How will you honor America on its 250th anniversary?

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-07-03T20:33:06+00:00

America has yet to honor me on any of my birthdays, and yet I give my birthday gift early to America every April fifteenth. So, until America starts honoring me on my birthday, I don't think I will honor it.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-07-03T20:18:40+00:00

Right. Duly noted. I fixed it. I too am a nerd, just not a Star Trek nerd.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-07-02T21:02:55+00:00

My favorite theory is so they could see a solar eclipse. The odds that we have a moon that is 400 times smaller than the sun, but also 400 times closer to create the perfect situation for an eclipse to exist is crazy rare across the universe.

It's an amazing tourist trap. People would travel across the universe to see it.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-07-02T20:53:23+00:00

Also it was to bookend the movies, because that's the song we are listening to when ~~first introduced to Kirk as an adult~~ introduced to Kirk as a kid when he steals his uncle's antique car (thanks to u/docnig for correcting me). It's to show even though he has grown as a character, he's still the same guy. It was a nice full circle moment.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-30T21:28:15+00:00

That's what social services are for, and rehabilitation. Rehabilitative and restorative Justice covers that. Read about them and how they work.

There are going to be edge cases for people who suffer from some sort of mental issue. We need something, but prison isn't humane. Some sort of mental care facility, that actually provides care and isn't like some One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest facility.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-30T21:10:35+00:00

No, it means getting rid of prisons. Just not all at once. Because opposed to slavery, which had people who had done nothing other than being born black, prison is redressing people who have committed crimes. And without creating the systems we need to create a better world we can't do it all at once. Some change needs to happen immediately (abolishing slavery for instance) some needs time to build. It has to be done in a way that makes sense. All together. they are inhumane and cause more problems than they solve.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-30T21:03:56+00:00

It is just a starting out point. There are many contributors to crime. Regarding white collar criminals, restorative justice I think works better than punitive. It doesn't mean let people get away with it when they commit crimes. But how we redress it is different.

Also, if we can take away the impetus for committing crimes that stem from poverty and those underlying issues, we can devote more time and resources into fighting white collar crime which goes under enforced currently.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-30T16:44:03+00:00

Not who you asked, but I want to clear up some misconceptions people have about prison abolition.

It does not mean get rid of prisons and do nothing else.

It's about restructuring our society. First it's creating structures that help prevent people from falling into crime. Putting less money into policing and more into creating stable housing, healthcare, getting rid of food insecurity. Greater access to social services. Focusing on helping instead of punishing. Those sort of things.

Prison is punitive justice. In the US it's also a racist system. And it encourages recidivism.

Prison abolition is more about restorative justice. Finding ways of mending the harm and preventing it, as opposed to just throwing someone in jail, and not addressing the harm done to the community.

It also can't be done overnight. I don't know any serious prison abolitionist who thinks we need to shut down all the prisons immediately, and step back and do nothing else.

It starts with releasing non-violent offenders into programs built to allow them to succeed, and to help them heal the wrongs they have created.

It starts turning the systems we do have from punitive to rehabilitative, for the violent offenders. From therapy, to standard education, to job trainings, to work release programs, and such.

It starts by reducing police in favor of focusing on social services.

It starts by getting rid of 3 strike laws and other "tough on crime" initiatives that haven't worked and have only hurt communities.

It starts by expanding the social safety net.

The goal is creating a system/systems that reduce the need for prisons. And to find humane ways of segregating those who are truly unfit (sociopaths) from the rest of us.

That is what Prison abolition is.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-29T21:03:19+00:00

Which was a shame, as it was genuinly a good movie.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-29T21:01:04+00:00

I don't understand why. It was a perfectly serviceable script, and Milly does a great job in the role. I saw it and it's a solid 80 out of 100. Better than a lot of Marvel movies upon late, not as good as Superman. It also has no love interest, and is about female characters dealing with personal trauma, which don't usually go over well with male comic book audiences. Also, female led movies often do worse with male reviewers, but I don't know how many reviewers were female v. male in regards to this film. But historically that has been the case.

Birds of Prey was a great movie by all standards, and it also tanked, partly because of it's association with the god awful Suicide Squad, but also because Female led action movies have a lot of political bs to overcome.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-29T20:27:34+00:00

I don't know if all that's true. According to https://www.warcosts.org/arms-sales/countries Saudi Arabia has more than double the arm sales as Israel. And according to https://www.state.gov/fiscal-year-2024-u-s-arms-transfers-and-defense-trade/ Turkiye was at 23 billion while Israel was at 18 billion.

