E Cheung's Comments

Re an issue implicitly touched upon in the above article: Bradbury's book is about (an all-powerful) government banning books, which is very different from a school, association, or even a community from doing so. Failure to appreciate this distinction (between the federal government -- and every other entity with regulatory power over our lives) is what separates Americans into our two largest political camps today. We live in a Federalist system...and I'd wager any amount of money that a huge majority of us have no idea (sadly) what that means.
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Medieval--I'm with you. Our modern day disdain for freedom, capitalism, and (what used to be) the American way of Life is reaching a crescendo for those old enough to remember different times. Our youth today is more concerned with demonizing "the haves" than with the true enemies of our world. Of course, our educational system and the media play the largest part in it. Our youth today is more concerned with fame, body image, gender labels, "shamers" and "haters," than with the age-old struggle to preserve a person's right to do whatever ridiculous (or not) thing they want to do (provided, of course, that a person's actions does not impinge on the rights or safety of another).
Let's just hope our culture is "cyclic" in these regards.
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Sadly, I doubt that all the "non-tycoons," the ones who wallow in victim-hood, the ones who understand not a whit of why Capitalism "may not be perfect, but it's the best we've got" (M. Friedman), nor the concept of being rewarded for one's hard work, but can only feel envy at what others have (and not the motivation to get off their asses themselves and make more of themselves) will ever "get the picture."
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No one else has a problem with the non-identification of axes, scale, units? Even the relative lengths of these "arrows" are worthless without indications of scale (as very small differentials can appear very large, and vice versa).
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You need only ONE draw.
You must draw from the box now labeled (actually, now MIS-labeled) as "BW." WHATEVER color marble you draw makes it either the WW or BB box. But actually all THREE boxes have been determined. Since the other two boxes are also mislabeled, the one with the XX-label (either BB or WW) that matches your color MUST be the actual-BW box (since it CAN'T be the actual-BB box if your draw was a WHITE, and it CAN'T be the actual WW-box if your draw was a BLACK).
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Paul Reiser on the 90's sitcom "Mad About You" said the expression several times during the show's run. Parenthetically, I believe he is also the person to have invented the phrase "Not so much," as in "You enjoying the picnic?" "Ehh...not so much."
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Oy--let's all please do our best to stamp out DDSG (Dumbed-Down Science Garbage) in our lifetime! According to current understanding, time does NOT stop at the event horizon of a black hole; indeed, time can never "stop" because "time" is not a "thing that flows" (contrary to popular conception), nor could it be "stopped," whatever that might mean! The facts: an observer watching a clock fall into a black hole (through a telescope, say) would see the clock slowing down as it fell to the center--yes. But this slowing down would never end as it asymptotically approached the event horizon (never reaching it). An observer who decided to accompany the clock would not notice anything special about the event horizon at all, and could pass through without even knowing it! (of course, this observer might have other problems looming, but these would have nothing to do with an event horizon)
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Here's something I never hear mentioned (though it is an element of the film I and millions around the world LOVE):
When the Don warns Michael that the family member who approaches him about a meeting with Barzini will be "the traitor."
What-huh?!
Excuse me--is the Don psychic? Yeah, he's smart, he's wise to the ways of the (under-)world...BUT...you mean to tell me there is NO scenario where an old and trusted confidant could simply have been the person Barzini decided to approach, and whom Barzini may have even tried to corrupt--but, ultimately, unsuccessfully?!
And that now, on the basis of some dubious Old World wisdom, one of his oldest friends is going to be led to his execution...?

And yeah, you blew it, Tessio, when you essentially 'fessed up when confronted; you shoulda hung tough! Maybe you shoulda said Barzini's offer was tempting--yes, you admit it!--but you would NEVER have betrayed the Don! Maybe you shoulda ranted and raved and cried like a pissed off, hurt, and horribly wronged longtime confidant would!
Let's say you had! What's Tom going to come back with?
"Yeah, gotcha, Tess, good point. But my father had a thing for cool-sounding Mafia truisms (and, as you know, Michael ate that shit up like cannoli). So screw the fact that there's no evidence against you other than my father's clairvoyance (which, by the way, didn't keep him from getting shot)---you're going to die!"
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Profile for E Cheung

  • Member Since 2012/08/04


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