Re: Random Thoughts

by UltimateMarvel 3/14/2018, 3:21 pm

Damn! I'm glad nobody is seriously hurt and now hopefully Trump will realize this was a stupid idea.

by Tyger 3/14/2018, 6:33 pm

UltimateMarvel wrote:...hopefully Trump will realize this was a stupid idea.

You haven’t been paying attention, have you?

by Rusty 3/14/2018, 7:01 pm

The father of the 17-year-old boy who was injured told KSBW Mr Alexander was planning to use the gun to demonstrate of how to disarm someone.

What in the ever loving fuck. That is hands down the dumbest shit I've heard. What a dick. Trying to teach a classroom full of kids how to disarm someone with a gun, in a single period. Motherfuckers with years of training can barely do it.

by UltimateMarvel 3/14/2018, 9:14 pm

Tyger wrote:You haven’t been paying attention, have you?

What'd I miss?

Rusty wrote:
The father of the 17-year-old boy who was injured told KSBW Mr Alexander was planning to use the gun to demonstrate of how to disarm someone.

What in the ever loving fuck. That is hands down the dumbest shit I've heard. What a dick. Trying to teach a classroom full of kids how to disarm someone with a gun, in a single period. Motherfuckers with years of training can barely do it.

Yeah, that's stupid. Usually the advice is to run. I question his experience.

by Tyger 3/15/2018, 12:30 am

Trump doesn't realize stupid ideas are stupid.

by **joey con carne** 3/15/2018, 5:47 am

That guy is an idiot. I hope his career is ruined and he never works doing whatever the fuck it is he does ever again. What he did was the absolute height of stupidity. What the hell was he thinking?

by **WyldeMan** 3/15/2018, 6:19 am

Rusty wrote:
The father of the 17-year-old boy who was injured told KSBW Mr Alexander was planning to use the gun to demonstrate of how to disarm someone.

What in the ever loving fuck. That is hands down the dumbest shit I've heard. What a dick. Trying to teach a classroom full of kids how to disarm someone with a gun, in a single period. Motherfuckers with years of training can barely do it.

I've never seen gun safety that included disarming someone. I feel like his idea of teaching gun safety is something he himself learned from YouTube. Also, COPS ARE FUCKING MORONS.

joey con carne wrote:That guy is an idiot. I hope his career is ruined and he never works doing whatever the fuck it is he does ever again. What he did was the absolute height of stupidity. What the hell was he thinking?

He was thinking he's a cop, a congressman and a teacher and he wanted to impress his 17 year old students with moves he'd seen in movies. I'm sure he's on paid leave and will return in a week. Did you read the part of that article where it said classes just went right back to normal after the victims were wheeled out? "Can we get a janitor in her to mop up the blood cause there's nothing to see here kids, now back to The Grapes of Wrath". Razz

by **WyldeMan** 3/15/2018, 7:33 am

Toys 'R' Us goes out of business, 30,000 jobs at stake

(Reuters) - Toys 'R' Us Inc, the iconic toy retailer, will shutter or sell its stores in the United States after failing to find a buyer or reach a deal to restructure billions in debt, putting at risk about 30,000 jobs.

The closure is a blow to hundreds of toy makers that sell their products at the chain's U.S. stores, including Barbie maker Mattel Inc, board game company Hasbro Inc and other vendors like Lego.

"This is a profoundly sad day for us as well as the millions of kids and families who we have served for the past 70 years," Chief Executive Officer Dave Brandon said.

With shoppers flocking to Amazon.com Inc and children choosing electronic gadgets over toys, Toys 'R' Us has struggled to boost sales and service debt following a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout by private equity firms in 2005.

Brokerage Jefferies estimated that 40 percent of the toy sales up for grabs as a result of the bankruptcy would flow to Amazon and 30 percent to Walmart.

Toys 'R' Us said on Thursday it was seeking approval to liquidate inventory in 735 U.S. stores, which debtors anticipate will close by the end of this year.

It is in talks to sell 200 of those stores as part of a deal to sell its 80-odd stores in Canada.

For its operations in Asia and Central Europe, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the company will pursue a reorganization and sale process. The already announced administration of its UK business will continue, the company said.

