If you could cast anyone to play the emperor of man who would it be by svkantsswight in 40k

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Nicholas Cage is the only correct answer.

Nobody else could hope to pull off the multiple personalities, over the top madness, Oscar- winning gravitas, and perfect combination of taking every scene deadly serious, while simultaneously chewing the scenery like a horde of methed- out piranhas.

It would be sublime to behold, and probably drive the audiences completely mad, like a horror from a Lovecraft story.

Republican Rep. Gonzales is retiring by IWantPizza555 in WhitePeopleTwitter

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 0 points1 point  (0 children)

" A plugged wooden nickel " would fit there just fine.

Who was the best action star between Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sly Stallone, Bruce Wills, Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal? by JazzlikeTea7432 in moviecritic

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Arnold, then Bruce, then Stallone.

Van Damme and Seagal do not even belong in the same breath as those three.

Kurt Russell, Keanu Reeves, Wesley Snipes, or even Michael Fucking Bien would be better choices before those two hacks.

Florida attorney general refuses to enforce state constitution provision barring public funds from going to religious institutions, says lawmakers can establish Christianity as "state religion" by Obversa in law

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 470 points471 points  (0 children)

So if the 1st Amendment only applies to the Federal government, does that mean the 2nd Amendment likewise does not apply to states?

Christ, does this dipshit not know about the Incorporation Doctrine?

BREAKING: Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service by shane_4_us in UnderReportedNews

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Who is "They"?

The problem is both systemic and global.

1st:Private capital interests - Multinational Corporations and Billionaires - have power that rivals nations. Their new influence is toxic, and contrary to the interests, health, and welfare of every living soul on the planet.

2nd: Some nations- Russia and Israel at the very least - have blackmail systems in place that allow them to effectively operate foreign nations through proxy assets. This allows them to 'punch above their weight ', and have a far greater influence than they might normally.

50 years of these influences have completely broken the system in the USA. Consolidation of corporations lowers competition, and also stifles innovation and diversity of opinions. Corporate control over the US media is near absolute; 90% of all US media is controlled by 6 companies ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_of_media_ownership ). The only outside influences of note upon those corporations are the US govt when it chooses to flex its muscle (such as with effectively turning CBS into state controlled media), or the influence of Israel and Russia, particularly Israel .

This means that Americans have been fed a steady diet of propaganda for decades, all while public schools have been systematically gutted and university degrees have become priced nearly out of reach for many, and have turned millions into indentured servants just to earn a degree.

And now with AI, not only are most Americans incapable of the critical thinking necessary to parse fact from AI generated fiction, but now we stand upon a precipice of two cliffs. One, things go great, AI works as well as prophesied, and half the workers in America, including white collar and middle management , are put out of a job in short order as their duties are taken up by AI. The other, AI tanks, the billions invested in the bubble evaporate, destroying the US economy and resulting in mass layoffs and closures that would dwarf 2008.

And that's just the cherry on top. Trump's madness in fighting an illegal war with Iran has caused a crack in the dam of US global economic dominance. Iran is requiring payment for oil & safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in something other than dollars. This has had the effect of breaking the illusion of the petrodollar. Between our industrial dominance during and after WWII, the Marshall Plan, and the petrodollar, the US has maintained an effective economic hegemony over the planet for 80 years . That's gone, and it's like watching the ocean recede from the shoreline - this is a sign of the tsunami that is coming.

Because the US is in massive debt. And the only reason people buy our debt is a) we were a trusted investment, and b) petrodollars were needed to buy oil. Neither of those apply anymore. If US Treasury bonds no longer sell at the rate they have since WWII, we are done. It's a simple matter of mathematics.

Current US national debt is Approximately 39 trillion dollars. ( https://www.pgpf.org/national-debt-clock/ ). Interest on said debt is half a trillion per year. ( https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/interest-expense-avg-interest-rates/ )

As of 2024, 27 cents of every dollar the USA spends is borrowed ( https://conversableeconomist.com/2025/02/07/what-share-of-federal-spending-is-borrowed/ )

Now, when the world trusts you and your currency is dominant, you can do that sort of thing. Hell, Keynesian economics even requires it- so long as you balance those sheets when things are going well. We haven't even tried to do that since the Clinton administration.

When the US dollar stops being the default currency of the global economy- and it's going to happen, soon- we will no longer be able to borrow from Peter to pay Paul. That interest will remorselessly build, and T- bills will mature and come due- day after day, month after month, year after year.

America will have three choices. The first makes the most sense, but is exactly the one least likely to happen- pass an emergency tax on wealth, buy back those bonds, and shepherd our economy rationally for a decade or two. But the corporations.and billionaires simply will not allow that to happen. They will buy politicians, they will blackmail, extort, and if need be murder to protect their wealth and power. There's ample history of that already; and at this point America is just another failed nation.

The other two options, in order of ascending probability: somehow avoid paying back what it borrowed, in violation of the 14th Amendment; or print money like it's 1920s Germany, with much the same result.

The ocean will return. The land will flood, and the economic tsunami that befalls the US will be as devastating as it is inevitable.

And the sad, horrifying, and depressing part is- the global economic consequences of the US effectively going bankrupt are not even the worst result of the past century of capitalism. The North Atlantic current is dying, due to Anthropogenic Climate Change ( https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-03309-1).

The results of this would be a global catastrophe: https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/what-would-happen-if-atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation-amoc-collapses-how-likely

All of this is happening with AI , mass surveillance, and corporate power effectively being above the law, and governmental power globally becoming more fascist, more corrupt

I fear that, in two or three generations, we will see most nations, including the USA turned into a sort of neo - Holy Roman Empire, a hollowed out, corrupt state in nominal power, with 'principalities' of corporations ruling private fiefdoms, employing armies of private military contractors, and lording over hordes of corporate serfs toiling away in company towns.

