#Nuke Larson

[sknowbleu]

Thinkin abt them today,,

[sknow-and-ink]

2023

Day 22 - Survivalist

And so we begin

Fire beneath whatever is higher than wind

Dire situation that wires your heart to swim

Empty streets, empty houses, empty sheets

While leaves dance to forgotten peace

And you'll be free... just only once.

[sortanonymous]

Last-Minute NASCAR Cup Playoff Predictions (No visual grid, sorry)

Round of 16 Exits:

Harrison Burton (I'm sorry, but... duh!)

Daniel Suárez (At least my second-favorite Trackhouse driver got in)

Austin Cindric (Penske playoff magic isn't unlimited)

Joey Logano (Please tell me reality sets in for both the Steelers of NASCAR and football this fall!)

Round of 12 Exits:

Alex Bowman (Making it this far would honestly be miraculous considering the dumb off-field distractions)

Martin Truex Jr. (I don't even really care about the title. Just please racing gods, let this legend go out with just one more win after the hell you've put him through these past 14 months!)

Chase Briscoe (SHR's final ride has almost certainly already peaked, but I still can't wait to see Briscoe in the 19 - as long as James Small doesn't waste his prime like he wasted MTJ's twilight)

Ty Gibbs (This last cut was tough, but I think his sneakily solid sophomore season goes no further, unless he can come close to a win anyway.)

Round of 8 Exits:

Denny Hamlin (I was initially on the fence between "It's his time" and "He'll choke again", but that brutal penalty could really be the dagger by this round)

Chase Elliott (Consistency should yield championships, but it unfortunately doesn't in modern NASCAR, so he may fall behind the other win-worthy drivers.)

Brad Keselowski (Maybe I'm high-balling him, but I think Brad has enough recent playoff energy left in him to carry RFK this far, but not any farther.)

Ryan Blaney (VERY close between him and Byron, but while Blaney is coming into these playoffs better than his championship year, I just get the feeling Hendrick will turn it up again and get Byron back to Phoenix. I saw someone call this the modern version of Jummie and Knaus's formula for the Chase, and I think they've got a point.)

Championship 4 and why they could win:

Kyle Larson - Even if this isn't his best season, it feels like a true banner year for Larson as a racecar driver, and with him being just one point away from the Regular Season title even after getting washed away from the most valuable race of the year, he could have a good case to win his second Bill France Cup. (Heck, it looked like he would seal it last year off another clutch pit stop, but unlike in '21, he wouldn't hold on during the final restart.)

William Byron - As said earlier, Byron may be catching onto the same formula the 48 team made a dynasty out of, and even if his championship-caliber season last year didn't end on a high note, his past success at Phoenix could be enough to put the legendary 24 car in championship lane for the first time in 23 years.

Tyler Reddick - Moving onto my two real championship contenders, Reddick made a heck of a late charge to win the Regular Season title on fumes (albiet with a little help from Mother Nature in Indy), and being arguably the best driver in Cup this year, he should be able to get over the hump and get 23XI to not just its first Championship 4 berth, but perhaps the first championship ring of any kind in decades for both of its very differently decorated owners. (Maybe its last Final 4 berth though considering this charter drama that I already lost track of like four months ago.)

Christopher Bell - Chalk it up all you want to bias for who will, after a certain retirement, soon become my second-favorite driver, but not only has Bell been insanely clutch in the playoffs as of late (he's damn near NASCAR's Mr. October at this point), but if the October Bell indeed rings all the way to Phoenix, he'll be in his paradise of the kind of flat tracks he's been so good at. (Legit, he may be the only person in the world who isn't a NASCAR executive that wants Phoenix to stay as the championship track, even if he's had championship success at Homestead in lower divisions.) Yeah, he lost his first two Final 4 berths, but those were respectively due to an OP Logano car and his tire becoming a nuke just as the race got going. Considering how he's already had his best season so far, he may have just enough to secure the 20 team (and in fact any JGR ride not driven by Kyle Busch) their first Cup title in nearly two decades. (It'd be especially since SHR's closing may mean the end of the last #20 car champion's 26-year involvement in NASCAR, as if Smoke really seems to care about that.)

And my pick for 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Champion is...

Christopher Bell! (Reddick was really close, but the Phoenix factor could be the difference. No, I'm just high on hopium after one of my two favorites collapses out of a playoff spot and the other is on pace to easily the saddest final season and a half of any Hall-of-Famer (present or future) that didn't die on the track.)

Now watch as these age like milk and the Wood Brothers win their first(?) ever Cup with a driver they issued a pink slip to months ago! 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Since I am the foremost superhero movie lover around here, it’s time I once again looked at the polarizing films, poorly reviewed movies, and box office failures of the superhero movie genre!

1. The flaccid finale to Fox’s X-Men finale that tried to adapt the Dark Phoenix Saga yet again, to disappointing results in terms of critical reception.

2. The film that was pushed back and reshot so much the actors didn’t even think it would come out! Is this the final film the X-Men series deserved?

3. Dwayne Johnson’s attempt to change the hierarchy of power in the DC universe, in which he plays Shazam’s archenemy: the anti-heroic title character.

4. The latest superhero movie bomb, featuring tabloid magnet Ezra Miller and the return of Michael Keaton as Batman.

5. The Shazamily’s second outing and a bomb that rivaled Quantumania.

6. In 1984, Kara Zor-El soared onscreen… only to crash into obscurity.

7. Shaquille O’Neal brings the STEEL!

8. Christoper Reeves really wanted an anti-nuke Superman movie for his final ride in the red and blue tights. He got that, but is it any good? Sources say probably not.

