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Everything you have ever written is tainted by this horrifically ignorant and biased view of history. Seriously, your contributions to...life...are as significant as a disposed McDonald's cheeseburger wrapper if this is what you see when you review the roots of these wars. And I'm not here to argue the right or wrong of Korea or Vietnam, but these conflicts do not make sense without applying a historical perspective. If you view our involvement in these wars as white Americans being racist, you are not misinformed, you are sick.

The Zimmermann Telegram preceded German submarine activity in the Atlantic. It all happened within a month, but, again, it was: The sinking of the Lusitania Brits (and French) being beat down Random German threats and attrocities Zimmerman Telegram German U-boat operations ...kind of in that order in time that drew us in.

The Zimmermann Telegram helped, but I think the straw the broke the camel's back was the German naval blockade against The UK. We were isolationist prior to our entrance into WWI and were not prepared for any war, let alone a world-wide war. However, being the dirty capitalists we were, we were happy to supply both sides for a while, eventually only supplying allies. Germany sinking our ships and preventing our commerce got the attention of the elites, who, in turn, leveraged the media (newspapers) to rally the USA to enter the war. The transformation of the country from neutral/isolationists to full-out war machine in a year's time was an amazing feat - it, along with essentially the same routine for WWII, are the few historical precedents that give me hope.

This has been out long enough where we can talk. Right? We can talk here... I agree fundamentally with your review, TBPhD. The writing for this movie was pretty much awful. They clearly had a lot to deal with and they totally missed emphasizing the character motivations which would have helped to keep the story more organized and emotional. All of the emotional parts were forced, IMHO, whereas in MoS they worked quite well. They really needed to give Lex Luthor some sort of background and motivation rather than the few bits of oblique dialogue they committed to that end. I liked the look of the movie for the most part. Wasn't turned on by the music, but I wasn't turned off, either. I think the Bale Batman movies had a better look and better score, but not by a whole lot. Again, the script lets this down too much. I do like how Louis Lane was involved throughout the story, using her to humanize Superman. I also like how they introduced the other metahumans and wove WW into the story pretty well. Overall I enjoyed the movie despite the script failings and other things mentioned above, but there is a huge, huge BUT... I did like Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. I think he could have been a lot better, again, had the script been competently pieced together. I think I would like him the best of all the film/TV incarnations, excepting "Batman: The Animated Series" which is awesome. I don't not like Bale as Batman, but he always seemed slightly "too much" for me. The BUT lies with how they treated this version of Batman. This Batman was simply not sharp enough. It's like they wanted to turn him more into a Captain America caliber intellect rather than an authentic Batman. Part of what makes Bruce Wayne/Batman a believable super hero is that he is exceptionally clever and brilliant. His animus towards Superman does not make sense - Bruce Wayne being out-thought by this particular Lex Luthor is not believable at all. Batman not picking up on Luthor's deceptions and grasping his plans is very un-Batman like and disappointing. His not listening to Superman before they square off is just out of character - it read totally like they just wanted the big fight scene. Because of these failures, at the end when he's talking with WW, he simply doesn't seem worthy of standing along side the metahumans. They really need to up his cache in the next movie or this movie franchise will bomb, IMHO. Batman needs to be seen as an equal to the other heroes, not a psycho hanger-on. And, yes, Jeremy Irons was definitely the best Alfred.

You folks have such a low opinion of Trump; what do you think of Trump supporters?

So, no one wants to try and make the case that availability of motor vehicles is over the top, and that no one needs trucks to get from point A to point B? I guess we reached the threshold, huh? Everyone wants their vehicle, even though they are inherently dangerous...more dangerous than guns...so we'll all just turn our gaze at some other cause and whistle like we don't notice the hypocrisy. Can't have more regulations on motor vehicles, can we.

We obviously need to clear some space, so this signing instantly makes the rest of the summer interesting.

The trade offer for Fowler will depend on what Vesey does. Obviously, if Vesey signs here, GMTM has more flexibility in his offer.

Book it!

MLK was not even entertaining. He was all, like, serious and no fun. He was religious, too...who wants to look up to that? Now, Mike Tyson...heth a role model. Yeth indeedy.

I think the thread needs to be renamed.

I knew it was all a mistake. ROR would never drive drunk and hit a Timmy Ho's.

Or, sitting in front of a screen on a marvellous Saturday afternoon simply wasn't appealing.

Why can't he go to Barnes and Noble, buy a coffee and browse a few books? What about joining a health club and taking yoga? There would be plenty of pick ups doing those things.

