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HOME >> COMMUNITY >> TALK STORY >> HOLY BREAKING BAD JEEBUS OMG!! (POSSIBLE S5 SPOILERS, BUT NOT IN THE OP)
holy Breaking Bad jeebus OMG!! (possible s5 spoilers, but not in the OP)
POSTED BY: MAL4PREZ
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 1, 2013 15:55
SHORT URL: http://bit.ly/18qXVO3
Monday, September 16, 2013 8:50 PM
MAL4PREZ
I can't find any recent threads about Breaking Bad. Is anyone else watching this show? I just caught last night's episode and I'm devastated. This thing is intense. Crazy. 100% nuts in the insanity. I don't know how I'm going to think about anything else and function as a rational human being until they resolve something, anything for these characters. And there are only two episodes left!
Gah! Ah!
*pulls hair out*
OK, I think I may be able to get up and go to work tomorrow as usual, but I'm just saying... daaaam! Double damn! Right now it's hard to move on!
Please, someone say they watch too and understand.
Monday, September 16, 2013 11:09 PM
Originally posted by MAL4PREZ:
Given my own trials and tribulations with our so called medical care industry, hatred for the "War on (some) Drugs", and the general insanity of control which allows situations like that to develop and fester, of *course* I watch it, when I've the time.
Select to view spoiler:
And being a bit of a science geek who specialized in stuff that goes boom, when he says "This... is not meth" and goes to pitch that bit of crystal, I was like HOLYSHITTHATSMERCURYFULMINATE and ducked, while everyone else was going "huh?!" till the boom happened.
In fact...
Imma spoiler-tag this whole bit, just in case, although there's very few in there, mostly I felt a need to explain certain things from a perspective most normal and decent folk lack, and point out a moral lesson kinda buried in the background here.
About Walter:
Here's the rub, outside of a rare few, including the writers of the show, and it boggles where and how they might have learned it, normal folks are fundamentally INCAPABLE of understanding Walter because the cognitive gap is just too wide to breach without a plank...
So imma try to offer one, not sure why, but I feel I need to.
See, Walters primary and overriding motivation isn't what folks think, ain't even what WALTER thinks, cause he obviously has a tendancy to lie to himself, which along with the situation kind of precludes the necessary level of introspection for him to examine or admit it.
That motivation ? - downright hate, hatred for our world, our society, and everyone in it.
If the situation had been only just slightly different, Walter would have been just one more mass shooter, because that's the mindset we're dealing with here.
Look at Walters life, an endless conga line of being pissed on, while the folks pissing on him dance off well rewarded, from this so-called-partners (cause while it's not directly explained, smart folk can figure out how they played him) at Grey Matter, to being stuck in a job that SHOULD be respected but is not and poorly paid besides despite the mountain of debt required to obtain the education to do it, being pushed around by some pissant car wash owner, and finally taken to the cleaners by the medical care/insurance racket, and all of those factors get rewarded for it while Walter, in repayment for trying to be a decent, civilized guy, winds up drowning in piss.
Heisenberg was "born" the very MOMENT Walter decided he wasn't just going to take it, dying in a slow and futile fashion from ineffective treatment while his family was buried in debt, and while that bitter seed took some time to flower, that right there *WAS* the point-of-no-return, the course from there may wander, but it's conclusion was all-but-inevitable, and why ?
Because he *wants* to die.
He just wants to do so in a fashion that does as much harm to the world and society that did him over as possible, wants to be the one doing the pissing, and see how THEY like it.
That much he does know, as his little "I am the one who knocks!" bit could have just as easily been "Now it's MY turn to do the pissing!" (and get rewarded for it).
Don't mistake that for pride or ego, although even Walter believes it is - that's hatred.
You could cover the world in gasoline and hand him a detonator and he'd laugh as he flipped the switch, okay - and no matter his often all too fervent personal denials this hasn't changed one bit from the very beginning of the whole mess.
Once you understand that, well and truly grok it - everything Walter/Heisenberg DOES makes perfect sense, is thoroughly predictable and ultimately inevitable, because he is the end result of a society that rewards such malice and sociopathy while punishing anything resembling kindness or decency.
Seriously, go out there into our messed up world and look into the hurt, angry, hating eyes of those stomped on by it, and in almost every pair, who do you see staring back at you ?
Heisenberg.
And the answer to THAT, is not breaking *people* badly enough to create them in the first place.
About Walter...
I disagree for the most part. I think you're projecting your own hatred of society onto him. Sure, old Walt hates his life and a big part of becoming Heisenberg is escaping from the suffocation of his system, but hey - he brought it on himself. He put himself exactly where he was. He didn't just hate the system, he hated what he himself had become.
His true underlying motivation is his need to be almighty. He was supposed to be a genius chemist founder of the billion dollar company, worshiped and admired by all. Every room is supposed to go hush when he speaks. Instead... well, look at where he was at the beginning of the series. Pathetic and weak and mocked by his students and his own brother in law.
There is no reason to think that he was a poor innocent victim in the Grey Matter affair. I saw pretty broad hints that he was the ass in that situation and later convinced himself that it was all THEIR fault and they were unfair to him because he couldn't handle blaming himself for blowing it.
Sure, he wanted to help his family, he wanted to buck the system that had him pretty well cowed, but his greed for power was what really won out. He continually dug himself deeper because he wanted to be a big bad and he wanted everyone to know it. He loved being the kingpin of a whole empire.
He didn't want to destroy the system. He just wanted the system to serve him.
Anyhow, certainly Walt is a complicated character who could be debated for days, but that's not what's killing me.
What in the hell did Walt just do to Jesse?
Jesse is the only character on this show who really has a heart. Certainly he's done bad stuff and made shitty choices, but he is the only one who *feels* for other people. Even Hank had absolutely no respect for the humanity of criminals, even though he broke the law himself. Jesse was the heart and conscience of the show, and I think for the middle part of the series he was the tether that kept Walt from going all evil. Walt knew and managed his feelings for his family, and ignored the harm he did them when it was convenient, but the father thing with Jesse was beyond his control.
For me the backbone of the series was this weird Jesse/Walt father/son thing, and I've been hoping, though I knew it was unlikely, that Jesse would eventually get some kind a pat on the head. There isn't a character in the world who needs a good long hug and cup of hot cocoa more than Jesse.
But that's not possible now. Even if flash forward Walt miraculously finds his heart and means to save Jesse, it's just not possible. Jesse has been completely destroyed, and no kindness can bring him back. It was cruel of the writers, to take out the heart of the show like that. I don't know what they can do in two more hours to earn my forgiveness.
Hey, it's a brilliant show, I don't mean I hate the writers or anything because I don't expect happy-happy, but they really broke my heart with this one. Walt twisting the knife about Jane? Shit! Brutal. That was horrible.
*---------------------------------------*
The French Revolution would have never happened if Marie Antoinette had just given every peasant an iPhone.
Yah, that was awful...
Well yes, but I think that's a (very major, admittedly) secondary motivation, Walters insane pride and massive ego are certainly a factor, but if you watch closely you notice that there's a few points where they really SHOULD become an issue, and either flat out don't, or get steamrollered by the pure rage which is the fire stoking it.
And yeah verily, Walter's an ass, so is Hank, Skyler, Marie, Jesse - the characters are complex, human, instead of one-dimensional, which make this so well done, even that geezerly old bastard Tio wasn't wholly malicious.
The "cousins" were DECIDEDLY creepy though.
One thing I don't understand is why because he acts all nice and polite, how people like to give Gus Fring such a free pass, he was planning to murder Walter and jack his formula from DAY FREAKING ONE (thus saving him a huge bundle of money too, yes?), and what had him so pissed off wasn't Walter and Jesse being unreliable, it was that Walter knew it and kept working against it, cause Gus's main berserk button was being outsmarted by ANYONE, even in his final moments his reaction wasn't fear, but anger at being outplayed.
So when Mike throws that whole "If you'd kept your head down and played nice" speech at Walter, that *REALLY* pisses Walter off cause if he had done so Gus would have killed him in short order, and this enrages Walter and hits all of his trust-pride-ego issues on top of it, provoking him to kill Mike.
But you are right in that most of all he hates himself, he's gone lost, because somewhere in there what he was doing became more important to him than the reasons he was supposedly doing it for, and buried under the lot and finally rising was that, in short, HE wanted to be the one doing the pissing on, and reaping the rewards, yeah - even as he despises himself for what he has become.
As for the whole Gray Matter incident, I don't think *any* of them were innocent, but he blames himself for (in HIS mind, true or not) being the "better man" and bowing out, and what it cost him, and that festering resentment is why he'd not accept any help from them.
As for the part about Jesse... how to put it, Walter KNOWS he's on the short path to total selfdestruct, and I know this may sound a bit strange but emotionally Jesse needs Walter far, far more than Walter needs Jesse - I think in a VERY twisted and demented sort of way Walt did that to shove Jesse away, to cut him out and away from the nuclear shitbomb which is gonna be the end of walts life, to hurt him ENOUGH to keep him from coming back and getting caught in the blast.
Which really, shows just how far off the deep end Walter has gone - in fact I found it almost jarringly out of (current) character for him to try to save/protect Hank, that made utterly no sense at all in context with everything else he's done recently.
About the only question left is what kind of blaze of glory Walter plans to go out in, and whatever it is, no way its gonna be pretty.
I too am kind of hoping Jesse doesn't get caught up in it, but admittedly the odds ain't good.
Ruminating on it for a while, I think Walter was maybe a little bit "broken" even long before any of the story events played out, it was just that the collective weight of stress broke down his coping mechanisms, and once a person believes they got nothin left to lose, when no real hope remains for them - violence follows as inevitably as day follows dawn, it was just in *this* case, most of the 'violence' occurs a step or several removed from the viewers frame, but it most certainly does occur, with tragic results... especially when you think of the consumption end of Heisenbergs distribution chain, and how ugly THAT business would be, though it's not often shown directly.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013 10:22 AM
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
How Shakespeare Would End Breaking Bad
The show has accurately been compared to a Shakespearean tragedy, and it's clear that the Bard's works have influenced Vince Gilligan, the show's creator. Perhaps, then, one might turn to the works of Shakespeare to try and divine how Breaking Bad might end—or at least, how Shakespeare would end it.
www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/09/how-shakespeare-woul
d-end-em-breaking-bad-em/279553/
The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
STORYMARK
Did you see the Mythbusters special? They tested out that exact scenario. Alas, it did not work.
"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"
Tuesday, September 17, 2013 12:01 PM
Great summation of both characters. Its been a real emotional journey, following these guys. I started out really feeling for Walt, who reminds me a great deal of my Father, and disliking Jesse, who struck me as a typical burn-out.
But here we are at the end, and I feel so much empathy for Jesse, and really want to see Walt receive his comeuppance.
Quotes by Frem in italics to keep the spoiler...
Which parts? I see the rage, but see it coming largely from him not getting his way. He sees the way things ought to go, and when people don't just shut up and do as he says, the rage comes out. Big time ego!
