1. #35011
    Ultimate Member Gray Lensman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shooshoomanjoe View Post
    Recycling plastic has been saving a lot landfill space. What lies are conservative media telling you about recycling?
    I hear those from my parents - only a certain percentage is getting reused. I always counter with any number is better than zero. The trick is to get the percentage higher, not to claim that since it isn't perfect we should just give up entirely. So not exactly a lie, just twisting the facts to suit an agenda.
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  2. #35012
    Ultimate Member Tendrin's Avatar
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    Oh hey the nirvana fallacy in the wild.

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    Quote Originally Posted by achilles View Post
    Some answers and more questions about the Baldwin thing. Supposedly an AD handed Baldwin the gun and declared it empty, (obviously it wasn't). The director was standing behind the DP, which is how both were hit. Why Baldwin violated basic gun safety by pointing the gun directly remains to be seen, and will likely figure in any suit against him.

    My personal feeling is that the biggest problem with this sort of thing is that actors these days, (though not in the past), don't tend to have any familiarity with guns and therefore neither respect their power properly, or fear them, or simply are ignorant of how to properly handle them. So...since actors these days often spend months bulking up for roles, why not give them two weeks of gun training if they will be on either end of one during production? I suspect that if the gun had been handed to say John Wayne back in the day, he would have checked it himself, as he should---largely because he was familiar with guns, having used them most of his life, (and having a rather great model to watch, having met Wyatt Earp back when Wayne was an extra). Most of these issues aren't due to bad rules, but rather people on set failing to follow procedures. And not just actors should get that training. Directors, obviously ADs, and anyone else involved with the weapons.

    Of course the reports also highlight another problem....money. I suspect in this case there was a lot of budget pressures as indicated that probably contributed. In the end, it's probably a chain of problems that all needed to happen for this tragedy to occur.
    He was shooting a western. It's a given that he will point the gun at people and pull the trigger.

    It's someone else's job to make sure the gun was entirely safe. From the reports, Baldwin was told the gun was safe (as is the standard practice).

    Why the gun was unsafe has to be answered by the prop master. In addition, it seems the entire set was unsafe which is going to raise a lot more questions.

  4. #35014
    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Xheight View Post
    please don't let a stubborn truth stand in the way of a bien pensant life. BTW how is that curbside recycling going? save the world yet from plastics?
    In the same way renewable energy has not ended all fossil fuels.

    And the person who has convinced himself despite all evidence that the 2020 election was stolen talks about "stubborn truth". It is a laugh.
    Last edited by Kirby101; 10-23-2021 at 09:48 AM.
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  5. #35015
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    Quote Originally Posted by Xheight View Post
    please don't let a stubborn truth stand in the way of a bien pensant life. BTW how is that curbside recycling going? save the world yet from plastics?
    BTW, how's just throwing everything in a landfill and forgetting about it going?

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    Extraordinary Member CaptainEurope's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray Lensman View Post
    I hear those from my parents - only a certain percentage is getting reused. I always counter with any number is better than zero. The trick is to get the percentage higher, not to claim that since it isn't perfect we should just give up entirely. So not exactly a lie, just twisting the facts to suit an agenda.
    Also, the fact that (partial) recycling is happening does not stop anyone from reducing the amount of plastic used in other ways. We're getting more and more "bulk" stores here, where you can, say, refill your old detergent bottle or take home rice, noodles, legumes etc in Tupperware you brought.

  7. #35017
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Ahead of Jan. 6, Willard hotel in downtown D.C. was a Trump team ‘command center’ for effort to deny Biden the presidency

    They called it the “command center,” a set of rooms and suites in the posh Willard hotel a block from the White House where some of President Donald Trump’s most loyal lieutenants were working day and night with one goal in mind: overturning the results of the 2020 election.

