbcops understand that they cant be everywhere, and law abiding citizens should be able to protect themselves (there are always the 10%of course).

Posted by: Elliot at October 08, 2017 01:19 PM (IQlgh)

430 Context: Since the police are not, per court decision, required to protect an individual in harm's way, it follows that their real jobs are a) to act as clerks recording notes of interest pertaining to a previously committed crime which may or may not ever be prosecuted, b) to function as tax collectors for the locality by issuing traffic citations, c) seize private assets under civil forfeiture laws using any pretext possible, and d) toss an occasional flash bang into a baby crib after shooting the family dog during a no-knock midnight raid.

Posted by: Hrothgar at October 08, 2017 01:27 PM (gwPgz)

431 There's nothing strategic about Afghanistan except for heroin. We've wasted too many lives and too much money fucking around there.

Posted by: Ignoramus at October 08, 2017 12:11 PM (pV/54)

It should be Afglassistan by now!

Posted by: Hrothgar at October 08, 2017 01:32 PM (gwPgz)

432 Nothing to contribute, except that I have been listening to "Don't Come Around Here No More" on loop the last couple of days, and that thanks to current events my novel is going to be even darker than I wanted.

Darker, but I think in the end my characters (especially the female ones) will turn out even more beautiful than I intended.

Posted by: The bibulant logprof at October 08, 2017 01:59 PM (GsAUU)

433 I think the "Police have no legal obligation to protect you" thing is more to protect them from being sued because they weren't there in time than to give them legal cover to sit around ignoring crime. They have a duty and job to try to stop criminals, which has the effect of protecting you, but they don't want to open the police department up to endless lawsuits.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at October 08, 2017 02:18 PM (TZPec)

434 Long time fan, first time poster.
Interested in joining the GR group.
"Hi."

Posted by: Christopher (Donut) at October 08, 2017 03:20 PM (cbIKx)

435 well I was finally able to log onto my Kindle App on my Gal Tab A. But since I selected my first one as my default device it will not let me add another device or change it and I can not send stuff to it. So for now I am stuck on the Gal tab II 7".

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at October 08, 2017 03:21 PM (mpXpK)

436 Books are always the best friend of every person. They give us knowledge and proper scenario of the world.

Posted by: Benchtop table saw at October 09, 2017 01:39 AM (SsVxA)

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