One of the interesting things about capitalism is that, while both theory and practice bear out the fact that competition spurs innovation, the dream of large companies and corporations is to find that one magic thing that lets them rake in profits without ever having to innovate again.
You see it in movies: "Wow we made a ton of money with that superhero movie let's just clone it over and over and we'll be rich forever!". And you see it in all the other things that are trying to move to a subscription model.
If I had to pick one of the worst things about modern society (other than the politics of the left) it would probably be this slavish devotion to rent-seeking that modern companies all seem to have ascribed to.
The "best" rap is simply talking fast with a backbeat and it's downhill from there.
I think it makes sense in the context of teenagers hanging out, fucking around and experimenting with self-expression The real question I have is how it came to be considered music and took over the airwaves.
I would have said the same thing as you a year ago, but Russia's inability to crush Ukraine within days has really called into question their military effectiveness.
China's still a wild card though. They're huge and filled with soldiers that are a little more than obedient drones to the Communist Party, but the last war they fought was against Vietnam and they didn't perform so hot.
I read a book about the IRS once, the author used to work there. He said that at one time there was an extremely high correlation between a certain type of trust and tax evasion. It wasn't a trust that many people had, mostly all rich people using it to avoid paying taxes.
At the time, it was still mostly or all paper returns. They ran the returns through a scanning program that extracted key info for their database and then filed the actual paper return in a box somewhere. He proposed altering the scanning program to record when someone put this type of trust on their taxes, and then manually reviewing them to see if it was legitimate or tax evasion. He estimated they would recover millions, but the software department said it would be around $10,000 in programming costs, so his bosses shut it down.
The book also said that they don't go after rich people because they'll hire a team of lawyers and fight for years, so the IRS mostly targets poor and middle income people who can't afford to fight them and they can just slam them with penalties and fees or negotiate a settlement where the taxpayer waives their right to contest it in court.
It's basically the IRS's version of when a prosecutor charges someone with a dozen crimes to get them to make a plea bargain and plead guilty to the charge they really wanted to convict them of in the first place so they get the win without having to go to trial.
Bonus points if it's the same author.
I usually shop at LaLaLand Records, Intrada, and Varese Sarabande
It's amazing to me how quickly the UK and other commonwealth countries have run full speed into oppression. You're looking at where the US is headed, just in fast-forward.
The big lesson I have learned is that people fundamentally don't oppose authoritarianism, as long as it's "the right kind".
How the people in charge can actually convince themselves that they stand for freedom, while openly adopting all the techniques of fascism and communism, shows a complete lack of introspection on their part.
I'm a big fan of film scores. Morricone is one of the greats, as is John Williams (Star Wars, Superman, Harry Potter), James Horner (Glory, Braveheart, Star Trek II) , Jerry Goldsmith (Patron, Air Force One, several Star Trek films), Randy Edelman (Last of the Mohicans, Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story, Gettysburg), Hans Zimmer (Rain Man, Gladiator, the Nolan Batman movies), Alan Silvestei (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Captain America), and Basil Poledouris Conan, Farewell to the King, Hunt for Red October)
One of the neat things about scores is that there are a few companies still cranking out limited edition deluxe CDs that include unreleased tracks, extensive liner notes, and sometimes autographs when the composer is still living. They're not cheap, usually $20-30 each, but they're high quality releases and usually don't sell out too fast despite being limited to 5-10k copies.
The quality of soundtracks has diminished right along with the quality of movies. It used to be that a top-tier film included a score by a top-tier composer, but I have found that my collection has very, very few albums past the early 2000s.
The same with the horde of Hispanics crossing the US's border. The only thing they're seeking asylum from is being poor.
That, or the chemical weapons burned in open air pits for days at a time, or just the random garbage that was burned the same way (including random chemicals, medical waste, batteries, etc.).
They've got a burn pit registry for Gulf War II now, and people exposed to them have a range of diseases from asthma to weird cancers.
The military exposes troops to endless amounts of toxic shit without a care because most of them don't get sick until they leave the service. Out of sight, out of mind.
But what does it say about the world, when we can't immediately identify this type of satire anymore?
I think the general assumption when you buy or view a film is that unless you are told that it's cut or edited you are viewing the original theatrical presentation. We all grew up with a warning before every movie on broadcast TV that said it was "edited for time and content".
Even if not strictly required, it's still a best practice to alert viewers if you have made changes to a film. The fact that they did it silently without putting a disclaimer in the actual film, or even telling people they were doing it pretty much shows that they knew it would be viewed as improper and/or inappropriate.
What a complete strawman argument to justify leaving her family behind in coach- "I wanted to show my sons that women can fly in business class too".
It's just a more expensive seat with more perks. Is she referring to the word "business" in its name? "Hey, girls can't sit in business class because only men do business"- said no one ever.
How ironic that this altered version of the film is the only one available on the Criterion Channel. Here's the mission statement from the Criterion Collection website:
Since 1984, the Criterion Collection has been dedicated to publishing important classic and contemporary films from around the world in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements. No matter the medium—from laserdisc to DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD to streaming—Criterion has maintained its pioneering commitment to presenting each film as its maker would want it seen, in state-of-the-art restorations with special features designed to encourage repeated watching and deepen the viewer’s appreciation of the art of film.
There's more than one way to skin a cat. Just use existing laws on contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and public indecency to prosecute them.
In fact, part of the reason the judge said the law was unconstitutional was that there were existing legal remedies on the books, which becomes a tacit acknowledgment that using those existing laws to crack down on drag queens would be legal.
Seems like WWII was a waste of time for England given that they now have less rights than a German citizen in 1938.
Sounds like they're just jealous. I guarantee if they won the lottery tomorrow they'd be buying a nice big fucking house with the money.
Completely unsurprised. Pugs are a top breed for wine-soaked 40-something women with "fur babies".
Honestly, who knew May celebrated the military beyond Memorial Day? We're on day three, and I have already seen pride shit it almost every store I visited this month, and a bunch of commercials on TV.
And don't get me started on Memorial Day. It's supposed to be a time to remember people killed in action, and it's just an excuse to barbecue and have sales at all the fucking department stores.
Anyone who tries to imply that May honors the military even a hundredth of how June honors fags is a fucking liar.
Maybe they can go make a faggot-flavored ice cream and advertise it on Facebook then.
the obvious prospect of being included in the program of the next Olympics
Du fuq?
Is this the same speech that he ended with "God save the Queen, man"? This guy is suffering from severe dementia. Having him as president of the most powerful nation in the world is an embarrassment to all of us.