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HamsterHookah

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Posts posted by HamsterHookah

  1. 9 minutes ago, Hate said:


    I guess I’m just not one to bitch about a show for which I had no input not going in the direction I want it to go. I’ve enjoyed the show tremendously and I’m really glad that I can watch each week without any expectations…just sit back and laugh and enjoy.

    Like with anything else creative, different audiences consume for different reasons and with different expectations and different ways to bring pleasure or joy.

    You are luck you are so low brow. Just kidding by the way, to each their own.

    I would just comment that the lack of buzz and conversation around S2 and S3 is relevant and an indication that most people have moved on from it being a really interesting and novel concept with interesting things to say, to another beautifully shot and polished rom-com/sitcom that doesn't challenge or excite anyone, in any camp.

    I don't think anyone but the easily entertained find this to be a great result after S1.

    But how many shows actually go throughout their run at a very high level? Not many. And those shows we deem as classics.

    • Hook 'Em 1
  2. 13 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    This is an aside, and no offense intended, but it's astonishing how complicit we've become in the demise of the middle class and the reduced share of productivity it receives in exchange for what it creates. 
    Imagine thinking of the salary and benefits earned over a lifetime of loyal service as a "grift". Imagine being surprised that your friend from Toyota actually gets to keep  the healthcare and pension he was offered and accepted as the price Toyota offered him for his labor. Imagine thinking it was perfectly natural for a legal fiction comprised of capital to negotiate the purchase of labor, but unnatural and unfair for a legal fiction comprised of workers to do the same thing. these are thoughts that were unthinkable during the pinnacle of American Greatness. 
     

    I like your post and whole-heartedly agree from an idealistic and values-driven place. I was commenting on the realities of share-holder (or late stage, as the zoomers call it) capitalism.

    And regardless, getting to a place where you are turning a screw driver 100 times a day for a wage that a doctor makes, is both awesome and horrible, depending on which side of the business you are sitting on.

  3. Jerry Springer was must watch TV for middle school/early teen years much in the same way WWF Raw is War was. It's a weird vocation to be the lowest of low brow purveyor of smut and trash TV, but I guess we all have to pay the bills, and who am I to judge the man? 

    You never hear much about the guy's personal life, but I wonder if he cringed off-screen at the crap situations and people he had to deal with on a day in and day out basis.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Like 1
  4. 22 hours ago, Wally Fairway said:

    Well it looks like Uncle Warren got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. 2nd largest holder of Activision, which he had stated was a acquisition arbitrage play. Well the acquisition was just given a thumbs down by the EU, which will be appealed; but Warren was thinking he could get easy money and the market has said "not so fast my friend" 
    But I'm still a believer in BRK.B, it is my 2nd largest holding, maybe this is a buy the dip moment; although I really thought that would be when Charlie or Warren made an appearance in the death pool thread. 

    It’s reading like Microsoft will pay the $3bn breakup fee and walk away; a big loss for everyone and an over-rotation for regulators.

  5. 5 hours ago, C-Man said:

    Yeah, I really liked this week's episode quite a bit. I don't mind the Nate storyline -- he's going to ultimately be redeemed. When he went to the bathroom at the Greek restaurant, I was waiting for him to spit in the sink. He didn't, which I think is significant. He didn't go back to his crutch. I'm tired of Keely's storyline and don't really care about Rebecca any longer.

    A few notes:

    • I too expected a spit in the mirror (which always grossed me out btw) and when he didn't, I think we were supposed to feel that Nate has overcome that gross period of insecurity that drove him to ugliness, and that he's growing and softening, etc.
    • 100% agree on the Keely and Rebecca, nobody cares, with 5 episodes left need to focus on the team and Ted's looming decision to quit while on top (or behind).
    • I feel like the Zaza storyline was half-baked in hindsight. It almost feels like what would happen to a character who got in trouble and had to be written out of the show, just didn't much add up to the abrupt way he quit (he had just given a strong motivational team speech) and it's like he never was on the team a few episodes later.
    • Trent Crimm fan-boi'ing at the end was really out of character from what we've seen for 3 seasons now. That was weird direction.

    BUT, big prediction because I can always smell tropes and formula writing a mile away:

    • I think the groundswell of the fans showing up to the practice is going to be important and the 4th bullet point. The 4th bullet point is going to be "community" or something like that and Ted planted the seed with his democratization of the team in the best line of the season, "It's their team, we are just borrowing it for a bit". Eventually the practices are going to be overrun with fans and it will be a festival like event and, though they won't have won on the field, they will have won the hearts of the locals and Mae's pub will be full of people despite the mediocrity, and Ted will have been the American White Savior teaching them this lesson before leaving back to America
    • Hook 'Em 1
  6. As a comparison to Elon running Tesla as a modern tech company versus a legacy/union auto company:

    Quote

    Stat: 18.5%. That’s how much GM’s profits fell in the first quarter. The automaker took a $900 million hit in severance and other costs when it cut 5,000 jobs earlier this year.

