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405 results for “SecondThought”
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My brothers and sisters in Christ, let me tell you a story about what it's like to drive 500 miles to visit your aging parents for the holidays and because you are a devoted child and parent and there's no way you can stay with them you and your spouse therefore have to stay in a motel (it's clean! It was updated in the 1960s! It's convenient! There are only a couple of peeled paint spots on the walls! The television is a fire hazard! It's not expensive!) for 4 nights.
On second thought I will just let you all imagine it.
Merry christmakwanzakkah to those celebrating.
#goodnight #sayaprayerforme
#lightacandleforme #holidaycheer #payingoffkarma -
So I finally read what cheedolini said about #Reiner (may they rest in peace)
And my first thought is it's exactly what he says about every actor that doesn't like him not talented etc
I might have missed some of it because I just read an article not any of the posts, but if I got all of it, my first thought is yeah of course it's horrible but that's what we expect from him
My second thought is that he is getting the push back like this not just because it was inappropriate, he's made all sorts of inappropriate things this might be slightly over the line, compared to what he normally does, but the reason that the pushback is happening is because people are sick of it and his schtick is past it's shelf life
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“If engineers can build a 10-lane highway over the Fraser River and blast a highway through the mountains from Port Alberni to Tofino, it’s possible to create a modern passenger rail service between Victoria and Langford, he said.”
As a very young train I remember building to Port Alberni. But we did it unfairly. We cut through reserves without a second thought. A lot that happened back then was wrong.
This feels closer to right.
#rail #vancouverisland #icf #transport
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/mayors-to-work-with-first-nations-on-commuter-rail-that-doesnt-cut-reserve-land-in-half-11613304 -
“If engineers can build a 10-lane highway over the Fraser River and blast a highway through the mountains from Port Alberni to Tofino, it’s possible to create a modern passenger rail service between Victoria and Langford, he said.”
As a very young train I remember building to Port Alberni. But we did it unfairly. We cut through reserves without a second thought. A lot that happened back then was wrong.
This feels closer to right.
#rail #vancouverisland #icf #transport
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/mayors-to-work-with-first-nations-on-commuter-rail-that-doesnt-cut-reserve-land-in-half-11613304 -
“If engineers can build a 10-lane highway over the Fraser River and blast a highway through the mountains from Port Alberni to Tofino, it’s possible to create a modern passenger rail service between Victoria and Langford, he said.”
As a very young train I remember building to Port Alberni. But we did it unfairly. We cut through reserves without a second thought. A lot that happened back then was wrong.
This feels closer to right.
#rail #vancouverisland #icf #transport
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/mayors-to-work-with-first-nations-on-commuter-rail-that-doesnt-cut-reserve-land-in-half-11613304 -
“If engineers can build a 10-lane highway over the Fraser River and blast a highway through the mountains from Port Alberni to Tofino, it’s possible to create a modern passenger rail service between Victoria and Langford, he said.”
As a very young train I remember building to Port Alberni. But we did it unfairly. We cut through reserves without a second thought. A lot that happened back then was wrong.
This feels closer to right.
#rail #vancouverisland #icf #transport
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/mayors-to-work-with-first-nations-on-commuter-rail-that-doesnt-cut-reserve-land-in-half-11613304 -
“If engineers can build a 10-lane highway over the Fraser River and blast a highway through the mountains from Port Alberni to Tofino, it’s possible to create a modern passenger rail service between Victoria and Langford, he said.”
As a very young train I remember building to Port Alberni. But we did it unfairly. We cut through reserves without a second thought. A lot that happened back then was wrong.
This feels closer to right.
#rail #vancouverisland #icf #transport
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/mayors-to-work-with-first-nations-on-commuter-rail-that-doesnt-cut-reserve-land-in-half-11613304 -
CW: Advent of Code 2025 Day 12 Spoilers
Today I spent a bunch of time preparing for a really hard problem that ended up being a very very simple problem.
My first thought on seeing this was, if we're being honest, "shit I hate bin packing." But such is life, so my second thought was "I wonder how many of these are just impossible?" That is, how many have too many filled squares for the dimension of the grid, and so would be impossible to fit in any configuration. So I wrote that code, and it eliminated about half.
Then I spent nearly an hour writing a recursive backtracking solver that was reasonably fast and I discovered that... all the puzzles that passed the first check passed. 😦
So I deleted all the junk, and kept my first "sanity check" solution.
https://codeberg.org/biesnecker/aoc-anyhow/src/branch/main/202512.py
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While I'm on the topic of things that are great...
The Orbea Vibe H10 EQ is, IMO, a great ebike for commuting. The integrated lighting, included mudguards and included pannier rack make it commute-ready out of the box, but it still looks good and not overly ebike-y.
Ortlieb Back-Roller Classic pannier bags are still the best. So quick and easy to get them on and off the bike, no movement or rattling once they're on the bike, and completely waterproof.
Finally something that most people wouldn't give a second thought, my bike bell. It's a Knog Oi Prima, and it's fantastic. Really loud so it doesn't go unnoticed, but it's still a pleasant sound so it doesn't come across as aggressive (unless you hammer away at it). Perfect if you do much cycling on shared used paths, and regularly need to give pedestrians a courtesy ding or two to warn of your approach.
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"Do you have any idea how fast you were flowing?"
"Sir, your vehicle is emitting an excessive amount of smoke. And rock. And fire."
"Turn off the engine, please. The big, fiery one in the mountain."
"Could you pop the hood for me?
...On second thought, please, absolutely do NOT pop the hood.""Your vehicle is not up to code. Specifically, any code. For anything. Ever."
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Problems are Places, Questions are Spaces
Last year, while regrouping myself and rebuilding my old curious ways, I had a thought. The common words “spaces” and “places” pass through our minds, fingers, and lips but they deserve a second thought. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t the first one to consider this and the wealth of reading material helped me write We Need Homes in the Delta Quadrant. Spaces and places have been an enjoyable lens to look through.
