Michael Z. Williamson's Blog, page 4

An Ad That Might Have Saved John Carter

http://www.vulture.com/2012/03/john-carter-doomed-by-first-trailer.html

So, the lesson here, as they should have known, is never to let the director do the marketing.  No, people in 2012 don't instinctively know who John Carter is, and they've seen special effects before.

Here, then, is one example of an ad that would have doubled attendance and made it successful:

~~~

"Before Avatar"

SNAPSHOT OF HELIUM PALACE WITH BABES IN ARMOR

"Before Star Wars"

BIG, LUSH PANORAMA OF HELIUM

"There was John Carter"

CARTER LEAPS INTO MELEE AND STARTS SLAYING GREEN MARTIANS

"From the creator of Tarzan"

SHOT OF AIRBORNE GUNSHIPS RAKING EACH OTHER WITH FIRE

"And the director of Wall-E"

CARTER SHOUTS, "STAY BEHING ME, THIS COULD BE DANGEROUS" AND WADES IN TO KICK ASS.

DEJAH THORIS CATCHES SWORD, CHARGES IN FRONT OF HIM AND STARTS GUTTING BAD GUYS. "LET ME KNOW WHEN IT GETS DANGEROUS."

"A century old epic, in a universe not quite our own."

MORE LIGHTSHIPS SHOOTING, ARENA SCENE, CLOSEUP OF SEVERAL HELIUM CHICKS IN ARMOR SLAYING ENEMY, AND SEVERAL BUFF, HELIUM MEN IN ARMOR DOING SAME.

"John Carter of Mars."

~~~

There y'go, Andrew Stanton.  I polluted your pure vision of JC, but sold the fucking movie.  You're welcome.

Asshole.

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Something I'm supporting.

This is my wife's aunt. She's an interesting artist, a good person, and very supportive. Her art is vivid and colorful, and she'll paint you something original for helping out.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/106940?c=activity

Donate $100 and I'll make you a supporting character in a book.

Donate $250 and you can choose the deaths for the supporting characters,. ;) (subject to rules of the book's milieu)

For $50, I'll send you two signed hardcovers. When Diplomacy Fails... and whatever else I have that you like.

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Baaaaaaaa!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/09/did-republicans-deliberately-crash-us-economy?fb=optOut

The party not in power for the last 6 years is SO !@#$ING POWERFUL they still control the economy. Let us bow before them, lest they are vengeful gods.

Is this The Nation, Der Spiegel or the National Inquirer?

Oh, it's the Guardian. Almost as credible as the Daily Wail.

I had someone challenge me with:

They said: Not sure which is more flawed: the article's thesis or your claim that the republicans haven't been "in power" for 6 years.

My response:  Dems controlled Congress from Jan 2007. They've had the WH and all Cabinet positions since Jan 2009. Rs have had control of House only since Jan 2011. So, yes, the Dems have controlled the government for 5.5 years.

If you really think having control of only one house for 18 months can be blamed for an ongoing economic fiasco, I want what you're smoking. Also, I worship their greatness, for they are awesome.

In the comments were similar sillinesses:

RAC1 9 June 2012 2:45PM Republicans couldn't give a stuff, they live in a bubble. Their kids go to private schools, they live in gated communities.
~~~
Yes, and we're driven around in limos.  I have my driver deliberately detune the engine to generate as much CO2 as possible.  I shoot at homeless people with easily available handguns.  I FUCK PUPPIES!

Seriously.  Half the population has private schools, lives in gated communities?  I tell you the simple solution to that:  BECOME A REPUBLICAN!  Oh, boo hoo, I lke being poor and helpless.  Someone else has it so much better.  I must do everything I can to avoid soiling myself by being like them!

Dude, if that were true, I'd pay Party dues of $300 a month right now and consider it a deal.  If only it worked that way.

~~~

Patrick McCullough 9 June 2012 2:49PM Response to RogerINtheUSA, 9 June 2012 2:16PM Your kidding right? Would you like to see the photo of Donald Rumsfeld shaking the hand of Saddam Hussein? ... meanwhile weapons being delivered to him (which he later used to kill his own people) by the United States and its allies. Don't even try to rewrite history... your not good at it.

Me:  Wait, all those AK47s, RPKs, RPGs, ZSUs, oh, and Franco-German Roland AA missiles came from the US and "Allies" like Canada, the UK and Japan? Who knew?

