>> ^ChaosEngine:

>> ^criticalthud:
amazingly, there are actually people on here questioning whether or not Karl fucking ROVE would stoop to cheating.
the man who has orchestrated more bullshit propaganda, flat-out lies, political strategies of un-cooperation and disinformation, war and mass murder.
YES, Karl fucking ROVE would rig an election.
He clearly believes he is ABOVE THE LAW
and for the most part, HE IS.

I'm not sure if they're questioning whether Rove would stoop to cheating, they're questioning whether it's probable that he actually did.
So a question of capability rather than intent.
I believe Rove is actually Mr Burns made flesh and would gleefully steal candy from a baby, given the opportunity.


indeed. he didn't invade iraq by himself, did he? he got help. he's arguably one of the most powerful men on the planet. I'm assuming he has some people that know their way around the backend of a pc.

>> ^criticalthud:

amazingly, there are actually people on here questioning whether or not Karl fucking ROVE would stoop to cheating.
the man who has orchestrated more bullshit propaganda, flat-out lies, political strategies of un-cooperation and disinformation, war and mass murder.
YES, Karl fucking ROVE would rig an election.
He clearly believes he is ABOVE THE LAW
and for the most part, HE IS.


I'm not sure if they're questioning whether Rove would stoop to cheating, they're questioning whether it's probable that he actually did.

So a question of capability rather than intent.

I believe Rove is actually Mr Burns made flesh and would gleefully steal candy from a baby, given the opportunity.

amazingly, there are actually people on here questioning whether or not Karl fucking ROVE would stoop to cheating.
the man who has orchestrated more bullshit propaganda, flat-out lies, political strategies of un-cooperation and disinformation, war and mass murder.
YES, Karl fucking ROVE would rig an election.
He clearly believes he is ABOVE THE LAW
and for the most part, HE IS.

You're right. I was trying to figure out if the garments in the back right corner were Karate or Klan.>> ^nomino:

I love how orchestrated the background is. It's as if someone would actually have a room as ridiculous as this one. It's full of successful and patriotic imagery that the electorate subconsciously processes. I would have greatly enjoyed being in the meeting where they argued on what should be behind these two shills.

Good use of the Bond theme throughout especially that piano right from the beginning. Many of the Bond songs have been not too original because they work in that main theme in a fashion too similar to the orchestral score.

In reply to this comment by noims:
I have the right to speech, and I have the right to say nothing.

I Have Power.


Yes, I'm a reasonably pretentious 39 year old white irishman. The power and ability not to speak can speak volumes... even when orchestrated.

I love how orchestrated the background is. It's as if someone would actually have a room as ridiculous as this one. It's full of successful and patriotic imagery that the electorate subconsciously processes. I would have greatly enjoyed being in the meeting where they argued on what should be behind these two shills.

In my (fantasy world) opinion, the machines have already taken over and we're in the midst of a slow genocide, because time is not a barrier in a system built to take as long as possible before a pattern can be verified. Minimize our rights, blur the line between what defines a person, allow time for acclimation, make it difficult not to break laws and/or policies to minimize as many opinions as possible, if someone begins falling outside that system attach a constructed sexual assault case to their name and extradite; slowly lower the impact human death has on our collective conscience, and THEN murder all humans with a number of doomsday machine scenarios. Or just depress them until their birthrate dwindles to near nothing and sterilize the surviving populace.

That's how Terminator should have played out. A loose conspiracy with no human names or communication outside of encrypted messages sent between machines. Money trails lead to people on opposing party lines because the entire democratic process is orchestrated.

I'm going to go kill myself to speed this along. GG, machines, GG.

get back on your own lawn then gramps... i have a wide range of musical tastes, from classical orchestral to native drums to country to death metal to rap, and i immediately find what to appreciate in this BALLER-ASS SONG.

Listen to it on a real stereo, read the lyrics... unless of course, you are unable to expand your mind. There are others like you. Maybe you can vote together in your old age.

>> ^Bruti79:

The orchestral rendition was awesome as well.


I believe it was from Video Games Live or some orchestra.

The orchestral rendition was awesome as well.

>> ^VoodooV:

gee, shiny resorts to harassment? color me shocked!
I'm sorry, but ill say it again, people like shiny need to be kicked out of here. It has nothing to do with conservatism or religion, these people simply don't contribute to civil discourse. I know plenty of conservative/religious people who are capable of engaging in civil debate and discourse, Shiny or QM, and others aren't among these people
They drop their talking points and move on to the next sift. That's not debate, that's not discourse. And you certainly can't have rational discussions with someone who no matter what, thinks you need to be saved and doesn't view you as an equal human being and him and his god are always correct and you're always wrong. It's not conducive to rational discussion and quite frankly, it's simply not healthy, period.
And yes, it is trolling.
Remember that even though they seem to be an endangered species, there are actual rational right wingers out there. You may disagree with them, but they can actually debate civilly without regurgitating Fox News or Theistic propaganda.


