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Katie Cassidy has been signed as a series regular across all three (possibly four) shows, just like Wentworth Miller and John Barrowman. I guess the fan backlash was more than they expected. The Flash and Legends could throw her in easily enough, but how will she appear on Arrow? Flashbacks?

Also, they recently released an image of Wally as Kid Flash... gotta say, I'm still not a big fan of this character. He hasn't blended into the show very well at all.

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Wonder Woman and Justice League both look really good. I am impressed with what I'm seeing with Wonder Woman, since I usually find that character so boring.

The tricky part is Barry Allen. It is impossible for me to watch that character on screen without thinking of Grant Gustin right now. Now they have to make him so good in the movie that I won't be thinking of Grant the whole time.

Ezra did bring some fun energy to the role, from what I've seen, but who will be the definitive Barry Allen of this generation?

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Also, rewatching factory fire scene where Superman saves the girl, I noticed that he is actually smiling at her and has a warm expression as he brings her back to the crowd. It only turns more serious after he is surrounded by people and looks back at the fire that's still burning.

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I think strong reaction to Batman in early screenings pushed the studio away from a Batman/Superman movie and toward a Batman movie with Superman. The theatrical version kept Superman as a question, and different characters saw him differently. I think that there is legitimacy in that direction, because that is the Superman that the world would realistically see. But this was also a movie where he died and we are supposed to care, and so much of getting to that point was cut out in the theatrical cut. Batman's line about him not being a hero didn't cut as deeply, and his proving otherwise wasn't as fulfilling.

I did like the theatrical version, but as a fan of this Superman, I am happy to see more.

The Martha thing... did people not pick up on the way the name was used in Bruce's vision dreams? I think he reacted so strongly to it because it was a part of that bigger mystery. The dreams, as well as Lex, were driving him crazy.

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I still have a lot of time, but the biggest difference was in turning Superman into an actual POV character, rather than the subject of everyone else's point of view.

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Obamacare is a disaster. As someone whose family has been dealing with a lot of doctors, hospitals, therapists since 2009, it is just a mess. A lot of medical professionals are finding other lines of work because of it. Companies that made specialized (expensive!) braces and worked with people to provide them for little to no money are now out of business.
And deciding to punish people who don't get coverage... the system is meant for people who couldn't afford healthcare, so now they actually fine people who can't afford healthcare. How does that logic make sense?

If Obama is capable of getting that monstrosity through, I pray that Trump is at least as capable of making it go away.

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Yeah, I am not exactly sure what Trump will do. He is a maniac who  changes directions on a whim, and he is used to having people hang on his every word and never question him. I don't think he can really be a servant of the people. I think he might do some good things, but they will probably be filtered through the lens of what will benefit him or his family's business.

He has proven that he doesn't handle people speaking against him. What happens when everyone is speaking against him and he doesn't like it? I think his scattered beliefs and tantrums are the concern here. His reaction to Cruz proves that.

With Hillary, the problem is that we know exactly what she is. I can't believe that the Democrats brought her back to this point.

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Fear should be a factor. We aren't voting for America's Next Top Model here, we are voting for someone who will undoubtedly be responsible for both saving and taking human lives. People make it sound as though it is reckless to suggest that a candidate could get us all killed, but that can happen too. People should have gone after Obama hard, for his soft stance on terrorism and his history with racial radicals. They didn't. Now we alternate between news headlines about terrorist attacks and headlines about racial attacks. People voted for a slogan and a funky poster and never considered the consequences of that vote. Our national debt thanks them for that, I'm sure.

People should look at voting for a president the same way they would look at handing a loaded gun to a random stranger on the street. Being cautious, nervous or even fearful isn't always a bad thing.

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I will get deeper into it in a week or so, since I have family visiting and not a lot of free time, but I watched the Ultimate Edition tonight and it was really good. You should definitely watch it. I think you will feel better about Clark's role in the movie. I don't think that the added material made me understand anything more than before, but it definitely filled out the story. This should have been the theatrical release.

Long, yes. Almost like two movies in one. But in an age where we routinely binge watch entire seasons of a tv show, I don't think this is a bad thing.

I always liked this movie, but the extended version brings it up a few notches closer to Man of Steel.

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I didn't watch (the convention is a crock) but I hear that Cruz didn't endorse Trump. After everything Trump did during the primary, I would probably have lost some respect for Cruz if he had. I mean, Trump accused Cruz's father of helping Oswald kill Kennedy. Cruz would have to be seriously whipped in order to endorse Trump.

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I can see it being damaging. If someone has strong beliefs and would rather stand by those beliefs than go along to get along, they wouldn't suddenly start cheering for a guy that they don't like and don't believe in. I'm curious to see how enthusiastic Cruz is about Trump at this point.

I have certainly pinched my nose and supported candidates that I didn't love because they were the lesser of two evils, so I think it makes sense sometimes. But Trump is a lot harder to support. I can certainly understand people needing to give it more thought. At this point, I don't know what my plan is for November.

I also don't understand how anyone at all can support Hillary, given her history and that of her husband. They're the inspiration for characters in House of Cards, for crying out loud.

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I've heard some people who didn't like the theatrical version say that the extended version completely turned things around. Then again, I've seen some who say that they still don't like it. I haven't seen anyone say that it is worse than the theatrical version, so there is little risk for me. smile

I do see a lot of people using the Martha thing as a big joke... but those people usually don't get the purpose or meaning, so they really just make themselves look bad.

