Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Dial H For Hero
Dial H For Hero's Journal
Dial H For Hero's Journal
December 14, 2021
For years, Disney has been hyping up its mega-expensive, hyper-immersive Star Wars hotel in Walt Disney World. But now, as its opening date approaches, sneak peeks have fans concerned the luxury space resort is the latest Disney dud.
The Galactic Starcruiser is Disney's most ambitious hotel concept yet. Guests must book two nights — which will set you back nearly $5,000 for two people or $6,000 for a family of four — and will spend most of their time inside the spaceship resort, much like a cruise. There's an "excursion" into the Galaxy's Edge part of Disney World, while the remainder of the stay includes interactions with characters, lightsaber training (more on that later) and exclusive restaurants.
With the big price tag and big promises from Disney, Star Wars fans were expecting a mind-blowing, life-changing experience. As the March 1, 2022 opening day grows closer, however, glimpses of the finished product have been underwhelming. The look and feel of the hotel has been criticized as looking plastic and cheap, and reception to one sneak peek video was so bad, it has since disappeared from Disney's YouTube channel.
The video showed actor Sean Giambrone of "The Goldbergs" being given a tour of some of the ship's features, which look pretty bare and antiseptic for the Star Wars universe, and listening to a strange musical performance. (Another user uploaded the deleted video here.) The promo prompted one Twitter user to comment, "Bro this isn't Star Wars, this is 'Space Conflicts.'"
(excerpt)
When I first learned of this project I was quite enthusiastic about it. I've been playing roleplaying games for almost half a century, love Star Wars (well, the original trilogy at any rate), and I'm also a huge Disney fan. All three of these converging into a single experience?
But a couple of recent revelations have put made unwilling to spend any significant money on it:
1) It's not priced with single adults (such as myself) in mind. They'll be charging the same for a single person as they will for two adults, and given that I don't know anyone who would want to shell out this kind of money, it would cost me $5K for two nights. Throw in the cost of various extras, and it's even more. Ouch.
2) Even if I were willing to pay that much for so short an experience, we've now seen a couple of videos (as described above), and they look terrible. Check out stills from each one:
Welcome to your $5,000 experience, folks!
Backlash to Disney's $5,000 Star Wars hotel grows: 'Poorly executed idea for the rich'
https://www.sfgate.com/disneyland/article/Backlash-grows-to-Disney-Star-Wars-hotel-16695226.phpFor years, Disney has been hyping up its mega-expensive, hyper-immersive Star Wars hotel in Walt Disney World. But now, as its opening date approaches, sneak peeks have fans concerned the luxury space resort is the latest Disney dud.
The Galactic Starcruiser is Disney's most ambitious hotel concept yet. Guests must book two nights — which will set you back nearly $5,000 for two people or $6,000 for a family of four — and will spend most of their time inside the spaceship resort, much like a cruise. There's an "excursion" into the Galaxy's Edge part of Disney World, while the remainder of the stay includes interactions with characters, lightsaber training (more on that later) and exclusive restaurants.
With the big price tag and big promises from Disney, Star Wars fans were expecting a mind-blowing, life-changing experience. As the March 1, 2022 opening day grows closer, however, glimpses of the finished product have been underwhelming. The look and feel of the hotel has been criticized as looking plastic and cheap, and reception to one sneak peek video was so bad, it has since disappeared from Disney's YouTube channel.
The video showed actor Sean Giambrone of "The Goldbergs" being given a tour of some of the ship's features, which look pretty bare and antiseptic for the Star Wars universe, and listening to a strange musical performance. (Another user uploaded the deleted video here.) The promo prompted one Twitter user to comment, "Bro this isn't Star Wars, this is 'Space Conflicts.'"
(excerpt)
When I first learned of this project I was quite enthusiastic about it. I've been playing roleplaying games for almost half a century, love Star Wars (well, the original trilogy at any rate), and I'm also a huge Disney fan. All three of these converging into a single experience?
But a couple of recent revelations have put made unwilling to spend any significant money on it:
1) It's not priced with single adults (such as myself) in mind. They'll be charging the same for a single person as they will for two adults, and given that I don't know anyone who would want to shell out this kind of money, it would cost me $5K for two nights. Throw in the cost of various extras, and it's even more. Ouch.
2) Even if I were willing to pay that much for so short an experience, we've now seen a couple of videos (as described above), and they look terrible. Check out stills from each one:
Welcome to your $5,000 experience, folks!
December 11, 2021
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The foreperson of the jury in the murder trial of Dayonte Resiles said three jurors were unwilling to convict Resiles based on his race.
The foreperson discussed on Friday the most recent twist in the trial that ended Wednesday with the hung jury.
