The Anti-Targ

I mean it might be good, and if it is I hope it does very well. I just wouldn't put a bet on it being good. I'd like to be proven wrong, because, well it's nice to have good movies come out that I really want to see on the big screen. It's been a long time since I was excited about going to a theatre to see a movie. I've seen movies I've liked and am happier coming out than I was going in. But I want to be all happy and excited going in.

True, I guess what I meant is this is the first time I've seen her totally mask off. I have not seen or heard anything of her in my media exposure for at least 10 years. I imagine other's have got more regular doses of her vileness over that time. Ref the campus protests looking cool. There is a reason people spend a butt load on their public image, because it matters in this timeline. If your public image can look cool without having to spend lots of cash that's even better, though there is normally a non-monetary cost to getting that image, which for the students is arrest, assault and an hiatus in their formal education. But they are learning a helluva lot from this experience.

Surely not, the USA would never prop up a regime that suppresses speech or freedom of the press, never, ever, ever. Ever?

Wow, Ann Coulter went full racist in Vivek Ramaswamy's face saying should would never vote for him because he's Indian, on Vivek's own show no less? I guess Coulter being so brazen and Vivek having a piss weak reaction are both unsurprising, but still wow. It goes without saying that Ann is not alone in refusing to vote for someone because of their race.

Pretty much a core principle of Justice: punishment for doing bad, reward for doing good. I'm not sure if Schindler was ever punished for the bad in the way society normally likes to see punishment for people doing bad things (I think he probably punished himself), but perhaps that doesn't matter if your redemptive action more than balances the scales. The best reward for doing good is happiness and the warm feeling you get when you see people's lives are benefited by your actions, esp people who are in desperate need. In the hierarchy of virtue it's best not to to be a Nazi in the first place, next best is to become a reformed Nazi and to work against its ideology, not sure what's morally worse between staying a Nazi to benefit yourself even though you know its wrong or being a true believer. Either way Schindler did the next best thing, and I'm glad for it, as I am sure are all the families who's lives he saved.

Possibly the only thing that can stop the Israeli govt and military abuse of Palestinians are the Israeli people. Sadly over the last 20 years the results of successive elections suggests the majority of non-Arab Israelis don't have much of a problem with treating Palestinians as lesser humans. Not sure that's likely to change, even with revelations by Israeli whistleblowers of inhuman behaviour such as this. I can see a lot of Israelis calling these whistleblowers traitors who should be executed for treason.

I guess there is a movie in there from the snippets from LOTR, but to much will be strasight made up. There isn;t enough for an actual adaption. I don't trust it.

New EV sales in New Zealand have fallen off a cliff with the new govt axing EV/Hybrid/PHEV subsidies and axing taxes on big engine ICE vehicles, as well as introducing a new tax for EV and PHEV drivers. The tax for EVs and PHEVs was always going to come, since our govt (whether right or left) still labours under the false belief that taxes pay for govt spending. And hence the public also believes it, for some reason near universally believing what the govt tells them, which is virtually unheard of on any other subject. So they had to put a tax on EVs and PHEVs in lieu of the petrol taxes ICE car users pay, so that everyone "pays their fair share" for maintaining and building roads. So, necessary and fair if you believe in the "pay for" fallacy, which means pretty much everyone including EV and PHEV owners believe it's necessary and fair.

MTG surely knew her motion would fail, so what audience was she playing to with that stunt?

Except perhaps a contract as an consultant to the new Labour govt when they win the election. Something she wouldn't get if she became a Reform MP. The reason you hop over to Reform is so you can get on the grift. I guess she can't be bothered with the kind of work and public profile that comes with being on the Reform grift, and is more comfortable with the lower profile govt consultant grift.

That's like saying the American revolution was reform. Or demolition of a derelict building to build a new, useful building is just remodelling. The existence of the veto is one of the exact reasons the UN can't be reformed. Veto has to get gone, and in will never happen in the UN, which you have so eloquently stated. The UN is no longer fit for purpose. I don't think I suggested the UN should be disappeared without a new global governance structure replacing it. So I agree the UN needs to limp along on its crutches until the world wakes up. Which might only be after a real disaster of global proportions.

Technically in the general assembly there is equality, since each country has one vote. But I don't know why you are taking what I've written and interpreted it in such an absolute sense. The fact that there will never be wealth or income equality at the individual level does not mean we should simply accept the current extremes of wealth and poverty we are seeing. Similarly with nations we should not merely bow and accept absolute impunity on the part of some countries and irrelevance and subservience by others. The bullies of the world must be able to be held to account and the smallest of nations must be guaranteed justice. Reform of the UN is not possible in practice. It's dismantling and construction of a global institution far superior to the current UN with the real ability to hold all to account is needed.

Which is why the UN will also ultimately fail (or arguably has been failing since its inception). It's a body in a coma that doesn't realise it's never waking up and its only future is death.

Is it too much for Biden to say he has a no problem with students protesting Israel's actions in Gaza and they should be free to do so in the manner of the US's long proud history of peaceful protest on all manner of political and social issues, even if he doesn't agree with their criticisms, but what he has no time for is violence or calls for violence or statements in support of Hamas' campaign of terror against Israel. You can't just come out with statements in opposition to antisemitism and claim to have addressed the complexities and nuances of this mess nor the injustices being perpetrated by Israel. Focusing on antisemitism is tantamount to legitimising everything Israel is doing. There's no moral high-ground in doing that. Not doing anything wrong is not the same as doing the right thing. Esp when it comes to a president leading means actively doing [hopefully] what's right.

Selective enforcement is the hallmark of pretty much every justice system in existence today, just ask minorities, esp racial minorities in certain western countries that claim to be bastions of equality and justice, and the poor who find themselves in prison when a richer and/or differently skin coloured person would receive a non-custodial sentence or a significantly lesser term of imprisonment for exactly the same crime. Not holding the rich and powerful to account for wrongdoings is a feature for how the current (dis)order operates. To hold the ICC to a higher standard of exception is odd indeed as a rationale for its disestablishment. The fact that countries were given the opportunity to opt out is tantamount to recognising the claims of the sovereign citizen movement. You opt out of (or don't ratify) the ICC you should be out of all global governance institutions with the exception that you retain a UN general assembly vote (but no speaking rights), which includes the US losing its security council veto. If you're not going to be a global player, you don't get to be a global playah. Of course no one has the guts to stand up to the global bullies, so bully they will continue to do.