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I agree with that!

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Batman v Superman should be here today! I may watch it tonight. If I don't get to it tonight, it might be a week or two, since I have family coming to visit tomorrow.

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I've heard about this, but haven't had time to see what it is all about. This better be good. If I put the effort in and people show me a clip show of her saying "the", I'm going to be upset.

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Everyone has their interests, I guess. I have friends with all sorts of interests that not everyone gets. It keeps the Facebook feed interesting.

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I think most people think of talent as something you're born with, and skill as something you learn.

But you can learn to hone your talent. I don't think that you're always going to be great with your talent without building it. Like a muscle, talent has to be worked in order to grow. Having muscle doesn't mean that it will be easy to build big, intimidating muscle mass.

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Also, the end of the Lone Gunmen was poorly handled. Rather than give them an end that fit who they were on this highly successful, classic tv series, they chose to give them an end that fit who they were on their poorly rated spinoff that nobody watched and I haven't seen any sign of since it was cancelled after one season.

These characters started out being great supporting players, who were a fun way of getting answers. Turning them into wacky action heroes didn't work. They belonged in their lair. Their deaths should have meant something to The X-Files, but they had no interaction with any of the people that they had worked with for all those years. The episode was a back-door series finale for a show that nobody cared about. They did something similar with Millennium, but at least that episode worked as an X-Files episode.

Their deaths should have been a big emotional moment. Instead, I was kinda bored by the episode.

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The story is what the story is. Chris Carter's inability to go back to that story because of his personal changes just shows how weak he is as a writer.

If you asked me to write a Star Trek The Next Generation story, I could. I could write an X-Files episode, a Buffy episode... if I know the characters, I can do it. There are a thousand writers who could write The X-Files, and who would jump at the chance. I would love to see Mulder and Scully written by writers of today, who grew up with them and love them.

It is fine for a writer to not be able to get back into a project after so long, but if they can't, they shouldn't be in charge of that story. It becomes a mess, as we witnessed.


But I have a fix. And it works with the show's canon. smile

The one regular to not appear at all in season 10 was John Doggett, right? So, what if he isn't in the picture becuse he is either quadriplegic, or dead because Monica Reyes killed him? I am referring to the season 9 episode "4D" which deals with a parallel universe. An alternate Doggett is dragged into our reality after seeing his Monica's throat slashed. He is shot and disabled, while our Monica is left to figure out what is going on. Deciding that two Doggett's can't exist in the same universe (so her Doggett is alive in the other universe), Reyes kills the alternate Doggett, resetting time (a cheap way to keep Reyes from being a murderer) and bringing her Doggett home.

So what if that alternate Reyes got medical care and survived, and season 10 (and whatever comes next, I guess) exists in that other universe?

Bam. I fixed it.


Season 9 was confused, to say the least. The show feels totally different, as though a whole new crew took over. There is a lot more leather going on, which is fine for Reyes, but not for Scully.

The mythology revolves around Mulder and Scully, which is weird since Mulder is gone and Scully is a supporting player at best. The super soldier arc never got off the ground, because it was a desperate attempt to hold onto something that the show had no chance of keeping.

The magical baby storyline really never works, but it was popular for a long time on tv. Didn't work here either.

The stories feel more shallow and lifeless, probably because Doggett and Reyes are second class citizens on their own show. The writers never seem to care about their relationship or personalities, beyond basic outlines. Which is a shame, because they're really solid characters.

I don't think that the writers knew how to handle Reyes, who was a real woman of faith. Scully was religious at times, but was always a skeptic and that made the writers comfortable with her. With Reyes, they had to sell true belief in spiritual elements, and it lacked conviction.

I wish Reyes and Doggett were allowed to be more fun and playful at times, as Mulder and Scully were. But it's like the writers resented the characters and wanted to punish them. Even Scully's personality shift made it hard to relate to her. She is not the same character that we watched for so many years.

Season 9 wasn't a total loss. There are some interesting stories there. But overall, it feels like nobody wanted to be there anymore, with the possible exception of Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish, who did their best.

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Are we talking about the same Obama? Barack, right? smile

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Obama was a brand, not a real candidate when he ran. It was all about pretty pictures and catchy slogans, and he really had no idea what he was doing... and he still doesn't. Ever since he was a kid, he's just been a follower of activists. Some pretty extreme.

My biggest worry about Trump is that he is balls-out crazy. I think he's qualified in terms of knowing how to get things done. I'm just very skeptical that what he wants to get done will benefit the rest of us in any way. His whole history is about lying, cheating and manipulating to get whatever will benefit him. I don't believe that he has much concern for the little people.

As for Bush... there are a lot of things that I didn't like and some things that I did. I would disagree that he was worse than Obama, but it probably isn't worth debating right now.

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Yeah, we have very different views of Obama. We do know what we'd be getting, and that is as bad or worse than what the others would give us. We aren't even keeping our heads above water here. Terrorist attacks keep happening. Our own citizens are on the brink of declaring war on each other. The medical system is a disaster. The Constitution might as well cease to exist. In my mind Hillary and Trump are horrible ideas precisely because they might be just like Obama. He is a truly, truly horrible President. Like... "Jimmy Carter and FDR's love child" bad. So bad that I think I'd actually prefer Drunk Uncle Biden to take over.

But I guess we're all entitled to our opinions. smile

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pilight wrote:

I fully admit that I have a bias against cops.  The way they are recruited and trained in most areas results in systemic abuse of power and inequality of protection.

