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frasier-crane-style · 4 years

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Terminator: Dark Fate

I have no idea how TSCC came up with two seasons’ worth of innovative scenarios about Terminators and these cinematic universe motherfuckers can only redo T2 with more CGI.

This movie is plotless. It has no real plot. It’s like Now That’s What I Call A Terminator Movie! There are so many callbacks and borrowings from all the other Terminator movies that it passes the point of homage and just becomes plagiarism. The bad Terminator is the same as the T-X, metal endoskeleton with a T-1000 shell. They kill him with a Terminator power core. They say Come With Me If You Want To Live and I’ll Be Back (twice! It’s the first thing Sarah Connor says and it makes no sense in context, it’s just something people say in Terminator movies). In fact, it has anti-plot, since it undoes a lot of the story developments in Terminator and T2.

The premise is basically just we’re going to remake Terminator 1, but people don’t like reboots, so we’re going to bring back Linda Hamilton and make it a technically kinda sorta sequel (sure, Skynet was wiped from existence, but another, completely different, yet exactly the same AI called Legion was created and did the exact same thing. Which also happened in T3, but they had the decency to still call it Skynet). But otherwise, it’s entirely people being chased by an evil robot from the future and trying to destroy it.

That’s it. That’s all there is to it. T2 had the whole thing about preventing Judgment Day before it happened. T3 had Judgment Day actually happen. This one, nothing. There is nothing going on under the surface other than a bunch of action sequences and explosions. Even T3 got some mileage out of the idea that Judgment Day was inevitable. Here, our cast learns that Judgment Day was already ‘averted’ once slash that it’s destined to be repeated and they basically go “Eh. Figures.” I’m not kidding.

Wait, that’s not fair. Let’s count out the TWEEESTS.

1. In a very contrived way, the script waits an hour and a half to actually explain why heroine Dani has been targeted for termination--you know, the thing Kyle Reese explained to Sarah Connor the moment they were out of danger--all to set up this big ‘reveal’ that Dani isn’t the NuSarah, she’s the NuJohn (yes, they actually say this aloud, just so you soup sandwich motherfuckers in the audience get it). Hear that, neckbeards, John Connor is now a woman! And Mexican! And she’s got a bit of a gay vibe, because it’s 2019 and God forbid we have a heroine that isn’t a bit bicurious. If she has a cock and balls, my bingo card will be a winner.

2. Months after killing John Connor and thus completing his mission, an Arnold-model Terminator started a family (wow, that was quick) and learned the value of human life and eventually switched sides. This is a crazy new idea that also happened in Terminator: Genebissss, so it’s done and dusted in ten minutes, even though Arnold is the most engaging character. (He’s saddled with a lot of yuk lines about how he’s a comically serious Terminator, yet (teehee) works as an interior decorator, but at least he has a personality.)

3. The other good Terminator is Grace, who needs meds to keep up her cyborg strength or she’ll crash (this never affects the plot) (it’s like they read something about Rey Palpatine having no flaws and so they decided to give Grace the ‘flaw’ of literally having her own Kryptonite). She’s not a Terminator, she’s an augmented human, which means she can make MCU-style wisecracks every five minutes. (”I didn’t hear anything.” “That’s because you’re not a cybernetic super soldier from the future.” Actual dialogue.)

4. Linda Hamilton is back, baby! Yes, that’s right, they dragged her away from doing guest spots on Lost Girl! Can you believe???? She’s become a Terminator hunter that ambushes Terminators as they come back from the future and destroys them, because Skynet was both able to send back an infinite number of Terminators AND because now they can easily be destroyed by one five-hundred-year-old woman.

This makes it a bit confusing why they have so much trouble taking out Ghost Rider, given that he’s a T-1000 skin with a creamy T-800 center. It seems like if you hammer him enough, he’s got no endoskeleton, and that’s all she wrote. That’s what happened to the T-X. Can his liquid metal skin just walk around without the other half of him? If so, what’s the point of the endoskeleton? The T-1000 managed without it and that seemed a lot harder to kill. At one point, Sarah hits the bare endoskeleton with a bazooka, which seems like it should’ve been a mortal blow, but it’s the first act, so I guess not.

And is it supposed to be funny that the opening takes place in a car factory where (in 2019!) the human workers are losing their assembly line jobs to machines? Because they’re all Mexicans? None of them ever look at a Terminator and go THEY TOOK OUR JOBS, but man, that one is all teed up for the Rifftrax boys.

For a movie with, as I said, no plot, it’s very rushed. They seem to be saying “yeah, it’s a dumb Terminator movie, you know the score,” (even tho it’s halfway aimed at people who aren’t Terminator fans; more on that in a minute) because it seems to take all of ten minutes for both good guys and bad guys to find Dani and start getting into CGI stunt double fights, which means the story has very little time to breathe and we have very little time to get to know any of the characters. The bad guy spawns practically at Dani’s front door! And pretty much does everything by massacring a bunch of people and then hacking a computer. The T-1000 had some intelligence, some charisma. This guy’s a big nothing.

And the Dani character is useless. She starts the story already super assertive, is barely traumatized at all by her loved ones being killed and her own life being endangered. There’s none of that relatable feel of an everyman suddenly being told they have a grand destiny and an incredible responsibility, because right from the start she’s standing up to her mean boss and doing the Nevertheless She Persisted thing. And all this while being literally five feet tall and looking all of twelve years old.

I love these Spy Kids movies.

And at least the original two movies were smart enough to leave the future John Connor mostly to the imagination. This one actually shows us Dani as grizzled military badass, beating up guys and delivering inspiring speeches (would it surprise you to know that humans fighting among each other “is exactly what Legion wants”?), and it’s just--oh man. If ever a political leader is enough to make people think back to the good old days of Trump and Biden...