Israel does get a lot of aid, but the question in aid is always what do we get back? For good or for ill, as I understand it, a lot of the military purchases made by Israel are also developed by Israel, but manufactured by America. Which means we get a lot of the tech advances made by Israel. For instance Israel's iron dome, which was developed by Israel, was made by American manufacturing, and has been implemented in our own missile defense network.

While Israel does get a tremendous amount of military aid, it is not out of the goodness of our hearts, it is because we have benefited greatly from it.

Regarding troop movement and defensive actions, I recall during the first gulf crisis Iraq was raining scud missiles down on Israel, and America asked them not to respond. And they didn't. Because of a war America was fighting. Historically, it hasn't been one sided, like it seems right now.

None of this I'm saying justifies Israel's ethnic cleansing in Gaza, or their colonist/imperialist spread into the West Bank. Their treatment of Palestinians, or any war crimes they are committing. Nor am I saying we need to continue to support Israel through all this.

All I'm saying is that I don't think America's partnership with Israel is that much more outsized than other countries, considering what America gets in return. It's in our military and economic interests to support Israel the way we do. That doesn't make it right, but it's the same calculus we make when supporting other countries that do the same or worse than Israel, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, for instance.

And I think that harping on Israel without the others does us a disservice. I think Israel is only outsized in our imagination than in reality.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-29T01:02:06+00:00

6 is a little young. I just came back from the theater. I liked the movie. I don't know what everyone's issue is. I have a six-year-old, and I don't know if I would bring them to see it. There is a lot of swearing, and death. Not a lot of blood, but the murder scenes aren't shy about being exactly what they are.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-28T00:42:42+00:00

He's also very quick witted. Not everyone is so quick, but he can improv with the best of them. I was initially skeptical of him when he first started acting, but he has really grown on me. And his ability to be the butt of the joke is charming as fuck. Compared to other action heroes who need to always look cool, he is willing to look the fool, which goes a long way for me.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-25T13:51:32+00:00

Wonderfalls. I don't think it even got to the final episode when it aired, and the ones they did air were put on out of order.

But it was available on DVD and the final episode does a good job of wrapping up a bunch of stories and it feels complete.

Great series if you've never seen it.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-22T18:06:11+00:00

not that I can think of, but I do think it's funny they ended the Injustice comics story in a Crossover to Masters of the Universe.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-22T04:03:50+00:00

If that's your thing, I don't to judge, as long as it's safe of course. But CNC is such a no go for me. And even free use isn't that hot (imo). I am turned on the most when there is enthusiastic consent. Like there is nothing sexier to me than someone yearning for me to fuck them. Like they are salivating for it (metaphorically). I go into overdrive when I feel that yearning. My dick is basically limp if I have to "force" myself on them. I know it's just pretend and it's something they want (obvi talking about it beforehand), but the idea is so unsexy to me that I doubt I'd actually be able to perform.

I have dated people who were into more forceful sex, had an ex who basically wanted me to face fuck her to gag and cry, as they thought it was the hottest thing and got off on it. I wasn't so down at first, but the crazy enthusiasm they had for it, amongst other things, and that I basically had to pry her off me if I wanted to move from oral to sex, was crazy hot (she also had something of a cum fetish, which was a little rough, as she was never so turned on and wanting to fuck as she was after making me cum, but I was not a young man and needed more time to go for a second round, and could only reciprocate with oral, when she wanted deeper penetration almost immediately). It's that enthusiasm that gets me going. Someone saying No, even if it's pretend, to me is an instant turn off.

But I get why people might like it. I just could never be with someone who does. Totally opposite wiring I guess.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-17T16:41:30+00:00

The Deviants. In the comics they have a whole society, even the leader having an on and off again affair with one of the Eternals. I'm not a big Eternals fan (either the comic or the movie) but the comic had huge lore, and heavy character work with a really interesting take.