I am all for having a healthy skepticism toward those in authority. We're supposed to be keeping the authorities in check.

But once you care more about being anti-cop than you do the facts or evidence, I don't see how you can claim to be any better than the people you're speaking against. A small percentage of cops are corrupt, just like a small percentage of black people are criminals. Judging the whole rather than the individuals is wrong in either case.

Not waiting for information before jumping to conclusions has gotten our whole country into this incredibly volatile situation.


Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

I'm willing to vote to repeal the 22nd amendment if it means no Trump or Clinton.

Whoa now... let's not go crazy. President Trump might not be *that* bad. The last thing we need is another FDR situation.

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The vision also leaves things open to change. Was she raped or was it a relationship? Was Jon's father even Raegar?

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ireactions wrote:
Informant wrote:

I'm not sure how you're getting to the conclusion that this means that Zimmerman was in pursuit.

As for Rachel Jeantel (not Martin's girlfriend), she lied about her age and she lied about why she didn't go to Martin's funeral, but her account of the phone call didn't change.


Sorry. Didn't see this part at first.

Her details tend to shift. In some versions, Trayvon uses the racial slur. In others, he doesn't (which she says his mother wouldn't want to hear. I personally think slurs were the least of his problems). Her telling of what she heard Zimmerman say changes, leading me to believe that she didn't hear it very well at all.

She also lied about not watching the news coverage of the story, which we know because there are deleted tweets from her, showing that she was watching the coverage. It just gets hard to pin down the details and what she is saying when and why.

That said, I think there is a version of the truth in there. And I don't think that it conflicts with Zimmerman's story.

Rachel Jeantel says that Trayvon told her that there was a crazy-ass cracker (or whatever it was) was watching him. She urged Trayvon to run.

Zimmerman tells the 911 operator that the guy was running. He moved up the walkway to see where the guy was going. The operator says not to follow the guy and to meet the officers near the mailboxes. Zimmerman agrees.

According to Zimmerman, he started to walk back to his car and Trayvon jumped out of the bushes, asking him what his problem was. He said he didn't have a problem.

According Jeantel, she heard Trayvon ask Zimmerman why he was following him. She has different versions of what Zimmerman said in reaponse, so she probably hear much of this clearly.

Those two accounts phrase the encounter differently, but they don't contradict each other.

Zimmerman's account has Trayvon then saying "you have a problem now" and hitting him. We have nothing to confirm or deny this, but his injuries support the claim that he was hit in the nose, and we have eye witness testimony supporting Zimmerman's claim that Trayvon was then on top of him, beating him while he screamed for help.


So the details are hazy, but the stories don't really conflict. Jeantel couldn't see where Trayvon was going or what he was doing. She confirms that he initiated the conversation that she heard, which lines up with what Zimmerman said. Neither of them have to be really lying here.

It still doesn't paint the picture of Zimmerman being in pursuit though.

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Or... Trayvon was usually referred to by  either his full name or his first name in the press (justice for Trayvon) while Zimmerman was usually referred to by either his full name or his last name (the Zimmerman trial). So by your standards, I showed Martin more respect than most do, just by using his last name to begin with.

Your bias is made clear by the fact that you're not interested in actual facts or evidence and keep hanging your hat on wild accusations of racism.

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Was Zimmerman running when he said it? There is a difference between pursuing someone (with the goal of catching them) and walking in their direction to tell the cops which way they went.

If Trayvon is running and Zimmerman is not, Zimmerman isn't pursuing him. Only Michael Myers plays it that cool.


During the 911 call (I just listened to it again), Martin comes toward Zimmerman with his hand in his waist band, and then something in his hand. After coming toward Zimmerman, Martin runs. The operator asks which direction, and Zimmerman gets out of his car to look. He is not running. He seems to be looking around, but he lost sight of Trayvon. The operator tells Zimmerman that they don't need him to follow and Zimmerman says okay.

There is no pursuit here. Distant following, maybe. But by this point, Trayvon could be home if he kept running.

And nothing here shows any good reason for Trayvon to then be on top of Zimmerman, beating him.

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Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

They're very different scenarios but have two key things in common.  In both instances, a black man died because of a mistake by the police, but in both cases the mistake makes sense in the moment.  So to me it's more of a situation of unprepared police making awful, horrible mistakes.  Instead, the media paints it as "black people are being hunted by the police" which isn't the case in either situation.

But I monitored the situation on social media, and many upset black people were saying that the police were at war with black people.  "Leaders" in the black community (not all actual leaders, just people with big voices) implied that was the case.  And I saw many people on Twitter saying that someone needs to do something.  And when you convince people that there's a war on the police, Dallas happens.


I haven't had time to do enough looking into the most recent cases and research every angle, so I can't really form an informed opinion about either case. But I think that in these situations, people have been bunching them all together, as you say, and it's created a toxic and dangerous atmosphere. Justified shootings are being tallied with unjustified shootings. Shootings with racial components are being bunched with shootings without racial components. Some shootings (anyone with light skin) are ignored completely in the grand tally.

The fact is, every situation is different. There is no organized war on black people, otherwise this would be entire police departments littering the streets with bodies. That isn't the case. And it's dangerous to group every situation together. It's dangerous to schedule protests and fuel anger without having the facts and the details. If something is legitimately unjustified, I wholeheartedly agree that something needs to be done. However, it takes work to figure these things out. Cops are held to the same laws as us, but they're not like us. We don't put our lives on the line every time we leave home in the morning. We're not asked to approach life threatening situations.

