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The Democratic Convention this year is in Chicago. So more like shades of 1968!

We’ve been heavily linked with him so that makes sense. I don’t know enough about him honestly but if he’s a similar profile, I’m all for it. I’ve seen him play a few times and was never impressed but could have just been the game state or talent around him.

The Dune Encyclopedia has a nice and much better alternative version of the Butlerian fanatics as a religious conflict which is instigated when some man-machines in a culture ran effectively by thinking machines in the sense that many decisions are handed to computers and such decide to abort the unborn child of Jehane Butler. Eventually it is taken over by mercenaries and adventurers, etc. Something like that they even had in the expanded edition prologue of the Lynch movie where pre-Butlerian people are lazy and complacent and 'run by' machines rather than being the victims of some kind of silly Skynet-like evil computer. Yes, it is clear that the other enemy there would have been some other culture/group grown out of the Scattering, definitely not evil robots pulled out of the ass of the fan fiction gang. That said - in light of the fact that Herbert decided to reinvent the Tleiluxu as a deeply religious people combined with the fact that Scytale came back as a master and is carrying gene material stretching back to the era of Paul it strikes me as likely that the intention there was to go 'full circle' or 'back to the beginning' to a point in the final book. Not to Butler stuff, but to the original Dune era, and, of course, to add a final twist to the Golden Path plan of Leto II. Some parts of him were still kind of alive in the new sandworms and that should have played a real role, too. And it seems clear that his breeding program - while also undercutting the foresight Kwisatz Haderach stuff for good - did more than just that. We see that in the descendants of Siona. They are a different breed of superhumans. We also have that 'back to the beginning' and 'a final unification' thing in the final Duncan Idaho gaining the memories of all the Duncan Idahos. That would have been important, too. Sad part is that they apparently shot that scene and many others ... and he decided to not include it and the others. The movies are stunning visually and greatly adapt the core story, but not much else. Yueh, for instance, lacks screentime in part 1, as does Thufir in part 2. And, of course, them not elaborating on Chani's connection to Liet-Kynes. Her wanting 'to save' Arrakis through secular science rather than religious nonsense because she was her mother's daughter could have greatly helped there. I imagine they had such scenes there but they were cut, too. It is clear in part 1 that Liet's role with the Fremen was supposed to elaborated later on. While I agree that this is the first adaptation making it clear that Paul is going to be a monster - or a the figurehead of a monstrously fanatical movement - the movie undercuts that message by having the Great Houses opposing his rise to the throne in the end. That is then the explanation/justification for the Fremen crusade ... whereas in the book Paul has all the power he and the Fremen could want and the latter still want to butcher billions in their misguided zealotry. There is no political justification nor even a pretext for the jihad in the book. And it is clear that all Paul can do is stand by and rubberstamp the wishes and deeds of the fanatics. If he were to try to stop them, he would be killed and the war be done in his name, anyway. Cutting the first Leto babe was okay, turning Alia into Jessicalia not so much. My biggest gripe with part 2 is that the Fremen are portrayed as a colonized people whose technology/abilities are inferior to the technology/soldiers of the Harkonnens - which goes directly against the books as even Fremen women and children can hold their own to a point against the Sardaukar. In a very real sense Paul is the victim of Fremen culture and ideology. Yes, the Bene Gesserit shaped their religion in the past, but as things take up steam he can only play the role of savior as they want it to be ... or he can die. He doesn't actually control things. He is little more than a catalyst. All he succeeds at is staying alive and getting his revenge, but nothing else. The movie shows that part rather well at the gathering when he visibly plays a role for their benefit there ... and that is what he has to do the entire time. That kind of stuff continues in Messiah and Children when we get to the trope of the blind seer and finally to Alia's 'possession'. Things are governed by religious rules and superstition. A living god/savior's power is, in the end, ruled by the rules and tenets of the religion he is a part of.

Aren't you a bit quick to forget where this discussion is happening? Though I suppose that, if you're on the truly cynical side of things, you could argue that Martin killed himself as an author. Ah, shit. It really is the end times then.

You can't, alas. But you can link to an offsite source.

The Ocheretyne situation is concerning. It looks like Ukraine can contain it but it might be touch and go. The good news is that it's the Russian forces from Avdiivka who are advancing there and they've been badly mauled. If Russia reinforces with fresh troops, that could be more concerning but with the new draft reportedly put off until June, Russia has to make do with the forces it has along the front. Russia might also have to face a choice between reinforcing this apparent success or focusing on Chasiv Yar. The forces they have available for the latter campaign feel tight, so if they start sending troops to the Avdiivka front they might start stretching themselves thin. Ukraine is maintaining the bridgehead at Krynky and seems to have made some offensive assaults in that sector recently, interestingly. One idea floating for a while was that if Ukraine has to give ground near Avdiivka - and they can perhaps afford to there - they might be able to reinforce a sucker punch from Kherson to the coast through the Krynky sector and cut off Crimea whilst blowing the bridge at the same time, which might just cause total chaos in Crimea. There's been umming and ahhing over whether that's realistic or a good idea or far too risky, but with this new supply line and much longer-range weapons, it might become viable. It could also change the entire geostrategic outlook of the war and put Russia really on the back foot. The slight problem is really getting the momentum to do that, which is hard when you have to cross one of the biggest rivers in Europe near its mouth with limited ways of getting across, in order to resupply.