And if we’re going to talk shit (rightfully) about Jai Courtney’s Kyle Reese not being at all scruffy or traumatized or feral, it should be noted that Grace seems pretty well-adjusted for a post-apocalyptic guerrilla fighter (who all wear Starship Trooper uniforms). Aside from a tendency to smash the face in of everyone she comes across, whether they’ve done anything to deserve it or not (Sample dialogue, to a doctor who is looking at her X-rays after performing life-saving surgery on her: “Did I give you permission to look at my private parts?” SMASH. No, really!)

They really go all in on this cringey, woke af “You’re not the mother of some MAN, Dani. YOU ARE THE FUTURE!” And yet, there’s a hilarious amount of toxic masculinity in this movie, just without the dongs. About every other line Sarah and Grace have is generic tough guy bullshit about how they’re going to kick someone’s ass, how they’re suspicious of someone, how they’re hostile towards someone. If they had dongs, you would think they were the smallest dongs possible, because they are compensating for something, BIG TIME. Between the T-800 and Sarah and Grace, everyone in this movie seems to outright hate each other, to the point that Arnold’s killer cyborg is one of the more pleasant characters. It gets to where you just want someone to order a fucking decaf. Does the fact that Sarah Connor has a vagina keep it from being ridiculously over the top how she spends all her time either blowing up robots or drinking herself into a stupor? C’mon. You can’t complain about male characters having ‘man-pain’ then give Bad Grandma a pass over her ovaries.

And that’s it. It’s a Brundlefly shit between yet another dumb girlpower reboot for the people who’ve never seen a Terminator movie and a sequel with Sarah and Uncle Bob to try and get that last drop of blood outta this stone. They’re trying to make something that appeals to both people for whom this is their first Terminator and people for whom this is their latest Terminator and it just doesn’t work. The newbies don’t have any emotional investment in these characters and the Terminator fans don’t like it that all the old movies were rendered meaningless to prop up Grace and Dani.

Hilariously enough, I actually played Terminator: Resistance recently, which is a fun little mid-tier shooter that was meant to tie in to this movie... and it completely ignores all the Dani/Grace/Legion BS to take place in John Connor’s future war and tie in to the first two movies. That’s how forgettable this movie is. Its own damn video game adaptation pretends it doesn’t exist. Fuuuck.

Oh! Oh! Oh! And in that big, bad, sexist original Terminator, which was so unwoke and problematic, Sarah saved herself and finished off the Terminator herself. Here, Dani has to be saved by Arnold at the climax. The 35-year-old movie is more feminist than this one. Fuck you very much.

#terminator

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devilsknotrp · 5 years

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Congratulations, Honey! You are accepted for the role of Mandy Silverman. This is another sample application for potential applicants to have a look at. You’ll notice that this is quite a long application, but that’s just how I write. You can do whatever you like with yours! If you have any questions about this application or any characters with a connection to Mandy, don’t hesitate to let me know.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name: Honey Age: Twenty five Pronouns: She/her Timezone: GMT+11 Activity estimation: I essentially work full time and have several obligations, but this group is so tightly organised and planned that I’m confident in participating regularly on the dashboard and as an admin! My admin duties will always take precedence but I will be able to reply to threads several times a week. Triggers: (REDACTED)

IN CHARACTER: BASICS

Full name: Amanda “Mandy” Silverman Age (DD/MM/YYY): Thirty (02/03/1966) - Pisces (Sun), Virgo (Rising), Cancer (Moon) Gender: Cisgender female Pronouns: She/her Sexuality: Homosexual homoromantic Occupation: Adult Education Coordinator Connection to Victim: Mandy did not know the Goode family. She knew of them in the way all newcomers to Devil’s Knot are known: through rumor and glimpses in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot. Mandy had little to do with Linda; she’d seen David and Beth at school, when she’d gone in to meet Mary after work; but she’d never met Brian at all. Alibi: Mandy was at home that Saturday working on a craft project. She ran out of glue at around three, then walked into town to go to the craft store, where she spent a few dollars too many on a crocheting kit. She decided to pick up some coffee and doughnuts then walked back home, where she stayed for the rest of the day. Faceclaim: Elizabeth Olsen

WRITING SAMPLE

This is a self para written for the Mandy in 1984.

The Datsun.

It was such a shit little car. Really, it was. Sandy’s miscellaneous paraphernalia littered the dashboard. Her dad’s manuals and work shit stuffed beneath the front seats. Pete had stamped grubby hands all over the back windows - people asked them all the time if they had a dog. “No,” Mandy replied grimly, hoisting Pete up on one hip. “Just a kid.” The motor turned over more often than she could count, which would put her father, ever the optimist, into an agitated but vaguely amused mood. Him, hunched over the wheel, grinding the key, revving the engine, If I… could just... Then, Sandy, cranky and likely hungover, snapping from the passenger side: I told you we needed it serviced! They had about a thousand tapes in the center console, most of them in the wrong cases, with a mix that spanned from Bob Dylan to Pete’s ABC children’s songs. Them, zooming along a damp highway, rain splattering the glass, her dad cheerfully singing, The wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round! as Pete laughed in delight. Mandy tries to forget that she’d eventually lose her temper and shout, Can we turn this stupid shit off? as her mother mumbled, Amen, behind enormous sunglasses and a gas station Slurpee.

The Datsun, which was rotting away at the police station right this second. Mandy hasn’t asked when they’ll get it back. It’s evidence, that’s it. She has her bike or her skates and Sandy doesn’t leave the house unless she has a ride (Aisha pulling up front and blasting the horn; Sandy, clattering around gathering her things, muttering, Where’s my goddamn…). Their family car is nothing more than a shell, a marker in the Pete and Phillip Silverman’s trail to murder. Kind of like a pit stop. Wrappers marked with imaginary blood stains littering the cab floor. That clean-sour smell of nervous sweat. Her Dad was always a sweater, mopping his brow and fanning himself, Jeez, it’s hot today. Mandy kind of loved that about him. How when she was looking for him in a crowd, she just had to search for the slightly damp white button-down, the back of his nearly-balding head. His hair was soft, like down, and Pete’s was too. Two twin sandy blonde heads sitting in front of the television, Pete curled into his father’s side, Phillip slowly stroking back those baby-shampoo-soft curls.

