Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday

[icon_uk]

In the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like. Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat amongst yourselves.

The Supreme Court of the US has decreed that POTUS 45's controversial travel ban affecting Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen (six majority Muslim countries though I'm sure that's pure coincidence and not in any way reflective of the opinions of a President with the ethics of a rabid weasel, who tweets anti-Muslim videos from Far-Right hate gro... hmmm then again) can proceed. They didn't state that they thought it was legal or constitutional, simply that it could be upheld whilst the court cases deciding that are sorted out.

A Tax Bill has been passed by the US Senate which will, to the surprise of no one, impact the poorer paid a lot more than it will the absurdly wealthy, less "trickle down" than "peeing on from a great height". However it still has to be agreed by the Senate House of Representatives, so if you want to harangue your elected represntatives, go wild!

Oh, and the Supreme Court ALSO declined to take up a Texas Supreme Court ruling that prevented same-sex spouses from having the same workplace insurance benefits as heterosexual couples, for reasons that seem to be dubious at best. The fight is not yet over, alas.

On a far more charming and upbeat note (and dear god did one of those take a while to find this week), an Australian MP paused in the middle of a debate about the upcoming implementation of same-sex marriage laws to propose to his partner, who was in the gallery! Good luck to the both of them!

In the UK, Prime Minister May found herself in the unenviable, but self-inflicted, position of trying to sort out a deal over Brexit, which didn't involve setting up a hard border between Northern Ireland (which is in the UK) and Eire (which isn't), whilst trying not to piss off the minoity Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, whose votes she depends on to get Brexit legislation through after she lost her majority in her snap election.

Suffice to say it all went pear-shaped, though it's hard to see how it couldn't, as the only deal which would give her what she wanted, involved NI being given special treatment (which would have lead to Scotland and Wales probably demanding the same treatment), and the DUP insisting that NI never be given special treatment. Expect tears before bedtime.

Bryan Singer is no longer connected to the Freddie Mercury biopic, starring Rami Malek.

TRU in the UK is closing 26 of it's 80+ stores, which is a bit of a shame, though it's not linked to the US company problems.

The Government of Sierra Leone has auctioned off a 709 carat diamond, nicknamed the Peace Diamond for US$ 6.5 million, with half of that going to benefit the community where it was found.

Comments

[zachbeacon]

The current administration continues its assault on the American people with corporate tax cuts, gutted consumer protections, and the continued dismantling of Net Neutrality.

Oh and Flynn plead guilty to lying to the FBI. Obviously there's only one thing to say about that...

Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

[alicemacher]

So, given the UK election results, is there a chance Brexit could be reversed, or is it too late for that?

[icon_uk]

That's an interesting question.

Technically yes it could be reversed. Article 50 has been invoked but it can be withdrawn, according to the man who wrote Article 50.

Alas, I suspect too many vested interests, including a lot of politicians with an eye to their careers, would refuse to sanction that since it was "the will of the people" (Though "Leave" getting 52% of the vote still only amounts to 37% of the overall voting population in a non-binding referendum... which as others have noted, would not be enough of a quorum to change the rules at your average golf club) and they would push instead for a "Hard Brexit" which menas we#d quit out with NO trade deal with EU, no finalised rules about what was happening with foreign nationals and generally be the worst case scenario from the POV of pretty much everyone except narrow minded bigots and big money vested interests.

[skjam]

Over at my blog, I review Platinum End Volume 3, and explain why I can no longer unreservedly recommend it: http://www.skjam.com/2017/12/04/manga-review-platinum-end-volume-3/

Still looking for work--have an interview next week for a possible mid-January start.

But not keen on going outside today as we've had our first major snowfall.

[janegray]

Something like that happened with one of my favourite manga ever, a beloved classic of my childhood, Haikara-san ga Toru. Awesome for 99% of it. But for some fucked up reason I don't even want to contemplate, in the very last chapter of the very last volume, completely out of the blue...

[SPOILERS]

...one of the heroes, who is a grown-ass adult man, gets in a romantic relationship with an 11 year old child. And it's portrayed as sweet.

So now if anybody asks me about Haikara-san ga Toru, wtf do I say? "It's one of the best shoujo ever written! It's got one of the best heroines ever! But do skip the last two chapters, they have pedophilia. Cheers!"

[scorntx]

The TRU news is... well, not entirely surprising, given their odd behaviour over the last several months.
(randomly fluctuating prices, offering jobs, things not being available at all... the Store Death Spiral.)

Bought the new Brainstorm the other week. He is a delightful shade of teal.
Between him, Kup, Blurr and RID Blurr, it's been a darn good year for teal 'bots.

With the advent of DC's Doomsday Clock, am having to resist the urge to go out and try to buy any title which has tied in to the whole ludicrous series of events.

Looking forward to Infinity War very much, but also just as much looking forward tae Black Panther first.
But I have this suspicion that there might not even be a trailer for it in front of the Last Jedi.
And it's only out in two months. The heck did 2017 go?!