The will be justified shootings.
There will be unjustified shootings.
There will be mistakes.
There will be outright murders.

It is so important that we don't just read a headline and jump to conclusions based on emotional reactions.


2. There are an insane number of people on social media calling Micah Johnson a hero.  Even though he put future black lives in danger no matter what you think the police agenda is.  If you think police are at war with black people, then now they are going to be even more trigger happy.  And if you think police are good people doing a scary job, then their job is now that much scarier.  And people make mistakes when they're scared.

The whole thing is a disaster, and I'm a little upset that black leaders (including Obama) aren't doing more to try and fight the anger in the black community.  That's not to say they shouldn't be angry or scared - that's completely justified.  But when people are calling a mass murderer a hero, you're emboldening future mass murderers.  And while I've seen tons of black people calling out the idiots that are calling him a hero, I'm not seeing enough of it.

I think the primary problem with BLM is that there's no central leadership.  No one is able to speak for Black Lives Matter.  And so no one can speak *to* Black Lives Matter.  If there was a leader, he/she could condemn the shootings and preach peace.  And maybe that would calm people down.

A very real problem here is that the "leaders" that we're talking about are politicians and activists who make a living on fear and hostility. They aren't trying to keep level heads, because they benefit from paranoia. Keeping people divided makes them easier to control. Making people believe that it's "us" versus "them" keeps everyone in convenient little boxes. It makes sure that there is a "black vote" or a "female vote", even though the notion of all black people or all women thinking the same or believing the same is absurd.

President Obama could have easily helped to calm the emotions over the past few years. He could have pushed for level heads and for people to wait for information. He could have strongly condemned further violence and tried to quell the racial paranoia that has been steadily building into a literal war in the streets.

But he hasn't. Instead, he has talked out of both sides of his mouth. Supporting the outrage, but saying that he didn't support the violence (while really not *not* supporting the violence). He has done nothing to bring people together. He has only worked to keep emotions simmering, because it benefits politicians and activists is that division continues. I believe that there is leadership here, and I believe that they are getting exactly what they want from all of this. They don't care about bodies in the streets, they care about bodies in the voting booths.


And I don't understand why those two things are mutually exclusive for so many people.


Those things aren't mutually exclusive. Believing in justice isn't a crazy notion. It doesn't have to be a black vs. white thing. It doesn't have to be cops vs. citizens thing. There is no war between black people and police, there are instances of wrongdoing on both sides, but those instances do not represent a majority on either side. The environment that has been created here is making people more tense, more divided, and more likely to kill more people, both black civilians and police officers.





ireactions wrote:

According to the girl that Martin called before Zimmerman killed him, she overheard the start of the exchange between Martin and Zimmerman. Martin noticed Zimmerman following him and Zimmerman was close enough that Martin could ask him, "What are you following me for?" at which point Zimmerman demanded, "What are you doing around here?" Which means that Zimmerman wasn't observing at a distance; he got up close, he wanted a confrontation. You make it seem like all Zimmerman did was call the police as opposed to what he did, which was call the police and then pursue Martin because Zimmerman fancied himself a police officer.


There are a couple of problems here.

First, the girlfriend's testimony is destroyed by the fact that her story changed and she lied on the stand. Now, nobody knows what to believe or what not to believe from her.

But let's say that a version of her story is true. It doesn't invalidate what Zimmerman said at all, and it doesn't mean that Zimmerman suddenly decided to change his whole attitude after hanging up with the 911 operator and started fancying himself a cowboy.

The sidewalk where the confrontation took place is T-shaped, with no street (it's off the street, with houses lining the top and sides of a sidewalk). Trayvon was spotted by Zimmerman, apparently walking closer to the buildings than was normal, and looking around suspiciously. He called 911 and tried to provide information about where he was and where Martin was going. This was off the street, mind you. The directions got a little muddled, and Zimmerman was trying to keep an eye on where the then-suspect was headed and provide that information to the 911 operator.

You say that her overhearing this conversation between the two men means that Zimmerman was actually pursuing Martin closely. I disagree. The path leading to Martin's home branches off from the top of that T and heads downward in a straight line. He had a straight path to his home, where he could lock the door. He had a phone from which to call 911 for help. He had a lot of options that he didn't take.

The girlfriend doesn't say that she heard Zimmerman confront Martin, yelling "freeze!" like you see in the movies. She doesn't say that she heard Trayvon get hit. She says that she heard Trayvon start the conversation. So this would seem to support the scenario where Trayvon turns around to confront Zimmerman, doesn't it? I'm not sure how you're getting to the conclusion that this means that Zimmerman was in pursuit. Wouldn't the person who initiates contact be the person who presumably "wanted a confrontation"?


And I would not call the police because I would not find it strange for an unfamiliar black teenager to be walking through the streets, even recently burglarized streets, because being unknown to me and being black are not characteristics that threaten me. The fact that Martin was high on marijuana is also not frightening to me as being high and being a teenager aren't exactly unusual circumstances and plenty of teenagers get high without breaking and entering, nor would I be bothered to call the police just because of someone's personal lifestyle decisions. I would call the police if someone were levering front doors and windows open with a crowbar.

You're making this racial, and there's no evidence that Zimmerman was motivated by race at all. In fact, the only time that there appears to be the possibility of racism involved here is when Martin reportedly referred to Zimmerman as a "cracker".

