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Wiser: Getting Beyond Groupthink to Make Groups Smarter
Cass R. Sunstein and Reid Hastie
Book
Why are group decisions so hard? Since the beginning of human history, people have made decisions in...
Red Team: How to Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy
Book
Red teaming. It is a practice as old as the Devil's Advocate, the eleventh-century Vatican official...
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated JFK (1991) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020 (Updated Nov 26, 2020)
"๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ."
Jesus Christ. Back when conspiracy theories were good, now all it takes is a shitty, debunked, and obviously phony Facebook meme to get people to believe 5G causes coronavirus or whatever stupid shit Trump retweets from hate groups this week. On the other hand you have this seemingly never-ending and soul-stirring barrage of lies, cover-ups, threats, deaths/suicides/murders, extensively planned attacks, and general anguish which still plays more truthful and earnest than most things that come out of the CIA, White House, and/or FBI. Not a single word wasted, crams more exhilaration into a group of people talking at a dinner table than the vast majority of MCU 'action' scenes - and the meticulous, airtight extent of the writing is nothing less than utterly flooring. As a result of the beyond exceptional jam-packed conspiracy narrative I can't say any of these characters are that compelling in their own regard (even though the cast is an unforgettable all-timer of screen legends), but given the end result it's a fair tradeoff for the type of movie that bangs around in your head like a rubber bullet after watching it. Feverish, hot-blooded, commanding provocation - even made *my* ass paranoid. The final thirty minutes of - essentially - one long courtroom speech shouldn't work in theory; but not only is it thrilling as can be (and *that* moment just pierces your mortal soul), but it offers some of Costner's finest work throughout his entire career as an actor. Imagine this coming out and still getting shit like ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐บ, and ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐บ - would have loved to have been there for the ensuing shitstorm this caused back in its day, must have been legendary. So great that it *actually* caused a big deal change in government legislation immediately upon release.
Jesus Christ. Back when conspiracy theories were good, now all it takes is a shitty, debunked, and obviously phony Facebook meme to get people to believe 5G causes coronavirus or whatever stupid shit Trump retweets from hate groups this week. On the other hand you have this seemingly never-ending and soul-stirring barrage of lies, cover-ups, threats, deaths/suicides/murders, extensively planned attacks, and general anguish which still plays more truthful and earnest than most things that come out of the CIA, White House, and/or FBI. Not a single word wasted, crams more exhilaration into a group of people talking at a dinner table than the vast majority of MCU 'action' scenes - and the meticulous, airtight extent of the writing is nothing less than utterly flooring. As a result of the beyond exceptional jam-packed conspiracy narrative I can't say any of these characters are that compelling in their own regard (even though the cast is an unforgettable all-timer of screen legends), but given the end result it's a fair tradeoff for the type of movie that bangs around in your head like a rubber bullet after watching it. Feverish, hot-blooded, commanding provocation - even made *my* ass paranoid. The final thirty minutes of - essentially - one long courtroom speech shouldn't work in theory; but not only is it thrilling as can be (and *that* moment just pierces your mortal soul), but it offers some of Costner's finest work throughout his entire career as an actor. Imagine this coming out and still getting shit like ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐บ, and ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐บ - would have loved to have been there for the ensuing shitstorm this caused back in its day, must have been legendary. So great that it *actually* caused a big deal change in government legislation immediately upon release.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation in Books
Oct 9, 2019
Can Charlie Be as Smart as Einstein?
Meet Charlie Thorne. She is highly intelligent, a great athlete โ and twelve-years-old. She is attending college, if you can call only showing up on test days to be attending college, just biding her time until she is legally an adult. Until the day the CIA shows up and strong arms her into helping them on a mission of critical importance. It is believed that Albert Einstein developed an equation in the 1930โs that rivals his theory of relativity in importance, but he hid it to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. While people all over the world have been looking for it for decades, the race to find it has heated up, with the fate of the world potentially in the balance. Because Charlie is so smart, they think she can more easily decode the clues that Einstein left behind. Will Charlie be able to follow the clues to find it?
I was excited to dive into a new series from middle grade author Stuart Gibbs. It takes a little time to set up the characters and the story in the first half, but the second half is packed with action. When I got here, it was nearly impossible to put down. The main characters got some nice character growth over the course of the book. The rest of the characters arenโt quite as sharp, but they are developed enough to keep us engaged in the book. This doesnโt have quite as much humor as some of Stuart Gibbsโs other books, although I did laugh some. The more serious tone is reflected in the more serious nature of the story. There isnโt anything that isnโt appropriate for the intended audience, but there is more violence off the page than in his previous books. Only the most sensitive kids will be bothered by what happens here, however. The ending of this book will leave you ready for Charlieโs next adventure. I know Iโm anxious for it.
