My grandad never paid federal income taxes-He had no social security number. Mechanic in the army air corps and hand engraver for over 50 years (one of 6 at the time in the U.S. with his particular skills).

He told us never to trust a banker, a lawyer, or a doctor.

Since then I have heard several folks from the same era tell me that similar advice was standard for many who have been on the receiving end of endless un-lubricated ass-fuckings by these so-called professions and their support infrastructure.

Isn't it kind of strange.... every 3-4 years one of those "movies of good general conscience" comes out onto the movie-screen.
And people act suprised. Instead of vigorously debating the issue they either deny or shock it. There never appears to be a solid popular medial middleground. Just some weird echo that remains.

What a weird phenomenon. Someone more bitter than me might say: "A movie you have to see but pay for it?"

I fly to Phoenix from Canada every year, and do a ton of shopping because the goods are so cheap there in comparison. Every year one item goes missing. Usually something minor and not personal, but every year it happens.

@spoco2

Anything worth watching gets canceled or threatened anymore. And they wonder why they have trouble keeping certain demographics when they only keep the teen-angst drama stuff, CSI, and game shows.

Ever notice they also have big surges of similar TV shows debuted every year? One year it's lots of cop shows. Next year it's medical. I've always wondered why they don't try .....alternative their releases so they aren't all putting out the same "new" themed shows.

Just worked for a company for five years. Started at a salary below my pay level because the economy was rough and they were holding the cards.

After year one, got promoted to "almost" my pay level.
Year two, 2% raise, largest in my department.
Year three, no raise during a highly profitable year so the company could pay an extra 300 million dollars to their private investment firm. Was told the only other option was to lay off 3000 employees.
Year four, same thing.
Year five, 1% raise, largest in my department again, some people got zero.
Two Weeks ago, layed off with 499 other people, jobs sent to India.

Every year the company was profitable. Every year the top management raked in huge bonuses.

Any effort to raise awareness on the issue of the rampant greed and inequality in corporate America, no matter how ineloquent, is an important step.

Rubbish. It's stuff like that that makes religious people dislike atheists.

I'm not an atheist--but neither am I Christian. Nonetheless, I think it's worth pointing out some serious flaws in the argument here.

First, the literal interpretation of the Bible has never really been primary. Actually, this is almost universally the case for sacred writings. The Greek myths were to be understood as metaphor, and the Koran is considered by many Muslims to be a repository of spiritual truths which are not necessarily on the surface, and which require study to glean from the text.

Interpreting the Bible as non-literal--as metaphorical, analogical, etc.--goes back more than 2000 years. One of the first writers on the Old Testament, the Jewish scholar Philo, wrote a treatise that regarded the sacred books as almost entirely non-literal. He viewed it as encoded with revelations about Platonic truths, the structure of the spiritual world, and not necessarily a history book.

This viewpoint was carried through to the Christian period. The Church Father Origen famously interpreted the book non-literally. The 4th century Church Father St. Augustine even wrote a tract called "On the literal interpretation of Genesis," in which he excoriated the Creationists of the day, who believed the world to be flat and the sky to be a literal blue dome--and who believed, contrary to all observation, that the world was only a few thousand years old, when anyone with eyes could tell that it was clearly much older. Augustine cautioned the Christians against such interpretations because they were clearly wrong, and because they made Christians look like idiots.

Augustine instead proffered the interpretation that the world had been made all at once, in one instant. The "days" referred to in Genesis he instead took as referring to the distinct logical elements of the instantaneous act of Creation. Incidentally, Augustine claimed that this was, indeed, a "literal" interpretation--the term "literal" meant something very different in those days.

Of course, the ancients also viewed the world in a very different way. In those days, it made perfect sense to see an actual, physical object as also metaphorical or analogical in some way. A temple or a statue of a god could be, in a very real way, the instantiation of the god in the physical world. According to Aristotle, every object had its natural goal, its "telos." An object fell because it was its "telos" to be at its natural resting point on the ground. And so on. There was no such thing as dead matter, devoid of an intimate relationship to mind or spirit, in the view of the ancients.