So, yeah. The Datsun. Scene of family road trips and midnight grocery store emergencies. A wreck that managed to limp from point A to B, with her dad faithfully in the front, eager to drive her to friends’ houses or cheer practice or a competition two towns over. She still thinks about winding the windows down as far as they could go when they were on the highway. Her dad would look over, catch her eye, and grin in a way that made her think of him as a teenager, a young man, that cheerful abandon of youth that was infectious as a whisper, goose-bumps prickling her arms.

“Shall we see how fast this baby can go?” He’d yell, and Mandy would laugh and laugh: “Go, Dad, go!”

ANYTHING ELSE?

Here is my Pinterest board for Mandy (featuring ‘84 and ‘96 boards, because I’m that kind of person), and her account can be found here.

HEADCANONS

Mandy works at the Community Centre as an Adult Education Coordinator. Which is just a fancy way of saying she organises craft classes for senior citizens. Seriously. Mandy picked up the job mainly to get Sandy off her back. After commuting to Lansing to attend community college, her decision to drop out and live and work in Devil’s Knot was met, unsurprisingly, with a pointedly raised eyebrow and a loud slurp from a glass of wine. And Mandy knew, she just damn knew, that if she stuck around her childhood home any longer, she and Sandy would end up killing each other. The job isn’t taxing: she works a few days a week, has a desk up on the mayor’s floor in the Community Centre, and spends way too much time putting flyers together for their new pasta making courses or adult literacy classes. The administration is what really bothers her, because the students are lovely. Little old ladies she’s known for years; grandfathers who remember her father back in the day. Best of all, they like her. Mandy wouldn’t consider herself a charismatic person, but she is a patient one. She’ll listen to a grandmother’s story a thousand times, nodding in the right places, exclaiming, asking questions. She’s gentle. Around other people it can be a slightly different story. She’s not clipped, exactly, nor is she rude. But she is shy, and Mandy is naturally suspicious. When people stop her to talk, she hesitates. It would be too much to link that back to ‘84, although there’s little doubt that that October and the months that followed succeeded in severing her trust in adult figures for life. No, Mandy prefers to keep to herself, to the people she knows. It’s safer that way; controllable.

Mandy loves movies -- always has. Bobby, Mandy, and Perry always went on about music, talking rapturously about guitar solos and funky beats, all while Mandy pretended to grimace and trade teasing looks with Jenny and Mike. But movies. Mandy’s favourite genre is horror. Surprising, maybe, but she can’t get enough. Sci-fi is her second favourite. Her ritual is to go down to the Videoport on a Friday afternoon and stock up for the weekend. She trails down the aisles, fingers skating over the titles, looking for some weird German expressionist thing or a summer blockbuster she can zone out to. Mandy would hardly consider herself a connoisseur, but she has an encyclopedic knowledge for actors and actresses, and can name their filmography from memory just by looking at them. It’s like, one of her only talents.

Mandy enjoys cooking. She mainly enjoys cooking for Mary, who will always, without fail, praise her skills until Mandy’s rolling her eyes and begging her to stop. Even if it’s crap (which it is a lot of the time; God knows Sandy never taught her to cook; this was all the result of afternoon cable and Reader’s Digest), Mary will come up and hug her from behind, kissing the side of her neck, suffusing Mandy in warmth and her spicy perfume. That was so good. You’re so good to me. Doing things for people is Mandy’s way of showing she loves them. It doesn’t matter what it is -- laundry, vacuuming, cooking -- she’ll find herself doing things automatically. It’s a little funny that she’s turned into a housewife ever since moving out with Mary, but it’s also really damn nice. Mandy looks after their small apartment so tenderly. Watering the plants on the windowsill, buying kitsch ornaments from the thrift store, airing out their cramped bedroom in the spring sunlight. Much of Mandy’s life revolves around domestic duties. She picks up the mail, pays bills, goes grocery shopping. Mary comes too, of course, but doing things together in public can get difficult when all Mandy wants to do is kiss her deeply in the fruit and vegetable section. Mary’s full-time job is also demanding, and Mandy only works a few days a week (despite what you may believe, there are not that many adult education classes to organise; the biggest scandal was when they introduced a salsa class and everyone collectively lost their minds). Maybe, in some way, it’s Mandy’s way of holding up her end of their relationship. And maybe, in a deeper, smaller way, it’s also an excuse. If she’s busy, how can she possibly go back to college? Who’ll make apple crumble and fold the socks? Huh? The pixies? If this makes Mandy sound territorial, it’s because she is. She clings to these chores because it’s far easier than thinking about the alternative, which is to get off her ass and actually make something of her life. She’s thirty years old. Nearly thirty one. And she’s got absolutely nothing to show for it. That hurts more than anything. Maybe that hurts most of all.

Mandy is a lesbian. She knew. Even when she was a teenager, she sort of knew. She and Mike started dating when they were thirteen and just... kept going. Certain things seemed inevitable: prom, college, maybe even marriage. It was so simple to imagine her life with Mike, whose family, the Hawkers, were best friends with her parents; they’d all been born months apart; they were raised together. Most of Mandy’s childhood memories involve Mike and Mary, Jenny. They tumbled around together like puppies, climbing trees and having sleepovers. Then they started to grow up, and Mandy and Mike got together, and the atmosphere shifted a little. Mandy liked Mike. She did. Maybe she loved him, in a way. But it was so, so platonic, and the way she felt when she looked at Mary was anything but. Mary used to scare her; still does, sometimes. She was a force of nature and Mandy was the eye of the storm. Looking back, the signs were obvious, but then again, they always are.

