That's basically all there is left to say about TTIP, TPP, CETA, TiSA, etc, isn't it...

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"It is of the utmost importance to work alongside other world leaders."

Just a small note on that one: thanks to the actions of Victoria "Fuck the EU" Nuland and the Nazi-supporting, oligarch-empowering regime of Yanukovich/Poroshenko in Ukraine, the "working alongside" part seems to fall awfully short when it comes to the Bear in the East. The Putin administration does some fucked-up shit, but all those tanks taking part in Anaconda 16, the biggest excercise since the end of the Cold War, they don't sport Russian insigniae. That's NATO, excercising a "Invasion of Russia" scenario at the border of Russia.

Maybe it's because I live in what would have been the battlefield of WW3, maybe it's because parts of my family come from Königsberg/Kaliningrad, but I support the old notion of "There is no safety in Europe against Russia, there is only safety in Europe with Russia".

Somehow, he doesn't seem to have issues working alongside the Saudi royalty who support all kinds of extremism while waging a war of aggression against Jemen. You know, the kind of extremism that gave the war mongerers in Washington an excuse to wage war in multiple nations.

How's Clinton doing, by the way? Still hailing her push to turn Libya into a failed state as an accomplishment and a sign of her experience in foreign policy? Still defending her vote for the illegal war of aggression in Iraq? Still pushing for more war in Syria? I would be interested in what Justice Robert H. Jackson, Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, would have to say about the Bush administration, the Obama administration and our cherished Presidential Candidate in spe, HRC. Maybe he'd commend them on their oratory prowess or sense of fashion...

I smell PC policing, where's my rhetorical pitchfork....

...oh it's Andrew Jackson....errm...yeh...never mind, not even going to try arguing that one!

*backs away sheepishly*

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NBA's Response


NBA Response to New York Times Story on Flagrant Fouls and Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin
April 15, 2016

After reviewing our extensive officiating database, we have found no data that suggests Jeremy Lin is disadvantaged by our officiating staff. NBA referees use a set of criteria (available here) provided by the league office in determining whether a foul should be called flagrant. Following the game, contact that is deemed flagrant by referees and other hard contact (whether called or not) is reviewed by NBA Basketball Operations. As part of that review, Basketball Operations uses that same set of criteria, multiple video angles and enhancements, and its comparable database to calibrate its judgment. When deemed appropriate, a foul can be upgraded or downgraded and applicable penalties can be assessed. While some of the plays in the video involved hard contact, none was subsequently deemed a Flagrant Foul given the full circumstances, angles and comparables from past games.

With respect to the data, over the last three seasons, Mr. Lin ranked 21st among all players in number of drives to the basket with 1,537. While he has not drawn a flagrant foul in that time, neither have other guards known for their driving ability like Reggie Jackson (2,031 drives), Tony Parker (1,974), Tyreke Evans (1,969), Ty Lawson (1,891), Kyrie Irving (1,649) or Victor Oladipo (1,544). Conversely, Mr. Lin has drawn more common fouls on those drives than any of those previously listed players and has drawn fouls at the seventh-highest rate among the 23 players with more than 1,500 drives.

Furthermore, given the infrequency of flagrant fouls (roughly 1 per every 500 foul calls), it is not statistically significant that none of Mr. Lin’s 814 fouls drawn were deemed flagrant.

There are a LOT of similarities. It definitely blurs the line between "reboot" and "homage", but I'd argue that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I think it will take a few years for me to digest and figure out where I think it ranks in my personal assessment of the Star Wars movies.

That being said, I'm excited about the future of Star Wars again -- the prequels came very close to destroying any optimism that I had in that regard.

For the moment, consider Episode VII but ignore the plot and parallels / homage / blatant copying between it and A New Hope. In all three prequels combined, there wasn't a single character that was interesting; that we could identify with. Anakin was annoying -- in kid form and adult form. Ewan McGregor did OK with the material and directing he was given, but the script and writing in general did NOTHING to connect prequels Obi-Wan with the original trilogy. Padme, Jar-Jar (ha!), Palpatine, Dooku, etc. -- not a single memorable, interesting character that made me want to learn more about them. Sam Jackson's Mace Windu was probably the closest, but didn't get enough screen time or depth to really establish interest.

Already I feel confident in saying that in terms of characters, Episode VII is massively, overwhelmingly better than the prequels. Rey, Finn, and Poe are each individually far more interesting than every character from the prequels combined. AND, I want to see how those new faces interact with the old stars also. Luke, Leia, even Chewbacca (my personal favorite of the OT) all seem like they will continue to be very important to the story moving forward -- and continue to develop their own story arcs in addition to the new cast.

The Force Awakens wasn't *perfect* -- I tend to think it leaned a bit too much on revamping A New Hope also -- but it was very good and very entertaining. And I am definitely excited about the future of Star Wars again.

I love Iron Maiden and mary jane! Oh, Michael Jackson. Yeah, he's cool. (I was just wearing my Trooper shirt last night!)

Man, ever since Fringe I have a real soft spot for Joshua Jackson. Seems a pity he got typecast as Pacey for so long.