Of course there is still the Walter White buried inside the Heisenberg, so sometimes that voice wins. It never wins when his pride is injured. Look how he mouths off at Hank at very bad times, in ways that keep Hank on the trail.
I haven't seen anyone giving Gus a free pass, but then I just got into the show this summer and I haven't done much online chatting about it.
Certainly, I find Gus totally creepy! No free pass from me.
As for the whole Gray Matter incident, I don't think *any* of them were innocent, but he blames himself for (in HIS mind, true or not) being the "better man" and bowing out, and what it cost him, and that festering resentment is why he'd not accept any help from them.That's an interesting take. Yeah, I can see that he'd call it like that. I wonder if we'll ever find out what really happened.
I think in a VERY twisted and demented sort of way Walt did that to shove Jesse away, to cut him out and away from the nuclear shitbomb which is gonna be the end of walts life, to hurt him ENOUGH to keep him from coming back and getting caught in the blast.I don't buy that. Walt was perfectly content to see Jesse shot in the head. He is 100% pissed as hell that his perfect minion, the kid who always did exactly what Walt wanted (as Walt said on more than occasion) actually went against him. And it got Hank killed. Walt sure as hell wasn't going to blame himself for that. It was convenient for him to turn the hate and blame on Jesse. He wanted to hurt Jesse as deeply as possible.
in fact I found it almost jarringly out of (current) character for him to try to save/protect Hank, that made utterly no sense at all in context with everything else he's done recently.I was a little surprised too, that he suddenly was so protective of Hank and hateful of Jesse.
I agree that Walt likely turned bad long ago. In fact, the actor said so himself in an Actor's Studio interview. The show's creator said that the "break" happened when Walt turned down help from his wealthy friends and choose to cook. Brian Cranston said it'd happened long before. I forget exactly when he said...
100% agree with your take on the violence.
Originally posted by two:
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two
Thanks for the link Two. Interesting article. The Shakespeare similarities are good to know. If it's really going end as dark as all that, I need to know in advance! Gotta be prepared for things to get even worse, because it seems like that's the inevitable course of it.
Hey Frem, let me add thanks for not taking that thing I said about you "projecting" personally. Looking at my post now I see that sounded pretty snide. I don't mean it that way - everyone projects, and I certainly am. I identify with Jesse, which is ironic because at first he reminded of junkies in my own life and I had no patience for his shit. But somehow I've totally clicked with him. I hadn't realized much until I watched that last episode. I hardly slept last night because it so freaked me out! Something about this pushed my buttons for sure!
Well, it's true he's prideful, arrogant even, but the smouldering core of that hatred is resentment - he's deeply, seriously *PISSED* about never "getting his due" and watching folk that mistreat or dismiss him succeed while crapping on him - mind you that's his perception of it which might not always be accurate cause when emotion clouds judgement, welll...
So I think we're seeing the same thing, just naming it in different words and tones from our own experiences with the world, is all.
And aye verily, his drunken mouthing off to Hank was a serious facepalm moment, one good reason why folks with serious *issues* should avoid the bottle, which is a terribly hypocritical thing for me to say I know, but tis true nonetheless.
Well I've seen many viewers believing that same line of shit Mike was going on about, that if he'd just played nice - which is stupid, the "offer" Gus makes Walter is too-good-to-be-true, the profit margins on his operation simply don't ALLOW for it because of the massive overheard of both maintaining the infrastructure and distribution network, and laundering the money through his legitimate business, so he's going to what, run his business at a loss ?
He was planning to kill off Walter and steal his formula from day one, and counting on Walters major flaw being greed, when it's actually pride - but his interactions with Gus are where I was pointing out it was more anger/resentment than ego, because of the way they go at each other and how Walter winds up playing it a lot smarter then one would expect, it's not something I can easily put into words, but that rage tends to trump his pride when the two come into conflict.
Controlling one vice with another is something I am a wee bit familiar with, one can say.
In regards to Jesse, it's *ALL* of that, despite it being contradictory and making no sense, cause Walter isn't exactly in a sane place at the moment, part of him is hateful of Jesses "betrayal", part of him might still care a little in a twisted way, and hell yes he's going to shift the blame to Jesse in his own mind - the reaction I was expecting over Hank was Walter to just close his eyes and turn away...
I have far more experience than I ever wanted in dealing with seriously messed up people, and while the writers do overall a good job, there's a rare few places where they fumble it a little, maybe by accident, or cause the story needs to go in a certain direction.
Another case of that was Mike abandoning his daughter at the playground, it was so out of character the actor even balked a little over it.
And no, I didn't take the projection comment personal, everyone sees the world through their own lens, and Breaking Bad is us seeing this all through Walters lens, which is maybe a little closer to mine than most - but because of that each of us can perceive an event or chain of them differently than each other, constrasting it with our own experiences.
Worth a mention is that BECAUSE this is all viewed from Walters perspective, what WE, the viewer, are seeing, might not exactly be an accurate representation of events, also.
Ironically I most identify with Mike, cause my current actual employment is more the legit version of what he does - being the private security force of a realtor can have some rather interesting moments, but nothing of that kind of scale thankfully, although I bet Mike had less friggin papework to fill out... I hate incidents, and hate paperwork even worse.
I found a very interesting thought piece about Breaking Bad and Healthcare, but I am not sure the spoiler tag covers links, so imma put it here with notation.
(CONTAINS SPOILERS)
Also, yeah I know they took a bit of artistic license with Mercury Fulminate, which is what is in the primers of ammunition, it's the bit that goes bang when the hammer or firing pin strikes it and sets off the gunpowder - I think it's also the main component of those impact-detonated fireworks sometimes known as snap-n-pops, pretty sure anyways, but it was still funny.
Now if you'd wrapped a bit of Cyclonite (aka RDX) around that crystal, one might have blown the ENTIRE top of that building off - which is one thing not addressed (or in a terrifying thought, not YET addressed) in the series, that if he can cook Meth, there's *other* things Walter could make which are even or much WORSE....
They did address the chem weapon aspect slightly early on in the show when he takes out Emilio and Krazy-8 with phosphine gas
Cause I know a lil bit about the kind of chemistry that goes boom, see, and a guy of Walters skill could crank out some pretty serious kaboom if he wanted to.
It's silver fulminate used in those poppers. When confronted on the show about the mercury fulminate not working, Gilligan justified it by saying Walt mixed in some silver fulminate, and just didnt mention it.
MYTHBUSTERS SPOILERS:
The failure in the experiment wasn't really the explosive nature of the mercury, just the details. For one, 5 grams (what he used on the show) wasn't enough to blow out the windows, but would have actually killed Walt at that range. It also can't be crystallized like it was on the show, and couldn't be detonated by impact.
OK, yeah Frem. I think we are seeing Walt the same way but put different words on it at first.
I've come far enough to limit my "bottom of the bottle" mistakes to anonymous online posting LOL!
Yeah, it's a line of shit about Gus for sure. Another one that pisses me off, seeing as I am solidly on Team Jesse, is the claim that Jesse deserves what Walt did because after all he shot Gail. Whatever! Walt very carefully manipulated him into that. There seems to be a large group out there who just have to love Walt, and find excuses for him. They seem to be missing the point of the show.
For example: this episode was close to sending me into a depression relapse (really, why do I take these things so seriously? Ack!) like I couldn't sleep and just wanted to cry all day Tuesday after I watched it Monday night. But last night my favorite game lit up in warfare that's going crazy now. Weeeee! My mood has improved. :)
You know, that is one thing that makes this show more than just TV. We look through Walt's eyes and understand him and empathize with him. Are we still able to be unbiased in judging him? Given the Cult of Walt, a lot of people clearly are not able. They'll do anything to keep the main character the hero, because dammit the main character should be a hero!
I wonder what horrible things Walt will have to do in the last two episodes to make even his most ardent fans turn against him. I have a feeling that this is the challenge the writers have set for themselves.
Which makes me sad for Jesse.
Yes, I am aware of the irony. I have somehow managed to watch this whole show through Jesse's eyes, and I am at the place that if Jesse escaped and killed Skylar and then in the most heartless way killed Walt, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. (I would be bothered if he went after Flynn and Holly.)
Ironically I most identify with Mike,
Makes perfect sense to me. :)
The video didn't work. Will try again...
Re the chemical weapons, I don't think that's Walt's style. With the drugs he can hide from the harm he does. He can say that those meth-heads are just losers so it's not really his fault. They'd do it anyway, right? With weapons it would be different.
One theme I wonder will come back:
when Jesse got sober he talked about acceptance, and kicked back with that line: "I'm the bad guy." I wonder if Walt's moment will be the realization that HE is the bad guy, that Hank's death and the airplane crash and the death of children and the destruction of the White family and the betrayal by Jesse and all the rest of it are completely on Walt, no one else...
Welll....
That's the thing about fandoms, sometimes they're fan-DUMB - seriously, there's *NO* deed too heinous to keep at least some small portion of the fandom from adulating Walt because to them he's a dark wish-fulfillment fantasy, a big-badfic that in the darkest part of their hearts they almost wish for, because the rot of hate, intolerance and resentment has seeped that deeply into our society.
Lemme give you an example - when you see the big fatcats who crashed our economy and broke every law, sacred trust, and moral line in the process, skipping away laughing while the folks they screwed starve and struggle, and get BLAMED for it, some part of you deep inside that you don't like very much bares its fangs and starts to growl, you know ?
Prettymuch everybody has those feelings, ain't nothin wrong with it, hell, ain't all that much wrong with even acting on it, it's the HOW which matters, sure...
But deep within their heart everybody who's ever been mistreated (which is prettymuch everybody) has just that wee little kernel of something really, really ANGRY about it within them.
And because this is fiction, because this is fantasy, they can let it out to play a little bit and appease it in a harmless fashion, which is what such is, kind of like a boilers release valve, only in the most rare of situations would doing so actually encourage that kind of behavior, and those people were seriously messed up in the first place to the point where anything else coulda set em off just as easy - so folks liking Walter no matter how vile he is doesn't bother me so.
Hell, one of the things I do when I get totally stressed by how stupid and malicious people can be is to fire up Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas go downtown and just RAMPAGE - doesn't mean nothing, see ?
Besides, why's it matter so much if someone else likes/hates a fictional character so much ?
Or even completely mistrues the moral message of a story, which happens more often.
Reason I go into that is that there's a manga called Death Note where the AUTHOR started getting really pissed off at folks "liking" the guy supposed to be the villain, and then started not only "pushing" that character harder in a direction he was admittedly going anyway, but doing it in such a fashion that suspension of disbelief started to crumble, and then topping that by breaking the internal rules of the story and throwing in a Mary-Sue'ish character with near magical powers (such as deductions with NO logic chain behind them, again violating the storys integrity and internal rules) which in the end came off pretty badly and caused a lot of readers to "like" the villain even MORE out of spite, so there's a lesson in that for writers.