And the funny part about all of this is that while people discount the recent burglaries in the area, Martin had recently been suspended for possessing some of that stolen property. He apparently fit the description of the suspect there because he probably was the suspect there! (he was caught on camera in a restricted area of the school, I believe, and painting the letters WTF on a wall. When school officials searched his locker for the paint, they found the stolen items as well as a screwdriver. It was taken into police custody, but charges were never filed because of that program that I mentioned earlier, where they tried to reduce the crime rates by dealing with issues in the school)

Of course, this part wasn't reported on all of the news shows.

There is a blurring of lines here, where people are mistaking narrative for evidence. We can't do that. We have to use the facts that we have on hand, not what we're being told by Trayvons parents and their lawyers after the fact. There is no evidence of racial motivation. There is no evidence that Zimmerman pusued Martin, or that the gun was drawn until Zimmerman was on the ground having his head bashed in. Zimmerman says that he didn't go for the gun until Trayvon reached for it... There's nothing to disprove that, but you can discount it if you want.

The questions are these:

Discounting all of what Zimmerman says, let's say that he approached Trayvon and asked him what he was doing in the area.
Does that give Martin the right to pin Zimmerman to the ground, delivering punch after punch (as the witness reported seeing) and slamming his head into the cement (as his wounds verify), while Zimmerman scream for help (backed up by initial police reports of what Zimmerman told them, and neighbors who heard the cries... there is even a recording of that on one of the 911 calls)?

Zimmerman could have been the biggest racist in the world. He could have been following Martin. He could have even asked him what he was doing there. Even if all of that were true (which the evidence does not support), it doesn't mean that once Zimmerman is on the ground, having his head pounded into the cement, he isn't justified in shooting Trayvon. You are not allowed to use deadly force because you don't like how someone looks or how they speak to you. You are allowed to use deadly force once there is a reasonable fear for your life. It doesn't even appear as though Zimmerman shot Martin when that threat was merely perceived. The shot was fired after life-threatening injuries were sustained, and after calling for help as neighbors retreated into their homes.

It was a justified kill. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise, and that's what I'm interested in. The evidence. The witnesses. The facts that we do have, and not the narrative that was created in the press afterward.

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Two questions:

1. What evidence is that conclusion based on?

2. Does anyone else think that we either need to do away with racial classifications or clarify these classifications? Half the time, Hispanic/Latinos are considered white and half the time they're considered "brown". Zimmerman is genetically of mixed races, but is usually just referred to as "white". Is that because it's easier to make this into a racial crime/hate crime if he's just "white"? I mean, Zimmerman isn't exactly a pale blond guy.

I don't think that race has anything to do with it. Say we're playing into the hick stereotypes of the cops here (which we are apparently doing), they're going to pull up to that scene and see a black kid and a Mexican. Since these cops are so racist, they're not going to think "Wow, that Mexican just saved the day!", they're going to think "Gang war!"


And I know that Zimmerman isn't Mexican. I'm not the racist one here. The imaginary cops are. I hate racist imaginary cops. They're the worst. They make all other imaginary cops look bad.

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The city had a program to keep kids out of jail by trying to deal with these things through the school system. The kid had a history.


Okay, so let's say that both of them had pasts. Cool. How does that change any of the evidence in this case?

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What is certain is that Zimmerman stopped Martin, Martin demanded to know why Zimmerman was following him -- followed by a series of events that led to Martin dead on the ground.

There is actually no evidence to suggest that Zimmerman confronted Martin. We have Zimmerman's 911 call, which suggests that he wasn't approaching Martin or planning to confront him. After that ends, we have a witness who described who was on top of whom during the fight, delivering blows. The witness described Zimmerman screaming for help during the fight.

The fact that Martin was a low-level drug dealer and a thug doesn't change the fact, however, that he was unarmed and simply walking the streets and that Zimmerman targeted him, followed him and instigated whatever led to the outcome.

Given the situation, what should Zimmerman have done differently? Following a series of burglaries in the neighborhood, he spotted someone who fit the description of the suspect, acting strangely and looking at/into houses as he went along. He called 911 and had a pretty rational conversation with the operator. He didn't act as though he was out of his mind or planning to do anything drastic during that conversation.

So if you were walking through your neighborhood and saw someone acting strangely around the homes of other people, would you call the police? I don't think that qualifies as instigating. It doesn't justify Trayvon Martin on top of Zimmerman delivering blow after blow (according to a witness, who described the tactic as "ground and pound"). At that point, Zimmerman has a reasonable fear for his life, which justifies a shooting. I've had training in what is justified and what isn't, and based on all of the available information, this seems pretty justified. It wasn't just a lack of evidence, it was the sum of the evidence available.


Again, I don't like Zimmerman. I think he's a douchebag. But the fact that I don't personally like him doesn't mean that he's guilty of stalking a kid and killing him. Martin was shot at very close range, after Zimmerman had sustained injuries. If Zimmerman had been hunting the kid down, his gun would have been drawn the whole time and he probably would have fired before he had the crap beaten out of him.

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Actually, Martin had been suspended from school for possession of marijuana and of stolen property. So he had a history.


Regardless, the difference between you and me is that you believe what you believe regardless of facts and information. I approached the situation with an open mind, listened to all of the 911 calls, read the reports, listened to the witnesses, looked at the maps of the area, looked at Zimmerman's injuries and how Martin was shot, and based on all of the information available, I came to an educated conclusion. You don't care about any of the actual facts. You will fight to the end to believe what you already believed going into this story, which is an opinion most likely based on catchy headlines and mangled news reports.