9. Academy Award-Winning Actress Brie Larson stars in the MCU’s most polarizing film.

10. Ever wonder why it was so hard for female heroes to get movies? Here’s the answer.

[the-firebird69]

The Life and Death of Nicolette Larson

The Mac proper are threatening me again I'm trying to explain threats all around me this I have no options and they don't get it they're not really as smart as they think they are is what it means explaining to us the math doesn't mean much we already know the mass and say you're us when you're trying to fire on cities to threaten everyone doesn't really help your cause just like these ppl. And our son says the Blockbuster you're going to be an upsetting retard so far so good he doesn't like it you're a bigger retard and more dangerous and he has to be slightly weaker than you if not really but this has something about you people that you're a bunch of bastards and evil people and you're morons too I think it's you sit around chatting like it's the coffee shop and you're wrong. So they started to imprison these people and to harm them and the Mac proper were doing it we think that they were influenced by the idiots we know they were. And doing it again and we're going to have to come to them. She left the 97 and a lot of them did as a matter of fact it's very weird and she was entombed. And they were saying it but that's the warlock to not tell people what they're doing and they went through a lot of people and foreigners and Max and we were leaving and they thought they were getting us and developed an attitude then they thought it was the clans and now they're very confused now they're dressed as the clans staying that they were the ones killing each other and they're just stupid people. And he says it too a lot of you have nothing at the end of your lives and you're more locked except you ran around pissing people off and ruining society and you don't stand for humanity therefore you don't stand for easy and Blockbuster came by to say that you're out of control with your nukes and they can fire missiles all day but if there's something down below they're in trouble cuz she doesn't have to go in there and they don't like you because of it and we hate you your garbage we're going to go through your numbers and get rid of you. And talking about our son and that's the Mac proper saying they're treating him like this lady being very rude and having her do the little jobs here and there she's quite famous and her songs are very famous and she was talented in me didn't use it and that's what they're saying about our son constantly as a matter of fact they're making a direct connection to this girl and she sees the versions of her everywhere and they're threatening him with the liver thing of these idiots here the max we're doing a little but these people are doing it a lot and they're going to regret it few days and it's going to be over and Blockbuster on Mac property payroll and proper he is a Mac proper set it like this I just want to see what he was saying clear the Jackson to make sure they were safe below if you say that yesterday he was saying it yesterday I got our son in trouble

Thor Freya

Beside me you little twit not me damn it I didn't say it maybe I said it a little

Bill

You should f*** s*** f*** damn it you f****** little assholes are worthless could you get a damn thing straight you don't want to know what the hell it is they come by and beat you up cuz you're so God damn stupid you keep messing with the verbiage and they want to know what it is they're going to come by and pick you up for what you're messing up in my paragraph

Preston

I'm sick of it too this is ridiculous you're just a bunch of idiots we're going on eating people to win discusting morons

Blockbuster

I see how this is shaping up and they're blaming the idiots who are my kids and for the wall stuff say that they're demented and I'm not and then encouraging me to do stupid s*** and they really are that was stupid of course it's going to come back to you if they haven't recorded me saying don't do it you're stupid because when he did it so now we have You cuz you pay later for Christ's sake the guy that was talking about and you retards of mine are all done. I'm sick of you you're so stupid now these guys are going to fight you and you don't get your stupid s*** heads and f*** you by the way Daniel leave so tired of hearing you it's so gross you see the same thing 15,000 a day just like these people

Mac Daddy

Olympus

[parkerbombshell]

A Breath of Fresh Air Feb 20

A Breath of Fresh Air With Sandy Kaye bombshellradio.com Tuesdays 1pm EST and Fridays 8pm EST Archival shows : bombshellradiopodcasts.com John Hall is a founding member of the band Orleans and one of the main instigators of the No Nukes and MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) movements. He’s been intimately involved in promoting social change and environmental advocacy, both as a private citizen and as an elected representative in Congress. John was studying piano at 5, playing French horn, guitar bass and drums by 12. He started playing in the clubs of Greenwich Village by 18 and at 21 wrote and directed music for a Broadway and Off-Broadway play. He then worked on numerous projects including Seals and Crofts’ album Down Home. He toured with Taj Mahal and when he came home, started the band that would become Orleans in 1972. Moving to Woodstock NY with his wife Johanna, the pair began writing together. They had major hits ‘Dance With Me’ and ‘Still The One’, songs that have garnered 9 million terrestrial airplays and hundreds of millions of streams. John has also co-written songs for Janis Joplin, Millie Jackson, Bonnie Raitt, Chaka Khan and Chet Atkins among others. He co-founded the group Musicians United for Safe Energy and helped organise the 1979 No Nukes concerts at Madison Square Garden. His song Power was its anthem, performed and recorded there by the Doobie Brothers with James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Carly Simon, Nicolette Larson, Phoebe Snow, and many more. That song was also sung by Peter Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger and others. John’s guitar playing was featured on albums by Browne, Raitt, Carly Simon, Little Feat and more. In the 90s the John Hall Band recorded two LPs: Search Party and All Of The Above, which contained the AOR and MTV staple Crazy (Keep On Fallin’). Environmental activism led John to serve on several boards. In 2006 he was elected to the US House of Representatives and also served on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Returning to private life in 2011, John continued to perform and record with Orleans and as a solo artist. During the pandemic, he wrote and recorded songs for his latest CD “Reclaiming My Time.” Sandy Kaye sandy@abreathoffreshair.com.au Read the full article

[lonelyghosts-stuff]

Marvel’s What If Episode 7 Reaction

No no this is the opposite of what I wanted. More Loki! Not less!

If they don’t have Thor being an absolute idiot without Loki being his voice of reason I’m gonna be upset

Wait what the hell I saw Seth Green in the opening credits lmao??? Now I’m just thinking about Chris Griffin

DARCY

Wow they got Jane back too

Soooo how do they know about aliens?

“HOLY MOLY” lmao

Hey thor my life isn’t that dull… okay fine that’s a lie

Sooo Thor is a frat boy?

YOOOO I NEED A SCREENSHOT OF THAT ART WITH THOR AND LOKI

ALL OF IT

Soooo in this world, Odin was a good dude and didn’t kidnap Loki and gave him back to Laufey? (Didnt Laufey abandon him tho since he was too small? I guess in this universe they simply… lost their prince? Lmao?)

Thor didn’t have Loki as his voice of reason I called it.

Night night Odin

Lmao Chad Frigga dipping Odin as soon as he’s asleep

I wonder if they got Idris Elba back for Heimdall?

“We are going to the most backward, backwater planet that not even Heimdall pays attention to.” D,: Thor why you gotta do me dirty like that???

Chris Hemsworth is definitely a better voice actor than some others

Oh yo it be Skurge

Darcy into probing huh?