I think some of the out-of-character moments might be an attempt on behalf of the writers to render Walt any kind of likeable at all, to hold the idea of redemption juuuust out of reach and troll the audience a little, at least that seemed the intention, but it doesn't come through as credible to me cause Walter White as he was prettymuch became toast the moment he decided not to play the game anymore - major events like that in ones life, for good or ill, always result in transformation of character and personality, he's NOT that person any more and never will be.
Which is funny cause I am re-reading Matt Stovers Caine's Law right now and Caine points out yeah, he's not "that person any more", but no one ever thought to ask...
"What if the person he is now... is WORSE?!"
Oh, and this...
I don't think that's Walt's style. With the drugs he can hide from the harm he does. He can say that those meth-heads are just losers so it's not really his fault. They'd do it anyway, right? With weapons it would be different.
We ARE talkin about a guy who at some point in here near the end, bought himself an M60 Machinegun, I don't think denial is on his list of priorities anymore, alas.
. . . Besides, why's it matter so much if someone else likes/hates a fictional character so much ?
Or even completely misconstrues the moral message of a story, which happens more often. . . . -Frem
Part of the audience attaches wrong explanations to TV shows, explanations that the show's writers know are ludicrous. As in TV, the same happens in reality, but there is no designated head writer to authoritatively clue the audience, and actors, about what reality means.
In Front of Their Noses (September 16, 2013, 8:33 am)
Antonio Fatas, like me, is boggled by the OECD's apparent inability even to contemplate the possibility that Europe's poor economic performance is the result of fiscal austerity.
At one level, of course, it's perfectly understandable. The OECD in general, and Pier Carlo Padoan, in particular, as chief economist, were among the biggest and earliest cheerleaders for austerity; you can see why they don't want to admit that they were in fact cheerleading Europe into disaster.
Still, it's kind of depressing. What we've just had in the eurozone is as close to a natural experiment on fiscal policy as you're ever likely to see, and the results overwhelmingly support a Keynesian view. You might expect some acknowledgment, some revision of views.
But that's not the way the world works. George Orwell knew all about it:
"The point is that we are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield … To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."
And not many influential people are into that kind of struggle … http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/in-front-of-their-noses/
Friday, September 20, 2013 8:29 PM
Fair enough, Frem. I don't think "in the series" Walt would take that option you're talking about, but who he's gotten to be in the most recent episodes certainly might. I could see it. But I don't think it'll go that way.
I understand your argument about people enjoying the fantasy of being bad and rebelling against the system. I think this show goes beyond that though. I enjoy the post-apocalyptic fantasy as much as any schmoe, maybe even more, but it crosses the line when I find my fantasy self hurting people I care about. The whole point is: when does your rebel fantasy make you part of the evil you fight? Walt has gone there but he's too f'ed up to know it.
Frem, when does your hatred of The Man make you a servant of The Man? I don't mean to suggest that you are, I mean to suggest that that is what has happened on this show, and that's what Walt fans have become.
People on other forums I've visited argue that Jesse deserves it all because he committed the cardinal sin of ratting out to the cops. Also, they say, he deserves to suffer an awful fate because he killed sweet old Gale. I have a problem with this because the only option he had besides killing Gale was turning rat, and Walt put him in that situation. There was no solution for Jesse that the Walt cult would accept, and that's because they are indeed the Cult of Walt.
To me, the Walt effect is not about people wanting to buck the system. People who allow themselves to support Walt no matter what are *exactly* the people talk themselves into supporting the shitty evil banking system while thinking they don't. They aren't bucking a damn thing, they're just giving into their egos. They are easily manipulated because they have no true moral compass.
So, this is maybe giving too much moral weight to a TV show, but the hell is the internet for if not that? ;)
Tonight I let myself watch last week's episode again. Have new thoughts but they are still percolating.
Trying to decide if I should watch Sunday night of wait until I have both episodes to finish it all at once. I can't have the next one kill me the way the last one did!
Friday, September 20, 2013 11:18 PM
I get ya, hell that question has been around prolly as long as humans have, consider how every revolution which topples a regime eventually declines into prettymuch the same thing, then cast down in its time, lather, rinse, repeat.
That's why I liken Government to a machinegun sitting in the middle of a table, with Politics being the arguement over who gets to point it at who - the power of The One Ring, as it were, creates nothing, solves nothing, and the end result is always destruction, cooperation has to come from people, them wanting to, not cause one scares and threatens them.
Force and Fear are tactics of "The Man", and using them makes one no better, cause that warps everything, every 'accomplishment' which springs from that seed is poisoned from the get-go
"As long as the child will be trained not by love, but by fear, so long will humanity live not by justice, but by force. As long as the child will be ruled by the educator's threat and by the father's rod, so long will mankind be dominated by the policeman's club, by fear of jail, and by panic of invasion by armies and navies."
Boris Sidis, from "A lecture on the abuse of the fear instinct in early education" in Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1919.
But always there's the siren song, the lure of power-over-others, and you know what ?
It's a lie.
As I've mentioned before, violence of any kind damages those who use it.
Loki (The Avengers) did kind of have a point when he mentioned folks diminishing their lives in a mad scramble for power, they do, be it religious/spiritual, economic, or what have you, if one wants power to control the will of others, the very act of taking and using it destroys them too.
But the rarely asked question is what about folks who don't WANT it ?
Hell in all truth I have no authority but what folks give me, and they tend to hand off a lot of it cause they think doing so serves THEIR interests, which is essentially how it all works, cause when folks no longer believe you are serving their interests, they stop listening to you, stop following your orders, even attack you - that can be staved off with Force and Fear, but not inevitably so, cause eventually you'll reach a point where ENOUGH people hate you... well, you know where that goes.
Works the same way in Crime as Government (IMHO cause they're much the same thing, lol) or in any other human interaction cause the NATURE of power is exactly that, folks willing to listen to you and do what you tell/ask them - tis when manipulation and threat comes into the picture that things go all to hell.
Okay that's maybe a little convoluted and not sure if the point gets across, but anyways.
I think you might very, VERY much like Matthew Stovers Acts of Caine books, cause they address a whole bunch of the moral and ethical issues like this, and pull ZERO punches about them and the natural consequences thereof.
Another thing I was thinkin about, is how Walter and those like him are a branch, not a root, merely a symptom, not the disease.
Think on this, without the malicious, exploitive and downright rapacious for-profit "healthcare" system we have, and with the asinine practice of prohibition-via-Force aka "The War on (some) Drugs" - people like Walter never come to *BE*, because the conditions which allow shit like that to grow and fester don't exist.
I mean hell, it was Prohibition in the first place which created the crime and corruption, and the supposed need for Force which lead to the FBI/ATF and so on and so forth, which in the end have become a greater danger to us and all we care about than the goddamn moonshiners ever were, yes ?
This is why I do not care for Hank - "just following orders" is no goddamn excuse.
Tilt your head a bit and look at it sideways for a moment - Walt goes and creates a product, he wants to sell it to people, people want to buy it, and while the product itself and their use of it may be harmful to them (like booze, smokes and other things ain't ?) that is their choice.
Along comes the DEA saying no, you can't, cause we say so and if you don't OBEY, we will harm/imprison you!
From that perspective which has the moral high ground ?
(Yes, I know that's a gross oversimplification, I just wanted to push the concept out there to be thought about, neh ?)
And it's not like Prohibition ever WORKS, people find a way, they always do, and the folks who take most harm from it are joe and jane sixpack - wasn't *that* long ago you could buy friggin Heroin over the counter as a damn toothache remedy, and we didn't have the crime, corruption and violence cause there was no incentive for it, but along comes prohibition, and the squeeze gets tighter and tighter, and there's money and power involved in subverting it, and along come desperate folks like Walter....
And on top of that now we have these rabid "Law Enforcement" agencies which are in all truth these days more of an occupying army of a protected class who can prettymuch beat you to DEATH without real consequence for lookin at em sideways - seriously, what the hell, right ?
So I take issue with the notion of Hank being "one of the good guys".
"Just following orders" is no goddamn excuse.
That doesn't make Walt no better, mind you, but the same rationalizations and excuses Walt uses to deny his own culpability, are the exact same justifications Hank uses, are they not ?
And don't even get me STARTED on Medical Care, and how the desperation to obtain it, and living in pain and suffering can drive people mad, we'll be here all day...
Anyways, the essential *ROOT* of the problem isn't Walter, or Hank, or Tuco, or Gus....
So much as the social-legal structure that inevitably creates them, an assembly line cranking out monsters in our midst, and with all the best of intentions, we built it, didn't we ?
Saturday, September 21, 2013 7:27 PM
I'm with you on a few things Frem:
This whole (fictional but with ties to reality) BB situation is a result of the completely stupid and misguided drug war.
I've long thought that there ought to be a rule: if some large percent of the population breaks a law, it should no longer be a law. The Mass Pike has a speed limit of 55, but on any given day if you're going less than 70 you are causing a problem. I've found myself sitting in the left lane going 75 when I notice a cop behind me. Guy isn't looking to give me a ticket, he just wants me to move the hell over so he can pass.
And yet they'll use that 55 limit to hand out tickets when they need the income. Clearly, 55 isn't necessary for safety because traffic NEVER goes that slow. So change the f'n law already!
Ditto for drugs. If the last two presidents openly admitted to trying pot (and more, I think) and yet went on to become PoTUS, why the hell does any young person go to jail for doing the same?
But back to the TV show. It's not the larger issues of society's ills that damn Walt. He's not just fighting a good fight against societal restraints. He is all self-interested ego, which makes him evil in my book. You can draw parallels with fights that are good to fight, and you can point to moments when he had real feeling, but none of that excuses the harm he's done. I don't forgive him. I only hope he reaches that conclusion that Jesse did a few seasons back: He is the Bad Man. The consequences of his actions are all on him.
But what I really want to get to with this post are my predictions.
First, all my predictions are going to be wrong because this damned show always surprises me.
However, this won't stop me from trying. :)
Second: it seems the going thing to think that future Walt got his big gun and his ricine so he could go back and save Jesse and then - perhaps - use the ricin on himself. I think the latter idea is just stupid, (man's got cancer! Still coughing and taking pills in the future, why does he need ricin for himself?) but there's a logic to the first. Uncle Jack is armed and Walt definitely hates the man for taking his money and killing Hank. Sure enough Walt needs a big gun to set all that to rights.