Recently, through Agnes Callard’s Open Socrates, I was introduced to the Socratic concepts of questions and problems. Initially I thought of it as a newish way to look at things, but I’m converging toward the idea that problems are places and questions are spaces. A quick exploration below as to why.
Vintage pattern illustration. Digitally enhanced from our own 19th Century Grammar of Ornament book by Owen Jones.Problems impede your quest and solving them makes them disappear. There are established ways of solving problems—recipes, algorithms, or rituals that nudge the obstacle aside so the original activity may continue unabated. Essentially, problems are tractable.
Places are tractable too as “an ordered worlds of meaning.” Place-making, like problem-solving, begins by drawing a boundary and then treating that encapsulation as a building black, whatever its inner workings. The moment you can stand somewhere and say “here” you have marked out a place; the moment you can name a difficulty and say “do this” you have packaged a problem.
The Socratic question, by contrast, is a quest. It is a hunt whose solution is unknown. Questions do not disappear when solved, instead they are additive and leave you with something, i.e. the solution. A real question insists on orientation before action: you must find north in the wilderness before plotting any march. And yet, along the path to an answer, you inevitably solve problems. Those problems are the markers that help you orient and keep you moving. A previous “solution” to a question can be used as a new place to further explore and prod at the question. In that sense, a question is like the horizon you constantly seek.
Spaces feel exactly like that horizon. Spaces are pure potential to be explored by the places that demarcate the space. Identity, orientation, and even memory of a space are created by and stored in the places that surround it. To explore a space you must create stable places around it
While the new way of thinking about Questions and Problems is great, I still prefer the lens of Spaces and Places. Q&P seem too narrow a set of lenses limited to the human mind. S&P expand that stage and allow us to think of more in that context. What I like even more is that spaces can also be places assuming we allow a boundary to be drawn around the fuzzy nature of a space. As a scientist, this feels a bit more satisfying because it allows you to explore and experiment even when the knowledge isn’t properly tied down by facts.
#AgnesCallard #cognitiveFrameworks #conceptualMetaphors #curiosity #epistemology #knowledgeExploration #philosophy #placeTheory #placemaking #questionsAndProblems #scientificInquiry #socraticMethod #spaceAndPlace #systemsThinking #yiFuTuan
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Problems are Places, Questions are Spaces
Last year, while regrouping myself and rebuilding my old curious ways, I had a thought. The common words “spaces” and “places” pass through our minds, fingers, and lips but they deserve a second thought. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t the first one to consider this and the wealth of reading material helped me write We Need Homes in the Delta Quadrant. Spaces and places have been an enjoyable lens to look through.
Recently, through Agnes Callard’s Open Socrates, I was introduced to the Socratic concepts of questions and problems. Initially I thought of it as a newish way to look at things, but I’m converging toward the idea that problems are places and questions are spaces. A quick exploration below as to why.
Vintage pattern illustration. Digitally enhanced from our own 19th Century Grammar of Ornament book by Owen Jones.Problems impede your quest and solving them makes them disappear. There are established ways of solving problems—recipes, algorithms, or rituals that nudge the obstacle aside so the original activity may continue unabated. Essentially, problems are tractable.
Places are tractable too as “an ordered worlds of meaning.” Place-making, like problem-solving, begins by drawing a boundary and then treating that encapsulation as a building black, whatever its inner workings. The moment you can stand somewhere and say “here” you have marked out a place; the moment you can name a difficulty and say “do this” you have packaged a problem.
The Socratic question, by contrast, is a quest. It is a hunt whose solution is unknown. Questions do not disappear when solved, instead they are additive and leave you with something, i.e. the solution. A real question insists on orientation before action: you must find north in the wilderness before plotting any march. And yet, along the path to an answer, you inevitably solve problems. Those problems are the markers that help you orient and keep you moving. A previous “solution” to a question can be used as a new place to further explore and prod at the question. In that sense, a question is like the horizon you constantly seek.
Spaces feel exactly like that horizon. Spaces are pure potential to be explored by the places that demarcate the space. Identity, orientation, and even memory of a space are created by and stored in the places that surround it. To explore a space you must create stable places around it
While the new way of thinking about Questions and Problems is great, I still prefer the lens of Spaces and Places. Q&P seem too narrow a set of lenses limited to the human mind. S&P expand that stage and allow us to think of more in that context. What I like even more is that spaces can also be places assuming we allow a boundary to be drawn around the fuzzy nature of a space. As a scientist, this feels a bit more satisfying because it allows you to explore and experiment even when the knowledge isn’t properly tied down by facts.
#AgnesCallard #cognitiveFrameworks #conceptualMetaphors #curiosity #epistemology #knowledgeExploration #philosophy #placeTheory #placemaking #questionsAndProblems #scientificInquiry #socraticMethod #spaceAndPlace #systemsThinking #yiFuTuan
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Problems are Places, Questions are Spaces
Last year, while regrouping myself and rebuilding my old curious ways, I had a thought. The common words “spaces” and “places” pass through our minds, fingers, and lips but they deserve a second thought. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t the first one to consider this and the wealth of reading material helped me write We Need Homes in the Delta Quadrant. Spaces and places have been an enjoyable lens to look through.
Recently, through Agnes Callard’s Open Socrates, I was introduced to the Socratic concepts of questions and problems. Initially I thought of it as a newish way to look at things, but I’m converging toward the idea that problems are places and questions are spaces. A quick exploration below as to why.
Vintage pattern illustration. Digitally enhanced from our own 19th Century Grammar of Ornament book by Owen Jones.Problems impede your quest and solving them makes them disappear. There are established ways of solving problems—recipes, algorithms, or rituals that nudge the obstacle aside so the original activity may continue unabated. Essentially, problems are tractable.