Mandy used to dress the way people expected her to dress. T-shirts and jeans, bleached white sneakers and cheer uniforms. Not feminine enough to please Jenny, who’d wrinkle her nose and fondly say, “Mandy, are you kidding? You cannot wear that,” and not masculine enough for her dad, who’d hand her wrenches as he worked on the Cadillac on weekends, shooting sidelong glances at her squad jumper, mumbling, “You’ll get grease all over you, honey.” Scrunchies and high ponytails. Pale pink jackets and a signet ring Mike gave her when they were fourteen. Just enough to be acceptable; to be palatable. To blend in, fade away, be nothing at all. These days it’s the opposite: Mandy dresses like an amorphous blob. In fact, she’d rather people hazard a guess at what she really looks like underneath her oversized flannel shirts and huge boots. The more clothing she has on, the more protected she feels. Layers upon layers. Band shirts worn soft with too many washes; jeans more grey than black. She still has her pink jacket from high school (Mary hung it up in their wardrobe and shrugged when Mandy found it, saying, “You always looked cute, and I’m a sucker. So sue me.”) Mandy pulls her hair up and away from her face; she doesn’t wear make-up. Still has the signet ring, though. She’s a sentimental doofus, she knows.

Mandy loves arts and crafts. Pottery, weaving, knitting; painting, sketching, cooking. These are things that bring her peace, that quieten her inner world. Growing up, she wasn’t creative in the slightest. Mandy was decidedly pedestrian: the most creative thing she ever did was design banners for the cheer squad or doodle in the margins of her school notebooks. But after Pete was returned, she needed something, anything, to stifle the panic static in her brain. Countless nights were spent sitting on the couch in front of the television, Pete curled into her side, her doing finger knitting or making a collage, eyes darting between her project and the cartoon onscreen. Over the years she’s gotten better -- last winter she managed to knit Mary a hideous scarf -- but her hobbies were never pursued in the same vein as her other achievements. Mandy still remembers practicing for cheer for hours in the cold, or studying in her room until midnight, eyes dry and head aching, quietly panicking about a test the next day. Everything she did, she did obsessively. These days, Mandy just wants to be still. Their apartment is stuffed with half finished craft projects: stacks of coloured paper, jars of beads, wool in miscellaneous piles, flowers drying on the windowsill. Sometimes Mary will come home to find her sitting cross-legged at the kitchen table, a pot of sauce bubbling on the stove, Stevie Nicks in the background, Mandy carefully cutting out prints for her art journal. She started journaling when she was a teenager, mainly to help with her father’s murder and the stress of the subsequent trial, but it’s a habit that has followed her happily into adulthood. Mandy would be lost without her projects, her art. It’s a channel for everything she feels; it clarifies her. And it’s never undertaken with any attempt at perfection. Mandy’s learning, slowly, to let go of unattainable ideas. Life is messy. She’s trying to accept that about the world, herself.

Mandy failed community college. Well, it felt like she failed. In reality, she dropped out. There were only so many classes about psych and childhood trauma that she could take (and ironic, right? That she studied psych? Mandy remembers the day she flicked through the brochure to pick her classes, ticking boxes on the vague notion she’d specialise in children, maybe, in kids who’d been taken or abandoned, and help them find their childhood again). The people were too much. Tons of people like her -- great in high school, but not good enough for a decent college out of state -- and older people too, people who reminded her of her dad (not that he’d gone to college; he used to joke that that was all above his pay grade, No, no, I’m happy where I am! Although Mandy knew how avidly he poured over science magazines, and how impressed he was with Apple and that computer stuff. Maybe in another world he would have done something else, been someone great. Maybe it runs in the family). Mandy felt boring in turning down invitations to parties or even drinks down the campus bar. She’d cite anything -- Pete’s homework, the long drive home, dinner waiting -- and soon that got old. She felt old. Like she’d skipped the fun part of her twenties and jumped right into middle age. It didn’t help that everything after ‘84 melted her brain into goop. The minute Mandy received her final marks from school, she shoved the paperwork back into the envelope and hid it with her dad’s old things. The word failure pounded in her head. How did it happen? How could she have gone from mathletes and cheer to barely scraping by? To holding on by a thread? And why? Why did it all affect her so much; why was she such a damn baby about everything? Pete was back safe. That should have been enough, right? But his return didn’t come with everything. Somewhere between Pete disappearing and that Christmas, Mandy cut herself loose. Swapped SAT prep for making spaghetti for her returned little brother. Watching reruns on TV until it was way too late, tucking him into bed. Some nights she didn’t want to leave him, so she put out a sleeping bag on the floor by his bed between him and the door. Just in case. Mandy always wanted to go to Oberlin for one reason: it was far away from Devil’s Knot (and, okay, she liked the name). Ambition was a thing she wore because it fit, not because she liked it. Watching her dad’s face light up when she showed him her grades was reason enough to try hard; and studying with Bobby made her feel light, if only for a little while, them laughing and whispering about D&D campaigns, teasing each other like siblings. Being smart felt good, even if it didn’t come wholly naturally, and Mandy worked damn hard to keep it up. Giving it away should have been freeing. Instead, Mandy knows she disappointed everyone. She’s just another person who raced to the state line only to stop dead, toes at the edge, and feel fear prick the back of her neck.

#literate rp #original rp #dark rp #town rp #new rp #sample #accepted #mandy silverman

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oselatra · 7 years

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God and guns

Session wraps up, 30 Crossing and more.

Quote of the Week:

"Where I'm from, the God I serve does not tell me that I have a fundamental right to carry a gun. ... Go to hell with your guns. I'm voting for the damn bill. I don't want to."

— State Sen. Stephanie Flowers (D-Pine Bluff), unhappily endorsing a narrow exemption from the new "enhanced carry" statute allowing concealed weapons to be brought onto Arkansas college campuses and other places. The exemption bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe), at least allows handguns to be banned from college athletic events. It passed the legislature at the urging of the Southestern Conference, despite opposition from the National Rifle Association. Flowers directed her frustrated remarks at NRA darling Sen. Trent Garner (R-El Dorado), who opposed the exemption and spoke passionately on the "God-given" right to carry a gun.

