MerrySkeptic

The whole time I was thinking "I bet there's gonna be a mutant stinger at the end"

I don't disagree. Just describing it from their perspectives. The root issue is that the entire political system is beholden to corporate interests and there's not enough political will to change that. But the average voter doesn't care about the system of government so long as they can afford to pay groceries and they feel that their interests matter. Whether neoliberalism, socialism, fascism, this election shows that the average voter cares less about the system than the results

Totally agree though I do think there's some nuance in exactly what the status quo meant to each Trump voter.

For Christian fundamentalists, it meant a secular society and abortion rights

For the working class it was high inflation

For young straight men (and their parents) it was a felt sense that they were being cancelled

For the suburban voters it was the felt sense that we have porous borders and that our tax dollars were being used to support non-citizen

Not all of these are accurate, but simply being told you're wrong before feeling like the other person is taking you seriously is only going to drive you to folks who will tell you what you want to hear. And that's where the disinformation comes in

We have to do better at listening to the other side's concerns and offering meaningful answers. I don't just mean offering policy as a response, I mean they have to feel heard before they are going to be willing to listen

I think what Bernie is saying is that for decades Dems have paid lip service to working class concerns while not actually doing much. In reality Dems have been much more beholden to corporate interests.

By the time these plans came out, too many working class folk were already disenfranchised. They saw a party that was vocal about social issues that frankly were not high on the list of priorities for most of them. They were more concerned that inflation was out of control and they could not afford basic expenses. Sure Trump was racist but at least prices were lower when he was in office, or so they would conclude. If he could bring prices down, they would go with him.

Basically Dems were just out of touch with the most important part of their base until it was too late.

Audiences have always been interested in good storytelling. The reason the MCU took off was because it told good stories. The problem is that the stories have become too formulaic or half-baked.

People showed up for Deadpool and Wolverine, so the issue isn't about comic book movies.

EDIT: My comment about D&W isn't meant to hold it up as an example of good storytelling. As I said, the stories have become formulaic. My mentioning of it is meant to point out that many comic book movies succeed despite mediocre storytelling. You can't say "audiences are tired of comic book movies" when many are still clearly successful.

I'm not sure what difference it makes here that it was a volunteer position. There was a background check (two, actually) just like there would have been if it was a paid position. Schools often use volunteers too to read to kids or tutor after school, etc.

I'm not saying churches are always this responsible. I'm saying we should applaud the ones that take steps to prevent this and work with law enforcement when those steps fail

Not to defend churches in general, but the article headline here is pretty misleading in calling this guy a youth leader. He was a volunteer. And, to the church's credit, when this came out they immediately began cooperating with law enforcement and even referred anyone with more info to talk to the police.

I don't like churches in general, but this one did as well as any other organization that has volunteers working with kids. They had background checks in place and did not try to cover anything up.

Excellent movie!

The nonlinear style was actually done really well

Loved the use of color in certain scenes, really made them pop (fun fact, the actor Giovanni Ribisi was Director of Photography. Apparently he had a small role in the movie too but I don't recall it)

Willa Fitzgerald showed off huge acting range as The Lady. You know which scenes I'm talking about. Holy shit

Kyle Gallner didn't show off as much range but was totally convincing as The Demon

I hadn't seen either of them in anything before but I hope they get bigger projects after this. I think not having huge, well-known stars helped immerse me into the story though. In fact it was kind of jarring when Ed Begley Jr showed up because I actually recognized him in a movie full of people I had never seen before

Using Where Is My Mind if you know anything about Bob is just...<chef's kiss>

Señor Trump no es macho, solamente es un borracho...

These are amazing parents. Protecting the legacy of their son, making sure it is never used to further a hateful agenda, even though I'm sure they are going to get hate back from all the MAGA cultists.

Is it too late to become a nurse practitioner?