But it's too obvious at this point. It's too much like what the writers WANT us to think. So I'm wondering if Walt is getting the gun to fight Jesse. Maybe the silly emo meth-head boy has been turned Bad, really Bad by all the ass-kickings he's taken. Maybe he's the one who trashed Walt's house and spray-painted Heisenberg on the living room wall, this after he escaped the nazis and did serious threatening of Walt's family. (I would guess killing of Walt's fam, but Walt is too relaxed in the future for that to be the case.)
Like Gus the monster was created when his partner (lover?) was killed by the Mexican cartels, I can see Jesse becoming the new monster. I can see him killing Walt and taking over as the new Big Bad, all his humanity destroyed.
That's my guess after watching Ep 5-14 a second time.
OK, and another option is that Jesse really is completely broken and Walt will witness that and react in one way or another. I hope not. Have to say, I hope Jesse turns badass and gets his revenge no matter the consequences. Which puts me on par with those who cheer Walt turning bad.
Kudos to the writers, for getting me to this point! They have officially messed with my head. :)
Sunday, September 22, 2013 7:19 AM
I've long thought that there ought to be a rule: if some large percent of the population breaks a law, it should no longer be a law.
That's what broke Prohibition more less, so the powers that be decided to start just flat out ignoring the Constitution and its requirements, well, more than they were already.
I had to mention to someone that "legalize it and tax the hell out of it" isn't the pancea they think it is, because that leads right into the problem of attempted prohibition-via-taxation like they did with tobacco, not only did they lie about where the money was gonna go (hint: It hasn't, check for yourself) they kept going back to that well and jacking the tax by playing on the shocking gullibility of chronic do-gooders and moral-majority types, who always seem willing to help pave the road to hell.
End Result: Around here at least, there's a massive secondary market smuggling tobacco and prescription drugs (conventional, not narcotics) and because there's no MONEY in attacking it cause Asset Forfeiture doesn't (yet) apply, much of that tax revenue dries up and ever increasing efforts to "enforce" it wind up COSTING money - which wouldn't have happened if the "legit" price could beat the underground one.
Case in point, the very tobacco I am smoking now is obtained from a smuggler buddy for $11.00/lb, and that's with his cut and everything, but that self-same bag bought over the counter here would be $50-$60, which tells you how rapacious the tax is, yes ?
I don't think any tax EXCEPT booze and smokes should exceed 50% of the total value of the product, and in the latter case no more than 70%, which is a fair enough deal...
So if they were say, to legalize Marijuana for example, and then slap a $50.00 tax on a "dime bag" (worth $10 max) not a goddamn thing will change... but pin the tax at five bucks and enforce quality standards, and the street aspect dries up and blows away for lack of need.
As for artificially low speed limits, well that's part of criminalizing everything so that there's ALWAYS an excuse to arrest anyone at any time, make everything a crime, all of us criminals, and the powers that be don't have to listen to us any more - and there's also, obviously, the money.
Ann Arbor has a serious problem with this, in that theirs are outright ILLEGAL, and have been since 2006 - this remains to be rectified.
http://www.annarbor.com/news/opinion/ann-arbor-needs-to-get-up-to-spee
d-on-its-speed-limits-along-main-roads/
http://www.annarbor.com/news/speed-limits-along-some-of-ann-arbors-mos
t-loathed-speed-traps-could-go-up/
That has SOOOooo many ill-effects, when Stadium Bridge and a couple others were falling down, chunks of concrete falling out of the bottom and hitting cars to where they had to block off the street under it, Congressman Dingell had to go to DC personally and all but beg for a TIGER grant, and one of the heaviest arguments against him was those speed limits not being changed - thankfully Dingbat is pretty badass and won them over - reconstruction started this May.
(Seriously, he's a dude, this bit is from last WEEK.)
Our local township went and tried to use poor road conditions as an excuse, then blocked and rejected efforts to repair the road (which they FAILED, as repairs have already started) and THEN in a fit of pique tried to have the road stripped down to one lane with bicycle lanes to keep that speed limit and the juicy ticket income, not to mention excuse to pull over minorities en masse and search their cars in hopes of finding an excuse to arrest them and steal the car via forfeiture - they've gotten a full measure of earfull from my proxies, as going in person always winds up with them accusing me of somehow "threatening/menacing" them... even from 20 feet away in a freakin wheelchair.
Funny bit to that is that some of the locals, when pulled over, have actually pulled INTO the freakin complex when a cop flashes them, cause they know damn well I'll take an interest and come watch/film the stop, thus ensuring officer unfriendly behaves himself - damn annoying that is.
But yeah, back to the show - I concur that Walt's gone evil, hell in my opinion he crossed over a lot earlier than people think, and he's blown off chance after chance to walk away cause he LIKES what he is doing even if he's in denial about it, he didn't slide down the slippery slope so much as he knowingly dived in headfirst like it was hells own waterslide.
You certainly don't have to argue his evilness to me, and doing so to what you call the "cult" is futile for all the reasons I named - but I have kind of a bizarre take on such things as while I take responsibility for my actions I never try to justify them, cause if you gotta do that, you maybe shoulda done it in the first place, and whatever sins in it there may me, those are MINE, and if I am judged for it some day, it ain't gonna be by nobody here, you know ?
I too think the gung-ho rescue is a bit too trite for where the show has gone, is going, it's just too neat and clean an ending to a messy situation and would come off as a major copout and totally out of character for Walt besides.
I can certainly see the possibility of Jesse offing Walt and then more or less becoming Walt, only to some day be thrown down in return, which is depressing, but accurate... although, I really ain't sure Jesse has that in him, cause without the toxic effect of Walt on his life, he just don't want it enough to make that jump.
The big moral dilemma for ME would be if Walt uses that big machinegun on...
A - His insurance provider.
B - A DEA office.
A - I'd have more of a problem with, most of those folk aren't really knowingly culpable and aren't decision-makers anyways, and frankly while normally I don't think it has any real impact in most cases... I *cringe* at the notion of this maybe giving folk "ideas" in the real world.
Hell, I am surprised no foreclosed homeowner has loaded their car with propane tanks and driven it into the lobby of the bank yet - people as a whole are better than media paints them to be, thankfully.
B - Not sure how I would feel about that, especially in a day and age when the forces of "Law and Order" have ZERO moral compunction about doing almost the same damn thing to residential homes and tend to get a free pass for it most times, I could name some examples, but no need.
That said, violence is a piss poor way to solve that problem, but I'd have a real hard time feeling much sympathy in such a case.
Locally we reigned our badge bearing goons in via budget cuts, as in every time they pull some BS we slap them with another cut, but that doesn't work everywhere for a variety of reasons.
I disappeared into the cave of the school week. Emerging now to continue the conversation...
End Result: Around here at least, there's a massive secondary market smuggling tobacco and prescription drugs
Yeah, I am shocked every time I see what cigarettes cost these days. I smoked when I was in college, not a lot, like a pack a week tops. I couldn't have afforded it with today's prices. Which maybe supports the argument by the tobacco haters. :/ Meh. I don't like being indirectly controlled, so although I've grown to hate cigs, I hate this kind of behavioral control even more.
Like you said, not only is it evil, it's just plain stupid and doesn't work.
Amen. Kudos.
I like your politician guy, but Pat Leahy may always be my favorite. :)
So, I've done a lot of reading blogs and talking to people and generally obsessing about BB this week. A majority of the kids I teach are hella into it. It's distressing that some are completely in love with Walt still. I find it a little alarming how people rationalize his behavior. ie...
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
I hate having to highlight the text for long sections, so I'm leaving this visible. Hell, if anyone reaches this deep in the thread without having watched the show, they're silly LOL!
OK, I've read comments that Jesse deserves to suffer because he killed Gale. The fact that Walt manipulated Jesse into doing that because Jesse was taking over Walt's place as head cook for Gus... not important! I'm re-watching season 4, and Walt's manipulation is so much clearer to me than first time around.
Also, many Walt folk claim Jesse deserves his fate because he went to the police. But one could also argue that the reason he is where he is now is because he didn't go to them earlier. He should have brought in the cops when Drew Sharp was killed. He choose to quit the cook but still demanded his $5 million. He made his bad kharma right there.
There's many really interesting articles breaking down the twists and turns of Walt's psyche, and I'm eating them up LOL! I can't wait for Sunday's finale, but I'm also kind of enjoying not knowing, and guessing. There are just so many possibilities for what could happen.
The Grey Matter story will finally be told, it looks like. I'm guessing that Walt won't come out of that smelling sweet. Maybe there was a love triangle that Walt didn't win, or a business decision he didn't agree with, and he left in a huff with his damaged pride. Like he's done all through the series, he blames the Grey Matter folks for that failure because they didn't do things *his* way so what choice did they leave him?
That seems his theme, and the thing about Walt I can't stand. Everything would work just fine if only everyone did exactly what he says, and he feels justified in taking any kind of revenge against people who don't obey him. In S4, Jesse was all panicked about going to Mexico with Gus. Walt's reaction was to get pissed because Jesse had dinner with Gus and didn't pull out the ricin. Walt couldn't consider that Jesse made a good decision. Good decisions don't matter. Obeying Walt is the important thing.
But then Walt goes all remorseful about fighting with Jesse, even crying (when he's doped up) and calling Walt Jr "Jesse". Goodness, I do love how this show lets characters be complex. Walt really does love Jesse, he just loves his power trip more.
(Moving predictions into a different post because this is too long.)
My (100% WRONG!) predictions:
MORE SPOILERS!!!
Yes, gung-ho rescue is too obvious. Walt is not motivated by rescuing abyone right now, and anyway I wouldn't believe that he could kill all the nazis by himself, even with the big gun. Waiting three days for the ricin to have its effect seems impractical for the storyline.
But Todd has to have a fate of some kind, and it better not be a pleasant one...
What I really jones for is for Walt to see what's become of Jesse and have to admit that *he* made that awfulness happen. Seeing his surrogate son still alive but suffering horribly might shock him into admitting that he cares, and Jesse has always been the connection to Walt's good side. The worse things are for Jesse, the more Walt goes Heisenberg. Walt admitting he loves Jesse as a son would be like Walt admitting that he's not the evil Heisenberg.
Yes, I'm that sentimental.
So maybe Walt sees what's happened to Jesse and we get another huggy moment. This is where I see Jesse being damaged up enough to accept the affection, bask in it, but then kill Walt.
I've changed my mind that I don't think Jesse'd go criminal in the end. Most likely he'd swallow the ricin and then go to the cops to try to clean his soul a bit before dying. I hope I'm wrong. I hope the writers find a way to give him a life.
I don't see Walt going after either the insurance companies or DEA. I don't think he blames them at all, though he should. His beef is with Grey Matter and the nazis who killed Hank and took his money.
He might have heard about the blue being back on the market and figured that Jesse is alive, but his reaction to the Charlie Rose show seemed all focused on Grey Matter.
Yes, I am rambling about this show and I will probably continue all weekend. And for weeks after LOL! And I'm not trying to convince you of anything, just needing to vent about my obsession. :)
Really good article about two episodes back. Assessment still holds, even with all that's happened in the two episodes since.