Session wraps up

On Monday, the 2017 regular session of the legislature finally came to an end (barring any surprises between now and formal adjournment in May). Among the worst of the last-minute actions was passage of House Bill 1742, which will put a stop to class-action lawsuits under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act — bad news for Arkansas consumers, good news for the unscrupulous businesses that prey on them. Then there's Senate Bill 550, which enhances criminal penalties for "mass picketing," a term defined broadly enough to include peaceful protests.

Still, be thankful that some of the most awful bills of 2017 were blocked in the last weeks of the session. A renewed attempt to create a pilot program to establish a school voucher system failed in the House on a 43-50 vote. An anti-transgender "bathroom bill" by Sen. Linda Collins-Smith (R-Pocahontas) never made it out of a Senate committee, and neither did a more modest (but still objectionable) measure by Rep. Bob Ballinger (R-Hindsville). Though other FOIA exemptions passed, the worst of them did not; that would be a bill by Sen. Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs) to exempt from the Freedom of Information Act any communications between an attorney and a public client. A kooky measure by Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway) urging Congress to propose a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage was defeated in the House, 50-25.

Also defeated, though, were two decent tax measures. The House refused to reconsider a proposal by Rep. Dan Douglas (R-Bentonville) to give voters the option of approving a higher gas tax to pay for much-needed road repairs. And on Monday, shortly before adjourning, it voted down legislation aimed at making internet-based vendors collect sales taxes. State revenue — who needs it?

Public hearing set on 30 Crossing

The board of Metroplan, Central Arkansas's regional transportation authority, voted to hold a public hearing on the controversial proposal to expand a seven-mile stretch of Interstate 30 in Little Rock and North Little Rock. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department's 30 Crossing project — which would pour several additional lanes of concrete through the downtown area — would require the Metroplan board to amend its federally mandated long-range transportation planning document. Metroplan Executive Director Tab Townsell said the significance of the $650 million project demanded a hearing. "If we are the ultimate decision- makers, we should be the ones who hear directly from the public," Townsell said.

The winds of change on climate

Ted Thomas, chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, gained some national attention for remarks at a meeting of state electricity regulators in which he criticized climate policy inaction from the White House and Congress. A former Republican legislator, Thomas was appointed to the PSC by Governor Hutchinson and has been critical of Obama-era regulations — but like many energy insiders, he knows President Trump's talk of bringing back coal jobs makes no sense. "I think that carbon emissions are correlated with global temperature increase, and humans are causing enough of it that it's a public policy problem," Thomas told The Atlantic in a follow-up interview.

Searching for a millionaire

A winning $177 million lottery ticket in the multistate MegaMillions drawing was sold at a Valero gas station in Stuttgart, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery confirmed over the weekend. The prize is payable as a lump sum of $107 million, although state and federal taxes will knock off almost $50 million from that amount. As of Tuesday, no winner had stepped forward to claim the jackpot. He or she has 180 days to do so.