(Also, after over eight months, have finally managed to get past the writer's block and actually write stuff! A minor victory! Still got miles to go...)

[icon_uk]

Congratulations on starting back to writing!

[informationgeek]

Right the he'll out if nowhere, Scott Cawthon released Five Nights at Freddy's 6 in the form of a free game that's part FNAF and the other a classic Tycoon game where you build your own Freddy's and try to keep it a float over a week, avoiding lawsuits and creatures sneaking in to attack from the vents. Good game and worth looking at since it is free.

Should have an article about my early experience sometime soon enough.

[ozaline]

"Right the hell out of nowhere," so situation normal then, for Cawthon.

[zachbeacon]

Christmas is fast approaching and I still have no idea what to get my parents.

[icon_uk]

Sweaters? Books? Socks?

[kamino_neko]

You called both chambers the Senate in your bit about the US tax bill. (The first one is correct, the second should be House of Representatives.)

[icon_uk]

Cheers, now amended.

[cygnia]

My sweet cat Pippin suddenly passed away last Thursday at the age of 15. And we found out our 2 kittens have roundworms now.

My husband is being slammed at work for the rest of this month, which is stressing him out. Between that and Pippin's passing, it may have caused a vertigo attack in him a couple of nights ago.

I have a very unprofessional co-actor in my dinner theatre troupe that I'm a hair-trigger away from tearing into. I am tired of hearing about her self-inflicted drama bombs.

My SAD is kicking in.

All this has turned my back into a road map of knots and tension.

[icon_uk]

I'm very sorry to hear that life seems to be treating you and yours as it's punching bag.

Hopefully we can offer you a little respite here. Certainly virtual hugs are available. (See icon)

[cainofdreaming]

So, apparently, Trump's lawyers have gone full Nixon.

https://www.axios.com/exclusive-trump-lawyer-claims-the-president-cannot-obstruct-justice-2514742663.html

What can you say about news that would be unbelievable if they were an SNL skit?

[icon_uk]

I did like the quote I saw last week

[janegray]

Capcom announced Mega Man 11, showing that sometimes, just sometimes, miracles do happen.

https://kotaku.com/capcom-announces-mega-man-11-1820983671

I'm not a fan of Mega Man, but I know what it feels like when a series you love gets the axe in the middle of a cliffhanger (HEAVEN CAN YOU HEAR ME? I WOULD VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IT IF YOU COULD DO ANOTHER MIRACLE AND GIVE US A SEQUEL TO PRINCE OF PERSIA 2008 PLS. AND VIEWTIFUL JOE. AND SLY COOPER. AND LEFT 4 DEAD. AND OKAGE SHADOW KING. AND I BETTER NOT EVEN GET STARTED ON TV SHOWS THAT DESERVED BETTER OR I'LL BE HERE ALL DAY). So, I'm happy for Mega Man fans :)

[thezmage]

Also they’re bringing out an eight game Mega Man X collection.

[dr_archeville]

One (of many) sucky things about the GOP Tax Bill is that it effectively removes all business expenses, which will be a bit hit to small business owner & independent contractors. No longer will items such as business cards, advertising, continuing education, travel expenses, business-related mileage, business phone, subscription services, accounting software, legal software, home office, tools, uniforms, and office supplies be deductible.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ridley Scott insisted that he’d get around to filming another Alien movie at some point in the future, but he felt as if it was time for the franchise’s focus to shift away from the xenomorphs. Though the very distinct kind of body horror that the aliens present worked for Covenant, Scott continued, he feels strongly that future stories set in that universe should be focused on artificially intelligent beings like Michael Fassbender’s David and Walter. [source]

On an eerily timely note, Google's AI built an AI that outperforms anything made by humans. [source]

Disney resumes talks to buy 21st Century Fox assets. These assets would include the film rights to a number of Marvel properties (including the X-Men and the Fantastic Four) and a 30% stake in the streaming platform Hulu. Disney already owns a 30% stake in Hulu, so this would give them a controlling share in the platform. [source] (I’m sure Fox’s retention of certain Star Wars film rights are also a factor in Disney’s pursuit.)

NPR recently re-visited Ballou High School, a Washington, DC high school which went from a 35% graduation rate to 100% in two months. Further investigation showed half the students had 30+ days of unexcused absences and around 20% of them had 90+ days of unexcused absences. How did this happen? The administration pressured teachers to pass the students, so the school could get cash bonuses. [source]

[janegray]

The Disney thing has turned out to be something of a cursed blessing.

As it was pointeds out in a previous OTT post, monopolies are bad, so it would be really bad if Disney aquired Fox because then they'd have an even more excessive control over creative output in media.

But it turns out that, if Disney fails to acquire Fox, then COMCAST might.

Comcast, aka the guys who are trying to butcher and censor the internet. The guys who, if they appeared in a saturday morning cartoon, would be criticised as unrealistic for being too cartoonishly villainous.

If Comcast acquired Fox, it would be extremely bad.