(Romantic Music Playing) lmao

Man I love Darcy

Poor Howard the Duck lmao (oh yea that’s Seth green)

Skrulls huh

Honestly surprised Thor knows all of these planets. Including the grandmaster??? In the sacred timeline he didn’t even know Sakaar existed.

Wait so, are the Asgardians on good terms with Jotunheim then? If so, I wanna see party loki. Or maybe he’s too reserved for that. I wonder how Laufey raised him? IF WE DONT SEE JOTUN LOKI IM GONNA RIOT

Thor destroyed a star. That sounds about right

“Now that was an excellent party. You know, we lost Fandral for three days. Found him in a barn, curled up next to a baby goat. It was classic. Isn’t that right, Fandral?” “I NAMED HIM GARY!” “Yeah, you did.” “YEA GOATS!” Okay. Screw everyone else in the MCU. I love Fandral now. He’s the GOAT, pun intended

Oh not a star, he killed a whole planet.

I thought Asgardians were supposed to be more advanced than earth but making a tablet is so complicated?

Howard and Darcy was not a pair I thought expected

Yo it’s nebula and korg? So where’s Thanos? How is nebula allowed to go partying with Thanos looking for the infinity stones?

Drax too? Isn’t he in prison? And then Valkyrie? Seems like a lot more than just Thor being an only child is different in this universe. Most of these dudes should hypothetically be in prison or on super serious missions. And I just thought, isn’t Howard the duck imprisoned by the Collector? What’s the timeline for this?

DARCY MARRIES HOWARD THE DUCK? GIRL YOU DESERVE BETTER THAN HIM AND HIS CORKSCREW WANG!

Aaaaaand Jane and Thor got magic and science tattoos. Mighty fast character progression.

Oh? Hookups? That took a turn.

Awwwww Fandral snuggling with a bunch of Chinchilla looking animals <3

Unknown caller?

Dammit Rumlow

Rocket???

Acting director??? What happened to Nick???

KORG NO

Damn everyone crashed at Jane’s

I mean, didn’t seem like too much of a threat

PHIL!!!

Lmao the world isn’t gonna be destroyed by parties?

Oh Carol Danvers?

Okay so…. Lemme get this straight..

Loki and an army of aliens attacking the world? Shield: “nah not a threat.” Robot with robot army threatening to destroy the whole planet “nah Carol has better things to do.” A partying dude from space with no ill intent but just doesn’t seem to understand consequences? “CALL CAPTAIN MARVEL WE NEED HER!!!” Yea okay Shield

Thor loves waffles

LOKI

JOTUN LOKI

HES HERE

LOKI!!!

HOLY CRAP HES HUGE

HE HAS ICE HORNS

See everything would be better without Odin’s interference.

(That’s what she said)

YAY THEYRE FRIENDS

“You’re my brother form another mother man.” YOOOOOO

Loki just sang “Brothers foreveeeeerrrrr!” I can’t—

Aaaaaand fart jokes… “did you boom?” “I never boom. I only boom in private.” Dammit marvel I hoped you were better than this.

LOKI MAKE A WISH

White snake? Lmao where did she get that name lol.

What’s wrong with a party tho? Is this really top priority? Yea they destroyed another planet, but you never explained how

Why doesn’t she sound like Brie Larson? She’s still acting for Marvel Studios so it’s interesting they couldn’t get her for it… unless it is her and I just can’t remember how her voice sounds

Was that punch really necessary? Dude wasn’t posing a threat to anyone.

“You know, there’s a Midgardian word for women like you.” THOR NO—

“PARTY POOPER!” Oh thank God

“This ones for fury” but it wasn’t even Thor that hit him? It was korg and on accident! Cmon carol, I had hoped you’d be smarter than this and more reasonable. Not resorting to violence when nothing has even escalated…

Haha hammer to the face

And the back of the head lmao

BAHAHAHAHA HE JUST SMACKED HER INTO ANOTHER COUNTRY

THOR DONT BOOP STONEHENGE

Dammit Thor

Lmao I love that the countries have their names on them.

Okay just stay and fight here away from civilian population

Marvel really giving us what we want with the most powerful characters fighting

Mary Sue Captain Marvel

Her lipstick has stayed perfect somehow

Fighting in a storm eh? Can’t see how this could go wrong

Haha hammer timeout

Lmao I wanna see Frigga put Thor in a timeout

They’re chanting pooper at her. Is this elementary school again?

Bruh I just realized, Thor is supposed to be acting king while Odin is in Odin sleep lmao. I bet Asgard is going to either be in the best peace ever without Thor or utterly destroyed.

Leave south and north Dakota alone lol

Lmao I love Darcy

YAY GARY THE GOAT WAS SAFE

Wow Jane used the L word fast

Kicking Jane out of the helicarrier? Yea smart move kicking off the person who actually knows anything about this albeit she is a little blinded by love

Giant Loki holding a tiny phone

BAHAHAAHAHA “hey earth girl, you haven’t got a friend, have you!” YES LOKI ITS ME. MARRY ME

Stop throwing phones lmao

BRUH HOW IS SURTUR NOT EVIL EITHER? AND STOP FLIRTING WITH THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.

NO HE DESTROYED HER ARM LMAO

There goes the power grid

NOT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

Lmao there he goes

WHY DID KORG HAVE A PACIFIER IN HIS MOUTH

Bout time Heimdall popped in

Aaaaaand Jane got abducted by heimdall

Seeing as Heimdall hasn’t said anything, I’m assuming they didn’t get Idris back lol.

How is shield so chill on murdering Thor? Yes he’s destructive but they’re resorting to killing him so fast instead of talking to him! No one has even told him he’s putting the planet at risk! Dudes too dumb to know on his own!

JANE STOP DRINKING

Damn Maria Hill I had higher hopes for you

Lying Thor

Okay so shield trusts Frigga to help, but still irks me that shield was so trigger/nuke happy… seems the opposite of what we’ve seen of them (ugh just gotta ignore it and chock it up to this being an alternate reality)

Ew Drax

Loki calling the other jotuns “ice bros” lmao

It’s also mantis and Yondu!!

wait how did grandmaster just teleport away like the bifrost?