God and guns

#God and guns

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robgrayofficial · 5 years

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GOOOOD AFTERNOON PATRIOTS!I hope everyone is having a TREMENDOUS Thanksgiving weekend so far! This is u/Ivaginaryfriend here and speaking of Thanksgiving weekend, I'd like to remind everyone that today is Small Business Saturday! If you're planning on enjoying a day out on the town or doing a little Christmas shopping, remember to support your local small businesses!ALSO!: Don't forget President Trump is holding TWO MAGA rallies this Monday November 26th, both in Mississippi!! We will of course have MAGAthread's up for both rallies so don't miss out on all the HIGH ENERGY FUN!As always, if you happened to miss any past recaps you can check those out here!FINALLY, let's get this recap started!Sunday, November 18th:TODAY'S ACTION:President Trump Delivers a Statement from Point Mugu Naval Air Station🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:So funny to see little Adam Schitt (D-CA) talking about the fact that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller (who is highly conflicted) was not approved by the Senate!The Mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, just stated that “the City is ill-prepared to handle this many migrants, the backlog could last 6 months.” Likewise, the U.S. is ill-prepared for this invasion, and will not stand for it. They are causing crime and big problems in Mexico. Go home!Catch and Release is an obsolete term. It is now Catch and Detain. Illegal Immigrants trying to come into the U.S.A., often proudly flying the flag of their nation as they ask for U.S. Asylum, will be detained or turned away. Dems must approve Border Security & Wall NOW!From day one Rick Scott never wavered. He was a great Governor and will be even a greater Senator in representing the People of Florida. Congratulations to Rick on having waged such a courageous and successful campaign!I will be interviewed by Chris Wallace on @FoxNews at 2:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. Enjoy!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:BREAKING-Brenda Snipes submits her resignation as Broward elections supervisorThis got my blood boilingWife: Why'd you buy another gun? Me: Some schmuck threatened me with a nuke.Mexican protestor today in Tijuana on the caravan: "Donald Trump was right, this is an invasion! What Donald Trump said was correct: this is an invasion!"🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Every President needs a petYep!AOC: Do as I say, not as I doKekCalifornia logicMonday, November 19th:TODAY'S ACTION:President Donald J. Trump Surveys Damage from Wildfires in CaliforniaPresident Trump and the First Lady Participate in the White House Christmas Tree DeliveryVice President Pence Attends ASEAN 2018 in Singapore - Day 1Vice President Pence Attends ASEAN 2018 in Singapore - Day 2Vice President Pence Attends ASEAN 2018 in Singapore - Day 3Vice President Pence Attends APEC 2018 in Papua New GuineaPresident Donald J. Trump Presents the Medal of FreedomPresident Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump Visit the Marine Barracks🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:.@cindyhydesmith loves Mississippi and our Great U.S.A.Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!.. ... ....We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!The Fake News is showing old footage of people climbing over our Ocean Area Fence. This is what it really looks like - no climbers anymore under our Administration!(Retweeting The White House) President Trump and the First Lady Participate in the White House Christmas Tree Delivery(Retweeting FLOTUS) The @WhiteHouse is getting ready for the Christmas season! Thank you to the Smith Family & the National Christmas Tree Association for providing this year's tree. And to our @NatlParkService for their hard work in trimming the tree for the Blue Room.I hope the discovery and eventual recovery of the Argentine submarine San Juan brings needed closure to the wonderful families of those brave missing sailors. I look forward to hearing more from my friend President @MauricioMacri in Argentina later this month.SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Sarah Sanders releases the new rules for White House reporters: "We have created these rules with a degree of regret … given the position taken by CNN, we now feel obligated to replace previously shared practices with explicit rules."Wow, it's almost like this isn't a race issue, or something.Psycho antifa trigglypuff gets instant karma at #HimToo rally. She gone!BREAKING: Theresa Shook, the founder of the Women’s March, has called on Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory to step down for allowing "anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric to become a part of the platform"Trump to Chris Wallace: “ I ended aid to Pakistan because they hid Bin Laden and they don’t do a damn thing for US.” Boom. That’s how it’s done. 🇺🇸👍🏼🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Dear Men, Your Contributions Matter, Your Sacrifices Matter & Your Voice Matters. #InternationalMensDay #MensDay19Nov #IMD18CHECK YOUR MALE PRIVILEGE, MISTER!IN 20 YEARS WE WILL LOOK BACK ON THE RUSH TO CHANGE OUR CHILDREN'S SEX AS ONE OF THE DARKEST CHAPTERS IN MEDICINE... - BOB WITHERSThe entrance is over there ————> Bring identity!Tuesday, November 20th:TODAY'S ACTION:Presidential Proclamation on Thanksgiving Day, 2018President Trump and the First Lady Receive the 2018 White House Christmas TreePresident Trump & The First Lady Participate in the Presentation of the National Thanksgiving TurkeyPresident Trump Delivers a Statement Upon Departure🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:President @realDonaldTrump, joined by @FLOTUS, has officially pardoned this year's National Thanksgiving Turkey, Peas—and his alternate, Carrots!So-called comedian Michelle Wolf bombed so badly last year at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that this year, for the first time in decades, they will have an author instead of a comedian. Good first step in comeback of a dying evening and tradition! Maybe I will go?AMERICA FIRST!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Mexican Woman says that instead of invading another country illegally, migrants should stay and fight for change in their own country.The Left’s Accusation That The Right Is Fascist Is Simply Psychological ProjectionFLOTUS got GEOTUS’s back and she is looking at you Acosta!!Trump admin to designate Venezuela as state sponsor of terrorism: report🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:President Trump pardons Thanksgiving Turkeys... but he continues “ I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to enjoy those pardons, thanks to the 9th circuit.” 😆Honduras is complaining about the free food and shelter Tijuana is providing for them. Ungratefulness is so attractive from people with their hands out.Am I right or am I right?I was able to get a copy of the answers President Trump sent to Mueller.How Democrats honored Susan B. AnthonyWednesday, November 21st:TODAY'S ACTION:President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82. Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let’s go lower!MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!“‘Trump Imitation Syndrome’ is afflicting the president’s liberal enemies” Thank you @MGoodwin_NYPost!Great new book out, “Mad Politics: Keeping Your Sanity in a World Gone Crazy” by @RealDrGina Loudon. Go out and get your copy today — a great read!Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have “Obama judges,” and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country. It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an “independent judiciary,” but if it is why...... ... .....are so many opposing view (on Border and Safety) cases filed there, and why are a vast number of those cases overturned. Please study the numbers, they are shocking. We need protection and security - these rulings are making our country unsafe! Very dangerous and unwise!“Thank you to President Trump on the Border. No American President has ever done this before.” Hector Garza, National Border Patrol CouncilThere are a lot of CRIMINALS in the Caravan. We will stop them. Catch and Detain! Judicial Activism, by people who know nothing about security and the safety of our citizens, is putting our country in great danger. Not good!“79% of these decisions have been overturned in the 9th Circuit.” @FoxNews A terrible, costly and dangerous disgrace. It has become a dumping ground for certain lawyers looking for easy wins and delays. Much talk over dividing up the 9th Circuit into 2 or 3 Circuits. Too big!Brutal and Extended Cold Blast could shatter ALL RECORDS - Whatever happened to Global Warming?You just can’t win with the Fake News Media. A big story today is that because I have pushed so hard and gotten Gasoline Prices so low, more people are driving and I have caused traffic jams throughout our Great Nation. Sorry everyone!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:A solemn moment in history tonight Pede’s. Pay your last respects. Til’ ValhallaAvenatti's girlfriend should have waited 35 years to bring these accusations if she really wanted to be believable.Laura Loomer has been PERMANENTLY suspended for criticizing Sharia law.Smokin Hot. Gun Girl Kaitlin Bennett From Kent State Wins Round 1 In Lawsuit Against University. They tried to keep her from speaking by forcing her to pay for security because of threats from anti gun groupsCourt: NRA lawsuit against NY Gov Andrew Cuomo over "blacklist" can go forward - in short fuk Cuomo🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:The cycle of western civilizationTo those who will skip the turkey because you have to work (for crumbs?) Pepe salutes you..."Sir, I'm going to need you to step out of the car."For all the first responder Pepes that are missing Thanksgiving with their families. F.Thursday, November 22nd:TODAY'S ACTION:President Trump Participates in a Teleconference with Members of the Military🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:“It’s a mean & nasty world out there, the Middle East in particular. This is a long and historic commitment, & one that is absolutely vital to America’s national security.” @SecPompeo I agree 100%. In addition, many Billions of Dollars of purchases made in U.S., big Jobs & Oil!HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster. It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, & is used to get an almost guaranteed result. Judges must not Legislate Security... ... ....and Safety at the Border, or anywhere else. They know nothing about it and are making our Country unsafe. Our great Law Enforcement professionals MUST BE ALLOWED TO DO THEIR JOB! If not there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death. We want the Constitution as written!Will be speaking with our great military in different parts of the world, through teleconference, at 9:00 A.M. Eastern. Then it will be off to see our Coast Guard patriots & to thank them for the great job they have been doing, especially with the hurricanes. Happy Thanksgiving!(Video)This is the coldest weather in the history of the Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC, and one of the coldest Thanksgivings on record!Our highly trained security professionals are not allowed to do their job on the Border because of the Judicial Activism and Interference by the 9th Circuit. Nevertheless, they are working hard to make America a safer place, though hard to do when anybody filing a lawsuit wins!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Historic: at the DMZ South and North Korean soldiers shake handsChik-Fl-A reminds you to be thankful for FreedomTrump Thanksgiving dinnerIs this 2018?🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:I'm Thankful This Is Not The PresidentToday I am thankful for this man.55 years ago today, the Deep State assumed full control. FCuck/10. Libs can't handle politics.Holy shit. My mom came into my room to bring me a plate of mashed potatoesFriday, November 23rd:TODAY'S ACTION:President Donald J. Trump's 2018 Thanksgiving MessagePresentation of the 2018 National Thanksgiving Turkey🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Republicans and Democrats MUST come together, finally, with a major Border Security package, which will include funding for the Wall. After 40 years of talk, it is finally time for action. Fix the Border, for once and for all, NOW!Really good Criminal Justice Reform has a true shot at major bipartisan support. @senatemajldr Mitch McConnell and @SenSchumer have a real chance to do something so badly needed in our country. Already passed, with big vote, in House. Would be a major victory for ALL!I am extremely happy and proud of the job being done by @USTreasury Secretary @StevenMnuchin1. The FAKE NEWS likes to write stories to the contrary, quoting phony sources or jealous people, but they aren’t true. They never like to ask me for a quote b/c it would kill their story.SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Hopefully the apology was to herpes.The God-Emperor Marches OnWhen your child goes to Hollywood and all she wants to go see is her Presidents star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!! 👍🇺🇸👍Secretary Mattis paid a surprise visit to the 113th Aerospace Control Alert facility to thank the men and women who stand alert 24/7, 365 days a year.MUST WATCH: Dan Bongino lays out SpyGate🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:wall kicks won't workGuess Who's Back?What if Melania Trump met with Bob Mueller on a tarmac in Arizona, and then a few days later, Mueller cleared Trump?The "democracy" party.MFW I’m not even a Latino but I think refried beans and tortillas are deliciosoSaturday, November 24th:SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:If you are near Omaha on Tuesday, Nov. 27 @2pm, there is a funeral for a Vietnam War veteran with no known family at the National Cemetery. (x-post from r/Nebraska, r/Navy, r/Army, and r/military)Coach Mike Ditka suffers heart attack. A Trump supporter and coach back when the NFL was manly. Wishing him a speedy recovery.Tijuana Mayor REFUSES to Spend Tijuana Money on Migrants108 caravan migrants arrested for crimes in Tijuana, so far… They've only been in the city for a few days & already they are committing this many crimes? That's a lot of crime from so-called moms & kids fleeing "violence."Never Say No One Told You🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Judicial Activism Is Illegal LegislationHow I Feel When I'm Making America Great AgainSuper Hero ParkingI'M SO THANKFUL FOR THIS DOMREDDIT AND ALL YOU GLORIOUS PATRIOTS!some tunes to help you go through all this WINNING:Hey JudeAmerican PieUsing YouBrooklyn BabyDon't Take The GirlSitting On The Dock Of The BayMAGA ON DEPLORABLES! #robgray