The wind-down follows a bruising holiday season, when the company failed to stay competitive and sales came in well below projections. The quarter accounts for 40 percent of its annual net sales.

Toys 'R' Us' creditors said in a court filing that Target Corp, Walmart Inc and Amazon pricing toys at low-margins and a greater-than-expected decline in toy and gift card sales following its bankruptcy filing in September led to the weak performance in the quarter.

"Even during recent store closeouts, Toys R Us failed to create any sense of excitement," said Neil Saunders, managing director of retail research firm GlobalData Retail. "Its so-called heavy discounts remained well above the standard prices of many rivals."

STORE CLOSURES

Wayne, New Jersey-based Toys 'R' Us was already in the process of closing one fifth of its stores as part of an attempt to emerge from one of the largest ever bankruptcies by a specialty retailer.

In September, when the company operated more than 1,600 stores globally, with roughly 800 stores outside the United States, it got court permission to borrow more than $2 billion to start paying suppliers.

But efforts to keep the business going collapsed after lenders decided that in the absence of a clear reorganization plan, they could recover more in a liquidation by closing stores and raising money from merchandise sales.

The company's troubles mirror those of other mall-based retailers in the United States that have shut stores and fired employees in a bid to stay relevant.

More than 8,000 U.S. retail stores closed in 2017, roughly double the average annual store closures in the previous decade, according to data from the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The disappearance of Toys 'R' Us leaves a void for hundreds of toy makers that relied on the chain as a top customer alongside Walmart and Target.

Shares of Mattel and Hasbro tumbled last week on Toys 'R' Us' liquidation reports. Both rely on Toys 'R' Us for roughly 10 percent of their revenues, according to their 2016 annual reports.

Jefferies cut its price targets for Hasbro, Mattel and a handful of other toymakers in a note early on Thursday, predicting the bankruptcy would depress 2018 revenue across the industry by between 2.5 percent and 5.5 percent.

"We ... expect the first half to be affected by reduced order flow from Toys 'R' Us and adjacent retailers, as companies like Target, Walmart, dollar stores, etc. reconcile inventory," the brokerage said.

by UltimateMarvel 3/15/2018, 9:38 am

I've been reading about Toys R Us being in trouble and now it seems that this is the end. I think I've been to a Toys R Us store once or twice in my life.

Tyger wrote:Trump doesn't realize stupid ideas are stupid.

Ah! That's what you meant. Yeah, he probably won't go back on this but there is always a possibility. Two days ago, students at schools walked out in protest and my brother said they did too. I just hope he's getting the message but I may be asking for too much.

by **WyldeMan** 3/15/2018, 11:58 am

UltimateMarvel wrote:I've been reading about Toys R Us being in trouble and now it seems that this is the end. I think I've been to a Toys R Us store once or twice in my life.

My mom worked for Toys R Us for 10 years so I was a Toy R Us kid. I was there every day after school playing cause back in the late 80s to early 90s her bosses didn't have too much interest in whether or not children where allowed to play in the stores while their parents worked, so most did it.

It was free day care and endless isles of toys, only I never had to buy any of them and I got to try all the latest toys before they were on the shelves.

As a young kid I was at Toys R Us for thousands of days but after my mom quit working for them about 20 years back, I've probably been maybe 3 times for gifts and that was before Amazon became the monopolized beast devouring all other companies.

by **joey con carne** 3/15/2018, 3:28 pm

It sucks hearing about Toys R Us going out of business. They had a shitty business model selling everything at MSRP. Even though they price-matched, it wasn't something advertised so people probably didn't know to do it.

It's too bad they didn't change their business practices before this happened.

My brother and I used to go there and dream about having all the toys in there. We grew up pretty poor (as you guys know) so we only got a new toy maybe once a year. Still, even though I couldn't have any of the cool toys it was still really fun just to go there and look at all the nice packaging.

Recently, I've been going there and actually buying things for my nephew and niece. I'll be going there tomorrow with my bro just for fun to see what's going on in the wake of this news. I'm pretty sure there will be no sales yet until maybe next week as they get their shit together. Will definitely go there during the closing sales and see if I can get anything good. I've got my eye on buying some PS4 and PS3 games.

by Tyger 3/15/2018, 6:29 pm

I was definitely a Toys R Us kid, it sucks. It's the last toy store too.

by **WyldeMan** 3/16/2018, 7:14 am

joey con carne wrote:My brother and I used to go there and dream about having all the toys in there. We grew up pretty poor (as you guys know) so we only got a new toy maybe once a year. Still, even though I couldn't have any of the cool toys it was still really fun just to go there and look at all the nice packaging.