Nice going thor. You big hunky dummy

“MY MOTHER IS COMING.” Good lord is this high school now lmao???

How do they all know Frigga and why are they all afraid?

Damn the bifrost takes a lot longer than I would have expected

No no Thor the tower of pisa is meant to be tilted—oh whatever

Wait, but I don’t see loki helping, is he gonna be up to something last minute to ruin Thor’s cover up lmao?

I don’t believe Frigga would be tricked this easily lmao

Thor you are such a bad liar

Lmao here comes carol

Hahaha how did mjolnir get so trashed

Wow thor is so much taller than Jane

Wow this Jane and Thor seem to have more chemistry than the sacred timeline version ever did

Wait I want resolve for Loki!!

Uh oh

WHAT

ULTRON VISION WITH THE INFINITY STONES?? HOW

No resolution for that??? Well then. Rip this universe too lmao

Damn I wanted more Loki

There better be a Loki centric episode sometime. If they didn’t it’d a huge missed opportunity from marvel

Okay yea looking at the credits, Carol Danvers wasn’t played by Brie Larson but a lady named Alexandra Daniels. Odd they didn’t get Brie Larson.

Probably my favorite episode so far even with how absurd it was. A lot more upbeat than the past few ones with a better resolve to the story imo.

Also, if anyone can provide me of screenshots of Loki from this episode I would be very grateful

[sound-of-random]

This Is Not An Endgame Review.

And there are spoilers in here… not all of them, but the most important one(s).

I need to vent so let’s start at the very beginning… for most of you, that’s probably 2008 but I started watching marvel movies in 2012, when one of my classmates gave me pirated copies of all that were already out, on a pen drive.

I saw Avengers in the theater.

I’m a very basic bitch and also extremely weak when it comes to sparkly eyes and wicked smiles so obviously my Tumblr was a shrine to Tom Hiddleston immediately after that and it was well deserved because he is rather brilliant.. but that did change though.

I honestly can’t pinpoint exactly when Tony Stark became my favorite avenger but I was firmly team Iron Man when civil war happened even though I didn’t agree with Tony at all. Maybe around my 12th rewatch of the Iron Man trilogy when I realized exactly how deeply generous, inspiringly intelligent, horribly blunt, flaky, prideful, arrogant, belligerent, stubborn, reckless, mean, assholish, betrayed, abused, love-starved, vulnerable, anguished and brave the man was.

And before I lose the measly audience that I have gathered, let me make it clear that I fully understand that these movies and characters aren’t real.

It’s just that he was so intrinsically flawed and yet so good at learning from his mistakes and becoming better.

He was betrayed by his father figure in the very first one and I felt that because my father betrayed/abandoned me too.

He was self-destructive when he was dying and I felt that because I’ve done some pretty self-destructive things when I was so depressed that I was borderline suicidal.

He was willing to die to save the world in the first avengers' movie… and I felt that because I was pointedly aware of the fact that I will never be capable of that kind of selflessness.

He hid behind his armor and had those panic attacks when he was coping with past trauma and I felt that because my anxiety sometimes makes me feel like I can’t breathe.

He tried to build an armor around the world and was faced with his worst nightmare, being surrounded by his dead family and I felt that because that’s my worst nightmare too.

He wanted more accountability for himself because he’s a huge bag of guilt and self-loathing and I felt that… but y’all probably get the drift by now.

I’ve also obsessively read every single word that has ever been published about Robert Downey Jr. (Everything that I could find anyway) because he plays the character I love and quite frankly… he is just as inspiring as Tony. He isn’t an engineer or a nuclear physicist but there’s a reason why everyone agrees that he’s the only one that could have played Tony as well as he has. There’s a phoenix metaphor that’s a commonality between the real guy and the character. It’s breathtaking. So is Robert Downey Jr.’s face by the way. Seriously the man is so ridiculously beautiful… it’s borderline offensive. He’s like 54 and yet he could ruin my entire life and I would thank him for it.

Here comes the hurt.

They killed Tony Stark in Endgame… I cried.

And after being on team Iron Man for a good 6 years now, this grief sits very heavy on my chest. I know Tony Stark isn’t real and I understand that RDJ will do other stuff but it still feels like a very good friend has passed away.

It was a good death. It was a hero’s death.

He saved the world again, he defeated the fear that haunted him from the moment he flew into that wormhole with that nuke.

He had achieved the life that he wanted for himself.

It was a great death.

I still wish they hadn’t killed him. I wish they hadn’t given him all that he had found after losing in Infinity War only to have him ripped away from it all.

Maybe he could have lost his arm and then retired forever but apparently, people who like comic books, really like it when heroes die in comic book movies so that the stakes are higher and feel real. Because you know… we don’t have enough death in our real world.

Do I sound bitter? I’m sorry.

The movie was actually pretty good. I laughed, I cried, I yelled so loud along with everyone else in the hall that I lost my voice. Tom Holland’s Spiderman made me cry again. Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers makes me feel like I am the one with superpowers.

Scarlett Johansson’ Natasha Romanoff is the truest of friends.

I have questions about how Steve pulled that off and what exactly does the bit with Loki mean but it was a good movie.

Actually, I’m not sorry.

I just… wish that my heroes didn’t have to die.

[sknowbleu]

I love space

the Time Bubble looks suspiciously like a black hole now that I think about it... hm

[sknow-and-ink]

2023

Day 28 - Insight

The things you've forgotten

[tachtutor]

A Look At France's Nuclear Weapons

A Look At France’s Nuclear Weapons

[ad_1]

Caleb Larson, National Interest: France: The Forgotten Nuclear Power That Could Kill Billions of People

Paris might not have a massive stockpile of nukes, but they could do some serious damage if need be.

The French nuclear arsenal is pretty substantial, with air- and sea-based components. Here is a breakdown of French nuclear capabilities.

Read more ….

WNU Editor:According to this…

[christinamac1]

France: The Forgotten Nuclear Power That Could Kill Billions of People

France: The Forgotten Nuclear Power That Could Kill Billions of People

France: The Forgotten Nuclear Power That Could Kill Billions of People Paris might not have a massive stockpile of nukes, but they could do some serious damage if need be. National Interest, by Caleb Larson,  26 Apr 20,  The French nuclear arsenal is pretty substantial, with air- and sea-based components. Here is a breakdown of French nuclear capabilities.