This is such an old response and thread, but I thought I'd say it anyway as I really want it said in here.

I've met, actually, a great many people that are very set in their theistic mindset, but like you said they also don't think I'm going to burn in a pit of fire come the end of time; in fact quite a few of them would be morally outraged if such a thing occurred--as they literally know, like me, that the difference between believing in God and not, is merely a thought away (or you could say, one neuron connection/pathway away).

There are a few that believe in fire and brimstone type things, but they only--typically--reserve it for the greatest of crimes (like an Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot). Even fewer still that believe that there is a harsh judgment remaining for a lot of people, but they tend to believe that there is a way to "return" or to repent there--in the "lake of fire" and come back a new person.

BUT, the ones that think there IS a hell, absolute and horrifying in all it's glory, these are ALSO the very same people that cannot have a rational discussion with you. It's very strange. It's as though their ability to actively decide whether actions in play are moral or not are by definition an unanswerable question until they have been told by someone ELSE what that answer is: either the Bible, other religious members, or talk show hosts, and you get my picture. THESE are the dangerous people.

It reminds me of the story in the Old Testament, in Numbers 15:32-36 (for those that wish to read it). Now I know many *newer* religions, get around this stuff by saying they use the New Testament (it has it's fun stuff too, but for now, let's just do this one) due to Christ's Salvation and his, yada yada yada yada yada--I heard this for a long time myself as a Mormon and in some Catholic services I went to.

This guy collects what is essentially firewood on the Sabbath (this was back in the day when not having a fire active in your house/hut/tent/whatever at night could literally mean death--in case you've never been out camping/hiking, fires are VERY important and are a DAMNED LUXURY with our matches, steel wool, sleeping bags made to hold in heat, and other items that make a night in the wilderness go by--gently and one could say comfortably fun).

Instead of just collecting this firewood, making a meal and going to bed, this guy gets caught for working on the Sabbath and is taken to Moses and Aaron. So we all know what that little commandment this is, the one EVERYONE disobeys now (It goes by either of these two definitions and there are more versions--trust me: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. -OR- Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.). So God buzzes Moses on the iGodphone™ and tells Moses the bad news, or well the good news and the bad news. The bad news is that "unnamed villager" will be taken outside the encampment, with what sounds like most of the people and then stoned to death. The good news, is they get to stone someone (sorry, but back then and with the regularity of which stoning happened I really think people enjoyed it when these edicts came on down...)!

SO, I've seen this tale said many a time and I CANNOT believe the amount of heads I see move up and down while this is repeated. They LITERALLY agree with cold-blooded murder in the first-degree, for GATHERING FIREWOOD!!! In the damned ages BEFORE the Dark Ages-life SUCKED! You NEEDED FIRE!!! It wasn't a question of maybe I'll skip it tonight it was a matter of when do I start it up--every night! So you can see why people like this can be dangerous as someone from on high that they think is their leader gives them what essentially is a crime, they don't think to long about it--they act, and carry out whatever truly horrifying act it was.

This has been abused by many Cult leaders, like the "Alien Comet riders" or also known as Heaven's Gate in California or something even MORE horrifying like Jonestown (something that was horrific--there are some GREAT documentaries on this to watch,; I suggest looking for them) or something semi-recent like (straight from wiki), "The 778 deaths of members of the Ugandan group Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, on March 17, 2000, is considered to be a mass murder and suicide orchestrated by leaders of the group.", so you can see while large religions don't do these WILD events they DO slowly in fact do smaller and incrementally increase their crimes.

You might ask what crimes, but it is literally crimes that we can point to that are AGAINST the VERY FABRIC of your own teachings. Use the Golden Rule in your life and get rid of the authority driven craziness, it will only lead you to sadness, if you're a zealot--fight it within yourself.
--------

So, anyway, what I'm saying is that I very much agree that there ARE many people that are theistic believers (not just Christan ones mind you) that are GREAT to talk to and many times you don't even have to argue with them you can have laid back conversations with them--it's amazing who you run into.

BUT, for the people I mentioned they are nearly lost causes. I don't know exactly what their problem is but it does have something to do with the fact that they MUST be told a "truth" by a "high-ranking-official" for them to change a stance. They are TRUE believers, ZEALOTS to their cause and dangerous.

A little bit the same as you said @VoodooV, but I thought I'd add a few more nails into that coffin.

I've always preferred this version over the original. The orchestral coda (sadly truncated in this video) is one of the most beautiful and delicate pieces of music I've ever heard. You can hear it in full here: http://youtu.be/PJmVTJYFbHE (from 3:40) - bliss.