    The Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse and the ensuing attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob would draw the world’s attention to the quest to physically block Congress from affirming Joe Biden’s victory. But the activities at the Willard that week add to an emerging picture of a less visible effort, mapped out in memos by a conservative pro-Trump legal scholar and pursued by a team of presidential advisers and lawyers seeking to pull off what they claim was a legal strategy to reinstate Trump for a second term.

    They were led by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani. Former chief White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon was an occasional presence as the effort’s senior political adviser. Former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik was there as an investigator. Also present was John Eastman, the scholar, who outlined scenarios for denying Biden the presidency in an Oval Office meeting on Jan. 4 with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Username taken View Post
    He was shooting a western. It's a given that he will point the gun at people and pull the trigger.

    It's someone else's job to make sure the gun was entirely safe. From the reports, Baldwin was told the gun was safe (as is the standard practice).

    Why the gun was unsafe has to be answered by the prop master. In addition, it seems the entire set was unsafe which is going to raise a lot more questions.
    No, it isn't. Mostly, they point not directly at them, and use camera angles and editing to make it look that way. Also, he wasn't pointing a gun at actors he was supposed to in the movie, he was pointing it at the DP and director. Not again that he ever should have pointed it at anyone. As I said, it likely isn't any one thing, but a chain of events that happened, or failed to happen. In this case, if an AD did hand him the gun and say it's safe, that guy has some explaining to do. But even so, Baldwin should have never pointed it at someone, and he should personally have verified at least that the gun seemed safe...and he should have been taught how to do that. From what Jensen Ackles said about the gun training for the movie, it was pretty perfunctory.

  9. #35019
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    Quote Originally Posted by achilles View Post
    No, it isn't. Mostly, they point not directly at them, and use camera angles and editing to make it look that way. Also, he wasn't pointing a gun at actors he was supposed to in the movie, he was pointing it at the DP and director. Not again that he ever should have pointed it at anyone. As I said, it likely isn't any one thing, but a chain of events that happened, or failed to happen. In this case, if an AD did hand him the gun and say it's safe, that guy has some explaining to do. But even so, Baldwin should have never pointed it at someone, and he should personally have verified at least that the gun seemed safe...and he should have been taught how to do that. From what Jensen Ackles said about the gun training for the movie, it was pretty perfunctory.
    He was told the gun was safe.

    And they DO point guns at people. A lot of people have been hurt by blanks on set over the years.

    That being said, we will find out why he was pointing the gun at the DP and the Director. It could be a down barrel shot the Director was going for.

  10. #35020
    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Username taken View Post
    He was told the gun was safe.

    And they DO point guns at people. A lot of people have been hurt by blanks on set over the years.

    That being said, we will find out why he was pointing the gun at the DP and the Director. It could be a down barrel shot the Director was going for.
    A guy who was a film armourer talked on BBC Radio 5 about standard film set procedures, and said (not really surprisingly) that making sure gun was safe was down to armourer, not the actors.

    He’d worked with Alec Baldwin on an earlier picture, and said Alec B invariably listened carefully to safety advice, and followed it exactly.

    It’s a bizarre thought maybe, but in this case it’s unlikely that the guy who pulled the trigger is to blame. But doubt that is any comfort to Mr Baldwin.

  11. #35021
    Marvel's 1st Superhero Reviresco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by worstblogever View Post

    Tricia Flanagan

    Welcome to what is the 1037th original profile here at “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, where we’ll be profiling Tricia Flanagan, who was a candidate for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in both 2018 as well as 2020, failing to advance out of the GOP Primary in both those years, and now in 2022, she’s planning a run for U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District as a challenger to Democratic incumbent Andrew Kim. During her 2020 campaign for U.S. Senate, though, Flanagan responded to support from a Qanon account by telling them, “ThanQ, which might seem pretty tame given some of the support GOP candidates gave to the conspiracy theory, but sit tight, she’s… escalating her status quickly.

    Flanagan launched her 2022 Congressional campaign by releasing an ad where she declared that Congressman Andy Kim, who is Asian American, “is not one of us. The irony of her saying something so blatantly racist to a constituency is also hypocritical, given an investigation has revealed she does not even live in the district she is challenging him in.

