Last Friday, Trumpcare, the conservative Republican healthcare plan went down to defeat in the House of Representatives or let me put it this way. Conservative Republicans pulled the bill rather than vote on it since they didn't have the votes. Wow, they control the House and didn't have the guts to even vote on it. Of course, it would help if conservative Republicans would believe that government can help to make healthcare affordable.
Remember when Lying Donald Trump told America as President that we would win so much and get sick of it? Let's go over the scorecard, now that Trump is president. He's just lost at repealing Obamacare. Lied to America that Trumpcare would cover all of America. In reality according to the CBO, Trumpcare would cover 52 million less people by 2026. You, President Trump, have lost with your Muslim ban. Courts have struck it down. Twice. These were two of the biggest policy goals in your campaign. Hey, Lying Donald Trump, when does the winning start?
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Stephen Colbert destroys conservative Republican Devin Nunes
Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes (R-Ca) cancels hearings on President Trump's campaign possible collusion with the Russians and killing the truth. We need some comic relief. Well, check out Stephen Colbert's hilarious piece from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Conservative Republicans cancel the truth
It's now clear that conservative Republicans are more concerned about protecting Donald Trump than investigating any ties between his campaign and the Russians. Don't take my word for it, let's go over the facts.
1. On March 20, 2017, FBI Director James Comey did two things. He told the House Intelligence Committee that one, there's no evidence that former President Obama wiretapped Trump as he had tweeted and two, the FBI was investigating possible collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. That proved that Trump is a liar and there are some serious allegations regarding his campaign.
2. On March 21, conservative Republican Chairman of the committee, Devin Nunes met at the White House with a "source" to review classified material.
3. On March 22, Nunes had a press conference and also met with Trump to go over the material he reviewed the night before. Now, he makes it clear that these were intercepts of communications that there was a mention of Trump campaign associates. However, none of them had anything to do with Russia. Nunes never shared any of this information with his committee.
4. Nunes cancels a hearing of the people who were investigating Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election on March 24. These were Obama officials and they included the courageous former acting Attorney General, Sally Yates. He claims that he wants Comy to come back. These hearings were supposed to take place this week. But all hearings were cancelled. New Yorker Magazine.
5. As of the writing of this post, no new dates for the hearings have been announced.
6. When asked if Nunes should recuse because of his work on the Trump transition and his meeting with a source at the White House and warning Trump, conservative Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said, "No."
So, what can we conclude from all this behavior from conservative Republicans? They don't want public hearings into collusion between Trump officials and the Russians. By cancelling the hearings the conservative Republicans want to cancel the truth.
1. On March 20, 2017, FBI Director James Comey did two things. He told the House Intelligence Committee that one, there's no evidence that former President Obama wiretapped Trump as he had tweeted and two, the FBI was investigating possible collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. That proved that Trump is a liar and there are some serious allegations regarding his campaign.
2. On March 21, conservative Republican Chairman of the committee, Devin Nunes met at the White House with a "source" to review classified material.
3. On March 22, Nunes had a press conference and also met with Trump to go over the material he reviewed the night before. Now, he makes it clear that these were intercepts of communications that there was a mention of Trump campaign associates. However, none of them had anything to do with Russia. Nunes never shared any of this information with his committee.
4. Nunes cancels a hearing of the people who were investigating Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election on March 24. These were Obama officials and they included the courageous former acting Attorney General, Sally Yates. He claims that he wants Comy to come back. These hearings were supposed to take place this week. But all hearings were cancelled. New Yorker Magazine.
5. As of the writing of this post, no new dates for the hearings have been announced.
6. When asked if Nunes should recuse because of his work on the Trump transition and his meeting with a source at the White House and warning Trump, conservative Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said, "No."
So, what can we conclude from all this behavior from conservative Republicans? They don't want public hearings into collusion between Trump officials and the Russians. By cancelling the hearings the conservative Republicans want to cancel the truth.