“[The three jurors] said, ‘I don’t want to send a young Black male to jail for the rest of their life or have him get the death sentence,'” said the foreperson.
Resiles faces life in prison and possibly the death penalty for the murder of Jill Su, a 59-year-old Davie woman who was killed in her home back in September of 2014.
(excerpt)
Foreperson: 3 jurors unwilling to convict Resiles based on race, leading to mistrial
https://wsvn.com/news/local/broward/foreperson-3-jurors-unwilling-to-convict-resiles-based-on-race-leading-to-mistrial/FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The foreperson of the jury in the murder trial of Dayonte Resiles said three jurors were unwilling to convict Resiles based on his race.
The foreperson discussed on Friday the most recent twist in the trial that ended Wednesday with the hung jury.
“[The three jurors] said, ‘I don’t want to send a young Black male to jail for the rest of their life or have him get the death sentence,'” said the foreperson.
Resiles faces life in prison and possibly the death penalty for the murder of Jill Su, a 59-year-old Davie woman who was killed in her home back in September of 2014.
(excerpt)
December 10, 2021
The 14-year-old son of a pizza shop employee shot one of three would-be robbers in the face after he started choking his mom in Philadelphia, police said
Police arrived at the shop in the Spring Garden neighborhood shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday and noticed a trail of blood that began inside the restaurant and went on for three blocks into the subway station at Broad and Spring Garden streets.
The employee told police three men had entered and demanded money from the cash register, which she told them she couldn’t open because she needed a code.
Other employees said one of the men tried to reach over the counter and then began choking the woman, prompting her son to pull out a handgun from underneath the counter and shoot the alleged attacker once in the face, according to police.
(excerpt)
Pizza Shop Employee's Son, 14, Shoots Would-Be Robber in Face
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/philly-pizza-shop-employee-shoots-would-be-robber/3074114/The 14-year-old son of a pizza shop employee shot one of three would-be robbers in the face after he started choking his mom in Philadelphia, police said
Police arrived at the shop in the Spring Garden neighborhood shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday and noticed a trail of blood that began inside the restaurant and went on for three blocks into the subway station at Broad and Spring Garden streets.
The employee told police three men had entered and demanded money from the cash register, which she told them she couldn’t open because she needed a code.
Other employees said one of the men tried to reach over the counter and then began choking the woman, prompting her son to pull out a handgun from underneath the counter and shoot the alleged attacker once in the face, according to police.
(excerpt)
December 8, 2021
Chicago (CNN)Closing arguments began Wednesday morning in Jussie Smollett's trial, a day after the former "Empire" actor took the stand to rebut allegations that he staged a hoax hate crime and lied to police about it in January 2019.
Smollett, 39, has pleaded not guilty to six counts of disorderly conduct on suspicion of making false reports to police. The charge is punishable by up to three years in prison.
The criminal trial started last week as prosecutors told the jury that Smollett, who is Black and gay, directed two acquaintances -- the brothers Bola and Ola Osundairo -- to carry out a fake anti-gay and racist attack on a frigid night in Chicago near Smollett's apartment building. Five police investigators and the Osundairo brothers testified for the prosecution last week.
Defense attorneys called seven witnesses of their own to testify, highlighted by Smollett himself. He testified over about 8 hours Monday and Tuesday he had not planned any such hoax, and that he was actually attacked one night after going out to get a Subway sandwich.
After closing arguments Wednesday morning, the jury will be instructed on the law and then sent to deliberate.
Closing arguments underway in Jussie Smollett's trial for alleged hoax attack
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/08/us/jussie-smollett-closings/index.htmlChicago (CNN)Closing arguments began Wednesday morning in Jussie Smollett's trial, a day after the former "Empire" actor took the stand to rebut allegations that he staged a hoax hate crime and lied to police about it in January 2019.
Smollett, 39, has pleaded not guilty to six counts of disorderly conduct on suspicion of making false reports to police. The charge is punishable by up to three years in prison.
The criminal trial started last week as prosecutors told the jury that Smollett, who is Black and gay, directed two acquaintances -- the brothers Bola and Ola Osundairo -- to carry out a fake anti-gay and racist attack on a frigid night in Chicago near Smollett's apartment building. Five police investigators and the Osundairo brothers testified for the prosecution last week.
Defense attorneys called seven witnesses of their own to testify, highlighted by Smollett himself. He testified over about 8 hours Monday and Tuesday he had not planned any such hoax, and that he was actually attacked one night after going out to get a Subway sandwich.
After closing arguments Wednesday morning, the jury will be instructed on the law and then sent to deliberate.