OK. I concede that sometimes the later parts of a series can be better than the second one. ;-)

But among the three Nolan Batman Movies, the second one is by far the best.

And nobody would argue the Terminator 2 is better than 3, 4 and 5 (and in my opinion even 1).

Star Trek 2 (The Wrath Of Khan) is still one of the best Star Trek movies.

> Die Hard 3 was WAY better than the snooze fest sequel.
> Samuel L. Jackson, man.

Back then I thought that DIe Hard 3 was more part of the Lethal Weapon series than a real Die Hard movie, but after 4 and 5, the majority rule makes it clear that Die Hard and Die Hard 2 are not part of the Die Hard series. ;-)

Exorcist 3 was way better than the second movie, although technically it is a sequel to the first.

Mad Max Fury Road was better than... well, all of the Mad Max movies.

Die Hard 3 was WAY better than the snooze fest sequel. Samuel L. Jackson, man.

Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country is WAY better than the original, 3, 4, and 5. So sometimes the sequel is good and then it takes 4 more movies before you get a good one in.

James Bond arguably got better with age. Maybe not the most recent ones, but Golden Eye was amazing. Great games can also be spawned from over making a franchise!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is hands down the best of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy. It wasn't just a western, it was an epic civil war movie in the west. And the ending with the Mexican stand off; soundtrack?!?! Hot damn! Not that the "sequel" sucked but the third was the BEST.

I know there are a couple good horror series that had a better third or fourth movie. Any Hellraiser is better than Hellraiser 2, same goes for Halloween. Though I can't say they were ever as good as their originals. It's still a hope I reserve for horror movies that make it past their shitty sequel.

The next Ring might be awesome. "Might." It's had a fairly massive career spanning 4 countries, 12 movies, 2 telvis ion series, 2 video games and a bunch of manga. Movies most people don't even know exist. I think the seventh iteration of the Ring (2002's American Ring) is the best.

And, while it might just technically count, it's worth noting that while i like Gaspar Noe's despair trilogy, his third movie Enter the Void is the only movie in the trilogy I can enjoy watching a third or fourth time. I once recommended his movies and alienated an entire office space. The only movie anyone enjoyed was his third movie.

Ghostbusters 3 will probably be better than 2. Blasphemy!! Hah, we will see. Girl power!

I think Batman also got better because of Nolan. Does that count? I mean, if a franchise goes on that long, it's all just sequels, despite the so-called canon and concept of "rebooting" a FAKE universe.

(Does Harry Potter count as the third movie in the Troll series?)

Looking forward to Follow It. I love the soundtrack by Disasterpeace. He did the soundtrack for the game Fez. Love that lowfi shit. And I love me some creepy ass horror with chilling moments made possible by a nerve wracking pace. You're right that It Follows... follows you into your dreams. Like Freddy.

But... I'm not sure it was my favorite film, nor my favorite horror film of 2015. I really enjoyed the horror comedy Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse -- it had zombie boobies, zombie kitten paws under doorways; the entire theater exploded in various combinations of delight and disgust on multiple occasions, like monstrous audience-gasms. And it had a gorefest ending with scout crafted zombie killing machines reminiscent of the lawnmower scene in Peter Jackson's Braindead.

It is also my opinion that it was a more effective comedy than Kingsman. Scout's Guide had the audience roaring, which is such a great moment to experience in a theater. Laughter and screams? Top theater experience of the year. Better reactions than Star Wars even.

I don't know what I think about David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) or Chrisopher Landon (Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse) as directors. Each have created a single horror gem reminiscent of 1970/80s horror but for different reasons. I hope they keep making movies like these.

Michael Jackson ain't got nothin' on this guy's moonwalk.

Later in the evening, Trump instructed his mob to "confiscate" a protester's coat and throw him outside in the 10F. weather.
Sounds to me like he's guilty of theft, assault, and incitement. If only there was a prosecutor who's not either a Trump fan or terrified to take him on.
These people are so dumb they don't see the terrible idea of electing a bully, and don't notice how he's turned against almost all those that supported him in the past.

Won't it be amazing if he's elected and at the inauguration says "wow, you people are just so incredibly stupid...I'm a democrat, have been my whole life and I never hid the fact, and you actually believed my idiotic, hateful republican character was for real. Losers."

EDIT: As a side note, has anyone else noticed the number of famous people the guy with the 'best memory in the world' can't remember being friends with? First it was the disabled reporter he knew personally and socialized with but 'didn't remember' although he mocked his handicap exactly, and more recently it's Samuel L Jackson he can't remember playing golf and having lunch with, as if anyone would forget that. So much for having the "best memory in the world", huh? Well, it was only about as true as everything else he says, so no surprise....except that some people still believe anything he says.

Die Hard is awesome for all the reasons listed. 2 is boring as all hell, 3 is alright -- Willis + Jackson usually = good movie, and I even liked Unbreakable -- skip the rest.

God, but the bloody feet. Still makes me cringe more than, I dunno, the entirety of the Revenant? I would rather watch a man get mauled by a bear for five minutes than John McClane pulling shards of glass out of the soles of his GODdamned feet for 10 seconds!!