Search found 6313 matches

by GrandMasterTerwynn
2019-12-20 08:59am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: SUPERTHREAD: 2020 United States Elections
Replies: 2322
Views: 787303

Re: SUPERTHREAD: 2020 United States Elections

So I've been watching the Democratic debates and polls, and I'm getting a distinct sense of deja vu; in that this race is shaping up to be a repeat of 2016 ... i.e. a tired old Establishment also-ran versus a grumpy old man who yells at capitalists to "get off his lawn." Which leads me to ...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-10-16 03:08pm
Forum: Science Fiction
Topic: The Orville
Replies: 223
Views: 112585

Re: The Orville

This episode was pretty interesting. Krill society features religious indoctrination from an exceptionally young age; but their ships come with a commissar priest aboard who seems to enjoy great latitude, in terms of the power he wields. The protagonists won because the ship's lighting was, apparent...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-06-10 01:01pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: China Looks to Capitalize on Clean Energy as U.S. Retreats
Replies: 2
Views: 1904

Re: China Looks to Capitalize on Clean Energy as U.S. Retreats

Trump has pretty thoroughly ceded America's world leadership in every arena except corruption and producing hot air. Arguably the ceding of the United States' global leadership role began with the inauguration of George W. Bush, and the seeds were planted as early as the mid/late 1970s, when it bec...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-06-10 12:47pm
Forum: Fantasy
Topic: Where can I find better anime?
Replies: 205
Views: 109327

Re: Where can I find better anime?

You might want to take a look at RE: Creators. I wouldn't, if I were you. Re:Creators suffers from terrible, cliched, writing. Oh, hey, have you seen 'Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'? Unrelated to the Ouran Haruhi of course, but the first season especially is pretty great IMO. As I get older, it bec...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-06-02 07:18pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: 'We're getting out' - Donald Trump confirms US exit from landmark global climate change deal
Replies: 32
Views: 10423

Re: 'We're getting out' - Donald Trump confirms US exit from landmark global climate change deal

I'd have been shocked if he hadn't done this. In fact I'm kind of surprised he didn't write it on the wall in his own feces. ...and this is why I like you. ;) See, I half expected him not to do it because of the leaks eArlier in the week that he would. I figured he'd use the difference to prove lea...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-06-01 06:15pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: 'We're getting out' - Donald Trump confirms US exit from landmark global climate change deal
Replies: 32
Views: 10423

Re: 'We're getting out' - Donald Trump confirms US exit from landmark global climate change deal

This wasn't really a surprise. Trump made withdrawing from Paris one of the planks of his campaign. He seems to genuinely believe that, to put America first, means returning the country to the 19th century and ceding what little credibility and leadership the country still possesses on the global st...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-05-18 10:06am
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: Thought Exercise: Alien Planet Colinization
Replies: 42
Views: 17306

Re: Thought Exercise: Alien Planet Colinization

Also, yeast is not a plant. Hence the quotes. Also, one would really want to make sure they bring along the right kind of yeast. Relying on random wild strains to produce isn't always desirable as one is just as likely to end up with a strain that spoils things versus a strain that produces somethi...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-05-17 08:45pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: Thought Exercise: Alien Planet Colinization
Replies: 42
Views: 17306

Re: Thought Exercise: Alien Planet Colinization

I would submit that yeast has to be included in any list of "plants" that one would take with them. Without yeasts, you don't get bread (unless you like flatbreads,) and you don't get beer, wine, or any other spirit (also, alcohol has plenty of uses as a solvent, fuel, and general disinfec...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-05-17 08:04pm
Forum: Pure Star Trek
Topic: Star Trek: Discovery - the first trailer
Replies: 107
Views: 54128

Re: Star Trek: Discovery - the first trailer

Watched the trailer and ... It's a good thing this pile of shit will only be watched by the five or six people stupid enough to subscribe to CBS All Access. It looks like a logical extension of Enterprise ... which would be fine if it weren't for the fact that this show allegedly takes place a mere ...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-05-04 10:23pm
Forum: Science Fiction
Topic: They find a Dyson Sphere (RAR!)
Replies: 30
Views: 11404

Re: They find a Dyson Sphere (RAR!)

My response would be "Meh." At 800 light-years distant, any message we could send to them would generate a reply in a minimum of 1600 years. That's quite a few years after I'm going to be dead. It will take many centuries (with the wildly optimistic assumption that we, as a species, won't ...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-02-14 07:29am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Michael Flynn has resigned
Replies: 78
Views: 11668

Re: Michael Flynn has resigned

I'm not surprised by Flynn having to fall on his own sword. While the "see the world burn" wing of the Trump White House indicated its support for him (i.e. Conway and her ilk), the wing of the White House holding Trump's leash for the GOP felt that Flynn's blatant contacts with the Russia...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-02-13 04:07pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Hillary to run again in 2020 (Op-ED)
Replies: 162
Views: 24115

Re: Hillary to run again in 2020

This barely rises above the factual level of "conspiracy theory." Thanks for the clickbait thread title, OP. As has been stated, even if Clinton did run again, she probably wouldn't survive the primary. Especially if there was a challenger even modestly more viable than Bernie Sanders (whi...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-02-09 12:46pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: 2020- a hypothetical.
Replies: 47
Views: 6647

Re: 2020- a hypothetical.