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lesliepump · 7 years

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Dispatches from ILTA: Document Tech Mergers, Google Enters the Ring, and New Collaboration Expectations

The International Legal Tech Association’s annual conference, ILTACon, wrapped up last week. During that week, there were lots of product announcements and no shortage of thoughts about the future of legal technology. Here are some takeaways from the conference.

The Voltron of Document Technology

One of the big announcements at ILTA was that four of the best-known document technology companies—Litera, Microsystems, XRef, and the Sackett Group—are combining. The announcement was so new that neither the name of the new organization or who will be the CEO has not yet been decided.

I had the opportunity yesterday to sit down with Paul Domnick, president of Litera, Linda Sackett, founder and president of the Sackett Group and Avaneesh Marwaha, president and CEO of Microsystems to talk about the new company and their vision.

Both Litera and Microsystems offer a packaged product, and both Marwaha and Dominick agreed the two companies were somewhat competitors in the document creation and management field. Both companies were committed to ensuring the creation, cleaning, proofing, and management of high-quality documents. The Sackett Group offered more document assembly tools and template solutions such as MacPac for Legal and Forti. Unlike Litera and Microsystems, it has historically offered a la carte products to its customers.

According to Marwaha, Microsystems has historically focused on the large firm markets. Domnick says Litera has focused on firms of all sizes. The Sackett Group also serves everything from one-third of the top 100 firms to very small firms and solos.

So why combine? Marwaha says that law firm customers want vendor consolidation and the companies believe that by combining they can better compete and scale.

Marwaha says that the goal is for the three companies to work together to envision better what a product will look like and what the branding will be. All three agreed that the vision of the new company is to make it easier for lawyers to create and deal with documents without having the software that helps them do it get in the way, In other words, the group wants software that’s not a hurdle and that works seamlessly and intuitively.

Successful future lawyers would still have to be good at practicing law and working with clients.

I asked the three, given the new company’s position in legal tech, what they thought the future of law would look like. They all agreed that successful future lawyers would still have to be good at practicing law and working with clients. Marwaha added that a good future lawyer would be one who knows how to use technology and software but doesn’t hide behind it. And according to Domnick, there is and will be a lot more disruption in the legal profession, but at the end of the day, the practice of law is a people business. Marwaha’s advice to future lawyers: focus on the client and partner with legal tech companies and software providers to do just that.

Look out, Legal Tech. Google May Be Coming

One of the more interesting developments of this week at ILTA was a low-key and not very well-attended demo of a Litera redlining program that will work with the Google Suite apps.