Places are tractable too as “an ordered worlds of meaning.” Place-making, like problem-solving, begins by drawing a boundary and then treating that encapsulation as a building black, whatever its inner workings. The moment you can stand somewhere and say “here” you have marked out a place; the moment you can name a difficulty and say “do this” you have packaged a problem.
The Socratic question, by contrast, is a quest. It is a hunt whose solution is unknown. Questions do not disappear when solved, instead they are additive and leave you with something, i.e. the solution. A real question insists on orientation before action: you must find north in the wilderness before plotting any march. And yet, along the path to an answer, you inevitably solve problems. Those problems are the markers that help you orient and keep you moving. A previous “solution” to a question can be used as a new place to further explore and prod at the question. In that sense, a question is like the horizon you constantly seek.
Spaces feel exactly like that horizon. Spaces are pure potential to be explored by the places that demarcate the space. Identity, orientation, and even memory of a space are created by and stored in the places that surround it. To explore a space you must create stable places around it
While the new way of thinking about Questions and Problems is great, I still prefer the lens of Spaces and Places. Q&P seem too narrow a set of lenses limited to the human mind. S&P expand that stage and allow us to think of more in that context. What I like even more is that spaces can also be places assuming we allow a boundary to be drawn around the fuzzy nature of a space. As a scientist, this feels a bit more satisfying because it allows you to explore and experiment even when the knowledge isn’t properly tied down by facts.
#AgnesCallard #cognitiveFrameworks #conceptualMetaphors #curiosity #epistemology #knowledgeExploration #philosophy #placeTheory #placemaking #questionsAndProblems #scientificInquiry #socraticMethod #spaceAndPlace #systemsThinking #yiFuTuan
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Problems are Places, Questions are Spaces
Last year, while regrouping myself and rebuilding my old curious ways, I had a thought. The common words “spaces” and “places” pass through our minds, fingers, and lips but they deserve a second thought. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t the first one to consider this and the wealth of reading material helped me write We Need Homes in the Delta Quadrant. Spaces and places have been an enjoyable lens to look through.
Recently, through Agnes Callard’s Open Socrates, I was introduced to the Socratic concepts of questions and problems. Initially I thought of it as a newish way to look at things, but I’m converging toward the idea that problems are places and questions are spaces. A quick exploration below as to why.
Vintage pattern illustration. Digitally enhanced from our own 19th Century Grammar of Ornament book by Owen Jones.Problems impede your quest and solving them makes them disappear. There are established ways of solving problems—recipes, algorithms, or rituals that nudge the obstacle aside so the original activity may continue unabated. Essentially, problems are tractable.
Places are tractable too as “an ordered worlds of meaning.” Place-making, like problem-solving, begins by drawing a boundary and then treating that encapsulation as a building black, whatever its inner workings. The moment you can stand somewhere and say “here” you have marked out a place; the moment you can name a difficulty and say “do this” you have packaged a problem.
The Socratic question, by contrast, is a quest. It is a hunt whose solution is unknown. Questions do not disappear when solved, instead they are additive and leave you with something, i.e. the solution. A real question insists on orientation before action: you must find north in the wilderness before plotting any march. And yet, along the path to an answer, you inevitably solve problems. Those problems are the markers that help you orient and keep you moving. A previous “solution” to a question can be used as a new place to further explore and prod at the question. In that sense, a question is like the horizon you constantly seek.
Spaces feel exactly like that horizon. Spaces are pure potential to be explored by the places that demarcate the space. Identity, orientation, and even memory of a space are created by and stored in the places that surround it. To explore a space you must create stable places around it
While the new way of thinking about Questions and Problems is great, I still prefer the lens of Spaces and Places. Q&P seem too narrow a set of lenses limited to the human mind. S&P expand that stage and allow us to think of more in that context. What I like even more is that spaces can also be places assuming we allow a boundary to be drawn around the fuzzy nature of a space. As a scientist, this feels a bit more satisfying because it allows you to explore and experiment even when the knowledge isn’t properly tied down by facts.
#AgnesCallard #cognitiveFrameworks #conceptualMetaphors #curiosity #epistemology #knowledgeExploration #philosophy #placeTheory #placemaking #questionsAndProblems #scientificInquiry #socraticMethod #spaceAndPlace #systemsThinking #yiFuTuan
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Problems are Places, Questions are Spaces
Last year, while regrouping myself and rebuilding my old curious ways, I had a thought. The common words “spaces” and “places” pass through our minds, fingers, and lips but they deserve a second thought. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t the first one to consider this and the wealth of reading material helped me write We Need Homes in the Delta Quadrant. Spaces and places have been an enjoyable lens to look through.
Recently, through Agnes Callard’s Open Socrates, I was introduced to the Socratic concepts of questions and problems. Initially I thought of it as a newish way to look at things, but I’m converging toward the idea that problems are places and questions are spaces. A quick exploration below as to why.
Vintage pattern illustration. Digitally enhanced from our own 19th Century Grammar of Ornament book by Owen Jones.Problems impede your quest and solving them makes them disappear. There are established ways of solving problems—recipes, algorithms, or rituals that nudge the obstacle aside so the original activity may continue unabated. Essentially, problems are tractable.
Places are tractable too as “an ordered worlds of meaning.” Place-making, like problem-solving, begins by drawing a boundary and then treating that encapsulation as a building black, whatever its inner workings. The moment you can stand somewhere and say “here” you have marked out a place; the moment you can name a difficulty and say “do this” you have packaged a problem.