So at this point Disney snatching Fox would keep it safe from Comcast.

[md84]

There is ONE rather hilarious "own goal" in the GOP tax bill.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/senate-gop-accidentally-killed-all-corporate-tax-deductions.html

You know that 20% corporate tax rate? Well, it's not as great as it sounds for big business.

See, McConnell had to make a lot of concessions to other Senators to get the votes he needed. He also needed to keep the deficit from increasing more than 1.5 trillion due to the rules that would let him pass this bill with only a simple majority. So to keep the deficit from getting worse, he put back in the Alternative Minimum Tax which was at 20% back into the bill...without lowering it.

The Corporate Tax Rate is 20%. The AMT is 20%.

That means ALL CORPORATE TAX CREDITS AND DEDUCTIONS ARE WORTHLESS.

The GOP managed to come up with a corporate tax cut that corporations don't like.

What a bunch of incompetent oafs.

[elf]

I am so happy with that part. It means the House can't just handwave it through as-is; they have to actually discuss changes - and in the meantime, Republican phones will be ringing off the hook as people tell them (1) this is unacceptable and (2) look at Virginia if you don't think you could be voted out of office next year.

[owlbrigade1]

I suspect that a lot of Brexiteers had forgotten that Northern Ireland even existed at all. The idea proposed by many Brexiteers even some of those in power, though, that the Republic of Ireland should then rejoin the Province under British rule and Brexit too would be hilarious if it weren't so tragic. They might chunter on about historical grandeur, but clearly most of them have never even looked at a history book, much less opened one. It is far more likely (and its not that likely, either) that Northern Ireland might choose to rejoin with the South and re-enter the EU.

I wish there was another country Scotland could join with to re-enter the EU, I'd vote for that any day of the week. We are so screwed; even if we declare independence, then Spain would vote to deny us re-entry into the EU in order to send a message to its own separatists. We're shackled to the sinking ship.

[md84]

The Brexiteers remembered NI but dismissed all of the warnings about the border as "Project Fear". Heh, more like "Project Reality".

[beeyo]

My favorite website, Cracked.com, has let go of pretty much everyone whose name isn't David Wong. Cracked was pretty much my introduction to the internet and it's super depressing to know that all of those people that worked tirelessly for a decade straight to bring joy to anyone that would read, and gave anyone that wanted to a chance to contribute, are now out of work. They are all supremely talented individuals and will no doubt be back on their feet in no time but, man, I was not expecting to hear that today.

[kamino_neko]

After fucking up the comment section, then making voting a paid privilege (rendering it useless), I'm not surprised they're at this point.

[thezmage]

John McCain was 74 followers away from 3 million on twitter yesterday when he posted a tweet asking for help making it there. He’s now more than 21,000 followers away, and that’s with bots coming in to replace the people he was losing. Most of the them cite his tax bill vote as the reason they dropped.

[alicemacher]

Why does McCain consider it so important to have x number of Twitter followers? He's a sensible enough person, I'd think, to understand that following doesn't necessarily equal support. I'd wager that the majority of @realDonaldTrump followers--at least those who are neither bots nor paid White House and Kremlin staffers--follow his account not because they support him but because they're thinking, "Let's see what false/absurd/possibly world-ending thing he says next."

[nightauditguy]

According to Newsarama and likely other comic sites, the Disney/Fox deal could happen next week.

[bruinsfan]

How the hell does a 709 carat diamond only go for $6.5 M? Is it like a soap leftovers ball made exclusively of tiny "chocolate" diamond bits smooshed together?

[commodus]

I've been so stressed this week. I just spent £45 on Christmas shopping, despite having started in August - my family are the kind who say they don't care what they get, but get stroppy when they feel short-changed. Another £23 on taking my driving theory test again, after I failed the last one by TWO POINTS. And £140 getting a wall repaired.

Suffice to say, I am not exactly feeling very merry this Christmas :(

[elf]

Regarding the same-sex marriage case from Texas: it looks less like the SCOTUS saying, "this is fine with us," and more like, "this has not exhausted all the lower-court options and procedures." It's bumped back to Texas state court, and presumably can hit the 5th Circuit court of appeals after that, before going back to the Supreme Court.

So, a setback, but an understandable one.

I have no doubt the Supreme Court, even a conservative one, would insist that a state can't allow different marital benefits for different categories of people in a marriage. Even if they're blocked on the standard "protected" statuses (so, can't have different insurance options for different races, give men cheaper insurance than women on the theory that they're paying for a family, can't discriminate by religion or national origin), the opportunity for hidden discrimination would be too high, among other details.

Employers have been sued for racism on the basis of using college degrees as a criterion for jobs that don't require one, because they knew fewer people of color went to college. So: no giving better benefits to people with degrees. Discriminating by address is likely to have the same result.

I expect the argument will be made that this is not discrimination based on orientation, which is legal in Texas, but by gender, which is not: in some situations, the gender of a person's partner establishes a different set of benefits.