Nuclear Dyad

Unlike…

[keywestlou]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLY

An important thing in life. Children’s birthdays! Today, my granddaughter Ally’s is being celebrated.

Thirteen years old. Definitely a young lady. The flower is blossoming.

Ally’s birthday was Friday. Conflicted with Robert’s graduation. Ally wanted her own day. It began Saturday. She had her hair striped.

Terrible! Too young! I am merely a voice in the wilderness, however. Not the parent, not my decision.

What I really was expressing is it pains me to think she is maturing. Not a little girl any longer.

Last night, a sleep over. Which means Ally will be beat this evening for the family birthday dinner, cake, etc. Perhaps a bit grouchy.

Can’t win them all!

In any event, I love you Ally. A big Happy Birthday to you!

My yesterday began with a manicure. Tammy and her husband Rick are entrepreneurs. Mid-thirties at best. Tammy in the U.S. about 14 years. From Vietnam. Became a citizen last year. Rick of Vietnamese extraction. Born in the U.S.

They have a great business. Employ many. Work hard. Achieving the American dream. I doubt they are the type people Trump would praise and acknowledge. They do not rape, kill, pillage, rob, do drugs. Why not?

Chart Room last night. Quiet. Enjoyed a couple of drinks and moved on to the Beach Bar. John was working the Beach Bar last night.

Glad I stopped by. Ran into Dan and Stephanie from Ohio. Never met them before this week. Have enjoyed their company three evenings, however.

Their time in Paradise coming to an end. Leave Tuesday for home. Expect to return some time this summer.

Dan and Stephanie were heading to the Pride Follies. Good choice, I advised. Mentioned that Rick Dery of Dueling Bartenders was the director. Recommended Dueling Bartenders on Monday nights to them.

A quiet Saturday evening. I was home in bed before 9.

The Key West Citizen’s weekend edition ran a major article re Mallory Square and the homeless. The homeless becoming a problem.

Mallory Square is where the sunset is watched every evening. Hundreds of people. All ages. A cat through a wheel of fire, a man swallowing a sword, etc.

A growing group of homeless are getting drunk, argumentative, threaten each other, harass customers and vendors for money, sleep illegally, etc.

Key West is a great venue for the homeless. Many are snowbirds. Visit our island for the season. Then drift off till next Fall because the humidity becomes heavy and uncomfortable. A size able group remains, however.

Key West takes care of its homeless. Two very huge air conditioned tents, showers, cots with clean sheets each night, food at several locations, etc. No reason for them to camp at Mallory Square. A business place for vendors and tourists.

One thing sure in our country, the rich are getting richer while the poor poorer. Corporate America is not and has not for a number of years shared its successes.

An example is Toys R Us. Filed for bankruptcy. One week before the filing voted top echelon people $8 million in bonuses. The 30,000 workers who will be without jobs, nothing. No severance pay. Not a penny.

To compound the wrong, in the year before the filing the CEO was paid $11.2 million.

Much federal legislation has been blocked by a handful of far rights who were elected to Congress. Some, not all, appear a bit wacky when on television.

There appears to be a larger number of crazies running for Congress this year. This group’s ideologies different from the far righters. Some will be elected. It is the way of elections in recent years.

Three examples.

Nathan Larson. A Virginia Libertarian. Running as an independent. Supports abolishing age restrictions for marriage (a nice way of saying pedophilia is ok), supports abolishing laws opposed to marital rape, believes women should be under the control of men, is a white supremacist, believes Hitler was a good thing for Germany, believes incest should be legalized.

Patrick Little. A Republican candidate for the Senate representing California. Denies the Holocaust and calls for a country “free from Jews.”

Little is popular. He is running second in polls to Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein. California’s strange election laws could result in him being elected.

Arthur Jones. Chicago area. A candidate for Congress. Denies the Holocaust, a former leader of the American Nazi Party, believes people of color are mentally inferior to whites.

Jones is the official Republican candidate. He is running in a very strong Democratic district where no other Republican wanted to waste time running.

Some things are hard to understand. The Kim/Trump Summit is scheduled to begin in Singapore June 12. Kim will be staying at the 5 star Fullerton Hotel. The Presidential suite costs $6,000 a night. Kim’s staff has to be housed also.

Kim/North Korea refuse to pay the bill. The U.S. looking for a means to legally pay the bill.

Sung-Yoon Lee is a Tufts University Korean expert. He says re the payment quandary, “North Korea can build nukes and ICBMs, but claim they are too poor to pay for foreign travel costs.”

Trump apparently considers himself the summit king now that the meeting with North Korea is locked in. Trump indicated yesterday he wants a summit with Putin arranged.

Putin will eat him up.

Enjoy your Sunday!

          HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLY was originally published on Key West Lou

[shervonfakhimi]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Rankings

I was late to the party on the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. I wasn’t really all into it until I saw 'Spider-Man: Homecoming’ in theaters. That got me interested enough to want to watch these movies whenever I found the time to do so. In anticipation of “Black Panther,” I thought it would be cool to go down the list and have fun by ranking these movies. After having seen them all now with Endgame being released April 26, 2019, I’ve gone and updated this list as I have done with every MCU release and will continue to do so. Enjoy the list!

23. The Incredible Hulk

So, there isn’t a whole lot from this movie that really transfers over to the next series of films. I mean, the actors aren’t even the same (Edward Norton portrayed the Hulk in this movie, not Mark Ruffalo). The only entity with less stability than this movie are the Phoenix Suns. Add that to the fact that the Hulk in and of itself is the only Avenger whose entire essence could be considered the lone liability of the Avengers with him tearing cities apart once he gets pissed off, that leads this movie to start our countdown.

22. Thor: The Dark World

The second of the Thor series, this picks up right where the first Thor film left off. Jane stumbles into a portal and becomes spelled to the lure the Aether, a weapon sought to be used by Malekith, the antagonist. This requires Thor come back to Earth and smash freaky elves (can we get less weird villains in these movies, by the way) the same way Aaron Judge does baseballs. Entertaining? Sure. The movie was fine, but the pace of the movie felt a little slower, rendering it 15th on the list.

