Been a while. Just a test.

 

No one’s gonna read this, but I want it saved for posterity. If I was eloquent enough to write my point of vue on Trump, this is what I would have written. Skip to the “stop” part at the end if TLDR.

 

Stop crying wolf

http://www.gq.com/story/ryan-reynolds-deadpool-blake-lively-life-moty

Funny video if you scroll down.

There’s a lot you can tell your Android phone to do. Yes, even “take a selfie.”

Source: The complete list of ‘OK, Google’ commands – CNET

But suppose we (the victims) stop acting as though we are at war with a capable foe and start treating them with the sympathy we accord to any sick person. That changes the frame. An enemy needs you to act like an enemy or it ruins the entire game.Obviously we need to maintain all the military and defense systems we have in place, and improve them over time. But the way we talk about terrorism can change to a framework of mental health. A persuasive president with a good linguistic kill shot for terrorists could change the game.Trump famously suggested that we target the families of terrorists. Suppose we target them for shame instead of violence. Imagine a scene in which a terrorist does something bad and we know his name, so we can identify his family.Now imagine a fully-briefed President Trump talking about the losers in that terrorist’s family, by name. That’s world news. It would get back to them. Imagine Trump talking about how many cousins have inbred in that family. Imagine Trump humiliating the terrorist’s family in ways that only Trump can. Ordinary insults would have no impact. But the weapons-grade humiliation that Trump wields can definitely leave a mark. It might take some testing to find the most humiliating approach, but some form of persuasion would have a permanent impact on the family’s reputation, even coming from an enemy like Trump

Source: Using Persuasion to Solve Everything | Scott Adams Blog

When Marvel’s Daredevil premiered on Netflix last year, its brawls and its slow build were great. But it also had the particular pacing problems that plague many Netflix “binge” shows. The second season of Daredevil—what I’ve seen of it—has kept all of the good and fixed a lot of bad.

From Gizmodo

I’ve seen seven of the fourteen episodes being released on Friday, and what surprised me the most was how cleanly the season’s episodes were broken up into separate chunks. They’re connected, but each chunk has a mini-arc within the greater theme of the season. This choice fixes many of the pacing problems that have plagued other Netflix shows.

Having to complete each mini-arc within a certain number of episodes puts the pressure back on the show to keep things tight, and keeps the digressions to a minimum. And yet, the show pulls this off without sacrificing the binge-watching impulse. Once one part of the story concluded, I still felt the need to keep watching.

Daredevil season two also manages to vary the genres it borrows from. There are Matt’s usual adventures as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, but also some heists, detective work, politics, and courtroom drama. The last one is especially welcome, since there wasn’t nearly enough of Matt and Foggy in the courtroom last time.

This is a show (and a cast) that are fully comfortable in the world they’ve created. Refreshingly, Daredevil deals with the consequences of season one without constantly talking about what happened. You could actually watch this season without seeing the first one, and be fine. Some nuance would be lost, but it totally works. Many movie sequels can’t pull that off.

The returning cast is as strong as ever, and while Charlie Cox is as stubborn and arrogant as ever and Deborah Ann Woll gives Karen both strength and empathy, the absolute stand-out is Elden Henson as Foggy. While the “only sane man” trope is usually played for comedy, Foggy keeps showing how exhausting and frustrating that role is in real life. Foggy tries desperately to find the most practical solution to every problem, and it’s hard to root for the superhero option, over his pragmatism.

The big newcomers are Jon Bernthal as the Punisher and Élodie Yung as Elektra. As he should, the Punisher serves as a contrast to Daredevil, vicious and excessive in his vengeance. The violence dealt by and to the Punisher recall the best brawls of season one, messy but definitely effective. And yet somehow, Elektra is scarier.

Yung’s Elektra is terrifying, because while Punisher feels like a man unchained, Elektra feels like a woman who isn’t even aware there are chains. Both characters act as devils on Matt’s shoulders, but Elektra’s manipulative enough that she might actually succeed in corrupting him. Once Elektra shows up, things get complicated, fast.

The show’s faithfulness to the comics remains a constant, especially now that Daredevil’s gone full red-devil outfit all the time. There are some moments that you could freeze-frame to resemble a perfect comic panel. And I actually kind of loved that Elektra wears so much red. Because comic book characters so often have a signature look.

There is one weakness to the season, and it’s not a small one: none of the show’s themes are subtle. The show is engaging in a debate about vigilantism. And redemption versus punishment. Everyone wants Matt either to stop being Daredevil entirely, or to take his role to the logical extreme. Of course, both sides are so strident that Matt’s comparatively nuanced position—keep fighting, but don’t kill—becomes an obvious winner.

Part of the problem is that a lot of Daredevil characters enjoy giving monologues. And not just in the law scenes, where it would be fine, but all the time. The Punisher, in particular, has a few that go on too long. Long enough to shake off the suspension of disbelief that’s necessary to totally enjoy the moment. When the show is full of dialogue, it’s smart and witty. But once characters start lecturing, it soon becomes gratuitous—and obvious.

All in all, Daredevil season two is a show that’s learned from its debut and improved upon it. Things don’t drag nearly as much as they did last time, and everyone’s relationships have progressed and gotten more complicated. There’s something for everyone in this second season, and it should not be missed.

A president has to lead all the people. The smart, and the dumb. And there are far more dumb people.