No, no, this "non-Samaritan" attitude goes back centuries. It has nothing to do with modern notions of liability.

The Chinese culture is very different from Western culture. "Saving face" isn't a light topic there. Suicide to save the family's honor has been part of their culture, hasn't it? I'm not that well versed in the differences of the various Asian cultures.

Hari kiri is the Japanese equivalent, yeah? The most honorable way to die is to disembowel yourself with no assistance. Most chose to have a trusted relative or friend behead them so they died quickly -- after stabbing themselves in the gut. I learned all this from Hollywood movies and novels -- so maybe it is all a load of crap.

So I"m sticking with my plausible interpretation that it is POSSIBLE that this was orchestrated by the government. Maybe it was just the government taking advantage of a true kind impulse on the part of the taxi driver -- but they do control the media still, yeah?

Cynical. That's me!




In reply to this comment by longde:
damn, you are cynical!!! It's sad that some of the bad infrastructure in china make this story perfectly plausible.

I think this attitude has to do with the ease of liability being assigned to the helper. In this case, there is no way any reasonable person would think the cab driver was responsible for the girl's injury. As opposed to a driver stopping for an injured pedestrian.>> ^bareboards2:

Here's another topic missed by this video --
Remember when that little girl got ran over by a truck and everyone walked by? The only person who went to help was a very poor woman?
Apparently there is a culture in China of NOT helping others. What I read at the time was if you help someone, then you become responsible for them. Which is why only the very poor woman went to help -- she had nothing to lose.
The Chinese government has been attempting to change that culture, in part by changing laws (I think. Didn't I read that somewhere?)
Here is how calloused I have become -- I thought for a moment (and I still sort of do) that this was a set up by the Government. A visual campaign to educate the public. They made the guy a hero, showed how the government has the services to help. The hole in the pavement was too weird, as noted here, people crowded around the hole with zero concern that more would give way. They didn't interview the girl at all, didn't show her face.
It's not a bad thing, to attempt to create a Good Samaritan culture in the face of thousands of years without one. I am just cynical about the feel-goodness of this clip.
Calloused. I am calloused.

>> ^shuac:
One question for you, Sarzy. You say this film is a milestone. I'm sure you're right. Can you tell me why this film is a milestone?


Because the fight choreography and direction are peerless; the film's fight scenes easily rival anything that I've ever seen, and I've seen my share of action movies.

Because the critical consensus is that it's an instant classic.

Because it's breaking through into the mainstream more than any martial arts film I can think of since Ong Bak.

Because it is awesome.

Some quotes from reviews:

David Fear -- Time Out: And in terms of beautifully coordinated film violence—the kind involving flying fists and feet, whizzing blades and ballistic superbattles—Gareth Evans’s insta-classic Indonesian crime flick is leagues above every kinetic bullet-ballet and martial arts epic of the past decade. Whether this 31-year-old Welsh director will eventually be mentioned in the same breath as legendary chaos orchestrators like Sam Peckinpah or John Woo remains to be seen. For now, Evans can take pride in the fact that he’s set the bar for cinemayhem impossibly high.

Andrew O'Hehir -- Salon: “The Raid” is a witty, pulse-pounding instant midnight classic, an immediate sensation at the Sundance and Toronto festivals that should appeal to cinema buffs, action freaks and a pretty large mainstream audience besides. It offers some of the best Asian martial-arts choreography of recent years and an electric, claustrophobic puzzle-palace atmosphere that’ll leave you wrung out and buzzed.

Ty Burr -- Boston Globe: Not yet 30, Evans is a master of visceral tension and release. “The Raid’’ repeatedly slows down, gathers force, and rushes forward using all the elements of filmmaking at a director’s disposal: editing’s ability to expand and contract time; the camera’s gift for revealing information through motion and light; a good musical score (by Joseph Trapanese and Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda) that can cue audiences to respond or just play with their heads. At times, “The Raid’’ feels like pure cinema.

Nordling -- Ain't it Cool: Then, there are the action sequences, which are so exquisitely orchestrated that they build like a symphonic suite of pain and kickassocity. This movie builds and builds, each fight even bigger than the one before it. I can't imagine an audience that won't be on their feet for some of them - and the action choreography is damn near perfect, with cinematography to match. Sure, there's some shakycam, but it's only to build the intensity because Uwais and director Gareth Evans have planned each fight so well that it's never confusing, not once. The geography is flawless. The film wisely lays out the building early on, so that you unconsciously understand where everyone is in the building and even in the same room. I haven't seen such confident action direction since John Woo unleashed the doves in THE KILLER and, yeah, HARD BOILED.