Apparently, Litera has been working with Google for some time in coming up with this program that works with Google Docs, Google Drive, and Google Calendar for businesses. Large companies like Whirlpool and Verizon have signed on to using the G-Suite for their business communications.

The legal departments of those companies have not been quite as happy, since some of the tools that they are used to using are not included. This left an opening for Litera to partner with Google so that many of its redlining, proofreading, and collaboration products will now work.

I asked Simon Dandy of Litera, who demoed the new product, if legal tech now had Google’s attention. Dandy said that at least based on Litera’s interactions with Google, the answer was a definite yes. And this could have lots of repercussions.

Imagine what would happen if Google could access tons of data presently housed by law firms internally or with providers like iManage or NetDocs.

Think for a moment about Google’s search capabilities. It has mastered plain language searches, and Google’s analytics are among the best in the business. So imagine what would happen if Google could access tons of data presently housed by law firms internally or with providers like iManage or NetDocs. All of a sudden, data analytics and AI capabilities would explode. And think how seamlessly collaboration and communication could work if we were all using Google in our practices: a platform and software program that works so intuitively that we barely notice it.

Most of the problems lawyers have with technology is that it doesn’t work easily: you have to spend too much time figuring out what the tools are and how to use them. Google could simplify everything and allow us to use a program we have all been already using for some time, precisely because it’s so easy to use.

So stay tuned. We could be in for a Google-fueled revolution.

The Real Legal Disruption Is…Collaboration and Transparency?

One of the topics on everyone’s minds at ILTA was what clients expect in today’s technology-driven world. Not just big sophisticated clients, but smaller businesses and individuals as well. Technology and tech tools are used by everyone. It isn’t unreasonable to expect that your lawyer can do things as seamlessly and effortlessly as Facebook and Amazon can.

During ILTA I attended a panel discussion entitled “Collaboration: Improving the Client’s Experience.” On the panel were some heavyweights: Jason Barnwell, an assistant general counsel of Microsoft, Teresa Britton, manager of records for Exelon Corporation, a large energy company, and Jack Thompson, manager of litigation support for Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company.

It isn’t unreasonable to expect that your lawyer can do things as seamlessly and effortlessly as Facebook and Amazon can.

All three offered a candid description of what they expect of law firms. According to Barnwell, the kinds of firms Microsoft is looking for are those that show how they as a firm can do things better, can show to the client processes that work, and who by doing so add efficiencies and insights for the client.

Britton confirmed this: “We want our law firms to offer solutions on how to collaborate.” What does that mean? Firms that can offer things like portals and can provide value the client needs. Firms that can focus and be transparent. Firms that ask what the desired outcome is and what insights can be offered to get to that outcome. To Britton, this is real value (which may come as a shock to lawyers who think that only the outcome matters).

Barnwell’s comments were especially interesting given the size and power of Microsoft in the marketplace. I caught up with Barnwell after the presentation and asked him about the challenges he sees in the legal marketplace. Barnwell told me that he thought law firms have been slow to change the way they create and deliver legal services. Barnwell and Microsoft believe that one of the reasons for this is the billable hour model. In fact, they so strongly believe that the billable hour model does not encourage the type of innovation and collaboration that Microsoft decided to move, over the next two years, to a fee model where some 90% of its legal work will be done via alternative flat fees.

The reason for this change, said Barnwell, is not that it will save money, but that it will force firms to collaborate and be innovative. Barnwell even went far as to say in the future, he assumes he will get a one-line bill, in the style of the old-fashioned “for services rendered” Another heavyweight, Cisco, estimates that 80% of its legal work will be based on alternative fees.

The expectation is that flat fees it will encourage lawyers to do better work because it’s what the client wants. In other words, he hopes that flat fees will focus lawyers to do the work that will get the job done and the desired outcome accomplished rather than focus on creating, say, the perfect brief and damn the costs.

Indeed, flat fees are game changers in many ways. In the late 1990s, I undertook a two-year national counsel representation on a flat fee basis. It changed my perception. I was forced to look at everything through a studied cost-benefit analysis. I was forced to constantly look for ways to be efficient, to save time, to look for innovations that would work. I loved it.

What I learned through this experience and what Microsoft and Cisco have realized is that there has to be collaboration and transparency between the lawyer and the client for these arrangements to work. The lawyer has to understand exactly what the client wants so the lawyer can focus on these things and not what the client doesn’t consider valuable. That’s how you make the client happy and, frankly, make money. Microsoft is now forcing this kind of collaboration.

I saw the same recognition of the value of collaboration when I talked to Bob Craig about his idea for the first ever Legal Blockchain Consortium. Bob, who is the chief IT officer of Baker Hostetler and one of the most astute observers of the legal tech scene, had the idea to create a consortium of corporate counsel, tech people and outside counsel to talk about blockchain, what it can do and where it can go. I asked Bob whether he thought law firms would be reluctant to participate since they might think they would be better off and get more business by going it alone. He responded: “By banding together we get more sophisticated collaboration around the table and new ways to engineer the process.” In other words, through collaboration, we get a better result for those who we represent, which ought to be our goal.

Sometimes we think about disruption in the practice of law as being all about such things as data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cognitive services. But maybe the real disruption is simpler but more profound: collaboration and transparency. These are things we haven’t been very good at for a long time. Indeed, one of the reasons we have the problems as a profession that we have (and why we are not held in very high esteem) is the lack of both of those. But it is collaboration and transparency that will let us take advantage of all the new technology in new, exciting, and valuable ways. And these simple concepts cost nothing and hold true whether you work for a 1000-person firm or are a solo practitioner.

Dispatches from ILTA: Document Tech Mergers, Google Enters the Ring, and New Collaboration Expectations was originally published on Lawyerist.com.

from Law and Politics https://lawyerist.com/dispatches-ilta-document-tech-mergers-google-enters-ring-new-collaboration-expectations/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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