Comments

2

I'm sorry, but the real monsters in "Monster Hunters" are the screenwriters responsible for that racist joke.

Also, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that "Monster Hunters" director Paul W.S. Anderson is not the best director named Anderson. What about Wes Anderson? Or the best director named Paul Anderson. What about Paul Thomas Anderson? And if SIFF ever decides to do another "Magnificent Andersons" film festival, Paul W.S. Anderson will not even be invited.

Disclaimer. The preceding observations have been made in the persona of a typical outraged Internet commenter and do not reflect the views of the person making these comments.

Disclaimer to the disclaimer. The person making these comments does not condone racist jokes or Paul W.S. Anderson-directed action movies based on video games.

3

Seems far more corny than offensive:

In the clip from the film, which was released this week in China, a soldier yells to another soldier: “What are my knees? What kind of knees are these? Chi-knees.”

5

Microsoft is a surveillance capitalist with great PR.

"While Microsoft has recently evaded the scrutiny placed on its tech giant rivals, coasting on its shiny new image as a responsible company ... , it too is part of a broad shift that sees big tech acquire enormous sway over how societies and work function"

https://www.thestar.com/business/opinion/2020/12/06/you-may-be-working-from-home-but-the-boss-is-still-looking-over-your-shoulder.html

6

So how better is the carbon footprint by using fossil fuels to make electricity than burning natural gas? Especially when hydro and nuclear are limited.

7

@2, you went so meta with that comment that I have no clue what you're actually trying to communicate.

8

It is unlikely the Archives site would become "Condo Towers". I doubt Trumpist Kentucky Realtors are familiar with the "Seattle Process".

9

@7, frankly, neither do I.

10

I feel like Giuliani at this point is somehow more trump than Trump himself. I wonder if he's got plans for November 2024, as I feel like he's just the kind of chap that could really get country steered in a direction!

11

@6:

Hydro generates more than 90% of the electricity used by Seattle City Light, which doesn't sound terribly "limited" to me. If you knew how to use the fucking internet you could have found that out for yourself in a matter of seconds instead of coming here as you usually do to make some sort of idiotically uninformed statement that can be so easily debunked.

https://www.seattle.gov/light/greenest/cleanhydro.asp#:~:text=With%20more%20than%2090%20percent,electricity%20is%20100%25%20carbon%20neutral.

But then, we've all come to expect so little from you that I guess we just have to keep pointing out your idiocy to you over and over again, because you're too fucking stupid to connect even two dots...

12

@11 is correct, even if people like me pay for 100% Green Up like the UW does and get 99% green energy (solar/wind/hydro) as a result.

13

@6: You fail to mention how economical natural gas is.

15

@13: awesome circular arguments with yourself.. Please hesitate to tell all of us which side wins.

16

@15 - Fair point. But what businesses can afford thousands of dollars in electric bills each month? We'll see I guess.

17

Raindrop dear, over half of Seattle heats their homes with electricity. Granted, if you have a 1960's era whole house forced air furnace, or baseboard heat, it's going to be expensive, but many people have converted to heat pumps and the like.

There's going to be more growth in the electric market here in Seattle because of the somewhat onerous tax the city is going to impose on heating oil in an effort to get rid of as many oil furnaces as possible.

18

@6, 13, 16: Natural gas isn't cheaper than modern electric heat pumps. See, for example: https://www.gsheating.com/blog/geothermal/energy-cost-comparisons-how-efficient-is-your-seattle-heating-system/ Electric heat pumps cost around 50%-65% of natural gas per unit of useful heat. Sure, baseboards are more expensive, but very few new construction projects would use baseboards anyway. If they have AC (aka electric heat pump cooling), they'll also be able to turn that cycle around and have heat pump heating as well.

The other thing is that this is for larger new construction buildings only. You know, the ones that can be designed as a clean sheet with the preferred heating system. And if the developer wanted to install baseboards (or the equivalent), they could do that and take the hit on sale price for having a building that's expensive to heat.

19

@14,

You didn't even mention what I'm fairly certain was the most heinous and humiliating of his many recent disgraces, the Borat video.

His has honestly got to be among the most, if not THE most tragic, falls from grace a human has ever experienced. I'm not terribly knowledgeable with regard to world history and I suppose Hitler would make a compelling case and I'm sure there are others, overthrown emperors, defeated conquerors, etc. But at least in terms of American history, I figure he's got both Trump and Nixon beat rather easily, inasmuch as neither of them ever experienced anything close to the widespread approval and admiration that Rudy had in the wake of 9/11.

Nixon was despised by wide swaths of the populace even pre-watergate, and even before Trump ventured into the political sphere to make an ass of himself, he was barely noteworthy, other than as some bland and rich real estate developer. I'd always thought he was something of a caricature-ish clown (seem to have some vague recollection of him on Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous or some shit) but even then he was just sort of easily dismissed, same as when he was doing his dumb Apprentice show.