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/09/breaking-bad-recap-rabid-dog/
Well, that's that.
No real surprises there - I think we all knew the destination of that train from the moment it pulled out of the station, yep.
Way it was put together reminded me of Agent Smiths line in The Matrix.
Hear that mister anderson ? THAT, is the sound of inevitability.
Which is what it was, only question was when and how.
I've heard some mention of redemption, but that's just crap, there's no redemption here cause this wasn't for even a moment ABOUT redemption, this is about what WALTER wanted, frankly that's always what this has been about cause that's who he was, how he is, only magnified to degrees not possible in civilized life by desperate circumstances.
Even when he finally owns up to it, even *that* is a manipulation, but a less mean spirited one in order to give his family some closure.
And in the end, Walter *gets* what he wanted, although depending on what you believe he might very well have a "warm" welcome waiting for him on the other side of the veil, sure - damn straight he earned it.
All that said, it does rook me just the slightest that from a certain perspective the health care system and the "War on (some) Drugs" are in their own way every bit as villainous and vile as any of the protagonists and antagonists involved here, and in one way or another actually enabled or inspired some of them, something I feel is glossed over, and Big Pharmas playgames never even mentioned - how is jacking kids on Ritalin "good" and kids jacking themselves on Meth "evil", and is the "War on (some) Drugs" really about eliminating competition ?
That and enriching/corrupting our so-called-protectors into vulture-grade looters via asset forfeiture, yadda yadda.
Oh, and Grey Matter - still comes across to me that that Elliot and Gretchen are not as innocent as they might seem, something about them always came across a bit "off" to me, and I think they might have been playing Walt via Gretchen sleeping with him and he figured out what was going on and left in a huff... which allowed them to establish legal custody of his work thus cutting him off from any royalties and such for it - while used in the most ridiculous and bizarre fashions these days, that is one reason patent and trademark laws exist, so I don't think they're wholly innocents there, just opportunists.
LOL! Brilliant line, and perfectly fitting.
I'm mostly surprised that I wasn't surprised. You never know if the writers will try to pull some huge crazy stunt, but this episode just made sense and provided much needed closure.
**** SPOILER ****
I was relieved right away when Walt didn't go after the Grey Matter couple, as in, he didn't want revenge. Just help (though coerced, to put it mildly). First, it showed that he was out to mend what fences he could, and wasn't purely motivated by power trip and rage. Thank goodness there was going to be balm on the many wounds this show has given me, was my reaction!
Second, I was somewhat relieved not to get the whole Grey Matter backstory. I've been curious and all, but also distressed at how many precious minutes that would eat up. I'd rather get as much as I can about the main characters.
However, regarding balm, I read somewhere that Gilligan thinks (I love this: he *thinks* this about the character he writes but he's not completely sure and he's willing for viewers to see it differently, as if this character really does have his own independent existence. Which is how I felt when I was writing.) Anyhow, Gilligan suspects that Walt intended to kill Jesse along with the Nazis. He changed his mind when he saw what bad shape Jesse was in.
I didn't see that angle watching the show the first time, because I was convinced that Walt was all olive branch. But it makes sense. And makes the scene even more heart-wrenching.
I agree about redemption. There is none for Walt. But there was honestly, finally. Admitting to Skyler that he did it for himself... Funny, one of my students who has been firmly and somewhat disturbingly on Team Walt, came into school this morning saying that Walt died too easy. I couldn't believe it! I think it affected her to see him acknowledge that he had indeed gone to the Dark Side.
War on drugs - yes bullshit. But rather than dwell on that, I'll get back to my infatuation with Jesse.
I really want to know what his odds are. The material facts say he's screwed: no money, in poor health, fucked up in the head for sure, serious emotional problems, no one he can turn to, and oh yeah his fingerprints all over a meth lab full of dead nazis. What is he going to do?
But then he's actually happy to be alive, which I think not many people would be after all that happened. The fight never went out of him. So maybe he'll go to Alaska and build a new life, making zebra wood inlay boxes and teaching kids to not do drugs. That's my Jesse fanfic. :)
Oh, and Grey Matter - still comes across to me that that Elliot and Gretchen are not as innocent as they might seem,
Hmm. I must ponder that. Need to watch the scene again. I'm still too blown by the Skyler/Walt and Jesse/Walt scenes to focus on much else.
Sooo looking forward to buying the series DVD set and all the extras... This show is worth it.
So now when does The Walking Dead come back? ;)
It was not inevitable. In retirement, Walter White was doing what the real Whitey Bulger did. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitey_Bulger But Walter didn't retire to a Santa Monica apartment, like Bulger did for 17 years. TV can't wait 17 years, so winter in a New Hampshire cabin made Walter bored and lonesome. He needed an end, as Breaking Bad did, and called the police from a barroom.
And then Walter saw Grey Matter's Elliot and Gretchen on the barroom TV. TV gave him a conveniently new purpose at the last minute before the police arrived.
After the final episode of Breaking Bad, Whitey Bulger is probably wishing he died doing what he was best at, murder, like the fictional Walter White.
http://xkcd.com/367/
"Ron Paul wants to put the New Republic back on the Corusca gem standard."
Tuesday, October 1, 2013 4:38 AM
I actually got a laugh out of how Gretchen and Elliot have NO IDEA Walt is even there till he pulls up a chair, that's straight from my bag of tricks... one of our residents is a wee bit irritated at me cause I almost made him wet himself, not MY fault he wasn't paying attention and didn't see me till I walked right past his chair while he was out having a late night smoke.
If Jesse has an ounce of sense he'll go running straight to this guy here.
http://breakingbad.wikia.com/wiki/Group_Leader
I think he actually might, and I wouldn't be none too worried about the fingerprints cause he's got the scars and the damage to prove his participation was involuntary, plus what they did to Andrea - I think the DEA would be more than happy to pin all else on Walt just to close the case as it has been a thorn in their side the whole time.
I too think Walt went in there with the idea of a mercy kill in mind and just couldn't, cause Jesse is like a second son to him no matter how screwed in the head he was, and I think he was also actually gratified at Jesse finally rejecting him to become his own person when he tossed away the pistol and refused to kill him.
I found it kind of tragic but triumphant that Walter meets his "win condition", even at the cost of his own life... were it not for his ego, pride and grudge holding, he might have been able to do so peacefully, but even dealt a crummy hand by fate and his own "issues", he still made bank when the chips came down.
So now when does The Walking Dead come back?
Oh bite thy tongue!
Three/Four episodes into it and I was rooting for the ZOMBIES - seriously, I have never seen a more determinedly, passionately, STUPID bunch of dumbass deserving of horrible fate morons outside the GOP in my entire LIFE - I literally couldn't stomach watching it, and it was kinda the last straw in cancelling my netflix subscription (along with 5000 C/D list fodder movies junking up the list and drowning out maybe 9 good ones, if even that many).
Honestly I couldn't find even a single character I didn't want to meet a horrific and painful end, except maybe poor little Sophia, and welll....
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EightDeadlyWords
If there ever was a zombie apocalypse, and these folks showed up at the edge of my secured zone, I'd mow them down in self-defense against their rampant, overbearing, inexcusable stupidity and incompetence, lest they destroy all me and mine have by leading the horde right to us out of pure flaming idiocy - I *HATE* those people, all of em.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013 3:55 PM
Walter White's Dream
The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum explains the finale :
" … halfway through, at around the time that Walt was gazing at Walt, Jr., I became fixated on the idea that what we were watching must be a dying fantasy on the part of Walter White, not something that was actually happening—at least not in the "real world" of the previous seasons.
… I mean, wouldn't this finale have made far more sense had the episode ended on a shot of Walter White dead, frozen to death, behind the wheel of a car he couldn't start? Certainly, everything that came after that moment possessed an eerie, magical feeling—from the instant that key fell from the car's sun visor, inside a car that was snowed in. Walt hit the window, the snow fell off, and we were off to the races. Even within this stylized series, there was a feeling of unreality —- and a strikingly different tone from the episode that preceded this one …
… [But] if this episode in fact took place in reality, it was troubling, and yes, disappointing, if only because the story ended by confirming Walt's most grandiose notions: that he is, in fact, all-powerful, the smartest guy in the room, the one who knocks. Anyone other than Walt becomes a mere reflection of this journey to redemption. … It's not that Walt needed to suffer, necessarily, for the show's finale to be challenging, or original, or meaningful: but Walt succeeded with so little true friction —- maintaining his legend, reconciling with family, avenging Hank, freeing Jesse, all genuine evil off-loaded onto other, badder bad guys -— that it felt quite unlike the destabilizing series that I'd been watching for years. If, instead, we were watching Walt's compensatory fantasy, it was a fascinating glimpse into the man's mind -— akin to the one in the movie "Mulholland Drive," a poignant, tragic attempt to fix a life that is unfixable." - www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/09/breaking-bad-finale-rev
iewed.html
Read, as they say, the whole thing, which fleshes out the case for the strange, un-"Breaking Bad"-ness of the show's final hour: The ridiculously-smooth unfolding of Walt's final plan, the surprising predictability (in this most unpredictable of shows) of just about everything that happened, and the weird invisibility of Albuquerque's Most Wanted Man throughout. Given the sweep of the show, it was not a sequence of events that came close to vindicating Walt: After the terrible unfolding of the last season, especially, no mere tying-up of unfinished business could accomplish that. But it was a sequence that could have been scripted by Walt, given how neatly it fit with his own long-running conception of himself — as a genius among lesser men, a master of his fate, and a man who takes care of his family even when his family doesn't appreciate or understand it.
My Sunday column, which explored the moral coherence and primal appeal of the Team Walt worldview, also argued that the show itself does not actually share that worldview, and that as a work of art "Breaking Bad" ultimately judges its protagonist from within the more universalist/Christian moral framework that he himself rejects. I stand by that view, but after the finale I think the creators may have nursed a little more sympathy for Team Walt's perspective than I previously believed. It was almost as if, having ruthlessly deconstructed his vision of himself across the final season's course, they decided to give him (and his admirers) a kind of consolation prize — a last ride in which his plans would all work out, his genius would carry all before it, and his self-image would actually be vindicated by the unfolding of events. And it's hard not to agree with Slate's Willa Paskin that this kind of ending necessarily "dampens the moral vision of the show," and weakens the integrity of its tragic arc.
So I stand with [The New Yorker's] Nussbaum in preferring to interpret the finale's action as an "Owl Creek Bridge"-style dying dream … though I also think that interpretation is less poignant than hyper-tragic, bordering on horrific, suggesting as it does that Walt died not only with his world in ruins, but still entirely enclosed by his own self-serving fantasies, unchanged and unredeemed. But from a dramatic perspective, better an unredeemed anti-hero, dying in his sins, than the kind of implausible semi-vindication that the finale's action sometimes seemed to want to offer. – http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/walter-whites-dream/