The Socratic question, by contrast, is a quest. It is a hunt whose solution is unknown. Questions do not disappear when solved, instead they are additive and leave you with something, i.e. the solution. A real question insists on orientation before action: you must find north in the wilderness before plotting any march. And yet, along the path to an answer, you inevitably solve problems. Those problems are the markers that help you orient and keep you moving. A previous “solution” to a question can be used as a new place to further explore and prod at the question. In that sense, a question is like the horizon you constantly seek.
Spaces feel exactly like that horizon. Spaces are pure potential to be explored by the places that demarcate the space. Identity, orientation, and even memory of a space are created by and stored in the places that surround it. To explore a space you must create stable places around it
While the new way of thinking about Questions and Problems is great, I still prefer the lens of Spaces and Places. Q&P seem too narrow a set of lenses limited to the human mind. S&P expand that stage and allow us to think of more in that context. What I like even more is that spaces can also be places assuming we allow a boundary to be drawn around the fuzzy nature of a space. As a scientist, this feels a bit more satisfying because it allows you to explore and experiment even when the knowledge isn’t properly tied down by facts.
#AgnesCallard #cognitiveFrameworks #conceptualMetaphors #curiosity #epistemology #knowledgeExploration #philosophy #placeTheory #placemaking #questionsAndProblems #scientificInquiry #socraticMethod #spaceAndPlace #systemsThinking #yiFuTuan
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So on this lazy sunday afternoon I felt like checking out a few more exotic Amiga models in the WinUAE emulator. I had picked an A3000 with ROM v1.4. ... configured it... and it worked... up to a point. Because it asks for a so-called "Super-Kickstart Disk". And this is where it started to get annoying!
I am usually not too stupid... and I am not an Internet newbie, either. But today it literally took me "hours" to find this simple file called "superkickstart-204-a3000.adf". I eventually found it, and it works. But, why is this so hard? Amiga and all of its ecosystem is pretty much gone since 1994! Stuff like this should not be hiddden or hard to find! Okay, on second thought: Maybe I really AM just stupid.
Sorry for the rant. - Enjoy the rest of your weekend! 😉
#RetroComputing #Amiga #Commodore #Kickstarter #Firmware #FloppyDisk #A3000 #WinUAE #emulation
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Substack
Right folks, what are our thoughts on Substack? I subscribe to a handful of them but I only ever actually read stuff from the guitar player who used to be in The Blake Babies (and I’m just thinking that it is really getting to be time for another Blake Babies reunion record, don’t we think?) and one film photographer from youtube who lives somewhere in the wilds of New Hampshire. Truthfully, I don’t read every post from those two users but I read some of them. Sorry.
My first thought when I learned about Substack was nope, I’m too old for that shit. The Blake Babies guy is older than I am though… he’s also 100 times cooler and a lawyer (yikes) and his cred level is 100000000 times mine… though any number that quantifies your credibility is higher than my complete and total lack of credibility, right?
My second thought was… it’s an email newsletter. Anyone who would be dumb enough to subscribe to mine would mark me as spam within a couple of days of my pointless brain droppings.
Still… am I thinking about it? No… but… yeah, no.
What else, what else… new camera coming soon. The USPS tracking number says it will arrive on Saturday. That doesn’t give me any time to shoot and develop a test roll before I go on vacation, but I had already decided not to bring a film camera on vacation this time. I’m going all digital on this trip.
Part of my initial film camera attraction was using fully manual, mechanical cameras. I didn’t want any automation at all. I didn’t want anything electronic. This time? The new camera has autofocus. Oh praise be, it has autofocus! I’m getting blinder by the minute and manually focusing is a bitch. Wearing bifocals (well, progressive lenses) makes it so much worse. Now I am going to be able to autofocus with film and oh how the heavens will sing in gleeful glee.
What else? This is traditionally the longest week of the working man’s life. The full work week before a vacation. One day down, four endlessly long and painful days to go. But hey, there’s a new camera and a vacation at the end of it! There’s two carrots on the end of this week’s stick. The best part? Both kids are coming on this trip. We’re going as a full family. How cool is that? Both kids are in their 20’s and we can still get them to come on vacation with us. Life is pretty fucking cool sometimes, don’t you think?
I should join Substack and write a big article about it.
#adultKids #blogging #cameras #Family #grownKids #grownUpKids #StepKids #substack #Travel #Vacation
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I have to admit, that these days there is very little difference workflow-wise between #LaunchBar and #alfred . Universal actions in the latter have made it somehow a non-issue. I still like LaunchBar's UX more, but I absolutely dread not even writing actions for it, but debugging them. It is a second-thought feature, at best.
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"What saved capitalism (at least for a little while) after the Crash of 2008? Besides China (yes, China saved the capitalist world’s bacon by boosting magnificently its aggregate investment to take up the massive slack developing in the North Atlantic), the answer is: The Fed’s swap lines (i.e., the fact that, without second thought, the Fed lent the central banks of Europe and Japan something like $600 billion).
Something similar happened in 2020, as the pandemic spread panic and chaos through the West’s financial circuits (on that occasion, the Fed’s swap lines funnelled around $450 billion to a world dependent on the mighty dollar).
In this context, hotheads who think that Europe and Japan can afford to play tough with Washington seem unable to fathom the extent of their dependency. For the time being, Trump does not control the Fed. Or so it seems. But is it not possible that the Fed will not want to antagonise him? Is it, therefore, not possible that the Fed may not be as quick to ‘lubricate’ its swap lines at the drop of a hat (as it did in 2008 and 2020) when they are most needed?"
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#LiberatedFromFB #Verhoeven #StarshipTroopers #fascism #militarism #imperialism
So brilliant and so a'propos text by "The Mom & Pop Video Store"
Starship Troopers: The most fun you’ll ever have cheering for fascism.
The first time I watched Starship Troopers (1997), I thought I was watching a very fun, very loud bug-exploding movie. And to be fair - I was.
