I was anticipating this, so when I saw the e-mail I was not surprised at all.

There is some validity in your point about studios wanting to please the fans, but they’re also looking for broad commercial appeal to get a good return on their investment. American audiences in particular aren’t comfortable with media of any sort that is above their intellectual level. Their insecurity leaves them…

Discovery gets a mention, as a case in point, in this video I came across yesterday.

Reagan wasn’t rational. We have him (and Thatcher) to thank for neoliberal economics that has increased the gap between rich and poor, with median wages stagnating (when indexed to inflation) while GDP has doubled. Where did that doubling of the economy go? To the rich of course.

America has two epidemics. SARS-CoV-2, and an epidemic of stupidity, often allied with religious fervor (which means it tied up with peoples’ faith, so is immune to evidence).

Oh, joy! Some enterprising charlatans will start bottling it and selling it to rich idiots as “Primordial Water”.

A similar thing happened in Libya too (albeit with a meteorite). There was a desert glass scarab in Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Where’s your article saying we should ban military jets?

Yes, but you don’t tackle the problem of wealth disparity by banning private jets. Taxation (and some dispelling of the myth that they’ve really earned all that money) are the correct approaches.

Air travel is a minor contributor to climate change. It just gets attention because people can see it. Invisible leaking refrigerant gasses, for example, are responsible for 2x more warming. Cement product releases 4x more Co2 than all aviation. Agriculture 11x more.

No agriculture, industry, and cement production are large percentages. Aviation gets disproportional attention because everyone sees planes. Invisible refrigerant gas leakages that are twice as damaging as aviation get little or no attention.

The fixation on air travel (because it’s visible to us) is quite harmful as it detracts from the much more severe issues. Do you know, for example, that leaking refrigerant gases (from fridges, air conditioners, etc.) contribute 2x more to warming than all aviation?

That has to be one of the most pathetic tu quoque fallacies I’ve ever encountered.

Mark Zuckerberg tried an Oculus headset on and immediately thought it was the future of how people would meet.

That was a dick headline. I have a lot of friends/former colleagues working at Oculus, and for a moment I thought they had all lost their jobs.

Why do the costumes look like cheap Halloween outfits? That or costumes from Xena: Warrior Prince, or Hercules: The Legendary Journeys?

OMG, that Tarim Basin woman looks like my (Vietnamese) mother-in-law. Even my wife agreed and laughed when I showed her (as well as saying, “That’s messed up!”).

Best insult I’ve ever received online. Thank you!

No. He’s a T-O-Y. Toy!

It makes perfect sense as a money grab. Will probably make good money from box office, streaming, toy and merchandise.