Monday, March 27, 2017
The Problems with Mass Effect: Andromeda's hilarious animation and graphics
I've been playing Mass Effect: Andromeda and burst out laughing when I saw some of the animation of game play and cutscenes. Stories about the bad animation with the game have been spreading around the internet for months. Well, it's true. Some of the graphics are terrible. Watch this xLetalis video comparing Mass Effect: Andromeda with the original Mass Effect released in 2007.
Here is some more video of Mass Effect: Andromeda, which is even funnier.
So what's causing these problems with character animations?
1. Bodies and faces are badly designed.
I'm not going to post every article by feminist hating writers that say Mass Effect: Andromeda's women were made "uglier" But check out this article from The Sun which features pictures of the model Jayde Rossi who was the template used for the main female character Sara Ryder. Now the male model Steven Brewiss who is the template for the main character Scott Ryder looks just as much as the hunk in the game as he does in real life. However, it's obvious that modifications were done to make Jayde Rossi's face less attractive. Somebody gave her thicker lips, a more angular, larger nose and a puffy face. If I were Ms. Rossi, I would sue. I would agree that it looks like BioWare made the women uglier.
And what about the body design? Well, on both male and female characters, the arms seem too long. Character Cora Harper whose supposed to be a bad ass Biotic has a bizarre body. She's short, has way too thin waist but a large bottom with very wide hips. Here's the image. And to boot, you could stick her head on a man's body and it would not look out of place. Just change the hair. Okay, it's not that bad but there's something going on here. Update. I've been playing the game and Cora's bizarre body appears when she's on planets not in cutscenes or on the ship Tempest.
Is this the revenge for Miranda from Mass Effect 2 and 3? By the way Miranda looks like actress Yvonne Strahovski because that's who she was modeled after. But I digress. Look, the effect of ugly faces and weird body types is two fold. When Asari Peebee jumps ontop of you and sticks her mug in your face, you will literally yell. Their faces make you laugh when you shouldn't be. Second, I've noticed that Cora can walk bowlegged at times. The long arms are not animated and the whole effect makes her act like a string puppet rather than a human being.
This attempt by BioWare and EA to be politically correct will backfire. Look, I am a liberal but a politically incorrect one. Video games are art. And most of them are fantasy in that they let you become the hero. This is especially true in Mass Effect since you can make the lead character look like you. And the male gamer and female gamer who maybe is a lesbian gamer wants to woo the gorgeous woman. Yeah, I get the feminist view. In real life, women don't look like they do in most video games. This isn't real life. Actress Gal Gadot is beautiful. Should they have picked somebody uglier to play Wonder Woman? Don't get me wrong. Not every film or video game should be forced to cast a beautiful woman. But let the part dictate it.
2. Mass Effect: Andromeda doesn't understand how the face and body works. I don't know if they used motion capture or not but it looks like BioWare didn't. I mean going back to Cora, she walks with her buttocks way out with those long arms. It's not natural. Sometimes the arms don't move as she walks.
However, it's the emotions on the faces that fail the game. I'm sure somebody at BioWare understands the art of acting and how it can be portrayed by computer animation. For this game, it seemed like that person at BioWare was on vacation.
Actors perform with not just their voices but their faces. And one's face moves in multiple ways to convey emotions. Just watch the great Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal. (2006) You don't even have to listen to her dialogue to figure out what she is feeling. And a lot of the reaction in her face is subtle. We don't see this in Mass Effect: Andromeda particularly in cutscenes. Faces look like mannequins. Frozen. Then there are times where eyes move back and forth for no reason. It's hilarious.
But can acting be caught or portrayed in a video game? Yes. Just check out L.A. Noire, a game that came out in 2011! Here's a trailer for that great game.