I never took anyone at their word. You did.

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Was Zimmerman legally allowed to get out of his car? It is as simple as that.

What you're saying is that because Martin was a thug, Zimmerman's rights no longer apply.


The fact is that George Zimmerman (a member of the neighborhood watch) spotted a suspicious person, walking not on the sidewalk, but close to the houses and looking into windows. He called 911 and reported this person (don't know about you, but I don't typically call 911 before I intend to make trouble). He followed Martin at a distance (not confronting him, as you say) to see where he was going. He apparently even walked up to the next street to get an address for the 911 operator. After that, he was told that he didn't have to follow the suspect and he apparently turned around.
During all of this time, Martin had a clear path home and the time to get there. He wasn't being chased or threatened.

After Zimmerman turned around, Martin assaulted him. That means that Martin turned around, pursued Zimmerman and physically endangered his life.

Your entire argument is crap. You're saying that because you're on Martin's side, Zimmerman's rights didn't apply. You say that Zimmerman had no right to follow someone suspicious, yet Martin had the right to kill someone that he thought was suspicious (and this is a clear distinction. Zimmerman did not assault Martin or threaten his life. Martin threatened Zimmerman's life in no uncertain terms).

What you're saying is that the law didn't apply to Martin because... he was black and the rules applying to him wouldn't fit your narrative?

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Actually, you just highlighted the problem perfectly. Lack of information, and quick outrage.

All evidence suggests that Zimmerman didn't confront Martin. Martin had a clear path back home, but circled back and confronted Zimmerman, physically assaulting him before Zimmerman shot him. The shooting was justified.

Sorry, but seeing a suspicious person (and by that, mean that he fit the description of someone who had been committing crimes in the neighborhood, not that he was suspicious because he was black) and following them to see where they go is not a crime. It is not grounds for taking someone's life.

To put it clearly, I can't shoot someone for walking on the sidewalk behind me. I can shoot them if they are slamming my head into cement repeatedly.

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The number of unjustified shootings has been blown up in the press. Looking at the actual facts of many of these cases which have people rioting in the street shows that a lot of these shootings were justified.

Sorry, but black or white (and yes, white people have been killed too. It's just that nobody cares), people need to respect the police, not get in their faces and refuse to comply because they feel justified in being asses. A simple traffic stop is life and death for cops. When someone threatens their safety, they are justified in shooting. Hell, if someone threatened my safety, I would shoot them too.

And "unarmed" means nothing. People can cause severe bodily harm without a gun. I'm no George Zimmerman fan, but if someone slammed my head into cement repeatedly, I wouldn't feel bad about shooting them either.

Also, not all of these were unarmed suspects.

I absolutely do not support every shooting by every cop. But people have been mixing justified shootings in with unjustified shootings, and picking and choosing which details to report and which not to. The incredible lack of investigation and education in these stories directly led to the shooting in Dallas. The building of such a toxic environment (mostly for political gain) made this man feel justified in shooting white people and cops. That is unacceptable, and directly linked to the messages put out by leaders in this country. When they react to violence, riots and looting with understanding and support, they add to the "us vs. them" mentality.

And they usually do it before any investigation, and with no knowledge of the situation beyond Twitter hashtags. It benefits them, so they don't care. It is disgusting. And it is disturbing that when you suggest that people get facts before they riot, they assume that you're racist. Since when is information racist?

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I heard that the delegates wanted Cruz to speak. It may not have been Trump's choice. Cruz hasn't backed Trump, and isn't likely to, after what Trump said about Cruz's wife.

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According to rumors, that could leave us with President Christie.

**shudders**

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I agree. The problem with Trump is, his views change from year to year and minute to minute. He supports abortion, but he doesn't support abortion. He's liberal, but he's conservative. All of his sneaky, underhanded, slimy tactics would work in our favor if he actually believes half of what he says, but how much of it is real and how much of it is just saying whatever he has to in order to get elected?

If he were a crazed lunatic who secured the border, did away with abortion, lowered the taxed, got rid of Obamacare, built up our military, and put an end to the paranoia that is building into a literal race war in our streets, then he'd be a swell crazed lunatic. But if he's a wild card. We know he's crazy. We just don't know which flavor of crazy he is. It's Russian roulette. I know that if Hillary gets elected, we get the bullet. If Trump gets elected, it could go either way.

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Maybe. But I really don't think that it would be worse than letting Trump lose. Letting Trump lose means Hillary in the White House. There is much worse than you can get than her.

It would cause a stir, sure. But there is a significant number of republican voters who don't support Trump, and who would cheer at his being booted. If the threat is that they would lose a chunk of the voters in order to run with this gamble, they have nothing to lose by doing it. They're going to lose a lot of voters by having Trump running. I'm not going to sign my name to a candidate because they tell me to. If Trump gets the nomination, they have a few months to convince me that it's worth swallowing a bucket of broken glass, just to keep Hillary out of office... and I might prefer drinking broken glass to Donald Trump.

I know me some conservatives, and I don't know many Trump supporters. It seems like he's doing what Obama did, which is energizing a group of people who like flash and show, but who aren't normally out there paying attention. Would those be the voters that the republicans are out of touch with?