December 4, 2021
The Nevada supreme court has said gun manufacturers cannot be held liable for deaths in the 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip which killed 60, because a state law shields them from liability unless the weapon malfunctions.
The parents of a woman among those killed at a packed music festival filed a wrongful death suit against Colt Manufacturing and several other gun manufacturers in July 2019.
The suit said the gun companies “knowingly manufactured and sold weapons designed to shoot automatically because they were aware their AR-15s could be easily modified with bump stocks to do so, thereby violating federal and state machine gun prohibitions”.
Stephen Paddock used an AR-15 with a bump stock when he fired 1,049 rounds in 10 minutes on the crowd of 22,000 from his suite in a casino-resort tower before he killed himself.
(Excerpt)
Nevada supreme court: gun makers not liable for 2017 Vegas shooting deaths
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/04/nevada-supreme-court-gun-makers-2017-mass-shooting-60-deaths-stephen-paddockThe Nevada supreme court has said gun manufacturers cannot be held liable for deaths in the 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip which killed 60, because a state law shields them from liability unless the weapon malfunctions.
The parents of a woman among those killed at a packed music festival filed a wrongful death suit against Colt Manufacturing and several other gun manufacturers in July 2019.
The suit said the gun companies “knowingly manufactured and sold weapons designed to shoot automatically because they were aware their AR-15s could be easily modified with bump stocks to do so, thereby violating federal and state machine gun prohibitions”.
Stephen Paddock used an AR-15 with a bump stock when he fired 1,049 rounds in 10 minutes on the crowd of 22,000 from his suite in a casino-resort tower before he killed himself.
(Excerpt)
November 25, 2021
(CNN)In the wake of the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, a new generation of teen activists emerged who insisted that the old boom/bust cycle of gun control politics in this country was no more.
Gone would be the public's short attention span on the need for more restrictions on gun sales and gun ownership. And in its place would be a sustained campaign to keep the issues of guns -- and the mass shootings committed with them -- front and center in the public's mind.
Almost four years on from Parkland, however, a familiar cycle has asserted itself.
Just 52% of Americans polled now say that the "laws covering the sales of firearms" should be stricter than they currently are, the lowest number that Gallup has measured on the question since 2014.
(Excerpt)
Support for gun control just hit its lowest point in almost a decade
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/23/politics/gun-control-gallup-poll/index.html(CNN)In the wake of the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, a new generation of teen activists emerged who insisted that the old boom/bust cycle of gun control politics in this country was no more.
Gone would be the public's short attention span on the need for more restrictions on gun sales and gun ownership. And in its place would be a sustained campaign to keep the issues of guns -- and the mass shootings committed with them -- front and center in the public's mind.
Almost four years on from Parkland, however, a familiar cycle has asserted itself.
Just 52% of Americans polled now say that the "laws covering the sales of firearms" should be stricter than they currently are, the lowest number that Gallup has measured on the question since 2014.
(Excerpt)
November 24, 2021
Mike Aversa, a semiretired accountant, goes hunting as often as possible.
He uses the first six or seven deer he shoots each season to stock his family’s freezer and table. Venison chili, venison meatballs and venison sausage are staples in his house in Annandale, a community in western New Jersey.
In 1997, a desire to do what he could to share the much-needed source of protein with food-insecure families — while indulging a hobby and addressing the state’s severe overpopulation of deer — motivated Mr. Aversa to join with two friends and found Hunters Helping the Hungry.
A quarter century later, the program is considered one of the top three game-meat donation programs in the country, according to a study by a firearms trade association. Since its start, the all-volunteer nonprofit has arranged for the donation of 14,731 deer — about 2.2 million quarter-pound servings of fresh, lean protein — to New Jersey residents in need.
Meat Is Hard for Hungry Families to Come By. Enter These Deer Hunters.
https://dnyuz.com/2021/11/24/meat-is-hard-for-hungry-families-to-come-by-enter-these-deer-hunters/Mike Aversa, a semiretired accountant, goes hunting as often as possible.
He uses the first six or seven deer he shoots each season to stock his family’s freezer and table. Venison chili, venison meatballs and venison sausage are staples in his house in Annandale, a community in western New Jersey.
In 1997, a desire to do what he could to share the much-needed source of protein with food-insecure families — while indulging a hobby and addressing the state’s severe overpopulation of deer — motivated Mr. Aversa to join with two friends and found Hunters Helping the Hungry.
A quarter century later, the program is considered one of the top three game-meat donation programs in the country, according to a study by a firearms trade association. Since its start, the all-volunteer nonprofit has arranged for the donation of 14,731 deer — about 2.2 million quarter-pound servings of fresh, lean protein — to New Jersey residents in need.