We didn't have much either, that's why I mentioned getting to play with all the toys for free since they never came home with me. Razz

I was a major Toys R Us kid back in the day but wasn't every kid? Did your local store not let you play with the toys? None of management seemed to care back then, they saw it as free advertisement to see happy kids enjoying their products whenever parents came shopping. You know back when people experienced things for themselves instead of just watching a youtube video on it.

by **joey con carne** 3/16/2018, 11:23 am

I don't recall ever actually playing with toys while I was there. But I do recall they had a section in the back which was sectioned off and lots of kids in there hanging out and playing with toys.

A lot of great memories in there. It's a real shame they are going out of business. I'm also reading the company which bought them unloaded a lot of debt onto Toys R Us. I don't know the details of that but it sounds messed up.

I'm really hoping there is some 11th hour miracle and they pull through this.

by **WyldeMan** 3/16/2018, 11:43 am

joey con carne wrote:I don't recall ever actually playing with toys while I was there. But I do recall they had a section in the back which was sectioned off and lots of kids in there hanging out and playing with toys.

A lot of great memories in there. It's a real shame they are going out of business. I'm also reading the company which bought them unloaded a lot of debt onto Toys R Us. I don't know the details of that but it sounds messed up.

I'm really hoping there is some 11th hour miracle and they pull through this.

I remember seeing Career Opportunities when I was six or seven and that movie had a big impact on how rowdy I got in the Toys R Us. Only I was way too young to appreciate just how fine Jennifer Connolly was in that movie and also just how sexual it was, LOL.

Amazon put them out of business and will probably buy all remaining inventory for pennies just to salt the battle wound.

by **WyldeMan** 3/17/2018, 9:04 am

$2.5 million settlement for couple in bizarre kidnapping police called "Gone Girl" hoax

VALLEJO, Calif. -- A couple reached a $2.5 million settlement with a Northern California city and its police department after investigators dismissed the woman's elaborate and bizarre kidnapping as a hoax.

Police in the city of Vallejo initially discounted a report by Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, that a masked intruder drugged them in their home and then kidnapped her in 2015.

The assailant sexually assaulted Huskins and released her two days later outside her family's home in Southern California, more than 400 miles away. The Associated Press doesn't normally name victims of sexual assault, but Huskins has frequently spoken publicly about the case in the past.

Police realized the couple were telling the truth after a disbarred Harvard University-trained attorney, Matthew Muller, was implicated in another crime and tied to the abduction. He pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and is serving a 40-year prison term.

Family of Quinn and Huskins confirmed to CBS Sacramento reporter Steve Large that the $2.5 million settlement was reached in the defamation suit Thursday.

Vallejo police had apologized after discounting the outlandish kidnapping.

Muller used a drone to spy on the couple before he broke into their home with a fake gun, tied them up and made them drink a sleep-inducing liquid, prosecutors said. They were blindfolded while Muller played a recorded message that made it seem as if there was more than one kidnapper.

Tape-covered goggles were allegedly put over Quinn's eyes, along with headphones on his ears playing the prerecorded message that said the break-in was being done by a professional group collecting debts and that both victims would receive electric shocks and cuts on their faces if they didn't cooperate.

Muller put Huskins in the trunk of his car, drove her to his home in South Lake Tahoe and held her there for two days. Investigators said they found videos of Muller arranging cameras in a bedroom and then recording himself twice sexually assaulting his blindfolded victim.

During and after the kidnapping, Muller used an anonymous email address to send messages to a San Francisco reporter claiming that Huskins was abducted by a team of elite criminals practicing their tactics.

After she was released in the city of Huntington Beach, Vallejo police called the kidnapping a hoax and erroneously likened it to the book and movie "Gone Girl," in which a woman goes missing and then lies about being kidnapped when she reappears.

A Vallejo police spokesman at the time called the investigation a "wild goose chase" and said Huskins and Quinn were no longer being treated as victims or witnesses, reports CBS Sacramento.

"Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins have plundered valuable resources away from our community, and have taken focus away from the true victims of our community while instilling fear amongst our community members," Lt. Kenny Parks said. "So if anything, it's Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins that owe this community an apology."

Muller was arrested two months later in an attempted June 2015 robbery at another San Francisco Bay Area home. Authorities said they found a cellphone that they traced to Muller and a subsequent search of a car and home turned up evidence, including a computer Muller stole from Quinn, linking him to the abduction.

At an emotional sentencing hearing in March 2017, Denise Huskins talked about her 48-hour ordeal, and described her sexual assault by Matthew Muller, as he looked on. She described being blindfolded and fearing she was going to die.

"Matthew Muller," Huskins said. "The voice has a face, it has a name. Now we finally meet, face to face, eye to eye. I am Denise Huskins, the woman behind the blindfold. The woman you drugged, tortured, raped and attempted to manipulate."

Huskins sued police, and a judge ruled last year that the lawsuit could proceed.

"The conduct plaintiffs allege goes beyond defendants being skeptical, investigating alternate theories, and expressing skepticism," U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley wrote in his 22-page decision, adding that, "A reasonable jury could find that defendants engaged in conduct that was extreme and outrageous."

by **WyldeMan** 3/17/2018, 9:06 am

She was drugged, kidnapped, tortured, raped then publicly shamed by the police who called her a liar and said she wasted their time and resources and was told that she should apologize because they'd seen Gone Girl and didn't do their jobs so the predator just kept attacking women until he finally tripped himself up like all criminals do?!?!? And in the end those fucking pigs who did absolutely nothing were still protected by their badges and a $2.5 million defamation suit was the only verdict? American justice..... Evil or Very Mad

by **joey con carne** 3/19/2018, 12:23 pm

Only $2.5 million? WTF? They should pay her 100x that and also castrate all the cops involved with the case. Shit, that was depressing to read.

by **WyldeMan** 3/19/2018, 1:44 pm

joey con carne wrote:Only $2.5 million? WTF? They should pay her 100x that and also castrate all the cops involved with the case. Shit, that was depressing to read.

In high school after my friend Dana was murdered two weeks before graduation because the cops failed to protect her and called her a liar as well, the county paid a $1 million settlement to her family and both the disgraced pigs who allowed it to happen kept their badges and I still see them rolling in their squad cars not protecting other women after 15 years. If you ever rely on the police for protection or justice then you're in for a rude awakening.

by **WyldeMan** 3/20/2018, 9:06 am

1 student dead, 2 wounded in Maryland high school

GREAT MILLS, Md. — A teenager wounded a girl and a boy inside his Maryland high school Tuesday before an armed school resource officer was able to intervene, and each of them fired one more round as the shooter was fatally wounded, a sheriff said.

St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron said the student with the handgun was declared dead at a hospital, and the other two students were in critical condition. He said the officer was not harmed.

Cameron said authorities were still investigating whether the shooter was killed by the officer.

“When the shooting took place, our school resource officer, who was stationed inside the school, was alerted to the event and the shots being fired. He pursued the shooter and engaged the shooter, during which that engagement he fired a round at the shooter,” Cameron said.

“Simultaneously the shooter fired a round as well. So, in the hours to come, in the days to come, through a detailed investigation, we will be able to determine if our SRO’s round struck the shooter.”

This latest shooting comes as lawmakers nationwide are under pressure to take action against gun violence following the Valentine’s Day killings of 17 people at a Florida high school by a teenager with an assault weapon. Maryland’s Senate joined the House Monday night to ban bump stocks, which enable a semi-automatic rifle to mimic a fully automatic weapon.

Outside the school, a line of about 20 school buses formed on the street in front of the building. Ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles crowded the parking lot and the street. No students or parents could be seen outside at midmorning.

The St. Mary’s County Public Schools said the situation was “contained” after the shooting at Great Mills High School, which has about 1,600 students and is near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, about 65 miles (104 kilometers) southeast of Washington.

Agents with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined deputies at the scene. The county sheriff said parents or guardians should stay away, urging them to go instead to Leonardtown High School to reunite with Great Mills students there.