It would be messy, sure. But it's going to be messy anyway at this point. If they put the right person in, they could pull it off. Paul Ryan would not be that person. Rubio would not be that person. Jeb would not be that person. Christie would not be that person. But Cruz? He's not like the others. They might be able to pull it off with him.

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There is still a chance that the delegates will rally behind Cruz. The rules allow for these things to happen, so technically it's all part of the process. I'm not sure how people would react to that. Trump's supporters would probably freak out, but that doesn't mean that the election would be lost. A lot of people hate Hillary. Even democrats. Those people would probably vote for a reasonable candidate before her, even if they don't agree with his beliefs.

Meanwhile, a lot of conservatives won't vote for Trump anyway. The idea that we're all supposed to get excited about him because he has an R next to his name is absurd. We've tried that in the past, and it failed. Now we have a loon running, who does not represent our beliefs as much as he represents his own self interests, and we're supposed to support him just because.

Right now, the election is lose/lose. If some last minute play by delegates pulls Trump out of the running and puts someone like Cruz in his place, the whole game will change. Delegates are working to change the rules. This could be seen as betrayal by voters, but even if those Trump supporters hate the delegates, would they necessarily hate the candidate? I think it would depend on who was put in.

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OMG! Jon Snow is the son of (Google Google Google)... oh. Wait, doesn't that make him... (Google Google Google)... oh. Still... huh.

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I mean... they don't have to be hurt. There could be a hack of some sort that exposes the full evidence of crimes committed by them... which really only works in movies, I guess. In real life, undeniable proof of crimes would mean nothing.

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This wasn't really routine. This was pretty big. And again, it is only one of a long list of crimes committed by the Clintons. Rape and murder aren't routine.

I'm not defending Trump. Please don't connect my comments about Hillary to any sort of Trump support.

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I wouldn't say "worse" really. I mean, if he has a body count on his resume, it is less well known than Hillary's.

They're both horrible, but in their own special ways.

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It was strange. He outlined a whole case against her which seemed so tight that I was starting to think that he might recommend indictment... and then he took a sharp turn in the opposite direction. His speech made no sense. And not only that, the idea that they've never pursued anyone in a similar situation has already been shot down all over the internet.

I'm sure that they pulled their Clinton strings again, threatening to murder anyone in their way. It's how they roll.

There are more Sliders fans than the show gets credit for. It isn't a wild fanatic type of fandom, but it is pretty large. A lot of people seem to get references to the show when I see it come up in conversation. And most people seem to think fondly of it.

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So despite finding that Hillary's server was a breach of security and exposed classified information to hacking from enemies, they're recommending no action be taken against her. Because what reasonable person would know such things?

Then again, her husband raped a bunch of women and skipped off into the sunset, so who is surprised? They are above the laws of normal human beings.

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Could be interesting. I'm curious to see how the show changes on the CW. Someone made a comment about the comic book-y stories that they couldn't tell on CBS. How much was the network pushing the writing of the show? Were they the ones demanding that Kara essentially be Clark in a skirt?

Maybe it's too much to hope for, but it would be nice if the show lived up to its potential.

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I haven't commented on this specific story!!!

Oh...

Wait...

I don't kown whether I should be arguing or agreeing anymore. I'm confused.

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I haven't watched this past season yet, so I can't comment on that.

I do watch the show, but I'm not a huge fan of it. I don't get why it is as big as it is. I think that the cast is excellent and the show is visually beautiful. I just don't think that the writing is very good. It's a fun summer show for me, but not something that I would watch in primetime, during the normal season.

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My new book comes out Monday! And before anyone claims that I went back and rewrote this one because of what you said about the first one... I didn't.
Feel free to post reviews on all of the major book reviewing sites! I'm hoping to promote Freedom/Hate through BookBub when book 3 comes out in November. But it is hard to get accepted to BookBub and I'm not sure that I will have enough reviews by then.

Sorry. Sidetracked...

I still say that it is a form of mind control. I don't think that a person would have to become a zombie to qualify. Robbing someone of their life experience and their beliefs, and implanting new ones is definitely a form of mind control.

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Wait... didn't you ding Freedom/Hate (book one of six) for not providing adequate closure? So... there.

I still say that altering memories is a form of mind control. You're removing a person's experiences and decisions, and replacing them with stories and lies, so they will be what you want them to be. If I developed mental powers that allowed me to project thoughts into someone's head and I made them think that their friend is an enemy, or made a democrat believe they were republican, would that not be a form of mind control?

If you found out that someone had altered your memories of your life in order to make you what they wanted you to be, wouldn't you consider that mind control? It isn't just a matter of jumping when they say jump. It is about removing free will and what you've chosen up to that point.

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I've been having the debate over whether or not altering someone's memories is a form of mind control since Willow altered Tara's memories and had sex with her. To me, that is rape. To others, it isn't.

I'm not criticizing the story. I'm talking about the interviews where writers swore that this wasn't a trick, or mind control or brainwashing. That is a lie. Altering someone's memories so that they will behave a certain way is clearly a form of mind control and brainwashing.

Writers and tv producers to this all the time, to sell the intrigue. But typically, fans don't react well to lies. Writers are better off being vague and evasive. Their interviews can hurt the way people read the actual story.

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Hehe

But then again, I've seen people say that they're still pissed and won't be returning to their subscriptions. So yeah, they should have known better.  But that doesn't change the fact that this was a pretty bad publicity stunt. They went out of their way to make it seem like this was for real and not any form of mind control, which was pretty much a lie. I don't think that did them any good.