It had everything: dramatic speeches, shouty instructors, those endlessly quotable lines you find yourself repeating years later. But what really stuck with me were the characters: all of them brave, ridiculous, and painfully sincere. They believed in each other. Died for their ideals. They were strong-jawed, clear-eyed, good-hearted: the kind of heroes who charge into danger without a second thought. Not because they’re reckless, but because they trust the mission. And each other.
Even Carmen, smug as she was, believed in what she was doing. And Carl, clever, funny Carl, just wanted to do the right thing for the Federation.
I loved it.
Still do.
Obviously, I noticed it was jingoistic. Authoritarian, certainly. The news segments were clearly propaganda, and the whole thing had the feel of a military fantasy turned up too loud. But that didn’t feel unusual. Not in the 90s. We’d all seen Top Gun, Red Dawn, Rambo III. This felt like their sci-fi cousin.
It was just so much fun.
Then I watched it again, a few years later. And somewhere about a third of the way in, my jaw hit the floor. And I had to laugh - not because it was silly, but because it was brilliant.
How did it take me that long to realise what I missed?It wasn’t a clever twist or a buried clue. It was the enormous, full-screen, absolutely unmissable fact that the United Citizen Federation wasn’t just authoritarian — it was full-out, axis-of-evil, Reichstag-level fascism. There are no nods. They’re not playing with the aesthetic. They’re right there. Fully costumed, goose-stepping through the galaxy in Hugo Boss cosplay and I somehow didn’t see it.
Because Verhoeven never asks you to look for subtext. He hands you a surface so bombastic, so enthusiastically evil, that you think - well, it can’t mean that. Look how much fun it is.
That’s the sleight of hand. It’s not subtle. It’s blatant. So blatant you think, surely not. You don’t look closer because you’re too busy following the clean-jawed heroes charging into danger, saying noble things and dying for their friends. And you like them. You trust them. That’s what gets you.
Verhoeven doesn’t ask you to examine your complicity. He demonstrates it.
He builds a world where fascism doesn’t creep in, it arrives centre stage, smiling and covered in commendations. And you don’t flinch. Because he’s made you complicit before you even realised there was a line to cross.You focus on the characters. Their aspirations. Their tragedies. Their moments of bravery. He draws you in on the micro level: a magic eye picture of a film, and by the time you step back and realise what you’re actually looking at, it’s already too late. You’ve rooted for them. You’ve cheered.
And when Carl reappears at the end, cloaked in full SS regalia, gaunt and shadowed and jubilant that the enemy is afraid of him — you’re weirdly still on his side. Because he’s clever, earnest Carl. It's not comfortable but it's ok because he's not a villain. He's just doing what he has to.
That’s what makes it genius.
It’s not a satire that tells you how fascism works. It shows you how easy it is to cheer for it when it’s well-lit, well-edited, and wears a hero’s face.
And then it grins at you and says:
Would you like to know more?- Mom
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#LiberatedFromFB #Verhoeven #StarshipTroopers #fascism #militarism #imperialism
So brilliant and so a'propos text by "The Mom & Pop Video Store"
Starship Troopers: The most fun you’ll ever have cheering for fascism.
The first time I watched Starship Troopers (1997), I thought I was watching a very fun, very loud bug-exploding movie. And to be fair - I was.
It had everything: dramatic speeches, shouty instructors, those endlessly quotable lines you find yourself repeating years later. But what really stuck with me were the characters: all of them brave, ridiculous, and painfully sincere. They believed in each other. Died for their ideals. They were strong-jawed, clear-eyed, good-hearted: the kind of heroes who charge into danger without a second thought. Not because they’re reckless, but because they trust the mission. And each other.
Even Carmen, smug as she was, believed in what she was doing. And Carl, clever, funny Carl, just wanted to do the right thing for the Federation.
I loved it.
Still do.
Obviously, I noticed it was jingoistic. Authoritarian, certainly. The news segments were clearly propaganda, and the whole thing had the feel of a military fantasy turned up too loud. But that didn’t feel unusual. Not in the 90s. We’d all seen Top Gun, Red Dawn, Rambo III. This felt like their sci-fi cousin.
It was just so much fun.
Then I watched it again, a few years later. And somewhere about a third of the way in, my jaw hit the floor. And I had to laugh - not because it was silly, but because it was brilliant.
How did it take me that long to realise what I missed?It wasn’t a clever twist or a buried clue. It was the enormous, full-screen, absolutely unmissable fact that the United Citizen Federation wasn’t just authoritarian — it was full-out, axis-of-evil, Reichstag-level fascism. There are no nods. They’re not playing with the aesthetic. They’re right there. Fully costumed, goose-stepping through the galaxy in Hugo Boss cosplay and I somehow didn’t see it.
Because Verhoeven never asks you to look for subtext. He hands you a surface so bombastic, so enthusiastically evil, that you think - well, it can’t mean that. Look how much fun it is.
That’s the sleight of hand. It’s not subtle. It’s blatant. So blatant you think, surely not. You don’t look closer because you’re too busy following the clean-jawed heroes charging into danger, saying noble things and dying for their friends. And you like them. You trust them. That’s what gets you.
Verhoeven doesn’t ask you to examine your complicity. He demonstrates it.
He builds a world where fascism doesn’t creep in, it arrives centre stage, smiling and covered in commendations. And you don’t flinch. Because he’s made you complicit before you even realised there was a line to cross.You focus on the characters. Their aspirations. Their tragedies. Their moments of bravery. He draws you in on the micro level: a magic eye picture of a film, and by the time you step back and realise what you’re actually looking at, it’s already too late. You’ve rooted for them. You’ve cheered.
And when Carl reappears at the end, cloaked in full SS regalia, gaunt and shadowed and jubilant that the enemy is afraid of him — you’re weirdly still on his side. Because he’s clever, earnest Carl. It's not comfortable but it's ok because he's not a villain. He's just doing what he has to.