21. Iron Man 3

Not as great as the others in the series, but Iron Man 3 was still very solid. After ghosting some guy on New Year’s Eve to get some action to rein in the new year (as any sane person would), that man comes back to get revenge on Tony years later. Despite saving multiple people from falling to their deaths from thousands of miles in the air and saving the President and Pepper Potts from a kidnapping, this movie, while still good, had more potential than was displayed.

20. Ant-Man

I was quite skeptical of this movie at first. After all, what the hell is an ‘Ant-Man’ supposed to be? Turns out, Scott Lang is a former felon who gets a second chance by doing the same thing he got locked up for: robbing someone in order to be able to provide for his daughter, shrinking down to the size of an ant and creating an ant army to help him do so.  This was a better movie (heck, and hero) than I expected, but not quite good enough to crack the Top 10. However, that says more about the movies in the Top 10 than this one, per se. Shoutout to T.I. though.

19. Iron Man

The first of the Iron Man series leads us overseas to the desert, where Tony Stark is ambushed and forced to build a weapon of mass destruction for a terrorist organization. Instead, he builds a machine that to fight his way out and destroy the organization’s hideout. After seeing his ‘Stark Industries’ weapons used to kill innocent lives, he makes upgrades to that machine after breaking out to take out any other weapons his company produced. What was that machine called? I’m sure you all can figure that out.

18. Thor

After going against the will of father to start a war that was rather unnecessary at the time, Thor is deemed unworthy of his powers and is banished to Earth in the process. There, he encounters Jane Foster (Natalie Portman played the role exceptionally) amongst a group of scientists, who try to figure out who the hell he is and where he came from. Meanwhile, Loki, Thor’s adopted psycho-crazy brother, is working to overthrow Odin’s throne and seize power of Asgard. Thor redeems himself, attempting to sacrifice himself and ruins Loki’s coup attempt, regaining his power and status as the heir to Odin’s throne.

17. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is cool in that it hits the happy medium of being the super-serious superhero movie and the ‘Deadpool’-esque satire. The squad at the end saves the day, but they’re going to have fun and roast each other in the process. That rings true in this movie, as well as the first. The back-and-forth throughout the movie between Mantis and Drax was downright hilarious. However, the objective was far more treacherous for the Guardians this time around, thwarting Ego’s plan to devour the world and gain total control with the help of Quill, Ego’s son, which he refuses and instead prevents him from doing so. A nice movie, but not could’ve been better.

16.  Doctor Strange

Our first look at the hero Doctor Strange. Steven Strange was a damn good surgeon, but could not continue after a car crash permanently damaged his fingers (don’t text and drive, kids). He looks for any way possible to fix his hands, which leads him to Nepal. There he learns under the Ancient One to free and use his mind to fix his hands. While there, he becomes humbled and steps in the absence of the Ancient One, who passes, to take down Kaecilius and Dormammu, preserving the 3 Sanctums that detect imminent threats from other dimensions. Not the traditional hero in the sense that his powers are more mental than physical, but still just as effective, leading Doctor Strange to 13 on this list.

15. Iron Man 2

This was my favorite Iron Man movie. How about that!?! In my opinion, it featured the most compelling villain of the Iron Man franchise, the private, pirate-masquerading Russian physicist named Ivan Vanko, also a descendent of a friend of Howard Stark’s. Tony, on the other hand, is on the complete other end of the spectrum, basking in the glow of his Iron Man acclaim while his health has begun to deteriorate, needing new technology to power his body. With introductions to Black Widow and Don Cheadle as War Machine (sorry Terrance Howard), who help take down Vanko and Justin Hammer’s plan to eliminate Tony Stark’s ‘Stark Enterprises,’ this movie falls just short of the Top 10.

14. Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp felt like a heat check from a basketball player that lets a shot go early in the clock because they were feeling hot previously. Not that those shots are bad, but that those shots aren’t as great as the ones they were taking and making earlier. I felt part of Ant-Man and the Wasp was a little unnecessary, but the movie overall fits the fun theme of the MCU in the last few films. Marvel was bound to come down from the high of Homecoming/Ragnarok/Black Panther/Infinity War at some point. This movie is still very good. There’s just no shame it falls just a little short to par with some of its predecessors. (The end credit scene though.)

13. Captain Marvel

Higher. Further. Faster. The origin story of Carol Danvers (and Nick Fury!) was very good. It could’ve been better, but I am not one of those who finds no good reason to slander this or Brie Larson, who I thought did very well in this movie. It certainly is not the worst movie in the Infiniti Saga or close to it. I eagerly await what is next in the life of Carol Danvers in the MCU.

12. Captain America: The First Avenger

So, we might have gotten a clue as to how LeBron James and The Rock were created with this film. During World War II, a little scrapper named Steve Rogers enlisted in the US Army in a quest to help the US take down Hydra. He was a great teammate to his fellow soldiers, including his best friend Bucky Barnes but he physically couldn’t hold up despite his want to fight. So, he gets put into a lab where he physically matures to the specimen that is Captain America (this is where the LeBron James allusion comes in). There, he takes down anything in his path, rampaging Hydra facilities and kicking the shit out of anyone who dared think they could stand a chance against him. Though some of his friends (hold on to that one) and fellow soldiers die, Steve saves the day and defeats Hydra. However, he crashes a Hydra airplane carrying weapons originally designed to attack US into the Arctic. He later is saved and preserved in New York City, where he awakens from a 70-year slumber to Nick Fury offering him the opportunity to fight in the Avengers. A great movie no question, but someone had to get axed out of the Top 10, and this barely misses the cut.

11. Avengers: Age of Ultron

The second time the Avengers get together. During a party, Tony’s artificial intelligence JARVIS gets devoured by a secret AI known as Ultron stored inside Loki’s scepter the Avengers previously intercepted from Strucker, attacking the Avengers in the process. He then runs off, along with the scepter and the 2 twins from Strucker’s lair. The Avengers got roughed up a bit in an earlier attempt to take Ultron and the twins down but avenged (see what I did) themselves in Ultron’s attempt at destroying humans by lifting a damn city in the air just to have it come crashing down onto the Earth’s surface. We also get introduced to the twins and Vision. It’s hard to get much better than kicking the shit out of a bunch of flying robots and saving an entire city off the ground, so that solidifies this one inside the Top 10.