Talk about rewriting history.  Also, spelling.

Yes, the minority party is so powerful they control the government even now. And if you really believe this, it would behoove you not to anger them, for they are all powerful.

Zer0 the F@#$up and the Dems are in charge. They get credit for what works, and they must accept blame for what fails. If it was all Bush' fault when he was in charge, it's all Zer0's fault now. Grow up.

~~~

Seriously.  I attack extremist Republicans who claim there's a "gay conspiracy."  How much more idiotic is this crap?  It's unreal.

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Think of The Future

This has been a very mild spring.  With the heat sink of our concrete foundation, we've not used heat or AC in well over a month.  The house has remained between 68 and 78 degrees.

This concerns me, because the poor utility companies are suffering from the lack of income.  We can't take America's utility companies for granted.  Sure, it's beneficial to me, but what about their bottom line, families, and the executives' car payments?

If they are unable to derive sufficient return on their investment, the end result can only be a nationalization of gas and electric companies.

Therefore, we really need to support a seasonal subsidy for these suffering businesses, just as we do for farmers.

They can't control the weather, and they are dependent on the weather for business.  It is only fair and reasonable to offer support when it affects their ability to support America.

I believe we should also consider subsidies for the suffering heating and air conditioning firms.  Consider the economic ripples if they're unable to bill their $100/hr during peak season.  In my area alone, that's $84,000 a week being denied to these businesses, and removed from the economy.

Businesses should not suffer because climate change and abnormal variances in weather have affected their bottom line.

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Shades of Privilege

My friend Jim Hines made this post in response to someone else's post.  I like Jim's post better, but it still has some issues.

 http://www.jimchines.com/2012/05/facts-are-cool/comment-page-1

 Now, once again, I see the "White males are privileged" meme with the unspoken, "And are greedy bastards holding the rest of them down" tag.  Except, of course, that in some cases it is spoken (Jim did not say this.  It is covered in comments).

 Now, if I were to say, "Black males are largely criminals," I'd be called a racist, and with good reason.  There are a higher percentage of blacks in jail, and in the criminal world, and this is the fault of white males.

 Wait, what?

 No, there are more blacks in jail because they commit more of the type of crimes that land one in jail, and often "culturally" present as both non-remorseful and antagonistic.  Much like the (white) guy in the red Ferrari is more likely to get a ticket than the mother with kids in the minivan, if he threatens the cop with a lawyer, and she says, "Sorry, sir, I was a bit distracted and I apologize."

 There are certainly poverty and cultural issues behind this.  Absolutely.  If your culture has learned that the cops are the enemy, one is going to react that way.  These issues absolutely must be addressed, and will resolve a few of these issues.  Poverty is more complex.

 But, why is the alleged "Success" of white males not attributed to culture?

Look at the figures again. 

 Follow me here:

 White males have a culture. Accepted.

Okay, hold on.  AMERICAN white males have a culture.  To suggest that ALL white males globally have the same culture is ridiculous and racist.  Russians are not Americans.  Nor are New Zealanders, and certainly not say, Hungarians.

 So, let's look at [one particular definition of] American white male culture, which is what these figures are all based on (conveniently ignoring other white male cultures that don't fit the meme).  For comparison purposes, we'll number that baseline as 1.

 So, in various factors –income, employment, crime, poverty, X group scores .78, Y group scores .69 Z group scores .57. Etc.

 Each of these "minority" groups has a culture. (Actually more than one, because of course, Hispanics in Texas are like Hispanics in Detroit, and blacks in Atlanta are just like blacks in Bangor, Maine.)

Each culture is different, and can be COMPARED TO EACH OTHER.

If group X becomes the baseline, White Males become, say, 1.3, but group Y is STILL below group X.

Ergo, by the figures provided by this study, American white male culture actually IS superior. (These are THEIR figures, not mine.)

 Various other American cultures are less superior, in various areas, in various amounts.

The check is that worldwide the cultures that adopted SUCCESS (not "White Male") culture, do better than their neighbors who don't.

Because, really, [ruling class] white males don't sit there deciding "Blacks will score X economically, Hispanics Y, Asians Z."  If you do believe this, I will call you a fucking idiot to your face.

Those cultures score how they do because of themselves. And if they really were superior cultures, they'd win out, because an inferior culture doesn't hold down a superior one in the real world. (It's amazing how "liberals" refuse to accept evolution in the marketplace and social world.  It's real.  It exists.  It applies.)