It was not until the rise of the scientific worldview in the 17th and 18th centuries that the literal interpretation of the Bible became popular. Matter came to be viewed in Cartesian or corpuscularian terms, as pure mathematical extension in space, entirely passive unless moved from the outside. In Cartesian terms, things like the "telos" were unthinkable for physical objects.

Seeing the popularity and utility of this new viewpoint, the Protestant preachers began devising literalist interpretations of the Bible. Their goal was to vindicate the Bible in scientific terms. Their effort might have been laudable, but it became occasionally silly. Some theologians argued that Jesus hadn't actually died on the cross--he had just fainted, and then woke up in the tomb later and walked out.

Nonetheless, their efforts were genuinely honest and took the newest and best science to heart as they worked on their interpretations. Some of these theologians were scientist in their own right, making important contributions to biology and geology. However, as time went on, their efforts proved ultimately futile, leading the best theologians to gradually abandon the literalist approach the Bible.

Unfortunately, there are still a number of Christians who cling to 19th century literalist approach. So-called "creation science" comes out of this tradition, for instance. It should be remembered, though, that these Christians are not only rejecting genuine science--they are also rejecting centuries-old traditions within their own religion.

So tired of all the remakes, reboots, and re-imaginings. They redid Willy Wonka, FFS. Willy f'in Wonka! One of the greatest movies ever made! That's just wrong! What's next? "Citizen Kanye"? "Da GodFatha"? "Arbor Day", about a guy who wakes up over and over on the same insignificant holiday in perpetuity?

Hollywood, you wanna remake something that needs remaking? How about the last three Star Wars movies? Or anything with Ben Affleck in it? Take your pick of Stephen King movies. Godzilla without Ferris Bueller. King Kong without Jack Black. Gullivers Travels without Jack Black. Year One without... ok, anything with Jack Black without Jack Black.

Anyhoo...

Upvote for Emma Stone.

@Winstonfield_Pennypacker

First off, I'm convinced the selection of your username was motivated primarily by a desire to discourage people from addressing you directly. On to the serious stuff...

Let's go right to the "Climategate" data release. Cornell has a free piece of software called Eureqa that analyzes raw data and finds trends or formulas that could generate such data. It has no bias in its analysis; it doesn't even "know" what the data it's being fed represents; it just takes numbers and finds patterns. This guy just happened to be playing with the software at the time of this data release and decided to try it out. See the results for yourself. I wouldn't want to introduce any bias by telling you what they look like.

[Charles Monnett] has been suspended, possibly over the accuracy of his observations. - From the polar bear researcher article.

The important part of that article is in that quoted sentence and it's "possibly over the accuracy of his observations". The reason that's important is because Monnett has not been charged with anything yet; that's just Fox speculating on what he might be in trouble for. If he is found to have been dishonest, I hope he gets nailed, but let's wait and see.

Citing the hockey stick controversy is interesting because you're basically just choosing the climatologist whose findings you like over those who you don't. Hubert Lamb, the guy who put out the 1965 data with the warm "hump" in the middle ages, about 13 years later, came to agree that there would be evident global warming around 2000.

Even if you insist on sticking to his graph of the medieval warm period, we exceeded those temperatures in 2006-2007 and are still on a steep incline. It's hotter now than it's been in over 1000 years, one way or another.

Part of your writing is about what happened and the rest is about what you believe. Are the rich universally callous a-holes who care nothing about their employees? Some are like that, others ain't. Capitalism is like a military tank; it's better to be riding in the turret than getting caught under the treads.

Historically there appears to be more misery when taxocrats run the show than repubs. Why, what's stopping His Earness from announcing he loves socialism and implementing a carbon copy of the European model (have you see Greece lately)?

Not that I have much stake in defending them, but the wealthy pay the most taxes in America, despite the cheaters, that's fact. The bottom 50% don't even pay income tax but suck up plenty of "free" goodies.