10. Marvel’s The Avengers

For the first time, we get to see Nick Fury’s robust team of superheroes come together to take down a bunch of aliens under the control of Loki. Loki gains control of the Tessurrect and plans on using it to seize power of Earth, using the Stark Tower as a portal to bring in his army from outer space. Like an NBA super-team acquiring multiple All-Stars (the 2010 Miami Heat, 2016 Golden State Warriors, if you want to add the 2017 Oklahoma City Thunder to this list you can if you want), it took a while for the Avengers to gain chemistry and work together as a unit to put their egos for the greater good. But once they did, man did they kick some ass. After holding off their alien counterparts, a nuke is ordered to come down on New York City, which Tony Stark intercepts to take down Loki’s army in outer space. A great movie with multiple superheroes doing their thing, but with the time it took for them to get together, they have to get bumped down to the middle of the top 10.

9. Guardians of the Galaxy

The Guardians are a ragtag group of outcasts who come together to keep an orb containing an infinity (the power) stone out of the hands of Ronan the Accuser. So a bunch of misfits, amongst them include a human, a raccoon, and a tree, come together to take him down and keep the orb away from him, busting up some bad guys and cracking jokes amid the journey. It makes no sense until it makes all the sense in the world. A good, fun movie, this movie is good enough to stay just inside the top 10.

8. Spider-Man: Homecoming

One of the few MCU movies I went to see in theaters, Homecoming was a great watch. Peter juggling his quest to become an Avenger with his life as a high school student after his appearance in ‘Civil War’ fighting at the behest of Tony Stark set the stage for the movie. Meanwhile, Adrian Toomes, otherwise known as Vulture (greatly portrayed by Michael Keaton), is causing havoc building high-grade weapons that Peter can’t resist to fight and defeat to protect his city of Queens. The scene where Toomes is driving Peter and his high school crush Liz, who just happens to be Toomes’ daughter while no one has fully connected the dots other than Peter, who was shook out of his mind once figuring this out the night of their high school homecoming dance, sticks out and pretty much sums up Peter throughout the film. This was a really great movie and wait to see what’s next for Peter Parker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxsLHxEqvGE

7. Black Panther

This was so incredibly awesome. Every role displayed was played to a tee, from T’Challa to Killmonger to everybody. I loved the story arc, from the early beginnings of the Black Panther hero and the traces of vibranium to how T’Challa loses his power and throne and regains it. Michael B. Jordan seemingly steals the show (and no, he isn’t better than Thanos. Thanos would flick him like a booger). The symbolism was powerful and excellent. Wakanda forever.

6. Captain America: Civil War

Chaos! After causing trouble in Wakanda, the Avengers are placed with a decision to essentially give up their freedom to take down any evil at their own transgression at the behest of the US government. So, that naturally leads to discourse, which leads to superheroes beating the shit out of each other. A Bucky lookalike is used to blow a bomb at the signing of the Sokovia Accords at the UN, which leads to further dissention, and is all part of a revenge scheme to break the Avengers up from within, which ultimately succeeds. Multiple intense fight scenes (like the one below), introductions to new heroes (especially Black Panther, who was incredible in this movie) and a great plot lead to this ranking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42RZyBz4L1A

5. Spider-Man: Far From Home

He’s baaaaack. After saving New York and then the world, we link up again with Peter Parker, this time on a summer class trip through Europe until it gets hijacked and his assistance as Spider-Man (or Night Monkey, depending on your preference) is needed again. We got to see Peter on an evolution from a shy kid yearning to be an Avenger to now someone who just wants some time to relax and live his life as Peter. That was cool, alongside the growing relationship between him and MJ that manifested even farther in this movie. Jake Gyllenhaal was great as Mysterio too. This did enough to crack the Top 5.

4. Thor: Ragnarok

By far the best of the Thor series, Thor: Ragnarok was extremely enjoyable. After Odin dies and Hela destroys Thor’s hammer on her quest to seize the throne of Asgard, Thor & Loki find themselves on a strange planet of Sikaar. Thor is captured by a former Asgard Valkyrie warrior, forced to partake in a Fightclub-style gladiator battle, taking on a familiar big green giant (I’m sure you’ve heard of him). After escaping custody, Thor, Banner, Loki and Valkyrie all team up to take down Hela’s control of Asgard. This movie also managed to turn the Hulk back into a useful Avenger instead of the liability he forced himself to exile to limit his destructive ways. The story arc was very good with plenty of action to go around, matched with a lot of hysterical built-in humor (and less freaky bad guys). Almost every word of that sentence couldn’t be said about previous Thor movies, leading to the placement of this movie inside the Top 5.

3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Ok, where do we start? This movie was incredible all the way around. Captain America teaming up with Black Widow to not only take down Hydra from the ranks within Shield but, but expose their whereabouts to the public kicking major ass in the process. Nick Fury supposedly gets killed, yet eventually gets saved to help assist in taking down SHIELD. And then there’s Bucky, causing all kinds of mayhem trying to take down his childhood friend he has no recollection of until later on in the film. Not to mention this movie also introduced us to Falcon, portrayed by Anthony Mackie, the sidekick to the Captain. With plenty of badass fight scenes to go around, this one gets the nod at the top non-Infinity War film of the MCU series.

2. Avengers: Infinity War

Utterly blown away. Incredible. An entire universe of heroes trying to prevent Thanos from snapping half the universe into dust. They come sooooo close, yet not enough. Just awesome.

1. Avengers: Endgame

Wow. There’s nothing more to say. Just wow. You could see it coming, but man was it still great to enjoy the ride as to how we got there.

[the-daily-wtf-blog]

Day 13: Supreme.