    Her current campaign strategy includes going to Donald Trump’s Bedminster club to beg for money, spreading election fraud conspiracy theories, claims that under the Biden administration Christians have come “under attack (Biden is Catholic), attacking Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave as a gay adoptive father of two, and of course, Covid-19 conspiracy theories.

    We are, frankly, exhausted of the never-ending line of white nationalist conspiracy theorists running for office as Republicans at this point, and hope she doesn’t just lose, but that she loses badly.


    I doubt that insurrectionist nutcase is going to win over this guy:





    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-a...riots-n1253519


    That story still gives me hope.
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  12. #35022
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    Quote Originally Posted by Username taken View Post
    He was told the gun was safe.

    And they DO point guns at people. A lot of people have been hurt by blanks on set over the years.

    That being said, we will find out why he was pointing the gun at the DP and the Director. It could be a down barrel shot the Director was going for.
    It doesn't matter what you're told when handed a gun; it's always on you to verify that. They are not supposed to point guns at people---no one is, ever, unless they are good with killing that person. What happens doesn't always echo what should have happened. Guns with blanks for example shouldn't be pointed at anyone who is less than around 20-30 feet away to avoid another Jon-Erik Hexum thing. So anyone being injured that way these days is likely a result of procedures not being followed.

    Which seems likely in this case...the 911 call makes reference to the prop master, who apparently was a recent replacement hire amidst the on set trouble about safety and working conditions...blaming him and calling him an idiot doing things he's not supposed to. And, sorry, but Baldwin had no business doing what he did. It displayed either ignorance or recklessness.

  13. #35023
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    Quote Originally Posted by JackDaw View Post
    A guy who was a film armourer talked on BBC Radio 5 about standard film set procedures, and said (not really surprisingly) that making sure gun was safe was down to armourer, not the actors.

    He’d worked with Alec Baldwin on an earlier picture, and said Alec B invariably listened carefully to safety advice, and followed it exactly.

    It’s a bizarre thought maybe, but in this case it’s unlikely that the guy who pulled the trigger is to blame. But doubt that is any comfort to Mr Baldwin.
    It is in a sense, but you never just take a gun handed you like that and assume it's fine. That in fact is what was the last line that could have saved Brandon Lee, had the actor, (who had very little gun knowledge), himself checked the gun's barrel to make sure it was clear. That in fact is drilled into anyone taking a gun safety course. What should have happened in both cases would be for the armorer to hand the gun to the actor with the action open and any magazine detached.....and THEN the actor should LOOK at it and verify that it is clear verbally. Magazines or ammo verified to be of a certain kind by at least two people should then be handed to the actor to load as taught. And yes, live ammo should never be allowed on set for any reason.

    Of course here there are indications that the property master was going away from procedure, so....well, you see why I say there needs to be more than just one guy verifying everything.

  14. #35024
    I am invenitable Jack Dracula's Avatar
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    Did somebody say plastic? For anyone questioning the usefulness of recycling, here's some horrible information regarding our everyday use of plastics and the possible effects on our children as well as the result of improper dis[posal procedures and the resulting effects in our environment.

    Share this information with anti-vaxers and anti-abortion evangelicals on Facebook and see how they react. With outrage or excuses?

    https://www.newsweek.com/new-study-s...astics-1635908

    But how do these microplastics end up ingested by infants? The researchers of the study believe it happens when babies chew on items such as dolls, chew toys, bottles, sippy cups and other plastic items.

    "One-year-old infants are known to frequently mouth plastic products and clothing. In addition, studies have shown that infant formula prepared in PP bottles can release millions of MPs, and many processed baby foods are packaged in plastic containers that constitute another source of exposure in one-year-old infants," the study said.
    The study also showed that human exposure to microplastics not only happens during ingestion but inhalation and dermal contact also. According to the study, humans consume nearly a full tablespoon of microplastics a week.