Many students across the country are calling for effective gun controls, leading up to Saturday’s March For Our Lives rally in the nation’s capital against gun violence in schools. Threats against schools have proliferated as well, and Great Mills High has not been immune.

Just last month, the school’s principal, Jake Heibel, told parents in a letter posted on the local news site The Bay Net that two students were interviewed after they were overheard mentioning a school shooting, and they were found to pose no threat. Heibel said the school increased its security nevertheless after social media posts about a possible school shooting “circulated quite extensively.”

Also last month, St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s office said it arrested two teenage boys for “Threats of Mass Violence” and a 39-year-old man on related charges after the teens made threats about a potential school shooting at Leonardtown High School, a high school about 10 miles from Great Mills. Police said they obtained a search warrant that led to them finding semi-automatic rifles, handguns and other weapons, along with ammunition.

by **WyldeMan** 3/20/2018, 9:59 am

If you're one of the people out there who have long wished there was a movie about playing tag with your friends, if you were friends with Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Annabelle Wallis, Rashida Jones, Isla Fisher, Leslie Bibb, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner, then they've made a movie for you!!! Razz

by Rusty 3/20/2018, 10:26 pm

WyldeMan wrote:If you're one of the people out there who have long wished there was a movie about playing tag with your friends, if you were friends with Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Annabelle Wallis, Rashida Jones, Isla Fisher, Leslie Bibb, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner, then they've made a movie for you!!!

That looks hilarious.

by **WyldeMan** 3/21/2018, 6:24 am

Rusty wrote:
WyldeMan wrote:If you're one of the people out there who have long wished there was a movie about playing tag with your friends, if you were friends with Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Annabelle Wallis, Rashida Jones, Isla Fisher, Leslie Bibb, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner, then they've made a movie for you!!!

That looks hilarious.

I hadn't heard a single thing until that trailer dropped.

by Tyger 3/21/2018, 6:30 am

I had no idea I needed that in my life

by UltimateMarvel 3/21/2018, 7:04 am

I saw the trailer yesterday, looks funny.

We're getting 4 inches of snow today, debating if I should in to work or not. lol

by **joey con carne** 3/22/2018, 1:30 pm

Snowed quite a bit here in New York and now it's about 45 degrees and a lot of the snow is melting. Getting tired of these snow storms.

by UltimateMarvel 3/22/2018, 4:50 pm

joey con carne wrote:Snowed quite a bit here in New York and now it's about 45 degrees and a lot of the snow is melting. Getting tired of these snow storms.

You and me both. I took the day off yesterday.

by Rusty 3/22/2018, 10:38 pm

I saw snow once. On a distant mountain top when I was about 10.

by **WyldeMan** 3/23/2018, 6:08 am

Rusty wrote:I saw snow once. On a distant mountain top when I was about 10.

WOAH. Every year I get at least a foot of it on my property but every seven years it's about four or five feet deep and my whole town shuts down.

by **joey con carne** 3/23/2018, 11:46 pm

This winter has done a number on my hands. They are so dry and cracked. My right hand has gotten to the point where it has some very slight bleeding. I've been using cocoa butter and Glysomed the last couple of days. Glysomed works really well but it makes your hands so oily.

Fucking hell this sucks. Painful and annoying.

by **WyldeMan** 3/24/2018, 6:18 am

joey con carne wrote:This winter has done a number on my hands. They are so dry and cracked. My right hand has gotten to the point where it has some very slight bleeding. I've been using cocoa butter and Glysomed the last couple of days. Glysomed works really well but it makes your hands so oily.

Fucking hell this sucks. Painful and annoying.

Whenever I have this problem I use O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream. Virtually every product makes your hands oily but I prefer that to my hands all cracked and bloody and I know women do too, lol.

by **joey con carne** 3/24/2018, 8:29 am

Added that to my Amarzon shopping cart. I love Prime.

I hear Amarzon is losing money on shipping these days so they are continuously outsourcing some deliveries to less-popular companies like Lasership.

Lasership is pretty bad in terms of information provided but they have always delivered my package. What I mean is, oftentimes, their tracking numbers will either not show up until the day of delivery or their tracking will say the package was delivered but then the package shows up the following day. The latter has happened the most often. I may have had five Lasership deliveries where four of them show up the day after the tracking number says it was delivered.

by **WyldeMan** 3/24/2018, 8:58 am

joey con carne wrote:Added that to my Amarzon shopping cart. I love Prime.