Today only, it's possible to buy a Sky Club one day pass for $22 through Groupon. Any passes purchased expire on December 31, 2010. If you don't have a membership, this is a huge savings compared to the usual cost of $50 per day pass. And keep in mind Sky Clubs do offer free booze, so if you're a drinker, you can definitely get your money's worth.


text:
A Leader and Pioneer of the Circassian Culture in the Diaspora
Dr. Muhamad Ali Bchihalouk
This article was written about my grandfather by:
Professor Dr. Adel Abdulsalam (Lash) University of Damascus, Member of the International Adyghe (Circassian) Academy of Science (IAAS)
Damascus 10/15/2015
(Translated from Arabic)
This research revolves around one of the Circassian cultural pioneers in the diaspora, Dr. Muhamad Ali Bchihalouk. He was honored in the symposium conference as a patrons / leaders of the Circassian culture. The symposium was held in Istanbul in 2007. Although I did not attend, I sent this paper and it was read to the audience in the Arabic translation.
Dr. Muhamad Ali Bchihalouk, a pioneer of the Circassian ethnic group in the diaspora in Syria and Turkey. He was well known as a scholar and a philosopher. He was also well versed in Circassian culture in addition to being a medical doctor and a surgeon.
After Russia occupied Circassia in 1864, it forced the Circassians, the original inhabitants of the land, to migrate, leaving their homeland behind seeking refuge in the Ottoman Empire at the Balkan and middle east regions, where some of them, the Bjadough tribe, reached the Golan Heights in Syria with 17,000 refugees of different Circassian tribes. They settled in 14 villages establishing the city Quneitera and settling in different areas in Syria in Damascus.
The Bchihalouk family, of the Bjadough tribe, fled the Caucasus region on a ship heading to Romania then Bulgaria. The family consisted of the father, mother, older brother and his sister Zahra. They moved from the Balkans to Syria where they settled in Damascus, where the father and mother of Muhamad Ali passed away. His sister was married there and his brother became an Imam of a Mosque in Damascus.
The stories are consistent that Muhamad Ali has completed his high school education in Damascus. Then his father sent him to Istanbul to study Medicine, graduating with honor and ranked 65 among the best surgeons in the Ottoman Empire under the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid the Second (1876-1909).
Unfortunately, I was unable to find the exact date and place of his birth or any accurate information about his childhood and youth days, nor was I able to obtain any detailed information from his children and grandchildren that I met. I recall meeting him in person when I was around the age (17-18). However, all the information that I was able to collect was very little detailed information about our man and insufficient to reflect on his biography, however, I presume that he was born either in 1888 or 1890. But his grandson, Ahmad Jibril heard him state that he was born in 1887 in Circassia or Bulgaria. There is however a consensus that Dr. Bchihalouk worked after finishing medical school as a major with the Ottoman army. He married a Turkish lady (Alaviah Zeinab Hanim), the daughter of (Yusuf Bey Ziya Abdullah Oglu) a prominent and wealthy figure.
After his passing, his daughter and only heiress inherited all his property in Turkey in the area of Adana between Sihan and Jihan rivers in Turkey, in Syria Lebanon and Egypt.
Dr. Bchihalouk was then appointed to Tripoli (Lebanon), after short period, he was transferred to the war front between Iraq and Iran as an Army Doctor residing in Sulaymaniyah during the Ottoman–Safavid war. Muhamad Ali moved there alone since Alaviah Hanim refused to join him, he stayed in Sulaymaniyah for one year, during that time his wife passed away leaving him a great financial wealth he was the only heir to Alaviah Hanim.
In the meantime, he began to suffer more from asthma on his way from Sulaymaniyah to Tripoli. Soon after he settled in Damascus by getting married to (Najiah Hanim), the sister of Sabri Al Asali, of a Circassian mother. Her brother, Sabry Al Asali was the famous Prime Minister of Syria during the era of Syrian independence.
Dr. Bchihalouk was then appointed in Homs, a city north of Damascus, as the chief medical doctor. He later returned back to Damascus developing a reputation as the most brilliant surgeon with rare skills in the region. Soon after, he was appointed as chief medical doctor in Beirut, Lebanon. However, his asthma was aggravated due to the humidity of this coastal city.
There are also stories that Dr. Bchihalouk worked as a biology and anatomy professor at ( Maktab Anbar ) one of the most famous schools in Damascus after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. In 1921, Mohammad Ali traveled with his family to Egypt to look after the farms and real property that he inherited from his first late wife and as a remedial measure treating his asthma in Egypt's dry weather. To his disappointment and dismay, he found out his brother in law had squandered and embezzled his properties and possessions. Despite the bad situation, Mohammad Ali decided to stay and practice medicine for seven years in Cairo. His clinic was adjacent to the Cairo Fortress and he was known as the (Turkish Doctor). He also worked as a private doctor to a prominent family in Egypt ( possibly, but not confirmed that it was the ruler of Egypt).
Muhamad Ali returned to Damascus with his family in 1928 and settled in the Muhajirin quarter, in a four-bedroom house that was filled with books from wall to wall. He became well known to Circassians in Syria and Syrians alike. He has begotten two sons, Najdat, and my friend Nour al-Salam, and three daughters, Hidayet, Hayat and Najat, who all have since passed away.
Dr. Muhamad Ali and son, Nour Al Salam Bchihalouk
In 1939 he moved from Damascus to the city of Quneitra along with his family except for his son who preferred to stay in Damascus with his uncle Sabri Al Asali. The family resided in a two-story house in the city center dedicating one room to look after his patients with the help of his wife despite her limited medical qualifications. He became one of the most popular doctors in the Golan Heights attracting patients and was known as (Al-Hakim) an Arabic word with a literal meaning of the (Wise man) a local term for a medical doctor. He was a general practitioner treating all illnesses, as commonly practiced by medical doctors of that era, trusting his judgment more than the other three non-Circassians doctors in the Golan region. It was told that he treated his patients truthfully and passionately.
I was also told by one of his Circassian patients that he treated trachoma and other eye illnesses in the region using an ancient Circassian remedy, wiping the eyelid with a black-green glazed stone well known to Circassians, possibly of basalt or Ophiolite green stone before rinsing with astoundingly successful results.
That shows that Dr. Bchihalouk was a general (passé partout) Doctor, who mastered six languages: Circassian, Arabic, Turkish, French, German and English and authored books in both Arabic and Turkish. In the forties of the twentieth century, his illness was aggravated where he became dependent on pain killers preventing him from practicing medicine. His wife Najieh took over the clinic treating patients (without medical qualifications) against the silent objection by medical doctors in the area. Her brother's position and influence protected her from her opponents. Bedouins referred to her as (Al Hakeemah) an Arabic term used in reference to medical doctors.
Due to his medical conditions, he was compelled to leave Quneitera residing in Damascus seeking the proper medical care in specialized hospitals under the care of prominent doctors in the capital, to no avail. Dr. Bchihalouk died in Quneitera and was buried in a cemetery there in 1955. His tombstone carries the Circassian imprint of his extended family and clan.
Dr. Muhamed Ali was proficient in the Circassian language and contributed to the Circassian language in the study of linguistics. He connected the vocabulary creatively and word synonyms as evidence to other languages borrowed from the Circassian language in an effort to prove it was one of the oldest languages on earth. He was also a great chess player, as was a prominent activist in the Circassian national movement in the Golan Heights area. He became the Director of the Circassian school "Adighe Edjap´er" in al-Quneitrah city.
Dr. Bchihalouk was profoundly interested in Circassian history, language, customs, ethnology and everything about his nation. He devoted his knowledge, time and money to study their origin and their connections, and relationships to other old nations and civilizations. He published two books. Ikz al-Muarikhin. (Awakening of the Historians). Printed in (Homs press) in the city of Homs in Syria in 1920. In the Ottoman Turkish language using Arabic alphabets. Aad and Thamood, published in 1939 in the Arabic language with an unknown place of publishing, most likely in Damascus Syria.
Prof. Dr. Adel ABDULSALAM (LASH) Member of the International Adyghe (Circassian) Academy of Science (IAAS)
This article was first published by Dr. Adel Abdulsalam Lash. This research paper was read in a conference in Istanbul in 2015 honoring my late grandfather. This was truly the gift, my family can never repay enough with gratitude to our beloved Scholar, Dr. Adel Abdulsalam... T'hawaGapso (thank you)
Granddaughter of Dr. Muhamad Ali Bchihalouk
Tags: Behind the Scenes of ELAJ Circassian ELAJ ELAJ History Healing Stories Suhein Beck