There's a moral basis for making others pay a fair share of taxes, but not the lion's share.



>> ^RFlagg:

Let me tell you about "Employers". My former employer, just prior to the Presidential election sent out a memo saying that if Obama won the election and put his tax plan into effect he would have to fire 300 some people. Obama of course won, and even before Obama took the oath of office, they fired on the order of 380 people and told the rest that we wouldn't get a raise that year because the cost of living went down so much. He then went out and bought a private jet and another mansion in Glenmoor (a high end gated Arnold Palmer designed golf community) to add to the one he already had there (the second largest in Glenmoor) and his place on Miami Beach among others. A new year for the companies health care plan rolls around and the rates were supposed to go up 22% (the same amount as last year, but this is not mentioned the memo) but they held the line at only a 5% increase (again just like last year but not mentioned in the memo); the very next sentience of the memo about the health care cost increase goes to say how the company disagrees with Obama's costly health care plan as if it had anything to do with the insurance rate increases that year (one should note it is deceptive stuff like that which they put in their marketing which is why they can't do business in FL, PA, CA and a few others). Then when the Ohio governorship is up for election he sends another memo out talking how under Ted Strickland the company lost 380+ jobs and that we should vote for John Kasich. John Kasich wins and the owner fires 230+ people and once again no raises for anyone. 600+ people out of work but guess who still has his private jet. And it isn't like he is a rare case. Aside from the memos of voter intimidation he is typical of the rich and what they think of their employees. He has been given huge tax credits and incentives from the state, county and cities, but he still hasn't hired many people, and as a matter of fact fired over 600 people (far exceeding those hired by several hundred still) and pocketed the savings so he could get a jet. So don't believe or spread the lie that if we give the rich tax breaks or more money it will eventually help the working class. 30 years of trickle down economics has proven that doesn't happen. Of course you Republicans won't let facts stand in the way of robing the working class to support the rich, and using the media to tell them it is for their own good... sadly too many of the American public is too brain dead to realize they are being coned.
People like that guy is who the Republicans are all about rather blatantly, at least the Democrats pretend to care about the working class even if they don't have the balls to stand up to the Republicans or the rich. Some of the more caring Democrats have a plan that would balance the budget 10 to 20 years faster than the Republican plan, all without cuts to essential services to the working poor. If the Republicans really wanted to balance the budget as they say, and cut spending as they say, then they would go with the People's Budget, but since that cuts into Republican funded things like Tarp and cuts the military budget and raises taxes on the upper 2% they won't have it. Of course Obama and the majority of the Democrats are too chicken to support it themselves...

Let me tell you about "Employers". My former employer, just prior to the Presidential election sent out a memo saying that if Obama won the election and put his tax plan into effect he would have to fire 300 some people. Obama of course won, and even before Obama took the oath of office, they fired on the order of 380 people and told the rest that we wouldn't get a raise that year because the cost of living went down so much. He then went out and bought a private jet and another mansion in Glenmoor (a high end gated Arnold Palmer designed golf community) to add to the one he already had there (the second largest in Glenmoor) and his place on Miami Beach among others. A new year for the companies health care plan rolls around and the rates were supposed to go up 22% (the same amount as last year, but this is not mentioned the memo) but they held the line at only a 5% increase (again just like last year but not mentioned in the memo); the very next sentience of the memo about the health care cost increase goes to say how the company disagrees with Obama's costly health care plan as if it had anything to do with the insurance rate increases that year (one should note it is deceptive stuff like that which they put in their marketing which is why they can't do business in FL, PA, CA and a few others). Then when the Ohio governorship is up for election he sends another memo out talking how under Ted Strickland the company lost 380+ jobs and that we should vote for John Kasich. John Kasich wins and the owner fires 230+ people and once again no raises for anyone. 600+ people out of work but guess who still has his private jet. And it isn't like he is a rare case. Aside from the memos of voter intimidation he is typical of the rich and what they think of their employees. He has been given huge tax credits and incentives from the state, county and cities, but he still hasn't hired many people, and as a matter of fact fired over 600 people (far exceeding those hired by several hundred still) and pocketed the savings so he could get a jet. So don't believe or spread the lie that if we give the rich tax breaks or more money it will eventually help the working class. 30 years of trickle down economics has proven that doesn't happen. Of course you Republicans won't let facts stand in the way of robing the working class to support the rich, and using the media to tell them it is for their own good... sadly too many of the American public is too brain dead to realize they are being coned.
People like that guy is who the Republicans are all about rather blatantly, at least the Democrats pretend to care about the working class even if they don't have the balls to stand up to the Republicans or the rich. Some of the more caring Democrats have a plan that would balance the budget 10 to 20 years faster than the Republican plan, all without cuts to essential services to the working poor. If the Republicans really wanted to balance the budget as they say, and cut spending as they say, then they would go with the People's Budget, but since that cuts into Republican funded things like Tarp and cuts the military budget and raises taxes on the upper 2% they won't have it. Of course Obama and the majority of the Democrats are too chicken to support it themselves...

