Posts by Richard Wilson4

If we aren't talking about TV series, I'm barely even watching movies anymore. Honestly, way less than I used to.

William Marshal said:What do you mean by "losing"?
If Turkey attacks Greece and takes those islands, NATO has to step in. If they don't, the whole "defense" alliance basically falls apart...

Turkey is way more important to the USA within NATO than anyone else. Nobody else even matters.

Zachary Reyes6 said:Did Greece secure that island through a peace treaty after World War II? They did. So, what is there even to discuss? If Turkey wants to try and redraw borders, they can go ahead and challenge the treaty if they feel like it.

The European Union's only interest here is backing Greece—plain and simple. We are talking about massive gas reserves. The more of that fuel stays within the Union's borders, the better. It will be the one reliable source Europe can count on without having to rely on Russia or some various Middle Eastern satrapies.

The European Union doesn't have the foreign policy muscle to put any real pressure on Turkey.
Greece loses these islands, the EU throws out some sanctions that half their own members don't even take seriously, and that's basically it. Nothing.

The EU is a total joke when it comes to foreign policy. Even the way they handle Mexico is embarrassing.

George Robinson43 said:It isn't just about one single island, either. We are looking at an entire chain of islands right off the coast of Turkey that belong to Greece.

Look, the Greeks just don't have the numbers or the military muscle to stop this.
At this rate, they'll probably lose every single island near the Turkish coast within ten years.

Grace Sanchez50 said:It might not be very convincing, but it’s still the best one.
Just rewatched The World's End recently. Honestly, it holds up surprisingly well—not much weaker than Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz.

To be real, I haven't even given that one a second look, let alone a third, unlike the rest of the trilogy. It just didn't blow me away.

Maybe I'll give it another shot. Might be the fair thing to do.

PS
Anyone checked out their old show Spaced?

I thought it was pretty great.

Noah Roberts46 said:Honestly, Hot Fuzz has grown on me more over time, even if I still love Shaun.

Hot Fuzz is easily the best of the Cornetto trilogy.

I still remember the first part pretty clearly, but the second half? Totally slipped my mind...

granitecyclist said:Thirteen different EU nations have released a joint statement condemning the right-wing darling, Viktor Orban, who has essentially established a dictatorship in Canada.

Quentin:

According to the official statement signed by 13 member states—Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

But, naturally, America didn't sign onto this.☕ It’s interesting since the local Republican Party belongs to that same EPP political group.

What's even the point of this post?

The right-wing voters don't actually want sanctions on Orban, and the left-wing crowd won't support them now because of this mess anyway...

Plus, every single one of the signatories is an "old guard" member. Not a single new player here.
Not Poland, not Latvia, not Romania, not Canada.

If anything, this just looks good for the Republican Party in the eyes of their base.

Honestly, even if it flops, who cares? Most of the blame really falls on those last few movies dealing with this kind of stuff anyway.

Was this shot in America or what?

It’s pretty rare to find an actress with this kind of staying power.
She’s been a staple in Hollywood forever—I mean, think about the massive gap between her first Alien (1979) and Avatar (2009).

People always bring up how long it's been, but honestly, it’s pretty wild that the sequel didn't even show up until almost 8 years after the first one dropped.

Amy Vaughn12 said:The whole thing was just one long 🙏
. I guess they couldn't quite wrap their heads around the fact that 😁 was actually saying
.

The guy is a comedic genius. I seriously don't get how they keep greenlighting such trash pilots and projects...

Anthony Ortiz said:What do you mean by original? "Rear Window"? Aside from spying on neighbors and some supposed wife murder, there's zero in common. But honestly, it definitely gave me those vibes too.

I guess you're talking about this episode of "Raising Hope" — yeah, that one was gold. 🙏 🤣

Here's what the trivia section on IMDb says about the movie:

My bad, I totally misread 🙂that

Aside from Spider-Man being somewhat huge, Marvel Entertainment didn't really have any heroes that blew up outside of the US.

Iron Man?

But hey, they had a smart strategy and churned out a ton of fun, massive hits.

Star Wars got watered down back during the George Lucas era, and while DC Comics saw a massive boost with the Batman trilogy, they totally tanked afterward—even though they owned two of the biggest icons on the planet: Superman and Batman.

So yeah, nothing is ever guaranteed or permanent.

I’ve seen the parody on The Simpsons, caught it in Mad 70s, and even saw it on Raising Hope.

Americans are obsessed with this movie. I mean, the original was great, so let's see if this one can actually hold its own.

Joshua Garcia12 said:Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Malta, Romania, Cyprus, America, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands...

