I sort of love the idea of Sam living on past his eventual death as some sort of computer problem cryptid.

Beware The Saltman, he'll creep into your home and feast on your RAM. He'll corrupt your hard drive. He'll melt your GPU.

I do in fact! Oh, and don't think it is just Congress. I don't have a source beyond "something I heard on NPR one time", but pretty much every level has to raise money in order to get the full support of their party.

I'm sure you realize this, but when you directly donate to a Democrat or Republican candidate, they are required to turn around and donate portions of that to their party. The requirements are so great that politicians basically have to become 24x7 fundraisers or else they are punished by the party.

People focus on lobbyists and PACs as dumping money into politics, but a large part of the demand for that money is being generated by the idiot parties themselves.

There is also the long game of under educating a large portion of the population so that many probably don't even realize that there is an election going on or, if they do, how to register or who the candidates are.

The crime was not the shoplifting, it was being black. None of this is about the diapers.

Fuck Trump and Fuck Bush, but controversial statement. I understand that it is a bad look to be golfing (or whatever) when people are dying at your behest, but I wouldn't begrudge a good president a way to disconnect from reality for a bit. That job is stressful as hell and everyone needs breaks. That said, neither of these idiots deserve any compassion.

One gripe I have with the film is that none of it focuses on the poor, mostly Hispanic, population that lived in New Mexico at the time. These people had their land taken from them (their sole source of generational wealth) and died of horrific cancers post-tests. I think most of history just pretends nobody lived out there.

Here's just one article about it

You do it to yourself, you do And that's what really hurts Is that you do it to yourself, just you You and no one else You do it to yourself You do it to yourself

~ Radiohead, Just

It wouldn't be the first time: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/30/fact-check-u-s-government-poisoned-some-alcohol-during-prohibition/3283701001/

Sure, and I agree with that. None the less, my point is that these things are very easy to see in a black or white lens, but they are usually a lot more complicated. Ted isn't innocent here, but neither is she. They are both victims of the patriarchal society and of each other.

It is easy to dislike Ted for this, but I think this sort of thing happens a lot to partners who have sick partners. It is a huge strain on the relationship and the care-taking partner can often feel like a victim. After all, nobody really checks on how the illness affects them and it can feel like they are trapped.

Consider also that it sounds very noble that she sacrificed everything for him, but was that what he wanted? A sacrifice can be selfish if not done with consent of both parties. This was especially hard for women at the time because a divorce didn't just mean the end of a relationship, it also often meant the end of their life (figuratively, but sometimes literally). Patriarchy bound women to men in a way both parties were trapped by.

Monogamy is hard, even without illness. Communication is the thing that keeps relationships going and even today people are bad at it. In the time they were alive, I don't think they even had real models for what good communication should look like. This isn't to say Ted was blameless, but I also won't say that he was a monster for this.

Put in my vote for _Flash Gordon _. Now, look, I love the movie, but the Queen album that goes with it is incredible.