>> ^kronosposeidon:

Batman is probably my second favorite superhero, right after the Amazon princess. I don't compare superheroes with characters from other genres, like horror, science fiction, etc, because they're apples and oranges. He's not my second overall comic book character, but he's still high up. Do you read the new Batman & Robin, with Dick Grayson as the new Batman? I think it's pretty good.
And I read The Dark Knight Returns, and thought it blew. I can't stand Frank Miller, especially his Batman comics. Read this amusing critique of one of his Batman series. He deserves every bit of scorn heaped on him in that scathing review. >> ^Sarzy:
Batman is the greatest comic book character of all time. Of all time!
Yeah, that's right, I said it.



I actually haven't stepped foot in a comic shop in well over a year. Mostly because I'm absurdly broke at the moment, though I am starting to feel the itch to start picking up at least a few comics again.

I completely agree about the Dark Knight Returns, which I found to be kind of shockingly bad, given how revered it is by pretty much everyone. I did really like Batman: Year One, though.

Gotta say being part of VideoSift has been one of the single most gratifying things I'll have done in my life. Building (and to a lesser degree, maintaining) the website is a joy.

The community is undoubtedly the most enjoyable to be part of anywhere online. @dag really created a beautiful thing.

Most of all, for what seems like years, one member in particular has always made this place the best, most enjoyable it can be for me and everyone else. I don't even have to say your name. You know who you are. Thanks for Sifting.

As others have said there are several reasons that games don't look this good (but will in just a few short years). One major being that consoles are holding things back simply because they can barely handle what is out there today, let alone stuff like this. But largely because these tech demos only feature high polygon static scenes (beyond a little running water or wind fx) were a game needs to use most those polygons for characters, enemies and most that texture memory for those things as well. If all they needed to do was make some pretty scenery and that was their game, it would look this good on the PC version.

Frankly Id Tech 5 surpasses what we see here in every single way. Hopefully Id will put the work in making their next game, Rage, take full advantage of the power the engine has for the PC version and not hold it back simply to make sure it gets 20fps on the consoles with a field of view set at 60. I mean think about it, Crysis was absolutely beautiful because it was a PC only game, with Crysis 2 looking significantly less good simply because it's made with consoles in mind. But it's also old compared to what todays tech can accomplish on the PC. I hope consoles catch up soon really, but considering they all just put tens of millions into pretending to be the Wii, I don't see another console for at least 3 more years. So games simply will not look this good until a PC focused company creatures another Crysis type game.

The West Virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 25 workers and left another four unaccounted for in the worst mining disaster since 1984 had amassed scores of citations from mining safety officials, including 57 infractions just last month for violations that included repeatedly failing to develop and follow a ventilation plan.

