Two things Hawkings has said come to mind: We need to get off this rock in the next 1,000 years and if there are aliens we probably wouldn't want to meet them because they'd tear us apart.

Lol, but I have so many thoughts on this - I wouldn't even know where to begin and end. Every single day I come up with a couple of different ideas of what the fuck is going on in this reality... So for today, Ugh (lol), we may actually be a part of an exceedingly strange alien "program" that exists beyond our senses. Wherever we look to find the nature of it, it turns into something else, does something else (good luck Large Hadron Collider lol) to create an illusion of infinity, yet along with an illusion of structure. So, in essence we could be the aliens and THE alien(s) is/are all around, inside & outside of us, yet we can't see it or know it. Sounds like a nightmare scenario, but I for one welcome our all encompassing magic-tech alien(s), lol.

I think it is extremely probable that there are lifeforms and probably advanced beings out there. Yet, I am open-minded enough to see that we may actually be *special* and there's nothing else out there besides this one strange paradise that we're destroying. And I mean, we may actually destroy ourselves before we're able to get far enough out there, so there's that and if that happens... guess we weren't so special afterall, or... but then we die and become part of the alien Nirvana so it doesn't matter anyway? lol

I think the basic problem for liberals in America is a numbers game:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/180452/liberals-record-trail-conservatives.aspx

Liberals had the illusion of being the majority because certain recent victories they had culturally and politically, when in fact they were still in the minority . They tried to silence the majority, who complied, as the man said, and then voted.

The power of the vote in America is greater than decades of social conditioning; it can completely change the direction of a country politically and more importantly, ideologically. That is what is happening here, which is a course correction by the majority which will lead to some diminishment of liberal thought in America. It may not last long, however, depending on the character and nature of the Trump presidency.

Liberalism worldwide seeks to change the value system of every nation in the world. The stated goal is a one world government without borders. This is also exactly what the bible predicted would happen. Whether it happens through liberalism, or another ism, there will eventually be a one world government overseen by the Antichrist.

Why is he scribbling all over an optical illusion? At least coach the actor in the concept of drawing lol

They claim the headphone jack was a roadblock to water resistance and that they have used the space for more important things. I'm...not convinced.

The cynical me thinks its just apple trying to undermine the 3.5mm jack with their proprietary overpriced shit. The less cynical part of me sees it as a continuation of their minimalist design philosophy. This is a company that would give you just one button to control your computer with if they could (whether it makes sense or not). Also, aesthetically it is more in line with their sort of "magic box" thing - they don't want you to see it as a machine with working parts and the familiar 3.5mm jack kind of breaks that illusion.

I go through a lot of headphones every year. The point of failure is almost always the wire or the connection at either end, so while I know I'd lose those earpods or w/e the fuck they are calling them in a heartbeat, and I do love the ubiquity of the 3.5mm jack, I must admit I do quite like the idea of not having the wire.

You'll notice I didn't say germans, I said nazis. If you want to exempt someone on the basis that they weren't really signed up to the movement, that's fine, but they're then no longer properly a part of the analogy.

In any case, probably the most generous thing that can be said of the 'naive nazis' is that if they didn't know the people they called jews - judaism is no more a race than islam - were being murdered, they merely thought they were being robbed of everything they owned, used as slave labour, and forcibly resettled. That's alright then.

You see, Penn is flat wrong when he says most people are good. Most people are stupid, and stupid people follow social norms, and social norms are, surprise, for the most part pro-social. It's a comforting illusion.

The friendly nazi baker who loves his family, always has a treat for the neighbourhood children, and never invaded anyone gets no pass from me. He's a fucking nazi. Most muslims don't blow people up or throw homosexuals off buildings, doesn't matter, they're still muslims.

Terrorism is a moronic bogeyman and I spread hate every day. Any idea can be used to corrupt people, that's not important. What is important is whether the idea in question is corrupt in itself; Penn says this one is, I agree with him, and that being so I say the people who hold to it deserve to be hated.

Well, after fiddle farting around, and trying to isolate a screen shot that shows all their little heads going up at the same time.... I didn't succeed.

So it appears that the simultaneous head lifting was an optical illusion and not a video manipulation.

Time shift is definitely going on. But it appears they are really doing this.

Nature, you freaky.

Will it? Or might the ignorant heard instead frequently shit all over something that lies beyond their own foresight, self interest and/or ill considered sensibilities?

By way of example, the abolition of the death penalty was opposed by the majority population in the UK up until about 2015 (it was introduced in 1965)

Likewise with equal voting rights, the abolition of slavery, child labour and so on (though I don't have numbers/dates for those to hand).

I realise the question of democracy is more nuanced than that, but there are enough examples of progress despite popular opinion to seriously call it into question.

I just can't help but shake the notion that the most successful and free democratic societies tend to be those most limited by political elites within them. (this can of course work both ways)

I will agree however that the illusion of democracy certainly seems to do wonders for keeping the baying pitchforks at bay.