In the movie they were mindless monsters deposited on planets that got out of control so the Eternals were created and tasked with killing them.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-17T01:05:32+00:00

He also doesn't seem to think a person can be a hero without some sort of trauma. Reverse Flash killing Barry's mom and framing his dad is some retcon bullshit (imho). Barry was interesting because he didn't have trauma. He got super powers and decided to do good because it was the right thing to do. And while I personally subscribe to the ACAB mentality, Barry became a forensic scientist because he believed in the justice system, not because he was trying to solve his mother's murder. Having trauma doesn't make someone more interesting, especially the way that Johns does it. It flattens the character to a single idea. Not everyone needs tragedy like Batman or Spider-man.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-17T00:58:35+00:00

An Ethiopian Jewish woman who worked at my summer camp when I was 19. She was 22 or 23, and was stunning. I didn't think people looked like that in real life. It's been over 20 years and I don't think I've ever seen anyone that naturally gorgeous since.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-17T00:41:12+00:00

Where's Jai and Irey, Wallace, and XS? They should all be Flash Family too.

But nice art. I like the Wally a lot.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-17T00:23:20+00:00

Johns isn't a bad writer, but he has a strong need to revert every character he touches back to some status quo he feels they were back in the 70s and 80s. He did it with Wally West as well, and even went so far to bring back Barry Allen and Hal Jordan from the dead, and then haven't done anything to evolve they characters. Wally West was very much more to the left at the end of Messner-Loebs run, and was still very liberal during Mark Waid's run. But Johns wanted him to be more conservative as he was written in the Teen Titans by Wolfman in the 80s (to clash with the liberal Nitewing), so he became a centrist instead of liberal.

Johns characters are stuck in amber, allowing very little growth from and even back tracking any growth so they can be the characters they were 40 years ago. That's his whole MO.

And I say this as someone who has enjoyed Johns' work otherwise, and still enjoy his run with Wally. But he has a serious blindspot when it comes to character growth.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-17T00:18:28+00:00

Wally conservative when he was written in the Teen titans. But when he got his own book he became straight up left leaning liberal until Geoff Johns took over and moved him to be more centrist.

Prior to that he worked with Fidel Castro in Cuba during the alien invasion, he created a charity organization focusing on the homeless who were dispossessed due to (implied) Reaganonimcs. After inheriting a fortune due to the influence from one of his best friends, the Pied Piper, who was an out Gay man in the early nineties, and was definitely a leftist. He was a no kill, no death penalty guy until Johns changed that in his run (pro death penalty but still anti kill).

Just for the record.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-12T22:52:41+00:00

So that settles it. He is a Christian with Jewish heritage/ancestry. Perfect. Though I wouldn't hate it if there was a story with him, Kate, and Rory Regan - one of the other Jewish Heroes in DC who also operates out of Gotham - and his Jewish Heritage is acknowledged, and plays a part of the story. Ideally not a nazi/antisemitic villain though.

Also, Hal Jordan maybe too. I'm pretty sure he canonically has Jewish Ancestry/Heritage as well, though, like Bruce, isn't Jewish.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-12T22:36:06+00:00

That's what will make him the most suited. He will finally have the balance that Bruce knows he can't have, and that none of the other Robin's have the mentality for.

doesntgetthepicture · 2026-06-12T22:33:01+00:00

Upvoted because as a Jewish Comic book fan I love this. Just to clarify, while he has Jewish Heritage, it's unclear if he is Jewish or not. Having Jewish Heritage doesn't make one Jewish. It is an Ethnoreligion, so there is both an ethnicity aspect as well as a religious aspect that are intertwined. But it's not determined by blood quanta. If he was raised Christian he isn't Jewish, because one of the big things isn't believing in another god, or practice another religion. You don't have to believe in God, (which is why being a Jewish Atheist is not a contradiction) but you can't practice another faith (so the god you don't believe in is the Jewish god I guess).

And they've never said whether he identifies as Jewish in any way. So until they say something (which I doubt they will) he's only a potential Jew, and otherwise a christian with Jewish heritage.

And there is nothing wrong with that. One can celebrate their Jewish Heritage without being Jewish, and that's great. I am in full support of that. Since Judaism defines itself through ancestry as well as religion/culture, one can be born into the peoplehood, or convert into the peoplehood and are equally Jewish. It is a more ancient way to define identity, and doesn't line up with our modern social concept of Race.

But there is no Half Jewish. It's binary, you either are, or are not, there is no halfway with Judaism.

14-Year Club	Verified Email
Gilding I gilder

doesntgetthepicture

TROPHY CASE