Source: https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2017/02/01/Day-13/

02/01/2017

Updated: 02/01/2017 07:07:57 PM PST

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1/ Trump Picks Neil Gorsuch, A Scalia Clone, For The Supreme Court. Ideologically, Gorsuch would almost certainly represent a reliably conservative vote and voice. Gorsuch would be the most conservative justice save for the silent stalwart Justice Clarence Thomas and would sit somewhere just to the right of the ideological space occupied by Scalia. (FiveThirtyEight)

UPDATE: What Gorsuch means for the Supreme Court. 13 top legal scholars weigh in. (Politico)

Related:

Where Gorsuch would fit on the Supreme Court. Should he be confirmed, the court will return to a familiar dynamic, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy holding the decisive vote in many closely divided cases. (NY Times)

Who Is Neil Gorsuch? Like Justice Antonin Scalia, Gorsuch has cultivated a reputation as a memorable and clear author of legal opinions. (NPR)

Why Liberals should back Gorsuch. One basic criterion should be paramount: Is the nominee someone who will stand up for the rule of law and say no to a president or Congress that strays beyond the Constitution and laws? (NY Times)

Why Democrats should oppose Gorsuch. The presumption should be that Gorsuch does not deserve confirmation, because the process that led to his nomination was illegitimate. (NY Times)

2/ Trump to McConnell: Go nuclear if necessary. But McConnell, a well-known institutionalist, has been noncommittal about whether he would invoke the so-called “nuclear option” to force Gorsuch through the upper chamber. (The Hill)

Related:

Make Republicans nuke the filibuster to confirm Gorsuch. Once Mitch McConnell blockaded Barack Obama’s last Supreme Court nomination, and then Donald Trump carried the Electoral College, the chance that Republicans would fill the vacancy rose to 100 percent. McConnell already indicated that he does not respect Democrats’ right to filibuster, and that he would eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations if one is used. It is McConnell, his extraordinary blockade tactic, who has functionally changed the rules of the game. He should be forced to do it in name. (New York Magazine)

3/ Rex Tillerson is confirmed as Secretary of State amid record opposition. The votes against Mr. Tillerson’s confirmation were the most in Senate history (NY Times)

4/ Sessions approved by Senate committee. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Sessions 11-9 along party lines. His nomination now goes to the floor, where he is widely expected to be confirmed given the GOP’s 52-seat majority. (The Hill)

5/ Republicans suspend committee rules, advance Mnuchin, Price nominations after confronting a boycott from Democrats. Senate Committee rules normally require at least one Democratic senator present to have a vote. But when Democrats refused to show, the committee’s chairman suspended those rules. (CNN)

6/ Two Republican senators says they aren’t committed to voting for Betsy DeVos on Senate floor. Democrats say they have 48 votes against DeVos on the floor but need 51 — and they have been looking for Republican votes against her. (Washington Post)

UPDATES:

Two GOP senators to vote no on Betsy DeVos. The first two Republicans to break with Trump on his Cabinet picks. (The Hill)

DeVos nomination stands at 50-50. It could come down to Vice President Mike Pence, in what would be a history-making confirmation vote. (Politico)

7/ Resistance from within: Federal workers push back against Trump. Less than two weeks into Trump’s administration, federal workers are in regular consultation with recently departed Obama-era political appointees about what they can do to push back against the new president’s initiatives. (Washington Post)

Related:

State Dept. dissent cable on Trump’s ban goes viral at U.S. embassies, attracting around 1,000 signatures – far more than any dissent cable in recent years. The letter, which harshly took apart the executive order, said the visa ban would “alienate allies” and “hurt America economically.” (NY Times)

Trump transition email shows initial effort to oust all inspectors general. (Washington Post)

8/ White House ices out CNN. Trump administration refuses to put officials on air on the network the president called “fake news.” (Politico)

Related:

Fatigued by the news? Experts suggest how to adjust your media diet. Or, just read WTF Just Happened, Today? instead. (NY Times)

Covering Trump the Reuters way. In a message to staff, Reuters Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler wrote about covering President Trump the Reuters way. (Reuters)

9/ Bannon thinks there will be war with China in the next few years. Comments on his radio show are re-surfacing as the “special counsellor” assumes unprecedented power in the White House. (The Independent)

UPDATES:

Trump administration “officially putting Iran on notice.” National security adviser, Michael Flynn, issued a statement in reaction to an Iranian missile test and an attack on a Saudi warship by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. “It’s either an empty threat or a clear statement of intent to go to war with Iran.” (The Guardian)

Trump to focus counter-extremism program solely on Islam. (Reuters)

Trump to Mexico: Take care of “bad hombres” or US might. Trump threatened in a phone call with his Mexican counterpart to send U.S. troops to stop “bad hombres down there” unless the Mexican military does more to control them itself. (Associated Press)

News of Lesser Importance:

Bannon explained his worldview well before it became official U.S. policy: countries should protect their citizens and their essence by reducing immigration, legal and illegal, and pulling back from multinational agreements. (Washington Post)

President Trump campaigned as a Washington outsider. But his first Supreme Court nominee has deep roots in the city and the establishment Trump criticized. (NY Times)

How Democrats missed a chance to reshape the Supreme Court for a generation. If it weren’t for 77,744 voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court would have had, for the first time in nearly 50 years, a majority of Democratic-appointed justices. (Vox)

Trump has a message for poor immigrants: Get Out. The ban targeting seven Muslim-majority countries was just the beginning. (The Atlantic)

Tweets to Shake Your Head At:

The est. security cost for Melania living 200mi away from Trump is double the annual budget for the National Endowment for the Arts.

43,64743,647 Retweets

43,80243,802 likes

Here is a transcript of President Trump's comments on Dr. Martin Luther King at his Black History Month gathering this morning. pic.twitter.com/qHq9i1Ligg

This is a full transcript of President Trump's speech to his Black History Month event. pic.twitter.com/uJ9iXvUOGr

19,06319,063 Retweets

21,12321,123 likes

This just happened: Spicer: "I want to go to my 2nd Skype seat: Lars Larson of the Lars Larson show..." Lars: "Commander Spicer..."

WH briefing Spicer: “I want to go to my 3rd Skype seat: Lars Larson of the Lars Larson show.” Lars: “Commander Spicer, it's a pleasure...” pic.twitter.com/CixxjU7wgk

1,1351,135 Retweets

1,5391,539 likes

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-Matt Kiser

[sknowbleu]

Some 2019 InkTober pieces I digitally colored a while back!