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


June 30, 2017 • NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with director Edgar Wright and Joe Loya, Wright's technical consultant, about the new movie, Baby Driver, which is about a getaway driver who wants out of the game.
June 29, 2017 • Errol Morris' unusually straightforward documentary about portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman is as charming as its sunny, voluble subject.
June 29, 2017 • Bong's clever dark comedy, about a enormous, genetically modified pig and the adorable moppet who loves her, veers wildly in tone, but the CGI oinker at its center is a marvel.
June 29, 2017 • Elliott says that being selective about the roles he takes has helped him maintain his acting career for nearly 50 years. He plays an aging actor with a stalled career in the new film, The Hero.
June 28, 2017 • Director Edgar Wright rejects computer-generated unreality and instead focuses on breathtaking driving in his new heist thriller. Critic David Edelstein says the result is terrifically entertaining.
June 28, 2017 • Nyqvist, whose other films include John Wick and Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol, died of lung cancer, according to his representative.
June 27, 2017 • "This is a squealing-tires symphony that owes more to Jacques Tati ... than to Justin Lin or Michael Bay," says critic Chris Klimek.
June 27, 2017 • Before he died, Maysles (who also made Grey Gardens) said In Transit was his "dream film." But questions about who owns the rights has made it difficult to see.
June 27, 2017 • You'll root for 13-year-old Mija at every step of this new Netflix film. And Okja, the huge, genetically modified pig, is among the most touching and realistic computer-generated characters ever made.
June 24, 2017 • One of the greatest French filmmakers alive, Bertrand Tavernier, has turned his attention to French movies with a new, personal documentary called My Journey Through French Cinema.
June 24, 2017 • David Leveaux's new film follows exiled German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II as he realizes that the new Germany of National Socialism has nothing at all in common with the Germany of his memories.
June 23, 2017 • Sofia Coppola has taken a 1971 Southern Gothic psychodrama directed by a man and remade it from a female perspective — and the result is powerful.


text:
Q: Why won't my .ajax request work? The code I want to work:
    $.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: "_Source/ajap/ajap.nlSrch.php",
        data: { sndJson : jsonData },
        dataType: "json",
        processData: false,
        success: function(html) {
      $("#srchFrm").append(html);}
    });

The code that works:
    $.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: "_Source/ajap/ajap.nlSrch.php",
        data: { sndJson : jsonData },
        success: function(html) {
      $("#srchFrm").append(html);}
    });

Unfortunately when I send the first one my post data looks like this "Array ()" and when I use the later I get this "Array ( [sndJson] => [\"8\",\"3\",\"6\",\"7\"] )".
I know that there has to be a simple explanation but I haven't been able to figure it out.
Help please!

A: Try sending your data in a query string...
$.ajax({
        type:"POST",
        url:"_Source/ajap/ajap.nlSrch.php?json="+jsonData,
        dataType:"json",
        success: function(data) {
              $("#srchFrm").append(data);}
        error: function(xhr, ajaxOptions, thrownError)
        {alert("Error!");}
    });

A: You can use shorthand $.post instead of using low level ajax class --- because you don't need to advanced handling. So, this one will be great enough.
$(document.ready(function(){
  $("#submit_button").click(function(){
    $.post('php_script.php', {
     // here's what you want to send
     // important -- double quotes, 'cause It's evals as valid JSON
     "var1" : "val1"
     "var2" : "val2"
    }, function (respond){
       try {
           var respond = JSON.parse(respond);
        } catch(e){
           //error - respond wasn't JSON
        }
    });
  });
});

PHP code:
<?php
/**
 * Here you can handle variable or array you got from JavaScript
 * and send back if need.
 */
 print_r($_POST); // var1 = val1, var2 = val2

?>
Back to your question,
Why  my .ajax request doesn't work?
This is because JavaScript throws fatal error and stops further code execution.
You can catch and determine the error occasion, simply by adding
try {} catch(){} block to the statement you think may occur any error

A: When you specify dataType: json, jQuery will automatically evaluate the response and return a Javascript object, in this case an array. You're taking the result and adding it as html to #srchForm, so it does not make sense to convert it to a javascript object. Use dataType: html, or none at all.
http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.ajax/

A: The following examples above are not reusable. I am a huge fan of reuseable code. here is my solution.
Software design 101:
DRY Don't repeat your self. You should wrap your code into an object. This way you can call it from anywhere.
var Request = {
    version: 1.0, //not needed but i like versioning things
    xproxy: function(type, url, data, callback, timeout, headers, contentType)
    {
        if (!timeout || timeout <= 0) { timeout = 15000; }
        $.ajax(
        {
            url: url,
            type: type,
            data: data,
            timeout: timeout,
            contentType: contentType,
            success:function(data)
            {
                if (callback != undefined) { callback(data); }
            },
            error:function(data)
            {
                if (callback != undefined) { callback(data); }
            },
            beforeSend: function(xhr)
            {
                //headers is a list with two items
                if(headers)
                {
                    xhr.setRequestHeader('secret-key', headers[0]);
                    xhr.setRequestHeader('api-key', headers[1]);
                }
            }
        });
    }
};

Usage:
<script type="text/javascript">
var contentType = "applicaiton/json";
var url = "http://api.lastfm.com/get/data/";
var timeout = 1000*5; //five seconds
var requestType = "POST"; //GET, POST, DELETE, PUT

var header = [];
header.push("unique-guid");
header.push("23903820983");

var data = "{\"username\":\"james\"}"; //you should really deserialize this w/ a function
function callback(data)
{
   //do logic here
}
Request.xproxy(requestType, url, data, callback, timeout, header, contentType);
</script>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The couple arrived by plane for their wedding from the Netherlands. Close to Warszawa, in the Bride's home church, the bilingual wedding took place: Polish-English. The blend of cultures and languages, Polish, Indian, Dutch, created an amazing effect. The Groom's mum presented herself in a traditional national costume, Sari, with Bindi painted on her forehead.
The dress with a train, shoes and flowers – all classical, gentle and charming. Very elegant and full of charm . There were also gifts for the guests: the sweets with initials in the central color of wedding reception: purple.
The organization of this marriage ceremony and wedding reception required great amount of energy, inspiration, many phone calls but the final result was wonderful. Even the weather was perfect:) We were on the coordination of the wedding day. We helped logistically in the church and after it, we assured all drivers of the route and we moved to the wedding venue.