That’s what makes it genius.
It’s not a satire that tells you how fascism works. It shows you how easy it is to cheer for it when it’s well-lit, well-edited, and wears a hero’s face.
And then it grins at you and says:
Would you like to know more?- Mom
-
#LiberatedFromFB #Verhoeven #StarshipTroopers #fascism #militarism #imperialism
So brilliant and so a'propos text by "The Mom & Pop Video Store"
Starship Troopers: The most fun you’ll ever have cheering for fascism.
The first time I watched Starship Troopers (1997), I thought I was watching a very fun, very loud bug-exploding movie. And to be fair - I was.
It had everything: dramatic speeches, shouty instructors, those endlessly quotable lines you find yourself repeating years later. But what really stuck with me were the characters: all of them brave, ridiculous, and painfully sincere. They believed in each other. Died for their ideals. They were strong-jawed, clear-eyed, good-hearted: the kind of heroes who charge into danger without a second thought. Not because they’re reckless, but because they trust the mission. And each other.
Even Carmen, smug as she was, believed in what she was doing. And Carl, clever, funny Carl, just wanted to do the right thing for the Federation.
I loved it.
Still do.
Obviously, I noticed it was jingoistic. Authoritarian, certainly. The news segments were clearly propaganda, and the whole thing had the feel of a military fantasy turned up too loud. But that didn’t feel unusual. Not in the 90s. We’d all seen Top Gun, Red Dawn, Rambo III. This felt like their sci-fi cousin.
It was just so much fun.
Then I watched it again, a few years later. And somewhere about a third of the way in, my jaw hit the floor. And I had to laugh - not because it was silly, but because it was brilliant.
How did it take me that long to realise what I missed?It wasn’t a clever twist or a buried clue. It was the enormous, full-screen, absolutely unmissable fact that the United Citizen Federation wasn’t just authoritarian — it was full-out, axis-of-evil, Reichstag-level fascism. There are no nods. They’re not playing with the aesthetic. They’re right there. Fully costumed, goose-stepping through the galaxy in Hugo Boss cosplay and I somehow didn’t see it.
Because Verhoeven never asks you to look for subtext. He hands you a surface so bombastic, so enthusiastically evil, that you think - well, it can’t mean that. Look how much fun it is.
That’s the sleight of hand. It’s not subtle. It’s blatant. So blatant you think, surely not. You don’t look closer because you’re too busy following the clean-jawed heroes charging into danger, saying noble things and dying for their friends. And you like them. You trust them. That’s what gets you.
Verhoeven doesn’t ask you to examine your complicity. He demonstrates it.
He builds a world where fascism doesn’t creep in, it arrives centre stage, smiling and covered in commendations. And you don’t flinch. Because he’s made you complicit before you even realised there was a line to cross.You focus on the characters. Their aspirations. Their tragedies. Their moments of bravery. He draws you in on the micro level: a magic eye picture of a film, and by the time you step back and realise what you’re actually looking at, it’s already too late. You’ve rooted for them. You’ve cheered.
And when Carl reappears at the end, cloaked in full SS regalia, gaunt and shadowed and jubilant that the enemy is afraid of him — you’re weirdly still on his side. Because he’s clever, earnest Carl. It's not comfortable but it's ok because he's not a villain. He's just doing what he has to.
That’s what makes it genius.
It’s not a satire that tells you how fascism works. It shows you how easy it is to cheer for it when it’s well-lit, well-edited, and wears a hero’s face.
And then it grins at you and says:
Would you like to know more?- Mom
-
#LiberatedFromFB #Verhoeven #StarshipTroopers #fascism #militarism #imperialism
So brilliant and so a'propos text by "The Mom & Pop Video Store"
Starship Troopers: The most fun you’ll ever have cheering for fascism.
The first time I watched Starship Troopers (1997), I thought I was watching a very fun, very loud bug-exploding movie. And to be fair - I was.
It had everything: dramatic speeches, shouty instructors, those endlessly quotable lines you find yourself repeating years later. But what really stuck with me were the characters: all of them brave, ridiculous, and painfully sincere. They believed in each other. Died for their ideals. They were strong-jawed, clear-eyed, good-hearted: the kind of heroes who charge into danger without a second thought. Not because they’re reckless, but because they trust the mission. And each other.
Even Carmen, smug as she was, believed in what she was doing. And Carl, clever, funny Carl, just wanted to do the right thing for the Federation.
I loved it.
Still do.
Obviously, I noticed it was jingoistic. Authoritarian, certainly. The news segments were clearly propaganda, and the whole thing had the feel of a military fantasy turned up too loud. But that didn’t feel unusual. Not in the 90s. We’d all seen Top Gun, Red Dawn, Rambo III. This felt like their sci-fi cousin.
It was just so much fun.
Then I watched it again, a few years later. And somewhere about a third of the way in, my jaw hit the floor. And I had to laugh - not because it was silly, but because it was brilliant.
How did it take me that long to realise what I missed?It wasn’t a clever twist or a buried clue. It was the enormous, full-screen, absolutely unmissable fact that the United Citizen Federation wasn’t just authoritarian — it was full-out, axis-of-evil, Reichstag-level fascism. There are no nods. They’re not playing with the aesthetic. They’re right there. Fully costumed, goose-stepping through the galaxy in Hugo Boss cosplay and I somehow didn’t see it.
Because Verhoeven never asks you to look for subtext. He hands you a surface so bombastic, so enthusiastically evil, that you think - well, it can’t mean that. Look how much fun it is.
That’s the sleight of hand. It’s not subtle. It’s blatant. So blatant you think, surely not. You don’t look closer because you’re too busy following the clean-jawed heroes charging into danger, saying noble things and dying for their friends. And you like them. You trust them. That’s what gets you.