Ooh, no. I'm with the Frenchman on this one. As material existence becomes more and more token the importance of human inspiration in art is even more important. To remind us that we live for more than imminent comfort.

Yeah. I realise that Swift was a bad example. Her fans are cray cray.

Just pointing out a fact. You think anyone cares when Gary Lightbody is mumbling his reasons for writing Run in front of 44000 people in some stadium? I'm sure Taylor Swift had a big ole message n her latest 247 track opus, but really, who gives a shit about her old boyfriend? Yeah, we can scratch our chins and wonder at the artist's demons or inspirations or whatnot, but, frankly, zzzzzzzz.........

They've been trying to make it for a couple of decades. I wouldn't hold my breath that they'll crack it this time, but who knows

So what? If we stop caring where our art comes from, after not caring where our objects or food come from, what's going to be left to make human life valuable? If it's all made by a system, why should I care about anyone that has no significant influence on me? If even art were to be created by machines, then the life of strangers would become truly meaningless. It's a small detail in the greater picture, and yet it could also be seen as a pretty big step on the road to nihilism.

What you really need to do is to pay a collections attorney in South Carolina really well to argue on line and play a chess app all day… it’ll pay off down the line.

I would like to apply for the CFO position. I don't like to work, I'll never show up on time, I have an emotional support kangaroo that needs a special bathroom facilities, and I'm socially poisonous. But I can multiply like a motherfucker. And division? Get outta here. I divide every room I walk into.

Typical Good luck!

Am I supposed to cheer him on and smile like Klopp does on the sidelines? The guy is a terrible footballer . Period .

Aye. But only C-suite for now. I am actively looking to fill two positions. COO and CFO. I have just engaged the services of a Colorado-based recruitment firm I met at Spannabis.

Are you familiar with scrimmages? Do you have video? Do you think they were playing full tilt? You need to make a number of bizarre and aggressive assumptions in order for this 'example' to have some relevance to be used as a cudgel against transwomen's rights and dignity. Take a moment, let some introspection percolate. I'll refrain from the valid label here out of TrackerNeil's request but y'alls transphobia is quite determined.

I hear you, but what about the notion that all art is somehow influenced by what has come before. No piece of pre 21st Century Art was created in a vacuum. Just ask Ed Sheeran's lawyers.

yooo, congrats. that's awesome. you hiring?

I am more bummed about Atalanta/EL loss than losing the EPL run in. I never thought we'd compete in EPL for as long as we did, specially with the injuries in the middle of season and the rebuild (and Klopp bombshell). But I really thought we'd win the EL (or at least get to final...). But at the end of the day, I still like watching Liverpool and the style. But it does feel like a season of missed opportunities considering how close it all was. One bad month

Poetry...is a dog fart. Gone with the wind, but the dog remains.

Speaking as an artist, the artist's message is usually just bollocks.

The simple answer is no. A more complicated answer would involve how the AI was trained. IF it were trained ONLY on your own art style, using ONLY your personally created input, and then used as a tool in CONJUNCTION with your own creation, then the answer gets more muddied. You can also say that we, as humans, just copy shit we've seen before, and yeah that's sort of true. But that's not the question. Google is currently working on an "answer bot", an AI that will answer any search query within Google's platform. The aim is to answer the question before you even ask. Where does Google get the answers to the questions you want to ask? Something we should all think about, especially those of us making a living by providing information to others online.

Nile Rodgers and his lawyers are coming for this AI mofoko. ....but I do like the AI funk.

I loathe the idea of the "death of the author." To be clear, I'm not denying it as a concept or as reality. All authors die eventually, literally (i.e. they can't explain what they meant forever) and figuratively (as the context changes, so will the reception of a given work). And yet, as real as it is, I'm reluctant to accept it as fact, because to view art this way is to adopt a form of "individualist constructivist" perspective according to which the only meaning that matters is the one that is constructed by the individual on the receiving end. And while this always ends up being the case eventually, I feel that is insulting to both art and the artist to accept this state of things and claim that once the message has been mediatised the original message itself no longer matters. I think the artist and their message should always matter and that, while reception may evolve, the interpretations of the message that are closer to the original intent will always be "truer" than others. That doesn't mean better, because "wrong" interpretations can be interesting and even sometimes may magnify a given work (Bradbury ). But simply that to come close to the meaning of the work as intended brings you closer to a successful act of communication between human beings, and that as hard as this may be, especially across the distances of space and time, this should always be viewed as a good in itself, and that humans should endeavor to achieve this, to better understand one another. So in an nutshell, while all authors do die eventually, I would say the "observers" should strive to help them exist, and then keep them alive as long as possible. To do otherwise would mean cutting ourselves off from each other a little bit more, and eventually, once we are all reduced to mere consumers, we will have lost something precious and be nothing more than beasts. And funnily enough, it turns out mass production of objects through industrial processes is unsustainable. Call me crazy, but I do believe there is a lesson here.