Yeah, L.A. Noire used 32 high definition cameras to motion capture facial emotions but the concept is still sound. I'm sure BioWare could have done some of this without breaking the bank or at least have an animator put more attention into the facial performances. . I don't know if BioWare was trying to save money but this is a AAA game. They certainly didn't spend it on big name stars. Maybe next time BioWare should have somebody objective look at the product before they put it out.
Here is some more video of Mass Effect: Andromeda, which is even funnier.
So what's causing these problems with character animations?
1. Bodies and faces are badly designed.
I'm not going to post every article by feminist hating writers that say Mass Effect: Andromeda's women were made "uglier" But check out this article from The Sun which features pictures of the model Jayde Rossi who was the template used for the main female character Sara Ryder. Now the male model Steven Brewiss who is the template for the main character Scott Ryder looks just as much as the hunk in the game as he does in real life. However, it's obvious that modifications were done to make Jayde Rossi's face less attractive. Somebody gave her thicker lips, a more angular, larger nose and a puffy face. If I were Ms. Rossi, I would sue. I would agree that it looks like BioWare made the women uglier.
And what about the body design? Well, on both male and female characters, the arms seem too long. Character Cora Harper whose supposed to be a bad ass Biotic has a bizarre body. She's short, has way too thin waist but a large bottom with very wide hips. Here's the image. And to boot, you could stick her head on a man's body and it would not look out of place. Just change the hair. Okay, it's not that bad but there's something going on here. Update. I've been playing the game and Cora's bizarre body appears when she's on planets not in cutscenes or on the ship Tempest.
Is this the revenge for Miranda from Mass Effect 2 and 3? By the way Miranda looks like actress Yvonne Strahovski because that's who she was modeled after. But I digress. Look, the effect of ugly faces and weird body types is two fold. When Asari Peebee jumps ontop of you and sticks her mug in your face, you will literally yell. Their faces make you laugh when you shouldn't be. Second, I've noticed that Cora can walk bowlegged at times. The long arms are not animated and the whole effect makes her act like a string puppet rather than a human being.
This attempt by BioWare and EA to be politically correct will backfire. Look, I am a liberal but a politically incorrect one. Video games are art. And most of them are fantasy in that they let you become the hero. This is especially true in Mass Effect since you can make the lead character look like you. And the male gamer and female gamer who maybe is a lesbian gamer wants to woo the gorgeous woman. Yeah, I get the feminist view. In real life, women don't look like they do in most video games. This isn't real life. Actress Gal Gadot is beautiful. Should they have picked somebody uglier to play Wonder Woman? Don't get me wrong. Not every film or video game should be forced to cast a beautiful woman. But let the part dictate it.
2. Mass Effect: Andromeda doesn't understand how the face and body works. I don't know if they used motion capture or not but it looks like BioWare didn't. I mean going back to Cora, she walks with her buttocks way out with those long arms. It's not natural. Sometimes the arms don't move as she walks.
However, it's the emotions on the faces that fail the game. I'm sure somebody at BioWare understands the art of acting and how it can be portrayed by computer animation. For this game, it seemed like that person at BioWare was on vacation.
Actors perform with not just their voices but their faces. And one's face moves in multiple ways to convey emotions. Just watch the great Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal. (2006) You don't even have to listen to her dialogue to figure out what she is feeling. And a lot of the reaction in her face is subtle. We don't see this in Mass Effect: Andromeda particularly in cutscenes. Faces look like mannequins. Frozen. Then there are times where eyes move back and forth for no reason. It's hilarious.
But can acting be caught or portrayed in a video game? Yes. Just check out L.A. Noire, a game that came out in 2011! Here's a trailer for that great game.
Yeah, L.A. Noire used 32 high definition cameras to motion capture facial emotions but the concept is still sound. I'm sure BioWare could have done some of this without breaking the bank or at least have an animator put more attention into the facial performances. . I don't know if BioWare was trying to save money but this is a AAA game. They certainly didn't spend it on big name stars. Maybe next time BioWare should have somebody objective look at the product before they put it out.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Conservative Republican Devin Nunes chooses Trump over America
Two days ago, conservative Republican Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee personally went to President Donald Trump to tell him that his campaign associates may have been inadvertently recorded by American intelligence. Note that the Trump associates were not the targets of the surveillance. Nor was there any indication of illegality. And according to Nunes, these communications had nothing to do with the Russia interference with the 2016 election investigation.