Verhoeven doesn’t ask you to examine your complicity. He demonstrates it.
He builds a world where fascism doesn’t creep in, it arrives centre stage, smiling and covered in commendations. And you don’t flinch. Because he’s made you complicit before you even realised there was a line to cross.You focus on the characters. Their aspirations. Their tragedies. Their moments of bravery. He draws you in on the micro level: a magic eye picture of a film, and by the time you step back and realise what you’re actually looking at, it’s already too late. You’ve rooted for them. You’ve cheered.
And when Carl reappears at the end, cloaked in full SS regalia, gaunt and shadowed and jubilant that the enemy is afraid of him — you’re weirdly still on his side. Because he’s clever, earnest Carl. It's not comfortable but it's ok because he's not a villain. He's just doing what he has to.
That’s what makes it genius.
It’s not a satire that tells you how fascism works. It shows you how easy it is to cheer for it when it’s well-lit, well-edited, and wears a hero’s face.
And then it grins at you and says:
Would you like to know more?- Mom
-
#LiberatedFromFB #Verhoeven #StarshipTroopers #fascism #militarism #imperialism
So brilliant and so a'propos text by "The Mom & Pop Video Store"
Starship Troopers: The most fun you’ll ever have cheering for fascism.
The first time I watched Starship Troopers (1997), I thought I was watching a very fun, very loud bug-exploding movie. And to be fair - I was.
It had everything: dramatic speeches, shouty instructors, those endlessly quotable lines you find yourself repeating years later. But what really stuck with me were the characters: all of them brave, ridiculous, and painfully sincere. They believed in each other. Died for their ideals. They were strong-jawed, clear-eyed, good-hearted: the kind of heroes who charge into danger without a second thought. Not because they’re reckless, but because they trust the mission. And each other.
Even Carmen, smug as she was, believed in what she was doing. And Carl, clever, funny Carl, just wanted to do the right thing for the Federation.
I loved it.
Still do.
Obviously, I noticed it was jingoistic. Authoritarian, certainly. The news segments were clearly propaganda, and the whole thing had the feel of a military fantasy turned up too loud. But that didn’t feel unusual. Not in the 90s. We’d all seen Top Gun, Red Dawn, Rambo III. This felt like their sci-fi cousin.
It was just so much fun.
Then I watched it again, a few years later. And somewhere about a third of the way in, my jaw hit the floor. And I had to laugh - not because it was silly, but because it was brilliant.
How did it take me that long to realise what I missed?It wasn’t a clever twist or a buried clue. It was the enormous, full-screen, absolutely unmissable fact that the United Citizen Federation wasn’t just authoritarian — it was full-out, axis-of-evil, Reichstag-level fascism. There are no nods. They’re not playing with the aesthetic. They’re right there. Fully costumed, goose-stepping through the galaxy in Hugo Boss cosplay and I somehow didn’t see it.
Because Verhoeven never asks you to look for subtext. He hands you a surface so bombastic, so enthusiastically evil, that you think - well, it can’t mean that. Look how much fun it is.
That’s the sleight of hand. It’s not subtle. It’s blatant. So blatant you think, surely not. You don’t look closer because you’re too busy following the clean-jawed heroes charging into danger, saying noble things and dying for their friends. And you like them. You trust them. That’s what gets you.
Verhoeven doesn’t ask you to examine your complicity. He demonstrates it.
He builds a world where fascism doesn’t creep in, it arrives centre stage, smiling and covered in commendations. And you don’t flinch. Because he’s made you complicit before you even realised there was a line to cross.You focus on the characters. Their aspirations. Their tragedies. Their moments of bravery. He draws you in on the micro level: a magic eye picture of a film, and by the time you step back and realise what you’re actually looking at, it’s already too late. You’ve rooted for them. You’ve cheered.
And when Carl reappears at the end, cloaked in full SS regalia, gaunt and shadowed and jubilant that the enemy is afraid of him — you’re weirdly still on his side. Because he’s clever, earnest Carl. It's not comfortable but it's ok because he's not a villain. He's just doing what he has to.
That’s what makes it genius.
It’s not a satire that tells you how fascism works. It shows you how easy it is to cheer for it when it’s well-lit, well-edited, and wears a hero’s face.
And then it grins at you and says:
Would you like to know more?- Mom
-
https://rssfeed.media/@abcfeeds/114159609554763692
It’s gross right? I thought these #blobs were only a #UK phenomenon. But then I remembered the old urban legends about pommies and soap and quickly contered that with the fact that they like their fish and chips, hence the blobs (no not Dr Who’s alien nursery ship blobs). So now I guess #Australia has it’s fair share of blobs because not only do we love our chipies but we wash more often than the poms.Gosh, Australia we have a problem.
Second thought: What happens to these blobs? Where do they go when discovered? A recycling plant? Uploaded to the. mothership? What? What happens to them?
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##Paying for Searching ?
In the good old days of the internet, we had simple search engines. They were based on meta data extracted from web pages. Google came along, got smarter, and had intelligence in the content it returned for your humble search. Their mantra was all about respecting privacy.
How times have changed -- Google (and the other major search beasts) want to inhale everything they can about you. Profiling your every move around the internet. They sell this data, making huge sums of money and keeping billionaires arrogant and greedy.
Your search may appear free, but you are selling yourself.
In recent years this has become more obvious to the vast majority, and while some may not give it a second thought -- many are more wary.
I discuss alternatives and paying for search..... continue reading on my blog post
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Thanks, Gibson
Did you see that the fuhrer-elect was advertising a guitar brand? $10k for what I can only imagine is a $200 Chinese knock off of a Gibson Les Paul (that’s just a theory, of course. I don’t care to investigate whether it’s true or not so I am not saying it is or is not true, dig?). When I first heard of this it was a headline with an image of the fucking slime ball holding one of the guitars. My first thought was I hope it’s not an actual Gibson. My second thought was, if it is an actual Gibson I will never give them my money ever again.