    I have a friend retiring this year after 29 years at Toyota. A mutual who works at GM said, "just wait until your 30th year and they have to buy you out" to which the response was, "Toyota isn't unionized like that, so it doesn't matter."

    Musk running Tesla like a modern tech company (anti-union, capitalistic/meritocratic) means there isn't a ton of bloat to carry on the balance sheet, I guess, which helps. Even my Toyota friend gets healthcare for life in retirement, among other pension/retirement benefits.

    I have another friend who works at Peterbilt who is in a union and gets paid more than most people posting on this thread after 25 years, and he acknowledges he's overpaid as he turns about 12 screws, on anywhere from 60-70 units a day. It's kind of a grift, it seems.

  7. 4 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    I'll vote for Joe's corpse over any republican. hell, put a literal potato up there. if there is a D next to the name and not an R they get my vote. Potato 2024!

    And you will neg rep any post I make. Even if I said Longhorn_Fan68 is not a fat potato in real life, that gets your neg rep. Neg Rep 2024!

    You are a very smart and discerning person and voter, wise in all your affairs in life, no doubt.

    For Brutus is an honorable man, and you are a smart man.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Fuck You 5
  8. 1 minute ago, Guadaloopy said:

    I mean, yeah... luxury is is one tack you can take.  But there are many other ways to make a buck... or a few hundred billion.

    The whole of my point is that if Tesla's goal is to become a mid-market brand and commodity vehicle and compete and be the new Toyota Camry, then their stock price is not going to be justified. The company's valuation and financial foundation it's been living on the last 10 years will not stand. 

    Good for them if that's what they want to become and I won't judge and congrats on just now getting a model 3 and I'm sorry for any offense.

    • Hook 'Em 1
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  9. 13 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

    This comment makes zero sense.  The stated mission of Tesla has always been to "accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy."  The point was never to create a luxury brand.  The luxury angle was a gimmick to gain market share at a higher price point so that the company could generate revenue to fund investment in infrastructure and R&D that would lead to the mass-production of lower cost vehicles.  The point has always been to reduce the price of their vehicles to encourage mass adoption of the technology. 

    Okay, great. So you are saying "Mission Accomplished"?

    I'm saying that, regardless of what was cooked up by the CMO in the board room, up until about probably 2 or 3 years ago, Tesla as a brand and vehicle was unquestionably a luxury brand with an air of exclusivity that said something about the early adopter/early majority to the world. It gave a quick shorthand of what this person was about or valued (e.g. sustainability, tech-savvy, hip and fashionable, upper middle class or higher, etc.).

    It has since been on a rapid decline to where we see it now as a lower priced, questionably designed/produced vehicle for late majority and laggards, if you will again harken back to your business education on the stages of Diffusion of Adoption Theory. 

    So, yay! Tesla as a brand has become as aspirational and cool and as desirable as a premium packaged Toyota Camry! That DEFINITELY justifies the market cap and value versus automobile peers!

  10. 13 minutes ago, Js1 said:

    No he won’t. And no it isn’t. The Dems are 100% behind Joe Biden today and going forward. 

    Someone read the Time article the other day titled "How Biden cleared the field for a run in 2024": https://time.com/6274345/biden-2024-re-election-democratic-primary/

    In early January, President Joe Biden called a cabinet meeting in the West Wing of the White House. Over the holidays, a wave of flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines had left thousands of Americans stranded at airports for days. The face of the government response on cable news had been Biden’s Transportation Secretary and one-time rival for the Democratic nomination, Pete Buttigieg, who had been one of the administration’s most visible talking heads for months. Multiple clips of Buttigieg holding his own against combative anchors had gone viral. When Biden saw Buttigieg, the President flashed his unnaturally white teeth.

    “Hey, TV,” Biden tossed at Buttigieg, say two people familiar with the meeting. It was a targeted jibe. Officials in the room saw it as a good-natured reminder to Buttigieg that, while it was his job to be out in front of a bad news cycle, he was representing Biden, not himself.

    The subtle moment spoke volumes about how Biden has managed to clear the field within his own party for a re-election bid that many in his party never wanted. As Biden entered the White House in 2021, insiders predicted he would hold the Oval Office for one term and then step aside. A year ago, the conventional wisdom was that Biden might run again, but that he would have to fend off serious challengers in a contested primary, including possibly figures from within his own cabinet.

    That thinking has completely fallen apart. Despite a recent poll showing most voters don’t want the oldest President in American history to run for another term, none of the party’s most credible candidates are taking any steps toward a run. The two most prominent Democrats vying for President thus far—Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—are not seen by party insiders as serious threats to Biden’s glide path to the nomination.

    That thinking has completely fallen apart. Despite a recent poll showing most voters don’t want the oldest President in American history to run for another term, none of the party’s most credible candidates are taking any steps toward a run. The two most prominent Democrats vying for President thus far—Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—are not seen by party insiders as serious threats to Biden’s glide path to the nomination.

