By spocko, on January 3rd, 2016% After Christmas on Vulcan I would call my best friend and ask him what presents he got. We could compare notes and then meet up to play with our toys or to show them off. (Because Christmas is so much better if you got cooler toys than your friends.)
If this year we were playing war, I needed a big gun like, the Johnny Seven O.M.A. – One Man Army Gun – Topper Toys 1964
The best selling boys toy of 1964! Seven guns in one, which included: Grenade Launcher, Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher, Anti Bunker Missile Launcher, Armor Piercing Shell, Rifle fires 10 Bullets, Slide Bolt Action Machine Gun, Detachable Cap Pistol which fires shells. Detachable Stock & built in Bi-Pod. Over 3 feet long!
Description from Time Warp Toys
“You’ve won with Johnny Seven, the one man army gun!”
As you can see from this commercial, we were training to become the leaders of squads of commandos in World War II, so we wanted needed armor piercing shells and anti-tank rocket launcher to take out the Nazi tanks and save the world.
Later, during the cold war, we were training to become spies. Spies were cool. You worked alone, . . . → Read More: I needed a gun for Christmas, not a stupid helmet!
By spocko, on December 18th, 2015% This is disturbing. At the Marcus Corporation theaters (NYSE:MCS) in Nebraska people with concealed carry permits can bring their real guns into the movies anytime they want. This includes the opening night of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, their costume policy says you can’t bring fake weapons or props that look like real weapons into the theater. Fictional props, like light sabers, are okay.
As crazy as it sounds, the Marcus Theaters’ fake gun policy is stronger than their real gun policy! I go into details below, but for now I think that Star Wars fans in Nebraska should know what they might be walking into.
Although I just spotted AMC’s weapon and costume policy last week, (photo), the Star Wars cosplay people have known about various costume restrictions since October. Big chains even put their costume policy info on their posters. The costume policies were created in the wake of the Aurora and Kentucky theater shootings, it’s very sad, but understandable.
But since I write about politics and gun violence, as well as science fiction, I wanted to confirm and compare the various movie chains’ costume gun policies and their real gun policies.
First I checked . . . → Read More: Star Wars Fans Can Bring Real Guns into Marcus Theaters
By spocko, on December 16th, 2015% …maybe the bombs would explode harder.
Ted Cruz complaining about Obama not adding the word Muslim to extremists made some people wonder,
“Did they give FDR shit for not saying Hitler’s middle name?”
Listen to an explanation how ridiculous that is: Warning EXPLICIT language
https://www.spockosbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/ObamaOnMuslimsFDRonHitler.mp3
From the Jimmy Dore Show with Mike MacRae as “Obama”
Here’s the entire call here. Warning EXPLICIT language
https://www.spockosbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/OmabaMuslimsFDRonHitlerJimmyDoreshow7.mp3
Here’s the entire Jimmy Dore December 11th 2015 episode here.
By spocko, on November 4th, 2015% ..you’re just a diiiiicck.”
the last episode of The Flash had such a great line I had to grab it and share it.
Wonderful line reading Crisco, er I mean Cisco.
https://www.spockosbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/ScreenCaptureProject98.mp4
By spocko, on October 12th, 2015%
This last year you might have been in community that has gone through a life changing experience–a mass shooting. Hopefully for you and most of your local media, it’s a once in a lifetime experience.
Your local media covered the story and you expected action to be taken by “The Powers That Be” so this doesn’t happen again.
Then you watched in stunned confusion as the national media, who have seen these tragedies many times before, marked it as routine. National politicians called it routine. Your story is just part of a larger trend.
Of course you believe your story deserves more than “routine media coverage.” How can the media be numb to your story? Aren’t they human beings? Don’t they feel the need to do something different this time ? Isn’t that their job? No. It’s yours.
There’s a problem – But it’s not the media’s problem
The media are stuck in a format they are afraid to break. Because breaking it gets them in trouble. So they lament the problem, but let the public know they can’t do anything about it. That’s what Bill Goodykoontz of the The Arizona Republic did in his column for USA . . . → Read More: How to get more than “routine media coverage” from your state’s mass shooting
By spocko, on September 16th, 2015% Andy Parker looked into the camera and spoke directly to CNN’s Chris Cuomo and the media covering the live shooting of his daughter Allison.
“I know how you guys are, this will be a good story for a couple of days and then it will move to the back burner.”
This astute comment really stuck me. I don’t know his background, but he is exactly right about how the media works.
Parker wants change and is urging people to call their senators. That’s great, but because of his daughter’s profession I think he could also lead a change in how the media covers gun violence.