Rudy though...Shit feels Shakespearean in it's grandiosity.

20

As for businesses, Raindrop dear, I think the percentage who heat with electricity is even greater than residences. Except for the downtown district, which has central steam, there's a lot of electric boilers and such out there.

21

this from the nyt: It’s Time to Scare People About Covid

Our public messaging about the virus should explain the real costs — in graphic terms — of catching the virus. By Elisabeth Rosenthal; Dec 7, 2020

the Top Two comments on the article:

“Gentle exhortation doesn't work. Evoking images of heroism and national duty doesn't work. And as a previous Times column pointed out, public shaming really doesn't seem to work either (other than providing an outlet for our feelings of frustration.

I agree—it's time to terrify the living daylights out of people. Marketing professionals, roll up your sleeves and let 'er rip.” --Victoria; Stockholm

“Recently a former colleague, who was young, died of Covid-19. He was a nice person, but had swallowed Trump's lies so completely that even while in the ICU he was in denial about his situation.

It's really hard to see what will work with people who don't believe in science, think Covid is a hoax, that masks are somehow a political statement, and that asking people to wear one is an infringement of their rights, and many of them don't believe in vaccines either.

They don't need scared straight PSA's, they need to be deprogrammed from the cult they don't realize they have joined.” --Robert Stacy; Tokyo

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/opinion/covid-public-health-messaging.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/opinion/covid-public-health-messaging.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage#commentsContainer

turns out, the Freedom to Inflict
is NOT a constitutional Right.

gawd, who even Knew?

24

well there was Big Money to be Made in lawyering up the trumpf crime fambly and Rudy swore to all his eXes he'd pay them all so as trumpfy went off the Rails Rudy had no Choice but to tag along wherever the Ride took him.

back to the dido store
or to the Crematorium?
stay tuned.

oh Rudy
Tutti-fruitti.

25

Dildos
not didos!
fuckin' trumpf.

26

I believe you got the headline wrong. It is actually Giuliani who wants to "cut gas"!

27

If we were to build an offshore wind facility we could provide more than enough electricity to meet not just Washington's needs, but sell power onto the grid, and create jobs, lots of family wage Union jobs.

Then if the City of Seattle built transit, and a few more charging stations, we would not only make huge inroads into making Seattle a much greener city, we would create thousands of jobs.

(sort of like, oh I don't know, a Green New Deal maybe?)

28

@27 -- and those Charging Stations ougtta be a Thing you know -- meals-to-Go & maybe (outdoor, heated seats?) catch up on . . . whateverrthefuck etc. I'm smelling Profit$ here.

29

btw -- if we Defunded (as in NOT subsidizing-- to the tune of c. $90,000,000,000.00) Big Stinkin' Oil we could just move all those Monies where we (We, the peeps & the Planet) might Benefit. another No-Brainer -- unless your Occupation cum Fealty will Not allow you to see The Truth innit. sad.

30

Electricity is far less expensive much more sustainable via green energy, and causes less health problems (lately there are a lot of medical/science articles coming out about the dangers of the use of natural gas in the home, especially for children and how it contributes to childhood asthma). Gas (particularly gas stoves) are also much more dangerous to the health and well being (and lives) of the poor as they tend to be used to compensate for indoor heating when power goes out or electricity is turned off.

Anyone pushing gas heat as a less expensive option has never lived on the east coast. Even electricity is obscenely expensive on the east coast (despite the fact that the entire northeast could be powered by hydro power - the reason it is not is because of the $$$ people are making off it NOT being so).

We live in approximately the same square footage here on the west coast as we did on the east coast. Granted it got a lot colder in the winters and a lot hotter in the summers (though we did not have or use any air conditioning in our home). We were on the payment plan for National Grid (not even an American owned company, making bank on New York's gas and electric bills) - so we used a lot more energy - still - keeping the heat as low as possible (less than 65 in the winter was too much for me, given my neuromuscular disease - though before I moved home my mom kept the heat at 60) and using far less electricity and gas than most people (they have a widget that allows you to see your energy consumption compared to your neighbors and also my mom still worked then so she was not home most of the day) - we paid $350 a month on the year round payment plan. That's because our winter bills were $500 or more. The one saving grace for me was a family room that was an add-on to the original structure that had it's own electrical heating, so I was able to close myself in that room and stay warmer when it was really cold outside.

Here in Oregon we use far more gas and electricity than we did in NYS (since my mother is retired now), though still less than most - and our combined gas (stove/fireplace/water heater/general heat) and electricity bills are (combined) on average $100 month, usually less. And that's also with keeping the home much warmer - on average 70 degrees. Our heat on the east coast was gas, we had a gas stove, fire place, water heater, and general heat).