November 23, 2021
David Suzuki, the godfather of the Canadian environmental movement, warned over the weekend that if politicians don’t act to reverse climate change, there could be attacks against oil and gas infrastructure.
“We’re in deep, deep doo-doo,” said Suzuki Saturday, speaking at an Extinction Rebellion protest on Vancouver Island. “This is what we’re come to. The next stage after this, there are going to be pipelines blown up if our leaders don’t pay attention to what’s going on.”
Suzuki, reached by the National Post on Monday, said violence within the environmental movement is already happening, although he identified police actions against anti-logging protesters and anti-gas pipeline protesters as the culprits.
Asked whether or not he would support the bombing of pipelines, Suzuki said, “Of course not.”
(Excerpt)
Pipelines will be blown up,' says David Suzuki, if leaders don't act on climate change
https://www.google.com/amp/s/vancouversun.com/news/canada/pipelines-will-be-blown-up-says-david-suzuki-if-leaders-dont-act-on-climate-change/wcm/5c46590d-2bb7-4aab-83c7-166e9b337b00/amp/David Suzuki, the godfather of the Canadian environmental movement, warned over the weekend that if politicians don’t act to reverse climate change, there could be attacks against oil and gas infrastructure.
“We’re in deep, deep doo-doo,” said Suzuki Saturday, speaking at an Extinction Rebellion protest on Vancouver Island. “This is what we’re come to. The next stage after this, there are going to be pipelines blown up if our leaders don’t pay attention to what’s going on.”
Suzuki, reached by the National Post on Monday, said violence within the environmental movement is already happening, although he identified police actions against anti-logging protesters and anti-gas pipeline protesters as the culprits.
Asked whether or not he would support the bombing of pipelines, Suzuki said, “Of course not.”
(Excerpt)
November 21, 2021
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ferrari-pays-homage-to-1960s-race-cars-with-slickest-model-yet-1.1684815
Bloomberg) -- Ferrari NV unveiled a new limited-run retro model that the storied Italian manufacturer is billing as its most aerodynamically efficient car ever.
The Daytona SP3 that debuted Saturday at Mugello Circuit, a Formula One track near Florence, honors the brand’s 1960s race cars. It represents the second leg of Ferrari’s special-edition Icona series, the first being the Monza SP1 and SP2 cars introduced three years ago.
Like those Monza models, the Daytona SP3 is likely to carry a seven-figure price tag. Its mid-rear mounted, 829-horsepower V12 is Ferrari’s most powerful engine, helping deliver a zero to 100-kilometers-per-hour time of 2.85 seconds.
New Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna announced another Icona was coming during his debut earnings call early this month. The auto industry outsider joined from chipmaker STMicroelectronics NV in September and is under pressure to put Ferrari on course for the electric era.
Ferrari Pays Homage to 1960s Race Cars With Slickest Model Yet
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ferrari-pays-homage-to-1960s-race-cars-with-slickest-model-yet-1.1684815
Bloomberg) -- Ferrari NV unveiled a new limited-run retro model that the storied Italian manufacturer is billing as its most aerodynamically efficient car ever.
The Daytona SP3 that debuted Saturday at Mugello Circuit, a Formula One track near Florence, honors the brand’s 1960s race cars. It represents the second leg of Ferrari’s special-edition Icona series, the first being the Monza SP1 and SP2 cars introduced three years ago.
Like those Monza models, the Daytona SP3 is likely to carry a seven-figure price tag. Its mid-rear mounted, 829-horsepower V12 is Ferrari’s most powerful engine, helping deliver a zero to 100-kilometers-per-hour time of 2.85 seconds.
New Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna announced another Icona was coming during his debut earnings call early this month. The auto industry outsider joined from chipmaker STMicroelectronics NV in September and is under pressure to put Ferrari on course for the electric era.
November 18, 2021
Mississippi executes convicted killer, its first since 2012
Source: Reuters
Nov 17 (Reuters) - A Mississippi man who shot his estranged wife to death and sexually assaulted his stepdaughter during an eight-hour 2010 standoff with police was put to death on Wednesday, local media reported.
David Cox, who in 2018 dismissed his attorneys and dropped his appeals in the case, saying he deserved the death penalty, was the first prisoner executed in Mississippi in nine years.
He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. central time (0012 GMT Thursday) at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, the Clarion-Ledger newspaper reported.
The condemned man, in his final words said: "I want to tell my children that I love them very, very much and that I was a good man at one time," Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain told the paper.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mississippi-set-carry-out-states-first-execution-since-2012-2021-11-17/
Profile Information
Member since: Mon Apr 20, 2020, 11:25 AMNumber of posts: 2,971