I hear Amarzon is losing money on shipping these days so they are continuously outsourcing some deliveries to less-popular companies like Lasership.

Lasership is pretty bad in terms of information provided but they have always delivered my package. What I mean is, oftentimes, their tracking numbers will either not show up until the day of delivery or their tracking will say the package was delivered but then the package shows up the following day. The latter has happened the most often. I may have had five Lasership deliveries where four of them show up the day after the tracking number says it was delivered.

Hopefully O'Keefe's works as good for you as it has for me.

Amazon used to ship all of my Prime deliveries via UPS but over the last year it's been exclusively at the USPS and the mail man is not happy whenever I order a big box and they make him deliver it in his little mail truck. For the first time in a decade I upgraded my old lawn mower and the new one arrived the same way just yesterday....he was not happy with me, LOL.

Greenworks 20-Inch 40V Twin Force Cordless Lawn Mower

by **WyldeMan** 3/24/2018, 9:04 am

Craigslist Shutters Personals Section After Anti-Sex Trafficking Bill Passes Congress

Craigslist has shut down all of its personal sections following the passage of an anti-online sex trafficking bill in Congress.

The advertisements site posted a statement on Friday announcing the move, specifically referring to the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the fact that the new law would make Craigslist liable for any illegal activity by its users.

“Any tool or service can be misused,” the statement said. “We can’t take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services, so we are regretfully taking craigslist personals offline. Hopefully we can bring them back some day.”

“To the millions of spouses, partners, and couples who met through craigslist, we wish you every happiness!” it continued.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 97-2 to pass the bill, which aims to combat sex trafficking by taking aim at the web services used to facilitate the practice. It also makes it easier for victims to sue sites that fail to prevent exploitative content from appearing on its pages. President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law as soon as this week.

by **joey con carne** 3/26/2018, 7:34 pm

I signed up for MoviePass last Monday. One year for $106. Three days later, they dropped the price to $90. So I sent in a ticket asking if they can change what I paid since I didn't even get my MoviePass debit card yet as it was still being processed. They said it's for new members only. I understand I'm not a "new" member but my membership is not even activated yet since I don't even have my card yet.

But that's okay. I'm going to go to the theater every single day and buy a ticket. If I don't plan on watching anything, I'll buy a ticket for someone and give it away. Since tickets are anywhere from $10 to $14 dollars, I am going to personally cost them about $3,600 a year on daily tickets.

I'm bitter and they will have to pay, literally, for not giving me what I am not entitled to.

Side note: As you guys know, I recently switched from AT&T to T-Mobile. I had an AT&T-branded HTC One M8 which I unlocked and used on the T-Mobile network. Due to some incompatibilities, the HTC was an even bigger piece of shit on T-Mobile than it was on AT&T. Luckily, one of my buddies had an old iPhone 6 he no longer used (but needed a replacement battery badly as the battery only lasted about two hours on standby) and let me keep it as my phone.

The iPhone is such a fucking dream. Holy shit. I don't think I'm ever going to go back to Android. Not until they fix the shitty operating system. I've had two Android phones now and both don't even compare to iOS in terms of reliability. Android is much nicer to personalize but I don't need personalization. I need a phone which doesn't suck.

I changed the batter for $32 bucks at an Apple store. Yay. Special deal for their iPhone battery scandal. I'm going to get the next iPhone in February 2019. T-Mobile always has some sort of Buy One Get One Free deals. I'll take advantage of that in the next one.

by **joey con carne** 3/27/2018, 2:37 pm

I received my card today and will be watching one of these three movies tonight:

1. Pacific Rim
2. Sherlock Gnomes
3. A Wrinkle in Time

Tomorrow will be another of the two. Thursday will be the last one. The theater here also has Love, Simon. I'll probably watch that, too, just because I need to make my money back. I'll be hitting up AMC theaters for the La-Z-Boys, too. Those tickets here are like $14.79 each. Oh, hell yes.

by Rusty 3/28/2018, 3:23 am

Just some videos, because I now know some progressives in the US are getting uptight over snippets from an interview.