I was excited to dive into a new series from middle grade author Stuart Gibbs. It takes a little time to set up the characters and the story in the first half, but the second half is packed with action. When I got here, it was nearly impossible to put down. The main characters got some nice character growth over the course of the book. The rest of the characters arenโt quite as sharp, but they are developed enough to keep us engaged in the book. This doesnโt have quite as much humor as some of Stuart Gibbsโs other books, although I did laugh some. The more serious tone is reflected in the more serious nature of the story. There isnโt anything that isnโt appropriate for the intended audience, but there is more violence off the page than in his previous books. Only the most sensitive kids will be bothered by what happens here, however. The ending of this book will leave you ready for Charlieโs next adventure. I know Iโm anxious for it.
Gestograma de Embarazo
Health & Fitness and Medical
App
**Now iPad&iPhone version in the same app** The dream of being pregnant came into your life and as...
A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman, and the Birth of Modern China, 1949
Book
A gripping narrative of the Truman Administration's response to the fall of Nationalist China and...
History politics
Monopoly Deal Card Game
5.7
Rate It
Tabletop Game
(from the box): The fast-paced, addictive card game where your luck can change in the play of a...
RษX Regent (349 KP) rated Meet the Parents (2000) in Movies
Mar 7, 2019
Lies do not pay...
Contains spoilers, click to show
This awkward comedy of errors has gone on to spawn a whole franchise, with the latest installment, "Meet The Parents: Little Fockers" just wrapping up its run in theatres as I write. Ben Stiller is Gaylord (Greg) Focker, who is trying to impress his prospective father in law, Robert De Niro on top form, as he plans to propose to his daughter.
The couple 'meet the parents' as they stay the weekend for his future sister in law's wedding and things obviously go down hill from there, with the inevitable comic effect. He meets the rest of her family and several friends, all of whom seem not to care a jot that Stiller's Focker is given little consideration.
On top of all this, De Niro's father character is an Ex-CIA agent, which further compounds the problems, but when all is said and done, I find it hard to completely sympathise with Stiller's protagonist, as whilst some of the problems and situations are beyond his control, many of them are caused by his constant lying.
The film seems to be a little confused as whether it supports Stiller as he lies his way through the film, to everyone, including his hosts, or De Niro who correctly points out towards the film's conclusion that things might have gone better if he had only told the truth.
I personally agree with De Niro. The hero of this film is a liar and he pays for those lies, but that is turn makes it difficult for me to sympathise or empathise too much with him. Having said that, this is well-played cringe-worthy comedy, and it does a great job of conveying that sense and drawing us into the discomfort of the characters. Owen Wilson's lengthy cameo as the perfect, divine ex-fiancรฉ was pitched perfectly, truly capturing the ideas that we have over matching up to the past, though over-played, on a metaphorical level, it was brilliant.
Overall, it made me laugh throughout, but I wouldn't say that it was hysterical, though it was entertaining, moderately thoughtful but promotes a brand of humour that isn't what I would consider to be number one for me.
The couple 'meet the parents' as they stay the weekend for his future sister in law's wedding and things obviously go down hill from there, with the inevitable comic effect. He meets the rest of her family and several friends, all of whom seem not to care a jot that Stiller's Focker is given little consideration.
On top of all this, De Niro's father character is an Ex-CIA agent, which further compounds the problems, but when all is said and done, I find it hard to completely sympathise with Stiller's protagonist, as whilst some of the problems and situations are beyond his control, many of them are caused by his constant lying.
The film seems to be a little confused as whether it supports Stiller as he lies his way through the film, to everyone, including his hosts, or De Niro who correctly points out towards the film's conclusion that things might have gone better if he had only told the truth.
I personally agree with De Niro. The hero of this film is a liar and he pays for those lies, but that is turn makes it difficult for me to sympathise or empathise too much with him. Having said that, this is well-played cringe-worthy comedy, and it does a great job of conveying that sense and drawing us into the discomfort of the characters. Owen Wilson's lengthy cameo as the perfect, divine ex-fiancรฉ was pitched perfectly, truly capturing the ideas that we have over matching up to the past, though over-played, on a metaphorical level, it was brilliant.
Overall, it made me laugh throughout, but I wouldn't say that it was hysterical, though it was entertaining, moderately thoughtful but promotes a brand of humour that isn't what I would consider to be number one for me.
Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring
Book
"Hilarious and Heartbreaking. Comedy shouldn't take courage, but it made an exception for Bassem."...