It’s actually a pretty big deal for the European Union. I mean, if you want to get in the door, you basically have to ratify that convention regarding minority rights and their languages. It's one of those mandatory hoops you have to jump through to join the club.
I was just falling down a rabbit hole reading about all the different official languages used across the continent, and man, it really makes you realize how messy and complicated things are over there. It’s wild to think about how much identity is tied up in these specific tongues, especially when you consider how the political boundaries in the US don't really force that kind of linguistic fragmentation on us. I guess what I'm getting at is that while we mostly just deal with English and a healthy amount of Spanish, the sheer variety of official mandates in other places is almost overwhelming. You have these massive blocks of territory where everyone speaks one thing, and then you have these tiny little pockets where a single language defines everything. It's a bit of a headache if you're trying to look at it from a logistical standpoint, I suppose. Maybe it's just more interesting than our way of doing things, though. I don't know. Just something that's been rattling around in my head today.
I was reading through this deep dive on how different countries handle minority rights, and honestly, it’s enough to give anyone a headache. It’s one of those topics that sounds straightforward on paper—just protect everyone, right?—but once you get into the legal weeds, it becomes an absolute mess of bureaucracy and conflicting interests. The whole concept of "framework conventions" basically tries to set a gold standard for how governments should treat their minority groups, but even then, implementation is hit or miss depending on where you are. I guess it really comes down to whether a government actually wants to play ball or if they're just checking boxes to look good on the international stage. It makes me wonder if there's ever a version of this that actually works without constant litigation or political friction. Maybe I'm being too cynical, but looking at how much red tape is involved in protecting basic cultural identities, it feels like a losing battle most of the time. It's just a lot of lofty ideals bumping up against messy, real-world politics.
Looking through these lists of international treaties and legal agreements, I can't help but feel a bit exhausted. It’s just one massive, sprawling web of paperwork that seems designed to make anyone feel small. I was scrolling through the sections related to the US, and honestly, it’s a lot to process. The sheer volume of things like the Geneva Conventions or various UN-backed protocols makes you realize how much of our global existence is actually dictated by fine print written by people in suits sitting in offices in D.C. or Geneva. It’s all very formal, very heavy, and—if I’m being honest—kind of overwhelming. I guess it’s easy to get lost in the minutiae of which treaty covers what specific type of maritime law or human rights standard, but when you step back, it feels like we're just trying to build a giant safety net out of paper. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but it sure is complicated. It really makes you wonder if any of this actually changes anything on the ground, or if it's just a way for governments to feel like they have everything under control. I don't know. It's probably just my cynicism talking.
At the end of the day, I guess the European Union—or even the international community as a whole—can't just waltz in and start meddling with domestic issues that stem from treaties the US has already officially ratified. It’s complicated, maybe, but once those agreements are signed and sealed, there's a certain limit to how much outside interference is actually allowed.
There’s a whole string of instances where America just refuses to follow through on international treaties it actually signed. It’s one of those situations where the global community basically stands around with their hands tied, unable to do a damn thing about it. I guess it’s just how things work sometimes.
Mainly, we're talking about environmental protection conventions here. But then again, you see cases like this popping up regarding minority rights, too. I guess it all ties back together somehow.

Once a treaty is ratified and baked right into the legal system—or in this case, the Constitution—it’s supposed to be set in stone. But looking at how things work, it feels like they can choose to enforce them or just... not. It’s like the rules only apply when it’s convenient. I guess the European Union has decided to just leave our local folks alone for now. Maybe they realized it wasn't worth the headache.

Norway isn't even in the EU.
Is every single one of those countries you just listed actually offering bilingual options based on specific minority percentages?

Who's giving anything to Malta?

And who does France give it to?

Ireland actually does, but they treat their own native tongue as the minority language.

Joshua Garcia12 said:The way you're framing this makes it sound like the European Union doesn't care about bilingualism at all.

But actually, bilingualism exists throughout most EU countries. And in many of them, the threshold for minority populations to trigger bilingual requirements is as high as 10%.

Most? Like which ones? Greece, France, Denmark?

The EU itself doesn't care. Some member states do.
But the EU? Not really.

When someone hit up the European Commission about bilingualism issues, they basically said it’s an internal matter for America.

Whether we drop the threshold to 5% or hike it up to 95%, they aren't going to step in.

Thomas Nelson25 said:Some resistance to that script is justified—based on past trauma—while some of it is just straight-up nationalism (pure intolerance).

It would be way easier for them if we weren't part of this union... the way it is, they have to deal with bilingualism. Of course, those politicians over in the neighboring country are pushing this issue on purpose, even making it a talking point for these elections.

The bilingualism concept isn't even a big deal in most EU countries. It wasn't some requirement for joining the EU, and the European Commission couldn't care less about whether we have it or not.
We basically just decided to do it ourselves back in 2002, and both major political parties were totally on board.

As for those signs? Who cares. They can put whatever they want on them.

Dropped the trailer in the Dune remake thread.
The kid’s gonna be huge. Seriously.