Fortunately a related story hit the presses yesterday that soothed my company-loyalty fears:
Just for clarity’s sake, I should mention that I have not read this article. Reading anything about that fucking nazi piece of shit makes me physically ill. I got the rundown via social media yesterday. I linked to this article because it came up first for me on a Google News search. There. Transparency.
Anyway, I just want to thank Gibson for not releasing a $10,000 nazi signature model and for going after the trademark infringing assholes who are trying to scam guitar playing fascist collaborators. Not that the guitar playing fascist collaborators haven’t earned a good scamming. Well… they voted for the nazi piece of filth so they’ve already been scammed once. Let’s say they’ve earned a second thorough scamming. Whatever.
Learning that Gibson has not aligned itself with evil kinda makes me actually want to buy a new guitar. How about a Les Paul Junior, or a Les Paul Deluxe, or a Firebird? You know, something to show my thanks.
#Gibson #GibsonGuitars #Guitar #Politics #trumpIsAFascist #trumpIsANazi #trumpIsEvil
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Thanks, Gibson
Did you see that the fuhrer-elect was advertising a guitar brand? $10k for what I can only imagine is a $200 Chinese knock off of a Gibson Les Paul (that’s just a theory, of course. I don’t care to investigate whether it’s true or not so I am not saying it is or is not true, dig?). When I first heard of this it was a headline with an image of the fucking slime ball holding one of the guitars. My first thought was I hope it’s not an actual Gibson. My second thought was, if it is an actual Gibson I will never give them my money ever again.
Fortunately a related story hit the presses yesterday that soothed my company-loyalty fears:
Just for clarity’s sake, I should mention that I have not read this article. Reading anything about that fucking nazi piece of shit makes me physically ill. I got the rundown via social media yesterday. I linked to this article because it came up first for me on a Google News search. There. Transparency.
Anyway, I just want to thank Gibson for not releasing a $10,000 nazi signature model and for going after the trademark infringing assholes who are trying to scam guitar playing fascist collaborators. Not that the guitar playing fascist collaborators haven’t earned a good scamming. Well… they voted for the nazi piece of filth so they’ve already been scammed once. Let’s say they’ve earned a second thorough scamming. Whatever.
Learning that Gibson has not aligned itself with evil kinda makes me actually want to buy a new guitar. How about a Les Paul Junior, or a Les Paul Deluxe, or a Firebird? You know, something to show my thanks.
#Gibson #GibsonGuitars #Guitar #Politics #trumpIsAFascist #trumpIsANazi #trumpIsEvil
-
Thanks, Gibson
Did you see that the fuhrer-elect was advertising a guitar brand? $10k for what I can only imagine is a $200 Chinese knock off of a Gibson Les Paul (that’s just a theory, of course. I don’t care to investigate whether it’s true or not so I am not saying it is or is not true, dig?). When I first heard of this it was a headline with an image of the fucking slime ball holding one of the guitars. My first thought was I hope it’s not an actual Gibson. My second thought was, if it is an actual Gibson I will never give them my money ever again.
Fortunately a related story hit the presses yesterday that soothed my company-loyalty fears:
Just for clarity’s sake, I should mention that I have not read this article. Reading anything about that fucking nazi piece of shit makes me physically ill. I got the rundown via social media yesterday. I linked to this article because it came up first for me on a Google News search. There. Transparency.
Anyway, I just want to thank Gibson for not releasing a $10,000 nazi signature model and for going after the trademark infringing assholes who are trying to scam guitar playing fascist collaborators. Not that the guitar playing fascist collaborators haven’t earned a good scamming. Well… they voted for the nazi piece of filth so they’ve already been scammed once. Let’s say they’ve earned a second thorough scamming. Whatever.
Learning that Gibson has not aligned itself with evil kinda makes me actually want to buy a new guitar. How about a Les Paul Junior, or a Les Paul Deluxe, or a Firebird? You know, something to show my thanks.
#Gibson #GibsonGuitars #Guitar #Politics #trumpIsAFascist #trumpIsANazi #trumpIsEvil
-
Thanks, Gibson
Did you see that the fuhrer-elect was advertising a guitar brand? $10k for what I can only imagine is a $200 Chinese knock off of a Gibson Les Paul (that’s just a theory, of course. I don’t care to investigate whether it’s true or not so I am not saying it is or is not true, dig?). When I first heard of this it was a headline with an image of the fucking slime ball holding one of the guitars. My first thought was I hope it’s not an actual Gibson. My second thought was, if it is an actual Gibson I will never give them my money ever again.
Fortunately a related story hit the presses yesterday that soothed my company-loyalty fears:
Just for clarity’s sake, I should mention that I have not read this article. Reading anything about that fucking nazi piece of shit makes me physically ill. I got the rundown via social media yesterday. I linked to this article because it came up first for me on a Google News search. There. Transparency.
Anyway, I just want to thank Gibson for not releasing a $10,000 nazi signature model and for going after the trademark infringing assholes who are trying to scam guitar playing fascist collaborators. Not that the guitar playing fascist collaborators haven’t earned a good scamming. Well… they voted for the nazi piece of filth so they’ve already been scammed once. Let’s say they’ve earned a second thorough scamming. Whatever.
Learning that Gibson has not aligned itself with evil kinda makes me actually want to buy a new guitar. How about a Les Paul Junior, or a Les Paul Deluxe, or a Firebird? You know, something to show my thanks.
#Gibson #GibsonGuitars #Guitar #Politics #trumpIsAFascist #trumpIsANazi #trumpIsEvil