text:
Bunyaville State Forest & Conservation Park | Bunya
hero code
Since 1917, Bunyaville State Forest Park (formerly Bunyaville Regional Park) has been a favourite recreational destination for locals, conveniently located in the heart of Brisbane's northern suburbs. Whether you're picnicking with the family, bird watching, bush walking, or cycling, this is a great spot to spend some quiet time experiencing nature.
Wildlife Spotting and Bird Watching
Bunyaville forest provides refuge for many reptiles, mammals, birds and plants as part of the 'Mountains to Mangroves' Corridor. The bushland corridor connects remnant bushland from the D'Aguilar Range through the suburbs to Moreton Bay Region, protecting vital wildlife habitats. The best way to enjoy this pocket of well-preserved dry rainforest is to follow one of the walking trails which wind along shady gullies and past cool waterholes.
While you're there you might be lucky enough to spot some native wildlife, such as koalas, echidnas or possums. Especially look out for Australia's largest owl – the Powerful Owl (Ninox Strenua), a nocturnal species who call the park home, or the Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus Strigoides) who are the resident masters of camouflage.
Take advantage of the Connect with Nature program and learn interesting facts while participating in nature-based activities with a guided walking tour through Bunyaville State Forest. Hike up to the education centre and learn about the locals – the fauna and flora!
Hiking within Bunyaville Conservation Park
Bunyaville Track
The Bunyaville Track (1.6km return) is a twenty minute walk which passes through a rare forest community of large-leafed Spotted Gums (Corymbia henryi) – their leaves happen to be the koala's favourite meal, so watch out for these furry friends in the branches high above.
This track begins at the northern end of the day-use area and finishes at the southern end of the day-use area.
Tree Discovery Circuit
Bunyaville State Forest Park's Tree Discovery Circuit (650m return) is a side track that splits-off from the Bunyaville Track. It is a gentle walkers-only track which takes around twenty minutes to complete. Part of the track is composed of a boardwalk to help minimise the impact of humans upon such a delicate ecosystem.
Both hiking Brisbane north side tracks are rated Class 3 according to Australian Standards and there are interpretive signs along the way which include interesting information about the surrounding flora and fauna. Other multi-use sections of the park also welcome bush walkers, horses, dogs on leads and mountain bikes.
Bushwalking is pretty easy-going but always enjoyable. Koalas have been known to be seen in the diverse range of eucalyptus trees and bushwalking is the perfect way to spot them – just keep your eyes to the skies!
There are two bushwalking tracks. The Tree Discovery Circuit is a 650 metre return trek and should take around 15 minutes. The Bunyaville Track is a longer walk at 1.6 kilometres taking around 30 minutes. Keep your eyes open for the wildlife, including carpet pythons, and your ears open for the kookaburras and pied currawongs.
Forest Walks in Brisbane North's Bunyaville
Bunyaville Track 1.65km return
Tree Discovery Circuit 650m return
Education Centre track 241m return
Classroom Track 337m one-way
Powerful Owl Track 560m one-way
Mountain Biking, Horse Riding & Dog Friendly!
If you're looking for something a bit more energetic, Bunyaville State Forest is also open for cycling. Mountain bike riding is heaps of fun here, with changing gradients and a generally undulating landscape. Choose from 10 mountain bike trails and make sure you bring a high level of fitness.
Bring those energy levels down a peg or two and enjoy the beauty of the Bunyaville State Forest from horseback. Those other four legged friends, dogs, are also allowed as long as they're on a leash on the share trails.
Bunyaville Conservation Park is Heaven for Mountain Bike Enthusiasts
There are 10 designated mountain bike tracks within the park. These are well-maintained, single tracks which mostly suit confident, intermediate riders (not suitable for young children). It is possible to follow all the tracks listed below, covering about 22 kms in around 2.5 hours.
Track 1: Wayne's World (600m)
Track 2: Jurassic (1.3km)
Track 3: Nutcracker (1.3km)
Track 4: Creek Track (980m)
Track 5: Kokoda (545m)
Track 6: Carnage (790m)
Track 7: Steps (820m)
Track 8: Dark Side (1.5km)
Track 9: Mini Van (1.1m)
Track 10: Zig Zag (465m)
Bunyaville State Forest Park is Wheelchair Accessible
There are wheelchair-accessible toilet facilities located at the Bunyaville day-use area. There are also under cover picnic tables, toilets, drinking water, as well as barbecues with firewood provided in the day-use area.
Where is Bunyaville Conservation Park
Bunyaville opens at 7am. It is located 20 minutes north west of Brisbane CBD.
How to Get There: Drive out of Brisbane CBD on Bowen Bridge Road and continue to follow it as it becomes Lutwyche Road. Turn left onto Stafford Road, then right onto S Pine Road (just past Woolworths shopping Centre). Follow it as it becomes Old Northern Road in Everton Hills, to the signposted park entrance on your left. Turn-off Old Northern Road and follow the road around to the various car parks within the park grounds.
If you're coming from the direction of Stafford, pick up a few necessities from the Woolworths Shopping Centre in Everton Park along the recommended 'how to get there' route. Don't forget to bring your swimming outfit.
Parking: Park in the main bitumen carparks by the toilets and BBQ & picnic areas, or continue on the sealed road onto the dirt road to park by the Bunyaville Environmental Centre where the road ends.
Limited Signage
There is very limited hiking Brisbane northside track information/signage. The main information board is located nearby the toilets and picnicking/BBQing lawn right by one of the main carparks. A few walking track information boards are also located at the beginning of various hiking trails, but none are found deeper within the forest.
Though you won't find walking trail info past the track entrances, you will find a few mountain bike information boards dispersed around the park (these are of no use to walkers though).
Bunyaville State Forest – a world away just a few minutes from the city. Share your adventure #visitmoretonbayregion
Bunyaville Conservation Park, Old Northern Rd, Albany Creek State of Queensland, Australia
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These two pictures of Uranus were compiled from images recorded by Voyager 2 on Jan. 10, 1986, when the NASA spacecraft was 18 million kilometers (11 million miles) from the planet. The images were obtained by Voyager's narrow-angle camera; the view is toward the planet's pole of rotation, which lies just left of center.
The picture on the left has been processed to show Uranus as human eyes would see it from the vantage point of the spacecraft. The second picture is an exaggerated false-color view that reveals details not visible in the true-color view -- including indications of what could be a polar haze of smog-like particles. The true-color picture was made by combining pictures taken through blue, green and orange filters. The dark shading of the upper right edge of the disk is the terminator, or day-night boundary.
The blue-green appearance of Uranus results from methane in the atmosphere; this gas absorbs red wavelengths from the incoming sunlight, leaving the predominant bluish color seen here. The picture on the right uses false color and contrast enhancement to bring out subtle details in the polar region of the atmosphere.
Images shuttered through different color filters were added and manipulated by computer, greatly enhancing the low-contrast details in the original images. Ultraviolet, violet- and orange-filtered images were displayed, respectively, as blue, green and red to produce this false-color picture.
The planet reveals a dark polar hood surrounded by a series of progressively lighter convective bands. The banded structure is real, though exaggerated here.
The brownish color near the center of the planet could be explained as being caused by a thin haze concentrated over the pole -- perhaps the product of chemical reactions powered by ultraviolet light from the Sun. One such reaction produces acetylene from methane -- acetylene has been detected on Uranus by an Earth-orbiting spacecraft -- and further reactions involving acetylene are known to produce reddish-brown smog-like particles. A similar haze envelopes Saturn's moon Titan; ground-based observations have predicted such a haze in the polar regions of Uranus. The exact identification of the reactions and their products will require additional study.
Voyager 2 is heading for a Jan. 24 closest approach to Uranus.


To send a picture that you've already taken, refer to Send an Existing Picture to Online Album.
From the main screen, press the camera button (located on the right edge).
From the To field, enter GETPIX or 438749.


We went there, and we did that.
For the last several months, our space in the Factory at Franklin has been home to THE FLING, a City Farmhouse monthly pop-up store.
Because that space is so beautiful, we have decided to make it the permanent home of CITY FARMHOUSE (formerly located at 111 Bridge Street)!!!! If you've ever been to our place at the Factory, then you know it is just too amazing not to share with you all the time.
Beginning August 27, 2015, City Farmhouse will be open TUESDAY – SATURDAY from 10AM – 5PM in the Factory, located at 230 Franklin Road in Franklin, TN. We think you will LOVE what we are doing here!
So what's happening to The Fling? The Fling will become an occasional event held inside this City Farmhouse space. From time to time we will host artists, trunk shows, music, and who knows what else we will dream up! We will always post The Fling (special events) on our City Farmhouse Facebook, Instagram, and here on the blog. So, just to be sure that you don't miss a thing – subscribe to our newsletter here.
Here's to another fresh start and amazing adventure... thanks so very much for being part of the City Farmhouse journey!!!


text:
PM Modi to lay foundation of 9 highway projects of over Rs 14,000 crore in Bihar today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of nine highway projects in Bihar through video conference on Monday and also inaugurate optical fibre internet services through which the state's all 45,945 villages will be connected. The information was released by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Saturday.
These nine highway projects involve a road length of about 350 kilometres at a cost of Rs 14,258 crore.
Modi has recently inaugurated or laid the foundation of a number of development projects, including those related to railways, infrastructure, bridges, drinking water and sanitation, in the state which is set to go to the assembly polls in October-November.
The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that the proposed highways will pave the way for the state's development as they will enhance better connectivity, convenience and economic growth in and around it. Movement of people and goods will also improve substantially, especially with the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, it added.
Modi had declared a special package for significant infrastructure development of Bihar in the year 2015. The package included 75 projects worth Rs 54,700 crore, of which 13 projects have been completed, and work is undergoing at 38 and others are in the process to be launched, the PMO said.
The project would also entail implementation of one Wi-Fi and five free of cost connections to government institutions like primary schools and anganwadi centres among others, it said.
This will lead to digital services like e-education, e-agriculture, tele-medicine, tele-law and other social security schemes to be easily available to all citizens of Bihar at the click of the button, the PMO said.
On the issue of OBC reservation in the state, Bhupesh is taking an important meeting at this time.
No student should be disturbed due to Corona epidemic: Chief Minister Mr. Baghel


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Home About us Trust news North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust celebrates last graduation ceremony of 2019
Staff celebrate last graduation ceremony of 2019
Staff at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust celebrated their achievements after completing Care Certificates and various apprenticeship qualifications while carrying out their day to day job.
The graduation ceremony took place on December 4 at Peterborough City Hospital and was the last one for 2019.
In total 18 new Health Care Assistants were presented with their Care Certificate awards which they had achieved within the first fifteen weeks of employment in the Trust. Another 18 existing members of staff across Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford hospitals were presented with certificates for apprenticeship qualifications including Healthcare Support Worker, Business Administration and Clinical Healthcare.
Jo Bennis, Chief Nurse, said: "It is always a pleasure to be able to present staff who have undertaken additional qualifications alongside their job with their certificates and has been a joy to celebrate everyone's success. In addition to our normal awards I also had the opportunity to hand out five extra awards, which were given to those learners who go above and beyond living our values."
Five brand new awards were given on the evening, Outstanding Learner Awards, to reflect our Trust values which are; Putting Patients First, Actively Respectful, Seeking to Improve and Develop, Caring and Compassionate and Working Positively Together.


Dr. Václav Štětka is Senior Researcher and Leader of the PolCoRe research group at the Institute of Communication Studies FSV UK. He received his Ph.D. in sociology in 2005 from Masaryk University in Brno, where he then worked as Assistant Professor at the Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Faculty of Social Studies. Between 2009 and 2013 he was Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, working on an ERC-funded project Media and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe (http://mde.politics.ox.ac.uk). His research interests encompass political communication and the role of new media, transformation and democratization of media systems, media ownership and globalization. His most recent publications include "Whither slacktivism? Political engagement and social media use in the 2013 Czech Parliamentary elections" (with J.Mazak), Cyberpsychology (2014); "Investigative Journalism in Central and Eastern Europe: Autonomy, Business Models, and Democratic Roles (with Henrik Örnebring), International Journal of Press/Politics (2013); "Media and Democratisation: What is Known about the Role of Mass Media in Transitions to Democracy" (with N.Jebril and M.Loveless), Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2013).