Now, let's step back to a global basis.  Europeans did, in fact, conquer most of the world, because their culture and technology was superior. This is a fact.  Americans didn't come to Europe. Aborigines didn't.  Not even the Polynesians.

Now, this is not to say these other people are stupid.  They simply have a culture that works in their environment, but was not conducive to global spread.  The Polynesians mastered deepwater sailing and navigation a millennium before anyone else.  Metals were slow to develop in the Americas because the environment was far less hostile in the ways that counted, so instead, they developed stone tools to a fine art not seen elsewhere. (But, Scandinavian Neolithic tools are equally advanced in other ways.)

Jared Diamond covers this in "Guns, Germs, and Steel."  The !Kung Bushmen survive in a desert that would kill you or me in hours, and have done so for 30,000 years.  They are neither stupid nor incapable.  But, that environment hinders them from becoming the dominant group in Africa or anywhere else.

 In Asia, Singapore and Indonesia are very successful, and largely westernized (vs Malaysia and the Philippines nearby).  China, Japan and India have all adopted elements of Western culture, and benefited thereby.  And China, of course, has had a very successful culture and one of the largest economies on the planet for 3000 years, because they're white males.

 Wait, what?

 Japan is the third largest economy on the planet, and has accomplished this since WWII, because they're white males.

 Wait, what?

 Seriously, this whole, "White males are holding us down" bullshit is tiresome, folks.  Even in response, you'll hear apologists saying, "Well, you personally as a white male may not be an oppressor, yadda yadda, but as a group…"

 Really.  Are some of your best friends black, too?  Or Jewish? Sidebar:  Have you noticed how many scientists and doctors are Jewish? This must be due to the privilege and advantages Jews have been accorded throughout history.

 Wait, what?

What color is America's president right now?  Who voted for him? 

 And what is one of the criticisms of Mr Obama?  That he's "not culturally black."

 No, his father was a well-connected diplomat, his mother college educated when that was uncommon for American women.  They adopted, not "white culture," but "SUCCESS CULTURE."

"Gee, those people over there eat better than we do.  Let's find out what they eat and how they acquire it.  That group knows how to make their own fire."

When something works, you adopt it, or you get displaced.  This has nothing to do with being white --the very white French never adopted the very white Welsh longbow that the very white English did adopt. As a result, the English spent a century and more kicking French ass in the 100 Years War.  Which language is more prevalent now?  HINT:  The one spoken by white males.

Oh, wait.  It's the language spoken by SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE WORLDWIDE, as at least a second language. 

If you act like a ghetto punk, people will treat you like one.  People like, say, black cops.  Who have adopted success culture.

I'm a white male.  I also belong to four minority culture groups if I wish to claim them (I do, privately, and am proud of it.   I see no reason to demand notice from anyone else.  It's a personal matter).  My wife could claim five.

 I grew up poor by American standards.  My family made the decision to move to Canada, then America.  I left home at 18, enlisted in the military.  When I got out, I was unemployed, not very employable, and living hand to mouth.  I've documented this elsewhere.

  Twenty-six years later, I'm in a very tough field (freelance writer) and somehow in the upper quintile income wise. 

 This has nothing to do with being white and everything to do with CHOOSING TO EMBRACE SUCCESS CULTURE.  I present as clean, well-kempt, professional, courteous, without visible tattoos, visible piercings or trashy slang.  This applies if you're white or black---a white hick with a mullet, tattoos, a torn shirt and using racist slang is no more likely to get hired on Wall Street than some ghetto punk with bling and pants around his ass.  Really.  No, REALLY.  He's "white culture," except, as is conveniently overlooked by some people, there are different types of white culture.  Because of course, Billy-Bob Carfixer, privileged white guy, has advantages that Barack Obama, Herman Cain, General Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, et al, don't have.

 And of course, American blacks are no better off than African blacks.

 Wait, what?

 If you go to Asia, the successful cultures are still Asian, but have adopted some European successes, just as we've adopted kanban from the Japanese, maize from the Americans, numerals from the Indians (even if the intermediary Arabs get the credit), and everything else from the successful cultures that preceded ours.

 Otherwise, what you're arguing is, "I am every bit as good as a white male, all white males are the same, they're holding me down, they need to fix this problem for me."