Here you go, tough guy. Warning: video is reality and violent. Training.

The officer kept her pinned to her seat. In the video, like I said, he tells her to keep her hands where he can see them. There's nothing else she can do, really. This is the thing, these incidents are so...not the right word but it helps make the point...so popularized, she's spreading the word. I do understand, that, especially when it seems initially he was only wounded in the arm.

Absolutely. Going through the goals, there's no way to choose one, a lot of them are just so dang pretty. Can't wait until next season.

Maybe. I won't argue that point. I think Sheriff Clarke makes the case plain.

I'm going to leave TBPhD a little present in this thread.

I going to put this here...

This is why GMTM wouldn't hire Enroth back. Tell me that feed from Samson isn't filthy... Also note that this is one of those shots where Jack makes the puck curve in the air. FILTHY Samson, filthy...

Right here, my bachelor comrades, is the secret to a happy life:

Sheriff David Clarke lays it all out with a lot more authority than I can.

Ah! GREAT question. The police are not the elites. The police are sworn to uphold the law and protect the innocent. They're soldiers for and of the public. An officer takes that job for whatever reasons they do, but I would say an insignificant few believe they're going to attain elite-level power through it. They're working people who happen to find the job appealing; maybe they have a big brother/big sister psychology, maybe they like being Sheriff of the neighborhood, maybe they were picked on and this gives them a little power and authority, maybe they do actually respect and appreciate law and order, maybe they like the benefits package. What I'm driving at here is that officers are pretty much no different in class than a typical blue or white collar worker bee. They still have a conscience, they genuinely love their kids (as in, the kids aren't accessories or necessary by-products of their circumstances and plans), they like having days off and hanging out. Regular Joes and Janes for the most part. When they pull you over, they're doing their job. Following orders. They don't want to have to be brave and handle the crappy situations that certain humans are prone to putting themselves in. They generally don't like having to be on the scene of a nasty car accident. They don't want to be in a gun fight. They don't even want to write five dozen parking tickets in a day. But it's their duty, their job. If the people force the government to change the laws, say, parking tickets are no longer to be issued, then the police will enforce THAT law. If the people decide the elites are ruining the country, and that the elites need policing, you know, some type of French Revolution/dark pol-sci fantastic scenario that is becoming more probable as time goes on, these regular Joes and Janes are going to have to make a choice. I have faith that many of them will make the right choice when/if the time comes. But, the police are not the issue when it comes to the elites. That's like asking why the janitors still empty the waste baskets in the White House. It's their job. The conflict isn't with the police, it's between the people and the elites. Some police would side with us, some would side with them. I agree with this entirely. No one wants to lose sight of all hope.

I'm glad you asked. For a minute there, I thought all of the righteous indignation would be based solely upon assumptions and imagination. It's sad. I get the impression there was a mis-communication. The victim did the right thing, told the officer he had a weapon and was licensed. The officer clearly got amped up and was ready to shoot unless the guy did everything absolutely perfectly - like trying to solve an explosive Rubik's Cube; one wrong turn and it explodes. Yes, this indicates to me that this particular officer was in over his head. He was scared and hyped up because a black dude had a gun. What exactly happened prior to his putting 4 bullets in the guy we don't know - the woman said in the video the officer asked him to get out his license, the officer says "I told him not to reach for it - I told him to get his hand off it!" And, you know what, the officer is clearly anguished. This is what pisses me off. Play the line where the officer says "I told him not to reach for it - I told him to get his hand off it!" over and over again like I just did to get the quote right. Does that sound like someone who is happy he just shot someone? WTF? The guys is standing there with his gun drawn, telling the lady to keep her hands where he can see them. He's anguished. Not like some f*cking deer hunter like some of you are trying to make these guys out to be. He knows what's going on and his mind is racing a million miles a second. Him standing there like that is training taking over. What do you want? Hang 'em! There's no reason for it. It's tragic. Do you think a white guy gets through a similar situation alive? Or a Hispanic? Maybe. Is La Raza bearing down on police? Is White Lives Matter holding demonstrations against police featuring lines like "Pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon"? Again, we don't know exactly what happened prior to the video starting, but of course it could have been handled differently, of course the guy didn't need to die. But to suggest the cop is a hunter, and that he pulled the car over thinking "I'm gonna kill me a black guy today" is outrageous and irresponsible. I see this issue as a Circle of Causality. And the cops didn't start the circle spinning. And neither did the black community.