Here are some suggestions on what he could do and how you could help if you are interested.
Have Parker contact the media directly on follow-up stories about shootings.
This is the reality of our celebrity culture. Parker now has standing as a type of celebrity. Journalists will take his calls. But he needs to offer more than just another interview with a shooting survivor or grieving loved one. What new story can he bring the media?
Parker can talk about the barriers to change he is seeing. This is an important . . . → Read More: Now is the time to change how the media covers shootings
By spocko, on August 25th, 2015%
Hey, did you read that Josh Duggar was on the Ashley Madison list? And it wasn’t a fake email address either! He confirmed it!
I know that some people get a feeling of joy or pleasure seeing Duggar suffer more misfortune. That’s nice for them. But with all the genuine suffering that this exposure will be causing innocents, can we at least get something good out of it?
The media are already using it for their headlines, therapists and divorce lawyers will be using it to get new clients. But can we get more out of this hack than media hits and billable hours?
What’s the opposite of Disaster Capitalism? Disaster Socialism?
We know that some people use disasters to profit, others to push an agenda. “We are going to turn Iraq into a free market paradise using these Heritage Foundation interns!”
I propose we have a couple of items to push on our agenda.
First, increase the importance of privacy in both private governments and corporations. Second, use this data to show the problem with passing judgement on the private lives of ordinary people.
As Glenn Greenwald pointed out in his piece, The Puritanical Glee Over the . . . → Read More: What Good Can Come Out Of The Ashley Madison Hack?
By spocko, on August 21st, 2015% Here is some interesting information compiled by @dadaviz taken from the illegally obtained Ashley Madison data dump. Link
34% of Ashley Madison Accounts are Fake
Yesterday I could have downloaded the 10 gigs of illegally obtained Ashley Madison customer data. The idea was kind of thrilling. I could see which associates of politicians, lobbyists or corporate executives are on the list, prepare it for oppo research, political leverage and/or public shaming.
I didn’t do it but lots of people can and will. Prepare for the onslaught. I’m trying to get ahead of the curve a bit. Partly to help people see who and how this might be handled. Partly to wonder how it might be used, abused or leverage by others. And finally, I’d like to reinforce the importance of figuring out how to maintain privacy in our current surveillance state.
I keep thinking about two comments I’ve heard in the past around privacy, sex and cheating on a spouse.
“If you haven’t done anything wrong you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“It’s not about the sex, it’s about the lying.”
I wrote about privacy and this breach back in July, Why I care when people . . . → Read More: How will campaigns use Ashley Madison data? How will media?
By spocko, on August 10th, 2015% “When your opponent is drowning, them ’em an anchor.”
–old phrase from some famous person you admire
I’m angry today. Maybe it’s because of watching the GOP “debate” or the BLM protests or maybe it’s because of the Planned Parenthood attack. But as I thought of all this I started getting angry. You’ll like me when I’m angry. Because when I get angry I get strategic. Then tactical. Then I take a shower.Then I write a blog post.
You know what? Screw the Kochs and their billionaire buddies. Screw Fox News and their staged “debate.” Screw sitting back and laughing at the mockery they are making of our representative democracy.
Lots of people are happy to sit back and let the billionaires on the right fight it out. I get that, but in the the process we let the right wing institutions and methods continue.
When we let them set the rules puppets fight puppets, not puppet masters fighting each other. (Presidential politics is a game with low stakes for them, since 95 percent of the players give them what they want.)
I say it’s time to help the billionaire backers destroy each other–while they target their opponent’s chosen candidate. . . . → Read More: Let’s help GOP billionaires attack each other
By spocko, on August 7th, 2015% The day before the GOP presidential candidates were on TV ignoring the issue of gun violence, there was another attack in a theater in Tennessee. We saw the now standard scenario unfold: ID of assailant unknown. First reports –assailant is white male and 51. Killed by police. Theatergoers injured, but alive.
Then as details came out we found out the assailant was a 29 year-old white male who had been committed four times for mental illness. He used pepper spray in the theater and had an Airsoft gun, not a real one. Details from The Tennessean here
What struck me about his story was the response of one of the survivors. He asked the media to leave him alone. It got me thinking about how people cope with the media blitz following a shooting. I wrote a post on the issue (below) and then asked some experts.
.@everytown Do you have people who help shooting survivors deal with the media? Need show: http://t.co/999NRudHAn
— Spocko (@spockosbrain) August 7, 2015
Following big shootings the media swarm to get comments from survivors, witnesses and officials.
When there is a high body count the official NRA spokespeople lay low. . . . → Read More: Who helps shooting survivors deal with the media?
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