 "Liberals" love to scale people and groups on their "privilege" to avoid debate on why some groups do better than others, and that there are numerous variations that have nothing to do with skin color.  Yes, let's go with the magic of "privilege," not actual factors we can fix, because that would take actual thought.  They completely miss that whether you accuse someone of being worse or better, if you base it on their skin color, IT'S RACIST.  If you base it on their gender, IT'S SEXIST.  If you base it on their religion, IT'S DISCRIMINATORY.

 This might even be projection on the part of "liberals."  I have transsexual friends.  They are constantly depressed and angered that when there's any kind of debate on gay rights, the heteronormative gays toss them under the bus.  "But we'll come back for you later. Trust us."

 Just like the Occupussies want the Americans in the global 80% to be equal to the Americans in the global 99.99%, but they'll come back for the global 30% later. Trust us.

 As soon as those evil white males are persuaded to give up the magic potion of "privilege."  We'll have the white males fix the problem for us.

 Yeah, genius, you're sort of acknowledging there that you are both a racist, and inferior.  Because we white males not all the same, and if you really think I can fix all your problems, or have control over them, you're acknowledging to yourself that you believe I am superior.

 I am a white male.  I am not your god, I am not your superior, please don't treat me like one.

 WILLIAMSON'S SECOND LAW:  Invocations of "White privilege" mean you've abandoned any logical argument for your position, concede your inferiority in the moral, intellectual and/or economic spectra, and expect that your superiors will fix your problem for you, while claiming to be equal. 

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The old question

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A New Game From the Inimitable Skippy

http://www.weaselpants.com/our-games/redshirts/

Visit alien planets. Make love to beautiful aliens.  Kill all your expendable crewmen.

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Um...yeah...

Health

Some movements[which?] associated with healthier lifestyles recommend women wear skirts or dresses whenever possible and avoid wearing jeans or slacks.

It is especially recommended for women suffering from infertility or otherwise struggling to conceive to wear skirts or dresses. Though no scientific studies have conclusively proven that wearing skirts increases the chances of getting pregnant, there have been some surveys showing women who abstain from wearing pants are less likely to struggle.[2]


Mike:   phrasing fail?
(11:19:55 PM) csadn: Phrasing EPIC FAIL.
(11:20:48 PM) csadn: Dare I ask where you found this ill-considered phrase?
(11:21:17 PM) mike: Wikipedia
(11:21:28 PM) csadn: Much is explained.
(11:21:30 PM) mike: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_wearing_pants

Hey, We Were All Thinking It...

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/politics/2012-election/family-research-council-blames-secret-service-scandal-obama-repealing-dont?utm_source=OV+Newsletter+List+2&utm_campaign=5a33d9f791-OV_Newsletter_April_174_17_2012&utm_medium=email

A total breakdown of morality starts with wearing clothing of mixed fibers, eating pork and shellfish, and using fire on the Sabbath. You can't pick and choose your moral guidelines. Once you neglect one, you are on the road to sex with sheep while eating bacon-wrapped shrimp off the barbie and wearing poly-cotton spiderman underoos.

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Some People Are...Dumb

On the military.com fora*, in regards to the disappearance of DADT, someone shared this gem of insight:

26419217 said:
Mar 21, 2012 12:55:17 PM
There is not an Okay from the commander, that destroyed two complete cities for their openess to GAY lifestyle. If you have Men & Women, that will not fight next to a person with that idea, then you have a hole in your defenses. The enemy has won the battle because the people that will not fight, will shoot their fox hole mate before defend their line. I ,for one, would shoot the person in the defence line if he looked or said something that calls for a romantic response. I am not Gay and will not save a Gay person. I will pray that God does not allow me to be in that situation. I pray for their(GAY) eyes to be open and leave that style of death

~~~

If I were a praying man, I'd pray for your god to teach you literacy, comprehensibility, logic and tolerance.

Even as a non-praying man, I'll pray that, if you actually are in the military, your subordinates' gods give them the gift of tongues to understand what the hell it is you think you said.

~~~

Seriously, I'm at a loss for the ecclesiastical, logical and grammatical content of this comment.  All I can say is, if they allow gays in the military, what's next?  Women?  Blacks?  Mexicans?  INDIANS?

*BTW, half the people on those fora have never served.  The other half are big damn heroes with 27 decorations for bravery armed only with a toothpick, and proud of it.

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