At some point this country is going to have to contend with the very old electric grids (anyone remember that enormous blackout on the east coast in the early 2000s)? Right now only Texas has its own grid. Switching to 100% hydro and wind power is in the best interest of this country. It is not, however, in the best interest of those making money on utilities (read up on what the Republicans have done regarding deregulation and the increase in utility bills).

31

I'm assuming Matt is not a fan of 'HotDog' the movie. What the fuck is a Chinese downhill?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qe3HBqFhTU

32

These days it's nice to have a politician take a pro-active stance on global warming. I'd like to applaud Mayor Durkan for doing something to help the situation, but let's assume all that electricity is from renewable sources and environmentally friendly. Will she be there for me when I get that $300 electricity bill instead of that $12 gas bill?

And still green energy, while getting more competitive with conventional sources, is pricier. Here in Los Angeles each customer has an option through our Department of Water and Power to elect all his/her/their electricity come from green sources, but it is 20-50% higher than a regular bill.

I try very hard not to be an energy hog, but - alas! - affordability has to be my number one concern right now. I look forward to the day when fossil fuels are part of our dark history - if I live that long.

33

I am not disturbed by the “Chi” “knees” pun because I don’t know enough to be upset, and neither do you. I’m certainly curious and I want to know the intent. But Mr. Baume, you have attributed conditions to villainy that may simply result from ignorance. Per Hanlon’s razor: never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Our rage is not an unlimited resource and must be spent wisely lest it be cheapened.

I miss Katie Herzog.

34

I always knew Rudy Guiliani, like his Zombie Death Cult Leader, Der Gropenfuhrer, was a disease. It's only a matter of time before Rudy, Trumpty Dumpty, Dencey Pencey, Bill Barrf, Babyface Kavanaugh, and all their minions keel over from TRUMPVID-19. May 2020 officially spell out the end of the GOP, and good riddance!

Shut off gas? Easy. Fill up the bottomless shithole that is Trumpty Dumpty's mouth. Don't forget to seal the huuuuuuuge closure up before hurtling the mass of toxic industrial waste into outer space.

@24 kristofarian: Tutti-fruitti--SO Rudy! WHOOO-OO-OO
Tutti Fruitti--SO Rudy! Tutti-fruitti---SO Rudy!
A-bop-bop-a boom-bam-a-bing-bang BONG!

Rock on, Little Richard! Rest in peace.

@30 xina: I love reading your posts. So consistently spot on, xina.
I live in a 100-year old building that was originally a local hospital.
We have natural gas, and electric, and boiler room heat piped through the
units. Some have radiators; mine does not. Very cozy in winter.

35

Bauhaus dear, Chez Vel-DuRay is a terrible energy hog, mostly because Grandmother Vel-DuRay heats her room to approximately 150 degrees using an electric heater (even in the summer) but our power bill is always around $250 every two months. We’re on the budget plan for gas, but that’s $75/month, just for heat and hot water.

My point is that gas isn’t all that much cheaper, especially up here.

36

Xina dear, The problem isn’t so much that the grid is old (those east coast outages were all about the interconnections to the various utilities. It actually worked as planned, and luckily some Midwestern system operators were on the ball, or they would have been worse.) the trouble is that the grid was very much intended for one way delivery, and renewables have upended that design. Also, it’s not designed for all-electric living, and needs reinforcement, which is a very pricey proposition in a place like NYC.

(Happily, Seattle has a very robust grid with a lot of capacity. That’s actually because of a cost cutting measure dating back to the 60’s, but it positions the city well for more electrification.)

Merchant Seaman, several years back both SnoPUD and Tacoma City Light were experimenting with tidal generation, which is a fascinating proposition. They’re basically generators on the ocean floor that use the tides to generate electricity. I don’t know what came of either of those.

38

@21 kristofarian: Trumpty Dumpty's MAGA fan base is already scared stupid, and has long proven that MAGA stupidity is terminal. That MAGAs are so eagerly willing to be scammed by a TeeVee con artist's snake oil, smoke, mirrors, and hate propaganda, even if it means they'll lose everything and DIE from Trumpty Dumpty induced MAGA stupidity amazes me.
B-but--they gets to keep their GUNS, misquoted Bibles, and faht fer their Free Dumbs!

@24 kristofarian: Well, for Tutti=Fruitti Rudy, it's back to the Four Seasons Landscaping Crematorium, the dildo shop, or----BACK in the US---BACK in the US----BACK in the USSR!
Hey, Vlady--Show them all the slope-y mountains way down South---Take 'em to your daddy's farm! Let 'em hear your balalaikas ringing out---Come and keep your comrades warm!


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