The federal records catalog the problems at the Upper Big Bra More..nch mine, operated by the Performance Coal Company. They show the company was fighting many of the steepest fines, or simply refusing to pay them. Performance is a subsidiary of Massey Energy. Another Massey subsidiary agreed to pay $4.2 million in criminal and civil fines last year and admitted to willfully violating mandatory safety standards that led to the deaths of two miners. The fine was the largest penalty in the history of the coal industry.

The nation's sixth biggest mining company by production, Massey Energy took in $24 million in net income in the fourth quarter of 2009. The company paid what was then the largest financial settlement in the history of the coal industry for the 2006 fire at the Aracoma mine, also in West Virginia. The fire trapped 12 miners. Two suffocated as they looked for a way to escape. Aracoma later admitted in a plea agreement that two permanent ventilation controls had been removed in 2005 and not replaced, according to published reports.

The two widows of the miners killed in Aracoma were unsatisfied by the plea agreement, telling the judge they believed the company cared more about profits then safety. After the deal, the Massey subsidiary pledged a renewed focus on safety after the fines were levied.

But Bruce Stanley, the attorney who tried the Aracoma Mine accident case, had doubts. He told ABC News Monday there are a lot of similarities between the Aracoma mine and the one involved in this week's tragedy, and he has concerns about Massey's checkered track record on safety issues. Data kept by the Mine Safety and Health Administration show the Upper Big Branch mine has suffered three worker fatalities in last 12 years.

"One can only hope that the level of criminal neglect evident at the Aracoma accident was not repeated at the Upper Big Branch mine," Stanley said Monday night.

After the Aracoma accident, Massey Energy released a statement that said the company "is a recognized leader in safety innovation and performance and remains committed to working with federal and state agencies to fully understand the causes of the accident and to prevent a similar occurrence at Massey Energy or elsewhere in the future."

Monday night, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship released a statement saying, "Our top priority is the safety of our miners and the well-being of their families. We are working diligently on rescue efforts and continue to partner with all of the appropriate agencies."

The company is well known in West Virginia, in part because CEO Don Blankenship grew to become a fixture in state politics, doling out thousands of dollars to candidates he favored – most of them Republicans. In 2004, he spent millions on advertising that attacked a West Virginia state Supreme Court justice, leading to the election of challenger Brent Benjamin.

Massey had a $70 million case before the state Supreme Court and, once elected, Benjamin made the controversial decision not to recuse himself because of Blankenship's support of him and to hear arguments anyway. Another member of the court hearing the case was Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard. He later recused himself after photographs surfaced showing that he vacationed with Blankenship in the French Riviera.

When an ABC News reporter tried to interview Blankenship about the possible conflicts in the parking lot of a Massey Energy office in Belfry, Ky., Blankenship became agitated.

"If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot," Blankenship told the reporter before grabbing his camera.


Blankenship later told the Charleston Daily Mail he couldn't recall making any threats. "Quite frankly, I don't know what I said except that I know I'm never loud, vulgar or rude to strangers," he said.

The conflicts surrounding the state Supreme Court saga triggered a cascade of changes, including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that called on judges to recuse themselves when major donors come before them in court, and a vote by the West Virginia legislature to adopt public financing of judicial campaigns.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/west-va-coal-company-deadly-explosion-fined-millions/story?id=10293691&page=2

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ab4_1270570649

really, you don't need science to prove global climate change. Just common sense. Human's are an infestation. 2 billion to 7 billion in 80 years. One rat in a house... ok. 100,000 rats in a house...the environment becomes toxic and quickly unlivable. On a global stage, the ecosystem already does not have the ability to deal effectively with our rate of waste, energy consumption, and species destruction.
We *are* the environment. It is not a separate entity. Destruction of the ecosystem is destruction of the self. to think we can't affect our fragile ecosystem that is based on delicate balance is the height of arrogance and mindless stupidity.
And of course we're warming. To create energy, we chiefly BURN shit...lots of it. if you've ever spent a summer day in an area adjacent to a forest fire, you understand the warming effect of high amounts of CO2 in the air. Same thing but on a less concentrated, global scale. duh.