Certainly that would be the answer of the person who does not like the old coot. The salient question is, how many more like this disliker of the old coot are there? There were enough that the Democrats picked Hillary Clinton, and all of her perceived baggage, over him. As others have said, a bette...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-02-01 10:14am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Trump Dump: Internal Policy (Thread I)
Replies: 2022
Views: 726122

Re: Neil M. Gorsuch nominated for SCOTUS

I hope they do just for effort's sake, but Trump could then just have McConnell put the Senate in recess and appoint whoever the hell he wants. I'd rather they didn't. Gum up the works and slow-walk things to make a point, sure. Completely block the appointment, not so much. That'd just force McCon...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-01-27 04:52pm
Forum: User Fiction
Topic: SF Short Writing Challenge.
Replies: 30
Views: 21783

Re: SF Short Writing Challenge.

The First Principle of Magic Scratch, scratch, scratch, was the sound of chalk on slate. “Visualize these runes,” the teacher, a big-nosed kobold said, his voice like a file rasping on a gourd. “Do not pronounce them, nor write them in a circle. Simply imagine them.” “How can we pronounce these, si...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-01-24 12:16pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Trump inauguration
Replies: 143
Views: 26458

Re: Trump inauguration

Yet, I've seen MORE headlines about TPP, the Secretary of Education nomination, the cutting of funding to the National Endowment of the Arts, etc. than I have about the inauguration numbers stuff. What major policy decision has the Trump administration made that has not been widely reported on? I'm...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-01-24 12:08pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: What should I do after I stupidly read a site's comment section?
Replies: 13
Views: 8352

Re: What should I do after I stupidly read a site's comment section?

Take a nice, stout, oaken stick. Next, hit yourself in the balls with it. Repeat as needed (whenever you are tempted to see an internet comment section.) Afterwards, spend thousands of dollars on treating the PTSD you will give yourself in following this advice. Realize that, thanks to Donald Trump,...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-01-24 11:53am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Trump Abandons Trans Pacific Partnership
Replies: 24
Views: 3259

Re: Trump Abandons Trans Pacific Partnership

This agreement was little more than a blatant corporate attempt at undermining national sovereignty and gutting the rights and wages of the lower-middle classes as much as possible. To be blunt, as a Canadian I have to say we owe Trump, big time. Thank you for giving Trump credit where it is due. A...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-01-17 06:26pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Obama Largely Commutes Manning Sentence, To Be Released in May
Replies: 73
Views: 9603

Re: Obama Largely Commutes Manning Sentence, To Be Released in May

I wonder why Obama, with his renowned hatred of whistleblowers, would commute Chelsea Manning's sentence? I would suspect it probably has much more to do with denying the incoming Trump administration the opportunity to use some future review of Manning's imprisonment to establish a precedent for de...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-01-05 05:11pm
Forum: Science, Logic, And Morality
Topic: How will sleeper ships travels be funded?
Replies: 44
Views: 14900

Re: How will sleeper ships travels be funded?

Even if you solved, the energy problem you still haven't solved the financial problems. Sure, the energy to transport the ship is cheap, but what about the cost of maintaining the ship over centuries? That is going to drive the cost up. There's also the issue of insurance. One would expect that the...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-01-05 01:37pm
Forum: Science, Logic, And Morality
Topic: How will sleeper ships travels be funded?
Replies: 44
Views: 14900

Re: How will sleeper ships travels be funded?

The other condition that has to be met is more interesting. Namely, the cost of powering a starship has dropped to something manageable. We can imagine, say, a society in which the solar system has a hundred billion people and enough solar power satellites to make a fair start on a Dyson swarm. In ...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-01-04 11:10pm
Forum: Science, Logic, And Morality
Topic: How will sleeper ships travels be funded?
Replies: 44
Views: 14900

Re: How will sleeper ships travels be funded?

It really gets down to a question of economy. How advanced along is the society in question, and how cheap is the needed technology? I mean, if you get to the point where it costs $1000 to put someone into a sleeper chamber, and $2000 to wake them up, hell, that's cheaper then a new car is today. T...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2017-01-04 04:47pm
Forum: Science, Logic, And Morality
Topic: How will sleeper ships travels be funded?
Replies: 44
Views: 14900

Re: How will sleeper ships travels be funded?

Even more than the problem of funding - we don't have any sort of "sleeper" technology. I know. This is just some purely theoretical idea. The problem with many of those theoretical ideas is people often neglect to think about how those technology will be funded. Actually, we could probab...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2016-12-14 06:45pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Assad looks like he is going to take Aleppo
Replies: 12
Views: 3916

Re: Assad looks like he is going to take Aleppo

If true, all this means is that the American Industrial-military complex will move on to its next target peace-keeping mission. Gotta keep the cash rolling in, what use is there for a giant military complex with no war to fight? Who do you think will be America's next victim? President-elect Trump ...
by GrandMasterTerwynn
2016-12-14 11:22am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Ohio Gov. Kasich Signs 20-Week Abortion Limit
Replies: 78
Views: 12027

Re: Ohio Gov. Kasich Signs 20-Week Abortion Limit

It sounds to me like Kasich fatally compromised his values by prescribing an interval in which child murder is legal. Abortion is not really an issue that encourages moderation and compromise. He did no such thing. Many pro-fetal-life advocates have taken to playing the long game. If enough states ...