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I could not agree with you more. This film is absolutely perfect, and even though I watch it every single year as part of our Christmas traditions, it never fails to move me deeply. It’s truly a masterpiece.

NC up to 71% Trump now on NYT site.

Respectfully, I could not disagree more. The Expanse uses f-bombs far less than many shows. With regard to describing the series as “cheap porn”, I only recall 2 sex scenes in the entire 4 seasons, and neither one showed so much as an exposed breast.

Yes, Babylon 5 is the crown jewel of television sci-fi. Back when TNG was coddling hostile aliens and exploring feelings, I was enjoying great characters, plot lines which spanned millennia, and leaders who destroyed their enemies and stood up for what is right. SO many great moments in that series...

Can’t resist posting one of them:

“Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am Death Incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see.
God sent me.”
(Opens fire, unleashing hell upon her enemy.)

For decades, my top tier of TV science fiction had only 2 members: B5 and the equally amazing Firefly. To my great surprise, and after reading EVERY novel, novella, and short story, and watching every minute, I recently elevated The Expanse into that select group. The TV series is faithful to the books thus far. Like B5, it must be watched completely and patiently, as far-reaching events and multifaceted characters develop and eventually come together. It is deep and complex, but not for complexity’s sake. It’s just that big of a story, as was B5.

And I’ll say this: Even after reading everything except the finale novel (which isn’t finished yet) I am STILL unsure how it will end. There is SO much to the universe of The Expanse, and exploring it is one helluva ride.

If you haven’t seen it, start watching it. Season 5 drops on December 16th. If you have watched it, but haven’t read the books, HANG ON! Believe it or not, you ain’t seen nothing yet...

Sorry, admin. This is probably the first hard news story I’ve posted in my 20 or so years on FR. Thought I was following the rules.
Feel free to edit as needed.

The restaurant has received a huge outpouring of support, and is operating to overflow crowds. They have openly declared they will not abide by an illegal mandate.

Full disclosure: The restaurant is owned by my ex-wife, with whom I have a cordial, but not close, relationship. I have nothing to gain from this other than to see justice done, and someone stand up to the increasing tyranny going on around us.

“Bella” is a beautiful movie.
Everyone should watch it.

You are SO right! Within its simplicity, great characters, and slow, relaxed pace lie powerful themes regarding life, family, compassion, responsibility, right and wrong... the list goes on. I have seen it many times, and it never, ever, fails to move me. Everyone should indeed watch it.

I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash
You’re My Best Friend - Queen
Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow - Fleetwood Mac
Higher - Creed
Feels So Good - Chuck Mangione
Gonna Fly Now - Bill Conti
I Can Only Imagine - MercyMe
What I Believe - Skillet

I’m a native of New Orleans, and still live in southeast Louisiana. Originally imported from South America, nutria have been a problem ever since being released in the early 1900s. They are prolific breeders, and eat vegetation voraciously, including the roots. They also burrow into levees and canal banks, causing erosion and weakening.

While they are a concern wherever they go, Louisiana has been hit the hardest. Back in the 1990s our nutria problem made national news, as local authorities considered various ways of controlling them. One of the most successful methods was done in Jefferson Parish by then sheriff Harry Lee. He assigned deputies to hunt the nutria with .22 caliber rifles. This was safe and humane, without any collateral damage which would result from poisons or traps. It also allowed his deputies to hone their marksmanship skills.

Around the same time some restaurants tried introducing nutria meat to their menus, calling it “marsh rabbit.” That was not successful. One company announced that it had signed a trade deal with China to export millions of pounds of nutria meat, but I believe that fell through. I also think an attempt was made to market nutria fur, also without success.

Back then I was a volunteer staff diver at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, something I did for 20 years. Another volunteer there was a colorful Cajun fellow named Art. Among other things, he had been a licensed alligator trapper, and wore a huge alligator tooth on a necklace. In 1996 I happened to turn on an evening network news magazine show, and they were covering the nutria story, including how Jefferson Parish was dealing with them. The reporter then brought in a local expert, and it was none other than Art! I sat and watched him give his informed opinions, and humorous stories, right there on national television.

Occasionally we would have continuing education events at the Aquarium, which were done as potluck dinners. Art and I attended these often. On two occasions he brought dishes cooked with nutria meat. One was a stew, the other a gumbo. I ate both, and was stunned at how delicious it was. Unlike some other wild game, it had no gamey flavor whatsoever. It was very lean, and literally tasted like chicken. I’m actually surprised that it never took off as a food source, but I suppose it’s because many people can’t get over the animal’s resemblance to a rat. (Yet people eat snails and raw oysters, go figure...)

Agree 1000%!

The Chosen is an incredibly well done series about the life of Jesus.
Here’s a good trailer, one that has a bit of background and doesn’t give away too many scenes: https://youtu.be/cZQn-LHGQSc

From the start, I was completely hooked. It’s amazing just how well produced and well-acted the show is.