A cycle of violent revolution does not seem at all preferable I agree. Clearly we are going to need a bit of both, a meritocratically regulated Noo perhaps? (i.e. earned but readily accessible votes for the demos to influence an elite Noo)

Though of course the problems with establishing that are also legion. I suspect that ultimately unless/until we create a mind greater than our own (A.I. or somesuch), it's always going to be a bit of a shit sandwich.

I don't think the systems are usually the real problem. I think it's just that people as groups are bloody awful.

All hail the mighty Noosphere!

Edit: I'm using Noo here to refer to the higher functions of the hypothetical collective brain. Strictly speaking everyone is part of the theoretical Noo and the anticipated harmony which it would/could grow into.

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Heart: David's text: You made this happen, you can fucking deal with it... you dickhead.

Head: "Let nigel scare people... "... farage was already in the room. Ruined the illusion.

Still, this is one of he best of these that I've seen in a while.

Nobody can deny that the current situation made the life of that lady and her children infinitely more complicated, and it will make it more miserable in the future.

However, what about all the Chavs? No, I'm not being sarcastic. What about all the people whose life can hardly become more miserable, because it's been miserable all along with no hope for improvement? Life is shit for a lot of people, and it has been for a long time.

What were their options in this referendum?

Remain told them that their quality of living would decline in case of a Brexit, and that it would decline more slowly if they remain part of the EU. In short, they offered them fuck all. Any notion of reforming the EU from within to make it care about the proletariat is an illusion, and a costly one if you look at either Greece or the recessionary EU in general.

So they went with the demagogues, who spewed such outrageous lies that even Goebbels would be ashamed. But they made an offer nonetheless.

All this talk about stock prices or the exchange value of the Pound is meaningless dribble if you live in places like Nuneaton. How is telling them all to sod off an irrational decision if all they did for decades was shit on you?

So yeah, I fucking hate the anti-immigration part of the discussion. It's despicable. But the patronising reactions from not just the elites but also large swaths of the Remain campaign gives me assteroids.

The casual way they discuss how to ignore or reverse the result of the referendum is a sign of why it went this way in the first place. They look down on the decision made by "those people". It makes no sense to them, so it has to be irrational. Silly plebs are not informed enough to make smart decisions, let's educate them. Or better yet, let's make the decisions for them.

It just oozes condescension. And it breeds contempt.

To end on a personal note: how the German government now appears to be the moderating factor on the EU side is beyond fucked up, given how they were the ones to piss on the plebs the most with their anal fixation on austerity. You really cannot make this shit up...

Edit:
Here's one for sovereignty: just last night, Jean-Claude Juncker said that the European Commission doesn't want national parliaments to vote on CETA. What's the point of democracy then?

Meh, you're not going to know unless you try.

My first passion was writing and that's what I studied while in university. I majored in film and really wanted to be a screenwriter. I was lucky enough to be living in L.A. at the time and going to a school that has really good connections with Hollywood (some of my teachers were retired producers, agents, etc.) Got two internships at different studios over the course of a year and got to see firsthand what the entertainment industry is really like. And it's actually pretty shitty in a lot of ways you'd expect (i.e. a lot of people trying to fuck each other over to get ahead). I was in fact offered a job at my second internship, but said "Nope!"

I still wanted to write and do something creative and it was getting close to graduation, so I started looking into other options. That's how I found game design. There was a local game studio that was looking for someone with writing experience to help write dialog and story for games. They brought me on as a tester so I could learn the ropes (I had played games but didn't know jack about making them) and promoted me to assistant designer less than a year later.

I worked in games for several years, and in the beginning it was everything I wanted--I got to be creative every day, the people I worked with were some of the smartest and most fun people I'd ever met, and I loved people's reactions when I told them what I did for a living. But two company banckruptcies later it had lost its shine. As I approached my mid-twenties I realized I wanted a more stable job as well as a job that I could be proud of when I retired (making games is fun and all, but I wasn't under any illusion that I was making much of a positive contribution to the world).

I had been volunteering as a tutor at the local Boys and Girls clubs when the game company I was working for went bankrupt and instead of applying for another game job, I decided to become a teacher. I went back to school and got my Master's in English. And that was over 13 years ago. I'm still a full-time teacher today. I wouldn't exactly say I'm passionate about my job anymore but what I've lost in passion I've made up for with experience. I honestly can't see myself doing anything else besides teaching for the rest of my life.

My point is, don't listen to this guy. Go ahead and follow your passion. Just don't be a slave to it. Assess the risks and take them voluntarily rather than be blind-sided by them. Recognize when you're about to hit a roadblock and correct course. I realize for some people this may mean giving up on their passion and having to completely re-evaluate their life but we only learn by trying--not by giving up before we even really get started.

*promote the death of childhood at :27. That poor kid lost all his illusions. Is it bad that I almost died laughing at his expression?