    A study from December 2020 showed the sheer magnitude of human exposure to microplastics when it revealed traces of MPs in human placentas. The researchers detected MPs on the fetal and maternal side of the placenta and found some levels in the membranes that surrounded the fetus.
    Fun fact: A tablespoon of plastic amounts to roughly an entire credit card. Would anyone prefer to eat a credit card every week?

    Here's some information concerning the ocean and the effects of poor disposal procedures in near-coastal communities and by ocean-going vessels. FYI: The Atlantic has it's own garbage patches too.
    Remember: Nothing made of plastic is "disposable". Recycling is the only proper way to deal with it.

    https://www.nationalgeographic.org/e...garbage-patch/

    While many different types of trash enter the ocean, plastics make up the majority of marine debris for two reasons. First, plastic’s durability, low cost, and malleability mean that it’s being used in more and more consumer and industrial products. Second, plastic goods do not biodegrade but instead, break down into smaller pieces.

    In the ocean, the sun breaks down these plastics into tinier and tinier pieces, a process known as photodegradation. Most of this debris comes from plastic bags, bottle caps, plastic water bottles, and Styrofoam cups.

    Marine debris can be very harmful to marine life in the gyre. For instance, loggerhead sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellies, their favorite food. Albatrosses mistake plastic resin pellets for fish eggs and feed them to chicks, which die of starvation or ruptured organs.

    Seals and other marine mammals are especially at risk. They can get entangled in abandoned plastic fishing nets, which are being discarded largely due to inclement weather and illegal fishing. Seals and other mammals often drown in these forgotten nets—a phenomenon known as “ghost fishing.”

    Marine debris can also disturb marine food webs in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. As microplastics and other trash collect on or near the surface of the ocean, they block sunlight from reaching plankton and algae below. Algae and plankton are the most common autotrophs, or producers, in the marine food web. Autotrophs are organisms that can produce their own nutrients from carbon and sunlight.

    If algae and plankton communities are threatened, the entire food web may change. Animals that feed on algae and plankton, such as fish and turtles, will have less food. If populations of those animals decrease, there will be less food for apex predators such as tuna, sharks, and whales. Eventually, seafood becomes less available and more expensive for people.
    Microplastics can be found at the bottom of the deepest ocean trenches and the upper reaches of the atmosphere. This is the result of only about 70 years of worldwide production and disposal.
    Last edited by Jack Dracula; 10-23-2021 at 10:59 AM.
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  15. #35025
    Ultimate Member Malvolio's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by worstblogever View Post

    Tricia Flanagan

    Welcome to what is the 1037th original profile here at “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, where we’ll be profiling Tricia Flanagan, who was a candidate for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in both 2018 as well as 2020, failing to advance out of the GOP Primary in both those years, and now in 2022, she’s planning a run for U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District as a challenger to Democratic incumbent Andrew Kim. During her 2020 campaign for U.S. Senate, though, Flanagan responded to support from a Qanon account by telling them, “ThanQ, which might seem pretty tame given some of the support GOP candidates gave to the conspiracy theory, but sit tight, she’s… escalating her status quickly.

    Flanagan launched her 2022 Congressional campaign by releasing an ad where she declared that Congressman Andy Kim, who is Asian American, “is not one of us. The irony of her saying something so blatantly racist to a constituency is also hypocritical, given an investigation has revealed she does not even live in the district she is challenging him in.

    Her current campaign strategy includes going to Donald Trump’s Bedminster club to beg for money, spreading election fraud conspiracy theories, claims that under the Biden administration Christians have come “under attack (Biden is Catholic), attacking Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave as a gay adoptive father of two, and of course, Covid-19 conspiracy theories.

    We are, frankly, exhausted of the never-ending line of white nationalist conspiracy theorists running for office as Republicans at this point, and hope she doesn’t just lose, but that she loses badly.
    She looks like a photo-shopped image of Marjorie Taylor Greene mashed-up with Kyrsten Sinema.
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