Heaven forbid they take an entire interview into context.

by **WyldeMan** 3/28/2018, 1:16 pm

joey con carne wrote:I signed up for MoviePass last Monday. One year for $106. Three days later, they dropped the price to $90. So I sent in a ticket asking if they can change what I paid since I didn't even get my MoviePass debit card yet as it was still being processed. They said it's for new members only. I understand I'm not a "new" member but my membership is not even activated yet since I don't even have my card yet.

But that's okay. I'm going to go to the theater every single day and buy a ticket. If I don't plan on watching anything, I'll buy a ticket for someone and give it away. Since tickets are anywhere from $10 to $14 dollars, I am going to personally cost them about $3,600 a year on daily tickets.

I'm bitter and they will have to pay, literally, for not giving me what I am not entitled to.

Did you sign up cause of Silicon Valley??? You joined the day after the episode aired.

How ‘Silicon Valley’ Helps Explain MoviePass

Operating at a loss is a trick as old as Silicon Valley itself. And last weekend’s Season 5 premiere of HBO’s “Silicon Valley” highlights the strategy in hilarious fashion, when Richard (Thomas Middleditch) cleverly exploits a competitor’s own business plan to take him down.

TheWrap noticed the latest “Silicon Valley” storyline also sheds light on the game plan of a very real, up-and-coming company: MoviePass, the much talked about subscription-based movie ticketing service.

If you didn’t catch the episode, here’s how it went down: Richard wants to hire a team of engineers for the revamped edition of Pied Piper. But the plan hits a roadblock when a rival founder, Duncan, lures them away to his pizza delivery startup, Sliceline. (Duncan insists it’s a pun because “it rhymes with Priceline.”) A foiled Richard is rejuvenated, though, when Jian-Yang discovers they’re paying a grip of cash to order from Domino’s, re-box the pizza, and then send it to Sliceline users.

Emboldened, Richard decides to squash his competition. While meeting up with Duncan for drinks, Richard starts buying a whole mess of pizzas from Sliceline. At a $5 loss per order, Sliceline is taking a “bath,” as Richard puts it. Duncan insists this is only an issue until their engineering team figures out how to route orders more efficiently… unless Richard forces them to burn through their entire runway of funding before that can happen.

This Machiavellian twist brings us back to MoviePass. At $9.95 a month — and $6.95 a month if you sign up for its year-long special offer right now — the offer seems almost too good to be true. Subscribers that hit just one movie a month would already be saving money (at most theaters). Like Sliceline, MoviePass is losing money with each new user it brings on right now.

But it’s a scaling game for the company, just like it is for Silicon Valley startups. The movie ticketing service went from one million to two million subscribers earlier this year — and is set to pass the three million threshold soon. Ultimately, the plan is to have 10 million customers by Christmas 2019.

At that point, you’re bringing in a healthy monthly recurring revenue. And with its network growing bigger, it gives MoviePass more opportunities to monetize. You’re already seeing this, with advertiser deals and MoviePass funneling its money back into co-financing releases. The bigger it gets, it’ll be able to push theaters for a better cut. It’ll also make it easier, once customers are onboard, to ultimately raise prices (think Netflix).

Another key to getting subscribers on board: data. It’s a touchy subject in the wake of Facebook’s recent issues, but Chief Executive Mitch Lowe told TheWrap earlier this week the company will earn money by selling user data to studios, exhibitors and other businesses.

We’ve seen this strategy before with several tech giants. Uber is losing billions each quarter acquiring fresh riders. Amazon might be the most famous example, operating at a loss for years. The Seattle-based giant now posts profits quarter-after-quarter. Now, during the “opening credits” period of its business, MoviePass is following a similar strategy — and we’ll find out soon enough if it will be flop or a blockbuster.

by **joey con carne** 3/28/2018, 2:59 pm

Actually, I do not watch Silicon Valley. I signed up because it was $9.95 a month and one of my buddies signed up for a $7.95 deal about two months ago which is what came around now. Two days later they dropped it to $6.95 a month which just pissed me off when they did not allow me to modify my membership even though it wasn't even activated yet.

So yea, I'm still bitter I'm not getting what they have no obiligation to give me. So me and my buddy are going to abuse this shit. Even if I'm walking by a theater and I have no intention of watching a movie, I'm going to buy someone their ticket. Save a stranger some cash.