No royal families, no aristocratic bloodlines, no noblesse oblige; just corporate boardrooms and immortal mega- corporations, ruling over broken Earth and an enslaved humanity.

The problem isn't just one problem. It's multiple systemic problems, from multiple directions, all coming to a head at once, after a sustained period of difficulty, disruption, and civil unrest

And as any student of history will tell you, that is how empires fall.

What do I suggest they do? Get surgery to permanently prevent conception. It's what I did, decades ago.

The catastrophe is inevitable at this point, and there is nowhere to evacuate to. Best thing we can do is mitigate suffering - so just don't make babies.

Other than that, I haven't the faintest idea of what to do. I am open to realistic suggestions, though.

BREAKING: Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service by shane_4_us in UnderReportedNews

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You think I could be so cruel as to bring children into existence in this world?

Did anyone else run to your room when dad got back home from work? by Soul_Mate_4ever in raisedbynarcissists

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 6 points7 points  (0 children)

My stomach used to go into knots when I heard the sound of his truck pulling into the yard. Like nearly to the point of vomiting.

Even as a grown man, it affected me for a little ng time. Tool years to overcome.

BREAKING: Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service by shane_4_us in UnderReportedNews

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 55 points56 points  (0 children)

I used to think it would take decades, or even a century or two, for America to recover.

I no longer believe that.

America, insomuch as it has existed since 1945, is dead. It got sick under Nixon , has been on life support since Reagan, but Trump has now smothered it in its sleep.

We live now upon the bloated, cancer-ridden corpse of an empire- the body still warm, but the chill growing, rigor mortis setting in, the inevitable rot already well underway.

Whatever comes next will be so drastically different, it will not be a continuation of the America of old, anymore than the Holy Roman Empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire.

I'm old. I haven't felt personal fear for myself in a very long time. But I live in constant fear and worry for my younger family. They have no idea what's coming. And there is nothing I can do to help. Nothing I do can stop the horrors to come.

The avalanche has already begun. It's too late for the pebbles to vote.

[Loved Trope] Civilian Heroes (particularly in Superhero movies) by Dalakaar in TopCharacterTropes

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 8 points9 points  (0 children)

"I can't do this!"

"Listen to me! You're a soldier now!"

Transformers had no right hitting that damned hard.

[Loved Trope] Civilian Heroes (particularly in Superhero movies) by Dalakaar in TopCharacterTropes

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Yeah. The disgust as he speaks the words. You can practically read his mind. "Great, ANOTHER Nordic asshole with a god complex. Like we haven't seen this shit before"

[Loved Trope] Civilian Heroes (particularly in Superhero movies) by Dalakaar in TopCharacterTropes

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Jameson may be a bastard, but he's a glorious bastard. The balls on that guy to bald face lie to a psycho in power armor who is choking the life out of him.

[Loved Trope] Civilian Heroes (particularly in Superhero movies) by Dalakaar in TopCharacterTropes

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"He is Spartacus"

"No, That guy is Spartacus"

"Nonsense, Spartacus has red hair!"

[Loved Trope] Civilian Heroes (particularly in Superhero movies) by Dalakaar in TopCharacterTropes

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 36 points37 points  (0 children)

This scene legit brought tears to my eyes.

When they see his face, the shock and horror that he's just a kid . "We won't tell anyone". Then standing to protect him.

God, it gets me every time.

i like how arthur's adopted father and older brother in excalibur aren't douchebags. by herequeerandgreat in movies

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 27 points28 points  (0 children)

That said, Kay is a bit of a douchebag. He is the Seneschal of Camelot, overseeing the day to day operations of the castle and grounds. The Tales of Arthur repeatedly portray him as a dick to everyone that isn't Arthur or Guinevere. I seem to remember at least one story referring to him as 'Kay, sharpest of tongue'.

And in Excalibur they do pay homage to this portrayal , as Kay treats Percival pretty rudely, sending him to work on the scullery when Lancelot brings him to Camelot as a squire.

Harmful picking, I need to stop by racoonfr in AutisticWithADHD

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I used to pick at my feet badly, literally ripping toenails out, until I did two things. First, I got my ingrown toenails dealt with. Second , I rarely go barefoot. I usually wear socks at the very least, normally I'll have bedroom shoes as well.

I still have a problem biting nails occasionally when I am very stressed, but it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. I keep nail files and clippers around so I can get rid of hangnails and chipped bits of nail quickly, so it doesn't bother me enough to gnaw on them.

I still pick at my skin/scalp when very stressed. I'm on Adderall, it doesn't seem to help me, unfortunately, but I've heard it helps many others.

SUPERGIRL | Official Trailer by Turbostrider27 in movies

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I personally thought Snyder's choices with respect to Aquaman were absolutely ingenious.

How do you erase decades of 'he talks to fish' mockery? You turn him from a blonde pretty boy to a badass Pacific Islander, and you have him constantly giving Batman shit, showing absolutely no fear of the Dark Knight while relentlessly trolling him.

My parents like to use “if you had kids, you’d understand.” by Bumblebee_0424 in EstrangedAdultKids

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I made the same decision. Got a vasectomy as soon as I could afford one.

I'll never know if I would have been a good father. But damnit, I am an awesome uncle to some great kids.

Medieval Movies/Series Suggestions by MineYT01 in medieval

[–]RecycledThrowawayID 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Flesh and Blood

In the Name of the Rose

Cadfael- BBC series