I don't think either side wins this argument.

They did go pretty far with the rules. But I think they kinda had to. It's like having a dog who keeps pulling on the leash and dragging you down the street. You can say "no" and calmly try to stand your ground, but that usually doesn't work. You normally have to assert your authority over them and jerk back a little.

Like I said, these extreme rules will probably be loosened or altered in the future. But right now, the dog is being shown who the master is. There isn't a fun way of doing that. I think that at this point, I'm not holding it against the company. However, they need to find a way for reasonable fans to remain close to the franchise.

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People are giving their thoughts on the Ultimate Edition now. I haven't read spoilers for all of the new stuff, but the reviews seem to be positive. Some people who weren't fans of the theatrical cut say that the ultimate edition is much better, giving more time to Clark and explaining some things.

Others say that if you didn't like the theatrical cut, you won't like this one. Either way, I'm probably going to have fun watching it! smile

Still waiting for the blu-ray set though.

They could only really get upset about the stuff that they own. The hotel wasn't charging for anything for Sliders. They were charging you for space, which had nothing to do with Sliders. And as for world building... nope. They wouldn't own those worlds either. They would own the Sliders brand and the characters, but you own all of the original material, including worlds, dialogue, etc. You could sue them if they use that stuff.

I have to say, I tried watching Renegades last night and while I think it's impressive in terms of "fans goofing around and making a movie", I wasn't impressed by the overall quality of it as a film. In fact, I had to turn it off. Here's the thing. With fanfic, I would have to believe that a story takes place in that world in order to be impressed. The writing would have to look and feel like the official work of the Star Trek writers. Of course, there are shipper fics and other niche fanfics which are completely off the rails, but I've never been a fan of those.

So when it comes to a fan film, I have to have the same standard. It's either one of the goofy niche projects that we're not even supposed to take seriously, or it's supposed to look and feel like a plausible addition to that universe. This is a massive challenge, but it's one that they took on. And I just didn't feel it.


I mean, it's great in terms of getting fans together and making a fan film. But that's not what this was supposed to be. This movie had a significant budget and "real" actors.

I don't know how they're going to do that. They have Star Trek actors wearing Star Trek makeup and costumes, playing the same characters that they played on the series. I guess we'll see how that works out for them.

There is a problem with the way people go about making fan films. It's fine if they want to have fun and be silly, but if they're trying to make serious-looking productions, they need to be more careful.

First, they need to put aside their geeky fantasies. You are not going to get any actor to come in and be Shatner's Kirk or Nimoy's Spock. They need to get away from impersonators entirely. This means either a complete reboot (which also means reimagining the look and feel of the project) or go with entirely new characters.

Second, they need to stop casting themselves in these projects. This is where fan films and serious films can't work together. It's hard enough to do this properly with original work and experienced crews. Doing it on a fan film level makes it impossible to make the film properly. They're putting themselves above the material, and that's going to kick them in the ass.

Third, they need to stop trying to recreate what has already happened. Stop using actors who are supposed to be other actors. Stop using actors who have been on the shows before, playing the same characters. Stop using the sets that look exactly like the other sets. Stop giving us reasons to look at the project and only see what they're not.


There is no reason why a fan film can't look great and feel great. There are perfectly good actors in most places around the country. Cameras today make it very possible to make professional-looking films for cheaper. But the project needs focus. Is the goal to have silly fun, LARPing these characters? Or is it to make a movie that looks like it could be the real deal?

Sliders... I was kinda joking about making a fan film, but it's not impossible. However, the rules still apply.

Step one: Give up on trying to look and feel like the original. Even if we could, the original is dated by today's standards. The methods used to make such a crazy idea look and feel realistic are completely different today. Mostly because we can have steadycam shots with CG work done a lot more easily today than we could have twenty years ago. The project would have to be looked at like a new film/series, creating the look and feel from the ground up.

Step two: Recognize and embrace the limitations. If you don't have Jerry, don't have Quinn. This would probably lead to a complete reboot of the series, or a sequel series that exists in the same tv universe, but follows different characters. Either way, don't pretend that your next door neighbor is Quinn just because he has a flannel shirt.
Also, if you don't have the ability to shoot big action sequences or crazy looking worlds, don't write them. Having the Sliders land in a world that's one big forest would look better than having them land in a crazy alien city that looks like a five year old made it with construction paper and a glue stick. Know your limitations ahead of time and write toward them.

Going back to my Buffy season 8 (because it's my big fanfic experience, not because I think it's the best thing ever), I built limitations into the story because I didn't want to write everything that I personally wanted to see happen, like most of the fanfic was doing at the time. I wanted to make it seem like a real TV show, so I thought about what a season 8 would look like. Huge budget cut, meaning a relocation for filming. A cast that was tired and wouldn't want to do 22 episodes. Characters who were dead and needed to stay that way. Others who wouldn't be on board with moving to Canada to film. Once you decide where the walls of your creation are, you can start decorating inside those walls.

Odds are, a Sliders fan film would be done with a few unfamiliar actors, playing unfamiliar characters, with few outdoor shots and a lot of interiors of homes, etc.

With those limitations in mind, I think a good product could be made. But I think the fan side of it would be let down by not being a new episode of the series, with all of the familiar characters.

Not really on topic, but I've considered reworking some of my fanfic into entirely original stories and selling them. I have a bunch that would work. I could probably churn out a bunch of novellas just using those ideas.

Hmm... interesting.