    “There isn’t an opening” for a Democratic challenger, says a Biden aide who tracks his polling closely. “You’re not going to challenge somebody that you can’t beat,” adds another Biden adviser. Across the country, the Democratic Party’s biggest stars have conceded that point.

    • Fuck You 3
  11. Fascinating:

    Quote

     

    Netflix doubles down on Korean content

    Netflix announced a $2.5B investment in Korean content over the next four years — 2x the amount it has invested in the market since 2016 — in a recent press release.

    Co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke of Netflix’s confidence in Korean storytelling and its impact on the world’s interest in the country.

    “Hallyu” (meaning “Korean wave”) refers to that global phenomenon, spurred by K-pop bands, Parasite’s Best Picture win, and, of course, Netflix’s “Squid Game.” In 2021, South Korea saw a record $12.4B in content exports.

    For Netflix, the move is obvious

    Over 60% of its 230m+ global subscribers watched Korean content in 2022, while the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has been a source of consistent growth, accounting for 1.46m of Netflix’s new 1.75m subscribers in Q1.

    Contentwise:

    “Squid Game” was a global sensation. Netflix’s most-watched non-English series kept people hooked for 1.6B+ hours.

    Other Korean hits include revenge drama “The Glory,” legal drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” and reality competition show “Physical: 100.”

    Throughout 2023, Netflix’s slate of Korean content will feature 34 new and returning titles across genres.

    Other streamers…

    … are catching up or missing out.

    Warner Bros. Discovery’s new Max rollout won’t hit the Asia-Pacific region until 2024, which Variety noted was a “particularly egregious” part of a “dreadful blunder.”

    Disney+ wisely teamed up with K-pop superstars BTS and, in late 2022, announced numerous Asian titles for 2023, saying stories from the region would be a “key pillar” for the platform for the next 100 years.

    Meanwhile, Amazon recently tried to gain APAC market share via ads in the region featuring anime and Korean dramas.

    Fun fact: “Zombieverse” — an upcoming Netflix reality competition show set in a zombie apocalypse — recruited the team behind another Korean hit, “All of Us Are Dead,” to make the game’s monsters.

     

     

  12. 10 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

    Sounds like you're advocating for universal basic income or a lower minimum wage. Is that true? Either way, I don't see a ton of outrage from you or others about poor people who have to move against their will to keep a job because of financial resource issues. Doesn't that fall under the massive umbrella of personal responsibility? I think there's one party that champions that ideology, now that I think about it...

    It's not false. The number of philosophical/religious exemptions in Texas schools has tripled from 1 to 3% in the past 10 years, and spoiler alert, you'll be shocked to learn that half of that has happened since 2020. If it's  so hard, how are the #s doubling so fast? Additionally, for someone to get a religious extension, they have to prove it is against their belief system. I'm sorry if someone failed to do that effectively...I mean not sorry. Additionally, and specifically for the military, it's literally a fucking career based upon the entire concept of FOLLOWING A LAWFUL ORDER. And these people refused to follow a LAWFUL ORDER, and they were discharged. And oh by the way, they now have a path back into military service. Then again, I'm not surprised that a sovereign citizen would fail to grasp the very basic concept of following a lawful order. 

    I was attempting to bow out of this conversation and let it get back to population decline, but keep responding with bullshit and I'm going to keep persisting. 

    Can you share a link to back that up? It flies contrary to what I've seen and read.

  13. 34 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

    I will too, but I don't think it will come to that. I really think Newsom is going to jump in if Joe's age and/or popularity continue to be polling concerns. Personally I think that it's 50/50 right now.

    From the AP:

    Quote

     

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Only about half of Democrats think President Joe Biden should run again in 2024, a poll shows, but a large majority say they’d be likely to support him if he became the nominee.

    The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 26% of Americans overall want to see Biden run again — a slight recovery from the 22% who said that in January. Forty-seven percent of Democrats say they want him to run, also up slightly from only 37% who said that in January.

    The ambivalence among Democratic voters comes as Biden is preparing to formally announce his 2024 reelection campaign as soon as next week, according to people briefed on the discussions. The president has been eyeing Tuesday, April 25 — four years to the day since he entered the 2020 race — although no final decisions have been made.

    Despite the reluctance of many Democrats to see Biden run for another term, 78% of them say they approve of the job he’s doing as president. And a total of 81% of Democrats say they would at least probably support Biden in a general election if he is the nominee — 41% say they definitely would and 40% say they probably would.

     

    This marries with what everyone on this thread is saying (except the guy who said he voted against Trump last time but will be voting for Biden).

    What's interesting to watch is how the younger, upstart, fire-in-the-belly guys like Mayor Pete are going to operate. Do they clear the path and wait for their turn or do they throw their hat in the ring?

    https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-poll-2024-white-house-economy-873663f6e3cbca8f2dae2f018c8be9d3

    • Fuck You 3
  14. Been feeling grimy today, maybe due to the weather, but listening to a lot of early drill music. Still blows my mind that a 16 year old created/legitimized a category of music with what are considered the father of drill and classics:

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