After I heard this, I said to myself, "What the ... ?" Trump's campaign is under investigation for possible collusion with the Russians. This akin to the police investigating a mob murder and the chief of police going to the Mafia Don or Donald, and talking to him about criminal surveillance about him. We don't know where the information Nunes is talking about came from. Nunes won't say. Which makes it ironic if it is coming from a leaked source because the conservative Republicans were whining about leaks on Monday.
But what do I think Nunes was doing? I believe he was giving cover to Trump for making the false claim that former President Obama was wiretapping him at Trump tower. Nunes was part of the Trump transition team. If that wasn't bad enough, he does this. He is not impartial to be on the investigation. But from what I saw on Monday, none of conservative Republicans on the investigation should be.
After I heard this, I said to myself, "What the ... ?" Trump's campaign is under investigation for possible collusion with the Russians. This akin to the police investigating a mob murder and the chief of police going to the Mafia Don or Donald, and talking to him about criminal surveillance about him. We don't know where the information Nunes is talking about came from. Nunes won't say. Which makes it ironic if it is coming from a leaked source because the conservative Republicans were whining about leaks on Monday.
But what do I think Nunes was doing? I believe he was giving cover to Trump for making the false claim that former President Obama was wiretapping him at Trump tower. Nunes was part of the Trump transition team. If that wasn't bad enough, he does this. He is not impartial to be on the investigation. But from what I saw on Monday, none of conservative Republicans on the investigation should be.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Wonder Woman trailer
Here is the latest trailer for the upcoming Wonder Woman film. It looks great. And unlike Batman v. Superman, there is the color of blue and sunshine in this film.
Conservative Republican Devin Nunes throws up smoke screen for Russians
Okay, I'm watching the Select House Intelligence Committee and listening to Congressman Deven Nunes (R-Ca.) opening questions to NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers and its become clear what the conservative Republican response to possible collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. It was all about leaking of information to the press not about Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election. In fact, Nunes' main questions to Rogers was all about whether the Russians tampered with vote state tallies! That's never been the question. Everybody agrees that the Russians hacked the Democratic National Committee and the information was released to Wikileaks.
Rather than investigating Russian interference with the 2016 Presidential election, I've been listening to the conservative Republicans congressman and their whole goal is to make the case about leaks to the press. What a bunch of unpatriotic jerks. Former Trump National Security Advisor Micheal Flynn resigned because he talked to the Russians after the election and lied about it to the administration. We have also found out he was lobbying for the Turkish government while he was with the Trump campaign. What's amazing is that FBI Director James Comey just testified that there is an investigation into coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Huffington Post. Comey's statement is remarkable. It should be country first, not politics. Hey, we're talking about the President of the United States' campaign coordinating with the Russians, you right-wing conservatives. Stop trying to throw a smoke screen for the Russians, you conservative Republicans.
Rather than investigating Russian interference with the 2016 Presidential election, I've been listening to the conservative Republicans congressman and their whole goal is to make the case about leaks to the press. What a bunch of unpatriotic jerks. Former Trump National Security Advisor Micheal Flynn resigned because he talked to the Russians after the election and lied about it to the administration. We have also found out he was lobbying for the Turkish government while he was with the Trump campaign. What's amazing is that FBI Director James Comey just testified that there is an investigation into coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Huffington Post. Comey's statement is remarkable. It should be country first, not politics. Hey, we're talking about the President of the United States' campaign coordinating with the Russians, you right-wing conservatives. Stop trying to throw a smoke screen for the Russians, you conservative Republicans.
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