Rusty wrote:Just some videos, because I now know some progressives in the US are getting uptight over snippets from an interview.

Heaven forbid they take an entire interview into context.

Gonna check out these videos soon. Need to go watch Sherlock Gnomes soon.

I also read Remington (the firearm and ammunition manufacturer) is filing for bankruptcy. They are a 200-year-old company.

by **WyldeMan** 3/28/2018, 6:20 pm

joey con carne wrote:Actually, I do not watch Silicon Valley. I signed up because it was $9.95 a month and one of my buddies signed up for a $7.95 deal about two months ago which is what came around now. Two days later they dropped it to $6.95 a month which just pissed me off when they did not allow me to modify my membership even though it wasn't even activated yet.

Silicon Valley is the funnest half hour show on all of television, how are you not watching?

joey con carne wrote:I also read Remington (the firearm and ammunition manufacturer) is filing for bankruptcy. They are a 200-year-old company.

Saw this.

Remington will continue to operate while it pursues Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a procedure that gives financially ailing companies time to devise reorganization plans to stay afloat, shed debt, and at least partly repay creditors.

The deal announced in February said Remington would be able to write off $700 million of $950 million in estimated debt. The agreement would also provide $145 million of new capital for its operating subsidiaries and provide $100 million in creditor-funded money as a debtor-in-possession term loan, the company said at the time.

by **joey con carne** 3/28/2018, 6:35 pm

Ah, I should have read into it further. I didn't see if it was Chapter 7 or 11. Hopefully they can come out of it. It is always a shame when companies so old go under.

I know of Silicon Valley. I know the show starred the guy who did the piece of shit called The Emoji Movie.

by **WyldeMan** 3/28/2018, 6:36 pm

joey con carne wrote:Ah, I should have read into it further. I didn't see if it was Chapter 7 or 11. Hopefully they can come out of it. It is always a shame when companies so old go under.

They sold out to a Private firm about a decade ago, they're just another whore in some banks stable.

by Rusty 3/28/2018, 8:32 pm

WyldeMan wrote:
joey con carne wrote:Ah, I should have read into it further. I didn't see if it was Chapter 7 or 11. Hopefully they can come out of it. It is always a shame when companies so old go under.

They sold out to a Private firm about a decade ago, they're just another whore in some banks stable.

And from the reviews I've read over the past few years, the quality has plummeted. They are the Remington of old in name only.

by Rusty 3/28/2018, 11:18 pm

Compton's in the house ....

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/28/31-beretta-glock-pistols-vanish-from-compton-vault.html

31 Beretta, Glock pistols vanish from Compton vault

Dozens of guns have vanished from a vault in a former California city hall building and now federal officials are offering a $10,000 reward for information on the arsenal’s whereabouts.

Officials from the ATF’s Los Angeles division announced the reward Tuesday and said 23 Beretta and eight Glock .40-caliber pistols were taken from the old Compton City Hall building on 600 N. Alameda St. between March and August last year, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"There were several people at the time who were working who had the combination. I had access to the combination,” Compton City Manager Cecil Rhambo told KABC in February, when initial reports emerged of the guns’ disappearance. “But over the years I have no idea the number, over 17 years, who still had access to that combination.”

The city of Compton began storing around 200 guns in the vault in 2000 after its police department was disbanded and its responsibilities taken over by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the LA Times reported.

All the now-stolen guns had remained in the vault -- which had heavy metal doors and a combination lock -- until last year. The sheriff’s department counted them during an inventory check in March 2017, but when they returned in August to move the guns to another location, they were missing.

"There were some police department weapons. There were some weapons with no owner on file, some weapons registered to other people, some evidence weapons there," Rhambo, a former assistant Los Angeles County sheriff, told KABC.

The station reported no cameras were operating in the building at the time of the guns’ disappearance, and Daryl Thomas, the resident agent in charge at the ATF’s Long Beach office, told the LA Times that there was no sign of damage to the vault.

by Rusty 3/28/2018, 11:21 pm

30 guns sitting in a vault for 17 years, dozens and dozens of employees had come and gone in those years - and yet at no point did anyone think it wise to occasionally change the vault code.

My only question is how the fuck did it take so long to happen? haha

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