I only later learned that the director, Dallas Jenkins, also directed a wonderful Christian movie called The Resurrection of Gavin Stone about 4 years ago. It did not get a lot of attention, so it sort of slipped under the radar, but it is an excellent movie.

Read “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer. The movie adaptation was just OK, the book is gripping. It’s a firsthand account of how weather, financial pressure, equipment failures, etc all came together to produce a tragedy that killed 8 climbers in a single day. The IMAX team was one of those on the mountain at that time, and displayed great skill and compassion as they assisted in rescue efforts.

I really enjoyed it, except for season 3. They could have skipped that one entirely.

I meant Season 4, the one with Peter Weller playing the weird, hallucinating old hippie villain. That season sucked.

Yes, I have indeed thought of that series once or twice since this whole ordeal started. I really enjoyed it, except for season 3. They could have skipped that one entirely.

I shudder to think of such a scenario. It might bring about... CORONAPOCALYPSE!

Thanks! This is what happens when a bored computer guy with a twisted sense of humor has too much time on his hands...

And now the “brains” behind the Imperial College model, on which CoVidActNow (and a lot of paranoia) is based, has declared a huge public “OOPS!” and revised his doomsday predictions downward by a factor if TWENTY-FIVE!

So 500,000 predicted deaths are now 20,000, and instead of 18 MONTHS of lockdown, now he says 2-3 weeks will do the trick.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3828596/posts

I am glad that someone else besides me took notice of this website, which is being used as a reference without any sort of vetting. Government entities and others are quoting it as if it is Gospel, and it is most certainly not.

First of all, having "Act Now" in the name of any organization or website is automatically a red flag in my opinion. I did a bit of reading on the site, and sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed. Their homepage is covered with a long list of people, giving the impression that all of them are responsible for the site. However, a closer look reveals that most of them have nothing to do with it, other than maybe mentioning it or giving it a (semi) endorsement. Only one actual medical doctor is among the founders, and it seems he has been in academia for many years.

Below in italics is the site's "About" section. I carefully followed the links to each of the founders. Besides the previously mentioned doctor, their founders include two former Howard Dean campaign workers, one of whom is a democratic state representative in Alaska; a blatant Trump-hater and vocal Democrat supporter who doesn't list an occupation; and a marketing guy. He and at least one of the others live in San Francisco, the home of Nancy Pelosi.

About
CoVidActNow was founded by Max Henderson, Rep Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, Igor Kofman, and Zack Rosen, with medical and policy guidance from Nirav R. Shah (MD, MPH, senior scholar, Stanford University Clinical Excellence Research Center).

Summary of my research:

Max Henderson: San Francisco based computer/marketing guy, former Google employee. Current director for ISLA, a Heritage Language Immersion program that promotes bilingualism and global citizenship of hispanic children through free literacy, culture, art, and science classes in Spanish.

Rep Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins: Democratic state representative in Alaska. Described as a major online organizer for Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

Igor Kofman (From his own Twitter bio): ex-Google, ex-Youtube, ex-Microsoft. Maker. Dancer. His Twitter page is full of anti-Trump, very leftwing posts for Democrat causes etc.

Zack Rosen: San Francisco based computer person and bicycle shop owner. Dropped out of college to work on the Howard Dean presidential campaign.

Nirav R. Shah: The ONLY medical person among the founders.

So, in my opinion, CoVidActNow.org is nothing more than a means to continue the media-driven panic over the Coronavirus, providing dire predictions with the goal of causing overreactions that will harm the economy and thus the Trump Administration. This website should not be used for any policy-making decisions, as I believe it is motivated by a purely political agenda.

My son and I saw 1917 tonight. Even after having seen the real thing in Peter Jackson’s stunning “They Shall Not Grow Old”, 1917 kind of blew us away. Its cinematography was masterful, not in a cliched or overly dramatic manner, but a way that pulled us into each scene, and often conveyed a sense of surreal beauty. Yet, the possibility of sudden, violent death was felt throughout, and many sweeping panoramas were, up close, a dark morass of mud, bodies, rats, and ashes, showing the stark horrors of WW1 trench warfare. Not gratuitously, but realistically. The characters are believable and real; ordinary soldiers doing extraordinary things out of duty, without Hollywood-esque false heroics or superhuman abilities.

I definitely recommend this movie.

As a side note, Ford v Ferrari was another excellent film from last year.

Star Wars was great once. Once. In 1977. Every sequel/prequel/SJW wet dream since then has been crap.

For excellent reviews of Star Wars and more combining knowledge with hilarious, off-color commentary, check out the channel of “The Critical Drinker” on YouTube. You’ll thank me after you stop laughing.

He abhorred “Rise” so much that he actually had to make its review a 2-parter. His statement at the end, in which he rightfully and expertly lambastes the creators for so shamefully destroying a cultural icon, is alone worth watching.